(Pre) All Soul’s Day Cemetery visit and shopping day

[elusivek]

Although we went to the cemetery in the morning (to beat the crowd) and only after lunch I went out with my Sis, I'm going to post the afternoon's photos first and then just dump the cemetery photos under a cut.

I swore I wouldn't buy yet another plant, so of course the first thing I did was buy another plant (hahaha). A mini maple tree leaf thing. Is this considered Bonsai? The lady said this shouldn't catch too much sun, so I probably need to relocate this elsewhere soon. I'm actually thinking to install 2 rows of shelves on my empty wall so I can put my plants so they are not directly in the sun, but so far the other ones seem to thrive in the sun...?

The main reason I went out today was to look at home-use printers. Dad wanted to print something but then I found out my printer was dead. About time. That printer has almost 10 years of age. The funny thing was, wireless printing wasn't a thing 10 years ago or so, so that printer did not have that function. I don't know what I did, but after hooking the printer up to the Airport (the Apple router or something), I managed to make that printer wireless printing! Anyway, printer identified, but I didn't buy yet, coz I was on foot. I told the guy I'll swing by later in the week, but he was super worried... I guess he really wanted to make the sale. So I asked if he's open tomorrow (supposed públic holiday) and he said yes, so I promised to go again tomorrow.

I also saw a pair of Nike Zoom Pegasus 37 running shoes that are OH SO PRETTY! White, with some green accents. It wasn't expensive, but I didn't buy them. My current running shoes are still good. I'd like to use them for another year before getting new running shoes.

We then made our way back, and then saw a new "drinks store" that must have opened today or just a couple days ago, coz they still had the congratulatory flower plaques around. This was a soy milk tea base drink with a twist - it is served with a skewer of mochis. This brand is pretty hot recently and I keep seeing people posting about this drink on Facebook and Instagram... We decided to hop on the bandwagon and join the fun! Wasn't bad. I wouldn't be opposed to having more of this in future... in moderation. It must be loaded in empty calories... these "bubble tea" type drinks are called 廢水 (waste water or rubbish water, I'll go for useless water, less yucky) because... they are just that, empty calories and does nothing for your health...

And today, I actually managed to get to the chestnut guy, although, now it's not a guy manning it anymore. It's a lady. Maybe his daughter or something. That guy must be old.

And now, cemetery photos, if you are interested! I find "western" cemeteries are very calming, unlike "Chinese" cemeteries which feel very daunting. The distinct difference in impression I get is, in "western" cemeteries, you focus more on "a place of rest", where as in "Chinese" cemeteries it's like "a place of haunting". This cemetery we went to is a "western" cemetery, so it's really pretty, if a bit cramped.

Since it's All Soul's Day tomorrow, Mom wanted to visit the cemetery today, just to get it done and beat the crowd tomorrow. (Does that actually work that way?) This is the cemetery chapel (go under the cut to see!):

As we walked around, Mom again started talking about dead people and families. You know, "oh! Him! He used to be so-and-so and did this!" Or "this is grandma M's godmother" and so on and so forth. There are many who we don't really know them, but know them by face. "Oh my he died? Just last year! Poor guy!"

The cemetery situation is a weird one. Macau has limited land resources, so that piece of cemetery land will not grow larger. No one and no family is allowed to "buy" a grave. There are some very old graves that were bought very early on (let's say late 1800s and early 1900s) and those are stuck. You can usually identify them as those with intricate statues... or just very dirty headstones.

Or, as I saw on this one, it states "Comprado" (bought).

Then there are the "public" or general grave site. The big grave on the foreground of the left photo below is the "general" one, for all those who have no money to get a gravesite, or unidentified bodies. In white pillar further off below is a memorial for firefighters. The photo on the left is for the police.

So what happens? First, of course, you get a choice of whether you get buried or cremated. However, there is no crematorium in Macau, so if you want to get cremated, they send you off to China (okay, I say "you" but yeah, the family that arranges all that). Fun fact: there is no crematorium for humans, but there is a crematorium for dogs here. If you want to get buried, then you "rent" a grave site, standard for 7 years, an optional 8th year in case when they dig you up upon the 7th year you are still not decayed, you go back in for another year. Note, I am not sure if this is still the case... these are from memory from when my grandma passed and I asked a bit about stuff around 15 years ago.

