Thursday, December 27, 2007

Ski Trip Break

I'm going to the Ski Trip in Nagano today, so I won't be updating this blog for a while. Sorry! and Chiao~

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Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Christmas,Santa Claus,Jesus Christ

Happy Christmas everyone! Late 1 day coz my friend ask me to 'party' a bit with him last night.. haha.. (こんなに長くなっちゃってごめんよ。頑張って! ^ー^)

Hmm, so we all must have said "Merry Christmas" countless times to our friends and family and people we don't even know.. but what is the real significance of Christmas? Have you actually thought about that before you say "Merry Christmas" to someone? The other day I went to church, the pastor was saying something about "merry" coming from "Mary", the virgin mother of Jesus. Hmm.. don't really understand what significance that has.. hehe.. In English, "Merry" generally means being happy and cheerful. And Christmas could probably mean the birth of Jesus Christ.

So, now, what has all that have to do with Santa Claus? Is Santa Jesus' uncle or something? heh. of course not. The legend of Santa Claus told in modern times is that he lives in the North Pole and is assisted by his green elfs and reindeer to give presents to children during Christmas. However, this legend, which has been told for a long time to children all over the world, Christian or not, is of course only a legend. And the tradition of passing on the story is also slowly becoming irrelevant because kids find out about it easily nowadays and refuse to believe.

And as shocking as it may sound, I think one of the most Santa-believing kids are actually in Japan. When asked by my teacher in class, most of my classmates say they only found out that the presents were not from Santa at around age 8 or 9, and some even believed until they were 11! Do you notice that the way I'm saying this implies that every one of my classmates believed in Santa? ^^ If you were to say that you believed in Santa in Malaysia, you would be laughed at like an idiot by the other kids for sure.

Well, the reason for this might be that we were not lied taught by out parents about Santa that way. In Japan, parents buy presents and put it beside their bed or Christmas tree to make it look as if Santa came and dropped them the present. This is how strong-going the Christmas legend/tradition is in Japan. Many times, when kids find out that Santa do not really exist, they become distrustful for being cheated and some even come to hate Santa and legends they were told when they were young. Well, I believe that every legend told comes from a true story some way or the other. It might have been someone great and admired, so the people write about them, adding a bit "zest" to the stories and making everything ideal.

As for Santa Claus, it was a Christian bishop who lived in the 4th century by the name of Saint Nicholas.
Saint Nicholas of Myra is the primary inspiration for the Christian figure of Santa Claus. He was a 4th century Christian bishop of Myra in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity.
Source : Wikipedia


Another version of this story is that Saint Nicholas dropped 3 gold coins through the chimney into the house of the daughters mentioned, and coincidentally they were drying up their socks at the fireplace, so the coins fell straight into the socks. This is where the tradition of giving presents in a sock come from. So, you're asking how a Christian saint became our great magical uncle in the North Pole? Well, all I can say is, humans have really great imaginations. ^^

So, what about Jesus Christ? Well, to start with it, in the Bible, Jesus is said to have been born of the Virgin Mary. The night Jesus was born is said to have been a very holy night, bringing joy to the hearts of people. Jesus himself was said to have not cried when born, despite of being born in a stable and laid in a manger. I believe that it is undeniable that Jesus' birth fulfilled the prophecies made by Jewish prophets long before His birth of a Messiah who would be a Saviour. This day is what is now officially called Christmas Day, generally accepted to be on the 25th December.

However, the real date is actually unknown. The date was actually decided by the first Christian Roman Emperor, Constantine.
There are numerous reasons why Constantine may have chosen the date of December 25th to celebrate Christmas. On that date also was celebrated the birth of Mithras, the Persian god of light.
Source: Wiki
You might ask why Constantine had this wild idea of replacing a pagan holiday with Christ's birthday. However, during that time, it might have been the wisest thing to do, because the nations he ruled all believed in the pagan Gods, and by replacing the pagan holiday, people would thus be celebrating Christ and not pagans. It was also easier for the people to celebrate a holiday on the day they were familiar with.

