nateniale's travels

One of the many wall art that has been cropping up in Penang!  Can't wait to be back in Penang for Chinese New Year,  and take a walk around the city spotting those wall art!

What I love about travelling is experiencing the rich culture and meeting the locals and what better way to do that than to join the locals to celebrate one of their biggest festivals. Carnival of Venice in Italy, La Tomatina in Spain, Oktoberfest in Germany and Songkran in Thailand–tourists often flock to these countries to celebrate with the locals. Now, if there is one festival in my hometown in Penang, Malaysia that I recommend to be included in that list, it would be the Chinese New Year (CNY) celebration. I have left Penang for more than ten years but never failed to travel home every year for CNY celebration, along with other ‘Penangites’ who study and work in other states and countries. There are many events and activities held around Penang during the celebration in January which are free for all to participate. The celebration CNY celebration used to be a family affair, where most people will spend time at home with family or visit relatives and friends. These days, m...

Penang's Traditional Joss Stick Maker Next to the oldest temple in Penang, the Goddess of Mercy (or Kuan Yin) Temple, resides Mr Lee, a traditional joss stick maker. He makes joss sticks by hand, which is a disappearing craft as most joss sticks are now machine-made. Penang's status as a UNESCO's World Heritage Site would not mean as much without people like him and that's what I love about my hometown. No matter how long I have been away, there are things that still remained the same after all these years. missing home, - nateniale - { Click here for other posts on Penang and a list of my travelogues }

Every time I'm back in my hometown, Penang , I told myself that I will try to see the city with fresh tourist eyes - to explore, to experience and to see all that Penang has to offer. I have left Penang for more than 10 years but had been going home at least a few times a year. No matter where I have been, Penang is, and will always be close to my heart. Reading an article in the New York Times entitled " In Malaysia, Tourists are Lured By George Town's Colorful Past " brought back the tourist side of me. It reminded me of the many reasons I love about Penang - how it is growing and developing rapidly, and yet all the rich history and culture continued to be part of Penangites' daily lives. A quote from the article describes Penang's cultural heritage... All of this builds on a unique multi-ethnic and multi-religious heritage. The legacy of waves of immigrants from Europe, the Middle East and other parts of Asia over several hundred years is writ large in t...

Chinese New Year is a celebration of the the first day of the lunar calendar, and lasts for 15 days. However, for the Hokkien community in Penang, the 9th day of Chinese New Year is also another celebration of the new year. Penang has a large Hokkien community, whose ancestors were immigrants primarily from Fujian province in China. The Hokkien New Year is to celebrate the day when the Hokkiens escaped mistreatment by ruthless army in ancient China by seeking refuge in a sugarcane plantations. The Hokkiens emerged unharmed on the 9th day of Chinese New Year, and it was then considered as new year for the Hokkiens. The 9th day of Chinese New Year also coincides with the birthday of the Jade Emperor of Heaven ( Thni Kong Seh ). The Hokkien community in Penang celebrates Thni Kong Seh around midnight on the eighth day, by praying to the Jade Emperor of Heaven (or Thni Kong). While most homes would have their own celebration and prayers, the largest celebration was in Chew Jetty. A...

Clan houses has always been part and parcel of Penang, that they never really occupy my thoughts. So, I do not claim to be very knowledgeable on this topic. However, after walking around the Penang’s heritage site area for the Chinese New Year Cultural and Heritage Celebration , I was fascinated by the number of clan houses there are in Penang. During the 1800s and 1900s, there was a huge stream of Chinese immigrants, primarily from Fujian province of China, who arrived in Penang. The many immigrants from Fujian province also explained why the Chinese in Penang are using the dialect Hokkien from the area. In order to maintain a sense of community for the new immigrants, the Chinese formed clans associations and build clan houses. These clan houses, also called “ kongsi ” in Hokkien, are usually part meeting hall and part temple for the clan. These clan associations were based on surnames or the area (or clan) that the Chinese are formed. Some of the surname-based clan houses are t...

On the 7th day of the Chinese New Year , Georgetown, Penang has been organising a Chinese New Year Cultural and Heritage Celebration every year – and that was even before the city was given the UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2008. It used to be just a small scale celebration of the Chinese New Year, but the celebration has been getting bigger over the past years. This year, it fell on 20 February 2010 and was packed with activities, performances, exhibitions and stalls selling food, handicraft and painting. It was, in other words, packed with all things related to the Chinese in Penang, and swarming with people of all races and ages, and of course, with tourists who happened to be lucky enough to be in the island then. (Below is a photo of the main entrance to the celebration.) It was held at the heart of the heritage site, comprising the Acheen Street, Armenian Street (below), Cannon Street, Ah Quee Street, Soo Hong Lane, Chulia Street and Kampung Kolam. It was organis...

My earliest memory of Melaka, or Malacca as it was spelt in English, was from my history lessons during my school days. According to a legend, Parameswara, a prince from Palembang, was resting under a tree while hunting when he saw a deer push a dog into a river in self-defence. He was so impressed by the courage of the deer and took it as a good sign to create an empire in that area. He decided to name the place "Melaka" after the tree that he was sheltering under. After many (failed) plans of going up to Melaka, we finally put our foot down and decided to drive up there in June 2009. With two cars and together with some of my colleagues, we drove up to Melaka from Singapore for a weekend trip. The plans were, or rather the only plan, was to eat, eat and eat! However, as it would be my first in the city state, I decided that I wanted to do a little sightseeing as well. Melaka was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with my hometown, Penang, in July 2008. Our ...