Live Long and Prosper - LLAP

Star Trek fans say goodbye to Spock a.k.a. Leonard Nimoy.  My mum used to watch Star Trek (1966 - 69).  I remembered watching all the movies of the original series.  I love Star Trek, too.

Did you wear pink yesterday?

Yesterday Feb 25 was Pink Shirt Day 2015.  We wear pink shirts / t-shirts to fight bullying on Pink Shirt Day.  My friends told me Asian guys wear pink dress shirts to work all the time.  But in North America, pink is considered a girl's colour.  This is not a cultural thing.  This is a concept created by toy manufactures to sell more toys.

In 2007, a grade nine Nova Scotia boy got bullied just because he wore a pink t-shirt during the first day of school.  Isn't it sad that we can't wear any colour we want to?  Two Nova Scotia high school students stood up for this grade nine boy.  They organized a school protest to wear the colour pink.   This movement was later carried out to other major cities across Canada.

Image source: Pixabay

Pink Shirt Day through out the years since 2015 

February 25, 2015 

February 24, 2016 

February 22, 2017 

According to statistics, sadly, every seven minutes someone is bullied in Canada.  Bullying demoralize the victims and  lower their self-esteems.  It has led to shootings and suicides.  The deaths of Amanda Todd and Rehtaeh Parsons are two well-known examples.  These teenagers are victims of bullying who felt they had no other option but to kill themselves.

Source: Global News

Together we can make a difference!  Like the two Nova Scotia high school students did eight years ago.  Together we can stop bullying!

Didn't wear pink yesterday?  Don't worry.  The second Wednesday of April is The Day of Pink.  It is the International Day against Bullying, Discrimination, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Transmisogyny across the world.  We can wear pink to fight bullying again.

You may ask, "why we have 2 different days to wear pink to fight bullying?"  Hey, why not? 

Related blog post: 

Pink Shirt Day 

http://pinkshirtday.ca/


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Live Long and Prosper - LLAP 


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Day 7 of Chinese New Year is Everyone's birthday

Day 7 of Chinese New Year is Everyone's birthday

This morning, one of my friends from Hong Kong sent me an email to wish me happy birthday.  I emailed her back to tell her today is not my birthday.  Then, she emailed me back to tell me today is the 7th day of Chinese New Year and it is the "Birthday of Human" in Chinese legend.  So, today is my birthday and everyone's birthday.

The 7th Day of Chinese New Year in

2015 is Feb 25
2016 is Feb 14
2017 is Feb 3
2018 is Feb 22
2019 is Feb 11
2020 is Jan 31 

In Hong Kong the 7th day of Chinese New Year is called "jan 4 jat 2*" in Cantonese.  It means it is the birthday for everybody.  But why?

My friend emailed me a story.  According to a legend, a female god called "leoi 5 wo 1" or "neoi 5 wo 1" created different animals on different days from Chinese New Year Day.

Day 1 of Chinese New Year is "Birthday of Chicken"

Day 2 of Chinese New Year is "Birthday of Dog"

Day 3 of Chinese New Year is "Birthday of Pig"

Day 4 of Chinese New Year is "Birthday of Sheep"

Day 5 of Chinese New Year is "Birthday of Ox"

Day 6 of Chinese New Year is "Birthday of Horse"

On the seventh day after creating the world and various animals, the female god still felt lonely.  So, she created human.  Then, Day 7 of Chinese New Year became "Birthday of Human".

Hmmm, let's wish everyone a happy birthday!

Happy Birthday to me!  Happy Birthday to all of you! 

P.S.  This is a Cantonese lesson my friend emailed to me with her story.

	means human
	means day or sun
	When these two words "jan 4" and "jat 6" combined to form a new term means "birthday of Human", the sound of "jat 6" changed to "jat 2".
	People in Hong Kong are lazy to pronounce some words properly. Since this is a popular habit, it is acceptable to pronounce "neoi 5" as "leoi 5".

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Did you wear pink yesterday? 


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Weekly special from Wednesday February 25 2015

Weekly special from 25 February 2015 Wednesday

Vegetables and fruits are expensive because of the bad weather and the weaker Canadian dollar.  Hope we will have good deals this week.  Let's start another list of our online flyers.

The search for how to sew skates blades critter covers / soakers

One of my friends want to make skates blades critter covers for birthday presents.  She searched online for over a year but she couldn't find any websites to show her how to make them.  "It is not possible," I said to my friend.  I'm sure that we can learn how to make a pair or two online.  So, I started my Google search.

Oscar 2015 - the biggest night in Hollywood

It's Oscar, of course my mum watched it from the beginning.  She wanted Patricia Arquette of Boyhood to win.  And she won Best Supporting Actress.  Congratulations, Patricia!

