Auld Lang Syne

Auld Lang Syne is a Scots language poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song (The Roud Folk Song Index # 6294).

It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world, its traditional use being to bid farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve.

Original Scots Verse

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
And surely ye'll be your pint-stoup!
and surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak' a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS
We twa hae run about the braes,
and pou'd the gowans fine;
But we've wander'd mony a weary fit,
sin' auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn,
frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
sin' auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
and gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak' a right gude-willie waught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

English Translation Lyrics

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
And surely you'll buy your pint cup!
and surely I'll buy mine!
And we'll take a cup o' kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine;
But we've wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there's a hand my trusty friend!
And give me a hand o' thine!
And we'll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

P/S: The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world.

Public Holiday 公共假期

How many days of public holidays does your country have?

贵国有多少天的公共假期？

Singapore has 11 days of public holidays.

新加坡有十一天的公共假期。

Ever wonder which country in this world has the most public holidays?

可曾想过这个世界上哪个国家的公共假期最多？

Cambodia ranks first with a total of 28 days of public holidays.

柬埔寨排名第一，共有二十八天的公共假期。

Sri Lanka ranks second with a total of 25 days of public holidays.

斯里兰卡排名第二，共有二十五天的公共假期。

India and Kazakhstan rank third with a total of 21 days of public holidays.

印度、哈萨克斯坦排名第三，共有二十一天的公共假期。

Fourth place is Colombia, the Philippines and Trinidad and Tobago with 18 days of public holidays.

第四名是哥伦比亚、菲律宾、特立尼达和多巴哥，公共假期为十八天。

China and Hong Kong come in fifth with 17 days of public holidays.

中国、香港共有十七天公共假期排名第五。

Thailand, Turkey and Pakistan are sixth with 16 days of public holidays.

泰国、土耳其、巴基斯坦排名第六，公共假期为十六天。

Japan, Malaysia, Argentina, Lithuania and Sweden rank seventh with 15 days of public holidays.

日本、马来西亚、阿根廷、立陶宛、瑞典排名第七，公共假期为十五天。

Indonesia, Chile, Slovakia rank eighth with 14 days of public holidays.

印度尼西亚、智利、斯洛伐克排名第八，公共假期为十四天。

South Korea, Austria, Belgium, Norway, Taiwan, Nepal rank ninth with 13 days of public holidays.

韩国、奥地利、比利时、挪威、台湾、尼泊尔排名第九，公共假期为十三天。

Finland, Russia rank tenth with 12 days of public holidays.

芬兰、俄罗斯排名第十，公共假期为十二天。

Singapore, Italy, Denmark, France, UAE, Morocco, Czech Republic, Luxembourg have 11 days of public holidays.

新加坡、意大利、丹麦、法国、阿联酋、摩洛哥、捷克共和国、卢森堡，公共假期为十一天。

Singapore 11 gazetted public holidays for 2018

Mexico ranks last with just 7 days of public holidays.

墨西哥排名最后，只有七天公共假期。

The penultimate is the United Kingdom, Spain and Canada, with only 8 days of public holidays.

倒数第二名为英国、西班牙、加拿大，只有八天公共假期。

The third last place is Germany, Serbia and Hungary , with just 9 days of public holidays.

倒数第三名为德国，塞尔维亚、匈牙利，只有九天公共假期。

US, Portugal, Poland, New Zealand, Australia, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Croatia, and Romania are countries with 10 days of public holidays.

美国、葡萄牙、波兰、新西兰、澳大利亚、乌克兰、荷兰、克罗地亚、罗马尼亚是有十天公共假期的国家。

Brush Past S$1m 擦肩而过百万新元

Singapore

新加坡

It has been reported that a Taiwanese whose lottery numbers differed by one number for the entire winning numbers.

有报道指台湾有个人购买的乐透彩跟开出的得奖号码都仅差一个号码。

Because of this, this man lost the opportunity of becoming millionaire.

