இ South Paws from Northern Hemisphere?

Choose your favorite day at work:

Monday

Friday

Monday blues huh dragging your feet going to office? Maybe not all will fall under this situation? Some would jump out of the bed ever ready to be in the office every morning and Mondays are no exception. Then four days later TGIF..this is the day all would be looking forward to and a day to celebrate as this last week of the month comes with a fat wallet. Have a swinging day then.

Learning is a never ending process and we cannot stop learning. We learn new things every single day and from every aspects generally in life. I have to agree with Autumn Belle that she is learning a lot about Chinese culture by watching period dramas. I saw an advertisement on milk powder over the TV regarding a conversation between mother and child concerning polar bears eating the helpless penguins. Got a shock of my life! A very educational advertisement ~ "Do polar bears eat penguins?" Nope! Polar bears are from the Northern hemishpere and penguins are from the Southern hemisphere *with the exception of those non-wild penguins from Phillip Island Nature Park, in Melbourne Australia*. OMG how wrong could I be for all my life thinking these two creatures lived in the icy cold arctic together. Gee..*blush* guess how many knew about it before you read this?

Images courtesy of Wikipedia

Apparently all polar bears are left handed. Is this a myth? There are no scientific studies of polar-bear handedness. Instead, based on the answer from an anthropologist Richard Nelson’s account who spent about a year in 1960s living with the Inupiaq in the tiny village of Wainwright. "Inupiaq elders say polar-bears are left-handed, so you have a slightly better chance to avoid their right paw, which is slower and less accurate," says Nelson.

Why are left handed people called south paws then if polar bears come from the Northern Hemisphere? Southpaw has its origins in 1880s' baseball slang. Baseball diamonds were often arranged so the batters would face east, to avoid looking into the afternoon sun. The pitcher's left hand, or paw, would therefore be on the southern side. We can learn so much from Polar Bears.

Thank You to all Voters again for loving 'I Swear' which was selected for Round Two of Blog IDOL Week #2. Coming up the next round would be tougher as the contest is getting even hotter and greatly competitive. Appreciate your continuous support very much. tQ.

ஞ Blunder: # 7

Bananaz was in Taiwan some years back and approached the receptionist in a hotel requesting for a favour to page for the tour operator. It must have been an incredible feat for Bananaz to communicate in Mandarin back then with limited vocab so the chicken and duck talk goes like this..

香蕉Bananaz人: 我可以 [ wǒ kěyǐ ] page Mr Jackson Lee please?
Bananaz: Can I page for Mr Jackson Lee please?

Receptionist : 先生請問是 *木子李* 嗎?
PinYin: xiānsheng qǐngwèn shì * mù zǐ Lǐ * ma?
Receptionist: Sir may I ask is it * mù zǐ Lǐ *?

Bananaz: No! no! 不是 [bùshì] excuse me what Lee again?
Receptionist: 木子李? * mù zǐ Lǐ * ?
Bananaz: Sorry no! its s:p:e:l:l:e:d *JACKSON LEE*
Receptionist: O(ö_0)O *almost fainted*

OK let those Chinese educated viewers lol first then comes this translation which would kick in slightly slower to tickle your funny bone. In Chinese/Mandarin their method of spelling is by way of connection to the radical of the word. For example surname "Lee" 李 will have two words one on top of each other. The word on the top section is 'wood' 木 [mù] and the bottom is 'son' 子 [zǐ]. So in order to confirm the 'spelling' one will ask is it 木[mù] 子[zǐ] 李[Lǐ]? It is just like asking "is your surname LEE spelled L:E:E or L:I" or the most common mis-spelled surname is Cheah vs Chia? Got it or just as confused?

