The Geek Chic 101 [Stats? What stats? 36-24-34?]

Selamat bertemu kembali dalam racangan.. *tuk-tuk* Ketuk-ketuk Ramadan! Aceh ceh ceh. Lol. Did anyone watch this cooking show? I just love that lady lah.

Alrights, for today's iftar menu, we will be having website statistics, not body stats hok. :p

For our Vogue U blog, we are currently using Statcounter.com to keep track of our stats. On a personal recommendation, I have tried quite a number of web stats freeware and nothing can compare with what Statcounter has to offer. Anyway, I've really got a lot to talk about web stats, but I'll just share the importance of having a counter for your blog/website first.

Let's see how a Statcounter works.

Some of you might probably have a counter on your blog/site only for you to see the number of hits you can get on your site. That defeats the purpose of having a stats counter in the first place! Well, I'm not say it's wrong.. Of course you need the hits, but why? Right?

So here are some of the things you can analyze when you have a web stats on your blog.

• How many people visited your site?
• What are the keywords they used to get there?
• How often they come back?
• What pages are looked at?
• Which pages aren't looked at?
• Which search engines they came from?
  

And the list goes on...

[Click to enlarge image]

Recently, Vogue U have been receiving a lot of hits because of the recipes. So mama Moralle, recipe berbuka, can double up tak? Hehehe. The analysis goes there you see? Means you know people are looking for recipes this fasting month and that's how its gonna help you to generate more hits and make your blog/site a success. [So far no RA or 18sx keywords. :p]

**Note: This is where "LABELS" plays an important role. All the labels acts as keywords to users when they google for it. So be sure to add the correct and common labels so that the search engine can list your blog/site as the returned results for users.

Do you know?
The platform you use also will affect your hits? You see, blogger.com is under Google, so its like, "Who's under me will get listed most" kinda thingy. It works that way. [Politics eh? Lol..] You can try to do a search and see for yourself. I'm sure most of us uses google nowadays. :)

Another thing I love about Statcounter is that they provide a blocking cookie for your blog. Blocking cookie here means they won't log your own visits, [also to say, don't get excited for nothing when you see high hits when it's only coming from you alone. :p]

That's a tiny wee bit of sharing about having a stats counter for your blog. Similarly, it's like doing a survey for your own shop. Who wouldn't want the hits ey?

If you are gunning for victory for your own blog/site, start having one today with Statcounter.com!

Toodles everyone! Happy stats-ing!

Happy Birthday Shopaholic Mama!

Vogue U would like to wish our dearest
Shopaholic Mama a Happy Birthday!

Cheers to more shopping trips!

FASTING MENU WITH MAMA MORALLE - FRIED SMALL SHELLS MACARONI

Salam and a very good Friday to everyone :))

What to eat or cook today or over the weekends to break fast with your love ones, perhaps this will help. Instead of frying the normal big fatty mee or the skinny Bee Hoon, why dont u try the macaroni versions.

There are many types of macaroni u can try, but mama luv to use the small shell, it looks cute after frying.

And instead of cooking it the Mat Salleh style, why not try the Melayu style of Macaroni Goreng.

Its simple and easy, recipes will be the same like the way you fry normal mee goreng, but if u use Macaroni, its nicer to use more prawns instead of meat, use more vege and fish cake.

These are the basic ingredients that mama always used when I fried my macaroni, vege, prawns, small amount of meat and fishcake.

Other ingredients will be dry chilli, onions and garlics (to blend).

Its nicer to eat fried Macaroni compared to Mee Goreng, u want to know hw true it is, try it, n u will never regret it :))

""ENJOY THE WKENDS, MUAHHHHSSSSSSSSS""

La Dolce Vita : Bling bling money ain't a thing....really?

Women love the blings. Which woman wouldn't go weak when presented with a beautiful diamond ring? I know I would.

Nice???

Of course! You say.

Let's look at the routine when one goes diamond shopping.

OOhhh....nice ring/bracelet/necklace etc! wife says "Husband...I want to take a look please." Wife skips into shop merrily while husband weighs the possibilty of walking out of the shop a few thousands poorer.

Wife spots a piece of bling and asks to take a closer look and the questioning begins.

1st question : How many carats is this?

2nd question : What is the clarity of the diamond?

3rd question : What is the colour grading of the diamond?

4th : What cut is this?

