Totally Random Photos

My father-in-law has been asking for my business cards so that he can hand them out to his friends. I didn't actually have any cards and had to get some printed. Taking inspiration from my photographer cousin whose business cards are a mini portfolio of his work, I ordered cards from MOO with an assortment of 50 different images from my blog.  That got me "flipping" through my old photos and doing a lot of reminiscing over the fun worldwide travels and slow exploration of Penang, Malaysia that I've enjoyed over the last few years.

For this post, I must give credit for the idea to Nancy over at Budget Travelers Sandbox. Her post this week for her Travel Photo Thursday linkup is to randomly open four of her Flickr travel photo albums and share the seventh photo from each album. I'm being a total copycat and doing the same with my Malaysia albums so that I don't overwhelm you with all 50 of the photos from my stack of business cards.

Dreaming of an Indian Summer

False store fronts hid the 5-foot-way of Armenian Street when it was transformed into the town of Simla, India.

Dreams are a weird thing. They can be familiar but with details thrown in that keep them from seeming completely real. Friends rub elbows with characters from movies. Scenes plucked from your memory are altered until they no longer seem like something belonging to you. And when you wake up, you find yourself grasping at the remnants as it drifts away and trying to decipher what in the world it means. As strange as it may sound, I fell into a kind of dream state watching television last night even though I was wide awake.

Indian Summers recently premiered in America on PBS Masterpiece. Originally broadcast on BBC Channel 4, it's been deemed the heir to the "period costume drama" crown currently held by Downton Abbey. Set in Simla, an Indian town in the foothills of the Himalayas, in 1932 as the British Raj is beginning to unwillingly loosen its hold there, the on-location filming is visually rich and enticing. Except, it was not filmed in India. Indian Summer was filmed in Penang, Malaysia. Simla had an overabundance of modern structures and a monsoon season that would wreak havoc with the production. So, the producers cast their sights further afield and decided on Penang instead. Sharing the same British colonial history, both cities have similar architectural influences. There's also a sizeable Indian population in Malaysia and plenty of white expats to serve as extras.

Little India Preps for Deepavali

Little India is bustling right before Deepavali

Happy Deepavali! The Little India section of George Town, Penang is always a vibrant and bustling feast for the senses. In the week leading up to the Deepavali (also called "Diwali") celebration, everything is amped up a bit. The crowds are bigger, the stores are busier, and the Bollywood music blares from large speakers out on the sidewalk. Most stores have open fronts, and their merchandise displays extend on to the street. As you stroll through Little India, it's easy to see what everyone has to offer without having to stop to poke your head through a door.

Deepavali is a five day "festival of lights" and quite important in the Hindu religion. Traditionally, a row of lamps is lit to signify good's victory over evil, and people celebrate by shooting off fireworks to ward of harmful spirits, wearing new clothes, and sharing sweets with each other. As I write this, firecrackers have been going off all night on the streets below my home.

Delicious sweets from Sri Ananda Bahwan

Last Monday, I dropped the kids off at school a mere 12 hours after our return from our trip to China and Tibet. In the school parking lot, I ran into a friend who invited me out sari shopping in Little India that morning. Hmmm.. go back home to unpack and do grocery shopping or hang with my friends to go shopping? The decision was not difficult.




Dosai and Saris
Note that the Dosai is almost as long as the table.

Our first stop was Woodlands Vegetarian on Penang Street to fill up on Paper Dosai, a paper-thin pancake made of fermented rice batter and black lentils, served with masala potatoes. To say that my friend ordered the Large size would be an understatement. Afterwards, we headed down the block to Maya Silk Centre to check out their sari cloth collection. As Mr. Rajan pulled out one beautifully embroidered silk after another, we quickly became overwhelmed by the selection. His shop was quite busy that week finishing orders for Deepavali, but by next week, he could make our custom saris in as little as an hour. Thankfully, he could also hide Velcro and hooks in the folds of the fabric so we wouldn't have to rely on our Indian friends to come over and dress us whenever we wanted to wear it. After mulling over the vast selection, we decided to come back post-Deepavali to figure out what we wanted.

A little shop on the corner of Penang Street and Market Street

On Thursday, I found myself back in Little India for a walking tour with Teresa from the Penang Heritage Trust and organized by Spiral Synergy. Teresa was part of the committee instrumental in getting part of George Town named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I had no idea that they were rejected 8 times before getting the recognition. I commend them for persevering and bringing the charms of George Town to the attention of the world.

