Bird Respiratory System

The avian lungs are pretty neat, and can be considered an improvement over the typical mammalian lungs.

Avian lungs have air sacs that extend into bones and muscles. The air sacs act as bellows to directly deliver oxygen to sustain the high metabolic rate needed to enable flight.

Below is a picture with better description of the unique avian anatomy:

(Taken at the Jurong Bird Park, Singapore)

Pork + Coca Cola = Lies!!!

What happens when you mix religion fundamentalisms and pseudoscience?

You spread lies to children. It's indeed a load bull of hypocrisy when religions supposed to espouse the divine truth.

There are numerous youtube post on maggots or worms coming out of pork, after being treated (marinated) with Coca-cola. The story paints a negative picture on pork eaters (note: non believers) and gives merits to certain religion that prohibits pork consumption (the believers).

Any type of meat may contain parasites, be they endoparasites or endoparasites. Besides, uncovered meat (especially those bought from butchers in the wet and open market) are exposed to opportunistic flies wanting to lay their eggs. The appearance of maggots is no longer a surprise. Premium butchers that keep their meat covered reduces the likelihood of maggots.

Even if there are fly eggs and parasitic worms in pork, they are killed during the cooking process. Even boiling alone is sufficient to kill. Else why do we bother boiling water before drinking if such parasites remain alive? And no sane person continues to consume meat already infested by maggots. 

Bear in mind, pork consumption is widespread around the world. You don't see people drop dead instantly. Pork is only harmful when it is consumed in excessive amount, as pork is rich in saturated fats and cholesterol, leading to higher risk of getting cardiovascular diseases.

Here is a good discussion carried out by our skeptical community in Facebook: Link

It had a surprising conclusion: Coca-cola appears to be a good ingredient for meat marination. :)

This whole incident disgusts me how ignorant people resort to ignorance to spread falsehood in the name of promoting their belief. They rather twist facts and evidence only to further their imaginative cause.

Lastly, could haters probably are harbouring jealously towards bacon haters?

Here's something for haters to increase their hatred:

Bill Nye: Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children

The tittle sums up my sentiment.

I may have nothing against people believe in religion, but I have a HUGE issue with people indoctrinating children with the sky-daddy that they believe.

Such indoctrination is most certainly harmful to the developing mind of children. Indoctrination encourages children to just accept statements as fact, to deny evidence, and most importantly to kill of questioning or simply being curious.

Such is the toll to human capital that most adults do not comprehend basic sciences nor are they capable in explaining or conveying scientific knowledge to the masses. Instead, most adults are more likely swayed by pseudoscience or whatever mumbo-jumbo that their religion believes in.



The worst part has to do with science teachers themselves. Till today I still hear horror stories about school teachers refusing to teach evolution. Some teachers state publicly to the students that they are supposed to teach evolution, but they won't accept it.

Samsung's creativity

Samsung recently posted an advertisement, espousing the company's creative team in designing the Galaxy SIII.

However, the timing of this advertisement was really bad as the next day Apple was awarded more than USD 1 billion for slavishly copying Apple's design and patents. Link.

Here is the original ad:



And here is a parody made by someone on Youtube:

Intriguing History of Batu Arang

The name of this old Selangor town kept popping up as I was searching for articles on fossil fuels. Batu Arang is of course synonymous with its former abundant natural resources: coal.

In 2010, Malaysiakini produced an excellent short video on the turbulent history of Batu Arang.

The early coal miners were much more informed than labour workers in other parts of the nation. The coal miners had formed unions and organised strikes (typical communist tactics) in demanding for better wages and working conditions. Such portrayal of the "spirit of defiance" may have seeded the notion of independence from the British colonial masters.

The most surprising part is that the strike committee declared and formed the first independent country, Malaya's first Soviet government on March 27, 1937. This was a declaration of independence even before the formation of the Federation of Malaya in 1957. The Soviet government's brief reign came to an end when it was crushed ruthlessly by the combined forces of the police and Malay troops.

A Soviet government in Malaya? Back in 1937? Surely this must be a dream come true for the Malayan Communist Party (MCP).

For those interested in the history of Communism in Malaya, here are couple of links:

1. Red Star over Malaya

2. History in the making (there were some comical moments during the historical signing of peace treaty between MCP and the Malaysian government)

3. Disputed legacy

Back to Batu Arang.

Coal mining was carried out in the open as opposed to underground mining. The story of existing sealed secret underground tunnels helps to propagate this misconception. Now, the huge cavity in the ground has been filled with water and forms a huge pond.


