Learning Foreign Languages When Time Is Short

Some of us do not have the luxury to take a 6 month language course taught by a proper language tutor. For instance when my wife and I won tickets to watch the Champions League final all the way in Istanbul, Turkey many years back, we only had two weeks to learn what we could.

So we got the necessary materials - Turkish foreign language learning software, some language learning DVDs and a dictionary. We got them all from our usual source - www.wor.com aka World Of Reading.

Mind you, since we were on the fast track to learn Turkish, we decided to get some materials meant for kids with the idea that they would be easier to digest. So we ended up learning a few Turkish songs along the way. It was fun and I think it really helped.

The good thing about the new language learning techniques used is that they teach you to listen and repeat sentences which you would most often use. So you can put them into practice as soon as you learn them. This makes memorizing them less of a chore.

I remember 20 years ago, this wasn't the case. We had to memorize words and grammar before we could use words in a sentence. It was very unnatural. This made learning a new language very cumbersome and tie consuming. Fortunately, studies have shown that the best way to learn a language is by listening and mimicking, like how children learn languages.

Since my wife and I were short of time, we learned only the essentials and we carried a cheat sheet and a dictionary just in case. This saved us a heap of time.  

Scoring Concrete Floors Will Be My Next Project

I was introduced to the idea of stained concrete floors a couple of months back while visiting a friend's house. I've always used tiles or natural stone but after seeing that the finish can look quite impressive, I might want to explore this method of floor decoration.

As I was saying, I visited a friend's place a few months back. My wife and I thought he had a professional do it so we were quite surprised that he and his wife did the job all by themselves. They did everything from the application of the acid to the application of the sealer. I must say that they did a fantastic job.

They didn't just do the driveway, mind you. They took a few weekends to complete their DIY stained concrete floor project which also included the kitchen floor and garden walkway.

What got my attention was a certain technique that was used to add texture or rather, designs to the concrete finish. The technique is called scoring and you can create all sorts of patterns on your concrete floors. Scoring is basically scratching or cutting the surface of the concrete. Apparently, this is quite common and my friends were a bit shocked that my wife and I did not know about it.

Anyway, scoring concrete can create a wide variety of patterns. The concrete can be scored either prior to staining and sealing or after. If the scoring is performed prior to staining and sealing, the score lines will be stained with the rest of the floor.

Apparently, scoring concrete is done when the concrete is fresh. Sawcut lines are done after the concrete is hardened and can be straight or diagonal to the edges of the concrete or bands. Diamonds, stars, rectangles and even circles can be saw-cut or grinded into the concrete. I will still to straight lines for now although I have been told cutting circles is not as challenging at it sounds.

After you have decided on a pattern, mark the design onto the floor using a chalk (never use red chalk as it is a permanent marker). Then, using a straight-edged object, cut the lines with the circular saw.  Once all the cutting is over and done with, remove the concrete dust by cleaning the concrete surface with soap and water. Allow the surface to dry completely before applying the stain and thereafter, the sealer. Leave it to dry for at least 24 hours.

You can get all the supplies and tools for staining and scoring concrete floors at http://concretecamouflage.com.

Brief View Of Tea Culture Around The World

Tea drinking is a big deal, especially in Asia. East Asia and probably England.

If you were born in the 70's, you would have watched at least one of the original Karate Kid movies. Those are the ones without Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan. In Karate Kid 2, there's a scene with a Japanese tea ceremony which back then was the most romantic thing ever shown on the silver screen...according to a few female friends of mine.


In Chinese communities all over Asia, tea is the standard drink when having dim sum. A person or family honors a guest by serving them tea.

I learned that there are many types of Chinese tea which is prepared at different temperatures and served using different tea pots. Tea serving customs depend on occasion and clan practices.

In England, tea is served in cups. In Asia they are served in small cups, bowls and even bamboo. When I was in Morocco, I was served tea in very ornate and beautiful Moroccan tea glasses. In India I was served tea in stainless steel cups...and sometimes plastic ones too.


In Malaysia, the Indian-Muslim community have a special way of preparing tea. They use a big stainless steel mug and a serving glass to mix a milk-tea concoction so that it is served with a froth.

I've heard that this method of preparing tea originated in India and Sri Lanka.

Just like there are many types of coffee, so to are there many types of tea. 

Are Foreign Language Learning Books Better Than CD-ROMs?

