10 August 2010,Tuesday

Today, what I've learned in my class was how to plan to make an essay for my oral nextweek. My topic was about FRIENDSHIP. The first step was to choose a topic. Then, I must find descriptive words about my topic. After that, making phrases from the words. Then, making sentences from the phrases. And lastly, created a five paragraphs essay.
From this way of learning in the class, I've learned that one must know and divide their time in their lives.

10th JUNE 2010...

Again it's school holiday!!!Yeah. At last, I can rest at home after heading the mid year examination. This holiday is the two weeks holiday. The last day at school, I thought that this holiday is going to be very fun. But it's not. I'm not going anywhere this holiday except visit my grandmother at Diamond Bay. The homeworks for this holiday are the-English grammar, History (notes),Mathematics (exercise), and 'Kemahiran Hidup Bersepadu' (folio and notes).

For this month interesting news is about the Israel that attack the Islam. I HATE ISRAEL VERY MUCH!!They kill the innocent people.They're so cruel and mean. I hope that this will last soon.

And now I am expecting the marks of my exam. I hope that I get with flyingcolours.Thats all. Goodbye!

Ladybird, ladybird...

‘Ladybird ladybird fly away home,
Your house is on fire and your children are gone,
All except one and that’s little Ann,
For she crept under the frying pan.’

“Ladybird, ladybird” would be chanted by a small child when this pretty, little, inoffensive insect landed on their person. If the ladybird did not fly away of its own accord the child would gently blow it away chanting “Ladybird Ladybird fly away home”. This insect is commonly found every summer in the gardens of Britain - the most common colour is red with black spots, less common are the yellow variety. This nursery rhyme is purely situational and has no basis in history for its origins.

Ladybirds should be welcomed in any garden, indeed they are generally regarded with respect and affection by most who come across them. This is probably in part because as children we recognise them through rhymes and stories learned from nursery school onwards. As gardeners our high regard for these small creatures is not unfounded for they are one of our best deterrents against garden pests. Most ladybirds are carnivorous their particular favourite food being greenfly. However they don’t stop there, they will also eat small caterpillars before they can cause real problems and they will take mealybugs, mites and even some scale insects. And just like bees they help pollinate plants as they move from flower to flower in there busy sort of way.

Themes of Robinson Crusoe

Fear

Robinson Crusoe must overcome his fear in order to survive his long ordeal on the deserted island. The trial by fear begins when he runs about like a madman, scared of every shadow, and sleeps in a tree with a weapon: "fear banished all my religious hope, all that former confidence in God." He quickly realizes that he must recover his wits and reason if he is to survive.

At several points in the narrative, Crusoe is almost overwhelmed by his fear of the unknown. It propels him to colonize the island, securing his shelter and becoming self-sufficient. His ability to funnel his fear into productivity and creativity allows him to survive under extreme conditions.

Crusoe masters his fear when he faces the ultimate challenge — the devil. Investigating a cave, he is met by a pair of eyes. At first scared, he realizes that he can confront this enemy just like he has met every other challenge on the island. "He that was afraid to see the devil, was not fit to live twenty years in an island all alone."

With that, he rushes in to confront the devil and discovers a dying goat. He has passed his trial. Had he not faced his fears, he would have run away in full belief that the devil lived in that cave. Instead, he investigates and confronts his fear.

Human Condition

Robinson Crusoe is a meditation on the human condition, and an argument for challenging traditional notions about that condition. Finding himself alone in a deserted island, Crusoe struggles to maintain reason, order, and civilization. His "original sin" is his rejection of a conventional life. When he leaves England for a life on the high seas, he refuses to be "satisfied with the station wherein God and Nature hath placed" him.

Crusoe struggles with — and eventually triumphs over — nature. The book suggests that this struggle is at the heart of human nature: man is on earth to triumph and gain profit from nature. Any profit makes sense in this view of the world, whether that means getting just one plank out of a huge tree or building a boat too heavy to bring to the water. Once Crusoe is able to overcome his fear and subdue nature is rewarded handsomely.

Money

Consistent with Defoe's writings on economics, money is an important theme in Robinson Crusoe. At the beginning of the narrative, Crusoe details how much money he has, what he does with it, and what he gains by his actions.

On the island, money loses all value. Crusoe has to find another way to measure his worth. While rummaging through a ship for salvage he laments aloud at the sight of some money, "O Drug! what are thou good for." At that point he realizes that just one knife is worth more than money. Usefulness is the key to evaluation of worth.

Crusoe's hope of returning to England is symbolized by these tokens of civilization — on the island, the money is only a reminder of his old life and he treasures it as a memento. In all of his other endeavors he freely admits his success or failure. But as a merchant, he knows that though separated from the world now, he can only reconnect with it if he has money. Once he returns to London, his old reliance on money returns.

Industrialization

Industrialization is defined here as a process whereby humans channel the forces of nature into the production and manufacture of goods for their economic consumption. This industrialization is Crusoe's occupation, according to his cultural background and his religion. He immediately sets out to be productive and self-sufficient on the island.

By the time of Robinson Crusoe, most villages were experiencing labor specialization. People began to buy bread instead of baking it. Thus Crusoe has to relearn many of these arts to survive. With practice, Crusoe is able to increase the level of industrialization on his island.

Crusoe has a few implements with which he is able to reconstruct a semblance of civilization as well as create more advanced technology. While building his house, he notes that every task is exhausting. In brief, he praises the idea of "division of labor" as he describes cutting timber out of trees, bringing the wood from the trees to the construction site, and then constructing his shelter. He soon devises labor-saving devices, thus increasing his efficiency and productivity.

