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Friday, January 30, 2015

PhotoHunt for this Saturday is 'cube' . . .



a lazy way of eating mangoes. no need to peel. You get cubes from the mango





The PhotoHunt for this Saturday is 'cube' . . .


http://whistlestopphotohunt.blogspot.co.nz/

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

GDI cars








Both my two cars are Mitsubishi, we found they are GDI, which mechanics say are no goo.
In internal combustion engines, Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI), also known as Petrol Direct Injection, Direct Petrol Injection, Spark Ignited Direct Injection (SIDI) and Fuel Stratified Injection (FSI), is a variant of fuel injection employed in modern two-stroke and four-stroke gasoline engines. The gasoline is highly pressurized, and injected via a common rail fuel line directly into the combustion chamber of each cylinder, as opposed to conventional multi-point fuel injection that injects fuel into the intake tract, or cylinder port. Directly injecting fuel into the combustion chamber requires high pressure injection whereas low pressure is used injecting into the intake tract or cylinder port.
In some applications, gasoline direct injection enables a stratified fuel charge (ultra lean burn) combustion for improved fuel efficiency, and reduced emission levels at low load. wiki

Western Springs and Japanese garden



http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/65451206/Auckland-Zoos-Japanese-garden-to-be-restored

I am glad they found a new home for the Japanese Garden. I was appalled when they demolished it.


Last updated 05:00 28/01/2015








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Supplied
NEW BEGINNINGS: Mayor Len Brown and Japanese Consul-General Kazutoshi Inadome with soil removed from the original and new sites of the Fukuoka Friendship Garden.
Works to restore the demolished Japanese friendship garden from Auckland Zoo will begin early next year.
It's a long time to wait but Auckland Council says collaborating with Japanese sister city Fukuoka and getting the Fukuoka Friendship Garden right is key.
Officials from both cities have been working together on the garden's next phase. A council planner will fly to Japan later this year to research other friendship gardens while they are in their prime during the spring.
A tender for the work will be out by the end of this year with work expected to start in March 2016. Budgets for the garden's rebuild will be covered in the 2015/16 financial year.
Western Springs Park will be the new home of the garden which in August the council said would cost $1.042 million to rebuild . 
A karakia [prayer] was said at the site on January 21 with Auckland Mayor Len Brown and Japanese Consul-General Kazutoshi Inadome in attendance.
Auckland formed a sister-city relationship with Fukuoka in 1986. The garden was a gift from the Japanese city to celebrate that bond.
It was removed in January 2014 to make way for a new Tasmanian devil development at Auckland Zoo, despite opposition from members of Auckland's Japanese community and other residents.
The zoo's former head gardener Stephanie Hay started campaigning to save it in 2013 and the Friends of Fukuoka Friendship Garden group was formed. 
Through Auckland Council they consulted with Fukuoka and were given the go-ahead. Mayor Len Brown later said publicly that the garden should not have been destroyed. He formally apologised to Fukuoka city.
A steering committee was created last March to decide on a location to re-establish the garden. The Western Springs site was chosen because it is a public park and free for anyone to visit.
- Stuff

Alphabe-Thursday letter K for kitchen.



This is a kitchen at the Auckland Chinese community centre. The ladies were carving Christmas hams during the annual BBQ.

letter K


http://jennymatlock.blogspot.co.nz/


search/label/Alphabe-Thursday


Thursday, January 22, 2015

Growing old gracefully.



These three ladies are epitome of growing old gracefully. They are retired, and they volunteer in many capacities.



A cousin who is much younger than me just retired from the civil service. She had to attend a convention, and they taught the pre-retirees what to do with their time, including dabbling with stocks and shares. I am reminded of a British colleague who said, “The moment you stop learning, you die.” Less blunt is our Chinese saying ,“Xue de lau, Wio de lau.  
As we age, it is important to exercise our brain. A friend told me, she wrote because it staves off memory-loss illness like Alzheimer’s and dementia. Of late, I pick up a career, free-lance writing. It gives me much joy and satisfaction. As a freedom writer who follows no rules, because I am the rule maker. Most of my writing is for fun, sometimes I get paid. Isn’t that motivation enough? In fact, I am now “married “ to the computer.
Others might enjoy crossword puzzles. Or if you are, like my husband , mathematically minded, and do suduku.
Enjoy new hobbies, sing, dance, gardening, playing golf if you can afford it, go for long walks, it is free.  Do tai chi which is supposed to be very good. Travel abroad with spouse, family and friends.
Have your medical check-up and keeps things tidy and have a will.
Have a bucket list. Do something incredible. At 50, I ran the quarter marathon. It was a great physical discipline. Now it boosts my ego when I tell my students I ran the marathon and showed them my medal.

