Part 2: Malaysia Road Trip 2024 (Muar Edition)
In this article, I will share our ins and outs at Muar – where we stayed, what we ate in Muar and nearby Bakri, and how our studio photoshoot went. We mainly ate in Muar, so this might feel more like a food article. As we travelled around Muar, amazing murals captured our attention too!
Background: Our family of four (including a 4 and a 7-year-old) went on a 10-day road trip in West Malaysia from 25 May to 4 June 2024. Departing from Singapore, we went to Johor Bahru (“JB”), Muar, and Melaka, before returning to JB (near Paradigm Mall). Strictly speaking, it’s a 5-day road trip because we were in JB half the time.
Why Muar?
Muar City (麻坡) is a historical and royal town of Johor, with Melaka in the north, and Batu Pahat in the South. According to Wikipedia, Muar is the royal city of Johor and has an official royal palace with a helipad situated at the Muar river bank (Jalan Petrie near Tanjung Emas).
Muar is a popular one-day trip destination where tourists explore pre-war buildings and enjoy delicious food such as otah. I recently discovered that Muar is internationally renowned for its furniture and is recognised locally as the Furniture City of Malaysia.
Jump to the relevant section:
- Accommodation in Muar (MUO Resort)
- Food in Muar
- Glutton Street (贪吃街)
- Food in Bakri
- Photoshoot – Review of Red Studio (Muar)
Read related posts:
- Accommodation in West Malaysia
- Transportation
- Train from Singapore to Malaysia
- Rental Car around Malaysia
- Johor Bahru
- Southkey (Food and Shopping)
- Eco Spring Labs (Diggersite and Food)
- Mount Austin (Dentist, Optometrist and Coffee)
- Paradigm Mall (Shopping and Food; Sports and Fun Activities; Personal Care)
- Muar
- Melaka (Next Post)
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Accommodation in Muar (MUO Resort)
I learned about MUO resort from “Makan on Wheels“, a variety show Bryan Wong, Herman, and Chef Melvyn hosted. I recommend this show for travel inspirations along West Malaysia – Batu Pahat, Muar, Melaka, etc.
Most room options were available when I checked out MUO Resort. However, I still wanted the flexibility to change my itinerary and doubted many tourists would stay in Muar, so I took my own sweet time to book. When I finally made a reservation for the weekend, the resort was fully booked. Turned out, that week was Malaysia’s school and public holiday.
I checked its sister company, MUO Boutique, but they’re sold out as well, and the biggest room they had was a triple room. Another good option, The Wood Boutique Hotel, has no more quadrable rooms for booking. The Classic hotel is in a superb location in the city centre but only accommodates 2 pax per room.
Other than these, other accommodations within the city have a Google rating of below 4. So we decided to change our itinerary to get the only Quadraple room left in MUO resort, although I had wanted another room configuration. Lesson for me, don’t procrastinate!
Food in Muar
Nippon Sushi (Japanese Cuisine)
Within a short walking distance from MUO Resort is the restaurant Nippon Sushi. My mother highly recommended this place, singing much praises about it. It’s a halal Japanese food chain, with many outlets all across Malaysia. I think my mother had set our expectations too high. We didn’t find the dishes especially memorably delicious except for the volcano creamy crab roll in the sizzling plate – the best out of the lot. However, the relatively affordable menu is a plus point.
Location: maps.app.goo.gl/jhsQQUaDX8vzaT798
Kedai Kopi Heng Mui (Traditional Kopitiam)
Also near to MUO Resort is Kedai Kopi Heng Mui. We went back in time as we stepped into the traditional coffee shop for breakfast. The ambience and even the payment system (it’s by trust) brought us back to a time when things were simpler and slower, and a place where the community gathered. The traditional toast, half-boiled eggs and milk tea are delicious. The toast is apparently famous for its kaya. Some find the coffee good, but my hubs think it’s average.
Then comes the interesting part. There’s a table near the counter where you find many small servings of food. Take whatever you like, and let the staff know how many you took at the end of your meal. It was RM0.50 for each item. There are kuehs, doughnuts, small packets of mee siam and nasi lemak (only rice with chilli). The girls like the doughnuts, and all four of us like the nasi lemak – you can pour the half-boiled egg over it to eat the rice with egg.
