WATERMELON FROST CURES ETHAN'S MOUTH ULCER

Watermelon Frost Mouth Ulcer Medicine

About two weeks ago, Baby Ethan had a nasty mouth ulcer, just below his tongue. At first, I had no clue as to why he was refusing food, but then someone pointed out he had this big white ulcer in his mouth! Duh! Really, there's nothing worse than a clueless mum!!!! *roll eyes*

The old standby mouth ulcer medicine in my fridge
Bonjela and Oral Aid

Anyways, I took him to his pediatrician and she gave him a bottle of Oral Aid to use. I like Oral Aid. I'd have to just squeeze a drop into the struggling kid's mouth to numb the mouth and presto, all done. However, after 3 days, the ulcer got worse. This time, I was really worried as he had not been eating. Keep it up kid, and you'll have to check into the kiddy ward for dehydration. I called the good doctor up, and this time, she asked me to switch to Kenalog. Most people in Malaysia, Australia and Singapore would be familiar with it. I wanted to snap a photo of the tube of Kenalog, but my 3 year old decided to flush it down the toilet before I could get to it. Apparently, it's hard to find in USA because the drug in itself is an immunosuppressant. It belongs to the category of drugs not as corticosteroids. These drugs suppress reactions by the immune system. I like Kenalog as well. I've used it before. It's like a wet sandy paste that covers the ulcer, so when I eat anything, I don't feel any major discomfort. I also have Bonjela in my fridge. Actually, the Bonjela tube you see in the picture belongs to my 31 year old baby brother. It tastes nasty as far as I'm concerned. And it kinda stings a bit before it numbs the ulcer temporarily.

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I knew anything in a tube that has to be squeezed out to put into Ethan's mouth would be a struggle, because as far as he's concerned, he's not eating anything that tastes bad. Besides, he's bitten my finger before and it's like a Piranha comping on it's prey. I really don't want to go there if I can help it. So, I started searching for a simpler alternative. Something that was herbal, something I could get easily at the drug store. My answer? Watermelon Frost! (see the first picture right at the top of the article)

It fits my criteria. It's herbal. It's a squeeze bottle, which delivers a puff of med into the kid's mouth without having my finger bitten off in the process, and it's cheap. It's only RM3.50 (only USD$1, can you believe it?) Perfect!

I squeezed the bottle of Watermelon Frost meds 3 times that day (after his meals, or lack of it) into Ethan's ulcer, and by the the next morning Ethan was eating and drinking like the ulcer never existed! Great stuff.

I was so excited, I could not wait to show this amazing medicine to my sister-in-law, who, get this, said she knew about it all along! Heck, my mother-in-law uses it too! Another duh! It goes to show how little I know about Chinese herbal medicine.

By the way, there's a doctor in Australia who wrote about this med, and his write up was the reason I decided to give this med a try. http://docfiles.blogspot.com/2005/12/oral-ulcers-winter-melon-frost.html

If you haven't tried it, and can get it near where you live, go out and try it. It may just be the thing for you.

Jasmin
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INTERESTING WAY TO EXPLAIN A HEALTHY IMMUNE SYSTEM

One way to look at this is to imagine a jar filled with water. If you add a single grain of salt, you can still drink the water, it is healthy. But if you keep adding salt at some point the water is salt water and it is not healthy for you. Your job [if you choose to accept it] is to keep refreshing the best fresh water you can into your "jar" so that the grains of salt are never numerous enough to make salt water.

Your immune system is like that jar, it is either filled with good guys or bad guys. Which ever is in the majority determines your state of health. Basically the more good guys you have in your immune system the less room there is for bad guys. The good guys keep the bad guys in check.

It is not necessary to kill all the bad guys with drugs that over power the body. It is only necessary to have more good guys than bad guys to keep them in check.

By Reverend Alan (talking about eating good bacteria ie probiotics, yogurts and stuff)

CATS LOVE LEMONGRASS, DOGS HATE IT!

And Health Benefits of Lemon Grass

Studies have shown that the lemon grass has antibacterial and anti fungal properties. Mixed with pepper, it's a home therapy for menstrual troubles and nausea. Drank as tea, it is an effective diuretic. When it comes to pets, citronella is used to neutralize excessive barking of dogs. Since dogs hate citronella, it is sprayed to dogs to prevent them from barking or just to lessen the behavior.

