An English Activity

Tonight's post will be slightly different. It's going to be an activity. I am going to type a passage and I want you to read and spot my mistake. When you spot my mistake, I want you to copy and paste the sentence and then correct the mistake. This is an example of what I want you to do.

Last Sunday, I go to Central to have dinner with my friends.

There is a mistake in the sentence above. So this is what you do. Copy and paste the sentence and correct it, just like this.

Last Sunday, I go to Central to have dinner with my friends.

Last Sunday, I went to Central to have dinner with my friends.

Simple? So have a try at this. Read carefully and now, it's your turn to be my teacher!

Last Saturday, I have diner with a few friend at Causeway Bay. The food there is delicious. We has bif, porke and vegtables. My favourte dish is the bif. The bif were yummy and nece to eat. Everyone enjoys the yummy food. Next week, we is went there again. Where do you went for dinner last wekend? Wat you like to eat?

Okay, now, correct the passage above and see if you can pick out my mistakes!

My Grandma

Tonight, I thought that I'll write about my grandma since I just visited here over the weekend. This is my grandma. My favourite grandma! Not that I have many grandmas. My grandma lives in China now. You must be wondering why is my grandma living in China, right? Let me tell you the history of my grandma and history of me too.

My grandma is 84 years now. She was born in 1923 in Liao Bu in Dongguan. When she was 14 years old, she left China to go to Singapore to work. She must have been very brave to do that. She worked as a cleaner. At 20, she married my grandfather. They fell in love and got married. They had a daughter who I call Aunty. A few years later, they adopted my mother. So my grandparents are not my real parents but my adoptive grandparents but they love us a lot. My grandfather was not from China. He was a Baba which is also known as a Straits Chinese.The Babas are descendants of Chinese immigrants that settled in the Malay archipelago as early as the 17th century. Intermarriage with the native peoples of the region was common and engendered a unique culture that combined various traditions and customs. So both of them were very different.

When we were young, my parents will bring us to visit my grandparents every weekend. My grandma cooks the best Chinese soups. Very yummy! Over the years, grandpa passed away and grandma decided that she wants to return to her hometown to live as she misses her home. To grandma, China is still her home. So she returned. Of course, we were sad and we did not want her to go back to China as we will not be able to see her as often as we would like to. But now that I live in Hong Kong. I try to see grandma at least once in 2 months. I have to make an effort to see Grandma more as she's getting old and she gets sick more often. I miss her soups as she doesn't cook as often now that she's rather old.

Write and tell me about your grandparents. You must love your grandparents as much as I love my grandparents.

Chung Yeung Festival

Ever since I started working in Hong Kong, I am learning more and more of Chinese Festivals. Growing up i n Singapore, I did not understand or celebrate as many Chinese Festival as the people in Hong Kong and it's interesting to learn of the history behind each festival.

The Chung Yeung Festival is a day to respect and remember ancestors. Also known as Autumn Remembrance, this festival is similar to Ching Ming in the spring, in that families journey to the graves of their ancestors to perform cleansing rites and pay their respects. They share the food they bring along, especially Chinese cakes, ko, which is a homonym of the word for "top". Some believe that those who eat these cakes will be promoted to the top.

It is also a day for hiking. The Chung Yeung Festival commemorates a Han Dynasty (BC 202-AD 220) legend, which tells how a fortune teller advised Woon King that he should take his family to a high place for the entire ninth day of the ninth moon. Upon their return, the Woon family discovered all living things in their village had been killed. Today, many Hong Kong families head to the hills to picnic during the Chung Yeung Festival.

This is a popular Chinese poem that’s recited by children during Chung Yeung Festival.

"Double Ninth, Missing My Shandong Brothers" - Wang Wei (Tang Dynasty)

Original:

《九(jiǔ)月(yuè)九(jiǔ)日(rì)憶(yì)山(shān)東(dōng)兄(xiōng)弟(dì)》 王維

獨(dú)在(zài)異(yì)鄉(xiāng)為(wèi)異(yì)客(kè)，

每(měi)逢(féng)佳(jiā)節(jié)倍(bèi)思(sī)親(qīn)。

遙(yáo)知(zhī)兄(xiōng)弟(dì)登(dēng)高(gāo)處(chù)，

遍(biàn)插(chā)茱(zhū)萸(yú)少(shǎo)一(yī)人(rén)

English:

As a lonely stranger in the strange land,

Every holiday the homesickness amplifies.

Knowing that my brothers have reached the peak,

All but one is present at the planting of zhuyu.

The information above was taken from these websites.

http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/heritage/festivals/he_fest_chun.jhtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Ninth_Festival

Write and tell me what you did during the long weekend.

Nick Vujicic - Life Without Limbs

My sister in Singapore sent me this video link. I was very touched by this video and I thought that I'll share this with everyone. When I first watched this video, I was moved that I almost cried. Even now as I'm writing this, I still feel very touched. When I watched this video, I thanked God for making me fine. I've got legs and arms and that I should not be complaining about my life. And like Nick says, the joy of the Lord is knowing no matter what happens, God is with you and He will never forsake you. Nick is such an inspiration.

Write and tell me how you feel after you watch this video? I hope after watching this video, you'll be inspired and touched like me!