Friday, January 30, 2009

Of Chinese New Year this and that - Part 3

Final post in this series. This time closer to home. More things to see.

1) Top left corner, taken from a chess set in the living room. I do play chess, but not very good at it. Played online a few times against the computer but haven't won a single game. Can just barely beat some of my younger cousins though!
2) Top right brass horse statue. Been in the family for ages. Slightly faded. Think I need to polish it sometime.
3) And of course, something red for the bottom picture. This is like an ancient chinese gold coin shaped container, with the mystical knot being a feature.

1) Top left corner, a basket of oranges (signifying KAM, or gold) placed in the living room. The more oranges, the more gold and thus, wealth.
2) Top right corner, a silk thread weaved picture of a cat and a grasshopper. Unsure of the significance though to the pairings.
3) Bottom left corner, lacquerware coasters I bought from Vietnam a while back at the Ben Thanh market. Haggled like mad for two sets, but am pleased with it.
4) Bottom right corner, some flowers I see in the garden at home. Fresh from a rain shower. Can't quite see it here, but have another picture with the raindrops just balanced on the flower. And no, I don't know flower (and fish!) names barring the few roses, carnations, tulips and what nots.

So there, and before one knows it, it will be back to work in the concrete jungle. Time certainly flies.

Of Chinese New Year this and that – Part 2

Surely, with the Chinese New Year visitation, spring cleaning is a must. And the various decorative items have been put up aplenty. Of course, this is not unique just to our own homes, but to others whom we visited when they had their open house. This post is just to highlight some of the things I saw:

The colour red is of course a must!

1) Top picture showcased the year of the Ox, with six golden fishes swimming round it. Yeah, most Chinese are very into figuratively auspicious things. Took this from one of my uncle's house.
2) Bottom red fan made from angpows by another uncle. Although not as obvious here, probably due to the angle of the picture I took, he tried a 3-D effect, quite nice. Now about angpows, do you noticed that Hokkiens dominate? Why is it known commonly as ANG pows? Why not HUNG pows? Subtle domination by the Hokkien clans?
3) Middle bottom picture, showed the leftovers of the 25 firework shots the night before.
4) Of flowers and oranges and other fruits galore? Taken from my grandaunty's house. They decorated the fruit basket themselves. Thought it was very nicely done.

Yeah, visitation is common, especially those having open houses. Not sure if this is unique to the Malaysian culture or prevalent worldwide amongst other countries. These shots were taken from one of my uncle's house. Towering pillars, open spaces, good food! They catered a wonderful rendang dish and lamb satay! Yum!!!

Of Chinese New Year this and that - Part 1

Back in my hometown with intermittent rainfall, far away from the clamours of city life, things slow down considerably. Meals are earlier, and by 6pm, what’s left to do but catch the various TV series on Astro. So, thank goodness for Astro! :) Last time, was renting those various mini series on video tape. And amazingly so, each series can last for like 100 over episodes.

So, for this new year, my parents' house hosted the reunion dinner (there's a rotation system). Family members gathered from near and far, renewing ties, though some "undercurrents" are noticed if one knows what to look out for, common I guess for such big families, especially when business gets in the way. Yet, the young ones are oblivious to such happenings, and hopefully remain so to build the next generation to come.

Fireworks aplenty, even before midnight. The reverberating echo of the PUMs and PAMs, I am sure, frightened many a dogs in the neighbourhood.

Food aplenty, but sometimes only get to taste like once a year. My grandaunty also makes a mean "drunken chicken", and the famous peanut "kuih" which I particularly like, and even get to tapau! :)

A younger cousin mentioned that he looked forward to visiting my parents, because my mum makes good chicken rice. And looking at his plate, the emphasis is really on the RICE. My mum didn't make much cookies and cakes this year, but got up extra early (like midnight) to prepare stuff, and even baked a wonderful butter cake!!!

So yes, since coming back, my pants definitely feel tighter, but am controlling my intake somewhat this year. Rationing how many cookies and keropoks I eat during the day. :)

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

To think a happy thought

This was how my mind felt yesterday. Not too smooth a day at work in the afternoon and I think my "dark" face reflected my mood with nary a smile. Small unpleasant things would easily make me snappy. In one of the few rare occassions, I left the office with an unsettled mind.

My vocal class calmed me down somewhat as it made me forget about office stuff, ah the joys of music as a therapeutic mind salve. Was slightly calmer after that, but didn't get a good sleep. Automatically woke up extra early today and immediately thought about work. Sigh...

