Aeon Jusco Bukit Tinggi Opening Day.

Yesterday was the last Saturday I’ll be working. The company is going on a 5 days week, yahoo! While busy at work (really), I suddenly remembered about Jusco’s opening and remembered I forgot to send a bouquet to congratulate my friend. Quickly make the arrangement but the florist told me she would not be able to deliver on the opening hour at around 10.30am. She had already been there the first round and it took her an hour and back from Bayu Perdana.

The traffic was that bad in spite of the 5,000 parking bays. By the time I got back, cars have spilled over to the roundabout in Botanic Garden. I decided to walk and it took only 12 minutes from my house, I’ll probably took twice as long looking for a parking spot. Anyway it finally arrived in good condition.

This was my last year’s Christmas tree. Under skilled hands, it looked better than I could have imagine doing it myself.

The Jusco trees are of course much bigger. But bias me still like my tiny one better.

I rushed to meet up with some new friends of the MyKlang Community in Starbucks. Unfortunately, only four of us were able to make it as the others were affected by the jam. If any readers would like to join our group, please click on the link.

Crowds were everywhere. This is Jusco’s supermarket section.

I was surprised to see most of the shops were open for business as when I was there on Thursday night (the last time they allowed tenant in for renovation), many of them were looked far from being finished. What do you know? Looks can be deceiving. The center is up and running.

Beginning of autumn in Malaysia?

It is the Japanese food fair. There were some interesting products but rather pricey. Change that to very pricey. RM7.90 for a rather thin stick of corn with teriyaki sauce? No, no matter how sweet. But I couldn’t resist buying something. Those huge brilliantly colored red and yellow apples were appealing me to take them home. RM9.90 for each. Ya, I know, versus 8 Fuji Apples (from China) for RM10.00.

Even Cinderella was there and she left her coach behind. Could not find her glass slipper though.

Feeling hungry by now but the restaurants were jam packed.

So was the food court.

Found a quiet place in “Toast More” opposite the Green Box karaoke. Some innovative combinations of toasts from the usual to Mango Kaya, Orange Kaya… Settled for an otak-otak toast (RM2.90) as I thought that was interesting. It was disappointing. The bread is too thick and dry. (It always surprise the numbers of kopitiam that got their bread wrong seeing that it such an important part of the menu. Read part 5 of my upcoming Terengganu trip to find out what types of bread they should use). The crust is too thick and hard. The flavor of the otak-otak did not stand out. The Honey Lemon drink (RM3.30) I ordered was no better. In spite of the honey, the bitter (instead of sour) taste of Lemon still stands out. It was just sweet and watery instead of the characteristic refreshing sour-sweet taste of a well prepared Lemon drink.

Tried their Nasi Lemak (RM7.30). What is the meat floss doing there? I don’t like it when cook used this kind of creativity as it added nothing to the dish only distracts from it. The mild taste of chicken can never stand up to rich and spicy taste of curry and sambal. So why waste it here? The chicken was tender and nice but the curry could do with a slightly stronger taste – a tad too weak. No complain on the rice but the ikan bilis (fried anchovies) was not crispy enough. The sambal saved this dish. It was quite good and (spicy) hot enough for me. I asked for extra helping. I don’t mind having this dish again because of the sambal.

Went over next door to buy a dozen assorted Big Apple Donuts (RM17.00). The queuing system was riotous with patrons not knowing where is the head or end of the queue. To make matter worse, the order taking aggravate the situation with customers walking up and down the line selecting the donut. One woman at the back of me angrily complained about queue cutting and the one who is going to serve went over to serve her first. And I have to angrily defend my position as I had queued up like a gentleman would. They have much to learn from J.Co Donut.

This is a picture of the J.Co Outlet in Pavilion. In spite of the huge crowd, order taking and servicing of customers were done most professionally. However, I would not queue more than 10 minutes for a donut (and that too must be because I’m ravagingly hungry). People queued up for more than an hour to eat their donut.

In every department, J.Co beat Big Apple. The visual appeal of J.Co’s donut is more attractive. The real difference comes when you put it into your mouth. They practically melted in spite of the fact when I ate my J.Co donut it was more than a couple of hours old when my son presented me a box. Apple donut despite being fresh did not give me that sensation. Both types of donuts are of quite different types compared with Dunkin Donut so it not fair to compare them. It just depends on your personal preference. But between J.Co and Big Apple, you know where I stand. J.Co’s two dozens went for RM35.00.

I took the donuts for those working in my friend’s shop D’Trends as they have been working through their dinners. What do they sell? Here are some fine examples – beautiful fishes :).

Costume Jewelries.

Rings, chains, pendants and brooches.

Exquisite dinner handbags.

The only item not for sale in the shop is this large butterfly stuffed with stones for wings. See if you can spot it when you are there.

Ah. A happy customer flashing the V sign happy with how she look after putting on the ear ring (but she did say her ear suddenly feels heavier).

As I left Jusco after 9.00 pm, the car park was still full.

And what do you know? A full moon was overhead. Though not a Feng Shui expert, I’m sure this portends well for the new complex.

You can grab my photos in flikr (just remember to link it back to my blog) - click here ighosts.