Johor Bahru (Malaysia) - Zoo Johor

Date of Exploration : 15 Oct 2016

Taking a bite into the fringe of Johor Bahru's Taman Istana (Palace Park), Zoo Johor is that quick scratch to ease a hakuna matata itch with a collection of over 100 animal species native to Asia and as far flung as South America.

And the best part is, heeding the call of the wild at this zoo costs only RM2.00 per adult!

The new entrance facade of Zoo Johor. The zoo has undergone some renovation works in recent years and enhancements were still being carried out during the time of my visit.

Getting to Zoo Johor

The easiest way to get here is to take a cab. I took a cab here from Johor Bahru City Square shopping mall that is opposite the Johor Bahru immigration checkpoint. The cab ride took under 10 minutes (smooth traffic day) with a metered fare of RM6.00.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Con Cab...

The Indian cab driver that drove me was friendly but he tried to tell me some sob story so that I would pay him RM10.00, which according to him is the standard rate for short distance rides as taxis in JB don't use meters (that's not true as I've taken numerous cabs before and the drivers turned on their meters). The thing is, I've heard similar sob stories before... claims of being born with birth defect, having major diseases, have sick family members, etc, so that passengers would give more money to the driver out of sympathy. 

I gave more than what was on the meter a couple of times before but after hearing these stories repeatedly, I now doubt the truth in them. It seems like the cab drivers in JB are mostly sick and at the brink of death. Should they even be driving when considering the safety of passengers? Anyway, I told the driver I've heard similar stories previously and he fell into an awkward silence before asking what have I heard. So I related how one told me he had lung disease and seeking treatment while another has a very sick son and yet another had heart surgery. This driver told me he had heart surgery too and was born with defects in his left leg. What defect, he didn't specify. I think dishonesty is the disease.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zoo Johor is located along Jalan Gertak Merah opposite the grand looking Masjib Jamek Sultan Abu Bakar mosque. Ticket is purchased at a booth behind the main gate at RM2.00 (adult) and RM1.00 (child below 12yo).

For the way back, I walked from Johor Zoo to Johor Bahru City Square and it took me about 35 minutes at a regular walking pace. So the zoo is pretty accessible and easy to get to in my opinion.

One of the Oldest Zoo in Malaysia

Zoo Johor started out as a private wildlife menagerie of the royal family when it was established in 1928 before being handed over to the Johor government. The zoo began receiving public visitors in 1962 and the once royal 'animal garden' is today the state zoo and one of the oldest in Malaysia. And the age shows. Not in a flattering way.

Rejuvenation works to Zoo Johor are evident especially for its entrance but beyond that, most of the zoo looks in need of a makeover to update its design, create more photo-worthy opportunities, and install proper information boards to enable learning and better appreciation of the animals.

This is the enclosure for the White-Handed Gibbon, which is a palace compared to disheveled enclosures some of the other animals are kept in.

For such a petite zoo, I'm surprised at the number of F&B outlets available here. So don't worry about being hungry or thirsty.

Top left photo shows a series of monkey enclosures. I think they've just been installed as they look new and closed to public during my visit. Contrast that with the ageing directional pole and that pretty much sums up the tug-of-war between the old and the new at JB Zoo.

Hippopotamus enclosure... will the wire fence hold if the two hippos in it decide to go full throttle and hurl themselves towards the gate?

I am not nitpicking, but conditions at Zoo Johor are rather abysmal. It looks more like a backyard animal shelter than a state-level zoo. Then again, entrance fee is only RM2.00 so can't ask for too much lah. At least the animals look well-fed and not begging to be put out of their misery.

Leather, Feather, Beak and Fur

Zoo Johor is not much of a looker, but the variety of animals found here is pretty commendable for its sparrow size. What I really liked is how close I can get to the animals because of the zoo's casual attitude towards safety. Most zoos have such a vast safety distance between people and animals that it is better to stay home and watch National Geographic.

That's why I heart Zoo Johor for the very rare opportunity to see the animals, some of them formidable, at close range with just a mere fence between us.

A wire fence separated me from the hippopotamus but no luck to see the river horse up close as they were content being submerged in their private pool.

White-Handed Gibbon... this fella was quite the acrobat during my visit. It hung and swung on tree branches like no tomorrow. Such a wonderful treat watching the care-free primate defy gravity. See video below...

