Weekend Watch: Fortune Teller

Last weekend, I was wondering about “Little India” enclave in Klang – a busy town located just 45minutes drive from Kuala Lumpur – admiring Rangoli themed Sarees and tasting the best Teh Tarik (Pull Tea) that I can find. As I was criss-crossing the 5foot pavement of the pre-war shop houses along Tengku Kelana Rd., I came upon a fortune teller, sited on the floor by the pavement offering his masterful service for only RM5.

I am a non-believer for fortune insights but I gave it a try anyway as I thought it would be fun. The master – was actually a young chap – armed with a fortune guide book and ever faithfull green parrot by his side. What a beautiful bird, jade green and nice little red nose, I admired his pet. I opted not to go for palm reading as it’s a common fortune telling method but asked for the bird to see my fortune.

The master gave a queue and the little creature patiently climbed down from it’s cage and picked up a single “Red Packet” from a stack and handed it over to it’s master. As the packet opened up, I was blessed with a GOD’s image and he started explaining about my past and future, when best time for me to get married, etc. I was actually did not capture most of it as I was busy snapping pictures of the pretty little parrot. Standard question I asked was; what is your star and are your currently single or married?

According to the master, my future is bright and I can see good days ahead and I survived a life threatering misforture in 2011…which was correct!

Anyway, I had a good glimpse of this dying fortune telling practice in this country (almost all similar fortune tellers in Malaysia are from India and they make a living here). This shows the beauty and diverse nature of Malaysia with multi-etnic and multi-cultural society. Closer to Kuala Lumpur, one can also head to Lebuh Ampang Little India to find out your fortune

Thaipusam Pilgrimage at Batu Caves

Hi peeps, glad to be back to this platform. Lately, I had to juggle most of my time with classes and work so hardly had any time to write on my new travel experiences. Here, I’m sharing my experience at this year’s Thaipusam Festival at Batu Caves temple in Kuala Lumpur. I know, it’s already a month since the festival was held on 27th January.

Thaipusam is an annual Hindu religious event held at Batu Caves, Malaysia’s most prominent temple located about 15 Km from Kuala Lumpur City Center. On this day – celebrated on the full moon day of the month of Thai (1st month in Indian Calendar), a massive crowd of pilgrims from all corners of the country and tourists fetching up to a million in number congregate through the gates of Batumalai Sri Subramaniar Swamy Devasthanam, to show penance to Lord Muruga (one of Lord Shiva’s son, the other is Ganapathi – Elephant God) for fulfilling their vow in many different ways. Batu Caves is a limestone hill with Lord Murugan temple build inside a cave at the top. Pilgrims and visitors required to climb 272 steps to reach the shrine.

Lord Murugan and 272 steps to His Shrine

Although its a religious event, here in Batu Caves the ambiance is more like a carnival with many hawker stalls selling food, drinks, audio Cds and even a Carvinal Game Arcade at its compound. This year, a close friend of mine happened to have setup a drink stall. So, I used the  opportunity not just to pay my religious deeds to Lord Murugan but helped my friend with his stall while learning some soft skills.

Me at the stall busy luring customers for drinks

This year was much easier to commute to the temple compared to previous years as the government took the initiative to provide non-stop 24hours Commuter train service by Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) direct to the temple grounds. It had saved me a load of time and hassle of driving and getting stuck in traffic standstill and paying hefty parking fees as I visited Batu Caves for 3 days. What a relieve!

Between my breaks from the stall, I walked about wading  through crowd of locals and foreigners while enjoying the religious and carnival atmosphere. As I walked through the stalls and carnival area, the smell of food was on the air mixed with loud ear deafening music beats from loudspeakers. Some boys stood out from the crowd with their massively glorified pink, green fake hairs on their head and ‘vuvuzela’ looking trumpets on their hand blowing loud noise on people’s ears as they joyfully walked through the crowd.

Food stall selling Indian Sweets

Colorful Candies

Flower Garland Stall

As I approached closer to the temple shrines, the atmosphere were more religious like, quiet and more obedient. Here loud musics not allowed as pilgrims in yellow clothing walked pass with milk pots, Kavadi carried on their head and shoulders. It was a beautifully scene. There was a group of music performances who sang Lord Murugan’s bravery, beauty and kindness accompanied with a collective of traditional drum play which had really kept me captivated. The Kavadi bearers swayed gracefully with the music as they prepared  themselves to go up the 272 steps with massive weight on their shoulders.