But I think the "man above" has been sending me messages:

1) Hearing an "advert" on the radio to think happy thoughts at the start of day, which will set the tone for the rest of the day. Immerse in positive energy and hopefully the day will be good.
2) Hearing an atrocious advert (I cringed at the words fitting the music) about shopping at one of the popular malls in PJ area, but the underlying message was that there are lots of things to "Smile" about.
3) Was in the condo lift, and a family entered. A little kid with lovely large eyes, looked at me and smiled, and quickly looked away. The kid stole another brief glance, held my gaze and smiled again. Couldn't help but smile back at such innocence (no, not my sometimes "fake" smile as a colleague is wont to put it, but a moderate enough smile).

Oh well...

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Of seasons change and "Niu" year begins

Just a week away, the New Year dawns. The Rat year ends, the Ox ("Niu") year begins, and the circle commences anew.

Of the twelve animals in the Chinese astrology, the Ox represents persons who are dependable, calm, methodical, patient, hardworking, ambitious, conventional, steady, modest, logical, resolute, and tenacious (so they say). But those born in the year of the Ox can also be stubborn, narrow-minded, materialistic, rigid, and demanding.

So, as the spring season begins, here's to a wonderful Ox year ahead.

Of seasons change and "Niu" year begins,
Of moments to cherish, and instances to smile.
Of family and friends to treasure anew,
And greetings galore to fully bestow.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Of one toilet and another

Was cleaning the loo (otherwise known as the Water Closet or W.C.) the other day, and finally dismantled a metal shelve I had previously where I put the spare detergents, extra shampoos and other what nots.

Talking about W.C., it reminded me of an incident recently when one lady announced through the microphone over a dinner function, "Those of you who are in the TOILET, please come back inside the room!". I was like, errr... okaaaaay... But seriously, it was perfectly correct. Just that social norms doesn't quite entail blurting such words over a dinner function, no? So, what should one say? Use politer words like "W.C." or "loo" or even "lavatory"? But is it really allowable to use alternative words or just simply not done, especially over a wedding dinner function?

Ok, back to topic, finally found something to replace that metal shelve thing. Chose one long stalk of flower and a flat vase, and got the florist to perform some ikebana magic for me. After putting it where I wanted, I noticed that the seahorse and fish stickers sort of clashed. :(

What do you think?

Saturday, January 10, 2009

To hit the shuttle.. or not!

Had a session of badminton today. It has been more than 1 year (or was it 2?) plus since I last played, and it showed! Hand and eye coordination deteriorated significantly, and in the "excitement" as another player mentioned, I hit the shuttlecock too early too many times and missed completely. Definitely a disastrous 1st game.

And yeah, the whole fitness issue again. Sigh, need to go on the treadmill more. After one game only, and it's a faster 21-point system as opposed to the 15-point system that I am used to, I felt quite drained.

But as the matches progressed, the reflexes began to come back, and the familiary of the strokes and the various dropshots began to be more effective.

Alas, still a long way to go though before I get my fitness and my game to the level it was before in the days of old. And I am sure I would be aching at various places come tomorrow, but it felt good to at least perspire and comfort myself that I exercised this week! Hopefully more to come.

Monday, January 05, 2009

Of one debit credit and another

In the world of finance, it is often plagued with complicated words, terminologies and most times ambiguous sentences describing the investment instruments, the criteria and even the risks as highlighted in various pamphlets. However, I guess it is the same in most fields, be it in engineering, IT or even in the music field.

Most recent case highlighted in the business news everywhere is the Madoff Ponzi Scheme in the US. Essentially, for those who have heart palpitations just by hearing the word "Finance" or even the words "Debit/Credit", it is where profits are paid to existing investors with the money received from new investors.

Usually, these investments tend to promise high returns, and the returns are "made" from money received from new investors who also want to enjoy the high returns. So, it is a cycle, and the cycle will carry on building and building until one day, something happens and it will fall flat on its face. This pyramid scheme will collapse if:

a) earnings (inflow of cash from new investors) are less than payments (outflow of cash to existing investors);
b) existing investors ask to get their money back;
c) regulatory or supervisory bodies clamp down.
Of course, there could be other reasons for the sceme to fail.

So, in such difficult financial investment landscape for 2008, where the Malaysian stock market was down over 40%, and bond funds barely touched the annual fixed deposit rate of 3.70%, it makes one ponder how an established fund in the domestic market was able to provide dividends of 9% and above. Most funds lost capital last year, and some barely made it to the positive territory to at least preserve capital.

Of course, who doesn't want the high returns promised and more importantly, delivered? So, as more and more funds chase the returns, is this a precursor to troubled times ahead? Scary thought.

