Hits 'n' Misses

Singapore Daily Deals | All Deals Asia

2010-12-19T13:27:00.001+08:00

Singapore Daily Deals | All Deals Asia

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Ramblings.. on Death, Memories and Bed Bugs..

2010-12-07T13:58:00.005+08:00

You know, one of the first things I felt I wanted to write about when I decided to start blogging again was about my mom and my grandma. Definitely so, because they were the most important women in my life and I wanted to honor them in some kind of way. Also because I figured my mom is actually almost always at the back of my mind. Somehow I miss her almost all the time. You know the saying about how we only realise how important this person or thing is to us only when they're gone? Trust me, whoever came up with this saying has to be a prophet.

Anyways, though I wanna write and blog all about my mom and my grandma, the fact of the matter is.. somewhere there is a part of me that is kinda refusing to go back there and dig up everything clearly enough for me to put them into words. I tried yesterday but it was really kinda hard.. a part of me relished the memories that were evoked.. yet another part just felt so tired and drained and painful. The end result: yet another draft sitting in the draft folder. Looking at my draft folder, I actually have about half a dozen drafts in there. That's me for you.. sigh.

So right now, I definitely find it much easier sharing another incident currently happening in my life.. and that's my current battle with bed bugs. Yes, the horrible and tiny, stinking bed bugs.

No one in the family is really sure when these disgusting creatures actually appeared in my house, but their presence was made known to me about 6 months ago when the maid suddenly complained of bites all over her body and decided to turn her room upside down to dig out the cause. That was when these horrible bugs were found happily nesting the underside of the bed frame of her bed. It was an utterly disgusting sight and though thank goodness I was no witness to it, the photos taken by my partner who was at home then were something I'd rather not see.

The bed frame was immediately discarded and the room was cleaned and disinfected with whatever resources available we had at home then. That maid was sent away shortly, not because of the bed bugs of course, but due to unsatisfactory performance. The next maid who arrived did not complain of bites and slowly the incident was forgotten.

3 months ago, however, the bed bugs reared their ugly heads again, and this time they came back with a such a vengeance that soon after, my partner started complaining of bites as well. Funny enough, even though we were sharing the same bed, I was spared from the agony. We also never sighted any bed bugs in my room, until about a month later when we saw a big fat bed bug crawling on the floor of our bedroom. We squashed it literally and blood spurted out. Gross.. and boy, did it stink!

We went on high alert after that.. me and my partner constantly on the lookout for the horrible creatures who had uninvitingly invaded our room. Even though my partner was still constantly getting bites that resulted in swells nearly every night, we couldn't find the culprits. It was frustrating.

At the insistence of my partner, about 3 weeks ago, we called for the professional bed bug exterminators. They came and sprayed the 2 affected rooms - my maid's and mine. And we had to soak the suspected affected clothings and fabric in both rooms in hot water. Boy, it was really troublesome but we didn't have much of a choice. Were our troubles over? I definitely hoped so, but the reality was pretty far from it.

Over the course of the next couple of days, my maid literally swept up the dead carcasses of a couple of dozen baby bed bugs that crawled out from the skirtings, under the cupboard, etc in her room. It was a sickening sight but good. At least they were dead.

On our end, we still did not see any bed bugs but the itchings continued. By this time, I was also being bitten by the invaders that remained invisible to my partner and myself. Finally, about a week ago, I spotted them. The first one was a very small one, nearly white in color and barely a-tenth of a centimeter. The second one was slightly bigger, about two-tenths of a centimeter, black and fat. When I crushed it, blood oozed out. The third was black, small but flat and bloodless. That day, I probably killed about 8-10 of them, and for the first time, I realised they didn't have to be all black. Sometimes they came in white as well. And when they haven't fed on our blood, they are flat.

The professionals came again a few days ago, this time the focus was on my room. They found a small cluster of eggs in the underlining of my fabric box cover that kinda doubled up as a storage box as well. I can still feel the chills across my arm just recalling the scene. We found 2 big bugs and 2 small bugs a day after the professionals cleaned out the room.

Anyways, one good thing that came out of this bed bug incident is that my room is now much cleaner. The bed bugs kinda forced me to do some spring cleaning to my room. Over the past 2 weeks, I cleaned out quite a fair bit of junk.. my partner was very pleased, to say the least.

Meanwhile, we are still on the lookout for the blood-sucking little creatures. Keeping our fingers crossed..

Check out Amazon for bed bug products!

I'm Back!

2010-11-28T22:36:00.007+08:00

After a hiatus of more than 4 years, I'm back! It's been this long since my last post.. gosh, even I can't quite believe it myself. A lot has happened, a lot has changed since. The two most significant and heartwrenching being the painful loss of the two most important women in my life - my grandmother and my mom.

Lots more have happened as well, more deaths, more illnesses, more friends, more problems. Oh, and I finally left the company that I started out with even before I graduated.. the company that I had represented for more than a decade.

Oh, and I definitely grew older.. in every sense of the word I guess. Life is not a bed of roses, and will never be. Does life suck? Sometimes, but then again, there are good moments also. So, this is life.. and this is how it will always be.

Feeling Just A Lil' Down...

2006-07-19T17:03:00.002+08:00

Yup, feeling down. Okie, not that down.. just a teeny weeny down. I guess the fact that I'm not feeling well.. and haven't been feeling well the past 5 days definitely contributed to this. Especially the intermittent stinging pain in my right ear and the throbbing pain at the back of the right side of my head.

Well, my family and closest would well testify to how I would avoid going to the doctor. Usually when I fall sick, I would kinda self-medicate.. since it's always the usual stuff.. fever, headache, flu. I would then shove some panadol tablets, flu medicine down my own throat as and when I remember, much to their chagrin.. heheh, and they would go nag-nag-nag again.. hahah. But this time, this pain in my head was bad enough such that I actually went to the doc on my own accord not once, but twice.. yesterday and today. I surprised even myself.

Actually I feel bad about going to another doc today, having only seen one yesterday. It kinda implies my lack-of-confidence in the first doc. Sigh, maybe that is indeed the case. Perhaps I was expecting some miracle, you know.. maybe feel no pain in my ear anymore after taking the prescribed medicine for three times. Perhaps my expectation was too high. Anyway, the damage is done.. and now I shall finish the second doc's prescribed medicine before going back to finish the first doc's. Sounds funny I guess.. but I think that's one way to relieve my guilt towards the first doc. Besides, both docs are actually chinese physicians.. so there shouldn't be any harm in taking the meds in this manner. I would of course not recommend the same for a western prescription. Don't ask me why, I guess they just don't work the same.

Talking about expectations.. I made a decision today while driving today. I decided to stop having a crush on this person I've been having a crush on for the past one month or so. Okie, before I go any further, let me just state that I'm currently happily attached. So when I started having a crush on this person, I did probe within myself to find out exactly what was going on. It was determined that I was curious and wanted to know this person better, I definitely like her, but liking this person doesn't mean anything. Bottomline was, I wanted to be friends with this person. And yes, I've been keeping my partner updated about my feelings.

I scored a breakthrough about two weeks ago when thru' some quick thinking and clever scheming (at no one's expense of course), I conduced a perfect opportunity to spend some time alone together with her and indeed, the time spent led to some quality getting-to-know-each-other moments. Now, don't go off the rail.. there wasn't any hanky-panky involved.. we just had a really nice chat. So much so that where previously I was just one of them within my clique of colleagues, after that chat, I was confident that I definitely stood out amongst my colleagues now. We had become friends.

The following week, we carried on where we left off. I casually bumped into this person at my office and she confirmed my contact number with me. We also grabbed a quick bite together. Over the course of the next few days, we had some nice moments chatting on our phones, and she actually invited my partner and I over to her new place at the end of the month.. and I was pleased, to say the least. But I guess I forgot to keep my expectations in check. 'Cos in the past few days, there wasn't any more phone calls.. not since we had to cancel our impromptu arrangement to meet up last Friday. A phone call from me on Monday afternoon ended shortly in under ten seconds.. not at all eventful.. depressing even. I decided then to lay off and not call her anymore.. I don't wanna make her feel like I'm being a pest.. or seem desperate. I'm not sure which is worse, actually.

