Friday 31 August 2007

PHOTO HUNTERS: DIRTY

There is nothing more DIRTY than
a pair of unwashed shoes, filled with dirt and mud.

DIRTY01

Jon volunteered to check on the DIRTY pair of shoes for me.
DIRTY02

Gosh! Not only the pair of shoes are DIRTY,
they are SMELLY too!!
***FAINTED***

DIRTY03

For those Photo Hunters members,
Please click Mister Linky above and enter your information for easy tracking.
Thank you and have a Nice Weekend!


Thursday 30 August 2007

HOW’S THE WEATHER?

WEATHER

“How’s the weather?” Have you ever heard of people using this statement? It may just mean whether the sky is clear, bright and sunny, dark and gloomy, dark but filled with stars and moon, chilly until shivering, thunderstorm’s coming, hurricane going to sweep through, or even an upcoming tornado. In actual fact, it does not mean that way most of the time. What does it mean then? It just means that a person is trying to find out the moods of another person, mostly bosses. Moods in this case are just as unpredictable as the weather. It swings from good to bad and vice versa.

In our lives, we have good days and bad days throughout the years. There are days where we are full of energy and thinking rationally will be smooth flowing. What will happen when those days were bad, meaning that whatever job one handled will end up in wrecks? Bad moods seeped in and whoever in the path will end up in a war. Different people have different feelings, and it is usually these feelings that sparked off the good or bad moods. Moods are very dramatic and changes unpredictably. They have negative impacts on a person’s ability to get along well with another and to function properly in his daily affairs.

Ever wonder what causes these mood swings? Many people say that it is due to work stress. After a hard day’s work, one tends to be too tired and simple fault in the family will trigger their anger or patience. People who are under extreme stress may experience more moodiness than normal. They felt out of control because of these extreme moods.

Loneliness might be another reason too. One may have the inferior complex that the whole world is against him and let him be all alone. These people have the perception that no one care, love and listen to them anymore. They expect people to accompany them all the time. If someone rejected them, they will feel so down and emotional to think rationally.

Drug and alcohol abuse are also reasons for unstable moods. Taking drugs other than prescript drugs by medical personnel is definitely a no. Drugs not only wear out the body physically, it also affects the mind in noting reality. Moods of a drug user can change drastically from an emotional person to a brutal murderer. Limit the consumption of alcohol as well. Some will say, “Alcohol can really drown your sorrow and loneliness” but what they do not realized is that alcohol can kill the body and mind too.

Physical and health problems can also affect the moods. Sometimes, a sick or a handicapped person will think that God is so unfair to make them this way. These people have poor anger management. They can get emotional easily.

Environment and childhood experiences also cause this mood disorder. Certain trauma or abuse during childhood such as parental divorce, continuous criticism, abandonment when young, verbal, physical and sexual abuses are partly blamed for the mood swings. These moods have been dormant so some time until some external forces, pressures or stressors caused them to erupt uncontrollably.

Is there any way one can control these bad moods? Well, there are no concrete ways one can control something that cannot be seen on the surface but there are ways on how to suppress these bad moods. Moods are contagious and would you want to contaminate others with your bad moods? If not, then let us study some basic steps below.

- To realize that you cannot help being depressed or anxious as you like. It is beyond your control and you are not at fault.

- To discover the root of your mood swings and try to eradicate them immediately. You can seek the help of professionals or in the comfort of a close friend. Spit it out and you will feel more stress-free.

- To identify the source of your moody problems. Are they from your childhood or are they from the environment you are in now? Go into detailed scenario and identify which part of it triggered your inner self to be depressed, anxious and being emotionally aggressive. Sometimes, these moods can be triggered by the feelings, actions and behaviors of people surrounding us as it depict who we are.

- To find a solution to avoid these little triggers. Keeping mum and not trying hard to express what you think or how you feel would not help you at all. Nobody can read what you think or experience how you feel if you do not tell them. Openness and directness will soothe your moodiness. Stop giving excuses that others will know by seeing your drastic change of moods. Well, nobody will!

- You cannot do this alone by yourself. You will always need the help of family and friends. We are social animals and by observing and reacting to others, we learn up many things for our self development. Moods cannot always be controlled but somehow by changing our approach in our relationships with others will help us. We need to stay calm in any situation and think positively before condemning any aspects of our lives. By doing this, we can learn to be the person we were meant to be…a happier person.


Tuesday 28 August 2007

MOVING CLOUDS OF LIFE

CLOUDS

Beyond the horizon,
Clouds gathered quickly,
Sun hidden permanently.
Darkness seeped in,
Gloomy as it can be.

Thunder boomed noisily,
Lightning struck angrily,
Rain hit the ground furiously,
As if God has saddened,
From up above the changing sky.

Once strong and robust,
Now shrunken to mere skins and bones.
Stricken by illness physically and mentally,
Lies the body of a young suffering child,
Awaiting death knocking at the door.

Life had been sweet,
Even sweeter than the honey,
But life had been filled with so much suffering,
That we end up confusingly asking,
Why must it hit us so hard with such a brutal blow?

Staring blankly upon the sky,
I asked myself about my time and destiny.
How far more can I continue my journey?
No one knows neither do I,
I’ll just drift along with nature’s clouds as long as I can.

Note: In memory of my friend’s son, Ian (March 1993 – August 2007) who had lost his battle against brain tumor recently.


Friday 24 August 2007

PHOTO HUNTERS: HAPPY

What would be more memorable than having
the marriage of two HAPPY people.
The HAPPY occasion was held in a restaurant
at the 59th Floor of KOMTAR, Penang’s tallest building,
overseeing the scenic view of the island.
Here are the beautiful photos of the HAPPY couple.

