Keep This With You For Prosperity!

Chinese coins are square within and round without, which represents the powerful union of heaven and earth. When energized with a red thread, it is a powerful emblem of wealth and prosperity. Note that the Yang side of the coins should always face up. The Yang side has 4 characters while the the Yin side has two.

~ Narrative extracted from http://www.fsmegamall.com

May This Tortoise Brings You Longevity, Protection, Support, Wealth & Prosperity!

In Feng Shui, the tortoise signifies the protective hills of the North as well as the back support that ensures the house stays firm and strong. The tortoise was also the bearer of the magical Lo Shu square of numbers said to have been carried on its back and brought to the attention of Fu Hsi, the first legendary emperor of China to whom is attributed the authorship of the Book of Changes or I-Ching upon which all Feng Shui theory is based. The tortoise is said to conceal, within its body and the design motifs on its shell, all the secrets of heaven and earth.

~ Narrative extracted from http://www.fsmegamall.com

For Those Seeking Love

Mandarin ducks are famous and potent symbols of love and marital bliss as they create Chi that helps lovers tie the knot. Thus, anyone wanting to energize their love life should get a pair of these ducks. By placing a pair of these ducks in the Southwest sector of your living room, bedroom or home, it will activate your love and marriage Chi! These mandrin duks made of rose quartz represents the Earth element and is a potent attractor of romance luck.

I have 2 sets back home :-)

~ Narrative extracted from http://www.fsmegamall.com

29 January 2006 ~ Fire Dog Year 1st Month 1st Day

May The Fire Dog Year Brings Everyone Lots Of Goodies!

Kong Hee Fatt Choy!

Suit
* Celebrations
* Family gatherings

Avoid
* Land/propery purchases
* Attending funerals
* Putting on mourning clothes
* Repairing the roof

~ Extracted from Joey Yap 2006 Tong Hsu Diary, my 2005 christmas gift from James

A few more days...

Arent you looking forward to the CNY?

For me, absolutely. Not so much about the event tho, but the days where I can basically rest and rot at home, plus munching CNY cookies. Sometimes I can finish half a can at one go, left hand grabbing the container, right hand robotically shuffling between the cookies and my mouth.

I bump into some panties the other day in Jaya Jusco. There is this 3 for RM10. They come in mostly red, with a chinese word printed on them. One has a "FOOK" word terbalik (a chinese word for 'prosperous', when the chinese see this word being upside down, it literally means 'your turn to prosper') . It was just so amazing I could not imagine myself wearing it.

But guess wat, after the telephone call with Marita, I am goin to get it after work this evening for us.

Never Wait Till Your Car Died In The Middle Of A Road

I usually feed my car whenever it hits below the quarter line, but last week I became somewhat lazy, and decided to postpone my duty.

So, on Monday morning, I had to suffer the consequences when rushing off to work in the morning, praying that my car will be OK, despite the red warning flashing near the petrol tracker. I arrived safely and everything was OK.

Then came after work. It suddenly started to rain quite furiously. Maybe up there someone is angry.

And heavy rain always freaks me out, after a car accident in the rain back in 1996.

It definitely did not help when my car is almost 10 years old and like me, quite unpredictable when driving thru a puddle of dirty water in the rain, it might just die there, like 1.5 years ago.

I pretended to be steady and started my car engine, driving down towards Jalan Raja Chulan and after some jam and long wait, I made an illegal U-turn at the AmBank building (the one with the big camel picture) and made my way back to the Shell Petrol Station about 50 m away.

You know, it was a short trip, but it was a cold-sweat, agonising, stressful, and very very long trip for me.

: pray :

*phew*

In Preparation Of Chinese New Year

Lots of magazines have come out with a list of "Must-dos" in preparation of the coming Chinese New Year.

For some of you who are still in the lurk, it falls on this coming Sunday.

So here goes my list:

- Send out CNY greeting cards - some may opt for e-cards. Personally, I prefer real cards.
- Get some CNY deco items to spice up your office and home. I chose the pineapple theme this year, consisting of sparkling pineapple running lights, plastic hanging pineapples that are very convenient to instal, cute and lovely, and a mini pineapple table light to be switched on almost all day long to attract good chi. Fortunately, my colleagues are equally excited so areas surrounding my department is like having a celebration with lights flicking thruout the day. Displaying such items and wearing red garments will invite the fire energy of the year into our home.
- Display a big, juicy mandarin orange and leave it on a red packet until after the 15th day i.e.12.02.2006. I leave mine on top of a PC in my room. Do not eat it.
- Buy at least a complete set new clothes. I finally found a pink night gown with some cherry blossom prints and birds at the top and bottom, bought my set of undies and a few new clothes (with some red colors here and there). Wearing new clothes to enter the New Year is a symbolic gesture to leave the previous year's stale energies behind.
- Prepare new notes for angpows (red packets). Since I am not required to give any, I make sure my parents have sufficient new notes to give away. Some people use old notes for red packets, which I think is not polite. Everything has to be new during the New Year, afterall it signifies a fresh new year.
- Activate the wealth luck by switching on any water fountain at home.
- To be at home for the family reunion dinner this Saturday.
- Stay positive to attract harmony and success and avoid any sort of foul language to ward off any malignant spirits.
- Start Near Year celebration rituals with the family anytime between the hours of 9am and 1pm on Sunday.
- Invite a lion dance to your home.

Remember, the more red stuff you have around you during the 15 days before and after CNY, the more potent the energy is and hence, the more auspicious for those chi surrounding you.

