Rekan-rekan semua, Berikut saya forward-kan laporan hari pertama perjalanan ke Pontianak dan Singkawang tim peneliti dari Singapura dan Canada bersama saudara Ardian. Laporan ini dikirim langsung dari Pontianak oleh salah satu peserta.
Hormat saya, Yongde --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "Victor Yue" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hi folks, This morning, at 6.30am, like excited schoolkids we were SMSing (text messaging) each other to check that we were indeed going to the right place. And so, by 6.45am, we were all ready to check into the departure lounge at Harbour Front. There was Margaret, Ronni, Tim, Aaron, Arthur and me .. the six of us, going into unknown land (as far as we are concerned). But with two veterans, we have no problems. One has the journalistic instinct and the other just has a nose for something interesting. And so, through many "misadventures" we got to learn a lot of things. By 12.15pm (Indonesian time .. it is one hour behind Singapore) we landed at Pontianak, after travelling over sea, land and air. Each of us had our impressions of how Pontainak will look like and I am sure each of us have to adjust our impression after bring met by the heat wave and the surroundings. The fluent Malay of Ronni and Margaret ensured that our trips to be smooth. Of course, we chipped in with our broken Mandarin and Teochew. Apparently, many of the Chinese in Pontianak are Teochew, whereas those in Singkawang are Hakka, Ready to go on our hunt, the poor friendly guy at the Gajah Mada Hotel frontdesk kena grilled by us. The more we checked around, it seems that Pontianak does not see much foreigners! And so, Ronni caused quite a stir wherever he went, what with his Malay and Hokkien! With so much to look for, we just went naturally into two groups, the research group and the hunter group. (^^) So, while Margaret, Tim and Arthur went to interview Pontianak Post (Chinese news paper), Ronni, Aaron and I decided to go for lunch first. We went a couple of steps away to have nasi padang. Not sure if the young SIngaporeans would eat, but we did and even has Bintang (beer) with 7UP in locally produced ice. Keeping our fingers crossed, we are still alive. (^^) After lunch we went walking along Jln Gajah Mada, checking on Teo (Zhang) Association - they are linked to the world Teo Federation and there was a poster of recent world conference in SIngapore, And then, we stepped into a joss shop. Woaw, the Teochew Ah Nya were tickled pink by this Angmoh (caucasian) barging in asking about the kim-shin (statue) in Hokkien. And soon, we struck up a lively conversation with the ladies. Wah, they have quite a range of joss papers, which according to this lady, were imported from China via Kuching (Sarawak, Malaysia) has an important main trunk road linking to Pontianak. Soon, we extracted the juicy tales such as why the Chap Goh Meh (15th day of Lunar New Year) celebrations was cancelled in Pontianak this year. Ah, on the surface, it was mentioned that there was an issue. From the streets, apparently, it is politics. And then, we learnt about tangki. There is one 84 year old tangki representing Guan Sheuy (Yuan Shuai) but they could not identify which Guan Sheuy. Along the way, Ronni spotted one nice Hu (talisman) and asked to take pictures. Of course, the lady was intrigued and soon, she sent us through the local transport (pickup truck buses) to this Chinese temple near to Tanjongpura. We just trusted her direction to the driver and were told to pay R2000 per person. This temple is dedicated to Mazu, NaZha and GanTianDaDi, with other Deities. The temple was said to be old but seemed new. According to one guy there who was very friendly and offered much information, they had done some renovations recently. Gosh, instead of giant joss sticks, here in Pontianak, it is giant candles!! On thing for sure from what I learnt from Yeow Wee, I looked for that extra beam under the roof. It was there. (^^) The guy sent us to the next temple dedicated to Guan Gong. But with no idea where we were going with his rapid Indonesian names, we walked and walked, exploring alleys and those wet market places that were history in Singapore. Ah, with an Angmoh, we became minor celebrities la .. everyone shouted Hi to Ronni .. wah, even girls in tudungs were waving vigorously at him to go to them. Not sure to buy food from them, for some proposals. (^^) So, far I have not seen a single angmoh! Maybe, we were in the wrong places. (^^) And then, we saw a temple named Shuang Zhong Miao (Siang Tong Beo as told to us by the people there). Here, we could not recognise the Deities. So, we need Jave's comments. (^^) I will send pictures later. The courtyard was just filled with dozens of giant candles on both side of a narrow walkway as we walked into the temple! We could feel the heat as we walked in. The Deities were different from what we have seen, And the devotees were lining up lions (like those of lion dances), probably made of dough According to the temple person, the devotees, after the prayer, would bring them home. So, Pontiananak indeed has its own traditions. More needs to be explored. (^^) As we walked back towards our hotel, we spotted a Cheng Huang Miao that was closed. Maybe, we could explore this temple before heading for Singkawang with Ardian arrives from Jakarta. We rounded up the day with a grand dinner at one of the best restaurants in this stretch .. and recollect our encounters of the day. Of course, before we could reach the Gajah Mada Restoran (which has the best oo-ni that I have tasted - a Teochew dessert of yam paster and gingko nuts), we were "lured" (actually led by Ronni) into this Fire Station ( we found out that there are some 10 such voluntary fire-fighting teams in Pontianak) to find out that they actually have a dragon dance troupe which participated in the Chap Goh Meh in Pontianak since 2002. They have a 60m dragon requiring some 120 people (need 10 just to manage the head as it was very big) and has 17 poles! MOre adventures await and I am sure I have missed out much too ... and so wil wait for the rest to add in their bit. (^^) -- Victor in Pontianak, Kalimantan, Indonesia .. immediately under the Equator. --- End forwarded message ---
