I’m currently on a solo trip in Malaysia, which will last from anywhere between 2-4 weeks.
My rough plan is to stay at Kluang, a town I’ve grown attached to, and use it as an home base to take day trips to nearby towns via train.
Today I took the train out to Bekok, a town in Segamat district, which is adjacent to Kluang. I’ve been wanting to come to Bekok since 2019.
Bekok is a small town founded in 1926. It is surrounded by plantations. I wonder if the night sky here is nice to see. I won’t know because I’m not staying over for the night.
To give you an idea of how small this town is, it is 2km long, and 1.5km wide. It takes about 15 minutes to walk 1 kilometre.
I don’t walk the full length because the edges are mostly residential areas which don’t strike me as particularly interesting.
The more important reason, however, is that in these small neighbourhoods, people tend to leave their gates open, and their dogs tend to rush out to loudly greet or warn off people that pass by.
It takes just 15 minutes to walk from one end to the other of the area that I do want to explore.
The train ride is about an hour from Kluang station. When we reach, there is no announcement. I see the name of the station on the platform as the train comes to a stop.
At this station, five persons get off. Two of them are Chinese teenagers. Their fathers are waiting for them at the train station. They get on the motorcycles, and ride off into the town. Motorcyclists and their pillion riders here don’t wear helmets.
The other two are an Indian couple. They talk loudly as I exit the station and enter the main town, two minutes walk away.
I stop to look at the Hakka Heritage Gallery, just opposite the train station. I don’t go inside, but I check out the advertisements on the wall. There is a notice for a homestay that costs RM88 per night!
Town looks exactly like it does on Google Maps. One row of old wooden shophouses line the main street. They face a concrete building containing a 99 Speedmart.
This particular row of shophouses seems to have been preserved, for there are no other shophouses that I see which are in this state.
My first order of business is to find food. I don’t have much stomach volume, so I opt for the two highest rated items on Google Maps.
One is a plate of fried noodles, and the other is a bowl of wanton noodles. Each costs RM6. The portions are small enough for me to eat them both, one after another. After all, they are just opposite each other, but I have to detour around a bridge ramp to get to the other.
Not knowing any locals, I just eat whatever Google Maps says is good. Is it good?
Well, the fried noodles are nothing special. The wanton mee is very oily, but the oil seems to come from the char siew, which also adds its sweetness to the noodles, which is a bit too sticky for my liking.
My guess is that when people come here to eat, there is a particular taste that they are looking for which I, as a foreigner, will not find here.
It is the taste of their childhood.
That’s not to say that the food is poor. It’s tasty, by any standard. I would, and do, recommend them to a friend who asked if there’s any good food in Bekok.
E– 4, Jln Hoe Peng, Kampung Bekok, 86500 Bekok, Johor, Malaysia
📍 老爹炒粿条
26, Jalan chaah, Kampung Bekok, 86500 Bekok, Johor, Malaysia
Each stall is located inside the compound of a private house, in what would be the porch or garden area. Each stall has just 3-5 tables for customers to sit.
Besides me, the customers don’t linger after their meal. They just drop in, gobble up their food, and are gone in 10 minutes.
While I let the food digest, I search for my next destination.
I go in search for the back lane of murals. I seem to have passed it on the way here, but I must have missed it.
When I pass it again, I find it. It looks like there was an attempt to turn this back lane of murals into what it is like in Kluang, but it doesn’t seem to have taken off.
The back lane is filled with cars and people’s laundry, blocking the view of several of the murals. I guess the town of Bekok doesn’t have enough to attract sufficient tourists to get the town council to do anything about keeping the back lane free from obstacles.
I also come across the old movie theatre, which I identify as the dilapidated building with the mural of Bruce Lee, or so I’ve read online.
The building is in worse state than the photos online show. But then again, it’s disused so who bothers to maintain it, and what for?
I wander in the area and take photos of some historical markers, including the 0km milestone.
One of the major roads of Bekok is called Jalan MCA, which seems to be named after the Malaysian Chinese Association, a political party that represents Malaysian Chinese.
There is a stone sign block that displays the road name. I also come across an office for the party here in Bekok.
I spy in the distance approaching dark clouds. The proprietor of the wanton mee stall said that it rains here every day around 1-2pm.
Bekok is located to the southwest of Taman Negara Endau Rompin, and actually has the west entrance somewhere on its outskirts. You can visit a waterfall around here, if you want.
The national park is home to a mountain mass, part of the mountain range that stretches from Peninsula Malaysia to Southern Thailand.
This is why it rains here every day. I have just the thing for this.
I go in search of practically the only cafe here in Bekok. As I do, I come to realise that, aside from a bank and a minimart, every other retail outlet is not air-conditioned.
Houses are, though, as are the homestays. But the lack of air-conditioning in this town is both surprising and pleasant.
I hunt a couple of streets for the elusive 人甜 People Sugar cafe, but I can’t find it. I ask a lady at a coffee shop and she points out to me a set of green, shuttered doors.
It opens at around 2-3pm, she tells me. I will later submit an edit to Google Maps, which says it opens at 1pm.
I still need a place to sit and avoid the approaching rain, so I go back to the same coffee shop and order a glass of iced Milo that costs RM3.
They sell roast pork here too, but I have no more stomach space. I sit and enjoy the cold wind blow through the coffee shop.
655-625, Jln Wijaya, Kampung Bekok, 85400 Chaah, Johor, Malaysia
No rain falls after all. The myENV app shows there is heavy rainfall, but it narrowly misses Bekok. Although myENV primarily a Singapore app, it actually shows rainfall up to Port Dickson, which is 300km from Singapore.
I head out to find 人甜 People Sugar open. It does have air-conditioning, but very weak. Air is circulated mainly by 5 ceiling fans.
It is warm in here, but definitely cooler than outside. I browse through the menu and see that not a single item is about RM10, including the food.
I want something cold and I see mango shaved ice, beside grass jelly and red bean versions of it. I decide to order the mango version, but end up receiving a version with all 3 toppings on it. Not complaining.
G-30, Taman Wijaya Jalan Wijaya 86500 Bekok, Johor Bekok BEKOK, 86500 Segamat, Johor, Malaysia
At this point, I feel like I’ve explored all that I want to of Bekok for this day trip. Perhaps another time, with a friend or two, we can go hike in Endau Rompin, and we will probably need a guide.
I have two hours to wait before my train back to Kluang comes. I sit in the cafe and chill.
Heavy rain does come at around 3-4pm. I’m glad it stopped after half an hour because even though I do have a small umbrella with me, I’m not equipped to shelter myself from a heavy rain.
Half an hour before the train is scheduled to arrive, I start my stroll back to the train station. I arrive within 5 minutes.
At the station, there is no staff present at all. There are 3 other passengers, each carrying a wheeled luggage.
We wait for the train to arrive. Still no staff comes, but everyone knows what to do. We board the train, find our seats, and relax. There are just 2 other persons in this train compartment which can seat 60 people.
As I ride the train into Kluang, I’m dismayed to see that it has started to rain quite heavily. I haven’t yet decided what I will do this evening.
Daniel Tay 