I Love Kluang, Johor

Kluang is located right in the centre of Malaysian state of Johor. It is about 110 km north of Johor Bahru.   We headed straight for Tangkak Beef when we reached Kluang Railway Station on Wednesday, 22 February 2012.

For RM6.00 a bowl, this was really an unforgettable value-for-money experience.

The cooking was excellent, be it kway-teow with beef, stomach and omasum ( our order in the morning ) or kway-teow with beef and tendon ( my second try-out in the afternoon when the train was delayed ).   My wife had kway-teow with beef and beef-balls in the afternoon, and she had reservation about ordering the beef-balls again - it was not extraordinary.   We also felt that the afternoon's experience was not as good as our initial try-out in the morning.   It was near closing time, and the servings were not piping hot to rid the soup of the meaty smell.

Hygiene and house-keeping appeared to be comparable to Singapore's.

Ample parking spaces outside Tangkak Beef.   

Opposite Tangkak Beef was the popular Chop Foo Chow Dim-sum House, No. 2 Jalan Duku 86000 Kluang, Johor (Tel: 07-771 2328).

We realised from the owner that Chop Foo Chow was the wholesaler for buns sold at No. 35, Jalan Badik 1, Taman Sri Tebrau 80050 Johor Bahru, previously owned by Chop Foo Chow.    We once tried its biggest bun on sale for RM3.50 each, and it was good value-for-money.
The buns are also on sale at No. 28, Jalan Kundang 1, Taman Bukit Pasai, 83000 Batu Pahat, Johor (Tel: 07-431 5551).

Parkson Departmental Store at Kluang Parade was within walking distance from Chop Foo Chow ( Less than 5 mins ).   Parkson was officially opened on August 17, 2008.   Kluang Parade was opened in February 2007.   Giant Hypermarket is located at the basement.

Rather quiet for a shopping centre and hypermarket during lunch-time ( About 12.30 pm ).

Many of such food and drink 'joints' were found along the many side lanes branching off the road leading to Tangkak Beef.   A food paradise of sorts at night.   This is Jalan Pisang.

Jalan Pisang connects Jalan Langsat ( Tangkak Beef ) to Jalan Omar, the road that leads to Church of St Louis from the Kluang Railway Station.

This corner shop at Kluang Bahru, Kluang Lim (previously Hoover Restaurant) was bustling with customers when we passed by at about 3.30 pm.   At closer look, we realised that it had a good spread of peranakan kuih, popiah ( spring roll ), onde onde, goreng pisang ( deep-fried bananas ), etc.   Its Hainanese chicken rice is known to be very popular.

Che Luan Khor Temple at Jalan Jelutong and Chong Hwa High School in the background of above picture.

Che Luan Khor Temple shared the same religious devotions as Chee Hwan Kog Chinese Temple at 67 Anchorvale Link, Singapore.

This is another branch of the popular Kluang Rail Cafe at Kluang Railway Station.   We saw another branch at Rail Hotel, 20 & 21 Jalan Tasik, Pusat Perniagaan Tasik ( Lake Business Centre ).   Rail Hotel is owned by the operator of Kluang Rail Cafe.

Public Transport Centre for coaches, buses and taxis in the background.   The white building next to the transport centre is Plaza BCB which is linked to Prime City Hotel.

Public Transport Centre at the rear of Parkson, Kluang Parade.

Some operators provide coach service up to Golden Mile Complex, Beach Road ( Singapore ).

Food stalls opposite the transport operators' counters, within the Public Transport Centre ( Level 2 ).

Comfortable ride on Orkid Express for RM8.50 to Larkin Bus Terminal ( About 1 hr 35 mins ).

Read St Louis Church at Kluang.

My First KTM Train Ride

We managed to reach the ticket counter located within the link building adjoining the Malaysia ICQ complex (checkpoint) at 7.45am on Wednesday, 22 February 2012 to grab the special tickets @ RM4.00 to Kluang for the first 'Shuttle trains' leaving at 8.00am.

The next and last 'Shuttle train' for the day leaves at 9.00am.

For those aged 60 and above years old need only pay RM2.00.   A normal train ride would have cost us RM17.00 each.

Delays are common, and we were let in at 8.05am.

There were about 20 of us for the morning ride.   Be prepared for bigger crowd during the weekend and public holidays.

There were only 2 cabins in tow.   Ours was well-kept and comfortable except for the poor ventilation, and baby cockroaches that came out searching for food whenever the train pulled up at each stop-over along the way.   We doubt the cabin was air-conditioned as the doors were left open.   The glass panel of one door was missing.   It became more unbearable along the way as the sun rose higher.

The toilet was well-kept too.

The first stop-over was at Kempas Bahru Station.

Kulai Town was next in line.   We looked ahead, and realised that the bus terminus was nearby, probably about 15 mins walk from the station.   Notice the red temple in the background ?   That was where the buses/coaches turned into the terminus.

On the other side of the railway (opposite the Kulai Station) was a total contrast.

Next was Layang-Layang Station.   What was unique about this station was that the ticket counter and a nearby eating joint (below picture) were on the right-hand side of the forward moving train.

We realised from this trip that certain stations such as Layang-Layang and Renggam (next on the line) were not shown on the KTM's website.

We gained confidence with the train stop-over procedure at each station, and decided to wander off the train for a better feel of the vicinity.   On average, the train would stop for about 15 mins at each station for mid-way passengers to get on.   Before the train moved on, the station master would have to sound the bell twice to alert passengers to get on, and subsequently stationed beside the train with a green-colour flag to signal to the train driver to move on.

We were impressed with what we saw at the rear of the station. A food centre was amongst the structures that caught our eyes.

It was also here that we took courage to walk upfront for some good shots of the train.   We were happy that the next stop would be our destination, Kluang Station.

We reached Kluang Railway Station at about 11.40am, and headed for the popular Tangkak Beef at the town centre before returning to the station for more shots of the vicinity.  By then, the popular cafe had closed for lunch.

Tickets would be on sale half-hour before departure time.

Front poach of Kluang Railway Station.

Looking at the town centre from the front poach of Kluang Railway Station.

Read St Louis Church at Kluang.