BOO your brains out, baby

Hi y'all! :DBack to school again today.. (: Nice to see everyone instead of being trapped at home everyday. Screw the horrid weather.Obviously it's Halloween today, so BOO to you too!
Wonder if y'all have read yesterday's Star 2. Well, if you have, good for you!
Ok, so not my point. My point is... (there is one), there's a report on this totally awesome+radical+cool Halloween bash in Ocean Park, Hong Kong.
During this time, the Ocean Park has been renamed as the Republic of Halloween.

Flag of the Republic of Halloween (way to take things seriously)

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Halloween is the unbearably beautiful but undeniably dead Lady Gwai Gwai (which is well... Cantonese for ghost).
There are a total of 8 haunted houses in this scary nightmare of a realm:
1. Fear Factory
2. Nightmare in 3D
3. Macabre Studio
4. Torture Chamber of the Dragon Empress
5. The Bloody Workshop
6. Paper Doll Paradise (though I'm kinda betting it's not paradise at all... O_O)
7. The Last Bus
8. Zombie Mayhem
It's almost unbelievable, but there are over 400 "spirits" that roam in the park on this spooky Halloween night, ready to scare you out of your wits and/or make you wet your pants. Nice thoughts. (:
I think the one I'd like the most (meaning the one that'd scare me the most T_T ) is the Torture Chamber of the Dragon Empress.
For some freak reason, I kinda have a thing for torture tools. LOL, hope I don't have some kind of fetish though.. Uh.. never mind.
Uhm anyways, my bibbles.
If you wanna know how Halloween came about. Just ask Mr. Google. He can answer ALL your questions, no problemo. (Uhm well, the ACCURACY of those answers may vary, so er.. subject to change then!)
Sigh. Not much time to update blog this time round.. So stay tuned I guess for my next post! Hehe, Happy Halloween everybody! :DD Don't get your pumpkin buckets in a twist. (:

Yours with a cherry on top,
Qi Cheng

P.S. I am happy to note that my exam marks are good (: Ahahaha, ok enough! Haha, oh well, there's still the dreaded Kemahiran Hidup (along with the dreaded teacher) to face tomorrow. Wish me luck! Even thought that's really.. pointless, yeah.

Secrets *hush hush*

Okay. Head's up! If anyone asked me what my favourtie movie was, I'd probably say "National Treasure: Book of Secrets". (So for my birthday, just get me National Treasure 3 or something. Just saying)

Here's the plot (:

In 1865, John Wilkes Booth and Michael O'Laughlen, both members of the Knights of the Golden Circle, enter a tavern and approach Thomas Gates (Ben Gates' great-great-grandfather), a well-known puzzle solver, to decode a message written in Booth's diary. Thomas begins to translate the message. While he does so, Booth leaves to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. Thomas solves the puzzle, a clue to a map to Cibola, the city of gold, but realizes the men are still loyal to the South and have a sinister motive for finding the treasure. He rips several pages from the diary and throws them in the fireplace. Thomas is shot, and the gunman attempts to retrieve the pages, but only obtains a page fragment.Shooting of the film in LondonOver 140 years later, Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) is telling his great-great-grandfather's story at a Civilian Heroes conference. Black market dealer Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris) displays one of the 18 missing pages of John Wilkes Booth's diary, with Thomas Gates' name on it, convincing everyone that Thomas was not only a conspirator, but the grand architect of the Lincoln assassination. Ben sets out to prove the innocence of his great-great-grandfather. He discovers a cipher pointing to Édouard Laboulaye hidden on the back of the diary page. He travels to Paris, where he finds a clue engraved on the torch of the scale model of the Statue of Liberty on the Île aux Cygnes, referring to the two Resolute desks. Ben then heads to London to look at the desk at Buckingham Palace with the help of his friend Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) and estranged girlfriend, Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger). Ben makes a scene by pretending to be drunk and starting a fake argument with Abigail, and they are both arrested. Thanks to Riley who had previously hacked into the security system, they escape the cell and reach the desk via service elevator. From the Queen's desk, Ben obtains an ancient wooden plank with ancient symbols carved into it.Meanwhile, Wilkinson clones Patrick Gates' (Jon Voight) cell phone in order to track Ben's whereabouts. Wilkinson eventually obtains the plank, but not before Ben manages to photograph it. At Ben's insistence, Patrick reluctantly asks his ex-wife and Ben's mother, Dr. Emily Appleton (Helen Mirren) for help in translating the symbols. She does so, but points out that some of the glyphs are partial, leading Ben to conclude another plank must be hidden in the other Resolute desk in the Oval Office. Ben and Abigail coax Abigail's new love interest, Connor (Ty Burrell), who works at the White House, into letting them into the office to see the desk. Ben discovers that the second plank is missing, but he does find a stamp bearing the seal of the Book of Secrets. Riley tells Ben that the Book of Secrets contains documents collected by presidents for presidents' eyes only, covering such controversial subjects as the eighteen minutes erased from the Watergate tapes, Area 51, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy.Ben crashes the President's birthday party at Mount Vernon. He convinces the President (Bruce Greenwood) to follow him into a secret tunnel where he confronts him about the book; the President sympathetically warns Ben that his actions will be interpreted as an attempt to kidnap the president, which is a federal offense. The President reveals the location of the book, in the Library of Congress.In the book, Ben finds a picture of the missing plank from the desk and an entry by President Coolidge, who found the plank in 1924, had it destroyed, and commissioned Gutzon Borglum to carve Mount Rushmore to erase the map's landmarks. Ben, Riley, Abigail, and Patrick head to Mount Rushmore where they meet Wilkinson, who has kidnapped Ben's mother. He helps them find the entrance of a cave containing the legendary Native American city of gold, Cíbola. After encountering several traps, they eventually find the city of gold behind Mount Rushmore. However, in order to leave the city of gold when it suddenly begins flooding, one person has to stay behind to hold open the stone door to the drainage tunnel beneath the city, an action which would result in certain death. When Ben becomes trapped under the door, Wilkinson has to choose either to stay behind and sacrifice himself or everybody will drown. He chooses to give the others a chance to escape, and Ben promises to give Wilkinson part of the credit for discovering himself.Ben clears his family's name with the discovery and is cleared of all charges when the President tells everyone that Ben did not kidnap him, but actually saved his life when the secret passage they were looking at was accidentally activated. Everyone including Wilkinson is given credit for the discovery of the Lost City of Gold.