Typical conversation right? But the most important set of questions is almost always never asked.

WHERE DO THESE DIAMONDS COME FROM?

IS THIS A CONFLICT DIAMOND?

DO YOU HAVE CERTIFICATION TO PROVE IT?

What are conflict diamonds and why is it important to be aware?

Conflict diamonds are diamonds illegally traded to fund conflict in war-torn areas, particularly in central and western Africa. The United Nations (UN) defines conflict diamonds as "...diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council."

These diamonds are sometimes referred to as "blood diamonds."

Would you want to buy a diamond and unknowingly fund the killing of hundreds of fellow human beings in another country?

Although today only 1% of the world's diamonds production are conflict diamonds, they still exist. Imagine how many millions or even billion pieces of diamonds out there and calculate the 1%.

To learn more about conflict diamonds, google it.

You could also catch the movie "Blood Diamonds" showing on channel 5 this Sunday to see a depiction of the horrors these diamonds inflict on the African people. If not please get a DVD. This movie is one of the must watch on my list.

So the next time you buy a diamond, remember to ask the most important question of all. Yes, that diamond might look oh so pretty on you. But would you want to support an illegal military force who enslaves their own people so they are able to dig more diamonds to fund weapons? Would you want to have blood on your hands?

In wanting to look good, we women have to also be civic minded with our choices. I always believe in that.

Time out with Shopper Mama - Shoo away the bad design!

Happy Ramadhan everyone!

While checking the latest Manja September issue, there are some articles that caught my interest & what else would it be, besides bags, its sexy & vogue SHOES, of course!

Wow 100 kali, cantik kan??

I've always wanted to catwalk in these gorgeous heels but as stated in my previous entry, these will probably kill me, so I say, no thanks!

What about these Havaianas (pronounced as ah-vai-yah-nas)?


Ok gak, but only for beach or pegi market or kedai lah!


But but but .....


Yg I tak boleh angkat is

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this pair below




only 850 pairs worldwide at S$729 !! Mak datuk !!!!


No thanks too lah!!! Give me Crocs Mary Jane anytime babe!

Vogue-U Potion - "Middle Wife"

May Allah Blessed Us....

I received an email from my colleague titled "Middle Wife" and it made me pondered...hmmm middle wife would be the 2nd wife before the 3rd wife or probably the 2nd and 3rd wives before the 4th wife....huhu. So out of curiousity I read on further. And after reading the email, it made me giggled and laughed out loud.

It was written by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher. And the story goes like this........,

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few years back.

When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they're welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.

She holds up a snapshot of an infant. "This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday."

"First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord."

She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.

"Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!" Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. "She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!" (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.)

"My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino's man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this." (Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.)

"And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!' (This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much!)

"Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push,' and 'breathe, breathe. They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom's play-center, (placenta) so there must be a lot of toys inside there. When he got out, the middle wife spanked him for crawling up in there."

Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I'm sure I applauded the loudest.. Ever since then, when it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another 'Middle Wife' comes along.

Now we have 2 choices....laugh and let it be or pass this along to someone else to spread the laughs..... haha I think I just did make you laugh!!!!

Live everyday as if it's your LAST chance to make someone Happy! hahahahahaha.....

So be careful when you explain something to your little toddlers. It may turn out to be a hilarious story after that.....

My sis's children, the elder boy, 4 yrs old..... speaks non-stop and hyper-active and sometimes very shy with strangers, he loves the camera though... this photo was taken by me a few weeks back. Sometimes when I corrected his mistakes he would retaliate and sometimes would oblige. Once he followed me shopping and the cute part was he said.."Aunty Tipah, I promise I behave, but you promise don't scold me OK..." and I answered..."Ooohh OK I promise I won't scold you if you promise you behave OK" and then you know what came out from his mouth next..."Aunty Tipah, if I behave, can you buy toy for me, I promise I behave". I sometimes purposely will say.. "No, I will not buy coz you will break your promise when you have toys"..."Nooooo, I promise I behave"..... and he would repeat until eventually he gets the toys lah... huhu

Well children are the innocent beings and a bundle of fun.......

OK vogue-u-ers, may you have a blessed Ramadhan today and happy iftar tonight.....

