Selamat Hari Raya!

Today is the last day of Ramadan (the Muslim fasting month), and tomorrow will be the Eid festival, which is also called Hari Raya in Malaysia. Even though I am not a Muslim, I am enjoying this holiday too. Will be busy with church activities, so this week I might not be able to update my blog.

Just wanna wish everybody...

Selamat Hari Raya!

A fun golf game - Wonderputt

I never like golf. It's a very environmental unfriendly sport. About 20 years ago, at my hometown, a huge chunk of forest near the beach was down just to make way for a golf course. Then the land was fenced up and only the very rich were allowed in. We lost the biodiversity, the oxygen, the wonderful greenery. While millions in the world are suffering from drought, millions liters of drinkable water (probably much more) are being sprinkled on golf course to keep the grass green. Life is unfair, huh?

Here is a more environmental friendly golf game - Wonderputt. Compared with a physical golf course, this one uses much less natural resources, and there's more fun too! Have a nice weekend! :-)

A little brown patch...

Recently I noticed that the little brown patch on my left index finger is getting darker. Got it years back while doing an organic chemistry experiment. I was using 1.0 M nitric acid (HNO₃) to convert a chemical (don't remember what was it). A drop of the acid got splashed on my finger. I quickly washed it away. Didn't get burn but then that part of the skin turned brownish afterward. I wonder why...

A Mat Salleh/Farang eating durian

[Mat Salleh = White man in Malay]
[Farang = foreigner in Thai]

We had a visitor from Italy, who attended our church for 3 Sabbaths. On the second Sabbath, some church members found out that he'd never tried durian before, and they bought the for him to try the next week. It's D24, one of the best durian varieties in Malaysia.

Very thick & big flesh

We were quite excited and took many photos of him. For many of us, probably this was the first time to see a Westerner eating durian. Usually Westerners find durian offensive. We were waiting to see our friend's response. Will he like it?

Tasting & trying... 

Not bad, huh? He's OK with the fruit. In fact, he finished it! The seed was very small. He washed it and told us that he's going to bring it back to Italy and show to his family.

[Since he's a Italian, I think that he's already used to stinky cheese. So durian might not smell that bad!]

Pr.WS putting water into durian shell

We believe that drinking water from a durian shell helps to reduce the "heat" of durian, so that you won't get sore throat afterward. Another way is to eat mangosteen, which is considered "cold" and can balance the "heat".

Our friend has already went back to Italy. He's probably coming to Ipoh again next month. Hope to see you soon, and we'll get you more local delicacy! :-)

The best book sharing sign

from 1001 To Read Before You Die

If there is one such shop in Ipoh, I'll be visiting everyday!

Is there any such place in Malaysia, at all?

Welcome to Today

from Diminishing Lucy

Welcome to today! Welcome to Monday!

Instead of having Monday blue, usually I feel good to go back to work (unless I have had lots of traveling during the weekend). I love seeing my work desk, my books, my stationery, and all the other work-related stuff (and staff too). I'm not a workaholic, though; I just like sitting by my work desk. After 2 days of separation, I feel happy to see it. Monday is always a good start.

Every morning when I wake up I'm grateful that I'm still alive, breathing and blinking. My heart is still beating. Today is a good day.

Today is the day we can make a change - even a little change, in the way we look at the world and the people around us. Complain less and appreciate more.

Have a wonderful Monday! :-)

Facebook's LIKE button from around the world

from Mashable.com

he LIKE button in Facebook is a very convenient way to express yourself. I wonder if FB is planning to have a DISLIKE button?

Have a likeable weekend! :-)
Happy Sabbath!

TinEye Reverse Image Search Engine

I've always been wondering, instead of typing key word and searching for related pictures, would it be possible to do it the other way round - uploading a picture into a search engine and then look for its related source?

Recently I discovered TinEye, which does just that!

According to its website,

"TinEye is a reverse image search engine. It finds out where an image came from, how it is being used, if modified versions of the image exist, or if there is a higher resolution version."

I tried the photo of Albert Einstein (as below). Got 1594 results. There are so many alternative versions of the same photo!

from Wikipedia

The Malcolm Gladwell Book Generator

from gladwell.com

Malcolm Gladwell and Albert Einstein have one thing in similar - both have huge hair!

I've never read any of Albert Einstein's books (I don't think I'll be able to understand most of them). Probably the only one line of him I've ever read is the famous e=mc² equation. As for Gladwell, out of his 4 books, I've read the first 3 (The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers). I'm thinking of reading the fourth one later.

from Wikipedia

from Wikipedia

from Wikipedia

from Wikipedia

All Gladwell's book covers follow the same formula - clean white background, a simple and yet catchy title, together with a long subtitle (as seen in the examples above). It seems like you can predict what the next book is going to look like if you were just given the title only.

So this was what Cory Bortnicker & Bett did - they created a Malcolm Gladwell Book Generator where a New York Time Bestseller is just a click away!

Some examples (there are numerous of them!):

Just wondering... is this book generator a mockery or alternative admiration? (according to The New York Observer, Cory Bortnicker is actually a big fan of Gladwell!)

Kenyan Camel Library

This is a sequel to yesterday's post (scroll down to read it). While 438,977 out there hate reading, and one of them even created a Facebook fan page to celebrate it, there are others in Kenya who are desperate to get hold of books.

The Kenyan government has set up a mobile library which is being carried around by camels. The purpose is to reach the nomads, whose children usually can't go to school regularly because of financial difficulty and work. [BBC photojournal here]

from the BBC

from the BBC

It's a shame that those who live in places where libraries and bookstores are everywhere and have the means to purchase books are complaining about reading!

"I Hate Reading" Facebook Page - What the...?

