Hari Raya at Kampong Ayer.

Last two weeks my family went to Hari Raya Open House at Kampong Ayer with my sis in laws. This time, we decided to go there by road. I thought it would be easier, since I'm not in favour of boats. However, walking on the small bridge was harder than what I had expected. Imagine, walking barefoot at 3 p.m on the bridge. My feet was sore from the heat and I felt dizzy walking along the bridge. To me, the bridge was swaying as I walked on it.

Santy and her hubby with daughter Sarah arrived late that day. There will be more pictures in my photo gallery.

Hari Raya at Work

What Your Birth Month says about you - October

Loves to chat

Loves those who loves him

Loves to takes things at the centre

Attractive and suave

Inner and physical beauty

Does not lie or pretend

Sympathetic

Treats friends importantly

Always making friends

Easily hurt but recovers easily

Bad tempered

Selfish

Seldom helps unless asked

Daydreamer

Very opinionated

Does not care of what others think

Emotional

Decisive

Strong clairvoyance

Loves to travel, the arts and literature

Soft-spoken, loving and caring

Romantic Touchy and easily jealous

Concerned

Loves outdoors

Just and fair

Spendthrift and easily influenced

Easily lose confidence

Red Bull Can Give You a Stroke

I just read an article from mercola.com. The title definitely captured my attention. The reason is this drink is a favourite of my hubby especially after streneous exercise and when he feels exhausted. The article says that just one can of the popular stimulant energy drink Red Bull can increase your risk of heart attack or stroke. The effect was seen even in young people. The caffeine-loaded beverage causes blood to become sticky, a pre-cursor to cardiovascular problems such as stroke. One hour after drinking Red Bull, your blood system becomes abnormal, as might be expected from a patient with cardiovascular disease.

September: My Birthday Month

What a great way to welcome the first day of September. I received this card today from a jewellery store. The store gives me a 40% discount if I buy jewellery from them this month. Yeah, I will be a year older this month, so what does the personality traits say about those who were born in September.

Suave and compromising

Careful, cautious and organised

Likes to point out people's mistakes

Likes to criticize

Quiet but able to talk well

Calm and cool

Kind and smpathetic

Concerned and detailed

Trustworthy, loyal and honest

Does work well

Sensitive

Thinking

Good memory

Clever and knowledgeable

Loves to look for information

Must control oneself when criticising

Able to motivate oneself

Understanding

Secretive

Loves sports, leisure and travelling

Hardly shows emotions

Tends to bottle up feelings

Choosy especially in relationships

Loves wide things

Systematic

The Coming of Ramadhan

I've been very busy this month. I only managed to write six posts. There were times I didn't even touch my laptop. There were a lot of exam scripts to check and mark, and still there are some I haven't read. However, today, I was a bit relaxed as I don't want to burden my mind with work.

The month of August will soon be over, and I'm really looking forward to September. Brunei will be fasting for the whole September, as Ramadhan, the fasting month in Islam will fall on Tuesday 2nd September. Therefore, starting tomorrow, I'll have to wake up before dawn, around 4 a.m to prepare meal for my family. This is the first time I don't have a maid during Ramadhan. I hope I can cope with the schoolwork and house chores.

Uploading Vidoes

Recently, a friend invited me to watch a video about Brunei from the YouTube, but now the video has been removed from the site. It shouldn't be there in the first place, as it disgraces Bruneians in general. One needs to think carefully the consequences before uploading videos for public viewing as it may affect other innocent people.

My Printable Worksheets

I've sent three different printable worksheets to eslprintables.com, a site where English Language teachers exchange resources. They are grammar worksheets that I've used in my class. One is about common errors in the use of prepositions, the second worksheet is on Past Simple and Past Continuous Tense and the third one is on common errors in tenses. So far, I've earned 21 points which means that I can download 21 different worksheets from the site. There are 56598 printables available that can be downloaded. I hope to download as many worksheets and power points materials as possible so that I can use them in my class. Thank you to all eslprintables members for sharing your resources.

Learning New Things-2

I downloaded four episodes of Prison Break Season 3 today. I tried to download via Mirc before but failed, but today I'm quite happy with my progress. At the time of posting this, I'm still downloading Prison Break Season 2. Downloading is slower tonite compared to this afternoon. While downloading, I visited ESL sites, looking for ideas for teaching English in my class. I found a very useful site, www.eslprintables.com which has a great collection of printables teaching materials. However, we cannot download the materials unless we send our own materials. Today, I sent one material, but I still cannot download any printable worksheets yet, not till I get points when others download the worksheet I sent earlier.

