February 2, 2015
This
morning, the boys came at 7:30am for a Super Bowl party only to find out we
didn’t get any channels that it was supposed to be on. We were all disappointed. We decided to go out and to get some bread
for breakfast and then head to Penang Hill for the morning. As we went outside, we saw all sorts of
things going on. Everything was
different than the day before! One
really unusual thing was that the streets were lined with piles of
coconuts. Hmmm. We learned that there was to be a large
procession down our street and there were booths set up all over and music
playing and it was a major celebration.
We had the most amazing day!!!!
We changed our plans and decided to just soak in this concentration of
culture. There were hundreds and
hundreds of people dressed in gorgeous ceremonial clothing. It is just hard to describe it all. There was free food being given out all
over: rice with curry veggies and
meat. Free water, free orange drink from
McDonald’s, etc. We walked up and down
our street seeing the different spots of worship where people made
offerings. We went to our favorite
little restaurant and bought everyone an iced Milo to drink in the heat and
then headed back to the Hindu Temple and we were able to go inside. There were some musicians playing drums and
this wooden reed instrument that was amazing!
We took pictures to show Hyrum!!!
We found out that this festival is a 3 day celebration and is basically to honor one of their “gods” that they pray to for good fortune, wealth, health, and lots of things. Today, the large cart that is carrying this idol will come up the street and make its way to the waterfall. Many people will follow giving offerings. Tomorrow, the people come back and are supposed to be carrying their own idols on their backs. The next day, Wednesday, the idol makes its way back from the waterfall. We just sort of hung around, waiting to see when the procession would happen.
About 1:30-1:45pm, people started gathering in a more concentrated way. People were carrying trays
and baskets of fruit, incense, flowers, a scarf, and a half of a coconut. Then we met a man from Australia who said he used to live here and he flew in from Australia just to see this festival! He told us to watch out because they were going to start breaking the coconuts and stuff would fly everywhere so we should watch the younger kids! OK.. We were watching.
What happened next was likely to be the most unique experience of my life! People started picking up coconuts and throwing them down to the ground to break them. People were throwing and smashing coconuts all over the place in the street! This was the way that they were preparing the path for the idol to come through. It truly was something I can’t explain! We all had a turn to throw a coconut at the ground in attempt to smash it. There were shells and coconut milk flying everywhere. What was almost just as amazing was that right in the road was a bobcat tractor that sat and waited until the big piles in that section of the road were smashed and then he started in scooping it all up to clean up and we had to grab kids and watch out. He was a crazy fast driver and did his job quickly.
Finally, about 2pm, we could see the huge silver cart/trailer coming up the road. It would progress and then stop and people would give their trays of offerings to the idol that was on the cart. We just stood and watched the families and individuals make their procession towards the “chariot” and make their offerings. Eventually, the procession made it down to us and we watched up close the process of the offerings being made. We still don’t understand it all, but it was amazing. The genuine devotion and reverence in these people was amazing. It was neat to see families celebrating and worshiping together. There was a lot of dedication and devotion.
Something that I have loved here is that the people are so open and are so willing to come and ask if we need help or to ask if we understand what is going on. They take time to explain the ceremony or the event so that we can participate and understand what it going on. The people here have been so open and kind.
We were all pretty zapped by the heat of the day so we all went to sit in the air conditioned McDonald’s for a while and regroup. We decided, after a presentation of multiple options, to go all together to Penang Hill. We went to the bus station and found bus 204 – after a 30+ minutes wait. We took the bus to Penang Hill and rode the train/trolley up the side of the mountain to the top. We walked to one side and the kids saw monkeys in the trees and we had so much fun watching them. We also saw a great view of Penang and the Georgetown area where we are staying. We then watched monkeys again, found the park, the Hindu Temple and the Mosque. We rode down the hill on the train and then found bus 204. After another 30 minutes, the bus finally left and we got off just a few stops up the road to go see the Kek Lok Si temple. We headed up to see the temple only to be told that it closed at 6pm. Bummer. It is also under a lot of construction. We walked back to the bus stop to wait for bus 204 again to take us home. 2+ hours later, and after most of us were delirious, bus 204 came and we all did a happy dance!!! We thought it would never come!!!! The kids did a great job passing the time playing games and singing songs. The greatest thing was that towards the end of our wait, we were all getting hungry but wanted to wait for the fried rice back near home and Richard steps forward and says, “Maybe Heavenly Father wants us to eat dinner here!” He then smiled! Yesterday he had asked us some really good questions during Family Home Evening and one question was related to why do we keep sinning and why do things happen in our lives. From his comment tonight, it is obvious that he had listened yesterday and he got it. It was a great moment and our day was a great adventure.
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| Kek Lok Si |
We got back
to the Times Square Area and it was amazing how cleaned up everything was! We went to the same restaurant to order
“Fried Chicken Fried Rice” and we all loved it.
It was a little spicy for a couple younger ones, but it was good! We at lots of Roti Canai and then all got an
iced Milo to go!! It was a huge and long
day and we are all exhausted BUT it was an incredible day with experiences that
we never dreamed of and that we will never have the chance to see again! Totally Amazing Day!!!! Lots and lots of culture today!!!
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