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Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

Akrypti — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 02:34:09 -0000

People need to educate themselves on Taiwanese culture.

An integral part of Taiwanese culture is scantily clad women.

Case in point: bing lang xi shi

("bing lang" = bitternut, an addictive drug/fruit-thing like chewing tobacco that many Taiwanese men are into; "xi shi" = one of the classic four beauties of Chinese Literature, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

In Taiwan, you have these stands along the side of the roads with green neon lights - the indication that bing lang is sold there, and you'll see a glass box where a chic dressed like a prostitute is sitting. she's the bing lang vendor that we refer to as bing lang xi shi. She sells bing lang and sometimes other...services are included.

Often they're wearing little more than lacy underwear and stiletto boots. And kids walk and run by all the time. Parents don't bat an eye when they drive by and their kids in the backseat look out the window and see a row of hot chics showing cleavage and half their butt cheeks.

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

Grace Chu — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 23:26:48 -0000

I bet the little kids were like, "What's the big deal? Can we go play Wii instead of watching this boring-ass dance routine?" Ah, but then a few years from now their hormones will kick in and they will see this dance in a whole different light. :)

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

Efren — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:16:30 -0000

Whoa, that is weird. Not as weird as seeing a funeral stripper, but having a hot chick in front of those kids must've made the stripper feel very uncomfortable.

I really hope she made a lot of money doing that...

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

jozjozjoz — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:46:28 -0000

John,

I can't believe you found that video!

WTF!?

I loved how all the kids are sitting there and watching it.

To be fair, she wasn't totally naked, but it was just weird. Everyone was just watching those girls wriggle around wearing next to nothing.

Bizarre.

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

John — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:59:15 -0000

So I took a look on YouTube for Taiwan, Strippers and Funerals, and all I could find is, believe it or not is:

Moon Festival Stripper!
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

The woman doesn't strip though - she dances, in front of kids... and near a store.

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

jozjozjoz — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:26:56 -0000

Wait a second.

Are there any funeral stripper videos on YouTube?

Believe it or not, I don't care about the stripper performances. I'm really terribly curious about people's reactions to these things...

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

John — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:50:05 -0000

Efren - like I said, I didn't go to my grandfather's funeral in Taiwan. The next time I see my uncle, I'll try to get a videotape of the funeral and look for strippers / dancers.

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

Efren — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:30:26 -0000

well, I think John would probably be the closest one to do that...

As for proper etiquette: I think she (or he) would have to be tastefully dressed in black, down to the black thong (or top for the woman) and I think that at least all the immediate family should have singles. The stripper should probably do interpretive dance to the canned music piping through the speakers, unless of course, the stripper has his (or her) own music specifically for funerals. Somehow "Shook Me All Night Long" just sounds SO appropriate...;)

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

jozjozjoz — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:59:21 -0000

Nobody has been able to inform me of proper funeral stripper etiquette yet...

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

Grace Chu — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 02:49:08 -0000

I used some HTML formatting tags, so maybe that's why my comments was filtered out.

Anyway, it was kind of long, so here's the gist of it: I went to my grandfather's funeral in Taiwan when I was 4. I was in an earthquake while at a restaurant. My mom said I ignored the earthquake, picked the bowl up, and kept eating my rice porridge while the tables were rattling and people were heading for cover. Ergo, I am insane.

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

Ernie — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:29:54 -0000

Hey Grace, didn't see any other comments in the moderation queue. I think they're lost. :| Can you resend?

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

Grace Chu — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:38:29 -0000

[Ernie, my last two comments didn't show up.]

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

Grace Chu — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:37:38 -0000

Also, was there a karaoke version of "You Shook Me All Night Long" or other pole-dancing favorite playing in the background?

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

eddy — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:17:29 -0000

I agree with jozjozjoz's last point. How is one supposed to behave at a funeral where there's a stripper performing?

Other "logical" questions that come to mind:

- Is the stripper wearing only black (ie. panties, boots, etc)?
- Is there music in the background?
- Is there a makeshift stripper pole involved?

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

jozjozjoz — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:11:39 -0000

How are you supposed to react to a stripper at a funeral?

Do you applaud politely at the end?

Do you bring singles to tip?

I'm so baffled...

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

Efren — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:07:40 -0000

Xxxtine: PAYING ladies to cry at a funeral?

You MUST be Tagalog. We Ilokanos are our own crying ladies, we videotape it, and then we laugh about it! (well, at least my family)...

I don't think I'd want to see a stripper at a funeral, but that's just me...

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

John — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:31:42 -0000

jozjozjoz,

Like I said, I didn't go to my grandfather's funeral in Taiwan, but I did hear there were strippers or exotic dancers there. I can't see my grandmother or uncle hiring them. Maybe some of the town people. My grandfather was fairly well known in his town since he was the head of the farmer's union or something like that.

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

Xxxtine — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:47:56 -0000

I suppose having a stripper is far more entertaining ... and *cough*uplifting*cough* than paying ladies to cry at a funeral. That practise is done in the Philippines.

At least the stripper at the funeral, fights in parliament, throwing livestock at the police, while bizarre, still seem to have some sort of purpose. Frolicking with wildlife does not.

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

jozjozjoz — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 04:10:31 -0000

John,

Those threads are really interesting, although they seem a little old. It sounds like the "stripper at the funeral" thing was much more common in the 80s and then has been less common; except in more rural places.

I still can't get over it... there were really strippers at your grandfather's funeral?!?!?!?!

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

Akrypti — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:40:10 -0000

We're psychotic gangsters who like to cuddle big wild animals; throw chairs and staplers across the halls of parliament, live piglets at the po-po; and when we die, we request strippers to shimmy at our wake.

I'll tell you what's even more insane: China wanting us.

If I were China, I'd be like whoa there psychos you guys are on your OWN.

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

John — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:21:21 -0000

Google "taiwanese funerals customs" and the 2nd entry is:

Taiwan Funeral Strippers
http://www.hartford-hwp.com... - which is an academic discussion.

The Taiwan Chronicles: What to wear to a Taiwanese funeral - 3rd Google result, which has a link to this Time Magazine article:

Grave Stakes
Monday, Jun. 11, 2001
http://www.time.com/time/wo...
"Suspicions that some of Taiwan's undertakers are not just second-rate gangsters, but members of the island's biggest and most notorious triad gangs, surfaced around 15 years ago when funeral companies began selling at wholesale prices the services of exotic dancers from clubs thought to be owned by the mafia. Did grandpa like the nightlife? Then why not hire a truckload of strippers to perform at his funeral? The business got so big that, by some estimates, guests at nearly one-third of funerals were being entertained by naked women. A number of municipalities have since cracked down on the practice, but it remains common in rural areas to see funeral carts hauling flocks of scantily dressed girls from local nightclubs or brothels. Taiwan's funeral strippers get rave reviews. But Taiwanese complain that most of the services offered by the island's morticians are downright shoddy. The average price for a memorial service is $12,000, compared with $5,000 in the U.S. "

I imagine this is another excuse for Taiwanese to spend money to show how well off they are to others while morning the deceased.

John

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

jozjozjoz — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:58:56 -0000

(innocent look)

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

Efren — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:47:28 -0000

Joz: And what's THAT supposed to mean????

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

jozjozjoz — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:43:39 -0000

Efren,

You don't need no stinkin' tumbleweed to make "News of the Weird!"

Re: If you live to 100, what do you want at your funeral?

Efren — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:39:56 -0000

I had a tumbleweed following me home when I was in college. Would that count as news of the weird?