Nostalgic memory of Muar's "Kopi 434"

Greetings dear readers. A few days ago... Or was it over a week ago? Hmm... I think I came across this article in The New Straits Times while in Muar. So that must more than a week ago.

Anyway, I came across this article on "Kopi 434", Muar's locally grown and blended coffee with the brand (or number? whatever) 434 and I just can't help lapping it up. You see, first of all I was born and raised in Muar. I've spent practically half of my almost 38 years of life in that quaint cute town, officially touted the second biggest town in Johor (after the capital, the city of Johor Bahru)... The second biggest but yet as I remember it when growing up, had a relaxing unhurried small-town charm that not many towns especially that size (it can be considered fairly big) and important (in terms of administrative standing at least) can beat. Then again those were during the days I remember. When the main mood of transport in, out and across town were bicycles and trishaws. So much so that even school boys have to purchase bicycle license, if I remember correctly from the police station! To keep tag of its bustling number, that is...

Then, Muar was known as the town for retirees. It can boast of many significant personalities especially in public service and politics including a number of Johor Menteri Besars of Head Minister... They say its sons (and daughters too...) can make their names and fortune in as far as America and England but still return to Muar much later and once in a while go out on bicycles despite owning a garage of Ferraris and Lamborghinis.

Geez... I remember spending some time in Holland (or the Netherlands) especially in Amsterdan and Rotterdam summer 1995. Looking at the number of bicycles plying the roads, I just can't help thinking of Muar. I mean, you can still be damn succesful but still use bicycles right? Just look at the late Junior Kennedy who still ride bicycles across New York despite his popularity and fortune. I mean the world knows who is his President daddy and his celebrity royal-like mother, the heir to billions in shipping fortune but he still strides his stuff like nobody cares. Too bad, Muar isn't like that anymore. I guess development has taken its toll. Anyway I'm off my real subject which is about coffee. Sorry, I just can't help being nostalgic about Muar.

So back on track, about being nostalgic on Kopi 434. I should... I just can't help leaping back into the past when I saw the article about the coffe in The New Streets Times. As a young schoolboy, I still remember accompanying my late grandma for shopping at Kasipillay's (I think I got the name and spelling right. But Muar folks, at least my peers should know), the local Indian variety shop... That was in the days before we had supermarkets and shopping complex. Despite the heavy aroma of spices there, I just can't help my nose be led up to the next shop (or was it the next after... gosh... It was more than 25 years ago!) where the whiff of coffee being blended was simply blissful, aahhh...

Why, I remember when we returned home with packets of the said coffee (of course, Kopi 434) I would try to persuade and find ways to make my grandma let me take out some of the transparent plastic packings so that I could taste it straight away... Raw, that is. Not with any water...

Mind you, I was never a coffee drinker until pass the age of 20. Thus I have absolutely no business with coffee except this one smells so persuasive, if I may use the word, that I'm absolutely gagging to take bites straight with the plastic! Of course my grandma wouldn't let me. Sometimes with loads of drool, I just gnaw at the plastic packings just to get a hint of how I imagined the taste should be but never too bolt to actually bite. But one day, when she's not around and nobody's looking, I just can't help it. The aroma was just so strong and "beautiful", I did literally bite through the plastic bag and "eat" the blended coffee! Then only I learned that the taste is bitter. I thought it would be more like chocolate. So there, my memory of Kopi 434.

Suffice to say, the memory was so "beautiful" (good lord, I just can't helping using words in any way I please especially since as always, I'm writing spontanously and this one seems to come out like water gushing), that when I saw the article some time a week ago, I pledged I would share it here in this blogspot. However my travellings and other things made me forget until something today I'm not sure what stirred the thought again.

Luckily, a Google search under the keywords "Kopi 434" showed me the way in no time. So without further ado, the article itself... Cheers! :]

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My Johor: Kopi Cap 434 — our very own exotic coffee

By : Fauziah Ismail

2008/01/07

I’M a coffee drinker. The state, which boasts two of the country’s best coffees, namely Muar’s Kopi Cap 434 and Kopi Kluang, made me one.

