blues..

blues..
::every cloud has a silver lining:: @ ::天無絕人之路 ~:~ 明天會更好:: @ ::tiān wú jué rén zhīlù ~:~ míngtiān huì gènghǎo:: @ ::天無絕人之路 ~:~ 明天會更好:: @ ::tiān wú jué rén zhīlù ~:~ míngtiān huì gènghǎo:: @ ::every cloud has a silver lining::

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Jun 27, 2013

இ 天下第一 No.1

Human(e) Race.. [A few years ago at the Seattle Special Olympics, nice contestants all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with relish to run the race to finish and win. All that is except one little boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times, and began to cry. The other eight heard the boy cry. They slowed down and looked back. Then they all turned around and went back..every one of them. One girl with Down's Syndrome bent down and kissed him and said, "This will make it better." Then all nine linked arms and walked together to finish line. Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went on for several minutes. People who were there are still telling the story.]

According to snopes.com this story is partly true. This incident happened in a 1976 track and field event held in Spokane, Washington where one contestant did take a tumble and one or two of the other athletes turned back to help the fallen one not everyone in the event. It would be most ideal to be overwhelmed with compassion to turn back without thinking of going for gold in favour of helping a fallen competitor.  Obviously in this real world, life is never kind and not so rosy because majority would be doing their damnedest to aim for Number One be it sports, finances, games etc.

劍~Jiàn (Sword)

Even way back in ancient China where the Swordsman would fight their very best to take on any challenges no matter what it takes, by hook or by crook to be 天下第一劍 [pinyin]:tiān xià dì yī jiàn. 'sky below number one sword' lit. *sky* represents the sky above and *below* for earth, the Chinese way of describing 'World' connecting 'sky+below'. We can only internalise and relate the sword wielding movies of the olden days with a pinch of salt on how genuine it was to go back in time with those men slinging their swords over their shoulders roaming the streets in search of fame and power. With the sophisticated computer graphics software, its unbelievable to see the sword penetrating through the body which looked so real. Unlike those black & white movies shown in the yesteryears of 60's the puzzled and confused Bananaz will often shoot difficult questions to his poor helpless mama. Eg ~ "How come the sword goes under that bad guy's arm pit who shouted loud then can die one?"& "Why after slashing the men, the sword got no blood on it one?"

 

WhyAskWhy over the years the curious Bananaz, a die-hard fan of swordsman/martial arts movies often baffles over the plot where most filmmakers have something in common. Its just a trivial observation, hopefully the nosey Bananaz is able to stay out of trouble as curiosity killed the cat.

Each time the hero swordsman goes to any restaurant or check-in to Inn how come he has all the money to pay for food, wine and lodging? The wandering swordsman travels without any wrapped around cloth baggage but gets to wear a new set of clothing.

Pants are without pockets and money is in the form of silver nuggets which are tied around the waistband. After all the triple somersaulting, crouching and flying stunts, the silver nuggets are still intact without dropping a single piece. Some movies have improvised slightly with a pouch to contain the silver nuggets secured at the waist band.

Wonder what kind of speed and accuracy for the hero to use his sword to deflect all 20-30 arrows shot at him without being hit by a single arrow? Mama used to say "son Hero must not die one".
The REVENGE factor of 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth' inspires the script writers. More than often its the fighting and killing one another to get hold of the martial arts manual to achieve invincible power or fighting over a reputable heavenly sword or dragon sabre to be crowned the indisputable 天下第一劍 [pinyin]: tiān xià dì yī jiàn 'World Number One Sword'.

Jun 11, 2013

இ Get Down?

Get Down or Get Out?