In my opinion, from someone who was fortunate enough to have traveled and lived in many countries all over the world, I think learning a foreign language requires many tools. Some techniques and tools work better for some people than others.

So, when I was asked if foreign language learning books are better than CD-ROMs, I have to say that it depends when you use those tools.

You see, you can't start out with language learning books because:
a) You won't understand the foreign language
b) Even if the instructions were in a language you understand, you would not know how to properly pronounce the foreign words.

The only time I ever used foreign language learning books when I was just learning a language was when I took Mandarin classes. Of course there was a teacher around to help us through everything.

The good thing about taking lessons and using books is that you get to revise anytime you like, without the need for eBook Readers, tabs, laptops and so on.

So in short, if you want to use language learning foreign books, use them with an appropriate learning strategy in order to fully make use of it's benefits. Once you've got your basics covered, you improve your foreign language vocabulary with more foreign books.

CD-ROMs are great if you don't have a teacher around and the best thing is, you can move at your own speed. But it would be better if you could practice once a while with a person who speaks the language your are trying to learn fluently.

You'll find that speaking with someone makes you more confident as you improve your grammar and pronunciation.

You can get loads of foreign language books at this site http://www.wor.com/cat-foreign-language-and-esl-books.cfm

Scrapbook Supplies - Where To Get Them

Scrapbooking, not really a popular guys hobby but I have to say it can get a bit addictive once you you find yourself conned into baby sitting a couple of 5 year old girls (my nieces) and helping them out with their pre-school project.

It always starts off innocently before I seemingly take over their whole project. It's not my fault I get easily carried away with things. It's just the way I am. It happened once before with my nephews and a few hundred blocks of Lego.

Anyway, I digress.

Scrapbooking can be a fun past time with the kids. I know of some adults who take scrapbooking very seriously - to the point that I'm not even allowed to touch their scrapbooks. All because of one little accident where I got a wee bit of coffee on half the book. In my defense, the owner's cat made me sneeze while I had a cup of freshly brewed coffee in my hand. I think you can guess what happened next.

I digress again.

To many of us who are unfamiliar with scrapbooking, it has grown to be quite a popular hobby, thanks to the internet. Scrapbooking materials and are available in a variety of themes. Scrapbooksupplies and tools have made this hobby a less messy affair thanks to pro glue guides.

These scrapbook supplies also makes it a lot easier for novices to look like, well, less of a novice with the availability of ready made embellishments. If you'd like to get some really good materials for scrapbooking, you have to try this place - http://www.islandpaperie.com/cat-hawaiianscrapbooking.cfm - they've got everything with a tropical and Hawaiian theme.

Exotic Leanings - Eastern Decorative Influences

Having done a fair of traveling, I can tell you that every country I have visited has something to offer in terms of architectural design ideas. But I found it interesting that there were foreign influences in local architecture as well.

For example, because of the British colonization, Asian countries like Hong Kong (special administrative region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China), Singapore and Malaysia, among others, have building with British inspired architecture. 

In fact, there is a Downing Street on the island of Penang, Malaysia where the British used to house their Government offices. For those not in the know of the significance of this street name, or more specifically, 10 Downing Street, is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, an office now invariably held by the Prime Minister.

I could write for hours about the multiple architectural influences in South East Asia, but I'll save that for another blog post.

For this post, which I have digressed a lot, I want to talk about Moroccan design influences. I've mentioned in another post that I've already taken to trying my hand at making their sumptuous stews with the help of their cooking tagines. Not wanting to boast, but I've gotten quite good at making those stews.

Anyway, I digressed yet again.

Back to Moroccan decor. It's very easy to inject a little exoticness into a room without having to invest in heavy renovation. All you need is a little Moroccan furniture and decor to spice things up. A couple of pouffes, Moroccan tea glasses, ornate cabinets and hand crafted decorative dividers and screens in the right places can really transform a room into an exotic den.

Don't forget those beautiful Moroccan throw pillows and and carpets as well. Many of these item can be easily bought from the net at relatively affordable prices. I the divider and screen you see above from this site http://berbertrading.com/cat_dividers.cfm. Incidentally, that's the same place I got my cooking tagine too.

To top it off, don't forget to add a couple of those highly exotic looking Moroccan lamps. But be careful not to over do it...like I did. It good to have a plan but it's even better if you stick to it. 

