Charles Schultz's Philosophy

Some of you may have read this but thought it's good to remind ourselves with Charles Schultz's Philosophy, the creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip.

You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just read the e-mail straight through and you'll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winner for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care .

Morning Exercise

Went for a morning exercise this morning. As much as I'd like to continue to sleep given the cool weather, managed to pull myself & my hubby out of bed @ 6.10am. Fortunately, it wasn't raining. Reached Kampong Java Park (next to KK Women & Children Hospital) at about 7am when the second batch had already started the exercise.

Actually it's quite fun to exercise in a group. At least there's the motivation to begin with. People of all ages do it together under a few trainers' instructions. At the end of the exercise, we are supposed to form a train and start to massage the shoulders of the person in front of you followed by tapping to promote blood circulation. Then we have to turn around and do it to the person who's behind you. It's quite shiok actually :) But my poor hubby caught a cold because of his sinus plus not used to waking up so early so early :)

Heard about this exercise group via a radio programme from 97.2FM hosted by Billy at 10am on weekdays. It's a set of routine that's supposed to help one detox thru the lymph system. I don't know how this had started but I supposed it was designed with the cancer patients in mind where it helps them lead a healthy lifestyle. Billy has been very active with the Cancer Care Society and has been promoting some of the talks on radio as well. Here's their website: www.carecancer.org Now they are trying to train a group of instructors to reach out to the various districts so that more people can benefit from learning the exercise. Hope they will come to our district soon so at least we don't have to wake up That early.

I personally find this programme healthy - physically, mentally and spiritually. Besides encouraging people to exercise, he has also invited a guest speaker to share about personal development and cultivation. It was through this programme that I've learnt more about spiritual fulfilment (not in the religious aspect)- why we aren't exactly happy despite we've so much material comforts & why we still feel that something is missing despite having achieved so much.

As the tagline of the programme goes "我的健康，我做主" (your health is in your hands), how healthy we are depends on how we work on it. So take some little steps to make yourself healthy today. For me, I'm trying my best to do some stretching and yoga at home daily. Am looking for a kaki to do some simple sports together thou.
Anyone?

Our education system

I've been reading the comments in Today which talked about the childhood of kids in S'pore. I can't agree more with the comments that have been published but I doubt this issue of too much load on teachers and students will ever be solved. That's why the 'Tuition Industry' is forever booming.

We have parents who complained that pre-schools are not giving their kids enough homework, we also have a group of parents who send their kids to various tuition and enrichment classes...not that their kids are unable to keep up, but just to ensure that their grades don't slip (I've also heard that some tutors accept only students with good grades).

On the other hand, teachers have to rush to try to finish the syllabus (which I wonder whether the person who sets the syllabus has ever taught before). Those who can't catch up, off they go to the extra lessons. Well, come to think of it, which teacher has not taken the Civics and Moral Education lessons to try to finish teaching the core subjects? It seems always like a fire-fighting process for both the teachers and students...perhaps including the parents as well since I've heard many of them telling me that they aren't able to coach their children who are at primary level as the subjects are deemed too 'deep' for them to cope, and some of them are graduates in fact.

I recall that during the last June school holidays, I actually have to make appointments with my cousins in order to ask them out as they are too busy with school projects, holiday homework and ECAs. Geeze, I thought being busy is an adult thing. I was glad that at least I have a decent childhood playing 'masak masak' with my neighbours, go kite 'cutting' with my uncle, play board games with my aunts and other interesting stuff. As I grow older, I realised that Time is really a luxury...even the rich ones may not have enough of it.

Things are slowly changing thou. We read more of the success stories of local entreprenuers who may not have excelled in schools or who do not hold a degree. I'm not saying that study is no good, in fact as a graduate myself, I feel that it does offer more choices and makes the door opening easier to a certain extent. Ironically, it also impedes our willingness to take risks as we'd rather stay put in a job, get a stable income and slowly work our way up.


Education should be more than mere gaining of academic knowledge. How many of you would remember exactly what the teacher had taught you in your academic subjects? What I remember is the journey I've been through - the friends I've made, the teachers' comments which have made a difference in my life, integrity, responsibility, committment, courage, handling conflicts between classmates...these are the lessons I've learnt and brought with me even after I left school.

We are so rushed into learning, doing, juggling, meeting deadlines in our lives that somehow, certain issues or problems that we face along the way were ignored or went unnoticed as we couldn't find time to deal with them. As a result, they just accumulate. But I guess we have to face the snowballed issues someday, somehow.

It's good to be aware of what you feel or think and take time to slow down and reflect. Yup, it's hard to beat the system but we could somehow adjust our mindset if we put our mind to it. I'm learning too :) Hope our kids will have a true childhood to enjoy and remember.

Oh one last observation. I've noticed that some parents REALLY dote on their kids. Nothing wrong with that but I thought the best gifts that a parent can give to his/her child would be values, self-discipline and Love..yes unconditional but not indulging love. Oh yes, I believe in occasional spanking when the need arises ;)

White Cheese with Yogurt & Passion Fruit Cake and Almond Croissant

Finally made my very first proper cake & pastry! A very interesting lesson indeed and the class actually finished at around 6.15pm, way past the original 4.30pm time slot. The instructor had to prepare some items for us in advance due to the lack of time. Well, finally I managed to make a pretty cake unlike my previous attempts. There was this feeling of happiness in me when I see the happy faces of my family enjoying the cake :) I think I am beginning to get addicted to it...