Football Tournament

Ellie and I were watching hubby playing football. In front of us with an umbrella in her hands is my sis in law. We were giving moral supports to the team from our village. Her husband is the goalkeeper for the team. Despite the heat, we went near the field to have a clear view of the game. It was really interesting to watch the game and the supporters' behaviour. I should have taken a few shots of the supporters' reactions when my hubby's team scored a goal. My sis in law and me and a few ladies there screamed hysterically when the team from our village was trying to shoot a goal. However, in the end, my hubby's team lost 4-5 to a team from another province. It was really a good experience for my hubby because he has not been playing football since his knee injury 9 years ago. Despite his constant pains on his leg, he still showed enthusiasm in the game. Great play Penanjong Team, practise harder and better luck next year!

Your Birth Month-August, and You

AUGUST

Loves to joke

Attractive

Suave and caring

Brave and fearless

Firm and has leadership qualities

Knows how to console others

Too generous and egoistic

Take high pride of oneself

Thirsty for praises

Extraodinary spirit

Easily angered

Angry when provoked

Easily jealous

Observant

Careful and cautious

Thinks quickly

Independent thoughts

Loves to lead and to be led

Loves to dream

Talented in the arts, music and defence

Sensitive but not petty

Poor resistance against illnesses

Learns to relax

Hasty and rushy

Romantic

Loving and caring

Loves to make friends

Lunch with Thai Foods

Teachers from the English Department from school today had a farewell lunch around 2.15 p.m. for our ex HOD who retired last month. A Thai foods Restaurant in Jerudong was chosen as the venue for the event. As the day was quite hot, many of my collegues ordered the Thai coconut, but not me, I ordered a glass of watermelon juice. I didn't realise that I missed taking a shot of the juice, not until the time I wanted to upload the pictures, Probably I was too thirsty at that time. The menu for today was as shown in the photos. The dishes were Green Curry Vegetables (This was actually for a collegue who is a vegetarian), Mixed Vege in Oyster Sauce, Steamed Fish in Oyster Sauce, Tom Yam SeaFoods, Chicken Cashewnuts and Fried Squid. The foods were all delicious, and the best dish to me was the Tom Yam. I should have taken pictures of the empty plates after the lunch was over.

Menu from the Restaurant; Thai Coconut; Mixed Vege in Oyster Sauce

Steamed Fish in Soy Sauce; Tom Yam Seafoods; Green Curry Vege

Chicken Cashewnuts; Fried Squid

Learning New Things

Yesterday, I learned something new from a friend at work. I learned how to download movies or tv series from the internet. Why I wanted to learn this? This is because of CSI. I love watching these TV series but I often missed a few episodes. I've just learned that I can get the tv series easily via MiRC or Bitcomet. However, one needs patience to download them as downloading is very slow, especially here in this area. I managed to download about 20% of one of the CSI New York episodes yesterday. I'll try to continue with the download tonight. Wish me luck!

Butter or Margerine

I've been using margarine for making sandwiches, thinking that butter has more cholestrol than margarine and definitely will fatten ones easily. After reading an email sent by a friend, it got me thinking which one is actually better than the other, butter or margarine.

The article says that both have the same amount of calories. Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5 grams. Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study. Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods. Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few only because they are added! Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods. Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years. And now, for Margarine... Very high in transfatty acids. Triple risk of coronary heart disease. Increases total cholesterol and LDL(this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDLcholesterol, (the good cholesterol) Increases the risk of cancers up to five fold. Lowers quality of breast milk. Decreases immune response. Decreases insulin response. And here's the most disturbing fact.... HERE IS THE PART THAT IS VERY INTERESTING! Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC... This fact alone was enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).

You can try this yourself:

Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will note a couple of things: * No flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should tell you something) * It does not rot or smell differently because it has no nutritional value *Nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weenie microorganisms will not a find a home to grow. Why? Because it is nearly plastic.

Young Mangoes make a delicious snack

I bought young mangoes from the Friday market in Tutong this morning. I cut them into small pieces and ate them by dipping them into a mixture of soy sauce with a little 'belacan' (shrimp paste) and Thai chillies, mmmm......delicious....I just had this at 6 p.m for my dinner.

