A moment in time

What is that?

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 22:27:06 GMT

That little red seed is called Saga Seed, from the saga tree.It's non edible but kids used to collect these to play with during my childhood. This little one is from my younger son's collection which has been 'hijacked' by me!! there's 2 bottles of them sitting in the living room collecting dust at the moment.....

Round Robin Photo Challenge

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:45:46 GMT

The Round Robin Photo challenge theme this week was selected by "Letting Crazy Take A Spin"

"Anything veggie related. Veggies can be so interesting."

After looking at the veggies that I bought weekly, I decided to post pictures of the vege that I don't eat but cooked regularly for my husband. He just love this vege! It has a peculiar bitter taste which I hate but according to hubby , eating this vege regularly will keep the diabetes in check. The name of the vege is Bitter gourd.

Definitely an acquired taste, bitter gourd (Latin Momordica charantia) is also called Balsam pear or bitter melon. Young immature bitter gourds are the best for cooking: the skin is bright green in color, the flesh inside is white, and the seeds are small and tender. The vegetable is ridged, and the skin is pebbly in texture. Do not use mature bitter gourds, and do not eat bitter gourd if you are pregnant or nursing.

Bitter gourd contains vitamin A, B1, B2, and C. It also contains minerals like calcium, phosphorous, iron, copper and potassium. From the ayurvedic perspective, bitter gourd is excellent for balancing Kapha. It helps purify blood tissue, enhances digestion, and stimulates the liver.

To prepare bitter gourd for cooking, wash thoroughly, then cut in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a sharp spoon or corer and discard. Cut or slice as called for in your recipe, and blanch for 3-4 minutes in boiling water to which a little salt has been added. Drain. Or stir fry with little oil, sauteeing slices of onion, garlic, chillies with just a little bit of salt.

JLand Photo Shoot #127

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 07:06:36 GMT

This week's JLand Photo Shoot will begin today (Monday) and is due on Saturday, Feb. 2, at 11 PM EST. Our subject this week is:

Old

You may interpret this any way you like. Suggestions: trees, people, antiques, etc.

Here's my entry, an OLD and rusty lock, not sure if it's still can be used.

Round Robin Challenge - Landmark

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:13:39 GMT

My first choice would be The Raffles Hotel, since this hotel is well known all over the world and had been around for decades.

Declared a National Monument in 1987, the hotel has grown from strength to strength. With its restoration and reopening in 1991, Raffles Hotel today stands as a jewel in the crown of Singapore's hospitality industry, renowned and loved for its inimitable style and unsurpassed excellence in service and facilities.

In multicultural Singapore it is not surprising that the visionary founders of Raffles Hotel were a quartet of enterprising Armenian brothers: Martin, Tigran, Aviet and Arshak Sarkies.

Raffles Hotel opened in 1887 in a rather sombre-looking old bungalow known as the Beach House. It was named after Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore. Topical suites and sola topis were as much a part of Raffles Hotel's early style as bentwood tables and rattan chairs. Over the years the hotel has evolved into one of the world's most beloved grand hotels and welcomed innumerable celebrities, writers and royalty.

And right next to it is the Swissôtel The Stamford , at 226 metres with 73 floors, is the tallest hotelin Singapore and the sixth tallest hotel in the world. The hotel is also the seventh tallest building in Singapore. It is located within the Raffles City complex and with 1,263 rooms it also has the most of any hotel in Singapore.

Opening in 1986 as the Westin Stamford, it was then the tallest hotel in the world. It was refurbished in 2001 together with its sister hotel, Fairmont Singapore (formerly Raffles The Plaza), located within the same complex. On January 1, 2002 the two sister hotels were renamed due to a change of management. The hotels were previously managed by Starwood Hotels and Resorts, but are now operated by Raffles International. Recently in 2006, the service area of the hotel was converted into a retail area of fifty additional shops in Raffles City, known as the Raffles Marketplace.

Photo Friday: The Machine

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 11:27:41 GMT

This is my submission to the Photo Friday online challenge,( http://www.photofriday.com/) This flying machine needed to be serviced by the professionals first at the airport, photo taken behind a glass enclosure, the tarmac is restricted area to the public.

The tiny Island of Singapore

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 07:16:17 GMT

Reading the comments from my visitors here, I realised that I should have made an introduction of where I come from. The tiny island called Singapore, that's where I'm from. It's in Asia, just south of Malaysia with Indonesia, Philipine, Thailand among it's nearby neighbour. Even though it's officially an island, we're pratically a whole city by itself. Very modern with constance changing of rebuilding or refurbished., nothing iddylic or laid back like it used to many many years ago.

Read here to find out more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore

Let me just show you some of my country in digital print, as not to bore you too much.

Spore by the river

that's our icon, the merlion

the old colonial building used as City Hall and courtrooms for years has now been undergoing renovations into a musium.

the quiet beach at Changi

Since land's limited here, almost 70% stayed in high rise apartments like this.

along the Singapore River at night

Singapore is well known for it's melting pot of all kind of food available , being a multi racial country with many visitors and permit-holders workers from all over the world.

I'm not much of a writer, and basically is a quiet and reserved person. So most entry posted here will be in photographs. You know what they say, a picture says a thousand words!

Black and White

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 07:18:27 GMT

My virgin post here....

Came across this photo challenge while googling :

http://journals.aol.com/fisherkristina/SometimesIThink/entries/2008/01/21/jland-photo-shoot-126/1508

Here's my take:

A black with some white on it's feather sitting on a white bamboo pole. The poles are used to hang out the laundry, from the kitchen's window. We're in a sunny island with only one season, and the best way of drying the laundry is under the hot sun! no need to waste money to use electricity for the dryer, unless ofcourse when it rained! Most of us stayed in apartments, since land is scarce here.