No Feast Lasts Forever

I read this article Wisdom in the Air: "Akhir Sebuah Pesta" on my flight with Lion Air. The smartest article I ever read from its in-flight magazine.
What a relief... I loathe their Lady-in-the-Air section, a brainless article about their attendants, last month they covered an attendant who proudly boasts she drives without license and proud of it; this month another attendant announce that she has an endangered animal - a chimpanzee as a pet, and died. Why editor, why??!!!

Sorry about my complaints, wouldn't be me without it.

Anyway, the article is written by Jemy Confindo; it is beautifully composed to describe the over-the-top wedding day phenomenon. I have to admit that he wrote down my very fear that I have for that fateful day. Maybe not really about the finance part, but seriously... I don't understand why people put so much tears and sweat just for that one day.
There's a "the-rest-of-my-life" ahead, and that one big perfect day couldn't even guarantee how beautiful my future gonna be.
It's just an illusion, just for a day (maybe a few hours, really...) and damn it... you actually pay to "amuse" your own self.

I couldn't find the article in his website, so I just take a pic of it.
I hope you can read it... maybe when he updates his website, I'll share the link.

Baby in Costumes

Baby in Tie

I made a little tie from some scrap silk fabric, and attached to Nara's white plain jumper.

I think it turns out quite good, Nara loves it.
He loves to nibble on his tie.
















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Nara the Big Bad Wolf

And I made a "Big Bad Wolf" costume for Nara to attend Joey's 2nd B-day which theme was "Little Red Riding Hood". Too bad the party was cancelled into private family party. >.<~

I made his hat using a T-shirt fabric, hand-stitched into a little hat.
I mixed felt and a grey towel fabric to shape the wolf character.

Somehow it turned out looking more like a cat rather than a wolf. Hahhahaa.

And I used his socks and stitched it with some grey towel fabric, glued with felt claws.

A basic white bib should be sufficient for his belly, but since Nara don't have any white bib, I stitched a small white towel on his little jumper :)

And his tail attached to his jumper with a velcro for easy removal.

I put quite an effort to make this costume for Nara. He's not old enough to understand that his auntie loves to dress him up. Hahahaha
Once he grow up, he probably gonna refuse to be dolled :)

Love you little Nara.
You made a cute Big Bad Wolf.

Lompong Pisang

It looks appealing, the big fat thing is wrapped in banana leaves, grilled on coconut shell charcoals. From a far, I imagine a big succulent otak-otak. 

But when I sank my teeth into it.... What the..?!!!!

It's not otak2, it's something sweet!!!

That was my 1st experience eating that grilled wrapped thing. Never again I buy them from the vendor... I was fooled! Totally fooled!!! I never even bothered to ask what that imposter thing was called. I couldn't be bothered at all.

Not until my long lost friend, NN, requested me to get some (more than SOME, actually) for her sister who has a huge craving for that thing. Oh, now I know the name is "Lompong Pisang". Gee, I thought she was preggie.

So, being a nice friend, I went to the vendor. The vendor was still preparing the coal. He is still preparing his stall. Since I wanna make sure that I buy the right thing (oh btw, I couldn't remember what it looks like inside) I asked a few questions
Me: Bro, I want to order 50 of them, make sure it's a banana one... Errr... How many types u have?
He: same
Me: ooo... (I thought he talked abt the price). Ok same, I want the banana one
He: Same, "Lompong Sagoo" is also same
Me: OK, banana one. Don't want the sagoo one. Can you make sure no coconut?
He: (took a big deep breath, looked very much annoyed), Lompong Pisang, Lompong Sagoo is the same. Inside got coconut.
Me:............. Eh? Is it? Whatever la... 50 of them. I pick up at 5, k?
I bet the vendor was thinking "what an idiot bitch"... Hahhaah

After a few hours, I came back to pick my order. Guess what? It's not done yet. I think kept on selling mine away. They only finished 30 piece when I arrived for pick up. So, I decided to wait for my other 20 pieces.
Btw, it's the vendor's wife grilling the wraps now. So I made a little conversation with her...