The Lemon grass is a good cleanser that helps to detoxify the Liver, pancreas, kidney, bladder and the digestive tract. It cuts down uric acid, cholesterol, excess fats and other toxins in the body while stimulating digestion, blood circulation, and lactation; it also alleviates indigestion and gastroenteritis. It is said that lemongrass also helps improve the skin by reducing acne and pimples and acts as a muscle and tissue toner. Also, it can reduce blood pressure. Just make a concoction by boiling some lemon grass leaves, let it cool for a while and drink the liquid.

About the author: Manolito Montala is a webmaster and one of his interests is collecting local medicinal plants information which can be found in Filipino Herbs Healing Wonders.

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Jasmin Says:

Occasionally, I just take 1 organic lemongrass stalk which grows like wild in my yard. Blend it with 1-2 cups water, keep that in the fridge. It can keep up to 2 days in the fridge. Then, I just add a little bit of the blended juice to whatever drink my family is having (usually just plain water) to increase their intake of good phytochemicals, antioxidants and vitamins.

It really taste refreshing with some sweetener like raw sugar cane or honey and some ice on a hot day, like the heatwave I've been experiencing for the past one month.

But really, I mainly just drink it plain.

The trick to drinking it plain is to be able to barely taste the lemongrass in your drinking water. If you start to gag drinking it, then, you've really added in too much!

Try it today.

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Tips to reduce blood pressure

• Cucumbers help reduce my mum's high blood pressure
• Lower blood pressure by keeping things in the right place!
  
• Jicama reduces blood pressure
  
• Yummy honey dew melon
  

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Image taken from http://lemongrassworld.com/media/images/lemongrass.jpg

Mother's Day Tribute

Here's a lovely music video that talks about a love of a wife and mother that has since passed.

Though it's a rather old video, I love it. It's really touching. I get tears in my eyes every time I see it. You see, every time, I see this video, I think of my grandma (my mum's side). She was a really lovely lady, and when she passed away, it felt like something died in all of us that day.

Jasmin
Come join "Eat Raw Food Today" facebook group

RECYCLING JAM JARS AS MUGS

I was just reading about this lady who used her old, unused jam jars (like peanut butter jelly jars or my old standby marmalade jam jars) as her coffee mug.

I though it was an excellent idea. If I were to leave any sweet drinks on the counter, ants would swarm around in an instant. So, if I were to use a jam jar as my mug, I could just shut the lid tight when I'm not drinking, and those nasty bugs can't get to it. It'll be great for the office too. By the way, I could juice some vegetable or fruit juice, fill it up to the brim (to prevent oxidation), put the lid on, and carry the drink with me cause it's spill proof if I put it in my handbag. Perfect!

Break one, and there will be another jar to replace. I'd save money cause I don't have to by a mug. I could also use the jar to keep cookies, safety pins, and stuff when I don't need a drink.

I'm too cheap, so when my kids go to college, I'm make them use jam jars as mugs in their dorm rooms. Heck, jam jars are multipurpose so they will have plenty of ways to use them. They are smart kids. They will figure it out.

Currently, I use recycled glass jam jars to store baby food in the fridge or on the go. I can't bear to use plastic for my baby. I get the jeebies thinking about how plastic will leech into foodstuff.

So, yeah, I'm putting on my thinking cap to come out with more ways to use this versatile product.

I just love the recycling!

Jasmin
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GMO Food Making Us Sick?

Excerpt from "Fruit and Vegetable Allergies Soaring" article by Dr Joseph Mercola

One thing we do know is that between 1994 and 2001 -- the same time that GMO’s flooded the market – food related illnesses DOUBLED.

GMO foods can be:

• Allergenic
• Toxic
• Carcinogenic
• Anti-nutritional

GMO’s may also create brand new diseases that we’ve never seen before, in addition to spurring on the disease rate of some we already have, such as cancer.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/05/02/Fruit-and-Vegetable-Allergies-Soaring.aspx

BUY RAW FOOD AND REDUCE YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

Highly-processed foods require a lot of energy and resources to produce. They’re also extremely wasteful in terms of nutrients. White processed sugar, for example, is missing as much as 98% of the original nutrients found in unprocessed cane juice. Taking those nutrients out required a tremendous amount of wasted energy, and that’s why white sugar has a much larger carbon footprint than evaporated cane juice.