National Cupcake Day in Canada

National Cupcake Day Monday 23 February 2015
Photo copyright @ SPCAs & Humane Societies

Today is Feb 23 and finally National Cupcake Day is here.  It's still not too late to bake some cupcakes to help raise funds and awareness for SPCAs and Humane Societies across Canada.

Leonard and Raj selfied with Nathan Fillion at The Big Bang Theory

My mum loves Nathan Fillion.  I marked the calendar and we watched the episode on Feb 19.  We waited and waited and waited for his cameo appearance.  But he didn't appear until almost the end of the show.

Substitute sugar with maple syrup or honey

I don't buy or use refined white sugar anymore.  So, I replace it with organic sugar or brown sugar.  Lately, I substitute any kind of sugar with maple syrup or honey.

Cupcake recipes from SPCAs & Humane Societies

The coming Monday Feb 23 is National Cupcake Day for SPCAs & Humane Societies.  We can bake cupcakes for everyone around us and help raise funds for SPCAs & Humane Societies across Canada.

National Cupcake Day Monday 23 February 2015
Photo copyright @ SPCAs & Humane Societies

Carrot-Apple Cupcakes - A recipe from a local supermarket 2010

Here is another cupcake recipe for the upcoming Monday Feb 23 the National Cupcake Day.    On Monday, we are going to bake cupcakes, eat cupcakes and fundraise for SPCAs & Humane Societies across Canada.

Happy Lunar New Year, my friends

To my Cantonese friends

Gung Hay Fat Choy

To my other Chinese friends

Gong Xi Fa Cai

To my Korean friends

Saehae Bog Manh-i Bad-a

To my Vietnamese friends

Chuc Mung Nam Moi

Kelsey's Favourite Chocolate Cupcakes - A recipe from The Diabetes Research Foundation Dec 1998

Do you know the coming Monday Feb 23 is National Cupcake Day?  This is a day we bake cupcakes, eat cupcakes and fundraise for SPCAs & Humane Societies across Canada.  So, I looked through my pile of recipes I got from everyone to see if I have any good cupcake recipes.

Weekly special from 18 February 2015 Wednesday

Many of my relatives, friends and colleagues use this weekly online flyer list.  I'm so happy this list is useful for them.  Here is another week of saving for us.

Sites offer free for commercial use photos and Images

My friends asked me how I found the photos for my Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! blog post.  The answer is simple.  It's because there are many generous people let us use their photos and images.  Here is a list of them.

Family Day of Ontario, Canada

Today, the third Monday of February is Family Day and I don't have to go to work.  Since today is a provincial holiday, the banks are closed but the post offices are open for business.  Supermarkets are closed but the big shopping malls, which considered as tourist attractions, are open.

Our Canadian flag is 50 years old

Our Maple Leaf flag turned 50!  But our Conservative Government doesn't seem to want to celebrate this milestone.  This 50th anniversary was a low-key event at Confederation Park in Ottawa.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Here are some chocolates to you and you and you. Enjoy Valentine's Day.  XXOXX

Chocolates, LOVE - Photo source: Flickr

Friday the 13th February 2015

Do you believe in superstition?  Do you think Friday the 13th is an unlucky day?  If you are an Italian, you may not think today is a bad luck day.  For Italians, Friday the 17th is an unlucky day.  This is what my Italian friends told me.

Play OLG is not for occasional lottery ticket buyers

Last Friday's Lotto Max jackpot was 50 million Canadian dollars.  One of my colleagues opened an account at Play OLG.ca try to buy a lottery ticket.  But he found out this newly established OLG (The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation) site is basically designed for online casino gamblers.

Weekly special from 11 February 2015 Wednesday

Okay another week of shopping , another week of saving.  I'm waiting for Cottonelle bath tissue on sale.  When will we get 12-pk double roll Cottonelle bath tissue on sale for $4.99 again?

Oven Stew - A recipe from Synovate Global Opinion Panels winter 2006

On the same newsletter of Synovate Global Opinion Panels, there are two recipes.  Today I typed in the other recipe, so, I can put this newsletter into my recycle bin.  Please enjoy both recipes.  This one is dated April 1971!

Elvis Has Left The Building

Many of my friends read my last post yesterday.  They contacted me in various way to ask me "Is this a typo?"  "Is that a mistake?"  Last night, I went back to edit my post several times.  Thank so much, guys.  Most of my Japanese friends commented on one phrase "Elvis Has Left The Building", though.

Elvis Presley Cake - A recipe from Synovate Global Opinion Panels winter 2006

The person gave me this recipe is not a fan of Elvis Presley.  She used to do surveys for Synovate Global Opinion Panels.  Well, Elvis is not here anymore, this company is no longer exists and this recipe is dated October 1971!

The coming Lunar New Year is the year of Sheep? Ram? Goat?

Depends on who you ask, you will get different answers.  But they will all tell you this year's Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year) will start on Feb 19, 2015.