A few years ago,if my father knew that i visited a temple, he would look at me in full of disapproval but now, i think he will just say,
"Apa kejadahnya pi masuk tokong cina tuh?" Still uncomfortable about it but not disproving anymore.
He's worried if i went into the temple, i will be inclined to be buddhist next.
Our household practice what we call free speech system. haha.
When my father said that playing chess with the king had that cross on his head will 'memesongkan akidah', i ask him.
"kenapa plak?"
"tu salib atas kepala raja tuh. lama-lama tengok nnt terpengaruh."
"apelah ayah ni..manade bende nih memesongkan akidah..kalo ye..abes la aku..hari2 nampak tanda salib tuh masa belajar kat sana..abes la aku..akidah aku dah terpesong..abes la..ahahahaha"
"sukati kau la. ayah memang malas nak ckp ngn anak2 ayah yg pandai2 nih..ayah sekolah sampai derjah 6 je"
"manade pesong akidah la ayah. ayah ingat salib tuh ade magik ke? boleh 'tarik2' orang?..ye la..ye la.. kalo tak puas ati gak..karang aku potong la yg atas tuh..puas ati?"
Eventhough i know he's just didnt like having that cross in his house, but yeah..we debate about everything.hehehe.
But his favourite debating topic was that..
"Kalo ayah kawen lagi, korang kasik tak?"
When i was a child i will passionately outline all those things that go againts it. But as i grew older, i didn't bother to answer. I will menguap and says..
"Oh, topik yg sungguh bosan..tade idea lain ke ayah?"
My mum on one hands reminds me of her whenever i'm using a chopstick or watching chineese drama because she will say this whenever i do those two of my favorites thing during my childhood.
"Suke sangat dgn Cina. Nnt dah besar ko kawen Cina tau tak?"
Hahahaha...
That story aside.
Last saturday, Kak hani and Linda bring me to one of popular tourist spot inPenang. The Kek Lok Si Temple aka Temple of Supreme Bliss.
We hike up the hill,
one two..one two..come on you can do it
Along the way, there were shops selling T-shirts and souveniers. Who in their right mind, shop while going up and bring all those stuff with them up on all of those steps? Shop keepers there, should revise their strategy i think.
On the narrow and steep stairs, there they are on the side..like a petugas sukan handing up drinks only that they don't handing up drinks, but only to promote..T-Shirt..yeah..T-Shirt..
kot la jual air tebu sejuk ke..minuman isotonik ke"T- Shirt kak? murah2 sajer.Mai la.Mai la" Very2 annoying.
On normal ocasssion, i will pass on getting up the hill on foot. But this is the biggest temple in south east Asia katanya..got this big buddha statute somemore..Pagoda lagi..
Bertahan...bertahan..just a little bit more..But the first site, where there's a pond and lots of turtle in it..very yucky...unkept,dirty and overpopulated with turtles..read somewhere about the cleansing ritual of releasing the trutle to freedom/nature, so as to purify soul..
i'm quite confuse..
should we take one of the tutles there and release it to the wild somewhere outside..
or
should we bring turtles and put it there so that it can enjoy living the fredom there..
But if its the second one..thats not nature/freedom..thats tourture..quite let down by the sight of this pond.
Finally arrive at the foot of more temple building on the hill.Panting. Sweating like mad.
"What? Ni ke..mcm tak berjaga jer?"
Moldy tiles. Peeling paint. Grimy glass. Crudely-made small buddhas.
At this, I felt that i wasn't worth the climb at all. huhu. Dissapointed.
Lost the desire to climb up more stairs for the Pagoda..
Kak Hani says that as long as she can remeber, the main prayer hall was there at the level we are and not at the higher level it is now. I'm not sure about that since i've never been there.
"Betul ke? silap kot? caner derang bawak naik pagoda nih kat atas tuh?"
One 'undi tak percaya' from me.
"Ye..kami ingat.."I saw her began doubting her memory.
haha..but then i went to
this site...i pun confuse..haha..look like on the same level..
At this she loss her mood to pose. But the i had my secret weapon lah kan..which make her smile like this..
sama tak mcm nih..hehehehe..gurau je..gurau je..jgn le mare...
The funny part of the whole thing is that there's parking lot up there at our level. If only we knew of it. Then on the site mention above, there's this Kwan Yin statute also up the hill..huhuhu..Oh My...I also learn that the best time to go up there is during the month up to Chineese New Year. There'll be lanterns,decoration and such. Sure sound exciting enough to warrant a second visit.
After I finished snapping here and there,resting up for a bit, we decide to go down. Kak Hani continues to muttered appologetically about her not knowing about the fact that we can go up by car.
"Kot la hampa nih Cina buddhist. xpe2..wlpun penat sket..kami dah rasa kurus sket dah..anyway, prekstis untuk amazing race asia.."
p/s: Secret weapon is me singing a few lines from Gadis Melayu..Siapa bilang gadis melayu tak menawan..tak menarik hati..tiada memikat..ahaiii
Now that i had scrutinies the pics from the site, I guess we went to a different bulding than the building in the pics near the pagoda, coz it has the swastika on the roof . We definitely had to climb further to get the view as those pics on the site. Those building look almost the same, so,easily confused.
Great pics here.Just found it.
