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Sunday, March 20, 2011

Detoxify: Day 9 to 14

Read my earlier post on Master Cleanse, Day 1, Day 2 & Day 3-8.

For health purposes, its best to go on minimum of 10 days.  For some reason.


So, I am going to do at least 10 days which just ended.


But.


I am challenged to continue because I have not lost the weight that I had expected and because I am not having much difficulty extending it.


Infact, I find that my mind is more focused and I can think better.  Without all the carbohydrate as an obstacle.


But how much longer?


Well the how much longer has been answered when on the 14th day, I kinda cheated.  Its not supposed to be like that.  But.  Anyways.


The whole detoxifying experience has been mostly pleasant.  And surprisingly achievable.  It was easier than I expected.   I was not too tired, not too hungry, not too obsessed thinking about food and going without solid food for 14 days was a great achievement.  A personal record.


I lost a total of 10 pounds.  Not bad.


The Master Cleanse program is encourage to be done every 4-6 months.


Now, will I do it again?


You bet!!!


How about you?

Monday, March 14, 2011

Detoxify: Day 3 to 8

To read Master Cleanse, Day 1, Day 2.

They always say that the 1st 3 days of fasting or abstaining from food are usually the hardest.  I could not agree more.


After the 2nd day of going on this Master Cleanse program, everything is pretty routine.  Almost ritualistic.


The killing part of the whole thing is having to cook meals for hours and not being able to eat it!!!!  The smell of the food really annoys me!  Not for any reason other than that I cannot taste it...


A word of advice on purchasing sugar cane.  If you are buying fresh sugar cane, it has to be refrigerated within 3 hours.  Of course its good to keep it frozen but that makes it difficult to drink.  What I do is to immediately refrigerate it upon purchase (freshly 'squeezed') and get at least 3 jugful.  It usually last me 2 days before I have to go and buy again.


Going to the toilet 300 times a day and having to look for one, almost everywhere I go are the annoying part of drinking bottles and bottles of water.  I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I almost wet myself!  Especially in the car!  So, try to hang around the toilet.  Safe yourself from turning blue.  If not, bring along some diapers ;-)


On the 8th day of the Detox, I noticed a sensitive patch of skin near my face suddenly disappeared.  That was amazing.  I didn't know it concerned my diet.  But anyway, I was happy.  My friends commented on my skin and how it 'glows'.  So, can you imagine the junk I have been consuming which is called Food?


I can say that the Lemonade concoction has been really helpful in giving me energy.  With enough intake of it, I can go through the day without much difficulty.  Not even having to fantasize about food.  You know what I mean....  I have not thought about it...... much.   I am human, OK?


So, have you thought about joining me on this program?


Come on, you can do it!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Detoxify: Day 2

The Lemonade with Sugar Cane is actually a delicious drink. The cayenne pepper adds a spicy flavour to it. The Lemonade covers the actual flavour of the sugarcane.


Today I did the same routine as yesterday.


Drank one litre of salt solution. The night before, I drank a laxative tea aka slimming tea. That woke me at about 6am. To... you know what. I had to sit there for at least 30 mins. So naturally I took something to read.


I still drank heaps of water to take away the hunger pang which doesn't really wants to go away. Shoo!! Go away!

Today was much better than Day 1 because I replaced the drink with Sugar Cane rather than water mix with maple syrup.


Thursday, March 10, 2011

Detoxify: Day 1

I started the morning by drinking 1 litre of water with 2 teaspoons of sea salt. That is suppose to flush the system.


Then the concoction of lemonade, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. It tasted OK. Then immediately gargled my mouth. Apparently the lemon is bad for my teeth. I will do that each time when I drink the lemonade concoction.


Each time I feel hungry, I will drink The Lemonade. So on this day, I drank 6 glasses of it.

Actually, the maple syrup and water can be replace with sugar cane. I was overjoyed! Its delicious!


Today was tough because my body was adjusting to no food. The water bill must be sky high this month, at the rate I am gobbling down water. That's the only way I can fool my hungry stomach.


No food means loosing the joy of living. So, do I eat to live or live to eat? No. Please don't answer the question.

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Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Detoxify: Master Cleanse

All the hype about cleansing and detoxification. Its a huge industry. I personally find it quite a hassle. Some of it just too complicated.


So naturally I have not done a serious one, till now.


I was reading someone's blog and she was doing this program called master cleanse. I did some research and found it simple enough to do it. Even the concoction sounds delicious!


