Our Destiny
Nearly two years ago while I was still in Tainan, I had to make a trip to Taipei to get my passport renewed. I met up with an old girl friend of mine who used to reside in Brisbane. We were having brunch in Sogo when we came up with the idea of going to visit a fortune teller. Generally, we didn’t have any major problems but we were both curious to know what the fortune teller had to say about us. It would be a nice change from the tarot readers in Australia.
After we finished with our food, we went on our way to the fortune teller. Boy it sure was one hot sunny day. We had to cross a bridge, go through a few traffic lights, walk through little passageways, walked past plenty of shops before we finally got to an old strip of shop lots where the fortune teller was situated. I tried to catch my breath and slow down my breathing pace as we walked into the shop.
It was a rundown little shop that looked like it was around for decades. We were greeted by two amicable elderly women and my friend started conversing in Taiwanese with them. Their voices trailed away as I scanned the shop, and my eyes rested on an old, grim looking man seated before a wooden table. He looked up and stared straight back at me, his eyes piercing into mine. He looked so menacing and cold. He then closed his eyes and turned away, chanting to himself as he tapped his fingers.
After a few minutes, one of the ladies directed us to the table as I expected, and my friend decided that I should go first. Every time the fortune teller asked a question, my friend answered as they were speaking in Taiwanese and I couldn’t understand. He then asked to speak to me personally and my friend explained that I didn’t know how. He exclaimed infuriatingly how insulting it was for a Taiwanese not to know how to speak one’s own language and that I should be ashamed of myself. I looked at him horrified, and retorted that I wasn’t even a Taiwanese to begin with!
The guessing game of my origin then began. He started off with Hong Kong first, then China, then Singapore only to see me shaking my head in reply. “Shouldn’t he know where I’m from since he is a fortune teller?” I thought to myself in disbelief. I then answered that I was originally from Malaysia, not Singapore. He proceeded to ask for my ba zhi (date of birth, time of birth etc.), took a quick look at my right palm, and then moved his thumb from finger to finger, counting away.
He proceeded to tell me about the five elements according to his book and which one I was, and then shook his head and proclaimed what a disaster my life was. My friend was jotting down everything furiously on a paper as he continued to talk. According to him, my health was a concern, my love life was a mess, my studies and careers wouldn’t go smoothly, and my family, oh I can’t even bring myself to type it out. Practically speaking, there was no more meaning to my life and I really have nothing to look forward to at all. He paused to look at my reaction. I looked at him intently. I was totally flabbergasted, my palms were sweating, my friend was looking at me sympathetically, and the fortune teller, well he was still waiting for my reaction. I was just…
fucking horrified! 0_0
He then smiled and started talking. "Fortunately, with the changes that had happened in your life, it's not going to be so bad after all." Phew, you got me there Mister. He mentioned about the major moves I have made moving from different continents, the moves from different houses, and then the little accidents I had such as spraining my knee or ankle, the importance of having godparents, and ecetera that curbed the bad destiny I would have had to face. Most of the things he said was pretty much general and the others, I shall not reveal hahaha.
So basically to sum it up, my love life and health would be alright after all, my studies and career wouldn’t end up so bad, and that my family would still be tight knitted. -_-" Looks like I’m back to square one with not much answers ei. The only important thing he mentioned was that there’d still be many changes and moves I’d have to make in my life and that it would be necessary and be a good thing for me.
My friend was up next and he discussed about her life the same pattern as he did for me, starting off with all the extremely horrible stuff you can never imagine before ending with all the oh-so-good things. Apparently later on, I heard from many other friends who had gone to see him that they all had to endure the same painful discussion, and most of them reckons that he probably does it to all the people. That’s not very nice!
Over the years, I've forgotten most of the stuff he said. He mentioned that I'd definately go back to see him a year later with so much confidence. Well did I? No. I think we're all better off not knowing what lies before us. It's alright for some guidance, but basically our life changes according to the different paths we choose to walk in life. To me I think that your life is in your own hands, you change your own destiny. Most asians also say that the lines on our palms change every five years as well. Does it really? It sure is something to ponder about.
What do you think?
