The whole weekend was a real blast for me! It started out with me being slightly late to the meeting point. We headed off to have breakfast and then proceeded first to Tze Yun Temple, a Malaysian branch of the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association (DRBA). The DRBA was the organization we're helping out during this Wesak, so we had to wear their yellow t-shirt. Most of us didn't have one, so we were loaned a pair.
The problem? That single pair was to last us for two days. I knew from the start that there was no way that it will smell good with all the physical activities that I will have to do. That prophecy of mine was proven true within 10 minutes of changing into the t-shirt. Just a little carrying of tables and boxes in the afternoon sun made sweat run freely down my head.
I'm quite peeved at having to do manual work - I'm just not suited to it. I prefer to serve people at stalls rather than lugging around large, heavy boxes. I know some people who would take the opposite stand. I just wished they would actually exchange jobs with me! But I did get to do a lot of serving people, as after Tze Yun Temple we headed straight for Brickfields Maha Vihara (BMV), the main temple where everything is going on. This was my first time celebrating Wesak there, and it was just spectacular. The stalls run on both sides of the road for almost double the distance in Penang. There is a variety of stalls selling, among others, large luggages, java tea, Hindu images, and original music CDs.
As for DRBA's stall, we focused on setting up a free distribution book centre. We brought in lots of different Chinese and English books published in-house. We are only allowed to give away and display books that have been printed by DRBA itself to avoid distributing books that preach in contrast to their ideologies. A little strict, yes, but necessary to maintain the society's integrity. That's also what the Tzu Chi Merit Society is doing with their book stall, which happened to be directly opposite ours. I sincerely think we got more traffic than them, partly because Tzu Chi's books aren't free. All our books are free and also beautifully printed, which boosted its appeal. And I noticed that some people donate a lot for the books, so I guess their contributions cover back the costs and the smaller donations given by others. But I've stopped judging people based on how much they give, as I do not know the person behind the body.
Anyway, we spent the whole afternoon from 3-something to 8pm at our counter. We had more than enough helpers, so I was free to walk around and enter the temple itself. The main hall itself has a small photography exhibition by a world-reknowned photographer, a blood donation campaign, and a free skin carotenoid score scan.
Huh?
That's what my mind thought when I asked what they were doing with the strange laser device. From the broucher given, the score is a measurement of the level of the antioxidants in our skin. The score ranges from 0 to 50,000, with 50,000 being optimal. Anyway, we signed up for the scan and discovered that I only had a score of 24,000, slightly lower than the middle. But what was really surprising is that Steve, the society president scored only 19,000 although he exercises regularly and is a full-time vegetarian. Two members scored less than 10,000, but one of them is a smoker, so I'm not that surprised about him. Well, I'm no doctor, so I can't really say how important antioxidants are for us to have a healthy life, but I'm sure it's not the final determinant. After all, how can I compete with a devout vegetarian who prays regularly and goes jogging?
Of course, there's not such thing as a free lunch. The free scan is part of the company's (Pharmanex) guarantee that our score will rise if we start consuming their Lifepak dietary supplement. Basically, 2 sachets of the drink mix could provide nutrients equivalent to a LOT of vegetables and fruits. That is indeed good news for those who keep finding excuses to miss their greens. But the good news ends shortly as a monthly supply of Lifepak costs around RM248. It is just too expensive for students like me. Luckily, the people there didn't force the products into our mouth, but I suspect that my phone number given to them would be put to use in the future...
Back to the stall. We also have another stall providing vegetarian food such as fried noodles, nasi lemak, kuih, and herbal drinks. The major difference between us and everyone else is that our food stall runs on a donation basis. Whereas other stalls mark up their prices, we willingly give the food away. I really salute them and it reminded me of Annalakshmi, which I discovered has a branch directly opposite the BMV's main gate.
At 8pm, we left and went to have dinner at this popular vegetarian outlet. It was indeed quite good and reasonably priced, but by the time we finished it was already 10pm because Steve took a wrong turning on the highway. And as most KLites will agree, a wrong turn could mean an hour of lost time.
