Archive for the 'Festivals' Category

I think the best time to visit Kek lok Si Temple Penang is in the evening or night during Chinese New Year. That’s when it’s all lighted up and looks like a fairy land. Of course, you will have to go through a horrendous traffic jam and have difficulty looking for a car park but the magical atmosphere and beauty is worth it. The view is breathtaking.

The best time to go to Kek Lok Si Temple is in the evening just before they turn on the lights. Then you can watch the lights being turned on and the place turn from beautiful to magical like an enchanted palace. The kids love it. Usually we’ll go in the evening then we wait for the lights to be turned on and everyone will go Ooohh and Aaahhh.

This year, being The Year Of The Dragon 2012, there are two dragon lights guarding the gate to the pagoda. This is the Dragon before the lights are turned on.

The Dragon after the lights are turned on turns into a magical fire breathing dragon, well almost.

There are lanterns and lights everywhere at the Kek Lok Si Temple, there are lights within the temple.

There are lights on the trees…..

There are lights on the temple rooftops….

There are lights on the railings and walls of the temple….

Then there is the magnificent and towering 30.3m tall Goddess of Mercy or Guan Yin Statue. You’d have to take an inclined lift to take you further uphill or if you choose to, you can drive up there but walking is better so you get to see everything and  you don’t have to go through the jam.

The gardens are lovely too at the Kek Lok Si Temple

I love this mini tomato plants at the Kek  Lok Si Temple. They were everywhere near the Pagoda. They look like mini mandarin oranges and add to the Chinese New Year atmosphere.

There are pumpkin plants too, hidden at the corner beside the Pagoda of 10,000 Buddhas.

Here is part of the evening crowd waiting for the lights to come on. You can see how these plants were magically transformed once the lights come on in the same picture above but with the lights on the plants.

You also get to see Penang from a bird’s eye view. We got to see fireworks too at various parts of Penang from the top. What a sight to behold.

We enjoyed our visit to the Kek Lok Si Temple. There are car parks at every level of the temple but the best way to see the temple is to park at the lowest level and walk. Mind you, you will have lots of walking to do.

There are 3 main levels to the temple if I am not mistaken. The first level, the ground level is the oldest part. If you walk up that way, you will pass by many souvenir shops, you will pass by a turtle sanctuary. Go higher up and you reach the pagodas. You might have to pay extra to enter the pagoda section but its worth while. Then you take an inclined lift to the highest part of the temple where the Guan Yin statue is. The temple grounds there are lovely with landscaped gardens and a koi fish pond, wishing trees etc. Or you can drive up to any of the levels you want and park your car but of course you’d have to brave the traffic.

Map to Kek Lok Si Temple

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We visited Penang Hill during the Chinese New Year. Our family of four plus our maid. I wasn’t very keen to try out the new Penang Hill Railway at first having read of several halts in its services, the rice in the Penang Hill Train Ticket price, the lack of parking space etc. Anyway, the children hadn’t been there before so we decided to brave it out.

The car park was sufficient despite the crowd and the jam. We only had to take a short hike to the train station (from the back of the station as you can see from the picture) amidst a nicely landscaped background and we could see a view of the train going up.

Long Queue for the train tickets, naturally being Chinese New Year and a public holiday. I remembered that our maid’s ticket cost twice more than the train ticket price for our whole family. I can’t remember what we paid now but here is the Penang Hill train ticket price and schedule from the Penang Hill official site.

After queuing for the train ticket, we queue for the train. I wish there were more places to sit and rest while queuing.

The train was stuffed to the max with people till the door could not close. They had to get several people to come out to wait for the next train. I think they should have a counter to count the number of people that a train can accommodate then allow only that amount of people in. We had to waste a lot of time waiting for the door to open and close unsuccessfully before they got a few people to come out.

The hill was steep, the train was fast and the view was beautiful. I guess it made up for the waiting etc.

We took a buggy ride because I was too lazy to walk. It was fun and we had a nice view of the hill and the bungalows and the jungle…..

…..and a view of the whole Penang Island from the hilltop with commentary from the driver but of course I had to pay a fare for my laziness.

Then Ms Lazy had some ice-cream and proceeded to have a drink at this quaint hotel with a nice view and a lovely breeze…..

…. before we made it back down the hill.

I haven’t been up Penang Hill for many years. The last time was on the old funicular train ride with the familiar old red train. So is the new Penang Hill railway and train better? I guess the old train has its charm but the new train ride is smoother. Its rather fast though. I wouldn’t mind if it was a little slower so I could enjoy the view longer. As with regards the price of the ticket, I think they should consider families with maids. Its quite ridiculous to pay a ticket for the maid that cost more than twice the amount for my entire family’s train fare. I like the buggy ride. I enjoyed the view and the cool atmosphere. I wish I was young again so I could go hiking and stay in one of the old bungalows as I did when I was a teen. That about sums up our trip up Penang Hill.

Map to Penang Hill

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During Chinese New Year, we would usually invite some friends over for lunch. That’s the only time I cook for a group of people so I try to keep it simple by keeping the number small between twenty to twenty five people. This year we had twenty guests. Ten of them were children so that made things even easier. I usually stick to this menu while varying it a little so that it won’t be overwhelming.