HAPPY01

Here is the HAPPY photo of
my so-called hamsters.
Don’t you think they looked HAPPY?

HAPPY02

While enjoying those HAPPY photos,
you can listen to this wonderful song.
It indeed made me remembered all those unforgettable
HAPPY moments I had when I was young.


For those Photo Hunters members,
Please click Mister Linky above and enter your information for easy tracking.
Thank you and have a HAPPY Weekend!


Thursday 23 August 2007

DISILLUSIONMENTS IN LIFE

DISILLUSIONMENT

What do you understand by the meaning of disillusionment? It means intellectually deceived or misled as to cause misinterpretation of its actual nature. What has disillusionment got to do with our lives? Well, there are many things in our lives that are blinded by certain unseen internal and external forces. We tend to get affected by these forces that we do not “see” things as they should be.

For the case of a relationship, there are always the disillusions. We are always blinded by love during courtship to notice those little things that may lead us to unhappiness afterwards. It is the expectation of perfection. We expect that a relationship would be filled with never ending of romance, happiness, togetherness, care and love. How often does this really become a reality? Most of the times, it leads to disappointment.

In a relationship, there should be the awareness of each others’ needs and wants. A man might have just some simple basic needs such as coming home to a lovely meal and a soft wet kiss whereas a woman’s needs might be more. She requires the attention, warmth, comfort and security of the other. Disputes do happen most of the times as those needs are usually never being fulfilled. Bit by bit, these disappointments built resentments that could lead to an unhappy relationship. Be open, talk it out and discuss these disappointments between each other and the frictions in the relationship will be lessen. Hearing and discussing each others’ views has always been the best solution in any relationships.

Other than that, there are the disillusionments on big organizations. Many people picture big organizations as places which can provide good job opportunities and career advancements. What they do not know is that as a company gets bigger, there will more people under the pillars of the organization. Each person will try to fight their way up the corporate ladder. Thus, there will be never ending of office politics such as disputes, gossips, grapevines, backstabbing, favoritism, shrewdness and so on. Therefore, most of the time, the level of job satisfactions and happiness are never up to their expectations. Big organizations are places for survivals of the fittest and inactive players are usually thrown out. For those who are familiarized with the evil of these games will normally choose a more low profile organization to work in. Welcome to the working world!

Now let us look into other disillusionments that may occur within the blogosphere. A lot of people thought that by blogging, writing paid posts or relying on paid adverts, they will grow rich fast and retire happily at home. These are for sure disillusionments for many. What some people do not realize is that without determination, persistent, consistent, commitment and responsibility, one will only gain peanuts. By sitting down and dreaming away would not help at all. Do you think those Blog Gurus just sat down there and did nothing? A tree will not flower and bear fruits well if the ground is not properly fertilized. It is through their sheer hard work and those abovementioned values that they are where they are today. On top of these, they do spend some time on researching how to maximize their sites as well as improve their page ranks.

There is still much disillusionment our lives. Do you have something which you would like to add onto the list? Do share it out here.


Wednesday 22 August 2007

DONT’S YOU JUST LOVE SQUIDS?

SQUIDS

They are simply too delicious whether boiled, steamed, grilled, stir fry or even deep fried in tempura flour. Unfortunately, I am not here to talk about food today. What I am looking here are the Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs). I am just going to give you a brief of what these devices can do.

SQUIDS02

SQUIDs have been used to detect minute bio-magnetic fields in the body, including those from energy practitioners (Oschman 1998). Researchers at the Institute of HearthMath have discovered that electromagnetic fields generated by the heart act as a synchronizing signal for the entire body. In addition, the magnetic portion of the heart’s field is five thousand limes greater than that of the brain and can be measured several meters away using a SQUID magnetometer.

These experiments also suggest that the electromagnetic energy of the heart can be exchanged between people who are close to each other or touching (McCraty 1998), (McCraty 2004).

So, what are you all waiting now? Give your beloved ones some hugs now.

A hug is meant to cheer you when you are blue,
It also means “I Love You” …oh so true.
It can soothe heart pains,
And never let them surface again.
Open those arms today,

And give someone a hug without any delay!


Criz Lai



Monday 20 August 2007

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN

WOMEN

Have you ever wondered which of the two sexes is more intelligent? You might be surprised as researches have shown that women are 3% more intelligent than men. Why is it so? You tend to see a lot of women out there behaving as though they know nothing and they are constantly in the state of being blurred. The answer is simple. For the sake of their men, they have to act dumb as men do not like to be humiliated in public. Men would do anything to avoid getting their “faces” tarnished in public.

Sometimes I do find women to be real detectors. Men just find it rather hard to lie to them. Women tend to have that in-born ability to detect men’s verbal and body languages. On top of that, their sense and sight are real sharp. Different perfume scent other than theirs will be detected within seconds. Even a small tiny stain on men’s shirt will not slipped away from their detection. So, men better not to get their shirts stained with lipstick marks. I would not want to know the end results too.

Do you think that men are more vocal than women? Well, men usually do things silently and secretly behind women. On the other hand, women will just talk nonstop and aloud most of the time. This made men think that they are naggers. You want to know why? It is because women use an average of 20,000 communicative words, sounds and gestures daily while men only use 7,000. That is about three times more. So guys, please take note of this. If a woman talks to you, it means she like you a lot. If she does not, it means you are in for big troubles.

