Four contestants from Project Superstar Malaysia 2008 have been elimated on 23rd Feb 2008, Sunday at 10pm and they are...

( Picture taken from: 8tv.com.my)

The top 24 contestants of Project Superstars - 12 females and 12 males

The list of the contestants:-

1) Genie 黄净莹
2) Ellen 徐佩霞
3) Fiona 邬汶凌
4) Pink 方玲妮
5) Alice 林芯糸
6) Shine 王幸儿
7) San 黄惠珊
8) Kay 郭晓薇
9) Apple 邱淑菱
10) Nicole 赖淞凤
11) May May 詹依美
12) Eliza 伊利莎
13)Alvin 马铭泉
14) Jac 林伟明
15)Isaac 张富泷
16) Travis 张福峰
17) Hau 徐仕豪
18) Eddie 赖勇霖
19) Will 郑幸安
20) Elson 戴祺锡
21) Ken 万子健
22) Adrian 陈凯旋
23) Cliff 郑至围
24) Kevin 邓凯文

Two females that have been elimated are:

1) Shine

2) Apple

Two males that have been elimated are:

1) Travis

2) Ken

Who will be next? Let's watch another 12 contestants performing next week on Saturday and Sunday, 2nd and 3rd March 2008.

fried koay teow from sapphire blu to all

Prepare all the ingredients. cut chicken meat, green vegetables (sawi), bean sprout (taugeh), shelled prawns, egg, chopped garlic, fish cake (optional) a packet of koay teow, premium LKK oyster sauce, soya sauce, dark soya sauce, dash of pepper, mixture of cornflour and water in a bowl

Heat up the wok with a tablespoon of cooking oil, Put in chopped garlic and fry until golden brown. Add in the bean sprout, some, dark soya sauce, soya sauce, dash of pepper and stirfry. When fragrant and cooked take the koay teow out and served it on a plate or casserole.

Leave the koay teow aside and wash the wok. Heat up the wok again with a tablespoon of cooking oil and put in the remaining chopped garlic and fry till golden brown as usual.

Add in the rest of the ingredients: sawi, shelled prawns, marinated chicken meat, fishcake(optional) and stirfry for a while. Pour in all the sauces and the mixture of cornflour till a bit tickening. When it comes to a boil crack the egg and mix well into the gravy and switch off the gas

pour the gravy on the koay teow and eat while it is still hot.

Dark Chocolates Lowers Blood Pressure

I used to eat lots of chocolates but now I dare not eat too much as I am scared of putting on more weight each time I consume that mouth watering chocolates. I hardly buy or eat chocolates these days until I passed by the chocolates corner at Boulevard Hypermarket this morning.

I saw this nicely cute packed vochelle chocolate at the chocolates shelf and I just grabbed one and paid it. Took few bites of it and then I start to wonder again. Why do I love eating chocolates so much. Is chocolate really good for health and does it really make us put on weight easily?

Dark Chocolate Lowers Blood Pressure

Dark chocolate contains a lot more cocoa than other forms of chocolate. Taking a little dark chocolate is good for you but as people always say eating lot in anything is not good for you. In fact anything that is consumed too much is bad for health.

Chocolate is infact loaded with calories. If you have in mind to eat a lot of chocolate then it is time for you to cut back somewhere else in other food with high calories.

When I was surfing the net I came across an article by By Karen Collins, R.D. wrting about:-

Is chocolate good for you?

Recent research shows that chocolate can provide natural health-promoting substances called flavonoids.

Since flavonoids seem to help prevent heart disease and cancer, the idea of eating chocolate sounds like a tempting and delicious way to better your health. The complete message is, however, that although chocolate might be preferable to other treats, it is no substitute for vegetables and fruits, which also contain flavonoids.

The flavonoids in chocolate that laboratory studies demonstrate to have powerful antioxidant effects are called flavanols and procyanidins. These two compounds come from the flavonoid “family” that includes resveratrol, found in grape juice, and EGCG, found in green tea. When people consume these substances in chocolate and cocoa, the antioxidant status of their blood increases.

This rise in antioxidant levels helps protect us from damage to the heart and blood vessels, while it also guards our DNA from damage that can lead to cancer.

In addition, the flavanols and procyanidins in chocolate improve the function and flow of blood vessels and help control inflammation.

The antioxidants in chocolate have generated a lot of interest because studies show that these compounds are more powerful antioxidants than EGCG in tea, which is a strong antioxidant.
Scientists have found that eating dark chocolate appears to improve the function of important cells lining the wall of blood vessels for at least three hours.

The study, involving 17 healthy young volunteers who agreed to eat a bar of dark chocolate and then get an ultrasound, found that eating dark chocolate seemed to make the blood vessels more flexible, which helps prevent the hardening of the arteries that leads to heart attacks.

One study that compared the total antioxidant activity in single servings of cocoa, green tea, black tea and red wine scored cocoa markedly higher than the rest.

Yet the flavonoid content of cocoa and chocolate is highly variable. The more cocoa in a chocolate product, the higher the antioxidant flavonoid content is.

Because dark chocolate is more concentrated in cocoa content, it is higher in flavonoids than milk chocolate. For this reason, dark chocolate is used in research studies. White chocolate has no cocoa content.

Beware of calorie. Load a cup of hot or cold cocoa may sound like a health drink loaded with antioxidants, but almost all cocoa drink mixes contain cocoa treated with alkali (also called Dutch cocoa) to produce a darker, richer taste. Unfortunately, this process drastically reduces flavonoid content.

Unless you find a chocolate mix made with untreated cocoa, start with plain cocoa (not Dutch) and add your own sweetener and milk to make a flavonoid-rich cup.

Surprisingly, the fat content of chocolate is not a reason to avoid it. Technically, chocolate contains saturated fat, but the particular type of saturated fat – stearic acid – is unique because it does not raise blood cholesterol.

