Belated Christmas present

Hello, a kitty?

George Town, Penang, Malaysia, December 2009.

Sunshine in Penang

George Town, Penang, Malaysia, December 2010.

Lot's of snow this year: Merry Indian belated Christmas

George Town, Penang, Malaysia, December 2009.

Free the bird

Kuan Yin Temple, George Town, Penang, Malaysia, December 2010.

After the plastic meal

Anyway, Penang's hawkers are the best!

George Town, Penang, Malaysia, December 2010.

Pinky on the road

What brand is it?

When was this vintage car built?

George Town, Penang, Malaysia, December 2010.

Chinese Buddhist Monk shows the way

Kek Lok Si Temple, Air Itam, Penang, Malaysia, December 2009.

Merry Snowman

Health to all and enjoy life!

Snowman with family, George Town, Penang, Malaysia, December 2009.

Buddha with driver

George Town, Penang, Malaysia, December 2009.

Lighthouse mosque

Sound sytem and architecture in perfect harmony.

George Town (protected by UNESCO), Penang, Malaysia, December 2009.

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?

My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.

Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,

So Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?

George Town, Penang, Malaysia, December 2009.

Petronas Towers

... used to be the highest building in the world ...

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, January 2009.

Offerings to the dead: send flames onto the family

The Chinese do a lot of offerings to the deceased. These offerings are made by burning fake money notes, known as hell money but also paper versions of what the deceased enjoyed on Earth or what the ancestor would have loved to have. Some families burn paper houses, cars, credit cards, flight tickets to give to their dead relatives. The Chinese feel that these offerings reach the ghosts and help them live comfortably in their new world.

Sometimes they also burn 'themselves' as seen below to foster the continuing relation between the alive and the deceased.

Malacca, Malaysia, July 2009.

Feeding the dead

Gods material shops (神料商店) are abundant in Chinese areas throughout East Asia. These shops are specialized in supplying materials for worship related to Chinese beliefs, these often being a mix of Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and whatever has crossed Chinese minds in the past thousands of years. Many of the items are made of paper and are effigies of the goods the deceased is longing for.

Below are some selected items for sale in Gods material shops:

A torch (below) as the souls may need more light...

... or a shirt, however it's the tropical version of cloth. Tried to find a fur coat made out of paper but it seems that the dead are not asking for it currently. It's surely a demand driven business.

An airline ticket together with God's mastercard: It's very important for the dead to stay mobil: traveling from paradies to hell and vice versa?

A nice mahjong set will provide the continuation of gambling in the afterlife.

Not one, but five different hand phones; just as in real life.

A pair of red sandales for the woman and cigars for the man, what else would make afterlife bearable?

Below some items for kids ...

... and for the 'branded' lady.

... and a house; why not to ask for more?

... like toilet items as bad breath may spoil no found relationships.

A ventilator as rightly presumed it will be a crowded place down/up there which deserves lot's of ventilation.

... and the winner is a white Rolls Royce, with driver. Just as in real life.

... don't miss the set of underwear for the lady below!

Malacca, Malaysia, July 2009.

Weird frog

Bon appétit?

Kuala Lumbur, January 2009.

delayed flight...

Photos from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, December 2008.

Something only a mother can love

See above and below some frogfishes.

If you look for a definition of frogfishes you might want to say 'creatures only mothers can love'.

The video below is showing a swimming frogfish, which is quite rare since you mostly find frogfishes sitting and waiting for prey. Frogfishes might move (actually walk) if you really annoy them with your camera.

Frogfishes swim slow, but the 'frogfish is known to have the fastest movement in the animal kingdom with a bite that has been photographed at high speed to take only 1/6000 of a second'.

Do you prefer orange? Do you want to see how a frogfish is angling and eats its prey?

All frogfishes from Mabul and Kapalai islands (North-West Celebes Sea, Malaysia), October 2007.

Diving Sipadan

Sipadan island (North-Western Celebes sea) was disputed between Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Since 2002 Sipadan island belongs officially to Malaysia. Therefore, the 2000 hostage crisis in which divers and local staff were kidnapped and brought to Jolo in the Philippines happened on no man's island. Today, the island is heavily patrolled by Malaysia's navy and navy check points are established on the island. The island is also protected from too much human interference to preserve the unique underwater habitat. No more resorts are allowed on the island, and scuba diving is regulated by permits.

Photo above: Leopard shark

Photo above: whitetip reef sharks

Photo above: Qualli and turtle

Photo above: tight school of Jacks

All photos from Sipadan island, October 2007. Surely, Sipadan is one of the best scuba diving destinations in the world.

It's not a leaf, it's a fish

Some things under water are hard to believe but this picture is not showing a leaf but a real 4 cm long fish, called robust ghost pipefish.

The good news: Such a fish will never end up in one of the fish restaurants.

Photo from Mabul island, October 2007.

After having seen the dentist?

Tight School of Bumphead Parrotfishes at Sipadan, October 2007.