White Stripes

Saturday night I was watching recorded performances for that day in the Glastonbury festival. I was about to turn in for the night but couldn't shut off the TV due to the mesmerising performance of White Stripes. I first heard this Detroit-based duo (just read somewhere that they are not brother and sister afterall) in Jools Holland's show years ago. They were okay, I thought but the performance they did in that muddy festival was really great. They had me enthralled. Never have I enjoyed head banging rock guitar riffs since college days (and I thought I was getting old for this).

Their on stage dynamics were magnetic with some sexy undercurrents what with drummer Meg sultrily looking over her shoulder to Jack or their one on one face-offs. Pardon me, but it looks like watching a passionate love act. I do find Meg's dumming antics quite sexy. While Jack, oh the great Jack, is a revelation to me. He has obvious talent in the guitar and the combination of the two of them making it sound as if there were more than 2 people in the band. His vocals reminded me a lot of the young Robert Plant. I love their passion on the way the 'attack' their instruments and it was so good to see this kind of performance where they look like they're giving their all for the audience. Love it !

Free Stonehenge

I didn’t know that Stonehenge has free entrance during summer solstice?! According to an online article in the Guardian:

English Heritage has opened the site to the public free of charge for the summer solstice since 2000. "It's great the way people can come here now. I'm all for it," King Arthur said.

I wonder if they do this in the winter solstice as well? But then, who would want to be among the throng of 21,000 people unless you want to party. I hate crowds I go out of my way to avoid it, just not my cup of tea. Though it must have been awesome to see the summer sun rising up on the ‘heel’ stone of the megalith.

I’ve been there several times and whenever our car reaches the brow of the hill approaching it, the sight of these enormous stones formed in a circle never fails to take my breath away. Mind you, that’s not the only stone circle here in Britain. A notable one is that in nearby Avebury, where there is a village *inside* the circumference of the circle. There are lots lots more however, they are smaller making Stonehenge the biggest of them all.

I hope in the coming months I could see and revisit some of the stone circles I’ve seen and put up pictures here. They may look like ‘just’ stones arranged in a circle but I’ve always been fascinated by it and wondered on its actual use.

Good timing?

My glazed look at my monthly payslip suddenly turned into wide-eyed incredulity. Am I seeing what I'm seeing? I used to absentmindedly look at my netpay box, knowing that only a miracle can make the figures change. Now, I was actually a few hundred pounds richer. I did not rejoice and dared not spend it lest the next month they take it away and say they made a mistake. Only when another colleague who was in the same boat as I am remembered that we were due for our 5 and 10 year long service awards did the dawn of realisation set in. Aha! So that's what it's for! In the previous incarnation of our company, we used to receive letters way before the award is given. People are invited to a champagne reception at the personal office of our CEO who gives the gift/award with a commendation letter, 1 week extra holiday, 50% off our main product, plus a bust of his favourite hero - Churchill. Now the new company (who took over from the old one) just wanted us to take the money and run. :sigh: Well, what can you expect. They're just biding their time 'til they got rid of us.

But getting back on the money, great ideas were already dancing in my head on what to do with it such as:

1. Holiday trip to Venice
2. A new cooker/oven!
3. Jewelry

Then the unexpected happened - our old reliable Sony TV died yesterday. Boohoohoo! There goes my 10-year award. :-(
My son and husband are very busy now canvassing prices in the internet. Plasma TV looks like a good idea although I would need about 3 times more than what I got to afford one. Ah, it's a good thing my family is not so keen on TV watching these days. So probably one of those generic TVs will do or probably scratch it altogether since we still have a wee bit of a 12-inch TV to get us by. Would that mean I would have my new oven and be able to bake tarts without setting it on fire?! *eyes widen* Hope beckons me ... *big grin*

A trip to Switzerland (part 3)

   

[... continued]

By Thursday (2nd June) we have to say goodbye to our nice free beds (with sinangag and Lucban longganisa breakfast) in Geneva. ;) My sister was leaving for the Phils. while we have to journey towards the Lucerne-Zurich area then on to our long drive home. After the hardwork of packing back our tons of luggage in our old van, we said goodbye to Geneva and drove towards Interlaken. On the way we decided to have a picnic lunch by the banks of small but pretty Lac de Bret near Vevey where me and my husband also had a lovely dinner the night before with some friends. As you can see in the pictures above, the place is tranquil and very pleasant.