So two days later I was full fledged on the journey of having my body rid of toxins, feel and look healthier and hopefully loosing some weight. That's the motivation!


I will blog about it and maybe motivate some of you to join me...

posted from Bloggeroid

Monday, March 7, 2011

Congratulations, Sis!

My Elder Sister who have been studying for her Social Works studies for the past 4 years just took her finals.


She did extremely well and was eventually invited to do an Honours program with the University.

Her finals result came out and she had gotten First Class Honours!!!


Wow!


Woo hoo!


Well done, Sis!


You deserved it.


So that's where all the family brains went to.


Yes, that's my Sis.

posted from Bloggeroid

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Tips on Driving to Thailand - Part 3

To read Part 1 and Part 2

I am glad you are still following on the third part of Tips on Driving to Thailand.

Here's more...

At the Border
===========

It took about 5+ hours to reach the border at Kota Bahru from Selangor. With very little stops in between. Upon reaching the border, park your car on the reserved parking lots on the left.Don't simply stop anywhere. We learnt our lesson....


Each and every passenger is required to disembark and queue up at the Immigration Counters.Cars and Buses are different. Make sure you queue correctly.After getting a chop on the passport, the Driver can proceed to go to the counter to get his approval to Enter Thailand. Make sure you bring the documentations for your car along.Only the person stated on the Car Card can register the car.


Once that is completed, you can board your car. After passing the Immigration and upon entering Thailand, there is a small counter on your left whereby you are required to purchase Insurance. Just tell them how many days you need and they will process accordingly. I am not sure if this is a mandatory procedure but we have done this each time we enter Thailand.


Welcome to Thailand!!!


Map
===

Its good and almost a must to have a map with you. You can either purchase one from bookstore eg MPH. Alternatively, you can buy one in Thailand. 

We have a very simple map of the whole of Thailand with routes of highway. The map was purchased at one of the 7-11 outlet many years ago.

To get detailed map of each town, its a good idea to visit the Thailand tourism office at each town. They are very helpful and have heaps of  brochure for local destinations. We have taken most of ours  from them.  Be warned that most staff can speak English or at least broken ones but not all. 

You might be able to get from hotels too. If you find a large hotel, they sometimes provide.

Language
========

Language is a huge barrier at small towns. I scraped  through with my little Thai.  So there were almost no incident.

If  you don't know the language there are few ways to go  about

1. Bring a dictionary. Worst case scenario, point to the word in your bilingual dictionary.

2. Find out someone who speaks English reasonably well in the hotel you are staying and keep his number with you. Explain to him that you might need translation help in case of emergency. Quite often they are more than willing to assist. After all, Thailand is well known for being the Land of Smiles.

3. If you have a local friend, keep his number with you. Make sure you buy a local pre paid number.  It is very cheap but useful.  We always do that. In fact, we even bought two numbers, the last time.

Food
====

One of the best things about driving adventures in Thailand, is trying out local food. Needless to say, the Thai enjoys eating as much as we do, if not more.

I discovered while residing in Bangkok, that they are an eating- out-culture. Many houses does not even have kitchens.  There are heaps of small peddlers selling  food which provides for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and desserts. Every corner.

Food are packed in small plastics which provides for a one person meal. Rice too.

Experience tells me to enter a crowded restaurant, if I am not familiar with the area. I know its a little wait. The Thais, like Malaysian, stick with the value-for-money mantra.

With this in mind, we discovered a restaurant along the way from Phatthalung to Nakhon Si Thammarat. It was absolutely delicious and the queue was horrendous, the service good, the food even better and value for money!  Till today, I still think about it.

Another way of finding good eateries is to ask the hotel staff.  Don't be shy.  They are not offended if you don't eat there.  Even if they are, they will not show it. Its the Land of Smiles.  I learnt that from local Thai friends. They seemed to do it at each hotel rather than scouting around.

Ordering Food
============

This can be tricky. I have a hard time remembering names of food. Very often we order by pointing at photos of food.  Of course there were costly mistakes.

Once at Phatthalung, last year, we ordered a cray fish with Thai salad. It was totally disgusting that we abandoned it after one bite. Other times we took recommendations from the waiter and ended up eating a whole platter of raw vegetables with a "sambal belacan" type of dip. Who wants to eat raw eggplants?

There is part 4 to come!

posted from Bloggeroid

posted from Bloggeroid

Monday, February 28, 2011

Tips on Driving to Thailand - Part 2

Read Tips on Driving to Thailand - Part 1


So, you are thinking about it, huh?  Its OK to think about it.


