A Filipino colleague of mine came around my area and asked if I wanted to go to Glebe. What for? There's a Chinese temple there. Yes? It's Chinese New Year. So? Let's go there and pray for a good year, he said. All right! That's what having a Chinese wife will do to you.
The Sze Yup Temple is right in the middle of a residential area along Edward Street, just beside the Glebe park. It's not really the best place for a temple to be in. For one, there's not enough parking space. Two, things tend to get noisy during festivities, and this might disturb the neighbors. Not to mention
the smoke and soot from the candles, incense sticks, and burning paper money. Definitely a fire hazard, in my opinion. Actually, a good part of the temple burned down just a week ago - a suspected arson attack.Anyway, my colleague paid $20 for a pack of incense sticks and some pieces of paper where you write down your prayers and wishes for the year and burn them.
Just when we finished our praying and picture-taking, it started raining cats and dogs, which is considered lucky, by the way. Except that none of us remembered to bring along an umbrella. After waiting for like half an hour, we decided to make a run for it. My colleague was quite satisfied that he did something productive today, we had late lunch at the Fish Market - his treat.
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