Valentine's Day 2012

Happy Valentine's Day 2012.

Probably this would be the first year I don't feel a thing on Valentine. LOL.

Another usual day for me.

WORKING LIKE HELL.

Happy for my friends who have dates with their BFs and GFs.

I have few friends who are having their first valentine's day.

Been wandering around with my mum last Sunday.

And she told me that there is this "love bean" tree beside the road of Gaya College.

It's been ages since I last saw the "love bean" or better known as "xiang si dou".

I remembered I used to collect and played with them when I was small.

There's even an Abrus Herb or better known us "ji gu cao" tree planted behind my grandma's house.

And my grandma would always go behind the house just to pick them for me.

This would be the first time I am looking at a "xiang si dou" tree.

Man, it's tall and big, unlike the "ji gu cao" tree.

It's impossible to pluck the seeds off directly from the tree.

So me and my mum are looking for it from the ground below.

Using a stick, we even dig around the ground to find these red little beans.

After spotting some ripe ones on the tree, I ended up throwing some sticks and stones upwards.

With the intention of hitting the branches and wishing that they would fall off.

I feel like a total retard and jackass when none of them even fall off. LOL.

Drivers that passed by even looked weirdly at us.

Probably wondering what were the both of us doing there.

My mum love "xiang si dou" very much.

She used to collect them back in her school days.

"xiang si dou" are very common in the olden days.

They can be found everywhere, even in the school compound.

The ancient chinese often relate this red bean to romance and love legends.

The bean is not meant to be used for food, but instead as a love token.

I wondered if my dad used this to chase my mum back then? LOL.

Present here the two love poems which are related to "xiang si dou":

******

Endless tears in my eyes,
I toss the love beans as I yearn for you;
Filling the gallery,
spring blossoms and willow bloom perpetually.
Sleepless stormy twilights, through the window I stare;
Unforgettable sorrow, the past and the present.
Delightful cuisines, I desire not;
Looking in the mirror, I see my gaunt reflection.
Those frowning brows, feeling the pain of missing you;
In these endless nights, my world stops turning.
Oh! You are on my mind,
as inexorable as the vague distant mounts;
As unstoppable, as the ever-flowing streams.

******

The red bean grows in southern lands,
With spring its slender tendrils twine,
Gather for me some more, I pray,
Of fond remembrance 'tis the sign.

******