Formula 1 in INSA

I took this picture on the 6th of April, when the F1 news was all abuzz. These two machines were going around in a "circuit" to cut the grass...and somehow I thought that it was rather like they were racing. Which was why I took a photo... :P


This was taken from my research lab...and the building opposite is GE.

Cloning is so easy with technology

As is common, once I posted up a riddle I found something else to post.

Have you heard of Sam Tsui? I discovered a video of him singing Glee Journey's Don't Stop Believing (a song I knew though I never knew who sang it) -



- and which led me to discover a superbly done video of a Michael Jackson medley.



Kurt Schneider should be credited as well, for the music and videos!

They also did a College Musical (I haven't finished watching it yet) and loads of other covers of popular songs.

Edit: Oops, just discovered that Glee is a TV show (don't quite know the details) and not a singer :P

Most people love me...

I’m a girl's name
sometimes you break me
sometimes you chew
I’m sour
I’m salty
yet also bad for you
but most people love me
they truly do

What am I?

Answer below.
















ANSWER: Candy

A random message to someone out there

When I said "don't leave without saying a word", you said "of course not! What's more, there's still plenty of time". But in the end, you still did.

Maybe I am the one who feels that it is pointless to speak empty words. Or did you mean them when you said them, and then forget them later?

We might not meet again, but you were always friendly, for which I thank you. Somehow I had always known that you were fickle, but I guess that is just the way it is.

Of growing up without realising it

I underestimate myself sometimes. I have had several occasions to notice this.

For example, I underestimate my strength. Several times already, I have hit or moved something too hard, harder than was necessary.

Now I wonder whether I underestimate my pain tolerance as well. And that could be dangerous. Because, as Doraemon says, pain is good. Without pain, you could die without knowing it.

Like when my whole arm was anaesthesized, I wouldn't even have known if someone chopped it off. Scary.

I think this underestimating comes partly from my complete lack of strength and total intolerance for pain when I was small. Knowing that you were somewhat inferior while growing up, somehow you just never expect it to change. For how do you quantify this kind of thing? How do you know whether you have improved? There are no results to show.

An accidental experiment

I read somewhere before that fingernails grow more quickly on the hand you use. (like if you're right-handed, those on your right hand grow more quickly) And that the one on the ring finger grows faster than the others, something that has always struck me, even when I was small. (I can't remember whether they gave a reason for this, though)

Now I have an "experiment" that proves this.

Exactly one week ago, I underwent an operation that rendered my left middle finger completely useless. (don't ask here, I will most probably post the whole story when the whole thing is over and done with, but as of now, if you want to know it will have to be through a personal chat) Not only useless, but needing constant vigilance (Mad-Eye Moody? :P ) to keep it away from any harm (brutal or not-so-brutal impacts (chocs is the word my French-tuned brain supplied me))

As a result, I spent the whole week doing most things with my right hand, and when I had to use my left hand it was only the thumb and the index finger (and rarely, but very very rarely, the other two fingers)

I had cut my fingernails one or two days before the operation, and now the ones on my right hand are definitely longer than a "normal" week's worth (unsurprisingly, since they have kind of taken over the left hand's workload...let's say they're working like 150% now?)

And my left thumb and index finger have rather "normal-length" fingernails, while the last two fingernails look like I just trimmed them one or two days ago. (don't ask about the middle finger, I don't care to look)

(I tried taking photos of my fingernails, but they came out really bad, so I guess I won't post them after all...)

Have a chicken panini

There are goodness knows how many pizza delivery shops in Lyon. Every once in a while, I will receive a publicity flyer in my mailbox. These flyers are all the same, essentially: there will be a list of the pizzas' names with the ingredients for their topping listed. And then there will be a section called Tex-Mex, which is all the fried/breaded stuff: chicken wings (okay, these are roasted :P ), nuggets, potato wedges... Then there are burgers, kebabs, or paninis, or some of the three. There will also be salads, and a list of desserts that will always contain brownies and ice-cream, with the ice-cream always being the Haagen-Dazs kind (or Ben and Jerry's, that I have never tried before, but that everyone says is good) And oh yeah, the photo of the brownie ALWAYS looks the same. I haven't seen the real thing before, so I wouldn't know whether it really is the same type of brownie for each shop. But I wouldn't be surprised if all the brownies came from the same supplier...

A lot of these pizza places are halal, which usually means that they're set up by foreigners. That might be why we often see mistakes on the flyers...though I wouldn't put it past the French to make some of the same mistakes...

