18th May (Monday)
This is my second business trip to Penang. Likewise, I departed via the 8.05am flight from Singapore's Changi airport. The check-in staff allocated a seat for me which is towards the back of the plane. At this vantage position next to the window, I am able to catch the rising sun from the east. I am currently above 9000m and the view is splendid! We can see the clouds separating; revealing the land-sea mass below.
At certain parts of the journey, the clouds close in, giving it a heavenly feel to the entire area.
Large fluffy clouds resembling large ice sheets in the Arctic.
The aircraft made a turn westward to Penang and we left the Malaya mainland.In the photo below, there is a mystical feel to Malaya. Centuries ago when sailors first arrived at this part of the world, I believed they were equally amazed by the beauty of this land.
I rendezvous with my colleague at the airport and off we go; travelling past Penang bridge.
For this week, I will be staying in a condo apartment. This is how the foyer looks like.
There is a swimming pool in the condo.
From my apartment, I can see Penang island.
This is how the living room looks like.
And a peek into my room, which is the master bedroom.
Here I am sitting at the sofa and watching TV.
19th May (Tuesday)
Most of the morning, we will have our breakfast at this food centre just a minute drive from our workplace. The fried noodles are good.
I noticed a bun lying on the table. It smells and looks like a bun.
But in reality, this is the use for it.
Cars own by the rich tycoons of Penang. Notice all the car number plates are the same.
In the evening, we drop by a popular stall selling western food for dinner.
This is Chicken Chop.
20th May (Wednesday)
On Wednesday we went to Sunway Carnival shopping mall for a movie. It is one of the newest shopping mall in the area.
21st May (Thursday)
On this morning, we have Dim Sum breakfast. The waiters and waitresses carry large trays of dim sum around to each table. Whichever we like, we just take from them.
I just keep on taking and this is what I have gathered. It's RM18 in all, around $7 plus for a 2 person breakfast.
In the evening, I went for a mega-meal. It has a combination of meats and seafood in this platter, costing RM9.
After dinner, we got some buns from a stall. The buns come in all sizes.
22nd May (Friday)
On Friday evening, I have to catch the 9.15pm flight out of Penang. We took the ferry from our side to Georgetown. The sunset scene is truly remarkable.
To my left is Penang bridge.
To my right is another panoramic view of the sky.
I arrived at the airport at 8.20pm. Penang airport is small, but it is new and clean.
There are many shops in the airport.
1st May (Friday)
Today, we decided to check out the new shopping mall down the street at Bugis. Like any typical modern shopping mall that can be found in any part of the world, there is nothing special about it. We walked down to the esplanade, heard there is some performance ongoing down there.
When we arrived at 6pm to the Esplanade indoor concourse, a Japanese flute performance (Shakuhachi) was just about to begin. We hang around for 15mins watching the performance.
Thereafter we did a bit of shopping at Marina Square before coming back in time to the outdoor performance at the Esplanade by the Singapore Buddhist College with the monks from Guang Ming Shan.
At night, there is a Kagura performance.
10th May (Sunday)
On this day, the BDS buddies visited a few places around Singapore. Basically it is from Bedok to Expo, to Bugis and finally to Clarke Quay. There is this Japanese-Italian restaurant that was opened in Singapore since last year November - Saizeriya. During my stay in Japan, we used to visit Saizeriya almost on a weekly basis; just chilling out with the rest and enjoying the drink bar. When I returned to Singapore, I tried to arrange for a visit to this restaurant 2 months back but was unsuccessfully due to the large number of customers. This time round, we arrived slightly earlier and managed to secure a seat easily.
Here is how the interior of Saizeriya Singapore looks like. The interior design and colours looks similar to that of Japan. The Italian style painting which decorate the walls are also somewhat similar. Even the waitress and waiters are dressed in the same garb. Notice the Drink Station at the foreground below.
First thing first, look through the menu. 70% of the dishes look similar to the ones back in Japan. Some of those that is available in Singapore is not found back in Japan. Even the prices of the items are also direct translation from the Japanese Yen.
