Portuguese Egg Custard Tarts

Ingredients

Puff Pastry:
300 g All-purpose flour
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Butter
1 tsp Lemon Juice
155 ml Cold water
200 g Butter, unsalted
Custard Filling:
4 Egg yolks, at room temperature
120 ml Milk, warm
50 g Castor sugar
1 tbsp Sweetened condensed milk
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
Coconut flakes or sesame seeds

Method

1.Sieve the flour and salt. Rub in butter and make a well in the center. Fill in water and lemon juice, and mix well into a smooth dough ball. Wrap tightly and relax the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes. Cut a cross halfway through the dough and pull out four corners to form a star shape.
2.Roll out the points of the star into flaps, keeping the center thicker. The total thickness of four points is about the thickness of the center dough. Knead the butter between two baking paper to the same texture as the dough. This is extremely important. As the fat will melt and then ooze out if too soft, if too hard it will break through when rolling. Place the butter on the center and fold to seal in butter and press out any air. Make sure no butter is exposed.
3.On a lightly floured work surface, flatten the dough with a rolling pin, and then roll out to a 7x21-inch rectangle. Fold the bottom third of the rectangle up toward the centre, and brush off any extra flour. Fold the top third down to make a neat square and brush off any flour. This is a single fold. This folding method is similar to folding a letter into thirds to fit into an envelope. Give the dough a 90 degree turn to the left and again roll it out to a 7x21-inch rectangle. Fold in both the edges so that they meet in the center. This is called a double or book fold. Wrap and chill the dough overnight or at least 45 minutes. To get the maximum rising, turn the dough in the same direction so the seam is always at the same side.
4.Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Repeat both the single and double folds. Although the dough at this point is ready for use, allow to rest for two hours after the final turn before using in recipes. Alternatively freeze it for up to two months. If a recipe calls for a lighter pastry, then repeat the single and double folds again. In this case, relax the dough just for one hour.
5.Beat all the ingredients for the filling until well-blended. Strain the filling through a strainer. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Roll out the pastry dough into 3mm thickness and cut out 18 circles with a round cookie cutter and press into tart pans. Spoon the mixture evenly into the pastry cases, leaving about 1 cm below the rim of the pastry, and if desired sprinkle the top with coconut flakes or sesame seeds. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden.

Candied Banana Fritters

Ingredients

500 g Banana (not too ripe)
Frying oil
30 g All-purpose flour
20 g Cornstarch
1 Egg, beaten
1 tsp Water
150 g Granulated sugar
5 g Corn oil

Method

1.In a bowl combine the egg, AP-flour, 10 grams cornstarch and water to form a smooth batter. Heat a frying pan half filled with oil till 180C/350F. Prepare a serving plate lightly greased with oil or butter.
2.Peel bananas, cut into 3 to 4 diagonal chunks and roll in 10 grams of cornstarch to coat. Dip into the batter, making sure each piece is evenly coated. Low the coated banana pieces into the heated oil and deep fry them until golden in color. Remove and drain.
3.Heat 5 grams of oil in another clean skillet, add sugar and stir fry over low heat until the sugar dissolves and turns into a syrup. Turn off the heat and return the fried bananas into the syrup. Quickly and carefully mix them and plunge into the prepared serving plate.

Frikadellen / German Meat Patties

Ingredients

500 g Ground meat (pork and beef mixed)
70 g Onions
½ tbsp Oil
4 tbsp Breadcrumbs
1 pc Egg
60 ml Milk
1 tsp Basil, dried
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp White pepper

Method

1.Peel and dice the onions, then saute in oil until transparent. Add sauteed onions to ground meat in a mixing bowl. Stir together breadcrumbs and milk and add to meat mixture.
2.Add egg, basil, salt and pepper and mix well. Dampen hands and form meat mixture into a palm-sized patty.
3.Fry on both sides in oil until golden brown and served with salad, fries and tzatziki.

Dominosteine

Ingredients

Dough:
150 g Butter, at room temperature
100 g Sugar
1 pack Vanilla sugar
50 g Honey
3 Eggs
150 g Ground hazelnut
100 g Milk couverture, shaved
50 g Oatmeal, instant
30 g All-purpose flour
Filling:
80 g Raspberry jam (or other flavors)
100 g Marzipan
Couverture chocolates or sugar icings
Pine nuts

Method

1.Preheat the oven to 175C/350F. Line a baking tray, about 30cm by 40cm, with parchment paper. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla sugar until creamy. Add in honey, eggs, one by one and beat until well-blended. Add in ground hazelnut, chocolate shaves, oatmeal and flour. Blend well.
2.Spread the whole mass onto the prepared baking tray and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and spread jam over while it is still warm. Place marzipan between two plastic wrap and roll it out to about half size of the dough. Cover half section of jam with marzipan, and slice off another half to cover the marzipan. Lightly press them together. Cut it into 2cm squares.
3.Melt chocolates on a double boiler or using a stainless steel bowl over a pot of simmering water. Dip each square into the melted chocolate, allowing the excess to drip back into the pot. Place dominosteine onto a wax paper and let harden. Garnish dominosteine if desired.