Well, for everyone's credit. It IS important to remember that this movie is fictional, but based on a real historical event.

Of course the Lincoln assassination was a real event, but does the so-called "Lost City of Gold" really exist?

Cibola is considered as one of the Seven Cities of Gold. Mythical, rumoured, but is there a possibility that it really exists?

In the 16th century, the Spanish in New Spain (now Mexico) began to hear rumours of "Seven Cities of Gold" called "Cibola" located across the desert, hundreds of miles to the north. The stories may have their root in an earlier Portuguese legend about seven cities founded on the island of Antillia by a Catholic expedition in the 8th century. The latter Spanish tales were largely caused by reports given by the four shipwrecked survivors of the failed Narvaez Expedition, which included Alvar Nunez, Cabeza de Vaca and an African slave named Esteban Dorantes, or Estevanico. Eventually returning to New Spain, the adventurers said they had heard stories from natives about cities with great and limitless riches. However, when conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado finally arrived at Cíbola in 1540, he discovered that the stories were lies and that there were in fact no treasures as the friar had described — only adobe pueblos.

Okay, so now we know that Cibola DOES exist, but not now much of the "gold" part. So how did the rumour come about then?

How exactly does a rumour about an entire city of gold start?

"In 1539, Friar Marcos de Niza, a Franciscan priest, reported to Spanish colonial officials in Mexico City that he’d seen the legendary city of Cibola in what is now New Mexico. It was an electrifying statement—Spanish explorers who were scouring the New World for Native American treasure had heard persistent tales of the fantastic wealth of the so-called Seven Cities of Cibola.

“It is situated on a level stretch on the brow of a roundish hill,” the friar said. “It appears to be a very beautiful city, the best that I have seen in these parts.” The priest acknowledged, however, that he had only seen the city from a distance and had not entered it because he thought the Zuni Indian inhabitants would kill him if he approached."

But we already know that this mythical city doesn't really exist, so...

What did the friar REALLY see?

"For five centuries, scholars have debated what de Niza saw when he claimed he’d found Cibola—or whether he simply told Spanish officials what they wanted to hear.

The great wealth the Spaniards took when they conquered the Aztec of Central America and the Inca of South America only fueled beliefs that still more riches lay somewhere in the interior of what is now the United States. So when Friar de Niza said he’d seen Cibola, Spanish officials were eager to believe him.

“We don’t know what he saw or why he said what he did,” said Denise Shultz, a park ranger at Coronado National Memorial in Hereford, Arizona. A generous interpretation of de Niza’s vision is that he saw the pueblo at dawn or dusk and was fooled by the flattering sunlight at that time of day, which bathed the city in a glow that made him think the buildings were made of gold, she says.

