Thursday, July 31, 2008

Love Q #14 - Couples And Money

This week Love Q created by the author of Short Sweet Love Poem are as follows:


Should you have a joint account with your partner? And should you keep tabs on what he or she may be spending on?


My answer:

I think having join account with your partner is a good thing to ensure savings responsibility and also for emergency usage or provision for children's education funds, etc. Ideally, both has their individual separate saving account and contribute a certain percentage of their monthly salary to the joint account. Having this, the join account would be very useful for the rainy days ahead too. But this only applicable if both are working else there is no point having a join account when only one of them is working and the other is not. Keeping tabs on what he or she may be spending on should be done discreetly. After all, husband and wife has equal rights to monitor the family expenditure if they want to achieve a reasonable state of financial stability in a marriage. Keeping tabs if you must, but do not over do it until it spur up disunity. Having said that, both husband and wife should practise caution in their spending because over indulgence is not a good thing if it happens too often.

Last week's Love Q: Appearance When Dating

Monday, July 28, 2008

Heart Break......

When I was young, I wasn't a bubbly little girl. I had always imagine I had a dark cloud lingering above my head (imagination influenced by watching cartoons). Don't ask me why. Even now I could not remember what it is that made me having such an unhappy childhood life. My unhappiness drag on through to my teenage years. I began to search and try discovering myself. Throughout those self-reflection times I tried channeling my feelings and thoughts through writing poems. There were times where I was going through live tribulations and heart breaking moments that I had distroyed most if not everything that I have put my heart and soul into writing those poems down. I did not felt regret distroying my work of art back then. Perhaps it is because I was still very young and naïve during that time.

Sometimes when anger and emotions takes control, we feel there's nothing else more important then distroying and forgetting everything that would holds any memories and rememberance to us in that moment of misery, you know what I mean? However, as I was having some quiet moment to myself recently I do feel a pinch of regret for distroying those poems I wrote during my teenage years. It might probably able to help me search and understand myself better as I grows older. After my search and distroy rampage, my flow of thoughts in writing my own poetry has long gone ever since. Anyhow, there's no use crying over spilled milk. As I search through my junkies, I discover that I managed to salvage some of the poems. It looked as though it has gone through many years of neglect and abandonment as the pages soaked with dark yellow/brownish colour. Well, not that I had written many but there are a few..... Here is one among the first batch of poems I wrote in my early teens. If anyone happen to stumble upon my blog and so happen to read this post, please don't laugh. I know this poem sounds so lame.

Title: Heart Break

Such a lovely night,
With thousand blooming stars,
Shining above the sky,
There,
I came walking...... walking......
To meet someone special.

I walk through the garden,
With autumn leaf under my feet,
When we both met at the path,
Suddenly,
I feel disappointed,
I look into his eyes,
He looks worried,
I know there are something amiss,
My eyes began to weep.

When he uttered out a few words,
I feel in such a pain,
My heart began to break,
Which no one could put it back together,
So,
I began to run,
Back through the garden,
I keep on running..... running.......
Back into my house.

My mother asked why,
My father asked why,
I don't care,
I continue running,
Back into my room,
There,
My tears keep on falling,
That no one could stop it,
That's the most miserable day of the rest of my life.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Love Q #13 - Appearance When Dating

This week Love Q created by the author of Short Sweet Love Poem are as follows:

Does appearance matter in a relationship? Should you always try to look your best for your date?


My answer:


Well, I can still remember vividly what I did on my first date. I was very concious on what I should wear, how I should had my hair done, what shoes to wear, what kind of posture I should be in when I was sitting or standing with him, or whether I should look extremely happy or mellow. Yes, I was overly concious about my appearance. I have always try to look my best whenever I go out dating with my boyfriend. Because I do not want him to feel embarrass if I don't look pleasant enough and vise versa. But after so many years of dating, I can see that my boyfriend has been dressing down and he tend to ask me why am I dressing up so nicely when out dating with him. Not that I had been overly dressed up all the time. I usually likes to wear a pair of jeans with a nice sexy top but not too revealing though. I like dressing up nice and simple. I think it's important to look my best for a date but it's not the most important thing to do while dating. Because it shows that I still has that kind of exitement to meet my date and I still have that feeling of freshness in it. Just like when I went out for a date the very first time. Kind of shows that my date is special to me and I am very interested in going out together with him. Looking my best will also boost up my confidence and positive feelings throughout the date too. Besides, it also shows how much I really care about the person.

Last week's Love Q: Cheating On You Partner - Should You Confess?

Monday, July 21, 2008

Bananas for health

Never, put your banana in the refrigerator!!! Because it will go black. So, if you care about the look of your bananas, then don't put them in the fridge. But if you do put them in the fridge, the banana inside will still looks fresh and lovely.

