How I memorize the 50 states of USA

One day, I was watching my favourite sitcom FRIENDS. Chandler was challenging his friends to name all 50 states. Nobody can. So, I challenged myself to memorize all 50 states, not in particular order. Below is my respond to Bobby Tonelli in MunahHirzi official. I hate to retype, so I copy paste my response. Here, Bobby admitted that he can't name all 50 states of USA when Munah challenge him to name all 14 states in Malaysia. 

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPYh88jZnd4

#SGWomenDrivers: Malaysian Quiz (Ft Bobby Tonelli)

oh Bobby, the 50 states of USA is easy to remember if you know the tricks.

I'm gonna share with you how I memorize the 50 states. but not in order.

 there are 4 Ws,As and Is. 3 Cs and Os. 8 Ms and Ns. 4 of the Ns stars with New, 2 starts with North. Because there are 2 North, there must be 2 Souths i.e 2 Ss. Besides S, there are 2 Ks, Ts and Vs... other states starts with D,F,G,H,L,P,R,U
So I'll sing WAI4CO3 8MN 2KSTV DFGHLPRU... (I know it doesn't make sense but that how I memorize them)

Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming, Wisconsin (if there is West, there must be East...eh... nope. It's just Virginia)
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas (aka Ala... Ala... Ar Ar states)
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Idaho (first 3 are neighbouring states)
Colorado, Connecticut, California
Oklahoma, Oregon, Ohio
Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Mississippi, Missouri (this is the hardest part... but I'll make sure I don't miss any by screening my mental map from east (Maine) to northwest (Montana) plus the 2 great rivers (Mississippi and Missouri)
New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nevada, Nebraska (4 New, 2 North 2 'Nay')
Kansas, Kentucky
South Carolina, South Dakota (obviously if there are 2 Norths, there must be 2 Souths...)
Texas, Tennessee
Vermont, Virginia
Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah.

There you go 50 states.
That's how I impress Americans
Have a nice day!

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Yup WAI4CO3 8MN 2KSTV and DFGHLPRUwhy WAI4CO... thanks to my upbringing WACO incident is always emphasized by my mother, how one should not commit heresy. Yup Waco, Texas. I guess you get the hint which church I grew in by now.8MN is easy, Most states start with these two letters. I got this fact from a children encyclopaedia when I was 12.KSTV is actually an imaginary TV station which I created for this mnemonic. Wait, let me search if there is any real KSTV. Apparently there are many KSTV. wakakakakaka... just a coincidencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KSTV-LPhttp://mycn2.com/kstv/http://www.worldcat.org/identities/nc-kstv%20tv%20television%20station%20seattle%20wash/DFGHLPRU... it's too long. Actually, I'll run all the alphabets to remember the remnant states. Usually this is what I'll do... A,B,C,D-DELAWARE, E,F-FLORIDA,G-GEORGIA, H-HAWAII, I, J,K,L-LOUISIANA,M,N,O,P-PENNSYLVANIA,Q,R-RHODE ISLAND,S,T,U-UTAH...... ok 8. I always have problem naming states from M. So I'll use my mental map.Bye bye for nowLovegeography geek.

As promised, a story on magazine mate.

Growing up in the 1990s has its perks. We have better music, better musician... and all Canadian musicians are way cooler. Justin Bieber is a disgrace to Canada. I don't hate Justin Bieber, I dislike his behaviour.

In my late teenage years, metrosexualism is a craze. There are magazine targeted to these kind of people; my kind of people. One of my favourite magazine was/still is CARGO. Too bad it is discontinued. Fortunately GQ and Details are still in the market.

At 17, I was sent to a college for matriculation. There was this chap, we kinda share the same interest. Architecture, fashion and gadgets... we could talk about these topics for hours.

Yup, he is also metrosexual. Once, he made his hair at 5 am. I caught him styling his hair in the bathroom at 5 am when I was about to take my shower. (Water supply sucks over there, I would rather wake up early for a shower, alone than waiting in a smelly, sweaty bathroom with jillions of other 'testosterony' adolescent.) 5 am just to style his 'faux hawk'.

