Crafty gifts for Christmas - make something for friends

Sometimes, it may be more meaningful to make something for friends than to splurge your share of the stimulus package on expensive gifts. The same gifts sold at the stores could cost two or three times more. So why not let your creativity blossom during the festive season.

Time your purchses of quilting cotton material when they are on special price. Most ladies would love the pretty floral and geometric prints on cloth imported from Japan, Korea, Pakistan and USA.

Try to avoid panels as they are not as versatile. You could sew eye pillow, computer mouse wrist rest or heat pack. Leave a gap after sewing the seams of the desired size. Fill with flax seed and oat husk. Infuse some fragrance with dried flowers (do not use lavender for heat pack as they burn easily) or strongly scented tea bags. When it is almost half filled, seal up the gap. Fold and tie a ribbon around it and gift wrap with tissue or glossy paper. Now, you're ready to send your special Christmas present.

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A touching story - mentor and will power = success

This is a simple story about the friendship between the Chinese shopkeeper and the Lebanese kid on the fringe that have inspired many Australians, and used by parents and teachers to motivate students.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/miranda-devine/christians-there-are-more-worthy-fights-than-da-vinci/2006/05/20/1147545562556.html

More stories in :
http://oneworldtalk.freeforums.org/mentor-and-friend-geoff-bilel-featured-again-t2968.html

Mentors can do wonders and change a kid's life. Hats off to Geoffrey Lee. Bilel Jideh's persistence and diligence paid off. He is indeed a good role model for students.

My dad often told us about a distant uncle who was a mentor who served as a compass and beacon for a more meaningful career and way of living. Wished I had a mentor to seek guidance from when I was younger. It will avoid having to learn from mistakes and save a lot of time for more fruitful pursuits.

Malaysian restaurant - Sambal in Ryde

The food and service ratings for this restaurant in a commercial/ residential suburban town have improved by leaps and bounds in the past year. The management which is a partnership of two former Malaysians with some previous experience in the food business, appeared to have identified the problem areas and overcome initial teething problems. It is well patronised by the working lunch crowd and takeaways, singles who don't cook in the evenings and families during the weekend.

The lor bak is one of the best in town. Stuffed with braised pork, minced meat and crunchy vegetables filling, the soy bean crepe rolls are deep fried till crispy. It is tasty but not too salty. The dish is also known as ngor hiang if five spice seasoning and root vegetables are added.

This is not your usual salad. The name "mamak rojak" suggests that it is probably Indian in origin although on the menu, it says "nonya". Potato, prawn and vegetable fritters are mixed with fresh vegetables and tossed in a thick sweet potato sauce. For recipes of this dish, please refer to :

The mains : Fried rice noodle named " Ipoh Hor Fun" or "wat tan hor" in most other restaurants because of the thick starchy egg white gravy poured over the seared noodles, seafood and vegetables. It is different from the famous dry fried sar hor fun with soy sauce that I am familiar with.

I have tried the Penang fried kway teow previously and was very pleased with it.

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Japanese grill - hidden treasure in Eastwood

Sakae Yakiniku restaurant

A sprawling licensed restaurant with alfresco, gas cooking at the table and exhaust to ensure ventilation for diners is located opposite the Eastwood library. As it it tucked upstairs, the rental is probably lower and the management could afford to give customers quality food at reasonable prices. The cuisine is predominantly Japanese but there are some nice Korean dishes on the menu.

Seafood pancake - one of the best I've tasted in town and the surrounding suburbs. The squid is seared to an aromatic state and the batter is crispy on the outside and moist within. There are sufficient shallots, onions and carrot to balance the generous serving of seafood. The sesame sauce is delicious too.

Deep fried flouder (karage fish) is crispy and not oily. You can dip into the soy sauce mixed with chilli, radish and lime. Tasty but not salty, unlike the typically overpowering salt and pepper version served in most Asian and Aussie restaurants.

Grill / BBQ / Yakiniku

Here comes the main course : marbled Wagyu deboned beef rib.

The sirloin is not as fatty but tastes equally good.

Ready to tuck in and enjoy the meal.

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House prices in Sydney set to rise further - hard to find cheap residential properties in Sydney

House prices in Australia are to remain high due to high demand, mainly from population rise. Local demand from incentives such as baby bonus and first time home owners' grant and from migrants whose affordability range from mid to high end properties.