Menu for Twenty People

1. One Rice Dish (any variety for example fried rice or flavoured rice)
2. One Noodle Dish (any variety for example fried mee or meehoon including spaghetti too)
3. Vegetable Dish (stir fried mixed vegetable or coleslaw or salad)
4. Finger Food for kids (nuggets, hot dog, fried drummets or chicken wings, prawn fritters etc)
5. Fresh cut fruits for dessert (or cool jellies)
6. A curry for some gravy to go with the rice and noodle (can be chicken curry or kurma etc)
7. Not forgetting drinks. Packet and canned ones make things easier

That’s it. It’s very simple. I don’t bake, so if I want cakes, I may buy some cupcakes from the bakery. Jellies would be nice too. They can be prepared overnight so you don’t sweat yourself out too much on the day as you still have to entertain your guests.

I sometimes have a vegetarian or two among the guests, in which case my vegetables will be kept meatless and I may fry my noodles plain.

My Menu for twenty people for this year 2012

This year we had fried meehoon, nasi lemak with curry chicken and sambal ikan bilis, mixed vegetables, nuggets, hot dog, watermelon, pineapple etc. My rice, curry and fruits are missing from the picture so it looks rather little for a group of twenty but it turned out just nice.

My curry chicken boiling in the pot.

Nasi Lemak is easy to prepare for a big group. Looks great too.

Chinese New Year Cookies and snacks for the guests while waiting for lunch to be ready. I like to serve fortune cookies. They make a great ice breaker and something to talk about as everyone peers into their “fortune”. Usually the sayings are good ones so everyone is happy…

A little appetizer or snack, bak kwa or dried barbequeued meat for before after or during the meal cut up into bite sized pieces

Less I forget and to make things easier for next year, here’s what I had to do in the morning…

1. Boil 6 eggs
2. Soak the mihun (1 packet)
3. Defrost the hot dog, chicken meat and prawns
4. Prepare shallots, ginger, garlic and big onions
5. Cut vegetables, brocolli, cauliflower, carrot, baby corn, cabbage, cucumber and potatoes
6. Cut the fruits watermelon and pineapple
7. Wash the curry leaves and pandan leaves, lemon grass and cinnamon sticks
8. Cut the chicken and devein prawns
9. Blend the garlic, shallots for the curry
10. Cook the curry with 1 packet santan, 4-5 whole thighs and 2-3 potatoes
11. Cook the rice with 1 packet santan and using 4-5 cups of rice
12. Boil the hot dog
13. Cook the sambal
14. Fry the nuggets
15. Fry the vegetables
16. Fry the meehoon with chicken, prawns and cabbage
17. Have a bath, change, smile and greet the guests

Good thing I have a helper to help me out but even without one, I think it’s not too hard. I will look more disheveled, that is all.

This year for Chinese New Year we visited the Thean Hou Gong Temple twice. I never know how to spell the Thean Hou Gong temple. I think where pinyin is concerned it should read Tian Hou Gong temple meaning The Heavenly Queen’s Palace. However, I’ve often seen it spelled as Thean Hou Gong (in fact the sign at the bottom of the hill leading to the temple says “Thean Hou Temple”) and sometimes Then Hou Gong or Thien Hou Kong. I guess it also depends on whether you are pronouncing it in Cantonese or Mandarin. Some would add a “Miu” at the back making it Thean Hou Gong Miu. Miu stands for temple.

Anyway, I digress. We visited it twice this year because we wanted to see the Laser Light Show at the Thean Hou Gong temple. Well, actually we visited it three times because on the night that we went for the light show, we waited for an hour only to be told that the lights were not working and for safety reasons they will cancel the night show for that evening. Just our luck. The light show was supposed to be on every hour during Chinese New Year starting from 8pm and ending at 11pm. So we went back the next night. Here are some photos we took of our outing at the Thean Hou Gong Temple.

Here is a picture of the entrance of the Thean Hou Gong Temple in the day and night. You’ll have to click on the picture to get a better view. It’s so small here.

I do so love looking at the lanterns at the Thean Hou Gong Temple. It’s so pretty whether it is day or night but it is more enchanting and magical at night.

In the daytime at the Thean Hou Gong temple during Chinese New Year, it is very hot but the atmosphere is great with lion dances and people reaching out for the lions to either give angpows or grab mandarin oranges or “kum” (The orange word for oranges sounds like “gold”) for good luck.

On a clear day, you can have a good view of the Kuala Lumpur skyline from the Thean Hou Temple.

During the night at the Thean Hou Gong temple, it is cooler and more colorful with lights and Chinese New Year music to put everyone in the mood. There will be free entertainment and shows during the day and night too. Sometimes there are acrobatic shows, sometimes singing and dancing.

Finally, many do not know that at the back of the Thean Hou Gong temple, there is a lovely garden with plenty of tortoises.

Some facts of the Thean Hou Gong temple:

1. There is a wedding registrar or marriage registration office there. That is where we got married.
2. Here is the address of the Thean Hou Gong Temple - Thean Hou Temple, 65 Persiaran Endah, Taman Persiaran Desa, Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
3. More facts about the Thean Hou Temple can be found here
4. Here is a map to the Thean Hou Gong Temple

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Happy Chinese New Year to all the readers of this blog. I am going off to spring clean my house now. If you are free during Chinese New Year, come drop by my 2012 is Year of the Dragon Squidoo lens for all things Dragon.