Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

---

Bowled over by breads and ring cakes Posted: 26 Jul 2013 07:32 PM PDT By EU HOOI KHAW July 27, 2013 Crusty, chewy and nice -- multigrain, left, cranberry and lemon, and the long olive bread. - July 27, 2013.One bite of the crusty, chewy and nutty multigrain bread at Komugi Café and we were sold. Covered with pumpkin and sesame seeds, we loved the texture and taste of it. The long stringy olive bread did not look like much but the moist, salty and tart bits of olives in the chewy bread made it stand out. The cranberry and lemon bread was so good too. It was fragrant with lemon zest and sweet with cranberries. Again it had that European bread texture, which was quite unexpected in a Japanese bakery and café like Komugi at the Paradigm Mall in Petaling Jaya.  This can only be achieved with a French oven which sprays steam on the loaves of bread as they are baking, said Datuk Liaw Choon Liang, President/CEO of the Focus Point Group which owns Komugi. The bread, cakes and pastries are all made with flour and other premium ingredients from Japan, and there is a consultant Japanese chef to see that it's all done right. No softeners, stabilisers nor preservatives are used in the baked goods. We tasted a delicious Salmon Paneo, which had bits of fresh salmon in the bread, with a sticky glaze of teriyaki.   I have had the Juchheim Baumkuchen, the traditional German layered ring cake from Takashimaya in Singapore and I was pleased to find it at Komugi. (Karl Juchheim was the first German confectioner to bake this baumkuchen in Japan). It is made by brushing batter on a rotating spit and baking each layer before applying another – some 15 to 20 layers! A confectioner can only become a master pastry chef from his skill in making this complicated ring cake. Komugi's Baumkuchen was delightfully eggy and moist, better than the dry one I brought back from Takashimaya. I'm also hooked on the Choco Berry Log Baum from Komugi, which I'm enjoying slice by slice at home, with coffee. It's a surprisingly dry cake, very chocolatey and not very sweet. The shiny crispy crust gets me each time I take a bite. It must be the texture of almond meal combined with flour, the chocolate and the raspberry puree in it that make it so amazing. At the café we picked out some excellent Banana Walnut and Apple Danish that were buttery, light and flaky. I have never liked cream horns, but the Coronet at Komugi simply melted at the bite, disgorging the deliciously light custard cream. Pumpkin soup in a bread bowl, front, and mushroom soup. - July 27, 2013.We also tried the Signature Hanjuku Cheese, which is a delicate half-baked cheesecake, with its centre oozing a creamy and sweet cheese mixture. The very soft FuWa custard bun is obviously meant for kids There are also puddings with flavours of strawberry, mango, chocolate and green tea. Baumkuchen the German ring cake is in Komugi. - July 27, 2013.The pudding with the original flavour was rather nice. We dug in with a spoon and the caramel at the base floated up, covering the very smooth and soft pudding. The cream puffs tasted as good as the ones we used to get from Tokyo. Handmade chocolates, cakes, macaroons and cookies are also part of the wide selection of desserts at Komugi. Komugi serves Japanese coffee made with a master brewer roast freshly ground every day. You could also have a meal of soup, pasta, pizza, udon, burgers and sandwiches at Komugi Café. We shared two soups – a mushroom and a pumpkin, both presented in bread bowl. The mushroom soup passed muster but too much cream overwhelmed the flavour of the butternut pumpkin in the other soup. The Wafu Mentai Spaghetti (with cod roe, RM22.90) and the Beef Burger with roast sirloin beef (RM18.90) are very popular here, and we made a mental note to have these on our next visit. Pumpkin soup in a bread bowl, front, and mushroom soup. - July 27, 2013.The soups are RM9.90 each; the bread costs from RM3.50 for the olive bread to RM4.90 for the multigrain and RM6 for the cranberry. The Baumkuchen is RM22 here, compared to S$20 for a similar size one in Singapore. - July 27, 2013. * Komugi Café is at CF55, Concourse floor,  Paradigm Mall, No 1 Jalan SS7/26A, Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya, tel: 03-7887 5530. It is also at the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur (Tokyo Street), Lower Ground Floor, Mid Valley and at Sunway Pyramid. Two other cafés are opening in Sunway Giza and Subang Parade soon

