Another day in KL

There is quite a lot to visit in Kuala Lumpur.  You can blow through things pretty quickly, or you can take some time to check things out (Like the National Museum in my A Day in KL post).  So when I say “Another day in KL” ….  well, the things we did, we did over 3 days…..some on the same day, some on a different.

Here are some more ideas!

• Thean Hou Buddhist Temple   – There are quite a few temples in Singapore, so in one sense this was just another.  But if you’re into architecture, and culture, I would recommend Thean Hou.  It is quite lovely, with amazing colours and carvings,  and it had some unique features that were new to me:  offering stands, and what I would call a ‘lottery’ fortune teller (which in reality is Kau Cim).  Check out the Malaysia Attractions and Wikipedia Article on Thean Hou Temple for more info.

Approaching the temple – it’s quite large.

The building is used for registering marriages, and civic and religious activities. The ‘temple’ part is upstairs.

Beautiful carvings on the building.

Inside the temple – I believe this is an altar to the goddess Tian Hou.

Guan Yin, the goddess of mercy.

Offerings to Guan Yin.

Each of these ‘windows’ encase a small figure – this is a lot like Catholic prayer offerings. A donation is made to the temple, and you are given a slot. Over the next 6-12 months, monks say prayers for your offerings. There are thousands of these.

I didn’t get a good picture – too blurry. But this gives you an idea.

Kau Cim – you take all the sticks together…..

….drop them back into the holder….

….and you read the number on the one that pops out above the rest. Look for the #’s drawer, and you get a bit of a fortune.

• King’s Palace   Old King’s Palace  / New King’s Palace     These were just photo stops, but I do believe you can take a tour of the old King’s palace.  The new one was moved into in 2011, and we were just able to view it from afar (very afar).  You can also watch the changing of the guard, if you can’t make it to London.

Old King’s palace.

The traditional guard.

New palace….not sure if it’s that much bigger, or just more open of an area.

But the gate is bigger!

Yep…you can see the changing of the guard here as well.

And the new one has a horse!

More to come!  Royal Selangor Pewter, Sakthi Temple, Batu Caves…stay tuned!

A day in KL

I recently headed to Kuala Lumpur for a couple of days (see Asian Monkeys), and really enjoyed myself.  If you’re driving yourself, it’s probably about 4 – 4 1/2 hours; that’s it.  For someone who’s lived in Texas, a 4 hour drive is a hop, skip, and jump (that’s a Houston-Dallas run…..did it a lot on weekends).  We don’t have a car, but the bus ride was enjoyable, and not much longer.

If you ask around about what to do in KL, most people will say you can do it in a day – ‘there’s just not that much to do.’  It is very similar to Singapore in terms of food & culture – remember, Singapore was part of Malaya and Malaysia until the 60’s.  So they have Chinatown and Little India areas, and Peranakan / Nonya food.  I’m glad we ignored the naysayers, because we managed to find quite a bit to see, and truly enjoyed ourselves.

Here’s a taste (with links for more info):

• Din Tai Fung – ok, this is a chain, and is available in Singapore (and my mom found it in LA when she returned to the States!).  But my mom will say she had the most amazing Braised-beef noodle soup (w/out beef) she’s had since her grandmother made it for her in Puerto Rico.  I don’t know what the Malaysians put in it, but it wasn’t the same in LA, and it’s not listed in the one we saw in Marina Bay.

• 

  Beef soup – without beef! Yes, it was on the menu as an item. And really, you didn’t need the actual beef.

  

  I really liked my spicy shrimp and pork dumplings.

  

  All done! And the lime juice was fantastic.

  
  
• Kuala Lumpur Muzium Negara (National Museum of Kuala Lumpur) – This is in the heart of KL, and has some wonderful exhibitions, tracing the history of Malaysia from Prehistory to Malay Kingdoms (15th century trade) to the Colonial Era, all the way to Malaysia Today.  I really enjoyed seeing the swords, jade, and more crafts, as well as reading about the development of the area.  The fee is a whopping 5RM (not even $1.50 US)…..definitely worth the stop in my mind!

