SUMMARY:

• Muar is full of surprises. My first proper exploration of Johor’s Royal City took me from quiet residential streets to a beautiful waterfront park, historic buildings, and a lively local food street.
• You can learn a lot just by reading the street signs. A walk through my neighborhood introduced me to famous figures from Malaysian history, including Yap Ah Loy, whose influence helped shape Kuala Lumpur.
• The best experiences often happen when you aren’t looking for them. A chance encounter with a local man turned an ordinary lunch stop into a generous introduction to Muar’s food and community.
• A little reconnaissance goes a long way. I finished the day with a much better understanding of the city’s layout, a new appreciation for its riverside setting, and a very satisfying cup of specialty elephant bean coffee.

Settling Into Life in Muar

After cycling from Melaka into Johor, I’ve established a temporary base at Long Stay Homestay Muar. My room is enormous. There’s enough space for my bicycle trailer, panniers, camera equipment, coffee station, and entire Planet Doug workstation, with plenty of room left over for a game of basketball.

Remarkably, this was also the least expensive accommodation option I could find in the city.

Of course, budget travel always involves compromises. My room shares a bathroom with the neighboring room, and the communal lounge outside occasionally becomes somebody else’s bedroom. I’ve developed a workaround: there’s another bathroom downstairs that I can use whenever I want a little more privacy.

That’s one of the differences between a homestay and even a basic hotel. You gain a glimpse of life in a residential neighborhood, but you also surrender some control over your surroundings. You learn to adapt.

The neighborhood itself is fascinating, with large houses, gated entrances, and elaborate drainage canals running alongside the streets. Those canals aren’t just functional infrastructure, either. They’re home to enormous monitor lizards that occasionally explode into motion, splashing their way along what must seem to them like a network of urban highways.

And then there’s my new favorite luxury: a remote control for the entrance gate.

Apparently, it doesn’t take much to make me feel like a titan of industry. After years of budget travel, being able to open a gate with the push of a button is practically an executive perk.

A History Lesson Hidden in the Street Signs

One of the things I’ve noticed about wandering around unfamiliar cities is that you can learn history from street signs.

My neighborhood has streets named after several famous figures associated with Malaysian history, including Hang Tuah, Hang Kasturi, and Hang Lekiu. These names are familiar from my recent explorations of Melaka, where the stories surrounding these legendary warriors have become part of my ongoing investigation into the region’s past.

But one street name caught my attention for a different reason: Jalan Yap Ah Loy.

If you’ve ever looked into the history of Kuala Lumpur, you’ve probably encountered Yap Ah Loy, one of the city’s most important early leaders. I stopped to refresh my memory and discovered a connection I hadn’t appreciated before.

Yap Ah Loy served as Kapitan Cina during a turbulent period in Kuala Lumpur’s development, when tin mining attracted large numbers of people and competing interests created considerable disorder. He also played an important role in rebuilding the settlement following the Selangor Civil War.

What particularly interested me was the story of brickmaking. After repeated fires devastated Kuala Lumpur, buildings were increasingly rebuilt using brick rather than traditional thatch and wood. The establishment of brickmaking operations in the area south of the river junction is associated with the origin of the name Brickfields, now familiar to anyone who knows Kuala Lumpur’s Little India district.

I had set out that morning simply to find breakfast. Instead, I found myself revisiting the history of a city I’d recently left behind.

My advice to anyone visiting Malaysia: pay attention to street names. If a name catches your eye, look it up. You might discover an entire chapter of history that you would otherwise have walked straight past.

The Joy of a Proper Reconnaissance Trip

My previous explorations around Melaka were generally planned. I knew which historical sites I wanted to visit and had a fairly good idea of the stories I wanted to investigate.

Muar was different.

I had a general sense of the city’s geography, knew there was a riverfront, and had spotted a few interesting places on Google Maps. Beyond that, I was essentially setting out to see what I could find.

This is what I think of as a classic Planet Doug reconnaissance trip: go exploring without knowing exactly where you’ll end up.

I eventually made my way to the coast, discovering a substantial waterfront park along the Strait of Melaka. There were wide paved paths, benches, exercise stations, mangrove vegetation, and muddy coastal habitats that seemed to support a surprising amount of wildlife.

I had previously examined the area on satellite imagery while wondering whether there might be somewhere suitable to camp. On the ground, however, the difference between a public park and a genuinely wild area becomes much clearer. Some boardwalks were closed for repairs, and the layout suggested that this was a place designed primarily for recreation rather than overnight camping.

I was also reminded of how much I appreciate having a bicycle. I can cover a considerable amount of ground, investigate a path that looks interesting, and move on when it turns out to be a dead end. There’s no elaborate itinerary to disrupt.

The waterfront eventually led me toward the mouth of the Muar River, where the river is so broad that it almost feels like a lake.

Coming from Melaka, the difference was striking. The Melaka River seems positively modest by comparison.

Why Waterfronts Make Cities Better

I grew up in Sarnia, Ontario, on the shores of Lake Huron and the St. Clair River. Perhaps that’s why I have such a strong attachment to cities with a shoreline.

There’s something about having open water nearby that makes a place feel more complete. It gives people somewhere to walk, sit, exercise, watch boats, or simply escape the streets for a while.

Muar has a lovely setting in that respect, with its broad river, coastal parkland, and views toward the Strait of Melaka. I even arrived at the river cruise jetty just as a tourist boat was returning.

The waterfront isn’t uninterrupted, unfortunately. Once I reached Masjid Jamek Sultan Ibrahim, I discovered that the riverside route was blocked by buildings, forcing me back onto the streets.

Still, the mosque itself was worth seeing. Completed in 1930, it has a distinctive architectural character, including British influences and an unusual tower with multiple balconies and platforms. Its yellow exterior was also a reminder that my memory isn’t always reliable: I had somehow convinced myself that the mosque was blue and white.

Muar’s royal identity is visible everywhere, from civic monuments to crowns displayed above roundabouts. The city’s title, Bandar Diraja, means Royal City, and the references to the Johor monarchy make that identity difficult to miss.

I also came across repeated references to Maharani, a name associated with the city’s history and royal connections. The more I wandered, the more I realized that Muar has its own historical personality, distinct from Melaka even though the two places share a connected past.

A Coffee Worth Stopping For

No exploration of a Malaysian city would be complete without investigating its coffee shops.

One establishment kept appearing in my research: Kopi 434, also known as Elephant Bean. Its distinctive elephant sign made it easy to recognize, and I decided to stop for a drink.

The place was packed. Every table seemed occupied, and I ended up in my customary position: the worst seat in the establishment, tucked into the back corner beside the bathroom.

Some Planet Doug traditions apparently survive regardless of the country.

I ordered an iced version of the shop’s signature coffee. What made it special was the use of 100% elephant bean coffee, and it had a distinctive aroma and flavor that seemed to have a hint of cinnamon.

I’m not a coffee expert, so I can’t give you a sophisticated tasting analysis. I can tell you that I enjoyed it.

The only drawback was the size. For the price, I would happily have drunk several more.

Nevertheless, it earned a Planet Doug thumbs-up. If you’re particularly interested in coffee, it seems worth investigating. Just pay attention to the menu: some of the specialty drinks are considerably more expensive than an ordinary cup of coffee.

