"记者：您今年84岁高龄，您的母亲也活到90多岁，你们家族长寿的秘诀是什么？
星云大师：长寿要有长寿的因缘，要简单啊，淡泊啊，运动啊，心宽啊，喜悦啊，正派啊，放下啊，舍得啊，欢喜啊，慈悲啊。”
是呀，淡泊，舍得。。。欢欢喜喜迎接这个早晨，这期生命。但切非为了长寿。：）
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Rudolf Steiner's words
"The heart of the Waldorf method is that education is an art – it must speak to the child's experience. To educate the whole child, his heart and his will must be reached, as well as the mind."---Rudolf Steiner
Sunday, July 24, 2011
To Dream Or Not To Dream?
Following the post on To Waldorf Or Not To Waldorf, I thought it might be good for me to think of myself as a dreamer.
This strikes me when Teacher Lin had a sharing on Study of Man: Lecture 2.
Interestingly she started the session with my favorite song, Imagine by John Lennon:
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
-- Oh! How true it is! --about myself.
I dream....like Martin Lurther King
"I have a dream today!" --- has always been my favorite quote of most days. :)
I dream when i bath....at most of the times.
I dream too when i sleep.
I didnt meant i was really in the Rapid Eye Movement(REM) state or whatever, i mean a DREAM that is born out of passion and my imagination world!
I started to see my purpose of life: that i gladly 'poke' people around me so that they are able to pursue their dream and uplift their lives. haha!
This strikes me when Teacher Lin had a sharing on Study of Man: Lecture 2.
Interestingly she started the session with my favorite song, Imagine by John Lennon:
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
-- Oh! How true it is! --about myself.
I dream....like Martin Lurther King
"I have a dream today!" --- has always been my favorite quote of most days. :)
I dream when i bath....at most of the times.
I dream too when i sleep.
I didnt meant i was really in the Rapid Eye Movement(REM) state or whatever, i mean a DREAM that is born out of passion and my imagination world!
I started to see my purpose of life: that i gladly 'poke' people around me so that they are able to pursue their dream and uplift their lives. haha!
Friday, July 22, 2011
Do You Really Need A Waldorf School?
That's the main question next to "To Waldorf or Not To Waldorf?"
If I choose to Waldorf, which and where is the Waldorf school that I can go?
I would regard all pricey schools as elite schools and all schools that cater for the rich and famous are not a healthy way of educating a child.
Waldorf way of education...has never been meant to be a branded and luxury way of educating.... I mean how could it be when it was first started on a factory and right after the world war II?
After a few encounters, I realized it has to be more important and most important to have a Waldorf way of living, i.e. Waldorf family then anything else.
Mrs M has compiled a list on what a Waldorf family would do:
-Get rid of the televisions, video games, and limit computer access
until age 12.
-Go outside and play every day, year round.
-Eat your food whole.
-Hug every day.
-Rhythm
-Be open to what the little ones will teach you.
-Make it yourself, and if you don't know how, learn
-Tell stories & play games. A lot.
-Think about how your things speak to you.
-Keep the voices calm, quiet, and as natural as possible.
-“Do not worry that your children never listen to you, worry that they
are always watching you.” ~ Robert Fulgum
-Meditate or do some form of inner work daily
-Rid yourself of anything that has not been touched in over a month.
-Sing and share lovely verses for important (and every) days
-To create rituals around bedtime, praying to our guardian angels and
sing lullabies.
-Singing throughout the day
-Hold back intellectual concepts from under 7 as they are mostly in the
motor centre before then.
-Try and keep a dreamlike quality in everything you do.
-Slow down and take time.
-Establish rhythm, use reptition, foster reverence, awe and wonder
-Create a beautiful and harmonious environment
-Honor the need for time and space
-Sing through the day
-Have conversations with the spiritual world
-Remember the elemental beings
-Be authentic in what you do and say -- kids are adept at sniffing out
a RAT :)
-Do not lie -- my example is that if I have say, chocolate, in the
house and my daughter asks, I give or say "let's wait until after
supper". I don't lie and say we don't have any -- If I don't want her
to have it, I don't bring it into the home. "white" lies really
undermine the trust relationship and teach your kid to be dishonest.
