A PASSAGE TO INDIA: January 2025

Driving into Kepong town in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, is a step back in time.

It's old, a little messy in parts, the open gutters smell - heck, it's the reason why I enjoy checking out small Malaysian towns, some of which have grown to become quite large. They are no longer surrounded by plantations and wooded forests. Stray dogs have been cleared completely from the streets...

Shop displays spill on to the pavement - it's vibrant.

Retro school that's at least 60 years old - Malaysia still has Chinese and Tamil Indian schools - vernacular schools...in which the medium of instruction is Tamil and Mandarin...Malay is a compulsory subject of course, with English thrown in...

Family hair salon which is an extension of home where the kids after school come back to, lounge around till the shop closes...the family dog is there too! Home away from home...

Little scamp turns 2. Dinner party was this food truck location under this overhead pass...

It's his birthday, so a temple visit is a must for blessings...

I can't get over this - dogs in human baby diapers. They don't go for walks at all...they get colourful dye jobs as well...

At this park, the pooches and their handlers get an evening out to enjoy the xmas lights...

The 'pulled' tea at the Malaysian Indian shops is tops. So too the apom, below. Another item - the coffee in the Chinese operated coffeeshops is 'real' coffee. We don't have the same in SG...another item - the dessert chendol has to come from an Indian vendor...perhaps the flies make the difference...and the occasional bee or 2!

Something you don't see so much of these days in SG - vendors going around table to table in the old coffeeshops selling their wares and a monk selling amulets!

Kepong is a very Chinese suburb. Outside this Chinese coffeeshop, this Malay lady sells her home cooked selections...

I find the Malaysians are well integrated, more so than Singaporeans.

In this very touristy lane, in the rain, the eateries are packed. Diners are chiefly tourists...the massage joint I patronised was full of foreigners too...I gather the cheaper currency made the difference...

Baby turning 2 means time for the next check-up - this community clinic do things by the book - they had hardcopy files, records and hand written registry - so old world! In Indonesia its even more so - typewriters clacking away, still working smoothly as its used daily - how neat is that!

The only touristy thing I did - Batu Caves, turned into a tourist trap. Needless to say, I like it better when it was just caves at the top of the old rickety stairs...

Home to roost...

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'Painted faces' are unofficially the adopted logo of the gay community, at least in this part of the world...they've been around a mighty long time with Chinese live stage operas...

It's Autumn in South China. Weather's agreeable for outdoor walkabouts. This tree has blossoms in 2 colours...this other tree below is a Teddy tree...

Somebody inform this Santa, the front door's open, there's no need to climb 20 floors to the rooftop chimney, besides, this hotel does not have a chimney - hohoho! The laugh's on you Santa!

Wine shop

Everywhere I go, I find street scenes interesting. They illustrate how locals live and go about their daily lives. His bike is likely powered by a battery and he can't travel too far...his balloons might fly him home if he should run out of juice!

And of course, art catches my eyes, always...it's very local except these days, many art productions can be created by lasers. Nevertheless, it's coming from creative hands, minds, eyes...

This ceramic wall art deserves a close-up...

What may look like bundles of marijuana are carpet grass delivered here for groundcover...

These woodcarvings are definitely old and extremely rare for the wood, blackwood, huanghuali, rosewood are either extinct or protected. These days, they work with elm and agarwood.

The 'modern art' is fun and quirky...this is a resto with a name that suggests mother pig!

My youngsters tell me this character goes by the name of Capybara...!

My love affair with old trees continue, no matter where I go to in the world they always catch my eye...

They coexist happily sharing dry food thrown into the pond by visitors...

Even the way fish and ducks are cut and open up for drying can be different in the countries I've been to in which airdried food forms their diet...

This place, Chikan, started as a village commune. Its residents went West to seek their fortunes. Savings was remitted home, some did really well and rebuilt their village into this 'theme park' I prefer to call it. It's a showcase of old buildings built by the newly rich, which incorporated their ideas gleaned from their time in the West.
I can't fathom why so many buildings are abandoned. They were lived in before by the look of home furnishings and furniture, family photos, altars...the residences are substantial, so the original owners/families are clearly wealthy - but where are their descendants? These are valuable real estate. Can it be they fled due to communists' persecution of the wealthy and those who have Western influences in their lives, Red Guards harassment, the insecurity and fear during those turbulent times under Mao...? I guess I'll never know, the guide mentioned nothing and she's young...

