I am a Golf Ball

    I am a golf ball. I am a famous brand called Titleist. I am

round and bouncy. I am white in color. I have hole patterns

around my body. I am small in size but heavy. I was made in a

factory at Florida.

   I had been made in a day. In the factory, I met many friends. Their names are Ping, Taylor Made, Addidas, Bridgestone, Callaway, Cleveland, Cobra, Footjoy, Greg Norman, Mizuno, Nike, Srixon, Ashworth and Dunlop. All my friends in the factory are golf balls. After the production, my friends and I were scheduled to be shipped to Malaysia to be sold. The journey took two weeks. During the journey, we sang songs and tell jokes to pass time.

            After two weeks, we reached our destination. We reached the port of Klang. We were then being transported to a sport outlet in Petaling Jaya, called Royal Sporting House. Sadly, my friends and I were being separated. They were sent to a sport shop in Shah Alam, while I was sent to a shop in Bandar Utama. My tears rolled down as I left my best friends forever.

            But, while I was in the shop, I met new friends like, football, baseball, tennis ball, basketball, and ping pong ball. Even though they were not the same kind like me, but were as friendly as my previous friends.  We spent time together in the shop.

            As time pass, my friends in the shop were being sold rapidly, but I was still not bought. One fine day, a young handsome guy came to the shop to buy sport utilities. While he glanced to find his requirements, he spotted me and came to me. He picked me up and took a look at me. After searching the whole store, he decided to purchase me. As soon as I was being purchased, I jumped happily and felt awesome.

 

            The young man brought me to his car. While I saw his car, I was shocked, he had a Ferrari sports car. He was a rich guy. We reached his house and he brought me into his house. Amazingly, his house was like a palace. It was huge. Later he brought me to his backyard and I could see a field of putting green. From the scene of the putting green, surely he is a golfer. He took me out and placed me on the ground and started practicing his golfing skills. After busy day, then he stop practicing and took me in.

            In his house he has a golf ball cleaning machine and I was being washed. At night, he polished me and placed me in his ball collection. After that, he would go to bed. Daily, I was being used by him. He used me from dawn to dusk. After a few months, I realized, his name was Luke Donald. He was a professional golf player. He is ranked number one in the whole world.

            After a few months of practice, it was the last competition of the year, the master’s golf competition. The day before the competition, he picked me as his ball for the competition. During the four days, I performed well and he entered the finals. During the finals, the opponent made mistakes, but he did not. With a powerful strike, I flew up in the air and landed on the green. I was rolling rapidly and I closed my eyes, as I was scared to look at the result. Luke was also worried, he thought he would lose the competition. Suddenly, I was rolling in the direction of the hole. In a split second, I heard screams and praises over the whole field. I opened my eyes and I found myself sitting in the bottom of the whole. I felt happy as I helped Luke to win the competition. He took me up and said ‘You are the best,’ His word touched my heart and encouraged me to continue to face more challenges.

            From that day onwards, I became his ‘best friend,’ and faced challenges together. 

Organic Farm

            Last Friday, we went to an organic farm in Gombak. We took a van to the place. It took an hour to reach the place. We didn’t know the place, so the owner led us to the place. It was a big farm with lots of trees and animals. The place was at a hillside with forest surrounding it.

            The owner of the farm was a environmentalist. He led us into a hut. We sat on egg racks as chairs. He told us about his understanding upon the creation of earth. Firstly, he told us that Earth was created by itself and five elements helped to support the life of Earth. The five elements are plants, bacteria, fire, animals and humans. These elements progress their daily work. After few hundred centuries, the work of the elements started to move faster. This action started to annoyed the Earth, until now Earth has pollution and became ‘sick’. He told us now to stop pollution to save Earth. He also so said we have to bow down to ‘respect’ Earth and find ‘inner peace’ through ‘connecting’ with Earth. He also mentioned that we have to ‘connect’ with the nature.

   But to me , I don’t believe in these. According to the Bible in Genesis 1, God created the Heavens and the Earth. How could Earth just come out from nowhere? There must be a creator to Earth, and that's our God. Secondly, he said we could not destroy forest and jungles, or else that's call pollution. But if we don't develop, our country will have no income and low economy. He also said that we can find inner peace by connecting with nature. I tell you, it is not true. According to the Bible in John 20:21, it says: “Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” It is true, only God can give us peace.

