Revived at Bali 9 Reflexology & Spa

 

Since 2012, we started to see development plans for Iskandar Puteri that turned brown fields into buildings for commercial, residential and leisure destinations.

 

Facade of Bali 9 Reflexology & Spa
at Sunway Boulevard 88, Sunway Iskandar

Developed on a site that spans across 1,800 acres in Iskandar Puteri, Sunway City Iskandar Puteri is Sunway’s largest integrated township to date.

 

Planned with a full range of services that comprise education, hospitality, entertainment, retail, commercial and residential components.

 

Sunway Iskandar, as it is popularly called, became my regular destination for grocery shopping and dining at the Citrine Hub and Sunway Big Box, the first retail hybrid park, since 2019.

 

It was exciting to witness the opening of Sports Direct.com in 2020 and later, Sports Direct USC in 2022 but my deepest joy was when BookXcess opened at Sunway Big Box in 2020.

 

The reception counter in the lobby

I also had the pleasure to participate in food reviews hosted at the Pendas Café in Sunway Big Box Hotel and joined events held at the Sunway Avianna Residences.

 

When the commercial area dubbed, Sunway Boulevard 88, opened, I was pleased to discover a range of restaurants, charming cafes and boutique businesses here.

 

For those who are unfamiliar with the layout of Sunway Iskandar, Sunway Boulevard 88 comprises rows upon rows of interesting shops, located between Sunway Big Box and the Sunway International School.

 

Bali 9 occupies two shop units plus upstairs

Readers may know that I have been busy with my Heritage Walks in downtown Johor Baru in the past few months, with the most recent Walk on March 23, so the rest in between the Walks was very welcome.

 

When a friend suggested that I should go for a relaxing treatment at Bali 9, I replied with a deluge of keen questions like, where it was located, what type of therapies they offer, who are the therapists, among other queries.

 

With a name like Bali 9, my guess was that Bali was the inspiration for this place and I was right because the owners enjoyed their experience in Bali so much that they decided to bring that experience here for everyone to enjoy.

 

A straightforward menu with
Happy Hour rates at Bali 9

I could not help but continued to ask, “And what about the ‘9’ in its name?”

 

Their reply – which reeks of confidence in their treatments – was that their professional treatments hold a promise to send guests to Cloud Nine, a phrase that describes a sense of well-being.

 

Such a reassuring explanation simply made me to head out to Bali 9 for my own therapeutic experience.

 

To reap the benefit of not meeting the weekend crowd, I checked for their Happy Hours and found that it was from 11am to 5pm on weekdays and from 11am to 3pm on Saturday and Sunday.

 

I arranged an appointment for 2pm on midweek Wednesday, right smack in the middle of Happy Hours to enjoy some 35% off the published rates, and headed out with Florence, fellow food-taster and trusted assistant who deserved proper pampering for all her hard work.

 

Separate cubicles with "O" windows on side walls
that can be opened by drawing back the curtains

A smooth drive from the city along the Iskandar Coastal Highway brought to Sunway Iskandar. I exited the roundabout adjacent to Sunway Big Box and headed towards Sunway Boulevard 88 where Bali 9 is located nearby.

 

I liked that there were ample parking lots along the shopfronts and parked just steps away from Bali 9 which occupies two units, plus upstairs, in Sunway Boulevard 88.

 

Upon entering the lobby, the sight of low shelves arranged with pairs of guest slippers reminded me that we were required to remove our footwear to put on their slippers.

 

Feet washing before foot reflexology treatment

With feet shod in comfortably light foam slippers, we looked at the menu to select our treatments while the receptionist answered my queries about the facilities.

 

I was pleased to note that theirs was a straightforward menu of treatments in choices for Foot & Shoulder and Body Massage either with oil or traditional massage.

 

On the lobby level, I saw cubicles arranged to the left with the Men’s Changing Room at the rear while the Ladies Changing Room was through an archway in the unit to the right.

