International Women's Day 2017

Everyday is special for everyone, but since its slotted that today is Women's Day...I feel extra special...haha..and so wishing every ladies, girls, women all over

  "Happy Women's Day"...

I am blessed to have my mum and sisters, my nieces and my bffs and all my girlfriends around.

Stay happy and stay positive.

:-)

MH370 : Half closure

Last night when a friend sent a message telling me about the press conference that would be held at 10pm, my heart sank...I had a feeling that our Prime Minister was going to be a bearer of bad news.

When just before the announcement, another friend posted in my group chat a message that was sent to relatives informing them of the latest status, I started to feel down.

Praying and hoping that the plane and answer will emerge soon, giving full closure to this sad moment, amiin.

In the mean time, I'd like to quote some posts from FB :

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"hate the governing party as you wish. that's your right. but to insult and humiliate your own country in light of an unprecedented crisis in world aviation history, despite all the well coordinated and impressive search and rescue efforts, just because you don't like the governing party, it's beyond being mere 'unfair' to the government. I would, in my personal and unrepresentative opinion, think that it's treacherous and shameful."

"MH 370 SAR.

Bear in mind that the members of the SAR team are risking their lives in the effort to locate the missing plane. The far part of the South Indian Ocean, which borders Antartica, is one of the most inhospitable areas of the planet.It is constantly subject to extreme winds and high waves with no significant land mass in sight. It is an extremely risky SAR operation.

Wish them luck"

"NO country has a monopoly on grief.

...remember, there are 239 souls on MH370, not just 152. The world has witnessed the antics of the families of the 152.

Malaysia lost 50 of its citizens. These are fathers, wives, siblings and children of quietly grieving families across our land. Indonesia lost seven people, Australia six, India five, with others spread over 11 other countries and territories."

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To all muslims on board the flight MH370..AlFatihah

to the non muslims, rest in peace..

and to the families left behind, please remain strong.

Testing

As I seldom have the chance to really sit down and update here using my pc these days..I'm testing now to update using my (not so)smart phone.

Its hard...haha...

Resting by the pool, people watching (or rather short napping...hahaha..)

First walking exercise at this place this year after a long break. No jogging/running yet  :-)

Anyway, thats one new application that I'd downloaded to my phone - instaweather...and where i was during the weekend..hehe..

:-)

p/s - took me half an hour to finish the above...! Hehehe..

The Story of Ammar - short film

Something to share...a story of great inspiration,

Reminder to self...

Just a few chapters..."Secrets to the...."

Attempting to read this book since my "great escape to.."...

The synopsis caught my interest when I saw it at the book shop :

So far I find the story quite interesting.....though to date ~ a week later..I have yet to reach the first 50 pages..hehe...,

and I have another 480 pages to go ... ha ha ha ....

I really have to find time to read it before I turn to last chapter to find out,

"who dunnit???"

:-)))

Eid ul Fitr

Wishing all my family, friends and my blog readers, near and far... "Eid Mubarak".

Have a wonderful celebration in Syawal after a great month of Ramadhan.

Will be a very busy day today, the last day of Ramadhan, cleaning up the house and later in the evening to take my turn in the kitchen preparing the main dish for tomorrow...

mmm..I'll make sure the kids in the house help us out..hehehe...

:-)

(p/s ~ may we be able to do the 6 days of fasting in Syawal..amiin)

Eid commercial

BERNAS "Hari Raya" commercial 2012

(With English subs)

"Two special children build a beautiful relationship based on genuine care and understanding. On the eve of Hari Raya, these orphans, Ahmad and Fizi embarked on a journey and encountered many challenges along the way. Through their perseverance and determination, they overcome all odds to fulfill their obligation of unconditional love."

First caught part of this commercial on TV last night..and I got tears in my eyes..and today when I watched it fully when someone posted on FB, I cried again (and in the middle of it my boss dropped by!)

One friend remarked :

"There's so much to be learnt from this video - I've never in my whole life, shed tears over a commercial :'-( "

Counting the blessings that have been given to me and family..really thankful for what we have..Alhamdulillah.

TLC : Much needed rest.

