Best Advice yet..Wear Sunscreen

I came across an old song which I have live its advice.

Here is the best piece of advice yet,..

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.


And..its still the best piece of advice yet ..

What is Right and What is Wrong ?

Moral, Values , Principles, Rules, Conscience..

What makes one thing right and what makes one thing wrong. What is Good ? What is Evil, and then after a while, there is a need for " the better Good" and " the lesser Evil" and " the necessary Evil". This part is when the concept of Flexible morals being explored.

Through years and years of civilization, men try to manipulate men. Setting and writing laws, rules, customs, beliefs to manipulate each other. Some for the benefit of living in harmony and togetherness, but some are purely selfish.

The mind is pure , naked and innocent when we were born. And it gets more complicated as we experience life.

Well, no one knows the answer except God Himself.

As for myself..

1. First tier cause and effect. An action that does not injure or cause dicomfort directly for someone or another living being, its warranted as Good. Otherwise its Bad.

2. Second tier cause and effect. if an action prevents less injury or discomfort for more people, then it overwrites 1.

3. Third tier. If an action benefits everyone, mankind or animalkind, then its good.

Quotes from Miss Hornist

Miss Hornist says:
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beaTing the air.

and she answers...

No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.


And I say

I find this true for most of us out there. What we hope to attain in life ? I always believed in short term specific goals and Long term big pictured goals. As you grow older, life gets complicated, and some of your dreams, you shelved it, some of your fantasies, you buried it, some of your hopes, well..it remains as hope.

Blessed are those who knows what they want. Excited are those who knows how to attain what they want. Bliss for those who already got it.


I never believe in planning long term. I never believed in planning to fail. Plans almost never work the way you plan. Plan to fail, and you will fail. What happens if your plan hit a crossroad, or a unexpected junction. The key is ,I believe in decision making. The skills of making the right decision determines your life journey, life path, your experiences and who you are. Its the butterfly effect....

I do sometimes make stupid decisions, and it costs me. I make good decisions and it benefits me.

So, I need to make the right decisions in LIFE.

So, the blue shirt or the red shirt ?



* Miss Hornist is a friend which I admire for her spontaneous, quirky, honest, buey-paiseh and courageous character. Her decisions in life makes me drop my jaw, her antics with Taxi drivers makes me laugh. Tough girl ...and I always wonder why she and Souplad never got together ...hahaha..thats another story

Quick healthy Meals

Healthy meals are often deem as bland, troublesome, yucky and expensive. If you google how to cook healthily, eat better, you will be turn off by

1. Ingredients you don't have in your kitchen.
2. The time to whipped up something for yourself esspeically you are single, working in a Rat Race kinda world.
3. The time to buy a wanton meee and SausageMCMuffin is quicker than your healthier altenatives.

Well....

Breakfast can be simple. This is what i have been practising.

First of all, get the ingredients.

1. Walnuts, Almonds ( "Shi Ma Lu" somewhere near Bugis, its a lot of cheaper)
2. Honey Oats Cereal
3. SKimmed Milk ( low fat )

So every morning, just throw everything into the bowl. Some walnuts + cereal + milk. It will keep you full.

Anothe idea is add kiwi...peel and chopped them into cubes. Served with walnuts and milk. Kiwi may be substitute with Strawberries as well.

It takes me 10 minutes to prepare and to finish my meal every morning.

Bored with them..well..I am still lookin for quick, healthier meals. I like it fast, delicious and healthy. Will post them when I find out.

Movie Reviews..

Dreamgirls.

Some movies I've watched recently.

A typical rags to riches story on how 3 girls started of as backup singers for a superstar, later superceded becoming superstars of their own. A story how the colored race trying to make it big in white dominant industry at that time. It is broadway style, meaning it has a lot of singing and dancing.

What amuses me , is that they even sing when they are quarrelling.

I give it 3/5 bananas.