也因为如此，这位仁兄未能晋升百万富翁行列。

Little did I expect such thing would happen to me.

没想到，这样的事也发生在我身上。

I actually brushed past S$1,000,000.

我竟然跟百万新元擦肩而过。

How many things or people have we brushed past our lives?

我们一生中又和多少事或人擦肩而过？

The most important thing in life is that there is no regrets.

人生在世，最重要的是无怨无悔。

As long as we have done our best, the rest is what god wants us to be.

只要我们已经尽了力，其他就看上天怎么安排了。

Remember: Life or death, rich or poor is one's destiny.

要记得：生死有命、富贵在天。

Entomophapy 食虫族

Thailand - Bangkok & Chiang Rai

泰国 – 曼谷 及 清莱

Talking about exotic food, everyone would agree that eating insect is one of them.

说到奇异的食物，每个人都会同意吃昆虫就是其中之一。

Many years ago in Bangkok, there was a sudden urge to try the taste of insects.

好多年前在曼谷，突然有种冲动想尝尝昆虫是啥味道。

Bought a bag of mixed insects from the street vendor and back to the hotel.

从街边小贩那里买了一包“乱七八糟”的昆虫回旅馆尝鲜。

The insects were deep fried until a complete state of crispiness and sprayed with salty fish sauce and pepper.

昆虫是被油炸至完全酥脆状态并喷上咸咸的鱼露和胡椒粉。

"Everything is always difficult at the beginning" and this phrase is also very appropriate for eating insects.

“凡事总是开头难”这话用在吃虫也很恰当。

Hand holding insect just refused to send it to the mouth; mouth too, refused to obey instruction to open it.

拿着昆虫的手，怎么都没能往嘴里送；嘴巴也不听使唤，怎么都开不了。

After some tormented moment, finally sent the bug into the mouth; chowed down and sent pieces of the insect into the gullet.

折腾了一阵，终于将昆虫送进嘴里；囫囵吞枣般把碎尸万段的虫虫送进五脏庙。

Frankly most of the bugs tasted far less horrible than imagined, like dried shrimp just crispy and salty.

坦白说，大多数昆虫的味道远不如想象的那么恐怖，就像虾米般脆和咸。

With the insectivore experience in Bangkok, eating bee larvae in Chiang Rai had become easier.

有了曼谷的食虫经验，后来在清莱吃蜜蜂幼虫变得更容易。

Bee larvae were wrapped in banana leaf and grilled.

蜜蜂幼虫是用香蕉叶包裹再烤熟。

The texture of the bee larvae was soft and tasted sour.

蜜蜂幼虫的口感软绵绵，味道带酸。

Records show that humans have the habit of eating insects from prehistoric to present time.

记录显示人类从史前到现今都有吃昆虫的习惯。

The total ethnic groups recorded to practice entomophagy is about 3,000.

全球有食虫习惯得族群大约有三千。

80% of the world's nations have the habit of eating insects.

世界上百分之八十的国家都有吃昆虫的习惯。

The total number of insects eaten is approximately 1,000 to 2,000 species.

所吃的昆虫种类总共大约有一千至两千种。

P/S: You do not need an iron stomach to stomach insects.

注：您无需铁胃来吃昆虫。

Environmentally Friendly 环保

Thailand - Bangkok (Erawan Shrine)

泰国 – 曼谷（四面佛神社）

November 9, is the birthday of Phra Phrom.

11月9日是四面佛的圣诞日。

Recently, discovered the smoke caused by burning incense at Erawan Shrine had disappeared!

最近发现一向香火鼎盛的四面佛神社怎么突然“烟消云散”！

After asking, realised that Erawan Shrine is doing their part to protect the environment.

一问之下，才知道四面佛神社为环保尽一份力。

About four, five months ago, Erawan Shrine started to encourage worshippers not to light joss sticks and candles.

大概四、五个月前，四面佛神社就开始要众善信不再点香烛。

At first it felt a little strange to see worshippers holding unlit joss sticks praying.