Twenty-three years in Kuala Lumpur has yet to convert me into a lover of gourmet coffees from Starbucks and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Although I must admit I have acquired a liking for flavoured coffee especially toffeenut latte.

My family, especially my mother, still swears by Kopi Cap 434.

Whenever we drive down to Johor from Kuala Lumpur, my mother would insist on making a pit stop in Muar. Besides going to the jewellery store to get the butang baju kurung to replace those that we have lost, she’ll get her supply of Kopi Cap 434.

We’ve been doing this all our lives. When we were growing up, our parents made it a point to stop in Muar each time we journeyed north to Kuala Lumpur or on the trip back.

From Johor Baru, they would time it in such a way that we would be in Muar town for a breakfast of satay, lontong or soto ayam from the Malay stall in front of the coffee shop.

On the way home, we would stop for lunch at the Makcik’s stall where the ikan sembilang masak asam pedas is something to die for.

Having coffee at this corner lot coffee shop in town was a must for my late father.

Back then I thought the black coffee, served in the thick porcelain cups and saucers, were a tad bitter but it was drinkable. We kids would pour the coffee from the cups into the saucers; blow into it to cool it before slurping it up. On a hot day, the iced black coffee could really quench a thirst!

Before we leave the town, we would get our supply of the ground coffee from the nearby shop. Never mind if you don’t know the shop’s address. Your nose will take you there. The smell of the ground coffee can give you the same exhilarating effect as the taste.

Kopi Cap 434 has been around for 55 years. It was founded by Kiar Am Sai in a double-storey wooden house just behind the Muar river at Jalan Ismail in Muar.

Kiar, who was known among his customers as Ah Sai, was said to be 17 years old when he arrived in the country from Hainan, China. The number 434 incidentally is his three digit telephone number during the 1960s.

The Kopi Cap 434 is the company’s most popular house blend coffee but there is also espresso coffee and instant coffee under the 434 label. They come in packets of 20, 50 and 100 sachets.

Do you know that the company also offers delivery service?

Call for the best quotation, transfer the money into the company’s account, call again for a final confirmation and the consignment will be couriered to you on the same day. I haven’t tried it yet but would surely do so once our supply of the 434 runs out.

And I discovered only recently that 434 is indeed a local coffee.

Kopi Cap 434 uses the Elephant Bean AA, which has been described as an exotic coffee that has a very outstanding flavour and unique taste that can be found in neither Arabica nor Robusta coffee. Belonging to the Liberica species, the beans are bigger in size and longer in shape.

Somewhere in Muar, the company has a 1.6ha plantation cultivated with the Elephant Bean AA coffee. It’s worth a visit when you’re next in Muar, eh?

And now, a quaint look at Johor Bahru!

Yep! As the title says, after doing the last posting called A quaint look at the town of Pontian , let's see the bustling city of Johor Bahru from the slightly uncommon eye and perspective, perhaps with a tinge of art and nostalgia... Perhaps...

Good lord... Having had a quick look at the previous article, now only do I realise that I started this article with almost the same wordings... Unintentionally though... I just followed what came out from my thoughts, spontanously that is...

OK... To be frank, you could say I'm writing this article just for the heck of it. There's no serious reflection involved or is it? Don't let those simple facade and way of story-telling fool you...

On thing's for sure... I feel the need to let go of the story of my recent Johor travel covering the state's main 8 districts of Muar, Batu Pahat, Pontian, Johor Bahru, Kota Tinggi, Mersing, Kluang and Segamat... And Tangkak @ Ledang if you count it as a separate individual district... I still consider it as part of Muar but people say, it has now been officially announced as a separate district although I have yet to see it pointed that way in the maps currently available...

Anyway, after pitching some stories in my blogspots (remember, I have three including this one), it is now the turn of Johor Bahru to feature in the spotlights. So I've decided to split a set of pictures, one for the blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU and another for this.

But I've decided to write this article first... So to stick with the title, a quaint look at Johor Bahru, let's have a look at the above picture. Bear in the mind, it is taken right in the middle of the city next to the bustling Jalan Wong Ah Fook... Hmm... If I could describe the place in my own words, I'd say it is in JB's very own little India.

