Cholesterol lowering foods

Hahaha! I'm so fed up with all the mess around me, I've decided to look inside me for a change!!!

SO: I'm at that place in my life where what I eat can have disastrous effects on me and my aging body lah. Just last night, Chuan pontificated on foods low in oxalates: foods that are not triggered to produce calcium stones in your kidneys or bladder.

Chuan had a nasty bout of it a couple of years ago - the pain is not very funny he says, and I believe him - so he's into keeping safe about 'stones' lah.

Me? I'm a fatty lah - that's why the 'fat Pat' posts, and the never-ending quest to stay fit and healthy that's too often derailed by my chocolate eating self.

Back to cholesterol lowing foods, which I'd much prefer to taking statins which I've read up on and are kinda scary, to say the least. I don't know how such medication can be happily shoved down people's throats, and not a bleep outa anyone. Pharmaceutical companies are the way to go if you want to get rich, I guess....

The thing to do is to eat yourself into wellness, rather than take a drug to do that for you. That works for me anytime. Below, is some of the stuff I found online, that seems sorta common sense:

• High fibre is the keyword here: Eat whole grain stuff rather than the processed stuff. If you like bread, go for a real wholemeal bread. A lot of the stuff sold on our shop-shelves is just ordinary flour, decorated with whole meal! So, we need to be wary. Or make your own bread. I do, sometimes, it's very satisfying to do, but a lot of hard work. Also in this category would be beans and other vegetables, fruit and oatmeal.
• Eat fish for their omega-3 fatty acids. These are usually cold-water fish, I'm told. So what about our local fish? Must ask the fisherman when he comes home! I guess if we can't get our hands on the right fish, or you're allergic to fish and seafood like I am, you could take a supplement :)
• Read labels, and look out for stuff that say 'hydrogenated oil' - these things are the worst, for they actually increase LDL levels (that's the bad cholesterol, folks). Margarine is a culprit here. If you serve it at your table, give yourself a slap for not being up-to-date on the latest about good fats and bad fats!
• Nuts are good at lowering cholesterol: so grab a handful and chew away. The contain oil, but the good kind. There's no mention of peanuts, so I'll have to look that up - but peanuts are high in oxalates, so you won't find them in my house lah.

One site I visited suggested starting off a meal with soup - not a fatty and unhealthy one, of course, but a clear soup, filled with some vegetables of choice. The soup sorta 'washes out' the stomach, and gets it ready for the food to come. I would think it would also nip your hunger, and you'd probably eat less. Hmmm, sounds like a plan . . . .

There are lots of things we can do to get on the cholesterol-lowering bandwagon, all you have to do is google 'cholesterol lowering foods', and a whole host of sites will pop up. There is choice: we can actually do something about how and what we are. Or, we can pop a statin.

Now, was the this the most boring post I've ever done? Ai-yaiyai-yaiyai, I think it was! Hahahah! But I just wanted to find some fellow sufferers who'd do some cholesterol-lowering work with me lah :)

Touch N Go: 20% rebate

Wow! Sounds good?

It isn't lah. Because you probably don't qualify. And you probably never will!

You need 80 transactions a month lah - to qualify. And you'll need to have the card or a Smart Tag.

SO, it sounds to me more like a promotion for Touch N Go, and not about a rebate for the likes of us 'poor' citizens!

If you're too poor to get the card, or a Smart Tag, you don't get zilch. Even if you were to gross 100 transactions a month.

Who's going to benefit? I dunno. Hardly anyone who needs it, I'm thinking.

Sigh.

Everything seems to be designed for effect rather than effectiveness. Looks good on paper. Sounds great on the news. A real 'let's celebrate moment', no?

No.

It's like these silly things on the radio: the Nth caller through will get a silly CD. Why not the first idiot to call you? Why you filling the coffers of Telekoms or Digi or Maxis or whatever?

Silly idiots.

So, keep your pants on, folks. Nothing to celebrate.

Rebate my ass lah!

Bye-bye English

And so, it is to be no more: the decision has been made to scrap the teaching of science and maths in English by 2012.

The reason? Apparently, teachers are not able to cope with the speaking of, and teaching in, English.

My question: Is this a recent development?