The same is true of breads, cereals, canned soups and other processed foods. Anything that isn’t fresh requires energy for processing and cooking. Anything that’s pasteurized, for example, has a much larger carbon footprint than the same foods RAW. That’s because pasteurization requires the foods or beverages to be heated, burning up fossil fuel energy.

RAW living plants, in this way, are the most ecologically-sensitive foods you can buy, grow or consume. (They’re also the healthiest, but that’s a different article…)

Taken from the article You Are Not Green Unless Your Food Is Green
http://anilnetto.com/agrobusinessgm-food/you-are-not-green-unless-your-food-is-green/

DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN GET CHICKEN POX EVEN IF YOU WERE VACCINATED? (Part 2)

Singapore former Prime Minister Goh, 67, is down with chicken pox.

Hubby recovering from it.

Preschool called. Says, my 3 year old son, who had the vaccine is now down with chicken pox. Apparently, he caught it from another kid in school. Go figure!

I'm not worried about contagious flu (H1N1 Flu or previously known as Swine Flu)!

I think it's pox season! See my article, written last year on how to deal with it!

http://eatrawfoodtoday.blogspot.com/2008/10/did-you-know-you-can-get-chicken-pox.html


Jasmin
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No butts: China orders officials to smoke

Men smoke along a street in Beijing in February. Officials in a county in central China have been told to smoke nearly a quarter million packs of locally made cigarettes annually or risk being fined, state media reported.(AFP/File/Liu Jin)

By AFP - Sun May 3, 11:06 PM PDT

BEIJING (AFP) - Officials in a county in central China have been told to smoke nearly a quarter million packs of locally made cigarettes annually or risk being fined, state media reported.

The Gong'an county government in Hubei province has ordered its staff to puff their way through 230,000 packs of Hubei-produced cigarette brands a year, the Global Times said.

Departments that fail to meet their targets will be fined, according to the report.

"The regulation will boost the local economy via the cigarette tax," said Chen Nianzu, a member of the Gong'an cigarette market supervision team, according to the paper.

The measure could also be a ploy to aid local cigarette brands such as Huanghelou, which are under severe pressure from competitors in neighbouring Hunan province, according to the paper.

China has 350 million smokers, of whom a million die of smoking-related diseases every year.

More than half of all male doctors in China smoke, but the government is now trying harder to get them to kick the habit in order to set an example for others, state media reported recently.

http://health.yahoo.com/news/afp/healthchinatobaccooffbeat_20090504060729.html

SWINE FLU AND NIPAH VIRUS

My heart goes out to the families who are affected by the Swine Flu.

Malaysia had a horrific period when roughly 115 people, fathers, mothers, children died, all within a very short period of time in the pig farming industry. It was terrible and so heartbreaking. Interestingly, before this incident, Malaysia, despite being a Muslim country (where a majority of people eat halal food, meaning do not eat pork) was the biggest exporter of pork in South East Asia.

Jasmin
Come join my "Eat Raw Food Today" facebook group

The Nipah Story: Pigs Can’t Fly

• 10 Years After The Nipah Disaster'98
  http://www.mysinchew.com/node/14068?tid=52
  

2008-07-19 22:26

Tambun is legendary for its pomelos, which require two full hands to hold one of these giant grapefruits. Many of the pomelo smallholdings are near pig farms in the hamlet situated just outside Ipoh, the capital city of state of Perak in northern Peninsular Malaysia.

Like many Chinese there, Lee Koai Tow, worked as a pomelo farmer. Since pig waste was plentiful there, she used them to as fertilizers for the fruit trees. In September 1998, pigs in the area began to die in large numbers. The following month, Lee died too and her husband did not know why. Two days later on October 31, duck breeder Lai Mei, also died of a strange illness.

By year-end, ten workers from the pig-farming areas of Tambun, Ulu Piah and Ampang around Ipoh had died from a mysterious disease after being in coma for periods ranging from four days to a few weeks. The government identified the disease as Japanese Encephalitis or commonly known as JE. It said if no new cases were found by the following month, the government would declare that the JE outbreak had been contained.

However, less than two months later one day after Christmas, a pig farmer came down with suspected JE in Sikamat village, 270 km down south in the state of Negri Sembilan. By the first week into the new year, pigs in nearby Seremban, the state capital, began dying. Three people in the pig industry there died suddenly.

