GRAPE SANDALS

Would you want to own a pair of Grape Sandals like the ones above?  Me?  Cute though they may be, they'd look too young for me.  BY the way, a pair of them sandals costs RM29.90.

MASOCHISTIC SESSION

One of the dictionary definitions for masochism is a willingness or tendency to subject oneself to unpleasant or trying experiences.  Well, once in a while I pay for such a masochistic session with the traditional Chinese masseur whom my friends and I fondly refer to as Uncle Urut (Massage Uncle).

I am no pervert just because I go for such sessions.  The fact is I had sprained my arm while lifting my mum who had a fall last Saturday.  You see, I had a bad fall while boarding the bus many years ago and as a result injured my back and dislocated my arm.  Now. whenever I overexert my right arm, I risk getting it dislocated again or sprained.  

Wonders of wonders, my arm will be healed after a session or two with the Uncle.  That is why I willingly subject myself to such a type of torture.

After the session was over and I felt much better.  See, I even posed with Uncle's Dummy with all the Pressure Points.  He wrapped a towel over it for the sake of modesty.  Heh!  Heh!

SEE HOW THEY HAVE GROWN

I haven't seen my god-sister, Sophie, for almost half a year already.  She was busy in Kuala Lumpur with her job and also raising her two children, James and Jamie after her mum, my Aunt May, passed away.
It is because of the Hari Raya holidays that she had time to come back to Ipoh with her family.  My little nephew and niece have grown quite a bit since I last saw them.  It is this thing with children, they grow up before our eyes and we would also grow old before theirs.
Their visits are always happy occasions for my mum and me.  There is so much to catch up on.  However, the part I love the most is the hugs and kisses I get from the two young ones.  My mum became more cheerful and alive after their visit.  Their next trip back would be in December.

TALES OF THE 24 EXEMPLARS: JIANG GE

Jiang Ge Labours for his Mother
There was a filial son by the name of Jiang Ge who lived during the Han Dynasty. Jiang Ge worked hard to support his widowed mother. At that time, their homeland was at war as a result of a rebellion, their lives were threatened and so Jiang Ge decided to take his mum to a safer place. He carried his mother piggyback along the highway to escape the bandits.
Unfortunately, they met up with the rebels. The leader demanded that Jiang Ge join them, however the young filial son knelt down and pleaded to for mercy and said that he couldn't join them as he needed to take care of his mother. Along their journey, Jiang Ge met up with more rebels and each time he pleaded for mercy. And each time, the bandits were touched by his plea and allowed him to carry on his journey.
They finally managed to reach their destination where they joined other refugees. There he worked by doing odd jobs to support his mother. While he himself was garbed in torn and tattered clothings, he made sure that his mother had the finest food and clothings that he could afford. His act of filial piety was noted by the neighbours and earned their praise.
Eventually Jiang Ge managed to get permanent work and was able to live comfortably with his mother. By that time, the war had ended and his mother wished to return. Being the filial son, he gave up his job and found a cart to transport his mother back to their homeland.
REFERENCE: http://nirvana-sg.com/24-filial-exemplars/jiang-ge

TALES OF THE 24 EXEMPLARS: TSAI SHUN

Picking Mulberries For His Mother: Tsai Shun (A.D. 176)
Tsai Shun whose  father died when he was young was a filial son to his mother. At that time, the ruler was Wang Mang who had just usurped the throne. The whole country was in a chaotic state. To make matters worse there was a famine. During that time, he gathered some mulberries to eat in place of rice. He used to gather two wicker baskets in one of which he collects black mulberries which are well-ripened for his mother; while in the other he keeps the red ones which are only half-ripened for himself. At one time, Tsai Chun met some robbers on the hill. They asked him why he kept the mulberries in two separate bowls.
Tsai Shun answered, "The black mulberries are riper and sweeter. I will give those to my mother. The red ones are not ripe, but sour. Those I eat myself". Please do not kill me or else my mother won't have anybody to look after her. The robbers were touched by the boys sincerity and also his sense of filial piety for this mother. They decided not to harm the boy and instead rewarded him with rice and allowed him to go back to his mother.

Links
http://nirvana-sg.com/24-filial-exemplars/cai-shun
http://www.yogichen.org/cw/cw43/bk144.html

ON THE LAST DAY OF RAMADHAN

 I was at the Ipoh Stadium Bazaar Ramadhan on Monday afternoon.  It was the last day of the month of Ramadhan and many of the stall operators had ceased operations.  Perhaps, some had already packed and gone back to their Kampungs to celebrate Hari Raya Aidil Fitri with their loved ones.

 There weren't many stalls and not many people.  There were more Chinese than Malays buying the food.

