Seeing red on the door

During the olden day of the Chinese community, on the side of each main door of the houses, there would be a row of Chinese characters written on a piece of red paper. How did this practice come about? According to the folklore tales, Chinese ancestors originally painted the door with red paint to ward off the monster (so called Nian).

How bout this - the middle east version:

Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. (Exodus 12:22)

Perhaps Chinese ancestors were influenced by Old Testament's Exodus story. Or maybe the story carried its way thru the Silk Road. Whatever it is, new year is the time for appreciation and thankfulness to the Lord for blessing us.

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The wedding of ....

This wedding has some similarity with ours but, by comparison in every detail, each is still distinctly unique.

Day 2: A visit to some of The Tokyo Toilet project

On the second day of my trip, I decided to visit some of the public toilets under The Tokyo Toilet project. The idea was inspired by the film Perfect Days . Since the public toilets under this project are scattered around western side of Tokyo, I visited a few in Shibuya area, which are quite close to each other. One notable location is Yoyogi Park. One of the highlights of these designer toilets is the transparent toilet. Its transparent glass walls will turn opaque when the door is locked. This feature is based on the electrochromic effect. However, this feature is unavailable during late autumn and winter, which coincided my visit. The key takeaway from this visit: an eye opening experience about toilet culture and social inclusivity. Yoyogi Park The transparent toilet Another transparent toilet in community park The park in Yoyogi Hachimangu Shrine Another view of the park Mushroom design public toilet

Japan trip 2024

Just returned from a solo trip to Japan end of last month. The trip coincided with a conference in Sendai. It was an 8-day trip, including 2 days of travel. Took a direct flight from KL to Tokyo on the afternoon of October 23rd (Wednesday), arriving that night. By the time I cleared immigration, it was almost midnight. Then took a train to downtown Shimbashi. Without detailed research on the location of my booked capsule hotel, I ended up walking in the wrong direction and almost being harassed by roadside pimps (lol). After getting free Wi-Fi at a convenience store, finally able to find the hotel. Once checked in, took a hot bath (it was an open bath). That was the end of the day. In-flight meal of ANA airline Male-only capsule hotel with open hot spring You can browse manga for free after soaking

Life, Travel, GRACE

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