Liberation

~Betch

Here we are again. Wow. Seems like a long time now, hasn't it? I mean, the last time I wrote somecrap down? Well, you see, in the past few weeks, nothing interesting or different had come up, so I had to wait for things to arrive in my life. And they have, thank God, because I sometimes take great pity on those who are subjected to my rambling. Forgive me, but when you're called the betch of any trio, you tend to take the role that requires rambling.

Well anyway, I have actually just thought of something interesting and I think it should be officiated into the dictionaries and grammar. Notice how the word "something" is used all the time? Well, why not describe something good with the word "somegood"? Or maybe something bad with "somebad" or "somecrap" or "some(insert swear word here)"? It could save people the trouble of guessing whether the news given to them would be bad or good. But you know, for describing bad stuff, I shouldn't encourage people to swear. It isn't good. But I confess, I like the advantage of that.

Alright, now moving on to serious stuff that went down... So recently I have just come back from a trip with my college friends to Penang and Genting. It was a good trip, honestly, even when there were some problems beneath the surface. Some which didn't require much emotional depth on my part but rather more to being a listener. Aside from the emotional blunders, it was all good. As I was climbing down the hotel by cable car, I had the chance to view the scenery of nature from above. It was phenomenal. The forests and the landscapes were spectacular. After looking at all this, it still amazes me how some people can still deny the existence of God when His works of art are designed and displayed all over the world. But anyway, I will not get into that at the moment. 

I stayed in the Theme Park Hotel when I was in Genting. The theme park was great, I had a lot of fun there. I allowed the inner child in me to let loose on all the rides. Well the rides mostly had the height factor, and I love standing or being at high places. It just makes me appreciate everything as it is which was why I loved Genting. That and the cold air.

But I gotta betch about something here. The Theme Park Hotel. The hallways remind me so much of that film The Shining. Remember that film, guys? The hallways of the haunted hotel in the film was identical to the one at the hotel I stayed in. Seriously! I remember flinching at the thought of seeing those twin girls from the movie appear standing catatonic at the end of the hallway. *shivers*. And what about Jack Nicholsan, eh? Don't get me started with him. Genting is known for its hauntings and to say it isn't true would be unfair to those who had experienced supernatural activity there. I suppose we humans can never fully understand the nature of the spiritual realm.

Penang rocked too but I have been there a couple of times in recent years so it was all the same old stuff. Genting, however, was different because I have never really been on those theme park rides before that trip. Well I'm sure I did as a child but I could hardly remember much of it. A lot of good fluff, you know?

And for the right reasons, of course, I kindly request that each reader who would like to comment to address the writers of this blog as the names given above. :)

God bless for now.

Make An Ice-cream With One Ingredient

Yes, that's right; you heard us. Creamy, soft-serve style ice cream with just one ingredient — and no ice cream maker needed! What is this one magic ingredient that can be whipped into perfectly rich and silky ice cream, with no additional dairy, sweeteners, or ingredients needed whatsoever?

If you guessed BANANA, congratulations! You're right!

What? You didn't know that bananas can make some of the best ice cream? Well, I didn't either until last week, when my sister called me up and mentioned that she's been freezing bananas and then pureeing them into ice cream.

"That's the sort of thing you discover," she sighed, "when all your friends are vegan, gluten-free, dairy-allergic, and you're on a sugar-free diet." I'd deal with a list of dietary restrictions twice as long, though, if it meant discovering more treats like this one.

It turns out that frozen bananas are good for more than just dipping in chocolate. If you freeze a banana until solid, then whiz it up in a blender or food processor, it gets creamy and a little gooey, just like good custard ice cream. I was surprised at this bit of kitchen wizardry; I assumed that a blended banana would be flaky or icy. But no — it makes creamy, rich ice cream.

Some bananas, depending on their ripeness, have a bit of that green aftertaste. My sister has been experimenting with adding in another ingredient or two, like a tablespoon of peanut butter and another of honey. Delicious!

Have you ever tried frozen-banana ice cream? Try it! It's an easy way to stay cool and use up over-ripe bananas at the same time.

 

Directly taken from

Duran, F. (2009, August 15). How To Make Ice-cream With Just One Ingredient! Retrieved May 9, 2010, from thekitchn: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/stay-cool/how-to-make-creamy-ice-cream-with-just-one-ingredient-093414

Mahathir Knows......

On 21 April 2010, I had the opportunity to listen to the ex-Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Mahathir. He was invited by Universiti Teknologi Petronas to give a lecture on "Beyond Vision 2020". About the topic of his public lecture, he honestly said that it would not be accomplished unless Malaysia changes its direction, I don't know in what sense but certainly it has something to do with the people and its leaders. Mahathir, who is the Chancellor for the universiti, presented a lecture which I found was very honest and true, MAINLY BECAUSE IT WAS COMING FROM A NORMAL CITIZEN AND NOT A POLITICIAN.


He told that, Malaysia cannot rely on nuclear power as the radioactive waste cannot be disposed of. The wastes can only be buried in the soil and thus, making the area hazardous and cannot be used for any purpose. This is the reason why Malaysia have to build dams to produce electric. He bombarded the green environmentalist who cannot see the matter in a bigger picture. He also mentioned that he had to learn a lot of economic and finance during the 1998 economic crisis.


After his lecture, there was a question and answer session. One of the teachers in the nearby school who question on the reason why Maths and Science are taught in English when most of the people cannot adapt to it. Mahathir replied that everyone should move forward by learning English and not stay in Bahasa Malaysia. He added that it is important to be at par, internationally. I liked the part where he 'shut' the mouth of the teacher for good when he said, "why follow those who are at the lower level...... We should increase the level of the difficulty and not decreasing it". 


Another interesting question was on the unity and the integration of the races in this country. Mahathir said that Malaysia is considered a united country mainly because many have restrained themselves from speaking. Then he was asked again on the freedom speech. Mahathir replied that it is better now compared to the Prime Minster from 1981-2003. He also hinted that the Malays of this country need to be competitive in order to survive the current world because more and more country will be multi-racial and multi-cultural. Europe and Asia will be filled with Indians and Chinese, which is about 2.3billion of the total population of the world. He didn't want to tell the main reason of preventing the integration of the races of this country but he said this "look at Singapore, they only have English school!". Haha. That is one of the post which I have mentioned before: http://theramblingtrio.blogspot.com/2009/08/single-standard-education-for-all.html
See! Smart people don't think alike but geniuses do! Haha!


To wrap up, Mahathir was a smart leader and he knows that he has been using the ISA on many purposes beside what it is meant for. There would be many new problems that he might not see in the future but the main point which he predicted that we should pay attention on would be:

1. Malaysia should not focuses its income on the direct investment of foreign entity because it is now considered an expensive country to invest on.
2. The world would be multi-racial and multi-cultural, thus 'people' in this country should not rely too much on the government.
3. Plastics can be a potential world killer in the future because it cannot be disposed of.

There are much more good content in his speech but that's all I would write about it. Before ending, Mahathir said "I do not need to worry about it as I will no longer be here. It is for the future leader to solve them."

The Politician

A voice that should be heard ;)