Saturday, 2 April 2011
Friday, 1 April 2011
TODAY IS APRIL FOOL'S DAY
My husband is very concerned about both his cars and always takes good care of them in every way and parks his cars in the usual place in the car park of our apartment building. He had to go out in the morning and when he returned, I told him some neighbour came and said my husband should immediately remove his other parked car from the usual spot and park it elsewhere from now on. He was quite shocked and asked me why and all sorts of questions ! (to which I didn't have any answers, except 'I don't know') Finally he said, I don't understand, why does the neighbour want me to remove my car from my parking place? So I replied, maybe be because its 'April Fool's Day!!!!!!!' LOL, we had such a good laugh!
April Fools' Day is celebrated all around the world on April 1st of every year. It's widely recognized and celebrated as a day where everyone plays all kinds of jokes and foolishness. The day is marked by the commission of good humoured or funny jokes, hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family member, neighbours and close work colleagues. The earliest recorded association between April 1 and foolishness can be found in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1392).
Did anyone play a prank on you today? Or are you planning to fool someone? April Fool's day jokes and pranks are carried out for fun, done with affection and never intended to hurt anyone. I am planning to fool my cousin who is right now busy shopping in 360 Mall. I am going to give her a call with some 'News'. LOL
Thursday, 31 March 2011
WALKING - ENJOY YOUR WAY TO GOOD HEALTH
One of the things I decided to do when I go for my walk in the Park, is not to ‘think’ about anything important or worry about anything, what I have to do today or tomorrow or couple of months from now. Not to worry how soon will the one hour at the Park will get over (which I used to do earlier). It’s important to give the mind some rest and what better way, to silence the mind, when we are exercising and just enjoy every moment of exercising. The mind is ever flowing with a zillion thoughts the rest of the day anyway, right?. LOL
I observe people around me, activities going on around me, the birds, the cats, even the nice exercise outfits people wear. It’s so nice to see the children playing, so carefree, lost in their own world of play. It’s encouraging when I see people much older than me in their sixties, walking with such dedication everyday! It boosts my motivation to exercise. Children are seen playing badminton, volleyball or football, roller skating or just running around. Some people who come to walk, wear perfume. I don’t know why really. You can imagine what happens, when a person is walking fast, sweating and the sweat infuses with the perfume, giving a not so nice odor. But we can’t stop someone and tell him or her about it. That’s down right rude. LOL.
When I began to pay attention, I was able to feel one with nature, the bright sun shining on me as I walk, the different green trees, the date palms, the bright bouganvillas, the dried up leaves on the ground fallen from the trees, the green bushes, the green grass in some areas, the desert sand in rest of the places, the continuous chirping of the birds in the trees, the little sparrows gathered in groups of 4 or 5, looking for food on the ground and when you reach close to them, they fly away to the nearest tree. The sleeping cats who are not bothered by the people passing by except if someone troubles them. Other cats roaming around slowy, not in hurry at all, perhaps its their weight… from the left over food, people leave behind in the Park. Or they don’t have to worry like us humans about rushing through time.
I saw this beautiful bird which is the size of a sparrow with a bright yellow underbelly and it has a sweet voice. I also saw two small kittens in the Park for two days and some kids playing with them with great excitement. Then I didn’t see them yesterday. I wondered what happened to them. The watchman didn’t seem to know either. My husband told me, I should have called the Animal Shelter the day I saw them. I just figured, the kittens’ mother would be somewhere around so there is nothing to worry. I hope they are fine and the mother cat has hidden them away, as mother cats normally do.
Do you go for walks? You can choose the paved walking area at the Water front by the sea or any nearby Park or even the Avenues Mall as its so huge. Enjoy your walk, observe everything around you, listen to nature and be surprised! Walk your way to health
OKRA DISH MARAQ BAMIA
I got the recipe for 'Maraq Bamia' from Danderma's website and prepared it for lunch today. The recipe is vegetarian and it is made with okra and potatoes. Since I love carrots, I added half a carrot as well. It's easy to prepare and doesnot take much time. You can have it with rice or Khobuz (Pita Bread). The aroma is lovely and it tastes just wonderful. For preparing this delicious dish, visit Danderma's blog here . Danderma's blog is full of interesting things that would find you visiting it everyday!
Thankyou Danderma for sharing this wonderful dish through your blog.
SHADOWS
How intriguing and interesting shadows can appear naturally or made to be through the creativity of an Artist
DATES FOR YOUR HEALTH
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| Variety of dates at Rumeithiya Cooperative Society (Rumeithiya Jamaiya) |
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| A variety of dates at Rumeithya Co-op (Rumeithya Jamaiya) |
Dates are not only delicious to eat but they are full of essential vitamins like Vitamin C and minerals like iron, niacin, copper and magnesium. Dates promote healthy growth of hair and improves the immune system. In Kuwait, so many varieties of dates are available in all the supermarkets and cooperative societies (Jamaiya). They are low in saturated fat and sodium, high in dietary fibre and no cholesterol. Do bear in mind they are high in calories due to its natural sugar content so when you have dates, be sure to eat in moderation. Do you know dates can uplift one’s moods!
Five dates would roughly equal to 120 calories.
