This writing challenge is based from an article Organic Foods Have Same Nutritional Value in Listen to News : dateline September 4, 2012

Discussion Question: Do you choose organic food over non-organic food at the grocery store? Which types of food are you most careful about buying?

I believed in order to answer the discussion question, first we really need to fully understand the meaning of 'organic'. In this term, 'organic' means the way that agricultural products are farmed and processed. In order for any food to be termed as 'organic' specific requirements must be met and maintained. Farmers must ensure that organic crops be grown in safe soil, have no modifications, and remain separate from conventional crops. The most important thing is that farmers should not be using synthetic pesticides, bio-engineered genes, petroleum-based fertilizers or sewage sludge-based fertilizers. Source : Helpguide.org

Having determined the meaning of 'organic' in this term, in a perfect world, buying organic foods seem to be the best and easiest choice to make. Various studies have shown that 'organic' food has more health benefits as compared to non-organic food. 

Generally, it goes without saying that organic foods are more expensive than non-organic foods. This is because of various reasons. One of the reasons is due to the fact that post-harvest handling of organic food of which farmers must ensure the separation of conventional food and organic food. Another factor is the issue of marketing and distribution chain for organic foods which is relatively inefficient and higher costs due to its small volumes of products. 

At the end of the day, though in terms of health benefits, organic foods may be the best choice, but the expensive prices of such products is the deciding factor of whether I will buy organic foods in my grocery stores. In addition, the less offering of organic foods also playing major role in steering me to buy non-organic food.

Other factor that greatly affect my decision on buying certain products is my religious belief. Selecting products that are 'Halal' at the end of the day is the deciding factor in nearly everything I am buying at the store. Halal means that the products are prepared in accordance to Islamic rules, either the ingredients or preparation of the products.

Considering that halal products are the defining factor in my decision to buy certain types of food, normally I most careful when buying all types of foods, whether they are fresh produces or packet products. 

As a conclusion, my decision to buy certain kind of foods is not only based on whether they are relatively cheap, readily available, but also observing my belief. At the moment, where I am living, organic food is relatively more expensive, and not readily available. Thus, non-organic food is the better choice hands down. 

In this blog, I just want to share with you some of more familiar and often used expressions. 

Did You Know?

1. October baby

When a person is said to be an October baby, it means that she/he was born prematurely; to be exact, she/he was born on her/his eight month. The origin of this expression was based on the meaning of October. October is the 'eight month' in the Ancient Roman calender. In the Ancient Roman, March; or it is called Martius back then, is the beginning of the year. Therefore, October is the eight month. 

2. Indian Summer

Indian summer is usually refer to a period warm or mild weather in late autumn or early winter. It also refers to a pleasant, tranquil, or flourishing period occurring near the end of something. Nowadays, it usually refers to uncommon heat wave. Contrary to some that may believed this term does not refer to the India, the Country. However, it refers to the Red Indian, the native American. According to the Phrase Finder, the expression first recorded in the  Letters From an American Farmer, a 1778 work by the French-American soldier turned farmer J. H. St. John de Crèvecoeur (a.k.a. Michel-Guillaume-Jean de Crèvecoeur).

3. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride

This expression means that said about someone who is never the most important person in a situation. It was first originated in a music tune by Fred W. Leigh which had a line it stating, "Why Am I Always A Bridesmaid?"

Based from another a source, it was said that the expression was a sad one. It was because previously, a bridesmaid role was to supply the bride with a young, unwed lovelies. Thus, a bride by virtue of having successfully get a husband, was viewed to be successful in her life task, whereas, her attendants; the bridesmaids, as having failed.

The expression was made popular by an advertisement by the mouthwash brand Listerine in 1924. The advertisement portrayed a forlorn woman who was unlucky in love and never being able to find love and settle down. The manufacturers marketed the mouthwash by insinuating that everyone around her knew the real reason which was bad breath, but was embarrassed to tell her.

Other Did You Know series :-

1. Did You Know?;   2. Did You Know - Continuation;   3. Did You Know - Another Continuation;   4. Did You Know - Not Another Continuation!;   5. Did You Know - Gosh! Will it never ends?;   6. Did You Know - Oh No! Not Another One!;   7. Did You Know? - Here Comes Another One!;   8. Did You Know? - Another One?;  9. Did You Know? - One, Two, Eighty Six?;   10. Did You Know? - Punishment? OMG!;   11. Did You Know? - John Has it All?;   12. Did You Know? - Is this a Swan Song?;  13. Did You Know? - It's All in the Myth!

Dear EC Members,

Though Noora is no longer a member of MyEC, I am sure many of you still remember her and her blogs. A little update I received today from her sister; 23 September 2013, Noora will be undergoing a lung transplant. I don't know the details and where she's going to have the transplant in Indonesia or Singapore. Her sister asked that all of you to pray for her. Therefore, just keep your prayers for our little sister Noora, and may she stay strong.

Thank you.

Noas (23.09.2013 - 17:23 Malaysian's time)

A little up-date at at 4.20 pm (Malaysian time), August 2, 2013, Noora is no longer in ICU. Her sister wants me to share the good news with everyone in here. 

Dear All,

As you may have known, Noora as she is known now is still in coma. Her real aunt, aptly named Anty, had been asked by Noora to relay her message before she collapsed. You may read Noora's message through her aunt in this blog.

This news caught everyone by surprised, especially me. A day before she collapsed, she was chatting to me. She told me that she was not feeling well, and a doctor had drawn her blood for further analysis. It was suspected that the was reacting badly to an allergy. 

I asked her to take a tea spoonful of honey for her cough. Looking back, I thought how flippant I sounded. I am sorry Noora, I do not mean to sound so flippant, but because I am used to having intermittent coughing, my solution to it is honey; especially wild honey.

This news made me look back at this virtual friendship. Even though I am "close" to a few of members in here such as Mickey, Grapie, WMW, Sima, Asm@, Asmaa and others, my only contact with them is through EC. I do not have their e-mail addresses, or telephone numbers. Except for Grapie, I do not have their Facebook account either.

I was talking to a member last night, and he was asking about another member, from Egypt, and remarked that it has been quite sometimes since both of us meet this member in EC. And with the current turbulent situation in Egypt, both of us wondering about the status of our mutual friend.

Am I taking this virtual friendship too lightly that I never ask members about other details of their life? Am I was not curious enough to know their details? Once I told Noora that I do not ask members about their age nor how do they look like, and she told me that I was different.

