Day 4 CNY, we went to Paragon Gurney to buy some nice dresses from Bebe Butterfly for Bro Max's upcoming wedding. The front overlooking the beach is gone, now there is a park. After the children had some Pokemon catching with bro Max, we headed to the city for the Penang Miao Hui (Penang Temple Festival).
It was packed with people. The first spot we came to had a taichi performance. One of the boothes gave away paper caps in the shape of a dragon or snake for the children. Many people are dressed in beautiful colourful traditional clothes. Another stage has an opera singing performance. We went into several temples for the clans. There were antiques on display. There were young story-tellers sharing about stories from the past. There was one which I found fascinating in particular. In the past, when the folks from the town did not have enough money, they would go to the pawn shop "kedai pajak" to trade off their gold or personal belongings of value for some cash. Also, there is another practice, when the children were naughty, the parents would "trade" their children at the pawn shop for RM1. Alternatively, the parents would also give their children as "godchildren" to Gods. This they believe would turn the children good. I remember when Bro Gene was young and naughty, my mother did bring him to the temple to be a "godchild".
Hub was carrying Bevlynn on his shoulders, while Max was piggy-backing Brayden. I love it when they are at this age when they are following us in every moment.
Another lane had all the CNY chops for completing tasks related to CNY. We continued for awhile more and there were Lion Dance performance and Violin performance.
There is another lane which is displaying all the different instruments from different cultures and races; Malaysia, Indian. We played the galeman with the Chinese song "tian mi mi". It was fun. It definitely felt different from the time we came many many years ago.
As soon as we were about to leave the place, Bevlynn started nodding off. She's too tired but kept awake for the excitement.
Due to traffic, we were late for a dinner with family at Sungai Nibong.
On the day we were leaving, Bro Max shared that he will be moving out from the family home after his wedding. Mom was upset. I can understand how a Mom would feel when her children decided to leave, but I am happy for my brother for his big step forward in life. Wishing him all the happiness! He will be registered a day after Hub's birthday.
Happy Birthday Hub!
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