And now that I understand how the place operates, I might return for a hot coffee in the morning. That’s one advantage of exploring a city slowly: the first visit is often about figuring things out, while the second can be about enjoying them.

Food Street and an Unexpected Lunch Invitation

Later, I found my way to Jalan Haji Abu, also known as Glutton Street, Muar’s local food street.

I had arrived at the wrong time of day, as usual. Many establishments were quiet or closed, and I could easily imagine how much livelier the street would become in the evening, when the temperature drops and people come out to eat.

But even during the day, it had a very local character. This wasn’t a tourist market constructed for visitors. It was a working neighborhood full of food businesses, traditional shopfronts, and the sort of places where people seemed to know one another.

Then a local man approached me, struck up a conversation, and began offering suggestions about food and places to visit. Before long, he was helping me order a meal at a traditional establishment known for its pork dishes.

And then he treated me to lunch.

The meal included several types of pork, rice, sauce, and a clear broth. He also introduced me to otak-otak, a local specialty I had heard about and tried once but back in Kuala Lumpur. There was an accompanying citrus drink with a sharp, tangy flavor that I particularly enjoyed.

The conversation wandered through travel, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, and my plans to continue toward Batu Pahat. My new lunch companion had advice about where to eat and even suggested a time of day for making the next cycling journey.

Muar Beyond the Tourist Trail

The lunch stop also reinforced something I had already begun noticing: Muar feels different from Melaka and Kuala Lumpur.

In those cities, a foreigner walking around with a camera is hardly unusual. In Muar, I found people much more curious about me. Several wanted to know where I came from, what I was doing in Malaysia, and why I was traveling by bicycle.

I also noticed groups of migrant workers gathering in parks and along the main streets. After speaking with a few men, I learned that some had come into town on their day off to shop and spend time with friends before taking a bus back to where they lived and worked outside the city.

It was a small glimpse into a pattern of urban life I’ve encountered in other parts of Asia, where certain downtown areas become gathering places for people from particular communities.

Meanwhile, the city’s historic shopfronts, older buildings, and occasional abandoned structures gave Muar a sense of accumulated history. Not everything was restored or polished for visitors, and I found that appealing.

I also stumbled across an ornate Hindu temple that I hadn’t noticed on Google Maps. Its brightly colored towers were a complete surprise, just a short distance from the food street.

What I Learned From One Day of Wandering

By the time I returned to my homestay, I had a much better mental map of Muar. I knew where the waterfront park was, how the streets connected, where to find the food street, and which places might be worth another visit.

I had also found a coffee shop worth returning to, discovered more historical names to investigate, and enjoyed an unexpectedly generous lunch.

Most importantly, I had begun to get a feel for the city.

Muar is not Melaka, and it doesn’t have the same concentration of tourists or the same immediately recognizable collection of historic attractions. But it has its own character: a broad river, a strong royal identity, interesting architecture, neighborhood food culture, and people who seemed genuinely interested in talking to a passing traveler.

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Notable Quotes & Standalone Insights

“This is what I think of as a classic Planet Doug reconnaissance trip: go exploring without knowing exactly where you’ll end up.”

“My advice to anyone visiting Malaysia: pay attention to street names.”

A street sign can be more than a way to find your way around. It can be an invitation to investigate a historical figure, a forgotten event, or a story connecting the place you’re standing with somewhere you’ve already been.

VIDEO FULL TRANSCRIPT:

Good morning from Muar, Malaysia, the Royal City of Johor. And you can see I’m living a little bit in luxury here with my huge room at the Muar longstay homestay. I think I think it’s called Long Stay Homestay something like that. I can show you the sign when I go outside. But yeah, I just ended up with this very large room up on the second floor. I could play basketball up here. I could go skateboarding or something, you know. Not sure what to do with all this space, but got coffee station all laid out over there. My lots of room for my trailer and pet bags and my works Planet Doug workstation over there. And then all of my gear laid out on the bed. Yeah, very comfortable. Very very happy to be hanging out here. And a very large window, which is nice. Lets in a lot of light. Though these days if you’re keeping track of the date and the weather conditions you can see there isn’t a lot of light to come in because of all the haze coming out of Indonesia that’s a huge story right now in the media here in Malaysia and yeah the air quality concerns things like that but yeah I guess because of the the burning of land to get it ready for planting in the media I keeps hearing it called like illegal operations to burn all this land to start farming. I don’t know whether it’s actually illegal or what’s going on with that story, but yeah, seems to be all this haze is coming from Indonesia right now. And that means yeah the the sun is barely visible. It’s like this tiny orange circle. Like it looks like it shrunk down in size. It looks really small up in the sky and it barely manages to get through the haze. It’s really quite something to see. Yeah, it’s really weird.

So, yeah, the one wrinkle with this room, I talked about it when I moved in, is I didn’t realize it, but it shares a bathroom with the neighboring room. And yeah, I mean that makes sense for a homestay to do that to save money when they built the rooms. And this was originally a house, so it was never designed to have a bathroom in every single room. And then if they happen to have a very convenient spot here to put a bathroom between two rooms. Yeah, kind of makes sense. And if a big family shows up, they rent both rooms or a big group of friends so they can have adjoining rooms. And of course, they’re friends and their family, so they don’t mind sharing a bathroom. But it makes my life interesting because, you know, I have to knock on the door every time like knock knock. He’s like waiting like is there anybody in there? I don’t know. And I have to open the door like slowly, you know. And of course the people in the other room, they’re they tend to be noisier than me. I think everyone in the world is noisier than me. I’m a very quiet, very gentle person opening doors and being very careful. And other people, of course, they slam doors and they don’t really worry about noise that much. So I get the worst of it in these situations. But one thing I discovered is there actually is like a an open bathroom, like a private bathroom on the first floor. So if I’m heading into a bathroom and I know I’m going to be in there for a while, I hate being in a bathroom, feeling like there’s a time pressure, I can sense somebody on the other side of the door like waiting, come on, come on, come on. You know, they’re waiting to hear me leave the bathroom and close my door and there’s no water running anymore and then they can come in. So if I feel people out there waiting for me, I I get very unsettled. I’m like, I can’t relax. So what I do, actually, I use the bathroom down on the first floor. I don’t even use this one. I just go downstairs, grab my towel, whatever, and I use the bathroom on the ground floor. And then it’s a private, it’s out in the open. It’s a public bathroom. It’s not attached to a room. So I can just go in there, close the door, and I don’t feel like people are like banging on the door waiting for me to get out of there. So anyway, you adjust, right?

