Take a Coffin Nap to Fix Your Karma?

After putting up the previous post about The Coffin movie, I just could not get it out of my system that people would actually sleep in a coffin. Was almost wondering if the director/producer of the movie was really exaggerating about such a ritual. When I went into the wonderful web, wow..there were quite a fair bit of write-ups about this ritual. Indeed this ritual exists in mystical Thailand and people are reportedly queuing up to lie in a coffin especially during these dark economic times.

Newser reports " Thais Takes Coffin Naps to Fix Karma - (Newser) – As Thailand's economy slows and its government falters, growing numbers of deeply superstitious citizens are jostling into a pink coffin to "die," the Telegraph reports. At about $5 a head, monks in a monastery outside Bangkok officiate over the "dead bodies" in the coffins, before ushering in the next group of people hoping to rid themselves of bad karma.

Telegraph.co.uk reports "Thais queue to 'die' in pink coffins and be 're-born'" -

Every week thousands of customers flock to Wat Prammanee monastery in Nakhon Nayok to get a fresh start in life. They pay around £3 each for floral offerings and a cash donation to the monks.

Inside the monastery hall nine pink coffins with gaudy gold mouldings are lined up.

"It's five minutes sleep in the box," explained a teacher at the monastery school who gave her name as Mrs Laddaman. "People want to be happy."

Analysts say that in uncertain times, as the Thai economy slows and the government wobbles, there are growing numbers of people with problems they would rather leave behind. "Dying", they believe, allows them to get rid of their bad karma and move on.

A stroke victim passes a young girl preparing to perform a traditional dance and offerings of cherry aid to the gods at the entrance to the main shrine Photo: THOMAS BELL - photo source Telegraph.co.uk

Found a very interesting comment by Oceanos at the SgForums. Oceanos wrote...

'Die' for a better life

NAKHON NAYOK, Thailand, Oct 10, 2008 (AFP) - Namfon Mamuenwai says she died for the man she loves - if only for a moment.

The 39-year-old Bangkok resident climbed into a coffin in a Buddhist temple, experienced a "spiritual death" and was resurrected with purified karma - all in the hope of joining her foreign boyfriend in the Netherlands.

"I want to get to another country but cannot get a visa," said Namfon.

A week after seeing the ceremony at the Wat Prommanee temple on television, she drove 112 kilometres (70 miles) from Bangkok to become one of around 2,000 people who each week climb into a coffin to "die" and be "reborn".

"I think this can help me a little bit because now this temple is popular," Namfon told AFP.

The coffin ceremony is the latest religious trend to sweep Thailand, and the saffron-clad monks at Wat Prommanee promise money, love - or, in Namfon's case, a visa to the Netherlands.

"Everyone who came here, who prayed here, who came to make a wish, they got what they wished for," said Charuay Thanavaro, a monk at the temple.

Wat Prommanee has been running the coffin ceremony for four years, and officials say that over the last two years attendance has almost tripled from the 100 people who trickled through the door each day in 2007.

At first, participants got into non-specific boxes as the monks tried to get people used to the idea of willingly climbing into coffins, but now people happily jump in for a chance at improving their fortunes.

A spell in a coffin costs 100 baht (nearly three dollars) for about two minutes, while the whole ceremony will set you back 180 baht.

Charuay recommends participants pay for the full package if they want their wishes completely fulfilled.

"If they just want to attend the ceremony and pray that is fine, but then they will only get 80 or 90 percent results," he says. "If they lie in the coffin, they will get 100 percent results."

After 90 minutes of chanting, the hopefuls queue for the nine oversized coffins, each marked with a random three-digit number which can be used for betting in the lottery, organisers say.

Once in the coffins, visitors hold a bunch of flowers, whisper some more prayers, then lie down and "die".

Monks pass a white cloth over the nine coffins, triggering the symbolic death and sucking the bad karma. Attendees are advised not to stand on the side of the coffin where the bad karma is dispelled.

Amulets and rituals promising protection, wealth or to fulfill wishes play a big role in the culture of the 95-per cent Buddhist kingdom, despite not being mentioned in Buddhist doctrine.

A few years ago, the nation scrambled for amulets featuring King Rama V.

Last year, a 51-year-old woman died as a crowd swarmed for a different talisman, which was believed to bring wealth and protection from harm.

