Earth Day !!

Earth Day is approaching soon. Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. While this first Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations.

Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and is celebrated in more than 175 countries every year. Numerous communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues. In 2009, the United Nations designated April 22 International Mother Earth Day.

The Earth Day of 2011 is fall on this coming Friday, 22/4, and it is the same day as the Good Friday. Thus, it is believed that many schools, businesses and communities will be celebrating Earth Day all week long and into the weekend.

I wish the people could celebrate the Earth Day happily and please do not forget to love our Mother Earth.

Yoga to Steady the Heartbeat

There are many people are doing yoga nowadays. As we know that there are yoga classes available for women, man, kids and even dogs. I have read an article about yoga lately. It is stated that yoga helps to steady our heartbeat. Thus I would like to share this article with you.

According to a study released in the US, people who suffer from irregular heartbeat may see their episodes cut in half if they do yoga regularly. Doing yoga 3 times a week also reduced depress ion and anxiety while boosting people’s opinion of their own social and mental wellbeing, said the study, presented at a New Orleans cardiology conference.


“It appears yoga has a significant impact on helping to regulate patients’ heartbeat and improving their overall life quality,” said lead study author Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy, associate professor of medicine at University of Kansas Hospital.


The study followed 49 patients who suffer from atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat rhythm c9ndition that arises when the heart’s natural electrical signals fire off in a disorganised way, causing the heart to quiver.

For the first 3 months of the trial, patients were allowed to engage in their usual exercise routine. For the second 3 months, patients attended 3 yoga sessions per with with a certified instructor, and were encouraged to practice at home with an educational DVD.


All the patients in the study were new to yoga. Researchers measured the subjects’ episodes of irregular heartbeats using portable monitors and log books where the patients recorded their own symptoms.


The yoga intervention “significantly reduced” irregular heartbeat episodes by about half on average, compares to the control portion of the study when patients did their own exercises, said the study.


Depression and anxiety scores on self-reported surveys were also lower, and physical function, general health, vitality, social functioning and mental health were higher.


From the article, it shows that yoga helps us on heath. So, do you plan to start doing yoga?!

 
(Article adapted from the Sun paper dated 8/2/2011)

The Funny Video-clip – Dadada babies~~

I have watched a very funny video-clip on the YouTube lately. It is about the twin babies communicate in the words “dadada” only.  When I first watched this video-clip, I found it is very funny and I even showed it to my family and they all enjoying watching those 2 babies ‘talking’ and everyone was burst into laugh.

From the video-clip, 2 babies are “talking” to each other. One of the babies is only wearing a sock and the other baby is wearing a pair of socks in different colours. From their gestures, it seems that they are talking about the socks issue. I think it is very funny to see the babies communicating, especially they are only communicating with the word ‘dadada’ throughout their whole conversation. :D

I am wondering what is the actual matter that those babies are talking about. My interpretation of after watching the video-clip is that the baby who is wearing a pair of socks is  asking another baby that why is he only wearing a sock and where is the other sock, while baby answers as he does not need it and by wearing a sock is look “cool” and lifting his leg to show him. However, the baby with a pair of socks does not agree with him and thus shaking his hand. So they are then arguing or debating about the matter of wearing a sock is looking cool! Haha! So, this is my interpretation of the video clip.

Perhaps you could let me know your interpretation of the video clip of Dadada babies. You may click the here to watch this funny twin babies! I am looking forward for your interpretations! :P Enjoy watching!!! ^.^

It was a Long Waiting! :(

I went to the UMMC for my medical check-up in yesterday. Gosh, I had been waited for hours to meet the doctor. I reached the UMMC in the early morning, and then had my registration done at 8am. My appointment time was 9am. So I was sitting at the waiting area to wait for my turn. 9:10am, the doctors started to see the patients. But there were only about 3 doctors were on duty, which I saw there were many patients were waiting in the waiting area.

When I was waited patiently for my turn, I saw some of the patients who were holding the no. whom behind mine already saw the doctor and I was still sitting there to wait for my turn to see my appointed doctor. L One hour had passed, followed by another hour. Gosh, I was still waiting for my turn by 11am. I started to feel mad for it as my appointment time was 9am, and after waited for 3 hours (after the registration), it was not my turn yet. The reason given was that my appointed doctor has came in late.

By 11.15am, finally it was my turn. But my consultation was taken in less than 10 minutes after waited for 3 hours. The doctor just told me my results of my blood test and the ECHO test which I done in a week before my appointment time. Of course, the doctor did the routine work, listened to my heart-beating and told me I am okay. Then he told me to come back for another check-up after 6 months time. Luckily I managed to grab the time to ask him some questions pertaining my case and he also answered my questions. So I think this was what happening, waited for 3 hours and then only managed to talk and see the doctor for about 10 minutes time. When I came out from the consultation room, I saw there were still many patients there to wait for their turn.