The necessity of a sharp ax leads Crusoe to invent his own foot-powered sharpener. He has "no notion of a kiln," but he manages to fire pottery. He needs a mill for grinding his grain, but not finding a proper stone, he settles for a block of hard wood. The entire process of baking his own bread spurs a realization of how wonderful the state of human technology is.

People take the labor behind the necessities of life for granted when such items can be easily purchased in the market. Crusoe is not suggesting that people return to a world of self-sufficient households. Instead, as he goes about his Herculean tasks, like creating a simple shelf in his house, he comments that a carpenter could have finished the two-day job in an hour. Thus he appreciates the process of specialization that helps make industrialization so successful .
Taken from here.

A frog calls a psychic

Recently, the Psychic Hotline and Psychic Friends Network have launched hotlines for frogs. Here is the story of one frog and his discussing with his psychic.
A frog telephones the Psychic Hotline and is told, "You are going to meet a beautiful young girl who will want to know everything about you."

The frog says, "This is great! Will I meet her at a party, or what?"
"No," says the psychic. "Next semester in her biology class."

23 May 2010,Sunday

Today i'm going back to my hostel after a holiday for two days. When I came back to my school,I'm going to take an arabic test for the Mid Year Examination. During this holiday, I have homeworks to do. The homeworks are the geography exercise, english newspaper, and Kemahiran Hidup Bersepadu folio. My new vocabulary in this week are elemetary, intermediate and i've forgot the another one word. This 31st of may, I'm going to take the Mid-Year exam. I'm very curious of the questions coming.

During my English class,what i've learn form my teacher and class is-how to search for logos for the NIE and touch up the logo. I've also learned the grammar-idioms,adjectives,idomatic expressions,imperatives,analogies,antonyms and synonyms.

Thank to my teacher for teaching me this year. My class is one of classes that use the internet for learning in class. The classes that use internet for learning are only from my school. None of any schools in Malaysia do this. I felt very proud of my teacher.

Many informations that my teacher gave for the article of the NIE. The information was very interesting and attractive. Now my group has many ideas to make the NIE.

Thats all my quotes for today. God luck to me for the mid-year exam.

ENGLISH ESSENTIALS

IDIOMS

- A set expression of two or more words that means something other than the literal meanings of its individual words.
-examples:A fair-weather friend

A person who"s a friend during the good times, but not the hard times.

Talk about fair-weather friend, I mentioned my problems with my phone bill and he disappeared for six months.


ADJECTIVES

- a describing word and many writers and authors need these words to give their story some added oomph. Adjectives are used in our speech to tell us more about the nouns we use.
-example:silent, young, old


IDIOMATIC EXPRESSION

- the extension of the idea of an idiom, using it as the basis of the statement. In many cases this is a more effective use of the language, because it maintains the same subject, and extrapolates its meaning.
-example:Back To Square One - To start again
Ball and chain: To be burdened with a task that that cannot be left or abandoned
Beat a dead horse: To engage in pointless and repetitive discussion.


IMPERATIVES

-Use the imperative form when giving instructions or orders. The imperative is also very common in written instructions. Be careful when you use the imperative, as it is often considered impolite in English. If someone asks you for instructions, use the imperative. If, on the other hand, you would like to request that someone do something use a polite question form.
-example:Hurry up!
Take the first left, go straight on and the supermarket is on the left.

ANALOGIES

-is a card game for whole class, small group, or individual practice that encourages word associations, conceptual relationships, and vocabulary development. Analogies are typical items on aptitude and achievement tests.
-example:eye:sight::teeth:chew
hand:elbow::foot:knee

ANTONYMS

-words with the opposite meaning to another word
-example:tall-short

SYNONYMS

-are words that have a similar meaning to another word.
-example:terrified-frightened, scared, petrified

TIPS HOW TO GET A BEST RELATIONSHIP

Have The Best Relationship
How to Have The Best Relationship
Honesty is always the best policy. To have the best relationships you have to be honest with yourself and with your partner. You can never expect to get what you want or need if you can't admit what those things truly are.
Difficulty: Moderately ChallengingInstructionsThings You'll Need:* Honesty* Trust* Communication* Understanding* Time

1.Step 1
It is mandatory that you sit down with yourself and pour over past relationships to figure out what has worked for you and against you in the past. You cannot expect the other person to already know what it is you seek, just as you cannot go into a store and have the sales clerk read your mind about the color of blouse you prefer.Make list if you need to. What has made you feel content, satisfied? What in your past relationships has made you crazy or unhappy? Contemplate honestly whether or not it was something the other person did or if it your expectations were unrealistic. Honesty starts with you!

2.Step 2
Communicate! Before delving into the abyss of eternal love (or what you think is eternal love,) talk to your partner. Find out what worked for them in their past relationships, and what didn't work. If you are a woman then it's get pretty easy. Men need to be needed and desired. More importantly, men need to know they have your support! If they feel that you doubt them or their decisions, you risk pushing them away without verbally communicating your feelings.

3.Step 3
Men respond emotionally to physical contact. Women respond physically to emotional contact. You have to remember what attracted you to your man and how he made you feel in the throws of passion and recreate it every chance you get. Women often wait for their man to give them what they need emotionally before they respond to his physical needs. What so many people do not realize about men is that you have to kick start things. The nature of men and women will never change no matter how unfair or how unbalanced women believe they are. He will respond to you emotionally when you show him you want, desire, and need him.

