Immerse Joy

Ice cream can bring immerse joy to a child!! Here's my little niece enjoying her sundae cone!

A Punjabi Bride

I was fortunate to be invited to a Punjabi wedding after I gate-crashed my neighbour's daughter's hen party. I contemplated for a long while if I should pop by the hen party uninvited. Nearing midnight, I could not resist the temptation. Metaphorically said, I went, I saw and I conquered.

Firstly, I introduced myself to my dear neighbour and said I have never attended a Punjabi wedding. Can I take some photos of the bride? She introduced herself as Gurmit. It was the first time we formally introduced ourselves to each other although we have been staying a few doors away from each other for the past 10 years. That's life in the city here!! Thanks that the wedding took place and now I got to know another neighbour!!!

The kind Gurmit said the painting of henna on the bride's hands & feet were over. She insisted that I stay back for some food and drink. Even got me to do a Bhangra dance with her leading me on. She then popped out the invitation to attend the wedding at the Gudwara Sahib (a Sikh Temple) in SS14, PJ. Without hesitation I said YES, it would give me great pleasure to attend a Punjabi wedding for the very first time. I was overjoyed!!! Thank you to Gurmit for having me at her daughter's wedding! And I will never forget my first bhangra experience!

And this is the photo of Gurmit's daughter, Harvin, on her wedding day. She looked resplendant in the bridal costume & make-up. Wasn't she beautiful?

To Harvin & husband, Harveen, all the very best to you both. May you share many blissful years loving one another!

Bonding Through Steamboat

It's a tradition in my family to have steamboat dinner during Chinese New Year. This is when the whole family would gather around 2 tables. This year we had a pot of spicy tom yum soup (as seen in this photo) & pot of Bak Kut Teh (herbal) soup for the children. As we sit around the table, we will cook the food in the soup and chat away. It is such a good way to bond with our family members. And in a steamboat meal, it is detrimental to have tangy, spicy sauce to go with the cooked food.

The bowl on the bottom left corner is the sauce that I have created last year. It is a recipe from a distant Thai relative. The sauce is made of fermented bean paste (tau cheong), rice vinegar, coriander, garlic, sugar and bird's eye chillies for added kick! Just mix them together and you bet your family will love this sauce!

Garden of Prosperity (2)

Garden of Prosperity ~ another shot! Hope you enjoy it!

Don't you wish to be here too?

Garden of Prosperity

The i-City's Garden of Prosperity looks splendid with its multi-colour lights display. A neighbour brought me here tonite to enjoy this beautiful place located in Section 7 of Shah Alam. Special thanks go to my dear neighbour, Poh.

Chinese New Year Concert & Carnival

Some of the residents of Subang Jaya who turned up last night at MPSJ Council Stadium to enjoy the mini concert organised for the Chinese New Year celebration. The beauty of being Malaysians is all races come together to celebrate each other's festive occasion. As seen here in this picture, the Chinese, Malay and Indian were there to join in the Chinese New Year celebration.

CNY - Lion Dance

A new restaurant near our house invited this lion dance troupe to perform and bless the business with prosperity & success.

Playing Sparklers

My nephew enjoyed playing with sparklers and burning fireworks during Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year Eve @ Cheng Hoon Teng Temple

It'a tradition among Chinese to offer prayers at temple as the clock struck 12 midnite on Chinese New Year Day. Prayers will be offered to seek blessings for the family to be healthy, harmonious, happy and prosperous throughout the new year.

Here's the crowd of devotees offering prayers at Cheng Hoon Teng Temple in Melaka. The crowd would throng the temple until the morning of Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year in Melaka

Today is Chinese New Year eve. Chinese around the world would be travelling home to join their families for reunion dinners. We got home yesterday and my hometown is beautifully decorated with lanterns and red decorations reflecting a merry celebration of this auspicious occasion.

Jalan Kubu is beautifully decorated with lanterns and a big lion in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration. This photo was taken last night when there is lesser crowd. Tonight, this street (which I near to the famous pedestrian mall, Jonker Walk) will see a huge crowd as people go to the temple at the struck of midnite to pray for a prosperous new year and there would usually be a countdown at the stage area of Jonker Walk.

Wishing all of you a joyful celebration with family and friends!! I am off to help mom in preparing for tonite's reunion dinner!

Imperial Usherers

Usherers dressed in Chinese Qing Dynasty palace costumes were seen at the National University of Malaysia's Angpow Festival. The costumes are resplendant in red and I love the intricate and beautiful head-dress.

Chinese New Year Greeting

Many city dweller friends would be leaving Kuala Lumpur either today or tomorrow to return to their hometowns to celebrate this occasion with families on Sunday, 14th February.
So, I would like to send an early greeting to all who celebrate Chinese New Year.

Wishing all of you a year full of passion, liveliness and prosperity!

Lord of Prosperity

It is common when Chinese New Year is approaching, Lord of Prosperity will make an appearance at dinner function. We attended an AngPow Festival at National University of Malaysia and that's when I took this photo.

Colourful Canapes

At a friend's wedding tea party, we were served an assortment of canapes. Don't they look attractive? I am one who loves food and I find food beautifully garnished would be more delicious than served plainly! Don't you agree with me?

To our friend, Mable and her husband, Gavin, I wish both of you a life filled with faith, love & hope!