 This operator was wrapping the fried Beehoon for me.  The noodles were freshly cooked and smelt delicious and that was why I couldn't resist buying a packet.  It cost me only RM1.50.

 The noodles doesn't score in presentation but it sure tasted good.

 Grilling lamb.

 BBQ Lamb

 Note that colouring had been added to the drinks sold to make them more attractive.  I wonder if it is healthy?

 Fried Chicken

Nasi Tomato

MY TOE SOCKS

I had misplaced my necklace and was busy looking for it in my room.  Instead of finding the necklace, I found the pair of toe socks that my sister, Li Lian, had bought for me last December.  I actually never got to wearing them as I am not a socks person.  Anyway, I didn't want Li Lian's good intentions to go to waste and decided to snap some pics of me wearing them toe socks.  Very cheerful looking, don't you agree?

TALES OF THE 24 EXEMPLARS: LAO LAIZI

Filial Piety of Lao Lai  Zi (1122 B.C.)

When Lao Lai was seventy, his parents were still alive. He wanted to give them cheer and made them laugh daily. Sometimes he he would deliberately fall down while holding some water when he passed his parents; sometimes he wore the clothes of a clown and clowned around in front of his parents; while at other times he acted as a child and played beneath his parents' knees.

Reference: http://www.yogichen.org/cw/cw43/bk144.html

AIR IN EMPTY BOXES CREATE STALE QI

I was reading this book on Feng Shui titled The Way to Harmony where the author, Albert Low, mentioned that there are those among us who like to keep empty shoe boxes.  In his book, Mr Low mentioned that trapping air in empty boxes for a long time creates stale or dead Qi.  His advice was to not store too many boxes in the house as they may sap up the life-giving forces in the building and deprive the occupants their share.
Those boxes that you see in the above picture belong to me.  Ya, I am guilty of storing boxes too.  Must do something about them pronto.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE HELL TOUR

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the Hell Tour organised by a Master Kek in Penang.  Well, it seemed that the tour was conducted recently.  Interestingly, there were 50 out  of 200 who qualified for the trip.  Read the account by one reporter who was one of the participants.

A trip to "Hell" - almost

My 'visa' to Hell

By Beh Yuen Hui
Photos by Gary Chen

A group of daring people took the opportunity to be part of a 'Hell Tour' in Penang.

The trip was organised by Master Kek Eng Seng of the Tze Bei Guan Yin Dhamma Centre, who claims that he can travel through the realms of Earth, Heaven and Hell.

For the first time in Malaysia, he offered people the opportunity to visit the 'Afterworld'

Surprisingly, there was overwhelming response. More than 200 people from all around the country registered for the extraordinary trip.

Some were taken off the list through a screening process, based on the birth dates that were unfavourable with the timing of the tour. Pregnant women and those having their period were also turned down.

Master Kek opening the gate to Hell

Finally, the number of Hell travelers was brought down to slightly more than 50, including a dozen reporters from the Chinese dailies and yours truly from Daily Chilli.

It had been raining almost the whole day on Thursday and Friday but Saturday was sunny.

Master Kek claimed that he had appealed to Guan Yin deity to stop the rain for our trip to the afterworld.

As night fell, the group, all clad in white shirts symbolising purity and sincerity,  gathered at Padang Brown in Georgetown for the "tour".

After some prayers and rituals. we were all set to start our journey around 10.15pm.

My eyes were covered with a paper talisman wrapped in a yellow cloth. Then, the lights were switched off.

Participants entering the Hell boundary

As I listened to the chants by Master Kek, my head became very hot, as though there was a stream of warm air trying to get out of my body through the top.

(Master Kek later explained this by saying that my soul was trying to get out of my body.)

The feeling came three to four times but was gone within minutes.

I tried hard to concentrate but my mind was distracted by the sounds from a Chinese opera show nearby and noises from the watching crowd.

But I refused to give up.

About 45 minutes after the "tour" began, I saw lights and followed their direction but I soon fell into darkness again with some circles flying towards me.

It was like watching a science fiction movie with a spacecraft traveling through a stream of meteoroids.

(Master Kek later explained that I was passing through a whirlpool while on my way to "Hell".)

But, I was again distracted by the noises and failed to enter "Hell".

Soon, Master Kek called for everyone to return. The process lasted about one hour and 15 minutes.

Unfortunately, only about a dozen people in the group claimed to have managed to break the barrier and enter the realm.

Chiang Kee Chuan from China Press  was the only 'lucky' one from among the media participants.

"I saw a rainbow hanging on a beautiful sky, and a deity advised me to become a vegetarian," he said.

Another woman, who declined to be named, said she saw many 'people' at a pasar malam (night market).

Before she could tell more, Master Kek asked if the street's name is Ba Jiao Jie(Octogon Street) and she gave him a Yes.

