Wednesday 31 October 2007

THE UNDYING LOVE OF A MOTHER

MOTHERLOVE

It just hurts me to hear you cry
When your Mummy never even reply
Did your Mummy ever love you as her child
To let you run crazily in the wild.

In the morning when I rose
I can still hear you crying in that pose
All you need is just a bit of love
From a Mother with an undying love

Tears of joy and tears of pain
As I comfort you under the drizzling rain
Oh come forth my lovely kitty without a name
Let me feed you without making a claim

Kitty oh kitty how fortunate you are today
For me to give you my warmth all the way
I might not be God Sent from above
But I’m here to shower you with all my love

So my kitty dear
I hope that I've made it clear
You are now everything to me
I am now who you wished me to be
To give you that endless touch
Oh baby, I love you so much!

This is a dedication to a stray cat which will mother any stray kittens that came along crying. This mother cat is filled with undying love and compassion for others. Her actions have touched me so deeply.

GAMBLING RAMBLING

GOG

I am a fan of the classic gambling flick with Chow Yun-Fat (of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Anna and the King, Bulletproof Monk, The Curse of the Golden Flower, Pirates of the Caribbean at World's End fame). Chow played the legendary professional gambler Ko Chun, who was dubbed the “God of Gamblers” because of his insane ability to beat the odds at the gambling arts, which includes counting cards, hearing dice, psychological intimidation and outright chicanery.

Chow moved to Hollywood in the mid-'90s in an attempt to duplicate his success on an international scale. I was wondering why he did not appear in any gambling movies in the USA? It would be fun to see him performing in the Las Vegas style casino environment.


With the advancement of technology and fast internet access, online gambling has been swarming the cyberspace rapidly. Gamblers are now enjoying themselves in the comfort of their home. One of the most prominent free guides to online gambling is the TopUsaOnlineCasinos.com. It caters to US players to assist them in finding safe and fun destinations. This wonderful online guide saved you all the trouble of filtering through the thousands of online casino sites which some might not let you claim in full.

GAMBLING

There are also the reviews for the Top10 Online Casino Sites which will allow you to have a clearer picture of the total rating, software rating, game selection, graphics, sounds, payout percentage, speed, trust factor, security, certificate(s), fair play, customer support, deposit options, withdrawal options, bonus, promotions and max bonus. All the features and information are just within a click away.

TopUsaOnlineCasinos.com is the perfect online casino sites review guide for a fun and hassle-free online gambling experience. Amongst some of the online casino games shown in the guide include poker, blackjack, craps, slots and roulette.

Monday 29 October 2007

IT IS ALL IN THE MIND

MIND

Have you heard of the term called “Placebo Effect”? It is an effect that will make a person turnaround for the better by having faith in what he does or consume. Most of the time, this effect is used in the medical field where a patient is given a substitute make-believe medication (sugar pill) to treat his sickness. By believing that the medication is genuine, the patient’s expectation to recover has proven to be remarkably successful. Expectation is a powerful tool in life. The more you believe in yourself, the more positive you get in aiming for the best in life. This is how the human mind works!

The mind has often been referred to as the organ of consciousness. How the body functions in our daily lives is controlled by the mind. Based on perception, the mind can indirectly induce physiological changes to the body. When a person is down and out, the mind works in a chaotic way to think positively. All that comes out from the mind will be of negative thoughts, forever blaming oneself for the failures in life and not wanting to look into other possibilities to get out from the rot. Self confidence is then lost within the misty mind. Maybe some scenarios of placebo effects stated below will give you a clearer picture.


John was a brainy guy but he liked to be a loner, making him the nerd of his class. Being so, he often got laughed at by his classmate for not joining in any of their activities. He felt so useless and depressed all the time. He has totally lost his confidence in socializing even with the quietest girl in class. The lecturer noticed the gradual downfall of John’s future and decided to take some drastic actions to help him rectify his problem.

