Simple tricks to show you are smart

Another good tips from Woman's Day magazine. Click to enlarge the picture.

Banana Pancakes

You may think I am on a crazy cooking spree or something but it is not. It just happened that I have an almost full bag of flour left from my last cooking disaster and therefore I was thinking what can I use it for. So since I have eggs, check, milk, check, vanilla essence, check, I decided to do some pancakes as breakfast yesterday.

And we have some overripe bananas and rather than let them rot, I decided to mash them up and add them to my pancake mix.

It is actually quite economical to do it, all these ingredients doesn't cost me much and for a batter mix of 1.5 cups of flour plus 1.25 cups of milk plus other minimal ingredients, I was able to produce pancakes enough to feed 4 adults and each having at least 4-6 pancakes each.

I must say however my pancakes are not perfect, it smell like banana when you are cooking it but it doesn't has a strong banana taste when you are eating it. Also my pancake doesn't really look like pancake to be honest, the texture wasn't the same as those fluffy pancakes you have at McD. But that's ok, at least we fill our stomach for 1 meal and no one complained about stomachache after eating them haha.

And in the late afternoon, while waiting for dinner which won't happen for at least another 2 hours, I decided to 'bake' a potato in the microwave and it turned out quite well, though some fine tuning is still required in order to perfect it.

Freebies

It is really kinda cool working right smack in the business district.

Why do I say that? Cos everyday there are lots of vendors giving away freebies to promote their products.

Just yesterday, they were distributing some female magazine and today it was like wild!

Let me tell you what was available today. There were :

- Free Starbucks coffee

- Free chips

- Free toothpaste (You can grab your free lunch and even clean up after that)

- Free contact lens

- And as usual, tons of free leaflets

I will really miss these when I move out from here. Damn, the high rental!

Sydney Airport brawl

I wonder what was the airport police doing while a man was beaten to death during a brawl at Sydney Airport? The busiest airport in Australia?

Molten Lava Cake

I was trying to 'bake' this Molten Lava Cake over the weekend and it went baddddd...it doesn't look at it because my guess is I burnt the chocolate.

Just in case you wonder why it looks wet, it is because this is a microwave recipe not bake therefore even though it is cook, there are a lot of wet spots...and the color is dark brown though it looks like black.

The cake itself is edible and taste like cake but there was no molten lava...damn sad. Anyway, I added more flour to my last batch and the result turned out to be a bit like brownie. Thank goodness, it can be salvaged.

Was going to show you all my 'baking' disaster but I accidentally deleted my photos..arrrghhh plus another photo I wanted to upload.

Helicopters

It is not even the National Day and it is not as if there are some big-shots in town but I don't know why I can hear helicopters in the city throughout this whole morning..even as I type, I can hear them in a distance and coming nearer again!

AIG

How can they on one hand seeks financial help from the government and on the other hand spend so much money on luxury retreats and outrageous bonuses? It is not surprising that Obama is angry at them, these are all taxpayers' money that could be allocated for better use.

They apparently don't need any help at all!

Why am I not surprise?

Survey shows Singapore is world’s 10th most expensive city

Singapore is one of the most expensive cities in the world, according to the latest survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which shows the city—state moving up five positions to 10th place.

This means Singapore is now Asia’s third most expensive city to live in. Claiming the top seat worldwide is Tokyo, followed by Osaka — no thanks to the stronger yen. But Asia is also home to the least expensive cities, with Manila and Mumbai near the bottom of the list.

Others include New Delhi and Kathmandu.

The Economist says the relative cost of living depends on two factors — local prices and exchange rates.

And the global economic crisis has also led to some dramatic results. Iceland’s Reykjavik was the fifth most expensive city last year. Now, using February exchange rates, it has fallen to 67th place.

Article from CNA.

Believe it or not?

Somehow saw this entry in a blog when I was accidentally went into another blog...may be God's message to me.

This entry is from David Wilkerson who predicted the 911 event in New York, he titled it "An Urgent Message".

