CHINESE NEW YEAR





Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.

The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.

The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.

The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.

Traditional New Year Foods

Probably more food is consumed during the New Year celebrations than any other time of the year. Vast amounts of traditional food is prepared for family and friends, as well as those close to us who have died.

On New Year's Day, the Chinese family will eat a vegetarian dish called jai. Although the various ingredients in jai are root vegetables or fibrous vegetables, many people attribute various superstitious aspects to them:

* Lotus seed - signify having many male offspring

* Ginkgo nut - represents silver ingots

* Black moss seaweed - is a homonym for exceeding in wealth

* Dried bean curd is another homonym for fulfillment of wealth and happiness

* Bamboo shoots - is a term which sounds like "wishing that everything would be well"

* Fresh bean curd or tofu is not included as it is white and unlucky for New Year as the color signifies death and misfortune.

How to be a Kogal?


















--- >Kogals (コギャル kogyaru, lit. “small/child girl”) are a subculture of girls and young women in urban Japan, one of several types of so-called gals. In general, the kogal “look” roughly approximates a sun-tanned California Valley girl, and indeed, the similarities between the two extend to the linguistic, for both subcultures have derived entire sets of slang terms (コギャル語 “ko-gyaru-go”). Kogals are not to be confused with the ganguro subculture, although they are similar.<----

Kogals fashion are perhaps the closest thing to the word “normal” in Japanese fashion sense - the spoilt brat fashion sense that you see all over American and all americanized countries… it screams one word with this sense of fashion: MATERIALISM.

Although, many of you would like to differ that it’s “normal” to me because I’m used to the western fashion sense. True. In Japan, the term normal is a very subjective thing and I agree. Note that i quoted the word normal because in Japan, normal is weird and it’s weird being normal…….hmm.
Anyway, how would you like to be a Kogal? A Kogal looks like the typical Californian surfer babe in miniskirts and bikini tops. So, for the Californian babe look to qualify as a Kogal, here are some tips below:
• Stock your wardrobe with tank tops, spagetti straps, little sun-dresses micromini skirts, skorts and shorts.
• Beach slippers (i.e. Crocs are pretty “in” right now with beach babes, Jandals too), kitty heels, and puma trainers (make sure they’re flats).
• Color your hair sun kissed blond, streak them to make them look really sun kissed like those beach babes.
• Go for a bi-weekly tan - go crazy with it.
• Buy copious amount of make up from your fav. brands (i.e. Channel, Estee Lauder, Shu Uemura, Kanebo, Tommy Hilfiger, Issey Miyake perfumes etc etc)
• WEAR copious amount of make up - use fake eyelashes pls.
• Accessorise with bling blings
• Get a great bag to go with the outfits, make that maybe 10 different bags of your fav. brands (i.e. Kipling, Coach, Nine West, Channel, LV, Georgio Armani, Escada, etc etc)
• Hang out at Shibuya and pretend to titter around shopping. Don’t forget your large Paris Hilton sunglasses to go with it.
• Spend, spend, spend like a rich daddy’s girl.

Follow these 10 tips and you’re on your way to be a Kogal.

Another interesting fact, since the Kogal standards of living is so high (branded clothes and accessories), often times the supplement their living style by being in questionable activities to earn the extra income.

--- >Critics of the Kogal subculture decry its materialism as reflecting a larger psychological or spiritual emptiness in modern Japanese life. Some kogals support their lifestyle with allowances from wealthy parents, living a “freeter” or “parasite single” existence that grates against traditional principles of duty and industry. A small minority appear in pornography to finance their habits. More may engage in the practice of “compensated dating”, or enjo kōsai, which may at times border on quasi-legal prostitution. Internet-based usage of this term has led some Western observers to the mistake of believing that “kogal” means “prostitute”.<---

Well, don’t let it deter you. You don’t have to do all these things - dressing up as a Kogal is just for fun and can be part of your dress up planner on different weeks.. :) Although, those tan can be horribly out of place….

My favorite movie

Eight Below

Eight Below is my favorite movie. I love the kind of this story because it was about the lovely dogs. The main of this flim was about sled dogs's survival. When an unforeseen accident forces a trio of Antarctic scientists (Paul Walker, Bruce Greenwood and Jason Biggs) to leave behind their team of steadfast sled dogs; Maya, Max, Buck, Old Jack, Dewey, Shadow, Shorty, and Truman, the animals must survive a cruel and punishing winter on their own. This film is a Walt Disney Pictures film directed by Frank Marshall and written by David DiGilio, which was released on February 17, 2006 in the United States. It was rated PG for some peril and brief mild language.