Bowled over by bread and ring cakes Posted: 26 Jul 2013 07:32 PM PDT By EU HOOI KHAW July 27, 2013 Crusty, chewy and nice -- multigrain, left, cranberry and lemon, and the long olive bread. - July 27, 2013.One bite of the crusty, chewy and nutty multigrain bread at Komugi Café and we were sold. Covered with pumpkin and sesame seeds, we loved the texture and taste of it. The long stringy olive bread did not look like much but the moist, salty and tart bits of olives in the chewy bread made it stand out. The cranberry and lemon bread was so good too. It was fragrant with lemon zest and sweet with cranberries. Again it had that European bread texture, which was quite unexpected in a Japanese bakery and café like Komugi at the Paradigm Mall in Petaling Jaya.  This can only be achieved with a French oven which sprays steam on the loaves of bread as they are baking, said Datuk Liaw Choon Liang, President/CEO of the Focus Point Group which owns Komugi. The bread, cakes and pastries are all made with flour and other premium ingredients from Japan, and there is a consultant Japanese chef to see that it's all done right. No softeners, stabilisers nor preservatives are used in the baked goods. We tasted a delicious Salmon Paneo, which had bits of fresh salmon in the bread, with a sticky glaze of teriyaki.   I have had the Juchheim Baumkuchen, the traditional German layered ring cake from Takashimaya in Singapore and I was pleased to find it at Komugi. (Karl Juchheim was the first German confectioner to bake this baumkuchen in Japan). It is made by brushing batter on a rotating spit and baking each layer before applying another – some 15 to 20 layers! A confectioner can only become a master pastry chef from his skill in making this complicated ring cake. Komugi's Baumkuchen was delightfully eggy and moist, better than the dry one I brought back from Takashimaya. I'm also hooked on the Choco Berry Log Baum from Komugi, which I'm enjoying slice by slice at home, with coffee. It's a surprisingly dry cake, very chocolatey and not very sweet. The shiny crispy crust gets me each time I take a bite. It must be the texture of almond meal combined with flour, the chocolate and the raspberry puree in it that make it so amazing. At the café we picked out some excellent Banana Walnut and Apple Danish that were buttery, light and flaky. I have never liked cream horns, but the Coronet at Komugi simply melted at the bite, disgorging the deliciously light custard cream. Pumpkin soup in a bread bowl, front, and mushroom soup. - July 27, 2013.We also tried the Signature Hanjuku Cheese, which is a delicate half-baked cheesecake, with its centre oozing a creamy and sweet cheese mixture. The very soft FuWa custard bun is obviously meant for kids There are also puddings with flavours of strawberry, mango, chocolate and green tea. Baumkuchen the German ring cake is in Komugi. - July 27, 2013.The pudding with the original flavour was rather nice. We dug in with a spoon and the caramel at the base floated up, covering the very smooth and soft pudding. The cream puffs tasted as good as the ones we used to get from Tokyo. Handmade chocolates, cakes, macaroons and cookies are also part of the wide selection of desserts at Komugi. Komugi serves Japanese coffee made with a master brewer roast freshly ground every day. You could also have a meal of soup, pasta, pizza, udon, burgers and sandwiches at Komugi Café. We shared two soups – a mushroom and a pumpkin, both presented in bread bowl. The mushroom soup passed muster but too much cream overwhelmed the flavour of the butternut pumpkin in the other soup. The Wafu Mentai Spaghetti (with cod roe, RM22.90) and the Beef Burger with roast sirloin beef (RM18.90) are very popular here, and we made a mental note to have these on our next visit. Pumpkin soup in a bread bowl, front, and mushroom soup. - July 27, 2013.The soups are RM9.90 each; the bread costs from RM3.50 for the olive bread to RM4.90 for the multigrain and RM6 for the cranberry. The Baumkuchen is RM22 here, compared to S$20 for a similar size one in Singapore. - July 27, 2013. * Komugi Café is at CF55, Concourse floor,  Paradigm Mall, No 1 Jalan SS7/26A, Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya, tel: 03-7887 5530. It is also at the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur (Tokyo Street), Lower Ground Floor, Mid Valley and at Sunway Pyramid. Two other cafés are opening in Sunway Giza and Subang Parade soon

You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider : Food To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Features

