Monday, December 31, 2007

Flooding...flooding...flooding...

a look from the bus window

"Mum, flooding out side!"... said the boy who sat behind me on the bus.

Flooding in Ngawi, East Java

Semarang, a place to visit and to eat

Tugu Muda Sam Po Kong
Old town Glass painting Train station
Nasi Mbah Jingkrak Lawang Sewu

Sunday, December 30, 2007

An old picture

The 23rd – 25th generation, just above mine!

Family generation of 23rd and 25th. Well, I'm the 26th

Tourism impact in Bali: Local vs. international visitors

Bali is such an exotic paradise to the eyes of the world. Lots of visitors from Australia, America, Europe, Japan, Taiwan, and many other countries, come to Bali for their holiday, honeymoon, business, or even for the international class conference.

As majority of Balinese people earns for living in tourism sector, I notice that there’s an interesting phenomenon in the behaviour among locals especially the ones who are mainly involved in tourism industries. For those who work in a highly competitive touristy place, they tend to prioritize their service to tourists who can pay more to them. So, they always tend to be “nicer” to tourists who hold yen or dollar in their hands. Local visitors seem to be the second class guests that deserve secondary services.

My friend who’s a Singaporean told me that when she was in Bali, her friend and she had queued for a table for a half hour in a very popular restaurant in Seminyak. But the staff let the other caucasian guests to come in without having to queue first. She could not understand why the queuing system was so crap, or was it because that she looks like a local, thus she didn’t deserved to be prioritized for the table. Well, from what she told me, I myself was not really sure, either the staff was a bit picky for the dollar holder guests, or could be that those groups might have booked the table before they came.

Jimbaran Beach 2003

Another “interesting” thing that you might find out is the price deviation within a place for dinning. In a certain touristy area, a restaurant might provide different price lists for the same menu. They have an image that Japanese guests generally have more financial ability to spend their money for food. Thus, menus written in Japanese usually follow the standard of yen price, which appears to be the most expensive one compared to menu price written in other currencies. But yes, you’ll be surprised that they do have menu written in different languages with prices that have been “adapted”.Well, certainly it’s more beneficial for the local as they get cheaper prices, but, of course with the standard “local” service which is totally different from the “international” one in term of their hospitality.

Well, what I’ve exposed here doesn’t intend to discredit the popular image of the great hospitality of local Balinese. As a matter of fact, Balinese people naturally are very friendly. This you still can see in the remote area in Bali where local villagers are really willing to talk and curious to make friend with you, no matter you are dollar holders, caucasians, locals, or whatever your performance and background are.

Again, what I’m trying to point out here is not about a racial issue, but simply showing the impact of tourism among locals, especially the doers of tourism industries which seems to have a behavioral alteration of their attitude. Interesting phenomenon, isn’t it!

Astrology Revised: New Zodiac Sign

The new zodiac sign, Ophiuchus-the serpent bearer, is incorporated due to "precession", the corrected position of the sun within constellation boundaries. So...just recheck your zodiac sign again. (Ref: The real solar zodiac)
Aries (19 April - 13 May)
Taurus (14 May - 19 June)
Gemini (20 June - 20 July)
Cancer (21 July - 9 August)
Leo (10 August - 15 September)
Virgo (16 September - 30 October)
Libra (31 October - 22 November)
Scorpio (23 November - 29 November)
*Ophiucus (30 November - 17 December)*
Sagittarius (18 December - 18 January)
Capricorn (19 January - 15 February)
Aquarius (16 February - 11 March)
Pisces (12 March - 18 April)

Ophiucus, the serpent bearer
Special thanks to Bihlie for the critical comment

Sunday, December 16, 2007

What a big day today

shadowEarly morning I’ve already got a call from my friend telling me that Arief, a friend at JCU, got married here in Tuban. Most of my Indonesian JCU friends came there to attend the weeding. Nice reunion, I think! But, I can’t attend it as I had to go to Surabaya under my boss’s instruction.

My boss and I were at the same car to Surabaya. Hmm… I worried too much if it’d be an awkward situation like running out of topic of conversation. Apparently, my boss was very talk-active. I felt comfortable to have conversation with him. We talked more about human behaviour, a very interesting topic that challenged my own knowledge and interpretation. Good talk good time, indeed.

At night, I met my old friends in an unpredictable situation. Thirteen years ago, we still played music together. Then I just met them again on the wedding hall. Thanks to their smart performance on the stage. Otherwise, I won’t be so sure if I could recognize them. What has happened today, to me, did not always come all the time. It did make me excited and surprised. Well, I’m thankful on that… and I’m looking forward to having another day like this again ;-)

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Good Friends

I wish that my life could always be surrounded with my best friends. Well, this is just my ideal thought. Yet, I still realize that there’s nothing perfectly ideal as what I expect in this real world.

friend

I’ve been thinking about this since the past couple weeks of my stay in Tuban. At least, what it’s in my mind may explain why dealing with people in the working place seems to be tougher than at school.

It’s simply because at school, I just interacted with someone whom I’d considered to be good to be my friend, and the rest, I wasn’t really bothered. But in the working place, I have no choice to interact with every staff within a shared space, eventhough I don’t like the person.

The funny thing is that my first impression about someone is used to be wrong. I thought…hmm… this person can not be my friend, but in the end we’re such a close friend. Or the other way round, in the beginning we were too pushy to became a good friend, but then after all, we just became “hi and passing by” friend.