Flint is less charitable about de Niza’s statement. “He probably did not see [the city],” Flint says. Instead, he says, the priest probably only passed along a tale he heard from Indians.

Coronado’s men were furious when they saw the Zuni village. “On beholding it, the army broke forth with maledictions on Friar Marcos de Niza,” one of Coronado’s men said. “God grant that he may feel none of them.”

Instead of returning to Mexico City, Coronado pushed on. For months, his expedition followed an Indian guide hundreds of miles farther to present-day Kansas before giving up the search for Cibola.

“It’s very difficult to say that another person would have done anything different,” Flint says. “But people lost a lot of money, so they weren’t happy.”

“By Spanish standards, they needed a scapegoat,” Shultz says. “He was the captain, so he was the one who wound up taking the brunt of the blame. That’s my interpretation. He failed miserably.”"

What a blow to treasure hunting huh?

Well, if you've read this post, and suddenly have the nagging urge to go jump of a cliff (uhm ok, WHY? Don't ask me), then go treasure hunting!

Here are 10 places that you can DIY hunt your own treasure :D

1. If you're looking for Thunder Eggs/Geodes,
Deming, New MexicoScanning New Mexico's soil is a profitable pastime. Rockhound State Park is a prime spot for hunting thunder eggs aka geodes. Thunder eggs look like muddy rocks and can be popped open to reveal valuable crystals such as amethyst, rose quartz and hematite. To distinguish a geode from a regular rock, look for a spherical external shape, often cauliflower-like in texture. You may need a hammer or chisel to break open the rock. Visitors are allowed to leave the park with 15 lbs. of rock to add to their personal collection.

2. If you're looking for Opals
Denio, Nevada and Lakeview, OregonPlan your hunt for fire opals at the Bonanza Opal Mine in Denio, NV. This mine has been in operation since the early 1900s. The mining season runs from May to September, and the weather can get warm and very arid. Water bottles, sun block, a hat and gloves are suggested items to bring with you. Rock hounds should also bring a small rake and buckets for collecting their finds. Many opal mines are located in remote areas, so be prepared to camp and bring all necessary food. Visitors can camp near the mine and hotels are less than 30 miles from Virgin Valley. Also be sure to check out Juniper Ridge Opal Mine in Lakeview, OR, if you're looking hunting for opals in the Pacific Northwest.

3. If you're looking for Meteorites
Glorietta Mountain in New Mexico and Brenham Township, KansasGlorietta Mountain in New Mexico and Brenham, KS, are prime spots if you're hunting for treasure falling from the sky. Deserts and dry lake beds are key places to hunt for meteorites. A metal detector or similar tool will help you discern a meteorite's location because it is partially composed of iron-nickel. Use a rock hammer or shovel to unearth your finds. A magnet duct-taped to the bottom of a walking stick will attract the hidden space rocks so you don't have to bend over to during your search. For more information on meteorite-hunting expeditions, visit Meteorite Adventures.

4. If you're looking for Jade
Big Sur, CaliforniaEnjoy the beauty of Big Sur while hunting for jade. Dive in the ocean or comb the beach at Jade Cove to seek one of the most precious gems in the world. Underwater, jade is fairly easy to distinguish from other rocks by its almost luminescent color. The best time to find jade is while diving in the ocean during the calm period after a winter storm. A rough undercurrent usually exposes many hidden gems. You don't have to be a diver to be a jade hunter. You can find many small jade pebbles at low tide between the boulders and in piles of gravel along the shore. Search under large rocks and overhangs. Typical tools for serious jade hunters include scuba gear, a flashlight and a sack to hold your finds.

5. If you're looking for Emeralds
Hiddenite, North CarolinaTry your luck at Emerald Hollow Mine, located less than an hour from the Blue Ridge Parkway in Hiddenite, NC. This is the only emerald mine in the US open to the public for prospecting. Amateur rock hounds can take educational field trips to learn more about emeralds and other gems found on-site, including sapphires, garnet and tourmaline. Prepaid permits are available for creeking, sluicing and digging. Emerald Hollow is only closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas. Hotels, restaurants and other accommodations are available in nearby towns of Statesville and Taylorsville.