---

Stanford is No 1 American varsity, Forbes study shows Posted: 25 Jul 2013 07:20 PM PDT July 26, 2013 California schools bested East Coast universities in Forbes' annual ranking of top US colleges, with Stanford University and Pomona College capturing the top two spots. Stanford, a research and teaching university in Northern California's Silicon Valley, ranked No. 1, jumping from third place last year after scoring high marks for retention rates and high graduate starting salaries. It has 19,945 students and annual costs are US$58,846 (RM177,000). Much smaller Pomona College, with 1,586 students and an annual bill of US$57,041, was in second place. The college, east of Los Angeles, offers only undergraduate degrees. "For the first time in the six years Forbes has produced this list, the top two schools are on the Pacific Coast," Forbes said in an article on Wednesday accompanying the list at www.forbes.com/top-colleges. Princeton University in New Jersey, which was No. 1 last year, slipped to third place, followed by Yale University in Connecticut in fourth place and Columbia University in New York City at No. 5. Costs at the top five schools ranged from US$54,789 at Princeton to US$61,640 at Columbia. The Forbes ranking of 650 US colleges and universities, calculated by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, is based on student satisfaction, post-graduate success, student debt, graduation rate and national competitive awards. Massachusetts had the most schools in the top 10 with Harvard University at No. 8, slipping from No. 6 last year; Williams College in ninth place and Massachusetts Institute of Technology at No. 10. The University of California, Berkeley, which came in 22nd on the list, was ranked as the best state school in the country. Twenty-three public schools ranked in the top 100. "Flagship state schools offer an excellent education for much lower tuition bills than their average private counterparts. As more students are seeking to hold down debt, public colleges and universities can and will be more selective," Forbes said. Among top-tier Ivy League schools, New York's Cornell University rose to 19th on this year's list from No. 51 in 2012. The University of Pennsylvania ranked No. 11, Brown University in Rhode Island came in at No. 12 and Dartmouth in New Hampshire was No. 16. Morehouse College in Atlanta made the biggest leap in the ranking, jumping 235 places to No. 285. – Reuters, July 26, 2013.

Keen to adopt a wild animal? Posted: 25 Jul 2013 06:02 PM PDT July 26, 2013 Animal lovers can now adopt for a fee wild animals currently kept at Maharajbagh Zoo in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. The zoo, which has often received flak for its management of animals, has launched a programme that offers 356 animals up for adoption at a fee. The animals include tigers, leopards, jackals, sloth bears, spotted deer, blue bulls, black bucks, peacocks, emus, crocodiles, birds and monkeys. "The intention is not to make money from the venture but to involve the public in the conservation process," said zoo in-charge Sunil Bawaskar. "This has already been done in other cities like Chandigarh. Adoption automatically increases a person's interest in an animal and hopefully that will enhance their sensitivity towards them," he said. The rate for adoption varies between animals. A blackbuck can be adopted for Rs 4,000 (RM201) a year while the national animal -- tiger -- will cost Rs 100,000 annually. The zoo has also announced benefits for those who adopt the animals, such as a photograph of the adopted animal, one year complimentary pass for five people, a framed certificate of adoption, and having the adoptive person's name displayed in front of the animal enclosure for a fee. The Maharajbagh Zoo is part of the Punjabrao Deshmukh Agriculture University, Akola that runs the College of Agriculture near the zoo. – Bernama, July 26, 2013.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider : Features To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Books

