Reflections by Mariz

Going out...coming in...

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:01:00 +0000

Every exit is an entry somewhere.
- Tom Stoppard

I couldn't agree more with this quote. An end to something, especially when it brings happiness and good into your life, is almost always a never easy thing to accept. However, it is only when we let go of what we are holding onto tightly -- be it in relationships, opportunities and many forms of comfort zones -- and be willing to embrace what is ahead, then and only then can we experience the joy and excitement of new discoveries and beginnings.

Rescue Music Video

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:01:00 +0000

One of the things which took a chunk of my time while I was absent from this blog was my active participation in our church's recent concert project. Being a part of the multimedia team, I was tasked with making several videos to be used as background during the acoustic concert performances.

This is one of the videos I made, I created one without audio (as video background to the music team's live performance and saved a music video file I can upload to YouTube and embed here). I find Desperation Band's rendition of this song to be the best and most suited for the video I made. Check it out...

Hope you were blessed with the song's message.

Back On Track

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:01:00 +0000

Wow... I soooo missed this blog! I think my recent absence was the longest I've been away. Life's demands and busyness just caught up with me these past few weeks and just had to prioritize those other things. Thanks to everyone who still dropped by despite my absence, I appreciate it guys!

It's good to be back...

Sandbox Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:17:00 +0000

I really enjoy receiving newsletters from Simple Truths. Besides their site updates, they regularly include in their correspondences beautiful excerpts from books they are currently promoting, so even if you could not secure (just yet) a copy, you could at least get a hindsight of what you can learn from the book currently offered.

Here are some excerpts from the latest book they are promoting, a lot of beautiful insights can be grasped here:

Sandbox Wisdom by Tom Asacker

Sandbox Wisdom revisits our childhood to see what we should strive to rekindle as adults.

Fun, Laughter, and Enthusiasm...We should strive to keep that childlike spirit in our work and our play. When we grow up we take ourselves way too seriously, and sometimes we become a heart attack waiting to happen.

No Limit Thinking...As children we believe that we might become president, a great artist or a great explorer. But as adults we begin to put fences around those dreams.

No Inhibitions...Children speak from the heart, and as adults we should strive to do more of that.

Read People and Situations...Children can see past the trappings of material success and see into the core of people. As we grow older we begin to label people, and as the saying goes, "labeling is disabling."

Creativity and Imagination...A great philosopher once observed, "Genius is childhood recaptured at will." The imagination and creativity we had at five too often begins to fade at fifteen.

Hope you learned something from all these, I sure did today.

Do You Care?

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:41:00 +0000

There are just too many things going on inside and outside of our lives, that at times it's difficult to filter which ones we need to care about most and and which ones we should just plainly ignore. Check out this dNneero survey and find out mine and other people's answers to some important (and some absurd) issues raised here...

Watching TV on the Net

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:01:00 +0000

Hubby and I purposely have never subscribed to cable TV ever, since we are not really much into "heavy" TV watching anyways. Besides, with the amazing internet technology nowadays, watching your favorite TV program can also be done now through the Net.

Just google "watch TV online" and you'll find many available options already for online TV watching - with a vast array of worldwide channels, I must add. When I'm in the mood for TV, I just normally tune in to the live news telecasts to keep abreast on the local news in the Philippines, the only thing is I just have to adjust to the time difference or watch the recorded ones if I cannot see the live broadcast.

If you are Filipino abroad like myself and would like to watch local Philippine channels on the net or perhaps you'd like to see other channels abroad (BBC, CNN, Discovery Channel, American TV Channels, etc), here are my favorite live TV sites which you can check out (please note that a broadband connection is a pre-requisite)...

ABS-CBN Live! Streaming

GMA Live! Streaming

Studio 23 Live! Streaming

QTV Live! Streaming

International Channels

Enjoy and have a great day!

Dry Spell

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:34:00 +0000

Hi, guys! I'm sure a lot of you are wondering -- "What's up with this blog?", "Why aren't there any new posts?"... well, your friendly blogger has been busy (*cough* lazy *cough*) lately.

I guess it's just one of those days commonly called as "blogging dry spell", a critical condition (should I say -- "virus") that attacks a blogger resulting to a slump in writing... LOL! I'm sure all bloggers experience this at one time or another, it's normal especially for those who have been writing for quite some time (am I justifying it too hard?), and a remedial break is all that's needed to do the fix and jump start afresh.