A Morning Jog

I went jogging this morning with my daughter Erah. it has been awhile she didn't exercise. She has put on weight lately as she loves eating. At first we wanted to jog at the sport complex in Tutong, but they were so many joggers there. They didn't jog actually, they just talked while walking with their friends. So we jog outside the complex, to be exact we jog on the road around the area. It took me about 25 minutes to reach the sport complex. Erah only ran about 10 minutes and continued her exercise by walking briskly to reach our car. I ran another two rounds on the track at the sport complex while waiting for Erah to arrive. I think, now I know how to make Erah exercise for 30 minutes without stopping. I will park my car further from the jogging area so that she has to continue moving in order to reach the car. I will take her jogging again this Sunday.

Top 10 Biggest Brain Damaging Habits

Taking care of our brain fitness is as important as taking care of our overall health. This is especially essential for those who are still studying. While eating right and staying physically fit to be healthy is important, be sure also to engage in regular mental workouts to keep your mind sharp. Here is a list of brain damaging habits that one needs to avoid in order to have an agile mind regardless of age.

1. No Breakfast
People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level. This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.

2. Overeating
It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power.

3. Smoking
It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.

4. High Sugar consumption
Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with braindevelopment.

5. Air Pollution
The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body.Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency.

6. Sleep Deprivation
Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.

7. Head covered
while sleepingSleeping with the head covered, increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to brain damaging effects.

8. Working your brain during illness
Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the brain.

9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts
Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.

10. Talking Rarely
Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain

Removing Gallstones Naturally

Two years ago, I was diagnosed to have gallstones when I complained about abdominal pain after I had a miscarriage. However, the stones were not big enough to have an immediate surgery. According to the doctor who treated me, I didn't need a surgery not until the pain was severe which could affect my daily life. He advised me to do regular exercise and watch out my diet. I tried different kinds of natural remedies to remove the stones. Until one day, a friend sent me an email about removing gallstones in a natural way. I was sceptical at first, but after some thoughts, I went ahead with the given formula. Everything in the formula is natural, except the magnesium sulphate. It made me a little bit nervous when I took the mixture. After completing the regime for 6 days, I could see a difference in my digestive system. I don't feel bloated after a meal. I always felt full after a meal no matter how little I ate.

One of the symptoms of gallstones is a feeling of bloatedness after a heavy meal. You feel like you can't digest the food. If it gets more serious, you feel pain in the liver area.

Then I offered this formula to my father in law who is also diagnosed to have gallstones. He was about to have a surgery, but as he has high blood pressure, the surgery was potponed a few times. While waiting for the blood pressure to go down, I asked him to use this formula. Now he does not need the surgery.

So if you think you have gallstones, you can use the following method to remove them naturally. The treatment is also good for those with a weak liver, because the liver and gallbladder are closely linked.

Regimen:
1. For the first five days, take four glasses of apple juice every day. Or eat four or five apples, whichever you prefer. Apple juice softens the gallstones. During the five days, eat normally.
2. On the sixth day, take no dinner.
3. At 6 PM, take a teaspoon of Epsom salt (magnesium sulphate) with a glass of warm water.
4. At 8 PM, repeat the same. Magnesium sulphate opens the gallbladder ducts.
5. At 10 PM, take half cup olive oil (or sesame oil) with half cup fresh lemon juice. Mix it well and drink it. The oil lubricates the stones to ease their passage.

PS. 1cup=250ml, ½ cup lemon juice=3 lemons (aprox.)

The next morning, you will find floating green stones in your stools.

Women are Complex Creatures

A friend sent this to me today and I think it is worth sharing with others. Having read it, I realised that women are complex creatures indeed. So my fellow women friends don't get upset after reading this. There are some truths to this 'poem'. I think, in order to have a harmonious relationship, men have to be more patient in order to understand women.

Women are complex creatures.........