Sweet Woodruff Blueberry Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust:
150 g Oatcake
70 g Margarine, softened
Filling:
8 sheet Gelatin
400 g Whipping cream
500 g Quark, low-fat
300 g Philadelphia cream cheese
100 g Sugar
1 pack / 8 g Vanilla sugar
100 ml Milk Jelly Topping:
150 g Fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained
1 pack Sweet Woodruff
jelly powder
80-100 g Sugar
500 ml Water

Method

1.Combine cookies and softened margarine, then press into the bottom of a 26-cm baking pan with a removable bottom. Chill crust 30 minutes. Beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form and store in the fridge until ready.
2.Soak gelatin sheets in cold water for 5 minutes until softened. Gently squeeze out excess water. Melt it in a heat proof bowl placed over simmering water until dissolved. Combine first 4 tablespoons of cheese mixture with the melted gelatin, then blend with the rest of cheese mixture until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream and until fully incorporated. Pour the cheese mixture over the crust and arrange the blueberries on top. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight.
3.Whisk together sugar and jelly powder in a medium pot. Pour in the water and cook over the slow heat until the sugar is dissolved. Remove and turn the heat off. Pour 1/3 of the jelly into a square shallow dish. Press and push a cookie mould into the set jelly to create the "heart". Pour the rest of cool jelly over the cheesecake. Place some heart-shaped jelly over if desired. To serve, loosen cheesecake and place it on a serving plate. Decorate the side with heart-shaped jelly.

Strawberry Charlotte Royale

Ingredients

Biscuit Roulade:
4 Eggs, large
3 tbsp Water, warm
120 g White sugar
1 Package / 8 g Vanilla sugar
75 g All-purpose flour
50 g Cornstarch
3 g Baking powder
Some cassis jam
Filling:
300 g Fresh strawberries
3 tbsp Honey
18 g Unflavoured gelatin granules
300 g 13% Philadelphia yogurt cheese
300 g 3.5% Vanilla yogurt
200 g Whipping cream
1 circle 9-inch Sponge cake

Method

1.Line a 40x30 cm baking tray with greased parchment paper. Sift all-purpose, cornstarch and baking powder. Beat the egg yolks with warm water until fluffy, then add in 100 grams of white sugar and vanilla sugar and beat until thick and light lemon colored. Beat the egg whites until foamy. Sprinkle in the remaining white sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold yolk mixture into whites. Add the sifted dry ingredients to egg mixture, folding in carefully. Spread batter in prepared pan and bake at 200C/400F for 13 minutes or until just done. The center should spring back when lightly touched.
2.Turn out onto a clean dish towel (or a parchment paper) which has been liberally sprinkled with confectioners' sugar. Carefully peel off the paper and trim off crisp edges. While still hot roll cake with cloth from narrow end. Cool rolled up cake on a rack. When cool, unroll and spread jam over the cake. Roll up and chill for 1 hour. Cut into no thicker than ½-inch thick slices.
3.Make the berry mousse: In a blender puree berries with the honey and strain the puree through a fine sieve. Pour about 1/3 puree in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin powder over and let it soften for 5 minutes. Place mixture in a pot filled with some water. Heat until gelatin dissolves, stirring constantly, until the gelatin is dissolved and whisk it into the rest of the puree. Whisk the Philadelphia and yogurt into the strawberry mixture, whisking until it is smooth. Whip the cream until thick and fold into strawberry mixture.
4.Line a 8-inch plastic bowl with plastic wrap. Starting in the center, lay the cake slices edge to edge. The slices should be pressed together so any gaps between them are kept small. Continue this all the way around, up the sides of the bowl. Slowly pour the mousse in and cover with an 8-inch circle of cake. Chill overnight.
5.To serve: Place a cardboard cake-circle or a serving plate on top of the bowl and flip over. Tug gently on the plastic wrap to remove the cake from the mold. Garnish the cake with berries if desired.

Fried Fish Balls Coated With Sesame

Ingredients

450 g Fish fillet
50 g Ground meat
Frying oil
Chili or cocktail sauce
3 g Salt
15 g Jiafan rice wine
10 g Sesame oil
25 g Cornstarch
10 g Chopped spring onion
15 g Ginger paste
15 g Egg white
20 g Sesame seeds

Method

1.Clean the fish fillets and chopped together with ground meat until well combined.
2.Add the rest of ingredients except frying oil into the fish mixture, and mix well.
3.Shape into 1-inch balls, coat with sesame seeds.
4.Fry croquettes in 2-inch deep oil at 150C/300F until golden brown.
5.Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately with the sauce.

Egg Custard Tarts A La Hong Kong

Ingredients

Water Dough:
250 g All-purpose flour
½ Egg, beaten
25 g Sugar
13 g Lard or shortening
75 g Water
Oil Dough:
150 g Butter
250 g Lard or shortening
200 g All-purpose flour
Filling:
100 g Egg, beaten
1 Egg yolk
90 g Evaporated milk
90 g Water
50 g Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Method

1.To prepare water dough: place flour in a mixing bowl, add in sugar, egg and shortening, mix well. Then stir water into the flour mixture to form a soft dough.
To prepare oil dough: Mix both ingredients together.
2.Place them in the freezer until they are firm and solid. Roll out the oil dough into a rectangle. Roll out the water dough into a rectangle twice the size of water dough. Place the oil dough in the centre of water dough. Fold over both sides to overlap. Roll out flat. Fold the pastry into quarters. Roll out flat. Repeat twice and roll dough into a big rectangle.
3.Mix the water and evaporated milk together in a sauce pan and bring to boil. Add in sugar and cook until the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Add the beaten eggs and vanilla extract. Strain the filling twice through a sieve.
4.Use a pastry cutter to divide the dough and press into tins so that it covers the bottom, and pushes up higher than the sides. Use 2 fingers to shape the edge into an A shape.
Pour filling 8/10th full into the tart mould and bake in a preheated oven at 180C/350F for 25 minutes or until the surface of the tart turns golden.