I admitted that I am curious about each and everyone of EC Members that I am chatting with, but I respect the boundary of "virtual friendship". I will not ask for information that members are not willing to share with me in the first place. But when things like this happen, when members did not enter EC for a long time, and make me wondering what is going on, I wish I have other means to be in contact with my virtual friends.

So, where do virtual friendship becomes real? And how do the boundary of this so called virtual friendship become less clear when we heard news and we are grabbing with some tiny information and no where to know further?

To my friend and my EC little grand daughter Noora, get well soon. My prayers, and all EC Members' prayers are with you.

This is the continuance of my previous blog, A Malay Wedding - Part I : The Engagement. In this blog, I will share with you the wedding ceremony.

Part Two : The Wedding

Nowadays, the wedding food preparation mostly being prepared by a catering services. But in the villages, the food were still being prepared by the people of the community. Due to the fact that my niece's wedding was to be held on the third day of Eid, our second day of Eid was busy preparing last minutes preparations. In the early morning, about 500 eggs were boiled and wrapped as the 'egg flowers' to be given away as souvenirs to guests. We were also busy putting the finishing touches on the 'hadiah hantaran'; or gifts to be given to the groom.

The gifts to the groom were such chocolate, wallet, shirt, some cookies and fruits. The gifts were not strict and they were all depends on the bride and groom what they wanted.

In the evening, my niece went to a henna shop to get her henna done by a the shop owner. Previously, a henna night was a family affair where someone would grind henna leaves and put the henna on the bride's hands. Some female family members also will take the opportunity to put some henna on their hands because we believed that henna has some healing properties and it's good for the nails.

On the wedding day, we had to wake up very early. My brothers had to go to the wet market and buy some chickens and fresh vegetables. Even though the wedding food and drinks were going to be prepared by the caterer, it was normal for any host to prepare extra food and drinks just in case that the guests were more than the expected number. Even though a wedding invitation card was sent to everyone, there was no such thing as RSVP or how many person you can bring to the reception. Therefore, even though my sister planned for about three hundreds guests, she was expecting more than that.

The solemnisation of the wedding, we call it 'akad nikah' was taken place in the morning. At 10.00 am the Imam came to overseer the proceeding. In solemnisation process, a father of the bride will in a sense hand over the responsibility of taking care his daughter to the husband. This was a very emotional moment for the parents of the bride because basically after the solemnisation of the wedding, their daughter was in a sense no longer belongs to them. 

My brother in-law with the Imam's guidance 'gave' his daughter to her new husband by accepting the oath from her new husband. During this, a dowry was presented, and the oath needed to be witnessed by at least two men deemed suitable. Normally elders from the neighbourhood. The solemnisation proceeding was done in my sister's house. Sometimes, people choose it to be done in the mosque. Once the witnesses confirmed that the groom had said the oath properly and clearly, this meant that now the groom and and bride were husband and wife.

The wedding reception itself was being held from 12 noon. There's no time limit for it to end. So people may come whenever they could and wanted come. Sometimes it will trouble the host because basically they had to make sure the food was always there.

In a typical Malay wedding, the bride and groom will sit on a wedding dais when the guests were enjoying the food and drink. Sometimes, guests will bless the bride and groom by sprinkling their hands with rose water. However, this process will take a long time to finish, therefore, for my niece wedding, we did not follow that tradition. The bride and groom just sat on the wedding dais and let any family members and friends took photos with the bride and groom. 

After a few minutes, the bride and groom then be led to a table where they ate a feast of which we call 'makan beradab' or can loosely translated as 'eating with dignitaries'. In this tradition, the bride and groom will eat together with the groom's family members and entourage of which the food was specially prepared for them. The food was totally different from the food that were prepared and served to other guests. Normally no family members of the bride will eat together in the table except the bridesmaid. One fun part of this tradition was that the bride and groom will be asked to feed each other. After enjoying the food, the bride and groom will cut a cake, which marked the end of the 'makan beradab'.

After 'makan beradab' normally it marked the end of the wedding reception and the groom entourage will leave. With this, the bride and groom will make a round and greet the guests. They will especially pay respect to the elders of the community by saying thank you and shaking their hands.

Though the wedding ceremony was tiring especially since it was held during the Eid Mubarak celebration, our family were happy that it went smoothly though as expected, the guests were more than what we were anticipating and ended up we have to serve the extra food. Now we were wondering who was among the grown up nephews and nieces that going to get married next. LOL.

P/S

Thank you for reading this two parts series of a Malay Wedding. I love to share with you my cultures and I love to read your cultures too.

On the third day of last Eid Mubarak, my niece got married. In this blog, I want to share with you the typical Malay wedding reception. This blog will be in two parts; Part One : The Engagement and Part Two : The Wedding

Part One : The Engagement

Before I tell you about the wedding itself, let me tell about the engagement ceremony. For a Malay lady, the engagement ceremony is elaborate and still as traditional as it was years ago. When a Malay man wants to ask a hand of marriage for a particular lady, first he will send his representatives; typically his close family members, to meet with the parents of the lady. This is called 'merisik" or literally translated as 'inquire'. This is to inquire whether the girl is available and agree to be betrothed or engaged. This is not an engagement itself. In some cases, a ring would be presented to show the intention of the man, but sometimes an agreement is enough.

When an agreement agreed upon both parties, a date for the representative of the man to come and meet the parents of the lady is set. This is the engagement. In both process, the man choose not to be present. He will send his representatives; normally his family members or elders of his community. Normally, men will take centre stage in these two process, because a man is considered the head of a family and/community.

On the date of the engagement, his representatives will speak on his behalf to inquire about dowry to be paid, period of engagement and other things. On the day of the engagement, various tokens or gifts; which are known as 'barang hantaran' are being presented to the lady. In reciprocal the lady will gives various tokens or gifts back. In this occasion, the gifts normally in odd numbers and the lady must give at least two extra more than the man. For example, if the man gives seven numbers of token, the lady must gives back nine numbers of tokens.

A ring will be presented to the lady and a date maybe set for the wedding ceremony. Just a note, if the lady has an elder sister(s) and still not married, the husband-to be has to give gifts to the elder sister(s) too. This is what Malay called 'langkah bendul'; or literally translated as 'overstepping the threshold'. However, if the lady has an unmarried elder brother(s), this tradition does not applies. The gift for the unmarried elder sister(s) depends on the agreement set by the family of the lady. It can be as simple as a gold ring, or it can be elaborate such as a ring with a full set of new dress and accessories from head to toes.

