ക WhyAskWhy¿ (12) 油炸鬼 Oil-fried Devil

source:Wikipedia

Nope! Bananaz not blogging about food better to leave it to the foodie experts. Been eating the Chinese cruller 油炸鬼 *pinyin:yóu zhá guǐ* 'Oil-fried Devil' better known in proper Mandarin as 油條 *pinyin:yóutiáo* since a kid which is made of dough, deep fried to golden-brown and usually a popular food eaten for breakfast. After all these years of munching the Chinese crullers, the devilish name 油炸鬼*pinyin:yóu zhá guǐ* 'Oil-fried Devil' did not strike Bananaz's WhyAskWhy until lately after his nephew shared the story which started the wok frying to go into further details and research of how on earth which and what devil got deep fried in the oil?


By mentioning the name Yuè Fēi 岳飛, (AD1103 – 1142) two sets of distinctive four Chinese words would trigger the mind for those who had known Chinese history. Yes it's 十二金牌 and 盡忠報國. The first set was an order by Emperor Gaozong高宗 who was under the evil influence of his official issued the 十二金牌*pinyin:shí'èr jīn pái* Twelve Golden Medallions to recall Yuè Fēi to return to the capital fearing he could be too powerful after he has led his army to recover most of the lost territory and the latter set is the four Chinese characters 盡忠報國*pinyin:jìn zhōng bào guó* which was tatooed across Yuè Fēi's back by his beloved mother meaning to serve and protect the country with utmost loyalty. What could be the relationship between a military General Yuè Fēi, an icon of patriotism and national hero in Chinese culture and the evil Oil-Fried Devil?

That's how the medallion roughly looks like. Pixz taken from the movie by Shaw Brothers "Twelve Golden  Medallions"

The story goes back to the Song Dynasty's Prime Minister Qin Hui or Guì 秦檜 and his wife, Lady Wang王氏 conspired with two of his subordinates, Moqi Xie万俟軼 and Zhang Jun 張俊, who successfully framed and caused the death of the innocent military General Yuè Fēi. According to folklore, the people of Hangzhou became extremely angry, hating Qin Hu and his wife to the bone protested by making the cruller depicting Qin Hui秦檜 and his wife with one roll representing the husband and the other the wife joining together and fried them in oil calling out loudly the name 油炸檜 *pinyin:yóu zhá huì* 'Oil-fried Hui'. As 檜Hui and 鬼Gui were conflated with its homophone eventually 油炸檜 *pinyin:yóu zhá huì* 'Oil-fried Hui' evolved to 油炸鬼*pinyin:yóu zhá guǐ* 'Oil-fried Devil' and even until today. In Cantonese-speaking areas it is known as yàu cha gwái *油炸鬼* where '鬼' *gwái* also refers to devil or ghost. Truth or Myth? Bananaz's Beleaf It Or Not!

 
(Kindly take note the actual Oil-fried Devil is after 0.19mins the earlier ones are called 'mah geok' meaning horse legs. tQ to Autumn Belle for the info.)

For their treacherous part that caused the death of Yuè Fēi 岳飛, the most famous patriot, martyr and hero in Chinese history, iron statues of Qin Hui, Lady Wang, and two of Qin Hui's subordinates, Moqi Xie and Zhang Jun, were made to kneel before Yuè Fēi's tomb (located by Hangzhou's West Lake). For centuries, these statues have been cursed, spat and urinated upon by young and old. However in modern times, these statues are protected as historical relics. As one enters the gateposts of Yuè Fēi's mausoleum there is a poem which reads: "The green hill is fortunate to be the burial ground of a loyal general, the white iron was innocent to be cast into the statues of traitors."

Iron statues of the Qin Hui, Lady Wang, Moqi Xie & Zhang Jun with General Yuè Fēi in the middle, source:Wikipedia

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இ Don't Mess With Retired Husband

This is a special dedication to all retired husbands. When you have all the time in the world your darling bozz at home would insist you tag along to go shopping with her. Received this email hot from the oven from a buddy, Dale Borrott and thought we all, young and retired should laugh 兔tù~gether. Would sincerely thank the original unknown author or Mr Harris himself for his witty thoughts who probably could have tried the pranks and got banned. You may share the stunts you might wanna try or have tried while you are bored shopping with your wife in your comments and how you get off the hook. At this juncture Bananaz just thought of somebody who is none other than our Uncle Lee who caused a havoc when he released snakes and crabs in cinema when he was a kid, surely he must have lots of clever tricks up his sleeve. Here you go sit on tightly to your chair.