When involved in a relationship, men are usually at the losing end. They get lots of stresses and heart burns during year end. This is due to the endless sales available in the market. Women buy things through their eyes and feelings, men train their eyes and mouth to be bigger with the bills. With all these nice services, including being the 24 hours Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), why is the percentage of women leaving men higher? Women think that men are not romantic enough and are not emotionally equipped. They think men are lifeless animals with their quietness. In fact, it was proven that men do talk less after marriages as words and expression hardly exist in their vocabularies now. On any occasion, they will just choose cards filled with many words inside just to avoid having too many spaces in them to write on.

When it comes to sex, women always need reasons for that and usually it will be with the person she loves. Men will just select any place that is convenient for them and sex will never ever be enough 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Sometimes, women are not happy with men’s sex performance. It is because men lost their sensitivity during puberty. I do not have to explain this as men should be able to know which specific area this is.

When a woman is unhappy with her relationship, she cannot concentrate well on her work. Men’s minds work the other way round. Bad working days mean bad relationships at home. That is why arguments spark during a bad working day for men. When it comes to having one too many things to do, men will concentrate one thing at a time. Women are pre-programmed multi-tasking performers. They can talk through the phone, watch TV, do some online paid post, take care of the washing of clothes and also cook for the family. So now, who do you think are better and more efficient workers? Men or women?

I might be a guy to write all these points. Guys…do not shoot me yet. Think of this as a humorous way to accept a woman as who she is. Women are sentimental beings who are very precious in our lives. Without them, you and I will not be in this world. Appreciate them and cherish all those good moments you have with them.


Sunday 19 August 2007

HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS THROUGH SPEECH AND WRITING

SPEECH

The blogosphere is so wide and in it you will find many different types of characters. Everyone has a different way and style when conversing or even writing. Sometimes you do not have to meet up a person to know his or her characteristic and behavior. If you are observant enough, you may just be able to pluck the characteristics of a person from just a short conversation or what he or she wrote. You do not need to be a psychologist to be able to do that too. How true is it? Why don’t you analyze the questionnaires below to find out which category you or the other party belongs to?

QUESTION:
When you are involved in a conversation with another person, what is the phrase that you used most frequent?
A. However…but
B. Maybe, I think, I guess
C. I heard, Example, Someone said
D. Should have, Surely, Certainly
E. Frankly, Honestly, Definitely, I don’t bluff you

Are you curious to know the answers? Here are the answers in alphabetical order:

ANSWER A: You somehow like to do things your way by stressing that your solutions would be ideal for everyone. In a working environment, you tend to be too tactful in presenting the facts and figures that most people will just give you the cold shoulder. In fact, most people will say that you are trying to act smart.

ANSWER B: You are very defensive in your approach and thus it is not easy for you to leak out any of your feelings or thoughts. You always keep your cool when handling people or work. Most of the time, you are fully aware of the happenings surrounding you. You are suitable in the human relationship and service sectors.

ANSWER C: Even though you have all the facts and figures, you tend to lack the confidence to resolve matters. There is always a third party involved in most of your conversations. You tend to be contradictory most of the time when handling your work but still work does get done smoothly.

ANSWER D: You are a cool, knowledgeable and confident person by nature. On top of that, you have good persuasive power to influence others. You have high chances to become a good leader.

ANSWER E: You feel insecure in gaining the trust of others. You tend to stress on facts and figures to get yourself known and to set a status for yourself in the society. You may have a lot of “worshippers” with your knowledge and experiences; however, you lack the confidence to excel further in the society.


Saturday 18 August 2007

PHOTO HUNTERS: TWO

LOVE always exists when there are TWO.
LOVE works miracles and never dies.
LOVE is when you and I are together.
Jon and Jess never fail to be together at anytime of the day.
That’s the LOVE between the TWO of them.

TWO01

When TWO are together,
There are always the HUGGING and KISSING,
not forgetting the LICKING.

TWO02

To commemorate their togetherness,
the
TWO of them were given
TWO nice aluminum pendants
studded with
TWO Austrian Swarovski Crystals.
The
TWO pendants can be joined as one,
meaning that their LOVE is eternity.

TWO03

Here are my TWO beautiful kittens hugging,
and showing off their TWO gifts of LOVE.

TWO04


For those Photo Hunters members,
Please click Mister Linky above and enter your information for easy tracking.
Thank you.
Have a LOVE-FILLED Weekend!


Friday 17 August 2007

BOTTLES OF LIFE

Here is something for you to ponder during the weekend. What is the similarity amongst all the bottles? Do you realize that they have something to do with your life?

BOTTLES OF LIFE

What you see above are a baby bottle, a coke bottle, a beer bottle, a urinal bottle and a formaldehyde bottle. How do these bottles represent you in life? They depict the different stages of your life, namely BIRTH, LIFE, OLD AGE and DEATH.

The baby bottle shows your birth in this world. It is your first step into your journey of life, observing, learning and gathering knowledge to be a part of the society.

The coke bottle shows you into your teenage years, enjoying life as it is, gathering more knowledge and experience along the way to be well equipped to face the working world.

The beer bottle shows that you have attained adulthood, equipped to fight for your survival to stay alive in this world, and ready to own a place called family.

The urinal bottle shows you towards the end of your life journey where you have not much control over your body. Sickness seeps in mysteriously and if you have not done much to be financially equipped for this stage, you will be in deep trouble.

The formaldehyde bottle shows you in your final journey in life where you no longer have possession over your body. It means death. Formaldehyde is one of the chemicals used in preserving the body for a period of time to enable your loved one to bid you farewell for the last time in this world.