起初看到众善信手拿没点燃的香在膜拜感觉有点怪。

But after much thoughts, a non-smoky Erawan Shrine is also very cool.

但仔细思考了一下，没漫天烟雾的四面佛神社也挺酷的。

Just think about it, god also wants us to have fresh air to breathe.

试想想，神明也希望大家有个清新的空气呼吸。

Hopefully one day temples around the world will follow the practice of Erawan Shrine, worship without lighting joss sticks and candles.

希望有一天全世界的寺庙都能跟随四面佛神社的做法，膜拜不燃香烛。

So long as there is god in heart, the rest are just formalisation.

心中有佛，其余都是形式化罢了。

Garden City 花园城市

Singapore - Gardens By The Bay (Flower Dome & Cloud Forest)

新加坡 – 滨海湾花园（花穹与云雾林）

Gardens by the Bay transforms Singapore from "Garden City" to "City in a Garden".

滨海湾花园将新加坡从“花园城市”转变为“花园中的城市”。

Gardens by the Bay is a nature park spanning 101 hectares of reclaimed land in the Central Region of Singapore, adjacent to the Marina Reservoir.

滨海湾花园是一个自然公园，横跨新加坡中部地区101公顷的填海土地，毗邻滨海水库。

The Flower Dome covers an area of 1.2 hectares. 

花穹占地1.2公顷。

The Flower Dome is 38 metres high and maintains a temperature between 23°C and 25°C, slightly lower at night.

花穹高38米，温度保持在 23°C 至 25°C 之间，夜间略低。

The Flower Dome features seven different "gardens" as well as an olive grove with a bistro and a central changing display field has also been incorporated to enable flower shows and displays to be held within the conservatory.

花穹有七个不同的“花园”，还有一个带小酒馆的橄榄树林和一个中央变化的展示区，也可以在温室内举行花展和展览。

It replicates a mild, dry climate and features plants grown in the Mediterranean and other semi-arid tropical regions (e.g. Australia, South America, South Africa).

它复制了一个温和、干燥的气候，并栽种了在地中海和其他半干旱热带地区（如：澳大利亚、南美洲、南非地区）生长的植物。

The Cloud Forest covers an area of 0.8 hectares.

云雾林占地0.8公顷。

It replicates the cool moist conditions found in tropical mountain regions between 1,000 metres and 3,000 metres above sea level, found in South-East Asia, Middle and South America.

它复制了东南亚、中南美洲海拔 1000米 至 3000米 的热带山区的凉爽潮湿环境。

It features a 42-metre "Cloud Mountain", accessible by an elevator, and visitors will be able to descend the mountain via a circular path where a 35-metre waterfall provides visitors with refreshing cool air.

它有一个42米长的“云山”，可通过电梯到达，游客可以通过一条环形路径下山，一条35米长的瀑布为游客提供清新凉爽的空气。

The "Cloud Mountain" itself is an intricate structure completely clad in epiphytes such as orchids, ferns, peacock ferns, spike- and clubmosses, bromeliads and anthuriums.

“云山”本身是一个复杂的结构，完全覆盖在附生植物，如：兰花、蕨类植物、孔雀蕨、穗和球茎、凤梨科和火鹤花。

It consists of a number of levels, each with a different theme, including The Lost World, The Cavern, The Waterfall View, The Crystal Mountain, The Cloud Forest Gallery, The Cloud Forest Theatre and The Secret Garden.

它由多个层次组成，每个层次都有不同的主题，包括失落的世界、洞穴、瀑布景观、水晶山、云雾森林画廊、云雾森林剧院和秘密花园。

Operating Hour / 开放时间: 9am - 9pm Daily / 每日上午9点至晚上9点

MRT Station / 地铁站: Bayfront / 海湾舫

Bus Service / 公车服务: 400

Alight at Tanjong Pagar MRT Station, use Exit C and head towards bus-stop located at International Plaza.

在丹戎巴葛地铁站下车，使用C出口再朝International Plaza的巴士站方向走。