May At A Glance

The last month of the first half of the year officially starts tomorrow. My life so far had been.....had been....had been....well, had been.....I did not achieve any of my new year resolutions as at to-date and I don't feel good about it. In fact I feel bad! Five months and I still have not lose any weights (but I did attempt to eat less), I still have not learn a foreign language (but I have already bought the french language kit) and I am still living in single-ville (I did try to flirt harder). But one thing that I am proud of is I have made many friends.....okay, acquaintance actually. Anyway, May is one of my not-so-routine-month. So lets check out what happen to me this month :

1. Had a great and meaningful dinner with my family. It was no special occasion, just a random dine-out night but we all had a good time indulging in those sinful food and engaging in conversations
Bro's
Mum's
Mine
Dad's



2. Was selected to stay overnight at my workplace (which is a hotel) for stocktake assignments. Free hotel stay - yay! No overtime claim - boo! Fun, new learning experience - yay! Am seleceted because I am single (those married with kids are excused from this assignment - boo. Had fun during the stock count because manage to meet many colleagues from other departments - yay! Had gossip queen as roommate - double boo!
My hotel room



3. Got half day leave the next day because my stocktake assignment begins at twelve midnight. Due to some logistic issues, I went home during lunch by bus instead of by car. It had been years since I last went on a bus ride. Penang bus sytem has been upgraded and the experience was not disappointing at all (if not for the heavy downpour which drench me wet). I actually felt a great sense of achievement when I reach home safely....call me pampered and spoilt....
Bus ticket



4. Felt really proud of my parents. Am really grateful to have supportive, open-minded and friendly parents. For the past month, I had been busy accompanying a very dear friend of mine on apartment shopping and when she found the right one, we proceed to furniture shopping. I am very glad that my mummy and daddy offered to help and gave many useful advice on this matter.



5. Many events were held in conjunction with the french festival. I missed most of them but manage to go for the puppet show and classical guitar performance held at Khoo Kongsi. The performance was not really good (or perhaps I am not artsy enough to appreciate them).







That's May at a glance. Hopefully June will be filled with more interesting and fun-filled activities.

Wesak Day Parade

PS : If you notice, this is my first entry without any words or narration.

Temples of Solace

Thai Buddhist Temple
The sleeping Buddha is one of the many places of interest that put Penang on the international map. Being a Penangite, it is a shame that I have not truly visited this temple and appreciate why does this temple attracts buses after buses of tourist daily. In conjunction with Wesak day, I decided to pay the sleeping Buddha a visit :







Lightings on the ceiling
3D designs of the wall













Burmese Buddhist Temple
I frequent this temple on Sundays although I am not a staunch buddhist. I find peace and feel comfortable in the building. For wesak this year, I decided to elbow my way through the strong crowd to light a candle for world peace. Normally, wesak day for me means an off day where I don't have to work nor study, and I will usually end up hanging out with friends. Maybe age is catching up and it's time to begin getting in touch with the religious side of me....












Float of the temple for wesak day grand parade in the evening


The Golden Pagoda Bell Tower was newly built and was launched during the weekend prior to wesak day. It is a three story building and an elevator was built to facilitate the welfare of older or disabled devotees. Each tile on the rooftop of the bell tower was sponsored by the temple-goers and well-wishers.
A replica of the tower





The elevator
Chandelier against the ceiling
Strong pillars to support the tower

The ground floor is filled with marble sculptures of Buddhist monuments from around the world.










Majestic ceiling. Spot the bell

Intricate designs lining the wall and tiles




Life-size statues of deities fill the second and third floor of the pagoda bell tower











View of Penang from the top of the tower

Bird's eye view of the Burmese temple

Blessing water and bands as souveniers for devotees who seek blessings from the monks

That wraps up my temple tour!