We then proceeded to the Interlaken area via a very steep twisting road called the Jaunpass. There were lots of lovely sights to behold - green valleys, lush farmlands, waterfalls, great mountainscape. So nice to breathe clean mountain air. We were quite (camera) trigger happy in that jaunt.

   

When we got out of that tire-wearing twisting road, we found ourselves looking at the twin lakes of Interlaken. Unfortunately, we didn't have the time to visit the beautifully set town but instead diverted to the hiking village of Kandersteg unless we wanted to see a major tantrum from J1. He wanted to show us around the place where he and his scout troop went camping last year and we were not disappointed. J1 had very fond memories of those times and wanted to share it with us. Kandersteg town centre is quite charming with the air of a small village. There were quite a number of small upscale hotels which belies the variety of outdoor activities available in the area such as hiking, skiing, mountain biking, camping, etc. It is also where one of the camping sites of the World Organization of the Scout Movement is located (where J1 camped last year). That website of the scout camp is quite useful because they have a live webcam onsite. What we used to do is to make J1 stand there in front of the webcam after his daily phone call to us so we could see him on the internet - what he's wearing, who's with him, etc. Isn't that neat?! I remember we used to interrogate him about his clothes - "Didn't you wear that the other day? How come your shirt and trousers don't match?" :LOL:

pictures courtesy of Ernie Endrina

After swanning around for some time in Kandersteg it was time to leave. It was getting late and I thought we might have to take the easy route to Lucerne (where we are supposed to spend the night) instead. But I'm glad we decided to push on to our original plan - that to pass thru the superlative Sustenpass. If ever you want to go to just one place in Switzerland to see mountain views go there !! Sustenpass is even more steep and twisting than Jaunpass and more tire-wearing, too. When we stop we could smell burning rubber what with all those countless steep hairpin bends we had to negotiate. But don't worry 'coz soon enough you will be rewarded with breathtaking views of the Swiss Alps. Although your pictures would look like you stepped in front of a poster. LOL! Really superb views of majestic snow-capped peaks.

What I like most with our time there is that we practically had the route to ourselves. Besides the daredevil powerbike riders, there were hardly any cars enroute. You know me I don't like crowds so it was pure bliss. Also as we were climbing, I could see dark clouds closing in on the mountains. I said a little 'request' to the goddesses and guardian spirits of the Alps to please give us a little window of sunshine to better appreciate the beauty of the place. And what do you know, the clouds parted the sun came out and we had a glorious time! On our way down I looked back and saw the clouds moving back in. The short show was over and I said a silent heartfelt prayer of thanks to them.

Tired from the long drive that day (which included probably the longest tunnel we've been in), we hit our beds right after we checked in a hotel in Lucerne. Early the next day we toured picturesque Lucerne with its lovely location right at the edge of the lake of the same name. The old part of the city is quite small with the oft photographed Chapel Bridge and Water Tower dominating it. The former has been here since the 1300s but unfortunately most of it were burned in the devastating fire in 1993. They have restored it completely although they chose to include some badly charred murals to remind people of the ravages of the fire. It seems like a place with lots of touristic things to do like go up in Mt. Pilatus or Mt. Titlis. It was a nice relaxing day by the river bank where we had a idyllic lunch. We also met up again with our friends Helen & Ellery and their family right before we left.

    

Lots of old structures are clustered along the riverbank. On of them is this Jesuit church in Lucerne, made distinct with its twin onion shaped domes. On the right you could see its fabulous Baroque interior.

After lunch and saying goodbye again to our friends, we motored on to the homestretch of our trip. Unfortunately, we hit the combined rush hour traffic and countless road works in Zurich and in the A35 towards Strasbourg just outside the Swiss border. Our plan to spend the night in Boulogne was ruined because of this. So we decide to drive thru the night straight to Calais/Dunkirk area. It wasn't much of a problem since there were 3 of us alternating on the driver's seat. We must have drove a bit too fast since we arrived in Calais at 4 AM! Our schedule with the ferry is not until 12:45PM. What to do? After circling around the Calais area trying to find an open restaurant or fastfood to relieve our grumbling stomachs, we decided to go for it in the ferry. When we arrived in Dunkirk, there was hardly any queue. Good thing they allowed us to board. Hooray! Hot breakfast for everyone on board. Pretty soon we were back on British soil and welcomed by the comfort of our own home.

