View From The Hill Top of Kek Lok Si Temple

The view of Penang Island skyline from the hill top of Kek Lok Si Temple near the Kuan Yin Goddess of Mercy Pavilion. I am standing here with the Bronze Statue of Kuan Yin behind me.

WISHING YOU HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011 !

Happy New Year Wish



My Happy New Year wish for you
Is for your best year yet,
A year where life is peaceful,
And what you want, you get.


A year in which you cherish
The past year’s memories,
And live your life each new day,
Full of bright expectancies.


I wish for you a holiday
With happiness galore;
And when it’s done, I wish you
Happy New Year, and many more.


By Joanna Fuchs

For more Skywatch Friday Season 4 Episode 25 pictures and to participate, please visit the Skywatch site.

Bronze Statue of Kuan Yin - Kek Lok Si Temple Penang Part 2 of 3

Further up the hill, there are more souvenir shops selling many items related to the Chinese culture. They are very beautiful and I spend some time here. I was captivated by this colourful lotus lamp and the lighted glowing Buddha.

Cute rabbits carrying lucky wealth coins are believed to be auspicious for the coming lunar new Year of the Rabbit which commences on February 3rd, 2011.

The prices are fixed and quite reasonable considering that this is a tourist attraction place.
A signage nearby states that proceeds from the sale of the items in the shop goes towards the maintenance of the temple.




To go to the hill top to view the bronze statue of Kuan Yin, the gardens and shrines there, we can take the Incline Life or take a walk up.

“Bronze Statue of Kuan Yin - Kek Lok Si Temple Part 2 of 3”, a copyrighted post, was written for Klang, Malaysia Daily Photo blog by Autumn Belle @ http://mymalaysiadailyphoto.blogspot.com on December 30th, 2010.

We decided to take the Incline Lift which was air-conditioned. The charges are RM 2.00 per trip per person. It is like sitting inside a cable car where we get to see an arial view of the surrounding skyline and forests down below.

This is the Goddess of Mercy Pavilion which is a shelter for the 33.67m Bronze Statue of Avalokitesvara (Kuan Yin). Awesome, isn't it?

The statue was consecrated on December 6th, 2009 which coincided with the 118th anniversary of the founding of Kek Lok Si Temple.

The statue was so huge, my small camera almost couldn't take in the full view.

There is a prayer hall nearby and this looks like a wishing tree.

It looks like Kuan Yin is smiling on us from the rooftop of the Incline Lift Station.

My first post on this temple is here:
Pagoda of Ten Thousand Buddhas - Kek Lok Si Temple Penang Part 1 of  3

The first picture is my entry for Thursday Challenge, the Photo Theme this week is LIGHTS (Holiday Lights, Candles, Street Lights, Fireplace, Fireworks,...) To view what others have for today, click here.

A Long Time Ago at Kek Lok Si Temple

The above picture captures a moment in time, long ago at the Kek Lok Si Temple, Penang with my many 'brothers and sisters' as we call ourselves. I was a member of the Buddhist Socitey in my college then. During the holidays, we went on a site-seeing tour to Penang Island. We stayed at the Wisma Buddhist and our tour guides were those members who were locals in Penang. I think that people who are locals of the place will be the best tour guides because they know their city so well, especially when it comes to good food and culture. 

Today is ABC Wednesday

X is for .....

My X-files!

When the TV series 'The X-Files' was shown on TV, I was really into science fiction then. I enjoyed the show very much and never missed a single episode. Since then, I have also created my own X-Files. It is actually something more happy and less intriguing. Whenever I come accross something old that I have no time to classify yet, I will store the item in a folder labelled, 'X-Files' to remind me to update it later.

The above picture was from my 'X-Files'.

ABC Wednesday, Round 7 hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt and the ABC Team of Denise, Roger, Jay, Troy, Barb, Gattina, Sylvia, Annelie, Linda and Helen. To participate and view what others have in mind, please log on to this site.

