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Rain in the desert (100happydays – day 10)

Posted on by Selectively Curious

I fell asleep before I published this.

Yesterday was a long day and as I did my weekly commute from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, it was raining. Unlike London, rain is welcomed in the desert such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It’s considered a blessing as it means that temperatures will drop to about 15 degrees (celcius). Those of you who watch Game of Thrones, I’m sure you are familiar with the wonder of when “winter is coming”, here in the UAE we often wonder the same thing.

Yesterday’s rain has determined winter to have arrived. (huray)

When I first moved to London, I loved rain, however after the first few days of rain my love was changing into something less favourable. I didnt want to get out of bed to go to my classes. I felt my body crave sunlight desperately. Having been in the desert for most of my life, I was used to having 360 days of sun, so I am very much a sunny, warm weather person. It took a lot of getting used to.

Have you ever been curious about why the weather effects our mood?

Since this post is about rain in the desert, I will only explore two types of weather, sunny days and rainy days.

Rain causes you to eat more. Rainy days can cause your serotonin levels to dip, which increases carbohydrate cravings.  It has been scientifically proven and according to Judith Wurtman, former scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and co-author of The Serotonin Power Diet, eating carbohydrates helps people feel better because the carbs immediately increase serotonin levels.That explains why I wanted to have a jacket potato, every single day whilst in London. All day, erryday.

Now for sunlight, the positive effects are, to name a few, people are more optimistic, open to possibilities, helpful and makes people spend more money. Well now, if you’ve been to the middle east, which is filled with fancy cars, fancy buildings, basically endless fanciness (mashaAllah) the last point explains a lot. Lack of cloudy weather and increase in positive mood makes people shop and well in the case of the UAE, build a wonderful nation.

Over the years I have learnt to not be effected by the weather, of course it is much easier to remain a positive person back in the UAE, however even in London the last couple of years I was there, I would embrace the weather, whether good or “bad” because I knew, the sun would shine again. In the words of John Ruskin, who was Irish and I would like to take a moment before I quote him to emphasise how much I like Irish people. They’re so warm at heart and honestly one of the nicest people I have come across. Anyway this is what he said “Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. We may have bad weather in Ireland, but the sun shines in the hearts of the people and that keeps us all warm.”

(Featured photo: Someone I used to know sent it to me last year)

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Brownies- (100happydays – Day 9)

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I like to bake.

I wouldn’t call it therapeutic. My reason for baking is the joy it spreads when people eat what I’ve baked, whether it be cakes, cookies or brownies. I made these tonight for tomorrow, it’s a colleague’s birthday and I thought to surprise her. I made two batches and even a smaller batch (gluten free) so everyone gets at least a piece. I’ve made these brownies so many times, that it is perfect, if I do say so myself. However, it’s what others have told me. I do not have much of a sweet tooth so I’m not the best judge when it comes to my own baking. I’m always curious to see how people will react when they have their first bite. The brownies I make are gooey in the middle, slightly crisp around the corners…dare I say, it’s a recipe for perfection.

Up until two years ago, actually three, I would rarely bake. I had just moved back to Abu Dhabi from London and I made some new friends. It’s funny in hindsight, Abu Dhabi is where I’ve spent most of my life and all of my close friends have moved away from there. When I moved back to my home town, I felt like I was starting over in a place which was supposed to be my home. Anyway, on one of the occasions I took brownies for dessert to a house gathering we were having. I didn’t know if it would be good or if anyone would like it and when people tried it, their eyes widened and they turned to me. It was as if Cupid’s arrow had struck them and they were in love, not with me but the brownies, I can’t possibly try to compete with that. That’s the reaction I’ve gotten everytime someone tries it or even when they’re having it for the 10th time.  I love those moments. 

Since that first time, I realised that I like to bake. I don’t love it because it is not the act of baking that I particularly enjoy, it is the after effects that I love. I love to spread joy and what better way can I add sweetness to someone’s day than to offer them brownies. All’s well that ends well. šŸ™‚

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I’m allergic to shrimp (100happydays – day 8)

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Every now and then I get a random craving to have shrimp. I only allow myself to indulge when it’s at PF Changs and I order dynamite shrimp (featured image). Today was one of those times. 

