Hi I'm back! Don't you just love this time of the year when everyone is in a holiday mood? The kids are on holidays and there's no school or tuition runs. Bliss. Lots of dinner parties and catching up with friends and family are in store from now until the coming Chinese New Year, which is on 23rd Jan. One of my nieces got married yesterday, the first in her generation, and I am hoping to eat some roasted suckling pig tomorrow night.
As you know, my whole family was in Kuala Lumpur for the Royal Selangor Jelliriffic! Challenge (see October posts) prize presentation 12th and 13th Dec. If I were to write about it, I'll need to do a whole week of posts but instead of that, I'll let the photos do the talking. The photos are from several sources because I made the most horrifying mistake of forgetting to load my camera with the battery that day and the RS' factory and head quarters were 20 minutes drive away from the hotel. Not far, when I think of it now, but with so many things going on, and seeing how the whole family (except Wey, who was sulking as usual and also down with flu) was enjoying the factory tour and everything, it was hard for me to insist that anyone go back to the hotel. I kick myself still, and I hope this is the last time I forget memory cards and camera battery. If any of you have any photos of the event, please send them to me.
We started the day with a tour of the Gallery, which houses beautiful RS products from the time RS was founded in 1885 to the latest collections. The Gallery brings you through the history of how tin and pewter developed into important business for the country, andalso tellsthe story of how the founder of RS, Yong Koon, grew a small business into the largest and best-known pewter company in the world. What amazes me is that RS is running stronger than ever under the management of the 4th generation, making RS the oldest privately owned company in Malaysia.
RS ' School of Hard Knocks was where we got to hammer pieces of pewter sheets into bowls to bring home. It was fun and we found pewter a very easy metal to work with because it is soft. The RS Visitor's Centerwasfilled with tourists and shoppers admiring the products for sale but we unfortunately we didn't have time for a visit. The Center is open to the public 9 am to 5 pm daily and is truly worth visiting.
The guests and press started arriving at 2 pm. After the prize presentation, 14 volunteers were asked to join Team Billy and Team Terri in making jellies (each team has 8 people making a jelly each) with the theme "Love, Life and Humour"--the tagline for the Nick Munro mould used for RS' yearly fund raising for the Breast Cancer Welfare Association. That was followed by Olympus' workshop on how to take photos of food using their new PEN Lite cameras. We were having such a fun time that nobody took much notice of the storm that was raging outside. The storm resulted in Jalan Tun Razak, a major road in the city, being flooded and impassable for a couple of hours.
It was an honor for me to be part of RS' yearly fund-raising drive for the Breast Cancer Welfare Association.The competition and prize giving programs were well planned and executed. Hats off to RS' management and staff.
Did you know that the little dents on RS hammered products are all hammered by hand, mostly by this lady who has worked in RS for over 40 years? I had a go at hammering and found that it was a difficult task because you have to hammer each dent twice at the same spot and with even pressure.
At RS' School Of Hard Knocks, we hammered our own pewter bowls from a thin sheet of pewter.Pewter is a soft metal made of tin, antimony and copper and has a low melting point of 250 C, which is why the Jelliriffic! moulds were not to be baked.
RS' cafe serves a large selection of dishes and desserts. The vertical surface of the counter is made of pewter tiles, giving a contemporary and classy look to the cafe.
Curry laksa was the special of the day and it was very good but I only ate half a bowl because I had put on too much weight in Singapore.
These delicious cakes (L to R: cheesecake, Guiness cake, tart and choc fudge cake) were all made by the gorgeous wife of RS' handsome GM. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of them but I was totally taken by this charming, easy-going and friendly couple who epitomizes RS' elegance and class.
This is a replica of the famous melon tea pot made by the founder of RS, Yong Koon. The original is displayed in RS' gallery and it just makes sense that Yong Koon became a tinsmith rather than a tin miner because he obviously was very artistic and skillful.
Here's evidence of what I've been accused of constantly--I laugh and gesture too much.
