Chocoloate - from spending to eating

It is considered a must during Christmas and Valentine's day. A symbolic beverage in some cultures. Children loved them...
Cocoa beans were used by the Mayans and the Actecs as currency. It was a luxury to have chocolate as beverage in the early days. As expensive as it was previously and now, chocolate was said to possess medicinal values. Modern science had found alkaloids, naturally occured phytochemical which have physiological effect on those who ate it. Its functions include lowering of blood pressure when eaten moderately and recently it was claimed to contain antioxidants which are useful to prevent and combat certain cancers.

Regardless of claims of its goodness for human health, chocolate is a very important flavour in current human life.

30th June BST14 Practical Exam!!

Here are some of the photos taken at the end of today's practical exam.

Our baking guy-Master Woo is trying to bake using his Qi (electricity price has gone up, so save some money for MIB)
Me and Eric with our bread presentation which was complimented by our examiner Donald for being ideal ^^v~Yeah!

We have made French baguettes, wholemeal breads and sweet buns with red bean filling and sausage.

*And these are the some of the bread presentations of my fellow classmates.
Nice Job Everyone!!! BST14 ROCKS!!!

spooky encounter...

20th May 2008

Me and my uncle were driving on the road to get our dinner. While stopping for the traffic light, i suddently noticed that something is hanging underneath the Wira in front. I looked closer and realized that "thing" is actually a character doll from the movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas". I quickly took out my camera and snapped a photograph of what i thought to be weird. Did someone put the doll there or did the driver did it himself? What is the purpose? Is it a kind of voodoo practice? Superstitious? Supernatural? Well, whatever it is, it some how spooked me and my uncle a little. The pictures below are what the unexplained phenomenon i came across...

Cheese anyone?

Lesson 7 for Mr. Don's class is on American baked cheese cake and he had shown a video on famous cow's milk cheese from Italy and French goat's milk cheese.

Stracchino-Italian cow's milk cheese usually from Lombardy. Normally square shaped. Eaten young with soft creamy texture and mild delicate flavour. Served as dessert cheese and as filling for focaccia.The name was derives from the Italian word "stracca," meaning "tired". It is said that the milk from tired cows is richer in fats and more acidic. These qualities were discovered, according to legend, in the milk of cows who were moved seasonally, up and down the Alps to different pastures. The milk of such cows gives the cheese its characteristic flavors.

Gorgonzola-Veined Italian blue cheese, made from unskimmed cow's milk. Can be buttery or firm, crumbly and salty, with a 'bite' from its blue veining. Play significant roles in Italian cooking. Named after Gorgonzola, a small town near Milan, Italy, where it was first made. Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus along with spores of the mold Penicillium glaucum and Penicillium roqueforti. Metal rods inserted into the cheese during the 3 to 4 months aging time to creates air channels for the mold spores to germinate and form veining. Gorgonzola is typically aged for three to four months. Younger cheese are more creamy; olders are firm. Served in many ways from risotto to pizzas. INTERESTING!

Taleggio-Reddish soft cheese made of cow's milk. Strong aroma but mild flavour with fruity tang.

Chèvre ('goat' in French) or goat's milk cheese-Unique flavour which is different from cow's milk cheese.

An interesting lesson indeed...

The Grand Canyon

Behold......the Grand Canyon

I first came to know about Grand Canyon was through Nicholas Gunn's album "The Music of Grand Canyon" which i borrowed from a friend.

The Grand Canyon is located in Arizona, U.S. It is 446km long, width ranges between 6-29km and 1.6km deep. The canyon was carved by the Colorado River on the Colorado Plateau about 17 million years ago. During prehistory, that area was inhabited by the Pueblo Anasazi or the Ancient Ones. There are also 67 species of animals comprised of fish, amphibian and reptiles.

What interest me the most is the layers of rock that is clearly seen on the wall of Grand Canyon. Erosion caused by rain and Colorado River itself had made a clean cut through the layers of rock, exposing nearly 2 billion years of Earch history. Scientists refer these layers as "Timeline". Like a giant story book, the layers tell ancient tales of our mother Earth...

Looking at the timeline made me suddenly realized how small and insignificant we human are and how short our life span is. But in real life, many of use still waste so much time concerning small matters such as which dress to be worn, what to be eaten for lunch and such. Some people were foolish enough to argue with others including their loved ones just because of tiny little things.

So to all my fellow friends, time is precious, life is short, value everything and everyone around you. Focus on what you have to do instead of what you want to and get them done on time. LIVE WITH NO REGRETS!