Getting bored with your old buddies? Maybe welcoming new people in to your life is just what you need. Make your life more exciting and interesting by being friendlier than you already are. Here are some ways and places to meet new people.

• Go to an Art Museum

Try to join an art museum, regular members always gets invited to a lot of special events such as programs, museum openings, workshops, fund raising, and special art exhibits by popular artists. Go by yourself and make yourself available to people. Appreciate the art, so people will start noticing you.

• Establish your own Book Club

Ask few of your good friends to bring someone they admire and you haven’t met to your book club. This way, you can meet great new people.

• Enlist yourself in a Foreign Language Class

It’s a good investment plus you can have new friends in class. Learning a new language can be an advantage when you on a trip in some country. Who knows, maybe you can “causerie” your way to a hunky French dude on your trip to France someday!

• Take some dancing lessons

Remember to sign up without any partner, and groove yourself into a bunch of new dancing groups.

• Enroll in a cooking class

Pick something different like Mexican, Thai, or Moroccan cooking class. You’ll be able to meet at least a dozen new peeps. Then throw a buffet graduation party with your new classmates.

• Take a vacation

Go on tours, you can meet new people by going on tours instead of going with your friends. The tendency of traveling alone is asking other people, talking with others, and hanging out with some people you just knew.

• Hang out by the magazine racks

Talk to other people hanging out by the magazine rack as well. Try opening a topic about their favorite magazine, in that way the person will be interested in talking to you.

• Sign up for a fun run

It’s a better way of helping raise money for charities and as well as meeting new people. Everyone will be interested in talking to fellow fund-raisers since you have the same goal, and everyone is united for a single cause.

• Go Partying!

Make yourself go on parties whenever you get invited. And try not to seat in one corner and put a hole on the sofa. Talk to people, circulate!

• Be Gutsy

The next time you ride a bus, a plane, or a train be gusty and introduce yourself and be conversational instead of burrowing your face in your book.

• Attend Sports events

GO alone. Seat beside fellow sports spectators and ask them but not to the point of disturbing and annoying them. Ask a little bit about the game and the team they are rooting for.

• Chat with people you usually don’t talk to

Chitchat with your pizza delivery boy, pharmacist, mailman, dry cleaning lady, or even the next biker you see. Ask something about what they do, like for bikers, ask them where to purchase a really nice set of wheels.

People who explore new things has better chance of meeting new people, so throw your old habit away and start gaining new ones together with gaining new friends.

We always wanted to have a year to remember but we always end up doing the usual things we do. So instead of wasting our time looking for methods on self-improvement, why don’t we try some effortless, yet enjoyable, chic-ifying, life-loving, and ego-boosting improvements. This will be good for us.

• Food Guilt – Swear it off!

People who indulge more without any guilt have a better immune system according to experts. Feel good about yourself, it’s a great help.

• Click it

Load up your bag with a digital camera, so you can snap a shot of something funny or memorable.

• Cook up some Work Ideas

Instead of hiding those great ideas inside your head, why don’t you blurt it out and start earning credits for your nice concepts.

• Purchase a new Make-up Bag

Throw away those tiny make-up bags and start using a bigger one. Let’s you bring more stuff for your beautification. Being beautiful and pretty boosts up your confidence, so bring more of those make-ups.

• Be the Sun Goddess

We actually need 3 to 8 hours of sunlight in regulating our circadian rhythm. This will help us boost our energy level and very vital to our moods. So, let’s try to be shiny happy by walking during work breaks, eat some place with bright window, and take your catnaps in the sun.

• Let yourself be a Regular

Try to find your Central Perk, look for a place where you can hang out without emptying your bank account. Find local bars that have affordable food or has a happy-hour deal. Then meet up new people.

• Ditch the one Chore You Don’t Like Doing

Make a deal with a coworker or a roommate to trade the one chore you hate doing. Because once you don’t like what you’re doing it’ll be just tiresome for you.

• Let your Fashion Ideas Flow

Give yourself a treat and try to be bold once in a while. Wear something different from your style at least once a week. This can help give you confidence.

• Totally make your Pad A Paradise

Decorate your place something relaxing. This will help you sleep better and enjoy the site of your own place.

• Put a Plant in your Desk

It has been proven to have stress-relieving and mood-boosting properties.

• Sizzle up your Sex Life

Sizzle it up by trying something new with your partner, it will help spice up your relationship.

• Master An Amazing Dish

Master at least one dish that you can boast about. It can give you more confidence knowing you’re not just a face but someone with a talent.

• Have the Big-O ever

Try this; take ten deep and full breaths coming from the diaphragm right before and during intimate contact. It will surely give you a satisfying Big O! Be ready to glow the next morning.

• Have Afternoon Teas

We get a lot of helpful benefits from drinking tea; black tea prevents plaque formation, Peppermint tea helps reduce the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, ginger tea can relieve indigestion, and chamomile with a bit of lemon and honey will help you with the flu.