These booms and busts for rituals, temples and amulets are not just fads, says Milos Hubina, a lecturer at the College of Religious Studies at Thailand's Mahidol University.

Rather, they reflect a widely-held belief that magic and luck can be used up over time and once they have been drained from one place, must be sought in another spiritually-charged object or ritual.

"This view of temporal efficiency or a temporal magic charge within the object is quite common in Thai culture," Hubina said.

"I think this is one of the reasons they have no problem with going crazy for an amulet one year and forget about it completely the next year."

As with many of the worshippers, money woes brought 50-year-old Thanyathon Iamnaimuang to the temple, and her initial success prompted the widowed mother of two to bring her friend Laongdao Chaiyasat.

"At first I was excited, shaking and I was afraid," the 42-year-old pharmacist said. "But the monk told me that if our mind is strong, we will progress steadily, so I wasn't afraid any more."

Patacharawarai Sri-on, 23, came to the temple out of curiosity and snapped pictures of the ceremony before stepping into the wooden box.

"I think it helps," she said after her "death" and "rebirth" were complete.

A fellow blogger Meeklamb wrote a great post with pictures which I wanted to borrow :D but need Meeklamb's permission first. Whilst waiting, do pop over to Meeklamb's post here and have a read.

Phew.. finally got that out of my system.. haha.. must be the Halloween feeling..

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Tempt Fate, Cheat Death - The Coffin

Picture taken from TheStarOnLine - Courtesy of The Coffin producer

Last nite was the eve of Halloween and guess what? Just for the heck of it, I went to watch "The Coffin" with Tobiyama. I actually had very little clue as to what the show was going to be about except for the fact that it would have something to do with a coffin. Boy, was I wrong. There were a whole bunch of coffins in the show.

The show started with a girl in a coffin and sure enough, a thing that most of us dread when we see a corpse in a coffin do is for the corpse to open its eyes and make a grab for us. Sure enough, the corpse did open her eyes and a beautiful pair of eyes at that. She is not dead. In fact, she was introducing to the audience a true Thai ritual of lying in coffins to get rid of bad luck and to prolong life. And so starts the supernatural thriller about a young man and a young woman who decided to go through this ritual with very personal objectives of doing it.

Extracted from The Coffin's official website.....

Chris, a claustrophobic architect does it in the hope of saving his fiancée who's dying of terminal cancer. Sue, a nutritionist visiting Thailand from Hong Kong does it to save her own life after being diagnosed with a lethal brain tumor - one week before her wedding.


After the ritual, Chris and Sue experience what appear to be miracles in their respective lives. But soon, they find themselves confronted by a series of bizarre and terrifying incidents. With the help of a professor specializing in paranormal cases associated with the ritual, they set out to exorcise the ghosts that haunt them, and attempt to reverse the wheel of karma.

Thrilling, mysterious and ultimately moving, The Coffin is a spine-chilling horror about the beauty of life and death, and coming to face to face with living and dying.




The casts includes Karen Mok, Ananda Everingham (quite a hottie), Andrew Lim, Aki Shibuya, Kapakpapha Kakprasitte.



This is quite an interesting watch.. even though quite a lot of what I saw was seen between my fingers which were covering my eyes. Actually, it was not really that scary (sure, now that it is broad daylight), it is just that dread of seeing dead people in your closets and that every time you watch Karen or Ananda turn around, some dead girl and guy is sure to jump out.

Go watch it, especially if you are quite sick of all those macho stuff like Bangkok Dangerous or Maxie Pane hero type shows. I would rate it a 6/10.

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Why That Lying Cheating Scum Bag!

Have you ever been cheated by your boyfriend or your girlfriend before? And did you actually find out by accident, or a friend told you that he or she has seen your other half with some one else? When you question him or her about it, he or she will either turn all innocent and sweet and profess undying love to you or turn angry or defensive, so much so that you become afraid to push on?

No need for that hard core Gestapo like questioning any more... since I found this little nugget on YouTube. It is called "Is He Cheating? Use CSI to find out!"



The next question is " Should I Dump Him?" or "Should I Dump Her?" Hey Grissom.. give me a hand here!

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A Fart A Day, Keeps Your High Blood Pressure At Bay

Do you agree that everyone learns something new everyday? That is what exactly happened to do me. I never knew that farting (excuse me) could possibly save my life :D.

