Is there a vending machine that dispense canned drinks at tropical room temperature?

This evening, after swimming for about a hour or so,  I felt rather thirsty and thought about getting a canned drink as I passed a soft-drink dispensing machine.

Nope, I thought, remembering that the cold drink would bring about a sneeze, especially after a swim.  However, what to do? And I bought a can of very chilled soya bean drink, much to my chagrin.

Likewise, I often pondered if I should get a can of isotonic drink (regardless whether it contains the controversial mix of benzoic acid and citric acid) to replenish my depleted electrolytes after an arduous  hot afternoon run or sweaty workout at the gym.

Time again and again, I often thought otherwise and gave the machine a pass.  At the back of my mind, I wondered why I always forget to buy the cold can drink earlier so that I could have a “warmer” drink later.

I guess the drink manufacturers often neglect or assume that customers only want cold drinks in our tropical environment.  Or, is it only hot drinks in aircon environment. Of only both extreme ends.

This is probably why the sales of whether isotonic drinks or even herbal canned drinks at gymnasium or sport facilities are not moving fast because of the considerations above.  Too chilled, my friend!

So, can somebody come up with a drink-dispensing machine that can dispense drinks at room or maybe even body temperature.  Maybe half the machine and dish cold drinks while the other half draw upon the wasted energy to heat up to a “not-the-usual” boiling” but rather  a decently tropical room temperature for immediate consumption.

This will not only help save the earth, so to speak, consuming less energy, but may also save your health too.

Cheers!

Mikey

Chinese Cooking “Wok Hei” is not really healthy…. if you really think about it.

In Chinese cooking, often we would find someone raving or reminising over food that had been cooked in extremely high heat over a wok, which we term as food imbide with “wok hei” (in cantonese).  It literally meant “wok aroma” whereby you can taste the infusion of the red hot wok and burnt elements in your food. Siok!

However, do we even stop to think about it, whether is it really healthy.  Of course, even I would say, who cares, as long as it is tasty and I do not eat it everyday.  Yes, I do pine for the “wok hei” food at times.  But I think we should sometimes, at least ponder over things, at least, those that affect us. We cannot expect the government to think everything for us, right? We should not waste our resources chasing ghosts when we can’t even look after our present and next generation properly.

This evening, over dinner, I asked my two sons why “wok hei” is mostly found in the hawker or restaurant.  Without waiting for their reply (which is bad), I said it probably started because they have to cook the food very fast or lose businesses.  That’s is why the cook had to use very high heat to reduce cooking time, and in itself, sort of create the classic “burnt” taste and aroma in the red hot wok.  However, the worst part is probably when the cook throws in a cup of water, to (not gently) lift the “burnt” debris stuck whilst creating the steam to “cook” and dilute the “burnt” taste.  Thus different wok will have different taste, mostly from made of cast iron, and sometime, it is not really the cook but rather the wok.

The use of very high heat, is also for the very reason of melting the lards (animal fats) to coat the “stir-fried” food, enhancing the taste and much to our delight.  We would have difficulty achieving this technique at home.  Thank goodness for that. By the way, lard do contains alot of toxic elements like pesticide residue etc.

At least, it is heartening to know the various ministries had taken some pain to educate us about the importance of using vegetable oil and other healthier way of cooking techniques etc

Can great tasting Chinese food can be achieve without the “wok hei” and the thick coating of lard?  Of course, it can be done, silly of  me, to say so.

So we must sort of cherish the simple and humble home-cook food, how our wives and mothers, who sloughed long hours in the kitchen, while we wait impatiently for the food to simmer over low heat, and yet we grumble or think “why can’t you cook like those chef” with the “wok hei” ?

Think again.

Mikey

Banquet foodcourt gets a “D” grading from me.

