Back to the subject of travelling. Though it would be exciting and nice to travel overseas, most of my travel pursuits are local. I would love to travel overseas with my family but there are many considerations. First of all, cost is a factor for us. Then we’d have to consider family travel insurance. Imagine what a nightmare the vacation you had dreamed about would turn out to be if you lost your luggage. My sister who used to be a travel agent used to tell us nightmare stories about lost luggage by travelers. What a pity. It really spoils a holiday.

Then there is the issue of whether to go for group travel or to travel on your own free and easy. I am not sure which I prefer. Free and easy would be nice but you’d have to learn where to go and how to get there, weather conditions etc before you go on your own. Having someone you know from the place would be better. Group travel is easy but sometimes a bit too rushed for my liking. Anyway, overseas holidays is just a dream for me at the moment. So for now, I will keep on blogging about my local holidays.

This post is sponsored by Travel Insurance Direct.

The best time to go to Kek Lok Si Temple is in the evening just before they turn on the lights. Then you can watch the lights being turned on and the place turn from beautiful to magical like an enchanted palace. The kids love it. Usually we’ll go in the evening then we wait for the lights to be turned on and everyone will go Ooohh and Aaahhh.

This year, being The Year Of The Dragon 2012, there are two dragon lights guarding the gate to the pagoda. This is the Dragon before the lights are turned on.

The Dragon after the lights are turned on turns into a magical fire breathing dragon, well almost.

There are lanterns and lights everywhere at the Kek Lok Si Temple, there are lights within the temple.

There are lights on the trees…..

There are lights on the temple rooftops….

There are lights on the railings and walls of the temple….

Then there is the magnificent and towering 30.3m tall Goddess of Mercy or Guan Yin Statue. You’d have to take an inclined lift to take you further uphill or if you choose to, you can drive up there but walking is better so you get to see everything and  you don’t have to go through the jam.

The gardens are lovely too at the Kek Lok Si Temple

I love this mini tomato plants at the Kek  Lok Si Temple. They were everywhere near the Pagoda. They look like mini mandarin oranges and add to the Chinese New Year atmosphere.

There are pumpkin plants too, hidden at the corner beside the Pagoda of 10,000 Buddhas.

Here is part of the evening crowd waiting for the lights to come on. You can see how these plants were magically transformed once the lights come on in the same picture above but with the lights on the plants.

You also get to see Penang from a bird’s eye view. We got to see fireworks too at various parts of Penang from the top. What a sight to behold.

We enjoyed our visit to the Kek Lok Si Temple. There are car parks at every level of the temple but the best way to see the temple is to park at the lowest level and walk. Mind you, you will have lots of walking to do.

There are 3 main levels to the temple if I am not mistaken. The first level, the ground level is the oldest part. If you walk up that way, you will pass by many souvenir shops, you will pass by a turtle sanctuary. Go higher up and you reach the pagodas. You might have to pay extra to enter the pagoda section but its worth while. Then you take an inclined lift to the highest part of the temple where the Guan Yin statue is. The temple grounds there are lovely with landscaped gardens and a koi fish pond, wishing trees etc. Or you can drive up to any of the levels you want and park your car but of course you’d have to brave the traffic.

Map to Kek Lok Si Temple

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The car park was sufficient despite the crowd and the jam. We only had to take a short hike to the train station (from the back of the station as you can see from the picture) amidst a nicely landscaped background and we could see a view of the train going up.

Long Queue for the train tickets, naturally being Chinese New Year and a public holiday. I remembered that our maid’s ticket cost twice more than the train ticket price for our whole family. I can’t remember what we paid now but here is the Penang Hill train ticket price and schedule from the Penang Hill official site.

After queuing for the train ticket, we queue for the train. I wish there were more places to sit and rest while queuing.

The train was stuffed to the max with people till the door could not close. They had to get several people to come out to wait for the next train. I think they should have a counter to count the number of people that a train can accommodate then allow only that amount of people in. We had to waste a lot of time waiting for the door to open and close unsuccessfully before they got a few people to come out.

The hill was steep, the train was fast and the view was beautiful. I guess it made up for the waiting etc.

