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You have probably read my post 10 Things NOT To Do During The Hungry Ghost Month and not took it too seriously.

Well, the peak of the Hungry Ghost Festival has already passed, but there is still a little more than a week before the gates of Hell (and possibly Heaven) closes. Today, I would like to share with you ways to stay safe for the remaining part of this Hungry Ghost month.

Whether you believe in ghosts or not, these are precautions that I had researched and gathered from older people and also from feng shui expert Lillian Too. You might ask, what has feng shui got to do with ghosts?

Well, if it's classical feng shui like what is being taught by Joey Yap, not much. But in Lillian Too's case, she is also into Taoism practices, so it probably explains why she mixes both feng shui and Taoism together.

So, here are 10 ways to stay safe during this Hungry Ghost Month, and in fact, not just during this period but also any time of the year. Of course, most of the ways I outlined below will not work against things like toyol. LOL!

Read More : Terrorized By Toyol! (A True Story)

1. Do not start construction or renovation of your house or office during this Hungry Ghost Month. Contractors and builders in Asian countries normally adhere to this rule, but there are always exceptions. You may start before or after the Hungry Ghost month, but NOT during the month itself to prevent attracting bad luck.

2. Do not travel too much during this month. But if you really have to, only travel on the good days. To know when the good days are for traveling, refer to the feng shui calendar like this one!


Lillian Too's 2012 Feng Shui Almanac

3. Do not move house during this month. It's an inauspicious month to move house. Besides, you do not want a hungry ghost to move in with you, do you?

4. Do not get married during this month! Yes, choose a more auspicious date to get married. How do you like to have hungry ghosts roaming on the streets outside while you are having a wedding feast inside a restaurant?

5. In feng shui, we talk about yin and yang. There must be balance for us to have good feng shui. Now, human environment are usually more yang, but ghosts and spirits prefer environment that are more yin. As such, if the energy in your house or office is too yin, then it is more likely to attract ghosts!

How do you know if your house is too yin? Well, a yin-dominant house is usually dark, with little sunshine and fresh air. Even houses built near churches, hospitals and graveyards are attractive to ghosts! These are all very yin places and ghosts feel very comfortable in these environment!



To avoid yin spirit formation in your home (and this is not just during the Hungry Ghost month), keep your house clean and free from clutter, open the windows to let in fresh air and sunlight, install more lights to brighten up dark corners, and play loud music especially in rooms that are not often used.

Clutter and dark corners create stagnant energy which promotes a yin environment. This is also the reason why rooms in the house or office that are not often used attract ghosts to dwell inside them.

6. Do not swim in the lake during this Hungry Ghost month. Lakes and underwater are more yin and as such, ghosts prefer to dwell in there.

7. Do not start a new business or project during this month. Since it's an inauspicious month, delay your new business to the month after or your business may suffer from lots of obstacles and may not survive.

8. Invite Chung Kwei - the Chinese ghost catcher - into your home. Simply display his image in your home or office to frighten away wandering spirits and ghosts!


Chung Kwei images source

9. Wear protective amulets especially during this Hungry Ghost month. These amulets should come with powerful protective mantras, and you should wear them touching your body.

10. Hungry ghosts have very narrow necks so they are unable to eat and drink like humans. As such they are constantly hungry - imagine how suffering is that! Now they become very happy when they are fed with smells of incense and aromas of food! Is it any wonder that these desperate and suffering spirits create trouble for humans especially those whose life force or energy levels are weak?


A hungry ghost image source

According to Lillian Too, the best way to appease these hungry ghosts is to light up some sweet smelling incense like kemeyan or sandalwood. They are sure to like it and stop creating troubles for you! Now you know why the Chinese and Indian temples are burning incense all the time!

To take it a step further, you can do this not just during Hungry Ghost month, but also anytime you want to remove obstacles caused by wandering and local spirits of the land. During dusk, or right after sunset, light up the incense and holding the incense burner, walk clockwise around your house and every room while chanting this mantra.