---

A parenting journey as dad becomes mum Posted: 25 Jul 2013 06:22 PM PDT July 26, 2013 Author Jennifer Finney Boylan says there is more to being a mother than giving birth and in her newest book, "Stuck in the Middle with You," she chronicles her transgender journey from being a father to a mother. For much of her life as a parent of two boys she said she was "some parental version of the schnoodle or the cockapoo," referring to the dogs produced by mixing two breeds. In the book, Boylan, 55, describes the impact of her transition, which began about 11 years ago, on her now-teenage sons, Zach and Sean, and her wife of 25 years, Deirdre. Boylan, who has written 12 other books, spoke about her latest work, gender and parenting. Q: What inspired you to write a memoir on parenting now? A: "I wanted to talk about trans experience to kind of normalise it a little bit ... A trans person tends to get into the news when there's trouble, when there's been a murder or violence, someone has lost their job. And those are important stories to cover, obviously ... But somebody needs to tell the stories of mothers and fathers and children ... when the stories are about families doing well. Q: How has your family reacted to being portrayed by name? A: It was their idea ... I was a little afraid. That was the other reason I was a little reticent about writing about motherhood and fatherhood. It seems like writing about your children is another form of child abuse it seems to me, so I asked them about it. But Zach said: 'No that's great. Everyone should know about our family.' He's very proud of his family. But he said: 'If you're going to write about us, use our real names.' Q: There's been much debate about the work-life balance of women. You've seen parenting from both sides - what's your take? A: So, can a transgender woman have it all? ... Fathers can't have it all either. Every couple has to figure out what dynamic is going to make that family work ... I think families have to figure out what are the two or three most important things and do those things consistently and just try to fill in the gaps wherever you can. Writer Jennifer Finney Boylan, author of the book Q: What are your thoughts as more US states march toward marriage equality, given your own journey from an opposite-sex couple to a same-sex one? A: We have this sense of trans people as vulnerable others, when in fact there are tens of thousands of transgenders throughout the country going about their business, doing their jobs, raising their families. So when you tell stories, you give voice to that experience, too ... I'm just thrilled about the march toward equality for lesbians and gay men that is happening across the country, but it is also true that ... the giddiness around marriage equality can sometimes overshadow the fact that transgender people are really suffering in this country and are vulnerable to violence and suicide ... It's important for people to remember that for transgender people the fight for equality is a long way off. Q: What is your hope for the future of the American family? A: The most important thing in a family is the amount of love in that family. It matters more than the sex of the parents. It matters more than the race of the parents. It matters more than the economic privilege of that family. Love is what ties people together and what can drive people apart. Q: Finally, any advice for aspiring writers? A: As a writer, until I had children, I was always a late-night writer. I always wanted to stay awake until the dawn and do the work then. One thing about having children is that it just reset my clock ... The other thing is ... it used to be that I had to have my special pen and my special cup of coffee, and my special mug, and it had to be just the (right) inspiration. There's no room for that when you have kids. I'll say two (more) things: First off, the most important thing is not inspiration, the most important thing is revision ... The other thing I would say is: You have to find your truth and it can be a terribly scary thing to do, to write from the heart ... and I'm hoping that ... as a woman that my writing reflects something that is truer and more fiercely fought for and hard won. – Reuters, July 26, 2013.

Fight Club sequel to be graphic novel, due by 2015 Posted: 25 Jul 2013 04:53 PM PDT July 26, 2013 Chuck Palahniuk in 2006. - AFP pic, July 26, 2013.Chuck Palahniuk is to write a sequel to "Fight Club," taking place 10 years after the first book's events. But there's already a twist, as the second book will be a graphic novel, with Palahniuk already having made contact with Marvel, DC and Dark Horse, he said. "Tyler is telling the story, lurking inside Jack, and ready to launch a come-back. Jack is oblivious. Marla is bored," he explained on chuckpalahniuk.net. And Tyler Durden is still up to no good, with a dark plan that leads him to kidnap Jack and Marla's son. "Since the Fight Club sequel will appear serialised in graphic form, my book publisher might allow me to launch it earlier than 2015." "Fight Club" was written in response to a publisher's rejection of intended debut novel "Immortal Monsters," and the incendiary 1996 hit became a 1999 blockbuster movie starring Brad Pitt, Ed Norton and Helena Bonham-Carter. Social network chatter was largely positive. "Really hope Palahniuk smashes it," wrote Twitter user @johnlongbottom, while@VincentAlvaro, perhaps not the author's greatest fan, maintained that "Fight Club" was still "really the only Palahniuk work worth reading." Setting the new book a decade after the first meant that "the film ending is left ambiguous & Durden is mythic," noted @LloydAshPyne, who stated that he had "confidence in the [sequel's] story." And, of course, given the notoriety of David Fincher's movie, others were quick to consider Hollywood's next move. "Dare we say movie sequel too?" asked @farzinothecat. Others, like @blacklotvs, pledged to catch up with the Palahniuk back catalog before the sequel launches -- "I've made it my goal to finish all of Chuck Palahniuk's novels before the sequel to Fight Club. " Those who take on the catch-up challenge will certainly have to include "Doomed," second of three books in the "Damned" trilogy, which is due October 8, 2013. After that comes savage chick lit satire "Beautiful You" in 2014 and short story collection "Make Something Up," slated for 2015. – AFP/Relaxnews, July 26, 2013.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider : Books To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Bahasa