6. If you're looking for Dinosaur Fossils
Devil Hills, South DakotaRelic hunters frequently head to the Badlands region in South Dakota to hunt for dinosaur fossils. The Devil Hills area has been a prime spot where rock enthusiasts have uncovered huge pieces of bone dating back to the Jurassic period, 145 million years ago. Common tools to take include a digging knife, X-acto knife, brush and a small pick. After finding a fossil, you must carefully free it without damaging it, using trowels, hammers, whisks and dental tools. A quick-setting glue can be applied to it before removing a crumbling or fragile fossil. Then the fossil can be removed from the surrounding rock. Visit the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, Inc. for more information about dino fossils.

7. If you're looking for Diamonds
Murfreesboro, ArkansasCrater of Diamonds State Park is the only diamond-producing site in the world where the public can search for diamonds. What you find is yours to keep. It's the perfect place for a family vacation and features an on-site water park and camping facilities. A gravel walkway through secluded woodland allows visitors to view and photograph deer, turkey, squirrels, birds and other wildlife. Tools aren't necessary for diamond hunting. It's possible to walk around and look for diamonds lying on top of the soil. Items for rent on site include a wooden box screen, shovel, bucket and knee pads. The professional treasure hunters at the park's visitors' center offer a free service to help determine if your find is a diamond or a dud.

8. If you're looking for Gold
Pine Grove, CaliforniaRoaring Camp is an old gold-mining camp on the Mokulmne River. It was a camp for gold prospectors (49ers) during the California Gold Rush from 1848-1855. Visitors can visit the operating gold mine and mine their own gold by panning, sluicing, dredging and dry-washing. Roaring Camp provides fun family activities, including rafting, camping, swimming, fishing and hiking on trails used by the original 49ers. A Saturday cookout, museum tour and lessons on how to pan for gold are also offered. Gold pans, gravel bags, rocker boxes and more are available if you need tools to search for you golden nuggets.

9/ If you're looking for Aquamarine
Spruce Pine, North CarolinaTravel to the gemstone-rich Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to dig for aquamarine. Spruce Pine is a prime spot for aquamarine mines and gemologists. Gem Mountain Gemstone Mine provides a covered flume line for treasure hunters to sift through sediment and find all kinds of precious stones. This mine is a one-stop shop for not just aquamarine, but garnet, moonstones, rubies and more. Stones are inspected free of charge. Experienced gem-cutters are also on-site and available to transform your stones into jewelry. Jerry Call, a Spruce Pine gemologist, can help you out if you're looking for a more exotic location to go gem hunting; Jerry owns a home in Brazil and organizes trips to Rio Doce Mine.

10. If you're looking for Turquoise
Tonopah, NevadaGo hunting for the blue-green gem at the Royston Mine in Tonopah, NV. The Otteson family, who owns the mine, is one of the few remaining mining families in Nevada. In addition to the mine, they also own a jewelry store that will transform your turquoise into jewelry. Treasure hunters will need to bring sunscreen, gloves, a good pair of shoes, water, food and digging tools. Visitors are not allowed to go down into the mines, but they are allowed to observe. Rock hounds can also pay to go through tailing piles, which have close to 1,000 lbs. of material. Digging is limited to 3 hours and only one bucketful is allowed per person to ensure there is enough turquoise to go around.

So, is your interest perked up?

Go right ahead. :D

The treasure is ALL YOURS.

Yours with a cherry on top,

Qi Cheng



MAFIA?! :S

My goodness, these pickpockets are HORRID! :(

I thought Italy was supposed to be one of the largest city of romance and love or something?

CITY OF STEALING? :O

Nothing can ruin a vacation faster than having your pocket picked. One minute you're enjoying the sights and sounds of a new city, the next minute you're on the phone canceling credit cards.

Unfortunately, pickpocketing is a fact of traveling life, and several popular cities have earned themselves a reputation as a place where wallets go to be snatched. Our sister site, TripAdvisor, just released a list of the World's Worst Pickpocket Destinations. The list "based solely on TripAdvisor site data calculating the number of times travelers use the term pickpocket in their TripAdvisor reviews in the last 12 months." Take a look and see if you agree:

1. Barcelona, Spain
2. Rome, Italy
3. Paris, France
4. Madrid, Spain
5. Athens, Greece
6. Prague, Czech Republic
7. Costa Brava (Alicante Province), Spain
8. Lisbon, Portugal
9. Tenerife, Spain
10. London, England

(Wow, what's going on in Spain?)

What we have here is a case of cities suffering from their own success. The list includes some of the most popular destinations in the world, full of attractions travelers flock to in droves. And nothing gets a pickpocket salivating like a throng of enchanted tourists.