Fish Trap in Tondano, Sulawesi

My internet connection fault has not been rectified by Telekom Malaysia yet. So I am posting old photos that I have uploaded to my Picasa Web Albums but has never posted on my blog.

This structure can be seen floating near the beach at Tondano, northern Sulawesi. It is a fish trap. I don't know whether it is effective to catch big fishes but this structure is definitely an interesting object to capture, especially during sunrise when it's silhoutte looks fascinating against the bright sun.

Security & Safety

My internet connection has not been stabile since Friday. I have not been able to upload any photo to my online photo album. Two calls to Telekom Malaysia's Streamyx Customer Service didn't help to solve my connection problem. The second customer service agent even point the fault to my network card or modem! Sigh!! Usually that's what the customer service agent will tell me. But so far, the faults had always been with Streamyx connection! I hope this problem can be rectified soon.

Here's a photo that I uploaded in September but had not posted it on my blog yet. It's a poster showing all the police stations and inspectors contact telephone numbers. Crime rate in USJ has increased. The residents have decided to take the responsibility of their security & safety. So, many residential areas in USJ are going for Gated & Guarded concept. The residents pay and employ security guards, fenced up their areas, block or close certain access roads during non-peak hours. It's sad that the police force is not able to work on improving security in the whole country. Break-ins, robbery, snatch theft cases are so rampant these days.

24-Season Drum Performance

Chinese New Year is less than 10 days away. Last night we went to the National University of Malaysia to attend an Angpow Festival Concert that was organized in conjunction with Chinese New Year celebration.

We were entertained with various performances by undergraduates from various universities. The performances were of so good quality that you won't even think that they were performed by students. One of the performances was the 24-Season Drum as seen in the photos above. Each drum carries a name that depicts a season or celebration that is part of the Chinese tradition.

Red Amaryllis

Beautiful Amaryllis from the garden of Fo Guang Shan.
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I want to share this lovely video that I watched online called "JK Wedding Entrance Dance". Wish I could attend such a wedding one day! It's fabulous.



To view the story behind this video, please go to: JK Wedding.

A parody of the "JK Wedding Entrance Dance" video, here's the "JK Divorce Entrance Dance". Ha ha..have fun!! This is humorous!

Sunbathing

Saw this iguana out sun bathing while we were strolling at Tun Fatimah Park in Melaka.

Thaipusam Celebration at Batu Caves

Last Saturday, the Hindus in Malaysia celebrated Thaipusam. In the states of Selangor, Penang, Perak, Negri Sembilan and Johor, Thaipusam is a public holiday.

Thaipusam is a festival to celebrate the event when Lord Murugan received the Vel (Holy Spear) from His Mother, Goddess Parvathi.

The Vel, a symbol of light and wisdom was used by Lord Murugan to rid the world of the three asuras (demonic beings) and bring peace and balance back to the Heavens and Earth. Thus, the Vel is the protecting and purifying force of Lord Murugan and Thaipusam is a celebration of these forces.

Thaipusam is also a time to beseech Lord Murugan's blessing to lessen the burden of bad karmas from wrong doings and to make lives more positive. Therefore, Thaipusam is a festival that is marked by acts of penance such as carrying the kavadi. Carrying kavadi is a practice of penance or prayaschittam.

The tradition of carrying kavadi was started by a great devotee of Lord Muruga, Idumban, who worshipped Lord Murugan at the Palani Hills temple in Tamil Nadu state, India. He created the first kavadi. It was a simple structure that consisted of a straight horizontal branch of a tree with two small pots of milk tied at either end and decorated by a wooden arch, flowers and peacocks tail feathers. Idumban also pierced a small vel shaped skewer across his cheeks. Idumban carried the kavadi from the foothills of Palani to Lord Murugans Palani Andavan temple at the summit of the hills and offered the milk for Lord Palanis (the form of Lord Murugan as a renunciate monk) abishegam (abhishegam: is the bathing of a deity during the puja ceremony. Many natural substances such as milk, honey, rose water and sacraments are used to bathe the deity. Abishegam is a gesture of appreciation of God).

This photo that I took on last Saturday in Batu Caves, showed the piercing of a man's back with hooks. This is an act of penance by a fellow devotee. The video below showed how this man was put into a trance before the piercing was carried out. It's amazing to see there's no blood shed nor pain when the hooks were pierced now when the rope tied to these hooks were pulled by someone from the back. For those who have not experienced Thaipusam celebration, it's an eye-opening and fascinating experience that no words can described. I am looking forward to another visit to Batu Caves next year.

Theme Day: Feb 1 - Wood

It has been a busy week for me with photo outing to Batu Caves to capture the Thaipusam celebration on Sat morning (we left Subang Jaya at 4.30am) and also house moving the next day and preparation for Chinese New Year. Our house move on Sunday was only a symbolic one. Because Sunday was an auspicious day for us, we gotta move into our new home despite of the incomplete renovation. We did our prayers and invited some friends for a light lunch with construction materials lying around.

So for theme day, I am posting a photo that I took in September at the park across our house. I like the grains on the tree trunks. It was such a peaceful late afternoon and the sun was going low and I love the way the sun rays were shining on the tree and bringing out the details of the wood. I wish you all a happy theme day!

To view photos for theme day, click here to view thumbnails for all participants.