Mid-Autumn Festival in SRJK (C) Masai

They called it "Karnival Satu Malaysia". But whatever it was, I am impressed by the performance and the way it was organised.

Masai Chinese Primary School (Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan, SRJK) is indeed already established and one of the most populous schools in this region.

Cheap Dental Service in town

Klinik Penggigian Masai (Masai Dental Clinic) is located opposite the Dewan Raya (Community hall) in Masai town. The dentist is only available in the clinic on certain days in a week. Prior appointment is necessary. A service like teeth scaling and polishing is around RM5. The clinic also provides free services such as free checking and tooth filling/extraction to the pupils in primary schools nearby.

The new Masai Kip-Mart

The shopping center in Bandar Masai is just getting bigger and more gorgeous. The old Masai Kip-Mart has been decommissioned. The owner has built a much bigger and more complete one to satisfy the demand of the people here. The new Kip-Mart is also located at the east side of Bandar Masai, just a couple of streets behind the old one.

The new Kip-Mart is not only full of retail shop, more impressively, it has a very big wet market there, which is really a good news to the residents nearby.

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Museum Layang-Layang & international kite festival

The International Kite Festival in Pasir Gudang, which is just 2KM east of Bandar Masai, has been running its show for the 16th year, but this is the first time for me to watch it in person. This is a good family outing event and I must say I am impressed by the way how the festival is organized.

Kite lovers from all around the world gather here to show off their national traditions. It is really an eye opener for me. Too bad I didn't manage to catch the Malaysia's wau kite on sky.

Hotels in Bandar Masai receive a good boost for business whenever we have events like this in nearby area.

By the way, this is the museum layang-layang (kite, in Malay).

New hotel in Bandar Seri Alam, Masai - Pearl White Hotel

This is the 4th hotel coming into the promising Masai business center - Bandar Seri Alam. The commitment of the big players implies the confidence of the investors on the town.

Pearl White Hotel is located at Jalan Suria 7, along side with Rose Cottage Hotel and Diva Karaoka Entertainment center, in Bandar Seria Alam.

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Quarry Masai

A supplier of granite company has been working on the small rock mountain near Masai for at least 30 years already. It used to have some quarry explosion sounds from the site when I was young but I didn't hear any of those in recent years. I believe the company is still working, though.

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Marrybrown Masai

Marrybrown could be the earliest western fastfood that set foot, ahead of KFC and MacDonald. It is more popular in the Malay community, which I am not sure why.

This restaurant is located at the shoplot near to the Masai Bus Station.

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Fruit stalls

Fruits are sweet and cheap in Masai. These fruit stalls are located in Pasar Masai. This is a kind of cheap yet vital source of food which cannot be found at the similar price in many other countries. I bet the people here must have taken this for granted, which is not entirely wrong, though.

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Panoramio Slide Show

Panoramio now has a new feature where you can display all your uploaded photos as a slide-show in your website. Mouse-over the photo below and click the side-button to navigate.

Pek Ti Kway Tiao

Pek Ti Kway Tiao has been in the town for more than 30 years already. I believe the chef (Pek Ti) is currently on semi-retire mode where he does not really work for money already, but instead for his loyal customers and supporters. Yet, his business is still as good as ever.

The stall is only on business in the evening time, at the hawker center opposite Masai Bus Station.

Road closure due to landslide

There is a landslide happened at Jalan Suria (circled in red on the map above). The road has been closed for construction since middle of May.


Traffic has been diverted to alternative road. Still, this is not the reason for slow progress of the re-construction. The site shows no progress of work for weeks already. The efficiency of the people in charge or the authority is indeed disappointing.

Masai Mission Church

This church is located at the busy Bandar Seri Alam. However, the main activity is on Sunday (prayer day), so it should not be a big issue.

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Giatmara Masai

Giatmara is a government education center to provide training and courses to civil servants(?).

GIATMARA Tebrau
Kompleks Penghulu Mukim Plentong
81750 Masai
Johor

Tel : 07-2514585
Fax : 07-2542585

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Oriental Hotel, Masai

Definitely 1 of the oldest hotels in town. Oriental Hotel (东方酒店) has been there for at least 30 years already. At that time, this hotel was regarded as a luxurious place by people in town. Nowadays, many more newer and impressive hotels have been built in town. Oriental Hotel now can only rely on old customers or those quick check-in guests to survive.

This hotel is located at Jalan Masai Lama, the main road; opposite the Masai Post office.

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Reflexology service in Masai

Another highly anticipated high class business service is coming to town -- reflexology! This is taking over the Jyo Sushi Restaurant, which did not make it and closed down. The outlet is located next to the Grand Far East Hotel, whose business has been good over the years.

Businesses of dispensable services like this have been appearing fast in town recently. This says a lot of the spending power and the demand of quality of life of the people here.

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Balai Polis Masai (Police Station)

The police station is one of the first few buildings in town. That is to say, it has been there for at least 30 ~ 40 years, and has witnessed the development of town.

