Reminiscing the teenage years in Kluang - Part 3 and last...

Greetings all! At the end of the article Reminiscing the teenage years in Kluang - Part 2 , I did say I would write a pictorial story on my old school, in the Malay blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU . Well, I've done it under the title Memori lama pahit getir SMSJ, Kluang, Johor... Still, it wasn't the end of the day's journey as afterwards, I made another walk around town by taking a different route.

Then again this article is about what happened the following day. So the picture above should suffice to represent the walk made after visiting my old school...

Remember in the article Smelling the sea in Mersing... , I said I spent 2 nights in Mersing and that was to be a prelude of me staying in Kluang for 3 nights? Well, if Reminiscing the teenage years in Kluang - Part 1 is about what happened on the first day in Kluang, that is immediately upon arrival from Mersing, then Reminiscing the teenage years in Kluang - Part 2 is about what happened the next day and thus this one should be about the following day.

Now, Reminiscing the teenage years in Kluang - Part 2 is set on 31st December 2007, the last day of that year. Thus there's no prize for guessing the New Year's Eve was spent in Kluang and here is what I did on the 1st January of 2008...

Yep... While many chose to celebrate the New Year in "happening" places like that in Kuala Lumpur where I'm based at, I actually spent the night in Kluang, the town where I grew up from 1983-1986. Not that it's not happening... The place sure has its own share of celebrations. But I chose to spent the night (after all the walk up till 10pm that is) rather secluded on my own.

Actually, up till 1am, I was at an acquaintance's place having a massage... No... Not the vulgar type OK... My body does need some serious rubbing because of all the punishing trips it had endured and this elder lady (I'm not alone with her OK, her children was around) do have the moves to put by veins back in place, albeit in a painful way...

Anyway that was in the night. Come the 1st day of the year 2008 which for all practical purposes could be considered as my last day in Kluang (as I planned to rush to Segamat the next day), I thought I would take a walk along other parts of the town that could help conjure memories of old.

Same as in the previous day, I started the morning with breakfast at the railway station. Then I walked again down the streets with many Indian shops. This time I decided to take a picture of the area, well not quite the whole area and that is the picture above...

If on the 31st, I walked up to the railway crossing and then head for the road alongside the main mosque before going to my old school, Sekolah Menengah Sains Johor, this time, I just crossed the track and then continue to head down south... Until I reached this building which is one of Kluang's main modern landmark...

Why did I go to this building? Because it is situated next to a lake which is Kluang's very own version of KL's Tasik Perdana or Titiwangsa. This is the place where they celebrated the New Year at night but that is not the reason I'm here...

This might sound strange but I was just trying to get a sense of bearing of places. You see, the last time I was in Kluang was actually in 2001. And this is the place I went then. Unfortunately, this was also the only place I stopped at as I was journalist covering a cycling event and the road in front of the building next to this leg was the starting point for the day.

So there I was in Kluang in 2001, the town and district I grew up from 1983-1986, the area I last visited then in 1987... But I stopped there only at one place because I was just following an entourage and thus not free to move around.

In 1987, the lake have existed but without the prominence of the said building and the build-ups around it to make it a major landmark. Then the town of Kluang was much smaller than the one I noticed in 2001.Thus since then, I sort of keep this wish... Should I be in Kluang again, I would visit this place again and walk around just so that I could see how big Kluang have grown and where's the place of everything...

Thus it is only during this visit that I realised where the lake is actually situated at within the grand scheme of the town's planning. Although I've been at the lake a few times during my school years, it was not a place of prominence in my memories...

I took a left turn and took this full view of Gunung (mount) Lambak...

I walked on and saw this left turning. Then only I noticed how prominent the main mosque of Kluang if seen from certain angles... That is, the green building with the minaret since in the middle background of this picture... Honest, as far as I can remember, I never noticed the mosque from this far away! Perhaps age and nostalgia are what made me notice things the way I did nowadays...

After sometime walking up that road (heading north that is), I found this row of shophouse with gargoyles on it. All were dated around 1940s...

I don't know exactly where I was but a look towards the east should provide a good idea...

And this group of buildings which looks like a cheap replica (sorry to say that...) of Disneyland should point out the way too...

Hmm... I'm sure when I took this picture, the wooden buildings did feature quite well in my old memory of Kluang. Too bad, when I wrote this, I can't tell what it's all about...

Not far away is this Persekutuan Melayu (Malay Federation) headquarters or something...

The row of pre-war (1939 or so) shophouses should point this area as part of old Kluang... But it's only in this visit that I realised, perhaps (perhaps because I can't remember for sure..), I've never been in this part of Kluang before although I've actually stayed there for 4 years!