However, in conclusion, December 25th needs only to be seen as the day of celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and not the birthdate of Jesus Christ. Many churches seem to forget this fact (or uninformed) and proclaim that the birth of Jesus Christ is on this day. You might ask what does that matter? Well, when you think of it in a spiritual way, the day Christ was born is a Holy Day and a day full of joy and power. It is the day that the Son of God was born in flesh and blood to the world. Now you see how significant it is?

During the Reformation, some Protestants condemned Christmas celebration as "trappings of popery" and the "rags of the Beast". The Roman Catholic Church responded by promoting the festival in an even more religiously oriented form. Following the Parliamentary victory over King Charles I during the English Civil War, England's Puritan rulers banned Christmas, in 1647.
Source: Wikipedia
To think that the Protestants actually banned Christmas, and are now celebrating it vigorously is kind of weird. Well, either ways, Christmas is a happy day on which we should all celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ, Son of God who saved our souls with His own innocent blood. And it is also a day to remind ourselves that He is coming again. We do not know when, but it is imminent that we prepare ourselves for it.


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Monday, December 24, 2007

Christmas Eve!


Still quite early, but a very Happy Christmas to everyone! And A Super Merry Birthday to Satomi Ishihara! haha. Yup, Satomi's birthday is on Boxing Day.

Hmm, just now I found out that Satomi has an Internet Log too! Satomi Nikki! However, it's not updated that much. But it's quite nice to be able to see her personal pics. =) Actually, I thought she was absolutely Internet-illiterate before this. Haha. But then again, it's a high probability someone else is helping her to update the Diary. ^^

Okay, I should stop talking about Satomi and putting up more of her pics.. lol.. Anyways, I bought a KFC party bucket kind of thing today and ate it with 2 foreign students from Sri Lanka and Mongolia here. Got about 12 pieces of chicken and salad and a Choco Cake.. Ho ho ho.. A small Christmas party, but quite fun! heh.. Would've been more fun if got more ppl, but.. nvm.. (To tell the truth, I'm a bit disappointed with the thin layer of friendship between us foreign students here..so thin and could break any time.. sighs)

Well, anyways, I was actually planning to send a postcard to the family whose house I went for the homestay in Saitama, but unfortunately the post office was closed.. I think should be open on Boxing Day, but maybe not open because it was the Birthday of the Emperor yesterday(Sunday). sighs.. nvm lar.. a bit late also nvm kua.. heh.

Hmm.. some people must be curious about how Christmas feels and looks like in Japan.. I don't really know coz I'm not going anywhere for countdown tonight.. But this picture up here is a picture of the decorations in Ueno Park which I took 2 weeks ago. Quite pretty..

And these penguins were really cute! heh.. =) Okaylar, that's all tonight..

HAPPY CHRISTMAS everyoneeeee.. and a Merry New Year very soon!

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Saturday, December 22, 2007

お出かけ

I went out to ka-la-o-kay today with my classmates. Yea, the first time I go ka-la-o-kay with my classmates. The first time I went ka-la-o-kay was with Calvin far off in Aomori. Haha.. so out of place, right? ^^
今日クラスメート達とカラオケ行ってきました。そう、初めてのクラスメートとのカラオケの打ち上げ。初めてカラオケに行ったのはかるびちゃんと一緒で、青森にいたときでした。まあ、それは泊まるとこなかったから。。。

Well, to tell the truth, I'm not good at ka-la-o-kay at all, not o-kay at all. Messed up all the keys and lyrics.. lol. Well, that's mainly because most of the English songs are quite old.. no new ones for me to sing.. sighs.. and the Japanese songs that I know are all a tempo too fast or more.. ^^;;
正直言って、僕カラオケむいてないっすね。。歌詞も音声も全部間違えまくりだった。(笑) まあ、注文できる英語の歌あんまり新しいのなかったのもあるけど。で、僕が知ってる日本語のうたはほとんどテンポがはやいアニソンだから。。一番よく歌えるの「太陽の歌」かな。。^^

