Thursday, November 21, 2013

The first letter of a person's name can tells you a lot about him/her

I saw this article in Yahoo news.  Very interesting.


「唔怕生壞命,最怕改壞名」,除中文名外,西方也獨有一套的姓名學。
A性格:A是第一個英文字母,代表為人有領導才能,人群中比較突出。較為心急,一想到就去做,偶爾會得罪人而不自知。
事業:個性好動,特別適合從事流動性高、彈性大的工作,如銷售員,公關等。
愛情:對婚姻不特別渴求,有遲婚傾向。

B性格:內向保守、作風穩健有遠見。眼光銳利,容易在投資市場中獲利,賺錢能力高。
事業:適合從商,財運不俗,投身股票地產行業亦可。有審美眼光,不妨考慮從事藝術有關的工作。
愛情:希望另一半可充當情人和知己的角色。男生會偏愛長髮的氣質型女生。

C性格:優雅文靜,自我要求高,有時略嫌過於理想化,顧慮太多反而顯得優柔寡斷。
事業:適合從事醫護行業。因為思想較周全,一些策劃性強的工作也是好選擇。
愛情:家庭觀念重,自小有成家的打算,亦喜歡小朋友。

D性格:愛恨分明,固執堅毅,即使面對重重難關,也能憑意志撑下去。
事業:十分捱得,就算對興趣不大的任務,也可以一直堅持,穩定性高的工作較適合。
愛情:認真而慢熱,談戀愛的次數不多。男生喜歡溫柔有女人味的異性,而女生則喜歡成熟有威嚴的另一半。

E性格:動靜皆宜,嗜好多樣化。有文學修養,也有開朗好動的一面,愛挑戰自我。
事業:彈性大,各行各業都可嘗試,特別可選擇一些變化大而充滿挑戰的工作。
愛情:女生喜歡書卷味濃的男生,男性則希望伴侶活潑開朗,時刻為生活增添色彩。

F性格:個性天真而帶孩子氣,樂天活潑,認為世上沒有不可能的事,常有層出不窮的點子。
事業:喜歡在一個興趣中不停鑽研,技能比較單一,適合從事一些專業工作。
愛情:渴望童話式的戀愛,對另一半要求亦往往較高,需要更多時間才能找到心儀對象。

G性格:為人坦白率直,思想單純,說話不加修飾,有時會給人不夠圓滑的感覺。可幸是人緣好,貴人運強,常得身邊人幫助。
事業:不懂得保護自己,在職場商場較吃虧。各式各樣的工作都適合你,但以自僱為佳。
愛情:渴望坦誠的關係,喜歡專一坦白的對象。對外形沒有太高要求,反而很重內涵。

H性格:分析和理解力都不俗,能言善辯。愛自由,極需要個人的空間,自由發揮。
事業:不喜歡被管束,加上想法比較另類,建議不妨創業,有利發揮。
愛情:即使多親密也要有私人空間,作為他們的另一半,記得適當地和他們保持距離。

I性格:外剛內柔,看似冷靜理性,骨子裏是一個很感性的人。有義氣,為朋友可兩肋插刀。
事業:做事有條理,務實而不張揚,故適合從事一些幕後工作。
愛情:桃花運不俗,不論男女都喜歡個性穩重、光明磊落的另一半,對地下情頗抗拒。

J性格:典型的理想主義者,充滿陽光氣息。惟略嫌固執,不易接受別人意見。
事業:對工作沒有太大要求,能寓工作於娛樂,就能發揮最好。
愛情:憧憬完美的關係,對戀愛要求高,希望對方和自己一樣。不論男女,都喜歡優雅和帶有古典味的對象。 

K性格:聰明愛挑戰,博彩心較重,常有「做咗先算」的念頭。喜歡追求新鮮感和刺激感。
事業:愛挑戰又沒有耐性,以流動性高,常有新事物學習,又可以接觸不同人的工作為佳。
愛情:喜歡向難度挑戰,對象愈難捉摸,你愈想征服。作為他的另一半,要常保持新鮮感。

L性格:斯文有禮,凡事追求盡善盡美,執着而要求高,有時略嫌容易神經緊張。
事業:不適合營商,跟文學、藝術有關的工作,則可得心應手。
愛情:渴望穩定的關係,不論男女都喜歡成熟獨立而文靜的對象。

M性格:樂天,有陽光氣息。不論任何年齡都充滿童真,但有時略嫌大頭蝦。
事業:以流動性高和充滿挑戰的職業為宜,不能接受死板的工作。
愛情:認定對象後會一鼓作氣投入,談戀愛次數通常不會太多,不論男女都喜歡有陽光氣息和愛笑的伴侶。

