Travel Review of Pulai Springs Resort in Johor Bahru, Malaysia

1. Best and Cheapest Hotel Website to Book Pulai Springs Resort
2. 1-Bedroom Suite Room *2 Different Sizes and Layouts
3. Sauna Room and Jacuzzi Pool in Pulai Spa & Sports Centre
4. Outdoor Swimming Pool
5. Food Review in Qing Palace Chinese Restaurant
6. Breakfast in Pulai Springs Resort
7. Pool Games in Pulai Spa & Sports Centre
8. Strolling around Pulai Springs Country Club Vicinity
9. Travel Insurance

Pulai Springs Resort

Pulai Springs Resort is a country club for golf lovers which is located 42 km from Singapore by driving according to the direction in Google Map. My friends and I spent one weekend, Saturday and Sunday, celebrating a friend’s birthday away from the bustling city life. No, we are not there for the golf. This type of short trip is what I am looking forward to once in a while.

I like the idea that we can get out of Singapore to somewhere very near such as Johor Bahru (JB) to rejuvenate ourselves over the weekend without taking any annual leave from the company nor spend a bomb on some exotic places just for a night stay.

I did not want any adventures or weekend shopping to exhaust my energy for such a short get-away. Ideally, such a trip is to relax and catch up with friends for some light activities and a value-for-money makan (eating) session.

Best and Cheapest Hotel Website to Book Pulai Springs Resort

We booked two rooms for four of us on two separate dates because I was not sure whether I could go. My friends did their research and compare the hotel price of Pulai Spring Resort for the lowest cost online and eventually booked with Expedia Singapore for S$81, three weeks before the departure date.

If you book early and during the off-peak season, you would most likely get a price as low as S$52 per night according to a random check-in Agoda for other months. That is not to say that Agoda has the lowest price. All hotel comparison sites would run their promotion at different periods of the year.

Sometimes, one site will have a significantly lower rate than the others. The best method to get the lowest hotel price is to check a few of your preferred hotel comparison websites at the same time and book your hotel as early as possible.

The prices of all these travel comparison sites will only become more competitive with the rates having a difference of a few cents to a few dollars when it is a few days to a couple of weeks away from your departure date.

One advantage of Pulai Springs Resort is that the rooms come with various bedroom configurations to suit all occasions and a large family nucleus. From Studio Suite, 1-Bedroom Suite up to 4-Bedroom Suite, it is perfect for a group of friends or several families for quality bond-building time.

The room size is spacious too. From the smallest Studio Suite of 40 sqm to 193 sqm of a 4-Bedroom Suite with three bathrooms, one is ensured of sufficient space to move about and be comfortable.

I procrastinated for a while and finally decided that I could go. I booked with Expedia Singapore at S$106 a few days before departure as the hotel price shot up.

What to Expect in Pulai Spring Resort?

1-Bedroom Suite Room *2 Different Sizes and Layouts

On that Saturday, after having a hearty Japanese lunch in Nijyumaru Japanese Restaurant, we proceeded to Pulai Springs Country Club for check-in at 3 pm.

We were arranged to stay on a different floor. The lift would only stop on the level of where the guest stayed. We only discovered the difference in size and layout of the room in the late evening when we visited each other. My friend’s room was smaller than mine. It was too late to request a room change that had the same size as mine.

Although my friends and I had booked online the same type of room – 1 Bedroom Suite, her room was obviously smaller in size and less attractive in the layout. My 56 sqm room looked exactly like the one shown in the advertised photo of those hotel comparison websites.

I was overjoyed when I saw my room. It was large, clean and neatly organised. It was perfect and very well-maintained that I could not find fault with it. I wish I had stayed for more than a night. The bedroom was spacious and the king-sized bed was very comfy and I had a peaceful sleep.

There was no bathtub but this was not important to me. There was Wifi in the room. I recalled that only one person could log in at any one time. Check with the reception again. I might be wrong.

Sauna Room and Jacuzzi Pool in Pulai Spa & Sports Centre

After settling into our hotel room, we planned for our next activity – swimming. There were two swimming pools in Pulai Springs Country Club, one indoor and one outdoor.

We went to the indoor pool located in the Pulai Springs Spa Centre and requested pool towels from the reception on the first floor. To access the indoor pool on the second level, we had to go up from the gents and ladies changing room separately.

We were thrilled to see a lovely jacuzzi pool and not the rectangular pool that we had anticipated in our mind. There was a small sauna room big enough to accommodate the four people comfortably. After 15 minutes of sweating and detoxification inside the sauna room, we went to the jacuzzi pool.

I think the water temperature was too high and I had a problem adapting to it. My friends also found the water to be rather hot but still got inside the water slowly. I had to force myself to sit on the edge of the jacuzzi pool throughout the time because I could not take the heat of the water.