Me: Sis, what is it inside?
She: Banana, sagoo, coconut, and sugars
Me: (Great, I've mention 3 out of 5 ingredients to her husband) So, you use pisang kepok?
She: No, we use Pisang Banan, from Bukittinggi. The one we eat after meals. Using other type of banana won't be nice.
Me: Pisang apa?
She: Banan, we call it Banan
Me: ooo Banan (until I typed it for NN, then I realised she was making fun of me... BANAN ... BANANA... )
She must thought, idiot girl... Hahahha

Anyway, during my wait, I realised this Lompong Pisang cake-wrap is actually a hit, the queue was quite something! And I still couldn't imagine what it tastes like. So I asked the vendor's wife to give me 52 pieces. The extra 2 is for me, to try, I told her.
When I was about to pay, I paid her full price for 52 pieces. She refused to accept for the extra 2, "It's for you to try, see if you like it"

The other customers asked the vendor, "why does she buy so much but dunno what it tastes like?". Hahahahhaa. And other looked at me in amazement, "Sis, are you going to have a lompong party?" Hhahhahah cute.
On the way home, my car is filled with burnt banana smell. Which was beautiful. So yummy.

FYI, the whole incident happened in the Lompong Pisang Stall in front of Bank Nagari at Pasar Tanah Kongsi, Padang. They only opened at 3 pm until finished.

Review:
Btw, Lompong Pisang is actually very nice. Soft, tender, slightly sweet. It's a nice cake if you eat it when it's still warm.
I think I'll get some more today.

His Wedding

A few days ago was my ex's wedding. He invited me sometime before the event, so I wanted to pay my respect to him by attending his wedding.
So I did. I flew all the way just to attend it.
I went alone, things was a bit hectic that day, so it was more convenient for me to come as a single, rather than waiting for Mr.X or Ms.Y to escort me ...
I don't trust the human let alone to trust the Jakarta's traffic

The venue hall was so nicely decorated, I bet he planned this fairy-tale wedding for years in his mind.
They looked so happy, and that's the most important thing... They looked happy, I believe, they were and are very happy.
After a good firm handshake (and ofcz after I filled up my stomach...haha), I left.

Not long, a friend called, asking:
"Are you OK?"
A: I am. Yet none choose to believe that I am OK. They expect me to be broken down in tears.

"Don't u have any feeling left for him?"
A: if either of us still do, we won't break up in the first place, right?
I know this will be hard to believe, but I choose not to hate someone I used to love. I will not make him my enemy.

"How do you feel when u see him?"
A: same feeling when I see a wedding couple. No feeling. But I am glad that he is smiling. He must be happy

"Are you disappointed that he actually marries someone else?"
A: Ofcz not. I am glad he found his love

"Be strong, k? Don't let his wedding bring you down"
A: to tell you the truth, I believe the whole wedding stuff fits perfectly into his long-dreamt-dream. As grandeous and romantic as he always wanted (or used to, at least). But those were never my dream, I'd freaked out to fit into his romantic plan.
Again, I am glad and content that he found a beautiful someone who shares the same passion, love and romantic ideas. Someone who regards him as Prince Charming.

Congratz on your wedding.
Be Happy, always
Together

Beautiful Stranger

Ugh, I almost forgotten this beautiful encounter.

After our trip in 花莲 - HuaLian, me, Ls and X2 departed for 高雄- KaoHsiung using a train.
A mixed events made us moved from our compartment 10 to compartment 11.
Making me X2 sitting with a stranger grandpa, and me with Ls.
At first, everything was OK. X2 was busy watching her latest Taiwan drama series on her cell-phone. Occasionally, the grandpa made some conversation with X2. They were speaking Hokkian (a dialect that I am very poor at), while me and Ls were busy chit-chatting.
Until a snack cart passed by offering us some bento - boxed meal; I ignored the Bento-man, I didn’t realize that our train was changed to the non-express one. (I still thought I could catch a dinner at KaoHsiung)

The cart kept moving to another compartment. When he came back, the old grandpa said "Can I have one bento?" His voice was so faint that the Bento-man didn’t hear him, just kept on moving.
X2 was asking the grandpa, "You want bento?", and he said "Yes.  Hungry"
Poor guy, I thought, so I chased up the Bento-man. Damn, he walked fast. I caught him in the end compartment; he didn’t have any bento left, all gone. A cleaning-guy asked me if I was really hungry, I told him: "No, the old grandpa is" So, he told me to get some when we made a brief stop at next stop.

