The North Borneo Beauty

Sugar white coastline, pristine beaches, crystal clear turquoise gulf waters, lush locations, mesmerizing scenic beauty, and awesome possibilities for shopping and dining, makes Anna Maria Island the hottest destination for living, vacation and retirement.

The Important West really feel of this island has been among the very best kept secrets in Florida. You might be amazed how unique this community is when you cross the bridges from Longboat Important and Bradenton. Performing a search of residential properties for sale on Anna Maria Island will show you the eclectic mix of properties readily available on the island.

You will find some incredible offers at present and any could be snow bird searching for a fabulous winter roost need to contemplate an investment here.

Anna Maria Island is really a barrier island situated in the mouth of Tampa Bay. The island is about seven and half miles lengthy and is really an unspoiled paradise. The island is chores away from the crowded cities and but consists of all of the amenities of a city for example theater, shopping, well being care, fine dinning, watering holes, nature trails, bike paths, fishing piers, and so on. The location is extremely diverse from the other tourist locations of Florida which are marked by an endless sequence of hotels and high rise apartments. Anna Maria Island can be a residence to tiny funky beach bungalows, condo developments, single loved ones houses and waterfront mansions.

You’ll find no water slides and elaborate theme parks, however it is assured that the encounter you are going to collect by developing a sand castle and come across 1 of a type sea shells on the beaches is just unmatchable.

The location is no doubt the great destination for relaxation and refreshing your spirit. Those people who prefer to be active, they indulge in varied activities including boating, fishing, bicycling, swimming, walking, operating, and sitting out back with pals and getting a BBQ.

The seven mile island consists of 3 cities – Anna Maria, Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach. Every of these cities possesses distinguishing characteristics and delivers access to gorgeous beaches and also a wide range of outdoor activities.

Whether or not you might be trying to acquire a property for your retirement, a sound investment, a distinctive vacation gateway or just a comfy residence, Anna Maria Island has all alternatives for what you may have been trying to find.

The actual estate marketplace of Anna Maria Island is absolutely a buyer’s market place as the island has also been affected by the housing industry downturn. In some circumstances property rates have fallen by practically 50%. At present, the costs of properties inside the island are very low as well as the opportunity of owning a property need to not be missed at any expense.

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In 1982-1983 more than 9.1 million acres (3.7 million ha) burned on the island of Borneo before monsoon rains arrived, while more than 2 million hectares of forest and scrub land burned during the 1997-1998 el Niño event, causing $9.3 billion in losses. The fires also produced wide-ranging and severe economic, political, social, health, and ecological damage to Indonesia and the neighboring Southeast Asian nations of Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, and Thailand, already in the midst of an economic crisis. Satellite analysis of the 1997-1998 fires revealed that 80 percent of the fires could be linked to plantations or logging concession holders.

Forest fires.. what do we know about it? What cause it? and the most important thing is, how to prevent it from destroying our forest? Well of course, when we think about fire, automatically we will think fire extinguishers right? So here I will share with you some information about forest fires..

Fire needs fuel, oxygen, and heat to survive. In forests, the fuel is provided by trees and bushes. Oxygen is not hard to find, seeing as it is all around us in the air (it’s everywhere).. And without heat, the fire could not continue. The main causes of forest fires can be divided into two, and they are Man Made Causes and Natural Causes.

Natural Causes

Lightening can burn the trees, but the rain after it extinguishes fire which can reduce the damages.

Oxygen is everywhere, and it is one of the main factors to start fire. At a temperature of 572 degree wood releases a gas that reacts with oxygen present in air and triggers a flame which will give heat to the surrounding woods and the fire will start growing more and more strong. This can also happen in the cold days.

Earthquake in San Francisco in 1906 causes fire.

High temperature and low humidity (dryness) provides favorable conditions to the fire and hence it can start in forests.

Man Made Causes

Negligence :: any source of ignition like cigarette, naked fire which when comes in contact with inflammable things causes fire.

Smokers :: sometimes they drop the lighted cigarettes and matches in the forest which can easily set nearby bushes on fire and further develops into huge forest fire.

Locomotives :: those that powered by wood and coal can set the grass and trees (near the railway lines) to fire with just a spark.

Farmers :: fire lighted by cultivators to burn a patch of forest can go out of control and burning more trees than required.

Bigfoot, Anaconda, Yeti and Nessie are a very well-known monster all over the world..  but then, how about ‘Nabau‘ ? Have you ever heard about it? In 2009 a member of the disaster relief committee, Sibu was monitoring the flood situation in Ulu Rajang in a helicopter when he saw a monster that looked like a big snake cruising along the river, and from the helicopter, he took a picture of it (so that people will believe his story). But, the question is, what is Nabau? How does it look like? Is it just a snake or a myth creature that can bring good and bad luck to people..

Among the Iban folk tales, Nabau is like a “petara” (god) which has super natural powers. Seeing it alone will bring luck to the man. Its scales used by Iban as “pangkor” which can change someone into Incredible Hulk.

A Nabau is much like a snake, with a dragons head. It is a spirit that could bring you good luck or bad luck. It has 7 nostrils on its face and it can transform itself into any animal, to hide its real identity.

During the WWII a man was trying to escape from the Japanese communist, into the jungle, and deep within it he came across the spirit of Nabau. Its mouth was wide open, as open as a cave, so he thought to himself that he would rather hide inside its mouth and possibly die this way than be tortured and killed by the Japanese.. self-defense? hmm.. forget about it..

