Posts (page 2)

Whenever fruits are mentioned, we normally think of apples and oranges. Seldom do we think about the papaya. It is one of the lesser "thought about" tropical fruits.
There are 45 species of papaya and the "trees" reach fruit bearing age after only a year.
The pear-shaped fruit can grow as long as 20 inches. Green papaya is used in Thai cuisine, both raw and cooked.

Papayas are usually grown from seed. The ripe fruit is usually eaten raw, without the skin or seeds. However, the seeds are edible and have a somewhat spicy, bitter flavor reminiscent of black pepper.

A papaya "tree" is actually a large herb plant, which can grow up to anything between 12 to 20 feet in height.  Papayas contain an enzyme called papain. The greener the fruit, the more active the papain is. This enzyme is especially concentrated in the fruit when it is unripe. Papayas are also a good source of vitamin E, vitamin A and vitamin C.
Some chefs have found it useful to use the papaya as a meat tenderiser.

Today is Saturday, March 08th, 2008. 
Tomorrow at 02:00hrs in the U.S.A., many will turn their clocks forward by one hour to mark the beginning of Daylight Saving Time.
Not all states observe Daylight Saving Time, though.  Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation), Guam and Hawaii are some of the places which do not observe Daylight Saving Time.  And so was the same with Indiana.  However, on April 02nd, 2006, the entire state of Indiana joined 47 other states in observing Daylight Saving Time.
The state of Indiana remains split between two time zones: Eastern Standard Time and Central Time.

In the U.S.A., although each time zone switches to Daylight Saving Time at a different time, it will always be on the second Sunday in March - and will revert back to standard time on the first Sunday in November. 
Here in Malaysia, no one turns their clock backwards and forwards throughout the year...mainly because there is no daylight to be saved here.  Therefore, from tomorrow until November, Malaysia will be exactly 12 hours ahead of the Eastern time zone; 13 hours ahead of Central; 14 hours ahead of Mountain and 15 hours ahead of Pacific.

The official spelling is: Daylight Saving Time, not Daylight Savings Time.

03 / 05 / 2008.

This morning at 09:44hrs, I called BHPetrogas at 1 300 883 553 to order a replacement propane gas tank from them.

This is the third time I've called them, since May 2007.  Their service was good and pretty much on schedule.  The girl who took my order over the phone this morning, told me that the price was 25 Ringgit. She also mentioned that the delivery time  would be before 12 noon...and it was. 

The weight of the BHPetrogas propane gas tank was listed as 14 kilograms, but on the gas tank itself was printed 16.3, so I asked the delivery guy what it meant.  He explained to me that 16.3 was the weight of an empty tank, and that the entire weight (plus the 14 kilogram content) was actually a total of 30.3 kilograms.

Contrary to what many might think and expect, there are some companies who do stand behind their products and give good service to their customers. Then again, much also depends on the kind of people the company employs.  If the employees themselves aren't professional nor friendly, then their service would definitely be lousy. 
I was pleased with the fact that the BHPetrogas delivery guy showed up on time, this morning.

Today is February 29th, 2008.  If we look at the calendar, we will see that this month has five Fridays.  In fact, February 2008 begins and ends on a Friday.

Today is the date that occurs only once in every four years.  It is called a leap day.
With this additional day, 2008 will have 366 days. A leap year always consists of 366 days, whereas other years, called common years, have 365 days.

Why are leap years important? Leap years are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the earth's revolutions around the sun.  It is believed that the Egyptians were the first to come up with the idea of adding a leap day once every four years in order to keep the calendar in sync with the solar year. Later, the Romans adopted this solution for their calendar, and they became the first to designate February 29th as the leap day.  There is an exception, though. Century years are NOT leap years, unless they can be evenly divided by 400.

The next leap year will be 2012.

The microwave oven is a great invention. Like many of today's great inventions, the microwave oven was a by-product of another technology. The history of the microwave oven dates back to 1946, when Dr. Percy Spencer was doing a radar-related research project. He noticed that the peanut chocolate bar in his pocket had melted. He was so intrigued by this, that he experimented with popcorn.

Microwave ovens work by sending non-ionizing microwave radiation, usually at a frequency of 2.45 GHz (a wavelength of 12.24 cm), through the food.  Today, most kitchens have a microwave oven.
A higher wattage oven will cook foods faster. Most microwave ovens have power ranging from 600 to 1200 watts. 