NAMAH SARVA TATHAGATHA AVALOKITE

OM SAMBHARA SAMBHARA HUNG

After you have finished walking, dedicate the incense and offerings to the holy beings, angels, local landlords and wandering spirits to look after you instead of harming you.

According to Lillian Too, if you treat these spirits with friendship and not fear, you will actually find them very nice and accommodating!

It's that time of the year again! Yes, I am talking about the Hungry Ghost Festival.

For the benefit of my Western readers who may be unfamiliar with this event, Hungry Ghost Festival is  a period during the 7th month of the Chinese lunar calendar when souls and spirits of the dead are set free to wander the earth. It's a yearly custom for people in parts of Asia to appease these spirits with certain rituals and feasts.

This year, the Hungry Ghost month begins on August 17th and lasts till September 15th. To the Chinese, there are a number of taboos that are observed during this period.

Read More : 10 things NOT to do during the Hungry Ghost month.

Although the Hungry Ghost Festival peaks on the 14th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar (or August 30th, 2012 according to Western calendar), the ghosts are already walking amongst us. Be afraid, be very afraid.....

How did I know that ghosts are already wandering the Earth? The proof lies in these unexplained photos which I took the past week.

I took all these photos using my iPhone 3Gs, so please excuse the poor quality.



The above is a picture I took from Casa Damansara condo in PJ. It shows the back part of Tropicana City Mall. Nothing wrong with the picture until I took another one, but a closer (enlarged) shot.



Can you see a lady standing there? Looks more like a ghost to me!



What do you think? She looks sort of transparent to me. More like a ghost than a human, no?

Last week, I was chilling out at a cafe at Mont Kiara in the evening when I noticed someone peering from outside the glass window. The person looked rather odd so I secretly snapped a photo of him.



I have to say he looked more like a shadow than a real person but from inside, it's hard to really see.

I brushed it aside, and forgot about it until a few moments later when I looked up and got a shock of my life! The same person appeared to be looking directly at me!!



Despite being chilled to my bones, I managed to take a snapshot of him. I did not know how long he stared at me, but it was really, really long. I could not even remember what happened after that. Somehow he disappeared while I was still in a state of shock.

Now I have driven past the nice waterfall at Bangsar South many times and had admired it each time. But last week, while waiting at the traffic light near this waterfall, I decided to take a snapshot. When I reached back home, I looked at the photo I had taken and noticed something.



Can you spot a face peering out from the waterfall?

What do you think? Was it just my imagination?



The worst experience I had was while at a shopping mall in PJ. Or more precisely, inside the shopping mall's toilet. They say never go to the toilet alone at night.

Well, I was washing my hands after doing my business in one of the cubicles when I saw this!

 

What will you do if you see this? Will you freak out?

If by now, you are still thinking I saw these ghosts, then you are too easily fooled! Hahaha!! Let me make a confession - NONE of these photos are true.

I created them using the Ghost Capture app in my iPhone. LOL!

Those of you who have read my blog post Ghosts In My Photos last year would know very early on that the ghosts here are all fake. That's why I named this post 'More Ghosts In My Photos' - some sort like a sequel. I hope you had enjoyed reading it. Haha!

Now here's a YouTube video of the HauntedFace app in my iPhone. Enjoy! Make sure the volume is turned on.



Scary? Well, you can take anyone's photo and change him or her into a horrible looking ghost with this app. But I would not dare try. Haha!

Over the years, I have taken many photographs with strange and unexplained objects or entities in them.

Since it is the Hungry Ghost Festival this month, I thought it would be the perfect time to show you all those "ghostly" photographs. It is especially timely as at the stroke of midnight tonight, the Gates of Hell will be thrown wide open to let all those hungry ghosts roam the earth!

Yes, if you do not already know, 12am tonight marks the 14th day of the 7th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, which is the peak of the Hungry Ghost Festival. Be afraid. Be very afraid...