Braised Pork Trotters

Ingredients

2 pcs/750 g Pork trotter (get the butcher to cut into the small chunks)
10 - 12 Dried black mushrooms
1 stalk Spring onion
4-6 pcs Ginger slices
1 pc Star anise
1 tbsp Dark soya sauce
1 tbsp Light soya sauce
25 g Jiafan rice wine
5-8 pcs Szechuan pepper corns
1 tbsp Salad oil
1 tsp Salt
15 g Sugar
4-5 pcs Dried chili
Some water

Method

1.Wash trotters and clean well. Bring half a pot of water to a boil. Put in trotter and parboiled for 3-4 minutes.
2.Remove and place the trotter in a pressure cooker together with the dried mushrooms, ginger slices, spring onion, rice wine, soya sauces and star anise. Add in enough water to cover the trotter and cook for about 15 minutes.
3.Heat up a wok with salad oil. Add in sugar and saut¨¦ until fragrant and sugar has melted. Transfer the trotter from the presser cooker to the wok and bring to a boil. Add in dried chili and flavoured with salt. Reduce the heat and continue to simmer until the sauce turns thick and the trotter is cooked through. Dish out and sprinkle with some chopped spring onions. Serve the dish immediately.

Chrysanthemum-shaped Eggplant

Ingredients

250-300 g Eggplant
Cornstarch
3 g Salt
3 g Ginger root, shredded
3 g Garlic, minced
1+½ tbsp Chili sauce or ketchup
80 ml Stock
1/3 tsp Chicken bouillon
1 tbsp Starchy solution
Oil for deep frying

Method

1.Destem, rinse and peel the eggplant. Cut into 4cm high chunks and cut the surface crosswise. Sprinkle the eggplants with a bit of salt. Thoroughly coat the eggplants with cornstarch, shaking to remove any excess starch.
2.Heat up a frying pan with enough oil until very hot. Low down the prepared eggplants fry until golden. Drain and plate.
3.Leave a bit of oil in the same pan and heat up. Add in ginger, garlic and chili sauce. Stir briefly and add in stock, salt, chicken bouillon. Bring to boil and thicken with starchy solution. Lightly pour over the fried eggplants and serve hot.

Coffee Nut Muffins

Ingredients
Batter:
2 tsp Instant coffee powder
125 ml Hot water
175 g German #405 flour
20 g Alkalized unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp Baking powder
110 g Butter at room temperature
100 g Caster sugar
2 Eggs at room temperature
1/2 tsp Rum extract
30 Whole skinless hazelnuts
Glaze:
100 g Powdered sugar, sieved
1/2 tsp Instant coffee powder
2 tbsp Hot water

Method

1.Preheat oven to 190C/375F. Line muffin tins with papers or grease liberally. Dissolve the coffee powder in hot water. Set aside to cool. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Set aside.
2.Beat butter in large bowl until creamy. Gradually add in sugar and beat until fluffy and light in colour. Add in eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Mix in rum extract. Alternately add in flour mixture and prepared coffee. Stir only until combined. Do not overmix.
3.Fill muffin cups 4/5 full and top with 3 hazelnuts. Bake 25 minutes. Transfer the muffins on a wire rack. Combine together the powdered sugar and instant coffee. Add in hot water and stir until smooth. Drizzle the glaze across the top of each muffin and leave to set before serving.

Bienenstich 3 - German Bee Sting Cake

Ingredients
Dough:
190 g German #550 flour
45 g Unsalted butter
40 g Sugar
45 ml Milk, lukewarm
1 Egg yolk
5 g Instant dry yeast
Topping:
75 g Butter, unsalted
40 g Honey
1 package / 8 g Vanilla sugar
1 tbsp Milk
120 g Almond slices
Filling:
500 g Quark
1 package / 8 g Vanilla sugar
80 g Caster sugar
200 g Whipping cream
1 package / 8 g Stabilizer for whipping cream

Method

1.Combine together flour, dry yeast, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add in butter, egg and milk to form a dough. Knead the dough until soft and smooth. Put the dough in a lightly greased plastic bag. Tie the bag and let rise for about 1 hour until double in bulk at room temperature.
2.Grease a 28 cm springform pan. Roll out the dough on the prepared pan. Let rise one more time until the dough doubles in size. Heat the butter, honey, vanilla sugar and milk in a saucepan until runny on the slow heat. Add in almond slices and bring it to a boil. Remove and allow it to cool. Spread the almond honey mixture over the dough. Bake in a preheated oven at 190C/375F for about 30 minutes. Cool the baked dough on a wire rack.
3.Blend the quark, vanilla sugar and sugar until the mixture is smooth. Whip the cream for half minute, then sprinkle the stabilizer over and beat until stiff peak forms. Fold the whipped cream into the smooth quark.. Slice cooled dough into two layers. Spread the quark cream on the bottom layer and cover with the almond top.

Alaska Pollock In Teriyaki

Ingredients

300 g Alaska Pollock fillets, frozen
½ tsp Black pepper powder
½ tbsp Cornstarch
2/3 tbsp Cooking oil
1-2 Ginger slices
3 tbsp Teriyaki sauce

Method

1.Thaw the fish fillets slowly in the refrigerator. It takes about 12 hours, so put it in the fridge the night before you need it. Rinse and pat them dry with a kitchen towel. Evenly sprinkle the fish with black pepper powder. Let sit for 10 minutes, and then pat with cornstarch.
2.Heat up a pan with oil until hot. Add in ginger slices and fish halves. Pan-fry until it starts to caramelise. Swab extra grease from the frying pan and fish away with kitchen paper. Pour in teriyaki and simmer over the medium-low heat, turning once and cook until the sauce is thick and syrupy.

