2011年10月5日 星期三

[♥Taiwan] Superstitious is No Crime

     I am superstitious! Yes, there I admitted it! What’s the matter with being superstitious? There’s nothing wrong and we shall not be despised. People like me will often treat the God as our very best and intimate friend. How? We will reveal everything, anything! For example, our names (even our embarrassing nicknames), birthdays, where we live, what’s our problems (mentally & physically), how do we feel (the very honest feel), etc., and we listen to them and by all means follow their advice. It’s like we are talking to a shrink that we trust very much. The only difference is that we don’t say it out loud. Sometimes, I almost burst out crying when I am revealing some sensitive details. Exaggerated? Perhaps :)


     Taipei Xia Hai City God Temple (霞海城隍廟) is famous for the “Yue Xia Lao Ren” (月下老人) or “Old Man under the Moon” or “The Deity of Love and Marriage”. Let’s be simple, 月下老人 is the Chinese version of Jupiter holding the red thread rather than bow and arrow. Singletons are attracted by this temple for it has made some impressive history. There have been a lot of couples getting married or single ones becoming non-single after visiting the temple. People will go to the temple and pray for true love, for smooth love, for incomparable love, and for impeccable love. Do you notice how greedy they are or I am? Single people are seeking for true love, people with the other half (BF or GF) are wishing their relationship smooth, and then the next level is to compare with other couples and hope to have an incomparable and impeccable TITANIC-style love. Geez, I guess that’s probably why there are endless disciples paying visits to Taipei Xia Hai City God Temple. 
This temple is located in Dihua Street where the famous New Year Market is held annually during the New Year’s Holidays. The neighborhood is way different from the Department Store-occupied XinYi District and from the stylish East Area of Taipei City. In Dihua Street, you’ll find stores selling dried food, traditional snacks, and some specialties of Taiwan. One snack I have to highly recommend is: tortoise jellies fudge(龜苓膏軟糖). It has a black, plain look, nothing special. Yet the herbal & caramel taste and the texture are addictive! You will want one after another when you are in the class, at work, driving, or relaxing. The restaurants there are more like undecorated food stands offering local, simple, and cheap food, such as a variety of side dishes, noodles, sticky rice, etc.






     If you are the rookies, then you will have to pass through more “gates”, so as you can see from the see-saw below, the pressure is more when you are the first time visiting Taipei Xia Hai City God Temple. The only difference is the first step whether you need to spend NT$260 on offerings to the God. Such expenditure includes not only the offerings but a candy suggesting your life can be as sweet as the candy, and the most important of all: The Red Thread of Destiny (姻緣線)

It is said that people can only have ONE red thread of destiny in their lives. So if you already have one, the first step can be skipped. There are five Gods that disciples need to go through. Tian Gong (天公) is in charge of the overall smoothness; the town god (Chenghuang Yeh, 城隍爺) & Yue Xia Lao Ren (月下老人) are the leading roles of this temple who are responsible for finding you the right one, the MR. Right! If you have someone in your mind, then name it in front of the Gods; if not, then name all the criteria of your dream Mr. Right. Being as detailed as possible is the tip! Here comes the third God: Yiyong Gong (義勇公) is the God of Justice & Courage who can help you fight against the “SH*T* & “SL*T”. The wife of Chenghuang Yeh (城隍夫人) takes care of people’s marriage and the happiness of the family while the deity Guanyin (觀世音菩薩) will bless people with extra luck. One more thing I have to nag about is that when you pray, don’t forget to make a promise that how you will redeem your promise when dreams come true. 



     I seem to be pretty experienced at this; however, no dreams have ever come true and I’m still surrounded by “SH*T* & “SL*T”. But, cases are different. I have to be rather objective about this, and purely suggest this attraction with no hatred. It’s probably a creative topic for Master’s dissertation: Study on the degree of quasi- of the deity of love and marriage. 

     
It’s a tourist spot with distinguishing features which is worth visiting once in a life time. For more information about Taipei Xia Hai City God Temple, please go to its official website: http://www.tpecitygod.org/


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[愛台灣] 愚婦行程 心想事成

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