Is the implication – by the reason given – that when the decision was made in the first place, the competence of the teachers in question was good, or better?

Or did they go ahead with the implementation of teaching in English hoping that competence would improve by some miracle?

Really lah, this whole thing sickens me. For the simple reason that the only ones being messed with are our children. Their brains are being fried.

Once upon a time….

We have had such a crazy romance with English, haven’t we?

When I was a child (circa:1950s), it was the only language: at school, at work, at play - for many of us.

And then, when I was in Standard 3 – now called Year 3 – I was introduced to Malay, our National Language. And I sucked at it. I hated Malay class because most of the time, it was boring and involved reading a ‘comprehension’ piece that I didn’t comprehend. Sigh. (I copied the answers to everything from my friend who went for ‘tuition’ – and her book was littered with answers! Yay!

So I struggled with Malay – also known as Bahasa Malaysia; later known as Bahasa Melayu, now known as what?! – and prayed that I’d get a Credit in my MCE (now SPM, or O-Levels) so that I’d be able to continue to Sixth Form, and university.

And then, in University … SLAP! DAMN! everything was in Malay!!!! I was an English Literature undergrad, but all my electives were to be in Malay; even my English Lit electives!!

So how? Struggle lah. Do simultaneous translations, that’s how. My lecture notes were often in demand: because I didn’t think during lecturers. All I did was write: whatever came out of the fool-lecturer’s face, I instantly translated into English, and put it down on paper.

I was not the only one struggling. Everyone in my year – 1976ish – was in the same soup.

But soon it was not a problem – for others lah. Not me. The conversion to Malay was complete. Everyone studied everything in Malay. Our National language, mah.

And then, people noticed that the standard of English was kinda dead here. I wonder why….

And the ding-donging began. This was already the 1980s. Extra classes for the English subject in school. A reading programme to help students use and learn more English. Streaming of students from ‘poor’ to ‘good’ – so that they could study English with others of the same standard, or lack thereof, or whatever.

English teachers, in the meantime, were making a bundle in ‘tuition’ – laughing all the way to the bank!

Me? No lah. I very the bodoh. I joined the army, and was teaching English to the Royal Military College putras, and officers who were off for courses in Staff College or overseas.

And then, a brainwave: let’s teach Science and Maths in English! Why didn’t we think of that earlier??! Why did the fact of teaching two of the most difficult subjects in English slip past our brains???!!!! So very the duh, huh?

OMG!! Why not ‘Moral’? A non-subject full of crap? Why not Physical Education (PE) or games or whatever? Why not Art, or arts and crafts, and woodwork and Home Science? Oh no. Science and Maths! Because it’s just numbers lah. Yah, right.

And who was going to teach this?

Ahhh…, I know who: the very same people who’d come through the system learning everything in Malay, that’s who. A recipe for success, no?

Just like it happened when the system was turned on its head to teach everything in Malay, it happened again: teachers were the poor souls at the centre of it all. Where before they struggled with putting all their notes and thoughts from English into Malay, now a new batch was struggling doing the reverse.

And the students?

I dunno lah. Nobody seemed to care too much about the students. I remember sitting in a lecture room watching a senior lecturer address his lecture to the ceiling, while reading from a very literal translation of his notes (musta paid someone to do it lah). Most of it made no sense. On the first day, it was just that: we’d sit and stare at him while he talked to someone on the ceiling from those strange, strange notes.

And then, on the second day, after reading that puke for a bit, he’d actually look down upon us lost souls, and talk to us – in English. I tell you, it was almost orgasmic! To hear something you understood, in a language you knew, even if it was about a subject you didn’t give a shit about!

So is it the right decision?

Given the reason for the backtracking switcheroo, I’d say ‘Yes’. If the teachers are not competent to teach it, then how can they?

If students do not speak English in the first place, how can they understand what’s going on? So, ‘Yes’, again.

BUT, why wait till 2012, then? If they can’t cope now, what’s the point of keeping them in this torturous situation? I cannot see the sanity in that.

I have always maintained that Science and Maths should be taught in Malay. For the simple reason that that is the language that is well understood. To be good in either subject, you need to understand the concepts and the way things work. To understand that, you need to be spoken to in a language you understand. To make someone understand these concepts, that is, to teach it, you need to use a language you yourself, as teacher, understand and are good at: Malay.