So, on the next stop, I ask X2 to get a bento for grandpa. X2 jumped off to get only one box of bento (I still think I do not need any dinner). So we just get one... for the grandpa. Of course, he insisted to pay, but it was only NTD70, it's nothing. And the sweet thing was, the cleaning-guy was actually buying another bento from grandpa too. So thoughtful of him.

Oh btw, the grandpa was talking along the way. He talks about his family, his beautiful wife, his successful sons, and his grandsons - which he thought will be good to be introduce to X2 but he is in New Zealand  for uni now.

Me, Stranger Grandpa and X2

The grandpa is super cute. He was abit loud cos he thought he couldn’t hear us, actually... it's not that he is losing his hearing; it's us trying to make conversation in poor mixed Hakka, Hokkian and Mandarin all together, and he only understands the pure Hokkian language.
I guess the grandpa never realized that we were foreigner.

We also helped the grandpa about his stop at 屏东-PinTong, he was so nervous that he'll miss the stop, so we helped him when we reached there. I even gave him some mochi as a gift.
He was picked up by his son; I guess the son must be surprised, "Why these girls carrying grandpa's bags, cheering and waving goodbye??? Who are they? Hahhahaa"
The whole trip was really cute.

The super-kind cleaning guy

I dunno if this writing can express how cute it was, but I find it  really cute.

Even the cleaning guy came to us after we sent grandpa off "You are foreigners, rite?  You don't speak the same language, yet you all can chit-chat for so long. Bravo!"
He said it with a big smile. Cute!

I was really touched by the cleaning-guy, I dunno how much he is making in a day. but he was so caring about the grandpa, isn't it amazing that a train-cleaning-guy actually buying dinner for the passenger?
So kind and thoughtful of him. My respect to you :)




Oh... Another fellow passenger even scolded us rudely!!! cos being too loud (the grandpa was loud, but not that loud... it was normal). and she even tried to video us too using her phone. Damn it, old auntie... your manners really stain Taiwan hospitality campaign, k?
And btw, I was expecting the video to be posted on tv. Hahhaha

Note:
Why I kept on emphasizing that we just got a box of bento - which is for grandpa? Cos we end up being hungry. We thought we'll arrive just in time for dinner, the fact was... we arrived on bed-time :( cry cry cry

Update about Robi: a Closure

After a long wait for Robi's new E-KTP, we finally got it.  ヽ(*⌒∇⌒*)ﾉ Hurrraaaayyyyy!!!
With the help of kind and understanding bank official, Robi could get his name stated on his very own saving account and a term-deposit account.
Well done, Robi!

Here is the picture of them receiving all the documents. I hope they'll use it wisely.

I would like to thank Ven. K, Mr. HK and Mr.HW for inspiring and giving me a chance to help others.
May all being be happy :)

Note:
Holding the fund for so long under my name was actually a burden. I feel bad keeping their money.
But today, after passing it over. I feel free and happy... "losing" money never felt so good, esp. after seeing their smile. Priceless ＼（Ｔ∇Ｔ）／

Shipping Waterlilies

Sending away some waterlilies' babies for Ling to place at her newly established guest-house.

This is how I pack the waterlilies for shipping. This method will allow at least 7 days of shipping without packing the water too, so it'll be quite economical.

The recipient should already prepare a container with muddy soil for immediate transplant. 

Here is how I do it, step by step:

Here are the waterlilies. When you remove them from the soil, grab the bulb at the root base, pull gently. 

You can remove some wilted leaves too. You won't need too much of them.

Place the waterlily on a newspaper

Roll the plant with a newspaper. Fold the paper, not the leaves. Ensure you do not hurt the leaves and the stems.

Here what it looks like after folding. 

Now, place it in a plastic bag

Fill the bag with clean water. Not too much, we just want the newspaper to be wet but not drippy.

Remove the excess water, and tie the plastic bag securely. Make sure there's no leaking.
And don't forget to label them too.

For shipping, lay the waterlilies packages flat in a box. The box should be rigid enough so it won't be bent or folded during shipping.

