Affirmation

I stumbled upon this song called "Affirmation" sung by Darren Hayes of the now defunct Australian pop duo "Savage Garden"

This song is taken from their second album of the same title released in 1999.



Some people find this song inspirational. Many find that the song strikes a chord in them. However, there are others who don't quite agree with the ideals promoted in the song.

What about you? Do you agree with these affirmations and find them inspiring?



I believe the sun should never set upon an argument
I believe we place our happiness in other people's hands
I believe that junk food tastes so good because it's bad for you
I believe your parents did the best job they knew how to do
I believe that beauty magazines promote low self esteem
I believe I'm loved when I'm completely by myself alone

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can't appreciate real love until you've been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye

I believe you can't control or choose your sexuality
I believe that trust is more important than monogamy
I believe that your most attractive features are your heart and soul
I believe that family is worth more than money or gold
I believe the struggle for financial freedom is unfair
I believe the only ones who disagree are millionaires

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can't appreciate real love until you've been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye

I believe forgiveness is the key to your unhappiness
I believe that wedded bliss negates the need to be undressed
I believe that God does not endorse TV evangelists
I believe in love surviving death into eternity

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can't appreciate real love until you've been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye

Messages From The Water

Water.

It is so precious to life. How can life sustain itself without water?

Yet did you know that water can be affected by our emotions, by our thoughts? And water can send us messages?

As unbelievable as it may sound, that was what Dr Masaru Emoto, a Japanese researcher and author claimed in his incredible book “The Hidden Messages In Water”.



I happened to stumble upon this book in MPH and was thoroughly fascinated by what was written inside! Searching on the Internet revealed large number of websites on this topic.

From Dr Emoto’s work, we are provided with factual evidence that human vibrational energy, thoughts, words and music can affect the molecular structure of water.

Don't believe me? Continue reading.

As you know, snow has been falling on the earth for possibly more than hundreds of millions of years. Each snowflake, we have been told, has a very unique shape and structure. No two snowflakes are ever alike!


Real snowflake photo from Live Science

Inspired by snowflakes, Dr Emoto decided to experiment freezing water and taking photograph of its molecular structure. What he discovered was so amazing it stunned the world.

Watch the video here to see how frozen water crystals are photographed.

There were many fascinating differences in water crystals from different sources and environment. Water from mountain streams and springs show the beautifully formed geometric designs in their crystalline patterns. Polluted and toxic water from industrial and populated areas show distorted and randomly formed crystalline structures.


This is from Japan's Shimanto River, which is known as the last clean stream in Japan.


This is from Biwako Lake in Japan, where pollution is getting worse. Look at the poorly formed crystal structure.


The beautifully formed crystal from the famous fountain in Lourdes, France which is known for its healing properties.


Crystal from Mount Cook Glacier in New Zealand.


Distorted crystal from heavily polluted Yodo River in Japan which passes through most major cities in Kasai.

Now maybe we can accept that the pollutants in the water could possibly affect the molecular structure of water, but what Dr Emoto did next took my breath away! He exposed water to different kinds of music and the water responded accordingly!

By placing distilled water between two speakers for several hours and then photographing the crystals that formed after the water was frozen, Dr Emoto produced the following amazing photos.


Bach's Air on the G String gives the impression that the crystal is dancing merrily!


Soothing Mozart's symphony created this beautiful soothing crystal.


Whereas heavy metal music resulted in this disastrous structure!



The beautiful crystal from water exposed to the Tibet Sutra which talk to people's souls and has a strong positive energy that can heal people's feelings.

Some of you may think that maybe it’s not so unusual that music can have an effect on water as music could generate some coherent vibrations in the water that influence the crystallization process. Well, maybe.

But here’s the shocking stunner! Dr Emoto proved that water can even respond to words! It did not matter which language he used, whether it's English, Japanese or Korean, they all gave the same results! He did this by typing words onto paper and then taping the paper onto glass bottles (filled with distilled water) overnight.

Here's the results.


Thank you


Love and gratitude


You make me sick, I will kill you!