The 'town' has numerous trendy cafes and restos - during peak tourist seasons, it's likely crowded...there are street performances to add interest and colour...

Another part of Chikan is this other development, Kaiping Diaolou...

This stone slab has that tower chiselled into its side to announce Kaiping Diaolou, an interesting town left behind by former residents. It comprises several villages, now merged into this very large Cultural Tourism area...the biggest is Chikan Town Resort...

The pediments are glorious, each is different - the owners would have their own ideas and suggestions when they briefed their builders....side by side, they look good...elegant not garish

Once restored these would make gracious investment homes to monied folks. This town has huge potential, the local government and the tourism folks would have loads of plans...

If nothing else, the antiques left behind are worth a pretty penny

Too cute to eat. I didn't have the heart to sink my fangs into their porcelain smooth skin and spoil their complexion with custard oozing out...

Bruce Lee was born and bred in the US. I doubt he spent very much time here if at all, at the home of his ancestors...the tourism people capitalised on his fame, turning this place into a museum of sorts with a few photos of him when he had become a well known actor. At the peak of his career, he had made Hong Kong his base not China.
Likewise, for Singapore's first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, his ancestral home is in another part of Guangdong province. The home of his grandparents have been turned into a museum filled with photos of him from the time he was a young boy, he was never born here nor grew up here...almost like a statement that he's their favourite son. There's a copy of the Merlion too! Whether permission was sought for the display, I can't tell, but Mr. Lee has never visited, I supposed he dosen't want to endorse the place turning that into a tourist trap, which is what the tourism body and the local government would like...

Another favourite son - Sun Yat Sen...better known as a revolutionary - in today's lingo, a disruptor...his political life is as complicated as his love life with several women...
I preferred to look at the exhibits. Singapore has a nice heritage building showcasing his exploits - not one for cult figures, I enjoyed the building more...

Passed this interesting Chinese coin-shaped building...

This can be a park in Japan with that imperial looking palace

Sacred Heart Cathedral in downtown Guangzhou

Caught my eye - that emblem has that hammer and sickle enclosed in a lotus, the former a symbol of Communism the latter a symbol of spirituality. (even Buddhism) On that verandah wall are 2 lotus buds. The association intrigues me. The words in Chinese say 'services provided by political party of Jiang Men'

A wall of oyster shells...sharp, rough...creative...

Love this! Feeding troughs recycled from the horses' barn into this water feature...

Shunde is one of the larger towns in the Guangzhou district.

Coming out from behind the bamboo curtain after long years of isolation and equally long years under Communist oppression, control and fear...China started from scratch. The early buildings were just functional and practical, no fancy trimmings, that was frowned on. Besides they had little resources. They were rectangular white-washed blocks. As they became newly rich, they started the relentless building - the infrastructure was put in place, the statement buildings, pretty much like Singapore in the 70s when the national bird was the crane, seen everywhere.

So what I see on my trips into China are fancy buildings, new and shiny, every town is competing for attention, every town has a statement building or 2...

I pick my China destinations selectively and have visited the really nice locations with natural beauty. I can't avoid the built-up cities so they aren't places I will re-visit...

City lights

Guangzhou Tower

Ubiquitous boat rides. Expect boat rides on every China tour - on a river, a lake (man made or natural), a gorge...this ride was to take in the city lights by night on the Pearl River.

Boat rides by day to take in a small town in the outskirts. The snack shops there did roaring business. The boat rides would provide employment for former fishermen and/or farmers displaced by the tremendous changes taking place around them. They may have lost their land and farms and fishing boats, they were compensated I'm sure, but are left without a livelihood...others got their land and homes displaced by huge dams... most boat crew were older folks ...

At this lunch venue, the theme was goldfish - the lanterns were beaut...

Lanterns are an inexpensive way to add pizzazz to a place, require less attention than plants.

I doubt this is a functioning kiln. It's not sooty, the place is too clean!..but it allowed me a close-up look of a kiln that's really huge, during its heyday it must produce tons of pottery...