Insomniacs Should Find This Helpful

My mum is an almost insomniac. Almost is a word I use on her as she normally only has problem sleeping when she thinks a lot and worry over trivial issues. She wants to sleep desperately but sleep eludes her during those occasions. Then I have a friend, whom I shall not name (coz I know he might pop by and read this blog and if he found out that I was writing about him, I will get an earful from him). He has all the time in the world to sleep but he forgoes sleep for the internet; surfing, gaming, checking out porn sites (haha … my guess only lah). He used to come to office looking like the living dead. Vampire is what we called him at the office.

It is a given that our body needs to sleep in order to rebuild and restore the muscle tissue, our mental energy and other important repair works. In addition to that, we must sleep during the times between 11pm and 2 am as this is the must effective time for the body to repair itself. When a person lacks sleep, initially he may just feel tired, irritable or have trouble concentrating. But over time, this can lead to increased risks of diabetes, cancer, psychological problems, weight gain and also accelerated aging (HORRORS!!!)

It was reported that those who create a sleep debt will just have to sleep longer than usual to feel rested. However, there is a Chinese saying that says “That one night without sleep cannot be repaid by 10 days of sleep after that” (literally translated). Well, if it was lack of sleep caused by one’s personal choice, then I supposed that person is just asking for it. However, if a person has difficulties falling asleep or staying asleep, I have found a website which gives some tips on how to get your ZZZZs.

These were extracted from their site which I thought will be very helpful to insomniacs and also those of us who are unable to sleep due to the economic turmoil happening around us.

For more detailed information, please go to the website SixWise.com

1) Exercise, ideally everyday. This positive stress will tire out your body in a good way – just be sure not to exercise too close to bedtime (within three hours), as it could keep you up.

2) Drink a cup of relaxing tea, like chamomile.

3) Stretch a bit before you lie down. You can literally stretch some of the “kinks” and tension of the day.

4) Wear earplugs or an eye mask. If you can hear noisy traffic or see lights from outside, earplugs and an eye mask can give you the silence and the darkness that are ideal for sleep.

5) Create a relaxing bedtime routine. Take a bath before bed, brush your teeth, get into your PJs and turn on some soothing music to let your mind know that it’s time for slumber.

6) Once you are in bed, listen to a relaxation CD like the Sleep Easy CD to help you “shift gears” and relax into sleep.

7) Don’t drink caffeinated or alcoholic beverages near your bedtime.

8) Keep a regular schedule that includes a standard time to go to sleep and wake up.

9) Make your room “sleepable”. A very dark, cool room is best for sleep.

10) Get a handle on your stress. It is the number-one cause of sleep problems, according to sleep experts.

11) Put the kibosh on work before bed. If you work or do other mentally trying activities too close to bedtime, you may have a hard time relaxing for sleep.

And Now for Six Sleep Tips You May Not Know Of..

12) Get a new mattress. About 87% of people who purchased a new mattress say they are satisfied with their choice and its impact on their quality of sleep. Generally, a mattress’ life span is five to seven years.

13) Evaluate your prescription medication. Certain prescription and over the counter drugs such as steroids, decongestants and drugs for high blood pressure, depression and asthma can keep you up at night. If you are having trouble sleeping, consult with your doctor to see if your medications could be blame.

14) Make love. Sexual activity helps to relax your body.

15) Eat something. Feeling hungry can make it hard to fall asleep. A light snack, such as peanut butter on whole-grain crackers, can help you to get a good night’s sleep.

16) Massage your feet, especially with warm oil, right before bed. It is very relaxing.

17) If you smoke, quit. Nicotine is linked to difficulty falling asleep and problems waking up.

My own remedy for insomnia? It works every time for me. All I do is take a piece of motivational CD and listen to it with my headphones. In less than 5 minutes, I will be in lala land. So sorry if this is an insult to the speaker, but it must be that the sound of a speaker going on and on reminds me so much of my days in the lecture theatre. That accounts for why I am always chasing my friends for their notes: D

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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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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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How To Get More Traffic To Your Website

There are many ways to generate more traffic to one's website and I have actually gone to many bloggers' websites to read about it. Just this morning, I just happened to check into my Spam email folder when I found a little "gold" nugget in the form of a totally FREE report from this one guy called Justin Michie. Only for a limited time, he is giving out this free Traffic Tips Report.

