whoALSE Has Relocated

Yep....whoALSE has moved and that is the reason why there were some very quiet periods. What I meant is the physical relocation rather than digital.

I am still waiting for my broadband Internet connection to be ported over to the new place and it seems like end of this week. However, a friend passed me the wireless 3G modem/dongle to keep me occupied, not that I'm idling since I have plenty to do after the relocation.

Finally, I have a place to call my own and I can do whatever I wish to it with no restrictions. Excitement is the term to describe what I am feeling now. New place, new fittings/appliances unlike the old place I rented whereby most, if not all, are pretty worn out!

These are just a little preview of how it is looking. Of course, I have a bit of tidying up to do prior to any more photos being taken.

Penang Hokkien Dialect

A friend found this information and I thought I should re-post them here. It pertains to the origin of Hokkien dialect. It's for the benefit of all of us "Tng Lang". So here they are:

It is an Ancient Imperial Language of China – 2,000 Years Ago How Did it Sound Like? (Mind you, it's no way similar to Mandarin) Has this Ancient Language Survived? Who Speaks it Today? You'll be Surprised. You have heard it. You, your parents, or grandparents may still be speaking this ancient, archaic language! Yes, it's HOKKIEN (Fujian/Minnan Hua) Hokkien is:

1. The surviving language of the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD), China 's Golden Age of Culture. Note: The Hokkien we hear today may have "evolved" from its original form 2,000 years ago, but it still retains the main elements of the Tang Dynasty Language.

2. Hokkiens are the surviving descendants of the Tang Dynasty -- When the Tang Dynasty collapsed, the people of the Tang Dynasty fled South and sought refuge in the Hokkien ( Fujian ) province. Hence, Hokkien called themselves Tng-lang (Tang Ren or People of the Tang Dynasty) instead of Hua Lang (Hua Ren).

3. Hokkien has 8 tones instead of Mandarin's 4. Linguists claim that ancient languages tend to have more complex tones.

4. Hokkien retains the ancient Chinese pronunciation of "K-sounding" endings (for instance, Hak Seng (student), Tua Ok (university), Thak Chek (read a book/study) -- the "k" sounding ending is not found in Mandarin.

5. The collection of the famous "Three Hundred Tang Dynasty Poems" sound better when recited in Hokkien/Teochew if compared to Mandarin.

6. Consider this for a moment: Today, the Hokkien Nam Yim ochestral performance still has its roots in ancient Tang dynasty music. Here's the proof: The formation of today Nam Yim ensemble is typically seen in ancient Tang dynasty paintings of musicians.

More Astonishingly: Although not genetically-related, Hokkiens, Koreans and Japanese share many similar words (which are different from Mandarin). That's because Hokkien was the official language of the powerful Tang Dynasty whose influence and language spread to Japan and Korea (just like Latin – where many words were borrowed by the English, French, Italian, etc).

	Hokkien	Korean	Japanese
News	Sin Boon	Sin Mun	Shinbun
Govt	Cheng Hu	Chong Bu
Room	Pang	Pang
Car	Chhia	Ch'a
Door	Mui/M'ng	Mun
Ticket	Ph'io	P'yo
Eternal/Forever	Eng Wan	Yong Won
Book	Chaek	Ch'ae
Flag	Ki	Ki	Ki
River	Kang	Gang/Kang
Insurance	Poh Hiam	Poh Ham
Caution	Sio Sim	Cho Sim
Demon	Moh Kui	Ma Gui
Attend/Join/Mix	Cham	Ch'am Sok
Simple	Kan Tan	Gan Dan
New world	Sin Seh Kai	Shin Sae Gae
Nation/Country	Kok Ka	Kuk Kka
Elder bro	Hya	Hyaeng
Prepare	Choon Pi	Jun Bi
Time	Si Kan	Si Kan
Emotion	Kam Tong	Kam Jong	Kanjoo
Thanks/Gratitude	Kam Sia	Kam Sa	Kansha
Marriage	Keat Hoon	Kyol Hon	Kekkon
Exercise	Oon Tong	Un Dong	Undoo
University	Tua Ok	Tae Hak	Diagaku
Safety	Aun Chuan	An Jon	An Zen
Satisfaction	Mua Chiok	Man Jok	Manzoku
Lover	Ai Lang	Ae In	Aijin
Successful	Seng Kong	Song Kong	Seikoo
Suicide	Chhiu Sat	Cha Sal	Jisatsu
Grapes	Pu Do	P'o D'o	Budoo
Improve/Progress	Chin Por	Chin Bo	Shinpo

To all 49 Million Hokkien Speakers:

Be Proud of Your Ancient Hokkien Heritage & Language! Speak it Loud and Clear. Teach Your Future Generation this Imperial Language, Less it Fades Away. Be Proud Children of the Tang Emperors.

To all Mandarin-speaking friends out there - do not look down on your other Chinese friends who do not speak Mandarin – whom you guys fondly refer to as "Bananas". In fact, they are speaking a language which is much more ancient & linguistically complicated than Mandarin.

Keep in mind that Mandarin is just:
1. A Northern Chinese dialect (heavily influenced by non Han Chinese) that was elevated to the status of National Language by Sun Yat Sen for the sake of China 's national unity.

2. Mandarin was never spoken by your proud, imperial Tang Dynasty ancestors. It was probably spoken by the Northern (Non-Han) Jurchen, Mongols and Manchu minority. Start speaking the language of your ancestors today.


It's certainly illuminated me and I hope it does for you. I'm proud of it!

Wisdom Lost

Well, I had lost my wisdom on Friday afternoon! The wisdom I'm referring to is my wisdom tooth that had been bugging me for many years. It was the phobia of having the extraction surgery after the experience of removing 2 sets of pre-molars (milk and permanent) over 16 weeks in my early teens. That is one tooth every fortnight with the permanent set barely protruded out from the gum!

The dentist advised me to take the medication 2 hours after the surgery. That last hour is the most agonising of which I was in pain and feeling chilly though I had a jumper on as well as the heater switched on while the temperature outside was hovering aroun 18C sunny!

A good old friend actually picked me up after the surgery and bought/cooked me porridge and soup! Thank you......

I am recovering but it's a whole lot better now.

Friendships

The Mansion in Werribee ParkThere were some cute moments before this snap (think crab's movements) Geelong HostsUncle, The Legend, with his Apprentice (depending on which topic, could be a reverse)Wii Fit Hula Hoop moments (I beat them all with 314)!I'm not bad at Yoga too!

In the last few weeks, I have had some friends visiting Melbourne with a couple staying over my humble place. It's tiring but certainly fun to be able to catchup.

We visited The Mansion in Werribee, Torquay and had a BBQ over at a friend's house in Geelong. There were some memorable moments like the group pic above in The Mansion, the "Tua Ki" heat-stroke indicent in Torquay, the group pic where we dipped our feet into the cooling seawater in Torquay (friends' cameras which we are still waiting for the pics), the Hokkien song by Chicken Wing, sharing of medical knowledge by the Doc and Uncle's awesome stories.

There were some Wii Fit sessions too and I didn't know Wii Fit actually means one has to be quite fit to accomplish some of the exercises. Hula Hoop sessions, some Yoga poses and muscle toning are notable ones where we still need a lot more practices (just to note, I need not as much as the Doc....LOL).

We grew up with one another as well as going through some ups and downs together. I guess that one tiny little strand of string has bonded us together for life. Friendships are forever but it's still up to us to at least make an effort to cherish them. That effort was definitely apparent here.

Happy Easter

Slideshow of Images

I have just added a slideshow of some wedding images as a test. It looks great and smooth.

EDITED
I have updated it with some new scripts.