I am allergic to it, so this post will be brief  as I’ve taken some anti allergy medications and it puts me to sleep fairly quick. I assure you this dish is worth it. I love how it still tastes as good as the first time I had it. They’ve been very good at maintaining their quality and it’s the perfect combination between creamy and spicy. It is absolutely divine. 

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Wakeboarding (100happydays – day7)

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It’s not easy.

I would not describe myself as an athletic person, far from it actually. I do like to try new things and in some ways check it off “my list”. I can honestly say that wakeboarding wasn’t on my list but I’m glad I’ve tried it a few times and that it is not me in the photo (I’m sure you know that already) but rather I took the photo of my friend, who is pretty good. I’ve used this photo as a happy moment because my friends pushed me to try something I was otherwise too afraid to try.

I’m not afraid of the water and even though I am not a strong swimmer, I love swimming. I wish I had more time and I wish I wasn’t as lazy so I could swim more often. I’m going to make my own wish come true. Anyway this photo made me realise that even though I may not be good at the sport, I am pretty good at taking sports/action shots. The featured photo is an action shot I took as he did a 360 turn. I have clearer photos but I chose this one on purpose because I thought it looked really cool. I love photography and how the camera captures moments that we may sometimes miss.

If anything, this is a reminder for me to get back on that horse (I guess board in this case) and try again. I have fallen into the water every time I’ve tried to stay on. Your body does get used to the pull of the cable but by the time my body was getting used it, I was exhausted. The anxiety is pretty intense too. Beginners, such as myself, are told to sit on the platform and slip our feet into the board, which is placed in the water. Once you’re ready, the guy (life guard I guess) gives you like a 5 second warning that the cable you’re holding on to which will be pulling you, is next, so that you may brace yourself (quite literally). This is what not to do:

  1. Don’t Ā just focus on holding on to the cable for dear life as this will just pull you away from the platform at which feels like the speed of light and you will be slammed into the water which feels like a cement floor (of course I exaggerate but not that much.)

Instead, try doing this (as I was instructed, but I didn’t listen or learn) lock your elbows to your sides and bend your knees, this is meant to pull you on top of the board rather than just pull you off the floor and make you fly (which is terrifying and not as fun as you might think, I felt my arms would come off so I had to let go… and letting go is scary).

I was going to continue the list of what not to do, but that pretty much covers it, in relation to my experience. I only went 4 times and on the 4th time I did manage to stay on the board, gliding for probably the longest 3 seconds of my life, it was marvellous and then I lost my balance and fell into the water . The sense of achievement I felt when I was in those 3 seconds is completely priceless.

I will go back, soon and one day post a photo of myself, posing with one hand as I glide smoothly across the water. Until then, I may continue sharing my sports photography :).

Selectively CuriousĀ©

Koalas can pass for humans…they may have the koalafications (100happydays – Day 6)

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I love animals.

I love how animals have more in common with us than we might think. We’re all connected somehow regardless of species. Taking anti discrimination to a whole new level, we are all one. Though, having thought about it, I guess we aren’t not really because humans eat certain animals and well let’s not get into that.

The point I was trying to make is that whilst on this planet, I think it is important to treat everyone with the utmost love and respect, no matter how hard that may be. Having said all that, I would like to take a moment and stress that I understand that it is somethings quite difficult, especially when it involves “creepy crawlies.” I dislike cockroaches immensely, I don’t kill them but that’s only because I am too terrified to come near it to kill it. Ah well it is what it is.

Anyway, going back to the point of this post, koalas share the same finger print as humans. That in itself is quite bizarre, because they are not primates and in terms of evolution their ancestors are separated by 70 million years of evolution. That’s quite a stretch for them to still have this trait. I do not want to get into the palaeontology of it all, frankly because it will divert away from the purpose of this post, which is not about evolution.

I found this fact to be quite interesting because until today I never thought about what the purpose of fingerprints actually was. Well apart from identification but it’s real natural purpose is to grasp. All along it was at the tips of our fingers and yet, I can safely say that only few of us grasped it. Pun intended.

