Seven Wonders of the World

Was just thinking about how many places have I covered before I make my seven zillions storey up to heaven. I found this interesting as I am only aware of the Ancient world and Modern World Seven wonders. Read on and you'll notice anything can be a wonder of the world.

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The Great Pyramid of Giza
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
The Colossus of Rhodes
The Pharos of Alexandria
The Seven Wonders of the Medieval Mind
Stonehenge
The Colosseum
The Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
The Great Wall of China
The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing
The Hagia Sophia
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
The Seven Natural Wonders of the World
Mount Everest
The Great Barrier Reef
The Grand Canyon
Victoria Falls
The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
Paricutin Volcano
The Northern Lights
The Seven Underwater Wonders of the World
Palau
The Belize Barrier Reef
The Galapagos Islands
The Northern Red Sea
Lake Baikal
The Great Barrier Reef
The Deep Sea Vents
The Seven Wonders of the Modern World
The Empire State Building
The Itaip?Dam
The CN Tower
The Panama Canal
The Channel Tunnel
The North Sea Protection Works
The Golden Gate Bridge
The Seven Forgotten Natural Wonders of the World
Angel Falls
The Bay of Fundy
Igua踖 Falls
Krakatoa Island
Mount Fuji
Mount Kilimanjaro
Niagara Falls
The Seven Forgotten Modern Wonders of the World
The Clock Tower (Big Ben)
Eiffel Tower
The Gateway Arch
The Aswan High Dam
Hoover Dam
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
The Petronas Towers
The Seven Forgotten Wonders of the Medieval Mind
Abu Simbel Temple
Angkor Wat
Taj Mahal
Mont Saint-Michel
The Moai Statues
The Parthenon
The Shwedagon Pagoda
The Forgotten Wonders
The Aztec Temple
The Banaue Rice Terraces
The Borobudur Temple
The Inca City
The Statue of Liberty
The Mayan Temples
The Temple of the Inscriptions
The Throne Hall of Persepolis
Petra
The Suez Canal
The Sydney Opera House
The Red Fort in India

Sorry, must give credits to wonderclub.com for this compilation. Otherwise I'll be charged for plagarism.

Photography

I have been interested in photography as long as for 10 years. I bought my first camera - Gold Olympus Mju and until now I still do not bear to throw it away. I have since moved along with technology by owning a digital camera (paid by hubby).

I don't know what started the interest 10 years ago. But I remember this photographer friend of mine ever commented that I had good photographic eyes (Ahem) after he saw some photos I took. But anyway, he was kind enough to bring me around photographing in Singapore. Mind you, we were both flying then and had different rosters but it seems so fortunate that we were able to meet at least twice a month. Once he was called up to Auckland where I was rostered, and so the fun began. We went around Auckland and jumped onto some peoples' yachts and took photos, we also stayed there to wait for a shot of a seagull. He taught me how to use this apeture thing, where you use it to measure and manually adjust something to make sure photos don't turn out dark or too bright. Well, I guess there's no use for that now since we can view back with digital camera. I have since lost touch with that friend, I have last saw him on TV as a contestant in WWTBM.

I like to take on anything but I love it when I take night scenes coz' you get to see the streaks of light on the photo. The only setback? Is that you gotta have a steady hand otherwise it'll blur the picture.

Now, I wish I have the opportunity to try to improve myself. Unfortunately my time as a mother does not permit me. The only subject that interests me at this moment is my daughter. Whenever I have the chance I'd like to explore on my interest further. But first must train the people around me to be more patient and " don't rush me!"

These are some of my favourite shots all put together.

Oh no!

As I turned over and kiss my girl after wishing her "Happy 35 month old Athena.", I panicked. Argh! It's only 4 weeks to her 3rd birthday and I gotta to start doing her birthday party stuffs. I was already months in advance with the idea of her birthday favors for her little friends in school, Elmo chocolate done. I tried looking for the Elmo fruit snacks in Gristedes in New York - but no luck. I saw the Fruit Punch though, it's really cute and small. However we haven't got much space left in our bag. So now, have to look for another replacement. Need to order her cake. And we might be thinking of doing a family celebration for her so that'll need planning again. Sigh................ Guess will be lazy and keep the Elmo theme as well.

YUmmy.. YuMmY.....

Can't resist the temptations..
From pic :top left superbly rich Chocolate Fudge; top right Chocolate ice cream topped with Flake and fudge; bottom left Peanut butter ice cream with dunno what's mixed inside; bottom right Au Du Chocolate.
In total I dunno how many chocolate rich stuffs I took. But I'm happy. Never weigh myself - don't intend to. All I need to do is to be more hardworking and hit the gym more often.

The flight or fright??