I read an article today at the Live Science blog which reported that the smelly rotten-egg gas in farts controls blood pressure in mice. This unpleasant aroma of the gas, called hydrogen sulfide is actually expelled by the bacteria living in the human colon.


The article further goes on to read “Now that we know hydrogen sulfide’s role in regulating blood pressure, it may be possible to design drug therapies that enhance its formation as an alternative to the current methods of treatment for hypertension,” said Johns Hopkins neuroscientist Solomon H. Snyder, M.D., a co-author of the study detailed in the Oct. 24th issue of the journal Science.

To read more, click here.

So, how to make us fart more? Haha .. if you find this post rather disgusting, please force yourself to read on. It might save your life. And more importantly, it will make you more tolerant to those who needs to fart for their good health..haha.

Apparently all humans, as long as they eat and drink, are likely to fart. Some more discretely, some are proud to do it aloud and admits to it. Sometimes, there is no ordour but we now know that these are not very healthy farts. Healthy farts must be those fragrant ones, as they can only be produced by the colonies of bacteria in our intestinal tracts. To be most effective in creating large amounts of these "fragrant" gas emissions, one should take more sugary products.

This is extracted also from the Live Science blog. Read on my friends :)

Although the gaseous response of bacteria to food differs from person to person (as every one has a unique collection of their own), the biggest gas-generating ingredients are sugars, especially the following four:

• Fructose – A natural ingredient in plants like onions, corn, wheat and even pears. It's often concentrated into a sugary syrup for soft drinks and fruit drinks.

• Lactose – Milk's sweet natural ingredient, also added to foods like bread and cereal. Some people are born with low levels of lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose, a fact that inflates their gassy susceptibility.

• Raffinose – The secret gassy ingredient in beans, which is also found in broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, asparagus and other vegetables. Products like Beano, designed to reduce gas production, break down the sugar before it can reach eager intestinal bacteria.

• Sorbitol – Found in almost all fruits, this indigestible sugar is also used as an artificial sweetener in "diet" and sugar-free foods. Yes, sugar-free gum, candy, soda and anything else deceptively sweet can cause gas.

Other fart-forming ingredients include fiber and starches found in foods like corn, potatoes and wheat. While fats and protein don't cause gas, they can make a meal take longer to digest—and give bacteria more time to generate gas from other ingredients.

Just about the only food that doesn't give us gas? Rice.

Fighting flatulence takes trial and error to figure out which foods excite your intestinal friends and cutting back on them. As a general rule, taking anti-gas products like alpha-galactosidase (Beano) or lactase enzyme (Lactaid) with problematic foods can curb some flatulence—simethicone (Gas-X) only helps relieve bloating by passing gas faster.

FART for HEALTH! my friends hahaha

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The Festival of Light

I would like to wish everybody of Hindu faith a Very Happy Deepavali.

This lovely picture from India Travel Forum IndiaMike.com.

Deepavali or Divawli is one of the grandest and most important festival celebrated in India. It is an atmosphere of joy and festivity. It is basically a festival of light, symbolizing the victory of good over evil, of righteousness and the lifting of spiritual darkness.

This glorious festival is to celebrate the return of Lord Rama's return to his kingdom, Ayodhya after completing his 14 years of exile.

In the homes of every Indian of Hindu faith, you will find it decorated with many beautifully lit lamps which gives a sense of magic and fantasy. It is a time for fun and revelry. And it is also a time for prayers and tradition.

As in all the other religions festivals in the world, celebrations do not end at sun down on the first day. It goes on for 5 continuous days and each day has its significance with a number of myths, legends and beliefs.

The first day of Divali is known as Dhanteras. This day signifies wealth and holds utmost importance for the business houses. And there is also a legend of how the young bride of King Hima's sixteen year of son was saved her husband from his impending death.

The second day of Divali is known as Choti Divali. The legend behind this day is about generosity and wit. The legend tells us the story of King Bali of the nether world.

The third day of Divali is an important day of Lakshmi-Puja, a Goddess. It is believe that on this auspicious day, Lord Krishna discarded his body.

