I decided to try again recently when I have the idea of updating Twitter on my BB (Blackberry) and having it sync with my FB (Facebook) status. Reason for this is that since having the BB and enjoying the ease of messaging between BB users via the BBM (BB Messenger), I found that I am distancing myself with non-BB users. So I’ve decided to revisit the Twitter to FB sync to bridge this divide.

So for anyone who wishes to do the same, or just for the fun of having a twitter account (it is free!) and have it sync with your FB, you may follow the steps below :

1. How to create a Twitter account.
2. Configuring Facebook to sync with Twitter.
3. Installing Twitter in your Blackberry (For BB users only)
4. Test your Twitter to FB sync.

1. How to create a Twitter account.
a) Go to http://twitter.com/ and click on “Sign Up”.
b) Continue with the registration process and click on “Create my account”.
c) Remember your username and password, you will need this later.

2. Configuring Facebook to sync with Twitter.
a) Login to your FB account.
b) At the search bar, search for “Twitter” and click on “Twitter (Application)”
c) At the “Would you like to connect your Twitter and Facebook accounts?, enter your Twitter username and Twitter password from Step 1 and click Allow.
d) After connecting your Twitter and Facebook accounts, you may choose to transfer/sync your FB profile photo over to your Twitter account. Then check the “App permissions” to allow Twitter to post updates to “Facebook Profile”.

3. Installing Twitter in your Blackberry
** If you do not own a Blackberry, please proceed to step 4 **
a) You need to have Blackberry App World installed. See instructions here.
b) Start the Blackberry App World, and Search for “twitter”. Install Twitter which is developed by Research In Motion Limited.
c) Start Twitter and sign in with your Twitter account.

4. Test your Twitter to FB sync.
a) If you are a BB user, try to post your first tweet via the Twitter app and see if it shows up on your FB status.
b) If you are not a BB user, you can still test by posting your first tweet via the twitter.com website. You can do this from any non-BB smartphones!
c) If it shows up, you’ve just successfully configured the Twitter to FB sync. If it doesn’t, try removing the Twitter app and reinstall it the next day. I know this sounds weird, but it actually worked for me!

Start Tweeting!
Well, it’s all you from this point onwards! By synching your Twitter to FB, you can reach two different social networking sites from a single post. Don’t have a Twitter account? Register now (it is free anyway) and start tweeting! Don’t forget to add me (arkchane)!

Related posts:

1. First 10 Things You Should Learn About Your BlackBerry

The very first thing that I notice after using the phone is the sheer speed that the BlackBerry 9700 has to offer. It gave me the feeling of almost hardware speed, wait time is almost non-existent when compared to the Windows Mobile platform of the HTC Diamond, but perhaps that is the advancement in hardware after 2 years. Of course the animation is quite dull when compared to the much hyped iPhone, but I will trade speed over superfluous design any day.

Let us move on to the 10 things that you should learn about the BlackBerry :

1. Apps

As with any device nowadays, smartphone without apps (applications) is like a car with no fuel. It is only through apps that the BlackBerry can unleash its true potential. Below is the list of my apps and the instructions on how to install them.

Google Mobile App
(From your browser go to http://m.google.com -> Download Google Mobile App)
This is the app version of the web search engine, I prefer to do my searches using the app as I find it quicker. Maybe it is just me.

BBNotePad (click here to download)
(http://www.blackberryfreeware.com/2008/08/free-blackberry-text-editor-software.html)
Notepad has always been my favourite application, light weight and simple. It is fortunate for me to be able to find a free version of it for my BlackBerry.
*Note* – Refer below for the instructions to install using the BlackBerry Desktop Manager

BlackBerry App World
Your browser should load up http://mobile.blackberry.com by default . From here click on “BlackBerry App World – Download today!” and follow the instructions.

Facebook
After installing the BlackBerry App World, I installed Facebook for BlackBerry using its search feature.

