Life of a Foxy Siren

Dino years ago, I was very into incense, aromatherapy and the likes. I'd buy incense in boxes, knowing very well it would take ages to even finish one! That was how addicted I was.. I still like them, just that; I don't buy them anymore.. hee.

Somehow or other, I came across Arabic Incense by Conscious Candle Company (Aus) and on a whim, I bought back a few boxes (small ones only ok). Back then "Arabic Incense" sounded soooo exotic I just gotta have it!

And then I realized.. I don't know how to use them! Arrrghhh I've never seen how it is done either. So I kept them in the drawer and forgotten about it for some time.. *sheepish grin*

Recently just thought of them.. and decided to use it no matter what. Duh... there was a simple instruction on the box itself! *smack* What was I thinking!?


Okay, so I'm supposed to burn the Charcoal Tablet for about a minute. It doesn't smell of anything though. Place the charcoal into a burner plate, and sprinkle some incense onto the charcoal... and voila!

My apartment smells so nice!

The one I'm currently using - Casper; smells like sweet, warm cinnamon. Its not overpowering, but gives me the cozy feeling, a little sensual too I may add!

Play some Bossa Nova and bliss!
Time to chill....

Some health tip for sharing..

I’ve heard that rice is fattening, but I didn’t know it does us no benefits until I came across this article. Hmm how true this is, I wonder?

Read / follow with caution. But don’t try eating raw meat though!
Just sharing okay..

Here is the article (lengthy one though):

The human body was never meant to consume rice! You see, our genes have
hardly changed in more than 30,000 years. However, our food choices and
lifestyle have changed dramatically. The caveman would hardly recognize
our food or way of life.

Caveman food was never cooked as fire was not yet tamed. Thus, he ate only
those foods that you can eat without treatment with or by fire.. He ate
fruits, vegetables, fish (sushi anyone?), eggs, nuts and meat. Yes, even
meat! You can even eat meat raw if you were starving in the forest. You
have the necessary enzymes to digest meat.

However, rice, like wheat and corn, cannot be eaten raw. It must be
cooked. Even if you were starving in the desert, you cannot eat rice in
the raw form. This is because we do not have the system of enzymes to
break rice down. You were never meant to eat rice. To make matters worse,
you not only eat rice, but also make it the bulk of your food.

In some parts of Asia , rice forms up to 85% of the plate. Even if you take rice, keep it to a minimum. Remember, it is only for your tongue - not your body. Actually, rice and other grains like wheat and corn are actually worse than sugar.

There are many reasons:

Rice becomes sugar - lots of it!
This is a fact that no nutritionist can deny: rice is chemically no different from sugar. One bowl of cooked rice is the caloric equal of 10 teaspoons of sugar. This does not matter whether it is white, brown or herbal rice.

Brown rice is richer in fibre, some B vitamins and minerals but it is still the caloric equal of 10 teaspoons of sugar. To get the same 10 teaspoons of sugar, you need to consume lots of kangkong-10 bowls of it.

Rice is digested to become sugar.
Rice cannot be digested before it is thoroughly cooked. However, when thoroughly cooked, it becomes sugar and spikes circulating blood sugar within half an hour-almost as quickly as it would if you took a sugar candy. Rice is very low in the 'rainbow of anti-oxidants. '

This complete anti-oxidant rainbow is necessary for the effective and safe utilization of sugar. Fruits come with a sugar called fructose. However, they are not empty calories as the fruit is packed with a whole host of other nutrients that help its proper assimilation and digestion.

Rice has no fibre.
The fibre of the kangkong fills you up long before your blood sugar spikes. This is because the fibre bulks and fills up your stomach. Since white rice has no fibre, you end up eating lots of 'calorie dense' food before you get filled up. Brown rice has more fibre but still the same amount of sugar.

Rice is tasteless-sugar is sweet.
There is only so much that you can eat at one sitting. How many teaspoons of sugar can you eat before you feel like throwing up? Could you imagine eating 10 teaspoons of sugar in 1 seating?

Rice is always the main part of the meal.
While sugar may fill your dessert or sweeten your coffee, it will never be the main part of any meal. You could eat maybe two to three teaspoons of sugar at one meal. However, you could easily eat the equal value of two to three bowls (20-30 teaspoons) of sugar in one meal. I am always amused when I see someone eat sometimes five bowls of rice (equals 50 teaspoons of sugar) and then asks for tea tarik kurang manis!

There is no real 'built in' mechanism for us to prevent overeating of rice:
~ How much kangkong can you eat?
~ How much fried chicken can you eat?
~ How much steamed fish can you eat?
Think about that!