JellliesbyTeam Billyin the top and bottom rows across while jellies made by my team are in the middle rows. Nobody ate the jellies and I don't blame them.
With the beautiful RS ladies who organised the competition.
As you know, my whole family was in Kuala Lumpur for the Royal Selangor Jelliriffic! Challenge (see October posts) prize presentation 12th and 13th Dec. If I were to write about it, I'll need to do a whole week of posts but instead of that, I'll let the photos do the talking. The photos are from several sources because I made the most horrifying mistake of forgetting to load my camera with the battery that day and the RS' factory and head quarters were 20 minutes drive away from the hotel. Not far, when I think of it now, but with so many things going on, and seeing how the whole family (except Wey, who was sulking as usual and also down with flu) was enjoying the factory tour and everything, it was hard for me to insist that anyone go back to the hotel. I kick myself still, and I hope this is the last time I forget memory cards and camera battery. If any of you have any photos of the event, please send them to me.
We started the day with a tour of the Gallery, which houses beautiful RS products from the time RS was founded in 1885 to the latest collections. The Gallery brings you through the history of how tin and pewter developed into important business for the country, andalso tellsthe story of how the founder of RS, Yong Koon, grew a small business into the largest and best-known pewter company in the world. What amazes me is that RS is running stronger than ever under the management of the 4th generation, making RS the oldest privately owned company in Malaysia.
RS ' School of Hard Knocks was where we got to hammer pieces of pewter sheets into bowls to bring home. It was fun and we found pewter a very easy metal to work with because it is soft. The RS Visitor's Centerwasfilled with tourists and shoppers admiring the products for sale but we unfortunately we didn't have time for a visit. The Center is open to the public 9 am to 5 pm daily and is truly worth visiting.
The guests and press started arriving at 2 pm. After the prize presentation, 14 volunteers were asked to join Team Billy and Team Terri in making jellies (each team has 8 people making a jelly each) with the theme "Love, Life and Humour"--the tagline for the Nick Munro mould used for RS' yearly fund raising for the Breast Cancer Welfare Association. That was followed by Olympus' workshop on how to take photos of food using their new PEN Lite cameras. We were having such a fun time that nobody took much notice of the storm that was raging outside. The storm resulted in Jalan Tun Razak, a major road in the city, being flooded and impassable for a couple of hours.
It was an honor for me to be part of RS' yearly fund-raising drive for the Breast Cancer Welfare Association.The competition and prize giving programs were well planned and executed. Hats off to RS' management and staff.
Did you know that the little dents on RS hammered products are all hammered by hand, mostly by this lady who has worked in RS for over 40 years? I had a go at hammering and found that it was a difficult task because you have to hammer each dent twice at the same spot and with even pressure.
At RS' School Of Hard Knocks, we hammered our own pewter bowls from a thin sheet of pewter.Pewter is a soft metal made of tin, antimony and copper and has a low melting point of 250 C, which is why the Jelliriffic! moulds were not to be baked.
RS' cafe serves a large selection of dishes and desserts. The vertical surface of the counter is made of pewter tiles, giving a contemporary and classy look to the cafe.
Curry laksa was the special of the day and it was very good but I only ate half a bowl because I had put on too much weight in Singapore.
These delicious cakes (L to R: cheesecake, Guiness cake, tart and choc fudge cake) were all made by the gorgeous wife of RS' handsome GM. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of them but I was totally taken by this charming, easy-going and friendly couple who epitomizes RS' elegance and class.
This is a replica of the famous melon tea pot made by the founder of RS, Yong Koon. The original is displayed in RS' gallery and it just makes sense that Yong Koon became a tinsmith rather than a tin miner because he obviously was very artistic and skillful.
Here's evidence of what I've been accused of constantly--I laugh and gesture too much.
JellliesbyTeam Billyin the top and bottom rows across while jellies made by my team are in the middle rows. Nobody ate the jellies and I don't blame them.
With the beautiful RS ladies who organised the competition.
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