If you kiss her, you are not a gentleman

If you don't, you are not a man

If you praise her, she thinks you are lying

If you don't, you are good for nothing

If you agree to all her likes, you are a wimp

If you don't, you are not understanding

If you visit her often,she thinks it is boring

If you don't , she accuses you of double-crossing

If you are well dressed, she says you are a playboy

If you don't , you are a dull boy

If you are jealous, she says it's bad

If you don't, she thinks you do not love her

If you attempt a romance, she says you didn't respect her

If you don't, she thinks you do not like her

If you are a minute late, she complains it's hard to wait

If she is late, she says that's a girl's way

If you visit another man, you're not putting in "quality time"

If she is visited by another woman, "Oh it's natural, we are girls"

If you kiss her once in a while, she professes you are cold

If you kiss her often, she yells that you are taking advantage

If you stare at another woman, she accuses you of flirting

If she is stared by other men, she says that they are just admiring

If you talk, she wants you to listen

If you listen, she wants you to talk
In short,

So simple, yet so complex

So weak, yet so powerful

So confusing, yet so desirable

So damning, yet so wonderful
............WOMEN.........

Fried MeeHoon

I prepared this dish, Fried MeeHoon this morning for breakfast, or should I say 'brunch'. We had this around 10 a.m. At first, I wanted to add beef into the meehoon, but I changed my mind, I added prawns, cuttlefish and chicken instead. I've been planning to cook this since last week, but as I was quite busy with other activities, I wasn't able to cook it.

Eriylia's Recipe

Ive just added another link to my navigator. It is a newly created blog consisting of recipes that I've collected over the years. This is a request from a friend of mine who is now at Southampton doing her Phd. However, there are not many recipes yet in the new site. I will try to add some more in my free time. In the new recipe site, I planned to use some Malay (my first language), if anyone is interested with the recipe, I'll try to translate it for you.

Happy 62th Birthday to His Majesty

This week Brunei skyline is sparkling with festive cheer for His Majesty's Birthday celebrations which starts today. I took the opportunity to take some shots of the city last night. The pictures were not very good as I snapped them from the car. The capital is transformed with colourful decorative arches, banners and neon lights. His Majesty's birthday celebration is eagerly awaited by Bruneians who are looking forward to the cultural and sport activities that will take place during the celebration.

A Day of a Perfect Housewife

It was really a tiring day yesterday. It was like a cleaning marathon for me. I didn't have the time and energy left to post anything and didn't even visit other blogs. When I reached home, after my morning jogging and breakfast, I started cleaning the kitchen, sweeping, mopping the floor and cleaning the kitchen counter. Armed with a broom in my hand, I headed outside to clean the porch and the patio. It was like doing cardio exercise! Having completed my mission outside, I cleaned the livin and guests rooms, sweeping and mopping the floor and at the same time cursing the lizards for spreading their 'leftover' all over the floor. I wish there was somethingI could use to kill or prevent them from entering the house.

Basically, I cleaned the entire house yesterday. Eventhough, I was exhausted after the cleaning marathon, I managed to prepare 3 dishes for our lunch and in the evening I made sheperd Pie for dinner, but no blogging and no blog hopping!!.

My Kitchen Garden

This kitchen garden is a place to grow the things I bring into the kitchen. This enables me to use fresh herbs in my cooking. It is just right outside the kitchen door within easy picking distance. I often run to this garden to get the herbs while cooking.

This is a screwpine tree where pandan leaves are derived from. Pandan leaves are used to lend a unqique taste and aroma to many local dishes, dessert and drinks. They can aslo be used to wrap savoury foods, such as chicken and puddings.
My hubby always use this to remove odour from the car. Just leave a few pandan leaves inside the car for a night, and the next day, the odour will disappear.

This is a Thai Chilli. The plant doesn not bear a lot of chillies now, as this tree is quite old and I have not taken care of it, I just don't have enough hands to look after the garden.

As my hubby uses quite a lot of this in his food, we bought the seedling from the market so that we can have fresh chillies whenever we want.

This is a Thai Longan Tree. I don't use this in my cooking. This fruit is very sweet.

This a curry tree (should I call it a tree?) I use the leaves to add flavour to any curry dishes. I got this tree from my sister last year.

This is a ginger plant. Everytime I found old ginger in my kitchen with some buds, I just planted them here. I take this ginger only if I run out of stock.

This is lemongrass. I often use this in my cooking, especially when I cook fish, beef, chicken and Prawn. I think this is a must when cooking Thai Tomyam.

This is a tumeric plant. I planted this to get the leaves. The leaves are often used in my cooking to give aroma to the food. I often use this to wrap fish. The rhizome is used in cooking fish, beef or chicken dishes. Traditionally, it can also be used as antiseptic and often used in postnatal care.

