Georgetown World Heritage City Day 2015

Every year of 7th July, there is an tourist attraction event will be held within Georgetown area to celebrate Georgetown World Heritage City Day. The exact location is not fixed but last year, this event is held along the Lebuh Carnavon. It was really a long stretch of various cultural booth and stalls in both side of the road. If 7th July is fall on a weekday, they will have another similar event on the weekend on the same week itself. So basically this event is lasted for 2-3 days. The time started at 5,00pm until late 11.00pm or 12.00am depending on the stalls and booths.

The opening ceremony is done by our 4th Chief Minister of Penang, Yang Amat Berhormat Tuan Lim Guan Eng. He is always a respectable figure to local especially the Penangites.

He is trying his chopstick skill in one of the booth. This booth is displaying how the Chinese using their chopstick and teaching you the right way to use a chopstick.

This is the Chinese opera costume. The costume itself is made of silk and its fine art masterpiece which cost this extraordinary costume worth more than thousand ringgit.

The actors and actress are preparing themselves to stage for a Chinese opera performance. While waiting everything to get ready, they are willing to have a photo session with the tourists.

They are showing how they did their make up live to the public. They do not use make up artist because they already are make up artist themselves. All I can say is, it is a tedious work to do to such a precise make up on the face. Absolutely not an easy task to balance both side of the faces equally.

While waiting for the Chinese opera masters to get themselves ready, the ongoing performance at that moment was the traditional Nyonya dance by the elders.

If you have seen Ip Man block buster movie by Donnie Yen, you will probably know what is Wing Chun. Wing Chun is one of the Chinese martial art. That's one of the performance that was showing on the stage. They did showed how they sparred with each other using this kung fu.

Another one of the popular culture in Penang that should not be missed is the Chinese Calligraphy. Watching them writing on the paper is like watching them dancing with the brush while the paper is their dance floor. Very elegantly done! 

They do sell some of their calligraphy art at a reasonable price. 

Another great performance is to lifting this more than 50kg weight of flag with your head. They will use their leg first to kick it onto their head and hold as long as they can. The longer they hold the better it is. This performance has a very high risk and very dangerous. Don't do it at home and you only do that with a guidance by a professional.

This event is not just selling but some they teach you their cultural arts for free. One of the famous cultural arts which has been almost long forgotten after we are all having the smartphones is the art of folding a Bamboo Leaf Grasshopper. For your information, Bamboo Leaf Grasshopper was a toy for our grandparents and some using it as a sign of love to their love ones. I doubt anyone would want it now.

Tang Yuan making session. This is the best thing you should get your ones to do with it. To get them know about the traditional culture and pass them all to the next generation. Don't let them die because of the technology. Tangyuan or tang yuan is a Chinese food made from glutinous rice flour mixed with a small amount of water to form balls and is then cooked and served in boiling water. Tangyuan can be either small or large, and filled or unfilled

This is a Lantern Bun making station. You can make your own bun, give it to them and cook. and then design it all your own. It is free but they do encourage your donation to support them to continue this amazing cultural practice.

Not just about Chinese culture in this event. Even Indian culture is really what makes Georgetown so special. My wife was trying to make Indian famous Murukku. Murukku is an Indian traditional snacks which has a lot of spices in it. Absolutely delicious. It is my childhood favorite snack.

Murukku is typically made from rice and urad dal flour. The flours are mixed with water, salt, asafoetida and either sesame seeds or cumin seeds. The mix is kneaded into a dough, which is shaped into spiral or coil shapes either by hand or using a mould. The spirals are then deep fried in vegetable oil.

These are the ingredients to make the delicious Bak Chang/Zongzi. It is a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo, reed, or other large flat leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling. In the Western world, they are also known as rice dumplings, sticky rice dumplings, rice tamales or Chinese tamales.

My wife just loves to try on anything after all she is new to Malaysia. It was a great learning experience for her to know about our Malaysian culture. They are traditionally eaten during the Duanwu Festival which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar (approximately late-May to mid-June). 

Once done, you tied them up like this. A popular belief amongst the Chinese of eating zongzi involved commemorating the death of Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet from the kingdom of Chu who lived during the Warring States period. Known for his patriotism, Qu Yuan tried unsuccessfully to warn his king and countrymen against the expansionism of their Qin neighbors. When the Qin general Bai Qi took Yingdu, the Chu capital, in 278 BC, Qu Yuan's grief was so intense that he drowned himself in the Miluo river after penning the Lament for Ying. According to legend, packets of rice were thrown into the river to prevent the fish from eating the poet's body. Although it may have originally been a seasonal food, zongzi are available year-round in most major cities with a significant Chinese population.