So what is a concerned traveler to do? The good news is that utilizing simple common sense is 98 percent of the battle. Here are a few basic tips to protect your wallet:

Carry as little as possible: The less you carry, the less someone can steal from you. In most places, all you need is a debit card and maybe some ID. Leave the passport, credit cards, and any other sensitive documents or cards in your hotel safe. Even better, just carry cash.

Don't put anything in your back pocket: Your back pocket is an easy target, especially in crowded areas like subway platforms and escalators. Assuming you're carrying as little as possible, put it in your front pocket.

Wear a purse or bag that goes across your chest: It's much harder (though not impossible) to make off with a bag when it's strapped across a person rather than hanging from a shoulder. Sling it across your chest and hang on to it in crowded spaces.

Secure your bag when sitting: Whether you're dining al fresco or simply resting on a bench, make sure your bag is attached either to yourself or your table or chair. A bag sitting on a table can be easily snatched by a thief running past, and it will be long gone before you're out of your seat.

Pay attention: Pickpockets prey on distracted travelers, so be aware of your surroundings. Make sure your belongings are secure and accounted for before you enter a crowded space. Watch out for obvious schemes, like if a stranger comes up and pretends to be brushing something off your sleeve, because his or her buddy is probably trying to grab your wallet.

Don't overdo it: The flip side, of course, is you can't let paranoia over pickpocketing ruin your vacation. The goal is simply to be smart about your valuables, and not take any unnecessary risks.

Prepare for the worst: If 98 percent of the battle is common sense, the other 2 percent is luck. Even well-prepared travelers can fall victim to an experienced pickpocket. Make sure you have contact information for your bank, and bring photocopies of important documents, such as your passport.

Anyway, went to Hard Rock Kuala Lumpur with parents.

The Hickory Bar-be-Que Smoked Beef Ribs are AWESOME! (Y) Highly recommended by me (:

Can't afford dessert though, RM32 for a brownie O_O BROKE.

Apparently there's a live band playing every night at 10:30 p.m., but apparently, you need to be at least 21 years old to get in T_T

Probably 'cos of all that talk about rock n' roll and booze not working well together.

And yeah, that's kinda true. :x

Brought back a rib for Zipper (my doggie :D). We're probably gonna give it to him a little later.

Last time we brought back ribs for him was on Mother's Day a few years ago. Zipper LOVED them, but then later I read an article saying that rib bones are bad for dogs 'cos they can injure their throats O_O oops.

Sometimes Zipper would bury the bones, so we couldn't really find them >.<

Yours with a cherry on top,

Qi Cheng

Music to my left or right ear? :O

Whee! Happy birthday, Bruno Mars! :D (Credits to Mohan for telling me. Shocked that I didn't know :'( )

Hah, LOVE love love your new song 'It Will Rain'. And yep, it's the new soundtrack for the fourth installation of Twilight-Breaking Dawn.

Here it is:

OH MY GOSH! His voice is electric *sigh*
Woah, snapping out of it!
Okay, anyway..
DID YOU KNOW, THAT THE WAY TO A MAN'S HEART IS THROUGH HIS LEFT EAR?
Maybe you won't get what I mean. Let me explain.
Apparently, the left ear is controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain, which is also in charge of our emotions and feelings.
Meaning if we were to confess to a certain someone that we liked him or her, it's best to say so in the person's left ear (:
So...

If you're thinking of asking your beloved to marry you, make sure that you utter your declaration of love into his or her left ear; it may increase your chances of hearing a heart-lifting “yes”. New research suggests that declarations of love, jokes, or words of anger are best remembered when they are heard through the left ear, while instructions, directions and non-emotional messages have more impact on the right side.


It is all to do with how our brains process information. Although the left and right hemispheres, or sides, of the brain are similar structures, they have specialised functions. The left side, it is suggested, is more logic-based and dominant, while the right is the more imaginative side, more visual, intuitive, emotional and spatially aware. Because the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, the left ear has been shown in some research to be the route to the emotional side of the brain, and the right ear to the non-emotional, logical side.

But...
If you’re in a loud and sweaty Italian dance club when a woman approaches you. To be heard over the techno, she leans in close and yells into your ear, “Hai una sigaretta?”


If she spoke into your right ear, you would be twice as likely to give her a cigarette than if she asked by your left ear, according to a new study that employed this methodology in the clubs of Pescara, Italy. Of 88 clubbers who were approached on the right, 34 let the researcher bum a smoke, compared with 17 of 88 whom she approached on the left.

