Photo Essay : Something round and green...

Let's have a guess on these. Hint : there are round and green...

[caption id="attachment_1510" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="That's a hat being held tight at the end to hold something round and green inside"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1511" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="It's a blurry image of that something round and green"][/caption]

Still can't tell what it is?

.

.

.

Oh man, you got to be kidding me! Check this other picture and see what it really is then.

So it's a Calamansi ya'll. Totally hand-picked fresh from the 'garden' from a couple of calamansi trees. They are so sour and they make some great ice 'calamansi'  tea drink. Yum!

Stand Up Paddle Surfing

Please don't tell me that this isn't cool :

Stand Up Paddle surfing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxV-BfBRJZg

Stand Up Paddle surfing literally means surfing with a paddle while standing up. If you watch the video, you will see a little kid surfing together with another adult on the same surfboard. That must have been so much fun and the best thing IS they make Stand Up Paddle surfing looks so easy to do. Gosh, I really love this kind of water sports, don't you?

Crashing on my bottom doing the Shirsha Asana / Yoga Headstand

Yesterday, I attempted the Shirsha Asana or commonly known as the headstand. For support, I lean both my legs up against the wall. That part was easy. Later, I thought that I should try to get both my legs straight and off the wall. I never knew that you can be totally off-balanced when you are upside down and trust me, I was going all wobbly. I think I got through a couple of seconds with both my legs up with no wall support and BOOM, I crashed hard onto the floor seconds after that.

photo © 2009 Neeta Lind | more info (via: Wylio)

Thankfully, I crashed landed on my bum and had a sore bottom later on but it felt almost like I made a back flip towards the floor. So it ain't that bad really. Unfortunately, I landed straight onto my notebook's cooler pad because for some unknown reason it was sitting exactly across from where I was doing the headstand. Although I miraculously 'survived' the crash/back flip, the cooler pad didn't. One of its fan was detached from the base while half of the cooler pad had a long crack from the side to the center. It's officially kaput.

Nevertheless, I wouldn't say posing for the headstand is difficult. It is do-able with a lot of concentration and balance of course.  Since I've crashed on my bottom while doing the headstand, will I attempt it again? Of course I will! Doing a headstand is really cool and I have a feeling of being light and fresh after that short inversion. You should attempt a headstand too and you can check out on my previous post to learn on how you can do the Shirsha Asana /Yoga Headstand.

p.s: You may want to have a look at the damaged cooler pad. :)

[caption id="attachment_1485" align="aligncenter" width="210" caption="The cracked and detached fan. Ouch!"][/caption]

How much have traveling changed you?

If you are an avid traveler, yes I do mean a traveler and not a holidaymaker, have you ever asked this question to yourself : How much have traveling changed me as a person? Am I a changed person now than I was before I begin my travel journey? I'm absolutely sure these questions somehow or rather have crossed your mind. If traveling has changed you, then what is it?

Personally, traveling has changed me on these levels:

- I appreciate my country a lot more because we have excellent taste in food and there are countless of varieties to choose from.

- I feel sympathetic on how other people in the poor countries live on the daily basis. Life ain't no walk in a park for most of them. It's a constant struggle just to get through the day.

- I can tolerate really bad and near chances of a suicidal city traffic.

- To have an open heart, open mind, to accept, to embrace and have a great respect on others especially when there are a huge divide of cultural background, traditions and faith.

... and the list goes on and on.

So ask yourself now, how much have traveling changed you now?

I wish I can do the Bakasana or the Crow Pose

I really wish I can do the Bakasana or the Crow Pose and I believe it takes heaps of practice to get the pose correct. Performing the Bakasana/Crow pose will mainly benefit and strengthen your whole arms, shoulders, neck and the whole upper back because you have to balance your whole body weight solely on your arms and wrists.

Check out on how you can do the Bakasana or the Crow Pose from the video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXLWMHANqlw&feature=fvw

Animals Anecdotes 17: Butterflies lingering on me!

It has been more than one occasion now when I turn and see a tiny butterfly or a full grown, extremely colorful butterfly lingering all over me. Among all those butterflies, I managed to capture only this small one with the camera. I wonder what attracted them and kept them staying - more like sucking on the surfaces for quite sometime before they take off and totally disappear.