No one to blame; it just goes with time and natural selection

A and B are two individuals who just come into a new place. They haven’t had friends yet. Then A and B start to get to know each other, often have chitchat, then decide to do something together. After sometimes, they know that they don’t have similar preferences. Then as time goes by, each of them has their new friends; eventually A hangs out more with A’s new friends, B also enjoys more to be with B’s new friends. Sometimes, if by chance A meets B, then they just say hi, talk only one or two sentences, then… ok, see you, I gtg now. They don’t seem to be bothered with that changing, both of them realize on that, and they are just ok, as they know that this situation is better for both of them...

吃海螺必须要小心

我以前写一篇文章关于“丰富的早餐”说我姨和我早上吃海螺之后感觉不舒服。我们觉得可能海螺对肚子太凉,所以肚子应该不可以太空。
最近,我告诉我的中国老师这件事儿。她说,海螺本来有毒。就是白色的一部分最近离它的孔,这部分就不应该吃的。吃了太多你就重毒了,所以感觉不舒服,头或者眼睛感觉很重。
总的说来,吃海螺时,注意白色的部分,别吃那部分。这样对身体比较安全。

海螺

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Airport

My memory suddenly takes me back to Bali airport long long time ago. Indeed, I have a deep scratch in my memory about that airport. A memory back to the time when I was very little, even just before my brother was born.

Lili was my favorite aunty. She always accompanied me to play at home. I really liked her. She’s very pretty. She used to give me chocolates, cheese, toys, and other knick knack. She used to visit our family in OZ. So when she left, I felt like losing my good friend to play with, even I still remember how sad I was when she was not around. That’s why I used to be extremely excited to wait for her in the airport when she got back.

Once, she was going to go to OZ again, my dad, mum, and I went to the airport together with her to wish her a safe trip. At that time, Bali airport had public access, not exclusively for the one who had a ticket. So, we can get in to the second floor and sat down on the terrace. From there, I can see my aunty walking toward the plane. I screamed out loud calling her name. She saw me and gave me a good bye gesture, I replied it excitedly. When her plane took off, I was still screaming “good bye aunty…good bye aunty…”

Then it became like a regular activity to me, to ask my dad to go to the airport just to see the plane taking off, and as usual, I still screamed “good bye aunty… good bye aunty…” eventhough that was not her plane. Sounds silly, but that’s the feeling of the little me missing her.

Since then, I really loved to watch planes. I even remembered how I cried in private hearing the plane accident in the airport. I remember my dad and I went to the location to see the poor plane.

Couple years later, my aunty moved permanently to OZ. So, I really hoped that one day, my family can fly there together to visit her. But then we never made it, as she already passed away***

take off

The beginning of 2004, it was my first time to fly to OZ as I got a grant to pursue my study there. My dad, mum, and brother took me to the airport, to wish me a good safe trip. Well, that was my last time I saw my dad, inside the international departure section. That was my last memory seeing him alive***

Recently I flew pretty often. There’s always an excitement being in different airports, expecting what the new life adventure will be outside the airport. Yeap… looking forward to new adventures from inside the airport, but also reminding me backward to the time I was in the airport for the person I love.

Aweto, a parasitic fungi

Regarding my writing on Aweto, the winter insect summer herb (冬虫夏草), here I got further information about it.
aweto
It is actually a parasitic symbiosis between ascomycete fungi (species Cordyceps sinensis) and caterpillars, the host.

"When infected by C. sinensis, the bug's entire body cavity is filled by the fungus mycelium, killing the host, and the caterpillars die near the tops of their burrows." (wikipedia, 2007)

"When the caterpillar dies the fungus produces a stalked fruiting body that produces spores. The spores are spread in the wind to the next generation of caterpillars. Uninfected caterpillars pupate into relatively large primitive moths." (caterpillar fungus, 1998)

Thus, the infected host will definitely be dead. It is not a cyclic life stage as what I thought before. Since this fungi attacks hosts during summer, that’s why the Chinese called it “the winter worm summer grass” 冬虫夏草 (dōng chóng xià cǎo).

growing fungus on the host

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Friendship, relationship: Does it work?

When establishing a new friendship or relationship with someone, it may work but also may not. If it doesn’t work or becomes worse, do not too emotionally respond it! Once you have introspected yourself and believed that you have done nothing wrong, then NO need to try to be nice or to clarify anything. Don’t get too far on him/her. Maybe s/he is the one who has problem, for example an overly sensitive type of person. And to this kind of person, you really must keep distance!

In the worse situation, if s/he says something cynical to you, don’t take the bait; just don’t give a damn on what s/he has said.
Indeed it’s a good practice to develop compassion and patience. Any single cynical word you’ve heard, let’s hope it will bring satisfaction and happiness to the person who delivers those words. Then you’ll be able to smile freely and feel much better, meaning that your practice of compassion is successful.

Tuban, after a week of training

Working in a place together with Singaporean expatriates gave me some unusual experience, particularly to deal with their weird characteristic. No need to feel inferior. Take it easy, this is just the beginning of the real world. There will still be a dozen more characteristics of people that you’ll never expect out there. Just be cool, calm, and confident! Do smile if you don’t want to say something stupid that may worsen the situation; at this situation: Silence is Golden

Remember, stay low profile!!!
***
The most difficult thing to learn in my working place:
Is not to learn the chemical reaction on hydrocarbon
Is not about making a monthly plan based on estimated material balance to maximize the gross margin
Not either is to understand the whole units applied to process crude oil into highly valuable xylene
But,…
It is how to deal with people with different characteristics, especially the weird one!!!
So, find out what the key is to deal with this!

Tuban, East Java

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Philosophies of Chinese Horoscope

1. Mouse: skillful, proficient, smart
2. Cow: hard working, diligent, modest
To be skillful but not hard-working will be ineffective and useless. Hard working but no brain will also be easily exploited by other people.

