Jumaat, 21 Mac 2014

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

0 ulasan 11:24 PTG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

Luscious and heavenly at Torii

Posted: 21 Mar 2014 06:49 PM PDT

BY EU HOOI KHAW
March 22, 2014

Trifecta Mushi with ikura, foie gras and shrimp. – The Malaysian Insider pic, March 22, 2014.We loved the Trifecta Mushi, which was steamed duck egg custard with a knob of foie gras, a shrimp and a heap of ikura or salmon roe on top, which was trembly, smooth and soft.

There was a little smokiness from foie gras, sweetness from prawn, with salty bursts from ikura. Altogether it was exquisite.

Torii looks like a Japanese house from the outside. – The Malaysian Insider pic, March 22, 2014.We were at Torii@TDDI, the new Japanese gastro pub that opened only three weeks ago. It looks like a Japanese house from the outside, all black steel and mesh, interspersed with white squares that catch the warm light from within. It's informal and trendy inside.

Besides yakitori, soups and salads, soba, udon and pasta, even some dreamy confections rule at Torii. Its menu is easy to navigate, with a few marked with a yakitori skewer to show the chef's recommendations.

The Bonded Unagi & Foie Gras was one of these, so was the Avocado De La Mer and the Torii Burger.

Two slices of grilled river eel sandwiched in between them a thinly fried egg and foie gras, with a drizzle of the sweet unagi sauce in the Bonded Unagi & Foie Gras.

It made delicate, fSkewered Chicken Wings with Sea Salt. – The Malaysian Insider pic, March 22, 2014.lavourful bites, the unagi descending into the creamy foie gras and egg, then touching another unagi slice. It was simply wonderful.

Instead of using the burger bun, a scone was sliced in half and the wagyu patty, spinach and caramelised onions filled the Torii Burger. The meat was the star – the trimmings and the wispy halves of the scone matched it well.

We kept digging out surprises in the Avocado De La Mer. Cubes of avocado, prawns, salmon and mushrooms had been combined with miso and cheese and baked. We would have loved some bread to mop up this yummy sauce.

As for the yakitori, we had scanned the menu of 25 items and decided on the chicken wings, garlic-infused chicken skin, ox belly, ginkgo nuts and cod with a sweet sauce.

The chicken wings sprinkled with sea salt and chargrilled had a crispy skin and sweet juicy meat. The ox belly had a fantastic mouth feel – it was crunchy yet tender.Torii Burger with wagyu, spinach, caramelised onions and scone. – The Malaysian Insider pic, March 22, 2014.

We had mixed feelings about the sweet, hot salsa on it. I liked ox belly as it was, touched with a little sea salt.

The garlic-infused skin was delicious. I bit into the crispy skin, which burst and popped mushy garlic onto my palate. It's chicken skin I could eat again and again.

The cod was grilled and drizzled with a sweet teriyaki sauce. It had the right doneness, fish staying creamy and tender.

For me, a yakitori tasting is not complete without ginkgo nuts. These were grilled with the skin still on it, which kept them from drying out, and emphasised their natural sweetness.

If you need some carbs, there is the Mentaiko Pasta, Torii Fried Rice with foie gras, herbs and garlic chips and Bincho Rice which is burnt rice, soy sauce, sesame seeds and bonito flakes.

Avocado De La Mer. – The Malaysian Insider pic, March 22, 2014.Dessert was a Raw Lime Cheese Cake and Lime Ice Cream, as well as a scoop of Whisky Raisin Ice Cream.

The cheese cake tasted like a creamier and firmer panna cotta. I revelled in the perfect balance of sweet, salty and sour in this, the lime zest pinging through and the scrumptious honey crumble crowning it.

Pure lime flavour surged through with each spoonful of the ice cream.

The Whisky Raisin Ice Cream was superb. The whisky in it was unrestrained, drawing sweetness from the raisins. It was so fine, creamy and smooth.

