Royal Selangor

Continuing on with KL--Day 2...after we left the Istana Negara, we went to Royal Selangor.  I don't know how familiar the average person in the world is with this company, but in Asia as a whole, it's a big, big deal.  The company was started in the mid-/late-1800s.  They make pewter products.  Pewter is one of the two major products of Malaysia (palm oil being the other).  The original company stamp included these Chinese characters:

 The outside of their building:

We were given a quick, kid-friendly tour.  This picture is of how they used pewter for currency.  Originally they would break off a piece of an animal to a certain weight and trade for their goods.  After that, they used the "money tree" where they could break off a "coin" at the end of each limb:

Then, we moved towards the factory.  They keep ALL shavings...it adds up in weight and it value:

We sampled cold soda out of some pewter cups:

Everything they make is done by hand.  There are some machines that will turn or etch, but it is still the workers who are actually working.  Each piece, therefore, would be unique in some way:

This woman is making handles for mugs:

This person is making cups.  They have added the decorative line to the one on the right:

 This person has been polishing and has shown the difference from start to finish:

Parker is being allowed to tap ruts onto this cup...which I am quite sure was melted at the end of the day:

They all got to try.  There is a technique to it (spacing and hitting each spot perfectly, twice, etc.) and the workers who learn this technique spend six months in school to perfect it:

We had previously enrolled the kids in "The School of Hard Knocks."  For RM 60 (US $20) each, they each had a spot in the class to learn how to make a simple pewter bowl to take home.

Of course, we also "toured" the store.  Lots and lots of choices:

We exited with our "loot" (the bowls we made, some necklaces, and a frame for one of the pictures of the kids making their bowls).  We stopped to take this famous picture shot, which Jeremy is excited to send to his cultural trainer and university teacher (who he had visited this place with a couple summers previous).

We returned to our hotel at the mall and had Papa John's for dinner.  It tasted just like we remembered.  Perfect!