Archive for the ‘General’ Category

« Older Entries

Heat Busters and Thirst Quenchers

Monday, May 24th, 2010 by Lena

The El Niño effect is raging worldwide since the winter of 2009-2010. The countries first hit by the heat wave are the ones in Southeast Asia – Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Brunei and more. This is so because these are the countries that first encounter summer.  Reports claim that the El Niño is starting to cool off but! – alas, it is still so humid and hot that once you leave the cool air-conditioned room, you seem like melting chocolate or corn kernels that are about to pop.

Surely there must be something one can do to beat the heat aside from being inside an air-conditioned room 24/7. You can go to the beach to cool off so to speak. No matter how hot the sun is, soaking in the cool sea is one way of beating the heat. You can also opt to soak in the swimming pool or for lack of one, in a tub.

watermelon juice with shaved ice

You can stay cool by drinking lots of cold drinks, fresh fruit juices included. Why not gather some of your favorite fruits, blend them in with shaved ice, add some milk and syrup for a thirst quenching drink. If you do not have fresh fruits, just make do with powdered juice or concentrates mixed in a tall glass filled with cubed ice.

Buy your favorite ice cream flavor and make soda floats!  Pour your favorite soda drink into a tall glass. Make sure the soda is cold.  When the bubbles have settled, scoop ice cream into the soda for a float.  Too much calories for you?  Well, you can try using diet soda and sugar-free ice cream. However, the cooling effect will only last from 15 to 20 minutes as it is a fact that any food that is way below your normal body temperature will have a fleeting systemic cooling effect.

Try eating yogurt for longer cooling effect. Gelatin or jelly will make you feel cooler too.

Lay low on too much animal meat. Eat more sea food like fish and crab.  Your best bet is to eat fresh fruits and vegetables that have high water content: watermelon, melon, oranges, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, corn on the cob, summer squash and turnips.  Fruits and veggies that are high in water content will thin the blood that can help release the heat from the body.

fresh fruits

battle the summer heat with more fruits

On the other hand, if you don’t mind sweating, you can “spice” up you food by adding fresh ginger, chili, pepper, curry, horseradish and other “hot” condiments to help you perspire. The more you perspire, the more your body cools off. In other words, you can drink hot coffee, perspire a bit then enjoy the refreshing feeling minutes later. Or, you can drink coffee, mocha or chocolate on the rocks.

Cook food the simplest way possible. Steam and sauté. Avoid baking and broiling as these two cooking methods will sure expose you to too much heat.   Avoid cooking food that has so much gravy and sauces as high calorie food will actually make you feel “hotter”.

Also, don’t forget to drink more water to stay healthy and hydrated in this hot dry weather.

Tags: ,
Posted in General, Health & Lifestyle | 1 Comment »

Indulge in Chocolate, It Is Good For You

Friday, May 14th, 2010 by Lena

When you were a child, have you ever dreamed of going inside a chocolate factory and wondered what it was like to swim in a river made of chocolate?  What child would not fantasize about chocolate?  Its creamy texture and bittersweet taste are deeply ingrained into our young heads.  If you smother healthy stuff like fruits and grains in chocolate, they will definitely get eaten.  Of course, we also remember our parents telling us that too much chocolate will make our tummy hurt and our teeth fall out.

For many people, chocolate is the ultimate comfort food.  For them, eating a piece of chocolate makes them feel like they are being transported to a time in your childhood when you were still innocent and free of worries.  You may think this is just psychological, but recent studies have shown that there are more health benefits from chocolate apart from just getting good feelings.

Recent studies discovered that chocolate is rich in flavonoids.  These are anti-oxidants that are formed from the combination of amino acids called acetate and phenylalanine.  Flavonoids neutralize the effects we get from free radicals in food and the environment, which are bad for us because they destroy the cells in our bodies.  Did you know that eating 1.5 oz of dark chocolate has the equivalent amount of antioxidants contained in a cup of black tea?  Both of them contain around 800mg of antioxidants, so which would you choose?

Yummy Chocolate

Whiskey Chocolate Brownies by FotoosVanRobin, on Flickr

Aside from containing antioxidants, chocolate also contains theobromine, which is an alkaloid compound usually found in cacao plants. Theobromine and caffeine are very similar in that they improve blood circulation and can be used as diuretics and heart stimulants.  However, the effects of theobromine are weaker compared to caffeine and the amount of it contained in chocolates are very minimal.  Unfortunately, theobromine poisoning can occur in the elderly and they are cautioned against consuming too much chocolate. This alkaloid compound is also dangerous for pets, who have an inability to digest it.
(more…)

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in General, Health & Lifestyle | No Comments »

Mother

Friday, May 7th, 2010 by dolita

Happy Mother Day

“.. So now I see through your eyes, all that you did was love
Mama, I love you. Mama, I care
Mama, I love you. Mama, my friend. You’re my friend ..”