There are also sorbets in three flavours – yuzu, dark chocolate and lemon tart. I'm certainly going back for these, especially the yuzu.

We chatted with Torii's executive chef Nizam and discovered that he brings with him 11 years of culinary experience at Ozeki Tokyo Cuisine in Kuala Lumpur.

"I like to put in a little Italian, French and Spanish touch into Japanese food," he said. They are fine touches, and they work!"

There is still a lot more on the menu we haven't tried and we'll be back.

The prices: Boded Unagi & Foie Gras (RM28), Trifecta Mushi (RM15), Torii Burger (RM26), Avocado De La Mer (RM18), Raw Lime Cheesecake (RM22), whisky and raisin ice cream (RM10). The yakitori is RM5 for garlic-infused skin, RM7 for ginkgo nuts, RM6 for ox belly and RM8 for chicken wing.

Torii is also a whisky place, stocked with well-known Japanese labels. It has a good selection of sake and wines, too. It is located at 18 Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 1, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur, tel: 03-7733 9309. At the moment, it is open from 5pm until late. It is closed on Sundays. – March 22, 2014.

Raw Lime Cheese Cake and Lime Ice Cream. – The Malaysian Insider pic, March 22, 2014.

How your local Starbucks might turn into your local bar

Posted: 21 Mar 2014 05:46 PM PDT

March 22, 2014

Coffee giant Starbucks plans to roll out an after-work cocktail menu of wine, beer, and small plates across thousands of stores. – AFP/Relaxnews pic, March 22, 2014.In a bid to generate as much night traffic as they do morning buzz, coffee giant Starbucks has announced plans to roll out an evening menu serving wine and snacks like bacon-wrapped dates at select locations across the US.

After introducing beer and wine to a single Seattle location a few years ago, the chain is set to expand the after-work cocktail menu to thousands of stores over the next few years, reports Bloomberg.

Currently, customers at 26 Starbucks locations in Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle and Washington DC are able to order a glass of Malbec along with a blue Brie cheese plate, artichoke and goat cheese flatbread or Parmesan-crusted chicken skewers to share with friends.

The Starbucks Evenings Menu is only available after 4pm and is aimed at making the ubiquitous coffee shop an equally busy gathering place for customers at night, as it is in the day.

Other menu items include truffled macaroni and cheese and chocolate fondue.

The programme is also an attempt to move away from coffee towards other markets where there's room for growth.

This week, the chain announced a major collaboration with media mogul Oprah Winfrey in the creation of a new chai tea as part of expansion plans for its Teavana brand.

Likewise, the chain has branched out into cold pressed juices opening a juice bar in Bellevue, Washington after it acquired California-based Evolution Fresh.

Meanwhile, it's not the first time a fast food company has tried to sell alcohol.

Burger King and Sonic locations in sun-soaked Miami also obtained liquor licenses to sell beer on their menus. – AFP/Relaxnews, March 22, 2014.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

0 ulasan 3:13 PTG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

Nicol advances to semis, Wee Wern bows out

Posted: 21 Mar 2014 08:29 AM PDT

March 21, 2014

Nicol David is through to the semi-finals of the Women's World Championship after defeating Camille Serne of France in five sets. – March 21, 2014.World number one, Datuk Nicol David advanced to the semi-finals of the 29th Penang-CIMB Women's World Championship after outclassing Camille Serme of France.

In today's quarterfinals, the Malaysian squash queen received an early setback after losing the first set 9-11, but fought back to win the next two matches, 11-5, 11-5.

However, Serme fought back to win 11-6 in the fourth set.

Nicol sealed the match with 11-4 in a grueling match that lasted an hour 16 minutes at the Subterranean Penang International Convention and Exhibition Centre (SPICE) here, tonight.

"I have had good and tough matches with Serme. I had to focus on the game plan and am pleased to win 3-2. I knew I had enough to keep me going.

"That what I was trained for. I was motivated to go all the way, no matter what happens.

"I need a speedy recovery and I'll be better tomorrow," said Nicol.