Here are some tips on preparations before embarking on your Adventurous Journey of a Lifetime to Thailand!


When Do You Want To Go?

You might want to check out the public holidays and seasons before deciding the timing of your trip.  What are the monsoon seasons and rainy seasons.  Or maybe winter.


Do Your Research

  • Do some homework by researching on the internet. Decide a route. Be flexible though.

  • With a rough guide on destination, then research the tourist attraction places.  You can collate a few places of interest.  Accumulate the information first and finalise it later. 

  • Look up a few hotels/chalets.  If you do not want to book them, just get their numbers and address down, just in case you might need it when you get there.  
 Route

  • There are 2 options on route from Malaysia into Thailand.  One of them is from Alor Setar and the other from Kota Bahru.  I have gone on both. 
  • If you have a long holiday, then, you can go further up, towards Bangkok. But we didn't because we wanted to relax more rather than spending too much time on the road. Daily, a maximum of 3-4 hours of driving. And by 3pm, you should already be looking or have confirmed accommodation. If you don't already have bookings made. If its your first time driving to Thailand, you don't want to be over stressed thinking about where to stay.

Accommodation

  • There are various accommodations ranging from THB1,000 (RM110) to THB10,000 (RM1,100) per night.  Depending on high season or low season... or normal chalets or luxurious self pampering 5 star resort and spa.  

  • We try to stay a few days on normal accommodations and then pamper ourselves silly on a few nights in a nicer place.  But for your sanity, try to stay in a non luxurious place first and then upgrade to a nicer hotel and not the other way round.  If not, you might have some whiny and complaining kids. Or you might even feel the difference....

  • My personal experience on accommodation... so far, I have not slept in the car.  No matter how busy - even on the 1st of Jan, I have always managed to get a place to stay.  But, it might not be the ideal location or luxury but it was good enough.  On both 1st of Jan in 2009 and 2010, we were in Hatyai en route home.  It was the probably the busiest time of the year but we still managed to get a room in the middle of town.
My 2010 trip was from Selangor - Kota Baharu - Sadao - Hatyai  (1 night) - Phattalung (1 night) - Nakhon Si Thammarat (1 night) - Khanom Beach (3 nights) - Nakhon Si Thammarat (1 night) - Hatyai (1 night) - Home

Car
  • Ensure you serviced your car.  All your spare tires, tools and general condition of the car is good.
  • Must bring along your Car Registration card and documentations regards to the car.  Ensure you are the owner of the car.  I am not sure if its OK to bring a borough car into Thailand.

More coming up....


    Thursday, February 24, 2011

    Tips on Driving to Thailand - Part 1

    Amazingly delicious Thai salad.  Fried anchovies, dried shrimp, cashew nuts, lemon grass, roasted squid, lemon and wrapped with that green leaf.  Mouth drooling....

    Driving holidays to Thailand can be fun to those who are adventurous and enjoy the flexibility.


    Its not just a holiday. Its life experiences.


    Venturing to small little towns, restaurants, shops and chalets. Even discovering 'treasures' which money cannot buy. How do we put a price tag on life experiences that enriches our soul and makes us feel, "been there, done that" sense of achievement.


    My family and I have driven to Thailand from Selangor, Malaysia twice for 2 consecutive years - 2009 and 2010. It has been an enjoyable experience. To say the least.


    When I tell people about the driving holidays to Thailand, they will usually give a bewildered look. Something along the lines ....


    "Are you crazy?"


    or


    "Who do you usually hang out with? Well, whoever it is, you gotta stop!"


    or maybe


    "Its been some years now that the aeroplane has been invented. You know?"


    and occassionally


    "How awesome is that?! Not."


    I would have reacted the same way if I had not experienced 3 years of numerous inter-state holidays in our faithful Mazda Tribute SUV... From Bangkok to Phuket. Even to Chiang Rai.


    But.


    Driving from Malaysia was a whole different experience.


    I will try to compile some information which I think will be useful.


    Till the next post.....


    Tuesday, February 22, 2011

    New Blog.... Journey of My Gardening

    I have started a new blog and hope to share my gardening experiences.


    Please visit it at Journey of My Gardening.


    I will continue to keep this current blog, Journey of My Life on normal stuffs about my life and the other will be about Gardening.

    Wednesday, February 16, 2011

    Organic Garden: Progress of Plants

    A pumpkin (I think) sprouted near the Compost Bin, so, I built a trellis for it to grow.
    Will let you know later if its really pumpkin.




