Swinging By

Saturday, April 9, 2016

A Visit to Ipoh

Ipoh is one of the oldest towns in Peninsular Malaysia. It started off as a tin mining settlement and grew into a town. This is a small town which has not lost its charm and it's quite laid back compared to the bustling capital city of Kuala Lumpur. It's a good place to retire.

My sister and I went to visit our cousin sister who lives there. We went by the electric train and the journey took two and a half hours.

We passed through rural landscapes that brought back nostalgic memories of days when there were no super highways. The modern super highways now bypass the small towns which the train still stops at.

We finally reached Ipoh and our cousin sister picked us up. We would be spending the weekend with her.

The Ipoh Railway Station
Ipoh is famous for its limestone caves some of which are homes to Chinese temples. These caves are very cool inside and often open out to amazing vistas. The Kek Look Tong is one of them. The jogging path around the lake is well-used by locals in the mornings. The fresh air that blows into the cave is very refreshing.

We visited the Qing Xin Ling Leisure & Cultural Village which was just a short distance from the town. The hot weather was not conducive so we spent just a couple of hours there. The lake is the main feature.

There is a figure of the God of Wealth just before the tree which is hung with pieces of red paper. People write their wishes on them and these are then hung on the tree.

Wall painting of a rubber tapper

That's me under the blue umbrella

Wall painting of tin miners

Ancient cave dwellers

A Boat which you can board

Statue of a Deity

Tranquil Setting

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Thean Hau Temple, Kuala Lumpur

This temple is up on a hill and every Chinese Lunar New Year its site is a blaze of red which can be seen from miles away.

Devotees make their way up the hill whether on foot or in cars. It took us almost 45 minutes to ascend which on a normal day would only take 5. It was bumper to bumper traffic crawling up the hill.

Once we were parked, we made our way into the grounds, awed by the thousands of red lanterns above us, swaying gently in the night breeze.

Steps leading to the main temple
Apart from the main temple, it also houses an auditorium for functions (a Chinese opera was in performance that night) and there was a large forecourt where lion dances are usually performed during the lunar new year.

Devotees praying to the Deity

Another Deity
A section of the temple grounds had statues of the Chinese zodiac animals, a favorite of shutterbugs.

Chinese zodiac animals bathed in colored lighting

The Tiger

My sister and my daughter share the same zodiac animal
A statue of the Goddess of Mercy, Guan Yin, stands by a little bridge and a small waterfall.

Kuan Yin, Goddess of Mercy

Small man-made waterfall
From the temple we could see the KL Tower and the iconic Twin Towers in the distance.

Straits Quay, Penang

This place looks nice but is very quiet. Apparently it only comes to life during the weekends when people come out to enjoy the evening, dining in the restaurants or al fresco.