Saturday, October 28, 2006

Trick or Treat!

Trick-or-treating and guising

Main article: Trick-or-treating
The main event of modern US-style Halloween is trick-or-treating, in which children dress up in costume disguises and go door-to-door in their neighborhood, ringing each doorbell and yelling "trick or treat!" Although this resembles the older tradition of guising in Ireland and Scotland, ritual begging on Halloween does not appear in English-speaking America until the 20th century, and may have developed independently. The occupants of the house (who might themselves dress in a scary costume) will then hand out small candies, miniature chocolate bars, and sometimes even soda pop. Some American homes will use sound effects and fog machines to help set a spooky mood. Other house decoration themes (that are less scary) are used to entertain younger visitors. Children can often accumulate many treats on Halloween night, filling up entire pillow cases or shopping bags.
In Ireland, great bonfires were lit throughout the breadth of the land. Young children in their guises were gladly received by the neighbors with some "fruit, apples and nuts and of course sweets" for the "Halloween Party", whilst older male siblings played innocent pranks on bewildered victims.
In Scotland, children or guisers are more likely to recite "The sky is blue, the grass is green, may we have our Halloween" instead of "trick or treat!". They visit neighbours in groups and must impress the members of the houses they visit with a song, poem, trick, joke or dance in order to earn their treats. Traditionally, nuts, oranges, apples and dried fruit were offered, though sometimes children would also earn a small amount of cash, usually a sixpence. Very small children often take part, for whom the experience of performing can be more terrifying than the ghosts outside.
In England, trick or treating does take place, particularly in working class neighbourhoods. On the whole, however, it is frowned upon as a form of begging and as a negative part of American global culture.
Tricks play less of a role in modern Halloween, though Halloween night is often marked by vandalism such as soaping windows, egging houses or stringing toilet paper through trees. Before indoor plumbing was so widespread, tipping over or displacing outhouses was a popular form of intimidation. Casting flour into the faces of feared neighbors was also done once upon a time.
Typical Halloween costumes have traditionally been monsters such as vampires, ghosts, witches, and devils. In recent years, it has become common for costumes to be based on themes other than traditional horror, such as dressing up as a character from a TV show or movie, or choosing a recognizable face from the public sphere, such as a politician (in 2004, for example, George W. Bush and John F. Kerry were both popular costumes in America). In 2001, after the September 11 attacks, for example, costumes of Islamic terrorists, firefighters, police officers, and United States military personnel became popular among children and adults. In 2004, an estimated 2.15 million children in the United States were expected to dress up as Spider-Man, the year's most popular costume.[16]
"'Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" has become a common sight during Halloween in North America. Started as a local event in a Philadelphia suburb in 1950, and expanded nationally in 1952, the program involves the distribution of small boxes by schools to trick-or-treaters, in which they can solicit small change donations from the houses they visit. It is estimated that children have collected more than $119 million for UNICEF since its inception.
BIGresearch conducted a survey for the National Retail Federation in the US and found that 53.3% of consumers planned to buy a costume for Halloween 2005, spending $38.11 on average (up 10 dollars from last year). An estimate of $3.3 billion was made for the holiday spending.
A child usually "grows out of" trick-or-treating by his or her teenage years. Trick-or-treating by teenagers is accepted, but generally discouraged with genial ribbing by those handing out candy. Teenagers and adults instead often celebrate Halloween with costume parties, bonfire parties, staying home to give out candy, listening to Halloween music, watching horror movies or scaring people.

