CHINESE CULTURE VS JAPANESE CULTURE

Chinese culture and Japanese culture look like the same , but actually, they aren’t the same. First of all, Chinese is a tonal language while Japanese tends to be more monotone. The other difference is their foods. For example, chinese foods vary by region ,but tend to have stronger

flavors. On the other side, Japanese cuisine is known for its more subtle tastes. Japanese cuisine use a lot of fish stock(dashi), kelp, miso, soy sauce, sake and rice vinegar and their famous foods include sushi, tempura and ramen while Chinese cuisine generally favors soy sauce, rice wine and ginger and their famous foods include Peking duck, chow mein, char siu(BBQ pork) and yumcha/dim sum. Another thing is Chinese holidays and Japanese holidays and how they're celebrated. While Chinese people celebrate Lunar New Year, Japanese people don’t celebrate Lunar New Year. Rather, they celebrate the Western New Year according to the Gregorian calendar. The way they're celebrated is similar, but different. In both, there's a large emphasis on visiting with family and cleaning before the New Year, but the Chinese New Year tends to be celebrated very differently, with firecrackers and red things everywhere. The other one is names. Chinese names usually only have one syllable, but Japanese names usually have about three syllables, and end in a vowel (similar to Italian names). For example, Chinese names include Ma, Lú while Japanese names are generally include Yuzuki, Kazuyuki. Lastly, Chinese people can often be seen talking loudly at public places. On the other hand, In Japan, talking or laughing loudly in public places is considered as discourteous. They even keep their phones muted during travelling.

SOURCES: http://theydiffer.com/difference-between-chinese-and-japanese-culture/

http://www.wikihow.com/Distinguish-Between-Japanese-and-Chinese-Cultures

HISTORY AND FEATURES OF TOWER BRIDGE

Tower Bridge is a combined  bascule and suspension  bridge in London. It is a iconic symbol of London. The construction started in 1886 and took 8 years. It has become 122 years from past to now. 432 construction workers employed. The bridge was officially opened on 30 June 1894 by the Prince of Wales and ,his wife, the Princess of Wales. It is the one of the Trust’s bridges not to connect the City of London directly to the Southwark Bank , as its northern landfall is in Tower Hamlets. The bridge consist of two bridge towers which was tied together at the upper level by two horizontal walkways . The bridge is 800 feet (240 metres) in length with two towers each 213 feet (65 metres) high, built on piers. The main bridge deck carries two lanes of road traffic between two low-level pedestrian walkways across both suspension spans and the opening bascule section of the bridge, with the walkways separated from the roadway by fences. The roadway passes through each of the two towers, whereas the low-level walkways pass around the outside of the towers. The bridge's present colour scheme dates from 1977, when it was painted red, white and blue for Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee. The bridge deck is freely accessible to both vehicles and pedestrians.

SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Bridge

TOAST SKAGEN

Toast skagen is one of Swedish traditional foods. It was named for a fishing port at the northern tip of Denmark. It is typically served as a starter at Swedish dinner parties. This traditional food is an elegant combination of shrimp and other intredigents like mayonnaise on a small piece of sautéd bread. It was created by Tore Wretman who is the popular Swedish restaurateur. He embraced Swedish culinary traditions during the deaces immediately after World War II, more than anyone else. At a time when home cooking was starting to fade away and was replaced by foreign fast food, he also elevated classic Swedish foods into fancy restaurant repertoire, lending the new status.

INTREDIGENTS: (FOUR SERVINGS)

·       4 slices of white bread

·       320 g(11 oz) peeled shripms (prawns)      

·       4 tbs mayonnaise

·       1 tbs Dijon mustard

·       150 g(5 oz) whitefish roe

·       50 g(2 oz) fresh dill

·       1 lemon

·       Butter

       PREPARATİON:

First of all, cut off the crusts of the bread   slices. Secondly, sauté the bread in a little butter until it turns golden Brown on both sides. Thirdly, place on paper towels and if the shrimps are large, cut them into small pieces. Then, save four sprigs off dill for garnishes. Chop finely the rest of the dill and mix them with the shrimps, mayonnaise and mustard. After that, apportion the mixture on the slices of sautéd bread. Then, shape the whitefish roe like eggs and place on top of each toast. Garnish each with a sprig off dill and serve with a slice of lemon.

SOURCES: http://www.toastskagen.com/

SCENES FACTS FROM THE LORD OF THE RINGS

There are 10 scene facts about The Lord of Rings.

