Mbah & Atok go to... hunt 0 Km

Some Statistics

• Started: 26 October 2023 
• Ended: 27 October 2023 
• Days: 2 
• From: Jeram, Kuala Selangor 
• To: Batu Pahat 
• Distance: 328 km 
• Transport: Tembun, the chubby little scooter 
• Fuel: 8.63 litres / RM17.70 

Day 1

Here we go again! 

Salam… Bismillahirahmanirrahim… 

The photo was slightly different from our normal ones. The truth was that we forgot to snap a pix and only realised it once we have started the journey. Thus, a pix by the roadside, thirty seconds away from home. 

Looking forward to this little escapade, for we will be trying a few new things, one of which is this way of sharing our experience. 

Let’s go. 

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day

Frequenting this place now, for it is not that far from home. By the time we reached here, we could still contain our hunger. But one thing for sure, we tend to choose eatery along the route rather than having to make a detour. This saves time and keching keching. 

Gulam Rasul used to be good then it slacked but now it has gone good again. This kind of eatery depends very much on the staff especially the cook. Presently, our fav are tosai garing and puri with sardine curry to go with teh tarik and teh C kosong.  

Alhamdulillah for today’s rezeki. Off we go. 

Fuelling up and resting Tembun 

This is the thing about riding a small scooter - need to give it a regular rest more often. Having owned Tembun close to 20k km, Atok said riding long distances at high speeds non-stop wore out her drive belt and pulleys faster. And the belt price is “kayangan” for a small bike. 

But to be honest Atok is not a young strapping lad either. The rest is good for his creaking bones. 😂

Just cant stop ourselves from stopping; the aroma is too tantalising 

We passed this stall and the yummy aroma hit us. U turn we did and alas, lunch before lunch time. Complimenting our white rice, Atok had nangka masak lemak and taugeh tumis while Mbah had some terung. We also had a bowl of asam pedas ikan cencaru. Alhamdulillah yummy except for the nangka which was a bit undercooked. Price wise, very reasonable. 

This unassuming stall is well known among the locals. The owner was having her early lunch beside our table. She introduced herself as Kak Ti (we have the same 1st name prefix). She could really cook but me, ok ok saja lah. 

Somehow, when we are travelling, we tend to enjoy food a bit more. Maybe that applies to most travellers, explaining why most visitors to viral food places are non-locals. 

For us its endorphins produced from the excitement of travelling. We won’t say no to more of that thank you.

0 Km marker Seremban 

Found not one but two 0 Km markers in Seremban. Google Maps led us to the town’s post office (as where these markers are usually found) next to its main gate. After the obligatory photo session we rode off in search of the next marker. 

Not even 100 metres on as we were rounding the corner of the post office perimeter fencing Mbah shouted, “Stop, stop, stop!” There on our right was another 0 Km marker. This one was complete with a statue of a postman and his bicycle. The statue was dressed in the uniform of postmen in the days gone by. 

Wait, there's another one?

We took a few more pix and examine the whole construction. What a shame to put such a beautiful monument here as many would probably have missed it to concentrate on the corner. We thought it would've been better placed in the earlier spot. 

Anyway, ours is not to reason why. So we pressed on to Rembau. 

0 Km Rembau

It was a beautiful ride to Rembau. A road with sweeping bends, plenty of natural greens to soothe the eyes, not much traffic to contend with and a bright sunny day. 

Found the 0 Km marker easy enough. Strangely there was no post office around it. Maybe a new one was built elsewhere. 

Air kelapa on a hot day... bliss

Mbah couldn’t resist the air kelapa from a stall nearby so we sat for a while shooting the breeze. And grey clouds began filling the sky. 

But press on we must. 

Bukit Miku "License"

From Rembau the plan was to look for 0 Km in Gemas before retiring for the evening in Segamat. It was another nice stretch of road, this one more hilly than bendy. And Atok finally got his “Bukit Miku License.”

Just as Atok “collects” 0 Kms, some cyclists count the number of hills and mountains they’ve climbed. Bukit Miku is one of the “must-conquer” summits for her steep gradients present an alluring challange to cyclists. And she has several steep gradients but we didn’t think to count as we were more engrossed with the scenery and experience. 

