It's Everyone's Birthday :)

It's Everyone's Birthday :)

          The Chinese New Year celebration lasts for 15 days. Today is the seventh day of Chinese New Year on the lunar calendar. Ancient Chinese mythology has made us trust that it was in this day our mankind was created by Goddess Nu Wa. It is method that:

"Nu Wa bent down and took up a handful of earth, mixed it with water and molded a figure in her likeness. As she kneaded it the figure came alive - the first human being."



             According to legend, the custom dates back to the Han Dynasty, and get more important after The Three Kingdoms period and Jin Dynasty. So today marks the birthday of mankind, ren ri (人日) in Chinese. Traditionally, when the weather on ren ri is good, it can be symbol as that God will grant luck to all people in this world. There are very different of customs in celebrating ren ri from place to place. Peoples from Hokkein province are fond of preparing a special soup with seven health-promoting ingredients to offset ill health, while those in Chekiang eat dumplings to symbol as bring peace to the country. In Singapore and Malaysia, Yu Sheng, a plate of colourful salad with strips of raw fish is served.



              In addition, the most propitious food for this occasion, as for a birthday banquet, is the birthday buns, the peach.  It is said that the mythic peaches planted in the pavilions of paradise ripe every 5000 years and anyone who's lucky enough to have a bite of it can become immortal as well. Traditionally, the birthday buns is served during birthday celebrations of elderly folks where the buns are piled at least knee high on tray. Peaches are well known Chinese symbols of longevity and there is a Taoist story about the Queen Mother of the West who has a magical peach tree which bears peaches granting immortality to those who eat them. The peach shaped steamed buns are made to symbolize those magical, immortality granting peaches.

Yu Sheng! Yummy ^^

Delicious Birthday Buns

History of Birthday Bun:

http://www.cookingninja.com/248-Chinese-Steamed-Buns.html

How Do People Get Salmonellosis spp.?

How do people get salmonellosis?

          Salmonella (Spp.) bacteria are the most frequently reported cause of foodborne illness. Samonella bacteria are rod-shaped, flagellated, and gram stain-negative. It is usually can be found in poultry, eggs, unprocessed milk water and others. In addition, it will also can be carried by pets such as turtles, rodents, birds and other. Apart from that, the 2 major diseases caused by Salmonella spp. are typhoid fever and gastroenteritis in humans. The bacteria will attack all age groups and both sexes. Children, the elderly and people who are already ill are much more likely to get a more serious infection, as those people who have low gastric acidity.

          Salmonellosis is an infection which is caused by the bacteria Salmonella. Most peoples infected with Salmonella will develop diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps from 12 to 72 hours after infection. Normally, the illness will laste between 4 to  7 days and most peoples recover without treatment. However, in some persons, the diarrhea maybe so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. In these patients, the Salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the blood stream and to other other body sites and can cause death. Furthermore, the elderly, infants and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have severe illness.

          Salmonella infections normally resolve in 5-7 days and do not require treatment other than oral fluids. However, peoples with severe diarrhea may need rehydration with intravenous fluids. Fluid are recommended to prevent dehydration because the diarrhea that flushes bacteria out of the body drains a great deal of liquid.  Moreover, most cases of Salmonellosis will not treated with antibiotics such as ampicilin, trimethoprin-sulfamethoxazole or ciprofloxacin unless the infection spreads from the intestines. Some Salmonella bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics.

          It is really very important for the public health department to know about cases of salmonellosis. Some prevention steps can be implement such as:

• Hand washing with soap and hot water, especially after handling eggs, poultry, and raw meat is likely to reduce the chance for infections.
• Avoiding direct contact with animal carriers of Salmonella (for example, turtles, snakes, pigs).
• Using chlorine-treated drinking water.
• Keep food safe at home, refrigerate promptly and properly. Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared foods, and leftovers within 2 hours .
• Pasturized eggs were used widely in restaurants, hospitals and home.
• Better education of food industry workers in basic food safety.

Salmonella Spp. bacteria

Testing Salmonella spp. in agar plate

Ways to prevent Salmonella spp. poisoning:

Pets turtles and Salmonella spp.

Salmonellosis:

http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/salmonellosis/Pages/Complications.aspx

Wow ! A Happening Steamboat Gathering ^^

Wow ! A Happening Steamboat Gathering ^^

 Steamboat also known as "ta pin lok" is a dishes which came from China. However, it is one of the most well known Chinese food in Malaysia. Normally we will  went to market  buy some  raw materials such as hotdogs, corn, squid, prawn, fishballs, meatballs, bihun and some vegetables. After that, some friends were cook bihun and others were responsible for washed vegetablesand others. Subsequently, i was helped them to prepared steamboat sauce and others ingredients to put aside.

