Why do you buy designer sunglasses

My friend Nick collects sunglasses. He has so many that they fill up two drawers, arranged neatly in rows. These are not just any sunglass but designer brands. We once watched the first Matrix movie together and liked what he saw. So off we went to grab a wrap around Ray-Ban like the one that Neo wore in the movie. I was laughing at him but I too had a similar experience when I first watched Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise as an ace pilot. Went and bought myself a replica aviator. I thought I looked cool.

And you thought that sunglasses were merely to protect your eyes from the harmful UV rays. Was wondering whether movies and celebs influence our decision to buy sunglasses?

Just sometime back, I was at this optical shop and these two girls were excited about one particular sunglass. It looked like something from the 60s - big with white rims and I thought it was really ugly. Could help but over hear the girls. They were going, "it just looks like Paris Hilton's" or something like that. I guess big glasses with white rims are back in fashion. I can see a lot of people wearing them.

Whatever your reason, if you are looking for latest designer sunglasses, check out the 2007-08 Designer Sunglasses Collections at Optics Place. The website carrries the most affordable prices on a range of designer brands including Gucci, Prada, Versace, RayBan and much more. You don't have to go to different stores to compare and find the sunglass of your liking.

Besides sunglasses, the site also has a good selection of eyeglass frames, contact lenses, safety glasses and accessories. As someone who wear glasses, I was more interested in the information on eye health and the vision correction options. I found a lot of them to be very useful.

Harry Potter theme park

Even though the story is going to end soon, the magic is going to live on.

Artist's impression of Hogwarts

According to news reports, Warner Bros. will create a theme park called "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" within Universal Orlando Resorts.

The theme park will even have a Hogwarts castle.

I am not really sure about the opening date. Some reports say 2009 while others say 2010.

Read the full report below:

Tags: harry potter orlando theme park warner bros

Garden update June 07

Early in February this year, I wrote about 'getting the gardening itch'. It's been sometime since then and a few guys have been asking me about my progress.

Well, it's not that bad but could have been better. A serious obstacle has been the slug infestation. I finally went along with my sister's advice (initially recommended by my landlord) - the beer trap. I bought a 4 pack of the cheapest beer in the market, which happens to be Tesco's value bitter. I then put disposable plastic containers in my vegetable patches, with the top level with the surface. These were then filled up with beer in the evening. In the morning, I would find that they were overflowing with dead slugs. I have pictures but they were too disgusting to put up.

Anyway, I now have the following plants growing in my garden:

1. Strawberries
2. Mint
3. Potatoes
4. Tomatoes
5. Lavender
6. Rosemary
7. 1 rose plant (the rest died)
8. a few marigold plants.

I have also planted carrots and chilies but they are yet to germinate.

The lawn is coming up well too. Our landlord gave me two boxes of hard wearing grass seed and I sowed them just before the rains. They are a bit patchy now but I am sure it will slowly grow over the bare patches in the future.

Take a look at how far our garden has come:

When we first moved in

In April 2007

Now

Got the idea for this post from Skeet's blog.

An experiment in blogging for money

Just wanted to create some buzz about Lugnut22.com, blogger Lars Krumme's part-time endeavor. According to Lars, the blog titled "Make Money Online", was started in January this year as "an experiment in blogging for money".

Some of my blogger friends who have been blogging for nearly a year and more, have been complaining that they hardly make any money. I guess, they could learn a thing or two from Lars who earned $153.33 in April followed by a total of $168.04 in May. he actually made about $60 after subtracting the costs. That's quite impressive.

Congratulations Prime Minister

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi married Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah at a simple and private ceremony at his official residence, Seri Perdana, in Putrajaya today.

The akad nikah (solemnisation of marriage vows) was solemnised by Putra Mosque acting Imam, Abd Manaf Mat.

Jeanne (pronounced zhahn in the French accent) became the Prime Minister’s wife at around 2.50pm.

Selamat Pengantin Baru


Read the Star report here.

Updated (11 June, 2007): The photographs are finally out. Check them out here.

Control teenage spending

My kids are still small and I am spending a fair amount of money on them. When I told some of our older friends about this, their reply was "wait till they become teenagers" or something to that effect.

It seems that a lot of teenagers have a problem with handling money. In many cases, I can see that the fault lies with their parents. Most people don't spend enough time with their kids and because they feel guilty, think they can make up by giving their kids money. Teaching your kids to be prudent with their money will definitely help them in the future by establishing smart financial habits.

One great way to teach teens how to manage their money is by using Teen Prepaid cards. With these cards, the parent remains in control. The parent can monitor the spending habits of their teen and can even suspend it if needed. It can prove to be useful in emergencies as the card is a convenient way to give teens money electronically.

Some of the cars can actually teach the kids to instill work ethics. For example the cards from PAYjr's Allowance and Chore System can be a way to pay their teens based upon completion of household task or other goals.

Visit to Twycross Zoo

This Tuesday, I accompanied my daughter to the Twycross Zoo trip organised by her playgroup. As I had suspected, I was the only daddy in the entire bus. My wife was at home looking after our son. But it's OK. It was the first time I had ever been to a zoo with my daughter.

It was fun. I have been to bigger zoos but I liked the fact that we could see of the animals up close through their specially designed enclosures. They have a huge collection of primates.

Here are some pics:

Capybara, the biggest rodents in the World.

Elephants patiently waiting for their feeding time.

First time I saw a giraffe so close.

Rahil suddenly met up with her "best friend". They were hugging and jumping up and down. "Girls!" I thought to myself. They couldn't be kept apart after that and I had to follow them.

Rahil, with here best friend. Trying to communicate with a chimp

Now for some information about the zoo. Twycross Zoo opened in 1963 on a site in Leicestershire. right now it occupies over 40 acres and is one of the major British zoos. The address:
Twycross Zoo
Atherstone
Warwickshire
CV9 3PX
Telephone 01827 880250/880440
Fax 01827 880700

Tags: Capybara Giraffe Twycross Zoo