Chinese New Year Lightings @Kek Lok Si Temple, Penang

Kek Lok Si is a famous temple located in Air Itam town, on Penang island. every year, during the Chinese New Year, the temple will be decorated with thousands of lanterns and decorative bulbs. and when the lights are switched on at night, the entire temple area turns into a fairyland of sorts...

the best time to go there will probably be during the eve and first three days of Chinese New Year, as the lights will remain switched on until dawn during those period. however, i was back home in kuching at the time, so i couldn't go...

so last saturday evening, i made my way there and drove all the way up to the upper-level car park, where the 30.2m-high bronze statue of Kuan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) is. and while waiting for the sky to turn dark and the lights to be switched on, i took a short walk around.

there are construction works going on around the statue, where they are erecting some tall granite pillars with intricate carvings. it seems like they're building a large rooftop to shelter the statue. at the base of the statue are many ceramic roof tiles with messages written on them. you can get one of these to write your own name or messages by giving some donations, and these tiles will later be used as part of the temple constructions.

from above here, i can see the lights at the mid-level area being switched on. however, after some times, the upper level is still not lighted. not long later, a temple worker came and informed us that they are closing the area soon and asked us to leave. uhh.. turns out that they aren't going to light up the upper level area for today. sigh... that was dissappointing. i wonder if they'll still light up the upper area in the next few days, before the 30-days period is up.

from there, i drove down to the mid-level, where quite a lot of people have already arrived. a worker collected a $2 parking fee, and i can see that the parking areas are already quite full. anyway, because of having to come down from the upper level, i missed the opportunity to take some panoramic photos while the dusk sky is still bluish and not totally pitch-black...

on to more photos. a faraway view of the pagoda and the surrounding ground areas...

rows of yellow and red lanterns, with personalised messages hanging on them...

close-up of some red lanterns, with the pagoda in the background...

an altar near the base of the pagoda. does anyone know what the chopsticks and spoons arrangements signify?

a contrast of red and yellow...

more red and yellow lanterns at the base of the pagoda, leading to the entrance...

self-portrait, from the top of the pagoda...

aerial view, from the pagoda..

paper lanterns in the shape of pigs, to commemorate the Year of Pig. mother pig and daughter pig? since both have the ribbon thing on their heads...

and rows of burning glass jar candles...

all photos are taken handheld, without tripod (i don't have one), and without flash, aperture priority mode with aperture at f/2.8, auto white balance, auto-ISO (mostly around ISO 100). gotta love the IS lens for keeping the photos sharp at slow shutter speeds ^_^

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on a side note, i think the el-cheapo Ni-MH rechargeables that came together with the cam are showing signs of dying (or is it my cam problem?). I had a freshly charged pairs in, but after around only an hour and probably around 50 shots, the low battery sign came on. i had the LCD off most of the time and turns it on only for composing and shooting, and i'd expect the batteries to more than last till the SD card is full. ignoring the low battery warning, i kept on shooting a lot more photos, and the cam is still running. hmm... anyway, i later popped in another pair of batteries, but to my surprise, the low battery warning came on again only after around 10 shots? something is wrong here... i hope it's not my cam...