Location: maps.app.goo.gl/U28EZEj3bpMEz2Gc6
Restoran Ting Ting – 津津生魚米粉 (Zi Char)
Locals frequent Restoran Ting Ting. Its signature dish is clay pot fish bee hoon soup, using freshwater fish. The fish is indeed fresh but the dish is not exceptional. Good to satisfy a craving but there’s no need to make a trip just for it. My girls like the fried chicken wings dish though.
Location: maps.app.goo.gl/jGC3Et3L23QiQccM9
Nam Kopi
We were looking for a place to sit and have our afternoon tea when we stumbled upon Nam Kopi. It’s near Glutton Street and looks like it was newly opened when we visited in May 2024. We tried their matcha bread with cranberry butter and it’s so delicious. Drop by the air-conditioned place if you want to escape the heat!
Location: maps.app.goo.gl/co8paTSpTmzMFJEb9
Jom Sekolah Kopitiam (High School Cafe)
Jom Sekolah Kopitiam has quite a spacious seating area with books and colouring materials for the children. It has 4.6 stars on Google reviews, so we went with high expectations, however we ended up being quite disappointed. The Pineapple bun (菠萝面包) was quite dry and the toast and drinks were average too. It’s a walking distance from The Wood Boutique which looks quite good.
Location: maps.app.goo.gl/Wajs3Y7UjyW1hWvE7
Butter & Olive Pastry House (Bakery)
We walked past Butter & Olive Pastry House and thought the shop and bread looked good. We bought some for breakfast and they didn’t disappoint! It’s in between Nam Kopi and Glutton Street.
Location: maps.app.goo.gl/WL2oVx1Psyc3Gpkp9
Glutton Street (贪吃街)
Glutton Street
Glutton Street, translated from its Chinese name 贪吃街, is Muar’s famous food street. The official name is Food Street Jalan Haji Abu.
People stopped their cars and scooters in front of the stalls at Glutton Street to order takeaways. There was no seating area in view, but thank goodness my hubby spotted a kopitiam nearby – all the stalls except the drink stall were closed. We ate the food and drinks in the kopitiam, along with a few other patrons who also brought from Glutton Street.
We tried the otahs from the stall featured on the ‘Makan on Wheels‘ show and they were good, especially the prawn flavour. However, the stall doesn’t have non-spicy otahs, so we got them from the stall across the road. We also tried the wanton mee and it is delicious, the children thought so too! However, the chilli is a tad spicy for me, I probably should have ordered mild spicy instead. The recommended oyster omelette (orh jian) stall was closed when we were there in the late afternoon. We went earlier the next day to try the orh jian, but it has mixed good and average reviews.
Location: maps.app.goo.gl/DUR6G4dnwSQahLi58
Medan Selera Tiga Tiga Tiga (333饮食坊)
Near Glutton Street is a coffee shop worth mentioning, called Medan Selera Tiga Tiga Tiga (333饮食坊). We went there because a local raved about its Ice Kacang, but the shop was closed when we went two consecutive days. The owner should be away rather than the shop being closed permanently.
The first time we went, the coffee shop was closed for dinner, so we went for lunch the next day and tried their popular dish – char kway teow. It had a different twist from the one in Singapore, there’s a sunny side up at the top and an otah on the side. I would recommend trying it. However, the dish is cooked spicy, and I think there’s no option for non-spicy.
We ordered chicken rice for the children and they gobbled down one plate. They loved it so much that they asked me to order another big plate. Surprisingly, the chicken rice was really good.
Location: maps.app.goo.gl/APsdffu58T6uMnJy8
Food in Bakri
Restoran Bee Hong Tin (Zi Char)
I would highly recommend Restoran Bee Hong Tin located in Bakri, about a 20-to 30-minute drive from Muar City Centre. It is sort of on the way if you travel from JB to Melaka.
The yam ring with pork ribs is superbly delicious, its texture almost soft like orh-nee (yam paste dessert). The crab bee hoon was really yummy too. We heard that their clay pot Hokkien noodles, fruit fish (水果鱼) and spring rolls (春卷) are worth a try too but we didn’t have a big group to order so much.
Location: maps.app.goo.gl/BeA47huT6HYitfuz7
Mee Hoon Kuey
My relative who stays in Bakri wanted to bring us to eat the mee hoon kuey at Restaurant LingLong 玲珑. However, it was closed when we were on a Tuesday. So we went over to 168砂煲面粉粿, which has good reviews on Google. She prefers the mee hoon kuey in Linglong because it is less seasoned or flavoured than 168. We went back another day for the one in Linglong, and I think the one from 168 was more memorable for me, but older folks might appreciate the healthier taste at Linglong.
