Crayfish Part 2

Weve now had our 8 Crayfish since 25th August.  Thats 17 days. Not so long but its been interesting to see them make themselves at home. They have some plastic pipes to use as houses and netting to play in !!!   Well we started off with 8 number. Put 2 in each plastic bowl, one male and one female.

They have all molted at least once.  One died I think because it got caught up in the shade/netting cloth we have put in.  It was something for them to play in. It got caught up whilst having a soft shell and no doubt our constant "playing" with them did not help !

In all our excitement to get them in the bowls the other week we did not measure them. We were told when we bought them they were two months old and nominally 2 Inches long. So now nearly 3 months old. And last night we did some measuring and they are nearly all 3 Inches long.

Great. Good growth.  They seem to enjoy the fish/prawn food, raw potato slices and a little veg. Exciting...  Remember at 6 months they mate and should produce lots of babies. Then we will get things up and running.






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How to Read Nutritional Labels in Chinese



One of the biggest road blocks in my adventure to figure out what Ive been eating here in Taiwan is nutrition labels. The labels offer similar nutritional information as the USA but not identically, and not in the same order, in Traditional Chinese, and serving sizes are metric. There are a few conversations on the age-old Formosa boards that offer some non-helpful tips, and some tips that are totally wrong. No, 7-11 does not list nutritional information in English, *sigh. I also ran across this very detailed but also confusing pamphlet from Hong Kong.

The nutrition labels usually offer the following facts, and typically in this order:

?? (Re4 Liang4) Energy (units = ?? / da1 ka3 / Kcal) 
??? (Dan4 Bai2 Zhi4) Protein (unit =  ?? / gong1ke4 / gram)
?? (Zhi1 Fang2) Total Fat (unit =  ?? / gong1ke4 / gram)
  ???? (Bao3 He2 Zhi1 Fang2) Saturated Fat (unit =  ?? / gong1ke4 / gram)
  ???? (Fan3 Shi4 Zhi1 Fang2) Trans Fat (still legal?) (unit =  ?? / gong1ke4 / gram)
????? (Tan4 Shui3 Hua4 He2 Wu4) Carbohydrates (unit =  ?? / gong1ke4 / gram)
? (Na4) Sodium (unit =  ??/ hao2ke4 / milligram)
(Tang2) Sugar Not always listed (unit =  ?? / gong1ke4 / gram)

A less than complete list compared to the USA standard. I am not sure why sugar is broken out of the carbohydrate category. I guess you could figure out which fats are unsaturated by subtracting the two listed fats (saturated and trans) from total fat. Noticeably the vitamins and minerals are usually absent. I find foods marketing themselves as nutritious list that out. 


Above you can see the nutrition label for lemon tea, a very common drink in Taiwan. It does not list sugar as a nutritional item, which is a little dodgy in my opinion. Instead it lists total carbohydrates. Knowing that 1 gram of sugar contributes 4 calories we can guess that most of the calories are coming from sugars. Most sweet teas do not contain fiber! 

What is very different if you are coming from the states in serving size. Most often in Taiwan a serving is 100 milliliters (??/ hao2sheng1 /.42 cups) or 100 grams (?? / gong1ke4 /3.5 oz) whether you should actually be consuming that quantity in a sitting or not. For example you would probably not be interested in eating 100 grams of the gooey thick bitter black sesame paste I am using as example here. Alternatively, you would be likely to chug a whole over sized tea carton on a hot day, and may be shocked to realize you drank 6.5 servings. You will probably need to do some additional math as to how much a "you-sized" serving or portion will be. 

Serving size and servings per container are usually not listed above the nutritional facts. Often they are found next door along with ingredients, country of origin, and other details I cant read. Above you can see that the container has 250 ?? (grams) of sesame paste. If you arent confident in recognizing your Traditional Chinese characters go ahead and assume the biggest number is the total grams or milliliter. A containers total weight or volume is also not always listed on the front of the package. Looking to this area pretty much tells you everything  else you need to know. 