Windows Live Messenger (Installed By Default)
I use Windows Live Messenger a lot, it is convenient to have it installed by default. To launch it go to, Menu -> Instant Messaging -> Windows Live Messenger

NEW! iSkoot For Skype (click here to download)
(http://handheld.softpedia.com/get/System-Utilities/Communications/iSkoot-for-Skype-BlackBerry-57183.shtml)
After almost 1 month of using the BlackBerry I found that the only instant messenger that I’m missing is Skype. Thanks to Ken, a friend of mine for letting me know that there’s actually a Skype client for the BlackBerry. This version is compatible with BlackBerry 9700 running OS 5.
*Note* – Refer below for the instructions to install using the BlackBerry Desktop Manager

To Install Using The BlackBerry Desktop Manager (BB DM) :
- Download the file and extract it to a folder.
- From the BlackBerry Desktop Manager, go to Application Loader -> Add/Remove Applications -> Start.
- Click on Browse and browse to the folder where the file was extracted to and seach for the *.alx file and click Open.
- From the BB Desktop Manager, click Next and follow the instructions to complete the installation.

2. YouTube

Digi Need To Enable APN (digistrm) For YouTube Streaming
(http://www.digi.com.my/blackberry/faq.do)

This section is particular to DiGi’s BIS subscriber, for some reason (most probably for bandwidth control), DiGi need us to configure the APN to digistrm before us being to view YouTube video streaming. To do this, follow the steps below :

Menu -> Options -> Advanced Options -> TCP/IP

(TICKED) APN Settings Enabled
APN: digistrm
(TICKED) APN Authentication Enabled
Username for APN:
Password for APN

*Both Username and Password for APN Authentication are left blank*

Error Playing. An error has occurred attempting to play media.

For the first 2 weeks since getting the phone, I have not been able to watch any YouTube videos. It keeps prompting “Error Playing. An error has occurred attempting to play media”. The search for any information in google and my personal attempt to troubleshoot the problem led me to no solution. At the end of the 2 weeks I had nobody to turn to, so I gave DiGi’s support an attempt. I’m determined to solve this issue no matter what, even if it means terminating Digi. But to my surprise Digi support did manage to solve it. Kudos to DiGi!

To save the heartache of many future BlackBerry users I would like to share the solution with you. Please configure your BlackBerry browser with the below settings :

Browser settings

Menu -> Browser -> Menu -> Options :

[1] Browser Configuration

Browser: Internet Browser

(TICKED) Support JavaScript
(TICKED) Allow JavaScript popups
(TICKED) Terminate slow running scripts
(TICKED) Show Images
(TICKED) Use Background Images
(TICKED) Support Embedded Media

Browser Identification: BlackBerry

Start Page: Home Page

Default Search Provider: Google

Home Page Address: http://mobile.blackberry.com/

[2] General Properties

Default Browser: Internet Browser

(Type of Fonts here doesn’t really affect the settings)

(NOT TICKED) Full Screen View
(TICKED) Enable JavaScript Location support

Prompt Before:
(NOT TICKED) Closing Browser on Escape
(Ticked) Closing Modified Pages
(NOT TICKED) Switching to WAP for streaming media
(NOT TICKED) Running WML Scripts

**NOTE**
If the YouTube streaming still does not work after the reconfiguration above, please try restarting it (ATL + RIGHT SHIFT + DEL).

3. Configure Email
Configuring email on your BlackBerry is a breeze through Menu -> Setup -> Email Settings , however, if you are anything like me, you will not want to use the signature feature from the BlackBerry (BB) BIS. The BB BIS attaches your signature at the end of mail, not at the end of the message which is something like the below.

—————————————————————————
—–Original Message—–
From: selfmod@def.com
Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 3:01 AM
To: selfmod@abc.com
Subject: Re: Test signature

Test signature.
——Original Message——
From: selfmod@abc.com
To: selfmod@def.com
ReplyTo: selfmod@abc.com
Subject: Test signature
Sent: Mar 6, 2010 02:55

Test

Best Regards,
abc.com
Sent via BlackBerry®

Best Regards,
def.com
Sent via BlackBerry®
—————————————————————————

I personally prefer it to be at the end of my message. To do this you must first clear up the Signature field on your BB BIS email settings. Then configure your signature using the AutoText feature, go to Menu -> Options -> AutoText. Then, Menu -> New.

Replace:
mysig (or any other short text)

With:

Best Regards,
abc.com
Sent via BlackBerry®

Using: SmartCase
Language: All Locales

So the next time after you finished writing your email, go to the next line and type “mysig” follow with a space and your signature will appear automatically.

Another feature that I would recommend is the Auto BCC feature (Delivery Options -> Auto BCC) which act as an email sent confirmation and also for your own reference.

4. Sync With Outlook
Honestly, the migration from my Diamond to the BlackBerry was seamless. My Calendar & Contacts sync beautifully within minutes after installing the BlackBerry Desktop Manager.