Lots of Luv from Mak Pah Vogue....... muacks

Indra Pearl's Birthday Surprise

Last Friday we celebrated Sis Indra's birthday! It was meant as a surprise but the birthday girl somehow manage to 'smell the taugeh' lah. Hehehe. Enjoy the pics and vids though!

Part I - Mission Failed!
[The 3 mamas actually got the wrong location!]

Part II - Mission Accomplished!


The peculiar names of dishes .... Cacik? Cicak? T_T

Her cuppy cakes!

Sis Indra's most favourite thing in the whole wide world - TAUGEH.

Kawaii!

A touching pose. Terharu beta..

and she goes on....





Last but not least, the happy faces of Vogue U!

Hope you had a great night with us Kak Indra! May you always be surrounded with positive vibes all the waaayyyyy! Hehe. :)

Who's next?

Shopper mamaaaaaaaaa. Come out, come out wherever you are....
*evil laugh*

Selamat berbuka later everyone!

Post edited by: Otak Belacan

BERSAMA MAMA MORALLE.....MENU BERBUKA

Salam to all voguerssssssssss..............as promised starting today mama will post some good recipes that I hv tried myself for uols to try during the ramadhan.

Since 1st Ramadhan falls on the wkends, why not uols try something special, its nice and simple, n the kids will sure love it :)

BREADED CHICKEN CHOP

1 ketul peha ayam dibuang tulang
50g serbuk roti
50g tepung jagung
1 biji telur
1 cawan minyak masak untuk menggoreng
sedikit garam dan lada sulah

Peha ayam digaulkan bersama garam/ lada sulah dan diperap seketika. Pecahkan telur didalam satu bekas. Letakkan tepung jagung dan serbuk roti didalam bekas yang berasingan.

kemudian panaskan minyak dikuali. Salutkan isi ayam kedalam tepung jagung. Kemudian celupkan kedalam telur dan salutkan lagi dengan serbuk roti. Goreng hingga keperangan.

Hidangkan bersama makanan sampingan seperti fries, coselaw atau salad dan sos cili...

Selamat mencuba and Selamat Menyambut Ramadhan to all

Marhaban Yaa Ramadhan

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, Most Merciful

Mata kadang salah melihat....

Mulut kadang salah berucap....

Hati kadang salah menduga.....

Maafkan segala kekhilafan yang pasti ada....

MARHABAN YAA RAMADHAN

Marhaban ya Ramadhan,

Bulan dimana nafas kita menjadi tasbih, tidur kita menjadi ibadah, amal kita diterima dan do'a kita di ijabah,

Sungguh cantik kain plekat, dipakai orang pergi ke pekan.

Puasa Ramadhan semakin dekat, silap dan salah mohon dimaafkan

Berharap padi dalam lesung, yang ada cuma rumpun jerami,

Harapan hati bertatap langsung, cuma terlayang lembaran ini.

Sebelum cahaya surga padam, sebelum hidup berakhir,

Sebelum pintu tobat tertutup, sebelum Ramadhan datang,

kami mohon maaf lahir dan batin....

Taqqobalahu Minna Waminkum, Taqoballahu Ya Karim,

Marhaban Ya Ramadhan

Allaahumma baariklanaa fi Sya'ban wa ballighnaa Ramadhan

Aminn.

Do'a Malaikat Zibril Menjelang Ramadhan:

Ya Allah tolong abaikan puasa ummat Muhammad, apabila sebelum memasuki bulan Ramadhan dia tidak melakukan hal-hal yang berikut:

* Tidak memohon maaf terlebih dahulu kepada kedua orang tuanya (jika masih ada);

* Tidak berma'afan terlebih dahulu antara suami istri;

* Tidak berma'afan terlebih dahulu dengan orang-orang sekitarnya.

Maka Rasulullah pun mengatakan Amiin sebanyak 3 kali. Dapat kita bayangkan, yang berdo'a adalah Malaikat dan yang meng-amiinkan adalah Rasullullah dan para sahabat, dan dilakukan pada hari Jum'at.

Seribu senyuman belum tentu menawan hati

satu jelingan sudah cukup menimbulkan rasa benci

membina mengambil masa

meruntuh sekelip masa

Selamat Menyambut

Ramadhan

Maaf Zahir dan Batin

Semoga Ramadhan membawa keberkatan kepada semua dan mengukuhkan ukhwah yang terbina

Kami menyusun sepuluh jari memohon maaf atas keterlanjuran kata dan perbuatan, yang menyinggung perasaan saudara saudari dan atas segala kesilapan yang telah berlaku disepanjang perjalanan hidup kita selama ini.

