Friday, March 26, 2010

Earth Hour 2010


If you guys are wondering how did this global awareness campaign started, let me share you bits and pieces of what I know. In 2007 the first Earth Hour took place in Sydney, Australia. It was an idea developed by newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald and WWF. For that first ever Earth hour, 2.2 million homes and businesses in the Sydney area switched off their lights for the period of one hour. After one year Earth Hour grew from an event in one city to a global movement. Millions of people, businesses, governments and non-profit organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe turned out for Earth Hour. In 2009, Earth Hour took place in different time zones in over thousands of cities and towns, in nearly a hundred countries. Imagine how our fellow mates down under initiated one move that can change the world and make it a better place.

Augie March's "One Crowded Hour" became the song of last year Earth Hour. This Indie pop/rock band hails from Melbourne, Victoria. And apparently the bassist Edmondo Ammendola is the brother of my Aussie friend here in Saigon. All the while I thought he was his twin. But I have to laugh out loud and I realized that Edmondo is quite old to be my friend's twin. Then later on I met my dude's twin-Same same but different. I've listen to Augie March's music since July of last year. Among my favorite songs from them are: One crowded hour, Pennywhistle and There is no such place. Been following these dudes in my twitter and they've been following me as well. And that's the nice thing about twitter-- when someone you follow, follows you back!

The band Augie March

Back here on my bed at my Saigon house, I have my own little way to participate with this Earth Hour event. I just slept without the lights and aircon. I stopped using my laptop and imagined that I was in a crowded room for one hour. I can't help but remember that I was also here in Saigon during last year's Earth Hour. They also celebrate it here. How time flies, where will I be next Earth Hour? Saigon again? Or maybe in Sydney perhaps...

Thanks mates for the cool change you brought to our planet!

hugs,
joanie xxx

kaabah. buat sy tergamam. - mekah part 1



dr madinah, kami naik bas ke mekah. almost 4-5 hours. sampai mekah, sy excited sgt. wondering, d mane terletaknye kaabah nan satu itu. otw, pun bnyk bgunan bersejarah. tp sy yg x teringt. bas pun bergerak laju kan, main snap mane yg sempat je. taw x, mule nye sy ragu2 nak bwk cybershot nih, sunglass n sume yg mahal2, sbb tkot mulut tercabul, abis hilang sume. tp, sy tawakal n bnyk kali suruh diri ni bersabar, n doa bnyk2 dkt tuhan, spya sumenye ok. alhamdulilah tak de 1 brg sy pun yg hilang. huhu. ;D


masjid tanaim. tanaim - solat sunat ihram & niat umrah.
tau kan utk tiap kali buat umrah, kene ade mcm 'checkpoint' la.
x blh main niat ske hati. huhu. cam ade jarak tertentu.

ini. salah satu ape name tu... aaaa. sempadan! haaa.
sempadan tanah haram n tanah halal. bnyk jenis lg. n bnyk tmpt~

tgh traffic jam, tgh2 bandar tuh, PAP! mata sy x berkelip.
masjidil haram! besar n sgt indah. i mean cam, tataw nak ckp.
tgh sesak, berdebu, bising, tibe2 ade masjidil haram tgh2 bandar tu.
cam, woo. rase nak nangis nmpk! hoho. over excited.

then check in hotel pe sume, owh, coke!

pringles. haha.


then. kami ke masjidil haram utk umrah pertama. time tu, sy tak bwk camera.
skali tgk ramai je slumber badak snap pixca gune hp n cam dkt dlm tuh. tp, rupenye x blh.
kene pandai2 snap ble polis2 die x de. next umrah, sy bwk camera!

owh ye. pahala beribadat di masjidil haram - 100 000 kali ganda. taw kan, solat d masjid2 sgt selesa.
sbb fully air cond n kipas. masjidil haram 2 tingkat. siap ade escalator. mcm biase jgk, penuh dgn air zam2.

next umrah, selepas solat sunat tawaf, nahhh.

kaabah. dr kedudukan sy yg baru habis solat. *duduk*
jarak sy terlalu dkt dgn kaabah. dan kalau perasan, kain kaabah tu x kosong.
ada tulisan ALLAH bnyk2. ramai sgt act. time ni baru kul 8am cmtuh.

wkt lenggang sekejap saje. mcm ni lah masjidil haram. tgh2 x de atap. d ctu ade kaabah.
act, 1st time sy msk masjidil haram, borak2 dgn kaabah ttg umrah. sy tnye, mane kaabah?
tibe2... sy terpandang kaabah. diam. tergamam. Ya Allah. speechless amat sgt.
cam. cantiknye. kagumnye. ye, type ni pun bulu roma sy meremang lg. sy nangis. sebak~

next, kami melawat2 jgk.

antara sign board die.
mmg slalu ade english n arabic.

muzium masjidil haram n kaabah. limited org blh msk dlm satu mase.
n limited time jgk. x bace pun notes2 die. waaa. tgk gmbr je.

