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The Last One Standing

During the natural disasters of earthquakes and tsunamis, why do you think the ONLY places left standing are mosques? Look at these pictures from Indonesia. Everything around the mosques are wiped away, literally leaving dirt, mud and trees. Then look at the beautiful mosques. It's as if they were unaware of the natural disasters around them. They are standing in perfect condition and they are clean. Who was protecting them? You already know...




Date: December 26, 2004 Place: Indonesia

Source: AP Photo/Dudi Anung (Yahoo News)

Picture 2



AFP/Choo Youn-Kong

Picture 3



AP Photo.Andy Eames

Picture 4



AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

Picture 5



REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon




Another coincidence? Nope.









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Food for Thought


“Allah is All-Knowing All-Wise"…Quran

carrot

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye...and YES science now shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

tomato

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are indeed pure heart and blood food.

grapes

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows that grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food .

walnut

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut just like the neo-cortex. We now know that walnuts help develop over 3 dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys .

Celery

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet the body pulls it from the bones, making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

avocado

Eggplant, Avocadoes and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? .... It takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

figs

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the motility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm cells to overcome male sterility.

lemon

Grapefruits, Oranges, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts .

onions

Onions look like body cells. Today's research shows that onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes.

sweet potatoes

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

olives

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries


Then which of the favours of your Allah will ye deny? - [Quran 55:13]

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How to Make a Moroccan Tagine

Despite my numerous disclaimers stating that this is absolutely not a cooking blog, I've contradicted myself yet again. In my own defense, this recipe is dedicated to a certain tagine-shopping, yoga-loving, math class-teaching, cute baby-making, Minneapolis resident. :)

I'm going to keep it very simple and start with the basic tagine, nothing fancy. 

Things to remember:

• A new tagine takes a few times to get seasoned so that it can cook properly. If your first few attempts turn out less than stellar, don't give up.

• Cook on a low flame over a long period of time. If you crank up the heat, it's just going to burn and turn black and crusty on the bottom. Gross.

• A little water will show up midway into the cooking process but it's normal.  Most of the vegetables have water in them and it starts to sweat out, creating a pool inside the tagine. This is a good thing as it helps to create steam.




Ok, so let's begin:




First you want to add a capful of olive oil to the base.





Side note: You may want to invest in one of these to disperse the heat evenly.










 Add salt, paprika, coriander, and whatever other spice you want and mix well.










For this particular recipe, I used one cute little zucchini, 
a carrot, a potato, some peas and 2 onions.










Chop everything up like this. (there's also a bowl with 
the rest of the onions that didn't fit on the board)










Cook your meat (in this case, turkey) for about 5 minutes 
while you're chopping the veggies.









•Add the onions and then flip the meat over and put it on top. 
•Try to mix them with the oil a bit.
(It seems like that's way too much onion, but it cooks down 
and nearly disappears by the time it's done.)









Put the carrots in first and try to keep them covered with the other veggies. If you open the tagine and they feel the air, they can turn out hard and weird. I like to arrange everything in a pile on top and then place the potatoes all around.










Put peas wherever you want and if you like, you can add freshly chopped parsley. I like to sprinkle a little pepper, cumin, and paprika to the potatoes. I also put a few shakes of salt, but not too much.










•Cover the tagine and turn the heat down to low. 
•Let it cook for 20 minutes and then check on it.
•You might see some water in there but don't worry--it will
 cook down and the potatoes will "drink" it.
•It should take about an hour to cook so check on it
 every 20 minutes. You don't need to stir it.







That's it! This is what it looks like when it's all done. 
It's kind of like a veggie party with meat underneath.







Sorry, this looks kinda gross, but here's how you eat it: You take bread (I prefer hand-made whole grain bread from the bread guy downstairs) and with a little piece, you smash everything together. Keep in mind that when you eat tagine, you only eat from the area directly in front of you. You never want to reach across and eat from someone else's spot. 






Anyway, you smash it all together and scoop it up with your bread. Bon Apetit!

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Who Knew?







Earlier I did a post about which country would be my 50th country of blog-readers and then updated with the answer. In huge red capital letters, I wrote:  "UPDATE: THE WINNER IS HONG KONG!" As promised, I decided to start doing my research to prepare a post about interesting things in Hong Kong. Well guess what?  HONG KONG ISN'T EVEN A COUNTRY!!  Well how dumb do you think I felt after I found THAT out? 


So check this out-- Good ol' HK is not a country OR a city. It's like this area that just does its own thing and has its own laws. But the kicker is that it's considered  (insert me doing obnoxious air quotes) a "city"...sort of. You see how confusing this is? It's full name is The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China. Okayyy, so what does that mean? It gets even more confusing: The technical name is Xianggang Tebie Xingzhengqu. And no, that's not a typo, nor did I just pound my palms on the keyboard. 


Even the Apple website is confused.
Maybe there should be a drop down menu for  "Select Special Administrative Region"




According to wiki:  "While legally part of China, Hong Kong is secluded from mainland China as a dependency with a high degree of autonomy. Within the PRC, the former colony has its own constitution which lays out its own laws, separate immigration controls, financial system and is officially bi-lingual (Cantonese and English). It also enjoys western-style freedoms unheard of on the Chinese mainland. The democratic system and ideals of a free and open society are firmly rooted here."


Under the slogan "One Country, Two Systems", Hong Kong remains a capitalist economy without various restrictions that apply in mainland China such as news censorship and foreign exchange controls.


