I got this funny neck-exercise emailed to me and I must admit, I’ve used it several times. Save the image above on your desktop and remember to open it once in a while, or write up a script that will pop-up the image on your screen every hour. Another solution is to take on photography - you’ll twist your neck enough to call it a sport!

Feel free to share your methods of “geek exercise”.

Life Lessons I’ve learned:

1. You are responsible for your health.
2. Keyboard shortcuts are very useful. Learn them. Use them.
3. Never leave the house without a book. Reading a book at a furniture store is very relaxing.
4. Just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have.
5. “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” -Randy Pausch
6. Bad things do happen to good people.
7. “Everybody plays the fool, sometime.” -Rudy Clark
8. Be honest.
9. Have faith in humanity. Believe the best of everybody.
10. Heroes are people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.
11. Know what you want.
12. “People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.” -Chinese Proverb
13. Pray.
14. People deserve a second chance, but not a third.
15. If you never act, you will never know for sure.
16. “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” -Philo
17. Disappointments. They are meant to help us grow wiser.
18. “The good life is inspired by love and guided by knowledge.” -Bertrand Russell
19. Credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.
20. “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” -Dr. Seuss
21. It’s the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary.
22. “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.” -Randy Pausch
23. Show true gratitude.
24. “Dreams are illustrations… from the book your soul is writing about you.” -Marsha Norman
25. “Yesterday is History, Tomorrow a Mystery, Today is a Gift, Thats why it’s called Present.”

GOD, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can
and the Wisdom to know the difference.

Revolution: Chamomile Tea

My favorite tea is chamomile, and I have tried many brands but this one is different. It’s very nice and has a minty cold taste to it. First time I tried it was at Watermelon Cafe and got hooked! If you don’t like mint, or prefer to add fresh leaves, then I recommend Coffee Bean’s Chamomile & Lemon [see below].
Benefits:

• Chamomile tea boosts the immune system and fight infections associated with colds
• Chamomile tea relieves muscle spasms and menstrual cramps in women
• Chamomile tea relaxes the nerves, soothes the stomach, reduces inflammation, improves liver function, helps relieve back pain and rheumatism.

Revolution: HoneyBush and Caramel Tea

Very sweet, a nice choice to have after lunch! It has African spices that are said to be more antioxidant than green tea.

Coffee Bean: Lemon Chamomile Tea Bags

One of my all time favorites!!! Comes from natural lemon grass minus the bitterness - great choice to have after a long day of work. Really brings comfort. Best used to cure tummy aches and colds. [See above for benefits of chamomile tea].

Coffee Bean: Pomegranate Blueberry Tea Bags

This tea is a combination of green, oolong, and black teas, which are then infused with blueberry and pomegranate. I had it with honey and it was nice, but I am sure it would have tasted better with milk instead. I love blueberries and you can definately smell and taste it in this tea. It’s definately not like the other fruit infused teas. Very healthy choice too.

Coffee Bean: Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearl

At 7KD for the tin of 20 tea bags of hand-rolled green tea leafs, this is the most expensive tea at Coffee Bean and worth every penny (or, in our case, fils).

Can making tea be a labor of love? Consider our Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearl. To create this tea we take two beautiful young Chinese green tea leaves and one plump bud, then roll them together into a large tight pearl packed with flavor. As night falls we scent the pearls with the fragrance of Jasmine flowers seven times during a single evening.

Coffee Bean: English Breakfast

“A combination of Darjeeling and Bogawantalawa Estate teas to produce a balanced cup with medium body and brisk flavor.”
This is my favorite morning tea. Great with a just a bit of warm milk.

Harrods: Earl Grey Loose Leaf Tea No.42

Two words: the best. Earl Grey is black tea that contain oil of bergamot. It’s great especially with steamed milk.

Marks & Spencer: variety pack (Chamomile, Lemon, Peppermint, Blackcurrant)

Not so great at all. I just liked the Lemon tea, it was always good when I was ill.

I must say - I loved the packaging (box).

Twinnings: Green Tea Gun Powder

Better than the tea bags, trust me!
Benefits of Green Tea: ”The secret of green tea lies in the fact it is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant”

• Increase metabolism with Green Tea
• Effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels
• Inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots - lower chances of heart disease
• Great for the skin and works great in weight loss diets

Twinnings: Earl Grey Tea Gun Powder

Amazing tea, one of my early morning favorites. Good price and available everywhere in Kuwait, therefore it’s my best option when I run out of Harrods Earl Grey.

TAZO: Green Tea and Herbal Infusion

It was alright. I prefer Twinning’s though.

Ahmed’s Tea: Variety Pack

English Breakfast and Green tea are nice. The flavored teas are not so great.

抹茶 Matcha (rubbed tea)

A fine ground tea (碾茶 Ten-cha). Matcha is also a popular flavor of ice cream and other sweets in Japan. What I had was actually hot chocolate infused with Matcha tea - at Galler Cafe in Bahrain. I highly recommend this drink or the tea itself!