BUT, I’ve also always said that the best thing for us to do at this stage in this mess of a game we call our education policy is to maintain the status quo: we’re only messing with everyone and everything if we switch back.

Now, some people are happy: they can go back to a language they know. They breathe sighs of relief.

Others are mad as hell: they want to do this in English; they want their children to be able to go to foreign universities, or into the workforce, able to speak English, the language of the internet, and the lingua franca outside of Malaysia.

And I’ve always asked this second group: who’s gonna teach your kids lah? As far as I know, not many people can speak good English in Malaysia lah. And of this ‘not many’, a very teeeeeeeeny-weeeeeeny bit of them are able to teach in English lah. So how?

The debate goes on . . . .

So this is not the end. Every one, including me, will have his thoughts on this. Here are some things that came to mind as I heard it on the news yesterday:

Did you see how the guy from GAPENA started out speaking in English, and then spoke in Malay? Well, he, and many others in the GAPENA-gang can speak and understand English. And they do it well. But they are not affording those that come after them that same chance: to learn a second language, and be good at it.

Years and years ago, I heard Anwar Ibrahim do the same thing. He was pontificating on the glories of Malay as the language of nationhood, and the spirit of Malaysia, and other nationalistic yada yada yada. And he was doing it in English. All I could think was: yah, you can speak English. What about the others? It is easy to agree with you, because it means they don’t have to struggle with another language. But you’re confining them to this ‘well’, and denying them a means to ‘leap’ out of it, no? (What is it with Anwar the idea of frogs, ah?)

The same is happening again.

And, who is the biggest loser?

It is so politically incorrect to speak of Malay/Chinese/Indian/whatever these days, no? We’re all happy Anak Bangsa Malaysia, no?

But in very un-politically-correct terms, the Malays are going to be the ones who lose the most: the ‘Chinese’ will have their dialect, Malay, and possibly Mandarin. The ‘Indians’ will have their language – Tamil, Telegu, Gujarai, etc. – plus Malay. And both will either be speaking English at home, or sending their offspring off for ‘tuition’ in English.

The ‘Malay’ child will have just Malay. His English will be rudimentary, or non-existent. He will know no Mandarin or Tamil or whatever, because his chances of having friends from other races are probably slim (he does make up close to 70% of the population I am told).

There will be others in his shoes. It won’t be just a ‘Malay’ thing.

And they’re confined to our shores. And they’re going to be denied the opportunity to communicate with the rest of the world, because they don’t understand English. And they'll be denied the oppotunity that was afforded us, all of us reading and thinking in English.

And, no, it is not the end of the world. It is the same in many other countries.

But, we had a chance to be different. To be better. I think we’ve blown it.

He's still in my mind

I wrote a short post on Michael Jackson's passing yesterday, and didn't include something of his from You Tube because so many other people had done it already and saved me the trouble.

But his music played in my home all day yesterday, and so his death has stayed in my mind. More so because death has a way of playing with my brain these last few years. It could be because I'm way past the 'midway' mark in mine, and that I will be seeing my 53rd birthday in a few days . . . so many reasons to stop and think.

But the one thing I think, more than any other, is that life is for living. Not just going through the motions, but really being there and cognizant of all that is happening around me.

Or, at least, I try to.

Chuan and I talked about it last night over dinner; that is important to be happy with what we have, and who we are. It's surely not about money, or a big house, and lots of gold in a backroom or vault in a bank.

All the things of this earth made no difference to MJ, did they? He wasn't happy with who he was - down to the very way he looked, because he'd changed himself beyond recognition. And with just two plastic surgeries, if we are to believe reports. But someone from another planet, shown a picture of him at 8, 18 and 28... you get the drift ... would never believe it was the same person. I don't say 'man'. For even his voice was like that of a child; and as hesitant and unsure of what life had in store.

For all his wealth, and the enviable Neverland, he never seemed happy. And he seems to have been always searching - perhaps for a happiness that proved ever elusive.