Hmm, but it was quite fun, and cheap.. Sang 7 hours for 810 yen. and it's usually 1000 yen per hour in Tokyo. well, just to be prepared for the next time, I'll try to listen to more Japanese songs and practice a bit.. haha..
でも、結構楽しくて、なによりも安かった。7時間で810円。本当はフリータイムで9時間だけど、途中帰った。東京だったら、一時間でも1000円ぐらい。。フリータイムもそんなに長くないと思う。うん、今度のカラオケに備えて、もうちょっと日本語の歌聴いて練習しようかな。(勉強の方もしっかりしてないくせに。。笑)

I left early coz the free time course is actually for 9 hours, and I couldn't possible sing that long. I was looking for somewhere to eat nearby the Karaoke when I saw a book/dvd shop.
僕には9時間はさすがに無理だったんで、先に帰った。その前に、近くに食いもん探して夕飯済まそうと思って。。そして、このつたやのような店を見た。

From the outside, it looked like every other book/dvd shop, something like tsutaya.. So, thinking of burning some time, I went in to see.. And what did I get? A whole archive of... those things that I would rather not announce publicly. ^^; So, those guys who are prepared to make reservations, you're in luck. haha.. kidding.
外からは普通の本屋さん・DVD屋さんみたい(見分けとかあるかもしれないが、僕なんか分からないから)。。時間の余裕もたっぷりあるからと思って、入ったんだけれども、なんとなかにはアレばっかりだった。アレの大きなアーカイブらしく、本当にびっくりした。日本の本屋さんって、ちょっと危険だね。。気をつけないと。。(笑)

Well, after making a round in the shop and getting sick of the air inside, I went back to finding my dinner.. I found a TonKatsu(fried pork) shop nearby and decided to try one of the popular food here. Yes, TonKatsu is Maebashi's specialty.
まあ、そのまま出ちゃうのも変だから、店内一週して、中の空気に苦しまれて(8歳とか9歳のに何する気?こんなのだけは勘弁してくれ)、出ていってまた食いもんを探し改めた。そして、とんかつ屋さんを見かけた。一応前橋の名物で、食べてみようかなって思った。そう、不思議に思う方もいると思うけど、本当です、前橋はとんかつ!(間違いでしたら、せめてくるといい)

It might sound very common, but it's true.. It's the specialty here. Anyways, this was my dinner today, which cost me 990 yen (around RM30) >.< The fried pork was succulent, juicy and sweet. And I'm always amazed how Japanese can fry their food and yet it's unoily. Quite worth it lar.. ^^
とんかつって、一般過ぎると思われるくらいだな。。さすがに名物とは思われないイメージだね。ちなみにこれが僕の夕飯セットだった。990円で日本ではこんな感じかな。まあ、マレーシアのスタンダードと著しい段差があるけど。>。< このとんかつは食感がとってもやわらかく、ジュウシーで、ちょっと甘いかんじ。とにかくうまいっす!それと、日本人がどうやってものを揚げながらも、絶対油濃くならないのが不思議なんだ。

That was all for today.. and this last picture is a picture of the sky which I took yesterday.. notice the cloud which looks like a bird in the blue sky? I love the winter sky in Japan.. heh
今日はこれで終わり。そして、この最後の写真は昨日撮った日本の冬の夕暮れの写真。鳥みたいな雲おっきいの一匹ちっちゃいの一匹見える?日本の冬空って、本当最高!大好き!

Friday, December 21, 2007

Bowling

Today after school, I went bowling with 4 of my classmates. It must have been 5 years since the last time I played bowl. That was the time we went to war with our solar pasturizer in KL(err.. I only went to receive the cert tho, i think..) lol.. and had some fun at Sunway Pyramid. heh.. the good old times, eh..

Well, anyways, my first time playing ball in five years, everyone were just beginners, so it was a bit silly and funny, but still quite fun. heh. I had two strikes(I think I had more at Sunway.. heh) today. After that, we went to eat ramen.. All in all, it was kind of fun. Just that they have been classmates for 3 years, so there are memories and stories that I don't know about.

