中秋节: The Mid-Autumn Festival 2012

It's this time of the year again! A shake, a dice, a roll... it's another Mid-Autumn Festival. One of my favorite Chinese celebrations. White lotuses, plain, mixed nuts; with, without, and or with many salted egg yolks, red beans, sweet beans and the rare Jujube (I have only tried this sweet treat once)! Choose your type of mooncake now!
The Mooncake festival is one of my most awaited holiday in the Chinese calendar. It is celebrated every 15th day of the eight lunar month. Legends, stories, traditions and culture all mixed into one excitement that even Filipino people would not dare to miss. It is really amazing how the two different cultures here in the Philippines could meet up so well. My Mooncake festival adventure officially started last September 15, 2012 at The Royale Sharkfin Seafood Restaurant, located at the Pacific Center, Quintin Paredes, Binondo, Manila. It was also my payday and I'm feeling quite happy and lucky. We attended Kim Lan's (an association where my dad was once a member in once upon a time) Mid-Autumn festival party that evening and gathered and dined together. Dice games are supposed to be a traditional game played every Mooncake festival but some simplified it into raffle draws. Dice games played in this particular celebration is a fun, super awesome, lots of prizes, very enjoyable and count-everything-on-your-luck game! Of course, every game has its own rules and regulations and so are the prizes!!! Prizes can range from groceries, to hopias (好饼, which literally means "good pastries") and to money (if you don't have that much time to prepare the prizes)! The hopias are really a very delightful treat. I've only played once with hopias as the prizes. They can have sizes ranging from small to big and to really REALLY BIG! AS IN! Hahahaha. Really! No kidding! Well, to see is to believe.
Okay, this would be how the Mooncake Dice game will go in case you want to play it at home with your family... ;)

Materials needed: 
-A set of dice (6 die all in all)
-One big and deep ceramic bowl 
-32 small prizes (6th prize)
-16 a little bigger prizes (5th prize)
-8 a little more bigger prizes (4th prize)
-4 big prizes (3rd prize)
-2 bigger prizes (2nd prize)
-1 very big prize (1st prize)
-And lastly, a whole big bunch of not-so-normal banana family, zombie-loving friends and far-off planet relatives... yes, that includes you :3

Rules to abide:
Ta-daaa... Sorry, I didn't do this quaint little thing. I just searched it on Google and found this beauty, so credit goes to whoever did the chart below. :)

Okay! Let's start from the highest then going down. So, here's what it is about:

I. Zhuangyuan~ The highest place that you can get in this game.This is categorized into six. Each category has its own score. So this means that the one with the highest Zhuongyuan will win the game.

          a. Zhuangyuan with Gold Flower~ This can be achieved exactly as shown on the first illustration. 4 fours and 2 ones. Really hard to get this, I'm telling you. This will be the highest among all the Zhuangyuans. Good Luck! You're gonna need all of it. :D
  
          b. Hongliubo~ All your dice are fours! Your bowl is as red as it can be. ;)

          c. Yaodianliubo~ Six red dots in one throw! Great shot!

          d. Heiliubo~ Any 6 same dice, except the four and the one. Going black!

          e. Wuhong~ Throw in a 5 fours and this lucky place will be yours. 

          f. Wuzi~ This time any 5 same dice and again except the fours. 
 
II. Sihong~ Literally means 4 red fours. Easy to win so grab them while the supply (prizes) lasts.
    
III. Duitang~ STRIKE! A one, a two, a three, a four, a five and a six! Good one! Aim next for the turkey! 

IV. Sanhong~ Roll in 3 fours and bring home the bacon.

V. Sijin~ Heads up! You're almost there. A sijin only needs 4 of the same dice and once again except the fours.

VI. Erju~ The playful throw. This only needs 2 of the fours.

VII. Yixiu~ One four for a one happy spirit. Better something than nothing. :D 

Things to keep in mind:
- Play fair.
- Play nice.
- Don't let your dice bounce out of your bowl. Seriously, this will be considered void.
- Wear red.
- Keep shouting.
- Meditate.
- Talk to your dice.
- Control them with your mind.
- Don't breathe.
- Go crazy.
- Be supportive.
- Punch the one before you.
- Roll your dice and have some fun. :D




Haha. Hope you can play this and enjoy the wonderful Mooncake Festival. Happy playing!
Oh! By the way, I won first prize in the raffle draw. Hehe. Told you I was feeling lucky. :D Thank you Lord!







Stranger Passing-By
SP-B/09/18/12

Damn Stiff Neck

Shooting pain runs through the left side of my neck this whole day. So irritating and yet so painful but thankfully limiting. The cause? Most probably the sleep-like-a-log position I practiced last night... or maybe the don't-move-your-head exercise I did the other day, either way, I got greeted by this stiff neck present early today. Haha. Alright then, time for some good old fashioned improvised remedies!

