"Zi Sha" or "Dang Zai"?

As the current pond (left) was getting too tiny for the fishes that had grown tenfold in 2 years, our contractor, Vic, had my dad convinced that they needed an upgrade. So here's their new home (right) - 3 times the size of the old one and complete with a water feature.

Unfortunately, on the first day of relocation, one of the fishes decided to do a splash. This particular one was always splashing about anyways. Only this time, it splashed right out of the water and onto the porch. We found it the next morning, on a blood-smeared porch, already dead. Stupid as it may seem, my first thought was "Fish got blood one meh?" Then I thought back to my biology lesssons, and yes la, fish got blood. It's just that to me, they're a bit like lizards and frogs - just filled with slime. (Do frogs and lizards have blood???)

Anyway, as I'm not exactly a fish lover, I thought the whole thing quite funny. Until Cooking Girl and RT mentioned that when fishes do that, it is actually to 'dang zai'. Meaning they die to prevent a tragedy happening in the family, taking the place of the person unto whom the tragedy would strike. Awww. How sweet. No longer funny. I've heard that about guinea pigs too, actually. RT's story was quite scary, in the scary-coincidental sense. So perhaps, there is some truth in the 'dang zai' theory.

Since the fishes' upgraded home now looked too big for the few of them, we decided to buy a few more koi. Mum said that we should get a black one, cos someone had mentioned before that having at least one would bring luck. So we went to the fish shop and bought a black one for luck, and a yellow golden one, in replacement of the one that died.



It was then that I learnt of another theory as to why the fish might have jumped out of the pond. I was trying to convince mum, who was deadset against it cos it was 'geeli', to buy an albino mudsucker as it was quite unique. Most mudsuckers are black. That's when the shopkeeper said: "If your pond is new, not so much algae yet, one mudsucker enough. If you have too many, sometimes not enough algae, the mudsucker will suck the koi. That's why sometimes the koi jump."

There you go. Another theory as to why my koi jumped.

I personally believe it had to do with the water level that was too high.

Whilst taking some pics of the fishes' upgraded home, I took some pics of my doggies enjoying their milk bones. They shared one with Bobby, my neighbour's black labrador.



Cute hor? I sure hope dogs don't practise "dang zai".

Why Do We Always Want The Things That Make Life Difficult?

Had a special request by a certain someone to post something on this. So here it is.

I was wrecking my brains finding the answer to this question when I decided that perhaps I should do it differently this time and pick the brains of whoever reads or happens to chance upon this post.

Boredom. I personally think it boils down to humans being difficult beings, never contented with what they have. So when life gets a tad too predictable (read: boring), these bored beings inevitably steer in a different direction that is somewhat more challenging and exciting. And that's where difficulties and complications arise.

Oblivion. It could be that a person is oblivious to the difficulties, impossibilities and dire consequences in attempting to do certain things. Fighting a lost cause. Flogging a dead horse. At the point when heeding a third party's advice might be wisest, understanding and listening to the advice seem the hardest thing to do.

Or perhaps it simply goes back to the saying that "the grass is always greener on the other side". Which goes back to the contentment bit.

Or maybe people just don't know what they want.

That's my 2 cents worth.

So WHY do we always want the things that make life difficult?

To the 'requestor', do give me your thoughts on it.

To the person who mentioned that you know why, please do share.

To everyone else, your insights will be much appreciated.

The Purple Pen

I was looking for a gift at Bugis today. I managed to find it, but check out what I ended up getting for myself as well. I selected the gift and went to the counter to pay for it. There, right under my nose, was a sign staring straight at me, saying that with every $10 spent, I could get this (I forgot what they called it. There is a name for it) pretty glittery purple pen with a purple pom pom and a purple star that lights up in different colours for a mere 50 cents!

It’s really pretty, isn’t it? Looks like it was taken right off the set of Clueless or Legally Blonde. I wonder what my clients will think if I whipped it out to use during meetings though.

The wonders of marketing. Gimmicks.

The simple things that make people happy on a Monday.

Perfect Party Games

Taboo. Cranium.

It's been a while since I played them, but I took them out again last night and had SO much fun.

Birdkeeper invited us over for dinner. This guy can really cook! I ate so much of the pasta and chicken that he whipped up!

And he makes the most amazing flan! I'm sure it was loaded with calories, but what the heck, it was SO yummy. I asked him for the recipe and all I got was this:

"8 eggs, 2 egg yolks, 6 cans cream, sugar. Then all mix together lor."

