Muar Day 1: Getting to Muar & Johor-Specialty Dishes
- Rick
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
It was a spur of the moment that I decided to revisit Muar, in Johor, again on a short three days, two nights trip — I use "short trips" but others may use bombastic terms like "micro-travel" that means the same thing.
I used to visit the old town of Pekan Muar on one-day trips but spent little time in the town due to the long travelling time of more than 7 hours to and fro. Staying couple of days in the town would save some travelling time and allow more time to explore the town at a slower pace. I done it once in April 2024, as part of a 24-day journey in West Malaysia, and explored an area to the east of Pekan Muar. It would be the west side this time.
I started the day at 7:45am and reached Kranji MRT Station at 8:20am. The queue for SBS Transit 170X service to Woodlands Checkpoint was quite long and a waiting Causeway Link CW1 service was already full. Since I was heading to Larkin Sentral to catch a long-distance bus to Muar, taking CW1 was faster but may not be cheaper — I could save few cents by utilising distance-charging if I kept to SBS Transit / SMRT services. Well, it was not a fixed rule, I usually played by ear.
Fortunately, the next CW1 service came along at 8:25am. I used my ManjaLink Card to pay the fixed S$2 fare and noted RM6.61 being deducted — when SGD to MYR exchange rate got better, more amount would be deducted from my card when paying in SGD. It was a one-time full deduction and not to tap the card on alighting but need to tap again when re-boarding to verify that I had paid the fare.
8:35am: Reached Woodlands Checkpoint
8:40am: Cleared Singapore Immigration and back on CW1
8:43am: Crossed the Causeway and reached JB CIQ
8:48am: Cleared Malaysia Immigration and boarded CWL
9:02am: Reached Larkin Sentral
Larkin Sentral had a new automated ticketing system again — how many times had they changed the machines since after COVID-19? There were just 3 transport operators to Muar. City Express and KKKL had no tickets to Muar at 10am and Mayang Sari Express had cancelled its 10am service — too few takers? All 3 operators had tickets at 11am. That would be 2 hours to waste at Larkin Sentral.
I did not pre-book a ticket due to some quirks in Larkin Sentral's booking system that required users to queue and pay for boarding passes after booking their tickets online. Buying a ticket directly at the automated ticketing system will be issued with the boarding pass straightaway. Another reason being that I would prefer not to keep to a time schedule.
I was pondering to take a 10:20am bus to Batu Pahat (2.5 hours journey) for lunch and then a 2pm bus to Muar (1.5 hours). But it would take even longer to reach Muar, I decided against it and bought the ticket for Mayang Sari Express bus to Muar at 11am. The fare was RM16.70 plus RM1 facility charge (i.e. the boarding pass). I noted that the journey was estimated to be 2 hours and 45 minutes instead of 2.5 hours in the past.
For latest information on getting to Muar, read:
After securing the ticket, I had 1 hour and 45 minutes to waste. I had wanted a slow-pace and easy trip and the hiccup had sort of made my pace real slow. I made a point to catch long-distance buses latest by 9am on weekdays next time.
I re-explored Larkin Sentral, bought a bottle of drinking water — not taking a single sip before the road trip — and checked out both the Chinese and Muslim food stalls on level 3, above the wet market. I was not hungry since I had my breakfast but I would not mind eating something light just to kill time.
Then, I remembered Selera Johor, a food court next to Larkin Sentral, where I had tried laksa Johor, a Johor-specialty dish, before. I walked over to the food court to check out other stalls and found kacang pool — I was reading about this "broad bean stew" a day before my trip. Kacang Pool Haji's kacang pool contained daging (beef, RM7) — too bad for no-beef eaters — and I added-on a roti (bread, RM1). The dish was sweet-savoury and served as a dipping sauce for the ultra-thick grilled bread. I bagged another Johor-specialty.
Back at Larkin Sentral, I continued to loiter around the terminal until 10:45am, then I use the washroom before entering the Boarding Gates just as the Mayang Sari Express bus to Muar opened its door for boarding.
At 11am, not all passengers were onboard the bus. The driver waited for 3 minutes to no avail and the half-full bus departed. I tried to get some shut-eye but could not.
I always stressed the need to visit the washroom before a long bus trip and not to drink too much water on the bus because it was important and to avoid embarrassment. About 10 minutes into the journey, a migrant worker A, seated across the aisle from my seat, took a long draw on his big bottle of water. "God bless you", I said to myself. Two hours later and after the bus exited the North-South Expressway, another migrant worker B asked the bus driver for a toilet-break but was loudly rejected — I could not understand the exchange in Malay to know the reason given. I closed my eyes and opened again few minutes later, and saw worker A in the "process" of trying to pee into his bottle of water. He was fortunate that the bus was not full. I pretended to sleep.