So here I am... back from my blogging slumber, and now ready to get the groove back. Now, where shall I start?

Rare Parrot Flower

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:01:00 +0000

The uniqueness and beauty of this rare flower grown in Thailand will literally leave you speechless...

Scientific Name: Impatiens Psittacina
Thai Name: Dork Nok Khaew
Size: Plant grows to app. 6 feet (1.8) meters
Leaf : Broad, sharply pointed, to 2 1/2 inches (6 cm)
Flower size: App. 2 inches (5cm)
Stem thickness: To 1/2 inch (1.5cm)
Bloom season: October/November in Thailand
Growing conditions: Tropical, humid, moist
* This is a protected plant specie which is illegal to export.

See other Wordless Wednesday entries HERE.

Useful Softwares

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:09:00 +0000

I have recently joined the multimedia ministry in our church, and it has been a fun and fulfilling experience so far. I have always had a knack for techie stuff and I find pleasure in learning new things especially along the lines of new technology and internet/computer know-hows.

While browsing the Net to look for multimedia resources (I'll save this for another post and share with you very helpful multimedia related links next time), I came across two very useful softwares which you might be interested in downloading (free trial versions, clicking on name will take you to the download page link):

Camtasia Studio
Do you have powerpoint presentations which you would like to convert into a video file without losing the animations? Camstasia does this with its screen capture feature. Anything you play or do on your PC screen - a movie file, photo slideshow, even your internet browsing activity, can be recorded by Camtasia. Cool, huh!

AVS Video Converter
AVS Media has many products but this is the one most helpful for me. This video converter enables you to convert any media file into your desired format, e.g. flv to avi, mpeg to wmv, strip audio from video file and convert to mp3, etc.), and you can even edit the videos before your conversion. I usually download videos I like from YouTube with Firefox's DownloadHelper plug-in and they usually come in flv (flash) video format, with AVS I can easily convert flv to the accepted format required by some media presentation software I use (like Easy Worship for church).

There are many more very handy softwares out there, and in my future posts I'll share and recommend to you my tried and tested ones.

Salads - An Effective Nutrient Booster

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 11:35:00 +0000

Did you know that salads can effectively boost four vital nutrients every person needs?

People across the world are trying to eat healthy, and salads are a big part of that equation.

In a recent issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, a study of more than 9,000 women and 8,000 men found that those who eat salads and raw vegetables have higher intakes and better blood levels of four nutrients: vitamins A and C, folate and the phytochemicals or plant nutrients called carateneoids. These nutrients are tied to reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes.

So, make sure to include salads in your regular food intake.

Sailing Out

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:59:00 +0000

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore. - Andre Gide

Swine Flu

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:26:00 +0000

Swine Flu -- you've seen it on the news' headlines, people everywhere have become panicky about it, and countries all over the world are taking all necessary precautions so as to avoid getting hit by it, but what exactly is this disease and how can one detect it and take careful measures against it? The first step to prevention is arming ourselves with the proper knowledge about Swine Flu and share these information to others as well.

Here's a very concise and helpful article I found on Gulf News recently which everyone needs to be aware about so we can guard ourselves better against this endemic disease:

SWINE FLU AND SAFETY MEASURES

What is it? It is a virus that mutated from pigs and transmitted to some humans

Which places have been affected? Mexico City, California, Texas, Philippines, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Egypt, Israel, Kuwait, Spain, France, Thailand, Cuba, Arizona, India, Taiwan.

Is there a cure? The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website states that there is no vaccine to specifically protect humans from swine flu, only to protect pigs. Although GlaxoSmithKline Plc's flu treatment Relenza and Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu appear effective against the strains of the virus the CDC has tested.

What are authorities doing to contain the virus? The World Health Organization went on high alert, dispatching top experts to the United States and Mexico. The CDC has also set up emergency operation centres.