Calorie content per 100g/3.5oz would be 282 calories
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| What a beautiful sight of the date fruits hanging from the tree! |
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| Date farming |
A bit of history…Its believed to be originated in the deserts of Africa and Middle East . Date fruit is thought to be one of the first fruits to be cultivated and grown by man that dates back to the stone ages, as evident in the discovery of remnants of dates found in archaeological excavations.
If they are immersed in the sticky date syrup and coated with sesame seeds, or the naturally highly sweet variety like the Sukari dates, the calories would be much higher. I love these two varieties of dates and I can only have 2 or 3 in day along with 4 cashew nuts or almonds. The combination of dates and cashew nuts is heavenly. Those trying to lose weight, please don’t have too many.
COURAGE
Do we have the courage to make things right when we have said, promised or repeated the wrong thing?
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
FRANCOPHONIE 'TRIO TITI ROBIN' CONCERT IN KUWAIT REVIEW
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| Titi Robin on the guitar |
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| Titi Robin, Francis Varis and Ze Luis Nascimento |
Titi Robin’s music was tantalizing with with an amazing dose of vigour. The audience were quite mesmerized with his music which was a indeed a soulful experience. When the concert ended, people just wanted to hear more. Titi Robin is indeed a gifted and extremely talented musician. I am glad my husband and I could attend it. Unfortunately I forgot my cellphone at home and couldn’t take any pictures of the event. However, here is a clip of one of Titi’s previous concert to give you a taste of his music. Do try to listen to his beautiful music from his various concerts and albums which would be available on ‘you tube’ website.
A big thanks to the French Embassy for arranging such a beautiful concert!
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
ISSEY MIYAKE PERFUMES
The other day, at the 360 Mall, I came across this faboulous floral perfume by Issey Miyake that was being promoted. It so very floral, perfect for the summer. The fragrance lingered on my skin for over 12 hours! The new edition was released in March 2011.
SOLIEL DE NEROLI - A SCENT BY ISSEY MIYAKE. The notes include Neroli, Taire, Gardenia, Jasmine, Hyacinth and Musk.
This is Issey Miyake L'Eau d' Issey Florale, Eau de Toilette, the latest edition released in February 2011. The notes include rose, yellow ginger lily, luminous orange blossom accents, and the depth of white woods. The fragrance is very pleasant and smells really nice. Try it out!
Miyake the famous Japanese fashion designer, was born 22 April 1938 in Hiroshima, Japan. As a seven year-old, he witnessed and survived the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. He studied graphic design at the Tama Art University in Tokyo, graduating in 1964. After graduation, he worked in Paris and New York City. Returning to Tokyo in 1970, he founded the Miyake Design Studio. He is known for his technology-driven clothing designs, exhibitions, fragrances watches.
WEIGHT LOSS PROGRESS 29 MARCH 2011
The last time I weighed was on 21st March and I was 71 kg. Today when I weighed after 8 days, the scale showed 70.5 kg.
25.02.2011 - 76 kg
04.03.2011 - 74 kg
12.03.2011 – 72 kg
21.03.2011 – 71 kg
29.03.2011 – 70.5 kg
Total Loss : 5.5 kg in 33 days
Weight loss for the week : 0.5 kg.
In a month’s time of dieting, our body gets used to the low calorie food and adjusts itself to run on the the lesser number of calories. This is when it’s become really important to exercise, to burn off calories that is existing as fat in our body. An hour of brisk walking, walking and running, aerobics, swimming, anything you desire, so long as you use up the energy from stored fat. Stretch exercise or Spot exercise done for specific areas only tone your body and will not burn calories. Stretch exercises or spot exercises are important too, which you can do anytime of the day.
EXERCISE – WHEN YOU HAVE TO MISS IT
There are certain days, when you might have to miss your exercise, say if you are going out. In the beginning when that happens, you might end up feeling rather bad that you have to miss it. Later, when you have to miss your exercise repeatedly, one tends to feel lazy, supported by various excuses and give up on exercise. If you are exercising 5 days a week, and you miss one or more days, you are burning less calories for that week. It happened to me last week. I went for my walk twice last week and did my morning stretch exercise 4 times last week. That’s wasn’t much exercise from my end to support my diet. Being an outdoor person, I love going out and I have decided to exercise early, the day I would go out.
Well, you could chart out an alternative. If you happen to go out during a week day, you could exercise during the weekend to compensate. If you need to go out several times in a week and it clashes with your exercise timing, you could reschedule your exercise. You could exercise early in the morning or exercise sometime before you go out. For the strong willed, you can exercise after you return from out. I had an uncle who was such a busy man. Once I rang him at 10.30pm and he was out walking and I asked my aunt, why does he walk so late. She told me, he was too busy until 10pm, so it’s only after that, he gets time to exercise! It’s just an example to cite if you really want to do something, you would somehow fit it in your tight schedule. Try to think of ways you could fit in the exercise somehow. If it’s totally impossible, then you could exercise whichever days you can and be more diligent the week after.
Like how you take a bath, or brush your teeth or have 3 meals a day or reach office on time, make sure your body gets exercise too. Feeling lazy is no excuse to miss your exercise. Say ‘No’ to any negative feeling that make you want to postpone your exercise for no important reason. You should not however, exercise if you are sick for a few days.
Observe people around you who are strong willed and determined, they are so persistent and never give up in whatever it is they do, no matter how much effort or time it takes them. Can’t we imbibe some enthusiasm and similar mindset to achieve our goal? I am totally interested. How about you?