The period of engagement varies and depends on the agreement of both parties. In my niece' case, it was for the period of one year. On the engagement day, normally the mother of the husband-to be or an elder woman will put the ring on the fingers of the lady. During the engagement ceremony, the husband-to be is not required to attend.

In Part II, I will write about the wedding itself.

This is a the continuance of my previous blog about the Legend of The Princess of Ledang Mountain.

Continuance from Part I

With a heavy heart, Hang Tuah agreed to wait at the foot of the mountain. Tun Mamat and the rest of the warrior then proceed to hike the mountain. After a few more days, Tun Mamat noticed the surrounding of the mountain had changed. The weather was getting cooler and they can smell sweet smell of flowers all around. He then realised that they were no longer in the wild mountain, but in fact in the most beautiful garden. He could heard singing voice coming from a small gazebo in the middle of the garden. What so fascinating about the gazebo was that it was made from human bones and its roof was made from human hairs. 

With a purpose walk, Tun Mamat approached the gazebo. He s aw an old women with a few young women were singing while sewing. Realising that there was a group of strangers, suddenly the young women stop in their tracks. The old woman rose to her feet slowly and approached Tun Mamat. 

The old woman said that her name was Dang Raya Rani and she was the lady in waiting of the Princess of Ledang Mountain. She asked Tun Mamat who they were and their purpose. Tun Mamat with a soft voice informed the woman that he was sent by His Majesty the Sultan Mahmud Syah to seek the hand of marriage from the Princess. Hearing the proclamation from Tun Mamat, Dang Raya Rani bowed her head and said that she will meet the Princess and convey His Majesty wish. 

Once Dang Raya Rani left together with the other maids, Tun Mamat and his warriors waited patiently for news from the Princess. Their patience was finely tested when no one appeared to bear them any news nearly the whole day and night. Tun Mamat was getting suspicious whether Dang Raya Rani was what she was said when by midnight, she still did not come. 

Suddenly, by the stroke of midnight, out of the darkness came a very old woman. This woman was definitely not Dang Raya Rani because she was too stooped due to old age. Without much ado, the old woman said that she was sent by the Princess herself to convey her conditions of marrying to the King to Tun Mamat. The conditions were; one gold bridge to be built from Melaka Palace to Ledang Mountain, one silver bridge to be built from Ledang Mountain to Melaka Palace, seven trays full with mosquitoes' hearts, seven trays full of amoeba's hearts, seven trays full of virgins' tears, seven jars full of betel nuts' juice and finally a bowl of the Young Prince's blood. 

When hearing the conditions set by the Prince of Ledang Mountain, Tun Mamat was gobsmacked. He knew that those conditions set by the Princess were near impossible to achieve. Tun Mamat wanted to descent to the foot of the mountain immediately after the old lady disappeared in the darkness, however he and his warriors were too exhausted. After making a camp in the garden, Tun Mamat and his warriors slept and then made the descent in the wee hour of the morning. 

At the foot of the mountain, he met Hang Tuah and informed him the conditions set by the Princess. Upon hearing the conditions, Hang Tuah knew that the Princess had snubbed His Majesty intention and thus, it reflected bad to Hang Tuah. It meant that Hang Tuah had failed in his mission. He felt that he was no longer worthy to be called a Palace warrior. With a heavy heart Hang Tuah gave Tun Mamat his beloved Taming Sari kris and told him to return it to His Majesty. Then he proceeded to walk into a nearby river. It was said, from there on, no one seen or heard from Hang Tuah again. As for the Princess of Ledang Mountain, the legend remained until today.

P/S

1. As with all myth stories and fables that I've written in here, I took some liberties in my interpretation of this story, though I tried to stay true to the story. 

2. According to some sources, it was believed that the second old lady that appeared to Tun Mamat and recited the conditions for His Majesty to fulfill was the fairy Princess of Ledang Mountain herself. Because she was a fairy, it was believed that she can take any form.

Here are my other blogs about fables/myth/legends:-

1. The Legend of Mahsuri;   2. The Story of A Mouse Deer and Crocodiles;  3. The Story of How a Python lost its Venom; 4.  The Story of a Cat and a Tiger;  5. The Story of a Mouse Deer and a Tiger 6. The Story of A Crow and A Peacock;  7. The Legend of The Princess of Ledang Mountain

This blog is an answer to Junco's Photo Challenge; September # 2 - Must Eat Dishes. Malaysians' favourite past time is eating, thus we have so many 'must eat dishes'. In addition, Malaysia is a melting pots of so many races and cultures and it reflects in our food. 

The 'must eat dishes' in Malaysia are:-

1. Satay

Satay is a skewered meats grilled on an open fire. The meats can be chicken, beef or other types of meats, but chicken satay and beef satay are still the most popular satay. Satay is served with peanut sauce and cucumber and slices of red onions as garnishes. Sometimes 'ketupat' is also being served with satay.

2. Lemang

Lemang is glutinous rice cooked in bamboo with coconut milk and cooked slowly in an open fire. Sometimes it takes nearly half a day for it to be cooked properly. Lemang is normally served with 'rendang'. 'Rendang' is a dry stew meats cooked with a lot of spices. It can be chicken rendang or beef rendang. Traditionally, lemang is served during the Eid Mubarak celebration, but nowadays it is easily available. Traditional lemang consists only glutinous rice with coconut milk, but modern lemang consists of glutinous rice with some black beans or even some lemang has cocoa flavour.

3. Roti Jala

Roti jala can be literally translated as 'bread net'. LOL Well, it's called 'jala' or net because it's a flat bread with a few holes or 'net like holes' before it is rolled. Roti jala must be eaten with some curry, normally chicken curry. Roti jala is normally served for afternoon tea. The modern variation of 'roti jala' is that it's stuffed with some beef or chicken.

4. Mee Goreng

The staple diet for most Malaysians is 'mee goreng' or fried noodles. We eat them as breakfast, lunch, dinner and sometimes supper. The Chinese influence in this dish is very clear.

