Cafe Haiku

Come across this book from National Library, these are a few of them:

1.

Enjoy this moment.

No matter how still we sit,

time passes quickly

2.

Slowly savor sips.

Enjoy as you empty cup.

Life is delicious.

3.

No refills in you.

Thrown away, stepped on, crushed.

Must it end this way?

A Moment - have you tasted your coffee this morning?

Every morning I wake up, I will quickly prepare my coffee and drink it with a gulp.  That is my daily caffeine boost.  This has become so routine that most of the time, I fail to enjoy the smell of it, and actually taste it.  

Life is such a rush now that we do things like flowing with the ebb of tides, but seldom stop to appreciate what life has to offer. Even breakfast with colleagues in school has mostly been reduced to filling in the stomach for day , or filled with petty talks and gossips . . .   So next time before you ask your friends, have you drank your coffee this morning? Ask them instead, have you tasted your coffee this morning? 

So here I present to you a few suggestions to cherish the moment, to slow down  and stop for a while. All of us deserve some rest.

1.  One way to stop is to - STOP - and see other people rushing by.  I catch a 20 min morning coffee on my way to a course.   The nice thing about being a teacher is that during the holidays, we get to find opportunities to go to town in the morning and see the morning rush, and enjoy a nice slow breakfast to see the world go by.

2.  Appreciate subtlety.  A good frothed latte always impedes the sugar sinking into the coffee.  Add the sugar little by little and see them sloowwwlly siinnkkingg.  Alternatively, you can try to drink black coffee without sugar.  Then, you can taste the originality of the coffee.

Of course, this pic has nothing to do with coffee. I took this some time back when I occasionally pamper myself with sinful food.  Note the distinct layers: crisp skin on top, follow by a thin layer of fats, then the meat , and then the ... you know what I mean.

3.  Add some sweetness to your life.  Then hit the gym and running track.  Ha Ha.  It is not the amount of sweets you take, but amount of sweets you have enjoyed.  Take some time to enjoy some desserts ( literally and figuratively ) in life.   

Common Misconceptions about Cholesterol

Took this pic on the way to the MRT.  Thought it is good that share something about Cholesterol.

Do you know:

1. Your food intake of cholesterol is about 300 mg daily, but your liver produces about 800 mg.    This means that your body produces more cholesterol than your food intake, therefore in addition to cutting down on food with high cholesterol, you need to exercise to control the about of cholesterol production by your body.  
2. Although there food are claimed to lower cholesterol , there is no such thing as taking in food with good cholesterol.  All cholesterol taken in are BAD cholesterol.
3. Cholesterol comes from mostly from animal product ( cholesterol from plant are negligible compare to animal product). So

• If you fried french fries with peanut oil, technically, the food is cholesterol free! BUT, we all know the amount of fats and calories it has.  0 cholesterol doesn't mean 0 fats
• Peanut oil , olive oil ... has 0 cholesterol.  Of course! they come from plants.  But fats are still fats.
• Vegetarians ( if they don't take in milk or cheese which are from animal ) has 0 cholesterol intake.  But they do have high cholesterol.  Remember your body produces much more cholesterol than our food intake.  

Disclaimer:  I'm not a dietitian; these are information I gathered  from the internet.  Do pop a message if the information is not correct.

Little things about Litter

If you want to know how civilized a society is, look at the floor on the street.  The photo below is a grass patch taken just beside a bus stop.  You click on the photo to enlarge it; count the number of cigarette butts littered on this small patch!

Singapore is not yet a FINE country.  (Pun intended) .  My goodness - Singapore has a first world economy but a third world civility!  Some common happenings to ruin your day include:

1. Uncles ( and aunties) still smoking at the section of coffee shops with No Smoking signs clearly displayed; 
   
2. passengers in the bus refusing to move to the rear ( staring at them obviously doesn't help, neither is calling at them); 
   
3. teens blasting their MP3 / mobile phone players ...  

The Singapore government seems to have changed their approach. Fining obviously doesn't help much. Honestly speaking, asking police to catch such petty stuff is an insult to their occupation.  So we resort to the softer approach. Liking putting up signs encouraging people to move to the rear of the bus, asking people in MRT to give up seats to elderly and pregnant ladies . . . and of course by having more dustbin, like this:

A matured society is not one where people obey laws and regulations; but behave so even without having them. I am not sure what else we can do?  For what we have done, it seems like we are taking big steps with very small progress.

On another note...

After being to a number of schools, I realize that to get an indication of how good a school - you look at the canteen during recess.  By looking at whether the students queue properly at the stalls, the noise level, the cleanliness of the canteen after recess etc. we can have a pretty good idea about the school

I'm speechless

I don't know what to think or react.  This picture speaks for itself

Pulau Redang 2008

Some much for patriotism. I actually , like many Singaporean, taking the rare opportunity of having a long weekend, take a trip to Malaysia, Pulau Redang.

Come to think of it. It has been 6 years since I lasted visited the place. I remember clearing my NS off to go there, just before formally join the teaching service. Now ...

This is the simple resort which I stayed. Really nice place, simple and quiet, with diving facilities. Clocked a few dives during the stay. Wonderful. Redang never fail to amaze me. The marine life is still as superb.

For those who are looking for more bustle of a beach life, you can go to Laguna. It is more touristy, more ang moh ... more posh, and of course more expensive. Here are some pics of Laguna.

Took the picture below when I was relaxing, eating Ice Kacang at a simple shop at the main stretch of Redang beach. I must say the ice kacang there tastes better than the ones in Singapore. I've also tried the ice kacang at the Laguna - twice the price, half the flavour.

Sun, Sea, Sand

Hammock and Ice Kacang

( or coconut)

This is what I call Island Living.

Catch Red 'beak'

Caught in the act. A mynah stealing food from our school's yong tau foo stall.