Off for work and play at the beach!

I will be leaving today for work and holiday at the beach. It's our annual sales kick-off conference, this time at Koh Samui. The blog won't be idle in my absence though. Follow my journey up-dates on Twitter.

--moon

Blog name - carrot head and applemint

Hiccups and delays are hard to swallow

Experiencing some momentary glitches & hiccups in my 2011 plan, causing a delay. 


This has, kind of like threw my entire schedule into chaos.

                                                                Picture taken from here

Expressing my frustrations out loud here. Still trying to work around whatever there is and hope for the best!

  

--moon

Blog name – carrot head and applemint

Time to get my fitness back on track

Ok people, now that all the feastings & festivities are finally over, it’s time to get back in shape!

I know, most of us including myself have developed extra bulges around our waist, hip and thighs. My brother told me he’s added 3 kg to his weight. If I were him, it would probably take me 3 years to get that 3 kg off me, that is, if I am lucky. If I’m not, that extra 3kg will be my new weight from now on, and all I can hope for is that I do not add on anymore, you know what I mean? 

So, back to real serious work-out talk here. In order to get the extra bulges and fats off, basically we need to do cardio exercises. Yeah, that's what I read somewhere. That means exercise that raises your heart rate and keeps it elevated for a period of time, and there is no break in the routine. Yes, I know you hate to hear the word, it means, running and heavy work-out in the gym/aerobics, or vigorous swimming/cycling, whatever that works for you.


Don't forget to revert back to your daily consumption of healthy portions. Every meal matters, remember?

As a start, we can go for a swim..

or brisk walking.. 

for this week. It’s gentle and not so taxing. Try two times this week.

Next week, try to slot in cycling..

or yoga..

and perhaps by week three, you can do slow jog; and finally running by week four.

There are people who can lose weight just by dieting, ie. skipping lunch or just eating fruits and all that jazz. Well, to me, it’s always healthier to exercise, for both your body and mind.

And to do that, you have to start somewhere, right? Would it help to know that I’m struggling like you too? So let’s do it together, shall we..? Yeah, I know, this is actually me trying to talk myself into it, and hopefully, by the end of 3-4 months, we’ll be back in shape like this…

or this.... 

Wooweee….!!! Nice, eh? Well, I hope this is motivation enough to get you on your feet.. :-D

I’ve done my running on the treadmill this morning! Have you?

--moon

Blog name – carrot head and applemint

Dear Monday, I am ready when you are!

Picture taken from here

--moon


Blog name - carrot head and applemint

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock...

Went out for a drink with an ex-staff of mine and came back a bit late. I ain't liking this a bit, I tell ya..


And did someone mention that it's not a great idea to be playing bejeweled blitz at the wee hours of the morning when you're having insomnia? Not a good idea at all, nope, mmm mmm... we should be listening to boring or soothing and calming music instead.


Counting sheep is not good too, it seems, coz you are visualizing sheeps doing active movement, ie. jumping over the fence. This will stimulate our minds further instead of relaxing it. Ok, will start counting the stars then.. 


--moon


Blog name - carrot head and applemint

CNY in KL 2011

Loh sang or loh hei (means tossing of yee sang) for Chinese New Year, to whip up or toss up all the good fortune.

Winnie's mom (left) and my god mom (on the right).. :-D

Family gathering at our home on the 10th day of CNY. 

Preparing to head over to Kajang for CNY visits with my relatives. It's a tradition that ST and I goes visiting my Kajang relatives on the 4th day of CNY. So we would normally head back from Penang on the 3rd day. 


These pictures were at my 2nd brother's house in Cheras. CD girl (middle in blue) wearing a skirt for the first time for CNY. She hardly wears skirt nowadays, except for when she goes to school.

Can't resist snapping another full length pix of her in skirt.. :-D

At my relatives house in Kajang. The main meeting point for all my uncles and aunts. We were there first.

 Goofing around... 

My younger sis-in-law (Veron) played with Tomato Head's hair and tied it up into a ponytail high up at the top. I quite like it this way. She look different for a change.

Cynthia - The Destroyer.. 

My younger sis-in-law (Veron) and my notty nephew - Jet

You know what, once when all my aunts and the kiddos arrived in the house, I was too busy going around handing out ang-pows (red packet), catching up with my aunts (some of whom I've not seen for a few years), and eating..


So there was no pix taken of them all.  -____-


Yeah, I know that I ought to be shot.


--moon


Blog name - carrot head and applemint

Neutralize your back bone and bring it back to its natural alignment

My yoga pose of the month - Downward Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

This pose stretches as well as strengthen & lengthens the entire body.

Downward dog pose is treated as a home base in numerous flow classes to neutralize the backbone and to bring it back to its natural alignment. It is one of the most frequently practiced poses.

It elongates and lengthen the back. This is an extremely good pose for people who sits or hunch in front of the desk or computer the whole day. Most people are in constant forward bend all day and would benefit immensely by stretching and lengthening the back shoulders and front body.

