farewell at pizza hut

had farewell dinner with colleagues at Pizza Hut, Taipei. In contrast to those in Malaysia, Pizza Hut here serves in buffet style, eat as much as you can ;-)

2011 Christmas Party

had Christmas meal with colleague at ABode Exeter (http://www.abodehotels.co.uk/exeter)

starter: Salmon mousse

main: Traditional roast turkey

Dessert: Vanilla panacotta

100 important questions in plant science research

I have opportunity to read a recent publication in the New Phytologist entitled "One hundred important questions facing plant science research", it is an open access paper (you can download freely from Internet without subscription) available at:

One hundred important questions facing plant science research - Grierson - 2011 - New Phytologist - Wiley Online Library: http://bit.ly/o7VC1Z

These questions are grouped into 5 categories: society, environment & adaptation, species interaction, understanding & utilizing plant cells and diversity.

From my opinion, this is a well written thought provoking paper. It addressed questions and challenges facing in plant science research, and the needs to incorporate multi disciplinary approach. There is no rocket science in this paper, no extensive used of jargon, it's readable and comprehensible to anyone who has completed pre-u biology, a-level or stpm degree.

In oriental culture, students or parents tend do choose / encourage to pursue field which are regarded as high prospect like law, medicine, accountancy,pharmacy etc. Hopefully this paper will increase our awareness on the significance of plant science research and enhance our appreciation to plants. Also, hope this paper can encourage more people to involve in plant science research (according to my previous master supervisor, only 10% bioscience researchers are involved in plant science research!)

The following questions are my favorite pick:

How do we ensure that society appreciates the full importance of plants?

How can we attract the best young minds to plant science so that they can address Grand Challenges facing humanity such as climate change, food security, and fossil fuel replacement?

How can we translate our knowledge of plant science into food security?
Which plants have the greatest potential for use as biofuels with the least effects on biodiversity, carbon footprints and food security?

How can we use plant science to prevent mal-nutrition?

How can we use knowledge of plants and their properties to improve human health?

How can we translate our knowledge of plant science into food security?

What are the best ways to control invasive species including plants, pests and pathogens?

Can we increase crop productivity without harm-ing biodiversity?

 

Hope you enjoy reading this paper;)

Food security: The Future of Food and Farming

With reference to the information from the respective website:

This report provide an overview of the evidence and discuss the challenges and choices for policy makers and others whose interests relate to all aspects of the global food system.

This report is intended for:
Policy makers and a wide range of professionals and researchers whose interests relate to all aspects
of the global food system: including governance at all scales, food production and processing, the
supply chain, and also consumer attitudes and demand. It is also relevant to policy makers and others
with an interest in areas that interact with the food system, for example: climate change mitigation,
energy and water competition, and land use.

Source:
Foresight. The Future of Food and Farming (2011)
Final Project Report.
The Government Office for Science, London.

http://www.bis.gov.uk/foresight/our-work/projects/current-projects/global-food-and-farming-futures/reports-and-publications

I have downloaded a copy to Kindle, would be nice to read what are the strategies proposed to overcome the food security issue in the future.

Other info:
Genetically modified crops are the key to human survival, says UK's chief scientist | Environment | The Observer - http://ow.ly/3KaBg

Why Study Plants?

Impressed with the launch of “Teaching Tools in Plant Biology” in one of the high-impact Plant Biology’s journals- The Plant Cell.

 

I believe most of my friends know that I am a postgraduate student in Plant Science. The first article- Why Study Plants? clearly illustrate my intention & passion to carry out studies in this area.

 

This article is written for general public, easily understandable without the excessive used of scientific jargon. You can download the article &/ power point presentation at (YouTube video is available as well):

 

http://www.plantcell.org/teachingtools/TTPB1.dtl

 

Hope you enjoy reading this interesting article. Cheers

 

Menu for 2010 Christmas party

Menu for 2010 Christmas party, thinking which one to take for the 3 courses, feel free to give your feedback :)

Food Security—series of interesting papers

 

Excerpt of my report:-

Abiotic stresses such as extreme temperature, drought and salinity as well as biotic stress like pathogen infections significantly affect growth and reproduction of plants. This environmental constraint is one of the major factors account for low productivity and quality in corps and has worsened food security issue faced today. For instance, developing countries in which more than 800 million people are short of food supply and 1.3 billion individuals living less than USD 1 a day. Furthermore, an estimated human population rise from 6.1 billion to 9.3 billion in year 2050 indicates that an additional 50% of food production is required in order to maintain food supply (Flowers, 2004). Therefore, understanding the mechanisms of stress tolerance in plants and developing stress tolerant crops are essential to overcome a potential food crisis.

Flowers,T.J. (2004) Improving crop salt tolerance. Journal of Experimental Botany 55:307-319

More articles can refer to the website/ references therein:-

Food Security: The Challenge of Feeding 9 Billion People

H. Charles J. Godfray, John R. Beddington, Ian R. Crute, Lawrence Haddad, David Lawrence, James F. Muir, Jules Pretty, Sherman Robinson, Sandy M. Thomas, and Camilla Toulmin (12 February 2010)
Science 327 (5967), 812. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1185383]

Interesting info about tomatoes

Home delivery from Tesco online shopping

From the tomatoes packing bag, found the following interesting info. Seem like westerners concern about types of tomatoes used in their cuisines

 

online shopping @ Tesco

 

Online shopping @ Tesco, save a lot of time and money. This would be nice if Malaysia has this service, we can save petrol, parking fees.

Consider about the environment, we can reduce carbon emission (less drive out) and reduce plastic bags usage as your goods will be delivered to your doorstep

Every little helps!

Malaysian Society Gathering

Pictures courtesy of Faqihuddin Mustaffa.

