My Thoughts: Xi Chiaw San ( Xi Chiaw Mountain)_ cornered into a tight spot episode

After lunch at Fo Shan I took a cab to a scenic spot called
Xi Chiaw San. Distance is about 30Km, travelling time abt
40 min and taxi fare is 75 yuans ( abt RM40). This is a
mountain abt 500m above sea level and is located near a
small town, Xi Chiaw.Around the mountaineous area there
are 8 scenic spots. Comparatively is like Air Itam, Kek Lok
Shi and Air Itam Dam in Penang. Difference is visitor has to
pay $ to get in.
The taxi man dropped us at the main gate . Immediately a
man on a motorbike approached us, offering to take us up
the hill for a fee of merely 8 yuans for 2 pax( the bike can
carry 2 pillion riders!) He said to walk up the hill may take
hours. So we hopped on and broooommm.................,
not realising the 'best' is yet to come.
Brooommmm ............ this fellow took us uphill and right to
the door step of a small and old temple. 3 locals(2 men and
a woman) greeted us, offering us some 'free' joss stick to
pray to the gods there.After that the man asked me to grab
some rice grains from a bowl and put them into an angpow.
He even asked me to blow some air into it before sealing it
and asked me to take home and put it into my rice urn.
That will bless me to have rice to eat forever. I felt like a fool
going through these superstitious ritual.It was an insult to
my intelligence. Worst still, when it was done, the man showed
me a book and asked me to jot down my name and write some
wishes. I didn't realise he was partially covering part of the
page with a card.Eventually he pushed it aside and wa..lau..eh..
there were 3 columns on the right for me to list down my
donations for 3 different purposes.I glanced at the rows above
me and saw quite hefty figures. Shit! I was cornered into a tight
spot. I was deceived. I didn't mind donating, but not in this
manner.
As a sign of protest I merely wrote 3 yuans for each item.
That fellow must be cursing, kiamsiap !

When I came out, my wife had just made a wish in front a wishing
tree ( suggested by the woman) .The lady was asking for 30 yuans
for the wish. My wife protested because she doesn't know Mandarin,
so can't understand the label on the tree. But what to do, we are in
foreign land. Pay lor. Chiaklat.
Ah! China! macam macam ada!

That's not the end of it. The biker took out a brochure and showed
us 8 locations around the area. He wanted 80 yuans to take us there.
Alamak, the initial cheapy 8 yuans was just a bait. Sekarang baru
nak sembelih. Kena conned again!!!!!

Fed up, just topped up 5 more yuans for him to fetch us to the Kuan
Imm statue, that's it.

Along the way he hookwinked us again to part with 15 yuans to buy
some joss sticks from his contacts, telling us that it would cost more
at the temple.

I felt like I sudah kena kongtau man!!!!!!!

You often see this type of tree in the Hong Kong TVB
serials. Write down your wish on a piece of red paper, tie it
to an orange and throw it up. If it hooks, your wish will
come true. China pun ada woh!!!!!