[caption id="attachment_1463" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Little butterfly on me shoe"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1464" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A closer look"][/caption]

Lately, there are quite a big number of a striking orange butterflies. There are like all over the place. One time, I spilled some water on my hand and out of no where, an orange butterfly came, suck and feel around for that drops water for a long time and flew away. It feels pretty 'magical' in some way. I can't quite tell what it is. Oh well, it is just some butterflies deciding to linger around me. They are really fun to have around with. You should 'catch' one if you can! :)

Nevis Bungy VS Sunway Bungy

Watching these videos got me pumping, man! Bungy jumping is an incredibly, awesome adrenaline fix. Nevis Bungy jump is located in New Zealand while Sunway Bungy jump is in Sunway Lagoon Extreme Park, Malaysia. If you must compare between the two, it is pretty obvious that Nevis is the best between them. It's longer (134m) and has really great mountain valley view too!

If only I can fly to New Zealand for my birthday this month, I'm sure to have Nevis Bungy a go! Unfortunately, it's not happening just yet. It'll be great to celebrate a birthday with an adrenaline kick just like how I celebrated it back in 2006 by going on a topsy-turvy shoot to the sky on the 'G Force X' by AJ Hackett at KL Tower. As for this year, I guess I can just settle with a bungy by just watching 'em on YouTube. Lol!

Nevis Bungy Jump, New Zealand :

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu5gOTDII7A

VS

Sunway Lagoon Extreme Park Bungy Jump, Malaysia :

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1v88uGtVbk

The result:

Nevis Bungy wins hands down!

Animals Anecdotes 16 : Down to one doggie

The official head count for the number of dogs right now is one. Joe  the sole, male dog decided to leave the cabin and left Brownie, the young female dog on her own. Joe has been pretty moody since Maggie (alpha female dog, Brownie's mum) is gone. He wasn't doing much 'work' which is to escort everyone ever since Maggie went missing.

[caption id="attachment_1450" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="One of the last pics taken of Brownie and Maggie together. Brownie is the one with the bushy tail."][/caption]

As for Brownie, she's doing great. We've been feeding her with those Pedigree biscuits instead of the usual mix of rice and chicken or fish because she doesn't look like she has much of an appetite after her mum is gone. The best thing about Brownie is that she'll be wagging her tail like crazy every time we come around, so that's a good sign that she still gets excited on seeing us coming. Although she hasn't been 'escorting' the gang for almost a week, she did come to look for us yesterday when we didn't make a stop at the cabin for quite a long time.

[caption id="attachment_1451" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Say hi to Brownie!"][/caption]

It is kind of sad to see Brownie staying all alone at the cabin. From a pack of 4, later 5 then more than 5 (because of some newborn puppies) and the number kept decreasing until a single dog - Brownie, who happens to be the first one to venture around the cabin and hopefully she will stick around for sometime. We do know dogs are a social animal, so we just going to wait and see on how long Brownie will be around or probably other 'nice, non-barking breed' will join her in the future, we'll just never know.

Oh, talking about non-barking breed, the dogs we have around the cabin are the quite type. The are fast runners, small in build, pretty short and they hardly even bark. They will only make a noise when they see something like snakes or birds that they wanted to catch or simply to communicate to one another if they are far away from each other. Other than that, if you expect them to bark at strangers or even stray buffaloes, you need to do a big time 'coercing' to get them to just bark. They are so quiet and super silent unlike that annoying, tiny, sausage dog that my neighbour has. 'The sausage' has been barking for every 5 minutes for more than an hour at 5 ish am for a couple of days now. I don't know what it was trying to do and I blame it on the owner, not the dog. :(

Photo Essay : Muddy Adventure

With an overnight heavy downpour, some parts of the area was 'flooded' rather slightly with water. Contemplating to go from right to left, the person behind the steering wheel took left instead. Much thanks to the overgrown grass, no one anticipated a wet area about a couple of inch of water and boom, all four wheels got stuck. It was too late to reverse and it only made the car sink in deeper. Moving forward resulted into the same situation - getting stuck even more.

We managed to gather two long wooden planks and a couple of big stones to put under the car. We even tried jacking one side of the car up to slide in the plank underneath. The plank went under for one side but we couldn't slide the other plank on the left tire because things got way too slippery. With one plank under, we tried to reverse putting the 4wd gear on, but to no avail. Pushing the car from the front while another person behind the wheel on a reverse gear proved to be a waste of time and energy draining.

[caption id="attachment_1437" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="One plank under the tire"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1438" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Front wheel down"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1439" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Went in pretty deep right, eh?"][/caption]

Finally, we resorted to call the tow truck guy, waited on a rock all hungry, luckily we got 2 mangoes and half drenched in mud. After what felt like a long wait later, the pulling began. The car got pulled out of the mud leaving a couple of inches deep tire track on the runny, muddy soil but we didn't get to go home just yet. The tow truck got itself stuck in the mud too for two times! Haha. Thankfully, our car is already out of the mud, so we began pulling the tow truck instead.