Now do I know why many people prefers to take asian airline. I'm not against Northwest to post this blog. My travel includes three sectors on both ways SIN-NRT-DTW-IAD and JFK-MST-NRT-SIN. On the way up, there were alot of Chinese travelling onboard and the angmohs were so... like trying to ridicule them. Saying " I don't understand what you are saying..." And then they call this lady to help them interpret. Although many a times the poor lady was caught somewhere helping others; they will still try to look for her. I really pity her, although I can see that she was very helpful and her English isn't that fantastic either- but well to them it's a good help. I wanted to help them but then decided against it otherwise they'll come and interrupt my precious sleep ( I was sick one day before the flight and the medication didn't help me so needed the rest on the flight).

What frustrates me later was this lady who came to me and actioned 'fish' (hands together swimming) or 'chicken'(armpits moving up and down) during meal time just because she has been approaching all the chinese many rows before me. I told her off " You don't have to do this, I can speak and understand English well." Well, she halted and was rather embarrassed. She never did that to me during the second meal service.

Anyway, observations on the flight...

> They asked each other across the aisle loudly whether the other party had a certain choice of food or drinks; passed to one another across the aisle even asking passengers to help. One even ask a guy to stand up from his seat and help her unbrake a mealcart further down so that she can make the change near the galley. Call-lights were not attended to promptly. Damn! If I needed medical attention, I would have died on board. When I asked for Paracetemol, one didn't know what the heck it was, until I told her " I need Tylenol." Oh my goash!! How are they to render assistance to passengers who needed medications?

In SQ we would never dream of asking passengers to help unless necessary; passing entrees across the aisle lest it gets spilled on passengers (infact it'll be so hot to hold it by hand to pass it through. Yah... their main course weren't that hot); didn't attend to call-lights promptly. I took strolls in the cabin a few times to stretch my legs and tak-boleh tahan see all the christmas lights in the cabin and one in the toilet.

On the journey back, the long sector was packed to the brim (infact it was the same on the way up). And the ground staffs actually made abrupt announcements prior to boarding that they cannot entertain any seat changes. On board, I noticed many people around me trying to change their seats with fellow passengers. Nobody approached us. Probably they see a family of 3 together and there's no way to spilt us up.. or they may think I'm a cheena- who can't speak English. What frustrates me is that no crew has taken the initiative to offer to change this young couple with a young infant to a bulkhead seat. Well at least with the bassinet it's easier for them to manage;have their meals and nap.Maybe the others had selected the seats just like I did during booking, all the seats were taken up by angmohs adults. Prejudice? But still I thought the human empathatic side of them would make them render assistance afterall half of them were old enough to be mothers/fathers (to understand how it feels cramped up with an infant). And a small minority.. grandmas, grandpas. I wonder if my life would be at risk if there's any evacuation or emergency seeing how "slow" they are.

Well, at least on SIN-NRT and NRT-SIN I felt more comfortable as the flight attendants gave you attention (not that I was seeking one..) probably because mainly they were asians and there would also be some Singaporeans working for Northwest too.

I still think asian airline cannot be compared to the horrible treatment I had been getting on this flight and other flights. Well... Czech Airline provides superb service. (they look up to SQ-Singapore Airlines for their service standards).

Ahem...... SQ is still the best. Afterall I was with them for so many years, I know how much effort SQ has gone into customer service. But then...... I didn't marry a rich man to allow me to travel SQ all the time. Sigh.........

Decision making

As my daughter is nearing 3, I realised how much she has grown. Now, she wants to make her own decision. You have to let her choose which clothes she wants to wear; toys to bring; books to bring. Quite a headache! Which was also the reason why I had to rush down to Orchard on a busy weekend to change her clothes just because she wasn't there to choose it herself. (i'd rather spend a lazy weekend at home)
Bought her a pair of jeans yesterday from Fox Kids and she liked the Size 6 (3-4yrs old) but I thought it's tight and short on her, so changed to Size 8 for her. Pray hard she'll wear it.

Where did the energy come from?

Was wondering why my daughter is so quiet, peeped and saw that she was dancing to this Chinese children song.
I really wonder where she gets the energy from? She's sick but yet she is like a normal healthy child. My ex-colleagues think I have a good time staying at home taking care of her when she's sick, nobody believes me when I tell them she is as active as before.
Anyway, precious daughter loves singing; music and dancing. I have pulled her out from her Tumble Tots class and will enrol her for Yamaha music lesson and another enrichment class.
I saw this Speech & Drama program near my home and will think that's suitable for her.

Make way for a fat woman

I'm feeling so fat. Will take the chance to go gym tomorrow since mom wants daughter over at her house. Good timing too coz it's Christina's class. She's really good! Azrino too! They make me feel like punching out and get all my tension/stress out.

I am feeling good too as I managed to colour my greys yesterday. And today made a trip to Ikea. Wanted to stay longer and have my chocolate almond cake after my lunch but daughter's tired- so we made our way back.

Slurp! No wonder I'm so fat!! And pigbylicious is going for a chocolate feast this weekend, I hate her for that!!!

I'm OLD!!!!