The lyric from Spice Girl’s Mama aptly describes who mother figure is to most of us, right? When you were younger, were you vexed when your mum nagged at you at the slightest thing? Or you could be a teen who are trying to break free from your mother’s ‘clutches’. There are times when we feel so much appreciation to have a mother but there must be times when our mother annoys us so much we just don’t want to talk to her.

It’s cliche but I believe most mothers do what they do because they love us. After all they have to endure 9 months of pregnancy woes just to give birth to us. Some mothers could be irresponsible and uncaring to their children. But it does not mean all mothers do not deserve a tribute.

So this Sunday, 9th May 2010, don’t forget to show your mother how much you appreciate and love her. It is a tiny recognition to what she has been doing for us. We got our designer to create a pretty banner with mothers written in many languages. It is our way to wish all mothers a Happy Mother’s Day!

Tags:
Posted in Events, General | No Comments »

The Travel & Electricity Issue

Thursday, May 6th, 2010 by Lena

It’s Electric! by Tom T, on Flickr

If you are a frequent traveler, then there are times that you bring your own electrical appliances with you.  Normally, these would be your hair dryer, shaver, curling iron or hair straightener.  You might also bring some gadgets along like your mobile phone, mp3 player, a portable video game console or laptop.  Were there instances when you did not get to use these items at all because the power sockets in your place of destination did not match your plugs?  That would have been extremely frustrating, especially if you needed to get some work done straight away.  Your gadgets would have just become dead weight on your luggage!

Sure, it is easy to just buy a local adapter to fix this problem.  But what if you are in a remote place?  At times when you have had the good sense of bringing your own travel adapter, isn’t it even more frustrating to find out that you have brought the wrong one?  How unlucky!

Then there is also the opposite situation.  Have you ever brought home an American or Japanese appliance and without checking the manual in your excitement, plugged it straight into the wall socket?  Now, unless your wall sockets only run on 120 volts, then that must have been an awesome fireworks display – complete with smoke and electrical sparks.

Most people have experienced either of the above at one point or another and it is definitely a big hassle, if you are not familiar with the places you are going to.

The reason why these things happen is because there is no global standard when it comes to line voltage and frequency.  Some areas have adapted the standards of their neighboring countries, such as several countries in Europe.

So what should you keep in mind in order to use your appliances when going abroad?  Here are a few tips and tricks.

The first thing you need to do before you leave for the airport is to check the voltage capacity of your device or appliance.  If it covers “100-240V, 50/60 Hz,” then you are pretty much covered.  All you will need then is to bring a travel adapter, to match the wall sockets with your plug at your destination.

There are mainly three widely used plugs in the world.  These are the Type A or American plug with two vertical pins, the Type G or British plug with 3 rectangular pins and the Type C or European plug with two round pins. There are also Type I or Australian plug with 2 flat pins formed like upside down V-shape sometime with ground pin, sometime without. Unfortunately, there are many more types of plugs used in various types of the world, so it is best to double check this before leaving.

Type A or American pin

Type G or British pin

Type C or European pin

Type I or Australian pin

What if your device is not flexible enough to take in “100-240V,50/60Hz?”  Then it is advisable to check what sort of electrical system is used in the country you are going.  As a general rule, Western Japan, North and Central America use the 110-120V, 60Hz system.  Meanwhile, the rest of the world generally use the 220-240V, 50Hz system.  There are some exceptions, however.  In Tokyo, you will encounter the 110-120V, 50Hz frequency.  In some parts of Brazil, as well as the Philippines, make sure to equip your device for a 220-240 V, 60Hz system.

Tags: ,
Posted in Electronics, General | No Comments »

Clever Recycling at Home

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 by Lena

Humans need to start being aware of how much harm some types of waste can do to the environment.  If we do not start acting now, then we are at risk of contaminating our drinking water and damaging our health and societies.  It is a vicious cycle.

One way to do this is to recycle some of our waste products.  Stuff like glass jars and glass bottles can be easily re-used as containers for something else.  If you prefer to recycle with a bit more challenge, however, there are ways to completely transform trash into something else entirely. Here are two recipes on home recycling.