N性格:冷靜理性,慢熱不愛笑,不善交際,有拒人千里之外的感覺,其實口硬心軟。
事業:以講求邏輯性、分析的工作較適合,投身專業界別,發展亦會不錯。
愛情:外剛內柔,享受被愛的感覺。如你的心儀對象是N字頭,不妨主動出擊。

O性格:聰明靈巧,鬼主意多多。動靜皆宜,凡事都有興趣。善解人意,對別人感受敏感,人緣通常很好。
事業:一生人都與大自然關係密切,與花草和動物有關的工作會很適合。
愛情:戀愛運強,經常有冤枉桃花。一生都不愁無伴侶,反而作為另一半則較擔心。 

P性格:擅長分析策劃,對數字極度敏感。為人謙虛,深明樹大招風的道理,擅於隱藏實力。
事業:與數字有密切關係的工作都非常適合,例如金融、會計、投資。
愛情:異性緣不俗,有很多談戀愛的機會,但精於計算的你有時略嫌吝嗇。

Q性格:好動活躍,充滿新點子。說話不多,卻能語出驚人,有時略嫌高傲和不太合群。
事業:不愛拼搏,與穩定性高的工作較有緣,薪高糧準的工作是你的首選。
愛情:對戀愛有憧憬,渴望穩定關係。異性緣不俗,只要降低一點要求,不愁無伴侶。

R性格:大膽創新,有運動天份。人緣佳,朋友多,愛一班朋友出來聯誼玩樂。
事業:需要經常走動的職業,例如公關、行銷工作等,很適合「坐唔定」的你。
愛情:喜愛有陽光氣息的另一半,希望對方同樣愛運動,充滿健康的感覺。R字頭的人,較不喜歡太瘦的異性。

S性格:高傲,帶神秘感,讓人想更了解你。重視個人空間,不受管束。
事業:有上進心又愛面子,可從事一些在大眾心中高尚職業,例如醫生、律師、會計師等。
愛情:喜歡心靈溝通,強調個人空間,希望另一半聰明獨立,而且不能太嘈吵。

T性格:友善隨和,喜愛團體活動,合群性高,朋友多,能和不同階層的人相處融洽。
事業:沒有很高的要求,比較平穩踏實,較適合充當中間人的角色,例如經紀。
愛情:要求不高,有愛情的感覺便可,喜歡和自己一樣隨和又親切的另一半。

U性格:聰明固執,愛走偏鋒。思想天馬行空,讓人意想不到。愛生事端,不守規矩。
事業:為人好勝,不惜一切都要完成自己的目標,下定決心要做的事,通常都做得到,但需留意容易一時意氣而做錯決定。
愛情:以個人感覺出發,愛得義無反顧,一但被他們盯上,定會向你展開猛烈追求。


 Source:

Monday, November 4, 2013

SLR Camera Simulator

I've found a very interesting online Camera simulator. 
For me, it's always easier to try it out than to remember from reading books.
Have fun!


Friday, October 26, 2012

Cranberry Orange Scones

Made cranberry orange scones past Saturday using a recipe a friend sent me...
They're really good!
They were the best on the first day!   Crunchy on the outside... Moist and soft on the inside...  Yummy!



Cranberry Orange Scones

(recipe from NPR)

Makes 8 very large scones

2 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup fresh or dried cranberries
Grated zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 to 10 pieces
1/2 cup cold nonfat buttermilk
1/2 cup cold creme fraiche
1 cold large egg
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 350 degrees .

Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a hand-held mixer), mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, granulated sugar and cranberries on low speed for 10 to 15 seconds, or until combined. Scatter the butter over the top and beat on low speed for about 30 seconds, or until the butter is somewhat broken down and grape-size pieces are still visible.

In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, creme fraiche and whole egg until thoroughly mixed. On low speed, pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour-butter mixture and beat for 20 to 30 seconds, or just until the dough comes together. There will still be a little loose flour mixture at the bottom of the bowl.
Remove the bowl from the mixer stand. Gather and lift the dough with your hands and turn it over in the bowl, so that it starts to pick up the loose flour at the bottom. Turn over the dough several times until all of the loose flour is mixed in.

Dump the dough onto a baking sheet and pat it into an 8-inch circle about 1 inch thick. Brush the egg yolk evenly over the entire top of the dough circle. Sprinkle the sanding sugar evenly over the top, then cut the circle into 8 wedges, as if cutting a pizza. (At this point, the unbaked scones can be tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 1 week. Proceed as directed, baking directly from the freezer and adding 5 to 10 minutes to the baking time.)