As for the almond croissant, it was tough work trying to work on the dough...& guess what, I had to wake my hubby up in the middle of the night to apply Deep Heat for me cos of the terrible muscle ache on my arms! I know it seems exaggerating but the ache is almost like the ache you'll get after riding a bicyle at Pulau Ubin for a day (that is for those who are leading a 'sedentary' lifestyle like me). It was a good workout for me thou. But the moment you see the final product, there's this sense of satisfaction. But somehow for mine, the margarine leaked out which according to the instructor, I could have torn the dough while I did the rolling. But fortunately, they taste ok. Just that I realised that the texture is quite different from Delifrance's, it's more like the normal croissant that you get at hotels or buffets. I wonder if it's the margarine that contributes to the flakiness of the croissant. Well, here it is, the almond croissants where one of it was half eaten by...hehe me :)


I tried the recipe again on Sunday. But it didn't quite turn out well. My sponge cake didn't rise again. Which during the lesson was already prepared by the instructor. So I tried again & even went online to search for solutions...I even called up one of the teachers from Phoon Huat to find out. Gee, he was really good. Straight away he asked what sort of mixer I used. So now I know that it's the equipment that can make the difference. Using a hand mixer would require a longer beating time as compared to the better quality mixer like Kenwood.

After some guidance from the teacher & encouragement from my hubby, I tried again and yes! It finally had risen...just that it went down a little after cooling. Some mistakes I made was not putting enough gelatine which made my cake a little too soft and also adding the gelatine straight into the syrup without mixing it well first. So my fruit mirror didn't manage to 'stand firmly'. Also, I didn't realise that the cake was not set before I pour the final layer of cheese & the sponge cake actually floats up...so the layering is affected. Well, guess I still need more practice & need to adjust the timing accordingly. For baking, I suppose sometimes you will not get the result you expected despite following the recipe cos there are many factors affecting the final product such as the temperature of the oven (which differs from oven to oven), the type of mixer, the size of eggs, timing etc. No wonder there's this baking course that is titled as 'The Art and Science of Baking'.

For the recipe, you could go to Homebakers which you can find on the right panel under "Links".

Baking Class

I'm going for my first baking class tomorrow. Gonna learn white cheese with yogurt and passion fruit cake and almond croissant. Quite excited :) It's a hands-on baking class conducted by Phoon Huat at Sims Lane. Hope I'm able to bake something decent this time. Had my trials of baking chiffon cakes with my hubby where we learnt it from the famous uncle at Tangs Basement. 1st time - didn't rise. 2nd try - kueh bulu texture. 3rd try - taste like huat kueh...Guess I better attend a proper basic baking lesson.

Anyway, shall see what comes out tomorrow. Stay tune ;)

Phoon Huat is one of the major suppliers of pastries/breads/cakes. Those who are interested, can check out this website for the courses available at Poon Huat

Life's little miracles

Recently I've been watching the documentary series "Life in the Undergrowth" and marvelled at how amazing nature works. I'm awfully impressed with this production. Together with the captivating narration and an interesting storyline especially the courtship process, the series never fail to offer surprises and sometimes, it simply takes my breath away, revealing the enchanting realms of nature... Definitely a 200% effort production.

Indeed, nature has its own way of ensuring survival. I was particularly intrigued by the Mayflies. If I remember correctly, they live in the water for a year or so during their immature stage. When they reach adulthood, their primary function is reproduction. They have a very short adult lifespan...only a couple of hours to a day or 2 depending on the species. There were some which can live up to 14 days. This specie that they featured have no mouths to feed and they depend on whatever energy that's left in them to try to mate. Once their job is done, they die off eventually.

What struck me was that no matter how short their lifespan was, they live it to the fullest. They did what they are meant to do - to ensure survival. Perhaps unlike us, they have no other distractions, no goals, no desires and perhaps, that IS their life, that is what they are here for. To ensure the continuity of their species. As for us, the humans, we have too many other things to be concerned with. Even for spiders, knowing that their life is at stake after mating with the female spidies, they went ahead. It sounds or even looks cruel when I saw how the female spider attack the poor fella after he had deposited his sperms into her. But that's life and it's how nature works.

And speaking of cruelty, I bet nothing can beat the human species. We eat anything, we even eat them while they're still alive. Some of us eat not for survival but for the taste and sometimes, for the kick of it. We defy nature's law. To satisfy our wants (not needs) we mass produce the unethical way. Supply still not enough? Hey, some of our fellow commrades have become so 'innovative' that they can even 'create' food from cardboards...speaking of creativity.

As you can see, we have too many other things to be concerned with. To ensure the continuity of our species, well that's the governement's job. We have to keep up with the fast pace of life, we have to be constantly upgrading ourselves and be no. 1, we have to ensure OUR own survival...the list goes on. Too many things, too little time...let alone to produce a next generation that have to follow the life path that some of us didn't quite really enjoy the journey most of the time...