Got that? Yeah. So it's basically a country that doesn't call itself a country. (cue me raising one eyebrow) Ooooohh...INNNNNteresting.


What I DO know, is that it has never been on my travel bucket list before, but has skyrocketed itself to the top. It just looks like such an interesting, contrasting, bustling, amazing mix of big city life with serene nature.  There's so many cool things I've found and it's worth it to take a look...


NUMBER ONE:  The Fashion.


There is a certain jazziness called street fashion that I just love, no matter what city I'm in. I've always been fascinated by the way people dress and how certain cultures consider things to be out-of-this-world stellar fashion, while some other region may think they look absolutely ridiculous. To each his own. 


Here's a few examples I've found--





Super cute, spesh the tights.




Ummm...riiiiiight.





The Skittles Crew?



2 Dude-bros doin' their thing...




There's something about this that I love--
Maybe it's the muted colors.






NUMBER TWO: Cruisin' Around the City

Once you get to Hong Kong, there's tons of way to check out the city on the cheap. They're huge fans of public transport and your options range from walking, biking, taking a taxi, bus, train, tram, ferry, ship, private car hire, metro, or even hiring a helicopter! 

If the 15 minute ride from the airport to Hong Kong Island by helicopter (at a shiny price of $400) is too much for you, consider taking the world's longest outdoor escalator for fun. It travels from Central through Soho to the residential developments of the Mid-levels. The escalator moves down in the morning rush hour but up the rest of the time, and using it is free. 







Esca-Later, Gator!



NUMBER THREE: Things to See and Do

Besides the zillion electronic stores,  there's tons of shopping in Hong Kong. You can find everything from designer (or "Genuine Copy") purses, clothes and accessories to crazy shoes of every kind, watches, and just about every boutique you can imagine. The neighborhoods have different shopping areas and the streets are packed with retail madness.



Besides shopping, there's other things to do in areas that don't feel so congested.  There's a Disneyland Park, a place called Ocean Park that's similar to Bush Gardens, and lots of hiking, camping, and nature walks. Even though it seems like there are a million people around you at all times, you can still take a break and get back to serenity...much like LA.



...not that this is serene, but keep scrolling down.




Ocean Park














What a complete contrast from city life..



NUMBER FOUR: Street Food

When traveling, one of my favorite things to do is eat like a local and try some street food. I've found that it's usually the best tasting, most interesting, and is most often the cheapest. While roaming around the streets of Hong Kong, you can definitely sample a little bit of everything-- from dim sum to meat on a stick,  rice dishes, noodle bowls, and fried just about anything!


Stuff on a Stick.




Little ball things...and more stuff on a stick.





Feelin' a little saucy-- I wish I could smell these pictures!





Armpit sweat adds flavor...





More balls, more stuff on sticks.

Food on a stick is apparently a big hit.

NUMBER FIVE: The View

I don't have a whole lot to say about this part, but the views of Hong Kong are breathtaking. In a place where there is so much natural beauty, it's heavily contrasted by the glow of neon lights and high rise buildings. The city seems to come alive at night in a way that's so different than the daily grind of the 9-5 hours.  













How's that electricity bill, guys?




Tips for the Traveler:  Wander around. Just about everywhere you go is safe, but beware of people trying to con you in tourist-y  areas. Corruption is taken very seriously there, so when you're shopping, you can trust that you're being treated fairly in most instances. An exception to this is electronic stores, though.

Take a day or two to check out some museums. You can choose from the HK Museum of History, HK Heritage Discovery Center, HK Museum of Medical Sciences, the HK Visual Arts Centre, the HK Science Museum, or the HK Museum of Art to name a few.

Lantau Island is twice as big as Hong Kong island and is worth checking out if you want to get away from the bright lights and pollution of the city for a while. Here you will find open countryside, traditional fishing villages, secluded beaches, monasteries and more. You can hike, camp, fish and mountain bike, amongst other activities.
There are also some outlying islands also worth to visit: Lamma Island, Cheung Chau, Ping Chau, Tap Mun, and Tung Lung Island.


Hong Kong's version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Avenue of Stars celebrates icons of Hong Kong cinema from the past century. The promenade has fantastic views, day and night, of Victoria Harbour and the iconic skyline. This is also a great place to see A Symphony of Lights -- a spectacular light and laser show synchronised to music every night at 8:00. This is the world's "Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show" according to the Guinness World Records.

Whatever you decide to do, leave the heroin and meth out of your travel plans. 

 If you are caught trafficking drugs, you can be fined up to $5,000,000 and face up to life imprisonment. (Might wanna re-think that marijuana deal with that sketchy guy from your friend's friend. Just sayin').

In Hong Kong, it's drenched with culture and things to do. You can camp in secluded areas, buy a fake watch, ride a roller coaster, see pink dolphins, get wet in a waterfall, watch a laser light show, fly in a helicopter, hike in the mountains, get full from food on a stick, wander through an art museum, get your picture taken with Mickey Mouse, learn to eat with chopsticks, shop at one of the 13 malls, try some shark fin soup, admire the art of fengshui, sunbathe at one of the many beaches, see a dragon dance, sail in the ocean, hug a panda, check out houses on stilts above water, try your luck at horse racing, climb Victoria Peak to the wok-shaped peak tower, take a cooking class, or just relax and sip some hot tea with the locals.
















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