Perfect way to fry chicken

An article from Yahoo gave us just 6 steps to perfect fried chicken. Please click here to read the full article. Let me know if you tried to fry the chicken.

Why I never buy insurance

In my working career, many insurance agents approached me to buy all sort of insurance. As we are not familiar with the jargons they use, I just felt very insure to buy any insurance at all. Looking at the reports from the newspaper, I am grateful that I didn't buy anything. Just prudent saving to cover for the rainy days.

Making it hard for claimants
Consult a doc and read the fine print before signing up for a health policy
Hundreds of true-life trials of the insured

My policy of buying insurance, if at all necessary, is to buy "fit for purpose", eg, never buy life insurance to cover house loan. Just a housing loan insurance will do ... cheap and do the job!
Just to clarify, I am concerned about life insurance and critical illness insurance. Terms insurance is a form of saving and is normally straight forward.

Day 2 Chinese New Year

During day one of Chinese new year, most people reserve it for visiting close relatives. During the second day, friends started to visit each other. And that is what we did. We went to a few friends and VVIP houses, I mean they are politician or businessmen.

For a collection of photos, please click here. New year also means ang pow (small money in red package) time. In the good old days, this ang pow is meant for parents to children. Now, they are freely given.

Chinese New Year 2012

At midnight on the new year eve, the firecracker/firework went off like crazy! The authority may have banned the sales of these stuff but it seems that obtaining them is no issue! Jonathan, Timothy and myself went over to Krokop to witness some firework at ...

...this temple. Instead, we saw the lighting up of the huge joss sticks! More photos of fireworks can be viewed here. He was holding my other camera to snap those shot!

Gong Xi Bazaar 2012

I have posted all the photos on my facebook. For reason unknown to me, this blogspot has problem letting me upload photos! So, please click here to see them.
Tonight, the bazaar was full of people. There was hardly any place to move!

Food to eat and not to eat during CNY

I just realised that you should not eat ...

...  bitter gourd, or anything known to be bitter!

It is  believed that if you eat bitter foods (the Mandarin words for bitter has the same sound as the Mandarin word for suffering), your life in the coming year will be full of trials and tribulations.

The food you should serve on the table is  fish as the Mandarin word for fish “yu” is a homophone for the Mandarin word “abundance”. Fish is best to be served whole, with head and tail, this signifies a whole year’s worth of prosperity, from beginning to the end.

ok, so much about "sound like" Chinese words. Definitely 88 is good plus a 99 is even better. This sound like prospering forever!

Haha... crab! Don't believe the above but just work hard and be healthy to be happy and prosperous. Ask God to bless you and family and pray always.

May God bless your Chinese New Year. If you drive, be safe and arrive safely.

I won 1,000,000 pounds!

This scam job is out again, but this time, the English is slightly better written. However, he is telling you NOT to tell anyone so that it is easier for them to do their con job! So, if you receive e-mail like this, please ignore it! There is no free meal in this world. Respond to him if you want to lose all your hard earn money!
Read on for the content of the email I received! Click here if you want to read more. By the way, it seems that this Barrister keeps changing his last name!

This e-mail is to congratulate you as your email address has won you a cash prize of One million pounds in the ongoing UK-National Lottery Promo. To file your claims, contact your claims agent Barrister Mark William with his following below:
Claims Agent Barrister Mark William
Name: Barrister Mark William
E-mail: mark.william.uknl@email.ch
Tel: +447024058329

 Fill In Your Claims Information.
Serial No: S/N-472-9768-79
Full Name:
Contact Address:
Tel:
Age:
Country:

NOTE: Do not reply to this e-mail, you are to contact your claims Agent Barrister Mark William with his information giving to you and keep your winnings Serial No: S/N-472-9768-79 confidential do not give anybody your winning detail OR tell anyone to avoid lost of winnings claims.

NIKON D4 Preview

A 30 minutes preview about Nikon D4! It cost US$6000!

Clothes that poke eye

It is so funny that our Ministry of Defence blamed Google Translate for all the "funny translation". To me, it just shows that our people in MINDEF are sloppy and don't do a first cut validation of the translation or is it that they no longer understand English any more?! It is simply so embarrassing!
By the way, I just wonder whether they understand the instruction manuals that came with all the weapons they bought.
Read main story here.

TRAFFIC SUMMON CHARGES

Not sure whether the following is true as I just got this through the mail. Anyone can confirm?
Price quoted below are nett without further discount:
Speeding:
Exceeding 1 - 20km/h = $130 + 4 Demerit Points.
Exceeding 21 - 30km/h = $150 + 6 Demerit Points.
Exceeding 31 - 40km/h = $180 + 8 Demerit Points.
Exceeding 41 - 50km/h = $200 + 12 Demerit Points + Court.
Exceeding 51 - 60km/h = $200 + 18 Demerit Points + Court.
Exceeding 61km/h = $200 + 24 Demerit Points + Court.
Careless Driving = $150 + 6 Demerit Points.
Inconsiderate Driving = $170 + 9 Demerit Points + Court.
Dangerous Driving = $200 + 24 Demerit Points + Court + Vehicle Compounded.
Illegal Racing = $200 + Vehicle Confiscate + Court.
Fail to put on Seat Belt = $120 + 3 Demerit Points.
Double White Lines = $130 + 4 Demerit Points.
Phone and Drive = $200 + 12 Demerit Points + Phone Confiscate.
DO NOT hold your mobile in your hand when you drive even with loud speaker or ear piece.

