Taking the Big Break

You have probably heard of Chinese New Year. But have you ever celebrated it, complete with lion and dragon dances? I have, on Penang Island, Malaysia. It was an unforgettable experience! That’s not all, though. On Penang, we have also celebrated Thaipusam, a big Indian festival.

An Indian god

When we arrived at Thaipusam, we saw so many people crowding all the long streets. Thaipusam is an Indian festival in which people go from one temple in Georgetown to the other temple up on the hill.  It was swarming with people. Once we entered the festival, we saw statues of Indian gods. We tried some curry puffs. They were pretty good and potatoey and spicy. My brother got some bubbles and had fun blowing them into the crowd. Then we grabbed a late lunch at one or two of the street vendors. The curry was very good, much better than it was at home because the flavors are more complex.

Sliding down into the waterfall.

When my grandma Gigi was here, we went to an island called Langkawi in north-west Malaysia. On Langkawi, we saw a waterfall called Seven Wells waterfall and went to a nice beach on the north side of Langkawi. But my favorite part was the batik. We were taught how they made batik paintings. First, they draw on the cloth with a pencil. Then they draw over the pencil with wax. Then, when you paint the color spreads out but the wax keeps it from going too far. So the painting is really easy and basic. Elio and I decided to create one, and it was really enjoyable and interesting.

When we came back from Langkawi, we went to Swenson’s. Swenson’s is a good old fashioned ice cream parlor. I had two scoops of cookies and cream with cold fudge, chocolate chips, and whipped cream. It was amazingly good! We also went to the spice and fruit garden with her. The fruit garden is a place where they grow everything from Durian to Starfruit, from Jackfruit to Mangosteen. At the end of the tour, we tasted a wonderful fruit buffet featuring lots of tropical fruits.

The pool at our apartment here has a 20-foot slide. I go down at least 50 times a day.

Our pool is so big that I can do laps.

On the north side of the island, there are two food stall courts. One is called Long Beach café. Dozens of food stalls all come into an area and you pick from all the different stands. Then you tell them where you are sitting and they will deliver it to your table. The other place is pretty much the same as the Long Beach. It is way easier than picking up your own food at each stall.

The suspension bridge at the park.

Also on Penang, we explored a nature park. They had a long, high boardwalk that swayed. It was designed like a suspension bridge way up in the trees. Luckily they had netting attached so if you fell the netting would catch you. I swung back and forth to scare my mom.

My brother stepping off onto the bridge.

My mom. 🙂

Notice the fireworks?

We also celebrated Chinese New Year. It is a giant celebration because there are more Chinese people in Penang then Malaysian.

Here is a chart of the people of Penang:

 It is the year of the horse this year. There were statues of every zodiac animal. We took photos with each of us with our animal.

At the festival, we devoured some tasty Chinese steamed buns. They were amazing. I also had some Shu Mai, little Chinese steamed dumplings. If I had been able to dip them in soy sauce, they would have been even more amazing. We heard Chinese music and saw some dancers. There were also lots of immense fireworks.

All in all, I loved Penang and our experience here was both relaxing and exciting. Settling down in one place for a month was nice to have someplace to call home! But now that we’ve done that, I am ready to get back on the move again. I am excited to see the Petronas towers next week in Kuala Lumpur.