Wavehouse

Got a VIP invitation (yay!) from Fay Hokulani to attend a party at Wavehouse, Sentosa at Siloso beach. It really is a cool place to visit. I wasn't dressed in the right attire (was kinda overdressed actually) so there was absolutely no chance to try my hand at surfing. Can't wait to find some 'kakis' to do that surf thingy! The wonderful thing about this place is that you don't have to travel to Bali or Down Under to get some surf. If you're hungry after all that falling (inevitable for beginners), there's a quaint restaurant to dig into some nice pizza. And if you're not flat out after that, there's rap and house music to bob to, and a bar to get intoxicated with spirits. They have performers over the weekend I hear. And btw, rates start from $35 an hour for surfing. Not so sure if there's entrance fee though. 

The crowd ranged from gangly teens to thirties. There's a fair mix of locals and ang mohs. And certainly more than anyone's fair share of boardshorts hunks and bikini babes. Surf's up everyone!

K9 Feelings

Tiger was NOT good last night. After an evening trip to fetch me home, he hadn't been feeling very well, throwing up 5, 6 times bouts ofbout yellow bile and foam. We were worried but had booked tickets to New Moon. When we came back past midnight, I realized that little Tiggy had pee-ed on my bed, wetting my silk duvet cover and down quilt. Good thing it didn't soak all the way into my new bed sheet! After removing the quilt, it still smelled fishy. On further investigation, there on my sheepskin rug was a pile of poo!! And worse, Tiggy had tried to cover his misdeed with my Paul Frank shorts. He had apparently stepped on my shorts in the process.

I was livid! My shorts all covered in squashed poo!!! And my newly-washed sheepskin too!

We confronted Tiggy with the evidence and he was as sheepish as my rug. His ears were flattened behind and he crouched guiltily. That's Hidden Poo & Crouching Tiger for you. I decided to mete out very light punishment considering that he was ill. Some scolding was enough to make him beg for forgiveness as he rolled over on his back and licked my hands. We had to do SO much washing last night. When we beckoned him to bed after we finally finished at 3am, he was so reluctant to come in, knowing that that was the place of crime. We literally dragged him in.

Looks like my little canine friend here went through a whole gamut of emotions last night. From feeling sick, to frustration that mom and dad left him alone in the big house when he was ill, to anger, to remorse (trying to cover his tracks), and finally to guilt then relief. Whoever said animals don't have feelings?

OFFICE PANTRY NOTES

Interesting that besides office politics, there's the food wars too, where your best colleague can steal from you!

AFA Fair

We came across some cosplay characters at Suntec yesterday. There was a AFA fair for anime characters and these cute people all dressed up in costumes were loitering around the exhibition halls for photographers and amateurs to have their pick. Some were sexy, others were cute or macabre. Most were more than happy to pose. The sexy gals in skin-baring outfits such as in pic 1 and 2 attracted the most attention. I especially liked the Chun-Li character I posed with (last pic, with Sailor Moon). She was so pretty with the twin buns and her fans.

Where is Chuck Norris?

Just found out an interesting google search. Apparently, if you search for "where is Chuck Norris" and click "I'm feeling lucky", this is what you get.

Haha! Spooked yet?

Click here  if you have no idea Chuck Norris is.

Freaking Coincidence

My friend Agnes sent me an sms: "Soccer widow seeking company to watch movie tonight." So we decided to watch 2012. I asked Joanne and Winnie along only to find out that they already bought tickets to watch the 9.10pm show at Marina GV. That's coincidence No. 1.

Agnes then bought the seats at another Bugis cinema for the 9.20pm show instead. When we got there, I realized that we had the exact same seat numbers as Joanne and Winnie, P17 and 18! :O

What are the odds?

So, 2012. It was hell of a movie. Very thrilling and fantastic special effects. The movie was so realistic that it's scary. The sense of hopelessness as everything fell apart hung over our heads as we followed the plot. But of course in the usual Hollywood style, all the heroes were saved, families were united, bad guys (and some good guys) died tragically, and the black USA president (ironically named Osama) chose to sink with his 'ship'. Ok, no more spoilers. Go watch the movie for yourself!

Dolphin Massacre

My friend sent me the email about the annual massacre of these Calderon Dolphins after seeing my post about horse slaughter. I am so disgusted by how people in Denmark can take lives just to prove a point. What mark of bravery? This is more like a mark of cowardice. Why pick on such an intelligent and gentle mammal?Why not go after something like a crocodile? I mean, what glory is there in slashing and stabbing creatures that have no means to fight back?! This is just as bad, or worse than slaughtering horse for their meat! At least there is a commercial goal for these mercenary businessmen when they kill the horses. These Danes kill dolphins all for the fun of it! And those who do not participate in the action watch on with glee, as accomplices.


