LUCKY STARS

When I was much, much younger I watched a Hong Kong serial where the heroine made a jar full of origami stars to give to the hero.  She said that the stars were lucky stars and the act of giving it to her love was a form of blessing.  Nowadays, it is also to show commitment and dedication. 

The usual practice is to fill the jar to the brim with the stars.  However, there are some who are particular about the number of stars they give.  Here is a reference as to the number for those who are interested.

NUMBER OF STARS AND THEIR MEANINGS

1 pc: The only one

2 pcs: Happy Couple

9 pcs: Love for a long time

55 pcs: Love you with no regrets

99 pcs: May the friendship/love lasts forever

101 pcs: You are the one

365/366pcs: Whole year blessing

520 pcs: I love you

548 pcs: Can't stop loving you

999 pcs: Endless love

1314 pcs: Eternity love

HOW TO MAKE THE LUCKY STARS

Source: http://www.instructables.com/image/FQUN5WUF1A4XUM3/How-to-make-lucky-paper-stars-The-diagram.jpg

UNSENT GIFTS

This has been a very busy month for me.  There is so much that I managed to do and there is so much that I have not done.  One of the things that I have yet to do is to send the gifts to the lucky visitors who were the 99,999 and 100,001 visitors to my blog.  I already have bought the gifts but until today they remain unsent.  There are also gifts for three visitors who have visited and wrote to me regularly.  These two remain unsent. 

Fortunately, the school holidays start on Saturday and I will definitely have time to send them.  My apologies for the delay.

BEAUTIFUL STAGE

Tomorrow is a red letter day in my school.  All the students, teachers and staff will be bidding farewell to the principal on her retirement. 
The stage in the hall has been beautifully decorated by one of the teachers in my school, Mr Ridhaudin or Dean as he prefers to be called.  Dean is very creative and has managed to come up with such a beautiful stage for this special occasion.  I hope that when I retire, Dean is still in this school to design the stage. 

FESTIVE SHOPPING WITH UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN

Khairah holding up a Baju Kurung at the shop. 

Choosing their festive clothings

Hmm ... which one shall I choose?

This boy chose a white coloured Baju Melayu

Khairah helping one of the boys to see if the clothings fit

Kamariah helping Dollah to choose footwear.  However he could not find a pair that fits. 

The boys lining up for the cashier to check their purchases

Azalilah helping the boys choose their festive clothings

Group photo with the boys at the Islamic Complex

Group photo with the girls

I have to thank my colleague Ustaz Syed Sharim for letting me help to collect contributions to buy new clothes for the orphans and the hardcore poor children at the Complex that he is in charge of.  Not only do I collect the money from my colleagues in school but Kamariah and I would also help to take the children to the shop to buy their new clothes, shoes and caps .  This is the third year that Kamariah and I have been given the honour to help.  This year I also got my friends, Khairah and Azalilah to come along as well.
A total sum of RM1619 was collected to buy clothes for 17 boys.  The clothes for the girls had already been sponsored by one kind lady who owns a boutique. 
In the above pictures, you can see the boys choosing their new clothings with the help of the teachers who came along.  The group photographs were taken at the Complex where the children are housed.
One of readers, Annie, mentioned that she liked to do something memorable on special dates.  Well, for me helping underprivileged children to buy festive clothings on the Independance Day of my country is an activity that is both memorable and also very meaningful.  Don't you agree?

SIGN OF THE TIMES

The mid autumn festival is about three weeks' away and the shops have started selling lanterns.  Nowadays, the lanterns come in the shape and image of popular cartoon characters like Ben 10, Doraemon and the likes.  There are still the traditional ones which feature the shapes of fish, dragons, rabbits and birds but I notice that the little ones prefer the cartoon characters.

SAMBAL PETAI

Sambal Petai is one of my favourite dishes.  I usually like it fried with prawns but my Aunt Linda and my mum prefer to leave them out.  Why?  Because Aunt Linda says that prawns are very high in cholesterol and that is not good for health.
By the way, petai in English is known as Sator beans (Parkia speciosa).  They are supposed to be good for helping to treat depression, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and constipation.

If you are interested to try making this dish, then click the link.

WEAVING KETUPAT CASINGS

I was busy weaving ketupat casings from plastic ribbons this afternoon. I used light and dark green ribbons to fashion the ketupat casings. See, I even sat kampung style to do the weaving. By 4.00 p.m. I had already woven 16 casings to decorate the library for the Hari Raya Aidil Fitri Celebrations.
My students and some of the new teachers are usually taken aback when they see me weaving the ketupat casings as it is a traditional Malay art which is mastered by the village folks.  Well, I must mention that I taught in a village school for 5 years and learnt how to weave the ketupat casings from my friends there.
  For those who don't know what ketupat is, then read on ...

