Neh, owh, heh, eair, eh...

One bundle of joy in my life is Luth, a handsome face with the sweetest smile, big bright eyes that explore your soul, a beautiful mind with a great deal of intelligence in his grey matters and the excited noises he makes when I play with him. Yes, it was love at first sight indeed, with this new man in my life :)

Hehehe...he is Luth, my cute little nephew, who is named after a prophet.

But the only thing that frustrates me is that I don't understand a thing of what he is saying...for some months, all he said was neh, owh, heh, eair, eh...



So you can imagine my excitement when I come across an amazing story on Oprah.com, about a gifted woman who teaches us how to listen to the secret language of babies.

Now I can try to communicate with Luth and look a tad bit more intelligent to my little precious one. He looks a little perplexed at my attempt to talk to him. Hehehe he must think his aunt is nuts making those funny faces at him :)

Listen to the secret language of babies!

For millions of sleep-deprived mothers around the world, this woman's findings could be a miracle! Priscilla Dunstan, a mom from Australia with a special gift, says she's unlocked the secret language of babies.


After testing her baby language theory on more than 1,000 infants around the world, Priscilla says there are five words that all babies 0–3 months old say—regardless of race and culture:

Neh="I'm hungry"
Owh="I'm sleepy"
Heh="I'm experiencing discomfort"
Eair="I have lower gas"
Eh="I need to burp"

To read the full article, click here.

Copyright © Random Rarebits 2. All rights reserved.

The ultimate sex diet?

I read in Oprah.com about Kristie Alley's phenomenal weight loss. She claims that having great sex makes her shed off the fat and keeps her in good shape. I mean like, wow! Hehe it's no wonder she calls it her "ultimate sex diet".

After many months of sweat and tears (ah-ha! I'm pretty sure), Kirstie Alley is ready to take the stage in a sexy swimsuit on the Oprah Winfrey Show for the whole world to see!



Although Fly.fm guys were making fun of her still looking fat in those bikini, especially those enormous thighs, I think she looks good. Relatively good. A little too voluptious still, but georgeous nevertheless.

Hmmm but there's no way I'm gonna be able to use Kristie's secret weight loss weapon without breaking my vow of celibacy. I'm not breaking my promise to myself to remain celibate until I remarry. Not getting married anytime soon. Arrrgghhh!

But I guess I am on a "sex diet" of sort too. It's not called the "ultimate sex diet" though. It's called "the ultimately NO SEX diet" muahaha...gotcha!

Haha and you won't see me parading in a bikini either :)



Copyright © Random Rarebits 2. All rights reserved.

Go away, cholestrol!

I was reading beliefnet.com about aging and high cholestrol level today. The article says the best "treatment" to reducing our cholestrol level is to change our lifestyle to a healthier one. I surely don't want to end up like this lady in the picture...



In my last quarterly cholestrol test at the hospital, I think mine was 6.0, it busted the optimum healthy level of 5.4. That was scary, I thought only old people, or really obese people have high cholestrol. But it was better than early this year where it reached 8.0 and the specialist doctor put me on Victoryn, a cholestrol reducing medication. It must have worked because my cholestrol level improved to a more manageable level. But I still have a lot of work to do before I can be very fit and healthy, back to the fitness level of my mountain climbing and extreme sports days.

Anyways...

I thought of sharing with you these tips I read, on changing our lifestyle to reduce our chance of having high cholesterol. Gaya hidup sihat, seperti yang disarankan oleh Kerajaan Malaysia. I need these, hehe :)

Lifestyle Changes

* Maintain a healthy weight
* If you are overweight, lose weight (mua?)
* Limit the amount of fat and cholesterol you eat (no lamb chops?)
* Eat a healthful diet (*)
* Eat a diet high in fiber (rabbit food....)
* Begin a safe exercise program recommended by your doctor
* Increase physical activity in your daily life, as recommended by your doctor
* Exercise regularly (darn!)
* Don't smoke. If you smoke, quit (fortunately, I'm an environmentalist)
* Limit the amount of alcohol you drink (**) (fortunately, I'm a teetotaler)


(*) one that is low in saturated fat and rich in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

(**) Moderate alcohol intake is no more than 2 drinks per day for men and 1 drink per day for women.

Resources & References

American Heart Association

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Primary Care Medicine, 4th ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2000

At this age...

One author and poet in her wishful thinking wrote, "Age is all imagination. Ignore the years and they'll ignore you."

How nice eh! I would very much like to subscribe to the wishful thinking. But you know what, inside every older person there must be a younger person wondering, "what happened?" I don't know about you but I think life passes very quickly and before I know it, I am 36. Soon I will be 40 before I even realise it!

What have I been doing with my life...

I'm thinking, let's us just ponder for a few minutes on what life is all about, why we are living, and what we really want in life. Other than what we're doing now, is there anything else you wish you were doing at this age?

Defer, defy, deny, detest...

Marilyn Monroe was afraid of getting old, so she committed suicide so that people would never see her getting old.