 

Inside, there were toilets and lockers complete with keys to store personal items safely before we started the treatments, beginning with a foot reflexology treatment.

 

The therapists invited us to wash our feet before leading us – each to a separate cubicle – furnished with a comfortable deck chair with foot rest.

 

In separate cubicles for foot reflexology
treatment, with the "O" windows opened

It was interesting that the row of three cubicles were designed with large round windows on both of the side walls for guests who may wish to draw back the curtains and chat with their friends in the cubicles on either side.

 

As we sat back for the foot reflexology treatment, we agreed that this was a fun arrangement to kick-off a Girls-Day-Out activity at Bali 9.

 

In addition to these cute cubicles, there were twin chairs in a double room upstairs for pairs of people to enjoy foot reflexology in the same private room.

 

Our therapists, who were from Myanmar and Thailand, could speak/understand basic English so we could say what pressure was preferred. But if I let out a yelp when she pressed on a tender point, my therapist certainly understood such universal language…

 

I could not help snapping shots of
my therapist in action

After our tired feet and calves received the relaxing pampering they deserved, we were ushered into a therapy room for the next part of the treatment, body massages.

 

Since Florence chose an oil massage, I picked the traditional massage so as to have a different experience.

 

Before the therapists left the room for us to prepare for the treatments, her therapist left Florence with disposable items for her to wear after she removed her clothes.

 

She was pleasantly surprised to see that there was a set of disposable panties complete with brassiere for her to protect her modesty.

 

I learnt ahead (from quizzing a friend who had prior experience in Bali 9) that we need not remove clothes for the traditional massage so I was dressed in comfortable sports attire with no worries about getting my clothes crushed.

 

Skillful therapist at work
on my tired calves

When the therapists returned to the room to start our treatments, all conversation ceased as we surrendered our bodies to the strong hands of the skillful therapists.

 

[I noticed that curtains provided privacy on the doorways for the therapy rooms and not doors. The shut doors were only for the Male and Ladies changing rooms.]

 

When my therapist worked her magic on my tired body, I felt the fatigue lifting bit by bit as she undid the knots and realigned my body to normality again.

 

I knew she was well-versed about pressure points on the human anatomy as my therapist systematically exerted bearable pressure on me. Meanwhile the song playing on a loop in my playlist was John Cougar Mellancamp’s rock tune, “Hurts So Good!”

 

Revived and restored after the treatments, I then understood why Bali 9 claims that they would send their guests to Cloud Nine…

 

A peek into a single
therapy room located upstairs

Back in the lobby, we were invited to make our tea from the tea choices available at the counter and enjoy warm tea before leaving.

 

And yes, we remembered to change the comfy slippers for our own footwear. The receptionist chuckled and told us that some guests literally floated out after the treatment and left wearing their comfortable slippers!

 

The best part about this therapeutic experience was our chat – as soon as we got into the car – on when we will be back again, with our friends and family, for the next rejuvenating treatment.

 

Our chit-chat continued about our Bali 9 experience which was an interesting mix of therapies where Chinese foot reflexology paired well with both the Balinese-style oil massage and Thai traditional massage.

 

Bali 9 Reflexology & Spa is located at Unit L75 & L76 Sunway Boulevard 88 of Sunway Iskandar in Iskandar Puteri, Johor. Open daily from 11am to 1am, with last entry at 11pm. 

For reservations, Tel: +6010 762 5757.

Sports Direct opens USC at Sunway Big Box

 

In September 2020, at the opening of the Sports Direct superstore at Sunway Big Box retail park in Iskandar Puteri, the 31^st Sports Direct retail store in Malaysia, I was delighted to discover more than 70 international brands of the best in variety and value displayed over 18,000sf of shopfloor.

 

Facade of Sports Direct USC at Sunway
Big Box retail park, Iskandar Puteri, Johor

In the store, I saw a wide range of merchandise for men, women and children by familiar brands like Nike, Adidas, Puma, Under Armour, Asics and New Balance.