In tomorrow's semifinals, Nicol will meet Nour El Sherbini of Egypt who defeated fifth seeded player's Joelle King of New Zealand, 11-9, 8-11, 13-11 and 11-6 in a match that lasted 52 minutes.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's number two women's squash player, Low Wee Wern failed to advance to the semi-finals after she was defeated in the quarter-finals by world number two, Laura Massaro of England.

Wee Wern shocked Massaro 14-12 to win the first set. Massaro made it 1-1 to take the second set 11-6, before losing to Wee Wern, 6-11 in the third set.

However, Wee Wern lost her momentum in the other two sets as Massaro sealed the match with 13-11 and 11-7 in a match that lasted an hour 45 minutes.

"I gave everything I had. It was hard to lose, especially in Penang.

"I had a chance in the fourth set, but Laura is an an experienced player. She knows how to come back and how to play for big points. It is something I need to learn," said Wee Wern.

Massaro will play third seeded Raneem El Weleily of Egypt, who defeated seventh seeded Madeline Perry of Ireland, 10-12, 14-12, 11-3, 7-11 and 11-7.

"Madeline Perry played well today. I was inconsistent and had to stay focused, especially at the crucial points. I'm happy to be in the semis and hope to do better and be more consistent," said Raneem. – Bernama, March 21, 2014.

He can look fans in the face again, says buoyant Moyes

Posted: 21 Mar 2014 08:11 AM PDT

March 21, 2014

Manchester United's manager David Moyes says he can look fans in the face again after mid-week's win against Olympiakos took the club into the Champions League quarter-finals. – Reuters pic, March 21, 2014. Manager David Moyes said he can look Manchester United's supporters in the face again after his side's Champions League great escape against Greek side Olympiakos.

Moyes has had a torrid opening season in the Old Trafford hot seat, but United's 3-0 win on Wednesday, courtesy of Robin van Persie's hat-trick, overturned a 2-0 first leg deficit to set up a quarter-final clash with holders Bayern Munich.

That came three days after United's disappointing season plumbed new depths with a 3-0 home defeat by arch-rivals Liverpool in the Premier league, a result that raised serious questions about Moyes's position.

"In some of the games I have felt ashamed because we haven't played well enough and I have not got a team out that has got a good enough result," Moyes told a news conference on Friday.

"The big thing on Wednesday was that I could look at the supporters in the face after the game.

"We had given them something to shout about. There was nothing to be ashamed of about our performance."

With a top-four finish in the Premier League now looking almost impossible for United, who are 12 points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, winning the Champions League is their only realistic hope of qualifying for it next season.

United are the least favoured of the eight teams left in the draw, but Moyes said he was glad to be still in the mix.

"In a lot of ways it didn't matter who I drew, but I've probably drawn the favourites," said Moyes, whose side will be at home in the first leg next month.

"They are the holders, so it's a tough draw, but one I'm looking forward to. I've got us to the quarter-final and now the aim is to get to the semi-final.

"If you're old-fashioned, you'll probably say you want to be at home in the second leg and that would be the preference, but we'll have to take it."

United will look to build on their win over Olympiakos at West Ham United on Saturday when they will be without striker Van Persie who injured his knee on Wednesday and was undergoing another scan on Friday to assess the damage.

"There is no guarantee that one good result will lead to another," Moyes said. "But you would rather have a good one than a bad one and we got a good one in midweek.

"There have been periods this season when we've gone five or six games unbeaten and then we've drawn the next game, so there have been periods when we've done it."

After the trip to West Ham, United have a home derby against title-chasing Manchester City on Tuesday. – Reuters, March 21, 2014.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

0 ulasan 1:37 PTG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

‘Game Of Thrones’ screening draws throngs of fans to Brooklyn

Posted: 20 Mar 2014 10:30 PM PDT

March 21, 2014

Cast member Rose Leslie arrives for the premiere of the fourth season of HBO series 'Game of Thrones' in New York March 18, 2014. – Reuters pic, March 21, 2014.Spring may finally be in the air, but the "Game of Thrones" fans who descended on New York's Barclays Center yesterday evening know different: winter is coming.