This our old van in the belly of the ferry from Dunkirk. You have to hand it to this Toyota oldie. It travelled close to 2000 miles in the span of a week. Even at one point running for about 500 miles almost non-stop with nary a glitch (except for the aircon on timer :LOL:). It did not disappoint on the contrary it just went on and on and on ... thanks Lucida for taking care of us in our trips. Here's to more travels and adventures - cheers!

A trip to Switzerland (part 2)

[Continuation ...]

We arrived in Geneva in the evening and settled down for the night in the flat where my sister is staying. Next day was a Sunday so decided to get down to the business of serious sight seeing in central Geneva before we go to church in the evening. We walked along the promenade of Lake Geneva (Lac Leman) and imbibed the beach-like atmosphere. Sun was fiercely hot which made all the summer clothes and activities come out in force. Nothing like a fiesta ambiance to perk your mood. Lots of ducks, swans, sunbathers, rollerbladers, ferry tours to keep us occupied.

We walked around the old cobbled-stone area of Geneva. Saw the old Cathedrale St. Pierre - one of the dominating presence in the old quarter. It was sparsely decorated inside probably echoing the Calvinist doctrine of non-indulgence of wealth which was prevalent here in the 1500s. We also saw a lot of United Nations (UN) buildings and its agencies. Though when we tried going to the main UN HQ building, it was such a long walk from the car park that we decided not to.

Geneva is a pleasant city to walk, very clean and orderly with lots of smart upscale shops. General feel of the place is that of a small cosmopolitan city. Now and again you see the reminders of one of Switzerland's main industry - banking. Prices of everything is so expensive - it's true! And that's coming from me living in costly London.

   

Next up in our itinerary is that castle precariously built on a promontory in Lake Geneva near Montreux - Chateau de Chillon. It gained fame when Lord Byron wrote about a supposed prisoner in its dungeon in his poem The Prisoner of Chillon. For me, what's notable about this medieval structure is its beautiful silhoutte like that of a fairytale castle enhanced by its romantic location at the edge of an equally beautiful lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Unfortunately we did not choose to go inside because of the prohibitive entrance toll. But we were more than satisfied enough with just touring outside.

   

The following day we were up earlier than usual for we have to drive up to Broc near Bulle to see one of the big highlights of our trip - a chocolate factory. I blogged about this in my food blog so have a peek there on the culinary side of the visit. Highlight of this was being able to eat as much chocs as we can in the tasting room. I wish I brought a plastic bag with me. ;-) Also here we met up with our friends Helen & Ellery and their kids who were all with us throughout the day's touring.

We then proceeded to the tiny cute town of Gruyere built with a castle on top of a hill. Nice to see a typical Swiss village with its wooden houses with intricate carved decorations. Local delicacies like its meringue were very nice, too. The surrounding areas are very green farmlands it conjures up that cow-milk-pasture image of Switz. What it doesn't include is the stink of cow dung fertilisers hanging in the air. Iiikkksss!!

       

It was getting late but the sun was still up so we drove on to Bern. The old part of the city had a medieval feel about it what with the cobbled stone streets, lots of old buildings even in the shopping area. Its got a dramatic setting as well with the river Aare running thru it. UNESCO has included it in its list of World Heritage sites - I'm not surprised. We were not able to explore it as much as we wanted to because of the late hour when almost everywhere is closed. Above left is the 600-year-old clock tower that used to mark the western entrance to the city. On the right is the tram lined flag-festooned main street. I bet that place is delightful to do a complete walking tour.

   

More pictures from Bern ... on the left is a communal water fountain/tap. We found these taps almost everywhere in any town or city centres in Switz. Most of the time the water is drinkable. During the days when it was scorching hot you can find us wetting our faces and arms with the cold mountain waters from these fountains to cool us down. Picture on the right shows what big horn he has! An old man giving a free performance in the cathedral square.

By the time we left it was already dark and drove 2 hours back to our soft beds in Geneva. It was a long, tiring but enjoyable day.

[To be continued with the 3rd and last part ...]