"Retired Husband"
After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to Target.

Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women - she loves to browse.

Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter from the local Target:

Dear Mrs. Harris ,

Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against your husband, Mr. Harris , are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras:

1. June 15: He took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in other people's carts when they weren't looking.

2. July 02: Set all the alarm clocks in House wares to go off at 5-minute intervals.

3. July 07: He made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, 'Code 3 in House wares. Get on it right away'. This caused the employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from her Supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing management to lose time and costing the company money.

5. August 04: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on layaway.

6. August 14: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.

7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the children shoppers they could come in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children obliged.

8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?' EMTs were called.

9. September 04: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.

10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.

11. October 03: Darted around the Store suspiciously while loudly humming the 'Mission Impossible' theme.

12. October 06: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna look' by using different sizes of funnels.

13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'

14. October 22: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed the fetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!

15. Took a box of condoms to the checkout clerk and asked where is the fitting room?

And last, but not least:

16. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, and then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here.'

One of the clerks passed out.

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ക WhyAskWhy¿ (11) ~ Weird Name

There were these 4 guys, a Russian, a German, an American and a French, who found this small genie bottle. When they rubbed the bottle, a genie appears. Thankful that the 4 guys had released him out of the bottle. He said, "Next to you all are 4 swimming pools, I will give each of you a wish. When you run towards the pool and jump, you shout what you want the pool of water to become, then your wish will come true." The French wanted to start. He run towards the pool, jumped and shouted "WINE". The pool immediately changed into a pool of wine. The Frenchman was so happy swimming and drinking from the pool. Next is the Russian`s turn, he did the same and shouted, "VODKA" and immersed himself into a pool of vodka. The German was next and he jumped and shouted, "BEER". He was so contented with his beer pool. The last is the American. He was running towards the pool when suddenly he steps on a banana peel. He slipped towards the pool and shouted, "SHIT !!!!!!!........." And It Turned Out To Be S%#T!! [this is from an email I received long ago thanks to the author for a good laugh].

Better be careful what we gonna say especially when someone flies off the handle! How about replacing it with 'shoot' sounds nicer? Sorry this post would be slightly 'dirty' as Wikipedia says ~ "Shit is usually considered vulgar and profane in Modern English..[..]. It may also be used as an expression of annoyance, surprise, or anger, and has other usages as well." When I was a little boy Bananaz has been eating a fruit with its weirdest name almost everyday fresh from the tree top. Ma Mama told Bananaz the name of this fruit in Hakka is *gai si gwo* literally means 'Chicken Shit Fruit'. Being the young niave Bananaz thought Mama made it up coz our chicken coop & shed is just nearby the tree. Little did I know its the actual slang name used by our locals. As we often say *jambu/pak kia* for guava in Hokkien in our village didn't realise it, not until in my later years that ma Mama told the truth *sorry Mama*. Oh what a fruit name? 'Chicken Shit Fruit' is the same in Cantonese/Hakka dialects *gai si gwo* which the formal name in Mandarin 番石榴 *fān shí liu* and in Malay its Jambu Batu and Tamil is கொய்யா 'koiyaa' . Bananaz is not fruitful finding the answer on the origin of this weird name. Hope to see light at end of tunnel with answers or clues from dearest readers.

(Left: seedless@RM5.00 per kg.) [ GUAVA ]  (Right: with seeds@RM2.50 per kg.)

Guavas are plants in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae) genus Psidium (meaning "pomegranate" in Latin), which contains about 100 species of tropical shrubs and small trees. They are native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. Guavas are now cultivated andnaturalized throughout the tropics and subtropics in Southeast Asia, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Florida and Africa. [Wikipedia]

Question : What is the difference between seedless guava and seeded guava, pick your preference?

iBananaz : Seedless guava no got seed and seeded guava got many many seedses like twinkle twinkle little starses can count one. I lupp seedless.

Mango : Seedless guava is 'artificial' and seeded guava is natural and original. My choice is 'with seeds'.

