today's deepavali! but i didnt celebrate. (for what? i'm also not a hindu -_-''') but i did go out with my parents. whole day out. so tired. let pics do the talking...but with some comments..1st i went to visit san jiu (3rd uncle, mother's side) cos i havent seen him or my aunt(his wife) in ages. she's got cancer. and recovering :) so that's good. got a pair of earrings from my cousin. and she jsut gave yinghao and baby notebooks, but gave me a pair of fish earrings. so cute! ^_^ then went to the temple.
ok this is the temple tian men miao, but i called it gong xi gong xi when i was like...4?? cos i obviously have no idea how to pronounce it :P out of respect, i decided not to take photos of the altars themselves. cos it's just not that good.
see the lanterns? they are called 'ping an deng' to keep the families of the names written on the name tags safe. the nearer you are to the altar, the more protection you get. my dad got one ^_^ and look at the doors, there are like people engraved in it. they are the door gods. to prevent any spirits or demons from coming in. 
this is how they are positioned.
and in this temple there is a place where u can sit and drink tea. looks like a little piece of heaven. just a few pics there...
and this is the place where we burn offerings to the gods. we do burn offerings to our ancestors too but it's in a different thing.
now for the close up of the greenery around here. (s'poreans can skip this part. just a few tropical plants for the northern ireland people)the bouganvilla. note that the purple 'petals' are not actually the flower. they are just purple leaves. and stalks in the middle are the actual flowers. they will actually open and show white small flowers
and this is the papaya tree! wheee...papayas will (obviously) turn a bright orange eventually.
oh oh oh! *excitement* my 2nd fav flower!! behold! the hibiscus!!
the frillier species...
and this is the banana tree! this one is still young so havent got bananas yet.
and a clump of small red flowers...
this is a vid i took when i was in the car going from the temple to lunch..same, in the car from temple to lunch. except with music... :P
at the lunch place! had bak kut teh. literal translation, meat, bone tea. but actually it means pork rib and tea. anyway, we were gettting really hungry cos that is a really famous store and my dad got them to give us some soup first. baby couldnt take it. and her face was flushed and all. haha! took a pic...
then came the teh (tea) and you have to do it the right way. and pics of my dad making tea...
and then came side dishes!!! nonono...it's not the bak kut (pork rib) yet. it's jsut side dishes!
NOW then comes the bak kut (pork rib). dont look at that soup...brown colour and dull. it actually packs quite a punch. the flavour bursts in your mouth and your tastebuds go "wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"
after lunch, went to the shop. and then had food! (again) -__-'''
this is the da pao! (big pau) this is waht it looks like outside...
and this is what it looks like inside!!
aha! me! caught cam whoring again... (seowpeng...about that self obsession thing...save me from it!!! *runs away*)
went out of the shop. and while walking to the mrt station saw this sign. 
thinks it says "do not pull me, clap your hands only" ?
look again. it actually says "clap your only hand" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!
then went to the si ma lu guan ying tang (goddes of mercy's temple) again, no pics of altars out of respect. and in the temple, baby burnt a tiny hole in my shirt! she was so short and when holding the incense, accidentally poked my shirt. and it burnt up at that particular spot. so there u go, a perfectly round hole in my shirt. anyone wants to burn a perfectly circle hole anywhere? just use incense. :P
after praying got ice cream!! (durian flavoured)
and then went to OG. to buy stuff. and this was taken in the changing room. for a bit of fun :P
lol! i was trying to pull a face that looks confused. i look like i'm about to burst out laughing! look at the edges of the lips and the cheeks. they look ready to grin... *grins*
then bought zui kueh. that was great too! delicate soft rice cakes wobble on ru fork, topped with a generous serving of flavourful preserved radish. mmmmmmmmm!!! *drools* the flavours jsut BURST on your tongue.
and this fruit is durian! (s'poreans can skip this too). we eat the yellow flsh found inside. it's SO flavourful and SO sweet! but then there is this distinctive smell which people who can take it really love and people who cant take it jsut plain cant...weird...i love it though :)
and look at what happened to my bag!! *wails* i shouldnt have touched it!! i just drew my name on it and it actually looked nice! then it smudged and i tried to remove it using nail polish remover but it didnt agree with the permanent marker i was using and smudged...oh welll.....
