how observant are you?

Sometimes we just need to be reminded of God's greatness...

God left us great clues as to what foods help what part of our body! God's Pharmacy! Amazing!

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All o f the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions h elp clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

funnies...

The whole of this week, I come home late from work. And two weeks in a row, I was still at the office @ 9pm on a Friday evening.

Oh well...

During times like these, people who work in organisations like I do are at their busiest. I'm feeling quite overwhelmed at the moment to be honest. I really don't know how my bosses, present and past, did it. Gosh... it's so tiring!

But once in a while you get emails sent your way that makes the day better. It is true... Laughter is really the best medicine.

ENJOY!


The Credit Crunch:

A trader: "This is worse than a divorce. I've lost half my net worth and I still have a wife."

President Bush said clients shouldn't be concerned by all these bank closings. If the bank is closed, you just use the ATM, he said.

George Bush said that he is saddened to hear about the demise of Lehman brothers His thoughts at this time go out to their mother as losing one son is hard but losing two is a tragedy.

The problem with investment bank balance sheets is that on the left side nothing is right and on the right side nothing is left.

In maths there are 30 billion prime numbers below 700 billion. The rest are all subprime.

How do you define optimism? A banker who irons 5 shirts on a Sunday.

What do you call 12 investment bankers at the bottom of the ocean? A good start.

Why are all MBAs going back to school? To ask for their money back.

For Geography students: What's the capital of Iceland? Answer: About Three Pounds Fifty...

If you want to gamble, go to Las Vegas. If you want to trade in derivatives, God bless you.

Whats the difference between a guy who just lost everything in Vegas and an investment banker? A tie.

Whats the difference between a bond and a bond trader? A bond matures.

Lehman have changed their recommendation on Lehman from hold to sell.

Forty years ago I sold fifty shares of my company stock and had enough money to purchase a brand-new 1967 Ford pickup. Last week, I checked it out, and if I sold another fifty shares, Id have enough money to buy a 1967 Ford pickup. So, the market has stabilized.

NEW STOCK MARKET TERMS for 2008 and beyond...
CEO --Chief Embezzlement Officer
CFO-- Corporate Fraud Officer
BULL MARKET -- A random market movement causing an investor to mistake himself for a financial genius
BEAR MARKET -- A 6 to 18 month period when the kids get no allowance, the wife gets no jewelry, and the husband gets no sex
VALUE INVESTING -- The art of buying low and selling lower
P/E RATIO -- The percentage of investors wetting their pants as the market keeps crashing
BROKER -- What my broker has made me
STANDARD & POOR -- Your life in a nutshell
STOCK ANALYST -- Idiot who just downgraded your stock
STOCK SPLIT -- When your ex-wife and her lawyer split your assets equally between themselves
FINANCIAL PLANNER -- A guy whose phone has been disconnected
MARKET CORRECTION -- The day after you buy stocks
CASH FLOW-- The movement your money makes as it disappears down the toilet
YAHOO -- What you yell after selling it to some poor sucker for $240 pershare
WINDOWS -- What you jump out of when you're the sucker who bought Yahoo @$240 per share
INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR -- Past year investor who's now locked up in a nuthouse
PROFIT -- An archaic word no longer in use

having some fun...

Several nights ago, inspired after watching America's Next Top Model episode on youtube where the girls were challenged to "smile with your eyes", I decided to play *model* with Ina as my photographer.

I failed miserably on that challenge... I'm definitely not model material.

So decided to have some fun instead. Me making faces.

I'm not absolutely sure whether this is a good idea (ie to post my *play acting* photos), but what the heck.

So friends... don't ever use this to blackmail me aaa...

*fish* face

*angry* face

*hidung kembang* face

blub... blub... blub...

*big smile* face

my idol...

Say what you want but I admire Angelina Jolie.

This woman manages to be a mother of six children, have a career and still find time to get involved in charity work. She has been at it for over 7 years.

And still manages to look gorgeous!

If it was me... I'd be half pengsan already. Don't even talk about how I'd look.
Sure, some might say that "If I have that kind of money, I can do it too".
Can you?