Warren Buffett : Value! Value! Value! Price should be less than 2/3 of intrinsic worth. Buy Limit Order or Better @RM2.50 'seeded'.

Isaac Newton : While sitting on a tree branch 10.0 m above the ground, you drop both seedless guava and seeded guava together. Pick the one that hit the ground first.

Albert Einstein : E=MC² ;  E≠GS²  Guava with Seeds².

Why did the chicken cross the road? : To shit on the Chicken Shit Fruits.

Steve Jobs : What is the difference between iPhone5 and iPad3? No iSee. Retired now in iCloud!

Bill Gates : Ctrl Alt Del, *Hang* Chicken shit all over screen!

An Addendum: Here's a very close answer posted by Autumn Belle on how the guava fruit got its 'chicken chit' slang name in our local dialects..

Autumn Belle said...
I remember back in the kampung, it is common to grow see a guava tree with small fruits (the size of a ping-pong ball), unlike the commercial ones which have large fruits. We will eat the fruit when it is ripe and it is very sweet. When an overripe yellow fruit drop to the ground in accordance to Newton's law of gravity, the fruit will make a splat and break open. The centre portion with the seeds do look like chicken droppings. I guess it could be this reason. I bet nowadays not many people have seen such homegrown guava fruit, neither have they seen 'fresh' chicken droppings! Have you eaten a yellow skined guava?

As for seedless fruits, as I know, if the flowers are not successfully pollinated, there will be no fruits or fruits with no seeds, eg. pineapple, banana. No sexual reproduction, hence no babies, haha.

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இ Life Begins at 60

A buddy sent a thought-provoking birthday wish regarding 'Life begins at 60' which Bananaz wish to share some points here. NOT that I consider anyone of you old. What were you like 20 years ago? What will you be like 20 years from now? Have you ever ponder on your eating and drinking habits? In early 20's we were eating roti canai, burgers and pizzas and as usual so kiasu by proving our virility downing beer faster than any of our buddies. At 40 our fast food speed slowed down, drinking Jack Daniel's on a gradual switch over to Chardonnay. At 60 we may be eating bran flakes and drinking prune juice, occasionally sipping Chinese tea to decrease abdominal fat. Many people feel unhappy, health-wise and security-wise, after 60 years of age owing to the diminishing importance given to them and their opinion. But it need not be so, if only we understand the basic principles of life and follow them scrupulously.

 "Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional."  ~ Chili Davis

We have 3 Stupid stages of life.....
Teen Age: Have Time + Energy …but No Money;
Working Age: Have Money + Energy …but No Time;
Old Age: Have Time + Money …but no Energy.

Money is important: Money is essential for meeting the basic necessities of life, keeping good health and earning family respect and security. Don't spend beyond your means even for your children. You have lived for them all through and it is time you enjoyed a harmonious life with your spouse. If your children are grateful and they take care of you, you are blessed and take it as a bonus. But never take it for granted. Plan now for a healthy and wealthy retirement before its too late.

"Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle."  ~ Bob Hope

一寸光陰一寸金，寸金難買寸光陰 *yī cùn guāng yīn yī cùn jīn, cùn jīn nán mǎi cùn guāng yīn*. literally means An inch of time an inch of gold, an inch of gold can't buy an inch of time (idiom). Time is precious and must be treasured. It is almost like holding a horse's reins. When they are in your hands, you can control them. Imagine that everyday you are born again. Yesterday is a cancelled cheque. Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is ready cash — use it profitably.

"You can't turn back the clock. But you can wind it up again."  ~ Bonnie Prudden.

Health is wealth: If you really love your kith and kin, taking care of your health should be your priority. Thus, you will not be a burden to them. Have an annual health check-up and take the prescribed medicines regularly. Do take up health insurance cover (sorry Bananaz not selling any insurance here). When young you neglected health to spend them chasing wealth and in later years you spend all wealth chasing back health.

"I'm not 40, I'm eighteen with 22 years experience."  ~ Author Unknown.

To those of us who are already there but young at heart and to those who will soon be there, slowly and surely, NEVER say ‘I am aged '. There are three ages, chronological, biological, and psychological. The first is calculated based on our date of birth; the second is determined by the health conditions and the third is how old you feel you are. While we don't have control over the first, we can take care of our health with good diet, exercise and a cheerful attitude. A positive attitude and optimistic thinking can reverse the third age. Live this moment.

