Of Batik Making @ Balok, Kuantan....

In Malaysia often when we talk about Batik making we are always remind of Terengganu or Kelantan. Yes these two states are famous for its Batik and Songket but now the art of making good Batik has move to the other parts of the country as well. In one case it to the south of Terengganu in the state of Pahang; not that far from the boarder between Terengganu and Pahang at a place call Balok.

Some years ago a friend took us to this little place call the Natural Batik Village situated on the right side of the road on the way to Kemaman from Kuantan. On our first visit there I found the place is unique in that it not only sells all kinds of Batik apparels it also create this work of art at the back of the premise. Every time I am there I would go and watch the artisans work meticulously on creating the Batik. Beside the main building that display and sell Batik there are other smaller outlets in its vicinity that sell antiques, painting and other handicrafts. Since I love the work of art I have bought a numbers of handicrafts that look unique to me and always looking to get more of it whenever I see one on a visit to the place.

After that first visit whenever we are in Kuantan we would drive to Balok to have a look at the Batik there. The Tablecloth, the Sarong, the T-shirt that is exclusively created there are among the items I always look for; most of the time we end buying new pieces to take home. As I had mentioned other that selling ready-made Batik apparels one can also watch the artisans making Batik at the other end of the building. Besides that there is also a space where tourists can experience themselves in art of Batik making. For a fee the management has provide materials for the making of self-created Batik. Even if one are not interested in learning the way of Batik making it worth a visit to watch the artisans works on turning the white cloths into a great work of art that is call Batik.  Every pieces of the Batik is done by hand thus there are actually no two pieces alike. It may look similar but it sure is not exactly the same, which made it a unique work of art.

All images in this posting are taken at the Batik village on a recent visit there.

 Have a nice day.

My little abode...

For wanting to have a Kampong house I decided to do some change to the front of the house. I change the old window to the like as seen in the image above. I add other word-craft here and there so as to give it a traditional look. About is the front of my little house as seem from where I used to sit enjoy a cup of coffee and reading a good books. 

Have nice day.

Of Macro Photography; the Fish Pond...

From time to time I would venture into Macro Photography. With the Micro Lens attached to the Nikon DSLR I would try to take the best image at close range. Through the Micro Lens one get to see more of an image of the object. It actually tells us of another world from what we normally see with our naked eyes. It is not easy to get a good image for one need a firm and steady hand to capture such image using a Micro Lens. Any shaking would completely destroy the image and it became useless. So in order to get a good image using the Micro Lens I would snap as many images of the same object and select a few for keeping. By doing that I would normally get a good image. About is an image of the Fish Pond that I snap recently. Enjoy it folks. [ Please click on  the image to enlarge]

Have a nice day.

The Mat made by the Indigenous people of Malaysia....

Good Morning folks; this is my first posting in May 2014. The weather is good and we are now back with our regular supply of water. As I had mentioned in this Blog before we have been on water rationing for the last two month. It starts in March and continues during the whole month of April. It was lifted on May 1, 2014. So do give due respect to water for without water there can be no life on planet earth. Anyway today I am posting an image of the works of art of the OA [Orang Asal] or the Indigenous people of Malaysia. These people who live in the jungle are good in their works of art. The Mengkuang Mat is one of the many works of art that they produce from time to time. I would always buy it when I see a good one and keep it as my collections; as well use it as an item of decoration in the house. Placing the mat on a floor does enhance the space. By buying their products we not only get to keep a good piece of their art; we are in a small way helping them to get an extra income to supplement their living.  Above is a Mat that I had bought recently. Enjoy it folks. 

Have a nice day.

Of Good Furniture...

They say that any work of art including good furniture is always waiting for its rightful owner. Most of these furniture’s are made by hand and the finished product would always be one of a kind. Thus the owner would be the only one who owns such work of art. I love work of art especially uniquely designed furniture and whenever I am out at some shop that sells these unique crafted items I would be attracted to buy one. It is always like that with me. I would ask for the price and when found it beyond my mean would just leave it there, perhaps I would say silently to myself that most probably I am not its rightful owner or as yet to be. I would go and look around the shop and enjoy myself looking at the other work of art. It always make me happy to see those work art that must have taken the skill craftsman many hours creating it.  Such finished product would only look attractive to those who appreciate the work of art that are crafted with love and passion by the craftsman. Like a painting in always became a work of beauty and pleasing to the eyes. Most of the time there are never two of the same that look alike. It is the same like the furniture of solid wood that is in the image above. I went not less than three times to the same shop and still found that same furniture was still there and had not found it rightful owner. I had actually fallen in love with this piece of furniture so without much hesitation I decided to buy it; and since it is not that big I got the worker to put it in my car and took it home happy. And when it got home I instantly knew where to put this sort of stool; in my little garden in front of the patio. Well today it is there well blended with the other pieces of art works that I had purchased over time.  It now became one of my best collections of a work of art in the form of this lovely and unique looking stool. It is made from a large piece of log and cut into pieces. With the creative eyes of the craftsman it has turn that pieces of timber into a beautiful wooden stool that is seen in this image. Now I am the rightful owner and I love it. 

Have a nice day.