Entrance to the National Museum

Trading boat from preHistory area.

old….very old…coin.

I really enjoyed seeing the ‘swords’ – Kris. Here’s the history of them.

The scabbards are lovely as well.

Amazing details on the swords. As my mom noted, perhaps if wars went back to being more personal (you actually looked in the person’s eyes of whom you were killing) we would be able to have fewer.

An extra treat was the Malay World Ethnological Museum on the grounds.  Some wonderful masks, textiles….and even an exhibit on death / burial rites.

This is an amazing kite – handmade and of paper.

A very old cultural part of the Malay islands, and Indonesia as well – shadow puppets. They are used to tell elaborate stories.

A Peranakan cultural display – bridal costumes. Quite elaborate as well!

We toured quite a bit more of KL, and in fact I’ve now broken down this post into two.  Check out this one, and in a day or so I’ll add another – Another day in KL.

Asian Monkeys

One of the things my mom wanted to experience was seeing monkeys.  She grew up in Puerto Rico, and many times during her visit she commented on the similarities in plants, weather, and food between Singapore and PR.  She also remembers growing up seeing monkeys, and really wanted to experience that here.   And we do have monkeys….quite close to our condo, at MacRitchie Reservoir.    And I see them many times, while walking around the trails.  Unfortunately, they’re not right at the entrance, and my mom really wasn’t into a 13K hike just to see them!

My mom also wanted to visit Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – she figured this was a once in a lifetime trip (we’re trying to convince her to come back!), she’d never had an opportunity to see any Asian country, and she wanted to take advantage of being in the area.  What’s closest?  Indonesia is just an hour ferry away, but heading over for spas and beach wasn’t giving her the Asian experience she wanted.  And actually, Malaysia is just across the causeway….drive 20 minutes to the border, cross the bridge and you’re in Johor Bahru!  That’s Asian!  But not much to do there.  She’d heard about KL from the Today show years ago, so that was our destination!

Finding out that air tickets (an hour’s flight) would run us $350 around New Years (normal price around $130), we decided the $50 roundtrip bus ticket was the way to go!  Mike, travel agent extraordinaire, found us a great company (Aeroline) and we were on the way!  6 hours on a bus is nothing (it was the 2 hours to get out of Singapore that was a pain – immigration and customs on both sides of the causeway).  BTW, highly recommend Aeroline.  Seats were comfortable, it’s a double decker w/all seats up top, and they even feed you!

NOT our bus! We thought it was…seconds after taking this pic, it backed up and drove away! Oops! Ours looked just like it though.

Comfy seats, and in-flight entertainment.

Actually these were great. The return trip food was ok.

Knowing we might not be able to see monkeys here in Singapore, our tour guide (Zul (Zach) Hatta with Trans Travelution – HIGHLY recommend him) arranged for us to head to Melawati Hill to see the silvered leaf monkeys.  Melawati Hill is a bit of a drive from KL, near the coastline, but quite lovely with a bit of history to boot.

There’s more to Bukit Melawati than just monkeys.  A fort from the 17 & 1800’s was there, the lighthouse remains, and some old cannons.  Bukit Melawati is designated in Malaysia as an Historical Monument and Site.  Pretty cool to walk around.

We did hop onto a multi-car tram which took us to the top of the hill.  I think you can walk up the hill if you want, and there is (very) limited parking at the top as well.

The drive up

The view along the way

One of the cannons.

Hopping off, we were met with monkeys.  Lots of monkeys.  Monkeys that were all over the place.  The monkeys do make their home up here.  A few minutes to get oriented, realize that the monkeys are pretty nice and won’t attack, accept the bag of food from Zach to feed the monkeys, and we proceeded to attract our own collection.  The funny part?  These monkeys are picky with what they actually will eat.  They won’t even bother with the sweet potatoes….but will absolutely grab that handful of spinach – from you and from the other monkeys!  We soon realized that these trams come up regularly, and these monkeys get so much food that they can afford to be picky.

Right there.

We’re barely off the tram.

