How a new biological virus incubator in an escaped trial specimen escaped from a high security medical lab and infected millions -possible scenario with mass travel via MRT and planes.
Hatching my next thriller.
Friday, May 19, 2017
Thursday, May 18, 2017
global appetite
With my late mother,she'll go out of her way to learn how to make mooncakes from snowskin to the shanghai crust to the traditional ones.
With Jun and me, we have a global appetite.Sometimes it's soba in miso soup,yesterday breakfast was gyoza with seaweed salad and dinner could be Italian alio olio with a chicken stewed in rosemary and basil.Sometimes it's Thai green curry ,nasi lemak and chicken rendang and with globalisation ,the consumer's appetite has turned global.
Recipe for blue pea rice salad(ala malaysia nasi kerabu with a twist)
1.Boil five grain rice with some dried blue butterfly pea flowers boiled with a slice of old ginger.
2. Sprinkle with sliced raw shallots,leaves of kesum,daun limau perut (kefir lime leaves),wild betelnut leaves,(daun sirih)(torch ginger flower ,sliced thinly) and leaves of cosmos flower
3.Mix in a pinch of sambal belacan and nam pla or fish sauce,kerisik (dried and pounded grated coconut) .
4.Mix in fish meat floss ( fried fish like kembung with meat torn out),too lazy to fry the fish,can use alternative like serunding ikan or even canned tuna in olive oil
5.serve with sweet chilli sauce in lime juice)
Today,I had heavenly nasi tumpang from kelate wrapped in a conical shaped banana leaf.Still trying to figure out the recipe and reconstruct it or what I call reverse engineering of the ingredients.
With Jun and me, we have a global appetite.Sometimes it's soba in miso soup,yesterday breakfast was gyoza with seaweed salad and dinner could be Italian alio olio with a chicken stewed in rosemary and basil.Sometimes it's Thai green curry ,nasi lemak and chicken rendang and with globalisation ,the consumer's appetite has turned global.
Recipe for blue pea rice salad(ala malaysia nasi kerabu with a twist)
1.Boil five grain rice with some dried blue butterfly pea flowers boiled with a slice of old ginger.
2. Sprinkle with sliced raw shallots,leaves of kesum,daun limau perut (kefir lime leaves),wild betelnut leaves,(daun sirih)(torch ginger flower ,sliced thinly) and leaves of cosmos flower
3.Mix in a pinch of sambal belacan and nam pla or fish sauce,kerisik (dried and pounded grated coconut) .
4.Mix in fish meat floss ( fried fish like kembung with meat torn out),too lazy to fry the fish,can use alternative like serunding ikan or even canned tuna in olive oil
5.serve with sweet chilli sauce in lime juice)
Today,I had heavenly nasi tumpang from kelate wrapped in a conical shaped banana leaf.Still trying to figure out the recipe and reconstruct it or what I call reverse engineering of the ingredients.
Monday, May 8, 2017
Not my cup of tea.
The lessons from making a good cup of chai masala.
When I first tasted my chai masala,the delicate mix of tea,milk and spices was sheer delight.
The dumbo I was bought a packet of garam masala and proceeded to master the intricacy of making this brew with a pinch of salt.The nausea inducing concoction was worst than drinking sea water with a pinch of iodine.
Then when I was dining at a restaurant in Nepal,the restaurant captain was happy when I complimented them on their piquant cup of chai masala.He gave me some tips;use green cardomom pods, some cinnamom powder,ginger,milk and sugar.
This morning I perfected the chai masala after my umpteenth experiment.A delicate balance is sought to get the whiff of spices with the hearty taste of tea to get a harmonious blend.
Recipe
3-4 green cardomom pods crushed (thump it with the back of a pestle)
cinnamom (old bark) grated to get some powder ( readily ground cinnamom has no Kick)Dry roasting it in a pan to intensify the aroma.