*** Sekian, terima kasih, wassalam***

SELAMAT MENUNAIKAN IBADAH PUASA

SEMOGA KITA DAPAT MENJALANKAN IBADAH PUASA DENGAN OPTIMAL,

AMIN.

Credit to Mak Pah's friend, Masthurah, for forwarding the above via email

Time Out with Shopper Mama - Do not Discriminate yr Customers!

I got this via email - Even if its real or just a joke, at least we learn that whatever & whoever it is, please treat all your customers fairly & do not be prejudiced against them regardless of Race, Language or Religion (wuii semangat National Day still on!)


~~~~~~~

An Indian goes to Australia and goes to Woolworths (A grocery store in Australia). He finds cat food at special prices. He picks a dozen cans of cat food and goes to check out. The Manager gets suspicious. He thinks that this guy cannot have a cat and will probably feed cat food to his kids. He asks the Indian to show him his cat before he could let him have cat food.


The Indian goes home and returns with a cat and gets to buy the cat food.



Next week the Indian finds dog food at special prices. He picks a dozen cans of dog food and goes to check out. The Manager again gets suspicious. He thinks that this guy has a cat but he cannot have a dog and he will probably feed dog-food to his kids. He asks the Indian to bring and show him the dog before he can let him have dog food. The Sardar goes home and returns with a dog.


He gets to buy the dog food.




Next week the Indian comes to Woolworths with a bag. He asks the manager to put his hand in the bag. The Manager puts his hand in the bag, feels some thing slimy and immediately takes it out. He shouts at the Indian, What the F*** is this? Is this shit you Idiot?


The Indian calmly replies, "Yes, and I want to buy 1 dozen toilet paper."



~~~~~~


See what I mean?

Vogue-U Potion - Communication Barriers....huhu

In the name of Allah, the Almighty, the Most Gracious, and the Most Merciful......

Occasionally we do come across communication barriers in our life. These barriers come in different categories.

Mak Pah wish to share with all of you what I have learned from a course I took on my own accord many years back and one of the syllabus covered Communication Relationship Management.

And one of the subject was on Communication Barriers and FYI, there are 2 types of categories in the barriers. They are internal and external communication barriers.

Internal barriers are things that can be controlled by ourselves. However external barriers are things that are beyond our control .


Briefly, I have listed below the barriers in their respective categories and factors which we would often come across.


Internal barriers:-

• Bad life experiences


• Criticism


• Cultural differences

External barriers:-

• Fear


• Distractions


• Choice of words or languages

We have other consideration factors which would affect our communication too. These are the social and cultural factors. Social factors are related to how we interact with others based on situations, positions and experiences. Whereas cultural factors are related to communication in a multi-cultural society and countries like S’pore and M’sia, where certain cultural issues can be sensitive.

In order to deal with these barriers, we can use certain methods or alternatives like:

• Adapt


• Adopt


• Learn new knowledge/skills (e.g. learn other cultural food/culinary, cultural dance, etc)


• Get more information on differenct cultures from different medias

Likewise we can use other strategies too like:

• Go for training – communication skills/language skills


• Mix around with positive people


• Be open-minded

So vogue-uers, in our everyday life, we face many challenges and one of them is communication. Sometimes we do not realise we could hurt another person's feelings through whatever that comes out of our mouth without even thinking of the consequences. No doubt we do go overboard or blunt at times, but if it is too frequent, others might avoid us totally and we ended up being outcasted or ignored.

Last but not lease, for the approaching month of Ramadhan, filled your communications with others to with Allah instead.... talk to Him, seek forgiveness from Him, praise Him, etc, etc...... InsyaAllah..... you will find peace.

May all our dreams be fulfilled.....InsyaAllah...Amin.

Selamat Menyambut Ramadhan yang mulia. Muacks....

WITH MAMA MORALLE ....... LOVE RECIPES

Salam to all voguers..........sorry mama had been bz nowadays, n because of my bzness, no recipes to share with. But as promised, mama will share Ramadan recipes with all starting next week onwards, insyaallah.

