Blindfold Reading continuado

Blindfold reading, level 3

Regular readers of our blog remember that our little girl has the ability to read whilst blindfolded, an extraordinary act that she had picked up over 2 years ago......

For the peeps who don't have a clue what I'm talking about, click on the below 2 links....

http://yuenslair.blogspot.com/2008/10/mind-power-blindfold-reading.html

http://yuenslair.blogspot.com/2010/05/force-is-still-with-herblind-reading.html

Well, we have sent her for a refresher weekend course recently as her 'abilities' were slowly deteriorating up to the point that she almost lost her 'abilities'.....

And gosh, it is money well-spent, us parents being more pro-active this time 'round, we found out that she has reached level 3 of blindfold reading at this moment in time.......and the sky is the limit....

There was a demonstration at the learning center of a gal who has achieved level 8, and she was able to ride a bicycle blindfolded, read through the back of a playing card and say what the number was.....and believe it or not, once upon level 10, one can see through walls.........scary thought..........

Oh yups, another thing, we tried it out in near darkness, and Laetitia was able to discern the pictures and words.........as the bright light in her 'brain' acted as torchlight......

Lots of you might think this is wishy washy stuff, but you have to see it in order to believe it, and this time 'round I have added below more vids for you to watch.......

and click on below link to find some more 'official' info :p

http://www.living-education.com/BLR_eng.html

Believe it or not, it's for real this blindfold thingy!!!

playing cards reading demo 1






playing cards reading demo 2






fingers counting






her very own description of what she "sees"

Big Girl's Book

Inevitably there has come a time that our little dragon girl is evolving into an independent little lady.......

Back in her younger days, mums and pops (aka Jess and me) would choose the appropriate books for her from the bookshop, but since we found out that she at times refuses to read the so-called 'appropriate' books, we have resorted to letting her choose the books herself.

Good idea? Well, we can't expect she follow us forever, copying each and every move we perform.

Thus when she asked us whether she could buy a book herself the other day, we duly obliged (it's way better than watching TV and playing computer games),...until we sat down for our dinner at a restaurant.

What did she buy? "Girl's Body Book".....what the heck....no wonder our girl didn't utter a single word during our dinner time....her eyes were totally transfixed to the words and expletive drawings she derived from this book.....and since that she didn't pose us any questions regarding the related subjects in the book, we assume she kinda understands the topics at hand.

Is this book a Godsend or what? You bet it is, at least for me, no need for me to explain why and how a girl's body slowly transforms into a little lady's......at her current age, she wouldn't take this 'bees' talk, especially coming from me.....

But I better check out the book myself, I guess I'm not too old to pick up something new, am I and furthermore I better be equipped if our little dragon does ask us a question in the near future.....don't want 'Daddy' to be ignorant at all

Football spanning all ages

2nd year Anniversary of our football team, and behold, still active as ever, playing amongst ourselves, challenging neighbourhood teams and even participating in a league.......

Who would have guessed a little over 2 years ago that the team, my neighbours and me formed, would still be that alive and kicking. People come, people go, but the hardcore nucleus of the team is still there, kicking about on our beloved little field of ours behind our houses.

I don't necessarily considery myself 'old' already, especially looking at near retirees giving their utmost best in our tropical climate is ceratinly not a given.

And guess again, who won the annual trophy, yeah right, a team mixed up of youngsters/middle aged and a true 'war' veteran.......

Too bad though that we didn't manage to life the trophy this time 'round, after having reached the final, and cruelly losing out in the deciding penalty shoot-outs, but never say never......

Mark your calendar, this time next year we'll be Champions again :)

Washing a humongous vehicle

Car wash,

Nothing is so mundane as washing a car, a ritual that is loved by carnuts and dreaded by many as an evil necessity.......

If you do believe in the common folklore that particles of dust on your precious 'carriage' will interrupt the airflow, thus demanding more energy (energy = petrol) in order to move from point A to point B, yeah right......I show you the way to the nearest asylum.......