Well, this is interesting.
After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again.

Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.

Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.

But energy isn't the only way a banana 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 amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas 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: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

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 banana 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 bananas 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.

Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas 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 banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana 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: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas 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 a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at wor k 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 concluded 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: The banana 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 bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

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

Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas 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 banana snack.

Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas 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 banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, 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 banana a day keeps the doctor away!"

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Busy.. busy...busy

I have not been blogging that often for the past 2 months and for the past one week, I am totally away from blogging. This is due to two facts:

Been extremely busy with work. Even have to work at home after comming home from the office and during the weekends. Crazy work schedule to be blamed. This started happen after I took up the team leading post and being assign a new role which includes QC and QA part of the work on top of still having my own projects to deal with at the moment. 24hrs a day is definitely not enough! But I am not panicking just yet. Thanks to years of training and experience working there and handling projects by myself.

The reason that I have not been blogging for a week is because I could not use the internet at home. Thought that it's the internet service provider's technical problem with the internet. But it turns out that the modem is spoilt. But that takes us quite some time to figure that out because the ISP personnel had just came to inspect it yesterday. Lucky that we got a spare modem to use.

Sometimes I would really like to have nothing to do and free my mind on thinking about the things that I could blog about. But having a full time job and having a blog is hard to maintain. In this case, my work takes up most of my free time these days. I used to have time to think or draft what I want to blog about at work (sshhh... this shouldn't be known by my bosses). Now I only find time to finish up my work on time so that I got time to blog. Sadly this is always not the case........

Love Q #12 - Cheating On Your Partner - Should You Confess?

This week Love Q created by the author of Short Sweet Love Poem are as follows:

If you have cheated on your partner, would you confess? But if you are the one being cheated upon, would you prefer your partner to tell or not to tell?

My answer:

First of all, I would not cheat my partner or even thought of cheating my partner. However, if I did at some point cheated my partner, I think I must have been out of my mind. And back to the question, I would confess. I might not confess right a way but I will not wait for too long to confess. Whether my partner want to know or not, I will still confess because he deserved to know the truth. I think it would be even more unfair to him not knowing the truth from me. And to turn it the other way round where I am the one being cheated upon, I would prefer my partner to tell me eventhough the truth really hurts and it's hard to forgive. If God could forgive us of our transgression , why can't I ? I always hold up to the principle "Honesty is the best policy". And this is what we should be teaching our younger generation.

Last week's Love Q: Past Relationship

Egg Yolks Are Good For Health

This is an article I read quite some time ago, sent to me by a friend and I would like to share it with everyone who reads my blog.

The truth about egg yolks

Many people throw away the egg yolk because they think that's where all the nasty fat and cholesterol is". This is a perfect example of how confused most people are about nutrition.

In a world full of misinformation, somehow most people now mistakenly think that the egg yolk is the worst part of the egg, when in fact, the YOLK IS THE HEALTHIEST PART OF THE EGG!

By throwing out the yolk and only eating egg whites, you're essentially throwing out the most nutrient dense, antioxidant-rich, vitamin and mineral loaded portion of the egg. The yolks contain so many B-vitamins, trace minerals, vitamin A, folate, choline, lutein, and other powerful nutrients... it's not even worth trying to list them all.

In fact, the egg whites are almost devoid of nutrition compared to the yolk. Even the protein in egg whites isn't as powerful without the yolks to balance out the amino acid profile and make the protein more bio-available. Not to even mention that the egg yolks from free range chickens are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids. Yolks contain more than 90% of the calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamin, B6, folate, and B12, and panthothenic acid of the egg. In addition, the yolks contain all of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K in the egg, as well as all of the essential fatty acids.

And now the common objection I get all the time when I say that the yolks are the most nutritious part of the egg..."But I heard that whole eggs will skyrocket my cholesterol through the roof ." No, this is FALSE!

First of all, when you eat a food that contains a high amount of dietary cholesterol such as eggs, your body down-regulates it's internal production of cholesterol to balance things out. On the other hand, if you don't eat enough cholesterol, your body simply produces more since cholesterol has tons of important functions in the body.

And here's where it gets even more interesting...There are indications that eating whole eggs actually raises your good HDL cholesterol to a higher degree than LDL cholesterol, thereby improving your overall cholesterol ratio and blood
chemistry.

And 3rd... high cholesterol is NOT a disease! Heart disease is a disease...but high cholesterol is NOT.

You can read the following article about why trying to attack cholesterol is a mistake, and what the REAL deadly risk factors actually are...

http://www.truthaboutabs.com/cholesterol-myths.html

So I hope we've established that whole eggs are not some evil food that will wreck your body... instead whole eggs are FAR superior to egg whites.

