14 Sekinchan : Paddy Fields Of Green

Sekinchan. A small fishing village that's a major rice producer and is famous for its scenic paddy fields.

Amazing photos of this village started appearing weeks ago through various social media sites I was subscribed to. A large expanse of green against the horizon made it seem like paradise on earth. It was magical, to me at least. As weeks flew by, the urge to visit the place soon became an itch that couldn't be ignored.

Sekinchan Paddy Fields

"Can we go? Huh, can we? Too late-lorrr ...it will be fields of mud by then." That's the gist of me trying to convince my other half that we should go before the rice plants reached harvesting stage.

A decision was made and we were off the next morning.

The journey from Kuala Lumpur took one and a half hours by car, passing several small towns. We stomached a couple of char siew baos that we had purchased along the way for breakfast. It was a fun drive with music from the 80s blasting from the radio. Google Maps navigation led us directly to the the spot. Aah ..GPS has made domestic traveling such a breeze! Soon our little car was chugging along a small road lined with rice plants left and right. There was an old kampung charm about the place.

Although I knew through several blogs that Sekinchan had much to offer in terms of sightseeing, I chose to dedicate the day to just the fields. It was a view that deserved no rushing.

A Paddy Field

Pictured below is PLS Group's paddy processing factory. It is open to public daily. Rice and other food stuff can be purchased on the spot.

Paddy Processing Factory

After a bit of photo-taking with the paddy field as my backdrop, we paid RM5 in entrance fees to get into the gallery which was located a floor up. The receipt came with a small packet of rice. Win-win, in my opinion. I saw a couple of workers packing rice through the glass window. There was a guide on hand to explain the history and process of rice planting. We opted to explore the gallery on our own.

Me, at the Paddy Field and Factory

Scarecrows and paddy harvesting equipment were some of the things displayed. It included olden day household items. The gallery was a short walk from one end to the other.

I remember using a similar straw broom in my younger days!

We exited down the stairs into a shop crowded with tourists. The tour buses left soon after and the place was quiet again. This was when I did my bit of shopping.

Souvenir Shopping

 The factory also offers a buggy ride around the area in a vintage designed open car. It's RM5 for a ticket.

Buggy Ride

This is a real factory, mind you. A paddy tractor rolled in for weighing.

Paddy Tractor

I saw this building at the back of the factory across the field. It was neat against the green. I couldn't help but feel the serenity of working here.

Paddy Factory

Sekinchan Paddy Factory

Below is a close-up of the flowering rice plant. This is what it looks like before it ripens (turns yellow) for harvesting.

A Paddy Plant At The Flowering Stage

Finally, these are all of my purchases from this outing. See that packet of rice crunch on the left? I'm addicted to it! It was made fresh in front of me; so hot off the wok that they couldn't seal the pack for me. They told us to wait until it was cool before closing it with the twist tie they gave us. 

Rice and Snacks

That ends my day trip to Sekinchan. We'll be back for 'the other stuff'.