---

Adakah masanya sudah tiba bagi peperiksaan tunggal untuk ke universiti? - Bernama Posted: 26 Jul 2013 02:56 AM PDT July 26, 2013 Latest Update: July 26, 2013 06:03 pm Adakah masanya sudah tiba bagi Kementerian Pendidikan menimbang dengan serius untuk mengadakan peperiksaan tunggal bagi kemasukan ke universiti sebagai penyelesaian jangka panjang kepada masalah pelajar terbaik yang tidak memperoleh tempat di universiti tempatan?   Pengerusi Biro Pendidikan Gerakan Lau Chin Hoon sememangnya berpendapat begitu atas dasar dwi-sistem bagi kemasukan ke universiti sekarang, iaitu STPM dan matrikulasi, menjadi punca ketidakpuasan hati sesetengah mereka meskipun terdapat lebih banyak pengambilan berdasarkan merit. "Purata Nilai Gred Kumulatif (CGPA) 4.0 dalam matrikulasi dan CGPA 4.0 dalam STPM bukanlah setara. Dari segi prosedur parameter kedua-duanya adalah peperiksaan yang sama sekali berbeza. Sebab itulah, kita perlu menyeragamkannya menjadi peperiksaan tunggal untuk ke universiti," jelas beliau. Ini berikutan hakikat bahawa STPM digabungkan dengan Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate manakala matrikulasi pula berasaskan kombinasi kerja kursus, peperiksaan dan penilaian pensyarah. Beliau berkata tanpa peperiksaan kemasukan yang seragam, masyarakat akan sentiasa beranggapan terdapat kurang ketelusan dalam proses pemilihan memandangkan tiada peratusan kemasukan yang boleh diperoleh segera daripada setiap sistem. - Bernama, 26 Julai, 29013. - LAGI

SPNB buat laporan polis kontraktor kenakan caj untuk RMR1M - Bernama Posted: 26 Jul 2013 02:40 AM PDT July 26, 2013 Latest Update: July 27, 2013 01:40 am Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB) cawangan Sabah, membuat laporan polis terhadap seorang kontraktor yang didakwa mengenakan caj terhadap pemohon program Rumah Mesra Rakyat 1Malaysia (RMR1M) SPNB di kawasan Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Sook, pada 9 Julai lepas. Berdasarkan maklumat awal yang diterima daripada beberapa pemohon yang hadir, kontraktor terbabit mengenakan bayaran bermula daripada proses pendaftaran RMR1M, menandatangani perjanjian sehinggalah kepada penyerahan kunci. Menurut kenyataan yang dikeluarkan SPNB di sini hari ini, pemohon terbabit mendakwa kontraktor berkenaan mengenakan bayaran RM500 kepada pemohon baharu RMR1M dengan SPNB serta bayaran tambahan RM2,000 ketika proses menandatangani perjanjian sehingga proses serah kunci. Bagi mengelak kekeliruan, wakil SPNB di Sabah membuat laporan polis di Pejabat Polis Keningau. Menurut kenyataan polis, kes itu akan disiasat bagi mengelak lebih banyak lagi aktiviti penipuan berleluasa di kawasan itu. Kontraktor pelaksana yang dimaksudkan tidak pernah berdaftar sebagai panel kontraktor di SPNB, dan SPNB juga tidak pernah menawarkan sebarang projek RMR1M kepada kontraktor terbabit. Kenyataan itu menyebut SPNB melaksanakan permohonan secara dalam talian, yang hanya boleh diakses oleh wakil rakyat. Bagi mereka yang berminat untuk memohon program RMR1M dan berkelayakan, mereka boleh terus berjumpa dengan wakil rakyat di kawasan masing-masing bagi memohon tanpa dikenakan bayaran. Mengenai kelewatan projek perumahan Taman Apas Permai di Tawau, bahagian pantai timur Sabah, SPNB dalam kenyataan berkata projek itu mengalami kelewatan disebabkan faktor teknikal dan pematuhan pihak berkuasa tempatan. "Namun mesyuarat tapak pada setiap bulan tetap dijalankan dan laporan kemajuan kerja di tapak juga disokong pada mesyuarat bulanan. "Pihak kontraktor juga telah bersetuju dan akan memberi komitmen untuk menyiapkan baki pembangunan dalam jangka masa lapan bulan," kata kenyataan itu. - 26 Julai, 2013.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider : Bahasa To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com