5. Backup
The BB Desktop Manager also features a very complete backup tool (Backup & Restore -> Backup). I can easily restore all my data and settings even after a full reset on the device. I would recommend you to perform a periodic backup, at least once a day since the backup process will complete within minutes.

6. BlackBerry Messenger (BBM)
The BBM is one of the most stable, easy to use and full featured Instant Messenger that I’ve ever used. I’m quite certain that you will come to the same conclusion yourself. Having both Live Messenger and BBM online all the time will also cut down your usage on voice and SMS.

7. Encrypting Media Card
Since most of your personal data is stored in your BlackBerry, I would highly recommend you to at least enable the encryption on the media card using “Security Password” mode of encryption. Please view the link below for more details :

http://www.blackberry.com/btsc/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=KB16088&sliceId=1&docTypeID=DT_SUPPORTISSUE_1_1&dialogID=331830763&stateId=0%200%20331834153

8. Personalization
I’m not a fan of changing background wallpaper and using the hottest rock song as ring tones. However, the many tones that are available in the BB to differentiate different types of applications (call, different types of email accounts, different types of instant messaging, etc) makes it very intuitive.

I had a hard time trying to sleep at first when I’m awaken by the email alerts in the wee hours of the morning only to find out that I just received a spam email!! I’m very appreciative of the effort by RIM (Research In Motion) to include the “Phone Calls Only” profile.

9. Configure Convenience Key
The convenience keys at both sides of the phone can be used to quickly open often used programs, by default Camera (right) and Voice Dialing (left). To configure it to use other apps, go to Menu -> Options -> Screen/Keyboard -> Left/Right Side Convenience Key.

10. Tips

a) Turning on mass storage mode while connected to the computer without mass storage mode.
While connected to the BB Desktop Manager in sync mode. In your BB, go to Mode -> Options -> Memory, go to the bottom of screen, Menu -> Enable USB Mass Storage.

b) Turning off flash while using camera
While the Camera app is on, press on “space” to toggle Flash, Off/On/Auto.

c) Short cut keys
- double space for a “.” and an upper case for the next letter
- while using the browser, keying in “space” will result in “.”

Special thanks :

harrysolve from KawanBB.Com

I always believe that everyone should own their home, regardless of the size and location. If you can do better, you can always upgrade to a better one, and if you’re in a bad situation, you can always go back to your home. I would also advice those who are keen on investing in a property to at least want to live in this house. Should your investment does not work out as expected (no buyer, not able to rent out, etc..), as least you can still use it as your home instead of letting it rot but still pay for the installments monthly. Another advice is that if you already have a car, try not to tempt yourself into buying another car instead of getting a house, always remind yourself that the car is the worst investment of all time!

I was purchasing a completed service apartment by applying for a Flexi loan. The procedures might be slightly different for you if you’re getting other types of property, and maybe under development, but I believe the overall experience should be more or less the same.

The Hunt

Choosing your home is no easy task. Even when I’ve decided on the condo/apartment that I wish to buy, I still need to view the units and make sure that it is the unit that I will be staying for awhile. One wrong decision here and you’ll be demotivated for a very long time (30 years usually). Perhaps this is the challenge for us who is buying a completed property, but I still think properties under development will have their own set of challenges. Lucky or not, I spent 3 months looking for my unit, and I got exactly the unit that I had in mind when I started!

Booking Fees

During my 3 months search, it got so competitive that I brought my cheque book with me when I went for viewing with the property agent so that I can place the booking on the spot if the unit is suitable. Most of the time, it is first come first serve basis when it comes to booking.

There was same issue the owner had with the existing tenant that hold me back from issuing my booking fee on the spot. I had to thank my agent for being able to convince the owner that I’m very serious in buying and there’s no need to ask for other agents to help sell the unit.

Once everything is cleared, I placed my booking fee. It should be around 2% or 3% of the purchase value, and you will need to sign on the Letter Of Offer. Bear in mind that the Letter Of Offer needed to be signed by the buyer (Purchaser) and the seller (Vendor) to be of legal value. Which means that the owner can still accept offers from other agents. Once the owner signed the Letter Of Offer, your agent will give you the original copy. With this Letter, you can now start applying for loan. At this stage, referring to the Letter Of Offer, you should have 14 working days to get your loan approved. You will be penalized/fined if you don’t, so start working on it!