Even deceased persons' names can affect the molecular structure of water. Look at these!


Adolf Hitler


Mother Teresa

Guess what? Even our thoughts and intentions can also affect water. Look at these two photos.


This is polluted water from Fujiwara Dam in Japan before a prayer is offered.


And this is the same water from Fujiwara Dam after a Buddhist prayer is offered!

Astonished? What do all these mean?

These photographs show that water is alive and highly responsive to every one of our emotions and thoughts. It means that thoughts and feelings can affect physical reality! By producing different focused intention through written and spoken words and music and literally presenting it to the same water samples, the water appears to “change its expression”. Awesome!

But where is the scientific explanation for this? Dr Emoto believes that hado or chi is at work here. Hado is the intrinsic vibrational pattern at the atomic level in all matter, the smallest unit of energy. Its basis is the energy of human consciousness. Dr Emoto thinks that hado changes according to the consciousness of the observer, in other words, the way we see things.

Since human is 70% water, could it mean that what we think creates our reality, not just emotionally but physically?

And since the planet is also 70% water, would this discovery have profound implications for the environment? Put it another way, could we 'think' a polluted stream clean again?

I don't know about you, but I just find it impossible to read this book and come away without being affected. I really think this discovery by Dr Emoto should be thoroughly investigated since it may have large implications to human health and the entire planet earth.

Are You Generation X or Y?

Often times, when we are asked our age, we tend to feel uncomfortable. This is especially so for ladies who will do anything to hide their real age.

So to save you the trouble, I am not going to ask your age.

Instead, I'm going to ask you to tell me which generation you are from. From the picture above, you can see the different generations and which category you are in. Now I really do not know who invented these terms but a search on Google revealed different definition for each generations.

Some say Generation X are those born between 1965 and 1980, while others say it's between 1961 and 1981. Still others say it's those born between 1965 and 1975. It was confusing, so I just gave up and stick to this one.

If you look at the picture above, there is no name given to those who were born after 1989. So I guess if you are one of them, you must be Generation Z!

Now here's a short description or characteristics prominent in each generation.

Baby Boomers - Beatlemania, television is the craze, transistor radio is a must-have.

Generation X - Don't respect parents, sex before marriage, don't believe in God.

Generation Y - Status seekers, "all about me" self importance, peer oriented, seeking instant gratification, internet savvy, embrace YouTube & social networking sites.

Generation Z - Single parent, same-sex family, equality of the sexes, addicted to and highly dependent on digital technology

I'm just wondering ...which category do people who like to blog fall under?

Anyway, I am a proud Gen X! That does not mean I don't respect my parents, or have sex before marriage or don't believe in God.

What about you?

Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?

You have probably heard this joke before. Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?

The simple answer is of course, to get to the other side.

But searching on the Internet, I was able to find many humourous answers to this famous question. Here are some of the ones that stood out. If you scroll down further, you will get to read my own versions of why the chicken crossed the road quoted by some superstars, brandnames and fellow bloggers. Enjoy!!!

PLATO
For the greater good.

ALBERT EINSTEIN
Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road crossed the chicken depends upon your frame of reference.

DARWIN
It was the logical next step after coming down from the trees.

ARISTOTLE
To actualize its potential.

FREUD
The fact that you are at all concerned that the chicken crossed the road reveals your underlying sexual insecurity.

LAO TZU
Those who cluck do not know. Those who know do not cluck.

JULIUS CAESAR
It came, it saw, it crossed.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON
It didn’t cross the road; it transcended it.

HAMLET
To cross or not to cross, that is the question.

AGENT FOX MULDER
You saw it cross the road with your own eyes. How many more chickens have to cross the road before you believe it?

CAPTAIN KIRK
To go boldly where no chicken has gone before.

RHETT BUTLER
Frankly my dear, it didn’t give a damn!

DARTH VADER
To get to the dark side.

JACK NICHOLSON
Cause it f***ing wanted to. That’s the f***ing reason!

