Fu Si Fotang (temple)

Another lotus blooms today (25 Nov 2012)
Another Dhamma Ferry set sail today in the sea of suffering.
It is at Sungai Petani, Kedah, Malaysia.

Ferrying those with affinity.

"If a man learns about the Dao in the morning, he may die without regret in the evening" Confucius - The Analects Chapter 4 verse 8

Fruits, foodstuffs and etc to be offered.

Forming the ember before inviting DCS to light the Holy Lamps.

Lighting the Holy Lamps

Ritual of offering of fruits etc.

At China House

Lunch at China House at Beach Street, before Jewel return back to India.

(March 2012)

'Gui Yang Tu'

'Gui Yang Tu' was performed for our Tian Guan Dao kin when they visited Tian Wei on Sat. 26 Nov 2011.

The lyrics to 'Gui yang tu' is conveying the message of filial piety, which is one of the eight virtues.

Multiply 16/Sep/2011 - One year ago

How time flies.  One year ago at about this time we were in Taiwan.  
























Walking the path of Dao, one needs REALISATION.







Sep 16, '11 12:19 PMfor everyone

THE MANGANIYAR SEDUCTION

The Manganiyar Seduction by Roysten Abel.
Georgetown Festival 2012
Dewan Sri Pinang


"The Manganiyars are a caste of Muslim musicians who are predominantly settled in the districts of Jaisalmer, Barmer and Jodhpur, in the heart of India's Thar Desert. They traditionally performed for kings, but over the years support for their music has shifted from kings to other wealthy patrons. Their repertoire ranges from ballads about the kings to Sufi poems written by various mystics.  They also have songs for various occasions such as births, marriages and feasts.  ....." from the souvenir programme.

Waiting for the show to begin.

Can be seen from the above photo there are in total 33 boxes (stacked up) with curtains drawn.  The musicians and vocalists are behind the curtains and they will open their individual curtain when it is their turn to perform and the lights around their box will be turned on (see photos below).  And if that part of the performance involve that particular musician or vocalist then the lights will be turn on.

The director Mr. Roysten Abel sharing with the audience about the Manganiyars.

Musical instruments used are - Kamaicha, dholak, murli, khartal, sarangi, morchang & bapang, algoza and dhol.  "The performance is structured as a cyclic spiral, where the main song, 'Alfat Un Bin In Bin', is rearranged to accommodate two other songs celebrating the ebb and flow of life.  The circles it creates are the dramatic narratives of the dance of delirium that Bulleshah performs to reach God" (from the souvenir programme).

The Music - 1. Sufi song by Bulleshah: Alfat Un Bin In Bin  2. Halariya: the birth of Lord Krishna  3. Neendarli.

From this video clip - (from 0:00 to 3:30) you can see the three percussion/drum groups performing, the beat fast & intense and then slowly slow down and the at 3:30 the whole group combined and performed *wooooh*

The finale part.

Singapore (May 4 - 7, 2012)

Went down to Singapore beginning of May for my cousin's wedding.  Together with my sister, we arrived at Singapore about 1040 and it was raining heavily.  After checking out took a cab to uncle's house at Pasir Ris which is quite near Changi Airport.



Clockwise from left: 1) Buddha Tooth Relic Temple; 2) Level 1, Main shrine hall; 3) level 1, behind the main shrine hall; and 4) beautiful clouds, view from inside of plane.

After some refreshments and getting some directions from my uncle and auntie, we took a bus down to Chinatown, sister went for her shopping whereas I went to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple but before that I had my late lunch at NutriHub the Organic Vegetarian Cafe situated at Temple Street (a pity the proprietor told me that she is closing down the f and b business, due to high cost, and will only concentrate on teaching nutritious cooking).  The Temple is 2 streets away and since it was the eve of Vesak, there were chanting going on and devotees making offerings.  The main buddha in the temple is Maitreya Buddha, situated at Level 1.  The relics chamber is situated at Level 4 and some relics is also at Level 3.  Wished had more time to slowly look around the temple.

Accomodation for the whole duration of our stay was at Aloha Loyang Resort, graciously arranged by uncle and auntie.

Clockwise from left - 1)   my late lunch;  2)  and  4) flowers and candles as  offerings;   and  3) bungalow at Aloha Loyang Resort

Next day (Sat.) met up with Kenny and Melinda, off we went to Bugis area for sightseeing and (window)shopping.  I left at about 4pm to meet up with Mr. See and family (a Dao kin from Penang) and had dinner with them at Yummy Green located at Downtown East, Pasir Ris.  After that back to Aloha Loyang Resort for the 'lau thia meh' (wedding eve dinner).

Clockwise from left: Buddha Relics chambers; Bugis Junction (in front of Inter Continental Hotel, the venue of the wedding dinner); roof top garden of Buddha Tooth Relic Temple; and menu - Yummy Garden @ Downtown East.

Sunday, the wedding day, morning all relatives met at uncle's place for the tea ceremony and in the evening all relatives took a chartered bus to the Inter-Continental Hotel for the solemnisation ceremony and wedding dinner.

Clockwise from left- 1. Baked cheese rise @ Yummy Green; 2. Solemnisation ceremony @ Inter Continental Hotel; 3. Candles; and 4. Floral decoration for the cocktail at the hotel.

The solemnisation ceremony conducted by the Justice Of Peace was the best of all ceremony that I have attended so far.

On Monday, visited Universal Studio at Sentosa Island.  The Transformer ride was fantastic.

Clockwise from left - 1. Transformer ride; 2. Lights camera action by Steven Spielberg; 3. Monster Rock show; and 4. Waterworld

Nepalese dao kin in Penang

Ishwori tz brought several Nepalese dao kin to visit Penang.  Lim tz with Michael tz picked  them up from the bus station and proceeded to show them around Penang Island.  I joined them for dinner at Tiffany Vegetarian Restaurant at Amoy Lane


After dinner one Nepalese dao kin ask where to find betel quid or "paan", he must have his fix *haha*.  First we went to the flower stalls at Pitt Street but were directed to Market Street (aka Little India).  Betel quid consist of betel leaf with areca nut ("pinang") and other ingredients like lime (calcium carbonate), tobacco and spices (like clove, cardamon, turmeric) (see: link ).
My mom use to eat it on certain special occasion.

Preparing betel quid or "paan"

Next day after breakfast, we took a group photo before visiting Kek Lok Si.

Message of Inspiration (Jan 2012)

Message given by 'Qian Ren' during the annual thanksgiving prayer at Tian Li, Melaka (31/Dec/2011).  It was immediately written when he went up to the rostrum.

 (zhong sheng wei zun, dao qin di yi)