The day has finally arrived, one of my uncle's brought us to grandpa's grave. It seemed like the place wasn't easy to reach... Only that wasn't why, we had to wait to be brought to grandpa. The reason was the size of the resting ground. Unlike the (western) long fields of graves, this was a temple estate with different temples with a statue of a god and one building filled with rows of cremated people. This is where my grandpa is kept. If we went to this place alone, it would have taken awhile to find the plate of grandpa. The plate is a door to a box to his urn. I couldn't see the urn, because it was locked. The plate/door had a picture of his face and a message written in Chinese. He was one of many, who is kept in this very serene surrounding. I hope grandpa is resting in peace and likes the place where he is kept.
We wandered around the temple estate for a few hours and I saw that there were Koi fish and tortoises in some ponds. The Koi is for crossing over of spirits to the temple and back. The tortoise it part of the north, east, south, west part of China like the Dragon, Phoenix and the Tiger, but I'm not sure why they are here. Anyway the crossing over of spirits... The month seven (Chinese Calendar, so half July/August) is the month, when - Chinese people believe that - the dead will visit Earth so that they can party. It is said that Heaven's doors open during that time so that they can visit their loved ones. That sounds nice, doesn't it? Being able to see the ones you love again or the thought of the possibility. That is why during this period people give offerings or gifts to the one they love. I saw people burning incense, praying, burning paper money and offering food. It was beautiful and sweet. The temple estate itself is very beautiful and peaceful, compared to the burial grounds that I've visited so far, I find this place very happy instead of spooky. The temple also has monks, who pray to the gods which makes the place calm and even more serene. I saw a few of them walking around wearing a yellow cloth around their body. These monks pray every day at certain statues of gods (they aren't really gods, they represent a way of living - Buddhism, Taoism).
After spending a few hours in the temple estate, my mum, younger brother and I ate lunch at a dim sum restaurant located at the Carlton Hotel. It looked like a nice hotel and at first I felt the same style in the restaurant, but it wasn't so and the food wasn't as I expected. It was so-so, apart from the dessert. The walnut cream soup was warm and delicious ^^
From the Carlton Hotel, we walked to Bugis Junction. On the way there I felt that I was baking, luckily I didn't suffer from a heatstroke like in Hong Kong. I bought some manga in this mall and I completed another series "Clamp School Detectives", but I still need to complete another series so we headed to Suntec City. Unfortunately, I didn't find more manga in this mall, but I have visited a cosplay shop where I wanted to go to since the first day I saw the add on a pillar of the first floor of the same mall. At that store, I saw a cosplay dress from Yuki Cross of the anime series "Vampire Knight". I was interested in it, so I walked up to a guy who was dressed up as Itachi from the anime series "Naruto" ^^ He was wearing an Akatsuki jacket, the lenses to have Sharigan eyes, head plate and the ring. He was missing something from the set though, the sandals and the painted finger nails >.< but it didn't really matter he made me laugh with it or without it in my mind. I could hardly take him seriously, even though I was asking serious questions about the outfit like the size. It turned out to be too small and he said that he could order a bigger size, which would arrive by the end of the month... Sigh... It is not great to hear that... Oh well... I had fun today, so that counts >.<
We wandered around the temple estate for a few hours and I saw that there were Koi fish and tortoises in some ponds. The Koi is for crossing over of spirits to the temple and back. The tortoise it part of the north, east, south, west part of China like the Dragon, Phoenix and the Tiger, but I'm not sure why they are here. Anyway the crossing over of spirits... The month seven (Chinese Calendar, so half July/August) is the month, when - Chinese people believe that - the dead will visit Earth so that they can party. It is said that Heaven's doors open during that time so that they can visit their loved ones. That sounds nice, doesn't it? Being able to see the ones you love again or the thought of the possibility. That is why during this period people give offerings or gifts to the one they love. I saw people burning incense, praying, burning paper money and offering food. It was beautiful and sweet. The temple estate itself is very beautiful and peaceful, compared to the burial grounds that I've visited so far, I find this place very happy instead of spooky. The temple also has monks, who pray to the gods which makes the place calm and even more serene. I saw a few of them walking around wearing a yellow cloth around their body. These monks pray every day at certain statues of gods (they aren't really gods, they represent a way of living - Buddhism, Taoism).
After spending a few hours in the temple estate, my mum, younger brother and I ate lunch at a dim sum restaurant located at the Carlton Hotel. It looked like a nice hotel and at first I felt the same style in the restaurant, but it wasn't so and the food wasn't as I expected. It was so-so, apart from the dessert. The walnut cream soup was warm and delicious ^^
From the Carlton Hotel, we walked to Bugis Junction. On the way there I felt that I was baking, luckily I didn't suffer from a heatstroke like in Hong Kong. I bought some manga in this mall and I completed another series "Clamp School Detectives", but I still need to complete another series so we headed to Suntec City. Unfortunately, I didn't find more manga in this mall, but I have visited a cosplay shop where I wanted to go to since the first day I saw the add on a pillar of the first floor of the same mall. At that store, I saw a cosplay dress from Yuki Cross of the anime series "Vampire Knight". I was interested in it, so I walked up to a guy who was dressed up as Itachi from the anime series "Naruto" ^^ He was wearing an Akatsuki jacket, the lenses to have Sharigan eyes, head plate and the ring. He was missing something from the set though, the sandals and the painted finger nails >.< but it didn't really matter he made me laugh with it or without it in my mind. I could hardly take him seriously, even though I was asking serious questions about the outfit like the size. It turned out to be too small and he said that he could order a bigger size, which would arrive by the end of the month... Sigh... It is not great to hear that... Oh well... I had fun today, so that counts >.<