JOHN MC ENROE
Cross the road?! You cannot be serious! The chicken was on the line!!

JOHN LENNON
Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing the road together, in peace.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN
We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

BILL GATES
I have just released eChicken2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your check book.

BARACK OBAMA
The chicken crossed the road because it was time for CHANGE. The chicken wanted CHANGE!

JOHN MCCAIN
My friends, that chicken crossed the road because it recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON
When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure -- right from Day One! -- that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.......

GEORGE W BUSH
We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

BILL CLINTON
I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE
Chicken shall not shit while crossing the road. This is for a green environment.

LEE KUAN YEW
We have installed crossing lights at all traffic junctions. All chickens should follow instructions while crossing the road.

NAJIB RAZAK
What chickens? I don't know any chickens... especially those from Mongolia.

ABDULLAH BADAWI
We have to be fair to all chickens. Some want to cross over the road, some do not. ..... Zzzzzz ......zzzzzz ....... Now what were we talking about? Ah yes, chickens. We will form a Royal Commission to decide whether it is right for them to cross the road.

MAHATHIR
Now even non-bumi chickens want to cross the road! How can they disrespect and disregard apa nama bumi chickens? We must be allowed to cross over first. It is our special privilege and no one can challenge that!

ANWAR
We have enough chickens waiting to cross over in September.

SHAHRIR
All foreign chickens are welcome in Malaysia but they must not cross over the road within 50km of the border.

AHMAD ISMAIL
The chicken has no right to cross the road. The chickens are pendatang.

VK LINGAM
Looks like a chicken, clucks like a chicken but may not necessarily be a chicken.

Hillarious, no? I could not stop laughing!

And now, my own take on why the chicken crossed the road...

L’OREAL
The chicken is worth it!

MCDONALDS
It’s loving it!

AIRASIA
Now every chicken can cross the road!

CONFUCIUS
The journey to the other side of the road begins with a single step.

BRITNEY SPEARS
Ooops…! The chick did it again!

MARIAH CAREY
WHEN YOU BELIEVE you can cross the road, just say BYE BYE to other chicks here and MAKE IT HAPPEN! It may seem like FOREVER, but once you reach the other side, you will know the truth, that a HERO lies in you!

MY BUG LIFE
It wanted to taste the food and see the sights on the other side.

CC
It could hear the quaint melody calling it to experience the Malaysian life in the bungy land across the road.

KEEYIT
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. That’s why it had to cross the road today.

MONICA
It wanted to sniff the rose.

SUITUAPUI
Because it was crazy....and still crazy after all these years!

TEKKAUS
It knew its day would start over there.

JOHNNY ONG
Because life ain’t happening over here. Life’s happening over there!

TWOSUPERHEROES
It has abnormal capacity and desire for food, traveling places and enjoy the best life has to offer.

CBENC12
Because life’s a rollercoaster!

DAY DREAMER
Its thoughts and thinking in reality made it cross the road.

EASTCOASTLIFE
It wanted people to hear its story. It was determined. It was fearless. How much would it take to break it?

ACURA
It believed in looking reality straight in the eye and denying it.

EILING
It is a full time workaholic, a part time alcoholic, and occasionally a chickcoholic.

MOLLY
It wanted to build its home sweet home across the road.

JAM
Because life is like that!

PIKEYDUDE
Because it was striving for life and friends, and was pondering its own existence in this great, vast universe.

LINA
It was a Japan-mad chicken and it could see Sony, Toyota, Sushi King, Rakuzen etc. etc. on the other side.

MISSMALL
It wanted to get to Bloomingdale for a wedding banquet!

BENGBENG
It didn’t like the longkang over here and wanted to cross to the longkang over there.

QUACHEE
It is a “dreamer” and it believes in living its dreams and would like to inspire other chickens to cross the road with it.

MARIUCA
It wished upon a falling star that it would cross the road to smell the perfumes!

FOONGPC
There’s always a first time for everything, and CROSSING THE ROAD is no different!