5. Nasi Lemak

'Nasi lemak' or rice cooked with coconut milk is the most popular and favourite dish among Malaysians. As with 'mee goreng', Malaysians eat 'nasi lemak' as their breakfast, lunch, dinner or even late supper. 'Nasi lemak' can be served as the most basic, rice, fried egg, 'sambal, fried peanuts, anchovies and cucumber, or it can be served with more elaborate servings, rice, hard boiled egg, cucumber, fried peanuts, anchovies and chicken rendang or beef rendang.

In this blog, I want to share with you another famous Malay legend/myth. It is called 'Puteri Gunung Ledang' which literally can be translated as The Princess of Ledang Mountain. 

Princess of Ledang Mountain : Part I

Ledang Mountain is located between two states in Malaysia, Johor and Melaka. Legend has it that until to date, this mountain is being guarded by the legendary Princess who is a fairy.

According to the legend, Sultan Mahmud Syah, the eight King of Melaka was in a deep mourning due to the death of his wife. So deep his mourning was that he neglected his infant son, the heir of the throne, his other wives and the administration of Melaka. His aides were worried, but there was nothing they could do to wake him from his melancholy.

One night, his Majesty had a dream. In his dream, he met the most beautiful woman. It was said that the Majesty was so enthralled with her beauty that he did not want to wake up. When he woke up, he called upon his most trusted aides, Bendahara Tun Pepatih Serdang and Laksamana Hang Tuah. His Majesty told his dream to his aides and asked for their interpretation. However, both of his aides were also clueless. Therefore, his Majesty called Palace's witch doctor and asked him the meaning of his dream.

After peering through several ornaments, the witch doctor concluded that His Majesty had met the Princess of Ledang Mountain, who had been residing on the Mountain for hundreds of years, in his dream. His Majesty was so surprise. He had heard about the beauty of the Princess, but he did not think that there was a truth in that. 

So besotted His Majesty was he informed his aides that he wanted to marry the Princess of Ledang Mountain. And he wanted his most trusted aides, Hang Tuah and Tun Mamat to lead a team of Palace's people to go to Ledang Mountain and ask the Princess for her hand of marriage. Both of his trusted aides were shocked to hear His Majesty edict especially Hang Tuah. However, both of them knew that they had to carry out His Majesty's edict and proceeded to gather a group of young warriors to accompany them. Tun Mamat, a warrior who was said to know the jungle well would be leading the group.

The day after edict, the group started their journey to the South of Melaka to where the Ledang Mountain is located. After a few days of travelling, the group felt that they were on the right track when the vicinity of the jungle was getting cooler. However, the rough journey was taking its toll on Hang Tuah. He was no longer the fiercest warrior and he was already an old man. Realising that Hang Tuah was no longer can keep up with the rest of the group, Tun Mamat reluctantly asked Hang Tuah to stay at the foot of the mountain. 

To be continued in Part II

Hey all, I have decided to bring back the Did You Know? series when every time I read something interesting, I kept on saying to myself, 'This is nice to be shared as Did You Know? series'. This was also because of my small chat with a respectable chatter, Asif Ali, Zindani.

Did you know that there are many idioms or expression based from myth or legend. Here I want to share some of them with you.

Thank you rysperski and Asif Ali, Zindani.for sharing some other expressions/idioms that are based from myth.

1. Prodigal son.

Prodigal son means a wayward son who squandered his wealth and inheritance but when he comes back home he found out his father still loves him. This is a parable from Luke 15 about two sons of which the younger son had asked from his father for his early inheritance. Once he received his inheritance, he ran away and spent all his wealth foolishly. Soon he became very destitute. Once he realised his circumstances, he came back to his father and asked for forgiveness and mercy. To his surprise, his father received him with an open arms and celebrated his return. Normally we will use a sentence such as 'The return of the prodigal son has been warmly receive'. 

2. Achilles heels 

When people is said to have an Achilles heel, it means that person has a weakness or vulnerable point. This term is derived from the Greek myth about Archilles and his mother Thetis. 

According to legend, when Achilles was born, his mother, in an effort to make him immortal, took Achilles to the Styx river and dipped him. However, she had to hold him by one heel. Thus, the area where she held him was dry. This was the one vulnerable area on Achilles since this area was not touched by the magical water of Styx. 

Achilles was said had became the hero in many battles. However, during the Trojan War, Paris, Prince of the Trojan, had shot an arrow at Achilles heel. Because that was the only place that was not touched by the magic of immortality, Achilles died. 

3. Pandora's box

Pandora's box is a source of many unforeseen troubles. It was based from Greek myth about how Zeus like to meted out his punishment. It was said that Hephaestus was ordered by Zeus to make him a daughter. Thus, Hephaestus made a beautiful woman out of clay and named her Pandora. After that, Zeus gave his daughter to marry Epimetheus, who was a gentle and lonely man. Zeus was not being generous, instead this was his way on getting even.

As a parting gift, Zeus gave Pandora a little box with a big heavy lock on it. He made her promise of never to open the box, ever, and thus he gave the key to Epimetheus and also told him to never open the box. Zeus was convinced that curiousity would get the better of Epimetheus or his brother Prometheus, and they would open the box eventually.

Pandora was very curious, and wanted to open the box, but she was told not to open it. One day, while Epumetheus was sleeping, she stole the key and opened the box. Once it was opened, all kind of disease and sickness, hate and envy, and all bad things that people had never experienced before flew out from the box. Pandora slammed shut the lid, but it was too late. All bad things were already out into the world. However, there was one last thing that flew out of the box. It was called Hope.

People always put caution to something unknown and say, 'Don't open the Pandora's box'.

Do you know any other idioms or terms that derived from myth or legend? Please share.

rysperski also has added four more expressions/idioms that are derived from myth/legend and Asif Ali, Zindani. has added five more.

1. Cutting the Gordian’s knot – It is often used as a metaphor for an intractable problem

2. Herculean Task – a an arduous assignment needing superhuman efforts to accomplish.

3. Sisyphus Labour -  a grueling, futile, never ending work

4. Trojan Horse -  any trick or stratagem that causes a target to invite a foe into a securely protected bastion or space – as well as any ruse that seems to be friendly but at the end brings ruin to the host.

5. Drawing the line in the sand - to create or declare an artificial boundary and imply that crossing it will cause trouble. It can be traced back to Biblical link John 8.6

6. To lead a Spartans life - to live in a harsh, strict existence, with no frills or superfluous luxuries or pleasures

7. Burn one’s bridges/Cross the Rubicon - was taken from the ancient Rome and means to eliminate all possibilities of retreat.

