Sunday, June 24, 2012

尋根之旅 Ancestral Home & Food

A few more photos of my ancestral home...

Big compound

There is a staircase leading to the balcony that offers a scenic view.

A view from the balcony...my ancestral house is facing 
a mountain 太平山 & a river. 
Good Feng Shui indeed :-)

These's a couplet on both sides of the main door saying:
門對天平如鏡照
水流東甲自南來


Intricate wood carving. 


The meaningful words on the mirror in the main hall:

书田菽栗多真味, 心地芝兰有异香

The first part is about the benefit of reading, and the second part is about noble character.

My brother told me 芝兰 is iris / orchid that symbolizes noble character / true friendship.

I'm sure it was my great grandpa's wish that all his descendants possess such good habit and character!


A corner of the interior. That house was badly flooded many years ago.

Curious to have a look at the pigsty.

My dad standing in front of the Chinese New Year couplet written by my cousin's son whom has won many calligraphy awards. Did I mention my great grandpa wrote good calligraphy...and my dad has beautiful handwriting too?

The dining area.

Getting ready for a feast. Red is the favorite color for Chinese family. Feeling like CNY reunion :-)

Yummy Hakka delicacies that included Soon Ban 笋粄, Ngiong Tew Fu 釀豆腐, Meatball Soup, Foo Chook, Lou Su Ban 老鼠粄 etc. There're also chicken, very fresh mushroom & vegetable.

Besides Chinese tea, we're served with the very tasty homemade wine - Niang Jiu 娘酒. 
I turned lobster red after a few cups...but i just couldn't resist it! What to do... I'm a Hakka Mui 客家妹!

The delicious Lou Su Ban 老鼠粄

Very clean underground water.

Bidding farewell. 

One thing for sure, this is a fruitful & meaningful trip that we shall always remember...


无论黄昏时树的影子有多长,
它总是和树根连在一起
- 印度诗人泰戈尔 

I can't seem to find the above in English (by Rabindranath Tagore). 
So I loosely translate it. 
"At sunset, no matter how long the shadow of tree stretches, 
it'll always link to the root / begin at the root"

4 comments:

Eunice Tee尤妮絲 said...

云婷,一直以耒我以为妳是"福健妹"原耒妳是"客家妹"!

YuinTing said...

雪婉,我媽是福建永春人 (我老公也是)。所以我是半個福建人,哈哈!

Sunny-Cookie said...

It's wonderful to be able to visit your ancestral home. We need to know our roots and so do our children. I've only heard about and seen photos of my family's ancestral home in China. Hopefully one day I will be able to visit it too :)

YuinTing said...

Hi Sunny-Cookie, you're right, it is surely wonderful to visit the ancestral home. It is truly meaningful to know more about our own heritage and origin.

Perhaps you can start discussing with your parents...I'm sure they will be happy to go along.