Sydney house prices have bucked the global downturn.
Many home seekers and buyers are disappointed as they had thought that 2010 would be a better time to get a bargain have miscalculated. In most Australian cities, waiting for a "good" time to buy a "cheap" residential property is akin to "waiting for godot" . It seldom happens, and it does, there is only a narrow window of opportunity. Some friends had bravely got into the market early this year and late last year when indications were uncertain if prices could go south. Turned out to be wise if you need a house and have stumbled upon one you really liked, go for it even if it means paying a slight premium, i.e., if mortgage repayment is not an issue. Sydney properties that do not have major faults are snapped up quickly usually higher than the original price bought.

It is a seller's market and tight for buyers. Ignore doomsayers and sadists. Whether it is "worth it" or not is not critical because there is a shortage of homes and people need to have a home over their heads.

With low vacancy and high rentals, renting is not really an option for many working families. Many tenants have complained of putting up with landlords' demands to be on the move all the time, but to no avail. Gone are the days when about 50-50 of Aussie urbanites were tenants or home owners.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/house-prices-to-rise-further-but-theyre-worth-it-says-rba-20091125-jrta.html?autostart=1

Even though growth in sales is expected to slow, it is nevertheless still growing compared to most parts of the world, including the Asia Pacific markets, when you could see signs of speculative bubble forming.
Hopefully, the situation could be mitigated with increased supply with more building activity when developers could profit once again and financing becomes more relaxed as the economy picks up further.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/domain/australian-capital-territory/house-price-rises-to-ease-in-new-year/2009/11/23/1258824660655.html

Australia's boat people - how it all began

The Brits were the first boat people who landed on Australian shores, greeted by the aboriginal people who gradually became less friendly when they realised their ancestral lands were being taken away while they go walkabout.

Another form of school grounds bullying - racism still rears its ugly head among Anglo-Australian youths

In the past, I thought there wasn't much that my acquaintance who champions equality in a multicultural society at workplace and schools has to work on to improve current environment which appears satisfactory to me.

While I sometimes hear of and bear witness to subtle discrimination, this piece of news bolsters the case of those who continue to champion equality that racism is more pervasive and widespread than is recognised. This is another manifestation of human rights abuse slipping pass the net of protective laws and unmonitored school bullying.

MORE than two-thirds of young people are the victims of racism at school,
with first-generation migrant women in years 11 and 12 most at risk.

A national study has found that racism permeates Australian schools,
with 80 per cent of secondary students from non-Anglo backgrounds and 55 per
cent of students from Anglo backgrounds saying they had experienced racial
vilification.

Interviews conducted with 900 secondary school students across
Australia also found Anglo-Australian youths displayed consistent prejudice
towards other cultural groups, particularly towards darker-skinned students from
places such as Africa and India.

Students who attended a Catholic school were 1.7 times less likely to report experiences of racism than students going to government schools.
Racism made students feel angry, depressed, increased headaches, muscle tension and made them not want to go to school, the study found.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/schools-a-hotbed-of-racism-study-20091118-imk8.html


This is a sad state of affairs. Discrimination which stem from prejudices are much more intractable especially if such perceptions are partly cultivated at home, in society and through sublimal messages on TV or private jokes. More appalling is the fact that some officials (these youths who grow up and graduate to take up appointments of responsibilities to the public) too hold such prejudicial and judgement views on the basis of race. It may not easy to convince them to change the mindset but there are avenues for the persistent to seek redress.

In Australia, don't fall sick if you can't afford it - public health crumbling

Australians who cannot afford private healthcare are in dire straits as the public healthcare system continues to crumble while promised remedies fall through. The content of the latest news report of the pathetic state of public hospitals is not new.

Three-quarters of doctors believe the state's public hospitals have not
become a better place to work in the past six months and 71 per cent say the
health service has cut clinical staff, according to the survey of 510
doctors.

There were still severe bed and staff shortages, unacceptable surgery delays, bullying by managers when doctors claimed overtime or raised patient safety issues and ''misrepresentation'' of performance data, the survey found.