8. Pyrrhic victory - which refers to a victory or any situation that is accompanied by enormous losses and leaves the winners in as desperate shape as if they had lost.This expression was named after Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, whose army suffered irreplaceable casualties in defeating the Romans at Heraclea in 280 BC and Asculum in 279 BC during the Pyrrhic War. King Pyrrhus after defeating the Romans in battle stated: "If we win another such battle against the Romans, we will be completely lost.

9. Rome wasn't built in a day - it means it will take a long time to do some important job.

My other Did You Know? series:-

1. Did You Know?;   2. Did You Know - Continuation;   3. Did You Know - Another Continuation;   4. Did You Know - Not Another Continuation!;   5. Did You Know - Gosh! Will it never ends?;   6. Did You Know - Oh No! Not Another One!;   7. Did You Know? - Here Comes Another One!;   8. Did You Know? - Another One?;  9. Did You Know? - One, Two, Eighty Six?;   10. Did You Know? - Punishment? OMG!;   11. Did You Know? - John Has it All?;   12. Did You Know? - Is this a Swan Song?;

I read this very informative and helpful advice in my Facebook page, posted by my various friends. Therefore, I did not authored nor researched this scientific and helpful advice on how to measure your diabetes levels.

Level 1 : Cautionary Level. When you want to pee, all ants will surround you

Level 2 : Extra Careful Level. When you want to pee, all ants will follow you at the back.

Level 3 : Red Alert Level. When you want to pee, all the ants are already waiting for you at the toilet

Level 4 : Dangerous level. When you pee, there are a few ants coming out. 

Level 5 : Nuclear bomb level, when you pee on your friends.

LOL. Sorry, if you guys found this little bit hard to swallow. Take it easy!

P/S:-

Over here, the term 'pee on someone' can bring connotation that person is betraying you.

I have a Dream

When I was a child, my dream kept on changing. One day, I wanted to be a policewoman, another day a soldier, and yet another day, I wanted to be a doctor. Living in a village with a few modern facilities such as electricity and television (at that time only a few houses had a television), my exposure to the world was through books and teachers. To be a policewoman or a soldier was such an honoured profession in my parents' eyes that I wanted to be one. Then, through the classes, I thought to be a doctor was such an exciting job where you can heal people. Unfortunately my dream to be a doctor was soon squashed because I hate needle, and I got squeamish looking at blood.

Even until today, I am still discovering what my real goal is. As a woman with a good career, it seems I reached my goal. But, to my own surprises, I am still discovering about myself. I thought, to have a financial stability, I will stop searching. I know ultimately, after my working career ends, I would love to be a book cafe owner. For the past few years, my friends and I are talking about it because to own a book cafe is like combining our hobby and passion of books and food, it is like a dream comes true. 

I guess I am the classic example of a late bloomer. LOL. My dreams as a child and now, are like chalk and cheese. I am one of those people who must open every door and every window just to discover what I want isn't there. My ultimate destination may takes longer for me to reach, and even I have to make a few wrong turns, but I have to look at it as the priceless adventures.

I know over here, a book cafe is such a novelty. To own it and to make it work, I may be totally out of my depth. What I can do at the moment is putting aside some much needed capital, and when the time comes, hopefully it will be enough and the attitude of people over here on such venture will change and they will be more receptive. And most importantly, I do hope I will not change my dream again.

"The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams" - Oprah Winfrey

This post had been edited to include several expressions/idioms given by Gil Gaudia, Ph.D. Tara Benwell and Gabriel Sowrian. 

Isn't it interesting that the name 'John' is so generic that two well-known phrases use it?  I wonder if there are other names that are used generically?. Thank you Gil Gaudia, Ph.D.  for the corrections. 

Did You Know?

1. Dear John Letter

Did you know that a 'Dear John letter' means the end of a relationship. Basically it's a letter from a woman to her boyfriend or husband telling him that their relationship is over. This phrase can be traced back during the World War II, when many American servicemen had to be at the battlefields for a long time. This led to many of them receiving letters from their girlfriends or wives ending their relationship. The name John is used because it's a generic name. Due to some political correctness, 'Dear Jane letter' term may also be used to show that a man is ending a relationship with his girlfriend or wife. However, the term 'Dear John letter' is basically reflecting both genders terminating relationship.

2. John Doe or Jane Doe 

Did you know that for unknown person mostly unknown victim, he or she will be named as John Doe or Jane Doe? Sometimes 'John Roe' is also being used. This name is also being used for legal reason if the person wanted to remain anonymous. For a child, the term used is 'Baby Doe'. The origin of this term can be dated back to 1300s. It was during the reign of King Edward III that a legal debate occurred with regard to Act of Ejectment. During that debate, two factious names were created, 'John Doe' for the owner of the land and "John Roe" for the leasor. Both Doe and Roe had no particular significance, except that 'Doe' is a female deer, and 'Roe' is a small deer found in Europe. However, nowadays, Joe Bloggs is also being used. And other variations of these names maybe used such as Juan or Juanita. 

Please tell me if you know any other generic name(s) that's being used for certain term. 

P/S :- Additional expressions/idioms using other generic name(s). Thank you Gil Gaudia, Ph.D. Tara Benwell and Gabriel Sowrian for the additional information.

1."Plain Jane" refers to an unattractive woman. 

2. "Joe Blow" refers sarcastically to some unknown man.

3. "Every Tom, Dick and Harry" refers to any or every man.

4. An "average Joe" is used to describe an everyday person. 

5. A "nervous Nellie" is a timid person. 

6. A "Jack of all trades" is a person who is good at a lot of different kinds of jobs or someone who can do everything.

7. A "smart Alec" is a smart person who shows off his/her knowledge. 

8.  "Doubting Thomas" is used to refer to someone who is skeptical (From the "Apostle Thomas" of the Christian Bible).

9. "Simple Simon" is a name used to refer to a foolish man or boy

10. "Darby and Joan" is a way of referring to an old couple who are happily married  

11. "Johnny-come-lately" is a person who has only recently arrived in a place or started an activity, especially somebody who is more confident than they should be 

12. "Adam’s apple" is a lump at the front of a man’s throat that sticks out and moves up and down when he swallows something 

13. "David and Goliath" is used to describe a situation in which a small/weak person (or organization) tries to defeat another much larger/stronger opponent

Note: This expression came of the Bible story in which Goliath, a giant, is killed by the boy David with a stone. 