3. Tiger: brave, powerful, mighty
4. Rabbit: cautious, prudent, wise
If the characteristic of tiger is too dominant then it will be recklessness. On the other hand, being overly cautious will lead to fear. Both characters balancing each other will be bold and cautious, hence unbeatable by enemies.

5. Dragon: firm, ferocious, competent
6. Snake: flexible, intellectual, intelligent
Too firm is easy to shatter, that’s why flexibility is necessary. In contrast, being flexible must also be accompanied by stricter mind.

7. Horse: ahead, forward, fast
8. Goat: calm, kind, warm-hearted
Becoming too fast and leaving others behind indicates selfishness; consequently it may fuel conflict among others. Kindness would counteract selfishness. However, kindness and calmness without high motivation also leads to a life without any goal, thus an unpromising future.

9. Monkey: vivacious, lively, efficacious
10. Chicken: consistent, honest, genuine
Vivaciousness and consistency may achieve any goal with a better result. Vivaciousness merely without constancy, or the other way round, won’t hit target as optimum as possible.

11. Dog: loyal, devoted, dedicated
12. Pig: easy going, laid-back, providential
The loyal dog and the easy going pig, these combined characters will attain inner balance among them. Inappropriate loyalty without tolerance will often be opposed by others. Too easy going type of person without devotion also often breaks the rule, hence a poor attitude.

Source: Yuankai
Thanks to Chris for the help

Thursday, September 13, 2007

The Complete Name of Chinese Zodiacs and Their Meaning

12 Chinese Zodiacs

精子鼠 (jīng zǐ shǔ); the smart mouse
憨丑牛 (hān chǒu niú); the modest cow
威寅虎 (wēi yín hǔ); the mighty tiger
慧卯兔 (huì mǎo tù); the wise rabbit
神辰龙 (shén chén lóng); the competent dragon
智巳蛇 (zhì sì shé); the intelligent snake
奔午马 (bēn wǔ mǎ); the fast horse
温未羊 (wēn wèi yáng); the warm-hearted goat
灵申猴 (líng shēn hóu); the vivacious monkey
信酉鸡 (xìn yǒu jī); the genuine chicken
忠戌狗 (zhōng xū gǒu); the loyal dog
福亥猪 (fú hài zhū); the providential pig

The second character within the name represents the time within 24 hours that regulates every single birth.

23:00 - 01:00 = 子 (zǐ)
01:00 - 03:00 = 丑 (chǒu)
03:00 - 05:00 = 寅 (yín)
05:00 - 07:00 = 卯 (mǎo)
07:00 - 09:00 = 辰 (chén)
09:00 - 11:00 = 巳 (sì)
11:00 - 13:00 = 午 (wǔ)
13:00 - 15:00 = 未 (wèi)
15:00 - 17:00 = 申 (shēn)
17:00 - 19:00 = 酉 (yǒu)
19:00 - 21:00 = 戌 (xū)
21:00 - 23:00 = 亥 (hài)

This basic information from your Chinese astrology is necessary if you ask an expert to read your fortune based on Chinese horoscope. For example, I was born on 22nd April 1980 at 8:00 pm, then calibrate this date into Chinese calendar (use lunar calendar converter)

22nd April = day 8, month 3 of lunar calendar
1980 = year of monkey
8:00 pm = 戌 (xū)

Thus, my lunar birthday is in the 3rd month day 8th. So, tell me what your lunar birthday is!

History of Twelve Chinese Zodiacs

A translation from: http://www.nongli.com/item1/shxwh/sxgs-1.htm

Long time ago, everything was so chaotic on earth. The king of heaven ordered one of the God called Tài Bái Jīn Xīng (太白金星) to establish 12 zodiac signs from different animals. Hence, the contest to find 12 animals to be the symbol of zodiacs was begun and announced on earth.

On a fine day, cat was fishing when suddenly a magpie, the bird, appeared and told him about this contest. Then the cat went back home excitedly. Arriving home, he found that mouse, his servant, was still doing the house work. Cat confidently told mouse that he would win the zodiac contest and become one of important zodiacs that rule lives on earth. He ordered the mouse to register him for the contest.

On the way to find the place for registration, he met monkey who discouraged him not to go there because the queue had already been too crowded. The mouse insisted him to tell the way to go to the temple to register his master. Monkey then told him the direction to go to the temple***

>>>At this time, there had been 8 animals that have registered for the contest, they were: dragon, tiger, cow, monkey, pig, chicken, snake, and dog.

Fox was the next turn talking to the interviewer. He said that he never done any crime and always behaved well, when just suddenly the rabbit interrupted “Fox should not be allowed to participate in this contest because he is very bad, stealing duck’s eggs couple days ago.” Rabbit’s protest was also supported by the horse which made fox left the place without being registered for the contest.

>>>Then 3 more animals had been registered: rabbit, horse, and goat.

Mouse eventually arrived at the place and had a queue behind the elephant. Looking at a long queue, he was a bit panicky. He told elephant, “I come here to register my master…Can I jump into your back to see how long will the queue be to get into my turn”. Sarcastically, the elephant said “Who the hell you are you bloody small thing want to jump into my body”. Hearing what elephant had said, mouse angrily bit his toe. As the response, elephant tried to step him violently. Mouse was too quick to avoid, and he hid himself inside the elephant’s trunk. The elephant then felt itchy on his trunk, thus he sneezed abruptly, throwing the mouse far away toward the registration desk.