All the photos shown here were taken either with my old Sony Ericsson C902 mobile phone or my current iPhone 3Gs, so please excuse the not-so-good quality photos.

This is a photo I took last year at the KL Convention Centre. Those of you who have been there will recognize this long corridor leading to Traders Hotel. I and my friend had gone to SkyBar at Traders Hotel that night and on the way back, we walked through this corridor.

My friend had gone to the toilet and while waiting for her, I snapped a picture of the corridor just for fun. It was only the next day I noticed there was something unusual with the photo. Can you see it?



That dark figure on the right side of the photo - what is that? It looks as if it's someone dressed in dark robes walking towards me. But I did not see such a person when I took the photo!

They say many cinemas in Malaysia are haunted. If it's the cinema in Summit Subang, I will be quick to agree as I had felt uncomfortable the last time I went there. But do you believe if I tell you now that GSC Signature in The Gardens is haunted?

Look at this photo which I took inside the GSC Signature lounge. Can you see someone standing at the end of the row of chairs on the left?



Or was that just the light playing tricks on my eyes?

And how about this picture which I took on the same night in the GSC Signature lounge?



What is that ghostly white figure flying out from the chair near the curtain?

That's not all. One night my friend and I watched a late night movie at GSC Signature. If you have been to GSC Signature, you will know that on leaving the cinema hall, you will pass by this glass window overlooking the Gardens Mall below.

It was past midnight when our movie ended. As we walked out of the cinema hall, we passed by this glass window and I decided to take a photo. As I was taking the photo, I suddenly saw that face reflected on the window! Can you see it?



I quickly turned around but there was no one behind me! When I turned back to face the glass window, the face was gone! Somehow I managed to capture that haunting face in my iPhone. My friend freaked out when she saw this photo!

Two years ago, I was at Genting Highlands with another friend. I was waiting for my friend who had gone to the toilet at Highlands Hotel near Starbucks. While waiting inside the lobby of the hotel, I snapped this photo. When I reached home, only did I see it! Can you see it - that white female ghost at the ceiling?!



Another time - probably 3 years ago - I visited Genting Highlands with yet another friend. We were resting at the lobby in Resort Hotel late one night. There were not many people at the lobby at that time. I accidentally snapped this photo where a white figure was crawling on the floor.



Surely that can't be my imagination? This reminded me too much of those "japanese" or "korean" horror movies so needless to say, I was totally freaked out!

I love to go jogging in the park. One of the parks I frequent is Taman Lembah Kiara in Taman Tun. I dislike crowds so I normally go when there are not many people around.

One afternoon, I went there to jog. There was no one around at the time. As I reached the suspension bridge, I saw this blue figure standing at the bridge!



At the sight of the blue figure, I froze in fright. It appeared to be slightly transparent. Luckily I managed to regain my composure and quickly snapped a photo of it before running the hell away!

After seeing all these photos, do you believe in the existence of ghosts? Did my photos freak you out?

OK, I have a confession to make.

None of the photos above are true. Haha!!!

Yes, perhaps I have tricked some of you but I am pretty sure I did not trick all of you. If you have been using the Ghost Capture app on your iPhone, you will know how I created those ghostly images on my photos! LOL!



It was quite a fun app! All you need to do is to snap a photo or retrieve an existing photo from the picture library in your phone, add in the ghost you like (there are over 30 ghosts to choose from in the paid app), manipulate the size and position of the ghost, adjust how sharp or blur you want your ghost to appear and voila! You have a ghostly picture to share with your friends!



The only qualm I have about this app is that all the ghostly images they provide are Western ghosts! I would have preferred some Chinese or Japanese ghosts as they are more scary! Haha!

There is another app which I would like to share with you all as it is quite a scary app. When I first downloaded this app on my iPhone, it gave me quite a fright. There was a picture of this girl.