After finished prepared, we were started our steamboat gathering happening. The weather was nice and feel great when gathered with my classmates. Furthermore, we also keep chatting about our recent life, our target and our dream! Feel so memorable with this gathering. Thanks to u all so much to make this gathering very successful !

From this steamboat gathering, i was learnt some  tips and techniques which are:

• Choose your steamboat based on the number of guests you want to serve. As a guide, a 28cm-diameter steamboat is ideal for six guests.
• Place the steamboat on a fireproof mat, brick or stone slab to protect your tabletop from burning or heat damage.
• Heat the coals in a fireplace or a wood-fired or charcoal barbecue until they turn white, then use long-handled tongs to transfer the charcoal to the steamboat.
• When using a traditional steamboat, add the liquid before filling the funnel with hot coals - otherwise the empty steamboat can overheat and become damaged.
• Keep the room well ventilated.
• Never leave hot charcoal unattended.

Materials for steamboat

Preparing ^^

My friends














Did u familiar with Hibiscus Cannabicus L. ?

Hibiscus Cannabicus L.

           Hibiscus Cannabicus L., known as kenaf, is an annual plant originated from West Africa for more than 4000 years. Kenaf is commercially cultivated in more than 20 countries such as in India, China, Thailand, and Vietnam as a significant plantation area (FAO, 1998). At the same time, more than 95% of the global production and sown to kenaf were found in China, India and Thailand (FAO, 2003). Besides, Mozambique, Taiwan, Iran, El Salvador, Gautemala, Dahomey, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria also showed important production areas for kenaf (Dempsey, 1975). Kenaf also can be found in Latin America and some other countries of Asia (Rouxlene Coeetzee, 2004).

          In Malaysia, intensive research of kenaf is highly required in order to maximize the broad applications of the kenaf plant in fibre board, bio composite materials and high protein animal feed production, especially the kenaf seed. The compositions of kenaf seed oil, kenaf seed cake and their antioxidant activity have been reported by different authors (Chan & Maznah, 2009; Mohamed, Bhardwaj, Hamama, & Webber, 1995; Webber, Bhardwaj, & Bledsoe, 2002). Moreover, Malaysian government is concerned to develop kenaf as the fourth industrial crop in nation to attain agricultural diversification.  Research on kenaf production in Malaysia was commenced in the early of 2000. The first kenaf seed production was accomplished in Serdang, Selangor according to MARDI (2005).

          Physically, kenaf seeds are relatively small, dark brown or black in colour and triangular in shape. Kenaf seeds contain alpha-linolenic acid, phytosterol such as sitosterol vitamin E and antioxidants with chemo preventive properties. An intensive review of the hibiscus family showed that the bark and core had a strong antitumoral cell avtivity. Kenaf seed has been reported as a good source for edible oil and flour for cooking. However, kenaf seed were usually wasted by the industry as an agricultural waste or animal feed . Thus, intensive research of kenaf plant is necessary in order to maximize its usage. Apart from that, kenaf core fibres and bast involve 65% and 35% respectively of the fibrous part of the entire kenaf plant. On the other hand, for kenaf bast fibres, when the pulping process occurs, a measure of pulp damage showed a highly sensitive to the conditions.

          Kenaf seed varies in size. The number of seeds per kilo gram in most cultivated varieties varies from 36,000 to 40,000 seeds according to Dampsey. Nevertheless, the content per kilogram may reach to 100,000 seeds and more in some African varieties. The average number of seeds per kilogram is about 60,000 based on Boulanjer. The chemical characteristics of the seed are almost same with cotton. However, linolenic acid and lack of gossipol was found in kenaf seed when compared with cotton. The kenaf seed easily loses its germinability due to its high oil content.



   

Kenaf seed

Kenaf plant

Kenaf: Grow it, Recycle It!

