Burn Them

Hi all

I am now on a crusade. Any available time I have it will be spent on efforts to accomplish that mission. It is hard I know and I must not give up when things don't seem to move. I keep reminding myself never to get discouraged if I falter along the way.

Am quite happy with the efforts I made so far because there are signs of success though I know real success will only come with patience honesty and good thinking.

Patience means I must wait and understand that to undo a  certain thing that has been there for years is not as easy as clicking the undo button on the computer.

Honesty? I must not cheat though sometimes we humans may succumb to temptation. Must have a strong heart by which I mean strong will power.

Good thinking?  With access to all sorts of information and facts, right or wrong, and differing opinions we need to filter them. We need to use a lot of common sense . Caution should be exercised so that we are not misled.

Yes angina-like symptoms and a pounding heart beat is a very frightening experience . All this while you think it only happens to other people.  Accept the fact that there is strain and stress and wear and tear to the "machine" that has been working for so many years even though you thought you nourish and take good care of it. Though the pounding doesn't come too often it is just common sense that I need to do something to address the problem.

So you see one important step that need to be taken seriously is to reduce the extra burden the body is carrying. The fats that has been piling on over the years I think has become too stubborn and too sticky and that has played havoc to the organs, clogging vessels and hampering cellular functions inside there contributing to the unhealthy condition which causes the pounding heart. Pounding, not just flutter, mind you. Many things are not right as the lab test shows. True, the culprit is the fats. Burn them those fats!!

The limited hours of tennis and swimming and dancing exercise that I put in is not enough to melt down the fats and shrink the fat cells. I have to add more hours for physical activities. That was why I stated earlier that at any time free I would use it to put more efforts to get these fats burnt. Meaning that the time when it is so nice to curl on the sofa and laze around will instead be activated by whatever physical which will raise the metabolism.

Lets go exercise!!

It is good to have a fit ball at home. You can sit wobbling on it while reading blogs. You can roll on it if you have flexible body. Me, an old woman, the body is supple no more so I will just bounce it basketball style. Keep bouncing it until you sweat. The action would become smooth and voluntary after some time which then enable you to dream away to kill the boredom of the repeated action.

If I listen to the music I won't just be lying or sitting and listening. It is good to tap your feet, remember those who have restless foot syndrome are mostly pencil thin. That's what I notice anyway. It has got something to do with their restless feet, I believe.

If nobody is watching get up and move your body . Enjoy. Shake and sway to the rhythm of the music. Or pretend you are a prima donna performing on stage to a song such as the one below, be as expressive as the the vocal and s-t-r-e-t-c-h . . .  tai chi style, to the high and low of the melody  hehehe.

If somebody happens to notice your weird way ignore them , they just don't understand your desperation.

But don't overdo lest your heart will start pounding. The idea is to move moderately, at times intensely, so that the calories would keep burning.

Well these extra moves and plus some housework help burn calories. 

I am thinking of getting a hula hoop, just to add variety, but I wonder whether I still can twirl that hula hoop around my body. . . hah hah hah . . .

The second part of my crusade is dieting. By the way  I call it crusade because to lose weight requires really, really great efforts. It is a struggle. You have to put heart and soul into it otherwise it will be a failure, a frustration. Have you ever seen the weight loss program on the TV? Well I am having one, my own hehehe.

I was advised to eat like a goat. A big percentage should be greens and raw is better.  Cut down carbohydrate.  No fried food. No cakes and cookies. No kerepek.  With so many restrictions can you tahan? I have to. No cheating. Just think, a few pieces of kerepek pisang gone into your body has calories that requires so much efforts to burn them. It is better not to consume. Curb the urge to binge. Munch on fruits.

Bulbul enjoying mulberry fruits

Sometimes friends too have lots of tips. Many share their experience, their own or their mother's or their father's. Some very highly opinionated.  Some are conflicting just like what I read somewhere someone said milk is for the babies and cow milk is for the cows. All along I thought milk is good for adults too and non cows . . . sigh . . .

