A Visit to the Doctor ...

On the second day of the Chinese New Year, some of us together with our families made a visit to the good country doctor's 'country' home! Can you guess who some of these good people are?

From boys to men! That was a very long long time ago since we all last met together ...
Bernard Loh Foh Min, Francis Ho Khee Ngee, Dr Phillip Bong Chong Soon, Ricky Ng Nyuk Min

CNY Reunion Dinner with Simon Lim

Our guest of honour from Sydney - Simon Lim with Francis and ever-smiling Edmund Song - we're all smiling actually!

Francis, Edmund Song, Dr Phillip Bong, Lim Lian Kee, Freddy Loh, Steven Tan Choon Guan, Simon Lim

CNY reunion dinner photo amongst old school mates at "Bla Bla Bla Restaurant" on the third day of Chinese New Year.

Surry Hills Gang!

Except for the absence of Dr. Phang Teck Min, all the original members of the gang who used to reside together in Surry Hills, Sydney back in the seventies were gathered at my house for a Chinese New Year visit and reunion on the second day of the Chinese New Year.

Simon Lim Poon Kiat now lives in Sydney, NSW, Australia while Ricky Ng Nyuk Min lives in Kuala Lumpur . Both are in Kuching to visit their families during this Chinese New Year. Dr. Phang promised to fly out from Bintulu to meet the rest of the gang but they were not exactly holding their breathe for this to eventuate as the love of the legal tender is more so to some of us! they guessed not as he would be going back to Miri for work tomorrow.

The members of the 'Surry Hills' Gang!

Though not part of this notorious gang - Edmund Song and Francis Ho who also studied in Sydney but were living in more respectable neighbourhoods (ahem!) were also there for the photo session!

Politically Correct Chinese New Year Greeting

To: All The Readers¹ Here,

I sincerely wish² you and your families³

Gong Xi Fa Cai⁴

and an environmentally conscious,socially responsible, low stress,non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the lunar new year from the view of the Chinese lunisolar calendar (however, not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make the world a better place).

Happy Lunar New Year!⁵

Yours,

Class of '74 & '75 Bloggers

---

Disclaimer: By accepting this greeting,you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Footnotes
[1] - Inclusive but not limited to Chinese, Korean, Vietnamnese, Japanese readers and readers of various aggregated and noble cultures
[2] - With no obligations, implied or implicit, whether as to accept or decline this well meaning wish. It is held that the reader has his/her free will to accept and/or decline this wish from the author
[3] - Inclusive but not limited to fellow human beings who are with and/or without their families, functional or dysfunctional
[4] - Translates from the original Mandarin phrase: “Respectfully, may you get rich”. This however, does not mean disrespect to the multitude of other cultures and individuals, out of choice or personal preferences, celebrating or not celebrating the Lunar New Year as seen from the view of the Chinese lunisolar calendar. It must be added here that the author also wishes the reader to be fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated. However this is not a guarantee, and the author cannot be held responsible for any event or events that may or may not be contrary to the above statement(s).
[5] - Listed here are celebration names by various cultures of a similar event held during a similar time, inclusive but not limited to the Chinese: Chun jie; Korean: Seollal; Vietnamnese: Tet.

After number 56,

we need something soothing.

Pachelbel's Canon in D, performed by the Slovak Chamber Orchestra.




and here's another version

ES, are you number 56?

Say your prayers

We should all say our prayers before we go to bed.





But who should we be praying for and what should we pray about? Love, patience, understanding..







Well this is for those who are not their own 'taukeh'

The Lovenstein Institute

The Presidential IQ Report

WASHINGTON --In a published report, the Lovenstein Institute of Scranton, Pennsylvania has detailed findings of a four month study of the intelligence quotient of President George W. Bush. Since 1973, the Lovenstein Institute has published its research to the education community on each new president, which includes the famous "IQ" report among others.

