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I walked into the Popular bookstore located at the Bras Basah complex today and I saw this book by the title of “The Secret” was displaying at the shelf. Actually, this is not the first time that I have seen this book. In fact, I have seen “The Secret” book and other books relating to it many times at different bookstores such as Times, MPH, Borders, Harris, Kinokuniya and so on.

Although I have not read “The Secret” book before, I roughly know what this book is talking about. This is because I attended the Wealth Academy program in November 2007 and the trainer was Adam Khoo who had shown us the sneak preview video of “The Secret” stories.

I find that “The Secret” is an inspiring video which has been featured in an issue of the TIME magazine. Besides this, it has also been featured on the Oprah Winfrey’s and Larry King’s TV talk shows respectively. By looking at these, you can tell how popular “The Secret” video is. 

So, what exactly is the video or book talking about then? What is the secret of “The Secret” video? Well, the answer to “The Secret” is : “Law of Attraction“. It is all about personal development and positive thinking. The like attracts the like so it is very important for us to have positive thinking in order to help us to sweep away any obstacles along the path of our life journey. In another words, we can say that our mind is like a magnet which has the capability to attract things. It has the power to attract those things that respond to what we are thinking in our mind.

I believe you might have experienced bumping into someone whom you have been thinking about lately on the street. Could it be a coincident? Maybe yes, it is a coincident. But what if you have exprienced it a few times? Wow, you better hurry up, go and buy a lottery ticket. HA! HA!

Well, what I’m trying to say is that this could be the effect of the “Law of Attraction”. Imagine what it will be like if you keep thinking about and focusing on the bad things. More bad things might be bothering you because the negative thinking will attract even more bad things to come and haunt you. This is really scary, right?

I would not want the negative thoughts to become a burden to me because I want to live a happy life all throughout my life. Therefore, I think it is very important for me to train myself to think positively. Hopefully, all the good things will soon be attracting to me.

Here is a sneak preview video of “The Secret” on YouTube. Hope you enjoy watching it :

My Favourites :

I used to dislike cats in the past and I don’t really know why. I guess it is maybe because cats are not as friendly as dogs. Or maybe because dog lovers can never be cat lovers both at the same time. Is this a myth? Probably, it is a myth that forces people to choose either cats or dogs.

I started to like cats after I had teased a cat out of boredom last year. This cat is black and white in colour. She always hangs around at the HDB multi-storey car park where I park my car near my house. The cat has been living there since two years ago but I only get close to her recently. I called her ArMeow.

Let me recall how I know ArMeow and how we have become good friends. On a fine Sunday, I was walking towards the staircase after I had parked my car. I turned back and noticed that a black and white stray cat was staring at me. I teased the cat by calling her “Meow Meow”. To my surprise, the cat was running towards me. I was very frightened to see the cat approaching me. Then, I started to make the dog sound : “Woof Woof”. To my surprise again, the cat stopped running immediately.

I was very delighted to see the cat had stopped running. Again, I started to call her “Meow Meow”. As expected, the cat started to run towards me again. Then, I mischieviously repeated the “Meow Meow” here and “Woof Woof” there several times until the cat was running near. I was so frightened and thought that the cat would come and scratch me so I ran away as quickly as I could as if I was running for my life.

A few days later, I went to the car park to get my car. ArMeow – the black and white stray cat appeared suddenly and gave me a shock. I was worrying that she might harm me but she didn’t. She leaned her body against my legs and instantly I can feel that the cat likes me. I found that the cat was cute and lovely when I looked into her dark round eyes. This was the moment that I started to like cats.

ArMeow is different from other cats. She is friendly, lovely and approachable. She would run towards me and lean her body against my legs whenever she sees me at the car park. To me, ArMeow behaves more like a dog than like a cat. She is very doglike and I suspect that ArMeow might be a dog-disguised cat.

ArMeow is my good companion. She keeps me company and chases away my boredom. I like ArMeow very much. Yes, I like cats now.

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After hunting for a few days, I have finally found deep-fried soft-shell crabs selling in a Thai restaurant located at Serangoon Gardens. My nephew and I went in to the restaurant and ordered two packets of deep-fried soft-shell crabs for take-away.

While waiting for the food to be ready, my 10-year old nephew was asking me a few questions about soft-shell crabs out of his usual curiosity. Questions like : “Why was soft-shell crab less common than hard-shell crab?”, “Where did soft-shell crab come from?”, “Where else can we buy soft-shell crab?”, “How much was soft-shell crab?”, “Why was the shell of the soft-shell crab so soft?” and so on.

Arghhh!!! The more questions that my nephew asked, the more question marks that I have had above my head. Frankly speaking, I have no clues at all. I’m neither an Encyclopedia nor a Wikipedia. How would I know? Then, I noticed that a waiter was standing quite near where we were sitting and overheard our conversation. So, I told my nephew to channel all his queries to the waiter whom I thought might have some answers readily available since he served food to the customer in the restaurant.