Young Kavadi bearer

Beautiful Rhythm by this group captivates the spectators and pilgrims

massive crowd to and from the main shrine

Thaipusam signifies the day Mother Parvathi handed Lord Murugan his Vel (a spear with tremendous power) to defeat evil beings. Religion text also says Lord Murugan’s Vel flew on its own cut a demon into half. Each half of the demon transformed into a vehicle to service Lord Murugan. One half turned into a beautiful peacock and the other into a rooster. So, to this day Hindus regard Murugan’s vehicle, peacock a significant religion icon. Its beautiful feathers used to decorated Kavadis on Thaipusam day.

As night falls and temperature drops from all the heat of the day, more Kavadi bearers and people carrying milk pots thronged the area and crow swelled. Now, it was much harder to walk between the sea of people. But, I did managed to get some snap of the beautifully decorated kavadis in bright LED lights and peacock feathers.

World Tallest Lord Murugan Statue with Vel in his right hand

Lord Muruga Chariot

Massive Crowd..pushing and showing

Peacock Kavadi

Nicely decorated

Kavadi going up the steps

I climbed up to the top and payed my prayers to Him. Here, the milk pots bearers handed their milk pots to priests to shower Lord Murugan and Kavadi carrying pilgrims brought down the weight from the shoulders marking the completion of their penance.

Murugan Statue at the entrance of main shrine

Patience and determination brought this kids to fulfill their vow

Atmosphere in the main temple

Kavadis lined up

limes and flowers left behind by pilgrims

The spectacular celebration of Thaipusam can only be spectated Malaysia outside India annually in the month of January or February. My 3days there were very informational and part of religious obligation albeit at times were crazy and tired with all the crowd.

Orang Asli Museum

Do you know that Malaysia has indigenous community who first arrived to this land 8000 years ago?

I bet you don’t, as I myself only found out recently when I visited Orang Asli (Indigenous People in Malay) Museum. Its location tucked away along KL-Gombak trunk road towards Bentong, Pahang (appx 9Km from exit to Karak Highway from Kuala Lumpur). Do not let the simple design and small size of this museum deceive you as this place stores plenty of information and displays about the tribal community which will impress. Some of the details of the people I will share with you below plus plenty of pictures

There are 3 main tribes of indigenous people of Malaysia, the Negrito, Senoi and Proto-Malay. The Negrito tribe is the first to arrive in the  peninsula 8000 years ago with 2 different theory of how they came about. One theory suggest they traveled from Indo-China (now somewhere Cambodia/Myanmar) and the other theory says they started their journey in South Africa and ended up here. True to their African origin, Negrito ethnic have frizzy hair, dark skin and broad nose. Senoi, the largest group, came later about 500 years ago from Indo-China and they inhabit some parts of Titiwangsa Range (mostly can be spotted in and around Cameron and Genting Highlands). Proto-Malay who resembles modern Malay with taller, fairer and straight hair physical attributes was said to have originated from Yunan, China. Most of them migrated from neighboring Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Riau-Lingga and made Southern part of Peninsular mainly state of Johor and Singapore as their home (there’s a place in Singapore named after indigenous tribe ‘Seletar’)

The indigenous tribe live as hunters and gatherers but nowadays more and more are into farming activities. An interesting practice of  Orang Asli people is that they do not eat animals that they rare themselves. These animals such as goats, chicken and pigs are purely for financial resources (buy and sell) or exchange with other animals from outsider.

Main mode of transportation is the prahu (small dug out canoe) and rakit (raft made out of a collection of bamboo bound together using rattan). This enable the community to visit each other and transport goods. The Proto-Malay who lived along the coastal used prahu for fishing in the sea.

 

As most of other tribe people around the world, the ethnic Negrito, Senoi and Proto-Malay adorned themselves with colored sap from forest tress. They also pierce their ears (also during wedding for the bride and groom) and place colorful flowers and leaves on the hair for the womenfolk.

