It is the year of 2012, where the world is supposedly to come to an end. :-) So, time to travel to as many places as possible!
As promised, I am going to post up photos from my New Year getaway. I went to Perak, a state located in the mid-west of the Peninsular Malaysia. Perak is a big state. Specifically, we went to the below places.
Kuala Sepetang. I wanted to see the area because it is a mangrove area and there is a charcoal factory located here. This is the mangrove forest.
And the charcoal factory. It is a small factory with 5 'dapur' (translated as 'kitchen' from the Malay Language). The 'dapur' is made from bricks and sealed with red earth. No cement because of the extreme heat when the wood is burnt.
There is a door to put the wood inside. The wood is arranged neatly inside. When I went inside the 'dapur', it was so stuffy. There were only 4 small airways. Once the wood is arranged properly, the door is sealed midway. A fire is started to burn the wood. The fire made is a huge fire to burn the top level of the wood. How the workers know whether the top level is burnt depends on their years of experience in smelling the smoke and also to be safe, use the thermometer. Once the top of the wood is burnt, the fire is maintained at a small flame to burn the lower portion. Notice that the wood is placed on top of bricks for the heat to go inside the bottom of the wood and inside the wood.
The fire has to be kept burning for 24 hours for 10 days. Once the wood is completely burnt (also once again, based on years of experience by smelling the smoke and also the thermometer), the fire is left to die. And the whole place is sealed up. The remains of the wood i.e. the charcoal are left to cool down for about 20 days. The whole process takes about 30 days.
The charcoal produced is of high quality and exported to Japan. Wow. Imagine this little factory in a fishing village selling their charcoal to Japan.
Then, we went to the local fishing village. We took the 'sampan' (the Malay word for 'wooden boat') to go the other side of the village. Paid 20 cents for it. It was less than 2 minutes and we were so excited sitting in the 'sampan'. Haha!
At the other side of the village, we saw a large monitor lizard. The locals are not scared at all. They said that it is not dangerous. And we saw eagles circling in the sky and swooping down to the river to catch the fish.
Back to the other side of the village, we had our seafood lunch. It was so filling. I had 2 special dishes, in my own opinion, because I had never had them before.
Special dish number 1. I have this seashells at home for display. I never thought they were edible! My friend commented that Chinese eats anything with meat. True. I agreed! :-)
Special dish number two. I have no idea the name of this fish. But everything is edible. Very nice too!
Then, we took an hour drive to Taiping where I get see the Lake Garden! I have read that the Lake Garden is so pretty and scenic. And it's very true! This whole place reminds me of Guilin, China. I love the reflection of the trees against the lake. Now, if one have those DSLR cameras, the photos produced with be just gorgeous!
It was an hour drive from Taiping to Kampar, where I tried the iced coffee! This is delicious!! The ice was blended to the top. It is so creative! :-)
It was a beautiful, stomach-filling trip! I have the best company to enjoy this trip! Although I was continuously reminded to keep learning how to speak Cantonese! It is a local dialect in Malaysia. It is one of my resolutions for this year! Shall do it! Must do it!
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