Padwa is the fourth day of Divali. Again according to the legend, the people of Gokul used to celebrated a festival in honor of Lord Indra and worshiped him after the end of the monsoon season. One particular year, a young Krishna stopped them from offering these prayers to Lord Indra, who in his terrific temper, sent a deluge to submerge Gokul. Krishna saved his Gokul by lifting up the Govardhan Mountain and holding it over his people as an umbrella.

The fifth and final day of Divali is known as Bhaiya-dooj. This day is observed as a symbol of love between sisters and brothers. It is believed that on this day Yamraj -the god of death visited his sister Yami and she put the auspicious tilak on his forehead, they ate, talked and enjoyed together and exchanged special gifts as a token of their love for each other and Yamraj announced that anyone who receives tilak from his sister on this day will be blessed. Since then it has became imperative for the brother to go to his sister's house to celebrate Bhaiya Dooj.

The extracts above were taken from DivaliMela.com, the world's largest site on Divali since 1st July 1999

And for more of this lovely Deepavali greeting cards, click here!

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Again, Hell hath no Fury

Life really does go in a circle. It was last year and a little bit when I put up a post on Hell Hath no Fury like a woman scorned when just a hour or so ago, I found this bit of news about a Virtual Murder.

Apparently a woman has been arrested for committing a virtual murder. Interesting hor? I caught this from "The Inquisitr". Apparently this Japanese woman was arrested because she virtually murdered her virtual husband. Ha Ha.. This story goes like this ...

The Japanese woman — or, more accurately, her avatar — had married another player in the online role-playing game “Maple Story.” Apparently, the virtual couple had some real problems. Long story short, he divorced her, she got mad, she killed him. (His character, that is.)

“I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning,” she told investigators, according to CNN. “That made me so angry.”

The woman is being held on suspicion of hacking. Police think she used her pretend hubby’s password to log in to his account and delete him. For that oh-so-heinous act, she could face five years in prison or a fine as high as $5,000. Officers took her a full 620 miles away from her home to detain her in the city where the man lives (also in Japan).

Bet that guy will think twice before he marries some chick just for the cybersex again.

Story was taken from The Inquisitr.

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Eating Well for Heart Health

I spent dinner with a friend last evening and amongst some of the topics we talked about was Heart Health. I should know as my dad passed on, due to heart failure. It was not a heart attack. His heart just could take the load anymore, it just gave up.

My friend gave me some reading materials, which he happened to have with him and the first paragraph read " Heart Disease affects about 9million adults, killing one every 37 seconds in the US. It is the number 1 killer in Malaysia and number 2 killer in Singapore. What research has shown is that 90 percent of heart diseases can be prevented by changing one's diet, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking.

Currently, I am working on a personal project in collaboration with a few people to come out with a 3 prong approach to a better health, maintaining a desired weight and fat levels without having to starve (I for one love food to much to ever want to give up on eating all those yummilicious foods), with an exercise routine that you can incorporate into your daily life (without having to pay fees to join a club, if you don't want to or have the extra money to throw away) and an overall good health program.

These are just a few things to think about in the mean time.

1. Carbohydrates is something you need, in order to ensure a balance diet. But you can choose whole grains instead of refined ones. Whole grains such as brown rice, wheat, whole-wheat pastas contains more fibre which slows the conversion of starch to glucose and fats. Desserts and pastries which are normally made of refined flour often contain a lot of hidden fats and unwanted sugar.

2. Saturated Fats vs Unsaturated Fats. Saturated fats leads to plaque buildups in the arteries. Cut down on butter, sour cream, margarine, fatty meats. Instead go for olive oil or canola oil which contains healthy monounsaturated fats.

3. High quality proteins. These provides the essential amino acids necessary for a healthy heart. Natural protein comes in the form of soy, legumes and marine fish.

4. Vegetables and Fruits. Eat vegetables and fruits in as many color as you can. These color vegetables and fruits are a natural source of phytonutrients that neutralizes free radicals in our bodies and prevents premature aging of the heart, the arteries and the cells.

5. Supplements. In our fast paced lives, we will find it hard sometimes to have all the necessary food types to ensure a balanced diet, which is essential to maintain a healthy and fit body. Supplements like fish oil and vitamins as red yeast rice, omega-3 fatty acids and multivitamins do provide valuable benefits for lowering cholesterol and protecting the heart. Make sure that you get them from reliable manufacturers that ensure safety, efficacy and integrity.

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When Grandma Goes to Court!