Indian Treats from Thali NR Sweets on Penang Street

This day began with a traditional Indian breakfast at Sri Ananda Bahwan or SAB as it is affectionately called. While the open kitchen has become a trendy concept with swanky restaurants,  SAB has had an open kitchen for a long time. With griddles positioned at the front of the restaurant, people walking by on the sidewalk can easily be lured in by watching the cooks spread out elongated ovals of dosai batter or flip Roti Canai dough around in the air to stretch it out.

Making delicious Dosai and Roti Canai by the sidewalk

Afterwards, we headed to a small beauty centre to watch a demonstration of threading and henna art. Threading involves removing unwanted hair by twisting thread around each wayward strand and yanking it out. According to Teresa, it's better than using tweezers. In either case, ouch! Although, I will admit that it's rather a bargain at US$1.70 a visit. Henna tattoos are created by squeezing natural dye from the henna plant out of a small cone and onto the skin. After leaving it on for a few hours (careful of smudging), you wash it off and have a temporary design that will fade away over the course of a few weeks.

Applying henna to make a temporary tattoo.
The finger in the background has the color after the dye is washed off.

Then, it was off to visit a sari shop. It turns out I was headed back to Maya Silk Centre. We learned how to tell "art silk" with a polyester blend apart from real silk. Let's just say that setting fire to a store's merchandise might put you on the bad side of the shop's owner. I think I may have also found a gorgeous georgette which is much more affordable than silk, US$30 versus US$100, that I may have made into a custom sari for myself. Most of the tour group could have easily spent the rest of the morning shopping for saris and Punjabi suits, but Teresa pushed us out of the store so that we could stay on schedule.
 


Gorgeous silk sari cloth with Swarovski crystals and gold thread

Our next stop was a spice shop further down on Penang Street called Mohamed Meera Sahib. The savory smell of curries mingled with other spices wafted out onto the street. Early in the morning, this store was packed with customers. I could barely move. Tubs of powdered spices sat at an angle along one side while sacks of lentils, dal, cinnamon and star anise sat around the scale. On the shelves, I saw tin after tin of Ghee and solid chunks of Gula Melaka palm sugar. It smelled heavenly in there. Teresa scooped up handfuls of each item and told us how they were used. Some were even in the breakfast we had dined on that morning.



Spices are historically an important part of George Town's heritage


After we exited, we turned left to head down Market Street towards a lovely shop where ladies can find all sorts of accessories to dress up their outfit, hair, and faces. Stick-on Bindi dots above the nose can signify a woman's married status if it's big or just a beauty mark if it's small.  I was particularly drawn towards the stacks of golden bangles and the elaborate necklaces. So pretty!

A variety of adornments in this shop

 

A streetside flower stall a few doors down was making garlands with fresh flowers from the Cameron Highlands. Some blooms were their natural colors while others had been dyed a brilliant hue. Hindus purchase these flowers and take them to the temple or one of the nearby altars as an offering.

Lush garlands are used as offerings at Hindu temples and altars.

We made it to Queen Street's Sri Mariamman Temple, the oldest Hindu temple in Penang, just in time for a blessing before it closed at noon. I've always wanted to go in and look around but have been a little intimidated by my worry that I would ignorantly do something offensive. With our guide, Teresa, there, I wasn't worried and listened carefully to her explanations of the various statues inside the temple. At the end, she received a blessing from the Hindu priest.

A blessing on your head

With all the scents of street food floating through the air, it was hard to ignore the rumbling in our stomachs. We sat ourselves down on a plastic stool at a streetside table and watched a man prepare Teh Tarik, "Pulled Tea." To quickly cool hot tea, streams of the sweet, milky brew are poured back and forth between two cups, starting with them close together and then pulling one higher and higher into the air. Veggie Samosas from the stall across the street provided some yummy noshing, too. Teresa also recommended the buffet style Nasi Kandar meals at Restoran Tajuddin Hussain on Queen Street near the temple as being an important combination of hygienic, frequently replenished, and tasty.

Making Teh Tarik "Pulled Tea"

 

 

Veggie Samosas, only US$0.33 a piece

With my hunger sated, I peeled of from the tour and made my way back to the car. Even though it was only noon, the streets of Little India were packed with people. What I had mistaken for a pedestrians only street was actually open for vehicular traffic, and cars slowly made their way down the road with the crowds parting before them. This part of town is certainly busy during the festive Deepavali season.

People were eager to buy a new outfit for Deepavali. Perhaps a Punjabi Suit?

The rest of Penang is happy to share in the Deepavali celebration, too. It's not just limited to Little India. Shopping malls and office buildings will decorate the floor with a kolum, an intricate design made of colored rice, that is also known by the name "rangoli." They are sacred welcoming areas for Hindu deities and are meant to bring good luck.