Loan Application

My brother is a banker, so I got very detailed information on the types of loans available and how to apply them in a way that it gets processed quickly without delay, to avoid the penalty. There are generally 2 types of loans, Conventional and Flexi. I’m not going into the details on the differences of these 2 but basically Flexi loans (the one that I chose) have the flexibility for you to deposit and withdraw from a current account that you own, and the loan interest will be calculated daily based on the amount of extra cash that you deposited into the account.

Each bank has their strength and weaknesses, some has better interest for completed properties, some has better interest for Conventional, some has better interest for Flexi, some provides higher value for your property, hence the ability to get higher loans, and so forth. So it is wise to apply for several banks for more options.

To apply for housing loan, you need a set of these for every bank :-

1. Letter Of Offer
2. Copy Of Identification Card
3. Copy Of Income Tax Form
4. Copy Of Income Tax Payment Receipt
5. Latest 3 Month’s Salary Slip
6. Latest 3 Month’s Bank Statement
- First Page (That States Your Name And Account Number) & Statement, Certified True Copy (You Need To Go To The Branch To Get It Stamped) – Depending On Bank’s Requirements.
- Make Sure Your Statement Matches With The Amount On Your Salary Slip Or You’ll Have A Very Difficult Time Getting It Approved!
7. Name Card Current & Previous (If You Just Changed Job)

Getting A Lawyer

Once you have your loan approved, the next step is to appoint a lawyer to process the deal. Most of the time, the Purchaser’s lawyer alone is enough but sometimes the Vendor might want their own lawyer to protect themselves. The lawyer will prepare the new Sales & Purchase document where it will be signed by both parties, the Purchaser & Vendor. During the signing, you will need to pay the remainder of the down payment (usually 10% minus the amount you paid during booking).

At this moment, if for any reason that you’ve decided that you do not want to sign the S&P, you will lose your booking fee. And also, in the event that you sign it before getting a bank loan approved and that loan ended up being rejected, you will lose your 10%. So make sure to get your loan approved within 14 working days before signing the S&P! Once signed, all you can do now is wait for your lawyer to process the transaction.

It is very important to set up your current account before the release of fund from the bank, or the funds will have nowhere to go to. This is quite a tricky step if you are not confident of when the First Disbursement (the release of funds from the bank) will occur. Since the bank will charge a service fee (Rm 10 per month in my case), it is also not clever to set up your account too soon because the bank will charge you every month for nothing. Since I expect my First Disbursement to occur in between the 3rd and the 6th month, I set up my current account on the 2nd month.

Towards the final phase before I get the Key to my property, I was asked by my lawyer to do a joint inspection with the Vendor on the property. I think this is just a formality as I don’t think the previous owner will pay for any visible damage since you’ve already paid for the property, it’s yours now!

I will then need to contact my lawyer to let them know if the property is in good condition and if they should proceed. Once you give them the green light they will proceed to process the loan and will instruct the bank to release the First Disbursement. In my case, since the previous owner bought the property in cash, I do not need to wait for the Second Disbursement. This reduced my waiting time by 1 to 2 months.

The Key!

Once the First or Second Disbursement is released to the Vendor, the lawyer will contact you to pick up the Key! Congratulations! The first phase of your headache is now over! At this point, most buyers will want to at least do some renovation, according to budget and taste. This will further increase your wait to an extra month or two.

So that’s all you need to know to get your own property! Like in all of my articles, I hope to provide some kind of value, not just empty blogging. So once again, welcome to the year 2010!

There’s no place like home!

No related posts.

I got my USB-to-Serial converter to work after installing Prolific USB-to-Serial Driver. Click here to download it.

I came to know that HyperTerminal is no longer a part of Windows since Vista and I found Putty to be a very powerful alternative, besides terminal emulation, it is also a Telnet and SSH client. You can download it from their link here http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/ .

To connect to your USB-to-Serial converter using Putty, first you must identify which port is allocated to your converter. To do this in Windows 7, Go to Start -> Right Click Computer -> Manage . Then Computer Management (Local) -> Device Manager -> Ports (COM & LPT) -> Prolifec USB-to-Serial Comm Port (COM3) . You should see your device listing similar to the image on the left.

Take note of the Com Port that your connector is using. You will need this information to configure your Putty. To connect using Putty to your device using the serial interface, firstly startup the Putty program. Enter the correct port at the “Serial line” input box. Then at the Connection type: choose Serial. Click on Open and your session should start immediately.