A final scenario exists, on occasion food nutrition IS offered in a suggested portion. Here is a can of good ole Quaker oats. It lists 37.5 grams of oats as a portion which would make about 1 cup cooked. You can read up top in Chinese: ???? (mei3 yi2 fen4 liang / every serving) and ???? (ben3 bao1 zhuang1 han2 / servings per container). 

Anyone other special knowledge out there on Taiwanese food labeling? Please share any comments or criticisms. 
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Fish Feed Rates

Just added a few tables on the other page "Our Feed Rates"to keep track of fish feeding and growth rates.
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Jay Poom Belt Chapter 2 Grading

Date:  June 7, 2015

There is no way Daddy can keep up and show him youtube of the pattern.  

He has learned all the patterns from the classes.

Today is his second chapter internal grading day.

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He has performed smooth pattern for both chapter 1 and 2.

And he has kick a lot of back thrust, side kicks during the sparring display.

And he has to strike 2 times to break this board.

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Of course they won’t fail a kid who takes 2 strikes to break the board. hahahaha

And at the end of the grading, he proudly came out with his broken board, poom belt renewed with a green Chapter 3 stickers.

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I just found out from another instructor that after he turned 15, he can go to the STF and convert his poom belt to black belt.  No need to take any more test, simply fill in paper, and pay money, you can get all the poom belt changed to black belt.

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Ditmas Park CSA Week 18


Going going gone is the sun when I get back to Brooklyn after work. Its fall, and Im okay with that if it means squash, hot peppers, and apples. Imagine the possibilities just those 3 ingredients promise. Im waaaaaay to busy preparing for next weeks Prospect Farm fundraiser to cook much. I will likely steam and roast it all and serve myself a personal sized of autumn vegetable cornucopia.

Week 18s CSA share

1 bunch parsley
1 bag arugula
2 onions
6 hot peppers
1 green pepper
5 apples
1 small bunch broccoli
1 eggplant
1 spaghetti squash
1 watermelon
8 medium to large potatoes

1/2 chicken, really cute and little
12 eggs
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Vinyl Club at Sycamore!!


Hey Ditmas Park, save your strength for Monday night. Im bringing my monthly party to Sycamore Bar and Flower Shop. Bring you own vinyl, and spin a short set. Serious to strange encouraged. Vinyl Club has a pile of 45s for those less anlaog inclined. Will teach anyone how to dj in 30 seconds or less. F r e e !

MNVC #23: Pick it (vinyl + flowers)
Monday September 13th
Sycamore Bar and Flower Shop
1118 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn
8:00pm - 11:30pm
F r e e

http://mediumfirm.blogspot.com/2010/09/monday-night-vinyl-club-23-pick-it-at.html
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=113126412074223&ref=ts
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Apple Watch

Date:  June 18, 2015

My Apple Watch came last week.  Thanks to my friend who helped me buy from Hong Kong, and then, thanks to another friend’s wife, the Apple Watch was brought back to Singapore last Friday.

Below is my initial thoughts about Apple Watch after wearing it for almost a week.

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Expensive Packaging

It comes in a very nice packaging.  Everything was done perfectly.

The Apple Watch is not a cheap smart watch, so, the extra money you pay goes into packaging. 

It suppose to make you feel good and it makes the watch feel “expensive”.

This is very true if you look at some of the packaging for the expensive watch out there.  The box usually is very nice.

One thing is different though which is it does not come with all these thick thick manuals and warranty booklets.

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Apple Watch Cannot Live Alone Without iPhone

It is a smart watch that cannot live without the iPhone.  If you are walking away from your iPhone, the Apple Watch becomes a normal Watch.  

Staying connected is very important to make Apple Watch stand out.  Because of the social networking.  Information needs to flow into your Apple Watch.

Of course, if you are off line, you can still play some games.  There are some games which works well on this small screen.

The pairing is done by simply launching the Apple Watch app on iPhone, then, you aim the camera to the Apple Watch, and it started to pair.

In the initial process, it takes a bit longer, may be 5-7 minutes to sync up all the applications onto the Apple Watch.  Those application who has an Apple Watch extension will be copied onto the Apple Watch.

