skywatch friday and Winter Solstice aka Dōng zhì aka Guo Dong

It was mid winter, cold and crisp. But the sky was very clear.



The Winter Solstice Festival or The Extreme of Winter (Chinese and Japanese: 冬至; Korean: 동지; Vietnamese: Đông chí) (Pinyin: Dōng zhì), (Rōmaji: Tōji), (Romaja:Dongji) is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Chinese and other East Asians during the dongzhi solar term on or around December 21 when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest; i.e., on the first day of the dongzhi solar term. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice

In my Cantonese dialect, it is called GUO DONG. Traditionally, the Dongzhi Festival is also a time for the family to get together. One activity that occurs during these get togethers (especially in the southern parts of China and in Chinese communities overseas) is the making and eating of Tangyuan (湯圓, as pronounced in Mandarin Pinyin: Tāng Yuán) or balls of glutinous rice, which symbolize reunion

These Tangyuan comes in various form. Most of these golf ball sized dumplings have a sweet filling like sesame seeds, peanut fillings, eaten either in a sweet syrup or dried rolled in a ground peanut powder. Of late, this festival is revived in Singapore with grand mothers and mothers invited to schools and community centres and demonstrate making these dumplings.

My small Cantonese dialect group, the Quang Nings make a ball of dumplings and we serve it with duck soup. This is served at the beginning of the special feast, in a small bowl of about 5 dumplings.

I never liked this because these glutinious dumplings are very filling, and sit in your stomach so you have no room for anything else. I kept this secret until about ten years ago, when I found out my Dad had the same idea. Mother had died prematurely at 60, and her sisters took care of Dad.

One particular year, just before my Dad died, my youngest aunt told me to take her shopping. She wanted to make these special dumplings for dad, as he had been living in Australia, and probably had not eaten these home made Tangyuan for a long time. She enthusiastically served a big bowl to Dad. Dad discretely told me to get a small bowl and give him one Tangyuan so he had symbolically eaten her precious dumplings. I LOl with him, both of us are guilty of breaking with tradition.

These days, you can buy frozen Tangyuan all the time. They no longer symbolise what they meant.

When I went to Singapore 20 years ago, there were a lot of children's Chinese singing competition. This MAI TANGYUAN or selling Tangyuan was a very popular song. Children dress up in traditional Chinese clothes. Do click on this .

http://youtu.be/BirNV2gNa2I



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Herbal essences Set Me Up Mousse

http://www.kiwimummyblogs.co.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifnz/

As part of the Kiwimummyblogs, I am invited to review products. I am given a sample to try out and I do not receive any financial returns.

I normally use gel for my hair, but with this Herbal essences Set Me Up Mousse sent to me to review, I gave it a try before I went to a Christmas function.

I have short hair, and I dispensed a small amount, golf ball size of mousse into one hand and then distributed between my two hands. I then applied the mousse at the base of my hair near to the top of my scalp and brush from front to back. I blew dried and it created maximum lift and hold.

My hair looked very nice immediately, and I was very proud of my hair. It looked wonderful the whole evening.

However we just had a period of very wet weather. The mousse did not hold the next day and went limp.

I suppose, it is good for a wash and blow dry and is not meant to last beyond a day. Just as the product imagining says, " Let you set your style all day long, with a flawless finish that's just perfect for the party season."

The packaging too is nice with a sky blue colour.

watery wednesday: Omaha beach

It was wet and cold when my 15 year old had his surf lesson. I was soaking wet in my winter jacket while I watched.


http://ann-mythoughtsandphotos.blogspot.com/2011/12/abc-wednesday-waves-water-wetsuits-and.html

http://ann-mythoughtsandphotos.blogspot.com/2011/12/mellow-yellowruby-redrednesday-surfing.html






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Just Juice Orchard

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As part of the Kiwimummyblogs, I am invited to review products. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

It is summer here in New Zealand and hence a good time for summery fruit drinks. This Just Juice Orchard is one I would like to endorse. As a very discerning drinking, I like to have juice available during a party for people who don't drink.