Toward the Chinese New Year in mid-March of 1999, a pig breeder of Sungai Nipah just south of Seremban, suddenly died triggering a panic. Half the population of the village fled elsewhere for fear of the killer disease. It spread like a raging wildfire out of control causing pig farmers and villagers to abandon their farms and homes in panic. By March, in nearby Bukit Pelanduk, the biggest pig farming community in Southeast Asia, had become a ghost town due to the hurried exodus.

The government then up-scaled the epidemic to a national crisis and a Cabinet-level task force was formed headed by the then Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. What happened in between was confusing. The government insisted that it was right in tagging the disease as the mosquito-borne JE while both the farmers and scientists suspected that an unknown killer has yet to be unmasked.

The outbreak was so lethal that every other suspected victim admitted into hospitals went home in their coffins. The virus had spread all over the surrounding areas to Kampung Sawah, Kampung India and Sepang, a stone’s throw from the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Stricken with fear, the farmers consulted temple mediums. They instructed the farmers to put up red banners on their door frames and fly red flags in their villages to ward off the angel of death.

After months of treating the outbreak as JE, the government decided in desperation to call in the Department of Medical Microbiology of University of Malaya’s Medical Faculty to help. Within five days the virus was isolated by Dr Chua Kaw Bing. Twelve days later it was identified as a new Hendra-like virus and tagged as the Nipah virus with the help of foreign scientists. The government then changed its strategy to combat the outbreak but still insisted that it was also partly due to JE.

At last count, the outbreak killed at least 115 people out of 265 infected cases. Over one million pigs, or half the country’s pig population, were culled. Some 36,000 had suffered the loss of employment due to the massive destruction of farms. Tens of thousands more were indirectly affected. In all, close to RM500 million of pig production was lost according to United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates. Overnight, Malaysia had become a net importer of pork whereas previously it was the key supplier of the meat in the region.

The farmers and their families had since returned to Bukit Pelanduk and the other affected townships. And to uncertain days. The authorities had since banned pig farming there. The young had drifted elsewhere in search of jobs. Only the old remained to live out their days.

The farmers appealed for compensation but the government was only not willing to compensate but would give them assistance at RM50 per pig destroyed when the market price was several times that. About 500 farmers decided to sue the government in 2002 but the cases are still stuck in the courts after six years.

Meanwhile, back in Bukit Pelanduk some old farmers were sipping their Chinese tea at a local coffee stall one hot and humid morning. Asked for their comments on the court case, one just stared back and retorted: “How long more?” Another gave a disgusted look and picked up his teacup for another sip of ti koon yam.

“What are you all going to do?” The old man put down his teacup, eyeballed his inquirer and pounded his chest with his right fist:“Waiting to die lah!” The rest of the old men all laughed animatedly.

It may seem like a cruel joke on themselves but their tears have dried up so long ago perhaps they needed that comic relief however false it may be to cleanse the despair inside them. These former farmers knew pigs can’t fly. They were all dead and buried now. Soon it would be their turn. (By BOB TEOH/ MySinchew)

MySinchew 2008.07.19

LOCAL COUNCIL IS HAZARDOUS TO OUR HEALTH

Just this week alone, on two separate occasions, I saw a Kuala Lumpur City Council worker (DBKL worker) spraying weedkiller on the pavement and at the side of the road.

WEEDKILLER!

Here we are trying to do our part to save the world, while these guys are spraying toxic chemicals into our environment, chocking Mother Earth to death.

Truly, I'm not blaming the very guy, who, by the way, is spraying the weedkiller without a protective gear whatsoever. The guy's just doing his job, trying to earn some decent money, while taking orders from superiors who don't care!

I'm quite alarmed, if you haven't figured this by now! You see, by taking short cuts and using cheap weedkillers, in essence, the local council is poisoning us; children, adults, older folks, animals, plants, rivers, the sea ...... Ultimately, their actions not only affect those who live in Kuala Lumpur, it affects Mother Earth. Period.

Thanks to Google, there's lots of information on how to control weeds in the city without resorting to poison. These City Council officers really need to start looking up on information on their computers because we are paying these guys to protect us.

Many councils have a website so if you have something you need to highlight to the folks at the council, you can do so online.

The Kuala Lumpur City Council (DBKL) complain page is http://bhea.dbkl.gov.my/eaduan.cfm
The Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MPPJ) complain page is http://eps.mbpj.gov.my/index.aspx.

But anyways, everyone has a pet peeve with their local council ... in London, in Perth, in Wichita ..... If you have something to say, do inform them. If you are in the know, why, go directly to the council president, if you can, or talk to your local representative!

