Day #18 George Town Walk About

Day # 18 George Town Walk About 

Hindus, Penang Muslims and Khoo Chinese Confucian

We decide to get going earlier today so we don’t hit the noon heat. 
We pass people making wicker

or working on motors and doing their daily work.

I wonder about an advertisement for marriage counseling or change in luck or fate reading. Which career will I chose for my retirement plan? 

 As we walk along I see some Hindu people praying at a corner shrine. I don’t understand what they are doing but the tradition seems to be to burn bits of coconut and then at some point offer them to the shrine. After that they take burning coconut and smash it on the pavement.  One man who I have just taken a picture of suddenly throws his coconut down and yells repeatedly in anger, “give me an answer towards the small figurines in the sidewalk shrine”.  

"Give me an answer!" 

We hire a trishaw which only fits one and half American hips and is driven by a man who has no teeth and looks 110 years old. He happily takes us to the Muslim mosque and directs us inside even though it is closed to tourists.  We take off our shoes as required but still are thrown out shortly after we enter.

Next he takes us to 
Khoo Kongsi, a Tua 
PckKong Temple.

It is the spiritual center perpetuating Confucian practices for the Khoo clan, which along with 4 other clans make up the Hokken community. Apparently this temple represents education and wealth and the importance of children loving their parents. There is a wonderful carved picture of a young man saving his father from being eaten by a tiger.

 I also learn from a tour guide that you must decide if you want to be happy or sad and am shown the doorway figures representing this decision point.  

Happy 

Sad 

There is a room where the names of everyone from the clan who has gone away to be educated are listed on a plaque. There are many stories on the walls carved out concerning Confucius philosophy. I tell John I need to learn more about religion.

John wants to go to the Blue Mansion next and asks our trusting trishaw driver to take us there.  The driver tries to tell John we can't make the 11 am tour but John insists. He drives us reluctantly but as quickly as possible the wrong way down a one-way street.

Our driver looks like he can barely walk let alone bike us down these incredibly busy streets jammed with cars and motorcycles. He mutters away behind us insisting we won't make it. Once there we find he is right--we should have been there 15 minutes in advance and the 11 am tour was full. We end our relationship with this poor and disappointed man who has given us his best and decide to walk to Little India.  

Along the way we stop at the Chocolate Mansion for their tour. 

Unfortunately it doesn’t give us samples and sells chocolate that promises heaven in your mouth as well as lower blood pressure, heart attack prevention and sunshine feeling.  John decides he can’t justify $15 for this best possible positive outcome ~ there are no randomized control group trials on this brand.

Wandering back we try out some of the Indian batik shops. which are huge. I try to convince John to buy a shirt (only $10 and soft cotton) but they don’t seem to be able to find his size. We promise to “come back later”, a term we learned in Burma.

Back to the hotel for a nap and unfortunately John has gotten a cold of some sort and his coughing repeatedly. Maybe some chocolate would have prevented that?