Taj Mahal to resume night visits

The Taj Mahal is to open on moonlit evenings 20 years after security fears ended night visits.
India's Supreme Court will allow the famous monument to love to open four nights a month, initially for three months.
The Taj, built in the 1600s by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a shrine for his wife, is a World Heritage site.
Only 400 visitors will be let in each night, and parking restrictions will be imposed around the marble mausoleum.
The Supreme Court announcement came as state officials in Uttar Pradesh were celebrating the Taj's 350th anniversary close to its site in the city of Agra.
State tourism minister Kaukab Hamid described the ruling as "heartening".
"This reopening of the Taj for moonlight viewing is going to draw fantastic crowds from across the globe," he said.
"We will ensure strict security and follow visitor guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court."
Tourist chiefs said more than 300,000 foreigners visited the Taj Mahal site in 2003, but numbers are down since the terror attacks in the US on 11 September 2001.
Night visits to the Taj, once a romantic highlight of any visit to India, were banned in 1984 amid fears that militant Sikhs battling the government would attack the shrine.
The Sikh insurgency ended in the mid-1990s, but Indian authorities have remained reluctant to let visitors back to the Taj after sunset.
During the height of tensions between India and Pakistan in 2001, officials drew up plans to camouflage the Taj to disguise it from possible Pakistani air attacks.
There were also fears that a militant Kashmiri separatist group, Laskhar-e-Toiba, was planning to try and blow up the shrine.
Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal as an expression of love for his wife Mumtaz Mahal.
Situated on the banks of River Yamuna, the shrine is largely made of white marble that reflects the changes of colour visible during sunset and clear, moonlit nights.
It was designated as a Unesco World Heritage site in 1983, meaning the Indian Supreme Court must rule on major works or changes likely to impact on the site.

Cat and Mice

Mrs Brown went to visit one of her friend and carried a small box with holes punched in the top.
　　" What's in your box?" asked the friend.
　　"A cat," answered Mrs Brown. "You see I've been dreaming about mice at night and I'm so scared! This cat is to catch them."
　　"But the mice are only imaginary," said the friend.
　　"So is the cat," whispered Mrs Brown.

A Psalm of Life

Tell me not in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream!for the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;But to act, that each to-morrow

Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Fneral marches to the grave.
In the world's broad field of battle,In the bivouac of

Life,Be not like dumb, driven cattlt!

Be a hero in the strife!
Thrust no future,howe'er pleasant!Let the dead

Past bury its dead!Act-act in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o'erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And , departing , leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints that perhaps another,

Sailing o'er life's solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us , then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any face;

Still achieving, still

pursuing,Learn to labour and to wait.

Snake Talk

Two snakes were crawling along when one snake asked the other, "Are we poisonous snakes?"
The other replied, "You're darn right we're poisonous! We're rattlesnakes Why do you ask?"
To which the first replied, "Because I just bit my tongue."

Red Currants Ice Cream

Ingredients

200 g Red currants
80 g Crystal sugar
170 ml Cilled milk
120 g Heavy cream
1 pc Egg yolk

Method

1.In a blender, mash the red currants with chilled milk and fine sugar.
2.Whip the heavy cream until soft peak forms. Add in the egg yolks and mix well.
3.Well mix the red currant pur¨¦e and whipped cream mixture and pour into ice cream maker, stirring for about 40 minutes. Freeze according to manufacturer's directions.

Egg Custard Tarts A La Hong Kong

Ingredients
Water Dough:
250 g All-purpose flour
½ Egg, beaten
25 g Sugar
13 g Lard or shortening
75 g Water
Oil Dough:
150 g Butter
250 g Lard or shortening
200 g All-purpose flour
Filling:
100 g Egg, beaten
1 Egg yolk
90 g Evaporated milk
90 g Water
50 g Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Method

1.To prepare water dough: place flour in a mixing bowl, add in sugar, egg and shortening, mix well. Then stir water into the flour mixture to form a soft dough.
2.To prepare oil dough: Mix both ingredients together.
3.Place them in the freezer until they are firm and solid. Roll out the oil dough into a rectangle. Roll out the water dough into a rectangle twice the size of water dough. Place the oil dough in the centre of water dough. Fold over both sides to overlap. Roll out flat. Fold the pastry into quarters. Roll out flat. Repeat twice and roll dough into a big rectangle.
4.Mix the water and evaporated milk together in a sauce pan and bring to boil. Add in sugar and cook until the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Add the beaten eggs and vanilla extract. Strain the filling twice through a sieve.
5.Use a pastry cutter to divide the dough and press into tins so that it covers the bottom, and pushes up higher than the sides. Use 2 fingers to shape the edge into an A shape.
6.Pour filling 8/10th full into the tart mould and bake in a preheated oven at 180C/350F for 25 minutes or until the surface of the tart turns golden.

Chinese Egg Pancake

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 tsp Salt, or to taste
1 stalk Spring onion, chopped
1 tbsp Vegetable oil

Method

1.Beat the eggs in a bowl and add the spring onion and salt, mixing well.
2.Heat the oil in a frying-pot over high heat until the surface ripples. Add the eggs and swirl the pan so the egg over the surface evenly. Turn the heat to low and low and cook until the bottom of the pancake is set and browned, turn and cook until browned on the other side. Remove and serve.

