Jenny Teaches First Cooking Class

And she got paid for it! Whoo Hoo!!

Some time back, I mentioned that I roped Jenny into offering Oriental Cooking Classes. Well she never got enough students but that ad in the paper did pay off. She got a cold call a few months ago from someone representing a local women's group called "Circle Of Friends". She got invited to their meeting and after describing her cooking class idea, the committee members decided to try Jenny out. So tonight she demonstrated cooking a Malaysian dinner for six women who then enjoyed the meal.

It went pretty well although she felt there were a few disasters. Chicken fell apart. Rice was too wet. Meanwhile, the ladies complained that the chicken had bones and the prawns had shells (Brits!). That said, there were no leftovers.

So we're celebrating it as a success. Jenny had lots of fun doing it and the women are encouraging her to create leaflets so they can distribute them.

Chessington World Of Adventures

R* has got to the age where she claims that she wants to go on every and any theme park ride. As a treat we went to Chessington World Of Adventures last Wednesday. Bottom line: £52 for about 4 rides each and watch penguins and sea lions get fed. The big rides had huge queues and it wasn't until the end of the day that we figured out how the Fast Track system worked. Doh! But even the Fast Track queues were huge for the popular rides. It sucks to pay so much money and spend most of your time in a line. R* and I went on one of those huge ship swings that made me a bit woosy. Of course the kids loved the place but I think you have to go off season to any theme park to get any value from it.

No Nonsense Health Guide

I've written-up my own "No Nonsense Health Guide" which is mostly about healthy eating. It's an ongoing project to distill in one place my conclusions from all the advice I read. Since everyone is interested in health to one degree or another, feel free to send me feedback on it.

Visit To London Zoo

We stayed at a friend's house in London over the weekend for a little holiday and spent a day at London Zoo. It was the children's top choice and a zoo never fails to please. Personally, I'm still of two minds about zoos. I don't like seeing the animals in captivity - particularly the large animals like the gorillas and tigers. But I do think the zoos do a great service in educating the public and raising awareness about conservation. So, as long as the facilities for the inmates are top notch, I think they're ok.

The kids had a great time entertaining several pygmy marmosets that were intrigued by a couple of toys the children were carrying. And R* was happy to see where they filmed a scene from the first Harry Potter movie.

Nyonya In Notting Hill

Had dinner at the "Nyonya" in Nottinghill Gate (London). It's at the corner of Pembridge Road and Lambroke Road; hard to miss it. As the names suggests, it specialises in the Nyonya cuisine of Malaysia. The dishes we had were excellent. I can vouch for the Nasi Lemak, Lobak and Char Kway Teow. Each dish is about £7 which is good value in the UK but dreadful compared to what we've paid for them in Malaysia. But at least the flavours were spot on.

R* Discovers Snorkeling

R* completed her sixth one hour snorkeling lesson today at a local pool and received her PADI Discover Snorkeling certificate. She really enjoyed it and had no qualms with diving and breathing through the snorkel. However, I had to insist that she did not wear her fins in the bathtub in the evenings! Hopefully we'll find an interesting place for her to use this new skill in the not too distant future.

Guardian: Not freedom: a free-for-all

Good article summarising what's now happening in Iraq. By failing to establish a social contract with the Iraqi people, the US has lost it's authority to lead and is now under attack from numerous groups. It's amazing how naive and ill prepared the US seems to have been for postwar Iraq. There's also a fascinating read on the Blair/Bush secret pact. What a mess.

Interviewed By The BBC World Service

Well maybe "interviewed" is overstating it. Had a telephone call from a BBC researcher. The World Service is putting together a radio programme on the Information Society so they wanted to talk to people that have an Internet presence - bloggers in particular. So we had an interesting chat about the whys and hows of blogging and why I got into it. I could ramble for ages about it but the questioning was very to the point. No doubt an important trait of a good researcher.

There's no date set for when the programme will air. If I find out, I'll let you know.

Jenny's Debut As A Chef

Jenny had a very successful day cooking lunch for sixteen elderly people. She's volunteered as a cook for the Age Concern charity and today was her initial debut. Her Irish Stew was highly praised although the boiled cabbage didn't get a lot of attention. I know she really enjoyed the challenge. You also have to produce the meal for about £1 per person and that includes dessert. Now that's really difficult!

Canada Clubbing Baby Seals Again

It's enough to make you feel sick. Canada has ramped up the quota for the seal hunt to 350,000. The highest in half a century. The article doesn't make clear where the demand is coming from.

In The Mood For Love (Kar Wai Wong, 2000)

YATCM or "Yet Another Tragic Chinese Movie". Just what is it with Chinese movies? By far, the majority of the one's I see are tragic tales. Maybe it's just Chinese art films but still it must say something about the culture.

The plot is simple. Two neighbours discover that their respective spouses are having an affair and are drawn together. Stylistically, the film is a feast. It's set in 1960's Hong Kong. It dark, hot, humid and cramped. The film is very slow. Minor expressions and eye glances are all important. The chongsams are wonderful. The mood is tantelizing.

But nothing much happens. The tension is huge but restraint wins the day and love is unfulfilled. If you're patient, it's a good film but it does leave you feeling rather unsatisfied. And I guess that's the whole point.

Poker Night Revenge

Had our third poker night last week. By the end of the night, I was, *sob*, down 30%. That's £3.

I've even been reading a book called "Winning Low Limit Hold'em" by Lee Jones but it didn't help me a whole lot. The game was loose and I made plenty of mistakes getting impatient waiting for a good deal. I'm not giving up yet. It needs quite a bit of practice to get this right especially trying to assess the odds of getting the cards you needs verses the pot odds. There's a surprising amount of mental calculations that go into the game.

Hurley Rodeo

A couple of weekends ago, we went down to watch a bit of the Hurley Rodeo. This is a freestyle kayaking event where kayakers essentially surf the water rushing through a weir and do tricks. Looks a bit crazy but fun at the same time. The Hurley Weir is supposed to be one of the best in the UK.

Kayaking really appeals to me so I've signed up for a level 1 kayaking course at a local canoe club this May. No, I'm not looking to go freestyle but I like the idea of paddling along the local rivers or sea kayaking. Jenny is going to go on the course as well.

BBC: Animal welfare takes on religion

Here's another instance of how society and law are slowly evolving based on the recognition of human and animal rights. But it's always interesting when it clashes with religion. I don't see how religious leaders can really claim that slitting an animals throat and letting it bleed to death is "humane" (despite reading about Shechita and Zibah). I agree with the stories final quote:

"The method at the time the rules were written was probably the most humane way of killing an animal, but of course that has changed."

But the big issue is that it opens a huge religious dilema. If you can re-interpret the religious text for one rule, doesn't that mean you can re-interpret all the rules of a religious text? The resistance is understandable since the text has the highest authority and if it comes from God, how can you question it? But a truly strong religion should be able to evolve without compromising the faith it is based on.