We ordered a large number of dishes. I went for the Seafood Spaghetti which has a greater selection of seafood selection as compared to Japan's. The dishes arrived fast as can be seen in the photo below. The spicy chicken wings are so-so, and not as great as the ones I can order in Japan. When the hot plates arrive, they are not sizzling hot. Even though I have an aversion for garlics, and I never ordered dishes with garlics on it; when my friends' garlic hot plates arrive, there are basically no pungent smell to it. The sausages are also average. The unique drink in the drink bar is ice milo. Something similar to Japan is the Calpis drink. In terms of food rating as compared to Japan's Saizeriya, I give it a 3 out of 5.
After our dinner at Saizeriya, we went shopping around the area. We stumble upon a $59 water-melon. This water-melon must be extra juicy.
There is more to come. Notice the $89 melon. I believe it should be extra-sweet.
That's not all, let's try the $169 grapes. Assuming each grape cost $3, popping a grape in your mouth is equivalent to having a standard meal at a hawker fare in Singapore. These grapes should be rare and precious and maybe bloom once every few years and takes a great adventurer to harvest them and deliver them from an oriental mythical island to the equatorial island of Singapore.
15th May (Friday)
When we arrived at the centre in the evening, we saw this beautiful setup for Vesak. It is one of the most beautiful bathing of the baby Siddhartha setup I have seen.
16th May (Saturday)
The second highlight of the fortnight duration when I am back in Singapore is attending DK's birthday chalet. I arrived at 12noon and rendezvous with the rest for lunch. While walking around Vivo City, I took a view of Sentosa island from opposite.
DK's chalet is at Costa Sands Resort. He has booked a hut which can accommodates 4 people. The dinner was also splendid; buffet catering.
7th - 8th May (Thursday/Friday)
Vesak, a day where Buddhist all over the world celebrate and commemorate the birth, enlightenment and nirvana of Buddha. This is also the day where I look forward to catching up with old friends each year. Leading to Vesak, there are a series of talks conducted by Buddhist centres and societies all over Singapore. I visited the one at Sagaramudra Buddhist Society on both Thursday and Friday evenings. As the main hall is filled with people when we got there 20mins before the starting time, we adjourned to the meditation hall which has a video projection of the main hall. Though we sat on the chairs, the rows of meditation cushions in front has a unique zen feel to it, so I took a snapshot of it.
9th May (Saturday)
It is Vesak day. In the morning, it is time to catch up with my old JC friends who visit the Mangala Vihara Buddhist Temple at Eunos every Vesak. We arrived at 10.30am and entered the main hall of the temple. They are having the Vesak morning puja there. When we got there, the hall is packed. Mangala Vihara Buddhist Temple is a Theravada temple whose tradition is similar to those of the southern asian countries (Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thai, Cambodia, Laos).
The ceilings and walls of the temple are beautifully decorated. This temple has a long history of a few decades and is one of the busiest Theravada temple in this area.
We walked out to the side of the main hall and cirumambulate around the Bodhi Tree. The Bodhi Tree has a special significance to Buddhist as it is beneath this tree where the Buddha sat and attain enlightenment. Devotees walk in a clockwise manner around the tree.
Once we arrived to the front, the devotees can make offerings of light (which symbolises wisdom and dispelling of ignorance) and the offerings of flowers (which symbolises virtue that man should have and the impermanence of things).
The Inter-Religious Organization also have a booth in the temple which introduces on the main religions in Singapore. Buddhism is not an exclusive religion and it is able to blend in well with society and with other religions. So it is actually the best religion to start out with for people.
Here I am with Ren Qiu and Hou Shun. A few years back I discovered they visit this temple during Vesak, so we arranged to meet up every Vesak morning.
And the great vegetarian lunch we have there. It is teeming with people.
I bid farewell to the rest at 12.10pm and quickly hop on a cab to Bishan. On this day, I organised a temple tour for a few of my foreign friends. They have been living in Singapore for a few years now and I feel I should play my part to introduce the rich culture of Buddhism we have in Singapore on Vesak Day. From Bishan, we got on service 410 to Guang Ming Shan (光明山 - Bright Hill Temple). This is the largest temple in Singapore. Visitors to Guang Ming Shan should take service 410W (white plate service) as it is faster. The green plate also goes there but it takes longer since it goes in the opposite direction. Nevertheless, the price are the same since it is a feeder service. From Sin Ming Ave, the first hall that come into sight is the Hall of Great Compassion where Guan Yin Bodhisattva of Great Compassion is represented. The rest of the guys setup their professional camera gears. I also met up with Catherine, who is doing volunteer work at Bright Hill Temple here.
