Category Archives: Musing

2018 Secondary 3 Week 22 Update

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The children are still in the school holidays with GG going back to school almost all days whether it was for CCA or even as a student guide for her seniors at the Former Ford Factory. This place is a national World War II museum, which was the place where, on 15 February 1942 (commemorated as Total Defence Day now), the British army led by Lieutenant-General A. E. Percival, the British General Officer Commanding (Malaya), met Lieutenant-General Yamashita in the Boardroom of the Ford Factory, and surrendered unconditionally to the Japanese, effectively sealing the fate of Singapore for the next three and a half years.

We also went to one of the local polytechnics for parents talk about the polytechnic education for our children as well as the Early Admissions Exercise for Secondary 4 students. The biggest draw for us was the tips given by the registrar to ace the EAE process. You need to have two write-ups, a 600 character one which is a more general write-up on why you want to join this particular course and a 1000 character write-up in bullet points on why you should be chosen. The larger write up is where you get to toot your own horn about the courses you may have done, the competitions attended etc.

Next week, GG has an intensive CCA schedule of almost 6 hours of singing each day, broken into two parts with a lunch break in between. BB also goes for his much-awaited field trip to an RSAF camp.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Recipes: Parangikkai aka Yellow Pumpkin Kootu

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This is another kootu I love eating and until today I had been unable to replicate how my mum makes it. I’ve tried making this earlier but always felt that there was something missing. Then at the end of last year, when my parents came to Singapore, my mum made this one day. I did see how she made it but forgot to take notes. Then on Labour Day when I wanted to finally make it, I needed to get her to take me through the steps. I’ve seen various recipes on the internet, but none seems to be like how my mum makes it. So this may be a family recipe and I for one am glad I managed to take it down for posterity.

Parangikkai (Yellow/Orange Pumpkin) Kootu

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups yellow/orange pumpkin, peeled and chopped into small pieces
  • 3/4 cup boiled toor dal
  • 1/2 cup + 2-3 tbsp fresh or frozen grated coconut
  • 6-7 dried red chillies
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp urad dal
  • 1/8 tsp asafoetida powder
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp ghee or oil
  • 2-3 tsps jaggery or sugar (optional)
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • In a pan, heat the ghee or oil and when it warms, add the mustard seeds. When the seeds splutter, add the urad dal and let it brown slightly. Then add 2-3 dried red chillies, after breaking them and the asafoetida powder and finally the 2-3 tbsp coconut and stir well.
  • Keep stirring this coconut mixture till the moisture completely leaves the coconut, and you should get a nice brown and crisp coconut mixture. Remove from pan and keep aside and let it cool.
  • In the same pan, put in the chopped pumpkin and with very little water (just enough to cover and cook the pumpkins), jaggery and salt to taste and cook it till it gets cooked and starts to lose its shape.
  • In the meantime, in a blender, make a paste of the remaining coconut, the remaining dried red chillies and cumin seeds. The paste should be a smooth one, so add water as needed.
  • Make sure the cooked toor dal is completely smooth. If you don’t have a smooth paste like dal, use a hand-held blender to blend it to get the consistency you need.
  • When the pumpkin is cooked, add the dal and the coconut paste and water if needed to bring it to the thickness you desire. Check for seasoning at this point also.
  • When the kootu is completely cooked and the dal and coconut paste mixed in thoroughly, switch off the gas and add the toasted coconut. Mix well and serve.
  • This goes very well with a traditional South Indian meal or if it’s slightly watery, you can also have it with rotis or other Indian flatbreads.

 

World Book Day

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world-book-dayIt’s time for a new World Book Day. I’ve written about this event before here and here so do click these links to read in more detail about what this day means.

To reiterate, the World Book Day or World Book and Copyright Day (also known as International Day of the Book or World Book Days) is a yearly event on April 23rd, organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to promote reading, publishing and copyright. In the United Kingdom, the day is recognized on the first Thursday in March. World Book Day was celebrated for the first time on 23 April 1995.

world-book-day-1This year’s World Book Day theme is “Share A Story” and encourages adults, parents and older siblings to participate by reading and sharing stories. The ‘Share a Story’ theme will be encouraging people to ‘Take 10’ and recognise the positive impact that reading together for only 10 minutes a day can have on a child’s outcome.