I often go to Causeway Point with my family for dinner and sometimes I visit the Banquet foodcourt for Char Kuay Teow.  However, what peeve me off, is that the cook at the Char Kuay Teow stall persist in using a plastic plate to scoop the food from the blazing hot wok.  I reminded the cooks there a few times when I last visited the stall and often got dazed look like “As if I care” or “you are speaking to the wrong person”.

Another strange thing there is that hot drinks stall there uses a large plastic jug to make Milo.  The woman would pour boiling hot water in the plastic jug, purely not meant for “boiling hot” water and then dispense to unwitting customers.  By the way, most of those customers there who drink Milo are usually kids and elderly.

I am not sure how the Ministry of Environment or Health Ministry does their grading for food stalls in terms of food preparations.

Amongst those pet peeves that we should be concern and widely practised here are:

a.  Vegetables not washed.   Mostly at “Chay Chye Png” or Mixed Vegetable/Rice stalls.

b.   Stall holders uses flimsy plastic gloves to hold onto just fried stuff like Indian Rojak, “Ngoh Siang”,  Fried Chicken etc.  I am not sure if the plastic glove actually melts into the food.

c.    Using styrofoam to pack just fried food stuff.  Try visiting the nasi lemak staff at Lorong Ah Soo and due to the long queue for the piping hot fried fish, which the owner simply stash ontop of the rice before flipping the styrofoam cover, you can actually see the fish melting away the plastic before your eyes.

d.  Use of toxic paint to mark the glass coffee cups at food centres and coffee shops.  I wonder why the health inspectors are not doing anything.  Why can’t someone comes up with coloured glass handle rather than allow the stall owners to indiscriminately use toxic material like paints, cellophane tapes etc.   Is there really something wrong with our education system.  Or are we only focus on doing all the wrong things, like exploiting others who are different from us to make money.

Wake Up Please!!

Mikey

Proper way to do Pull-ups (overhand chin-ups)

I am writing this for my elder son, Mervyn, who is now trying to do a proper pull-up as compared to “kick-propelling” chin-ups.  Actually I always use the term, “overhand grasps chin-up” or simply just “underhand chin-up” for both methods.

Well, this site seemed to explain the difference. (link)

http://stronglifts.com/how-to-do-pull-ups-and-chin-ups-with-proper-technique/

However, after visiting the site, it is still quite confusing for me too.

Anyway, I told my son that doing pull-up is actually better as in the real-world, it allow us to climb over wall or hoist ourselves after pulling up a horizontal bar, or swing from bar to bar via overhand method.  Even monkeys uses the pull-up method when swing from tree to tree.   So pull-up is more practical than chin-up.   Chin-up, however, do help to build some biceps though and useful in certain situation which I seldom encounter.

Nevertheless, more and more people and especially kids and teenagers are using the chin-up method as they can do more and that where quantity comes in,  for whatever reasons whether they would be useful or not.  Right?

Ok , pull-up is easy to do if you know the method.  I am also new to pull-up as I have always been using chin-ups to chalk the numerical requirements.  Now, I prefer to do the proper method, though.  Partly to improve my overall well-being for a strong back and shoulder muscle to improve my spinal column.

So I experimented on few techniques.  Increasing the distance between both hands on the bar is the first requirement as compared to chin-up when both hands should be parallel and not wider that your shoulder’s width.

Here, comes the technique.  Remember when you do INCLINE chin up, you naturally use the overhand grasp like in a normal Pull-up.   Well, then you should try to apply this to your normal Pull-up by looking up, tilting your head slightly back and slanting your back slightly like doing a incline chin-up and then pulling from your chest rather than your shoulder.  As you find your chest heaving towards the bar, rotate your overhand grasps forward and complete the pull-up with ease.  This will allow you to use your various muscles more efficiently.  However, now the catch is whether the instructors or teachers would allow for a slight swing or tilt even if it is more efficient.  I hope we are wise enough to discern the relevancy of the pull-up techniques and improve with time.

Confucian did not say “Better to do a few proper pull-ups than lots of lousy chin ups that serve no purpose”.  I say so.