Pagoda of Ten Thousand Buddhas - Kek Lok Si Temple Penang Part 1 of 3

Picture 1

The Kek Lok Si Temple in Air Itam was our first stopover when we reached Penang Island. It is the one place that I always want to see whenever I am here. All my family members have visited this place before and I have been there a few times but at different stages of my life. Each visit is new experience for me. Some of the views have changed through the years, e.g. when I was there as a little kid, a student, a young working adult and now as a parent to my kids, but the magnificence of the structures, the awesome wonder of the whole place and the calmness I feel whenever I am in the pressence of the ever-compassionate Goddess of Mercy..... all these have never changed.

Kek Lok Si means "The Temple of Supreme Bliss". This temple is located on a hill. It is the largest Buddhist temple complex in Southeast Asia.

In the picture is the Pagoda of Ten Thousand Buddhas. The history of Kek Lok Si started in 1890 when construction of the temple began. It was completed in 1930. This 7-tiered pagoda which took more than 20 years to build has a Chinese octagonal base, a Thai middle tier and a Burmese crown. It is here that I feel that no matter which Buddhism school we belong to, e.g. Theraveda or Mahayana or what religion, we are welcome to visit and /or pray to the gods. We don't have to go on a vegetarian diet before we enter the prayer halls.



Picture 2

 This prosperity pig is too sexy for me to miss as I passed by the souvenir shop at the hillside entrane of the Kek Lok Si complex.

Now we do not have to park our cars at the streets below and walk all the way up Kek Lok Si. We can drive up to the hill entrance where there are some parking lots. At this mid-level, there is a souvenir shop and a pathway that leads up to the main temple. There is also a Vegetarian Restaurant, a Liberation Pond and more souvenir shops at the lower level.



Picture 3

The corridors leading to the temple proper. There are still some beggars hanging around here but they did not hassle us. 

Picture 4

The beautiful courtyard beside the walkway where visitors can take some nice pictures.

Picture 5

This is the prayer hall. We made a donation towards the upkeep of this temple. For a small sum, they write our names on a piece of tile and my 2 kids were given a box of 500pcs puzzle each.

Picture 6

There are so many Kuan Yin statues on this wall.

Picture 7

These are some of the porcelain statues of the gods that we can buy for our altar at home.

“Pagoda of Ten Thousand Buddhas - Kek Lok Si Temple Penang Part 1 of 3”, a copyrighted post, was written for Klang, Malaysia Daily Photo blog by Autumn Belle @ http://mymalaysiadailyphoto.blogspot.com/ on December 28th, 2010.

Picture 8

We passed by this statue of Buddha as we were walking up to the mid section of the temple grounds. I notice there are wheels symbols around the fence. I have read that wheels are sacred symbols of Buddhism, e.g. the Wheel of Life, Wheel of Truth, Wheel of the Cosmos, all symbolizing the noble and wisdom truths of Buddha's teachings.

Picture 9

Another view of the Pagoda of Ten Thousand Buddhas against the cloudy but blue skies.

Picture 10

Inside this temple, there is a Buddha statue, and the Four Heavenly Kings. Two pairs of colourful Fu-Dogs guard the temple grounds.

Picture 11

The row of Buddha statues that seem to extend to infinity and to the heavens above.

Picture 12

This is the Pavilion of Seated Buddhas. I still remember this place where we had our group photo taken when I visited Kek Lok Si as a student.

Picture 13

At Kek Lok Si Temple, we can enjoy some scenic rooftop views of Penang island.


Additional information:

On normal days, the temple opening hours are from 8.30am to 5.30pm.

Night-time visits are only allowed during the first 28 days of the Chinese lunar calendar. During the Lunar New Year season, there will be an annual lighting ceremony where the temple will be lit up by thousands of decorative bulbs and lanterns, turning it into a fairy land.

This year the 119-year-old temple entered the Malaysia Book of Records for the tallest pavilion at 89.23m, the tallest bronze Goddess of Mercy (Kuan Yin) statue at 33.67m, and the tallest granite pillars at 42.24m.

For three nights from Chinese New Year’s eve on Jan 13, the entire temple was lit up from 7pm to 7am and on the third day of Chinese New Year to Chap Goh Meh on Feb 28, the lights were switched on from 7pm to midnight.

This is my entry for That's My World Tuesday. To view what others have in their world, please visit here.