The Ghost In Red Dress

I have a female friend whose brother always complained of headaches. To protect their privacy, I shall call my friend Jenny and her brother David. David had went to see the doctor several times but it did not cure his headaches.

So one day while having lunch with Jenny, I asked her if she was willing to meet up with my friend Thomas’ mom. I told her that Thomas’ mom had been known to cure mysterious illnesses but I stressed that she is not a doctor but someone who has the gift to heal others. If you’ve read my previous posts, you would know by now that Thomas’ mom also has the ability to see dead people.

Jenny agreed to persuade her brother to meet up with this old lady. I brought her and her brother to Thomas’ house the following week. It was in the evening time after Jenny’s brother came back from work.

Thomas welcomed us and introduced his mother to both Jenny and her brother. The old lady started with a tarot card reading and after going into deep trance for a while, opened her eyes and said “You are in danger. You are being followed.”

“Followed by whom?” asked David, stunned.

Thomas’ mom looked into his eyes and whispered, “Every evening when you come back from work, this long haired female ghost in red dress follows you to your house.”

I could see David’s face instantly turned deathly pale.

My own hair was standing.

“However,” Thomas’ mom continued, “she could not get into your house as your house is being protected.”

Jenny was shocked and blurted, “Why is she following my brother?”

“There are many reasons... but she’s definitely up to no good.”

“What should we do?” Jenny asked.

Thomas’ mom thought for a while then said, “You will do exactly what I said. I don’t care whether you are a Christian or a Buddhist. You just follow.”

She continued to explain that some people who sought her help were Christians and they did not agree to burn incense and wear amulets as it was against their religion. Jenny and David were both Buddhists so they did not have a problem adhering to her advice.

I could not remember exactly what she asked them to do except that it involved some prayers, burning of incense and staying indoors after dark at night. She also burnt an amulet (“fu” in Chinese), dissolved it in a glass of water and asked David to drink it.

One week later, Jenny called me up to say that David’s headaches were gone. They were to meet up with Thomas’ mom again later that day and asked me to come along. But I was busy that day and decided not to go.

It was only a month later that I bumped into Jenny at a shopping mall. I asked her about David and she said he’s OK and he had no more headaches. But she told me the night after they did the burning of incense as instructed by Thomas’ mom, David was involved in a car crash. The car was damaged very badly but incredibly, David only had a small cut on his hand.

When Jenny asked her brother what happened, David said “I was driving when suddenly a lady with long hair and dressed in red stood in front of my car. I swerved to avoid her and crashed into the drain.”

Note: This is a true story except for the ending. I spiced up the ending to make it sound scary. Hope it works. The real ending is this - David did not get involved in a car accident. After doing exactly as instructed by Thomas' mom, his headaches gradually went away and that was the end of it. Did he believe about the female ghost who followed him every night? Yes, but after his headaches were gone, he knew she no longer followed him.

Regarding the car accident at the end of the story, I did not really made that up. I just simply combined two real stories into one. Thomas' mom once told me about a lady who came to see her about her son. He was having a spate of bad luck recently. When she recommended the lady to burn incense for her son, she refused saying that it's all mumbo jumbo. Furthermore, she's a Christian and would do no such thing. Two weeks later, the lady came crying to Thomas' house. She wept that her son died in a fatal car crash. The car landed in a drain and was badly damaged. Thomas' mom did not console her. Instead she said, "I told you what to do but you refuse to listen. Why do you cry? It's too late to do anything now."

Quotes On Mariah Carey

In my last post, I talked about Mariah Carey, one of the most successful artistes of all time. She has been a source of inspiration to millions of people all over the world. People look up to her as the artiste to emulate, as was evidenced by hundreds of Mariah wannabees at the American Idols audition.


Photo of Mariah and American Idol contestants from Idol Stalker

Now, there are people who dislike her and her music. I am certainly NOT one of them. Well, I guess you can't please everybody.

But let's hear what some of the most famous singers, producers and songwriters have to say about Mariah.


