Education access for everyone

For those who always thirst for more knowledge, like me, then internet is truly a great blessing. Apart from the constant access to knowledge in several clicks away, now we have the opportunity to learn directly from the masters and experts of different fields. Academic Earth hosts thousands of videos featuring lectures from top scholars. Academic Earth is not the first website to do so, however my inner geek and hippies rejoice for another opportunity to learn :-)
PS: Another favourite is the ever accessible Ted Talk. Long live the geeks!

It is Monday and I need an inspiring video so here it is...

Trying out Bikram Yoga

I have been thinking about trying Bikram Yoga for ages. After being recommended by Mylda last year, the idea has been festering behind my brain for awhile. However, I have been reluctant to go due to financial reason, after all as an intern, I wasn't earning that much and any meagre money that I have left would end up in my shopping budget.

Then comes the perfect timing, I have been getting itchy to work up some sweat and there is the Christmas fat that has been a bit difficult to get rid off. So after dragging Da Fonz to wake up early this Sunday, I managed to try a session of Bikram yoga. And what an intense 90 minutes of work out it was!

26 poses later, I was drenched through and through. The 40C steam room helped a lot in the process and in the end, my muscles were stretched and jelly-like. In addition to that, I feel so invigorated through the breathing exercise. I am sooo going back. If you are interested to try a session of Bikram yoga then I will suggest you to check your local community or if you live in The Hague, you can visit Bikram Yoga Den Haag.

Julia recommends Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire Trailer from Amardeep Kaleka on Vimeo.

This year Oscar black horse movie, Slumdog Millionaire, is one of the sweetest film I have watched for awhile. Directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting), Slumdog Millionaire tells the life story of Jamal, a street kid in Mumbay, who is in the verge of winning the biggest prize of Indian 'Who wants to be a millionaire'. The prize has deluded the smartest people in the country, but how come an uneducated 'chai' boy can progress through? Why someone that doesn't care about money, insisted to be part of the show? The puzzles are unfolded through the movie. This is one of the feel-good movie that I love: Jamal's bitter-sweet fate, Mumbay's rapid urbanisation that reminds me to Jakarta, and the optimist attitude no matter what happened. Slumdog Millionaire is definitely in one of the 'dysfunctionally happy' genre like Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind, Juno, and Little Miss Sunshine. Also kudos to the amazing performance by the child actors :-)

Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies

I can't believe that we are having such a wonderful late summer weekend. After weeks of gloomy rainy grey days, the sun decided to peek out and shine to our delights. It makes me feel very languid and lazy, but I can't forgo the opportunity to have a summer picnic! After the invitations were shelled out and finger-food planned, I was more than ready to enjoy myself. Happily many decided to attend and join the Saturday picnic in the Queen's stable. Good wine, good food, good weather, and good atmosphere, I couldn't ask for more.

Anyway with this post, I just want to share one of my favourite cookies recipe: chocolate marshmallow cookies. It is such a favourite that sometimes, half of the batch would be gone before I finish baking all of them! It also looks very cute because of the marshmallow's pastel colour ;-)

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract
a pack of marshmallows

Steps:
Preheat the oven to 190C. To make the cookies, sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a big bowl. Put butter and sugar in another bowl, mix on medium high until fluffy. In medium low, add in egg, milk, and vanilla. Then combine the flour, 1/2 cup at times.

With a big spoon scoop the dough into the parchment. Space it generously because those lovely dough will grow healthily. Bake them for 8-10 minutes then perch the marshmallows on each of the cookies. Put them back for 2-3 minutes until the marshmallows stick to the cookies. Cool them out and voila!

Blue blue sky

I was walking to my office today in Amsterdam when I saw a very adorable train of clouds. The clear blue sky definitely enhanced the effect. At last after several weeks of miserable rainy and cold summer, the sun decided to peek over her hiding place. I hope that she stays for awhile.

Braille on clothing tags

Fashion is not limited to aesthetic visual aspect but it is about how you feel. At least that is what Jaimen Brill and Asmah Abushagur believe. They are in the process of forming the non-profit organization White Cane Label to help the blind and visually impaired shop for clothing and coordinate their outfits. Next month, Brill and Abushagur will pitch their ideas to leaders of the fashion world during fashion week in Rome, soliciting the industry to include Braille labels on their garments. This is a brilliant idea, as this is a simple thing that most of people look over and never realize until they have the problem. I hope that they can also help those who are colour-blind. Read the complete reportage in First Science.