A trip to Switzerland (part 1)

I've been itching for an overseas holiday for a looong time. Something about being in a different environment and seeing new things revitalises me. That's why I love this European 'tradition' of going on holiday at least once a year. It does your body and spirit good to relax and wind down. Resting, relaxing and being 'away from it all' really do decrease stress levels.

I haven't blogged for sometime partly because of being very busy and partly because we went on a driving holiday to Switzerland. As soon as I heard that my sister C, is moving to Geneva and calculated that we had enough funds, nothing can stop me from planning this. :)

We chose to drive because there's five people in the family plus a family friend who wanted to come. With these numbers in mind, the cheapest way to go is by car. It may be slower and tiring but we've got time and we get to see more sights along the way. For me the holiday starts with the journey and not just when you get to the intended destination. Something about the adventure and the discovery of new places/things during the travel itself that appeals to me.

[Click on the pictures for a bigger view]

   

Of course we started off on a cross English Channel crossing from Dover, Kent. I made certain that we left the house early to give ample time for the 1.5-2 hour travel from our house to the coast. I DO NOT want to repeat our escapade fiasco of 3 years ago to Belgium where we had to queue in the road to Dover for 7 hours !!! We joined the queue at around 9:30 AM and got on a ferry at 4PM. Imagine we were barely 1.5 miles away from the ferry.

After packing our old Toyota van to the rafters, we left early and found the traffic thankfully light. We were so early that we were one of the first ones on the queue. Yehey we're early for once! Our ferry was Norfolk Lines which left the white cliffs of Dover at 5:30PM then disembarking in Dunkirk, France at 8PM instead of the usual Calais. It was only about 30 minutes drive from Calais.

From there we drove towards Reims, France and spent the night there. Hotel Ibis at the city centre was quite good for its price and very clean. Early next morning after buying breakfast at a kiosk at the nearby train station we set off to see the old part of the city briefly.

   

The centre-piece of this medieval city is its glorious Cathedral of Notre Dame. Being the place where most monarchs of France were crowned, it had a major role in France's history. As you can see the soaring gothic structure still retains its aura of grandeur and magnificence that rightly deserved its UNESCO World Heritage Site award.

Now, Reims is not in the champagne region for nothing. Almost every other shops are champagne houses and we could not resist buying a few. I was already homing in on several well-known well-packaged brands in a shop when we happen to ask the sales clerk on his recommendations which we direly need because we're wine nincompoops! Very interesting to note that he did not recommend *any* of the well known brands saying that most of them were actually terrible. One exception was Krug, which he said still retained its excellent quality but at an average of £100 a bottle it was not good value for money. He recommended several to us which were actually cheaper than the famous brands. At this point I trust his opinion already since if he only wanted money from us he would have pushed the more expensive famous ones in our hands which in our ignorance we would gladly take. Confirmation of this came when we gave the champages to wine loving friends who heartily approved of 'our' choice. (I think I should be blogging this in my food blog!)

After a brief tour of Reims, we reluctantly went back on the road. It was one of the hottest day of the year (so far) as it reached 32C and probably more on the road. I'm always lucky in having nice weather when holidaying. Unfortunately for us, our old van's airconditioning system seems to have a timer. After an hour it promptly turns itself off. So we have to roll down the windows and bear the heat. :(

   

One pleasure in driving on French motorways (highways), besides the fact that the roads are very smooth, is that they have a lot of 'aire' or rest areas where you can get off the road, rest, go to the bathroom, or have something to eat and drink. As you can see above left, they have a very pleasant tree-lined park-like atmosphere. Some even have children's playgrounds or picnic areas. I couldn't resist taking a picture of one of their toilets in the Jura region (not all are like this). It's not often that I see these 'hole in the ground' types (above right). But they are clean and stink free.

People could argue that it's just right that French motorways should be good since we have to pay to use most of them. Why, our total road fee for the onward trip was 57 Euros! It can be a shock in the system to pay this much since our British motorways are all free.

[To be continued ...]

Fishy Fishy

We got a new source of obsession at home in the form of an aquarium. Now everyone fusses over these goldfish (oranda-like) we got one weekend. Actually we had five then a day after 1 died. It probably got so stressed with the move from the pet shop to our globe fishtank. We replaced the casualty with another one and a black one. Total population right now is 6 goldfish, 5 gold and 1 black.

