We took a drive up to Batu Pahat to visit a friend’s durian farm in Kampung Minyak Beku today. Batu Pahat is a district in the state of Johor, Malaysia. The name Batu Pahat means ‘chiseled rock’ in Malay. We had lunch there and explored the farm which also grew dragonfruit, starfruit, rambutans, aloe, cinnamon and teak trees. We even got to pick our own organic durians and eat them!
Our lunch of nasi biryani, mutton curry, chicken curry, sambal prawns, and mixed veggies. Most of the dishes were home cooked and tasted absolutely delicious! It’s an experience eating in the middle of a durian farm.
The durian tree may be very large and tall, but plucking the fruit is not required, as they fall when ripe. To choose a durian, pick a fruit which is comparatively light in colour and who’s stem appear big and solid. When shaking a good durian, the seed should move. Maturity is indicated when the middle of the fruit exudes a strong, but not sour smell.
All fruit pickings end up at this shed for cleanning and inspection.
Scott with a bunch of rambutans, dad with aunty Seok opening durians in the background. The organic durians taste fantastic and are not as pungent smelling as those we get here – apparently, exported durians are genetically engineered somehow.
A view of the plantation, it’s surroundings, and the sea from the farm house.
The road from Batu Pahat town, ends aburtly at Kampung Minyak Beku. One can find about 3 or 4 shops selling basic refreshments. Small jetty of sort, and the beginning of which has a stall selling “the days” catch. Kampung Minyak Beku is where the famous chiseled rock/well is located, a big rock about ten feet in size (beside the police station).
Chiseled rock/well – The big rock was chiseled by the Siamese (Ayudhya) to contain fresh water. It was said the Siamese soldiers came here by boat to attack Malacca but was defeated by Tun Perak back in the 15th century. The chiseled rock became famous where it later replaced the name of Bandar Penggaram to Batu Pahat.
In the afternoon, we headed to Batu Pahat town for a little drive-about / walk-about. Growth in small and medium industries such as textiles, garments and electronics helped to boost development, and Batu Pahat was upgraded to town status (Majlis Perbandaran) in 2001, alongside Muar, Kluang and Skudai. As of year 2009, Batu Pahat is in the ranking of 20 most largest city in Malaysia in terms of population. Batu Pahat has developed rapidly over the past few years, its growth encouraged by people from neighbouring cities coming to visit the local shopping centre.
Batu Pahat Mall is a new hypermarket retail development in Bandar Penggaram opened in January 2007. It is a 4 storey mall and it is the biggest in Batu Pahat town. The tenants of Batu Pahat Mall sell mostly branded and high value goods. It’s the other choice for residents in Kluang area as well as for people from Air Hitam, Kluang, Yong Peng, Segamat and others, besides The Summit, Square One Shopping Mall and Carrefour Batu Pahat.
The Summit Batu Pahat is a low cost shopping paradise of Batu Pahat. The Summit A shopping complex established in 1996, is popular among townfolks and also attracting Singaporean tourists for a stop-over shopping day tour on the weekends.
Batu Pahat has a huge Chinese population and needless to say it wasn’t long before we came accross some karaoke places. I only managed to photograph two of them though – Seven Cafe and Bistro KTV and De’ Ori 933 Family Karaoke.
WOOOOOOT
Your post are useful for me, thanks