Location (LingLong): maps.app.goo.gl/rB7pUT451o4mSm2s9
Location (168): maps.app.goo.gl/bxcYi94TM12K4zfs7
Photoshoot – Review of Red Studio (Muar)
Sanren (Batu Pahat)
I’ve been wanting to arrange a family photoshoot earlier this year and “Makan on Wheels” inspired me to take action on this trip. I love Sanren’s photography direction at Batu Pahat, and I even had a video call with Hodian (a sweet lady photographer from Sanren). However, the date we wanted was snapped up soon after the call, so we didn’t engage her. Their prices converted to SGD are comparable to some of the studios in Singapore. However, as of July 2024, they have stopped doing family and maternity photoshoots and are now focused on pre-wedding and wedding photoshoots.
Red Studios (Muar)
In the end, we went with Red Studios which works better for our logistics and wallet. We chose the Family Portrait package (RM699, S$200) which includes a 1-hour photography session, one 11 x 14 photo and frame, 10 poses edited, and all softcopies returned. You can also top up (RM300, S$86) to get another 10 poses edited, an additional costume change and 1 personal make-up and hairdo.
It’s easy to snap photos with our camera phones and call ourselves photographers. Why go for a studio shoot when we can get anyone to snap a few photographs on the phone? So why even pay more for photographers when there are cheaper options? Having been through a few photoshoots, I finally saw how photography is a skill like drawing and painting. It’s one thing to snap a photo, it’s another thing to make the subjects feel comfortable so that the photographer can capture the raw moments and authentic side of the subject. This photoshoot made me see the importance of getting good photographers and why some are more coveted.
Experience with Red Studios (Muar)
Disclaimer: This is my personal experience and it could be different from other people due to many factors. The session might work for others just not for us. I have no malicious intent except to rant and share my story with those who might share similar concerns with me.
We entered the studio and the photographer assigned to us, Oscar, didn’t acknowledge us. His cold welcome was not the best way to make us, and more so the children, feel comfortable or excited for the photoshoot. I shrugged it off, he was probably preparing himself like some singers before a concert.
But during the photo shoot, he seemed to be just going through the motions and merely doing his job (without passion). He didn’t try to engage us or the children, but asked us to pose like this and that, taking photos of specific poses. He wasn’t even friendly!
My younger daughter was very nervous and didn’t smile much at the beginning of the photoshoot. I had to loosen her up by having her look at the photos taken on the camera. But this should have been the job of the photographer. After that, she was much better and smiled more. As they had fun with boisterous smiles, I saw perfect moments to capture those fun and smiles. However, he didn’t!!! The precious raw moments I wished he had captured. But he waited for them to calm down into the poses he wanted before he took the photos.
Once, we requested a certain pose for our photoshoot and he was excited he could do a particular scene in his mind, and added a black table to take the photos. But he forgot to take what we wanted – without the black table.
Experience and Review of Red Studios (Muar)
I would recommend Red Studio for formal photoshoots of adults and/or teenagers. Or if you want an affordable, no-nonsense family photo to get over and done with.
The photoshoot only took 50 minutes and we weren’t even excited to continue to the full hour. The photographer rubbed his non-excited vibes on us. There wasn’t much we could do with a white background anyway. And then, I thought there would be more props and background like the online portfolio, but nope, just a white background with a bench and two bears. He added a black table later on as mentioned above but it didn’t fit our overall colour scheme.
After the session, he left and hid in some room without saying his goodbyes when we left. I felt he was unsuitable for working with children or people in general. He wasn’t that kind to his assistant too as he ordered her to adjust our poses and my constant falling strands of hair.
I am glad we still obtained a few good photos – although there were more misses than hits. At least, the price is still reasonable, I would have been more disgruntled if it was any more expensive! Also, at least we now have an updated family photo in our house and a Couple photograph for our 10th wedding anniversary this year!
Before you go, you might want to check out my other posts on Malaysia, including our time in JB (Part 1: Malaysia Road Trip 2024 (Johor Bahru Edition)). Leave your comments or questions below. Love to hear from you. :)
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