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Intuitive Interface

The Interface is quite intuitive.  Selecting apps on a small screen can never be so easy.  I have seen Samsung, LG and some other Androids one.  But this is by far most intuitive one to use.  And it is fast.

This is the apps appeared on my Apple Watch app for my Apple Watch.

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Not Many Clock Face Available

There is only a few selectable clock face you can choose at the moment.  I think you have to wait until Watch OS 2.0 come out so that you can start “buying” or creating your own clock face.  But the one now is quite OK to be used.  The clock face can be customised to show whatever you need.  You can have world time, you can have stocks info, you can have appointments, etc.

This clock face is pretty standard.  But I think like my Mickey Mouse clock face.

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Fast Response

The response is quite fast.  That is what I like.  It is just like the iPhone or iPad.  Very fast response.  Other smart watch out there are sometimes very slow in response to finger touch.

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Photo apps is fantastic.  But you cannot sync so many photos on it.  So, I choose to sync only the recent photos album which they will pick only a few hundreds of photos that is not more than 1Gb I think in total.

But sometimes the syncing can be slow.

The photos are clear to be seen on the Apple Watch.  The interface is fast when you swipe left and right.

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Some Useful Apps

The currency app either “Currency” or “XE Currency” are quite good and informative.  A simple tap can change the value of any country and display the result.  This app is useful.

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Reading emails or messages are quite OK for me.  Simply swipe left to select to clear the messages.

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I don’t see any point of playing music out from your iPhone by remote control it using your Apple Watch any useful.  So, beware, there are indeed a lot of nonsense apps.

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How bad was these nonsense apps?  Look at the Calculate app.  Where is the operators?

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You need to force touch the center, so to bring up the operators menu.  And that takes may be 0.1ms like that?  That is not intuitive at all.  So, all these app developers will have to buckle up and make good Apple Watch app that is useful.

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The messages is iMessage which is native.  WhatsApp and Line or others comes in Notifications method.  You cannot reply WhatsApp but can see who is sending messages to you.

And that is good enough.  And sometimes you don’t want to always reach out for your iPhone in your pocket, it is good enough to see the message preview to find out whether some messages are they urgent or not.

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The only useful games and fun is this Four Letters.  

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Games such as Quest?  Crap!

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Apps such as Feedly, nice also.  Can read news on your wrist.  And each time, they only load up about 10 news for you.  Refreshed it once you finish them.

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Battery Drained

You will have to charge the Apple Watch every day.

My first day went down to 67% after about 10 hours use.  But I did not run a lot of apps.

But the second day, it went down to below 60% after half day.  I was testing out the activities and so on. 

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Charging is easy.  I don’t face any issue at all by snapping the watch on to the magnetic charging port.

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But as soon as you activate more programs, read more messages, play a lot of Siri.  Then, the battery start to drop fast.

And it will drain your iPhone battery fast.  so, you might need to charge your iPhone before the day ends.

For example, yesterday, my Apple Watch was down to 80% in 3 hours time.  But the iPhone is going down below 70%.  This had never happened before as iPhone 6 (not plus) has reasonably good enough battery to last a full day.  

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Siri is Good

Siri is good.

Somehow, it understand me.  So far, I have asked Siri to sent messages, to make calls.

i.e. “Siri, call Home"

i.e. “Siri, call my wife"

i.e. “Siri, send a message to my wife”, select “voice”, “Please buy bread form the supermarket.”  and Siri listen to the message and type it as message.  Simply select to send either as Text or Voice message.

There is a whole lot things to do with Siri.

Oh by the way, I tried talking on the Apple Watch, it is perfect!  It feels just like Dick Tracy wrist watch.  But you can only do it in a not so noisy place.

 

Summary

After one week of use, here are some of the pointers.

1.  It is a smart watch, but it cannot live without your iPhone.  It rely on your iPhone to get information onto your wrist.  In stand alone, it is just a watch.