If you know anything about this bird, the cassowary, this photo should shock you. Yes, I was THAT close to this prehistoric-looking bird! The cassowary is ranked the most dangerous bird in the world with the ability to slice and disembowel a human with its sharp, dagger-like nail on its middle toe.

Most cassowary enclosures would put a huge gap between animal and visitors but at Zoo Johor, I got face time with this magnificent bird that came right up to the fence. It has such beautiful eyes with perfect lashes that would make Maybelline cry. I was so thrilled to finally see the cassowary eye-to-eye... and survived!

Neighbours of the cassowary included an emu, a close relative in the same ratite family, and a couple of crocodiles (buaya in Malay).

Some see them as parent and child, others look upon them as wallet and handbag.

Open field zone for the watching and feeding of deers and ostriches...

... but first, a steak stake out at the gaur enclosure. This beefy bull is also known as the Indian bison.

Let's do the Macarena!

This is the ostrich and deer's version of conveyor belt "sushi" with visitors moving back and forth along the raised boardwalk to feed the animals raw kangkong (swamp spinach). A bunch of the vegetables cost RM2.00 and payment is by trust. You can drop the money into a collection box next to the basket if you took a bunch of the leafy feed.

Saw quite a few kids just grabbed the kangkong and fed the animals without paying so I dropped a couple of ringgits into the box to help keep the food coming.

Would've been more fun if the deers can be fed on ground level.

I fawn you! Now it's your turn to pah-sahng. I go hide and you come find me okay? :)

... then I realised the partner is right up against the cage. Both birds are female. Female Great Hornbills have white eyes while the eyes of the males are red. Should they wave a rainbow flag?

Spotted a Great Hornbill by itself and thought it is unusual as hornbills in captivity are usually kept in pairs because the birds are monogamous and mate for life. I thought this lonely one is either single or its partner had died...

The crowd puller at Zoo Johor is the White Ear Marmoset. Everyone wants to get a photo of it and every kid (and adult) wants to tickle them through the cage. They are fearless of humans and seem to like the colour red. A guy held a cold bottle of red 100 Plus close to the cage and the tiny monkeys stuck out their tiny tongues to lick the condensation off the bottles. Their cuteness is highly addictive!

Go nuts, no pun intended, over this Grelim-looking critter that is the White Ear Marmoset (a.k.a. Common Marmoset). Meeting this cutie made coming to Zoo Johor totally worth it.

Barking Deer (a.k.a. Indian muntjac or red muntjac)... it is considered the oldest deer species. I love its very tribal facial markings.

Is the fabled Madam White Snake really the Albino Python?

"Need a hug?" asked the Reticulated Python.

I've seen the fearsome King Cobra on documentaries but didn't realise just how big and long this nightmare is. Truly majestic.

Thanksgiving is in the air.

Camel pretending to be a giraffe.

Another opportunity for a close encounter :)

The tapir is has such a smooth and featureless face.

My Chinese zodiac! From the missing face paint, it is obvious which tiger gets lots of heavy petting.

The tiger was pacing up and down the enclosure non-stop as if it was doing yard time in a jail.

The tiger enclosure looks like a gladiator arena doesn't it?

Finally the beast took a short rest after a failed attempt to mount the missus.

Around the lower wall of the enclosure are narrow slits through the concrete where you can peep in for a close-up of the tiger. I was really lucky to get this shot of it looking through the hole into my camera!

A rather interesting feature of Zoo Johor is a roof-top zone that links up the tiger, lion, cow, chimpanzee and bear enclosures. The big cats were napping away from the tropical heat. Definitely bring an umbrella when visiting the zoo.

Moo... They look so dorky cute.

Sun bear begging for a treat. Refrain from feeding the animals and if you're going with kids, ensure that they don't throw things into the animal pens. Saw a number a kids throw tissues and carton drink boxes at the animals and littering the place they live.

This chimp has the filthy habit of poking his finger into his nostril, dig around a bit, and then sticking the same finger into his mouth... *gag*

They may not be free, but they are worry-free.

What species is this behind a cage?

Although Zoo Johor is rather compact, I spent almost 3 hours here getting face time with the residents. I didn't think much about the zoo at first because of the rundown conditions but after I looked past the lack of aesthetics and focused on the animals, I began to enjoy the opportunities for close observations and encounters.