I listened to someone talk of MJ as 'frail and fragile'; a shell of a man - especially during the days of his trial. But that same person mentioned how he suddenly came to life when he emerged from the courthouse, and saw his fans, and he jumped up on a car, said 'thank you' to them, and began to dance.

It would seem that he only came to life in the eyes of his adoring fans. That when he was no longer on a stage, moving to the beat of the drums, and singing to the music - he would fade away to almost nothing.

How very sad to think that he lived such an ephemeral and transient existence.

If there is a lesson to be learnt here, it is that we matter.

That it is good to wake up and see the sun light up the sky; and to count the stars at night; to even barely feel a breeze on your cheek; or a warm and wet Toffee lick on your knee.

And if you're truly blessed, you'd feel the warm arms of your daughter or your son, wrapping their love around you; or the firm lips of your husband on yours, and a welcome warmth that holds you safe at night.

And you know you are blessed.

And that you don't need anything else to make you whole.

Because you already are.

And, to DanielPhylisMichael, thank you for the link below. It's of Michael Jackson dancing - something I will always watch with wonder, ever wondering why his feet don't seem to touch the floor!

Go here, to watch MJ dance. For some reason, embedding was disallowed :(

Michael Jackson dies

To be gone at just 50 - that is sad. But his music will live on inside us forever. Such beautiful melodies, sung with that cry in his voice; and the others that just insisted that we got up off our bums and danced!

For the all the controversy that surrounded the man, it is his music that will be remembered kindly in history. That is his legacy.

My blog would've been incomplete if I didn't record my goodbye to him today: Goodbye, Michael.

Michael Jackson

1958 - 2009

What do we do about English?

I'm not going to be drawn into the great English debate because it only makes me angry. When I see common sense fly out the door, I'm kinda lost for what to do next. Except maybe slap someone. And who do I slap? I'm sure Antares will tell me, but really, even that is futile.

SO. Instead of writing, I've reproduced below something I found in Malaysia Today. It's a bit contrived, I think. But then again, maybe people do speak or write like this today. I don't know. Been out of the loop too long, I guess.

You can go here to enjoy it at it's source, or check out other stuff at Malaysia Today. Or, you can read it in full here at the English Cottage :)

Enjoy . . . .

WHY SPEAKING INGGERIS LIKE THAT ONE?

But now only they know that kah? Now only we know it is important? Last time when ask us to do all in Melayu language why never say? But never mind. Now government want to make correct. Now maybe SPM also must pass English.

By MOHSIN ABDULLAH/MySinchew

I STARTED schooling in 1962 when as a Malay kid, you either go to a Malay school or an English one. My parents decided the latter. I thank them for that. I thank also the authorites for allowing such a situation. I am not claiming my English is impeccable as the result of my English education. In fact it's far from perfect. But at least I do not write like this one lah below. Thank God.

Now everyday I read the Inggeris papers to improve my Inggeris. Sorry. English. I also say sorry to you all because my English not so good. Broken. But when my school time, they all say we must speak and learn with the Malay language. Easy lah for me. My mother tongue what. Now everybody say Inggeris very important. Alamak always like that. English not the Inggeris. Sorry again. I read the paper now, the very the many people say why English is very the important one, English also can help breach or bridge (so confuse. Susah lah this English language) international barrier. Got the people who say even China banking on English.

But now only they know that kah? Now only we know it is important? Last time when ask us to do all in Melayu language why never say? But never mind. Now government want to make correct. Now maybe SPM also must pass English. I support the government. That why I agrees with the Pemuda UMNO who say retired teacher who good in English must take back. Also teacher from Britain, England, New Zealand and Australia, (I always confuse with Austria. Mat Salleh country also make confuse). Brings them here to teaching our school childrens.

I supports but must slow slow also. If do now, fast fast student mati. Cikgu also trouble. Many teacher also cannot speak the English also. So I think maybe can start with standard one students next year. Tahun satu. Then when they go year two can speak English already. So to makes them must pass the English in SPM ok. Fair what. They got time already. Maybe start from the kindergarten is also good.

For the rest student what to do. Like me lah. Just try the best to learns the English. Read the English paper everyday. Read the Star, the Sun, the NST. Got one more. The Malay Mail (again I confuse, mail and male). Anyway we must talk talk in the English with the people when we go walk walk, eat eat in town. Don't shy shy one. People laughing never mind.