“The present work is one of the few studies demonstrating the natural expression of hemispheric asymmetries, showing their effect in everyday human behavior,” write psychologists Daniele Marzoli and Luca Tommasi of the University G. d’Annunzio in Italy in the journal Naturwissenschaften.

It’s the latest in a series of studies that show that sound from both human ears is processed differently within the brain. Researchers have noted that humans tend to have a preference for listening to verbal input with their right ears and that given stimulus in both ears, they’ll privilege the syllables that went into the right ear. Brain scientists hypothesize that the right ear auditory stream receives precedence in the left hemisphere of the brain, where the bulk of linguistic processing is carried out.

What’s surprising about the study is that ear choice had such a decided impact on the behavior of participants in a natural, or as the researchers put it, ecological, setting. Why would people feel more generous when their right ears are addressed?

Marzoli and Tommasi write that some work has shown that the left and right hemispheres of the brain appear to be tuned for positive and negative emotions, respectively. Talk into the right ear and you send your words into a slightly more amenable part of the brain.

“These results seem to be consistent with the hypothesized differential specialization of right and left hemispheres,” they write.

In addition to the direct cigarette-ask study, they also simply observed people interacting and also asked for cigarettes without directing their requests towards a particular ear. The Italian researchers picked the night club setting because the loud music allowed the cigarette-asker to approach people and speak directly into one ear without seeming “odd.”

While the liquored-up setting might seem unconventional, they view their work in a real life setting as a valuable counterbalance to highly artificial in-lab psychological studies.

“[W]e would finally like to add that it is of utmost importance, in times of massive use of imaging techniques (that by definition impose severe constraints on the observation of neural activities in freely acting subjects) to continue to provide ecological evidence of brain functioning,” they conclude.

So remember to sit on the left of your loved one! xD HAHA..

Gigantic left ear :D

Yours with a cherry on top,
Qi Cheng

R.I.P. STEVE JOBS (1955-2011)

It seems like everyone is talking about the death of Steve Jobs. (R.I.P.)
It kinda feels WRONG not to say something in his memory.
He was obviously a brilliant man. Of course, everyone knows that. That's why everyone is willing to commemorate him. Because of the change he brought to the world. He was an inspiration, not one to be put down easily in words.
He changed people's entire lives, and not because he was some creator of some world-known gadget.

"He was part of my generation, part of my bringing up and then all the marvelous wonders he brought to market, and changed the way the world conducts communications, looks at computers and looks at technology... I mean, it hurts to see his passing, a passing of an icon of our age."

—Chuck Linden


"I, like many, owe an awful lot to Steve Jobs. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't even own my home. Bought my first Apple Mac 128 in 1984. Learned computer programming and eventually made a living programming on the Macintosh. Thank you."
—Steve Breish

He could've been considered as a symbol. A symbol of creativity and innovation.
Some may ask: Can Apple thrive without him?
Here's the answer:

There is a long history, of course, of entrepreneurial companies not only surviving their charismatic founders, but thriving after they passed on. Ford did just fine after the death of Henry; Disney is still a force in entertainment long after Walt. Apple will remain a major player in the world of computing and electronics without Steve. The firm is simply too established, too much a part of a consumer's life, to just wither away, even with the exit of a towering figure like Jobs.

But the question remains if Apple can continue to be an industry leader as it has routinely been under Jobs. Can Apple keep its edge? Apple's success has always been based on being first, by solving problems others thought unsolvable, and introducing products that changed how people worked, played and communicated. It is not easy for any company to continue to produce innovative hit after innovative hit, even with its visionary leader still in the corner office. It will be even harder for Apple with Jobs gone. That isn't to say that current CEO Tim Cook can't get the job done. But Jobs is just a very hard act to follow.

The future facing Apple makes me think of another electronics giant, Japan's Sony. Sony was Apple before Apple, the great global innovator that produced products that changed people's lives, again and again. Sony, remember, championed the idea of personalized electronics – not the giant radio in the living room, but the miniature transistor radio, or the portable TV set. Sony invented the Walkman, altering forever how people listened to music, in the same way the iPod has in more recent times. Sony, like Apple, was a company that thrived on new ideas, new technologies, and an engaging brand.

And just like Apple, Sony was propelled forward by personality – well, two personalities, in fact – co-founders Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka. The two of them were behind everything Sony did, much like Jobs at Apple. They were unique visionaries, with a unique talent of bringing technology to the masses. And in the process, much like Jobs, they built an international company with an unrivaled brand.