Also, your normal supermarket eggs coming from mass factory farming just don't compare nutritionally with organic free range eggs from healthy chickens that are allowed to roam freely and eat a more natural diet.

I recently compared eggs I bought at the grocery store with a batch of eggs I got at a farm stand where the chickens were free roaming and healthy. Most people don't realize that there's a major difference because they've never bought real eggs from healthy chickens... The eggs from the grocery store had pale yellow yolks. On the other hand, the healthier free range eggs had deep orange colored yolks indicating much higher nutrition levels and carotenoids.

So next time a health or fitness professional tells you that egg whites are superior, you can quietly ignore their advice knowing that you understand the REAL deal about egg yolks.

One more thing about eggs... I read a study recently that compared groups of people that ate egg breakfasts vs groups of people that ate cereal or bagel based breakfasts. The results of the study showed that the egg eaters lost or maintained a healthier bodyweight, while the cereal/bagel eaters gained weight.

It was hypothesized that the egg eaters actually ate less calories during the remainder of the day because their appetite was more satisfied compared to the cereal/bagel eaters who would have been more prone to wild blood sugar swings and food cravings.

Love Q #11 - Past Relationship

Last week Love Q created by the author of Short Sweet Love Poem are as follows:



How frank should you be with your partner when it comes to your past relationships? How much of the details should you reveal?


My answer:

Hmm.... I think it depends on individual - to whom I dated. For example, for my ex he don't mind listening to everything I talk about even regarding my past relationship. But of course I am not saying that I kept talking about my past relationship with him. We just had that very special bond of understanding and open mindedness with each other. There is nothing that we could think of not telling each other about. That's the thing I had with my ex. Whereas, with my current boyfriend, things were almost completely the opposite. I know I could not tell him anything with regards to my past relationship because it's just so not him to want to listen to all those things in the past. Even if I wish to tell him every details, he would not want to know or listen to it. But that doesn't mean that I always kept secret from him or love him less. It's just that he is the type that look at the present and the future. Besides, it's not good to know and being compared to others isn't it? So, to conclude this, I will firstly consider my partner's feelings and perception before I decide I should reveal anything about my past relationship. If it's important and benefit both me and my partner, then I will also think of spilling the beans!

Last week's Love Q: Sex - When Should You Start?

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Sunday night dinner @ Amuleto by Crystal Jade

I had a short gathering for dinner with my family 2 days ago. My mom wanted to buy us dinner and so my brother suggested this place - Amuleto by Crystal Jade located at Mid Valley. My office is also located at Mid Valley city so I do not feel very exited about the venue but oh crap, it's my family gathering for dinner together and I shouldn't be complaining so much about having to go there on a Sunday. But I am really happy that my date joined me on this family occasion.

This restaurant is the western style of the well known chinese food concept of Crystal Jade chain of restaurant. Unlike its chinese food chain counter part, Amuleto by Crystal Jade does not serve pork or any chinese cuisine. It has a nice interior, classy and cozy ambience. Although it's name and the whole restaurant outlook seems like it's an expensive restaurant, but the food price is actually quite affordable. Food range from RM10-RM40. Their set lunch consist of soup, a main course, fruits as dessert and a drink which only cost RM13.80++

We ordered three spaghetti dishes, one Amuleto specialy fried rice (can't remember what it's called), one rosti, one Chicken Pepperonate and three cheesy baked rice dishes. Generally food taste is average but for the interior restaurant design and ambience, I would give it a rating 7.5 out of 10.

My first time trying Rosti with Mushrooms (picture above). For those who doesn't know what Rosti is, it is grated fried potato dish from Switzerland. I love potatoes! So, any dish with potatoes surely taste good to me.


My date ordered this Amuleto Fried Seafood Spaghetti With Olive Oil dish. It taste pretty good to me but he said it's a bit too salty for his liking.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Love Q #10 - Sex - When Should You Start?

This week Love Q created by the author of Short Sweet Love Poem are as follows:

What stage in a relationship do you think two people should be at before they start sleeping together?

My answer:

Hmm... this is a tough question. If I say they can have it when both reaches a certain level of maturity in the relationship, then it would be against many religious law. I am thinking it's up to individual on when they want to start that chapter of their life. But yet, this freedom is dangerous to the young and naive because it can distroy a person's future as in the case of teenage pregnancy. If both are not young and age past far beyond teenage years, having premarital sex could be quite damaging emotionally if the relationship did not work out in the long run. So, I guess ideally it would be best to safe your virginity for the person you are marrying. But then, it is easier said then done. Where love matters, some things is really hard to control and our heart might rules over our head sometimes, isn't it?

Last week's Love Q: When To Marry