One day after class, she gave him a pink tablet saying that it was her family secret recipe for boosting up courage. By believing that was true, John became a total changed person the next day. Not only did he excel in his studies, he was the Sportsman of the year. Eventually, girls began to swarm him and he became the Prom King too. Only years after becoming a successful international public relation network founder did he knew about the secret behind the pink pill. It was nothing but a candy pill. His failure in socializing was all in his mind. During a reunion dinner, he was all praise for the lecturer whom had used the placebo effect on him and made him who he was today.

Darren on the other hand had failed miserably in his business deals as a big investor suddenly pulled out from his company shares. He was in the midst of bankruptcy as his debtors were demanding for their payments. His mind was lost for solutions to save his company. Feeling depressed, he went to a nearby garden for a walk to have some fresh air to clear the mind.

An elderly man saw his troubled look and asked him, “Is there anything I can do to help you? You looked depressed.” Darren told him about his woes and how he was deprived of another chance. The man just smiled at him and took out a pen and a cheque book. He then wrote a cheque for $600,000 and signed on it. “Just filled up your name and return the amount to me a year from now here.” Darren was stunned by his kindness. Before he could thank him, the man disappeared. On the cheque was the signature of LBS, one of the richest tycoons in the country.

Darren happily walked back to his office thinking that he was the luckiest man on earth that day. The amount would have saved all his monetary worries. Instead of cashing the cheque immediately, Darren left it securely locked in his drawer. He has his confidence back knowing that there will be enough cash to bail him out from being a bankrupt. With this renewed confidence, it motivated Darren to go all out to seal more deals. Within a few months, Darren closed many big deals and was out of debt. In fact, his company doubled its annual income and the staffs were happy with the bonuses given.

One year later, he went back to the garden with the uncashed cheque. He saw the man sitting on the bench waiting for him. As he was moving towards him, he saw two men in white uniforms approached the elderly man. They had a commotion there. He hurriedly went over to help the man out. Only did he find out that the man was a patient from a nearby psychiatric ward. Darren stood there stunned. He did not know that for the whole year he has been dealing confidently, knowing that he has $600,000 to back him up in case things went wrong. He then realized that it was not the money but his renewed self confidence that made him successful in his business.

Don’t you think the mind is a wonderful asset in our body? By thinking positively, it will boost up our inner power to strive for the better. So don’t give up hope when you are down and depressed. Have the faith in yourself. Believe that whatever hardship and pain you are in, think positively in your approach. After all, if you believe you can do it, you can do it!

BUDGET MEAL: SERIES #3

WELCOME TO THE BUDGET MEAL SERIES#3
RM10 budget for 2 persons for 2 meals

FOOD03A
The food in the photo consist the portion for one person per meal only


DISH 1: STIR FRIED CABBAGE WITH MUSHROOMS AND CRAB STICKS

FOOD03C

DISH 2: TEMPURA CHICKEN

FOOD03B

ESTIMATED COSTING FOR INGREDIENTS:

RICE: RM1 (enough to serve 4 persons)

STIR FRIED CABBAGE WITH MUSHROOMS AND CRAB STICKS:
Cabbage: RM1.50
Carrot: 20sen
Onions: 20sen
Crab Sticks: 40sen
Eggs: 60sen
Mushroom: 50sen
Miscellaneous (pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil, oil, salt): 30sen

TEMPURA CHICKEN:
Chicken Slices: RM1.50
Tempura Flour: RM1
Mayonnaise: RM1
Tomato: 30sen
Pear: 50sen
Miscellaneous (pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil, oil): 50sen

TOTAL AMOUNT SPENT: RM9.50


Note: All amount stated will be based on the proportion used in the cooking.

PREVIOUS BUDGET MEAL SERIES: 1, 2

Sunday 28 October 2007

I AM THE NEWEST PAYPERPOST POSTIE

PPPDIRECTLOGO

Sharing my knowledge and experiences of life matters have been my passion all these while. How else can I spread the sharing other than through my blog? What makes blogging more interesting is that now I can get paid to blog by doing what I love best.

I have known PayPerPost for quite some time now from blog hopping in the blogosphere. I saw many life proofs that this system really worked well for them. Some are even earning tens of thousands annually and had a good life without worrying about monetary problems anymore.

