Yes I'm alive M. Charly

I was on my way to Penang on the 26th of December when my stepmom's friend called from there. I picked up the call and I thought I heard her wrongly... she said that there'd been a tidal wave in Penang! I didn't want to ask her to repeat it, so I just said okay...

And later we got other calls telling us about it and then we heard about tremors felt back at home. I didn't feel it because the ground was supposed to have shaken at about 9am but I was in church (thank God!) and at about 1pm when the tsunami struck Penang, I was on my way up there.

However, being in Penang wasn't much. It was rather quiet and everyone was going about their normal business. Only the area around Tanjong Tokong was quite destroyed but the authorities had cleared them all up. Didn't manage to get pictures of that. I didn't go up to Batu Ferringhi either... heard it was closed up because there was quite serious damage up there and further up at Balik Pulau. I saw the papers this evening and a bus driver who'd taken his family up to Balik Pulau for a picnic holiday had all 5 of his children killed! And another man lost his wife and 4 children. I just hope their other family members give them the support they need and help lift them out of this sad time.

And in the other countries, accumulated death toll of over 20 000! That's massive! And think of all the families, children and grandparents who've been separated...

We must pray for their souls and for their surviving family members and friends.

Anyway, my family and I were already on our way to Penang so we arrived safely and the Penang Bridge was FINE!! Contrary to some stupid SMS rumour people were spreading around saying they were expecting seismic activity around that area. This country does NOT have seismic activity! The tremors were only from the huge earthquake experienced just off Sumatera. (And by the way, I was just looking at the map and thinking that if Sumatera wasn't where it is, we'd have the same situation as Sri Lanka.)

Oh and tragedy for Phuket Island as well. 40% of their US dollar revenue was from Phuket Island. Now that it's destroyed, what are they going to do? It's all really quite terrible.

Okay okay, back to me :P

I took some pictures of the beach in front of my hotel...





Here's a cool one, showing how people are still brave enough to walk on the edge of the sea.



A study of light as Claude Monet did... the top one was taken in the afternoon, the bottom in the evening. Notice how the afternoon sun is yellower and more orange, while the evening sun is more white and grey. Just a note hehe...





The notice stuck on red and white striped tape to stop people from wandering out to the beach. However, as shown in the first picture, it don't make no difference, mate.



Me, little sis and Dad.



Penang is the Land of the Motorcycles (and most horrendous drivers, I might add). We've coined a slogan for this Pearl of the Orient : "Make your own rules." To be related to driving, riding motorcyles, hawker stalls and just about everything else.



I love taking pictures of motorcyclists. This is a smashing picture I took of this lady while I drove past her. So glad she didn't come and bash me up after glancing in my direction.

The Smell of Brownies... mmm...

The scent of the brownies I just baked are wafting up the zig zag staircase and into my room... YUM! I can't wait for dessert. Mumsy's cooking the dinner now with the help of Mr Ho who charges an outrageous amount for his meat. Talk about taking advantage of the season! This is the season of giving, n'est ce pas?? BOYCOTT MR HO!

Hehe... don't sue me.

Anyway, I feel the urge to lead a peaceful existence in merry old England. Having tea and scones at a little café blablabla... and at night maybe a trip to Leeds which supposedly has good clubs? Well that's what my friend Jap-Chick-Krazy Dale says anyway.

Listening to electronic/ambient music from online radios always makes me feel like being in Europe dancing and drinking the night away. No idea why. So not me. Right, Grandpa G? :P

Here's 2 pix from Christmas Eve do at my aunt's place:

Me and me sis being reindeer for the night. NEIGH!!!!!
Poor baby getting cameras flashed in her face. Photographer's fault. My cousin's cute little daughter. If anyone wants a facial done, contact me. She's very good! My cousin, that is.

I heard it's snowing up in North England. How nice. But apparently not enough snow to build me a Calvin-type snowman. Bah!

Les Commentaires

Sometimes I wonder if I've made a mistake by putting a Flooble chatterbox on my page. This stops people from actually leaving real comments for my posts and leaving the number of Parisians who love me to a measly zero :( Boohoo...

