It took us about 20 minutes to travel from the Organic Park to the Kluang Town via car.
If a food would have to be chosen to represent Kluang, it would have to be their coffee. The coffee drinking culture here in strong in Kluang. Like what our guide shared, business meetings and discussions are often carried out in coffee shops or cafes. It has become a commonplace for individuals to gather to interact and this has become part of their lifestyle.
The Kluang Coffee Powder factory also plays a role in supporting Kluang’s coffee culture. They manufacture one of the popular brand of Malaysia coffee called Television or Televisyen. Yes, the Television even got the Sultan Iskandar of Johor’s approval and it’s a well-known local coffee among many government officials in Malaysia.
What’s their secret?
We tasted their black coffee which has some sugar added. It has a very smooth and pleasant taste. Unlike common western brewed coffees, it is thicker yet doesn’t have much of a bitter aftertaste.
Their coffee blend is actually a mixture of three different coffee beans – Liberica from Malaysia, Arabica from Colombia and Robusta from Indonesia.
At the factory itself, you are able to witness how the coffee beans are grounded, roasted and packed into sachets. Most of the work is done manually except for the packaging process which involves some automation.
Look at that hall of fame!
The next stop was Tong Huat Confectionery. This is another must-visit shop in Kluang to taste and sample their local confectionery especially their salted Tau Sar Piah and mooncakes. Even the locals here frequent this shop to buy their handmade confectioneries.
This family business still retains its traditions when it comes to making those flaky biscuits (Tau Sar Piah) filled with mung bean paste. My Dad loves such biscuits and he even brought back several boxes for my relatives and his friends to try it.
We had an opportunity to sample some pastries but we were all too full to gobble everything up. My parents seem to like this round flat biscuit which has red bean paste, lotus paste, and seeds.
We also tried the salted and sweet Tau Sar Peah. Apparently, the salted ones are the most popular among the locals there.
I like it when the skin of the Tau Sar Piah is not too thick or thin. If it’s too thick, then the biscuit taste too dry. If it’s too thin, then you will only taste that sweet mung bean filling. But this Tau Sar Piah has the right thickness of the skin and fillings.
Hey, are we in Penang? I was surprised to find these mural paintings at the alleys of Kluang. The art murals were painted by both local and foreign artists during events organized by the Town Council of Kluang.
There are 24 murals painted along the alley at Jalan Teo Siew Khor. This project was completed only a month back or so.
Some of the paintings were pretty stunning and they made great backdrops for photographs.
The weather was quite warm so a cold icy Chendol would help beat the heat. This small bowl of chendol from one of the famous chendol street stalls in Kluang only costs us RM1.50. That is like 50 cents?!?
The cendol was really nice by the way. Not too sweet and has this mild natural flavor of coconut.
As we still had some time left, we made a trip down to Kluang Railway station. There’s another coffee spot in Kluang called Kluang RailCoffee that you should check while you are there.
Finally, after touring the Organic Park and Kluang Town, we made our way back to the bus station to catch the 5pm bus. It was really a long day but very fruitful as we did so many things! I’ve learnt so much more about organic produce and the story of Kluang.
This place is really unique to Malaysia because it is really like no other towns.
Many thanks to Wee Leong from Zenxin Organic Park who brought us around Kluang Town and introducing us the beauty of his hometown.
Hello, where is the location of the chendol?
Hi Deenise,
It was such n interesting read – thank you!
Can u share, where did u get d bus to kluang from pl. n the time u depart.
2ndly, how did u go to zenxin farm from kluang town?
From ur write-up, you only go to zenxin farm n d coffee factories n d shops in town. I take it u didn’t visit other farms like kahang organic rice farm, yes?
I intend to go to kluang n zenxin n like u visit/roam d town area alone, do u thk it’s advisable n can u share too d time u left Singapore n back, off course ‘roughly’/estimation subject off course to weather n traffic conditions.
It was a joy reading ur post, soo very informative, thank you again.
Cheering you,
zad.
Hi Zad!
THank you for your comment. I took the bus from Boon Lay, Singapore to Kluang. There are some bus tours that provide buses directly to Kluang and they would stop right outside Zenxin farm. You just need to let the driver know. You can get from Zenxin farm to Kluang by taxi. You can get Zenxin farm to arrange transportation to Kluang Town from there. Yes, I did not get to visit other farms. I left Singapore early in the morning say 8 or 9 plus. It took me about 2 hours to get to Kluang – depending on the traffic of course. Hope this helps!
Deenise
Hi Hillary
It is somewhere near the graffiti area.