Reminiscing the teenage years in Kluang - Part 1

Greetings all. Tonight, I'm glad to inform that I'm on the verge of ending my current travelling trip up north covering certain places in Kedah and Perak within a period of 2 weeks. As of this afternoon, I've left the borders of Perak and decided to take the air and spend the night at the quaint town of Kuala Kubu Baru in north Selangor. And tonight, I feel like continuing the story of my trip in Johor with a visit at a very important location of my teenages years, the town of Kluang in mid Johor. Here goes...

OK... After Smelling the sea in Mersing... , for 2 nights that is, it's time to head for Kluang. For information, I studied at the Sekolah Menengah Sains Johor (Johor Science Secondary School), a full-boarding school there about 20 years ago... From 1983 to 1986. So the town and district definitely have a big impression on me and how I turned up to be. So much so that even while on the bus from Mersing to Kluang, I tried to snap pictures of Gunung (Mount) Lambak, the tallest peak near to the town centre.

Now, at 500 metres high or so, it might not be a mighty peak at all. Still it was the first peak I've ever climbed up till the top and that happened in 1983 when I'm slightly more than 12 years-old, as a scout leader still trying to find my way as person struggling with the ways of the world...

I snapped a few pictures of the mountain from the moving bus. At last I got one that looks good enough. Then again, the bus was actually stopping to take and drop passengers. And I was lucky the view was not badly blocked...

Soon enough I arrived at the Kluang main bus station... This station might have been in operation for more than 10 years but as far as I'm concerned it is a new one because it was not around when I was still studying in Kluang...

The same thing with this building. It was not in existence during my teenage years...

So is this one...

In fact this river (the river Mengkibol if I remember correctly the name) used to mark the eastern borders of the town. Now it runs right across the centre... The town of Kluang have grown by as much as 3 times the size I remembered 20 years ago!

From the bus station, I had to walk almost a kilometre before I arrived at the rows of shophouse which used to also mark the eastern border of town...

I decided to walk to the railway station which is situated slightly uphill...

I turned around and savoured this picture of Kluang. I still remember the tall white building in the background from my teenage years. The one on the left though is a new one...

And a good view of Gunung Lambak to put things in perspective...

I walked again towards the town centre using another route. Hmm... I still remember this place and the playground there...


Me and friends used to rest around here while on outings during the weekends...

Going into what used to be the busiest part of town, I came across this building which used to be a cinema theater. Now it houses an electrical appliances supermarket...

The classic looking building at the middle of this picture also used to be a theatre...

I decided to walk back to the station and had refreshments there...

Then I went back to this part of town and got a cheap hotel room. To be continued...

Smelling the sea in Mersing...

OK... This practically continues from the stories about Kota Tinggi ya... During the 2 week or so travelling covering the 8 main districts in Johor. Here goes...

Note: I'm writing this piece from an Internet Cafe in Lumut, Perak. The title seems to be kind of apt as one could definitely smell the sea from the town of Mersing due to the fact that it is located at the East Coast facing the South China Sea... I was there about a month ago. And today, I'm writing from a town on the West Coast facing the Straits of Melaka where the smell of the sea is definitely rife in air.

Anyway, the picture above is taken facing north from the bus station upon arrival from Kota Tinggi. The river is the Mersing river and there's plenty of fishing boats moored around...

Another view across the river slightly to right...

More to the right and you can see this bridge across the river with the road leading to the state of Pahang...

I walked towards the town centre. The last time I was in Mersing then was about 10 years ago. The main hill there still beckons...

The hill with the huge letters spelling "Mersing" is an easy to find landmark here. It looks almost the same as the hill in Kuala Terengganu some 400 km further up north along the East Coast albeit smaller... And the hill in Terengganu also has more giants letters, spelling "Allah selamatkan Terengganu" (God save Terengganu)...

Almost immediately, I managed to find a cheap hotel to my liking. Here is a view from the hotel...

The day was a Friday and I arrived in Mersing just before the Friday prayers. I managed to hitchike a car and went up the mosque on top a hill near the beach.

Oh... For information, this particular article don't have any picture of the sea although the title is "Smelling the sea in Mersing"... Then again, I didn't say "The view of the sea in Mersing" did I? Still you could have a look at the sea through an article regarding the mosque at the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) . Or just click Pemandangan di Masjid Jamek Mersing (views at the main mosque of Mersing)...

It is only after the prayers that I realised how interesting is the view of the mosque on top of the hill. I'm sure I've been to Mersing at least 5 times before but I've never step foot on the mosque. Not until that day...

The walk back towards the town centre...

A look behind and then only I realised the mosque could clearly be seen from the town. God Lord, I've never noticed it before...

Whatever, I spent a night in Mersing and the next day I was back at the bus station ready to continue the trip, this time heading for Kluang...

Too bad, I missed the last bus at 5pm or something. So unlike the previous nights where a night was spent each in Batu Pahat, Pontian, Johor Bahru and Kota Tinggi (I spent more nights in Muar but that doesn't count as it is my home district), I actually spent 2 in Mersing. It was later that I realised, the altered number of nights stayed was a prelude to staying 3 nights in Kluang but that is another story. Ends... :]