27/10/2024 – Here-There-Everywhere

27 Oct 2024: Ostentatious Vs Hypocrisy

Thu: discovered that FairPriceXtra/ParkwayP offers oysters+wine on Fri – must give it a trial one of these Fridays! Today just to catch up with Gel since running errands here to learn that the BasementFoodCourt is closed for reno. Also to walk back&fro from my 4walls to cover ~8,000+steps under shade!

FairPrice Xtra Events | NTUC FairPrice

Picked up ready-made Thai food@MT-Hawker&Market/ChangThaiFoodS$13 for tonight and tomorrow – OK decent food.

Tonight’s downstairs wake rituals must be one of the nosiest&long lasting so far – annoying drumming of cymbals on-going monotonously for ~30mins. Am not usually bother but somehow tonight this was irritating! Had to close door&windows, on the AC and had Symphony92.4 on full blast – did not see any setup cage for burning, at least that is more interesting when there are beautiful paper-made-offerings and according to some other beliefs when ppl upon their death even buried their material goods with them. Who really knows? no one and no reliable sources have been there&back to tell…

When sil who believed&pracitsed these rituals passed, nieces&nephews being a good&filial children paid their respects by burning a paper mansion+whatever that might be needed in her after life! Today nephew jokes about never having to be homeless in his afterlife as he could stay with his mother! the irony of life!!

Most impressive paper mansion downloaded from below site…

A House for My Mother by Brian McDairmant – Brian McDairmant, Cinematographer

Fri&Sat: somehow tonight the noise sounded more for LionDance – turns out to be some anniversary of a temple(was there to ask, but forgot which temple!), maybe that was what Thu night was about too and I probably mistook it for a wake thinking that all the noise,etc will not bring back the dead! Had to go downstairs to find out despite not understanding anything, snap some shots and to be honest and with no knowledge of this culture, find it rather noisy&ostentatious – each to their own but to me ostentation is the signal flag of hypocrisy…

As far as I’m concerned, I prefer silent vice to ostentatious virtue – Albert Einstein

Appreciations to Seb for the link below – was wondering about why are these young guys were drinking&smoking like there is no tomorrow? So this give them the excuse to be drinking&smoking to be a medium possessed??

The Chinese Spirit-Medium: Ancient Rituals and Practices in a Modern World

Grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time – Reinhold Niebuhr

Nice to see these young ppl keeping active and good to see that there are some discreet lights up in some neighbours ready for the Deepavali. Never a dull moment when living in public housing – hahaha

Sun: with fond memories&thoughts of a gracious lady, my children’s paternal Norwegian grandmother Ellen Annemor Poulsson Hald(1924-2020) who would have been 100 today.

A thousand thanks for dinner@ImperialTreasure/Ion with speical foods(raw ingredients brought by our hostess for the chef to prepare) fit for ppl who know CantoneseCusine . My humble contribution was a starter-bite of the LadybugOn MarinatedSalmon – has been a long whole ago since last made!