Since my blog is over the 90 days old basic requirement set by PayPerPost, I have decided that I should not be left behind in this golden opportunity. Not only will this opportunity set a Win-Win situation between advertisers and bloggers, it is also a good way for me to explore further into the advertisers’ products and services. Thus, I can gain more knowledge on any latest updates. After all, gaining knowledge has no limits.

With the advancement and speed of the ever ready internet connection, signing up will only take a few minutes. Why wait now when you can earn that extra bit of income in the comfort of your home? All you need to do now is to log in www.payperpost.com, register your information, read through and understand the code of ethics, wait for the approval, set up a few codes in your blog and you are on your way to make your dreams come true.

In fact by doing this post, I am USD20 richer in my PayPal account now. Do not hesitate to sign up now as opportunity waits for no one.

Friday 26 October 2007

PHOTO HUNTERS: PINK

photohunters

This week’s theme is on PINK,
What could be more amazing than Mother Nature’s own creation,
PINK flowers!
I took this shot last weekend during a sumptuous buffet lunch at
our local heritage hotel, Eastern & Oriental Hotel.

PINK01

Recently, I went for the birthday celebration of a deity.
I took a shot of the altar where there are lots of PINK buns.
We call them Mi Koo in our local Hokkien dialect.
Other than that, I had a very interesting vegetarian lunch too.

PINK02

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


LOOK, SEE AND UNDERSTAND

LOOK

You do not need to be brainy or hold a degree in Psychology to understand what is life? Neither do you need to have the human relationship skills to understand the behaviour and characteristic of a person. All you need to do is to know how to look correctly, see things as how they really are, and understand the cause and effect of them. Apply these understanding into your daily practice and you will gain the necessary knowledge to troubleshoot any problems that popped up in your life.

It sounded rather mind boggling right? Well, let me put it in a simpler explanation. It means to be observant of your surroundings, studying deeply into the actual happenings and get a better picture of the situation or the person. In the long run, you will be well prepared to face any similar situation that may arise.


Take life as an example. Why is there the haste of getting things done and ended up in a bad mood when a slow and consistent pace will still get the things done in a calmer and within the stipulated period of time? Do we want to be obsessed with what we do and be in agitation all the time or do we want to live life to the fullest by reducing the amount of stress we are putting ourselves into? It is said that, if we want to make big changes in our life, try to start by making small ones. They can really matter and last longer.

How we think forms a pattern of positive outlook. By observing how this outlook changes into thoughtful habits, a new world opens up and so do more options pop up. Let us look at a typical day of getting to work. Normally, a person will get all tempered up trying to move in the ever jammed traffic to get to work as every minutes count. He will try all his skills to wiggle through the slow line, cursing everyone along the way and thus arriving at his work place all steamed up.

What will happen if he would to have driven in a consistent speed all the way instead of pumping the brakes, changing lanes, slamming the brakes? He would still reach his destination the same amount of time, saving more petrol, in a safer condition and will feel calmer and in control of his daily affairs. A driver in traffic will tend to be obsessed about the time, speed, obstacles and whether he is going to be a few minutes late, then speed up as a result of her unquiet mind and further obsess about his lateness.

Somehow, being in a more comfortable, relaxed state will bring you to your destination, whether it is work, school, or home. Moreover, how positive or negative that state is, it will in turn affect the people you surrounding you.

Let us look into another scenario where a person has just come home from a tiring working day. He rushed hastily into the house like a tornado with a sour face and made the family members feel his stress. He should have thought of the problem he would have created for his family by showing his best self and thus avoiding an evening of potential strife. After all, which family does not want to have an evening filled with warmth and relaxation?

Life happens in little moments. We are creatures of patterns and the practice of interrupting those patterns is simply wonderful. Not only do we gain peace and tranquility in our life, we also tend to make the lives of people surrounding us better. So, what small changes have you made recently that have improved your life? Spend some time in observing your lifestyles/habits and make the small changes today.

In case you are having the doubt about your observation power, try doing the tests here.

HOW OBSERVANT ARE YOU?

