Sun Moon Lake
2023 . 1 . 31
Our family had a terrible start to the year. My brother had a car accident on his way home; fortunately, his hands and feet were slightly injured, just some scrape and bruises. However, because my brother was perpetrator of the accident, he had to bear the legal responsibility and assume the liability for damages. My mom, sister and I all had a heavy cold; besides, I fell down the stairs, but I quickly used single hand to keep my whole body from falling down. However, my spine still hit the floor and my hand was sprained. Taking advantage of this trip to Sun Moon Lake, we prayed to the God along the way, wishing for a better fortune this year.
On the way to Sun Moon Lake, we passed the Kong Ming Temple. Our family believed that praying to the God was helpful for the exams. In addition to our efforts, good luck was also vital. As long as our family members had important exams, we would go to the temple and pray for good luck. The statue of Kong Ming was worshiped on the first floor, and there was also a six-meter-high statue outside the temple, with many pineapple candles placed beside it; the statue of Guan Yu was mainly enshrined on the second floor. About three years ago, the temple provided a free service "Increase wisdom". Nowadays, everyone was charged $200 dollars, so we rarely need the service. The way to increase wisdom was for a Taoist to hold incense and draw on your body in the air. During the process, the Taoist would cast a spell on you to bless you, from the forehead to the stomach. In the same way, from the head to the back. Finally, everyone would drink a glass of water called wisdom water. Before the entrance exam was around the corner, I prayed to Kong Ming for good luck. By the way, my mother spent $800 to buy a pair of pineapple candles, wishing for better outcome. When the results came out, I was very grateful to the God for blessing me because I guessed a lot of math questions and finally got them all right.
We had not been to A Po's Tea Egg for a long time since I was in young age. One A Po's Tea Eggs cost only $13, which was $5 cheaper than the boss's tea eggs. The recent hike in eggs pushed higher the cost of egg products. Nowadays, the price of one tea egg raised from $10 to $15. The price of Sheriff’ tea egg even increased to $18. A Po's tea egg cost only $13, which was $5 cheaper than the Sheriff’ tea egg. In addition, for four A Po's tea eggs, the average cost of one tea egg was only $12.5. For a big family, we had to be thrifty on each cost of living. The tea egg smelled yummy, and I could not wait to bite this appetizing egg. The tea egg was fragrant with Assam tea leaves and mushrooms. Moreover, there was a gazebo near the stand, where you could sit on a wooden chair and enjoyed the picturesque scenery. The lake was sparkling under the sunlight and the blue sky reflected on the lake, interweaving with the mountains and forests to form a landscape painting.
The atmosphere of Xuanguang Temple was very peaceful, as if entering a paradise isolated from the world. What caught the eye was the temple with a concise design, in contrast to the traditional temples. In honest, I was sick and tired of gorgeous temples, and this simple design was particularly refreshing. There was a very large viewing platform in Xuanguang Temple, where you could get a bird's eye view of the Sun Moon Lake. The vast Sun Moon Lake suddenly shrank into a small pool. In addition, I especially liked the landscape design of Xuanguang Temple, which was very similar to the Japanese temples I had visited before.
Ultimately, wish you the best of luck!!