We took a buggy ride because I was too lazy to walk. It was fun and we had a nice view of the hill and the bungalows and the jungle…..

…..and a view of the whole Penang Island from the hilltop with commentary from the driver but of course I had to pay a fare for my laziness.

Then Ms Lazy had some ice-cream and proceeded to have a drink at this quaint hotel with a nice view and a lovely breeze…..

…. before we made it back down the hill.

I haven’t been up Penang Hill for many years. The last time was on the old funicular train ride with the familiar old red train. So is the new Penang Hill railway and train better? I guess the old train has its charm but the new train ride is smoother. Its rather fast though. I wouldn’t mind if it was a little slower so I could enjoy the view longer. As with regards the price of the ticket, I think they should consider families with maids. Its quite ridiculous to pay a ticket for the maid that cost more than twice the amount for my entire family’s train fare. I like the buggy ride. I enjoyed the view and the cool atmosphere. I wish I was young again so I could go hiking and stay in one of the old bungalows as I did when I was a teen. That about sums up our trip up Penang Hill.

Map to Penang Hill

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Menu for Twenty People

1. One Rice Dish (any variety for example fried rice or flavoured rice)
2. One Noodle Dish (any variety for example fried mee or meehoon including spaghetti too)
3. Vegetable Dish (stir fried mixed vegetable or coleslaw or salad)
4. Finger Food for kids (nuggets, hot dog, fried drummets or chicken wings, prawn fritters etc)
5. Fresh cut fruits for dessert (or cool jellies)
6. A curry for some gravy to go with the rice and noodle (can be chicken curry or kurma etc)
7. Not forgetting drinks. Packet and canned ones make things easier

That’s it. It’s very simple. I don’t bake, so if I want cakes, I may buy some cupcakes from the bakery. Jellies would be nice too. They can be prepared overnight so you don’t sweat yourself out too much on the day as you still have to entertain your guests.

I sometimes have a vegetarian or two among the guests, in which case my vegetables will be kept meatless and I may fry my noodles plain.

My Menu for twenty people for this year 2012

This year we had fried meehoon, nasi lemak with curry chicken and sambal ikan bilis, mixed vegetables, nuggets, hot dog, watermelon, pineapple etc. My rice, curry and fruits are missing from the picture so it looks rather little for a group of twenty but it turned out just nice.

My curry chicken boiling in the pot.

Nasi Lemak is easy to prepare for a big group. Looks great too.

Chinese New Year Cookies and snacks for the guests while waiting for lunch to be ready. I like to serve fortune cookies. They make a great ice breaker and something to talk about as everyone peers into their “fortune”. Usually the sayings are good ones so everyone is happy…

A little appetizer or snack, bak kwa or dried barbequeued meat for before after or during the meal cut up into bite sized pieces

Less I forget and to make things easier for next year, here’s what I had to do in the morning…

1. Boil 6 eggs
2. Soak the mihun (1 packet)
3. Defrost the hot dog, chicken meat and prawns
4. Prepare shallots, ginger, garlic and big onions
5. Cut vegetables, brocolli, cauliflower, carrot, baby corn, cabbage, cucumber and potatoes
6. Cut the fruits watermelon and pineapple
7. Wash the curry leaves and pandan leaves, lemon grass and cinnamon sticks
8. Cut the chicken and devein prawns
9. Blend the garlic, shallots for the curry
10. Cook the curry with 1 packet santan, 4-5 whole thighs and 2-3 potatoes
11. Cook the rice with 1 packet santan and using 4-5 cups of rice
12. Boil the hot dog
13. Cook the sambal
14. Fry the nuggets
15. Fry the vegetables
16. Fry the meehoon with chicken, prawns and cabbage
17. Have a bath, change, smile and greet the guests

Good thing I have a helper to help me out but even without one, I think it’s not too hard. I will look more disheveled, that is all.

“Love may start quickly but love that is patient, slow and kind survives in the long run” quoted by MG

If saying I Love You is hard for you, then try some of these ways to say I Love You….