This is the first time we've had a tank, or pet fish for that matter, so we don't know how much or how often to feed them. First few days we put in about a teaspoon of pellets everyday. The water quickly turned cloudy and dirty while all the fish kept on pooing. We had the water tested at the pet shop where you give a water sample, they mix it with some chemicals and a coloring emerges. It was supposed to be very light pink but ours turned nearly purple! The guy testing asked - "Are they still alive?" Of course they're still alive - just. We had to replace 1/4 of the water right there and then and repeat the procedure every week to clean it out. The pet shop boys (pun intended) said we probably have too many fish in the tank. We're thinking of getting another bigger rectangular tank to move these goldies and just get very small fishes for the globe tank. Ayayay, once you start it's getting more and more expensive. Wish us luck, hopefully these goldies stay alive.

Magic Mushrooms

I always see this shop on my way to work. It's only now that I got the chance to take a picture. All along I thought magic mushrooms or psylocybe mushrooms were illegal since they are hallucinogenic. According to the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, it seems farmers and retailers found a loop hole in the law

which classifies the active ingredients in the mushrooms as Class A drugs,

(and therefore illegal)

but not the fresh mushrooms themselves.
A widely circulated letter from Ian Breadmore (Home Office drug licensing section, 17 February 2003) stated that 'it is not illegal sell or give away a freshly picked mushroom provided that it has not been prepared in any way' and has been taken by vendors as official permission for their activities.

Hmmm, very curious situation. I'm just not sure if I'd be willing to try these in my stir-fry. :LOL:

the Webbies

The 9th Webby Awards has announced its winners! One of my favourites, the Guardian, which I read almost everyday won the best Newspaper website category. I noticed my one other favourite site, the BBC, was nominated in several other categories. While the blog category was won by the prolific BoingBoing.net. Have a look at the winners and the nominees you might discover new, exciting and informative sites in the outstanding list of sites there. Case in fact, I love that winner in the humor category – Dooce (warning colourful language!). She’s not only hilarious but also unselfishly shared some blogging and photography techniques. I discovered the Webby several years ago and through it I was led onto a lot of note worthy and useful sites that made my working life bearable. ;-) 'Hope it will do the same and more to you.

British Library, King's Cross, & St. Pancras

My eldest daughter, J2, is attending a dance lesson class in central London. So every Saturday we have to take her there at 1:30PM and come back for her by 5:30PM. I don't want to hang around there for 4 hours and I certainly don't want to go home and come back again for her. What to do? Well, explore London of course! We've gone to the 'big smoke' countless of times but there are still pockets that I haven't explored.

Last weekend me and J3 just walked around the vicinity of where J2 was dancing. The walk was not that far but I was feeling so fatigued on the way back due to the heavy backpack I'm carrying. Feels like a ton. It must have been with all the 'abubots' of J3 crammed in there. Anyway, just about a block away is the British Library. I seem to remember some controversy surrounding it during its inaguration. Can't quite recall what it was. That afternoon it was a sparsely populated place. We just got to view the main reception lobby and their small museum of showcase pieces in their collection. Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed.

Among the impressive items they have in the John Ritblat Gallery are the Magna Carta, Shakespeare's first collection of his plays circa 1623, Codex Sinaiticus - earliest New Testament manuscript in Greek, Gutenberg Bible, da Vinci's notebook (not code), handwritten lyrics and notes of the Beatles, among other things. They also have another gallery where they show how book making and publishing evolved. Very educational, indeed. We did not go in the inner sanctum of the library because you have to register and provide documents, etc. to be given access.

Avoiding lots of hassles so we kept putting one foot in front of the other which led us outside to St. Pancras train station that was only a few metres away. Currently it's closed for renovation. Of all the trains stations here this is my favourite - a classic Victorian Gothic Revival building. Beautiful and majestic. You might find its sight familiar due to it being used in Harry Potter 2 movie when Harry and Ron rode the flying car. And right beside St.Pancras is its ugly sister, the King's Cross train station. Low, squat, very functional, unelaborate mass of concrete, steel, and glass. Roads and subways (pedestrian underpasses) are being built and renovated so there are loads of scaffolding and contruction palaver about, which made it even uglier. Despite this, it's famous for its non-existent 9 3/4 platform - you know from the Harry Potter books. We were tempted to go in and see if they made anything special between platform 9 and 10.