Tsk. What kind of recipe is that? So I asked, "Tell properly can? The eggs must beat or what. I need the steps la!"

"Of course the eggs must beat la!" came the answer.

Tsk.



Anyway, that's my dessert contribution. Cheesecake (check out the highly fatty ingredients). For some reason, RT had the rest thinking it was a pandan cheesecake. I think it was the colour. But the supermarket had run out of lemon jelly crystals, so I had to make do with lime ones. So that explains the colour. But lemon yellow or lime green, the taste is just as good what!

So after we were stuffed with all that food, we proceeded to play Taboo and Cranium. It was hilarious. Check out some of the funny bits.

#1 (during Cranium)

Team A Player 1: "I'm a boxer. I got jailed for rape and I bit off a fellow boxer's ear. Who am I?"

You would think that this was clue enough right?

Team A Player 2: "Vincent Van Gogh?"

#2 (during Taboo)

Team A Player 1: "You get this when you make erm you know you know. It's something like the wolf....."

The answer was "hickey". What wolf ah?

#3 (during Taboo)

Team B Player 1: "Ok, not earth but?"

Team B Players 2, 3, 4: "Heaven?"

Team B Player 2: "Ya. The scientific name for heaven?"

Team B Players 2, 3, 4: " Paradise? Sky? Clouds?"

Team B Player 1: "Ya! Sky, sky.... sky what la?"

Team B Players 2, 3, 4 looks at each other, confused. What sky what?

The answer was.......skydive. ???

Shades of Pink and I spent most of the night in stitches.

Good food, great company, intellectually fun games. What more could one ask for? :)

Medieval Music

On the way back from Mid Summer Nite Breeze the other night, YJ introduced Shades of Pink and I to medieval music. For someone who also got me liking Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)", I was expecting something noisy and headachy.

Surprising, the songs were really nice and soothing. This husband and wife team's called Blackmore's Night. Haven't really heard of them but they're apparently pretty popular in Europe. It's rare to find music that's got nice tunes AND meaningful lyrics.

Here're two of my favourites...

I Still Remember

I thought of you the other day
How worlds of change led us astray
Colours seem to fade to grey
In the wake of yesterday

*You looked into my eyes
You had me hypnotized
And I can still remember you*

I had a dream of you and I
A thousand stars lit up the sky
I touched your hand and you were gone
But memories of you live on*

Those moments spent together
Promising forever
And I can still remember you

Do you ever think of me
And get lost in the memory
When you do, I hope you smile
And hold that memory a while. *


Waiting Just For You

They say that it's always darkest right before the dawn
They say that I must be strong just to carry on.

But they don't know that I would wait my whole lifetime thru
Because you know my love that I'd be waiting just for you.

There you stood amazing, shining for the whole world to see,
And I knew an angel had been sent to watch over me.

So I'll be here waiting, hoping, dreaming, loving you,
Because I know my love that you do love me too.

My favourite lines are those in purple fonts. Nice hor?

When I listen to these songs, I can actually visualise kings and queens, princes and princesses on horses, galloping through the woods and back to the castles!

The above two songs are from the album "Fires of Midnite". All the songs are good - can use for wedding type. No need to crack your brains compiling songs. Just use this album wholesale.

To complete the whole medieval ambience, make sure your first march-in (or gallop-in) is on a horse. :)

Work Destressers

Sometimes when work frustration (and sometimes boredom) sets in, this is what you might find on our screens. A friend of Cooking Girl discovered this game, HK Cafe, and sent it to her. Cooking Girl, in turn shared it with us. It's basically a game where you're the owner of a restaurant and have to take orders, cook and serve simultaneously. Sounds simple right? Not really. Cos if the eggs get overcooked or the toast gets burnt, it's considered a loss to the business and the potential revenue is offset from the profits you make. It can't be undercooked too. I've tried that. It's still considered a loss. At the end, your total profit for the day is worked out. It's really quite fun.


Another destresser at work, or for that matter, for anything would be food. Just yesterday, a vanload of keropok and other tid bits came by our office. Ms Troublesome and I went out and bought us these 2 huge bags of keropok to add to our already stocked up food corner. Huge, aren't they?

Go try your hand at the HK Cafe game. Here's the link: www.eddiezone.net/flashgame/Restaurant.swf

Oh, do make sure you have a spare mouse somewhere around.

Cooking Girl killed her mouse. :)

Nobody Ever Affects Me This Bad.

Ever.

It makes me sick.