Have fun!

Mikey

A novel approach to treat heatstroke?

It is very saddening to hear about young people dying from “heat stroke” and we should try to not only to seek ways to detect and prevent such untimely deaths but especially to try novel approaches in treating those “fallen” victims.

I noticed that many such deaths do precede with splitting headaches, disorientation and nose bleeds.  This is perhaps nature of telling us that the person could may not be “dehydrating” as generally belief but could be suffering from brain edema (swelling).

This is when the body having lost alot of salt will initiate its bodily defence mechanism to secrete vasopressin to prevent urinating or even sweating to prevent further loss of salts through these channels.    So instead of giving the “heatstroke” potential victim enough electrolytes (salts) to promote sweating, they are given more water and hence their body and particularly their blood vessels will become BLOATED.  If you drink two water bottle, about 3 litres, and suffering from water intoxication, preventing sweating and urinating, then your body weight should increase by 3kg. Right?

So nose bleed is a possible first indication that your blood pressure is perhas too high from too much fluid retention.  In your brain, it will bloat against an “unexpandable” skull and this will seriously damage your brain tissue.  My wife’s friend, Poh Ling, says her son has nose bleeding and their doctor says it is good, meaning his body is strong.  I do not know what to say when I heard this.  I have since warned my son to ensure that if he drinks a lot of plain water in hot weather, be mindful of having adequate salts too.  He agreed.

I also do find it rather lucridous for a “heatstroke” victim to be put under a “water sprinkler” system, to cool his body since this will only cool the skin surface and his body will response by further closing his sweat pores to prevent further heat loss.  Likewise his blood vessels below the skin will also contract upon the false “cooling” sensation detected.    Instead the poor victim should be brought to a dehumidified area to facilitate sweating.   Maybe there should be immediate infusion of diuretic compound or medicine to allow his body to sweat.

I have proposed about it sometime last week that maybe we should try a novel method, that is to do some form of “blood letting” at specific parts of the body vascular system to allow the bloated vascular system to “deflated” and rapidly reduce the pressure on that had reached bursting point especially at the capillaries in the vital organs.   In any edema, speed is vital to prevent total organs breakdown.  Thus “blood letting” would be like mimicking the natural body defence mechanism of “nose bleeding” to reduce pressure to the brain.  Right?  Of course, you are telling me that the bleeding is actually a hemorrhage bleeding from dengue etc.   I do not think so, logically to speak.

At for preventive approach, I always said that for those taking endurance events must remember to balance and replenish their electrolyte.  Trying to lost weigh and be physically fit, is unfortunately antagonistic to each other, especially in a short timeframe.   Too take very little salt and then try to run or partake in endurance physical events and then drinks lots of water is almost like putting your body to the extreme.  Imaging having cramps from all the way from your calf towards your heart (a biological pump) that require optimal balance of salt (sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium) to function.  To say that the victim could have some underlying heart conditions that may not have been detect is also true, but did we really provide the poor soul with adequate electrolyte.  I understand that the US soldiers carry electrolyte replenishment packs as part of their combat ration and perhaps we should introduce this to our schooling kids as well to educate about  the importance of electrolyte balance.

However, for the adults who may be taking too much salt in their normal diet, then they need not drink too much isotonic drink either for their fun run.  But to deprive the youngsters and those doing serious training from having adequate salt when we ask them to partake in endurance event is, perhaps, a bit too selfish.

Lastly, I now begin to wonder if those people who goes in to emergency ward with high blood pressure will find their pressure lessening is probably because after having so much vials of blood withdrawn for testings, one should not be surprise if their pressure actually drop to a decent level and hence be discharged.  However, this is another issue that I may want to write about later.  Maybe I should donate more blood to lower my pressure too!  Hee Hee!

Do take care!