Plot :

Jerry Shepard (Paul Walker) is a guide at an Antarctica research base under contact with the National Science Foundation. UCLA professor, Dr. Davis McClaren (Bruce Greenwood) arrives at the base and presses Shepard to take him to Mount Melbourne to attempt to find a rare meteorite from the planet Mercury. Shepard does so against his own intuition, which tells him that it is too late in the season (January) to complete such a treacherous route. Worried about the snowmobiles breaking through the thinning ice or falling in a crevasse, Shepard elects to use his dog sled team for the journey.

Shepard and McClaren make it to Mount Melbourne but are immediately called back to base camp due to an approaching storm. McClaren begs for half a day to search for the meteorite and Shepard agrees. McClaren finds the sample he is looking for and the team heads home.

Shepard pauses to patch up one of the dogs (Old Jack) whose paw is bleeding. McClaren, while walking around to get a better radio connection with base, slides down an embankment when a soft ledge gives way. His landing at the bottom cracks the thin ice and McClaren ends up breaking through. Shepherd is able to get his lead dog Maya to bring a rope to McClaren and the dog team pulls him from the water.

Now, battling hypothermia, frostbite and near whiteout conditions, it is the dogs' stamina and keen sense of direction that gets Shepard and McClaren back to base. They are immediately evacuated, along with all other personnel due to the storm, which is expected to intensify. With too much weight in the plane to carry both people and dogs, the human team medically evacuates Shepard and McClaren with a plan to return later for the dogs. The dogs are temporarily left behind, but the storm is worse than expected and it soon becomes apparent that no rescue will be attempted until the next spring.

The dogs must struggle for survival alone in the Antarctic wilderness until Shepard eventually returns to rescue them, more than six months later. Six of the eight dogs survive. The two who die are Dewey and Old Jack with the six survivors being Buck, Max, Maya, Shadow, Shorty and Truman. Maya was close to death, though, after being bitten in the leg by a Leopard Seal.

The turning point in the film is the moment when McClaren sees a drawing of the dog team by his young son, with the label: "My Hero is... THE DOGS WHO SAVED MY DADDY." The professor realizes the magnitude of his ingratitude and uses the remaining balance of his grant money to finance a rescue mission.

Tom Yum Goong

++Tom yum (Thai: ต้มยำ, also sometimes romanized as tom yam) is a clear soup originating from Thailand and is perhaps one of the most famous dishes in Thai cuisine.

++Tom yum is characterized by its distinct hot and sour flavours with fragrant herbs generously used. The basic broth is made up of stock and fresh herbs such as lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and shallots. The intense flavours come from the addition of fresh lime juice, fish sauce and crushed chillis before serving.

++In Thailand, tom yum is usually made with chicken (tom yum gai), prawns (tom yum goong), fish (tom yum pla) or mixed seafood (tom yum talay or tom yum po tak) and mushrooms - usually straw or oyster mushrooms. The soup is often topped with generous sprinkling of chopped coriander leaves.

++The less popular variety of tom yum is tom yum nam khon (Thai: ต้มยำน้ำข้น) where coconut milk is added to the broth. This is not to be confused with tom kha - where the galangal flavour dominates the soup. Tom yum nam khon is almost always made with prawns whereas chicken is often used in tom kha. Its other cousin is the less well known outside Thailand tom klong. Sometimes Thai chilli jam (nam prik pao, Thai: น้ำพริกเผา) is added to give the soup a bright orange colour, also making the chilli flavor more pronounced. However the bright orange colour might be made from curry paste such geang som (Thai: แกงส้ม).

++Commercial tom yum paste is made by crushing all the herb ingredients and stir-fried in oil. Seasoning and other preservative ingredients are then added. The paste is then bottled or packaged and sold around the world. Tom yum flavoured with the paste may have different characteristics to those made with fresh herb ingredients.