Ah... At last an area I remember very well... Some wooden shophouses I used to often visit while on outings from school... For here are some stalls where I used to have tea and there's also places where I used to shop for Rock t-shirts...

The strange this, I don't remember this surau (small praying hall) next to it...

Nevertheless, I stopped by for prayers and then took a nap...

Suffice to say, both the surau and the wooden building are situated behind this building which to used to a cinema during my schooldays... So the main reason I'm familiar with this place is of course, because of the movies!

Hmm... I think enough of reminiscing Kluang ya... Here is a picture taken the next day, 2nd January 2008 that is. While waiting for the morning train to Segamat. Cheers! :]

Reminiscing the teenage years in Kluang - Part 2

OK. Continuing from Reminiscing the teenage years in Kluang - Part 1 ... By the way, I'm writing this from Rawang, another 30km before returning back to Kuala Lumpur...

31st December 2007, the last day of the year. It's time to rise and shine...

I've already decided what to do for the day. As I came to Kluang to reminisce on my teenage days there while hoping to come to terms with some memories of the past and heal some old wounds more than 20 years old, I thought it apt to visit my old secondary school, Sekolah Menengah Sains Johor...

But first, breakfast at the railway station about 100 metres from the cheap hotel where I lodged at. For information, they serve such a fine home-blended coffee here that they even have special coffee shops just like Coffee Bean and Starbucks opened elsewhere...

Then it's time to do some walking... Starting with the street along the railway tracks with lots of Indian shops (can't remember the name of the road)...

Soon enough, I arrived at the railway crossing...

From there I could see the Kluang main mosque, the green building behind the greens in the background. The mosque sure hold some memory... Being cooped up most up the time during my teenage years of 1983-1986 in Sekolah Menengah Sains Johor, a full-boarding school, then the one with the smallest compound in the whole of Malaysia, it was always a relief to go to the mosque for the weekly Friday congregational prayers...

From the railway crossing, I walked up another road along the railway tracks but going the opposite way, that is to the north. The road leading to the mosque is on the left...

I had a quick look to the right and saw this pedestrian bridge across the tracks. Actually I could have taken a shortcut by using the bridge from the railway station but I went on the longer route taken just now just to remind me of the walks I used to take when on outing from the boarding school.

There, the road leading to the mosque...

I turned 180 degrees and took this picture with Gunung (mount) Lambak in the background just for perspective...

The walk is continued past the police district headquarters...

Then past Sekolah Tinggi Kluang (Kluang High School) or STK as it is popularly known, a strong rival to my old secondary school especially in the games of hockey and rugby... Oh, by the way, I was a rugby player and played up to the state level... So there's definitely loads of "rubbing around" with the equally tough boys of STK as we often represent the Kluang district in the game...

The Kluang main mosque is situated next to STK. So there's no avoiding dealing with our rival schoolboys... Being Muslims (98 per cent or so of the student at Sekolah Menengah Sains Johor or SMSJ for short, in fact most if not all students at such government boarding schools are Malay Muslims!) and under strict boarding school rules, the boys MUST go to the mosque for Friday prayers...

Then again, that's when many disappeared in action... Then's when some went looking for cigarettes to smoke or go elsewhere... Some just loitered around the steps at the mosque, all clad in white Baju Melayu with Samping (full traditional Malay suit) which clearly defined we are SMSJ boys without actually doing the prayers.

Anyway, Fridays were definitely a breather for us after being cooped up all week within the school compounds. Once every fortnight, after the Friday prayers, we went for outing, alternating between the girls... That is, the girls went outing one Friday, the boys another the following week... That's when we were allowed to spend sometime outside until 6pm where we have to return back to the reality of being cooped up again inside the boarding school.

I went inside the mosque to conduct the non-obligatory Dhuha morning prayer and reminisce the times here. After all, it's been 20 years since I stepped anywhere near this mosque...

Then the walk is continued along the same road, heading the same direction... That is towards the east.

I remembered plenty of government quarters then along this road including one belonging to a dear old friend and his family, a place where I used to stop by a lot on Fridays. Now, there's only a few quarters remaining and my old friend's are among the ones gone...

At the end of the road lies the main entrance to a military camp. I took the left turn towards the nearest main road and stopped to look back and take this picture...

The main road leads to the towns of Air Hitam and Batu Pahat... It also leads to the small road up a hill to my old school...

Ah... Finally, the foot of the hill leading to SMSJ. Plenty surely have changed. I remembered this area as full of greens. Now it is wholly developed with shophouse extending the boundaries of the town of Kluang...

A pictorial story on my old school will be made in the blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU afterwards. Do have a look. Cheers! :]

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... :]