Well, we met again today during a company briefing session that we were both involved in. She approached me during the break and we made small talk and joked around. Everything seemed good. But somehow I still didn't feel very good, there was still that tinge of hoping for something more. Subconsciously, I wanted us to be close friends, good friends. So I guess along that line I was expecting more.. and I wasn't getting the more that I wanted. Inwardly, I must admit I was feeling disappointed for the past few days. I guess maybe I was hoping she'll call yesterday or something and we could perhaps try to meet for lunch or study together, but that didn't happen.. and driving along the highway today, I thought things thru' a bit and decided that enough was enough.. I should stop hoping, stop expecting.. and move on. Stop crushing.. lay the crush to rest. I've done enough to lead us to become friends, perhaps now I should just leave things to nature.

I won't go into details here what I've done to build the friendship between us, but honestly I'm gonna give myself a pat on the back for the efforts I had put in, considering what a lazy and laid-back character I am. So, I will play it cool from now on. Nonetheless, I have to admit that I'm feeling kinda sad over this decision I've made. I won't say my efforts have been wasted, they weren't.. but somehow the results sort of fell short I guess. Sigh.

I will be seeing her again this Friday.. we'll be attending one full day of lessons together, followed by a horrible exam (actually that's how we met, 3 full days of lessons every month). I shall not expect anything.. no expectations, no disappointments. That should be the way I guess.

Now I just need to pick myself up, buck up and start studying so I can pass this horrible monster called "exam" this Friday. Gawd, hate it. Love the lessons, hate the exams. Life. Luck, I need lots of it.

It Rained Glass Bits Yesterday...

2006-07-18T20:52:00.001+08:00

Yeah, I was showered with bits of shattered glass last nite. I was at a friend's house in the evening, and as we were getting ready to leave, I decided to be nice and bring the glasses and cups into the kitchen instead of merely leavin them on the dining table. Bad move.

Jemmy's home was beautifully decorated.. the living room was lined with nice parquet tiles.. the dining area was created upon a platform and designed japanese-style such that the table was built-in in the middle and everyone merely sat down on the higher platform floor.. there was no need for chairs at all. The kitchen was separated from the dining area by a glass wall and glass door (think office-style), kinda open-concept, you could see exactly what was on either side.

So, with 2 glasses in my right hand, my left hand went to the door handle to pull the glass panel open. And in split seconds where I didn't even have time to breathe, there was a deafening roar of glass smashing, and the door that was right in front of me before crumbled to pieces right before my eyes. Well, actually it rained on me. The self-destruction was swift, one moment my hand was on the door handle, the next, my hand was grabbing thin air, and shattered glass pieces. And I was bleeding.....

My friends and Jemmy of course, witneses to the whole incident/accident.. said I was actually shining from a distance, hahahah. Glasses bits were in my hair, on my hands, on my clothes, underneath my feet. I guess I must look a glamorous mess. Miraculously, my face did not suffer any cuts; I escaped disfigurement. Actually, I was pretty fortunate, I only suffered some minor cuts on my left hand around the wrist area and the palm.. plus about 4 cuts on my right foot - sole and inner ankle area. The cut suffered on my right inner ankle was considerably the most stubborn and deepest, bleeding profusely enough to soak up one and a half wet tissues. This, plus the cut on my right big toe successfully stained my new sandals, hahahah.

Anyway, after spending some forty minutes apologising profusely for the damage I caused and cleaning myself and the home up, everyone finally managed to leave for home. Well, my wounds were still bleeding when I got home, and I did feel uncomfortable about the suspected foreign bodies that might have entered my body.. so I dropped by the A&E Department of Raffles Hospital, nearest my home. I barely had to wait, they cleaned up my wounds pretty quickly, gave me an anti-tetanus jab (ATT), wrote me a medical leave for 1 day and sent me on my way.

Some twenty hours later, the one thing that's causing me the most pain is from the ATT jab.. hahah. Oh, and not forgetting this throbbing pain I've been feeling on the back of the right side of my head since three days ago. Friends have told me it's migraine (oh my, I've never experienced migraine before and I certainly don't want to have it now or anytime soon), but the chinese physician I consulted today tells me that it's actually due to heatiness in my body.. and well, it kinda makes sense. I'm currently running a fever, feeling kinda delirious.. with a throbbing pain at the back of my head and a buzzing pain in my right ear.. and of course, the pain from my wounds.

Oh, and did I mention I have an exam this Friday? Bless me...

Justice Done To Amelie.. Finally!!!

2006-07-09T00:01:00.000+08:00

Amelie posing for the world to see her Venus Rosewater Dish
(Photo taken from AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

I'm simply delirious with joy now. Amelie Mauresmo, reigning World No. 1 on the women's tennis circuit, and my most favorite player (overtaking Venus Williams on my favorites list during these 2 weeks of Wimbledon), has defeated soundly Justine Henin-Hardenne for her 1st Wimbledon title and her 2nd Grand Slam title of the year!!! *super-big grin from ear to ear*

Momo has finally done it!!! I'm so so happy right now that I'm simply at a loss for words. I'm so happy for Momo.. finally she has shut her critics up, finally she has defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne properly to clinch her 2nd Grand Slam title, and cemented further her No. 1 ranking. In what seems to be a re-match of the Australian Open Women's Singles final this year where Henin-Hardenne retired from the match (from supposed stomach discomforts) trailing 0-2 in the second and down the first set (6-1), Momo continued the fine play that she displayed during the Australian Open final (but was most unfortunately left hanging by Henin-Hardenne's retirement from the match) into the Wimbledon final this year.

Okay, before I get carried away, let me correct myself. It wasn't all that smooth-sailing for Momo right from the word "go". Momo lost the first set quickly and easily enough to Henin-Hardenne 2-6 within 31 minutes.. and had me breaking out in cold sweat and pacing up and down my hall nervously. But she quickly regrouped in the 2nd set.. and came back strongly to level at 6-3. Momo upped her level of play in the final deciding set.. and in the final game when Momo served for the match.. she made no mistakes.. served out 2 beautiful aces and put up a fine and graceful display to bring home the Venus Rosewater Dish - Wimbledon trophy!!!!

What a beautiful day... :D

I Remember..

2006-06-12T02:57:00.000+08:00

I can't help penning this down. Actually throughout the French Open the past fortnight.. whenever Justine Henin-Hardenne's matches were telecast on tv, I've on-and-off been asking myself.. "What is it I don't like about this woman?".. "Why isn't she on my list of favorites?".. "Since when did I decide I didn't really like her?". I haven't been able to quite justify my dislike for Justine.. except to say that it's a feeling, you know. And honestly, I've forgotten when this feeling came about.

But okie, I guess my penchant for favoring underdogs is perhaps one of the reasons why JHH isn't on my list.. for the simple fact that she's never been considered one in any match-ups, at least not as far as I can remember. Objectively speaking, that is good for JHH, 'cos it pretty much reflects just how strong her game is.

And as usual, the same questions popped up in my head in the Roland Garros finals between Kuzzie and JHH again.. and suddenly, when Kuzzie corrected a wrong call made by the line judge (or was it the umpire?) and conceded a point.. the memories started coming back.. and I finally remembered what it was about JHH that I didn't like. It was her lack of sportsmanship.
It first started in the 2003 French Open semi-finals against Serena Williams. JHH took the first set 6-2, but Serena fought back to square off at 6-4. In the final set, with Serena serving, Justine raised her hand to indicate she wasn't ready and Serena served into the net. As Justine wasn't ready, Serena should not have been faulted for this serve, and should have re-served her first serve. However, the umpire did not see JHH's gesture and when he asked her about it, JHH actually kept quiet.. leading to the umpire faulting Serena's serve and calling for a second serve. Serena was upset and rightfully so.. and unfortunately went on to lose the set and the match. I thought JHH was a big coward and liar.. and since then, I actually stopped watching JHH whenever they featured JHH's matches during Grand Slams.. I would switch channels. This memory must have faded with time in the last one year or so considering I had to dig and think so hard to figure out my dislike for JHH.

