Be it Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese or even Malaysian … I just love my drama. And this brings me to the topic of the wonderful satellite TV channels we get from China and around Asia. Although the satellite lets me view many many more Drama’s than I can dream of, channel surfing is a skill which needs to develop with satellite TV because of the crazy number of commercials which they air during and between programmes (most of which are repeated over and over and over and over again).

I’ve stumbled across a lot of great dramas, but one of the major problems is when and where these programs are aired. I remember this great Korean drama called 18 vs 29 and how I would tune in to JXTV and/or Fujian Channel to watch it every weekday. They aired the same episodes on both channels at different times so if you miss one, you can still catch it on the other channel. The problem only occurred when they stopped airing it BEFORE the Drama concluded!?

I thought that SURELY it was purely a mistake, an accident, or maybe the TV station suffered a seizure. After a week or two though, I finally gave up looking for the 18 vs 29 kdrama and settled onto watching the anime, InuYasha , on XingKong. Unfortunately the same thing happened, they stopped airing it before it was concluded! Boo!

The funny thing is that I would go through all this trouble looking for a drama to watch on satellite TV, but in fact, I still have drama which I have yet to even start watching on DVD!

There’s always that sense of togetherness which food brings to family and friends. And it’s even better when it involves yummy BBQ and Satay! I attempted to cook the satay over the coals for a short while, fanning and turning it, but I found it a lot faster and easier to do it on Cooking Mama using the wii =P

I tried to decorate the ou zhu mi (hokkien) like coffee but… As you can see, it just wasn’t smooth enough to have the coconut sit solidly. Mum also made LongDong for dinner… like rice cubes in vegetable curry.

Baby Chris was showered with so much attention the whole time and I’m sure he loved it =) He’s a lot more alert now; looking around at bright lights, listening out for strange sounds, wriggling and kicking, but he still doesn’t do too much except cry and secrete bodily fluids…

I’m finally free from assessments and only have two exams to sit for!! YaY! Since I’ve been lacking in updates recently, I decided to share something I found in my attempt to do some research for a completely NON SEXUAL related topic, I stumbled across this article which gave me a good minute of entertainment =P

Does attractiveness in men provide clues to semen quality?
M PETERS, G RHODES, L W SIMMONS. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. Oxford: Mar 2008. Vol. 21, Iss. 2; pg. 572
Abstract (Summary)

The psychological mechanisms underlying attractiveness judgements in humans are thought to be evolved adaptations for finding a high quality mate. The phenotype-linked fertility hypothesis proposes that females obtain reliable information on male fertility from male expression of sexual traits. A previous study of Spanish men reported that facial attractiveness was positively associated with semen quality. We aimed to determine whether this effect was widespread by examining a large sample of Australian men. We also extended our study to determine whether cues to semen quality are provided by components of attractiveness: masculinity, averageness and symmetry. Each male participant was photographed and provided a semen sample that was analyzed for sperm morphology, motility and concentration. Two independent sets of women rated the male photographs for attractiveness, and three further sets of 12 women rated the photographs for masculinity, symmetry or averageness. We found no significant correlations between semen quality parameters and attractiveness or attractive traits. Although male physical attractiveness may signal aspects of mate quality, our results suggest that phenotype-linked cues to male fertility may not be general across human populations. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

It’s so interesting to know that scientists are still in their never ending quest in their attempt to answer the big question: “WHY?”

• Why do we like attractive people?
• Why do we think certain features are more attractive than others?
• Why is there a market for plastic surgery?

So now we know that attractiveness does not link to higher fertility rate, what does this mean exactly? Could it possibly mean that there’s no need for attractive people in our world? I mean, what if all the attractive people turned out to have a lower fertility rate? And considering Australia needs to boost its’ population, we want to have the best chance of having more babies… So does that mean lots of ugly babies?

Okay okay, I know it’s a bit premature to jump to any assumptions like ugly babies. But the study could very possibly suggest that, now that we have all these different means of fertilisation and passing on dodgy aka inferior genes, maybe evolution has created more attractive people to combat this… If you think about it, if it had not been for plastic surgery, ugly people will breed with their ugly people gene pool and the attractive people have their own attractive gene pool. Eventually one of them will kick the other in the ass, maybe even enslave them for being different.

