Malaysia Shopping Tips by kenyneo

Name of Shop: Various places in Malaysia

You will find it in Penang, Langkawi , Kuala Lumpur and perhaps other parts but Kelantan is its true home.

What To Buy: Where its from

Originally an Indonesian craft it has made itself equally at home in Malaysia. Malaysian Batik is the best in the world and is created by four methods: block- printed, drawn free style, silk-screened, or tie-dyed. Batik painting is an exquisite and delicate art which requires skill, patience and meticulousness.

batik painting

Fabrics are usually cotton and silk. Batik cloth is basically produced by drawing out a design with wax and dying the material. The wax is then melted away by boiling the cloth, and a second wax design is drawn in. After this repeated process, an intricate and beautifully coloured design is produced. Batik can be found as cloths, cushion covers, table-cloths, placemats or simply as works of art. Batik sarongs are usually a novelty with tourists.

( All Malaysian secondary school students are taught the way to paint a batik. Well I hope I can find my own master piece but the one I am wearing in the photo is 20 years old !! It belongs to my dad ...hahaha ..and one thing Batik never go out of fashion ...but make sure you buy genuine one )

Check these sites for more info on batik ( even batik painting class )

http://www.batikmalay.com/02-00_introduction.html

http://www.emmes.net/atma_alam/roshadah_yusof.asp ( langkawi )

http://home.t-online.de/home/wdiesch1/spec/arfa.htm ( terengganu )


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Theme: Local Craft

Name of Shop: Various places in Malaysia


What To Buy: Where it came from and its evolution

Songket, called Malaysia's "cloth of gold", is a proud legacy of the Kelantan and Pattani courts. Once strictly reserved for royalty, songket' is now used for ceremonial occasions and weddings. Richly woven with gold or silver threads, songket was the dramatic consequence of the region's early trade with China (which supplied the silk) and India (gold and silver threads. Then I will call it the Cultural Melting Cloth ...

making one

Woven on a Malay frame loom, elaborate patterns are created by introducing extra gold or silver weft threads with the use of a flat needle or cuban.

The songket goes through eight stages before it becomes a piece of fabric and it is still traditionally woven. As weavers are usually from rural areas, it is not surprising to find that the motifs are patterned after local flora and fauna. These motifs are also named after local Malay delicacies such as seri kaya, wajik, and the tepung talam, believed to be favourites of royalty.

Exclusive songket requires between one and three months to complete, while ordinary songket only takes about 3 days.

What To Pay: ranges from RM100,

with the exclusive running into several thousands of Ringgit.

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Theme: Local Craft
Directions: Kampun Penambang ( Kelantan ), about
4 km north of Kota Bharu, en route to Pantai Cahaya Bulan

Bazaar Buluh Kubu, New Central Market, and even one that is laid out along the street of Temenggong (Jalan Temenggong).

Name of Shop: Royal Selangor Pewter

The company was founded in 1985 and has a workforce of more than 600 skilled craftsmen. The Royal Selangor factory is reputed to be one of the world's largest.

What To Buy: What 's PEWTER ??

Pewter is composed of tin, with a small proportion of copper and antimony added to strengthen it. Unlike pewter in the olden days, pewter produced by Royal Selangor does not contain lead, and adheres to international standards

What can you make from PEWTER

Almost anything you name it , kitchen ware,drinkware stationeries holder,photo frames, chess sets , statues, lighters,ornamental stuff and the coolest thing is that the company's products is following the market trend or craze..look at these Goblets of Characters from Lord of The Rings ....so what do you think ?
kitchenware,children's gift ,


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Theme: Local Craft
Phone: +60 3 41456000,Fax +60 3 40251
Address: 4 Jalan Usahawan 6, Setapak Jaya
Directions: Head Office & Factory
Royal Selangor International Sdn Bhd
Website: http://www.royalselangor.com
Other Contact: info@royalselangor.com

This is truly a Malaysian handicraft and favourite past time as well esp. in rural areas. Unlike normal kite, the Wau can be as big as 2.5 metres for wing span and height measuring up to 3.5 metres. Now thats giant kite ! But dont worries you can buy miniature ones as souveniers.

Why its called Wau ?

It is called 'Wau' because the shape of its wing is similar to an Arabic letter (pronounced "wow").

The making of Wau

similar In making a wau, bamboo is used for the frame. The bamboo is split and soaked in mud for two weeks. This prevents the bamboo from being attacked by weevils as well as makes it more flexible.

The bamboo splits are used to produce a complex but lightweight frame, tested with one layer of paper and making alterations accordingly to make sure the kite is structurally sound. The patterns are then meticulously cut from rice-paper and glued on piece by piece to form intricate motif

Types of Wau

There are various types of wau such as wau kuching (cat kite), wau merak (peacock kite), and wau bulan (moon kite). Each wau also comes with a different design and size



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Theme: Local Craft
Directions: Mainly in Kelantan and Terengganu but the souvenier size you can get it in most handicratf shops.

Name of Shop: Golden Triangle

SUNGEI WANG

Its a big area with a few shopping malls attached to one another. Its a place to look for cheap bargain ( expecially camera stuff , VCD etc etc)

Warning - this place is super crowded during weekend

Mid-Valley

I love this place a mix of branded and not branded stuff, cool line up of cineplexes,
cool restaurant and very spacious.

Warning - Parking is hell of an experience

LOW YAT Plaza

If you like computer stuff , this is the place , good bargain.

STAR HILL

not sure whether I was see correctly but when I was there a few months ago , they are closing down sales. Whats happening ?

LOT 10

So called places for branded stuff, but I was very dissappointed when I cannot find any Calvin Klein shop there ( I think there is none in KL ..is there ? ) ...a nice place to stroll around and window shop ..hahaha...

Berjaya Times Square

Forget about the biggest shopping mall and blah blah blah ..because its occupancy rate is very low..plus the shops are a little rojak ... could it be that its is newly open ...( Feb 2004 ) ?? The only thing there worth a visit is the so called biggest indoor roller coaster ..if you have a kid with you ! But for me even the roller coaster is not impressive either...

Warning- Dont walk alone ..its very scary :-)



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Theme: Department Store
Directions: Bukit Bintang