And of course, the much talked-about finals of the Australian Open between Amelie Mauresmo and JHH, where JHH threw in the towel and quit the match during the second set citing stomach pains as a reason. That was way ultimate.. Momo was playing really beautifully during the match and had captured the first set easily at 6-1. She was clearly on top of JHH and it seems like JHH didn't have any answers to Momo's superiority in that match.. and Momo was on her way to her first Grand Slam title at JHH's expense. So, down 0-2 in the second set, JHH called it quits. Following interviews would reveal JHH gave a load of pathetic excuses for her discontinuance, none of which were really significant nor justiable enough for her act. And that is another fine showing of JHH's sportsmanship.. or rather, lack of one. Actually, I wonder if all these incidents merely reflected her lack of sportsmanship.. I kinda feel that it actually brings her character into question. Sore loser, liar? Well, I don't know.. but it would pretty much seem like it, wouldn't it?

Fine player JHH is.. with a steel will of determination, possibly the best clay-courter on the women's circuit currently, one of the best on the women's circuit, pride of Belgium along with Kim Cljisters.. but sportmanship? character?.. you tell me. A google search on this would probably shed even more light on these incidents, and possibly a couple more incidents.. I don't know.. but try it if you're interested.. and let me know.

Curtains Fall @ Roland Garros 2006

2006-06-11T14:55:00.000+08:00

Justine Henin-Hardenne prevailed over Svetlana Kuznetsova yesterday in the women's finals to win her third French Open title. She won 6-4, 6-4 to go 11-1 against Kuzzie. In spite of the usual unforced errors, I thought Justine and Kuzzie played a pretty good match, especially Kuzzie who absolutely lifted her level of play in the second set.

Yesterday was the first time in a pretty long while that I was able to catch Kuzzie in a complete match. I missed much of her semi-final match against Vaidisova couple of days back, and the little I managed to catch was a conservative Kuzzie just trying to keep the ball in play and letting Vaidisova make the errors. But during the final yesterday, Kuzzie was impressive.. especially in the second set. She was pretty much dictating play.. sending Justine left and right with well-placed shots and was dominating the long rallies. It was a pleasure to see her play but also a shame to see her played well and yet still lost the match. Her fine play wasn't able to win her the match as Justine was able to run down many of the winning shots that Kuzzie fired and especially during the important crucial points. Mentally, Justine was just too tough and smart and simply made sure to come up with winners when they mattered. And that made the difference and won her the French Open trophy.
So this pretty much sums up French Open 2006 for me. Oh, and one last thing, Martina Navratilova was invited to present the trophies to the Justine and Kuzzie, and whoa.. she looked really good. Dressed semi-casually in a black short-sleeved top, light brown pants and with make-up, she wasn't stunningly beautiful, but just looked really smart and attractive in her own Martina way. That was another highlight of the match for me, heh.

Okie, my parting shot.. I personally have no preference as to who should win the men's singles title later at Roland Garros. I read that Federer seems to have found the key to breaking Nadal's game on clay.. I doubt it actually, but we'll see. And of course, may the best man win! :)

(Kuzzie and Justine's photo taken from Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images,
Martina's photo taken from AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

Hail, Svetlana Kuznetsova!

2006-06-09T19:40:00.000+08:00

I wanted to pen this yesterday immediately after the match, but Blogger was down intermittently for more than a good half day.. and I didn't have time to do this until now. Anyway, though it's kinda 23 hours late, but still, better late than never I guess.. :)

The title of this posting was decided exactly when the scoreline of the match between Kuzzie and Vadisova was 4-0 in the third set. After the title flashed acrossed my mind for a moment, immediately, said to myself, "Hey, don't get ahead of myself, the match's not over yet.. Vaidisova might fight back." Well, I suppose Vadisova did attempt to, but dear Kuzzie kept her calm and displayed a neat, tight and consistent performance in the final set to eliminate Vadisova and advance to her second Grand Slam final in her career.

Okay, I guess if you've read this far, you would know this is a biaised article from me.. I'm definitely pro-Kuzzie all the way. I've always liked Kuzzie and I'm really happy she managed to do what Amelie and Venus, my two other favorite players failed to. As for Vaidisova, she definitely played well.. and perhaps some may well argue that she was the better player during the match.. but still, my heart's with Kuzzie and undoubtably, her moment will come in future. Afterall, she's only 17...

Actually I missed much of the first set, only saw the opening when Kuzzie was leading 2-0 (I think). I only rejoined the match in the second set and was dismayed to see Vaidisova leading at 7-5, 3-1. Moving on, I was pretty depressed to see Kuzzie playing so conservatively, hitting very safe shots and hardly threatening Vaidisova at all. Vaidisova, in contrast, was dictating play and was hitting furious and hard and going for the lines as usual. The words "lost cause" were dancing around in my head already and I was really beginning to dislike Vaidisova a great deal for defeating three of my favorite players consecutively. (Yes, I can be a sore loser, hahahah..)
Somehow, while all the nonsense was going on in my head, a miracle happened. Kuzzie somehow, despite playing it safe and was non-threatening, actually broke Vaidisova's serve. Vaidisova started missing the lines and was hitting shots wide. After sending a forehand into the net, she started muttering to herself. And amusingly, she continued to do so upon missing shots thereafter. Vaidisova's error count started climbing while Kuzzie's went the reverse. And before I knew it, suddenly, both players were locked in a tie-break in the second set, and to my delight, Kuzzie prevailed 7-6(5) and she never looked back.

It was all smooth-sailing for Kuzzie in the third set, breaking Vaidisova's serve pretty easily as Vadisova's lapse in concentration continued and she continued to mutter to herself. And so, slow and steady saves the day as Kuzzie committed only one unforced error in the final set and went on to win the match. Hurray!

The other semi-final match between Kim and Justine Henin-Hardenne went pretty much the way I expected. I would love for Kim to win, but I kinda predicted the unlikelihood of it. But I had hoped for the match to be a closer fight and not for JHH to have won so easily. Anyways...

As for the final, again I'm rooting for Kuzzie, but playing against Justine, she's definitely the underdog. Against Justine, she's definitely gotta play much better than she did against Vaidisova, 'cos Justine's definitely not gonna lose her concentration like Vaidisova did.. she's not likely to give Kuzzie this luxury. Kuzzie's gotta play her very very best to win 'cos when Kuzzie does that, honestly, I believe she can just about beat anybody!

(Photo taken from AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

Svetlana Kuznetsova In Final Four!

2006-06-07T15:46:00.000+08:00

After losing my current most favorite player Amelie Mauresmo in the Round of 16 at Roland Garros 2006, my next favorite player Venus Williams bowed out in almost similar fashion yesterday in the quarter-finals. Both were victims of the same player - Nicole Vaidisova, a young 17 year old from the Czech Republic. Needless to say, I don't quite like Nicole Vaidisova right now.. but I won't dwell too much on this.. though she definitely was the better player against both Momo and Venus. Sigh.

Svetlana Kuznetsova saved my day though. She and Kim Clijsters are the remaining two players on my favorites list who are still competing at the French Open. For Kim to be in the semis is hardly a surprise, I guess.. but honestly, for Kuzzie to have outlasted Momo and Venus is a great pleasant surprise for me.. and at this point in time, I must say I like it. Though Venus was taken out yesterday, Kuzzie more than made up for my disappointment by storming back into the match against Dinara Safina after being down 1-5 in the first set and winning the match in straight sets 7-6, 6-0.
I wasn't able to see Kuzzie's match as ESPN was showing Venus' match live, but I was following her scores live online and was dismayed to see her going down quickly against Safina during the first set. At 1-5, I was pretty much thinking to myself that Safina has got the first set in the bag already. And then surprise!, things turned around. Suddenly, 1-5 became 2-5, then 3-5, 4-5. Whoa, I was most astonished.. and at 5-5, it suddenly seemed like Kuzzie might well take the first set! And she did!

So now.. my hopes are pinned on Kuzzie to put away Vaidisova and do what Momo and Venus failed to do and reach her second Grand Slam final. And in the other semi-final, I'm rooting for Kim to defeat Justine Henin-Hardenne.. but while my heart is for Kim, my head tells me that JHH is more likely to triumph over Kim as the defending champion, plus JHH's really strong on clay.

Sigh, watching Grand Slam matches can be such an emotionally draining activity.

(Photo taken from AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Amelie Ousted.. At Roland Garros..

