January 9 - Kek Lok Si Temple

 I saw this temple in 2016 with my son-in-law Tim when we spent a few days in Penang with Lisa and Tim.  Lisa and Michael took a cooking class and Tim and I went here and to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.  I had forgotten a lot of the details about this temple.  It is built on many levels and there is transportation between the levels.  I had planned to stay towards the bottom and just work on things I had learned in the photo class.  But we got behind a large tour bus group and it was confusing.  Michael ended up purchasing tickets which would take us up 3 levels and down again.  And so our group of 12 was herded from one type of transportation to the next until I suddenly found myself at the top.  A change of plans - I guess I am going to be taking a lot of stairs.  There were not a lot of people at the temple today - so it was great for taking photos.  

I took this photo of the temple from our living room window last night.  I was using a 12-200m lens.  The temple is quite a ways away - and a long trip with all the traffic there was today.

The entrance to the temple.  There is not much at this level except a pool of turtles.

We went directly to the top level - using a funicular, a 12 person cart (think golf cart) and then another funicular.

At the top.

Right where the mountain meets the city you can see the ocean.

This is a 36.5 meter high statue of Kaun Yin, the Goddess of Mercy.

All the stairways up closer to the Goddess are blocked off now.

There were some gardens with flowers - not sure of the name of these.

Just to show you how lucky you are - here is a photo of a squatter toilet.  Most of them are on the floor.  These were up about 12-16 inches up.  The door only opened this far.  In order to close it you had to step up to the toilet, close the door, then step down in order to lock it, before you once again stepped way up in order to use it.  The grab bar there is an extra - you don't see that most places.  There is no toilet paper, no way to dry your hands and no soap to wash your hands.  Your shoes get all wet and there is no place to put your backpack most of the time.  I ended up putting mine on the floor at the bottom which unfortunately was wet.  After so many of these toilet experiences I think it is time I buy a new backpack!

If you have gotten the impression that there are a lot of lanterns here - you would be right.

This area is called the 10,000 Buddhas pagoda.

This is on another level and cost 2 Ringgit to get in - or less than 50 cents.  Some call it the wedding cake.

We were both getting very tired - so did not make ourselves see every little thing there.  So we took the cart and funicular down and walked to a nearby hawker mall for lunch.

While Michael has been trying all kinds of strange dishes - I have been exploring all the local drinks.  This was a energy drink that our guide liked.  It has a lemon flavor and tastes a little salty.  

Other drinks I have tried that are popular in Malaysia, orange juice, Mango, lime with salted prune, passion fruit, Chrysanthemum tea, star fruit, nutmeg and Ambra.  I have seen the star fruit and Ambra fruit drink offered for sale - but so far no one has actually had them in stock.