-Involve the children in the running of the house. Get them helping in
all areas of domestic work from a very young age 2+. in, of course,
age appropriate ways.
-Active learning - learning by doing, by observing, by making, by
experiencing.
-Make things from scratch, let the kids be involved and observe the
-TIME and love necessary to create something beautiful and lasting.
-Create gardens, meals, tree forts, gifts, art....
-Working on ones self (meaning the parent)
If I choose to Waldorf, which and where is the Waldorf school that I can go?
I would regard all pricey schools as elite schools and all schools that cater for the rich and famous are not a healthy way of educating a child.
Waldorf way of education...has never been meant to be a branded and luxury way of educating.... I mean how could it be when it was first started on a factory and right after the world war II?
After a few encounters, I realized it has to be more important and most important to have a Waldorf way of living, i.e. Waldorf family then anything else.
Mrs M has compiled a list on what a Waldorf family would do:
-Get rid of the televisions, video games, and limit computer access
until age 12.
-Go outside and play every day, year round.
-Eat your food whole.
-Hug every day.
-Rhythm
-Be open to what the little ones will teach you.
-Make it yourself, and if you don't know how, learn
-Tell stories & play games. A lot.
-Think about how your things speak to you.
-Keep the voices calm, quiet, and as natural as possible.
-“Do not worry that your children never listen to you, worry that they
are always watching you.” ~ Robert Fulgum
-Meditate or do some form of inner work daily
-Rid yourself of anything that has not been touched in over a month.
-Sing and share lovely verses for important (and every) days
-To create rituals around bedtime, praying to our guardian angels and
sing lullabies.
-Singing throughout the day
-Hold back intellectual concepts from under 7 as they are mostly in the
motor centre before then.
-Try and keep a dreamlike quality in everything you do.
-Slow down and take time.
-Establish rhythm, use reptition, foster reverence, awe and wonder
-Create a beautiful and harmonious environment
-Honor the need for time and space
-Sing through the day
-Have conversations with the spiritual world
-Remember the elemental beings
-Be authentic in what you do and say -- kids are adept at sniffing out
a RAT :)
-Do not lie -- my example is that if I have say, chocolate, in the
house and my daughter asks, I give or say "let's wait until after
supper". I don't lie and say we don't have any -- If I don't want her
to have it, I don't bring it into the home. "white" lies really
undermine the trust relationship and teach your kid to be dishonest.
-Involve the children in the running of the house. Get them helping in
all areas of domestic work from a very young age 2+. in, of course,
age appropriate ways.
-Active learning - learning by doing, by observing, by making, by
experiencing.
-Make things from scratch, let the kids be involved and observe the
-TIME and love necessary to create something beautiful and lasting.
-Create gardens, meals, tree forts, gifts, art....
-Working on ones self (meaning the parent)
To Waldorf or Not To Waldorf?
Whether or not you Waldorf has got to go back the first question on: "What makes you come to Waldorf education?"
The moment you started to search for an alternative for the current schooling system, you know you are bound to change for better.
You cant remain in a nutshell of ignorant when you are already directed to the door of Waldorf.
You can, of course, remain in your previous ways of educating your children, but one thing for sure, that you will never be the SAME old you.
You know, that, one thing for sure, you will keep learning....the Waldorf ways....
coz that's ultimately the main reason of education --- to keep learning and learning, even though you may know a lot but you will still remain as humble as can be, and at the same time enjoy the learning process as much as you can.
If not to Waldorf, I am sure whenever there is a seminar on how to make parent better/happier or how to destress a busy working parent, or a workshop on how to produce a smarter & brighter kid or how to score A the easy way, your heart will direct you to look on how to squeeze time out of busy calendar to make up for this supposingly 'influential and great enough' program. You are probably searching for a quick fix or one time deal solution that will ease you to better sleep days.
If not Waldorf, you will probably be thinking of.....
- migration? - but...hmmmm...that doesnt happen so soon, and what about the rest of my families?
- homeschooling? -- since this is a current 'trend' now. But what about curriculum?
