MY QIGONG FAMILY

      Yep, Us QIGONG GALS ROCK. Lan Boey who painted this T-shirt couldn't have said it any better. 

With our DAILY Zoom qigong 

at 6am, 

10am and 8pm sessions, we are fit to fight Covid-19 anytime. 

BRING IT ON! Actually that was just a metaphorical statement! 

STAY AWAY Covid-19.

OK, I did not say I practised all 3 sessions but I do at least ONE session a day.

 And every Sunday since january at 10am, we have been doing 240 squats continuously with NO BREAK in-between.  I am not kidding, note the time on the picture for evidence. Every dot at the bottom of the pix represents 1 or 2 members, thus more than 40 members have been practising every Sunday. I am the blue bird of course.

Our qigong master, Edwin "laoshi" (in green) leads the class on Sundays with his team at Sri Kembangan and pushes us on for the 240 squats. 

YES, it is OUCH for ONE HOUR but we DID IT.

So, we took a break on 12th February 

for a "wish everybody Gong Xi Fa Cai," 

from all our dedicated teachers 

and qigong members.

 May we live long 

and prosper. 

YES, QIGONG GALS 🙆‍♀️ and GUYS 🙆‍♂️ ROCK. 

Hun Yuan Ling Tong.

PINEAPPLES FOR PROSPERITY?

But before we get to humongous pineapples, here is a flower that resembles a bird

when it is in the budding process. Magnolia liflor - a flock of birds to welcome Spring. Spring Festival or Chinese New Year is celebrated today, year of the Ox, the second of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs.

Shops have put up their pineapple deco weeks ago.

I am always in awe at how much bigger the pineapples get every year. 

    In the Chinese Hokkien dialect, pineapples are called "ong lai."     Ong" (prosperity, luck, fortune) "lai" (coming).  So hanging pineapples for prosperity is a play of words which the Chinese are very fond of. I am not so keen on huge pineapples hanging in my porch, 

so eating pineapple tarts for "ong lai" is close enough. 

But for assurance, I have pasted the good luck Mandarin character "fu" on my front door. 

 Fortune, good luck blessing,

 ALL COME IN PLEASE. 

"FU" in capital letters in English isn't exactly a blessing. Isn't it amazing how languages can have such different meanings and give rise to much misunderstanding! 

This "fu" comes with the Chinese God of Wealth and Money - "Caishen." We have a very popular song for CNY that is blasted repeatedly - "Caishen Dao," Money God has arrived. 

And yet another "fu" but with a FISH. Another play of words from the Chinese. 

In Mandarin, the same pronounciation can have many meanings - homonyms. This is the reason why Mandarin is a difficult language to study. The character fish is pronounced "yu" which rhymes exactly with "yu" which means surplus/in excess. Thus, the fish symblolises "nian nian you yu" which means abundance and surplus every year. 

 Peonies and 

any flowers in red or gold is accepted,

 including clothes. All black is a big NO NO, reserved only for funerals. Here is my Mandarin class mates having our Chinese New Year lunch, 2020.

We had our reunion dinner 

last night. Only the three of us. Opps... four of us since the man of the house

 (Thory) sat himself at the table while we were still getting stuff from the kitchen.

Xin Nian Kwai Le (the mandarin character is "chun" (Spring).

STEALING MY FRIENDS' FLOWER PICTURES!

Scarlet bougainvillea planted by Prof. Elizabeth's parents many years ago in the 1960s. 

A mauve display from Albert.

This is what I get up to when my garden is only GRASS and WEEDS with nothing to show off. 

Different varieties of Desert Rose 

from the Liews.

Lotus from Ah Con and her 

water lilies 

in her fish bowl, and her 

scarlet frangipani reaching to heaven.

 This rare unusual plant flowers only at NIGHT for Ms Puah Suat Moi. 

The flowers from the Epiphyllum oxypetalum or Night Queen tragically fade as dawn arrives.  

All the way from Melbourne , Australia is this Hibiscus Rio Clara  (rosa sinensis) in the Wees' garden which loves its position facing North in summer. The Wees, once Malaysians but who are now Australian citizens, are very patriotic as this species is Malaysia's national flower. More flowers 

from MelbourneI do have lilies in

 pots to show off. 

My only frangipani that bloomed once and surrendered to life as I over-watered it. 

Home-grown lilies from Australia, the pink is stunning.