If you are playing with your iPad while reading my blog, have you ever think about what were your parents were playing while they are young? Over here, there are a lot of games which are not gadget oriented which you will find it weird why would your parents or grandparents love playing them.

The organizer is showing how marble is played. So now the new generation still remembers how to play this game.

This is my all time favorite game during my childhood which is the eraser war. I got a box of eraser which I won against my friends which is still with me now. A very nostalgic moment whenever I look at them. They are like my trophies. They are many more games which I can't capture all of them due to my low battery at that moment. So please forgive me. You can find out more about the traditional games yourself in this year's Georgetown World Heritage City Day. So do not miss it!

You have seen a lot of cultural arts, performance, handicraft and games. However one thing that will not die is the food. No matter how old it is, people will still remember it, will like to taste them and will hunt them down. Tau fu fa or known as Sweet Tofu Pudding is always the no.1 favorite! Look at the crowd! They seems like going to tear the tiny stall down. Oh ya, do not forget to always mix the Sweet Tofu Pudding with a little hot soya bean milk. They are a perfect combination.

Traditional Kopi-O or known as black coffee. Not made from those fancy coffee machines but just the natural filter and poring gesture like this to make the delicious traditional black coffee.

Black coffee is always best when you eat them with the Roti Kiap. It is a bread which is mixed with butter and kaya. Kaya is a traditional jam which is made from coconut and egg. You can see it from the picture where the young girl is spreading the kaya on the toast bread.

I have to acknowledge that the best curry is not by the Chinese and not by the Malay. It is by the Indian. Indian always made the best curry! The fragrance itself can be smelled from far away. They are not stingy with their spices. Even the foreigners cannot resist it.

Rojak! It is a traditional fruit and vegetable salad dish commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

As for the Chicken Rice, it is got to be the Chinese who make the best! Only them can deliver the juicy, tender and sweet chicken meat. Either it is a roast chicken or a steamed chicken, you will never got bored with them.

As for the Malays, they always make the best Satay! All thanks to their grilling skill. Their satay meat are always made just right to remain the juiciness and soft texture with infused charcoal fragrance.

Not just all. The gravy from the satay is also plays the important part too. It is spicy but the fragrance from the peanuts are the reason why people seems like eating the gravy more than the meat itself.

Dragon's Beard Candy is one of my best snacks. It is a handmade traditional art of China. It is also a traditional Chinese sweet similar to spun sugar, which can be found in many Chinese communities. Dragon's Beard Candy was initially created in China, but soon spread in popularity and became a regional delicacy in other parts of East Asia, as well as (and more recently) Canada, Singapore, the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan. Dragon's Beard Candy was a highly prized sweet within the Korean royal court as well.

Traditionally, Dragon's Beard Candy is made from sugar and maltose syrup, although recipes based on corn syrup are now used in the United States. The main ingredients of Dragon's Beard Candy include of fine white sugar, peanuts, desiccated coconut, white sesame seeds, corn syrup, and glutinous rice flour. Due to the presence of large amounts of syrup, the candy is very high in fat and sugar.

Dragon's beard candy has been described as an old-fashioned candy characterized by a "rich, sweet flavor" with a threaded, chewy texture. Its appearance resembles that of a white cocoon or pillow shape. It is usually wrapped with sugar peanut inside.

Ice Kacang or ABC is the one which is the famous in our local dessert stall. Some will have additional scoop of ice cream on top of it. But did you know that originally it is known as Ice Ball but we called it Old Style Ice Ball now.

Basically just a round shape of shaved ice and you just put the coloring flavor on it. It was that simple. However, ridiculously they are selling RM3.00/pc for that. This is the only stall I find that is selling to make huge profit from the event. Most of other stalls are selling below or same with the market price. It is not a good way to show to an event like this. However, most of the visitors wouldn't know what is the market price of this ice ball anyway.

Not all the food are chargeable. There are some food is free for you to taste them. Such as this Chinese crepe. It is so delicious and they allow you to try it yourself too.

Nian gao is a food prepared from glutinous rice and consumed in Chinese cuisine. While it can be eaten all year round, traditionally it is most popular during Chinese New Year. It is also traditionally eaten during the Duanwu Festival. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao.

This temple is opened for public to visit. It is a traditional temple which the local managed to conserve and protect every piece of it until today.

Overall, I have to admit this kind of event is really meaningful. It brings a lot of different culture into one place by showing how truly colorful Malaysia is and we are able to live in peace and harmony under one roof. However, I do hope they will able to invite more Indian and Malay cultural arts in here. In addition to that, I do hope more locals to visit this event not just to understand the culture but it is the best place for your kids to grow up with all these knowledge so they will know to respect each other races and cultures. Before I end this post, I would like present to you my edited version of a live lion dance below. Hope you enjoy it.