I love this doctor!

As the Holidays season approaches, below are some "healthy" guides from your freindly neighbourhood doctor. (Not Me Har)

HEALTH QUESTION & ANSWER SESSION

Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life;
is this true?

A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's
it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out
eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live
longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your
car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and
vegetables?

A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow
eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a
steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of
delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat
chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green
leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your
recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is
distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the
fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way.
Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is
one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one
, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a
regular exercise program?

A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No
Pain...Good !

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?

A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! ... Foods are fried these days in
vegetable oil.
In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more
vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft
around the middle?

A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets
bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a
bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!!
It's the best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?

A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to
me.

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?

A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may
have had about food and diets.

And remember:
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the
intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well
preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay
in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used
up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride"

Robin's Empire: Winter solstice - 22 Dec 2006

Robin's Empire: Winter solstice - 22 Dec 2005

It seems just like yesterday when I blog abt the the Winter solstice.. on 22 Dec 2005.. and yes.. today it is the Winter Solstice again.
  
For those who did not read my blog last year.. the link will bring u to my earlier post.

The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, respectively, in the sense that the length of time elapsed between sunrise and sunset on this day is a minimum for the year. Of course, daylight saving time means that the first Sunday in April has 23 hours and the last Sunday in October has 25 hours, but these human meddlings with the calendar and do not correspond to the actual number of daylight hours. In Chicago, there are 9:20 hours of daylight on the winter solstice of December 22, 1999.


I am going back to my mum's place for re-union dinner tonight.. and yes, Chinese certainly have a lot of reasons to celebrate any occasion with food.

All for Money

I better wrap up these Vegas posts before everyone run away from my blog (hellu? Or is anyone there in the first place?)

I quote:

Pandabonium said...
If you see something in Las Vegas... it is there for only one reason - it helps the casino make more money.



Yes, the wise one speaks again.

In Vegas, hotel rooms are cheapest in USA... and all for the same reason to attract you to stay there and gamble away your money. Some of them even tempt you by giving you USD10 as a starting bet, so that u can get the habbit to play their games. .. and top up when you loose your free bets. (I did, plus USD5)

My trip to Vegas is very fruitful..

I had a crash course on Gambling and its impact on the economy.

For me, Las Vegas is a desert without anything (I mean natural reserve or tourist attraction) in USA, can be transformed into a top tourist attraction... and all because they have casinos!!!!!!!!

Singapore is following this model closely. .. and having a casino will have its biggest economic impact to Singaporean.

An interesting point to note is that NEVADA is a conservative state (with age of adult as 21) and according to stats, the people who loose their pants in Vegas are all tourists or Americans from other states. The gambling problems in Macao are also not as big as those in Hong Kong, from the studies I have read.. (Pink Panther -- true or not)

I do hope that when the casinos are ready in Singapore, the same trend is going to happen and less social problems from Singapore citizen.

Everything happens for a reason.

Amitabha.

The Luxor, Egypt in LV

Like the wise Panda said, everything u see in Las Vegas is all about casino and gamblings.

The Venetian Hotel, LV

Venice was re-created in Vegas at the Venetian Hotel, the little river, the romantic boatman (yes, he actually sings to his passenger, tips included)

And they are showing the Phantom.. adapted from the Phantom of the opera, which a 4 million dollars stage, and a hefty USD120 per ticket.

Having seen the musical at least 4 times, I gave it a miss... and saved some money for chocolates at Bellagio.


 

Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas

I never knew there is so much gambling in Rome, ... and right in Julius Caesar's Palace.. and no wonder it causes the "Fall of the Roman Empire"?

At a corner outside the casino, I saw a familiar shrine with lingering smell of incense burning in the cold autumn night.

The 4-face buddha shrine was on the right corner of the building. Interesting to see familiar faces and practices in Vegas.

To protect the owner from losing? or the gambler from losing?

My guess is that the Erawan shrine was erected during the construction of the hotel to protect the building from wondering spirits disrupting the construction. This seems to be the same reason in Bangkok, once upon a time.

I have earlier written on the 4-face buddha in this blog. You may like to search the blog under Erawan.

Pomengranate for U?

Suddenly I found so many big red pomengranate at the fruit stall nowadays. I remember my old house had a pomengranate tree and it always bear sour fruits, but in abundance, and have a lot of seeds.

I decided to buy some, after being assured by the fruit-seller that they are very sweet and from Spain. Afterall, it is 3 for S$5.00.. and yes, it is indeed yummy and sweet.

Pomegranate has Health benefits too

One pomegranate delivers 40% of an adult's daily vitamin C requirement. It is also a rich source of folic acid and of antioxidants. Pomegranates are high in polyphenols. The most abundant polyphenols in pomegranate are hydrolysable tannins, particularly punicalagins, which have been shown in many peer-reviewed research publications to be the antioxidant responsible for the free-radical scavenging ability of pomegranate juice.

Many food and dietary supplement makers have found the advantages of using pomegranate extracts (which have no sugar, calories, or additives), instead of the juice, as healthy ingredients in their products. Many pomegranate extracts are essentially ellagic acid, which is largely a by-product of the juice extraction process. Other pomegranate extracts are described as 'punicosides' ("stuff from pomegranates"), a new term invented by a clever marketing team and not found in any peer-reviewed journals. It may be advisable to look for finished products which have pomegranate ingredients that are backed by their own clinical science, standardized to punicalagins, and are of reputable quality.

In several human clinical trials, the juice of the pomegranate has been found effective in reducing several heart risk factors, including LDL oxidation, macrophage oxidative status, and foam cell formation, all of which are steps in atherosclerosis and heart disease. Tannins have been identified as the primary components responsible for the reduction of oxidative states which lead to these risk factors.[2] Pomegranate has been shown to reduce systolic blood pressure by inhibiting serum angiotension converting enzyme (ACE).[4]

Research suggests that pomegranate juice may be effective against prostate cancer[5][6] and osteoarthritis[7]

Promengranate is also known as the fertility plant in Chinese custom, because of it's ability to bear many red flowers and fruits with many seeds.

Have some today.

The Bellagio Hotel

Where beauty meets luxury.. visit their site here.

Pandabonium said...

What is picture with the colorful patterns? Looks like glasss jellyfish or sculpture. Beautiful.

Robin replies.. in Vegas the sky is beautiful both in-house and outdoor.. and these fixtures were on the ceiling of the Bellagio Hotel.

Too beautiful for words.



One of the best kept secret is that Bellagio has the best chocolate in Vegas.. and they have the biggest chocolate fountain too.. yummy..

I love the hot chocolate there and keep going back for more.

Cold weather, bright lights, slow window shopping, and hot chocolate...

Life