Ok….also took our attention. Adorable baby. BTW, the babies will be this orange colour for about 3 months, then their coat will change to the silver gray.

Our illustrious guide, Zach!

Ok….so he had to bend down a little. I tell you, these monkeys are spoiled!

Yep….they’ll reach right in.

See that hand in the pic? It’s mine. Holding a sweet potato slice. He wanted nothing to do with it.

Just a cute one. My mom really enjoyed them!

All up and down the area.

After a few minutes of trying to attract monkeys to feed, we looked up and out – and there was an absolutely stunning view of the Straits of Malacca.

Our view off the hill.

A great picnic spot.

Overlooking the valley.

Just hanging out and enjoying the view.

Picture of the valley.

We really enjoyed our time at the top, and my mom definitely got her ‘monkey’ fix!

Enjoying the seat.

You realize these monkeys get a lot of food. Many are just hanging out.

Where you can purchase food for the monkeys.

Btw, we actually did get to see monkeys in Singapore.  My walking friend, Katie, took us on a hike so my mom could see the Henderson Waves walking bridge, and the Alexandra Arch.  On the way to our favourite coffee shop, Katie took us down Old Thomson Road where we found a group of monkeys!  So, technically, we didn’t have to go to Malaysia, but I’m glad we did!

You know it’s a Beautiful Day….

….when you’re willing to bypass ‘green’ taxis and wait on the bus!

We just finished with ‘wet monsoon’ season (I think).  We’ve had a lot of rain the last few weeks, requiring my mom to always be prepared with her umbrella.  She left on Monday, and it seems that so did the rains!  The last few days have given us gorgeous blue skies and high winds.  I’ve had the balcony doors open and have not needed the aircon (much).

Singapore was put on the map by the monsoon winds – 6 months of winds in one direction, 6 months of winds in the other.  The traders came along with one set, stayed for 6 months, and returned home with the next.  In general, the last few months have been the ‘wet’ time.  It rains a lot in Singapore, and you can’t always say we have a dry season.  But, in general, January and February tend to get drier.   Here’s an old blog where I’ve talked about the Peranakan culture (a mixing of the Chinese traders and the Malays on the island) for some more background:  A Beader’s Dream.

I am hoping our dry spell doesn’t last quite as long (or as hard) as last year’s.  It was very bad!   It’s Raining! is when I was so excited to have rain again!

But for now, I’ll enjoy the lovely blue skies.  As noted, I was heading home this afternoon, and truly enjoyed the skies, and (slightly) drier air.  You know you do when you’re willing to walk down to the bus stop, ignore all those empty / available taxis, and wait on the bus to arrive (when you only have one bus to choose from!).  Granted, this time the wait wasn’t going to be that long, but even so, it’s hard to pass up a free cab!

4 minutes to wait – actually, not long…

I’m sorry, Mom, that you missed out on the gorgeous blue skies, but it was cooler with the rain!  Come back and check out the weather again!

Chili Crab!

Singapore is known for it’s variety of food – and all fantastic!  The island is home to a multitude of various cultures and backgrounds, and the food available covers all of them – Indian, Malay, Chinese, Thai, Moroccan, Japanese, Indonesian, Western – burgers, pasta, bakeries, and more.  There is even Nonya food – the food specific to the Peranakan culture that sprung up in the 1800’s by the merging of the Chinese and Malay cultures, due to the tradewinds.

In general, you really have to wonder if there is any food that is JUST Singaporean – not a blending from some other country.

There is – Chili Crab!

When we first arrived a couple of years ago, we wound up at a restaurant that ‘specialized’ in Chili crab, and we were told we had to have it.  “It’s amazing”  “It’s fantastic”  “It’s a not-to-miss”  Ok…..it’s messy (in a country that doesn’t supply napkins at meals), and I just didn’t see the greatness in it.  I’ve been told that the sauce is made from ketchup.  Hmmm…..a bit of crab, swimming in a lot of ketchup, having to use your fingers and not getting a roll of paper towels.  It wasn’t my cup of tea at all.