 

The store offers a range of brands in an easy, competitively priced, shop-by-sports-zone environment where shoppers can find everything they need for a particular sport in each zone.

 

It was easy to navigate the store because it was designed with zones for key sports categories like Football, Running, Training – fitness, cross-training, gym equipment, weights, boxing and yoga – Rackets for badminton, tennis and squash, and Swimming either in the pool, beach or water sports.

 

USC by Sports Direct at Sunway Big Box
 

There were also zones for SD Sports like basketball, rugby, extreme games, cycling, skates and indoor games as well as SD Lifestyle with a wide range of sports fashion, footwear and accessories for men, women and kids, plus Outdoor, a zone stocked with equipment for hiking, trekking, fishing and camping.

 

While exploring the superstore, I also saw a walled-up section with a notice that it was slated for the USC section of the store.

 

USC by Sports Direct is the sports-fashion section of Sports Direct that offers a mix of premium branded apparel, urban fashion, accessories and footwear.

 

A pair of shoes at USC - Better with Coke

After two years of uncertainties due to the global pandemic, life was returning to Sunway Big Box in Iskandar Puteri and the time was ripe for Sports Direct to welcome shoppers in again.

 

Recently, when I received the invitation to the opening of USC by Sports Direct in the Sunway Big Box retail park as the first USC Store in the Southern Region, I did not hesitate to accept.

 

On 2 September 2022, I was thrilled to be among shoppers who explored the all-new USC section in an additional 4,000sf of sports lifestyle brands to the Sports Direct store at Sunway Big Box and discovered apparel and accessories by popular brands like Champion, Fila, Levi’s, SilverTab, Puma, Asics and New Balance.

 

A range of sports lifestyle brands
in USC by Sports Direct

The arrival of USC by Sports Direct here, although delayed due to the global pandemic, was very welcome to Sports Direct regulars.

 

I remembered that Sports Direct uses labels in Black colour for Men and in White colour for Ladies to help shoppers identify which merchandise was for Men or Ladies, a brilliant idea which conveniently helps shoppers to browse around and select their own choices before seeking help from the Sales Assistants to get their right sizes.

 

I also remembered that there was an entire section dedicated to shoes for Kids in the Lifestyle section, with choices that range from sports shoes to smart shoes and even cute pairs of Mary Janes.

 

The pay-point at Sports Direct

On this visit, I could not resist having another look at the Kids shoes again and was amused to spot a charming selection designed with popular characters like Spiderman, Little Mermaid, The Cars and even Batman.

 

In the Training zone, I was not surprised to see the images of two badminton stars, P V Sindhu and Srikanth Kidami, as brand ambassadors on badminton rackets because live telecasts of the recent Commonwealth Games and BWF World Championships brought international competitions into our homes and made them household names.

 

Seen on a badminton racket

Needless to say, it was exciting to explore the various zones to rediscover the range of merchandise, browse around and made my pick for the best-buys.

 

Sports Direct, the UK’s largest sporting goods retailer by revenue in a diversified portfolio of sports, fitness, fashion and lifestyle brands, through a joint venture partnership with Malaysian owned MST Golf Group of companies, established Sports Direct Malaysia as the first direct retail investment in Asia.

 

Currently Sports Direct Malaysia operates 31 retail stores and manages a proprietary SPORTSDIRECT.COM e-commerce site.

 

Sports Direct USC is at Unit G-24 & G-25 Ground Floor of Sunway Big Box Retail Park, Persiaran Medini 5, 79250 Iskandar Puteri, Johor. Open daily from 10am to 10pm.

Sunday High Tea at Pendas Cafe

 

I’m at Pendas Café, situated adjacent to the infinity swimming pools on Level One of Sunway Bigbox Hotel and through its floor-to-ceiling glass walls, I can enjoy a panoramic view of guests in the pools to shoppers heading into Sunway Big Box and beyond to Iskandar Puteri in the horizon.