So if you have any comments for my individual posts, do click on the underlined number under my posts to leave a comment because the Flooble comments get deleted very often as I set the limit to display 10 only.

Thank you.

And as a token of my gratitude, here's a joke from FHM's Best of Bar Room Jokes 2 page 28:

A man comes into work on Monday with a black eye. His fellow workers ask him what happened. "I was in church yesterday," says the man, "when a young woman came in wearing a summer dress and sat in the seat in front of me. When she stood up the dress was caught between the cheeks of her bum, so I leaned forward and plucked itout. And she hit me!"

The next Monday he comes in with two black eyes. "I was in church yesterday," he explains, "and the same young woman in the same dress sat in front of me. When she stood up her dress was caught between the cheeks of her bum again, and the man beside me leaned forward and plucked it out. I knew she didn't like that, though, so I pushed it in again..."

:P

HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT CHRISTMAS!

I'm EMPLOYED!... and Merry Christmas!

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, I am officially EMPLOYED.

Gonna clean toilets and stuff like that, ain't that fun?

Well, that's not the only thing I'm doing of course. In fact, I'm gonna be working in Cat's Whiskers (the place where I found the totally great bracelet) and guess when I'm starting work? NEW YEAR'S EVE! Haha... what a life. Doesn't really bother me actually. This year I don't seem to be in a festive mood, I wonder why...? Maybe because there's no one special beside me :( Boohoo...

Anyway, I'll be getting staff discount so I've a feeling I'll be quite popular with my girlfriends this coming new year.

Oh, and if I don't see you this Christmas, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

GMAIL

I've been finally awarded the supreme privilege of giving out 6 Gmail accounts. However, I feel like everyone already has one. But if any of you happen to swing by this blog, do write me a nice plea for the Gmail account and I just might give it to you, stranger!

My Wish List #1

Okay I know it's a bit late for Christmas, but here's my wish list so I'll remember what I'm aiming for : (and as you can see it's Wish List #1 meaning there's more to come in the future. No more asking what I want as gifts!!)

...in no particular order...

1. Calvin and Hobbes (post a comment if you want to know which ones I already have)
2. La Senza gift vouchers (if they had any)
3. iMac or iBook/PowerBook
4. New branded PC (sick of custom made ones)
5. Air ticket to England (or Stockholm, Amsterdam and Prague)
6. Baby doll high-heeled shoes
7. Very nice bracelet in Cat's Whiskers
8. A temporary job for January 2005

Boyfriends' mothers

I'm afraid to say, boyfriends' mothers really freak me out and scare me to pieces! You never feel that you're good enough for her son from the way she looks at you.

She probably looks at every girlfriend of her little boy and automatically judges if she's going to be as good as the mother in looking after her darling. And of course the answer will 99% of the time be 'No'. Daunting, isn't it?

This post didn't come out of any particularly recent experience of mine. I was just thinking about it one day.

Anyway, if any of you are in the mood for posting comments, can anyone give me any recommendations for books to read? I like most sort of books, like suspense and crime (Agatha Christie), preferably fiction.

Another way to live?

I was reading The Count of Monte Cristo last night and there was a couple, Emmanuel and Julie, who had planned their life out in the way I was talking about a few days ago. About happiness being more important than working your whole life for money to be happy.

Emmanuel and Julie had gotten married, then worked in their own business for about 6 years (maybe a few more... these classics use language in such a confusing way) and saved up enough money for them to live moderately in comfort and never have to work anymore. She was only 26 when they settled down.

Well, it's not always possible to be like that, maybe you'd need more time, and of course it won't work if you're the ambitious type. But if what you're looking for is happiness and an easy, simple kind of life, I'm sure there's a way.

London

More pictures from London!

Big Ben at night... so beautiful. It was amazing actually being there. I had to pinch myself 11 times.

Me and this really cool dude outside a reggae shop. He's so cool!! And he kinda looks like Bill Cosby too.

Me and Nobita in front of the London Eye, the big ferris wheel, for great views of London. Apparently one turn takes half an hour. I can think of better things to do, mate!

