Stumbled upon a Gem

I couldn't believe what I've just stumbled upon. All these while we have just heard of successful infopreneurs from the west.

And now I've just found a living proof at my own country. This guy, Patric Chan, is just a normal guy-next-door, a very typical Malaysian I would say who made it big in the virtual world. If you would observe in his recordings, he actually speaks in the very typical Malaysian Chinese accent.

You know what, this discovery has just smashed my limiting belief all this while that only the "westerners" rule the internet because they started it. It totally blew my mind. I doubt I'll be able to sleep well tonight.

If you are interested to know more about how he did it, click below and receive a free report exclusive from him.

Total Flop

My experiment with fish curry became a total flop today. It looks nice but doesn't taste a bit like its looks. Looks are deceiving eh? Not only for food, but for human too.

The curry was so bad, I don't think anyone would want eat it. I ended up eating just the fish and the rest went down the rubbish chute. Better preparations next time.

I have this tendency of not following exactly the recipe book. I'll prefer playing around with my own ingredients and experiment with different types of food. So this time round, I know fish curry without tamarind juice is not nice at all! Bleeekk....

Malaysia First Lady lost her battle against cancer

The news about the passing on of the Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's wife, Datin Seri Endon Mahmood early this morning hit me like a sack of potatoes. It was so sudden. I thought that she would be able to fight it.

News about her receiving Abraxene treatment in Los Angeles has been on the papers for some time, and she has been a cancer awareness advocate herself. Never did I thought that the statement by doctors saying she is recovering albeit slowly and advised PM or fondly known as Pak Lah to spend more time with her, could be a clue that something might not be so right.

During the period she was back from overseas chemotheraphy treatment to celebrate Ramadhan at home, Pak Lah has been missing for about a week and when he was asked about it, he said he has been breaking fast with her, who is also fondly known as Kak Endon.

Her passing on will be a great loss to Pak Lah and the whole nation. As the whole country grieves and mourns the death of a warm, loving, motherly, caring figure in the eyes of the citizens, her contributions and memories of her will remain alive in our memories.

As I watched the tv footage of her funeral and burial ceremony, I saw so many people lining up to pay their last respect. A politician even died on his way to Putrajaya to pay his last respect when his car skidded. When I did a google blog search, I was touched by the hundreds of blog entries paying tribute to her. TV3 aired a special programme after the news bulletin while there's a special pictures tribute on the News Straits Times website.

Even though I do not really know her personally, I can feel the love exuding from her, especially in her relationship with her husband. If you observe closely any television footages of them together, Pak Lah will always be holding her hand, just like love birds who are deeply in love.

One of a close friend of hers said this on one of the most widely watched television station TV3 that she is a model of a perfect wife and mother, someone she would model after when it comes to relationships.

I would agree with her. As Pak Lah loves her very much and been loyal to her, she has been strong and supportive of her husband. Behind every successful man, there's a woman. How true is this saying.

Lessons we can draw from this is that, we too can be a role model in our own lives. We can also touch lives as what Kak Endon has done. What we need, is just a loving heart and a caring nature. And I believe, everyone has that in them by nature.

As for couples, we can model after the strong devotion that Pak Lah and Kak Endon has for each other. Tips I gathered from news are that they tell each other they love each other very often and would unabashedly show affection publicly, like holding hands and hugging each other. Considering that they are a public figure, their public display of affection not only warms the heart of people seeing it; it must have also meant true love.

I find it truly inspiring and heart-warming.

Give and You shall Receive

I was climbing the overhead bridge when I passed by this rather old lady who was huffing and puffing carrying two plastic bags which obviously looked rather heavy while muttering some words that sounded like "oh so heavy". I was messasging on my handphone then and intuitively I just turned to look at her and asked her "do you need help?". She smiled shyly and gently declined. So I went on with my way over the bridge and head towards the bus stop.

After some time, the lady finally conquered the bridge and came down the stairs looking at me, smiling. I was shocked, because there's this stranger who was smiling at me. So I smiled back and then we started talking, getting to know each other and coincidently, we were both waiting for the same bus.

Along the bus journey, we went on talking and finally exchanged numbers. It was amazing how such a small gesture of altruism could in turn, generate much more random acts of kindness. She pointed out to me the correct bus stop to alight and even offered her help.

After alighting, I went to meet my friend and we sat in a McDonalds chatting, catching up with each other. After chatting for a while and sipped about half a glass of iced lemon tea, my bladder was full. When I walked over to the ladies, I had another shock. There is now a counter for collecting fees to enter the toilet and it is priced at $0.20, while previously it was free. So I shelved the shock aside and went in.

To cut the story short, I went to the toilet for the second time and this time as I was walking in, I saw the old man who was taking care of the counter was already starting to close the counter. I took out a 20 cents but the elderly man shook his head and said, no need, and asked me to go in and use. So I asked him, whether he is working for a company or is he working for himself. He answered, he doesn't receive salary, but the 20 cents are his salary. Upon hearing this, I insisted that he take the 20 cents. What I received in return, was a smile so beautiful, it could warm anybody's heart.