It’s breakfast time, so I’m going to head out, show you a little bit of my neighborhood. Just a local kopitiam. Get yeah, just get a few snacky things. Cup of iced coffee for breakfast. Let’s head outside. Door to my room right there. I still haven’t figured out the name. The the other room up here is called King and Lois. And then mine is called Scholll. I meant to look that up. I still haven’t. I don’t know. I think of this as some sort of a tobacco, like Skool tobacco, but maybe it’s a historic figure. I don’t know. But right outside my room is like a little lounge area. People can hang out, watch TV. The two nights that I’ve been here so far, people sleep here, which I find a little bit annoying because I feel like I’m a prisoner in my own room. I can’t use the bathroom and then I feel reluctant to leave my room because there’s always somebody sleeping out here and I don’t want to disturb them. So yeah, when you when you stay in a homestay, you don’t have quite the privacy and the control over your life that you do staying at even a low-budget hotel. You get a little bit of a friendly atmosphere like you’re you’re in an interesting neighborhood. I mean, here’s the view. You know, you can see I’m just out here amongst the houses and there are some amazing houses in this area. Big big houses and so yeah, it’s pros and cons everywhere you stay, right? Some advantages and disadvantages. And I don’t think I quite explained the whole bathroom strategy I’ve developed that I mean the real problem with that shared one is that you never know if anyone’s in there or not, right? You have to knock on the door. It’s like, “Hello, hello.” And you’re worried that they didn’t hear you or something and then you open the door, you know. But this bathroom down here, I’m just heading down the stairs from my room. It’s over here. And you can see, yeah, the door is open. So, there’s like a clear signal. If the door is open, it’s unoccupied.

This is the best part of staying here. Ice cold water. Oh, so so so good.

Nice shoe cupboard. But for the first day and night and our second day even, I had no idea that this was a shoe cupboard. So yeah, it’s just sort of just sort of hidden over there. I finally figured that out. It’s surprisingly quiet. It is. Yeah. Saturday today. I thought this place would be jammed, you I thought it would be packed. There’s my beast of burden back there.

One really fun thing about this place is when you check in, they give you your room card, but you also get a remote to open the gate. So, I feel like I’m a titan of industry all of a sudden coming out of my mansion. And I just get to push the button and open the gate. Planet Doug. We’re moving up in the world. And I can stop it and close it, though. I’m not quite sure how the buttons work. The red button stops it. Oh, yeah. I’m pressing it a second time. Closes it. My life is such a simple life that small things like having a remote for a gate needs a bit of oil there is, you know, incredibly entertaining. Only on Planet Doug. But yeah, you can see the size of the place. It seems to be cut in half. Maybe it was originally two properties, two owners or whatever because that’s the main gate over there and that’s part of the homestay. But then they told me, “No, your room isn’t there.” And I had to come out down here to this gate. And it looks like there’s a a line dividing the house in half. Like there’s front half, rear half, and I’m in the rear half.

Yeah, look at the sky. Feels like a postapocalyptic setting with the gray haze up there. That’s crazy. I mean, I’ve lived in this part of the world for a long time, so this is nothing new to me. I mean, every year you’re dealing with the haze like this. The burning season comes around. Okay, here’s the name. Long Stay Homestay Muar right here. Yeah. And overall, I can give it a Planet Doug thumbs up. You can see the number there, or you can find it on Google Maps. Yeah. As long as you’re familiar with homestays and you know how they work, it can be a perfectly fine place to stay. And in terms of things I’ve been able to find out, it is the least expensive option for me, which is kind of crazy when you think about it. I mean, I’m living in a luxury home, a mansion basically. And this was the cheapest option I could find in the city. Oh, there is one other place that has a price per night equivalent to what I’m paying or a little bit lower. But yeah, I got very excited every time I saw this place. But then it turned out it was a capsule hotel, like a one of those space capsules. And that’s pretty awkward for me. I mean, if I saved a lot of money, I mean, if it was 20 ringgit, yeah, I’ll live in a capsule. But if they’re also charging 50 or 60 ringgit and you’re just living in a little coffin-shaped bright blue and white, you know, capsule, yeah, it’s not worth it really. So, yeah, my neighborhood is a residential neighborhood as you can see. But yeah, check out the houses. Look at that size of that one over there. No idea if that’s like a residential home or like five separate apartments. I think it’s a residential. I see a really fancy looking motorcycle through the glass there or a sports car. I’m just guessing that people in this neighborhood have money is what I’m saying. Everybody has money except for me.

Yeah. Look at this house here on the corner. Big gated entrance fence. Another one here. I heard them doing some construction on this house the other day. And of course, dogs are not that common in Malaysia, but when you get in a neighborhood like this, you’ll start to hear dogs barking because they keep them as guard animals just to bark at people as they go by. So, I’ve been barked at quite a bit as I walk around here.

Not a whole lot going on in terms of shops and cafes and convenience stores. So, you got to go for a little bit of a walk up to the main street here. And then there’s like typical like local kopitiam up there. That’s where I’m heading for a breakfast snack.

And this whole neighborhood has quite an elaborate set of drainage whatever you call these things. I’m always stumbling over the word. I don’t know what to call these. But look at that. It’s like a canal. It’s huge. And then every driveway has to have a very strong cement and steel bridge going over it. But yeah, and you get startled by the monitor lizards. There are huge monitor lizards living in these tunnels or these canals, whatever you want to call them. They’re like dragons. They’re so big.

Yeah, I’ve been walking around and suddenly I hear this explosion of motion and splashing water and it’s like a massive monitor lizard just goes racing up these canals. Yeah. Look how deep they are. It’s like it’s like this house has its own moat. It’s practically It feels like a moat. Yeah. Nice fenced in yard. Pro tip for anyone visiting Malaysia as a foreigner, pay attention to the street signs. You can actually if if you make a a little mental note of the signs, you can learn a lot about the history because this is Jalan Hang Kasturi. And if you’ve watched my videos from Melaka, you know that Hang Kasturi is quite a well-known historical figure, one of the compatriots of Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat and Hang Lekiu. And just like how in Canada or the United States, every city has an Oak Street, a Maple Street, things like that, here every single city has a Hang Tuah street, a Hang Jebat street. I think they have multiple ones. Yeah, so that was Hang Kasturi right there. And then this street right here, if you look at the name, Jalan Hang Tuah. So if you walk around Malaysia, every time you see a street name, just pop it into a Google search, it’s like, “What the heck? What is a Hang Tuah?” And then you can learn about a whole part of Malaysian history just by paying attention to the street signs. And I was thinking about that because yesterday I walked by this one over here. Very important name. Jalan Yap Ah Loy. Let me get closer to it so you can see the full name.

There it is. And if you spend time in Kuala Lumpur and did any reading about the history of that city, well, you probably have come across that name. You may not remember it, but Yap Ah Loy. In a general sense, you could probably say he is the founder of Kuala Lumpur. And just to get my facts straight, I I typed his name into Google cause I knew I was going to mention him. Oh boy, I can’t read that without my glasses. As a YouTuber, I need a third arm. One for your phone, one for your GoPro, and then I’m kind of stuck after that. But yeah, I looked him up. Don’t quote me on this. If you want to know the real history, you know, do your own research. Just look him up on Wikipedia. But the notes that popped up for me is that his key roles in KL’s history, he was the third Kapitan Cina. So he was like the appointed leader from 1868 to 1885. And that was in the time of the tin boom because KL was founded as a tin mining city. So there was like this big tin boom. Lots of people rush like a gold rush basically. And there was a lot of lawlessness going on, competing gangs, things like that. And then yeah Hap Yap I always call him Hap, but Yap Ah Loy was the Kapitan, the leader, and he was trying to keep things under control. And I guess he was key to rebuilding KL after the Selangor Civil War. You can read all about that. 1867 to 1873. And then the city was also devastated from time to time by fires and floods. And this is something brand new that I I didn’t know about him. It says that he was behind the birth of Brickfields, Little India now in KL. And it says, and I really like this story because it connects with a lot of things I found out about Melaka. It says that to prevent future fire disasters, this man Yap Ah Loy, he mandated that buildings had to be rebuilt using brick instead of thatch and wood because KL kept burning down. He said, “Well, that’s enough of that. Let’s build with brick.” So he established a massive brickmaking kiln in KL in the area south of the river junction and that’s why it’s called Brickfields today. But he was the mastermind apparently behind that. And he learned all of that here on Planet Doug just because I happened to spot the street name. So yeah, pro tip. Look at look at all the street names as you walk around. In my time since I left from KL and then left from Melaka, like outside of Melaka, outside of KL, I’ve noticed a big like really significant difference in how people react to me in Melaka. Of course, I’m a white dude wandering around with a camera. Nobody gives you a second glance cause that’s normal. KL, they’ve seen they’ve seen foreigners before. Nobody gets that excited about it. But here when I walk around, people are like really interested in me. I’m getting so much reaction from the local people. Everybody coming up and talking to me and oh what’s your name? Where are you from? What are you doing in Malaysia? Yeah, people just re respond to me just my presence here way more than in Melaka and KL. So I just arrived at a little chunk of kopitiam here. This is where I’ve been eating. And there’s one right here which is really nice. And then I’m going to go over to this one today.