On Portobello Road where the famous market is. Nice looking front for the bar.

The scene from the bridge of Big Ben (no, it's not London Bridge) and the Houses of Parliament. The view is really beautiful at night of the buildings along the Thames.

Couldn't resist taking a picture at the tube station near Sherlock Holmes' dwelling!

Life and Death

It's true that one has to experience life to know about it (what Malaysian Devil said on the Flooble - by the way, he's not even Malaysian!!) but then your whole life would've passed you by before you knew what it was about, isn't that right?!

So I figure my understanding of it is useful to me so far as it sort of puts my goals and wants in perspective.

Talking about death too, I used to get really scared and upset when I thought about dying. Well I still do now sometimes, but two things give me some comfort. One is that when you're old (assuming you don't get into an accident, which I hope none of us ever do) and your body's shutting down, you just want to die and stop being reminded how you're not young anymore. So it turns out to be a blessing, huh? Secondly, I've started seeing Life as a journey and Death as a sort of 'portal' to Heaven.

I heard once that dying is a very liberating feeling. You die but at the same time your soul is released from your mortal body and you just get a tremendous feeling of freedom like everything's stretched. I don't know how that person managed to get that story, but to me it makes sense, and it also comforts me, knowing that this life is merely a journey to our freedom eventually. And that's hoping all of us make this journey worthwhile and good.

Treasure Hunt

I actually came to my blog to write that I'm going for a treasure hunt tomorrow on the monorail! Woohoo! Then I got sidelined reading the interesting flooble entries. Thanks for your participation guys!

I don't think I'll be bringing my camera tomorrow so sorry no pics from the amazing race! But just cross your fingers my team do well (I'm teaming up with Sharry Berry).

To Grandpa G

I miss you lots! You make life so much more worth discovering.

The Meaning of Life

I hope I can put it in words eloquently.

You know how when people start out as kids, they play, then they go to school and study, first primary school then secondary school and then college, uni... maybe go overseas to get that degree. After studies, of course naturally comes work. So you work every day 5 days a week, maybe more, maybe less. But generally you work. You get your salary to pay bills, eat, buy things.

This is the normal routine people follow and that's all fine and dandy. But do they know why they're doing this? Sure, you can say I work to get money to eat. But I think most people think of work as something that has to be done. As in... we breathe, we work. Do you get the meaning? This is not easy to explain. It doesn't seem to come out right in words.

Basically I think that a lot of people, especially in Asia, think of work as a need in life. It's like eating and drinking. It's a part of life just like walking and talking.

It actually isn't.

I believe that life is for us to enjoy and be happy. It doesn't mean that if you don't work, you'll be unhappy. I think a lot of people would enjoy life much more if they didn't feel obligated to work. Okay that didn't come out right again. I know people will be arguing with me saying that people should work so they don't snatch old ladies' handbags.

But work is here to serve a purpose, and that is to feed us and to make us happy. Not the other way round. We shouldn't feel fulfilled by having a job. Or a job that pays well. We should be USING work to work for us. If we want to go on a holiday, we should be using our work to give us that. And not work so hard for promotions and money and awards, thinking that that'll make us happy.

Remember ourselves as kids feeling free and happy? That's when we're free of obligations. We can still achieve that as adults when we go on holiday. Even when we work.

I also realised that many people feel that they've shut their eyes and suddenly opened them 30 years later. It's like life flew by, isn't it?

That's because many adults live life in the tomorrow. They plan what to do. They can't be satisfied if they don't know what they're gonna do tomorrow. Of course planning meetings for businesses are important but it shouldn't take up your whole week. It'll fly by before you can realise it's arrived. If it's not possible to relax during the week, at least do it during the weekends.

Don't sit at home and laze around during the weekends. It doesn't make the day longer, it shortens it. The secret is to wake up and then plan what to do for the day and do it. The less time you've planned something and the more time you spend doing things, the more time you seem to have. That's the secret little children have. Remember feeling that you were gonna be 9 forever?