I don't know about you but this picture of the girl already seems to frighten me. She looks like a person who is dead, don't you agree?

And then as I looked at the picture, it began to change...in a horrible way.



The face then turned hideous and it was accompanied with ghostly wail and screams that were too terrifying to describe!



If you have a weak heart, do not ever download this app! The girl has now changed into an ugly ghost that will send chills down the spine of anyone who look at her!



Now the fun part of this app is you can take anyone's photo (including your own) and change the face into a horrible looking ghost! Not that I want to do any such thing! No thanks! Haha!

The app is called HauntedFace available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

Although all the ghosts in the photos which I took and shown earlier in this post are fake and were created using the Ghost Capture app, there is however one photo in my collection that is genuine. I took this photo while walking the suspension bridge at FRIM 2 years ago.



Is that my imagination or is it a long haired lady in dark glasses wearing a robe or something on the tree trunk? What do you think?

The Hungry Ghost Festival is back! The Chinese believes that during this entire 7th lunar month, the gates of hell are opened to allow the hungry ghosts to roam the earth. Whether you believe in it or not, that is really up to you.

But it's better to be safe than sorry, don't you think? So here are 10 things you should not do during this ghostly month.

1. Tell ghost stories
When two or more people group together to talk about ghost stories in the middle of the night, they will tend to attract unwanted attention from wandering spirits and ghosts! The Chinese has a saying "Don't talk about ghosts at night and don't talk about humans in the day".

2. Whistle in the night
If you are one who love to whistle, do it in the daytime. Whistling at night seems to attract ghosts! If you can't resist your favourite tune, try humming or singing instead.



3. Cut your finger nails at night
If you cut your finger nails after dark, you run the risk of seeing a ghost! I am not sure about cutting your toe nails, however.

4. Swim in the lake or sea
It is a general belief that swimmers will have a higher chance of getting drowned during the month of the Hungry Ghost. This is because ghosts like to stay in the water due to its "yin" environment and they will likely drag you down into the water.

5. Hang your clothes out at night
Wandering ghosts may get attached to your clothes - you surely will not want to be wearing them!
Or perhaps, this is just an advice to prevent us from scaring ourselves silly? You know, your clothes might just look like flying ghosts on a windy night!


Image courtesy of Of Memoirs And Musings

6. Touch the offerings meant for hungry ghosts
The food and burnings you see at the road side are offerings for the hungry ghosts. Do not mess or touch the offerings or even step on them. You might offend the ghosts and they may disturb you or follow you back home!

7. Wear red or black colour clothes
Not sure the reason why but ghosts seem to dig dark-coloured clothes especially red and black! Wear something bright like white or yellow instead.

8. Going out late at night
Since hungry ghosts are roaming the streets during this month, it is fair to say that your chances of bumping into them are much higher. Try to stay home more often during this entire month or at least be back before midnight. And if you are a pregnant woman, avoid going out at all costs since ghosts are attracted to foetuses.


Image courtesy of Dangerous Intersection

9. Walk in the dark and near the walls
If you really have no choice but to go out at night, it is advisable to walk at brightly lit areas and where there are crowds. Ghosts like to walk (or fly?) along walls and stay around dark corners, so avoid walking close to the walls!

10. Answer when someone calls your name
If you hear someone calls your name at night, do not by any chance turn around and look, or worse, answer that call! If you do, the ghost may just reveal itself to you!

Superstitions? Myths? Nonsense? Maybe.

Some of you may have probably done one or more of the 10 things above and nothing happened to you, right? Well, you may not be so lucky this time around. It all depends whether your spirit essence is strong or weak. Haha!

Oh, by the way, if you feel someone tapping your shoulder while reading this post, DO NOT turn around to look!

Today is a special day. No, it’s not my birthday.

It’s 20102010

20^th October 2010. A Double Match.

It happens only once in a lifetime! You’ll never get such a number again. So I guess I would like to wish everyone a wonderful day!