This temple also have a few decades of history. The temple pillars, roofs and walkways are elaborately decorated.
Past the main hall, we arrived at the dining hall. It is around 1.30pm and the hall is still packed with people.
We went up to the top and have a good paronomic view of the temple monastery.
This is the Hall of No Form. It is very new and is only less than 10 years old. Devotees circumambulate around the great representation of Amitabha Buddha, the Buddha of infinite light.
Colourful Buddhist flags line up the walkways.
Bazaar has been setup at a part of the temple monastery. It is so vibrant and bustling with activities. A booth from Mercy Relief has been setup in the bazaar too. It is very encouraging to see people from different race and faith groups working together for the love and betterment of mankind.
Here is the library where Buddhist sutras, commentaries and books are kept. Just next to it is a large image of the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion.
We took a group photo here.
There are also special boards where people put up their dedication message on it. The words written on the leaf is quite special. I think most of those who wrote on the walls are students. Click on the photo for a larger view to read what they have written.
Below are Buddhist flags which stretches from the Pagoda of Ten Thousand Buddhas to the entrance.
We left Bright Hill Temple at 2.45pm and proceeded to the Aljunied area. We arrived around 3.45pm. There is always a large tent setup in front of Aljunied MRT station. This is organised by the Amitabha Buddhist Centre (ABC) annually. The ABC follows the Tibetan tradition. When we arrived around 4pm, a great master - Khen Rinpoche is having a blessing ceremony and the central area is crowded with devotees.
There are prayer wheels where devotees likewise circumambulate clockwise and turn the wheels while reciting prayers.
After showing my foreign friends around and introducing to them aspects of Tibetan Buddhism, I bid them farewell and conclude the Temple Tour. I caught up with my old friends from nusbs. They were sitting around the Buddhist Library. We took a group photo here. To the left is two JB friends which we met in Quan Ying (Malaysia Inter-Varsity Camp), there after we have Fenny (with the Go Away shirt who just came back from Myanmar after a 3 years adventure there) and the rest of the guys.
We visited Foo Hai Chan Temple (福海禅寺) which is a short 10mins walk away. It is a large peaceful temple and I found the design are similar to Japanese Zen temples.
Just next to the Foo Hai buddhist temple is a Hindu temple. It shows a peaceful and harmonious mix of religion in Singapore.
We have dinner at Guan Yin Zai. Thereafter we went back to the ABC tent area for their evening talk and light offerings. Khen Rinpoche conducted his talk in Tibetan and it is concurrently translated to English and Mandarin. He also does speak simple English and his talk is dotted with anecdotes and humorous accounts. He concludes it by telling us to work for the benefit of others, do not be selfish and always remember 'b o d h i c i t t a'. There is also a refuge and precepts taking ceremony and we have people from all over who wish to take refuge and precepts under Khen Rinpoche. Tibetan Buddhism is really popular in the west as there are westerners who stood up and went to the front for the refuge taking ceremony.
Here starts the light offerings ceremony. This candle is sponsored by Mr Tan.
We circumambulate around the tent 3 times before coming before the image of Maitreya Buddha. The full moon glows in the foreground, giving this view a perfect Vesak feel.
Khen Rinpoche recites prayers and the lights are offered.
We place the lotus candles on the main offering tables and it is really a touching and majestic sight. The Buddha Dharma is like the light that dispels darkness.
It is almost 10pm and is time to conclude Vesak. It has been a long and tiring day indeed, but is a day well-spent. Singapore is a blessed country where Buddhism from all the 3 major traditions are easily accessible to the people. There are compassionate and learned masters visiting and residing in Singapore, who share with us the methods of living a happy and fulfilling life in a modern urbanised and busy city like Singapore. Sadhu~