1)   As the Orcs have black blood, the inside of their mouths should be black as well. To achieve this, The orc actors had to swill a liquorice-based mouthwash prior to each of their scenes.

2)   When Bilbo dropped the ring before leaving Hobitton, the floor was magnetic to prevent the ring from bouncing. This was done to demonstrate the importance and weight of the ring.

3)   While they are filming, Viggo Mortensen, called Aragorn in the film, got into character during a conversation. So, Peter Jackson referred to him as Aragorn for over half an hour without realizing it.

4)   Hobbitton was made a year ago before production began to make it. It looks like that it was natural, lived-in place and they used real vegetable patches.

  5)The original cut was four hours and thirty minutes long.

)  6) When the trailer was released on the Internet on 7 April 2001, it was downloaded 1.6 million times in the first 24 hours.

   7) The Battle of Helm’s Deep featured hundreds of spears made of cardboard tubes so that none of the charging horses would be injured.

8)   The bodies lying underwater in the Dead Marshes were made of silicone.

9)   When Frodo and Sam are in Osgiliath, Sam says, 'By rights, we shouldn’t even be here.’This was nod to the devition the screenplay had taken from the book’s storyline. In the book, Sam and Frodo never passed through Osgiliath at all.

10) The Lord of the Rings trilogy became the most nominated film series in Academy Award history with 30 nominations, surpassing both the Godfather trilogy and the Star Wars franchise.

SOURCES: http://thechive.com/2015/05/18/behind-the-scenes-facts-from-the-lord-of-the-rings-35-photos/

DO YOU KNOW PROBOSCİS MONKEY?

The proboscis monkey or long-nosed monkey is a reddish-brown arboreal Old World monkey. It is endemic to the southeast Asia island of Bornea and also can be found on all three nations that divide the island: Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Males have a head-body length of 66 to 76.2 cm and typically weigh 16 to 22.5 kg while females measure 53.3 to 62 cm  in head-and-body length and weigh 7 to 12 kg. The proboscis monkey has a long coat and the fur on the back is bright orange, reddish brown, yellowish brown or

brick-red. They also have long nose. The face is orange-pink. They co-exist with the Bornean orangutan. Proboscis monkeys also generally live in groups composed of one adult male, some adult females and their offspring.They are seasonal eater. The proboscis monkey eats primarily fruit and leaves. Furthermore, they eat flowers, seeds and insects to a lesser extent.

SOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proboscis_monkey

MAKE YOUR BRITISH TEA

We can make British tea with 8 steps. Firstly, pick your tea. This is the most important step to making perfect British tea. British tea is made with black tea leaves, so look for that when buying tea. Early Grey, black tea, breakfast tea or British tea are preferred by English people. Secondly, boil the tea. You can boil freshly drawn water in an electric kettle, a stovetop kettle, or even a pot if needed. Thirdly, get your tea or tea bags ready in the pot or mugs. If you are using mugs, put a teabag in each mug. If you want to make tea in a teapot, warm the teapot with hot water and then, add teabag for per person. If you are making tea with loose-leaf tea in a pot, add 1 teaspoonful of tea per cup, plus one extra teaspoonful for the pot. Forth step is that pour boiling water over the teabag, and stir briefly. You have to make sure it is boiling in this step. Fifth

step is that wait. You must wait for time to develop its flavour. Sixth is that remove the teabag. Never squeeze the teabag. Because squeezing will release a bitter taste into your tea. Seventh is that add milk and sugar to taste. You need to use sterilised milk to achieving the classic taste. You need to look for right colour. The perfect cup of tea will have a dark orange-brown look once the milk has been added and stirred. Finally, your British tea is ready. Enjoy your tea J

BENEFITS OF TREES TO THE ENVIRONMENT

Trees has several benefits to the environment.First one is that trees combat climate change. They absorb C2O, removing and storing the carbon while releasing the oxygen back in to the air. Another one is that trees clean the air. For example, they absorb pollutant gases and odours and they filter particulates out of the air by trapping them on their leaves and bark. Next one is that trees save water. For example, they slows water evaporation from thirsty lawns and while they also transpire, they increase atmospheric moisture. So, they also help prevent water pollution. The other benefit is that trees provide food. When they are planted, they give us fruits, vegetables and we always take advantage of them. Also, they provide food and nest for animals. We can also say that trees reduce violance. For example, people who live in barren place can have fear such as walking alone because they can experience violence easily. So, trees and landscaping help to reduce the level of fear. We can mark the seasons with utilising from trees. Lastly, they are playmates and teacher for adults and childrens. Trees have provided the space for human retreat throughout the ages. In conclusion, trees are important for each of us so we have to protect them.