If you feel a sense of deja vu reading this, that's because I posted a similar post with the exact same wordings (except for the numbers) last year. Read it here.

Last year, the special day was on 20^th September. That gave us 20092009.

So next year it will be 20^th November which gives us 20112011.

While everyone was obsessed with the number 101010 on the 10th October 2010, I am more attracted to this date 20102010. I wonder what is so special with 101010 - it was a bleak day for Malaysians as it was the day of the horrible accident involving a bus and several other vehicles on the North-South Expressway near Melaka, killing 13 people in the process!

Besides, 101010 will occur again on the 10th October 2110, which is 100 years later. Whereas 20102010 will never ever occur again anytime in the future!

Since we are talking about dates and numbers here, let me dwell on this topic today.



First, about the year 2012. It's such a famous year, made famous by the movie 2012 that it is the year that the world will finally come to an end. Do you believe 2012 is doomsday year? Personally, I don't.

You see, dinosaurs have ruled the earth close to 165 million years, but humans only existed since 7 million years ago. Is it time for humans to be wiped out? I don't think so. Unless we got the number of years wrong, of course : )

Maybe humans are actually aliens and we have existed billions of years ago and were living on a different planet? Who knows?



Second, the year 2020. Will we Malaysians achieve Vision 2020?
I really have my doubts! But then again, never say never!

So there are plans for a 100-storey tower to be built and completed by 2020? I am not going to go into a debate whether this tower is feasible or not. All I can say is if you want to build a tower, please build a 100-storey rotating tower like the one in Dubai!!

It'll be cool to see a landmark building changing shape every hour!!



Thirdly, some important dates at least for me!! Do take note if you want to!

Nov 2nd 2010 - The launching of Mariah Carey's new Christmas album! Can't wait!!

Dec 1st 2010 - My birthday. You're welcome to give me a birthday present! Haha!

Feb 1st 2011 - Federal Territory Day. Nightmare day in PJ as KL-lites jam up PJ!

Feb 3rd 2011 - Chinese New Year. Best time to make easy money collecting angpows!!! Ka-ching!!

Feb 4th 2011 - The day where your feng shui changes so be sure to prepare for it!

Mar 11th 2011 - My Very First Blog's 3rd anniversary!! Let's celebrate!!!

Mar 12th 2011 - The official launch of iPhone5! Yippee!! *I'm kidding : D

April 30th 2011 - Last day to submit your personal income tax if you are an employee. Don't procrastinate!

May 1st 2011 - Labour Day. They should turn this into Labour Week! You know, holiday for one week? LOL!

Aug 13th 2011 - Hungry Ghost festival. Stay home at night!

Aug 30th 2011 - Selamat Hari Raya!! Best time to drive KL roads!

Sept 12th 2011 - Mooncake Festival. Make sure you don't miss the durian mooncakes!

Oct 8th 2011 - International Panda Day! *I'm kidding again! Haha!

Nov 11th 2011 - The day with the most number 1s! 11.11.11.



Lastly, how old would you be after your birthday in 2011? Well, here are the age of some Hollywood stars on their birthdays in 2011 if you are curious to know!

