Kuan Yin Tong Temple 1 Sep 2017

Kwan Yin Tong Temple is a cave temple located at the foot of Gunung Rapat on Jalan Gopeng, Ipoh.

Gunung Rapat is an impressive limestone karst tower which contains a number of other nearby cave temples such as Sam Poh Tong, Nam Thean Tong, Ling Sen Tong and Kek Lok Tong.

The cave at Kwan Yin Tong extends for about 20 metres under the cliff. The floor of the cave has been paved over with marble tiles and the lower sections of the walls have been smoothed off and whitewashed. The upper walls and roof have been left in their original natural cave state.

The temple is Buddhist and dedicated to the Bodhisattva Guanyin commonly known as the Goddess of Mercy.

Numerous statues of Guan Yin, both large and small line the walls of the cave temple, together with colourful murals.

There are stalls selling Guan Yin statues, incense and other temple paraphernalia.

Stairs off to the side of the temple lead to a higher level with a Buddha in seated position. But it was gated that we unable to go up, and we do not intend to go up as well.

A terracotta pagoda stands outside the cave.

Here we are, selfie with the big Kuan Yin Statue.

This is the little 2 kiddies with their Daddy selfie with the Kuan Gong behind.

And that, ended our cave temple visit in Ipoh. We only realise that we missed out the Perak Tong Cave Temple, Kek Lok Cave Temple, and other little smaller cave temples.

Sam Poh Tong Temple 1 Sep 2017

Sam Poh Tong can be translated as the Cave of Triple Gems. The Triple Gems is the most basic belief and doctrine of Buddhism and the core and foundation of the Buddhism. It refers to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

In addition to the Buddhist cave temple, the temple's compound includes a crematorium and a columbarium. Sam Poh Tong's columbarium looks like a 4-storey blue coloured apartment block.

In front of the temple is a very attractively landscaped garden designed around a large fish pond.

Islands on the pond are embellished with artificial rock formations perhaps shaped to resemble the Huang Shan mountains of China.

Japanese stone lanterns and pagodas add to the beauty of the garden.

Inside the cave temple, the main altar area is smaller I expected and filled with statues of Buddha and deities.

A staircase leads up to an upper level where there are a few more statues in display cases.

Behind a padlocked gate are some steps leading up the hillside but the path seems abandoned and overgrown.

Beyond the altar is a passage way leading out to a secluded garden containing the 'tortoise pond' and an ornate pagoda building with red roof tiles.

The pond was a fenced-off pool of vivid dark green water surrounded by an assortment of turtles sitting on a drab brick pavement.

The water was changed irregularly and that the living conditions were rather poor.

There were tourists purchased bunches of kangkung from a vendor at the entrance and threw pieces over the fence in the direction of the turtles. They seemed lazy but eventually gobbled down the food.

The pagoda building is reminiscent of Buddhist temples in Japan but it was also fenced off and padlocked.

The whole area is completely encircled by towering cliffs and there is no exit other than the passageway back into the cave temple. It looks a bit run-down in maintenance compared to Ling Sen Tong Temple.

One more thing is that there are a lot of beggers sitting outside the temple, most of them are old men and women. It really surprised me!

Later we left for the Kuan Yin Temple just around the corner.

Nam Thean Tong Temple 1 Sep 2017

Nam Thean Tong is a Taoist temple and this was evidenced by the painting over the entrance of the Eight Immortals, characters from Chinese mythology who are revered by Taoists.

Nam Thean Tong translates as Cave of the Southern Sky, 'southern sky' referring to heaven.

We did not go into the temple as everyone seems like to tire to climb the staircase leading up to the temple. We just wondered around at the fish pond and courtyard outside the temple.

These 3 were so funny! But I love them the most in the world!

Ling Sen Tong Temple 1 Sep 2017

After our breakfast at Restaurant Kong Heng, we came to the famous cave temples in Ipoh. The first cave temple that we visited and so eye catching is Ling Sen Tong cave temple.

It is located next door to Nam Thean Tong and Sam Poh Tong just off Jalan Gopeng on the southern outskirts of Ipoh. Ling Sen Tong probably picks up a lot of tourist visitors who are heading to those more famous cave temples.

This temple is quite different from its neighbours. The garden in front is decorated with colourful statues of characters from Chinese mythology such as the Monkey King from the classic tale Journey to the West, the Ji Gong and others.

The almost cartoon-like caricatures of dragons, the Goddess Kuan Yin and other figures give the temple a children's theme park atmosphere. Issac and Annabelle were so facinating with all the interesting statues around the court yard.

The cave itself is very shallow and is more like an overhang of the hill Gunung Rapat which looms above the temple.

Although the courtyard outside may resemble a children's garden, the cave temple itself appears to attract many whom come to pray and we can see the roof of the cave which has been stained black by the smoke of countless joss-sticks.

After spending some time here, we just walked to the Nan Thean Tong Temple through the connecting courtyard.

Princess Belated Birthday Celebration 2 Sep 2017

Princess actual birthday is on 31 August – Malaysia National Day. We only managed to celebrate with her after we were back from our Ipoh trip. Daddy bought a fresh cream butter cake for her. And, here we are!