We had an appointment in town one afternoon. Knowing ST and his "anxiety disorder", it was no surprise that we found ourselves in town with more than an hour to spare. So to while away the time, he decided to show off his knowledge of KL (he’s a sales man mah…). He drove us around and we somehow stumbled upon this place….
Yeah…. We drove in, and saw that the reception area was huge like the kind of entrance to a museum, you know, and it was a cool place!! There were loads of tourist buses and private tour vans lined up at a big and systematic open car park. So, we kind of like guessed that the company actually takes in tourists, which gave us the idea of joining one of those group for a tour. It’s a humongous place, I tell ya! ST didn't even know that they take in visitors/tourists to this extent.. +__+
This picture is taken from here
See what I mean? Makes me feel like as I am going into Universal Studio or something... And the crowd..?
The huge reception counter is always with tour guides, and they're professional looking and speaking one, you know. The entire area is only quiet for like 5 to 10 minutes, after which, a tour bus or a tour van will swing by, and then you get a crowd coming like the above, before they are welcomed by a tour guide and ushered in. Entrance is free, and anyone can drop by at anytime during working hour. ST says when he retires, he would also like to work there as a part time tour guide.
Click on any picture for a clearer view
Going into the factory, museum and souvenir shops. See that impressive wall...?
Behind that impressive wall, are all the palm prints of their craftsmen (man or woman) who's worked there for more than 5 years. Their palms are printed with their name at the corner.
Royal Selangor was started by a Mr Yong Koon (then called Selangor Pewter), who hailed from China, and is now being managed by the fourth generation of the Yong family. The museum houses some very rare and priceless pieces of personal items used by Mr Yong himself, but mostly are really old pewter collections made by him/his company and some brief history of tin mining. Tin is one of the substance contained in the pewter.
In 1992, the company changed its name to Royal Selangor to reflect its royal endorsement from His Royal Highness The Sultan of Selangor that time.
The hot melted pewter beside the worker...
The beautiful end products...
There's a station for tourists and visitors like us to try...
They also offer a quick 30 minute course in pewter making, where paying guests will be taught how to make a cute bowl. Upon completion, the guest will get to keep the bowl he/she made, the apron that was used during the lesson and a certificate. The course is RM 60 p'person.. :-D
Their cafe, with large fishes in the pool...
It was a very interesting and informative tour and we were so glad that we went for it. Good place to drop by with kids during the school holidays too. All the items on sale at the souvenir shops are costly, needless to say, but they do have small pieces of jewelry items which are rather avant garde and a whole variety of useful stuffs, which is good as gifts, such as tableware and drinkware. I truly love their urbane and contemporary designs. Simple and tasteful!
The cafe has pewter little vases to house their flowers on each table, and guests who goes there for a drink, have their tea housed in cute little tea vases made of pewter. Lovely...!
For a map on how to get there, please click here.
That's all, folks!
--moon
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