THE GASTRONOMIC ADVENTURE IN BENUT, PONTIAN

   9TH AUGUST 2026    ~ The gastronomic adventure today took place a bit further, in Benut, Pontian. The eating place was located in a village area, in the compound of someone's house actually.

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One could choose to sit either in the open area under the trees or the shelter of the zink/canvas tents.

Even though it was situated further away from the city, this place was popular by looking at the number of diners when we were there. We arrived quite late for lunch at about 3:00 p.m. but there were others who came even later than us.

The signature cuisine: Cendol. Since we had travelled quite far, so we opted for the most expensive one: Blackthorn Durian Cendol.

My friend had Nasi Ayam Penyet while I chose the Barramundi fish. Unfortunately, the sambal [mashed chili] of the dish did not taste like the original version and I was somewhat confused whether I had got the correct order.

We were glad we went there, and this was our first gastronomic adventure in Pontian. We should be looking for other places in this district for our next trip.

COFFEE SESSION AT KOPI POJOK 77 TO CONCLUDE THE ROADTRIP

19th NOVEMBER 2021 ~ The last pit stop of the road trip was this restaurant which bore the name of a coffee stall "KOPI POJOK 77". The eating place was located in Benut, Pontian and when we arrived there at 4:00 p.m., it was still not opened yet. Since we were already there, we decided to just wait [and hang out like teens at one spot somewhere else] until 5:00 p.m. and came back to that place.

There must be something special about this place as it went viral on the internet. That should be the factor that contribute to our patience and determination to wait for the restaurant to start operation.

Then there was someone whom I recognized sitting with his friends in the dining area. I guess I had not met my ex-student of SMK Taman Universiti, Mr. Huzaifah Abd. Rahim, for quite some time and here we met outside the city.

 The place must have opened before 5.00 as there were already people eating when we arrived.

The main attraction was definitely the coffee, I supposed. You could order food from the main kitchen or there was another stall nearby where you could get your soup. At the same time, if you are looking for something light, there were varieties of Malay kuih [sweet (mostly) cakes, usually eaten as dessert] available.

The signature dish would be the special  Char Kuey Tiaw which cost RM10. Correct me if I am wrong. 😊

I must say, I like the ambience of the place very much as diners were not confined behind the four walls. It looked spacious and airy - would be suitable for people coming in a large group.

The coffee session should wrap up our road trip JB - Yong Peng - Batu Pahat - Benut - Johor Bahru. Thanks to my friends of SMK Dato' Jaafar for organizing this outing session and hopefully we could do this again some other time - most probably next year.

THE FIRST BRIEFING OUTSIDE THE DISTRICT FOR THIS YEAR

Once in a while, my work requires me to travel far away to attend meetings or briefing sessions. I am making myself sound like a very important person actually. Sometimes there is excitement, because (1) this is the rare chance to get away from school, and (2) there will meet-your-old-friends moment. Believe me, there should be other people who share this kind of feeling.

This time we were gathered at PKG Benut, Pontian, 85 kilometres away from home. I arrived there at about 8.30 a.m. and was among the early birds. The participants were English teachers from all over the state of Johor.

before the briefing started

when participants got bored

the reporter and the gossipers

The whole thing ended before lunch and we were all happy for this short official outing. This was however just the beginning. We will have to start working real soon.

... AND THE TRAINING CONTINUED

25th MAY 2015 ~ There was  continuation to the state level training attended about a fortnight ago in Pasir Gudang. This time it was held in SMK Seri Tanjung, Benut, Pontian, which was about an hour's drive from home.

There is going to be one more session on Wednesday with a different group at district level.Just hope it will end early.