This post may sounds simple but how many of us do really open up our mind to see things from a different angle and understand them well? How many of us are really prepared for a smooth flowing life in the future? Life is short and time has never been enough to do what we want in life. Before you realized that, you are already halfway through your life journey. Plan and prioritize what you need to do now. Delaying would not help you anyway. It all lies within the grasp of your hands!

Wednesday 15 August 2007

THERE ARE NO MORE EXCUSES FOR NOT COMMENTING

Criz’s Sanctuary

Do you ever realize that you seem to get not many comments for your posts most of the time? What are the reasons people are not commenting? Is it because of plain laziness to blog hop and make a comment or is it because there are no benefits at all for the blog hoppers to gain?

After weeks for researching and commenting in foreign blogs, I came across some interesting findings which I think it will be a waste if I do not share them with my readers. Everyone deserved the right to improve their page rank as well as getting better traffics and backlinks for their sites. Try checking out Dave Lucas's site on increasing blog traffics. Some of you might not even know how to do this without proper guidance. Since I am a Blogger user, I am going to share with you the findings.

Most of the time, you will just use the pre-designed templates provided by Blogger. That is the easiest way out as not many people have the knowledge and experience to come out with a good design. On top of that, there is the HTML language barrier. What you do not know is that all the templates come with a “nofollow attribute”. This is to discourage comment spam. By doing this, you are stopping the search spiders to follow the link and thus stopping the sharing of your “Google Juice” with your fellow bloggers.

What can you do to attract your readers to comment? You share your link juice with them, once they comment in your post. What is the EXTRA BENEFIT that you can give to your readers as a token of appreciation? You give them backlinks. Here are the simple 3 steps that may help you:

Firstly, to discourage comment spam, you need to set the comment moderation in your Blogger account. After logging in your Dashboard, go to CUSTOMIZE, SETTINGS, COMMENT, ENABLE COMMENT MODERATION, YES. Save your template after you are done.

Secondly, you have to do some minor alteration to your HTML in Blogger. Before doing that, save a backup by clicking on DOWNLOAD FULL TEMPLATE. Then, go to CUSTOMIZE, EDIT HTML, tick the EXPAND WIDGET TEMPLATES, search for the following codes:

< dl id='comments-block'>
< b:loop values='data:post.comments'var='comment'>
< dt class='comment-author'expr:id='"comment-" + data:comment.id'>
< a expr:name='"comment-" +data:comment.id'/>
< b:if cond='data:comment.authorUrl'>
< a expr:href='data:comment.authorUrl'
rel='nofollow'> < data:comment.author/> < /a>
< b:else/>
< data:comment.author/>
< /b:if>
< data:commentPostedByMsg/>
< /dt>

REMOVE the codes in RED. Save the template.

Criz’s Sanctuary

Lastly, CHOOSE a nice COLOUR WIDGET which is suitable for your blog template from Randy Clay Design to be added prominently to your side bar. This is to ensure that whoever sees this logo will be aware that they will gain an additional backlink from you by commenting. Do encourage your fellow bloggers to do this as this is a WIN-WIN situation for both parties.

For those who are using Wordpress, you can visit this site to gather more information. As for Moveable Type users, try this site.


Tuesday 14 August 2007

PERCENTAGE OF HAVING IDENTICAL TWINS

TWINS

“Women who are themselves fraternal twins have a 10% chance of producing twins. Identical twin women have only a 0.6% probability of having a twin birth. Once a woman conceives twins, she has a 5% (that's one in twenty) chance of having twins again. There are no interesting parallels to these percentages among dads! A man who is a twin has the same probability of fathering twins as any other man.”

I just love the highlighted statement. I should be asking PapaJoneh on his next planning later when he is not in such a hectic and panicky situation being a new papa all over again. Hehehe… In his latest post “I am PapaBoys X3 now”, he now has his 3 years old son, Josh and his two newly born identical twins, Preston and Presley. These two healthy 2.3kg twins were born on 10 August 2007 in the wee hours of the day. Even though the twins were just 33 weeks old (7 weeks ahead of the expected delivery date), the delivery went on smoothly. The mother and twins are now resting comfortably at home. Here is the “stolen” photo of Josh, Preston and Presley. They are cute, right?

PapaJoneh’s 3 Sons

Well, congratulations PapaJoneh on your newly born twins! For those who wish to leave a message, especially the Shouters, drop by PapaJoneh’s website and give him your “love messages”. Just make sure you do not leave him messages like, “Hey, you have your hands full now!” or maybe “Gosh…you have double trouble now!” or even “Whoa…I can see more gray hairs on you head now!” Hahaha…just joking there PapaJoneh :)

Monday 13 August 2007

SENSITIVITY TOWARDS OTHERS’ FEELINGS

SENSITIVE

Have you ever felt insulted by a general comment that made you get agitated and pissed off easily with the person who commented that statement? What made you react in such a way? Is it due to work overload, pressures, stress, worries, fatigue, etc or are you just too sensitive over the happenings surrounding you?

How would you react if a person continuously address you or everyone as “slut”, “playboy”, “jerk”, “weirdo”, “cheapo”, “sex maniac”, “bull”, “cow” or even “pig” although this is not the shown characteristics of the other? This may come as a joke in the beginning but if done continuously, the idea of the so-called nicknames or insults will get embedded in the minds of others. Is this fair to the “victims” by giving such verbal abuses? Are you being sensitive towards the feelings of others regardless of race, belief, religion or culture? Even a single will not accept being called a slut nor will he like to be termed as a playboy. Maybe some of you are not aware that certain animals are considered as sacred animals to a race while others are taboo even just to mention the name by itself.