David Morales' photo from DJAlexLee
"I've never seen Mariah be unkind to anyone. She's the best person I’ve worked with on remixes. She's the one that I’ve spent the most time with." - David Morales, DJ, remixer and producer.



Usher's photo from Idolator
"I've been working so hard, I'm about to have a Mariah Carey" - Usher



Janet Jackson's photo from The Age
"I have met her [Carey] before and she's really cool and so funny. Everyone has been given the wrong impression of her, and maybe it is her doing. But you have to remember that celebrities are always in the spotlight and are sometimes forced to conduct them selves in a different way than they normally do. That's how it is in the business. I have met artists who are real divas, but Mariah Carey is not one of them. She is a very sweet person, and what nobody sees off camera is the real person she is on the inside." - Janet Jackson



Shania Twain's photo from Living La Vida Boca
"Mariah is very grounded, a smart and level-headed person. I don't understand why people criticize her intelligence when she can do something as miraculous as recover from a physical and exhaustion breakdown, a record label buy-out, a film flop, and a soundtrack whose sales has proven to have received little to no recognition and absolutely no promotion. She can't be that simple if she can make a come back the way she did. She hasn't been given enough credit in my opinion. She has to be some sort of a genius actually just to have focused on becoming a stronger person and not letting people like the media destroy her completely. There are some people out there that can't handle the pressure of being a celebrity and the criticism and knowing that besides success there is always failure that you have to lean to recover from, and Mariah has proven to be the type of person who doesn't let anyone or anything break her down. She knows how to keep her life on track and if that isn't intelligence then I don't know what is." - Shania Twain



Ashanti's photo from Ms Ashanti
"I was definitely always a fan of hers. We're on the same record label, so that's how it (the tour) came about. I met her in Miami and she's really cool. She's so down to earth and funny, which I didn't expect." - Ashanti



Missy Elliot's photo from kalamu.com
"MC is a funny girl and always makes me laugh no matter what. I love her!" - Missy Elliot



Celine Dion's photo from Celine Dion website
"If Mariah was to ask me to duet with her, I will travel immediately 20,000 km in order to sing with her for sure!" - Celine Dion



Brandy's photo from dyfuse
"Mariah showered me with flowers for a week and sent me to her private jet plane to ride and flew with her to the Billboard Music Awards." - Brandy



David Fumero's photo from abc medianet
"Mariah Carey wasn't what I thought. I expected her to be arrogant, but she wasn't. She was really great, really normal." - David Fumero (the model Mariah worked with in the "Honey" video)



Jessica Simpson's photo from newsday.com
"Oh, my Gosh! Can you imagine they're comparing you to her...I mean she's the BIGGEST SELLING ARTIST of the DECADE, and I admire her too." - Jessica Simpson



Diane Warren's photo from Deseret News
"She works really hard. No matter what she's done, there's a hunger there. She doesn't have to prove herself, but she feels like she does." - Diane Warren, best selling songwriter



Brian McKnight's photo from daylife
"It's one of the best duets (Whenever You Call with Mariah) I've done. Mariah is such a sweet and nice, wonderful person. She's very talented woman." - Brian McKnight



Toni Braxton's photo from Christmas CD Collection
"I really admire Mariah Carey. I think she's underrated, because she's a great producer, a wonderful writer, and no one gives her props for that. They always say 'Oh look, did you see what she had on?' And this and that. I'm like she's 30 years old, she's not 70 with breast hanging like chickens. She's young, she's beautiful, she has a great body. I just think she's wonderful, and I think people beat her up a lil' too much." - Toni Braxton



Christina Aguilera's photo from The Scented Salamander
"I discovered Mariah in my room one day listening to the radio, and as soon as 'VOL' came on, I ran downstairs going, 'Mommy, Mommy' -- I just found the GREATEST person in the world! I just heard the GREATEST NEW VOICE!!!" - Christina Aguilera



Whitney Houston's photo from Live & Loud KL
"We've never met or talked before. It was our first time working together. In the studio, we were laughing a lot and talking in between a song, we had a great time together. She's a vivid minded girl, she's a smart lady. I really like Mariah." - Whitney Houston



