Back to our trip, our next itinerary is the Charcoal Factory in Kuala Sepetang. Sort of an educational tour for my girl plus my "friends." They wanted to know more about this place.. as for me, I worry about our shoes getting dark and dirty... lol...
the Charcoal village...
This is the one we visited...
Mr Chuah inherited this factory from his father..
but he is not handing down to his kids...
They have their own careers ...
furthermore, this charcoal manufacturing is a very difficult job...
Lots of hard and tough work... not fit for our kids.. lol...
if don't believe, try carrying this mangrove tree...
it was so solid.. so heavy!!
my friend managed to lift up few inches..
as for me, I can only show off by holding it!
it weighs around 40kg!!
Yes, I looked around.. who wanted to work here...
So hot.. so secluded.. Mr Chuah told us that he employs mostly foreigners...
the workers have to go to the jungle and cut off the mangrove trees...
Each measuring 1.6 meters so as to fit in the kiln...
and then stacking them up in the Dark Kiln for many days...
firstly to take off the moisture from the trees...
and making sure that the mangrove trees are burnt to a certain extent..
the temperature must be 85degrees..
but those days, no thermometer, so they test the heat manually..
putting their hands and feeling the heat... gosh!
Oh, we went inside the kiln too..
Mr Chuah told us that one can reduce weight in there.. hahahaa..
and before we left, we were given some souvenirs..
ok, not given la.. we bought them actually...
as a token of appreciation to Mr Chuah for explaining
so thoroughly about the Making Of Charcoals...
It was quite interesting for us, especially my girl...
A real "eye opener" for her to learn something...
ie. Money doesn't come easy without hard work... right?
that's great..very informative
ReplyDeleteI heard about this place before... came out in a documentary on TV. :D So nice to experience it urself :D Wish I was there.
ReplyDeletewenn: Exploring.. while traveling. :)
ReplyDeletecleff: yeah, they even filmed a local series there...
charcoal can also be made into souvenirs, very creative indeed..hahaa..
ReplyDeletei never have thought charcoals can be souvenirs like that
ReplyDeleteInteresting place. How sad...the age-old traditional business of the family ends there. Bet the children would never make as much from their professions...
ReplyDeleteThat's quite an eye-opener for us here in the Philippines. Most of the charcoal business men just make charcoal from their makeshift kiln right in their backyard. There is no charcoal maker here as professional as Mr. Chuah, he sure has a booming business!
ReplyDeleteinteresting!
ReplyDeleteHappy Aloha Friday!
Comfort Spiral
~ > < } } ( ° >
> < 3 3 3 ( ' >
><}}(°> ~
Very good educational tour but sad to hear that his kids has interest in the charcoal business. Like that, eventually it will die out.
ReplyDeleteOppss...typo error..should read as "his kids has NO interest in the charcoal business",.... then bla...bla...bla...
ReplyDeleteits a dying business jor :( ...now people all use gas or elec...but those dishes cooked with charcoalreally have a unique taste.
ReplyDeleteI remember last time make kuih kapit using that.
waves! have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteYou all didnt stop to check if that man is fast asleep or had a stroke? Seen one driver fell asleep during a long jam and no amount of honking can wake him up but to shake his car. Nice post great info. Ah remembered you post about the nice food in Kuala Sepetang once.
ReplyDeleteI think women should work there, then can be slit and tanned. :D
ReplyDeleteThen his family business will be handed down to who?
ReplyDeleteoh.. that's explain why charcoal is getting more and more expensive!! and I just love the use of charcoal for soup and stuff...
ReplyDelete