Now I know this is getting boring so I won't keep going on and on trying to clarify my statements. I know what I realised and I hope that this renaissance will come to you guys soon too.

Just remember not to force yourself to do something. Life is a gift for us humans to enjoy and make the best of our senses, feelings and emotions. It shouldn't just be stress and nerves. We're capable of so much more happiness if only we'd realise what's truly important (and I don't mean only boring stuff like family (which is of course very important) but I also mean having fun, being in love). And somehow, the days will lengthen magically.

Bound for Hell

I watched two movies this past week. One was Supersize Me, the other The Polar Express. Both really broke my heart.

In Supersize Me, there was one part where a few young kids about 6-8 year old were shown portraits of famous people. The first picture was of George Washington, whom most of the kids didn't recognise but a few found his face familiar. The second portrait shown to them was totally unknown to them. All heads were shaking in ignorance. The photo was then shown to the camera and guess who? World's Most Unrecognisable Face (to young Americans today anyway) - Jesus Christ! Last portrait shown was instantly recognised and called by name - Ronald McDonald.

I don't have any objections to all kids knowing who Ronald is. What I AM really worried and disturbed by is that none of the kids even recognised a picture of Jesus! Please, anyone out there who reads this. Make sure your children (or sisters/brothers etc) know who Jesus Christ is and what Christmas is really about. Even if you don't follow Christianity, surely you know that Christmas is the day Jesus Christ was born on this earth as a baby boy, and isn't just a day we get presents from Santa Claus, or a day we stuff ourselves with food, or get drunk and stoned out clubbing and partying.

The Polar Express movie never even mentioned anything about little baby Christ. But apparently it's because they are a movie and shouldn't promote Christianity. What??! Unbelievable. People will believe what they want to believe whether you promote something or not.

On the subject of promoting Christianity, apparently Sydney has decided not to decorate itself with Christmas decorations because they don't want to "impose" Christianity on anyone. If that's really true, then - HOW DUMB!

All this subject of religion is getting so overboard nowadays. What happened to Love Thy Neighbour? You can love your neighbour regardless of his religion or race. We are all humans at the end of the day.

Some HTML help please?

By the way, can someone help me figure out why my posts appear so low down the page after my sidebar has ended? The posts should appear next to the sidebar on the left, but it's just all wonky now. Please let me know if you can help me. Thanks!

A quiet day

Just having a nice relaxing time at home today. Sent my poor laptop to the hospital this morning. Hope I get it back on Monday.

I went for a facial yesterday!! Boy that was really relaxing... I always love the massage parts the best. And I love when the mask is peeled off your face. It's so... liberating.

The Phantom of the Opera

The charity premiere is on December 10!! I've so gotta get tickets for this event!! Yippee!! I hope it's exactly like the onstage musical. The pictures seem to look like it. YAHOO!!

Lotsa pictures and stories

Lots of pictures today!! A real feast for everyone!

Also I wanted to let my readers know that I'll be sending my laptop off for servicing either today or tomorrow. But don't fret, I still have other means to write in my blog! Just wanted to share the good news!

Lots of things happened these past few days, on Saturday night, went out for dinner with Sharry Berry, Gary Giggs and Nobita to Little Havana (I think it's called) opposite Le Bouchon in Bukit Bintang.

Gagging at the horrendous food. Or was it the pricing?
Giggs and Nobita before they got the bill.

Umm... can't remember exactly where this was taken but it was near the resto. Havana - all the whites supporting Arsenal while Giggs mumbles curses under his breath every time they cheer.
Considered dropping by here after dinner to listen to some music. In the end, we just walked by... they lost some rowdy customers that night.
Nice lanterns. Very Asian. Malaysia. Truly Asia.
Me and Sharry Berry doin the nice gal pose. Not that we aren't nice.
Can't remember this place either, but I liked the lighting. Very cosy and intimate. Boy, I'm not doing very good advertising, am I?
I don't know how traditional it can get if the prices are so high. Boy, you can get traditional Malay food for 1/4 of the prices here, I bet. Oh right, we're paying for the AMBIENCE (pronounced om-bee-yonce)

Sharry Berry pretending to be interested in the football match. She's actually biting her fingernails. Giggs is just not ready to give up the limelight. He and the oyster are trying to get into the picture. Tsk tsk.
Um... this place looks better in real life. I think.
Right... me and my mom at lunch at a hotel on first day of Raya. Hi Mummy!!