Ginseng Spinach Dumplings

Ingredients
Dough:
300 g All-purpose flour
150 g Spinach juice (60 g Spinach puree+100 ml Water, mix well)
1/3 tsp Salt
Stuffing:
250 g Ground meat
8 g Light soya sauce
5 g Sugar
1/3 tsp Vegetable or chicken bouillon
3 g Salt
White pepper powder
2 teabag / 6 g Ginseng powder
90 ml Warm water

Method

1.Stir the salt into the flour. Slowly stir in the cold water to make a dough and knead until smooth. Cover the dough and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
2.While the dough is resting, prepare the filling ingredients. Combine ground meat and seasonings and mix. Dissolve ginseng powder in warm water. Gradually add into the meat mixture, stirring in one direction until it becomes a paste.
3.Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a long roll and cut into ½-inch slices. Roll each piece out into a circle about 8-cm in diameter. Place a small portion of the filling into the middle of each wrapper. Fold and seal in your desired pattern.
4.To cook, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop in a bit of oil and add in some dumplings. Bring the water to a boil, and add 100 ml of cold water. Cover and repeat. The dumplings will be done when they float to the surface. Drain and remove. If desired, they can be pan-fried at this point.

Braised Loquat-shaped Tofu

Ingredients

pc/200 g Tofu
50 g Ground meat
6 pcs Dried mushrooms
1 stalk Green onion
Baby sweet corn
Carrot slices
Green peas
Sauce:
½ tsp Salt
1 tbsp All-purpose flour
¾ cup Stock
1 tsp Light soya sauce
¼ tsp Salt
Corn starch solution

Method

1.Mash the tofu with a tablespoon. Soak the dried mushrooms in some water until soft. Drain and chop. Cut the baby corn and carrots into the same size, green onion into chunks. Set aside.
2.Place the tofu, ground meat, ½ teaspoon salt, and flour in a bowl. Mix all the ingredients. Form them into a loquat-shape with a tablespoon.
3.Heat up a wok with some oil, deep-fry the loquat-shaped tofu until golden in colour. Drain.
4.Leave a teaspoon of oil in the wok, add in baby corns and carrots. Stir for about 1 minute and dish off. Add in spring onion and dried mushrooms, stir until fragrant. Pour in the stock, light soya sauce and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook until boil and return the tofu to the wok. Turn the heat down, cover and cook for a few minutes until all the ingredients well-combined. Dish off and serve immediately.

Nudelsalat - German Noodle Salad

Ingredients

80-100 g Gemelli or fusilli
150 g Cornichons
50 g Bierwurst (or Jagdwurst)
2 Cherry radishes
70 g Green peas, canned
2 tbsp Homemade mayonnaise
2 tsp Brine, saved from cornichons
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1.Cook gemelli according to instructions on box and cool. Chop the cornichon and radish. Dice the sausage.
2.Mix the cooked pasta with the rest of the ingredients. Refrigerate salad in a tightly covered container for several hours before serving.

Chinese agricultural tax will be a thing of the past

China's top legislature plans to abolish agricultural tax, which will help unify the tax system between rural and urban areas.
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) discussed a motion over the issue yesterday and is expected to vote on it on Thursday.
Ahead of the legislative move, the State Council has decided to exempt the whole country from agricultural tax next year.
According to Chinese laws, only the NPC and its Standing Committee are granted the power to establish or abolish a category of taxes.
"Abolition of agricultural tax does not necessarily mean that farmers will pay no tax. Rural residents will gradually be moved to other tax categories similar to their urban counterparts," Yang Jingyu, chairman of NPC Law Committee said yesterday at a panel discussion.
Meanwhile, Liu Jibin, vice-chairman of NPC Financial and Economic Committee pointed out that to root out agricultural tax would increase incomes of farmers and ease their financial burdens.
"Currently, the income gap between urban and rural residents is widening," he said in a report at the 19th session of the Standing Committee of the 10th NPC on Saturday.
It is expected that the exemption of agricultural tax will free farmers from paying 50 billion yuan (US$6 billion) per year.
Although China still imposes agricultural tax, 28 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions have exempted their farmers from the tax. About 800 million farmers among the total of 900 million are not required to pay agricultural tax.
"China is economically strong enough to abolish agricultural tax," Liu said.
Statistics show that in 1950, the income from agricultural tax made up 39 per cent of the country's total financial revenue. But this proportion dropped to 0.05 per cent this year.
As local revenues will decrease with the abolition of agricultural tax, major grain producing areas and central and western regions will receive assistance from the central government, according to Liu.
The central government supported local governments in these regions by providing 21.7 billion yuan (US$2.7 billion) in 2004. This figure reached 35.7 billion yuan (US$4.4 billion) this year.
Feng Shuping, vice-director of the Commission for Budget Affairs of the NPC Standing Committee said that since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese Government has always upheld the principle of increasing grain output, but reducing taxes.
In 1949, a farmer had to pay a grain tax of as much as 28 kilograms per capita per year, while this figure was reduced to 13 kilograms in 2000, although the annual grain output increased remarkably during this time.
"I am in full support of the abolition of agricultural tax," Wang Meixiang, an NPC Standing Committee member said yesterday in a panel discussion.
Wang expressed his wish for economic support from the central government for rural education.
According to the draft, agricultural tax will be abolished on the first day of next year.

