Disturbed from my sleep by the crackle of exploding fireworks I went downstairs to escape the noise and also to do some research and writing on this celebration.
Today is the 9th day of the CNY. On this day some members of the Chinese community worship the Jade Emperor or Baitiangong （拜天公）by burning incense, lighting candles, offering of food and setting off fireworks.
Although the Baitiangong ceremony was originally practiced by Hokkien people, nowadays other Chinese dialect groups also join in the celebration.
Of all the days of the CNY usually Baitiangong is the day when the fireworks activity is the most intense. Although the noise from the exploding fireworks can be quite irritating, fortunately the fireworks activities are of short duration lasting at the most one hour.
Just disabled the timer on and timer off function buttons in the remote control of the York split air conditioner in the Master Bedroom.
I did it only after reading up the user manual in detail. However I am still not sure if I'm doing it correctly because the instructions in the manual are too brief as to be incomprehensible. I shall know after I turn on the air conditioning tonight.
The reason why I'm finally doing something about this air conditioner is that it has been behaving erratically for months. After turning it on it would sometimes shut down automatically by itself after operating for half an hour. Lately I have to switch it on more than once after it shut down by itself.
I hope that the problem is with the incorrect timer on and off functions, otherwise I will have to call in the experts to come take a look.
This attractive bamboo plant is the only CNY decorative accessory that we bought to welcome the Chinese New Year.
My wife spotted this piece when we were shopping for CNY clothing at the Aeon store in the Aeon Cheras Selatan Mall about 3 weeks ago. At less than RM20.00 it was a small price to pay for such an attractive feature plant.
After 3 weeks we notice that the bamboo plant has sprouted leaves when they were not there when we bought the item.
The Chinese character 财 (cai) imprinted on the side of the gold coloured pot refers to wealth or fortune.
May the year of the goat bring prosperity, good health and happiness to all. Happy Chinese New Year. 恭喜发财
Ilike the script in this scroll so much that I and my wife decided to paste two of them side by side on the window glass panel to welcome the Chinese New Year.
In English the 4 Chinese characters of 三阳和谐 (san yang he xie) means "Auspicious Beginnings of Peace and Harmony."
The phrase is written by Ven Master Hsing Yun, a renowned Buddhist monk from Fo Guan Shan monastery in Taiwan.
Of the two scrolls in my possession, one of them was given to me when I and my wife visited Fo Guan Shan Monastery in Taiwan as tourists in December 2014. During the Taiwan visit Fo Guan Shan Monastery was one of the tour itinerary.
As for the other one, it was given to me by members of the local Fo Guan Shan centre in Taman Puncak Jalil where I am now serving as an OPM volunteer.
I like this particular scroll because the script has deep spiritual meaning, so unlike the common CNY scripts that focus on materialistic themes such as wealth, good fortune and prosperity.
Wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year.
Thu 12/2/2015 OPM Centre, Tmn Puncak Jalil
To mark a successful year the committee organised a vegetarian yee sang and steamboat dinner at its premises for the members. It was also held to celebrate the CNY that is going to start next week on Feb 19.
Today is the last time that we all meet and work here before closing the centre for 3 weeks to celebrate the CNY. Today was also the first time we wore our newly designed green T-shirt for the occasion.
After the dinner and washing up all of us sat around a table for a dialog session. During the dialog session many of the members freely shared their experiences of OPM therapy so that others may learn some valuable lessons from such exchange of information and knowledge. Two guests who are currently undergoing regular treatment here were also invited to share their experiences of the treatment with the members.
Although I am one of the newest members I was also invited to talk about my own experience working here. I told them how I got started and how grateful I am for being accepted by the group and given the opportunity to learn this form of health therapy.
My introduction to OPM therapy was purely by chance.
One day last year while serving the internet I stumbled upon a web site called "Origin Point Medicine in English" After reading all the stories written by the readers of this page I was convinced that OPM therapy is something worth looking into. The more I read the stories the more I got intrigued by the potential of this type of alternative medicine for health preservation and cultivation.
Before long I found myself registering for a two day weekend OPM workshop organised by BGF at Ara Damansara. Even before attending the workshop I was already attending treatment sessions at the Tmn Puncak Jalil OPM centre for my painful knee conditions.
The first person at the centre who attended to me was Jason Ng, who is a senior therapist here. When he first kneaded the origin points on my back I felt like I had just received an electric shock. The pain was so intense that my body even trembled as he piled on the pressure.
After a few sessions when I got to know Jason better, one night he suggested that I learn the art at the centre. Without hesitation I accepted his offer and started to visit the centre every week long after my knee problem was resolved. Beside Jason other senior members also gave me pointers and tips on how to execute the original point massage. I recall starting my first lesson in July 2014 and since then I have never looked back.
Then after about 6 months of hands-on training one night in January 23 2015 they gave me a green T-shirt to wear. That was my proudest moment. By presenting me with the T-shirt I knew that it was their way of accepting me as a full-fledged therapist. Before that even though I had already started to give treatment to visitors I was wearing my own clothing while the rest of the members were wearing their green T-shirt uniforms.
Although I am one of them now I still consider myself as a novice with a long road ahead to travel before I can consider myself competent in the art.
I am also grateful for the assistance that I am receiving from my senior colleagues who continue to teach me the deeper aspects of OPM therapy without reservation.
Inti College, Nilai. Wed 11/2/2015
The Wed regular class was cancelled. Instead the members decided to organise a BBQ gathering night. Days before all the members were invited to attend the gathering via WhatsApp.
Although all the members of the club were invited some could not make it to the event due to work obligations. Then there were other non-club invited guests who didn't show up.
By the time I arrived at 7.00pm the members were already busy setting up the fire at two BBQ pits. I walked over to the pit where Nigel was busy fanning the charcoal to try set up a fire. I then decided to help in fanning the fire, at first with old newspaper and then later with a paper plate. Meanwhile some members were busy arranging an assortment of meat items on the skewers.
By 8.00pm when the fire was deemed ready all of us placed the skewed meat on a wire mesh laid over the flame to cook the meat. It was the first time that I had ever try my hand grilling meat over a charcoal fire. On hand to guide me was Nigel who is an old hand at cooking BBQ meals. Still due to my inexperience I overcooked some of the food.
Originally the organising committee had planned some games but due to the low turnout decided to cancel the games. Before the event ended at 10.00pm everyone was given a T-shirt printed with a beautiful Aikido artwork design to wear during the next training session.