ABOUT THE KETUPAT
Ketupat or packed rice is a type of dumpling from Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, and the Philippines. 
It is made from rice that has been wrapped in a woven palm leaf pouch and boiled. As the rice cooks, the grains expand to fill the pouch and the rice becomes compressed. This method of cooking gives the ketupat its characteristic form and texture of a rice dumpling. Ketupat is usually eaten with rendang (a type of dry beef curry) or served as an accompaniment to satay or gado-gado. Ketupat is also traditionally served by Malays at open houses on festive occasions such as Idul Fitri (Hari Raya Aidilfitri).

There are many varieties of ketupat, with two of the more common ones being ketupat nasi and ketupat pulut. Ketupat nasi is made from white rice and is wrapped in a square shape with coconut palm leaves while ketupat pulut is made from glutinous rice is usually wrapped in a triangular shape using the leaves of the fan palm (Licuala). Ketupat pulut is also called "ketupat daun palas" in Malaysia.
For decoration purposes, plastic ribbons are used to weave the ketupat casings instead of the daun palas or palm leaves.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketupat

NO RENOVATION DURING GHOST MONTH

Besides helping me to choose an auspicious date and time to move into my new house, my sifu also chose the date for renovation work to start.  He told me to wait until the 8th lunar month as it is not advisable to do any renovation during the seventh lunar month which is the Ghost Month.

A BOUQUET OF ROSES FOR THEIR GRANDMA

My nephews Jeremy and Benjamin sent a bouquet of roses to their grandmother for her birthday on Saturday.  The two boys even thought of placing three dolls in the bouquet to represent their granny's three daughters.  Of course, that made my mum's day and she requested that I take the above photographs of her with her roses.  See ladies love roses.

SHOPPING AT THE PC FAIR

There was a PC Fair over at the Ipoh Indoor Stadium this weekend.  Most tech savvy people would know that there would be quite a lot of offers on computers and their accessories as well as cameras plus their accessories. 
Though I was not feeling too well as I was down with the flu, I still went as I had to help my friend Haji Hasnin to buy a mouse.  I was also going to buy an anti-virus protection since mine had already expired. 
There was so much to see and the offers were also quite good.  However there were a lot of people and at one point I felt very giddy.  You can see how tired and haggard I looked in the picture above with the salesgirl after spending one hour at the fair.  Nevertheless, I managed to buy the mouse for my friend and one for me as well.  I also got my Anti-virus plus another battery for my camera at discounted prices. 
It was sure worth all the discomfort I went through. 
I am back to normal now.  See the photos of me taken a few minutes ago.

EXTREMES IN TEMPERATURE

The boys of Fahrenheit, Chun, Aaron, Jiro and Calvin will be releasing their new album "Super Hot" on 17 September. True to the title of their album, the Music Video features the boys shirtless and flexing their muscles.  Since they are super hot, the lads were encased in ice to contain the heat.  They show off some nifty dance moves and a sexy dance sequence with some girls.
Watch the video to see for yourself ...

10.10.10 AND 20.10.10

I read that besides our Malaysian astronaut and his fiance, there are quite a number of couples who intend to tie the knot on 10th October, 2010 as when written in numerals this date appears as 10.10.10.  Soooo ... is it a good day to get married?  Hmm ... the day itself is a bad day for moving house, travelling and doing renovations.  As far as marriage goes, it is a neutral day which means it is not a good day and neither is it a bad day.  By the way it is a snake day and those who were born in the year of the dog are in conflict, meaning that it is a bad day for them.
As for 20.10.10, it is also a neutral day for marriages, doing business, moving house and doing renovations.  It is also bad for travelling.  Those born in the yeaer of the rooster are in conflict as it is a rabbit day.  So, there is nothing auspicious about this day.
I hope I have been of some help to Annie who wrote in to ask about the 20th of October, 2010.

SEPTEMBER 16 - MALAYSIA DAY

I had thought of moving into my new house on September 18 after I did a quick check of the Feng Shui Almanac that I bought from the World of Feng Shui Boutique but as usual I would always cross check with my sifu in Ipoh. 

He said that that particular date was not that suitable for me.  Instead he chose, September 16 which happens to be the 9th day of the 8th lunar month.  The earthly branch of the day is snake and the animal in conflict is snake.  This does not clash with my animal sign nor that of my family which makes it fine for us.    He said that the most auspicious was 8.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m.  Actually, I had thought of using this date as it happens to be Malaysia Day. What a special day to move in and it also happens to be a holiday. For sure, I will listen to my sifu and so September 16 it shall be.