When inside the Nabau he found himself at the gallery of a longhouse. The people there (residents and families) brought the man to the village Chief. Here he paid his respects and his reason for the accidental intrusion. The chief and his people sympathised with the man, but the Chief assured him that the Japanese have given up their search through their complicated jungle terrain. The Chief offered him to be escorted back with the spirit Nabau, so it may bring him the same good luck in the future. The man gladly and thankfully accepted the generous Chief’s gesture. But in return, the Chief replied seriously, he must show his utmost decorous thanks and gratitude toward the Nabau.

Once outside, the man is lead by the Nabau spirit back to his village safely. The spirit has changed into a human being with a wet and slimy appearance to his face and body. He had no body parts to speak of, just a deathly, pale and silvery, scale-like texture.

Upon returning, his wife cooks the family dinner after their long journey, but the man does not invite the spirit into his home and just leaves him at the front of his house, outside. This insensitivity upsets the Nabau spirit and he calls out to the man to aid his long journey with him and display his gratitude. It is after all the right thing to do; to be courteous. He calls out for the man, but he doesn’t rouse a wink from his deep sleep, so the spirit disappears leaving the man and his family bad luck for the rest of their lives. As for the giant snake, whether it’s real or not.. you decide yourself..  

Yesterday I watched the replay of Oprah show.. It’s a good show.. hehe.. and the topic was ‘What can you live without’.. a very interesting topic, so I decided to stay in front of the TV..

So the Oprah team made an experiment to a different family who agreed to accept the oprah challenge for one week. The theme is ‘Back to Basic’. The rules are:

• # no tv, hand phone, computer, internet, or any kind of electronic gadgets (for one week)
• # no credit card
• #no eating outside (they must sit and eat together as a family)
• # parents walk their kids to school (hah! good exercise)
• # they must go home early (so can eat dinner together)
• # no shopping ($100 for grocery)

So back to basic huh.. well for some people it’s good for them, but for those who loves jewelry maybe you should try beaded lanyards before giving up your credit cards.. 

So the 1st family was a single mum with 2 teenage boys.. she really love to shop.. if you read the book ‘confession of a shopaholic’.. hmm that’s her.. haha.. she bought Jimmy Choo shoes, but never use it..so they manage to go through the challenge for one week.. then to cover back all the debts from her credit cards, she sell her clothes and shoes on ebay, and received $2000 from it.. phew…

The 2nd family, parents with 2 small kids. In this case, the mum also loves to shop, but more to food. She will go to the grocery shop EVERYDAY to buy something for her family, because she don’t want them to get starve.. (yeah, she’s a good mum, but for me it’s too much).. and then when she realize it, she got food supplies enough for 2 years.. OMG!

As for the kids, they got this room just for their toys.. and they called it The Toys Museum.. oh my.. and during the challenge week they can choose only 5 toys that they like the most, and the rest will be locked, and for them that was the worst day of their life.. hahaha.. anyway, they also passed the challenge, and the mum gave some of their food supplies to the people with no income, and  still.. they have a lot… LOL

Allan Schoenborn wept in the witness box as he described in detail how he stabbed and smothered his three children because he feared they were being sexually abused – saying the triple killings are proof of his love.

“I did it for all the right reasons,” said Mr. Schoenborn, a bearded man with unkempt shoulder-length hair, speaking in B.C. Supreme Court. “I gave my children up to be in a better place.”

Under questioning from his lawyer, Mr. Schoenborn methodically confessed to killing Kaitlynne, 10; Max, 8; and Cordon, 5. But he said he did so over fears his wife was having affairs with various men, and that his children were poisoned or being directed into a life of prostitution.

His appearance comes as the defence this week said it will focus solely on the mental health of Mr. Schoenborn, who faces three first-degree murder charges for the deaths of his two sons and daughter in Merritt, a community of 7,000 about 270 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.

There has been no evidence beyond Mr. Schoenborn’s testimony that his children were abused. On the night of April 5, with the children in his care, he separated them. The 10-year-old was first. Mr. Schoenborn said he stabbed his daughter in the neck with a knife as she slept. “I thought this was the quickest way to give her up,” he said.

She awoke. “She said, ‘I’m sorry daddy. I’m sorry.’ ” Then he cupped his hand over her mouth and smothered her.

Mr. Schoenborn said he then smothered his five-year-old son Cordon with his hand as the boy slept and then placed a plastic bag over the head of his eight-year-old son Max to begin smothering him.

“He fought me. I told him it was daddy,” he said. “He settled down after I said that.”

Throughout, he worried about what his wife, Darcie Clarke, would think. After about 15 years together, the couple had become estranged as Mr. Schoenborn’s behaviour became increasingly erratic.

At the time of the killings, Ms. Clarke was living with the children in Merritt. A Vancouver roofer, Mr. Schoenborn would come to visit and spend time with the children. But, at the suggestion of the Ministry of Children and Family Services, the couple would not spend time together with the children because of their vicious fights.

Mindful of his wife’s reaction to finding the bodies, Mr. Schoenborn said he washed his daughter in the bathtub, wrapped her in a blanket and placed her in a bedroom.

He admitted he posed the boys as if they were napping on a couch in the living room. He wrote “Forever Young” in soy sauce on the wall as a message of consolation to his wife as well as “Gone to Neverland” in his own blood on a pillow. Ms. Clarke found the bodies the next day.

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….and ya, how could he? And saying that he has mental illness, to get away from jail? That is so unfair! …Sigh…