• Make a Weeknight Ritual

Stop being a couch potato and try something new. Get into the new bars in town, or try some new cuisines.

• Pack-up and Sip some Piña Coladas on the Beach

Everyone deserves to have a vacation at least once a year. Your boss will appreciate it, 80% of people who take vacations become more productive. Try going to a spa resort that will certainly relieve your stress.

• Ditch those Excess Baggage

Say bye-bye to those people you don’t like hanging out with and just feel pressured when around them. Those people will just make you feel less of a person and lessen your confidence level when you socialize with them.

I hope this list will help you improve your year. Make the rest of the year better for yourself.

The biggest fashion headlines last year were from buttoned-up shirtdresses to loose-fitting minis.  But it doesn’t mean everyone wore it perfectly.  Especially when you are a celebrity, you must take precautions on using this kind of dresses to the red carpet.  Coz hey, all eyes are on you once you step in to that carpet.  Here are some of the worst dresses I’ve seen in red carpet last year. 

• Jaggedly Red Carpet Get-up

      The Harry Potter co-star, Helena Bonham, wore this ragtag dress, clunky boots which appears to be a red carpet disaster. 

• Feather and Furry Outfit

      Supermodel Naomi Campbell should have known better before wearing a feathery outfit that barely covers your belongings.  It’s a total wreck. 

• The Puff-ball

      Cate Blanchett wore an Armani Puff-ball to Rome’s Film Festival, but it doesn’t look so fashionable with its voluminous, weirdly proportioned, two-toned gown. 

• Under Wraps

      Actress Parker Posey looks like she just walked out of the bathroom.  The ugly brown moiré wrap covering her printed dress is just a dingy topper.  By the way, she was a guest judge in Project Runway. 

• Designer Frock

      As fashion goes, it could have scored home-run if the dress was as fit as it was in the runway model rather than looking so huge on Mary Kate Olsen.  She just looked like she wore her mother’s clothes and playing dressing-up.

Most of us love to travel a lot without knowing what the consequences might be. We are not very aware of certain diseases that we can pick up from different countries that we travel to. So what are traveler’s diseases anyway? These are diseases that we contract when traveling away from home, most especially when we travel from a highly developed country to a less developed one. These diseases can be acquired by eating or drinking contaminated food or water, from animal droppings, from soil, close encounter with infected animals, and if bitten by vectors like mosquitoes, flies, and ticks. Some can even be derived from walking and swimming on the beach barefooted. Simple things that we ignore can actually be the cause of a dreadful disease.

Let me give you some of the most popular diseases that we can contract while on a travel, and I will be giving pointers on how to prevent from getting these diseases.

• African Sleeping Sickness

As the name implies, this disease can be contracted from the Eastern and Central Africa. It is also called the African trypanosomiasis. It is caused by a parasite and is transmitted by a tsetse fly causing a systemic disease. This is most abundant in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, Zaire, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. The disease would occur within the period of four weeks, with initial symptoms of fever, rash, skin lesions, swollen lymph nodes, and edema. And this can actually progress to meningoencephalitis, which is a very serious disease. Once meningoencephalitis has occurred, personality changes, progressive confusion, irritability, weight loss, slurred speech, seizures, insomnia, and difficulty in walking and talking will then follow.

There are no drugs or vaccine that can prevent this disease. But here are some tips to prevent insect bites.

1. Wear long-sleeved shirt and pants for protection, and it should be thick because tsetse fly can bite through clothing materials.

2. Tsetse flies are attracted to bright and dark colors, so it is better to wear something khaki or neutral-colored clothes.

3. Bed nets are best recommended while napping.

4. Avoid riding open vehicles like jeeps or pickup trucks. Tsetse flies are fond of dust created by moving vehicles.

5. Tsetse fly usually rest in the bushes during hot days, but they bite once disturbed. So avoid walking thru the bushes.

• Mad Cow Disease

This is a bovine spongiform encephalopathy that affects the cattle but with the new variant, the disease was passed to humans. Both diseases cause fatal brain injuries and diseases. Most of the cases are found in Great Britain, the disease resulted from feeding a cattle with scrapie-containing sheep meat and bone. This disease can be passed to humans by eating an infected beef, causing the humans to have mental retardation and dementia. Travelers can reduce the risk of exposure by avoiding beef, or selecting beef products, instead of eating ground beef and sausages, it is better to eat solid pieces of beef.

• Cholera

It is an infectious, acute disease from consuming contaminated water and food. The bacteria Vibrio cholera is to blame for this disease. It is mostly found in South Asia, Africa, and Latin America like Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, and Columbia. The unsanitary disposal of excrement is the cause of an impure water supply attracting Vibrio cholera.