OBSERVANT

Ever wonder how well you fair in observing all the things that are happening within your surroundings? Let us do some test to determine your level of observation power. Below is a painting with hidden people. See how many people you can find in this piece of art? Your evaluations will be provided below.

PAINTING #1:

FACES-PIX01

Here is another painting by yet another painter, Bev Doolittle. Find out how many faces you can see in this painting? Your evaluations will be provided below.

PAINTING #2:

FACES-PIX02

EVALUATIONS:

PAINTING #1:

Find 6, you have an ordinary power of observation.

Find 7, you have above average power of observation.

Find 8, you are very observant. Congratulate yourself.

Find 9, you are extremely observant. You are very intuitive and creative. You can rival the observant power of Sherlock Holmes.

PAINTING #2:

Find 10, you have an ordinary power of observation.

Find 15, you have above average power of observation.

Find 20, you are very observant. Congratulate yourself.

Find 21 and more, you are extremely observant. You are very intuitive and creative. You can rival the observant power of Sherlock Holmes.


ASHOP COMMERCE – SHOPPING CART SOFTWARE

ASHOPSITE

Do try Ashop Commerce’s web based hosted shopping cart software for merchants to sell online. Not only does it provide you with an ideal business solution to get your business running smoothly and efficiently, it is also hassle-free to set up as it required no installation at all.

Ashop Commerce’s user friendly shopping cart software has the preset features to assist you in setting up your business by the snap of the fingers. If you want it to be to your own likings, you can even customize it to your own preferences. There are also a few selections of payment options for you to choose from.

It now comes with a 10-day free trial for you to get the hang out of it. The best thing is that you will not be bonded with any commitment if you are not happy with the product. Check it out now at www.ashop.com.au for more features if you are interested in getting the most affordable, flexible and powerful ecommerce software around. I assure you that you will not be disappointed with what it has to offer.

Why wait when you can sign up now and get your online business moving right away.

Tuesday 23 October 2007

HOT OR COLD?

HOTCOLD

Have you been feeling emotional, depressed, moody, loss of appetite or having sleepless nights? What have you been consuming daily? Ice Blended Mocha? “Kopi Peng”? “Teh Tarik Ais”? Coke? Mint Tea? Green Tea? Earl Grey? “Nescafe Susu”? Well, those beverages that you have consumed daily will somehow affect your brain and caused you to have mood swings. In fact, some researchers have found that cold drinks will make the brain function less actively whereas hot drinks will make it more alert.


Try doing my earlier post on IQ Test. You may experience that the brain functioned better with the HOT APPROACH, e.g. by having a warm bath and a hot drink. The COLD APPROACH of having a cold bath and a cold drink gives you a lower IQ result. It was proven that the brain and the body are interdependent to each other. The brain works wonderfully if the body is well taken care of. If the body is given the proper food and nutrients, the brain will follow suit. So will the moods and appetite.

Here are some of the ways which I have tried before to improve my mind and body. Maybe you can consider using some of my approaches.

1. Stay out of junk foods, artificial flavoring/colouring/sweetener, and MSG (mono sodium glutamate) as it can affect the inner balance of the body. In fact, there are cases that MSG can cause children to be hyperactive for no reasons at all.

2. Do some yoga or meditation as it is believed that it may generate some inner warmth. This will enable the mind to be more alert and mindful of the surroundings.

3. Exercise is very important. By doing so, the body will have the required inner heat to push some warm blood towards the brain. Some people might go for gym a few times weekly.

4. Let the sunshine into your room when you wake up in the morning. The warmth from the sunlight will “wake up your mind”. By closing the curtains/Venetian blinds, you tend to feel sleepier. Remember this, the more you sleep the sleepier you get. An average of 10 hours of sleep is adequate for the body.

5. Avoid exposing yourself too long in front of a brightly lighted computer screen. Bright light delays the melatonin cycles of sleep. It can also cause insomnia for some people.

6. Take more vegetables and fruits as they contain good fibre for the bowel system. They do cleanse the body of some toxic, thus making your body functions better.

7. Consume food with ginger, red chilly pepper, pepper corn occasionally. These spices have been used traditionally for warming the body. The memory gets better too.