Upon arrival, recipient should remove the plant gently from the newspaper and stick it to the mud.

It'll need about 1-2 weeks recovery time, but I promise you, it'll live (◕‿◕✿)

Good luck!

Happy 50th Bday, WWF Indonesia

For their 50th Bday, WWF Indonesia sent me a picture of my long lost cousin  (´ε｀ )♡
Cute, isn't it?
Feel very honoured to be able to support this foundation. Keep up the good work!

Did you read it back to front?

After settling the bill for a lunch...

Host: OK, now that we finished our lunch, next destination is airport.
      Guest: Yes
Host :What time is your flight?
      Guest: at 2pm
Host : Have you bought your ticket?
      Guest: ...

overheard at a local nasi Padang restaurant. 
I seriously think the host is reading the Business-Conversation-Manual back to front...

Orchid Fever

(*^▽^*) I think Mom was bitten by a green-bug.
Look what she got for me last week!!!
While I was chasing for my plane, Mom bought these orchids for me.
She told me that she even emptied her whole wallet to get me these.
So thoughtful of her... *(^O^)*

Don't ask me their names, cos I know nothing about it (yet)
They are so pretty, aren't they?

All pics were taken using SGS3 and was edited using PS. This little thing works wonder, isn't it?

Run Ming Run

It seems like my travelling luck is increasing in this past week.
Again, my flight was delayed. But luckily this time, I didn't miss the connecting flight, I caught just right in time: at the time they about to pull the stair away from the aircraft.
Lucky, I was smart enough to ask a few ground-staff; some of them said I've missed the flight, but some said... "Lari, Mbak, Lari.....Cepatttttt" (= Run, sister, run, quickkkk).

So I ran like a drama scene through the plane parking lot. Passing like 2 planes and a parking spot before I could approach my plane. Breathless ...waving at the ground-staff  "Waittttttt!!!"
When I finally arrived at the stair end, the staff looked at me with a sharp eyes...
I got what he was trying to say, so I told him "On transit (... paused) my previous (... paused) plane (... paused) was delayed." My lung was about to burst..!!!
I don't care what he thinks, all I care is I caught this flight! Wohooooo!!!
Or else, there's a good chance of me staying overnight in that airport. They only fly once a day... >.<~
How cruel is that?

Thanks to my luck and my trusty legs, I was able to arrive at home safely. Even if that's without my luggage.
Hahaha, they didn't manage to transfer my luggage. Too bad, my bag couldn't run as fast as me.
But lucky me, there's nothing important there, just some dirty laundry.
At least they found my luggage and delivered it safely to me the next day.

it's back!!!  \(*o*)/

With my lucks this week, maybe I should get a lotto.
What do you think?

Respect: On a Tip of a Tongue and On a Glimpse of Mirror

I missed my connecting flight today because my earlier flight was delayed for 2 hours. Once I landed, I reported to transit desk, and they printed a new boarding pass for another connecting flight (at 2 pm). 30 mins before schedule, I got a call from L*on Air that the 2pm flight is full, and they couldn't take me, so they suggested me to wait until 4pm. Of course, I couldn't accept that, cos my original flight supposed to be at 11am. I've been delayed for hours!!!

So, I walked to their counter, and asked what the problem is. His answer was uncertain "Mungkin engga bisa, Bu, sepertinya penuh" (= maybe we couldn't take you, mam, seems the flight is full). I don't understand why he kept on using "uncertain" words. Seems like they sold some last minutes tickets and try to waive me.

So, he asked me to wait. I started making phone-calls just to let my bro know that I'll arrive very very late because of stupid delays. Btw, I was (unintentionally) speaking in English. Ehm... Soon after that, I heard the counter guy busy on his walkie talkie, asking a seat for me.

Apparently, he thought I am a foreigner or someone important cos I speak English. This is not the first time...

 A few years ago, my uncle passed away. And I need to take a flight from Jakarta to Medan to attend the funeral. After a series of delays, M*ndala Airlines announced that the flight was CANCELLED. God damn it! Cancelled! 