This is just a little humor, to break the monotony of the midweek routine. You may have to click on the picture to maximise the words. Enjoy...

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Daiso, Japan's No 1 Livingware Supplier is coming to Petaling Jaya

The first time I heard of Daiso was through my group of Bento Blogger friends. Before that, I thought the 100Yen shops in KL and PJ were the fantastic. But when I went to Singapore in August, I managed to drop in at the Daiso in Plaza Singapore and I thought I found heaven on earth, haha.. where cookingware was concern lah.

Daiso at Plaza Singapore

When I came home, I realize that Malaysia has only 1 Daiso outlet and it is all the way over in Kota Kinabalu. Hey, Daiso has more than 2,500 outlets across Japan and more than 470 shops in the rest of the world. These are the countries where one can find Daiso outlets.



In Singapore, you can find 3 Daiso Outlets. So, what happened here????

Name : Singapore IMM shop Address : 2 Jurong East Street 21 #0385 IMM Building 609601 Floor area : 30,100ft2(2,800m2) Opened : 23 March 2002
Name : PLAZA SINGAPURA Address : 68 Orchard Road, Plaza Singapura,Singapore 238839 Floor area : 7,300ft2(700m2) Opened : 18 September 2006
Name : VIVO CITY Address : No.1 Harbour front walk #03-0616A106B Floor area : 12,200ft2(1,130m2) Opened : 1 December 2006

Then, I heard from my friend JW that Daiso is having a year end sale or something in Singapore right now. True or not? Sob... this is so unfair.

Anyway, whilst walking around The Curve over the weekend, looking for nothing in particular, I saw this....


It is on level 2, next to nichii.


YIPPEE! Guess where I will be spending my weekends soon :)...ok ok.. Sunday will be still dedicated to my favorite Mid Valley Mega Mall. So, Saturdays will be at The Curve, Level 2. I am so happy :D

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Send in the Clowns

Did I mention that I love all things cute and unusual?

I was walking around the Weld during lunch and decided to check the non-food outlets in the complex, which I hardly do these days, as lunch times are either spent watching seminars off the internet or gossiping and bitching with colleagues haha. But today, everyone seemed to be busy and had their own personal errands to run, which left me to spend lunch time on my own. Decided to pack some food from the hawkers who operate their stalls only on Fridays along Jalan Tengah and run back into the air conditioned complex to cool off.

I was walking on level 2 when I saw a sign which read "SALE".. haha.. that is like a magnet to me. The shop's name is "Southern Pottery" and it sells crockery and ornamental items. Most of the items are very interesting, with price ranging from very reasonable to the slightly upmarket and pricey stuff. As I was checking out the wares, I saw something very cute and I just had to get them. When I first saw them, I thought of cake toppers. They are simply something I must get... so I got.


Not one....
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.
.
.

Not three....


But 5...even though 3 were of the same design. Well, they were only RM2 each.. and I will use them as cake toppers for a child's birthday cake. But definitely a big cake as the clowns are not exactly tiny.

Took this one next to the puncher to show the size of the clown. But look at the price tags.... RM2... what a steal


They still got plenty (for the moment) but some of the other designs which I didn't get was because the clown either looked too fierce or a little creepy..*brrr

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HandBag Competiton - Results are Out!

The contest results are out at the Handbag Planet. If you have participated, then go have a look. But there are only 3 winners from Malaysia and the handbag I wanted.....

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.
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went to someone else. I will have to carry my old handbag around for a long while more....BOOOHOOOOO!

Win a Free Handbag! Completely Free

Would you like to win a free Handbag - no strings attached? I would. Anyway, I saw this first at my Bento friend Pat's blog. The minute I finished reading her post, I rush to the website Handbag Planet to see if what my chances are of winning a free handbag. All I had to do was to key in my name and email address and after doing that, this was the handbag I selected.

Bag No. 14, Big, Red and Beautiful. I hope I win this one :D.


Go have a look. The last time I checked, the counter reads 1 day 18 hours 28mins 48 seconds

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Old Movies and Rainy Days throws up Richard Pryor

As you know, it has been kind of a rainy weekend and having really no place to go, I decided to clean out my stacks of old VCDs. Have not really had a good look at these for a long time, since the day the DVD came in and the VCDs took a back seat.

