About Cabbages....

I have a confession to make.

Economic recession or not, I bought a $7 Sugarloaf cabbage. Why? It could be any or all of the following reasons:

- Novelty
- From Australia (as opposed to you know where! Hmm maybe even produce from non-youknowwhere countries will one day be declared unsafe! Sigh! One can either at this point in time scoff any attempts to maintain a healthy lifestyle and diet and just live dangerously or embrace organic produce whole-heartedly. As for me however, as always, I'll remain moderate and enjoy every minute to the fullest! :D)
- Healthy indulgence
- Enticing label listing its properties (the sugarloaf is supposed to be sweeter and tastier than other varieties)
- Curiosity (is the Sugarloaf really sweeter?)
- Cheaper than the Savoy cabbage (which looks prettier and fresher with it's rounded shape and texture and mix of crisp green and white) at double the price

Blanched it for the Tauhu Goreng dish I prepared for my friends yesterday. DOUBLE YUMM! I'm quite sure it's not placebo effect when I think the cabbage does taste better than what we used to eat.

REALLY!

In any case, did a search on the net and found the following article on the benefits of cabbage.

FORMULA FOR LIFE
http://www.formulaforlife.com.au/asp/vegetables.asp?cmd=show&vegetableid=14&letter=C

Nutritional Information:
Cabbage, in all varieties, is a low joule food with 80 kJ per 100g (3/4 cup cooked). Cabbage is a rich source of the anti-oxidants indoles. These anti-oxidants may have an anti-cancer role in the human body. Cuttings increase the indole content dramatically.

Cutting causes up to a 400% increase in the amount of potential anti-carcinogenic agents found in cruciferous and Brassica vegetables (cabbage, cauli, brussel sprouts, and broccoli), according to results published in Cancer Letters.

Populations that consume large amounts of these vegetables appear to have lower rates of many types of cancer, in particular of the gastro-intestinal tract. The benefits appear to be linked to a range of compounds including glucosinolates. Glucosinolates are water-soluble and up to 50% may be lost with boiling, but if you chop your cabbage, you stimulate a rapid rise in the presence of these biologically active compounds - an increase up to 400%. Research published in Cancer Letters, a prestigious scientific journal, suggests that cutting triggers a defence mechanisms similar to the wounding by insects and slugs which is known to increase the indole glucosinolates, glucobrassicin and neoglucobrassicin. These indoles appear to be responsible for the anti-carcinogenic activity of the cruciferous vegetables.

So what are you waiting for? Start cutting those cabbage leaves. It's time for a crisp summer slaw! :D

Drool Worthy Indeed!

With Arts Fest completed and everyone happy about it (especially me!), I shall indulge in a most frivolous entry to unwind. :D

BAGS. Ah Bags!

Are we in bag heaven yet?

The LUPO ABANICO. That's the IT bag for me. (I will of course continue to drool over the Bottega clutch or the Hermes Birkin since possessing them is never going to be a reality)

It's funky, functional and apparently very well-made. Super hip! Got to be if the only boutique outside of Spain is in Tokyo!

Check out the pictures from http://shop.seriouslygifted.co.uk/lupo-14-c.asp

This is the one I was eyeing a while ago. Very nautical. Off season but who cares!


Now this one, this one's a real beauty. See the heavenly sheen? But it's also SOOoooooooo expensive!

Ah well, let's come back to earth from bag heaven now.

With the recession, I think I better cepat cepat lupa LUPO!


Finally going to bed,
Nasyitah :p

My Son, NOT the artist

This is Mateen's entry for a colouring competition he is confident he will win because his is the most colourful.

Well, it is evident from the photo that Picasso he is not.

"Wow! It's so nice!" I said when he kept showing his work-in-progress. I must say he had really put in effort, motivated by the prizes promised to the winners.
"I want to win so I can shop and shop and shop at Takashimaya!"
Alas, the art teacher in me know the impossibility of that but careful to not crush the fragile bloom of confidence, I asked:
"What if you don't win?"
"But I will!"
Whoa! "Why do you think you will win?"
"I will because mine is the nicest." He replied without even batting an eyelid.
Hmm this is going to be difficult. "But what if there are people who coloured nicer than you have?"
"No. Mine is the nicest so I will win."

Okay. At least he comes out tops in the confidence department.

"Wah! Very nice!" says the father, when shown the work via Skype and as soon as the son walked away whispered "Hmm must send him to Haroobee already huh?"

I guess you'll not be too surprised now if I were to tell you that under the comments for Art and Craft in his term report, the boy's teachers have consistently written "developing" or something to that extent to describe his development in the aesthetics area. The same remarks are applied to the Speech and Drama component.

Did I mention that I am an Art and Drama teacher?

To be absolutely honest, I must say I do feel a twinge of guilt for not trying harder to help develop these areas at times. Who wouldn't want her child to have a term report that reads "A", "A", "A" and "A"?

