Pasar Malam ( Night Market ) in Auckland

Last night, my wife and i went to to the first permanent and genuine night market in Auckland. It is held on every Saturday night at the carpark underneath The Warehouse, Westfield Shopping Centre in Pakurang . Pakuranga is about 30 km from where i stay and will take about 20 minutes by car on a Saturday evening when there is no traffic jam using North- west Motorway and Southern Motorway.

Saturday Night Market, starts from 6pm to mid night rain or shine as it is held in a covered carpark and has been running for one year and is hugely popular with anything from 8,000to 12,000 visitors each Saturday night.

It is similar to the pasar malam in Malaysia. It offers around 200 stalls with about 80 amazing food stalls cooking up tasty street snacks and delicacies eg satay, dumpling, Dutch pancake, roast pork bun, "yow-char-keu", noodle, spainish donut, seafood platter etc from many countries eg Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, Holland, China etc.... There are also crafts and arts, costume jewellery, hand bags, clothing, fashion accessories, cosmetic, mobile phones and accessories, fresh produce and vegetables,sound activated flashing t-shirt, body massages, spine and health check, live entertainment, cultural performers, clowns and kids rides, fortune tellers, foot massage and airbrush tattoos and more. A candyfloss man was making floss on a stick bigger than a kids’ head as shown in the photo.

A new Sunday Night Market, opened on 30 October 2011 with a bang, hiss and a roar with over 10,000 visitors. The Sunday Night Market promises to be just as popular as the Saturday Night Market. It starts from 5.30 to 11 pm at Westfield shopping Centre in Glenfield North Shore,

Please go to the below link to see a video of the night market posted on youtube by Asia Downunder which is a program shown on NZ TV1 every Sunday morning :

Tradition of the Night
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JDCWBj9vfiI&noredirect=1

Click on the photo to enlarge

For your info, there is also a Thursday Night Fish Market in Auckland CBD from 5.00 pm to 9.00 pm.

About Luck

Luck does not just fall from the sky. It is the reward for one's accumulated merits. Merits are accumulated through one's good deeds with contribution of effort, materials, wisdom, support and compassion to those who most needed it.

People in positions of power (due to their earlier accumulation of good merits) are in good positions to accumulate more merits through their wise use of their positions of power by formulating and implementing good policies.

Thought of The Day

1. Put your money where your mouth is. Your priority should be placed on everyday nutritiuos foods and not those unproven health food supplements sold to you at exhorbitant price.


2. One should not promise or take on something that one's knows could not be delivered.

Thought of The Day

In any event of interest, you must actively involve in its planning and implementation, failing which you forfeit your right to question its outcome.

Wish of The Day

This blog is named Chung Ling Class of 67/69.
I wish that any program of planned activities meant for CL Class of 67/69 can be published here.

Thought of The Day

A process is designed to achieve a desired outcome.
Changing a process halfway would therefore lead to a different outcome, which may not be desirable.

Buddha's Birthday - Happy Vesak Day

The Buddha of us is in our hearts and our minds. The bathing of the Buddha represents the cleansing of our minds and hearts to get rid of our desire, hatred, and ignorance. We will replace the three evils with the three good deeds. Say good words, do good things and have good thoughts. Happy Vesak Day.

Rabbit leaps in for Auckland Lantern Festival

The 12th annual Auckland Lantern Festival kicked off on Friday night (Feb 18) with the three-day event in Albert Park, (in front of University of Auckland) central Auckland on February 18 - 20, from 5.00pm - 10.30pm. It started as a one-day affair with second-hand lanterns imported from Singapore 12 years ago. Now, it's a three-day festival with lanterns sourced from China and international and local performers, attracting 150,000 and 200,000 Aucklanders, not only Chinese but people of other ethnicities. The festival was also seen as one of the Auckland's signature cultural events, together with the Pasifika and Diwali festivals. Free family entertainment included magical rod puppetry by award-winning Chengdu Puppetry Theatre, Shanghai Bai Yulan jazz band, Beijing based rock band, Askar Grey Wolf with a mixture of contemporary and traditional music and performance art. There were also plenty of local performances including rock bands, fortune telling, martial-art displays and dragon & lion dance, delicious food and craft stalls, the warm glow of hundreds of beautifully decorated Chinese New Year lanterns and a fireworks display to end the three-day festival. The Lantern Festival or Yuan Xiao, marks the end of the 15-day Chinese New Year celebration. The Year of the Rabbit is represented by the forth animal in the 12 animal Chinese zodiac. People born in a Rabbit year are said to be ambitious, fortunate, reserved, talented, artistic, virtuous, have excellent taste and preferring to work behind the scenes. The 12th Auckland lantern Festival was organised by Asia New Zealand Foundation and Auckland Council.

