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!

Necessities and Luxurious Stuff

TGIF! It was just another Friday evening and I will be having pizza for dinner, yay. After a quick bath, I rushed to set the table for my pizza dinner when mum called for me from her room. She said that a big parcel was sent to my name and asked me to check what it is.

I was reluctant at first because I was really keen to eat my pizza. After hesitating a little, I go ahead with opening the parcel because I suspect it might be a gift from either dad or mum.

As I unwrap the parcel and open the box, I found a smaller box, an anti-virus, a laptop bag and a dongle.

Once I opened the small box, the word Acer pop up and I knew my mother bought me a new laptop.



It's official. I own my first personal laptop at the age of 25.

My family expected me to be very happy with this gift. I was and still am very happy to own a laptop. I do not wish to have one but owning one now is considered a blessing. Honestly, when I received it, I had mixed feeling. I am sure all of you why go, "What? Are you nuts? Your mum bought you a laptop and you are suppose to be happy because you don't have to fork out money for it. What's with the mixed feeling? Are you sick or what?"

That's the problem with me. I have lived without laptop and my days still pass by happily. I survive on sharing the desktop with my family members and when someone else is using the deskop, I will spend my time reading or watching the television. I do not need a laptop to do assignments or research or for work purposes. Therefore, laptop is solely a luxury item and not a necessity for me. I have never thought and never plan to get myself a laptop in the near future because I don't really need it.

Secondly, why did mum suddenly spend such a large amount of money on me? I feel guilty for 'wasting' her money. Well, yes I did not request for it but still, she could put the money to better use like pampering herself etc (that's the greatness of a mother).

I am posting this entry from my new laptop and I am trying to use it as often as possible to show my appreciation. Just in case you are reading this mummy, I really like this gift but in the future, it should be the other way round.....I should be the one getting you luxurious stuff.

Happy Mother's Day

Today is the day all mothers anticipate. No matter how much they claim that this day is over-rated and merely a commercial gimmick, deep down in their heart, they wish their children will do something special for them on this day.

I did not wish my mother 'Happy Mother's Day' verbally nor non-verbally (which is through text messaging or social networking sites). To me, this three words carry no meaning because everyday should be mother's day. She deserves to be happy everyday and not only on mother's day.

Personally, my mother nearly died giving birth to me. She did not tell me this herself, my dad did. Maybe she did not want me to feel guilty or something. The cooking, the laundries, the sweeping, the mopping, the cleaning, the ironing, the chauffeuring and the list never ends. Mother does all this without complaining.

When I did badly at school, she never scold but encourages. When I hurt her, she just wept silently. When I crave and wish for something, no matter how big (handphone) or little (ice-cream) it is, she will get it for me. Eventhough she is a working mother, she is able to juggle both house chores and career well.

When I got my first meagre paycheck, she was happy for me and never once has she ever asked me to re-pay her in any way for whatever sacrifices that she has done for me. She will only remember the good in her children and erases all the bad.

The question here is how can we ever re-pay mum for all that she has done for us? Spas, expensive meals, gifts etc cannot measure to all the things that she has done. To me, the best way to make her happy is to lead a meaningful life and not forget my roots and the family I grew up in.

Mummy, everyday should be mother's day. I love you.



PS : Just in case you are curious, I pampered mum with a spa treatment today and she love it. Only mummy will understand my above toddler-like drawing.

Dim Sum

The best way to break the ice or to make a comeback after a long hiatus is to talk about food. The long hiatus is due to nothing-special-happens-to-my-oh-so-routine-life. No, actually I was just too lazy to blog, preferring to waste my time playing some time-management games, ironic huh?

Anyway, we will be indulging in the world of Dim sum. Dim sum is cantonese for small individual portion of food. The Chinese usually eat it as breakfast and dim sum is highly associated with 'yum cha' which means drinking chinese tea. Dim sum mainly consist of steamed dumplings made of pork, prawns etc. Traditionally, people will wake up at dawn to savour this breakfast while reading the daily newspaper and listening to birds chirping. Nowadays, dim sum are served for dinner and even supper too.

To enjoy authentic and tasty dim sum, you don't need to travel all the way to China. Malaysia restaurants do serve yummy dim sum too. I had dinner at one :-

Chinese tea. Dim sum without it is like pizza without cheese.
Siu mai. Pork dumpling. One of the top favourites.
Harr gau. Shrimp dumpling.
Cheng yu tann.Steamed fishballs. Simple but nice.
Chee choi mai.Seaweed crabstick dumpling. I believe this dish is not available in China because it is not a traditional dim sum dish.
Siew loong pau. Named little dumpling but I find the size similar to other dumplings.
The fillings of little dumpling. No idea why is it green but am very sure it's made of pork.
Char siew pau. Buns filled with barbequed pork. My personal favourite.
Tai pau. Big buns filled with chicken meat and eggs.
Lor mai kai. Lotus leave glutinous rice with chicken and chinese mushroom. The glutinous rice is very filling and excessive intake may cause indigestion.
Food for five.
Some of the desserts and fried dishes on sale.
Tan tart. Egg tarts, a typical favourite.

There goes the ice-breaking entry. I am all in the mood to post more entries now....