A human mind is conceived with abnormalities and super sensitivity towards hearing, touch, sight, scent as well as thought. No one hear, feel, see, smells or think alike. To one, it may be a general statement, to another, a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death.

By nature, I must admit that I belong to the Highly Sensitive People (HSP). I manage my life by trusting and understanding this power of sensitivity. It is from here that I obtained the inspiration to generate love, kindness, compassion, patience, understandings and to share this wisdom with anyone who needed help. It may sound like a good gift but it has its side effect on being drained of own energy mentally and physically. I would not elaborate on this but you can check up the meaning of empath to get a clearer understanding.

Coming back to the topic of sensitivity, can the level of sensitivity be increased? The answer is “Yes”. Some believed that sensitivity is a natural born talent, which could be developed through the years. Others think that it is just empathy, which many factors in our present world discouraged us to do so. Some people do have this ability to “see” and understand things differently, but most people will just fake it. This gift comes with maturity and experiences to see life in different perspectives. Judgements and predictions are usually based on these life experiences. Some people will think that the person is weird but in actual situation which human is daring enough to confront his “true bad self” in a receptive way? I would not accept too unless I am prepare to open up and accept changes in life to equip myself better for the future.

Having an open mind and good listening power can be found commonly in a sensitive person. They tend to listen attentively, digest all the facts, recognized the keywords in a conversation before applying their “past experiences” and knowledge to the conversation. In short, it means messages get processed through the brains before coming out from the mouth. The ability of such person excels fairly well when it comes to identify certain keywords to brainstorm new ideas and articles to write in their blogs.

Sensitive people are also very observant in non-verbal communication such as body languages, gestures, speech frequencies and tones or even styles of writing articles. These unnoticed communication modes will determine the happiness, sadness or even motives of a person. They are always mentally alert within the environment they are in.

Maybe some of you would like to find out how sensitive you are towards another person. Try out the sensitivity test to find out more about yourself. You could even try out my personality test to know who you are too.


Saturday 11 August 2007

PHOTO HUNTERS: ROW

This week’s topic is on ROW,
Let us go back to our childhood years
and sing our favourite nursery rhyme.
“Humpty Dumpty sat on the “ROW
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Cannot put Humpty Dumpty together again.”

ROW01

Why must Humpty Dumpty be so stubborn?
He would be safer if he has sat in the hole on the ROW
.

ROW02

And see what happen now?
All the angel animals have lined up in a
ROW
Waiting to have Humpty Dumpty for breakfast

ROW03

Back Row: Doggy, Giffy, Donkey and Froggy
Front Row: Lamby, Rabby, Mousey, Mooey and Tiggy


For those Photo Hunters members,
Please click Mister Linky above and enter your information for easy tracking.
Thank you.
Have a Great Weekend!


Friday 10 August 2007

A LIFELONG COMPANION

Criz’s Sanctuary

If you have noticed it, my whole blog theme has been changed to go in line with the advertisement shown in the Nuffnang Ads. It is an advertisement by SPCA Selangor. I am an animal lover by nature and I am going to share with you the advantages of owning a pet. Pet plays an important role in our lives as they can help us physically, emotionally socially and security.

How does owning a pet or some pets help in a family? First and foremost, it helps us to have some healthy values such as lowering high blood pressure, preventing heart disease and combating depression. Pets do help us to live more energetic lives. Walking a dog or even watching those fishes swimming in your aquarium indeed does help. By taking your dog out for a run, you will get more exercise too. It has been proven that those who own pets at home have less arthritis or backbone problems. What about fishes? In Japan, it is believed that all offices have at least one aquarium. By watching the greeneries of the aqua landscaping and the care free movements of the fishes, one tends to have a more relaxing and calm mind. Thus, it is a mode of anti depression and stress.

Criz’s Sanctuary

Have you ever thought of improving your child to be a more responsible citizen in the future? If you are eager to see that happen, get a pet to be part of your family. Children absorb life values quickly at a tender age. They can learn the importance of responsibility by tendering to the needs of pets. It also fosters a closer relationship between the child and the parents while caring for the pet together. It also develops a sense of discipline as the child will have the duties to be in charge of the pet daily. Taking a pet to the veterinarian for sickness or vaccination will get them exposed to the world of medical issues. They will learn to see the life situations of being sick, old age or even death. This will prepare them to face the real world out there with a stronger stand emotionally.

Pets do provide emotional benefits as they shower us with unconditional love and attention. They help to reduce our loneliness and anxiety. They provide us relaxation and at times giving our lives some touches of humour. They do not care if we are unattractive, old, incompetent or mentally ill. People look to them for solace, especially in the case of the loss of loved ones. Pets acts as a stress buffer in these life situations. The best thing is that they never complain.

Criz’s Sanctuary

Having a dog at home makes us feel more secure. We feel safer to have them around the house. They warn us of the approach of strangers and protect our homes from intruders. Even if they are small sized toy dogs, their bark is enough to scare the wits out of any burglar. Dogs are wonderful cheerleaders. They boost up our spirits and eliminate our depression. Dog owners are never at a loss for laughter with the energetic pets’ daily dose of fun. Laughter has been shown to be therapeutic. It can fight off illness and even promotes healing.

Criz’s Sanctuary

So if you intend to live a healthier lifestyle or having a more united family, why don’t you adopt a pet or even purchase one today? Mr. Spot, Ms Polly, Mr. Whiskers, Ms Mousey, Mr. Gold Fish or even Mr. Conan Cat will surely be happy to see you… Haha!

