An early Cheng Beng

I had only 4 hours of sleep this morning. *yawn*

My mom almost need to throw me out of the bed cos I was still sleeping when she called me around 4.15am. I was in the mid of a sweet dream, thus explaining why i was so reluctant to wake up. Talking about "good" timing... *sigh*

Me and my families were one of the earliest to arrive @ the cemetery near Jln Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka, for our yearly visit in conjuction of the Cheng Beng Festival (also known as QingMing Festival). I was so relief because there was once, we were stucked in the traffic miles away and we were forced to leave our car (with only the driver inside) in the highway and walk to my grandparent's tomb. What an exercise in the wee hours! Not that i am complaining, but it is always better to be able to reach there in the comfort of a four wheel vehicle. *using a defending tone*

Few days ago, my uncle has hired someone to clean the cemetery area, cutting off the wild grass and clearing the walk way, therefore, we didnt expect to do much today. But there was a big surprise waiting there patiently for us. The irresponsible grass cutter has left the mud and the dead grasses inside the cemetery compound, hence creating a small flood after the heavy rain. What the ****! So instead of having to do nothing, we had to scoop the mud and dirty water out, for a good 30 minutes. *look at self, with alot of mud on the clothes and hand*

As tired as we could be, there was still another round of praying and libation offering back home. Food is prepared and placed on the table while we burned the incense one by one. This is a common custom among the Chinese.


Some of the food prepared.


Burn..burn..burn...

After that, we rushed to the Nirvana Memorial Park for my dad. He has been there for 9 years but his burial tomb is still in great shape. Well, Nirvana has a good reputation for their excellent services and the place is still expanding. I wonder how much money they have earned so far.

Anyway, there is something that has always been lingering in my mind. Does this mean the people nowadays are more respect towards the dead ones, giving them a more beautiful and modern place for their afterlife, OR they are neglecting their responsibilities during this day cos they can just simply pay the management to do the praying and offering for them? What do you think?

Hopefully, the services that are provided by the memorial park didnt give them an excuse to spend this only day/time of the year to remember and honour their ancestors. -_-

Sitting here now, after taking a hot shower, surfing the net and with a can of 100 Plus on the table is simply marvellous. But my fingers is hurting me while i'm typing this, cos i accidentally burnt them while i was tossing the joss paper into the fire.


This is the joss paper that im talking about, in case u are wondering. :)

*sob*sob*