mcm ni muzium kaabah dr luar.

replika masjidil haram n kaabah.

tangga asal kaabah.

pembuatan kain kaabah. mcm kain tenun.

curtain pintu kaabah.

pintu kaabah yg lame.

replika perigi asal air zam - zam


di mekah, lagi macam2. whoaaa. bandar die berdebu, jd akan sentiase ttp hidung everytime jln esp siang. sbb keliling bandar n kaabah penuh construction. sgt penuh. hotel2 besar lg mungkin. tmbh plak dgn bentuk muka bumi yg mmg kering, lg berdebu taw. so kdng cam jln g masjid pon pakai sunglass n topeng. ngeh3... burung merpati merata - rata. sy slalu doa jgnlah taik burung terkena sy. tskkk... taw x, mula2 sy tkot sgt nak g mekah. sy nak tp takot. takot terbakar ke ape, sbb bnyk sgt dosa. wawawa. tp, dr few weeks b4 g, sy da doa bnyk2, mcm ckp dgn tuhan dlm hati, sy nak gi niat sy nak ibadat. n n, tlg lah selmtkan perjalanan g blk. tlglah... bnyk bnde sy mintak. alhamdulilah semuanye selamat wlpun bnyk sgt bnde kene bersabar. ;)

owhh. sy kene rabe d sane. grrr~ time ramai org, tah laki mane lalu, rabe pnggung sy. time tu pakai bju kurung n tdung biase. trus mama ckp, pakai je telekung 24 hours. sabar je lah. hurm. owh ye, tgk 2 pringles n 2 coke tuh, sy beli tu je kene RM20. mahal kan? die ketuk harge. abah tnye bape harge each of them, die x jwb. hurmmm... geram jgk. tp more to geram sbb dkt mekah pun nak menipu taw! ishhh. keluar je dr kwsn masjid, penuh sampah. tahlaa. mereka buang sampah merate - rate. geram btol! jagelah btol2 kwsan bandar die org. bandar yg ade kaabah tuh. hurmm. and jap lg, tgh jln nak blk hotel ke, dr masjid dgn telekung ni, die org jln2, terus batuk n terus ludah or muntah je. tahan je la, pk Allah je... ;(

next part 2 ;)



What kind of magic...?


There are sometime that you're going to a place, and is a special ocassion... so you want to make some magic. That's what happened to Laia and I at Florence's concert... so I tried a little jester look with black, white and gold... do you like it?


My face here is so stupid, sorry XD
A detail of the bow and the collar that Laia made me!

So, I guess that at the end, it was a little bit magic!

With my beloved Marcos, he's so magic...

What?! Snow?!?

When we got home last night it was starting to sleet and snow just a little bit. At 4:30am one of my schools called saying they were on a two hour delay. When I got up the ground was covered in white stuff!! Then the school called back to say that they closed, for not even half an inch!! Of course, it wasn't the district I was at today so I still had to work, only half a day though! :)

Warm weather, please come back!! I miss wearing flip-flops to work already!

Seared Sea Scallops on BLT Salad with Oven Roasted Potato Slices

Seared Sea Scallops on BLT Salad with Oven Roasted Potato Slices

Scallops are one of my all-time favourite foodstuffs. Their incredibly sweet, delicate flavour and texture is an eating experience in itself, which means it is vitally important that one be extremely careful not to overcook scallops, or to serve them with anything which will overpower their flavour. I have eaten scallops raw - straight from the shell - only minutes after they were hand-plucked from the seabed, I have eaten scallops poached and I have eaten scallops seared in a pan, as in this recipe. Regrettably, I have also had another eating experience with scallops which illustrates perfectly why it is so necessary to be careful when cooking or serving scallops...

It was while living in Edinburgh a few years ago that I visited a top, "European," style restaurant - I will not name the country for fear of causing offence! - to mark a special occasion. (Though believe it or not, I can't remember specifically what the special occasion was!) I knew that it was going to be an expensive night but, well - everyone needs a treat now and again.

As soon as I saw scallops on the menu, I knew what I was having - there was no further decision to be made. I duly ordered them and - given the restaurant's reputation - awaited them as a child would Santa Claus on Christmas morning. I can still remember my horror when the plate was laid before me - I even did a mental check to make sure it wasn't April 1st! The scallops had been completely covered in what was no doubt an elaborately prepared sauce - but to me, given what it was covering, appeared as no more than a destructive yellow slime, equating to an oil-slick on the ocean. I looked up at the young waiter and he looked aghast because he no doubt saw my reaction. I was so shocked, though, I couldn't speak and forced myself to eat the preparation. Needless to say, I tasted nothing of the scallops as their flavour had been completely over-whelmed.

That meal for two (OK - including the wine) cost me mere pennies less than £250.00 (almost US$400.00) and needless to say I never ventured near the establishment again, nor would I ever recommend anyone else do so. Although I had long since known the way scallops could be overwhelmed in such a fashion, that was my first - and hopefully last - experience of it!