At this moment, the owl was just going to sign the registration form, which would be the last form, when just suddenly the mouse landed on the form and pictured his feet as the signature on the form. The interviewer asked him, “What are you coming for?” Just before he said that he was going to register his master, he suddenly had another thought. Thinking to be one of important zodiacs would be a great idea. “I want to register for the contest on behalf of my self” he said.

Owl was extremely angry and initiated to snatch the mouse. Mouse carefully avoided it. Unfortunately, owl’s craw hit the interviewer’s face. The interviewer then punched the owl back, hitting owl’s face. Good chance for the mouse to escape. The mouse bowed to the interviewer who was so upset. “Ok…the last form, I give it to you” said the interviewer to the mouse.

The long queue was then dismissed. To each 12 animals that had been registered, by tomorrow, they must arrive in the heaven palace. The order of zodiac signs would be awarded based on the order of arrival, whoever would arrive first will be placed as the 1st zodiac sign, and so on***

Back home, mouse saw cat eating and drinking happily. “Yes, I have registered your name” mouse said when the cat asked about it. How happy the cat was, he then let mouse together with him ate the fish he had caught. Cat got drunk. When he was conscious, mouse had left home. The owl came to cat’s house and told everything about what mouse had done. Cat was mad and tried to chase the mouse.

Mouse came over to rabbit’s place to ask for protection. But rabbit was too afraid to deal with cat, so he refused mouse to stay in his house.

Mouse continued running, he saw cow that was still farming. Cow saw mouse behaving nervously. “You must have done any crime” he said to the mouse. “No, cow brother, I was confused as the cat has been rushing to the temple of heaven while you were still here.” What mouse had said made cow rushing to start his journey. “Cow brother, can you take me too? I really want to see this contest…it must be such a great event, too bad to miss it!” Cow let the mouse jump onto his back. And they started the journey together***

Fox wanted revenge to the rabbit. He got an idea, bringing some food and wine to tiger, and told him that rabbit said something bad about him. Tiger then immediately went to seek rabbit for an explanation. Rabbit tried to calm him down and explained that fox told lies. Tiger believed more to what rabbit had said. However, he was still emotionally unstable; he then ordered rabbit to spy other contestants whether or not they had started their journey.

Rabbit agreed and worked on it. Soon he knew that chicken was still at home, busy with his make up; dog and pig were chatting. Arriving at cow’s house, cow’s wife told him that her husband has left to the temple. Reporting this to tiger, both of them were also in rush to begin their journey as well. Fox saw rabbit running, he chased rabbit and bit rabbit’s long tail. Fox got the tail; however, rabbit with a shorter tail can run faster and faster leaving the fox***

It was a beautiful sunset time. Goat was watering flowers when suddenly cow passing and stepping on goat’s flower garden. Not a good situation! However, mouse quickly suggested cow to pay an amount of money for the damage. “Don’t waste time for this as the most important thing is to keep moving to reach the temple as soon as possible.” Cow agreed and goat was also ok with it. After a while, tiger passed by his house then also rabbit did. Goat suddenly realized that those animals had started their journey for the contest. He then told horse to begin the journey immediately.

>>>Fox passed by duck’s place. He blamed his bad day to the duck. Fox was just going to destroy duck’s house. Luckily, the horse which passed by the duck’s house saw fox’s nasty behaviour and with one kick knocked the fox out.

Cow and mouse had already entered the jungle, they got lost. Mouse then climbed up a tree to see the direction and told the cow the correct path. Cow let the mouse sat on his back when he swam crossing the big river. After a while, tiger also crossed to river. Rabbit used dried wood as a boat. Horse and goat also successfully crossed the river***

Sunrise in the following day, chicken, dog, and pig started their journey. Snake passed by their house, asking for a ride, but was rejected by the pig. So the snake continued moving on his trip with his own effort. Chicken, dog, and pig arrived in the river. Chicken and dog had a little argue about how to find a way to cross the river, while the pig tried to find other place to cross the river. Chicken and dog didn’t notice that pig went to find another spot to swim; they thought that the pig had already crossed the river. Thus, chicken was in rush to jump into the river. However, chicken can’t swim well. Luckily, the dog helped him by holding his wing. Pig also found a better spot that enabled him to cross the river.

Snake eventually arrived in the river side. Realizing that he can’t swim, he had an idea to ask help from the dragon who lived inside the river. He saw turtle, his own ancestral relative. He asked turtle to call the dragon inside the river to help him crossing the river. The dragon was awake. Both turtle and snake praised dragon’s power. Dragon was overly flattered, so he helped snake crossing the river. Dragon showed his power to create strong rain which eventually caused flooding. Therefore, the God came to warn him, advising him to ask cow’s help as cow had an ability to dig drainage to over come flooding. He immediately flew to find the cow. On the way, he met chicken, dog, and pig, and asked them whether they met cow. The dog lied by telling him the opposite direction. Dragon directly flew to the direction pointed by the dog. Chicken was disappointed on dog’s attitude; then chicken and dog had an argument again.

Monkey so far was in the first place, sitting on the big tree. The magpie asked him why he was still sitting there instead of going to the temple. Monkey said, “No need to rush, I want to do my business first selling fruit to other animals who passed this way.”