Drink Driving (1st offence) = Up to $5,000 Fine and, or Jail Term + License Suspended + Court.
Drink Driving (2nd offence) = Jail Term + Fine + Court.

Making an illegal U Turn when there's no U-Turn sign = $70 .
Fail to Signal when changing lanes = $70 .
Driving at night without Headlights or Taillights Switch on after 7pm = $30 .
No Number Plate = $70.
Obstructed Number Plate = $70.
Obscured Number Plate = $70.
Number Plate Of Unapproved Type = $70

Demerit Point System :
Let's say you have 0 point on 1st January 2011, and you committed the offence of Failing to Put on Seat Belt. So now, you will have 3 demerit points and this will last for 1 Year.
If during this 1 year you have no demerit points offence at all, your 3 demerit points will be gone on 1/1/2012.
But, if during this one year, From 1/1/2011 - 1/1/2012, you committed another offence with demerit points, your very first offence will be extended for another year until 1/1/2013.

7 resolutions for 2012 to keep fit

1. I will manage stress better
2. Every time I eat, half my plate will be veggies
3. I will do things to sleep better
4. I will watch less TV, and surf less internet
5. I will train 30 mins at least 3x per week
6. I will take care of my soft tissue
7. I will eat more home-cooked food

To read the full articles on the above, click here!

A Merry Christmas to you all

We wish everyone a merry and blessed Christmas and a happy new year. May you be blessed throughout 2012!

Don't forget to drop in at the church to celebrate the birth of Christ on Christmas day.

Awesome things people do

Just want to share this awesome stuff people do. Click here to see them! I am sure you will be entertained. But please don't do this at home as they are too dangerous for the untrained.

Free Wildlife Photography book

Wildlife photographer and dpreview.com contributor Uwe Skrzypczak is again making his book

'Wildlife photography: On Safari with Your DSLR: Equipment, Techniques, Workflow' available as a free download. This is available for 24 hours only. So, if you are interested, please click here.
The free download period is:

GMT: 23:01 Saturday 17th to 22:59 Sunday 18th.

For Malaysia time, this will start now and finish at 6:59AM 19th Monday. (We are 8 hours ahead).

Condition for the download is that we are not allow to redistribute as it contravene copyright.

Is your photo blue?

With many function halls switching to LED flood light, ...

... you will have nightmare if you don't know how to adjust your camera accordingly. The LED flood light is simply too cool and also too strong. Our normal eyes will see it as white or bluish white. Even if you switch on your flash light, the picture is still too blue! See this ...

Without correction, even the most expensive camera also cannot beat the strong LED light. The white balance will be completely out!

With correction, the colour can be restored. But how?
Here is how you set your camera:
Use manual white balance (WB) and set it to  between 9,000-10,000. You need to experiment with it.
If you need to use flash, the WB can be reduced slightly to around 8000. But do try it out.
Do not use auto WB.
If possible, set your camera to manual mode.

Drug Free Hi Blood Pressure Control

As usual, I walked at the Bulatan Park and met up with my walking buddy. He is concerned with his rounded tummy where he can't seem to get it flatten. So, I recommended my earlier remedy by walking and elevating the  heartbeat up! Then he went back and went through the internet. He found something interesting. Like squatting to elevate the heartbeat. Then he also said that one Chinese doctor has been massaging three pressure points, cycling and breathing.
Talking about breathing, it was found that it can also control high blood pressure. It was reason that the body automatically response to poor oxygen level in the blood by pumping out more blood. Simple logic is to increase the pressure... so there goes high blood pressure. Now, don't believe me, go to google and enter the key words "High Blood Pressure Breathing" and you will get load of information.
Here is my evidence:

Before I started my breathing, it was 135/90. After breathing exercise for one minute, it drop to the above!

This seems to work even if you are currently on drug. So, if you have HiBP, try it. If you have no HiBP, try it anyway because slow breathing is good for you.

Season Greetings!

I wish all my readers a happy and blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year. May 2012 brings you blessing from God! These two cards are for you...

 You may download them and use them as long as they are not printed for commercial purposes. If you do copy them and redistribute, please do not remove the watermark.

Click the image for a bigger picture.
Picture taken at City Fan, Miri, Sarawak.

About Time

Six truths about time:

First: Nobody can manage time. But you can manage those things that take up your time.

Second: Time is expensive. As a matter of fact, 80 percent of our day is spent on those things or those people that only bring us two percent of our results.

Third: Time is perishable. It cannot be saved for later use.

Fourth: Time is measurable. Everybody has the same amount of time...pauper or king. It is not how much time you have; it is how much you use.

Fifth: Time is irreplaceable. We never make back time once it is gone.

Sixth: Time is a priority. You have enough time for anything in the world, so long as it ranks high enough among your priorities.

Christmas Bazaar .. go quickly tonight

Just realised that tonight is the last night of the bazaar. Go there to eat, be entertained and also to meet friends.

 Performance ... beautiful and graceful dances

 2nd hand merchandise

 Randy the chef...make sure you eat his kolo mee

... more food to buy!
See more photos here.

Christmas at Dewan Suarah..Go go go!

Have you been to the Christmas Bazaar and the City Fan? If you have not, please rush over before dinner. You will not regret it. They have food sales, etc. The prices are cheap! Kolo mee for RM2.00, home made pau for RM1.50, good quality second hand clothing for RM1.00 per piece. Don't eat before you go... they have plenty to offer. So, go go go...

 Christmas tree by Samling. If you are a one third rule freak, this photo breaks all of them! But I don't care, it is meant to be broken.

Another angle of the Christmas deco... framed to make my 1/3 rule freak happy!