Young Master Liem

Chapter 15 To Gang Lombok temple

As Wan Siang had planned, he would look for clues to his life by going to the temple. For a long time he was not related to the spiritual world, so rarely to the temple.

That day Liem Wan Siang decided to go to Kang Kee* temple located on the edge of Semarang. But Kang Kee temple is more famous as Gang Lombok temple. The name is because the temple is in the Lombok Gang, Chinatown of Semarang, and sounds more familiar to the ears of the natives. The road itself, the Lombok Gang, is so named because there used to be many lombok or chilli plants.

On the road there is also a food industry, as well as a building that serves as a meeting place for the people of Kongkoan and the medical hall.

Gang Lombok Temple is the largest and most luxurious temple at that time, in which there are many places of worship of various gods. Originally the temple was built as a home for the Goddess Kwan Sie Im Poo Sat, or better known as the Goddess Kwan Im, who Buddhists consider as the Goddess of Compassion.

Gang Lombok Temple has three rooms, namely the middle of which there are statues of Buddha, Thian Siang Seng Boo, Kwan Sie Im Poo Sat and Sam Poo Tay Djien (admiral Cheng Ho). On the left wing are the shrines of the Prophet Kong Hu Tjoe, Hok Tik Tjien Seng (God of Earth), Kwan Seng Tee Koen (God of War) and others. While his right wing is used to worship Poo Seng Tay Tee (Drug God), Seng Ho Lo Ya (City Protective God), Djay Sien Ya (Wealth God) and so on.

Gang Lombok Temple is open to the general public, not necessarily Buddhist people, as its function is to maintain harmony throughout the community. So Wan Siang invited and the Sweet. After all, the Sweet has not been invited to go for a long time, surely the girl also felt bored at home.

Wan Siang performed prayer activities in the temple, first prostrating and praying before the Almighty God. This also applies to people of other faiths, they can pray according to their respective beliefs.

Finished praying, Wan Siang stuck the hio in a three-legged vase located in the front of the middle room, then went to the altar of Goddess Kwan Im. He threw two semicircular pieces of wood to ask for the Goddess' approval, the side of the wood he threw showing a different side, a sign of his request being accepted. Then he shuffled the small bamboo sticks in the container while saying his request.

In each bamboo stem there is a number that can be matched with Ciam Sie paper. Then after getting one numbered bamboo, Wan Siang had to throw two semicircular wooden pieces earlier to ask for God's approval once again. After getting the number contained in bamboo, he exchanged it with Ciam Sie paper containing poetry, as one of his efforts to obtain instructions for the next step of life.

The middle-aged temple guard helped him decipher the Ciam Sie paper that Wan Siang had obtained. The man smiled and explained the contents of the Ciam Sie paper.

“Wah, Ciam Sie Engkoh this ciamik (good) you know. Nice match, close. The windfall is also good, but it looks like Engkoh's windfall is not here, but it is in the west and east, ” said the temple guard.

“West and east? It is opposite, how can windfall exist in two opposite directions?” Wan Siang was confused.

Besides being confused by the meaning of his fortune to be sought in the west and east, he was quite surprised by Ciam Sie's results regarding his matchmaking. Then he looked towards the Sweetie. He was not close to anyone except the Javanese girl, could the matchmaking in question be the existence of a relationship with the girl?

Wan Siang who had never thought about his soul mate was suddenly made to think in that direction. But he himself believes that every human being has his own soul mate, if he can not meet in the present life, is likely to meet in the future life. That is what his teacher taught him before.

The Sweet also listened to the temple guard's explanation about matchmaking and fortune, then spontaneously he also turned to Wan Siang. It was at that moment that the two stared at each other at the same time. Suddenly the Sweet One seemed like something important to Wan Siang, not as an attractive talisman or toy, but as a person who had been accompanying him in joy and sorrow.

“Thank you for the explanation,” Wan Siang told the keeper of the temple. The young man gave some money to the temple guard as a thank you.

The man of the temple guard was not playing happily when he received a small amount of paper money from Wan Siang. The young man indeed looked like a young master from a rich and royal family. Especially in the days of misses, of course money becomes so valuable.

“May Engkoh many windfalls, people who like to give sure the windfall is good, may Engkoh be happy with Cacik-e.” The keeper of the temple turned to Si Manis, whom he considered Wan Siang's lover, and called him Cacik which can be matched with the name “Mbak” for the natives.

After completing his business in Gang Lombok temple, it is incomplete if you do not buy famous food near the temple, namely Lunpia Gang Lombok. The lunpia stalls are small, open every morning and close in the afternoon before sunset. But the lunpia stall could have been closed during the day if the merchandise had been sold out. There are two types of lunpia, wet and fried lunpia, complete with pickles and sweet sauces.