As I was going through the stack, I realize that there have been quite a number of good actors which are no longer with us today. One of them is Richard Pryor. He passed away in 2005. He was really one of those comedians who only had to appear on a show without many lines and still be able to make me laugh.

I still have VCDs of his "See No Evil" and "Superman III". Wanted to play them but I think I must have left them in a damp place as there some bits off it seemed to have grown moulds. Dare not it into the player for fear of spoiling it. But I am sure I will be able to find these in the local DVD shops for I believe that they are truly classics :)

Plot taken from Wiki " Richard Pryor plays a blind man named Wally Karue and Gene Wilder plays a deaf man named Dave Lyons. They meet in Dave's shop, where Wally wants to get a job. After a few complications, Dave hires him. As Wally goes outside to get the newspapers for Dave, a man (Wally's bookie) comes in and asks Dave for some antacid (Dave reads lips). Playing for some time to hide a valuable coin, the man asks Dave to read the back of the packet to him. As Dave is reading it, the man slips the coin in a cigar box (for tips), hoping that nobody would find it. After he does it, a tall lady dressed in red comes looking for the coin. While Dave is reading, she shoots the bookie when he fails to give it to her. She slips away and disappears out of sight. Dave didn't hear the gunshot and Wally didn't see anybody but he heard the gunshot. Soon after finding that there is a dead man on the floor and with Dave holding the murder weapon, the two of them are put into jail for questioning. Wally and Dave become the prime suspects and the police refuse to believe them. The two then cunningly escape from the police station. On the run from the law, they are also tracked by the real killers, played by Joan Severance and Kevin Spacey, who want the gold coin in their possession. Dave and Wally must be each other's eyes and ears to stop the criminals and clear their names."

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The Humble Little Petai

Do you like Petai? I love these smelly little fellas in sambal(chilli) and udang (prawns). The funny thing is that they don't emit any smell in their raw form. But after you have taken them in, and the body has processed it and purges it out.. yucks! Stinks to kingdom come I tell ya.

This is extracted from Wikipedia "Parkia speciosa (petai, twisted cluster bean, yongchaak, zawngtah or stink bean), is a plant of the genus Parkia in the family Fabaceae. It bears long, flat edible beans with bright green seeds the size and shape of plump almonds which have a rather peculiar smell, characterised by some as being similar to that added to methane gas"

My friend sent this one to me and after reading it, I will never look at the humble little Petai in the same way again.

Petai contains three natural sugars -sucrose, fructose and glucose. Combined with fiber, petai gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proved that just two servings of petai provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder petai is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way petai can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND among people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating petai. This is because petai contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS(premenstrual syndrome): Forget the pills - eat petai.. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.
Anaemia: High in iron, petai can stimulate the production of haemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anaemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the petai industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power : 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating petai at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert. Undrstand that bananas contain lot of potassium too so eat more banana. Just look at those monkeys, they are really active, alert, smart and funny too!!

Constipation: High in fiber, including petai in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a petai milkshake, sweetened with honey. The petai calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Petai has a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating petai for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness : Snacking on petai between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites : Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of the petai skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Petai is high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Overweight: Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report c oncluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers: Petai is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases.. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control : Many other cultures see petai as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In holland, for example, pregnant women eat petai to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) : Petai can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer, tryptophan.

Smoking: Petai can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium petai snack. Strokes: According to research in "The New England Journal of Medicine," eating petai as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%".

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of petai and place it on the wart. Carefully hold the petai in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

So, as you can see, petai really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrates, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A Petai a day keeps the doctor away".

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I Have Finally Seen The Light

It has been exactly 1 month since I graduated from the Entrepreneurs Action Program (EAP) Boot Camp and having involved myself in a small business with an eLearning Portal called SkyQuestCom (CEO, Richard Tan also owns Success Resources, the largest seminar organizer in Asia) with low startup capital, low risk and potentially high returns, I picked up my first cheque of RM420 for one week of effort. Nothing to shout about but a start nevertheless. I have also been invited to make a presentation to some workmates and condo mates (4 fellas and a couple with 2 children) of one of my business partner. These were complete strangers to me and it was really my pleasure meeting them. Anyway, after the presentation, 2 of them signed up, one of the fellas and the husband of the couple. They were convinced that it was something they wanted to have a go at. And I say to them, congratulations for having that belief in themselves.