Mikey

Killing Butterflies for all the Wrong Reasons

When Clement, my youngest son, appeared at the doorway, he was holding a squarish clear plastic cover over a styrofoam base.  I was about to go for my evening exercise but stayed on to see what he had been learning for his one-day life sciences course.

Inside the squarish plastic cover were two insects; a large black butterfly with bluish spots and a infant grasshopper, both affixed to the styrofoam base with pins.

I carefully examine the “dead” specimen and to my horror, the butterfly was still alive.  Despite the huge pin that was rammed through its thorax, its abdomen was still cringing, needless to say, in excruciating pain.

“Clement! why is the butterfly still alive!” I queried.  “Not only me, but others also.  Maybe the person do not have the time to kill the butterflies as there were many children there too,” said Clement rather nonchalantly.

“It is not right, you know,” I said.  What the “person” should be doing is to kill the butterfly as quickly and as humanely as possible, and not to let it die in a state of “cruxification” with pin rammed through its thorax and wide-spreaded wings (a total of 7 pins).   Clement and Mervyn (my elder son) who were around suddenly seemed to realise that what I am sayng does make sense.  WE SHOULD NOT just mindlessly capture beautiful insects for our own amusement.  The butterflies and bees are needed to pollinate the flowers for our continual existence.  Doing this is like killing a rhinoceros for it horns, or mounting a lion’s head in the living room purely for personal amusement.  AND THIS IS WHAT MY SON HAS BEEN SPENDING HIS WHOLE DAY DOING – to catch insects and mount onto frames, and worst still,  regardless whether they are dead or not!

However, for research purposes sometimes, experiments are being done on animals like mice as “guinea pigs” so to speak.  However, I presume that they are treated as humanely as possible and not a slow and excruciating death.

Likewise, we, human beings, are omnivorous.  We eat meat like fishes, beef, mutton, pork etc from live-stocks besides vegetables.  I want to point out here that unlike herbivorous, we do not have the abundant cellulase or long enough digestive tracts to digest the cellulose for our overall well-being.   Our genetic make-up necessitates the need for meat.  Even in the monkey families, not all are vegetarians.  The baboons, for examples are opportunistic eaters and, fond of crops, become destructive pests to many African farmers. They eat fruits, grasses, seeds, bark, and roots, but also have a taste for meat. They eat birds, rodents, and even the young of larger mammals, such as antelopes and sheep.  (link)

Ok, back to the dying butterfly that was entombed in a glass container.  I slowly yanked out the pin from its thorax and placed the remaining six pins from its wings.  It was barely alive and I placed it onto a box with tissues moistened with water and a few drops of honey as food for its recovery if any.  As I had guessed, it began to flap its wings after a few minutes and the next day, it was well enough to fly away from the window sill which my wife and rested it upon.  I am not sure if it was strong enough to fly away as I wanted to place it in a park but since it had already flown away as my wife says so, I guess it must be so.

Hence the more butterflies and bees that we have, the more forest we also have.  And more more oxygen and also substenance of the vastly degenerating ecological system  (link).  God had indeed created many creatures for a reason and that they should be all different even within the same species and classes.  Some “lower-life form human beings” have difficulty understanding that and normally two totally opposing groups adhere to extremist and unrationalized views of each others with no compromise at all! Instead they try to make everyone walk and think the same like them.  Never will they believe that majority of the people oscillate in the middle.  There will be alot of angst and hatred instead.  We should try to educate them.  Love is a good start.  Start with yoursel first and then you can love others.  If you start on a wrong footing, to hate others first, then you will get caught in a spiralling or vortex of hatred that will consume you till the end of days.  Both will see each other in hell, so to speak.

As I write this, my gaze chanced upon a framed glass with six butterflies hanging on my living room wall.  What! I have one of these!  Ok, I remember buying this in Malaysia, a few years back when I visited either East or Peninsualr Malaysia, at a tourist site.  And I remember thinking it was so beautiful.  Now, perhaps as a parent, I seeing it in a better light.  And the way it is being taught or implemented as a “Life Science” for my kid in school, is perhaps, all the wrong reasons or someone’s personal agenda which we should not partake.   I should also not purchase such framed butterflies for my own amusement anymore to save the dwindling forests in Malaysia.  The “eco-tourism” there is killing itself too.