Major crimes are rare in Masai. Thus, those police officers working here should consider themselves lucky? Anyway, the demand of people has been increasing, so has the expectation to the services from the police.

Masai Police station is located along Jalan Masai Lama (Masai main road), guarding the east exit of the town center.

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Restaurant Todak (Orang Asli)

This is a famous waterfront restaurant, located at the seafront which is about 10km south-west of Masai town. Orang Asli means aborigine. That implies the people who runs the restaurant, and also maybe the wildness of the food there. Of course, one of the attraction point of this eating place is its unique sea view (looking upon Singapore at the opposite side).

The food served here are acceptable by all races, even though Chinese style.

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Cherry blossom in Masai

Honestly, this is not a cherry blossom, but it looks like. Weather in Masai always hot and humid. Temperature is constantly high throughout the year (about 30~32 degree celcius). It could drop to 26~28 degree celsius in November to January period, though.

A tree has blossomed with white color flowers along the road next to Tesco Seri Alam. The background of this photo is the Regency Specialist Hospital.

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Chinese Opera Show (大戏)

The stage show of Chinese opera comes to town when the Chinese New Year is around the corner -- this year is not exceptional. I believe it is a traditional ceremony event that organized in a way to celebrate and thank the Gods for the blessing to town and people.

The opera show is still very much welcomed by the older Chinese generation here. You still can see crowded people gathering in front of the stage to see the show. Whereas younger generation and other races people watch it probably out of curiosity.

The opera show event takes place at the main street, Jalan Masai Lama, near the Chinese Temple.

Tadika Kemas Kompleks Penghulu Masai

This kindergarten is located at the inner part of Kampung Baru Masai. The name of school implies that it is associated with the chief of the village (Penghulu). There are quite a number of kindergarten schools already in town. This school might not be the most advanced, but the secluded location provides a quiet, peaceful environment that shielded itself from those busy streets at town, which is definitely good for the children.

Chinese Primary School Masai is expanding

Like the nearby Malay primary school and Tamil primary school, the Chinese primary school too is facing growing number of pupils each year. Building multi-storey classrooms seems to be the only way to solve the capacity problem.

The increase number of pupils does not only imply the good quality of the school, but also the bright prospect of the town.

Children Playground at padang

A new children playground is now available at the corner of padang (field) in front of the Chinese Primary School, Masai. The simple facility provides some relaxing activities to the residents nearby within walking distance. However, some residents are skeptical about the durability of the facility as maintenance service of public properties is always problem here.

Nevertheless, this is a good sign of improving quality of life here.

Car Racing Circuit - Today's Market Track

This remote control car racing circuit is located behind the Today's supermarket. The fans come here to have their toy cars racing in this mini-circuit. There are usually some competitions organized by the owner here (Trust Hobby Racing).

Well, life in Masai isn't that boring actually.

New Private School of Seri Alam is coming

The multi-storey building is meant for a new coming private school, I believe. The standard of living of the people in town is getting higher, so is the demand. Parents nowadays are not just contended with the education services provided by the national schools. They are seeking the better alternatives. This triggers the growing number of education services in town recently.

The school is located opposite the Tesco Supermarket and Regency Hospital, and next to the MacDonald restaurant. Obviously, this area will be very busy in future.

MacDonald Masai - 24hours, drive-in

Well, this is not a new restaurant. It has been there for almost 2 years, I guess. The crowd has always been overwhelming ever since its opening. It is arguably the most successful restaurant in town. This is a good place for families gathering, where parents do not have to spend too much, yet the kids are always happy. But the junk food culture should not be encouraged.

MacDonald Restaurant Seri Alam, Masai, is located opposite the Tesco Supermarket, next to Pasir Gudang Highway.

OJC Warehouse Sales

This warehouse shop is located at Jalan Masai Lama, about 2km west of Masai town. They only have this type of sales several times a year. The price could be cheaper than retail price, as most of the goods are directly from the factory or warehouse.

It sparks a shopping spree for people of middle and low class in the town.

Entertainments in Masai

Entertainments in Masai can be varied from the colorful pub/karaoke to the economical flea market. There is no cinema or high class supermarket in town, but the people here never get bored on where to spend the leisure time.

The picture above shows a night view of the Diva Karaoke, which located at the Bandar Seri Alam. Picture below is a view from the Today's hypermarket.

News of the day in town

The biggest news in town today? A public bus connecting Masai to Johor Bahru has broken down at Jalan Masai Lama, causing the mild traffic jam of about 500m.

In this small town where most of the residents are born and bred, peaceful life here is indeed a blessing.

SMDPT Masai

This school is getting more and more attention, not just only locally. Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Data Penggawa Timur (SMKDPT) is now a well-known and prestigious secondary school in the state of Johor.

The students here have achieved impressive academic result in the year of 2008: 17 students with 10As in SPM (GCE O-Level) and 2 students with 4As in STPM (GCE A-Level). I am not aware of any advanced facilities in the school. Thus, I believe the achievement could have owed to the commitments of the teachers and the hardwork from the students.