Wordle

This site is quite fun to play with - powered by Java.

Here are supposedly the most commonly used words in my blog.

Who would have thought I used the word 'Healthy" that many times? Most Weird!

AA Hires Royal Chef!

Anyone who has been on an American Airlines flight would agree what they served, has never been quite edible.

Flipped through "Business Traveller" over coffee the other day and came cross this piece.

They have recently enlisted the former chef to Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana, to design its new menus on flights between Europe and the US.

Signature dishes will include old favourite cottage pie, chicken stuffed with Cumberland sausage, oatmeal-crusted pork with a Drambuie juniper berry sauce, and beef fillet with morel mushroom sauce.

Only if you fly business or first on AA, would you be able to have a taste from the Royal Chef.

Though I do miss the typical English cuisine, I'd never pick AA out of all the other airlines choices under the Asia Miles alliance. Would you?

Don't Be Fooled By BMI

My friend was nagging about her Body Mass Index (BMI) has just put her under the obesed category.


I tell ya, I never believe that one can really define who is healthy and who is not, based simply on one’s weight and height.

First of all, our BMI does not take into account muscle mass or hip-to-waist ratio – key facts defining how healthy we are.

In my case - I may have a healthy BMI, but I am definitely NOT a healthy eater.

I can’t resist jam or butter on my toasts; I often have a stodgy meal for dinner such as cheesy lasagne, fish & chips or curry; and my portion sizes rival any man. Desserts are a weak point for me too - love anything with chocolate or cream in it and potato crisps as snacks are simply irresistable.

I figured there must be some exceptions to this one-rule-fits-all formula, cuz there's no way I am healthy based on what I take in.

Well, I am thinking good old common sense, combined with a bit of mathematical calculation.

I look at fit people, one of the things that isn't hard to see is that they generally - again; there's still good old body type to contend with - have waists.

Where fat does most harm is when it's deposited around our midriff, where it lies much more deeply, coats our organs and puts us at far greater risk of diabetes and heart disease.

I checked out the web - some say the crucial measurement is the difference between your waist and hips. A woman's healthy waist ratio is 0.8 of their hips; a man's is 0.95.

Well....I guess whatever you do, how about we stop sitting in front of the computer, move your butt and go out for a nice little walk now?

Who Said Brown Is Blind?

Less than a month ago, his popularity plummeted after a long series of political missteps and he nearly went jobless.

As if he didn't have enough on his plate, Gordon Brown is said to be having increasing problems with his eyesight. Close friends of the Prime Minister said that he can now only see extremely large print and needed guidance at public events.

Yesterday with his well-funded program of bank nationalization and guarantees for deposits and loans - Brown, despite his left blind, has "shown us the way".

Italy d'amore

I never come to know Italy is full of love and romance.

Italy d'amore in virtually all corners of all the wonderful cities or unique towns I set foot on; whether it was in Livorno, Sorrento in Napoli or the capita Roma. Firenze in Toscana or Venezia & Padua in Veneto.

It was like the country awaited me to discover its true meaning of 'amore', whether I was strolling a city street, checking out their museums or discovering a secret garden.

Before I forgot all the feeling of love, I decided to hurriedly jot down what I could recall the Italy I came to know.


Rome - visited the exquisite city very hastily. Saw St. Peter's Basilica from afar and drove past The Colisium. Known as the Eternal City, Rome originated as far back as 753 BC and is one of the few major European cities that escaped World War II. As the heart of Christianity and being seat of the Roman Catholic Church, it truly is a city that consists of old heritage in a modern cosmopolitan.

Livorno was my first port of call, gateway to Tuscany and entrance to the country. Tuscany is known for its wines and production of extra virgin olive oil. Italian Renaissance was found everywhere here.

Florence is a city full of medieval flavour, established by Julius Caesar in 59BC and has also been the birthplace for one great after another. Including Leonardo da vinci, Michelangelo
and Galileo Galilei (Galileo borned the day Michelangelo died). It is a city where I had to "get wrapped to see the naked" - the famous David di Michelangelo, for example.

Naples, located halfway between two volcanic areas, one of them being the volcano Vesuvius. The place dates back to around the 9th century and is home to several wonderful churches whose origins began in the 12th-13th centuries.

Sorrento is traditionally held as the home of pizzas, spaghetti, Margherita, Geleto and Limoncello (a lemon liqueur only available there).

Pompeii was an interesting place. Destroyed, and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption thousands of years ago. The volcano buried Pompeii under many meters of lava and ashes and it was lost for nearly 1700 years before its accidental rediscovery in 1748. Its excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire.

Venice - How often would you get to set foot on Piazza San Marco at midnight hours? Well I did. The night view of the city totally took my breath away. However, I must stress the fact that I would think twice if I have to sail on a gondola in the rather smelly Venetian canals, if given the chance. Let alone that part of the senses, the mouth-watering window shopping experience of Gucci in one of the alleys would prove all worthwhile.

GPS or A to Z?

I am not too bad in map reading myself and I do enjoy having the ultimate authority to command the driver next to me when I have possession of the directions.

Recently, I have employed a GPS navigator device - TomTom and my driving experience with him (Tom) has proved excellent. As with all digital devices, I have my expectation set on Tom to be fast, accurate and simple enough to figure out without a manual.

I must say once again that hi-tech innovation really is granting us the convenience and speed much needed in this society. Tom performed without hesitation and error - well, most of the time.

He was flawless in the first 3 hours of driving and I was very pleased with him. He made sensible route plans, would beep me whenever I was 5mph over the speed limit and even sent out gentle reminders of the speed cameras ahead of time. It was when we began ignoring him by making numerous detours, that annoyed the diligent Tom. He then made some wrong calculations and guess what - we got lost.

I paid Tom USD20 a day and so I thought I have every right to utilise his brain and not mine. Nothing against technology but after being left stranded by Tom, I came to realise total dependence on GPS wasn't such a good idea. One can always reset the system when feeling a bit lost, but then don't we look rather dumb then?

It freaks me out when I come to think of the next generation losing the hang of map reading just like we depend on spell-check these days and we are already losing the ability to spell.

Guys - don't give up on your good ole A to Z maps - not yet.