300


A action-packed, computer graphics movie about King Leonidas bring along his 300 spartans to defend Sparta after failing to get support from his council for more soldiers, to stop the invading 170,000 army of King Xerxes of Persia.

Very entertaining. A lot of nice choreographed fighting moves that proves beyong reasonable doubt that the spartans are the best warriors of their time. And ladies and gays will be very much entertain by the feast of eight-packs , almost naked men fighting. Guys will be entertained by the action pack fighting scenes and not to leave out the steamy scenes. :)

Soupland thought it will be a great word "300" to describe a person who is a hero yet stupid. For eg, asking the boss not to smoke in front of you...etc.

" wah, you the very 300 !!!"

I enjoyed it. 4/5 bananas.

Stomp the Yard



A story on how a Dance battle gone wrong got DJ's brother got killed. To make matters worse, he got wrongfully convicted but got aquitted in the end.

Starting over a new leaf, he went to live with his uncle and aunt to study in a Black University, to realise his brother's dream. The university he is attending is crazy about stepping, a kind of dance, where members of the frat partake.

This show is plain cheesy and childish. Reminds me of myself in secondary school. How childish is university seniors and freshman, engage in stupid cheers, sabo and etc

I give it 1/5 banana.

Music and Lyrics



Story about a 70's superstar from the group POP, Alex trying to make a come back. He is only a favorite among the hot mamas now. He got his chance for a comeback when the current popular singer Cora ask him to compose a song to express her feelings when she broke up with a 2 month old boyfriend...duh !!!

Alex is good at melody, but is hopeless on writing the lyrics. Sophie , started of as Alex's plant girl caught his attention at her naturally talented skill of putting words that rhyme together hence she becomes Alex lyricist.

A funny romantic feel good movie with only one nice catchy song.

I give it 3/5 bananas.

Pirates ..alas

I'm always amazed by Pirates ever since I read Treasure Island the classic, not the cartoon.

And now.. for Pirates of the Carribean,
Captain Jack Sparrow never ceased to amazed me. And thus, featuring the following, Pirates of the Carribean - at the World's end.

Trailers just released...here you are



also starring Chow Yuen Fatt, as a pirate from Singapore. Sinkapor got pilate meh ?

Changes...

For the past month and more, I've been changing my lifestyle a bit. Most of my friends knows why, but seems to think I'm doing it too drastically. It seems I've been like a social outcast, a person that travels on a road less travelled, a health freak..and so on.

Now I understood how my cousin felt when all of us, family keep pestering her, teasing her on her diet. I asked her why is she doing this, cos her diet is peculiar, its not vegetarian nor vegan, nor atkins nor Ornish. It has no scientific or medical basis. She just eats plainly, like porridge, brown rice, steam fish, veges...barring all kinds of sinful food etc, etc. Her answer to me is that she just want to do this for a a few years, to train her discipline. I admired her for that and respect her from then. Now she eats better. I admire her determination.

Well, it was my unhealthy medical report that sparks me to change my diet and little of lifestyle. It requires some discipline at first, but after a while, you get used to it. And now I feel much better. To add to my harvest of my determination, my latest blood test shows that I passed in flying colors. But does that mean I can get back to my old ways of diet....No...I intend to keep it up as long as I could. Some friends think i might not last, some thinks i am overreacting. Well, I am a stubborn mule.

My diet's is pretty much what doctor advice to the general public which is to keep saturated fats as low as possible and eat plenty of beans, fruits and veges. But I go further by barring myself to daily intake of either fish or chicken. Beef or other red meats will be consumed once a month. Carbohydrates, refined sugar are kept to the minimum. Alcohol is permissible but not binge drinking. Fried foods, junk food and desserts, only once in a blue moon and be followed by extra exercise. As for snacks, nuts is my favorite. Cooking methods in the order of my preferance are steam, boil, bake, stir fry, saute...lastly fry.

And people around me always say " Wah !!! so healthy arr !!!".

Anyways, I have lost 3kg in a month. Reduced my cholesterol level by 52%, (it was very abnormally high before until the doctor's eyes popped out). And furthermore , I've gain a lot of information regarding cholesterol.