For today, mama would like to share with all these wonderful lovely love recipes, its so loving that u will feel touched with it :) :)

" If you love someone, do not put their name in a heart because hearts can be broken, instead put their name in a circle, because circles go on forever."

" If only for a day the two of us could be as one, then forever I would still carry that tune."

" A part of you has grown in me, and, so you see, it's you and me, forever, and never apart; maybe in distance but never in heart."

" Seduce my mind and you can have my body, find my soul and I'm yours forever."

" When you smiled you had my undivided attention. When you laughed you had my urge to laugh with you. When you cried you had my urge to hold you. When you said you loved me, you had my heart forever."

" Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end."

" Trip over love, you can get up. Fall in love and you fall forever."

" Even if love is full of thorns, I'd still embrace it for I know that in between those thorns, there is a rose that's worth all the pain."

" If you truly love someone, then distance does not matter to the mind or the heart."

"What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined... to strengthen each other... to be at one with each other in silent unspeakable memories. "

"Love cannot endure indifference. It needs to be wanted. Like a lamp, it needs to be fed out of the oil of another's heart, or its flame burns low. "

"Love works in miracles every day: such as weakening the strong, and stretching the weak; making fools of the wise, and wise men of fools; favouring the passions, destroying reason, and in a word, turning everything topsy-turvy."

"Think about it, there must be higher love Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above Without it, life is a wasted time Look inside your heart, I'll look inside mine."

"Find the person who will love you because of your differences and not in spite of them and you have found a lover for life. "

"Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile. "

"Love is the history of a woman's life; it is an episode in man's."

Lovely right????...........build up the strategies to be love more than what u have today cause u will never know if this lovely LOVE recipes will change to the saddest recipes ever.

'HAPPY WEEKENDS TO ALL"

La Dolce Vita : Good Fat vs Bad Fat

Healthy eating is always something that I try to achieve in daily life. But it is not easy especially with all the snacks and fast food easily available everywhere. So I made an effort to start the change at home. I have tried buying more organic food and switching unhealthy foods with less carnal ones.

The first thing I changed was I stopped buying any kind of margarine and bought good old butter instead. I'm sure quite a few of you are raising your eyebrows already. Isn't margarine a healthier choise to butter you ask? No. It is not. Simply because margarine is a form of hydrogenated oil. Yes it is unsaturated and many have been led to believe that unsaturated fats found in vegetable oils may lower one's blood cholesterol levels but recent studies have shown the opposite. The main reason is that hydrogenation actually produces trans fat which is an intense artery clogger. This in turn can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

So the main thing to look out for is not to buy margarine that has trans fat in it which is bad for your health. Even if the label says it contains unsaturated fats but do still check that it does not contain trans fat. If the product has a bit of saturated fat but no trans fat....that is a better choice over anything that contains trans fat. Cos a bit of saturated fat is actually good for your body as it contains omega 3 oils which is good fat. Switch to low fat soft tub butter such as lurpak low fat butter. The key is to look at the ingredient list and make sure there is no trans fat in the product. Plus....butter definitely tastes better than margarine!

Let's eat well for a healthy body!

My favourite butter. Damn nice!

Time out with Shopper Mama - Heel kill me!!

S.H.O.E.S

Women love them! And I know, I of our VU gals - Raf lives in them!

Even thou I love shoes, I wont spend a bomb on them, as much as I'd do for a bag! The maximum I'd pay for a pair of shoes would be $50, itupun I tunggu Vincci sales in JB whereby Id grab 3 or more pairs at a go!

I have my own set of shoes for different occasions. For example, for work, I am more comfortable wearing low wedges; sandals for outings, Crocs slippers for holidays & heels max 2.5 inch for weddings or dinner events.

For heeled shoes, anything higher than 2.5 inch, I will definitely topple & tumble down unless I freeze my position, just stay put & not move at all!

As I was flipping thru the 'Simply Her' mag, I came across some pics of very nice heeled shoes & I wished I could really wear them but I know, my feet would scream MURDER at me if I do!

So let's take a look & see what’s your type of heels.

Fancy a Christian Louboutin? Its S$ 1950! Aduh mak, belum pakai dah rasa sakit ....

Wedges - Ok I love wedges but these are waaayyy tooo high for me actually, thou I like no. 4 the best!




Mid low heels - I like nos. 1 & 3, thou I cant wear them!

Stacked heels - Hmm, no. 1 is good if I need to hit someone but I'll take no. 5 as I prefer open-toe & slip-in shoes!