Have yet to recover fully from what the doctor said was the viral fever.

It started early morning last week, the morning that I'd geared myself to go for the "senamrobik" event at my former school. But I went to work though a bit late, and suffered minor headache, muscle aches and joint pain the whole day, and my eyes strained.

Into the fourth day, Friday morning and I finally went to see the doctor...and with a sore throat, a slightly at the border BP rate (but no fever), the doctor said I need to take antibiotics and some medications for the aches (and "NO", she didn't need to take blood sample as its not dengue as I indicated - hehehe..).

Today I have finished most medicines, but still need to take the cough syrup...hope I'll get well soon.

Anyway, the Ramadhan month is here..wishing my family, my muslim friends and blog readers Ramadhan Kareem..may we be blessed with good health and stronger faith to be better persons..amiin.

Happy fasting and lets take this given chance to do Taraweeh prayers. (here)

Have a great weekend everyone!

:-)

Treating others.

Sometimes I'd get the ideas for blogging from FB. Tonight I found one quote that I like :

Lets strive to be a better person, treating and respecting others like what we wish others to treat us ~ good and with respect as well.

Photo from Keukenhof's collection :-)

:-)

Communications

Too many means of communication these days that I'm a bit slow in catching up..if last time its just normal chatting over the phone, keeping in touch with sms, mms and emails, craze nowadays is the facebook ~ don't say its something else now, I'm just getting used to it..haha..

I'm quite aware of others, tried some before and didn't want to bother myself..hehe..but today somehow I got "hooked" on these when I went to see some friends :-)

Others have used it for many years..hehehe..

I have requested my family at kampung to sign up as well so that we could communicate this way..better to see them..hehe..

So far I have only one friend :-)

I actually had forgotten that my tablet used a different phone number..no wonder one friend didn't answer my Skype call or noticed my existence in whatsapp when I tried this afternoon...I haven't add many people in my contact book..haha

Well, I'll get into this soon..but what's this about "instagram"???

I've signed up but don't know what its all about....hahaha

[Note : Didn't run for fun today, decided to rest..over did a bit when I actually have just started jogging a week ago..hope I'll feel better tomorrow..aminnn..]

:-)

*Train not strain*

O, O.. Is it normal or its just me? My lower legs have started to feel the strain and pain. Have I pushed too hard since I started last week?

Yesterday I thought it was due to my fasting so I stopped after half an hour instead of normal one hour, but today after twenty minutes of brisk walking and jogging, I mostly walked leisurely till the one hour mark.

So earlier tonight I checked online for info. Apart from the medical info I found interesting articles for beginners in running..hehe..

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How to start running with 10 easy steps

Excerpt from an article by Cynthia Hayward (Link Here)

1. Invest in a good pair of running shoes. (Yes I did! )

2. Walk before you run! For the first four weeks you should have a 5-15 minute warm-up walk before breaking into a trot, followed by a warm-down stroll. (I can't afford four weeks for this step, by then the run for fun would be over..haha..)

3. Make sure you run/walk at least three times a week. (So far yes..almost daily training)

4. Don’t run two days in a row for the first two months. Give your muscles and tendons a chance to adapt to running. (Two months?..the run would be over in a few weeks time..mmmm..)

5. Run for time, not distance. (Have yet to reach 10 minutes continuous running/jogging..hehe)

6. Avoid drastic increases in time on your feet. (Started with one hour so mostly sticking to it :-D)

7. Avoid copying top athletes! (Who? Usain Bolt?)

8. Be patient! Don’t be in a hurry to enter road races, etc., no matter how much your friends pressurise you. Wait until you can run at least 30 minutes without resting before lining up for that first 5km fun run. (Oopss..I'd already committed to run the 5km for fun)

9. Find a like-minded friend to run with. (err..at the moment I prefer to run on my own, not going to huff and puff in front of others ..haha)

10. Enjoy your running! (So far I have..looking forward to 5pm so that I could change into my running attire..hehe)

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And the pain? Gradually easing by now, so if after the exercise this evening I felt like taking a break, I think I'd go tomorrow..hehe..