Welcome myself to my new life.

A thought

A while ago, I read in Lexean about India and China.

In Asia , India is the largest democratic country and China is the largest Communist country.

And during Cold War, we are being taught in schools, that

Communist - BAD

Democracy - GOOD

We were taught that dictatorship is bad , a parlimentary constitution will make a country prosper.

Today, China is one of the most important and rapidly growing economy in the world. and India and even United States is lagging behind in growth.

My views, are that countries are prospering because of capitalism, a incentive-driven society. The more laissez-faire state it is, the better. But if everything is profit or incentive driven, there will be no mercy nor compassion for those who left behind.

The rich becomes richer, the poor becomes poorer, eventually hell breaks loose.

We should re-think these polictical ideologies and someone needs to create a new and more suitable one for our society.

Democracy does not work, and neither does communist.

Decomcracy is plagued by cronyism, nepotism, elitism and briberism.

Communist is plagued by marginalism, elitism, and briberism.

Notice these are components of incentive driven-ism

Healthy Lifestyle

I was wondering why BeerBrat kept asking me for breaksfast !!! Little did I know he resolutes to wake up early.

Sleep, has many beneficials to one's body. Deprived and lacking of it bring dire and bad consequences to your overall health. I used to clock only 5 hours of sleep daily. And it turns out,

I need more coffee during the day.
I have aching muscles.
My health report is not good.
I goto work late.
My mind can't think properly.
I make silly decisions and mistakes.

Sleep is a new science that scientist are discovering its benefits. When you sleep, your body subconciously begins to excretes toxins and unwanted fats from your body.

Whats the difference sleeping early and waking up vs sleeping late and waking up late ? Well, the idea is to be regular. once you regularly practices a sleeping pattern, the body learns to adjust it.

Its 1:28am now , and I need to ZZZ soon.


My regime works pretty ok...I went down from 62kg to 58.5 in 3 weeks.

Steady..hiphop from Muar (uncensored)

* some profanities in hokkien included. Uncensored.

Was forwarded from my cute cousin...very creatrive and original.

Conversations...

UOB is so kind to send me a limited edition of a new men's magazine Lexean. Its not a typical men's magazine (featuring sexily clad ladies, how to score tips, etc) but instead it focus on controversial topics, politics and current issues. Some might find it boring but I find it quite mind stimulating.

Well, one of the articles says nowadays we don't carry conversations anymore. Coincidentally, I was chatting with Carbee on the similar issue the other day, we felt the same. All this we observe in Asian context.

Conversation = The use of speech for informal exchange of views or ideas or information etc. (from my trusty WordWeb)

People harly hold a conversation anymore. It's been replaced chat, sms, and emails. There is no visual interaction at all, except you may want to argue Video conferencing, fine.

When people open their mouth, it only last 5 minutes maybe. and its usually to relay something urgent or cursing or complaining or gossiping. When I called a person, the person usualy ask me what I want ? People can't call someone nowdays without a ulterior motive or a favor to ask.

The problem with sms, chats and email is that its missing the body language. I'll miss reading cues from your body language and the tone of the voice how you respond to my remark. And that always creates misunderstanding between my friends in online chats and smses.

And the other thing thats becoming lesser, is that people taking time to sit down and chat over current issues, discussing topics of interests, generating new ideas, sharing experiences with each other. We do that when we are young, and then we become busier and grow lesser. I find this is very true in cities.

My new rule, msn, chats, sms only for urgent relays of information. Of cos, I am guilty of it sometimes. Conversations should take place in a coffee place or quiet pub.

Renaissance begins because men started thinking, talking and telling.

Chap Goh Mei

Chap Goh Mei - hokkien means , the fifteen night. Its celebrated pre dominantly in South East Asia.

It marks the end of the Chinese New Year celebration. Other parts of the world celebrate it as Shang Yuan or Lantern Festivals. Kuang Ming Deng, you write your wishes on the lantern and then send them off to the air.

