Delicious Christmas 2013

Holiday recipes, side dishes, drinks, baked goods and DIY projects.

IS JAPAN COOL? Season 2

IS JAPAN COOL? Season 2
http://www.ana-cooljapan.com/

You'll find lots of cool stories here about old and new Japan.
Get to know more about Japan, and decide whether it's cool.
Take part, and you can win airline tickets to Japan/Okinawa plus
resort hotel accommodation by lottery! (Due by Oct. 15, 2012.)

Hurry up!

Do What You Love

Enjoy your life!

Happy New Year 2012

All best wish from this world, healthy, wealthy, morality come to all my friends. Happy new year 2012.

God Bless U Steve...

God Bless U Steve...

Thank for everything...!!

If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com

all about Steve Jobs.com : biography, pictures, movies, life and work of Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

15 Things You Should Know About Caffeine

PiCK YouR CuPiD

I've just found this cute cupid in The Newyork Times. Hope it isn't too late for Valentines season.

Which one is your cupid? I thought at least one is yours :-D

Happy Chinese New Year 2011

Wish you a happy and prosperous new year! Gong xi fa cai!

I wish everyone here good health and lots of red pocket!!

All the best and have a wonderful year.

Chinese New Year – often called the Chinese Lunar New Year. Get out your broom and sweep away the past: the Year of the Rabbit begins February 3. It is a time to gather with family, honor ancestors and celebrate with a big banquet that symbolizes prosperity in the New Year.

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There're chinese people around the world. It's no doubt that I'm also Thai-Chinese. I'm familiar with Chinese New Year Celebration since I was young. The most importance to celebrate New Year is to pray and to prepare offerings to the gods and our ancestors. We believe that these prayers will bring merit and blessings. After each prayer, we burn golden paper, believing that the paper will become money in the after life. 

The offerings include steamed duck, chicken, pork, fruit, Chinese cake and vegetarian food such as dried mushrooms, bean cakes and edible Chinese flowers. There're good meaning for every dishes which i'd like to let you know. 

Food Symbolism

Most of the dishes served during Lunar New Year (also known as Spring Festival) are symbolic of something positive and hopeful.

• Chicken and fish, for example, symbolize happiness and prosperity--especially when served whole.
• Dishes made with oranges represent wealth and good fortune because they are China's most plentiful fruit.
• Noodles represent longevity: therefore, they should never be cut!
• Duck symbolizes fidelity, while eggs signify fertility.
• Bean curd or tofu, however, is avoided because its white color suggests death and misfortune.

Dishes are also chosen based on homonyms--words that either are spelled the same or sound the same as other words. Fish (yu) is served because it sounds similar to the Chinese word for plenty; whole fish represents abundance. Turnips are cooked because their name (cai tou) also means "good luck."

Another popular Lunar New Year dish is jiaozi, dumplings boiled in water. In some areas of China, coins are placed in the center of jiaozi. Whoever bites into one of these dumplings will have an exceptionally lucky year.


Try some of these lucky Chinese dishes for a prosperous year to come --> click



content credit : allrecipes.com

The New Starbucks Size for Ice Drink

The American Starbucks' fan have tested the new bigger size 31-ounce (916.8 ml) : "Trenta" since last year in Phoenix and Tampa. It was reponding to customer demand for larger cold beverages.

The Trenta size will debut in 14 states, including Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Hawaii and Arizona, on Jan. 18 and in California on Feb. 1.

The new size will be available only for iced coffee, iced tea and iced tea lemonade drinks in the United States.

Starbucks' current largest size is a 24-ounce "Venti" cup used for serving iced coffee and other cold drinks. The new larger size, 'Trenta', is 7-ounce larger than 'Venti'. Drinks in the Trenta size will cost 50 cents more than similar Venti-sized iced drinks.

Have you ever imagined how big the Trenta is? There is a graphic shown the Trenta size compared with adult human stomach in National Post. The volume of Trenta (916 ml.) is more than the average capacity of adult stomach (900 ml.) WOWWW!!!!

For me, the new biggest size iced drink, Trenta is too much. I usually order Grande iced coffee and take more than hour to drink. I've never ordered the Venti size at all.

2011 New Year CeleBration Around The World

Fireworks explode over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House during a pyrotechnic show to celebrate the New Year January 1, 2011.  (REUTERS/Tim Wimborne)

It might be a little bit late to talk about New Year Eve celebration but it isn't late to be joyful with beautiful photos shown how the people celebrate and welcome the New Year.

The number 2011 is written in the air with a sparkler in front of Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral) during New Year's Eve celebrations in Vienna, Austria on December 31, 2010. (REUTERS/Lisi Niesner)

Happy New Year everyone. See more beautiful photos --> click

Let's Count Down to Christmas

Mariah Carey - Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Funny blooper videos are here

What American’s Love & Hate About The U.S.A

click on the image to see bigger size

 
A new Harris Poll measures what Americans think about the United States, or, more specifically, how they rate 16 elements of American life.

Words Matter
The contrast between the 70 percent of the adults who give the Constitution positive marks, the 23 percent who give the political system a positive rating and the 43 percent who give the system of government good marks is very striking.
Differences by Political Party
Civil rights gets better marks from Republicans (70 percent) than from Democrats (53 percent). Equality of opportunity also gets more positive marks from Republicans (65 percent) than from Democrats (47 percent). The environment gets much better marks from Republicans (61 percent) than from Democrats (37 percent). On the other hand, the political system is viewed less favorably by Republicans (19 percent) than by Democrats (33 percent).
Differences by Education
On almost all of the 16 items, the level of satisfaction is correlated with the level of education. For example, those giving the system of government positive ratings increases from 31 percent of those with no more than a high school education to 45 percent of those with some college, 58 percent of those with a college degree and 61 percent of those with post-graduate education. This same gradient, or correlation with education, is true of satisfaction with the Constitution, quality of life, colleges and universities, standard of living, the legal system and the political system.

image & content credit : visualeconomics

Happy Mother's Day

August 21 is Mother's day in Thailand. Today is the birthday of Queen Sirikit Kitiyakara.

Mother’s Day Celebration Date is vary in countries around the world. See more details

How to Say “Mother” in Different Languages, learn from here.

Thai say "Mae"




image credit : www.greetingstuffs.com

The Trails You Leave

"Every person has the power to make others happy.

Some do it simply by entering a room -
others by leaving the room.

Some individuals leave trails of gloom;
others, trails of joy.

Some leave trails of hate and bitterness;
other, trails of love and harmony.

Some leave trails of cynicism and pessimism;
others trails of faith and optimism.

Some leave trails of criticism and resignation;
others trails of gratitude and hope.

What kind of trails do you leave?"

- William A. Ward