4.Step 4
A little trick to making this work for you is to be confident. Show him physical affection, but also let him see you can stand on your own. That will make him WANT to be a rock for you! Men do not, and have never, held a long attraction for a woman who is needy and dependent. Men are turned on by a woman who can stand alone, but they also want to be the one that woman leans on when she is weak.

5.Step 5
The best relationships and longest marriages are a result of give and take. He is only human, and when you met you were okay with that. He is still the same person, as are you. If you talk about the things most meaningful to you in the early stages of your relationship, you will find ways to work together to make it last.

A MUSLIMAH'S DREAM

I remember it was winter in England and I was catching a train back to the city where I lived. It was cold, I looked out, White snow was falling lightly from the gloomy sky. The train was moving fast, and as it moved I could see grounds in white all covered up by snow. ‘Covered up?’ the word rang in my head. Images of hijab and headscarf flashes on my mind.For the two hours journey, I couldnt sleep even once. There was too much on my mind. I was born as a Muslim. And I didn‘t pray five times a day like everybody else. I hardly could read the Quran. People could say I was illiterate in a way. Because at times, it took me a long while to finish even a short verse from the Quran. It was in Arabic and I was never taught Arabic, that was my excuse of not reading. I thought as long as you have a good heart that‘s good enough. And if you don’t commit huge sins, you’ll be fine. But what she said, made my whole perspective looked, vain.I was from London and on my way back home to the North West region. My heart wasn’t at ease. What she said had made me thinking, and I was thinking real hard. She was a nice girl. ‘Be a true Muslim, and not just a Muslim by name,’ she said politely with a smile, but the meaning was intense. She was merely quoting and was not saying it to me but my heart was touched. What kind of Muslim, had I been all these while? I don’t want to be a Muslim and only by name. It doesn’t sound good either. As the train moved, heading to North West where I lived, I let out few sighs.Few months after later.. ‘Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim..,’ I read out loud before starting to read the Quran. My web-cam was on. That night We were in the middle of Quranic circle. It’s an activity that we do once a week. Through this circle, we read the Quran in turns. All were ladies. Sometimes we get to discussed about the meaning behind the Quran verses and some Hadith from Rasulullah. It was amazingly fun and I never thought I would actually had fun doing religious activity. I was very thankful to Siti and her older sister because now I can read the Quran much better. And since then, I keep on gradually changing, I realised. How I view life has changed too, a bit if not much.At nights before I slept, I thought of going to a place. Somewhere faraway and seemed hard to reach but I knew its reachable. And if possible, I wanted to go there with someone that I loved. Of course that’s still remain as a wish and I hope it’ll come true one day. My life is never this calm! I now wear headscarf everywhere I go. It doesn’t feel right without it. Sometimes that leads to guilt, when people sees my hair. So I wear headscarf whenever I go out. My social activity especially when interacting with men has also changed. I used to be friendly and outgoing, even with the opposite gender. Now I feel sort of afraid. Sometimes I limit myself from being too ‘friendly’ with men. Sometimes, I think twice before I talked to them. Is it necessary or not to talk now? Because Women can be a fitnah to men, I don’t want to build up sins.I used to look for a romantic boyfriend before. I searched high and low but funny that I never really had a boyfriend until now. I used to ask why? The question is why. Because I’m not unpretty. But now I understand the reason behind. Having a romantic relationship outside marriage can lead to something that breaks the law of Syariah. All praise to Allah, I’m glad I never had boyfriends before. I’m not worried if I don’t find a guy any sooner. I’m not looking for a relationship anymore. And definitely not looking for someone based on how romantic he is. I’m going with the flow, after all everything about humans has been written. I want to fix myself first.I read somewhere about ‘Mencintai kerana Allah’ or ’Loving you because of God’. It was a nice Malay blog entry. I am aiming for that kind of love now. It sounds more pure than romantic love, to me.‘What’s your dream guy like?’ a friend asked me one day while we ride on a taxi.I didn’t replied him immediately though, ‘and have you found him?’ he added quickly.‘Why do you want to know’ I politely asked with a smile.‘Well, only asking,’ he replied calmly. Then there were silent. The road was wet due to the rain. It was soon before the taxi reached my home.‘Was he like me?’ he then added. He was hinting something, I knew. I’ve been waiting for this moment all this year. And this could be a dream come true, but..‘My dream guy is,’ I began ‘Someone who can guide me, you know, he leads and I follow,’ Then I paused.‘I can be the guy,’ He said confidently.There was silence again, a long one. The taxi finally reached my home. I said goodbyes to him and walked to my front door. I wave before the taxi accelerated again. He smiled to me even though I didn’t gave him the answer. He was a nice guy but he couldn‘t be the guy. Because…I want to live with a guy who could guide me, so that I can get closer to My Creator. I want a man who can lead as an Imam, in every prayers that we’re gonna do together as married couple. A man who would tell Islamic history as a bed-time-stories to our children in the future. I want a man who’ll read the holly Quran to me, to cheer me every time I’m down. That is my dream guy and before I can meet him, I knew I need to fix myself first.One beautiful spring afternoon, I was at a function. There were many Malays all gathered. That’s when I met him. He’s not just decent but he has the characteristic of my dream guy. Every time our eyes met accidentally during the event, he quickly moved away his stare. That convinced me, even more. I knew he’ll be a good amir, a leader of a family. Secretly I prayed: O‘ Allah, I want that kind of guy as a partner in life. At nights before I slept, I thought of going to a place. Somewhere faraway and seemed hard to reach but I knew its reachable. And if possible, I wanted to go there with someone that I loved. I want to go to Jannah (the heaven) with him! I’ll wait here and I know the wait is worthy.

