Thursday 2 April 2009

Miscellaneous

My April's Fools was boring compared to the entries I read on FML. Few days earlier, I went out to dinner with cs. Somehow we got to talking about Apr 1. About any tricks we planned. I told him that winnie and I actually planned to embarrass him in public by shouting out Lee Chung Wei together with a bunch of friends. At Spring (a shopping mall). But we gave up in the end. So, I told him. He didn't think it was funny, and said thank God you didn't do it.


Broke my own record. 1000 emails.

Later he asked so what else do you plan to trick me? Better not be anything like: I want to break up, I don't love you anymore, some guy kissed me, I'm pregnant etc. But what else is there to say/lie to you? heh. Anyway, so ends April 1.


Then, cos I was bored, I closed the page and reopened it. So I now have 999 emails wtf. Get a life Amy!

It was Ching Ming festival last Sunday. The day you have to go pay respects to your ancestors, bring food, and light incense. Its the same every year. I wonder don't ancestors get sick and tired of the same food. Every year we bring pork, duck, chicken, fish, sometimes crab or clams. And also kuihs. Also, we bring some rice in three orange bowls, and three little cups of tea, and three little cups of alcohol (we brought whiskey i think).



Dad likes to go very early in the morning (so we don't get sunburnt). So by 7am we were on top of the hill, beside Civic Center. The entire hill were filled with graves. Kinda creepy now I think of it. People used to say there's no stray dogs anywhere around. Dogs know better than to pee on graves. But human beings don't know better not to spit. Seriously. I saw an ah pek spitting. Hate!



Then after we lay out all the food, we have to light the incense and pray (pay respects so to speak) three times. Not continuously. Pray once. then wait. Supposedly for the ancestors to finish eating. While waiting, we talk amongst ourselves.

After the third time, dad has to throw two coins together. Supposedly it has to be opposites, meaning one heads, one tails, which means that they have finished eating. If not, you continue waiting. If it is opposites, then we can start packing up. While we girls pack up, dad and kevin starts a fire to burn the paper money, paper clothes, paper bags etc. Dead people now have paper Gucci bags apparently. And paper mobile phones.


Very swollen eyes.

That's how its done in my family anyway. I wonder how other families differ from ours. Back home, we have to have dinner together, eating the same food that we offered out ancestors earlier in the morning. Re cooked, re fried, re boiled everything. Tastes horrible. I never look forward to it. but its tradition. And you follow the culture. One thing that is never easy to change.

Speaking of this, I got talking with a fellow colleague of mine today about marriage. He thought the elaborate wedding dinners were a total waste of money. The more or less RM50k should be better spent on his child's education etc. Wedding photos were a waste of money. Photos taken with a 3.2 mega pixel phone should suffice. All of these wedding dinners, the entertainment, fake talks etc were a waste of time and money etc.. Seriously do all men think like that?

For me, as a girl, yes I would like the pretty photos and dinner. but then again this is tradition and culture. The elaborate dinner is mainly to please my traditional parents, his traditional parents and our traditional relatives. Put on a nice show and get on with it. It doesn't have to cost RM50k if you don't want to. but I suppose some guys would do this for their girl wont they? Make her feel special for a day? Its your wedding. Its once in a lifetime. Wont you do it?

If I could have my own way, I would want a more westernized wedding. I could want to be at church (eventhough I'm not christian). I don't want to have to be forced to wear red. Since its associated with chinese and luck. I don't want to have to follow what auspicious time and date etc. I don't want the wedding dinner to invite hundreds of people I don't know. People I don't care about but I have to invite cos my parents want to. Or cos they are relatives. Or cos of some other stupid reason.

Weddings are actually a huge fuss aren't they?

I shall end this abruptly now.

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