Tomorrow is Karaoke. Err, I have no confidence at all in singing, but I guess it should be okay, coz there will be so many people there too.. heh. Just sing a few off-tunes and laugh it off. ^^

今日放課後クラスメート4人とボーリング行ってきました。僕ボーリングやったのは5年ぶりだろう。皆初心者みたいで、ちょっとばかばかしところもあったが、楽しかった。僕はストライクが二つ。ほかの3人は五つくらいだったかな。。その後はらめん食べに行った。みんなもう3年間クラスメートだから、当然僕には知らない思い出や話があるが、今日いっぱい話し聴けて皆のこと少し分かってきて良かったと思う。

明日はカラオケか。。うん、僕は歌うのに自身ないけど、人数も多いから、なんとかなるかな。

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Thursday, December 20, 2007

Merry Christmas


It's still early, but I've received my first Christmas greeting card. ^.^ It's from the homestay's host family. I actually wanted to surprise them with a Christmas card first, but now they surprised me by sending an early card. >.< Well, either way, it's still nice to receive greeting cards. heh

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Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Itadakimasu!


今日某氏からケーキをいただきました!前に約束されたものですが、忘れたかとおもったら、本当に作ってくれて、ちょっと驚きました。ごちそうさまでした!おいしかったです。僕手作りのケーキもらうの初めてです。本当にありがとう。

I received a cake from someone today. ^^ Hmm, how to explain ler? Err, basically, she said she'll make some cakes during december after the exam, and asked if anyone wanted to try.. But I thought she already forgot, so when I received it today, I was a bit surprised. heh. It was a chocolate cake and it tasted great! =) This is the first time I received a handmade cake. ^^ Thank you so much!


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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Mega Egg!!


The Japanese McDonald has introduced two more new products! This is one of it, the Mega Egg! Before this, I tried the Mega Mac which is a two-pounder version of the Big Mac. And now, they've changed it to an egg and a piece of bacon on top! Tasted great! The McWraps are also quite nice.. Soft succulent flour baked to perfection and the sweet aroma of chicken/shrimp.. Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas!! lol.. Oh yea, the Mega Mac is 380 yen, and is guaranteed to fill your stomach up and turn you into Santa Claus by Christmas next year. haha..
これはマックの新品メガたまごです!写真では一口噛まれたってわかる?なんちゅうことだ。。食べる前に写真撮れっつの。。まあ、おいしそうでたまらなかったってわけだ。(笑)これはまさにメガマックをはるかに越えてますね。肉の代わりにたまごとベーコンとはすばらしい発想だな!しかも、単品で380円だぞ。こんな低価格でおいしくて「栄養満々」の食事ができて幸せだな。。^^


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Sunday, December 16, 2007

Your Life Tag

Rules: Do this tag and answer all the questions into your own blog. Delete one question from all the questions and add one of your own questions, make sure it is 20 question. Tag 8 persons.

Questions:
1. What was your dream when you were a small kid?
.: To be a lawyer? lol

2. What is the happiest thing in your whole life?
.: Hmm.. May I say that I forgot? lol.. Well, don't have a thing that I can say is happiEST, but God and friends and family and Scholarship is very happy indeed. ^^

3. What do you wish to have now?
.: A video cam and a super shinkansen ticket to travel the whole Japan. ho ho..

4. How should the world be seen?
.: It's actually Hell on Earth if you really look at it. =P But other than that, it's just a physical world you need to get over with until you meet God.

5. What have you realized recently?
.: I didn't realize but some people are saying I've slimmed down. haha..And also that I'm really crazy.. >.<

6. Do you think a day which consist of 24 hours is enough for you?
.: Oh, you'd rather live on Mars? right.. I waste too much time so 24 hours might be too much for me.. lol

7. When you have something which you are unhappy about, what will you do?
.: I might kill someone
.: Can I cry? lol
.: Just walk past it as if nothing happened? That's usually what I do.

