4/1 Arulimigu Sri Rajakaliamman or the Glass Temple

 We took a grab to get to this location.  I was expecting plain glass like in windows.  But this was what we saw.  I guess if I had gotten what I expected it would have been very hot!  Even still - with some fans it was quite warm inside.

This is what we saw from the outside.  It looks like a small Hindu temple.  

I have not seen a ticket pricing like this.  Special rates if you are Hindu or if you are a foreigner - you pay more.

There claim to fame is that they were the first glass temple to be built.

Can you see the photographer in this photo.

These figures used to all be gold!  Looks like they tried to modernize them.

All around the building were statues of humans that the Hindu's consider to be of divine incarnation.

This priest came up to me and asked who the two young girls with me were.  I explained that they were my granddaughters and that I had three daughters.  He said I was very lucky.  I think he was referring to the belief that some Hindu's hold:

• Some traditions believe having only daughters (no sons) signifies the completion of ancestral karmic debt and purification of the lineage.

But he doesn't know that I have a daughter whose two sons still bear the Podolny name and will carry it forward.  So maybe it is Alexis who is lucky!

Deciding where to go next.

There were three like this - speak no evil, see no evil, hear no evil.  Alexis called these the "cabbage patch" gods.

Reflections!

3-31 Old Town Johar Bbahru

 I think at one time our apartment had a great view - but now there are other apartment complexes being built.  So the view from our living room and two bed rooms is this construction site.

If you try hard you can cut out the most of the construction and come up with this.

The third bedroom has this view.  In the upper left side you can see the entrance to the small street with the eateries and gate 4 entrance into the Mall.

Our living room/kitchen area.

Two of the bathrooms are good sized with nice showers.  The ensuite bath in my room is small with a tiny shower that leaks water all over the floor.  So I am using the shower across the hall.

The extra bedroom is now my dressing room.  there are no dressers with drawers in two of the bedrooms.  But they have closets on wheels - one behind the bed in this photo.  That is also where we hang the laundry to dry.  We have a small foyer room with a washing machine that is outside the main apartment, but has a door to the hallway.

Main bedroom.

My bedroom.  The end table is wide enough to hold a paperback book - that's all.

March 31st was our first full day with the Healds.  We opted to go to Old Town Johor Bahru.  This bakery is famous for its banana cake - But they also make a great cake with coffee flavor.  Not coffee cake like in the US, that is sweet with either a nut caramel topping or fruit filled.  This cake was just flavored with coffee.  

Walking down a random street.

We made all kinds of guesses of what could happen at the Birth Saloon.  Turns out it is a chain of hair dressing salons!

After we got the coffee flavored cake - but didn't eat it.  We stopped for custard tarts.  

They have a lot of 24 hour stores, including the 7/11.

A mosque

We stumbled upon this small street filled with street art.

The Healds had gone to a pineapples farm before we arrived in JB - and knew all about the many verities.  The Josapine  is known for its small size and sweet flavor.  Only a couple of verities of pineapple are actually exported.  The MD2 is one of the major exports from JB Malaysia around the world.

Back in old town - random stores.

Natasha preventing me from photographing the government building.  She was hot all the time and carried this battery powered fan at all times.

Old Administrative buildings.  They have outgrown this complex and build a whole new complex out of town.  We will see this tomorrow when we have a guide, car and driver.

Back in Old Town.  Bagels are becoming a big thing in Malaysia.  The bagels I have seen look much fatter than the ones in the US.  What Palates has to do with bagels - I don't know.  The upstairs restaurant follows the open air theme.

We headed toward the Broadway Cinema building passing by some interesting sites.

So many birds.

And here we are.  You could not go in.  

There is an open canal in front of Alexis - it smelled really bad.

But they had chairs to rest in - so we took advantage of them.

This place was closed - we were all curious - would they have frites with mayonnaise Amsterdam style?

A barber shop

My passion fruit drink - complete with lots of seeds.  Everywhere you go they have long lists of fruit drinks.  Yum!