10 most dangerous food

Kind of crappy as we all know, we eat these before and will continue to eat if we are not aware of the risks we take.

Article credit of Michelle Brunner.

1. Farmed Salmon

Tim Fitzgerald, a scientist with the Oceans Program of the Environmental Defense Fund, says, "Salmon is the third most popular seafood in the US, so people are eating a lot of it and most of what they're eating is farmed. As a result of the feed salmon are given, they are very high in PCBs and environmental contaminants. For reasons of health, the environment, and popularity with consumers, farmed salmon is at the top of the list of seafood to avoid." The average dioxin level in farmed-raised salmon is 11 times higher than that in wild salmon .

2. Conventionally Grown Bell Peppers

Even though pesticides are present in most food at very small trace levels, their negative impact on health is well documented, and certain produce carries a greater risk. According to a report done by the Environmental Working Group, sweet bell peppers are the vegetable with the most pesticides detected on a single sample (as many as 11 were found on one sample). In addition, bell peppers are the vegetable with the most pesticides overall with 64 different pesticides found on samples. Better to buy organic and eliminate this risk.

3. Non-Organic Strawberries

In order to increase sweetness, some growers of non-organic strawberries are said to irrigate the plants with water laced with the artificial sweetener NutraSweet. And that luscious red color is caused by the fungicide captan, recognized by the EPA as aprobable human carcinogen. Do you really want to eat something bathed in a chemical sweetener and doused with a likely cancer-causer? Probably not.

4. Chilean Sea Bass

Chilean sea bass, otherwise known as Patagonian toothfish, lives for a very long time and grows to a large size; both are automatic warning bells for being high in mercury. Fitzgerald says, "We have some pretty comprehensive data that Chilean sea bass are extraordinarily high in mercury and not something you want to eat very often. When you factor in the very serious environmental issues with illegal fishing and bycatch, it's definitely a double whammy for us." "That said, we don't want to give the impression that if you eat one piece of fish with mercury, you're going to get mercury poisoning. But if you continually eat fish with a lot of mercury over an extended period of time, that's when you're going to see more serious issues like unexplainable fatigue, memory problems, and tingling or numbness in your extremities," Fitzgerald says.

5. Non-Organic Peaches

Peaches aren't just juicy and delicious, they're magnets for pesticides, often topping the Organic Center's consumer's pocket guide for pesticide-riddled produce. The Center's chief scientist Charles Benbrook says, "Peaches top the list because their skins get soft at the end of their season on the tree and the last pesticide spray can move right through that skin and get into the tissue of the fruit in a matter of hours. That's why it's easy to find peaches with ten different pesticide residues in them." Benbrook adds, "The last thing that we want to do is scrooge people from eating fresh fruits and vegetables. If anything, we want people to eat two to three more servings of produce a day. But the science is irrefutable. If the average family sought out organic versions of the top four fruits and vegetables they eat the most often, they could eliminate 90% of their overall pesticide exposure."

6. Genetically Modified Corn

If you read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, one of the more shocking truths is the amount of corn found in the American diet. Corn is in everything from frozen yogurt to ketchup, from mayonnaise and mustard to hot dogs and vitamins. Unless specified as organic, the corn you're ingesting is likely genetically modified. Genetically modified organisms have not been tested thoroughly enough for long-term consequences, but a series of studies has found significant health risks in animals tested, and an increase in certain allergies for humans.

7. Bluefin Tuna

Maybe it's a good thing that not everyone has the luxury of eating a lot of toro at the sushi bar, because bluefin tuna is in grave danger from a population perspective. It's also one of the more dangerous fish for mercury consumption, making it both a bad eco choice and a health risk for mercury exposure. Fitzgerald says, "The bluefin tuna is in such horrible shape right now. There are some populations that may go commercially extinct in the near future if we don't ease up on the fishing."