Atok wondered if he could climb this hill on his touring bicycle

The roadside signs declared 10% grade but we think some were definitely more. Mbah said this would be murder to climb on a bicycle but at the same time wondered if Atok would attempt them.  On his fully laden touring bicycle perhaps? 😂

A rainy ride to Gemas

The rest of the journey was uneventful except just before Gemas when rain hit us hard. We rode into town looking for the 0 Km marker. Google Maps insisted it was in front of Maybank. We eventually found it across the road in its original form but in a sorry state. 

Someday this will become extinct

Maybe you’d ask why bother? What do we hope to gain hunting these stone markers? As more and more turned digital for their location and direction guidance these markers are increasingly being ignored. Just like the one here we found in Gemas. And one day they will be a relic of the past, extinct in the way of the dinosaurs. But not today. 

Today these hunts get us to explore places around the country that without which we would probably never had visited, or simply drove through them. The 0 Km markers form a consistent and tangible target. From these points we would explore other places of interest around the area or sample its culinary delights. 

By the way, we're not the only ones with this eccentric hobby. 

A culinary delight in Segamat

Restoren Al-Rizki at Taman Yayasan Buloh Kasap, without a doubt, serves really yummy murtabak. Give a steaming hot bite-sized piece a good dunking in the accompanying sauce and pop the combination into your mouth. Then let the orchestra begin. As the Malays would say, “Sampai tak perasan mak mertua lalu (To the extent of not noticing the mother-in-law passed by).” Apparently the sauce is of their own recipe.  

Mbah was undecided between the recommended rojak or mee goreng, as she saw how delicous it looked on another table. Finally she went for the rojak and it didn’t dissapoint. I had some too and must say it was again if not the best must be among the best rojak I’ve tasted. 

We did not regret deciding to come here as there was another place that was fill to the brim. Whereas Al-Rizki, a few shops away, was only moderately full. We noticed that the patrons were mostly locals coming off from work and most ordered murtabak to take home. Definitely a good choice on our part. Well, as the saying goes, fortune favours the brave. 

Happy for the food we were

The abundance of srumptious food continued into the evening. We checked out an unassuming food court where three eateries were opened. Two of them were busy; we chose Saufi Anim based on recommendation from saji.my. 

Atok was still quite full from the late lunch so we shared a plate of mee goreng hitam with sambal sotong and a fried chicken. The fried chicken was thoroughly cooked to Mbah’s liking yet still juicy to Atok’s taste. Mbah sampled small amounts of other gravies but it was the sambal that complemented the mee goreng best. 

The mee goreng was cooked in soy sauce hence became black. But we couldn’t put our finger on what made the noodles really soft and a little starchy. Maybe they were simmered longer than usual? The noodles soaked the soy sauce really well too. But they weren’t overly salty or sweet either. And the sambal made the whole concoction wholesome. 

Alhamdulillah, we were trully blessed for all the great food today. 

Segamat 0 Km found

But the night was still young (that’s a phrase you won’t hear often from us oldies 😂). We went scootering around Segamat and were surprised at how lively her night scene was. 

Of course we went in search of Segamat's 0 Km marker which was proudly presented in between the new train and bus stations. The train station was still under construction but what impressed Atok most was that a good stretch of the tracks and even the big station were elevated high above ground. Presumably to avoid flooding since Segamat is known to suffer from this calamity almost annually. 

“You're cute, I want to take you home,” said the lizard

We continued our meandering deeper into Segamat town. Not that it was huge, mind you. The cool night air made the forays pleasant. 

Then we chanced upon a night market next to Dataran Segamat. Parents sat quietly on the sides observing their boisterous young running around happily in the brightly lit open space. This is what makes for happy families. We imagine weekend nights would see more people thronging this place. 

Dataran Segamat - nice place to chill

The market wasn’t big; mostly local traders of clothing, snacks and pastries. The centre of attraction, at least to the kids, was a pet stall filled with cages of fluffy rabbits and hamsters. Mbah, still being a kid at heart, couldn’t contain herself from “ooh”-ing and “aah”-ing along with the other kids. Aah, bless her. 

