Last weekend I made a trip to Johor Bahru with my friends to see for myself the Iban Market or Pasar Tamu that I’ve been reading in several articles before this. Waking up at 5.30am on a Sunday morning is unusual for me but because I was very excited to go to the market in search of exotic wild animals I manage to get up. It took me about 25 minutes from my hotel at Taman Tampoi Indah to Taman Megah Ria at Pasir Gudang.
Welcoming news to our Hindu friends as the PM has announced Thaipusam to be made a public holiday in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya beginning this year.
My previous posting on Puchong Kolo Mee suddenly became a hit. Within a week, friends of B.I. had had two breakfast sessions that became a mini-gathering. The second session was on Nov 8th, during the Deepavali holiday.
Like our Indian friends who grew up with roti canai, chicken curry & rice and muruku, we Dayaks grew up knowing kolo mee as our default choice from the menu when we’re out of idea of what to eat. We have kolo mee for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper. It’s a meal that’s filling, available everywhere in any coffee shops, and also it’s cheap.
The most important thing, the breakfast session binds friends together into a close-knit community especially when we’re living far away from home.
Indeed friends of B.I. proved that Malaysian spirit of muhibah can exist if we really want to make it work. We have our Muslim Bidayuh and Malay friends joining us in the breakfast session indulged on their nasi lemak, bihun goreng and bihun sup in one table with us. Truly a testimony of tolerance and common understanding.
Today I attended mass at the new church in Pusat Bandar Puchong, the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe (OLG). Personally, this is indeed a welcoming news for myself. OLG is only five minutes drive from where I live. After mass, breakfast is just a few steps across the nearby shophouses. A typical Sunday I used to do with my parents when I was living in Kuching. It indeed brought back memories.
The interior plan of OLG is almost similar to the Church of Blessed Sacrament in BDC but OLG is about a half smaller and missing the left and right wings of the BDC church.
The parishioners are residents from within Puchong radius. Its a mix of Indians, Chinese, Sarawakians & Sabahans and also a good number of Africans.
Mass times are as following:
Sunday: 8.00am Mass(T) | 9.30am Mass (E) | 4.30pm Mass (M) |5.45pm Mass (BM)
Monday : 7.00pm
Tuesday to Thursday: 6.15am
Friday: (Novena 6.30pm) | 7.00pm
Saturday: 7.00 am | 6.30 pm (Sunset Mass)
The church has an interesting history and that explains why the name OLG was chosen. It was a result of untiring dedication of early settlers from Puchong estate led by the late Mr. Singarayan in the pursuit of a place of worship.
Prior to completion OLG became a victim of issue when the land title had been politicized.
For more info, please visit http://www.olgpuchong.org/.