Please click on the respective photo to ENLARGE it

To view Moving Lantern video online at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cya1Ge5HMoo

Sydney Communities Celebrate Chinese New Year

Sydney Communities held the largest ever Chinese New Year Twinlight Parade on 6/2/2011. See this online at
http://www.sbs.com.au/chinese/video/398847/2011

Tradition dies hard. In this Dong Zhi Festival 22/12/2010 ( 冬至, arrival of winter), the Chinese celebrates it with Tang Yuan ( 湯圓, round glutinous rice balls in soup) as a symbol of family reunion. In ancient days, the arrival of winter meant that the farmers would lay down their tools and celebrate the harvest by coming home to their families. It is also the Winter Solstice in Northern Hemisphere when the night is longest. The days will be longer from now and the festival is symbolic with better days to come.

It's Guy Fawkes Day: What Does That Mean?

Today (5th November, 2010), Guy Fawkes Day, also known as Bonfire Night, is celebrated annually across New Zealand with the use of fireworks and the lighting of bonfires.

Historically, the celebrations mark the anniversary of the failed Gunpowder Plot of 5 November 1605 in which Guy Fawkes (13 April 1570 - 31 January 1606) and 12 English Catholic conspirators planned to blow up King James I and the House of Parliament. However, the plot was revealed, Guy Fawkes was discovered in the cellar of the House of Parliament surrounded by casks of gunpowder, and after being tortured he was executed for treason on 31 January 1606. Today, these conspirators would be known as extremists, or terrorists.

In a happy coincidence for New Zealand's large Indian community, Guy Fawkes today has coincided with Diwali or Deepavali. It means a "row of lamps". It is celebrated with great passion and happiness to mark the victory of good over evil and the removal of spiritual darkness and ignorance.

For Hndus, Diwali is the most important festival of the year and this classic Indian festival of light is celebrated with an exhibition and explosion fireworks other than food, dance, drama and beautiful art and craft.

Despite government regulations restricting the sale of fireworks to a four-day period, firework retailers were gearing for a big Guy Fawkes season. It was reported in a local newspaper that at one of Auckland's main firework outlets, the owner said "Good for business, Guy Fawkes and Diwali together".

The SPCA was bracing for several animal abuses involving fireworks such as lighting fireworks and aiming them at ducks and cats, taping fireworks to the bird. It was also reported that a goup of youths turned up at a paddock and let off a heap of fireworks, hence setting a bush and tree on fire. The fire caused six horses in the paddock to bolt through a fence in panic, one badly injuring its leg.

Instead of banning fireworks completely, i think the government should have tighter control and restriction on sale of fireworks. Another way is to reduce the number of days of sale or just cut it to one day on Guy Fawkes day

It is sad to hear annually of scrub fires being set off, animals being abused, older people being terrorised of the loud noise and hard working emergency services being kept busy by those careless and irresponsible persons. Anyhow, it seems like an odd way to celebrate a failed terrorism attack. Over the years, the Guy Fawkes celebrations would have caused substantial damages to people, pets and properties.

Happy Guy Fawkes Day & Diwali.

Prepared by vincent ht yeoh, 5th nov 2010

Wesak Day Celebration at Darling Harbour.

Wesak Day which is Buddha's Birthday was celebrated over two days at Darling Harbour, Sydney on the 8th and 9th of May. The celebration was combined with the multicultural function with performance and food fair. It was a sea of colours.

Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone.

May peace and love, understanding and forgiving, caring and sharing continue to prevail and everyone attain an awe-inspiring virtue and ocean of prosperity.

虎年快樂 威德福海

For this New Year and the coming years, I like to share the following eight secrets of longevity with every one.

1. Eat Well. Cut down on salty, sweet and fatty foods. And add lots of colourful fruits and vegetables to your diet.

2. Regular Exercise. Exercise on the regular basis to keep physically healthy.

3. Relaxation lowers blood pressure, eases muscle tension and promotes sleep. Taking it easy also helps combat fatigue, which is the first noticeable symptom of all chronic disease.

4. Take an annual Holiday. Holiday allows one to break from the normal routine, to do something different. It need not be expensive, but it is a period away from routine.

5. Being socially active. Studies show that people with good, active social lives have less depression, stronger immune systems and a much lower incidence of heart disease.
Keep the Mind Active.

6. Manage Stress. Continue to work to keep the body and mind busy. Manage work stress with self-discipline, time management, procedures or a decreased expectation. If the stress is overwhelming, it is time to retire.

7. Reduce weight and quite smoking if this is applicable to you.

8. And the most important, have a positive attitude towards everything.

Happy New Year

The Aussies say "No worry, be happy." There is happiness in the land of no worry.