Jasmin
Come join my "Eat Raw Food Today" facebook group

APPRECIATING YOUR LOVED ONE!

This is a very lovely video commissioned by the Singapore Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports "MCYS". Directed by the critically acclaimed and award winning Malaysian film director, Yasmin Ahmad.






The video talks about we need to appreciate our loved ones before something happens to them. Tears sprang in my eyes when I watched this video. It's so lovely and so true. We all have arguments with our spouses sometime or other. In fact, just a few hours ago, my husband and I had an argument in our car over our kids' chesty cough (childhood illnesses like a chesty cough is contagious, infecting everyone, you see). And while we were arguing, Baby started to cough and cough, so much so, he started to puke his dinner all over his car seat. Yikes!

Silly arguments have a way of manifesting over and over in the same manner. Ever had the same problem with your loved ones? Husband, wife, maybe mum or dad or brother and sister? Terrible isn't it? Unconstructive arguments are never a win-win thing. It's lose-lose for all parties.

My girlfriend, over lunch told me her German husband and wife bosses has a relationship expert named Tessie to come over to the office once a week to educate and guide the couple on how to better cope with their relationship, cope with the stress of work and so on. We thought it was a really refreshing idea. Most people are too shy to do this, or too embarrassed to accept help from an expert to make them a better person. Why? And what is wrong in trying to improve oneself right?

Once you have seen this sad but wonderful video, please see this heartwarming young kids love story. It's sure to put a smile on your face. It's also directed by the wonderful Ms Yasmin Ahmad, and it was for the Malaysian Independence Day, about how people of different races can get along. I've seen this video multiple times and it's still cute every time I see it.

Old tyres are put to good use in a building constructed with energy-saving features.

Thousands of used tyres are being used to form the foundation
of new shopping complex Space U8 in Shah Alam.
This revolutionary construction technique creates a heat sink
that will help cool the interior of the building naturally

Tuesday April 7, 2009
Foundation of tyres
By MICHAEL CHEANG
http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2009/4/7/lifefocus/3626139&sec=lifefocus

Old tyres are put to good use in a building constructed with energy-saving features.

BUILDINGS are the world’s biggest energy guzzler, using more than two thirds of the power produced and contributing to 40% of global carbon footprint, from the construction and maintainance of the building itself.

With those facts in mind, local developer Mainstay Development Sdn Bhd decided to make its new Shop Unit Mall Office development complex in Shah Alam as environmentally friendly as possible. One of the measures taken towards that goal is an unusual one – incorporating almost 220,000 used rubber tyres into the foundation of the building.

Called Space U8 to denote the spaciousness of the building, the complex will be the first ever commercial building to utilise the revolutionary Smart and Cool Homes technology invented and patented by Lincoln Lee. The system uses tyres to create a heat sink that drains the heat from walls built with autoclaved aerated concrete bricks, thus making the building interior cooler and minimising air-conditioning needs.

Located in Bukit Jelutong, the complex spans 3.2ha and consists of 58 units of four-storey shops and offices as well as two basement floors. A large 6,300sqm courtyard in the middle of the complex is the jewel of the building’s crown and the main beneficiary of the Smart and Cool Homes technology.

“The courtyard is the centrepiece of the building and we plan to use it for activities and as a community area. We want to use as little energy as possible to cool it,” said Raja Mohd Azmi Raja Razali, executive chairman of Mainstay Development.

“With this system, the temperature can be lowered by 2°C to 3°C. So there might not be a need for air-conditioning. It won’t be cold but it will be cool and comfortable, with proper wind flow taken into account.”

Lee said the technology saved money that would otherwise be spent on cooling the building. “The biggest bill a building management has to pay every month is usually the one for air-conditioning. But here, they can save 50% to 60% of the electricity used for cooling.”

Besides utilising the Smart and Cool Homes system, the Space U8 building will also incorporate a solar photovoltaic system (around 138 kilowatt peak) on the roof of the courtyard to generate electricity. “The idea is to use solar energy to power common areas as much as we can. Anything extra will be passed to the grid,” said Raja Azmi. “We are also considering the use of solar thermal air-conditioning to reduce the reliance on electricity from the grid to power the air-conditioning.”




To top it all off, the roof of the courtyard is specially designed to receive lots of natural light and provide for optimum temperature and insulation control.

