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!