I went to their counter to talk to the girls there, and they gave me unsympathetic look and asked me to wait. I didn't mind waiting, but they didn't do anything. Just sit, chit chat and laugh. I was so pissed off. I started to yell at them in English until their manager showed up and talk to me. He spoke English to me, and I was pretending to speak broken-Indonesian (just like when foreigner speak Indonesian). And voilà  I was quickly transferred into next flight to Medan in no-time, using another airline. And he also helped me to carry my luggage. Thanks to speaking English!

Things like this don't just happened in Indonesia. 

A few years ago, I went to a China trip with my parents. We were staying in a hotel room, I got an extra bed. But they didn't give us any extra pillow + blanket. Since it's China, my dad who is fluent in Chinese, called up house-keeping to get extra pillow + blanket, he was replied with a monotone "mei you" (= don't have it). My dad explained that we have extra bed, they supposed to provide pillow + blanket with it too. And the answer was still a cold "mei you".

My dad was about to complain to the tour leader, but I tried to call the house keeping again, and this time, I spoke in English. I asked for 2 extra pillows and a blanket. I didn't even need to explain that we actually have extra bed. She answered me "Sure, Madam, right away. Anything else, Madam?" Heheheh...

The above mentioned incident can only happened because the conversation was made on phone. 

Not face to face. 

I believe the whole thing would just failed if they saw my super-Asian look. Hahaha...

When my Asian look is exposed, any language wouldn't be able to help me in racist situation.

Once I was in K*pu-Kupu Barong, Bali because a relative worked there as a chef, I went there with another chef to taste her cookings. We waited for more than 30 mins to get served. Not that the cafe was busy or anything, there were only 3 customers (incl. me). And those 2 came later than me, but they got serve earlier. 

Why?

Cos they were bule 

(bule = Indonesian slang for any "white" people, could be Americans, Germans, Australians, French, etc; the term doesn't carry any negative racist sense)

We tried to call the waiter (she's a Balinese), wave at her, calling her, etc. Not that she didn't notice us, she just said "tunggu ya" (= wait). My chef friend was about to give the waiter a punch on her face if I didn't stop her. Hahaha... The waiter finally "notice" us when a janitor saw me kept on waving (the waiter just stand lazily as if I was invisible). And later, the waiter walked toward us and rudely throw us a menu.  

I didn't wanna make a scene there. If my relatives didn't work there, I think I would called up the manager and complain. 

Seriously, not like me or other Asians couldn't afford the food there. We could. In fact, those bule just order little things. Bule can be kere (poor) too, you know.

If Asian themselves look down on other Asian, How would bule see us? 

Well, sadly, they look down on us too. (though not all)

In Europe, some aunties who dressed casually often ignored by boutique attendants. No matter what goods you wanna buy, they kept on saying "no stock", but in fact, another bule customer could get the goods in question and they even get to choose. How rude!!! 

Hello? Don't you know hardly any bule able to buy those luxuries? They are on crisis. The one that have abilities to buy are Asians! Just look at those faithful crazy queues at Champs-Élysées or Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. 

I hardly see any bule in those luxury boutiques, even if they were, they took forever just to buy a small wallet. Asians can easily pinpoint a few bags in 5 minutes and pay with HARD CASH! Yes! Those aunties' bags are full with bricks of 500 euros! 

I have to admit, I think these shopaholic aunties are crazy, not because they are Asian, but because they are just slaves for luxury brands. Just for ever-hungry pride!

I just don't understand why Asians look down on other Asians? 

Why bule look down on Asians or any other race? 

And why do Asians idolize bule so much?

Well, maybe I am exaggerating about this racist things, but it happens... a lot.

Babies' First Bloom

Playing match-maker for plants is so rewarding when you finally see the result.
On my last post Crossing Waterlilies, I have shown you those tiny sprouts... the result of waterlilies kama-sutra. Hehehehe...
Here is the picture of those babies growing up.

babies taking up their mommy's space in the pot

There were so many of them that I have them re-potted in smaller container and give bigger ones away.
I am willing to give them for free, all you need to do is to prepare a pot for them, k?

babies waterlilies for giveaway 

the first flower 

There's one baby that I separated for a couple of months and has a whole pot for itself. And this is its first flower.
I have to admit that when I mate those water lilies, I didn't label them. I never thought I would succeed on first attempt.

