Surviving the outbreak

Unless you've been in hibernation, by now you're probably fully aware of the swine flu currently grappling a number of countries, particularly Mexico and the United States. Although the US has declared the outbreak as a 'public health emergency', the world awaits with abated breath as to the level of severity (of this outbreak) from the WHO. In the meantime, before we all start to panic - which our authorities have assured us not to, yet - here's what we all can do to reduce the effect of transmission:

1. Sanitize -- i.e. Wash Your Hands Frequently. It may sound obvious, but hand-washing with soap and water for around 20 seconds is the single best thing you can do (if you're going to go out into the world and interact with other human beings). The CDC estimates that 80 percent of all infections are spread by hands. If you can't wash your hands regularly, try hand-sanitizers with 60 percent alcohol content.
2. Avoid -- i.e. Engage in "Social Distancing." That's the fancy term for reducing unnecessary social contact, staying away from crowds, and avoiding people if you're sick or if you're concerned that they may be infected. It may not be especially practical when you have to go to, say, work, but experts believe it's worth repeating: Isolation and avoidance reduce your chances of getting infected or infecting others.
(Researchers in the UK - mentioned above and sponsored by a cold remedy company - found that 99 percent of commuters suffer at least one cold per winter. By contrast, 58 percent of people who work from home and 88 per cent of those who walk to work caught a cold last winter).
If you need to go someplace crowded, the CDC says, try to spend as little time as possible and try to stay six feet away from potentially infected people. Wearing a surgical or dental facemask - cleared by the FDA as a medical device - "can help prevent some exposures," the CDC says, but they're not foolproof.
3. Be Alert -- i.e. Recognize the Symptoms and Get Help. Swine flu symptoms are similar to regular flu: Fever, body aches, sore throat, cough, runny nose, vomiting, diarrhea, and lethargy. If you don't feel well, seek medical attention. So far, it's important to note, this swine flu is treatable (and absolutely survivable). It's resistant to two of four antiviral drugs approved for combating the flu: Symmetrel and Flumadine. But two newer antivirals - Tamiflu and Relenza - appear to work.

Excerpt taken from Ben Sherwood @ Huffington Post

Oh Mama!

As the saying goes, a mother's love for her children knows no boundaries. But when a mother posts a disturbing account of her 19-year-old son's penis problem in a public forum, one has to wonder whether she has taken this whole 'no boundaries' issue a wee bit too far.

Check out an excerpt of her opening post:

My son is 19 and though I have not seen him nude since he was a boy, I had seen him by accident about 6 months ago, when he had somehow ended up falling asleep naked in his room after a shower with his door wide open. He was on his back and erect in his sleep. I noticed his hard-on had a severe curve upward. It was bent very sharply like curling up backwards. I had never seen anything like that on any man. It is about 7″ long approximately and is bent more toward the tip in a definite shape of a letter “j”, or a hook, to attempt to describe it to you.

I was so shocked that I panicked, and woke him up right then and there. Thinking back, it was not very tactful, but I could not wait to try to get at what appeared to be a real problem. It all made sense, how he would not shower at gym class, and didn’t date, despite being a very well built and handsome boy into sports always. I had always wondered if might be gay, though he denied it always. He awoke surprised and shy that he was naked, but I moved his hands from his erect penis, and asked him what was the matter.

We sat and talked after locking his bedroom door. He told me it had started when he was like 12 and got worse, and as I examined it more closely and attempted to straighten it out, it would straighten only very slightly before it would hurt him to force it any further. It being erect, it was very hard and stiff. We allowed it to subside by him putting on his robe a while, and was considerably more normal in the soft state, yet still tending to be curved upwards slightly.

I could straighten it easily while soft, but it would bend back up like rubber. As he became erect again it curled up before my eyes into the “j” hook shape. For more, click here.

R.I.P Jade Goody

Photo by Chris Joseph / Landmark / JPI

Another week has gone by, and now another week to get through. Yes, everyone is still talking about the economic downturn alongside the sudden turn-of-luck (perhaps?) between Manchester United and Liverpool, sudden passing of Natasha Richardson and the not-so-sudden passing of Jade Goody. Who would've thought she'd be mentioned in the same breath as Prez Obama, Meredith Kercher and Steven Gerrard, let alone be described as "a kind of Princess Di from the wrong side of tracks"! Shocking isn't it?