:-)

Scented candles

I don't really go into this....the few that I got as gifts remain unused....even the ones that I bought years ago(when I thought I liked the idea of having them around) are somewhere in the house.....hehe..

Recently after the "kidnapped for breakfast" time (here), my friend and I went window shopping.... but then she said she wanted to buy some candles.

So whilst she was surveying, I did my usual hobby :-D

There were lots of different kind of candles and its holders..some caught my eyes..but I only managed to capture a few before my friend said she'd done choosing hers..hehe..

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Are scented candles bad for you?

They can add a hint of romance to a meal or make taking a bath a real luxury.

But scented candles can be bad for your health, say scientists.

The smoke produced by many of them is laced with toxins linked to cancer, asthma and eczema.

The odd candle is unlikely to do any harm, but we should avoid using them day after day in bathrooms and other poorly ventilated rooms, say the researchers.

Read more: dailymail.co.uk/health/article (here)

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mmm...and I just bought one for exchanged of gift session during our recent reunion. Hope it doesn't harm my friend or her family...

[Note : Couldn't run today as it was raining when I left the office, so I cycled indoor instead for one hour, non-stop at a steady pace (i.e speed no 1..hehe..) ]

:-)

Beetroot benefits

Read in the newspaper yesterday that "eating beetroot increases stamina and the nitrate in beetroot leads to a reduction in oxygen intake, making longer periods of exercise possible."

So on my quick search online tonight I found this (one of many articles).

Health benefits of beetroot:

Beetroot is known as a natural detoxifier and blood cleanser.

Beetroot is rich in a number of nutrients that are vital for the full and efficient function of your immune system.

Beetroot encourages the production of antibodies to fight against free radicals and other disease or infection in your body.

Beetroot (also known as Beets) is also high in nutritional iron which helps to facilitate creation of red blood cells and helps to move oxygen towards your cells, enabling the body to repair itself.

Beetroot also contains other minerals such as manganese which is important for the formation of interferon that is an important anti-cancer substance.

Beetroot are bright red because of the betanin pigment found in beets. This pigment is also known as prominent anthocyanin antioxidant and it helps to ward against heart disease and cancer by combating free radicals.

These antioxidants also help provide foundation support for your liver and kidney function. Beetroot also is high in fiber (dietary fibre) which is important for heart and intestinal health.

Beetroot is also good for reducing blood pressure, research has even shown that a daily beetroot can improve hypertension and prevent heart disease.

Beetroot also has an amazing cleansing power and the ability to increase your haemoglobin, as well as cleansing the waste products in your blood and bloodstream.

mmmm...I like pickled beetroot though it has been quite a while since I had it..but now may be I should start eating them regularly, at least during my training period (into my 3rd day of walking/jogging)..hehehe...

:-)

A walk with no "thon"

When I wrote "A mile for a smile" post (here) I'd intended to sign up for the walkathon.

So this morning, complete with the new pair of shoes (bought yesterday noon for this and also the marathon :-D) :

But by the time I reached there (and it was drizzling), the intention went *poof* ~ gone into the thin air..haha..

So I took some photos instead about the walkathon and the park where it was held,

Will post some more later.

:-)

A mile for a smile

In one of last month's postings, I'd written about another "thon" that I'd volunteered (here), well....its coming soon!

Haven't done any special preparation for it but luckily I'd done lots of walking during my recent trip (or should I say lots of being "lost" in trying to find certain places..hehehe..)..that was the "hikmah" of being lost I guess :-)

So I'll be there this Saturday insyaAllah, if not for the walking, for the field trip in photography..

Lets join the fun!

:-D

On your mark...

or should I say "on my mark"? Last year when a good friend took part in it, she "booked" me to join for this year's event..Today is the last day for registration and I finally made it :

[The above photos on the event are from here]

So the next thing to do is start keeping fit and start running(walking more like it, hehehe), 2 more months to go, insyaAllah will try my best.

But what made me laugh-out-loud after I'd registered was when I received my friend's text that her time last year for the 5km race was 40 minutes (impressive!), where as I'd put in the registration form my estimated time to finish the marathon ~ 4 HOURS!

HAHAHAHA...

:-)