Thursday, 18 March 2010

some useless information for you!

I think we all need a good ole laugh every now and then ....... so have put together a few bits and pieces of 'useless information' that I have come across. I have no idea if they are true or not, but most of them really are 'way out there' and funny enough to probably be true!!


Singaporeans love their eggs, consuming four million daily!!!

It's illegal to drink beer out of a bucket while you're sitting on a curb in St. Louis!

During your lifetime, you'll eat about 60,000 pounds of food, that's the weight of about 6 elephants!

Some ribbon worms will eat themselves if they cant find any food!

Dolphins sleep with one eye open!

The worlds oldest piece of chewing gum is over 9000 years old!

In space, astronauts cannot cry properly, because there is no gravity, so the tears can't flow down their faces!

There are more plastic flamingos in the U.S, than real ones!  

About 3000 years ago, most Egyptians died by the time they were 30!

More people use blue toothbrushes, than red ones!

A sneeze travels out your mouth at over 100 m.p.h.!

Your ribs move about 5 million times a year, every time you breathe!

I  can't take the blame for any of these, as most of them come from the website titled STRANGE FACTS so if you want to see more, go to the website!

In Texas, it's against the law for anyone to have a pair of pliers in his or her possession.

In Philadelphia, you can't put pretzels in bags based on an Act of 1760.

Alaska law says that you can't look at a moose from an airplane.

In Corpus Christie, Texas, it is illegal to raise alligators in your home.

In Miami, it is forbidden to imitate an animal.


In the White House, there are 13,092 knives, forks and spoons!

Slugs have 4 noses!

Recycling one glass jar, saves enough energy to watch T.V for 3 hours!

Lightning strikes about 6,000 times per minute on this planet!
 
One quarter of the bones in your body are in your feet!

A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue! 

Every year, kids in North America spend close to half a billion dollars on chewing gum!

 It is against the law to mispronounce the name of the State of Arkansas in that State.

In Illinois, the law is that a car must be driven with the steering wheel.

California law prohibits a woman from driving a car while dressed in a housecoat.

In Memphis, Tennessee, a woman is not to drive a car unless a man warns approaching motorists or pedestrians by walking in front of the car that is being driven.... ha ha love this one!!!

In Tennessee, it is against the law to drive a car while sleeping.

In New York, it is against the law for a blind person to drive an automobile.

In West Virginia, only babies can ride in a baby carriage.

In Georgia, it is against the law to slap a man on the back or front.

A barber is not to advertise prices in the State of Georgia.

In Louisiana, a bill was introduced years ago in the State House of Representatives that fixed a ceiling on haircuts for bald men of 25 cents.

In Oklahoma, no baseball team can hit the ball over the fence or out of a ballpark.
 
In Tennessee, a law exists which prohibits the sale of bologna (sandwich meat) on Sunday.

In Virginia, the Code of 1930 has a statute which prohibits corrupt practices or bribery by any person other than political candidates.

In Providence, Rhode Island, it is against the law to jump off a bridge.

In the State of Kansas, you're not allowed to drive a buffalo through a street.

In Florida, it is against the law to put livestock on a school bus.

In New Jersey, cabbage can't be sold on Sunday.

 
The names of Popeye's four nephews are Pipeye, Peepeye, Pupeye, and Poopeye!

OK, that's enough!!

Tuesday, 16 March 2010

Everything happens quickly and dramatically in a Tiger year ....

On our visit to Sentosa Island yesterday to see the Sand Sculptures, we wandered along a pathway and happened to come across this beautiful butterfly ..... yes, it is just the common Tiger Butterfly ..... but common or not, they are still quite beautiful as you can see by the following images.

Sentosa has many natural attractions, including the Butterfly Park, a Nature Walk and the Nature Discovery Tour where you can see these for yourself, that is if you are not lucky enough to see one in the wild as we did yesterday!

But blink and you could miss an important chance of seeing the Tiger Butterfly as they don't hang around too long - waiting for you to find them!
and a little more of "the Tiger" ....

                                   Celebrating the Year of the Tiger

Based on the Chinese calendar, the Year of the Tiger began on 4 Feb 2010 at 6:42am. The Tiger is the third out of twelve animals according to the Chinese Animal Zodiac signs. However, based on the Julian calendar, Chinese New Year is celebrated on 14 Feb 2010 and that is the date for which most people would associate with the dawn of the Year of the Tiger. On the Chinese elemental sign format, 2010 will be the Year of the Metal Tiger.