AWOL Pellet

The dreaded thing happened, my youngest daughter's favourite beanie baby Pellet (which I blogged here before) disappeared. It has been misplaced before but we always manage to find it for J3. Though this time we turned the house inside out we still couldn't find the fake hamster. My guess is it fell off the car the last time J3 brought her. Poor J3 was crying and whimpering for more than 2 days running especially during bedtime when she would always ask, "Where is Pellet?" After 2 days, I couldn't take it any longer I decided to look for another Pellet from the shops. Problem is, that model was released last 2000 and they don't make them anymore. I thought of giving J3 a different substitute like a beanie dog or cat. But Pellet is what she was crying for. Good thing I remembered eBay has lots of beanie baby resellers. After ordering one , soon enough it came through the post. You could just imagine J3's joy when she opened the envelope. Now they're together again day and night. She even takes pictures of it (see pic above). I'm even considering buying another one in case this Pellet goes missing again.

Deep Breathing

Feeling of tiredness and exhaustion often takes over me from the early evenings onwards even if I am just puttering around the house. Stress is the main culprit coupled with fatigue or plain overwork. When it comes, I usually catch myself sort of holding my breath in my upper chest area and I am often doing shallow breathing. This causes me to expend unnecessary efforts to keep things in that upper area. It’s no surprise then that tiredness soon set in. Typically my lower ribcage will ache and pain in the whole of my torso will follow. I analysed what I was doing and thought that one of the things I definitely have to change is my breathing.

I called on an old friend who mentioned to me before the benefits of deep breathing. He extolled the benefits of it such as – stress reducer, tension reliever, and promotes good functioning of our internal organs through the proper oxygenation of our blood – among other things. The following deep breathing exercises he passed on to me. Undoubtedly it helped me a lot in relieving tiredness and stress even if I only do it once in a while in a day (well actually should be ideally done all the time). Once I start noticing the beginning of exhaustion I do deep breathing which more often than not starts to reverse the state of things at the time.

* How to do deep breathing:

1. Sit up straight or stand with your spine straight. Relax.
2. Inhale by starting to fill up your lower lungs. Your belly should expand. This is breathing with your diaphragm.
3. Next fill up your upper lungs. You should see your chest area expand. DO NOT raise your shoulder while you do this. The chest will expand naturally (and your shoulders slightly rise) as you inhale. Fill up your lungs to the max that you can until you feel like bursting. These 2 stages of inhaling should be done in one continuous motion.
4. Exhale air from the upper lungs slowly.
5. Then expel air from the lower lungs completely by contracting abdominal muscles.

You can start doing the above in the count of 3: breathe in to the count of 3, pause to the count of 3, exhale to the count of 3, pause again to the count of 3. Once you get the hang of it increase count to 4 then to 5.

There are some very informative websites complete with illustrations on how to do this. Click here, here, and here for more info.

Strange and Funny Names 1

I've been living here in the UK for quite awhile and even in the first few months I was struck by how strong the influence of language to their culture. It's no wonder that in such a small country, with everyone more or less speaking the same language, you can find a lot of different accents depending not just on the region but also on the socio-economic level they're in. In just one city alone, London for example, you find so many variations of the English accent. This language-centric trait is also reflected in their love of the written word which accounts for their rich literary heritage and their first-rate theatrical traditions. But for me, the most intriguing and interesting consequence would be the use in everyday colloquial terms. Often when travelling all over the country I would delight or laugh out loud at the strange and funny names I encounter.

With this post I hope to chronicle via pictures all the weird, bizzarre, or sometimes hilarious names not only here in UK but from all over the world. Mind you these are authentic and not at all 'photo enhanced'.

Let's start with something that even an NHS hospital tried to rename as a 'Spotted Richard':

As you would have guessed, Spotted Dick (or Spotted Dog) is not some man's private parts with a bad case of chicken pox. But a suet-based steamed dessert (pudding) with raisins (the spots) and served with custard.

Faggots are not some un-PC name for a maligned member of the society but meatballs made of pork liver, bread, and spices. Welsh in origin though I think some English counties would contest that.