My other Did You Know? series:-

1. Did You Know?  2. Did You Know? - Continuation   3. Did You Know - Another Continuation   4. Did You Know - Not Another Continuation!   5. Did You Know? - Gosh! Will it Never Ends?   6. Did You Know? - Oh No! Not Another One!   7. Did You Know? - Here Comes Another One!  8. Did You Know? - Another One?   9. Did You Know? - One, Two, Eighty Six?  10. Did You Know? - Punishment? OMG!

This is such a heartwarming and feel good story. Peggy Shafer and Muriel Cowley, both seventy nine years old, had been writing to each other since they were both ten years old young girls. They had been writing to each other telling stories about their lives, school, siblings, hobbies and such since the World War II. Please click here to read their full and amazing story.

Soon both Peggy and Muriel found out that they had many things in common, thus formed a strong and long lasting friendship through the years, seven decades to be precise. Though they live far from each other and separated by the Atlantic Ocean, Peggy is living in America and Muriel is living in England, they had supported each other through difficult times.

Both Peggy and Muriel had met each other a few times, but to celebrate their sixty nine years of extra ordinary friendship, Peggy and her husband will visit Muriel in her hometown in Banham, Norfolk. Nowadays, both ladies have embrace the modern technology and are sending e-mails to each other.

This story makes me wonder whether my friendship with my friends in EC will endure such enduring years too. Is it nice, lets say, twenty years from now, we can look back at our time in EC and reminisce with each other and share such nice story like these two ladies. 

I was debating whether I want to share with members here on a heartbreaking article and photos that I have read a few days ago about the devastation face by the people of Vietnam due to Agent Orange. As a stranger, I don't feel comfortable to share such article and photos, but my friend I am Vietnamese, put a question to me, 'Noas, are you going to write a blog about it? If you want additional information, I can help you with it'. It make me realise that maybe as a stranger, I can also share something that is so heartbreaking about something, though I do not living it.

After forty years of the end of Vietnam Wars, it is estimated that nearly three millions of Vietnamese are suffering from the effect of Agent Orange; a herbicide used by the American military to uncover places the enemy could hide.

It was estimated that American soldiers sprayed about twenty millions gallons of that chemical in part of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. It is reported by BBC that the USA is now helping to pay for a solution that would clean up the soil which still contain that harzardous chemical.

In the meantime, the third generations of Vietnamese are suffering and paying horrendous price for the effect of this toxin. Brian Driscoll, an American photographer had traveled through Vietnam and photographed the devastation face by the people due to Agent Orange such as dozens of serious ailments, physical deformities and mental disorders.

Feature Shoot had written about Brian Driscoll's effort whom believed that his uncle, a Veteran of Vietnamese War, was also exposed to Agent Orange due to unexplainable symtoms.

These haunting images are taken from Brian Driscoll's photos published by Feature Shoot. For more images, click on Feature Shoot.

For my Vietnamese friends, I am sorry if my blog is not accurate. 

P/S:

This video was shared by I am Vietnamese in the comment's section. I thought it is better for this video to be shared in here.

This is another famous fable among children. It is a story about the crow and the peacock. 

The Story of a Crow and a Peacock

Once upon a time, in the deep jungle, a crow and a peacock were the very best of friends. During that time, both of them were just plain white birds. They will scavenge for their food together, play together, and even build their nests next to each other.

One day, while both of them were looking for food near the border of a village, the Crow suddenly stumbled upon a bucket of colourful magic paint. Both of them stood dumbfounded for a while. "Hmm .. what are we going to do with this paint?" the Crow thinking aloud. As the Crow was well known to be the clever one between both of them, the Peacock just stood there waiting. He did not even know what it was, but since he was well known to be a proud animal, he pretended to know and did not ask his good friend for explanation.

The Crow then sit on a durian tree trunk and mulled over the matter. He was wondering what need to be done, and how it could be done. While his friend the Crow thinking on the matter, the Peacock was scuffling around the paint and trying to figure out the weird stuff.

"Eureka! I get it!" suddenly the Crow shouted. The Peacock was so surprised that he hide behind the durian tree. "Oh! Come on Peacock! Come out from behind that tree. I was just so happy that we can do something with this magic paint" said the Crow with a big smile. 

Tentatively the Peacock walked towards the Crow with a puzzled look. "What are we going to do with this paint?" he asked. "We are going to put this paint on our feathers and make our feathers colourful. Then we will be the most enviable birds in this jungle" said the Crow. He could not hide his excitement. He was jumping with joy.

"Okay". Said the Peacock. "But how? Who is going to help us paint our feathers?" asked the Peacock again. "Do not be silly, Peacock. We will help each other" said the Crow. In his excitement, he has forgotten his promise not to call the Peacock "silly". The Peacock's feathers were ruffled when he was called "silly" but he kept quite. He wanted to see if the idea of the Crow working or not. 

"Okay. Since you know I am a bit slow in understanding all new things, can you show me how to do it first?" asked the Peacock to the Crow. "Ahh ... why it is always me to show you things?" whined the Crow. But because he wanted to show his friend his cleverness, he agreed to paint the Peacock first. 

"Come and sit at this tree stump, and I will show you how to paint our feathers" said the Crow. For the next hours, he painstakingly paint each and every one of the Peacock's feathers with bright and colourful colours. "I am really an artist" he thought to himself, proudly.

"It is done" finally the Crow said to the Peacock. "Now you have a very beautiful and colourful feathers. No one in this jungle can outshine you" he said. The Peacock displayed his feathers proudly, and said "Wow! Now I am the most beautiful bird in this jungle. Thank you dear Crow". 

"Now it is your turn to paint my feathers" the Crow said excitedly. "I want you to paint my feathers as bright as yours, as colourful as yours, and as beautiful as yours". Patiently, the Crow sit on the tree stump and await for the Peacock to paint him. But the Peacock was well known to be a lazy animal. Furthermore, he was holding a grudge against the Crow for calling him silly, again, just now. So he just pretended to carefully applying the paint to the crow's feathers, but in actual fact he was just killing the time. A few hours later, he said triumphantly, "Done". In actual fact, the Peacock just applied black colour to the Crow's feathers. 

The Crow was so excited to see the result that he immediately fly to the river and stopped at a rambutan tree branch. He was so surprised when he looked at the clear water and saw himself as black as a coal. "Ack! Ack! Ack!" he was furious. In the meantime, the Peacock had run away from the place.

