新年快樂(san1 nin2 faai1 lok6) ，happy new year!

Many people may know日(yat6 is day), 月(yuet6)

 is month ,星期(sing1 gei1) is week and 年(nin2) is year.

But do you know that 日(yat6) also means Sun,

月(yuet6) means moon

星(sing1) means star?

And can you guess what is the other meaning of 年(nin2)?

Starting from this week for the next 4 weeks, Cantongazine will give away a cool gift set to one of our fans.

How to join:

Step 1) “Like” our facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/cantonmonkey

Step 2) Comment on “Prize of the Week”, and “comment” which receives the most “likes” will get the prize.

The Prize of this week (ends at 21st Dec 2011):

Tell us which is the most awesome place to visit in Hong Kong.

(example.山頂saan1 ding2 the Peak：I love taking photos from a very high place.)

We are welcome people from all over the world to join our campaign; we will send out our gift by mail.

Our prize of this week is a Beauty Gift Set, including 1 Lip Refreshment Collection by Smackers, 1 Apple Polyphenol Mask by Beauty Diary, 2 facial care sample packs by Melvita

Detour 2011 has come~~~

係乜野：創意展覽
hai6 mat1 ye3 : chong1 yi3 jin2 laam5
What is that: Creative Exhibition

o係邊度：荷李活道前已婚警察宿舍
hai2 bin1 dou6: hoh4 lei5 woot6 dou3 chin4 yi5 fan1 ging2 chaat3 sau3 se3
in Where: Former Police Married Quarters on Hollywood Road, HK

幾時：11月25號到12月11號
gei2 si4 : sap6 yat1 yuet6 yi6 sap6 ng5 hou6 dou3 sap6 yi6 yuet6 sap6 yat1  hou6
When: 25 NOV - 11 DEC, 2011
Hours: SUN-THU 11:00am - 08:00pm / FRI, SAT 11:00am - 10:00pm

幾多錢：唔駛錢
gei2 doh1 chin2:m4 sai2 chin2
How much (Entry fee): Free

網站：http://detour.hk/

mong5 jaam6: http://detour.hk/

Website: http://detour.hk/

Even in the eyes of many Hong Kong people, Chungking Mansion (重慶大廈jung6 hing3 daai6 ha6)is a mystery places.

Chungking Mansions is the building having about 80 low cost accommodations (guest houses). It is well-known as having many Indian restaurants and the best rate (and the worst rate) money changers in Hong Kong, too.

Inside重慶大廈(jung6 hing3 daai6 ha6) , we can:

See(見到gin3 dou3) a lot of Indians(印度人yan3 dou6 yan2) lives there.

Taste (試到si3 dou3) Curry(咖喱ga3 lei1) from the Indians restaurants.

Book (訂deng6) a room in the Low budget hotel (酒店jau2 dim3).

Drink (飲yam2) a beer (啤酒be1 jau2) in the Disco.

Buy(買maai5) clothes(衫saam1) or mobile phone(手機sau2 gei1)in its shopping mall.

With the lively mix of guest workers, mainlanders, local Chinese, tourists and backpackers, the Chungking mansions is one of the most culturally diverse locations in Hong Kong. It was elected as the "Best Example of Globalization in Action" by TIME Magazine, although racial tensions are known to boil over occasionally.

Address: 36, Nathan Road (彌敦道 nei4 dun1dou3 ) , Tsim Sha Tsui (尖沙咀jim1sa1 jui2 
In Spoken Cantonese: jim1sa1 jui2 nei4 dun1dou3 saam1 sap6 luk6 hou6

Halloween is coming, Mr 殭屍(geung1 si1) (Chinese Vampire/Jiang Shi) is so happy.

By the way, do you know why殭屍 (geung1 si1) always moves around by hopping, with its arms outstretched?

One of the origins of 殭屍 (geung1 si1) is like that:

Long time ago, some people left their hometown to work elsewhere. After they died(死sei2), their friends paid some money to the hire Taoist priests to transport their corpses back to their hometown

 since people believed they would be homesick (思鄉si1 heung1)if buried somewhere unfamiliar.

The Taoist priests (道士dou3 si1)  transported the corpses only at night and ring bells to notify other pedestrians of their presence

because it was considered bad luck (衰運sui1wan6) for a living person to see the dead body.

Those Taoist Priests were carrying dead bodies
on bamboo rods (竹竿juk1gon1) , when the bamboo flexed up and down, the corpses appeared to be hopping in unison from a distance.

This website is about the secret of 殭屍:
http://anthony_chung_is.mysinablog.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=878285

Youtube of 殭屍:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AsVaeTzXQI

Do you know what does 騎牛搵馬(ke4 ngau4 wan2 maa5) mean？

騎(kei4)is to ride, sit astride on,
牛(ngau4) is cow or ox.

搵(wan2) is find,
馬(maa5)is horse

Then, do you know how to look for a horse while riding an ox?

Recently, have you notice that there are a lot of small roadside fires around the streets?

 
It’s because we are in鬼
=ghost 月= month (gwai2 jyut6) (the hungry ghost month)!!!

In Chinese tradition, the 15th day of the 7th month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day/Hungry Ghost Festival (鬼=ghost 節 = festival gwai2 zit3/盂蘭節jyu4 laan4 zit3) and the 7th month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month, in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.


Story: One story of the Hungry Ghost Festival’s origin is long time ago, there is a boy called Mulian. He tried to save his mother from hell where she had to compete with other hungry ghosts for food.

When he tried to send his mother food, it would burst into flames, so the Buddha taught him to make food offerings to the ghosts to keep them from stealing (偷=steal tau1)his mother’s food.

Things to do :
‧Watch Yu Lan Chinese Operas (神=god功= power 戲 = opera san4 gung1 hei3)

‧Burn fake money and make other offerings to the restless spirits and their ancestors.(燒= burn 衣= clothes紙= paper siu1 yi1 zi2)

Taboo:Since we believe, during the seventh lunar month, the gates of Hell are opened and all the souls are set free to wander the Earth.
So there are a lot of taboos in this month

1)Don’t move house (搬= move屋= house bun1 uk1) or get married during this period. This is the connection to Feng Shui!

2) Don’t bring an umbrella (遮ze1)into the house after it was used in the night. It is said that one may bring/carry in spirits to the house.

3)Don’t kill any rare insect eg. moth, grasshopper, butterfly(蝴蝶wu4 dip6 ), that visits the house during this time. They apparently are manifestation of spirits or ancestors paying a visit.

4)Don’t comb or brush your hair (梳= comb 頭= head so1 tau4) with anything but your hands and fingers.

Ghost Month in 2011: 31st July to 28th August
Website: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/events/festival-hungry-ghosts.html

In Cantonese, 釣 (diu3) means fish (v),

Literally, 釣金龜 (diu3 gam1 gwai1) means fish for gold turtle, however, there is another meaning in Cantonese, Can you guess what that is? (Tips :many girls dream about it.)