Wardrobe Problems

I was looking lately in the shops for a dress or at least a top that I could wear to a formal evening do. I completely forgot that most of the evening attires for ladies have either plunging necklines or backless or both. The backless part I can live with (I just probably have to do more scrubbing while in the bath) but the plunging necklines - arrrgghhhh! I have a foot long scar going down in the middle of my chest and I'd rather not have people stare at it. What to do?

Well my choices are either go with a very conservative jacket or get a halter top. The latter would cover up my scar but reveal my chunky shoulders and arms. Maybe I'll just wrap up with a shawl. This just goes to show my frustrations in the wardrobe department. I'm not of a model silhoutte then I have a wormtape-like scar on my chest to contend with. Ho well ...

Weight Sentinel Week 10

It's been 3 weeks since I last posted my weight and I almost forgot to again this week. It’s now – dyan-dyaran-dyaran … 14 stones 5 pounds. Well after all that time it’s just about right I lose more than 2 pounds. But it’s not been easy my friends, oh no not at all. What with all those confections that I’ve been doing for the IMBB and SHF entries of in my food blog. Plus the back to back parties of my friends where I have to contribute at least 1 dessert or dish. The impulse to splurge completely was too hard to resist. My solution to this is to give away the tempting dessert as much as possible. My dear work colleagues and friends have now been benefiting from my dieting.

Spring in HG Wells country

My poor blog hasn't been updated for 2 weeks now. I've been very busy lately with real work, mummy work, achay (maid) work at home (where else) plus my unrelenting obsession with baking and cooking. Somehow these take precendence over blogging here. But nevertheless, hopefully from now on I can update this at least once a week.

We've had a respite from the cold since it started getting warmer last week. Spring is here! It's about time. The endless biting cold, overcast skies were beginning to affect my moods. Only the snow was welcome and it did indulge us with longer than usual visit. Normally, it snows here 2 days a year max. This year there was a stretch of almost 2 weeks with medium to light snow. I know my friends in the NE USA were cursing them what with back to back blizzards that dumped about 4-5 feet of snow at its height. Thankfully they're thawing already.

This sign I see almost everyday at the high street of the town in Kent where I work. It's only now that I remembered to take a picture of it and share it here.

Herbert George Wells or H.G. Wells is a giant in relatively contemporary English literature. He authored works ranging from science textbooks to comedy to science fiction (The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine). A man known for his inventiveness, he nevertheless showed much compassion for the plight of the common man with his works touching on his hope for social progress and human evolution.
For more insight on the man and his life and works click here and here.

Weighty Weight Week 7

I forgot to weigh myself last week so my log right now is 2 weeks’ worth. According to the old fashioned (non digital) weighing scale at the mall, I am now 14 stones and 7.5 pounds. That’s about .75 pounds loss per week. Previously it was 1 pound a week. Seems my weight loss is slowing down. At least it’s still going down which I am pleased. I really do hope I could sustain this long term. I guess time to exercise more rigorously.

What's in a Name?

It is a word that a thing, a person, a place is called. It identifies the entity. To some extent a name defines it. For an institution it can signify status and reputation. A façade of some sort that can attract the right kind of people it wants to draw in. Normally a good reputation is built up over the years. A result of hard work and good intentions among its members to generate good products much admired over the years.

This is what happened to the educational institution called Mapua Institute of Technology. For the past 80 years it had been known as a technical school of good repute. The high regard for it did not happen overnight but through the years of toil by professors and students alike to turn out an institution worthy of its name. And this is the main reason why I could not understand the plan of the current owners (Yuchengcos) to change the name to Malayan University. They have various ruses on their actions, among them being that Mapua will still retain its name but under the banner of Malayan University.

Firstly I don’t really trust that they will retain it for long. They have done things without any prior announcement or consultations with faculty and students like changing the school year periods from semestral to quartermestral, hiking up school fees, etc. Question is how can we be sure of they would stick to their word?

Secondly, Mapua’s name will be diluted with the name of Malayan University looming right above it in any document and signs on the walls.

The students and faculty are demanding that Mapua as an institution be left alone and consequently its name left intact. It has thrived in the past 80 years in its current setup, why fix something that’s not broken?

If ever they change the name why not it be Mapua University? Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a university of very high status in America but it still retained its ‘Institute of Technology’ title. Why? Because it’s what is has been known for a long time. And because the years of goodwill has been built up on it. Precisely the same case with Mapua.