Looking at the fact that the baby bear a pink flower same as its mother. But it somehow have smaller bloom than its mommy's.
Maybe I mate pink flower with another pink flower.
Ooopss.... Waterlilies' infidelity, nobody knows who the daddy flower is. FYI, I mated pink one vs. pink, white and red.



Isn't it pretty? I cut it off and placed in the altar. The cut flower lasted for 4 days.

(wild?) Orchid

Look what I found today in the forest: a kind of orchid growing on the ground.
Lucky of me to spot this tiny beauty.
Pretty pink and yellow hue over its white petals. Beautiful, isn't it?
It has some seed pods too. I doubt I'll be able to manage those seeds.
Btw, I took some of the plants home, wanna cultivate them :)
Anyone knows its proper Latin name?

Searching for Binlang Princesses

Driving across the island, I saw many many glass booths with lots of neon light. I was expecting near-naked ladies sitting inside, but I couldn't see any, only decently-dressed girls. If you search Mr.Google with the keyword “BinLang XiShi”, you’ll find a lot of pictures of girls in bikinis or skimpy dress and heavy make-up. I think Taiwan TV just exaggerating about their raunchy dressed Binlang Princesses (檳榔西施). Either they are just overrated marketing, rumours, or my radar is lame in finding ladies. Hahahhaa

To feed my curiosity  we finally to stop at random BinLang booth. Did I see any sexy ladies? No! In fact, there were a fat older lady and a fat uncle serving me. I couldn't be bothered to take their picture. I bought 2 available types. Each cost me NTD50 per pack.

I tried chewing them, here is my report:

When eaten individually, binlang is awful, the texture is just like the husk of young coconut (they are cousins). Imagine trying to pierce your teeth into coconut husk, no matter how immature the nut is, it is still very hard to chew. Plus with my braces, it was an almost impossible thing to do. Binlang tastes dry and astringent; I couldn't taste any sweetness or sourness, just super dry astringent. Don’t like at all щ(゜ロ゜щ)

 The betel piper leaves. I have no problem with this, I think it taste a little minty with heavy herbal fragrance. OK with me!

Sexy girls you said? This is as far as I got - on a box of sandwiched binlang

See the above picture? The thing sandwiched between sliced binlang? I thought it’s a kind of root or something. I found out this is the flower vine of betel piper. No wonder it tastes so nice. Imagine putting minty toothpaste in your mouth. This is what it tastes like, freshen your breath （*＾3＾）/～☆

I tried eating them whole too. Again, I couldn’t really chew the binlang. It’s just too hard. Those people who were addicted to binlang must have over-worked jaws.

Despite considered low class, judging from hundreds (thousand?) neon-booths on streetside, Binlang is somewhat popular in Taiwan. Usually consumed by drivers to get alertness during their work, just like cigarettes and coffee (since they are mostly males, girls in skimpy dress must made them super alert and manly. Who wouldn’t?) It is also addictive. The side effect is reddish black spit, stained teeth or losing your teeth too. Recent studies concluded that chewing binlang can cause oral cancer!!! 

A question mark! as binlang is not a new thing, why people in past centuries don’t get these side effects? Even in Indonesia, binlang and betel piper considered to strengthen your teeth rather than ruining them (they still stains). I guess it depends on how much you chew. Unlike Taiwanese who chew non-stop, people in the past chew occasionally – usually on religious/traditional ceremonies.

山重重水重重

Main entrance of FGS Buddha Memorial Centre

Have you heard of Fo Guang Shan? It's a big Buddhist organization in Taiwan, they have branches everywhere around the world. On my last visit to Taiwan, we went to Kaoshiung to visit FGS's Buddha Memorial Centre.
It's enormous!Looks like a palace rather than a religious site (@_@;)
Ow, they also have statues of respectable Arhats, my fave is Rahula's statue. He was pictured to have 2 dimples on his cheek. Cute. (top right on the pic below)

Arhat statues + their brief descriptions 

Anyway, there's a room inside the Buddha Memorial Center, where you will be asked to pick a little ball from a bucket of balls. (I wasn't allowed to take pic here)
OK, since I didn't really listen to what the volunteer said, I just followed what my friends did.
So, we all kneel down, prayed, bowed, and picked a ball.
Inside the ball there is a paper with a poem inside! I was so surprised that it's a new kind of Tiu-Ciam! ~(>_<~)

One volunteer then ushered me to a nun, to explain what is written on that paper.
     Nun:What's your problem?
     Me: Huh? What problem?
     Nun: When you pick the ball? What problem did you ask?
     Me (turning to my friend): I didn't ask anything, I just pick a ball... for fun
     Friend: (looking at the nun) She asked about her future

Basically the nun said that my life involved with a lot of roads and sea, many many path to go. And through my journeys I will find my real heart (真心) then, I will settle down.