David Foster's photo from canada.com
"Working with Mariah was an extraordinary opportunity for me. It goes without saying that she's one of the world's greatest singers, but it was her musicianship that stunned me. She thinks like a record producer and lays her vocals down like a virtuoso guitarist. Singer, Songwriter, Producer Mariah is a triple treat. Working with her was a wonderful experience from beginning to end." - David Foster, Grammy Award Winning producer



Beyonce's photo from myplay.com
"Mariah's voice comes from God" - Beyonce



Patti LaBelle's photo from BV Entertainment
"She has a great voice. I don't know, I love her talent. I like her...So I said, 'would you like to do a show with me?' Before i can finish she said YES" - Patti LaBelle



Chris O'Donnell's photo from Celebrity-Socialite
"She's one of those popstars that's bigger than life. I've never really had to do an interview with her and everything, but just a normal conversation. She's cool, she's my age. She's from Long Island, NY. I know some people she went to high school with. She's a HUGE STAR. She showed up with her lil' entourage. You know...It's Mariah Carey. It's not just some actress you brought in..." - Chris O'Donnell



Brett Ratner's photo from nymag.com
"She does everything: she writes, she produces. People think she writes those songs just to sell records, but those songs come right from her heart." - Brett Ratner, director of "Heartbreaker", "I Still Believe" and "Thank God I Found You" videos



Britney Spears' photo from Top Web Directory
"When I was little I love listening to Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Michael Jackson...Yeah, I've always loved Mariah Carey, I guess because she writes her music, most of her music, and because she comes up with the BEST melodies. Her range is just from here to there, and she's probably my role model." - Britney Spears



Babyface's photo from AskMen.com
"Mariah Carey - A great producer, a great writer, a superb artist, but most of all...a good friend" - Babyface

In Praise Of Mariah Carey

Name me one of the most successful female singer in the world today, and Mariah Carey’s name would come to mind.

Oh, there is Whitney, Celine, Beyonce, Rihanna, Aguilera and what not, but surely Mariah is way above them all. OK, I may be a little bit biased here, but if you’ve been reading my blog, you would know that I’m a huge fan of Mariah. I have all her CDs (well, almost all) and even own a biography book about her life.

My favourite album "Daydream" which first introduced me to Mariah

Still, I don’t consider myself to be a very huge fan. I know of someone who is an even bigger fan. He collects all her CDs including every one of her singles. And he even took leave from work and flew to Singapore to watch her show when she performed there a few years back.

Unfortunately, this world is divided into Mariah lovers and Mariah haters. You either love or hate her. I don’t think there’s any in-betweens.

The "Butterfly" album where Mariah started to get all sexy

The reason I’m blogging about Mariah today is because I just got a little irritated when a friend recently said she hated Mariah. She hated everything about Mariah – the way she dressed, the way she pretended to be nice when she’s really a bitch, even the way she speak. To add insult to injury, she said Mariah could not sing.

I was like, excuse me, you can criticize anything about her, except her singing ability. Why, she’s known for her five octave range, for goodness sake! And if she could not sing, you think she can last this long?

If you really want to know which female artiste who can’t sing but still sell loads of albums, I’ll tell you. She’s Madonna, that’s who. She can’t sing to save her life! I am sorry, I am not supposed to be putting down other singers, but I just hate it when people compare Madonna to Mariah. What were these people thinking? There’s simply no comparison! Madonna loses hands down!

Yes, I can't deny the fact that Madonna is very good at reinventing herself, and that’s probably why she could last so long. But her singing? I tell you. If you were to place both Mariah and Madonna together and ask them to sing, Madonna would look like a total amateur. But to be fair, Madonna will surely beat Mariah performance-wise. On this, I’m not going to argue.

The album that was a commercial flop and led to Mariah's nervous breakdown

Coming back to my friend, the Mariah hater. She said that the only reason Mariah is so successful is because she dresses so little and flirts her way around. Well actually I can’t blame my friend. Mariah did come out with the song “Touch My Body” which to some people, is absolutely in poor taste. But if they really watch the video, they would know it’s meant to be funny, in other words, it’s a joke. Mariah herself said, why take things so seriously?