The fourth season of HBO's increasingly popular medieval fantasy-drama will premiere on April 6, but 7,000 people who bought tickets to the Brooklyn event were treated to an advance screening of the season's first episode, along with a brief panel discussion with several cast members and author George R.R. Martin, whose books form the basis for the television show.

The show's plot combines a long war between several noble houses in Westeros, but with elements of magic and fantasy – including dragons and the undead - in the mix.

"Winter is coming" is the motto of the Stark House, which saw several of its members killed in the climax of the third season that aired in the spring of 2013. That event, known popularly as the "Red Wedding" among viewers, boosted interest in a show already known for surprising audiences with the unexpected demise of important characters.

Fans swarmed the arena for a chance to sit on the Iron Throne, the king's seat in the fictional world of Westeros, where the series takes place, see costumes used in the show, and buy merchandise, including a recently released hip-hop album, "Catch the Throne", inspired by the series. The rapper Common appeared at the arena to perform his song "The Ladder", which appears on the soundtrack.

The third season averaged 14.2 million viewers across all viewing platforms, according to HBO parent Time Warner, which makes it HBO's second-most-popular show of all time, trailing only "The Sopranos".

With each season composed of just 10 episodes, it's been a long wait since the previous season's shocking end. Many attendees said they busied themselves with reading – or re-reading – the books, or revisiting old episodes.

"I've been rereading, and then really keeping up with what's going on with the show," said Jillian Tam, 21, who was in line to take pictures on the Iron Throne.

Fans cited the show's ability to present nuanced characters that fall along the moral spectrum, and whose biggest struggles are often not with other-worldly creatures, but personal relationships with family members.

"Out of a lot of shows and movies, there is a lot more in the way of complex character-building," said Nadine Fentner, 23, of Queens, New York. "You can't say a lot of them are totally bad or totally good."

Fentner and her companions were among those who came costumed as their favourite characters; the most popular costume among fans seemed to be of Daenerys Targaryen, also known as the "Mother of Dragons", who is played by Emilia Clarke and is on a long journey to try to conquer Westeros.

The lines to sit on the thrones – there were four different ones in the arena concourse – were so long that ushers started cutting off the lines so fans would not miss the show.

One fan, Mike Ross, 37, of Hoboken, New Jersey, had earlier decided not to wait in the lengthy queue, but instead found himself the lucky winner of a full-size replica of the throne itself when Martin announced his ticket seat during the pre-show.

"I have no idea where I'm going to put it," he said. "We'll make a little room for it." – Reuters, March 21, 2014.

Cavemen’s rock music makes a comeback

Posted: 20 Mar 2014 08:18 PM PDT

March 21, 2014

Thousands of years after they resonated in caves, two dozen stone chimes used by our prehistoric forefathers will make music once more in a unique series of concerts in Paris.

Known as lithophones, the instruments have been dusted off from museum storage to be played in public for the first time to give modern Man an idea of his ancestral sounds.

After just three shows – two on Saturday and a third on Monday – the precious stones will be packed away again, forever.

"That will be their last concert together," music archaeologist Erik Gonthier of the Natural History Museum in Paris, told AFP ahead of the production.

"We will never repeat it, for ethical reasons – to avoid damaging our cultural heritage. We don't want to add to the wear of these instruments."

Dubbed "Paleomusique", the piece was written by classical composer Philippe Fenelon to showcase the mineral clang and echo of instruments from beyond recorded time.

They will be played xylophone-style by four percussionists from the French National Orchestra gently tapping the stones with mallets.

The point is to highlight our ancestors' musical side, which Gonthier says is often overshadowed by their rock-painting and tool-making prowess.

In fact, he believes, there might have been a strong link between music and visual art in prehistoric caves.