I have no words against it. She's right, I think I travel quite a bit in my life. As for my real heart, I assume the nun talked about Dharma. She can't be talking about my future spouse, right? It would be very odd to discuss about spouse and marriages to nun (or monk).

Anyway, I think the reading doesn't mean anything in particular, bad or good. I think it depends on how you see and interpret it.
There were like 6 people (apart from the nun) try to interpret my paper. Some said it's a bad omen: many paths means many problems and obstacles. WTF!!! Or some said you have to find a spouse to stop all the wandering  (✖╭╮✖)
What's wrong about lots travelling and being single?
Am I the only person in the world that think I am a lucky person??? I know I am.
Well...As long as I am happy with myself, that's good enough, isn't it?
------------

My paper reads: 山重重又水重重。透出重重重见功。重重妙义重重意。不管东南西北风。
Google translate it as: Numerous mountain numerous water. Revealed a numerous to see result. Numerous wonderful righteousness numerous meaning. Regardless of the wind of East South West North.

it's me

I think I look quite good in this pic, need to immortalise it on my blog * big grin*

Emergency Laundry

A friend asked how do I manage washing during my travelling. I usually only wash little things like underwear and socks, sometimes I wash my scarf too, that’s when I accidently spill something on it.

Here is a trick how to have your little laundry to dry up within a night
1. Prepare your washed laundry (in this case: my little socks) On top of a towel, lay the socks. Place it on the edge of the towel.
2. Pull the other edge of the towel to sandwich the socks
3. Flatten the sandwiched towel
4. Roll the towel
5. Roll the towel
6. Wring the rolled towel, wring as tight as you can. All the excess moisture is transferred to the towel.
7. Un-wring the towel.
8. Now you can grab the socks, they’ll be quite damp now.
9. Hang it in open air area. I promise they’ll be dry by tomorrow

Update about Robi. Part 3

The project was done a couple of month ago. I was just lazy to write. Hahaha

But I guess I owe you a report. Here are the before-after pictures of the house make-over.

the bathroom

the front yard

the new room

The project was running well, but just like other mercy-project, there were some obstacles. I even doubt that the new room will be given to Robi.

Mostly because of greed, Robi's family member asked for more and more, kept on complaining that they needed more which none has anything to do with Robi. Of course, not all their wishes are fulfilled, we insisted to focus on Robi's welfare, rather than the whole extended family.

The leftover fund for Robi is not fully handed-over. I still wait for Robi's legal ID, so he can open a bank account under his personal name, rather than borrowing name from others (I even doubt his relatives)

But that's just me, I know I am abit way over-reacted about his relatives' attitudes. But one can't be too careful about money, right? Especially when it involves needy people.

Previous Posts: Part 1, Part 2

Tail-less Pui (part 2)

The latest news about Apui's condition is "Apui is recovering, and he is a happy doggy"

WARNING:
The following writing contains pictures that some may find to be disturbing. Reader Discretion is Advised.

Searching for Love under The Moon

It costs us 80NTD to get there from Taipei Station by cab. The name is 霞海城隍廟 (pinyin: Xiá hǎi chénghuángmiào) or translated into:  Xiahai City God Temple. The temple is small, yet it is crowded.  The crowd was endless, the pot was full with incenses, the temple was flooded with candies, cakes and flowers.

霞海城隍廟

The guardian of temple is 月下老人 = Yuè xià lǎorén - The Old Man Under The Moon (abb. Yue Lao)  – a Chinese god, who is responsible for matchmaking. Yes, those people who came here have one purpose in mind, to find their significant others.

As the temple received a lot of foreign visitor (last week when I was there, a troop of Japanese girls was there too), the temple staffs are responsible to teach newbies for the proper worshipping procedures. They are super friendly, they’ll teach you step by step patiently.