It's a fact that a clean car does look so much better than a smudged vehicle. In some parts of the world, peeps are downsizing their vehicles, going the extra mile to be more environ friendly or as with older and single households, the demand of having a big car just doesn't add up with the fact that there are fewer peeps living under the same roof......reality bites the dust.

But in some parts of our globe, it looks cool to have a big, big car, even when it looks like an oversized refrigerator, aesthetics don't come into the equation here, just the notion that it can transport a whole wagonload of people comfortably. I'm the first and frankly I bet that I'm not the only around, to admit that I'm not attracted to such humongous vehicles, but I sheepishly have to be frank that those cars serve their purpose quite well......instead of using 2 sedans to move around, one whallop of an oversized refrigeratorlike car does perform the job at hand quite nicely, thank you very much indeed.

Any drawbacks then, apart from the huge carbon footprint it emits?

I bet that no one of us has thought of washing their car whenever we roam the showrooms, pondering whether or not to buy that glistening, polished vehicle. But there you have it, once purchased, the chore of washing the car is inevitable........

As in the case of this big car, it can be quite a task at hand : hose, bucket, soap, sponge and even a stool in order to reach the rooftop. And by no means is it a task which can be done in just mere minutes,.....make that an hour or two at least if you include of cleaning the inside of the car.....

And all of that because we love our 'holy cow'..........next time you decide which car to buy, don't forget to think about how much time you'll spend of washing it.....you'll be in for a nasty surprise :p

The new craze, 3D

3D,

We can't overcome the feeling that the latest craze in television land,......3D......, is another cash-cow for the consumer product manufacturers.....

Not that long ago, LCD and plasma were the must-haves, and admittedly, LCD/Plasma screens do provide a sharper picture, but it all comes at a cost....

Now that LCD/Plasma screens have pummeled down to reasonable levels, technonista's want us to believe that the next step forwards is 3D.....

Remember the time when 3D in its infancy in the '60s and 70's was a pure novelty, requiring the audience to wear cheap, cardboard red/green glasses....and in the end gave us a whizzying headache in return....doh!!!....

Technology has not stood still ofcourse, today's glasses are made of much better materials and granted, the 3D technology has grown out of its teething problems.....

The various roadshows here, have provided us with the opportunity to test this latest craze out, and yups, it looks quite swelly....

TV sets which automatically change signals from 2D to 3D and vice versa depending on the signal source, glasses which are finally comfortable to wear and other numerous enticing features.......

There is a catch though.....apparently there is a difference of technique used by the competing manufacturers, resulting that specific glasses for a specific brand can't be used to view 3D on a different brand of 3D television....., ouch, we are going back to the Betamax vs VHS, HDD vs BluRay war again.

World Cup Football 2010 in 3D or not..........we are patiently, stubbornly and wisely sitting this one out.....our ol' trusted 52" projector TV of 10 years has given us enough viewing pleasure despite all the hype of LCD/Plasma/3D and whatever else.........

Never chuck away ol' things, they still provide usefulness....

Home Party Cooking

Home Party Cooking,

A sales concept that has become mainstream since 'Tupperware' made it a furore back in the mid-last century that neatly coincided with the empowerment of cash-rich housewives.

And needless to say, still going strong today......

All sorts of companies have been using this concept to try to dish their goods and services, ranging from lingerie, insurances, 'intimate tinted, arousal,...ahem objects:p' and the list goes on......

So on an ordinary relaxing Sunday, hearing a lot of commotion downstairs, we found out a whole group of people attending a home party cooking session......"what the @#!&".....

Somebody who knew aunty Lily and so forth, introduced this particular lady+gent team to perform a presentation at our 'casa',......needless to say that aunty Lily rounded up our immediate neighbours to attend the party, thus filling the living room to the brink in no time...

(Instead of Home Party Cooking I should rebadge this post as House Warming Party instead)

Back to the point....granted, this particular lady in question did whipped up some mean dishes, ranging from appetizers, main courses and even ice-cream with the help of her 'magical' pots, pans and stoves.....