SOURCE: https://www.treepeople.org/resources/tree-benefits

TURKISH COFFEE

Turkish coffee is a methof of preparing unfiltered coffee. The earliest evidence of Turkish coffee comes from Yemen. In 1517  the Ottoman governer of Yemen Özdemir Pasha  found this new coffee style. He introduced it to the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. This coffee impressed the Sultan Suleiman and he gave the Royal seal off approve to it. At present, it is found in Indonesia, Eastern Europe, North Africa, the Caucasus, the Balkans and the Middle East.

The Preparation of Turkish Coffee:

Coffee beans which roasted and finely sifted are put into cezve and then if consumed with sugar , when added, four degress of sweetness are used. First one is little sugar, half a level teaspoon of sugar. Second one is medium sugar, a level teaspoon of sugar. Third one is a lot of sugar, one and a half or two level teaspoons and the last one is no sugar (if consumed without sugar). After added water, it is put on moderate heat and simmered, not boiling. It starts to boil, cezve  is removed from the heat and pour into the cups. It is served with Turkish delight or chocolate

SOURCES: http://www.turkishstylegroundcoffee.com/turkish-style-coffee/turkish-coffee-history/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_coffee

THE STRANGEST LANGUAGE : XHOSA

Xhosa language is one of the official language of South Africa.It is spoken by almost 7.6 million people and it is the second most common home language in South Africe. It is written using Latin alphabet. This language has ten vowels, two tones and it is rich in uncommon consonants. Xhosa language has role in modern society. For example, Xhosa is taught as a subject, both for native and for non-native speakers. Its use in education has been governed by legislation, beginning with the Bantu Education Act of 1953. And it’s role is  complex and ambiguous for South Africans.

SOURCES: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xhosa_language

HOW WE CAN TAKE BETTER PHOTOS?

 

Most of us like taking photos but photos which is taken cannot sometimes be clear. However, there are 5 tips to take better photos. The first one is getting in close. This means that the closer you are the subject, the better you can see their facial expressions. The second one is shooting every day. If you take photos every day, you will find different ways and you will improve your technical skills. The third one is seeing the light which is the most important. Before you take a photo, you have to see where the light comes from and you need to use it as advantage. If the light is in the back of the photograph, the photograph will look dark and it won’t clear but if you see the right way, it will look gorgeous. The fourth one is focusing and this is also 
important. When you are capture something in photo, you need to know what you want in focus. You can’t focus everything in the photo so you need to choose the best one. For example, when capturing portraits of people or animals, it is the best to focus on the eyes above all else. And finally the last one is perspective. If you zoom in on your subject, zoom out, you will show how your subject fits in the world around you. For example, go to a place and stand in there with zoom lens and when you do this, you will see the world in a hundred different ways. As you do this, you can improve your perspective and you can make better your photos as using this 5 methods.

SOURCES: http://petapixel.com/2014/01/24/40-tips-take-better-photos/

             http://cameras.reviewed.com/features/5-simple-photography-tips-for-beginners

UNHEARD SPORT: SEPAK TAKRAW

           Sepak Takraw or kick ball or footvolley is a sport and it is indigenious to Southest Asia. Sepak Takraw is not like volleyball. It differ from normal volleyball. Because Sepak Takraw plays with a ratten ball that is not less from 42 to 44 cm for men and from 43 to 45 for women or the game plays with a synthetic balloon.

A match is played by two team. It is dubbed 'regus'. These teams consist of three players. One of the player shall be at the back and the player is called 'Tekong'. The other players shall be in front, one on the left and the one on the right. The player on the left is called 'Left Inside' and the player on the right is called 'Right Inside'. The first sets starts with the side who must serve and which side wins, the winner will have the options of choosing service. There is also a referee and the referee's job is to call the score. If either of the inside players throws the ball before the referee calls the score, it must be re-thrown and warming will be given to thrower by the referee.


During the game, when the Tekong kicks the ball, all players can move freely in their courts and also in this game, players can not touch the net but in the service if the ball passes the net, whether the ball touches the net or not, it can be score. Sepak Takraw has also 3 sets and each of the set has up to 21 points.

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepak_takraw