Tummy ache? A possible food poisoning?

Symptoms
Bloated stomach, stinky burps and of course, trips to the toilet. In a severe cases, puking is a possibility. Farting is not and option, do it in the toilet.

*this has been happening to me since Friday 02122011 till today, Tuesday. Everytime I ate something, the toilet becomes my throne.

At moments like these I silently thank god for the invention of a sitting toilet. Squatting toilet does make the depositting faster, but hell to the knees.

How to minimize the effect?
First signs of watery poop, take toast and honey.

Wearing a corset does help with the pain. But it is not a fool proof tip

Menu for when the toilet becomes your throne.
toasted bread
honey «--off the shelf works
teh-o (tea without milk)
100+
Sprite
7up, which tastes way better than the salt doc usually gives a patient

Of course I would have to see a doctor if I have food diarrhea but I prefer not to because of my needleophobia. Was on the drip last time I was hospitalized and I am not keen to repeat that again. It makes it very difficult to get to my throne.

plus the good doctor will give me
charcoal tablets
immudium
buscopan and of course, the rehydration salt


achtung! : (means warning) these notes are solely for my own use when I encounter such situation. You are most welcome to try these home remedies but it is at your own risk.

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Magic Words!

Here's 5 magic words to use in our daily lives.

that's my own left hand. it looks soo small, somehow

1. greetings (ucap selamat)
During my high school years, the juniors (Form 1) were required to greet the seniors with 'Assalmualaikum kak!' So the first year we chorus it out as cheerful as we can with a smile on our face and high pitched voice.. hehehe. . it was a good practice because if we say it with a sour face, the greeting will sound flat and one or two seniors will give us the evil eye (brrr..scary!). After Form 1, we were so used to it, the greeting was replaced by a smile or a nod because we came to recognize the people around us (there were in total, more or less 600 students only!)
So now, even though I'm a bit shy, it is not hard for me to give a simple 'Hi!' or 'Hello'. If I don't know them that well, a simple smile or a nod would do. Recent years, I settled for the 'raising eyebrows' technique, it works for people I recognize but don't have anything interesting to talk about.

Caution : Please avoid smiling aimlessly to suspicious looking people. We might get a nasty surprise that will end with a tight slap from ourselves or to us! Oh yeah, if a salesperson smile and greet you just smile back and politely say no. It takes a lot of effort to do that but its worth it.


2. please (boleh tolong?)
A typical scene in a family series/sitcoms (at the dinner table)

Boy   : Mom, pass me the salt

Mom takes the salt but refuses to give it to her son

Mom : What do you say? What is the magic word?

Boy   : Er, pass me the salt, please?
Mom : Much better

Mom smiles and surrenders the salt.

This was when plots were basic and simple, concerntrating on the values. It doesn't hurt to remind ourselves to ask politely the other person to do something. Plus the other person will feel less likely to throw the salt to our face.

3. thank you (terima kasih)
Most people in the customer service industry knows how powerful this magic word is. Yes, we are paid to do our work and service for other people. And it is much sweeter when we do it because we care, for other people and ourselves. By saying thank you, or at the receiving end of it, it is a type of positive reinforcement and we would go an extra mile for the people we entertain.
Let's upgrade what we already are doing and make it more memorable. Based on a book that I've read, How Talk Anyone : 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationship by Leil Lowndes, people will take notice and remember us better if we say what we are thanking them for. So let's say, 'Thank you for opening the door for me' and 'Thanks for the information'.
I've also noticed by saying specifically what I am thankful for it makes me think really hard and aware of  what that the other person has unselfishly done for me. Awesome. It's like the gift that keeps on giving.


4. excuse me (maaf mengganggu)
It is really sad while eating in a restaurant, people from the other table start to 'sweet*' to get the attention of the waiter when we had a variety of nicknames we can choose from. Saying 'excuse me' maybe sound too formal for us to use at the mamak stalls but the whole point is too remain respectful. I can bet anyone who used to work in the F&B industry knows how disrespectful that sound. Call them Ane, Abang, Adik or a maybe the infamous Boss.