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the entire circle is golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes, then cut into the prescored wedges (the cuts will be visible but will have baked together) and serve.

The scones taste best on the day they are baked, but they can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you keep them for longer than 1 day, refresh them in a 300-degree oven for 4 to 5 minutes. Or, you can freeze them, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, for up to 1 week. Reheat, directly from the freezer, in a 300-degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes.
 

I also have a lot of fun with the photos I took from iPhone... ;)


And more fun....

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Word Clouds

What is Word Cloud?
It's basically a visual representation of words and their frequencies.  The more a particular word appears within a context, the bigger the word is.

I wanted to see what kind of words appear in my blog most often.
So, I looked around for a free online word cloud generator and found 2 that I think are the best:
  1. Wordle
  2. Word It Out
(I didn't spend a lot of time on my search so there could be other better ones.)

When I enter my blog address to generate word cloud, both site give me different results. 
According to Wordle, the most frequent words are teaspoon, onion, recipe, etc.
According to Word It Out, the most frequent words are went, like, lake, teaspoon, etc.
I wonder how each site look for words.
Anyway, I think Word It Out is closer to what I think is the word frequencies in my blog.
However, Wordle has a nicer graphical representation of words.


My site from Wordle:


My site from Word It Out:





Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Ada's Mini Slaw

I really like the Singapore Slaw dish at Susur Lee's Lee restaurant.
After searching on the web, I've found his recipe.
However, it contains too many ingredients that are not easily available in average grocery stores.  It also needs a lot of work.
So, I've came up with my own little Mini Slaw using ingredients that can be easily found.
If I want the full version, I can eat that at Lee.  ;)


Ada's Mini Slaw

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
Pickled Red Onions (see recipe below)
Salted Apricot Dressing (see recipe below)
1 large English cucumber, julienned
1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
2 large Roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced
4 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
1 bag of Terra Veggie Stix

To serve:
  1. Mix cucumber, carrot and tomatoes in a big bowl
  2. Divide the veggie mixture between plates
  3. Use a small colander to drain the pickled red onions and put them on top of the veggie mixture
  4. Add 1 cup of Terra Stix per plate around the veggie mixture. 
  5. Serve with Salted Apricot Dressing alongside
Depending on each person's taste, they can add different amount of dressing.
For me, I like to add approx. 4 teaspoon of dressing per 750 ml of salad.


Pickled Red Onion

Ingredients:
2 small red onions
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black peppers
1/4 teaspoon thyme

Directions:
  1. Peel and julienne red onion and set aside in a medium bowl. 
  2. In small saucepan, bring vinegar, water, salt, black peppers, and thyme to a boil. 
  3. Add onion into the small saucepan and stirr occassionally until it boils. (You'll see bubbles from the sauce and smoke coming out.)
  4. Turn off the heat, cover the saucepan, and let it sit for 30 mins.
Note: I like my onions cooked.  If you like your onion more raw, then turn off the heat after adding onions and let it sit for 1 hour.


Salted Apricot Dressing

 Ingredients:
1/4 cup ume (plum) paste 
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon mirin 
1 teaspoon dashi
2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly grinded ginger
A pinch of sea salt (approx. 1/8 teaspoon)

(Ume paste can easily be found in any Japanese store.  Mirin and dashi can easily be found in any Chinese or Japanese store.)

Directions:
  1. Mix ume paste, vinegar, mirin, dashi, olive oil, sugar, ginger, and salt in a bowl until it is well mixed.
Note:  If you like your dressing to be less sour, you can add less rice wine vinegar.


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Here is Susur Lee's Singapore Slaw recipe from New Asian Cuisine:

Singapore Slaw

By Susur Lee, Author of Susur: A Culinary Life

Serves 4

1 Pickled Red Onion (see recipe below)
1 1/2 cups Salted Apricot Dressing (see recipe below)
2 green onions, both white and green parts, julienned
2 ounces rice vermicelli, broken into 3 pieces
1 large English cucumber, julienned
1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
1 small jicama, peeled and julienned
2 large Roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced
4 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
6 teaspoons crushed roasted peanuts
4 teaspoons edible flower petals
4 teaspoons fennel seedlings
4 teaspoons purple basil seedlings
4 teaspoons daikon sprouts
4 teaspoons fried shallots

Pickled Red Onion
1 red onion
1 cup rice wine vinegar
1cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme

Salted Apricot Dressing
1 cup salted apricot (ume) paste
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon mirin
1 teaspoon dashi
1 1/2 tablespoon onion oil
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

For Pickled Red Onion:
Peel and julienne red onion and set aside in a medium bowl. In small saucepan, bring vinegar and water to a boil. Season with salt, peppercorns, fennel seeds, bay leaf and thyme; continue boiling for another 5 minutes. Pour mixture over onion while hot and let sit for 1 hour.