The home for each ethnic tribe is depended on their taboo beliefs, type of daily activities and safety concerns. As such, Negrito lived in the simplest form of house made out of a collection of leaves and bamboo poles placed together in a form of shelter. The Senoi is more organized with homes made higher above the ground to avoid wild animal disturbances, woven leaves for the wall and sometimes live in long houses (rumah panjang) with communal area for social activities. The Proto-Malay lived in houses similar to Malay houses (still can be found in areas far from Klang Valley)

There are many more important details can be found about Malaysia’s first occupants like their beliefs (taboos), healing rituals, wedding customs, death and Arts and crafts which are very interesting and intriguing. Now I am more aware of the beginning of my country and appreciates that these community still exist till to this very day.

Weekend Watch: KL Heritage Walk

4 Gothic Churches, the National Mosque, Malaysia’s earliest Hindu and Chinese temple is what I’ve discovered during my walk in Kuala Lumpur city yesterday. I’ve had this idea of finding heritage sites from the early days of Malaysia and embrace it’s beauty closeup for some time. Conjunction with the long weekend  from Haj Celebrations, I’ve decided on my own version of Heritage Walk started from KL Sentral Railway Station.

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A little walk from KL Sentral on Jalan Tun Sambathan, my first stop was at the Church of Holy Rosary. I was delighted as I admired the Gothic built of this church from the year 1903, especially it’s beautifully crafted stained windows depicting episodes from the holy bible. A mass was in the midway as I sat quietly and captured some of the interesting architecture of the hall. Outside, this place of worship still majestically stands on it’s ground as it’s being squeezed by high-rise buildings on it’s both sides.

   

As I was leaving Church of Holy Rosary, it was 10:15am and the heat is rising as I was sweating heat to toe. I quickly walked towards Jalan Sultan Hisamuddin to my next attraction, maybe for a shade to cool off. It was a huge shady stop as I arrived at the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station.  Still a functioning railway station to this day, Kuala Lumpur Station and it’s Administration Building on it’s opposite was built in 1911. Following Moghul Architectural design, the building complete with domes to show Islamic influence. I’m particularly attracted to it’s white color as if indicating “purity”.

Walking the length of the Railway Station towards the end of Jalan Sultan Hisamuddin means you are at the entrance of Masjid Negara or The National Mosque. Built in the year 1963, it’s the pride of Islamic Religion of Malaysia. As I was there, I could see pockets  of tourist drop by for a snap. Largely, this place of worship overcrowded by local to fulfill their Friday Prayers. The road between Kuala Lumpur Station Administrative Building and The National Mosque, leads you to the National Planetarium which was my next stopover.

I spent an hour at the National Planetarium, enjoying various science displays and trying my hands on knowledge games. I had the opportunity to refresh my memory on our solar system and at the same gathered detailed information of planets’ density, orbit, temperature and distance of other planets from earth. Oh boy! I truly loved the Anti-Gravity room. There were also displays on 1st Malaysian into space, Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor.

Following a visit to Planetarium, I crossed over Kuala Lumpur Station thru Pasar Seni LRT Station and came down to Jalan Sultan nearby Chinatown. My first visit was to Sri Maha Mariamman Temple along Jalan Tun HS Lee. The 19th century temple was built by a wealthy Indian Merchant in that part of the town, K. Thamboosamy Pillai, in year 1873. Over the years, the temple structure was shifted from it’s original location to it’s current place and renovated many times. Last renovation in 1973 with the built of 5-tier Gopuram. The temple Gopuram was an instant beautiful sight which will pull you into the temple ground. Outside, there’s facility to store your shoes before you head in. As I was there, the was on-going prayer with classical music filled the air.

As it’s almost noon, under the sweltering heat I did a brisk walk with short stops at Petaling Street (Chinatown), Gospel Hall, Wesley Methodist Church and OCBC Bank before arriving at Jamek Mosque.

The Jamek Mosque is one of the most prominent icon of Kuala Lumpur. It was built in 1909 following Moghul architecture and located along Jalan Tun Perak. The interesting notion of the building is that it’s located at the juncture where two rivers merge (Gombak and Klang River) and still have coconut trees in it’s compound,  which maintain it’s bygones era in the modern 21st century city.

Extension of the Jamek Mosque is the Sultan Abdul Samad Building which was constructed in 1894. One can have a wonderful view of the building with it’s majestic 40m Clock Tower from the Merdeka Square. Merdeka Square is a historical landmark of the country as the Country’s Independence was announced here and Brtish Union Jack was replaced with Malaysian Flag. A stone throw away from the Merdeka Square is the 19th century Cathedral of Saint Mary along Jalan Raja.

