Happy Chinese New Year ~~

2010 is the Year of the Tiger,

which is also known by its formal name of Geng Yin.

Tradition says that Lord Buddha had called for all the animals to come to him before he departed from the earth. When the cat got to know about the news, he told rat about it and the two animals decided to go together the next day. However, the next morning the rat did not wake up the cat. Therefore, the cat could not make it to the gathering on time and did not get a year. This is why there is no year of the cat and this is one of the reasons why cats hate rats.

I am not going to talk more about that. I just want to highlight that there are no cats in the chinese calendar and why.

However, cat, to the chinese, does have a special appearance. so dont worry neko-chans out there!

Maneki Neko, in OU

It is said that the money cat, maneki neko brings good luck to the owner.
Its right paw supposedly attract money, while a raised left paw attracts customer. (no wonder i keep going back there, ive been jinxed--)

Legends and stories

Maneki Neko is the subject of a number of legends. Here are three of the most popular, explaining the cat's origins:

The Temple Cat: This story goes that a wealthy feudal lord was taking shelter under a tree near Gotoku-ji temple (in Western Tokyo) during a thunderstorm. The lord saw the temple priest's cat beckoning to him and followed; a moment later the tree was struck by lightning. The wealthy man became friends with the poor priest and the temple became prosperous. When the cat died, supposedly the first Maneki Neko was made in his honor.

The Courtesan: A courtesan named Usugumo, living in Yoshiwara, in eastern Tokyo, kept a cat, much beloved by her. One night, the cat began tugging at her kimono. No matter what she did, the cat persisted. The owner of the brothel saw this, and believing the cat bewitched, cut its head off. The cat's head then flew to the ceiling where it killed a snake, ready at any moment to strike. Usugumo was devastated by the death of her companion. To cheer her up, one of her customers made her a wooden likeness of her cat as a gift. This cat image then became popular as the Maneki Neko.

The Old Woman: An old woman living in Imado (eastern Tokyo) was forced to sell her cat due to extreme poverty. Soon afterwards the cat appeared to her in a dream. The cat told her to make its image in clay. She did as instructed, and soon afterward sold the statue. She then made more, and people bought them as well. They were so popular she soon became prosperous and wealthy.

The opposite of Maneki Neko is the black cat that brings bad luck, the Kuroi Neko.

courtesy of wikipedia

oh!

i stumbled across this one interesting fact..

There is a Japanese belief that a cat washing its face means a visitor will soon arrive.

As for the malays, of malaysian, we believe that, a butterfly entering your house means that a visitor will arrive.

What is the logic behind the two statements?

i do not know, and i do not think there is one anyways. All that i know is that, those proverbs have a reason as to why and how they exist.

a maneki neko with a mole.. kawaii~

(nampak macam kucing baba nyonya pun ade)

Oleh itu, habislah sudah cerita hari raya cina~~

*tetibe cakap bm plak minah nih*

nikmatilah gambar2 raya cina yang terdapat di OU~

from above, you can see umbrellas like from the pasar

its actually a painting *i think*

there are 3 neko-chans, all three have moles

(macam MEW plak aku tengok, yang besar sekali tuh choco, yang due kecik tuh xia ngan panda... tapi choco je yang ade tahi lalat kat pipi ~)

Q : eh? 2 je gambar?
A : ye.
Q : da habis da?
A : ye.
Q : macam ni aje?
A : ye.