Festivals, Melaka

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There is a big Chinese population in present day Malaysia. And the Hungry Ghosts Festival is one of their festivities. In the month of August, which in the Chinese Lunar Calendar is the seventh month of the year, the Chinese believe that the gates of hell will be open. The dead souls (the Hungry Ghosts) will be released and roam the streets of the living in this month. There are huge festivities in Melaka, but also in other parts of Malaysia, like Penang. The biggest festivities are usually around the 14th and 15th of August.

While I was walking the streets in Melaka I saw a man sitting and he was creating something with wooden sticks. I asked what it was for and he explained to me. I was allowed to take a look around the place where many things were set up for the festival. His English wasn't so good, but I understood some parts of what the festival was about. He told me the festival was already nearing it's end. But it was great to see all the things they make.

If you want to read more, I suggest you take a look at the information you can find by clicking the link.

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Houses in the Portuguese settlement are all light up during Christmas. Santas, reindeers, elf all turn up full force on the fences, roof tops and door ways of houses here. The traffic is reduced to a crawl on Christmas eve, everyone just wants to get in to get a piece of the action in the settlement area.
Apart from the Serani community, which is the descendant of Portuguese and Malay mix marriage, this place is also famous for it's food. The most popular food would be the Portuguese style baked fish. Which you can find as far as KL.

We were in Melaka for the Vesak long weekend.

We didnt knew about the Vesak Day Parade until we saw some floats passing by.

It was quite a big thing and we saw monks chanting and sprinkling holy water to bless the great crowd.