Writes of Passage

My grandma passed away in Taipei in 1977 and was buried in a plot in Yangmingshan 阳明山. Over the years, her grave had deteriorated to a point that we needed to do something major. My cousin had collected her and cremated, and temporarily put her ashes at Yongquan Temple 湧泉寺 while we decided what to do. Since most of us aren’t living in Taipei, ultimately, tree burial was chosen.

The following document were needed:

1. the proof with the deceased – my dad’s ID card has his parents’ name
2. my grandma’s death certificate – from the 地政事務所 Household Registration Office
3. the moving out certificate from the temple 湧泉寺

My cousin arranged two people to help us with the burial (with a car), for a fee of NT$10,000 (about US$300). It took about 4 hours:

1. picking up grandma’s ashes from the temple
2. to a Mortuary Services Office 台北市殡葬管理处 to get a permit
3. to funeral home 台北市殡葬管理处第二殡仪馆. The ashes from cremation needs another round of process
4. to the tree burial site (Fude 富德灵骨楼), putting grandma to rest

Looking out from the temple, very tranquil.

The funeral service is provided by the government.

The government is encouraging tree/flower/sea burial, to save the planet, and maintains the park nicely. There isn’t a fee to bury at the site, and the family can choose any spot they desire.

I didn’t experience too many canceled flight. The only one I remembered was to Cancun in Spring 1990. The airport was patrolled by soldiers with machine guns and we were escorted to a brand new hotel – they had to hurry up to put pillow case on – for the night.

• 2018, a canceled flight turns into a riot, one man arrested

The weather wasn’t terrible but they decided to cancel, the MU5006 (China Eastern Airlines, 6:40-8:20pm).

1. A few postponements
2. They made the announcement to cancel
3. Issued dinner coupons
4. Have passengers to hand in their duty free merchandises – long line
5. Group us, go through the immigration, then up to the bus
6. Long drive to the hotel, about 30 minutes
7. Assign room at the hotel

When I got into the room, which is dark, damp and nasty, it’s 11:30pm. We would be picked up at 5:30 next morning.

The production to cancel a flight is humongous. I don’t know who’s going to pick the tab – if each flight is being insured. Was the weather really that bad to warren such laborious endeavor?

It’s this time, I wondered the hall near the gate at the TPE (Taoyuan International Airport) and saw a nicely made up cosmetic sales girl trying to block a woman who dressed  like a peasant to enter the doorless store. The customer moved to her right, the sales girl who’s facing me and the customer, moved to her left and on and on. I was annoyed. I don’t think I’ve seen anything so blatantly rude before.

The food court at TPE has many to offer at reasonable price.

After many lengthy discussions with my cousins, Dad and I finally made to Taipei to bury his mother and my grandma, under the tree.

今天在台北的富德灵骨楼 树葬了奶奶. 政府鼓励环保葬礼： 树葬，花葬，海葬. 有大约20%的人用环保葬. 特别感谢表哥姐们！这家树葬是将骨灰放在石头下. 奶奶1977年在台北过世. 爸爸是在他们去台北10多年后结婚. 妈妈和我对大姑姑和二伯父来说应该是陌生人. 加之海岸二边的紧张局势. 但是奶奶的碑上有我们母女. 相反，我在北京的外公家长大，他和曾祖的碑上没有妈妈和我. 感触良多.