There were shower taps located on the huge rock beside the jacuzzi pool. The water was supposed to be cold but it felt warmer due to our tropical weather. In Europe, the water was icy cold. A correct approach for the body to make use of water temperature differences is to alternate between hot and cold water for health benefit.

Fun in Jacuzzi Pool

Outdoor Swimming Pool

We proceeded to the outdoor swimming pool. It has three pool sizes. We placed a big inflatable mattress into the largest pool and was told to get it out of the pool by the lifeguard. We shifted it to the medium-sized pool where no one would tell us off this time. The depth of the big pool goes beyond 1.8m or more gradually.

Food Review

Qing Palace Chinese Restaurant

After swimming, we were famished. We were deciding between two dinner promotions in Cinta Terrace and Qing Palace Chinese Restaurant. We chose Chinese cuisine. It cost RM $ 65.00 per pax for the “All You Can Eat” buffet.

The entire food menu was presented right in front of us. Everything inside the menu was inclusive in the “All You Can Eat” promotion and not limited to just some dishes. The price was unbelievable for such a buffet.

We ordered some of the most expensive dishes like Peking Duck, Fish, Salad Prawns, Cereal Prawns, Shark Fin and more. The waitress forewarned us before ordering that the food serving of a dish was quite a lot and for at least four pax.

If we could not finish any food that we had ordered, we would have to pay the full price of that dish. Having said that, we ordered one fish first because we intended to order two different types of fish later. We were worried that we could not finish the food and get penalised.

The first dish was Salad Prawn. After eating all the prawns, we were told by one waitress that we have to consume all the fruits that came with the prawns. The fruits were mostly honeydew and it was a huge serving.

We got bored eating so many fruits as we knew that they would fill us up very quickly. We had no choice because it was the rule of the buffet. Another dish came and it contained the same fruits again underneath the meat. We felt annoyed as we did not want to eat the fruits all the time.

We asked another staff who looked like the Captain or Manager whether it was necessary to finish the fruit as we had finished a big plate earlier. Fortunately, she said, “意识意识吃一点” (literally translated – to eat a bit out of courtesy) which meant to say that we did not have to finish everything.

We ordered an entire Peking Duck and the skin was nice. We requested the remaining meat of the Peking Duck to fry in dark soy sauce (宫保式). We were dumbfounded for a while when we saw a pile of dark mountainous-looking food served on the table. The duck meat looked unappetising.

On closer inspection, I estimated that half the dish used You Tiao 油条 (Chinese Cruller) to cook with the duck. Most ducks nowadays do not have a lot of meat and thus, the restaurant resorted to adding You Tiao 油条 to plump up the dish. Eating You Tiao油条 (made of flour and fats) was another smart move to make the diners full to make the diners get full quickly so they can order less food.

We were almost full after eating a few dishes. The next surprise was the ultra big Sea Bass with Nonya Sauce served in an ultra big plate. It was rare that we saw such a big fish served in a restaurant. Or maybe the large plate intimidated us and our almost full stomach distorted our logic.

Nonya sauce was sour and sweet. The sauce was nice but the taste was somewhat overpowering when one was full. We banished our initial enthusiastic thought of ordering another fish because the size of it was intimidating.

A waitress served someone’s fish to us in the midst of waiting for our desserts. Before she could place the plate on our table, my friend and I waved her off affirmatively and said that it didn’t belong to us.

There is a Singapore joke that goes like this. ⇒  Whenever someone served a plate to the wrong table where one was sitting, one would say jokingly,

“If someone had already paid for the food, please put it down.”

Apparently, for this time, this joke could not come out from our mouth as it was not funny anymore. We were eager to brush the waitress away. You should have seen our hilarious and idiotic reaction.

Here are two photos of the food dish that we had, Chicken Meat and Deer Meat. The Deer Meat was noteworthy as the meat was delicate, easy to chew and very mouth-watering.

We tried every single dessert on the menu. Peanut Dumpling 汤圆 was the most distinctive among all and highly favoured by all of us. Despite being full, my friends and I ordered a few rounds of it. Very heavenly! My sole complaint was sometimes the other desserts were too sweet.

I anticipated that the food for the buffet was generally of lower quality due to mass cooking and smaller in serving to cut cost. It was commendable that the food in Qing Palace Chinese Restaurant conformed to a high standard. It was sumptuous and we had no problems finishing all the food eventually.

Imagine if the food were not tasty at all, would it have been torturing to force it down the stomach? We did not think about this assumption when we ordered.

Maybe at times, it would be better to order à la carte dishes instead to avoid circumstances when the food was not palatable, we should not force ourselves to finish it for the sake of avoiding a penalty. Eating should be a freedom of choice and pleasurable.

Outside the Building of Qing Palace Chinese Restaurant

Breakfast in Pulai Springs Resort

The breakfast wasn’t fantastic. Just good enough to fill up the stomach and start the day. The coffee was bland like water.