In the above Humorous Speech Contest, Marianna Pascal, a renowned writer and trainer on communication skills, presented her speech with great enthusiaism and clarity regarding our local varieties of English or rather Chinglish aka Manglish. To the language experts they may have thorns pricking their ear drums when words like 'what lah you' or 'where got' wriggles through their ears. Some how for those seasoned speakers/listeners of Chinglish/Manglish it would be the least disturbing. Just to touch on one point from the video where most Chinese would agree our mom & dad said this umpteenth times since the day we were born ~ 下車 xià chē *pinyin* lit. 'down car' a direct translation for 'get out of the car'. The obvious opposite is上車 shàng chē *pinyin* lit. 'up car' but its very rare to hear 'get up the car' in Chinglish. 上 shàng *up*/下xià *down* were embedded in our thick skull and over the years saying 'get down the car' in English is second nature.

What crosses your mind when you pick up your Shanghai friend/business associate at the airport who has limited vocabulary of English gets into your car, fastened the safety belt and ready to go and then uttered 'open car' and later on the highway raises his voice with 'kill car'?

 開車 kāi chē 'open car' lit. is operate/drive/start a vehicle and not as what you imagine  spanners dismantling the car.  There is no connection to an act of murder with 殺車 sounds like 剎車 *tQ to Kian Fai Koh & SK*  shā chē *pinyin* 'kill car' but to step on the brakes during any emergency. Of course we cannot simply apply a direct translation word for word or homophones but merely used them jokingly like that also can lah.


Interestingly some Chinese words such as 'Kiasu' and 'Kowtow' are borrowed words and accepted in most English Dictionaries .

Kiasu: is a Hokkien word literally means 'fear of losing' and in pinyin 怕输 *pà shū* where 怕pà  means fear/afraid and 输shū means lose.

Definition of kiasu

noun

  • a grasping, selfish attitude:I should have gone two hours earlier: the kiasu in me is growing

adjective

  • (of a person) very anxious not to miss an opportunity; grasping.

Origin:

from Chinese, 'scared to lose'

source: Oxford Dictionaries


Kowtow: 叩頭 *pinyin* kòutóu where 叩kòu *knock/bow* + 頭tóu *head* which is a traditional greeting especially to a superior involving kneeling and pressing one's forehead to the ground.

Image courtesy of wikipedia
Definition of kowtow

verb

  • 1act in an excessively subservient manner: she didn’t have to kowtow to a boss
  • 2 historical kneel and touch the ground with the forehead in worship or submission as part of Chinese custom.

noun

historical

Jun 3, 2013

இ Cobwebs

It was a great pleasure & pressure at the recent Bloggers Gathering for the very first time with IsaacSimple Person , SK, Small KucingTwilight Man & Suituapui (couple of times already) as most of them were 'complaining' about seeing cobwebs in Bananaz's blog. So sorry folks Bananaz been MIA for quite some time since CNY. Bananaz's blog may be cobwebbed but definitely not abandoned. Surely and slowly will be back pretty soon to beat Twilight Man (TM) before he makes his drastic move. Here is what TM commented ~ "Oh dear, this blog has full of cobwebs in 4 corners! Spiderman wasn't here, was he??Gosh! OMG!!! What is this sticky green slime on the floor in this blog!! Oh no, it is green moss on the floor with lots of fungus and maggots. Help!!!I will be back tomorrow with some detergent and insecticide sprays too."


 BTW Bananaz googled and discovered some spinning information about spider web vz cobweb. The meanings are identical with little or no difference between them as both Spider web and Cobweb refer to the silken threads spun by a spider. The main difference is that, spiders do not live in cobwebs which are no longer in use by the spider that made it. This gives them their thick, gray appearance, dusty and unorganized strands such as those seen in haunted houses. It is believed that the word "cobweb" originates from the Middle English word "coppe" meaning spider, and over the years the word was slurred to become cobweb. In contrast, when you see beautifully designed webs in trees and gardens, this is a spider web which is still in use i.e. clean.

Cobwebbed or Spiderwebbed or Whatever webbed by hook or by crook Bananaz will be right back..;),


  EM Hallowen 98

Feb 7, 2013

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.

Feb 1, 2013

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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