For Teachers: http://www.wholeearth.com/uploads/2/File/documents/challenge_day.pdf

Came across this website (www.ohdeedoh.com) where they do "home-tours" for really cute nursery rooms!

This is for the mommies, and to-be mommies on LJ. While I am not sure if I want to have children (i think they bring a lot of joy, but I don't know if I can deal with the heartache when it is tween/teenagers onwards judging from the instances I see in my family), I applaud many of your guts in bringing a life to our world so selflessly.

This morning, I woke up and felt very "hands-on", and decided to do something nice for my mom while she is out.

The best time to clean up any part of the house is when they are out. This way I can gleefully throw away all sorts of junk. Why does she need 12 empty jam jars and snapple bottles is beyond me. ESPECIALLY when she has a full set of Tupperware containers.

Anyway, on this average, warm, humid, Sunday morning, I decided to tackle the Space Under the Sink. Actually I was just looking for a rag when I opened the storage door, and found it filled with rags, and none that I was looking for.

Here's how it is organized now.
1. Clear Container 1 : General Cleaning Agents
2. Clear Container 2 : Laundry - Related detergents
3. Big Round container tub of washing power, which was duly filled to the brim.
4. a few smaller containers of seldom-used things like cockroach zap spray (what do you call it?), turpentine(?) and thinner(?) and sprays (??) and various tools...
5. 2 towers of IKEA plastic bag holders for re-cycling by storing trash.
6. an extra plastic container basket for coralling some frequently used liquids.
7. labelling the "General Cleaning", "Laundry" and "Rags".
8. Elevating the fire extinguisher to a slightly more prominent position, but which still won't make the cut. (you gotta know it is there first)



There, all in all a pretty accomplished morning.

And I threw away:
1 bag of plastics (into the recycling bin)
1 bag of glass (also into the recycling bin)
1 bag of pure trash.

How to use Furoshiki


Asian culture have this relationship with pieces of cloth.
In SEA, we have the sarong, which I swear by.
Then , look what I found in japan!

One cloth fits all: http://www.env.go.jp/en/focus/060403.html ("Ms Yuriko Koike, Minister of the Environment, has created the "Mottainai Furoshiki" as a symbol of Japanese culture to reduce waste..."

I am watching Indiana Jone tomorrow morning, but my heart, really.... is with the SATC and the clothes!

We were promised an "egyptian meal", and so we went for lunch at this restaurant that looked really quite high class.

An egyptian meal typically consists of
1. Bread - kind of like pita, but not. Sold out in the strees in packs of trios for 1.50 Egyptian Pounds.

2. Salad - when i was there, the salads were always made of cucumbers and tomatoes, and sometimes onions, and maybe parsley. all uncooked and drizzled with oil, depending on the chef. Might be because it was the season, but I wouldn't know, and wouldn't be surprised if they ate this year round. This is their intake of fresh vegetables.

3. Vegetable dish - Eggplants are popular there, and usually cooked till very soft, with a generous dose of minced meat, or not. It was nice to eat for a couple of spoons, but I soon got very "jelat".

4. Dip - They also have dips that you eat with the breads. There are many variations of the dips, and some are tart while others are flavorful. Just eating the dips made me feel very full.

5. Kofka - This is the main dish, a meat. Usually there is a choice between lamb, chicken, beef, or mixed meats. Depending on the chef, these can be incredibly tasty, or not.

6. Sometimes, there is also pigeon available. You can choose a normal pigeon, or one that is stuffed with rice. The rice is almost always flavored with spices.

7. Dessert - Always sweet. Usually either pudding or pastries, of which there is a huge variety.

8. Tea - Choose between mint tea or normal tea. By now, I know that there are 2 types. The lipton tea, which is deemed to b e a higher grade that they prefer to serve the tourists, thinking this is what they are accustomed to, or tea dust, which frankly is what I prefer. Their tea dust has a distinctive taste to it, and is closer to the chai (of India) and the Teh (of Singapore). Unfortunately, there is no Teh-C, and so I went 3 long weeks without my favorite beverage.







Egypt 1 - Leaving Town

Egypt 2 - The Magnificent Karnak Temple Complex

Egypt 3 - Papyrus & "M'am can you help me write address?"

Egypt 4 - Queen Hatchepsut Temple, Valley of the Kings

Egypt 5 - King of the Nile

Egypt 6 -The Felucas (Sailboats) that dot Aswan

Egypt 7 - Egyptian Food

Oh Aswan. Aswan is a town with an old soul.

Okay, this doesn't quite make sense since the whole of Egypt is an old soul. But Aswan has a more gentle rounded feel about her. Cloth tied sailboats sail in a seemingly haphazard fashion, gliding on the Nile.

We spent a gorgeous morning in the cool wind on a feluca, my hair taking on a life on its own, flying in all directions.

The gentle sun casting bright shimmery sparks across the cold water, the quiet swish of the subdued Nile against the wooden hull.



The landscape changes as we travel. Small houses. A line jangly of camels. Children running barefoot. A mausoleum. Little mountains far away. Sheets of orange sand. Wild grass swaying in an outcrop. Other felucas with smiling tourists.
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The best way to see and experience the Nile, and the important temples that dot alongside her, is to stay on a cruise ship. The ship I was staying on was named "King of the Nile", and was given five stars by the tourist ministry. Unfortunately, those 5 stars must have been given 20 years ago. The ship, while clean and generally well staff, wasn't luxurious nor entirely comfortable for me. When I enquired about the age, I was told that the ship was built only 8 years ago.

The interior of the King was rather dated, with those gold gilded excesses that makes me think of Vegas and their aging showgirls. You could tell that it once must have been grand, and they still make an attempt to upkeep the ship, with carpets on the floor, and unique Arabian-influenced furniture.

The food thankfully, was pretty good - a mix of Italian, and Mediterranean, and Egyptian fare with a wide spread of salads, and at least 3 different kinds of bread at every meal.



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When you're traveling along the Nile, Egypt is about the temples and the tombs.



We visited Queen Hatchepsut's temple. Well, she actually ruled Egypt for 22 years disguised as a King! (Amazing huh?) The temple was quite nice, but when we were there, it was around noon, and it was very hot.
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After Karnak Temple, we went to see a papyrus making demonstration. Papyrus was the first paper known to man, and was made from the papyrus plant. The outer layer of the stem of the plant was stripped off, and the fibrous flesh inside thinly sliced into strips, which were then soaked in water to weaken the fibres, releasing an a sticky adhesive substance. The strips were then laid on each other horrizontally and vertically, in an un-interlocked grid.

A press is then applied, and laid to rest for a few days. When dry, an extremely durable form of paper is made, which was excellent for making scrolls to record important documents.

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