Argh! I noticed I have more greys on my head. What's happening to me?? It is hereditary and it seems like I have more greys than usual. I think by 40, 60% of my head will be covered with greys.

Okay, I must colour my hair either tomorrow or on Wednesday.

This is so interesting, got it from womenfitness.net


GREYING HAIR


Grey hair is a familiar sign of ageing. The age when greying starts depends on your genetic inheritance, but around 50 per cent of Caucasians find that half their hair has turned grey by the age of 50.
Loss of hair colour is due to a gradual decline in the production of a pigment, melanin, in the hair bulb. White hair has no pigment, and gray hair has some but not as much as a red, black or brown hair. Not all hairs respond in the same way or at the same time. So the graying process usually is gradual. You can't prevent graying. If you look at individual hairs on a greying head you will see a full colour range, from the original shade to white - all along each hair. and from one hair to another. The first grey hairs usually appears near the temples. Then the greyness spreads to the crown, and later to the back of the head.
Apparent rapid greying may be due to the selective shedding of pigmented hair in a person who already has some grey hairs, which are retained. This kind of shedding usually takes several months. But it can occur in a few days, when the effects are dramatic, since the person's grey hairs would not have been so obvious until the darker hairs were lost. Loss of hair colour before the age of 35 is termed premature greying.
Excessive intake of tea, coffee, alcohol, meat, and fried, oily, greasy, spicy, sour, and acidic foods can reduce the moisture and nutrients reaching the hair follicles and may lead to premature greying.
A drop in melanin production may be caused by a lack of the mineral copper. Eat foods such as crab, oysters, sunflower seeds, cashews and almonds, which have significant amounts of copper.
To obtain better results, iron & iodine should be taken in form of sea food. Besides fish, which is the main source of iodine, the requirement of this mineral can be met by adequate intake of carrots, bananas & similar other vegetables & fruits. Carrots are especially useful in furnishing fresh blood & maintaining the health of the hair.
All three of these vitamins, belonging to B group, should be supplied at one time preferably in a form which gives all B vitamins, such as yeast, wheat germ & liver. The three anti-grey hair vitamins can be produced in the intestinal track by bacteria. Thus drinking a litre of yoghurt daily with a tablespoon of yeast before each meal will be an excellent remedy for the prevention & the treatment of premature greying of hair. If one wishes to take tablets of calcium pantothenate & paba, they should be taken in addition to the yeast & yoghurt & not as a substitute for them.
Avoid foods loaded with artificial colours and preservatives, as these put a strain on your digestive system and can lead to dry, brittle hair and a dehydrated scalp. Too many carbohydrates, such a pasta and bread, can diminish levels of antioxidants in your body that are needed to neutralize free radicals.
Instead of reaching for a packet of hair dye, try some natural applications. Sage or tea will temporarily coat the hair shaft, hiding the grey. Grey hair tends to be coarse and wiry, owing to a lack of moisture. Apply a hair mask once a week. Olive oil, avocado or banana are excellent nourishing masks.
Hair cannot really turn white "overnight" - this is an urban myth. Hairs grow with the pigment already inside them. As hair is dead there is no process by which the melanin throughout a hair can be destroyed rapidly by natural causes, rather than chemicals (although it may be bleached by sunlight over many years).

beauty_skin();

Lazy Monday

I dunno what happened to me this morning. I was all so excited yesterday looking forward to Monday, and now I'm so lazy to go for my Bodycombat class. Needed to go down Ikea to get some things also, but so lazy to move my butt.
Maybe I should wait until I get back from my trip to do my shopping then. I needed some ideas for my daughter's bedroom. I saw these dual purpose beds at IMM. It's really cool, there's bunk on top, and the bottom can be a table. Flip it over and it becomes another bed.
I hope tomorrow I will feel better and hit the gym.

Time being, I'm listening to this Yoga CD I bought from HMV few days ago. And it's making me so sleepy now.

" Calling all passengers bound for New York "

Last evening my whole family went to the airport to send my brother and sister-in-law off at the airport.
Somehow I can sense my mom's edg-iness when we were waiting for them to clear immigration. I can't blame her, she's all worried about her son who's going to be away from her for 2 months (like how is he going to survive all alone without family).
Funny it seems at this time of the year, all her children are travelling. Brother left yesterday, my elder sister (yup. the one who kicked me down the stairs) left for Tioman today for her diving trip, and I will be leaving next Saturday for States. A pity though all my arrangements have been made way ahead, otherwise it would be nice meeting up with my brother.

Au revoir

A picture of my brother and sister-in-law during one of our family dinner.

Will be going to the airport later to send my brother off to the States. He will be there for 2 months, first with a 2 weeks holiday in the East Coast and then on to Cleveland.
We will miss him as he hardly leaves us for that long. Athena will miss him too, coz' she likes playing with her uncle.
We made him a card last Sunday, with her doing the pasting and colouring. Very stupid piece of card but I think it means alot to my brother as I saw him keeping it in his bag.
Wish him a safe trip.