Ghost Festival

Dear Child-2-bees,

Last night, the family celebrated "Ghost Festival." I didn't even know it had a name. Every year, on this day, which happens to coincidentally occur a day after great grandma's birthday, we celebrate and worship your ancestors or the dead.  While many people honor their most recent ancestors, some celebrate their whole family lineage. This holiday occurs on the 15th day in the 7th month of the Lunar calendar.  It is observed by mainly Buddhists and Taoists.

 Many of the things used during this celebration can be found in one aisle in an Asian supermarket or a specialty store that sells specifically things for this purpose and funeral services. My family buys special wax candles that sit on a stick so that you can stick it into something and let it stand on its own. The candles are red of course, the symbol for "Good Luck!" Grandma likes to buy these thin square paper with a shiny silver or gold foil in the center. We usually sit down for a few hours and fold them into boats or other shapes. The theory is that since "yuan bao,"  the ancient Chinese currency was greater than any paper currency used, folding the flat paper into a "yuan bao" shape would increase its value.  We also burn incense, sticks of 3 per ancestor. I am not sure why the number three, but I have always burned incense in set of 3 and bowed three times holding them.

 We also burn paper money. This bills look like our currency.  They are green, thin and about the same size as U.S. dollar bills. Depending on where you buy these, they will say either "Heaven Bank Note" or "Hell Bank Note." I am not sure if both as the same or if people believe one over the other.  My relatives believe in just an after life or spiritual realm where all your loved ones go.

To start the festive activities, we write your ancestor's name on one of the note, light it on fire and start burning. This year, since so many family members were away, it was just Grandpa, Grandma, Grand Uncle Tom, Uncle Jeremy and Mommy burning paper money. Grandma always insists on distributing the paper money evenly to avoid any Heaven disputes. We light three incense for each ancestor and bow three times to pay your respects. Afterwards, we start burning all the paper money designated for that member while saying messages to them, recalling stories and memories of them and wishing them well for this upcoming year.

As the paper is burning, the flame evolves. Some believe that this indicated your ancestors' ghosts trying to communicate with you. I was taught that a large and powerful flame is good.

 By the 2nd ancestor's ritual, I was sweating. The flame was big and strong and it was so very hot! Uncle Jeremy made jokes about the flame being so hot that he thought it burned off part of his eyebrows and arm hair. Now that's funny!

Child-2-bees, Sleep tight and don't let the ghosts bite!


Love Always,
Mommie-2-bees

Great Grandma

Last night, Mommy-2-bees celebrated her grandmother's birthday. I think she turned 81, but my uncle said she was 82. We also celebrated her birthday according to the Lunar calendar and not the Western one. Somewhere along the line, the years and dates got jumbled up. While the whole usual cousin gang wasn't all there, (Aunt Jessica was marrying Uncle Kevonte in Austria, Aunt Angela and Uncle Brandon were on vacation in Spain and Aunt Stella couldn't make it) they were there in spirit.

The evening started off with Mommy-2-bees helping Aunt Jennifer pack up her belonging because she moves into her new residence hall at SUNY Stony Brook the next morning. Sometimes I wonder how one person can have so many things, but then again, look at what I have... Earlier that day, Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Jeremy went to Target to pick up some clear bins. It made packing and moving a bit more easier. Although, many of the lids did not close the bins. o.O

After lugging many boxes and bags of clothes, pillows and bedding, we decided to take a break and have dinner. Your grandma (my mom) made a grand feast with braised shrimp, shredded beef and pickled cabbage, soft cucumber/squash, stir fry rice cake with pork and cabbage, fresh whole chicken soup with radish, steamed chilean sea bass and more.. After we finished dinner, Grand uncle Tom started jokes about how members of our family pronounce certain brands a certain way. It was quite funny!