Last year, when my sister & her family came, we dutifully took them to East Coast Food Centre (the go-to place for chili crab) for them to experience Singapore chili crab (remember, a ‘must not miss’ experience).  Even though I’m not into it, it’s still something to experience.  Sitting at the open-air restaurant, sharing a variety of dishes, and watching the container ships sail by (yep, very Singaporean), my brother-in-law LOVED the chili crab.  I kept looking at Del, wondering if he was just being polite.

But, no….he told my mom she had to have chili crab when she came.  So, another ‘must-not-miss’ trip for chili crab.

We headed to Newton Circus, one of the oldest hawker’s centers on the island.  This is probably as close as you get to experience how hawkers used to be in Singapore.  Years ago, before food courts, there would be food carts throughout the island, cooking up a variety of street dishes for all.  Each cook would ‘hawk’ their wares, trying to get customers.  This is where the idea of getting into the longest queue came in to being:  the best and freshest food would have the longest queues.  Over time the government moved the hawkers to central areas for health reasons, giving stands ratings for their cleanliness and freshness (you want to go to an A or B stall….avoid the ‘C’s).

Most hawkers markets are just like food courts now.  When you arrive at Newton Circus, though, you are met by those hawking their stalls again.   Once you sit, you’ll actually have one of them hand you a menu from which you pick and choose your food – kind of like a restaurant in that they’ll then bring it to you, but you’re still ordering from the stalls behind.

What does this all have to do with Chili Crab?  This is where we took my mom.  We ordered chili crab, and more – since I knew I wanted something else.  But, man oh man…..this chili crab was FANTASTIC!  And I’m not a crab fan to begin with!  My mom and I basically finished it all off, enjoying each bite.  Now I understand what people are talking about!

If you want good Chili Crab, head to Newton’s Circus – I think we ordered from the Pirates Sea stall, or something like that.  I must warn you – the bill was crazy high, and they only take cash.  Come prepared with cash & a big appetite!

These will run you about $10 each, loaded with garlic, and very good.

Chili crab, prawns, black pepper beef….and veggies I didn’t get a picture of.

Ok…..it doesn’t look that appetizing, but it really is good (and you can see the veggies in the background!)

It was a really nice, cool evening. No rain, but enough clouds to keep the temp down.

Lime and mango juice!

Trying to eat it neatly!

Trick Eye Museum

A week or so back, we headed to Sentosa.  I had purchased some Groupon tickets to the Trick Eye Museum.  A friend had visited it, noting it was really cool – you set yourself in pictures, and the completed photos look 3D.

We had a crazy time trying to get on the island.  You can easily walk from Harbourfront, across the bridge connecting to Sentosa.  It’s only $1 to walk on (vs. $4 for the connecting tram) – a deal!  And most of the time, it’s pretty quick to walk in, even if there are a lot of tourists.  This day, though, the gods of entry were against us.  The machine where you could get a token w/S$1 coin was down.  The entries would accept MRT cards, but NOT EZLink cards (seems these are the ‘newer’ cards).  Maria’s, Timothy’s and my bus passes are actually linked to our SAS school id cards – which are EZLink, not the older version.  They wouldn’t work!  I had one spare older bus pass version, letting me in, but Maria and Timothy had to get in the queue to buy tickets.   Why didn’t we do this in the first place?  Because the queue was LONG!!!!  There was only one, and when you got to the front, the money takers would try and convince everyone that showed up to buy multi-event packages!  ARGGGHHHH!!!  We just wanted to pay $1 to get in!  (And info for future tourists:  you can get those packages and tickets INSIDE Sentosa!!)

After Timothy bailing, Maria staying in line for 45 minutes, we FINALLY all made it to the Museum.

Maybe it was the long wait and the effort made to actually get there, but it was a bit of a let-down.  It wasn’t exactly what we expected, and with the large crowds, it was just a jostle to and fro.

The Trick Eye Museum is a South Korean design (originally started in South Korea), and it displays artwork that depicts optical illusions – the idea is to ‘get into the picture’, creating the illusion that you’re part of the show.

We did get a few neat shots, though….and, if you go on an off-day (we went on New Year’s Eve), perhaps the crowds will be much less and you can spend more time setting up shots.  Overall, it was fun, and I am glad we did it.