The evidence that my effort is paying off is in what can be seen and what can be measured and most important of all what the latest lab test indicates. So far the results are encouraging. The triglycerides is down a good percentage meaning some fats did melt off, rid off. The best thing is I feel light and feeling better health wise .

Hey now I am thinking whether the good thing that happens is due to my exercise and diet efforts or is it due to the supplements I am taking. Which is supporting which.  It is all about economy. Exercise is free. The supplements and the tests and the consultations with the nutritionist at the wellness clinic don't come cheap. But then when you get alarmed over your health status to whom do you go if not to the professionals.

 Lo . . . I have written quite a long entry hope you find it interesting. . . just like to share my experience with you dear readers.

Now sweat it out with these music . . .

                                                                             

Phew . . .

Restraint And Relief

Hi

Now back to my old laptop after few days of being extra busy.

This laptop its battery is dying. I have not replaced it. So it is permenantly plugged on to an outlet. Am using it like a desktop.That means I am stuck at this corner. Not too bad 'coz I am facing the window.

Also when I turned it on sometimes Windows refuses to boot. I got freak out at the black screen and later by the error messages that came up. I am no computer savvy so you can imagine me clicking nervously to find ways to make the whole thing work again for me.

Somehow it works.

And so now I am happily typing.

For the last three weeks or so I had an elderly person staying with me. You must know one old person taking charge of a much older person is quite challenging. More so when feelings in your heart and words on your mind could not be spoken out. You cannot just speak like talking back to your tennis partner when your are being wronged for losing a point.

I needed to be patient and compromising because I am the younger one (he he he) if not I would be considered disrespectful. Many times your trying to assist her to do certain task was misunderstood for being too dominating and you would see her kind of merajuk. My reaction? Laugh it off and not be weary about it.

An old person in a quiet way can be very demanding. They command you without being loud. You must know her likes and dislikes and you must do things accordingly. They wouldn't listen to you they won't want to change their ways. In your impatient heart you mumble . . . stubborn . . . oh excuse me I am just a human being . . .

So you have to be patient.You have to give way. A lot of bersabar.

You cannot complain because when you become old like them you will behave the same way.

Its forgivable to be cranky when we are old. So is the crankiness of my old laptop.

For many days I stopped  my hobby activities. Of course nobody stops me from going out but I just couldn't. My responsibilities, and worries would be on my mind. So it was better for me to stay home and be a good companion to the person under my care and in between do things like reading blogs or read back on my previous blog posts.

Pictures found in my past blog posts . . .

This pic posted in Birds like and dislikes

Pic posted in Don't want to be a stereotype

Posted in " Back To Normal"

Found in "Something Unusual Something Rare"

This is from "Mulberry Tree For Birds To Stop By"

This picture was taken through the car windscreen posted in much earlier entry

The Brahminy Kite 

The last picture is of the bird that first kindle my interest in bird watching.

There are more bird pictures have a look at my previous posts. The pictures some are ok some are not. Birds, they don't wait for you. "Catch" them in whatever situation and in whatever pose as they don't listen to instructions.

Happy reading . . .

Bye . . .

The Weather The Man And The Birds

Hello everyone nice to meet again

Lets start our conversation, talk about the weather.

Yes the weather, it is changing now, so?

Its back to hot.

The rain is less frequent except for a brief shower early this morning. The ground was still wet. The floor too slippery for me to exercise .  But then washing and scrubing is good exercise too.

I decided to wash the floor under the porch and the surrounding, it was still wet anyway. This floor get washed and swept only when it rains. I did not have to mop. Sat back and relaxed now that the sun was becoming stronger. It would dry the floor in no time.

By afternoon the heat was intense. Not a breath of wind and it was quiet. Not even a bird sound. Everybody including the birds must have gone indoor.  All could not stand the heat . . .(?)

You don't feel like doing anything. When you move you will be sweating profusely like in a suana. Not viable to do anything when your body is steaming.

So keep still cool yourself.

You would prefer to sit quietly under the fan which was spinning madly. It would do its job alright . . lull me, soothe me.

On a hot and humid afternoon like this what is best to do.

A siesta ! In an air conditioned room.