More information of kenaf:

http://ccgconsultinginc.com/kenaf.aspx

Happy Dragon Year



Happy Dragon Year ^^

            

          Actually Chinese New Year has a great history. In other traditions, by this time in the year, most resolutions have been easily forgotten and placed in a cupboard marked as "maybe next year." The origin of the Chinese New Year is itself centuries old-in fact, too old to actually be traced. It is popularly recognized as the Spring Festival and celebrations last 15 days. Preparations will tend to begin a month from the date of the Chinese New Year. During this period, people will start buying presents, decoration materials, clothing and some biscuit.  Moreover, a huge clean-up gets underway days before the Chinese New Year. The houses are cleaned from top to bottom, to sweep away any traces of bad luck, a red colour coat of painting will apply on the doors and windowpanes. Apart from that, the doors and windows will be decorated with some colourful paper cuts and couplets with themes such as happiness, longevity and others.

           Well, Chinese New Year eve perhaps is the most exciting part of the event, as anticipation creeps in. Here, traditions and rituals are very carefully observed in everything from food to clothing.  Dinner is usually a feast of seafood and dumplings, signifying different good wishes. Delicacies include prawns which symbol as liveliness and happiness's, dried oysters symbol as all things are good, Yu sheng is to bring good luck and prosperity, dumplings boiled in water also signifying a long last good wish for a family. In addition, we are normally wear something red as this colour is meant to ward off evil spirits. After finished our reunion dinner, our family will always sit up for the night playing cards, board games or watching TV programmes dedicated to the occasion. At midnight, the sky is lit up a lot of colourful fireworks.

          Traditionally, the origins of the Chinese New Year Festival can be trace back thousands of years through a continually evolving series of colourful legends and traditions. One of the most famous legends is that of the loin-like monster's name was Nian (年) which is also the Chinese word for "year". Furthermore, the stories also all included a wise old man who guidance the villagers to defend against the evil Nian by making loud noises with drums and firecrackers, hanging red paper couplets are posted on doors. This is because for some reason, the Nian is scared of the colour red. The villagers took the old man's advice and the Nian was conquered. Therefore, during anniversary of the date, the Chinese recognized the "passing of the Nian" known in Chinese as "guo nian", which is also synonymous with celebrating the new year.

          Sky lamp Chinese lantern, also called as Kongming Lantern, it is a air bone paper lanterns that can be tradition found in some Asian cultures. They are made up from oiled rich paper on a bamboo frame and inside contain either a small candle or fuel cell composed of a waxy flammable material. The air inside the lantern will be lit up and thus lowering its density causing the lantern to rise into the air. The sky lantern is only airborne for as long as the flame stays alight, after which the lantern sinks back to the ground. Traditionally, the Kongming lantern was the first hot air balloon, said to be invented by the Chinese sage and military strategist Zhuge Liang, whose reverent term of address was Kongming.



开心乐龙龙

Sky lamp Chinese lantern

Lion dance



Lion dance at my grandpa house ^^







 Chinese New Year Song by My Astro DJ:

Nice^^



      开心乐龙龙

Can view traditionional chinese new year at:

http://www.history.com/topics/chinese-new-year

Sam Poh Tong Oriental Garden, Ipoh

Sam Poh Tong Oriental Garden, Ipoh



          Sam Poh Tong, discovered in 1912, is a Chinese Buddhist temple within a natural limestone hill which was located in Ipoh. It is located at Gunung Rapat are when you drive along Jalan Gopeng heading towards Simpang Pulai. Chinese Temple on your left on the limestone hill right after the Petronas pump station. The history of this cave goes that the cave was discoverd by a Buddhist monk from China and that he lived there until his death 20 years later. After that, construction of the temple is said to date from 1912 although the current facade was added in 1950. Sam Poh Tong can be known as the Cave Triple Gerems but there does not appear to be any rather than actual jewels.




          It is also known as the biggest cave temple in Malaysia. Moreover, the temple's compound contain a crematorium and columbarium. Sam Poh Tong's columbarium looks like 4 storey blue in colour of apartment block. This area was pack during Ching Ming when relatives pay respects to their ancestors, burning paper which are use for the dead in the next world such as fake money, cars house, and others.




          There is a very attractively landscaped garden designed around a large fish pond in front of the temple. Islands on the pond are embellished with artificial rock formations perhaps shaped to resemble the Huang Shan mountains of China. Japanese stone lanterns and pagodas add to the beauty of the garden.  An information board also notes that it was awarded Best Landscaped Garden in Malaysia in 1993. Beyond the altar is a passage way to secluded garden containing the tortoise pond. There is also a pond with a lot of tortoises which symbol as longevity where visitors can feed with stalks of vegetable. Meanwhile, there are really big-size tortoises available at there. It's amazing to see how fierce they can be when fighting for food.