DIY Projects Are Just Plain Fun, Though Not Always Successful

Living different places around the world can be fun as well as challenging especially if something unexpected happens like if your faucet suddenly springs a leak. How do you ask someone to recommend a plumber in Tagalog or Japanese.

This is when it pays to have a little knowledge of home DIY experience. I was lucky my dad pretty much thought me quite a bit about fixing stuff so I didn't really need a technician or a plumber to come over every time a little rewiring needed to done or a washer needed changing.

Though, as my wife would so kindly point out, more ambitious projects would require a person with more skill of a particular nature. Skills which I, apparently, do not possess. This can be deduced from a handful of home projects which I have botched in the early days.

After a few courses, I am proud to say that my competency level has improved greatly, although my wife still doesn't trust me to do certain things.

Anyway, we still like to do things ourselves. In many cases it saves money to do so, this is especially true for home remodeling projects. You can save hundreds of dollars if you can source raw materials and complete the project without having to engage professionals.
 
There are many other things you can DIY aside from restyling your home. You can carry out basic car maintenance, landscaping, run an online store, making personalized greeting cards and scrapbooking. Alright, I don't do the last two but my wife does and she gets lots of compliments from friends and relatives for the greeting cards she creates.

It seems there is an industry for DIY scrapbooking and card making, according to my wife, who incidentally, has a warped sense of humor.

Allow me to elaborate. One Christmas, while we were enjoying the sunny weather in Bali, she found this tropical scrapbooking site called Island Paperie.

She ordered material like tropical themed Hawaiian rubber stamps for card making and so on from them and created greeting cards to send to her relatives in freezing Canada. At the end of each card had the words - "Wish You Were Here". I'm sure Pink Floyd would find that amusing.

A New Year Beckons: More Home Projects, More Cooking Ambitions, More Things To Learn

2012 went by so fast.

My wife and I moved into our new place, a nice double storey detached house. It's got a built up area of a bit over 2000 sf and a land area of about 6000 sf. It's just nice for a couple of pets and a little garden.  We decided to rent out our old condo instead of selling it. Who knows, when we're older, we might want to live in a smaller place that's easier to maintain, and therefore, could move back

Breaking from tradition, this time, we completed all renovation before moving in. However, some friends have asked us to take a look at their places and see if we have any ideas. So that takes care of our decor projects for the year.

In terms of hobbies, well, I really want to give cooking another try. There's lots to try here in Asia, especially if you like Spicy stuff. Since Malaysia is a melting pot of cultures, there menu list is ridiculously varied. 

In the bigger cities like Georgetown and Kuala Lumpur (KL), there are lots of foreign food choices. Surpisingly, 'western food' is quite popular here. Portions are smaller than what we find back in the states. Portions in Singapore is closer to what we are used to back home.

My wife and I stayed at a hotel at Bukit Bintang Road in KL a couple of years back. It was like being in little Turkey or Morocco. I vividly remember having some sort of lamb stew which was cooked in a tagine.  It was absolutely divine. I swore I'd learn to prepare that dish. I Googled it. Got the cooking tagines from a this site http://www.berbertrading.com/cat-cooking-tagines.cfm but until now, the tagine is still in it's box. 

Thailand is Malaysia's northern neighbors and just a few hours away for me. But some of their standards can be a tad too spicy for me. My wife lapped everything up without much fuss.

I've also had the chance to sample some Indonesian cuisine which is spicy and tasty. Excellent stuff. 


I'd also like to run another marathon or ten. I know I said I'd just like to do one but I had so much fun the first time - even with the crazy cramps kicking in after 30k - that I think I'd like to do a couple or more yearly, but at different locations.

Since I'll be spending a couple of years here, I plan to run a few local Marathons and at least one in Thailand. 

I'd also like to climb a decent mountain. Since I'm staying in Malaysia now, I thought I'd give Mount Tahan (2,187 m) and Mount Kinabalu (4,095 m) a shot. I've been told that even though Mt. Kinabalu is higher, the climb up Mt. Tahan is way more challenging.

Aside from learning to cook,  I would also like to learn a few languages. The people here speak at least two languages. Malay is the language of the federation and is spoken by everyone. Then you have Mandarin, English, Tamil and a number of dialects. 

Looks like I've got 2013 pretty much outlined, which means it will pass just as fast as 2012.