And why am I writing about this now? It is because one of the items on the flyer I just received is a chicken panini. And the ingredients include smoked turkey, but no chicken.

See the menu for yourself:

Sorry, the pizza names are all cut off, but that isn't the most important thing, so I didn't scan it again.

and the famous chicken-free chicken panini :P
(click on the pictures to enlarge)

-Hey, get something for me, anything but chicken.
-Here, have a chicken panini.
-But I said I didn't want chicken!
-I know, I didn't get you chicken.
-But you got me a chicken panini.
-But there's no chicken inside!
-Oh.....really?

Oh well. I was going to stop at the first two lines of conversation...then somehow I continued it. Maybe I shouldn't have...this kind of joke has sure been done before.

(This post was written several months ago...it has been waiting to be typed out, something which became a victim of the procrastination devil)

The ancient imperial language of China

Daphne shared an e-mail she got about bananas.

Ancient Imperial Language of China - 2,000 Years Ago.


If you're a HOKKIEN Take Note !!

Ancient Imperial Language of China – 2,000 Years Ago

How Did it Sound Like? (Mind you, it's no way similar to Mandarin)
Has this Ancient Language Survived?
Who Speaks it Today?

You'll be Surprised. You have heard it. You, your parents, or grandparents may still be speaking this ancient, archaic language!

Yes, it's HOKKIEN (Fujian/Minnan Hua)



Hokkien is:

1. The surviving language of the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD), China 's Golden Age of Culture.

Note: The Hokkien we hear today may have "evolved" from its original form 2,000 years ago, but it still retains the main elements of the Tang Dynasty Language.

2. Hokkiens are the surviving descendants of the Tang Dynasty -- When the Tang Dynasty collapsed, the people of the Tang Dynasty fled South and sought refuge in the Hokkien ( Fujian ) province. Hence, Hokkien called themselves Tng-lang (Tang Ren or People of the Tang Dynasty) instead of Hua Lang (Hua Ren).

3. Hokkien has 8 tones instead of Mandarin's 4. Linguists claim that ancient languages tend to have more complex tones.

4. Hokkien retains the ancient Chinese pronunciation of "K-sounding" endings (for in stance, Hak Seng (student), Tua Ok (university), Thak Chek (read a book/study) -- the "k" sounding ending is not found in Mandarin.

5. The collection of the famous "Three Hundred Tang Dynasty Poems" sound better when recited in Hokkien/Teochew if compared to Mandarin.

6. Consider this for a moment: Today, the Hokkien Nam Yim Ochestral performance still has its roots in ancient Tang dynasty music. Here's the proof: The formation of today Nam Yim ensemble is typically seen in ancient Tang dynasty paintings of musicians.


More Astonishingly:

Although not genetically-related, Hokkiens, Koreans and Japanese share many similar words (which are different from Mandarin).

That's because Hokkien was the official language of the powerful Tang Dynasty whose influence and language spread to Japan and Korea (just like Latin – where many words were borrowed by the English, French, Italian, etc). Here are just a few words in Hokkien, Korean and Japanese for your comparison (Daphne's Note: If something is missing, it's the Japanese word):


*Daphne's Note: Words are presented in this order of :-

Hokkien
Korean
Japanese


H: Sin Boon (news)
K: Sin Mun
J: Shinbun - newspaper

H: Cheng Hu (government)
K: Chong Bu
J:

Pang (room)
Pang


Chhia (car/vehicle)
Ch'a


Mui/M'ng (door)
Mun


P'hio (ticket)
P'yo


Eng Wan (eternal)
Yong Won


Chaek (book)
Ch'ae


Ki (flag)
Ki
Ki

Kang river)
Gang/kang


Poh Hiam (insurance)
Poh Ham


Sio Sim (caution)
Cho sim


Mo Kui (demon)
Ma gui


Cham (attend/join/mix)
Ch'am sok


Kantan (simple)
Gan Dan


Sin Sei Kai (new world)
Shin Sae Gae


Kok Ka (nation)
Kuk Kka


Hya (elder brother)
Hyaeng


Choon Pi (prepare)
Jun Bi


Si Kan (time)
Si Kan


Kam tong (emotion, feeling)
Kam Jong
Kanjoo

Kamsia (gratitude, thanks)
Kam Sa
Kansha

Keat Hoon (marriage)
Kyol Hon
Kekkon

Oon Tong (exercise)
Un Dong
Undoo

Tua Ok (university)
Tae Hak
Daigaku

Aun Chuan (safety)
An Jon
An Zen

Mua Chiok(satisfaction)
Man Jok
Manzoku

Ai Lang (lover)
Ae In
Aijin

Seng Kong (success)
Song Kong
Seikoo

Chhiu Sat (suicide)
Cha sal
Jisatsu

Pu Do (grapes)
P'o d'o
Budoo

Chin Por (progress)
Chin bo
Shinpo



To all 49 Million Hokkien Speakers:

Be Proud of Your Ancient Hokkien Heritage & Language! Speak it Loud and Clear. Teach Your Future Generation this Imperial Language, Less it Fades Away. Be Proud Children of the Tang Emperors.

To all Mandarin-speaking friends out there -- do not look down on your other Chinese friends who do not speak Mandarin – whom you guys fondly refer to as "Bananas". In fact, they are speaking a language which is much more ancient & linguistically complicated than Mandarin.

Keep in mind that Mandarin is just:

1. A Northern Chinese dialect (heavily influenced by non Han Chinese) that was elevated to the status of National Language by Sun Yat Sen for the sake of China’s national unity.

2. Mandarin was never spoken by your proud, imperial Tang Dynasty ancestors. It was probably spoken by the Northern (Non-Han) Jurchen, Mongols and Manchu minority. Start speaking the language of your ancestors today.

I think that the person who wrote this was one sore Hokkien who got called "banana" a bit too often. But I feel that he was too eager to elevate Hokkien and put Mandarin down... Calling someone "banana" has no raison d'être (reason to exist, literally), it is as simple as that. Whatever language they might or might not speak.

Anyway, that was interesting to know. (hopefully there's no fake info in there...)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, and while I'm sharing something...here's a little grammar tip from NCIS' Ducky:

Always use whom after a preposition.

It's for you, WW ;)

From here.

A pirate's music

I already shared some of Renan Luce's songs.

Now here are a few other nice French songs I often hear on the radio.

Here's Ensemble (Together) by Coeur de Pirate (the literal translation being "pirate's heart")



That wasn't the first song of hers that caught my attention...the first one was Pour un infidèle (for an unfaithful), a duet with Julien Doré.

Then there is Comme des enfants (like children) which is nice as well.

Her songs are rather short...but pretty sweet ^_^

And I can't believe I'm saying this...but I rather like her voice! (I seldom notice voices more than the music itself...so that it saying something! lol)

And here's C'est la vie (It's life) by Fabrice Mauss. This is the only song of his that I've noticed...I kinda like the "peaceful" music...

Party in the park

Last Sunday we went for a picnic at the parc de la Tête d'Or.

I brought my camera with me...and finally got some lovely photos of the lake in the park. (each time before this, I either didn't have my camera with me or the lake wasn't looking that pretty...or else I didn't go near the lake :P)

the island in the middle of the lake

Is that Cité Internationale?

Then we sat down, ate a bit, and played cards.


We played a game called Captain Ball that Yik Wen taught us...I guess it can be described as handball, with the "goal" being a person standing at a fixed spot. If that person catches the ball, the team scores. I didn't think I knew the game at first...but in the end they mentioned that the game was usually played with the "goal" person standing on a chair...and suddenly I seem to have a slight recollection of having played it before. But it's all very fuzzy...I can't be sure.

Anyway, I don't have photos of the game...'cos we were all running around a lot (except those who played "goal", and that definitely wasn't me 'cos I'm too short) and getting really tired. Then as we were resting, I shepherded them together for a group photo :P

left to right: Fadhil, Yik Wen, Denis, David, Dinie (wow, 3 D's in a row! lol), Wenshao and Thaïs
sitting: Mah

See the red ball at David's foot? Yik Wen threw the ball just as I was taking the photo. So it was actually still in the air in the pic...falling down.

changing photographers

playing monkey, since we had run out of games to play

I was actually a "monkey" at that time...though I couldn't be bothered trying to get the ball :P A few of us were just throwing the ball around (since we were too tired to continue playing Captain Ball), then Denis and another guy (I can't remember who) came to try and take the ball. So those two became the monkeys...until I missed the ball and the other guy took my place. But I was too lazy to run around chasing the ball...so Denis was left as the only monkey :P

As I told them, I'm a passive monkey...or a contented one, depending on how you look at it. (contented as in wanting to stay a monkey :P )