Before the night dragged on, and due to Great grandma getting tired, we decided to cut the cake pretty early. Promptly at 9PM, I lit the candle on the cake and had Uncle Jeremy record a video on the digital camera. He's taken a liking to photography. As I set the cake in front of great grandma, we all proceeded to sing. But I guess, the usual conductors were not there because half of us were singing in English and the other half in Chinese. You would think one side would stop and sing the other one but nope, we carried on with two versions of "Happy Birthday." After the first version was done, everyone proceeded to sing in Chinese. I feel like that's how it was always done. We sang two versions but I guess I was wrong..

Top: Mommy, Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Steven
Bottom: Uncle Jeremy and Great Grandma

For the first time in a long time, we did not have any cake leftover. Since there was less people celebrating, I got a smaller Carvel ice cream cake. We all love the crunchy oreo crumbs sandwiched between vanilla and chocolate ice cream! Don't you?

Sushi Buddy

Dear Child-2-Bees,

Things have gotten crazy busy at work these past few weeks. I haven't been able to take the time out of my day to write on this blog but I can spare a few minutes today.

Daddy and Mommy like to eat what they tried before and liked! It might seem like every other person out there- who doesn't eat what they like? But we also have a hard time trying new things. One cuisine that we don't seem to agree on is Japanese. While Mommy doesn't eat anything raw, I do enjoy some good cooked sushi. I tried convincing Daddy to come along to get a bento box or other Japanese food that don't contain fish or anything raw but he gave in once and only once! Luckily for me, my best friend M is in the same boat. Her boyfriend doesn't like sushi either! So we decided to make it a girls' night out and eat sushi together.

Mommy ordered some eel avocado, spicy crab and shrimp tempura rolls. All cooked = all good...

M ordered a volcano roll that was deep fried with tuna and salmon. I decided to try it-- a first for me. I never had tuna or salmon before. Surprisingly, it was very soft and fluffy. I had a few pieces but it was okay. I could do it again but don't expect me to finish it all!

Next, I introduced M to Mochi ice cream. It is flavored ice cream covered with Mochi (which is a Japanese rice cake flour type of thing). M said it was delicious and she loves it! Cold ice cream on the inside, soft dough on the outside! Two pieces was not enough for the both of us, we had four- green tea and strawberry!

A girl always needs a sushi buddy!


Love Always,

Mommie-2-bees

Bug-A-Boo

Dear Child-2-Bees,

What is a "Bug-A-Boo?"

It started off in the 90's being the name of a hit song by the group Destiny's Child, sung by Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. Nowadays, no one remembers that song when you hear "Bug-A-Boo." In fact, Bug-A-Boo is the brand of strollers that can cost anywhere between $650-$1,400! That's just for the stroller! The brand also sells customizable attachments to add onto your stroller to make it more convenient for mother, father and baby.


 

The first time I laid eyes on a "Bug-A-Boo" I knew it is a must have once your Daddy and I decided to start our family. I never missed a chance to point out how many people own one. There are so many Bug-A-Boo's strolling down the streets of New York, in the shopping malls and parked in clusters in crowded restaurants. It is the coolest invention yet- with state of the art suspension wheels, complete pod that holds infant and toddler, hand strap in case Mommy lets go of the handle, and the ability to expand to make room for a little brother or sister. Anyhow, thinking about how much I rave about Bug-A-Boo's, the company should pay me to advertise for them or better- give me one for FREE! That would be awesome! Either way, Daddy and I already decided- you get start your cruises and outdoor walks in a fancy Bug-A-Boo, color to be determined.

Your Daddy says he wants to start off with two pods in the stroller. He seems pretty dead-set on having at least two children, if not more! I just joke back, chuckling along about seeing how the first pregnancy goes (mostly the birth) and then deciding whether we will have more kids or not. When I told this to my co-worker, she insisted that you ride in one pod, me in the other, and have Daddy push us both! Now, isn't that a funny picture?

Love Always,

Mommie-2-Bees

The First Page

Dear Child-2-Bees,

Mommy has decided to hop on to the blogger bandwagon. I have so many stories and memories to share with you and don't want to forget them. I never have consistently kept a journal or diary in my younger days but I will change that by writing on here.

I am hoping that once you are old enough to read this, we can laugh and cry about the things I would have posted.

Love,

MoMMie-2-bees