Tuesday 5 May 2020

TOP 50 BILLBOARD YEAR-END HOT SINGLES

Here's another challenge I have set myself before I turned 50.  I have to learn 50 songs on the top 50 Billboard Year-End Hot Singles.  To my surprise I know most of the songs, I have my favourites but it will be fun to know all these songs especially the unfamiliar ones.  Travel is currently not an option due to COVID-19 and the next best thing I love aside from travelling is music.  So I thought this is a great challenge to complete at the mean time.
No.TitleArtist(s)
1"Silly Love Songs"Wings
2"Don't Go Breaking My Heart"Elton John & Kiki Dee
3"Disco Lady"Johnnie Taylor
4"December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)"The Four Seasons
5"Play That Funky Music"Wild Cherry
6"Kiss and Say Goodbye"The Manhattans
7"Love Machine"The Miracles
8"50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"Paul Simon
9"Love Is Alive"Gary Wright
10"A Fifth of Beethoven"Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band
11"Sara Smile"Hall & Oates
12"Afternoon Delight"Starland Vocal Band
13"I Write the Songs"Barry Manilow
14"Fly, Robin, Fly"Silver Convention
15"Love Hangover"Diana Ross
16"Get Closer"Seals and Crofts
17"More, More, More"Andrea True Connection
18"Bohemian Rhapsody"Queen
19"Misty Blue"Dorothy Moore
20"Boogie Fever"The Sylvers
21"I'd Really Love to See You Tonight"England Dan & John Ford Coley
22"You Sexy Thing"Hot Chocolate
23"Love Hurts"Nazareth
24"Get Up and Boogie"Silver Convention
25"Take It to the Limit"Eagles
26"(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty"KC and the Sunshine Band
27"Sweet Love"Commodores
28"Right Back Where We Started From"Maxine Nightingale
29"Theme from S.W.A.T."Rhythm Heritage
30"Love Rollercoaster"Ohio Players
31"You Should Be Dancing"Bee Gees
32"You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine"Lou Rawls
33"Golden Years"David Bowie
34"Moonlight Feels Right"Starbuck
35"Only Sixteen"Dr. Hook
36"Let Your Love Flow"The Bellamy Brothers
37"Dream Weaver"Gary Wright
38"Turn the Beat Around"Vicki Sue Robinson
39"Lonely Night (Angel Face)"Captain & Tennille
40"All by Myself"Eric Carmen
41"Love to Love You Baby"Donna Summer
42"Deep Purple"Donny & Marie Osmond
43"Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)"Diana Ross
44"Sweet Thing"Rufus
45"That's the Way (I Like It)"KC and the Sunshine Band
46"A Little Bit More"Dr. Hook
47"Shannon"Henry Gross
48"If You Leave Me Now"Chicago
49"Lowdown"Boz Scaggs
50"Show Me the Way"Peter Frampton
Let the challenge commence!

I will have to think of fun things to do in my social media in relation to this challenge.  Any suggestions are welcome.

#ChallenJing50

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Sunday 10 February 2019

VISIT 50 CITIES IN ENGLAND BEFORE 50

I thought I will update my challenge of visiting cities in England.  This is part of my 50 before 50 Challenge. My list is to follow, I am still working on it. This challenge is definitely top of the list.

My challenge focus on visiting 50 of 51 cities in England before I turned 50.  Here are the list of 51 cities in England:

1.  Bath √
2.  Birmingham √
3.  Bradford
4.  Brighton & Hove √
5.  Bristol
6.  Cambridge √
7.  Canterbury √
8.  Carlisle
9.  Chelmsford √
10.  Chester
11.  Chichester √
12.  Coventry
13.  Derby √
14.  Durham
15.  Ely √
16.  Exeter
17.  Gloucester
18.  Hereford
19.  Kingston upon Hull
20.  Lancaster
21.  Leeds √
22.  Leicester
23.  Lichfield
24.  Lincoln √
25.  Liverpool √
26.  City of London √
27.  Manchester √
28.  Newcastle upon Tyne
29.  Norwich √
30.  Nottingham
31.  Oxford √
32.  Peterborough √
33.  Plymouth
34.  Portsmouth √
35.  Preston
36.  Ripon
37.  St. Albans √
38.  Salford
39.  Salisbury √
40.  Sheffield √
41.  Southampton
42.  Stoke on Trent
43.  Sunderland
44.  Truro
45.  Wakefield
46.  Wells
47.  City of Westminster √
48.  Winchester √
49.  Wolverhampton
50.  Worcester
51.  York √

Interesting Facts:

*  So what is a city you may ask?  The Oxford English dictionary defines 'city' as a 'large town' or  'a town created a city by charter and containing a cathedral'.
*  In the United Kingdom however, not every city has a cathedral and not all cathedrals are found in the city.
*  Not all large towns in the United Kingdom are officially designated as cities and there are a number of UK cities which are no bigger than an average towns or even villages.
*  There are no specific criteria which automatically grant city status in the United Kingdom.
*  In present times, city status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II.

