Penang Trip - Part 4

Continued from where I left off before - visitors must remove their shoes before entering the temple!






After removing my slippers I started prancing around like I was some indian native doing a ritual rain dance..


The floor was BURNING hot!!! There was no carpet or surface mat to absorb the heat besides our feet T_T

So I just googled for this temple's name and it's called "Wat Chayamangkalara"... What a mouthful!!! I think I'm just going to call it "the temple" from now on lol














Upon entering, we were given these candles to light up and offer to the gods.. even though I'm not religious I do everything my mum says to humour her.





































There's something about a temple that is strangely comforting... it's like when I step into a temple I immediately feel comforted and reassured if I have any worries on my mind. Maybe it's the burning of incense sticks that is so familiar and welcoming...


Well it's somewhere between welcoming and suffocating :3



















Wat Chayamangkalara, or otherwise known as the Reclining Buddha temple is named so because it has a MASSIVE reclining Buddha in the middle of it - 99 feet long!

It is the largest reclining buddha statue in Malaysia, but the largest one in the WORLD is 300 feet ish!!! Crazy.




A real sight to behold.

















Every inch of the temple was covered in intricate detail, I couldn't stop admiring their work - is every temple this beautiful or did I just never notice this in all the previous temples I've been to before?



















Ever since I've gotten my DSLR I seem to have developed an acute sense of detail.. even though my eyesight is still shit, I seem to be noticing things that I've left out before - it's like when I look at something I see it from a new perspective every single time!


















Don't worry, I got permission for shooting these photos.. at least I think I did. Everyone else was doing it, plus the caretakers saw me doing it but didn't give me any evil looks or shooed my away so I guess it's ok?

The temple is made public to all races and religion, free-of-charge entry and it welcomes people to come admire the beauty of it all so I don't suppose cameras would be a no-no! It is also a tourist destination after all..

















Some people wished for health, love, wealth and good luck.. whereas others just wished for their debts to be cleared.





















Don't really know what this means, but then again religion never made any sense to me
















My mum told me to donate some money into this particular box next to the buddha because it was "my" year, the year of the Monkey.

I could've been a rabbit, a tiger, or even a snake.. but I HAD to be a monkey!!! Whhhhhhy?





I blame my mum and my chinese zodiac for my unnecessarily hairy underarms and legs.



















I can't remember what the rest of the text said but apparently I'M GOING TO BE FAMOUS!!

Even the gods agree!! xoxoxoxoxo





































I couldn't have looked like a bigger tourist if I tried - snapping pictures of a wall.

Or a pillar / whatever it's called.








































At the entrance / exit of the temple.. I ♥ this picture - there's so much colour and vibrant hues going on!!



And as you can tell, it was REALLY rlyrly hot. Possibly hotter than in Singapore..



.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.



Our final destination was probably the most fascinating one - visiting a real Peranakan House!

It's the same one used to film the Mediacorp's channel 8 famous drama The Little Nyonya in - when it's not hosting grand events and tv shows, it's a museum open to the public.










Royalty who used to live in the house.. don't know if they were REALLY royalty but they were very important people and obviously FILTHY rich!

















Ancient trishaws outside their house - I assume this was their mode of transport back then? Well they probably had grand sedans and shit but this seemed like the very first "Taxi" we had in Asia.
































GRAND entrance for a grand house!!

This house is undoubtedly the most amazing house I've ever seen. You'll soon see why - so much tradition that is now lost still preserved in this house-museum!















This was the first thing that greeted me at the doorway...







Yeah, pretty amazing huh?























Janice & I and my mum looking very cheeky in the background, lol!!!!


















Bonsai plant coz we azn like that.

















Edited this picture to look vintage-ish like the 50's :P

I assume this was the era of when the house was built?
















Everything is so regal-looking wtf it reminded me of the Raffles Hotel because of its timeless look, except this was more detailed and chinese-y




















They look right in place here hahahaha /I'm so mean I always tease them about their age/
















Shiny and pretty... *________*

Must.. take... picture.....
















