Praying to Ancestors 拜祖先

Grandma (阿嫲) left us in September 2023 and that's when I got to know I'm the 20th generation.

Praying to ancestors forms part of our culture and traditional way of offering our prayers, in rememberance of them and to show our filial piety and gratitude. 

When to offer our prayers?
A few occasions to offer our prayers to family member who passed away and our ancestors.

• Death anniversary on 1st and 3rd year (忌日对年和三年)
• Eve of Lunar New Year (除夕)
• Qingming (清明)
• Zhong Yuan (中元 - 农历七月十五) 
• Chong Yang (重阳 - 农历九月九日)

What to prepare for our prayers?

Prayer chestbox or bag for putting the prayer items (衣箱或袋)

Use staple and scotch tape to set up the box

916 Gold & Silver joss paper (古力皇 金/银纸)

White Ku Qian 三宝白库钱 (盖印) (For deceased within 3 years)

Refers to treasury money/bank notes for the deceased to pay off taxes or loans

Orange Ku Qian 橙库钱 (For someone whom passed away for more than 3 years)

Refers as prefectural official money for ancestors to pay off debts

Reincarnation joss paper (往生钱) (To fold into lotus flower 莲花)

Reincarnation joss paper (往生功德金)

Gold & Silver ingots and bars (金 / 银条)

Male / Female clothes and shoes (男 / 女衣装 和 鞋)

Joss paper (五千万 / 五百万)

If you are not sure on what to buy for prayer, can always seek advice from the kim zua shop.

Colony, The Ritz-Carlton Singapore

Celebrated Chocopapa’s birthday at Colony during the festive season. Lunch buffet comprises of unlimited servings from the Ice Bar, Grill & Rotisserie, Steam Basket, The Wok, Tandoor, Fruit Stall and The Patisserie. Damage for us was about S$110 per pax for the festive lunch.

Cold Cuts - Assortment of Cheese, Prosciutto Ham, Dried Fruit and more

Sandwich - Otak Otak Sambal Dried Shrimp, Roasted Mushroom, etc

Ice Bar - Tuna, Octopus, Salmon & Assortment of Sushi, etc

Salad Bar - Mesclun mix, Kale, Romaine, Tuna Chunk, etc

Patisserie - Oreo Crumble, Assortment of Festive Chocolate Pralines and Truffles, Macarons, Waffles, Cakes and Tarts, etc

Enjoyed the Colony Laksa which other reviews mentioned to have a try.

Had dim sum from the Steam Basket - Siew Mai, Har Kow, Shanghai dumpling

And Garlic & Cheese Naan and Butter chicken from the Tandoor

The Wok includes Teriyaki Salmon Fried Rice Nori Furikake which I took some but had to give a miss on braised ee-fu noodle, nyonya chicken curry, salted egg chicken wing, sweet and sour lychee pork, wasabi prawn, fried seabass with nyonya sauce and crackling pork belly. Maybe next time?

Really enjoyed the chicken satay which is damn good!

Feeling too full, we skipped the Grill & Rotisserie which includes Pan-seared Salmon, Black Pepper Chicken, Linguine Squid Ink Mentaiko Carbona with Onsen Egg Pasta and Pizza. Okay, maybe next time!

Last but not least, we had to have the Patisserie comprising of Oreo Crumble, Macaron and Pralines, etc

Pulut Hitam with coconut milk

How to get there?

Address: Level 3, The Ritz-Carlton, 7 Raffles Avenue Singapore 039799 
Phone: +65 64345288

Colony website

Make your reservation early and do ask for the complimentary parking coupon if you drive there.