    French beans is well but seems to be drying out....




    I don't know the name for this vine plant but if direct translation from Chinese, it would be Emperor's Vegetable. (anyone who knows, can write at my comment box)




    I bought this rose plant from Ikea. It started flowering again with this
    small rose buds. How wonderful can this be!!!



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    Monday, February 14, 2011

    Bamboo Plant Snitched!

    The Bamboo plant is my second favorite plant after the water lilies.


    I was just staring at it today and saw it 'thinned-out'. Quite unusual. It used to be bushy-er.



    This is how it looked now


    This is how it looked previously



    Guess the shock on my face when I saw 4 small little bamboo plants, across the fence.



    Plant 1


    Plant 2




    Plant 3 and 4


    Its common sense, even ethical, that when you take something, you gotta ask first. Its polite. Especially if you know it belongs to someone. Even if its borrowing. What more 'taking' without permission. I feel so violated!


    Is this even allowed?


    Is there nothing sacred?


    Hmmmm.... Now, what would they think if I were to 'take' their bunch of bananas that is drooping over to this side of my fence?


    Then again, its going to dirty my face if I stoop that low, to their level.



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    Thursday, February 10, 2011

    The Garden: Completed

    The journey of the house renovation has almost come to a full circle.


    A process which started some time in March 2010, last year, is now completed. I think. There are things which I could still find to renovate but as of now, it will do.


    I had probably put my life on hold for almost one year, just to build a home for our small family. Trying to make sure every minute detail is according to dream and budget. I assure you, that is no easy feat :-). Because. Dream AND budget don't really mix. Both of them should be allocated a box on its own. Dream. Budget.


    Anyways.


    To celebrate the completion of the renovation, we had a house warming cum Chinese New Year party. Had some good friends over. It was wonderful to be able to "mark the moment" with friends.



    Completed Privacy fence, Pergola and cute little things hanging down.
    There is a transparent roof to keep away the rain.


    The Privacy fence which was a family project, has blocked most of the mess from the backyard and dog house. It also created a woody look, which is what I really like. It enhances the Pergola. To make it look like one-of-a-kind, I got 30 sticks of bamboo from Sg. Buloh. Its about 8-9 feet long. Presently, its still green and needs to dry out a little before it turns yellow.


    The bamboo idea was not originally mine... I saw it in Thailand and just needed to have that look. Its a common look in the village due to the easy accessibility of bamboos.


    According to my brother, I could have chopped down some bamboos near Pulau Indah. But. I had to pay a hefty price for it, instead. Oh well. Have to get the economy going, right?



    Mini garden with a small pond, miniatures and plants.


    The idea to create the mini garden started with the small pond. It was actually a water fountain which was damaged. So, I converted it into a pond with water lilies. Surrounded it with plants and all the miniatures I collected over the years from Thailand.


    The stones makes the area easy to maintain (keeping away the weeds) and also gives it a clean look. Inspired by the gardens in Thailand.


    These days, I can just sit there and relax. Infact, I had an evening sitting under the Pergola with my Mum and Brother, sipping some wine, munching on peanuts and cracking a whole load of lame jokes. How a few pieces of wood and bamboos can bring family bonding together.



    Overview of the garden


    A masterpiece of colored stones and plants.


    It took me some time to figure out what I wanted to do at the small piece of empty land in front of the porch. I sketched it out in a piece of paper, researched in the internet... And I figure that some thing which is simple to maintain and yet brings joy.


    So, while shopping at Sg Buloh, I passed a large shop selling stones. I looked through every corner of that huge area and found some 'out-of-stock' stones. Left with 2 bags each, I took home the purple and orange stones. I have not seen it anywhere but its exactly what I am looking for.


    To bring bright white color into the masterpiece, I added the shells which I collected at the beach while holidaying in Thailand, last December. Yes, I am pleased.


    My next aim is to get my organic vegetables and fruits garden going. The french beans are great but the passion fruit and four edged beans are yet to produce. I saw some flowers on the chili plant. I might be able to enjoy some chili soon. I will try to get some photos and update on my organic gardening later.


    To view more photos of The Garden, go here.


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    Saturday, January 29, 2011

    Water Lily



    Are there more glorious color and beauty?


    My favorite flower, ever!


    .... and I can admire it everyday!

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    Monday, January 17, 2011

    The Garden: The New Look

    My camera is down and these are much better photos taken by the Official Photographer.