Besides, the zoo is located not too far from the JB checkpoint and easily accessible. Plus, may I mention again, it's only RM2.00 to visit!

Johor Bahru - Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Glass Temple

Date of Exploration : 24 Mar 2015

Stowed away at the end of a nondescript plain lane next to Johor Bahru's Tebrau Highway, Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Temple is what I would call a 'genie in a bottle'... where a big personality is trapped inside a small existence.

My curiousity to check this place out was seduced by the temple's claim to be "the first glass temple in the world", but other than the temple being covered in tiny pieces of mosaic mirrors reminiscent of some of the sparkling wats (Buddhist temples) in Thailand, what fascinated me more were the statues that I found inside.

Getting to Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Temple

Not to be confused with Arulmigu Rajamariamman Devasthanam Temple, which is a major Hindu temple in JB a stone's throw away from City Square Mall, Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Temple is a much smaller and lesser populated monument of faith. It is also not too far from City Square Mall.

While it is possible to walk from Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Temple from City Square Mall by walking along Jalan Tun Abdul Razak (which is an arterial main road fronting one side of the mall) it is easier to just take a cab there which will cost under RM10 from the JB immigration checkpoint. The journey takes under 10 minutes without a traffic jam so it is pretty accessible.

Signboard next to Tebra Highway that advertises the site of Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Temple. My suggestion is to print out photos of the temple and show it to cab drivers as they may think that you are going to the more prominent Arulmigu Rajamariamman Devasthanam Temple instead of this one.

Mirrors, Mirrors on the Temple...

... who's the shiniest of them all? Personally, when I first arrived at Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Temple, I was like "We're here already?" I was expecting something more bewildering than the petite, can't tell it's made of glass temple before me.

Facade of Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Temple, the first glass temple in the world.

Compared to the Thai wats with massive chedis adorned with coloured, mirrored glass pieces I'd come across in Bangkok, this seemed rather 'little gas' (小气) and not world's-first-something kind of wow. The temple's brag unlocked my jaw. But unfortunately, it didn't drop.

But on closer examination, it does present a marked differentiation from conventional Hindu temples that are coloured solely by paint or terracotta and not a mix of paint and hued mirror tiles.

Containing the colourful gopura of the temple within an eyeful of my sunglasses.

The structural form of the gopura is covered in a mosaic of mirrored tiles but the Hindu deities and statues are painted.

We arrived at 2:24pm on a Tuesday because according to online sources, this is when the temple is open to foreign visitors. But we faced this door, although beautiful, it wasn't open! We hung around the closed doors and chased down the occasional humans walking around the temple and realised that it's closed for a special prayer session. But if we waited till 3pm, which is half an hour later, the doors will open.

So we spent the minutes clicking away at the colourful mirrored doors of the temple. On hindsight, it is lucky that we encountered the temple when the doors are closed so we can truly appreciate geometry of the mirrored decorations.

30 minutes later and the doors are still shut. So I went round to the back of the temple and waited to sight anybody to inquire if temple wasn't receiving visitors that day or we should wait some more. I was told the temple will open shortly. So we waited...

A rudimentary stone statue of Shiva guarding the entrance to Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Temple. It is an inheritance from the temple's early beginning as a shrine in 1922.

Finally, after almost an hour's wait (we arrived at 2:24pm), the doors were open at 3:20pm! According to online sources that have links to the temple, foreigners' visitation hours are between 1pm - 5pm that's why we came after 2pm. The temple is marketed as a tourist attraction in JB so visits are welcomed with a RM10 entrance fee.

Perhaps the day we visited was a special prayer day so the temple wasn't opened as scheduled or it just doesn't adhere to stipulated tourism hours I'm not sure. But if you encounter closed doors within the stipulated visitation hours, try to spot the temple staff and ask.

A Reflection of Acceptance

Since we were the only 3 visitors to the temple, the staff didn't bothered to on the interior lights and it was rather dull. So we requested for the lights to be switched on and when they were, the magical colours of the place sprang to life. You can see the above photo for when the lights were off and the photo below for when the chandeliers were turned on.

Politely request for the lights inside the temple to be turned on if they are off as the lighting makes a huge difference to bring out the beauty of the mirrored ceiling and columns.

