Laingan.com

My Piece of Sky Blog

Friday the 13th – A Lucky Day For Striking Lottery


Friday the 13th is believed to be a bad luck day for the superstitious people. The superstition surrounding Friday the 13th is also believed to be a combination of two separate fears, ie. the fear of the number 13 and the fear of Fridays.

There is a very long and hard to spell or pronounce name given to the fear of Friday the 13th and this name is called paraskevidekatriaphobia. It is pronounced as “pair.uh.skee.vee.dek.uh.tree.uh.foh.bee.uh”.

In fact, paraskevidekatriaphobia is a term based on the Greek words :

Paraskevi — means Friday

Dekatria — means Thirteen

Phobia — indicates Fear

As for Fridays, they have been considered an unlucky day since the medieval times. Superstitious people consider it as bad luck to start anything on a Friday. Things like starting a new job, new journey, giving birth, moving house, marriage, business project and so on.

However, Friday the 13th is considered a lucky day for my family. Reason being that my mom had got a little windfall on Friday the 13th and won $500 SG by betting her luck on the Chap Ji Kee (12-digit lottery) in 1987.

She was so happy and bought us a pet dog from an aquarium shop when the shop owner had decided to sell away his pug dog. In the past, we used to rear fish, tortoise, chicken, guinea pig and rabbit but never had a dog before. You can tell how happy my mom was at that time to have had won the lottery on Friday the 13th.

Thirteen is pronounced as “Surp Sum” in Cantonese and it means “sure alive“. So, 13 is in fact a good and lucky number to our family. Coincidently, our pet dog was born on 13 Jan 1987. This chubby pug dog was so lovely and it brought a lot of happiness, fun and love to our family.

My mom was in deed very lucky to have won the lottery on the Friday the 13th and brought the pug dog home to shover us with lots of love. So, 13 is actually a lucky number.

Interesting Video-Taking On A Sushi Conveyor Belt


Conveyor is vastly being used for transporting items from one location to another. It is also being used in many places such as supermarket, airport, cashier counter, production floor, Sushi bar and so on.

If you have been to a Sushi bar or Japanese restaurant, you will notice that the conveyor belt is moving all the time to transport plates and plates of Sushi around for the customers to select.

It is interesting to set your eyes on the train of Sushi plates moving along the conveyor belt while sitting in front of the conveyor. However, you might feel bored by looking at the Sushi plates turning round and round after some time. Perhaps you ought to do something different in order to chase away your boredom. 

Have you ever wondered how thing would look like if you were the Sushi sitting on the conveyor belt? How would you see your surrounding with a different perspective?

Well, I have just found a YouTube video clip showing a Caucasian couple who have had placed a camera on a conveyor belt to do some video taking. The video shot was quite well taken and it makes me feel as if I am seeing a Japanese movie. 

I find that the video taking on a Sushi conveyor belt is interesting and it gives people a different perspective on the experience.

Enjoy the video-taking on a Sushi conveyor belt :

Created 3D Logo Using Vector Graphic Software For Laingan.com Blog


I have just downloaded a 30-day trial version of the vector graphic software from the internet today. I’m full of enthusiasm the whole day and eager to try out the software. I have created a few graphics immediately after practising.

I have also created a 3D logo for my Laingan.com Blog and the graphic effect looks pretty cool. Below is the red 3D logo of Laingan.com Blog :

laingan_logo_red

The logo was created in vector graphic format and I exported it to the bitmap format (JPG) for uploading it to my Laingan.com Blog.

I will try out the vector graphic software further by creating more graphics and exploring more into other features during my free time. Then, I will make a decision whether or not it is worthwhile to buy the vector graphic software to do some graphic design after the 30-day trial period.

Chinese New Year – End Of The Chinese New Year Celebrations In The Year Of The OX 2009


The 15th day of the 1st month of the Chinese New Year has finally arrived. This is the last day of celebrating Chinese New Year in the Year of the OX. We have to wait for another year for the Year of the Tiger to arrive before celebrating Chinese New Year again.

A day before this day, my family and I went to the Chinatown’s restaurant to have our Chinese New Year feast during lunch time. We booked our table one week in advance at the Tam Kah Shark’s Fin restaurant.

The waitress was very polite and well-trained. She greeted us when we reached there and ushered us to our table at the second storey. Shortly, she started to serve the dishes sequentially. The dishes were Yu Sheng, Peng Cai, tray of 5 lucky stars, shark fin soup, fish of abundant luck, abalone with vegetables, roast chicken, desserts and so on.

Yu Sheng (Raw Fish ) :

yu-sheng

 

Tray of 5 Lucky Stars :

tray-of-5-lucky-stars

 

Peng Cai or Poon Choi (Pot of Vegetables) :

peng-cai

 

Abundant Luck Fish :

abundant-luck-fish

 

Abalone with Vegetables :

abalone-with-vegetables

 

Fried Rice :

fried-rice

When we were about to finish our lunch, we heard a very loud drum sound coming from downstairs. Apparently, the lion dance troupe was invited in to bring good luck, auspiciousness and prosperity to the restaurant.

Lion Dance Pic1 :

lion-dance-troupe1

 

Lion Dance Pic2 :

lion-dance-troupe2

We enjoyed the Chinese New Year feast very much. We have to wait for another new year to come before we can enjoy the festive season good food again.

