Yang ini laporan hari kedua. Saudara Rudi, salah satu teman kita di forum ini juga sudah turut serta.
Hormat saya, Yongde --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "Victor Yue" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hi folks, Alas, there was internet access problem when were in Pontianak hotel and in Singkawang, no internet access. So, I hope this gets through tonight. We are leaving for home tomorrow, or rather later this morning. (^^) What a trip! Victor ---------------- Hi folks, It was another adventurous day. Alas, I could not give live update as our hotel in Sengkawang has no internet access. We had a rather leisure morning, having breakfast at 9am Pontianak Time. As usual, we could continue discussing and talking until Ronni decided we should be doing the walking and not the talking. (^^) We were still on the trail of the Guan Shuey mentioned to us. There were conflicting information. Margaret got from another source that they would be having consultations at 9am! When we finally found the temple which is at the alley facing Ligo Supermarkt, the people there were somewhat expecting us. Word must have gone around about a siow angmoh (crazy angmoh) looking for this Guan Sheuy. We were welcomed warmly. Ah, the people of Pontianak are so warm and friendly. It is as if they were not "spoilt" by the commercialism of tourism. We were quickly introduced to the 84 year old medium. Soon, we were being led to the three "halls" of the temple and even to the family history of the medium. He has a sister living in Singapore! He came to Pontianak with his father at the age of 15. His father brought the lao-yah (statue of Xuan Tian Shang Di) from China to Pontianak. Since there, they also have on the second hall, the God of Medicine and on the front, Chao Gong Ming, i.e. the Teo Guan Shuey we were looking for. The locals only know him as Guan Shuey! In Pontianak, instead of the praying to Tai Sui, of which it is part of it during the Chinese New Year, they actually have a table indicating which God to pray to depending on the year one was born. One of the common ones was the praying to the White Tiger (Bai Hu), Heavenly Dog (Tian Gou) and Wu Gui. We were all over the place, with six of us talking to more than six of them! There was this lady who is probably the niece to the medium, who was giving me the testimonies of how the Teo Guan Shuey had treated the people and one of them stayed to become a volunteer in the temple. Two of them were so kind as to guide us to our next destination, the Tua Pek Kong Temple. Margaret was told that this is the temple where most mediums would visit. The temple was very busy when we visited the place at almost 12noon. There were so many offerings fresh meat, eggs and fish! I don't remember seeing fresh fish being offered in the Hokkien temples in Singapore. The sky was turning dark and Ronni was intent on visiting the Cheng Huang Temple we saw last evening. So, we continued our journey, when we saw the Ming Shan Tan. We decided to pay a visit to this Buddhist looking temple. To our surprise, there was actually a mix of Deities. Taking the centre place was Yiao Ci Jin Mu (Ardian told us she is Xi Wang Sheng Mu) and above her was Tai Shan Lao Jun. On their left was Yu Huang and above him, three Buddhas, There was a very nice picture of Gui Shen. On the other side was Cai Sheng. This temple has communications with the Buddhist temples in Singapore. We then carried on to the City God Temple. It was a small temple in a shophouse but it was crowded and everyone was waiting for his/her turn to seek petition to the City Gods. The City God and his wife (I think) looked like they must have been officials before, very much like what I saw in Shanghai, unlike those in Singapore who are more related to the Hades. It was past 1pm and we rushed back to the hotel to prepare for checkout. Ardian and his wife, Mei have arrived, and together we went for lunch. Thereafter, Rudi joined us with more friends, Jack, Johnnie and Leong. With one more group, we were able to space out into two cars to Sengkawang. It was a four hour drive along a two-way road from Pontianak to Sengkawang. The road reminded me of the roads in the eastern part of Peninsula Malaysia, except that the traffic is heavier. With a brief stopover for a cup of coffee while waiting for the other car to catching, we were on our way again. Ronni confessed that he wanted to ask the driver of his car to stop some 20 times! There were just so many beautiful temples to explore. As we neared towards Sengkawang, about 15 minutes away, we stopped at this place called Yian Ting (Salt District) or Jam Thang in Hakka. Apparently, in the old days, this was the first place where the Hakkas lived upon arriving in Kalimantan and salt making was one of their early business. Rudi's friend, Eugenia, who is in Taiwan for some 10 years or so, has just come back for the Chap Goh Meh and she agreed to arrange for us to meet some tangki (known as Tatung here). The first stop is in this one street with two rows of terraced houses. Just as we were about to take off from the car, all 9 of us jammed in it as the other car has gone ahead to check into the hotel, the car could not start! So, we came down to push the car to get it started. That's one thing good about manual driven cars. We decided to walk in the light rain to this sintua, Eugenia was our interpreter, from Malay or Mandarin to Hakka. The medium has been a medium some 30 years ago. When I asked how he got into trance, he said that it was one chap goh meh, as he was drinking coffee in a warong (kopitiam), he felt not well. He went home, and then, he got into trance and ran to the big Guan Gong Temple (Xie Tian Miao) just outside the stretch of houses. Now two of his sons are also mediums, one starting some 5 years ago and the other 3 years ago. The former being the medium for La Tok Kong (Datok Gong) and the other for Guan Yin. There was a fan on which the medium wrote in Arabic while in trance as a Datuk Kong! As we took our leave, we spotted another temple where there was a huge sawfish saw. This got us interested and soon we were inside taking pictures. Unknown to us, the temple people were already preparing for the arrival of the tatung. Soon we got news from Eugenia and so we positioned ourselves in the best places to wait. The rhythm of the drum and gongs were different from those in Singapore. The way the tatung dance, it somehow reminded me of the Dayaks(?) in Sabah dance. He used his fan to hold the sheng bei (divining blocks) to seek approval from the Gods. Soon, he was in trance and climbed on to the special bladed sedan chair. After he had sought all the approvals, he went limp, when a waiting pair of hands was there to hold him while another one revived him. It was 8.30pm when we left this place and we decided dinner. With Rudi as our guide, we went to this interesting roadside stall at Jln Kurau. For the young Singaporeans, I am not sure if they would eat here. I MMSed a picture to my daughter, and her remarks were that it looked like a market place than a restaurant. (^^) But boy, was the food shiok! With a fair number of dishes .. gingered fried pork, chicken in soya sauce, mapotafu, green vegetables, soup and drinks, it was Rp250,000 .. for 9 persons. In a couple of steps away, the procession was going on. Wow, the size and length of the dragons, especially the head, there is nothing in Singapore to compare! We were told that the huge one came from Kuching, Malaysia! Interestingly, after the dragon passed, a heavy downpour followed. And just as soon, it disappeared, but that left Ronni wet! But he was elated. After makan, we were ready to check in. Woaw, there was just not enough rooms for us! With Rudi's connections and skills, added by Ronni's angmoh charms, we managed to get three rooms in Hotel Restu. There was also one room in Mahkota. The rooms were spartan, but certainly better than no room. Another exciting day lays ahead .. and Rudi and Eugenia have already planned for us from 8am right into the night! -- Victor --- End forwarded message ---