I know a lot of women are afraid of getting old. They defer, defy and deny age. Sometimes, I do too. Nonetheless, personally, I have never come across someone (outside Hollywood, Bollywood, celebrities and showbiz circles) who not only defer, defy and deny age, but is also terribly defiant about age that she will detest God's fitrah as this one friend of mine, Virtual Reality.

Virtual Reality is like a 5 year old trapped in the body of a 45+ year old. Like some, if not most, of our mutuals friends described her, "mengada-ngada dan tak sedar diri". Well, that didn't come from me. Thus, I rest my case. I've always been very civil and politically correct of my description of Virtual Reality.

But even then, sometimes I feel that Virtual Reality shouldn't have been acting the way she does, it's very unbecoming for her age. Not a pretty sight and sometimes Virtual Reality embarrased me, big time. Especially with her hysterical hyena like laugh where she snorts at the end. I tried to share her joy but that sound disturbs me all the time. To be kind to us both, I would never introduce Virtual Reality into any of my politically correct and polite society circles. I don't think Virtual Reality would be comfortable to be in such circles or would want to be there either. Most part of Virtual Reality's world is the chatroom if not at work, and friends from work, and the chatroom. That's where I met Virtual Reality.

As my best friend Belle of the Party always teased me from ever since I can remember, I just have to be politically correct all the time. Especially in describing people I tend to be nicer. Hehe I can't help it...

Anyways, Virtual Reality is at an age that is not old, but not young either. But if she were to call my mom "makcik", that is a bit melampau, because my mom is just a tad bit more than ten years older than Virtual Reality. She probably called my mom "makcik" because I was her friend. But then again, to be politically correct, we cannot be too linear in our thinking as the world itself is not linear. For example, even some of my mom's friends who my age or younger, would call my mom "kakak" and not "makcik".

My mom voiced out to me she's not happy being called "makcik" by someone who's not much younger than her. I tried to tell Virtual Reality but she got the wrong message. She thinks I'm telling her she's old. I don't mean it that way. But as she was adamant I just let her stick to her belief and agree with her that she is old.

No point changing Virtual Reality's belief. Waste of my time, really. Perhaps, sometimes you have to cruel to be kind, especially when she in turn described my mom as "ego, tak terima hakikat, tak sedar diri dah tua". I feel like Virtual Reality is actually describing her very self when she said those very words...

I will not try to be politically correct, this time. Dear God, give me courage to change the things that I can, give me patience to tolerate the things I cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amin!

I do understand my mom's feelings when Virtual Reality calls her "makcik". Virtual Reality is just ten years older than I am. What if I were to call Virtual Reality "makcik" too? Hehe...

I guess, that's where our social system and upbringing went wrong. We didn't teach our kids to not call women who is less than 25-30 years older than them "makcik" or "auntie". What is wrong with calling them "kakak"? Wait till you get into their shoes and see how you feel being untimely called "makcik" or "auntie".

Sometimes those people at McDonald's and KFC who hired school leavers have this habit of calling customers like me "makcik" or "auntie". Even "kakak" doesn't sound THAT bad. Like, "kak boleh saya ambil pesanan?" What is wrong with calling customers "cik", "puan" or even "maam" or "miss"? Sounds more professional.

You don't have to be a fine dining restaurant to extend your courtesy to customers.

"Boleh saya ambil pesanan cik?"

"Can I take your order, miss?"

"What would you like to order, maam?"

I turned 36 yesterday. Alhamdulillah I welcome age with the same pleasure that equals to an achievement. I believe that every year that I live a relatively healthy, happy and wealthy life is a great blessing from Allah.

Yeah, I'm 36 now, and I do have one or two fine lines at the corner of my eyes, and mouth. Crow's feet and laugh lines, that's what they call it, I think. I cannot say it doesn't bother at all, but it doesn't bother me too much. Not enough for me not to have a good night's sleep.

Copyright © Random Rarebits 2. All rights reserved.

Birthday Resolutions

I turn 36 today. I should have a birthday resolution, instead of a new year resolution. It would be more meaningful because today is my day.




My favorite playwright, Oscar Wilde wrote: "Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account."

Nonetheless, it's good to have some resolutions in life to check if your mind is still working and whether hope is still alive in our hearts.

Perhaps I shall heed this inspirational piece of advice from writer and academician William Purkey:

Dance like no one is watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like no one is listening,
Live like it's heaven on earth.

To sum of it all is: live my life to the fullest, give without expecting anything in return, appreciate life as God's greatest gift, do your best in everything and make the best out of whatever you have in life. Sounds like a good resolution.

An issue of mind over matter

They say, age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter, as Mark Twain claimed. I will turn 36 on Monday. Yeah, yeah I'm a makcik already! Proof? The other day, a senior high school kid called me makcik!


I guess aging is inevitable. Errr, save for some people who manage to look younger as they age. Hehe what's your secret eh, Khir Toyo?

Thank God, having turned the BIG 3-0, turning 36 is not as scary. But I admit tho, it's scary to see my first fine line under my eyes this morning. Yeah, yeah, they say growing old is mandatory while growing up is optional. Hehe being young and foolish is forgiveable. Being an old fool is not!

It is mind over matter indeed, as I cannot help myself getting old, but I can help myself from being foolish :)


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