Guess what? The waiter returned a funny grin and then walked away smiling. Probably, he found the conversations between my nephew and myself were very funny. I guess the waiter might not know the answers either. We were left alone with our unanswered questions about soft-shell crabs.

The two packets of deep-fried soft-shell crabs were finally ready to be taken away. We took the food and then left the Thai restaurant with many question marks floating above our heads just like a Halo. Well, I’m determined to find out more information about soft-shell crabs when I get back home.

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I love interesting and meaningful quotes since I was a student. Quotes are usually short and sharp. Sometimes, a simple sentence is more than enough to paint a beautiful picture or to tell a great story. It is usually full of wisdom and full of philosophy.

Here is a quote from Confucius :

This is one of my favourite quotes. I like it because it spires me to write down things or ideas that come to my mind before they are gone forever. It helps me in my work to jot down important points in my handbook in case I forget about it the next moment.

Many a times, my colleagues or counter-parts would tell me that it is not necessary for them to write something down during training because they can use their brain to remember it. Fine, I just shrug my shoulders and let them be.

Guess what? Many of my colleagues cannot remember what they have learned during the training when it comes to the practical test setup. They still need to refer to my handbook for the test procedure and steps. Suddenly, my handbook comes in handy to make their work easier and more efficient.

Otherwise, my colleagues would have to crack their head if they were to solely rely on their supposedly very powerful memories to do their job.

I often feel that it is true that people can remember things well one day or three days or even seven days from now. They may remember the things two weeks later. However, I can assure you that the memory fades faster that you can imagine one month down the road.

It is especially true and tough if a person’s age is catching up. So, don’t let your memory to betray you. Start the habit of writing something down. You will be glad that you did.

Therefore, we have to remember this sentence :

“The palest ink is more reliable than the most powerful memory.”

Thanks to Confucius for his excellent quote. It is full of wisdom, isn’t it?

My Favourites :

My sister and I went to Far East Square for shopping at Orchard in December 2007. I parked my car at the basement carpark and I saw a bright-orange rare vehicle that caught my eyes instantly. However, I cannot figure out what it was because it doesn’t look like a normal car. This toy-like rare vehicle has 3 wheels and a steering wheel. Its seat is only enough for one passenger.

We were very excited and delighted to see this 3-wheeled vehicle. I was so curious and I rushed towards it to have a closer look. I got my camera and took a few pictures of this rare vehicle. Other on-lookers were as curious as us and they went closer to scrutinise it.

A few months later, I read an article reported in the Straits Times talking about this 3-wheeled rare vehicle too. Then, I get to know that this bright-orange 3-wheeled vehicle is actually an electric car. Its name is called Corbin Sparrow. In fact, this is the only 3-wheeled and single-passenger car registered in Singapore. Its car owner is a teacher at the American school by the name of James Diebley. He imported the car from California-based Corbin Motors back in 2001.

The Corbin Sparrow electric car runs on lead-acid batteries which cost less than $1 SGD a day to charge. It can run with a top speed of 110kmh and a range of 30-50 km. This 3-wheeled vehicle is classified as a motorcycle in some countries but it is registered as a car over here in Singapore.

According to the Land Transport Authority of Singapore, the Sparrow exceeded the 400kg maximum weight for a motorcycle. It weighs about 700kg and ‘has several car-like features such as a steering wheel, an enclosed body and doors’, said a spokesman. The Sparrow is powered by 13 lead-acid batteries which drive an electric motor connected to the rear wheel via a belt. It has a top speed of about 110kmh and a range of 30-50km.

I think it is not important whether or not the Corbin Sparrow is a car or a motorcycle. It is indeed a very unique vehicle. If you want to get famous, probably you should get a Corbin Sparrow and drive it around. You will definitely gain a lot of attention and attract many on-lookers to admire your 3-wheeled single-passenger eletric vehicle.

My Favourites :

I have got a free coupon to the Singapore Flyer. Thanks to my sister, sister-in-law and niece who had participated in the National Day Parade on 09 Aug 2008. This year is Singapore’s 43rd birthday and all NDP08 participants were given a booklet of coupons in appreciation for their effort in participating the national event.

One of the coupons is “Fly For Free” for August Birthday Treat at the Singapore Flyer, meaning to say anybody whose birthday is in August is entitled to have a free ride. My birthday falls on the first week of August so I’m entitled to get a free ride. The original coupon has to be presented at the ticketing counter in exchange for a complimentary Singapore Flight ticket which normally costs $29.50 SGD for adult, $20.65 for child and $23.60 for senior citizen.

This is how the Singapore Flyer free coupon looks like :

The Singapore Flyer is the world’s largest giant observation wheel and it is standing at 165 metres or the height of a 42-storey building. The top of the Singapore Flyer is the breath-taking view of the Singapore Skyline. The Singapore Flyer ride helps you to view the Singapore Skyline in 360 degrees.