Signs and symptoms
Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
Sudden dizziness
Confusion
Severe or persistent vomiting
Fever with a rash (among children)
Bluish skin color (among children)

Easy ways to protect against infection
Little can be done to prevent an outbreak of flu from spreading, health experts caution, but they say common sense measures can help individuals protect themselves. Practice the following:
- Wash your hands frequently
- Cover your cough or your sneeze
- Use alcohol-based gel or foam hand sanitizers
- If you have flu-like symptoms, stay away from work or public transportation
- Social distancing. Stay away from people who might be infected

MY 1st BLOG ANNIVERSARY

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Sun, 31 May 2009 07:22:00 +0000

Oh my! What a slip-up! I just realized that my blog has already turned 1-year old just last week (May 20th) and have completely forgotten about it. Well, it's never too late to write a post and celebrate...

Wow, my blog journey this past year has been exciting! I can still clearly remember that day I created this blog where I didn't know exactly where to start and what to write. All I knew that time was that I want my little voice to be heard somehow, broaden my reach and make new friends through this experience.

There were days when I couldn't contain myself in sharing what I have in mind and keep posting away like crazy, and there were also those extremely busy (or lazy) days where keeping the blog updated is a struggle. But overall, my blogging experience has been so fun and enjoyable -- I have learned a lot of things (from HTML to blog promotion), met a lot of people along the way, and have been motivated by the great feedback and very encouraging comments I get from friends and even from complete strangers who drop by.

This blog also opened the way for me to create another blog, one which I share with my hubby and focuses only on photography which is our shared passion. The direction for this blog became much clearer when I decided that Reflections by Mariz will serve mainly and specifically only as a podium for my musings and views, while Mix Pix - my other blog, will be a photo gallery.

This past year wouldn't have been so wonderful if not for everyone who took the effort to visit this blog, and some even leave their mark by commenting/dropping a note at the chat box which I tremendously appreciate, and even more special thanks to those subscribing to this blog -- you guys are the best!

Thank you so soooo much to everyone for making this home warmer with you visit, readership, love and support! Most importantly, thank you LORD for seeing me through this past year and making this experience possible.

More years to come for this blog!!!! Woohooooo!!!!

Beautiful Crowning Glory

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Wed, 27 May 2009 09:05:00 +0000

It has always been said that a woman's hair is her crowning glory, and who doesn't want to wear a crown everyone will admire, hence we must make an effort to maintain and keep our hair well-groomed, beautiful and healthy. Here are some tips to do just that:

1. Proper washing keeps hair shiny and healthy. Do not use shampoos with strong chemicals, test the effectiveness of each brand you want to try and stick with what is compatible with your hair.

2. Massage your scalp. While shampooing your hair, treat yourself to a scalp massage. Spread your fingers over your scalp and give the scalp a two minute massage. Massage stimulates the scalp and increases blood flow. The hair is nourished by the increased blood flow to the scalp.

3. Rinse thoroughly. For shiny, glossy hair rinse completely and then rinse again. Hair that is not completely rinsed has a dull film on it. A tablespoon of vinegar in the rinse water gets the residue out of the hair and helps it shine.

4. Condition. After washing and rinsing the hair, put conditioner on, starting on the ends. Concentrate the conditioner on the ends, as the older hair on the ends is older and more damaged. Rinse the conditioner out thoroughly before drying.

5. Drying Hair. The hot air blowing from the blow dryer is damaging to the air. When possible, let the hair dry naturally. When necessary to style with the blow dryer, use a cool setting so that it is not as damaging on the hair.

6. Brush Hair. If there are tangles in the hair, start at the bottom and get the tangles out gently. A natural bristle brush works best to distribute the hair oils and stimulates the scalp. For curls use a small round barrel brush. Straight hair benefits most from a broad paddle brush, to give it a sleek look. For very curly hair, a pick or wide toothed comb separates the curls and gives definition. It is important not to brush hair when it is wet, as it stretches and breaks when it is wet and at it's weakest.

7. Trim as needed. Keep the ends fresh with regular trims. Trims are the best way to get rid of damaged, split ends.

8. Adequate diet. Just like the rest of your body, hair needs proper nourishment to be at it's healthiest. Proper diet will benefit your body, skin, brain and hair. Hair is a protein and especially needs protein rich foods. High protein foods include fish, chicken, lean meat, eggs and soy products. Fatty acids are also important for hair health. Good sources of fatty acids include nuts, especially walnuts and almonds. Fish and flaxseed oil are also great sources of fatty acids. B Vitamins, particularly B6 and B12 are important to the health of the hair. B Vitamins are found in whole grain foods, fruits and vegetables.