It does make me so curious if there is a koala out there who has the exact finger prints as my own, we’d be finger print twins. That would be delightful šŸ™‚

(featured photo: google image searched “koalifications”)

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Loch Ness (100happydays – Day 5)

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More than a year ago I went on my adventure to find the Loch Ness monster.

Ok, not really, I just went to visit the highlands and soak in the beauty that surrounds it and what a sight it was. Until my mini trip, I did not know that loch was actually pronounced lokh with the “kh” pronounced like a heavy Spanish J. Our tour guide was a jolly old Scottish man and the tour was on a bus. The driver’s seat of the bus would shake up and down as we drove along the beautiful streets of the highlands. My friend and I could not help but giggle at the sight of it. We were sitting directly behind his seat and him bouncing about as he told us various stories of the land was hilarious. I guess you just had to be there to really understand the hilarity of it all.

I’m sure most of you have heard about the Loch Ness monster. To those of you who don’t know this, the Loch Ness is the largest body of fresh water in Britain and it never freezes, maintaining a 4 degree Celsius throughout the year. Since its alleged first sighting in 1933, there have been various searches for the loch ness monster and it has never been found, officially. Though over the years there have been various reports of it being sighted and it is one of the main reasons people are drawn into the highlands of Scotland (other reasons being hiking and just the general beauty of the place) in the hopes of spotting the monster. Legend has it that it would draw in children, as if to play with them and give them a “piggy” back ride across the lake, only for it to drag the children down to their deaths and their livers would later be found washed up onshore. How random, I’d think the monster would also want to eat their livers for the added iron nutrition.

It’s quite curious why people have been on the look out for this, possibly, fictional creature for all these years. Some swear that they have seen it and I wonder, if it does really exist, if I would be fortunate enough to get a glimpse of it one day. Until then, I guess I can just enjoy the view, as it is gloriously magnificent. šŸ™‚

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I love weddings – (100happydays -day 4)

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I drove home for the weekend (Abu Dhabi, from Dubai) and when I approached my compound I saw the house decorated and it immediately brought a smile to my face. I love the way houses light up when there is a wedding in the family. It’s such a happy moment, even though some may say it’s a waste of energy/electricity, well haters go on hate. šŸ™‚

Weddings really are such happy moments, even though I’m sure it is quite stressful. It’s fascinating how there are so many different traditions for weddings all over the world. In the arab world, much like the western world, the bride wears white, whereas in the eastern world the brides wear red. I didn’t much understand the distinction until I read that in the east eastern, red symbolises celebration, luck and auspiciousness and I can’t think of a better celebration than your wedding day.

The tradition of wearing white on your wedding day is actually more recent than I thought and apparently it does not symbolise “purity” as I was lead to believe. In 1840, queen Victoria of England wore white on her wedding day and since then people have been more prone to wearing white than any other colour. Before then, people did wear more rich colours and exclusive fabrics. In fact, in Scandinavia, they wore black on their wedding day, how curious. It does amaze me how traditions come about.

Additionally, I learnt that the colour of purity is actually considered to be blue, as you will see Virgin Mary in many depictions wearing a blue veil on her head. It could maybe even explain Ā one of the reasons for the tradition of blue in the rhyme “Something old, something new, Ā something borrowed, something blue and silver sixpence in her shoe.” šŸ™‚

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Who needs translators, we’re in the 21st century… (100happydays – Day 3)

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I love technology.

There is a new prototype, an ear piece that translates as someone speaks, I think that’s a really cool invention.

As a person, I am fascinated with other languages, sadly I do not have time to practice and learn as much as I would like to and this invention has its pros and cons.

The biggest con is that people will no longer find the need to learn new languages. It is worth mentioning that when you learn a language it’s not just the words that you learn to speak and understand but also you learn about the people who speak it, consequently the culture the language represents. It would be a shame to miss out on all that rich knowledge because of this invention.

On the flip side, this invention would open more opportunities and in some ways make the world a smaller place, we will truly become one race because we will no longer have the barrier of not understanding each other, literally. Imagine all the places that we can now travel to without hesitation. I’d feel slightly shy to go to a foreign place if I knew people didn’t speak English well enough to understand what I am trying to say.