San Francisco in the Pearl of the Orient

This 13.5 km Penang Bridge is the only mode of transportation by land between the mainland of Peninsular Malaysia and Penang Island. It starts from the Perai Interchange and links us to Georgetown. The bridge was officially opened to the public on 14 September 1985.

During those days when the bridge was still new, we were eager to have a 'first-time' experience travelling on the bridge and to take our photographs there. I am sure many locals will have at least one or two stories to share about the bridge. My most memorable experience was crossing this bridge at midnight. The night view was fantastic.

Part of the bridge consists of  “cable-stayed concrete girders”. A cable stayed girder is a concrete column, normally referred to as towers or pylons supporting the deck. This is similar to the ones used for the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge. Hey, that's how locals like me get to experience ' just a a lil bit' of San Francisco when we visit the Pearl of the Orient (Penang Island).

Currently, we pay a toll of RM 7.00 upon entry only and there is no charge when leaving the island.

The bridge has an area for emergency stops and traffic CCTV. It has a Tenaga Nasional Berhad's 132kV power cable.

As there is always heavy traffic on this bridge, hence a Second Penang Bridge is now under construction. It is scheduled for completion by 2013.

Source: Wikipedia, here.


This is my entry for Weekend in Black and White, the link is here. My grateful thanks to Dragonstar.

Travelling Along The Penang Bridge

1. Prai Industrial Area



2. Beyond the vast expense of the ocean is the faraway horizon, the line where the earth meets the sky. 

3. Travelling along the bridge, I could feel the vibrations below my feet.
The high-rise buildings and concrete jungle of Penang Island are just visible from here. 

4. We are nearing the most beautiful part of the 13.5 km long Penang Bridge.

5. Nice apartments along the coastline with views of the sea in front and blue mountains at the back.

6. At this point, we could enjoy the views of the vast ocean, the blue skies, the ships and vessels. The island is beautiful. The wind was strong and it was also very noisy as vehicles zoomed passed us. It was a strange but a bit scary feeling standing there with the big sea just below my feet. It was as though I was floating in the air just above the blue sea. This is not my first time on the bridge. I remember those days before the bridge was completed, we had to use the ferry to go to Penang Island. My late father would always toss a coin into the ocean when the ferry started. He told me that it was for a safe journey.

When was the last time you sat on a ferry?

This is my entry for the fun and wonderful weekly meme, Scenic Sunday #127. To participate or view other pictures around the world, click on the icon above.

Merry Christmas!

"Peace on earth will come to stay,

when we live Christmas every day."

..... Helen Steiner Rice

May you and your family have a wonderful time on this Christmas Day!

A Magical Christmas 2010 at i-City Shah Alam

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world,

and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.

..... Norman Vincent Peale

Tonight is Christmas Eve, so I think that this night sky will be an appropriate choice. On this special day, I hope you have your family with you to welcome Christmas Day.

"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:

the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other".

..... Burton Hillis

MERRY CHRISTMAS !

For more Skywatch Friday Season 4 Episode 24 pictures and to participate, please visit the Skywatch site.

A Funtoystic Christmas 2010 at Mid Valley Megamall KL

“In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play.”

..... Friedrich Nietzsche 

(German classical Scholar, Philosopher and Critic of culture, 1844-1900.)

When I was a kid, I'd like to believe that toys do come alive at night while everyone is fast asleep. How I wished that I could see them move and talk and enter into world of the Tin Soldier, Ballerina, Golliwog, the Ginger Bread Man, etc and play with them.

What is/was your favourite toy?

This is my entry for Thursday Challenge, the Photo Theme this week is TOYS (Dolls, Games, Stuffed Animals, Athletic Equipment, Construction Toys, Art Supplies,...). To view what others have for today, click here.

Winter Solstice 2010

On this day today I will celebrate the Winter Solstice Festival or Dōng Zhì (冬至). The first Chinese character, Dōng (冬) means 'winter while the second character Zhì (至) means 'festival' .

Today is ABC Wednesday

W is for .....

Winter Solstice!

According to Chinese culture and custom, I shall offer prayers to the gods and thank them for the protection given and blessings bestowed upon our family throughout the whole year.

