Another year comes to an end. The end of 2007 is here.
The time now is 23:57hrs. I can hear loud fireworks outside.
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Oh, I just saw a police helicopter in the sky with a spotlight pointing downwards.
If you stand on a beach and notice the tide moving far, far away from the shoreline...and receeding to an unusually low level, think Bow And Arrow.
The Japanese word 'Tsunami' consists of two words:
Tsu = Harbor; Nami = Wave.
The waves roll far away from the shoreline making the entire shoreline look like a desert...then, come racing back at 500 miles per hour.
The momentum of tidal waves, are that of a Bow And Arrow.
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Today is exactly three years since the Asian tsunami affected more than eleven countries - the worst ever recorded.
It was a quiet Sunday morning, December 26th, 2004. An extremely powerful earthquake under the sea off the coast of Indonesia caused the deadly sea surges.
The earthquake was measured at a magnitude of 9 on the Richter scale - so powerful that it even disturbed the Earth's rotation.
News reports put the death toll from all the countries at anywhere between 270,000 to 285,000, but the exact number will NEVER be known, as many bodies were washed out to sea.
Today is Christmas day.
For Christians around the world, this is the day to celebrate and remember The Lord Jesus Christ. Friends and family would get together and enjoy a wonderful meal.
Christmas presents placed under the Christmas tree. A time to give.
Listen to nice Christmas carols being sung.
Christmas should be a time to feel a spirit of joy and peace.
This holiday however, can mean different things to different people.
Some believe that the true meaning of Christmas has been lost throughout the years. Instead of being about God's love and sharing with family, it seems to have become all about how many hours you can spend in a store - and how much money can be spent.
It is sad that many have moved away from the true meaning of Christmas.
Those who have a family to enjoy this celebration with, should be thanking God that they have a family to do that with...because some don't have loved ones.
No one should be alone on Christmas.
Yesterday, I visited a bakery called Cake Sense.
This bakery shop is located in Jalan SS15/4D Subang Jaya, Selangor.
The one great thing about this shop, is that they sell Eclairs. The entire top part is covered with chocolate and crissed-crossed with what looks like icing sugar.
Each one is sold for 1 Ringgit and 50 Sen.
It had been so many years since I last tasted an Eclair. - The last time was at the coffee house of the Merlin Hotel on Penang island, back in 1975.
Yesterday, I mentioned to the staff of Cake Sense, that they were about the ONLY bakery in this country I'd seen over the years, which sold Eclairs.
I know that some Eclairs are filled with chocolate mousse, but these ones sold at Cake Sense are filled with cream and yellow custard...and they taste good.
In fact, as I type this post, I'm actually eating one right now.
12 / 15 / 2007.
Today on Yahoo's Homepage, was this story:
OBERLIN, Kansas. - A postcard featuring a color [colored] drawing of Santa Claus and a young girl was mailed in 1914, but its journey was slower than Christmas. It just arrived in northwest Kansas.
The Christmas card was dated Dec. 23, 1914, and mailed to Ethel Martin of Oberlin, apparently from her cousins in Alma, Nebraska. It's a mystery where it spent most of the last century, Oberlin Postmaster Steve Schultz said.
"It's surprising that it never got thrown away," he said. "How someone found it, I don't know."
Ethel Martin is deceased, but Schultz said the post office wanted to get the card to a relative.
That's how the 93-year-old relic ended up with Bernice Martin, Ethel's sister-in-law. She said she believed the card had been found somewhere in Illinois. "That's all we know," she said. "But it is kind of curious. We'd like to know how it got down there."
The card was placed inside another envelope with modern postage for the trip to Oberlin — the one-cent postage of the early 20th century wouldn't have covered it, Martin said. "We don't know much about it," she said. "But wherever they kept it, it was in perfect shape."
What an amazing story...about the Christmas card which survived the test of time. -- 93 years and still in perfect condition.
It is hard to imagine that fourteen years have passed since block 1 of the Highland Towers in Ulu Kelang, Ampang fell over sideways. It was reported that forty eight people were killed.