Thank goodness this desire to see a perfect report more often than not lasts for mere seconds before the voice of rationality sets in:
Do I want my son to only walk in my shoes and be a mini-Me? NO.
Do I want him to decide for himself what road he should take starting from the things he puts on paper, the words he utters and the actions he musters? You can bet it is a resounding YES.

Perhaps this is an unconscious attempt to assuage my guilty feelings. Or perhaps this is the means by which I justify not investing in so-called quality kinder education and enrichment classes.

I don't know. I can't be sure.

What I do know is that when I see him colour the competition entry, it was with drive, superb focus, good control of material and clarity in the choice of colours. And when I hear him talk about his work, it is articulated clearly with unwavering confidence.

At the end of the day, that is what is most important isn't it?

Ah well, I can only hope I am right.


Good Morning,
Mummy Nasyitah

All The Best!

Just read a blog entry which reminds me of the mountains my dear students must begin climbing tomorrow after months and weeks and days of rigorous (in some cases a bit more relaxed) training.

All the best people! That is if you still read my blog at this point in time.

It boils down to mental strength now.

Ggrrrrhhhhhhh!

Go for it man!



:) Mdm Nasyitah

Counting down...

One more week and school's out!

Two more weeks and Marryatville here we come!

Three more weeks and it's detox time for Mateen!

Four more weeks to reach my detox goals!

Five more weeks to catch up with friends.

Six more weeks to Josef's birthday.

Seven more weeks to Hari Raya Haji.

Eight more weeks to get ready for school 2009.

Nine more weeks to the husband's return!

YEH!!!!!!

Super Mateen and His Food

And the conversation over the phone went like this:

"Hi mummy..."

"Yup?"

"Em mummy..."

"Yup?"

"Can I E-A-T some more?"

"Can you what some more?"

Deliberately now "E-A-T some more..."

"What?! Why? What do you want to eat?"

"Just a little bit more. Pleeease?"

"......................."

"Pleease?"

Outcome? Of course mummy gave in. She knows better to fight with the food forever law at nenek's house. Especially she's far away at their own home where Mateen has strategised to not return for the night.

A while later............

"Mummy!"

"Yes?..."

"Nenek doesn't want to eat the food I took for her!"

"Huh? You went out to buy food?"

"No. I took kueh kueh for her but she doesn't want to eat. Bibik also don't want..."

"Ehuh? Nenek and Bibik don't want..."

"Yah! I'm so upset. I take out..."

"Okay just put the kueh kueh back..."

"Auhhhhhh, Cannot."

"Why not?"

"..........................................."

"Emm you want to eat is it?"

"Errrmmmm yah."

With a HUGE sigh "Okay just one huh? Only one ok?"

"Yeh!"

"Only one ahhhh!"

Waves the white flag.............................................................

Then the phone rang again.

"Mummy I cannot tahan!"

"What?! What can't you tahan?"

"Yah I cannot tahan!"

"Cannot tahan what?"

"I cannot tahan not E-A-T / I-C-E/C-R-E-A-M."

"So you want to eat the ice cream?

"Yah!"

"Can you not eat cos you have already eaten a lot!"

"But I cannot tahan!"

They know every single trick in the book don't they?

Sigh. Thank goodness it was just one day.

The Boys

Two boys made a big difference in my life.

One made me less judgemental and enjoy life more, the other taught me patience and add joy to life.

Blessed indeed I am. :)

P.s. Sorry about the duplicate of photos. Really like this one. :D

2-And-A-Half Months is a rather loooonnngggg time

That's father and son at the Changi Airport T2 Swensen's 2 hours ago. Sheesh. Has it been 2 hours already?

Well the husband is now on his way back to Belfast on the delayed-by-20-minutes Qantas flight. Funny how the wife always mope around for a bit when this happens. She always over-estimates herself, no doubt about it. Ah well life goes on. She'll adapt, yet again, to daily Sin Ming Avenue/Woodlands/Ang Mo Kio/Woodlands/Sin Ming Avenue trips and life as the temporary single parent. Good thing she enjoys driving. And is a highly adaptable Cancerian. :D

This Cancerian will now go to bed so she can wake up tomorrow... to continue mope-ing? Hopefully not.

Help!

I just did the unimaginable.

Yup.

I spent almost 1 hour 30 minutes, no, wasted more like it, on Facebook making comments, watching Ugly Betty on You Tube, checking multiple email accounts and now BLOGGing!

Life is supposed to be simple and untainted by all these Info Com Tech gadgets! True they serve their various functions of helping one stay connected and entertained but the dangers! Oh the dangers! The amount of energy it takes to pull myself out of the IT grip is out of this world!

ArghhhhhhhhhhharghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhArghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAARggggggggghh

NOW!