Cuti-cuti "Half" Peninsular Malaysia - Day 2 - Batik Workshop

After a great breakfast at the White House, we went back to Pasir Belanda.

3 of us enrolled in a batik workshop but the senior citizens wanted to follow. They imagined that they could shop for some nice batik while we learn batik drawing. So, 7 of us followed Pasir Belanda staff, together with an Australian family, walked cross the kampung to the Batik Workshop.

The senior citizens grew up in an environment like this so they were very excited almost about everything. Mama said "take the photo of that beautiful kampung house!" and Wei Wei said "Hey! I grew up in Malaysia too!" haha!

When we finally arrived (actually just about 10 minutes walk), we were shocked!!The batik workshop is just a small hut at the back of a kampung house! All the senior citizens found some excuses and "cabut". They went back to Pasir Belanda to swim, to read, to relax, to have "math class" while we stayed to learn some basic skill of batik drawing.

THIS!! Is the batik workshop

It's literary a sweat shop!! Everyone of us was sweating while drawing. However, it was an unique experience. While we were busy learning, this dilapidated hut was full with visitors. Hen came with her chicks, the cat and kittens wandering around. The two Australian kids had great fun chasing the animals.

The drawing tools

Our masterpiece :)

We were given a white cloth that has been divided into 4 sections. Wei Wei, Sonia and I were responsible for one section each while the instructor drew on the remaining one. Since we came unprepared, we were having headache at the beginning as none of us know what to draw. We had to brainstorm for ideas.

Finally I settled for something cartoonish and easy (mushrooms) while Wei Wei drew some colourful vibrant sunflowers with butterfly. Sonia was the best student. She diligently drew an underwater dolphin accompanied by angel fishes, jelly fishes and corals.

Handling the hot wax was a bit tricky as if you don't hold the tool steadily at the correct angle you will get a line with uneven width or even sometimes a big spot instead of a line. The colouring part was fun. We learnt how to shade and tone.

Once completed, the students had to leave their works with the teacher so that their drawings could go through the other chemical processes before the masterpieces were delivered to Pasir Belanda. (Unfortunately, we were out after the batik class. We reached Pasir Belanda after 10pm so we decided to get back our masterpieces the next morning. When we went to the office to get our drawings the next morningg, the staff went to check with her boss and Harry came to me with a bad news. He didn't know that there were 4 students enrolled in the batik workshop the day before. So when the batik instructor sent the batik, he didn't open to check. He gave the bag to the Australian family when they were leaving. He promised us to try to contact the Australian family after their Taman Negara trip and try to get them to send the batik to my home address when they reach Kuala Lumpur. I'm not sure if he managed to find them, and I'm not sure if they managed to send us the batik. I just hope that we could receive the package before Sonia goes back to US. )