The name Good Place Kopitiam. So I’m going to pop in here just get some very very basic food. So you got your basic roti canai. I’ll probably get one a fancy one. Cheese with egg. And then some other things here. Hello. Hello. Hello sir. Hello. Good morning. Good morning. Can I help you? Yeah. Maybe same as yesterday. But same yesterday roti canai and I yesterday the same one. Finished. Oh, that’s all done. Okay. One one maybe one two or one two. Okay. I’m hungry. And noodles and some noodles and one go to China egg. Yes, please. Egg. Okay. Okay. I’ll sit down.

Kopi Ice. Kopi Ice. Yeah.

Yeah. So this place like this, this is where it all happens in Malaysia. This is where you go to go to eat, hang out.

Coffee. I I ordered coffee already. Yep. This is my breakfast so far. Just some noodles, couple of these little snacky things. Roti, and I ordered a iced coffee. I don’t have my coffee yet still coming. But here’s the last part of my breakfast. Roti canai with a little bit of sauce there. It’s really good. Here’s my here’s my breakfast. One thing about this annual fire haze that we live with, it’s really hard to tell if it’s going to rain or not, right? It’s not like you have a clear sky and then you can see dark clouds moving in. It’s just a solid gray up there. And I It feels like it’s going to rain. It’s so humid. Incredibly humid. Feels like water is just going to come pouring down on my head. But you can’t tell by looking up at the sky. I’m looking off to the left because I’m always I’m trying to find these giant Godzilla monitor lizards that live down here. Can you imagine being a monitor lizard and this is like your highway system throughout the city. I don’t know how far they extend. Maybe it’s just this neighborhood or everywhere. I don’t know. There’s another I haven’t eaten here yet. Another like a food court over here. I have my eye on this place probably for dinner. Hari Hari Food Corner right there. So even though I’m way out in a residential district, there’s always little neighborhood spots like this. And of course, one of the very first things I did was a hard target search for 7-Elevens. Yeah, just it’s a place where you can get cold water, cold drinks, and top up your Touch ‘n Go. E-wallet, the most important thing. And I think there’s a 7-Eleven right around the corner. This traffic circle over here. Planet Doug. Hard target. 7-Eleven search underway. I’m like a Terminator. I should have like a screen in front of me, you know, scanning for 7-Elevens, you know. Ah, you know, lock in. I suppose I could live without one, but it’s 7-Elevens are so convenient. How did we live in the days before 7-Eleven existed overseas like this? That looks a little bit like some sort of a vintage building. The style looks, I don’t know, 60s. Is that a 1960s architecture?

Hard target. Confirmed. 7-Eleven right here. And right beside it, another kopi right there. Kedai Kopi. Yeah, they’re so convenient. Makes life so much easier when those little breakfast places are everywhere. Oh, Ramly Burger might open in the evening. I’m not sure. All right, let’s pop into 7-Eleven and then head out into Muar and do a little bit of exploring. Errand done. Got some water and loaded up my Touch ‘n Go e-wallet. Walking back to my hotel or my homestay. Yeah, I noticed this place a couple of times already. Just thought I would pop in to check it out. It looks like Yeah, like a gardening center, but also as part of gardening birds like cages and fish tanks, things like that. So, anything someone needs to decorate their garden outside their house. Fish, birds.

Hey there. Okay. Don’t know if these are song birds or what kind of birds they are. No idea.

Cacti.

Huh.

I had no idea there were so many birds in here. None of them are singing, so I’m guessing they’re not song birds.

I’m making them very nervous. And then over here, very small cages. Yeah, I don’t want to get too close. I seem to be panicking them a little bit. I thought maybe it was an open area and they could fly in and out of those small cages, but each one is like a little private single bird cage.

So, I guess if you wanted to make a fish pond in your yard, they can set you up. Anybody with a mom and dad from a certain generation would probably feel right at home here. My mother was very much into outdoor gardening. And then my father had so many hobbies over his lifetime, a typical dad. So, he built a a room in our house filled with fish tanks. That was his hobby for a while. So, all of this looks very familiar to me.

Yeah, it’s not as easy as you would think with all the pumps and the filters, fish food. Keeping all of these tanks healthy would be Yeah. like a full-time job.

And all the birds, too.

I just noticed there’s all these birds up top as well.

So, I had a pretty nice breakfast. That was great. Walk around my neighborhood a little bit. And now I’ve got my bike ready. And the idea for today, to be honest, is just to do a little bit of wandering up and down the waterfront of Muar. I mean, yeah, you can’t resist a waterfront. And since this is a city with some history,

I can close the gate behind me.

I have the power. That is so exciting. But yeah, I mean, Muar, its history is completely connected to the river, right? So that’s where you go. I think they have boat tours up and down the river similar to Melaka, but I don’t think they have anywhere near the the population of tourists here that they get in Melaka. As I mentioned when I was having breakfast, people here are just really happy to see me. Everybody wants to talk to me. It’s like I’m something new in their lives. So yeah, I’m I feel like I’m quite an unusual site for most people here. I’m something new and different in their life. Melaka, of course, gets hundreds, thousands of visitors like me constantly. Here, yeah, not so much. 