I wonder how in the past we, me and my teammates could be hitting tennis balls in the court under the blazing sun like this. You could feel the heat from up. And from below it was coming up in waves as the surface got heated and as you run and jump and slapping the balls. The perspiration got you soaked. Sweat would flow down your spine to your ah . .a. . a. . . how else can I say, the heat was terrible.

Were we mad? No. May be a little . . .

It was a training for the ministry tournament. Something big and important. So we trained for a number of days. We could have chosen the earlier hours but the men were not concerned. The men liked to linger. On the way to the training venue we had to stop for them to have breakfast. After breakfast they had cigarretes which took some more time to burn.

Yet they said take five . . .

The delay caused us to start late. In hot weather by about nine o'clock our sun would be mercilessly grinning already.

Usually the women have little say. The man always hold the key.

Now looking back I think we lack discipline.

That was why we lost more than we won. Hmm.

Playing tennis under the blazing sun is comparable to working in the padi field during harvest. I have experience in both so I qualify to say.

One is you do out of passion. To some people it is tak ada kerja cari kerja. Foolish they say.

The other is people do it because of survival.

Ah . . . whatever . . .

What did I get for that much effort under the scorching sun?

Money glory promotion ? None. I didn't mind. May be pride. Just a little, a boost to my self esteem when I won my game or when I did not lose badly . . .heheh.

The sunburn ? My brown face became more brown for sure. It took quite a long time to fade. Some part of the face became hyper pigmented before its time.Of course I was self conscious since friends keep commenting on my blemished skin.

That's what I got.

Blemished skin is one thing but all should be aware of the danger of the harmful ultra violet so say the doctor, avoid the sun.

Women, young and old are so concerned of wanting nice undamaged skin. So do my tennis gang ladies. We would go early to fight for the shaded court. Early means 5.30 pm - about. When they arrive late they would rather wait and forgo their turn to play to avoid playing in the other courts which are not shaded.

Just to tell you the shade is not a roof over the court. It is just an old big tree, ha ha.

The old big tree

In this kind of weather we wish for the rain. Just few weeks back we wished for sunshine.

We humans are so demanding.

Some are so uncaring. On this hot day some are burning and poluting the air.

Some are unconcerned cutting and clearing the trees and vegetation where birds can find protection from rain and heat.

Here the picture the of birds gathering. They were not singing. I believe they went  berserk over something.

Someone has started to clear the area

They come to gather

Perhaps to inspect and to assess the damage

They must be discussing what to do next(?)

"Have you any other suggestions . . ."

Watch them. We can be more understanding and insightful.

Stay cool . . .

Bye . . .
.

Friends

Hi all

Friends are precious. They can be a source of inspiration or they may just be someone who can bring cheer to your day. Or someone we can rely on at trying times. Or someone who can make us feel needed a feeling which is just natural to most.

You have family members to keep you company but friends are in a different kind of relationship with you. Sometimes you can't say all to family members but to a friend you are able to. You can joke with friends and be so hilarious but with family members we need to act appropriately.

Now I have very few friends. We are not really close in the sense that we don't really know each other through and through. We don't meet frequently. We only show up at weddings and kenduri or other social fuctions. There we would group up and talk of nothing serious and tell jokes and making fun while there is time. How I miss the time when you can go stay overnight with friends and talk till the wee hours.

Of course  I also have my small group of tennis friends but we seldom go beyond the the club. Not like before when we used to go out for friendly match and tournaments. Though some are still as active as before most of us now are too preoccupied with our own family life.

I wonder where have all my friends gone. My childhood friends and my old neighbourhood friends. My classmates school mates collegues and all. Fate has scattered us throughout the country. Some have even migrated many years ago.

We have not been in contact once we move on and drifted different ways. Only once in a while you hear about one either it is of good or bad or sad news.

Flowers they don't forever remain attached to the stalk when its time, they fall.

Drawn flowers remain there forever unless you delete it.

Among all the friends as far as I know no one has really made it big. I mean becoming successful or famous and things like that. Neither do I know any becoming notorious thank God.

So we are just ordinary good people I assume.

