The Walk of Life

Beautiful as they may be, some flowers are much more than they appear to be. Believe it or not, these seemingly harmless plants can really ruin your vacation. To help you know what flowers to stay away from on your trips, with a list of the worlds most attractive but dangerous flowers:

1. Daphne

Also known as Lady Laurel or Paradise Plant, Daphne is a 1-1.5 meters tall shrub, usually grown for its scented flowers. All parts of the plant are poisonous, but the greatest concentrations are in the sap and berries.

Daphne contains Mezerine and Daphnin, two powerful toxins that cause stomach aches, headaches, diarrhea, delirium and convulsions. If Daphne berries are consumed, the victim might fall into a coma and even die.

2. Lily Of The Valley

Just like the Daphne, Lily of the Valley may look beautiful and harmless, but it is entirely poisonous. Eating one or two of the plants bell-shaped flowers wont hurt you very much, especially if you're an adult.

Eaten in large quantities, Lily of the Valley causes pain in the mouth, nausea, vomiting, cramps and diarrhea. People with heart conditions should be most careful since the toxins cause the heartbeats to slow down or become irregular.

3. Belladona

Known as one of the most poisonous plants in the Western hemisphere, Belladonna contains potentially lethal Tropane Alkaloids. The entire plant is harmful, but its good-looking berries pose the most danger, especially to kids.

The symptoms of Belladona, or Deadly Nightshade poisoning are dilated pupils, blurred vision, headaches, hallucinations, delirium and convulsions. Atropine, the toxin contained by Belladona, can kill a person by disrupting the nervous systems ability to regulate breathing, sweating and heart rate.

4. Angels Trumpets

Despite its name, there's something very evil about this plant. The toxins it contains can be fatal to humans and a number of animals. Known as a powerful hallucinogen, Angels Trumpet should not be used for recreational purposes, since the risk of an overdose is very high.

Angels Trumpet plants contain a variable amount of Tropane Alkaloids, like atropine and Scopolamine, and it is used in shamanic rituals by indigenous tribes in western Amazonia.

5. Rohododendron

This popular evergreen shrub, featuring large, beautiful blooms, has been known for its toxicity since ancient times. Xenophon recorded the odd behavior of a group of Greek soldiers who had eaten honey from rhododendron flowers.

Rhododendron contains Andromedatoxin which causes nausea, severe pains, paralysis and even death. Azaleas, members of the same plant-family as rhododendron, are also poisonous.

6. Oleander

Oleander is known as one of the most poisonous plants on Earth, often used in suicidal cases around southern India. The numerous toxic compounds contained in the entire Oleander plant, including Oleandrin and Neriine, affect the nervous, digestive and cardiovascular systems, all at the same time.

Oleander poisoning leads to drowsiness, tremors, seizures, coma and even death. The plants sap causes skin irritation and severe eye inflammation.

7. Autumn Crocus

One of the most endangered plants in the world, Autumn crocus is also probably the most poisonous. It contains Colchicine, a deadly drug used effectively in the treatment for gout. Unlike other toxins found in the flowers above, Colchicine, an arsenic-like poison has no antidote.

Autumn crocus poisoning leads to reduced blood pressure and cardiac arrest.

Before anyone start arguing with me on the above title, I got to say that this is a Malaysian Quote and Opinion and you are entitled to your own regarding this.

I am referring to our local fruit The Durian and someone said that 'It Taste Heavenly With A Smell From Hell!' I do agree that the aroma of the durian is something that most Europeans hate! To us, its like inhaling the aroma of the Blue Cheese!

I did a post on this King Of Fruits in my old Blogger Blog on the different types we have locally. It seems there is quite a bit of health benefits eating durians and I received this from a friend and share it here! You got to check the facts out yourself.

Traditionally the durian fruit was seen as a powerful aphrodisiac, while women would eat the ashes from burnt durian skins to help them recover after child birth. But concoctions made from the leaves of the durian tree were also used to help reduce swelling and cure skin disease. More recently nutritionists have claimed that the durian fruit can help lower cholesterol and cleanse the blood as well as cure jaundice and alleviate fevers.

Experts even say that you can rid yourself of yeast infections such as thrush through eating the durian fruit. This is because of the durian's high iron content that helps the white blood cells in our body make specific chemicals that kill off the infection.

The durian is also packed with amino acids as well as Vitamins B, C and E and many people are even comparing the sweet custard like center of the durian fruit to the Goji Berry for its high levels of anti oxidants. These anti oxidants help slow down the destruction of cells from free radicals such as pollution and smoking; in doing so, they decrease the effects of aging on the skin giving you a younger more refreshed look.

