KL 2004

Last Day - KL City Tour

2009-07-31T01:00:00.000-07:00

There are different modes of transport in KL - the monorail, the LRT, the train, the tram, buses, taxis etc. There is even an express train from the railway station to the airport in 28 mins. However, the roads are very congested and I think much more has to be done in traffic management. The in-house guide in the chocolate outlet was explaining how chocolate is made from the cocoa plant. Look at the mouth watering chocolate fountain. Have you tried the durian chocolate? We also visited some of the historical landmarks in KL.

Oil Palm Mill

2009-07-31T00:50:00.000-07:00

A chart explaining the parts of oil palm fruits and how the quality is rated.
The oil palm fruits are downloaded from the trucks. Some are brought to the factory by rails. The fruits have to be processed fast as fatty acids will increase and the quality of oil produced will be poor. That's why, despite the rain and the drizzle - we could still see the lorries streaming into the factory.The fruits are sterlized to stop the fatty acid from forming - at a temperature of 220 degree celsius for 1.5 hours. The fruits are stripped off from the bunch and the husk can be used as fuel. The pericarp is digested and crude palm oi is extracted. In this factory, the kernel seeds are dried and sold to others who want to process the oil from the kernel.

Rice Mill

2009-07-31T00:41:00.000-07:00

Mr Hashan and Mr Rosli explaining how the rice is processed in the mill.
Checking the moisture content of the rice grain before they are processed.
The husk is separated from the grains.
The rice grains are polished.

The rice grains are stored in the huge Silos.
After removing the husk, the brown rice is polished. The powder (bran) is sold as animal feed. The rice grains are further polished and graded before packaging.
This is where the husk are incinerated to ash- which can be used as fertilizers.

Lunch near a river - look at the houses built on stilts and the mangrove trees.

Tg Karang Padi Field

2009-07-31T00:31:00.000-07:00

Rice Growing in Tanjong Karang. 40% of the land is reclaimed from peat swamp. Harvesting is done using the combine harvestor which can be loaned from the co-operatives at 40 Ringgits. By tapping on the water from River Tengi and River Bernam, water is available all year round and double cropping is possible. Each individual plot of land is around 1.2 hectares. The water had been drained away from the field through PVC pipes connected to the canal a month before harvesting - that's why we are not wet even though we are standing right in the middle of the field! Sluice gate controls the flow of water into the irrigation system in the rice field. You can see houses for Owl as owls are used as the biological control of pests in the rice fields.

First Day at FRIM on 1st Jun 2004

2009-07-31T00:13:00.000-07:00

First Day of our KL/Tanjong Karang Trip is our visit to FRIM (Forestry Research Institute of Malaysia). We past by the Batu Cave and had our lunch at a Thai restaurant.
Mr Jaffa conducted the briefing for the students at FRIM. He showed us some unique features of the rainforest such as the buttress roots, the canopy, the liana as well as an elephant tree. We then toured the forest museum. Finally we checked into our hotel - Golden Horse Palace.