I don't think so. No doubt, when you have financial resources, you can do lots of things. And you can hire people to do things for you so that you have more time on your hands. But no amount of money can make you open your heart, be willing to spend your personal time, be in difficult and uncomfortable environment for important causes. I don't think I can. Not even if I have 1 billion dollars to my name.

And to be teaching your kids these kind of values... I salute her! To nurture the notion that all human beings are equal regardless of colour, race, religion.

Her name fits her well... Beautiful Angel.

We should have more people like Angelina Jolie in this world and this world would be a much better place.

An excerpt from her recent speech...
"Justice often seems like a luxury for the rich and wealthy nations... Peace is often placed ahead of justice, and sometimes instead of justice... No one should have to choose between peace and justice... There is no enduring peace without justice"

Well said!

inspirationally big!

I've been watching this show on TV... it's called Oprah's Big Give.

It is a reality, competition show. But unlike the other shows on the air, it is not about pitting against each other to be the ultimate victor. It is about how to give back to society and how to encourage others to do the same.

Also unlike other shows, there are no losers in the game. They're all winners because they all did something wonderful for absolute strangers. But of course, there's elimination. Not because they had failed, but because others had done better.

I like this show. I shed many tears watching the episodes.

It's so amazing how these wonderful individuals go all out to help others, to make a difference, to get other people on board... all for the satisfaction of doing something good.

There's no prize... just bragging rights (although after watching the finale, the winner did get a prize, but they didn't know it when they embarked on the adventure).

The kind of things that they were able to do. The kind of support that they were able to garner.

It makes me believe even more that there are many, many good hearted people out there. They just need a push, a request to participate in giving back to society.

I hope that I can do something similar with the volunteer group at work. My goal... if I can just get 80% of the staff to commit 2 weekends a year to do some form of charity work, that would be excellent. If I can get everyone to potong gaji RM10 a month... the collective amount can do so much good.

The more that I get involved in this, the more I realise that there are so many people out there that are needing our assistance.

And one of the things that Big Give taught me was that it isn't the money, sometimes it is the time... but most importantly is the willingness to open your heart and give others the opportunity and for them to be treated equally.

During one of the shows, one contestant, Stephen, who happens to be the eventual winner, spent his night after a long day of doing a charity project (because he said that there's still some time in the day that he can chip in to do some good), went to donate his time at a Kitchen... helping to serve the food, clean up etc. And while washing dishes with another guy, he listened to the guy's story... the things that he had gone through, his regrets, his aspirations, his hopes. That was it. Just listening. And to the guy, it made all the difference in the world because someone was willing to listen and be engaged with an ex convict who had done drugs, a person whom others would just treat as a sampah masyarakat.

The time spent with him gave him a stronger sense of self belief, confidence... something that everyone who has been at the bottom needs to get back up.

It's so unbelievably simple! To make a difference...

I'm not a saint, I'm not perfect, I have a lot of prejudices within me still, I don't give back as much as I should... monetary or time.

But I hope... to do more.

And I hope that I'll get others to join me on this journey too...

and the cookie crumbles...

I shouldn't be calling Alan Greenspan a *cookie*. In today's newspaper (or was it an online article I read?), this former Governer of the US Federal Reserve was called *maestro*. He was highly regarded as THE leader for the financial sector.

Fast forward a few months since his retirement. Global financial crisis. At the scale that we've never seen before. The things and events that are unravelling is unbelievable and defy common sense (sometimes). The market is so volatile. One day you hear a bank declared bankrupt. The next you hear a country that was once so capital rich and was a major investor everywhere running out of funds. Reactions from the regulators and Governments across the world... things that during the Asian financial crisis were frowned upon. Some rescue packages announced... market responded, things seem to get better. Then the very next day, it crashed again upon receiving news of slowing down economy. More support announced... market recovers a bit. The next day went tumbling down to the lowest level in years. Up down up down... If I was working on the exchanges in NY or London (actually anywhere!) I'd be having a heart attack.

The thinking that market forces will correct itself... that market knows best... all thrown out the window. Irrational behaviour everywhere you turn.

And the whole world watch in horror...

