About Coffee - information you need to 'smoke' your way in cafe

There are basically two types of coffee bean

Arabica - grown at higher altitude, lower caffeine, more acidity, more expensive.
Robusta - grown at lower altitude, higher caffeine, more bitter and full bodied, cheaper.
'Blend' - When you see the word blend, it usually means that the coffee powder is made of both types of coffee bean.

Different types of preparations

There are 3 main types of making coffee:
plunger - coffee powder is soaked and pour off with a filter.


drip - coffee is placed on the filter and hot water is poured, - coffee drips.



espresso- hot water forced under pressure through finely grounded coffee.

What's in the menu?

Espresso - simply a shot ( small cup ) of espresso.

Americano - espresso with hot water, or simply diluted espresso.

Macchiato (Italian word for marked) - espresso with a teaspoon of milk (not steamed milk though) and a smalll 'spot' of foam.

Cappuccino - 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk, 1/3 froth.

Cafe Latte ( Latte -Italian word for milk) - 1/3 espresson, about 1cm of froth, about 2/3 ( steamed milk)

Cafe Au Liat (Au Liat - French for with milk) - similar to latte.

Mocha - latte ( 1/3 espresso, 2/3 steamed milk) with a chocolate syrup.

In Australia or New Zealand, it is common to see descriptions such as flat white, long black.

Long Black - double shot of espresso with hot water. Stronger version of Americano.

Flat White - rather similar to latte but usually does not hold froth. 1/3 espresso, 2/3 steamed milk)

Frappuccino - a registered trademark of Starbucks. (frappé in italian means milkshake) . Usuall refers to ice blended beverage. Coffee bean and Tea leaf also have their series of ice blended drink.


There are of course tons of permutation , some with local flavours - moccaccino, teh-cinno, milo-cinno ...

Describing your coffee drink

There are times when you need to describe your coffee drink. Here is the 2As and 1B guide in describing your coffee:

Acidity - A tart, tangy taste experienced mainly on the tip and side of the tongue. Acids in the coffee combines with the sugar your have added to create this kind of sweetness. It should be refreshing; if not, you can describe it as sour.

Aroma -Smell of the coffee. When it lacks aroma, due to insufficient roast, you can describe it as beany.

Body - thickness, heaviness, richness of a coffee. Bitter - Tasted at the back of your tongue. Dark roast coffee are intentionally bitter. But over extraction can cause bitterness too.

Blading at East Coast

Some scene at East Coast on a weekend.

Are you water smart?

Do you know that there are life saving course available? and you don't need to be a good swimmer or aspire to be a lifeguard to take up the course. It equips one with basic skills on water safety. Let's face it - accidents do happen. But accidents , to a certain extent, can be prevented. Parents, outdoor instructors, teachers ... should give it a shot. ( even if you only know the theory, it can be useful.)

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Rainy Day and DECT phone

The picture above was taken on the way back from East Coast. Have wasted a trip. Didn't windsurf because it was raining, and more crucially and excruciatingly , the wind was pathetically weak.

Actually had a chance to go yesterday, but have postponed the trip till today, hoping that the weather would improve - an obvious mistake - yesterday was better.

Lesson learnt : We are at the mercy of the weather and nature. Look at the Asian Tsunamis, Katrina, the JB flood ... time and tide (and weather) wait for no man - should have been there yesterday, ouch . But that would be impossible to predict - And, the weather forecast sucks!

Anyway, I am counting my blessings. Ended up shopping, have some retail therapy - bought an olive oil Loccitane cake soap to soften the pain ( and soften my skin, literally); and a DECT phone.

Have tried it and the result is amazingly better than the convectional cordless phone ( range about 100m for good models, my old phone was worse: I couldn't get a good signal from my bedroom). I can now talk over the phone at the bedroom, kitchen ... The box claims that the DECT phone's range is 300m.

Information on DECT phone and radio frequency in common households:

• DECT stands for digitally enhanced cordless telecommunications. It uses frequency of 1.9GHz
• Convectional Cordless phone uses frequency of 0.9 GHz, 2.4 GHz, 5.8GHz.
• WiFi, or WLAN: 802.11a uses 5.0 GHz, 802.11g uses 2.4 GHz
  
• Bluetooth uses 2.45 GHz.
• VHF ( very high frequency for FM radio and TV) uses 0.03 GHz to 0.3 GHz.
• UHF ( ultra high frequency for TV) uses 0.3 GHz to 3 GHz.
• GSM phones 0.9 GHz to 1.8 GHz ( more commonly 900MHz or 1800 MHz)
  

Swimming Pools in Singapore

The latest addition to public swimming pool by Singapore Sports Council (SSC) is the Jurong West Aquatic Centre:

It overlooks Nanyang Technological University.