"You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old." ~ George Burns

Forget and forgive: Don't be bothered too much about others' mistakes. We are not spiritual enough to show our other cheek when we are slapped in one. But for the sake of our own health and happiness, let us forgive and forget them. Otherwise, we will be only increasing our BP. I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging. So...Work like you don't need money; Love like you've never been hurt; Dance like no one's watching and probably can Hear.. Bananaz sing The Beatles greatest hit When I'm Sexty Four years later.

"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter". ~ Mark Twain.

Overcome the fear of death: We all know that one day we have to leave this world. Still we are afraid of death. We think that our spouse and children will be unable to withstand our loss. But the truth is no one is going to die for you; they may be depressed for some time. Time heals everything and they will carry on. Time to put your affairs in order.

"They talk about the economy this year. Hey, my hairline is in recession, my waistline is in inflation. Altogether, I'm in a depression." ~ Rick Majerus


   

Everything has a purpose: Take life as it comes. Accept yourself as you are and also accept others for what they are. Everybody is unique and right in his own way. Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off. Your joints are more accurate meteorologists than the national weather service. Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either. You can't remember who posted this entry over time. Stop worrying about the three little haunting 'F' words “friction, fatigue and frustration" of having creaky bones, limited motion, poor eyesight and faint hearing or shudders with fear regarding  A.A.A.D.D. Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty". ~ Henry Ford

An excerpt from Wikipedia ~ "Differences are sometimes made between populations of elderly people. Divisions are sometimes made between the young old (65–74), the middle old (75–84) and the oldest old (85+). However, problematic in this is that chronological age does not correlate perfectly with functional age, i.e. two people may be of the same age, but differ in their mental and physical capacities". Wine improves with age. The older I get, the better I like it. 薑還是老的辣 *jiāng hái shì lǎo delà*  literally means old ginger is hotter than young ginger / experience counts (idiom). Authorities in the former Soviet republic of Georgia claim a woman, Antisa Khvichava from a remote mountain village turned 130, making her the oldest person on Earth.

"Old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read."  ~ Quoted by Francis Bacon, Apothegm

EYE TEST for those over 40 ONLY...

Bananaz did see sheep...at first. Then I looked closer to see if I recognized anyone! 

 

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இ 9/11 Remembered 九一一難忘 *jiǔ yī yī nánwàng*

Today is the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 the day the whole world watched in shock and horror over the monumental and devastating event in history on the soil of the greatest country on earth, America. Where were you on Sept 11 2001 and what do you remember? Bananaz was driving home when a friend called relating the event he saw on the news. When I got home the news were repeatedly on air and all I can remember was just like watching an old movie 'The Towering Inferno' on TV. Those who used to celebrate their birthdays the so called " 911s'" will never be the same any more as they have mixed feelings about 9/11. After New York 9/11.. this message was circulated, a good reminder for all even after all these 3651 days to be constantly reminded of the little things..

Image courtesy of www.history.com (click pix for wallpaper size)

~The ' L I T T L E ' Things~

As you might remember, the head of a company survived 9/11 because his son started kindergarten.

Another fellow was alive because it was his turn to bring donuts.

One woman was late because her alarm clock didn't go off in time.

One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike because of an auto accident.

One of them missed his bus.

One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change.

One's car wouldn't start.

One couldn't get a taxi.

The one that struck me was the man, who put on a new pair of shoes that morning, took the various means to get to work but before he got there, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid. That is why he is alive today..

Now when I am stuck in traffic, miss an elevator, turn back to answer a ringing telephone...all the little things that annoy me. I think to myself, this is exactly where G~d wants me to be at this very moment.. Next time your morning seems to be going wrong, the children are slow getting dressed, you can't seem to find the car keys, you hit every red light, don't get mad or frustrated; it may be just that G~d is at work watching over you. May G~d continue to bless you with all those annoying little things and may you remember their possible purpose. [Author unknown].

Do you believe this "Things Happen For A Reason" can this be a proof? Sometimes things happen to you at the time that may seem horrible, painful and unfair? Do you think it is a coincidence, pure luck and a fluke or karma? 

Image courtesy of www.history.com (click pix for wallpaper size or the link for details on the rebuilding of 1 WTC, the tallest building in USA and the reason why at 1776 feet.)

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