Green space

When Mainstay Development began designing the building, the thought of making it green was already in the plan, though not in a major way.

“We were already looking at energy-saving solutions like energy-efficient light bulbs, energy-saving devices for our car parks that will save about 45% of our energy usage and so on,” said group chief executive officer Ang Teck Seong. Ang then caught wind of Lee’s unique construction method and decided to check it out.

Lee, the 47-year-old executive director of property developer Value Yield, has been building energy-efficient homes with cool interiors that do not require air-conditioning for over 11 years. After paying Lee a visit at his home in Semenyih (which was also built with his technology), Raja Azmi and Ang made the groundbreaking decision of adopting Lee’s technology for their shopping complex.

While the Smart and Cool Homes system has proven to work in residential homes, it is now put to the test on a commercial building for the first time.

“We had to change the entire perception of how to build a building and the engineers were not happy about it,” said Ang with a laugh. “But we know that Lincoln has done this successfully for houses, and we convinced the engineers that it is a workable system.”

When completed, the building will be the largest man-made heat sink created with used tyres in the world – with an estimated 220,000 tyres used in the building foundation, a number that will rise to half a million eventually.

The bigger picture

“We’re definitely taking a risk because it has not been done before and might have some technical issues. It is also going to cost more because of the tyres, solar panels and so on,” said Raja Azmi. “But we agreed that this is something good and worth doing, and we are willing to make sacrifices from a financial and time standpoint to accommodate this.”

To illustrate how much the company has sacrificed, he gave an example – the building foundation was already in an advanced stage of development when Lee came onboard.

“We slowed down construction to incorporate the tyres into the structure. That was quite inconvenient for us,” said Raja Azmi.

Lee estimated that if he had been involved in the project from the start, they would have saved at least RM10mil. Instead, they now will incur an additional RM4mil to RM5mil just to accommodate the tyres in the building foundation.

“Most businessmen won’t do something like this! Maybe as first-time developers, we’re naïve enough to take that plunge,” said Raja Azmi with a laugh.

Mainstay Development executive chairman Raja Mohd Azmi Raja Razali (right) and Lincoln Lee,
inventor of the Smart and Cool Homes technology,
at the construction site of the new Space U8 shopping complex.

“We could have just sold the shoplots and washed our hands of it. But we’re in this for the long term. We’ll be managing the complex ourselves and the anchor building will still be owned by us, as well as the car park and the centre courtyard. Therefore, we control the key elements of the building. That is why we are willing to invest in this.”

They also hope to create awareness that global warming is a very real threat, and to lead by example. But Raja Azmi reckoned that developers cannot fight that war on their own.

“The Government should come up with an incentive to encourage developers to do these things. Materials like solar panels can be expensive and not everyone would want to do it. So there must be some incentives for developers like us to want to do it,” he said.

Great video how we can make trash into food

It's a great video on how people can use sustainable ways to create a sustainable lifestyle.

For example, the video talks about how people are trying to create Eco villages and Eco cities in China that uses cheap reusable materials to make houses, and to create an environment to encourage sustainable enterprises to get people to stay and thrive in villages instead of having to migrate to cities to look for jobs. They talk about creating farms on rooftops of buildings in China because as population increases, land for farms will ultimately decrease.

The video also talks about how Nike is trying to create a shoe that uses less raw materials to make, that is safe for the environment, and that is easily recycled when it is trashed later.

There are lots of other interesting info about how man can make a product that can be recycled safely. Designing every product in such a way that at the end of its lifecycle the component materials become a new resource. Designing buildings in such a way that they produce energy and become a friend to the environment.

Jasmin
Come join my "Eat Raw Food Today" facebook group

WHY OUR GRANDPARENTS DIDN'T HAVE THAT MUCH TRASH IN THEIR TIME!

Image taken from http://www.malaysiantoday.com.my/web/modules/news/article.php?storyid=207

A few days ago, I asked my mum how she and her family got rid of their trash in the old days, and she blinked at me and said, "we didn't have that much to throw away to begin with".

We could not afford many things, and plastic was expensive and hard to come by. Most bought stuff was wrapped in paper and tied with a string. Liquids were stored in glass bottles, and a man would come around on a bicycle, once a week, to collect glass bottles (Coke bottles, milk bottles, soy sauce bottles .....), metal cans and newspaper. He'd weigh and pay my mum's family for all the items sold.