*sweet: not the sweet that we put in our mouth to enjoy and can cause cavity if indulged but the sound mimicking a cencurut or Malayan Mole

"Excuse me, you're blocking my view" "Excuse me, I can't stand your ciggarette smoke" "Excuse me, your blog is too long" ops! hehehe

5. sorry (saya berasa menyesal)
'Sorry seems to be the hardest word,' said Elton John & the boy band Blue . Well, it shouldn't be, right? This the only magic word that is not at the tip of my tongue. It seems weird that I find it easier to swallow my pride and ask forgiveness from my love ones rather than people who are not close to me (acquaintance). But with strangers its easy. I got it backwards don't I? hahaha. . . . still, I am a believer that we have to forgive from our hearts and be sincere about it. Don't say we have forgiven someone but kept mentioning it again and again and again.That is a sign that we haven't forgiven that person yet!
It would be great if we can apply the same rule that we applied on our 'Thank you for......' with our apology. It is one of the guidelines of asking for fogiveness in Islam, right?

Science Activity : Whirly Whee-Whee Woo-hoo Colors

(or Color Tornado)

What do we need?
milk (probably anyone wants to try using water mixed flour)
food coloring (at least 2 colors)
a flat container
a dropper
dish washing detergent

What do we have to do?
1. Pour the milk into a flat container
2. Put a few drops of food coloring, one drop at a time
3. Observe the milk or the food coloring is moving around
4. Put a drop of the dish washing detergent
5. Observe what will happen to the mixture


What happens to the food coloring when we put a few drops of it in the milk?
The food coloring does not move around and does not mix well with milk.
 
Why does the food coloring does not mix with milk?
The milk's surface tension is still strong and holding the milk together.

What happens when we put a few drops of dish washing detergent into the milk?
The food coloring starts to move around in the milk

Why does the mixture begin to swirl when we put a few drops of dish washing detergent into the milk?
The detergent breaks the surface tension of the milk allowing the food coloring free to move around 'in between' the milk

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Gadget : Apple Slicer

I think the pictures and video says it all :D

Science Activity : Making Our Own Chalk!

What do we need?

6 chicken eggs
1 drop of food coloring of your own choice
1 teaspoon of hot water
1 teaspoon of wheat flour
kitchen towel
a sieve
something to pound the eggshell with

What do we have to do?
1. Take 6 chicken eggs. Remove the insides, the membrane and wash them thoroughly.
2. After they are totally dry, pound the eggshells into fine grain, best if its in powder form. Get a cheerful friend
(thanks for your help, Hani [pic] and Nuyun!) to do it because it can be a pain in our er, hand to do it alone
3. Sieve eggshells to make sure there is no big chunks of eggshells.
4. Gather atleast a tablespoon of eggshell powder mix with a drop of food coloring, water and wheat flour
5. Mix them well and wrap in a kitchen towel.
6. Leave it for a day and tada. . .we have our own chalk!

Why do we use chicken eggs?
Chalks are made from calcium carbonate just as eggshells, shells, and lime stone. Unless we can find not only a cheerful but muscular friend, let's stick to eggshells :D

How about replacing the chicken egg with other birds' eggs?
Other birds' eggs are calcium carbonate too so it will be just find. Our teeth are made from calcium carbonate, so feel free to experiment with it!

Why do we pound the eggshells into fine powder?
The sharp edges of the eggshells will scratch the surface that we want to write on instead of making a smooth line on it

Why do we use a very minimal amount of water in the mixture?
If the mixture has a lot of water in it, it will take a longer time for it to dry and maybe it will be a bit brittle

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Car Care : Cracked Tyre!

24092011 Bz noticed that my right front tyre has a cracked while he was filling up them. Later that day Farhunt inspected furthur and it was cracked at 3 different places! Alamak!

What to do? Owh, what to do? What do I know about tyres?
My wheels are 16 inch tyres with killer sport rims (thanks ayahandaku sayang). And after the accident that I had last year, 21032010, I knew that tyres need to be change every 2 years. So I planned for kutu pay out by end of November 2011. Since this happened and I have limited resources at the moment and after asking around, I opted for second hand tyre. Will replace them all by November 2011.

I know now to find a store that is not named after a tyre brand. They sell new tyre that will cost us around RM240 - RM320 per tyre. Most of the time they have no stock for second hand tyres.



This tyre shop that I went to sold me a second hand tyre + workmanship + balancing for RM80. I asked the man there how much they sell a brand new tyre. RM200 Archellies RM220 Silverstone up to RM290 per. They also said my break discs are due for a change. Minimum for one is RM120 per. A Nyonya there said she can give me a good deal, 4 new Silverstone tyres + 2 new break discs + workmanship = RM1100.