Eriylia Wordpress

I created another blog last month in Wordpress, but it is still not ready to be viewed yet. it's kind of hard to use it, I had a hard time trying to add widgets and adsense. I planned to put all the recipes that I've tried in that blog, but I'm not sure I can maintain the site.

Sunset Photos

These pictures were taken today before and during sunset from the family picnic area near our house. While waiting for the sunset, my daughter, Ellie wanted me to take her pictures playing the swing. I love watching the sunset at this beach, but today I didn't go down the beach, just took it from the picnic area. I wish I had better camera than I have now. Some of the pictures were not very clear that I had to delete them. Probably, I should take photography classes to enhance the skills. I only posted a few pictures here, if you would like to see more, just go to my photo gallery.

Sundays' Activity

It's been quite awhile I didnt post anything on my personal activities. This is because there wasn't anything interesting to write on apart from school work, house chores and weddings. Last Sunday I wanted to write on the 'Sunday Culture' in Brunei as that I attended a wedding reception half-heartedly. In my opinion, I hope no one will be upset with this, this is how most Bruneians spend their Sundays, attending wedding reception. We hardly have time for the family, there's always weddings to attend to, and sometimes other 'unexpected functions' too. There are times, three or four weddings to attend to on the same Sunday. It's hard sometimes to do anything, especially us teachers, as we have to prepare a week lesson plan for the following week.

Can there be any other ways to overcome this? School holidays are usually filled up with wedding invitations. I'm sure, this month and next month will be full of weddings to attend to, as the fasting month is near, i.e. in September. Yesterday, we received another invitation, I didnt even bother to look at the date of the wedding. Not that I don't want to attend ( I have to), I'm just tired of going to the wedding every Sunday. I want to spend time at home with my children and clean the house.

Health Benefits of Oats

Eating oats in your diet provides a wide range of important health benefits. New scientific research is also revealing exciting new information about the benefits of oats, some of it surprising. Everyone in my family, including my six year old daughter, Ellie is now eating oats. I've been eating oats since I was very young, but I don't eat them everyday. However, two years ago when I found that I had high cholestrol, I started eating them everyday, one in the morning and another cup at night. But, once the cholestrol level became normal, I stopped eating them. Here are some benefits of eating oats regularly which I found from www.eatmoreoats.com

Cholesterol and Heart
Oats contains a mixture of about half soluble and half insoluble fibers. One component of the soluble fibre found in oats is beta-glucans, a soluble fiber which has proven effective in lowering blood cholesterol.

Blood Sugars
Eating oats can spread the rise in blood sugars over a longer time period. Control of blood glucose and insulin levels is essential in preventing many of the complications associated with diabetes. Oat beta-glucan slows the rise in blood glucose levels following a meal and delays its decline to pre-meal levels.

Anti Cancer
Oats, like other grains and vegetables, contain hundreds of phytochemicals (plant chemicals). Many phytochemicals are thought to reduce a person's risk of getting cancer. Phytoestrogen compounds, called lignans, in oats have been linked to decreased risk of hormone-related diseases such as breast cancer. Most of the research has been focused on breast cancer, but similar effects are expected on other hormone-related cancers such as prostate, endometrium and ovarian cancer. International research has shown that women with a higher intake of dietary fibre have lower circulating oestrogen levels, a factor associated with a lower risk of breast cancer. The insoluble fibers in oats are also thought to reduce carcinogens in the gastrointestinal tract.

Blood Pressure
A daily serving of whole oats rich in soluble fibre can reduce hypertension, or high blood pressure, and so reduce the need for anti-hypertensive medication.

Bowel Function
Oats have a high fiber content. Fiber is necessary in keeping bowel movements regular. Oats are high in both soluble and insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water. It is spongy and absorbs many times its own weight of liquid. It makes stools heavier and speeds their passage through the gut, relieving constipation.

Weight Control
As the soluble fiber of oats is digested, it forms a gel, which causes the viscosity of the contents of the stomach and small intestine to be increased. The gel delays stomach emptying making you feel full longer which helps with weight loss. New research suggests that children between ages 2-18 years old who have a constant intake of oatmeal lowered their risk of obesity. The research found that the children who ate oatmeal were 50% less likely to become overweight, when compared to those children that did not eat it.