2.  When you rest your arm down, the watch is in sleep mode.  People will see you wearing a watch without a clock face.  So, it is not a normal watch.  Sometimes people likes to see what is the time by peeking to other peoples watch.  Sorry, you can’t do that with this Apple Watch.

3.  Before I wear Apple Watch, I wore Fitbit Charge HR.  It keep tracks of the steps I walked.  But most importantly, it keep tracks and share info with my son and my friends.  Sometimes we are in competition mode.  Once I change it to Apple Watch, since not may people wearing Apple Watch, and not many people using the health book something similar to that, so you loose that bit of “social” connection.  So, I will have to find a way, a good way and figure out how to keep track of my fitness every day.  I am using an app called Stepz basically, still need to depends on the chipset on iPhone to measure the steps.

4.  I must say, the packaging make you feel good.  It makes Apple Watch feel expensive, although you know by heart it is over priced.

5.  The battery is a biggest issue.  It drains not Apple Watch and iPhone battery when you do more internet related stuffs.  So, you got to watch out for that.

6.  At the moment, there aren’t too many nice written App that caught my eyes.  But I guess that is the thing, you don’t want to keep watching your watch.  The notifications and messages notifications already keep you busy.

7.  Remote control the Camera App especial for Pro Camera is quite useful too.  But remote control the Music is somewhat pointless.

8.  After one week, it has blend into my life nicely.  I reach out to my phone lesser.  But I was reading it from my wrist much often.  It is a nice watch, very informative watch indeed.

Is it a must have?  May be not.

I am still waiting for my Pebble Time to come.  Let’s see how Pebble Time compete against the Apple Watch. 

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Building a hobby room

Something a bit different from my aquaponics systems. I built a custom hobby/craft for my wife. She will put it to good use!

(It may be best to click on the video to open YouTube in a new window. Blogspot like to cut the edges off!)

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Light Reading

While waiting somewhat impatiently for my system to get back up to speed Ive been following more closely some of the Blogs and info out there on the Web.

Sylvia Bernsteins Page as I am sure any read knows runs a super discussion board site located at aquaponicgardening.ning.com. And one of the more important posting in Sylvias site is http://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profiles/blogs/basic-aquaponics-system-design?xg_source=activity

She has recently followed this up with a Business site
The Aquaponic Source which I am sure will do well. Wishing her good luck.
In all this reading it is obvious that one of the great things about Aquaponics is its versatility. You can make what you want in your dreams as a system come true. Well almost. It is up to you to make a system that works and for you to enjoy. This is a big difference to building something commercial. Economies of scale always come into play as do far more sophisticated systems and better control. Most backyard type systems seem to have a fair amount of tolerance built in but when going commercial these tolerances are cut right down for efficiency, with the over riding need to make a profit. Not complaining or criticizing. Just an observation which wanted to get down on paper. For now Im keeping to my simple backyard system. Posting again in next few days on my revived system.
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Kay Kay Finally Conquer the Aqua Fear

Date:  Sep 7, 2015

Swimming is a life skill.

If you step your foot wrong at the first step.  You will get a Aqua-phobia kid.

But it is not the end of the world.

Given time, Aqua-phobia will conquer the water once again, and swim in the water.

Just like Kay Kay.

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Yesterday, when I go down and take a look at his latest progress.  He is able to swim back strokes.  On his own.

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I don’t expect him to become very very good.  But good enough to survive is one important target.

He is able to swim from the other end to this end.  About 45 meter length.  Very good!

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His froggy style.  Need to learn and conquer the fear to change air.  Give him some time to work on it.

Then he did a free style back to the other end.

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Still need to work on the free style change air part.  But remember to keep giving encouragement, make them feel good.

Lastly, uncle Soh teaches him how to dive in.  

I think swimming is one of the thing I made both kids do.  

Somehow, Kay Kay is fond of water when he was very young and then suddenly, he become very afraid of water.

But after 2 years, he finally conquered that fear and start getting better and better.

My hope for him is, if one day, he has to survive in the water, he is able to save himself. 

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Kay Kay Is Now Blue Tip

Date:  Aug 17, 2015

Early August, it is that time again.

