Chinese New Year

The chinese year of the Rabbit is supposed to be a good year of opportunities for everyone. And if you are familiar with chinese tradition and culture you will know that this is a time of special rememberance and celebration and here in Malaysia almost all that can make it will try their best to travel back to their respective hometowns and to celebrate the festive season with their families and friends.

Unfortunately,I was unable to go back to Singapore due to various reasons but it is still wonderful to be able to celebrate the chinese new year with my families and friends here in Sabah which has been my home now for more than 30 years !

The Sabahan tradition of celebration festive seasons with the concept of "Open Houses" means that during such ocassions like chinese new year, many families invite their friends and families to a grand party at their respective homes and this is creating wonderful fellowships and goodwill among the various ethnic groups and races in our country.

If you are a visitor to Sabah at this time you may be also able to witness many fireworks and lion dances performed by the various chinese associations. It s also a time for fun and partying for the young who look forward to receiving generous "Ang Pow" ( Cash Gifts in little red packets ) which are usually given to unmarried family members by their parents and elders.

Always a colorful and often noisy celebration, the chinese new year season marks a break from the routine and allows many to reflect on life and their nostalgic memories of the good old days..

Many chinese people in Sabah have intermarried with the local ethnic groups and so you will find a beautiful tapestry of inter racial and inter cultural people living in harmony here in Sabah.

Learn how to cook Chinese Vegetarian Cooking for fun and profit

The food you can enjoy during the chinese New Year season are also very special and usually has a blend of recipes from all the various chinese communities as well !

Satellite Direct Television

We always knew it would happen one day !

Well our old boat anchor of a TV set finally decided to rest and no matter how many times we sent it in for repairs at the local TV Repairs Shop, the unit just developed some kind of intermittent problems. So what do you do when that happens ?

We can do without Television of course but thats not so convenient these days . We don't watch much Television but its nice to have it for a number of reasons which are obvious in our urban setting. Anyway the question was what kind of TV types, brands, models and features are we going to have as the replacement unit ?

After a day of family brainstorming.. we finally decided on a 42 inch LG LCD type Television unit which is supposed to have it all for what we need ! And it is now sitting nicely where we had the old one which had been sitting there for years !

To make it even more interesting, we opted for the upgraded subscription from our local Satellite Channel Provider , ASTRO, and signed up for their High Definition HD Beyond package ! And wow that is an overall worthwhile upgrade as we can now watch several additional channels in High Definition format..

We have also since downloaded a very interesting Satellite Direct computer based program that offers a wide variety of global Channels which we can feed into the HDMI interface on the LG Monitor ! And what a show.. it makes one wonder how much technology has advanced these days..

The Satellite Direct Program is actually designed to offer TV viewing on your Laptop or personal computers so you can have access to global Television programming even when you are on the move. It offers some 3,500 channels ! But not all are active all the time . But for what it does it is a useful program to have on your laptop if you are monitoring global or local news and events.

LINK to Satellite Direct Program

Happy Valentine's Day

Its that time of year again.. And I wish you all Happy Valentine's Day. In spite of all the ongoing global challenges, the natural disasters and the human conflicts, it is wonderful to see that love is that enduring concept that will never grow old ! I spent a quiet day with my own best friend and hubby of so many years.. as all of our children are away overseas pursuing their studies.

The years have flown by so fast it seems just like yesterday when we all gathered together for a family dinner at valentines day. But such is life..

Growing old is one fact we cannot escape from but approaching retirement is an art it seems that we can all learn to manage. As you would expect, there are a thousand and one ideas that are being shared to help slow down the aging process. Some offer herbal alternatives while others come from scientific research.

Like everyone else out there, I have collected a lot of materials which I find very interesting. A friend suggested I look at studies done on Stem Cells . Apparently a lot of research has been done and there is an interesting ebook related to the Natural Stem Cell Nutrition Therapy. I think it contains a lot of good information related to understanding how we can manage the aging process and I would love to share this with anyone that is interested.

If you are interested, just click on the link below and I will be happy to send you a free copy of the ebook.

Natural Stem Cell Nutrition Therapy

I was looking for a beautiful Valentine song and came across the version by Olivia Newton-John and Jim Brickman below. They are truly a great pair.. so talented and natural. Again.. I hope you have a beautiful and happy Valentine's day !