Malaysia Diaries Day 4 & 5
Day Four in Malaysia was all about shopping. The school group first headed to the famous Central Market founded in 1888 by the British and taken its current shape since 1937.
The market had a series of stalls on two floors which sell handicrafts all locally made. The favourite items are batik, songket, wood carvings, souvenirs, accessories and garments. There are a myriad place to relax and dine at.
In the afternoon everybody headed to the SOGO, one of the popular shopping malls, where you can literally get everything under the sun, for all age groups and all tastes.
The final day began with a visit to The Royal Selangor Pewter Factory. It was founded in 1855 some 130 years back and today the Royal Selangor is a global name exporting pewter products to over 20 countries worldwide.
A young, 18 years old student our tour guide, traced the History of Pewter which consists of about 92 to 97 % tin mixed with antimony and copper to add strength to the alloy. In the factory we were shown the pewterware including money tree, the lucky teapot and the entire process of how pewter artefacts are created. The factory also had a retail store where visitors could buy beautifully crafted pewter objects. There is a giant tankard outside the factory which is featured in the Guinness Book of World Record.
Our final destination was “Putrajaya” the federal territory and the country’s administration centre some 25km outside Kuala Lumpur city. It is built on an expansive marshland & former oil palm estate. It is a modern city with impressive infrastructure well paved roads, and latest communication technologies. The KL Airport is a few minutes away and one enters the city through a beautiful suspension bridge over a waterway and large lake. There are government and administrative buildings along with commercial and residential areas in an elegantly designed area dotted with parks and greenery. We drove through this city, saw the Prime Minister’s residence, the mosque and a large Convention centre.
As the sun set, we drove to the airport to head home after this wonderful trip to a modern nation.