Well, then, time for me to bid adieu to my trusty laptop. See you guys soon!

Excerpts from my trip

Since this is a sort of diary, I really should record my trip to Europe in August this year. And it'd be nice for you guys to see some pictures again, wouldn't it? Hehe...

10th August Grandpa G came down to London to visit and we went to several places, like the Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall in Kensington. Saw Kensington Gardens and Palace too.


Statue of the man himself, Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert. Impressive, eh?
Very grand and commanding posture, eh? This is at one corner of the memorial statue.
Royal Albert Hall just opposite the memorial.
Grandpa G studying the map to see where to go next. Very studious, isn't he?
The Diana and Dodi memorial at Harrods. So difficult to get a picture!! People's heads sticking here there and everywhere trying to get a good shot too. Luckily I'm tall. HAHA.

Travel

So are many of you guys travelling this holiday?

If you're planning to go overseas and money's a problem (especially with our exchange rate nowadays!) try visiting airline pages and see if they have a 'special offers' page. Those are really good, but they don't wait for you to decide! They keep changing, sometimes daily, sometimes even by an hour! Make sure you've decided thorougly and usually dates can't be changed with special offers like these.

Another problem with our declining currency is spending money overseas. When I went to Paris I ended up spending triple the amount I thought I would because, not only is the exchange rate high, their stuff are so wackily priced! I mean, you can buy a Dior perfume for the same price as dinner!

So my recommendation is to find online websites that give discounts on visiting touristy places. When planning my trip to London, I found this site http://www.londontown.com which gives great discounts and offers. Also there are other things you can do like country walks etc and you can usually find these at www.visitbritain.com which also has a great route planner if you're planning to drive around. Some other great ways to save money on travelling is by using the actual railway network website, like http://www.escapebytrain.co.uk which gives discounts on its services.

These are some ideas to help you save money on travelling in these economically and financially challenged times for our country. Unless, of course, you're loaded and drive around in a limo. In that case, you can leave me a name and number in the Comments section.

Working Holidaymaker

I have a question to ask, hopefully someone who knows these things comes across my site. Does anyone know how long it takes to get a working holiday visa approved for the UK?

Salesgirls @ Sungei Wang

You walk into a shop and start looking at clothes.

Salesgirl Type A : Ignores you from the moment you walk in and even if you glance at her to greet her or ask her for help, she looks away. Usually ugly and grumpy looking.
Verdict : A little irritating.

Salesgirl Type B : Looks at you and sometimes acknowledges your presence. However, you KNOW she knows you're there because she starts tripping over your heels no matter how many zig zags you take up and down the aisles (sometimes blocking your way). Never says a word. Usually young, blur and not so good-looking.
Verdict : Pretty darn irritating.

Salesgirl Type C : Greets you when you walk in with a big smile, asks you to try on all her clothes. Usually well-dressed (in the Sungei Wang style) and takes out every single skirt and shirt for you to try. Asks you how it fits once you enter the changing room. Asks you how it fits once you come out. When you say it's not suitable, she suddenly doesn't seem to know you're there. Has a grumpy face when you leave. Usually an older woman.
Verdict : Most irritating. Hello? Manners? Two-faced *toot*!

Salesgirl Type D : Perfect, unobtrusive, speaks when she needs to, helps when she needs to. Basically 0.01% of salesgirls in Sungei Wang. But I did meet one at Kojiki Fashion House at the rooftop. She also speaks both Cantonese and English very well. A definite plus sign in my book.
Verdict : Wish all salesgirls were like that.

Everybody shout...1...2...3...FREEDOM!!

Yahoo!! Finally I can relax!!

"If you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with bullshit."

It makes sense, doesn't it? Always sound like you know what you're talking about, even if you don't. That way, everyone will eventually think you're the genius you really are.