Knob of fresh young ginger crushed to release the juices(old ginger is too overpowering)
low fat fresh milk and not the evaporated milk wannabe
dried honeycombed sugar
Process
1Dry roast cinnamon and cardomom
2.Add in Glenloch Ceylon Sri lanka tea bag mixed with cardomom
3.Add ginger,water and honeycombed sugar
4.Boil until bubbling hot
5.lower flame and boil until aroma arises
6.Turn off heat and add low fat milk.
A heartwarming cup of chai masala.
When I first tasted my chai masala,the delicate mix of tea,milk and spices was sheer delight.
The dumbo I was bought a packet of garam masala and proceeded to master the intricacy of making this brew with a pinch of salt.The nausea inducing concoction was worst than drinking sea water with a pinch of iodine.
Then when I was dining at a restaurant in Nepal,the restaurant captain was happy when I complimented them on their piquant cup of chai masala.He gave me some tips;use green cardomom pods, some cinnamom powder,ginger,milk and sugar.
This morning I perfected the chai masala after my umpteenth experiment.A delicate balance is sought to get the whiff of spices with the hearty taste of tea to get a harmonious blend.
Recipe
3-4 green cardomom pods crushed (thump it with the back of a pestle)
cinnamom (old bark) grated to get some powder ( readily ground cinnamom has no Kick)Dry roasting it in a pan to intensify the aroma.
Knob of fresh young ginger crushed to release the juices(old ginger is too overpowering)
low fat fresh milk and not the evaporated milk wannabe
dried honeycombed sugar
Process
1Dry roast cinnamon and cardomom
2.Add in Glenloch Ceylon Sri lanka tea bag mixed with cardomom
3.Add ginger,water and honeycombed sugar
4.Boil until bubbling hot
5.lower flame and boil until aroma arises
6.Turn off heat and add low fat milk.
A heartwarming cup of chai masala.
Education
What would be the purpose of education?
A grooming of youths to be "good" or to be"good citizens of a nation" ?
The passing on of "knowledge" to young minds or " the preparation for a good career path"
In the face of the future,where more and more jobs will be replaced by automation,the part on career preparation is at risk, "the purpose on passing of knowledge" replaced by accessibility to the wealth of information on the internet.
Decentralised modes of education will leave more options to the individual schools to draw up curriculum that suits the slow learner,the fast learner,the hands on experiential learner,and even those who have graduated from the school of hard knocks or experience as the best teacher and now will return to formal education to get a social recognition or aka his or her paper's worth.
Should education be less competitive,the level of stress would be less on students.Apart from the home,a major part of youth's lives are spent in schools,tuition centres,cram schools and so on.When the teacher "drones" ,eventually the brain switches off.The best spin off of education would be the value of loyalty, friendship,resilience and the shaping of character.
A grooming of youths to be "good" or to be"good citizens of a nation" ?
The passing on of "knowledge" to young minds or " the preparation for a good career path"
In the face of the future,where more and more jobs will be replaced by automation,the part on career preparation is at risk, "the purpose on passing of knowledge" replaced by accessibility to the wealth of information on the internet.
Decentralised modes of education will leave more options to the individual schools to draw up curriculum that suits the slow learner,the fast learner,the hands on experiential learner,and even those who have graduated from the school of hard knocks or experience as the best teacher and now will return to formal education to get a social recognition or aka his or her paper's worth.
Should education be less competitive,the level of stress would be less on students.Apart from the home,a major part of youth's lives are spent in schools,tuition centres,cram schools and so on.When the teacher "drones" ,eventually the brain switches off.The best spin off of education would be the value of loyalty, friendship,resilience and the shaping of character.
Friday, April 28, 2017
That's life of mid life crisis
OLD MAN ----- YOUNG CAR
Time to switch to the loudest vroom vroom
YOUNG MAN----OLD CAR
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Go with the flow
By trying too hard,sometimes what we create is stilted but when we go with the flow,everything falls in place.
