Sunday Family Lunch

Last Sunday, my BILs and SILs –along with their kids- came to have lunch together. We decided to eat at Rumah Air (Water House) restaurant. Kids had good time as they can play various games there. The food was just average, nothing special; but the place is really nice. While waiting the food, we can feed lots of fish in the pond. Do you like an eating place with watery environment? 

Mini Becak

Water Baloon

Colorful Boats

Having fun

 Blue Monday.

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6 Simple Ways to Stay in Touch

Maintaining intimate connections with your loved ones while you are working, travelling overseas or have moved can be difficult. There are a number of easy ways to keep important personal connections thriving that don’t take much effort at all. Although social networking sites are extremely convenient they can often lack intimacy. Connecting with your loved ones regularly and acknowledging special occasions with messages, letters or a bouquet of flowers will prove satisfying and will also strengthen relationships. Here are 6 simple ways to stay in touch with your loved ones.

Use a Calendar

It sounds basic and that’s because it is. Take some time to put your loved ones’ special milestones, anniversaries and birthdays into your calendar each year. It will certainly make a lasting impression. Whatever way you chose to recognise the occasion you can be sure they will be impressed and in awe of your thoughtfulness.  Acknowledging your friends and families special dates doesn’t take much time out of your day and what you get out of it, apart from respect and gratitude is more intimate connections and lasting friendships.

Online Flowers

There is nothing easier than selecting a beautiful bouquet of flowers online to have delivered directly to your loved ones on their special occasion. Flowers are the perfect gift for birthdays and other anniversaries and they are scientifically proven to make your loved one feel good. Studies show that giving and receiving flowers improves social behaviour and reduces the receivers stress levels. The mood lift provided by receiving flowers can last for a few days after their arrival so this makes them the number one way to make a connection. 

Letters

Letters may be old fashioned however this is what makes them so special. Knowing that your friend or loved one has taken the time to write to you and then send it through the post can be quite thrilling. Also, a letter it is something that they can hold onto and provides them with a vivid sensory experience of you. The handwriting, ink colour, paper choice even the picture on the stamp give your loved one a whole range of experiences that connect them to you. It may take a little more time however the effort will not go unnoticed.

Telephone Cards

If you happen to be somewhere isolated where internet connection is slow or even costly then a telephone card is a smart option. Telephone cards allow you to call overseas at an affordable rate and talk for hours to your friends and family.

Email

Email is instant, available almost everywhere and free so it is a perfect way to make regular contact with your friends and family. On special occasions you can write or send an electronic card. There are e cards for almost every occasion and every type of relationship which makes reaching out, honouring a milestone or birthday fun and easy.

Video Chat

Video chatting can be a lot more intimate than a phone call. An instant visual impression of your loved one allows you to communicate on a much deeper level. There is less room for misunderstandings and you have the ability to read each others facial expressions. Eye contact is great for creating intimacy and if you are missing your family, friends or partner there is nothing quite like just seeing their face and knowing that they are seeing you too. Video chatting can be the next best thing to having the person right there in front of you.

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Glowing in the Dark

Different with our eyes that work well in day light, the cat’s eyes can function well in very low light situation. In the dark, cat’s eyes only need about one-sixth of the light required for human sight as the cat’s elliptical pupil are able to open as wide as possible to allow the light entering the eyes.

Tapetum lucidum that located at the back of the cat’s eyes –behind the retina- performs like a mirror that will reflect back the light onto the light sensor cells in the retina. That’s why when those eyes are caught in a ray of light at night, we see two amazing glowing eyes!

Camera Critters

source:google

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A Brief History of Silver-Service Dining

Despite the fact that it has been around for hundreds of years, unless you eat at high-end restaurants or live in an affluent household, you may have never experienced silver-service dining. For generations, upper class British people have been elaborately served in a style known as silver service, which has become the benchmark of fine dining across much of the world. The following is a brief history of silver-service dining.

What Is It?