So, I don’t know exactly where I’m going, but I have a feeling that if I keep heading in this direction and kind of zigzag through these residential streets, I’ll eventually pop onto one part of the of the waterfront, whether it’s the river shore or the Melaka Strait. And I think I don’t really know what’s there to be honest. Oh, I was just saying they do have cruise boats going up and down the river, but I don’t think it runs, you know, they don’t run every 15 minutes like they do in Melaka. It’s probably less frequent and I probably won’t do it because I’ve got my bicycle. I can ride along the rivershore everywhere I go. I might This might be a dead end. Thought I could just do this without the assistance of Google Maps. Maybe I still can. Yeah. One advantage to a homestay apparently, if I can believe a they don’t charge the tourism tax because it I guess maybe it only applies to hotels, not to homestays. When I booked the first two nights here,

I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe I’ll take a a big slightly larger road over here. Might get me down to the river or to the Melaka Strait. Yeah, the first two nights I’m pretty sure I paid the tourism tax. It was included in the Agoda price. I got a separate receipt cause I paid the tourism tax, all that kind of thing. But then I extended for one night and then I extended again for a fourth night. and those two reservations, I didn’t have to pay the tourism tax or any other state taxes or other taxes. The price that was listed online per night was what I ended up paying. There was no tax on top of it. And I told them, I’m extending and nobody asked me to pay the tourism tax in cash. So maybe that’s how it works with homestays. You don’t have to pay the tourism tax. That’s nice. Saves you 10 ringgit per night. All of my recent walking trips and bike trips in and around Melaka, it’s always targeted and organized. I know where I’m going. I know what’s there. But in this case, this is a classic Planet Doug reconnaissance trip. I have no idea what’s there. I mean, I know there are some historic buildings. There’s a beautiful mosque. There’s a ferry terminal. There’s parks along the water. the ferry boat. Yeah, a jogging path, I think. But beyond that, yeah, I have no idea what I’m going to come come across. Well, I I’m standing outside something military related. There’s a sign there. You are in target if you get closer to this fencing without permission. Some sort of a police station. Oh. And there I saw these guys from like a far away. They looked real the way they were posed, but yeah, they’re just little little statues of some soldiers, but I’m not getting any closer to the fence, so I think I’m safe. Yeah, an old building. I have to keep reminding myself that I’m no longer in the state of Melaka. I’m in Johor. though it’s heavily influenced of course by the big city Johor Bahru and Singapore has a completely different history here. Well, not different. It’s connected with Melaka of course, but it’s a whole new story to uncover here. Mee Bandung.

Just saw a big sign for the local noodles. I guess I’m supposed to try mee bandung while I’m here, but it doesn’t look appealing to me because it’s shrimp based. And those pictures all have giant shrimp sitting on top of the noodles. And and I’m not a shrimp eater. I don’t see the point. Just too many monstrous features to the shrimp. All their little antenna and weird. I don’t know. It’s just like, yeah, monsters of the sea. And it’s too much work to eat them. Too crunchy, too weird. I don’t know how to eat them. I just don’t bother. Not a seafood guy. So, I don’t think I’ll be trying the local delicacy, mee bandung. Everything here appears to be named after gold like the gold coast, the gold cape. Tanjung Emas or amas. I’m not sure how you pronounce it, but emas I believe means gold. Tanjung is like cape. So this is Tanjung Emas. And there’s an Emas golf course golf course off on my left. I remember reading that this city Muar was like it’s a bit unusual in that it was a planned city like instead of just growing organically there was a certain planning process went into laying out this the grid of the streets and things like that. And I I’m getting that impression. I’m feeling that just because with a planned city the roads tend to be wider. There’s more open green space.

And right here, zigzagging through the golf course, I found my way to the shore. The Melaka Strait up ahead. This is a sunset viewing point according to the sign that’s directly ahead. Sunset at Muar. I remember when I was looking ahead to coming in this direction. I was looking at Google Maps and plotting a route down this way, like Google Maps, a satellite view, just trying to see if there was a way to camp here, like are there any parks, things like that where I can yeah, pitch a tent.

I hear a loudspeaker behind me. Cop car. I wonder who he’s chasing.

Chasing this car, I guess. Must have done something bad.

I heard the the horn, the siren. I thought, “Ah, must be me.” But no, they weren’t coming after me. Yeah. I don’t know how they feel about bicycles here. This is a huge pathway along the shore of the Melaka Strait, right? It’s very, very wide. I think nobody will mind if I pedal my bike instead of walking it. Yeah, what a beautiful park area. Who knew? So far, the Planet Doug reconnaissance is working out very well. Got exercise stations on the left here and benches. The world never has enough benches, so when I see benches, I get very excited. The more benches, the better.

And over here, what I was talking about all the way from Melaka, the mangrove and the mud flats, things like that. It’s beautiful area though. Look at all the birds. Feels very natural, very wild here.

I have no idea how far this riverside or it’s not really following the river here. This is following the edge of the Melaka Strait. the strait side path. How far it goes, I have no idea. Since I have a bike, I can just zip along to the far end. There’s a big sign up ahead for something. It’ll at least tell us where we are or tell me where I am or Oh, yeah. A little bridge here. Oh, closed. I was hoping to walk along this bridge. Tanjung Ketapang. Yeah. See the the bridge here or like a boardwalk. It would have been nice to walk through there, but not surprisingly. Yeah, the wood has fallen apart. They’re rebuilding it. Yeah, I remember looking exactly in this area on Google Maps because you can see a lot of information on Google Maps, but you can’t really tell the difference sometimes between a park manicured controlled area and then a wild more like a wilderness area.

So, when I was looking at this area, just from from a satellite point of view, I couldn’t figure out whether I could if I wanted to save some money, put up a tent here at night. And there’s another walkway here. And it also looks to be closed, which is unfortunate.

Yeah, right here. some sort of a walkway, but yeah, it’s been barricaded. I think this is the end of this particular pathway. Just goes around in a loop here and then I think this is sort of the starting point. Yeah, I remember yeah, I was definitely looking at this from satellite view wondering, hey, could I put a tent here, tent here? But it looks more like a city park. They wouldn’t want you camping in here, I don’t think. To be honest, when it comes to that kind of pondering, I’m actually thinking more about the American Hobo than me because the way, yeah, the way I live my day, the things I’m interested in kind of requires me to have a home base. I like having a room somewhere and then I can base myself there and go out exploring all the different neighborhoods. But I remember watching all of the American Hobo’s videos when he cycled along the coast of Malaysia all the way around and then he’s much more hardcore than I am when it comes to like sleeping outside. Yeah, he could do this. I think string up a hammock somewhere a little bit like wait until it’s kind of dark, put up a hammock and then go to sleep out here. I think he could do it.

Yeah, I remember seeing this field right here on Google Maps. Yeah, put a tent up right there. That would work. It’s a sign here saying don’t feed the monkeys. The macaques. Yeah, I imagine this area is just jammed with macaques. Like look at that bush back there. Very wild looking area. You know you’re in monkey territory when you see planned garbage cans like this. It has a cover right there. You have to push the garbage in past that cover that cover. It really won’t keep out a macaque really, but any barrier I guess will help so they don’t get in there and tear up all the garbage. Beautiful park though. I love these types of trees. Seem like a complete ecosystem, right? because you got the tree, but then you got all these other like par you could call them symbiotic plants. I was going to call them parasitic, but I don’t think they’re parasites really. I think they like symbiotic. They live together happily. I’m assuming what I’m looking at here, all this greenery and the flowers, it’s not part of the tree. It’s other plants that grow on the tree. Yeah. Even goes way up there to the top. So it’s like a symbiotic relationship between them. Though I don’t know what benefit the big tree gets from these small plants. I can see what the small plants how they benefit but I don’t know how it goes in the other direction. But very cool, very lush looking tree.

I’m cycling back towards the river and I think just up ahead turning the the park is going to be curving leaving the strait and then heading down the mouth of the river. But out here the Muar River is going to be so wide it’ll probably feel like you’re on the shore of a lake. I think the ferry terminal or one of the ferry terminals is here. Maybe they’ll it’s just for river cruises or something. They also have boats that go across the strait to Sumatra. maybe to Dumai and also Bengkalis in Riau province in Indonesia.