As I was eating lunch just now, I was thinking to myself. I may have just started on this business but I am sure as hell going to make it the right one for me. And I have already seen the money coming back to me, so, this business is real and its potential is limitless. But when I tried to share this with my family members and friends and colleagues, some of them listened out of sheer politeness (being Asian, I reckon) but some will cook up all sorts of excuses to end the conversation or change the topic and if it was over the MSN or Yahoo chats, they just "hang up" on me ... sigh.....They are not even giving themselves a chance to listen to what could be an opportunity or a solution to them to create the extra income that they want. Not that I am going to walk up and hold them at knife point (nope... I don't have a license for a gun) to sign up. Just that chance to see if it was something that could be right for them.

Then it dawned on me. My family, my friends and my colleagues are not desperate people. They have a secured job (until retirement), they are happy with their lot (they can buy everything they want to without having to prioritize their money) and they really have no financial worries. That is why I have not been successful even up to the point where they want to give me 10 minutes of their time to listen to me.

The 2 persons who set up EAP, Jerome Tan and Wendy Quek. Now, those 2 were desperate people. Jerome was declared bankrupt in 1997 and Wendy was apparently retrenched. Now, when one is bankrupt or retrenched, that would definitely make a person desperate to listen to any opportunity opening and to decide which one will give them the best potential to redeem themselves. Jerome and Wendy are both multi millionaires today.

But is it necessary to be successful and rich only after one has been touched by adversity? Why can't one take it upon themselves to want to succeed before such a crisis happen? Then as I was listening to Dr Jeffrey Goh, one of Asia's leading success coach speak at a seminar, he told this story of 2 monks crossing a river. Half way through the river, the older monk, who was walking in front, turned around and with both hands on the younger, shorter monk's head, pushed the younger monk's head under water. After letting the younger monk struggle frantically for a while, the older monk released the younger monk. The younger monk immediately jumped up, sputtering. Then the older monk asked the younger monk "During the time whilst you were under, were you trying your hardest and using whatever method you can think of to come up for air".

The younger monk answered, still heaving "But of course. It is a matter of my survival". The older monk said "If only you worked as hard in every facet of life, you would be extremely successful" and he turned around and continued walking.

Now I have understood. Only when people are desperate, when they are almost at their limits, then will they decide to take action to better the life they are in. If my family, friends and colleagues are happy and contented with what life is offering them now, it is with my sincerest wish that they continue to be happy and contented for the rest of their lives. I will only seek out those who are either desperately needing that helping hand or those who want to do have that chance to value add to their current financial situation, be it for themselves or for their family. I HAVE FINALLY SEEN THE LIGHT!

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How To Kill Creativity

It is still very much a time of joyous festive merrymaking at the moment for we have just only started our Hari Raya celebrations with our Muslim brothers and sisters. I have been invited over the last three days to several "Open Houses" ( a term which is used loosely to mean a party that everyone is invited.. literally.. and you can be a friend to a friend who has been invited to the party and you'd be very welcomed by the host and hostess of the house).

Open houses means a lot of fun and a lot of food, but nothing beat the 2 "parties" I had over the last few days. The first one was at my friend and teammate, Jeffrey's condo. It was on the 1st day of the Hari Raya celebration. I was invited to give a presentation on the business that we are both in and all the guests present were from the Philippines. In just 3 hours, I got to meet and made friends with more foreigners than I could have done in a year. My current circle of friends largely consists of only local Malaysians and the only foreigners that I have met of late were from across the causeway in Singapore. So, this was really a great time for me.

And then, last night, I went for a "party" which I was invited to attend by a friend also in the business via SMS on the eve of Hari Raya. She just wrote in her SMS that I have been invited to meet up with Richard Tan at Citidel, Mid Valley on Friday at 7:30pm. I had no idea whether this was going to be a dinner or a coffee-session or a full-blown presentation. Anyway, subsequent to receiving the sms, I went to google on Richard Tan and found his personal blog. Quite an interesting blog, I must say. And from his blog, I picked up this little lesson.

"How to Kill Creativity"

1. Always pretend to know more than everybody around you.
   
2. Get employees to fill in time sheets.
   
3. Run daily checks on progress of everyone's work.
   
4. Ensure that highly qualified people do mundane work for long periods.
   
5. Put barriers up between departments.
   
6. Don't speak personally to employees, except when announcing increased targets, shortened deadlines and tightened cost restraints.
   