"Why? Because I have been to the same place before," said the master.

Master Kek leading the Hell travelers to go round the pagoda to enhance their luck after the tour

Another female participant said she saw her departed mother from a distance, but she could not go near and speak to her.

The event ended after Master Kek led the group to recite prayers to get rid of bad luck.

On seeing the disappointed faces of the reporters later, the master promised to take us on a second trip on Monday.

Hopefully, I will have more stories to tell after that.

SOURCE: http://www.dailychilli.com/news/13728-a-pass-to-hell

TALES OF THE 24 EXEMPLARS: LADY TANG

LADY TANG NURSING HER MOTHER-IN-LAW WITH BREAST MILK

In the Tang Dynasty, there lived a court official, Mr Tswei, whose great-grandmother had lost all her teeth and could not chew even soft rice. Eating was a big problem. Mr. Tswei's grandmother, the Lady Tang, realized the difficulty her mother-in law had in chewing food, and in order to sustain the old lady, Lady Tang would wake up each morning and feed her breast-milk from her own body. The elderly matron had no trouble digesting this nutrition and managed to live to a ripe old age.  

What bothers me about this story is that Lady Tang herself was already a grandmother to an official of the Imperial court and even if she married in her early teens, she'd need to be at least 53 to get an adult grandchild.  Another questionable thing about the story is how on earth could she manage to have breast milk for so many years to sustain the old lady.  She needs to have given birth in order to produce breast milk.  No wonder the stories in The 24 Exemplars were met with scorn by the Chinese intellects of that time.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI

AIDIL FITRI GREETINGS TO ALL MUSLIM VISITORS OF THE XING FU BLOG

WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO SLEEP IN A COFFIN FOR BETTER LUCK?

Things might not be rosy for everyone all the time.  Even the luckiest and most fortunate among us would suffer from bad luck once in a while.  Right?  Well, it seems that one can get rid of bad luck by sleeping in a coffin in the Looi Im Si Temple. If you were the one with the spate of bad luck, would you be willing to sleep in this coffin for better luck?  

Got your attention, then read on ...

Sleeping in coffin for better luck

Sleeping in coffins no longer brings bad luck as most Chinese are commonly believe.

A coffin at the Looi Im Si temple in Penang supposedly helps to get rid of bad luck to those who believe.

Located in Jelutong, the temple has five coffins but devotees are only allowed to sleep in one of them as the rest are too small.

The Looi Im Si temple

Devotees of the Taoist temple worship deities that 'oversee' hades, including Yu Xiao Xian Bo - also known as Bai Wu Chang, one of the two guards who are said to be responsible to bring the dead to the afterworld.

The temple is only open at night - from 8pm until around 2am.

Chu Soon Lock, the secretary of the temple committee, said his grandmother Lim Guat Looi founded the temple after receiving an instruction from 'hell deity' Di Fu Bao Zhang in her dream.

As years went by, the temple worships more and more deities including Ji Gong, Bullhead Horseface (two Hell soldiers), Si Da Jin Gang (Four major bodyguards), Di Zhang Wang Pusa and Mile Buddha.

However, its reasons were unclear, as the history of the century-old temple could not be traced.

In 2007, a spirit,Yu Xiao Xian Bo, commonly called Ah Pek (uncle) by the devotees, arrived at the temple.

The spirit speaks to devotees through the body of Chu's brother Soon Chye in a trance.

The medium, who claims that he does not understand Teochew, speaks the dialect when he is possessed by Ah Pek.

In 2008, Ah Pek instructed that the five coffins be placed in the temple. The spirit also told devotees that only those with serious problems caused by the bad luck should be allowed to sleep in one of the coffins.

Ah Pek performing prayer on a devotee Wong Kim Ming before he enters the coffin

Lim S.C., who has entered the coffin twice in the past two years, said his business and health had improved after that.

"My stomach was very uncomfortable and I had breathing difficulties while sleeping but the doctors could not find the problems.

"After sleeping in the coffin, my problems were gone," said the 31-year-old.

He said Ah Pek had also warned him of theft at his car accessories shop but he did not pay an attention to it.

Teo lying in the coffin while Ah Pek performing the ritual

And true enough, the theft happened days after.

Kelvin Teo, 19, was among two persons who underwent the coffin-sleeping ceremony last Friday.

Teo said he initially came out of curiosity but Ah Pek foresaw that something bad was to happen on him, and warned that it could cost his life.

So, he was told to sleep in the coffin to boost his luck.

After a brief prayer, Teo stepped into the coffin and lay down in it with a cloth covered up to his neck.

Ah Pek recited prayer again through the medium for a minute and the ritual was done.

Source: http://www.dailychilli.com/news/13736-a-coffin-sleeping-ritual-in-penang