I managed to take a picture of the Singapore Flyer :

The Singapore Flyer was built in such a way that its waterfront attraction sits among a hotbed of some upcoming exciting developments in Marina Bay. The view in the capsule is not obstructed by all directions. You can view the Singapore landscape and even parts of Malaysia and Indonesia in different perspectives.

Each capsule can accommodate up to 28 people :

Duration of one ride is about 30 minutes :

I took the Singapore Flyer ride with my sisters and nephews. Here is a picture of my playful nephew :

Well, I enjoyed the free ride at the Singapore Flyer. I hope you enjoy it too if you have a chance to take the ride.

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Viral video is very popular nowadays and it helps to attract more visitors to your website or Blog. A good place to get the viral videos is from the YouTube site. Of course there are many other video sites but I’m just taking the most popular one to give you an example.

So, what exactly is a viral video? A viral video is simply referring to video clip content that gains widespread popularity. It is just like viral email which is forwarded by people after reading it. Viral video usually goes through the process of internet sharing such as blogs, emails, IM messages and all sorts of media sharing websites.

Viral video is mostly humourous in nature and that is why it draws the interest of most people to watch it. The viewers will usually forward the email that is inserted with a viral video link to their friends and families. If the friends and families find the viral video interesting, they will most likely be forwarding the email to their own groups of friends, colleagues, families, etc. to spread the joy after watching the funny or humourous viral videos. You will find that it is not really difficult to help put a smile on someone’s face after watching some light-hearted videos.

Here is a funny viral video entitled “Numa Numa” that I have found on YouTube. You know what? This viral video is one of the world funniest videos spreading round the Internet like crazy. It has attracted 18 million views on YouTube so far. It’s amazing, isn’t it?

OK, click to watch Numa Numa — one of the world funniest viral videos right now. Relax and enjoy!

My Favourites :

I often receive some interesting or funny emails from my friends. These are usually forwarded emails sent by the friends’ friends. The intention is to share the fun after reading these funny emails.

Actually, there is a term for this type of email being passed on from friends to friends. The term is called viral emails. I have gotten an interesting email that is illustrating how a kid insulted an adult who is not well-versed in using the personal computer.

Read on to get inspired :

How was it? Like the viral emai? I hope you have learned something new if there is a need to insult people indirectly. HA! HA!

My Favourites :

It seems like a few celebrities, such as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, etc. have given birth to twins lately. I’m kind of curious to find out whether the two offspring from the same pregnancy will look alike or not. Twins may look identical but not necessarily especially for human beings.

What about for animal twins? Do animal twins look identical? Ah Ha! Don’t get tricked by this question. You might answer yes to the question. In fact, the answer could be a “yes” and a “no”. It just depends on how you see things.

There is a reason as to why I asked this question. This is because it reminds me of one incident when I was a teenager many years ago. My siblings and I were watching TV news. It was then reporting a mother chimpanzee had just given birth to chimpanzee twins.

Guess what? My second elder brother was very excited and told us naively that the chimpanzee twins really looked alike. I took another glance at the chimpanzee twins and then told him bluntly : “Whether the chimpanzee babies are twins or not, they will still look identical because all species look the same”. Oh boy! I really cannot stand my brother. All monkeys do have the same monkey face, don’t they?

The rest of my siblings were bursting into laughter after hearing our conversations. My second brother was very embarrassed to hear the reasoning from a sister who is eight years younger than him. Anyway, I treat it as a joke whenever I see animal twins.

My Favourites :

Yesterday I came to know that the father of my colleague, Vin, has just passed away on Tuesday morning. But I was busy with my work yesterday so I didn’t attend the wake until this evening. I met a few former colleagues over at the wake and I’m glad to know that everybody is doing fine.

Vin is in his 20s and he is like a boy-next-door kind of decent and cute guy. He is a hardworking, responsible, helpful and unassuming person. He likes to talk to me and tells me about his unhappiness at work. He’s like a younger brother to me. I’m sad to see him feeling down.

Vin was working abroad for a few weeks but was called back recently by his family due to his dad’s condition was becoming worst. He came back for a week and his dad just passed away later. Vin looked so sad and tired at his dad’s wake. He didn’t shave himself and this makes him look even more haggard. He doesn’t look like the usual Vin whom I used to see.

One of his managers is asking him to go abroad again and to provide technical support to the customers. Vin is quite furious about it because it is not an appropriate time to ask someone to travel again after losing one’s beloved father. I think this person is just kind of insensitive to bring out this request at the wrong timing. Didn’t Vin have sacrificed enough of his quality time to be spent with his dad? Is work really that important after all?

Although Vin is very committed to his work, I think he has to slow down for a while this time round and see what is really important to him in his life. What he needs to do is to pull himself together after the sorrow. After all, he has his own life to live. He must take good care of himself and his mother. Be strong, Vin.

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