7. Ask for a 200-page document to justify every new idea.
   
8. Call lots of meetings..
   
9. Place the biggest emphasis on the budget.
   
10. Kill any idea that is not your own
    

We need to remember that creativity is what keeps things growing, keeps the mind sharp and keeps people enthusiastic in all their endeavors, from home to work to personal life. So next time you have the opportunity to stifle creativity – Don’t – whether it is in the workplace, the kitchen, or from a smiling 3 year old. Thinking out of the box is what brings society its leaders. Restricting creativity only hurts oneself.

Many would not know who Richard is, unless they are in the business or they have been attending seminars organized by Success Resources Pte Ltd. Well, I must say that meeting with a person such as Richard was really my privilege and good fortune. In fact, I have been toying with so many ideas as to how to introduce this man to all of you the entire night and morning after my meeting with him. So, I realize that to do this right, I will have to make the introduction of this man at my "business" blog (haha.. bet some of you didn't know that I have started a 4th blog). If you are interested on who the man is and how he is destined to change many people's life, do hop over to my blog http://successthrulearning. wordpress.com in a while.
One of the reasons why I was so inspired by him is that when he shared his life story with us last night, I see this multi millionaire, who's beginnings in life had been that of a son of migrants from China, a father who was a trishaw puller and mother, a laundry woman, after going through many turbulations in life, became the multi-millionaire that he is today, never once forgotten his humble beginnings and to want to share and teach those who desires to succeed in life. He willing shares his views, his words of wisdom and all of himself to help others succeed.

Now, let me ask you this question, many of your current employers and bosses could be millionaires themselves. How many of you can honestly say that your bosses and employers are willing to make you rich and successful? They are more concerned with how you are going to make them rich. Some could have given motivational talks to the staff, you included. But most of these talks are on how to make you more committed and hardworking and successful.... EMPLOYEES! Am I right or am I right?

This is Richard holding the Apple MacBook Air which he is planning to give out as an incentive

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Facial Tics

Have you met a person with a facial tic? As a person from Chinese decent, I have heard stories from my grandma that a person who has a facial tic was probably hit by an evil wind whilst he was making faces at another person. That is just an old folk’s tale. The common cause for facial tics is a nervous disorder.

I had a colleague from my previous company who has a repetitive, spasmodic movement involving his eyes. When I first met him, I found it very distracting. It felt like he was perpetually winking at me. However, with time, I got used to it. I was also working with a General Manager of a bank who kept making this grunting noise which I thought was caused by his weight issue (as he was rather overweight at that time). But then, subsequent to his losing quite a bit of weight years on, the grunting was still very audible. It was actually another form of tic. All this came back to me when I was at the local McDonalds having my lunch and I saw a little boy who kept wrinkling his nose.

These days, it is not very often that we come across people with facial tics. Perhaps it is due to the fact that as tics occur most often in children, the treatment may have been already been administered to the child. Most of the treatment for children is in the form of medications.

I happen to chance upon this website on facial tics which has a solution to treat a child’s facial, vocal and motor tics without dangerous medications which can cause harmful side effects. The more I read what was written at the website, the more I was convinced that no parent would want to put his or her child at the risk of medications which will likely caused the child to have queasiness or vomiting, plus a whole list of other side effects. If there is an alternative to having to ingest dangerous drugs, parents will definitely want to consider it.

This was extracted from the facial tics website.

It almost seems that every child who suffers has their own unique tics since they can be extremely diverse.The most common tics are usually:

• Eye blinking
• Mouth twitches
• Eye squinting
• Throat clearing
• Facial contortion
• Wrinkling nose
• Compulsive grunting

Children who suffer from these facial tics might find them hard to live with (especially older children) because it can be frustrating, embarrassing and even a little scary.
But for most parents, prescription drugs can be very scary since they have side effects like:

• Extreme depression
• Queasiness or vomiting
• Hostility or violent behavior
• Exhaustion
• Tardive Dyskinesia – a condition that causes involuntary movements to worsen

If you have a child who may have what you think is a facial tic problem, or a friend’s child with such a problem, do hop over to facialtics.com. There is indeed an easier, safer and more effective treatment than drugs.

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