Studies show that neither dark or milk chocolate is a cholesterol concern in moderate amounts. But keep in mind that other ingredients added to some chocolate candies can change their nutrition impact.

But one of the reasons you shouldn’t rely on chocolate for antioxidants, in the place of vegetables and fruits, is the calorie load. A small piece of dark chocolate has only 50 calories, but most candy bars contain at least 200.

In comparison, a serving of vegetables and fruits contains a generous amount of health-promoting phytochemicals and only 25 to 80 calories. An antioxidant-rich serving of green tea has no calories at all.

Besides, vegetables and fruits have more than flavonoids. They provide vitamins, minerals like magnesium and potassium, and phytochemicals that protect our health in other ways. Some, for example, block the activation of carcinogens, while others interfere with the life cycle of cancer cells and promote their destruction.

Recent research on the flavonoids in chocolate implies that we can enjoy limited amounts of this sweet treat without guilt. But this news shouldn’t discourage us from eating a mostly plant-based diet loaded with vegetables and fruits.

Is chocolate good for you article is taken from: msnb.com

My purple and white hisbiscus flowers continue to bloom

nice purple and white hibiscus (Bunga Raya) bloom again in my mini garden. For the past many days there isn't any flower blooming due to the wet weather. It has been raining nearly everyday during the fifteen days of Chinese New Year. A day ofter Chinese New Year sunny day is back once again and it is time for the flowers to bloom all they can.

Who wants to eat "Sarawak Laksa"

Having Sarawak Bihun Laksa again for lunch.Lost of idea already of what to take for my meals sometimes. How good and convenient it is if we can just take food in pills form so that we do not have to go out to eat and much petrol will be saved. And with the money that has been saved can buy more food pills to eat. How nice would that be. Do you agree with me?

Sarawak Laksa is one of the wel known food among the locals here and nearly all the stalls at the hawker centre or coffee shops have this dish. The Sarawakian families grew up eating Sarawak Laksa other than the popular kolo mi here.

From the snapshot, you can see Sarawak Laksa have few main ingredients: the noodles, prawns, eggs, chicken (you can't see any chicken meat as I prefer to eat without chicken meat so they replace it with taufu pok) and the particularly unique gravvy with sambal (optional)

Noodles that are normally used for Sarawak Laksa are the usually used are bi hun (rice noodles,or vermicelli)I have always prefer the elephant brand from Thailand) and wong meen (yellow noodles) are boiled in plain boiling water for few minutes until tender but still firm.

After putting the noodles in a bowl, bring to boil a little taugeh, and add the taugeh (bean sprout) in the bowl together with steamed chicken meat (flesh from drumstick will be more tasty), fried eggs cut in strips and cooked shelled prawns are added on top of the laksa. If you like the taste of spring onions or coriander leaves you can garnish some on the noodles too. Finally pour the laksa curry soup in the serving bowl.

Each bowl of laksa always served with a mini plate of sambal chilli paste, and half chunk of tangerine( to add some sour flavour) to the laksa. When you eat it while it is still hot, you will know why the Sarawakian loves it so much and usually eat it for breakfast.

The normal price for a bowl of Sarawak Laksa is arount RM3 for small bowl, RM4 for big, RM5 for special. Mostly Sarawakian will love this laksa but as for me, I still prefer KL curry laksa or Penang curry laksa.

Another dish that I ordered to eat with Sarawak Laksa just now was fried wanton. Fried wanton is a simple easy dish to cook. Just fill in the mince meat or prawans and wrap it in the wanton skin and get ready a wok or pan with oil.. Deep fry it for very short while till it is golden brown and eat it with some chilli sauce.

Simple right!! Happy trying and remember to eat Sarawak Laksa when you come to the land of Hornbill. Anyway the people here will recommend you this curry laksa too even if you have forgotten about it.

fried wanton: RM3 for eight pieces

FAREWELL AIDEEL, OUR BELOVED FRIEND

IN MEMORY OF OUR DEAR AIDEEL

If tears could build a stairway,
and memories were a lane,
We could walk right up to heaven
to bring you home again.
No farewell words were spoken
no time to say goodbye
you were gone before we realize,
and only God knows why.
Our hearts still ache in sadness
and secret tears continue to flow,
what it meant to lose you,
no one will ever know.

God looked around His garden
And He found an empty place.
He then looked down
Upon this earth
And saw Aideel's tired face.
He put His arms around him
And lifted Aideel to rest.
God's garden must be beautiful
He always takes the best.
He knew that Aideel was suffering

of an unknown sickness
He knew he was in pain.
He knew that Aideel would never
Get well on this earth again.
He saw that the road
Getting bumpy, and the hills
Are tough to climb with

rough sea that is hard to swim across

due to much waves.
So He closed Aideel's weak tired eyelids,
and whispered, "Do Not Be Afraid, Come with Me."
It broke our hearts to lose our friend, Aideel

But he didn't go alone.
For his sweet memories will froever

stay in our hearts
When early this morning, on 23rd February 2008

We will never know how to say goodbye, you will forever be in our hearts. We do not know why you were taken away, and left the seven of us here to cry, the tears will not ease, and when we look into the sky, you are that shining star we will forever see. We love you Aideel dear and we will miss the time with you.

Aideel, you will always be remembered. Your picture is still with your owner taken in January 2008 when you were still with the rest sleeping. We all miss you Aideel. May you rest in peace.

FAREWELL AIDEEL TILL WE MEET AGAIN

SADLY MISSED BY:

Mork, N, Da Da, Di Di, Ka Ka, Ki Ki, Harry, Light & Missa (from the West)

and owner Sapphire Blu.

(The funeral of Aideel was taken place at 8.30am on 23rd February 2008)