Enchanting Kuala Sepetang - 4 June 2012

We went to Matang on our next leg of the journey from Penang to Ipoh. Matang is a swampy coastal land with many fishing villages near the coast. One of the main attractions is the Kuala Sepetang Wetlands (Matang Mangrove Eco-Educational Centre), which is part of the over 40,000-hectare Matang Mangrove Forest.


Kuala Sepetang was previously known as Port Weld, and this was the place of the first railway line in the Peninsular, from here to Taiping. It's dismantled, and it's now a Chinese coffee shop but the shopowner still maintains the railway signboard and the ticketing booth.


Today, the mangrove forest is recognised as the best-managed sustainable mangrove ecosystem in the world. The best part about the place is that you can stroll along the wooden boardwalk to see the inside of the mangrove forest. 


These roots act as natural barrier against tsunamis!

So cool under the shade of trees in the forest....


The young plant actually grows within the seed while still attached to the parent plant! The seedlings will float away and can firmly root themselves in the water within days and grow rapidly.


We were so fascinated by the rich and diverse wildlife in the forest. Low tide is the best time to view the wildlife and migratory birds in the muddy coastal floor of the mangrove forest. If you want to stay longer, there are chalets available for rental in the forest....


Beware of the high tide, we removed our car here just in time before the tide came in...... we have to wash our car as soon as we got to town because of the salinity of the sea water.

The mangrove swamps in Matang produce timber and charcoal. There are a few kilns in the nearby village which still produce charcoal in the traditional way. While we were outside the charcoal factory, we saw 6 Brahminy Kites eagles flying in the sky. So awesome!

Inside a charcoal factory. See the stacks of cut mangrove timber waiting to be fed into the kilns.

A Made-in Malaysia "Darlie-man" as he stepped out of the charcoal factory......

The charcoal is not the usual BBQ charcoal we use at home. It's very expensive, mainly exported to Japan and made into many different kinds of high value medical and skincare products. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Al-Attas Garden in Janda Baik - 4 August 2012

Image
Besides being a well-known contentious writer, little do we know that Syed Hussein Alattas is also a self-taught gardener and an architect. He had built Taman Hana in Janda Baik from scratch and named after his wife.  Taman Hana sits on a 8-acre plot of land in the quiet village of Janda Baik. It boasts a collection of 1,000 species of plants including fruit trees, more than 700 big flower pots and five buildings that include the home of the Alattas family.  The good news is that it is open to visitors every day.  As we made our way past the entrance, this place appeared unkempt. It was well beyond its heyday (in 2008) but still showing off its faded beauty. Some parts were badly neglected, which was so unfortunate, because it originally was to be a quiet kampung retreat. A mix of traditional Malay, Peranakan, Indonesian and colonial British architecture and a Minangkabau styled roof. Syed Hussein had actually started building the structures in 1982 and he spent a lot of time
Read more

Spilling the Beans in Ipoh - 6 Apr 2012

Image
Ipoh's familiar specialty - Nga Choy Kai or the Taugeh (Bean Sprouts) Chicken. What else to accompany the poached chicken than the fresh, fat and crunchy Ipoh famous bean sprouts!! The bean sprouts are served blanched, with a dash of sesame oil, white pepper and soy sauce. Ipoh is a well-known food haven in Malaysia, and most will agree that Ipoh's bean sprout is the best in Malaysia. The premium-grade bean sprouts come from the Buntong New Village, which is also my husband's hometown. Growing bean sprout requires only water and more importantly, watering techniques. Madam Toon told us that there were at least 8 operators in Buntong. They were all family-owned businesses, and the three Toon brothers have been growing bean sprouts for more than 70 years.  Bean sprouts are grown from black mung beans imported from Myanmar. The beans need to be watered every 4 hours throughout the day for 5 days, no shortcut, otherwise they will be not be fat and juicy. At
Read more

A Potter Village in Sayong - 30 May 2013

Image
Pit Stop at the Perak royal town, Kuala Kangsar. The 1st rubber tree in Malaysia was planted in this town. That's about all I knew about this place. Labu Sayong or water pitcher from Sayong village, known for its health value to help migraine, lower blood pressure etc due to the special properties inherent in the local clay. Before this, we didn't know much of labu sayong.  We didn't go to the village or plan this visit. Out of curiousity, we bumped into this unassuming workshop at No. 3, Kg Setia, Enggor, run by Mohd bin Harun.  Pakcik was very open and gave us a tour of his workshop and how he makes labu sayong. His warm, friendly welcoming people made a lasting impression on all of us - a trait that we've lost in the big cities. The traditional way of making labu sayong uses hands to mould the clay into the shape of a 'labu' (gourd-like vase) but this is too slow. Now, the clay mixture is poured into standard mould blocks. It's
Read more