Spring

A friend donned a Batman mask and gave me a pose. In all my years of watching Batman since childhood I never saw Batman like this. He looks more like Kato in the Green Horn. Oops! I mean The Green Hornet. Actually it was more like a cat. The Cat year is soon over.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM7LR46zrQU

Its Hello Sam Goodbye Samantha. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=794DvCbw6E8

The Year of the Rabbit is Bugs Bunny Year so time to get funny and have fun! What's Up Doc?!

The only spring that I knew when I was little were those springs that came off your ball-point pens or from parts of your toys. This little piece of bent and coiled matter has many usage and is very much resilient. It is always amazing to discover and finding various ways to play with a spring can be a good thing. Look at those kittens that hop around playing with a bundle of thread. If only we can learn to behave like springs like how when they are being hard pressed that they keep bouncing back with a vengeance. The more you press it the higher they jump. Humble as it is the spring was a great invention.

The other spring is one of the four seasons. It is the transition period between winter and summer. While every season has its own purpose and virtues, Spring is a very special season as it signifies ideas and feelings of rebirth, regrowth and renewal. It is a spectacle to witness when you see the grey of winter, icicles melting away, trees and plants looking green again, insects and animals bustling and hustling away after hibernation. Isn't it amazing with each season coming and going like clock work? The whole planet teeming with life. Depending where you are on planet earth, the seasons could be in different months but one thing is constant - when Spring comes, the axis of the Earth is tilting towards the Sun and daylight increases for each relevant hemisphere. Listen to the dance of Fireflies:

Fireflies (Owl City) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psuRGfAaju4&ob=av3el

Circle Game (Joni Mitchell) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR2vGJSX0xo ... and the seasons they go round and round and the painted ponies go up and down. We're captive on the carousel of time. We can't return we can only look behind from where we came and go round and round and round in the circle game. Life is a circle game ain't it? Oh thank you Joni Mitchell.

Everywhere it is warming up, new plant life "spring forth". Now we know why it is Spring. Snow melts into streams that swell and and flow. Flowering plants bloom everywhere creating a great spectacle of vivid colours. Spring is a time for renewal, of growth and new life (like plants and animals being born or coming out from hibernation).

Chinese Lunar New Year

The Chinese Spring festival is the most important of all traditional Chinese holidays. It is also the Lunar New Year. It happens on the first day of the first month of the Chinese Calendar and actually ends on the fifteenth day. Some of us would give the house a new coat of paint forgetting that we have not painted a house since...um...um...never mind. You are going to get stiff neck and a bad back. Otherwise, just do the simpler task of clearing cobwebs. Here's a previous article on cobwebs: http://gforce-guru.blogspot.com/2009/10/clearing-cobwebs.html

When we were young we used to look forward to Chinese New Year simply because we are going to get new clothes and shoes. Today, people have new clothes and shoes everyday so there are no more thrills. We used to get "ang pow" or "hong bao" which adds up to quite a bit for us to spend or save but today's red packet as you can see from the size with just one it is more than all that we have those days. This is the period where you eat too much of the same thing everywhere you go and inevitably you are going to have a lousy tummy sooner or later. But then we had fire crackers! We have experienced the fun.

Today, many families would pack their bags and fly off for an overseas holiday taking the opportunity to capitalise on the public holidays on Thursday/Friday followed by the weekend. I may be wrong, but Singapore could be on the only place on earth where you get people making such holiday plans one year in advance and then soon after they were fully booked. No wonder we are so stressed. I shall reserve talking about what goes on during the CNY holidays but it is what happened before that it is seldom talked about. The only way to feel the spirit these days is to drop in at Chinatown 唐 人 街.

My Hump - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEe_eraFWWs&ob=av2el - only laksa and Chinatown have humps.

