Finding Peace in Taiping

Dear Brothers & Sisters, the Seekers of Truth.... LOL!

Alright alright, there we were at the OLDEST Buddhist Temple in the whole Malaysia, Wat Bodi Langka Ram. It's actually a Sri Lankan Buddhist Temple. Alright, this picture below is more than just an ordinary 3 sekawan picture. Notice that behind us, there's a Bodhi Tree, the tree where Buddha sat and meditated under it, obviously not this particular tree la.. :P That's in either India/Sri Lanka I guess.

Okay, so it's a Bodhi Tree, and what's the big deal about it? Well, according to Mr. Lai's big deal was...the seed which bear this particular Bodhi Tree was originated far far & long long time ago...*imbas kembali* to hundreds or maybe thousands of years ago where the prince of King Asoka had taken the seeds from a Bodhi Tree in either India/Sri Lanka and then somehow, 2 of the seeds ended up in Malaysia. One is in Mahindarama, Penang and one is over here in Bodi Langka Ram, Taiping. It's said that the 2 seeds are linked to the one the prince had taken from wor... dunno ??? Then the fun thing was we got to make a wish under the tree by splashing cups of water onto its trunk. But Terk Zhi used pails though :P Sekaligus hantam his wishes :P

Brothers & Sisters, Seekers of Truth, ...
Ahahahahha! Do Good and Be Good!

Before we left, we had Dhamma Talk, quite interesting though :P Brothers and Sisters, Seekers of Truth :P I like this phrase. Anyway, this is like one of the best temples I'd been to so far cuz we got many FREE things here such as, notebooks, pens, pencils and erasers. Good good. Maybe it could be useful during exams, Magical Pencil, brings you to the correct answer. Before we left, we were given ice creams some more. Basically, we spent most of our times there eating, laughing and of cuz praying la. No more painting the temple, thank god :P

Then we were taken to various places of sight seeings in Taiping by sticking our butts on the coach and looked out from the windows. Then one of the attraction was the cemetery below,

It looks like a very peaceful place to R.I.P, ain't it? It was built as a tribute to those soldiers that had fought for the British during war and they were sacrificed at a very young age like about 18-19 years old of age. Sad huh? Is war the answer to peace?? Anyway, now this is real P.E.A.C.E.

Next destination,

Brothers and Sisters, Seek... okay okay :P
HERE WE ARE AT KUALA SEPATANG, the site of charcoal manufacturing!!!
It was so cool, yet so H.O.T!

When we were told by Uncle Raymond, our tour guide that we were going to visit this place called Kuala Sepatang, I felt that this place sounds very VERY familiar. Oh yea! I then remembered that while I was in the trip to K.L, Mr. Goh had once talked about it, the place where charcoals are manufactured! It's so funny that I thought, I mean back then that when would I get the chance to visit such place, then I was there today. Then they were talking bout how fantastic are the charcoals in Malaysia. Intense heat, less smoke, last longer and gagagaga... And that's what makes me so curious.

Okay, this is the man made cemented oven. Here is where the mangrove woods are being burnt with intensive supply of heat for 8 days long. Then the men will break the cemented little door down for the women to go in and carry the big chunks of burnt woods, now charcoals to be broken into small pieces.

The most amazing thing was,

We got to go into one of those ovens to explore, the charcoals were just being burnt completely and carried out by te fellow STRONG & DURABLE WOMEN!

And it was still H.O.T inside here!!!!!!
Smoking H.O.T!
Hotter than Sauna Bath, much much more!

We wonder if the boat is made of charcoal as well? So black and gothic.
Like can be used in the Pirates of Caribbean as props.

Okay, we then entered the bus smelling like charcoals. Thought of buying the charcoals back as souvenirs..ahahhahaa! 5 kg only 4 ringgit. So cheap! But no one's gonna carry for me, and my mum's gonna think that I'm mad. So, mission abandoned.

Next stop, TAMBUN SEAFOOD!

At first, all of us were thinking that, aiyo.."This is Buddhist trip leh, the seafood must be all vegetables and sad chickens and fishes only." Mana tau, when the dishes were served, OMG! Got prawns, mantis prawns, deep fried sotong, steamed fish, FRIED OYSTER... yum yum* Our table was the noisiest and we ate the most! Maklumlah, got one king kong there, originally known as an Orang Utan. So unwholesome in the temple. AHAHAHHAHA! But that video is funny!!! LOL!

After all of us were feeling bloated with the sea creatures swimming inside of our tummy, we started to babble nonsense and laughed over slight matters. Then came the lottery ticket uncle. Then Wooi Kean started to hallucinate, that he might win 7 millions. And he could easily secure 5 C's in his hands. Credit card, car, cash, condominium and lastly....Cha Bor/C*B*I! How unwholesome is that??? LOL! Anyway, I was lucky enough to win the first ticket and got another one for free! AHAHHA! And Wooi Kean got NOTHING! COMBO!

Then basically, that was the end of our trip to Taiping. Actually, it's quite fun to be in BSS. Throughout the past one and a half years, I really gained alot of knowledge and fun sides of this religion. From painting grills to selling flowers. It has been a wonderful journey living as a Buddhist :)