Wet wet wet

It's going to be a wet week here in Penang. As I make this entry, it's pouring cats and dogs outside and the thunder is rumbling on and on and on. I'm glad to be inside.

But I'll tell you what. This rainy spell is not unexpected. It's not unexpected at all because right now, we are in the midst of the Nine Emperor Gods celebration. Although this religious festivity is not unique to Penang, it seems to be celebrated on a somewhat grander scale here than anywhere else in Malaysia. It's not uncommon to come across small yellow temples around the island and the mainland. That's the colour of the Nine Emperor Gods. These Tow Boo Keong temples are the focal points of the nine days of the celebration - which, this year, began on 11 Oct 2007 - and devotees throng them.

The devotees are also on a strict vegetarian diet. Some will be on this diet for the final three days of the celebration but many will be vegetarians for the full nine days. You'll find makeshift stalls outside these temples selling vegetarian food either of vegetables or bean curd-based. It used to be a long time ago that vegetarian food was bland but not any more. The innovative Chinese have now dressed up the dishes imaginatively as chicken drumsticks, duck's meat, pig's entrails, goat's meat, et cetera. Innovative and imaginative, yes, but I wonder whether these Chinese devotees are just fooling themselves. If you want to go the whole way on a strict vegetarian diet, please do so with your heart set on it. Don't do it half-heartedly while thinking of the actual meaty stuff that you are going without for the nine days. For me, personally, I am not a Nine Emperor God devotee but I do enjoy the vegetarian dishes. So for me, it is not an issue to patronise these stalls and feast on the food. I already do that around the year anyway. There are lots of vegetarian restaurants in the state. But there is a word of caution. Vegetarian food, no matter how appealing it may look, can be very tasteless and the only way to make it appealing is to add salt, sugar and monosodium glutamate (MSG). Ajinomoto, to some of you. The problem with this is, of course, MSG is not good for your health if too much is taken in your food. Plus, too much of MSG will make you thirsty.

The Nine Emperor Gods celebration will end on Friday (19 Oct 2007). At the various Tow Boo Keong temples, the mediums are already getting into trances and performing awe-striking acts like walking on coals, playing with hot iron balls and having their cheeks pierced with six-foot rods. This Friday, the celebration culminates with processions through towns towards the sea where the Nine Emperor Gods will be given a grand send-off until next year.

And it always rains until the nine days are over, sometimes even longer. Anyway, this is the weather forecast for Penang for the whole of this week. Consistently wet.