Athletic Performance
Oats, like other cereal grains, are valued primarily as a source of carbohydrates which provide calories for energy needs. Oats have been shown in scientific studies to favorably alter metabolism and enhance performance when ingested 45 minutes to 1 hour before exercise of moderate intensity.

General Health and Longevity
Oats have a higher concentration of well-balanced protein than other cereals. They contain a good balance of essential fatty acids, which have been linked with longevity and general good health, and also have one of the best amino acid profiles of any grain. Amino acids are essential proteins that help facilitate optimum functioning of the body. Oats are a good source of essential vitamins such as thiamin, folic acid, biotin, pantothenic acid and vitamin E. They also contain zinc, selenium, copper, iron, manganese and magnesium. Oat beta glucan also appears to help speed up response to infection, which may result in faster healing. According to a new study, it was discovered that beta glucan can enhance the ability of certain human immune cells to navigate to the site of a bacterial infection, resulting in faster healing.

What Your Birth Month Says About You?

The month which you were born can also determine your personality traits. However, they are not necessarily true. So those who were born in July, find out if some of these apply to you. I've a few friends who were born in this month and I think some or even most of the traits here apply to them.

JULY

Fun to be with

Secretive

Difficult to fathom and to be understood

Quiet unless excited or tensed

Takes pride in oneself

Has reputation

Easily consoled

Honest

Concern about people's feelings

Tactful

Friendly

Approachable

Very emotional

Tempramental and unpredictable

Moody and easily hurt

Witty and sarky

Sentimental

Not revengeful

Forgiving but never forgets

Dislike nonsensical and unnecessary things

Guides others physically and mentally

Sensitive and forms impressions carefully

Caring and loving

Treats others equally

Strong sense of sympathy

Wary and sharp

Judge people through observations

Hardworking

No difficulties in studying

Loves to be alone

Always broods about the past and the old friends

Likes to be quiet

Homely person

Waits for friends

Never looks for friends

Not aggressive unless provoked

Prone to having stomach and dieting problems

Loves to be loved

Easily hurt but takes long to recover

Overly concerned

Puts in effort in work

What is your favourite ice cream flavour?

Want to get a taste of personality? Do you know that ice cream flavours can reveal your personality? To learn about your compatibility through flavor, imagine that you and your date are at the ice-cream parlor. Which of these flavors would you pick? For me, it's always coffee flavour and chocolate chips with vanilla.

· Vanilla
· Double chocolate chunk
· Strawberries and cream
· Banana cream pie
· Chocolate chip
· Butter pecan
· Strawberry
· Coffee
· Mint chocolate chip
· Rocky road

Ready? Read on to find out your results, including what your choice says about you and whether you're more compatible with coffee or chocolate chip.

· Vanilla: You're colorful, dependent and needy, an idealist and a risk-taker. You're a private person who enjoys close relationships with others. Best match: rocky road or another vanilla
· Double chocolate chunk: You're self-absorbed, enjoy being the center of attention and tend to be somewhat dramatic. You're also lively, charming and flirtatious. You like novelty and are bored by routine. You're a clotheshorse and into looking good. Best match: butter pecan or chocolate chip
· Strawberries and cream: You're an introvert who handles stress poorly and can become overwhelmed, irritable and cranky. Best match: chocolate chip
· Banana cream pie: You're well-adjusted, easygoing and empathetic. You make the perfect spouse and parent. Best match: vanilla, double chocolate chunk, strawberries and cream, chocolate chip, butter pecan or another banana cream pie
· Chocolate chip: You're ambitious, competitive, a go-getter and a visionary. You're charming and enjoy being catered to. Best match: butter pecan or double chocolate chunk
· Butter pecan: You're principled, a rule-follower, intelligent, conscientious, moral and a perfectionist. You can be competitive but also quick to criticize yourself. Best match: mint chocolate chip
· Strawberry: You're content to be a follower working behind the scenes. You like being part of a team. Best match: rocky road, vanilla, mint chocolate chip or other strawberries
· Coffee: You're lively, dramatic, seductive and flirtatious and live life with gusto. You throw yourself headfirst into everything and prefer to live in the moment rather than think about the future. Best match: strawberry
· Mint chocolate chip: You're a cynic -- ambitious, argumentative and contrary. You're frugal and cautious about planning the future. Best match: other mint chocolate chips
· Rocky road: You're charming and engaging in social situations, but driven at work. You can lose your temper over life's inconveniences, particularly waiting in line. Best match: other rocky roads