Thus, I have a thought in my mind, when you visit the government hospital, you have to be a very patient person indeed! :P

Qing Ming Festival

Today is the QingMing Festival (清明节, pinyin: Qīngmíngjié). Tomb Sweeping Day and Clear Bright Festival are the most common English translations of Qingming Festival. Qingming has been regularly observed as a statutory public holiday in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and China, but not in Malaysia. Qing Ming, which means clear and bright in Chinese.

The Qingming Festival is an opportunity for celebrants to remember and honor their ancestors at grave sites. Young and old pray before the ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks, joss paper accessories, and/or libations to the ancestors. The Qingming Festival in Malaysia and Singapore normally starts early in the morning by paying respect to distant ancestors from China at home altars. This is followed by visiting the graves of close relatives in the country. Traditionally, the family will burn spirit money and paper replicas of material goods such as cars, homes and phones and paper servants. In Chinese culture, it is believed that people still need all of those things in the afterlife. After the ancestor worship at the grave site, the whole family or the whole clan feast on the food and drink they brought for the worship either at the site or in nearby gardens in the memorial park, signifying family reunion with the ancestors.

My family and I went to visit my father’s grave on last Sunday. We carried incense sticks, joss sticks and paper offerings like paper money and paper clothes and any other paper accessories, and flowers for the ceremony. We also brought some favourite food of my father for the worship ceremony. There were many other prayers went for their ancestors’ worship ceremony too. This made the memorial park was very crowded. Maybe those people were also having the same thought as us as to do the ceremony on the weekend was more convenient. I saw most of the people were carried many paper accessories for their ceremony. Sometimes I have the thinking of when those papers are burning, it would cause pollution and also I think it is a waste of money. As we need to use money to buy those stuff and then we would burn them. Eventually it means that people are burning money. For me, as it is just a ceremony, we just need to buy the necessary stuff in a reasonable quantity, thus, it would not cost so much. Of course, this is just my own comment as some people might not agree with me. Anyway, every family has their own perception.

Anyway, it took my family and I about 2 hours for the ceremony. After finished the worshipping, we headed home. So, we would do it again in the next year.

Ectopia Cordis

There is a news regarding a newborn baby with ectopia cordis lately. This baby boy is only a week-old now. I have checked on the info about ectopia cordis. It is an extremely rare congenital heart malformation that remains very difficult to treat. Occurrence is 0.79 in every 10,000 births. In ectopia cordis, the heart forms outside of the chest wall, so it is not protected by the skin or sternum. Other organs may also have formed outside the skin.

To further complicate this difficult presentation, the heart itself is generally improperly formed. It may have defects like Tetralogy of Fallot, pulmonary atresia, atrial and ventricular septal defects, or double outlet right ventricle, among others. Along with heart malformations, children with ectopia cordis may also have cleft palates. The spine can also be formed improperly, causing kyphosis, too great of a C curvature in the thoracic spine. For this baby, he is suffering of Tetralogy of Fallot.

When I read this news, I feel pity for the baby. This is due to he is just a very small and young baby arrives in this world, and he already suffered so much. When I read the news in the following days, there is picture of this baby, I see he is a very adorable baby. In the picture, the baby was looked like he is smiling and his eyes are opening. Although he is in the oxygen box with the tube in his nose, he looks good, only with the heart located outside. Well, according to the news, the doctors will undergo a procedure whereby artificial skin from the United States for the baby. The news also reporting that the baby is gaining weigh and has the fighting spirit. I think this is a good sign for the baby as I am truly wish that he would live long and stays healthy and would have an enjoyable life.

Thus, I would like to give my support to this baby and also to his family. May God bless you all! Ganbattei and Fighting hard, to my dear little fighter!!!  

April Fools’ Day! 

Hello there! Today is April, 1. So, it is the April Fools’ Day! April Fools' Day is celebrated all around the world on the April 1 of every year. It is sometimes also referred to as All Fools' Day. April 1 is not a national holiday, but is 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 humored or funny jokes, hoaxes, and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, teachers, neighbors, work associates, etc.

Traditionally, in some countries such as New Zealand, Ireland, the UK, Australia, and South Africa, the jokes only last until noon, and someone who plays a trick after noon is called an "April Fool". Elsewhere, such as in France, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Russia, The Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Canada, and the U.S., the jokes last all day. The earliest recorded association between April 1 and foolishness can be found in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1392). Many writers suggest that the restoration of the January 1 as New Year's Day in the 16th century was responsible for the creation of the holiday, but this theory does not explain earlier references.

Sometimes I think jokes can help to reduce our stress or tension, and also make people happy. However, if the joke was too over, it may “harm” to people. Eg. Many records show that the Emergency Units of the Police or Firemen of the countries would receive many prank calls on this date, as the people just play a fool around. I think this is so “childish” for those people who make such calls.

Thus, I would like to advice people that make sure you do not be too over for the practical jokes to others, otherwise it would lead to bad outcome. Anyway, I would like to wish all the people out there Happy April Fools’ Day!!! J