FRIENDSHIP

Stars has 5 ends
Square has 4 ends
Triangle has 3 ends
Line has 2 ends but
Circle of our friendship has no end...

99 FACTS ABOUT GUYS

QUOTE
1. Guys don't actually look after good-looking girls. They prefer neat and presentable girls.
2. Guys love flirts.
3. A guy can like you for a minute, and then forget you afterwards.
4. When a guy says he doesn't understand you, it simply means you're not thinking the way he is.
5. "Are you doing something?" or "Have you eaten already?" are the first usual questions a guy asks on the phone just to get out from stammering.
6. Guys may be flirting around all day but before they go to sleep, they always think about the girl they truly care about.
7. When a guy really likes you, he'll disregard all your bad characteristics.
8. Guys go crazy over a girl's smile.
9. Guys will do anything just to get the girl's attention.
10. Guys hate it when you talk about your ex-boyfriend.
11. When guys want to meet your parents. Let them.
12. Guys want to tell you many things but they can't. And they sure have one habit to gain courage and spirit to tell you many things and it is drinking!
13. Guys cry!!!!!!!!
14. Don't provoke the guy to heat up. Believe me. He will.
15. Guys can never dream and hope too much.
16. Guys usually try hard to get the girl who has dumped them, and this makes it harder for them to accept their defeat.
17. When you touch a guy's heart, there's no turning back.
18. Giving a guy a hanging message like "You know what?!..uh...never mind!" would make him jump to a conclusion that is far from what you are thinking.
19. Guys go crazy when girls touch their hands.
20. Guys are good flatterers when courting but they usually stammer when they talk to a girl they really like.
21. When a guy makes a prolonged "umm" or makes any excuses when you're asking him to do you a favor, he's actually saying that he doesn't like you and he can't lay down the card for you. 22. When a girl says "no", a guy hears it as "try again tomorrow."
23. You have to tell a guy what you really want before he gets the message clearly.
24. Guys hate gays!
25. Guys love their moms.
26. A guy would sacrifice his money for lunch just to get you a couple of roses.
27. A guy often thinks about the girl who likes him. But this doesn't mean that the guy likes her.
28. You can never understand him unless you listen to him.
29. If a guy tells you he loves you once in a lifetime. He does.
30. Beware. Guys can make gossips scatter through half of the face of the earth faster than girls can.
31. Like Eve, girls are guys EUR™ weaknesses.
32. Guys are very open about themselves.
33. It's good to test a guy first before you believe him. But don't let him wait that long.
34. No guy is bad when he is courting.
35. Guys hate it when their clothes get dirty. Even a small dot.
36. Guys really admire girls that they like even if they're not that much pretty.
37. Your best friend, whom your boyfriend seeks help from about his problems with you may end up being admired by your boyfriend.
38. If a guy tells you about his problems, he just needs someone to listen to him. You don't need to give advice.
39. A usual act that proves that the guy likes you is when he teases you.
40. A guy finds ways to keep you off from linking with someone else.
41. Guys love girls with brains more than girls in miniskirts.
42. Guys try to find the stuffed toy a girl wants but would unluckily get the wrong one.
43. Guys virtually brag about anything.
44. Guys cannot keep secrets that girls tell them.
45. Guys think too much.
46. Guys' fantasies are unlimited.
47. Girls' height doesn't really matterto a guy but her weight does!
48. Guys tend to get serious with their relationship and become too possessive. So watch out girls!!
49. When a girl makes the boy suffer during courtship, it would be hard for him to let go of that girl.
50. It's not easy for a guy to let go of his girlfriend after they broke up especially when they've been together for 3 years or more.
51. You have to tell a guy what you really want before getting involved with that guy.
52. A guy has to experience rejection, because if he's too-good-never-been-busted, never been in love and hurt, he won't be matured and grow up.
53. When an unlikable circumstance comes, guys blame themselves a lot more than girls do. They could even hurt themselves physically.
54. Guys have strong passion to change but have weak will power.
55. Guys are tigers in their peer groups but become tamed pussycats with their girlfriends.
56. When a guy pretends to be calm, check if he's sweating. You'll probably see that he is nervous.
57. When a guy says he is going crazy about the girl. He really is.
58. When a guy asks you to leave him alone, he's just actually saying, "Please come and listen to me."
59. Guys don't really have final decisions.
60. When a guy loves you, bring out the best in him.
61. If a guy starts to talk seriously, listen to him.
62. If a guy has been kept shut or silent, say something.
63. Guys believe that there's no such thing as love at first sight, but court the girls anyway and then realize at the end that he is wrong.
64. Guys like femininity not feebleness.
65. Guys don't like girls who punch harder than they do.
66. A guy may instantly know if the girl likes him but can never be sure unless the girl tells him.
67. A guy would waste his time over video games and basketball, the way a girl would do over her romance novels and make-ups.
68. Guys love girls who can cook or bake.
69. Guys like girls who are like their moms. No kidding!
70. A guy has more problems than you can see with your naked eyes.
71. A guy's friend knows everything about him. Use this to your advantage.
72. Don't be a snob. Guys may easily give up on the first sign of rejection.
73. Don't be biased. Try loving a guy without prejudice and you'll be surprised.
74. Girls who bathe in their eau de perfumes do more repelling than attracting guys.
75. Guys are more talkative than girls are especially when the topic is about girls.
76. Guys don't comprehend the statement "Get lost" too well.
77. Guys really think that girls are strange and have unpredictable decisions but still love them more.
78. When a guy gives a crooked or pretentious grin at your jokes, he finds them offending and he just tried to be polite.
79. Guys don't care about how shiny their shoes are unlike girls.
80. Guys tend to generalize about girls but once they get to know them, they'll realize they're wrong.
81. Any guy can handle his problems all by his own. He's just too stubborn to deal with it.
82. Guys find it so objectionable when a girl swears.
83. Guys' weakest point is at the knee.
84. When a problem arises, a guy usually keeps himself cool but is already thinking of a way out.
85. When a guy is conscious of his looks, it shows he is not good at fixing things.
86. When a guy looks at you, either he's amazed of you or he's criticizing you.
87. When you catch him cheating on you and he asks for a second chance, give it to him. But when you catch him again and he asks for another chance, ignore him.
88. If a guy lets you go, he really loves you.
89. If you have a boyfriend, and your boy best friend always glances at you and it obviously shows that he is jealous whenever you're with your boyfriend, all I can say is your boy best friend loves you more than your boyfriend does.
90. Guys learn from experience not from the romance books that girls read and take as their basis of experience.
91. You can tell if a guy is really hurt or in pain when he cries in front of you!
92. If a guy suddenly asks you for a date, ask him first why.
93. When a guy says he can't sleep if he doesn't hear your voice even just for one night, hang up. He also tells that to another girl. He only flatters you and sometimes makes fun of you.
94. You can truly say that a guy has good intentions if you see him praying sometimes.
95. Guys seek for advice not from a guy but from a girl.
96. Girls are allowed to touch boys' things. Not their hair!
97. If a guy says you're beautiful, that guy likes you.
98. Guys hate girls who overreact.
99. Guys love you more than you love them if they are serious in your relationships