[caption id="attachment_1440" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Yay! The car's out after 3 hours stuck in the mud!"][/caption]

All went well, nobody got hurt except that I got bitten by a flying insect on my hand and everyone left with mud stains on our faces, hands, sunglasses, pants and all over the car of course. :).

[caption id="attachment_1441" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="All 'mud' up! A mud fight would have been nice."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1442" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="That's not just mud. It's a mud-buffalo poop combo!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1443" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The mud stains caking on my pants. It doesn't show so much coz I got a grey color pants."][/caption]

All in all, it was a great day indeed! Oh, I did went home with a good scrubbing all over the body. Haha.

Don't hold back-Galvanize by The Chemical Brothers

It's a gloomy, slightly chilly Friday and if you 'wake up in the morning with the initiative to move' but can't seem to get yourself moving, I got your fix. Listen up, full blast on your headphones this energy vibrating song called Galvanize by The Chemical Brothers.

If a full blast of this plus a huge mug of black coffee still won't help get you going, you are so going to be in trouble at work today! :). Enjoy the beat yo!



An excerpt of the Galvanize Lyrics - Chemical Brothers

(Don't hold back)
cuz you woke up in the morning with initiative to move,
so why make it harder

(Don't hold back)
If you think about it so many people do, be cool man, look smarter,

(Don't hold back)
and you shouldn't even care, about the losers in the air,
and their crooked stares,

(Don't hold back)
cuz there's a party over here, so you might aswell be here,
where the people care,

The world is holding back
the time has come to...

Galvanize,

(Don't hold back)
If you think about it too much you may stumble,
trip up fall on your face,

(Don't hold back)
You think it is time you get up fresh style
like a sit-up come on keep pace

(Don't hold back)
Put apprehension on the back burner,
let it sit, don't even get it lit,

(Don't hold back)
Get involved with the jam,
don't be a prick, hot chick

(Don't hold back)
The World
The time has come to -
Push the button

My finger is on the button
Push the button
The time has come to...
Galvanize

How ridiculous is the Vibram Five Fingers KSO shoe? | Vibram Five Fingers KSO Review

The Vibram Five Fingers was first out like 2 years ago, so this review is nothing really new. It is more of a I.M.O (in my opinion) kind of review. So here goes:

Vibram Five Fingers or more like a five toes shoe is designed to replicate our very own feet. From one look of it, without a doubt it looks a bit ridiculous. However, despite the queer looking design it is one of the best footwear anyone can get their toes into if you are looking for a footwear that feels almost like you are on barefoot minus experiencing any type of calluses, corns, blisters and grazes if you are to literally be on barefoot.

From what I've gathered the Vibram Five Fingers KSO :
- like I've mentioned earlier, allow you to exercise with the feeling of barefoot. If you must know, barefoot running is the 'in thing' today.
- the KSO (Keep stuff out) has a thin upper surface for better breathability and of course to keep stuffs like dirt out from your feet. Just imgaine the Vibram Five Fingers simply as a hygienic version of a barefoot.
- it is made of Vibram's TCI Performance rubber for a better grip during your workout.
- it is entirely washable in the washing machine. So this is a big plus for yet another clean feel of 'barefoot workout '.
- it is durable, very light and suitable for most activities including trekking, hiking, climbing, bouldering, running, yoga/pilates and also traveling.

Field test of the Vibram Five Fingers:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM3L02zR84M&feature=related

However, do note that the Vibram Five Fingers KSO may not be suitable for everyone because if you think you won't be comfortable working out or going around on barefoot, this shoe isn't going to be the right choice for you. Then again, it takes a little bit of time of getting used to wearing this shoe. I believe it is a brilliant idea to get most people working out on their feet because not all shoes are designed for all kind of feet and since it is claimed that barefoot running is really good for you, this Vibram shoe will hopefully get you started with barefoot running in the future.

To get your own Vibram Five Fingers KSO, click here to purchase it from Amazon.com

Obsessing over stats (Alexa Ranking) won't you do good!

Of late I've been checking out my Alexa ranking like every other day. The feeling is good when you see the numbers coming down steadily each day until today I saw the rank shoot up to a couple of hundreds more which means the numbers went up and the ranking slightly dropped. My heart sank. Haha.

Oh if you are clueless about Alexa ranking, the aim is to get your ranking in numbers as low as possible. Number 100 is way better than 8 millions in rank. That's how it goes.

Nevertheless, my aim for YaszAmzah.com is to get the site down to 1 million ranking in Alexa and continue progressing to lower numbers. I just keep on doing on what works, rinse and repeat process. Probably just for today, I can shut one eye close and forget about the stats for a little while and get other things working already.