[Quiz from Dr Alan Hirsch's book]

Fried Mee Indian Style (Mee Mamak)

This is what we had tonite for our dinner. It was just a simple dinner. We don't usually have dinner, but this evening I wanted to cook something simple and light for my family. While I was cooking this noodle, Ellie kept on asking me when it would be ready to be served. She was the one who ate it first because according to her she was really hungry. After she had finished the noodle, she praised how delicious the noodle was and told me that I'm a good cook. I told her that all mummies need to be a good cook so that children can eat well, if not they shouldnt become a mother. She just laughed at what I said.

I thought I couldn't use my laptop today. All of a sudden, the display became dark and after awhile a pattern, just like colourful wallpapar emerged, then it shut down by itself. Last night, I thought it was because of my window explorer. I've been using this explorer to surf and visit sites. I downloaded Morzilla Firefox and it went well till tonite. I was doing some work using Word and many times my laptop went dark and shut down by itself. I nearly gave up typing, when suddenly Windows advised me to restore this computer, that was how I lost Morzilla Firefox. Anyway, I can still download it, but that has to wait.

Today is the last day of the school vacation. I was quite busy today. I began cooking early in the morning for my children's lunch as my hubby and I had to attend a wedding reception. We went there around 11.30. It was really hot today. My sis in law and I were supposed to welcome the guests but instead we became the guests. After the eating session ended, we went to our car. Unfortunately our car was blocked by two cars. We had to wait for about 15 to 20 minutes for the owners to move their cars. Some people were really inconsiderate for the others. They should know that they were blocking other people's car but instead they took their sweet time talking to their friends at the function. If not for my hubby, (he asked someone to announce the owner of the cars to move their car), we had to stay inside the car longer than what it should be.

Starting tomorrow, I will be very busy and I'm not sure I will be able to update my blog. I'll try my best to find some times to maintain this blog.

What's Your Birthday Colour

December 23rd - January 1st Red
January 2nd - January 11th Orange
January 12th - January 24th Yellow
January 25th - February 3 Pink
February 4th - February 8th Blue
February 9th - February 18th Green
February 19th - February 28th Brown
March1st - March 10th Aqua
March 11 - March 20th Lime
March 21 st Black
March 22 nd - March 31st Purple
April 1st - April 10th Navy
April 11th - April 20th Silver
April 21st - April 30th White
May 2nd - May 14th Blue
May 15th - May 24th Gold
May 25th - June 3rd Cream
June 4th - June13th Gray
June 14 - June 23rd Maroon
June 24th Gray
June 25 - July 4th Red
July 5th - July 14th Orange
July 15th - July 25 th Yellow
July 26th - August 4th Pink
August 5th - August 13th Blue
August 14th - August 23rd Green
August 24 - September 2nd Brown
September 3rd - September 12th Aqua
September 13th - September 22nd Lime
September 23rd Olive
September 24th - October 3rd Purple
October 4th - October 13th Navy
October 14th - October 23rd Silver
October 24 - November 11th White
November 12th - November 21st Gold
November 22nd - December 1st Cream December 2nd - December 11th Gray
December 12th - December 21st Maroon
December 22nd Teal

RED

Cute and lovable type, you are picky but always in love ...and liked to be loved. Fresh and cheerful, but can be "moody" at times. Capable with people, nice, soft, and that can love you for the way you are. Likes people that are easy to talk to, and can make you feel comfortable.
CREAM

Competitive and sportive. Don't like losing and always cheerful! You are trustworthy, and very out-going. You choose love carefully, and don't fall in love easily. But once you find the right one, you don't let go for a long long time.
TEAL

You are mostly interested in your looks. And have high standards in picking love. You think and make a solution precisely, and hardly make stupid mistakes. You like to lead, and is easy for you to make new friends.
GREY

You are attractive, and active. You never hide your feelings, and express everything that's inside. But can be selfish at times. You want to be noticed, and don't like to be treated unequally. You can brighten up people's day. You know what to say at the right time, and you have a good sense of humor.
GREEN

You get along well with new people. You are not really a shy person, but sometimes you can hurt people's feelings by your words... You like to be loved and noticed by your lover, but mostly you are single, waiting for the right person.
GOLD