According to statements in the report, there have been twelve presidents over the past 60 years, from F. D. Roosevelt to G. W. Bush who were all rated based on scholarly achievements, writings that they alone produced without aid of staff, their ability to speak with clarity, and several other psychological factors which were then scored in the Swanson/Crain system of intelligence ranking. The study determined the following IQs of each president as accurate to within five percentage points:

147	Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)
132	Harry Truman (D)
122	Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)
174	John F. Kennedy (D)
126	Lyndon B. Johnson (D)
155	Richard M. Nixon (R)
121	Gerald R. Ford (R)
176	James E. Carter (D)
105	Ronald W. Reagan (R)
98	George H. W. Bush (R)
182	William J. Clinton (D)
91	George W. Bush (R)

The six Republican presidents of the past 60 years had an average IQ of 115.5, with President Nixon having the highest IQ, at 155. President G. W. Bush was rated the lowest of all the Republicans with an IQ of 91.

The six Democrat presidents had IQs with an average of 156, with President Clinton having the highest IQ, at 182. President Lyndon B. Johnson was rated the lowest of all the Democrats with an IQ of 126.

No president other than Carter (D) has released his actual IQ, 176. Among comments made concerning the specific testing of President GW Bush, his low ratings were due to his apparent difficulty to command the English language in public statements, his limited use of vocabulary (6,500 words for Bush versus an average of 11,000 words for other presidents), his lack of scholarly achievements other than a basic MBA, and an absence of any body of work which could be studied on an intellectual basis.

The complete report documents the methods and procedures used to arrive at these ratings, including depth of sentence structure and voice stress confidence analysis. "All the Presidents prior to George W. Bush had a least one book under their belt, and most had written several white papers during their education or early careers.

Not so with President Bush," Dr. Lovenstein said. "He has no published works or writings, so in many ways that made it more difficult to arrive at an assessment. We had to rely more heavily on transcripts of his unscripted public speaking."

The Lovenstein Institute of Scranton Pennsylvania think tank includes high caliber historians, psychiatrists, sociologists, scientists in human behavior, and psychologists. Among their ranks are Dr. Werner R. Lovenstein, world-renowned sociologist, and Professor Patricia F. Dilliams, a world-respected psychiatrist. This study was commissioned on February 13, 2001, and released on July 9, 2001, to subscribing member universities and organizations within the education community.

The Lovenstein Institute of Scranton Pennsylvania is a think tank employing high caliber historians, psychiatrists, sociologists, scientists in human behavior, and psychologists. Among their ranks are Dr. Werner R. Lovenstein, world-renowned sociologist, and Professor Patricia F. Dilliams, a world-respected psychiatrist.

Since 1973, the Lovenstein Institute has published its research to the education community on various topics including the famous Presidential IQ Report among others. Reports are distributed to subscribing member universities and organizations within the education community.

NOTE: Really Scary Thought.
This confirms what people in the rest of the world had already suspected and feared most - the most powerful nation on earth is lead by a stewpig fool!!!

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden."
"It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him."
-- George W. Bush 9-13-2001

"I don't know where he (bin Laden) is. I have no idea and I really don't care.
It's not that important. It's not our priority."
-- George W. Bush 3-13-2002

An Interview With GOD

I dreamed I had an interview with God.

“So you would like to interview me?” God asked.

“If you have the time” I said.

God smiled. “My time is eternity.”
“What questions do you have in mind for me?”

“What surprises you most about humankind?”

God answered...
“That they get bored with childhood,
they rush to grow up, and then
long to be children again.”

“That they lose their health to make money...
and then lose their money to restore their health.”

“That by thinking anxiously about the future,
they forget the present,
such that they live in neither
the present nor the future.”

"That they live as if they will never die,
and die as though they had never lived.”

God’s hand took mine
and we were silent for a while.

And then I asked...
“As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons
you want your children to learn?”

“To learn they cannot make anyone
love them. All they can do
is let themselves be loved.”

“To learn that it is not good
to compare themselves to others.”

“To learn to forgive
by practicing forgiveness.”

“To learn that it only takes a few seconds
to open profound wounds in those they love,
and it can take many years to heal them.”

“To learn that a rich person
is not one who has the most,
but is one who needs the least.”

“To learn that there are people
who love them dearly,
but simply have not yet learned
how to express or show their feelings.”