2006-06-05T02:07:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I was fuming mad.. now I'm feeling down. Amelie Mauresmo just lost her fourth round match against Nicole Vaidisova. It was awfully painful to watch.. the first hour Amelie was playing well and fighting competitively against Vaidisova in the first set, the next hour she was made short and quick work off by her opponent in the following two sets.. and whoosh.. just like that Momo exits from the French Open.

And now, as I'm typing away in front of my tv screen, my other favorite player Anastasia Myskina seems unable to find any answers against Justine Henin-Hardenne. Looks like I'm just not going to get any consolation here.. I'll just have to sleep my blues away tonight.

Vaidisova played well.. pretty well in fact. Her serve was strong and powerful.. and she was fast and very aggressive. Momo just wasn't playing her best game.. her returns were short and many of them ended up in the middle of the court, giving Vaidisova plenty of chances to dictate play.. and dictate Vaidisova certainly did. The scoreline for the second and third set was pathetically 6-1, 6-2. In fact, Momo might not even have gotten on the scoreboard in the second set had it not been for a rare error by Vaidisova. And sadly, that was how effective Vaidisova was at snuffing out Momo.

During the match, the match commentators were commenting and wondering out loud on why Momo was repeatedly serving and playing into Vaidisova's powerful forehand and not into her weaker backhand.. and how she was exposing more than two-thirds of the court for Vaidisova to attack by standing more than a foot away from the center of the court when she serves. Initially, I wasn't paying much attention to their commentaries, but as the match wore on.. and they just kept on repeating their suggestions to Momo, I realised they were right. Momo just wasn't playing a very smart game with this one. At one point, they were even commenting that Momo's coach should try all ways and means to reach out to Momo to get her to hit to Vaidisova's backhand instead. I remembered breaking into a little smile when I heard this.. I guess it kinda showed how much they wanted Momo back into the match. Not much of a consolation really, but still it was something.

At this point, I just have to update that Anastasia.. down 0-5 in the second set.. has just won the last 3 games and is now serving at 3-5. But Henin-Hardenne now has a double matchpoint at 40-15. I hope Anastasia holds her serve and forces Henin-Hardenne to serve for the match. Hang in there, AM!

The earlier part of the day was better. Dinara Safina caused a major upset when she fought back from 2-5 down in the third set and defeated Maria Sharapova 7-5, 2-6, 7-5! It was a sensational fightback, and Safina certainly deserved to win. Sharapova had her matchpoints but squandered her chances.. too bad. Sorry to say, but she's never been one of my favorite players, and frankly I was delighted with her loss. But my glee was somehow cut short and snuffed out by Momo's defeat. Somehow I can't help wondering if Momo lost because of my gloating over Sharapova's defeat. I know it's a stupid notion.. but still...

AM just suffered the same fate as Momo and Sharapova. She lost to Henin-Hardenne in straight sets 1-6, 4-6. But to continue from my earlier comment, AM did hold her serve and made HH serve out the match. Sigh, JHH was simply too good.

Though I was aware that Momo did lose to Vaidisova once in their previous encounters, but I really didn't think Vaidisova would have the chance to repeat her feat today. At least not with Momo on homeground, not with the whole French crowd in the stadium behind Momo. Well, I was certainly proven wrong. In fact, after Venus won her match against Patty Schnyder, I was in a dilemma as to who to support when Venus faces off against Momo in the quarter-finals and actually, I had pretty much decided to root for Momo. Unfortunately, my dilemma was unfounded as Momo is no longer in the running. On the bright side though, now I can go all out to cheer for Venus in the quarter-finals.. 'cos I want her to win.. plus, I want her to take out Vaidisova and avenge Momo's loss, hahahah.. ;p

My alarm bells went off when Venus lost the first set to Schnyder. But thank goodness, Venus rebounded back strongly to take the second set 6-3 and even out one set apiece. She went on to finish convincingly against Schnyder at 6-2 for the third set. Her unforced error counts were wonderfully kept to only 16 in the second and third sets. Very cool.

Svetlana Kuznetsova gave me a scare too when she lost the first set 1-6 against Francesca Schiavone. Fortunately, she made a turnaround and won the match 1-6, 6-4, 6-4. Phew!

Kim Clijsters was on cruise control against Daniela Hantuchova. She won 6-1, 6-4. Too strong.

I'm still very disappointed with Momo's defeat. Everything was coming together nciely for her this year and this year really seemed like the best chance for her to triumph at the Roland Garros, but again, she's fallen short. I wonder how she is feeling now. She must be feeling awful, terribly upset and disappointed, I guess. Sigh. If I can get so affected by her loss, I guess whatever she's feeling must be a dozen times multiplied at least. I sincerely hope she does better at Wimbledon and the US Open.

(Photo taken from AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Fuming Mad

2006-06-03T13:34:00.000+08:00

I am fuming mad right now. Absolutely boiling. A bitch sabotaged me at work and now I am left to salvage the pieces. Too upset to even write what happened and anyway, there's the issue of confidentiality. F**k. I feel like giving her two tight slaps. And no thanks to this interfering crazy ^%$&^*()*&^ bitch, I'll have to miss Kim's, Justine's and Anastasia's third-round matches later today. I am exploding. Ever felt so angry that you could cry? I feel like that right now. Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!

Amelie And Venus!

2006-06-01T10:58:00.000+08:00

Amelie. Gosh, I certainly didn't expect her to give us such a roller-coaster performance yesterday. One set, she was a joy to watch.. the next.. I nearly had a heart attack. One good thing remained constant though.. the overwhelming support reverberating throughout the stadium for Momo never stopped throughout the whole of the game. The chants of "A-meleee, A-meleee, A-melee" by the French kids who turned up in troves to support their number one sports idol seemed like music to my ears. Hah, and that's only 'cos I too am rooting for Momo. But for Vera Dushevina and her supporters, I can well imagine how they must have detested it.

First set was simply smooth-sailing for Amelie, and I had a fun time enjoying the grace of Momo's strokes and finesse as she dominated the set. Dushevina never really settled down at all, and I thought the look on her face showed pretty much how disgusted she was with herself. I never saw it coming, but in the second set, Amelie pretty much came undone by herself. Momo kinda lost her concentration and suddenly her signature solid backhand and forehand strokes were flying wild and wide. Momo couldn't quite keep her serve and was always trailing a break down until she finally broke back and leveled at 5-5. The second set was painful to watch, and I had to work out a bit with my dumbbells while watching to calm myself down. Dushevina wasn't playing exceptional, rather it was Momo who was doing a kamikaze. She couldn't put away easy shots, failed to convert break points and squandered point after point. I almost couldn't stand watching the game. At 5-5, Amelie had to drop her serve and Dushevina once again had the upper hand at 6-5 and serving for the set. Fortunately, Momo broke back to level at 6-6 for a tie-breaker. During the tie-breaker with Momo leading 6-2 and on serve, I thought the game was all wrapped up finally, but no, she had to do the roller-coaster act once more.. and from 4 match points, Momo squandered 3 and gave Dushevina the chance to bring the scoreline to 6-5 before finally closing it out at 7-6(5). Close shave!

My anxiety didn't stop with Amelie. After Amelie's match, Venus rapidly dropped the first four games of the first set within 17 minutes of the match and committed about 12 errors.. and I was like.. oh no, she's totally off today.. she's going out again. And just as unexpectedly, the turnaround came. Mighty Venus woke up, fought back and won the next four games to level at 4-4. She then dropped her serve again for Emma Laine to go up 5-4, saved a set point before levelling at 5-5, and dropped her serve yet again and then broke back to level at 6-6. Venus went on to win the tie-breaker convincingly at 7-6(2), and also the second set and match at 6-2. It was a difficult day for me. As mentioned before, it's unbelievable how Venus kept dropping her serve and then winning points only on her opponent's serve. But still, her fightback from 4-0 down was very impressive and I really hope both Momo and her would do well to set up a showdown with each other in the quarters.

Another good piece of news.. Paola Suarez and Virginia Ruano Pascual are back in doubles. The pair, seeded 8th, won their opening match easily last night.. 6-2, 6-0. Paola, a former top-10 player, has been plagued by injuries in the past year and hasn't had good results in the singles coming back. It's nice to see the pair teaming up again.. and I hope they go all the way to defend their title! :)

(Amelie's photo taken from Getty Images,
Venus' photo taken from AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Upsets @ The Roland Garros!