9. Vitamins. Vitamin supplements for the hair include B Vitamins and minerals, as well as other vitamins. A good multiple vitamin may give just the boost you need to supplement a good diet.

Here's a short survey about maintaining beautiful hair...

American Idol Mania

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Mon, 25 May 2009 05:02:00 +0000

Hubby and I are among those who watch American Idol consistently, since we enjoy seeing fresh young talents about to be discovered. Throughout this season, our top favorite has been Adam Lambert, next to him we like Kris Allen. So having both of these guys in the finale was really exhilarating to see.

American Idol had certainly put out their best in the finale show (the AI crowning was way better than the top 2 performance show though), the coronation show was fantastic! We were simply blown away with the the performances from the guest artists and their stints with the contestants. It was indeed the best finale show out of all the 8 seasons.

We had high hopes for Adam Lambert to win, as he is the most talented among the pack, and most deserving of the title (in my opinion, he is even the best contestant to step foot on Idol stage, he's a total entertainer). Week after week, Adam wowed the audiences with his unique and brilliant performances. People just couldn't get enough of him and everyone, especially the judges, are always excited to see what he is going to do next on the show since he always surprises audiences with great renditions.

But when the moment of truth arrived, like the millions of disheartened Adam Lambert fans out there, we were shocked with the results! Like everyone else, we were expecting Adam to take home the title, but sadly that didn't happen. And although Kris Allen was also an outstanding contestant (and a very nice and humble guy I must add), Adam was obviously the perfect fit for the crown - his vocal skills, stage presence and star charisma have definitely earned him the attention which outshadowed the other contestants. Nevertheless, despite this biggest "AI upset", Adam is surely guaranteed of a huge career ahead, this fact we can definitely see to be crystal clear.

Sad as it may be, things like this happen for a reason. Perhaps Kris needed the title more to propel his career, while Adam can survive and still shine even without a title. But what's truly amazing to note is that Kris and Adam have both been so humble and gracious in their victory/defeat. In their post-Idol appearances and interviews, you can see the love and respect they have for each other, their genuine friendship emanates, which only proves the point that although much has been said (many controversies arise) about Kris' win or Adam's loss, these two have remained to be good and true gentlemen and very sincere people. Here's a video to show this...

Bottomline in all these is - what's most important is that their talents have been showcased for the world to see and enjoy, and we'll look forward for more of what they can offer.

Loving Thai Food

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:12:00 +0000

I really find Thai food irresistible. Besides the fact that their way of cooking is similar to Filipino cooking techniques and the ingredients they use are what we commonly use as well, the hot & spicy twist in most of their dishes is what would make anyone desire for more.

I found this video in YouTube which is I think is an excellent cooking video reference. Let me share it with you.... (this recipe is very famous in Thailand, and very easy to prepare so get your pen and paper ready to take notes or better yet, save this video as well for your future use).

THAI BASIL CHICKEN FRIED RICE

Enjoy!

My Linux Ubuntu Miracle

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Tue, 19 May 2009 10:44:00 +0000

Since last night and up to this moment as I am writing this, my face is gleaming with joy because of a computer problem breakthrough I had last night. You see, hubby's laptop has been in operational hiatus for several months now because of a sudden mysterious breakdown it had (up to now we still couldn't figure out the cause of it, but I was suspecting it was an erroneous Windows Update, I hear that PC breakdown happens all the time because of this).

Anyways, the PC just went bizerk and Windows Vista does not load, all you'd see after it unsuccessfully boots is a black screen, the rescue and recovery tool has also gone haywire and has disappeared (corrupted too I guess). So, being the trying hard techie geek I am, I've tried all sorts of solutions to fix the problem, I did a lot of googling to see similar problems and how they were solved, but all of these to no avail. Since Vista comes loaded with the laptop and we do not have the installation and recovery disks, I've turned to other available options like using NeoSmart's Vista Recovery CD - a promising solution which worked wonders for others (but sadly didn't work for ours), rescue and recovery re-installation which didn't work either, and many other techie exploits.