Not to be a bitch, but Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Glass Temple does charge a RM10 entrance fee for tourists so rightfully, it should keep its side of the deal and help make the visit experience fuller. But do ask nicely as there may be religious services going on or there may unknown reasons the temple is keeping the lights off.

It's like walking into disco ball nation with all the reflective mirrored tiles. The inspiration behind Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Glass Temple's glistening choice of decorative material were the Thai temples of Bangkok.

When Guru Bhagawan Sittar, the temple's chairman and chief priest visited Bangkok, his attention was captured by the sparkling roofs of Thai temples that have reflective glass in a distance. Inspired, the guru applied the mirror glass approach in dressing up Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Glass Temple as he expanded what used to be a shrine into the full-fledged temple it is today.

But what captured my attention in the temple were the line-up of holy figures from other religions.

Though a Hindu temple, you can find tributes to other religions in the form of statues of representative religious figures, where permissible (Islam teachings forbids the visual depiction of the prophet Muhammad), included within Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Glass Temple's prayer hall.

Amita-llujah-maste

Would I be persecuted for mish-mashing the greetings and proclamations of Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism? To me, I view the choice of faith, if there is a choice, as choosing a belief of the after-life. Whether it is the belief of an endless cycle of samsara (reincarnation) till the soul attains nirvana or a definite eternal resting place for the soul in heaven or hell, faith, deals with what happens after life ends because in this life, our experiences and what humanity goes through are all the same. 

For that matter, in my simplistic view, all religions share a common foundation in laying down a code of conduct or morality for humanity to aspire towards self-betterment through love, compassion, kindness, empathy and peace with all that is around us. So a choice to follow a system of belief, or the choice of not having one, shouldn't be a contest for supremacy but an acceptance that the vastness of life contains a myriad formulations to equate good and decipher death. Just like food for you and me to sustain life is not food for all animals, insects, plants or microbes... and vice-versa. So, you know, like the saying goes, let's not make this life a living hell for others.

A statue of Buddha, Jesus Christ and a religious holy man lined the pillars encircling the holy shrine flanked by Ganesha, the Hindu elephant god.

Amitabha... the enlightened figure of Mahayana Buddhism in a surya mudra (ring finger to thumb) pose. The fingering conveys a blessing of vitality and energy.

Hallelujah! I am Christian and if I were the old me, I would think that a statue of Jesus Christ amongst the statues of Hindu gods amounts to blasphemy because in the tradition of Abrahamic religions, there is only one true god and not a plethora of gods. But the new me accepts the different faiths, learn from them and expand my the human element in me.



Mother Teresa... a recognition of the Roman Catholics' belief system in the Hindu Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Glass Temple.

Namaste. Here's a statue of Sathya Sai Baba, an oft controversial religious figure whose doctrines usher in a new age of interfaith beliefs and traditions.

Brahma... the four-faced god of creation in the Mahabharata concept of Hinduism. He is a third of the trinity of supreme gods which consists of the said deity, Shiva (the destroyer) and Vishnu (the preserver). In Hinduism, destruction is a part of creation. Evil, is as necessary as good.

Statue of Shiva with a cobra around his neck. The cobra represents all the bad things (evil, demons, etc) and this statue is a devotional consolation that good will always triumph over evil.



A golden statue of Kali, the goddess of time and change, and a feminine manifestation of Shiva is also honoured in Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Glass Temple. Shiva is the god of destruction, so is Kali, the fearsome goddess that signifies death and the vanquish of evil.

Here is Ganesha (remover of obstacles), one of the most beloved and prominent deities in Hinduism. Ganesha is the son of Shiva and Parvati and embodies the spirit of 'rising above the odds', god of success, wealth, knowledge, and all things good in mammoth proportions.



A head relief of the goddess Kali eyes every visitor that comes into the central ritual shrine of Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Glass Temple.

From cradle to grave, this 3D dioramic depiction of a man's life urges all to see life in perspective... that it is transient. Spring heightens into summer, fades into autumn and passes into winter. So don't take things too hard or hold on to anything for everything shall pass with the different stages of life and ending ultimately in death.

I'm not familiar with Hindu rituals, perhaps you can enlighten me, but we came across a prayer session where only women attended.

It was enlightening to visit Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Glass Temple for its open acceptance of different religions. The temple challenged the confines of my mind about faith and I'm glad I left a bigger person.

Or so I would like to think :)