Amidst all these, one can't help but to look back at the actions of the man once so revered in the financial circles. And yesterday, he admitted... that there was a flaw in his thinking. He himself was shocked to see how the market had behaved and reacted.

That's how it goes... one day you're on top, the very next day you can be at the bottom.

I don't think he's to blame for all that has happened. That is irresponsible. However, I do believe that he had played a part in all this.

Greed... that's what caused all this. From the top executive floors of financial centres to the businesses on the street.

Somehow, we, as a human race, has forgotten that our time here on earth is not to make as much money as possible. It is to have a meaningful life. Of course, to some, making as much money as possible is the meaningful life. For those people, I feel sorry for them.

We've been shown various other examples of the effects of excesses... overdoing development had its toll on the environment. Did we take heed? No...

Now we're being shown the effects of another form of excesses.

It's ok to make money, to search for a good life. But don't over do it. Don't do it at the expense of other people. And when you've attained that goal, don't forget to give back. And in the process, don't take more than what you need.

I bought Alan Greenspan's memoir sometime back and it has been sitting on my bookshelf unread. I wonder now... should I start?

Maybe... it could trigger some useful thoughts... on the hindsight kinda thing.

it takes guts...

Tonight as I was about to leave the office, I checked an sms on my phone.

The sender told me that she had tendered her resignation because she cannot tahan with her boss lagi. She did it without securing another job. So far her job hunting has not been successful. Hence she cannot join us for Mamma Mia.

I was surprised.

I was amazed.

She has guts.

I would not and don't have the courage to leave a job cold feet like that. I think no matter how I hate the job or the person at the workplace, I can never do that. I'm a very risk averse person when it comes to these things. I think it is because I've experienced it before when I was younger when my dad was out of a job.

Although we weren't in trouble and continued more or less with our normal lifestyle, the fear lingers.

I remember that time very well. I think I was 11.

As usual whenever my dad was at home during the week, I would mengada2 and ask him to send me to school instead of walking. Tak jauh pun the school from our house. Saje... ngada-ngada. It was not normal for him to be at home on a weekday but to me, it was a golden opportunity. At first he refused, then I don't know what I said or did, he pergi jugak hantar I pergi sekolah.

That night my mom pulled me aside after dinner. She told me what had happened and said that we'd have to be more careful with our expenses from then on. That was my first ever experience of having the feeling of *heart dropped* (I think). My dad carried a worried, troubled look for several weeks.

Fortunately about a month or so later, my dad got another job.

That experience changed him somewhat. He used to be carefree, adventurous. He tuned down, became more low-key. He used to go to work with great excitement. After that, we goes to work because he needs to support his family.

I never ever want to be in that situation again. Which is perhaps one of the reasons why I've not moved job until now. Don't get me wrong... I'm happy where I am, I have great friends at work, have a work that is constantly challenging. But deep down, I know that this is not really my passion. As time passes, it gets increasingly difficult to keep myself motivated. There's a lot of responsibility and expectation on me though. I no longer carry the *zing* as I used to. Once in a while, I do get that dose of excitement, but let's face the truth... only about 60% of what I currently do actually gives me that rush. The rest of it I do because I have to.

It isn't perfect, but it affords me a comfortable life and allows me to continue to indulge in the things I love.

I don't know how to get *excited* again. I don't think I can, if I stay here. To pursue my passion means I will have to forego so many things. I don't think I'm ready to do so. And when you have a family that depends on you, the equation becomes even more complicated.

And so I stay on... doing my best to maintain my enthusiasm, waiting for that occasional burst of excitement.

I hope I won't regret it when I'm older...

duh!

I woke up this morning... with eyes half shut, went to the *throne*. As I shi-shi, a thought crossed my mind... DUH!

Why?

I had the information, and yet still made that stupid mistake.

I had waited over 3 weeks and yet this still happens. What laa...

The night before I logged on to Leading Hotels of The World with high hopes to secure special price hotel rooms in conjunction with their anniversary.

Since I'm planning to go to HK, I had wanted to book a room there. Two friends are also heading the same way and I thought of joining them. Mymot had earlier emailed me her flight itinerary. I've even made a mental note of which day to take leave etc.

Some help my mental note did. When I made the booking, I'm one week off.