This Traffic Tips Report gives a whole list of ways to improve traffic to one's blog. I have downloaded it and some of the tips may just work. Some of them however may not work so well here, but then what do I know haha. Anyways, there are quite a list to go throught with new traffic generation methods and as many good ways to do it as you possibly can.

This Justin Michie is an internet marketer and I have heard of him mentioned during my EAP Boot Camp recently. I think he was the Lemonade Chap. His report doesn’t just show you a few ways to generate website traffic, it delivers 247 unique ways to get traffic to your site. Right from the start that’s something that any website or blog owner can use. On top of that, the report is actually free!

And even though it’s free, the methods outlined in his report should be able to increase your traffic significantly in just a matter of days. The great thing about this report is that it includes both free and paid traffic generation methods. So whether you are just starting out and you have time to invest but little money, or you’ve been making money online for awhile and have the money but not the time – there are plenty of ideas in here to up your traffic stats.

Just don’t let the amount of ideas in here overwhelm you – don’t try to do it all at once, pace yourself! Some of the methods will result in short term traffic and others will result in long term traffic. If you start with a few of short term and a few long term methods from this report you can give your site a quick burst of traffic right away while building long term traffic. This will help your traffic grow quickly and still sustain itself so you’ll be getting plenty of visitors month after month.

The report has been reviewed by some of the most successful and well known internet marketers. Joel Comm and Willie Crawford both highly recommended it, when Justin was charging money for it. (It had been selling at the discounted rate of $7 at http://www.TrafficTipsReport.com.) Joel calls it a “really valuable resource” that all internet marketers should have. And Willie “recommends it to all of his clients and subscribers.” When you have endorsements like these you really can’t go wrong!

Another great thing about this report is that it will work for any type of niche. It doesn’t matter if you have a website on puppies or a blog about day trading. There are traffic generation methods in it that will work for everyone and every niche.

So if you are looking for unique ways to drive more traffic to your site, you really need to look no further than the Traffic Tips Report. If you want a copy (while it’s still free) you can download it here.

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Making Money Simply by Emails?

It is kind of boring in the office right now. Could it be because a lot of people are already in the Raya mood? Actually, Raya is the start of the year end festivities here in Malaysia as we have Deepavali following that, then Hari Raya Haji, Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year. I can sense my waistline expanding already haha.

Well, festivities also means extra money needed to buy new clothes, presents and loads of other stuff. In fact, I have been eyeing the ACER Aspire One for several weeks already. Sigh.. why are there so many things to buy with so little money?


If there was a way of earning a bit of extra money without too much effort, I would be very interested. Wouldn't you be too? Anyway, there is an eLearning Portal which allows one to make money by sending emails. I reckon that if one is already spending so much time on the internet, why not make it worthwhile$$. And sending emails are what we do quite well already. Don't we already send all sorts of things to our friends and acquaintances via email. Well, I for one has been receiving loads of stuff from my friends, jokes, motivational and inspirational thoughts, alerts and warnings.. haha.. during lunch time, an ex-colleague came on the Yahoo Messenger to warn me about the danger of the latest drug in the market Burundanga. BEWARE! he warns. I just said "Thank you for the Warning". Will tell him later to go read my blog :)



Well, if you receive an email from me in the next couple of days regarding the eLearning Portal, please humor me and read the mail.... please.... trying to earn my way to the new Acer Aspire One by Christmas. A Christmas present to mua from mua :D.

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Be Alert and Cautious - Burundanga

I know that sometimes we mean well when we send out alerts and warning messages to our family and friends. In fact, this morning alone, I received a few emails with the same message, which read "Be Alert and Cautious when you are given a name card by a total stranger on the street". The email message continued to tell a story of how a lady who was handed a name card by this stranger at a petrol station, offering his services as a painter and as the woman was being polite, just took the card with her and left in her car after she has finished filling in the petrol. The story went on to say that the lady started feeling dizzy and the source of it came from some ordour that was coming from the hand which held the business card. Apparently, there was a drug wiped over the business card and the drug is called Burundanga".

