I took a picture of my neighbour’s beautiful organic, pegaga plant sitting prettily in front of her doorstep. Pegaga, by the way is also called Gotu Kola, and this plant makes a wonderful vegetable juice. In fact, Malaysians have been drinking this vegetable juice for eons.

There are a few different types of the Pegaga leaves, but this is the most popular type used for decoration. I, myself, grow a more delicate Pegaga variety (curly leaves) normally eaten as a raw vegetable with rice.

To make the drink, just grab a handful of the fresh leaves, right from the pot, blend with some raw honey, sieve, and drink. The taste is just fresh and delightful. A truly healthful drink. Not even like some grassy tasting puke worththy vegetable juices.

If you are lucky, you might find this plant being sold in a decorative pot at some garden center near you. It’s beautiful to look at, so lush and green, and oh so easy to care for. Chockful of powerful phytonutrients.

There are many studies done on the healing powers of the Pegaga plant. It is said to heal wounds, improve mental clarity, and treat skin conditions. It’s also used to treat respiratory infections such as colds. Legend has it that an ancient Chinese herbalist (The Chinese version is called Fo-ti-tieng) ate this herb all the time and lived more than 200 years. Malaysian women love this herb, and the Malay ladies would encourage their daughters to drink it everyday to look good, look young.

A light pleasant drink is quite a harmless vegetable juice. However, you have to be very careful if you buy it off the pharmacy as the nutritional values of the herb is packed into small pills. Very strong stuff. So, those who have underlying medical problems and are taking medicine should discuss with their doctors before taking this supplement. Here’s what I mean, everyday Italians add tons of garlic into their pasta sauce and it’s perfectly all right. Won’t do any harm, but try taking like 4 garlic pills at one go, and it’s a recipe for disaster for people who’s medication, cause the medication may interact with the garlic compounds in a bad, not good way.

So there you have it. If you have access to fresh Pegaga, do try it. It’s nice.

See the latest video campaign for a Child Friendly Australia. It’s a good reminder how to be a better person

We try not to go out nowadays because of the Swine Flu (H1N1 virus) pandemic. However, last Sunday, Shaun had to give an Internet talk at THE biggest bookfest in Southeast Asia (Shaun, by the way, is known as Sen Ze to the internet world) at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center next to the KLCC shopping center. KLCC is an iconic place because this is where the world famous Petronas Twin Tower is at.

The shopping center with lots of fabulous shops,
the world class aquarium called the Aquaria
and the Convention Center are right below the towering twin towers!

While we were there at the Convention Center, I noticed that quite a number of people wearing masks either to protect themselves or to protect people from their flu.

You can see people wearing masks at the background.
There are more people on the left wearing masks
but can’t see from this angle

Shaun has only one complain about wearing masks. His hot breathe tends to fog up his glasses!

Shaun paying parking

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More

. Read Shaun’s eye popping Internet Business blog at www.SenZe.com/business-blog

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Today, I saw a random newspaper picture of a plump Chinese guy nicely sleeping in his plane seat with his face mask covering his eyes like an eye mask. That was funny. Which, you know, means you could also use a face mask as a hair band, pretty much the way people place sun glasses at the top of their head to keep their hair out of their face. Yup. There’s many other ways to use face masks.

Ok, so it’s uncomfortable wearing masks. I would be the first to admit it. It is. I feel like Darth Vader when I wear it. It’s hard to breathe, and I’m just this much closer sounding like Darth Vader as well. And like Shaun, having your glasses fogged up is no fun. Can’t see. But hey, it’s for the greater good! I mean, if I coughed a storm up, and didn’t wear a face mask, you’d be pissed, won’t you?

Years ago, I was paying for my meal at an Indian vegetarian restaurant. Right there at the payment counter was a bowl full of anise seeds. I asked the lady behind the counter what they were for and she said it was free for anyone to take, to chew, to freshen up their breathe. Much the same way restaurants and shops place big bowls of mint sweets at the payment counter. Better that than popping diabetic inducing sugar into your mouth, don’t you think?

But Anise seeds are not just good for your love social life.  The seeds are a good source of iron as well. One tablespoon of raw anise seeds (raw seeds are better than cooked seeds)  sprinkled on salads, raw cookies, curries or freshly cooked rice and so on provides 16% of the RDA for a woman and 24% of the RDA for a man. Girls hitting puberty certainly need lots of iron. I should know, because I was always anemic as a young teen (12-14 years old then), and often felt faint because of it. It’s no joke, and no fun. Imagine, having to take the public bus home and feeling faint in front of total strangers. You see, my school was near Kotaraya and I had to catch my bus home from the bus stand outside the Puduraya Bus Station. Those who know this area, know it’s not THE safest place for kids so you know,  I had to be careful. But tell you what, it’s nothing like the 36 hour GreyHound bus trip I took from Pittsburg Kansas all the way to a Chicago suburb dead of winter. Now, that’s scary!

Local public transportation. It’s an organized chaos.
You can’t see it, but the bus stop where I used to grab my bus back home is just across the other side of the road

Families who are poor and do not eat enough meat are in danger of not having enough iron. So do vegetarians. So do college students on bad diets. Eating anise seeds are a good way to go. If you are one of those who do charity works, please do buy a big bag of anise seeds and bring them along to donate to these people. Educate them on the importance of consuming these fragrant seeds in their diets. Anise seeds are cheap, so it’s a good excuse to eat more of it.

Info and pictures taken from http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_AB.htm and http://www.malaysiasite.nl/pudurayaeng.htm

Ryan Jenkins is wanted for the murder of
former Playboy model Jasmine Fiore
whose mutilated body was found stuffed in a suitcase

Recently, a wealthy reality TV show contestant Ryan Alexander Jenkins was charged with the gruesome murder of ex-wife Jasmine Fiore.

Jenkins married Jasmine Fiore in March after meeting her
in a Las Vegas strip club … two days earlier.

Apparently, he chopped off her fingers and yanked her teeth out. Mutilated her body so badly that they could not be used to identify her. So how did the police know it was her? The detectives had identified her through the serial number of her breast implants.

If your shoes stink to high heaven, try this recycling trick. Roll a sheet of newspaper and stick it into your shoes. The newspaper will detoxify your shoes by absorbing excess moisture and odor. Athletic shoes and school shoes are good candidates for this treatment.

But what about my toilet, you say? I guess you could do the same thing. Roll up stacks of newspapers and stick them into your toilet … nah … joking.

If your toilet stinks like summer at the cow patch, you need to open the bathroom door and the toilet window to let the breeze in and to let the odors escape. If you don’t have a window, you should install a small, inexpensive, energy saving exhaust fan to get things moving. That’s really the most eco friendly way. Skip the expensive, unorganic, chemical sprays. It doesn’t do your health and the environment any good.