Remedy One:

This worked a little for me. First, lie down and rest your head on a pile of blanket and pillow. Carefully move and roll your head in every direction. Make sure to stop on the most painful spot and count slowly from one to eight and back. Roll slowly and keep on rolling until your head becomes like an well-oiled rolling machine. I know, I know, every roll will hurt. But no pain, no gain! One more thing, while rolling, put your weight to it. Don't half-carry half-roll your head.

Remedy Two:

Now in a standing or sitting position, try rotating your head with the help of your hands to its limits. This is also painful but the strained muscles need to be relaxed. Rotate it right and left, up and down with each time counting slowly from one to eight and back. The more it hurts, the more you have to do it. This worked a lot for me.

Remedy Three:

I believe that prevention is better than cure. So change that mattress and pillows already. If it had already turned hard and uncomfortable, it only means that it's time for a new one. Or if you're a little short on money and you are not used to pillows, try sleeping with your very own homemade "Towel Roll".

     "With using no pillow or using a very flat pillow, you are not getting the proper support or C Curve that you need in the cervical spine. When you roll on your side, your head and neck is going to be cranked to the side, which can cause neck pain and muscle stiffness. Not to have any support is an unnatural position for your neck, and can lead to bad neck posture. So, using no pillow is not recommended."

 A wrong pillow can absolutely cause a stiff neck. The muscles in your neck and upper back can tighten up and spasm. Choosing the size of your pillow must be based on your height and weight. (Nav Gill (2003). The Neck Pain Relief Shop. A Division of Arc 4 Life. Retrieved from http://www.neckpainreliefkit.com/neckexercise)

Watch this!

Remedy Four:

If all fails, a good old karate chopping massage might be just what you need. That poor muscle needs to be tenderized and loosened up. An ointment may also be the thing to help relieve the torture. A cool menthol salve could soothe the pain. This is the absolute cure for me. I had a total of three (3) painful, teeth-gritting, 10-15 minutes karate chopping massage all in all, before I am totally cured. My mom's the best physician ever!

Remedy Five:

Improper posture and stressful lifestyle might also contribute to having a stiff neck. Try this exercise:

 Bring Your Chin to Your Chest Slowly and Hold for 10-15 seconds

 Bring your right ear to your right shoulder; Hold for 10-15 seconds.

 Turn Your Head Right and Left; Hold for 10-15 seconds.

Exercises that will make your neck stronger: ^_^ (Yeap, there is such a thing like this...)






















This neck exercises will strengthen the muscles that allow your head to flex forward, bend back, laterally flexion and rotate.


References:

Palmer, Roy (2005-2012). How To Treat Your Stiff Neck. Retrieved from http://www.fitness-programs-for-life.com/how_to_treat_a_stiff_neck.html

Nav Gill (2003). The Neck Pain Relief Shop. A Division of Arc 4 Life. Retrieved from http://www.neckpainreliefkit.com/neckexercises


Happy to have my old neck back! ^_^




Stranger Passing-By
SP-B/09/16/12

A Piece of Home

I'm sure there will come a time for everyone of us to experience moving and living in a new house, dealing with a new neighborhood, seeing a lot of new faces and familiarizing ourselves starting from kitchen drawers to the crooks and nooks of every street there is to know, and no matter how eager you were to get away from that old house that had sheltered you for countless years, I'm sure that one day you'll think back to all the accustomed switches and doorknobs and positions of furniture that even with the lights turned off, you can move around from room to room without bumping into them, and then you'll realize how much you have missed that web-covered and weather-beaten house you had once called home.
Homesick? Well, not really... okay, maybe just a little... Alright! Alright! I missed the house but mostly I missed the old friendly neighborhood and the roads that I have walked up and down for thousand times, the convenience of buying just about anything and the favorite hangout places after school but most of all, the memories of being a child. I was in this mood while I was walking along Ongpin street, down in Chinatown, heading for home. I was really missing something but only nothing when I came by a bakeshop where my mom has once brought me to. I went in and the sweet aroma of bread and butter welcomed me warmly. For me nothing beats a local Chinese bakery store. Laid out on the counters are all my favorite pastries, from the warm pandesals to all sorts of hopias and to the famous tikoys. Mooncakes are also being sold as early as August and pies litter the see-through coolers. I bought an egg pie and really took my time in choosing one. It has to be golden yellow but not too rich and has to be soft but still firm. I finally picked my choice and as soon as everything is boxed and set, I went home feeling happy and thinking that I am bringing a piece of home to--- home.


A Home will always be a Home.




Stranger Passing-By
SP-B/09/05/12