So what's up with the world nowadays? I'm so happy everything's done and over with. Tonight's CSI and I'm NOT gonna miss it like I always do. Best show in the world. Way to go CSI people!!

Some news from poor Grandpa G who's not feeling at all well today. Poor Grandpa's puking! :( Hope he gets better soon so Binks will have a healthy and hearty competitor in paintball! Thinkin' of ya, Grandpa! Hope you get better soon.

Ms Chevrolet owner wants to go party'n this week since we're all free. Let's! But no smoky, poorly ventilated areas! Any ideas, just leave it on the comments or the flooble. That thing seems to be temporarily down now.

Beach Babe has decided that she wants to defect from this country. She says the loony bin in Australia is so much better than the one we were at. Where's the loyalty, I'm asking you? Harrumph! (Yes, horses make that sound) Anyway, that girl is so ungrateful! I took so much trouble to get her out of that hospital and destroyed her records and she just wants to go back to another one. Oh wait, she's reminding me that that's the only way she can go to Australia. Oh well... the measures one will have to go through to reach one's dreams.

The Woman is celebrating her birthday today. Yippee! I think she's giving out free limo rides to anyone who reaches her house and wishes her Happy Birthday in 20 minutes. In that case, I'm off for my free ride! WAHAHAHOOHOO!!

Holidays are approaching...nearer...nearer...nearer.......

It'll be so good just to kick back and sit on the couch watching DVDs the whole day... SIGH...

Yesterday was exciting!

Mom called in the morning and said I can't go out because there's "a snake in the garden"!! Yes!! A snake! Our third one, I believe. Oh gosh... anyway, it was rather exciting to have DBKL come over and get the snake. They kept kicking and kicking the snake and it was so reared up to bite them. It did cross my mind to get a video or some pictures of it, but it was just so exciting. Anyway I guess the snake got tired and his head was still up, and that's when one of the guys grabbed his head with his hand and subdued it. BOYS AND GIRLS, PLEASE DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!

Don't think I live in a snake-infested area okay! These things happen...

Anyway, thanks K for your help with my PC problems... I did try Shareaza but I can't find what I want there. I guess after I send my laptop for its long-awaited overhaul I'll install Kazaa Lite.

And Pocky Man!! Thanks for gloating about your PC!! Actually, I do have one other custom-made PC at home, but that's pretty sucky as well. I have Ad-Aware on that, so no popups, but there must be something disturbing it because sometimes it gets really really slow and even though my laptop has more memory, it runs games faster! WEIRD.

Maybe you're wondering why there're so few pictures nowadays, but I just feel lazy to upload my pics to Geocities. I'll do it when I have more time. Right now I'm still rushing on my final assignments and feeling a little stressed.

You know what? One of my group members quit! SIGH... means extra work for us. Even last semester we had one member quit. Remember, Bea?? What's this, a pattern or something?

SHOPPING!

Yes! I went shopping! (And, yes, I know I don't have time, but my mom invited me out after all...hmm hehehe).

Grandpa G went paintballing yesterday. Tsk tsk... he shouldn't be doing such rough activities at his age.

Oh if [Chia Chia] Binks is reading this, he might want to plan a paintball outing for end of November. Let me know!

The perfect PC

Why can't there EVER be a single PC that works properly? Or maybe I should ask why there are some people out there, so MEAN to make popups that live in your PC? I'm so SICK AND TIRED of closing extra windows, also FED UP of my PC crashing all the time, especially now that all my final assignments are due. It's such a waste of time having my laptop restart over and over again. CAN'T ANYONE MAKE DECENT PCS? OR SHOULD WE ALL SWITCH TO MACS??!

I'm so so so pissed. As in angry. Not drunk.

I don't know what's wrong with my IE now, but when I want to go to a website sometimes it just gives me that 'page cannot be found' error and some funny address in the url place, like res://shoc blablabla... i dunno. It's just irritating. And when I try to click on certain links, it doesn't go to the link! I can't read any of my comments... does anyone know how to fix this?