So if you have queued extra early just to place money in the fund, and lamented system issues for not being able to handle the processing volume before the fund size is achived and the fund closes, I would actually closely relook at the terms in the pamplets and get a better sense of any of the investments made (if at all).

Of course, the pamplets could be speaking greek for all you know, with investments structured to generate Alpha, and price volatility within a certain 95% confidence interval, it is Delta hedged, with limited probability of default, etc... What? Don't understand? "Don't worry!!" as most financial sales personnel would tell you, "it is 100% principal protected, will get money back!". But really, who or what is providing the principal protection? What are the underlying investment instruments? Which markets? Sometimes these are not so clear cut. Better read the fine prints... but wait! don't understand? it has complicated words in it? Oh my...

Saturday, January 03, 2009

A quick change to the East

Chinese New Year this year falls early on 26 January, and most shopping centres in KL are gearing up for the celebration. Less days between Christmas and Chinese New Year for patrons to shop. A taxi driver in Singapore mentioned that it will be even earlier next year, around the 18 or 19 January but after doing some checks, it will actually be on 14 February 2010.

So, my Christmas deco stuff previously on the pussy willow tree have now been changed to a more oriental theme. I also left the blinking lights on to add a little something to it.

Actually, the red balls with golden lining and tassels are also really part of the Christmas deco stuff, but looked quite oriental and more importantly, CHEAP! Why? I found out that one or two days running to Christmas and a few days after, departmental stores tended to do a massive sale on Christmas items. Got mine from Metrojaya, where each ball originally cost RM12.90, but had an 80% discount, with another 20% discount on top of that, which brought down the cost to RM2.06 each!!! I managed to find 20 of the balls altogether, and needless to say, bought others as well for next year!!! Refrained from getting a bigger Christmas tree, with a six footer going for less than RM50 after an 80% discount! It's a clear BUY, but haven't factored in storage space, etc. :)

Well, here's to wishing all a very Happy Chinese New Year and happy holidays come end of January!!!

Thursday, January 01, 2009

A sojourn down south

As the dawn of a new year approached, we headed to Singapore after a one day rest back in KL from the Penang trip. This time instead of driving down, we took the express coach which was cheaper than catching a flight and reasonably comfortable. Went for a short family holiday, visiting both the paternal and maternal relatives as well as doing some shopping in various places.

Singapore, being such a cosmopolitan city, was bedecked with Christmas lights and Christmas decorations, particularly along the ever busy Orchard Road. One wouldn't guess that Singapore was in a recession with the amount of shoppers bargain hunting for that ever perfect pair of shoes and other what nots, but my guess is that most are tourists as opposed to locals.

Now something about the marketing aspect to target shoppers to Spend! Spend! Spend! For example, buy a pair of promotional jeans for S$33, but better buy THREE for only S$60! Now, I was in a dilemma. I wanted only one pair and it will cost me S$33! but I can average down by getting another two pairs of the same design in different colours for CHEAPER!!! I was shopping with my dad, and he said he doesn't need a new pair of jeans! So, I couldn't flog one off to him. HOW?!? What would you have done? In the end, after much internal deliberation, I opted to pay the "extra" and only spend S$33 as opposed to S$60 for two other pair of pants which I didn't need. I can tell you that such marketing gimic is rampant. At another shop, buy one item at a promotional price. Buy two items, get 20% off both items, but buy THREE items, get 40% off all three items! HOW?!? How not to spend like that?

And as the countdown began, the hotel provided free flow of drinks, but I stayed in the hotel room. Couldn't watch the fireworks except on TV, as the hotel room faced west of Orchard Road whilst the city was lit at the Marina Bay. Still, looking out the hotel room window, many thronged the streets with good cheer and jubilation, and reveled the night away. Some had to answer the call of duty, with cops seen patrolling the area to minimise untoward incidents and doing some form of crowd and traffic control.

As dawn broke, and shops opened anew, Chinese New Year music began filling the air, advertising Lunar New Year sales!!! Buy one, FREE one!!! Sigh, there goes the hardearned money!!! I guess shop keepers and retailers only have about 3 weeks and a bit before the onset of the lunar celebration, and so, are pushing sales geared for the coming festivities.

Through all the travelling up north to Penang, and then to Singapore and back, I finally found time to finish two of my outstanding novels by L.E. Modesitt Jr, "Natural Ordermage" and "Mage-Guard of Hamor". Brilliant 14th and 15th books of the Saga of Recluse! Can't wait for more!!! :)

So, after all that, here's to wishing one and all a Happy New Year!