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.

Tail-less Pui

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

A couple of days ago, I saw A-Pui hiding under a car. Usually when I call his name, he’ll greet me with wagging tail, but this time, he just looked at me, curling his body without getting up. I saw a wound on his butt, it was dark, I couldn’t really tell how severe the wound is.

The next day, I asked my staff about A-Pui, he said maybe someone run over the dog’s tail. My brother asked me to get a vet to give him a check. Just in case it was serious.

Monks and Nuns were in the House

On my last visit to St.Peter Basilica in the Vatican City, GUESS whom I met?
A very interesting and comforting sightings: a bunch of Buddhist monks and nuns in dark-brown robes was visiting one of  the most important and holiest site in Catholic world.
For me, it is a odd thing to see how the Buddhist Sangha to visit a Catholic Papal Palace. Not that I doubt their tolerance, or me being fanatic. But, even some Christian refused to visit the Basilica, despite having the same belief in Jesus.

Look at these monks and nuns :) they are so open minded to visit Papal Palace.
They are welcomed by the Catholics too.
Without any suspicions, the world might have a brighter future.

Btw, I made a little conversation with them. By their robe, I can tell that they are Thinch Nath Hanh’s disciples from Plum Village Monasteries (France). My guess was correct, they were from Plum Village; and they were  in Rome and  Italy for a retreat and had a lazy day so they went to visit interesting places in Rome, and here they were, visiting Vatican City.

Btw, I took some pics of them, poor quality. It was kinda dark in the Basilica (I refrained myself from using flash inside the basilica, don't want to disturb those who were attending the mass). And I was too shy to asked for picture with them. (I did actually, but the result was super dark… hiks) These pictures above were taken by a friend with his DSLR camera.

Blinding Love

It's amazing how love will occupy your mind. All of your mind.
On my not-so-recent trip, I witnessed how my fellow travelmate was so crazy in love to other travel mate.
People started to whisper about them, I think they both knew about it.
They tried to be discreet, but the "love" atmosphere around them couldn't be hidden.

I mean, just like little things. The lady was always worry about the guy.
Always put him 1st. Getting him food, seat, anything, everything!
Obviously they were still in dating stage. That's why they were so lovely. Hahaha. They won't be so love-y if they've moved on to more serious stage, rite?
Her actions were more than a wife to a hubby. Seriously! The only thing they couldn't do was to hug or kiss in public for photos (like what real couples freely do).
Sometimes, when they were off-guard, they called each other "honey" ...
So, that what's love can do to u. Crazy in love. And despite those rolling eyes, you'll easily forget and ignore all your surrounding.
Blinding you with all the love love love.

Well, I hope I won't be like her. I want my guy to be crazy about me and adores me, forever. I don't want it to be the other way around like what happen to my travelmate :(

The Art of Bargaining?

Pisa, Italy

My first real experience of bargaining was in Beijing, China. I never really have a chance of bargaining when I was in my hometown or in Australia where I had my uni.
Me, such an untrained bargain-er, usually I hardly get the real good deal. I was never pushy enough. I will just give up and pay. I think the vendor need to make some living too. Rite? Or am I just being too nice?

Today, a bunch of aunties wanna buy some souvenir umbrellas from a sad looking Bangladeshi guy; an umbrella for 3 euro. I think it's a reasonable price. But the aunties wants cheaper and cheaper price. Btw, they sell the same umbrella on the stall for 5 euro. So it was really a bargain! Yet it's not enough for those aunties.

Some aunties will say "Don't bargain anymore, these ppl are poor. A euro or two doesn't mean anything for us, but means a lot to them"
And some will answer "That's the beauty of bargaining, I want to win! I want to get the cheapest price compare to u all"
And she end up buying like a dozen of umbrellas, which I believe she'll never ever use at all....

What do u think?

The Most Expensive Toilet Fee

I find this experience is amusing. I need to share it.

On my last trip, we visited Venice. We took a ride on gondola, exploring the canals of Venice. Nice experience. We only have a couple of hour for free time, so I went to see things around St.Mark’s Square; which kinda boring, cos I don’t shop. Not interested in buying anything at all. So I just walk round and round the piazza, until I bumped into my travelmates, who were exhausted from their shop-and-hunt activites, so we decided have sit in one of the piazza’s café.

The café was beautiful, full-music (they provide a mini orchestra!) and it has an elegant atmosphere. So, four of us sat and took some orders: an espresso, a pizza, a chocolate ice-cream, and a amarena-cherry ice-cream for me. Btw, it was the guy who ordered espresso that insisted us to visit the café, the real reason behind it not ‘cos he was thirsty or anything, he just wanted to use the café’s TOILET.

me being narsistic at the cafe. and that's the super yummy amarena cherry ice-cream

So, there he went to the toilet, and he came back with frowning face, saying “NO WATER”. Then the orders came, he again, started to complained about the espresso. Not about the taste, he complained about the size (which is around 30ml, I guess) and the price. The espresso cost 6.5euro. Plus the orchestra surcharge is 6 euro per person – Yes! We need to pay extra for those fine music! Total 12.5 for his part. Btw, the pizza and ice creams were amazing. So tasty. Worth every cent of it. :D

Yet he was so nice to pay for us, which total 78 euro. I guess he feels responsible to pay cos he was the one that insisted about going to the café. He grumbled as we left the café, saying “kopi tadi, diminum engga jadi daging, tapi jadi pikiran” – roughly translated as “the espresso that I took, won’t transform into flesh in my body, but it’ll become a moan in my mind”.