Pool Games in Pulai Spa & Sports Centre

After breakfast and before checking out at 1 pm (we extended one more hour for check out), we had two rounds of pool games in Pulai Spa Centre to pass the time.

Strolling around Pulai Springs Country Club Vicinity

I think Pulai Springs Resort was a beautiful place to spend a weekend and the best value for money. The surrounding was well maintained and peaceful as there were not many people around. It was a golfer’s paradise overlooking the lush golf course from the distance.

My friends had differing opinions. While I appreciated the serenity of the greens for a short weekend, they felt that it was kind of boring to stay there with nothing much to do. One could not walk out of the area to explore somewhere more exciting as it was rather isolated.

I would recommend others to stay at the Pulai Springs Resort especially families or friends who are not seeking adventures or shopping but prefer quiet and precious moments together.

I was most satisfied with the hotel room agreeing with the motto of Pulai Springs Resort “Home Away from Home” because that was my exact sentiment of staying there.

Tranquillity in Pulai Springs Resort

Time to Say Goodbye at the Hotel Lobby in Pulai Springs Resort

Travel Insurance

Did you remember to buy your travel insurance?

It is advisable to buy travel insurance when one travels around Malaysia as it is not a very safe country. It costs less than S$20 for 1 to 3 days of travel in Malaysia. Having travel insurance is better than none in case something happens.

We planned a weekend stay at Pulai Springs Golf Resort to celebrate my friend’s birthday. The check-in time for the resort was 3 pm and thus, we made a booking for our lunch at 1 pm in Nijyumaru Japanese Restaurant. The Japanese food was strongly recommended by my friends who ate there before. They raved about how value-for-money the Japanese food was.

The four of us drove to Nijyumaru Japanese Restaurant located in Taman Sutera Utama on the way before stopping at our final destination, Pulai Spring Resort. The atmosphere of the restaurant was cosy and the colour was dark which gave a special feeling.

The restaurant was almost full but the noise level was very soft unlike the restaurants in Singapore which were always noisy and sometimes irritable. I would say the whole environment made me extremely comfortable to dine in.

The first plate, Sake Haru Cheese Maki was very well presented and appetising. It tasted as good as how it was presented – fresh and delicious. My favourite method of cooking, half-cooked salmon topped with a slice of cheese spiced up the mouthwatering effect.

The two chawanmushi (egg custard) were full of goodness in it. Ikura Chawanmushi had salmon roe topping (left photo) and Fukahire Chawanmushi had shark fin topping (right photo). Having tried both, Ikura Chawanmushi was tastier than Fukahire Chawanmushi if you are in a dilemma of choosing.

Domori comprises of raw fish that all sashimi lovers should order. Alluring assortment of fresh sashimi that would salivate all sashimi fanatics.

Having sashimi alone was never enough to fill up the stomach unless it was an “Eat-All-You-Can” buffet style. I always prefer eating only sushi rather than a bento set whenever I go to any Japanese restaurant.

My friend had gracefully shared with me her Nijyumaru Bento set which she claimed that she could not finish everything inside especially the sushi. Having an elastic stomach and an enormous craving for Japanese food, I gladly gobbled up any delicious leftover that she offered me.

Sake Kawa Salad and Soft Shell Crab Tempura are two Japanese plates that never fail to titillate the taste buds.

We ordered as much food as we could in Nijyumaru Restaurant because the food was value for money. We were also exploiting on the weak exchange rate of Malaysian Ringgit against Singapore Dollars (SGD 1 to MYR 2.76) at the moment.

We spent a total of RM$ 372.25 / S$ 135 for four people, an average of RM$ 93 / S$ 33.75 per pax inclusive of service charge and tax. I usually pay around the same price in Singapore when I dine in Japanese restaurants such as Genki Sushi, Sakae Sushi and Ichiban Sushi but the quality of food was not as high as Nijyumaru Japanese Restaurant and the quantity was not as much too.

I would highly recommend the adventurous souls driving to Johor Bahru (JB) to try out the Japanese food in Nijyumaru Restaurant with the help of GPS if you are not familiar with the roads in Johor Bahru (JB).

Reserve in advance to avoid disappointment. Be punctual. The queue could be long over the weekend and the staffs might release your reservation to someone else if you do not arrive within 15 minutes of your booking time. We anticipated to be slightly late on that day and so we informed the restaurant just to play safe.

Below is the breakdown of food that I had eaten in Nijyumaru Japanese Restaurant. You can gauge the price of the food if you are familiar with the Japanese name. The Singapore Dollar is calculated using the exchange rate of S$ 1 = RM$ 2.76.

In 2011, a post on Nijyumaru Facebook Page stated that their food was safe for consumption because it was tested by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) before importing into Malaysia. This notification gave an extra boost of security.