Nine Emperor Gods Festival

The Nine Emperor Gods Festival is over. Yearly, it lasts for 9 days in the 9the month of the Lunar calendar.
This year, October 4th was the start of the festival. Enakkers of the MCG did not miss the opportunity to be among the devotees and visitors to soak in the atmosphere of the Taoist festival, and be there to have a vegetarian lunch right in the temple premises.

In the late morning, we met at one of the stalls. I'm no stranger to vegetarian dishes as Indian types do feature in my diet. I found the dishes blander and different; the  Indian dishes being aromatic and spicy. Most of the dishes has soya as one of the main ingredients - as in bean paste, bean curd etc.

Besides eating, we took the opportunity to catch glimpses of the goings-on. Really, it is worth witnessing  this festive aspect of Taoism. Below are some pictures taken as we moved about the temple. Certainly, the carnival - like atmosphere can carry one away in the actvities that surround us.

Sampling the vegetarian dishes as they came.

Look up the ceiling .

Joss sticks of different sizes , bunched to offer prayers for prosperity, longevity etc.

Anyone can ask for fortune to be told.

Keeping  the fires burning  as long as the cooks are at work.

Tortoises, big and small - brightly coloured and doughy

Chinese altar decorative cloth depicting gods and goddesses

All ready for the big, big wok.

Not for the faint-hearted. Got muscle, stamina  and ready to sweat it out??

Take a quick count . 

Devotees, all dressed in white. Never a grumble.

Smoke gets in your eyes.

Vendor delights on a Sunday

Last Sunday, we could not decide  what lunch would satiate our appetite but short of tossing the coin, we headed to Ampang village opting for yong tau fu. We arrived  there  in a mere 20 minutes. The place was  already a hive of activity . Parking  came without any hassle. Phew! Then it  was decision time - which shop should we pick to  eat the famous yong tau foo when 3  are standing in a row and blogged about so deliciously. Well,  hungry stomachs couldn't  wait and  we settled for Foong Foong.

 In the heartland of Ampang yong tau fu.  Business bustled at the  3 yong tau fu restaurants, one of which is hidden from the view. We were at Foong Foong.  Overall the food was good though I would have liked less oil  in the dishes cooked.

As we  weaved our way among the traffic and people, I heard  a familiar sound - ting, ting ting... I trained my ears to the sound. It rose above the hustle  and bustle of the cars honking . There he was, as expected, chisel in hand and knocking the bits of candy away from the main block in the pan. Excitedly I  reminisced the days when  the ting ting tong  man was a familiar figure in  the town when I was growing up. The main ingredients in this delight are sugar and sticky molasses. 

Chisel away and bits fall away from the main block. Will the ting ting tong man be around for long? - a dying breed  rarely seen.

Ready to be sold, the candy is wrapped in small packets. Wonder who with a sweet tooth will come along?

As we waited for our orders, our table was near  the vendors selling their delights  - just outside the shop and by the roadside juxtaposed among motor bicycles and  cars - a commonplace scene in a village setting. 

Our conversation turned to the nangka/jackfruit  vendor. Somehow, my hubby said it was 'a Ceylonese thing' to relish nangka! We laughed . He was referring fondly  to his late father who was from Sri  Lanka. He  enjoyed the nangka. And there's our neighbour, also Ceylonese. They  have a big tree sporting  huge fruits hanging on the trunk. The fruit is versatile and finds its way in the cuisines of India, Sri Lanka , Indonesia, Vietnam and  Cambodia where the  nangka is grown abundantly. The wood of the tree  is used to make musical instruments.

Selling the nangka/jackfruit  has been his business for the past 50 years since he was 17 - right inside this village! The fruits  are harvested  from Seremban.  It is a challenge to cut the fruit as the sticky latex gums up the hands and knife. To prevent this, the vendor rubs oil to make the job easier.

The exterior of the nangka has a spiky look.  Note the white fibre  clinging round the yellow  fleshy pods. Inside them are   seeds which look like chestnuts. These  can be boiled or steamed.

There's the roasted chestnut vendor  a few yards away. I paid special attention to him as I enjoy roasted chestnuts and later bought some.Seeing him reminded me of  our holiday in Lisbon  in 2009. In the train station behind the closed doors, we cracked  the hard outer hulls and shared some plump, golden  chestnuts, away from the cold wind. My other favourite way of eating chestnuts is to find them soft and moist in a turkey stuffing. Ymmm, they are simply gorgeous.

Can you smell the chestnutss roasting? The man was working hard turning the chestnuts over and over again in the huge wok. Even as I spoke to him to say I was taking a picture of him, he just nodded . Under the shade  and the sun was a scorcher by 1 pm, the heat did not seem to bother him.

A lady was attentively looking after her  pickled  pickled mango and papaya delights. Those who have a penchant for sourish  and sweetish  snacks will find this tantalising.  Occasionally  the pickled  papaya  finds it way at dinner tables as appetisers before the the start of  the meal proper . As for me, to make a choice, I prefer the pickled papaya.

Pickled mango and papaya to whet your tastebuds. I remember the  many stalls  during my childhood days. The full grown but green fruits are sliced and marinated in a mixture of vinegar, sugar and water.