CNY taboo's

Chinese people believe that, as the Spring Festival is the start of a new year, what you do then will affect your luck in the coming year. There are many things you should not do.

Traditionally many taboos are associated with the New Year Festival, but in recent years some of them have been discarded, especially among the modern urban populations in larger cities and the younger generation.

Here are top 6 things that people should avoid doing on the first day of the Chinese New Year.

1. Avoid taking medicine.
It is a taboo for a person to brew herbal medicine or take medicine on the first day of the lunar year, otherwise it is believed he or she will get ill for a whole year. 

In some places, after the bell announcing the New Year at midnight New Year's Day, sickly people break their gallipots (medicine pots) in the belief that this custom will drive the illness away in the coming year.

2. Don't sweep or take out garbage. 
The act of sweeping on this day is associated with sweeping wealth away. Taking out garbage symbolizes dumping out the good luck or good fortune from the house.

3. Don't eat porridge and meat for breakfast.
Porridge should not be eaten, because it is considered that only poor people have porridge for breakfast, and people don't want to start the year "poor" as this is a bad omen. 

Besides, meat should not be eaten at this breakfast out of respect for the (Buddhist) gods (who are believed to be against killing of animals), as all gods are expected to be out meeting and wishing a happy New Year to each other.

4. Don't wash clothes and hair.
People do not wash clothes on the first and second day, because these two days are celebrated as the birthday of Shuishen (水神, the Water God).

Hair must not be washed on the first day of the lunar year. In Chinese language, hair (发) has the same pronunciation (and indeed is the same character) as fa in facai (发财), which means 'to become wealthy’. Therefore, it is seen as not a good thing to “wash one’s fortune away” at the beginning of the New Year.

5. Needle work should not be done.
The use of knives and scissors is to be avoided for any accident, whether harming a person or tool, is thought to lead to inauspicious things and the depletion of wealth in the coming year.

6. A married daughter is not allowed to visit the house of her parents. 
A married daughter is not allowed to visit the house of her parents, as this is believed to bring bad luck to the parents, causing economic hardship for the family. Traditionally a married daughter visits the house of her parents on the second day of Chinese New Year.

Spring Festival Season Taboos
During the New Year Festival season (from the 1st to 15th of the Lunar New Year) the following taboos apply:

Red is a lucky color in China.

The cry of a child is believed to bring bad luck to the family, so parents do their best to keep children from crying by whatever means possible.
Breaking tools or other equipment during this period is associated with a loss of wealth for the coming year; therefore tradesmen and business people in general take great precautions to prevent it.
A visit to the hospital during this period is believed to bring illness to the person in question for the duration of coming year; therefore visits to the hospital are avoided, except in cases of extreme emergency.
Theft: Do not let other people take objects, including money, from your pocket during the Spring Festival, and take care not to have your pocket picked, as this is believed to portend your whole wealth in the coming year being stolen.
Debt: Money should not be lent on New Year’s Day, and all debts have to be paid by New Year’s Eve, and, if someone who owes you money, do not go to his or her home to demand it. Anyone who does so it is said will be unlucky all the year.
The rice jar should not be allowed to become empty. This causes grave anxiety, as the cessation of cooking during the New Year period is an ill omen.
Damaged clothes: Do not wear new clothes that are damaged. If kids especially wear such clothes in the first lunar month, it is said to bring bad luck.
No killing. Killing in the Spring Festival should be avoided as blood is considered an ill omen, which will cause misfortunes such as a knife wound, or a bloody disaster.  
Do not wear white or black clothes as these two colors are associated with mourning traditionally.
Don't give certain gifts, like clocks, scissors, and pears, as they have a bad meaning in Chinese culture.

Selfie, fun?

As Oxford Dictionary’s word of the 2013 year, “selfies” have been flooding social media websites. Most of the world has been caught in this frenzy- either directly participating in it, or mocking it. Young students, however, seem to be the most affected by this new trend. As damaging as selfies are portrayed to be, they may actually prove to have several advantages, including raising self-esteem.

Despite freshman Caroline Kim’s strong self-assurance and confidence, when she posts a photo of herself on Facebook, she also secretly hopes to get multiple encouraging and flattering comments, likes, and shares. And for each one she receives, her confidence goes up one notch higher.