A cool view when you walk in…..mirror lights below.

Most of our pictures didn’t work too well – but I did get a few. This one – Helen being a mermaid!

Maria ‘flying’ on the bike.

My mom on the Singapore Merlion (the Singapore Mascot)

The best part? Our Steamboat lunch afterward! Fantastic!

Steamboat is (to me) Chinese fondue – you have a pot of heated broth, and you pick and choose veggies, fish, and meat, to cook and eat. Yummy!

Pottery Jungle / Dragon Kiln

Well, I have been busy the last couple of weeks, with my mom visiting.  We’ve been going all over, and (for me) revisiting sites all around Singapore.  One of the first places we went to was the Thow Kwang Pottery Jungle Facebook Page (aka “The Pottery Jungle”) – one of the last surviving dragon kilns on the island.  I really like this place – and when I realized I hadn’t blogged about it, I was shocked!  It’s my go-to place for Peranakan pottery pieces (as going-away gifts), and just a really neat place to visit.

Thow Kwang Pottery has been on the island for over 60 years, most of that time run by the same family.  In the mid 1900’s there were actually quite a few dragon kilns across Singapore.  But, while Singapore’s economy and population grew, development of HDBs, roads and more pretty much destroyed these kilns.  Why?  Well, a dragon kiln is very long – Thow Kwang’s is 130 feet long, and 16 feet wide – so if you want to build a highway to move more people, there wasn’t a lot of argument to plowing through a bunch of bricks!  When Singapore gained their independence, all land was taken over by the government.  So, businesses basically ‘rent’ their locations – including places that have been on the island for decades.  Over the decades, once by one, the dragon kilns were being destroyed.  About 2 years ago, Thow Kwang’s lease was also coming to an end….which could have meant the end of dragon kilns on the island.  With a lot of work, Singaporeans convinced the  National Heritage Board this is a big part of Singapore’s history, and their lease has been extended.  I believe ‘leases’ are for 3 years, and the agreement was for a ‘guaranteed’ 3 leases; so they should be good for 9 years more!  Here’s a little background for the extended Lease for the Pottery Jungle: PotteryJungle WordPress Blog on Extended Lease

One of the interesting facts about the Pottery Jungle is that, like all the other kilns, it was just a dragon kiln for a number of years.  Remember, this kiln is over 100 feet long – to fill it up takes thousands of pieces.  Dragon kilns were used to create the basic pottery used by all families – cooking, storing, etc.  As we moved away from villages, and into Walmarts (ok, there is NOT a Walmart on the island, but you get the drift), there wasn’t that much need for a huge volume of basic pots created in one area.  As interest declined, as well as sales, the Tan family looked for ways to continue to be viable, without taking down the kiln.   With their contacts, they created the ‘retail’ side of the Pottery Jungle – thousands of pots from around the world, from S$2 mass-produced pieces, to huge vases from China, to sculptures and statues, and more.  This retail side allowed the dragon kiln to stay open as well.

There are some blogs that have done great jobs in describing the Pottery Jungle, firing, etc.  Definitely click on these links to get more information:

• What is a dragon kiln?  From Jalan Bahar Clay Studios:  Dragon Kiln Description
• ThowKwangClayArtists WordPress blog on Martha Stewart’s 2010 visit:  Martha Stewart Meets the Dragon
• TheLongnWindingRoad WordPress blog on the September 2014 firing, coinciding with the Mid-Autumn Festival:  Mid-Autumn Firing 2014

Here are a few pictures from our visits.

This was our recent visit – the kiln was open (just emptied) and you could walk in!

Lots of visitors come.

If you can read the fine print, you can see how it works!

Rows, and rows, in the retail section.

Beautiful vases.

The length of the dragon – this was an earlier visit, when it was closed up for firing.

Just a couple of small holes in the front, to set the fire.

It takes a LOT of wood to keep this kiln going.

It’s an active pottery site as well.

The pot on the right is the typical glaze that comes out of the kiln.

And even more retail items.