On the 1st April 2010, (not April Fool), I joined the Malaysian society for the dinner @ the Mediterranean Restaurant in Exeter. Thanks for the invitation and hard works of the fellow committees. This was a great pleasure to meet with fellow Malaysian, and we’re to talk with each other regardless where are you from, what is your background.

This was the first Malaysian society’s event I have attended, and I look forward to participating future events organised by the society.

 

I tried grilled meat (lamb, chicken), a bit dry, overall acceptable.

By the way, I will be having a week off, take a break and out for vacation. After intense work loads, I am going to recharge myself. Therefore no live update from me for the next 1/2 weeks, other than those scheduled posts.

Lap Cheong (pork sausage) Dinner

I did not share food posts for a while and also I did not try Lap Cheong for more than one year. Still I am happy to get it from local oriental market, despite of the expensive price.

 

 

stir fry mushroom, celery, & onion（would be nice, if have cashew nuts) and steamed lap cheong with gingers

 

 

lap cheong—product of canada

腊肠

lab Christmas party—meal sorted!

following previous post on Christmas's meal menu

i have made choices as illustrated on the top figure.

enjoy this great festive season :-p

Lab Christmas Party--Menu

I am attending the coming lab Christmas party, and we are allow to choose a 3-course meal from the menu above.

 

Hmm..thinking what to eat :p

Organic Or Local Fruits and Vegetables?

another article on organic food,

ScienceDaily (2009-09-03) -- The emerging trend toward healthier, fresher foods presents new dilemmas for conscientious consumers. Marketers tout the attributes of "organic" food, while the "local foods movement" is gaining popularity throughout the world. The "organic-or-local" debate is particularly interesting when it comes to fruits and vegetables; but do consumers really understand the difference between "organic" and "local" produce? And what price are we willing to pay for these fresh, premium products?

 

source:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090903163951.htm

American Society for Horticultural Science (2009, September 3). Organic Or Local Fruits and Vegetables?. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 4, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/09/090903163951.htm

Food prepared

Just to share some food prepared previously:-

Click HERE for Previous posts about food I cooked.

A great experience when study abroad, learn how to manage time effectively. Although tiring but rewarding, and you save a lot here, as the groceries are cheaper than dining out.

roast drumsticks

oven-cooked honey chicken

chicken curry

stir-fry vege

pork-chop

stewed black pepper meat

stir-fry cabbage

potatoes, corns, egg

organic has no health benefits?

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine have now completed the most extensive systematic review of the available published literature on nutrient content of organic food. This finding was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

This review found that no differences in most nutrients in organically or conventionally grown crops, including in vitamin C, calcium, and iron. The same was true for studies looking at meat, dairy and eggs.

Differences were detected in levels of nitrogen and phosphorus, and these were most likely to be due to differences in fertilizer use, ripeness at harvest and are unlikely to provide any health benefit, the report concluded.

The review did not look at pesticides or the environmental impact of different farming practices.

On the other hand, the policy director at Soil Association, Peter Melchett disappointed with the conclusions and called for more comprehensive studies.

More info, feel free to visit the following links:-

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090729103728.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8174482.stm

Journal reference:

1. Alan D Dangour, Sakhi K Dodhia, Arabella Hayter, Elizabeth Allen, Karen Lock, Ricardo Uauy. Nutritional quality of organic foods: a systematic review. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, July 29, 2009 DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.28041

Source:

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (2009, July 30). Organic Food Not Nutritionally Better Than Conventionally-produced Food, Review Of Literature Shows. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 31, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/07/090729103728.htm

Stewed meats in black pepper sauce :-)

Started to cook food on weekly basis earlier this year. Very busy , and lazy recently, so I simply mixed all the stuff into one pot and stewed it.

Basically the ingredients were (I don’t know the portion, simply put..haha):

pork, chicken, (recipe mix) black pepper powder, red& yellow peppers, rosemary, oyster sauce, potato.

initially kept the meats on the simmer for 10min, remove so fats..haha

then add all the ingredients and stewed for 45min with slow fire..

then done..haha

1.02 Billion People Hungry: One Sixth Of Humanity Undernourished, More Than Ever Before

World hunger is projected to reach a historic high in 2009 with 1,020 million people going hungry every day, according to new estimates published by United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

1.02 Billion People Hungry: One Sixth Of Humanity Undernourished, More Than Ever Before

source:

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2009, June 20). 1.02 Billion People Hungry: One Sixth Of Humanity Undernourished, More Than Ever Before. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 20, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/06/090619121443.htm

Again, another great task for ck lim.

Good bye gathering

Another gathering with fellow flatmates, but this time not to celebrate birthday, instead we had a farewell to our flatmates—chan, who will move out and hye—who will goes back to Bangladesh.

everyone busy with their works

I have prepared black pepper chicken and salmon fish porridge. Pictures are show as follow:-

Ingredients

carrots, recipe mix, salmon fillet, egg, onion, garlic,and potato

chicken

deep fry onion, to serve with porridge later

here you go

fry fish, before added into porridge

mixed all the ingredients

So, 2 meals I prepared were:

Salmon fish porridge—on the left:

Black pepper chicken

Finally, food prepared by all the flatmates were

1. Lamb chop served with greens

2. Black pepper chicken

3. Salmon fish porridge

4. Chicken curry

5. Stir fry mixtures of potatoes, cabbages, chillies and onions

6. Boiled rice

7. Spaghetti

8. Chips

9. Grilled fish

10. Deep fry onion and garlic

11. Steamed vege

12. Thai’s style sauce

13. Orange juice

14. Pepsi

15. Orange flavoured soft drink

16. Pepper

17. Maggi chilli sauce, from Malaysia

18. Soy sauce

19. Pineapple

20. Cheese cake

Video clips will share with you guys in the future