Bukannya tak ada info, bukannya tak tahu... but somehow last night I was very sure about the date.

And it didn't strike me until this morning.

Melepas...

how was your weekend?

It has been a while since I last blogged. So many things have happened since... some contributing to the long hiatus. Each day as I drive home, I have these ideas about what to write, experiences to share etc etc but I fail miserably. Someone should invent a machine that I can just cucuk on my head and the thoughts would nicely translate into a blog entry.

Gosh... where do I start?

OK... let's start from today and see what I can recall. A test of sorts to see how much brain cells I have left.

I woke up not too early but not late either. Have an appointment... my dear ex-boss and good friend, the wonderful ARG and wife invited me over to their (relatively) new home. Actually, it was more of me self-inviting haha. Was supposed to visit them during Raya but since I wasn't feeling well, we had to postpone the visit. And on Friday I somewhat managed to secure myself an invite to their home.

Wasn't hard to find the lovely Laman Oakleaf with the aid of my trusted Garmin which Aunty Yan pulangkan semalam after their holidays in Australia. They have a lovely home and in such nice surroundings. Lovely home for such a lovely family :)

Went with Mama and Papa... Ina and Amt were supposed to follow but they were still in slumber when we left. Malas nak tunggu plus I was already late.

Had nasi lemak yang enak (my second for the days since Papa also bought us nasi lemak for breakfast) and chatted pasal economy, hotel chains, house renovations, people dan macam2 lagi. Dekat2 nak pukul 2 baru balik.

Arrived home just in time to catch the Shanghai GP race. A boring race... and my least favoured driver won. Hmph! K Ore and Abg Radzi dropped by after attending a wedding in Sg Buluh. Serve kuih raya je lah...

Lepas tu Ina ajak keluar makan. I was still full but wanted to follow coz I had some other missions as well.

But first... pergi Darabif. It was raining heavily but that didn't stop us empat beradik. After that we went to HSC... to go boring 1901. For those of you yang tak tahu, 1901 has a special offer on every 19th of the month. Their chicago beef and NY chicken selling at 1.99 each je. I also wanted to go buy a new DVD player kat SenQ since my Toba dah rosak. Kebetulan they had a sale, so I also bought an Electrolux vacumm cleaner too.

Tonight I was on a chick flick movie marathon. Watched Definitely Maybe and Notting Hill. Two of my favourite cerita cinta. Dunno why, but I've been in a mood for such movies lately... since watching Sense & Sensibilities on Astro several nights back. My darling friends before you start speculating, it is purely for entertainment.

Actually, this weekend the theme has been tengok movie. Yesterday I watched Mamma Mia which I think is simply brilliant and Hot Fuzz... British comedy at its best. I've not laughed that loud for a long time!

Yesterday morning I had a mission. The place: Kg Laksamana Batu Caves. The target: hardcore poor family. The mission: distribute barang makanan keperluan asas. Have been working on Deepavali Sharing project since lepas Raya and yesterday was the project implementation day. Me and Thomas were the only non Indian there but we felt like we were part of the team. Worked with Sai Ananda group, whose Batu Caves chairman happen to be one of our colleagues at work. They organised the recipients and volunteers. I'm very impressed with the community work that Ayavoo does and his helpers too. They've got a good thing going... volunteers from kids as young as 10 and adults. They cooked (before distribute barang, the poor were treated to some yummy lunch... I was invited too, and believe me it was yummy!!), we worked with the kids to pack the barang and distribute. I was really amazed with what RM100 can get you. I worked with Giant Selayang to get the items and they gave us a special price with free delivery too. Basically each family got 10kg beras, 5kg minyak masak, 4kg gula, 3 bungkus mihun, 3 tin susu pekat, generic milo 400gm, 1 botol 2L cordial, 2kg dhal, 4 bungkus kari powder, 2 bungkus cream crackers. That should help sustain for a month or so. Suffice to say, I went home feeling very good :)

The more I do these things, the more I realise that there are so many people in need of help out there. But as Thomas and I came to realise while we were chatting, not many people actually come forward to do volunteer work. It is always the same faces. Where are the rest?

