Monkey King Temple, Port Dickson – Part 5

12 till 14 October 2013

On our last morning in PD, 14 Oct 2013, after checking out of our hotel, we decided to stop at the Wan Loong Temple otherwise known as the Monkey King Temple. Wan Loong means 'dragon in the clouds'.

indeed, dragon in the clouds!

We had earlier in our trip passed by the temple twice and was tempted to pay a visit as it looked so majestic, sitting like a well-gardened colourful fortress on a small hill. The temple is located along the 7th mile, PD coastal road.

the archway to the main altar

This is what we saw....an interesting Chinese epic told in sculptures and statues. 

monkey king

goddess kuan yin standing on a lotus right above the fish pond

Since everything was written in Chinese, we had no clue what it all meant. We explored, stayed awhile at the fish pond long enough for the children to throw coins and make a wish, walked along its surrounding Great Wall (mini Great Wall of China), admired the Monkey King and all other deities, paid our respects at the main altar and left. 

It was very serene and peaceful in there.

view of the coastal road from inside the temple

Upon returning home, I found out the story behind the Monkey King. Thanks to a fellow blogger and with permission, I am sharing the story here...

....extracted from (http://mymalaysiadailyphoto.blogspot.com/2010/02/monkey-king.html) the blog post titled "The Monkey King" by Autumn Belle of My Malaysia Daily Photo Blog.....

Sun Wukong, also known as The Monkey King is one of the main characters in the Tang Dynasty Chinese epic, Journey To The West. Born out of a mythical stone, he has the following capabilities:

a) immense strength - can lift 8,100 kg of weight with ease
b) speed - can travel 54,000km in one somersault
c) can perform 72 different transformations into animals, objects and human forms
d) skilled fighter
e) can clone into multiples of himself using his body hairs
f) knows various spells to command the wind, part water, form protective circles against demons and freeze humans, demons and even gods
g) his eyes has special powers to see demons hiding inside the human body

Just like Hanuman, the Monkey God in Hinduism, Sun Wukong is also worshipped as a deity by Taoists as The Monkey God.


And so ended our PD trip. 

Final stop was lunch in Lukut town, the much talked about Chicken Curry Bun. 

No doubt, it was delicious. My only grouse is that at RM28 for a large bun, I think it is overpriced. The name of restaurant is Restaurant Lucky, Lukut town.

On Top A Lighthouse, Port Dickson – Part 4

12 till 14 October 2013

In the 16th century, the Portuguese built the Cape Rachardo Lighthouse to guide ships to the port of Melaka. The lighthouse is still operational today (source : malaysiafactbook).

 

However, entry inside the light house is not allowed. This we found out after hiking through a jungle trek in Tanjung Tuan's Recreational Forest. 

On the morning of 13 Oct 2013 (Sun), we took a drive to Tanjung Tuan which lies at the southern tip of PD's coastline. 

the border between the two states - Negeri Sembilan (where PD is) and Melaka

we stopped at the Pantai Cermin behind Blue Lagoon to check out the orange hue sand

Tanjung Tuan is actually in Melaka so you will be crossing the border from Negeri Sembilan to Melaka to get to the famous Cape Rachardo Lighthouse, also known as Rumah Api Tanjung Tuan.

The hilly cape is a gazetted forest reserve and wildlife sanctuary (source : wikitravel).

Tanjung Tuan Forest Reserve

The entrance to Tanjung Tuan Recreational Forest

Our plan was to trek through the jungle to the light house. For those who do not want to use the jungle trek, you have the option of using the paved road. 

ticket counter

The entrance fee is RM 1 per person, children below 12 get to enter free. 

Ok Rishi, you think we are lost? I can't see the trek, you know.

The jungle trek

PD was originally famous for charcoal

another species marked

part of the jungle trekking pathway

The jungle trek took about 40 mins as we went slow. There were obstacles along the way created by nature (fallen trees) and  gazebos for rest. The climb is steep as it goes uphill but not difficult. Some of the jungle trails lead to hidden beaches, which the children ventured into.

The lighthouse entrance - the lighthouse is visible on top of the hill - a drink stall can be seen and no, you can't bring vehicles up, that car belongs to a staff

details of the lighthouse

When we finally reached the end of the road, we found ourselves at the foothill of the lighthouse. Alas, access inside the lighthouse was denied. But that did not stop us.

not sure if this is allowed, but it was an easy climb

looking at the Straits of Malacca and watching out for passing vessels

the view from the top - heard that Sumatra can be seen on a clear day

finally, spotted a vessel

So, the only thing we could do was to go around the light house and sit at a spot where we got a good view of the Straits of Malacca.

Communist Tunnel in Port Dickson – Part 3

12 till 14 October 2013

On 13 Oct 2013 (Sun), we visited the biggest war memorial museum in Malaysia. You may wonder what has PD, a beach resort, to do with a war memorial. Well, PD is an army town. It was officially declared such way back in 2009. Seems PD is home to many army camps, almost 10,439 (as of Mar 2012) officers and servicemen live here.

The place is called "Muzium Tentera Darat Port Dickson" or Port Dickson Army Museum

PD's history is kind of complicated....it was first a simple charcoal town until a British Officer by the name of Sir Frederick Dickson 'found' it, and British then decided to use it as a port but this plan did not quite work out. British later turned it to a colonial beach resort. And just 4 years ago PD was turned into an army town. 

Saw this on the wall of the Musuem - a wood carving of Malay folk heros

The Museum is huge, so be prepared to spend at least half a day here. The entrance is free.

This military cargo plane can be seen at the entrance - it was in use once

Hey, there are cats sleeping in here..cats napping in an armoured vehicle?

The best part is visitors can enter some of the army vehicles and take pictures. 

steamlocomotive - visitors can access the engine room

What's this? Harish inside the engine room

Time to explore

Simmha and Arvin - trying to figure out which way it rotates

Time capsule

There were many exhibits on different eras of Malaysian history right from the time of the Melaka Sultanate till Malaysia's independence.

Replica of a Malacca ship

Replica of a Portuguese ship

Malacca palace utensils

The guns used by the Portuguese & namelist of Portuguese rulers in Malacca

The uniform of Dutch soldiers

The communist tunnel is a major attraction and it displays replicas of soldiers in jungle warfare. Unfortunately, my camera battery ran out and so I could not snap pictures. We spent most of our time here trying to understand life in an underground tunnel as lived by the communist fighters.

At the entrance to the communist tunnel

 (source : http://www.fantasticmalaysia.com)

 

 (source : http://www.fantasticmalaysia.com)

 

There was also a canopy walk built by the army for visitors, children would love this.

on the rope bridge

At the centre of all exhibits sits a memorial with  a long list of names of fallen soldiers. Seeing these names makes the dying real and there were so many names, including names of British officers and their Gurkhas. 

The museum is open daily from 9.30am - 6pm. It is located at the 5th Mile in the Sirusa district, about 7km from PD town.