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இ "Mouse Loves Big Rice" ~ 老鼠愛大米 [ lǎoshǔ ài dàmǐ ]

In Bananaz last post there is no answer so far to the question of why there is this 'old' lǎo 老 for 'old' tiger 虎[hǔ] and 'old' mouse 鼠[shǔ]? We leave that alone for the time being as the saying goes when the student is ready the master will appear. Thanks to Autumn Belle who says 'old' is sort of a respect. So that's why we have big names like mightymouse, mickey mouse, stuart little to name just a few?. More than often we could get confused with lǎoshī 老師 [teacher] and lǎoshǔ 老鼠 [mouse]. As most Chinese words are derived from the real life images where roughly 600 Chinese characters are pictograms and can you figure out how the word "mouse" to be like in Chinese character? On a note of caution for those Chinese educated friends who may be bored learning the basics kindly bear with Bananaz or why not you are most welcome to contribute more feedback about learning Chinese Mandarin would be much appreciated.

Think the mouse's tail is very obvious pointing towards the right with the 6 whiskers at the head, 3 on each side. Guess the rest of the few strokes and dashes could represent the legs and feet.


Idiom~
猫哭老鼠 māo kū lǎoshǔ
Literally: Cat weeps 'old' mouse
Meaning: The cat weeps for the dead mouse; hypocritical pretence of condolence or crocodile tears



Idiom~
蛇鼠一窩 shé shǔ yī wō
Literally: snake mouse one nest
Meaning: A negative remark regarding people of the same character and bad habit.

*Mouse vs Mouse Trap*

Disclaimer: Kindly take note no mouse was harmed during the filming of this video. Check your awareness on how our mind are affected by the things we see. Its a test on your state of calmness in the second part and your sense of humor thereafter, however have to give back credit to the producer/commercial for the 1.29 minutes of entertainment.

Mouse vs Mouse Trap ~ *It Doesn't Concern Me*.

Did you finish watching the above video to the end? The mouse is a WINNER and always lucky. Still on the topic of mouse.. so a mouse looked through the crack and saw the farmer and his wife opening a package. Its a mouse trap! The mouse alerted the chicken, pig and cow but all said the same "It doesn't concern me". Head down and dejected, the mouse had to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard and in the darkness, a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught bit the farmer's wife. After coming back from hospital she had fever. Everybody knows chicken soup is a good remedy for fever and there goes the chicken.

Friends and relatives heard about her sickness came to take care of the farmer's wife. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral; the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse took a peep from the crack in the wall with great sadness.

The next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- this mouse trap story...united we stand, divided we fall. "Try a little kindness because when you're kind and you treat people kind you get treated in kind" ~ Glen Campbell.

Mouse not only loves cheese but big rice as well. We can learn a lot of lessons from the mouse. This may be an oldie "Who Moved My Cheese" by Dr Spencer Johnson as motivational books do not have any expiry date and learning repeatedly fulfills the law of repetition. The two mice or mouses [what do you think the plural of mouse should be?] 'Sniff' and 'Scurry' did leave a very great impression in me and always remember this "If you don't CHANGE you can become extinct". Would love to dedicate this song to my sifu [SK] for sharing and teaching Bananaz on 'html script' and btw [SK] is now the official 'Scripteaser of the Year'. Here you go "wǒ ài [SK] lǎoshī 老師". Xiexie.

Click button for lyrics in Chinese, PinYin & English: Yes No

"Mouse Loves Rice" Lyrics 老鼠愛大米 lǎoshǔ ài dàmǐ

我聽見你的聲音
wǒ tīng jiàn nǐ de shēng yīn
When I hear your voice

有种特别的感覺
yǒu zhǒng tè bié de gǎn jué
It has this special kind of feeling

讓我不斷想不敢再忘記你
ràng wǒ bù duàn xiǎng bù gǎn zài wàng jì nǐ
that makes me not want to forget you

我記得有一個人
wǒ jì de yǒu yī gè rén
I will always remember there's someone

永遠留在我心中
yǒng yuǎn liú zài wǒ xīn zhōng
who is forever stays in my heart.

哪怕只能夠這樣的想你
nǎ pà zhǐ néng gòu zhè yang de xiǎng nǐ
Even if this is the only way I'll think of you.

