die.die.2009

in hockkien...the number "4" is pronounced as "si" = die.
thus.....yday was die.die.2009 which also is the day of another chinese "celebration" which deeply reflects our chinese culture....chengbeng a.k.a the cleaning ancestors grave day.





wat u see in the tv does not resembles at all the true spirits of chengbeng......u noe like how they always projects a very sombre sad situation of process..the truth is..well at least for my family is that its not al bout tears but more of sweats! *bleah*

its one of the time of the year when family and relatives de get together....minus the sweats & the crazie heat of the day....ebody practically enjoys the process of cleaning up the grave...^^ im not lying...usualy u see the family members talking and laughin...some even burn the fire crackers neh! how cool is that...mayb the deceased like to play firecrackers bah when he/she is still alive..or mayb family members wana wake them up! haha..xD
*touch wood*
and u will bum into frens that you lost contact with because maybe my grandfather de grandfather's tomb is the neighbour of anoder fren de great gandmother or so forth.....! haha....










*my grandpa's de grave*











well..as u all noe..i am a christian..therefore...due to this factor..well...u can pretty much say that my family is not the original "chinese-sy" kinda family...call it modernisation or wat but we are definately not ignorant....^^ we also help to clean the graveyard de kay..the only difference is that we dun hold the joSSstick and pray to the dead..we pray for them instead. =)

p/s: updates - well..i would reli say..being a christian...i definitely am proud of who i am..seeing the bhuddists that make so much effort to prepare themselves for the chengbeng..i gotta say i am impressed...cuz they reli reli do need to prepare for it...we christians just buy flowers n we are kautim liao.....i guess whichever way ppl chose to do chengbeng..its all comes down to us being respective of the dead..rite? ^^ sorry agn if i am seen as being racist or in this case more of a "religion-cist" bah...i mean nothing like dat... alas..cheerio to everybody who at least make an effort to go chengbeng...except for thos who cant go due to sebab sebab yang tidak dapat dielakkan la..^^


there is huge difference between the way christians and buddist do it.
christians being the so-called "ang moh" de buys only flowers as a sign of respect for the dead.
but for the buddist..there is way lot more than just flowers...there are chickens...vege...mee...bihun....rice....fruits..carbonated drinks....bla bla bla....practically what chinese people eat at feast will be there to be offered to the deceased..according to what i understand...these offerings is for them to eat...when i was younger i cant help but wonder how these "people" are gona eat them...=p
( i edited this part..cuz i read tru it le....it was abit sensitive..i gues..sowrie...=p)

another significance of the day is the burning of offerings to the dead. buddist burn hell notes.....clothes,pants, shoes and some other things la...but since the "upper" world is progressing..i guess the "lower" world also need a proper globalisation. thus, u can see ppl burn n73 la.....LV bags la....i wonder if they have apple ipod anot since its the latest gadjet anyone can get....ohya..forget to mention..obviously all this is made of paper de la! xD






*some of the bhuddist kinda food offerings*






*some of the burning kinda de offerings*






*hell notes! *










*semua kasi bakar bakar..its no masak masak k!*













*this is the "maiden" a.k.a servant at my gandpa de tomb..ready to serve him! haha....xD*






chengbeng is a tiring day..by the end of the day...everybody will be so exhausted that almost all the beds in the house will b occupied.heee..well....i used to dread goin chengbeng with my family cuz im afraid that "something" will jump out of the tomb to greet me...haha..dat was....10 years back.now..i find it interesting as it truly reflects the chinese culture...^^
(p/s : i still hate the overly crazie hot weather! )


*wink*