Silver service is a form of dining where the food is brought to your plate, rather than being plated in the kitchen and then brought to you. Food is served by the waiter from the diner’s left side. It is generally served with a fork and a spoon, or two forks. The waiter or server uses the utensils to create a pincer-type action for transferring food to the guests’ plates, usually from a large silver dish or tray.

Origin
Silver service is also known as English service or butler service, and originates in the country manors and high-class estates of England during the 17th and 18th centuries. Silver service is thought to have evolved out of the practise of giving waiting staff Sunday evening off, meaning the butler was required to serve the food instead. Usually, Sunday dinners would have consisted of leftovers from a big Sunday lunch. The butler would go from guest to guest, serving them from a larger platter directly onto their plates. This type of table service became popular in high-end restaurants and at fancy functions and is still used in many top-class restaurants to this day.

Training
Silver service has always been taught in hotel school, and while it is not exactly a common style of dining, silver service is still a feature of modern-day hospitality training. For those who want to go into high-end restaurant or catering work, being proficient in silver service is mandatory.

Benefits
The biggest benefit is for those being served, as they feel special having the food served right to their plates. However, it also makes bringing food to the table a little easier for the waiter. If you are hosting a dinner, silver service can also be a sneaky way to control portions of food, so that you can ensure there is enough to go around.

Future
While you shouldn’t expect to see silver service offered at your local cafe anytime soon, there has been a gradual move back towards silver-service dining in restaurants catering to the middle and upper classes. As a way to offer an extra-special dining experience, silver service remains a timeless classic, and will likely continue to be a fixture of high-end dining for years to come.

Silver service has a long and impressive history at the dinner tables of the upper classes, and is a great way to make a dinner an extra special occasion. If you are planning a lavish wedding or special celebration, think about the waiting service you will be providing for your guests. When you are booking your marquee hire, it is worth also exploring the catering services that event hire companies offer. Providing silver-service dining is sure to give your guests an experience they will never forget!

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Suitable Insurance Policies for the Elderly

It used to be impossible to get life insurance as an elderly person. The obvious reason for this is that there is a huge risk involved. As the population has aged, however, this market has become a very large one and now an increasing number of insurers are reaching out to benefit from it. It now seems like it is never too late to get insurance, but you do have to expect larger figures for your life insurance quotes as you age. This article considers some of the options for elderly insurance to ensure that you are covered for any eventuality.

Deferred Life Insurance

The main reason that elderly people seek life insurance is to prevent themselves from leaving debts behind for the ones they love.

Debts, sadly, do not get wiped clean when you die and they can pass on to your children or even grandchildren if you are not careful. Deferred life insurance is one of the best ways to avoid this and it is a good system for the elderly.

To avoid high premiums, deferred life insurance works on the basis of repayment only to begin with. In the first three years of such life insurance a death will simply result in the repayment of premiums that have been paid to the company. This will not clear debts but a life that exceeds this three-year period will become fully insured and covered comprehensively.

Guaranteed Life Insurance

As we get older our health deteriorates and this can cause serious problems for the elderly and their premium costs. Guaranteed life insurance is for the elderly who expect that their health may deteriorate. Once you reach 50 you can get life insurance that is guaranteed. This means that you make a steady premium payment for 20 or 30 years in the knowledge that your benefits and premiums will remain the same regardless of your health deteriorating over this time.

Guaranteed life insurance is a great thing for those aged over 50 to opt into. It means that during the period wherein you are most likely to deteriorate in health, you will be secure in knowing that your premium will not change. This offers security and one less worry in your final years.

Take Care

There are policies that are offered to seniors that simply aren’t worth applying for. It is important that all policies are scrutinised closely and it is worth discussing them with younger family members and beneficiaries for advice too. Be sure to get the policy terms in writing before agreeing to anything so that you can ensure that the deal is actually worthwhile.

Disclosure

It is vitally important to seek full disclosure of costs when opting for cover. This is particularly important when opting to change policies because there are usually costs involved in doing so. Often, the new company hides these charges and they will adversely affect your fund without you even realising it. Demanding full disclosure of all costs in writing will prevent companies from neglecting to inform you about this and can potentially save significant amounts in benefits.

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