The bus reached Terminal Bentayan Muar at 1:42pm. I drank half a bottle of water before stepping out of the bus, worker A followed behind me but his hands were empty — he had left his bottle of pee-water on the bus! Horrible people do horrible things. Even though that worker A was in the wrong, long-distance bus drivers should be more accommodating to urgent requests or make a mandatory rest-stop to avoid such issues. I made a note to use other bus operators next time.
The hotel that I booked was a short walking distance through the old town of Pekan Muar. I headed towards the hotel, hoping to find a place for lunch along the way. The noon sun was glaring down fiercely with no clouds in sight and I chose a path with more shelters.
I walked past Hua Shan Cafe (华山咖啡店) and decided to drop in. Without checking the menu, I ordered 3 chicken and 3 beef satays from the satay stall and mee bandung from Abu Bakar Hanipah’s stall — this would be my third time dining here. The mee bandung and satays here were superb. By the way, mee bandung originated in Muar and is another Johor-specialty dish.
After lunch, I proceeded to the hotel, taking note of eateries along the way, an Indian temple and also Wetex Parade Hypermall right beside the Sultan Johor Crown, a structure standing in a roundabout with a crown on top. The hotel was nearby.
I checked-in to Elite Mansion Boutique Hotel at around 2:40pm. The Deluxe Queen Bed Room that I booked for S$48 for 2 nights was pretty spacious and very quiet. The window faced an alley, with a "Muar River Cruise" mural painted on one wall, instead of the busy road in front of the hotel. I took a cold shower, but warm water came out, rest a while and to give my phone battery a little boost.
4pm, not wanting to spend the whole afternoon in the hotel room. I headed out to check out the area around the hotel. There was a kopitiam-style restaurant next to Elite Hotel called New Town Authentic Cuisine (newly opened in 2024), a bakery-cafe opposite the hotel called Sam Kee Kopitiam and also a 99 Speedmart convenience store three units away. I would try both kopitiams.
Then I walked to the old town of Pekan Muar, spending about 2 hours combing the streets for food options, revisited the giant murals and culture-related murals along Muar Cultural Walk and shops that might interest me. I also noted dark clouds gathering above Muar town.
6pm, I stepped into My Kim Mama (金夫人), a Chinese kopitiam-style restaurant along Muar Food Street or "Glutton Street". The restaurant seemed deserted when I walked in but when I was shown into the inner dining area, where there was air-conditioning, it was half full. My Kim Mama was probably the only air-conditioned restaurant along Muar Food Street. I ordered seafood hor fun and coconut shake, but the iced drink was sold out, so I got a passion fruit soda. The hor fun was nice tasting and the iced soda was welcoming.
It was only 6:40pm when I exited the restaurant. Most of the shops were closed and the food street had few stalls still selling their food mainly for takeaways since all the coffee shops were already closed. There were fewer vehicles on the roads, and the streets were getting darker due to several spoilt or unlit lamp posts. Muar Nagara Sri Thendayuthapani Temple, an Indian temple, and Muar Chiang Chuan Association (漳泉工会) were magnificent sights at dusk.
I strolled around the streets for about 40 minutes before heading back to the hotel, dropping by 99 Speedmart to see what they were selling — and the prices of many items were much lower than in supermarkets.
Back in the hotel, I tried searching for buses, online and via Easybook’s app, further north to Tangkak or detouring to Yong Peng on the way back to Johor Bahru on Friday but there were "no services" — probably no long-distance buses to nearby regions. There was no booking platforms for short-distance buses, which operated from Maharani Bus Terminal in Muar, but I could not be sure there were buses to Tangkak or Yong Peng.
Disappointed, I booked a return bus ticket (RM16.70) by City Express to Johor Bahru at 3pm — 12:30pm seemed a little early and the 2:30pm Mayang Sari Express service was fully booked. The return duration was stated as 2 hours 47 minutes, which excluded possible delays due to traffic congestions in Johor Bahru.
Closer to midnight, Muar was hammered by a torrential rain. Loud thunders and heavy rain pounded on the rooftop of the hotel — my room was on the top level — for several hours and disturbed my sleep.
Day 2: Exploring Beyond Pekan Muar
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