Here is a list of public pool by SSC:

Pools with slide and lazy river:
Jurong East
Jurong West (newest)
Choa Chu Kang

Others:
Ang Mo Kio
Bedok
Bishan
Bukit Batok
Buona Vista
Clementi
Delta
Geylang East
Jalan Besar
Hougang
Kallang Basin
Katong
Queenstown ( the oldest operating swimming pool, opened in 1970)
School Of Physical Education (SPE)
Serangoon
Tampines
Toa Payoh
Woodlands
Yio Chu Kang
Yishun

Pools which have closed down (as far as I can remember)
Farrer Park
River Valley
Teban Garden
Boon Lay
Taman Jurong
Yan Kit

Yan Kit, located near Tanjong Pagar, is the oldest swimming pool in Singapore after independence ; it opened in 1952, closed in 2001. (There are no specific record on Mount Emily Swimming Complex, supposedly the oldest swimming pool - opened around 1930s , demolished in 1983)

Yan Kit

After looking at the pools in the old days, let's explore the new, 'in' pools around Singapore

Infinity Pool
The 'in' thing now is the infinity pool. Lots of beach resorts design their pool this way. Wikipedia defines infinity pool as : a swimming pool which produces a visual effect of the water extending to the horizon or to "infinity". Example of infinity pool - the outdoor pool at Fullerton hotel:

Glass pool
This is a rooftop, glass pool at the condominium, Paterson Edge, near Orchard. This district 09 condominium is for the expatriates - rent ? from $4000 per month!

Unity Scouts CCA Openhouse.

Been back to my previous school for the CCA openhouse. Superb to be back to see the scouts again. They are a reminder of my reason in education - and the strength to continue in it.

Changes are always difficult and usually inevitable, and as a saying goes " the only person crying for a change is a baby with a dirty diaper." Well ... it's a difficult challenge to go onto a JC and study part-time. It's a difficult decision, but it is a right decision, for the long run - I hope.

I hope I can go back to help out as often as I wish too.

It's also wonderful to meet up with the old students and colleagues.

I'm also glad that every year, the pioneering structures are growing bigger, more fun and more interesting - impressive!

Jerome and Stephen demonstrating lighting a pressure lamp, something till this day, I am not confident to do it successfully myself. Apparently this retro item attracted quite a bit of crowd from the youngsters.

New School

This is the new school I have been posted too - ACJC. A bit of culture difference, hope I can adapt fast. JC 1 students are just posted in as well. Saw some of my ex-students from Unity. Wonder to see familiar faces. Well, new year, new challenges ...

Below is the much coveted swimming pool and the gym. Pop by there before, but doubt I would have any chance to use it. Don't think the teachers in AC have much of an exercise culture; the shopping culture is pretty obvious though, especially after the end of the year sales.


AC is building a new performing art centre. Should be completed by July this year.

Happy New Year

It is a New Year again, how time flies!

I am glad I have spent the first day of new year at East Coast - where there is sun, sea, sand. It is a pity so does a lot of people. The entire stretch is filled with people!

Cycle to the far end of east coast and wow - there is the National Sailing Centre, a place where Singapore trains our young medal-winning sailors. How time flies; it has been some time back when I took up basic sailing course here.

So here is wishing everybody and myself 一帆风顺 in the coming year. There is a wonderful philosophy about sailing ( and windsurfing as well) - you cannot change the direction of the wind, but you can control your sail.

Also as the all famous Serenity Prayer goes:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

It is so true that world around us is changing so fast, sometimes overwhelmingly fast and unexpected, that it drags us along in its current. In cases like these, a very apt metaphor here will be to flow like water. It flows through the terrain; it seeks the path of least resistance ; It does not compete; Yet, there is nothing stronger - Water erodes the hardest rocks. This seemingly ironic state-of-surrender-and-yet-get-things-done scenerio is describe in:

Then one does nothing, yet nothing is left undone.
One who wins the world does so by not meddling with it. (TaoTehChing 48)

Or simply put Surrender and Grace.

Ok, after philosophying for so much. Let us rejoice at the development of the East Coast. The picture below is Singapore's very first cable ski. Let's hope more of such developmental projects are on its way. It provides more fun for Singaporeans and also attracts more tourists.