Wal-Mart’s Rise

How did a peddler of cheap shirts and fishing rods become the mightiest corporation in America？The short version of Wal-Mart’s rise to glory goes something like this：In 1979 it racked up a billion dollars in sales．By 1993 it did that much business in a week；by 2001 it could do it in a day．
　It’s a stunning tale -- one that propelled Wal-Mart from rural Arkansas，where it was founded in 1962，to the top of the Fortune 500 this year．Sam Walton，Wal-Mart’s founder，pushed sales growth relentlessly while squeezing costs with sophisticated information technology．He exhorted employees to sell better with the“ten-foot rule”（greet customers if they are that close）．He was，in other words，an early evangelist for the first commandment of today’s economy：Service rules．Wal-Mart，in fact，is the first service company to rise to the top of the Fortune 500．When Fortune first published its list of the largest companies in America in 1995，Wal-Mart didn’t even exist．That year General Motors was America’s biggest company，and in every year that followed，either GM or another mighty industrial，Exxon，was NO．1．
　
Wal-Mart’s achievement caps a bigger economic shift -- from producing goods to providing services．Manufacturing’s share of U．S．employment peaked in 1953，at 35%．It has been declining steadily since．In the decade that will end in 2010，the Bureau of Labor Statistics figures that goods－producing industries will create 1.3 million new jobs，compared to 20 million for service industries．To look at it another way，today there are about four times as many people working in service jobs as in other kinds of jobs．And even within manufacturing，services are an increasingly large share of operations．
　As America got richer consumption got more complicated．With more income to throw around，people started spending more on services -- movies and travel，mortgages to buy houses，insurance to protect those houses，the occasional decadent weekend at a luxury hotel．Economists call this a shift in the demand pattern；Fortune calls it the main reason that 64 of this year’s top 100 are service companies．Over the next few years，only three of the ten fastest-growing occupations（software engineers，nurses，and computer support）pay middle-class salaries．The rest could be called，well，Wal-Mart kinds of jobs -- cashiers，retail assistants，food service，and so on．In short，the service economy is delivering more good jobs than ever before．

Bank robbery

″I wish Central Bank would be robbed,″George Pickens said to himself. He had been making this wish daily from the time he had started work as a teller at the bank.　　All over the country banks were being robbed, George thought sourly. Why not this bank ？Were robbers scornful of its four－million－dollar capital？Were they afraid of Mr. Ackerman, the old bank guard, who hadn＇t pulled out his gun in twenty－two years？　　Of course, George had a reason for wanting the bank to be robbed. After all, he couldn＇t simply take the thick bundles of bills that were under his hands all day long. So he had thought of another way to get them. His plan was simple. It went like this：　　If Bank Robber A holds up Bank Teller B…　　And if Bank Teller B gives Bank Robber A a certain amount of money…　　What is to prevent Bank Teller B from keeping all the money left and claiming that it was stolen by Bank Robber A？ There was only one problem. Where was Bank Robber A？　　One morning George entered the bank feeling something was about to happen.″Good morning, Mr. Burrows.″he said cheerfully. The bank president muttered something and went into his office.　　At two o＇clock Bank Robber A walked in. George knew he was a bank robber. For one thing, he slunk in. For another thing, he wore a mask.　　″This is a holdup.″the man said roughly. He took a pistol from his pocket. The guard made a small sound.″You,″the bank robber said,″lie down on the floor.″Mr. Ackerman lay down. The robber stepped over to George＇s cage.　　″All right.″he said.″Hand it over.″″Yes, sir.″said George.″Would you like it in ten－or－twenty－dollar bills？″　　″Just hand it over！″　　George reached into his cashbox and took all the bills from the top section, close to six thousand dollars. He passed them through the window. The robber snatched them, stuffed them into his pocket, and turned to leave.　　Then, while everyone watched Bank Robber A, Bank Teller B calmly lifted off the top section of the cashbox and slipped bills from the bottom section into his pockets.　　The bank robber was gone. George fainted. When he woke he smiled up at the worried faces looking down at him.″I＇m all right.″he said bravely.　　″Perhaps you should go home, George.″Mr. Bell, the chief auditor, said.　　As soon as he was safely behind his bedroom door, George took the money from his pockets and counted it. He had seven thousand dollars. He was very happy。　　The next morning when George arrived at the bank, it was not open for business. But everyone was there, helping to examine the bank＇s records for the special audit Mr. Bell was taking.　　George was called into Mr. Burrows＇s office. The bank president seemed strangely cheerful.″George,″he said,″I want you to meet Mr. Carruthers, who used to be president of our bank.″　　″Good morning, George.″said Mr. Carruthers.″I was sorry to hear you fainted yesterday. Are you all right now？″　　″Yes, sir. Just fine, thanks.″　　″I＇m glad to hear it. That was quite an adventure. It just goes to show how easy it is to rob our bank.″　　″Sir？″said George, confused.″　　George, I was sorry to give you a hard time yesterday, but with all the banks being robbed these days I thought it would be a good idea to prove that our little bank can be robbed too. I have retired, but I haven＇t stopped thinking. That＇s why I played my little game yesterday, just to keep everybody on his toes.″　　″I don＇t understand.″said George.″What game？″　　The old man laughed and whipped out a mask. He placed it over his face and said,″All right. Hand it over！″Mr. Burrows laughed but George did not.　　″And the money？″George asked in a small voice.　　″Don＇t worry.″Mr. Carruthers said.″I put it all back in your cashbox, all six thousand. We＇re just finishing up the audit now.″George turned cold with fear.　　Behind them, the door opened and Mr. Bell, the chief auditor, put his head into the room.″Mr.Burrows,″he said gravely,″may I see you a moment？″