2006-06-01T01:15:00.000+08:00

Okie, I was wrong yesterday when I thought that Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin should move through easily. I obviously was so blinded by the Greek-god-like looks of Safin that I didn't even realise he was playing the Chilean Fernando Gonzalez who is seeded No. 9. I had totally discounted the fact that Safin hasn't played for quite a while due to injury and that he could and should be rusty. And along that line, I cannot forgive myself for totally ignoring the presence of Fernando Gonzalez. I am ashamed.

As for Andy Roddick.. I was sorry he had to retire.. but on hindsight.. even if he wasn't carrying an injured ankle, he might not have made it.. (of course, he might also have).. 'cos his Spanish opponent Alberto Martin was pretty good yesterday that I had the feeling Andy might have been kinda outclassed. Oops.

Anyway, suffice it to say only Lleyton Hewitt lived up to his seeding.. ranking.. whatever you call it. And watching him play just kinda reminds me why I used to like him so much. Alright, I guess I still like him.. perhaps just not as much anymore. But what I like about him is that he's such a dynamic player on-court that it's pretty charismatic.. just like Rafael Nadal.. but Nadal is even more explosive. But I guess people will find Hewitt offensive comparatively since he doesn't seem very popular among the other players. Well, other than his on-court presence, I have to confess I have a thing for his legs.. his calves to be precise.. I find them very sexy, heheh. *blushes* I like that he wears long socks (well, longer than the other guys anyway) till his lower calves. Hewitt isn't superbly tall.. but that's what I like about him.. his height is just nice.. neither too tall nor short. Okie, I guess I like his build.. strong broad shoulders, great height, and sexy legs.. all these are enough to make up for his average looks. Gosh, I am so damned superficial! Alright, moving on...

Nadia Petrova - World No. 3, seeded 3, No. 1 Russian player. First major upset on the women's side. She was supposed to be one of the hot favorites coming into the French Open.. having only recently beaten Justine Henin-Hardenne and garnering three (or is it four?) titles already this year. Funny, but I never had her in mind as one of the title contenders.. it could be due to my ignorance about her play.. or I might have missed her out. Anyway, better luck next time Petrova. On second thoughts, actually I know why she wasn't in my consideration. Because in all the times I have watched her play.. as far as I can remember, she hasn't made an impression on me. She had always seemed uptight.. and I'm sorry to say this, but I don't quite like the look on her face when she plays.. she almost always looks sulky. Oops, my superficiality rearing its sneaky head again...

Venus is playing now. I'm gonna stop and come back later. Ciao.

(Photo taken from AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

Round 1 @ The Roland Garros..

2006-05-30T18:28:00.000+08:00

Just a little update on the excitement at the Roland Garros.. as of now, all my favorite players are through to the second round! No casualties.. yet.. thank goodness.. :)

Amelie had a good game against Meghann Shaughnessy on Sunday, kicking off the championships. Felt a little sorry for Meghann though.. I think it was unlucky for her to have to face Momo in the first round 'cos I felt she was playing well.. if she were playing some other lower-seeded player.. she might have gone through.

ESPN of course showed Maria Sharapova's match as well.. where she was lined up against Mashona Washington. Sharapova was noisy as usual.. and I had to try to mentally block out her shrieks from my head. The first set was typical of a no-brainer as Sharapova sent Washington scrambling left and right with precise heavy-hitting shots down the sidelines. Yawn.. and I kinda dozed off. Felt so sorry for Washington.

Things must have turned around in the second set 'cos when I awoke, Washington had actually managed to carry the match to a third set. Whoa! I immediately sat up, and began watching the game. What a turn-around. Washington was now sending Sharapova left and right.. and even though Sharapova was still hitting balls to the sides, Washington was actually doing a pretty fine job of chasing the balls down and returning them good. She was so good that she was actually up 5-2 at one point. I was actually getting very excited! Twice, Washington had broken Sharapova's serve.. and at 5-2, I was really thinking that Washington's gonna pull off this heavy upset! Now, if only Washington can maintain her level of play and just take down one more game.. and she would have sent the beautiful Maria Sharapova packing...

Sigh, alas.. obviously it didn't happen. Down 2-5, Sharapova started grinding her teeth and armed with super-strong will and determination, she actually staved off 3 match points and went on to win 5 straight games to close out the match at 7-5. I was so disappointed. When Washington didn't carve out her win and the scoreline went on to 5-4 with Sharapova on serve next, I knew Sharapova would prevail. Washington had her chances and didn't make use of them, a player of Sharapova's caliber would never allow her to get away with it.. hell, no. So that was it, Sharapova went through.

Ai Sugiyama is through to the second round as well, disposing off Eleni Daniilidou in a 3-setter. Ai is nice and sweet.. and I hope she goes as far as she can. Her form hasn't been that good in the past 2 years.. and from a top-10 player, her rankings have pretty much slided. I enjoyed the times when Kim and she were partners in doubles.

Kim had an easy first set against Virginie Razzano, capturing the set at love. The second set was much tighter though.. as Virginie started playing better and better, and the winds got more and more gusty.. and Kim lost a bit of concentration (this is according to the commentators). Still Kim managed to close out the set and the match in a tie-breaker, winning 7-6(4). I actually had a whim of hope that it would be fun if it had gone to a third set though I had no doubts that Kim would eventually prevail.. heheh.

I almost always have my heart in my mouth whenever Venus plays 'cos her playing can be so erratic at times. When Venus is good, she can be really good I guess, but when she's not.. she can be so bad that it actually frustrates me to see her play during those times. And for a top player like Venus, she's considered to have a pretty high count for early exits in major tournaments.. so I was really keeping my fingers crossed that things would go smoothly for her and she would have a good game and move into the second round. As luck would have it, ESPN chose to feature Nadal's record-breaking match against Robin Soderling over Venus' match which coincides at the same time, so I was never able to see Venus in action. But won the match she did, and to me, that was most important. One thing bothers me though.. and that is, Venus seems to have a history of not being able to hold serve. I can only be glad she was able to break her opponent's serve as well. High unforced errors count, erratic first serves.. oh dear.. can't help feeling that Venus is playing a dangerous game here.

Martina played earlier.. against Lisa Raymond. No surprises here, she won in straight sets. Just a little incident though, just before the start of the match, Martina had to remove this little patch that says "Sony Ericsson WTA Tour" on the left of her chest from her top.. probably due to some violation of the rules or something. Looks like this little patch isn't that little after all.

Anastasia Myskina had a good game against the "Indian Sharapova" - Sania Mirza. I was able to watch a huge part of the second set on tv after Martina won her match. Anastasia played confidently and her strokes were swift and clean. I was happy for her, 'cos like Venus, she can be pretty inconsistent and I really didn't want her to be ousted in the early rounds. Sania Mirza proved no threat to an in-form Anastasia and Myskina won the match 6-4, 6-1. Good scoreline there! :)

Justine Henin-Hardenne will be playing later.. so will Hewitt and Andy Roddick.. and oh yes, the gorgeous-looking Marat Safin as well. Don't think any of them will lose.. though I certainly wouldn't mind an upset in Henin-Hardenne, heheheh. Oh well, I will hope but I won't pray.. nay, I'm not that evil.. hahah.

Oh, and on a last note, Svetlana Kuznetsova is through too.. gosh, how could I have almost missed her out?? I know, 'cos ESPN didn't show her match on my tv. Sorry, Kuzzie.. ;p

Roland Garros!

2006-05-29T16:37:00.000+08:00

a.k.a The French Open!.. lol.

It's the time of the year again! Tennis Grand Slams.. the 2nd of the year. I'm excited. No, I'm definitely not a player.. hahah.. don't even think I can hold a tennis racquet the right way. But I'm a great tennis fan, and will definitely make a great tennis spectator when I get my chance to go to a Grand Slam.

I am so hooked.. and have been so for the past 3-4 years. Everytime a Grand Slam comes by, I will, without a doubt, try my best to work my schedule around it.. yes, even my work schedule.. just so I can plaster my face on the tv screen and catch my favorite players in action.