After a late lunch at Indian Street, Leboh Ampang, I’ve completed my walk at the Sze Ya Temple. An interesting history of this temple, was built in 1864 by Yap Ah Loy (one of the founder of Kuala Lumpur) and dedicated to Sin Sze Ya Si Sze Ya deities, believed to have helped Yap Ah Loy defeat his enemies. At this last stop where I had the best moment of history.  The temple has passed 145years old but it still retains it’s beauty of the yesteryear. Built from solid teak wood, beautifully painted and carved with Chinese inscriptions and ornaments. This small temple is still a popular place of worship, as I noticed when I entered. Followers burned incense and praying papers to wade off bad and bring in good luck. In astonishment, I clicked more pictures as I left the place thinking of returning with friends the next time.

Weekend Watch: Langkawi

It was a family trip to the Island of Langkawi, located on the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia in the state of Kedah, just 1hr 30mins drive from Penang.   Our ferry ride started from the mainland town of Kuala Kedah to Kuah Jetty in Langkawi. The Adult ticket cost RM23 and the ride last 1 1/2 hour. We did not tire of all the bumpy and splash of sea water as we took an early morning ride, the weather was pleasant and fresh.

ticket from Jetty Kuala Kedah

parked well…

arrived in Langkawi..

My family and I traveled around the island on our own in a rented van (rental cars easily available at the jetty). A day’s rent is RM350, self drive. Later we found this was a much more comfortable way to venture around as we managed to find directions to all main attractions and could stop for picnic when and where ever we found suitable.

a family of buffaloes crossing our path..

For sightseeing, we did not do any historical places this time around as we found it was more like history lesson in school. We went up on a cable car ride to the peak of Mount Machinchang at height about 700m above sea level. The view towards the ocean was pretty awesome and cool air rejuvenates one from all the heat down below.

behind me is the ocean view from the peak

Later on we stopped over at a beach for lunch and in the evening visited Dataran Lang, Lang or Helang (Eagle in Bahasa Malaysia) is the land’s iconic settler.

Panorama..

Iconic Structure of Langkawi..

The next day we drove to a local jetty (entrance road beside Galeria Perdana), where we could like organized island hooping and eagle feeding tour. This was my best part of the vacation, first up we headed to a Bat Cave where we found thousands of bats in it’s natural posture above our heads on the cave ceilings. Then, off we went to some private fishing ponds. Here, it was all fun as I had the chance to held poisonous sea urchin in my palm, pet a couple of stingray and played with spitting fish also called “sharpshooter” which never misses any food place high above water. It was brief stop but I felt it was worth

lets hop on to the boat..

friendly rays..Fatimah and it’s partner Ramli

stingy animal..

Ouch!

Next up, was the most waited for all of us on the boat…Eagle Feeding! Menacing and ever alert air dominant bird swirls in the sky looking for food down below. At once, our boatsman throws some chicken skin onto the water, about 10-15 eagles, pretty big in size zooms down and gently picks up the food. The view was breathtaking, as you were surrounded by this powerful sky predator makes it’s presence felt . We said goodbye to the birds and went to some surrounding beautiful smaller islands. According to our boatsman, there’s are over 99 islands near Langkawi.

Eagle Feeding

Safety First..

Narrow Gate..

Shoe Island

Langsir Island

We ended our tour on a disappointing note at the Langkawi Underwater World. This was because two of it’s attraction were not in it’s playful mode when we visited them. I’m talking about the resident Sea Lions and Penguins of the center.   The sea lions were clearly sleepy and I’m not sure what then Penguins were doing as it was more like static with little movements. After some photo opportunity with the place’s other residents, we left with long face. The next day on Monday morning, we left the island back to the fast paced life of Kuala Lumpur.

Sleepy Head..

don’t know what’s the Emperor up to..

Photogenic..

Friend, you have a Nice Smile…

Until next post, please keep in touch

Eastern Coastal Road: Terengganu

I did a drive along coastal road in Terengganu head up to Kelantan (northern most state on the east of  Peninsular Malaysia). Believe me, it was one of the best road journey I ever had with long stretch of pristine beaches on your right along the drive – you can stop in any of the beach to catch some break, snap picture at fishing villages, grab some local delights during tea time – fried bananas called “goreng pisang” and deep fried fish chips know as “keropok lekor”.