That was why a crow always sounded furious when it shouted Ack! Ack! Ack!. He was still angry for being as black as a coal. In the meantime, the peacock was so proud of its feathers that it always showing off to other animals.

~~~~~ The End ~~~~~

Once again, I hope you enjoyed reading this fable.

Other fables that I have written:-

1. The Legend of Mahsuri;   2. The Story of a Mouse Deer and a Crocodile;   3. The Story of How a Python Lost Its Venom;   4. The Story of a Cat and a Tger

I was reading an article about how Prince Harry visited Angola and how he was sad that after 25 years there are still a lot of landmines left scattered in Angola. He was irritated that the Companies that supplied those landmines in the first place did not do enough to help clearing them.

Reading this article made me read more on the work done by the HALO Trust. The HALO Trust had work tirelessly and endlessly in destroying various landmines in many countries devastated by wars. These countries faced and still facing the devastation and impact on those wars because of the landmines and unexploded ordnance. 

The danger of landmines came into the thrust of international attention by the work of the late Princess Diana. She managed to put the limelight to the danger of landmines and the tedious and hard works done to destroy them.

In Angola, ordinary people still facing daily threat of death or injury by landmines. Most of them cannot resume normal lives, even after 25 years the end of the civil wars. The same happens in Cambodia and Loas. Ordinary people get maimed and or died because of landmines. The price of wars is being paid by future generations, and definitely still stutter the growth of the economy of these countries.

The question is, shouldn't the Companies that supplied and still supplying these landmines be held responsible in cleaning up the wreckage that they partly responsible? Shouldn't they put some, maybe a big fund, to help the innocent people and help the work and volunteers of the HALO Trust?

I read this interesting article in BBC news about "Moser Light" which was invented by Alfredo Moser, a Brazilian mechanic. Mr. Alfredo Moser uses plastic bottle with water and bleach to invent the most amazing light without the usage of any electricity. The Moser light is based on principle of refraction to light up a dark room during the day.

Mr. Moser had been using plastic bottles filled up with water and a splash of bleach, to avoid algae, to illuminate dark rooms since 2002 and now the idea had been spreading around the world especially to poorer countries. Mr. Moser had the idea to invent the solution during frequent blackout in Brazil in 2002. Depending on the strength of the sun, the light that filling his home is estimated between 40 to 60 watts. 

He was quoted to BBC News "It's a divine light. God gave the sun to everyone, and light is for everyone. Whoever wants it saves money. You can't get an electric shock from it, and it doesn't cost a penny."

By the end of the year, it's expected that millions homes will be fitted with his invention. But, Mr. Moser did not get paid for his invention. He is still poor. 

The question is, why did some Government or even big Companies did not use his idea, and maybe improvise it further, and fit most homes with the much needed light? Reading from the article, it seems this is one of the best and cheapest solutions for energy usage. I just hope no one will put some patent request and make millions from this simple idea.

It makes you wonder, doesn't it?

I think I have been dragging this Did You Know? series as far as it can goes. I have been thinking of ending it a few times, and hence the reason of this blog talking about swan in general. This may be the last of the series, or may be just an interlude, but what ever it is going to be, it is really fun writing the series so far. And I would like to thank to each and everyone of you for reading and commenting on the Did You Know? blogs.

Did You Know?

1. All Swans in England are belong to the King

I came across the ancient English law when I was reading an article about the Monarchy of England. Did you know that one ancient English law still being enforced today in United Kingdom is the Act of Swan 1576. This Act was implemented during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558 - 1603). The Act decreed that all wild mute swans in England were the property of the Crown; i.e. the Monarch of England, and only the Crown could grant ownership of mute swans.

King Henry VIII introduced a law with regards to swans, of which under its definitions; "A swan is royal fowl, and all swans the owner of which is not known belong to the Crown". Severe penalties were imposed under the law for stealing or killing swans which including interfering with their nests and polluting the water of a swan's habitat. Until this day, this Act still carries stiff penalties, and maybe even jailed for the people who committed the offence. 

2. Swan Song

When a person is said to do his(her) swan song, it means it is his(her) final public performance or professional activity before retirement. The origin of this phrase came from a legend that said that while swans were mostly mute during their life time, they will sing beautifully and mournfully before they died. Though the legend was proven to be untrue, but many poets and playwrights used more for poetic imagination rather scientific proof. So until to-date, swan song is still being used for indicating final public performance before retirement.

At this juncture, I am taking a bow from writing this series. It is fun while it lasts. Once again, thank you so much for giving the time to read the Did You Know? series.

The Did You Know? series blogs are:-

1. Did You Know?  2. Did You Know? - Continuation   3. Did You Know - Another Continuation   4. Did You Know - Not Another Continuation!   5. Did You Know? - Gosh! Will it Never Ends?   6. Did You Know? - Oh No! Not Another One!   7. Did You Know? - Here Comes Another One!  8. Did You Know? - Another One?   9. Did You Know? - One, Two, Eighty Six?  10. Did You Know? - Punishment? OMG!   11. Did You Know? - John has it All?

I am writing this blog as to celebrate my own milestone. This is supposed to mark my 50th blog. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, my 50th blog is posted earlier which is a blog dedicated to my dear friend Noora; Wake up Soon, my Dear.

I never knew that I would be able to write a single blog, let alone my 50th. As I said in my previous blog "Practising English Online", I was one of those people that "don't do blogs, don't read blogs". It all started to change when a friend asked me to read her blog and write a comment on it. From there on, the rest is history, as people used to say.

My first blog "The Infamous Durian - King of Fruits" took me a long time to write and took longer to post. It challenged me to let go of my insecurities about my English grammar. It took a lot of courage and encouragement from my good EC friend, Grape for me to post it. My first milestone was February 14, 2013. Finally I posted my first ever attempt in blogging.

The first few blogs that I wrote were all based from my experiences. I didn't put myself as a "creative writer", because I can't write like certain EC friends in here about anything and everything and make them interesting. I can't write poem even my life is depended on it. And when I read a poem, most of the time, it leaves me mind boggled, rather than peace, as some of my EC friends in here. Thus, most of the time, I do not read poems written by EC members. I would like to apologise for that.

