Amazing Mother's Days Facts

I was totally amazed, shocked, and intrigued by the facts as I read this post.

Can you imagine a young 5 year 7 months old girl giving birth to a baby boy, brought up as her younger brother, only to reveal her true status to her son when he was 10 years old?

How about the woman who held the official record of having given birth to the most number of children? Guess what's the number?

No, two football teams will be a gross underestimate of her prowess. The magic number is - 69! Hey that coincides very nicely with my 69 love notes too, isn't it so? ;p

A lot more interesting facts to commemorate Mother's Day today can be found on this site.

World's Fastest Moving City

It's none other than our little island - Singapore!

Gosh! I thought we'll be in the trails of people in Hong Kong or even Japan. According to a study done by The British Council, the citizens in this little dot in the world map now boasts the fastest walking speed in the world.

At a count of 10, you'll see a Singaporean at a distance of 18 metres away from where you originally were. Now you see him, now you don't.

If we're the champion, who's the first and second runner-up? The honour goes to Cophenhagen and Madrid respectively.

Read the full news here.

When Do Other Parts Of The World Celebrate Mother's Day?

We all know this day. Come every 2nd Sunday in May each year, we buy our moms a pink carnation as an expression of our love and appreciation for her. Or well, at least most of us do our best to keep her smiling and be happy that day. :)

But, do you know that not every country celebrate Mother's Day on the same day?

Take a look!

third Sunday in February	Norway
Shevat 30 (falls anywhere between January 30 and March 1)	Israel
March 3	Georgia
March 6	Slovenia
March 8	Afghanistan, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Laos, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam. The date coincides with the International Women's Day.
Fourth Sunday in Lent (Mothering Sunday - March 18 in 2007)	Ireland, United Kingdom, Nigeria
March 21 (first day of spring)	Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait, Sudan,United Arab Emirates, Yemen
April 20	Armenia
First Sunday in May	Hungary, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain
May 8	South Korea, Albania (Parents' Day)
May 10	Mexico
May 10	much of South America, El Salvador, Guatemala, Oman, Pakistan
Second Sunday in May	Anguilla, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Croatia, Curaçao, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Latvia, Malta, Malaysia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Suriname, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zimbabwe
May 26	Poland
October 9	Bolivia
last Sunday in May	France (except if it coincides with Pentecost day, in which case Mother's Day will be shifted to the first Sunday of June), Dominican Republic, Haiti, Sweden, Morocco
May 30	Nicaragua
August 12	Thailand (the birthday of Queen Sirikit Kitiyakara)
August 15 (Assumption Day)	Antwerp (Belgium), Costa Rica
November 10	Malawi
second or third Sunday in October	Argentina (Día de la Madre)
December 8	Panama
December 22	Indonesia
20th Jumada al-thani (also called Women's Day)	Iran and other Muslim sects, especially Shias. The date is the (disputed) birthday of Fatima Zahra. The Islamic calendar is lunar so it cycles relative to the Western calendar.

Source: Wikipedia

Are you getting ready for Mother's Day gifts? Mark your diary on13 May 2007, the day to honour and show our appreciation for this great woman who brought life to us years ago.

If you're cracking your head over possible gifts, it's still in time to do some online shopping. Excellent for those who have little time to spare to go shopping.

Mark 13 May 2007 on your diary.

How Pearls Are Made

Did you know that pearls are made because the oyster is fighting an irritant that is present in it's shell?

Well, that's what it is.

Everything happens for a reason. An irritant that is unwelcomed by the oyster actually has the chance to turn into one of the world's most beautiful and charming gem - pearl.

When an irritant, for example, a speck of sand, a parasite or even a man-made object (that is injected by humans for man-made pearls), the oyster will automatically use this lustrous layer inside it's shell call "nacre" to wrap this irritant around. By doing so, the oyster reduces the damage this irritant cause to its sensitive layers inside the shell.