Press on the Enter key and you should get some response from your device.

References :

http://www.sevenforums.com/drivers/4476-prolific-usb-serial-driver.html

http://www.windowsvistaplace.com/hyperterminal-alternative-in-windows-vista/downloads/

No related posts.

For some reason the YouTube video link on their website was broken. Luckily I managed to download it before it went down. The video is of good quality so it will take awhile for it to be downloaded. The lyrics follows. Enjoy..

You can download it here (Right click -> Save Link As..)

Within Temptation – Utopia Lyrics

The burning desire to live and roam free
It shines in the dark and it grows within me
You’re holding my hand but you don’t understand
So where I am going, you wont be in the end

I’m dreaming in colors of getting the chance
Dreaming of trying the perfect romance
The search of the door, to open your mind
In search of the cure of mankind

Help us, we’re drowning
So closed up inside

Why does it rain, rain, rain down on utopia?
Why does it have to kill the idea of who we are?
Why does it rain, rain, rain down on utopia?
How will the lights die down, telling us who we are?

I’m searching for answers, not given for free
You’re hurting inside, is there life within me?
You’re holding my hand but you don’t understand
You’re taking the road all alone in the end

I’m dreaming in colors, no boundaries are there
I’m dreaming the dream, and I’ll sing to share
In search of the door, to open your mind
In search of the cure of mankind

Help us, we’re drowning
So close up inside

Why does it rain, rain, rain down on utopia
Why does it have to kill the idea of who we are?
Why does it rain, rain, rain, down on utopia?
And when the lights die down, telling us who we are

Why does it rain, rain, rain down on utopia
Why does it have to kill the idea of who we are?
Why does it rain, rain, rain down on utopia
And when the lights die down, telling us who we are
Why does it rain?

No related posts.

Culture

I’m a Chinese. For those non-Asians, we sort of originated from China and are very well known for cooking. Since Chinese cuisines have many styles and variations, this is where the problem starts. When you have choices, you tend to try. Trying is the problem here. Hopefully staying and cooking on my own can solve this issue.

Besides those domestic issues you have the social culture at large. This is where your parks, towns, states, countries and world falls into. These are influenced by sustained product marketing. Look at Cokd and McG (sure hope they don’t sue me for affecting their market share..:D ) for example, 100 years of promoting their product as hip and convenient is surely a brainwash, and an effective one.

To keep it short, below are the top 10 food to stay away from your daily diet. This list is for those who wish to improve (i think most will use the word “sacrifice”) their diet for a better health and a stunning body. After all, when all else fails, you only have your body to count on.

Top 10 Food To Stay Away From Your Daily Diet

1. Sugar Water

By sugar water I mean everything which is on sale besides bottled mineral water and green tea. A can of soft drink contains 16.5 teaspoons of sugar. Can you believe that? Try eating 16.5 teaspoons of sugar accompanied by warm water, it is inconsumable. How has technology made it so easy to consume sugar nowadays.

If you really need some taste, green tea is the best alternative that I can find so far. You can opt for soy drinks too but most on the market are too sweet to be of actual benefits, keep looking.

2. Rice (especially nasi lemak)

I’ve reduced my rice intake by 80% since a few months ago and I don’t see any different on my body weight at all, so I’ve come to a conclusion that rice is not needed in my diet. Try to reduce your rice intake, especially nasi lemak. They ain’t called “fat rice” for nothing.

http://www.timeoutsydney.com.au/restaurants/pantry/nasi-lemak.aspx
http://www.malaysia-hotels.net/food_dining/malay-food.html

3. Cut Down On Meat

I was a pure meat eater previously so I know how it is. Try to do your part instead of indirectly causing the slaughter of animals. Animal lovers who eat meat? Yeah right. Take fish instead if you wish to start things off slowly because they don’t cry while being butchered, it can really heal your conscience, seriously.

4. Bread ,Buns and Donuts

Hoho! I called them the deadly trinity! Enough said. If you must, choose whole wheat bread instead of white bread.

5. Junk Food (sweets, crackers, fries, cakes, chips, nuts, etc..)

They come in all ways and seems to appear always. Just choose and eat wisely. I found the low fat raw almond nuts to be quite inviting sometimes, just don’t chew off the whole packet!