- get involve in politics to change the education? -- neh, dream la. Get KOTOR first before this comes in picture
Back to the question again, "To waldorf or not to Waldorf?"
I think that has to be changed to "To change or not to change?"
Or "To learn or not to learn?"
Next Question: Do you really need a Waldorf school?
The moment you started to search for an alternative for the current schooling system, you know you are bound to change for better.
You cant remain in a nutshell of ignorant when you are already directed to the door of Waldorf.
You can, of course, remain in your previous ways of educating your children, but one thing for sure, that you will never be the SAME old you.
You know, that, one thing for sure, you will keep learning....the Waldorf ways....
coz that's ultimately the main reason of education --- to keep learning and learning, even though you may know a lot but you will still remain as humble as can be, and at the same time enjoy the learning process as much as you can.
If not to Waldorf, I am sure whenever there is a seminar on how to make parent better/happier or how to destress a busy working parent, or a workshop on how to produce a smarter & brighter kid or how to score A the easy way, your heart will direct you to look on how to squeeze time out of busy calendar to make up for this supposingly 'influential and great enough' program. You are probably searching for a quick fix or one time deal solution that will ease you to better sleep days.
If not Waldorf, you will probably be thinking of.....
- migration? - but...hmmmm...that doesnt happen so soon, and what about the rest of my families?
- homeschooling? -- since this is a current 'trend' now. But what about curriculum?
- get involve in politics to change the education? -- neh, dream la. Get KOTOR first before this comes in picture
Back to the question again, "To waldorf or not to Waldorf?"
I think that has to be changed to "To change or not to change?"
Or "To learn or not to learn?"
Next Question: Do you really need a Waldorf school?
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Shanghai Mooncake --2nd trial after 5 yrs
There I go itchy...super itchy again.
Made some 'fake' lotus paste using the hulled mung beans...at last. Thanks to Phoebe's Mom. Tasted...quite nice though, so i decided to go forward to produce the Shanghai Mooncake.
But cant find salted duck eggs at these hours of late afternoon.
Never mind....just get going before this itchy mood cool off.
Some 5-6 yrs ago, i did the Shanghai Mooncake with the lotus paste. It was a truly deadly experience for me as i cooked the lotus paste from blending, de-skin till cooking to produce the paste form ---- all because i didnt want to use the $%^& alkaline water. Then when it come to the pastry, I think i did some modification too by not following the recipe. If i am not mistaken, what i did was lessen the custard powder content and thus making the skin to flob and 'flow' away like cream when mooncake was heated up in the oven --- all because i didnt favor using custard powder, I thought it tasted horrible with the essence smell.
Now learning from my previous lesson, i know i got to follow the recipe first before i made any modification further.
It was a success! Albeit the inner paste didnt really tasted like the lotus paste.
But anything hot from the oven is always irresistible!
Made some 'fake' lotus paste using the hulled mung beans...at last. Thanks to Phoebe's Mom. Tasted...quite nice though, so i decided to go forward to produce the Shanghai Mooncake.
But cant find salted duck eggs at these hours of late afternoon.
Never mind....just get going before this itchy mood cool off.
Some 5-6 yrs ago, i did the Shanghai Mooncake with the lotus paste. It was a truly deadly experience for me as i cooked the lotus paste from blending, de-skin till cooking to produce the paste form ---- all because i didnt want to use the $%^& alkaline water. Then when it come to the pastry, I think i did some modification too by not following the recipe. If i am not mistaken, what i did was lessen the custard powder content and thus making the skin to flob and 'flow' away like cream when mooncake was heated up in the oven --- all because i didnt favor using custard powder, I thought it tasted horrible with the essence smell.
Now learning from my previous lesson, i know i got to follow the recipe first before i made any modification further.
It was a success! Albeit the inner paste didnt really tasted like the lotus paste.
But anything hot from the oven is always irresistible!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
学做公仔饼
学做了传统公仔饼，过程中就好象在延伸老人的传统精神。我想，我会喜欢变老，老呵，象征智慧和成熟。黄舒骏的‘不要变老’是唱着世间人对物质的看法吧，但是‘老’本身，其实是越老越有力量的，比如，越老越有资格分享人生，分享经验，还有呈现永垂不朽的智慧。感恩过去的老人
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Childhood dream --- Waldorf dolls
They have been playing and playing and playing....with these dolls....
