Friday, August 12, 2011

The Butcher

my family will never go hungry. EVER. the hub's prepared... on Twitpic

It's the 7th month of the Chinese calendar. That's when the gates of Hell (and some say Heaven) open and the hungry ghosts roam the earth. Well, this is according to the traditional Chinese Taoists who celebrate the Hungry Ghost Festival.

The hub and his colleagues carried out the rituals of praying to the spirits and burning of the incense sticks, candles, joss papers, hell notes, gold bars, ingots and other paper-made objects depicting wealth and status. I was there to help out although my role was minimal as I'm not too familiar with the customs and traditions.

After that, it was dinner time and that's when my multi-talented hub whipped out the chopper and began cutting up the duck and chicken.


Impressive, eh?

The only essential item missing to complete the butcher look: a dirty white singlet with holes!

Yes, that's a garbage bag he's tied around his waist as a make-shift apron. He'd stained his shirt and couldn't find anything else but the trash bag.

We'll be having another round of prayers and rituals on Sunday - this time for the family. The kids always look forward to the mini "bornfire" outside our front gate as we send gifts and paper money to the underworld visitors.

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