Focused... ... ...

Sapporo TV Tower

Life is like a Camera...
Focus on what is important,
Capture the good times,
Develop from the negatives,
And if things don't work out,
Take another shot.
~ author unknown

I had a great family vacation in Hokkaido where I was once again immense and impressed by the Japanese culture. The Japanese's passion for detail and quality is evidence in almost everything made-in-Japan from fruits, wagyu beef, gift wrapping, cuisines, even the toilet bowl and of course, the Ranchu! I know what comes to most people's mind - nope, I didn't manage to bring back any Ranchus for it seems that only food fishes are popular in Hokkaido :((

MIFY 2014

Every year, the cyclical routine of Ranchu breeding, Pearlscale breeding, Oozeki Ranchu Club Tosai Study meetings (MIFY) swashed by and before long, the Oozeki Ranchu Show (OARS) on New Year's Day would prelude yet another new cycle of goldfish activities. Back home in Singapore, as the year-end monsoon brings good respite from the tropical heat, I am kept busy with preparing the seed Ranchus for the breeding season.

Pearl breeding pair

2015 will be my 12th consecutive year of breeding the Japanese Ranchu and as usual, it is my resolution to better myself in Ranchu breeding than the previous year. I have some interesting experiments for the coming Ranchu breeding project, but first of all, lets hope for a few healthy and big spawns to play with. 

Well, even if things don't work out as plan for my Ranchu breeding, there is always the Aquarama 2015 to look forward to. How not to feel excited for 2015? :-))

Seed Females for 2015

I wish all readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 

14th Oozeki Ranchu Show (OARS)
Hong Lim Green Community Centre
12pm ~ 3pm

Efficiency ~ 效率

如果对你真的很重要，你会找到一个方法。 要不，你将会找到一个借口。

If it is important to you, you'll find a way. If not, you'll find an excuse.
~ Unknown

A baby black dragon eyes pearl
that I am monitoring closely

Thanks to the concern from some readers about my well being since I have not been active in this blog for quite a while. Rest assured that I have never been more active in the goldfish hobby than ever before. 

Besides my annual Pearlscale breeding and planning for next year's Ranchu breeding, I am preoccupied with something that I have not indulged for many years - collecting other varieties of goldfish!

In fact, I love all fancy goldfish and used to keep almost every variety of fancy goldfish until I had to make space and time to focus on goldfish breeding. For years, I abstained from keeping other varieties of goldfish that are not directly relevant to my Ranchu and Pearlscale breeding projects.

New collection:
Pair of blue brown dragon eyes butterfly

This year, I am very fortunate to have a good friend who helped to improve my set up and cut down on the time and effort of my maintenance chores tremendously. So now with an efficient set up that free up much time and spaces, I am happily succumbing to my temptations to collect other varieties of goldfish again. I may also breed some of the other varieties in a small scale just for the experience as I do not think I will have the capacity to track the bloodlines as much as I do for my Ranchus and Pearlscales.

New collection:
Thai black orandas

 
It is a matter of time that my freed time gaps and spaces will be filled up with fishes and more fishes. Kudos to my good friend Xing again ;-))

A Mountain Is Still A Mountain ~ 見山還是山

求知若飢，虛懷若愚
~ 史蒂夫·喬布斯

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish
~ Steve Jobs

Some of my 5-month-old

Not too long ago, I learned something very interesting from a good friend regarding the Zen (禪) perspective of the different stages of learning:

Stage 1: A mountain is a mountain (見山是山)

This is the beginning level where we simply use our senses to experience the things around us. There is no profound feel for the subject matter (the mountain). This is the state of mind of the layman.


Stage 2: A mountain is not a mountain (見山不是山) 

This is the next level where we use our logic to analyse the subject matter. We see multiple perspectives and dissect the subject into smaller parts to analyse. The mountain is no longer just a mountain as we examine the streams, the birds and the animals within. This is the state of mind of the scholar who studies the subject earnestly.


Stage 3: A mountain is still a mountain (見山還是山)

In this level, we no longer use psychological projection to label things. We see the streams, the trees and the animals as part of the whole that makes up the mountain again. The mountain has not changed, but what has been changed is a more refined sensual feel of the mountain. This realm of feel (心境) cannot be expressed with words. This is the state of mind of the enlightened. 

In the discipline of art, it is this "feel" that we should aspire to nurture. The same recipe followed by different cooks will not make the same quality of dish; the same teacher giving equal attention to his class will not have equal quality of work from his students. There is nothing wrong with the recipe or the teacher, the deterministic factor is just ourselves.

While I have yet to attain the realm of feel to fully appreciate the profound teachings of Zen, I strongly believe that the basis of learning anything really well is to first master the fundamentals. Without setting the basics right, it is just a matter of time that things will fall apart. We would be wasting our energies going round and round and nowhere else, just like a hamster on the tread wheel. 

The other key aspect of learning as I have always emphasized, is to be truly objective and humble to see our own faults. If we think we are perfect then there is no more room for improvement. The worst case will be to think that we are already in the higher levels of learning but in actual fact, still grappling with the basics. Such will be destined to be stagnated on the same spot like treading hamsters. In our local slang, it is known as "hentakaki" ;-)