Only 6 per cent felt there had been a positive change in workplace culture, and
many felt it had worsened. And 68 per cent said they had not seen efforts by
management to seek doctors' input in decision-making, despite ''many layers of
committees''.

''The picture that emerges is a system under financial and cultural stress -
clinicians and management alike are increasingly finding it difficult to deliver
what brought them into the system in the first place - quality patient care,''
he said. ''The single biggest risk'' to reform was the divide between clinicians
and management.

In the survey, doctors repeatedly complained of patient
safety issues, including people being discharged before they were fully
recovered.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/doctors-sick-of-failure-to-fix-ailing-hospitals-20091118-imjr.html


News about rodent and insect infestation at a public hospital in the upper northshore of Sydney metro area came as a shock to many residents. In addition, the report highlighted complaints by hospital staff of cracks on walls and leaky roofs public hospital building , delay in purchase of screening equipment, and that the very modest requirements of medical care have not been met. Even the best patient care could not make up for the poor facilities.

Many have lost faith in the public healthcare and go straight to private hospitals without a second thought. But that would mean paying hefty medical bills that the average Aussie family struggling with mortgage repayments, daily expenses of raising a family, rising cost of living and education, could ill afford to foot.

Health Insurance

A small family of four could incur more than $200 per month in basic private insurance which covers the bare minimum of ambulance service and hospitalisation stay.

The only good news and consolation to the less well-to-do Australian families is that the current PM Kevin Rudd would top up private outpatient medical costs not covered by Medicare and private insurance once the amount reaches certain graduated thresholds tied to household income and affordability.

The root of the problem lies in years of non-chalance with public well being and careless use of funds under the previous Carr premiership in the state of NSW. When it came to the crunch, mindless cost-cutting measures were implemented such as cutting staff hours, purchasing inferior quality inventory, but end up paying more as in the case of "penny wise pound foolish" because such short-sighted "solutions" did not meet the needs of offering decent health care.

After many reports of failures in duty of care due to overworked staff and hospital facilities breaking at the seams, some health centres are finally adopting what some developing countries practice to offer triage attendance to patients who need immediate medical attention.

WALK-in clinics allowing patients to seek faster treatment from a nurse
practitioner will be set up in public hospitals around Australia, starting with
a $10million centre at Canberra Hospital.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nurses-to-be-doctors-at-walk-in-clinics/story-e6frg6no-1225716198847

Taiwan chain restaurant Din Tai Fung is a hit in Sydney

Taiwanese cuisine has been inspired by northern Chinese, southern Chinese and Japanese cuisines due to its historical experience.

Din Tai Fung corporate management must have done their research and sums well. A year after its debut in Sydney, Din Tai Fung is proving to be very popular with Aussies from all ethnic backgrounds and tourists. Long queues (seated, standing and wandering) can be seen outside the restaurant all day.

Steamed northern style spicy wanton with pork and vegetable filling wrapped in wheat pastry. Tossed in spicy chilli oil and savoury sauce mixed with endamame (green soy) beans. It has an interesting name - "fry hand". To me, the level of hotness is "medium". However, if you have low tolerance for spicy food, drain away the sauces before eating.

A refreshing appetizer of konbu seaweed salad with strips of tofu, crunchy vegetables and chilli and topped with sesame soy dressing.

Shanghainese spaghetti : zha jiang mian. The sauce is a mix of tangy and spicy flavour. It has chopped tomato (not paste or sauce), tofu, diced pork, ham and spring onion. A little lamian (wheat ramen noodle) fills up the famish easily.

Ain't this wanton cute? Generously filled with minced pork and topped with crab roe in an open face wrapping.

The icon or trademark of northern Chinese food is xiaolongbao 小龍包. They come in two flavours : pork only or pork with crab meat filling. Be careful not to prick and spill the flavoursome stock inside the delicate pastry. Dip in ginger and dark vinegar. Yummy!

Deep fried boneless pork chop probably has its origins in western and Japanese food culture. Crispy and tasty, but a bit too soft and oily for my liking. I still prefer Japanese tonkatsu and Hainan pork chop to this.

The prices are steep in comparison with other northern Chinese eateries in town or the suburbs but you could be sure that the food is fresh due to the high quality control and good turnover.