Lunpia Gang Lombok is known as the second lunpia, first made by someone named Tjoa Thay Yoe, a young man from Hokkien who settled in Semarang. Initially he made lunpia with flavors from his native region to connect life. Then he married a native woman named Warsih.

Since then Tjoa Thay Yoe and his wife concocted a recipe for lunpia tailored to the tongue of the local people. And was born the famous Lombok Gang lunpia. Lunpia has a slightly sweet taste, with sliced bamboo shoots, eggs, chicken meat, shrimp and piehie (a type of salted fish). Therefore, many people argue that Semarang lunpia is the food of Javanese and Chinese cultural marriage.

Bamboo shoots or young bamboo is believed to bring air im (cold) which is efficacious to increase energy. Eggs, shrimp, and piehie fish contain heat that is believed to increase sexual power. Red and white onions increase endurance, lettuce and chives make the face clean and youthful, and lengthen the breath.

Arriving at home, Wan Siang and Si Manis ate the Lombok Gang's lunpia. It seems that girl really likes the taste. He of course had eaten lunpia, but just a cheap lunpia sold in the market. That time he could feel the best lunpia in the city of Semarang.

“Did you hear the word of the temple guard earlier?” asked Wan Siang to the Sweet One.

“Iya, I heard.”

“Then what do you think?”

“I don't know, I don't understand about the windfall that comes from the west and east.”

“Oh, about that I think, maybe you will soon meet a soul mate,” said the Sweetie as it crossed his mind.

“Who do you think my soul mate is?”

“Where do I know Mr.”

“I'll just be close to you, if your soul mate how?”

The Sweetie would not want to blush embarrassed, who would have thought that Wan Siang thought like that.

“Master don't joke, I'm a poor man, where can be a rich man's soul mate. Suitable to be his assistant Mr.” The Sweet himself laughed when he said it.

Sweet has never seen a poor man in his village marry a rich man. That kind of thing seems to only exist in fairy tales. In the village of Si Manis, the girls are on average married to people who are equal, equally poor and live together full of struggle to slam bones.

“I don't want you to be my maid, from the beginning you weren't my maid. But I don't mind if you help me something,” said Wan Siang.

“What can I help you with?”

“You don't go, keep taking care of me and accompany me.”

“Whatever I can go to where else Mr?”

“Do you never want to go home?” Ask Wan Siang.

Sweetie thought again, it has been a long time since he came home. Actually he really wanted to go home, see his father and meet again with his childhood friends. But life takes him in another direction, suddenly he is stranded at Wan Siang's house.

“I do sometimes want to go home, I miss the father and friends,” The Sweetie lowered her face implying a longing for the hometown.

“Ya Already, you can go home tomorrow, but I accompany,” said Wan Siang.

The Sweetie thought Wan Siang would just take it off, return home for good. But in fact Wan Siang allowed him to go home on condition of being accompanied by the young man. Let it be, the girl was still happy because she was finally given some leeway and tomorrow she could meet her father.

Wan Siang's departure to the Gang Lombok temple was like a turning point in his life. He began to seriously think about his life, which he had previously only considered a game. In fact, life is not a game of profit and loss, but the struggle to get results as expected.

No one knows the wheel of fate. Wan Siang had become a successful person running a gambling house, then his fate turned around and brought him to the lowest point, because now he was just an unemployed person.

Once Uncle A Seng visited him at home, and discussed the position of the Sweet as a talisman of Wan Siang's wealth.

“How do you think, you would have considered the Sweet as a wealth talisman, then there was an incident like this and now you even become unemployed,” said Uncle A Seng.

Actually the words of Uncle A Seng did have a point, originally the Sweet was brought home to be used as a wealth talisman. But it seems like something is not going as well as hope.

“Uncle is right, now I am down even though I brought the girl with the aim of being a wealth talisman. But somehow, just by the presence of the girl, I felt happier. I used to be successful and have a lot of money, but my life feels empty. Every day if you are not drunk, you play gambling. Now that I can laugh more, it feels like my life is more fun than it used to be.”

“Actually what are we looking for a lot of money? Yes let us be happy. What matters is the end result, happy or not. Money is just one of the intermediaries of happiness. Happiness itself can be caused by many things. Every happiness we feel is a windfall and a gift that sometimes cannot be exchanged for money.”

Uncle A Seng who is full of the salt acid of life can sometimes think wisely. His wisdom is not because he is never wrong, but because he knows the two sides of life, dark and light, his knowledge covers a vast and diverse life science. Life experience is the most valuable teacher.

Remarks:

Kang Kee temple: now better known as Tay Kak Sie temple, in Gang Lombok, Chinatown of Semarang. One of the temples visited by many tourists until now.