Kaylah in Kuala Lumpur #1: Thean Huo temple

Last Friday, my family and I headed to Kuala Lumpur for a few days! I had never visited this city before, although it had been on my list of things to see while I’m living in Asia.

As the rest of my family had visited Kuala Lumpur before, it was up to me to organize the itinerary. I absolutely love organising itineraries so it wasn’t a problem. They make me so incredibly excited knowing that I will soon be able to lay my eyes upon such exciting sites in person.

On Saturday morning, I had planned for my family to visit the Thean Hou temple. This Chinese temple is an absolute landmark. It is six tiered and is dedicated to Goddess Tian Hou (The Heavenly Mother).

I was totally blown away as we made our way towards the entrance. None of my photos are able to do the temple justice. The traditional exterior was mesmerising. Each of the corners on the rooftops flicked up in a way that made them appear somewhat like crashing waves from afar.

As we made our way closer, the intricate details which lined the edges of the temple soon began to make themselves seen. The array of colours outlining the temple contributed to the beauty of this tranquil site.

I started to make my way up the staircase to where the worshipping area could be found. This was on the second last tier. Groups of people crowded around the entrance, removing their shoes and performing rituals. The scent of incense was extremely prevalent. There was also a wonderful view of Kuala Lumpur from this tier.

After removing our shoes, we entered the hollows of the temple. To say that I was blown away would be an incredible understatement. The paintwork and architecture inside made this one of the most beautiful interiors I had ever seen. I could have gazed upon the ceiling for hours. The copious amounts of colourful patterns caught your eye from every angle. It was easy to become lost in the never ending list of things to admire. Every single wall was covered in the most grand of designs. The ornate carvings and delicate embellishments made this temple a complete and utter spectacle.

I couldn’t imagine anyone spending less than 45 minutes here. There are gardens and statues to see. Areas are also dedicated to statues for each of the Chinese zodiac signs.

If you are in Kuala Lumpur or are planning on visiting you should DEFINITLEY put this site on your list of things to see! You will not be disappointed. I absolutely adored spending time here due to the beautiful setting and the wide range of areas to explore and learn about. It was the sheer size and delicacy of the temple that also made it worth the visit.

I plan on splitting my time in Kuala Lumpur into multiple posts as I saw so much and would love to give a detailed description of the major sites.

Stay tuned for more posts from Kuala Lumpur!

Best Ever Melting Moments

I used this melting moment recipe a few weeks ago and was blown away by how amazing the biscuits turned out! I made a few adjustments to it to make it my own. This recipe is super easy and the biscuits turn out absolutely perfectly! (If I do say so myself…)

Ingredients:

200g butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

½ cup icing sugar mixture

1 ½ cups plain flour

½ cup cornflour

 Passion fruit butter cream filling

1-2 passionfruit/s 

80g butter

2/3 cup icing sugar

For lemon butter cream filling:

1 lemon

1 tablespoon of zest

80g butter

2/3 cup of icing sugar

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Grease and line two biscuit trays.

Beat butter, essence and sifted icing sugar in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Stir in sifted flours in two batches to the mixture.

Using a teaspoon, spoon out the mixture and roll into small balls with lightly floured hands.

 Place the dough about 3cm apart on the baking paper lined oven trays.  Flatten slightly with a floured fork. Put the trays in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Leave to cool.

To make the butter cream beat butter and sifted icing sugar in a small bowl. You can use an electric mixer if you wish. Add the passionfruit juice. Add however much juice you need depending on the taste you want, usually one passion fruit will be enough. You don’t have to use passionfruit juice; you could always use 1tbsp of lemon juice and 1tbsp of zest . You may need more icing sugar depending on the consistency you want.

Sandwich two biscuits together with a teaspoon of  butter cream.  Dust the biscuits with extra icing sugar.  Enjoy!

The Moon Festival!

On Monday was the Chinese Moon Festival in Singapore. Legend has it that a young girl named Chang Er flew to the moon and has lived ever since. It is believed that you may even get to see her dancing on the moon during the festival.

Additionally, this festival is a time for family occasions and reunions. When the full moon rises, families gather together, gazing upon the moon, eat moon cakes and some even sing moon poems.

As you all know, my favourite thing about Singapore is experiencing the culture. Chinese New Year was probably, for me, the best experience of this year, so I was incredibly excited to experience another tradition; the Moon Festival.

At university, about a week before the moon festival, I asked some of my Singaporean friends what the best way to experience the festival was. I wanted to get the full, authentic experience! So we sat down and they told me that I should go and buy lanterns and head to the closest park to my home. Here, children and families will gather, with sparklers and run around carrying lanterns. With this in mind, my next stop was to buy some lanterns and get prepared!

With my unlit lanterns in hand, my family and I headed to Bishan Park on Monday evening. We walked around the massive park, hoping to find plenty of people there celebrating.

Soon the sky darkened, and the moon, so full and bright, helped light the path, guiding us to where everyone was celebrating.

From a distance I spotted bright orange lanterns, delicately hanging off the branches of trees accompanied by the loud sounds of laughing children. I then excitedly lit my lantern.

It was such a lovely night. Wandering around outside in the evening in Singapore is so pleasant and refreshing; you would hardly think that this countries climate is almost unbearable during the day. I loved just simply carrying my lantern around the park and people watching. There was such a wide, colourful assortment of lanterns held by people of all ages, from ones that played music, Disney characters and some that even had flashing lights on them.

I was totally surprised by how many people showed up, being a Monday night. It was so busy! There were people everywhere in big groups celebrating.

I had such an enjoyable time, and will treasure this experience. I am once again going to say (for the millionth time) how much I just LOVE experiencing this culture. I am always blown away but what I get to see with my own eyes and be a part of now that I am living here. Some of these traditions I obliviously and ignorantly had never even heard of until I moved to Singapore.  I am so interested in this culture and am so glad I have been able to understand some of South East Asia’s traditions while I have been living here. I hope I get to experience many more!