It is just so wonderful how such small gestures could have made me receive so much more in return. Warm smiles from strangers and the continuity of kindness. What you give, is what you receive. Give and you shall receive. How true.

Sometimes, when we feel our life is filled with nasty people, stop for a while and reflect, whether you yourself has been a nasty person yourself. You will realise if you change your own self, you can change the people around you.

Keep the random acts of kindness going.~ :D

Fun Facts on Snakes

For those who are interested in snakes (e.g phyton), here's more interesting fun facts about the slitthery creature without hands and legs.

1. Snakes have an outlet where they pass motion. It's a cut of about 2 cm long, at the point of about two-third length of the snake from the head.

2. Snakes has similar anatomy as human, the huge difference is, everything is in elongated shape to suit the long and slender creature.

3. Snake's skin is not slimy. In fact it feels like your leather wallet.

4. Snakes are blind. They sense the vibrations around them using their forked tongues.

5. A snake can sense if the person holding it, is afraid or confident. A person who is frightened would breath faster and thus have a certain vibration which is different from a confident person who is calmer.

6. Zookeepers will never allow any visitor who is holding a phyton to let the snake coil around the neck or the waist. No matter how humble, good-natured and well-trained the phyton is, as a wild animal, it will still fall back to its natural survival instinct when it feels threatened. When the snake senses threat, the reaction would be to constrict itself tighter around whatever object it is coiling around. It is a precaution which snake trainers and zookeepers take to prevent any unwanted events.

How Snakes shed their Skin

Somehow during our schooldays, we would have been taught that snakes shed their skin in order to grow. But I've never given it a thought on how snakes actually shed their skin. All along I assumed that the skin somehow peels off, like how sunburnt skin on our body drops off by itself when we bathe or rub on it. Sometimes I've even imagine it splitting down the belly and the skin comes off like a rectangular piece of skin.

It is only recently when I found out the truth. What happens is that a snake will show some symptoms before it actually sheds. The colour of the skin will turn slightly cloudy, the eyes will become opaque and the belly will turn pinkish. It would be really interesting if we are able to watch the whole process of snake shedding its skin.

What I've learnt is that the whole process happens real fast. The skin will start opening up from the mouth. All the snake needs to do is to slide out from the old 'shell' and leave the old unwanted skin behind. So what's left of a good shed is a complete 'cover' of the snake - which looks like an elongated bag.

One thing to note is that the snake sheds the skin of the eyes too. That's why the eyes turn opaque before the shedding time. For this too, I've always imagined that the skin will come off like a mask, where you can see two holes where the eyes are supposed to be.

Once I've learnt of this fact, something inside me went 'ting!'. Just like a light bulb lighted up brightly inside my mind. My assumptions all this time has been wrong and I've believed it all the way, thinking that I should be right and never bothered to seek the truth.

In life, we could also have been in the same situation - where we heard about something and without giving it a much deeper thought, we made some assumptions. These assumptions grew into a believe throughout the years and we never even bother to seek the real answers. This could be one of the reasons where rumours turn into a fact after some time.

This pattern can be seen in almost every aspect of life and the world, be it a mother scolding the child stupid, gossips among friends and even in politics - the leader of a country making certain negative statement about another country and the citizens of the country is made to believe that.

Most of the time, people are not aware that this is happening. It is so natural people just do it unconsciously, without realising that they are actually twisting the facts.

With this realisation, I hope those who reads this post will carry this awareness with them and consciously identify and seek the truth. Assumptions only ends up making an [ ASS U ME ] ass out of you and me. :)

White Tiger and the Fishes

I've finally stepped into the zoo here after setting foot on this island 6 years ago. Went with my cousin, her husband and her 4-year-old daughter. Throughout the duration there, there's a few things which I observed and got me thinking.

1. My niece just suddenly burst out crying when her father brought her near the walkway leading to the tiger's den. I was shocked because I saw other children in the walkway. What I'm curious about was what made her just burst out crying.

The first thought that leapt into mind was bad spirits. Can she sense certain dangers near there which made her react by bursting out crying? haha maybe I'm too superstitious. It is only later that I spotted a monstrous-looking fake tiger at the entrance to the dim walkway, which I think, scared her. She kept on saying she doesn't want to go there and we almost just pass by the place.

However, curiosity got the better of me and I went nearer to take a loook. The white tigers are separated from the visitors by a moat. I overheard a visitor asking her friend whether the tiger will just jump out. And hey, the same exclamation was also expressed by my cousin. I wondered whether the same thought is also playing in most visitors' mind, because for me, this thought never crept into my mind until my cousin exclaimed it. Is this how a human being influence another, by putting a possible idea into another person's mind through their words?

2. By now, my niece is already inching near to have a look too. Another thing which I noticed was that when one of the tiger walks around in the moat, a school of fishes just follow the tiger around. When the tiger heads right, the school of fishes followed. When the tiger turns around and head left, the school of fishes also turned and head left. Amazing isn't it? Why is it that way? Tigers are carnivors, and carnivors eat meat. Fishes are meat too, but why doesn't tigers eat fishes? If you have answers to these questions, do leave me a comment. :)

3. We managed to catch part of the animal show which started at 1.30pm. I really enjoyed myself throughout the show. What amazed me was how well-trained those animals are. The orang utan who can garner clap supports for himself, the sea lions that can jump like dolphins and the otter that can clean up things. These are animals doing things which are not of their normal behaviour.