8. Nuts are good natural “brain food” that might boost your brainpower and stabilize your moods. Try munching some slightly roasted non-salted nuts like walnuts, cashew nuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecan nuts, almonds or just simply peanuts. Gingko nuts are as good too in your diet plan. These are some of the “anti brain fog” nuts which contained healthy Omega-3S & 6S fatty acids, vitamin B6 & E, which are good for the body’s nervous system. Thus, a healthier nervous system results in a clearer and happier thinking. In fact, the compound of a walnut is the best anti-depressant natural remedy in boosting the appetite, treating the insomniac, depressed, improving the digestive system as well as one’s compulsive behavior.

9. Seeds are another good alternative “brain food” with Omega-3S (fish is the most common source but some hated the smell and taste). Flax seeds are the one most sourced for. They are sometimes known as the emotion boosting seeds. Nowadays, bakeries are getting healthier by producing flax seed buns and breads for the ever-rising demand of the healthy conscious consumers. Flax oil is also easier available over the counter as a supplementary. On top of that, other seeds such as pumpkin and sunflower seeds also act as boosters for memory and cognitive functions.

10. Wheat germs are also good for the body. They build energies for the body and aid in gaining muscle and reducing instances of catabolism. A healthier body provides a healthier mind. Do try out some of these products at your nearest healthy bakeries.

There are in fact so many other healthy diets and supplements which can improve the body and mind. Those mentioned above are the few which I have practiced. Occasionally, I also did consume Liquid Spirulina, Liquid Chlorophyll, and Wheatgrass Powder for my general health.

Recently, I have found out that there are many people whom I have spoken to have some emotional and moods trouble. Are you one of them? Are you lacking the nutrients that are required for your body? Are you having a healthy lifestyle? Do share your experiences on your moods here.

Monday 22 October 2007

BUDGET MEAL: SERIES #2

This is the second part of my series. In case you missed out the launching of the Budget Meal Series, you can still view it here.

WELCOME TO THE BUDGET MEAL SERIES#2
RM10 budget for 2 persons for 2 meals


FOOD02A
The food in the photo consist the portion for one person per meal only


DISH 1: STIR FRIED CHINESE LEEK FLOWER WITH ROAST PORK

FOOD02B

DISH 2: SPICY VEGETARIAN CURRY

FOOD02C

ESTIMATED COSTING FOR INGREDIENTS:

RICE: RM1 (enough to serve 4 persons)

STIR FRIED CHINESE LEEK FLOWER WITH ROAST PORK:
Chinese Leek Flower (Koochai Hua): RM1.50
Roast Pork: RM4
Onions: 20sen
Garlic: 10sen
Miscellaneous (pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil, oil, salt, sugar): 50sen

SPICY VEGETARIAN CURRY:
Carrot: 20sen
Potatoes: RM1
Curry Chicken Paste: 50sen
Tomato: 30sen
Onions: 20sen
Miscellaneous (soy sauce, oil, salt, sugar): 50sen

TOTAL AMOUNT SPENT: RM10.00

Note: All amount stated will be based on the proportion used in the cooking.

Sunday 21 October 2007

LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING

Have you ever wondered why there are still hiccups even though the instruction given is so direct and in plain layman’s language? It is due to the level of understanding of different individuals. It is not that the person is stupid unless s/he is mentally retarded or mentally sick.

What are the causes of such hiccups? Could it be due to the instructor not giving the full detail of a task? Could it be that the listener has the phobia of not wanting to open his/her mouth to ask a question? Is asking a question too hard for many as they fear that asking a stupid question might brand them as stupid? Don’t tell me that the 4W+ 1H (Why, When Which, Where + How) were not taught during their early education?

In fact, by not opening the mouth when in doubt makes a person deemed stupid. Not only will asking a question save unclearness, it also saves time and money. Maybe the below illustration will tell a better story. What are your views on that?

