Week 30 – Chinese Words
I saw this at one of the subway station in Hong Kong. The word filial attracted my attention.
Week 27 – Lotus Flower
“The lotus flower blooms most beautifully from the deepest mud” – Buddhist Proverb
In the Buddhist tradition, the flower that rises above the muddy waters represents the act of ascending above all desires and attachments. According to Buddhism, this is the key to achieving spiritual enlightenment. Despite the flower having its roots in the mud, it grows upward in the direction of light. This is believed to represent the aspiration to rise above and move towards light. The lotus, therefore, symbolizes the journey from darkness (as depicted by the muddy pond) to the light of knowledge or wisdom.
Photo taken in the Leal Senado Square, by me.
Week 23 – My presentation
This is one of the vegetarian dishes I made to my husband for dinner. I hope he liked it and not to complain too less rice.
Week 22 -Support Orphans in Africa To Create A Better Future
BENEFITING: Amitofo Charity Center
Week 21 – Orphans in Africa
The Amitofo Care Centre (ACC) – which comprises of an administration centre, children’s dormitories, youth dormitories, preparatory school, kindergarten, library, activity centre, medical centre, vocational training centre, religious centre, CBO etc – is founded and directed by Buddhist clergy from the East with an aspiration and mission to directly rear and care for orphans of Africa within the humanitarian and educational umbrella. The main principles of ACC are based on local African culture, Chinese culture and Buddhist philosophy which are given to the orphans in need. This is considered a unique and remarkable characteristic of ACC although it must be stressed that none of the orphans have taken refuge to Buddhism, as we respect their religious freedom and will allow them to choose their own religions as they enter adulthood.
After an arduous ten years ACC’s caring programme has spread from one location to a number of African countries benefiting thousands of children and adults alike. ACC’s compassionate and philanthropic foot-prints have been left not only in South Africa but also in Swaziland, Burkina Faso, Chad, Gambia, Sao Tome and Principe, Nigeria, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, etc. as well as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia and several South American countries as St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The total orphans that ACC has adopted to date number around 3000.
The current ACC is in association with three charity institutes namely; the Yuan Tong Culture and Care Association (R.O.C.) , Pu-Hsein Educational Foundation of Taiwan and the Amitofo Charity Association in South Africa that continuously organize and manage ACC operations along with financial support.
Venerable Hui Li, born in Taiwan and tagged as the ‘African monk’, founded ACC specifically for African orphans in the early 90’s and is still the residing chairperson. With his enthusiasm and big heart to bring love and care to the orphans
Ven. Hui Li has been awarded the “Loving of Life” medal by the Chou Ta-Kuan Foundation of Taiwan. He has also been invited by a number of First Ladies of certain African countries. Some of whom refer to him as the Buddhist Albert Sweitzer in praise of his significance and contributions thus far. Nowadays ACC, and Ven. Hui Li, is widely recognized as an international charity and educational institute and sponsored by numerous people in Asia.
UNIQUE FEATURES
The concept of ACC is based on a “Big Family” or “Children’s Village” idea. A group of 16-20 children are put together like a family with one nanny, one ‘mommy’, and one child-care teacher who all live under one roof. These adults are responsible for managing the home and taking care of the children. Twelve families will form a “Village” that provides a domestic atmosphere so that the orphans may experience the warmth of family. Consequently they may experience a social life, interacting with each other as well as learning the responsibility and obligations a resident ought to undertake.
PRESENT & FUTURE
At present the Head Quarters of ACC, the Amitofo Charity Association, is located in South Africa. The ACC in Blantyre, Malawi, is in the process of building a staff dormitory and the Yuan Tong elementary school while in Lilongwe, Malawi, plans are being set up with regards to construction. The ACC in Harare, Zimbabwe, is undergoing phase one of its construction of 30 buildings expected to be completed by the end of the year. In Swaziland and Lesotho construction began in October 2008 with ambitions to start providing shelter for orphans in those regions after one year or so of construction.
Reference:
Week 19 – My First Pasta
I’m going to make colored pasta with carrot.
Using the bread machine to make dough.
After 30 minutes.
Rolling the dough with a wooden roller.
It’s time to play with the pasta maker.
Here it comes the pasta.
I leave them to dry overnight.
My other day breakfast. Fresh pasta with truffle sauce. 😀
Week 18 – Pasta Maker Marcato Atlas 150
I bought a pasta make. From now on, I can try to make my own flavor fresh pasta. 😀
Week 17 – Dried Cherries Homemade Bread
Once you have the basic bread recipe, you can start creating your own flavor bread by changing some of the ingredients. Here you go, the BASIC RECIPE:
~ BREAD SIZE 750 g ~
375 g Bread flour
30 g Sugar
3 g Salt
240 g Water
30 g Olive Oil
1 1/2 tsp of seeds
4 g Fast action dried yeast
18 pcs Dried nuts
Now, I replace some of the ingredients with my own desiring flavor:
~ BREAD SIZE 750 g ~
375 g Bread flour
30 g Brown Sugar
3 g Salt
240 g Water
30 g Cocunut Oil
1 1/2 tsp dried coconut and black seeds
4 g Fast action dried yeast
30 pcs Dried cherries
Week 14 – Repairment
Have you ever wondered how it looks like when your violin needs to be fixed after years of practicing? This is a sample of a violin of how it will look like during the process of some major repairment.
Week 13 – Misty
The humidity level was high at that day.
Week 11 – Mix Vegetable Bouquet
My mom is learning to make vegetable bouquet. This is what she did during the class.
Week 10 – Batata Greens
A mini supermarket which has an extensive selection of vegetarian meat replacement products including vegetarian seafood, vegetarian meat, vegetarian chicken and vegetarian pork products.
Here is their website: http://www.batatagreens.com.hk/
Here is their address: N. 241 Sai Yee Street, Prince Edward station, Hong Kong
I bought home some of their products. They are all not expensive. Very reasonable price.
Week 9 – Grassroots Pantry – Vegetarian
I would love to introduce to you this healthy and fine dining restaurant at Hollywood Road in Hong Kong. It has a special name, which is “Grassroots Pantry”.
I found this restaurant through the internet with great reviews. Reviews claim that it is among the best vegetarian restaurants here in Hong Kong.
Therefore, I visited it with my husband a few days ago. When we got in the restaurant, a friendly female staff attended us and led us to the table. The interior design and the atmosphere of the restaurant are spectacular. So refreshing and green. I love it. We ordered a pumpkin soup as a starter and picked three dishes among the Main Course Menu. They use varieties of ingredients and the food is presented in texture. In a dish, I tasted sweet, sour, hot and spicy. They are well mixed together and not messed up one with another. Quite interesting. On the other hand, the flavors are quite strong. If you are a someone who likes strong and heavy flavors, this is a really nice place you should visit.
Tips: Reserve table in advance is better as there are only around 30 to 35 available seats.
Price: Expensive
Address: 108 Hollywood Road | Centrestage, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong – Tel: +85228733353
Week 8 – Madonna Rebel Heart in Macau
There were songs that my father used to like to listen to while babysitting me. Among them were Madonna’s songs. That made me how I used to like Madonna very much when I was a little girl. I used to decor my bedroom with Madonna posters and listen to her songs frequently, and I sometimes (my mom told me that later) even brought her picture along with me when my parents take me out to play. I once asked my mother to take me to salon to make my hair look like Madonna’s hairstyle. I can’t believe that my mother approved that and really took me to salon to fulfill my little wish. Now, when I think back, it was lucky that she only approved me curling my hair but not dying it to blonde. Otherwise, I would be looked too funny. Heehee. Those were childhood days…It seemed that I was her fan in long time ago.
Today, Madonna is here! She is performing live in Macau! This is a chance to see her live show. How could I miss it? I must go! I must go to the concert! Although I don’t have that “fan” feeling anymore, but it would be nice to take this chance to see her live concert. Right?