All at no costs to us, whatsoever,.....erm....correction.....correct, we were not utterly convinced that those particular cooking utensils produced those delicious dishes, it was more the skill of the lady cook herself.....

But aunty Lily was suckered into buying a few pieces,....mmhhhmm, not a few....she practically bought the whole range....doh!!!

Does aunty Lily perform magic now in the kitchen? Too early to tell, but keep this between us, knowing that the food is cooked with precious new pots and pans nowadays, we duly oblige to tell her that her food is wonderful........don't want to break her heart, do we?!

The Dark Side is upon us

The Dark Side,..........

Science Fiction fans will immediately recognize it, as the 'Dark Side' is an integral part of the Star Wars folklore............."The Light side versus the Dark side"..........."Luke Skywalker versus Darth Vader"......

A bit of history first........

A long, long time ago............

1977 : A young mother taking her 2 sons to the movies....., that mother is our mum :)...and even though she barely understood the lingo, she had developed a love for watching movies, especially if those movies were Oscarwinning blockbusters.....so it was a common thing for us 3 to go to the movie regularly (daddy was always too busy tending his business)....

Thus on this 1977, she took us to watch "Star Wars"....and from the moment the movie opened up with the now infamous 5 words "A long, long time ago...." and accompanying John Williams pompous score......the whole audience including me were thrown into a rollercoaster ride........the phenomenon "Star Wars" was and still captures the imagination of generations of people....

Fast forward today, the second installment of the original trilogy, "The Empire Strikes Back", is celebrating its 30th birthday, and for the local Star Wars fan club a reason to celebrate it in style at a nearby cineplex.

Stormtroopers, Boba Fett the bountyhunter, Imperial officers, a Jedi Knight and even Darth Vader made their appearances, (ermmm......up close I didn't realize that Darth Vader is so short, 'cos in the movie he commands a towering presence :p).......

Laetitia and her friends were totally mesmerized by the whole Star Wars experience, turning them into true believers of the eternal fight between the Light and Dark side......

Talking about 'true believers'........I was barely 8 years old when I saw the first movie in the cinema, but I suspect most if not all of the dudes at the Star Wars Fair were still in their mummy's wombs when the first movie was screened or at best were still in their diapers sucking their thumbs.....

So who gives them the right to be die-hard Star Wars fans of the first hour then ?!?....:p Who holds the most bragging right !!!!

Let's pull out the light sabres and decide this issue for once and for good.....

Jimbaran Smoke

Jimbaran Beach,

Sounds bit tacky, isn't it? Like a title from a lousy B-movie.........

But it is quite the opposite.....the local Balinese have converted this beautiful stretch of beach into a popular dining venue, serving freshly bbq'ed seafood on the beach, and furthermore at very modest prices....

We were baffled when we were asked to sit on one of the numerous tables on the beach, fearing that when high tide comes in, we would be swamped, but since that Bali practically is located on top of the equator, the low and high tides of the sea barely cause any rise or fall (unless it is a tsunami ofcourse). Thus we were practically safe to dine on the beach, with the only illumination coming from candles put on the tables. How more romantic can it be :p?!?

And nope, it didn't cost an arm and a leg........prices were very modest, considering that we stuffed ourselves full with lobster, crab, prawns, fish, squid, clams.....25 euro/30 USD per head covered the bill......it's a steal, ain't it?

Ow, yeah, for the green anoraks amongst you.....the kitchen didn't utilize gas, electricity, nor charcoal to bbq the food for us.............it was using coconut husks instead to fuel the bbq pits instead.

Positive point = the coco shells don't wind up in the towering garbage mountain,.........Bad point = look at the below first vid, the smoke is horrendous,...I bet ya that this resto creates a HUUUUGE carbon footprint, not to think of those poor dudes manning the pits.....I bet their lungs are wasted after a few years of BBQ service....

Anybody got an idea of how to create a smokeless coconut husk fueled bbq? Please head to Jimbaran Beach.....the proprietor might give you a free dinner in return :)