6. Alcohol (beer, wines, liquor)

You’ll be safe if you are able to prevent yourself from crossing the thin line between casual drinking and senseless drinking. I couldn’t, which was why I ended up shying away from most drinking gatherings. The word “health” gets a whole new meaning after a few shots of liquor.

7. Chocolate and Ice Creams

They should belong to the junk food categories but I gave them a special slot since they were once my favourite food. When I was a kid I swore to never turn down any chocolate and ice cream offers. Looks like it doesn’t turn out well.

8. Caffeine

I was thinking of taking less coffee but caffeine is the culprit here. Checkout the link below for more details on the pros and cons of caffeine :

http://www.healthy.net/scr/article.asp?id=1378

9. Whipped Cream As Toppings

Any kind of whipped cream as topping is a sin. Get it and you’ll be whipped.

10. Milk
This one is kind of personal. I’ve had stomach discomfort for many years and I struggled to find the cause. Since replacing milk with my protein supplement, the uneasiness seemed to disappear. I also read that 75% of the world’s population has problems digesting cow’s milk, maybe that could be your problem too?

Now I ate less than 50% of the portion that I used to eat 2 years ago and I’m feeling better than ever and I believe that things can only be better!

Related posts:

1. Social Omnivore
2. Excessive Workout Can Kill You

Since my last entry in January, I’ve experienced and gone through some major tuning in both my sleep cycles and also my diet. For a start, my personal trainer’s recommendation of 4 days training per week almost destroyed my physical body. How is that so? It took me almost 3 months to realize it! I’ll explain.

Personal Training

For those who’ve been through the personal trainer’s torture, you will understand the true meaning when I say that they DO push you to the LIMIT! Not able to turn your steering wheel properly, not able to scrub your back during shower and unable to walk straight are common side effects. The first month was bad, returning to workout after a year’s break was painful. I quickly adjusted having a 3 days per week workout and an extra day with my trainer. I started off by taking GNC Pro Performance® Mass XXX™, a weight gain supplement since they are having a buy 1 get 1 free promotion at the time.

It increases my weight from 65 to 70kg from the 2 X 6lb(s) container in the course of 3 months. The taste (both chocolate and vanilla) was not great but it worked, I guess.

The 2nd and 3rd month were the same but I can see and feel that I’m having results, weighing more and growing stronger knowing that I’m carrying heavier weights. At this moment, I started to feel lethargic during work as I go to work after workout in the morning. It got worse from week to week until I fell sick at the end of the 3rd month of workout in March. That really surprised me as I rarely get sick. With the fact that I’m exercising regularly it made it even more difficult for me to find the cause of my sickness. I took a week’s off from gym to recover and I continued my usual workout routine after that.

The Transition

I resigned at the end of April. Having the knowledge that I might need to work late in the future, I’ve decided to have a normal sleeping cycle (12.30am to 7.30am) compared to previously. During this period I finished my weight gain and my trainer adviced me to take MuscleTech® Nitro-Tech Hardcore, a protein supplement.

I would really recommend this if you plan to build you body. Besides the protein it has enough nutrients for your body. You can practically drink a scoop of this and forget everything else for your breakfast. It tastes good too, both chocolate and vanilla. I’m taking 2 scoops during workout day (1 before and 1 after workout) and 1 scoop for breakfast during non-workout days. Most importantly, drink with cold water as hot water will kill off the protein.

I’ve been consistently having my 4 days workout (sometimes 5 days when I can make it!) throughout April and May until I broke down again during the last week of May. This time it freaked me out, getting sick twice in 3 months is unacceptable. Something is very wrong! As with the first, I could not find any reason apart from the rigorous training schedule. So I have no choice but to reduce the frequency to 3 times a week. I took 2 weeks off from training to fully recover. Few weeks down the road as more projects came in I dropped my frequency to twice a week. I’m free from sickness since then..

Listen To Your Body

I’m sure you have experienced a different feeling after eating some particular food, be it spicy, sour, sweet or whatever. Observe and pay attention to your body before, during and after eating and see how your body respond. Most of the time your body will be telling you something, it just depends on how you respond to it. Whatever you do, just treat your body well because your life depends on it, naturally.

I’m quite proud of my body overall but I always feel ashamed every time I’m able to squeeze a chunk of fat from the area around my abs. I did some observation and research on my eating pattern and I found out the cause. I will reveal this in my next article…

Related posts:

1. Being An Early Riser
2. Social Omnivore
3. The Cause For Unhealthy Diet

I’m an efficiency freak. I’m a freak that refines every processes everytime I receive a job. I’m always thinking of ways to reduce the time spent on a repetitive job.