May the Fire Dog Year brings you lots of good fortune, health, and love!

What A Nite!

On Saturday, Smurf, YH and I went to Hard Rock Cafe, Jln Sultan Ismail, to have a peep at Emi Fujita's short performance.

The place was crowded but tolerable, as we managed to get a good spot, with me sitting on the bar during her performance!

She started off with "Fields Of Gold", much to my pleasure, then "First Of May", followed by a Japanese hit, then a few others like Moon River, Desperado, Perfect, From A Distance! I was sparkling with excitement and enthusiasm, tapping on Smurf's shoulder each time my favorite song came out.

Moon River brought me back to the Breafkast At Tiffany's scene where Audrey Hepburn was sitting by the window with Cat on her lap (was Cat there?), singing Moon River before my thots started to drift away. Smurf was equally excited.

As kiddish as you may think, I immediately went outside to buy her latest album "Rembrandt Sky" and "Live In Singapore - Lullaby Of Camomile" then lined up for my turn to get her autograph. Smurf and YH followed suit with YH speechless as she said she couldnt believe she was joining me for this sort of affair.

Emi had a lady Manager sitting beside her. So I said, "when will I see you again?" She was very quiet. The Manager answered "Soon. We are planning for a concert here". After signing both albums, she stood up with a slight bow and shook hands with me.

Needless to say, back at home, I played the 2 CDs till I dozed off.

Protection Against Faeries

Effective devices and objects include the following:

- Turning clothes inside out (a glove turned inside out and tossed into a faerie ring will disperse the revellers)
- Bells
- Iron e.g. a kinfe in a doorway, a nail in the pocket, open scissors hung above a baby's cot
- The Bible
- Running Water
- Bread
- A Crucifix or Cross (also, when marked on top of cakes, this dissuades the faeries from dancing on them)
- Salt
- Holy prayers
- Rowam & red thread
- Ancient churchyard mold
- Daisy chains
- Stones with holes (to protect horses)
- Horseshoes (moon symbol and iron combined0
- Flax on the floor
- Shoes placed with toes pointing away from the bed
- A sock under the bed
- A knife under the pillow
- A twig of Broom
- A pig's head or pentagram drawn on the door
- The burning of thorns on top of a faerie hill will release captive children
- St John's Wort.

* Extracted from "25th Anniversary Edition FAERIES" ~ Described & Illustrated By Brian Froud and Alan Lee

Happy Birthday Jonathan!

Happy Birthday To YOuuu ...

Happy Birthday TO YOUUuuu ...

Happy BIRTHDAY TO Jonathannnn ...

HAPPY BIRTHDAYY TOOoo YOOUUUuuuu!!!

*clap* *Clap* *CLAP* *clap* *clap*

My cheeky nephew turns 2 years old today.

To Believe Or Not To?

There has been more and more hype over those symbolic fengshui matter in recent years.

While one does not need to be a master to know who benefits the most at the end of the day, a lot of us still could not resist piling up our home and work place with fengshui symbols which purportedly enhance our personal well being like health, career, love, wealth, family, everything, in short.

So, today, after lunch, I dropped by this shop along Jalan Tun H.S. Lee to check out and prepare for the next coming Chinese New Year. They have their own printed references and recommendations, and they are so smart they even group the respective animal signs' lucky charms together. An average set (assuming one buys everything) amounts to about RM180 + -.

I went straight into business and scanned thru their "Must Buy".

To enhance my love life, I got myself a pair of jade mandarin ducks to be kept in my handbag, and a peach aventurine double happiness figurine. In tune with the kiasu mentality, I also got myself a Lotus Root Mandarin Duck to be placed by my bedside.

You know, the boss is very very competitive. He gives a 20% discount to everybody so that everybody feels good about their purchase when they walk away.

Oh, I overheard one of the old timers telling a lady customer, do not display until February 4th, after 9am or something, otherwise it will not be activated.

After the excitement and back at workplace, I remembered that some time last week, I said to myself "no more crazy spending this year on those lucky charms".

What A Wonder!

I used to wonder how on earth did mothers shop for anything with a baby around them.

A week ago, I had a few amusing experiences with Snow White left in my care while allowing Marita some premium, no-frills time to shop for some nice clothes.

I had to resort to talking & playing with Snow White, passing her the stuff I came across and asking for her opinion (I figured out that she felt more useful and so, less bored), at times pushing her pram round and round the shop. It didnt take long before she wanted out of her pram again, her hands at times clapping and stretching out to me. Sometimes I really thot that she understood me when I told her "ok ok, another 5 minutes". It did keep her quiet for a while. Fortunately, most of the sales attendants were tolerant of us and rather friendly too.

And here is my verdict ~ Babies are impossible and demanding. They require absolute attention and expect to be entertained, always fidgety and get bored easily.

Now I know why some mothers are so noisy.

Having said that ~ Babies, altho a handful, are always so unpredictable, entertaining and absolutely bring lots of joy!

Angels Around Us...

The other day while I was waiting for Marita at the pavement below a Pharmacy in Sri Hartamas, with Snow White in her pram making some fuss and swinging one of her legs, a couple saw me and I overheard their conversation.

The wife said to the husband "Kasian-la dia".

Thots were then floating thru my mind... the remarks must be referring to me.

Before I could say anything, the husband asked "Do you need any help to carry the pram to the top?"

I smiled at them and said "No, thanks... just waiting for people".

Amazing, isnt it?