Blog Flashbacks

During the first 8 days of October 2010, we gave the Herbalife 8-day trial a go. It lasted five days, but at least we tried! Here are the links to those five days of shakes, teas and aloe vera drinks:

Herbalife days 4 and 5

Herbalife day 3

Herbalife day 2

Herbalife day 1

Two years ago in October 2009, we went out to the new-look Kuantan post office to pay an amazingly low RM3 water bill for the month, pick up a package, and do a little shopping around East Coast Mall. Here it is recorded in words and pictures:

Out and about in Kuantan, October 2009

This past week's most viewed post was the collection of pictures I took at The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall. Click the link to view them if you missed it earlier:

Wan Fo Tien Temple, Kuantan

I've entered one of the photos of this temple into a monthly photo competition where the winner receives $100, with a $50 runner-up prize. So if you like the photo, please vote for it entitled 'Duncan Horne' at the following link:

Duncan's photo

CPB members, vote for my photos here

Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall (Wan Fo Tien Temple) @ Pahang Buddhist Association

The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall (Wan Fo Tien Temple) is part of the Pahang Buddhist Association in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia.

This temple is a beautiful place with cool breezes wafting through the hall, and peaceful serenity within the compound. Visitors are welcome to enjoy the quietness of the place, as long as they are respectful and mindful that this is a holy place and should be treated as such.

Removing one's shoes and refraining from loud speech are a couple of the regulations.

The reason this temple is named "The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall" is because the inner walls of the temple are covered with 15,743 little tiles with the image of Buddha intricately carved into each piece, from top to bottom.

A fat Buddha awaits at the front entrance of The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall, almost as if he is guarding the temple. Beyond him, inside the hall itself, sits a giant white jade Buddha statue.

Time spent inside The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall is peaceful because of it's silence. You can't help but feel in awe, just because of the quiet atmosphere. Occasionally a person came in, bowed himself to the floor for a few moments, and then left, satisfied with his devotional prayers.

A panorama of The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall

One cannot appreciate The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall in Kuantan without noticing the beautiful gardens which lie beside it. Trees, plants and flowers adorn the area, along with a green lake where you can feed the fish, with a stunning cliff face backdrop.

I was fortunate enough to be accompanied by the most beautiful weather during my visit to The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall. Blistering sunshine, deep blue skies, the occasional white fluffy cloud, and a gentle breeze. The sunlight really brought the pictures to life.

I love the deep blue of the sky as it contrasts with the orange roof and the white cloud

KUANTAN BLOG TOUR: Fancy a trip to the beach? Come on then!

Need to cut the tour short? Return to My Journey to Kuantan - Part 5 here

Chap Goh Meh (Part 1) @ Pahang Buddhist Association

Chap Goh Meh marks the end of the 2-week Chinese New Year celebrations. Last night we attended the event at the Pahang Buddhist Association in Kuantan. Part 1 takes you around the gardens and the scenes before the event started. I was able to capture some lovely pictures in the golden evening sun. Check it out:

The temple

The gardens

I'd be very happy if somebody could help me with translation here - just leave me a comment!

A sneak peak through the caterpillar-devoured leaves, to the stage

With the sun starting to fade I captured this image of the trees in silhouette

In a gentle breeze, a maintenance man adjusted the lights

A small crowd, (those few of us who had arrived ahead of time) were serenaded by the sounds of the men playing the instruments and the lady in the red dress who sang a beautiful Chinese song at the top of her voice for a good 10-15 minutes.

We met there, one of my newest students, Amanda, at right, accompanied by her friend, at left

Look out for Chap Goh Meh (Part 2) tomorrow, when the sun went down and the Pahang Buddhist Association became one illuminated fantasy.

Sri Sithi Vinayagar Temple, Kuantan

The Sri Sithi Vinayagar Temple in the heart of Kuantan draws people in for its colours and numberless statues on its roofs. Situated near the fire station a stone's throw from the Darulmakmur Stadium, it is a sight to behold.

Every major religion under the Sun can be found in Malaysia. While we must admit that there are gently simmering hostilities between the religions, it is relatively peaceful and harmonious when compared with other plural society countries. It is not uncommon to find mosques, hindu temples, chinese temples and churches on the same street in Malaysia, and sometimes even lined up beside each other.

My visit to the Sri Sithi Vinayagar Temple was a different experience to my previous visits to the PAHANG STATE MOSQUE AND PAHANG BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION and to the SIKH TEMPLE. The Pahang State Mosque is intricately designed with beautiful symmetrical patterns and graceful Arabic calligraphy adorning the walls. The Pahang Buddhist Association combines a temple containing a huge statue of Buddha with beautiful gardens and a lake. The Sikh temple was stunningly simple in design, with lovely carved wooden doors and glittering chandeliers. However, the one thing all these places had in common was reverent silence.

Here is the Sri Sithi Vinayagar Temple in Kuantan. Here there were bright colours in abundance. I even engaged in a conversation with an Indian woman who was there to clean the temple. We spoke at length about how I came to be in Kuantan and I was able to share with her my appreciation of the lovely temple we were in, my beliefs about God, a living prophet, and other Christian doctrines, which she received with humility. It was easy to share these things with her. Since we were in a hindu temple I related to her about our Christian temples and a little about the work that goes on there. From the Book of Mormon we read of former Christian missionaries: "and we have also entered into their temples and their synagogues and taught them."

These curious little black stone statues were the most intriguing part of my visit to the Sri Sithi Vinayagar Temple. Unfortunately I didn't get the opportunity to ask a few questions I had in mind to the Indian lady there.