Additionally downward dog is mild inversion since the head is lower than the hips, and inversions are great for increasing blood flow to the brain and eyes. And because it stimulates the nervous system, it also helps with memory and concentration.

It is both a resting pose and a strengthening pose.

Benefits

1) Stronger hands, wrists, lower back, hamstrings, calves, and Achilles tendon

2) Strengthen the entire back and shoulder girdle

3) Elongate shoulders and shoulder blade area

4) Calms the brain and help to relieve stress and mild depression

5) Energizes the body

Hey, check this out!
1) Confession
2) 3 things you can't live without

--moon

Blog name – carrot head and applemint

Closeness through self-disclosure

Open up your heart and your mind if you want people to open up to you. You can only start to get to know someone well if you start to tell the other person more about you.

Self-disclosure is the act of revealing more about ourselves, on both a conscious and an unconscious level. Only through opening one’s self (self-disclosure) and by becoming vulnerable to another person can a close relationship be developed. Vulnerability can be expressed in a variety of ways, including the giving or sharing of anything which is considered to be a personal possession.

People and their personality are very much like a multi layered onions. Peel the outer skin of an onion, and you’ll find another layer beneath it. Remove that layer and you will expose another layer and so on.

The outer layer of personality contains the public self, which is accessible to anyone who wants to look. Below the surface layer, however, the personality holds more private information like beliefs, faith, prejudices and general relationship information. Held within the inner core are values, self-concept and deep emotions.

The Social Penetration Theory states that humans, even without thinking about it, weigh each relationship and interaction with another human on a reward cost scale. If the interaction is seen to be satisfactory or rewarding, then that person or relationship is looked upon as favorable, and a decision will be made whether the relationship or interaction will be further developed.

The questions of “What can you do for me?” and “What can you do to me?” are supposedly often weighed in taking stock.

Interpersonal closeness proceeds in a gradual and orderly fashion from superficial to intimate levels of exchange as a function of anticipated present and future outcomes. Lasting intimacy requires continual and mutual vulnerability through breadth and depth of self-disclosure.

This blog post is extracted from Irwin Altman & Dalmas Taylor’s Social Penetration Theory

.

--moon

Blog name – carrot head and applemint

Happy Valentine's Day..!!

Here's a....

And a bunch of roses for you... :-D

--moon


Blog name - carrot head and applemint

CNY in Penang 2011

The first day of Chinese New Year in Penang is always a busy day. And this year, the busi-ness escalated by 6-7 fold.

My father-in-law, being the oldest in the family line, or something like that, gets a visit from the relatives on the first day. Hence, we hold an open house approximately from 9.30 am till about 5 pm. Under normal circumstances, the relative comes in staggered batches, making entertaining a bit easy for us.

They would normally be entertained in the living room with drinks and CNY cookies upon arrival, until the next group of visitors arrive. They would then be ushered to the dining room where satay is provided. When the third group of visitor reaches our house, the first group (who would have finished enjoying the satay by then) will know that it’s time to make a move and make room for the second group to enjoy their satay.

All these years, somehow the timing seem to have coordinated itself perfectly, but this year, all hell broke loose. All, except for one group, came at more or less the same time and that was between 9.30 to 10 am. Hence, from 9.30 am till about 11.00 am, there were like 35 persons in the house.

You can imagine the chaos and the confusion (forget about calling my relatives by their chinese designation like Jee Khor, etc, etc. That day, everyone was “uncle and auntie” to me).. :-D

Wrong “ang-pows” were also given out it seems.

Everyone attacking the satay. But the satay is super succulent and yummylicious..!!! Feel free to click on any picture for a clearer view.

Then someone realized that I was taking picture, and quickly they put up a nice pose, before continuing to rummage through the satay box..

The other end of the dining table. An old family friend also decided to visit on that day, an Indian family..

There were like a few families here and in the living room..

At the peak of if. The living room was full and the dining room was like this laa... -___-

Keong Hui Lay & Keong Ai Lay caught in the act of raiding the satay box. Can pose so nicely some more..

One end of the living room..

                                            Leong, June & Hui Lay

                                                 Eve & Amos

Cousins catching up, between the living room and dining room...

No place to sit, had to stand between the living room and dining room, and anywhere else that doesn't get in the way of anyone, like sticking to the wall or something.. :P

By 1 pm, after everyone has left and we had our lunch, it was FREEDOM for all of us. Our duty was done for the day. We could take a long and peaceful nap that afternoon.

ST's face after everyone has left..

That's me, the photographer.
Picture too small? Here's another one..

 

Sorry I didn't managed to take picture of the scrumdidlyumcious satay, coz the hoards took us all by surprise. But this year, we had a lot left, probably because of the crowd size, lack of space and proper dining facility. Most of our guests had to eat while standing or walking around. Hence, I don't think they ate like previous years. That's why I ate 20 sticks on that day (excuses, excuses). Yeah, you heard right! 20 sticks...!!!

--moon

Blog name - carrot head and applemint