Like anyone having this kind of dilemma, hubby and I were most concerned for the files (more importantly the photos) which would be lost and wiped out completely if we are to do a re-installation of Windows which seemed to be the only possible solution, so we were looking at that step as a final resort. We've put aside the laptop for a while, stubborn as we are, we still didn't turn it in to a repair shop (since I was still hopeful I could do something about it and I knew that the technician would most likely do reformat and re-installation just the same, so why bother sending it to one when I could just do that myself anyway should worse comes to worst). Well, that stubborness proved to be a good thing after all!

As the saying goes.. never say die! So, I gave the laptop one last shot these past 2 days before finally surrendering, and woohooo! this is where Google really comes in handy. After having to research many hours and (reading tons of posts in PC troubleshooting forums), I came across this "heaven sent OS" (operating System) - Ubuntu!!! (can't hide my glee, huh!).

I've heard about this Linux OS before but have dismissed it as I was under the (wrong) impression that it's designed only for programmers and that it's too hi-tech or too far-fetched as far as user-friendliness is concerned. Like many "brainwashed" users of Microsoft Windows systems, I never once considered any other existing OS out there to be at par with Windows, and boy was I very wrong!

Ubuntu is a FREE operating system, no need to spend a dime on downloading and using it (unlike Windows), and it proved to be our "PC-life saver". From my researching, I gathered that Ubuntu can save a dead PC and its installation disk utilities can help recover files from a PC that no longer boots properly. So what I did was I downloaded Ubuntu installation disk into a DVD, and used it for our laptop boot-up and presto! I was able to recover and save our lost files from the previously inaccessible hard disk. Hubby and I were so ecstatic about this, we almost lost hope of saving our valued photos (never mind the other files! by the way, big lesson learned - back-up, back-up, back-up!)

We got so excited that we decided to do away with Windows Vista on hubby's revived laptop, so I installed Ubuntu OS instead, I'm so glad I did! After exploring this new OS, which comes with built in free software applications too (like OpenOffice, in place of Windows MS Office), I discovered how user-friendly it is, how simple and straight forward the OS is, and how easily we can adapt to this OS. It proves to be a very efficient and easy to use OS (I realized it's even more preferred by many after having been to many tech forums).

Most definitely, we're giving this OS a try for hubby's laptop. I'm not doing away (yet) with my own laptop's preloaded Vista, so hubby and I can have 2 different OS to compare and evaluate side to side, but having discovered Ubuntu really provided the desperately needed fix we were looking for to bring back hubby's dead PC to life, it proves to be an excellent and impressive OS alternative. Big thanks to the developers! (If you want to check it out for yourself, click on Ubuntu's logo or link above).

New Superstar: Susan Boyle

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Thu, 14 May 2009 20:01:00 +0000

Much talk has been going around about this "now very famous lady - Susan Boyle". She is currently a contestant for Britain's Got Talent show, and would you believe that this audition video has received over 140 million views (all uploaded videos like this) in YouTube to date. She has been interviewed already by Oprah, invited by President Barack Obama himself for dinner (although for some reason she turned down this big opportunity), have been extended public admiration by many Hollywood celebrities and have been featured in many newspapers and magazines.

So what exactly is the public clamor all about? What opened the door to her fame? Check out this video and you'll know the answer...

Awesome Facts

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Thu, 14 May 2009 11:32:00 +0000

Got this from a friend and found a lot of these awesome facts very interesting and amusing, quite a read, but it's worthwhile...

New York’s Central Park is nearly twice the size of the entire country of Monaco.

A watermelon is a vegetable, not a fruit. Eggplant is not a vegetable, it is a fruit.

Traces of cocaine were found in 99% of UK bank notes in a survey in London in 2000.

Every hour, one billion cells in the body must be replaced.

There are no penguins in the North Pole.

Karate actually originated in India, but was developed further in China.

The faster a kangaroo hops, the less energy it burns.

Dating back to the 1600’s, thermometers were filled with Brandy instead of mercury.

Giraffes are unable to cough.

Beavers can swim half a mile underwater on one gulp of air.

Most cell phone antennas have no purpose other than to make people believe that flipping up a two-inch antenna just gave them better reception.

A rat can fall from a five storey building without injury.

Penguins can convert salt water into fresh water.

35% of the people using personal ads for dating are already married.

The average human body contains .1 mg of uranium, .2 mg of gold, and 7 mg of arsenic.

President George W. Bush was once a cheerleader.

A rainbow can only be seen in the morning or late afternoon.

The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as a substitute for blood plasma.

