Category Archives: Terengganu

Visit to the Noor Arfa Crafts Complex in Terengganu with Ruth and Elizabeth

June 17, 2009 Ruth

On Tuesday, June 16^th, Ruth from Icicle One and Elizabeth from Labaraque and I met at 8:30 am in the marina lobby to await our prearranged taxi. We might have taken the 3 ringgit water taxi and then the free bus, but the bus schedule is somewhat erratic and the taxi was only 8 ringgits apiece so we splurged on the taxi to save time. The complex opened at 9 am and we wanted to be there in the cool of the morning, before the crowds of tourists arrived. www.noor-arfa.com is the web address and you can see the beautiful material they make.

Most of the crafts people we saw were trained at the complex. Traditionally men do the brush painting and the block printing and women do the songket weaving. At least that’s the way it was in the Noor Complex in Terengganu. www.batikmalay.net is another wonderful web site about Malay batik. Most of the printmakers were men.

Batik tools. Some are done as a block print.

Preparing the cloth for the color. We thought the women were using water just too wet the cloth to absorb the paint.

Both women walk around the cloth adding color. They have done this enough to have an idea how to apply the color and work well together. Then the frame is tilted first one way and then the other to let the paint run. A lot like doing watercolor!

Then more color is added and allowed to run.

This was a piece that was ready to have additional design added. Unfortunately we didn’t learn what would happen next exactly though we did see a similar piece with a gold design running through the cloth. The white design was woven into the cloth prior to the painting.

Using paintbrushes this young man had painted the back of this shirt.

Songket weaving has gold and silver thread woven into it. This woman had learned the process from her mother.

I would not have the patience to do this at all.

You can see how intricate the pattern is and how time consuming it is to create this material.

According to the woman who has the batikmalay site there are some small local shops and maybe I can see some of those when we return here in about a week.

“Pulled tea” is poured from one pot to another adding air….like cappuccino only without the machine. We had a late morning snack and then went back for a late lunch.

Malaysia, Sail Malaysia, Terengganu

Sail Malaysia

June 13, 2009 Ruth

Hi All

Each stop has an official welcome dinner. This email is the welcome dinner at Terengganu.

DoraMac

Heritage Bay Marina

Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia

Wednesday night was the welcome dinner for Sail Malaysia here in Terengannu (apparently pronounced Trehgahnu.) Tables were set out on the lawn in front of the marina and we were served a buffet of local dishes. Many of them were quite good, but since it was quite dark when we ate and the tables weren’t lit, it was hard to tell what you were eating. Even the buffet line was fairly dark so I just took some of everything that wasn’t fish and tried it all. I don’t take the fish because it always seems to be boney and I end up with a mouthful trying to figure out what to do since by then the fish and bones are all mashed together in my mouth. There were speeches and dances and a tiny ballet of sorts when the dancers acted out a story of fishermen who become possessed but then are saved by “the princess.” I didn’t quite hear the whole story. We took some short video pieces and I hope to be able to send some but so far my connection has been too slow.

There is always a local dignitary to welcome us and give a speech promoting the wonders of the area. One of the rally members usually gives a speech also. So far it seems as if they choose men from among the cruisers. I’ll have to investigate that; not that I want to get up in front of everyone…..

So how did this happen? I can’t even explain it to myself; Muslim events have no alcohol. After the formal dancing, cruisers are invited to join the dancers on stage. At the dinner in Kuantan one of the dancers invited me to dance with them and I said no and she looked hurt. So this time I said yes. No more front row seats for me! But I wasn’t the only one up there.

Some cruisers seem to really enjoy it. The man in the center is a retired dance instructor so he has no problems joining in!

Each cruiser was given a batik wrap.

My favorite part of the meal was the dessert! This is the Malaysian version of the Philippine Halo Halo! Crushed ice, condensed milk, and jelly bean and syrup toppings! Yum.

Thursday morning we boarded a bus to visit the local boat building area and next the Islamic Civilization Park. http://www.tti.com.my/ That will be my next email.

Ruth Johnson

DoraMac

Malaysia, Sail Malaysia, Terengganu

Traditional boat building

June 13, 2009 Ruth

Hi All

We went to see two local boat building facilities….Randal found it to be interesting. I was more interested in the street life.

DoraMac

Traditional Boat Building Tour at Paulau Duyong

“The traditional boat builders of Terengganu are famous for their skills that have withstood the test of time. These craftsmen do not require plans or blueprints. They build boats from memory passed from generations and yet produce intricate designs with great precision and details. Built with the touch of modern technology and traditional precision, the boat is sought after by sailors from all over the world due to its sea-worthiness. “from the Terengganu travel guide. www.tourism.terrengganu.gov.my

I really can’t tell you much about the boats or the building process. I spent more time talking to the other cruisers or taking photos of the flowers in front of the workers’ homes.

Reminds me of the guys who built our boat!

Boats under construction

Most of the cruisers have sailboat and were interested in this one being built.

Computer screens, classroom area, and technology.

Walking from one boat building workshop to another I saw this scene, a mix or old and new from the cycle on the left to the bicycle on the right and the clothing of the men in the middle.

A young boy and his sister posed for a photo.

I liked all of the colors here.

Sail Malaysia, Terengganu

Islamic Culture

June 13, 2009 Ruth

After the visit to the boat building workshops we visited the Islamic Civilization Park.

DoraMac

Islamic Civilization Park

Part of the heritage tour was to visit this Islamic Entertainment Park. There are replicas of major mosques around the world, a convention center and the famous Crystal Mosque. www.tti.com.my is the website.