I mean what was she famous for in the first place? Sure I'd heard of her way back when I was still slogging my way through bar school but even then she was relegated to the tabloids and weekly gossip magazines. And just when I thought I'd hear the last of her, out came the whole hoo-ha on Celebrity Big Brother for her racist remarks towards her then housemate and fellow E-list celebrity Shilpa Shetty. And when all that passed by, her celebrity radar hit the jackpot upon discovering that she was battling cervical cancer, and that the cancer had spread, thus paving the way for the never-ending coverage of her day-to-day life as the cancer spreads and her death imminent.

So again I ask what is the legacy of Jade Goody's life, battle with cancer and sad passing (no, I am not that cold-hearted) on popular culture?

"Perhaps this is because Jade Goody filled the role of reality TV star to the extreme: she was "famous for nothing," she once said, a woman who went from obscurity to a national sensation due to the public's desire to create heroines and villains out of their neighbors, their peers, people who look and act quite like they do. Her short life was defined by public opinion; she was loved, then fiercely hated, and then pitied, but all of these things came through a lens, a distanced view; she was simply another character for the public to follow, and she knew and seemingly accepted this, giving her blessing to the tabloids to follow her until the very end. As Jeffries notes, "Like a working-class Princess Diana, Goody became the object of strangers' intense feelings, and she became a sacrifice, a woman whose suffering and death made it possible for people to ritually cry for someone they scarcely knew."

Goody hoped that her public struggle would raise awareness about cervical cancer and inspire young women to be more proactive about their health. But Goody's legacy may be her ability to use the reality tv/tabloid media to her advantage, even in dark times: for example, she recently held an elaborate wedding to her prisoner boyfriend, Jack Tweed, in order to sell the media rights and leave her sons with a substantial amount of money, knowing she'd be leaving them soon. Jade Goody was able to make a living out of living; as long as there was a camera present, and a photographer ready to chase her every move, she was able to capture the minds of millions, for better or worse. She forced the public, however unwittingly, to discuss racism, the challenges of cancer, and ultimately, the boundaries of fame."

Do you agree?

p/s: That comparison between Jade and Princess Di was observed by Stephen Fry, who knew!

She said what..?

Meant to post this up yesterday to commomerate International Women's Day, but as the saying goes "better late than never".

"Women in particular need to keep an eye on their physical and mental health, because if we're scurrying to and from appointments and errands, we don't have a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own 'to do' list."
First Lady, Michelle Obama

And this has never been more accurate.

Happiness

After

How far would you go to achieving perfection?

Apparently as far as injecting oneself (face to be exact) with cooking oil.

Each to their own, I guess...but at what cost?

Before

The choices we make

Do our young ones have the right to say "NO" when it comes to making grave decisions about their health and ultimately their life? While the general presumption is the capacity of children and young people to make such decisions is limited by their ability to fully understand the consequences of their decision, nevertheless cases like Re M illustrates otherwise, although it must also be borne in mind that such decisions will also take into account the best interests of the patient.

13-year old Hannah Jones' decision to refuse a potentially life-saving transplant might not be welcomed by all but it goes to show that perhaps our young ones deserve to be heard and respected for their choices they make.

Toilets rule!

Another Monday folks and I know some, if not all, of you are already counting down the days to Friday (and ultimately the weekend!)...wouldn't it be cool to have at least one Monday off for each month? Wishful thinking aside, here's something we don't often hear or read about. Who would have thought "toilets" and "lifesavers" could be uttered together where our health is concerned?

What were they thinking?

First making their 'appearance' on Thursday, I was initially at loss for words that I didn't even think of taking pictures of them (yes, that was how shocking it was!) at that time. So during a quick visit to the hospital this morning, I thought I'd share this with everyone..

A few points to make. Firstly, this is a hospital, not a hotel. Hardly appropriate. And the chandeliers...oh my..not sure what to make of them but several words come to mind: loud, garish, gaudy, excessive, tacky and the list goes on.

