Deathly Traditions

In chinese terms we call it sao mu, so in english it translates to "sweep tomb". very not right. anyways this early morning i decided to sacrifice some sleep time to sweep my grandad's tomb for the first time in my life haha.

we collected a basket of offerings from grandma's place then drove up the ulu hill. the sight was recalling of those i see in hongkong serials, where blocks & rows of occupants are numbered systematically with colourful flowers adorning their frames. i can't believe it took my so long to realise those were fake flowers! only 2% were real but all dull and withered.



then came joke #1. mum emptied the whole basket, laid out the fruits, wine, rice... and she went "eh, where's the chicken?!!" okay great, apparently grandma had assumed that mum would have common sense to buy the chicken whilst mum assumed grandma would be thougtful enough to prepare them altogether.

so the two conflicting assumptions got mum all so paranoid and insisted for dad to drive her down to the nearest market (think chomppang) to get them. me? i was told to stay behind all alone to jaggar the stuffs. how fun.

joke #2. as soon as they left, another family came to the adjacent block with huge bags of paper offerings. guess what they bought? 4 LV paper handbags! yes, LV louis vuitton, no joke.


last procedure: polluting the air.

doubts, doubts!

i was thinking, why is the currency for the dead called hellnotes and printed with the Hell Bank Corporation even when most religions believe we have already secured places in heaven? aren't heaven notes like way better-sounding.

& why must the food offerings always be a standard of chicken rice or buns? i asked dad if his dad liked chicken rice and he replied, "not exactly, but just that last time people always eat chicken rice".

wouldn't the dead crave most for their favourite food?

so i told dad, "if i ever die before you, get me a blueberry cheesecake from the cheesecake cafe." and his reply, " okay then i want a spaghetti vongole".
LOL.


Mr Prata's mushroom thosai for breakfast (: