pelf-ism is contagious

If you read my other blog, The Giving Hands, you will know that I have recently started something very interesting called theme-blogging. It is actually a concept I nicked from Joanna Young @ Confident Writing. So, I started with writing about plastic bags in December 2008. This month, I’m writing about something even more exciting, something that ALL OF US can easily contribute to, something that ALL OF US should learn about — the little ways to save our planet.

But since The Giving Hands is down at the moment (all links pointing to The Giving Hands will NOT work), I have decided to do it here instead

For a start, here’s some green “cleaning” tips:

• Sprinkle a handful of salt into your rubbish bin to cut down on nasty odours. The salt acts by neutralizing unwanted smells.
• Apply a little carbonated water or club soda to keep fresh stains from sinking deep into clothes.
• Use a damp cloth to work white toothpaste into the silverware you want to clean, then rinse and dry. The mild abrasive in the toothpaste will clean the silverware without you having to resort to chemical cleaners.
• To get rid of chewing gum stuck on clothings, rub with ice and the gum will slowly flake off.
• Use a broom and a dustpan as a low-energy, environmentally-friendly alternative to vacuuming floors ad carpets.

What are the little things that YOU do to save our planet? Tell me about it!

These are some pictures of the North East monsoon waves for you to feast on. These pictures were taken on the university beach, overlooking the South China Sea. It was very windy I almost couldn’t stand still!

The waves were about 2-3 meters high, though it isn’t apparent in the pictures, LOL.

I am not sure if we are now at the height of the monsoon, but the waves sure look scary.

Last month, I wrote about my intention to “immortalize” my memories by making a photobook. I have chosen Photobook Malaysia this time because the first time I made a photobook 2 years ago with another local company, the end product was different from the proof copy that I had earlier uploaded into their server. Plus, with the other company, I could not fully utilize the pages due to the limited number of layouts and the photo placeholders could not be resized.

Despite having only 3 working days in the week I was expecting my photobook (Dec 8th was Hari Raya Haji and Dec 11th was Selangor Sultan’s Birthday), I received it in time, and hand-delivered too! Mark, who knew how badly I wanted the photobook to arrive so that I could show it to my grandparents in Ipoh, hand-delivered the photobook to me in Penang!

Anyway, I ordered a small square soft-cover book, which consisted of the minimum 40 front-and-back pages for RM 96 (or USD 30). All pages of the photobook could be fully utilized, including the front-and-back cover pages! My cover pages consisted of a picture of the Atlantic Ocean, taken at Peggy’s Cove in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Once you have downloaded the Photobook Editor, you will see that there are 40 different layouts to choose from, as well as plenty of different backgrounds and border styles. You could also caption all your pictures if you wanted to.

Or you could use up the entire page with just one picture, it is really up to you (all pictures were taken with my Canon Powershot A710 IS).

And depending on the layouts that you choose, the number of pictures that you can include in your photobook varies. I managed to “squeeze” 102 pictures into my photobook, including the cover picture

And since it is only 20.4 cm by 20.4 cm big, it is extremely light and I could bring it with me, wherever I go

All in all, I am very happy with the end product, and I would definitely make another photobook in the future. Thanks May and Mark, for ensuring that I received my photobook in time

P/S: Nope, this is NOT a sponsored post!