For Salted Apricot Dressing:

In blender, combine apricot paste, vinegar, mirin, Dashi, Onion Oil, sugar, ginger, and salt. Puree until smooth.

For Singapore Slaw Salad:
Soak green onion in very cold water to keep crisp. Meanwhile, heat large pot of oil. When temperature reaches 400°F, deep fry taro root, half the amount at a time, for 2 minutes until crisp and light gold in color. Remove slices from oil, place on paper towel, and lightly salt. At same temperature, quickly deep fry vermicelli, half at a time, for 2 seconds, or until they curl. Remove vermicelli from oil, place on paper towel, and lightly salt.

To serve:

Remove julienned green onion from bowl and drain. Divide vermicelli equally between 4 plates and arrange green onion, cucumber, carrot, jicama, tomatoes, and pickled red onion around noodles. Top with fried taro root. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds and crushed peanuts over each salad. In small bowl, combine edible flower petals, seedlings, sprouts, and fried shallots. Sprinkle flower-sprout-shallot mixture on salad and serve with Salted Apricot Dressing alongside.

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Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Old HK Commercials

It's interesting to look at old HK commercials.  Actors looked different now and then...

Andy Lau - THEN
劉德華 - 1983年 - 永安旅行社



Andy Lau - NOW
劉德華 2011 - 道地玄米茶廣告




Bosco Wong - THEN 
張柏芝,黃宗澤 - Hi-C陽光檸檬茶 1998



Bosco Wong - NOW 
黃宗澤 - UNIQLO 廣告 2011





Tony Leung - THEN 
梁朝偉 - 妙蓮2號眼藥水 1987



Tony Leung - NOW
梁朝偉 - 香港影視娛樂博覽 (第七屆,2011) 廣告

Monday, March 5, 2012

蒸水蛋 Steamed Eggs

Read an article today from Yahoo News about steamed eggs.... a very traditional Chinese dish... 

It's another example of No Pain No Gain!!  ^o^


The amount of time spent on whisking the eggs is very important. 
If you want to have smooth steamed eggs, you need to whisk the eggs for 20 mins.   (No pain no gain!!!  I guess my hand will be sore after the whisking. :P   )
Also, you need to slowly add water while whisking.  On average, for each egg, you need to add water that's 3 times the amount of an egg.
After whisking is done, let it sit for 5 mins and then use a spoon to scoop away the surface bubbles.
The plate holding the egg mixture should be less than 1 inch in dept and let it steam for 8-10 mins.

I wonder how long I need to whisk the eggs if I use a electrical mixer... ;-)



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蒸水蛋

星島日報 – 2012年3月5日

 (綜合報道)(星島日報報道)在中菜入面,有很多簡單的菜式,但這些被人認為是家常小菜的菜式,其實都是易做難精,其中有一個菜式我們經常都會食到,就是蒸水蛋,但好多人都覺得在家中吃到的蒸水蛋不夠滑、不夠香,而在食肆食到的,總是又滑又香的,當中是否有甚麼秘訣是大家不知道的?

   說明白一點,蒸水蛋其實沒有甚麼秘訣,有的只是技巧。在很多飲食節目中,節目主持人都教大家如何做一個好的蒸水蛋,大部分都是教大家用保鮮紙將水蛋封好再蒸,這個方法只可以令到蒸出來的水蛋沒有倒汗水,對水蛋的香與滑根本沒有影響。

   要做一個最香最滑的水蛋,技巧在於耐性。我記得在我初入行的時候,曾經向酒家負責蒸菜的師傳請教,如何做好一個蒸水蛋,他第一句說話就問我,一般打發蛋的時間要多少?我說三至五分鐘,他便告訴我,這就是做不出好的蒸水蛋問題所在。要做一個又香又滑的蒸水蛋,一般打發蛋的時間是二十分鐘,而在打發的時候,要慢慢加水,要加多少水,就要視乎你想做的水蛋要淡味一點,還是濃味一點,一般我們行內的標準是一隻蛋加三隻蛋分量的水。打發好了的水蛋在拿去蒸之前,要先放平,靜止五分鐘,在入爐前,把浮在蛋漿面層的小氣泡挑走。至於蒸的時間要多久,就要視乎你用來蒸水蛋的容器深度,最好是不超過一吋深,因為太深的容器會導致水蛋面層過熟而入面未熟的問題,而太淺的容器就是太難控制火候,一般用一吋深的容器,大概蒸八至十分鐘即可。   (男煮角 黃永幟)

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