Monday, May 19, 2008

Melon

Summer is the time to enjoy the melons.

Melon in Cantonese and Mandarin is called “Gua”. Any kind of melon in the similar texture, such as watermelon, honeydew, winter melon, cucumber, cantaloupe and etc., the Chinese called them “Gua”. Of course, there are different combinations of other Chinese characters to make them sound different and differentiate each of them .

If somehow you come across to celebrate a birthday party with a Chinese friend, never ever serve any “gua”. Why? Because…..we call a dummy, stupid or silly person as “Sho Gua”. If you use any kind of the above, in essence, you are saying that birthday boy or girl is stupid.

Although no one can blame you if you don’t know, you sure don’t want to ruin the party, right?

Friday, May 16, 2008

A Penny in the Street

The weather is so nice now that you may love to walk and do more outdoor exercises. My mother-in-law came up to visit with us for 2 months. We walked pretty much almost every night.

When you walk, you may pick up a penny, nickel or a dime in the street. You will be very happy about the extra money you just got.

But we were taught that we should not pick it up. Because it’s not right to do so?! Yes…The other reason is that it will bring you bad luck.

How? Why? In the Chinese society, when someone is experiencing something very, very terrible, they will throw a penny or a dime away. In other words, they are throwing their bad luck away along with the penny or dime. Anyone picks it up; the bad luck will follow that person.

Do people throw more than a dollar? No…. So, if you see that you are really lucky that day. Good Luck!

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Flying Bugs

Bugs always drive you crazy, especially in summer time. I want to share with you what bugs are in the Chinese point of views.

In the city, such as Hong Kong, where I came from, people always stay in the air-conditioned area. Chances of having bugs around are very low.

But we sometimes saw a big moth or fly in the house. Even we don’t like it, we can’t hit it or do anything to hurt it. Why?

Because, according to the tradition from thousands of years ago, our ancestors’ souls would get on the big flying bugs, such as moth, fly and butterfly, to get back to their old world to visit their friends and families.

So, remember when you see a big bug in your friend’s house next time, don’t offer to kill it or swat it………..

Friday, May 9, 2008

MOM IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD

When I was in second grade, we were taught to sing this song in a music lesson that I will never forget for the rest of my life. And this song is very well-known to every Chinese. It is not the national anthem. It is the song titled as “Mom is the best in the world”. It’s in Mandarin, the official Chinese language.

Throughout the whole song, it talks about children without moms don’t know what love is and how much they lost and lose and unlucky they are. It also talks about children flourished with mothers’ love are the luckiest in the world.

I remembered that year’s Mother’s Day, my 2 younger sisters and I (my youngest sister was not born yet), each of us, made a card for our mom. We didn’t have any pocket money back at that time.

On that day, we handed our cards to her and went to hide in a corner singing this song to her while she was opening our cards. That was the gift we gave her that year.

I got married and have 2 mothers now because my mother-in-law is my second mom. Although I am not a mother, I learned that no matter what we do and give to our mothers on Mother’s Day, they always appreciate it. If we show our moms love and care even we have very hectic, busy daily lives, every day is a Mother’s Day to them. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Extra Holidays in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, there are 2 extra public holidays in May. One is Labor Day(May 1) & Buddha’s Day(May 12).

These 2 holidays were actually added about 2 years after the Handover of Hong Kong back to China.

If you were working in Hong Kong 5 days a week, you have about 18 extra paid public holidays. Isn’t that great?

Happy Mother’s Day for all the mothers.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Tour in Hong Kong & China

Click on the pictures and go directly to the album at
http://chingschinese.shutterfly.com/action/.








I lived in Hong Kong since I was born. But I never knew how to appreciate everything around me. Until I moved to the States, I found that a lot of things used to be available or I could see every day in Hong Kong are not there or the same in the States. I don't mean that I don't appreciate the things here. But it is just different. I guess the main reason is where you were raised, your heart belongs there.

You know people are always so fascinated with the lifestyle in NYC. When I go back to Hong Kong, I finally understand that fascination. If you love NYC, you will love Hong Kong even more because it is much, much busier, fashionable and quicker.

When I was there this time, I finally realized that Hong Kong is really a kaliedoscope. I never thought to use this word to describe it 'cos I never knew how to appreciate how many different things from all over the world that you can buy just in a 1,066-sq-km area, but not in any country in the world.

And it is like a melting pot that you can find the food, buildings, cultures and a lot of things in both western and eastern styles at the same time.

Anyway, I hope you will enjoy the pictures as much as I do. When I get more in the future, I will definitely put more up there to share with you. http://chingschinese.shutterfly.com/action/

Arthritis

Spring is here. It means everything coming alive and energetic. However, changing of weather means suffering, especially those with arthritis.

My husband has suffered from it since his early 20s. He went to all different doctors and tried all the prescriptions for internal and external use. None of them worked. Until one day, my aunt, who practices Chinese medication, gave him this external use prescription.

The most important thing of using this prescription is your persistence. Without it, no one or nothing can cure you.

Ingredients
1tbsp Epson Salt
3tbsp 70% Rubbing Alcohol
9L (about 2.37gallons) Warm Water (Buckets out there usually have the metric and US measurements inside.)

Soak 20 minutes each time twice a day (morning and night time) for 11 weeks. Then, you can start reduce the frequency gradually to once a day, 3 times a week, once a week, once in every 2 weeks, once a month and so forth.

If you have arthritis on your back, you can increase the ingredients by proportion and soak the whole body from the shoulder down once a week. This will take a little bit longer than 11 weeks.

Even though you may not be cured 100%, once you stop soaking (which you are not supposed to do that) after the first 11 weeks, you will not feel the pain for another year or two.

The only “side effect” (that I saw on my husband) is your skin will be smoother and softer.

Warning: The first few times of soaking may experience the pain worse than before which is
normal.
Do NOT use hot water, but warm.
Like any other medication out there, it may not work on everybody.
If you don’t feel comfortable with it or experience other side effects which are not
listed here, you should stop soaking or consult your doctor.