I looked the opposite direction towards the Muar river mouth. Then I realised the actual breadth and immensity of this quite mighty river...
I looked again towards the front then to the right... The Sultan Abu Bakar building which is one of the iconic landmark of Muar appeared full view...
And this of course is another iconic Muar building... The Umno Pagoh 12-storey building (that's what they officially say. But when I count I think it's more like 14 or 15 floors) which was the tallest building in Muar for more than 20 years! And the only building more than 5-storeys tall around for almost as long...
Further in front, the famous Muar bridge beckons. I still remember the local urban legend... They said, due to the ghostly nature of the Muar river (there's plenty of legends abound including those regarding the existence of a giant white crocodile lurking in the waters!), sacrifies had to be made to erect the bridge. And so among the components making up the structure were severed heads of children... Seriously, that's how the legend goes!
That was quite scary... It managed to keep some of us kids rather home-bound at times, too scared to even cross the street for fear that the "Keling penyabit" (Indians with scythe) would come and take our heads! And these "Keling penyabit" (plural ya... There's many of them) actually exist cycling their tricycles (or whatever they call those boxes with wheels attached to bicycles) with a bunches of freshly-cut grass inside and a scythe or two on top. People say they hide the heads under the grass... Oh no!!!
This is the new Muar bus-stand complex, built over the demolished old one and completed just a few months back...
Further ahead is the customs and marine complex (or something like that)... After all Muar is one of the main embarkation points for visitors from abroad Indonesian island of Sumatera...
Hmm... I can't actually point out this section of buildings except for one with the blue minaret on top... That used to be the Muar railway station, before the railings were disassembled, that was years before I was born in 1970...
As the Muar bridge looms nearer, one could see the rather spanking new supermarket across which is now one of the pride of Muarians... Previously, the town of Muar is considered to lie only on the south side of the river which is to the right of this picture. At the north lies only a few settlements and no commerce except for the few shops that lined up the old road to Melaka.
Then things began to change in the late 80s with the opening of factories on that part of the Muar river bank... Still it was not considered part of town until the recent year or two... When new commerce buildings such as the supermarket in the picture rose up to extend the township borders to cover both sides of the rather mighty Muar river!
Seen here is the Mara building which houses some foodstalls and small businesses belonging to Malay traders. Completed some 5 years ago, it is one of the newer components of modern Muar...
Slightly further is this part of town which lies at the southern end of the Muar bridge...
Ah... The bridge itself. Having spent half of my life admiring this particular landmark of Muar, just the thought of cruising under it makes the heart beats much faster. Next...
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