Perhaps a better way for teaching life science is to catch them alive and release them back into to forest or a proper sanctuary as responsible human beings.  We should simply just admire them from a distance …. the butterflies, the moths and the bees….  as they work to keep us alive!

Cheers!

Library-Gymnasium to exercise both mind and body

I think our libraries or gymnasiums could go one step further by providing those who wants to read, watch video, listen to audio cd or surf the net while running on a treadmill or pedaling on a stationery bike.  Presently this is mostly found at exclusive and expensive gyms.

Of course, these services could be provided with a small token and could be a source of revenue from public funds.

I think many people do not really go to the gymnasium because not all would want to use all the equipments nor do they have so much time to spend over there.  But many now flock to libraries for all the wrong reasons: to use the aircon to study for exams; use the power outlet for electricity;  older folks probably lounging around the sofa whilst trying not to fall asleep.

So it would be good to have a sort of Library-Gymnasium to let user exercise both their minds and body watch video at pay-channel or surf the net using appropriate tools etc.  The treadmill could be a green type like one from Woodway eco-mill that could also generate electricity. (link)

Maybe a good place to try could be at Woodland Library since there are ample space to create an annex to house this cerebral-physical exercise centre.  So my kids could be pedaling a bike while watching a short video while I might want to surf the net while running on the treadmill etc.  Meanwhile, my wife could be window shopping at the adjacent Causeway Point and we could meet up for dinner with everbody fully addressing their cerebral and physical needs in our tight-scheduled world.

This is perhaps one way to promote sports and literacy simultaneously and maybe get some revenue too!

Cheers!

Mikey

Upside-down signpost for more than a week!

Looks like the workers or contractors putting up road signs are either illiterate or suffering from dyslexia or in a rush.    Got my kid to take this on his mobile phone along Woodland St 41 last Sunday and this Sunday indeed this upside down sign still persist.

So it also meant that nobody pays any attention to the roadsign or the words were simply too dim.   Maybe we should have this kind of proper road signs like in other countries and not as an afterthought.

Take Care!

Mikey

AWARE then; BEWARE now. Have pity on the single women of both extreme ends!

I have not been really following the AWARE problem but it seemed to me that we should have some sympathy with both warring parties, i.e the previous “AWARE” and the present “BEWARE” group.

I am not sure how the group of “pro-lesbo” (as termed by the present BEWARE) got conned together in the first place, probably to make people become AWARE of the issue and now outlived their usefulness.  Now probably the new opposing group from the other polarised end could be termed “BEWARE” to let the public know of the other end of the spectrum.

I told my wife and two sons this morning while having breakfast that I do feel pity for both warring parties since it seemed to be a war between mostly single females from both opposing camps.   I said this is because females by nature are very social beings and being single is not a good thing either.  So the singles, I am referring to are those who could have difficulties finding boyfriends, divorcees, been through many bad relationships or even a very bad existing marriage.  So when these “single” females turned to either end of the spectrum, the tendency is to take their fight into the open. often goated, unfortunately by we, men ourselves.

So these women from both opposing parties make good fodder for fightings often initiated by men in the business world.  When women fight they are often very vicious and personal as one would not like to “face the wrath of any angry woman”, so to speak.  After each war, they would retreat into the solaces of their mind or over compensate for their outburst in this solitude city.   The pro-family slogan has made it extremely difficult for these “single” women in today’s society whereby a failed relations or marriage could be interpreted as failure.  Men do not take it so badly. I feel the recent TV advert of a death eulogy whereby an woman spoke about the “unpleasant” side of her dead husband, spoke volumes of the need to accept “flawed” behaviours in today’s “total intolerance” society.   So these “single” woman of both spectrums set so high a standard that the only way out of their predicament is to attack an “enemy” at the expense of themselves while the preys and vultures capitalize for business gains.  Not sure if this is first class society behaviour.

