I had lunch at a great little Asian restaurant, the kind you see in strip malls that can easily be passed by, and was surprised at the quality of food and the ambiance. Little tables with table clothes and flowers in vases. On a back counter, a bamboo plant with woven shoots and figurine of a round faced Asian man whose head never stopped bobbing. (Batteries?) Near the front, almost out of sight, was a small red building with half burnt incense sticks in front and a honeydew melon inside. My suspicion is this is a Buddhist thing, but not really sure.
This led to a lunch time topic of Feng Shui. Most common thing I've seen is something with water near the front of an Asian restaurant to bring good luck. Fountains. Fish ponds. Fish tanks. My lunch companion told of one such place she had visited where near the front entrance was a fish tank with smelly murky water and unhappy looking fish. A member of her lunch party that day ordered fish, took one bite and spit it out. He came to the conclusion that today's entree was yesterday's unhappy swimmer.
Another Feng Shui thing is to place a mirror opposite an entrance to reflect bad spirits back out. One worker at my last place of employment did this. When asked if it really worked, he'd point out that no one of upper management had ever set foot in his office.
What's been your experience when eating out at Asian restaurants or with Feng Shui? Or do you have a honeydew melon story to tell?
Totally believe in the concept of Feng Shui, but to me it really comes down to someone's personal esthetics. I've been to a "Feng Shui" designed house or two and was scared silly to sit or walk anywhere for fear of waking the hidden dragon of the FS underworld. My FS is more an adherence to flow, comfort, and simplicity. And I have water all over the place. Mirrors, not so much. I don't need to break anything else.
ReplyDeleteEat out Asian all the time, and as you know, we cook it on ocassion. :-) But we've never cooked any of goldfish or guppies and served them; however, with the guppy population explosion in my fish tank, it does give me ideas. Miniature sardines, anyone?