Games and other activities
There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween parties. The most common is dooking or bobbing for apples, in which apples float in a tub or a large basin of water; the participants must use their teeth to remove an apple from the basin. A variant involves kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the teeth and trying to drop the fork into an apple. Another common game involves hanging up treacle or syrup-coated scones by strings; these must be eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string, an activity which inevitably leads to a very sticky face.
Some games traditionally played at Halloween are forms of divination. In Puicíní (pronounced "pooch-eeny"), a game played in Ireland, a blindfolded person is seated in front of a table on which several saucers are placed. The saucers are shuffled and the seated person then chooses one by touch. The contents of the saucer determine the person's life for the following year. A saucer containing earth means someone known to the player will die during the next year, a saucer containing water foretells travel, a coin means new wealth, a bean means poverty, etc. In 19th-century Ireland, young women placed slugs in saucers sprinkled with flour. The wriggling of the slugs and the patterns subsequently left behind on the saucers were believed to portray the faces of the women's future spouses.
In North America, unmarried women were frequently told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror. However, if they were destined to die before they married, a skull would appear. The custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The telling of ghost stories and viewing of horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties. Television specials with a Halloween theme, usually aimed at children, are commonly aired on or before the holiday while new horror films are often released theatrically before the holiday to take advantage of the atmosphere.
Visiting a haunted house or a dark attraction are other Halloween traditions. Notwithstanding the name, such events are not necessarily held in houses, nor are the edifices themselves necessarily regarded to possess actual ghosts. A variant of this is the haunted trail, where the public encounters supernatural-themed characters or presentations of scenes from horror films while following a trail through a heavily wooded area or field. One of the largest Halloween attractions in the U.S.A. is Knott's Scary Farm in California, which features re-themed amusement park rides and a dozen different walkthrough mazes, plus hundreds of costumed roving performers.

Today is Halloween and above is the meaning from Wikipedia! Heh... Poor baby had to work to day... Let me summaries the events that happen lately and coming soon.

Yesterday was my mum's birthday. We had a family dinner at Thailand Small Eat - directly translated from chinese. This must be the first family outing in years that we had. Full strength reported. My pet and my bro's pet also attended the dinner. We had 5 dishes, 1 soup and pineapple rice. I think it was nice but the rest think so-so only.. sad sad :(!

We bought a fan on our way home from Giant. $23.90 cheap cheap... hope it last... Heh.. We haven't went to see the costume for halloween party for saturday... don't think we are going... maybe we going sing ktv with sok sok and monkey... poor baby shit lately got blood so we going to see doctor this afternoon... hope baby is already and her butt get well soon....

Next weekend we are going batam with keli couple. And the next next week we are going to watch the little house of horrors. I wish i had earn more money a lately baby had been paying for the expenses... haiz... Going to need a haircut soon so do baby.... and nails-cutting too... and we need to visit karen too i think... heh... so many events coming up... and i need to book a bbq pit for my birthday too... wah - system overloading... disconnecting soon...

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Haze is back again!

The haze pretty bad today. Hai wo cannot go running.... my little princess is going gym this evening with her colleagues... luckily is indoor... heh... jia you! I need to exercise too... fat fat liao... haiz... where is the good old days when i'm slim and fit?...

Tell you ah my driving instructor is very naggy... btw let's just gave him a nick called naggy wong! For the 1h 15mins he's nagging at me the whole time lor... telling me you do this deduct how many marks ah... why my reaction so bad, coordination not there yet, need to learn more lesson... that's why i need an instructor ma... you damn ass wong... if i'm so good why would i need you? Anyway i think i'm generally getting immune to him liao.. he eat the last 15mins of my time lor... damn stingy wong.... haiz... no choice... hope i'll pass first time with this kind of instructor... maybe i'll be drilled to perfection! I can only pray my suffering won't be in vain....

Alot of events are coming up! Halloween is coming and it's the october-fest! German beer rulez! Time to get stuff for my OBS. My last CAAS paper - pray, beg, hope, must MUST PASS ALL! Our 1 year anniversary coming up! So many things to do. Shopping ah, visit pet farm! Look at dogs! Don't drool princess! Heh... exciting....

Let's me pray for a good time for everyone and for those who still are not that fortunate yet i really wish that you guys life would brighten up and be better. Time is passing us so fast but we must catch hold of it... don't regret anything... life is not a bed of rose - but there'll be hope and light which i hope we'll all be able to find strength in. Be brave and happy... life is but a passing shadow....