如果真的有一天
rú guǒ zhēn de yǒu yī tiān
If there really is a day

愛情理想會實現
ài qíng lǐ xiǎng huì shí xiàn
when this perfect love comes true

我會加倍努力好好對你永遠不改變
Wǒ huì jiā bèi nǔ lì hǎo hǎo duì nǐ yǒng yuǎn bù gǎi biàn
I will work twice as hard to never change for you

不管路有多麼遠
bù guǎn lù yǒu duō me yuǎn
No matter long the road may be

一定會讓它實現
yī dìng huì ràng tā shí xiàn
I will definitely make this love happen

我會輕輕在你耳邊對你說，對你說
wǒ huì qīng qīng zài nǐ ěr biān duì nǐ shuō, duì nǐ shuō
I will lean close to your ear, and gently say

Chorus:
我愛你，愛著你
wǒ ài nǐ, ài zhe nǐ
I love you, loving you

就象老鼠愛大米
jiù xiàng lǎo shǔ ài dà mǐ
Just like a mouse loves rice

不管有多少風雨
bù guǎn yǒu duō shǎo fēng yǔ
No matter how much wind and rain there is

我都會依然陪著你
wǒ dōu huì yī rán péi zhe nǐ
I will stay by your side

我想你，想著你
wǒ xiǎng nǐ, xiǎng zhe nǐ
I miss you, missing you

不管有多麼的苦
bù guǎn yǒu duō me de kǔ
No matter bitter things become

只要能讓你開心
zhǐ yào néng ràng nǐ kāi xīn
So long as I’m able to make you feel happy

我什麼都愿意
wǒ shén me dōu yuàn yì
I’m willing to do anything

這樣愛你
zhè yang ài nǐ
Always love you

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இ A GREAT BUNCH OF THANKS to VOTERS ~ Blog IDOL 2010 Season 3 - Round 1

Phew! What a relief! Bananaz pulled through the first round of Blog Idol 2010 and that would not have been possible without your strong supporting votes. It was a nail biting experience looking at the vote count during the last 2 days of polling. From the bottom of my heart truly appreciate it very much and would be looking forward for your continuous support again and hope you like the next choice of song selected for Round 2. The heat is on and its building up massively and would even be hotter for the next round. THANK YOU once again ~;).

Congratz to the Top Three Blog Idols ~ Caroline, Mariuca and Stevevhan and sorry for Sendo & Marites you both have been great.

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ക WhyAskWhy¿ (03) Buy East-West ~ 買東西 [mǎi dōngxī]

Ever wonder why in Mandarin when we say go to supermarket to buy things its 'buy East-West' ~ 買東西 [mǎi dōngxī]? Buying a 'direction' huh! If that is the case why not buy South North 買南北 [mǎi nánběi] instead of 'buy East West' 買東西 [mǎi dōngxī]? Thankz to lǎoshī Jeannie for shedding a light on Why*Ask*Why. There are many different versions and answers for this question. Her most favorite one is: In Tang dynasty, the capital Chang'an is the most populous city at the time. Business men all over the world went to Chang'an for trading. The markets were at the east and west of the city, over time, people say 買東西.[mǎi dōngxī] literally means buying East- West or things.

In the past Bananaz was facing a tough time to synchronize the Chinese and English on the four directions and always take 東 [dōng] as North and cannot fully comprehend sunrise and sunset in Chinese when East & West got me totally confused. In English when it comes to direction we start from North  and clockwise down NorthEastSouthWest but in Chinese, East comes first  therefore its EastSouthWestNorth ~ 東南西北 [dōng nán xī běi]. Have you heard of this greetings "what wind brings you here in Chinese? Common, usual and most expected answer sure to be ESWN wind ~ 東南西北風 [dōng nán xī běi fēng]. To add on, in English the direction would be North South but in Chinese its *South North* so the name North South Highway when spoken/written in Chinese will read South North Highway 南北大道 [nánběi dà dào].

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இ HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY ~ ( 母親節快樂 )

This Chinese character is 'mā ' ie Mother. Why*Ask*Why again! Can someone please be kind enough to enlighten us how this character came into being as on the left is a 'lady' and 'horse' is next to her? Does that mean to be a Mother must have the strength & energy of a powerful horse so as to keep the household running in order?

