Ayer Hitam & Kluang Outing

On Good Friday last week, we took a drive to Ayer Hitam. Mummy dearest wanted to look for the 'Thai triangle lounge mattress'. And I have been craving for the Kluang toast. And it was my aunt's birthday. What a good excuse to go!

First stop was Kedai Kopi Tang Chuan.

You can find out more about it on johorkaki's post.

Their pao is good. The comment I get from the husband and my mom was that the pork is nicely made. But I wouldn't say it is significantly better than the ones in that dim sum place in Perling, Tasixi. Not bad, but service was a bit bleh. We weren't given small plates. And they aren't particularly courteous. I guess the legacy gave them the entitlement to be like that. 

Just around the corner, is the popular local market, selling many locally made products.

I was expecting a bad traffic but surprisingly the little town was quiet! I love it! No crowds, yay!

Ayer Hitam is truly a ceramics town. Aw Pottery and Claytan are there. I wanted to visit Aw Pottery, but it was closed that day, just for that day. I was quite disappointed, as I wanted to enquire if they offer classes. Lately I've been bitten by the ceramics craze. I took a beginner's pottery class 13 years ago, and I really enjoyed it. I would love to get my hands messy again with clay. And oh, how I would LOVE to draw on raw plates, bowls and mugs! And then go through the processes to finish the wares. It really is very interesting. I think this will be my retirement plan :)

I just love local products and this place really make you feel at home.

 Second last piece! My mom was happy :) She said in JB town, this would cost RM120... but here, after discount it was RM85.

There were also a lot of local snacks like banana crackers, tapioca chips, kuih bangkit, kuih bahulu, rempeyek (peanut ikan bilis cracker), that crispy shreds of coconut snack and many more. 

Kluang is just 10-15 minutes drive from there, so we decided to drop by the popular Kluang Railway coffee shop. 

Yes, the original coffeeshop. They have a Facebook page now. 

This was indeed a good day to visit, because it wasn't crowded and we could actually find a table. 

I wanted to visit Yuen Fatt, the popular local Chinese cake shop but we were just too full to be in the mood to buy more food. Maybe next time!