1. Smile at each other across the room
2. An unexpected hug
3. Do things together
4. Reminisce about good times
5. Greet each other. Say Hello, Goodbye, Good Morning and Good Night (without being distracted)
6. Say I’m sorry. Forgive and Forget. Never go to bed angry with each other
7. Be Polite, Gentle and Kind to one another. Say Thank You.
8. Do things for him or her. Cook or tidy up or remind etc without nagging
9. Put away your cell phone and talk to each other or text each other if you can’t put away that cell phone
10. Be silly together. Laugh.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY EVERYONE!

Anyway, I digress. We visited it twice this year because we wanted to see the Laser Light Show at the Thean Hou Gong temple. Well, actually we visited it three times because on the night that we went for the light show, we waited for an hour only to be told that the lights were not working and for safety reasons they will cancel the night show for that evening. Just our luck. The light show was supposed to be on every hour during Chinese New Year starting from 8pm and ending at 11pm. So we went back the next night. Here are some photos we took of our outing at the Thean Hou Gong Temple.

Here is a picture of the entrance of the Thean Hou Gong Temple in the day and night. You’ll have to click on the picture to get a better view. It’s so small here.

I do so love looking at the lanterns at the Thean Hou Gong Temple. It’s so pretty whether it is day or night but it is more enchanting and magical at night.

In the daytime at the Thean Hou Gong temple during Chinese New Year, it is very hot but the atmosphere is great with lion dances and people reaching out for the lions to either give angpows or grab mandarin oranges or “kum” (The orange word for oranges sounds like “gold”) for good luck.

On a clear day, you can have a good view of the Kuala Lumpur skyline from the Thean Hou Temple.

During the night at the Thean Hou Gong temple, it is cooler and more colorful with lights and Chinese New Year music to put everyone in the mood. There will be free entertainment and shows during the day and night too. Sometimes there are acrobatic shows, sometimes singing and dancing.

Finally, many do not know that at the back of the Thean Hou Gong temple, there is a lovely garden with plenty of tortoises.

Some facts of the Thean Hou Gong temple:

1. There is a wedding registrar or marriage registration office there. That is where we got married.
2. Here is the address of the Thean Hou Gong Temple - Thean Hou Temple, 65 Persiaran Endah, Taman Persiaran Desa, Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
3. More facts about the Thean Hou Temple can be found here
4. Here is a map to the Thean Hou Gong Temple

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So finally we did it and this was how we did it.

1. You will need a VCR Player and your old VHS tape (Borrow one from a friend if you don’t have one)

2. Next, you need a DVD player with a recordable function and a blank dvd disc

3. Then you will need a 3 RCA to 3 RCA Phono Cable for Audio and Video Connections color coded white, red and yellow. (Well at least, I think that’s what it’s called. It looks like a black cable wire with red, yellow and white ends on both sides. Here is a picture of the 3 RCA to 3 RCA Cable.

4. Make sure your DVD player is connected to your TV

5. Then you connect one end of the 3 RCA cable to your VCR Player’s Video and Audio Out Ports. If you are not sure, just follow the color coding and make sure you see the word “out”. Here is a view of the back of the VCR player, full view and close up view.

6. Connect the other end of the 3 RCA Cable to your DVD Audio and Video In ports. There are two audio in ports for left and right audio and one video in port. Again, you should follow the color coding and look for the words “In”

7. Make sure that both the VCR Player and DVD Player as well as the TV are all connected to power points.

8. Turn on the TV to the correct viewing channel for the DVD Player. Select the Video Source (You may have to read up your DVD manual to find out how to record from external device like the VCR  as the instructions for that may be different depending on the DVD player you are using).

9. Finally, insert the VHS tape into your VCR player and press play on the VCR player then hit record on the DVD player.

10. Last of all, my recorded DVD cannot be played on other players or the PC. I had to take some final steps to finalise. This I did by pressing Disc Menu, selecting “Finalise” and “OK”. Again the steps to this may differ if you are using different DVD players. I am using the PHILIPS DVDR 3600.

After that I have a brand new wedding DVD converted from analogue to digital format playable on any other DVD player as well as my computer.

We saved RM140 for each hour of tape and at last we have our wedding memories preservered again in a format that isn’t outdated and obsolete. Not only did we save the money, we had a lot of fun watching our wedding video over again and laughing at the memories from 10 years ago. How fast technology has evolved.