A few years ago, I got to know its also known as the Chinese Valentine's day. So if you miss the ang mor one, you can always say " we chinese ma, only celebrate chinese valentine's day", you might get away with it.

Originated from Penang,

Its a custom for unmarried ( hiao ) ladies will toss mandarin oranges over the bridge and the men will wait under the bridge and try to catch them. I thought we are taught not to waste food !!!

Well, I never wait under the bridge before. And I haven't heard that they are still practising it today or not.

However, this throwing of oranges is unheard in Singapore. Probably, you'll get fine littering if you start to throw mandarin oranges. Nevertheless, they celebrated it by putting ducks into the river. The next day , they might have the migrant workers to come and clear it then.

Anyways, just a rant, Happy Chap Goh Meh !!!

White Lies

BeerBrat says he resolutes not to lie this year...

which makes me wonder...

isit possible for a person not to tell lies ?

What is a lie ?

My trusty wordweb dictionary defines it as "A statement that deviates from or perverts the truth"

Pretty straightforward, but does hiding the truth perceived as lying as well ?

So, if you know that your nice boss is responsible shady under table bribery in your company, would you whistle blow and tell your superior or will you keep mum about it ? does that constitute a lie ?

I think most ... really.. most of my peers who underwent Moral studies in secondary school lied in their exams. We have a joke that the ones who scores the highest are the school biggest liars. Human are born flawless and will be flawed as they aged. Deceit, corruption, necessary evil are the building blocks of our society now.

Like House says, everyone lies. a better life will be how good you lie. Its difficult, so I will always ask my friends not to lie because a chinese saying goes, it takes another thousand lies to cover one lie.

Beer Brat says...not to lie does not mean he has to answer every damn question right ?

Add New Resolution

I need to be on a strict diet and exercise regime, period.

Absolutely Valentine

Valentine's Day is here...

To whom all I love and adore, Happy Valentine's Day.

I went to Wikipedia and read some about the origins of it. It seems there are many versions of its origins, but for sure its name after Christians matyrs named Valentine. 2 versions which I like are ...

One version is on the eve of Valentine, Mr Valentine who was due to be persecuted, passed a love letter to the jailer's daughter , "from your valentine ..."

Another version is St Valentine secretly arrange Roman soldiers to get married when Emepror Claudius of that time ban roman soldiers from getting married.

And the rest is history. It became a holiday, then into a festival, then a custom, and now, a gimmick. Why do we need a day to remind each other how much we love them ?

Interestingly, in Japan and Korea, the ladies is accustomed to give candy and chocolates to whom they like. Then the following month, on the 14th, the men give back. To the flower shops, chocolate shops, gift shops,...it means more money !!!...I think i am being cynical. By the way, March 14th is call a White Day.

I like Black Day the best which is on April 14th. The singles get their own day to celebrate if they didn't get any either on February, MArch 14th. They will gather and eat Chinese noodles with black sauce. I bet alcohol is involved as well.

Read more about it here ,.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentines

So everyone get a piece of the fun. There are many many more varitations to this holiday.

Not to mention one, the Chinese Valentine, but thats another story.

To the singles...its SAD ( Single Awareness Day ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singles_Awareness_Day

Valentine to me, is ...just another day. Because, St Valentine send love letters to his love every other day as well. Why only we remember the day when he was killed ?

I am not againts Valentine Days, just a piece of advice... don't get ripped off.

Absolut Gong Hei

Chinese New Year is coming soon,

We will all be receiving this,




















Why Don't we get these...




















Drink and be merry tis season and Drink Responsibly,

Don't ...





















Gong Hey Fat Choy !!!

The Beauty Trap

Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu, were two famous characters in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms where they fall out because of a women. The beautiful lady was a strategic move by the court ministers to diminish the power of Dong Zhuo, the current prime minister during that period. Lu Bu was his son, a great general in the Army.