In fact, I myself did not like it when she was so scantily clad, especially during those days when she was not exactly slim! Her fashion sense was disastrous and it was certainly not flattering! But her singing ability was good and that’s all that really matters. Nowadays, she has slimmed down a lot and even cut a really nice figure, so I no longer have any qualms about her dressing sexily.

To be fair to Mariah, she DID NOT become successful after she started dressing sexily. She was already a major success when she debuted in 1990 with her song “Vision Of Love”. At that time, she was dressing up like, in her own words, Mary Poppins. That by itself prove that she has real talent.

Of course I am not saying her voice is better than Whitney Houston or Celine Dion. These two have powerful vocals and they are great too. In fact, I’m a fan of both Whitney and Celine. What the heck, I even like Beyonce, Aguilera and the latest star, Rihanna.

But what really sets Mariah apart from say, Whitney or Celine, is that Mariah actually writes her own songs, and co-produces her own tracks. She is even quite business savvy in promoting her albums. And not forgetting, she has a No.1 hit on the Billboard singles chart with every one of her albums (except Glitter and Charmbracelets) and almost all of those No. 1 songs were written by her. That got to make her one of the most successful singer-songwriter in the world today!

Mariah's #1's compilation album stayed at No.1 on Malaysian RIM Chart for over 22 weeks!

As for her character, I don’t think you can judge a person by simply relying on newspapers and gossip magazines. I won’t know the true Mariah, would I? What is she like in private? Nobody will know except those close to her.

In fact, what Mariah does in her private life is none of our business! We can listen to the gossips and rumours, but let us not judge the person based purely on those.

There are some people who said they prefer the old Mariah who dressed nicely and sang power inspirational ballads. I love the old Mariah too, but hey, she needed to keep up with the times! The trend in music now is not power ballads, but more on R&B and hip hop.

Just take a look at the top 10 hits on the Billboard Chart nowadays and you can see most songs on the top 10 are hip hop and R&B songs. Mariah is just fitting into the trend. That’s what you must do to continue to survive in this challenging industry. I will even go so far as to say she is one smart girl!

Mariah's comeback album the biggest selling USA album in 2005

How then can you explain that after her melt down in 2001, she literally shot back up with her album The Emancipation Of Mimi in the year 2005 with strong hip hop songs all over the album? She made a major comeback as she was the artiste who sold the most number of albums in USA that year! Wow!

To me, Mariah deserves all the success she is getting. When she hit her 17th No.1 recently with "Touch My Body" which made her the artiste who surpassed Elvis Presley for the most No.1 US singles and second only to The Beatles, she humbly put her accomplishment in perspective by saying "I can never really put myself in the category of people who have not only revolutionised music but also change the world... I'm just feeling really happy and grateful."

That, to me, is the reason why Mariah is so successful. She is always grateful to her fans and to everyone she has worked with. And we all know the great benefit of being grateful. Read my previous post on gratefulness.

Now if you are still not convinced about Mariah’s talent and how she is actually one of the most hardworking and respected artistes in USA, I will let you in on what other major stars (singers, songwriters and producers) said about her in my next post.

Meantime, listen to Mariah belting out her self-penned inspirational song which she aptly called "Mariah's Theme". Mariah did not achieve success easily, and it was even harder to maintain her position as a top singer in the USA. She had once said that her whole life has been about obstacles. There were people and critics who wanted to see her downfall, yet she carried on fighting. This song is her heart-felt rendition of how she looked inside herself for the strength to strive towards her dreams.

Basically, it's a song that tells us to believe in ourselves, have faith in ourselves, and not let other people take away our dreams.

So turn up the volume one notch, sit back and listen to this song with the lyrics provided below. Hopefully you will, like Mariah, learn how to overcome all your life's challenges despite what others say or do to you.