And you know, if I use Ad-Aware, my Kazaa will then not work at all. What a dilemma. I'm sending my laptop in for a complete overhaul after all my assignments are in. So I might be missing for a bit next week.

Useful facts

Here are some useful facts for you people out there. Fellow mates in Henry's class will have read about this already, but this is so important that I really have to put this here for the benefit of the others.

You may think you know this already, but trust me, it's more serious than you thought. TRUST ME. Read on.

What is Secondhand Smoke?

• Mainstream smoke : smoke emitted at the mouthpiece and exhaled from the lungs of smokers
• Sidestream smoke : burning ends of a cigarette, pipe, cigar etc
• Sidestream smoke has even more carcinogens (cancer causing).
• Only 15% of smoke is inhaled by the smoker. The other 85% goes directly into the air to be inhaled by nonvoluntary nonsmokers.
• The general public’s exposure to secondhand smoke is much higher than most people realize.

How SHS affects people

• Tobacco smoke directly damages the lining of the lining of the arteries.
• It reduces the capacity of the blood to carry oxygen to the tissues.
• It increases the stickiness of the blood
• The best part is that the same thing is happening to the bodies of people who inhale second-hand smoke.

Unborn babies

• Cancer-causing chemicals in cigarette smoke pass from mother to unborn baby through the bloodstream, whether the mother smokes or not.
• Babies of smokers have much higher levels of the chemicals
• The compounds can cause genetic damage and may be a prelude to childhood leukemia and other cancers
  - lung and skin cancer
  - bladder cancer
  - liver cancer
• All three substances attach themselves to hemoglobin, the Oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells. The carcinogens continue to circulate through the babies' blood for the life of the red cells -- about four months.

The Dangers of Second Hand Smoke!

• direct health threat to people who already have heart and lung diseases.
• Increases the risk of serious lung disease during the first two years of a child's life.

Did You Know?

• Nonsmokers who live with smokers are more likely to develop lung cancer than other nonsmoking adults.
• If you have asthma, secondhand smoke can make your breathing problems worse.
• Young children are especially sensitive to secondhand smoke.
• A baby who lives in a home where one or both parents smoke is more likely to have lung disease serious enough to need treatment in a hospital during the first two years of life.
• Children exposed to secondhand smoke in the home are more likely to cough and wheeze and to have middle ear problems.

Diseases

• increased risk of lung infections, such as asthma, bronchitis, and allergies and ear infections
• ear infections, sinus problems, heart disease, strokes, nose, eye and throat irritation, nausea, dizziness and headache.
• If you live with a smoker, you have a 30% increased chance of getting lung cancer or having a heart attack.

Smoking and Impotence

• Impotence, or penile erectile dysfuntion, is the repeated inability to have or maintain an erection.
• Smoking is related to an abnormal decline of blood pressure in the penis.
• Smoking leads to artery damage where plaques form on their inner lining, slowing the flow of blood to the penis.
• Nicotine causes the constriction of blood vessels. This means that blood supply to the penis will be further compromised in a man who smokes
• Full or partial recovery of erectile function is possible by quitting smoking. Men who lose their erections before orgasm have completely reversed this situation by quitting smoking.

Smoking and Male Fertility

• Reduces sperm density and motility compared with that of non-smokers, increasing the risk of infertility.
• May also result in more couples having baby girls than boys, suggesting that sperm cells carrying the Y chromosome are more vulnerable to cigarette smoke toxins.

So guys please check out some health websites for symptoms if you do live in a smoking environment. I'd like to do my bit to help people protect themselves.

The information above was gathered and summarised from a variety of great sources :

• http://www.smoke-free.ca/Second-Hand-Smoke/health_kids.htm <-- this is the most important
• http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/may97/smoking_5-20.html
• http://mo.essortment.com/secondhandsmok_rxgs.htm
• http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=19930
• http://www.man-health-magazine-online.com/smoking-and-impotence.html
• http://www.fensende.com/Users/swnymph/refs/smoke.html
• http://www.cancer.ca/ccs/internet/standard/0,3182,3172_13127_262972_langId-en,00.html