In the past, when I received such type of mails, my first reaction was to forward it out to my family and my friends immediately. But having been told by some of these friends that the mails which I sent out are not true, these days, I do try to do a little checking first.

My checks on this claim has revealed several things.

1) Definition: Burundanga is a drug made from the plant called either cacao sabanero or borrachero. It is used to drug unsuspecting tourists in order to rob them. This was taken from About.com - South America Travel

2) From a medical source: Scopolamine can be used as a pre-surgical drug for the purpose of impairing memory of surgical trauma. It provides an initial knockout effect, before the anesthesia proper is administered, and has the added benefit of preventing long term memory formation during the period of time. At one time scopolamine was given to women during childbirth. This was taken from earthops. There was an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal Article dated July3, 1995 which tells of how people in Columbia have been drugged and have lost their precious belongings and money to unscrupulous people using that drug. The article is here.

3) From snopes.com, the claim that criminals used Burundanga-soaked business cards to incapacitate victims is FALSE. They have an example of the similar emails which I received except the mail which I received, the woman has no name, the place where it apparently occurred was also not identified. One of the mails which I received read like this....

Must Read and Please be careful out there. A man came over and offeredhis services as a painter to a female putting gas in her car and left his card. She said no ,but accepted his card out of kindness and got in the car.The man then got into a car driven by another gentleman. As the lady left the service station, she saw the men following her out of the station at the same time. Almost immediately, she started to feel dizzy and could not catch her breath. She tried to open the window and realized that the odor was on her hand; the same hand which accepted the card from the gentleman at the gas station. She then noticed the men wereimmediately behind her and she felt she needed to do something at that moment. She drove into the first driveway and began to honk her horn repeatedly to ask for help.The men drove away but the lady still felt pretty bad for severalminutes after she could finally catch her breath. Apparently,there was a substance on the card that could have seriously injured her. This drug is called 'BURUNDANGA'and it is used by people who wish to incapacitate a victim in orderto steal from or take advantage of them. This drug is four times more dangerous than the date rape drug and is transferable on simple cards. So take heed and make sureyou don't accept cards at any given time alone or from someone on the streets. This applies to those making house calls and slipping you a card when they offer their services . PLEASE SEND THIS E-MAILALERT TO EVERY FEMALE YOU KNOW

I suppose we just have to remember, however much we want to save our family and friends from danger, we should do a little bit of checking first before we scare them silly. What do you think?

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2008 Diet and Beauty Fair

I met up with an ex-colleague for lunch a few days ago and he asked if I was interested to go to a Diet and Beauty Fair. Ha Ha.. I am sure many women (probably some men too) are interested in anything to do with diet and beauty... maybe not all.. but many, mua included. This fair will be held at the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre next weekend, starting from the 26th September until the 28th. As we were eating and talking, he also shared that his company will be having a booth at the fair and asked if I was willing to part with RM10 for a full face product trial. Mmmm??? What full face product trial? That was when he fished out his product flyer. I think most of you would have heard of this thing called Galvanic Spa.

As I was looking at the brochure, I must say I was pretty impressed about some of the pictures. But being rather skeptical, I was already wondering if these were just photoshopped pictures. That was when he did a 6 minutes demonstration on the back of my right hand. As I used to golf, I have always been rather embarrassed by the fact that my right hand is of a darker shade than my left hand. Why? Cause when I golf, I only wear a left glove (for better grip).

When he was done, I noticed a stark difference in the shade of color on the back of my right hand. WAH! Impressed lah. Then he asked if I wanted to have a demo on my face. But only 1/2 the face, so that I can see the difference. WHAT! Crazy ah... in the middle of an eatery and having to go back to the office after lunch. What would my colleagues say? What would my boss say? No lah, I told him. Next time.

I would have liked for him to do the demo on my face this weekend but he will be traveling *sigh*. Hence, I am now trying to round up some of my gal pals for next week to do the demo. No exactly sure which date to pick yet. But for those of you who are interested, just drop me a comment.

I have found this video on YouTube. Actually there are a few more, but some of them talk and talk .. not much action BAH!



