Troubling Times

Hi,

Have you as parents worried about your children? I'm sure you have.

Parents worry a great deal about their children. It doesn't matter whether they are babies, toddlers, young children, teenagers or young adults. Do you agree?

I found that when my children were young, I used to worry about their health, whether they would catch germs at school, or be bullied by others.

Then as they grew older, it was another set of worries. I worried about the company they keep, in school and outside school. Times keep changing and the teenagers also differ from our days.

During my teenage days, my father had the final say in everything and woe betide us if we did not toe the line. During my children's time as teenagers, they had more freedom than I ever had. Thankfully the company they kept came from homes similar to ours. I'm so blessed that my three children uphold good values that they learned not only at home but also at school.

Today they are successful young adults leading independent lives but I still worry about them. I worry whether my son will find a good wife, someone who will look after him and raise a family together with him, incalcating good values into their children as well. I worry about my daughter who is still single, whether she will ever find a compatible life partner, someone who will cherish her for herself, warts and all, and I worry about my grandchildren, whom I will not see when they come into their own, in adulthood.

Two weeks ago when I was in Kuala Lumpur, my younger daughter dropped a bombshell; at least that was what it was to me. She blithely announced that she would be going with her friends to Bali before Christmas. I was aghast when I heard that.

Why, oh, why must she go to that place, already a place of death for so many young holiday makers who only wanted to have a good time. The beauty of that place is forever associated with horror and death where I'm concerned and now that my daughter will be going there, that very thought gives me nightmares. But will she listen and not go? Of course not! The young these days have their own minds and they nonchalantly brush aside our parental fears.

I wonder, on the other hand whether they worry about their parents too? Do the children ever worry that their parents may fall ill or be incapacitated some day? When that time comes, what will they do? How will they handle the situation?

There I go again, worrying ..... come what may, we will have to accept whatever the Almighty has in mind for us. Meanwhile, it's better to cross the bridge only when we come to it.

So I compartmentalise my worries and fears into different parts of the brain and continue to struggle with internet marketing and websites.

Cheers!

Green Tea Anyone?

Hi

Do you know that green tea can help you to lose weight?

Studies have shown that green tea helps weight loss by stimulating the body'sthermogenesis process.So when you drink green tea you will use up more energy and burn the fat in your body. The good thing about green tea is
that it does not increase your heart rate.

Many people who are overweight develop hypertension and cardiovascular problems. Since green tea does not put pressure on the heart it is good and safe for them to take it as it
will help them to lose weight. They can also gradually increase their exercise levels without increasing their risk of heart problems and in fact, they will benefit from the exercise and weight loss.

Drinking green tea will help you to burn more calories.

It also contains powerful antioxidants and it can strengthenyour immune system thus protecting you against disease.

However green tea does contain some caffeine so do avoid coffee and
other forms of tea while you are taking it. If you think that you cantake decaffeinated green tea this is not recommended because the chemical processes used to remove the caffeine may destroy the beneficial properties of the tea.

By taking green tea daily you will see a gradual weight loss and better energy levels. If you wish to lose weight faster then you should increase your exercise and watch what you eat. Steer away from food that will make you gain weight.

Green tea is a simple, easy and inexpensive weight control aid that can help you to keep the weight off permanently.

Having said this, there are many types of green tea on the market. There is green tea from Japan, China, Vietnam, etc. There is also green tea mixed with other herbs. However I prefer to take tea that is not mixed and also in leaf form. The green tea from Yunnan in China (Lung Ching - DragonWell)is very fragrant. The Japanese green tea that I tried came in tea bags so to me, it didn't seem to be as fragrant as the leaves steeped in hot water. The Vietnamese green tea also came in leaf form and it was also good.

Another tea which I like is the PuEr tea. It is not green tea but it has good health benefits. This tea is very expensive. In fact the older it is ( in terms of decades ), the more expensive it is. The leaves are tightly packed either in round or oblong slabs. This is the only tea that I can drink without getting insomnia. Green tea also doesn't give me insomnia. One small slab can set you back a few hundred ringgit.

As the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating so you've got to try out the tea for yourself. However, never never add sugar or milk to the tea. Caucasians tend to do that but it's ok if it's Lipton tea or Earl Grey. Certainly not with Chinese tea.

I have freebies for you at my website. Please check it out at http://www.peggy-chan.com

Eating out

Last night it took us almost an hour to reach the Fatty Crab restaurant in Petaling Jaya and we were driving in from Bangsar. It should only have taken at most 20 minutes but it didn't because of the terrible traffic jam.

I have never experienced such peak hour traffic at 6:30 pm and it really opened my eyes to the terrible stress that commuters go through daily just to return home after a long day at work. Never again will I venture out at this hour.

The dinner of crabs, fried chicken wings and fried rice appears to be the standard dishes as every table had the same, the only difference being the size of the portions. I found the price of crabs to be very expensive at RM28.00 for 600 grams. In Kota Kinabalu, we only pay RM18.00 for 1kg of crabs.

However, we ordered 3 crabs cooked in sweet & sour style, a plate of fried rice and 3 chicken wings since there were just three of us dining.

The chicken wings were tasty, although a bit on the small side, rather pepperish, seasoned in soy sauce. The chicken was tender on the inside so it was good.

The crabs were on the small side too. Maybe we are used to the larger ones in Kota Kinabalu. The flesh was not as firm as those we usually have in KK but it was also tasty, especially when dipped in the sweet and sour gravy which wasn't at all spicy, more on the sweet side. The fried rice was good, with the chopped up crunchy long beans giving it an unusual flavour. We were supposed to mop up the gravy with bread but we opted to give that a miss as the rice was already filling.

I wanted to reserve some room for after-dinner bites which turned out to be roasted chestnuts and boiled groundnuts. The groundnuts were large and soft, boiled with some tumeric. These we purchased from a roadside vendor. At home there was also a tray of durians, D24, waiting on the table but we gave it a miss as we were already stuffed.

What a night out! Eating is my favourite thing when in Kuala Lumpur as there is an astounding variety of choices whether it be in restaurants or coffee shops with a number of hawker stalls. The latter is my preferred choice as the food is good and cheap and I can always have more variety at one sitting.The local black coffee is good too, especially when you ask for "kopi oh kau-kau" which means black coffee, double strength. Tastes better.

Well, only today and tomorrow morning left to indulge as we leave for KK tomorrow afternoon. Back to reality by tomorrow evening! Ah, but the delicious and cheaper crabs beckon over there! Cooked in salted egg and curry leaves, it really is superb.