During this day of Dōng Zhì Festival, families members get together and eat tāng yuán (湯圓) signifying 'togetherness'. Tang yuan is a sweet soup made of glutinous rice balls. Even though it is not a public holiday here,  those who are working will also make it a point to come home to have dinner together. This is symbolic of family unity and harmony. I am sure many of us will remember our grandparents who used to tell us that today everyone becomes one year older. This is a time we look forward to the next major spring Festival,  i.e. the Lunar New Year. After today we shall be busy spring cleaning our homes and making preparations for the Lunar New Year.

Elsewhere around the world and according to the Western calendar, the Winter Solstice  exact time falls on 23:38pm Universal Time on December 21st, 2010. In Malaysia it is December 22nd, 7:30am (this morning). This year is special in the sense that it comes with a total lunar eclipse at the same time and it is also a full moon day.  It also coincides with the Ursids Meteo shower which occurs from Dec 16th - 26th. The winter solstice lunar eclipse is a rare event, a first time in 372 years. As for me I will not be witnessing this phenomenon.



ABC Wednesday, Round 7 hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt and the ABC Team of Denise, Roger, Jay, Troy, Barb, Gattina, Sylvia, Annelie, Linda and Helen. To participate and view what others have in mind, please log on to this site.

The Magic of Kissing Under the Mistletoe

The Plant
Botanically speaking, the mistletoe is a partial parasitic plant that grows on the branches or trunk of a tree. Its roots penetrate into the tree to absorb its nutrients. Although the mistletoe can produce its own food by photosynthesis and hence is capable of surviving on its own, it usually grows as a parasite.

A Christmas Decoration
Mistletoes are used as a traditional Christmas Decoration.

Mystic and Magic of the Mistletoe
According to ancient European folklore and tradition, the mistletoe was considered to bestow life and fertility, a protection against poison, used to ward off evil spirits and also as an aphrodisiac.

Kissing Under the Mistletoe

"According to Christmas custom, any two people who meet under a hanging of mistletoe are obliged to kiss." Source: Wikipedia here. Oh my!!!

In my world, I get to see mistletoes as a Christmas decoration during the festive season. I have also seen movies and heard stories about the magic of kissing under the mistletoe. The following questions will always come to my mind:

1. Do people still believe in the magic of kissing under the mistletoe?
2. Is it a hope that the couple who kissed under the mistletoe will eventually marry and live happily ever after?
3. Is it just a fun game in Christmas and New Year parties where the guys get to kiss the gals?

Below is a video on how to make a mistletoe.

This is my entry for That's My World Tuesday. To view what others have in their world, please visit here.

Christmas Tree and Snowflakes in a Glass Lamp

Would you like to buy or receive this item as a Christmas gift?

This is my entry for Weekend in Black and White, the link is here. My grateful thanks to Dragonstar.

Penang Here We come!

It was 'blue skies and everything nice' when we started our journey from Ipoh to Penang.

The journey of 159km will take us about 2 hrs.

We are travelling along the 800m long Menora Tunnel near Jelapang. It was the longest highway tunnel in Malaysia when it was completed.

While hubby was busy driving on the road, we got to enjoy the scenic views along the expressway. When he got tired and stiff, our DDS (darling daughter and son) provided some relief with their shoulder and neck massages. But actually, most of the time, they were fast asleep!

We are crossing the Perak River along the 300m long Sultan Azlan Shah Bridge. This is the longest bridge on the PLUS highway.

“Penang Here We Come!”, a copyrighted post, was written for Klang, Malaysia Daily Photo blog by Autumn Belle @ http://mymalaysiadailyphoto.blogspot.com on December 19th, 2010.

Crossing the Perak River.

Our very own Hutan Hujan Khatulistiwa or Tropical Equatorial Rainforest. Here we are 5 km from Kuala Kangsar town, the royal town of Perak state.

All photos are taken from a moving car by the co-pilot who helped in the navigation.

This is my entry for the fun and wonderful weekly meme, Scenic Sunday #127. To participate or view other pictures around the world, click on the icon above.