Humans being humans, undoubtly superficial. Pretty things, are always in favor more than its lesser counterparts in comparison. Its natural.

This is dedicated to my friend and of cos myself because we are merely normal man. We got weak at the sight of pretty ladies.

Todays incident, my friend was sitting, reading chilling out at Mc Cafe. Behold , a few feet away, seated therein 3 gorgeous ladies. I knew because he was excitedly sms-ing me. My friend, if you are reading this, you know who you are.

Then came a little girl, approaching my friend for donation. My friend in the presence of 3 beautiful swans, graciously, generously whipped out his wallet. Imagine the look at his face, when his wallets contains no less than a 50 dollar note. Unwantingly to emebarass himself, he generously gives the girl 50 dollar. The little girl, shockingly, keep thanking him for such a generous offer. And my friend, in depth...just labeled himself as "sucker".

When he tells me this, which he shouldn't, I keep laughing. Well, I do have my fair share being a sucker to pretty girls.

So, beautiful people, being pretty is a gift. Use it for the benefit of the society, go gather donations. Do you know NKF always put the pretty ladies to get donations from us?

SSB

I am probably one of fewer guys who admittedly watched Sex and the City. Yes, most guys don't but they probably sneaked their girlfriend and wives 's copies and fantasize on Samantha when they are not around. ITs a good sitcom, with the only thing I envy is..they can eat eat eat and party..and still look gorgeuos.

SSB, a term i gotten from one of the episodes. Its "Single Secret Behavior". Carrie define it as something secret you do when you are alone and single which is not for the public roving eye,, not even the partner. Its probably to be shared with the closest, most intimate significant other.

I know I have a couple. Have you ?

I want, I need, I desire

There are many things in life that one live for, fight for, earn for.

When you spend you keep or wages, self help books on finance always urged you to seperate it into Wants and Needs.

Its simple.

Need takes the highest priority. A must have. Things like shelter, food, water...etc

Want would probably be something you like and enjoy but its not a must have. And you are able to afford it after saving some money for it.

But I would like to introduce Desire. Desire and want shares a thin line seperating them.

I view desire as wicked, something you want but hard to get or can't get. Something not always tangible. Something belonging to someone, or someone has. Desire is the highest of want. Usually its sexually related. haha.

I desire ...

Desire is what makes out life more coloful and fun.

Kawan, Peng You, Friends

Sometimes I see someone familiar while walking, but you just couldn't recall his/her name. What do I do ? Or perhaps, someone you see while taking the bus or train seems like was introduced to you before. You remember the face , but can't recall.

A. Act blur, look at another direction or divert to another direction.
B. Look at his/her and see if he/she smiles to you or like yourself looking towards other direction.
C. Walk up to her and say " Hi, How are you doing ? " and go blah blah blah...hoping for him/her to reply " err...sorry, but i can't remember your name" or worse still, he/she remembers.
D. Smile and Nod if he/shelooks back at you.

These are Hi Bye friends. Friends who are introduced to you by your friends once or twice but failed to make a conversation ( conversations that lasts more than 30 minutes) or connection.

Honestly, I pick A nd D. When I pick B, the other party seems to pick A. Probably I am fugly or deem as someone dangerous. :P

Pretty obvious I classify friends. Some of my friends don't classify friends. All their friends are friends. What I meant, friends excluding girlfriend which of cos needs to be special. My take is , humans are bias, so the tendancy to classification either intentionally or not, is there.

Friends classification usually is segregated on how closely one is to the person usually based on the feeling of Trust. The closer and more priviledged friends , the more Trust existed beyond them. Trust is a very thin line, often breaks if one party betrays the Trust intentionally or unintentionally for his/her benefit. Some segregate friends by benefits. The more mutual benefits they get from each other , the closer they are. Hence...friends with benefits. haha !!!

Others can classify through clans, i.e. same village, same school. or through interest/hobbies, i.e biking friends, Dancing friends, golfing friend..etc and well...I can't think of anymore.

As for me...Trust.