My magazine collection is also an unofficial lending library. He would borrow some magazines from me.

We shared a lot of interest. A room mate of mine once teased us that we would be a great couple. Whatttttt? It's platonic ok. Nothing erotic. No doubt, he's good looking, but it's platonic. I have no interest in having a relationship with him.

His interest in architecture is mainly on the Renaissance architecture, rose windows in particular. I like art-deco or neo-classical more, any style during the turn of century. And also Frank Lloyd Wright's

ahhhhh... the metrosexual days...

hugs and kisses
Wing-wong the cute dog

skincare vs makeup

skincare vs makeup?

I grew up with basic skincare regime. exfoliating, scrubbing, toning and more... only basic. It's quite unusual for men in this region to practice basic skincare. A silly cousin of mine washes his face 3 times daily, or as soon as his face appears greasy... yup silly. the more you wash your face, the more you strip off your sebum, the more sebum would be produce to compensate the loss. All he needs is actually moisturizer.

Men doesn't like to tone their face. I am no exception. I tone less frequent that I moisturize. Hmmmm... It's troublesome for us.

But I believe, good skincare is the foundation of a nice looking skin.

Back to the question, skincare vs makeup. If prevention is better than cure, skincare is the prophylaxis then. A good skincare ensure good looking, supple, glowy skin. Makeup just mask the flaws. and it is not permanent. Some don't even bother to remove their makeup before going to bed. That is really REALLY bad habit girl.

Despite the fact that I don't encourage makeup, I do have some makeup item. CONCEALERS. They are my best friends, if only you can carry your best friends in vanity bag. But, again, I use them only when I need to. To conceal black eyes, blemishes or to accentuate my pencil moustache or eyebrow... Hey, don't mock me. I discovered my identity during METROSEXUAL craze... just ask my CARGO and GQ magazine mate. (more story on him later, I promise)

I could not emphasize skincare more. Using makeup and not removing them properly is a recipe for disaster. Most makeup are comedogenic,

To conclude, good skincare regime is better than makeups. and if you have to use makeup, remember to remove them thoroughly. Always moisturize, and drink enough water. Use sunblock. it's common sense. (the thing about common sense is it is not common... misnomer)

Another thing I don't understand with most Asian is their obsession with porcelain white skin. I don't care about white skin. Tanned skin are beautiful too... actually, glowing skin looks better than white, dull skin. Blame that on Chinese opera actor/actress. They set an unbelievably high standard to flawless skin.

Flaw is not always bad. Some flaws are beautiful. Think of, Claudia Schiffer's gap teeth, Cindy Crawford's mole or Tyra Bank's high forehead. (I have to confess, I like watching ANTM... :P )

But again, it's not wrong trying to look beautiful, or handsome in my case. But don't overdo it. Be sensible.

I was at the mall this morning and I stopped by a booth selling skincare products. I had a great chat with the sales promoter. We agreed on how important good skincare is. She complimented on my face. Yup... I'm very flattered. I should have brought an anchor to prevent me from floating in euphoria. That, my friend is a result of good skincare and good diet. Unfortunately, I have stressors. Otherwise, I have the Holy Trinity to good skin.

Love and peace
not-so-'el feo' today.
toodles

receiving shocking text from an old friend

a few minutes ago, an old friend send me text message telling me how difficult it is for her to reciprocate my love.... WHATTTTTT? Apparently, she sent the message to the wrong person. What a relief. I gave her a call to tell her that she sent the message to the wrong person, and we chatted...