Then a jetty to the famous holiday gateway – Pulau Perhentian and Turtle Santuary Rantau Abang. You will discovered the popular Hai Peng Kopitiam (local coffee shop) in the small town of Kemaman and will not miss the huge Petronas oil refinery plant in Paka.  Do not miss to taste the stuffed crab (crab flesh stuffed inside the shell and deep fried)  in Kemaman for dinner – was something new for my taste bud.

All in all a wonderful experience before a totally new one in Kota Bharu (cultural difference at each of the three eastern peninsular states are distinct) 

a coastal scene from Kuantan town..

Kuantan Fishing Port

just want to share a view from Kuantan Fishing Village…

fishing boats at rest after a days catch…

Weekend Watch: Kuantan Road Trip

Oops…just realized I’ve yet to conclude my road trip to Kuantan tale and jumped to my recent trip to Singapore

Here is the rest of the story……

On early Sunday morning (last day of our trip), we hesitantly picked ourselves up from the cozy hotel bed and headed to Sungai Lembing (a small sleepy town near Lembing River – 45min drive from Kuantan town) for a hike to Panorama Hill. This small hill is local favorite for exercise and bird’s eye view of the town below. Best is to climb in the morning as the temperature is much cooler and the misty view provides best photo opportunity and you might spot some pretty birds, as I did   At the end of your hike, the town’s market offer some of the best noodle soups and Nasi Lemak for breakfast.

Little info on Lembing town, this town got its name from a Malay word “Lembing” which means spear or “Spear Town”. This little town (a road divides two rows of old wooden shoplots, a wet market, museum and some administrative houses), is a well know location in the history of Pahang State for it’s  Gold Mining activities during pre-independence days. Now, what remains is the same row of shops and a laid back ambiance which folks from the big cities come here to enjoy

Headed towards Sg. Lembing town..was an easy drive with no traffic

Effect of morning drive…

Nice to sleep eh while on the move…

Sg. Lembing Town…Welcomes Us

Weekend Watch: Singapore Excursion

Sri Mariamman Temple – Singapore’s oldest Hindu located in Chinatown

Meet my favorite friends in Chinatown..

Oh Boy..it’s Tin Tin!

Blistering barnacles…Captain Haddock!

Weekend Watch: Singapore Excursion

Finally, I was on my long waited train journey.  Boarded “Senandung Sutera” from KL Sentral, Kuala Lumpur  to Woodlands, Singapore on Friday night. I gave my brother, who is on job in the lion city, a visit. It was a night trip and after few stops at designated train stations (some stations still retains the pre-independence wood build) along the way, my coach finally reached Woodlands Immigration Gate at 8am.

Lengthy stop at one the small stations in Johor

Old Station..pre-independence structure

at 7am…still on Malaysia track

catching some wind…

I was delighted to be relived from 7hours of back-breaking posture on my seat, trying to sleep along the way. I learned a lesson of not wanting to get a berth for the night. How some of the other passengers can give loud snore along the way, I wondered. I checked through the immigration and the exit route directed me to a taxi stand which relatively different from most part of Malaysia. Here, passengers need to queue in a long line before can hop into an incoming  taxi.

With a container packed with Durian from home, instructed by my parents to deliver it to my brother, I was a bit nervous if I would be asked to hop off the taxi I was in due to its pungent smell (for me it’s strong sweet smell which makes my taste buds go bonkers!).  My luck was good, the Taxi driver was crazy about Durians too! He could even say how the durian would taste from its smell…wah that was a shocker. He was overloading me with his durian experiences until my stop arrives at Changi City Point Mall, my brother working somewhere nearby the area.
After quick lunch and shower at my brother’s rented apartment, we started our excursion to Marina Bay. There were some Independence Day Rehearsal on-going, which was an unexpected surprise and blown us away by the the city’s preparedness .

famous landmark..Capitol Building

church

beautiful fountain

another tourist find…

fly by…

mock training by the Navy…

Singapore Skyline

after dark….

wonderful atmosphere..

After got ourselves drenched by all the fireworks display, my brother and me took off to a meal at nearby food fest before continuing  to Marina Bay Sands. We walked through the wonderful building to The Garden by the Bay. It was another brilliant addition to the famous tourist spots Singapore has been proud of.

huge “trees” greet tourists at The Garden by the Bay