Daily flight to KL…uh uh!

I love KL. Ok, I love Brunei too. Cant make comparison with your own country.

 Anyway, RBA is re-instating its daily flight to KL effective last Saturday 1 Dec 2007. Nice! Thanks Sayer.

Seven exercises you can do at your desk

Ok, so I am still sitting on my chair, typing. Here are seven exercises you guys can do while at your desk, as reported by GNS:

1/ Chair twist (mobilises and relaxes the spine as well as stimulating the digestive system and easing bloating):

Sit sideways on your chair with the chair back on your right. Make sure your feet are flat on the floor and your knees are in line with your hips.

Grasp the sides of the chair back, one hand at each end, and gently rotate your torso towards it, pushing the right hand away and pulling the left hand in towards you. Look over your right shoulder and hold the posture for 20 – 30 seconds, breathing freely.

Repeat facing the other way.

2/ Cushion squeeze (strengthens the innermost thigh muscle, the vastus medialis, often a factor in the knee problems. Also good for firming your butts):

Place a cushion or rolled-up jumper between your knees, keeping feet flat on the floor and hips square. Squeeze the cushion while clinching your butts so you feel the inner thighs and bottom muscles contracting. Hold for five seconds and gradually relax, without letting the cushion fall. Repeat.

3/ & 4/ Hands and arms (recommended for office workers to help prevent repetitive strain injury – RSI ):

Place an elastic band (with a reasonable amount of tautness – not flimsy ones) around the middle of all four fingers and the top of your thumb, all digits together.

Now draw away your thumb, working against the resistance of the elastic band. Hold for a count of three and repeat five times. Swap hands.

The wrist and forearm stretch is great for anyone who uses the keyboard regularly (like me). Hold your right arm straight out in front of you with your palm facing up. Use your left hand to pull your fingers back and down to the floor. Feel the stretch on the underside of your forearm and wrist. Now turn the arm palm down, and draw the fingers back towards the forearm, keeping them straight. Swap sides.

5/ Spine stretch (you need a chair with low back to do this to help stretch out your thoracic spine -the mid-back region, into extension):

With your arms crossed over your chest and feet on the floor, lean against the chair back and allow the mid-back to curl over it, lifting elbows up to the ceiling and allowing your head to follow your neck. Hold for a moment, then return to an upright position and repeat.

6/ Core strengthener: 

Sit upright on your chair, with weight evenly spread on both feet. Without letting your pelvis tilt or your back slump, lift your right foot off the floor, bringing the thigh towards the torso and keeping tummy muscles engaged. Pause, and then lower and repeat with the left leg. Alternate for two sets of eight repetitions.

7/ Neck mobiliser (helps to stretch out the muscles on the sides of the next and keep joints in the cervical spine mobile):

Take your left ear over to your left shoulder to stretch the muscles on the right side of your neck. Hold for 20 seconds and repeat on the right, aiming for two to three repetitions each side. Then, with chin tucked in, slowly turn your head to the right and left, five times to each side.

Still having pains? Go and get some fresh air outside. If you still have pains, don’t worry. They are just signs of ageing. Boh!

Moving on….

I spent the entire weekend with boxes; big, sturdy boxes. Not that I have planned for this real soon but it’s because the place where my family and I is renting (and a location we have been eyeing on all these months) has become available for occupancy. Also, the agent called and said she has one very persistent client who also loves the place and was willing to place a deposit and two months rental fee in advance.

We acted fast and furious because one, we don’t want to lose the place and two, we were literally furious with the agent for letting other people viewed the place when we already have paid for the deposit weeks ago.

So, taking a day’s off, I spent last Friday with those boxes of clothing and more things. Luckily we managed to hire a big truck to ferry our furniture (beds, wardrobes, etc) to what would be Home Sweet Home for many months to come.

As I am the sort of person who doesn’t like things to lay around, I have spent endless nights for the past few days, packing and unpacking. It’s halfway completed now and soon the place would something we could call home. At the moment it’s a little less like a war-zone.

As I sat here typing this, I look forward to having my own place after spending years at my mom’s house. After all, Einstein said ‘A person starts to live when he can live outside himself.’ Right on genius!

Students need guidance on how to behave overseas?

An interesting comment caught my eyes in the Opinion Page in today’s Borneo Bulletin. The writer wrote about the fate of Bruneian students aboard and ending the note with a question on what will happen to Brunei in the next decade when we have students who lead a ’strange social life.’ as the writer wrote, because there is no Big Brother watching them.

I think this would not be an issue if parents, being children’s first teachers, have already instilled moral values right from the start and nurture them to the right path. Islam teaches that parents are the one responsible for the upbringing of their children, whether they want the children to be Muslim, Christian or Jewish.

Logically if parents have teach their children (and I mean not just by lecturing them but in action as well) on moral values, the children would grow up with those teachings at the back of their mind even until the end of their lives.

Once they are free from their parents’ eyes, like studying abroad, these children would be able to withstand whatever negative influence that come along their way. Keep the faith people.

Also I noticed that some parents do not trust their own children. I think this shouldn’t be in the first place. Trust is one of the foundations in any relationship – in partnership, family, etc. If parents treat their children like adults, they will gain respect from the children.

A child who lives with distrust turns outs to be deceitful and has no self-confidence. Children who are brought up with criticism learn to condemn. This is what I learn in life.