I started watching tennis with my focus and preference on men's tennis, but in the past 2 years or so, the women's game has rapidly caught my attention.. and now, I would say I'm definitely more into the women's game than the men's. I still watch the men's game.. but these days with the dominance of Roger Federer in the past 2 years, the men's game has become so much more predictable. Yes, I agree with all the tennis critics out there that Federer is so good, that his style is so graceful to the point that he makes the game look easy, but after a while, it gets kinda boring knowing that it'll always be Federer against some other top guy in the final.. and no matter who this top guy is.. it will always be Federer who would prevail in the end. No more element of surprise.. and that becomes boring for me. I had been rooting for Lleyton Hewitt for quite a while now, always hoping and praying that he would eventually carve out a win against Federer in the past Grand Slam finals, but it hasn't happened, and I doubt it's ever gonna happen now.. not with Hewitt anymore anyway, especially when it seems like he's going downhill. Not to mention that I don't quite like Hewitt anymore as well after he and Kim Clijsters split.

The dominance of Rafael Nadal on clay is such a welcome.. as are his recent wins over the Almighty Roger Federer, but still.. we all know it.. it's still Federer on everyone else's lips.

Meanwhile, the women's game is where my favorites are. Let's see.. there are quite a few players I am so so into... first off.. would be Venus Williams. Not sure why, but I started liking Venus when Serena was so outshining her back in 2003. I guess I've a penchant for the underdog.. but that was how my liking for Venus started. And I still like her now.. but I've added a few more onto my list after she was repeatedly kept off the courts due to injury and stuff. Anyway, when Venus won Wimbledon last year at a time when no one even thought of her as a serious contender, I couldn't stop grinning from ear-to-ear for at least a week.. hahah.. I still smile when I recall her hard-fought victory over the beautiful (but oh, so noisy and dislikeable) Maria Sharapova during the semi-final.. hahahah.. finally! That would be a classic match etched in my memory.

When news broke that Hewitt and Kim Clijsters had broken up, I didn't think much of it. But when news of Hewitt's engagement to a beautiful Aussie soap actress (I think) were splashed just a few months later across the Aussie newspaper while I was in Perth, my heart went out to Kim. Gawd, laid off from the circuit with a serious wrist injury and then dumped(?) by Hewitt.. I felt for her.. and I started liking her. When she returned to the circuit last year and played even better than she had before and finally won her 1st Grand Slam title at the US Open, I added her to my list of favorites.. and it hasn't changed since.

Amelie Mauresmo and Anastasia Myskina are also players I like.. and most recently, I've added Svetlana Kuznetsova onto my list. When Amelie played Kim during the semi-final at the Australian Open early this year, I was kinda sitting on the fence.. because both are players I like. But then maybe I was also rooting more for Amelie because I would love her to win her 1st Grand Slam. Kim had already won the US Open last year, so it would be great for Amelie if she could do the same also. Of course, Amelie did go on to win the Australian Open.. and boy, was I elated! Even though she won it in the most strange of circumstances, still, Amelie was definitely most-deserving of the title.. and nothing should take anything away from Amelie.

One other player who's caught my eye this year is none other than Martina Hingis. When she came out of retirement and played her first Slam this year at the Australian Open, I was blown away by her demeanor during play. Having never seen her play before, I was mesmerised by her cheerfulness.. the smile she has on her face when she played. It was unbelievable.. I haven't seen anyone with a smile on their faces during a competitive tennis match before. And that is such a stark (but great) contrast to the stern look of concentration Venus wears during matches and the seemingly-dark and unfriendly look Sharapova has on her face. And seriously, Martina is really good. She's a very smart player.. and it's really a joy to watch her play. I was happy for her when she won the Italian Open last week before coming into the French Open.. though I'd also wished Venus hadn't lost to her instead. But then, I'm still not exactly decided if I like Martina 100% 'cos I read somewhere that she's pretty homophobic.. having commented Amelie Mauresmo to be "half a man" or something like that years back after Amelie outed herself to be a lesbian.

As the critics will tell you, there's no clear favorite on who will win the women's title for the French Open this year, as has been the case for nearly all the past Grand Slams eversince the "Belgium Pair" and "Russian Army" broke the Williams Sisters' dominance. But I'm rooting for Amelie Mauresmo and Kim Clijsters to reach the finals.. and no, I definitely don't want Justine Henin-Hardenne or Maria Sharapova to win the title.

Importance Of Pillows During Pregnancy

2006-05-25T20:21:00.000+08:00

My cousin-in-law Alicia is pregnant again! Okay, lest I paint her out to be a woman who's pregnant ever so often, she's not. This is her only her second pregnancy, her first child is a cute boyish young punk named Darren. Darren's not really a punk, heheh, he just reminds me of one, hahah. Anyway, Alicia came by my house during the weekend with a new big fluffy pillow she had just purchased from Robinsons. Something about needing more pillows to decorate the bed and to make herself more comfortable. So you see.. she's actually the inspiration.. or reason for my publishing the following article.. :)

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Pillows and Pregnancy
by Charles Kassotis

Pillows are generally though of as giving us a comfortable place to lay our heads, or as something that we use to lean against on couches. But there are other uses for pillows. Many of them have special shapes to fit special uses. And one of those uses is during pregnancy. You can use regular and special pillows to add comfort during your pregnancy.

A pregnant woman often finds that she is stuck carrying an increasingly large and uncomfortable load. Her body becomes awkward, and even when laying down she is uncomfortable (special note: during the third trimester one should spend as little time on one’s back as possible). This is because the belly is unwieldy and the body isn’t quite built for comfort in such a state. Using a pillow can help provide support and help ease the discomfort associated with being pregnant.

When using a regular pillow, there are ways to help feel more comfortable. One these ways is to lie on your side, holding the pillow between your legs. Other women find it is more comfortable when sitting to have a pillow in their lap. This gives the belly something to rest on rather than just pulling downward with gravity. Both of these uses for ordinary pillows can result in more ease. These methods both help take some of the pressure off the back, and can help the woman’s back hurt less during pregnancy.
There are also special pillows that can be used to help ease the body during pregnancy. These pillows are specially made to fit the contours of a woman’s body so that they fit easily and comfortably. They are simple to use, and do not require a great deal of extra shifting around and special measures to hold them in place. When the pillow fits the body, it is just easier to work with.

One of these pillows is a pillow that looks like an inner tube with an open end. This snugs right around a sitting woman, just as an inner tub might. It holds up the belly and can provide great relief. A regular pillow might slip out of position, but the special pillow is made to wrap around the body so it stays put. And this pillow is also helpful after giving birth: it can provide an arm rest of sorts for a mother holding or breast feeding her baby. There are other pillows that are made in a shape that fits comfortable between the knees. This sort of a pillow is ergonomically designed for comfort and simply provides a level of comfort unmatched by the regular pillow.

As one might expect, the special pillows do cost more than a regular pillow, but the intangibles in the form of comfort and ease of use often outweigh the cost for many people. These pillows come in a variety of colors, and with the ability to order pillows containing different designs. You can usually find the special pillows in a baby store, a mother supply store, or easily on the Internet.

Find out how you can order special and regular pillows, as well as a variety of throw pillows and accent pillows, by looking at The Pillow Cart

Article Source: http://www.advicelibrary.com

Keeping Healthy During Your Pregnancy

2006-05-23T17:45:00.000+08:00

Enjoying a Healthier Pregnancy
by Charles Kassotis

While sometimes pregnancy is just difficult, it is possible to have a less stressful pregnancy by following healthy practices. Even though you may not completely get rid of some of the inconveniences (like morning sickness), you can feel better about yourself and your situation if you are careful to indulge in practices that help you feel good. Some of these include exercise, diet, and rest.

Exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. However, it is important not to strain your body too much when you are pregnant. Consult with your physician before beginning or continuing any exercise regimen. Walking is usually fine, and if you have been jogging before the pregnancy, it is usually okay to continue. But you should ask your doctor first. Additionally, there are special yoga workouts designed for pregnant women. Many of the moves in more conventional yoga are stressful to the fetus and can cause problems. Avoiding strenuous aerobic activity may be recommended if you do not already do aerobic exercises. And swimming is one of the best exercises you can do for yourself while pregnant. But make sure that you find out from your doctor what is allowed in your condition.
Eating well is another important aspect of pregnancy. It is healthy to gain up to about 20 pounds over the course of your pregnancy. However, this does not mean that eating junk food all the time is a good idea, although everyone needs their fix of it every now and again. Healthy foods like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, dairy products, and lean meat and poultry are good ideas. Try to avoid fish, as the mercury content can be dangerous to your developing baby. Ask your doctor or a nutritionist whether some types of fish, on occasion, might be acceptable. Avoiding alcohol is important, as is limiting caffeine. The problems associated with alcohol are well known, but many people don’t realize that caffeine can restrict blood flow, making it more difficult for the fetus to receive nutrients from your blood. And be sure to take your prenatal vitamins. This will ensure that your developing baby gets all of the nutrients she or he needs.