All biodegradable trash would be stored in a large bin and another man would go around daily, collecting this trash for the pigs to eat. Yeah, pigs eat just about anything, but thankfully, the pigs have a better diet in controlled farms today.

Most clothes are used until they are really worn out. Hand-me-downs are the norm, and holes are patched to death I tell you. And once no one can wear these clothes anymore, they are used as rags.

Even from the time I was born, disposable diapers were not readily available. And everyone used cloth diapers. Babies were taught to pee and poo at a very young age, so that mums would have less washing to handle LOL. Today, they have a name for this type of potty training; Elimination Communication. My first son was potty trained at 9 months old, when I first learned of this technique, while my 2nd son was trained right from the start. I was surprised at how smart newborns can be. After the 2nd try, just like they said, my baby would pee on cue the moment I said "shhhhhhh". How great is THAT? You can't believe how much money I save on diapers! And even if I do have to use disposable diapers, I don't use that many.

I remembered that the Malaysian government had a campaign on tv to get people to throw their trash in plastic bags. Previously people would just dump their rubbish in the trash can and the garbage man would dump all the smelly rotting items into the dump truck. I remembered this tv public announcement very well. In the short tv clip, they showed this person putting everything into a plastic bag, and putting the neatly tied trash nicely and neatly into the garbage can. When the garbage man came by, in the tv clip I mean, he would just reach into the garbage can and grab the plastic bags, which did not emit any undesirable smell and place it neatly into the garbage truck. The campaign was probably in the 80s, correct me if I'm wrong, as I was just a kid then. But oh boy, if only the government knew the consequences of this campaign in later years. Plastics galore, and no way to get rid of it.

Recently, I read an interesting book from an Australian who encourage people to wrap their trash with newspapers instead of a plastic bag. The idea is, if you reduce, reuse and recycle correctly, you should have very little trash, so much so, it can all be wrapped up in a newspaper. I really like this idea.

Anyways, back to olden day trash. We can learn a few things from those guys way back then. But the most important thing is, we, as individuals, today, must want to start reducing our trash. Earth Hour, Earth Day, Recycling This and That, all those campaigns would be useless if we don't make a point to just reduce our trash daily, without prompting right?

Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Jasmin
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ps if you know of anybody who have babies, or going to have a kid and want to save money, please tell them about Elimination Communication. It can't hurt to try. They can message me via my blog for questions about this method, or they can just Google for information on this.

PROBABLY THE BEST MOISTURISER YOU CAN USE!

Probably the best moisturiser I've ever used comes from the kitchen. It's the humble cold pressed oil. Well, maybe not so humble because unlike the normal cooking oil, the cold press oil is in a class of it's own. Something like having a sexy sleek Ferrari rather than a functional 50cc motorbike.

But I swear it's really good. I've been pregnant twice, and I have been using cold press oil on my body and face, and there's no stretch marks at all on my belly. Sure it could be down to genetics, but I have stretch marks on my butt as a result of being a plump teen with a humongous butt, once upon a time (this COULD be too much info right?).

This is how I use it. I would take a shower first, but just before I get out, I would pour about a teaspoon of the luxurious oil onto my palm and rub the oil all over. Then, I take a quick rinse to remove any excess oil. Previously I have missed this step and as a result, the excess oil would stick to the towel and stain it. The end result doesn't feel "oily". My skin just feels satin smooth.

Cold press oil makes a great massage oil for everyone from adults to babies. You could pour a little bit of oil into a small dark bottle as a carrier oil, and you can add a drop of essential oil to make the oil smell nice.

Cold press oil can be obtained from most organic shops, and it can be any type of oil, from olive oil to grape seed oil which is what I'm using now to coconut oil (or sometimes called coconut butter) or palm oil. Cold press oil is raw oil because manufacturers do not use heat to extract the oil, which means all the fabulous vitamins and all the other good stuff are still in the oil. However, because the oil is not heated, the oil can turn rancid faster, so it needs to be stored in a dark glass bottle in a cool place. The other benefit of using cold press oil, and this is one thing most people don't know, is that these oil protects you from the sun, meaning it has some SPF protection.

Some oils like the coconut oil is antibacterial and antiviral. Great for using on children, but unfortunately, my husband doesn't like the coconut oil fragrance, so I have stopped using it.

Cold press oil is also good to eat, to use in your salad dressing but don't use it for cooking. If you want to cook, just stick to regular oil instead, as using raw oil would defeat the original purpose of going raw. Cheaper on the wallet as well.

