I wonder how many visitors to Sibu will drop by the Tua Pek Kong Temple…
…here with its 7-storey pagoda. I know some people will do that so they can go up to the top floor of the pagoda for a bird’s eye view of the town. Well, that sunny day, before our Korean lunch at the restaurant close by, we dropped by and walked around the place…
…to pass the time.
I love the decor like these colourful borders that line the corners below the ceiling, the dragons…
…and the phoenixes…
…and there are lovely carvings all around on the walls and there is this fountain…
…there too and devotees go here to offer joss sticks to the tortoise…
…and also to the Kuan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) statue at the back.
There is a small park further to the back, the Chiang Chuan Garden (漳泉園) with nice swan statues…
– the iconic symbol of Sibu town but I did see a headless one. Hopefully, that was not the result of some act of vandalism – some people are really incorrigible.
There are a lot more beautiful carvings…
…though I do think some of them need a bit of washing…
…and cleaning…
…and there are some lovely plants here and there…
…like these pots of bonzai…
…for instance.
Ever so often, you will catch a glimpse of an express boat…
…sailing past along the majestic Rejang River, the longest in Malaysia, and you can go to the wharf to see these old motor launches…
…and these double-decker ones…
…that are now being used as floating grocery stores.
In the distance, you can see the Express Boat Wharf/Jetty with one of the leading hotels in Sibu in the background…
I must say that I enjoyed the walk a lot more than that time when I visited the massively huge temple complex which was somewhat dilapidated and run-down. I certainly hope they have done something by now to restore it and make it more worthwhile for visitors to go all the way to walk around the place.
THE SIBU TUA PEK KONG TAOIST TEMPLE (2.287257, 111.825988) is located along Jalan Temple at its t-junction with Jalan Chew Geok Lin.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 