The magic of midnight

There's something magical about watching fireworks with friends at midnight - the hope and the joy of a New Year displayed in sparkling twinkles against the night sky.

God and Voltaire

If God didn't exist; it would be necessary to invent him - Voltaire

Hobo

Hobo is short for homeward bound

What feels better, what feels worse

It isn't necessary to know exactly how your ideal life will look like; you only have to know what feels better and what feels worse - Martha Beck

Karen Blixen

Out of Africa was written by Karen Blixen whose pen name is Isak Dinesen.

Timothy Hutton.

Timothy Hutton won an Oscar for his first film - Ordinary People.

Wasting time

Faffing means wasting time.

Spendthrift Malaysians

53% of Malaysians, in response to an international survey, revealed that they were worried about the state of the economy but just could not stop spending.

John Adams

John Adams is a Pulitzer Prize winning book by David McCullough.

The youngest king in the world

The youngest king in the world is the King of Bhutan who is a 28-year-old Oxford graduate.

Terengganu

Terengganu, a state on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, has a 150-mile coastline.

The Bigotry at The Lake Club

In Colonial times, a Malay Sultan was turned down membership at the Lake Club and a white man who was a clerk was admitted instead.

Visiting hours

Selayang Hospital in Malaysia is very strict about visiting hours. They don't even allow family members to visit patients unless they have a special pass.

Thinking Small

In 1960, admist an atmosphere of sucess=size, the little Volkswagen beetle revolutionised thinking with its one-page ad - "Think Small."

The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Australian author Marcus Zusak about a girl in Nazi Germany who is abandoned by her parents.

Hospitals and deposit money

There are some general hospitals in Malaysia who turn away those who do not produce enough "deposit" money to get a procedure done.

Souled Out

"Souled Out" cafe has more than one outlet

Buddha

Buddha means 'the awakened one'.

Number of words

The average number of words on a double-spaced typewritten page is 250

A new book

Anne Jones, a healer, has a new book out. It's called Soul Connection.

A hard-to-find Commodity

It's not easy to procure good Garam Masala in Malaysian supermarkets.

Antevasin

Antevasin in Sanskrit means one who lives at the border.

The Gurugita

The Gurugita is an ancient sacred Hindu hymn/mantra

A famous smoker

Barrack Obama is a smoker

Terraforming of Mars

Terraforming Mars is a hypothetical process of changing conditions on the planet so as to make it habitable of humans and other life forms from Earth.

Fortune cookies

Fortune cookies were invented in California

Dying for fashion

A long time ago, it was fashionable for married Japanese women to paint their teeth black. As they often used lead paint, many of them literally died for fashion.

Appaling freelance rates

Apparently, freelance writers in Malaysia get paid less than 50 sen per word. Yikes!

Crocs designs

Crocs (the shoe manufacturer not the reptile!) have come up with some new shoe designs and they really look good. Seems ugly n crocs may not be going hand in hand anymore.

Dalai Lama and Bush

The Dalai Lama like George W. Bush! Although he disagrees with some of Bush's decisions, the Dalai Lama feels that Bush is nice in person.

Galangal

Galangal is also known as lengkuas