On a positive side, at least the hospital will look brighter than ever before *LOL*

OUCH!?!

I find it both fascinating and amusing how grown men and women spend most of their time lifting these things everyone calls "weights", just for what? To be called the strongest man/woman in the world. I've been watching the Olympics since it started and to watch these men and women dressed in these ridiculously tight and funny outfits, competing against each other to see who can lift the most weights...how funny! And let's not forget the background support in the form of their coaches/mentors "giving" their utmost support...where sometimes it works..and sometimes it backfires. But there was always one thing that bore in my mind, reminding me how dangerous it can be if something should go wrong.

And this confirmed my belief. *WARNING: PROCEED WITH CAUTION.*



"This is the moment Hungarian weightlifter Janos Baranyai's first Olympics ended in agony when he dislocated his right elbow in the ugliest moment yet of the Olympic weightlifting competition.

Baranyai was trying to snatch 148kg in his third lift in the men's 77kg division, when his elbow popped out of its socket.

No longer able to support the weight of the barbell, his right forearm bent backward. The 24-year-old Hungarian fell to the floor in shock, shaking and crying out in pain.

Hungary's coaching staff and competition officials rushed to Baranyai's aid as he lay trembling on the floor, his arm limp and twisted out of position."

This is no laughing matter folks, even seeing the photos give me goosebumps!

Story courtesy of the Daily Mail

The Perfect Phit

Only in America folks could you come across something like this...

"And now comes the first medi spa in Manhattan wholly dedicated to strengthening and grooming a woman’s genital area. Phit — short for pelvic health integrated techniques — is to open this month on East 58th Street.

Dr. Lauri Romanzi, a gynecologist who performs pelvic reconstruction surgery, said she came up with the idea for the spa one day while walking by an outlet of BriteSmile, the tooth-whitening chain. She liked that the stores cater to people with healthy teeth.

The spa is essentially a gussied-up examination room down the hall from Dr. Romanzi’s medical practice. At the spa, the signature treatment will be a $150 gynecological exam — in which a client contracts her pelvic muscles around Dr. Romanzi’s fingers — to determine by feel whether muscle tone is weak, moderate or strong.

Dr. Romanzi likes to call the vaginal workouts she prescribes “personal training.” Clients could also use an in-office electrostimulation machine to improve pelvic muscle tone or buy a device for home use. Dr. Romanzi said that such treatments are intended to improve bladder control; she said pelvic training may also lead to more intense orgasms.

Welcome to the era of the gyno spa."

If God made us the way we are, why are we never happy?

Overheard

Woman (to husband? or boyfriend?): Jangan sigup sana. Karang kana tangkap.

Could this be true? This was an actual scene over at KFC last night as I was queueing up behind said woman..to which I could only manage a smile. A secret smile to be exact. If only she knew...

Age is simply a number

Whilst many women out there would love to have a killer body like Madge, yours truly included, I'm not sure I like the idea of a 50-year old mother/wife prancing around in her knickers..

What were they thinking?

With the "no smoking" law soon coming into effect, which will surely cause plenty of confusion and outrage all at the same time, let's take a moment to reflect on why smoking affects everyone..



...would you want your 2-year old child to do this?

Green..with envy

How does this woman do it?

Wasn't it like two weeks ago that she was showing her newborn son..and even then she looked like she'd already lost all, if not most of her pregnancy "fat"! Even Salma, Halle, J-Lo and Christina are still sporting their post-pregnancy curves. Some people are just darned lucky..

Sorry seems to be the hardest word

Is saying "I'm sorry" enough?

A very BIG question

To say that I am 'cursed' is not only blasphemous but even saying it makes me sound ungrateful for what I've been blessed with as well as a hypocrite after all the hoo-ha with the fashion industry's (and even Hollywood) obsession with size zero slash stick thin models.

So the big question is WHY IS MY BUST BIG?

It's bad enough that I'm slacking on the gym slash exercise routine lately but finding the right clothes in this country and some of our neighbouring countries that will accommodate my well-endowed bust (or so a friend has commented once or twice) is as frustrating as wondering whether your boss will approve your leave 2 days before you're due to leave for your holiday!

