Rice Museum
Laman Padi Langkawi
After enjoying the beautiful sceneries at the Awana Porto Malai Langkawi resort, we drove to Laman Padi -- the Rice Museum at Pantai Cenang.
Laman Padi Langkawi is sort of a padi Hall of Fame, a tribute to the staple diet of almost all of Asia. Here, you can experience a sampling of anything that goes into the cultivation, nurturing and harvesting of rice, or better known as padi in Malay.
There is a museum within the complex that showcases all the traditional technology and paraphernalia used in rice planting and harvesting, especially those practiced in Kedah and Langkawi. You can also see & touch the tools like fish traps made of bamboo and replicas of traditional rice-based foods.
Zaly got confused with the signboard and drove straight to the back of the Laman Padi Langkawi. This was where we discovered a serene (and real!) green rice fields. There were also chickens running around, the orang-orang (dummy to chase birds) and some blood-hungry leeches! Urgh....
It's not that I never see a real rice field before -- come on, I grew in a village with rice fields surrounding the area. But, I was never been so close to a rice field as I did that day. Mainly because I hate the little blood-sucking monsters (the leeches)... ha..ha..ha!
After capturing some great pictures of the green rice fields, we drove back to the parking lot near the guard house. Fuyoh! The weather was getting hotter that day. Luckily, we brought a few bottles of mineral water in the car. So... no fear of getting dehydrated.
We walked to the entrance of the first Rice Museum building, and noticed this man (a farmer), working on a small plot of rice field located on the right side of the entrance. I greeted him and asked him to pose for a photo.
Pak cik, nak ambil gambar! -- Uncle, let's take a picture!
And, he willingly did so nicely!
We climbed a few stairs to the first floor. I stopped to look at a notice board where a few handwritten notes, praising the Laman Padi & it's restaurant were posted. The notes were written by previous tourists of the Rice Museum. Most of them liked the food served at the Laman Padi Cuisine & Cafe, and said will come back for more!
We proceeded to the Roof Top Garden, where we saw a different type of rice growing in mini rice fields. You can touch & feel the texture of the rice's leaf, but beware of the leeches! Though, that day I only saw a small little leech on the roof top rice field.
I managed to took a nice picture of farmers planting the rice in lower ground rice field, located on the left side of a lotus pond. Lotus pond in a rice field? Were my eyes playing tricks on me?
But, it was true. There was a beautiful lotus pond in the middle of the rice field. You can have a closer look at the lotus (known as teratai in Malay) pond by walking on the bridge crossing the pond. The white bridge is located next to a pigeon's house and a batik-making workshop.
At the back of the complex, was the Rice Museum itself, just next to another restaurant. Oppss... I forgot the name of this restaurant. Hmmph! I believed we were the first two visitors of the Rice Museum that day.... The receptionist was still not there, but the door was already opened. So... feeling adventurous.... we just walked in (after signing the guest book) and explore the museum!
There was a signboard saying that camera was not allowed in the Rice Museum. But, rules are meant to broken, right? No fear! Ha..ha..ha! Switching my Olympus E500 DSLR camera's flash off, I managed to captured the exhibits in the museum. Hmmm... naughty me!
The Rice Museum has only a small gallery showcasing the traditional tools of rice planting during the old days.
And also a clear description of each tool, with highlights on some modern ways too. The dummies were also adorned with the traditional clothing of farmers.
Upon exiting the Rice Museum gallery, I noticed a spa at the back of the museum's building. A spa next to a rice field?
Nope... my eyes were fine & not playing any tricks. It was a Malay spa known as Nawa Sari Spa. If you happen to be in Pantai Cenang, you can rejuvenate yourself at the spa.
That's it! A tour to the Laman Padi Langkawi took us just one hour. While walking from the Rice Museum gallery to the car park, I saw the above smiling stones. Perhaps, the stones were painted by those learning to paint batik at the small batik workshop. Nice job!
Warisan Gallery At Laman Padi Langkawi
Laman Padi Langkawi
Laman Padi Langkawi
Real Farmers Working On Real Rice Fields
The Friendly Farmer @Rice Museum Langkawi
Tourist Comments @Rice Museum Langkawi
Multi-Tiered Rooftop Rice Garden
Orang-Orang @ Laman Padi Langkawi
Farmers Planting Rice @ Laman Padi Langkawi
The Bridge Across A Lotus Pond @ Laman Padi Langkawi
The Heritage Gallery - Rice Museum
Warisan Gallery @Rice Museum Langkawi
Traditional Farmer @ Warisan Gallery
Traditional Rice Planting Painting @ Warisan Gallery
Painted Stones @ Laman Padi Langkawi
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