My Activities For The First Week Of February


It had been quite a busy week for me this week after office hours and during my rest days. I was not busy at work so I would have the time to attend seminars after work.

I attended two seminars this week at AKLTG on Wednesday and Thursday. One of seminars was prepared for graduates of the Wealth Academy program and the topic was to teach us on how to invest in real estate. The business workshop was really an eye-opener for me as I always wanted to learn something about real estate. It was a knowledge-packed workshop.

Then, I also attended a semimar preview on personal developement on Thursday. The title of the preview was called “Patterns of Excellence“. Again, this was also a great and entertaining seminar. I learnt that you have to break away the habit or pattern of doing something that hinders you from moving forward in order to get a breakthrough in life.

Next, I joined my friend to go for a walk at the national park at Changi area on Friday. We walked almost everywhere to enjoy the nature, smell the sea and exchange our thoughts. We found a place for us to rest and chit chat when we were feeling tired. Then, we went to a nearby foodcourt to have our lunch. It was indeed a very fun and enjoyable outing.

My family and I went to a shark fin restaurant on Sunday. I think I will elaborate it further in my upcoming post as I have taken a few pictures during the meal. Stay Tuned. 

Motivation – How To Go About Motivating Yourself To Get Results


I believe each and everyone of us do experience we feel at certain moments that we don’t have the drive to do something. We seem to have lost our motivation at times.

I think one of the challenging things for most people to do is to keep your level of motivation at a peak level before you can achieve the results that you are looking for. This is important because it keeps you going to achieving whatever it is that you want. 

You shall be much closer to getting the results that you desire when you are inspired enough to keep going even when there are obstacles in the way.

But the question is : “What are the factors that keep yourself going even when it seems like the odds may be against you?“.

PASSION :

Well, having the Passion is one of the key elements to get yourself motivated. Yes, you have to be passionate about the results you are after. Otherwise, you tend to give up easily when you face problems. 

Another thing is that you have to set reasonable goals that you can be passionate about so that you would motivate yourself and you would put in all your effort to make things happen.

BELIEF :

Belief is another key element to get yourself motivated. You must have the belief that you can do it. Your strong belief in yourself and your ability to break through any barriers will help you overcome any obstacles along the way. This will keep yourself inspired and keep moving forward towards achieving what you want. 

Therefore, you must have the passion and belief in order to stay motivated, and keep moving forward in your life to achieving anything that you want.

Nick Vujicic – The Childhood Days Of The No Arms And No Legs Giant


Here is another video clip featuring the childhood days of Nick Vujicic.

Enjoy watching and get inspired.

Nick Vujicic – Get Back Up When You Fall Down


I had written a Blog post about Nick Vujicic in October 2008. He is a man who has no arms and no legs but this doesn’t defeat him by giving up hope in life.

There is a new video entitled “Get Back Up” showing how Nick Vujicic has shared his inspirational story with a group of students in a school.

Inside the video, Nick Vujicic says :

I love living life and I am happy.

Along the way you might fall down like this. What do you do when you fall down? Get back up! Everybody knows to get back up because if you start walking, you are not going to get anywhere.

But I’m going to tell you some times in life, when you fall down, you feel like you don’t have the strength to get back up.

 Do you think you have hope? 

If I fail I try again and again and again……..

But I want you to know this is not the end. It matters how you are going to finish. Are you going to finish strong? You will find the strength to get back up. 

How inspiring and motivating?! Isn’t it?

Nick Vujicic will inspire you and uplift you in this video. Watch it now :

Back To Work After The Chinese New Year Long Holidays


After the 10-day break of celebrating Chinese New Year, I got back to work on Monday but with a mind still on holiday 🙂 . Yeah, I have to admit that I’m still in the mood to enjoy the holiday.

But I think this is something quite normal especially after resting for a few days and enjoying the festive holidays with the family. I spent some time cleaning the house, reading books, writing Blog posts, playing Mahjong, surfing the net, watching motivational video clips online and so on.

I was not thinking much about work except for some occasional checking of corporate webmail to make sure that I did not miss out any urgent emails that required my attention especically those emails sent by the customers.

I would say those were the stressless days being spent at home during the Chinese New Year long holidays. I really enjoyed it to feel free from pressure. Fortunately, there are not much activities at work either. So, I think I can remain at the stress-free state for a while 😉

Shokutsu-10 Osaka – The Japanese Food Street At Jurong Point Mall


I went to Jurong Point Mall recently after it had completed its mall extension in August 2008.

There is a newly-opened Japanese food street which is inspired by that of the Osaka in Japan. It is called the Shokutsu-10 Osaka food street which is located at the newly-extended basement of Jurong Point in Singapore.

Shokutsu-10 Osaka Food Street :

crab-shokutsu-10-osaka-japnese-food-street

This is the entrance to the Shokutsu-10 Osaka food street. Look at the big red crab hanging above the entrance. It looks so attractive and prominent especially seeing it from far. 

The Shokutsu-10 Osaka food street is a Japanese food street with 10 eateries that tempt you with Osaka’s popular dishes such as takoyaki, ramen, sushi and buffets.

It doesn’t matter whether you like Japanese food or not. I guess you will be curious to find out what types of Japanese food that the Shokutsu-10 Osaka food street is selling. 

The big crab really helps to draw the attention of the crowd and leading curious people to enter the Shokutsu-10 Osaka food street. Visit the Japanese food street at Jurong Point Mall if you have the chance.