Skip to main content

Kuala Lumpur: Royal Selangor

On our last (non travel day) of our adventures we choose to take a trip to the Royal Selangor factory in the KL suburbs.  Royal Selangor are the worlds most famous producers of pewter.  They are a Malaysian institution, probably an Australian equivalent would be Akubra as an iconic brand.
The worlds largest Pewter tankard

Royal Selangor offer a free shuttle bus with hotel pick up and drop off.  This makes the factory a very cost effective tourist attraction.  Unless of course you buy Pewter and pay for a signature experience which we of course did.

But first the free tour which was quite interesting and informative.  The guide was thankfully brief in his explanations and stories as we moved quickly through the factory museum and on to watching craftsmen and women at work.  We even had a go at stamping a pattern in pewter which is not as easy as it looks.

After our tour we partook of our experience where we got to hammer out our own pewter bowls.  Not quite as smooth as the products coming from the factory floor but a nice souvenir all the same.

Speaking of souvenirs, it was then off to the shop, which not only had good for purchase but a nice display of Pewter trophies made for various major sporting events.

We made a few purchases for ourselves and as gifts (lucky there was a bit of a sale on).  Then it was back into the minibus and home.  A very interesting excursion.

The wall of workers handprints




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Inca Trail day 4

This was the day we would arrive at Macchu Picchu so we awoke with a keen sense of anticipation.   To celebrate the last day on the trail, somehow the chef had whipped up an enormous cake which was served after breakfast.  After a discussion with Marco about the likely weather over the next two days we agreed that it would be best to tour Macchu Picchu as soon as we arrived in mid afternoon rather than wait until tomorrow. Marco assured us that this would mean less crowds and better weather (he was right). We could see the backside of the mountain above Macchu Picchu in front of us as we started out.  Unlike the last two days, today was mainly downhill.  We would have to descend about 1,000 meters and judging by the first part of the morning walk, most of this would be on steep and slippery rocky steps. After alternating descents and traversing along steep hillsides through cloud forest and bamboo groves we reached the ruins of Intipata. Intipata was a very...

Vatnajökull National Park

Vatnajökull National Park is a must visit destination for any tourist to Iceland.  It's also one of the most inaccessable.  The main reason for this inaccessability is that much of the National Park is taken up by the enormous Vatnajökull glacier.  So you can't just drive in and walk around.  To see the interior of the park (the glacier) you need to make special arrangements - like taking a tour in a Superjeep. We booked a Superjeep tour for our first day at the park which was cancelled due to the inclement weather... However the next day we were definitely ready to see as much as we could and fortunately the tour was back on. Our tour guide was Hungarian but very well informed and we learned a lot about Icelandic culture as well as glaciers and volcanoes. The Jeep we were in had been made by the driver (and some friends) and consisted of part of a Chrysler with another van's back end bolted on and modified engine and gears.  It had 54 inch wheels w...

Dining in Denpasar

 A key part of any holiday experience is food.  During the first week of our stay in Bali we had two nice and very contrasting dining experiences. Merah Putih is billed as the best Indonesian restaurant in Denpasar. It was just a few blocks from our Seminyak villa so we prebooked well ahead of time for a visit. The restaurant venue is very impressive - from the inside it looks a bit like a giant greenhouse, including the plants. The food was spectacular.  While every dish was good, the Bak Pao Sapi (Beef steamed buns) and Semur Sapi (slow roasted beef cheek) were incredible.   Then for Christmas Eve lunch we had booked at Starfish Bloo at W Bali, one of the swankiest Sunday Brunch venues on the island.  Sunday brunch buffets are a signature Bali experience with many of the big international hotels putting on all you can eat extravaganzas once a week. Needless to say the meal was jaw dropping.  We had a great table close to the beach where we enjoyed un...