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Published: March 7th 2009
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The next morning Mr Lee offered to take us on a tour of the Buddhist temples around the city for 80RM (16 pounds). Although Kota Bharu is mainly Islamic, there is a Buddhist minority which takes it's influence from the Thai border just north of the city. Mr Lee told us that, although he was not religious himself, his father was a Buddhist and used to take him to the temples as a child so he knew where all of the interesting ones were. First was Wat Pothivihan, a temple dominated by a 40m long reclining Buddha, the second biggest in South East Asia. Second was Wat Machimarran Varran, a newly built sitting buddha temple with some interesting Buddhist art inside and finally, Wat Mai Suwan Khiri, a 400 year old dragon boat and standing buddha. This was my personal favourite and also held the embalmed body of a well respected and highly enlightened monk who had died recently. We made sure that we made donations at each of the temples (this is how they maintain their upkeep) and walked around quietly and respectfully. Chloe, I know you like the picture of Amy sitting barefoot in a temple in Singapore so
I made sure I included one again this time!
After the temples Mr Lee took us to a Batik factory, one of the largest in Malaysia. Batik is a method of making clothing and is very labour intensive. First a large section of cloth is stretched out over a wooden frame and highly skilled women trace patterns and shapes with melted wax. Once the wax has hardened the fabric is dabbed with coloured ink to fill the areas with colour and the wax stops it from running from one section to the other. Once all of the colours have been added the fabric is dipped in a solvent solution (Dad, it felt a little like being back in the plating factory!) for a short while to dissolve the wax and bring out and fix the colours. The fabric is then cut as necessary and sold. Some of the designs are very creative and intricate and it was actually quite nerve racking watching the ladies draw free-hand over the fabric, knowing that one wrong move could ruin the whole, rather expensive, piece. I really wanted to buy a batik shirt but they were quite pricey so we passed up on
the opportunity as Mr Lee said we would probably be able to find some cheaper ones at the markets.
Afterwards Mr Lee drove us to Gelanggang Seni, a cultural centre where a variety of local traditions are performed and taught. First of all we saw some traditional music using a bizarre wooden instrument that was somewhere between a guitar and a drum. A single wooden block was placed over a hollow wooden box with a hole in the top that acted as a sound box. The wooden block on top is then struck with either the leather wrapped tip of a stick or the hard handle, creating two available sounds. Once we had seen a performance we were allowed a quick go. I have to confess, it didn't seem that difficult if you are able to maintain a decent rhythm although I guess when there are many drummers it does become more difficult.
Afterwards we watched a performance of Silat Melayu, a Malay martial art. First the two combatants performed some moves on their own, before engaging in some staged combat. The style is very fluid and rhythmic, almost dance-like, set to drums and a high pitched wind
instrument and seems to be as much about movement and grace as actual fighting. After we had watched two bouts we were invited to don the traditional dress and try and follow one of the master's moves. "Easy", I though, "I'll have a go." As I'm sure you have guessed, this was not the case. Just trying to follow some of the solo moves and stances left me with burning muscles in my legs and stomach. Good fun though and I think they were impressed with my enthusiasm, if not the moves themselves.
After catching my breath we left the cultural centre and happened across some local football on a nearby pitch. The standard wasn't great but it was quite funny sitting on the sidelines as some people looked across at us and started quickly gossiping among themselves. The Malays are obsessed with English football (it's on TV here more than it is at home!) so we wondered if they were hoping we were scouts about to offer them a lucrative contract. When the game ended in penalty shoot out and one keeper saved the final spot kick, winning his team the game and some sort of trophy, he
did walk past us a few times while smiling and nodding. We offered him some congratulations but unfortunately no contract.
Mr Lee picked us up from the side of the pitch and took us back to the guesthouse for some dinner.
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