I think with this BEWARE! campaign, it would become increasingly difficult for women to even socialise “normally”.  I feel that it would be even very difficult for two woman to even go to a restaurant for a simple dinning out without the fear of being labelled as “lesbo” by other diners around them including the youths who do not have the mature mind to see that there is really nothing to it.  Is our society being overly rein-in by the FEAR FACTOR syndrome?? ?  Come on, women are very gregarious and beautiful creatures and need to get together to gossip and laugh etc.  My wife still need to meet up with her old girl friends to reminise and catch up with each other.  I, on the other hand can live perfectly by myself.  Maybe I have been isolated all these while in society, so it is pretty normal to me.  As I spend alot of time with my family,  I do miss spending time alone and catching up with my readings though.

We really have to think about it.  We see so many singles and failed relationships because of our unrealistic expectations of each other, whether society norms or religious or social groups affiliations.  Thus, I guess others who choose to remain single or have no choice, often find it easy to throw stones and criticise at anyone in any forms of relationship even those that are normal.

I have married for seventeen years already and somehow and strangely, there are people out there who wants me or see me as being single.  It is great being married and having a family.  But for those who can’t for whatever reasons, I sincerely hope that you will not only find peace in solitude but also through well-meaning friends as well who really care for you. Do not be exploited for other peoples’ personal war or vendetta !!!!  Let not make Earth a scorching place for all !!!!  We, Men could be and often culpable too and we know it.

Take Care!  God Bless Everyone!!!!

Mikey

One theory to fight mutating (swine, bird) flu viruses

Read this a few days ago,

“One theory is that the virus triggers an excessively aggressive immune response that destroys the throat and lung tissue. Young adults, with the most robust immune systems, may be especially at risk.  He speculated that one reason people have died in Mexico as opposed to the United States is that the life span of the virus could have been longer in Mexico. After flu infections, people can develop an additional bacterial “superinfection” that could be lethal, said Brian Currie, an infectious-diseases doctor and director of clinical research at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. Currie said it remained a mystery why people in Mexico were dying while the cases reported in the United States have been relatively benign.”  [Link]

My comments: So rather than fight a constant mutating virus, perhaps, we should approach from an angle to reduce the aggressive response by the young adult’s or children auto-immunity response.   Maybe an infusion of Traditional Chinese Medicine or holistic approach to strengthen other parts of the body to ride through the viruses invasion.  Indiscriminate use of hand lotion sanitizer could be a bad decision since many of these or in fact all are anti-bacteria lotion… so killing the good bacteria could in fact encourage the growth of viruses (i have read this in some science journal findings).  So the weakened body after the virus attack had to deal with super bacteria causes by indiscriminate use of hand sanitizer.  Nurses who use these hand sanitizer have to wash their hand too since they thought that be merely applying these lotion, the bacteria would be killed. But rather those at the peripherals fringes of these hands often mutated to more-resistant bugs if they are not washed away, periodically.  So hand washing is still a necessity to dilute and wash away those mutating bacteria concentrations.   The lingering super TB bacteria is one to watch out for anyway! So basing on the theory of Dr Brian Currie, perhaps we can try lowering the aggressive auto-immunity response of the young adults plus having lots and lots of good bacteria in our body system is a very good way to ride out the ever mutating virus infestations, that some thought came mostly from erroneous lab experiments or researches, I presuppose.

Take Care and do pray for World Peace like I always do!

Mikey

By the way, did anyone try the age-old Apple Cider cough remedy that I found excellent.  Maybe could have some at the hospital or MRT to suppress unnecessary coughing for the poor frightened masses.  The cough drops and mixtures that I had tried so far were mostly quite useless anyway.