But I also wants to laughing when I read one news in the newspaper. I read the Star.I write again what I read in the Star baru baru ini.

It is like this. I copy straight from the Star paper.

"In Muar, Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said the state government supported the call for English to be made a compulsory pass subject for the SPM.

"He said although the state had protested against the teaching of Science and Mathmatics in English, the subject was important for Malaysians to master."

So if the Inggeris, sorry, English subject is important for Malaysians to master, why protest? That why I laughing.

(MOHSIN ABDULLAH is Editor-in-chief, News and Current Affairs, ntv7 & 8TV)

Homemade vanilla ice cream

A few days into my stay in Calgary, I found an ice-cream maker! And I bought it! Chuan and I’d been looking for one but never was there one to be found. So, I thought that maybe they weren’t to be had in Malaysia. I still don’t know if you can find them here, but I already have one, so I don’t care.

So, I paid for it, got William to carry it home – it was heavy – and in a couple of days, was ready to ice-cream :)

I found a recipe online, and with William’s help to set up the machine, was ready to roll, when he said that I couldn’t do it! WHY? Apparently, he’d just read the instructions – in French, of course – and it says that you’ve got to put the base in the freezer for at least eight hours, or overnight, before it is good to go.

Dang! And I was so ready to do it, even!

So, into the freezer it went. The wait was on.

The next day, I made the custard, following the recipe I’d found – that guaranteed success.

I found the recipe at ice-cream-recipes.com (duh! hahahaha!). And these are the ingredients you’d need for the custard base:

 4 egg yolks
 250 ml milk
 250 ml cream
 100 g castor sugar
 vanilla (they call for a vanilla pod, but I couldn’t be bothered with that lah)

And here’s how you do it:

1. Heat the milk until it almost comes to the boil. This means that you see tiny bubbles along the edge. If you wait a second longer, it’ll froth up and spill over. So, don’t. Take it off the flame, and leave it to cool for about twenty minutes.

2. Beat the eggs and sugar together till thick and creamy.

3. Add the hot milk to the eggs. I didn’t do this all at once: I poured a little at a time into the egg-mix, until both were of the same temperature. I didn’t want scrambled eggs, did I?

4. The whole lot now goes back in the saucepan, and is heated. Stir all the time, and every so often, drag your finger down the back of your spoon to see if you can get the mixture to make a clean and clear path. If this happens, without leaching and blurring, your custard is cooked. (At no time must it boil – or it’ll curdle. So, they say lah.)

5. Leave the mixture to cool completely.

6. When cool, stir in the cream.

7. Then, the whole lot is chucked into the spanking new ice-cream maker. It takes about twenty minutes to turn into a totally yummy, soft ice-cream.

8. Pop the lot into a freezer-proof container, and let it get colder in the freezer for at least a couple of hours - if you have a strong will, and can wait that long, lah.

So easy, yah?

Errrr, actually, no.

Apparently, my dearest Chuan told me (after I’d bought it; and not having asked him first about it lah), that I needed a step-down-transformer to use it in Malaysia.

You see, Canada uses 120 volt current. We use 240 volts. Geez, I hope I’ve got this right.

So, where the heck to buy that? Chuan found someplace online – I think it’s in One Utama somewhere.

But just a couple of days ago, Larnee found one in Calgary. A simple telephone call, and a ‘yes, please’, and now I have a step-down-transformer heading home to me in a week or so :)

Did I mention that the step-down-transformer cost me just slightly less than the ice-cream maker? Hehehe! But it was all kinda cheap in my book lah.

For the pleasure of eating homemade ice cream, without additives or air or other unknown junk; for a lesson on electricity and how-things-work; and for the sheer pleasure of finally succeeding in making my own ice cream – it was all worth it :)

If you’re ever in my neck of the woods, pop over to my place, and I’ll make you some ice cream. Vanilla, or chocolate, or blueberry – whatever you like. If you’ve got the basic custard recipe, you can do anything your heart desires. And it’ll all be good!

Next up: sorbet - ice cream without milk, that Chuan loves - maybe with lime, or watermelon, and touch of arak sereptiously added, for moi ;) and gelato! Yay!