While walking around, I saw this old red building and plenty of pigeons... Somehow it touched an artistic string in me...

On the opposite side, lies this walk, across Jalan Wong Ah Fook that is... I think it's called Persiaran Meldrum or the Meldrum Walk...

Actually I was walking around looking for a cheap hotel to lodge at. While walking along Meldrum Walk, I saw a certain hotel by the name (if memory serves me right) Hong Kong Hotel! And somehow, my heart says just check in there...

It is not as cheap as I thought it would be. I had to pay RM38 for a small room with only a window overlooking the inside making me felt rather cooped in. The only consolation is the toilet is inside... I mean some hotels offer cheap rooms but you have to share the toilet outside. That should accomodate my stomach which has a habit of wanting to pass down some 'goods' quite often...

Earlier, I did approach another hotel which looks much smaller, one made from pre-war building which is my favourite type. Too bad it was fully booked. Otherwise I could have gotten a room for about RM20 plus a day.

Anyway, I can't expect to get cheap rooms easy in Johor Bahru or JB as it is fondly known. After all, it is a bustling city very close to Singapore where people come in with currency more than twice the value of the Malaysian Ringgit.

For Singaporeans, it is very cheap to shop in Malaysia particularly JB. For the people here, that made the prices of goods and services go up and thus some say the cost of living in JB is much more than that of the bigger and more metropolitan Kuala Lumpur (although JB folks like to think otherwise, that is their city is bigger and more metropolitan...)....

Oh... I was too engrossed in letting out my thoughts... Forgot to tell, the picture above was taken from the area behind my hotel room looking down at the street walk....

And this is the view from inside a Mamak (Northern Indian) restaurant just outside and across my hotel. After I'm done settling down at the room, it's time to fill the empty stomach...

Then it's time to explore more of mid JB...

Here's a look at the city's tallest buildings... Should be around 40 floors or so...

I stopped by at a small street foodstall... There's something endearing about this old man slicing bananas to be fried to make Pisang Goreng (friend bananas)... The view was made more quaint when contrasted against the background, that is the big blue billboard behind...

I shifted focus on the board. At the same time, another elderly man was walking around, a frail old man who looks like he is dragging himself to get across...

Contrast that against the words on the billboard.... "Dengan Celcom anda berkuasa", literally translated as "with Celcom you have power"... Really? Would the frail old man be able to walk faster and stronger if he subscribes to Celcom? Hmm...

And finally an angle looking down the bustling street of Jalan Wong Ah Fook... In the horizon are the flats in the state of Singapore just across the Straits of Johor. Quite a contrast isn't it to the pictures shown before? That's all ya... :]

A quaint look at the town of Pontian

Yep... That's what the title says. This article is practically a continuation of the Malay article Mencari Muzium Bugis di Pontian... (looking for the Bugis museum in Pontian) made in the blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU just now...

This is a picture taken from the cheap hotel where I lodged at in Pontian some 3 weeks ago. I felt like looking out the window and thought this a rather interesting angle and look at things....

A look at rooftop level heading towards the east shows Gunung (mount) Pulai in the backdrop. At 2,000 feet-plus high, it is the only prominent peak within the proximity of the city of Johor Bahru.

Notice the many high aerials in the picture? In some parts of the state of Johor such high aerials are common so that users can catch television channels from the neighbouring state of Singapore, even further Indonesia if you're lucky!

Part of the town of Pontian just outside the cheap hotel where I stayed for the night...

One thing I noticed. The drains here tends to overflow when there's high tide... After all the town is close to the seaside...

The main road of Pontian facing north...

The taxi-stand seen from in front of the bus-stand...

The seaside stalls where I had brunch. Notice the island in the backdrop? It is called Pulau Pisang, literally translated as the Banana Island. Perhaps there is a Banana Republic there?

The seaside or rather, the straits-side... After all, this town is located besides the Straits of Melaka...

And this is part of the seaside (or straits-side) when there's high tide. The people around say this patch of water is a favourite among those who likes fishing... Hmm...

