Photo Post 1

LIZARD!!!!!!!

Stop One on Religions Walk: The Chinese Mansion

I was a huge fan of these portraits - each over 7' high - of the ladies of the house. The second one was a real looker! Look at those deep set eyes...shrivelled lips...pointed cheekbones.

I want these window coverings. Lots.

This is a "lovers chair", designed so that you don't strain your back while looking longingly into each others' eyes. Worked for me!

This is the opium chair. Meant for classy lads with harmless drug addictions.

It's a plant. I liked it. So now you can like it too!

  

Apparently women were avid gamblers, and were also known to be quite the cheaters! 

The first location we visited was an old Chinese mansion with an attached temple. The temple was infested by bats. If you get defecated on by one, it is considered very good luck. (Un)fortunately, we managed to avoid that one tradition...

...this gold lion hasn't fared as well as we did.

Then we were off to Little India!

These Mosques make so much noise in the morning, but hearing the call to prayer is beautiful and really mellows out the emotions. It's just enough to make you forget the heat.

The next stop was a Hindu temple. The carvings were amazingly bright and vivid. It was a huge shift moving from the serenity of the Chinese shrines to the mixture of scents and sights that make up Hindu legend.

This, for those who don't know, is durian, the "king of fruits". It smells like a mixture of wet dog and rotten vegetation, but apparently tastes delicious. I'll let you know tomorrow after our visit to a tropical fruit farm!

Speaking of food...we eat and drink A LOT! This is my new favourite drink, for no other reason that the fact that is is called "Kickapoo Joy Juice". I'm fairly sure the "kick" is just the large belch that awaits you after you down an entire can!

For lunch, we ate at a small Indian food place. Which served coconut water. In coconuts. How cool is that?! The food was the best I've ever tasted, and it was a true rarity in the fact that us vegetarians new for a certainty that we could eat it. Most things here have hidden fish broth, prawn paste, or chicken fat lurking between rice noodles, ready to pounce on our intestines!

Last but not least, we got henna'd! Really beautiful stuff, and every one of us received a different design. This is mine, and luckily enough, it is my favourite of the bunch.