A special dedication to my Mama. Have been listening to my mama's advice ever since I was little and very glad and happy to follow them religiously to a 'T' until this very day. Being illiterate does not deter her to part her wisdom into living a righteous life. Her upbringing then may be outdated or obsolete now and may not be applicable anymore to the new Generation Y or Z. Nevertheless the underlying fundamental principles would have strong values.

The Mom Song

1. On Sex Education:

Bananaz: Mama how was I born?

Mama: *blushing* Errrr err.. you came from a stone manifested by the Monkey God.

Bananaz: Believed every word Mama says even thought the stone came from Jupiter.

2. On Dentistry:

Need not have to visit any dentist at all until primary school. Her special tool ~ the #10 sewing thread where she circled a few rounds the tooth with a knot and with a jerk would uproot it easily and painlessly.

3. On Don't Waste Food:

Mama: Don't you ever waste food by throwing any rice away 'Thunder God' will strike you anytime. Eat until the bowl is clean without a single grain of rice else you get married to someone with an ugly face full of acnes and pimples.

4. On Sharing:

Mama: Must learn how to share especially toys and sweets and not be selfish else you will definitely be very scared to cross the bridge to the other side.

5. On Never Laugh at unfortunate People:

Mama: If you see any handicapped people without arm or leg, under privileged or unfortunate people DO NOT laugh/gossip at them.

6. On Filial Piety:

Mama: Must always respect the elders else you make 'Thunder God' angry and there goes the thunder and lightning. Before meals must say papa eat rice, mama eat rice, *por por* grandma eat rice or whoever is at the dinner table 'so and so' eat rice. Must always serve a cup of Chinese tea to grandma after every meal when she comes over for dinner.

7. On Don't Be Greedy & Don't Steal:

Mama: Remember the story of the snake and elephant story? 人心不足蛇吞象 [rén xīn bùzú shé tūn xiàng]. That will also include not taking things that do not belong to you as that equals to stealing.

Bananaz: Amazing for Mama to teach me Chinese idiom at such an early age. This idiom literally means "people's heart not enough, snake swallow elephant". One must be contented and be moderate and not be greedy as it is virtually impossible for a snake to swallow an elephant.

8. On Manners:

Mama: If you go visiting to people's house must acknowledge the presence of those  in the house and to wish all of them one by one and do the same when leaving the house to say good bye to one by one. Think eight is enough gotta end here else its never ending. 

MAMA HAU! ~ I LOVE YOU MAMA!

Lots of hugs and kisses to all Mothers and A Happy Mother's Day. Cherish the precious moments.

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இ CHINESE WAY of GREETINGS! 吃飽沒?

When Chinese people meet each other on the streets or talk over the phone the first three sweet letter words would most likely be "吃飽沒?" [chī bǎo méi?] meaning 'have you eaten?' denoting "how are you?" For the very first time I can safely say all the different Chinese dialects would converge on this greetings using the three magical words, thus upholding the culture handed down from our ancestors. Thanks to Autumn Belle for highlighting this is a colloquial which is used mainly in Malaysia and Singapore. Ai Shiang just added in Vietnam as well, yes it may cover South East Asia too. Just learned a new idiom 民以食為天 [mín yǐ shí wéi tiān] literally means people accord food as sky. Food is the God of the people as food comes first, ethical niceties second.  

Let's take a trip back to late 80's in DownUnder to relate an incident of a friend who without much knowledge of the dinky di Aussie greetings when he first set foot there was greeted with "How's the going mate?". He replied "I'm going by bus!" and added "Soli you no call my name 'Mike'". Heard the eskimos' greetings is "How's your feet?". How true? Share my first experience while withdrawing money at an Aussie bank, the teller asked me "How do you like it?". I was huh! Dumbfolded for a moment, thinking she must be *siao* crazy, of course I like my money very much. Oops little did I know she was referring to the denomination of the money. Cultural shock! *Blush..paiseh paiseh*