But the real fishermen would rather go out there in the open. After all they say, Pontian is mainly populated by Malays of the Bugis stock... The Bugis are known as fierce and brave warriors very comfortable with the sea. That's all ya... Cheers! :]

The origin of Batu Pahat...

Continuing from Gunung (mount) Banang in Batu Pahat, Johor...

We drove pass the weaving road at the foothills of Gunung Banang and head westwards. After 5km we arrive at the beach seen above facing the Straits or Selat Melaka...

Nearby are some stalls... Apparently this place is known as Pantai Minyak Beku (literally translated as the frozen oil beach)... Too bad, I didn't have the time to figure the actual story behind it as I had something else in mind. Nevertheless, it is a local tourist spot.

It is located south of the bay which leads to the mouth of the Batu Pahat river, the river that ran beside the town of Batu Pahat...

There, a monument welcoming visitors to Pantai Minyak Beku... What's more important though is what lies beyond the steps...

As I went up, a look at what's directly down next to the stairs...

The stairs lead to a rather curious combination of sight... A post saying "Perigi Batu Pahat" (the well of Batu Pahat) besides a mini police station! So that explains the white and blue colours...

Inside, lies a very important monument... The actual place that gave Batu Pahat its name! For the words Batu Pahat could be literally translated as the sculpted stone... But sculpted into what? That is the question...

How did this thing came about? Just read the inscriptions... If you have problems with the size, just right-click it and save, and then view it using any picture viewing program...

And for the first time in my life, I knew the answer although I've been passing through the town of Batu Pahat practically half my life... That is when going to and from Muar to Kluang where I studied at a full-boarding school, also when going anywhere south when not passing through the North-South Highway... For the words Perigi Batu Pahat (now, you could say the well that was sculpted into stone) says it all...

And for the first time in my life, I saw the actual thing that gave Batu Pahat its name! Then again, despite having visited Batu Pahat many times, this is the first time I went here as the place lies on a dead route, 6-7 km from town...

Looking at it closely, I find it quite amazing how such a well could be sculpted into what appears like solid stone! I tried dipping my hands into it. I could vouch it is at least as deep as the length of my arms up to the elbow. I dare not venture any deeper... Who knows what lies inside!

I then when out to have a better look at the kind of surroundings where the well was made by sculpting... Just look at the solid stone...

You could say there is only one piece of big stone making up this part of the beach, a big mostly flat one... Whatever, its location which lies at the bay leading to the mouth of the main river in this district gave the whole place its name, Batu Pahat. That's all...

Gunung (mount) Banang in Batu Pahat, Johor...

Greetings all... Glad to inform that I'm currently in Muar, Johor to rest after completing an almost 2 week trip covering Johor's main districts of Batu Pahat, Pontian, Johor Bahru, Kota Tinggi, Mersing, Kluang, Segamat and of course Muar... After a week up not making any updates, so come the time to tell the tale which would be distributed as I please both in Malay, English and mixed languages at all my 3 blogspots ya... That is this one, CATATAN SI MERAH SILU and SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) . So let the session be opened with a story about Gunung or Mount Banang in Batu Pahat...

In the background, near the town of Batu Pahat lies a set of hills (or mountains depending on how you define it)... One peak on the road leading to Air Hitam is known as Bukit or Gunung Soga, the other, on the road to Pontian, comprising a few more peaks with the highest one rising above 400 metres or about 1,400 feet tall is known as Gunung Banang...

The one seen above taken from an old mosque (which I will feature later in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) ) is Gunung Banang. Since I was small, then when I became a student at Sekolah Menengah Sains Johor (Johor Secondary Science School) in Kluang, a full-boarding school more than 20 years ago, I have many times made trips pass Batu Pahat and looked in wonder at the peak. But it is only about 2 weeks ago on December 24th 2007 that I actually took steps to make that climb.

It came unplanned. I was going to Batu Pahat to visit an elderly person, en-route to Kluang which figures in the current travelling plan. After all, the last time I was in Kluang was in 2001 and the last time I visited my old school there was sometime in 1987!

