Mummy's entry - Cheng Meng

This is Rye Li’s first visit to the cemetery. Haye Li and I didn’t go as I feel Haye Li is still too young and also she’s not feeling well.

Actually, I do not know what is the right age for kids to visit the graveyard but as far back as I can remember, I know I visited my ancestors graves when I was really young. I had loads of fun then with our annual ritual, visiting my paternal great grandmother’s grave, and then to my paternal grandfather’s before visiting his other 3 wives’ graves (he had 4 wives and my actual grandmother was the last to leave this world when I was 16 years old).

So as you can tell, my dad’s side of the family is huge which is why we kids had loads of fun literary playing around the graves on top of paying our respects to our ancestors. Of course, the last time I did this for my dad’s side was the year before I got married and that time also, wasn’t as fun as before as my girl cousins (we have more girls than boys) were all married already and it was only my brother and I from our generation that was presented other than my uncles and aunties. Anyhow, I still miss the rituals although we have to get up very early in the morning.

Since I married into the Lim’s family nearly 7 years ago, I only visited hubby’s paternal grandmother’s grave once at Ipoh and I got valid reasons as I got pregnant with Rye Li after that and she was too young to visit the grave in her first year. At that time, I thought I would bring her in her second year when a friend of mine told me that it’s not advisable to bring young kids to the graveyard. Last year, when she was just over 3 years old, I wanted her to follow hubby to Ipoh while I will be at home with Haye Li but somehow she wasn’t feeling well and we scraped the idea.

This year we felt Rye Li has matured enough to travel the distance to Ipoh and that it is a good learning experience for her as well. Also, after explaining what Cheng Meng is about, she wanted to go. She was also happy with the fact that I allowed her to use her Barbie umbrella for the first time ever since she got it as a birthday present last year.

So early this morning at 6am, she followed hubby, his parents and brother to Ipoh. Hubby said that she was alright with the journey and the whole experience altogether. I wasn’t too worried about the long journey as she was so well behaved last September when she followed hubby alone in the car to Kuala Besut (for a holiday at Perhentian Island – another backdated post in which when I have the time).

When they returned just now, she reported that she had fun and when I asked her what she did, she went “I went to pai-pai (pray) la”. She also visited a family friend's vegetable farm after that and had some fun at the farm.

Following are the very few pictures hubby managed to take…

freshly wide awake early in the morning in the car still in pajamas

all geared up after that to make the visit

with her barbie umbrella, very happy to be able to use it to good use since it is banned inside the house

with ah kong and ah por

with the joss-sticks, paying respect to great grandmother

at the vegetable farm

posing with the brinjals (eggplants)

papa had to coax her to pluck the coconuts

Guess this is Rye Li’s first and many more to come. I think I will wait till Haye Li is at least 3 years old before we all go as a family.