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FLAMES

4 Exercises to Sharpen Your Brain

Think of your brain as a muscle: It gets stronger with exercise. Your everyday mental tasks are like walking, but how about a real workout? Try these simple exercises to boost your brain power and clear away the fog of forgetfulness.

1. Use your non-dominant hand
Tackling new tasks improves brain capacity in younger people and has a restorative effect on mental faculties that are declining. Boost your brain power right now by performing everyday activities with your non-dominant hand. If you're right-handed, use your left hand to eat, drink, comb your hair, and brush your teeth. Try writing your name with your non-dominant hand or put your mouse pad on the other side of the keyboard.

Why does this work? The human brain starts declining after the age of 30 especially in women with each successive pregnancy. By exercising your brain through the use of non-dominant hand, you are stimulating the opposite side of the brain and activating blood flow, which slows down the brain aging process and improves mental capacity. Evidence from functional brain imaging shows that the process of neuroplasticity¹ can be enhanced by studying new things, especially hand-eye coordinated exercises like developing the use of your non-dominant hand and practicing visualization meditation.

Stimulating communication between the two hemispheres even helps physical balance. Mind-body exercises like tai chi coach people to use the right and left side of the body equally. Try switching it up in sports. For instance, in tennis, switch the racquet to your non-dominant side and play.


2. Work out your brain
You have to use it or lose it! You can work out your mind just like you work out your body. Mental exercises that will keep your brain fit include doing crossword puzzles, playing chess, or memorizing names, shopping lists, and phone numbers. When I was a young boy, to keep my brain function strong, my father had me memorize Tang Dynasty poetry. Every day I had to memorize a new poem and recite it back. Learn the words to a poem or a new song and repeat them back from memory. Set aside the calculator and add manually instead. Keep challenging yourself with tasks that are new to you.

Whatever mental exercise you choose, the key to success is to practice every day at the same time; you are developing and activating new neural pathways, and consistent cycles will keep the brain on track.

3. Move your fingers to improve your brain
Many people marvel that Asian children seem so intelligent. It could be because they use their fingers more frequently. They eat with chopsticks and at one time, they used to compute with an abacus in school. In fact, some studies have been done with children who use an abacus daily, and findings show that engaging the fingers stimulates nerve endings that go directly to the brain, increasing circulation. Take advantage of this by practicing motor activities that use your fingertips, like crocheting, knitting, and other arts and crafts where you are manipulating small parts. Try playing the piano or a stringed instrument.

Here is an exercise you can do anywhere, at any time. Put one finger on top of the one next to it, then try to stack the next finger on top of that. Or hold a pencil or pen between your index and middle fingers, roll it over until it's balanced between the middle and ring fingers, then again to between the ring finger and pinky. This exercise has a beneficial impact on brain health for anyone at any age, but especially for people in their 40s, 50s and beyond,when signs of brain aging starts to set in.

Why does this work? A map of the brain shows that the nerve endings on your fingertips correspond to more areas of the brain than any other body area, except perhaps the tongue and lips. Therefore, finger exercise and movements can be useful in stimulating the neurons in the brain. The National Institute of Mental Health conducted experiments that showed finger exercises enlarged the capacity of the participants' brains, increased connections between neurons, forged new neural pathways, and increased circulation to the brain areas. The researchers concluded that finger exercise contributed significantly to brain plasticity, the ability of the brain to renew itself. Increased circulation means more oxygen and nutrients for the brain cells and decreased waste products that clog up the brain.


4. Stimulate brain acuity with self-massage
To improve concentration and memory try this self-massage that stimulates two easy-to-find acupressure points on your neck at the base of the skull. Cross your hands behind you with the palms cradling the back of your head, your thumbs in the grooves on each side of your neck, and your index fingers crossing one another below the skull, just above the thumbs. Sit in a chair, lean your head back, and let it rest against the pressure of your thumbs and index fingers. Slowly inhale deeply through your nose and exhale through your mouth, letting your whole body relax. Do this for three to five minutes. You'll increase blood flow to the brain and at the same time relax the neck muscles, which often tense up in response to stress, constricting blood vessels in the area.


