One day trip to Taiping (part 1) – Discovery of the Black Gold

07/10/2014

*cough cough* has anyone noticed the severity of the air quality today? The haze is so thick that it hurts my eyes even when I am in indoor… Gosh…~

 

Last week was Hari Raya Haji. Dear and I had totally no idea and lost track of time due to the recent happening events until his dad called us to make arrangement back to Ipoh a few days before.  We made a quick arrangement and drove back to Ipoh on Saturday. Knowing our surprise return to Ipoh, his youngest sister immediately invited us to join her and her friends to have a day tour in Taiping on the next day. Well, we..I had been to Taiping a couple of months ago when we decided to take the baby to the Taiping zoo. I had quite a leisure, amicable time except for the surprising downpour (do take note as Taiping receives A LOT OF RAIN!) I did not hesitate to return to Taiping for another quick trip.

 

A once very popular and happening pasar (market) situated in the center of the small town, dear’s dad was telling me that. Hmm..I wonder does it now?

Our first stop is to visit charcoal factory at Kuala Sepetang, Taiping.

In the car, I told him that he needed to get some rest before we reached Taiping.  As if he really understand my words, in a blink of an eye, I had turned to become his portable charger and he lied down with his face facing down on my leg to..erm..well..recharge. Hmm.. I don’t remember I teach him that at all…

Kuala Sepetang Charcoal Factory

At that time, I thought bringing a little 1 years old to visit a charcoal factory could be troublesome so I brought along extra shirt, wet tissues (A LOT OF WET TISSUES), handkerchief and lots of water for him, as if I have already foreseen the dustiness of the factory, but, no..I was quite wrong and no..the air in the factory was pretty good..at least we did not leave with black smears and smudges or coughing our lungs out..and Danish behaved at his best..Thank God! It wasn’t very hot since it was just after raining but then I think it could be quite sultry on usual days..

Chuan Seng – Kuala Sepetang Charcoal Factory

When we reached, we noticed that there were not just only one factory but a few more steadily located side by side along a row, ready for exhibition/tour visit.  The girls had lead us to the last factory, located furthest inside, known as Chuan Seng.

 

The two boys that captured my heart dearly.  As you can see, the air was clean and Danish had no problem playing around..There was no choking or coughing…

The factory was mainly built of wood with high zinc roof.  The floor was covered with thick and dense ashes.  From the entrance, we can immediately saw a few round cubicles, similar to igloo but was not made of ice, instead, bricks and clay. These cubicles were the kilns used to produce charcoal. Each of the kilns have a tall opening that would be partially sealed when the production was in progress.  There was a very small opening at the bottom of the tall opening which we could see the flaming hot blaze dancing wildly inside the kiln.  On the outside, rows and rows of chopped mangrove tree logs were aligned neatly, ready to be shifted into the kilns later.   There were absolutely no modern facilities, such as modern electrical oven,  attached around the factory to aid for the production of black gold – charcoal…it is as if a walk back into the past as we walked from one room to the another.

The round cubicles were the kilns used to make charcoal. A worker was seen outside one of the kilns, sieving the charcoal debris with the traditional rattan sieve tray. There was absolutely no modern equipment around..simply a traditional, manual workmanship living in this modern epoch..

Rows of logs aligned on the outside of the kilns, getting ready to be sent inside for the next round of production…

On the bottom of the tall opening which was temporarily sealed when the logs were burnt inside, a small opening was seen..I guess the function is for the worker to examine the process regularly without getting themselves hurt or to ease the worker to put more logs when the fire begins to subside…

Next to the factory was a narrow canal meandering lazily into the nearby river.  I think this is how they bring the logs from the nearby mangrove swamps.  Baby was so excited when he spotted a boat on the canal and he was screaming “BOOOOOOOOAT” loudly and refused to leave. Lol…

The look he had when he spotted the boat..

A boat was seen sitting peacefully on the small canal

Each of the factories were seen with similar small, narrow canals that connect to the rivers, allowing the logs or necessities to be transported from the nearby swamps to the respective factories or vice versa.

Gone the days where the canal was filled with boats and workers standing by the side, calling, greeting each other… What left now is a picturesque that attract tourists and amateur photographers.

There was also a small stand selling souvenirs made from charcoal..generally, charcoal is very useful in absorbing moisture and odor..so if you constantly have to battle with the odor in the kitchen after cooking, or musky moisture smell in the room, do consider to buy some charcoal and placed them in the room.  It is one of the best, cheapest and effective way to eliminate odor, moisture and subsequently fungus too – since moisture encourages the growth of fungus.

Anyway, we have a great time there… Baby enjoyed himself a lot too except he was struggling to show us his “two” during photo-taking session..lol..don’t believe me? See it yourself then…

Two? Five? Hmm.. unsuccessful attempt to show us his peace sign..

Trying very hard with the TWOOOO~

FINALLY! TWO!

 

Below is the contact link/facebook page of the charcoal factory..

https://www.facebook.com/KualaSepetangCharcoalFactory

Do drop by to have a visit… ^^v