Home Recycled Paper

Do you buy newspapers regularly?  Then you can make beautiful recycled paper out of these, with the use of tools you can easily find at home.

recycled paper product

  1. You will need a fly screen, wooden frame (or suitable alternatives), used papers/newspapers, water, cloth, blender and some bleach or coloring if desired.
  2. First, you will need to make a mold using a fly screen by stapling it to a wooden frame.
  3. Soak some torn up pieces of newspaper in hot water for around half an hour.
  4. Using a blender, blend the water and paper up until it becomes mushy.  Add some bleach to whiten the color of the mush or add some coloring or small amounts of flowers to decorate it and blend again.
  5. Pour the pulp into a basin of water, making sure the proportion is at 1 part pulp and 4 parts water, and stir.
  6. Dip the fly screen mold into the pulp water mix and scoop the floating particles out of the water.  Make sure that the particles pieces are evenly spread on the mold.
  7. Meanwhile, stack some newspapers and spread a piece of cloth on top of it. This will make a drying pad.
  8. When all the water has been drained out of the fly screen mold, flip the mold to lay the pulp onto the drying pad.  The pulp should be able to separate itself from the mold
  9. Allow the pulp to air dry for some time.  When it is dry, run an iron over the recycled paper to smoothen it out – and you’re done!

Home Made Eco Soap

Do you know what to do with your used cooking oil? Do not pour it down the drain, as it will clog your pipes.  Instead, make soap out of them!  Here’s how to do it.

used cooking oil as soap

  1. You will need used cooking oil, a measuring cup, a balance scale, some caustic soda, some clothes softener, protective glasses, a protective mask and rubber gloves.
  2. For every liter of used oil, use 200 grams caustic soda, 40mm of softener and 400mm of warm water.  Make sure that you filter out all the bits of food from the oil before you proceed.
  3. Dissolve the caustic soda in the water while wearing your protective gears, as this mixture will release toxic gases. Be careful when doing this. Also dissolve the soda into the water instead of pouring water over the soda.
  4. Add the oil to mixture from step 3 and stir for 15 minutes with a spoon.
  5. The softener is then added so give the mixture its fragrance.  For some variants, you could add in essential oils and bits of flowers petals for fragrances
  6. Pour this final mixture into different containers such as old tin cans or small plastic containers to mold the soap.
  7. The mixture will turn white in two days. Let the soap stands for two more weeks before using it.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Environmental issues, General | No Comments »

Why Do Volcanoes Erupt?

Monday, May 3rd, 2010 by Lena

People have always compared an erupting volcano to a person slowly getting angry.  At first, the person is calm and everything seems to be alright.  Then, for one reason or another, some sort of bad news hits or somebody else says the wrong thing.  The person then begins to flush and his blood begins to boil.  Then, when the person could not contain himself any longer, he explodes into a wild burst of anger.  Volcanoes are commonly perceived to erupt in much the same way.

Volcano Eruption

Volcanoes are in the news once again recently, as an Icelandic volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier erupted last April 14.  This event did not come as a complete surprise to those who were monitoring the volcano, as there had been an increase in volcanic and seismic activity in the area since December 2009.  During that time, thousands of small earthquakes were happening in the area.  Nearly 3,000 earthquakes were recorded by early March and magma was beginning to pour out to the surface.  An eruption occurred in March 20, but this was a somewhat silent eruption compared to what happened a few weeks later, as it came from a fissure vent instead of underneath the glacier.

The second eruption had been widely publicized due to the massive amount of volcanic ash that spewed out of the volcano, causing flights to be cancelled for a number of days all across northwestern Europe.  This resulted to countless stranded travelers all over the world for six days since April 15.

Like when people lose their tempers, volcanic eruptions do not happen as abruptly as we think.  (more…)

Tags: , ,
Posted in Environmental issues, General | No Comments »

Celebrating Aviation History

Friday, April 30th, 2010 by Lena

If you remember your world history, then you should know that Ferdinand Magellan was credited for being the first person to circumnavigate the world.  Technically, he did not finish the journey as he was killed on the way back to Spain.  However, he was the one that headed the expedition, which started with five ships in September 1519 and ended in September 1522 with only one ship left.  That means the whole voyage lasted for three years!  The 237-man crew had to endure harsh weather, food supply issues, illnesses, deaths and even loss of ships for the whole duration.

Such a thing is unimaginable today, thanks to the advancements in aviation technology.  International and domestic travelling had become so much quicker and simpler because of airplanes.  Can you even begin to imagine going on a slow boat to China, like people did back in the really old days.  In fact, if you make an airplane fly non-stop at 1,000 km/hr, then going around the world will only take you 2-3 days.  That is definitely a far cry compared to Magellan’s three-year trip.

So who do we thank for changing the way we travel around the world?  There are basically four personalities that have made huge contributions to aviation history – Daniel Bernoulli, the Wright Brothers (Orville and Wilbur) and Carl Gustaf Patrik de Laval.

Daniel Bernoulli

Daniel Bernoulli

Born in 1700 in the Netherlands, Daniel Bernoulli was just one on the many great mathematicians in the family.  However, it is believed that he was the one who perfected the science of flight by applying mathematics to mechanics.  He developed the theory called the Bernoulli Principle, which is widely used in aviation and even car racing.  Bernoulli discovered that the force of lift would increase if the top of an airplanes wing is curved.  Air would then also flow much quicker over the top of the wing compared to underneath, making the pressure greater at the bottom creates the better force of lift.

