The modern villa and the magnificent old wooden house are both near Tok Bali, at the Kelantan-Terengganu border. They are a mere 100 metres apart.
Today we had the privilege to be invited into Desa Bakawali, a private dwelling of Malaysia's foremost woodcarver in Kg. Raja, Besut. I was envious of the ambience surrounding the wakaf at the top floor. A perfect location for an artist to effortlessly extract his/her creative juice.
You know what, Naz. I really enjoy the drive from Alor Star to Gurun along the Terusan Wan Mat Saman. So many delectable kampung houses along the road, and magnificent lush green old trees with spreading branches.
One day, I hope to cycle along the canal, and stop wherever I fancy to take a closer look at those sumptuous houses with intricate carvings.
I saw a similar carving like the Kandis Resource Centre's centrepiece, when I was at the Seni Ukir Bakawali workshop. And told the master carver, I'd rather die poor than not having this piece. Guess, what he told me?
"This is a one-off piece for our XXX Minister!" came the rebuke.
I too enjoy looking at old kampung houses. The big dream is still to have a proper kampung/traditional house one day. I'm hopeless at that in the sense that I would like my kids to experience and enjoy the kampung life...except that maybe by the time we return to Msia, I'm probably expecting my cucu-s...hehe!
I talked to the curator at the Taiping Museum once about their work in preserving the traditional perak house. Amazing work. In fact during field work in 1995, there were still many kampung houses along the Perak River bearing intricate carvings. Most of these houses are left empty..many are rotting. A great pity, really.
This week I discovered a rambling large kampung house with elaborate floral and geometric carvings in Kubang Pasu for sale at a mere four-figure sum. The buyer has to find own workers to dismantle it and arrange to "ship out" all the carved panels, floor-to-ceiling latticed windows, wooden planks, tiang seri (if any) and other chunky pillars.
This beautiful unoccupied house has been on my mind constantly and I am tempted to buy it if I can find the right team to help me with the crucial what next.
Go get it! That's a bargain! Kayu OK lagi ke? Sometimes I wonder what goes on in the mind of people who simply see no value in such things. My husband too is very keen on all these old houses. We were also playing with the thoughts of asking around for those old British houses. There are two in the Lorong Mahkota/Jalan Stadium area. Both were empty and neglected the last time we saw them.
7 comments:
Ehhhh where is this? I want to go!
The modern villa and the magnificent old wooden house are both near Tok Bali, at the Kelantan-Terengganu border. They are a mere 100 metres apart.
Today we had the privilege to be invited into Desa Bakawali, a private dwelling of Malaysia's foremost woodcarver in Kg. Raja, Besut. I was envious of the ambience surrounding the wakaf at the top floor. A perfect location for an artist to effortlessly extract his/her creative juice.
Wow! Nice carvings!
Have to check this out :)
You know what, Naz. I really enjoy the drive from Alor Star to Gurun along the Terusan Wan Mat Saman. So many delectable kampung houses along the road, and magnificent lush green old trees with spreading branches.
One day, I hope to cycle along the canal, and stop wherever I fancy to take a closer look at those sumptuous houses with intricate carvings.
I saw a similar carving like the Kandis Resource Centre's centrepiece, when I was at the Seni Ukir Bakawali workshop. And told the master carver, I'd rather die poor than not having this piece. Guess, what he told me?
"This is a one-off piece for our XXX Minister!" came the rebuke.
I too enjoy looking at old kampung houses. The big dream is still to have a proper kampung/traditional house one day. I'm hopeless at that in the sense that I would like my kids to experience and enjoy the kampung life...except that maybe by the time we return to Msia, I'm probably expecting my cucu-s...hehe!
I talked to the curator at the Taiping Museum once about their work in preserving the traditional perak house. Amazing work.
In fact during field work in 1995, there were still many kampung houses along the Perak River bearing intricate carvings. Most of these houses are left empty..many are rotting. A great pity, really.
This week I discovered a rambling large kampung house with elaborate floral and geometric carvings in Kubang Pasu for sale at a mere four-figure sum. The buyer has to find own workers to dismantle it and arrange to "ship out" all the carved panels, floor-to-ceiling latticed windows, wooden planks, tiang seri (if any) and other chunky pillars.
This beautiful unoccupied house has been on my mind constantly and I am tempted to buy it if I can find the right team to help me with the crucial what next.
Go get it! That's a bargain!
Kayu OK lagi ke?
Sometimes I wonder what goes on in the mind of people who simply see no value in such things.
My husband too is very keen on all these old houses. We were also playing with the thoughts of asking around for those old British houses. There are two in the Lorong Mahkota/Jalan Stadium area. Both were empty and neglected the last time we saw them.
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