Different countries commemorate this day in different ways. In Spain, Cervantes’s Don Quixote is read during a two-day “readathon” and the Miguel de Cervantes Prize is presented by the Spanish king in Alcalá de Henares.

In Catalonia, Spain, St. George’s Day has been ‘The Day of the Rose’ since 1436, and involves the exchange of gifts between loved ones and respected people—it is analogous to Valentine’s Day. Although World Book and Copyright Day have been celebrated since 1995 internationally, books were exchanged on ‘The Day of the Rose’ in Catalonia since 1929, in memory of Cervantes.

world-book-day-3In Sweden, the day is known as Världsbokdagen (“World Book Day”) and the copyright aspect is seldom mentioned. Normally celebrated on 23 April, it was moved to April 13 in the year 2000 and 2011 to avoid a clash with Easter.

In the United Kingdom, World Book Day has been held annually on the first Thursday in March, as 23 April sometimes clashes with Easter school holidays; 23 April is also the National Saint’s Day of England, St George’s Day. A separate event, World Book Night, organized by independent charity The Reading Agency, is held on 23 April.

In Kensington, Maryland, the United States of America, the International Day of the Book is celebrated with a street festival on the Sunday closest to April 26.

So why are you waiting? Go on and read a book…..

 

 

 

2018 Week 16 Update

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Another week has gone by and we’re at the last week of April.

I have been in a bit of a funk this week and it’s taken me almost the whole week to come out of it. But I am fine now, hopefully, this feeling of wellness lasts longer this time around.

Othe than planning our June holidays, I’ve done nothing much this week. We’re planning a driving holiday to Malaysia.

Have a wonderful week folks!

 

Water: The Driving Force of all Nature

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quote-the-wars-of-the-twenty-first-century-will-be-fought-over-water-ismail-serageldin-54-11-05

“The wars of the twenty-first century will be fought over water” – Ismail Serageldin

Water, the one thing which human beings can’t survive without for long. The natural resource which, for centuries we have taken for granted and abused mercilessly and one which is precariously close to depletion if we are not careful.

map_showing_global_physical_and_economic_water_scarcity_2006There is a global water crisis going on and challenges to government and non-governmental bodies trying to fix the situation include water scarcity, water pollution, inadequate water supply and the lack of sanitation for billions of people in less developed countries.

Water and related to it, sanitation is an essential human right and so to bring the world’s attention to this dire situation, so that our children and their children have access to a resource which is essential for the survival of the human race, 22 March has been designated as World Water Day.

waterday-logoWorld Water Day is an annual observance day on 22 March to highlight the importance of freshwater. It is also used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. World Water Day is celebrated around the world with a variety of events. These can be educational, theatrical, musical or lobbying in nature. The day can also include campaigns to raise money for water projects. The first World Water Day, designated by the United Nations, was commemorated in 1993.

UN-Water selects a theme for each year.The theme for 2018 is “Nature for Water” to encourage people to “look for the answer in nature”. Damaged ecosystems affect the quantity and quality of water available for human consumption. Today, 2.1 billion people live without safe drinking water at home; affecting their health, education and livelihoods. Sustainable Development Goal 6 commits the world to ensure that everyone has access to safe water by 2030, and includes targets for protecting the natural environment and reducing pollution.

The UN World Water Development Report is released each year around World Water Day.

Here in Singapore, most schools celebrate the day by teaching water conservation to the students. For example, some toilets are closed off and students are forced to use a limited number of toilets, or water force is severely curtailed. This is so they get how important water is.

watersavingOn our part, as individuals, we can also take small steps to help conserve water.

  1. Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth. Don’t let all the water go down the drain while you brush! Turn off the tap after you wet your brush, and leave it off until it’s time to rinse.
  2. Turn off the tap while washing your hands. Do you need the water to run while you’re scrubbing your hands? Save a few litres of water and turn the tap off after you wet your hands until you need to rinse.
  3. Fix your leaks. Whether you go DIY or hire a plumber, fixing leaky taps and pipes can mean big water savings.
  4. Take shorter showers. Our shower heads can use as much as 15-20 litres of water per minute. Speed things up in the shower for some serious water savings.
  5. Wash your fruits and vegetables in a pan of water instead of running water from the tap. Collect the water you use while rinsing fruit and vegetables. Use it to water houseplants.

How do you conserve water? Please do comment and share your tips to save water so that we pass on a better earth to our children than what we inherited!