The above is a movie clip from a Singaporean movie "Money Not Enough 2" where the mom suffers from Alzheimer's or in layman's term STML *short term memory loss* and keep repeating "Have you eaten?" 吃飽沒? [chak par boey?] in Hokkien with unlimited and unstoppable times to her eldest son Ah Hooi. Its a comedy film but there are also some sad moments where she was rotated by her three sons into taking care of her. Just a gentle reminder Mother's day is just around the corner. Here's wishing all mothers a Happy Mother's Day ~;)

So what do you eat? That goes without saying, RICE of course. Its the staple food for Asians and very commonly served in every meal without fail unless some may opt for change in appetite to go for bread or noodles once in a while. There is this two words with dual meaning 飯桶 [fàntǒng]. On the bright side a [fàntǒng] *rice bucket* is someone who must eat rice for each and every meal or for scolding someone [fàntǒng] *rice bucket* which is a fathead or good-for-nothing. To avoid any confusion 米 [mǐ] is uncooked rice and 飯 [fàn] is cooked rice ready to be eaten.  

Images courtesy of Mei Teng

Of late we often hear over the air our local DJ's trying to educate unreasonable and selfish drivers not to double park and this idiom would say it all. The saying goes "一種米養百種人" [yī zhǒng mǐ yǎng bǎi zhǒng rén] literally means 'one type rice feed hundred type people'. There is no differentiation of what type of rice to feed what kind of people be it the good, the bad and the ugly. There are bound to be stubborn people and it is inevitable we face adamant people who care only about their own convenience which is far beyond our control to change their attitude. So far my record is 'clean' and would like to keep it spotless. BTW do you double park hehe?

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இ First of May ~ A Special Tribute to Blogger Friends

Sing along to the tune of 1st of May. A special tribute to all Blogger Friends on this Labour Day, free from work taking a break at home with family or having fun catching up with friends. You may miss a crazy beat or two with this song,  anyway do your level best try some creativity with some improvisation and enjoy the song ~;)  tQകtQകtQക

♫~First of May~♫



When *Ai-Shiang* was *Small-kucing*, and *HappySurfer* were tall,
*Weitch/Saucer* used to love while *Kenwooi* used to play.
*Donna* ask *mNhL* why, *ShingoT*ime has passed us by,
*Fufu* *Manglish* moved in from far away.

Now *Bubbles* are tall, and *Tekkaus* trees are small,
*Jam* don't ask the time of day.
But *Voon* *+Ant+* *Ayie*, their blogs *Wenn* never dry,
*Cleffairy* who'll blog come first of *Mei Chun*.

The apple tree that grew for *Beng* and *Me-rryn*
*Pete* watched the apples Jingle one by one.
And *Claire* recall the *Molly* of them all,
The day *STP* *Keats* *Caroline* and you were mine.

Now *Globetrotter* are tall, and *Chris*-tmas trees are small,
And *Eugene* don't ask the time of *Cloudia*
But *Foong* & *[SKoh]*, their blogs will never dry,
But *Gus* who'll blog come first of *Mei Teng*.

When *NiceGarden* was small, and X'mas *ThreeWisdoms* were tall,

do do do... *happy go lucky one* do *kordo* do *levian* do *CheaHSan* do *KhengSiong* do *Robinson* do *Ladyviral* do *Ghostnana* do *Susan* do *3iEilinG* do *Monica* do *JamesOh* do *Lina*  do *Mariuca* do *BorneoTip* do *Cynthia* do *EastCoastLife* do *Quachee* do do *ShortPoems* do *Williams* do *Alice* do *Shakira* do *Back2English* do *TZ* do *Evergreen Tree* do *SeniorsAloud* do *Elaine* do *Netster* do *Zewt* do do do...

Don't *Bluedreamer* why, *Tina* has passed us by,
*Skycity* moved *Kelv-in* from far away.


കക

Sorry if Bananaz have missed out any regular bloggers which is unintentional whereby I could have slipped on your peels my sincere humble apologies. കBananazക love you ALL muaaahhhh ~;) tQ.

Lyrics | Bee Gees lyrics - First Of May lyrics

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