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On Being “Fish-Fond”

Posted by gmirage1 on Dec 31, 2007 in stay at home mom | Comments Off

Harold (hubby) and I are fish-fond people. When he was still single he owned rare saltwater fishes, one of which is an adorable dog-looking puffer fish. Two years ago, after coming back from our Philippine vacation we thought of setting up an aquarium for the kids.

Our first aquarium was a 50x30x30cm tank. We had five fishes that I bought from a pet shop near Charlie’s kindergarten. Thinking about it now seems as though we spent a big sum of money for the fishes…hmmm…40 euros for all five?

We had two Afras (blue), two canary cichlids (yellow) both from the Malawi Cichlid species all almost 3 inches from head to tail. There was also an orange tail-black fish from the Sailin catfish family, which we commonly know as ‘janitor fish.’

Hubby later on noticed one of the canary cichlids seem to have lost its appetite. He decided (the curious side of him took over) to look at it closely, ergo taking it out of the water.

He jumped in surprise when an egg came off the fish’s mouth. He immediately put the poor canary back to the water and 2 weeks later 3 fries joined the family. Too bad the bigger fishes died one by one until only the 3 small one remained each of them only 2-3cm in size.

By the way, the big rocks and drift wood were taken from the lake, the kids helped us picked some lake stones too hihi.

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On “Summer” Flowers

Posted by gmirage1 on Dec 19, 2007 in Seasons | 4 comments

A Parade of (Macro) Flower Shots.

Missing summer…

Red heat…

Orange bursts…

Yellow sunrays…

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On Utada Hikaru’s Flavor of Life

Posted by gmirage1 on Dec 17, 2007 in Songs | Comments Off

Utada Hikaru is perhaps one of the best singers in Japan,her soothing voice made me listen more to Japanese songs. It even move me to be serious with learning Nihongo, not just romaji but kana as well. This song “Flavor of Life” is one of my most favorite and is the song used for the Live Action Drama Hana Yori Dango, literally Boys over Flowers.

Flavor of Life (Ballad Version) by Utada Hikaru

Arigatou to kimi ni iwareru to nandaka setsunai
sayounara no ato no tokenu mahou awaku horonigai
The flavor of life

tomodachi demo koibito demo nai chuukan chiten de
shuukaku no hi wo yumemiteru aoi furu-tsu
ato ippo ga fumidasenai sei de
jirettai no wa nande?

arigatou to kimi ni iwareru to nandaka setsunai
sayounara no ato no tokenu mahou awaku horonigai
The flavor of life

amai dake no sasoi monku ajike no nai doku
sonna mono ni wa kyoumi wa sosorarenai
omoitoori ni ikanai toki datte
jinsei suteta mon janai tte

doushita no? to kyuu ni kikareru to “uun. nandemo nai”
sayounara no ato ni kieru egao watashi rashikunai
sinjitai to negaeba negau hodo nandaka setsunai
“aishiteru yo” yori mo “daisuki” no hou ga kimi rashii janai?
The flavor of life

wasurekakete ita hito no omoi wo totsuzen omoidasu koro
furitsumoru yuki no shirosa wo omou to sunao ni yorokobitai yo

daiyamondo yorimo yawarakakute atatakana mirai
teni shitai yo kagiri aru jikan wo kimi to sugoshitai
“arigatou” to kimi ni iwareru to nandaka setsunai
sayounara no ato no tokeru mahou awaku horonigai
The flavor of life
—–

English translation (edited…)

For some reason it’s painful when you say “Thank You”
Like a magic spell that isnt undone after “good bye,” faintly bittersweet
The flavor of life

Stuck in the middle of being friends and lovers
Like an unriped fruit dreaming of the day of harvest
Unable to move one step forward
Why is it so vexing?

For some reason it’s painful when you say “Thank You”
Like a magic spell that isnt undone after “good bye,” faintly bittersweet
The flavor of life

Simply sweet words of invitation are a senseless poison
It sparks no interest in me
Life isn’t something that you throw away
when things don’t go your way

When I’m suddenly asked “what’s wrong?” I just say “no, nothing”
The smiling face that disappears after “good bye” isn’t like me
The more I want to believe in you, the more painful it is
It’s more like you to say “I like you” more than “I love you”
The flavor of life

When you suddenly remember people you were about to forget
I honestly want to be happy when I think of the whiteness of the snow that builds up

More than diamonds, I want a soft, warm future
I want to spend my limited time with you
For some reason it’s painful when you say “Thank You”
Like a magic spell that isnt undone after “good bye,” faintly bittersweet
The flavor of life

Credit goes to: sunny0401 (youtube), akaiyubi (http://akaiyubi.wordpress.com) and St3p1onm3 (www.jpopasia.com)

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On Winter Wonderland

Posted by gmirage1 on Dec 14, 2007 in Seasons | 2 comments

In the meadow we can build a snowman…And pretend that he’s a circus clown. We’ll have lots of fun with mister snowman. Until the other kids knock him down…

So white and so lonely, yet still a wonderland.

On Autumnal Beauty

Posted by gmirage1 on Dec 6, 2007 in Seasons | 3 comments

“It was you that set up all the boundaries of the earth; summer and winter—you yourself formed them.”—Psalm 74:17.

And so’s autumn and spring.

I arrived in Vienna on October 14th of 2002. It was already autumn, the smell of dried leaves and the blow of cold wind were such welcomely feeling. Upto this day, when autumn comes, I remember the thoughts that I had upon seeing the orange-yellowish landscape for the first time.

So how or more appropriately, why does the green leaves of summer turns to yellow, orange or red during autumn? We know that leaves have the green pigment chlorophyll used in the production of plant food (glucose). Leaves also has the yellow (carotenoid pigment) and red (anthocyanin pigments) but is not seen much because they are covered up by chlorophyll. The leaves know that it is autumn when the days become shorter and shorter, since ‘photosynthesis,’ the process where plant makes food happens with the help of light.

As animals hibernate during winter, so does some plants and trees in the same way. Animals store fats and sleep off during winter while plant leaves store glucose and shut down their food making factories. The chlorophyll are then gone and now the yellow and red pigments are revealed, naturally when they combine, orange is produced.

As for maple trees, persimmons and other red colored leaves, the leftover foods plus the (occasional) sunlight and cool breeze of autumn makes this wonderful color comes out.

Looking closely at nature, one sees the invisible hands of Jehovah at work. I myself am awed on how he set all the pieces of creation even preserving them, giving them sunlight, rain and rest. Truly, the inspired writer summarized it all.

“Jehovah himself in wisdom founded the earth. He solidly fixed the heavens in discernment. By his knowledge the watery deeps themselves were split apart, and the cloudy skies keep dripping down light rain.” -Proverbs 3:19-20