Lion Dance

One of the the greatest things Chinese that still interest and excite me is the traditional Lion Dance. Simply love it always! First the drum beats. Marching bands march to the drumbeat. Dragon boats raced to the drumbeat. Stage bands plays to the drumbeat. People dance to the drumbeat. Warriors of old fought to drumbeats. Search for the drum beats of your life to find your tempo. I said your tempo because it is your own and only you can find and discover it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvua4BbtWaY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdPwjdADQkA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH75Oy7GCmA

They even do it in Houston, Texas - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_bn8nHUAUE

In Hong Kong - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-asw9i10lw


















I find Lion Dance exciting and their movements extremely graceful - the winkling of the eyes, a twitch of the ears and the body movement showing the lion breathing. It is special. I think it is one of the best and grandest dance in the world! When I grow up I want to be in a lion dance troupe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J8n5DnP5gI

Team Singapore - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7zkDm6Vmfs

The only time not to buy and eat "bak Kua" 肉干or BBQ pork is actually during CNY. Look at the crowd queuing at a popular joint at Chinatown. The reason is obvious. You are not going to get the best due to mass production and quite a bit of over burnt meat. Well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd3uIKIAW4s&playnext=1&list=PLB4F92B62DEE39947&index=33

Wax ducks and Chinese sausages galore. Wonder if the ducks went through with Brazilian wax.


















The Cookie monster would come and this will turn into Sesame Street.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye8mB6VsUHw

The best New Year cookie to me is the pineapple tart. It is also among the most expensive as it probably take more work to produce them. It is not easy to find a good and consistent one. Some have nice pastry but not so good pineapple while others have pastry too soft that they easily crumble. I think I have found one real solid one from Telok Blangah.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMV2Kw6ZAvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voTVOksBxAY

3 watches for $10! You don't need it as a time-keeper just use as accessories or just throw it to watch time flies.

Chinatown should look like this everyday. It must come with the grime, smell and the noise. That is why Little India is lovely.

The Humble Trishaw

Trishaws were first found in Singapore as far back as 1914. At this time I was almost minus 50 years old but originally they were really pedal rickshaws which were better known as pedicabs back then. It was later innovated by adding a bicycle to the rickshaw to become a trishaw. I think the Thai version of the tuk-tuk is actually an improvised and motorised trishaw. As a boy, I enjoyed trishaw rides with my paternal grandma whenever she goes to the dentist. Have you sat in one? 三 轮车跑的快上面坐个老太太。。。

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_PJn77ZWh8

Samsui Women

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EizZLw24x8o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThoYkyzGXno

Samsui women opted for singlehood to have freedom to travel to Singapore and a few hundred thousands may have come from Sanshui of Guangdong Province. More than 90% of them are Cantonese the rest may be Hakka. They all wear a red bandanna over their heads and worked as cheap labourers in the construction industry in the old days. Their morals and fortitude in life were legendary choosing a life of hardship and even poverty over an easier life peddling drugs like opium or other vice like prostitution. They are known to have taken a vow of celibacy before they came. Most Samsui women lived beyond their 80s with many into their 90s and even some above a 100. Without them where would we be? My tribute.

Fu

The Chinese character 'Fu' means fortune or luck. Did you notice that it is usually hung upside down and did you know why? Leaving "fu" alone just means fortune. What it is supposed to mean is "fu dao le" or literally translated means "fortune has arrived" but 'dao' can also sound like fall so turning the word upside down immediately says it all - fu dao le or fortune has arrived. So when you see it at a friend's or neighbour's house do not reverse it back for them as you may cause them great distress!

The Gong

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbHwbgIELCc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR3pOHMDDY0

A gong as you can see is a percussion instrument. It is a flat metal disc and you hit it with a malleta to give it a loud crashing sound that reverberates. They have used the gong in boxing matches to signal the start and end of each round. Rich households in the old days used it to summon their domestic help or as a waking device. Please do not install one at home when you are summoning your domestic help. I am using it to wake you up to a brand new lunar year.

Spring is here so spring like a rabbit, prick your ears and have a Happy & Prosperous New Year!

If you procreate like a rabbit or an energy bunny, the government would be very happy but only if you have not relocated your factory to another country and be careful not to end up as stew.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PlNs9I_EUE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeVtZjGII-I

I wish you a Happy & Prosperous New Year!