Having said that, look at the likes of Sophia Loren, Tina Turner, Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Scarlett Johansson and Tyra Banks who seem to embrace their, ahem, sizes and flaunting 'em without a care in the world. Not that I'm thinking of flaunting mine a la Mariah Carey...imagine the commotion I'd cause *hahaha* but at the end of the day, I should be so lucky, lucky, lucky and perhaps put in that extra hour or so at the gym...ugh!

Hmmm

By now you'd have heard or read about the shocking, if not twisted, news about Britney's kid sista's pregnancy..if you haven't shame on you...

Despite the day-old news -I had to take a double-look yesterday morning thinking it was her character in the Nickelodeon chow Zoey 101 that was pregnant! - I'm still unsure whether to sympathise with her and her family's plight (mostly brought on by the controversy-trotting Britney herself), condemn her, have a good laugh about it or simply shrug if off.

And..as if the storks haven't been busy these past couple of months, Lily Allen's joined the baby-wagon now.

You may recall my entry last week on Jessica Alba's pregnancy which was then followed up by an interesting outtake by Medulla:

"I think it's more of a cultural thing in the west where it's no longer seen as a taboo thing as compared to before.

In our asian context, the existing stigma about out-of-wedlock pregnancies is still rife and that compounded by strong family values acts as ongoing barriers to asians adopting the same laxities in lifestyle and attitude.

As it stands, in more developed cosmopolitan asian cities like Hong Kong, KL, Jakarta and Singapore, you don't see many (inc. high profile celebs) adopting the same lifestyle approaches as in the west, despite all the modernisation and globalisation over time.

If anything, any out-of-wedlock pregnancies here are usually unplanned or accidental - as opposed to deliberate, self-empowered 'I-want-to-be-a-single-parent' choices like we see in the West..."

Both Jamie Lyn and Lily Allen represent a combination of 'unplanned or accidental' and 'deliberate, self-empowered choices' and it's this combination which is a cause for concern from where I stand, particularly where high profile celebrities are sometimes looked up as role models.

That aside, maybe (and I'm being overly-cautious here) it's high time the attention is deviated to someone other than Britney. That girl deserves a good kick in the butt..is asking the judge to throw her in jail (asking) too much??

The way of the world

"US millionaires guilty in 'modern slavery' case"

"Finger-case maid to assist in investigations.."

"Indonesian maid's escape bid goes awry.."

Save for the third headline, these are just some of the headlines which have recently cropped up in our local sheets regarding Indonesian amahs.

Cases of abuse are nothing new. These headlines probably represent 1% of reported cases which makes me wonder what the exact figure is.

[Note that I am, by no means, discriminating against Indonesian amahs per se. However references to these ladies and their unfortunate plight only serve as a basis for my discussion today on abuse cases amongst the help.]

Over the years, I have heard stories, mostly complaints, of varying degrees regarding Indonesian amahs. What's interesting to note from all these stories is the longevity of these girls' tenure. In other words, it would be surprising for these girls to see through their contracts. Even rarer would be for these girls to actually come back and continue working for the same employers.

What is it about Indonesian amahs that makes them susceptible to abuse? Initially these girls would present themselves as able, charming and always on the employer's beck-and-call.

Fast forward to three months later..that's when the employers' nightmares begin when these girls' true colours appear. Some may be lucky to have employers who, upon discovering their true nature, will simply return these girls to their agents (even though these girls are fully aware they have no money to fend for themselves or their families back in their homeland but that's another story for another day..) Some may not be lucky enough. And that's when these girls' nightmares appear as in the finger-case maid.

One thing that strikes me as odd is the naivete mindset of these girls. While I applaud people who sacrifice their lives by leaving behind their family and home to find work abroad, I also find it ironic that these same girls would also end up behaving like they've never met an iron before or understood that 2 + 2 = 4!?! As the locals would say "siapa jua inda marah kalau inda faham??"