For FIRST timer:
- Get some gold-paper-money and incense, you can buy it on the spot for NTD50. You also need to buy some red-thread, and material for Blessed Tea material: sugar+red dates. Also available on the spot for NTD250. (please pay it yourself, do not lend money from others… or your love may goes to your friend. Hahaha)
- Go to the frontyard, pray to Ti-Kong / Jade Emperor

Yue Lao Shrine

- Get back to the temple, pray to Yue Lao. You need to tell him your name, birthday, and address. And then tell him the expected criteria of your future spouse. Be detailed, be VERY VERY DETAILED.
Don’t forget to promise Yue Lao, that if you have find your love, you’ll come back to personally thank him and bring him some “Happiness Cookies” as a token of thanks.

More shrines at the back

- After Yue Lao, continue your prayers to other gods in the temple. You won’t be lost, they put numbers on the shrine. Just follow the numbers, k?

- After praying to all gods, get back to the front yard and place your incenses in the big burning pot. For the gold-paper-money, you can just leave it on the table in front of the temple, they’ll help you to burn it.

pouch for red thread for sale

- The staff then will give your red-thread and place it in a special pouch (you get it for free – special for foreign visitor). You need to “add power” by circling the red-thread into the smoke from the front yard incense pot. Do it clockwise. Make a wish! Now place the red-thread pouch in your pocket or bag. Remember to carry it with you always, love can be found anywhere, you know!

- The staff will also give you some “Happiness Cookies” ie. candy, cake, or biscuits. – which was offered by successful couples as a thank you to Yue Lao. By eating those, may you get infected by their love-success.

Blessed Tea for Sweet Life

- And at last, the staff will offer you “Blessed Tea” (remember you bought some ingredient for tea? – this is the result). By drinking the tea, may your life will be sweet and peaceful. The tea is hot, but please do not blow your tea. As the action may also blow away your chance to find love

- Voila, done!!!

For SECOND timer, you can omit buying the tea-ingredients and the red-thread. After all the above procedures, all you need to do is to “add power” to your previously owned pouch. And you can take more "Happiness Cookie" and drink some Blessed Tea too :)  

What a lovely afternoon tea...

I visited the temple earlier this year. If you asked me, does it work? I have to admit that, IT DOES. It works, exactly like what I requested to Yue Lao. The problem is, my request wasn't detailed enough.

As for this second visit, I couldn’t bring myself to ask for a new love candidate. The one that he got me before was perfect, but ... (sorry, I can't tell you)

So, this time, I wasn’t really “panicky” to go to the temple. My friends were. Hahaha.

Btw, according to the temple staff, they received about 20something packages of "Happiness Cookies" DAILY. That means there are more than 7000 marriages a year!!! OMG, Yue Lao is so busy!!! Yue Lao, please pay more attention to me. >.<~

NOTE:
When I took these pictures, I overheard 2 boys who were sitting in front of the temple saying “Look at them, praying so seriously, why can’t they just open their eyes and pay more attention? Can’t they see that there are choices, right in front of their eyes”

I laughed, those boys were right. We prayed so hard asking for prince charming to sweep our feet away, but in fact, the perfect guy is right here, right in front of our eyes. Yet we choose to ignore them.
Pathetic, isn't it?
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Who is Yue Lao?
Here is the legend behind it (Believe it or not, I heard this story from mom long time ago when I was a little kid)

Yue Lao’s legend dates back to the Tang-Dynasty story “The Marriage Tavern.” A scholar named Wei Gu meets an old man in a tavern. Watching him thumb through a barely legible text by moonlight, Wei realizes he’s the netherworld official who binds together couples listed in the registry of those predestined to marry.

When the curious Wei asks who he is destined to marry, the old man replies that he will marry the three-year-old daughter of a blind vegetable seller in the market. Upset by the news, Wei orders a servant to kill the little girl. She survives the attempt, but scarred and is adopted by a provincial governor, who marries her to Wei Gu some 14 years later. After his marriage, Wei discovers that the flower petals his wife sticks to her forehead hide a scar from a knife wound received as a child, and realizes that Yue Lao’s prophecy was accurate.