After we finished with our food, we went on our way to the fortune teller. Boy it sure was one hot sunny day. We had to cross a bridge, go through a few traffic lights, walk through little passageways, walked past plenty of shops before we finally got to an old strip of shop lots where the fortune teller was situated. I tried to catch my breath and slow down my breathing pace as we walked into the shop.
It was a rundown little shop that looked like it was around for decades. We were greeted by two amicable elderly women and my friend started conversing in Taiwanese with them. Their voices trailed away as I scanned the shop, and my eyes rested on an old, grim looking man seated before a wooden table. He looked up and stared straight back at me, his eyes piercing into mine. He looked so menacing and cold. He then closed his eyes and turned away, chanting to himself as he tapped his fingers.
After a few minutes, one of the ladies directed us to the table as I expected, and my friend decided that I should go first. Every time the fortune teller asked a question, my friend answered as they were speaking in Taiwanese and I couldn’t understand. He then asked to speak to me personally and my friend explained that I didn’t know how. He exclaimed infuriatingly how insulting it was for a Taiwanese not to know how to speak one’s own language and that I should be ashamed of myself. I looked at him horrified, and retorted that I wasn’t even a Taiwanese to begin with!
The guessing game of my origin then began. He started off with Hong Kong first, then China, then Singapore only to see me shaking my head in reply. “Shouldn’t he know where I’m from since he is a fortune teller?” I thought to myself in disbelief. I then answered that I was originally from Malaysia, not Singapore. He proceeded to ask for my ba zhi (date of birth, time of birth etc.), took a quick look at my right palm, and then moved his thumb from finger to finger, counting away.
He proceeded to tell me about the five elements according to his book and which one I was, and then shook his head and proclaimed what a disaster my life was. My friend was jotting down everything furiously on a paper as he continued to talk. According to him, my health was a concern, my love life was a mess, my studies and careers wouldn’t go smoothly, and my family, oh I can’t even bring myself to type it out. Practically speaking, there was no more meaning to my life and I really have nothing to look forward to at all. He paused to look at my reaction. I looked at him intently. I was totally flabbergasted, my palms were sweating, my friend was looking at me sympathetically, and the fortune teller, well he was still waiting for my reaction. I was just…
fucking horrified! 0_0
He then smiled and started talking. "Fortunately, with the changes that had happened in your life, it's not going to be so bad after all." Phew, you got me there Mister. He mentioned about the major moves I have made moving from different continents, the moves from different houses, and then the little accidents I had such as spraining my knee or ankle, the importance of having godparents, and ecetera that curbed the bad destiny I would have had to face. Most of the things he said was pretty much general and the others, I shall not reveal hahaha.
So basically to sum it up, my love life and health would be alright after all, my studies and career wouldn’t end up so bad, and that my family would still be tight knitted. -_-" Looks like I’m back to square one with not much answers ei. The only important thing he mentioned was that there’d still be many changes and moves I’d have to make in my life and that it would be necessary and be a good thing for me.
My friend was up next and he discussed about her life the same pattern as he did for me, starting off with all the extremely horrible stuff you can never imagine before ending with all the oh-so-good things. Apparently later on, I heard from many other friends who had gone to see him that they all had to endure the same painful discussion, and most of them reckons that he probably does it to all the people. That’s not very nice!
Over the years, I've forgotten most of the stuff he said. He mentioned that I'd definately go back to see him a year later with so much confidence. Well did I? No. I think we're all better off not knowing what lies before us. It's alright for some guidance, but basically our life changes according to the different paths we choose to walk in life. To me I think that your life is in your own hands, you change your own destiny. Most asians also say that the lines on our palms change every five years as well. Does it really? It sure is something to ponder about.
What do you think?
Current Location: Brisbane
4 comments:
fortune teller used to tell me really bad stuffs too, if i were to listen to him i wud have stopped working and wait for my death..not tat i dun believe but i trust my own destiny more
yeah i reckon everything in life happens for a reason. & with every action you make, it will lead to a different destiny. Live Life like there's no tomorrow and do what ever you think is right and makes you happy. Every1 has a different life path made for them...do not compare to others.
i like the way u describe ur experience.. ya its good as a guidance but dont let it overrule ur own decision...
nat: yeah, aren't they all the same? hope you feel better over there dear
sally: spot on! :)
anon: thanks hunn~
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