Surely at this point in time all should have already retired and resigned to quiet life. If all of us were again to gather would there be the noisy chatters of the yesteryears. Someone should initiate a reunion of some kind.

Once my primary and secondary school friend managed to track me. We parted years and years ago. But the memory of our carefree days and adventures like hiking up the Maxwell Hill still fresh in my mind. I was so excited when she called.

We made appointments. Met a few times. There were lots of stories to tell. She, not me because I don't have much stories ha ha. She has a lot of experience working in foreign land. Such a brave person living there all alone in such a patriarchal society. And now when back here she made efforts to connect to old friends.

But she is not a friend that was my friend in our younger days. Of course in our appearance we change who does not?  Though I still value her friendship but in responding to her I was a little awkward. Not me alone though, she too. There was no more that natural laughter and giggles as when we did on the slope of the hill which we were hiking. I guess we need more meetings to catch back the old time normality but I am as always too lazy, too passive.

I was wrong when earlier I said none of my old friends are successful. Actually there are may be I don't know. Well I should not think everybody else is like me just a mediore and plain ordinary. Some have done something outstanding like my sixth form school mate. She was in the arts stream while I was in the science. Why we became quite good friends I don't really remember. May be there were only few girls for that was a boys school. We girls were sent to the boys school for sixth form.

We parted ways when we completed upper six. We never made any contact but her picture taken with a beauty queen crown in her hair is outstanding in my album. She especially gave the photo to me as a token for our friendship. That may be made me to remember her.

I felt so proud of her when I first happened to come across news about her and her success as an artist. She made it big. Had held many solo exhibitions of her great paintings in and outside of the country. Her paintings can fetch thousands and thousands of ringgit.

I used to feel so small when I look at my own paintings and drawings a hobby I took up when I first retired. My paintings and drawings are only fit to be hung on my own wall.  When I feel smaller still they would be taken down and chuck into the store room. 

Once I have wanted to go and meet her when I went back to my home state. I might get inspired and could improve on my arts who knows. It never happened. I was afraid that she might have forgotten me so I hesitated.  Anyway I am too late now for sadly she is no more with us as I found out from a website.

Its true the adage no man is an island. The island usually was part of mainland which got separated by global warming may be. The island gets connected by bridge and ferries and planes you see. Even an island is crying for connections what more we  human beings. Is what I write sounds crazy to you?

My thought is as we journey furthur in life we are dropping off friends along the way. Like a train dropping passengers at different stations. And most of us are not young anymore as to be active connecting through the many apps and sharing news. Excuse, excuse and more excuse like my eyesight is failing me  . . .

Put my thoughts in a blog? Hey its infectious!

Friends come and go.

A friend in the real world is still in need . . .indeed . . .

 

Thanks for reading.

Bye . . .

Singing n Dancing n Exercising

Hello again

I like music and songs and enjoy singing and humming along whenever I hear songs that are familiar. When young I always thought I could sing. But the shyness got me to nowhere. Only in the school choir heheh. And now I am too old for anything hmm.

My radio is seldom on now because nowadays some people have issues with  music thus listening to it is supposed not to be encouraged. So to appease them I would just sing in my heart and sometimes insert the earphones to my ears and have my own little concert.

I  joined friends for karaoke sessions a few times before. Oh my, how we belted out the numbers with all our hearts. Some perhaps wanted to give vent to their frustrations. Don't care how our old voices sound. Put the blame on the microphones ha haa. I like those moments when we ladies can forget home and housework for a while and have some fun together. Is that wrong?

Music and songs can do wonders. Try exercise without music. You will stop in a short while and don't feel like continuing.

Thats why I took up line dancing.

I started by joining the classes but found it difficult to follow may be I was a little dumb . Later I stop going to the class and learn on my own through the videos. Studied all the basics and the theory and soon I was able to read the step sheets and able to translate it into action. I don't say the whole thing was easy. After nearly half a year I was confident enough to invite friends to join me and we danced and exercised together for a few years.