 

Entrance to the Pendas Cafe on Level One
of Sunday Bigbox Hotel, Iskandar Puteri

I remember it was back in September 2019 when I had the privilege to be part of an exciting event in Sunway Big Box which introduced the Key Partners in this retail hybrid park that was being developed in Sunway Iskandar.

I was impressed to learn that Sunway Big Box was Malaysia’s first retail hybrid park, the seventh retail development in the Sunway Malls projects, that will be integrated with a hotel, an office tower and linked to an extreme sports park.

 

It was still early in its development but I could visualise how Sunway Big Box would eventually be bustling with a mix of 13 large format stores and regular retail outlets set within a green space, planned with an open-air-warehouse concept.

 

Facade of the Sunway Bigbox
Hotel in Iskandar Puteri, Johor

It was also my privilege to witness the opening of NSK Trade City and was among its first shoppers. I was there similarly for the opening of BookXcess in February 2020, followed by Sports Direct which opened its doors in September 2020.

 

Meanwhile construction of the Sunway Bigbox Hotel continued in gradual progress and in 2021, the hotel was ready to open its doors to welcome guests.

 

The hotel had made good use of the time to prepare for the economy’s reopening and on this sunny Sunday in November, I was on my first visit to Sunway Bigbox Hotel, invited to enjoy a leisurely High Tea buffet at Pendas Café with my foodie friends.

 

I liked how Sunway paid homage to the nearby Pendas River, home to our very important mangrove forests, and named this all-day dining café after it along with a logo that featured the distinctive breathing roots of these mangrove trees.

 

The central isle of the buffet in Pendas Cafe

While I explored the buffet lines to see the food choices served, I was greeted by Executive Chef Djohan Mohd Radzi, who was putting the finishing touches to the buffet set-up.

 

He paused in his task to introduce himself, pointing out that he’s Johan with a silent “D” and continued with his rounds to ensure that the buffet was ready to serve.

 

I smiled when I saw mini yu char kway, a variety of deep-fried Chinese pastries in sweet and savoury choices. I was pleased that they were made in cute, miniature sizes, just right for serving in a High Tea buffet spread.

 

The Johor way of enjoying deep-fried slices
of banana, sweet potato and tapioca is
by eating it with a spicy dark sauce!

Inside a bamboo steaming tray, there was a variety of dim sum and in a nearby warming tray, I spotted deep-fried slices of banana, sweet potatoes and tapioca sticks served with a side of spicy dark sauce, in a typically Johor way of enjoying this popular local snack.

 

At the hot buffet, my eyes zeroed in on the mini murtabak, squares of roti pastry filled with minced beef, served with a vegetable dhal or lentils gravy.

 

There was also a choice of meat, fish and chicken and the all-time favourite of satay – skewers of grilled beef and chicken – served with small cubes of ketupat or rice cakes, and chunks of raw onions and cucumber to savour with a spicy peanut dip sauce.

 

Mini murtabak served with vegetable dhal gravy

It was good to see local favourites served along with finger food like bruschetta topped with tuna melt and a slice of olive.

 

More importantly, the small portions were just right to let diners savour a wider variety of items from the buffet spread.

 

There was also a choice of rice and noodles – stir-fried and in soup – as well as fragrant Chicken Rice served with Roast Chicken pieces along with it three important condiments of minced chili sauce, minced ginger and dark soya sauce.

 

The Chicken Rice was served complete with slices of fresh cucumber and a warm, clear Chicken Soup filled with vegetables.

 

My choice of linguini in cream sauce ...

For fans of pasta, a live-cooking station will toss up your favourite plate of freshly-made pasta with your choice of pasta, flavour and ingredients.

 

To strike a balance with the meat and carb items, there was also a range of fresh salad greens with complementing sauces as well as fresh fruits to enjoy.