Platform heels - I know I wont wear any of these but just for fun, I like no. 1 - mcm WILD gitu kan gals :)

Here are some quick and easy foot-relaxing moves to ease the discomfort: -

• Soak your feet in warm water & massage them gently as this improves the blood circulation & help with muscle soreness & fatigue from wearing high heels;

• To walk comfortably in high heels, strengthen yr leg muscles & do simple core exercise like bending / flexing yr calf, heel and foot, 3 times a week. This also helps with back and knee pain;

• Do some toe exercises to increase blood circulation - spend few minutes stretching your toes; spread them as far as possible, then relax.
  

* Tips taken from 'Simply Her'

To end this shoe entry, there is this quote - "Always wear expensive shoes. People notice!"


Errr sorry lah, I beg to differ but Raf sure agree 200%!


Aarrrrggghh, I think I need buy THAT bag!!

Vogue-U Potion - The 90/10 Principle

May Peace be Upon Us....

Have you heard of the 90/10 Principle. When I first received an email from my ex-colleague a few years back regarding this principle, it made pondered and at that moment everything pertaining to this principle which I've undergone started to make me realise how uncivilised we've been when reacting to situations.

For those who has never heard of the 90/10 Principle, read on further to discover it and for those who has read or heard of it, probably treat this post as a refresher or recap.

The author of The 90/10 Principle is Mr Stephen Covey. Discover the 90/10 Principle and it will at least change our life or at least, the way we react to situations.

Author - Mr Steven Covey

What is this Principle?

Well it consists of 10% of life is made up of what happens to us. While 90% of life is decided by how we react......

What does this mean?

We really have NO control over the 10% of what happens to us.....

e.g. We can't stop....

the car from breaking down,

the plane will be arriving late, which will affect our whole schedule,

a driver may overtake us off in the traffic...., so on and so far.....

However, the other 90% is different, we can somehow or another determine the other 90%.

How?....

Well..... it's by controlling our reaction actually. Let us see the following scenario as an example....

We are having breakfast with our family. Our daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto our business shirt. We have no control over what has just happened. What happens next will be determined by how we react. We start to curse. We harshly scold our daughter for knocking the cup over. She breaks down in tears.

After scolding her, we turn to our spouse and criticise for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. And then a short verbal battle follows. We storm in the bedroom to change a new clothing. Back to the main door and we find the daughter has been too busy crying to finish her breakfast and getting ready to school that she misses the bus. Our spouse must leave immediately for work, thus we have to rush to the car and drive the daughter to school. Because we are late, we drive 60km/hr in a 40km/hr speed limit zone. Obviously we'll get the traffic fine from traffic police on guard along the speed limit zone. After 15 mins delay, the daughter runs into the school without saying goodbye. Then to make things worsen, after arriving late at the office, we realise we left our important documents at home!!!!!

The day has started terrible. As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse. We look forward to coming home. When we arrive home, we find a small wedge in our relationship with our spouse and daughter.

Why?

Because of how we reacted in the morning.

Why did we have a bad day?

(A) Did the coffee cause it?

(B) Did our daughter cause it?

(C) Did the traffice police cause it?

(D) Did we cause it?

The answer is "D"

We had no control over what happened with the coffee. How we reacted in those 5 seconds is what that caused the bad day.

Here is what could have and should have happened.....

Coffee splashes over us. Our daughter is about to cry. We just gently say: "It's OK, dear, you just need to be more careful next time." Then we just change a new clothing, grab our things for work, and finally we see our child getting on the bus to school. She may even turns and waves goodbye to us. Then we arrive to office early and cheerfully greet the other staff.

Notice the difference?

Two different scenarios. Both started the same. Both ended different.

Why?

Because of how we reacted of course. Again the emphasis is we have no control over the 10% of what happes in our life but the other 90% was determined by our reaction.

There are some ways to apply the 90/10 Principle.

Scenario 1:

If someone says something negative about us, do not be a sponge. Let the attack roll off like water on glass. We do not have to let the negative comments affect us. React properly and it will not ruin our day. A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, or getting stressed out.

Scenario 2:

How do we react if someone cuts us off in the traffic? Do we lose our temper? Pound on the steering wheel? Do we curse? Do our blood pressure skyrocket? The answer my vougue-ers.... Who cares if they want to overtake us and make us arrive 10 seconds later at work? Why let the cars ruin our life? Let it be....

