We were invited by the Royal Thai Consulate-General of Penang to the annual Royal Kathina Ceremony at 𝗪𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗶𝘆𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗺 last Saturday. It was a solemn and reverent affair, as the Thai King Vajiralongkorn’s representative, H.E. Mrs Sirilak Niyom of Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, presented the royal robes to the monks.
Post-Royal Kathina Ceremony, food offerings were made to the monks first, before the guests proceeded for our lunch in the temple’s community hall.
We are still in Penang, but it feels like Bangkok. 
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Appetiser platter: crisp-fried pork dumplings, seafood omelette, spicy-sour batter-fried fish fillets, golden-fried chicken nuggets, spicy-sweet-sour ham.
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Double-boiled chicken soup.
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Sweet-sour-spicy shrimps.
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Braised broccoli, baby corn, shitake mushrooms, carrot and tofu skin.
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Steamed garoupa with soy-ginger dressing.
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Lotus-leaf-wrapped rice.
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Dessert: Mango with sticky rice.
A very special meal, though not one that one can have inside the temple grounds on normal occasions. But Wat Chaiya Mangalaram is worth a visit if one ever visits Penang - dating back to 1845. It’s also located right in the middle of Pulau Tikus, a wealthy, old suburb (dating back to 1786) in Penang which is rich in good food places.
