FocusPositives

知彼知己，百戰不殆；不知彼而知己，一勝一負；不知彼，不知己，每戰必殆

It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.

~ Art of War, Ch. 3, the last sentence, by Sun Tzu

This is a short funny Cantonese song from a TVB Drama, 荃加福祿壽探案 quán jiā fú lù shòu tàn àn (Super Snoops). Their singing and dancing makes me laugh out loud.

Study Materials

The song is sung in Cantonese. Many words are very hard to translate due to the nonsense nature of the song. Even my Cantonese friends says that it can’t be directly translated. I tried to translated it the best I can at the bottom, don’t take it as being 100% correct. This is a nonsense song for fun only. Learn the words for what it is with the Vocabulary list 荃加福祿壽探案 無聊合唱團. The definition and Mandarin pingying are in Traditional Chinese (I don’t know of a Cantonese translator). Download, enjoy and learn.

Test Yourself and Sing Along 🙂

Song #2: 荃加福祿壽探案-無聊合唱團

懸懸居居去買麵
(懸懸居居, not 100% what this means, I think it means dumb) dumbly I go to buy noodles
買着個蝦子麵
bought a shrimp noodle
媽媽沖谅, 爸爸耕田
mama’s takes a (æ²–è°…) bath/shower,  Papa tills the fields
由我去買麵
so it’s up to me to go buy the noodles
爺爺失眠就開風扇
grandpa has insomnia and goes to turn on the fan
但係冇晒電
but there’s no electricity left
我最節儉用芭蕉扇來撥面
I am the most frugal I use a palm-leaf fan to fan my face
三叔公佢回頭鬧我
3rd great uncle turns back to scold me
乜你咁曵未去買麵
why you naughty and not gone to buy the noodles

I used to sing Kereoke with a friend whispering Chinese lyrics in my ear as I somehow manage to sing. It was painfully fun and I learned a few characters. I’ve always loved to sing (not that I am good) and  I’ve always wanted to learn to read Chinese. Kill two birds with one stone, learn to sing in Chinese with KTV.

My first Chinese KTV lesson is a theme song from a Chinese Drama, 步步惊心 Bù Bù Jīng Xīn (Startling by Each Step). I love the melody of the Song. After I translated and understood the lyrics, I found the song sad but beautiful.

Study Materials

You can download, enjoy and learn with this pdf  vocabulary list of 步步驚心 – 三寸天堂 or study right here with the set of Flashcards I made. Choose a study mode with audio on/off.

Test Yourself and Sing Along 🙂

Song#1: 步步惊心 – 三寸天堂 Three Inches of Heaven
Singer, Lyricist, Composer: 严艺丹  Yan Yi Dan

*停 在 這裏 不 敢 走 下去
讓 悲傷 無法 上演
下一頁 你 亲 手寫 上 的 離別
由不得 我 拒絕
這 條 路 我們 走 得 太 匆忙
擁抱 着 並不 真實 的 慾望
來不及 等不及 回頭 欣賞
木蘭 香 遮 不住 傷

不再 看 天上 太陽 透過 雲彩 的 光
不再 找 約定 了 的 天堂
不再 嘆 你 说 過 的 人間 世事 無常
借 不到 的 三 寸 日光 *

不再 看 天上 太陽 透過 雲彩 的 光
不再 找 約定 了 的 天堂
不再 嘆 你 说 過 的 人間 世事 無常
借 不到 的 三 寸 日光
那 天堂 是 我 愛 過 你 的 地方

Inspired by KTV小姐

忘 wàng, to forget / to overlook / to neglect
掉 diào, to drop / to fall
失去 shī qù, to lose
çš„ de, (possessive particle) / of
珍惜 zhēn xī, treasure / value / cherish
擁有 yōng yǒu, to have / to possess

忘掉失去的, 珍惜擁有的…
Forget your loses, Cherish what you possess…

~ Chinese Drama:步步惊心 Ep.18 quoted from the King.

stroke, audio, and more @ MDBG

While watching “Beauty Knows No Pain” or “女人最痛”, a Chinese Drama last night. I heard this, “Every time you take 1 steps forward, you take 3 steps backwards. When will you ever reach your goal?” This woman was at her lowest with her beloved family, valued career and love life. Everything was a failure.  She lost all spirits. Her boss saw that and sent her to work with her worse nemisis who humiliates her and pushes her temper into eruption. In shame and humiliations she fights back and wins back what she values most.

Reminder: Your worst fears and nemesis can set you backwards but it can also be your best teachers. If you allow it, this can be a powerful source of energy that pushes you a lot farther ahead then ever expected.