Source:  http://www.ukcities.co.uk

*As of 2015, there are currently a total of 69 cities in the United Kingdom.  51 in England, 7 in Scotland, 6 in Wales and 5 in Northern Ireland. (Wikipedia)

So join me in discovering new cities in your own country and share it in any of my social media.  Subscribe or follow me so you will have an up to date information of my challenges with a

#ChallenJing50

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Saturday 5 January 2019

NEW YEAR...NEW CHALLENGES...

Fifty Challenges to be exact...

Hello! If you are new to my blog welcome. If this is not your first time to visit my blog I am so glad and very grateful for your return. It has been a while...over a year I think since I posted on my blog. A lot happened in the last year... Let's just say I took a whole year vacation.  

What happened in the last year you may ask?  Well a lot!  The biggest change I made in 2018 and the main reason I was gone for a year was my new job, well not quite new now. It's a 9 to 5 job, the pay is just about the same but I get all the holidays off, weekend off and no more night shifts! Bliss!!! I am so happy I made the move. The best decision I made in 2018.   

I visited 7 cities in 2018...



I visited Oslo at the beginning of the year (February) with my best friends Haidee and Vicky. I returned to Edinburgh in June for my second The Moonwalk Scotland raising money for Walk the Walk for vital breast cancer causes. In October I went to Sheffield for the first time for five days study leave. Although I didn't get to explore the city I met some very clever, interesting group of people in my course.  For 12 days in November, I visited Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo and Tromso with my husband (Paul), my sister (Jenny), my sister's husband (Ralph) and my sister's best friend (Dids). Although we didn't get to see the Northern Lights, it was an experience I will never forget. Scandinavia is captivating! Last but definitely not the least was my trip to Bruges. One word - Enchanting!

My year won't be complete if I don't get to watch a concert or two and operas...



It was "a blast from the past" with The Psychedelic Furs last June and Queen with Adam Lambert last July. Not to forget the "pint-sized powerhouse" that is Sigrid in which I was blown away with her amazing talent.  

It was a treat (thanks to my husband) to watch two amazing opera last year.  La Boheme in the summer, with all it's drama on stage and back stage. The actress who played Mimi's real life husband (who happens to be an opera singer) has to stepped in as Rodolfo in the second half of the performance due to some vocal issues from the other singer. But that's not all...we had a complimentary upgrade seat and we saw Stephen Fry in the audience (all due to the upgraded seat). Sweet!  And Georges Bizet's Carmen was enigmatic!



Last year was a better year I think for me in terms of work-life balance. I get to see my friends and loved ones a lot more. Also get to see and experience a lot of new and wonderful things. And last but definitely not the least...it was the very first time in a long time (exactly 20 years) for me to get the time off both Christmas day and New Years day. And finally...I can get to say TGIF!!!

So what's in store for 2019???  Hopefully a lot more blogs coming from me. I will be revamping my 40 challenges into 50 before 50 as I didn't manage to complete the challenge within a year. (Working on it as we speak)  So watch this space...

In the meantime...I wish you all a very Happy New Year and leave you with this beautiful quote from Melody Beattie

"The New Year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written."

Write a good one everybody!!!


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Sunday 12 November 2017

I DID IT!!! I'VE COMPLETED MY FIRST EVER MOONWALK

Hello everyone it's been a while since I last posted on my blog.  Since completing The Moonwalk Scotland 2017 in aid of Breast Cancer Research last June, I've been very busy.  I went home to the Philippines in July for my sister's wedding and when I returned to the UK it was straight back to work and to be honest I didn't get a lot of breaks.  Except in September when I went to Bicester Village Shopping Outlet and Portsmouth of which I will tell you more on my next blog.  

So this blog is all about my experience of my first ever The Moonwalk Scotland 2017 in support of vital breast cancer causes.  

So why I chose Edinburgh instead of London?  

I chose Edinburgh for a number of reasons.  I love Edinburgh, the weather was a lot better in June compared to May in London.  June is one of my favourite months of the year as it is my birth month and my mother's birth month too.  As a matter of fact, it was my mother's birthday when I did the walk.  But last but definitely not the the least I was told (by veterans of the walk) that the view and the people of Edinburgh are amazing.  And they were absolutely right!  They would cheer us on, they stayed late even up to the wee hours of the morning handing us drinks and freshly baked goods with a smile on their faces appreciating what we were doing, it was wonderful.  And the view, mesmerising!  Walking along the coast at the break of dawn was the highlight for me and the dolphins came out to play and cheers us all on too.

Despite getting blister on both of my feet earlier on, (which was a very stupid mistake on my part.  I decided to wear a waterproof socks on the day.  A big and painful lesson learned.) It was a wonderful experience I will never forget.   Another one ticked off my bucket list.

So thank you for all your donations.  Together we've raised £132.98.  I will definitely do it again next year and already sign up for my interest.  So looking forward to raising more awareness and money for breast cancer research next year.

So here's a video clips of my trip to Edinburgh and my first ever Moonwalk.  Enjoy!