Wilbur and Orville Wright

Americans Orville and Wilbur Wright share the distinction of being the first in the world to invent and build a successful airplane.  On December 17, 1903, they also made the world’s first powered, controlled and with a sustained heavier-than-air human flight.  Through the brothers’ invention of the three-axis control, an airplane pilot became able to maintain an airplane’s equilibrium and to steer it effectively.  The three-axis control is now a standard for every fixed-wing aircraft.

Carl Gustaf Patrik de Laval (1875)

Carl Gustaf Patrik de Laval was a Swedish engineer and inventor, who made significant contributions on the design of steam turbines.  Three years after building a small steam turbine in 1887, he increased the steam jet to supersonic speed with the use of a specially-developed nozzle.  The de Laval nozzle, as it is now called, is being used in the production of modern rocket engines.

Aviation Celebratory Coins Set

These Aviation Celebratory Coins Set was produced in honor of the above-mentioned important figures in history.  These three beautiful coins are made of Sterling Silver, protected with a plastic casing, are 5.3 cm in size. They are carefully placed in a gold plate, with short biography of each of the celebrity and packed in a lovely red gift box in lacquer finish.

If you know anyone who is an aviation fanatic, this coins will make a great gift set for them. Coins collector will also appreciate this commemorate collectibles made to honour the people in aviation industry.

Collect them from Apple Bazaar

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Coins, Culture | No Comments »

Pristine and Pure White

Thursday, April 29th, 2010 by Lena

Snow Covered Tree by Magnera, on Flickr

If you live in a place with four seasons or somewhere that can get extremely cold that it snows, then you are no stranger to the color white.  The first few snowfalls during wintertime are always enchanting, as tiny, white flakes fall out of nowhere and blanket a whole area with snow.  This is probably how the term “winter wonderland” was coined.  Of course, if you do not see anything else but snow, you will slowly begin to resent not being able to experience other colors.

White is a predominant color in nature.  Snow and ice are just the best representations of it.  The clouds on a clear day are also white.  Some flowers like roses, jasmine, chrysanthemums and daisies have their white varieties.  Animals such as the polar bears are white, which enables them to camouflage themselves because the place where they live has nothing but ice and snow, all white.  Ordinary cats and dogs may also be white and countless other animals have patches of white in their bodies.

It is interesting to note, however, that white is actually not a color.  (more…)

Tags: , ,
Posted in Culture, General | No Comments »

Start Your Dream Garden with These Gardening Products

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 by Lena

Most homeowners dream of a lovely garden as much as they dream of their ideal kitchen or family room.  Just imagine a front or back yard that is in full bloom with dozens of flowers, freshly cut grass, with small trees and bushes dotting the scenery.  It makes for a nice setting for a relaxing afternoon tea or the perfect quiet ambience for reading a good book, right?

However, you will realize that dreaming about your ideal garden is the easy part.  Making it a reality is the grueling part of the process.  It takes a lot of hard work, skill and the willingness to know which plants are suitable for your lifestyle and how to take care of them once they have been planted.

Green Lawn Edging

1. Pick a Spot

Before embarking on this home project, you must first carefully pick the spot to place your garden.  Make sure it is a place where you can enjoy seeing it from home, because this is ultimately for your own enjoyment.  Once you have picked the spot, you must then check the quality of the soil.  If you need to improve on its quality, you may use compost to help. If you need to separate area, you may use the lawn edging to define the areas.

2. Prepare the Bed

(more…)

Tags: ,
Posted in Health & Lifestyle, Home, Garden & Office, gardena | No Comments »

Save the Tiger by 2022

Monday, April 12th, 2010 by Lena

Among all the animals existing today, the tiger is considered to be one of the most fascinating.  The tiger symbolizes speed, power, force and its presence holds a cool confidence that commands respect.  It is no wonder, therefore, that the tiger is a popular beast in literature and folklore, usually around Southern Asia.  Tigers usually play characters in folk tales, novels and children’s stories.  They are also often found portraying antagonistic roles in movies.  In Chinese astrology, the year 2010 is known to be the Year of the Metal Tiger.  According to this zodiac, people born in the years of the tiger possess similar traits to that of the animal – fierce and strong.

Even though the lion has been nicknamed the ‘king of the jungle’, lions are in fact smaller than tigers. There are many subspecies of tigers that most people may not be aware of.  Some are already extinct, like the Balinese, Caspian and Javan tigers, while most are still in existence today.  The existing subspecies of tigers are the Bengal, Sumatran, Indochinese, Siberian, Malayan and the South China.  The Siberian tiger is considered the largest of all the subspecies, while the Sumatran tiger is the smallest.

(more…)

Tags: ,
Posted in Environmental issues, General | No Comments »

« Older Entries