It's that time of year again, when Chinese families gather from far and near, to remember our dear departed. And it is no different for me, hence the long silence, as my bro and Dad (who's 86 - long may he keep going) came up from KL to join us for a couple of nights before we headed back down to Taiping (where he's from) for the annual ritual. With guests and the boys, I've not had much chance to update this blog!
This morning we drove down without TOO much hassle waking the boys up (they're not too bad if warned with dire threats) and left the house just ten minutes later than our self-appointed time of 8, and arrived at my cuz's house in Taiping about 9.45am.
After a quick breakfast of Taiping Chee Cheong Fun (pix taken when I wrote about it for Star Sunday Metro a year or two ago) this is MY idea of nursery food - what I used to tuck into it from the same stall even as a child when visiting this very cousin's own mother), from the Hawker Centre, the soft steamed rice flour went down a treat with a good dose of chilli and tee cheow sauces, we headed for the cemetery.
As there were 8 of us it went quite fast, although admittedly we only "cheng benged" at grandparents' and one great-grandmother's graves and neither are we a particularly religious family, so we were done by noon! With so many of us, it's actually quite "lau juak", and not sad or depressing. The boys are used to it now - I've been insisting on their helping out every year and they don't moan. Although it's a simple ritual, I believe by observing it they "honour" their dead ancestors. And I also like to think that one day they might do the same for me and insist their own children come and pray at my plaque (probably no more space for me by then!).
HOWEVER enough of the macabre; after a quick wash and change, we headed for Ayer Kacang (Tau Chooi) in town, where we tucked into some of their great chicken rice (sorry no pix) - really "koot" (smooth). The Hokkien Mee was OK but I think we can better it here in Penang.
The drive back was uneventful, but traffic was quite heavy.
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