JOHOR STREETS: Travelling back to the old scenic routes

BACK in the 1970s, the thought of travelling in a car for hours and passing through rubber and oil palm plantations never excited us.
Most of the travelling time was spent sleeping. If not, we would be squabbling among ourselves in the back of the car.
Back then, it took six hours by road between Johor Baru and Kuala Lumpur.
From Johor Baru to Kota Baru would take us the whole day. By the time you arrived, you would be exhausted even if you were not behind the wheel.
Today, by road between Johor Baru and Kuala Lumpur has been reduced to four, thanks to the Projek Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan (PLUS) highway. Even then, my eight year-old nephew would complain of boredom an hour into the journey.
I haven't tried driving from Johor Baru to Kota Baru but I reckoned it would still be close to a day's driving as there is no direct highway as such connecting the south to the north on the west coast of the peninsula.
It was only recently that I realised how much we had missed while sleeping on the road in the early years.
We had gone to Negri Sembilan last weekend and took the "jalan lama", as my mother puts it, from the city.
My brother's intention was to show his children what a real kampung looks like.
Along the way, they saw durian and rambutan trees bearing fruits. They now know what a dusun (an orchard) is. In Pedas, my nephew saw a live rooster. He hasn't seen a live turkey yet.
On that particular trip, we had reminisced the smaller towns we had to pass through driving up from Johor Baru. I then realised how much I missed travelling using the old federal roads.
These days, we no longer passed through Skudai.
Kempas, where the family home is, has a dedicated highway linking into PLUS highway.
The only town familiar to my nephew and his 12-year-old niece would be Senai because of the airport. We fly in and out of the state on overnight trips.
Back then, we often journeyed out at dawn and continued our sleep in the car, only to be jolted awake as we passed through Skudai.
I remembered having to hold my breath as we passed through the town as the stench from the river could be overpowering.
I don't quite remember all that well now whether it was pineapple cannery or a rubber processing plant there. Waste water from these factories flowed into the river.
We missed the sights of the smaller towns like Kulai, where the federal trunk road cut right through the town. You can find a bicycle workshop in between a general convenience store and a Chinese coffeeshop with the marble topped tables and chairs.
The main North-South trunk road that runs through KulaiIf you set out early, you'll missed the early morning crowd. At the same trunk road, you'll find people taking the buses to their various destinations.
One time, there was a fire in the town and we had to be diverted through a rubber plantation to get to the other side.
I also remembered this long stretch of road at Air Bemban, which was back then notorious for road accidents. It's a quiet road with a small surau up a little hill on the right if you're driving north. It was a little eerie too.
There was also Macap, where the famous Aw Pottery is, and Air Hitam, where we would shop for vases and other pottery stuff. This was where we would make a stop for breakfast.
From Air Hitam, we would take the Yong Peng road into Muar/Batu Pahat.
A trunk road that passes through Yong Peng to Muar or Batu PahatAlong the way, you can find roadside stalls peddling pineapples, pumpkins and fruits. While my parents haggled the price of these stuff, we would be throwing pebbles into the brownish peat water. We would see children swimming in the little canal along the road.
And you know you are close to crossing the border into Malacca when you've reached the Muar bridge.
The Muar bridge is close to the border of MalaccaOn one side would be Muar town while on the other would be Tanjung Agas and onwards into Malacca.
Driving out of the state could be tedious. After thinking you had slept a long time, you would wake up to still find that you have yet to cross the border into the other state.
But I do think my generation is a lucky lot. Travelling by road was more scenic and adventurous during the yesteryears.