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Charming Crystal Christmas

Christmas is getting earlier each year as shops compete to adorn beautiful decorations and stock up to entice customers. Outdoor decor in Sydney may not be as glittering as some big cities like London, New York or even Singapore. But each shopping centre has put up creative works of art and special themes to draw the crowds especially those from out of town. Like they say : small is beautiful!

At QVB, the two main features are the chandelier and the Christmas tree. Both are constructed using genuine Swarovski crystals hangings.

A delightful red and clear crystal glittering against the old rotating clock in the background.

A two storey (40 feet) tall Christmas tree decorated with crystals as well.

A closeup at one of the crystal hanging on the tree.

A more natural colour of the tree is unveiled taken with the flash.

An entrance to the QVB with a stained glass arch.

We are ready for a white Christmas in summer Down Under.

Simply magical!

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Seasonal Vegetables from Down Under

The mild climate in Australia is ideal for growing a wide range of fresh vegetables all year round. In the last 10 years, leafy green Asian vegetables are easily available - kangkong (ong choy), choy sum (mustard green), bok choy (Shanghai bai cai of varying sizes), etc.

Just as most most autumn fruits and vegetables are orange (such as pumpkin and persimmon), green is the dorminant colour of spring harvest now.

Below : A refreshing summer salad of sliced fennel bulb, spanish sweet onion, orange cubes, capsicum, tomatoes and mint leaves. Toss in French vinegarette or citrus fruit juices. Yes, break down the taboo - you could mix fruits and vegetables, spices with dessert, sweet in the main course, beans in salad and dessert ...

Zucchini flowers (courgettes) is usually found in fine dining restaurants. They cost twice or three times more than the full grown zucchini. Best eaten when deep fried in light batter or stuffed with egg and cheese. Can be fried, baked or steamed.

Pumpkins are available in Spring which coincides with Halloween in the northern hemisphere.

Swede, a winter vegetable that is subtly sweet and essential ingredient for heart warming stews with meat or soups. Versatile and matches well with most vegetables - carrots, parsnips, potatoes, onions, tomatoes.




Celeraic does not look appealing or appetising but it has a stronger taste than celery which makes it useful for making cream sauce and soups.

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Vietnamese special meals - many dishes in one dish

Convenient and delicious, one could order a special meal with so many yummy dishes in one meal.


The special rice with deep fried crispy lemongrass and fish sauce marinated pork chop, steam egg (wood fungus, minced meat, glass noodle, onion and egg mixture), finely sliced pork belly. Side dish include pickled carrot, radish, sliced cucumber, lettuce and tomato.

This combination rice vermicelli has all the goodies in it - fried spring roll, sugar cane prawn, lemongrass beef, sliced pork, toss in chilli fish sauce with pickled and fresh herbs and vegetables.

For comparison : http://ausletters.blogspot.com/2009/07/special-vietnamese-rice-noodle-bit-of.html

Comparisons :

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Al Fresco - Aussie barbie / BBQ

Australian backyard cooking and al fresco dining are a favourite family and social activity as the daylight gets longer.

Roast rack of lamb with low fire and covered hood. Marinate with red wine, spices and tangy sauces. Place a spray of rosemary twigs on the meat. Roast for one hour depending on the size of the roast.

Sausage sizzle are best cooked glazed on cast iron or steel rack across the fire. Large prawns are very popular during Christmas when it is bright and sunny Down Under.

Fry mushrooms and other mixed vegetables such as pumpkin, zucchini, onions and tomatoes on a tray over indirect heat. These non-stick stainless steel plates are really useful. The veggie turn out juicy when it's not overcooked.

Bake garlic bread, potatoes, small taro or sweet potatoes in ambers or residue heat from BBQ.

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Fragrances of spring - jasmine, honey suckle, roses

Night jasmine bloom in abundance from early spring to summer and sparsely in autumn at times. They are not as visually attractive as the common pink jasmine but the fragrance is pleasant, strong but not overpowering, when carried by the spring breeze.

Honey suckle spring up suddenly every spring time among the shrubs. Full of nectar and sweet smelling, they attract birds and bees to the garden.

Last but not least, smell the roses that have come out of the winter hibernation to show off their beauty.

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Other fragrant spring flowers :

http://ausletters.blogspot.com/2008/11/coming-soon.html