All Our Bags Are Packed!

                                                 Blog # 19 - Penang, Malaysia

            Penang is an island close to the Malay mainland

Many fictional Penang stories as well as the older black and white movies depicted sinister Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet characters. There are plenty of buildings that could be a perfect backdrop for these stories.

Most of the Malaysian tourist buses are decorated in the most bizarre way.

                Many buildings reflect the British colony era

The Chinese banded together to ensure fair treatment

         Parts of Penang made us feel like we were back in China

Although hot and humid, it was still fun wandering down side streets and back alleyways

This Chinese temple was constructed using blocks of

 granite. It appears that there was no mortar or cement used to ensure structural support--much like the Egyptian pyramids as well as other historical structures

The ornate designs are amazing

             Rubbing the head and hiding a coin brings good luck

Confucianism is the foundation for the Chinese and their way of life

The carvings reflect certain aspects of Confucianism: Taking care of the elderly, respect elders, live a good and clean life, etc.

This temple was build in the mid 1800's

         We could spend "hours" looking at every nook and cranny

                       Visiting  a "Thai" Buddhist temple

If time permitted, we could have spent "hours" wandering around

  

              Plenty of unique figures representing different Gods

                        Huge reclining Buddha inside the temple

The people in the bottom right corner of the picture indicates the comparative size of the Buddha to the people

                                            Lots of "glitz"

                    Shoes had to be removed in order to enter

                        This is a "Burmese" Buddhist temple

Statues and "gods" appear to differ from the Thai Buddhist temple