According to fengshui masters' predictions, drama, intensity, change and travel will be the keywords for 2010. Unfortunately, world conflicts and disasters tend to feature during Tiger years also, so it won’t be a dull 12 months for anyone.

The Year of the Tiger will bring far reaching changes for everyone. New inventions and incredible technological advances have a good chance of occurring.

For all of the Chinese horoscope signs, this year is one to be active – seizing opportunities and making the most of our personal and very individual talents. 

Everything happens quickly and dramatically in a Tiger year – blink and you could miss an important chance of a lifetime!

SandWorkz at Sentosa

Sentosa offer a ‘sand-sational’ experience from March 13 to March 21 at Palawan Beach, Sentosa with “Sandy Treasures”, a sand sculpting event for all ages.
 Families can learn to create their very own sand sculptures through free workshops conducted by professional sand sculptors, and enjoy a fun-filled family day-out at Sentosa’s Palawan Beach. The workshops will be held over nine days starting Saturday, 13 March 2010.
 
 It is also collaborating with internationally-acclaimed and Singapore-born sand sculptor, JOOheng Tan who will create four intricately carved, life-size sand sculptures that will certainly be a visual feast.

This exhibit will also be the first time a sand sculptor is showing all his past works in a single exhibition.
 
Jooheng, who is a graphic designer by training, has been sculpting sand and creating masterpieces from it for over 10 years. 
Having traveled the world building sand sculptures in various countries, the Singaporean speaks of his home and Sentosa most passionately, as the resort island was where he launched his career back in 1997, during the Sentosa Sandstation, a sand-sculpting competition which was deemed as one of the competitions that are of "international level". Even the colourful 'Siloso' word sculpture at Sentosa was created and designed by him.

Euvah and I went along to have a look at these amazing works of art ..... and we were not disappointed.




Sunday, 14 March 2010

a hidden gem in Bukit Batok

The Bukit Batok Clubhouse Civil Service Club is just 5 minutes walk from where we live ...... it opened in June 2007, just 5 months after we arrived here.

We walk past it most days, we see there is a restaurant called the Tree Top Restaurant, we see a banner announcing the bowling lanes ... we never see people walking in and we have only seen the odd car or two going in the car park.

and we have never gone in to see what it was all about either ....... until today. Friends here in Singapore visited there on Friday and were telling us how impressive it was, well we couldn't resist a quick visit. The main attraction seems to be the pool area. There is a huge water slide complete with water lanes as you come flying out at the end .... the force of the water pushes you down these laneways into the main pool.
 It is an interesting area where you can walk around all the pool area's, some for children, one also is a wave pool, another is a spa pool ... there are plenty of shady area's with seating too.
 
There is much on offer including tennis courts, a gym, a 24 lane bowling alley, a restaurant, a ballroom, seminar rooms, a spa area, classes, tours, wave pool, wine bar and more.
 
We were amazed at this hidden gem just 5 minutes walk from our place!

These images are just a sample of what we saw while there today at the Civil Services Club.

Guests are welcome and Singaporeans and PR's (like ourselves) are able to become members.

Friday, 5 March 2010

a walk in the early morning .......

when you walk out the main gate of Elements Resort - where we stayed on Koh Samui, Thailand - you can turn left and it leads you to the bay, turn right and it leads you to the local villages ..... early one morning Janine  and I went for a walk, we turned right and headed up towards the hill close by passing thru one of the villages.

These are just a few of those images of that walk:
 
 
  
  
  
  
 then we came across some of the local homes:

 
  
  
 
 and a few coconuts as they are harvested and ready for the local market:

 and last but not least, a few images of the local flora ....




 
(more to follow!)




Thursday, 4 March 2010

a walk in the late afternoon ......

when you walk out the main gate of Elements Resort, you can turn left and it leads you to the bay, turn right and it leads you to the local villages ..... late one afternoon John  and I went for a walk, we turned right and headed thru one of the villages.

These are just a few of those images of that walk:
 
above is a lady sweeping the roadway with a branch from a palm tree.
  
  
  
  
 
such a peaceful, quiet area where children ride bikes, 
men sit on the doorstep chatting, 
where you see women sweeping the roadway 
and where the boats sit idly on the water

a zillion miles from the noise, pollution and traffic of major cities!

for previous blog postings on our vacation on Koh Samui, see below:




(more blog postings in a few days)