Now we have separated due to everybody having their own commitments. As for me I am torn between the loves for the different hobbies. Instructing the line dance group three times a week took a lot of my time and I had to put a lot of efforts learning new steps and practising before I could present perfectly to the class. Leading and counting and correcting the moves seeped out a lot of energy. However I enjoyed those four years.

Of course I do not quit line dance completely. It is a very good form of exercise . Doing it alone is always good you can choose the type of music you like. Dance and sweat while singing along and enjoying yourself.

I like such music and songs, lite n easy . . .


We also get music from the birds . . .

That's it my entry for this time hope you have enjoyed reading.

Cheers . . .

Bye . . .

Chat

Hi

The sky again was rumbling in the early morning but around eight the weather was ok and so off to the swimming pool for a dip.

Today I got acquainted with a new person and from our conversation I think she is also one restless women just like me. Our conversation went something like this.

Me: Hi been here often?

She: Almost everyday.

Me: How come we only meet today.

She: Different time. You come always at what time.

Me: Very early. Nice to swim in the morning. Sometimes me and my gang swim in the sea when the   water is high. Now not so  . . . less active  . . . .may be now we all older . . .less active.

She: Older should be more active if not all will jam . . .

Me:  You still working?

She:  I help my husband . . .he has a project here . . . before work I swim . . . I walk

Me: (inside my heart, I continue for her  . . . cook , wash, ironing and many more)

She: Children all big . . . me and husband only . . .now only have time to be here like this. Relax and   enjoy. Last time we lived in foreign country worked very hard  . . . pay children to college.

Me: Agreed. Last time where got time . . .Ya la all the time work work look after people. But ok la     children big already and become good people. We parents happy.

(Oh my English)

She: You swim well.

Me: Thanks. I see you can swim too.

She: I have been swimming but will never go to deep end. This pool is deep . . . that end.

Me: Yes ten feet. You go quarter distance then you go half . When you gain confidence go to the end.Once done you will be ok. Just keep on swimming.

Think I have enough for today.

She: See you around.

Me: See you.

Do birds talk?

Will not say more.

Cheers . . .

Fishing Or Birding. . . Or?

Hi everyone

Doing any positive recreational  activities to fill our time is always good.

For us the seniors extra hard and vigorous workout of course is not advisable, our hearts cannot cope and our bone might break..ha ah.

Golf is good if you are rich enough to pay the fees. It is more interesting to walk, walk and and take a swing at the ball rather than just monotonously walk and walk and walk and do nothing.

We also cannot involve ourselves in games that we used to play in schools, those ball games like net ball basketball softball and all.  Past our time.

Badminton is ok only if you can get access to the facilities. But believe me usually in  public halls they are full of youngsters you need to have your own boomers group. You need to join a family club which has badminton courts.

Tennis is a game which you can play into the senior years. If you have actively played it before and has stopped for sometime you can make a come back. Get a friend or better still a coach to bring back shine to your game. I think you are always welcomed because  lady players are becoming extinct at least here. .  . To play tennis you have got to start when you were younger. I started taking it more seriously at early thirties with some friends. We stick together and carry on until now.

Whatever we plan to do we need other people's support to achieve it.

To do it alone is impossible. Badminton and tennis you need a sparring partner. Oh you can opt to exercise in the gym. But not so much fun. May be you don't like the noise . . .and hmm the smell.

If all seem to be so difficult then gardening is the answer. Even a very small plot like our terrace house compound will make us sweat. Do it in the morning or in the evening if you are scared of the sun. You may find yourself so absorbed and dragged on for hours. In that case protect exposure to the ultra violet by using stylish gardening hats.

Good coverage ensure protection to your skin....wear anyway you like...

Lighter and more comfortable

and very cheap at RM 4.90

Don't forget the gloves and the shoes. Oh everybody knows that you say. I know everybody knows. Its fun to repeat. . .  like our grandma did.

How about fishing. Women like fishing too. We can do it. But here people will comment if they see you alone like this

J

The strong sun the salt and the sea may damage and worsen your matured complexion...

we still care. . .yes we do

And so it is better to leave fishing to the men. Persuade your spouse. Let him get hooked on fishing. . . for fish!