This looks like a church window to me



















I was just walking around the house imagining what it would feel like if it were mine. I'd have awesome backdrops for self-photoshoots all the time!!! And would totally have sleepover parties.




P.S - I know I wear those pair of slippers WAY too often.. but they broke when I was in Sunway Lagoon last weekend and I had to leave them behind in the hotel room, so I now bid them goodbye :'(

Thanks for your 2 years + usage!!! Sorry for abusing you and wearing you onto beaches, into toilets, anywhere and everywhere basically.


You were comfy, and you have served me well. RIP in flipflop heaven.


















Got vintage?




















Portrait of the original owner I guess? ..........I feel her / him / it staring into my soul T_T

I would be pissed if I were her too. Like "OI WTF YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE?! And take off your shoes for gods sake!!"






'









They have 2 levels and we're only on the first one!!! This is ONE of their dining tables.. pretty sure there's like 2 or 3 in total!
















I hope my house in the future will have a fresh flower centerpiece on the dining table too :)

It just adds such a lovely homely feel!





















A sparkly chandelier.. because nothing expensive is out of place in this house. You don't even need a reason.


If it's flashy and expensive then it goes with the theme!!! That's why I love it.


















AHAHAHAHA Uncle John looks soooo cheena here!!! In his defense he was blinking but it's so funneh. It's so ching it's almost alien.

Don't worry UJ you still cute (in a jolly grandpa fashion) and my mom adores you.


















It was quite hard trying to find my family amidst the crowd and navigating through this ginormous house because I was too engrossed in taking pictures..

I know it looks empty but it was actually very crowded and I'd usually have to stop people in their tracks to take a photo that looks "empty"!




I really REALLY hate random passersby in my pictures.




Like "oooh here's a nice pic, but say.. wait a minute - why is there an extra head popping out of my neck and who's this guy picking his nose behind me?!"
















Up the stairs and onto the 2nd level we go!!!


















Kukubro and I!!!






























Random pic but I just HAD to include this!! ♥ My mum is sooo cute :)


















This was the master bedroom and it was strangely unimpressive. The rest of the house was SO big and grand, I was expecting the main bedroom to be something a lil more than this!!!


Still it's heck loads better than mine though hahaha

































Random stuff in the bedroom (that probably costs a bomb)
















I don't like dressing tables thanks to horror movies. I always imagine some ghost behind me while I brush my hair at midnight or something... so I go out to my living room to put on make up lol (where there are huge ceiling-to-floor mirrors)





















I don't know what this room is called but they had all sorts of colourful pots and other glass artifacts in here!! I shall call it the colorful glass chamber.


















The funny thing about this house is that they have this rectangular empty space in the middle of it, so when it rains I suppose it'll be pouring through this big hole in the roof.


Quite an innovative idea, since you can just sit on your couch admiring the rain from inside your house!!!! And write moving Chinese poetry. Or tell your man slaves to wash your feet or something.

(having someone else wash your feet is one of the greatest and simplest pleasures in life)



















This is a weird photo of me but imma post it anyway since it's with family!!! I should've have sat so far back haha my legs look so awkward.. what a goon.


Is that a big chair or is that a big chair?! You can't exactly call it a couch can ya.



















Ending this post off this pic of mum and I!!! ♥

It's my desktop wallpaper now :):)))





Thank goodness I have her genes to look forward to as I'm growing up hehe.




.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.




And so we've come to the end of my Penang Trip travelogues!!!

We did actually visit more places than that but my cam battery died, lol, and they weren't as interesting anyway.




It was a short holiday but a super fun one, AMAZING FOOD was the highlight of the trip!

Besides the food, it was culturally enriching, physically exhausting but most of all, it was quality family time and that's the whole point of holidays (besides having fun and relaxing)





I can't wait for my next trip with my family :)

Will blog about getting a new hairstyle and Sunway Lagoon soon!!!



xoxo,
Jess