New Year Resolution

With being healthy as the first priority in life, I made myself a new year resolution for 2009. To buff up myself physically with a “social omnivorian” diet, which basically means half vegetarian.

The previous community gym that I went to does not have proper equipments for weight training. So as a sign of commitment, I registered myself for a 2 year membership in a well known club with additional personal training package.

My trainer recommended me to train 4 days a week, which was a 100% frequency increase from my previous workout routine. This will really disrupt my activities after work like overtime, freelance meetings and work, social gatherings, casual dating and most importantly, time for myself. It will simply turn me into a hard working moron! This just cannot be the way forward.

Challenges

From all of the methods that I came to know, rising early seems to give me the best fit. But the issue is that I’m not good at waking up early, all these years, I developed a habit of staying up late (on average until 5am) if I’m not working (or studying) the next day. In essence, I’m the exact opposite of an early riser, I’m a late sleeper. However, the benefit of total freedom after work far outweighs any cons, which was why I gave it a try anyway.

My plan was to wake up at 5.30am during gym days and 6am during non-gym days. I haven’t decided if I want to wake up early during weekends. Most probably I’ll shift my sleeping hours few hours in front, allowing me to sleep later, I’ll play be ear as time unfolds.

Waking up early one week before the start of my training schedule was actually for me to get used to it. As expected, I got some physical readjustment symptoms like slight headaches, mental fogginess and a weak body. However to my surprise, I was able to internalize the habit within 10 days.

Natural Highs

My overall mood skyrocketed since my first day of training. I got back the natural high feeling that I used to get during my previous training days few years back. If my body would allow me, I felt like working out on a daily basis.

Going to the gym in the morning is a further boost as there are not many people, giving me the opportunity to use any machines or weights without having to wait. Therefore, I am able to complete my training routine with less time needed, further increasing my efficiency.

The Results

Honestly, this is just the third week of the year and my trainer estimated that I will only see results at the end of 3 months. Perhaps I will write a different article with more details regarding my gym routine when the time comes.

Besides having a better quality of life during the day, I also have extra hours each day to pursue the things of my interests. These interests will change the course of my life in the coming months, hopefully for the better.

So stay tuned and expect more out of the norm articles from me at Selfmod.Net!

Related posts:

1. Excessive Workout Can Kill You
2. Who You Want To Be In Your Next Life?

Ghost Oppression Phenomenon

I think I had my first sleep paralysis at the age of 10. The chinese called them the ghost oppression phenomenon because they believed that you are not able to be awake because spirits are lying on top of your body causing you to be paralyzed.

It was around 5pm in the evening when the sun’s position was just right where the ray was able to reach where I was sleeping. I woke up and heard some noises in the living room but I panicked when I was not able to move! I knew that the sun’s ray was right on my face because I can see them through my eye lids, not unlike what you would see when you direct the flashlight to your eyes with your eye lids closed.

As a member of a very superstitious family or race to be more precise, ghost oppression was the first to came to mind. I started to think which spirit is doing this to me and for what reason. After much thought, I decided to force myself to be awake, but to no avail. After spending around 5 minutes figuring out a way to wake myself up, I finally gave up trying. I went back to sleep out of exhaustion.

I woke up around 20 minutes later (as an estimation based on feelings) and I was still in the same state. This time I was getting more pissed off than fearful and I started forcing myself to be awake out of brute force. I tried for around 10 minutes and I finally managed to break out of paralysis. I was sweating when I woke up, mostly due to the direct sunlight and also the amount of energy I used. If I would put it into words, the feeling of waking myself out of sleep paralysis is like lifting a refrigerator that is lying on top of your body with sheer strength. I call this method force wake.

Sleep paralysis still occurred to me from time to time after that but I dealt with them with totally no fear as I already have the solution to deal with it via “force wake”.

Sequential Nightmares

Practicing force wake benefitted me in other areas of sleep, which is nightmare. I can always force myself out of a nightmare at will. So nightmares had little impact on me until when I was 12. Even though I had mastered force wake, somehow my subconscious mind are able to find a way to counter it, by forcing me to experience sequential nightmares.