After the sharing, He brought us to a place where food decay and become fertilizers to let the plant grow well. Then, we went to the place where compost are mixed with soil and decayed food to become organic soil. Lastly, he showed us the place where soil filled with compost felt like. Later, we went to a “hole” to see insects living in it. It was disgusting. Lastly, we went to feed cows that were in his barn. They were fat and huge. We fed them happily.

Later, we said good bye and drove back to school. This was not a really fantastic trip but it is an interesting trip to me. Today’s lesson about the organic farm that Uncle Ivan shared is also knowledge about unbeliever’s aspect about the creation of the Earth. Lastly, I would like to thank our beloved Ms. Amy who organized an interesting trip to an organic farm in a far place but also gained some knowledge that I never knew in my life.

Selangor Pewter Report

   Last Friday, our school went to Royal Selangor Pewters visitor center and factory. We went there in two vehicles, a car and a van. We were separated into two batches.The trip to the place was quite long as it was in Setapak.

 

  When we reached there, we were surprised as the visitor center was as big as a shopping mall. We went to a large tankard to take photo with it as it was Selangor Pewter’s landmark. The tankard we took was officially recognized by the Guinness Book Of Record. It was the World’s Largest Tankard. Its height is 1.987 m (6.46 ft) and it weighs 1557 kg (1.53 ton). It capacity is 2796 liter (615 gal). Royal Selangor Pewter is proud for its famous tin products.

 

We went into the visitor center. We entered into the visitor center through a large archway. Our guide, Edmond told us about Selangor Pewter’s history. The founder came from Shantou, China during the Qing Dynasty to Kuala Lumpur, Malay States. He showed us some picture of the tin mine. Last time, Selangor Pewter was only a shop. It was visited by the Sultan of Selangor. After that, he showed us the different forms of money being used and the founder’s utilities like his clothing, his personal notes. Surprisingly, the visitor center still has sample of ancient ignots and tin bars in display. The tin bars weigh 40kg.

 

   Then, the tour guide shows us swarf. Swarf means fine chips of filings of stone, metal, etc. It was the main ingredient to make these tin products. Later, we saw a dredger. We also saw the actual size of a dredging bucket. It was huge! In the tour, we saw a mini size twin tower made of 120 tankards. Later, we saw the the touchmark of Selangor Pewter. It wrote“玉和足锡(yu he zu xi). It means jade, peace, pure and tin. This touchmark was used by Tong Koon and his brothers from the late 1890s.

 

After the tour in the visitor center, our guide brought us to the factory to see the process of their tin products. Their factory is the world largest pewter factory. It is built by 5 shop lots. First, we went to see how they do pewter casting. They melt pewter at high temperature and boil it into pewter liquid. Then it was scoop and pour into a metal model to make a cup handle. The process takes about 15 seconds, as it uses 3 seconds to cold into solid tin. Average, they can produce 500 a day. Next, we went to see how they polish tin cups. The uneven cups produce pewter shavings. They are as soft as cloths. Then, we went to the pewtersmithing station. This process requires 6 months of training as well as concentration and speed. The process is to knock the cup to make small dots as design, so concentration is needed. We were all given a change to knock the cup, known as pewtersmithing. Lastly, we went to the place where they make Selebran jewelry.

 

  Before returning to school, we were brought to the souvenir place where we can buy Selangor Pewter’s product. Unknowingly, Selangor Pewter also provides trophy to the Ferrari competitions and the Shanghai Tennis Rolex Masters trophies. Later, we went back to school.
  

I learnt about the makings of Selangor Pewters and origin. I hope to learn more about it next time.  

Hip Hop Dance

 

Hip Hop Dance

Last Friday, we went to Mosaic Community Center to learn hip hop dance. The coach was Ms. Eva Lee. She taught us about the skills of hip hop and the drills of hip hop. The song we used was “Awesome God.”