I gave away a few Barbie dolls before which didnt bring much excitement, creativity, and most of all LoVe....
Jo Von wanted a purple wool hair doll that has a detachable scarf.
That's hell of a challenge for me coz i knew only the one Swee Kian had taught - a sewn in scarf with a little bit of wool hair.
When the whole doll was ready, she slept with the doll and woke up searching for it in the early morning.
Used up my longed kept yellow minky fabric that i bought from Australia....nice feeling.
And this belonged to Jo Ee.
She wanted a doll which has longer hair so that she can tied up.
The body was made from the bamboo terry fabric --- also another nice feeling fabric that i cut out from the diaper inserts.
She was as contented as before....she always has a flair for dolls....and that served up the whole day and night.....and nothing else.
Isn't this what childhood is all about?
Children....just need simple toys, preferably handmade by mom to make their happy and contented days.
I gave away a few Barbie dolls before which didnt bring much excitement, creativity, and most of all LoVe....
Jo Von wanted a purple wool hair doll that has a detachable scarf.
That's hell of a challenge for me coz i knew only the one Swee Kian had taught - a sewn in scarf with a little bit of wool hair.
When the whole doll was ready, she slept with the doll and woke up searching for it in the early morning.
Used up my longed kept yellow minky fabric that i bought from Australia....nice feeling.
And this belonged to Jo Ee.
She wanted a doll which has longer hair so that she can tied up.
The body was made from the bamboo terry fabric --- also another nice feeling fabric that i cut out from the diaper inserts.
She was as contented as before....she always has a flair for dolls....and that served up the whole day and night.....and nothing else.
Isn't this what childhood is all about?
Children....just need simple toys, preferably handmade by mom to make their happy and contented days.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Mooncake recipe 公仔饼食谱
Ingredient:
100g plain flour
30g peanut oil
65g golden syrup
1/2 tsp alkaline water
The alkaline water is to:
1) Improve the elasticity in the dough
2) Give it its golden color
3) Neutralizes the acidity of the syrup.
If you omit the alkaline water, the imprint of the mooncake might not be clear and the pastry might not hold its shape and just become a blob after it is being baked
1．把糖浆，油及视水搅拌均匀，摆置5分钟
2．Sieve plain flour into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the flour and pour in the warm syrup. Mix till a dough is formed. Cover the mixing bowl with a wet towel and rest the dough for 30 - 45 minutes.
3．Divide dough and filling according to the size of your mould. Shape the dough into a round flat sheet with sides thinner than the centre.
4．Wrap in the filling and mould it into a ball shape. Coat it with flour.
5．Dredge wooden mooncake mould with flour and put the mooncake into the mould. Flatten it with your floured palms and make sure that the mooncake fills up the mould nicely.
6．To dislodge the mooncake, bang the mould on a hard surface with equal force in the north, south, east and west direction.
7．Place mooncakes on a lined pan and spray the mooncakes with some water.
Spraying of water is to prevent the mooncake skin from cracking or blistering during the baking process.
8．Bake at 180C - 190C for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, cool the cakes for 5 - 10 minutes then apply egg glace and bake for another 10 - 15 minutes or till golden brown. As every oven varies, please standby to check on your mooncakes. If you are doing standard size mooncakes, the baking time might be longer.
9．公仔饼烘烤出来，立即把蛋液抹上2次或者以上，完成
10．Store cooled mooncakes in an airtight container and serve only after 3 days.
11．贴心提醒 ：
1。做公仔饼不需要很大力的压进模子里，这样会令公仔饼比较结实。轻轻的一压，公仔饼才能够显出松软
2。新出炉的公仔饼有点硬度，要放置 3天或者以上回油后，才能够享用
My little experience:
1. First trial: was done successfully with the addition of alkaline water.
2. Second trial: was done together with Fong Ling and Seok Lee and tried out by omitting the alkaline water. It didnt turn out well....was hard. But i think it was not because of not using alkaline water, but rather when we have more people to involve, we tend to talk and that distract our attention. No wonder why old people used to say when they were baking those traditional delicacies, they tried not to have many people around. Partly i think is due to distraction.