Scenario 3:

Put your worrying aside and always stay happy. For instance you are told you lost your job (wow this is serious!!!). Now why lose sleep and get irritated? InsyaAllah, with God's will, it will work out. And use the worrying energy and time to find a new job instead.

Scenario 4:

The plane is late. It is going to mangle your schedule for the day. Why take our your frustration on the flight attendant? She has no control over what is going on. Use your time to study, get to know other passengers maybe. Why do you need to stress out? It will just make things worse.

So friends.... now you know the 90/10 Principle. Apply it and you will be amazed at the results. You will lose nothing if you try it. The 90/10 Principle is incredible. You will see it by yourself!!!

Millions of people are suffering from undeserved stress, trials, problems and headaches. Thus we must understand and apply the 90/10 Principle to change our life. No harm trying and probably we can enjoy it. It will only takes willpower to give ourselves permission to make the experiences. Absolutely everything we do, give, say, or even think, it's like a Boomerang. It will come back to us.....

If we want to receice, we need to learn to give first.....,

Maybe we will end with our hands empty, but our heart will filled with love.....

And those who love life, have that feeling marked in their hearts.....

Lots of Luv to all......

InsyaAllah..... Amin.

The Pledge Moment!

We, the citizens of Singapore
Pledge ourselves as one united people,
regardless of race, language or religion,
to build a democratic society,
based on justice and equality,
so as to achieve happiness, prosperity
and progress for our nation.

=)

Happy 44th Birthday, Singapore!

Vogue U will like to wish all Singaporeans,
A HAPPY NATIONAL DAY!!

The Geek Chic 101 [Get rid of those boring templates!]

I know, I know. It's kinda boring having to stick with the same old boring templates by that Douglas guy or whoever it was.

I have been blogging since I was 15. Make that 9 years of blogging boom boom pow. And I have tried several platforms to work on; Blogdrive, Blogger, Lifelogger, Vox, Multiply, Livejournal, Wordpress and even had my own domain once. I must say, above all, I prefer Blogger the most.

Blogger provides the most user-friendly interface anyone could ever asked for. Well, for me that is.

Now before you start meddling with your layout page, I need to remind you that it is very important to always back up your current template in case all hell breaks loose.


Once you clicked on the "Download Full Template", it will prompt you to save a text file/XML file, make sure you know what you're saving and to play safe, always save it on your desktop. :)

Usually when you download a template from somewhere else, mostly it will be on a text file format. So all you need to do is to upload that text file to your blogger.

So here are some sites that provides cool free blogger templates:

1. WWW.BLOGSKINS.COM

• Generally, Blogskins.com is made up of a bunch ok kids. Haha. Okay, why I said so is because from what I noticed, most of the skin-makers are teenagers or prolly in their mid twenties. Some are really creative with their designs, some are just bleargh bleargh girly girly cute cute, like that.
  
  
• Most of the template here works on the 'classic template', so you gotta really see what you're copying and pasting before deciding on the template. If you're wondering what in the name of blog is this classic template thingy, well. Let's just say there's an old blogger and the new blogger. Classic template = Old blogger.
  
  
  

So how do you know if the template works on the classic template or the new template format? Well, easy. Always do a trial and error. Means to say, if once you've uploaded a new template to blogger and when you click "Save Template" it prompts an ERROR, that goes to show that that template won't work on the new blogger. So what you can do is to revert to classic template and wah lah!

1. WWW.THECUTESTBLOGONTHEBLOCK.COM

• Cutest Blog on the Block provides backgrounds and not templates. To use their backgrounds is super easy since they work on the ever famous blogger Minima Template. This works well on the new blogger and the steps are as easy as 1, 2, 3. 'Add a Gadget', copy paste and you're done! :D
  
  
• They also provide cool tutorials on how to further enhanced your blog like posting a signature, creating your own header and all that. Super coolness.

Those are my two favourites sites to hook up for a blog template. Otherwise, I'll just got to depend on my brain and fingers to do the wonders. Hehe.

Feel free to ask any questions if you need help regarding this okays? Saya tak makan orang lah. Makan nasi aja. Haha. Email me, otak.belacan@gmail.com yaw.


Toodles everyone! =)