INGREDIENTS ---> AMOUNT
Water or stock ---> 6 cups
Fish sauce ---> 1-2 T
Kaffir lime leaves --->4 each
Lemongrass ---> 1 stalk
Galangal (opt.) --->2 pcs
Garlic crushed ---> 2 clove
Salt & pepper ---> to tast
Shrimp ---> 1 1/2 l
Scallions ---> 1/2 bunch
Straw mushrooms (opt.) ---> 1 cup
Limes juice only ---> 2 each
Cilantro ---> 1/2 bunch
Thai chili peppers ---> 2-3 each

METHOD
Basic Steps: Simmer → Strain → Simmer → Garnish
1.Bring first set of ingredients to a boil in a large pot. Reduce heat to low and simmer 15-20 minutes to mingle flavors. Strain and discard solids.
2.Return the stock to a simmer. Add the shrimp, scallions and mushrooms and simmer continue to simmer over medium-low heat until shrimp is cooked through.
3.Stir in the lime juice, cilantro and chilies and serve.

VARIATIONS
*Add the shrimp shells from peeling the shrimp to the simmering stock for extra flavor.
*Straw mushrooms are usually found canned. You may substitute thinly sliced button mushrooms if you like, or omit the mushrooms altogether.
*Sliced bamboo shoots can be added if you like.
*If kaffir lime leaves are unavailable, zest the limes before juicing them and use the zest instead.
*Tom Kha Kung: Substitute coconut milk for half or all the water or stock.
*Tom Yum Gai: Substitute thinly sliced chicken for the shrimp.
*Tom Yum Hed: A vegetarian variation. Eliminate the shrimp and double the amount of mushrooms.

NOTES
*** This is a very simple and popular Thai soup. It is sometimes spelled tom yum koong or tom yum goong.

Mona Lisaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!

Today I bring story about Mona Lisa, or La Gioconda (La Joconde), is a 16th century oil painting on poplar wood by Leonardo da Vinci, and is arguably the most famous painting in the world. Few works of art have been subject to as much scrutiny, study, mythologizing and parody. It is owned by the French government and hangs in the Musée du Louvre in Paris. The painting, a half-length portrait, depicts a woman whose gaze meets the viewer's with an expression often described as enigmatic.

Title of the painting :

The title Mona Lisa stems from the Giorgio Vasari biography of Leonardo da Vinci, published 31 years after Leonardo's death. In it, he identified the sitter as Lisa Gherardini, the wife of wealthy Florentine businessman Francesco del Giocondo. "Mona" was a common Italian contraction of "madonna," meaning "my lady," the equivalent of the English "Madam," so the title means "Madam Lisa". In modern Italian the short form of "madonna" is usually spelled "Monna," so the title is sometimes given as Monna Lisa. This is rare in English, but more common in Romance languages. The alternative title La Gioconda is the feminine form of Giocondo. In Italian, giocondo also means 'light-hearted' ('jocund' in English), so "gioconda" means "light-hearted woman". Because of her smile, this version of the title plays on this double meaning, as does the French "La Joconde".
Both Mona Lisa and La Gioconda became established as titles for this painting in the 19th century. Before these names became established, the painting had been referred to by various descriptive phrases, such as "a certain Florentine lady" and "a courtesan in a gauze veil."

Mona Lisa’s smile :

Hey all you Monas and Leos out there. Did you ever wonder about Mona Lisa's mysterious smile. What makes it mysterious? It's not surprising that Leonardo da Vinci would keep us guessing. As a young boy he enjoyed telling jokes and creating riddles.
He was so inspired with so many interests that he would move from one project to the next sometimes leaving things unfinished. His many inventions from flying machines to ways to make a painting come to life are a testament to his genius. His love of secrets was legendary. Even his famous notebooks were written backwards so that you and I would have to hold them up in a mirror to read them!
Have fun with me. Color the Mona Lisa and imagine how Leonardo felt carefully choosing his colors. Maybe you have uncovered the secret of Mona's smile.

Mona Art :

Da Vinci's Mona Lisa has been reproduced (posters, greeting cards, etc.) and reinvented (advertisements, artworks, etc.) more than any other artwork in the world. Mona mania began in the 19th century when the painting was stolen from The Louvre. The painting achieved an anthropomorphic status as French and Italian states sought to rescue the work as though it were a damsel in distress. The story of the theft appealed to the Victorian love of Romance in the art and Literature. The event inspired artists, playwrights and musicians to celebrate the painting by creating new works with the Mona Lisa in mind. They say the imitation is the highest from of flattery.