They can say
Anything they want to say
Try to bring me down
But I will not allow anyone to succeed hanging clouds over me
And they can try
Hard to make me feel that I
Don't matter at all
But I refuse to falter in what I believe or lose faith in my dreams

'Cause there's
There's a light in me
That shines brightly
They can try
But they can't take that away from me

Oh they...
They can do
Anything they want to you
If you let them in
But they won't ever win
If you cling to you pride and just push them aside
See I...
I have learned
There's an inner peace I own
Something in my soul that they can not possess
So I won't be afraid and the darkness will fade

'Cause there's
There's light in me
That shines brightly, yes
They can try
But they can't take that away from me

No
They can't take this
Precious love I'll always have inside me
Certainly the Lord will guide me where I need to go

They can say
Anything they want to say
Try to bring me down
But I won't face the ground
I will rise steadily sailing out of their reach
Oh Lord
They do try
Hard to make me feel that I
Don't matter at all
But I refuse to falter in what I believe or lose faith in my dreams

'Cause there's a light in me
That shines brightly, yes
They can try
But they can't take that away from me

Would You Eat This?

The things that the Chinese eat! I’m sure you have heard of them eating dogs, snakes and scorpions. But have you heard of people eating animals’ penises?

How very disgusting! I know I am Chinese, but I don’t eat such things!

However, there is a restaurant in Beijing, China that begs to differ. Fancy an exclusive restaurant that have a reputation for penises on their main menu? Welcome to Guolizhuang Restaurant, a place where almost every dish has a dick in it!

This is not a restaurant for the faint-hearted, so you may want to stop reading here. Animal lovers may take offence with this and I sincerely apologize.

According to Chinese traditional medicine, you are what you eat. If you want to be smart, eat pig's brain. If you want to strengthen your liver, eat goat's liver. Something like that, although it sounds really crappy to me!

How can eating a pig's brain makes one smarter is beyond me. Pigs are stupider than humans, right? Well, I could be wrong, you know.

Now apply this same logic (or non-logic) and you can see why lots of Chinese men go to Guolizhuang Restaurant! I don't think you need me to explain further, do you? Apparently, they can go for hours after a sizable meal at this restaurant!

It's no wonder that this restaurant is taking off well. Already, they have four franchises in Beijing alone, and they are even expanding to USA in the Chinatown area in Atlanta, Georgia.

Taking a look at their menu, you will see a broad introduction to the medicinal benefits of eating animal penises and testicles.

This is a photo of ox penises which are cut along the sides and shaped into little stars.



This is a photo of the yak penis served with a dragon carvings. In the Guolizhuang restaurant there are more than 30 different animal penises on the menu. And they have even more for very special guests! It seems that most of the patrons are rich, wealthy businessmen.



'Henry's whip' is the house speciality. It's actually a sheep's penis on a stick covered in mayonnaise, sweet cheese, served on a bed of lettuce. Yucks!



A platter of ox and dog penises. The consistency and taste may remind one of overly bitter rings of calamari. I don't know about you, but it sure don't look appetising to me!



You may be wondering if only men eat these stuffs. Well, for your information, women can dine at this restaurant too. They are even encouraged to eat the penises as they are supposed to be good for the skin! But it is not advisable for women to eat testicles as the hormones in the testicles could give them a deeper voice and a beard! Ouch!



Here's a photo of donkey penis served on a bed of lettuce. For the Chinese, eating the sexual organs are not a test of courage but rather a treatment for the libido. Apparently, eating all these sexual organs is far better than taking Viagra, and safer too.



Customers can even order deer and sheep foetuses at this restaurant. There is a Chinese saying that the Chinese eats everything that has four legs except tables, and everything that flies except airplanes. Come to think of it, I don't think that's a joke anymore!



If you want to know more (and I'm not encouraging you to visit the restaurant!) check out this write-up on Spiegel Online International. In fact, all the photos above were taken from the same site.

And if you want to know how the penises taste like (without visiting the restaurant!) you can read this personal review on Beijing China Guide.

Now you've got to excuse me, cos I gotta go puke....!!