At Your Fingertips

We use touch screens everywhere: tourist kiosks, automatic teller machines, point-of-sale terminals, industrial controls. Half a dozen vendors, plus in-house departments at major manufacturers, produced $800 million worth in 2000. The market is growing because the interfaces are easy-to-use, durable and inexpensive. 　　Touch screens employ one of three physics principles for detecting the point of touch. Pressing a “resistive” design with a finger or other stylus raises a voltage. In “capacitive” models, a finger draws a minute current (this method is often used for cursor pads on notebook computers). In other designs, a finger or stylus interrupts a standing pattern of acoustic waves or infrared lights that blanket the surface. 　　Resistive screens are the oldest, most widely used and least expensive, and they work with any stylus (finger, pen). Capacitive screens must be touched by a finger or an electrically grounded stylus to conduct current. Wave screens are the newest and most expensive. Surface acoustic wave screens must be touched by a finger or a soft stylus such as a pencil eraser to absorb energy; infrared screens work with any stylus. The different technologies may be used in the same applications, although pros and cons lead to prevalent combinations: resistive screens for industrial controls and Palm Pilots; capacitive screens for slot machines; wave screens for ATMs and indoor kiosks. 　　Most people are unaware of the type of screen they are using. But tricks can help you tell, according to Frank Shen of Elo TouchSystems in Fremont, Calif., the largest U.S. maker. Push the screen lightly with your fingernail (not your skin). If it responds, it could be resistive or infrared. In this case, place two separated fingers against the screen at the same time. If the cursor moves beneath one finger, the unit is infrared (software registers the first touch); if the cursor moves between the fingers, it is resistive (the points are averaged). If the unit does not respond to your fingernail, again place two separated fingers against it. If the cursor moves beneath one finger, the unit is acoustic wave; if the cursor moves between the fingers, it is capacitive.

What not to say in an application

Never say "never" but always mention your "achievement", is the advice for job hunters trying to fill in application forms.
Admissions advisers and psychologists at the University of Hertfordshire have drawn up a list of the 10 top words to make a good impression in applications.
They have also listed the 10 worst words, including "hate" and "nothing".
This advice also tells applicants not to say "mistakes" but to mention their "valuable lessons".
If applicants are worried about having too many valuable lessons, the Hertfordshire academics also recommend avoiding other less than positive words, such as "panic", "problems" and "awful".
None of these words are good ways of selling your skills to employers.
If you want to push more positive buttons, there is a list of feel-good words for applications, which will produce a more appreciative reaction.
These good words include "experience", "involved", "planning" and "developed".
The advisers say companies or universities will see many similar application letters - and that the choice of language generates a positive or negative impression.
For instance, over-emphatic words such as "never" and "always" could give a negative impression that "the applicant is making an exaggeration which is seldom true".
"Every recruiter and admissions officer will have to assess hundreds if not thousands of personal statements from hopeful applicants and will make their decisions based on what they can see on paper.
"Choosing the right words is therefore vitally important if your application is to stand out from the rest," says Karen Pine, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire.

25 years experience in the Secretary of the candidates who

QUALIFICATIONS:　　－Over 25 years secretarial/administrative experience.　　－Skills：Typing (65 wpm), Dictaphone.Multi-line Phones/Switchboard, Ten key (110 kspm) Digital DECmate computer,bookkeeping, credit checks, statistical typing.　　Extensive business experience including accounting firms, legal firms, financial firms, insurance companies, transportation companies, medical environments, government agencies and non-profit groups.　　Offer common sense, ability to take initiative, quality orientation and the ability to see a job thorough.　　Outstanding communications skills... Extremely hardworking and dedicated. EMPLOYMENT:MARSTON CONVENT, Laramie,WY, 1988-PresentReceptionist　　－Answer phone, greet visitors and provide information, tours, and literature. Record and monitor thank-you notes for all received donations. Perform light typing, filling, and word processing.WYOMING PUBLIC TELEVISION,Laramie,WY, 1987-1988Telemarketer　　－Solicit donations.Monitored the ordering of informative pamphlets,placards,buttons,tee-shirts,etc.RINALDO RANCH,Laramie,WY, 1983-1988Secretary　　－Provided word processing,customer relations,some accounts payable processing. Implemented new system for check processing,increased prompt payment of client bills.WOMANPOWER INC.,Laramie,WY, 1975-1983SecretaryActed as liaison between public and CEO.STATE HEALTH COALITION,Laramie,WY,1965-75Statistical Typist 　　－Prepared health record documentation of infectious disease patients at State hospital.Managed training of new hires.EDUCATION:TRAINING,INC.,Boston,MA,1965An office careers training program in bookkeeping, typing,reception, word processing, and office procedures.ST.JOSEPH’S ACADEMY,Portland,MaineHigh School Diploma

EMPLOYEE NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT

FOR GOOD CONSIDERATION, and in consideration of being employed by ________ (Company), the undersigned employee hereby agrees and acknowledges:
1. That during the course of my employ there may be disclosed to me certain trade secrets of the Company; said trade secrets consisting but not necessarily limited to:
a) Technical information: Methods, processes, formulae, compositions, systems, techniques, inventions, machines, computer programs and research projects.
b) Business information: Customer lists, pricing data, sources of supply, financial data and marketing, production, or merchandising systems or plans.
2. I agree that I shall not during, or at any time after the termination of my employment with the Company, use for myself or others, or disclose or divulge to others including future employees, any trade secrets, confidential information, or any other proprietary data of the Company in violation of this agreement.
3. That upon the termination of my employment from the Company:
a) I shall return to the Company all documents and property of the Company, including but not necessarily limited to: drawings, blueprints, reports, manuals, correspondence, customer lists, computer programs, and all other materials and all copies thereof relating in any way to the Company's business, or in any way obtained by me during the course of employ. I further agree that I shall not retain copies, notes or abstracts of the foregoing.
b) The Company may notify any future or prospective employer or third party of the existence of this agreement, and shall be entitled to full injunctive relief for any breach.
c) This agreement shall be binding upon me and my personal representatives and successors in interest, and shall inure to the benefit of the Company, its successors and assigns.
Signed this _____ day of ____________________, 19____.
______________________________ _______________________________