We then went to an apartment at the outskirts of KL. I initially thought that all of us were going to stay together in that apartment, which I don't mind as it was pretty cool up at the 16th floor and had enough space. I even took off my socks and got ready to bath. Everyone had already changed their t-shirts and gave their dirty, yellow t-shirts to Michael (an old member) as he had a washing machine and dryer in his home. Anyway, all that changing got me thinking that we would be staying there. I was wrong! It was announced that the guys will have to leave the apartment as it was only for the girls. The guys had to crash in Michael's house, while Steve will be returning to his own house as well.
So I dragged my tired body out of the house and sat in Michael's car as he drove us back to where he stays. When we arrived, his parents and siblings had gone out, so I used the master toilet and did my business. I wasted no time in being the first to sleep, making sure I did my yoga and applied the capsicum plaster to my lower back. I knew what I would be expected to do (carry heavy stuff), so I took the perfect short-term remedy along (capsicum plaster). All 4 of us guys slept in the same room on 3 foam mattresses. The air-con was switched on the whole night. It was nice at first after the hot day outside, but it became a little too cold for me in the middle of the night. Thankfully a blanket was provided, though still lacking. I knew that it would become unbearable for me, but I did not voice out my concern to the host as he already has so much on his hands, including washing and drying 12 pairs of dirty laundry.
I slept uncomfortably from 12 till 5am. We washed up, and at 5.45am we left for Tze Yun Temple again. We met up with the others there and plotted our next move. If there was a weakness in this whole event, it was the lack of pre-planning. Everyone was clueless about what they needed to do and where they needed to go until it was 5 minutes past the assigned time. In the end, we all went to pick up the girls from the apartment and had a quick breakfast at a nearby vegetarian stall. There were 3 cars this morning, so 2 cars were to be at Brickfields to help out at the stall, and another one at Teng Bi An, another DRBA branch temple. I, along with 3 guys and 2 girls, headed for Teng Bi An. Once there, it was mostly the same thing. There was also a counter giving out free Dharma books and we had to attend to the devotees by preparing plastic bags for them to put their allocated maximum of 3 books per person. We usually closed an eye and let them take 4, if they asked. I got to hone my Mandarin conversational skills today by responding to devotee enquiries.
About 30 minutes after our arrival, we saw Michael coming in along with those who sat in his car. Apparently, there were too many helpers at Brickfields so they came over to help here instead. Bad planning, anyone? Thankfully, it was a quiet Sunday so traffic was relatively smooth.
Another thing we had to do was to pack those blessed water packets (the term is used loosely here). It had lots of flower petals in it, and it made the tap water smell nice. We had to pack them up in small plastic bags for devotees to take back and bath with it. Other than that, we had to carry lots of tables in and out of the shrine hall once the proceedings were over at around 2pm. We had a very decent lunch there, and it was once again on a pay-as-you-wish basis. At 3pm, we left Teng Bi An for Brickfields once again.
The temple is situated very close to KLCC, and because of that, parking space is limited. We had to park next door at a corporate building car park. It was a Sunday so there were many empty bays. When we left the place about 7 hours later, we began to wonder how much the parking would cost. Michael's car was in front, so we attempted to see how much he passed over to the attendant.
We saw his arm passing over a red RM10 bill.
All of us in the car "wowed" at that.
We then saw Michael's arm passing over another RM10 bill.
A bigger "wow" ensued.
We saw the attendant passing back RM6 to him, so simple mathematics told us that we were being charged at RM2 per hour. It is expensive, but not as bad as London, where people spend more to buy a parking bay than their lofts.
I would really like to finish up the day's events, but so many things happened at Brickfields that it would take another post. I am just so tired now, and I need to start my recuperation period. David is not back from the procession yet. A brief preview of Part 2: crazy woman and eager monk.
Stay tuned.
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