Next update, November 2011, hopefully!

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Chill Pill

pictures are only for decoration purposes only!

Chill Pill

by IdaXu Rais 
22092011


you're pathetically pissed, man
that my aim rarely missed
you're doing everything to distract me, don't you?
but my concentration never seems to cease
and i'll never again, do as you please
ha-ha, just take the chill pill, man!

you're obviously furious, man
that i'm still surprisingly curious
more people is looking out for my back, poor you
with me ignoring all your census
and that i find your pain delirious
ha-ha, start swallowing down the chill pill, man

i've told Him things, man
all about your little antics
and your sneaky tactics

you're just frustrated, man
you know that you're hated
everyone is giving you fake smiles when they see you
but the light in their heart faded
and look out, man. don't be too jaded
ha-ha, force down the chill pill, man

you're surely angry, man
my vision's no longer blurry
i'm going full speed, passing by you
taking charge seriously
and my destination? VICTORY!
ha-ha, don't choke on the chill pill, man!

i've prayed hard to Him, man
He's gonna cloud your dream
and crush your self esteem

letting myself loose, man
and feeling the chill pill
... in full effect

Food : Dino Apam

What are these cute little cakes?

These cute little cakes are apam with fillings, some are chocolates, kaya & blueberry.

Where can we get them?

These are apam made by a collegue, Mustaqim's sister in law, Norhayati Noordin .  They taste awesome. They are as tasty as they are adorable. Her blog is citarasaummi.blogspot.com. She called these Polkadot Apam but I like the name I gave better..hehehehe

 I wonder how long does it last before they get bad? With the fillings, I'm assuming not long. Well can ask her yourself. She made an Angry Bird cake and it looked awesome!

Ideas?

I think this is great idea for wedding goodies' bag. Get a transparent container with minimum decoration as the cakes are already adorable. They kind of look like dinosaur eggs. Wouldn't it be great if she can make a huge apam just like a dinosaur egg?

Food : Bubur Jagung (Corn Porridge)

My dad used to make 'kolak' or bubur tepung and bubur jagung for us on some weekends. I love those. As we get older, he stopped but I still remember how those sweet porridge taste like.

My first attempt to make bubur jagung was a success. More than I hope for. A small feat for most people but a major thing me. I can cook but it always taste bland so I try to avoid it at all cost. I received only one complaint that time around from yours truly, Bz. He said it was too sweet. Whoever conjured the saying, "Honesty is the best policy" probably didn't have a girlfriend and most likely figured out the, "Truth hurts" saying after he had one.

When I wanted to replicate the humble success again, I can't remember how much ingredients I put inside! The horror! Googled it again but I can't seem to find the receipe I used. So I have just guessed and voila!

3 cans of sweet corn (next time I should use more)
2 cans of sweet creamer milk
1 1/2 block of brown sugar
1 can of water a few pandan leaves
a pinch of salt

1. boil water with brown sugar and sweet corn until all the brown sugar has disolved
2. put in the milk and pandan leaves
3. add a pinch of salt
4. stir until it starts to bubble

Yay, good with bread too.

Next is 'kolak' tepung!

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Science Activity : How to preserve Wooden Artifact?

Thanks to Yat, Faiz, Husna, Ida and friend from Museum Malaysia for sharing :D

How do we preserve a wooden artifact?
1. First, find artifact to be preserved 
2. Then, put it in an air tight sealed chamber and remove all the air
4. Remove from the air tight sealed chamber (of course!)
3. Identify holes and do some research on the actual design of the artifact
4. Start filling up holes will wood filler and let it dry
5. To clean up access, use cotton bud dipped in water and just swab it off . Or we can use sand paper to sand it into shape again
6. Finally, repeat filling up holes, drying it and removing access until you get the desired result
Sometimes it is better to totally recontruct some parts of the artifact rather than fixing it


Why do we put the artifact into an air tight chamber?
To make sure all the insects/living things inside are dead. This usually take a minimum of 2 weeks


What are wood filler made of?
Wood filler are made of saw dust mixed with PVA glue. It is better to use the saw dust from the same type of wood the artifact is made. But to preserve newer wooden objects, we can buy commercial wood filler in hardware stores


How long does it take to preserve an artifact?
This basically depends on 
1. the size of the artifact
2. how bad is the damages are
3. and the characteristic of the filler
The filler will dry and shrink so we have to put more filler until the filler filled the hole and is the same level as the original artifact