FISHCARTOON

Saturday 20 October 2007

PHOTO HUNTERS: PRACTICAL

photohunters

This week’s theme is on PRACTICAL,
I was looking around the house for something that can be PRACTICAL,
and I found these…PAPER CLIPS!
I find that they are the most PRACTICAL thing in our daily lives.
There are so many ways we can use a paper clip.

PRACTICAL01

This is one of the PRACTICAL ways I use paper clips.
I made them into HEART SHAPES and turned them into BOOKMARKS!

PRACTICAL02

This is another of the PRACTICAL ways I use paper clips.
I used them as my DVDROM EJECTOR when my disc got stuck!

PRACTICAL03

In fact, there are still many other ways such as unclogging, cleaning, scraping any small items, ornaments hangers, lock-picking, paper clip chain games for kids, keeping fabrics together when sewing, mixing adhesive glues, resetting certain small electronics gadgets, sealing up a pack of chips packet, etc.
Don’t you think PAPER CLIPS are so PRACTICAL in our lives?


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

Friday 19 October 2007

UNFORGETTABLE VEGETARIAN CUISINE EXPERIENCE

Every year during the first ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, the Chinese Buddhist will celebrate the return from heaven to earth of the Nine Emperor Gods’ spirits. Devotees will flock to the temples throughout the country for the nine days during this religious festival. At the same time, they will be on vegetarian diets.

Today is the ninth day of the celebration and it is also the birthday of Tao Bo Hood (also known as Ma Zu, Matsu, Da Mao, Tian Hou), the mother of the Nine Emperor Gods. She is the Chinese form of Buddhist Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. Sometimes she is known as the Thousand-Hand Guan Yin.

TAOBOHOOD


I went to pay my homage to Tao Bo Hood and at the same time had a wonderful experience with the different kinds of vegetarian dishes presented on the table during lunch. The different array of food and taste were amazing. I do not think that I would get such wonderful choices from any vegetarian restaurants that I have been to. Thanks to the contributions and culinary skills from each of the devotees that made my meal unforgettable. In fact, the taste of the food still lingers in my mouth now. Let me share some photos of the vegetarian food with you.

MIKOO

PICKLE

MUTTON

PERUT IKAN

FRIEDFISH

MIXEDVEGE

CRISPYDUCK

EGGS

CUBE

CHARSIEW

COLOURS

ONE MAN’S FOOD IS ANOTHER MAN’S POISON

(Note: The photos in this article are not meant for those who have weak tummies)

INSECTS2

If you have watched the 1994 Academy Award Disney’s movie Lion King, you would have known that there were 2 very comical characters, Timon, a meerkat, and Pumbaa, a warthog. What was their favorite food? Insects, insects and more insects. Scary right? Well, not exactly that disgusting as you may be in the cultural minority. Throughout history, people have relished insects as food. Today, many cultures across Africa, China and Latin America still do.

There are all together about 500 types of insects that are edible. Some of these insects are used as medications and supplements. They are considered to be of high nutrients and protein which are good for the human bodies. In this modern day, some of these insects are even served in banquet in China. Leave it to the Chinese as there is a term for them. “The Chinese will eat anything with four legs except a table, with wings except an airplane!” They are a bunch of adventurous people who will go all out to test out any kinds of creatures and insects.



In, Thailand, grasshoppers and worms are deep fried or barbequed. In Ghana, winged termites are collected and fried, roasted, or made into bread. In South Africa, the insects are eaten with cornmeal porridge. In Japan, aquatic fly larvae are fried in sugar and soy sauce. In Bali, de-winged dragonflies are boiled in coconut milk with ginger and garlic. In Papua New Guinea and aboriginal Australia, beetle larvae are savored. In Latin America, cicadas, fire-roasted tarantulas, and ants are prevalent in traditional dishes. In Mexico, the Agave worm, is eaten on tortillas and placed in bottles of Mezcal liquor in Mexico.

Would you believe that a simple hamburger contains about 18% of protein and 18% of fat whereas a cooked grasshopper contains up to 60% of protein with just 6% of fat? Moreover, like fish, insect fatty acids are unsaturated and thus healthier. Thanks to EastCoastLife, we can now see some of these “delicacies”.

INSECTS

Psss…guys this one is interesting… regular eating of bee larvae can make you virile.