Foh San Dim Sum Ipoh - Day 2

Early morning the next day, we were already out in the streets. Our next destination was Penang and we were eager to start our journey. However, there is something that needs to be done first. We need to fill up our empty stomachs, so off we went for some famous Ipoh dim sum.

The weather looks fine with bright blue skies. Those wispy cirrus clouds above remind me of fish scales.

Actually, there are a few more dim sum restaurants along this road. Our family calls it the 'Dim Sum Street'. The other dim sum restaurants along this street are Ming Court Hong Kong Dim Sum, Chee Fatt Hong Kong Dim Sum, Chang Keong Dim Sum and Yoke Fook Moon. All are worth a try and in fact, Ming Court is a close contender for Foh San. My late father love to go to Ming Court.

The Hua Nam coffee shop which serves coffee, eggs on toast, char koay teow, chee cheong fun and other hawker fare is also located at Jalan Leong Sin Nam.

Foh San is operating at its new premises at no. 51, Jalan Leong Sin Nam now. The building is quite awesome and majestic looking. There were already many people when we reached there at around 8 am and the ground floor tables were already fully occupied. The second floor was still okay. In fact the view was better. I like the ambience and the clean and cool surroundings.  We sat near a waterfall where we could enjoy the scenic outdoor views while having our 'yum cha'.

'Yum Cha' (drinking tea) or 'Yum Cho Cha' (drinking early morning tea) are Cantonese words commonly used in Hong Kong where people drink Chinese tea while enjoying dim sum for breakfast. We can select the type of tea we want, e.g. chrysanthemum, ti kuan yin, du shu xiang, jasmine, oolong, pu erh or cha wang (teh raja or King's tea). I think their cha wang tea tastes better than the one I had at Bao Xiang Bah Kut Teh in Klang but it is a bit pricey at RM 4.00 per head.

Waiters will come is pushcarts and trolleys that are laden with piping hot dim sum and we get to select those that we like. On the table is lo mai kai (glutinuous rice), egg tarts, har gow (shrimp dumplings), steamed fish balls and siu mai (pork dumplings).

This is surely instant fast food!

Hubby's favourite is the 'tai ji gow' (scallop dumpling) but it was not available. This substitude tastes just as heavenly. This steamed 'wrap' with mushrooms and minced meat is topped with toasted sesame seeds, a little bit of spring onions and light soya sauce. If the soya sauce is not good, it will spoil the whole dish.

My son like this 'Beijing gow ji' but I don't like the sweet chili sauce topping that they have automatically added. I prefer it plain.

“Foh San Dim Sum Ipoh - Day 2”, a copyrighted post, was written for Klang, Malaysia Daily Photo blog by Autumn Belle @ http://mymalaysiadailyphoto.blogspot.com/ on December 18th, 2010.

I like this lo mai kai which is actually steamed glutinuous rice with chicken, mushrooms, Chinese sausages and dried shrimps. It is not too oily.

This is stir fried turnip cake (蘿蔔糕) or 'lo bak go' with Ipoh bean sprouts. Turnip cake is sometimes also called Chinese radish cake or daikon cake.

This dessert of water chestnut cake is my daughter's favourite dessert.

Steamed custard, another of my daughter's favourite but too heavy for me.

The dim sum we had costs about RM 3.50 to RM 5.50 per container. Pau, fish balls and egg tarts are charged at RM 1.60 per piece. Our total bill came to about RM 60.00



If still not enough, here's another option - dim sum takeaway.

Gone are the old days where we had to reach there as early as possible, i.e. from 6:30 am to 8:00 am, otherwise there would be no tables left. I still remember when we had to stand and wait next to people enjoying their breakfast. Even when we could find a table, food was late to arrive and some of us had to search for the dim sum trolleys and grab our own selection. The place was so crowded and noisy that sometimes, things got out of hand and there would be arguements and black faces. What a stressful way it was to start the day.

I like Foh San's new image and surroundings. The food tastes better and it is less oily. By the time we left this place, we were so full we could hardly walk straight!

This is my entry for Weekend Reflections #65. To participate or view what others have posted for Weekend Reflections, please visit here.

Rob and Mandy of Barcelona Daily Photo is hosting the Food for Thoughts meme every Thursdays, do join them here.