I love any city with a river or lake, any any kind of shoreline just makes it such a livable place. And I I grew up in a city like that in Canada. Sarnia, it’s my hometown, right on Lake Huron and the St. Clair River. So maybe I don’t feel like a a city is complete if it doesn’t have a shoreline of some kind. I grew up in the water and on the shore. Oh, look at that. Perfect timing for the tourist boat to be returning.

Muar River Cruise.

This is where you get off and on the boat right here.

And there you go. 9:30 to 5:30.

30 ringgit for adults, 35 for foreigners if you don’t have a MyKad card.

I don’t know how they operate though. Whether they just wait until a big group comes or they wait until enough people show up or whether they have some kind of a schedule. I’m not sure.

Welcome to Johor. So, I guess this is the the state mascot. Perhaps some kind of a tiger

just on the other side of the river cruise jetty. Looks like the entrance to the official Cape of Gold. Gold Cape. Again, I don’t know how they feel about bicycles on all these trails, but I think it’ll be okay.

If I see a sign that says no bicycles, I’ll get off and walk. But I’m not usually racing along at high speed anyway. I’m usually going so slowly somebody walking could probably overtake me. Somebody on foot would go faster than I go on a bicycle most of the time.

Yeah, nice park. Of course, when I was reading about this park, everybody says, “Well, you have to come here at night when the sun goes down and it cools off. That’s when all the people come out.” But of course, on Planet Doug, we’re usually here in the middle of the day at the worst possible time. But hey, what are you going to do? I’ll just have to imagine it full of people strolling along. And I have to imagine that it’s nice and cool. Yeah, look how wide the river is, though. Again, yeah, could feel you could convince yourself it’s you’re on the shore of a lake, not really a river. It makes the Melaka River feels like a stream or a creek by comparison. It’s crazy how wide this thing is. So much deeper too, I imagine. Clock tower building over here on my right.

Right ahead of me is sort of an arched a collection of arches and it says on top Bandar Diraja. Very important words for Muar. I think that means the royal city. Diraja royal and Bandar the city because Muar is known as the royal city. I think it was founded more or less by Sultan Abu Bakar I think something like that in the 1880s. That’s when all the the grid planning like laying out the city as a modern city took place. There’s that clock tower. Daulat Tuanku, which I think means long live the king. Bangsa Johor, the people of Johor. Yeah, big open area here. Sure. Used for all kinds of civic events. Yeah. I don’t know the history of the building though, how old it is or anything like that. The next very scenic building along here should be the mosque built I think in 1930 somewhere around 1930. Yeah. As you go around Muar you’ll see all kinds of references to royalty, the king and the crown. Like right here for example, there’s a a park circle with a crown up at the top. The crown of Johor.

Okay. Masjid Sultan Ibrahim. So this is the mosque here, but it’s yellow. I was could have sworn it was blue and white. I must have it mixed up with another building. It’s kind of unfortunate. The park gets blocked at the mosque and you can’t follow along the river to go past the mosque. You get forced back out to the streets.

I think this is the main mosque right here. Of course, I’m underdressed, so I can’t really go inside the mosque just in my shorts and t-shirt. But you get a a sense of what it looks like from here.

And here’s a little bit of the history, I guess. Masjid Jamek Sultan Ibrahim. Built in 1930. Although it is a mosque, the design has British influences. An eye-catching and unusual four-story tower is located at the back of the mosque. The roof of the main building still has its original clay tiles. However, they are blocked from sight from below because of a high brick wall. The Tengku Mahkota, the heir to the throne of Johor, officiated the opening of the mosque in February 1930 when it was given its present name. The word jamek implies that the mosque is used for Friday prayers. Yeah. hear prayers coming from the inside. But it is yeah, Saturday today.

And there’s the tower that they were talking about, the minaret basically, but yeah, it has a unusual design. Has like balconies and platforms on the way up to the top. It’s really beautiful. Nicely designed.

Once you hit the mosque there and you get directed away from the riverfront, unfortunately right after the mosque, like the entire shore, the river is covered in private buildings or government buildings. So yeah, once you hit the mosque, that’s kind of the end of the riverside park and you get forced out into the streets again. That’s where I am now. Just heading into downtown Muar.

Yeah, you get to keep your eye open for all kinds of interesting buildings. There’s one right here, a Muar coffee house, 1918.

And I know there’s a quite a well-known coffee shop along here like kopitiam, something like the Elephant 431 or something like that. It pops up all over the place. Ah, I think I even recognize it. It’s a distinctive yellow building. Probably a very good place to go for breakfast. Since I’m here, why don’t I pop in for a cold drink if it’s open?

I haven’t come across the Elephant Cafe yet. Maybe it’s on the next street up. It’s a possibility. But I’m right at the bridge that I crossed to come into Muar and the historic monument that marked where Sultan Mahmud Shah and his followers established a defended position is just up ahead over here by the bus station. But there’s a park here right by the bridge. And you’ll see the the word Maharani all the time when you’re here. And my understanding is Maharani is is kind of the official name of the town. Now I’m a little bit confused. Is it like Bandar Maharani or is it Muar? Because when the sultan founded this city, I think he named it Maharani like after his consort and yeah, kind of the the the city of the empress Maharani, something like that. But yeah, you’ll see Maharani all over the place.

I notice there’s a lot of young men all roughly the same age, same kind of look to them, all up and down this main street and gathered in these little parks. And I think there are communities of like immigrant workers. And then Saturday might be their day off and they come here to meet up with men from their home country, hang out, take pictures, selfies.

Hey, how are you? Yeah. Where where are you from? Bangladesh. Bangladesh. So all of you guys probably Bangladesh.

Nepal. Bangladesh. Oh, Nepal. India. Okay. You’re working here in Muar. No, I do outside. Oh. Oh, okay. Because Saturday you have a day off. Come in shopping. Nice. Nice. Okay. Yeah, that man confirmed what I was thinking. But they don’t actually work in Muar. And that makes sense cause I saw a whole bunch of them standing at the side of the road like they were waiting. And yeah, they’re all waiting for a bus because they don’t work in the city. They’re like outside out in the countryside somewhere. So all these guys that were just here, they just climbed into that bus. So on their day off, they come into town to go shopping and then hang out here at the park and then eventually they get back on the bus to take them back. They probably live and work at the factory. But he said he said he was from now I forget already Bangladesh I think he said but he said there’s men here from Nepal, from India. Yeah. All different countries. So, time to track down this elephant cafe. Yeah, I just got stuck in my brain that I have to go to this place for some reason. I saw it when I arrived in town, but Oh, it’s still up ahead on the other side of the bridge. Okay. Kopi 434. No, that’s the one. Kopi 434. It must be the street address, but it has a big elephant on a sign on the front.

Yeah, it’s a common pattern all across Asia. I remember in Taiwan, everywhere I’ve been, there’s always the downtown. Even in Kuala Lumpur, certain streets are popular with certain communities where all the men gather on their days off to go shopping, hang out with their friends, and then they get dropped off by a bus and then take at the end of the day take the bus back to where they’re working and living. So from here

I want to get across to the other side of the street and just in time for a red light.

That theme of royalty really jumps out at you once you start looking for it. Like there’s the sign for the bridge, the royal city, the empress city or the queen city. And then over there on the other side, long live the king.

