Shopping in Johor Bahru

My brains feel a little like jelly and I am not fully recovered — still coughing away but am happy to be back. I’m slowly catching up with work and feel buoyed by increasing numbers, in terms of traffic and advertising revenue.

Enough about that, I would like to blog about a pretty special day spent with my mother and sisters in our day trip to Johor Bahru. My father played golf on Vesak Day, so he couldn’t join us.

It’s one of those new traditions in my family whenever I come back to visit — we would shop till we drop in City Square shopping mall, just north of the causeway.

Most things are 30 to 50 per cent cheaper there than in Singapore, so there is a cap of SGD50 for each person to spend, which no one pays attention to, obviously. My younger sister took the opportunity to get a hair cut and my mum stocked up on my dad’s sugar control and cholesterol medication (all at half of what they have to pay at home). More and more Singaporeans, especially retirees, head over the border to load up on daily necessities.

I won’t bore you with what I bought (basically clothes, dietary supplements and toiletries), but I had a lot of fun spending a girly day with my mum and sisters. My mother declared that this was a birthday gift from her to us and gave us each a few hundred dollars to splurge. It was a rare treat as our mother was very strict with us when we were kids.

We don’t really chat when I’m in Tokyo, except between my elder sister and I, but she works part-time so she has more time to spare. My younger sister beamed at us, “Mummy is very happy today because the three of us are together!”

Sisters are forever…I read that in a novel once… We are so different but this bit of bonding time brought us closer in a way that we never could as teenagers…

My mother, being prudent as always, refused to spend on herself. She said it was just in case any of us needed more cash and she didn’t really need anything anyway.

It seems that when we are in JB, the rules fly out of the window, too. My mother lets her guard down on her healthy diet and suggests a tea break with sweet drinks and dessert.

We had a giggle over the gigantic chicken curry cornish pie that was delicious by the way. I don’t remember what we talked about but all I can think about is how well we got along, laughed, and promised to go back to JB together when I next visit. I miss them a little already…

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