Cuisine & Culture the Chinese Family Way
On Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories live radio last Friday, guest speaker Genesis (Top 3 Finalists for Be A Podcaster) talked about her relatives’ pregnancy. This story triggered me to ask my mum about pregnancy taboos when she was young. These pregnancy taboos are mainly old wives’ tales. You can decide whether to believe them or not, it’s your choice! The references are just for entertainment purposes.
Bukchon Hanok Village is home to over 900 traditional Korean houses and it is one of the recommended places to visit while on holiday in Seoul. The location didn’t disappoint me at all, but many tourists dressed up in hanbok and spent ages taking multiple shots and some were even doing a live feed on the street. They do have a number of tourist officials to control the crowds and make sure they don’t invade the local people’s privacy, especially around the hilltop. I still think it is not easy to enjoy the architecture of the buildings. All we did was try to avoid photobombing other people’s photos or videos. It was not easy to take any nice shots.
Beauty standards exist in every culture across the world, but the perception of beauty does differ depending on where you are.. Obviously, beauty is subjective, but even your personal preferences can be affected by where you grow up and the subcultures you align with. Asian and Western cultures do have some similarities when it comes to beauty standards, but they are also at odds in some respects, let’s dive in.
Are creepers and climbing plants bad for feng shui? Recently, my mum came to the UK to visit us and she noticed that I had a climbing plant outside my son’s room (he lives in an annexe, away from the main house) and wasn’t very pleased with it. She told me that according to feng shui masters, climbing plants is a big no-no for a house. They not only damage our wall structure, but they will also create a strong negative force for everyone living in the home.
What is kopi? Or do you mean ‘copy’? No! Kopi means coffee in a Hokkien dialect. If you are a coffee drinker, then you should know the different types of kopi meaning, especially in Singapore and Malaysia.
Let’s travel with illustrator and graphic designer Amaia Arrazola on her four-week trip through the beating heart of Tokyo via her new book Tokyo Travel Sketchbook. This book is published by Tuttle Publishing and is available to buy now in good book stores and Amazon. Please do note that this book is suitable for aged 14 and above as it does contain some erotic content!
Japan is a fascinating place, packed full of traditions dating back thousands of years and with their multifaceted cultural, it has never failed to fascinate me. Even though I have been there five times with my family and friends, each time it still intrigues me and makes me want to learn more about their culture. So I am delighted to have received this book to read along with my children.
A Geek In Japan is a comprehensive book that covers a broad set of topics in short articles accompanied by sidebars and numerous gorgeous, vibrant photographs, providing a lively digest of the society and culture of Japan. Designed to appeal to the generations of Westerners who grew up on Pokémon, manga and video games, A Geek in Japan reinvents the culture guide for readers in the Internet age.
What is Confinement?
It is a postnatal practice aimed at helping a new mum recover from pregnancy, labour and birth. It also means the new mum and baby are confined at home. For Chinese, the period lasts for a whole month, which will coincide with baby’s first month. During this time, the new mums have a lot of taboos and restrictions.
Following my recent theme on Chinese traditions, I decided to write about Yue Lao who is the god of marriage. Without him, there wouldn’t be any wedding. According to legend, Yue Lao appeared as an old man under the moon. He is like cupid but instead of holding a bow and arrow, he is holding a red string. If he ties the red string onto the couple, they will fall in love and get married.
Last week, I wrote a blog post about Chinese superstitions when entering a hotel room, this week I would like to share some tips of gift ideas to avoid buying for your Chinese friend. I find that it is sometimes not easy to understand one person culture but by learning through interaction or reading will help each other to understand and live in a better and tolerable environment.
Mandarin oranges play a major part in our Chinese New Year. It’s to do with way we pronounce the word, it sounds like fortune. Chinese people love to say only good words on Chinese New Year as it will bring them all the luck and fortune for the coming new year.
This is a very simple and straightforward Chinese Lantern. The rating of difficulty is 1 out of 5. This is a very small lantern, which measures approximately 13 cm, not including the length of the Chinese knot tassel and string. It is an such easy craft for children to do and won’t take more than 15 minutes to do. It will make a great Chinese New Year theme craft for younger children. You can also make more than one lantern and join them all in a vertical roll or horizontally as a banner.
The Dōngzhì Festival or Winter Solstice Festival is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Chinese during the Dongzhi solar term (winter solstice) on or around December 22 when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest. This year, it occurs on 21 December 2012.