Unknown Brand: Hibiscus Tea

I had this tea when I went camping in the desert. They boiled the water with tea on the campfire, let it simmer, and served us. Now, we all know how great tea well brewed like that tastes! It was incredible. I do not know what tea leaves were used exactly, but it was hibiscus and cinnamon. I never had that before and it was so refreshing. This is what I found out about its benefits:

• Hibiscus Tea lowers blood pressure
• Hibiscus Tea is good for lowering high cholesterol
• Hibiscus Tea strengthens the immune system as it is rich in Vitamin C

On the side

Recently, I visited ”Heil and Zaafaran” sweets shop in Jaberya (Kuwait) where they sell some sweets. One of the things I picked up was a glass jar of Heil (What is heil in English, anyone? in English it’s called Cardamom), and it’s just great to have that with tea.

Designer’s Note: zaudhaus are the designers behind these great Coffee Bean tin designs (http://www.zaudhaus.com/clients/client_cbtl.php).

Wishing you all a belated Happy Eid!

Sheikh Isa was known to be a just leader. He was fair, kind and very close to his people. Sheikh Isa set a great example for his people and led the country through all the challenges they have faced. It was a great experience for me to walk around his home and learn about Bahrain.

The tower you see in this picture is the wind tower (صفق الهواء) and was built because they did not have air conditioning. The winds would hit the walls inside the channel and bring in fresh cool air to the houses below.

This is the tower from the room below it.

The house is still as at it was, even the ceilings still have the same palm trees.

I liked the details!

In the winter season, the family would live downstairs, in summers, they would move upstairs and sleep in the rooms there.


You can see the Mosque from here and the hole in the court is a water well.

After that, we hit the halwa shops and bought some traditional Bahraini sweets!

Abdallah Al-Zayed established Bahrain’s first newspaper (Al-Bahrain) back in 1934 and the print is on display at the gallery. There you will also find other local and regional newspapers. It was very nice and easy to read too.

This house is sponsored by His Highness Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Shaikha Mai bint Mohammad Al Khalifa and Abdulrahman Jassim Kanoo.

This is a small booklet they gave us to follow up with upcoming events. Love the design!

Archive… fun to read!

Kurar House (بيت الكورار)

This room has a TV screen where a video demonstration of how the ladies do their embroidery - it’s ain’t easy! It is completely based on team work.

The house is open from 9am-1pm, and 4pm-7pm, Saturday through Thursday. 

Houses:
• Shaikh Ebrahim bin Mohammad Al Khalifa Center for Culture and Research
• The Press Heritage House, Abdallah Al Zayed House
• House of Music, Bait Mohammad Bin Faris
• House of Poetry, Ibrahim Al Arrayed
• Iqraa House, Children’s Library
• Bait Jamsheer, for cultural exchange
• Kurar House, gold thread hand weaving/embroidery

I was fortunate to have the perfect guide, my dear friend, to show me around the houses that were open, some are still under renovation. I did get a glimpse of the new extension of Sheikh Ebrahim Autitorium and it looks wonderful! We recieved a small handbook that lists all of the upcoming events this year and I was surprised at the number of people - I did not know so much happens around here.

Our first stop as we wandered around the small pathways was the Iqra House, a small children’s library. Even though it is open to the public, I was told that the french schools near by are the ones that make great use of the place by bringing in their students to read there constantly.

The library:

I loved this open area, fresh air, great sunlight!

They even have computers there!

... Even the bathroom has character:

I am spending a wonderful week in Bahrain - visiting friends and getting some work done as well.

I’ve spent some time shopping (yes, I shop!) and while wandering around Al-Aali mall, I came across a small exhibit of paintings by Marion Labani. I don’t know who he she is, but his her work is very nice. I liked how the artist used textiles on the paintings to provide some textures. They are for sale and prices range from 100BD to 500BD (i think).

I will leave you with some photos, even though my shots do not do them justice!

I decided to spend some time and catch up on my reading at Galler Cafe at Al-Aali, and I had a rather interesting drink. Chocolate-The, their signature drink consists of hot chocolate infused with Matcha tea (green tea) from Japan. It was nice! If you get a chance, and enjoy new drinks - try it out.

Since this is an art post, I would also recommend visiting the Gallery One at City Center in Bahrain. They have a fabulous collection of paintings and photographs. The collection includes signed portraits of Muhammad Ali, Elvis, U2, Manchester United (signed on a framed jersey), and much more. I very much liked the paintings with Arabic calligraphy on them, nicely done with great combination of color. Now I wish I took photos!

Under the patronage of the Austrian Embassy in Kuwait, a charity climbing event will be held tomorrow, November 21, 2008. All proceeds will be donated to CANCER AWARE NATION.

Who: Event open for children and adults
What: Charity climbing, speed climbing, bouldering challenge, beach & fun games
Where: Marina Towers, Mahboula area, Kuwait
When: Friday, November 21, 2008 - 11:00 am - 07:00 pm

Call 23711705 or 25710582 for further details.

Girls will love the virtual mirror - which I have seen somewhere on the web a few years back as an idea for some shops. The guys will love everything else! I think the Virtual Wall is exciting, and the kitchen looks like a great place to be! I am already planning a few changes to do around here, though not as far as the dream home has taken it, some natural light is always good!

Laura Foy, from Microsoft’s Channel 10, takes us on a great tour inside the house, check out the video:

Disney Innoventions Dream Home

If you do not have Silverlight, and you’re too stubborn to install it, you can grab the video in other formats from: http://on10.net/blogs/laura/Disney-Innoventions-Dream-Home/