How can human beings be so numb to pain? Our shocking lack of empathy is so shameful. Just because they are animals, and not humans doesn't make their pain any less credible. That's why I fully support the Halal certification when it comes to killing animals for food. When they kill the halal way, they make sure that the animal suffers as little pain as possible. At least when I eat that chicken, I know that it didn't have to die in a long drawn-out process.


Do go to the website below and put your name down on the petition. We can't physically stop the cruelty but at the very least we can support the cause and petition the authorities to do something about it. 


http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/stop-the-calderon-dolphin-slaughter-in-denmark

Every year, in Denmark, specifically the Faroe Islands, innocent and helpless Calderon Dolphins are slaughtered brutally by the danes. Why you may ask, simply because. A pointless and stupid right of passage to manhood.

What points is there in killing another living being just to prove you have "evolved", you have transcended. There is simply no need.

This poor dolphins are stabbed a number of times, but as if that weren't enough, they bleed to death, probably in excruciating pain while the whole town watches.

Needles to say, that killing a defenseless animal is no prove of anybody's manhood.

So, I urge, as I am sure many more have, to stop this nonsense. And take action.

Never, ever, killing an other creature, another living being, with whom we share this world, has done any good, to anyone. So let's stop it.

Horse Slaughter

 just watched a Youtube video on horse slaughter that's absolutely sickening. It made me so upset to see the horses being treated in such inhumane ways. Apparently, horse meat is a delicacy in some high end restaurants. So to meet the demand, healthy horses are being killed.

Horses are up there on my list of favourite animals, next to dogs. They are animal companions. To see them being killed made me sick to the stomach and made my eyes water. You have to watch the video for yourself to see why: After travelling for days without food and water, with only cramped standing spaces and without regard for their injuries, horses are led to slaughter houses where blood and carcasses lined the walls. I can imagine how terrified they must be hearing the noises of other horses being killed. I can see the terror in their eyes, the helplessness, the vulnerability. Horses were being knocked unconscious with the use of a hammer gun to the head. After they are down, they are hung by the legs and their throats slit, allowed to bleed to death so that their meat can be harvested and their hides used for other by-products.

Now I feel really bad because I just bought a horse hair bag. And moreover, I am using horse hair in some of my shoes and pouches, thus contributing to the demand for horse hides. I resolve not to use any more horse leather after this batch. I may not be the one doing the killing, but indirectly I am contributing to their deaths.

As for eating horse meat, now that is totally gratuitous. There are so many kinds of meat for human consumption. Why eat horses? They're majestic creatures that have braved many battles with their masters. They already serve man with transportation and sports like polo. Why make them our food? For these reasons, I'm idiosyncratic with food. I don't eat rabbit, venison, other exotic fares and never horses! In fact, if you ate horses, I would be upset with you! I stick with the chicken, beef, mutton, fish, prawns, crabs and other limited variety. I think rabbits and deers are too cute and gentle, too defenseless to be eaten. Actually if I could, I would rather not eat chicken or beef as well. I would turn vegetarian if I thought too much about the animals that I consume. But that would be a radical choice, severely curtailing my dietary options.

Short on Sleep?

I just read about the death of Ranjan Das from Mumbai. Ranjan, just 42 years of age, was the CEO of SAP-Indian Subcontinent, the youngest CEO of an MNC in India. He was very active in sports, was a fitness freak and a marathon runner. On 21st Oct, he returned home from his gym after a workout, collapsed with a massive heart attack and died.

It seems that recently, athletic young men in the prime of health were dropping dead like flies. It's scary because compared to these gym hamsters, I'm absolutely a couch potato. I don't think I get enough exercise sliding about the room on my roller chair, doing housework and wriggling some fingers on the ivories. The only exercise I get is 20 laps in the small pool 3 times a week. (But now that it keeps raining, I haven't been in chlorine for like 2 weeks!) And perhaps 2 short walks with Tiger daily.


This man couldn't have died from stress as the effects of exercising are supposed to counter stress. The report highlights that this man sleeps 4-5 hours per night and purportedly, the reason for his untimely death is the lack of sleep. I've pasted some studies from Mr Madhur Kotharay  who gives us all legitimate excuses to snooze that extra hour in bed.


Ah..off to bed now..zzzz

The Evidence

Last week, I was working with a well-known cardiologist on the subject of ‘Heart Disease caused by Lack of Sleep’. While I cannot share the video nor the slides because of confidentiality reasons, I have distilled the key points below in the hope it will save some of our lives.