Throughout the show, the trainers there did explained briefly how they train the animals, mostly using food reward. If it works for animals, does this strategy work for human beings too? Let's say, we want to train ourself to be good in something or to pick up a new skill. If we reward ourself each time we do something correct and good, and ignore when we don't perform, will it be as effective?

Just some food for thoughts! ;) Happy thinking!

Apple Cider Vinegar Pork Chop

As the title suggests, yes, you can make yummy pork chop with apple cider vinegar! Do I see some raised eyebrows out there? Oh well, it was one of my discoveries two days ago which I wanted to blog but never got myself to do it.

Well, back to the pork chop. What I had was a weird mixture of everything. Even though it is kind of haphazard, but I'm proud to say that this dish is my own recipe! Wahahaha! :D

It all started with this idea of making my own pork chop. Oh mind you, this was my first attempt at it and it turned out right! I had this block of pork which I sliced into thinner slices.

Then, I wanted to make the meat tender and felt that using lime would be just too troublesome. So this idea of using apple cider vinegar came up. Why specifically this vinegar and not others like rice vinegar or black vinegar you may ask. You can experiment with those vinegars and tell me the result. What I had on my shelf was just the apple cider vinegar.

So in went the vinegar, just enough to cover the meat pieces. Next, I poured in 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and dumped in lots of black pepper powder. Then I mixed them all up evenly and left it to marinate.

I'm sure it will turn charcoal and stick to my normal pan in no time and if not, I'll have to use lots of oil. Being a health freak especially when it comes to food, I opted for the non-stick pan. I scooped in some butter and nice-smelling fragrant filled the kitchen. Next, in went the pork chop pieces and were pan-fried until they were just cooked. Don't overcook, because the meat will get really hard and you will have a hard time fighting with the meat pieces later.

After that, I poured in all the leftover marinating 'sauce' to make the real sauce. I merely heated it for a while and poured it over the meat pieces on a plate. Voila! There you have a simple, quick and mouth-watering dish.

Better test it out before I copyright the recipe haha! Just kidding...:P

The 80/20 Principle

I have always been telling myself that I have to go exercise one day, be it jogging around my neighbourhood or go swimming. And you know, the usual story comes up with hundreds and thousands of excuses - not enough time, don't feel like it, not in the mood, too tired, too lazy, too busy.. bla bla.. the list goes on. I guess you would have the same experience too.

Until I discovered this 80 / 20 principle in a book I've just read, yesterday. This principle is about a theory that the 20% of the things we do yields 80% of the results, while 80% of the things we do, yields 20% of the results.

So how does this apply in our life?

Everyday, when we plan things to do, we will usually list down a number of things we want to do for the day. And our list could include things like call Mary out for dinner, buy groceries, wash laundry, check out that new store etc etc. Once we have done that, we feel really good and it feels even better ticking away all the things that we have accomplished for the day.

But when we stop and think, hey, how are all these tasks that I've done, bring me nearer to my goals? Most of the time, the answer could be no. We prefer doing things that are simple, fun, easy and requires little effort. And most of the time, these are the 80% of the things we do which only result in 20% of the results.

Now, consider meeting up with that prospect who could be your potential client or go register that business. Would these require more courage, determination and effort? These tasks which demand more effort and requires us to overcome certain fears, are usually the 20% of the things we do which will yield 80% of the results.

So with that in mind, here's a tip:

The next time you draw up a to-do list, make it a power list by categorising the tasks you need to do into the 20% column or the 80% column. When you have a task in hand, ask yourself, which column should it go to? the 20% column which produces 80% of the results? or does it falls under the 80% column which produces only 20% of the results?

After you have done that, head straight to tackle the tasks under the 20% column. Once you have accomplished them, reward yourself. But remember, when u have done those tasks under the 80% column, forget about rewarding yourself. Only reward yourself for something productive which you have accomplished.

And, always do those things udner the 20% column during your more productive time. Some people do things better in the morning while some feels more productive at night. Meanwhile, leave those more trivial items under 80% column to those times when you need a break or during times when you feel lazy.

By applying this principle, I've managed to start this blog, yay! And also finally get my butt and legs moving to jog around the neighbourhood, after being sedentary for more than 7 months! I realised how procrastination has cost me my health and how procrastinating on these more challenging items has cost me a learning opportunity.

So, get your pen and paper, make your power list and off you go! Your goals are waiting for you~

The First Step

Daily Discoveries.. there it goes. The setting up of this blog will be one of the first steps towards discovering more things in the virtual world. Not only that, as you read my posts in days to come, you will realise that it is also a discovery of oneself, discovery of life and the world we are in. Join me in this discovery journey as we embark on the adventure of life and explore the wonderful world around us. And I hope, along the way, you too would discover something about yourself, your life and your world. :)