When I called a friend who works in Kuala Lumpur to check if he has any plans to go to Kota Tinggi (I was contemplating of going there later on and he is a native), he happened to be on holiday at his in-laws in Seri Medan which is about half-an-hour trip by car to Batu Pahat. That's when we decided to meet up and so on...

Above is a picture taken close to the peak of Gunung Banang...

Now, as I've said before, the reason I wanted to go up was I have long felt like I must go to the top one day... The yearning was made stronger when about 2 years ago, I read a certain story about Aceh's famous conqueror Sultan Iskandar Muda who ruled in the early 17th Century.

It is said that one day he was heading for Melaka to fight the Portuguese colonials there. His wife then (he had one another equally famous wife said to have died early), a Pahang princess told him not to destroy Banang (the conqueror had a reputation of grazing down any opposition to the ground) because up there lies 3 tombs of Wali (saints) of Allah...

I tried to check if there's any other place known as Banang within all possible routes from Aceh to Melaka. It seems there's only the Gunung Banang in Batu Pahat. Besides, there are Malay folk songs mentioning about the peak. Why, one even relates the mythical princess of Gunung Ledang (very famous in Malay folklores) to the princess of Gunung Tahan (at almost 2,200 metres or 7000 feet plus the highest peak in Peninsular Malaysia) and then the princess of Gunung Banang. Then again that was the only song I've heard mentioning about a princess living on Gunung Tahan what more on Gunung Banang. Wait a minute... Or did the song mentioned about the same princess? That is only one princess who have been on top of those 3 peaks? I forgot...

We went all the way to the top. Too bad it is a restricted area guarded by no less than the army itself! Is there a secret to be guarded up there? Perhaps the tombs of the said 3 saints? Or a residence of a mythical princess...

One thing's for sure... There is a telecommunication tower up there... And when I checked again from the ground later, there are actually 2...

Now, I've been on top of many hills and mountains in and around Malaysia and there's many with telecommunication towers on top. In fact I've climbed up a few towers myself just to get a better view of the surroundings. Not all are guarded, what more with the military carrying sub-machineguns like at Gunung Banang. So what's the deal here?

That's my friend Zaidi taking a smoke... We've tried to talk to the guards asking to let us in or at least walk outside the perimetre of the fences surrounding the telecommunication tower on top... But even that is out of the question. In fact we have to go down the road by at least 100 metres pass a sign-post that says restricted area ahead.

It's not like we're going to spy on anything or breach the security. We just wanted to look around for any trace of old tombs. Or if we can't find anything, then at least let us go to were there's a clearing so we could see the town of Batu Pahat from the top (or any place near and high enough) of Gunung Banang...

Well, what can we say. The only clearing that would provide the view we seek is right on top within the restricted area. So after smelling the fresh air enough to our satisfaction, we made the trip down...

Here is a view as we approached the feet of Gunung Banang... In the background, I believe is the hills that made up the area known as Gunung (mount) Ma'okil in Muar. I guess that's all about Gunung Banang. At least we've stepped our foot up there....

The hill I saw in a recent dream?

Hah... Perhaps the title is perplexing. Bear with me for a while and all would be explained. That is while I still feel like writing. Besides, the set of pictures used for this story practically continues from where I left off in Kota Buruk (the ruined fort) in Muar... . Be patient and God will grant you wisdom, haha! :]

About 2 weeks ago, I had a weird dream where I entered an alternate universe via a door on top of a certain hill, one that as far as I remember I've never stepped foot on. And I've stepped foot on many summits... There's just one clue given... The hill lies near Tanjung Olak...

Now, I've never been to Tanjung Olak but I know there's such a place by that name in Muar. Suffice to say, it gave me the strong impetus to return to Muar for the Islamic Aidil Adha celebration. Otherwise I could have celebrated it elsewhere as there's part of me that wanted to head for Kelantan or Terengganu to start a new session of adventure.

To cut a long story short, after visiting Kota Buruk, me and my brother immediately head for Tanjung Olak about 10km away, on the small road which leads to a dead end. The problem is I don't see any hill there, so how?

After loitering for a while I decided to head back towards Jorak. From there I plan to go to Pagoh to visit another place. Just a kilometre or so after heading back from the said Tanjung Olak, I saw a hill that looks exactly like that in my dream! Except it is located quite a distance away, at least that's what it looks like from there...