Now, why ‘Malayan’? Is it because according to President Vea that the name ‘Malayan’ has sentimental value to the Yuchengcos? Well what about the sentimental value of the thousands of students and alumni? That just goes to show they don’t give a horse shit on their customers. I thought the Yuchengcos are good business people, why would they then alienate their customers? Did they not realise that a lot of parents send their children to study in Mapua because of its name, because of its reputation. And if you’re going to take that away how would you entice your customers with a product name that has no providence yet education-wise? I don’t get it, it doesn’t make good business sense. Nag-iisip kaya sila?

Right now almost all the students, faculty, and a large part of the admin staff are still in protest. As an overseas alumni I can only join you in spirit. If you would like to join us in protest please sign this online petition - click here.

No to Malayan University!!

Viva Mapua!!


You can also go to other blogs and sites that wrote about this:

Apple Blog
Carpe Diem
Little Devil's Haven
Mapua Online
MIT Students
My Hideaway
No to Malayan Forum
Stranded on the Same Ground
United Mapuans

Loggins & Messina

My son dug out an old cassette tape of The Best of Friends of Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina a few weeks ago. I was secretly pleased that he liked it and had even learned a few of the songs there. Realisation came when he played it in the kitchen radio, produced the accompanying lyric sheet and sang with gusto. Well I wouldn't let myself be beaten so I sang eagerly with him. Why oh why did I forget this great song writing duo when I was doing my music meme. I relived memories brought about hearing old favourites like Your Mama Don't Dance, Peace of Mind, Travelin' Blues, or Watching the River Run. If you notice my selection in that music meme, a lot of the songs are arranged with just acoustic guitars and vocals. I love those type of songs where it exposes the beauty of the words, melody, and the human voice. And Loggins & Messina have a lot of those.

In that tape of Loggins & Messina, my son have 2 favourite songs. One was about Winnie the Pooh (which I will blog later) and the other the dainty and refined Danny's Song - song about the joys of parenthood, the metamorphosis of an otherwise aimless young man to a responsible father, of his love to the mother of his son. So poignant.


Danny's Song
(Kenny Loggins)

People smile and tell me I'm the lucky one
And we've just begun
Think I'm gonna have a son
He will be like she and me
As free as a dove
Conceived in love
Sun is gonna shine above

Chorus:
And even though we ain't got money
I'm so in love with ya honey
And everything will bring a chain of love
And in the morning when I rise
You bring a tear of joy to my eyes
And tell me everything is gonna be alright

Seems as though a month ago
I was a Beta Chi
Never got high
Oh I was a sorry guy
And now a smile, a face
A girl that shares my name
Now I'm through with the game
This boy will never be the same

(Repeat Chorus)

Pisces, Virgo rising is a very good sign
Strong and kind
And the little boy is mine
Now I see a family where there once was none
Now we've just begun
Yeah, we're gonna fly to the sun

(Repeat Chorus)

Love the girl who holds the world in a paper cup
Drink it up
Love her and she'll bring you luck
And if you find she helps your mind
Buddy, take her home
Don't you live alone
Try to earn what lovers own

(Repeat Chorus)

Weighty Weight Week 5

As usual I'm late with my report on my current scale indication. I weighed myself last Tuesday and I'm now 14 stones and 9 pounds. Another pound off which is really nice considering that I've not been so virtuous this week. But I guess, unless I go on a whole day pig out, I'm relatively okay.

I can understand now the merits of eating with low carbs or with the right ones. The other day I was in the car with my husband and my youngest. Me and the kid were famished, really hungry. We were on the move and have no time to find a resto and sit down and eat. So the only option at the time was a McDonald's drive thru. I ate chicken nuggets and had some french fries. You know what, those little fries I had made me even more hungry. I now discovered that with processed or easily absorbed carbs I get hungrier and the feeling of hunger is more intense unlike the ones I feel when my food is primarily vegs, fruits and proteins. What a revelation. At least now I will know the warning signs when it comes. Unlike before, when I will indulge my stomach with every smallest little hunger pang I experience. The downside with this is when you go out to eat or shop. Almost every food or dish available is catered for fast consumption and absorption of the body. White bread, white rice, processed food. I don't mind having them once in a while but the choices for a low carb eater is certainly narrow.

*Currently Listening to: Virgin Radio playing - Tubthumping (Chumbawamba)