Loathed by traditionalists, loved by those who don’t want their blood pressure to resemble a cricket score, Hong Kong’s modern mooncakes have become a Mid-Autumn Festival phenomenon.

The Chinese mooncake festival is traditionally a belt busting mix of salted egg yolks and sweet lotus paste in a hockey puck sized pastry. Believe or not, and after tasting one you might not, mooncakes are a desert and their dense filling can put a significant bulge in your waistline. So in response to demand from people who don’t want to wobble when they walk, pastry chefs have added some lighter, and better, flavours. Here are our favourites.

1. Snow Skinned
The original modern Mooncake; snow skinned mooncakes hit the headlines in 1994, when Raffles Hotel in Singapore launched a champagne version of the desert. Since then they’ve taken Asia by storm. Chilled rather than baked and named after their translucent skin, they’re much sweeter than they’re oily counterparts and come in a variety of fruit flavours.

2. Red Bean Paste
If you don’t want to get to far from the Chinese traditions of the Mooncake, red bean paste is a popular filling in Hong Kong and mixes well with the optional egg yolks.

3. Chocolate
Everyone knows that if you really want to get to the business end of a great desert, you skip the beans, pastes and fruits and pick up the cacao. Chocolate covered, chocolate dipped and chocolate stuffed, Hong Kong’s chocolate Mooncakes are best enjoyed by those with gym membership.

4. Durian
Just like the fruit itself, the Durian mooncake packs a pungent punch and if you can tackle the smell, it boasts the best fruit taste around.

5. Cream Cheese
The mooncake meets the Bagel. Experiments with savoury mooncake fillings have thus far been less than convincing; they just weren’t made for a BLT. Cream cheese on the other hand has just the right consistency for a convincing mooncake.

6. Custard Cream
Taking its inspiration from traditional English custard cream biscuits, the custard cream mooncake is one of the few fusion mooncakes that still gets stuffed into the traditional pastry.

7. Ice Cream
Once a novelty, now a firm favourite; Haagen Daazs Mooncakes may only be mooncakes in name, but these chocolate coated, ice cream stuffed pies have established themselves as a Mid Autumn festival must.

8. Green Tea
Ideal for those who want to at least pretend that their desert has health benefits, green tea mooncakes are popular with those who can’t quite stomach the candy covered sweetness in most of the mooncakes above.

Source: http://gohongkong.about.com/od/wheretoeatinhk/tp/mooncakes.htm

Cases of Attention Deficit Disorder, or ADD, have been on the rise in recent years. Doctors are finally realizing that a true physical disability can be present in both children and adults in order to cause them to have a reduced attention span and increased hyperactivity. If you’re raising a child with ADD, what are some things you can do to help him cope with this condition, to still get a proper education, to learn boundaries, and to keep you from pulling out your own hair? There are some things you can remember when raising a child with ADD that will help with all these issues.

First, it’s important to have a proper diagnosis when raising a child with ADD. Just because your child is inattentive or has a tremendous amount of energy doesn’t mean he necessarily has ADD. If your child can sit and play video games for half an hour, chances are he doesn’t have true ADD. Make sure you get a diagnosis from a doctor rather than just assuming you know what your child has.

Setting boundaries is still important when raising a child with ADD. It’s tempting to think that since your child has an illness then he should just be allowed to run amok, but this is a mistake. Everyone needs to learn self-discipline and control regardless of how difficult it might be, and this is true when raising a child with ADD. While those boundaries may be more lax than with other children – you have them sit and do homework for five minutes instead of 30, for instance – you still need boundaries nonetheless. Talk to your child openly and honestly about these expectations. Tell him he needs to sit still for another few minutes before he can go play or do anything else. Set boundaries on their free time as well; this too is vitally important when raising a child with ADD. They may resist some structured activities or having to sit still but they need to understand that despite how difficult it is, they need to sometimes buckle down and show some self-control.

Every parent wants their child to be properly educated and this is true when raising a child with ADD, even though this presents some special considerations. It helps to break up lessons in shorter bursts of time rather than expect your child to sit still through hours of the same lesson. Schooling also needs to be more absorbing for a child with ADD as he will have a hard time allowing himself to be caught up in the lessons. Using visual aids and hands-on materials is always helpful for any child but even more so when raising a child with ADD. Getting out of the classroom and taking field trips helps to keep them involved with the lessons and attentive.

And as for yourself, remember that your child has a situation that is difficult. It’s never easy raising a child with ADD but you need to show that much more patience every single day. Resist the urge to blame him for his lack of attention and remind yourself of how difficult it must be for him as well. Give yourself frequent breaks; walk away and do something else for a few minutes if you feel yourself getting irritated or impatient. It might also be beneficial to ask for some help; remember that you can’t do everything by yourself. Let your child have some free time to himself where he can learn and explore on his own rather than thinking you need to structure every minute of every day. And don’t hesitate to ask your doctor for help when raising a child with ADD. While you might hesitate to use medication, he or she can offer some further suggestions as to dietary changes and changes to your schedule that can help. Since they are always learning new information about children with ADD every single day, you may find that you can get some additional help for raising a child with ADD that you never expected.

Source: http://www.floweradvisor.com.sg/lifestyle/interests/parenting/5216/super_moms_secrets_for_raising_a_child_with_add/

See Also : Mooncake, Mid autumn festival,  Chinese moon cake festival

The best way to approach a career as a musician who writes and performs original music is to take control and market your music yourself. No one will ever feel as strongly about your craft as you do. Which means you’re the best person in the world to spread the news. Sure, promoting your own music takes a lot of effort, but its worth it and it can also be very profitable.

If you don’t believe it, then you’ve probably never heard of Ani DiFranco. At age 20, she started her own label, Righteous Babe Records, and began performing a growing number of solo acoustic shows. Coffeehouse gigs led to colleges, then larger theaters and major folk festivals. Over a seven-year period she sold more than 400,000 copies of her many independent releases (an average of 66,500 units per year). In one year alone, DiFranco performed 130 shows and generated almost $2 million in gross ticket sales. And she’s been written about in glowing terms by just about every major magazine and newspaper.

DiFranco was one of the early indie music pioneers who, in the 1990s, accomplished all of her success without a major record label, commercial radio airplay, MTV exposure, or advertising. “If you are disgustingly sincere and terribly diligent, there are ways for any serious artist to operate outside the corporate structure,” she once tol dthe Los Angeles Times.

Putting your Music Career in Focus: Question Everything You’ve Ever Been Told About the Music Business. If you get involved and immersed into the music biz, you’ll encounter plenty of people; some with impressive resumes, who will offer you their best music business advice. That’s fine. The more information you take in, the better educated you’ll be. But remain flexible and open-minded. The rules are changing quickly, so beware of anyone with an outdated, black-and-white view of the music world. These days, you get to pick and choose which existing “rules” truly apply to you; and you can create more empowering rules that suit you along the way.

Source: http://www.floweradvisor.com.sg/lifestyle/interests/music/51971/putting_your_music_career_in_focus/

See Also : Mooncake, Mid autumn festival, Chinese moon cake festival