8. Are you afraid of losing?
.: Not really.. But nobody likes losing, right?

9. Do you think that you feel helpless, or useless sometimes?
.: Err.. most of the time.. haha..

10. When you meet someone that you like, will you profess or hide your feeling?
.: Err, usually I tell when I feel the time is right. But most of the 'feelings' are just feelings, not love, so who cares? heh

11. List out 3 kind of people you hate the most.
.: backstabbers
.: liars & playboys & playgals
.: people with strong prejudice

12. What is loneliness?
.: When you forget that there are still people who actually know your name.

13. Are you satisfied with your life now?
.: I waste too much time.. >.<

14. When was the most recent time you felt touched?
.: At church?

15. Where is the place that you visited and you felt the most beautiful?
.: Errr.. Lavender farm.. beautiful and smells good too.. heh.. and Oonuma in Hokkaido.. nice place..Well, actually Oonuma is one of the Japan New Top 3 Scenery, so yea.. ^^

16. Use 5 words to describe who you are.
.: Mata Juling? haha
.: Kid?
.: Son, Brother, and stuff..
.: Dull? er.. heh
.: Student.. very bad student.. >.<

17. If you have one wish that’ll come true, what is it?
.: err.. I would love to die and meet in Heaven now.. heh

18. Do you have anything to worry or to be scared about recently?
.: Future.. right.. well, more like if my name's on the Book of Life or not.. lol

19. If the World is going to end, what will you do?
Oh, I would most probably not be taken up during the Rapture, so I'd be running for my life from the anti-Christ.. hahaha..

20. Your biggest fear now?
.: My presence in the Book of Life.. (hmm, since there are so many people with the same name in the world, how does God keep record? I could be Jonathan Number 2,352,972. lolz..)

8 Persons that i’ll tag..
If you've already done it, it's fine
- Fabian Moa
- Keith Kueh
- Calvin Ong
- Cedric Chin
- Ming Rong
- Kelly
- Chern Lyan
- May I tag a Japanese? OBATA lol..

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本当に頭に来た!

Damn i'm really angry and disappointed now.with someone of course.i don't know if it's because of stress but always having that type of attitude towards me.i know i'm not good at talking,but at least i try.now i don't even know if that person really treats me as a friend.that person most probably would not read my blog but i just can't stand it la.just have to write..sighs.

本当に頭に来た!マジないわあいつ!いつも僕に対してそんな冷たい態度取ってさ。。自分は話すの下手なの分かってる。でもそれでも頑張ったんだから。。なにもそんなに冷たくなくてもいいんじゃないか?あいつ,本当にそれでも友達か?某氏はこのブログ読まないと思うけど書かないと心が癒されないから。

もう本当に嫌になっちゃった。。

Friday, December 14, 2007

Of a poem

君は誰?
俺は君の事を知りたい
知りたくてたまらない
そして、いつの間にか
君の瞳が恋しかった
でも愛じゃない
俺はそれを知ってる
なのに止められない
放したいの
でもずっと
見つめていたい
その瞳を
ずっと

Hmm, haven't written poems in ages.... This is just a random thought, so don't take it too seriously.. heh
詩書くの久しぶりだ。。まあ、ただ漠然的な発想だから、あんま気にしないでくれ。

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Wednesday, December 12, 2007

A Japanese Weekend


You must be confused by the title.. I'm in Japan, so everyday is Japanese right? Well, not really.. Since I stay in a single room, I can shut out the whole of Japan if I wanted to. But when you stay at a Japanese house, what can you do but spend a VERY Japanese time?

Well, actually, I went for a Homestay to a Japanese house last weekend in Saitama. The home I went to was the house of one of the students in my college, in a city in Saitama called Hiki(比企郡).Actually, I've never even met the guy before.. haha.. Thanks to the college's Homestay Program, I was able to go.

So, what type of house was it? well, obviously a Japanese house.. No, I'm not going to post a photo of it.. I don't even have a photo of it. Well, generally, Japanese houses are small and cute.. and the first time I went into the house and looked around, my first impression was that they are very good at using 'space'. For those who have played the sims, you would understand this basic in house building. A Japanese house may be small, but the way they use 'space' makes all the difference. Actually, the house felt quite wide to me.