So, after that, you are dug up (there's a whole "ceremony" of sorts for that), your bones washed and then ground to dust (or just broken down, I'm not exactly sure) and you go into little tins (... technically not urns... so I'll stick with tin boxes). And then, they put you in "drawers". If you went the cremation route, then you would already go into little urns and get into the drawer. Though, I've heard that they are also running out of drawer space... and so they are pushing for the "green burial" thing (you get cremated then you get buried under or next to a tree or something, so the tree represents you... you don't even get a headstone I think).

I noticed that for the older headstones, there's actually quite a lot of foreigners, and I don't mean the Portuguese. The Portuguese sort-of colonized for a while, so it's not strange for that. I've caught a Swedish guy, and there's a lot of Brits. The painter George Chinnery also has a headstone in the Anglican cemetery that is in another part of town.

And a few more random shots around the cemetery.

Comments

[memphis-kid.livejournal.com]

chestnut man i do remember. he sells in san ma low right?

[notte0.livejournal.com]

Yup, just by the fountain

[hermitsmurf.livejournal.com]

Those shoes are super cute!

I've always liked cemeteries because they feel so peaceful. If you visit a creepy one there definitely post some pictures!

[notte0.livejournal.com]

Haha I’m not sure if I would dare shooting photos at a creepy cemetery... what if I caught something that I couldn’t see with the naked eye?? Eeeeek! LOL

[blastofserenity.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is so interesting that in Macau you'd have to sent to China if you'd want to be cremated.

I really love the picture with the orange flowers!

[notte0.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I thought it weird, when I sent my dog to be cremated last year, then I noticed, oh yeah, why do they cremate my dog in Macau but for humans they go to China?

Thank you :-)

[stillruminating.livejournal.com]

I love the mini maple tree. So cute.

[notte0.livejournal.com]

Yes, so cute! I hope I don’t kill it!

[magic-treehouse.livejournal.com]

This is going to sound weird but thank you for posting about death, haha! It was a fascinating little read. The idea of 'renting' a grave site and then being dug up later is such a strange concept!

[notte0.livejournal.com]

There’s a whole... not really ceremony, but a... erm.... lesser-than-a-ceremony thing when they dig up the remains. The undertaker would dig up the remains and slowly put the bone parts to get her in a bucket. Since people bury the dead with some trinkets or stuff, they then return the trinkets (if it’s something that doesn’t disintegrate.... like last time I saw, CDs) to the family.

[magic-treehouse.livejournal.com]

This is amazing. Digging up a body in the UK would just never happen because it would be seen as sacrilegious and disrespectful. So it's incredible to me that this is normal practice elsewhere. Death is weird like that I guess.

[amw.livejournal.com]

I miss those street vendors so much! I'd love some hot chestnuts right now.

When you say Chinese cemetery, do you mean the ones on the edge of a mountain where the graves are mounds of earth surrounded by trees? If yes, i full agree, those are way spookier than western cemeteries. The worst is when you are on a mountain and suddenly turn a corner and only then realize you're surrounded by graves.

I accidentally walked into a Chinese cemetery in town here (i saw a 牌樓 gate and wanted to see what it was) and it was more like a military cemetery, lots of headstones all more or less the same.

[notte0.livejournal.com]

I guess in Macau since there is very limited land, there are no trees surrounding a “Chinese” grave. But yes to the mounds of earth with a slight... barrier or wall surrounding it. It’s actually not so bad when it’s in a proper cemetery, but when the dogs were younger and we actually hiked up in the mountains, we would turn a corner and suddenly there’s this mini enclosure thing with a mound of earth in the middle... and apparently it’s a grave right smack in the middle of the route. SPOOKY!

[deepseasiren.livejournal.com]

I love it when you share these photos. It gives me a glimpse into life in your home city :)

[notte0.livejournal.com]

Thank you!