Cat passed by, and was offered to eat some fruit. Cat ate some fruits, but then left the place without paying. “Hey, this is not for free” shouted monkey. But cat misunderstood the offering. He thought it was monkey’s hospitality to offer him some fruits. He didn’t want to pay. Monkey slapped him violently till he dropped***

Cow and mouse passed by monkey’s stall, and were also offered some fruit. But mouse suggested cow to keep moving on as they can eat fruits on the way back home. Tiger, rabbit, horse, and goat consecutively took a rest in monkey’s fruit shop. Only snake didn’t stop there as he realized that his ability was least among others to reach the temple***

After some time searching a long way path, dragon realized that he had been cheated by the dog. He directly went to cow’s house. Cow’s wife told him that he had been heading to the temple. He then directly flew to the temple***

Cow finally arrived in the temple of heaven. Just before entering the gate, mouse with a rapid movement jumped from cow’s back and quickly entered the gate, then followed by the cow. The guard of the heaven gate loudly announced, “Number 1. mouse…, number 2. cow...”

Knowing that the little mouse was the 1st winner, the God wasn’t so pleased. Yet, the God still awarded him the golden robe with the label "子" (zǐ) on it, and cow was with the label "丑" (chǒu).

Cow realized that he had been used by his buddy. Mouse said “Cow brother, thank you for your help. I’ve never believed that this dream comes true.” Cow was eventually accepted the situation as he realized that together with the mouse, his journey was more efficient. Without his help, he might not be able to arrive at the temple earlier than other animals***

Monkey was still waiting for the last animals, chicken, dog, and pig. As usual, monkey persuaded them to take a rest and eat some fruit in his stall. Suddenly, the magpie came and told all of them that mouse and cow had arrived in the temple and been awarded the zodiac robes.

Hearing this news, they all got shocked and directly ran to the temple. Chicken was half running half flying. Dog was in his high speed. Monkey was jumping from branch to branch, which made his money pocket felt down, thus the whole money he collected also dropped to the ground. It was only the pig who kept walking unhurried while collecting the fallen money from monkey’s pocket***

The animals arrived based on the order were: mouse, cow, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, chicken, dog, and pig.

>>>Knowing that mouse was successful to reach the temple and became the 1st winner of the zodiac contest, both cat and owl committed, that during the day, cat will kill all mice, and at night, owl will be responsible to eradicate mouse and his descendants.

>>><<<

>Hence, till today, the order of 12 Chinese zodiacs is fixed forming a 12 year cycle: mouse, cow, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, chicken, dog, and pig.

(See also my other essay regarding the complete name of each zodiac)

>The legend also tells us how rabbit has short tail; how cats and owls are main enemies of mice; but of course, it’s all based on the Chinese tale.

Many thanks to Jiangyang for the help

A place where the end of sleepy ocean meets the clear azureus sky, fresh green trees grow among ease of the modern city; There I will start my friendship and build my own community; There will be the happiest place of mine to live in

Friday, September 7, 2007

Tai Chi (太极拳 - tài jí quán): Soft inner power and its philosophies

There are 2 types of inner power:

  • Hard type; often seen in many martial art practices, such as: expelling enemies without touching them, bare protection to any sharp weapon, etc.
  • Soft type, which I will describe more in the following passage.

Every one has soft inner power (SIP). The simplest illustration about the SIP is: if someone moving a box from point A to B, than he has been already used an SIP. However, once the box has been placed at point B, then the SIP has also been over.

Maintaining our SIP is essential. The more long-lasting the SIP we maintain, the higher our body immunity will be, consequently the more resistant our body to any disease will be. The point is how to train our SIP to be more continuous and more long-lasting. The simplest answer is by practicing “Tai Chi Chuan”.

Every movement of Tai Chi is inspired by philosophies of Buddhism and Taoism. The period when Tai Chi was created, these two teachings were popular in China. It’s believed that most of Taoist monk practiced Tai Chi for maintaining health reason.

The philosophy of Buddhism "form is emptiness, emptiness is form (空即是色, 色即是空)" and the balance of Yin Yang (阴阳/yīn yáng) of Taoism: softer and harder, upward and downward, outward and inward, bigger and smaller, centrifugal and centripetal, are basic philosophies of Tai Chi movement.

Here I can describe Tai Chi Chuan 24 styles and 42 styles, the two styles that I am familiar with. Each movement, from the beginning until the closing part, must flow and not be fragmented, although the formation theme of each movement must be shown obviously .

The best illustration to explain the concept of Tai Chi movement is: Our universe! From an empty space, then the big bang initiates the whole thing, the forming of solar system and other star systems. And everything works based on natural gravity power (as analogized to be the SIP), hence there appears revolution (major movement) and rotation (minor movement), night and day light; and everything must be balance. If any of this system doesn’t work properly, or stop rotating or revolving, then it is the end of the world.

From this analogy, says you are practicing Tai Chi 24 styles, if you perform the whole movement (open-close, revolving-rotating, major-minor, etc) without a balance flow, then your practice of maintaining ISP is totally useless. That’s why the more practice the better.

太极拳 - tài jí quán

***
The first day I practised Tai Chi Chuan - 24 styles, my right leg was so painful. Both legs used to be trembling during and after practice. But, it was getting better and better after practising several times.

dedicated to my late Tai Chi master, PekPiu

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Eight Major Styles of Chinese Food - 八大菜系

Delicious Chinese cuisine can be divided into 8 kinds based on characteristics of its own origin, including the coloration (色), aroma (香), taste (味), and appearance (形); The taste of Chinese cooking from each region are commonly: south-sweet (南甜), north-salty (北咸), east-hot and spicy (东辣), west-sour (西酸). The 8 major styles of Chinese cuisine are:

1. Sichuan Cuisine (川菜) - Chuān cài
  • Pock-marked bean curd (麻婆豆腐) má pó dòu fu
  • Chicken cubes with peanuts (宫保鸡丁) gōng bǎo jī dīng
  • Pork shreds with fishy flavour (鱼香肉丝) yú xiāng ròu sī
  • Flavored beef shreds (灯影牛肉) dēng yǐng niú ròu
  • etc
2. Guangdong Cuisine (粤菜) - Yuè cài
  • Roasted suckling pig (烤乳猪) kǎo rǔ zhū
  • Steamed turtle with chives sauce (清蒸甲鱼) qīng zhēng jiǎ yú
  • King snake with bamboo slices (笋片烧蛇) sǔn piàn shāo shé
  • Gourd cups (葫芦盅) hú lu zhōng
  • etc
3. Shandong Cuisine (鲁菜) - Lǔ cài
  • De Zhou grilled chicken (德州扒鸡) dé zhōu pǎ jī
  • Bird's nest soup (清汤燕窝羹) qīng tāng yàn wō gēng
  • Stewed clam (油爆大蛤) yóu bào dà gé
  • Lotus flower and shrimps (荷花大虾) dà xiā
  • etc
4. Huaiyang/Weiyang Cuisine (淮阳菜) - Huái Yáng cài
  • Stir fried chicken and vegetables (蔬菜炒鸡片) shū cài chǎo jī piàn
  • Pork ball and crab casserole (砂锅蟹肉丸) shā guō xiè ròu wán
  • Chicken corn soup (奶油鸡丝玉米汤) nǎi yóu jī sī yù mǐ tāng
  • Squid with crispy rice crust (鱿鱼锅巴) yóu yú guō bā
  • etc
5. Zhejiang Cuisine (浙菜) - Zhè cài;
  • Dong po pork (东坡肘子) dōng pō zhǒu zi
  • Xihu sour fish (西湖醋鱼) xī hú cù yú
  • Shrimp with tea flavour (龙井虾肉) lóng jǐng xiā ròu
  • Beggar’s chicken (叫花鸡) jiào huā jī
  • etc
6. Fujian Cuisine (闽菜) - Mǐn cài
  • Sea food and poultry casserole (红烧鱼翅) hóng shāo yú chì
  • Steamed chicken with egg-white (芙蓉鸡丸) fú róng jī wán
  • Fried prawn (油炸对虾) yóu zhá duì xiā
  • Crispy butterfish with lychee (荔枝鲳鱼) lì zhī chāng yú
  • etc
7. Hunan Cuisine (湘菜) - Xiāng cài
  • Dong'an chicken (东安鸡) dōng ān jī
  • Braised pork (红烧肉) hóng shāo ròu
  • Steamed turtle (清蒸海龟) qīng zhēng hǎi guī
  • Chicken with cayenne pepper (辣子鸡丁) là zi jī dīng
  • etc
8. Anhui Cuisine (安徽) - Huī cài
  • Huang Shan stewed pigeon (黄山醉鸽) huáng shān zuì gē
  • Gourd duck (葫芦鸭) hú lu yā
  • Fricassee pork with egg-white (蛋花炖肉) dàn huā dùn ròu
  • Pork rib with pine nuts (松仁排骨) sōng rén pái gǔ
  • etc
><<<> ><<<> ><<<>
Reference: baidu and my chinese friends

脑子灵活一定要谦虚
谦虚的人脑子也要灵活

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Shrek

"learn to ignore the names that people call you, ... and you just trust who you are"
---Shrek, from Shrek the Third---

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Leaving Dalian

Thank you for everything. To all my friends there. Hope I can visit you again someday. I love you, my beautiful Dalian.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

A Little Girl on the Bus in China

The bus has been clumped! There was only one seat near the spot where I was standing up, a woman with some stuff on her hand was going to take that seat. Suddenly, a little girl snatched the seat, then abruptly called her mother, "Mum, here, I got a seat here".

The woman just gave it up, and the little girl's mum was struggling to go through the clumped people, until she reached the place "booked" by the girl and sat down there with the girl on her lap.

***
So, why did I feel a bit weird about this situation? She is just a little girl though, who wants to present her mum a place to seat, ... but by snatching a seat from a woman with a lots of thing on her hands??? Is this nice little girl wrong?

Well...well..., this is another chaotic situation in China, I must say, I hate this condition. It makes me think, it must be very difficult to all Chinese, especially to young generation, to realise the motto of Olympic 2008, "Jiang Wen Ming", to make China to be a better "civilized" country.

Salute to all young generation whom I saw giving their seats to the elderlies, to the pregnant woman, to the woman with her baby!!! To all parents in China, do teach your children to be more civilized then!!!

Monday, August 27, 2007

Chinese Spirit Festival

Full moon (15th) of the month 7th, Chinese lunar calendar.

Chinese people burning the "hell money" for all spirit before 12 a.m. At the same time, I think it's a good opportunity to do the "Zoor practise", dedicated to the deceased one.

What to prepare:
  1. plain flour
  2. honey
  3. yoghurt
  4. melted butter
  5. sugar

Mix all the stuff together, make a coarse dough (so don't put too much honey, yoghurt, or melted butter), don't make it too wet, then put them little by little on the burning charcoal. The burned dough has good aromatic smell which is believed to be the "good food" for all spirit.

May all spirit be happy

Friday, August 24, 2007

A Hope

On the small bus, sitting in the front of 2 high school girls. Then, giving their seats to two elderlies. A very "unique" event here in Dalian. Good sign for the present Chinese young generation. Very impressing me!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

GEO-ASTROPHYSICS: The Moon Effect

How often have you experienced an excessively unstable or uncontrolled emotion?

full moon effectGeo-astrophysics, a multi-discipline combining earth science, astrology, and physics, may explain well this phenomena among living creatures on earth.