 

The High Tea will not be complete without a range of delightful desserts to savour with freshly brewed tea and coffee so an entire section was dedicated to the sweets.

 

... prepared from a live-cooking station

It was good to see a choice of local kueh and black glutinous rice broth along with small slices of baked cakes and puddings including small cups of Crème Brulee and Sago Gula Melaka.

 

A section was dedicated to the kids where they could enjoy Do-It-Yourself chocolate-dipping fun for their pick of sliced strawberries, globes of grapes, marshmallows or fish-shaped crackers to dip into melted chocolate.

 

But I thought they would probably need a bit of help in using the machine provided to create a cloud of cotton candy twirled onto a stick.

 

A choice of sweet treats to dip in melted
chocolate at the chocolate-dipping station

After discovering the fair balance between local and international dishes in this High Tea spread, it was time to help myself from the buffet.

 

It was good that many items were served in mini portions and I would have a tiny portion each just to sample a little of everything.

 

After all, the pleasure of enjoying a buffet spread was to return to the buffet as often as we liked to help ourselves to the items we enjoyed.

 

There were really no rules about eating from a buffet but to take small portions and not to waste food, but I always started with the savoury before ending with the sweet.

 

So, by the time I reached the sweet section to pick my choice of desserts, I was disappointed to discover that the Crème Brulee was so popular that it was all gone.

 

Chef Djohan,served me two
flavours of Creme Brulee!

I felt even more sad when my friends who had already tasted it, confirmed that the Crème Brulee was rather good.

 

Holding onto hope, I approached a serving staff member to check if there was any more Crème Brulee in the kitchen and if they were about to replenish the buffet.

 

My patience paid off when the staff returned to say that the kitchen was preparing to serve it again.

 

And when they did, I was delighted that it was Chef Djohan who personally served me, not one but two flavours of Crème Brulee – Original and Pandan – in the tiny portions I preferred.

 

Mmm…this certainly made the sweet ending to my leisurely High Tea on a Sunday afternoon, even sweeter.

 

High Tea at Pendas Café is served on Sundays from 12pm to 3.30pm with a choice of food, snacks, desserts and hot drinks. Priced at only RM55 nett per adult and RM35 nett per child aged four to 12 and seniors aged 60 and above.

 

Add RM50 nett per adult for day-use of room inclusive of using swimming pools and fitness centre from 12pm to 5pm. Upon request at the High Tea in Pendas Café and subject to room availability.

 

Pendas Café, open for all-day dining, is located on Level One of Sunway Bigbox Hotel at Persiaran Medini 5, Sunway City Iskandar Puteri, 79250 Iskandar Puteri, Johor. Tel: +607 533 6688.

 

For more info, visit Facebook: @sunwayhotelbigbox or webpage: www.sunwayhotels.com

Sports Direct.com opens at Sunway Big Box

Just a glance at the attractive merchandise in the spanking new Sports Direct.com store at Sunway Big Box retail park in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, and the thought that echoed through my mind was, “Choices! Choices! Choices!”

The entrance to Sports Direct.com at
Sunway Big Box retail park

With more than 70 international brands of the best in variety and value presented to shoppers over 18,000sf of shopfloor in this 31^st Sports Direct retail store in Malaysia, there was certainly plenty to choose from.

As an opening special, I had the privilege of being escorted around by Danielle Gibbons from Brand Marketing in Sports Direct.com who introduced me to the various sections of this super store that forms part of the anchor tenant base at Sunway Big Box.

Another view of the entrance at Sunway Big Box 

While showing me the Lifestyle zone, Danielle reminded me that Sports Direct not only caters to the needs of sports enthusiasts but also to fashion and lifestyle needs.

In fact, an additional 4,000sf of sports lifestyle brands will soon be added to this store in the retail facia USC, scheduled to be open early in the New Year.