Luckily I stopped at a stall in Jorak to have brunch and met a rather knowledgeable elder person. Somehow we hit on and I told him about the dream...

Then he told me the Tanjung Olak I went just now, the Tanjung Olak that appears in current maps was not the original Tanjung Olak. In fact the real (or old) Tanjung Olak lies near a hill just like the one I saw in my dream! And according to him there are some mystical legends associated to that place...

The problem is how to get there... Apparently there's some inland routes through some rural villages and plantations but the roads might not be good enough to give way for my brother's car and its low floor. Besides there's just too much junctions and we could get lost. So he told me to get to the main road from Bukit Pasir to Pagoh and look for the junction to a quarry. That's how I get to the hill shown in the picture above...

Now, I'm positive I've seen this hill in another dream. It's just I'm not sure is it the same hill as the one in the dream which gives the name Tanjung Olak because the one in the recent dream looks like it had a slightly sharper summit. Then again perhaps that is the view from another angle?

So I decided to make a quick climb. If there is another hill it should not be so far off... It should be visible from up this hill I reasoned...

I went on leaving my brother waiting in the car down below. I went on until the foliage got so thick and blocked the path up... A path which I could have gone through but had to endure some mess to my clothings...

Then again I've been gone for a while and my poor brother down there, sitting in the car with the hot sun shining might not be so happy. So I decided to climb down...

Do I get the right hill? I hope so... At least I've tried...

Now, there could just be another hill around but I surely can't see through the plants and foliages... The only way to make sure is to climb all the way up where it is clearer but the hill is quite high and the path blocked while I sure can't expect my brother to continue waiting. So I left the place hoping that those who matters know I've tried... Don't ask who those people are OK...

Next, we went to Kampung Raja, Pagoh more than 10km further and visited the tomb of Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah of Melaka (ruled in the 1480s AD or so), the only surviving tomb of a Melaka Sultan... The last time I was here was perhaps half a year ago...

This time I decided to bring my Selempang Merah (literally translated as red sash) along... Again don't ask me what is this thing. Those who know should know what it signifies...

This time I felt like wrapping the red sash in a position known as the lam jalallah (like a variation of the Arabic letter lam) at the head gravestone of the Sultan... I don't know why, I just did...

After doing my obligatory prayers at the mosque besides the tomb, we left and head back for my parents' place in Kampung Temiang...

On the way, we passed through Bukit Pasir and saw this huge Chinese cemetery area covering the hill at the small town... Ah... There is enough high clearing here for me to clarify whether I made up the hill at Tanjung Olak (the old Tanjung Olak that is) or not...

From on top that hill, one could get a good view of the legendary Gunung Ledang or Mount Ophir some 30km away heading north-east...

A look towards the east shows these hills... Then I realised the one in the middle was the one I climbed up where else there's another hill albeit a much smaller one just a bit up to the north.

Now I remember... The sign-board on the main road leading to the hills said the quarry is a 4.5km inland where else we went in for only about 1-2km or so... I mean we could have gone further inside but the road, frequented by many heavy vehicles were such in a bad shape that I could see my brother's face squint whenever he had to negotiate a hole... And there's many of them.. That's why I decided not to get any further and thus just went up the hill as seen in the first picture.

So did I went up the right hill I saw in the recent dream, the one with the name Tanjung Olak attached to it? Looks like I missed that one... But I know for sure, the one I climbed up was shown in another dream, a much earlier one and that is it itself revealing. And I've tried what I could within the limited time and resources available then...

Perhaps, I will make another visit and climb the right hill. Perhaps... Meanwhile I hope God is pleased that I've continued doing my little bit to understand the things that I should given the certain type and lineage of blood that flow through my veins. Given this posting which is a way for me to let go of what happened, hopefully more pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that is my purpose in life will be made apparent soon enough. That's it! ... :]

The legendary Kota Buruk (ruined fort) of Muar...