All creatures are significantly affected by the gravity of the moon. The moon is the closest gravity-exhibiting material to our earth. Hence, the moon's gravity affects most life on earth. This has been shown in some scientific research. How do coral reefs have a synchronous spawning in a certain lunar period? Why do mollusks, crabs, shrimps exhibit a peaking pattern on their abundance during the full moon period? And what about the howling behavior among wolves during full moon? ...

The body of living creatures contains a large amount of ion Fe (iron). The moon's gravity induces all ion Fe moving to the upper part of the body as it is pulled by the moon's gravitational magnetic field, for example: for human beings, ion Fe will be concentrated more around the head. This condition has been believed to be the main factor that affects emotional state among human beings.

Within our daily life, try to notice the date when you feel moody, sensitive, or any kind of such dramatic emotion; Is it near full moon or new moon? I myself noticed that some people in my surrounding exhibit such emotion mostly around these two lunar periods. The moon effect amplifies our emotional state, thus sometime we might emotionally unstable under high moon gravitational effect (see also my essay on Unexplained Uncomfortable Feeling). For example, someone who feels sad will be in deep sadness, also contrarily, someone who feels happy will be extremely happy. Another example, two persons who just become a new couple, they might think that any situation under full moon is very romantic, now why's that?... It's simply because the moon effect which plays this role!

The effect of gravity-resultant exhibitited by other space materials to earth.
The resultant of gravity will be maximum when the position among adjacent planets is in a straight line. The moon it self already has a strong effect to earth's living creatures, then what if this effect is enhanced by the resultant of gravity from other planets? Definitely, there will be much much greater effect in influencing living creatures, especially the emotional state of human beings. This has been indicated as follows:
  • The climax of France Revolution in 1799 was when the position of all 9 planets forming a straight line.
  • The demonstration by university students in Indonesia demanding president resignation also reaching climax when the position of the 5 nearby planets around earth forming a straight line in 1998.
Nine planets in a line

-*-little comment-*-

I guess now I can see the idea why Taoism and Buddhism recommend non-monks practitioners not to eat meat on the 1st (new moon) and 15th (full moon) of lunar calendar. Apart from the spiritual reason, reducing the consumption of meat, a high iron-content food source, may also retain the amount of ion Fe being concentrated in our body due to the moon gravitational pull. Thus, we, as expected, may have a more stable emotional state.

When you feel such a dramatic emotion, then take a deep breath, exhale it freely, control your emotion, and have a look at your lunar calendar, then smile, as that mostly occurs around full moon or new moon, I BET!

dedicated to my late Professor Joko Purwanto

Eggs and Yin Yang

Yin YangYin represents feminine, cold, darker, and night

Yang represents masculine, hot, lighter, and day

Yin: Duck and Goose Eggs

Ducks and geese lay their eggs normally during the dark period, no sun shine, i.e. before sun rise, or after sun set, and at night time (based on interview to some farmer). They might lay eggs during the day but it is not often; and to some extent these "day light" eggs are considered less in quality as some people said that day light eggs from the duck or goose can not be used to make salted eggs.

The dark time period of laying eggs causes duck and goose eggs absorb Yin energy. Thus, duck and goose eggs have Yin energy. No wonder some Chinese people said that eating duck or goose eggs is better, healthier than chicken eggs for male. The explanation might be related to the concept of balancing nature, which are simply duck/ goose eggs (Yin) and the male body (Yang).

Yang: Chicken Eggs

Hens lay their eggs during the day, hence chicken eggs have more Yang energy. Better for female.

swan and chicken eggs

Fresh Eggs?

If you boil some eggs, you want to know whether eggs you boiled were fresh ones. Simply break and peel the shell, if some white part of the egg is still attached to the shell, then this egg is a fresh one.

Tips: if you wanna peel boiled eggs and wanna get a perfect smooth surface of an egg, just after boiling, put eggs into cool water, wait until these eggs get cool, then you can easily peel them and get smooth surface of each egg.

Be Cautious with the Flight Time Schedule in China

Flight delay might be common, but what if the flight schedule has been changed earlier?

This what has happened to me in Dalian airport. I arrived at the airport just by the time I've estimated to get the 10.50 am flight to Beijing. However, when checking in, they were rushing me to get quick to the gate.

I just realised that my flight was a transit flight from Hainan to Beijing (of course! as it flew from Hainan). Yet, they can't change the schedule without any notice in advance though. (well...well... it's China...!%$#%#@).

There's another lady who arrived at the same time with me rushing into the same plane. Both of us running to the gate as referred on the boarding card. But... there was no plane at that gate, we're a bit panicky. But then the security told us that our plane has been waiting in another gate, I think it was the next 3 gates to this one (WHAT THE...!!!#$%$%). We made it, getting into the plane. The plane took off about 15 minutes earlier from the time referred in my ticket itinerary... Can you believe that!... Just a little bit, I would lose my ticket again due to getting left by the plane, as it has happened to me once before.

So, just to be cautious! especially if you are going to take a transit plane in China; Go to the airport much much earlier, that will be good.

Monday, August 20, 2007

The Art of Cooking

stir fried vegetablesSharpening Taste

Cooking is such a relaxing activity, it's really fun! Some people worries if their cooking tastes not good. To me, it's just a matter of training sensoric nerves of my tongue to make my cooking tasty.

Less MSG

Some people always adds more, or sometimes too much MSG or chicken stocks to sharpen the taste. Forget all of this stuff if you want to be healtier; Use a combination of sugar and salt instead.

Pay attention to texture

Another important point is, you need to know which part of the material you must put first into your cooking pan. This balances the texture of a cooking, especially in a mixed-stuff dish. For example cooking a stir fried veggies, you don't simultaneously put all veggies into your hot frying pan. Carrot is more massive compared to spinach, then put carrot earlier and stir it till tender then you mix it with spinach.

