from "Exploring the Unexplained"

Stonehenge, like today's most modern telescopes, is our distant ancestors' attempt to see through the veil of the sky--and understand the heavens above.

Nature abhors a vacuum: where facts are few, fables flourish.

No human dream is more universal than the longing for a paradise on earth, a place free of the ravages of time and disease, where the best in nature flourishes while the worst is forbidden to enter. By definition, such magical lands can't be near at hand; they must be remote and inaccessible, destinations to be reached by pilgrimage or a heroic journey. Ancient Tibetan Buddhist texts spoke of just such a kingdom, where wise kings blessed with long life spans await the day when they will take over the world, ushering in a golden age of peace and justice. This mythical kingdom was called Shambala...The myth was essentially hijacked by British novelist Jamed Hilton, whose 1033 best seller Lost Horizon gave Shambala a new name: Shangri-la...In 2002 the [Chinese] government tried to cash in in the ancient mythical land of Tibetan lamas by renaming the western town of Zhongdian as Shangri-la. Even so, the words Hilton wrote in 1933 are truer than ever today: "You won't find Shangri-la marked on any map."

Amid the fray, locals remain calm. In 1961, when French scholars told Himalayan village elder Khunjo Chumbi they believed the yeti was a hoax, he replied, "In Nepal we have neither giraffes nor kangaroos, so we know nothing about them. In France, there are no yetis, so I sympathize with your ignorance."

Perhaps the last word belongs to G.K. Chesterton, the British intellectual of the early 20th century, who wrote, "Many a man has been hanged on less evidence than there is for the Loch Ness Monster."

A stufy of astrology takes us through a whirlwond tour through human culture: Mesopotamian star-gazers gave us the zodiac (and the three Magi, astrologer-priests who witnessed Christ's birth); Egyptians created the idea of the horoscope; the Greeks gave us the constellations, the organizing units of European astrology, and their fanciful, evocative names.

The Bermuda Triangle is one of a handful of places in the world where compasses point to true, rather than magnetic north--an anomaly that could lead to deadly confusion for ships and planes.

Looking for aliens? Take a drive across sunny Nevada along the Extraterrestial Highway...you'll be close to a vast, secret U.S. Air Force installation that takes up some 8000 sq. mi. This outpost in the desert is often referred to as Area 51,though the base is so secret it has no official name.

The psychic bond that twins seem to share has been documented extensively and is understood almost not at all. Sonograms often show twins seeming to hold hands or cling together in the womb. Mothers often report that infant twins sleeping in separate rooms will lie in the same positions, roll over at the same time and be disturbed by nightmares simultaneously. Twins in schools are sometimes accused by teachers of cheating on exams because of their tendency to get the same scores, with the same questions wrong due to the same incorrect answers...The most puzzling and hotly disputed aspect of the twin connection is the phenomenon of "sympathetic pain", in which one twin claims to feel the discomfort of another, even when they are separated by great distances.

Nostradamus focused on life's eternals: kings, popes, wars and disasters. Thus his work never ages: it is a blank slate onto which a willing reader can project anything he wishes to see.

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." ~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Behold Mount Ararat, whose summit, often draped in clouds, is believed by many to be the resting place of antiquity's most famous vessel, Noah's Ark. The tale of a great universal flood, sent by an angry God to punish a wicked world, is famously told in Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, chapters 6 through 9.

...destruction of the Second Temple by the Roman army in A.D.70. This physical center of the Jewish universe was erected on the site of the First Temple, built by King Solomon on the spot where Abraham was said to have offered his son Isaac in sacrifice, only to have his hand slayed by an angel. The temple, which held the Ark of the Covenant and the Ten Commandments, was destroyed when the Jews were exiled into Babylonian Captivity. After the Romans pillaged the Second Temple, all that remained of Judaism's holiest site was one flank, facing to the west, of the retaining wall…this fragment of the temple’s foundation, now called the Western Wall, is more than 100 ft. high and 16 ft. thick.
Islam teaches that Muhammad was borne by a winged horse from Mecca to Jerusalem in a single night during the year 620; he tethered the steed to this wall and then ascended into the clouds with the angel Gabriel, who conducted the Prophet on a tour of both heaven and hell. This makes al-Buraq (and the Islamic shrine that sits above it, the Dome of the Rock) one of the holiest places in the Muslim world. Sadly, Middle East strife has made this site, central to two of the world’s great religions, perhaps the single most contested patch of ground on the planet.

Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard once wrote that faith doesn't come from miracles—miracles come from faith.

The same survey, which indicated that more than 8 million Americans have undergone a near death experience, found that many describe the state as "ecstatic", and some find the experience so transfixing that they are unhappy about returning to life. "Why did you bring me back, Doctor?" said one patient. " It was so beautiful!"
...And of course, NDEs may represent a transition stage between life and death, not one's final destination. Still, while skeptics and believers argue over proof, a poet might view beautiful visions at the end of life as nature's final gift—the spirit soaring while the body is falling.

hiragana

i'm playing with microsoft word now, trying to type in japanese. it's really quite fun..hahaha...i'm typing the lyrics of white love, and though i dun really understand what i'm doing the sense of achievement is great!

and zettai kareshi is really great! am still watching. i feel so sorry for night. so typical of human. to satisfy their own needs, to fulfil their own dreams, they create this humanoid robot that is designed to be your ideal lover. this girl riko bought night and then treated him rudely without considering his feelings, and when he says something nice and sweet she'll dismiss it as a result of the programming. some people just don't know how to appreciate what they have. and as night becomes more human it's starting to destroy his system. i don't know what is going to happen to him, but i hope the live action will have a different ending from the manga, cos in the manga he died in the end. Sobsssss... hope it's not another sad story like A.I.