I watch a lot of cooking shows, and pay attention to the judges advice that people eat with their eyes first. The new packaging of Just Juice Orchard comes in a slim, sleek package. My young 20 something friends say it is "Cool" Kudos to the designing team.

I tried all three juice, the Sun Kissed Orange, Farm Style Apple and the Summer & Kiwifruit. I served them in a tall stemmed wine glass to add the air of style.

The Farm Style Apple appealed to my taste, it is sweet but not too sweet. The Summer & Kiwifruit was very pretty.

There was something I didn't like in the orange. Besides, the moment I cast my eyes on the orange packaging, I said, Oh oh!, doesn't that resemble a old old brand from a giant country that likes to take little people to court over something that remotely resemble them? There was once small business in a small town in New Zealand who couldn't use their family name.

Otherwise, Good job and Ka pai. I like to go to a party which serves non alcoholic drink, which is healthy for you, and is very reasonable at $3.99 a litre.

Wisteria

Wisteria (also spelled Wistaria) is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, that includes ten species of woody climbing vines native to the eastern United States and to China, Korea, and Japan.

It must have been the book Shogan where I read that Wisteria came from Japan. They grow beautifully in New Zealand. Once, when a vine was barren, I asked my friend, why grow Wisteria when you can't eat the fruits. Then when the Wisteria bloomed, I understood why.

When ever I see Wisteria, I think of some of my friends who had lived in Japan. I think of L.

Today, I got news that L, a very good friend is in hospital undergoing an serious operation in an overseas country, I thought of her.

L is a beautiful person,
L has a beautiful heart.
L wore this beautiful Swing Cardie,
I commented how beautiful it looked.
L took me to this boutique.
L didn't speak the language of the sales assistants.
They asked me what was I to her,
when she bought me the top.
I told her, she is a very good friend,
They commented, good friends don't buy expensive clothing for another.
I must be very special to L.

Dear L,

I think of you.
Get well soon.

Ann

Auckland Harbor Bridge- Clip-ons

I drove over our famous bridge "overseas" to North shore so my son can buy his used surf board. Right beneath this very spot, my second daughter "jumped" the bridge. I was there to see her bungy jump twice.

The bridge was originally built with four lanes for traffic. Owing to the rapid expansion of suburbs on the North Shore and increasing traffic levels it was soon necessary to increase the capacity of the bridge - by 1965, the annual use was about 10 million vehicles, three times the original forecast.[13]

In 1969, only ten years after opening, two-lane box girder clip-on sections were added to each side, doubling the number of lanes to eight. The sections were manufactured by Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries of Japan, which led to the nickname 'Nippon clip-ons'. The selection of the company was considered a bold move at the time, barely 20 years after WWII and with some considerable anti-Japanese sentiment still existing in the country.[22] The costs of the additions were noted as having been much higher than had the extra lanes been provided initially.[13]

While doubling the vehicle lanes of the bridge, the clip-ons have been plagued by significant issues. In 1987 cracks required major repair works,[23] and in 2006, further cracks and signs of material fatigue were found. The clip-ons were originally to have a life expectancy of 50 years.[citation needed] Auckland City Council's Transport Committee requested Transit New Zealand to investigate the future of the clip-on lanes as part of its 10-year plan. Transit noted in this context that the plan already includes some funding for bridge maintenance.

My cousin L is a chemical engineer, and he climbs into the brdige to check it's well being every year.


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Yellow flower hedge in Auckland.

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I walk around my neighbourhood and spy on this hedge with beautiful yellow flowers. Sorry I don't know it's name.

I hope it is not obnoxious like the privet. Do click my other post about privet which can make people very sick if they are allergic to them.

http://annkschin.blogspot.com/2011/12/save-world-trim-your-hedges.html


Macro Flower Saturday
Macro Flower Saturday Macro Flower Saturday ">
href="http://flowers-macrophotography.blogspot.com">Macro Flower Saturday

http://blueberrycraftandhobbytime.blogspot.com/p/join-my-photo-challenge-flowers-on.html