Somebody started a "I Hate Reading" page in Facebook, and there are 438,977 likes! What the...? [Discovered the page through Abebooks blog].

Reading is a basic skill in education. Without it you can't be educated. Without education, you'll be left behind in this fast-moving world.

[The fact that you can start or join a "I Hate Reading" page is all due to another fact that you can read & write!]

Whenever I saw high school dropouts I'd feel very sad. Instead of studying, they are doing low-paid manual jobs in the factories, standing in the supermarket the whole day, or worse, staying home and doing nothing. I've met teenagers who can't even read or write a complete sentence.

When I was still in Thailand, I'd met refugees who'd try whatever way to finish high school, and if possible, even college. Here in Malaysia primary and secondary education is provided for free, yet many kids don't want to study.

AbeBooks.com has created a video entitled Long Live the Book in reply to this page...

Should I start a "I Hate 'I Hate Reading'" page?

Shake It & Taste It

Bought a la carte large French fries just for the sake of McShaker... :-)

At one point in the year McDonald's would offer Shake It & Taste It for a few months.

Pour, shake & enjoy!
Have a nice weekend! 

Yellow Shell car

Saw this last week while going home. Managed to snap a photo of it while Pr.WS drove by (not an easy task!). It's a yellow Alza (a local-made MPV) used by Shell to promote the latest FuelSave95. According to its official website, it can help you to save about 1 liter per tank. Do you believe it?

 

JIMAT 1 LITER = Save 1 liter

A look at the little trailer...

JOM MAIN DAN MENANG BERSAMA = Come and play and win together.

Quite a number of drivers slowed down to take a look at the Alza.  This definitely is an efficient way of promotion. Who'll fail to notice it? 

Move, Eat, Learn

A male version of Eat, Pray, Love.

From Rick Mereki's Vimeo...

"3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage... all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ....into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films....."

Rick Mereki, together with his 2 friends, traveled around the world and made these 3 short films, which were also commissioned by STA Travel Australia.


MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.


EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.


LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

[I like the EAT video especially! Yummy food!]

A very simple lunch

Been having heavy and irregular meals during the past few days. So I decided to have a light lunch yesterday. Just bread (didn't even finish it) + guava (sprinkled with sour plum powder) + water + a book (a must whenever I'm eating a lone).

It's the month of Ramadan, and Muslims all over the world are fasting. If possible I also wanted to fast yesterday. However, I tried it before and I felt very dizzy from hypoglycemia. Instead of total fast, usually I'd just take very light meals + plenty of water/juice. I'd do this after major festivals (such as Chinese New Year, Christmas), or whenever I felt that I ate too much.

Having a simple lunch/dinner once in a while helps to lighten up my digestive system. I could feel my stomach and intestines being cleared and unclogged. Yesterday by 4 p.m. I was hungry again and I ate the leftover bread. Just enough to maintain my blood glucose level. My body felt very light. The heaviness on my eyelids was gone and I was not sleepy the entire afternoon.

Today I'm ready for my regular lunch. Looking forward to that! :-)

GPS

GPS doesn't always stand for Global Positioning System. 

350,000 Post-it notes to express love

A collaboration between Melissa, a Brazilian shoemaker, and 3M to promote Melissa's Power of Love spring/summer 2012 collection. It's on the facade of Galeria Melissa, São Paulo and open to everyone to write a love note. Took them 5 months + 25 animators to complete this stop-motion video.




The making of the video...



With love! :-)

[What amazes me is that nobody vandalized it. If this is in Malaysia, I don't think those Post-It's at the bottom will still be there the next day.]

Twisted pipe

Discovered this while strolling nearby my house after dinner (to help with digestion)...

I have never seen this type of pipe before. Is it better than the straight one? Can anyone enlighten me?

*Malaysian Burger*

Not McDonald's burger, but Malaysian burger!

Burger stalls are very common in residential areas in Malaysia. Usually there would be at least one in every Taman (garden in Malay, a word for a residential area). They open at in the evening until late at night. Common snacks especially for college students and those who watch football match during midnight.

One of the 3 burger stalls nearby my house

The burger used to be prepared by local Malays. However, recently they hired a few foreign workers to do the job.

Frying the patty & hot dog and toasting the buns

When the buns are done, they'd be placed in the boxes and another person would add pieces of tomatoes & cucumber and spread mayonnaise and chili sauce.

Cut open the patty so that it will be cooked thoroughly. Add seasoning in between the pieces, close them and put them aside.

Spread out the eggs for burger special (in Malay adjective comes after noun)

Put the patty & hot dog on the egg

Add seasoning - soy sauce, thick soy sauce & pepper

Fold the egg and put the patty on the bun in the box.
And the burger is done! (forgot to take picture of the it...)

Zero legal frees & insect microbrian

Discovered 2 typos last week...

ZERO legal freebies from the court or the lawyers? This is on a promotional flyer for houses. It should be "ZERO legal FEES for SPA & loan agreement". Come on, the houses you are selling are over RM350,000, some even more than RM500,000, why didn't you spend a bit of time checking your flyers before you send them to the printer?

This is on a Chinese book I'm reading. It's about insect's nervous system. At first I thought microbrian is a new scientific term. However, after reading the first chapter, I found out that actually it should be microbrain (this is really a new term invented by the Japanese author, who is also a life scientist).

I have a habit of scrutinizing words and looking for typos (here is another example). They irritate me but I enjoy revealing them!

All is Not Lost

On leave today, catching up with a bit of houseworks & hanging out with my hubby. Relaxing...

Watch this to relax yourself. Watch the dancers twist their bodies on a piece of glass!



This video was made by Pilobolus, a creative dance company, in collaboration with the Grammy-winning band OK Go.

Creativity knows no bound!