Going to watch Zettai Kareshi (xiaowei's recommendation).

Finished dragon zakura yesterday. The ending is nice, but not too sweet and expected. Not like ch 8 dramas...

And xiaowei is BACK!!! whoohoo ^_^

Tuesdays with Morrie

I've just finished reading "Tuesdays with Morrie". Got me all teary, even though it does not 蓄意煽情. It's sincere and touching. It totally puts life in a new perspective. Will definitely recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read it yet (don't think there are many, though).

"Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live."

watching dragon zakura now. finally found another drama with yamapi that i can find online. i'm not good at searching for sites with good stuff. videos on crunchyroll are always removed at the request at the request of blah blah blah. sigh.

that girl Naomi (Masami Nagasawa) is the Rei in Proposal Daisakusen.. So cute she and yamapi got to work together again... just like Maki Horikita, whom i prefer...yamaki ^_^

my favourite is still yamapi as akira =)

Adidas Stars

They're just so darn good-looking... heheez

Southern Ridge Trail

I slept at ten and woke at ten, so see how exhausted I has been yesterday?

Yesterday Li Juan, Ming Shu and I finally got to go on the Southern Ridge trail after the previous week's attempt was foiled by a heavy rain that lasted all day (we had fallen back on plan B which was to go K --heex). The climb up the entrance to Kent Ridge park was really daunting. Very steep. And we had to cut across half the park to finally arrive at the Canopy Walk. We had planned to meet at Juring East Interchange at 8.30 so as to avoid the sun, but by the time we finished the Canopy Walk it was almost 10am. The sun was super hot. I didn't care if I would look like an auntie or tourist or whatever, this occasion calls for an umbrella. (sigh despite the umbrella I'd still managed ti get tanned. My arms, and my neck, there's a V-shaped tanline!)

After the walk we had to go a long way down to the Horticulture Park, nothing special there. Just a few glasshouses with flowers inside and other exhibits. It was a pity I was in no mood to examine them closely because of the hot weather; I just wanted to get out of that place ASAP.

Next we made our way to the Alexander Arch. It's a sort of metal bridge with holes in the ground, so when I looked down I saw trees dunno how many metres below me and it's so damn freaking scary.

Then we got to the Henderson waves, after walking quite a stretch of road. Actually it's just a wooden bridge with shelters that are shaped like waves. Quite dumb. That part of the journey was spent in complete sunlight with no shade from trees. Bleh.

I'd thought that Henderson Waves was the last station, but I'd forgotten about the Marang Trail. Sigh. Walk and walk, complain and complain, no toilets, no resting stops, until we arrived at the Jewel Box. We sat down and rested a bit. Ming Shu went off to take pictures of the cable cars, while I was busy sticking plasters on my poor toes which were hurting. Now at this point we were (well I was) tired, I was really sweaty and I had RAN OUT OF WATER!!! Argh! It was really tempting to just board a bus that would take us straight to Harbour Front terminal, but with Li Juan's motivation we once again set off. I kept complaining, kept asking "are we there yet?", and at long long last I heard the familiar sound of MRT train. WHOOPIE!!! WE DID IT! ALL NINE KILOMETRES OF IT, NO SHORTCUTS TAKEN! It was a proud achievement, but also, like I've told Ming Shu, one that needs to be donw only once in a lifetime. Really, once is enough. I can't imagine walking through the entire trail again. Maybe I'll return, but only to visit part of it.

You know what's disgusting? The website estimates 1 hour 30minutes for the entire trail and that's really misleading, in my opinion. We took about 4 hours. And honestly all the trees look pretty similar to me...nothing much to see, except for the sea.

Oh yah I'd bought an oven and baked my first batch of cookies. And those who have tried them said they were nice! =) so happy... Didn't know oats cookies with walnuts can taste so good.

P.S. Ghost Whisperer is returning 27 June!!!

与现在牵着手的人相遇的几率，如同奇迹一般，就算走到了光明的地方也请不要放开彼此的手。

~ Nobuta O. Produce

My Sassy Girl

I've just finished watching "My Sassy Girl". It's nice, funny and touching, and the ending is great!

Fate is building a bridge of chance for someone you love.

Just finished "Double Score". It's really nice. Oshio Manabu looks really cute in that show! Tachibana and Kawamura make a really good pair! Sad that Kawamura returned to the HQ in the end though...

What colour heart do you have

Your Heart Is Pink

In relationships, you like to play innocent - even though you aren't. Each time you fall in love, it's like falling for the first time. Your flirting style: Coy Your lucky first date: Picnic in the park Your dream lover: Is both caring and dominant What you bring to relationships: Romance

What Color Heart Do You Have?