 

First, we do the warm ups. We did some stretching on our legs, hands and bodies. Then she gave the starting exercise like doing some step-over and some movement on our hands. Next, we moved on to the song, Awesome God. The steps are like this:

 

1.      Wave, facing away from audience.

2.      Face audience and clap.

3.      Move to the side, make arms like shooting arrow.

4.      Box step.

5.      Walk in a circle for one round.

6.      Kick and punch 4 times.

7.      Step and pump twice.

8.      Jump to the left.

9.      Jump to the righ.t

10.  Jump to the left twice.

11.  Slide to the left.

12.  Slide to the right.

13.  Slide to the right, left, and right.

14.  Slide with arms wide open.

15.  Freestyle.

16.  Hop and clap.

17.  End with arms crossed.

 

We practiced for several times then we got the moves and performed. We did it very nicely. Ms. Eva the congratulated us for performing so well.

 

Later, Ms. Christine taught us about the meaning of dancing in the bible. Dancing means to move or seem to move up and down or about in a quick or lively manner. There are many forms of dancing.

For example, a child joyfully jumping around, moving in a lively and spirited manner when receiving a present, is dancing. This is similar to David's dancing when bringing the ark into Jerusalem (1 Ch. 15:29). Usually, though, when we talk about dancing, we mean a social event where a couple rhythmically moves to music, such as occurs at a school dance or night club. There are several examples of dancing in the Bible:

 

Some people danced alone, some danced with the same gender in celebration, some danced for joy, and some danced to praise God. Solomon says, "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven --- a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance" (Ec. 3:1-4).

 

In the New Testament, we also read about dancing. Dancing figuratively represents one's joyful response to the gospel, which the Jews lacked (Matt. 11:17; Lk. 7:32). There was dancing in celebration of the prodigal son's return (Lk. 15:25), figuratively illustrating the joy when a person repents.

 

There are four principles we can apply to dancing. We are to glorify God in our bodies, and exalt Christ (1 Cor. 6:19-20; Phil. 1:20).If a dance inappropriately displaying our bodies, or includes movements unbecoming a Christian, it brings shame upon God. We shouldn’t involve ourselves with such dances. We are to do things that are honorable and respectable in the sight of all men (Rom. 12:17; Phil. 4:8), obeying God in everything we do (Acts 4:19; 5:29).We must determine whether dancing in a particular fashion is honorable in our day and age. For example: If our community deems a particular dance inappropriate, we shouldn't involve ourselves in the dance.

 

We shouldn't engage in lustful and licentious (sensual) behaviors (Rom. 6:12; 1 Jn. 2:16; 2 Cor. 12:20-21; Jude 1:4)."Lust" is a strong desire to sin. "Licentious" is unbridled lust --- excess, absence of restraint, indecency, and wantonness. Dancing in a lustful or licentious fashion, as was the case with Herodias' daughter, is sinful (Matthew 14:6 and Mark 6:22). We shouldn't engage in questionable behaviors (Rom. 14:23; 1 Th. 5:21-22).We must be absolutely certain a particular dance is lawful before engaging in the behavior. If there is any question about participating in the dance, we should avoid it.

 

After the lesson, we now know that dancing is also popular in the bible. Lastly, I would like to thank Ms. Eva for teaching us about hip hop dance.

 

Cinnamon Roll

   Last Friday, Ms Natalie taught us how to make cinnamon rolls and the types of bread we usually eat.Cinnamon Roll was originally from Sweden. It is also a type of sweet roll. Dough, cinnamon and sugar are the main ingredients to make Cinnamon rolls. The ingredients to make cinnamon rolls are some milk, cinnamon, cream, some butter, sugar, vanilla essence, salt, yeast and some eggs. As Ms. Natalie had prepared the ingredients, we started right away.

  First, we started by pouring some milk, and putting some butter, sugar, salt and vanilla essence into a small pot. Next, we warmed the pot on a stove on small fire.  We couldn’t heat it too long, as we don’t want to warm it, we just wanted to melt the butter. 

Meanwhile, we measure half the flour into the bowl of a stand mixer along with the yeast. Later, we add the warm melted milk butter mixture to the flour. Then, we took turns to beat the mixture with a mixer. We had to beat until it is smooth. Next, we add the eggs one at a time, while beating it until smooth before we proceed to the next step. Later, Ms. Natalie switched the hook to a dough hook and added the remaining flour.