But we humans are smarter, we try to beat the system by creating this wonderful market for plastics. We figured since we’ve fixed up homes, we’ve fixed small pox, we’ve fixed peoples’ minds, so why don’t we just fix up everything else?
Or can’t that be done?

Do we recall the story of the husband who sued his wife for an “ugly baby”? You figure it out.

Some beauties are a cut above the rest.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
Byline: Lori Borgman

A husband in China was so upset his wife gave birth to an “ugly” baby girl that he accused her of having an affair. She confessed to saying, “I do” to plastic surgeons multiple times before saying, “I do,” to her husband at the altar. He filed for divorce and sued for deceit.

I had always said that I prefer Winter rather than Summer hands down. It has always felt great to curl up on the sofa with a hot mug and a great book, to be able to just snuggle further into the cocoon of warmth and listen to the rain fall gently against the window.

But that all changed when I went to China for Winter. I actually experienced what a REAL Winter is supposed to feel like, with ice and snow and below zero temperatures. I experienced my fingers and toes freeze to numbness for the first time, my cheeks and ears burn from the slightest movement, the constant thought of “I hope my contacts don’t freeze on my eye”, and I even had the cautious steps of someone who had slipped on ice-coated foot paths one too many times.

Even the idea of snow, which was once an exciting thought, has been tarnished. Instead I worried that the snow meant more washing for me to do,  that I have to be more cautious on the wet roads, and I hoped snow wouldn’t land on my hair because I just washed it. Snow is just solid rain, it’s not something you want to have a taste of (especially in a city like Beijing).

And most importantly, the whole reason for this post is to rant about the aches and pains of being sick whenever Winter comes around.

• The irritated throat
• Dry coughs
• Running nose
• Body aches
• Peeling nose
• Sneezes
• Phlegm
• Congested nose
• Interrupted sleep
• Fever
• Mouth breathing

I suppose the overall feeling of just wanting to stay in bed and wish the world away is the best description. The lack of taste, loss of hearing, incapable to breathe through my nose and a significant drop in energy makes it a lot worse to be sick. But we can only troop through these symptoms as it just means I’m one step closer to recovery and full health!

PS. Next time I’m going to be prepared for this and OD on Vit C!!

I found a really interesting article on news.com.au which goes into donor organs and the effect it has on the receivers of these organs. Just imagine you woke up from surgery where you’ve just received an organ only to start having cravings for certain foods, changes in your emotions or behaviour etc! How bizarre is that?!

AS LINCOLN Greaves waited to receive one of his mother’s kidneys, he had every confidence the transplant would give him a new appetite for life.

He wasn’t wrong.

While the 26-year-old once hated casseroles, vegetables, pumpkin soup and fish, these days he can’t get enough of them.

In an extraordinary twist, Mr Greaves’ new food cravings match those of his mother, Wendy.

“We totally believe my tastes have become like Mum’s because I have her kidney,” said Mr Greaves, from Nobbys Beach, on the Gold Coast.

To read more of the article, click here.

Here’s a random rant I never got around to posting… It’s about a year old but I like it because it brings back fond memories of the many many times that I don’t know who the heck I’m talking to, realise who it is and then cover up for my mistake =P
And I wonder why people think I’m weird, strange, random or a wacko….

A couple months ago I received a call from an unknown number…. if that was you, please let me know!!

The first time I received the call, I actually picked up thinking it was someone I may have accidentally deleted. When I asked who was calling, I didn’t recognise the name and well… I felt like a baka because the caller made it seem like I really should know them.

So brushing that aside, I tried to work out who it was by chit-chatting….

I THINK I WAS TALKING TO A STRANGER!!

I didn’t even recognise the voice and none of my friends knew who the number belongs to.

Talking about what they’ve been up to…. I seriously don’t think I know anyone who does those things and I didn’t even recognise any of the places they listed

The caller rang back a couple of times since but I never picked up the call…. Seriously guys, let me know if you’re playing a prank. It’s kinda freaky now….