Ordinary people with extraordinary life

Nan Tien or The Southern Paradise Temple is the largest temple in the sourthern hemisphere. A buddhist temple in a western country... this really stir up my curiorisity and must go and witness it by my own eyes. After looking at thier official website (http://www.nantien.org.au/) and been there myself, only I got to know that Nan Tien Temple is not only a big temple for praying, but it only serves as an educational centre for meditation retreats, excursion, art classes and including a lodge too.

Driving there is not really tough because there are signage in most of the road.

This was temporary set up in conjuction of Buddha's birthday with the inspiration of the birth of Buddha in Lumbini. Miracally, after birth, the little Buddha stood up and walked 7 steps. As he walked, lotus flowers bloomed.

Wishing ponds - I guess this is one of the favourite of most people as we have lots of wishes and we hope that by throwing coins into the little wishing pond, our wishes would be granted. Well. I think the intention is good because as we pray whole heartedly and sincerely, I believe that we can attract the good thing. Law of attraction.

Beautiful architecture and each one of them has their own story and meaning. In order to know about Nan Tian Temple, we joined the guided tour which cost AUD 4 per person for 90 minutes tour. I think it worths every cent of it because it is really informative!!! If not mistaken, it is only conducted on weekends at 1pm.

Little guardians on the rooftop

Can you see the difference between these two 'lions'? Clue : one of them is female and the other one is a male. The one that holding a ball with its right leg is a 'HE' and 'SHE' is the one holding a baby with its left leg. All these information were given by our tour guide.

Pagoda - only the ground floor is open for public.

Walking up the hills and heading up to a special place

This is the special place - Nan Tien Gratitude Bell. It is to acknowledge the gratitude we have for our parents and ancestors. Filial piety is one of the virtues of marality and one of the most imprtant one too. As young, we were tought to always practice filial piety in respect of our parents. This is not a normal bell, but a bell which Filial Piety and Respect to Parents Sutra are inscripted on the bell. It is believed that we can send good wishes to our parents and family by sounding the bell.

Overlooking the beautiful view beneath the Gratitude Bell

The temple is very spacious and though it was full with tourist on that day, we still felt very calm and peaceful. Everything seem in a slower pace and relaxing. Another features of the temple is .... all these cute little monk in different posture. REally adorable.

Every pillar, flag and drums also has its own story. Our tour guide told us lots of information during our 90mintues tour. We also got to know that there is a lodge inside Nan Tien temple which is the Pilgrim Logde. If I have more time, it would be good to stay overnight and join their activities such as medication retreat.

This is interesting. Before we going out from the temple, we saw a chinese phrase on the door. The direct translation is : if you do something bad/wrong, but if turn back, you would back to shore or else you may face deep fierce sea in fron of you. Actually, it means if you make any mistakes, please stop doing that and you will be safe or will not trap deeper and deeper.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Wollongong - How I wish this is my house!!!

Along the journey, we saw many beautiful beachside house. This is just one of them and it was for sale at the time.

Spacious deck at the back and overlooking the Pacific Ocean

Imagine this is what you see every morning, every afternoon, or 27/7.... a perfect holiday house

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

wollongong- A place that shouldnt be missed

If you want to have a day trip or short trip away from Sydney, where would you go? Central Coast? Wollongong? My friends always tell me that Wollongong and the Grand Pacific Drive are very gorgeous and I should go there one day.

Wollongong is a seaside city in the Allawarra region of New South Wales and it is the 3rd largest city in NSW. The quickest way to go to Wollongong from Sdyney is via M1 and Princess Highway South. If you have a little longer time, I would highly recommend to go for the Grand Pacific Drive. It is a very scenic way to see more of Wollongong, the escarpment and the cliffs. Dont have GPS and worry may get lost? No worries. Grand Pacific Drive is well signaged.

Look for 'Wollongong' or the brown signage of 'Grand Pacific Drive' and it would lead you to all the interest spots of the journey, namely the Bald Hill, Sea Cliff Bridge and others. If you have more time, you can also drop by the National Park along the way.

A detailed signage explaining the geography and things to see or do along the Grand Pacific Highway. The tourism board really does a great job.

