Music Monday - I Do (Cherish You)

With Valentine's Day fast approaching and romance fills the air, I guess most couples are pretty much in a lovey dovey mood. It goes without saying that all loving couples would be extra sentimental and extra romantic this month.

So guys, listen up. Whether you are planning a romantic night out or dining at home with your Valentine, you might want to consider rousing up some good tunes to set the lovely ambience. This is one of my favourite love songs by 98 degrees, I Do (Cherish You) and I would like to dedicate this specially to all the lovey dovey couples out there.

And not forgetting to my beloved hubby for

sharing my joys & sorrows,
understanding my inspirations,
being my lover & best friend,
filling my life with much happiness
and loving me for the rest of my life...
I DO.

Lyrics | 98 Degrees lyrics - I Do (Cherish You) lyrics

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Dragon Fruits - The Fruit of Health

I first tasted dragon fruit during my trip to Hong Kong some years ago and they just blew me away. These fruits have a sweet, juicy pulp and a delicate aroma with a unique flavor that's like a cross between kiwi and pear. I've also discovered that dragon fruits, the fruit of several cactus species, are rich in antioxidant, dietary fiber, calcium and potassium.

During that time, dragon fruits were not popular in Malaysia. These days, it is no longer uncommon to find such fruits here and in fact, they are organically grown here to meet the needs of local demand. As far as I know, that there a few varieties of these fruits but I personally have only come across two kinds, the red kind like the one I'm holding, and the white flesh. The differences in taste is subtle but I personally find that the red flesh tastes better.

They’re easy to prepare and actually kind of fun to eat. So how do you enjoy dragon fruits? I usually slice it into half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. You will discover a sweet creamy flesh with crunchy seeds like kiwi. I eat dragon fruits very often here. They can be quite pricey though. Dragon Fruit tastes so much better if it is chilled. It is extremely succulent and juicy, you should try one, its full of natural richness. I like the crunchiness when I bite on the sesame kind of black colored seeds.

Alternatively, you can cut into cubes or bite sizes. My kids enjoyed showing their ‘bloody’ teeth to me whenever they eat them. :)


A word of caution. The red coloured juice can easily stain clothing so do be careful when cutting into it. Eating too much of this fruit may also result in reddish colored urine and faeces.

YAY! BlogExplosion is finally back in action

I haven't been able to access blogexplosion (BE) for the past few days. I kept wondering what can be the reason behind for not being able to log in. Even my referral link was vanished from my blog as well. Some people were saying that it had completely closed its doors, while others were saying that the site was in the midst of some server issues that was affecting all of their sites. When I logged in my BE account last night, I was pleasantly pleased that the problems have been resolved and the server is working again. YAY!

I've been using this program to explode my traffic from time to time. The basic rule is you surf other BE member blogs and in return you generate free traffic to your blog at the same time. The feedback was overwhelming indeed. I've also discovered some aspiring talented writers through this program. I've always been looking for other ways of driving traffic to my blog and finding other people's interesting blogs.

So far, sites like BE and Entrecard are among my favourite traffic generators. Ever since Entrecard was launched, it spread like wildfire over the blogosphere. By joining the system, I have found hundreds of great quality blogs to read. To be completely honest, I hate to make excuses but it's pretty time consuming to simply read through all posts and I scarcely have time to put up a wonderful comment that each blog truly deserves.

In the meantime, enjoy BE by clicking the button at the bottom of this page. This network is worth checking out. Happy blogging!

Prayers for my GRANNY

My beloved, precious granny holds a special place in my heart for some reasons. She's humble, down to earth sort of woman who cares about everyone around her. She is undeniably getting older which is 90+ and she became progressively too weak recently. As it turned out, my aunt couldn't take care of her and was forced to place her into a wonderful residential care home in Penang where some other folks live. Furthermore, my aunt was working and there was nobody to look after her. It hurts to live so far from her, how I wish I got to visit her more often.

The first few days were extremely discomforting for my granny. When we visited her a fortnight ago, she was a bit restless, threw up a few times in the afternoon. All food served was strictly vegetarian, so no meat of any kind, which was not too pleasing to her taste buds. To make matters worse, she was incredibly weak, she couldn't walk and barely eat anything for fear of throwing up. She's one of the strongest women I know, so to see or hear her in such a manner makes my heart sink.

When we visited her last week, we saw some positive signs. Hooray! She's feeling so much better and walking around the residential home as if she owns it. Looks like she has adjusted remarkably fine and actually seems to like the place. She cannot walk swiftly though, so she has to walk with a walker with some assistance. She has regained the weight she lost which is a good thing indeed. That's what you get from a healthy vegetarian diet I guess.

Sigh! Now looking at these, I just can't imagine myself living in an extreme old age. That said, I think 70+ would be an ideal age for me, but do you have the right to say goodbye to the world? Regardless, death does not discriminate between young or old. People of all ages die.

Suffice to say, thanks for reading and please keep my granny in your prayers that she will regain some strength and uplift her spirits in good time.

The Kek Lok Si Temple, Penang

The Kek lok Si Temple a.k.a. as the Temple of Supreme Bliss is one of Penang's icons. It stands majestically on a hilltop in the heart of Ayer Itam, Penang and this spot is a must visit location for tourists. The entire area was busy enough to keep your eyes rolling around it and capturing detail shots of the scenic views. The climb to the temple was not particularly strenuous, so everyone made it to the top. When I was a kid, I always looked forward to the souvenir shops leading up to the temple which offered good bargains. Those stalls sold an extensive range of almost everything, from Buddha statues to wall paintings, mugs to key chains, T-shirts to jewelleries and much more.

The best moment to visit Kek Lok Si Temple is during the Chinese New Year, where you will see lots of thousands of colourful lanterns lighting up the surroundings at night.

The entire place comes alive with a stunning display of colourful lights, dynamic colours and wondrous beauty

The Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda

This is one of the several large hall for assembly and prayer, where deities of various statues are being venerated.

Golden Buddha smiling for peace

The gigantic bronze statue of Goddess of Mercy or fondly named as Kuan Yin is undergoing restoration. It was anticipated that the RM40mil project is scheduled to be completed by the middle of the year. This is truly impressive and I bet it will look even more stunning when the statue is completed.