Tom Cruise - 49

Tom Hanks - 55

Jessica Simpson - 31

Harrison Ford - 69

Nicole Kidman - 44

David Duchovny - 50

Charlize Theron - 36

Whitney Houston - 48

Ben Affleck - 39

Madonna - 53

Keanu Reeves - 47

Adam Sandler - 45

Will Smith - 43

Sigourney Weaver - 62

Eminem - 39

Julia Roberts - 44

Meg Ryan - 50

Jodie Foster - 49

Tina Turner - 72

Christina Aguilera - 31

Brad Pitt - 48

Ricky Martin - 40

Denzel Washington - 57

Jude Law - 39

Leonardo DiCaprio - 37

David Archuleta - 21

Simon Cowell - 52

Jennifer Lopez - 42

Whoopi Goldberg - 56

Lindsay Lohan - 25

Eva Longoria - 36

Teri Hatcher - 47

Britney Spears - 30

Tyra Banks - 38

Justin Bieber - 17

Lady Gaga - 25

Adam Lambert - 29

Kelly Clarkson - 29

Milla Jovovich - 36

Angelina Jolie - 36

Sam Worthington - 35

Jessica Alba - 30

Paris Hilton - 30

Megan Fox - 25

Taylor Lautner - 19

So sorry if I remind you about your age! Haha! Well, hope you have enough about dates and numbers today! Cos I have had enough! Have a good day everyone! : )

I dislike attending funerals, especially Chinese funerals.

I don't know why, but the atmosphere at funerals give me the creeps. And the music played sounded especially horrible to my ears.

I remember the time my grandfather died when I was very little. I was not very close to my grandfather. He stayed in my uncle's house and I seldom visit him. When he died, my family had to attend the funeral at my uncle's house.

That night when I entered my uncle's house, I saw a huge coffin in the hall. As I was very small, I did not know any taboos related to Chinese funerals. The coffin was higher than me so I was eager to climb up to have a look.

When my mom saw what I was trying to do, she quickly pulled me aside. I don't remember what she said at that time, but it had somehow instilled a fear in me. That I was not supposed to touch coffins or dead people!

Then I saw my aunt putting something into the coffin. When she had done that, she started to cry. I asked aloud to my mom why was auntie crying? Was her fingers stuck in the coffin and she hurt herself when she tried to pull them out? Everyone laughed at that point. Even my aunt. I was slightly embarrassed.

That was my first experience of a funeral. Much of the details I could no longer remember.

But a few days later, I remember seeing this ceremony at my uncle's house. It was related to my grandfather's funeral. A man dressed in old traditional Chinese costume was jumping over a fire. I do not know what ceremony was that to this very day. Anyone knows?

The man would jump over the fire, but before he jumped, he would fill his mouth with wine. As he jumped over the fire, he would spit out the wine onto the fire causing it to flare up high. It was a spectacle to watch!

I even imitated his actions when I got back home, minus the fire and the wine, of course! I just used a toy pail to represent the fire and jumped over it! Haha!

Many years later, my grandmother died. At her funeral, there were talks about keeping the cats all caged up. Especially black cats. It seemed that there were many stray cats at her house. When I learnt why they had to cage up those cats, my hair stood on end.

It seemed that if a black cat were to accidentally jump over the corpse, the corpse would spring right up! This story had haunted me for days and gave me sleepless nights!

I also learnt that it was taboo to see the coffin being nailed shut. I was so curious I almost wanted to see how they nailed the coffin. But I did not. Fear kept me from doing so and I kept my head bowed and my eyes closed during the entire process.

When we returned home from the funeral, my mom would make sure that I and my siblings washed our feet outside before entering our house. My mom said that was to prevent bad luck from following us home. Of course, I heard a more fearful reason later on. It was not just bad luck. It was to prevent evil spirits at the funeral from following you home!

I still wonder to this very day if these are all nothing but just superstitions.

Will a cat jumping over a dead corpse causes the corpse to wake up?
What will happen if you watch the coffin being nailed?
And what will happen to you if you forget to wash your feet and enter your house after attending a funeral?

Today is a special day. No, it’s not my birthday.

It’s 20092009

20^th September 2009. A Double Match.

It happens only once in a lifetime! You’ll never get such a number again. So I guess I would like to wish everyone a wonderful day!

If you feel a sense of deja vu reading this, that's because I posted a similar post with the exact same wordings (except for the numbers) last year. Read it here.

Last year, the special day was on 20^th August. That gave us 20082008.

So next year it will be 20^th October which gives us 20102010.

It so happens that today is also a big day for Muslims as it is the first day of Hari Raya! So to all my Muslim friends and readers, I would like to wish you Selamat Hari Raya!