Okay, so what about the family? Well, obviously a Japanese family, but mixed with Taiwanese blood. The father is from Taiwan, probably migrated to Japan with his own family. On the other hand, the mother is Japanese, which makes the family a Taiwan-Japanese mix. Ho hO Ho. They are a family of 6. The one studying in my college is the eldest son. And 3 younger sisters at home. Err, right, I know what you guys are going to think after reading that short sentence. Please do not draw to your own conclusions. ^-^

Well, honestly, it was kinda fun, suddenly having 3 little sisters for a weekend.. hehe.. Watching Kitarou, playing weird Japanese card games, making an incomplete origami, and "Ka!" and "Hei!" and "Yahhoo" and all that.. Heh.. I don`t expect you to understand that, but anyways, it was not too bad at all.. Just that I`m not really good at talking to girls and don`t really know what to say, especially in Japanese.

And about the place I went to, Hiki, it is called the town of Washi(Japanese paper) 「和紙の里」 hmm.. so, what did I do in the town of pulp? I made postcards with the Washi.. will upload later when I get back to my own computer.. Other than that, I also bought a sake to bring back to Malaysia. And I also went free-sliding down a slide.. My first free-sliding! I`ll explain later after I upload the picture.

And I also ate lots of nice food made by the girls and their mother.. Shiawase... Heh.. Well, in a nuts shell, a normal Japanese meal consists of miso soup, Rice, and any style of cooking you can think of.. Italian, Chinese, anything! well, except Malaysian, of course.. heh..

Well, all in all, it was a nice trip.. the line`s going to be cut in a few minutes so until next time.......


This are the postcards I made at the paper factory. A bit hard to see, but there are flowers embedded into the postcards..


This is the free-slide.. Why do I call it a free-slide? Well, I think by the picture you would expect something like a roller-coaster, right? But notice that the poles are very thin, which are only built to support the riders. Yes, it's a super tall slide on top of a hill. You slide down with a box cutting as a sled.. Well, actually just so that you don't burn your pants. It gets hot when you slide down because of the friction.

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Monday, December 10, 2007

Earth-Set and Earth-Rise

Have you seen the photograph of Earth taken from space? If you have, you would know how beautiful it is.. but nothing until now could beat the photos taken by Japanese lunar satelite Kaguya (SELENE, Selonogical and Engineering Explorer).

Picture Source: JAXA

This picture was captured by the satellite from the moon. The earth here is seen setting into the horizon of the moon's surface.The sky-blue colour of the sea and white of the clouds and green earth are such a good contrast against the horizon. What a beautiful planet we live on.. なんと美しい星ですね、我等の地球よ。

The full video of both the earth-set and earth-rise can be watched on Youtube. Please do watch it if you have the time. Afterall, it is our beautiful planet.


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Thursday, December 06, 2007

Just Great.....

Sorry for the long drought of posts on my page.. I'm not really that busy(although I'm busier than usual), just don't feel like blogging much, and waste too much time on other things.. heh..

Well, anyways, this morning, I had a very weird dream(which is very rare) which caused me to skip the morning call at the grounds..

Usually, everytime I have a dream, I immediately forget what it was about when I wake up.. But this morning's dream felt so real and yet so weird and irritating that I couldn't get it off my mind..

So what was that weird dream? Like I said, it felt so real.. I really felt myself walking out of my room, heading to the ground after hearing the announcement of the morning call.. And along with the morning exercise music, everyone danced moved their body vigorously..

And remember I said it was weird?? Oh, yes... suddenly, there was a scene of us practicing the "Rasengan"*.. It was like, everyone had a blue wave of energy in the palms of their hands.. That was kinda cool.. like Wushu or something like that.. ^^;;

But when the music ended, I woke up to find myself in my room, still under my futon(blanket).. I was like.. "What the heck?? I'm supposed to be at the morning call?!?!" By that time, I knew it was too late to head to the grounds already....

Must be some dream demon's fault.. >.<"

Rasengan- a ball of energy produced from chakra which appears in the "Naruto" anime..

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