So while I condemn those employers who'd go as far as scorching their amahs with a hot iron or hitting them with belts, these girls are not completely blameless themselves. Until they come to realise the true purpose behind (their) working as the help as well as their rights (not to be abused that is), then the abuse will continue to go unabated.

"Fat" can be beautiful

For decades, or perhaps even longer, the female population has been waging a fight against bulges. From diets to lipo-suctions to weight-loss programmes, this is a battle which us ladies will never win. And it doesn't help when we see all these celebrities and models in the news, magazines, newspapers, internet etc etc clad in their gorgeous outfits or bikinis, or telling us how lucky they are that they can afford to eat anything and NOT gain weight (or as Courtney Love recently said "They must be liars!" to which I wholeheartedly agree with!?!)

So when pictures of Jennifer Love Hewitt - in her bikini and looking a wee tad on the curvy sight with a few extra pounds to her famous curves that inspired John Mayer's "Your Body Is A Wonderland" - was leaked out in the internet, well you can imagine the hooha that came with it.

But then, so what's the big deal? Aside the fact that as a star her privacy status is almost non-existent, nevertheless she still looked good DESPITE the extra 'bits'. Even her tummy still looks flat and that's one part of my body which I hate working on!?! Infact she should be applauded for daring to wear the bikini (wearing a dark one-piece suit even gets my paranoia working on overdrive!)

People can be cruel, insensitive and hypocrites. I recall a recent conversation with some friends about this very issue...why people like to comment on our size. At times I wish I could tell them to mind their own beeswax but ever the diplomatic one, it's easier to joke about it simply because I've stopped letting silly comments get to me. At the end of the day, what's important to me is knowing I'm happy with the way I look and feel...and if some guy can't appreciate that, their loss is my gain.

What's that saying..beauty is in the eye of the beholder?

It's only water

Ok so help me out here.

Last week the talk of the office has been about R.O water. For the benefit of those who aren't in the know (me included until last week) R.O. is referring to the process known as reverse osmosis

If you remember your science, osmosis refers to the movement of a solvent through a semi-permeable membrane into a solution of higher solute concentration that tends to equalize the concentrations of solute on the two sides of the membrane.

Hmmm perhaps that didn't come off right. Let's take the look at the picture (right) and see if I can explain it in plain and simple English. On the left is a beaker filled with water where a tube has been half-submerged in the water. Notice the water level in the beaker is the same as the water level in the tube. You with me so far? Next the end of the tube in the middle beaker has been sealed with the supposed semi-permeable membrane (examples being the lining of our intestines, a cell wall and Gore-tex fabric..basically a semi permeable membrane is membrane..think saran/cling wrap..which allows some atoms or molecules to pass through BUT not others) and half-filled with a salty solution and submerged. Now if you look closely, both the salt solution and water are equally levelled at first. But after some time, as represented by the last beaker, the water in the tube actually rises. This rise is attributed to "osmotic pressure". So what really happened is that the semi-permeable membrane allowed the water molecules to pass but not the salt molecules.

Do you know why drinking salt water i.e. ocean water is a no-no? Osmosis. When we put salty water in our body, the osmotic pressure begins drawing body out of our body as a means of trying to dilute the salt in our tummy...which explains why we eventually dehydrate and die.

Reverse Osmosis, on the other hand, refers to the process where the membrane is used to act like an extremely fine filter to create drinking water from salty water. The salty water is put on one side of the membrane and pressure is applied to stop and reverse the osmotic pressure. And voila! We have R.O. water.

Now water, to me, is still water. R.O, distilled, mineral, tap..makes no difference to me. Alright perhaps I'm lying there..there's something about distilled water which doesn't work for me. But what I'd like to know is, what are the benefits of drinking R.O. water? Yes, I have seen all the 'dirt' that comes with tap water and mineral water..trust me, they're not a pretty sight. Will it make me live longer? Will my body be cleaner by drinking R.O water? How is it that our elders have managed to live longer when R.O water wasn't even around, oh say, 50 years ago?

So until someone can show me some proof that I should spend $1K on getting R.O water (or is it equipment? or chemical?) then I'm more than happy to have a l'il bit of 'dirt' in my water..