Glossary
¹ the brain's natural ability to form new connections

taken from http://www.iluvislam.com/v1/readarticle.php?article_id=1962

Qualities of a Best Friend

What qualities do you look for when choosing a friend? There are many different qualities that describe a good friend. Everybody has different ideas on what they want and need in a friend. Qualities you might want in a friend could range from, someone you can relate with to someone that is the complete opposite of you. What I want in a friend is something simple; when I choose my friends I would like them to be honest, trustworthy, and dependable.

Honesty, to me is the most important quality to look for in a friend because if you have honesty it will bring many other great qualities along with it. Honesty is the foundation of a good friendship. Without honesty the friendship would fall apart. I once had a friend that constantly lied about everything, he would lie about things he said he had or things he did, it got to the point where he lied so much that I couldn't trust him anymore. Which brings to the next quality I look for in a friend, trust.

Trust, is another very important quality that I look for in a friend. Trust is important because in a friendship you should be able to trust one other, weather it comes to keeping secrets or promises. When you have a problem you need to talk about with your friend, you should be able to trust them not to go around talking about you. You should be able to trust your friends not to make false judgments about you because of how you look or dress. You should be able to depend on your friends to be your friend because of the kind of person you are.

Finally, dependability is the last quality I look for in a friend. This quality sums up the other two qualities I look for in a friend, honesty and trust. If you have honesty and trust then you get dependability along with them. Take honesty, if your friends are honest then you can depend on them to tell the truth about things you ask them or they will be honest with you and come to you when they have problems. Then take trust; if your friends are trustworthy then you can depend on them to not talking about you behind your back. Dependability is also important because you should be able to depend on your friends be around when you have problems and need to talk to someone.

In conclusion, the qualities I look for in a friend are honesty, trust and dependability. I think these qualities are important because, to me they are the foundation of every great friendship. I like to think that I am a perfect friend but, you are not going to find friends that are completly perfect. Freinds might lie and hurt you at times but they make up if they are true friends. Everyone has a flaw but, if they try to stay honesty and loyal to you then that us close enough.

taken from http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2004/9/16/1097/81030

PLOT DIAGRAM

The Short Story
This PLOT DIAGRAM shows how the main events in a short story are organized into a plot.
In this activity you will find the main events in the fairy tale "Jack and the Beanstalk." Drag each event to the appropriate point on the plot diagram.