    Did I mention that I had obsession of Aloe Vera?


    Front view of the Pergola


    Hilly landscape in front of the house. Keep it simple!




    On the left: Pebble blocks as a driveway for the car


    There are some stuff to do in The Garden, but I have hurt my back due to too much of gardening. Need to rest it before I continue.


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    Friday, January 14, 2011

    The Garden: More Photos 3


    The Garden: Frangipani



    Front porch has a Frangipani and some flowers to cheer it up. Not fully completed yet.

    Sunday, January 9, 2011

    New Year Resolutions

    After all the celebrations of Christmas and the new year, things are quiet.


    Holidays are over.


    Children back to school.


    And the routines of life sets in.


    "What's your new year resolutions?" An almost predictable question resounded everywhere. From TV, radio, newspaper, friends and even churches.


    I used to do it. Write a list. I don't anymore.


    Everyday is an opportunity to be resolute to change, live and fulfill that dream.


    The big question is...


    Which day in 2011 will be The Day?

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    Friday, January 7, 2011

    The Garden: compost bin

    Look what's growing in the compost bin.

    Some Papaya, pumpkins and chili, I think.
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    The Garden: French Beans

    I am so happy that when I returned from my holiday, little French beans were growing.

    I plucked some and ate it raw. Absolutely delicious and organic!
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    Thursday, January 6, 2011

    Day 6 - 8: Khanom Beach to Hatyai & Home


    Our last night in Khanom beach, we went to Hid Lad waterfall about 10 minutes from our accommodation. Its a small waterfall, not impressive in any way. Just fun for the kids to play. They had heaps of fun and... me too.




    Cold... cold.... cold....



    Brotherhood at its best!
    To carry each other, literally :-)


    The next day, just before we left for Nakhon Si Thammarat town, we met a good friend from Bangkok days, Taka, Nus and Jin. Its our first time meeting their cute little toddler, Jin. He is so cute!




    Cheese!


    We used to travel together with this couple and some other Thai friends. Nus used to plan everything and we just hop along. It was great fun! I will always cherish those fun moments. Taka and my kids used to play like crazy! It was a great reunion.




    This is the "Perfect Peace" photo shot...
    "A Son sleeping on the shoulders of his Daddy"


    After catching up over lunch, we drove towards Nakhon city for a night and then drove towards home with a sleeping-stop at Hatyai.


    To sum the trip, it was relaxing. The trip was neither too short nor too long. The food was fantastic! Absolutely undeniably incredibly great!!!! The food sealed the trip. Talking about love of food...


    I managed to practice some Thai words for a week, the people of Thailand never failed to make my heart warm (except those in Hatyai).


    Welcome was always on their faces, adorned with a smile.


    Anyone for a road trip to Thailand?

    (The 2010 Thailand Trip was taken from 25 Dec to 2 Jan 2011)

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    Wednesday, January 5, 2011

    Day 5: Khanom Beach, Nakhon Si Thammarat





    Khanom beach is not too touristic, unlike Pattaya and Phuket. Its basically quiet and does not have entertainments similar to Pattaya or Phuket. The way I like it :-)


    If lazing by the beach with a book and enjoying Thai food is something you like, this is your place. There are many hotels to choose from. Tomorrow we will go around to admire some of the other hotels along the same stretch of beach.





    Our family room. Bed separated by a large glass partition


    Pool is a few steps away from the room


    The small pool just infront of our family room. The kids played
    a lot in it.... including me




    Baan Civilize has 8 rooms, 2 of which are family rooms. Quiet and private. We were probably the noisiest people around,.. er, I mean, my kids.





    The restaurant by the beach. Every morning for breakfast, we sit by those tables and look out to the beach






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    Saturday, January 1, 2011

    Day 4: Photos at Khanom Beach 4

    Monkeys by the beach
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    Day 4: Photos at Khanom Beach 3

    Strong waves
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    Day 4: Photos at Khanom Beach 2

    Sitting by the beach
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    Day 4: Photos at Khanom Beach 1

    View from room
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    Day 4: At Khanom Beach

    Khanom beach is very famous in Nakhon Si Thammarat. The beach is nice. Its quite near to Koh Samui. Some pass through here before they go there.


    There are many types of hotel available. Infact we were on this same beach last year. Found it by accident or rather was recommended by the lady at the tourist information centre.


    The waves here are stronger than usual.


    But its nice. Looking forward to some relaxing days here.

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