Rangoli at Straits Quay



A closer look at the colored rice kernels of the rangoli

Here's wishing you a very Happy Deepavali!

 

 

 

Related Posts:

The Street of Religious Harmony

Strolling down Armenian Street

 

 

This post is part of Travel Photo Thursday on Budget Travelers Sandbox. Check it out for more around-the-world travel inspiration.

 





The Street of Religious Harmony

Last week, stories swept the news about anti-American attacks in the Middle East and North Africa. When we first considered moving to Malaysia, a moderate Muslim country, I will admit that I was a tad concerned about what the atmosphere here towards Americans and Christianity would be. Thank goodness, I've found this country to be overall tolerant of various religions. Well, it's against the law to proselytize to Muslims, and we weren't allowed to bring over goods made in Israel. But other than that, it's a Freedom of Religion kind of country, a remnant of England's multi-century rule over Malaya. Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, nicknamed The Street of Harmony, in Penang's historic George Town is an excellent example of this. As you stroll down the street (dodging motor scooters and trishaws), you'll find a mosque, Chinese temple, Hindu temple and an Anglican church. All are evidence of the waves of immigrants who shaped Penang.

St. George's Anglican Church

Major renovation completed in 2011

St. George's Church, the oldest Anglican church in Southeast Asia, surely must have made the early British colonists feel quite at home. Completed in 1818, it is the one and only church on Malaysia's official list of 50 National Heritage Treasures and received government money for its recent restoration. Surprisingly, the congregation is mostly local Chinese, not Westerners as I had assumed. They no longer open the many windows that line each side of the building during services, but I can just imagine what a lovely crossbreeze would have come through in the pre-air-conditioning days. The docent here is very well informed if you have a chance to chat with him. Once again, I came off as an idiot by asking if the church bell is real or just a recorded sound.




Kuan Yin Temple is Penang's oldest Chinese Temple

Kuan Yin Temple, also known as "Temple of the Goddess of Mercy" as well as "Temple of the Hokkien and Cantonese Communities" (Kong Hock Keong), is hard to miss due to the massive plumes of incense smoke curling away from enormous joss sticks out in front. Construction on this Taoist temple began in 1728. It was built according to feng shui principles and originally dedicated to Ma Chor Po, the patron of the seas. In the mid-1800's the growing Chinese community began to splinter. Instead of everyone being united at the Kuan Yin Temple, each group tried to outdo the others by building the most opulent clan temple in town.




Small stand selling offerings for Taoist temple on one side of the street. Tiny, yellow Hindu shrine on the other corner.

Flower garlands, milk and coconut halves left at the Hindu shrine by both Chinese and Indians.

Selling flower garlands for the Hindu temple and shrine on this street.

Chinese goods for sale near the flower garland stall

Eventually, you'll reach Kapitan Keling Mosque, built in 1800, after which the street is named. This was my first time inside a mosque, and our Muslim guide was open to answering the many questions my group asked.

Kapitan Keling Mosque

Rows of prayer rugs line the prayer hall.

Across the street from the mosque, you'll see the back side of Sri Mahamariamman Temple.

Sri Mahamariamman Temple - Penang's oldest Hindu temple

The front of the temple faces Lebuh Queen (Queen Street) in Little India. It started out in 1801 as a simple shrine for the Indian community that was enlarged into a temple in 1833. Alas, we arrived here just after it had closed for an afternoon break between morning and evening prayers. So, we did not have a chance to go inside. I guess it's an excuse for me to head back!

Many goddesses adorn the facade over the main entrance.

Related Post:
Ramadan and Penang's Kapitan Keling Mosque
Cue the Bollywood Music: Part 1
Cue the Bollywood Music: Part 2
Strolling down Armenian Street

This post is part of Friday Daydreamin' at R We There Yet Mom? Check it out for more around-the-world travel inspiration.

Now that's a lot of Body Piercing! Thaipusam in Penang

That is not a shirt. It's multiple body piercings.

Warning: This post is not for the faint of heart. But if you've already looked at the first photo, you might as well proceed.

Back in Austin, I knew quite a few people with body piercings where I used to work. On the tamer end of the scale was anyone with multiple ear piercings or belly button rings. The lovely receptionist had a few rings going through her eyebrow with a thin chain connecting them to the piercings on her earlobes. During meetings, I could sometimes hear the clack-clack-clack noise of another coworker running the tiny barbell in her tongue back and forth across her teeth. One man had pierced his belly button, nipples and nether regions (although no one independently confirmed the last one). Are you thinking that I worked at some club or bar? Nope! It was a biotech company.

