Was in Aeon BI yesterday when it started to rain very heavily. So I thought it fit to make a trip to zone 7 to have a feel of what its like when there is a downpour. There was no flood or ponding on the main roads outside of Arte, only the water is a little muddy due to construction.
I checked out the pasar malam in Jln Emas Putih 4 (near Sutera mall) on Sunday night and pasar pagi near Pearl cafe/Petronas/BI polis station on Monday morning. Both were smaller in scale compared to the one in Tun Aminah on Saturday evening. One can generally find cooked and raw food sold, just not raw pork. Of all the times I visited pasar malam, I only did buy dinner once just last Sunday and now I know why people generally crowd around those 'fan cai' stalls and pick up packets of rice with dishes. The prices charged can really help stretch your dollar. I bought two packets of fried noodles (each portion is so big that two can share one packet), fried chicken (one drumstick and one wing, both big and crispy) and a big bag full of fried vegetables (yin choy), all for RM9.20. Without sounding like a cheapo, it is really very do-able to retire in JB.
I had my pasar malam packed dinner in J Hotel, a quint little hotel in Sutera, within walking distance of Sutera Mall. The rate I paid was RM128 nett for one night. Room came with queen bed (clean sheets), a bottle of home made water, free wifi (quite fast), tv (only Channel U worked), towels (bring your own as theirs were greyish white and you won't feel like using them) and slight cigarette smell. Aircon was cold, and there is a security guard outside. Parking was free, and we managed to secure a lot just outside the hotel because whenever someone vacate a lot outside the hotel, the guard would 'chop' the empty lot for the next guest. On the whole, not much expectation from this hotel due to their low rates. Would not stay there again as the bed was quite hard, so did not sleep well.
Also learned that chinese lingo in JB is not what it seemed. I ordered wonton mee with chilli and it came with a small saucer of green chilli, but no chilli in the noodles. Went to ask for chilli sauce and the lady handed me a bottle of maggi chilli sauce. Then saw some chilli near the stove area and said I actually want that chilli, and lady replied me 'you want sambal is it?'...hahahah