“Every like and positive comment I get does help raise my confidence,” Kim said. “I feel I am socially well integrated and have a lot of friends. When I post a picture, of course I always hope that I will get a lot of likes and comments, and I do get a little insecure. However, I do know the internet isn’t everything and I would rather be out with my friends.”

According to a survey conducted by Common Sense Media of more than 1000 teens aged 13 to 17-years-old, one in five teens felt more confident, popular, and better about themselves when using social media while only 4 percent of teens felt worse about themselves.

While Pen Psychology AP teacher Vararat Chaiyont believes that selfies should not be used as a way to boost self-esteem, she does acknowledge that they have considerable influence over people.

“If someone posts a selfie of him/herself, then depending on the public’s response, it will either encourage him/her to continuing posting selfies or discourage him/her,” Chaiyont said. “It’s the reactions that will shape a person’s behavior. Insecure people probably are not going to take selfies and post them [but if they do and receive positive feedback] it would encourage them to do it more. I might not necessarily make them more self-confident, but it will make them less shy exhibiting themselves.”

Ps: out of ideas

The Road Not Taken poem review.

This week's blog entry should be on The Road Not Taken. If you never hear or read before thus poem,here ya go.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

___________
Life is a decision itself. Whether you make the move today or not. You never know what to expect when you make a decision. Whether you'll miss your chance of fame or happiness. You'll never know. Some decisions at a one chance. That mean when you choose A, you can never choose B.
So, whether to make a decision in life. It's your choice to choose.

Astroneer: The Game

This week,I'm going to "Review" a game name "Astroneer".Astroneer is a sandbox game. There is no set storyline or necessary goal to achieve, and the player is free to explore the land and play as they wish. However, there is still a survival element; as the player has basic needs that must be met. The player's oxygen levels drop overtime, and must be replenished. A lack of this will kill the player.^[2]

The game has no enemies or dangerous creatures, but there are still dangerous occurrences that will set the player back by killing them or damaging their possessions. Some of the obstacles the player will have to face are dangerous flora, dust storms and falling from high locations. The game additionally lacks player versus player combat, which means that players do not have the ability to fight and kill one another (except via use of the terrain editing tool to bury or make another player fall).^[2]

While there is no mandatory goal or mission to achieve, the main idea of the game is to colonize celestial bodies and harvest resources. There are different types of minerals the player can harvest; which allow players to improve their ship, their colony, their machines, or any of their other possessions. The player can construct machines, pods, habitats and other structures to aid in the process of mining and colonization.^[3]

Another important point in Astroneer is exploration and salvaging. The player has the ability to terraform the land to their liking, which can be used at the player's discretion. On many planets, wrecks of spacecraft and former colonies can be found littering the surface, usually somewhat submerged in the terrain. The player can uncover these wrecks and salvage resources from them to be used. The player can also terraform to his or her will, allowing access to certain hard-to-reach locations. Every player is equipped with a deforming tool at the time of their spawn, and this tool is always available to use.^[3]

The player has both power and oxygen bars, which will deplete in different ways. The player will slowly but constantly deplete their oxygen supply as they move around. The oxygen depletes faster depending on how fast or how much the player is moving. Oxygen will not regenerate unless the player is tethered to their spaceship or a vehicle either directly or via a chain of tethers. Power does not deplete unless the player uses certain objects, such as the deforming tool. When the player runs out of power, the flashlight on the spacesuit will automatically power off and nothing requiring power can be used. Power will regenerate slowly when unconnected to a ship, but when the player is connected to a base or vehicle, directly or via a chain of tethers, power can be transferred to them. The player will die without oxygen, but a lack of power will simply hinder their actions. Players can use objects like tanks (for oxygen) or batteries (for energy) to extend the length of time before total depletion.

The player creates tools and objects using an in-game 3D printer. The player's backpack is equipped with a small printer; however, the player must acquire a full-size printer in order to create larger objects. The player can also create land vehicles, such as rovers, to travel across surfaces with ease. Tethers and extensions can be created, which connect the player to their spaceship, regenerating power and oxygen. Tether extensions allow players to reach farther distances and increase the size of their base.

I had seen a few Youtubers playing this game,and i say,this is a wonderful yet fun game,espiecially when its in multiplayer.It hypes up peoples curiousity over time and it has their own speacial"never ending unknown to us".it may sound like "no man's sky"another game .but i prefer this style of game play and design.including the multiplayer setup.i hope it will continue to expand and i hope one day i could buy that day for myself XD