The flowers that I fret over,prune and fuss over never blooms but the pot that I ignore flourishes and blossoms profusely .
I've learnt never to place the water for cleaning the watercolour paint brushes in a plastic disposable cup next to my plastic cup of dark Chinese tea. coz I gulped the wrong cup of liquid.Gross and yucks
The flowers that I fret over,prune and fuss over never blooms but the pot that I ignore flourishes and blossoms profusely .
I've learnt never to place the water for cleaning the watercolour paint brushes in a plastic disposable cup next to my plastic cup of dark Chinese tea. coz I gulped the wrong cup of liquid.Gross and yucks
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Papa's Time Machine
I am excited by how the subgenre of sci fi steampunk has spread.
It's an amalgation of romanticised Victorian times context with mechanical inventions that defy the odds and recreate possible solutions.I'm reading Tales of steampunk in Southeast Asia that sees how local legends are given a makeover to include biogenetic engineering and etc.
Now creativity doesnt confine itself to geographical locations and the globalised mish mash of talents and creativity has seen in Shanghai the use of Japanese Bonraku style of puppetry that uses puppeteers dressed in black manipulating near life sized puppets.Took Jun to watch one at KL Pac when it was still located at Bangsar .The puppet show had an environmentally friendly theme and at the end I was amazed at how the puppeteers manipulated a huge helicopter puppet -wow.So when I viewed the trailer on youtube of the chinese production of an adult themed puupet show based on bonraku style of life sized puppets, I wishh they would bring in such shows to enthrall the young and the not so young and the forever young at heart to view.The theme of the devastating effects of Alzeiheimer was explored in the Hong Kong movie Happiness as brilliantly acted by veteran actress Kara Hui and Maleonn in honouring his father's artistic talent created the puppet show Papa's Time Machine using steampunk as the vehicle to convey his story.The mechanical robots are expressive and imaginatively created with input from Hungarians and Germans.The music is evocative of its roots in traditional Chinese opera so globalisation works by melding the old with the new.It also brings to mind the animation by French comic artist JacquesTardi which has been made into a steampunk animated movie "April and the extraordinary world."Tardi is also composing a graphic novel based on the memories of his father as a French prisoner of war during the second world war.
Although contexts whether political,social or historical differs,some themes are universal all over the world.It all starts from the humans emotions and identifiable with audience worldwide.
It's an amalgation of romanticised Victorian times context with mechanical inventions that defy the odds and recreate possible solutions.I'm reading Tales of steampunk in Southeast Asia that sees how local legends are given a makeover to include biogenetic engineering and etc.
Now creativity doesnt confine itself to geographical locations and the globalised mish mash of talents and creativity has seen in Shanghai the use of Japanese Bonraku style of puppetry that uses puppeteers dressed in black manipulating near life sized puppets.Took Jun to watch one at KL Pac when it was still located at Bangsar .The puppet show had an environmentally friendly theme and at the end I was amazed at how the puppeteers manipulated a huge helicopter puppet -wow.So when I viewed the trailer on youtube of the chinese production of an adult themed puupet show based on bonraku style of life sized puppets, I wishh they would bring in such shows to enthrall the young and the not so young and the forever young at heart to view.The theme of the devastating effects of Alzeiheimer was explored in the Hong Kong movie Happiness as brilliantly acted by veteran actress Kara Hui and Maleonn in honouring his father's artistic talent created the puppet show Papa's Time Machine using steampunk as the vehicle to convey his story.The mechanical robots are expressive and imaginatively created with input from Hungarians and Germans.The music is evocative of its roots in traditional Chinese opera so globalisation works by melding the old with the new.It also brings to mind the animation by French comic artist JacquesTardi which has been made into a steampunk animated movie "April and the extraordinary world."Tardi is also composing a graphic novel based on the memories of his father as a French prisoner of war during the second world war.
Although contexts whether political,social or historical differs,some themes are universal all over the world.It all starts from the humans emotions and identifiable with audience worldwide.
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