Look at this: can you see the nacre?

So the nacre will be wrapped around the "intruder" layer after layer. The size of the pearl thus depends on how much layering of the nacre on the irritant and for how long. The longer it is, the bigger the size of the pearl.

You can get a pearl that ranges from 9-12mm in size with a few years of manufacturing. It is normal to find a huge number of rice-sized pearls inside an oyster in a span of 2 years. You can imagine how "disturbed" an oyster must be, even when it is taking residence in the deep ocean.

With human intervention, pearls are dyed to have more vibrant and captivating colours, which gives them a higher commercial value.

Natural pearl comes in shades of white and mauve, even pink, unlike the one you see above and the variety of colours that are found behind the glass panels of jewelry boutiques where shining black, sexy turquoise and mysterious olive green pearls are calling out to you to buy them.

Did you also know that pearl is the birthstone for the month of June? Are you a June baby? Do you always feel an affinity with pearls but just couldn't seem to understand why?

Maybe that's one way the universe is reaching out to you, giving you clues to your heritage... have you caught them yet?

Wedding Anniversaries

A rose is as sweet even if it's not called a rose. Romeo is still smitten and head over heels in love with Juliet, even if she is known as Piglet. I mean, well, you get the drift.

Yet, we all know that names give us an identity. So, we also name anniversaries, so that we can proudly announce to the world that "Me and my honey is celebrating our Crystal Wedding Anniversary!"

Part of the fun comes from your friends' gaping look, though mostly from the fact that you have spent fifteen years in marriage with a special someone, and your relationship is still going on strong, and loving.

Alright, for the first post in this treasure hunt, I'll give you the names for all the wedding anniversaries so that in future, you'll know what present you can ask from your husband ya ;)

Year	Traditional	Modern
1st	Paper	Clocks
2nd	Cotton	China
3rd	Leather	Crystal, Glass
4th	Linen (Silk)	Appliances
5th	Wood	Silverware
6th	Iron	Wood objects
7th	Wool (Copper)	Desk sets
8th	Bronze	Linens, Lace
9th	Pottery (China)	Leather goods
10th	Tin, Aluminum	Diamond
11th	Steel	Fashion jewelry
12th	Silk	Pearls, Colored gems
13th	Lace	Textiles, Furs
14th	Ivory	Gold jewelry
15th	Crystal	Watches
16th		Silver holloware
17th		Furniture
18th		Porcelain
19th		Bronze
20th	China	Platinum
21st		Brass, Nickel
22nd		Copper
23rd		Silver plate
24th		Musical instruments
25th	Silver	Sterling silver
26th		Original pictures
27th		Sculpture
28th		Orchids
29th		New furniture
30th	Pearl	Diamond
31st		Timepieces
32nd		Conveyances (e.g., automobiles)
33rd		Amethyst
34th		Opal
35th	Coral (Jade)	Jade
36th		Bone china
37th		Alabaster
38th		Beryl, Tourmaline
39th		Lace
40th	Ruby	Ruby
41st		Land
42nd		Improved real estate
43rd		Travel
44th		Groceries
45th	Sapphire	Sapphire
46th		Original poetry tribute
47th		Books
48th		Optical goods (e.g., telescope, microscope)
49th		Luxuries, any kind
50th	Gold	Gold
55th	Emerald	Emerald
60th	Diamond	Diamond
75th	Diamonds, Diamondlike stones, gold
80th		Diamond, Pearl
85th		Diamond, Sapphire
90th		Diamond, Emerald
95th		Diamond, Ruby
100th		10-carat Diamond

Source: Chicago Public Library

Yes, they were given a name for a reason, as that's also the type of gift you can give to your loved one on that special year.

In a fast-paced society like now, we can't wait till the 60th year for the diamond. So, maybe if we get it even before the 1st, and one each year thereafter, chances of the loving marriage to see it's 100th anniversary looks pretty high, if we are still breathing in thiw world. :)