While everyone was obsessed with the number 090909 on the 9th September 2009, I am more attracted to this date 20092009. I wonder what is so special with 090909 - it reminds me of the emergency number 999! Certainly not a good number to me especially if it has something to do with emergencies!

Well, I am not really obsessed with numbers. If you want to know what I'm obsessed with, read here.

But a lot of people are obsessed with numbers! I do know that most Chinese people will avoid the number 4 like the plague. They won't want to be caught dead with number 4 on their car plate, house address and even handphone number! That's because the number 4 sounds like death in Chinese. You want to know what I think? I really think that's superstitious crap!

As for Westerners, they avoid number 13 as much as possible. Because 13 is deemed an unlucky number. Why? Maybe because there were 13 people at Christ's Last Supper and Jesus Christ was crucified on Friday the 13th.

The Last Supper courtesy of morethings.com

But guess what? 13 is a lucky number to the Chinese. It means "sure to live" in Chinese!

Of course, nowadays in Malaysia we are obsessed with the number 1. Not that we want to be first in everything we do since I don't think we are as kiasu as the Singaporeans but we are certainly getting there. We see the words 1Malaysia everywhere - in the newpapers, on TV and even hear it on radio. 1Malaysia fever is happening right here in Malaysia thanks to the Prime Minister! And also thanks to him, we will soon be having our very own 1Malaysia F1 Team!

But is 1 such a good number? I can't help thinking that 1 is a lonely number. No wonder they say it's lonely at the top!

2 is a better number, no? At least we can go out 2 by 2. Not so lonely, haha!

Have you heard of the 2 second rule? That is to make sure you are at least 2 seconds from the vehicle in front when you are driving. To do that, watch the vehicle in front pass a landmark or an object (eg. lamp post or tree). Once it passes the landmark or object, start counting "1 second, 2 seconds". If your car reach that landmark or object before 2 seconds, you are way too near the vehicle in front and you need to slow down.

Image courtesy of Road Safety Authority

By the way, have you heard of this funny quote? "A man is a person who will pay 2 dollars for a 1 dollar item he wants. A woman will pay 1 dollar for a 2 dollar item she does not want". Haha!

If 2 is company, then 3 must be a crowd! A lot of TV dramas feature stories about 3 people involved in a love triangle. Have you ever been involved in a love triangle yourself?

Image courtesy of Anime Vampire

Talking about 3, do you know how to spell water in 3 letters? It's easy! The answer is H2O! Haha!

The number 4 is an interesting number. Try this! Think of any number and write it out in words. Then count the number of letters it contains. Write out the number in words and repeat the process. You will be surprised that you will always end up with number 4!

Example : TWENTY FIVE (10 letters) ---> TEN (3 letters) ---> THREE (5 letters) ---> FIVE (4 letters) ---> FOUR (4 letters)

The number 5 always remind me of boybands. Maybe because most boybands originally have 5 members. Look at NSync, BackStreet Boys and Westlife!

Backstreet Boys

Now here's something interesting about number 6! Do you know that whenever two people meet, there are really 6 people present? Don't know what I'm talking about? Analyse this slowly. There is each person as he sees himself, each person as the other person sees him and each person as he really is. Total 6 people!

Of course if either one or both of them have multiple split personality, it would be more than 6!

Ah! Number 7 reminds me of the 7 wonders of the world! Do you know what the 7 wonders are? No, Petronas Twin Towers is not one of them. If you want to know, read here. But I think there are definitely more than 7 wonders in this world, don't you agree?

Image courtesy of Eats

I love mooncakes! Now why am I talking about mooncakes? That's because mooncakes are always cut into 8 pieces! And you know what? I don't like a mooncake to be cut into 8 pieces! That's what most people would do. I prefer to cut it into 4 pieces! Bigger slice for me! Haha!