During this period I was having very vivid nightmares and the worst thing was that they were sequential, meaning to say that those nightmares continue from where they ended prior to waking up. The was a time where I ended up having 6 sequential nightmare even after force waking myself for 6 times in the same hour. It goes like this :-

I took a bus and went to the back seat. It was around midnight and I was the only passenger. The bus went according to the route and then it went off into the woods. I started to be on alert but said nothing. The bus suddenly stopped in the deep jungle, and I stared at the direction of the driver. He turned off the engine and got up from his seat, heading towards me. It was dead silence. He started walking towards me. I had nowhere to escape as the only entrance was just next to the driver’s seat, so I forced wake myself.

Prior to this, after a force wake I will either not dream or in the worst case land myself in another different nightmare. So naturally I went back to sleep. To my surprise, the driver continued walking from where he left off before I woke up. I got really scared at this point and forced wake myself again. I repeated this cycle for 6 times where in the end the driver was only few feet from me. I could see his face clearly, he was an undead with a soft green aura around him.

I was tired of it and I knew he will get me on the next one, so I get off from my bed and joined my other family members in the living room watching TV. After 30 minutes of watching something I had no interest on and due to the fact that I need to go to school the next morning, I gathered enough courage to go back to sleep. Luckily for me, it didn’t continue, but it remained as my worst sequential nightmare in my life.

Joker Demon

At the age of 16, something more disturbing happened. I was having the same nightmare for 2 weeks. All of those nightmares were masterminded by the same joker demon, having the face of a joker.  This joker demon sent all kinds of creatures to attack, torture and even kill me as I was rooted to the ground, not being able to move and defenceless. Towards the end of the 2 weeks I got so mad I thought to myself, “Why am I allowing a demon, which is my own creation, to torture me every night causing sleepless nights?”. I told myself that I will do something the next time I see this demon, just something.

True enough, I met with the joker demon again that night but this time a very strange thing happened. Upon recognizing the joker demon, it confirmed that I was actually in a dream, it worked as a dream cue for me. It then activated the logical part of the brain which is usually shut off during a dream. This allowed me to have totally no fear for the first time in a nightmare. Instead of struggling for survival which I always do when I met the joker demon, this time I managed to stare right at his eyes without any signs of fear. I stared for a moment knowing that I was in control, and then I smiled, in the dream. The dream slowly faded and I was still smiling physically.

Lucid Dreaming

Since that day, I had similar experiences but it is not related to nightmares anymore. I call them dream control due to the lack of vocabulary.

I only found out the correct term Lucid Dream in 2001 when I was doing a research on dreams. I found a forum where people exchanged their experiences with lucid dreaming and also on how can we improve this skill. It lead me to have a lucid dream that week itself. In a lucid dream, everything in your dream construct sparkles with life. It is like you are connected to everything. Bring that mindset to the physical world and you will understand why am I behaving the way I am.

Download and listen to this podcast from Erin Pavlina here for a better understanding on lucid dreams, how to practice them (yes, anyone can have lucid dreams!), and how to improve them.

Angels And Demons

Lucid dream changed the way I look at reality. I began to believe that fear is never needed in our daily lives, which led me to begin my quest in eliminating fear from my life.

By eliminating demons from my life I also removed god from the picture. Angels and demons are only a different side of the same coin, one could not exist without the other. Gods are not needed when there are no enemies and vice versa. I ended up throwing the coin in exchange for total freedom, freedom from fear and worship.

Religion is also the cause of the worst war between humans. It forces us to look at others differently.  I prefer to look at everyone as a family, without borders, without fear. I don’t have any particular belief but I think being an atheist is natural for the time being.

The Reason Behind

Why am I having these experiences when I can find no one in my country who are having the same experiences as mine? It is not like someone introduced lucid dreaming to me and I started practising it. It just came out of nowhere. Whatever it is, I am actually grateful that I had such experiences. If I do not, I can imagine myself being afraid of ghosts, believing in god who does not exist and believing in superstitious craps.

Please don’t get intimidated by the effect lucid dreaming will have on you. Today I remember the joker demon as a spirit guide more than a demon. I will never be who I am without him. I can guarantee that lucid dreaming will be the best ride in your entire life! 1080 degrees cork screw is piss in comparison! But you will need a lot of work though. Good luck on that!

“Monks meditate daily hoping that they can wake up from a dream we called life”

References :-
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/01/stevepavlinacom-podcast-010-lucid-dreaming/
http://www.dreamviews.com/

Related posts:

1. The Pillars Of Life
2. Book Review : Personal Development for Smart People by Steve Pavlina