Then the star attraction came on stage. Held in the arms of its (his/her?) owner was a lizard apparently only found in Papua and the Phillipines. It looked like a smaller descendant of the dinosaur. Docile though this creature appeared, Atok made sure he kept his distance. 

Mbah however let curiosity got the better of her. She edged herself closer and closer while playing 20 questions with the owner. She finally plucked enough courage to poke at the creature. Steadfastly unresponsive the lizard was, Mbah finally got tired with it so agreed to retire for the night. Atok was just grateful Mbah’s fingers all came back to the hotel. 😅 

Day 2

Probably the best breakfast in Segamat

Most probably, and highly likely, the best breakfast place in Segamat. Judging that, at 7.30 in the morning, there were almost no empty tables left for us to sit at Arora Kedai Makan in Kg Tengah, Segamat. And we simply thought Johoreans normally come out for breakfasts early even on their weekends (today was a Friday). 

Atok had nasi lemak with “sotong cucuk”, which was squid cooked in hot sambal then cut into 3 or 4 cm squares. Then 5 or 6 squares were skewered onto a bamboo stick. The sambal gravy looked quite runny and didn’t inspire him of its forthcoming taste. 

The rice however was fragrant with pandan aroma and rich in coconut milk taste. Mixed the runny sambal together with the rice and Atok said he felt an explosion taking place in his mouth. He was a little disappointed that apart from cucumber slices the usual condiments of peanuts and anchovies were nowhere to be found. So it wasn’t a complete nasi lemak package. Otherwise it would have been full marks plus bonus points from Atok. 

But the mee kari Mbah had was to us the piece de resistance of Arora. It was flavourful but not overpoweringly so. All the usual ingredients that form a proper mee kari were in the bowl. In short there was nothing to criticise about this mee kari. 

If it was possible to improve the recipe was to add a spoon of sambal with a twist of lime but we suspect it would only create another version of an already superb mee kari. So we unanimously agreed that this was the best mee kari we have had so far. 

Two out of three excellent choices; the other one is still good

We also had same satay but, while good, was paled in comparison to the earlier two items. Overall a fitting conclusion to Segamat as an unexpectedly excellent culinary destination before leaving town. 

Anybody noticed we had been writing chapters and verses of food review mostly? That's one of the joys of travelling in Malaysia. 

Heading to Batu Pahat

There wasn’t much to write about as we head towards Batu Pahat to conclude this short jaunt. There wasn’t any 0 Km to look for on this stretch either. The only bit of fun on the road was just before reaching Yong Peng when we overtook a convoy of maybe 10 or 12 young motorcyclists whom Mbah smiled and waved to. All of them enthusiastically waved back. Otherwise the traffic got progressively busier especially with large trucks the closer we got to the west coast, no doubt contributing to the worsening road surfaces. 

So instead let’s focus our thoughts on Segamat. It was certainly not what we expected of a rural landlocked town. Surrounded by Felda schemes and agricultural villages it won’t be our first choice to spend our holidays. 

But we were proven wrong. Many parts of the town were awashed at night with bright colourful lights. Heavenly marvellous and surprisingly varied types of food were abundant. 

But Mbah had the best observation on Segamat. As we were riding around town last night she mentioned the lack of stray cats or dogs anywhere. Elsewhere you'd usually find these strays near food courts in particular for obvious reasons. But not in Segamat. This resulted in a cleaner town with no litter, smelly food or the risk of flea-infested animals. 

We also saw several improvement projects and attraction sites going up around town. One that we checked out was an old steel railway bridge that crosses Segamat river. Its original structure had been repaired and was being spruced up, potentially as an Instagram-worthy spot. 

Kudos to the town administrators, the people who maintain the place and the community. Who knows, Segamat could be next to be awarded Asean Clean Tourist City Standard Award, joining the ranks of Langkawi, Muar and Penang, Malaysian towns that had previously been awarded. 

Proud Johoreans we are. 😊