I have appended a flayer with the information regarding the 2008 Diet and Beauty Fair at Mid Valley. If you are there, for whatever reasons, do drop in. He told me that there mystery gifts and promotions. I am sure there are plenty of freebies too from the other booths :D. I am going to bring my big Jusco RM4.90 bag to collect the freebies....heehee..damn "tham sum"...greedy.

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How to Prevent a Sore Throat from turning into a Cold

I think this is the season to be coughing and sneezing. A lot of people seem to start of with a sore throat before they progress to a full blown cold. A friend of my Suzan shared something which I thought would help to prevent a sore throat from turning into a cold. This remedy was also practiced by my late dad as he really hates visiting doctors. No harm trying I reckon, if it will save you a bit of money and the ordeal of sitting in an air conditioned place with a stuffed nose.

What Most Doctors Won't Tell You About Colds and Flus... if you don't know, read on.

You just won't get this information on why colds and flus can
help you stay healthy over the long run from medical textbooks
and mainstream media - please consider sharing it with family
and friends.

Although experiencing a cold or the flu once in a while can help
rid your body of your weakest cells, I'm willing to bet that there

are times when you would really prefer to delay such a period of

cleansing and malaise.

Here's how you can stand a good chance of preventing a cold from developing:

As soon as you experience that sore, tickly feeling in your
throat that precedes a full-blown cold, gargle with warm salt water.
And when I say gargle, I mean really gargle; take in a mouthful
of warm salt water, look up at the ceiling, and gargle aggressively.

You may want to tap at your throat (the Adam's apple region) with your fingers while you gargle to encourage the warm salt water to trickle

deeply into your throat.

Gargle like this several times with a glass of warm salt water, and

repeat as often as possible throughout the day.

Warm salt water can remove viruses from the tonsils and adenoids
that line the back of your throat region. Viruses that cause colds and flus typically get caught by your tonsils and adenoids before they spread through your body. Your tonsils and adenoids are important parts of your immune system because they are located near the entrance of your breathing passages, and they serve as a first line of defense against undesirable airborne microorganisms and substances.

This, by the way, is why it is best not to remove tonsils and adenoids from your throat region. Chronic swelling of tonsils and adenoids is best addressed by reducing sugar intake, adopting a minimally processed diet that is rich in fresh plant foods, and supporting immune system health by getting plenty of rest, exercise, and exposure to sunlight and fresh air.

Cold salt water may also help to remove viruses from your tonsils and adenoids, but warm salt water tends to be more effective. Warm water may help to melt the fatty coating that protects viruses that cause the cold and flu.

What if you gargle for all you're worth but still end up developing a full-blown cold?

Get lots of rest, drink plenty of fluids, and take comfort in knowing that countless viruses are at work destroying your weakest cells. And don't forget to blow your nose as often as it runs; help your body get rid of what it wants to get rid of.

P.S. Free Brian Tracy Video worth $97...

P.S.S. Lucrative eLearning Biz Opportunity ... that can change your Financial and Life Destiny!

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How to Talk so Women will Listen

This is the continuation post.. where I share Allan and Barbara Pease's book.

"How to Talk so Women will Listen" - Womenspeak

1. Participate in the conversation
Don't wait for your turn to talk. Female brains are wired to both speak and listen simultaneously., which is why women often seem to all talk at the same time. This is because they can. If you wait for your turn you'll just get older. If you don't actively participate in a conversation with women, it is perceived to be a lack of interest by you or that you hold a critical opinion.

2.Use facial expressions when listening
A woman's facial expressions reveal her emotions so, as she talks, mirror her expressions and gestures to create rapport. Never do this with another man.

3. Give her personal details and appeal to her emotions
Female brains are organized for reading the emotions of others and for evaluating relationships between people. Reveal to her, personal information about yourself and your family and volunteer your personal feelings about things.

4. Use indirect speech
Women's spoken sentences are longer than men's and may contain several subjects including her feelings and emotions about those subjects. Avoid getting to the point quickly, pushing for a fast solution to a problem, or "closing the sale". Be more friendly, relaxed and agreeable.