One quarter of the human brain is used to control the eyes.

When a person dies, hearing is usually the last sense to go.

80% of 10 year old girls in the US go on a diet.

Drivers kill more deers than hunters.

Pound for pound, hamburgers cost more than new cars.

The first product that Sony came out with was the rice cooker.

First cousin marriages are legal in Utah, as long as they are both 65 years old or older.

Nearly 22,000 checks will be deducted from the wrong account over the next hour.

The Australian $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 notes are made out of plastic.

The odds of being killed from falling out of bed is one in two million.

A pound of potato chips costs 200 times more than a pound of potatoes.

James Bond is also known as Mr. Kiss-Kiss-Bang-Bang.

Pearl melts in vinegar.

The number of births that occur in India each year is higher than the entire population of Australia.

It takes about 63,000 trees to make the newsprint for the average Sunday edition of the New York Times.

The Japanese commonly put ketchup on their rice.

Wearing yellow makes you look bigger on camera, green, smaller.

In older people, memory is best early in the morning and then declines during the late afternoon.

Reindeer milk has more fat than cow milk.

In its ancient form, the carrot was purple, not orange.

Do The Math

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:01:00 +0000

"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings." -Eric Hoffer

I couldn't agree more with what this wise man has said. At times, when we are faced with difficulties, when our expectations are not met, when we get disappointed by people and everyday challenges, it becomes easy to magnify these negative things and forget that there are still many things to be thankful for. We need to remind ourselves that happiness is a decision -- it is a state of mind one chooses to be in, it is not just a result of experiences or things that happen. In good or bad times, we can choose to be happy and stay happy.

No matter how hard it may be, let us not forget to do the math -- to count our blessings, for when we do, it will surely multiply our joy and contentment.

Getting The Groove Back

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Mon, 11 May 2009 12:29:00 +0000

Hi! I'm back.

Hubby and I have settled and adjusted pretty well in our new place, but had to wait quite a while for the internet line to get up and running. I really missed blog hopping and visiting friends, now it's time for me to do a lot of catching up.

Thanks to everyone who still came by my site though I was on a break, special thanks to those who left comments and wished us well on our move.

Ok, time to pick up the momentum and get some nice articles posted...

BLOG BREAK

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 07:39:00 +0000

Hi everyone! So sorry I have not posted in a while, hubby and I have been so busy lately with our recent move to a new house and we're still waiting for our new internet line to be installed, so I'll be on a short blog break until our internet connection gets sorted out.

Thanks for the visit and do check back after a week's time. See you then!

Sound of Music Train Station Video

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 08:24:00 +0000

This video is really awesome, well worthy of your time to watch. I first saw this at Tangle.com and have heard that it has received almost two million hits already at YouTube since its upload in late March 2009. I'm not surprised why it quickly became so popular and has been spreading like wildfire across the internet... it is highly entertaining and it would leave you a feeling of delight after seeing it.

About 200 dancers took over Antwerp Station in Belgium, (Central station in Antwerpen) dancing to the famous Do Re Mi song from the Sound of Music musical and movie, also known as Maria’s Dance and Maria’s Song. This was supposedly a publicity stunt for a Belgian TV program by VTM called "In Search of Maria".

First Toothbrush

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 07:19:00 +0000

Here's another interesting trivia... ever wondered how toothbrush came to be?

The first modern toothbrush was invented in China. The bristles were made from the mane of a horse which were then put into ivory handles.

Winter All Year Round

noreply@blogger.com (Mariz) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 08:00:00 +0000

When you think of Dubai, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?...oil ... skycrapers... gold... The Burj... how about this - hot and dry! Yup, winter is out and summer is rolling in, I can still clearly remember the day I first stepped foot on Dubai, it was October then (not even the peak of summer), I arrived around 1 o'clock in the morning, and as soon as I came out from the very cool airport, my sweat started to roll down from all over... it was super hot and it was 1am, quite unbelievable but didn't shock me at all, as my hubby has already told me what to expect.

During the summer months here, you'll dread going out. And so to give some consolation to the tourists and locals who would like to experience and enjoy winter all year round, some really "cool" places have been established to give that sheer winter joy - Ski Dubai and Chill Out Cafe.

I posted photos of these two chilly places at my photo blog - Mix Pix, click HERE to see that post.