"These were the first theatre or cinema halls," he speculated.

The instruments, carefully-crafted stone rods up to a metre (3.2 feet) in length, have been in the museum's collection since the early 20th century.

They have been dated to between 2500 and 8000 BC, a period known as the New Stone Age, characterised by human use of stone tools, pottery-making, the rise of farming and animal domestication.

For decades, their solid, oblong shape made experts believe they were pestles or grinders of grain.

Notes from stone

But that perception changed a decade ago, thanks to a stroke of fortune.

Gonthier, a former jeweller and stone-cutter, discovered their true, musical nature when he tapped one with a mallet in the storeroom of the museum in 1994.

Instead of a dull thud he heard musical potential, and decided to investigate further.

"I thought back to my grandmother's piano and the small supports which made the strings resonate.

"I found some packaging foam in the trashcans of the museum I made two rests that I placed under either end of the lithophone, and tapped it. It made a clear 'tinnnnggg," Gonthier recounted.

"My heart beat like crazy. I knew that I had found something great."

Gonthier named his first lithophone "Stradivarius" after the famous makers of string instruments. The instrument was the result of a "grain-by-grain" chipping process that could have taken as much as two years to complete.

Five years after his discovery, "Stradivarius" and dozens of other stones in the museum's collection were officially recognised as lithophones, a known if obscure category of musical instruments.

The name derives from the Greek words for stone and sound.

Gonthier said he had a long battle to convince other experts the stones could be safely used, with great care, for the upcoming concert.

The museum's lithophones are mainly from the Sahara, many brought back by French troops stationed in colonies like Algeria and Sudan in the early 1900s.

Gonthier says all lithophones, which can be made from types of sandstone or schist, share certain characteristics.

Each one always comes to rest in the same position determined by its centre of gravity, and every instrument has two sound "planes" that can be found by tapping at 90 degree angles around its circumference.

Importantly, the instruments are short and slim enough to be carried easily in one hand – the earliest example of a portable sound system.

"These were man's first MP3s," said Gonthier.

A case in point: "Stradivarius" was discovered about 1,500 kilometres (900 miles) from the rock from which it was most likely carved.

To play, the instruments would have been rested on brackets made of leather or plant fibres, or even on the musician's ankles, sitting cross-legged, said Gonthier.

The mallets may have had heads of wood or bone, although none has ever been found.

The instruments were almost always found alone.

Music may not have been their only purpose. They may also have been used to signal danger, "or even to call people to dinner," laughed Gonthier. "They can be heard from kilometres (miles) away in the desert or forest".

One thing is clear: "They were made to last – the proof is that we still have them today." – AFP, March 21, 2014

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

The Malaysian Insider :: Features

0 ulasan 1:18 PTG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Features

Once an Arab model, Baghdad now world’s worst city

Posted: 20 Mar 2014 09:24 PM PDT

March 21, 2014

As recently as the 1970s, Baghdad was lauded as a model city in the Arab world. But now, after decades of seemingly endless conflict, it is the world's worst city.

That is, at least, according to the latest survey by the Mercer consulting group, which when assessing quality of life across 239 cities, measuring factors including political stability, crime and pollution, placed Baghdad last.

The Iraqi capital was lumped with Bangui in the conflict-hit Central African Republic and the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, the latest confirmation of the 1,250-year-old city's fall from grace as a global intellectual, economic and political centre.

Residents of Baghdad contend with near-daily attacks, a lack of electricity and clean water, poor sewerage and drainage systems, rampant corruption, regular gridlock, high unemployment and a myriad other problems.

"We live in a military barracks," complained Hamid al-Daraji, a paper salesman, referring to the ubiquitous checkpoints, concrete blast walls and security forces peppered throughout the city.

"The rich and the poor share the same suffering," the 48-year-old continued. "The rich might be subjected at any moment to an explosion, a kidnapping, or a killing, just like the poor.

"Our lives are ones where we face death at any moment."

It was not always so for the Iraqi capital.