BEE LARVA

Wednesday 17 October 2007

LENGTHY POST REMEDY FOR BLOGGER USERS

LENGTHY

If you have been noticing, I have done some modifications and housekeeping in my blog to enable my readers to have a smoother and easy browsing moments. Thanks to Azmeen’s advice on my blog’s loading time as well as how I should go about in eradicating the slowness of loading my page. I have searched through Blogger Help under “Expandable Post Summaries”. I managed to struggle through the “copy & paste” procedures by manipulating Blogger’s html codes. I did get my blog post to produce the “Read more” link but there was a problem with how the codes functioned. It appeared in all the posts, of which some may not require summarizing. That was quite irritating.


I Google for solutions for this problem and most people referred me to sites like hackosphere or freshblog where I can edit the Javascript to rectify it. For your information, Javascript looked so foreign to me. After browsing for quite some time, I managed to find the perfect solution with no Javascript needed by adding some commands in Blogger’s own pre-designed functions. I am going to show you the easiest way in few steps.

STEP BY STEP METHODS TO EDIT YOUR BLOGGER HTML CODES

STEP 1:
Sign in and go to your BLOGGER DASHBOARD. Go to SETTING/ARCHIVING, search for ENABLE POST PAGES, click YES and press SAVE SETTING.

STEP 2:
Go to FORMATTING/POST TEMPLATE and filled up the following codes, then press SAVE SETTINGS.

INTRODUCTION

<hr class=\'hr1\'><span class=\'fullpost\'>READ MORE CONTENTS</span>

STEP 3:
Go to TEMPLATE/EDIT HTML, tick the EXPAND WIDGET TEMPLATES box. Locate </head>, copy and paste the codes BELOW it.

<!-- BEGIN STYLE -->
<style>>
<b:if cond=\'data:blog.pageType == \"item\"\'>
.hr1 {display:none;}
span.more1 {display:none;}
span.fullpost {display:inline;}
<b:else/>
.hr1 {display:none;}
span.more1 {display:inline;}
span.fullpost {display:none;}
</b:if>
</style>
<!-- END STYLE -->

STEP 4:
Locate <data:post.body/>, copy and paste the following codes BELOW it.

<b:loop values=\'data:post.labels\' var=\'label\'>
<b:if cond=\'data:label.isLast\'>
<b:if cond=\'data:label.name == \"~skim\"\'>
<b:else/>
<span class=\'more1\'><a expr:href=\'data:post.url\' >Read more here…</a></span>
</b:if>
</b:if>
</b:loop>

STEP 5:
Press SAVE TEMPLATE. You have completed the editing of the HTML.

STEP 6:
Go to POSTING/CREATE. Click EDIT HTML. You will see that a line of preset code is shown there.

HTMLpix

INTRODUCTION is where you paste/write your introductory.

READ MORE CONTENTS is where you would want to continue your article when someone clicks on the “Read more here…” link.

EXAMPLE:
Here is my introductory. <hr class=\'hr1\'><span class=\'fullpost\'>My name is blah blah blah. I stay in blah blah blah. </span>

DISPLAY:
Here is my introduction.

Read more here…

WHEN CLICK ON LINK:
Here is my introductory. My name is blah blah blah. I stay in blah blah blah.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO TAKE NOTE WHEN POSTING

NOTE 1:
Most people will type in their article in word processing software (eg. MS Word) before copy and paste into the Blogger POSTING/CREATE article box. Make sure that you paste the article into EDIT HTML instead of COMPOSE area as “copy & paste” in COMPOSE will leave a lot of unnecessary codes. You can edit your fonts, color, hyperlinks after you are done in the EDIT HTML area.

COMPOSEpix

Use COMPOSE area if you decide to type in DIRECTLY.

NOTE 2:
If you have no intention of summarizing your post, please insert an additional label “~skim” in the LABEL BAR as shown below. This will shut off the “Read more here…” message.

LABELbar

NOTE 3:
The edited HTML codes WILL NOT WORK without at least a label.