Well, do you think you agree with Allan and Barbara. I do and I think with if I keep this in mind, I will face less frustrations when I am trying to get through to the guys in my family *grins*

This is Brian Tracy. I will be starting on his book tonite :)

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How to Talk so Men will Listen

Since finishing my Entrepreneurs Program recently, I have made it a point to read at least a chapter (if it is short) or a couple of pages of a Self Development/Improvement or Motivational book before I go to sleep every night. At the moment, I am reading Allan & Barbara Pease's "People Skills For Life - Easy Peasy". The book is very easy to read and quite funny too. Actually all of Allan's books carries subtle humor in them. Anyway, I got to the chapter "How to Talk so Men will Listen". I thought it really hit home as I have always been having the same opinion as Allan Peace. I continued to read on to the next chapter "How to Talk so Women will Listen". I would like to share them with you here and also to see if many of you do share the same opinion. Hope that it helps throw some light on our relationships and how the other half works.


Extracted from Allan & Barbara Pease's"people Skills for Life - Easy Peasy".

"How to Talk so Men will Listen" - Menspeak

1. Give men one thing at a time
Men's brains are compartmentalized. It's as if a man's brain is divided into little rooms with each room containing a function that works in isolation of all others. Do not multi-track with a man. Keep your ideas and thoughts separate. Deal with one thing at a time.

2. Let him have his turn to speak
Male brains are wired up to either speak or listen. Most men can't do both simultaneously and this is why men take turns to talk. Let him have his turn and let him finish his sentence. Do not interrupt.

3. Use a poker face when listening
Men think that someone who uses many facial expressions when listening may have mental or emotional problems. Hold a serious expression when listening to a man and make listening sounds like "uh-huh....", "I see...." , "Yeah, yeah...." to encourage him to continue.

4. Give him facts and information
Male brains are organized for spatial tasks and are interested in the relationship between things. Show solutions to problems, give facts and testimonials. Avoid emotional pleas. Instead, prove your point.

5. Use direct speech
Men's sentences are shorter than women's and contain more facts, data, information and solutions. Don't hint or infer things. Say what you mean and get to the point.

Watch out for the continuation of this in the next post :). Meanwhile, another free video *smirks*and this is from Allan's website.

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Why We Do What We Do... Anthony Robbins

There are those of us who loves to listen to great motivational speakers and I am definitely one of them. During lunch time, whilst I was surfing around (whilst eating maggie mee goreng at my desk), I received an invitation from my friends Wendy and Jerome to go have a look at this free video. Ha Ha.. I am always a sucker for anything free... and furthermore, I do enjoy listen to Anthony Robbins speak, what more, this is a video.. so, I will get stimulation, both visual and audio.

When you are free, just go to this link Anthony Robbins asks.... and let the video run. You could even download it but it is a rather large file, well over 70MB in size.

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A Special Colander

It has been a long time since I found anything interesting in terms of utensils in the kitchen. The last and only one I shared was the apple corer from Ikea.

This kitchen item first caught my eye when I was watching a VCD demo at a supermarket, cannot really remember where but it was likely at Jusco in Mid Valley (my fav shopping place). It resembled a colander or some kind of sieve which you would normally wash your vegetables and fruits in but this one is one to wash rice in. The VCD was about sushi making and the chef as washing the uncooked rice in one of this. I saw that it will be extremely useful to me as I always have this problem when I wash rice. Much of it will end up getting poured out with the water and with the price of rice going sky high these days, every grain saved is a grain eaten.. (sounds like I am really rice counting).

I remember going upstairs to the departmental store section to look for it but could not find it. In fact, could not find it at any of the other supermarkets or departmental stores. Never really gave up looking though. Then out of the blue, 2 evenings ago as I was waiting for a friend a SS2 for dinner, I spotted the 100Yen shop. My initial intention was to go in to look for some cutie bento boxes. And that was when I saw it..... wah... it was like finding a treasure. I immediately took hold of one. And at this 100Yen shop, it was only sold at RM4.70... wonderful.

I know that with this colander thingy (actually I don't even know if there is a correct name for it as everything on the packet is written in Japanese), I will have an easier time washing rice without too much wastage now. See how easy it is.....

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Tutors - to be one or looking for one?