All the seaside cities... so beautiful..

It took us around 90 minutes to reach the first stop in our journey- The Bald Hill. Standing there, really relaxing and the view is really fantastic. The only downside is the wind is extremely strong, as if it may blow us away. The 'snaky' looking bridge down there is the famous Sea Cliff Bridge.

But the strong wind is what needed for tandem hanggliding. If you like to take changllenges and with extra cash in your pocket, you should try this out with about AUD 245 (weekend & public holidays) or AUD 220 (weekdays).

A view from Bald Hill. It is just so magnificient and put me off all my narrow perceptions because the world out there is so BIG. Acceptance....

From Bald Hill, we drove down to Sea Cliff Bridge. There are parkings before and after the bridge. Pedestrians are alllowed to walk on the bridge using the pedestrian path.

Love locks in Sea Cliff Bridge

So romantic

To be continued........

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Buffet in Rosehill - All you can eat for AUD 12.90

Buffet... should I love it or... hate it? Love it because there are plenty of great food and the price is reasonable. Hate it because I can only eat that much and it is not easy to maintain good body shape while fighting for the seduction of great food.

Anyway, I really like this buffet. Top Taste Buffet of Rosehill Bowling Club

All you can eat for less than AUD 15 and even cheaper if you are a member. Well, a bowl of Fried Noodle costs about AUD 10 in Parramatta, so, I think it is really worthy to eat here as we can eat all kind of food until we are very very full.

Really mouth-watering !!! Steak, chips, deep fried scallop, spring rolls

vegan? No worries. There are plenty of salad such as Mixed bean salad, Angel hair salad, Greek Salad, Coleslaw Salad.... Yum yum

Only like Asian food? Here you are. Salt and pepper Squid, Mussels with sweet chili source, honey chicken, omelette...

Here comes the desserts- cakes, puddings, fruits.....

Free flow of coffee and tea. If you want to have cold drinks or beers, then you can to pay for it.

What is this?? This is a self-service 'Mc-Donald-like' ice-cream machine. take as much as you can eat!!! wow....

Delicious...

Tasty....

so enjoyable...

Tired of chewing? Then, you can look out for the green or see the elderly playing balls outside. What a relaxing day?!

Top Taste Buffet, Rosehill Bowling Club
Location : Cnr James Ruse Drive & Hassell Street, Parramatta, NSW
Cuisines : Modern Australian & Chinese

Open for lunch and dinner 6 days a week ( closed on Monday)
Trading hours : Lunch - 11.30am to 2.15pm
Dinner- 5.30 pm to 9 pm ( Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday)
5.30 pm to 9.30 pm ( Friday and Saturday)

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Cari makan- Ipoh Old Town : The Coffee

Lots of people love coffee. Some of them even deeply in love with coffee until have to show up in the coffee shop two times a day. My dear father is one of them. Well. He is addicted with the coffee and everyday he would automatically takes his car and go to that coffee shop - in Ipoh Old Town.

The white coffee is very smooth, with great aroma and taste very very good. very gao + make you wanna have second cup

As the name implies, Ipoh old town is still with rows of old buildings. full with special old fashion feeling

Though there are some renovated new shops around that area. This row is mainly chinese shops, and the row of shops that is next to this are mainly Indian shops

food!!!!

Drinking coffee only cant fill up the stomach, got to have really good food too. The Hakka noodle is good. The choo cheong fun is very nice. Although it is simple, but the source is really special RM2.50

Lining up for money? Nope. For this roast pork. yum yum. To my surprise, the pork is quite expensive. RM5 for this small portion of roast pork.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Cari makan in Ipoh - Delicious Ipoh food

Ipoh is famous for 3 things :
1. Beautiful hills ( Ipoh is also known as hill city)
2. Pretty girls ( Leng lui)
3. and yummy food

When I was still a student, my friends and I used to like to yumcha in a hawker centre ( or more precisely - a row of hawker stalls on a road) - the Tongshui Gai ( Dessert Street).

As usual, it is crowded with people and so happening. Lots of food, dessert.... mouth-watering.