Convection ovens blow hot air around the food. By moving fast hot air past the food, convection ovens can operate at a lower temperature than a standard conventional oven and yet cook food more quickly.  A convection microwave is a combination of a standard microwave oven and a convection oven.
The Dual Cook feature on this kind of oven can be used to cook and reheat food using both, microwaves and hot air simultaneously.

Some individuals have the unique ability to remember things - even down to the most smallest things in detail.  This is why these special individuals are able to recite manuscripts and books word for word, from cover to cover. 

Memory is a part of our daily lives and without it, we will tend to make ourselves lose and forget things. 
It has been said that a healthy diet contributes to a healthy brain.  In view of this, it is good to eat correctly.

'Photographic memory' can be a wonderful thing, either as a blessing or as a curse. 
As a blessing, we remember the good. 
As a curse?  Well, we could always try to put all of the sad and painful thoughts out of our minds, but somehow, our brains won't allow us to forget. 
We try to forget the hurt, but those memories keep coming back to haunt us.  Even in our sleep, we may dream of them.  And we cannot control our dreams, no matter how much we try.

The Disk Defragmenter on any computer is a necessity. Because files become fragmented whenever you save them to your disk drive,  the Disk Deframenter will rearrange and reassemble the fragmented files on your disk drive. Much like a jigsaw puzzle which takes extra time finding all of the pieces, it would now be easier for the computer to find them much faster than if the files were scattered all over the place.

A Disk Defragmenter isn't a miracle cure, but it does take care of some nagging little problems that sometimes slip through the cracks. It's a minor bit of maintenance which can make a real difference to the speed and efficiency of a computer's operating system.

I don't know about other computers, but on this one which runs on Windows XP and Internet Explorer 7, the entire process takes approximately 1 hour and 6 minutes.

The correct method to run the Disk Defragmenter, is to first, disconnect from the internet and make sure no other programs are running. Then, click on Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter.  Depending on the usage of a computer, the Disk Defragmenter should be used once a month.

Maxis Hotlink Prepaid now comes in a card form of ten Ringgit and thirty Ringgit cards.
In the center portion of each card is a strip which needs to be scratched out, in order to reveal the hidden fourteen digit number.

The process to "top up" (or "recharge" as it is sometimes called) seems simple enough. 
First,  scratch out the strip on the card.  Then,  to input this number into the cellular phone,  press the star key *, dial 111, then the star key * once again,  followed by the fourteen digit number and  the hash # key.

The alternative method is to dial 122 and listen to the prerecorded message saying: "Hello._Welcome to Hotlink. _Main Menu._To check your balance, please press one._To top up, please press two._To change your Hotlink options..."
Press 2 and follow the instructions: "Please enter your top up code, followed by the hash key." 
The top up code would be the fourteen digit number found on the card.

These two methods described above are much more convenient than asking the people at the phone shop to top up your number using their technology,  as you can always top up at any time of the day or night. 

Thanks to the concept of the internet, the world of the exhibitionist has become widely known.

Because the internet has hotspots such as Google Video, Yahoo Video and YouTube, almost anyone with a videocam can now publish videos of themselves to the entire world.

There are some sites on the internet, which are dedicated to the life of amateur porn and the world of exhibitionism. These individuals bring their sexual desires to the world.

Exhibitionists are usually known to be fairly normal and rational. But despite this, they seek out an audience because they want to see what their reactions are. In fact, when they get that audience, it becomes more of a compulsion to see just how much they can do.

Although what some may think, not every individual with a videocam is interested in showing himself / herself off to a particular group of people. Some just want to show their videos to anyone. Therefore, they go to places where they can do just what they want. In the future, it wouldn't be uncommon to see more and more people walking down the streets, carrying a videocam.

There are so many variations of fried rice which I've tried in my lifetime. Different restaurants serve different kinds of fried rice. Some affordable and some overpriced.

I know it takes just a little effort to check out prices from other shops, too. But the best fried rice we could ever please ourselves with, is the one which we cook ourselves, at home.  

Just recently, I tried out something new. Fried rice with canned sliced mushrooms. I also added some beef (cut into bite-sized pieces), a few shrimp, 10 pieces chopped garlic, 1 egg,
2 tablespoons garlic butter, 5 dashes of white pepper, a handful of frozen mixed vegetables;
2 tablespoons vegetable oil and for seasoning, I added 1 packet of Seri Aji Nasi Goreng Cina. 
The end result was real tasty.

The amount of canned sliced mushrooms added to the fried rice, depends on how much you like the taste of mushrooms.  In the above recipe (which was for two), I used 5 tablespsoons. The leftover was refrigerated and reheated in the microwave oven the following day.