I’m curious to see how this pans out. Ironically this motivates me to actually learn more languages, I’d love to speak many languages and not just understand what is being said. šŸ™‚

Selectively CuriousĀ©

The force is strong with this one (100happydays – day 2)

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The most powerful force in the universe is known as…(wait for it)… Strong force! Apparently it’s what holds us all together, literally. To think that the scientists would come up with a better word than just “Strong force.” I will not go into the physics of it (which I did read, as my blog stipulates and also because I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a hoax.)Ā 

It’s a little bit ironic, how such a powerful force has an equally weak name. There is no depth to the word used to describe the force, it’s only two syllables, not that syllables are relevant here. I think a better word for this force would be: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and the scientists will be happy to see that the word does contain “super”. It also makes me curious as to if the main scientist who came up with the terminology for this force was a Star Wars fan. I do not mean to generalise and also I do not think that Star Wars is strictly geeky ( I love Star Wars, however I am also a bit of a geek) because I know many people who aren’t geeks that also really enjoy it. It’s a nice story and a nice concept and I think even the people who think Star Wars is “lame” secretly want to be Jedis… just saying.

If this “strong force” is actually scientifically accurate, then my logic tells me that Star Wars is scientifically accurate in some ways, in theory and makes me wonder if George Lucas knew of the Strong Force when he wrote Star Wars. For example, the famous line of the movie is “May the Force be with you” if you think about it, they say “the force” not “a force” and without the force we will all fall apart because we won’t have anything to hold us together, figuratively (and literally, I suppose). That’s quite a eureka moment (even though quite a useless one).

Sidenote, it’s also nice that Star Wars has become quite mainstream. I went to an art exhibition a few years ago, which showed the work of Mr Brainwash, a famous spray painter (see featured image.)

That’s all I got tonight, may the force be with us all. šŸ™‚

Selectively CuriousĀ©

Today I got nominated (100happydays – Day 1)

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I got nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award! What an honour, please click hereĀ to see the blogger’s page who nominated me.

A big thank you to PurpleOrangeSite, I am so very honoured and flattered to be number 1 on your list of nominees. šŸ˜€ Great way to start my 100 day happiness challenge.

A part of being nominated, one of the rules are to say at least 7 facts about me, so here goes:

  1. I love naps, I would probably call it my most favourite hobby, if sleeping can be qualified as a hobby
  2. I am curious about the most random things, for example have you ever thought about why the chocolate company is called Godiva? Did you know that the name Godiva has history behind it? (please see below as I tell the story)
  3. I love cats, I feel one can never have enough cats. At the same time I feel the same way about dogs. I would like to have a farm one day with lots of animals.
  4. I am naturally like my father but due to being close to my mother I have moulded to be more like her
  5. I am a law graduate, working as a paralegal and hoping to find the right opportunity to qualify as an English Lawyer as academically I have passed my qualifications, I just need training (or do the nybar to become a US Attorney and then do the conversion exams to also be an English Solicitor)
  6. I love being by the beach, it’s the ultimate way for me to relax
  7. sometimes I like to sit… yes just that, just sit and do nothing but sit, with no tv on or phone near me but just sit.

Now for the story of Godiva. Legend has it, Lady Godiva was the wife of a landlord who was imposing an oppressive tax on his tenants. Lady Godiva took pity on the tenants and requested her husband countless times to reduce the tax. After various attempts and refusing his wife’s request countless times he says that he would do so only on the condition that she ride the streets of Coventry completely naked. She called him out on his word and rode the streets on a horse, her long red hair being her only cover on her body. Everyone in the town was instructed to remain indoors, close their doors and their windows as they were not allowed to see that she was riding naked. One, so called Tom had disobeyed this order and that his how the term “peeping Tom” came to be. The lord had lifted the heavy taxation and they all lived happily ever after (maybe, I actually don’t know if they did or not but hey at least they didn’t have to pay high taxes anymore).

If you look at the logo of Godiva chocolates, you will notice a lady on a horse with only her hair covering her. šŸ™‚

Featured photo: google image search

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