Environmentally consciousness

Ngarimu on his red scooter as he went around the grounds to see if we were working well.


Zero-waste Strategy Management: Here's the Volunteers at work. Dressed in our official crew kowhai/yellow or kikorangi/blue T-shirt and cow boy hat, we trudged our kikorangi/blue and kakariki/green bins to our different stations. By chance, I got involved in Ngarimu's Zero waste program. Ngarimu also sourced cutlery and plates made of potatoes which is 10-0% biodegradable.



When I shopped at Target in Australia, the sales clerk asked if I wanted a bag. I asked if I had to pay for it, and he said no. I felt the unusual texture of the bag and remembered a discussion with friends that in Australia, they use biodegradable bags. Good on you Target.
http://www.target.com.au/html/aboutus/compostablebags.htm

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Thursday Challenge: Trees





"TREES" (All kinds,...)
Next Week: LIGHTS (Candles, Street Lights, Fire, Ornamental Lights,...)
roseThursday Challenge is a place for photographic fun and learning.

http://www.spunwithtears.com/thursday.html

Alphabe-Thursday letter J for jewellery




The wedding was held here, the Civic centre or the Dewan Suasil.  The Malay band was waiting.






I invited myself to a Malay/Muslim wedding. And saw this lady wearing these beautiful jewellery.

 There is a sweet story behind this. I rang up my muslim friend, J who went to school with me. We had not seen each other for many many years. When I rang her, she said she was going to her niece wedding. I asked if I could go because I have never been to one. She invited me.
She told me the wedding was at this posh place, the Civic centre and she would wait for me. I arrived, and there were many Muslim people there, but no sign of my friend J. I asked the official welcoming couple, and they didn't recognised the name of J. There were 2 weddings at the same time. After a long wait, I used my mobile and called my friend. I got the security guard to talk to her to make sure I was at the right place. The security guard told me to wait.
The official welcoming couple looked at me and waved at me. She said," Don't worry, you just come to the wedding party." Can you imagine the hospitality of the Sarawak people. What if I was pretending and was actually crashing their party.
I said, I would wait for a while. My friend J came with her 2 sisters. I was at the right venue. You should have seen the fashion at the party. But I am showing you the jewellery this lady who shared the table with me wore.

Thanks J, and your relative Rahaya.
My friend told me some time later that Rahaya passed away. She left a legacy of a kind Muslim woman who came to my life.



http://jennymatlock.blogspot.co.nz/ letter J for jewellery.


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Friday, January 9, 2015

Photohunt Superfluous



 I had to check again what it means, superfluous, I chose excessive. I was watching a Masterchef show, and the judge says at a three course meal, a rich dessert is Superfluous. They just want a light dessert. Indeed, this dessert was too rich for me.

 

~ Superfulous ~





http://whistlestopcooking.blogspot.co.nz

Black tomatoes





















My tomato has the colour of a dark plum, do you know what kind they are? They can be black krim (Russian ) or Black Zebra, The family thinks they are sweeter than normal tomatoes. Thanks Glenice Van Polanen Petel
The deep red-purple, almost black, green-shouldered variety of tomatoes known as "Black Krim" (Solanum lycopersicum) originated in Krim, Russia, near the Black Sea. This heirloom tomato grows on 4- to 7-foot vines, producing numerous 6- to 12-ounce globe-shaped fruits. Fans of the "Black Krim" rave about the rich, salty flavor of its fruits.
‘Black Zebra’ is a natural and stabilized heirloom cross between a black tomato and Green Zebra, and its size and shape are akin to Green Zebra.

Friday, January 2, 2015

Thursday challenge, HUGE




 I never liked to live in "Huge" buildings. had a choice in Singapore, I opted tpo low rise buildings.
"HUGE" (Things that are bigger than others,...)
Thursday Challenge is a place for photographic fun and learning. A theme is announced on this site each week. You may either take a new photograph related in some way to the theme or select one that you have taken previously; Then submit your single permanent link here:

http://www.spunwithtears.com/thursday.html