As we made a tour of this flagship store in Johor, I had a glimpse of the Sports Direct approach to value and variety in a one-shop, larger format retail footprint which is very appealing to consumers.

Here's the Football zone

To help shoppers identify which merchandise is for Men or Ladies, Sports Direct uses labels in Black colour for Men and in White colour for Ladies.

This brilliant idea conveniently helps shoppers to browse around and select their own choices before seeking help from the Sales Assistants to get their right sizes.

Yet (I thought!) the onus is really on shoppers to cooperate and replace each item – like shoes – at the original spaces so that the next shoppers would see the products along with the right labels.

Product labels by colour: Black for Men
and White for Ladies

In an entire section dedicated to shoes for Kids, there was a wide choice that ranges from sports shoes to smart shoes and even cute pairs of Mary Janes.

The store offers a range of brands in an easy, very competitively priced, shop-by-sports-zone environment where shoppers can find everything they need for a particular sport in each zone.

Danielle pointed out that besides zones for popular sports like Football, Running, Training, Swimming and Rackets, they also have a specific section that caters to the needs of Yoga enthusiasts.

At the Rackets zone

At the Rackets zone, I felt a sudden rush of nostalgia when I saw familiar brands like Dunlop and Carlton. I could not resist sharing with Danielle that our late grandfather was a four-time, Johor state badminton champion in the 1930s.*

I told her that my cousins, siblings, and I lived with our grandparents in our school-going years and we had a badminton court next to our house where grandfather would train world-class badminton players.**

Get your Stringing and
Re-Grip Services done here!

We looked at the badminton rackets on display and I shared how grandfather would saw down the racket shafts to create rackets that matched the heights of us kids, so that we could practice our racket wielding skills and swing an arc freely without smashing the racket on the ground.

When I spotted a counter that provided free Stringing and Re-grip Services for rackets, I was again reminded of those days when we witnessed how grandfather and our uncles used to string rackets at home.

In fact, our cousin Malcolm – now based in Sydney – has Sports Direct as a mandatory stopover on each visit here so that he could get all his sporting needs including racket strings and grips to replace on his rackets.

Many brand choices to choose from!

Then I paused to send him a photograph of the store’s façade to show off this new opening in Iskandar Puteri and his prompt reply simply reads, “Need a pair of Asics!”

Malcolm is partial to Asics shoes, so I had much pleasure in sharing with him, photos of the choices available here and encouraged him to browse at the online store.

After Danielle had moved on to escort others for an introduction to the shopfloor layout, I retraced my steps for a more leisurely look at the range of products and paid closer attention to the sections labeled “SD Exclusive” and even peeked into the bins labeled “Great Deals.”

Choices! Choices! Choices!

I was drawn to the section for Technical Sandals, everyday footwear ideal for our tropical weather and as I admired each design, it was just difficult to decide on which pair because I was simply spoilt for choice!

Finally, yes finally, I managed to make my choice and came away with my Best Buy from Sports Direct.com at Sunway Big Box retail park.

Sports Direct, the UK’s largest sporting goods retailer by revenue in a diversified portfolio of sports, fitness, fashion and lifestyle fascia’s and brands, through a joint venture partnership with Malaysian owned MST Golf Group of companies, established Sports Direct Malaysia as the first direct retail investment in Asia.

The Pay Point at Sports Direct.com

Currently Sports Direct Malaysia operates 31 retail stores and manages a proprietary SPORTSDIRECT.COM e-commerce site.

Sports Direct.com opened at Sunway Big Box Retail Park, is located at Persiaran Medini 5, 79250 Iskandar Puteri. Open daily from 10am to 10pm.

*Read, Where champions were born and The Real Champion, in My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage.

**Read, Badminton is in the blood and Richard’s Quest, in My Johor Stories 2: Interesting Places and Inspirational People.

My Johor Stories series of books are available from MPH bookstores nationwide and online from www.mphonline.