Islay May 2008 091The scallops which I cook with come from the cold Atlantic waters off the West Coast of Scotland (pictured are the beautiful but treacherous waters of the Sound of Islay.) The fresher they can be obtained, clearly the better and although I generally leave the coral attached (looks almost like an orange tail) the ones used in this recipe had already had the coral removed prior to me obtaining them.

This recipe is for one person.

Ingredients

6 or 7 baby sea scallops
1 medium potato
2 rashers of unsmoked bacon
6 cherry tomatoes
2 lettuce leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A little sunflower oil for cooking the potatoes

Method

It is first of all necessary to get the potato slices on to cook. The oven should be put on to preheat to 400F/200C/Gas Mark 6. A baking tray with circa a tbsp of sunflower oil on it should be placed in the oven to heat simultaneously. Note that putting the potato slices on to a cold baking sheet with cold oil will simply cause them to stick to it, absorb the oil and be ruined. The potato should be washed, dried (but not peeled) and sliced in to 1/4" thick discs. When the oven is heated, they should be seasoned with salt and cooked on the baking tray for half an hour, turned after 15 minutes.

When the potato slices are in the oven, the two bacon rashers should be placed in to a dry, non-stick frying pan and heated gently at first (to release some of the fat) until fairly crisp. It is the fat of the bacon in which the scallops will later be cooked. When done, the bacon rashers should be patted dry, thinly sliced and added to a mixing bowl. The tomatoes and lettuce leaves should then be washed and dried before the tomatoes are halved and the lettuce shredded. The tomatoes and lettuce should then be added to the bowl with the bacon and seasoning added in the form of freshly ground black pepper only - the bacon should provide all the salt required. The ingredients should be stirred and covered until required.

Seconds before the potato slices are to be removed from the oven, the pan with the bacon fat should be put back on to the heat, at maximum. The potatoes should then be removed from the oven and placed on a plate covered with kitchen towel to be dried. A second sheet of kitchen towel should be placed on top.

When the frying-pan is virtually smoking hot, the scallops should be added and cooked for thirty seconds each side - no more. They should then be removed from the pan and the meal plated up as shown in the top photograph of this post.

How to Make a Healthy Choice Burger and Fries: Food Tip of the Day - Friday, March 26th, 2010

How to Make a Healthy Choice Burger and FriesThere is no getting away from it: the attempts by governments, medical professionals and even TV personalities to get people eating in a healthier fashion is not going to go away in the foreseeable future. The advice genuinely is for the good of the people who are presently eating in a particularly unhealthy fashion but what most people who give this advice don't seem to be realising is that people will only be prepared to switch to eating in a healthy fashion en masse where they are given an incentive for doing so which appeals to them in the short term. It may appear to many of us that the incentive of adding several years on to their lives and their children's lives should be incentive enough but the fact is that a great many people simply don't see it that way.

So what is the incentive that people want to make them eat in a healthier fashion? Healthier food costing less than perceived unhealthy food? While I believe that would help in some instances, I don't think it is anything approaching the main concern. What I firmly believe is that the only way to get the majority of the people eating healthier in the short term is to make healthy food look more appealing than junk food and taste better than junk food. It's hardly rocket science, is it?

I count myself extremely fortunate in that the foodstuffs which I naturally like and the ways in which I like to cook them are far more often than not of the healthy variety. I did not force myself to eat healthier foods and cook them in a healthier fashion, so this allows me to empathise to some considerable extent with those who tend to like what is commonly referred to as junk food. If someone were to tell me that the only way I could eat in a healthier fashion was to eat junk food, I would have quite some considerable problem with that in that I quite simply don't like it!

So what's the answer? The answer in every case will be different. It has to start with the individual wanting to be healthier and live longer and wanting to eat in a healthier fashion which does not mean sacrificing the way in which they like food to be presented and the way in which they like it to taste.

Below is a link to the dish which you will see pictured at the top right of this post (simply click on the image to enlarge it, if you desire.) I hope that you will at least like what you see enough to read the recipe and very much hope that you will thereafter be convinced to try it and enjoy it as much as I did.

How to Make a Healthier Choice Burger and Fries

Quick post: The hat's interrogance.

H everybody! How're you doing? Here in Spain now it's Easter, and I guess that in the rest of the world is quite the same... any interesting plans for you?
As I told you, I'm staying at my home at Algeciras for this Easter; and yesterday I had a lovely time at my friends' house. The point is that Zori showed me this hat, and she wanted to know some things about it...

How old could it be? is the name on one of the sides the name of the person who was the owner? I think that the other name is the brand...

So, everybody around here, do you know something about old hats? I'm searching for the story of this one...


Is this the name of the owner?
(read more)


Oh, and I also forgot to show you one of my last purchases for spring... a lovely black parasol!


I found this at Zara about a couple of weeks ago, and I think it's lovely for spring/summer! Here in spain is not very common seeing people with a parasol on the streets, but I don't mind...
Do you like umbrellas?