Tuesday 16 October 2007

BUDGET MEAL: SERIES #1

Since I came out on the article on frugality, I have decided to launch a new project of getting the best food with the least amount of money spent. Nowadays, with the price of everything shooting up (except the salary...hehe), eating out could be rather expensive. Some simple meals can be prepared with a small budget of RM10or even less. The best part is, it can serve 2 persons for 2 meals. In this project, I am going to introduce to you a few simple and economical ways to budget on your food consumption. It would not take long to prepare too.

WELCOME TO THE FIRST EVER BUDGET MEAL PROJECT
RM10 budget for 2 persons for 2 meals


DISH 1: PORK STEW

FOOD01B

DISH 2: SPICY TAMARIND POTATO WITH BABY ANCHOVIES

FOOD01C

ESTIMATED COSTING FOR INGREDIENTS:

FOOD01A
The food in the photo consist the portion for one person per meal only

RICE: RM1 (enough to serve 4 persons)

PORK STEW:
Pork: RM2
Onio: 20sen
Potatoes: 50sen
Carrot: 30sen
Tomatoes: 20sen
Miscellaneous (pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil, oil, salt, sugar): 50sen

SPICY TAMARIND POTATO WITH BABY ANCHOVIES:
Baby anchovies: 50sen
Potatoes: RM1.50
Chilly Paste: 30sen
Tamarind: 30sen
Miscellaneous (soy sauce, dark sauce, oil, salt, sugar): 50sen

TOTAL AMOUNT SPENT: RM7.80

Note: All amount stated will be based on the proportion used in the cooking.

Monday 15 October 2007

SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW

RAINBOW

Can you see anything wrong with the photograph which I took recently? Yes, it is the rainbow. Even a rainbow has its bad day. There was no connectivity at all. It felt so lost. Where is the other half? What has happened to the full life of the rainbow? Mother Nature is supposed to make its life complete but why are there hiccups here? It has proven here that nothing will stay complete at all times. So is life!


Life has always been filled with mysteries and incompleteness. Everyday, we are seeking for more and more things to fill up our lives. Some seek companionships. Some seek monetary benefits. Some seek success. Some seek healthiness. Some seek career. Generally, most of us have something in common, that is we are always seeking for true happiness in life. How near are you towards your destination for true happiness? What are the success rate with what you have and what you have done in your life? Are you happy now or are you as lost as the rainbow?

Everyone have dreams in life. Making that dream become a reality lies in our efforts to make it come true. Do you have the courage and determination to strive for the best in your life? Will you give up just because of a few failures? Are you motivated enough to push yourself to go beyond your limits? The question marks will go on and on without an end if a person does not have a periodical timetable to assess his life.

Life is never like your computer OS (operating system) that you can reset and go back (restore point) to when there is a breakdown. There will be no turning back. It is always a straight path in your life journey. In that life system, there will be never ending of threats (virus, spyware, grayware) all the way. It is a matter of how well you maintain your virtues and philosophy in life (anti-virus, firewall) in order to find a solution to them. There are times where there will be some bad habits (unwanted files) which you will need to clear up (recycle bin) frequently to make sure your life run smoother. It may take some time to clear off as habits are not accumulated within a day. They gathered over many years of ignorance (unused programs, fonts, cookies, cache memory) and thus causing the outburst of the present side effects (slowness, system hang). Alternative solutions (disk cleanup) are needed as remedies to the problem. Constant monitoring (disk defragmenter) of your life system will surely help a lot. Haha… I sounded so technical here but it is the way how life is too.

There was an old saying stating that there will be a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Even though this statement was to be true, what will be your chances of making it to the pot of gold with how your life is now? Are you comfortable with it or do you feel that it is still incomplete towards your goals in life? Please do share your views here.

You can listen and watch to one of my favorite anime while sitting down and analyzing your life now. Have a great week ahead!

SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW BY FAITH HILL
(featuring clips from Japanese anime - Oh My Goddess)

Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high,
There's a land that I heard of, once in a lullaby.

Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream, really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star, and wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow, why then, oh why can't I?
If happy little bluebirds fly above the rainbow, why, oh why can't I?


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