Royal Customs and Sultan Ibrahim Sights at Malaysian stops Excise Building • The Royal Town of is popular with travellers keen to view its pre-war buildings and kampung way of life. It is home to Malay cultural practices South China such as the Persian-inspired music of ghazal. Putra Mosque ’s most famous food “export” – siew bao. Kuala Lumpur Sea International Seremban NEGERI • Nearby villages see Muar as an outpost to Airport SEMBILAN market their goods. • The name Muar is used to refer to a large swathe of northern Johor as locals tend to differentiate themselves from more urban Port Dickson southerners. • Muar is a top furniture exporter for . MALAYSIA Muar JOHOR BATU PAHAT • The name means “chiselled stone” and is derived from the old quarries near the river Strait of Batu estuary. The economy is now largely based Malacca Pahat on agriculture and manufacturing of textile and electronics. • Nearby Kluang is becoming a popular Causeway stopover destination, thanks to the famous SEREMBAN Kluang Rail Coffee as well as vegetable and

• The capital of has • Its population of over 300,000 is growing. • Property prices are attractive. livestock farms there. undergone major expansion in recent It is considered close enough for residents A two-storey link house goes for as low • Another town, Ayer Hitam, is known for years. Developments now stretch to commute to the Greater Valley area, as RM100,00 (S$30,000). In KL, the Jurong East cheap wholesale clay products. towards the coast where Port Dickson is. a two-hour drive away in rush-hour traf c. cheapest such homes are triple that. Preferred high-speed rail alignment Second Link North-South Expressway KTM line AYER KEROH ISKANDAR PUTERI Travel time Bangunan Dato’ Jaafar Muhammad, Chief Minister‘s and State Secretariat’s Office. • The North-South Expressway exits here, • Previously known as Nusajaya, the newly built making Ayer Keroh the gateway to BY HIGH-SPEED RAIL BY AIR township is the administrative centre of Johor Malacca City, a popular tourist getaway Jurong East station to Airport to Kuala Lumpur and agship development of the Iskandar area with plenty of Singaporean cars on Kuala Lumpur station: International Airport: that covers most of the state’s south. weekends. 90 mins One hour • It aims to be a modern city to rival KL and • About 500,000 people live in Malacca complement Singapore. City, which boasts historic landmarks • It hosts the EduCity education hub and PUTRAJAYA dating back to the 16th century. BY TRAIN BY CAR theme parks like Legoland, as well as the Puteri • Putrajaya has been the administrative • Its satellite town, Cyberjaya, • The city features some • Ayer Keroh plays the role of a satellite Harbour marina development. It is experiencing town with several universities, museums, Woodlands station to From Singapore to KL (via the a property boom, thanks to buyers from capital since 1999. The planned city is is the centre of the Multimedia stunning architecture such KL Sentral station: Causeway or Second Link: less than 30km from the commercial Super Corridor and houses as its many bridges over zoos, industrial parks and hospitals built Singapore and countries like China. centre, Kuala Lumpur. It is home to about of ces such as those for Shell man-made lakes and the to serve the needs of the state of Malacca. Six hours 40 mins Four hours 100,000 people, mostly civil servants. and DHL, as well as universities. Putra Mosque. PHOTOS: KEVIN LIM, THE STAR PUBLICATION, INTERNET STRAITS TIMES GRAPHICS