Day Out in Muar

When someone suggested that we take a short trip to Muar town for some food and sight-seeing during the King’s birthday holiday, it was readily agreed upon by members of our cell group. It did not take us long to craft out the plan such as where to meet and the itinerary for the trip. It was virtually an impromptu trip which makes it all such an interesting agenda. Everyone was excited of getting out of Melaka as the traffic over the weekend was really bad as the tourists , even from the idiotic land of Singapore came by to clog up their arteries with food and messed up our roads. What was even worse was the fact that it was school holidays for our children in Malaysia! So, the roads in Melaka town were jammed packed while favourite eateries in Melaka were packed like sardines with the hoards of kiasu and kiasi making their way to these stalls. Sure, we need the in flow of tourists to generate the much needed income for our traders but when it becomes an inconvenience to the local folks, that’s where tempers would flare and blood pressure will arise indiscreetly. I guess, we , the locals, had become prisoners in our own state during weekends!

Anyway, our Muar trip started early at about 8.00am that day. Upon seeing everyone at our meeting point and exchanging pleasantries, we were off to Muar. The drive was good except for the host of traffic lights along the way. By the time of 9.05am, we were at Jalan Temenggong Ahmad for our breakfast for the day. It was a unique road side coffee shop. It was interesting to note that the coffee shop was run by a Chinese couple while the food attraction of lontong, mee rebus and satay were run by a Malay family. Now, that’s truly unique and interesting indeed. For one, it was difficult enough to find such coffeeshop combo and to see one run well by these two families was indeed a joy to all of us especially in a multi-racial society we lived in. I really missed such shops as during the early days of my life, these shops were a norm and celebrated. We got off to a good start indeed, really. Though we had to wait a bit for the tables as our group was rather large but it was good atmosphere. The eclectic olden tables and chairs were indeed a welcomed surprise for us. I sat on a really old wooden chair of the yesteryears which had visible repairs to it. Truly eclectic indeed! The food came in the form of lontong, mee rebus and satay ayam ( Chicken satay ) Soon Ling informed me that lontong was good while I enjoyed the mee rebus while the satay was sweet and fragrant with enough spices marination. Ah…..satay…what can I say, always a great welcome taste to our tastebud in the early morning!!!!! Overall, it was a very good breakfast. We were filled in our stomachs and we needed to burnt out those excesses.

We were soon off to Jalan Sisi in town for the mural art work at the lanes. We were very thankful that we were able to park our cars at the allotted car parks available. Had we gone to Jalan Sisi much later, we woud be struggling to find car parking slots. After alighting from our cars, I asked a nearby shop proprietor in regards the mural art lanes. She pointed out to me and I was very thankful for that. Our adventure soon begun. Wow! The lane walls were adorned with beautifully painted murals depicting lifestyle of Muar during the early years and also the beautiful flora and fauna of Muar. I guess, I was like a little kid being handed a candy as I really love the artwork. I even inspected some of the artwork and I must say I was very impressed indeed. Some of the mural paintings were very detailed and vibrant. I noted the painting strokes and the color layering done to give out the pleasing impact to the eye. Just like any other mural paintings, they started to fade and peeled off as the greatest enemy to any mural is the touching human hands. I was particularly impressed with the baby birds in a nest and also the giant river prawn mural of a wooden wall. The details and colors were fantastic as far as I was concerned. I was also very pleasantly surprised that there was a lane specially dedicated to the autistic children group. It was a very honorable & lovely thing to do as there were sensory walls and pathfinder walls which the children could play with. I did the hopscotch game at the lane and it certainly was such a pleasant surprise. It was like reminiscing my childhood day of playing hopscotch! Yeah, I was like a little kid,man!

After completing the walk, we were off to a Chinese restaurant in Jalan Sungai Abong for lunch. At the restaurant, we met up with Daniel, Loreen ,Mark and Grace. It was nice to see them and we became a bigger group. So, Sis Evelyn and Grace ordered the food for us consisting of fried dragon tongue fish, fried foo yong eggs,  sambal kangkong, tou foo with pumpkin sauce, stingray assam pedas, sweet potato leaves vegetable and sambal petai with squid & prawns.  What a wonderful meal indeed! The meal was fantastic and very fulfilling. The stingray assam pedas is the best I have tasted so far and I am not kidding. I really love assam pedas and I hardly miss it if it is cooked with sting ray. I must admit that fish is not my favourite but I will eat these two fish anytime of the day if they are cooked this way. The dragon tongue fish was simply heavenly and I ate it right to chewing off the bones as well. It was good for me. The foo yong eggs and the rest of the vegetables were also very good. All in all, a really lovely and hearty lunch.

We were then off to Tanjong Emas for ice kacang, rojak petis and some Muara Sungai Muar sight seeing. I was amazed when I came to know that there is a Muar River Cruise program. What a great tourism prospect indeed. The crowd to this place had started to swell and so was the blistering sun! It was hot sun all the way before and after lunch. The scorching and sweltering heat from the sun made us all cringed like hermits and sweat patches had started to appear in huge artistic fashion! Luckily, there were some shades and nice big trees which sheltered us a bit from the blistering sun. Then Soon Ling and the womenfolk were off to Stall No.4 to get our fix of ice kacang and rojak petis while Abby got us mineral water. Yunno, it was so much fun sitting below the huge trees and enjoying the shades and fellowshipping with one another. Teasing, jokes and laughters spread almost instaneously despite the heat and everyone had so much fun. Looking back at the moment, I could help but realized that this is a group of beautiful people with big big hearts. I must admit that I am so blessed spending the day with these people and just being simple folks out there. No air , simple minded and truly humble people. The joy of sharing ice kacang or rojak petis , the breaking out of smiles and laughter and the simplicity of enjoying each others’ company were indeed the order of the day. Simple folks enjoying simple joys of life. My family and I felt so blessed, humbled and honored to be in their company. The smiles etched on their faces says it all, actually. Simplicity brings a lot of cheers to my heart especially in this very complicated, confusing and corrupted world we lived in today.   

So, a big shout out of “THANK YOU” to Bro Teo, Sister Evelyn and Grace for taking us to their hometown, showing us the places and allowing us to enjoy the sights & the food of Muar town. To Bro Dinesh family, Bro Fook Meng family and not forgetting, Daniel, Loreen and Mark,  thank you too for sharing your lives with all of us on this special day.  We will and we must travel again together. Onwards march to the next destination – Kuantan! What say all of you?