Anyways, these people had absolutely nothing on the rows and rows of body piercing I saw at Penang's Thaipusam festivities. It was quite a sight. In the picture above, all those silver urns covering the man's torso and arms have been hooked directly into his skin. Dozens more hooks covered his back. The man would occasionally stop and lean forward, pulling the ropes taut to add more discomfort (to put it mildly). From the front, I could see he had at least eight sets of chains and hooks draped across his face.

Thaipusam is one of Penang's biggest Hindu celebrations and also a public holiday. This being the multi-ethnic country of Malaysia, it overlapped with the the last day of Chinese New Year as well as the Islamic observation of Prophet Muhammad's birthday. Thaipusum marks the triumph of good over evil when Lord Murugan received a spear and defeated an evil demon.  I first heard of it when I was researching our trip to Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur which has an even bigger crowd for the occasion.

The festival starts in Little India with a beautiful, silver chariot carrying a statue of Lord Murugan along an all-day, 10-kilometer pilgrimage to the Nattukkottai Chettiar Temple on Waterfall Road. To symbolically cleanse the chariot's path, devotees walk ahead of it smashing coconuts on the road. I didn't go to this part of the celebration, but a friend who witnessed it tells me that a mini bulldozer followed the chariot, pushing the shells aside to literally clean up after the symbolic cleansing. Apparently, coconut smashing can only occur during approved times.

Hubby and I joined in on the activity closer to the temple. As we approached, I could hear the loud music and rhythmic drumming. The scent of incense and savory spices from the snack stalls mingled in the air. It was definitely a festival atmosphere — lots of people and food, souvenirs for sale, and Angry Bird balloons. Those birds are popping up everywhere.

Numerous companies and families set up booths along Waterfall Road to offer drinks and nourishment to the devotees. HEB was a major sponsor. No, not the Texas grocery store chain. I'm referring to the Hindu Endowment Board.



Intel's Thaipusam booth.
I bet they don't have this at their Santa Clara, California headquarters.

Forget your offering of milk and sweets? No worries. Pick some up here.



Beautiful sidewalk chalk drawings lined the road, too.

All along the road, devotees of Lord Murugan carried kavadis, or physical burdens, to offer up to him as penance, thanksgiving, or in supplication. The simplest kavadis are urns of milk carried upon the head. Others kavadis are tall portable altars decorated with peacock feathers. They are balanced upon a man's shoulders and hips and then connected to him with hooks piercing his skin.




Woman with milk urn on her head in front and a two giant kavadis behind her.



 I wanna see your jaw dropping, eye popping, head turning, body shocking peacock kavadi.

The biggest burden is the multiple body piercings. Sometimes a spear representing Lord Murugan's weapon threads its way in one cheek, through the tongue, and out the other cheek. The piercings are done in front of a public crowd in Little India before the pilgrimage begins and removed after the offering is made at the temple.

I am truly amazed by how devoted these people are. It makes my promise to give up chocolate for Lent kind of lame in comparison. But hey, that's just how I roll.

Related Posts:
Kuala Lumpur: Temples and Caves


This post is part of Photo World Mondays on Travel Photo Discovery. Check it out for more visual delights.

Cue the Bollywood Music: Part 2

"We need to go to Little India," my friend, Jenn, declared one evening. "I know a place where we can get our eyebrows threaded." I had been dying to return to Little India, so I jumped at the invitation. Fun with friends and tidying up my brows? I'm in!

It has been such a blessing that a bunch of families from hubby's work moved here at the same time. We started gathering together in Austin last year to get acquainted with each other. Our households were packed and shipped at the same time, so when I was missing all my Stuff with a capital S, they were literally in the same boat. We met for playdates when we arrived here in Penang, and the kids already had friends when school started. Best of all, it's taken away my angst over, "Who will I hang out with when I move?"

That's how a group of former Austinites ended up exploring Little India one September day. The Bollywood music still blasted from the stores, but many of the tourists were gone now that summer break was over. Jenn was familiar with the area and acted as our guide. Plus, she had no fear of parallel parking against a left curb in a teeny tiny spot.

We returned to the same store where I had bought Brad's blanket-sari a few weeks earlier. Upstairs, there were racks and racks of clothing that required much less instruction than donning a sari. After trying on a few shirts, the incomparable Senora Tania performed such awe-inspiring haggling that I am now less amazed by the bargain price on the sari I had previously purchased.

Store: We cannot go any lower. This is already on sale. We have already cut the price.