Taken from : http://sharifahch.blogspot.com/

PLOT OVERVIEW-ROBINSON CRUSOE

Robinson Crusoe is an Englishman from the town of York in the seventeenth century, the youngest son of a merchant of German origin. Encouraged by his father to study law, Crusoe expresses his wish to go to sea instead. His family is against Crusoe going out to sea, and his father explains that it is better to seek a modest, secure life for oneself. Initially, Robinson is committed to obeying his father, but he eventually succumbs to temptation and embarks on a ship bound for London with a friend. When a storm causes the near deaths of Crusoe and his friend, the friend is dissuaded from sea travel, but Crusoe still goes on to set himself up as merchant on a ship leaving London. This trip is financially successful, and Crusoe plans another, leaving his early profits in the care of a friendly widow. The second voyage does not prove as fortunate: the ship is seized by Moorish pirates, and Crusoe is enslaved to a potentate in the North African town of Sallee. While on a fishing expedition, he and a slave boy break free and sail down the African coast. A kindly Portuguese captain picks them up, buys the slave boy from Crusoe, and takes Crusoe to Brazil. In Brazil, Crusoe establishes himself as a plantation owner and soon becomes successful. Eager for slave labor and its economic advantages, he embarks on a slave-gathering expedition to West Africa but ends up shipwrecked off of the coast of Trinidad.
Crusoe soon learns he is the sole survivor of the expedition and seeks shelter and food for himself. He returns to the wreck’s remains twelve times to salvage guns, powder, food, and other items. Onshore, he finds goats he can graze for meat and builds himself a shelter. He erects a cross that he inscribes with the date of his arrival, September 1, 1659, and makes a notch every day in order never to lose track of time. He also keeps a journal of his household activities, noting his attempts to make candles, his lucky discovery of sprouting grain, and his construction of a cellar, among other events. In June 1660, he falls ill and hallucinates that an angel visits, warning him to repent. Drinking tobacco-steeped rum, Crusoe experiences a religious illumination and realizes that God has delivered him from his earlier sins. After recovering, Crusoe makes a survey of the area and discovers he is on an island. He finds a pleasant valley abounding in grapes, where he builds a shady retreat. Crusoe begins to feel more optimistic about being on the island, describing himself as its “king.” He trains a pet parrot, takes a goat as a pet, and develops skills in basket weaving, bread making, and pottery. He cuts down an enormous cedar tree and builds a huge canoe from its trunk, but he discovers that he cannot move it to the sea. After building a smaller boat, he rows around the island but nearly perishes when swept away by a powerful current. Reaching shore, he hears his parrot calling his name and is thankful for being saved once again. He spends several years in peace.One day Crusoe is shocked to discover a man’s footprint on the beach. He first assumes the footprint is the devil’s, then decides it must belong to one of the cannibals said to live in the region. Terrified, he arms himself and remains on the lookout for cannibals. He also builds an underground cellar in which to herd his goats at night and devises a way to cook underground. One evening he hears gunshots, and the next day he is able to see a ship wrecked on his coast. It is empty when he arrives on the scene to investigate. Crusoe once again thanks Providence for having been saved. Soon afterward, Crusoe discovers that the shore has been strewn with human carnage, apparently the remains of a cannibal feast. He is alarmed and continues to be vigilant. Later Crusoe catches sight of thirty cannibals heading for shore with their victims. One of the victims is killed. Another one, waiting to be slaughtered, suddenly breaks free and runs toward Crusoe’s dwelling. Crusoe protects him, killing one of the pursuers and injuring the other, whom the victim finally kills. Well-armed, Crusoe defeats most of the cannibals onshore. The victim vows total submission to Crusoe in gratitude for his liberation. Crusoe names him Friday, to commemorate the day on which his life was saved, and takes him as his servant.Finding Friday cheerful and intelligent, Crusoe teaches him some English words and some elementary Christian concepts. Friday, in turn, explains that the cannibals are divided into distinct nations and that they only eat their enemies. Friday also informs Crusoe that the cannibals saved the men from the shipwreck Crusoe witnessed earlier, and that those men, Spaniards, are living nearby. Friday expresses a longing to return to his people, and Crusoe is upset at the prospect of losing Friday. Crusoe then entertains the idea of making contact with the Spaniards, and Friday admits that he would rather die than lose Crusoe. The two build a boat to visit the cannibals’ land together. Before they have a chance to leave, they are surprised by the arrival of twenty-one cannibals in canoes. The cannibals are holding three victims, one of whom is in European dress. Friday and Crusoe kill most of the cannibals and release the European, a Spaniard. Friday is overjoyed to discover that another of the rescued victims is his father. The four men return to Crusoe’s dwelling for food and rest. Crusoe prepares to welcome them into his community permanently. He sends Friday’s father and the Spaniard out in a canoe to explore the nearby land.Eight days later, the sight of an approaching English ship alarms Friday. Crusoe is suspicious. Friday and Crusoe watch as eleven men take three captives onshore in a boat. Nine of the men explore the land, leaving two to guard the captives. Friday and Crusoe overpower these men and release the captives, one of whom is the captain of the ship, which has been taken in a mutiny. Shouting to the remaining mutineers from different points, Friday and Crusoe confuse and tire the men by making them run from place to place. Eventually they confront the mutineers, telling them that all may escape with their lives except the ringleader. The men surrender. Crusoe and the captain pretend that the island is an imperial territory and that the governor has spared their lives in order to send them all to England to face justice. Keeping five men as hostages, Crusoe sends the other men out to seize the ship. When the ship is brought in, Crusoe nearly faints.On December 19, 1686, Crusoe boards the ship to return to England. There, he finds his family is deceased except for two sisters. His widow friend has kept Crusoe’s money safe, and after traveling to Lisbon, Crusoe learns from the Portuguese captain that his plantations in Brazil have been highly profitable. He arranges to sell his Brazilian lands. Wary of sea travel, Crusoe attempts to return to England by land but is threatened by bad weather and wild animals in northern Spain. Finally arriving back in England, Crusoe receives word that the sale of his plantations has been completed and that he has made a considerable fortune. After donating a portion to the widow and his sisters, Crusoe is restless and considers returning to Brazil, but he is dissuaded by the thought that he would have to become Catholic. He marries, and his wife dies. Crusoe finally departs for the East Indies as a trader in 1694. He revisits his island, finding that the Spaniards are governing it well and that it has become a prosperous colony.

Taken from:http://sharifahch.blogspot.com

CURRY......

Curry is a generic description used throughout European and American culture to describe a general variety of spiced dishes, best known in South Asian cuisines, especially Indian cuisines. Curry is a generic term and although there is no one specific attribute that marks a dish as "curry", some distinctive spices used in many curry dishes include turmeric, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, and red pepper. The word curry is an anglicised version of the Tamil word khari , which is usually understood to mean "gravy" or "sauce" rather than "spices". In Urdu, an official language of Pakistan and Noth India, curry is usually referred to as saalan. In most South Indian languages, the word literally means 'side-dish', which can be eaten along with a main dish like rice or bread.

Curry's popularity in recent decades has spread outward from the Indian subcontinent to figure prominently in international cuisine. Consequently, each culture has adopted spices in its indigenous cooking to suit its own unique tastes and cultural sensibilities. Curry can therefore be called a pan-Asian or global phenomenon with immense popularity in Thai, British, and Japanese cuisines.

Malayali cuisine

Main article: Cuisine of Kerala

Malayali curries of Kerala typically contain shredded coconut paste or coconut milk, curry leaves, and various spices. Mustard seeds are used in almost every dish, along with onions, curry leaves, sliced red chilies fried in hot oil. Most of the non-vegetarian dishes are heavily spiced. Kerala is known for its traditional Sadya, a vegetarian meal served with boiled rice and a host of side-dishes, such as Parippu (Green gram), Papadum, some ghee, Sambar, Rasam, Aviyal, Kaalan, Kichadi, pachadi, Injipuli, Koottukari, pickles(mango, lime), Thoran, one to four types of Payasam, Boli, Olan, Pulissery, moru (buttermilk), Upperi, Banana chips, etc. The sadya is customarily served on a banana leaf.

Tuesday,16 of February 2010...

Today, I'm following my parents and my sister to Ipoh. We're going to send my another sister to go back to school.Her name is Nuraiman Syafiqah Bt Musa. She studies at SMT Ipoh at Jalan Brash. She studies at Form 4 and she was the first intake. She starts studying there since last January.