It has always been my opinion that there are mainly 2 types of businesses that can withstand the worse economic climates….businesses that are related in some way to superstitious beliefs and to education. Man (and Woman) has always been known to turn to miracles and quick fix-its in his (her) hour of need and this is the time when many would probably be exploited into purchasing all sorts of paraphernalia, ranging from magic money attracting rocks to power/money attracting energy stickers. But who am I to say that it is wrong to believe? Its each man for himself.

The other business that seems to be able to weather all storms, economic or otherwise is education. Parents have been known to cut down on many expenses so as to scrape enough to ensure that their children have the chance to pursue a good education for they know that this is the most important key to their children’s future. The most precious gift a parent can give to his child is the ability to equip him with the education and knowledge to face life head on.

These days, when money is getting to be a precious commodity, finding the right source of education is of utmost importance. Education obtain from schools are already a given as sometimes our choice of which school to place our children is determined by our residential address. This is only logical as it would not be feasible to send our children to a very good and reputable school in Petaling Jaya when we are living at the far end of Cheras.

But when it comes to alternative forms of education source, parents these days have more say in their selection of the best tutor for the child. Sometimes, parents check with each other to get reference to the better tutors. Of course some arbitrarily select tutors from newspapers or pamphlets posted on the light poles in their residential area. But that can be risky business. How do we know we can trust our children in the hands of these people? We cannot be with them the entire time during the tuition. How do we know if the tutor is not some pedophile? It can be rather worrying, don’t you think?

If there was an opportunity for a parent to do some credibility checking on a tutor, would they be any takers? I would think for sure there will be. What if there was an independent team of people who would evaluate and assess the credibility and the capability of a tutor? Would parents find it helpful? Well, there is exactly one website that does this. This website MyLearningFriend.com does precisely that. It is started up by 2 very good friends and they are people of high credibility themselves.

Their web portal MyLearningFriend.com offers parents and students the best platform to look for home tutors, especially for UPSR, PMR, SPM and STPM across Malaysia. I would think that this is something many parents have been waiting for a long time for.

There is also a good part to this portal. It is also for people who would like to make tutoring one of their income sources too. Out of curiosity, I clicked on the “Search for Jobs” button and looked up their available opportunity. Saw this one which I really liked – 1-to-1 Home Tuition -English (Pre-school) [NON-ACADEMIC] to a little girl. If only she stayed near my house, I would love to take this opportunity up. Oh well, there'll be other opportunities.

I am sure this is going to be a really useful portal for parents, students and tutors (or tutors-to-be like mua) for each of their own individual needs. Quick, go have a peek.

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Ways to make a little extra cash

These days, everything is about money, mainly the lack of it *sigh*. I have been talking to friends, surfing the blogs and checking the newspapers to find ways of making a little extra. Friends will ask me to join them in their Multi Level Businesses ranging from Products, Services, Unit Trusts, Insurance to aromatherapy. You name it, I would probably have heard of it. Admittedly, I have joined a few but probably have not been doing it right as I am still not financially any better off then when I have just started.

Blogger friends as asked me to subscribe to PayPerPost and Social Sparks. I have registered and that was as far as I have gone. *Sigh* being the ignorant idiot that I am, I don't know what to do after the registration part. I don't even know how the bloggers put up that little badge at the end of their posts. Do they just cut and paste or what.... HELP!! Need to speak to blogger friends like Supergirlfriend and Sue Momster.

If anyone can give me some advise on this, it is most appreciated :)



I was browsing through the newspapers a few days ago and came across an advertisement which read ...

“Who Else Wants To Discover The Secrets Of Starting A Business With Little Or No Money?”

Well, all I needed to do was to register for a free seminar to learn the secrets. Mmmmm....should I ??? Still thinking about it.

And since I was still very much opened to looking at options, when a friend asked me out to for a drink to brainstorm on this issue,without hesitation, I agreed. Like I say, I am open to suggestions. We ordered our drinks and as usual, started bitching about life and wished life was still the cheap magazine it used to be...haha.. old private joke of ours - 1st issue of Life Magazine was sold at 10cents. We were toying with ideas of starting our own e-business to selling stuff at the flea markets. When she suggested pasar malams... I told her that we'd better not. What if we get "dishhed - hantam" (slaughtered) by the tai-kors (triads) who rules these pasar malams (night markets)? Haha.. better stick to the flea markets.

