Count Your Blessings!

With love and passion, everyone can have a nice garden...Elaine Yim

Count Your Blessings!
Count The Garden By The Flowers, Never By The Leaves That Fall.
Count Your Life With Smiles And Not The Tears That Roll.
..... Author unknown.

Knowing me, Knowing you..... Aha.....!

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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The Oriental Garden of Sam Poh Tong, Ipoh

Sam Poh Tong, when translated means The Tripple Gems Cave. Some like to call it The Cavern of Tripple Gems. Discovered in 1890 by a monk from China, this Chinese Buddhist temple was built within a natural limestone hill and managed by monks and nuns. Inside the cavern, there are beautiful Buddha statues, natural stalactite and stalagmite formations and a tortoise pond. There is also vegetarian food and a columbarium here.

At the entrance to this temple, towards the right hand side, there is a beautiful oriental garden. This garden was awarded "The Best Landscaped Garden in Malaysia" in 1993. It was a big tourist attraction with its picture perfect views, variety of well-kept plants and fish pond. This man-made masterpiece is a photograher's paradise.

This feng shui garden has a spectacular view against the backdrop of a tropical rainforest. The chinese word for landscaped garden is "shan shui", meaning mountain and water. Like any typical chinese rock garden, there is the rock-shaped mounds, bridges, pavillions and a pond with gold fish and carps. Amidst cool and quiet surroundings, plants and rock formations provide the scenic beauty while fishes and tortoises add life to the garden. Click on the picture and you can find 2 stone fishes beside the stone lamp in the pond. There is a triangular shaped rock in the centre of the pond. Can you see some tortoises here? They are real. Sam Poh Tong is also famous for the 'live-in' tortoises. Tortoises symbolise longevity.

A beautiful pavilion leads to the garden. There is a meandering path along the way lined by stone chairs and benches where one can sit down and take a rest while enjoying the spectacular view. This is a beautifully carved stone lamp on an ancient mythical creature. Is that a pine tree above ? An oriental garden is never complete without the pines, bamboo and bonsai. Pines symbolise longevity, persistence and wisdom.

This stone toad is basking under the yang energy of the sun during the day and yin energy of the moon at night. I hope that it will come alive after dark to catch or frighten away all the blood-sucking and disease carrying mosquitoes. Can you see a large chinese pavillion in the background? That's the place visitors love to sit, relax and enjoy the scenic views.

Here's a bonsai on a giant ceramic pot with auspicious pictures and writings. Bonsai is a symbol of peace and harmony. It was originally planted in monasteries. Look at the beautiful rock formations. Can you see a tall pink bougainvillea shrub in the background?

The rock towers from another angle. Now, more tortoises have joint their friends. They seem to be sunbathing here. There are also carps and other fishes in this pond. Ancient rock gardens were mostly designed for scholars. It was a place for the learned to connect with nature, providing a calm and tranquil setting for quiet contemplation, medidation and spiritual stimulation. It is where they find inspiration for expression in poetry, art painting and calligraphy.

Another bonsai, perhaps a pine tree?


Little Buddha with a welcome gesture?

Closeup of little buddha.

A monk in medidation here?

This is the picture that I like most. A little kid taking a nap. So chubby and cute. Gives me the happy and contended feeling.

10 comments:

  1. BEAUTIFUL pictures!!!
    THanks for sharing!

    Michelle

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  2. What a really interesting post

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  3. How many interesting things you showed to us! Thank you!

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  4. Michelle, Joanne, Tatyana. TQVM for your comments. So glad to see you all here.

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  5. I need to add this garden to the Blotanical list where it asks what garden you want to visist before you die!
    So cool, I love Asian stuff.
    Thanks for stopping by my blog!
    Rosey

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  6. There was a temple with vegetarian outlet in Ipoh years ago. People crowded the place for the food, and we can have food taste like meat, taste like prawns etc, etc, all using herbs, spices , done in vegetarian ways. How lovely!

    Could it be Sam Poh Tong? I stayed in Ipoh in the early part of 80's and things didn't click well for such a long absence.

    Have Fun
    ~ bangchik

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  7. What a fascinating and beautiful place you've shown us with your lovely photos! It looks like a very peaceful place to wander around and take in all the sights.
    I too like that last photo :)
    I've enjoyed reading your posts about life in your corner of the world. Love those portulacas!
    How nice to have the orchid to remind you of your mum. Certain flowers always bring my mother to mind too...like fuchsias, bougainvillea and many others. She was an amazing gardener (in Australia, where I grew up).
    Thanks for sharing the beauty of your surroundings, and thanks also for stopping by and saying hello :)

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  8. lovely photos!

    I´m a Swedish woman living in Singapore and I love taking photos:)

    Have a good day!

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  9. Gee, with a great view and interesting things like this, I would have spend hours here. I smile when I saw the last picture, the kid statue really cute, should have taken a shot with him here if I were you. I bet you did. :D

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  10. Rosey Pollen, Thank you very much for your nice comments.

    Bangchik, you are right. The vegetarian restaurants can make fake meat dishes. But I think eating vegetables (especially those from your garden) is more healthy and tastes better.

    Kerri, I am really glad that you took time to read other posts too. Thank you very much for your kind, wise and consoling words. I really appreciate it.

    A home far away, I hope you are not too homesick, living here in the far east which is very far from Sweden. Do drop by my blog more often and chit-chat here. May you have a wonderful time in Singapore.

    FJL, actually I had only 10 min to spend there. It was a rush, my old camera went out of batteries just as I finished taking the first shot. Luckily these shots using the handphone were clear enough. There are many more things I haven't photograph. I definitely need to go there again. The more I look at the little kid, the more I miss the place!

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