This particular friend is special to me. I first met them (her family, in fact, I befriended the whole family including her late husband and her children.) in a small town, beside a big river... I'm very secretive... :P  I want to maintain anonymity here.

her late husband was a pastor. A good one. They welcomed me to their family with open arms. Miss the good old days. They would invite me to cook together. Yup, I love cooking. We would prepare something from their small kitchen ( 2m X 2m). But we are happy despite the fact that we cook simple dishes. We would exchange recipe. Once, I prepared sushi in their kitchen. I have to use canned tuna as they are not fond of the idea of eating raw fish. Sometimes she would ask me to search new recipe in the internet. Myriads of new recipe came out of that little kitchen. From apam balik to kueh ketayap. Sushi to spaghetti. Ah, the good old days.

What I miss most is my sleep-over. I spent some of my weekends there. I would say that old dilapidated house/church is more welcoming than mansions surrounding it. ( it's actually kinda ghetto minus the bad people... ) No wonder any visit to the ghettos makes me somewhat happy. Ghettos, Sabbath, Jews... what a coincidence. This couple have 3 living children. The eldest daughter is mute and deaf. However, despite the so called language barrier, I can communicate with her. I learn some sign language from them. She is funny. The second one is a boy. He is also funny, but at that time, he usually dressed as emo. The youngest is cheeky. And I sometimes had a quarrel with him. ( I'm immature at some point...) Their father was a very good man. I couldn't emphasize more.

Enough with the long introduction, back to the story. Apparently, a young man is falling deeply in love with this particular friend. She made a lot of excuses to 'repeject' the young man. She still miss her late husband. We chatted for 38 minutes reminiscing the old days. On how oblivious I am to women. On how lucky I am not caught in the spiderwebs and traps made by a 'crazy' lady. On how we tried new recipes... 38 minutes.

In fact, I still miss her late husband. I miss the whole family. I miss the 'ghetto' house.

that's all for now...

XOXO
not-el-hermoso

repeject= repel/reject; a portmanteau

someday, I'll write a story on the crazy lady. Hey, don't hate me for calling her crazy, but she is creepy... seriously (well they say call a spade a spade... or sekop wakakakakakaka...)

English (UK) or English (American)

I am not a native speaker. English is not my first language. But I'll try to keep my blog in English. You'll might find some grammatical error, but I'll try to keep it minimum. Grammar Nazi.

In the language setting, there are 2 option English (UK) and English (American). I'm indecisive. I speak and write neither. But spell with -our instead of -or. Zed instead of Zee.

Eventually, I chose BrE. Can English just be English?

parlez vous anglais? (my habit of butchering French... what can I say, the only French song I sing well is a song with "terre de nos aieux" as it's second line.

hugs and kisses...
the ugly.

Auspicious October.

My first blog was published on October 2011. After 3 years hiatus, I revived this blog.

Huahuahuahua... I promise I'll write more despite knowing that nobody would read my blog. Kinda like a daily journal.

Love and Peace

After 3 years

After 3 years hiatus. Now, I'm officially not a Lot 77 student. Opening a new page of my life.

Should I rename my blogspot name? Or should I retain the name to reflect my dream? Nah, I am still the same. So, Red Maple Leaf it is. Furthermore I have another reason to choose maple. It's my birth tree. Celtic birth tree.

Here: http://www.mysticfamiliar.com/library/astrology/tree_astrology.htm

And my horoscope reads:

MAPLE TREE (Independence of Mind) - no ordinary person, full of imagination and originality, shy and reserved, ambitious, proud, self-confident, hungers for new experiences, sometimes nervous, has many complexities, good memory, learns easily, complicated love life, wants to impress.

Sounds right! The red ones are the one reflecting me, blue... traits that I lack, Green is neutral i.e. I have but I don't have, orange, yes, but almost there...

Leaving medical school, no ordinary person will do that, HERE!

Maybe that explains my fascination to that particular nation. Yup! my best friend would know what I mean. Or if you have basic general knowledge, you'll be able to decipher. BASIC GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

p/s my right foot is twitching, to some it is a sign that I'll meet somebody from far. As far as from sea to sea? crossing fingers that I'll find happiness.

love and hugs
?donde esta la biblioteca? (I don't know where to get that upside down ?)