We didn't get anywhere. Maybe we needed a bigger think-tank group. So, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. As I was walking along (opps sorry, I was at Subang Mentari area), when I saw this large sign which read CASH CONVERTERS. Mmmmm.... interesting.


Went inside to KPC (check it out) and found that they had quite a lot of old (some used and some unused stuff) for sale. I was not allowed to take photos inside, so, instead I took some photos outside.


That is when I saw this.....



Mmm...that is an option to get some extra money too. I know that I have some stuff in the house which have not been used. They've just been there lying around taking up space and collecting dust. The United Subang Jaya Web Forum has some postings on this outlet. Next to this outlet, across a little lane was a Pajak Gadai (pawn shop) - the yellow signboards.


See...right at the side of the pic, there was man who was watching me. I think he works for the pawn shop... and being the coward that I am, I dare not take a direct picture of his pawn shop *sweats*.

So, I think there are still options to make a little extra money but we just have to search for it. And perhaps to find friends and to network with the right people. My search will still continue but at least I know where to dump off some of my unused stuff for a little bit of money :). Hope this will help anyone who is reading this post and like me, is just trying to look for ways to make a little extra cash.

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Honey & Apple Vinegar

These days, with all that lovely food from the food exchange program, my own baking and cooking adventures (actually the failures are the hardest thing as I have to be the one to eat them up... else they are going to end up in the bin, which is really money and effort down the drain, let alone the frustrations) and the trying out at the food outlets recommended by some of my favorite bloggers, the waistline (what waistline??) is getting thicker by the day *sigh*. So how??

There were lots of recommendations from friends which included a Carbo-free diet, a fruits only diet, meal replacement diets, de-tox programmes and even a diet called the British Heart Foundation Diet. To me, whenever I hear the word Diet or see the word Diet... everything that comes after that word cease to enter my brain. The automatic gate closes. *sigh sigh*.

But I guess doing nothing about it is also not the best move to stop the ever increasing waistline. Hence, over the weekend, as I was doing my weekend grocery shopping at Mid Valley, mainly to look for healthier food alternatives, I happened to walked pass the Eu Yan Sang Outlet. Saw a load of people hovering outside. And being the super KPC (inquisitive) person that I am, I naturally went over to see what was happening. The 2 sales people were passing out little cups of chopped vegetables and naturally I took one :).

Mmmmm... it tasted very refreshing. It was apparently one of their highly popular Fruit Vinegar product. I have heard that fruit vinegar was supposed to be a very healthy supplement. A friend of mine swears by it, so much so that she makes her own. But the process was long.. almost about 2 to 3 weeks of fermenting. And one wrong move (like not ensuring that the jar or the fruits used were a 100% dry, rot will set in and you can say bye bye to your jar of fruit vinegar).



It was normally used as a drink but Eu Yan Sang has used it as a dressing. What a wonderful idea. After chatting with the sales person for about 10 mins, mainly to ask for a discount, I finally realized that I have the Eu Yan Sang loyalty card. That will immediately entitle me for a 5% discount (RM48 before discount). But apparently if you buy 2, it will cost you RM70 something). Ok lah.. decided to get 1 bottle back.


When I got home, took out all the soon to expire fruits and vegetables from the fridge and cubed them. Took out a can of Green Giant corn kernels. Put them all in a bowl and put in a generous 3 tablespoons of the Fruit Vinegar, toss the stuff around and stick it back into the fridge.



Took a container full to work today.... Mmm...tastes very refreshing and a whole lot less guilty eating this salad without the usual mayonnaise or thousand island dressings or even the french dressing (as there is still oil in it). You should try it, if not for the waistline reducing results (hopefully) but better bowel movements ... especially after ingesting all those fibrous vegetables and fruits.



**This is NOT a sponsored post...definitely NOT** :D

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How to save petrol, thus saving money

Like every good citizen of Malaysia, I am still reeling from the shock of such a drastic increase in the price of petrol as of midnight yesterday. Every other blogger has a post up on this issue and why should I be different. At the same time, I was also frantically googling for suggestions on how to save petrol, thus saving a little of my hard earned money.