You know what's right and what's wrong. You are cheerful and out going. It's hard for you to find the one you want, but once you find the right person, you won't be able to fall in love again for a long time.
PINK

You are always trying your best in everything, and like to help and care for other people. But you are not easily satisfied. You have negative thoughts, and you look for romantic love like in a fairytale.
YELLOW

You are sweet and innocent. Trusted by many people, and have a strong leadership towards relationships. You make good decision and make the right choice at the right time. And always dreaming of romantic relationship.
MAROON

You are intelligent, and know what's right. You like to take things go your way, which can sometimes cause trouble or not thinking about other people's feelings. But you are patient when it comes to love... Once you get a hold of the right person, it's hard for you to find a better love.
ORANGE

You are responsible for your own actions, and you know how to treat people. You always have goals to reach, and are competitive. When it comes to friendship, you find it hard to trust someone, but once you find the right friend, you trust them for ever.
PURPLE

You are mysterious, never selfish and get interested in things easily. Your day can be sad or happy depending on your mood. You are popular between friends but you can act stupid at times, and forget things easily. You go for person that's trustworthy.
LIME

You are calm, but easily stressed out. You get jealous easily, and complain over little things. You can't get stuck into one thing, but you have a capable personality for everyone to trust you and like you.
SILVER

You are imaginative and shy, but you like trying new things. You like to challenge yourself. You learn things easily, and like "Hard to get". Your love life is normally hard and confusing.
WHITE

You dream and have goals in your life. You get jealous easily and you don't react to things easily. You are different and sometimes thought highly by others.
OLIVE

You are warm and light hearted. You seem to flow well with friends and family. You don't like violence and know what's right. You are kind and cheerful, but don't envy other people easily.
BROWN

You are active and sportive. It's hard for other people to become close with you, but you fall in love easily. But once you find out you can't get something, you give up and let go easily as well.
BLUE

You have low self-esteem, and very picky. You are artistic and like to fall in love, but you let your love pass by, by loving with your mind, not your heart.
NAVY

You are attractive, and love your life. You have a strong feeling towards everything. And very easily distracted. Once you get angry at someone, it's hard for you to forgive them.
AQUA

Your feelings change suddenly and easily. You are always lonely, and like travelling. You are truthful, but listen and believe other people too easily. It's hard to find love for you, and you get lost in love easily. Sometimes you get hurt by love.
BLACK

You are challenging, and have the "guts". But you don't like changes in your life. And once you make a decision, you keep it that way for a long time. Your love life is also challenging, and different.

I Know the Answer Sir!

While visiting England, George Bush is invited to tea with the Queen. He asks her what her leadership philosophy is. She says that it is to surround herself with intelligent people.

Bush asks how she knows if they're intelligent.

"I do so by asking them the right questions," says the Queen. "Allow me to demonstrate."

Bush watches as the Queen phones Tony Blair and says, "Mr. Prime Minister, please answer this question: your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or sister. Who is it?"

Tony Blair responds, "It's me, ma'am."

"Correct. Thank you and good-bye, sir," says the Queen. She hangs up and says, "Did you get that, Mr. Bush?"

Bush nods: "Yes ma'am. Thanks a lot. I'll definitely be using that!"

Bush, upon returning to Washington, decides he'd better put the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to the test. Bush summons Jesse Helms to the White House and says, "Senator Helms, I wonder if you can answer a question for me.

" "Why, of course, sir. What's on your mind?"

Bush poses the question: "Uhh, your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or your sister. Who is it?"

Helms hems and haws and finally asks, "Can I think about it and get back to you?"

Bush agrees, and Helms leaves. He immediately calls a meeting of other senior Republican senators, and they puzzle over the question for several hours, but nobody can come up with an answer. Finally, in desperation, Helms calls Colin Powell at the State Department and explains his problem.

"Now look here, son, your mother has a child, and your father has a child, and this child is not your brother or your sister. Who is it?"

Powell answers immediately, "It's me, of course."

Much relieved, Helms rushes back to the White House, finds George Bush, and exclaims, "I know the answer, sir! I know who it is! It's Colin Powell!"

And Bush replies in disgust, "Wrong, you dumb shit, it's Tony Blair!"


You can get more jokes from www.the-jokes.com