Tania: I will pay your price, but you will never see this face again.

Store: We  bow humbly to you, and you may pay whatever you wish. (Okay, they didn't actually say that verbatim, but that's pretty much the gist of it.)

Next, Jenn led us to a wonderful spice shop. Barrels of whole spices sat on the floor while bins of ground up spices lined the walls. The air was filled with the aroma of pepper, cumin, coriander, and a host of other scents I couldn't identify. Unlike the musty smelling bottles of McCormick spices at the expat-friendly grocery store, these seemed like they could actually flavor my food. Jean Marie suggested, "Just dump out the bottles and put this in it." I came away with little baggies of the good stuff. Alas, they don't sell Vanilla Extract here either.

We wandered the streets for a bit looking for the beauty salon that some local Penang women introduced Jenn to. I was the third one up to have my eyebrows threaded. The specialist held one end of a cotton thread with her hand and gripped the other end in her teeth. With her free hand, she looped the thread around some eyebrow hairs and quickly ripped them out. Rip, rip, rip...

Then on to the other side. Rip, rip, rip...  A few minutes later, I had beautifully shaped brows plus a few tears in my eyes. Total expenditure for this service was US$1.70. If you want to try it out in Austin, Jenn recommends Hair It Is.

We wrapped up our excursion with lunch at Woodlands Vegetarian Restaurant. What a difference this place was compared to my first lunch in Little India. The previous meal was in the open air with a front row seat to the hustle and bustle that is George Town. This restaurant was quiet, dark, and best of all, air-conditioned. I indulged in my love of samosas. (I think the term "Indian empanadas" came up during my attempt to explain them.) We each ordered the Mini Meal which came with a piece of warm chapathi and cups of curd rice (looks amazingly like arroz con leche but has the tangy, sour taste of yogurt), dhall, potato masala, raitha and the deliciously sweet mysore pak.

Laden with spices, stuffed with food, and graced with beautifully shaped brows, we blew off paying for parking (more on that in some future post) and made our way home.

Cue the Bollywood Music: Part 1

One day, I woke up and decided I needed to explore Little India. The kids were at school. Our shipment still had not arrived at that point. I had nothing to do. So, I programmed it into my GPS, and off I went. As I made my way into town, the streets narrowed until I found myself in historic George Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As if on cue, I heard the Bollywood music blasting from the stores at the same instant my GPS announced, "You have reached your destination." I parked, got out of the car, and all my senses told me I was in Little India.

The rich aroma of curries and spices wafted over me, making my mouth water in anticipation. Silky saris beckoned to be touched. Dazzling arrays of trinkets and jewelry caught my eye. Garlands of bright marigolds hung just outside a flower shop.

I was surrounded by stores catering to the Indian community in Penang. Some places offered to ship packages door-to-door from Penang to India. That only made me think longingly of my household shipment which was slowly drifting towards me somewhere in the South China Seas. Video stores displayed racks and racks of Indian DVDs. While these stores were the source of the Bollywood music, others counteracted with classical Indian music, also turned all the way up to 11. Interspersed here and there were stray Chinese temples and shops. As I was taking it all in, my phone rang. Oh joyous day! The propane delivery man would be by in a couple hours to bring me more cooking fuel.

Brad had been asking for a blanket to cover him while he watched TV. Really??? Who needs a blanket when it's 86F inside the living room? I decided to humor him and ducked into the sari shop where I purchased a 4-meter-long silk sari for only US$8.50.

All the delicious smells were making me hungry. The sidewalk food stand was quite popular with a lot of the tourists. They were so densely packed around it that I really had to elbow my way in to see what was being offered.

Since I wanted to get off my feet while dining, I continued on my way. The much acclaimed Kapitan restaurant was across a busy intersection, but I doubted that I would actually live long enough to enjoy lunch if I attempted to cross the road on foot. So, I ended up at another, less treacherous, open air Indian restaurant. There was so much to see as I sat and ate my meal. The cooks pulled food from the tandoori oven strategically placed on the sidewalk to draw people in. Others were deep frying papadums inside the restaurant. Those looked so good, that I requested some for Take Away. (In this former British colony, people don't ask for food "To-Go". They ask for "Take Away".)

I watched the late summer tourists ambling around the streets. They were easy to spot because they were all carrying their Lonely Planet guidebooks and Visit George Town folded maps. That's when it hit me -- I'm not a tourist here. This is my home. I don't have just a few hours to explore this wonderous place. I can keep coming back and do it at a leisurely pace. Plus, I've dawdled too long over lunch and must now rush home to meet the propane delivery man. That's not something you do on vacation.