The first blind contestant in Masterchef.

Salam,

Watch this video first to see how this inspiring and determined blind contestant won the judges heart in Masterchef USA:

Christine Ha Is MasterChef's First Blind Contestant!

Article from People website: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20601024,00.html

Chefs rely heavily on their sense of taste and smell to cook -- especially if they're blind like MasterChef contestant Christine Ha.

"I have to depend a lot more on the other senses to cook -- taste, smell, how certain ingredients feel," she tells PEOPLE. "I'll know if a piece of meat is close to being done by how it feels against my hand or utensils."

Christine, 33, has been diagnosed with neuromyelitis optica (NMO), a condition of the central nervous system that affects the optic nerves and spinal cord.

"The very first bout I had was in 1999," she says of the condition. "It only happened in one eye then. It didn't recover completely so I learned to adjust to seeing out of one eye. In 2004, it decreased to the level where I could no longer drive. In 2007, it decreased to where I am now. I have to use a cane to walk around or take somebody's arm and be guided."
Christine is ready to prove herself on the show, which premieres Monday (9 p.m. ET) on Fox. "It's hard to see ingredients," she says. "I have to figure out by smell and touch if an ingredient is fresh. Cutting with knives -- fortunately, I'm pretty careful and I have a proper knife technique. Since I've lost my vision, I've cut myself once. And it was minor. I've never had to get stitches. It's really about being organized, careful and using my other senses."

And she won't be getting any special help from the judges Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot and Joe Bastianich. "Joe, Gordon and Graham didn't treat me any differently," she says. "They told me what was wrong and right with my dish. There was constructive criticism. I feel like they judged fairly."
Still, nerves were a factor for Christine when she began the competition. "I had never been this nervous in my life -- even on my wedding day," she says. "It was the most anxiety I've felt in a day. It's already scary to be in an environment you can't soak up visually what's happening around you. It was challenging and scary."

WE HAVE WITNESSED SO MANY DISABLED PEOPLE ALWAYS DETERMINE TO PROVE THEMSELVES OVER AND OVER AGAIN. THEY LOVE TO DEFY THE ODDS AND NEVER FEEL THAT THEIR DISABILITY CAN STOP THEM FROM DOING WHAT THEY WANT OR TO PURSUE THEIR AMBITION. SOMETIMES I FEEL SO ASHAMED WHEN I FEEL HELPLESS EVEN THOUGH I FULLY CAPABLE TO CHANGE THE SITUATION.

Who love free gifts?

Salam,

I love free gifts. Nope, I'm not giving any free gift here. Sorry but maybe next time when I win any contest. hehe. Where do you normally get free gifts? For me, I love to take the advantage of getting free gifts when I buying the household products from the supermarket. I'm sure most people love to do that too, right?

How do we know we are going to get the Free Gift? Well, that's easy as we can see the special sticker on the product telling us the free gift when we buy the product. Most of the time, we must buy 2 items of the same products to be entitled to the Free Gift.

Some of my favourite products that normally give away free gifts are Darlie, Colgate, Milo and Vitagen. The free gifts range from plate, mug, cup or toys for kids. The best thing about the free plates (for example), they can be used in the microwave oven and also quite tough. That's why I don't mind even if other people know that I have so many plates that I get from the FREE GIFTS. For me, the brand is meaningless.

What kind of free gifts do you like to get?

Your 9/11.

5 W's in life

Salam,

Jangan sibuk jaga tepi kain orang? (BM entry)

Salam,

Sudah lama saya terfikir nak tulis mengenai tajuk ni tapi macam tak berapa yakin macammana nak ulas lebih panjang. Dalam masyarakat kita, kita disuruh supaya jaga tepi kain sendiri kan. Maksudnya jangan sibuk masuk campur hal orang lain. Oleh kerana itulah walaupun banyak anak-anak jiran yang melepak atau bila kita nampak anak-anak orang lain buat kerja tak elok pun, kita diam dan tak berani nak menegur. Sudahnya, generasi sekarang makin kurang ajar dan tak menghormati orang yang lebih tua. Takpelah sebab kita boleh salahkan mak bapak budak-budak tu yang tak pandai mengajar anak kan? Macammana kalau terkena batang hidung sendiri? Adakah kita akan melenting juga bila orang kata kita tak pandai mendidik anak sendiri?

Bagi saya kalau niat kita nak menegur untuk kebaikan tu elok. Yelah, kalau kita tak tegur, kita pun sama tanggung dosa atau kita pun akan dapat kesusahan. Contohnya, kalau kita ternampak anak dara jiran membonceng motosikal dengan lelaki yang tidak dikenali, cubalah bagi nasihat sikit. Kalau dia tak nak dengar terserahlah. Contoh yang lain, anak-anak jirang bermain dengan api dekat dengan rumah kita. Kalau kita tak tegur,, silap haribulan rumah kita boleh hangus terbakar.

Dalam keluarga sendiri, kadang-kadang mak ayah kita macam dah tak boleh bagi pendapat pulak. Ada yang akan melenting bila mak sendiri bagi pendapat dalam mendidik anak-anak. Bagi saya yang masih tinggal dengan mertua, saya memang akan dengar pendapat mak mertua sebab dia dah banyak pengalaman. Tapi yelah ada yang saya pakai ada yang tak dipakai pun. Tapi depan dia, kena tunjuk kita menghormati pendapatnya. Arwah ma saya pun berlainan pendapat dari saya dulu. Oleh kerana semasa generasinya, ramai ibu yang lebih suka mencampurkan susu ibu & susu formula, arwah pernah menyarankan pada saya supaya cepat-cepat memberi susu formula pada anak sulung saya. Tapi saya mempertahankan pendirian saya dan akhirnya arwah akur dengan pendirian saya.

Kalau adik beradik sendiri pun, sebagai kakak sulung, memang saya dah terbiasa menegur adik-adik kalau ada yang tak kena. Ada juga ketikanya adik-adik saya pula menegur saya sebab ada adik-adik yang dah berkeluarga dan dah matang. Cuma bila terkena adik-adik ipar, hmmm agak susah sikit sbb yelah saya ada pernah menegur tapi ada yang berkecil hati. Sejak dari itu, saya lebih berhati-hati dan lebih banyak memerhatikan saja.

Apa pengalaman anda sendiri dalam menjaga tepi kain orang?

It is hard to learn English?

Salam,

I got this from FB and I don't agree with the statement because "if there's a will there's a way". The grammar of English is really challenging because there are always some exceptions that you need to know. But when you learn the grammar of other languages, there are a lot things that you need to know too. In my opinion, you just need to make more efforts to learn.

Baby talk.

Salam,

She has started to make some noises. Most of the time, it's as if she is trying to say something to us. Her cooing is a melodious tune to my ears. Talking to her has become my passion surpass the other passion now. She makes me happy and when I use her language (sort of baby talk), she will become so excited.

Each and every noise is easy to be interpreted because I know the different sound for feeding time, changing nappy time, sleepy time or just the happy hour. Even her elder sisters know what she wants as she has the same routine that we have kind of set up for her.

Maybe after she is older, we would try the baby signing method. On that note, I have to ask the expert like a blogger friend that I know who is so passionate about this. For those who wants to know about her Natural approaches, why don't you visit here.

Do you still remember how did you communicate to your baby?