Time to Worship the Buddah

Over the weekend some co-workers took me to Wong Tai Sin Temple, one of the most famous spiritual sites in Hong Kong. It was packed with hoards of superstitious followers all of whom were there to ask the Buddah for wealth and good fortune. 

Essentially you walk around in the grounds until you come to an enclosed area (just behind me and my co-worker Rachel in the picture above), where you are given a can full of think popsicle sticks that each have a different number on them. You then kneel down and shake the can in front of you until one of the sticks gets shaken out. Whatever number stick comes out is "your number."

Once you have your number, it's time to pray to Buddah for whatever it is you need, which you do by buying some incense and then bowing a few times while asking for what you want. The lady in the picture below was really into it and I'm sure didn't appreciate my taking her picture. I think her faith in the Buddah is a bit greater than mine.

Once you've done that, you go see one of the fortune tellers, who for HK$30 will allow you to ask one question, which they will then answer based on the number that was on your popsicle stick. The lady I saw (below) spoke to me in very broken English, telling me that the answer to my question was no, but that if I wanted the answer to be yes I should pray to Buddah to ask for his help. Good to know that I have options!

Here are some other photos from the temple...you can see all of the smoke from the incense...