Wednesday 8 August 2007

UNDERSTANDING SOME HUMAN PERSONALITIES

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Have you ever sat down and study within yourself how many different personalities you have? Sometimes you may act like a child playing “peekaboo” with your spouse, children or adult friends. Sometimes you may act as tame as a kitty cat, as wild as a tiger, as hysterical as a hyena, as talkative as a parrot, as hungry as the wolves or even as wise as an owl. Have you ever thought that you are a combination of all these personalities? These are some of the images of who you are, images of your “SELF”. No one person on earth has only one personality. Most of us are born to act differently in different environment or different situation.

Since birth, you have been labeled. What lied under that label is you. You start to believe in that label and live based on what other people has taught you, namely your parents. When you grew up, you have friends whom will influence you with their own labeling. “Hey…why go for local made when you can have more sophisticated made?” You tend to get interested and drifted away from your culture and tradition to have a taste of something that is new. How long you stay under that label depends on your mentality. How much of those perceptions are right or wrong depends on your maturity? This is where those different personalities are gathered from.

I often noticed that a number of people who hated evil most are likely to be very evil themselves? What made me conclude to this statement? Very often, these type of people tagged the evilness of others but not themselves. I was once like that too. Criticizing and insulting others were my second nature. As age gets older, I realized that these actions are of no benefits to me at all as when I pointed my finger at others, the other fingers are pointed back to me. Feeling superior and happy when denouncing others whom we deemed evil was not the ideal choice anymore. It has only given me the temporary false sense and turned myself into an evil. Isn’t it better for me to look into myself to avoid the recurrences of that personality or characteristic?

How do like someone whom will never stop telling lies? How do you feel when a person lies to you? What does one get if one lives a life filled with lies? I am sure that person will not grow up mentally and psychologically if one does not live a life of truth? What will happen if one lived the life of lies? There will be never ending of lies on top of lies. By the end of the day, one will not remember what has been the first lie. Do you think there is any real lasting joy and satisfaction in staying at such a stage?

Here is a simple test which may determine your personalities. Do give it a try by selecting ONE PHOTO which you think suit you best:

 Criz’s Sanctuary

CAREER

  • Gold: guard, banker, FBI agent
  • Blue: poet, actor, wizard, musician, sensitive counselor, prophetess
  • Green: scientist, nerd, computer genius
  • Orange: party animal, warrior, mountain man, craftsman, "real man", wild woman

Now select ONE COLOUR which you think suit you best:

Criz’s Sanctuary

GOALS

  • Gold: security, acceptance by others, material goods, authority
  • Blue: harmony, good emotions, using intuition, know self better
  • Green: understand everything, question everything, learn novel insights, independence
  • Orange: use immediate impulses, develop skills, fun, adventure, escape boredom

CHARACTERISTICS

Gold: You like structures and rules, high desire to be organized, to know what is expected and to fulfill those expectations. You may like school and being perfect in school work. You may dislike rowdies and rule breakers.

Blue: You like feelings, high desire for harmony between people. You are often spiritual and imaginative. You may be most unhappy with strife and discord and with those who value rules or ideas more than people.

Green: You like thinking and reasoning. You like inquiry and questioning everything. You often dislike routine or following illogical instructions or traditions.

Orange: You like action, sensational things and fun. You are often good at rapid problem solving and sizing up people quickly. You especially hate being bored, inaction or being pinned down. You frequently dislike school, lessons, books, extended explanations or discussions. You have a strong and immediate impact on others.

Monday 6 August 2007

SHOUTOUT “MARI PHOTO” COMPETITION

@ This competition is endorsed by PenangPenang.com

Finally, I managed to reach my 100th post today. Without the supports of you guys and gals, I would not have reached this far. I do hope to get your continuous support in the near future. Thank you very much.

To celebrate this accomplishment for reaching so far, I have tied up with www.penangpenang.com, the brainchild behind ShoutOut, Malaysia’s first ever nationwide coverage LIVE shoutbox to hold a photography competition.

 Criz’s Sanctuary

Welcome to ShoutOut first ever photography competition for members. Would you want to own this cute touch panel databank? Just hop down to the Rules and Regulations section for more information.

Criz’s Sanctuary

RULES AND REGULATION:

  1. This competition is open to all ShoutOut members (hereafter addressed as “Shouters”) regardless of age, sex and location.
  2. If you are not a Shouter but would like to participate, please click ShoutOut to join and install the ShoutOut shoutbox in your website/blog.
  3. Each participant is allowed to submit ONLY ONE PHOTOGRAPH.
  4. The photograph must be based on the THEME given as below.
  5. Participants must insert this competition logo at the top of the post which will link to the competition post in Criz’s Sanctuary and another logo which linked to the post you are submitting for the competition at the side bar of your website/blog.
  6. Each participant MUST use the ShoutOut LOGO and/or the ShoutOut Display Card in the photo submitted.
  7. Closing date has been extended to 27th August 2007.
  8. After you have posted your photo in your website/blog, kindly leave a note in the competition post in Criz’s Sanctuary stating that you have posted your photo. Our judges will then visit your website/blog after the closing date.
  9. THEME FOR THE COMPETION: AS CUTE AS MY SHOUTOUT. Find the cutest way to promote ShoutOut. You can download the logos provided in Item 6 above.
  10. A panel of judges will be appointed for this competition and the judges’ decisions are final and no correspondences will be entertained thereafter.
  11. The prize will be sent to winner by post or by hand if in Penang.