Among the amino acids found inside the durian is Tryptophan. Tryptophan is essential for making and maintaining Serotonin levels in the body. Serotonin is the hormone in the body that regulates our happiness. People with low Serotonin levels tend to have short tempers, are often moody and suffer from depression. This means that not only will eating the durian fruit help keep your body running smoothly but it will also increase your general happiness and well being.

First and foremost i want to offer my apologies to friends, bloggers and relatives for the "SPAM MAIL" from me requesting for financial help because I was stranded in London and was robbed of all my cash! Well, it was NOT true at all!

What happened was my gmail was hacked and hijacked by a Spammer who then changed my password ( I can no longer sign-into my gmail account now). Then this Spammer used my Contacts List to spam my friends, bloggers and relatives for money!

I believe this Spammer is porbably a Malaysian because a friend of mine, just out of curiosity responded to the spam mail in Malay and she got a response back in Malay! Hahaha! I was bogged down with doing a heck of a lot of changes to my sign-up programmes, changing email address and passwords and it took me 3 days all in all!

From this horrific life experience, I learned something important which I am sharing it here. Firstly, if you happened to be in the same situation, be informed that you get very little help from Google! Upon knowing that my gmail was hacked I contacted Google for help but I was required to prove that I am the owner of the account! Fair enough but to my horror, the information they required was something very few of us (I guess) do! Below are a just a few examples of the information required :-

1. Gmail Verification Code


2. Exact Day, Month and Year of sign-up


3. Exact Day, Month and Year for other Google Programs like below list


4. Picasa, Google Groups, Analytics, Adsense etc

I signed up for my gmail way back in 2004 and at that time, it never occurred to me to keep a record of such things! So for those who did not record such details, I advice you to create a new account so that you can record all the above details if you have never done this for your present account! It will also be good to submit a Secondary Email in all your sign-ups

Eventually since I could not furnish the details, Google just ignored my Support Ticket to them and I am still stuck! It was good that most of the Programmes I signed-up for allowed me to change my email and password and so now I have to abandon my hacked gmail account! I tried to call them via phone to their US address but don't seem to be able to talk to a person! For the benefit of others I spell out Google's Contact below.

Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043 Phone: +1 650-253-0000 Fax: +1 650-253-0001 is the phone number for Google Customer Service. You need to press 5 at the prompt. No guarantees for live person.

Today I want to take you for a visit to this place and see whether you can guess what place is this. Take a look at the Photos below:-

From A Distance

Nearer View

Hall Area

Lounge

The Gym

Basketball Court

Recreation Room

Typical Bedroom Room

Visitor's Lounge

I'm sure you have guessed correctly that this is a Prison in UK! Wow! It sure looks much better than many Hotels! Criminals are treated so well nowadays!

To many people they consider their lives are like Prisons. This is especially true for people who are in deep depression. There is a sense of total hopelessness in a depression.

Here is a Poem written by "Puff" and it illustrates this sense of total helplessness.

Life Is A Prison

By Puff

Life is a prison,

Oh God let me out.

No one to listen,

To hear when you shout.

*****

Climb the walls of insanity,

Ride the waves of despair.

If you fall it don't matter,

There's no one to care.

*****

Used to wish for a window,

To see birds, trees and sky,

But you're better without one -

Stops you aiming too high.

*****

Watching freedom is painful,

For those locked away.

Seeing joy, love and happiness,

Another price that you pay.

*****

Strong is good, weak is bad.

Be it false, be it true.

Your mind makes the choice,

And enforces it too.

*****

Cell walls built by society,

With rules to adhere.

If you breach the acceptable,

You had better beware.

*****

Hide the pain, carry on,

Routine is the key.

Don't let on that you're not,

What you're pretending to be.

*****

Lock it all up inside you,

How badly that bodes.

Look out for that one day,

When it all just explodes.

*****

Leaving naught but a shell,

Base functionality too.

But killing all else,

That was uniquely you.

*****

So how do you grow,

With a time bomb inside?

Or how to defuse it,

Without destroying its ride?

*****

You can't.

*****

A rather sad Poem isn't it? Well, let's look at something not so sad and to many who are in the work force, you may be able to identify with!

Prison	Office
All expenses are paid by the taxpayers with no work required	You get to pay all your expenses to go to work, and they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners
You spend most of your life inside bars wanting to get out	You spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars
You must deal with sadistic wardens	They are called managers
You spend the majority of your time in a 10X10 cell	You spend the majority of your time in an 6X6 cubicle /office
You get three meals a day fully paid for	You get a break for one meal and you have to pay for it
You get time off for good behavior	You get more work for good behaviour
The guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you	You must often carry a security card and open all the doors for yourself
You can watch TV and play games	You could get fired for watching TV and playing games
You get your own toilet	You have to share the toilet with some people who pee on the seat
They allow your family and friends to visit	You aren't even supposed to speak to your family