In one seating, you cannot take lots of chicken, fish or cucumber, but you can take lots of rice. Eating rice causes you to eat more salt. As rice is tasteless, you tend to consume more salt-another villain when it comes to high blood pressure. You tend to take more curry that has salt to help flavor rice. We also tend to consume more ketchup and soy sauce which are also rich in salt.

Eating rice causes you to drink less water.
The more rice you eat, the less water you will drink as there is no mechanism to prevent the overeating of rice. Rice, wheat and corn come hidden in our daily food. As rice is tasteless, it tends to end up in other foods that substitute rice like rice flour, noodles and bread. We tend to eat the hidden forms which still get digested into sugar.

Rice, even when cooked, is difficult to digest.
Can't eat raw rice? Try eating rice half cooked. Contrary to popular belief, rice is very difficult to digest. It is 'heavy stuff'. If you have problems with digestion, try skipping rice for a few days. You will be amazed at how the problem will just go away.

Rice prevents the absorption of several vitamins and minerals.
Rice when taken in bulk will reduce the absorption of vital nutrients like zinc, iron and the B vitamins.

Are you a rice addict? Going rice-less may not be easy but you can go rice less. Eating less rice could be lot easier than you think. Here are some strategies that you can pursue in your quest to eat less rice:

Eat less rice-cut your rice by half.
Barry Sears, author of the Zone Diet, advises 'eating rice like spice'.
Instead, increase your fruits and vegetables. Take more lean meats and fish. You can even take more eggs and nuts.

Have 'riceless' meals.
Take no rice or wheat at say, breakfast. Go for eggs instead.

Go on 'riceless' days.
Go 'western' once a week.

Take no rice and breads for one day every week.
That can't be too difficult. Appreciate the richness of your food. Go for taste, colours and smells. Make eating a culinary delight.

Enjoy your food in the original favours.

Avoid the salt shaker or ketchup.
You will automatically eat less rice.

Eat your fruit dessert before (Yes! No printing error) your meals.
The fibre rich fruits will 'bulk up' in your stomach. Thus, you will eat less rice and more fruits..

It's your life. Decide what you want to eat! But eat less rice!

The Boyfriend went for a company's trip to Langkawi..
... and he got me these...

:) Lovely, eh?

It has been a week since I got back from my short annual KL shopping trip. I’m missing it! Not the crazy traffic though.. but the days without work, and just shop! :)

The first stop was to Midvalley for some Stewed Pork with Preserved Salted Mustard meal. Still taste as good.. and very big serving mind you. Next to get some fix for bookstore hunger – MPH. I had some vouchers so a stack of magazines and books cost me uhh less than $50. *happiness*

I could have stayed in there forever, browsing books and mags one by one, but The Boyfriend could have died of boredom. So I reluctantly made my exit after about 45mins.

Just my luck coz I popped into Watsons and Guardian. Redeemed a sample of Vichy.

And, the same product @$110 was on sale, selling for $87! O-M-G.. grab!

As if that’s not enough to jump start my itchy shopping hands, I saw…

Montagne Jeunesse masks on sale.. 4 days sale. $4.88 each (NP $5.90), and now, buy 2 free 1. Needless to say I happily picked a few sets… and the very nice SA gave me extra freebies. *grins* I was also looking for Be Gorgeous Lip Balm but no where to be found…

So that’s about 3++hours and time to check into our hotel.

We stayed at Melia KL – nice place. Riiiiiiigggght opposite Berjaya Times Square. The Boyfriend knows. That his gf is very into shopping. *sweat*

We spent the evening at Times Square. Till my back hurts.

I'm the Ocean!

You are impressive and fascinating. People are drawn to your glory. You are a profound and passionate person. You are boundless in your power.

You have a philosophical and poetic soul. You take a lot of time to reflect.
You are mysterious and captivating. You are too deep for anyone to figure out.

~Pic from Zorpia.com

Did a quiz on Facebook and ahem... I'm Type B - Boss Memory.
*Impressed*

It's not that you have a poor memory, but you only remember the bigger stuff. The more important things. That's why I call your memory the 'Boss memory' - you're taking the important role which only remembers the important things.

You don't bug yourself with minor and issues that just seem... unimportant? This is good cuz you balance your brain out. If you throw everything (no matter big or small ones) into your brain, one day your brain might just go - BURST!

Your brain somehow works like this: subconsciously, it only "absorbs" the key information, and leaves the irrelevant ones behind. That way, if you're planning for an event, you can identify the goal easily. Sometimes people may call you the one with "Short Term Memory", but ha! They WILL be shocked, if they see how you perform during a serious event. (Its so true! I really only remember certain things!)

Their jaws will drop seeing how you can run things multitask, remembering all the important things and eventually, together with your team, seeing things through successfully. You leave the little jobs to other people, so that you won't waste your "memory space".