November Instagram Contest November 21 2013, 3 Comments

Coming Soon! Urbanscape 2013 November 06 2013, 2 Comments

We would like to announce that we will be participating in Urbanscapes 2013 this coming 24th November 2013 (for just one day only) from 2pm till 12midnight! Do check out their updates/lineups/tickets/locations, etc... via their website at urbanscapes.com.my.

Event Description

Urbanscapes is Malaysia’s longest running all-day creative arts festival. Spread over two days in November (lovingly dubbed the Big Weekend) the fest offers tons of experiences with something for everyone. So come early and soak it all in!

Urbanscapes 2013 takes place on 23 November and 24 November 2013 at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park (MAEPS) in Serdang.

Festival doors open from 2pm each day.

The festival is open to all ages. However, for those wanting to enter the above-18 zones, we will be asking for your IC/passport at the door to tag you with the appropriate wristband (Under 18 or Above 18). So make sure you bring some documentation!

Yes, you can bring in your small digital cameras, DSLRs, Lomo cameras, etc. However, no sound/video recorders and professional cameras of any kind will be allowed into the festival without prior written approval from the organiser.

There are no ATMs on festival grounds and only limited vendors take credit cards, so make sure you bring enough cash to eat, shop and enjoy your day (and night!).

We are a rain-or-shine event, so the show must go on even when if it rains! So think carefully about what to bring. Ponchos are waterproof, light and packable. Hats and sunblock protect from the sun. You get what we mean.

No outside food and beverage will be allowed. Do support your vendors. There’ll be plenty of affordably-priced food and drink to go round inside.

Sorry, we won’t be able to accommodate pets.

No drugs, no weapons, no fireworks & no sharp objects allowed. Let’s keep the festival safe for everyone, okay?

For more information, please go to http://urbanscapes.com.my/

Trick or Treat? The history October 31 2013, 22 Comments

It's the time of the year again when underaged kids get into costume and traipse around the neighborhood ringing doorbells and begging for treats. When you think about it, trick or treating is kind of a weird thing. Where did it come from anyway?
Today I discovered that the practice began with the Celtic tradition of celebrating the end of the year by dressing up as evil spirits. The Celts believed that, as we moved from one year to the next, the dead and the living would overlap, and demons would roam the earth again. So dressing up as demons was a defense mechanism. If you encountered a real demon roaming the Earth, they would think you were one of them.
Fast forward to when the Catholic Church was stealing everybody’s holidays and trying to convert them. They turned the demon dress-up party into “All Hallows Eve,” “All Soul’s Day,” and “All Saints Day” and had people dress up as saints, angels and still a few demons.

As for the trick or treating, or “guising” (from “disguising”), traditions, beginning in the Middle-Ages, children and sometimes poor adults would dress up in the aforementioned costumes and go around door to door during Hallowmas begging for food or money in exchange for songs and prayers, often said on behalf of the dead.  This was called “souling” and the children were called “soulers”.
You might think that this practice then simply migrated along with Europeans to the United States. But trick or treating didn’t re-emerge until the 1920s and 1930s. It paused for a bit during World War II because of sugar rations, and it’s now back in full force.
The term “trick or treat” dates back to 1927. The earliest known reference to “trick or treat”, printed in the November 4, 1927 edition of the Blackie, Alberta Canada Herald, talks of this,

Hallowe’en provided an opportunity for real strenuous fun. No real damage was done except to the temper of some who had to hunt for wagon wheels, gates, wagons, barrels, etc., much of which decorated the front street. The youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word “trick or treat” to which the inmates gladly responded and sent the robbers away rejoicing.

Read more: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2012/10/the-history-of-trick-or-treating-is-weirder-than-you-thought/#ixzz2jH7fcPjK

Happy Oktoberfest 2013!!! October 16 2013, 7 Comments

Bagstra wishes all you non-muslims a very HAPPY OKTOBERFEST 2013!!! If you wanna drink, don't drive. And if you wanna drive, don't drink!

DRINK RESPONSIBLY EVERYBODY!

Happy Mid Autumn Festival 2013! September 19 2013, 22 Comments

Dear Customers,

Bagstra wishes you a very Happy Mid Autumn Festival 2013! Here is a little write-up on the story of how it all started.

A time of celebration, mooncakes, and family reunions, Mid-Autumn Festival falls on September 19th this year. Coinciding with the autumn equinox, this major holiday is celebrated not only in China but all across Asia, including our country, Malaysia.

There are many stories about the origins of Mid-Autumn Festival, and the one most associated with the festival is the story of Hou Yi and Chang’e, which itself has multiple versions.

One version goes like this: Once upon a time in ancient China, ten suns hung in the sky. The heat of the suns caused a drought and the harvest began to shrivel up. The emperor of China asked his master archer, Hou Yi, to shoot down all but one of the ten suns.

Hou Yi climbed to the top of Kunlun Mountain, shooting down nine suns. The grateful emperor presented him with a pill that would grant him immortality. However, Hou Yi had a beautiful wife, Chang’e, and he did not wish to become immortal without her.

After Hou Yi was acclaimed as a hero, he stashed away the pill in a secret place. Feng Meng, a student of Hou Yi’s, discovered the existence of the pill. One day, when Hou Yi was away, Feng Meng tried to force Chang’e to give him the pill. Instead, Chang’e swallowed the pill herself, and she flew up into the moon and became immortal.

Missing his beloved wife, Hou Yi burned incense and food offerings, and the practice spread throughout China. It is said that during the Mid-Autumn Festival, Chang’e and Hou Yi are reunited—which is why Mid-Autumn Festival is also an important day for families to come together.

During Mid-Autumn Festival, people traditionally eat mooncakes and look at the full moon. Mooncakes themselves have an interesting history behind them. Stay tuned for more—we’ll have a post dedicated just to mooncakes, the Chinese pastry that everyone loves to hate!