A small wooden artifact (size of a palm) usually take a whole day to complete the preservation process


How come some artifacts look aged and some look colorful?
Wooden artifacts can be preserve in 2 major ways
1. preserving it to its original glory look 
meaning this requires painting and coloring using made made dyes. Natural dyes degrade through time

2. preserving it to it original shape only
Where the artifacts is just preserved without coloring

This depends on the principal of the organization preserving the artifacts


How do we preserve larger artifact such as boats or ships?
Instead of using wood filler made out of saw dust, we can use cement wall filler to fix the holes

kukur kelapa (coconut grater) loaned to Petrosains by Museum Malaysia

Why do we use cement wall filler instead of the wood filler?

Big artifacts are usually put outdoors. By using the cement filler are more durable in the harsh conditions out side

Food : NanoTart

Found this great idea during Syawal 2011,

my sister Suriana is modelling the NanoTart. her hands are smaller than mine!

Tasty  pineapple tart with a twist!

No, it is not pineapple tart with cheese. It is pineapple tart in small size. Even this picture is bigger than the actual size

How small is it?

As small as my thumb fingernail, around say, 1cm x 1.5cm. Fine, it is not actually nano in size but it is small plus everything small nowadays are called nano, more commercialized ;D

Who makes them?

my cousins (Mak Usu's daughters, there are 7 of them!)

Er, what so great about it then?

Smaller kuih means less empty space between kuihs
It is easier to carry because a handful of NanoTart equals to 10 tarts rather than 2 – 3 in standard sized tart. Smaller kuih means less empty space between kuihs in a jar.

More tart per bite

We can pop more than one NanoTart per bite compared to half a tart. Popping a whole tart in our mouth will result in difficulties such as chewing and swallowing. It takes a while to swallow a whole tart, so imagine if someone calls when our mouth is full of tart? Not a pretty sight…

No sticky-icky

Pineapple tart is also very sticky in our mouth. The tart will stick on our teeth and mouth ceiling. NanoTart will allow us to manage the stickiness to a minimum 

Had a good Raya and let's hope we all remember our Puasa 6 ;D

Making a Scratching Mat for My Cats :D

	unpacked a bed and had some pieces of box paper
cut the pieces into long strips of paper

took 2 strips and tape 1 of the end with masking tape. ready, set, roll!

roll! and it will get bigger, bigger... . and BIGGER!

voila! 1 scratching mat done :D

*made the scratching bottle too!

Speech : Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

Downloaded this from YouTube Channel : Stanford University with the promise not to make profit out it or distribute it.

This is a speech by Steve Jobs and I love it!

1. Connecting the dots
'because believing that the dots will connect down the road, will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it will lead you off the well worn path, and that will make all the difference.'

2. Love and loss
'It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick.' 

'If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.'

3. Death
'Everyday let's look in the mirrors ask ourselves "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.'

'Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.'

Hello, I'm Munkey!

Hello, I'm Munkey.

Yes, I'm a cat but I saw a creature in a box that likes to jump, jump, jump!

So I tried to jump, jump, jump too!

It is fun to jump, jump, jump.

Ida said that I jump, jump, jump like a monkey.

Munkey? That sound fun too.

Ida says "Munkey!" I say "Meow!"

Ida says "Munkey!" I say "Meow!"

Ida says "Munkey!" I say "Meow!"

Oh, Ida is strange tall furless cat who is my mummy but she said that she's not my mummy

She feeds me, grooms me and babies me.

I'm confused.

My mummy feeds me, grooms me and babies me.

So Ida is my mummy right?

But Ida bathes me too.

Yuck, I hate baths.

So maybe Ida is not my mummy.

My mummy wouldn't bathe me.

I miss my mummy.

I don't remember what my mummy looks like.

I don't remember what color is my mummy.

But I remember what my mummy feels like.

And I remember what her milk taste like.

She feels like a towel.

Ida give me towel to suck on.

But there is no milk!

I squeeze and squeeze and squeeze!

Still there is no milk.

But I squeeze and squeeze and squeeze anyway.

I miss my mummy.

Ida gives me milk too.

But I don't have to squeeze and squeeze and squeeze.

She puts it a dish.

Yummy, yummy, yummy.

Thank you Ida!