How can we prevent Cholera? As the center of disease control says “Boil it, cook it, peel it, or forget it”. Here are some preventive measures that we should remember.

1. Use and drink only boiled or chemically disinfected water. Use disinfected water for brushing teeth, washing your face and hands, washing fruits and vegetables, utensils, bottles, glasses.

2. Refrain from eating food and drinking beverages with unknown sources like unpasteurized milk or milk products, raw meats, shellfish, and any fish from tropical reefs.

Like what I always say, it’s better to be safe than sorry!

I couldn’t compare this weekend to my other trips to Las Vegas. It was quite different this time. We dropped off the children to my moms, and had the weekend just with my husband. This is our way of relaxing and recharging from a very stressful work.

We went to Las Vegas last weekend and stayed at Green Valley Ranch Resort & Spa in Nevada. I can say it is different there since the Resort is so quite and peaceful unlike the others that has all the bars and casinos. This time, my husband and I spent the whole weekend without gambling. People always think when you go to Las Vegas; all you can do is gamble, gamble, and gamble. I disagree, because of this new experience I had in Green Valley.

Green Valley has an elegant décor, world-class cuisine, and high-standard accommodations. The rooms are very spacious with combination of modern and old-style amenities. The best thing that I experienced with Green Valley is the Spa. A relaxing spa treatment made my stress go away. I personally availed the beauty treatments and the massage, and attended yoga class. Epicurean adventure, that’s how I can describe dining in Green Valley. They have the variety of restaurants, like Hank’s Fine Steaks and Martinis, Grand café, II Fornaio, Sushi and Sake, and a lot more.

Now you can think of Vegas if you want to enjoy casinos and have a relaxing time as well.

]]> http://patriciaholdenmd.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/like-no-other-weekend-in-vegas/feed/ 1 patriciaholdenmd las vegas green valley resort http://patriciaholdenmd.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/dishes-even-exotic-food-lovers-would-think-twice-to-eat/ http://patriciaholdenmd.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/dishes-even-exotic-food-lovers-would-think-twice-to-eat/#comments Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:41:55 +0000 patriciaholdenmd http://patriciaholdenmd.wordpress.com/?p=13 ]]>

I’m a person who loves to venture on new experiences; like trying new cuisines or even exotic foods from different countries around the world. But I do have my limits as well. I may try certain exotic foods but sometimes I would doubt myself if I should put it in my mouth. Some exotic foods are very nasty to look at but once you eat it, it would actually taste good. Like they say, looks can be very deceiving.

When I was in China, I went to a Korean restaurant and ordered bosintang. Without me asking what’s in it, I ate so much since I heard it is a popular Korean Cuisine. I was at my last bite when the owner approached me and said “I hope you enjoyed our spicy dog stew”. I stopped for a moment, and had a thought, “damn, I just ate a dog. But what the heck, it tastes good anyway”.

Then we strolled around China and found more exotic foods the Chinese prefers to eat. There were seahorse, scorpion, cicada, stinky fish, and star fishes. They say if you eat the seahorse, it will strengthen your sexual ability, and scorpions cure certain diseases by making your blood hotter during a cold climate. But I don’t think I would put any of those near my mouth.

Here are some of the exotic foods I have encountered so far.

I always join online bidding but I never get to win anything at all. So I was wondering maybe there is a technique in doing this. Then I decided to research on how to win an auction. It’s where I learned that there are a lot ways to win one. Let me share the new knowledge I gained so far. So here it goes.

• First you’ve got to know the auctions

Before you even start bidding, the first thing to do is to attend as many auctions as you can and observe how things go. Check and compare the quoted price to the actual price of the item. And always add at least 10 percent to the quoted price. Most especially if the item is rare and not sold in other markets.

• Then, get set to buy

Before the bidding or the auctions starts, make sure you organize your finance first. Make sure that your solicitor checks the sale contract. Check the condition of the item you are about to buy. Make a research on the place or the item that you are willing to spend money on, check if it’s all worth buying.

• Beware of the dummy bidders

Most of the bidders are dummy bidders; they are used to push the auction prices up. Try to identify who the true bidders are. This is the best tool that auctioneers sometimes use to get more money out of you. The dummy bidders will start bidding and even bid against you so that you will try to bid higher. If they have reached the satisfied amount, they will stop bidding so that you will win the auction, without you knowing that you have been played.

• Bid only up to your Limit, do not over bid

Right even before the auction starts, you must decide on your maximum bid. Meaning set a maximum amount you are willing to spend. Having a bidding limit is the most powerful and strongest tool in auction success. Do not over bid; this is where your knowledge about the item being sold comes in. If you think that it is over the limit of the actual price, then stop bidding. It’s not at all worth winning an over-priced item. Make sure that you bid firmly and confidently so your opponent gets an impression that they will never win the auction. Try to slow down the bidding by bidding in smaller amounts, then later on bid higher. But once you hit your limit, better stop bidding.