There were several sites which I visited that gave pretty good suggestions like keeping your tyres inflated, not speeding and braking too often as this will cause more petrol be to consumed, not leaving the engine running (and the air conditioning too) whilst waiting. But there was one particular website which managed to put a smile on my face despite such a gloomy scenario.



This post was published by a person call Mike at blogiseverything. Mike suggested 6 ways to save petrol (which I think was rather tongue-in-cheek as some of these suggestions may save some fuel - which he even gave the percentage possibility of fuel saved - but may lead you to more expenditure, in the event you have an accident or you need to fix your car later.



These were his suggestions in brief and to have a more detailed description of his idea, do visit his website.

1) Properly Inflated Tyres (Average savings: 3%. That reminds me, better get my tyres checked.. i think they are kinda of deflated and balding too)

2) Tailgating NASCAR style (Average savings: 16%. This one, you had better work out the cost of fixing your front bumper, radiator and anything else that is busted, plus the fella's car in front too)

3) The Brick Trick (Average savings: 21%. Now this one, I really have to think about it)

4) Forward Momentum (Average savings: 33% to 42%, depending on wind direction. Haha.. this makes me think of sailing)

5) Gravity's Rainbow (Average savings: 54% plus. Hard for me as I live on flat ground. Not going anywhere too far too soon if I took up his suggestion)

6) Cut their throats (Average savings: Nil but supposed to make you feel better. But you have to replace US Govt with Malaysian Govt)

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How to Stop a Cough in 5 mins

My friends and business associates, Zul and Fathiah sent me this home remedy that is supposedly very effective in stopping coughs. This is truly something worth sharing. Apparently, this has been tried and tested and confirmed to work. Furthermore, the technique used here is external, so, honestly, no harm trying.

This is what they sent in their email to me....

We have all been kept awake by our own or someone else's cough. Try this and pass it on. The tip and not the cough. ANYTHING is better than antibiotics. Even babies could benefit from this and the parents wouldn't worry about the safety of their child. And of course, it is harmless and free from any type of side-effects. WOW! I was raised, and raised my kids with Vicks. How come I never knew this? I can't wait for my next cough. Amazing! READ IT ALL. It works 100 percent of the time, although the scientists at the Canada Research council (who discovered it) aren't sure why.



Treatment: To stop night time coughing in a child (or an adult, as we found out personally), put Vicks Vapor Rub generously on the bottom of the feet at bedtime and then cover with socks. Even persistent, heavy, deep coughing will stop in about five minutes and stay stopped for many, many hours of relief. This works 100 percent of the time, and is more effective in children than even very strong prescription cough medicines. In addition it is extremely soothing and comforting and they will sleep soundly. I heard the head of the Canada Research Council describe these findings on the part of their scientists when they were investigating the effectiveness and usage of prescription cough medicines in children, as compared to alternative therapies like acupressure. I just happened to tune in to a.m. Radio and picked up this guy talking about why cough medicines in kids often do more harm than good due to the chemical makeup of these strong drugs, so I listened. It was a surprising finding and found to be more effective than prescribed medicines for children at bedtime, and in addition to have a soothing and calming effect on sick children who then went on to sleep soundly. My wife tried it on herself when she had a very deep constant and persistent cough a few weeks ago, and it worked 100 percent! She said it felt like a warm blanket had enveloped her. The coughing stopped in a few minutes, and believe me this was a deep (incredibly annoying!) every few seconds, uncontrollable cough and she slept cough-free for hours every night she used it. If you have children or grandchildren, pass it on. If you end up sick, try it yourself and you will be absolutely amazed.

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Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins

I just got this email from a friend after lunch I just want to share it with you...

Cancer News from Johns Hopkins

1. No Plastic Containers in Microwave Ovens

2. No Water Bottles in the Freezer
3. No Plastic Wrap in the Microwave Oven


A dioxin chemical causes cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic.

.

Recently, Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. This especially applies to foods that contain fat.

He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body...

Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food... You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else.

Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc.

He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons...

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead

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