Homemade Spinach Noodle and Capati

No McDonald's, Pizza Hut or KFC when we need a quick lunch here in PD. The nearest thing to fastfood is Warong Kak Yah where we go to for Curry puffs and Nasi Goreng.
It has been mainly homecooked food since moving here.

We first tried spinach noodles in a little cafe in JayaOne and have wanted to try making it one day. So when we bought a pasta machine, the first item that JY wanted to roll out with her new toy was Bayam Noodles.

We searched through the web for the simplest recipe. The portion was rather small so JY decided to double the amount.

We used 2.5 cups of compressed spinach leaves. Fai tore the leaves up.

JY stirfried the bayam in 4 tablespoons of water till it was cooked

then blended the leaves with 2eggs, 1teaspoon salt

The blended mixture was poured into 2.5cups of flour and kneaded till it was smooth and pliable

After letting the dough rest for 20minutes, it was rolled out into thin sheets and was left to rest again, this time for 2 hours.

By this time the kids were very hungry.

Finally, the rested flat dough was put through the pasta machine again to get noodles. the noodles were a bit clumpy and sticky, so JY sprinkled more flour onto the sheets before the cutting process. Fai and Ean were enlisted to toss the noodles up in the air to avoid getting clumpy noodles.

the noodles were cooked in boiling water and then dipped into a basin of water

Lunch is served! The noodles in fish broth (leftover fried fish boiled for 2 hours with a few slices of ginger and crushed peppercorn) and some fried ikan bilis and sayur manis.

Later that day, Han insisted on making capati. He had observed Uncle Sony numerous times in preparing the dough and flipping the capati.

After pouring in the flour for him, Han estimated the amount of water required, the proceeded to knead the dough.
He showed me how it was done by pressing the dough down with his knuckles. He continued with this technique till he was satisfied with the results.

Then to roll out the small amounts of dough. Ean joined in too.

The capati came in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

No oil is used. Just a flat pan and high heat. The capati was allowed to cook on one side till it fluffed up then flip over.

Capati anyone?

Gardening

Our vegetable patch with sweet potato leaves and sweetcorn

I scattered a few seeds around and forgot which went where, so I can't tell what's growing,

A stray brinjal plant that was discovered when DH cleared the garden.

Han found a germinating seed under a tree and decided to plant it.

Han's tree planting project

This is either pumpkin or watermelon. These seedlings were found growing in the middle of the compost heap.

Fai and his Dad going around the neighbourhood looking for plants.

Our Alamanda and Hibiscus plants were acquired the same way. Now we are on a lookout for Frangipani.

Fai busy dissecting a honeysuckle flower, looking for nectar.

DH found a Frangipani tree with a broken branch, which was a good thing as he didn't have to think of a way to cut the thick branch. It had a lovely pink flowers and large, broad leaves, so to the back of the bicycle it went.

Now the planting begins.

DIY Home Deco

The day's project - to tile this pathway.

The day before, Sony recycled leftover tiles into 2inchx2inch pieces which were then sorted by colour.

The kids observing their Dad mix cement, sand and water

Stirring the mixture

First step, use a trowel to slather a layer of cement

Placing the tiles onto the cement and then fill in the gaps with more cement.
DH is wiping off excess cement with a wet sponge.

The boys helped me with the curtain rails.

Fai inserted the gliders.

Han screwing in the brackets

Ean thought the rails were just like train tracks.

He happily pushed the gliders up and down the rails."Choo-choo!"

A day of Chess 24thJune2011

We were in Animasia, an animation studio to get a glimpse of how cartoons are created.

We were ushered into a theatrette to watch their animated cartoon 'Kaki Bola'. Fai brought his magnetic chess set and he and Arian played chess in the dark.

After the show, we went on a tour of the place. Walked up to the third floor and saw a room full of people seated in rows, pretty much like an internet gaming centre. Some were doing sketches, others the speech and soundtrack, another the animation sequence.

They were all hard at work preparing for the launch of their first 3D animation.

We were told the staff that they hired did not need any qualifications besides having the ability to draw.

After the short peek into the world of animators, the boys got back to playing chess.

Chess or was it Checkers over lunch

Chinese Chess at WL's

The 9month old crawler kept wanting to grab the chess pieces. After a few stolen pieces, the boys left the game to play Transformers and resumed the game when baby took an afternoon nap.

The boys surrounding themselves with Chess

Open Day at Taylor's College 28thJune2011

Taylor's College has opened their door to homeschoolers. Acceptance into their preU programmes is on a case by case basis. SATs or O-Levels are the usual prerequisites. O-levels need not be taken in one seating, there was a case where the student took O-levels in 2 separate seatings - 5 subjects each. If Malay is not one of the subjects taken, the student has to take 40hours of Malay.

I didn't get to hear much of what the people at Taylor's had to say as I had to entertain Ean in the Staff Lounge. Well, they did have a nice place for the staff to relax and unwind.

One parent came out from the Lecture Theater asking me what the conclusion of the talk was...ummmm.....
From what I heard, the lecturers were impressed with one homeschooler that took charge of his own learning, hounded his lecturers before lessons to grill them about the lessons held the previous day and became valedictorian for his year.

The kids had the opportunity to conduct a science experiment in the Chemistry Lab

The lecturer giving instructions.

The kids were excited to wear lab goggles and couldn't wait to get started.

JY did an experiment on calculating specific heat capacity. She was disappointed when she realised that there was little to do besides boiling water and taking the temperature.

The lab set up. Test tube holders, funnel and beakers under the bench.

The younger kids conducted an experiment that didn't require close proximity with a naked flame and bubbling steaming hot water.

Some gizmos - light bulb and meter

The younger kids measured the conductivity of sugar and baking soda

Using the thermometer and watching water boil. Safety goggles were ignored and left on the bench.

Burettes left to dry upside down.

It was a wonderful opportunity for the kids to see the insides of a science lab and experience a lab session for themselves.

Heat Transfer and Conductor& Non-conductors @PSN 30thJune2011

I love the feeling of walking into a lab with everything set up and ready to go. The staff at PSN do a wonderful job of sourcing for interesting experiments to get kids hooked on science.

First experiment : Heat Transfer.

3 rods made of different materials - copper, glass and iron were provided.

The kids were asked to roll out 3 small Plasticine balls and stick a ball on each rod.

the rods were inserted into a hole and the ends were heated by a paraffin lamp

We were told to guess which ball would drop first. The rod which was the best heat conducted would melt the Plasticine ball the fastest

Best heat conductor was copper, next iron and the glass rod remained cool.

Fai's worksheet

Second experiment was on conductors and non-conductors

The kids had to assemble their own circuits

Fai at work

5 different materials were given to determine if they were conductors

Ean playing with the switch