My impressions of George Town world heritage day 2011

It's already the end of the month. I know it's already a little too late for me to give my impressions of this year's George Town World Heritage Day celebration (on 7 July 2011) but this is my blog, right? If I want to be two months late with writing, that's my problem, Anyway, here are some of the pictures that I had taken.

Some of the participants of the vintage bicycle ride from Pitt Street to who-knows-where. As I was hoping to see something really unique, like a penny farthing, I was a little disappointed. Nevertheless, I was amused by their colourful costumes.

Don't get to see this often, but these figurines of Chinese mythological characters are made from flour and then coloured and molded by hand. There are some great details in the figurines.

It's not quite a dying trade. Can still find these intricately carved wooden panels in the city. But it takes a steady hand to create all the details in the panels, which are then given a coat of gold-coloured paint.

The traditional way of making joss sticks. The joss stick material is a mixture of sandal wood and gum wood, which is then compressed by hand onto a stick. This old gentleman has been in this business for almost 70 years, Dying trade, because most joss sticks are now imported from China.

This lady is hammering out the details of a wayang kulit character. Believe it or not, the material is actually of goat skin. Like all the other trades on display, it takes a lot of time and hard work to come out with the finished product.

These ladies are selling real nyonya laksa. A fabulous creation which, in my opinion, is on par with the assam laksa that's rated seventh by CNNGo. The only thing I disliked about their stall was the continuing use of styrofoam containers for the food.

And this is real authentic nasi lemak, Chinese nyonya style. Smell the fragrance of the rice. It was cooked with coconut milk. But same thing: I disliked their use of styrofoam containers. The organisers of the George Town world heritage day celebration should play their parts to encourage their participants to use alternatives that are environment-friendly.

The savoury bak chang and the nyonya chang. The size of the former was fascinatingly large but unfortunately not the taste. Have enjoyed better ones elsewhere.

A performance with traditional Malay instruments. I was lingering around Acheen Street, near the Armenian Street junction, when this wonderful soothing music filled the air. So I wandered closer to take a look. I really enjoyed the performance. But just two comments. First, I was disappointed that this traditional performance in Acheen Street did not attract a bigger audience. Maybe it was a little way off the beaten track as visitors were concentrated around Pitt Street. Second, I noticed that there was a sizeable proportion of local Chinese visitors among the audience. Yes, there were others like me who appreciated this music.

A musician tuning up before the Chinese orchestra gave a stirring performance to an appreciative crowd outside the Han Jiang Ancestral Temple in Chulia Street.

These performancers were relaxing on the Chinese opera stage in front of the Guan Yin Temple in Pitt Street before they went inside to continue putting on their make-up.

A unique juxtaposition of two cultures. Where else but in George Town can we see a lion dance performance a short distance away from the Kapitan Kling Mosque in Pitt Street?

And finally, inside the Han Jiang Ancetral Temple, there was this lesser seen dragon dance performance.