I admit... before this pun I'm one of the culprits. But now dah insaf... there's so much that can be done. Watching Oprah's Big Give last night helped strengthen my resolve. I should do more of these things and get more people involved. My goal is to convince people to spend 2 weekends a year to do some charity work. If I can get 500 people je pun that would be awesome.

Tapi biasa lah... nak buat benda baik ni banyak dugaannya. But I also believe, and have experienced it first hand, that when you tengah nak buat benda baik, God will pave the way and make things easier for you. Many surprises along the way that make you think back and smile...

Come join me!!

Eid Mubarak!

Selamat Hari Raya everyone!!

I know this wish is a tad late... I blame it on feeling unwell and I don't think it is in the spirit of Raya to be spending one's time in front of the computer ;)
[excuses... excuses... hehe]

I'm the least prepared for Raya this year. Didn't even had the chance to go get kad raya for my colleagues at work. Nasib baik ada card allocation from the organisation, so I managed to send some to my other friends. Ingatkan nak get some gifts for ppl like I usually do, but this time memang tak sempat. And Ramadan flew by so quickly. I didn't even manage to send any emails or sms to wish people Selamat Hari Raya. Very bad...

Raya so far has been *calm*... for lack of a better word. It wasn't as hectic as usual because this year we've got a day-maid who comes over to clean the house daily. So yours truly didn't have to do as much *house cleaning* this year. Hooray!!

This year... also a departure from normal practice, I didn't buy any kueh. OK... I did buy one bekas of kuih tart and 3 bungkus popia simpul. That was it. Tahun ni Abang sponsor kueh... his office gave all staff one hamper of kueh raya and he bought some as well. Plus his GF buatkan choc cornflakes cookies. All sedap :)

Patutnya this year tak jadi buat takbir from rumah ke rumah macam biasa tapi some people really wanted to have it so there was an impromptu arrangement which was decided lepas Asar, the day before 1 Syawal. Our house was #1, so that meant we had to get ready quickly right after iftar and solat Maghrib. But also good because I don't have to stay up too late to clean up. And the *rounding* tak lama sangat this year. Papa was back home by 12:30am. Since it was impromptu, we only served kueh raya, some ice-cream and some chicken balls for the kids. I also sempat decorate depan rumah with some tea lights to memeriahkan suasana raya. But dalam kesibukan bersiap2, I forgot to ambik gambar. Darn! Takpe... still have several more tea lights to recreate the atmosphere ;)

One Raya day, we went for solat Aidil Fitri kat surau Taman Sri Delima macam biasa. But Abg and Amt went to Masjid Wilayah. Lepas solat all of us were in the kitchen masak lodeh, kuah kacang, panaskan rendang yang Mama dah buat the day before... eaten with ketupat. Petang we went visiting in Damansara Heights and Section 16. Makan lagi... tapi semua pun best, hehe. Had laksa, mee udang, nasi dagang... semua pun try, tapi sikit2 ;) Mama, Papa and Abg went balik kampung Papa lepas tu while Ina, Amt and I headed home. Was not feeling very well...

I've been nursing a very bad cough for over a week. It's the kind of cough which is deep in your chest, dry and irritatingly scratchy. I sound like an old sick lady each time I cough and due to the strain, I'm also sporting a husky and deep tone *pondan-like* voice. Takpelah... janji I can still makan ketupat and rendang ;) It was quite bad in the beginning... couldn't even swallow water. Yesterday I had a short bout of mild eye infection... don't think it's serious enough like conjunctivities, but enough to produce copious amount of tahi mata. Today dah reda...

Went to Ipoh to visit Ayah Ngah and family today. Traffic was ok. Diorang satu family semua ada kat sana. While we were there, some other cousins also dropped by to visit. Arrived home just before Maghrib and was informed that Papa's youngest sister was coming over with her family.

So that's day before, Raya day and second Raya day... things are just going to get more *hectic* this weekend I suspect, so better get as much rest as possible while I can...

oh btw... I really like this Raya advert. Shows just how important it is to spend Raya with your family and loved ones... while they're still *around*.



found this too... like the ending ;)



this one hits so close to home...



but this one takes the cake... touching, funny, meaningful... all in one :)