Raw, cold press oil do have a strong fragrance compared to a normal cooking oil which has no fragrance whatsoever so it may not be suitable for many Asian dishes. But there's many recipes online that would taste great with cold press oil.

Do drop by your local organic store and see what type of oils they have there.

Jasmin
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BEAUTY PRODUCTS SMELL SO CHEMICAL NOWADAYS

I notice, the more natural products I use, the more the regular shampoo and liquid soaps I use smell unnatural to me. These products actually smell like chemicals to me.

Don't get me wrong. I love beauty products. I use to spend tons of money on them, and there was a time I had 5 different bottles of shampoo in my bathroom. And as a kid, I use to love the smell of petrol. So ok, I was a little weird kid LOL

I suspect my youngest brother is like me. A fan of fragrance. He has all sorts of liquid soaps in his bathroom. And today, I realize my whole perception of fragrance has evolved as I reached out and used his Shokubutsu Orange Peel Sensation body cleanser which says smells like fresh orange peels. Did it smell like fresh orange peel? Not even close. So then, I tried his Shokubutsu Green Tea Harmony. Nope. It didn't smell like green tea. The trouble is Shokubutsu products are said to be 100% cleansing ingredients from plants to gently cleanse, nourish and re-energize skin. It can't be 100% natural products. It didn't smell natural to me, you know what I mean? There must be other chemicals in the bottle. I tried 3 other cleansers in his bathroom and I was really turned off by the fragrance. I just didn't like the smell.

Is something wrong with me? Maybe, maybe not. I think the more I got back to nature, to use more natural products, I really start to appreciate the natural fragrance around me. I have said in my previous post that I have used less store bought beauty products loaded with artificial fragrance, and instead have invested in safe and natural products.

Try it for yourself and see if you feel the same. Use less artificial coloring, artificial fragrance and try to go for more natural products. Then after a while, see if you notice how "artificial" the fragrance added into the products you use everyday can be.

Jasmin
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Stop Peeing In The Drinking Water!

Stop Peeing In The Drinking Water! - More DIY How To Projects

Indian Woman Nearly Hit A Child At The Curve Pedestrian Crossing!

I got so mad at this woman this morning. She didn't stop at the pedestrian crossing between The Curve shopping center and Ikea, and because of that, she nearly hit a little girl. This Indian woman, driving a station wagon with a red diplomat car number plate, never blinked an eye, and just kept cruising, nearly slamming into that little girl! Horrifying!

This really makes my blood boil!

It's a pedestrian crossing!

So, I did what I learned at Money and You program. Take a stand and do something about it.

I reached out and smartly rapped at her window to warn her (luckily she wasn't moving fast or else my fingers would have been severely injured I would think). But goodness, she had the cheek to get out of the car to yell at me.

Some people are just mean and selfish aren't they?

It's really time we share some love!

Jasmin
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HEALTH FACTS ABOUT DURIAN

picture taken from http://www.timwu.org

Durian, an Asian super fruit, has been used for centuries in Eastern medicine.

According to Cleo Malaysia magazine (Dec 2008), durian's creamy pulp contains protective antioxidants, hydrating oils and natural sugars which help maintain healthy moisture levels and strengthen cell membranes to prevent skin cell degradation.

Fresh, raw durian is good for all of us ..... but you know, in moderation only ........

How do I know this? Hubby once ate nothing but durians for an entire month (Soccer World Cup Year 2002!). Yup, he did!




He was working from home, so he did nothing but just go out and buy pre cut, pre packed durian meat in a styrofoam box at lunch time, and had them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No exercise, no sleep, no nothing, except soccer and really painful gas. At first, he could not figure out what made him ill. Was it the lack of exercise? Certainly, vegetating on the couch and no body movement, other than to retrieve food from the plate sitting on the floor and punching the remote control with the thumb, can not be a good thing. But after a while, it dawned on him that the culprit was too much durian. Too much of a good thing, you might say.If you are curious, you can go to his blog and read about his love of World Cup and this gassy experience!

Apparently, durian is so good, Murad is now making anti-wrinkle cream from it. Murad is sold everywhere nowadays, and if you are looking for a jar of this miracle cream, you can try contacting CN Beauty as they are the main distributor of the Murad products in Malaysia.

Go out and have a bite of durian for good health and good looks!

Jasmin
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