Down memory lane

Wifey and I were wide awake quite early last Sunday morning at my mom and dad's. We felt like taking a break from the kids and we decided to have breakfast on our own at our favourite kopitiam opposite TNB, Jalan Temenggung Ahmad, Muar. It happens to be my late grandad's fave too!

Decided to walk 2km to the kopitiam just in case our kids would hear the engine of the car revving. Luckily they were glued to the idiot box and we managed to sneak out of the house after whispering to my mom that we were leaving the kids in her charge.

Walking the 2 km brought back my childhood years in vivid colours (see the pics below). My parents used to teach in Batu Pahat, a town in between Ayer Baloi (dad's hometown ) and Muar (mom's hometown) which they consciously had to decide as a compromise. BP was home for a good 20 years for all of us until mom got a bit lonely without her siblings around after I got married. I was only physically in BP 24/7 for a good 4 years as I was "sent" away to a boarding school. Mmm..not really, it was my decision which I regretted during the first year in boarding school. Dad "refused" to let me return as he wanted me to be responsible for my own decision. At the end of my first year, I surprisingly, enjoyed being away and staying with friends for a change!

Anyway, I was hit by the simplicity of life which one can have whilst taking the stroll with wifey - in particular the life in Muar compared to the hustle and bustle life in KL. But Muar is fast being hit by rapid development. One thing which I wish that will be preserved for the mankind are the pre-war shophouses. The local council has done relatively well working with the shop-owners by asking them to apply fresh coat of paints every now and then.

Seriously, I have not justice to Muar with these few photos below. There are other interesting places and buildings FYI!

The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow - breakfast after our 2km walk.


This bakery has been here as far as I can remember. My mom used to wait for freshly baked bread before we return to BP during weekends in Muar. Believe it or not the bakers were kneading the dough on the table in the five foot way.

Mango trees are mandatory for all the houses in Muar. We (my cousins, brother and I) used to nick mangoes from the neighbourhood and eat them with plenty of sugar immersed in dark soy sauce (chilli is optional!) whenever our grandad's tree would run out of them.


This is Muar's answer to Cold Storage. They stock yeast for making bread (this was the only place in Johore then which sells yeast), frozen food, imported canned fruits, philadelphia cheese etc etc.....

Muar has a Trade Centre now with Secret Recipe as one of the tenants. This used to be the UMNO building.

Another kopitiam in town - my parents' fave as the lontong and nasi lemak are nice.

Sate grilling stations are prevalent along the five-foot-ways in Muar

Breakfast haven

The towkay with his dose of daily news whilst his wife busy attending to customers

Only in traditional Kopitiams : where strangers, regardless of race and creed, become friends

Despite the fact that my hometown, Muar (a not too smallish town down south), is only 2 hours' drive away, I only return once a year (on average) for the mandatory exodus of KLites during the Eid celebration. We are meant to do it more often but kids' activities over the weekends have prevented us to do so. And the fact that my parents are always up here in Kuala Lumpur doesn't help either.

So, a khenduri organised by parents and my mom's siblings was good enough a reason to officially ask my kids to skive, which didn't meet with any objections, and drive back to Muar on Friday night after work.

Of course, Muar is very famous for the "heavy" breakfast served in various kopitiams in the town centre. The one which wifey and I like is opposite TNB Jalan Temnggung Ahmad (this happens to be my late paternal grandad's fave place too. He would cycle his black Raleigh bicycle to this place every morning to have breakfast and order takeaways for us at home). We only made our way here on our second day, though. For the first morning we went to a kopitiam called Chin Hong & Co which is in the same block as Paris Hotel along Jalan Temenggung Ahmad right smack in town due to some request for a takeaway by my mom. We had soto, nasi lemak, mee rebus, sate, lontong and toasted bread with kaya (not very nice) amongst us! During visits like this my health conscious self is lost within me.....LOL!

On our second day, wifey and I decided to take a 4km (to and fro) stroll to the koiptiam opposite TNB to have steamed and toasted buns spread with butter and kaya, nasi lemak and sate. The nasi lemak bungkus was bought along the way at a stall which cost 50 sen. Did you know that you can still buy a 30 sen nasi lemak in Muar?

Apart from Kota Bahru, Kelantan, Muar must be the best breakfast haven in Malaysia! I know of people who drives all the way down to Muar for the breakfast...Give it a try - it's only 2 hours' drive (but look who's talking....I do it once a year! LOL). BTW read this entry by Robyn of of EatingAsia for non-halal food in Muar.

Soto in Muar (or rather in Johor) is served with clear soup rather than the ones served by its Indonesian counter part.

Wifey's sate with slightly chilled longan drink for breakfast

My nasi lemak bungkus with slightly chilled longan drink. The nasi lemak was 50 sen!

The buns are toasted/grilled using charcoal


Buns are steamed on top of the water boiler! (This is the towkay's wife)

The buns used here come individually wrapped from the supplier

Our heavenly steamed buns

Coffee cups are sterilised in the slots next to the boiler