Oh, I’ve got a green light. Didn’t take that long.

There’s the front of the place, Kopi 434. And I guess it’s also called Elephant Bean. It has that elephant sign right there. Supposed to have a a unique coffee, elephant style, roasted coffee or something. Anyway, it’s very popular on the tourist trail here, I think. So, it’s always going to be very busy place. Let’s go in and check it out.

Yeah, it’s too hot for me. You’re from Canada. Yeah. Which part of Canada? The middle Toronto area. I was there for my undergraduate. Oh, really? In Toronto, York University. Oh, nice. Okay. 1981 to you. Come here for the Formula 1? No, I’m just traveling around Malaysia. Yeah, I I have a bicycle here. Like bike touring. Oh, you you cycling? Yeah, that’s why I’m so hot. Yeah, alone. It’s my hobby. That I’m always doing. Yeah, a little bit. I I have some fat I can get rid of. Same age. 60? No, 63. Yeah, about the same age. Yeah. 63. Yeah. Hi, sir. Can I order here? Can you dine? I might or take away. If there’s a seat, maybe I’ll dine in. One person. Just one? Yeah. Over there is okay. Yeah. All I really want is a coffee. Anyway, you drink the latte one or local one. Like this. I suggest this one now. 100% our signature. Okay. Can I get that one but ice? Sure. Yeah. Okay. You want a sugar or not? You want a sugar or not? Yes, please. Just one and then that’s all. Yeah.

I can do that. Okay. The Planet Doug traditions never die. The absolute worst room in every hotel usually ends up me in the worst room. Like you cannot get more in the back corner. Like this is literally sitting right beside the bathroom door right there. So I’m in the back corner beside the bathroom. But yeah, it’s the only table available cause it’s lunchtime. So looking out over the place, you can see how busy it is. Yeah, every table is taken. And I just ordered their elephant coffee. I don’t know why it’s an elephant coffee as opposed to any other coffee, but it’s their specialty. Now that I know the system here, I would be much more likely to return. That’s the whole thing with me. It looks like yeah, every table has a menu and then you can just come in and sit down and they have a little pad of paper with a pencil and you write down your order and they come and pick it up and there’s no debit card or credit card here. It’s QR or cash. That’s it. But hey. Yeah. And yeah, I got my coffee and I see on my receipt what makes it special and relatively expensive is that it is 100% elephant bean and it smells good. Like I actually gave gave the drink just a Yeah, that’s a nice coffee smell. I’m sure if it was hot it would have even more aroma, but yeah, it smells like cinnamon. I think they add cinnamon to some of their drinks. Either it’s coming from this coffee or I’m smelling it coming from over there. It’s definitely cinnamon and it’s kind of nice or funny. Do not move the table because it’s table number one and I don’t know. They they don’t want you moving the table around. Well, let’s give it a sip.

Yeah, that is nice. It’s got a something special. I couldn’t tell you what it is. I can actually feel it in my nasal passages. Like I’m drinking it, but I some it’s got a my brain, you know? I can’t come up with the right word, but it actually affected my my nose. Like a an unusual sort of a flavor or something. Yeah. Nice. Just not enough liquid, you know, in terms of how much you’re paying for coffee. You could put five of these on the table in front of me and I would just drink all five of them like in a minute or two.

No, that is really nice. Planet Doug approved. If you’re a coffee aficionado, it’s kind of it’s probably worth the money. Yeah, that’s a good that’s a good cup of coffee. Might I’ll have to come back here try a hot cup in the morning or something like that. See what that tastes like. Back out onto the streets and the heat. Yeah, it was a good good cup of coffee. I enjoyed that a lot. Apparently, that place has quite a long history, the reputation for the quality of its coffee. Though, glancing at the menu, you kind I think you have to be careful what you order. Like, if you just sort of order something off the top of your head, oh, I’ll have that coffee there. Cause I saw some coffees on the menu. looked like an ordinary cup of coffee, but it was like 35 ringgit, 38 ringgit, things like that. So, you got to make sure you’re ordering the right one.

Yeah. Right back where I entered the city from. Ooh, Martabak. Martabak Singapura.

Yeah, this is where I cross the street. The historical marker is yeah, right over here. So that’s where the sultan built his little stockade here, defending against any Portuguese trying to track him down back in 1511 right over there. And I remember had a heck of a time crossing that street. I just came through here. Sometimes it’s nice to slow down and walk your bicycles,

especially if there’s a lot of heavy traffic. You can just relax a little bit better.

Check this out. Just happen to be walking by this sort of a auditorium or some kind of a space and they just happen to be having a tournament of some kind. But oh, Taekwondo. On the backs of all of their jackets says Taekwondo.

So far, I see a lot of bowing going on. I just don’t see a whole lot of fighting. It doesn’t look like one match is about to start over there.

We won’t see very much from a GoPro wide angle. Oh, there they go.

Yeah, taekwondo as a competitive sport never appealed to me that much because it seems to be more or less point fighting. Like you you win based on points and you can win points just by contact. So, if you just happen to throw a crazy kick and your toe touches the other guy’s head, you win the fight. But it’s got nothing to do with how how much force there is in the impact. So, it’s really just I don’t know, just sort of like a little touch with your fist and you win. I prefer MMA where you actually have to knock the guy out so your kick or your punch lands with enough force to do damage. and win the fight. Taekwondo is yeah, just a lot of point fighting basically is what I’m trying to say. As always on Planet Doug, this is probably the well definitely is the wrong time of day to be here, but I noticed I just happen to be riding by a street called Jalan Haji Abu, otherwise known as Glutton Street. So, this is their local food street, I guess. So, yeah, you would come here at night, of course, when it’s cool and all these restaurants would be open. Maybe it’s a pedestrian only at night. Right now, it looks like a lot of places are closed. Malaysian Hainanese food. That looks like a nice spot right over right over there. I like that building. Lan Coffee Shop.

You can see the outside of it here, the entrance. Very cool exterior. Another interesting kopitiam style right over here. Yongi.

As always, I’m looking for something to drink.

Though I do smell something good, something cooking. Hello. How are you?

That’s much more active right here. You can see on the other side there.

Looks like this would be the place to come if you’re looking for food.

Sate, rojak otak-otak of course. Canada. Canada. Yeah, Canada. Yeah, bicycle. Traveling around by bicycle around Malaysia. Why Malaysia? Just all around Malaysia. Yeah, this one focus this. Okay. The the the top the top three top top three in. Okay. Good food here. So, the man in this car, he was just pointing out that this is an, you know, famous place to have pork. So, he’s helping me order a local local specialty. So, he we put it in an order and I’ll just lock up my bike.

Okay. Oh, okay.

Oh, this is from here already. Ah, so here is the food that he ordered. There’s like three different types of pork, the rice, the sauce, and clear broth right there. Ah, thank you. Oh, is that that otak otak? You know, I heard of it before. So that is otak. It’s more special. So I guess this is the local food street. Food street. Yes. The best the best in the mall. Okay. You you if you want to take a photo about this this panel is Avenue P. Okay. Avenue 4 street in Muar, this is special for local local food.

Mix mix makes mix the rice. M

okay. This one is

s and the this one little little what say? Lime lemon. Lime. Yeah, a lime. I think Malaysia lemon.