Chinese people always like the number 9. Because 9 symbolizes longevity. No wonder cats have 9 lives! So they can afford to be curious. Curiosity kills the cat, remember?

Now if I want to go on, I can blog all the way till number 10,000 and beyond! But I don't think I will because I am not really obsessed with numbers anyway.

But wait! I forgot to mention one important number. It's Zero! That's such a funny number! Actually, is zero even a number at all? I mean, how can zero which means nothing is actually something? And do you know zero equates love? You don't? Catch a game of tennis, take note of the score and you will see what I mean!

So if love = zero, instead of saying "I love you" can I now say "I zero you"? Haha!

OK, enough about numbers! Have a great day, everyone! : )

FIRST COMMENTER

Today is a special day. No, it’s not my birthday.

It’s 20082008

20^th August 2008. A Double Match.

It happens only once in a lifetime! You’ll never get such a number again. So I guess I would like to wish everyone a wonderful day!

Last year, the special day was on 20^th July. That gave us 20072007.

So next year it will be 20^th Sept which gives us 20092009.

But what is all this preoccupation with numbers, you say? What’s the big deal? Actually, no big deal but we Chinese people just like numbers that sound good. In fact, nowadays, even non-Chinese people like good numbers.

Of course how good a number is depends on who you are talking to.

For the Chinese, number 8 sounds like “fatt” in Cantonese and “fa” in Mandarin both meaning prosperous in English so it’s very popular. That is why the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics was held on the 8/8/2008 at exactly 8 seconds, 8 minutes and past 8pm.

However, Chinese people will go all out to avoid the number 4 that sounds like “sei” in Cantonese and “si” in Mandarin, both meaning death in English.

You will usually find houses with numbers like 14 changed to 13A. 14 in Cantonese sounds very close to “sat sei” or sure to die in English. Or number 24 changed to 23A simply because 24 sounds like "yee sei" meaning easy to die.

The number 3 is considered very lucky for the Chinese because it resembles “saang” in Cantonese meaning life in English. Therefore, number 13 is an excellent number as it sounds like “sat saang” or sure to live.

This contrasts directly with the Westerners who think that number 13 is an unlucky number. Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day for Western people. There were also 13 people at the Last Supper and Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus was the 13^th person to sit at the table.

In Scotland for instance, there is no number 13 gate at the airport. If you notice, there is no number 13 car in Formula One.

Recently, I entered the lift of a 23-storey condominium and was surprised to see the buttons for the 4^th, 13^th and 14^th floor missing. They had replaced the number 4 with 5 and 5 with 6 and so on, so that the numbers on each button above 3 do not reflect the true floor. I realized then that the 23-storey building was really only 20 storeys high!

The number 6 sounds like “liu” in Mandarin meaning flowing or smooth going, and a lot of people in China and Hong Kong like to use a few digits of number 6 to symbolize a life that is very smooth flowing with no big obstacles and hardships.

However, several digits of 6 like the number 666 is considered demonic to Christians and in Western culture as it is known as the number of the Beast.

According to feng shui expert Joey Yap, all these unlucky numbers are simply superstition and have nothing to do with feng shui. Someone staying in house no.4 does not mean he will suffer bad luck especially if his house has good feng shui.

However, not all feng shui experts agree with this, certainly not Lillian Too. She has sometimes been accused of mixing superstition with feng shui, but maybe that's her biggest selling point!

Whatever it may be, do not take these numbers issues too seriously! Just trust your own instincts. If you are uncomfortable with a certain number, trash it and replace it with a number you like.

By the way, are you going for the Lillian Too's 2009 Feng Shui Extravaganza on 11th January 2009 at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre? Ticket price is only RM48 until 30th September 2008, after which the price will increase in stages every month.

I"ll be going of course, not because I'm a believer in everything Lillian Too says, (I prefer to follow Joey Yap's advice actually) but just to enjoy her talks which is often filled with lots of humour and jokes. So if you are going, see you there!