• Lastly, do not forget the 4th rule

Never ever break the 4th rule of bidding. For some buyers, a chance of getting a good item is bidding in a good price. But whatever happens, stick to your bidding limit!

That’s the basic knowledge we know about bidding. Now, here are the secrets you’ve all been waiting for.

• Jump Bidding

In jump bidding, the bidder tries to frighten the opposing bidder. How does this work? It’s done by offering a much higher bid. For example, the original price is at $30, and then the bidding goes up only about $5 each bid. What you can do is to jump from a $5 bid to a much, much higher bid like 40 dollars higher. This can scare off your opponent but it can also backfire at you. It’s either the opponent makes his own jump bid or it may cause a panic to the opponent assuming the item must be worth spending more money on.

• Holding Back

Holding back intends to hold back his bid at the last minute just when the auctioneer is about to bring the hammer down. The sense behind this technique is to wait for all the bidders to exhaust all their money then jump in at the last second. This can actually work, but of course this can also have a negative effect. Such as causing a last minute bidding craze, making the winner pay more than what is intended.

• Throw Bidding
  

In this technique, what the bidder does is to disrupt the flow of bidding. Even the auctioneer will be caught off guard. This can cause a hindrance to the flow of bids, making the other bidders confused. For example, if they are bidding in hundreds then you can bid in other odd amount like $649 which can be off-putting to other bidders.

• After the Auction Vultures
  

Basically, this is when the item was not sold either because no one bid on it or no one reached the reserved price. After the auction, a potential buyer can make a lower offer for the item.

You must be wondering where you would apply this knowledge. Like I said before I enjoy joining some online auctions, like EBay, and some travel auctions. Since I love to travel a lot, I started looking for some packages and deal sites where I can spend less money while enjoying a truly beautiful and elegant vacation.

For things that are rare, or if I wanted to get something for a cheaper price, I check eBay for some materials or items that I need. But for traveling, I learned about this auction site where I can start bidding for only $1 for a vacation or luxury trip that I want. They even have a lot of options to choose from. Where in the world would you get a luxurious vacation that may only cost you less money than the actual price of the trip? With the helpful tips that I got now, I hope I’ll be able to win one of the beautiful vacation trips that I’ve been dreaming of.

Almost everyone loves to go to “a travel” or have a vacation once in a while. But sometimes we do forget that traveling needs preparation and we get caught up with a last minute travel preps. So I have enumerated some of the pointers that you can try in preparation for a great vacation.

• First, make sure that you have enough time to plan for the vacation you wanted.

• If you want to travel outside of your country, be sure that your passport is ready and not expired. Like some countries, they require a renewal of passport 3 months before it expires. Or sometimes you go on a trip, and you didn’t check the expiration date of your passport and you didn’t know that your passport is going to expire while you are outside of your country.

• Think of the place you wanted to go, and if you have decided where, then check the internet for tourist spots in that certain country. Research on the place so you wouldn’t get lost and it would be easier for you to check out the cool places they have.

• Call up hotels in that country and make reservations, so you won’t be sleeping on the streets when you get there and all the hotels are jammed with other tourists.Also, when you call them on an earlier time before the vacation, they may have a best vacation package that is cheaper than the one they offer during the peak season.

• Be sure to have the right number of reservations if you are traveling alone or with family or even with friends.

• Check if the country requires you to get a visa.If they do, then it is better get one as early as you can.

• Check for open flights. All your preparation will go to waste if you don’t get to reserve a flight.

• Make a copy of all the documents you will be bringing just in case you lose your stuff such as your passport, driver’s license, credit cards, airplane tickets, checks and other documents.Also leave a copy at home and have it faxed to you in case some problem occurs.

• Also, try to find out if the country requires departure tax.

• Try to get something that would fit you or your schedule.Don’t get something that you don’t want, and just got it because there is no other choice. This might end up in a disaster.

• Have foreign money ready. Make sure that you get to keep foreign money in your pocket; you will need this in traveling or going around. Of course, be sure that money is the right one to use on the certain country you are going to.

• Check for the cost of bus travel or any local transportation in that country.This can help you to travel easier and select which will be cheaper and more accessible.

• Make a list of things you will need for that trip. It would help you a lot while packing so you will not forget anything. We do make a list and then suddenly remember something that you need and was not on your list then jot it down.

• Let someone know that you will be traveling or having a vacation.

• Make sure to prepare your luggage the night before your departure and not rush on the same day of your departure. A habit of rushing makes us forget something that you might need in our trip.

• Also, check if you are bringing the right clothes for the certain country.

• Lastly, if you have an early flight, sleep in early and use you alarm clock.

Well, that’s about it. I hope you have a good time during your travel. The best time to prepare is six months before your expected or planned vacation.