 I laughed and asked “Why?” Then he admitted that he went to the café just for taking a poo, when he said there’s no water, doesn’t mean the flush didn’t work; it’s just that he need to clean his butt with water, not with tissue paper (just like most of other Indonesian). So, I innocently suggested him to take a MINERAL WATER BOTTLE into the toilet (I’ve seen many aunties bring a bottle of water, please use your imagination on how they clean their butt). And he answered, “Well, I don’t have any”. And I once again, innocently took a water bottle from my bag and offered it to him. Of course, he was irritated; we have left the premises! Hahahhaa.

I was laughing so hard when I found out what he really meant by “NO WATER”. And for him to spend 78 euro just for taking a poo – and yet FAILED, was hilarious. It ALMOST became the most expensive toilet-fee he ever had. Hahahaha.

Bread vs. Coffee

Q: Who wins in a debate between bread and coffee?
A: Bread wins. Because, when the Bread-talk, Kopi-Tiam

Note:
Tiam = quiet/shut up in Hokkian

Big Miracle, The Vow, and other beautiful movies

Should have written this last month. I forgot most movies I watched on the plane now. Btw, I remember one particular movie: Big Miracle, starring: Drew Barrymore. The movie is about 3 stranded whales trapped in ice somewhere in Alaska, and a bunch of people from diff backgrounds and motivations came to the rescue.
The movie was so touching, I literally cried throughout the movie. Even my group members noticed my cries, hahaha…
If you haven’t watched it, here’s the synopsis

The problem is that I get curious about the true story behind it. Apparently the story wasn’t as dramatic as one in the movie, there was even a big question mark whether those whales survived at all. I wished I didn’t look for more information; it kinda ruined the beautiful image of the movie in my head. But it is still a very good inspirational movie. I didn’t shed my tears for nothing.
Kinda wish that Karawang whale could survive as in the movie, it would be nice. But she died anyway. Bohoo :'(
 
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Another movie that makes me teary on the plane: The Vow. It also based on true story. Ughh, I am really vulnerable for touchy stories, shame on me. Btw, the movie is about a man who tries to win his wife’s heart back after she suffered amnesia. You can read more here.
I know it sounds like super-standard Indonesian sinetron plots, but it is not, seriously, it’s not a lame story at all.

I kinda refer this to myself. Maybe we have known each other before, long time ago, many times before. But I simply forget about it. And you! You remember it. Why can you just give me some clues?
Maybe the movie tries to tell something to us, rather than trying to dig back the old memories, why don’t we create a new one, the beautiful one.
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This movie is so cute, despite the movie is about ghosts and deaths, it doesn't give any scary feeling at all.
A Ghost of a Chance (English title) / Once in a Blue Moon (Japanese English title)/Suteki na Kanashibari
The movie is about trial of a murder (huaaa!) where the only witness is a dead samurai(huaaaa!!) and the lawyer is trying to get the witness to talk to the court (huaaa???)
You'll find the movie is cute and refreshing. It also makes us wonder about the after-life. Are they still lingering around us? Have we done any justice to those who deserve it?


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This movie was introduced by Edwin. It also made me cry (again!).
The Departures is a must watch movie. It'll give you a different perspective about love, hatred, life, death, and their last moment - the departures.

Mortician is considered the lowest job you could ever get, esp in Asian communities (I dunno how Westerners' view about this job). We acknowledge their importance, but we tend not to be associated with them. Well, unless if you have to, that's when your love one finally need their service. It's taboo!

The movie tells the story about a man who desperately need a job, and took a job as mortician, and he (after a lot of struggle) do the job with all his heart. After you watch the movie, I guarantee you'll have more respect to morticians, trust me.
Although westerner viewers have rather less excited about it, the movie still won an Oscar and Academy Awards. Congratz :)

Update about Robi. Part 2

The warung where they work is closed for fasting month. The aunt that owns the warung was sick too. So during this month, their income is kinda halted. People with hard life are trained to strive; without the warung, Robi’s mom managed to get some seasonal orders to make “kerupuk jengkol”.

“We do anything to ensure our next meal”, she said.

Here are some pictures taken when we visited her:

1. Half the jengkol bean

2. Lightly fry the jengkol bean

3. Fried jengkol bean

4. Crush the bean into sheets using some heavy stone, swipe a little salt during the process

5. What it looks like after crushing, still pliable - need to dry it under the sun

6. Drying it under sun, depends on the weather, usually takes 2 days

7. This is what kerupuk jengkol looks like after being fried and seasoned with chilli paste. Picture is taken from here.

and this is the video of Robi's mom crushing the bean into sheets