Construction of the city on the Tigris River first began in 762 AD during the rule of Abbasid caliph Abu Jaafar al-Mansur, and it has played a pivotal role in Arab and Islamic society ever since.

In the 20th century, Baghdad was held up as a gleaming example of a modern Arab city with some of the region's best universities and museums, a highly educated elite, a vibrant cultural scene and top-notch healthcare.

Officials still note how their counterparts from the region would hold up Baghdad's international airport as a model, and oil cartel OPEC was founded in the Iraqi capital.

And it was home to a diverse population of Muslims, Christians, Jews and others.

"Baghdad represented the economic centre of the Abbasid state," noted Issam al-Faili, a professor of political history at the city's Mustansiriyah University, an institution which traces its own history back nearly 800 years.

"It was used as a base for taking control of neighbouring areas in order to strengthen Islamic influence."

"It used to be a capital of the world," Faili said, "but today, it has become one of the world's most miserable cities."

In February alone, 57 violent incidents struck the Iraqi capital, including 31 car bombs.

As recently as March 5, a dozen shootings and bombings across the city killed 20 people. The very next day, four more bombings left 11 dead.

Security forces typically respond with heavy-handed tactics reliant on setting up new checkpoints to add to the plethora already scattered around Baghdad, and restricting movement as much as possible.

Massive concrete walls, designed to withstand the impact of explosions, still divide up confessionally-mixed neighbourhoods, while the government sits in the heavily-fortified Green Zone, which is also home to parliament and the US and British embassies, access to which is difficult for ordinary Iraqis.

Uphill task

Some are working to clean up the city and beautify it, but even they acknowledge the uphill task facing them.

"I am actually hurt that Baghdad ranked among the worst cities in the world," said Amir al-Chalabi, head of the Humanitarian Construction Organisation, an NGO which runs civic campaigns aimed at improving the city's services.

"Successive governments have not worked to develop Baghdad," he said.

"It has become deserted, and it suffers from instability. At night, it turns into a ghost town because of the lack of lighting."

Messes of electrical wires run along neighbourhood streets, as privately-operated communal generators work to make up for the shortfall in provision from the national grid, albeit at a price.

Poor drainage means that even moderate levels of rainfall during the winter lead to flooding, as pools form on the city's potholed streets, while scorching summer heat forces the government to regularly declare national holidays.

Economic growth nationwide is strong, thanks to healthy oil production, but because the industry is not labour-intensive, it has not made a major dent in unemployment, including in the capital.

"Baghdad's problems cannot be counted," said Daraji, the paper seller.

"The situation in Baghdad is sad. Sometimes it makes us cry – beautiful Baghdad is today in ruins." – AFP, March 21, 2014

Global warming a concern at Chile’s penguin paradise

Posted: 20 Mar 2014 08:45 PM PDT

March 21, 2014

Magdalena Island, located near Chile's southern tip, is a natural paradise for tens of thousands of penguins, which come every year to breed.

But global warming could threaten the long-term survival of the species, say experts at the island nature reserve in the Strait of Magellan, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the city of Punta Arenas.

The island is home to 22 bird species – 11 which nest year-round and 11 seasonal visitors – including the Magellanic penguin.

Some 23,000 tourists a year make the pilgrimage to Los Pinguinos Natural Monument, a protected area comprising tiny Marta Island and windswept Magdalena Island.

The penguins' main predators are aggressive seabirds called skuas and Dominican gulls, which feed off penguin eggs and young, says Roberto Fernandez, a ranger at the site for the past seven years.

And those predator populations are growing.

"Right now, what we are seeing is summer starting late, then lasting through into March. Climate change is bringing about a rise in gull numbers, that is for sure," monument administrator Neftali Aroca told AFP.

"You would have to undertake a long-term study in order to link this increase with a reduction in the penguin population but the forecast is that in the future, the penguins could be at risk."