View Larger Map

There are still some coal deposits underground in Batu Arang. This unfortunate resident's house turned into a sauna room one day when the underground coal deposit caught fire (coal seam fire or mine fire). Now, this is eerily similar to the movie, Silent Hill. I could imagine the fiery duration would be as long as peat fires, depending on the area and amount of fuel deposits. And this is not the first time such incident occurred in Batu Arang. In 1990, a primary Chinese school had to be demolished.

An important note to potential house buyers in Batu Arang!

 More stories on Batu Arang:
1. Stepping back in time 

Sunday morning Pork Roast at Yut Kee Restaurant

Have been reading about this famous Chinese coffee shop in the heart of Kuala Lumpur that serves its famous roast pork and roti babi. Kedai Makanan Yut Kee.

After reading that this shop is moving away to a new location, I have always been reminding myself to visit this place soon, as not to miss the chance of dining in a nostalgic environment of colonial days.

Today Sunday I managed to wake up early and arrived at around 9:30 am. Ample parking can be found further down the road. However, the shop was already fully occupied and couple of patrons were queuing outside. We placed a booking order and our names were called 20 minutes later. While waiting, I snapped a picture of the facade.




We promptly ordered the recommended Hainanese pork chop and roti babi. The pork chop arrived first and it was different from those typically served in other shops, being that it's not served with sweet and sour sauce. The sauce was a type of brown gravy with lots of garlic and onions. But it's still served with green peas, which I dislike.




Next came the roti babi. The presentation was nothing to be impressed with. It looked like any plain French toast with some cabbage leaves.




However, once cut open, juicy pork floss began oozing out.


Sorry, the picture was blurry.


We finished our meals with a few quick bites, and were now ready to order the star of the attraction: pork belly roast with apple sauce. However, we have to wait till 10:30 am or after as the pork bellies were still roasting in the oven. So, in the meantime, we ordered a set of half-boiled eggs. Warning: the soya sauce is extremely salty.


The morning patrons.

The pork belly roasts were ready after some delay. The meat was succulent and the skin crispy. In fact too crispy till it's sometimes very hard to cut or bite. The apple sauce wasn't sweet nor too thick, but in fact I prefer otherwise. Hence, I skipped the sauce.





The entire roll of roasted pork belly. Damage: RM 150.00.

Here are reviews from others:
The Star
Rebecca Saw
Masak-masak

Wallop Pork Burger

There is a sudden boom followed by multitude of reviews on pork burger in Klang Valley.

While driving around in PJ area, I chanced upon Wallop Pork Burger in PJ SS2 Chow Yang.

The lady at the counter was friendly and took her time to explain the various burgers and sets that they offer. As summary, all the burgers are almost the same the same. They only differ in their sizes and there is a spicy version. Besides, you can customise your own burger by adding cheese, pineapple, egg or even bacon. The price for these add-ons are quite reasonable, especially for bacon.

I must say the Sergeant wallop burger is the only selection that is large enough to fill me up. If you have a good appetite, you may need to order more than one of this. Don't forget to bring along your student card, which entitles you for discounts.

The taste is good. They claim that the patty is fresh, hand made, and with no artificial flavourings. Certainly, the patty is juicy and not too oily.


The Sergeant Wallop burger.

Give it a try if you are in the vicinity.

Hilux & ear infection

Hilux the dog has been suffering from some kind of ear infection. Bad smell and thick blackish liquid were oozing from both her ears. In fact, she's been constantly scratching her ears till her nails turned black.

On her first visit, the vet provided me with saline solution for cleaning. However, the cleaning process proved to be too painful, even when used with cotton buds. Hilux grew accustomed to the cleaning process that she ran to the corner whenever I was holding the saline bottle and some cotton buds.

The second visit was no better. Armed with antiseptic solution, Hilux tried her best to avoid me when it comes to cleaning her ears. Besides, she even refused the antibiotics given.

The third visit has better results. I requested to vet to sedate her in order to clean the ears properly. Hilux limped almost instantaneously once the injection was given. It was quite comical seeing her struggling to get up when all her limbs were limping. For all her effort, Hilux managed to stand on her four feet after 15 minutes, enough time for the vet's team to clean up both ears.

As for the antibiotics, I sneaked them into Hilux's favourite food: cheese. She gobbled the entire piece of cheese, not minding of the tablets that I slipped into it.

 

This time, I must commended that the vet and her team did a good job in treating Hilux. The infection slowly subsided and Hilux's nails have gone from black to pink. There are less scratching of her ears and shaking her head violently. I have better send her for a follow up check-up to ensure she is completely infection free.