Pussy.....cat

Name: Kitty White
Birthday: November 1, 1974
Blood type: A
Place of birth: Suburban London
Height: That of five apples
Weight: That of three apples
Good at: Baking cookies (and making Singaporeans queue for hours at McNonel)
Boyfriend : Dear Daniel (chinese name Da3 Niao3 - 打 鸟)
Favorite food: Apple pie made by Mama (A.K.A. mum or Mary)
Favorite word: "Friendship"
Collects: Small cute things like sweets, stars, goldfish, etc.
Best school subjects: English, music and visual arts
Description: A bright and kind-hearted kitten, good at baking cookies and loves Mama's apple pie. Very close to her twin sister Mimmy.

So you all know this famous pussy. It is 31 years old this year, making it quite an old pussy. The boyfriend only 6 years old man, born in 1999. Alamak, we got serious problem here. Anyway, this pussy actually is a decendant of this more famous pussy, who is like hundreds of years old. The beckoning pussy.....



We all have seen it in restaurants and shops but do we all know how it really come about? Let the Mat explain....

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The Beckoning Pussy is associated with an ancient pussy-shrine on the grounds of a temple known as Gotoku-ji near Tokyo.

This temple was originally a very poor max one, no more than a thatched hut run by poverty-stricken and half-starved monks. The master-priest had a pussy of which he was fond, and shared with it such little food as he had. One day the pussy squatted by the roadside and, when half a dozen Samurai appeared on horses, it looked up at them and raised one of its paws to its ear, as if it were beckoning to them (maybe just got flea). The noble cavaliers pulled up and, as the cat continued to beckon, they followed it into the temple. Torrential rain forced them to stay for a while, so the priest gave them tea and expounded Buddhist doctrine.

After this, one of the Samurai -- Lord Li (LL) -- regularly visited the old priest to receive religious instruction from him. Eventually Li endowed the temple with a large estate and it became the property of his family. Visitors who pass under the temple's gateways, walk through its broad avenues of towering trees and enjoy the beautifully laid-out gardens, discover, near the cemetery of the Li family, the little shrine of the beckoning pussy-- which, it is said, still draws pilgrims from all parts of Tokyo.

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Now the pussy is more international. Got pink color, black, white, yellow. They come in all different shapes and sizes. Some are left handed, some right. Some are cute, while others are just nasty. Some have hands that move, so that it beckons you to come in.

The cuddly-cute and loveably pink Hello Kitty is referrd to only by her English name, and that name is a hyper-literal back-translation of the English translation of Maneki Neko, namely, "Beckoning Pussy" -- she is, indeed, the veritable "Hello Kitty" who lures people to spend their money on a variety of trinkets and toys.

Later,
Mat Love