Sony is still one of the industry's titans today, long after Morita and Ibuka have left the scene. The Japanese firm continues to make high-quality consumer electronics under one of the most trusted brands in the world. But no one would say Sony is the influential innovator it used to be. Apple took its place as the game changer of the electronics world. Up-and-coming companies like Samsung have eaten away at its global presence in key businesses, like televisions. Sure, the company has been managed by some talented people, but Morita and Ibuka were just too hard to replace. Sony has never been quite the same without them.

Will Apple suffer the same fate? It is impossible to tell. Yet Sony offers a cautionary tale. I was in Tokyo conducting some research on Sony a few years ago and had the pleasure of interviewing Yotaro Kobayashi, a long-time friend of Akio Morita. He believed that Sony struggled because its modern-day managers kept trying to recapture the old Morita-Ibuka spirit to guide the company to its future. But, Kobayashi believed, that was not possible. There was only one Morita and one Ibuka.

Just like there is only one Steve Jobs.

Kobayashi's point was that Sony had to grow beyond its dynamic founders and find a new future in order to maintain its greatness. Sony had to stop looking backwards to an age it couldn't recreate and instead look forwards. That may be sound advice for Apple today.

It's positively saddening that the iPhone 4s was released so close to his death.
He died of natural causes.
Pancreatic cancer stole his life at the age of 56.
Some people say life starts at 50.
Well then, his life was just beginning.
Steven Jobs. May he rest in peace, for he was an angel that brought change to the world.




Yours with a cherry on top,
Qi Cheng

Choco-holic :)

A lotta us think that chocolate is fattening, makes you lazy, increases your guilt with every bite...but NO.

Chocolate can actually be healthy. SHOCKER! Hhaha~

It's not the chocolate itself that makes us fat, it's actually all the sugar inside it.

Cocoa but itself is an extremely healthy substance. In fact, it can get rid of bad cholesterol and increase the good ones. Amazing huh?

In Europe, the minimum requirement of cocoa in each chocolate bar is at least 25%. Now THAT is good quality chocolate. For example, everyone knows Cadbury chocolate right? The famous chocolate that originated from London.

All Cadbury chocolates have about 26% of cocoa, so don't worry! :D

But of course, too much of something isn't beneficial at all.

So why don't you check out some tips for when eating chocolate? (:

Chocolate Tip 1 - Balance the Calories:

This information doesn't mean that you should eat a pound of chocolate a day. Chocolate is still a high-calorie, high-fat food. Most of the studies done used no more than 100 grams, or about 3.5 ounces, of dark chocolate a day to get the benefits.

One bar of dark chocolate has around 400 calories. If you eat half a bar of chocolate a day, you must balance those 200 calories by eating less of something else. Cut out other sweets or snacks and replace them with chocolate to keep your total calories the same.

Chocolate Tip 2 - Taste the Chocolate:

Chocolate is a complex food with over 300 compounds and chemicals in each bite. To really enjoy and appreciate chocolate, take the time to taste it. Professional chocolate tasters have developed a system for tasting chocolate that include assessing the appearance, smell, feel and taste of each piece.

Chocolate Tip 3 - Go for Dark Chocolate:

Dark chocolate has far more antioxidants than milk or white chocolate. These other two chocolates cannot make any health claims. Dark chocolate has 65 percent or higher cocoa content.

Chocolate Tip 4 - Skip the Nougat:

You should look for pure dark chocolate or dark chocolate with nuts, orange peel or other flavorings. Avoid anything with caramel, nougat or other fillings. These fillings are just adding sugar and fat which erase many of the benefits you get from eating the chocolate.

Chocolate Tip 5 - Avoid Milk:

It may taste good but some research shows that washing your chocolate down with a glass of milk could prevent the antioxidants being absorbed or used by your body.

We feel happy after eating chocolate because it produces endorphins.

We feel energized after eating chocolate because it contains caffeine.

And we feel satisfied after eating chocolate because it TASTES GOOD! IKR? :DD

So don't give up on chocolate...

'Cos them chocolates ain't gonna give up on you ;)

But if you're still feeling worried, maybe try making your own chocolate!
Yes yes yes, it's possible.
Erm... well, theoretically. Hehe. Haven't really tried it myself, but I'm gonna have a go....(one fine day. lalala~)

I'm not done yet! xD

Types of Chocolate

The main types of chocolate are white chocolate, milk chocolate, semisweet chocolate, bittersweet chocolate and unsweetened chocolate. These types of chocolate may be produced with ordinary cacao beans (mass-produced and cheap) or specialty cacao beans (aromatic and expensive) or a mixture of these two types. The composition of the mixture, origin of cacao beans, the treatment and roasting of beans, and the types and amounts of additives used will significantly affect the flavor and the price of the final chocolate.