“To learn that two people can
look at the same thing
and see it differently.”

“To learn that it is not enough that they
forgive one another, but they must also forgive themselves.”

"Thank you for your time," I said humbly.

"Is there anything else
you would like your children to know?"

God smiled and said,
“Just know that I am here... always.”

-author unknown

40 Pythons Dumped into Drain in Ipoh

IPOH: Workers of a restaurant illegally offering python meat are believed to have released about 40 of the reptiles into a monsoon drain in Taman Bintang Fahlum.

Firemen managed to catch six live pythons and retrieve a dead one, but the remaining reptiles are believed to have escaped.

The discovery was made by school guard George Arokia, 41, who spotted a lorry stopping by the drain at 5pm. He saw two men throwing something into the drain.

Arokia thought they were fish since they "jumped about" and swam in the drain.

When the men left, he went to check and was shocked to see several pythons.

"There were many of them in the drain so I called the fire and rescue services."

Ipoh fire station officer Abdul Manap Hashim and his six-man team caught the six pythons within an hour.

"We believe this might be the work of an illegal restaurant selling meat of protected animals. The ones we caught were quite big, one about eight metres long which weighed nearly 40kg," he said.

The monsoon drain flows into Sungai Kepayang.

Abdul Manap advised residents to be careful and warned children not to venture near large drains.

"Call us immediately if you come across a python," he said.

Fat Cat

This has got to be the fattest cat in the world that I had ever seen! A fat cat in the Year of the Pig looking like a PIG! How appropriate or good grief!

Ginkgo Biloba

Ginkgo trees in Berlin - Germany

City Quartier, Neues Kranzler Eck, sidestreet of Kurfürstendamm

I got the following from Wikipedia on the Ginkgo Biloba prompted by a comment by Deb in the chat box. I think Edmund takes them on a regular basis and so does Edward so that he can remember to go to the gym on a regular basis. But I think he would need to up the dosage so that he can then also remember his committment to blog at least once a month!

In South Korea, Sungkyunkwan University's logo is a ginkgo leaf. Its main campus features several gingko trees that were planted in 1519 and still stand today.

The extract of the Ginkgo leaves contains flavonoid glycosides and terpenoids (ginkgolides, bilobalides) and has been used pharmaceutically. It has many alleged nootropic properties, and is mainly used as memory enhancer and anti-vertigo agent. However, studies differ about its efficacy.

Out of the many conflicting research results, there seem to be basically three effects of Ginkgo extract on the human body: it improves blood flow (including microcirculation in small capillaries) to most tissues and organs; it protects against oxidative cell damage from free radicals (antioxidant); and it blocks many of the effects of PAF (platelet aggregation, blood clotting) that have been related to the development of a number of cardiovascular, renal, respiratory and CNS (Central Nervous System) disorders. Ginkgo can be used for intermittent claudication.

A 2004 conference paper ^[6] summarizes how various trials indicate that Ginkgo shows promise in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, although further study is needed.

Ginkgo is commonly added to energy drinks, but the amount is typically so low it does not produce a noticeable effect, except perhaps via a placebo effect from Ginkgo being listed on the label.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

As it's the weekend or beginning of my weekend, I thought a song would be most appropriate. I'm sure some of you will remember this song,




and this one as well..



but maybe not the video...

Yoga - Kuching Style!

Being the true patriot that I am *ahem*; I shall not let foreigners upstage us nor let any such claims to go unchallenged!

So without much ado, I proudly present to you all - Yoga, Kuching Style! A much relaxed style that does not require years of discipline nor practice to master unlike some other yoga schools would have you believed! Just the will and motivation to do so only is required. ;o)

Spotted the morning after at Krokong in the Bau district where I take people kayaking on the weekends. Must have been quite a night before!

Yoga

Now that we are all getting to that age, we should all do some exercise, or so I've always been told. One of the exercises that a friend has been telling me to do is Yoga.

There are two basic types of Yoga.

One requires much practice, patience, and discipline.....

Yoga from India






And Then


THERE'S





IRISH YOGA