Thursday 1 June 2017

WALK 40 KILOMETRES FOR CHARITY & MAKE IT MATTER DAY #SPENDITWELL

Today June 1st is Marks & Spencer's Make It Matter Day and I am joining the nation to turn my daily autopilot decisions into more enriching choices, to say 'no' instead of defaulting to 'yes', and to make decisions that count.  I will be sharing this choices in my social media with the hashtag #SPENDITWELL  So join us and share this blog.


Also on 10th of June I will be doing the Moonwalk Scotland, walking 26.2 miles (42 km) wearing decorated bra (this year's theme is jungle safari) for Walk the Walk.  I'm doing this as part of my 40 challenges in my 40th year. To donate you can visit my donation page by clicking the link below.



photo credit by: Lorna Coyle

photo credit by: Lorna Coyle


So join me on my social media on June 10, 2017 and leave me a message of support or encouragement during my walk.  Thank you for your support and donation.  I really appreciate it.

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Sunday 14 May 2017

NATIONAL VEGETARIAN WEEK and PAD THAI RECIPE



Tomorrow is the start of National Vegetarian Week and I'll be joining and eating veggies for a week.  I will be sharing what I eat in a day for the whole week on my social media.  I may also share some of my favourite vegetarian recipes here on my blog.  So join me and sign up and together let's enjoy veggies for the whole week!

Sign up here to join and for recipes and ideas:

To kickstart my going vegetarian for a week, I will be sharing with you my favourite vegan pad thai recipe.




For the ingredients you will need:

200g rice noodles
2 courgettes
2 carrots
1 bell pepper
1 packet Cauldron marinated tofu pieces*

For the sauce you will need:
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup peanut butter 
1/4 cup kecap manis or tamari
2-3 Tbsp agave**
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger root, grated

*this is my favourite but you can substitute it with any other tofu or you can omit this altogether 
**adjust the sweetness according to your taste

1.  Whisk sauce ingredients in a large bowl. 
2.  Cook the noodles as per packet instructions then add to the large bowl.
3.  Ideally use a spiralizer to create noodles from courgettes and carrots but a box grater will work just fine.  Place the shredded vegetables in the large bowl.
4.  Slice the pepper into strips and then add to the large bowl.
5.  Mix the noodles and the vegetables with the sauce.
6.  In a non stick pan dry fry the tofu pieces until crispy.
7.  To serve place the noodles mixture on individual bowl and sprinkle tofu pieces on top.

Enjoy!


If you tried the recipe please share, leave me a comment and tag me on any of my social media.


Wednesday 3 May 2017

ALLERGY AWARENESS WEEK

Last week (April 24 - 30, 2017) was Allergy Awareness Week and I supported Allergy UK by joining Give as you live.  Give as you live is a shopping and price comparison website with a heart.  A percentage of every purchase you make through their website will be donated to charity at no extra cost to you.  So if you're interested and wants to join follow the link below:

https://www.giveasyoulive.com/refer/R9UuYwoygX5KlO7EZYHwog7ahEK-2BPs4bPQ-3D-3D

This year Allergy Awareness Week focusses on allergic eczema.  Although not severe, I myself suffer from eczema.   So this year, it is extra important for me to support Allergy UK and their work.




So what is Eczema? 

Eczema, also known as 'atopic eczema' or 'atopic dermatitis', is a skin condition causing inflammation and intense irritation.  Eczema symptoms tend to be caused by dry skin.

What does Atopy/Atopic mean?

Atopy or being atopic means having a genetic tendency for your immune system to make increased levels of IgE antibodies to certain allergens.  An atopic individual is likely to have more than one allergic condition during their lifetime, such as eczema, asthma, hay fever or food allergy.

Can food allergy cause eczema?

No.  Children are born with the tendency to have eczema and many things can make their eczema worse.  These are known as eczema 'triggers'.  Eczema in children can have various triggers, which food can be one especially in babies.  However, food are not the primary cause of eczema.

Eczema Treatments

EMOLLIENTS

Emollient lotions and creams are prescribed for treating eczema and dry skin, and are, in their simplest form, mixtures of oil and water.

TOPICAL STEROID CREAMS

It is sometimes necessary to apply topical corticosteroids (e.g. hydrocortisone), as these reduce inflammation in the skin caused by eczema.

*  You can find a whole host of useful tips on Allergy UK Eczema Factsheet where I got these informations by clicking the link below.


So please help and support Allergy UK by joining Give As You Live and spread the word with your friends.  Please leave me a comment on any of my social media when you sign up.  Thank you!


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Monday 13 March 2017

I'M ON A DECHOX

This March I am chucking the chocolate and going on a DECHOX to help British Heart Foundation fund its life saving heart research.  That means absolutely no chocolate bars, no chocolate cake, no choccy biscuits with my tea, not even any chocolate sprinkles on my cappuccino are allowed. And that's why I need your help.



I was late in signing up but I will still give up chocolate for the whole month of March.  As a matter of fact I'm giving chocolate up for 40 days all throughout lent. Please join me or donate at bhf.org.uk/dechox  

Thanks a million chocolate buttons!

Help me chocolate-spread the word by sharing my blog on Facebook and Twitter.

Or follow me on any of my social media.



#ChallenJing40