இ Year of 蛇 Snake 2013

The Water Snake slithers in un-officially after midnight on 04Feb2013 according to the solar calendar referred to as Lìchūn立春 *pinyin*.  Traditionally Lìchūn or Laap Chun in Cantonese signifies the beginning of spring in East Asian cultures with special village events, worship and offerings to the gods and ceremonies for a blissful and prosperous new year.  It marks the beginning of another cycle for being the very first day of spring when the sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 315 ° which is divided into 24 solar terms in a year. However the Chinese New Year which is based on a  lunisolar calendar often referred to as the "Lunar New Year"  calendar incorporates both sun and moon (yin and yang combined ) cycle elements  falls on 10Feb2013 in the Year of the 蛇 Snake.

We will be ushering in the Chinese New Year pretty soon and here is a special mention to Autumn Belle who sparked this entry with her comment in Dec2012 and it goes like this [P/S: hope you'll do a post about auspicious words to say for CNY for us bananas to learn and show off during the CNY season]. For fellow bananaz like me hope this few idioms can assist you to over come some of the challenges in wishing friends and relatives with nice four little words or so called favourable Chinese idioms. Hope the translation is in order and would appreciate the help from those Chinese educated readers to point out any mistakes or adding in more idioms, your feedbacks are most welcome. Bananaz was so embarrassed when a lady with a videocam zoomed right at my face requesting for a nice four little words in Chinese during a CNY dinner gathering as nothing could leave the lips as Bananaz was dumbfounded.

 蛇年大吉
pinyin: shé nián dà jí
cantonese: se4 nin4 daai6 gat1
english : lit. snake year big luck
[very auspicious / extremely lucky in the Year of the Snake]

龍馬精神
pinyin: lóng mǎ jīng shén
cantonese: lung4 maa5 zing1 san4
english : dragon horse full vitality
[with full vitality and spirit of a dragon & horse]

萬事如意
pinyin : wàn shì rú yì
cantonese : maan6 si6 jyu4 yi
english: lit. 10,000 things according to your wishes
[may your 10,000 wishes come true]

大吉大利
pinyin : dà jí dà lì
cantonese : daai6 gat1 daai6 lei
english : lit. big luck/propitious big gains/profit
[great luck great profit]

五福臨門
pinyin : wǔ fú lín mén
cantonese : ng5 fuk1 lam4 mun4
english : lit. 5 fortunes approach door
[5 blessings bestowed upon your household (ie longevity, wealth, health, virtue & a natural/peaceful death)]

招財進寶
pinyin : zhāo cái jìn bǎo
cantonese : ziu1 coi4 zeon3 bou2
english : lit. ushering prosperity enter treasure
[ushering in wealth and prosperity]

生意興隆
pinyin : shēng yì xīng lóng
cantonese : sang1 ji3 hing3 lung4
english : business prosperous
[may you have a prosperous/flourishing business]

金玉滿堂
pinyin : jīn yù mǎn táng
cantonese : gam1 juk6 mun5 tong5
english : gold jade fill hall
[may you have abundance of wealth]

迎春接福
pinyin : yíng chún jiē fú
 cantonese : jing6 ceon1 zip3 fuk1
english: lit. welcome spring receive fortune
[to welcome spring/joy to receive fortune]

Gong Xi Fa Cai & Happy Holidays and May All Your Wishes Come True 心想事成 *pinyin*xīn xiǎng shì chéng; *cantonese*sam1 soeng2 si6 seng4.

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இ Tireless Tyre

How many of us really take an interest in the tires or tyres we put on our car?  Tyres can seem awfully technical (how many of us know our tyre size or minimum speed rating?). Who has the time to get educated on a new tyre purchase but to depend on our local tyre store or auto dealer for good advice? Well, we’d all agree with the old saying that “an informed consumer is a good consumer”. Would it not be better if you know what questions to ask after a little research? Most likely you can get a much better tyre for your needs, dramatically improve your performance and driving satisfaction, save you money and might even save your life. You do not need to take such high risk scaling treacherous mountains in snowy condition seeking answers, search no more get answers from AutoSquad 'All About Tires' & TireRack.



In about a week's time for those celebrating the forth coming Chinese *water snake* New Year would be in a mad rush preparing for balik kampung (return to village/hometown). Mass exodus from the cities for home during this festive season would expect heavy flow of traffic on all highways. REMINDER: Presume your motor vehicle has been serviced and in tip top condition if not do it ASAP. Not forgetting tyres are the backbone of a car and not to be neglected. Hopefully the videos below can be of great help to clear your doubts on managing your own tyres.

 

Image courtesy of simpletire.com

Side Wall Tyre Code :
[I]. P 185 / 78  R 14 82 S
P - Passenger Car Tyre
185 - Width of the tyre tread is185mm at the widest point
75 - Aspect ratio indicates the height of tyre sidewall is 75% of the width (139mm)
R - Radial 14 - this tyre fits 14" wheel
82 - the load index, maximum of 475kg (1050 lb) per tyre
S - the speed index, maximum permitted speed of 180 km/h (112 mph)
M+S - mud & snow

www.abcnews.go.com

[II]. {4202} - Age of tyre, production date on '42nd week Year 2002', shelf life of tyre is 4-6 years. Tyre Danger: The cryptic code that could save your life..abcNEWS





Summary: kPa to Psi Pressure Converter
1. Tyre Pressure: Inflate tyres in the morning, not forgetting your spare tyre
2. Rotation: Every 6 months or 6000miles or 9700 kilometers
3. Alignment: At least once a year


 
When to Replace Tyre? If the tread depth falls below 2/32" or 2.3mm its high time for a replacement of new tyre (s).


Over the years we have been using this word tyre or 'tayar' (in Malay) so often think there is no surprise many may not remember or know what it is called in Chinese? Even my late papa would say, 'tayar pump chat' lit. its in English for tyre puncture. Bananaz rarely hear the Mandarin word for tyre until cross checked with sweetie Mango on the actual term in Mandarin *pinyin* (are you ready?) tada.. its 輪胎 lún tāi.




Tyre experts have demonstrated and proven on the safety of placing new or least worn tyres at the back axle instead of front for better grip when cornering, which we have not been doing it right over the past decades. Not all tyre store  owners or auto dealers are aware of this latest research.

Wishing ALL a pleasant and enjoyable ride home. Drive safely and carefully and please DON'T speed.

"Gong Hizz Fa Cai"

         

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