A 2-DAY ACADEMIC GETAWAY TO MUAR

30TH & 31ST OCTOBER 2017 ~ We were again gathered for an academic get-together in Muar. We were here in the same town last year.We definitely had to make this trip a fun one as the saying goes, all work an no play makes Jack a dull boy.

The first activity of the day was coffee session at the kopitiam (coffee shop) jusr beside the hotel we were staying at, Classic Hotel. This should be a branch of the original shop near the bus station.

For dinner, we made a return trip to Muar Soup House. There was even a surprise birthday celebration for three lucky members of the group.

For breakfast on the second day, we made the effort to find an eating place in town and successfully found this restaurant selling Mee Bandung and Sate. When in Muar, ate breakfast like Muarians do.

To conclude our gastronomic adventure in Muar, we stopped at (the other) Sai Kee Coffee Shop in town on our way back home.

There would be tonnes of work waiting for us ahead but at least we all had happy tummies during our stay in Muar.

MY MUAR GASTRONOMIC ADVENTURE - MUAR SOUP HOUSE

23 October 2016 ~ So 15 of us - all English teachers from Johor Bahru (13), Pasir Gudang (1) and Kluang (1), were here for dinner as we were told this place was one of the popular eating spots in Muar. Basically this restaurant is another mamak (I heard "mamak" is now included already in the Oxford English Dictionary) where you could eat all kinds of food, including western. I was here an hour earlier actually with another set of friends, eating chicken "murtabak".

We were lucky to secure a place in the air-conditioned section of the shop. That evening, we owned the place and the minority had to give way this time. The restaurant was established back in 1958 and it has maintained its classic decor for the interior.

So was there any special food which could be a signature dish for this place? I don't know really, it could be the variety of soups sold hence the name "Muar Soup House". But people were telling that the Sultan of Johor came here to eat so that could be one reason that had made this place famous. :)

KILLING TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE IN MUAR

When I had to go other places for courses, I would always try to meet old friends. On the first day in Muar, I had the chance to meet up with two ex-classmates from my Budiman class of SMS Muar. Puan Halijah Othman, who is now teaching in SMKSAB and Puan Rozana Ab. Manap, a lecturer at Johor Matriculation College, accompanied by their husbands, gathered at Muar Soup House in the evening. I had never had the chance to meet Puan Rozana after we left school in 1986 so this was like a reconciliation between two long lost friends, but we do have conversation sessions in the class Whatsapp group when we managed to get in touch with a few other people. As for Puan Halijah, we last met in 2011 when there was a class gathering at Subang Jaya.

Then on the second day, I met Puan Harizan Mahfar, an old friend of my UPM TESL class of 1993, who is a true blue Muarian and is also teaching there.  I had to get the well-known Mee Bandung of Muar at a stall near the bus stand by the Muar river. 

So I guess my KPI has been achieved during my stay in Muar. One of the best things in life will definitely be the combination of friends, gossip and good food.