My Beloved Malaysia

Posted by : foongpc | Saturday, August 30, 2014 | Published in

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To celebrate Malaysia's 57th Merdeka (Independence) Day this August 31st, I have composed a song  on my piano dedicated to my beloved country.

I decided to title it "My Beloved Malaysia". Have a listen, shall we? Hope you like it! :)


Note : This recording and work is copyrighted. All Rights Reserved.

Did you know that Malaysia achieved independence in the year 1957, which was exactly 57 years ago? So the number 5757 will hold a special meaning to all Malaysians this year.

The theme for this year's celebration is "Malaysia Where Love Grows". Seeing that we are currently experiencing so many disharmonies in terms of race, religion and politics, the theme sounds a little unreal. However, I really hope Malaysia is a country where love grows and grows. That will be just too beautiful and awesome!

Now if you want to know why I titled my song "My Beloved Malaysia", then check out my Top 10 Reasons Why I Love Malaysia.

Happy Merdeka!!

My Dinner At Awet Thai Restaurant

Posted by : foongpc | Tuesday, August 19, 2014 | Published in

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Last weekend, my family and I went to Awet Thai Restaurant at Kampung Kayu Ara for dinner. It was my second time here.

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The place was quite crowded when we reached there about 7pm. Luckily we made a reservation earlier.

This is the menu book.

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We ordered the following dishes...

Deep Fried Papaya with Som Tam (RM15)

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I did not find the deep fried papaya to my liking although the som tam was not bad.

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Tomyam Seafood Soup (RM33)

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Actually that was red tomyam soup which we had on our first visit. We had white tomyam seafood soup during our second visit but I forgot to take a picture! However, I managed to take a picture of my bowl of white tomyam soup.

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The soup was yummy!! The price for the white tom yam soup was the same, at RM33.


Deep Fried Pork Ribs with Garlic (RM21)

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I was not impressed with this pork ribs. Will avoid it next time!


Thai Style Seafood Beancurd (RM25)

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The bean curd was pretty good! Perfect for bean curd lovers!


Thai BBQ Salt Baked Tilapia (RM43)

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I remember eating salt coated grilled fish during my trip in Bangkok last time and had wanted to eat it again. Read about it HERE.

This salt baked tilapia fish did not disappoint!

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I love the sauce that came with the fish. The spicy and sour sauce was so good that we had to ask for another serving.

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Pandan Chicken (RM3.50 per piece)

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The pandan chicken was average. I guess I have eaten too many pandan chicken at Thai restaurants so this one did not impress me much.


BBQ Crab (RM120)

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This is of course, the most expensive item we had that night.

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The crabs were pretty good especially when dipped into that tangy sauce - the same sauce we had for the salted baked fish.


Lastly for desserts, we had Thai Style Water Chestnut (RM6.90 per bowl)

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Yummy! I like this water chestnut dessert! A refreshingly good ending to our dinner.

Overall, I find this restaurant serves mostly authentic Thai food and is definitely worth coming back for a third time!

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Besides Kampung Kayu Ara in Petaling Jaya, the restaurant has a few other outlets, namely in Cheras, Puchong, Kajang and even Kuching!

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Awet Thai Restaurant
Lot 13544, Jalan Cempaka, Kg Kayu Ara,
47400 Petaling Jaya.
Tel : 603-7725 0175
Opens : 11am - 4pm (lunch) / 6pm - 12am (dinner)
Website : awetthai.com

My Visit To Kek Lok Si Temple In Penang

Posted by : foongpc | Friday, August 15, 2014 | Published in

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On my last day in Penang, I visited the Kek Lok Si Temple located on a hillside overlooking Air Itam town in central Penang.

Kek Lok Si, which in Penang Hokkien means 'Temple Of The Supreme Bliss', is the largest Buddhist temple in Penang and possibly in South East Asia. The hills of Air Itam where this temple was built, were reported to possess good feng shui.

I had visited this temple many years ago, but decided to return for another visit this time to see how things have changed.

Since this was my second visit, I did not enter from the entrance at the bottom of the hill which would lead one to walk through all those souvenir stalls to reach the Tortoise Pond. Instead, I took a cab up the hill and entered from the Middle Station going through this grand arch.

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Unfortunately on that day, access to the the Pagoda of Ten Thousand Buddhas was blocked. It was quite a disappointment as I had wanted to climb up that seven-storey pagoda, a famous landmark in Penang.

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Oh well, there was nothing I could do about it so I decided to take the incline lift to go to the top to visit the giant bronze statue of Avalokiteshvara or Kuan Yin. This incline lift is located on the left side of the Main Prayer Hall. You need to purchase a ticket at the lift station before you can enter the lift.

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There is a big souvenir shop near the incline lift station but I did not buy anything. I forgot how much the ticket cost - probably RM2 or RM3 one way.

This is the incline lift rail. I took this picture inside the lift as it ascended.

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It probably took about 2 - 3 minutes to reach the upper station. Oh look! Do you see a worker doing some cleaning work on the right?

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The view from inside the lift looking down at the lower station. Can you see those celestial animal figures at the roof top?

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Took another picture after I was out of the lift at the upper station. The view of Air Itam town below was really quite beautiful.

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Another shot of the view below from a different spot.

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The inclined lift upper station has a bust of the Kuan Yin (also known as Goddess Of Mercy) statue at the top.

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This bust was from the old Kuan Yin statue before it was replaced with the new majestic one.

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This is the new Kuan Yin statue which stands at 30.2 metres. It was completed back in the year 2002. But even more astounding is the pavilion that was built after that to shelter the gigantic Kuan Yin statue!

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The Kuan Yin Pavilion is 82.7 metres tall, about the height of a 20-storey building. The roof is a three-tier pagoda supported by 16 granite pillars. It was built at a cost of RM40 million (US$12.6 million).

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Look at those intricate carvings on the granite pillars!

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It's a truly amazing structure!

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More pictures of the Kuan Yin Pavilion...

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The base of the pavilion, with intricate carvings on the wall.

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A closer shot of the wall's ornate carvings.

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Pretty awesome, no?

A statue of a deity near the Pavilion.

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Two small monkey statues at the foot of the structure.

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The bust of the old Kuan Yin statue could be seen in the distance.

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Another shot of the bust.

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Cute bear statues lining here.

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Elephants and lions guarding the base of the Kuan Yin Pavilion.

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Not far from the Pavilion is the Zodiac Garden.

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There are 12 animals of the Zodiac here but I did not bother to take pictures of each one.

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There's a gazebo above the koi pond at the Zodiac Garden. In the distance is the Kuan Yin Pavilion.

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It is said that the best time to visit Kek Lok Si Temple is during Chinese New Year when the temple complex is lit up with thousands of lanterns. But since I do not like crowds, it is very unlikely that I will visit during that time of the year!