Hope that helps, and let's cook! ^^

Three Great Bodhisattvas

An inspiration from Lama Temple, Beijing. Reminding me with a portrait on the wall in my dad's chanting room

Three Great Bodhisattvas
From left to right: Samantabhadra - Avalokitesvara - Manjushri

Samantabhadra – Pǔ Xián Pú Sà (普贤菩萨)
Boddisattva of compassion/great activity
Seated on: six-tusked white elephant
Attributes: lotus and Sutra

Avalokitesvara – Guān Yīn Pú Sà (观音菩萨)
Boddisattva of mercy
Seated on: dragon, or (often) lotus
Attributes: white vase and bamboo

Manjushri – Wén Shū Pú Sà (文殊菩萨)
Boddisattva of wisdom
Seated on: lion
Attributes: sword (symbol of the sharpness of wisdom to cut through illusion)

Earth is My Home

Anywhere I live, as long as I enjoy and feel comfortable there, that would be a place called home for me.
About 6 days I have stayed in my aunty's family in Beijing. Everyday I walked around Jianguomen, the diplomatic compound where my aunty lives, got back there after enjoying my whole day trip exploring each site of Beijing on my own. I must admit it that I enjoyed staying in this vicinity, not to mention the warm atmosphere in my aunty's house.
Thus, leaving Beijing, I felt a kind of "sad" feeling. Funny, I just stayed there not for long. I guess, leaving one place, no matter how long you have stayed there, there must be this kind of "uncomfortable" feeling. Eventhough I have dealt with this several times, yet I expect that I can deal with this better and better. I supposed to get used to with it though, leaving one place where It has been part of my soul already.
To be honest, I don't really like this kind of feeling, neither does anyone I believe. At the present time, I am also worrying to deal with such feeling for leaving Dalian in the next couple days. I have to leave my friends, my new community that I have built since the beginning I came. Come what may, life must go on. Hence, what I need to do now is to enjoy the rest of my time as good as possible, time with good quality to spend with my friends here in Dalian.
Being an adventure-lover, moving into a completely strange new place, will be an exciting experience. There you have to start making friends, selecting people to be part of your community, doing socialisation...it's all so exciting. But from this point, there must be also a time to say good bye. Leaving your friends, leaving a place which you have considered home. Anyway, this "uncomfortable" feeling, soon or later, will be over, I hope.
Some thoughts of mine: Anywhere you go, try to make it as comfortable as you can. Expand your friendship, build your community, so you can enjoy living in one new place, as any place on this earth is our beautiful home.

sunset in Orpheus

My cell phone, can I turn it on now?

Preparing to take off, a guy around 20ieth I guess, was sitting beside me. He asked me whether or not the cell phone must be turned off. I said. you must turn it off. As my spoken Chinese was not good enough to explain how the phone signal may interrupt the navigation system, I just told him with a very simple Chinese politely. He got my point though. He eventually turned his phone off.

We started talking, from this point I knew that he came to Beijing to take a part in a car competition, now heading back to Dalian by plane because he can't get a ticket for the train due to peak season, just the same reason as mine. In a short pause, he suddenly made a comment, "Well, I think it's supposed to be OK now to turn on the phone as we have already taken off".... No, I said. I tried to explain that some plane accident might occur due to navigation failure because of signal disturbance caused by some forgetting to turn the phone off. Then, his response was just nodding his head while putting back his phone into the bag.

I was just wondering, what if there was a lot of people having the same thinking as his that turning on cell phones inside the plane was not a big deal. Hmm, good that he and I had a talk! The plane landed in Dalian Airport at 1 a.m.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Tuning Your Character to Compromise for A Better Life

We have to be wise to deal with anything in our life. We have to make a smart bargain, a good deal in any matter. I believe, compromise is one of the important key to have a better life. But, how far can we compromise?

Priority, situation, and condition are some reason for us to compromise. For example: X and Y are two generous persons. They like to help anyone who needs help. X is a too-generous person. X can easily give all his money without any consideration to someone who urgently needs a financial help. X simply thinks that giving his money to this person will lessen his burden. On the other hand, Y considers too many priorities in donating his money. Yet, Y is still keen to give donation to help others.

I notice that around us, there is quite a lot of generous people like X and Y. Here, I just want to suggest to all my friends:
  1. whose personality type is like X; Too-generous type of person can often have a problem for him/her self, particularly in managing his/her own money. This type of persons need to be more careful in deciding what to do with their own money. Careful consideration on priority is necessary.
  2. with Y type of person; Do not overly consider too much unnecessary details. It might discourage your good purpose to help the person who urgently needs your hands.
So, just have a 5 minutes to introspect your self,
  • Which type of person are you? X or Y? too-generous? too much detail? perfectionist? selfish? never give any donation?
  • After realising what type of person you are, try to tune your character! Not too much neglect on your own need, nor contrarily, too much unnecessary details to consider to do generous thing. Try to be as balance as possible.
>>><<<

May everyone be well and happy. Let's tune our character!

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Mapo Tofu

This dish was invented by the wife of Chen Senfu (陈森富) from Sichuan. His wife had a pock-marked face; in Chinese called mazi (麻子), hence everyone called her Chen mapo (The wife of Chen with a pock-marked face).

mapo tofu

Chen (陈)=the family name of the husband
ma (麻)=pock-marks
po (婆)="madam" or "the wife of..."

As she was the one who created the tasty tofu dish, also the appearance of the dish itself looked like having pock marks, that's why the dish was named after her: Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐), the pocked-marked tofu.