The worrying prognosis seems to confirm alarm bells sounded in January in a study published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, which indicated that extreme weather, such as unseasonal warmth and heavy rainfall, may have killed off a considerable number of young Magellanic penguins.

The study – conducted over a period of 27 years in Argentina's Punta Tombo peninsula, the largest breeding ground for the species – showed that 65% of the colony's young died annually on average, 40% of them from hunger and 7% owing to the effects of climate change.

Epic swim

Each year, the penguins flee the cold to spend winter in the warmer waters off Brazil.

As soon as they are big enough to swim, they head off on a 4,000-kilometer (2,500-mile) odyssey from Magdalena Island to Brazil.

They spend the Southern Hemisphere winter on the coast of Brazil's southern Santa Catarina state – though they sometimes make it as far up as Rio de Janeiro's beaches.

Come mid-August, they begin to head back, via Uruguay and Argentina to the Strait of Magellan, the natural passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and Magdalena Island.

"Magellanic penguins come to the island to complete their reproductive cycle," explains Valeria Sanchez, who has spent five years as a tour guide here.

"They start arriving in September, as summer approaches, to enjoy the longer days necessary to incubate their eggs and look after their young."

Family circles

The Magellanic penguins, who can live to 25, are monogamous, sharing their lives with just one partner.

First to arrive on Magdalena Island are the males, who must seek out the burrowed nests dug the previous season and make any necessary changes with whatever material they can find, including stones and feathers, before attracting their mate.

Around a fortnight later, the females arrive, and their keen partners sound a trumpet-like call to guide them to the nest.

The species tends to use the same burrow year after year to reproduce over a six-to-seven-month period.

Following fertilization, the females lay one or two eggs. For the first 12 days, she will incubate them and not leave them – even to eat.

Following their long fast, the mothers give way to the males in order to feed. The couples then switch at roughly fortnightly intervals until the end of the 40 to 45 day incubation period ahead of hatching in around November.

'Cup' refuge in Brazil

During the first months of their lives, the penguins' offspring are wholly dependent on their parents for food, learning to swim and how to fend off predators.

"Between February and March, they start to leave the island – but this year they began leaving two or three weeks earlier," Sanchez said.

"It seems they wanted to give themselves a head start to go and see the World Cup in Brazil," she joked, before explaining that the young had simply hatched early this year. – AFP, March 21, 2014

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

The Malaysian Insider :: Books

0 ulasan 11:36 PG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Books

Indian author Khushwant Singh dies at 99

Posted: 20 Mar 2014 05:36 PM PDT

March 21, 2014

A customer buys books written by late Indian author and journalist Khushwant Singh at a bookstore in New Delhi yesterday. – AFP pic, March 21, 2014.Khushwant Singh, one of India's best known writers who won fame for a searing book on partition of the subcontinent as well as his once-daring descriptions of sex, died yesterday aged 99.

The country's most prolific author, who died at his home in New Delhi after suffering breathing problems, had only recently stopped writing despite his advanced years, his son said.

"He was having some breathing problems. He hadn't been too unwell in his last few days and had only stopped writing recently. He was still reading newspapers and books... was mentally alert, and led a full life," Rahul Singh told the NDTV news channel.

Singh, nicknamed King Leer for his legendary roving eye, was a household name who wrote more than 100 books and countless newspaper columns, including one called "With Malice Towards One And All".

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called him "a gifted author, candid commentator and a dear friend" as tributes poured in for a great writer with an even greater sense of humour.

"The world will always remember him as a lovable human being," author and veteran BBC journalist Mark Tully said on NDTV.

Fellow authors including Vikram Seth and former cricketers were among those who visited his Delhi home to pay their respects to a man hailed by President Pranab Mukherjee as a "fearless intellectual", the Press Trust of India said.

In an interview with AFP in 2005, Singh described his passion for writing as compulsive.

"I don't know what to do with myself if I don't write, I have lost the art of relaxation," he said.