The main entrance to Sam Poh Tong




Wow~ A Shaolin Temple





Tortoise Pond



Mysterious of Bitter Gourd ???

Mysterious of Bitter Gourd ???

          The shape of bitter gourd just looks like a cucumber but with ugly gourd-like bumps all over it. As the name implies, this vegetable is one type of melon with bitter taste. There are 2 varieties of this vegetable which are one grows to about 20cm long, with oblong and pale green in colour. Another one is the smaller variety, less than 10cm long, with oval and has a darker green colour. However, both varieties have seeds that are white in colour when unripe and that turn red colour when they are ripe. They are even more bitter when the bitter gourd turn reddish-orange. Botanically it belongs to the family of Cucurbitaceous. Its genus is belong to Momordica and is a member of the same family of watermelon, cucumber, squash and other.

          Traditionally, bitter gourd is one of the most popular vegetables in China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand and India. The plant is grown mainly for the immature fruits although the young leaves and tips are edible. The hard skin of bitter gourd seed require either warm or moist soil conditions during germination. It may take a long time to germinate if the soil temperature is too low. Bitter gourd is a long season, high humidity and warm-climate vine plant and needs to grow along supports. On the other hand, it may take notes that bitter gourd needs insects to carry out the pollinating process for setting fruits. At the same time, you can done pollinating process by picking up male flowers and transferring pollens to female flowers if the insects are not available in your area. Formal flowers have a fat section between the flower and vine stem. This process should be carried out when flowering is active during daytime.



          In fact, bitter gourds are low in calories but dense with precious nutrients. It has high dietary fiber and considered as an excellence source of vitamins B1, B2, and B3, C, Magnesium, folic acid, zinc, phosphorus and manganese. Furthermore, it is rich in iron, contains twice the beta-carotene of broccoli, twice the calcium of spinach, and twice the potassium of a banana. Folate helps reduce incidence of neural tube defects in pregnant mothers when taken during early pregnancy. Subsequently, bitter gourd also contains a unique phyto-constituent that has been confirmed to have a hypoglycemic effect called charantin. Charantin increases glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis in the cells of liver, muscle and adipose tissue.There is also another insulin-like compound known as polypeptide P which have been suggested as insulin replacement in some diabetic patients.



          There are some caution tips in order to prevent excessive consumed of bitter gourd. PLEASE do not consume more than 2 ounces of bitter gourd or more than 2 bitter gourd per day. Excessive consumption of bitter gourd may cause mild abdominal pain and diarrhea. Diabetics taking hypoglycenmic drugs will need to alter the dosage of their drugs if they consume bitter gourd on a regular basis. Lastly, pregnant women should avoid taking excessive bitter gourd as it may stimulate the uterus that may lead to preterm labour.

Unripe bitter gourd



Smaller variety of bitter gourd



Long shape bitter gourd

Bitter melon/ bitter guord:

 

Bitter gourd:

http://www.webindia123.com/garden/vegie/bittergourd.htm

Wonderful Bukit Jalil Park

Wonderful Bukit Jalil Park

          In the evening, I was gone to Bukit Jalil Park with my family. Times spent with family are precious. Cherish every single moment before Chinese New Year comes! Moreover, this park is the best place with a good impression to feel the fresh air and green surroundings with mist and ray of light. Meanwhile, this is also a good place to do routine workout such as jogging, stroll over the lake and jungle.

Jogging can make us to become:

ü  Better health condition, physical and mental pleasures.

ü  To overcome digestive problems.

ü  Neutralize depression.

ü  Increasing capacity to work and lead to active life.

ü  Overcome obesity.

Environment of Bukit Jalil:

View bukit jalil park at:

1). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q92CtDwgWx0



What is Insomnia? What Causes Insomnia?


What is Insomnia? What Causes Insomnia?

          Insomnia, from the Latin "in" (not) and "somnus" (sleep), is a condition characterized by difficulty failing asleep, remaining asleep, or both. As a result, it may includes a broad spectrum of sleep disorders, from lack of quantity of sleep to lack of quality to sleep. Thus, they may not feel refreshed when wake up. Insomnia can be characterized into few types. Primary insomnia occurs when a person is having sleep problems that are not directly associated with any other health conditions or problem. Secondary insomnia occurs when a person is having sleep problems because of asthma, depression, cancer, heart burn and other health conditions. Furthermore, Insomnia can be also either acute (short term) or chronic (ongoing). Acute Insomnia is common and brought on by situations such as stress at work, family pressures, or a traumatic event. Insomnia is called chronic when a person has insomnia at lest 3 nights a week for a month or longer.

