Appeasing the Deity

And once again a looong hiatus in between posts,

Been neglecting our dear blog and about time I rectify it.

Starting with......Appeasing the Deity.......

It never ceases to amaze me how deeply ingrained the practice of worshipping the deities is here in Asia.

Coming from a 'Western' society, where nowadays openly practicing one's belief is a rarity, where churches have become more like museums.....here in Asia, it's easy to find small altars, temples, mosques, churches on every corner of the street, all in working order....

Jess's cousing brother who has recently become an entrepreneur and who is a devout 'believer' meticulously performs his daily praying rituals at this particular altar.

FYI, the little altar which houses the deity is in front of his shop and was already there long before he moved into the premises, but somehow nobody else from the other business outlets nearby really took care of attending to this deity and sadly it was in a poor derelict state......till Jess's cousin came along and started cleaning up the altar and practicing his beliefs vigorously.

On specified days according to the Lunar Calendar, he treats the statue which represent the deity in question to a grand feast. 
With grand feast, I mean an assortiment of cakes, fruits (oranges, pumpkin, banana's, pineapples.....and God knows what else...).

Top that off with the burning of 3 X-tra Large sized joss sticks and the burning of a gold coloured pine-apple. 

You might wonder......does this work?

Apparently, Jess's cousin business got off to a roaring start and even after the initial excitement of the new shop ebbed away after a few months, business kept coming and increasing by large increments.........what a success.....

All the other business owners nearby took notice, of his roaring business and of his devotion to praying to this deity......and one by one, practically all of them come to this altar and say their prayers to this God....praying for better business for their respective shops.

A bunch of hypocrits I'd say.....before that, they didn't even deem the God even a look, let alone take care of its 'house'.....

I'm quite sure this God is having a good laugh up there right now :)