Monday, October 09, 2006

A Happening Weekend - Vivo, Cartier, Crabs, Nasi Lemak,Sleep (Not the HaZe)!

Today is Monday... Monday Blue... heh... tonight is going to be my second driving lesson. Not really enjoying it tho... heh... oh well life sux shit happens... My princess is at Brewerks with her colleagues! So fun... i'm home tying my blog... just as well if not when can i type?

Heh... last friday i can't believe we sleep early, before 12 midnight. We had dinner at Chong Pang nasi lemak... long time no patronise there liao. Lucky we found seats. Quite enjoy our dinner... there chicken wings are netshot! Just as we left the hawker we walk past this pet grooming salon and saw 2 very pretty dogs... the Nippon Paint dog & a Collie... there stood up so straight and still we thought they were statues... princess like them very much... that enforce her wish in having a dog in the future... lol... pat pat....wink wink... good dogs!

Saturday was suppose to be sentosa but early in the morning joshua and johnny msg us to ask if we are still going due to the bad haze - 180 PSI! We cancel it and instead we accompany joshua to see the Cartier exhibition at the national muesum... luckily he has the car to drive us around... we park illegally in the church ... so funny we try to act blur and smoke our way thru... joshua not a very convincing liar ... oh well our fault too... so it ok. The exhibition was a blast. Never in my life i saw so many sparkling stones and artpieces of the finest and glaring and oh mine... i'm lost for words. The trinity ring is one of the highlights as well as a lot of priceless pieces. The reptile series amaze me the most. There was this snake make up of entirely of stones and platatium.... dazzling... a work of the highest skilled. It isn't at all stiff and can be wrapped around your neck like a real snake... masterpiece i declared!...And the crocodiles necklace another master piece... very life-like and beautiful... oh mine oh mine... It's definitely worth our morning time to embrace this arts and blind ourselves. Joshua must be very contented...

Afternoon we went Vivo! For it's so-celled soft opening. Shops are 60% opened. And it is a million sq ft! With 300 Shops featuring Gap, Ted Baker, CK Tangs + Living, Aldo and a whole lot more.... There was a lot of people just as excited and interest as us to grace it's opening. Harbourfront bask in the limelight as the shoppers cross over to visit this place as well. There was so many people we culdn't find a proper place to eat. We had subway... twice... and they sold out of french loaf and out of ice... everyone was forced to eat the taco wraps... lol.... We walked for like 4 hours maybe.. haha... and joshua went to make a pair of specs... rich people... lol.. but i think he look nice...

Dinner at alexandra village for chilli crabs... and sting ray (revenage for irwin steve!), mutton soup and ma tuo! +Ga Lan... stir-fried...quite cheap about 10 dollars per pax... very nice and tasty and we tried a special drink... avconda... veyr creamy and smoothing.. but princess doesn't really like it... after that joshua wanted to ps so we went back home...

Me and baby went for a midnight show Rob-B-Hood by Jacky Chan and Louis Koo... Princess love the baby in the show - Mattew... so cute... pinch pinch... whack whack... heh.. Princess like alot of things... heh... It was a nice show and they say the baby itself is worth the money to go watch it... no arguements i guess....

Korean cup noodle for our supper... heh... then it's light out... *yawnz*... Sunday was spend sleeping and watching lora Craft - Tomb raider (Cradle of Life)... a very enjoyable weekend... nice!

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

My First Driving Lesson...

Today is my first practical driving lesson! So exciting... Hope everything will go smoothly. My Private instrutor like very bo char...

He never tell me the exact timing, never tell me his car plate number, never tell me anything about his car so i can identify him... just great.. haha.. so i have to try my luck later in finding him liao.. heh

My poor princess is recovering from her illness... she so scared to see doctor... lol... the doctor say she got stomach flu. Quite a weird illness... how does the stomach get flu? Anyway my heart pain pain see her so nan sou... she got MC still wan go work... it's like JobBD is her company... so hardworking! Raise her salary, promote her!