White chocolate

Chocolate made with cocoa butter, sugar, milk, emulsifier, vanilla and sometimes other flavorings. It does not contain any non-fat ingredients from the cacao bean and has therefore an off-white color. In some countries white chocolate cannot be called 'chocolate' because of the low content of cocoa solids. It has a mild and pleasant flavor and can be used to make Chocolate Mousse, Panna Cotta and other desserts.

Some brands from around the world:

Milk chocolate

Sweet chocolate which normally contains 10-20% cocoa solids (which includes cocoa and cocoa butter) and more than 12% milk solids. It is seldom used for baking, except for cookies.

Some brands from around the world:

Dark chocolate

Sweetened chocolate with high content of cocoa solids and no or very little milk, it may contain up to 12% milk solids. Dark chocolate can either be sweet, semi-sweet, bittersweet or unsweetened. If a recipe specifies 'dark chocolate' you should first try semi-sweet dark chocolate.

Sweet dark chocolate

Similar to semi-sweet chocolate, it is not always possible to distinguish between the flavor of sweet and semi-sweet chocolate. If a recipe asks for sweet dark chocolate you may also use semi-sweet chocolate. Contains often 35-45% cocoa solids.

Semi-sweet chocolate

This is the classic dark baking chocolate which can be purchased in most grocery stores. It is frequently used for cakes, cookies and brownies. Can be used instead of sweet dark chocolate. It has a good, sweet flavor. Contains often 40-62% cocoa solids.

Some examples:

Bittersweet chocolate

A dark sweetened chocolate which must contain at least 35% cocoa solids. Good quality bittersweet chocolate usually contains 60% to 85% cocoa solids depending on brand. If the content of cocoa solids is high the content of sugar is low, giving a rich, intense and more or less bitter chocolate flavor. Bittersweet chocolate is often used for baking/cooking. If a recipe specifies bittersweet chocolate do not substitute with semi-sweet or sweet chocolate. Please ensure that you buy the correct type! European types of bittersweet chocolate usually contains very large amounts of cocoa solids, and some of them have quite bitter taste.

Some examples:

Unsweetened chocolate

A bitter chocolate which is only used for baking. The flavor is not good, so it is not suitable for eating. Use it only if a recipe specifies 'unsweetened chocolate'. It contains almost 100% cocoa solids, about half of it might be fat (cocoa butter).

Some examples:



So you see, ladies and gentlemen (monkeys and elephants.just random), there is actually a lot more to chocolate than meet the eye.
CHEERS TO ALL CHOC LOVERS! :)

Yours with a cherry on top,

Qi Cheng

The Simple Things in Life

Pencil – only a tool used for painting, drawing, or putting down notes in the margins. In anyone – yes, but not at the Getty Dalton. This 45-year-old resident of Bridgeport for 25 years turns ordinary pencils into miniature sculptures, without using a magnifying glass .





Dalton Getty works very slowly. He does not use any special tools: for he needed only a blade, a sewing needle and a very bright light. To protect their vision, the author works for one and half hours a day. One tiny sculpture may take several months, and the creation of the previously mentioned script in Dalton took 2,5 years. “When I tell people how long it takes me to create sculptures, they simply do not believe me, – says Getty. – My patience is simply amazing people, because nowadays everyone wants to be quicker, faster and faster.


-XR4XgpmN4X8/Tof0Nk2aDAI/AAAAAAAAAGs/oK6H2Gp7_Bc/s400/Pencil-art-8-.jpg" />

Moral of this story (only if you consider this a story):

A pencil can be considered one of the simplest elements in life.

We often neglect it, preferring to use pens or mechanical pencils or whatnot.

But something so simple can be so beautiful if we let it.
This Dalton Getty, he is a true believer in life. He appreciates the smallest details, because he knows those are the ones that can change the world.

He successfully developed an art in its own form.

If only all of us acted like he did...

But then, if we did, there wouldn't be one single dull person in the world.

Everyone would be equal, and we wouldn't be able to compare, to excel others and ourselves.

By then, we will fell quite alone, because nobody would appreciate what we were trying to do, because everyone would be too busy developing their own art.

That's a lot to consider now, isn't it? (:

Yours with a cherry on top,

Qi Cheng