When we come back home I will do my homeworks as they're not finished yet. Unfortunately, I left my Geography notebook. I was very careless. The book must be sent after this Chinese New Year holiday ends. It must be finished until the Unit 6. I just finished until Unit 3. I felt like wanna cry until the holiday ends.

NEW URL

ATTENTION!!!!
To all my classmates,
For your information i've changed my blog URL...
My blog URL is http://aqilah1437.blogspot.com

HOMEWORKS DURING HOLIDAY....

1. Daily Log
-have done @ plan to do

2. Reflection
-personal thoughts

3. Interesting Reading List
-article/newspaper
-give personal comments

MY PATH TO MY FIRST BLOG

In my English lesson at school,my class use a blog to learn English.To make a blog, I must have a Gmail account. So I sign up for the Gmail account first. After I finished my Gmail accout,i went to the blogger address and create a new blog.I fill the form of my details. After I create my blog I starts to create my blog list. I fill it with my friends URL blog. Then I starts to post blog.

REFLECTION

Today, I learn to add my blog to my teacher's blog. First, I sign in to my teacher's blog. Then, I click at the layout of Secangkir Kopi. After that, I edit the 2 jabir 2010 and add my blog url.

CHARACTERS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF ROBINSON CRUSOE

Robinson Crusoe - The novel’s protagonist and narrator. Crusoe begins the novel as a young middle-class man in York in search of a career. He father recommends the law, but Crusoe yearns for a life at sea, and his subsequent rebellion and decision to become a merchant is the starting point for the whole adventure that follows. His vague but recurring feelings of guilt over his disobedience color the first part of the first half of the story and show us how deep Crusoe’s religious fear is. Crusoe is steady and plodding in everything he does, and his perseverance ensures his survival through storms, enslavement, and a twenty-eight-year isolation on a desert island.
Friday - A twenty-six-year-old Caribbean native and cannibal who converts to Protestantism under Crusoe’s tutelage. Friday becomes Crusoe’s servant after Crusoe saves his life when Friday is about to be eaten by other cannibals. Friday never appears to resist or resent his new servitude, and he may sincerely view it as appropriate compensation for having his life saved. But whatever Friday’s response may be, his servitude has become a symbol of imperialist oppression throughout the modern world. Friday’s overall charisma works against the emotional deadness that many readers find in Crusoe.
The Portuguese captain - The sea captain who picks up Crusoe and the slave boy Xury from their boat after they escape from their Moorish captors and float down the African coast. The Portuguese captain takes Crusoe to Brazil and thus inaugurates Crusoe’s new life as plantation owner. The Portuguese captain is never named—unlike Xury, for example—and his anonymity suggests a certain uninteresting blandness in his role in the novel. He is polite, personable, and extremely generous to Crusoe, buying the animal skins and the slave boy from Crusoe at well over market value. He is loyal as well, taking care of Crusoe’s Brazilian investments even after a twenty-eight-year absence. His role in Crusoe’s life is crucial, since he both arranges for Crusoe’s new career as a plantation owner and helps Crusoe cash in on the profits later.
The Spaniard - One of the men from the Spanish ship that is wrecked off Crusoe’s island, and whose crew is rescued by the cannibals and taken to a neighboring island. The Spaniard is doomed to be eaten as a ritual victim of the cannibals when Crusoe saves him. In exchange, he becomes a new “subject” in Crusoe’s “kingdom,” at least according to Crusoe. The Spaniard is never fleshed out much as a character in Crusoe’s narrative, an example of the odd impersonal attitude often notable in Crusoe.
Xury - A nonwhite (Arab or black) slave boy only briefly introduced during the period of Crusoe’s enslavement in Sallee. When Crusoe escapes with two other slaves in a boat, he forces one to swim to shore but keeps Xury on board, showing a certain trust toward the boy. Xury never betrays that trust. Nevertheless, when the Portuguese captain eventually picks them up, Crusoe sells Xury to the captain. Xury’s sale shows us the racist double standards sometimes apparent in Crusoe’s behavior.
The widow - Appearing briefly, but on two separate occasions in the novel, the widow keeps Crusoe’s 200 pounds safe in England throughout all his thirty-five years of journeying. She returns it loyally to Crusoe upon his return to England and, like the Portuguese captain and Friday, reminds us of the goodwill and trustworthiness of which humans can be capable, whether European or not.
Sources from:http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/crusoe/characters.html

SYNOPSIS OF ROBINSON CRUSOE

This is a story of a man who lives alone on an island after he is shipwrecked.

Robinson's ambition is to be a sailor.So he runs away from home sets out to sea, against his father's wishes. His first trip was rather succesful but on his second trip he was attacked and captured by Turkish pirates. He was made a slave and during his journey with them a storm strikes his ship and his ship is destroyed. He is the sole survivor shipwrecked on an island.

The resourceful Crusoe creates a comfortable life for himself.One day, he rescues a victim of a cannibal attack, who becomes his friend.Crusoe names him Friday.The story focuses on their friendship.Crusoe is finally rescued by a ship after 28 years.In the years on the island, Crusoe and his friend have many adventures and face many challenges.
Crusoe learns many things while on the island.He learns to grow his own crops, rear animals, make pots, make boats and even sew his own clothes.Being alone, he learns to live by himself without the luxuries of a modern home.
By the time he leaves the island, Crusoe has been on it for twenty-eight years,two months and nineteen days.He settles down in England, gets married and has children. After his wife died,Crusoe visits his island.He is pleased to see that the English and the Spaniards live together as a community.