One Day Nature Tour To Batu Pahat, Malaysia
Trip Start
Jun 01, 2006
1
Trip End
Jun 01, 2006
Batu Pahat, Malaysia
Tuesday, June 6, 2006
We first went to the famous Chinese temple to pray for good luck before our nature tour. Old stalls selling tropical fruits lined the streets to the temple. We feasted on delicious durians before going off. Yummy!
Our first station was the cane sugar manufacturing plant, where we saw how the sugar was being made and took turns stirring the enormous melting pot. There were also some rubber trees in the vicinity and we had fun trying to tap rubber, although without much success.
Next, it was time for an educational visit to a Kampung to experience life with the locals. A simple Malay dance with traditional Malay drums and other instruments greeted us as we stepped out from the tour bus. What a pleasant surprise. Our old folks recalled their own kampung life in the past as they were invited to spin the traditional tops, play chatek, sepak takraw, etc. The tops were so big and heavy!
Fallen coconuts were everywhere which provided lots of fun for the children as they hopped from heap to heap. We were then invited to sample some Malay snacks under a simple thatched roof tent. I didn't quite like the snacks. Had no idea what they were. Most of the kuehs were made out of coconut. It was almost cloudless as we stood under the hot sun learning as much as we could about agriculture. This trip is certainly not for the modern day cleanliness freakish parents. Luckily, we had non in our group, and so we had a great time touching, smelling, exploring, tasting the different assortment of fruits, plants and vegetables. Very hands on and experiential for all.