Not so sweet. But okay. That is nice. That is nice. It’s a good flavor. the the same orange, my little orange.

In Malaysia, I drink all the time. Every time I see something to drink cause I get so hot, right? Iced tea. You buy near the shop, buy the little one, bottle, the yellow one. Yellow. Also very nice. I went to South Korea first. I lived in South Korea maybe 10 years. And then Taiwan maybe 10 years but but always traveling. Always traveling. You like Taiwan? Okay. Yeah. Love Taiwan. I next time I I find I Taiwan very best Taiwan. Well, I mean I was living in Taipei cause my job was in Taipei but I had a motorcycle so I could travel everywhere in the mountains. Taiwan is amazing because the mountains are really high. Really high. It’s surprising. It’s a small island. Yeah. Yeah. But it has the ocean, the mountains, every type of scenery.

Transport in the road? Okay. Oh, yeah. Very nice. Okay. Yeah. Good roads. Yeah. They have two sides like similar to Malaysia actually. On one side is mountains, ocean, no people, but on the other side it’s flat. All the industry, the people, the cities. So because sometime the the what is the any Taiwan? Taiwan, you know. Oh, the typhoon. Yeah. Hits Taiwan all the time.

So you you this this morning you in Muar? No, no, I stayed here last night. I have a homestay. Oh, home stay. Home stay. So, yeah. The night before I was in Merlimau, you know, Merlimau. Yeah. Very near. Yeah. Very near. But tonight where where I’ll stay here tonight as well. So in the homestay it’s like I forget the name. Long Stay Homestay. Something like that. Oh, after tomorrow you still here again? Yeah, I’ll still be here tomorrow. How? How many days? Yeah, I think tomorrow is my last day. Last day. After that, then I will get my bicycle to go to Batu Pahat. Yeah. Good. Yeah. If you want go to Pahat, I think better in the 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning you go. That’s because the in the night very danger.

Okay. See you. Oh, you’re on your way. Thank you very much. That was really nice. Thank you.

I don’t think that video or that audio was very good. My GoPro is pointing towards the street, so it’s all back lit. And yeah, so listening to the man, he treated me to lunch, which is really nice. I’m here on Food Street in Muar and I had a good meal. You can see the remnants here, all the pork and this drink that he got me that was really, really nice. I don’t know exactly the name of it, but very sharp, tangy, lime kind of drink that was really good. Yeah, that worked out really well. I was just thinking, yeah, I’m here in Muar. I better have a meal on the local food street. And I ended up having a meal right in here, a local traditional place. He kept pointing my my lunch companion, he kept pointing to the building like it’s something important, something historic. So maybe when I go outside, I’ll shoot the front of this building. Maybe there’s some real history there. And yeah, this is where my meal was prepared right here. Was really cool.

right there.

Then this is the building Kiman Public 1952.

Yeah. So it looks like a classic building from 1952.

the man who treated me to lunch here. He seemed to really know this neighborhood well, like he he just knew all the people. He could talk to everybody around us.

He had a lot of advice for me about food, of course, different types of food to try, places to visit in Muar and all around yeah, all around Malaysia.

Yeah, I wonder if this food street becomes blocked to cars, pedestrian only. That would be really nice. I can imagine it would get very busy at night with all the traffic.

It’s got a very local feeling to it. Like it’s not a, you know, it’s not a tourist market at all.

Bubur Ikan over there.

There’s a one of the very first places I noticed. Very distinctive exterior. Malaysian Chinese food. Looks almost more like a market than a restaurant, though. Just now I’m noticing that place on the corner. My Kim Mama New Soul Thai Restaurant. Yeah, a lot of options here. You could just show up at dinner time and figure out where you’re going to have dinner when you get here. Well, there’s something up ahead that is quite unexpected. I hadn’t even seen anything on the maps marked here.

Don’t know if it’s showing up on my GoPro yet very clearly, but it’s quite a large Hindu temple. From a distance, I thought it was climbing up this giant hill,

but it just happens to have a couple of different colorful towers.

There’s the tower. There’s really nothing like there. I’m sure there’s a special name for it. These towers, Hindu temples are so bright, so colorful. Every level is telling a different story, different characters from their history. Yeah, this is a beautiful or very ornate temple. Anyway, and I think behind this tower there’s a second one right there. There’s what I was talking about, the second tower. And there’s the the first one, a little bit taller. So, this must be the the you know, the courtyard of the temple on the inside right here behind this wall. Very cool looking place. Yeah. I didn’t even see this marked anywhere on Google Maps. It’s not very far from Food Street, which is just right back there.

I do remember seeing this on Google Maps. A large roundabout with the the Royal Crown, the Johor Royal Crown up there at the top.

There we go. A little bit of an adventure going around the roundabout.

You can see it behind me there. I assume the Royal Crown.

And that’s about it for today. I think I just stopped off at the 7-Eleven right there near my homestay. Stock up on ice for cold drinks. And I’m just a few blocks away from my homestay. Yeah, I really enjoyed that little reconnaissance trip around the city. I feel like I already have the lay of the land. I’ve got the whole place figured out in terms of the streets, how they’re laid out. It’s pretty simple. Nice little grid pattern. You just have to figure out all the one-way streets. Now I know where the park is, where the river front is, where food street is. Yeah, enjoyed that quite a bit. And they have a lot of interesting buildings everywhere. Different time periods. A lot of like abandoned buildings too, which always gives a city here in Malaysia a lived-in feeling. You can really sense the history. They always have certain like a scattering of abandoned buildings. Gives the city some character. But here I am back in back in my neighborhood

breaking the traffic. I can zoom across.

And now I’m back on the quiet residential streets. Jalan Hang Kasturi, the historic street.

Yap Ah Loy up here on the right. And this one I didn’t point out this morning. Jalan Hang Lekiu, another one of the famous warriors hanging out with Hang Jebat and Hang Tuah. Yeah, they’re all grouped together right here in this neighborhood.

So, that’s it. Shutting shutting down. End of the video. I’m going to put in a Strava map map director flyover map. I can you can see the route that I followed today. I didn’t didn’t have it running when I went for breakfast. So, that part is not included in the flyover map. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn it on. So, it only starts when I got on my bike and went to the riverside park. Yeah, you made it all the way to the end. Shout out to the Crunch Club. Thanks for hanging in with me all the way to the end of the video. I appreciate that.

And shout out to Planet Doug supporters particularly through the yeah Malaysia Touch ‘n Go e-wallet. I received a contribution today into my e-wallet which helped out a lot. It’s yeah, helps me get through the day when my e-wallet has a balance there so I can treat myself to a cup of 100% elephant bean coffee. That was one of the highlights of today. That really was good coffee. Yeah. And shout out to people supporting me through buy me a coffee. Yeah, I appreciate you guys very very much. and all the members of the yeah, Planet Doug Patreon. Love to see you guys there. And of course, I have my remote open the gate with the power of my thumb. I just love that simple minds, you know, entertained by simple things. And then I can close it behind me.

My last official act of the day. And we’re gonna get a very loud creak when it reaches the very end. Here it comes. Hello. Hello. There it is.

There we go. Carry my bike past all the shoes by the door.

Yeah, I’ve got a nice spot for my bike back here. It is got a nice roof above it so if it rains my bike stays nice and dry. Okay,

That’s it. Shutting down. See you in the next video.