A map showing the entire complex. It was really hot and the entire group was supposed to stay together….”herding cruisers is like herding cats,” as Patrick from Labarque said during the welcome speech he gave representing the cruisers at the welcome dinner back at Kuantan….so it was hard to take your time and read all of the info or watch all of the informational movies at some of the mosques. And there were varying levels of interests…mine was somewhere in the middle of the group.

Shaykh Lutfallah in Iran on the left. Scale is 1:4 It was built in the 17^th century and once used as a royal mosque. On the right one of the more unique, Samarra in Iraq. Scale 1:5.7 The original was built in the 9^th century of bricks and clay. It is located just north of Baghdad.

Replica of the Taj Mahal in India. Scale 1:10. We watched a short movie about the building of the Taj Mahal which included the little factlet that a hand of many of the craftsmen was cut off so no other building could rival the Taj Mahal.

We next were taken to see the Crystal Mosque built with steel and “crystal effect glass.” I think I read on the Park’s web site www.tti.com.my that it is the only mosques built with steel and glass. It is actually a working mosque, though my guess it’s for more special occasions.

The Crystal Mosque is also called the Floating Mosque. From the bridge crossing the river you see it from the back and it looks to be floating on the river.

Tourist robes and headgear are provided. Another cruiser being helped into the robe and scarf.

A local woman in her prayer robes, praying and watching over her son. She was off in sort of a separate area and I peaked in and couldn’t resist her white robes.

When I came out, I couldn’t remember exactly where I’d left my sandals… But I did find them.

Then it was off for lunch in Chinatown and finally an overcrowded public ferry ride back to the marina. Normally the water taxi doesn’t go to the marina, but it did because there were so many of us; too many for the small marina water taxi.

Malaysia, Sail Malaysia, Terengganu

Sail Malaysia Kuala Terengganu

June 6, 2009 Ruth

Hi Everyone,

Email issues again. For some reason my outlook email won’t work with the Heritage Bay Marina wifi. And our new cell phone is just too slow so the outlook times out. I am going to try sending this email as an attachment.

Sail Malaysia Kuala Terengganu Day One

Hi Everyone,

We are in Kuala Terengganu, and a bit ahead of Sail Malaysia. We had some boat chores to catch up on and Terengganu has a marina where we can tie up, have shore power. Wednesday we had cruised from

7am to 3:30 pm; but the anchorage where we’d planned to stop wasn’t good enough so we cruised on until 8 pm and anchored at Pulau Kapas. Not only did we have to anchor in the dark, but the last hour we were surrounded by rain squalls and lightening. Luckily the heavy rain missed us and the anchorage was good. We slept well that night. Thursday we made the 90 minutes passage from Pulau Kapas to Kuala Terengganu. Our friends Ruth and Cliff on Icicle One were our travel companions and are here at Heritage Bay Marina too. Friday we all went off to see the sights just a quick water taxi ride across the harbor.

Just so you know where we are… Came across this street sign in KT and thought it was pointing to different restaurants named for famous places. Only when I was looking at the photos later did I see it was really a signpost telling a traveler where he was.

“As the capital of Malaysia’s oil producing region, KT has money and has used it to tastefully redecorate. Large brick sidewalks and elegant mosque-like shopping complexes have gussied up the place yet the soul of the former fishing village has been maintained.” Lonely Planet. My first impression is of a smaller Kota Kinabalu where we had spent a month last year. The first local person who asked where we were from had a daughter who studied English at a University in Tennessee and now taught at Malaysian university.

We took a marina water taxi for the 5 minute ride over to the city. We can take our own dingy when we refill the gas tank. It might be possible to bike also. The round trip water taxi is about $2 US per person.

The waterfront area. We climbed the stairs up tree covered Bukit Puteri ( 650 FT Princess Hill ) to see the remains of a fort, a sultan’s palace and a view of the city.

The cannons are aimed across at the marina and DoraMac! Notice the big cannon and little canon.

These cannon are named Meriam Beranak or “The Cannon that give birth” due to their positions that are close to each other and of different sizes. The cannon of bigger size is said to be the mother of the smaller size cannon.

“This throne was made by His Majesty Sultan Umar for His Majesty to sit when having discussions on various strategies with high ranking officials.” Or as Chad Mitchell Trio recited, ” No matter how high or great the throne, what sits on it is the same as your own!” as Randal is proving….. You know you are far away from home when you are in a place ruled by Sultans.

The world is the same all over. A “typical” scene of women in the dress shop and the husband being bored.

And “in the world is the same all over category,” this dad and his daughter were in line ahead of us at KFC. We went from chicken rice in Chinatown to ice cream at KFC.

After a walk around the part of town near the waterfront, we went to the wet market and bought some fruit and veggies. We were hot, tired and hot. So about 3 pm we water taxied back to the marina to rest up for the Night Market; a 10 minute (really 30 minute) walk away towards town. It was a hot walk and the Night Market was mostly food. Since we had planned to have dinner on Icicle One, we will wait until next Friday to sample the food. Back on the boat we found our electricity off. Some cruisers going off to the Night Market told me to find Steve on Wind Swift who seemed to know the most about electrical issues, the marina office being closed…. Luckily it was our friend Steve Calpin whom we had met in KK and whose wife, Valerie and I had gone exploring together. Actually, Steve had been to the boat the prior evening. Between Steve and Randal our electricity was back working, whew!!!

Randal and Steve working on the power cable that hooks us to shore power. This picture actually tells a great deal about cruising. Things are always going wrong. Cruisers have to know how to fix almost everything on the boats themselves. Cruisers will always help each other.

Today is boat chore day. Randal is changing oil filters and I’m doing laundry, blog mail, and then will clean the heads…. Also the cruising life.

Next email some Night Market photos…

Ruth Johnson DoraMac

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