Greeting dear readers. I'm currently in Mersing following a spontaneous round trip around the state of Johor after celebrating the Islamic festive day of Aidil Adha at my parents' place in Muar. Suffice to say, after that I spent a night in Batu Pahat, then Pontian, Johor Bahru, Kota Tinggi and last night here. Afterwards, I'm slated to go somewhere else, that is God willing...

OK... After more than a week not making any postings here, let's get down straight to business ya. Here is something really worth telling... A piece of old history in Muar using pictures taken last week...

Just a few kilometres away from my parents' place in Kampung Temiang (5km away from main town Muar), on the way to Pagoh one can see the signboard above... Actually the signboard was only recently erected, perhaps at most two months ago. So many might not know about...

I remember going pass this road many times whenever on holiday in Muar... After all, it lies on the shortcut route from Kampung Temiang to Bakri Batu 6 where lies the grave of my dearly departed brother who passed away in a road accident 5 years ago. But I first noticed this signboard just about a month ago. And that's when I promised myself to go and see what it's all about...

Now, I've never been to this part of Muar my whole life. Thank God one of my brothers was around, so I had the benefit of his car... After all, I have none and have been practically travelling on public transport for the last 5 years, that is after my trusty big bike broke down and I haven't got the money to repair it... Until now that is. Still the bike wasn't repaired and that is another story.

Suffice to say, we had to enter a plantation and made a few wrong turns before finally getting it right... Thank God... Otherwise I don't want to burden my brother too much especially since his car got such a low floor that many times it grazed the stones and dirts on the rather difficult plantation roads...

So here I am, finally at the site of Kota Buruk which could be literally translated as the ruined fort...

So what is this all about? Is it worth all the trouble? Well I can assure you that if you like old Malay history than this place is worth all the effort.

Now, I'm just too lazy to explain everything here... So I took this picture of the information available where you can have a look at it yourself. What you can do is right-click at the picture and save it inside your computer. Then you can open it and blow the size or make any adjustment necessary to make the text clear enough for reading.

OK... Perhaps I should give my 2 cents worth of explanation alongside. Remember the Malay Sultanate of Melaka said to have been opened by a certain royalty known by Western historians as Parameswara some 600 years ago? Well, before he opened up Melaka, he tried to open a new state in Muar, in a place which later became known as Biawak Busuk (literally translated as rotten monitor lizards). This is because the place was infested with many such creatures which had to be killed but more came along, and on and on... The piles of dead carcasses made it unbearable to stay on and thus Parameswara had to find another place to start a new state.

Oh... Let me be frank. I never really like the term Parameswara. Let's call him by his proper Malay name and honorific ya... Let's call him Sultan or King Iskandar.

After leaving Biawak Busuk, he went a bit upriver and built a new fort to start another state and community centre. The legends goes that all is fine until the next morning. Apparently for no known reason, the fort became ruined... Thus the name name Kota Buruk... Kota (fort) Buruk (ruined) and here is the site of the fort...

Now some believed the fort got ruined because of termite attack. Nevertheless, it is possible that if there was no such problem and Sultan Iskandar stayed one, the state of Melaka could have been started here and the whole Melaka empire story could have taken a different turn!

Next to it lies some foliage and a clearing...

As it is, the site is located next to the rather mighty and full of history Muar river...

Among the foliage lies a rather gargantuan tree...

The way the branches spreads out and its sheer size reminds me of a similar singular tree at Pulau Besar, Melaka... On the way up on top it's highest peak which leads to the legendary and mystical (and myhtical too) Batu Belah... Do have a look at Batu Belah (split stone) of Pulau Besar, Melaka

Near the clearing lies another curious object...

It is the tomb of someone of stature as denoted by the gravestone known as Batu Aceh or Aceh gravestone, normally used for someone of very high status... The yellow clothes and colour abound signify royalty... Too bad there's no notice saying who it belongs to...

Next to the grave lies this small tree with bits of yellow clothes and some pots and things normally used for worshipping... That is, the kind of worshipping condemned in Islam but practiced by people who believe in magical powers and getting favours from the unseen, even unholy creatures!

And not far away is another grave, also with gravestones covered in yellow clothing signifying royalty... Perhaps of lesser status. That's all ya. Cheers! :]