Good for him to lull away his time. Besides he may bring back some of his catch. Usually they will let go the fish back into the water but not when the fish is big.

On second thought would you bother to mess with a fish as big as this?

Neighbour caught a big fish...

In my community some superstitious anglers stopped their activity when their wife conceived the belief is that the child will be born with a cleft palate. Imagine that.

I prefer birding to fishing. As a very casual birder ( hah can I call myself a birder?) I have only the camera and perhaps binoculars around my neck. Compared to fishing, beside the fishing rod line hook and sinker you have to think about the baits which include worms and leeches... yuck.

Birding for me is a relaxed activity. So far I have "captured" only a few birds which I rarely see around my area. I hope they show up again because the photos I have of them are not of good quality.

"...why do birds

suddenly appear..."

Hope to see you again

They came together to bask

Do come again...

And this. . . which has a noticeable crest on the head, how I wish it stayed longer. . .

Well sorry for my ramblings . . .

Bye for now. . .

#Bulbul Bird Sings A Song Of Life

Hello

Do you remember what life was like when you were very young.

Comfort...?

Happy and carefree? Very lucky you.

Singing happy songs?

Sad and deprived? Pity on you.

However as children we observed and formed opinions but of course we keep it to ourselves.

Parents of those time when they wanted to teach their children they uncontrollably went physical. By today's standard it could be considered child abuse...since houses were built on stilts many children jatuh tangga injuring themselves while trying to escape.... Ha haaa..... well at that time it was not funny at all.

And when your time to clean up after playing in the mud you would be scrubbed the primitive way -use the coconut husk.

Such were some of their ways to express parental love.

Sometimes parents took their children along to listen to some preachers who came to the village.

And then at home they repeated the whole thing again and again to remind everybody so that you are on the correct path. Looking back I think we should be saying thanks. No?

I think not everybody's experience the same because we lived in different environments. Some societies, some families  might have been more advanced than others and have different values.

But I think the backward period of the fifties and sixties roughly life was about the same for everybody, especially in rural areas, living in hardship except of course if you were born royal or you inherit some sort of treasure.

Living in a house like this in the fifties could be considered already wealthy

What I could gather is life was so subdued and people were so low keyed. There were no questionings people went about life with heads held low closed eyes and deaf ears but were still conscious and feared they might go about doing things wrong.

The parents were all about feeding their families and always worried about the next meal. Their income were paltry. I don't say they didn't work hard they did.

And part of what little they got they gave up in alms though I think they were the ones who should be receiving because into them were drummed: its a duty to give.

For example a part of their harvest had to be given away though it can hardly last them for that year. Anyway my parents were made to be so obedient and docile. We children made do with less.

Well I said things in a roundabout way but that's the only way I can say.

Our children were lucky. The years the eighties and nineties were better times more modern and more opportunities. And people of my contemporaries are better parents I should say. We are more expressive. We can afford to give our children more than just bread and butter. Our children would not be feeling unloved.

But of course our own parents were good in their own ways.

The children of our children should be having a much better life. Or are they being pampered too much. Whatever I hope they do things the right way the grand kids should not be subjected to too much preaching and taboos in this modern time. Their future should not be compromised.

How our life has come to be, should we bother much...live on and always be positive....and I like an old poetry by Kalidasa and part of it goes like this

" ...For yesterday is but a Dream,
And tomorrow is only a Vision:
But Today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of  happiness
and every tomorrow a vision of hope...."

Fifty years ago the natural environment was not tempered and the beauty at its pristine state. People did not take time to watch and appreciate because there were other subsistence matter to care for their survival.

And sighting a bird even how rare was nothing to shout about.

For us now even a common bird has a place online.....

Listen to the song...

Dear friend ...this is my story..

My friend  I have to tell you this....

This life of mine

That  I... went through...

The time was dark and life was gray

and  I...like the water finding its way ...

Suddenly the day it took a turn

The sun was out and... started to burn...

And the ground was thirsty

and parched through out

...and the water.... sadly lost

 into the drought....

Thank you

Phewiit...

Enjoy reading and be happy......

bye....