Rest is very important during pregnancy. You want to make sure that you get adequate sleep each night. Sometimes this can mean as many as 10 hours. But it is important to give your body and the fetus adequate time to recover from the strains of the day. If something seems too much for you, say no. When you are pregnant, you have other demands on you. You will have a much better pregnancy if you can get rest. If sleeping at night is difficult (as it can be especially in the third trimester), make sure you take some time during the day to lay restfully on the couch with a book or to sit quietly with some other activity that you enjoy.

Taking good care of yourself can contribute to a healthier, happier pregnancy, and one that is a little easier.

Learn more about pregnancy, and about other issues that affect women at the women’s resource site For A Better Her

Article Source: http://www.advicelibrary.com

Going Natural During Pregnancy

2006-05-21T13:19:00.000+08:00

Use Natural Health Products To Help You During Pregnancy
By: Gregg Hall

When you are pregnant, you are constantly worried about your growing baby’s health and your own health. Investing in natural health medicine can help you reach those goals that are vital to your health and the health of your child.

With all of the products on the market now that are causing unwanted side effects in adults there is no question that anyone who is pregnant would want to stay away from them. Fortunately there is a healthy alternative available for the expectant mother in natural health medicines and natural health supplements.

Doctors often advise pregnant women to be highly selective of the type of medications that they take. This is the reason why so many women opt for natural health medicine when they have any kind of illness during pregnancy--and also why you should consider using natural health medicine if you are pregnant.

Natural health medicine will help you and your baby to achieve a more consistent state of natural health without experiencing those nasty side effects most chemical medications can cause.

It is important to remember that if you have an illness, you should always consult your doctor before you undertake the task of purchasing any medicine, including a natural health medicine.
You can tell them you are interested in using natural health medicine to help you deal with the discomfort that your pregnancy is causing.

That is the best way to ensure that you will not put your baby at risk by perhaps taking medicine which even though the ingredients are natural could have some effect on your growing baby in some way or the other.

Remember that every pregnancy is unique and therefore has unique needs, which you should be aware of. There is no greater feeling than knowing that you are doing the best to ensure your baby’s health.

And normally most natural health medicines will be able to provide for both you and your baby’s needs. They help your growing baby’s immune system as well as your immune system that is working hard to help your baby grow.

If you are pregant or are thinking of becoming pregnant be sure to discuss the natural health alternatives for treating any illness you may have during pregnancy with your doctor.

Article Source: http://www.advicelibrary.com

Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida with his 16 year old son. For great natural health products go to www.shop4betterhealth.com

Detoxifying for Pregnancy

2006-05-21T12:39:00.000+08:00

I've always been somewhat fascinated with the idea of detoxifying my body. I feel it would require extensive discipline and perseverance. Body detox is good for health as toxins-eliminating - that's something I've long known - and for slimming too.. but I've never known detoxifying as a factor that would aid conceiving. Wonderful...

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Detox Your Body to Conceive
By: Sandra Kim Leong

You would like to prepare your body for pregnancy. You take your daily dose of chromium and prenatal vitamins, exercise, sleep well, and chart your cycle so that you are sure to know when you are most likely to conceive. You've done just about anything your friends, magazines, mother or mother-in-law have to advised on this subject. Yet, you find it difficult to conceive.

Now, have you considered an alternative healing method: body detox? Detox is simply the process of eliminating toxins from your body. An overaccumulation of toxins occur with an unhealthy diet, unclean water or in a polluted environment. When this is an excess of toxins, the functions of your body organs slow down and do not perform optimally.
In fact, it is believed among fertility specialists that difficulty to conceive results from a body imbalance. Imbalance can happen emotionally or due to excess stress, hormones or an excess of acidity. When you detoxify your body, you stop feeding it large amounts of sugar that affect your hormones and that throw your acid/alkaline levels out of whack. These sugars come from the processed foods in your diet. Without the process of digestion to focus on, your stressed body can focus on cleaning out toxins. Once your body is sufficiently cleansed, your body is well prepared to "house" a foetus.

It is not just diet alone or fasting or special teas that will aid you in detoxifying your body. Just eliminating highly processed foods full of additives and sugar is a start. More fruits and vegetables will help in a gentle cleansing program. Healthy bowel movements to eliminate waste from the body every day is an absolute must!

Exercise plays an important part in cleansing our body. Lack of exercise allows toxins to accumulate in our bodies, thus affecting balance necessary for smooth functioning of all organ parts. Benefits of exercise for the purpose of detox include speeding up the removal of toxins and waste materials from the cells, increased blood flow that carries oxygen and nutrients to the cells, lowered blood pressure and increased lymph circulation. Exercise stimulates the development and maintenance of bone tissue, muscle mass, strength and endurance – all necessary for smooth labour and delivery later on.

Just as physical toxins need to be cleansed, toxins that affect the mind and spirit must also be dealt with. Stress can create havoc to an otherwise healthy body. Stress can have a vast impact on the ability to conceive. To deal with stress, seek out meditation, deep breathing, healthy relationships and situations that boost your self-esteem. Alternative therapies that you can try are energy balancing and EFT.

Article Source: http://www.advicelibrary.com

Sandra Kim Leong writes on detox and cleansing; including colon cleansing, liver cleansing, kidney cleansing, detox diet , juice fasting and alcohol detox . Read updates in her popular blog at www.Detox-Cleansing.com.

Just for Fun: A Life Survey..

2006-05-16T08:55:00.000+08:00

I came across this survey during one of my blog-roaming.. and found this on one of the blogs and sought permission to make a few changes and replicate it here. This is mine! Do try this out and we could share the info.. :)

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Place an X by all the things you've done, or remove the X from the ones you have not. This is for your entire life! Special thanks to Marlow for the contribution!

( ) Smoked a cigarette
(X) Drank so much you threw up
(X) Crashed a friend's car (indirectly caused an ex to crash his parents' car, heheh)
( ) Stolen a car
(X) Shoplifted (as a kid)
( ) Been laid off/fired
(X) Quit your job
( ) Been in a fist fight
(X) Snuck out of your parents' house
(X) Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back
( ) Been arrested
( ) Gone on a blind date
(X) Skipped school (oh yes, who hasn't? ;p)
( ) Seen someone die
( ) Been to North Pole
( ) Been to South Pole
(X) Been on a plane
( ) Purposely set a part of yourself on fire (what the hell???)
(X) Eaten sushi (of course!! and super-yummy too!)
( ) Snow skiing
( ) Water skiing
(X) Met someone from the internet
(X) Been to a concert
(X) Been to the Opera
( ) Had a root canal
(X) Taken painkillers
(X) Love someone or miss someone right now
(X) Laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by
(X) Made a snow angel
( ) Been to a pajama party
(X) Had a tea party
(X) Walked in the rain without an umbrella by choice!(X) Flown a kite
(X) Gone puddle jumping
(X) Played dress up
(X) Jumped into a pile of leaves
(X) Walked in a rain forest
( ) Gone sledding
( ) Gone snowboarding
(X) Been to a ballet
(X) Been lonely
(X) Fallen asleep at work/school (all the time! i also mastered the art of tapping fingers while sleeping.. :D)
( ) Used a fake ID
(X) Felt an earthquake
(X) Slept beneath the stars
( ) Been robbed
(X) Petted a reindeer/goat/kangaroo or jackalope
(X) Won a contest
(X) Run a red light/stop sign
(X) Been suspended from school
( ) Had braces
(X) Eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night
( ) Danced in the moonlight
(X) Liked the way I looked
(X) Witnessed a crime
(X) Questioned your heart
( ) Been obsessed with post-it notes
(X) Squished mud through your bare feet
(X) Been on the opposite side of the globe
(X) Swam in the ocean
( ) Been to Africa
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers
(X) Recently colored with crayons
(X) Sang karaoke (definitely!)
(X) Paid for a meal with only coins
(X) Made prank phone calls
( ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) Danced in the rain
( ) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Watched the sun rise with someone you care about
(X) Blown bubbles
( ) Made a bonfire on the beach
(X) Crashed a party
(X) Gone roller-skating (and sucked badly at it)
(X) Ice-skating (no talent with wheels on my feet)
(X) Had a wish come true (power of prayer, believe in it!)
( ) Jumped off a bridge into a lake or river

tags : survey | life | fun |

Just For Laughs..

