February 6, 2011

Chinese New Year

My family had just celebrated Chinese New Year last week. This is a special holiday that lasts for 7 days. The first day consisted of tedious hard labour, as my family spent the entire day doing nothing but cleaning the house. I have always wondered as to why we had to clean on that day, until I was told by my parents that there was an actual meaning behind it, which had to do with clearing out all the bad luck from the previous year and making room for good luck. The real celebration started on the second day of the week and continued until the seventh day. During the last few days, my family had prepared a seafood feast and invited family friends over for dinner. The best part about this holiday is receiving money in a red envelope (also known as red pocket money) from my parents and relatives.

January 26, 2011

Apple apps

Currently, Apple applications are the newest addition to the mainstream market. It has been two years since Apple launched their App stores, and the business has skyrocketed ever since. Few days ago, I overheard a radio announcement stating that Apple has reached its 10 billionth app download.
Apparently, a lucky winner from Europe had downloaded an app called Paper Gliding, which was the 10 billionth download. Then within an hour, the winner received a call from Apple, stating that since they had downloaded the 10 billionth app, that they have won a $10,000 gift card to spend on any Apple product and service. In my opinion, a large number such as 10 billion is definitely mind-blowing.