The temple is shielded from view by a high wall and entrance is via a substantial red (meaning 'lucky') door. Inside is a large courtyard with a small fish pond and several buildings, including two memorial halls, two worship halls, one fierce guard dog, a small library and living and dining quarters for the monks.
The morning began with paying respect to the 'landlord' of the property by bowing three times while holding three lit incense or joss sticks. Given the frequency and size of property rent increases in Hong Kong, keeping your landlord on-side from the start is a sensible strategy.
The main objective of the morning was to pay respect to the family's deceased parents (and grandparents) by bowing three times in front of their memorial tablets while holding lit incense sticks. The two Bhuddist memorial halls contain several hundred tablets and it is the custom here for tablets to be placed in a memorial hall for several years so that family may visit to pay their respects on important anniversaries. The cremated remains are usually held in a columbarium in a separate location, hopefully somewhere with good feng shui; given the scarcity of burial land in Hong Kong, the price of a small plot for cremated remains is very expensive so families typically use a columbarium that stores several hundred cinerary urns.
There was another objective of the visit and that was to give gifts to the deceased. This comprised paper clothing and white and gold coloured paper folded in the shape of gold bars. We had three large sacks of 'clothing' and 'money' which would be burned in the incinerator and thereby 'sent' to the deceased. It was timely since the objective was to wish the deceased 'Happy New Year,' dress up and and don't worry about the cost of anything.
The visit ended with prayer in the temple's prayer hall.
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