Tips

Remember how I battled hiccups in vain?

Well, after a hefty lunch today, I had a bad case of hiccups. Nothing I tried worked. In desperation, I browsed Google for cures on hiccups and I found this gem of a site.

I tried it and it works.

Whee!!!

I came home yesterday intending to do some form of exercise. However, the sight of my inviting bed and soft pillows beckoned me.

"Ok, I'll just rest for a few minutes. 20 minutes wouldn't do any harm, right?"

So without further ado, I flopped onto the bed with a grateful sigh. Man, I didn't realise how tired I actually was. I hugged my bolster a little tighter and closed my eyes.

The next thing I knew, the sound of my ringing phone jarred me from my fitful slumber. An hour had slipped by. So much for my 20-minute power nap. A cheerful friend was the culprit who woke me up. He did not seem the least bit repentant for doing that.

"Wah, if I didn't call, you'd be sleeping right up till morning hor?" he chortled. I shamefacedly said that he was right - this had happened before. A short nap had turned into a full-blown sleep marathon all the way till dawn the next day.

We chatted for a long while before I realised that it was way past dinner time. And I was hungry. So much for exercising before feasting away.

Life really is indeed full of distractions.

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A friend of mine was nearly mugged yesterday. She was walking in a shopping mall, absorbed in the task of sms-ing a friend on her phone when the would-be thief made a grab on her phone. Thankfully, because she had both hands gripping the phone, the thief was unsuccessful and fled the scene.

In the space of a month, me and three of my friends encountered thieves, and two of my friends' close relatives were seriously injured by blade wounds in separate robbery attempts. That's like 6 people I know in a month. That's a heck of a high statistic, if you ask me.

And because robbery and muggery and the like is so rampant here these days, it pays to be extra vigilant when you are up and about.

This verse takes new and very relevant meaning to me nowadays:

But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into ~ Matt 24:43

In this verse, Jesus was cautioning His listeners to be vigilant, alert and constantly on the watch because a thief's most effective weapon is the element of surprise. And so it is with our local thieves. They target potential victims who are busy with something else and forget to grip their possessions tightly to themselves in a most paranoid manner.

Guys are not exempted from thieves. In fact, they get it even worse than the girls. I've heard of cases where the thief will chop the guy's hand or thumb off first so that the victim will not resist. And then only will the thief confisticate the victim's belongings.

So in the spirit of wanting my blog readers to survive the upcoming New Year with their limbs and lives intact, here are some tips on how to be vigilant:

1. Do not yak or sms on the phone when you are walking on the streets or even the shopping malls. If you must communicate, keep it brief and make sure that your eyes are constantly scanning your surroundings.


2. Always keep your belongings close to yourself and not within easy reach of random strangers i.e. on table tops in the coffee shop or on the sales counter when you are busy entertaining customers or being attended to by the sales assistants.


3. If a stranger asks you for direction, make sure you keep a respectful distance from them. It's sad but my friend's dad got slashed when he got close to a thief who pretended to ask him for directions. I hate it when people exploit human kindness. Hate it, hate it, hate it.


4. As much as possible, do not walk on quiet streets alone. Park as close as possible to your house or the place you are visiting, scan the area for any suspicious characters and walk briskly to your destination. Do not tarry any longer than necessary.


5. Travel light. This means leaving big bags, gold chains, etc at home whenever you don't absolutely require them. Do not be a temptation to thieves.


6. Keep belongings in your car out of sight. An acquaintance had his windshield smashed up when the thief saw a bag on the front passenger seat. The cheap bag was stolen but it was empty. So he basically lost nothing much but had to bear the costs of repairing his car.

Please add on to the tips if you have any to share. Have a good and safe holiday, people. Remember, be vigilant!

I couldn't figure out why but I've been battling with the hiccups ever since I caught that dratted cough bug. All that gas must have snucked in while I was coughing wildly away. And now, they are looking for a way to escape. As you all know, I cannot burp. And the trapped gas is too high up there to go out the other errr... end.

What's a girl who hates hiccupping to do? Well, she basically tried all the following remedies:

• Drink lots and lots of water


• Hold her breath


• Hold her breath and stare at a finger - not sure which finger but any finger would do, I suppose


• Get someone to shock her - I tried to shock myself by thinking crazy thoughts. I got shocked but the hiccups remained


• Drink ginger tea

Nothing worked. Only one thing remained to be done.

I got horizontal. As in laying on my comfy bed. And whooosh. The horrid, pain-racking hiccups were gone with the wind.

Now if only my office had a day bed. I'd be one happy camper.

I've just got to know that PMachine Pro is now free for download! And it used to cost about USD50. It's got loads of nifty features and spam control. I wasted no time and upgraded immediately

If you want to leave a comment (or a meow!), you will notice that you would now need to add a random word before submitting it. This will hopefully prevent all those nasty comment spammers from advertising their nefarious activities like casino, poker and porn.

Things like this just makes me believe that yes, there is such a thing as a free lunch!