HERE ARE THE HTML CODINGS FOR EASY POSTING:

MAIN POST:

<a href="http://crizlai.blogspot.com/2007/08/shoutout-mari-photo-competition.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w271/crizlai/SOPHOTO/PHOTOLOGO.jpg"/>

Here is my submission for
SHOUTOUT “MARI PHOTO” COMPETITION
“AS CUTE AS MY SHOUTOUT”

INSERT YOUR PHOTO HERE
(5.5” x 4.125”/ 550 x 413 dpi)

SIDEBAR LOGO:

<a href="PHOTO SUBMISSION ARTICLE LINK" target="_blank"><img border="0" width=”144” src="http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w271/crizlai/SOPHOTO/PHOTOLOGO.gif"/>



Sunday 5 August 2007

NATURAL DIY REMEDIES – PART 1

Criz’s Sanctuary

With the sudden change of weather, quite a large number of people are having some sort of flu symptoms, namely cough, cold, sore throat and dizziness. Thus, most people will just pay a visit to the doctor for treatments. The medication provided may contain antibiotics for speedy recovery. Sometimes, with a heavy schedule, we tend to forget to consume the prescribed medication. This will result in boosting the viral infection to be immune to the medication in future.

What is the next best precaution against this problem? Well, natural products are the best as it does not contain any chemical compounds. Here are some of the few recipes that have been taught to me by an older generation. Maybe by sharing these simple recipes, it might be of some use to you.

PREVENTION OF FLU (WHERE THERE ARE SIGNS OF FLU)

Slice one yellow pear. Add 2 bowl of water and some rock sugar. Bring to boil until it becomes a bowl. Add some lemon juice before drinking.

NATURAL CURE FOR FLU

Slice 25g ginger and one yellow pear. Add one bowl of water. Bring to boil, then lower the fire and boil until left half bowl. Consume while hot.

or

Pour 50 -100cc of red wine into a pot. Bring to boil. Add in one egg and stir. Drink when it cools down.

NATURAL CURE FOR DRY COUGH

Remove the seed of 2 pears. Add in some rock sugar in the pear. Double boil. Consume the pear and the liquid.

LONG TIME COUGH (SOMETIMES KNOWN AS 100-DAYS COUGH)

One carrot, 12 red dates. Add in 3 bowls of water. Boil with slow fire until left one bowl. Drink 3 tablespoon, 3 times a day for 4 days.

SORE THROAT
Note: Whenever there is any sign of an ulcer, stir one teaspoon of kitchen salt with half a glass of warm water. Gaggle the throat with the mixture at least twice a day.

Brew a cup of green tea. Add in honey when cool. Slowly drink. Drink a few times until the sore throat recovers.

or

For flu related sore throat: Blend 50 green beans. Add in a glass of water, some rock sugar and tea leaves (preferably Chinese or Green Tea leaves). Brew for 15 minutes. Drink until the sore throat recovers.

NOTE:
This is just some alternative suggestions to the above illness. If the sickness became worst, please visit a doctor immediately. The author is not responsible for any outcome that may arise from any other complications.


PAREIDOLIA THROUGH OUR EYES

PAREIDOLIA

Pareidolia is a type of illusion or misperception involving a vague stimulus such as images or sound which is often perceived as clearly being something. There are two types of pareidolia namely Visual Pareidolia and Auditory Pareidolia.

Auditory Pareidolia existed since 1971 with the discovery of Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP). Voices or messages can sometimes be heard in some music or recordings. Visual Pareidolia is more common as it can be found on items surrounding us, namely household floor, toilet wall, tree bark, cloud formation or even in the food we are eating.

The human mind works differently when given a drawing to describe. Whatever you “see” through your eyes does not necessary be the same as what another person may perceive. There have been cases that some people saw images of certain religious figures on certain items in front of them. For example, in 1978 a Mexican woman found the face of Jesus Christ on one of the burned mark of a tortilla she had made. This incident has attracted thousands of people from all over the world to her place to view the tortilla.

Based on a theory, humans are born to identify a human face even with poor visibility. It is a survival technique to identify friends and enemies. This technique may lead them to interpret random images or patterns of light and shade as being faces or objects. So how observant are you in identify patterns within your surroundings? Let us discuss further with some images below:

STARE at the 4 black dots for 30 seconds. Blink your eyes 3 times. Now look at the empty space on the right. What do you see? It is an amazing optical illusion right?

ILLUSION

Now look at this landscape shot of a valley. It is beautiful right? Now tilt your head to the right. What do you see now? It is God’s own creation.

FACE

Here is a snapshot of my cat, Jon. Study the marking on its forehead. Can you imagine seeing Davy Jones with a pirate’s hat?

JONHEAD01

JONHEAD02


Saturday 4 August 2007

PHOTO HUNTERS: FUNKY

This week’s topic is on FUNKY,
I would like to show you the
FUNKY TRANSFORMATION
of my friend’s son, Chris.
Look at his FUNKY hairstyle, colors & tongue piercing.


Criz’s Sanctuary

For those Photo Hunters members,
Please click Mister Linky above and enter your information for easy tracking.
Thank you.
Have a Great Weekend!



Friday 3 August 2007

BRANDING - THE TATTOO WAY?

Criz’s Sanctuary

Can you bear the pain of having your skin pierced into just to get a unique identity stained onto your body for the rest of your lives? Based on some research, approximately one in seven adults has at least one tattoo on their bodies. Tattoo used to be related to sailors and bikers. In this modern day, it has become a trend amongst some teenagers and working personnel. People are beginning to accept the fact that this is a special and unique way to express their own identity. In short, they are branding themselves.

The popularity of tattooing has surged in recent years. Men and women getting tattoos are from every walk of life. Initially, those with tattoos were considered having rebellious and rowdy behaviors. However, the younger generations view it as a form of body art, a way to express themselves in a form of self decoration. Some even have some charms embedded onto their body for protection against evils.