          Insomnia can be affected by a host of different reasons such as:

• Withdrawal from drug, alcohol, sedative or stimulant medications.
• Disruptions in circadian rhythm such as jet lag, job shift changes, high altitudes, noisiness, hotness or coldness.
• Psychological issues included stress, anxiety, exam preparation, divorce and so on.
• Medical conditions like Parkinson's Alzheimer's diseases, arthritis, angina, asleep apnoea, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
• Hormones included oestrogen and hormones changes during menstruation.
• Other factors included genetic conditions, pregnancy, snoring partner and others.

          Symptoms of insomnia can include:

• Sleepiness during the day.
• General tiredness.
• Irritability.
• Problems with concentration or memory.
• Being uncoordinated, an increase in errors or accidents.
• Difficulty socializing .
• Gastrointestinal symptoms.
• Awakening earlier than desired.

          Consequently, sleep research has led to major advances in the treatment. They suggest that medication be used at last option when other treatments have been used. Non-medicine treatment options include physical relaxation, mental relaxation  and other techniques. If you worried about falling asleep, certain muscle in your body become more tense and painful which will disrupt your sleeping times.  Therefore, physical relaxation technique will be useful. Apart from that, stress and worry about not being to fall asleep are always the main point of insomnia. Many people have found that mental relaxation technique can relieve insomnia and therefore sleep better. While other relaxation technique you may try such as do yoga , exercise, listening to music therapy's such as guided imagery, listening to music while lying in a relaxed position, massage and others.

Insomnia

Doing Yoga

Exercise

Sleep Treatment:







Secrets of Sushi ???

Secrets of Sushi ???

When most people hear the word, "Sushi", they will straight away think of raw fish. . Indeed, dishes made from raw fish are known as "Shashimi". In truth, sushi is any dish made with vinegar rice, which either may or may not include raw fish. Sushi always contain a variety of fresh shellfish such as crab, prawn, lobster, and different types of ingredients wrapped tightly inside the sticky vinegar rice. Although nowadays sushi served most often in a Japanese restaurant, but it actually dates back to 7th century China. Traditionally, Chinese people started making sushi without modern day refrigerators by using a natural process of fermentation in order to preserve the fish. Only rice and salt were needed to complete sushi-making process. The result was delicious fish, causing Sushi to grow in popularity. 

In the 1800s, a process that involved pressing fish in between layers of salt and leaving it for months to ferment in order to make sushi. This process is known as narezushi, or “edomaezushi”, which is still used in some restaurants in Japan.  The name narezushi was originally called “Edomae” and shortened to Edo. Actually this name translates to “in front of Edo” which is a reference to fish caught in front of Edo city. However, there is a big different sushi eaten today compared to last time because Edo was first formed in a ball of rice with slice of the fish. When it came time to eat narezushi, the rice ball was thrown out and only the fish eaten. Today, narezushi is very difficult to find outside of Japan in that it has a unique taste not usually appreciated by Westerners. 

Overtime, sushi became a popular food choice during Japanese and Chinese cultures crossed period. Throughout this period, various types of sushi were sold at everywhere. Since the precess in making sushi was very easy and quick to make, it become a staple for most households in the 19th century to accommodate the busy lifestyles of the Japanese people. In addition, sushi was also sold as a snack lunch like the popcorn sold in today's theatres. Eventually, the way in which sushi was made was affected by a food shortage in Japan.  Rather than throw the rice out, it was now eaten along with the fish. On the other hand, the sushi also had a slightly sour taste when the fermentation precess was shortened, which people love to eat. As people began experimenting, they discovered that by making the rice with a little vinegar the same sour taste was produced and better yet, the fermentation time was dramatically reduced to one or two days. 



Nowadays, the popularity of sushi is greater now than ever. Some people are much more concern with their health and enjoy the fact that sushi is low fat, loaded with nutrients, easy and quick to make it.
What began as a means of preserving fish has turned into a multi-billion dollar industry with thousands upon thousands of sushi restaurants dotting the country.  If you have never eaten sushi, you will probably be surprised at how delicious it is.  Sushi has a nice, light taste that leaves you satisfied.

Yummy sushi ^^

Sushi

Tasty  :)

Easy Homemade Sushi Rolls :

Japanese sushi:

http://gojapan.about.com/cs/sushilinks1/a/sushi1.htm