2006-05-15T11:10:00.000+08:00

Ah Beng The Silly Singaporean..

Q: Why did Ah Beng go to a movie with his 18 friends?
A: Because "below 18" not allowed lah!
*******
Ah Beng wants to buy a TV set. He goes into an electrical appliances shop.
Ah Beng: "Do you have a color TV?"
Salesgirl: "Yes!"
Ah Beng: "Give me a green one, please."
*******
Ah Beng is filling up an application form for a job. He supplied the information for the columns on "Name", "Age", "Address", etc. Then he comes to the column "Salary Expected", but he is not sure of the question. After much thought, he writes "Yes"...
*******
Ah Beng goes to a store and sees a shiny object.
Ah Beng: "What is that shiny object?"
Salesgirl: "That is a thermos flask."
Ah Beng: "What does it do?"
Salesgirl: "It keeps hot things hot and cold things cold."
Ah Beng: "I'll buy it!"
The next day, Ah Beng goes to work with his thermos flask.
Boss: "What is that shiny object?"
Ah Beng: "It's a thermos flask."
Boss: "What does it do?"
Ah Beng: "It keeps hot things hot and cold things cold."
Boss: "What do you have in it?"
Ah Beng: "Two cups of coffee and one cup of ice-cream."
*******
After making photocopies of documents, Ah Beng always compares it with the original for spelling mistakes.
*******
Ah Beng always smiles during lightning storms because he thinks his picture is being taken.
*******
Q: Why can't Ah Beng dial 911?
A: Because he can't find the number "11" (eleven) on the phone.
*******
Ah Beng had just bought a new computer and was using it. He then encountered some problems, and decided to use the 'Help' command after some tries. Soon after, he became very irritated and called the computer retailer for support.
Ah Beng: "I press the F1 key for help, but it's been over half an hour and still no one came to help me?!?!"
*******
Ah Beng went to his doctor with two ears red. The doctor asked him what happened to his ears.
Ah Beng answered, "I was ironing a shirt and the phone rang lah.. but instead of picking up the phone, I accidentally picked up the iron and stuck it to my ear lah.."
"Oh dear!" the doctor exclaimed in disbelief. "But... what happened to the other ear?"
Ah Beng replied, "That stupid dumbo called back again lah!!"
*******
Ah Beng is on the phone with a long-distance telephone operator.
Ah Beng: "Could you please tell me the time difference between Taipei and Las Vegas?"
Operator: "Just a minute..."
Ah Beng: "Thank you!" and puts down the phone.
*******
After completing a jigsaw puzzle he's been working on for quite some time, Ah Beng proudly shows off the finished puzzle to a friend.
"It took me only 5 months to do it," Ah Beng brags.
"5 months? That's too long," the friend exclaims.
"You're a fool!" Ah Beng replies. "See this box, it's written for 4-7 years!"
*******
At a bar in New York, the man sitting next to Ah Beng tells the bartender, "Johnnie Walker - single." and his companion says, "Jack Daniels - single."
The bartender approaches Ah Beng and asks, "And you, sir?"
Ah Beng replies, "Tan Ah Beng, married lah!"
*******

Hard Work..

2006-05-08T05:54:00.000+08:00

I managed to accomplish some work on my blogs today.

I finally finished decorating my new blog. It looks pretty okay to me now.. in fact, I feel it's actually quite pretty in its blue template. But I have a feeling my online prince might think I've over-decorated it, which might be true, hahahah. But me being me, I guess I've got so many things that I wanna put up and since I refuse to drop either, that's how the blog's gonna be. So now, I've got a pink pretty blog and a blue pretty one. The next and perhaps the most important thing now is to inject some good content.. which I definitely will. Well, good or not, I already have some stuff in mind.. so I'll probably work on them tomorrow when I can find some time.

Also, in the past one hour or so, I finally managed to figure out just how BlogRolling works. I came across it couple of days back whilst browsing thru' some other blogs. These blogs that I had come across had tons of other blogs that were powered by BlogRolling. And by tons, I really mean tons.. easily over fifty other blogs listed on their own. And one even had hundreds! I went to BlogRolling's website and found they had a huge list of blogs listed there. Naturally, I wanted to be part of it. Well, so I registered myself.. and then I got stuck. Somehow, the hundreds or perhaps thousands of different blogrolls listed there kinda intimidated me. Plus, the navigation was kinda complexed.. and made me quite confused. Hence, I left it at there.. and decided to have another go at it when I feel more intelligent.
Well, I did feel a lil' smarty-ass earlier and decided to launch another "attack" on BlogRolling. Heh, I emerged victorious.. and as a result, my new blog is powered by BlogRolling now.. instead of BlogLinker. Actually, BlogLinker has a more attractive and more user-friendly interface, but BlogRolling seems more popular and seems like it has a bigger database so I think I'll give it a try. We'll see how it goes.. :)

I also managed to finally do up a poll on my other blog, something I've been wanting to do since eons ago. I kinda cleaned up the blog a 'lil.. took out some of the ads that didn't seem to be serving their purpose.. and found that I suddenly had more space. I had seen BlogPoll from earlier when I was reading some stuff from another blog.. and so I decided to create a poll myself. And hey.. it didn't seem so difficult afterall. I actually managed to do it on my own.

So you see.. I feel kinda accomplished today.. so I took it one step further and updated my profile a bit. And then, here I am.. making this entry to mark my accomplishment, lol.

Up And Running!

2006-05-06T02:53:00.000+08:00

It works! My replication of my baby was a success! And so, my new blog is now up and running.. :)

I've just finally completed the 1st feature for my new blog.. so if you guys would like to take a look.. here you go.. click here.

There are still many things yet to be done though.. for instance, I've not done much to beautify my new blog.. it's still pretty much wearing its default look.. which also means there isn't much to look at. And also, to be honest, I'm still wondering if I should change the template of the blog.. 'cos I kinda feel a lil' weird about its color and the functionality of this particular template relative to the nature of my blog.

Well, if you do take a look and if you've any suggestions, comments, opinions, whatsoever.. please voice them out here at this blog.. or that one. I welcome anyone who's willing to share.. :)

So, once again.. my new baby is here.

Oh, and before I go, Technorati is still not accepting my claim on this blog (and I'd really wish I know why).. but it's connecting like clockwork to my new baby. Pinging has been a breeze today.

tags : new blog | template | pinging | technorati |

The Hardships Of Blogging...

2006-05-04T19:35:00.000+08:00

Day 4 in Lock-up now.. that's the life of my new empty blog. So I decided I have had enough. I'm not gonna wait for the guys at Blogger to show me the keys anymore. Since the blog had no posts.. just drafts, I decided to save the drafts and template in my laptop and delete the blog. And I did.

I have not re-created a new blog yet. Maybe I'm grieving for the death of my baby. Actually I'm hoping to replicate the whole thing, from the blog name to the blog url.. I'm still contemplating if I should use the same template. Hmmm.. I think maybe I will. I'm just gonna try everything the same again, and see if I'm really so jinxed. No matter what, I'm determined to resurrect my baby.

Anyway, a ray of light has shone thru'. Earlier, I deleted the claim of my blogs at Technorati.. and re-pinged again. About ten minutes later, presto! my blog posts finally showed up on Technorati! Heh, you won't be able to imagine how happy I felt. Silly me! :P
The blog I failed to re-claim is this very one I'm writing on now. I've tried re-claiming a few more times since, but it's still not happening. Guess I'll just have to keep on trying. Meanwhile, I'll just have to try my best to keep her afloat. Well, at least one is in recovery mode now.

So, for anyone who's having problems with Technorati, try re-claiming. It half-worked for me, perhaps it'll work full for you.. :)

Well, life is tough.. so is blogging. But I'll keep on going... :P