Let's go play now

Partial Solar Eclipse Pictures During My Birthday 2009

Found these pictures in my thumb drive. If these are physical pictures, it will be covered with a thick layer of dust. Well, I was on my way back to my parents' house in Cheras when it started. The journey took about 15 minutes on a non peak hour. By the time I reached my destination, using my 6 megapixel digital camera, I discovered that there was too much sunlight! So what I did was, I took my RM9.90 Sungei Wang sunglass and put it in front of the camera lens. Notice I can only capture it on camera when the moon and there was enough clouds covering most part of the sun. 

Caution: It is dangerous to look at the sun directly. Here some great sites to understand more about the phenomenon 

www.angkasa.gov.my

www.nowpublic.com

www.astronomynotes.net

spaceweather.com

Science Activity : Vibrating Coin

Let's do this!

Gloves on! Take a coin then make a deep slit on a piece of dry ice (slightly thicker than the coin), like this,

20 cent coin & dry ice. The dark line on the dry ice is the slit.

What do you think will happen when we put the coin in the slit?

*first attempt editing a video

Why does the coin vibrate when we put it in a slit on a piece of dry ice?

What is dry ice?

Dry ice is CO₂ (carbon dioxide) in solid form. To turn gas into solid, we have to lower the pressure and temperature of the gas.

Why do we have to wear gloves when we handle dry ice? 

What will happen if we touch it with our bare hands?

CO₂  has to be lowered to -76 to -78°C in order for it to become solid. It is colder than ice. Touching it with our bare hands will in result in a serious frostbite. In room temperature, it is too hot for the dry ice so the dry ice takes the heat from its surrounding to change into its gas form again. By touching it with our bare hands, the dry ice will take up heat from the liquid in our hand, turning it into ice. 

How do we know if something is hot or cold just by looking at the 'smoke' (water vapor) around it?

When we boil water, the water vapor goes up, means it hot. But when we open our freezer, the water vapor goes down. Looking at the dry ice, water vapor goes down so it is cold.

Why do we call it DRY ice?

I'm not sure the actual origin of the term but I'm sure its more or less because of when we put the dry ice on a piece of tissue, the tissue will stay dry, unlike the ice we put in our milo ice

So, why does the coin vibrate when we put it in a slit on a piece of dry ice?

The dry ice is taking the heat from the coin and turning into gas so quickly from both side of the coin. the releasing of the gas is so rapid that the coin is vibrating. 

What do you think will happen when the coin is already cold?

The coin will stop vibrating

Science Activity : Zesty Meter

Why do most people grate orange or lemon skin (zest) rather than putting the juice in their cooking?
Lemon zest has a more intense citrus flavor than the juice inside. The citrus flavor comes from the limonene in small sacs in the peel. Please be careful not to grate the white part underneath. it will give us the icky taste. there are two types of limonene, 

l-limonene smells piney and turpentine like

d-limonene has a pleasing orange scent

What do you think will happen if we pinch a lemon peel next to a lit candle?

Why does the candle fire up more when we pinch the lemon peel next to it?

Limonene is a type of oil. Its like putting petrol in a bonfire, it will fire up more

Why does lime zest taste more sour than lemon and orange but has the least zest?
Between lime, orange and lemon, which has the most zest and makes the flame fire up most?
The common answer would be lime because it is the most sour between the three. But the limonene or oil sacs on a much thicker peel thus contains more limonene. The real contest is between lemon and orange. So far, LEMON would fire up the most.

p/s: oh yeah, I made garbage enzyme with the orange, lime and lemon peel leftovers, wanna check it out? Click here and here for the weekly update

reference
greenlivingtips.com
whatscookingamerica.net

Science Activity : Garbage Enzyme Update

pictures of my garbage enzyme weekly (I hope!). Click here to see what I put in it and it was the leftover from the other activity called zesty lemon.

20/7/2011

24/7/2011 opened to release gas yesterday & today
because it looks as if it was about to explode!

24/7/2011 the hissing is very exhilarating!

27/7/2011 there is still A LOT of gas!

4/8/2011 not much difference

12082011 no more bubbles and becomes murky

12082011 some of the peel has sink to the bottom of the bottle

17082011 half of the peels are at the bottom of the bottle & it starts to stink when I uncap it...stinky!

7/92011 all of the peel has sunk to the bottom..the smell is also not so nice...yerkh...

21/9/2011 getting less cloudy

21/9/2011

3/9/2011 17 days to go!