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It is Taekwondo grading time.

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Every 3 months, Kay Kay followed his brother footsteps to take the Taekwondo grading.

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And then, he went thru the change belt ceremony.  Which he loves it.

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Some of the things that I think Taekwondo has changed my son, Kay Kay...

1.  Taekwondo will help him to keep fitter.

2.  Taekwondo will raise his self-defence awareness.

3.  Taekwondo will teach him to respect teachers, elders, uniforms, and even training equipment and facilities.

4.  Taekwondo will make him stronger.

5.  Taekwondo will teach him disciplines. 

6.  Taekwondo pattern will remind him that he needs to remember patterns and take test.

7.  Taekwondo sparring will show him how to fight.

Followed by the sparring session.  Good work Kay Kay.

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Projected to get his poom belt (Black belt for kids) by end of next year.  Not too bad.  

And I just paid the SG50 promotion for his taekwondo lessons.  Thousands plus for 50 lessons.  Very good deal.

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Chock a Block Fruit and Nut Bars


Ive found a few meanings for chock-a-block, but Im gonna call this bar recipe its newest definition. Choked with dried fruits and nuts the bar is only barely held together by a few drips and drabs of dough. The bars are dense with a little chew from the dried fruit complimented by a sprinkling of sea salt on top. Perfect for on the go mornings, or as I had in mind, packed into my tote bag for beach and picnic trips in the nether regions of NYC. This recipe is 2-3 steps removed from David Lebovitzs version, who may be the internets most linked food blogger cause his recipes always work!

Chock-a-Block Fruit and Nut Bars

2 tblsp whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 cups nuts, coarsely chopped (walnuts, almonds, pecans, cashews, pistachios, or hazelnuts)
1 1/2 cup dried fruits, coarsely (apricots, rasins, dates, figs, cranberries, pear, nectarines, pineapple)
1 tblsp, heaping, coconut flakes (I use unsweetened)
1 large egg
1 tblsp oil
1 tblsp, heaping, flax meal
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tblsp molasses
sea salt for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment so sides hang over the edges. Grease sides and paper. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Toss in fruits, nuts, and coconut flake so evenly coated. Mix egg, oil, flax, extract, sugar, and molasses until combine. Add wet ingredients to flour coated fruits and nuts. Mix until evenly coated. Spread into prepared baking pan. Sprinkle top lightly with sea salt. Bake for 35-45 minutes until browned on top. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Using parchment overhang lift bars on to a rack to cool. Cut into chunks and share!
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And The Plants are Growing

Been standing around almost wishing I could see the plants grow. I know every day bit by bit... So Im pleased with progress. I do still need to get a better filter system in place to avoid solids going into the plants.  Ive tried along with bio balls, to add some additional filter cloth and covered the flow pipe to the plants with a fine mesh.  Latter works fine but keeps blocking up quickly. Ill be giving this some more thought. Need a bigger surface area for the filter fabric.

Fish look happy and always ready for a feed. Plants, well I have not heard any complain to me yet....







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New System Part 1

Well finally got myself motivated to start the new larger improved system. It is going to start out as a 1000 litre tank with 30 or so fish. Then have a deep raft hydroponics section. but you ask the photos show a larger tank. Quite so Watson... We are going to later increase the tank volume accordingly to 2000 litres and add in some normal NFT to see how it fares.  I am keen to do this for several reasons. Firstly to see if it will work and then also to use up my existing stock of the 2 inch pipe I have had stored for so long. Then Ill be able to get it all working and see what I can and cannot grow. Only after we have this working will I move to a bigger system.... The photos are of the area behind my in Laws You can see my collection of spate 2" drain pipe on the right hand side.  Ill be using the store as an office and of course a store... Also the area for fish tank and grow beds is more that adequate and south facing. In fact the heat might be a big problem.  Will see how we get along. Watch this space. Clearing and so on starts tomorrow. Then on Monday or Tuesday off to Chat  Takarn again to buy the grown beds. All exciting stuff.



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