I’m really proud of her achievement. It just goes to show that sometimes dreams do come true if you follow your dreams.

I’ve known this friend for 20 years.  At the time, we were both 16 and we wore pigtails or sometimes pony tails to school. We used to talk about our dreams. She dreamed about counselling people and becoming a psychologist. Well she now has a Masters in Psychology, Specializing in Marriage, Family and Child Counseling and she has just written a book to help people to cope with the downturns in their life. I think it helps anyone going through a difficult time to know that they are not alone, that they are not the only one.

Congratulations kopi soh for following your dream of helping people and for achieving this through a book. My friend is now planning her second book. Its called “Secrets Behind Blog Doors”. How intriguing. I can’t wait to see the launching of that one.

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Happy Chinese New Year to all the readers of this blog. I am going off to spring clean my house now. If you are free during Chinese New Year, come drop by my 2012 is Year of the Dragon Squidoo lens for all things Dragon.

The kids are older now and our Chinese New Year routine has been established. Before, when they were younger, we did not have any routine but we thought that it would be very nice to have a family routine that they can look forward to each year. Now they know it well and look forward to …

1. Shopping for Chinese New Year Clothes. We limit our shopping to once a year only (unless necessary), then we go all out and have a shopping spree for Chinese New Year and everyone looks forward to having new clothes. We figured out that if you buy new clothes throughout the year, Chinese New Year would not feel any different.
2. Chinese New Year Cookies. Mummy does not bake so she will order the same cookies from the same place and when she brings them home the kids gape and go ooh and ahhh when they see the familiar cookies that they only get to eat once in a year. Then the kids will say “Please, please mummy can we eat them now?” and bad mommy will say “No, you will have to wait till Chinese New Year.”
3. Haircuts. The whole family goes to the salon and  have a haircut together. It kind of breaks the bank a little but its nice to go together. On normal days, sometimes mummy gives them home haircuts but for Chinese New Year, its off to the salon we go.
4. Chinese New Year Decorations. Now that the kids are older, they can help out. They love clipping, stringing and making homemade angpow decorations and I love listening to them work as a team in deciding where to hang each decoration. Usually, I will ask their opinion and let them decide so they can really get in the mood and contribute.
5. Spring Cleaning for Chinese New Year. Mummy gets to do most of it of course but on the eve of Chinese New Year, the kids will be roped in to wash the car and the porch. How they love the water and soap splashing fun.
6. Reunion Dinner. Usually its just the four of us because parents in law are no longer with us but we still cook up a storm anyway and everyone dons new pyjamas after dinner. Then we pack money into the red packets that will be given out as angpows and mummy and daughter will do their nails. Then mummy and daddy will give the kids their angpow and they will put it under their pillow to sleep on. Everyone stays up late and at midnight we will turn on every light in the house to welcome New Year.
7. First Day of Chinese New Year. Everyone gets up bright and early and have mee suah (vermicelli) soup then put on their brand new clothes and shoes. Then we go to the temple to watch the lion dances. At the temple, we’ll make it a point to buy the kids some inflatable helium balloons which we will let go and watch it fly in the sky later in the day. (This is not a Chinese New Year tradition, just our  very own special routine.) After that we may go visiting or just stay home to relax and pack for the next day’s journey.
8. Balik Kampung. We will usually go back to mummy’s home town from the 2nd to the 4th day of Chinese New Year. We visit mummy’s aunties and see more lion dances, we play by the beach, go to more temples, pay respects to mummy’s mummy, play fireworks by the sea and send lighted lanterns into the sky.
9. Middle of Chinese New Year. Sometimes daddy invites his friends over and mummy cooks for them and the kids get to play host and hostess to other kids.
10. Chap Goh Meh. On the 15th day of Chinese New Year or the last day of Chinese New Year, its time to meet mummy’s brothers and sisters to have a gathering or dinner and exchange angpows with all the nephews and nieces.

That’s it. We do this every year to create a routine and tradition for the kids so that they look forward to Chinese New Year and in doing so, we enjoy our Chinese New Year very much too.

Kids, when you are grown and have your own families, we hope that you will remember fondly and continue with this routine and tradition that you have grown up with.