Singh, a Sikh born on February 2, 1915 in what is now Pakistan, occupied India's literary centre-stage for half a century with his novels. Some in his early decades scandalised India with their sexually explicit scenes.

He is best remembered for his historical novel "Train to Pakistan", which recounts the tragedy and bloodshed of the partition of the subcontinent in 1947 into India and Pakistan.

Singh, who penned his books and columns on yellow legal pads, became a writer relatively late.

Born into a well-off family, he initially practised law in Lahore. But partition was the trigger for him to change professions.

"I loathed the law. I thought I can't waste my entire life living off other people's quarrels," he said.

After coming to New Delhi, where his father became a prosperous property developer, he entered the diplomatic service in 1947 but soon tired of this and became a journalist and writer.

His philandering fame was mainly self-cultivated and he looked after his wife devotedly until she died of Alzheimer's disease in her mid-80s.

But a rakish reputation could still get him into trouble even late in life.

In 2001 he triggered diplomatic uproar when he pecked the Pakistani High Commissioner's (ambassador's) teenage daughter on the cheek at a New Delhi party when tensions between India and Pakistan were high.

The high commissioner was recalled to Islamabad to explain what was seen in some Pakistani circles as a lapse in propriety.

Singh, famous for his insouciance, had penned his epitaph before his death.

"Here lies one who spared neither man nor God/Waste not your tears on him, he was a sod/Writing nasty things he regarded as great fun/Thank the Lord he is dead, this son of a gun." – AFP, March 21, 2014.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

0 ulasan 3:39 PG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

The truth is out there

Posted: 20 Mar 2014 05:14 PM PDT

March 21, 2014

Zan Azlee is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, writer, New Media practitioner and lecturer. He runs Fat Bidin Media www.fatbidin.com

So, 14 days into the search and rescue effort for the missing MH370 flight and still no sign of anything concrete.

Well, we have a positive lead from the Australian authorities who said they might have discovered some parts of the aircraft in the Indian Ocean.

And, of course, as a journalist, you can definitely expect me to be on a flight right now to Perth as you are reading this column.

When the news first broke, the media went into a frenzy reporting all the details that started coming out on that first day or two.

But as the days went by, less and less information came out and that's when everything went into speculative mode as the international media tried to keep the story alive.

Of course, it had to be kept alive. It is one of the most important stories of all time. A huge Boeing 777 with 239 people on board vanishes mysteriously.

Theory after theory by expert after expert, and even amateur after amateur, was reported by the media just to reveal all the different possibilities of what had happened.

Why were they reporting the different "possibilities"? It's because they didn't have the slightest hint or clue of what actually happened.

In these last two days, if you have noticed, a lot of the media have even gone on to recap the speculations that have been happening throughout the past two weeks.

Some even went on to create top five or top 10 lists of the best, most plausible and even most absurd theories. I have to admit, I am guilty of this, too.

Many members of the public have been venting their frustrations and disappointment with the media for doing what they have been doing – creating speculation.

These people feel that if there is nothing real to say, then don't say anything at all because it will create confusion and probably offend the passengers' family members.

But the funny thing is, I've seen these same people who are calling for a stop to all this non-confirmed or non-corroborated information, spreading the very theories on the social media platforms.

Anyway, if even the authorities in charge of the investigations and search and rescue operations can't find out anything, what more can the ordinary folk do?

So, as much as the intention of the media is to build up the story and keep it alive to attract more audience and readers, it also raises questions.

The more questions, then the more possibilities the authorities can then look at to rule out in order to get closer to the objective of finding the missing aircraft.

The only thing that needs to be made clear is that when speculated theories are made, it must be clear that they are only speculated theories.

And the experts that are called to give their thoughts should be of credible and sound background so that the theories are at least actual possibilities.

Whatever it is, it is only natural for news gatherers to gather news from any other credible source if the initial source doesn't have any news for them.

At the end of the day, for the sake of the families, the staff of Malaysia Airlines and even the media who have been working so tireless, let's just hope the truth comes out. – March 21, 2014.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.