8. Industrially Farmed Chicken

While there has been much debate over chickens and hormones, there exists a great deal of misinformation. Poultry is not allowed to be given hormones in the United States, so while reports have existed for years that schoolchildren are experiencing early puberty due to excess hormones traced to chicken, there have not been enough studies done to prove this conclusively . What we do know is that tests done by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy found arsenic in conventional chickens. Arsenic has been linked to cancer and contributes to other diseases including heart disease, diabetes and deterioration of mental faculties. In addition, a study conducted in 2002 for the Sierra Club and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy found multiple antibiotic-resistant bacteria in brand-name poultry products . Scientists believe antibiotic use in animals raised for food contributes to antibiotic-resistant bacteria transferred to humans, mainly through contaminated food, resulting in drug-resistant infections. In order to avoid poultry that's been dosed with antibiotics or given feed laced with arsenic, better to opt for an organic chicken at the grocery store.

9. Non-Organic Apples

"Apples come with a red flag based on the sheer amount of apples in our diet and the reliance of pesticides in humid parts of the country," says Benbrook. Apple skins contain higher pesticide residues. Higher risk apples are grown in the humid mid-Atlantic states and Michigan: They use more pesticides than California, Oregon or Washington state. A lot of those pesticides seep into the skin of the apple, so it's always good to peel it. Unfortunately, approximately 1/3 of the nutrients come off with the peel, according to Benbrook.

10. Cattle Treated With rBGH

The use of genetically engineered drug rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone) is widespread among the cattle industry in the United States. Banned by all European nations and Canada, U.S. dairy farmers continue to use the synthetic hormone which escalates production of the cow's own hormone ICF-1 (insulin-like growth factor 1). This hormone does not break down when humans consume milk from those cows and has been traced to higher risks of certain cancers, including breast cancer, and hormonal disorders. The only guarantee against ingesting these dangerous excess hormones is to buy milk labeled "no rBGH

Shrinking Economy

This picture is a good reflection of how bad the economy has become, in a funny way.

Mind Your English

If you think your English language capabilities are good, give this test a shot

http://businesswriting.com/tests/commonmisspelled.html

If you don't think your English is good, more the reason to try this test! Good luck!

Alamak

Alamak, there have been a stabbing at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University. Read it.

For a moment I was damn worried cos my friend's husband works there and he was also a lecturer and also in the Engineering faculty....much as I am sad about the situation, on the other hand, I am glad it is not friend's husband.

The Merlion

Everyone knows that the Merlion is a symbol of Singapore...but do you know due to the heavy downpours over the weekend, the Merlion was struck by lightning and in medical terms, it appears to be suffering from brain damage.

Read, if you find it interesting!

Wonder if this is a sign of some omen...faint...

Way to go...MAN UTD!

My favorite football team Man Utd added another trophy under their belt yesterday by winning 4-1 in penalty shootout against Tottenham Hotspurs...Yippeee...now 3 more trophies to go.

They now have the World Cup and the Carling Cup...looking forward to them winning the EPL, Champions League and the FA Cup!

Way to go, Man Utd!

CCOBB

If there are anyone of you who hasn't watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, do go and watch.

My friends have been asking me to watch because they said the show is good and since I supported Brad Pitt. I finally caught the show yesterday and it was well worth the $8 I paid. The thing is I never really follow Brad's movies until he ended up with Angelina Jolie and while watching the show, you can really understand why he has been voted The World Sexiest Man - twice!

The story is very touching...scenes that make me cry, scenes that make me laugh out loud.

Even my friend who watched the show with me was sniffing loudly at some of the scenes and kept saying Brad is so handsome and how Angelina handles his love scenes. I told her don't worry, I am sure Angelina is in control of that hahaha...as if I know her.

Bottomline though is we wonder why Brad didn't win any Oscar from the show because he portray the old man really well and it was so realistic...I understand it took him 5 hours everyday to makeup that face for those scenes. Some of the scenes which showed him being young, gives you a flashback to how young he was when he was in the show Joe Black and Thelma and Louise...brillant.