Somehow there are some who outgrew tattooing when they are about to start a professional career, to get married, or even have children. The hassle of covering the removal tattoo markings with makeup, socks, long sleeves shirt could be quite a headache. Removing a tattoo is much more difficult and expensive than getting one in the first place. Any side effects or infections are not covered by insurance as well.

Let us have some humor on how a professional tattoo his body. Sit tight and please fasten your seat belt as you might just fall off your chair after reading what I have to say.

Arriving home real late one night, an accountant’s wife got furious and asked her husband, "Where the hell have you been? Do you know what time it is now?" Smilingly he replied, "I was down town getting my tattoo done.

"What? A tattoo?" she said while frowning. Feeling suspicious as always a wife will be, she asked, "You show me where it is to prove that you are not bitching around!" "Hey, I got a hundred dollar note on my dick," he said proudly while showing to his wife. Shaking her head in disdain, the wife asked, “Gosh…why of all places you must tattoo your dick with a hundred dollar note?

"Well, one, I like to watch my money grow," he began. "Two, once in awhile, I like to play with my money. Three, I like how money feels in my hand. Lastly, instead of you going out shopping, you can stay right here at home and blow a hundred dollar note anytime you want!”

Hahaha… :P


Wednesday 1 August 2007

TIL DEATH DO US PART

Criz’s Sanctuary

What do you look for in a relationship after marrying your soul mate for many years? Those romantic years of courtships would have long been transferred into your memories. Those steady nature and warm feeling leaning against each other is no longer a norm in your life. Laughter no longer existed as your daily medication. You felt insecure in the relationship. You are beginning to grow tired of the relationship and turned restless at his/her every action. You get easily agitated and lose your temper at any small matters that may arise.

You may be a sentimental and sensitive person when it comes to a relationship. You always yearn for those romantic moments to happen once again but will it happen? Your other half’s behavior and inability to bring romantic moments back into your relationship has often disheartened you. Sometimes, you might even have wild thought that he/she is having another affair out there ignoring you all together. You might even make up your mind to ask for a separation or a divorce. Is this drastic decision a good move to get yourself out from the boredom you felt in love? Would you have the courage to say it out loud in front of him/her directly?

What will happen if you think your relationship with your partner has turned sour? Nobody will think alike and nobody can really understand what is actually in the mind of the other. Here is a typical case of a wife who thinks that her husband has no more hope for her.

“I want to break up with you!” shouted the wife to her husband. The husband was shocked and asked “Why?” while holding on the newspaper he was reading half way. “I am tired of you, tired of being ignored, tired of whatever that happened in this house!” said the wife. The confused husband looked at her, shaking his head silently and continued reading his newspaper. You can see him looking into the same section of the news, deeply in thoughts of what has just happened. In the wife’s mind, “How could I have faith on such a person who could not even express himself in time of my needs? He is totally hopeless. He does not deserve to have me anymore!” After a few moments, the husband replied “What is it that you want?”

Wanting to test her husband further, the wife continues, “If I want you to go to the Amazon Jungle to get me the most beautiful flower on earth to make me change my mind, would you still do it for me? Do not forget, the jungle is filled with fierce wild animals, alligators, poisonous snakes, deadly insects and one wrong move and you will be killed.” The wife’s heart sank when she heard him saying, “I will let you know first thing in the morning.”

When she woke up the next morning, he was not in the house. She got panicked searching high and low for him. Wild thoughts swept in her mind, thinking that her husband really went to the jungle to face death when she saw a letter on the table. With trembling hands, she quickly opened the letter. In the letter, it was written:

Dearest Sweetheart,

I would not pick that flower for you, as I might not come back alive when you needed me most. Sometimes, things are taken for granted without us realizing about them consciously. I am not blaming you for making that statement as there is always doubt in any relationships. It is up to us to hold on to what we believe in and have faith in each other.

Do you think I would want to risk my fingers? Who would help you to massage your neck when you are tired from a hard day’s work? When you are so tired and could not run your errands, don’t you think my legs are useful to help you do the job? Why would I risk my palms when I could help you to apply some menthol lotion on your cramped stomach when you have your monthly PMS?

I would not want to loose my eyes too as who would see through the eye of the camera to shot your ever beautiful photos? Who would help you to cut your nails when we grow old and have failing eye sights? Who would take you strolling by the beach to watch the beautiful sunrise or sunset? Unless you could find somebody who could appreciate and love you as much as I do, I am not willing to risk my life to pick the flower for you as yet.

By the way, I have gone out to buy you the breakfast that you have been yearning for so long. When you have finished reading this letter, I guessed I will be back at the door waiting to see that beautiful smiling face of yours once again.

Love you always dear!

XXX

Tears began to flow down her cheek as she rushed over the front door with excitement. Upon opening the door, she saw her husband with one hand holding on to a red rose while the other with her favourite breakfast. She hugged him and gave him a long passionate kiss, ignoring the red rose in his hand.

After all, flowers and romantic moments only appear on the surface of a relationship. What lies under those is the pillar of love. That is true love. When one is surrounded by love all the time, the feeling of excitement fades away subconsciously. We tend to be blinded by the peacefulness and boredom that lie within that true love.

So, are you happy with your marriage? Do you think you still have doubt about your relationship? Would you still make up your mind and make a strong stand on your decision after reading the above incident? It does happen rather frequent in our lives, not only in the husband-wife relationships but also in our relationships with those people close to us. Share the love now as it is still not too late to show that love to your loved ones today.


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