3. 3rd trial: was a done in a rather hasty mood coz while seeing the unsuccessful of the 2nd trial, i hastily tried out at night. Baking, must be done in rather quiet and steady mood, i guess.
4. 4th trial: tada....i waited for near 3-4 hours before i left the mixture to 'sit' and bake them. And they are true success! This time, i used the required alkaline water.
100g plain flour
30g peanut oil
65g golden syrup
1/2 tsp alkaline water
The alkaline water is to:
1) Improve the elasticity in the dough
2) Give it its golden color
3) Neutralizes the acidity of the syrup.
If you omit the alkaline water, the imprint of the mooncake might not be clear and the pastry might not hold its shape and just become a blob after it is being baked
1．把糖浆，油及视水搅拌均匀，摆置5分钟
2．Sieve plain flour into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the flour and pour in the warm syrup. Mix till a dough is formed. Cover the mixing bowl with a wet towel and rest the dough for 30 - 45 minutes.
3．Divide dough and filling according to the size of your mould. Shape the dough into a round flat sheet with sides thinner than the centre.
4．Wrap in the filling and mould it into a ball shape. Coat it with flour.
5．Dredge wooden mooncake mould with flour and put the mooncake into the mould. Flatten it with your floured palms and make sure that the mooncake fills up the mould nicely.
6．To dislodge the mooncake, bang the mould on a hard surface with equal force in the north, south, east and west direction.
7．Place mooncakes on a lined pan and spray the mooncakes with some water.
Spraying of water is to prevent the mooncake skin from cracking or blistering during the baking process.
8．Bake at 180C - 190C for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, cool the cakes for 5 - 10 minutes then apply egg glace and bake for another 10 - 15 minutes or till golden brown. As every oven varies, please standby to check on your mooncakes. If you are doing standard size mooncakes, the baking time might be longer.
9．公仔饼烘烤出来，立即把蛋液抹上2次或者以上，完成
10．Store cooled mooncakes in an airtight container and serve only after 3 days.
11．贴心提醒 ：
1。做公仔饼不需要很大力的压进模子里，这样会令公仔饼比较结实。轻轻的一压，公仔饼才能够显出松软
2。新出炉的公仔饼有点硬度，要放置 3天或者以上回油后，才能够享用
My little experience:
1. First trial: was done successfully with the addition of alkaline water.
2. Second trial: was done together with Fong Ling and Seok Lee and tried out by omitting the alkaline water. It didnt turn out well....was hard. But i think it was not because of not using alkaline water, but rather when we have more people to involve, we tend to talk and that distract our attention. No wonder why old people used to say when they were baking those traditional delicacies, they tried not to have many people around. Partly i think is due to distraction.
3. 3rd trial: was a done in a rather hasty mood coz while seeing the unsuccessful of the 2nd trial, i hastily tried out at night. Baking, must be done in rather quiet and steady mood, i guess.
4. 4th trial: tada....i waited for near 3-4 hours before i left the mixture to 'sit' and bake them. And they are true success! This time, i used the required alkaline water.
Friday, July 8, 2011
童言童语
柔帆：妈咪，是谁选你做老师的？
我：是我自己选的。 ^.^
就像你选妈咪和Daddy做你的爸爸妈妈一样。
-------------------------------------
爸爸在开着柔帆爱吃的榴莲时
柔帆问：妈咪，你是怎样找到这样好的老公的？
我：哦，是他自己找我的。我，fiew veet一下，他就来了。^.^
-------------------------------------
我：是我自己选的。 ^.^
就像你选妈咪和Daddy做你的爸爸妈妈一样。
-------------------------------------
爸爸在开着柔帆爱吃的榴莲时
柔帆问：妈咪，你是怎样找到这样好的老公的？
我：哦，是他自己找我的。我，fiew veet一下，他就来了。^.^
-------------------------------------
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