When we finally found the huge sign of the factory by the roadside along the way to the Butterfly Farm, we were shocked to see only a dilapidated and apparently abandoned building. What happened to the factory?
We stopped to ask a sundry shop owner, and found out - much to our relief and delight - that what we had found was the old site. The factory had moved to a nearby spot along another road.
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If you come from Batu Feringghi, you will find the factory on the left side of the road, just before the Teluk Bahang roundabout. If you come from Balik Pulau (the way we came from, having started from Pantai Acheh), you need to take the 3 o'clock turn at the roundabout, and the factory will be on the right side of the road.
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We were only a small group of three, yet the clerk (not really sure about her position; maybe I should say "guide") was kind enough to give us a tour of the factory, and explained to us the various processes.
There are block-printed Batiks, and there are hand-drawn Batiks. And it goes without saying which one is nicer.
On the day that we visited, it was actually a public holiday, and normally on public holidays there would not be any worker, and hence you would not be able to see any of the Batik-making processes in action. But we were fortunate that they were doing overtime to meet an urgent order. Their special orders are usually from hotels and other such service-oriented companies for which an impressive uniform in Batik is a powerful tool. Below are two such examples:
When we got there, the workers were working on a particular order from a local hotel, for their uniforms. The first picture below shows the outline made with wax:
Then they filled in the colors. The speed and deftness with which the patterns are brought to life with colors is simply amazing.
The finished product:
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My wife bought a beautiful cheongsam made from block-printed Batik (couldn't afford those made from hand-drawn Batik), and I fell in love with some hand-drawn Batik handkerchiefs, but in the end, I decided against the idea of wiping my snivel with such beautiful works of art. :-p
2 comments:
Hi, may i know how much for the Cheongsam that you bought? thanks.
Sorry, I can't remember for sure... but I think it's around RM 70. Anyway, below RM 100, for sure. It was printed batik, not hand-drawn. :-(
If you live in Penang, but not near the Teluk Bahang area, you could also visit their outlet near Botanical Garden (but you can't see the batik-making process there... it's only a sales outlet, I heard).
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