It was the third day of the Chinese New Year, I had already promised my friend that I will be joining him to go Malaysia for fish hunting and exploring old towns.
I'll skip the boring fish hunting part and go straight to Ayer Hitam.
Ayer Hitam, a small town on the west side of West Malaysia in Johor state.
It lies at the crossroads between batu Pahat(West) and Mersing(East).
Before the completion of the North South Highway in 1994, all vehicles travelling to Kuala Lumpur(KL) from Singapore and the Southern states had to travel by the old road which was just a two way lane full of meandering bends and pronounced corners. Not to mentioned the hilly terrain typical of the Malaysian country side. It was a very risky business travelling at night especially.
In those days the Coach bus drivers were extremely skilled in negotiating the roads, I remember staying awake at night watching the driver skillfully tackling the roads. It was like taking a roller coster ride at night! As a child little things like these excite me.
Anyway, back to Ayer Hitam.
It was one of the rest stops along the road to KL and it was notorius for one thing.
The Stinking toilets at the rest stops!
They were filthy!
Imagine after sitting on the bus for hours and finally there is a rest stop to get down and pee.
You queue up and when it's your turn BAM!! the toilet stinks of crap overflowing due to blockage as hundreds of users had to stop here to use the toilet.
Worst off is, before or after you use the toilet, the food court is just next door!! Imagine filling up on food and after that going to the toilet and seeing all the floating shit!! Ewwww...:(
Hahahaha!!!!
Ya, that was the infamous Ayer Hitam memory a lot folks travelling to Malaysia had, those were the days.
Now for the nicer part of Ayer Hitam.
It is a town known for it's ceramic ware. Pots, vases, bowls, plates... you name it they have it.
Lots of snacks stalls, plastic flowers and soft toys.
All in a very old school way of display which is all over the stall.
Surprisingly, it has not changed much.
Take a look.
It still retains it's old world charm and felt really nostalgic to me.
It felt like I travelled back in time to a time forgotten, when things were much more simpler and less complicated.
It felt good.
Well, that's Ayer Hitam, still the laid back little town time had forgotten.
If you want to take a trip down memory lane, go to Ayer Hitam
I'll skip the boring fish hunting part and go straight to Ayer Hitam.
Ayer Hitam, a small town on the west side of West Malaysia in Johor state.
It lies at the crossroads between batu Pahat(West) and Mersing(East).
Before the completion of the North South Highway in 1994, all vehicles travelling to Kuala Lumpur(KL) from Singapore and the Southern states had to travel by the old road which was just a two way lane full of meandering bends and pronounced corners. Not to mentioned the hilly terrain typical of the Malaysian country side. It was a very risky business travelling at night especially.
In those days the Coach bus drivers were extremely skilled in negotiating the roads, I remember staying awake at night watching the driver skillfully tackling the roads. It was like taking a roller coster ride at night! As a child little things like these excite me.
Anyway, back to Ayer Hitam.
It was one of the rest stops along the road to KL and it was notorius for one thing.
The Stinking toilets at the rest stops!
They were filthy!
Imagine after sitting on the bus for hours and finally there is a rest stop to get down and pee.
You queue up and when it's your turn BAM!! the toilet stinks of crap overflowing due to blockage as hundreds of users had to stop here to use the toilet.
Worst off is, before or after you use the toilet, the food court is just next door!! Imagine filling up on food and after that going to the toilet and seeing all the floating shit!! Ewwww...:(
Hahahaha!!!!
Ya, that was the infamous Ayer Hitam memory a lot folks travelling to Malaysia had, those were the days.
Now for the nicer part of Ayer Hitam.
It is a town known for it's ceramic ware. Pots, vases, bowls, plates... you name it they have it.
Lots of snacks stalls, plastic flowers and soft toys.
All in a very old school way of display which is all over the stall.
Surprisingly, it has not changed much.
Take a look.
It felt like I travelled back in time to a time forgotten, when things were much more simpler and less complicated.
It felt good.
Well, that's Ayer Hitam, still the laid back little town time had forgotten.
If you want to take a trip down memory lane, go to Ayer Hitam