Next, we took turns to blend the dough. After blending the mixture, Ms. Natalie stopped the mixer and began to knead the dough until it was a soft dough that is no longer sticky to the touch. This process took about five minutes. Later, Ms. Natalie separates the dough into two and put them into two glass containers to proof. She also covered them with a cloth to let them stay dry. As the dough will need an hour or more to proof.

The bread ready to proof or expand.

 

 

 

 

 Ms. Natalie taught us the types of bread we usually eat. This was the list of bread we learnt:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bagel

 

 It was originally from Europe. It is usually boiled first before it is baked.

 

 

 

Baguette

 

 Also known as French Loaf. It was originally from France. A usual baguette is about       65cm (26in) long but can go up to a meter (40in) l ong.

 

 

 

 Breadsticks

 

 It was originally from Italy. Pre-made, dried breadsticks may sometimes be sold in markets as a kind of snack, somewhat similar to a cracker.

 

 

 

 Challah

 

It is a Jewish bread. Challah is a special Jewish braided bread eaten on Sabbath and holidays. Each single loaf is woven with six strands. Together, both loaves have twelve which represent each tribe of Israel.

 

 

 

Chapati

 

It was originally from India. Small portions of the dough are rolled out into discs. The rolled-out dough is thrown on the preheated dry skillet and cooked on both sides. And then put directly on a high flame, which makes it blow up like a balloon. The hot air cooks the chapati rapidly from the inside.

 

 Ciabatta bread

 

This bread comes from Italy.

 

 

 

 Cornbread

 

This bread came from the United States.

 

 

 

 Croissant

 

Its originally from France.

 

 

 

 Foccacia

 

 It comes from Italy.

 

 

 

 Hot Cross Buns

 

 They are from Britain.

 

 

 

 The ManTou

 

It came from China.

 

 

 

 Monkey Bread

 

 It is from the United States.

 

 

 

 Pita Bread

 

Originally came from the Middle East.

 

 

 

Pretzels

 

Originally came from Europe. It has been said that an Italian monk invented pretzels as a reward to children who learn their prayers. He calls the strips of baked dough, folded to resemble arms crossing the chest, 'pretiola'.

 

 

 

After Ms Natalie finished her talk about the breads we ate every day, she then continued on making the cinnamon rolls.After proofing for one and a half hours, the dough has expanded to its limit and it is time do make our own cinnamon rolls! Before kneading the dough, we had to make the filling and the glaze for the cinnamon rolls. It took some time for us to finish them.  

 

Later, Ms Natalie distributed one small piece of dough to each of us. Then she told us to roll our dough into flat-rectangle shape dough. It was hard to roll the dough as it was sticky, so we had to put some flour on our hands and on the dough to make it less sticky. After some errors, i decided to use a cup to roll. Eventually, it worked! My idea was a success. Later, Ms. Natalie spread the filling and glaze that we made into the cinnamon rolls. Then, I put some toppings like raisins, chocolate chip, colorful sprinkles and chocolate sprinkles on my cinnamon roll. Next, I slowly roll the dough up and then cut it into two pieces. After that, Ms Natalie told us to put over cinnamon rolls into the oven pan. Before baking, Ms Natalie spread some oil on the cinnamon rolls then she close the cover of the oven and let it bake.

 

 After baking for an hour, the cinnamon rolls were finally done! I was so excited to taste my own cinnamon roll that I made, as the cinnamon smell filled the entire place. When it was my turn to take my cinnamon rolls, I was shocked as they were very beautiful because of the sprinkles made them colorful. Before I ate my cinnamon rolls, Ms. Natalie came to me and told me that my cinnamon roll looks very good and congratulate me. When I bit the cinnamon roll, I was crying because it was too delicious. I had never had a dish that was so delicious.

 

 

 

Lastly, I would like to thank Ms Natalie who had spent so much time to prepare the ingredients and taught us how to make this delicious cinnamon rolls. I really wished that I could share this delicious cinnamon rolls recipe with my friends and relatives.