Some Excerpts:

· Short sleep duration ( <5 or 5-6 hours ) increased risk for high BP by 350% to 500% compared to those who slept longer than 6 hours per night. Paper published in 2009. As you know, high BP kills.

· Young people ( 25-49 years of age ) are twice as likely to get high BP if they sleep less. Paper published in 2006.

· Individuals who slept less than 5 hours a night had a 3-fold increased risk of heart attacks. Paper published in 1999.

· Complete and partial lack of sleep increased the blood concentrations of High sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-cRP), the strongest predictor of heart attacks. Even after getting adequate sleep later, the levels stayed high!!

· Just one night of sleep loss increases very toxic substances in body such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumour Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-alpha) and C-reactive protein (cRP). They increase risks of many medical conditions, including cancer, arthritis and heart disease. Paper published in 2004.

· Sleeping for <=5 hours per night leads to 39% increase in heart disease. Sleeping for <=6 hours per night leads to 18% increase in heart disease. Paper published in 2006.

In conclusion:

Barring stress control, Ranjan Das did everything right: eating proper food, exercising ( marathoning! ), maintaining proper weight. But he missed getting proper and adequate sleep, minimum 7 hours. In my opinion, that killed him.
If you are not getting enough sleep ( 7 hours ), you are playing with fire, even if you have low stress.

I always took pride in my ability to work 50 hours at a stretch whenever the situation warranted. But I was so spooked after seeing the scientific evidence last week that since Saturday night, I ensure I do not even set the alarm clock under 7 hours. Now, that is a nice excuse to get some more sleep.

Unfortunately, Ranjan Das is not alone when it comes to missing sleep. Many of us are doing exactly the same, perhaps out of ignorance. Please forward this mail/article to as many of your colleagues/friends as possible, especially those who might be short-changing their sleep. If we can save even one young life because of this email, I would be the happiest person on earth.

Hairpiece

Bought an innocuous-looking hairpiece that's supposed to give me instant long hair. Sort of like hair extensions except that it's detachable. I chose a curly, hazel coloured one with soft tendrils at the ends. Yeah, I know it looks strangely morbid laying there so forlornly in the picture. On the underside there are some 5 clips that helps to attach it to my hair.

Anyway, this is how it looks when worn:

You can tell it's fake cos the colour and the texture doesn't match my hair. My hair also looks ridiculously full at the top and pathetically sparse at the bottom, sorta like an octopus. And the real hair doesn't blend into the hairpiece. I might never wear it out except for a costume party. Well, it's all in the name of fun. The next time I visit this shop, I might just get the bangs version.

High drama at KLCC

Went to KL over the last few days. Some high drama last night made me the centre of attention at KLCC. Had a horrific run-in with a taxi driver that ended up in a police report. I would call him a sucker cos he cheated by taking a long route on the highway, knowing that we were tourists. He had seen us poring over a map and gestured to us in his taxi.

During the highway ride, I noticed that he had skipped the KLCC exit, so we confronted him about it. He denied everything and pretended that he was just doing his job. Any idiot would know he was lying because he became very nervous, drove faster and tried to cut lanes in the peak-hour jam. The exit he took also led to a very 'ulu' area, which obviously would not be anywhere near the city.

When we reached our destination, the fare was RM37.  Then when we refused to pay the full fare, he insisted to take us to the police. There was some confusion as I told him to stop us in front and let the security handle the matter. I didn't want to be taken anywhere else. Who knows where he might take us. So I tried to play the heroine by leaping out of the taxi while it was moving off. It didn't seem to be moving very fast when I opened the door. However, it wasn't very successful cos I ended up losing my shoes 10m back, knocking down some traffic cones with the car door, and getting some bruises on my bum and thighs. Definitely very unglam as I let out a piercing scream that made the sucker come to an abrupt halt. Of course, in retrospect, I do realize it was a bit foolhardy to do what I did. I could have ended up in a thick cast for months.

Some people crowded around us after I retrieved my shoes. Passers-by, security guards, and some another busybody cab-driver came to make sense of the incident. The driver had the cheek to insist on his full fare, daring us to go ahead and complain about him. He seemed nervous that I asked him if he would be responsible for my injuries though. I think he must be hoping that we would be one of those complacent tourists who would put the matter behind. Not me. It took us more from midnight to 1am to make that police report. I think if enough people stand up for their rights, it would make enough of a difference to make society a better place. Even if the authorities do not take any action, at least this driver will think twice the next time he tries to pull off the gangster stunt on another hapless tourist.