For that 1 million mark and lower ranking to go!

*note: this is me, doing a small prep talk on a Monday morning! Wee!

Homemade Cheese Burger Recipe

Wo I just realized I haven't written anything about FOOD in this blog for a very long time and I'm going to do just that right now. Let's write about burgers shall we. :)

So today we had lunch and later late in the afternoon, I had a sudden craving for something greasy and meaty. Basically, I crave for junk and I just feel like having a burger. McD burgers are out of the question because as we all know it, their burgers are just horrible and what more there are absolutely unhealthy. Haha. However, that doesn't mean I don't eat anything from McD at least a couple of times in a year.

Anyhow, cut the story short, I made some burgers and it turned out pretty good, I think. If you really want to judge on how it really taste like, you just have to make one of your own from the recipe I'm going to share with you below. So here goes:
*I think I've written about Gourmet Burger recipe before but this is slightly different in the cooking method.
Homemade Cheese Burger Recipe:

- get some minced beef/chicken or you can make your own minced beef/chicken if you have a food processor like this one from KitchenAid Food Chopper - White selling in Amazon.

- to add flavor on your minced meat, add some salt, pepper, chillie powder /cayenne pepper/paprika (for a bit of heat) and some Italian herbs

- mixed everything well with your hands, grab a handful of meat and make it into a ball and put them to rest for a while.

- sliced up some tomatoes, cucumber, any kind of salads that you have in the fridge, stack them up nicely on a bread. Before that you can butter your bread or put some mayonnaise to have some extra 'fat' in your burger. :)

- Cook your burger on a pan or grill them.

- Next, is the layering of the burger. Start of with the buttered bread at the bottom. Layer it up with some vegs that you have sliced up earlier. Put the cooked burger on the veg. You can add some mustard or ketchup or bbq sauce on the burger. Put a generous slice of cheese. I used Gouda cheese on this one. Any normal cheddar will be fine. Top the cheese with more vegs like salad or in my case I used blanched spinach and finally, another slice of bread ( I used whole wheat brown bread).

- The final step in order to get the 'melt' of the cheese, simply throw the nicely layered burger sandwich on a hot pan for a minute or so on one side and flip on the other.

- The result, you will get a nicely browned bread on each sides with melted cheese in the middle. On every bite that you take, it will be all juicy from the meat and nice stringy, melted cheese in between. Simply delicious and because it finishes up way too quickly, I didn't have a picture to share it you ya'll. Haha.

If you love cheese and want to have a cheesier burger, while making the burger patty, have two portions of meat and sandwich a generous slice of cheese in the middle of the two portions and press the portions together to have a super runny melted cheesy burger patty once cooked 'em.

I gotta tell you, burgers taste so much better if you make them on your own. At least it won't be too greasy or too salty for your taste bud. My final say, you really have to try on this Homemade Cheese Burger no matter what!

Want to donate but don't know how? Donate to WWF-Malaysia!

If today or it has been a long time, you have been thinking about donating for a good cause, or you simply have a deep feeling about trying to do something good in a day and you really don't know how and where to start, the answer to that is as simply as giving a donation to the proper channel right NOW. Yes, right now and thanks to online banking, you get to do donation to any organizations or cause of your choice in a couple of clicks away.

Personally, I have always supported WWF for its continuous effort and years of environmental conservation work. Furthermore, the fact that I always get excited about anything nature, animals and my love of the outdoor adventure simply makes more sense for me to support almost everything that WWF is working for.

Just in case, you really have no idea on what is WWF and the kind of work that they are doing, do click here to find out more about them - WWF (World Wildlife Fund for Nature).

For this year, WWF-Malaysia is going all out to save the tiger population in Malaysia. If I'm not mistaken, it is estimated that there are about 500 Malayan Tigers left in Malaysia out of the thousands that we used have years ago. Poaching and great demand for the tiger is the main culprit for the declining number of tigers we have right now. One of the least thing you can do to support WWF-Malaysia in their effort to double the number of tigers by 2022 is by donating with a RM100 or more.

A video on Snared tiger rescued in Belum Temenggor, Perak in 2009

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgmRX7okNfg&feature=related

Donation can be made directly to WWF-Malaysia via online banking with maybank2u.com, cimbclicks.com.my or hsbc.com.my. For more info on how you can help by donating to WWF, click here.

If you want to start making a change both in your life and on others, one of the best things you should consider doing is donating. It can be of any form - from cash, clothes, books, food, a helping hand and pretty much anything that can do another person or things better in the present as well as in the future. Always donate with a sincere heart and another thing that I always believe on is if you give good things, good things will come back to you. So what are you waiting for now, start donating right away!