Happy Birthday Son

My son turned one yesterday.

We had planned a small party for him but unfortunately he was down with flu and cough. Took him to our GP and he was prescribed antibiotics - first time in his life.

He refuses to sleep in his cot and wants to sleep with us. Was worried that he might tumble off the bed and so we came up with a solution. I have been sleeping with him on a thick duvet on the floor for the past two nights. First night was terrible but he slept through the night yesterday. I woke up early in the morning today to find him kissing my face (with saliva all over).

He's much better today, even though he is still coughing a bit.


New born baby, exactly a year ago....

Hidden executables in Microsoft software

If you don't believe me, try this:

1) Open a blank Microsoft Word document.
2) type the following: =rand(200,99)
3) Press 'Enter' and wait 5 seconds...

ZZZZZZ

ZZZZZZ

ZZZZZZ

ZZZZZZ

ZZZZZZ

Don't worry, it is not a virus. Wonder whether there is anything else hidden in MS Word?

For a detailed explanation, read this article here.

Help yourself through subliminal suggestions

During my MBA in University Malaya, I took the Consumer behaviour course and once we were discussing about subliminal advertising. The lecturer was telling us about an researcher who claimed that he had been able to influence people to purchase more Coca Cola and popcorn by quickly flashing messages on a movie screen.

Of course as a consumer myself, I am not really favourable with the idea that companies are messing around with my head in order to get me to buy more of their products and services.

Anyway, I learnt that subliminal messages may actually be used for beneficial purposes. Got to about this website called Subliminal-cds.com (http://www.subliminal-cds.com/) that sells subliminal CDs. With over 120 different titles, the retailer claims to help you with everything from loosing weight to getting over phobias.

The subliminal CDs utilizes the 5-Part Encoding System™ developed by self-development guru, Bradley Thompson.

To be honest, I haven't tried it out myself but the website has a impressive list of corporate customers including AT&T, IBM, FedEx, the BBC, British Telecom, Microsoft and even the US Army among others.

Fresh milk in Malaysia

The one with the blue cap is Whole milk whereas the other one with the green cap is semi-skimmed milk.
Our small family of four consumes one of each - that's 3 litres of milk, every week.

One of our friends just returned to Coventry from Malaysia for his doctoral viva. It seems that his kids are having a tough time readjusting to life in Malaysia. It can be a culture shock sometimes considering that the some of the kids were born and raised up here in the UK. However, I am sure it will be a matter of time before they settle in.

One of the complaints was that it was so hard to obtain fresh milk back home. Not impossible but hard. I guess it's true. Most of the milk in Malaysia comes from Australia and New Zealand and it's either in the canned condensed/ sweetened or powder form.

I may be wrong but there is not a single diary company of note in Malaysia today. I posed this question to one of my friends who is involved in goat rearing and import of cattle. According to him, most people who rear cattle in Malaysia do so for their meat. Many are actually mere importers, who bring in cattle from Thailand and then resell them in Malaysia.

He added that even though Malaysians consume a lot of milk products, especially in their favorite drink (maybe the National drink) - teh tarik, it is mostly in the form of sweetened condensed milk. Not many Malaysians drink fresh milk now-a-days anyway. The Chinese also traditionally prefer soya rather than cow milk.

However, talking to the older generation including my in-laws, I learned that they used to drink fresh milk in their childhood.

So what happened? Does that mean that the food habits changed in a single generation.

My friend was reluctant to try the diary business despite my suggestion that once eaten, a cow is gone forever but can give milk for a long time if kept alive. According to him, it was a high risk venture. However, I am sure there is a market for fresh milk.

So any takers for diary farming in Malaysia?

iPod video converter

If you ask any teenager, what's the coolest gadget around, I am sure that 9 out of 10 are going to name the iPod. It has got to be the most innovative and popular gadget of the decade. Yeah! I am an iPod enthusiast and my fav model has to be the iPod Video. Why? Because not only can I listen to music on the go. I can also play games, view photos and watch movies. Now, some people may argue that the screen is too small, sound quality is not good, blah! blah! Well! many iPod user have a hifi at home too.

Anyway, talking about watching movies on the iPod, have you ever wanted to convert your favourite DVDs and family videos for watching on the iPod. Well, now you can make iPod movies using the iPod Video Converter software from PQDVD.

Use it to convert a dvd or video files into the iPod format. Move the converted file into your iTune library and sync with your iPod. Right now they are offering a free trial of the software. However, you have to pay US$39.95 to unlimited conversions.

Long days

It's quarter past nine in the evening is I write this. However, outside, there is still light. I thought it was only about 7 but got a shock when I saw the clock.

I still can't get used to the long daylight hours here in the UK. When we first arrived, it was dark by 6.

Anyway, yesterday we had a clear night sky and the stars were finally out after nearly a week of non-stop rains.


My daughter was singing 'Twinkle twinkle little star' when she looked up into the sky and saw this bright star (might be a planet).

Visit to Kenilworth Castle

I don't know why but I have always been fascinated by forts and castles. Finally had the chance to visit the historic Kenilworth Castle near here when my in-laws visited.


Panorama shot of countryside from top of Kenilworth castle. Most of what you see in this picture was once under water - the mere.

It is an ancient castle which was first established by Geoffrey de Clinton (Lord Chamberlain of Henry I) around 1120. However, it became famous only after the novel Kenilworth, by Sir Walter Scott came out. This story was based on the romance between Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester. You might have seen the 1998 movie Elizabethstarring Cate Blanchett as the Queen, which earned her an Oscar nomination. Joseph Fiennes played the part of Robert Dudley.

Elizabeth I paid a visit to Kenilworth in July 1575 and the extravagant festivities in her honor, lasted 19 days. According to what we learnt at the castle, this was seen as a marriage proposal from Robert to her Queen. It never happened, probably because the Earl was her subject and mainly because he was already married (though his wife died suspiciously of an accident later). The Queen died a spinster and is called the 'Virgin Queen' for this reason.


Ruins of the Keep and the Great hall

The castle is now looked after by English Heritage since 1984. It's open from 10am to 5pm. So the four of us - me, my father-in-law, brother-in-law and my daughter set off on a very wet day to visit the castle. We had about 2 hours to roam around the castle grounds. Both my father-in-law and brother were able to get Concessions (£3.70 each), while my ticket was £4.95. It was free for Rahil.

Though we were wet and cold, it was an exciting visit. The castle is in ruins now. I can only imagine how grand it must have been in ancient times.