Tara Benwell's Writing Challenge : Finish My Sentence changed my view on my writing. She shown that if I sleep less, and think a little bit more, LOL, I can write something different. My first real attempt in writing a story was a short story "How I Wish". I was surprised that my EC friends had viewed my attempt with warmth. In here I would to thank each and every one of you who had read and written your wonderful comments. It really gave me encouragement to try writing something different.

Another milestone that I had encountered in here was when I finally posted nine chapters of "My Short Story : Life Puzzles". Again, I was surprised, maybe I should stop being surprised anymore, when my EC friends read the story with warmth and reading those comments were more fun than trying to come up with the plot of the story. I was reluctant to post the final Chapter 9 knowing that I was letting go my characters, and with it the funny comments and encouragements. It was like letting go of your kids and letting them explore the wide world.

Currently I am pursuing two writing projects; writing Malaysian's fables, myths and legend stories, and Did You Know? series. Introducing Malaysian's fables and other local stories is fun, whereas Did You Know? series is growing and I am yet to know when it is going to end. 

To all my EC friends, WMW, Sima, ⊱ Mickey ⊰, Noorany, I am Vietnamese, sewar, Ha, Narizawa, Mr. Bob, Bala from India and all others (you know who you are), and to my esteem English Teachers in EC Dayne, Chloe, T Mal, Cheetah, Vanessa, AB (Ameni), Tim New, and Tony Hogg I would like to write my heartiest thank you for all your supports. 

As mentioned in my previous fables, the story about mouse deer is very famous among children in Malaysia. There are various stories which show the brilliance and cleverness of this mouse deer when facing some difficulties. It seems it always can think on its feet when it needs to be. In this blog, I want to share with you another funny story about how a mouse deer tricked the mighty Tiger. I hope you will enjoy reading it.

I want to dedicate this fable to my little EC Grand daughter Noora. I hope she is going to recover soon. 

The Story of a Mouse Deer and a Tiger

Once upon a time, deep in a jungle,  a mouse deer was humming to himself while he was munching some succulent fruits. He was really happy because there were a lot of gooseberries. He loved gooseberries. It was one of his favourite fruits next to rambutan and pink guava. Too absorbed was he munching the gooseberries that he did not realise that his antics were being observed by the dreaded Tiger. 

The Tiger had been hunting from the early morning. So far he was only successful in catching a few rats. Rats! He shuddered to think if any of his friends knew that he had resorted to catching a few annoying rats to appease his hunger. How could he regale his friends with his awesome tricks and skills if he could only catch those infuriating rats? He would rather swallow a bitter gourd than admitting to his friends that he could only catch rats. At least he hope the bitter gourd would  be the least bitter than admitting he failed miserably. 

So at that evening he was dragging his feet one at a time, when suddenly he heard a humming from the gooseberry bush. Sniff! Sniff! His whiskers were twitching when he smelt the unmistakable smell of a mouse deer. Suddenly he felt an adrenalin rush. He tried to tell himself to keep calm and take his time. It would be better if the mouse deer was full and felt sleepy. So he waited. And waited. And waited.

"Hmmm ... how big that mouse deer stomach is?" He wondered. "He seems did not stop chewing, and here I am getting hungrier. My stomach is growling like a mad lion now. I need to act now!" Having decided that he needed to take the necessary action, the Tiger started to walk near to the mouse deer. But in his haste, he accidentally stepped on dead branches. "Crack!" The sound seemed so loud in the quiet evening. A group of crows took off because of the noise.

When the mouse deer realised that a Tiger was ready to pounce on him, he was so frighten. He was trembling all over. A cold sweat started to drop from all over his body. He knew he will be a dead meat if he did not think fast enough. "Ho a little mousy dear! Be prepared to meet your maker. I am going to eat your juicy red meat shortly" roared the Tiger. 

"OHMY Master Tiger, you nearly frighten me to death. I do hope you are not starving at the moment, because you cannot eat me now. I have been entrusted by the King Solomon to safeguard his most treasured item" said the mouse deer while pointing his right paw to a bee nest dangled from a rambutan tree. 

"What is that?" asked the Tiger curiously. Though the Tiger was a frightening hunter in the jungle, but he was not known to have a bright mind. "Oh! That is the Gold Gong of the King Solomon. His Majesty likes to hear the sound of the gong when he is hunting in the jungle", replied the mouse deer. 

"It must gives the sweetest sound when it is pounded" said the Tiger with an excited voice. "Of course! After all it is His Majesty's gold gong. Who ever has the opportunity to listen to the sound of the gong, will feel happy for the rest of the day" replied the mouse deer. He tried to make his sound more prideful rather than trembling with fright. 

"You must be very proud to be able to safeguard His Majesty treasure" the Tiger voice was a bit envious. "So can I for once be allowed to pound that magnificent gong? asked the Tiger. "I am sorry my dear Tiger. I have been reminded not to let anyone touch that precious gong" the mouse deer said with a sad voice. But deep down he was jumping with joy because the Tiger had fallen into his trap.

"O pretty please my dear mouse deer. Please allow me to pound the gong this time. If you do that I promise to let you go today" pleaded the Tiger. His voice became whiny and pitiful. The mouse deer stood silent for a few minutes as if debating his decision. 

With a deep breath and sounded remorseful, the mouse deer finally said; "Oh! Because you are so kind to spare my life, and I am grateful for that, I will allow you to pound on that gong. But because I am afraid of the wrath of his Highness King Solomon, you can only pound that precious gong when I am far from here. At least I can claimed that I did not know who had pounded the gong. Promise me."

"I promise! I promise!" said the Tiger excitedly. "Shush now. Go!" "Okay, I will shout 'pound" when I am far enough from this place, and then you can start to pound to your heart contend" said the mouse deer while starting to retreat hastily.

The Tiger was for once waited patiently to hear the signal from the mouse deer. When he heard "Pound" from somewhere in the deep jungle, with his might he pound the bee nest. The bees were so angry with the disturbance that they started to attack the Tiger in a drove. The Tiger was so surprised by the attack that for a moment he was frozen. Then he howled with all his might that his roar was heard all over the jungle.

Then he ran and ran and ran until he finally saw a river. He jumped into the river and sub-merged with the hope the bees would go away. However the bees were so angry that they were circling near the Tiger for sometime. 

Finally the bees went back to their ruined nest. The Tiger was able to swim to the river bank. He was shivering and at the same time fuming for being made a fool by the mouse deer. He promised himself that he would seek revenge on the mouse deer.

~~~~~ The End ~~~~~