Johor 2025 Day 2: Around Kota Tinggi Town (哥打丁宜)
- Rick
- May 28
- 6 min read
Updated: Jul 2
Wednesday, 28th May 2025
I had thought of making a trip to Desaru, the coastal resort town of Kota Tinggi District, on this day. Desaru had never been on my travel radar since it was touted as a drive-to place and mostly for kids and beach-goers, and difficult to get around using public transports. It blipped on my radar this time because I wanted to check out Kota Tinggi Town, which was so near to Johor Bahru. But, when I looked up on what to do in Desaru and how to get there from Kota Tinggi Town, it was discouraging.
Bandar Penawar was a coastal town in Desaru and near to Desaru Fruit Farm, Desaru beach and the new Desaru Ostrich Farm. The only bus service to Bandar Penawar Bus Terminal, PE004, was free but for Malaysians only.
Taxi had a fixed price of RM70 to Desaru as stated on a pricing board in the bus terminal.
It was mentioned online that Grab drivers (taxi also?) would ask for double amount to avoid an empty car back from Desaru. Chances are high also that there might be no cabs back from Desaru, especially on weekdays or during off-peak periods.
(The old) Desaru Ostrich Farm had closed since December 2024, relocated to a new site in Bio Desaru (Facebook) near Bandar Penawar, but was not fully operational yet as at start of May 2025. Without ostrich meat on my plate, I would not want to journey there with all the transport issues. Another time, probably.
I checked what to do around the town too. Kota Tinggi Waterfall had been closed off since 2019 due to safety concerns as a result of flooding but many websites still listed it as an attraction of Kota Tinggi. There were other farms outside of town too, Firefly Valley, crocodile farm, etc, but they were more for kids than for me.
I decided to stay and explore the town centre since it was my first time here. I left Hotel Cascada around 8am and headed to a noodle house that was mentioned in a couple of vlogs recommending what to eat in Kota Tinggi. That noodle house seemed very popular among locals.
Along the way, I walked past Ming Xiang Bak Kut Teh (明香肉骨茶) with its door closed. Google Maps indicated that it would closed on Wednesday and Thursday. I should have gone for it when I arrived in Kota Tinggi the day before. Anyway, I could always visit Kota Tinggi Town on a day trip from Johor Bahru since it was so near.
I arrived at Yap Fong Noodle House (叶芳面家) among a row of closed shops near Sungai Johor (Johor River). It was not crowded in the early morning. I had a small-size version of their specialty noodle dish with their homemade barley drink — they served no coffee. Of special mention was the fried meat, which was crispy despite being served in soup. Other breakfasters who came in after me would order the noodle dish with add-on ingredients.
After breakfast, I checked out some murals in a little creative space known as Laman Dang Anum, which I had walked past earlier when walking to Yap Fong Noodle House. There were more murals in the surrounding streets too, but a pity that some of them were already damaged.
Unknown to many people, murals often portrayed local cultures, traditional local food, attractions nearby, or common sights in the area. They provided extra information from the perspective of artists. A couple of murals here were on Kota Tinggi Waterfall.
Outside a shop, an elderly man hailed and chatted with me. He had seen me walking up and down the quiet streets alone in the early morning and cautioned me to watch out for people tailing me — there had been several cases of robbery in town. I thanked him for the warning and avoided walking into desolated back alleys, where most murals were painted in Malaysia.
10:30am, I needed my daily caffeine shot and came to Okid Kopitiam (胡姬茶餐室). I had Kopi-O, butter-kaya toast and Okid’s signature Laksa Okid. They were delicious. I would come back for more the next day.
Continuing the exploration, I went to Sungai Johor (Johor River), took a short walk along the river, then crossed over to the other side. I walked along Jalan Besar, the main road, for a very short distance. The buildings around here were sparsely located. There were petrol stations for large vehicles and a fruit stall selling durians — it was the season again but I would not want to touch heaty fruits in hot days.
I did not walk far as the noon sun was roasting me. I turned around, went back to Kota Tinggi Bus Terminal and was sweating profusely. While resting in the terminal, I sat under a powerful new fan and booked a long-distance bus by Transnational to Mersing at 11am the following day. The fare was RM26.92 — RM24 + surcharge RM1.92 + RM1 insurance (even though I had opted out).
I was right not to go to Desaru, the weather was super hot and humid, especially after the torrential downpour the day before, to be out walking in an open area, like a beach or coastal area with few trees. I started having second thoughts about going to Mersing, which was on the coastline. I explored Kota Tinggi Town under shades as much as possible, taking photos of some street scenes, but did not go further beyond the town central. I also spent about an hour going down each and every aisles of Eco-shop in Plaza Kota Tinggi to enjoy the air-con and bought a bottle of vitamin water.
2pm, I wanted to find a cafe where I could chilled for a while with light bites, but there were not much choices in the area. I went back to Laughing Canteen (啦枫食堂) and had orange juice this time with a ham & egg croissant and kaya-butter toasts. The toasts is nearly 90% crispy but not hard. I spent another hour in the cooling kopitiam-cafe.
Back in the room, I tried to book 2 nights’ accommodation in Mersing but nearly all the hotels were fully booked except for a couple of ultra-expensive ones. I reduced to 1 night to exclude Friday and most hotels were still available. I thought that holiday-makers would go to Pulau Tioman and never expected Mersing Town to be nearly fully booked on a Friday night. But, I was not keen to go to beaches in this hot season, so 2 half days should be enough for me to briefly scout out Mersing Town, so I booked one night in Mersing.
With one night in Mersing confirmed, I proceeded to book my onwards ticket to Kluang. There were only 2 services to Kluang from Mersing per day, operated by S&S International, one at 7:15am and the last at 1:15pm. I booked the 1:15pm bus and the fare was RM19 (including RM1 surcharge). The timings from Kluang to Mersing were at 10:45am and 3:30pm, which made a day trip to Mersing from Kluang non-probable, yet workable if visiting Kluang from Mersing.
6:30pm, I went out for dinner. After checking out several food options in the vicinity, I decided on K88 Food Court next to the hotel. The cooked food restaurant opened in the evening only. I had prawn noodle and added-on a dish of stir-fried vegetables — more fibre was good, especially when travelling. The noodle dish was okay but the green vegetable was too tough.
I was back at the hotel after dinner.
Kota Tinggi Town was not effectively a tourist spot and with extended closure of Kota Tinggi Waterfall, it had became even quieter with fewer tourists, including internal tourists. Desaru was touted as a coastal resort yet it was friendlier to people who drove, not a place for non-driving travellers. I would visit Kota Tinggi Town again someday but on short day trips from Johor Bahru instead of staying over — other than for food, not much was of interest to me.
Day 3: Kota Tinggi to Mersing (丰盛港)
Comments