The date was Saturday, December 11th, 1993. It had rained constantly for ten days. All this rain caused the soil on that hillslope to erode. The soil erosion caused the foundation of that twelve story apartment building to become waterlogged and turn to mush - pretty much like a sandcastle by the seashore.
I still remember that Saturday afternoon real well, for we lived up on another hill in Zooview at the time - just six minutes drive from Highland Towers.
The first three survivors were a small child, an Indonesian maid and a Japanese woman.
The Japanese woman later died in hospital. I think it was the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital.
A day or two later, her husband arrived here from Japan to take her body back to Japan.
Rescue teams came from Singapore, France and Japan...and for many days, tried their best to locate more survivors, but none were found alive. One of the Japanese rescuers said that although buildings in Japan have collapsed due to earthquakes...he had never, EVER, dealt with a building that fell over sideways before.
Today was my last day in netfriendships.com _
But before I left, I posted this:
http://www.uploadhouse.com/fileuploads/855/8554442088e848525d5ed11156aaf49b0660ed.jpg
Consuming too much alcohol can numb the brain.
But those who must drive home after a night out with their friends must remain sober.
- Eat food while you drink. Food such as meat, cheese and peanuts are high protein food; and will help reduce the speed at which alcohol is absorbed into the body.
- Don't be fooled. The contents of the typical bottle or can of beer, wine or liquor drink (mixed drink or straight liquor) each contain virtually identical amounts of pure alcohol.
When it comes to alcohol, a drink is a drink and are all the same to a breathalyzer.
- Accept a drink only when you really want one.
If someone tries to force a drink on you, ask for a non-alcoholic beverage instead. If that doesn't work, "lose" your drink by setting it down someplace else and leaving it.
- Keep active. Don't just sit around and drink. If you stay active you'll tend to drink less and be more aware of any effects the alcohol might be having on you.
- Don't participate in "chugging" contests or any other drinking games.
- Sip your drink. If you gulp a drink, you lose the pleasure of savoring its aromas and flavors
- Know what your limits are. If you are unsure, experiment at home with your spouse or some other responsible individual.
- Beware of unfamiliar drinks. Some drinks, such as fruit-based cocktails, can be deceiving as the alcohol content is not detectable.
- Alcohol must always be used carefully in connection with medication. It is good to consult a doctor or pharmacist about any precautions or prohibitions and follow any advice received.
- A good general guideline for most people is to limit their alcoholic drinks (beer, wine or straight liquor) to one drink per hour.
- The SAFEST place to consume alcohol is in your own home. If you lose consciousness, you won't end up driving off the road and killing yourself and others.
An owner's manual written for a specific product manufactured in a non-English speaking country can sometimes confuse an English reader.
Certain words when directly translated, may not exist in the English language nor be within the proper context.
Example 1:
"Do not bang on Steering Wheel as Airbag may be ejected."
In other words, the driver will eject the Airbag out of the car...by banging the horn on the Steering Wheel. ` l.o.l.
Example 2:
"If you turn the dial more hardly, it will caused malfunctions."
What this means is: The harder the dial is turned, the more problems would have already (Past Tense) occured.
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I remember those times I played Nintendo's Mario Brothers, many years ago.
Where was the mushroom princess, after all?
In the castle, of course.
It was somewhat disappointing to see that the entire closing credits were in Japanese.
Perhaps that particular version was intended for only those in Japan.
Surely the creators of that game could not expect the entire world to understand. Could they?
Well, an owner's manual is supposed to be a userguide to the product - and as a userguide, it therefore should be written and presented in a manner which is clearly understood.
A template is much like a frame / a notebook / a piece of paper on which we can write words.
There are many templates to choose from, in this site.
It took many hours for me to find one which I truly liked.
At first, it didn't seem clear which original template I was using when My First Post was created three days ago, but then I discovered a template called Zen Midnight.
So now, I'm using this template as the background for all my post entries.