Stallone to Star in Sixth 'Rocky' Movie

Rocky is planning another comeback. Fifteen years after starring in "Rocky V," Sylvester Stallone is reprising his role as the boxing champ in the sixth "Rocky" movie, publicist Michelle Bega said Monday.
The 59-year-old actor will write and direct "Rocky Balboa," which will begin shooting in Philadelphia and Las Vegas next year.
Stallone told the Daily Variety trade magazine the movie will focus on an aging, widowed Rocky who is reluctant to get back in the ring but ends up doing it "just to compete, not to win."
"I am drawing on a lot of my feelings that are in sync with many people's feelings aboutfacing the last chapter of their lives and how they want it to be written," Stallone said.
Dan Taylor, president of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which is co-producing the film, said the movie focuses less on boxing and more on character.
"It's about self-examination, an opportunity to see what kind of person he is and act on it," Taylor said.
It wasn't immediately clear whether Talia Shire, who appeared in five previous "Rocky" films as the boxer's love interest, Adrian, will return in the sixth installment, said Stuart Herriot, a spokesman with Revolution Studios, which is co-producing the film.
"In the script, she did pass away, but it's unsure whether she might appear in a flashback or in older footage," Herriot said. "It's too early in the production to tell." 　
But, Herriot said, Burt Young is expected to return as Adrian's brother, Paulie.
Stallone wrote all the "Rocky" films and directed the second, third and fourth entries. The first movie, released in 1976, won three Oscars, including best picture and best director for John G. Avildsen.

"Super Voice Girl" Zhang Hanyun to star in a movie

Last year's "Super Voice Girl"Zhang Hanyun plans to shoot a movie at the end of this year, which is especially tailored for her.
The 16-year-old visited China Radio International on Tuesday and had a chat with fans both on the radio and in an online forum for three hours. 　　
Zhang said that she has been trying hard to be a professional singer after making her reputation from the "Super Voice Girl"competition. 　　
She plans to strike a balance between her career and studying since she is still a high-school student in Beijing.
In talking about her new album released this month, Zhang gave a mediocre score to it and promised to make progress in the future. 　　
Also, a book collecting her private diary and photos from her daily life since she entered the spotlight as a "Super Voice Girl" will be published at the end of this month. 　
This adolescent starlet has gain wide popularity in China for her pure, cute image and sweet voice since last year's "Super Voice Girl".　　

Ang Lee film tops Venice festival awards

Ang Lee's tale of the homosexual love between two cowboys set in the conservative West of the 1960s won the Venice Film Festival's top award Saturday.Brokeback Mountain, starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, topped 19 other competitors, including favorite Good Night, and Good Luck, George Clooney's black-and-white movie set in the McCarthy era of the early 1950s.
Receiving the Golden Lion award, Lee described his movie as a "great American love story" that is "unique and so universal."
"I'm so glad it's prevailed here and was received so warmly here," he said.
Based on a novella by The Shipping News author E. Annie Proulx, the movie has sweeping vistas, lonesome men, bucking broncos and smoldering campfires. It also has sex scenes between two men whose lives are changed, disturbed and entwined after being hired to tend sheep for a summer in Wyoming.
Lee's other films include Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,Hulk,The Ice Storm and Sense and Sensibility.
One of the stars of Clooney's film, David Strathairn, got the top acting award for men. Strathairn played American broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow, who systematically scrutinized the methods of Sen. Joseph McCarthy's quest to root out communists and their sympathizers.
Strathairn said the movie was a reminder of the responsibility of journalists, addressing his remarks to "all of you here, and all of those who will see this movie, all of those who are out there trying to bring truth to all of us so that we can make better decisions about our lives."
The top acting award for a woman went to Italian actress Giovanna Mezzogiorno for her role in the movie La Bestia nel Cuore (The Beast in the Heart).
The film tells the story of an apparently happy woman who suddenly is plagued by dreams that reveal a dark part of her childhood, when she was abused by her father. She eventually uncovers her past with help from her brother. It is based on a 2004 book by Cristina Comencini, who also directed the movie.
The Silver Lion for directing went to Philippe Garrel for his film Les Amants Reguliers (The Regular Lovers),
French actress Isabelle Huppert was given a special award for her contributions to cinema, and Italian Stefania Sandrelli received a lifetime achievement award.
Clooney and Grant Heslov took the prize for best script for Good Night, in which Clooney plays a principled and practical CBS television producer, Fred Friendly, who later became a professor at Columbia University and encouraged a generation of journalists to ponder responsibility and ethics.
The festival's special jury prize went to the movie Mary, by Abel Ferrara.

Sony forecasts bright profits in high-end TVs

Japanese electronics giant Sony hopes to become the biggest player in the Chinese high-end TV market by expanding production and launching new products.
Tadanobu Matsushima, president of the consumer sales and marketing unit with Sony China, said his company wants to become number one in the "high-end" segment in the world's biggest TV market.
"The market is changing very rapidly and we will continue to launch products to meet new demands," said Matsushima.
The Japanese firm has decided to expand production at SSV Shanghai Suoguang Visual Products Co Ltd. Although Sony has presence in all segments from products as cheap as 2,000 yuan (US$250) to luxurious models sold at over 40,000 yuan (US$4,800), it only produces low-end products in China and high-end ones are imported.
According to Tomihiro Kasuya, SSV Suoguang's president, a joint venture with the Chinese electronics company SVA, his company produced 400,000 TV sets last year and all of them were traditional cathode ray（阳极射线） tube sets.
After the expansion, SSV Suoguang's capacity will reach 1 million units next year and the product range will cover all series of products like high-end plasma display panel (PDP)（等离子显示器） TVs, liquefied crystal display (LCD) TVs, and micro-device projection (MDPJ)sets. The products will go toward supplying the Chinese market.
Besides the introduction of high-end TV sets at SSV Suoguang, Sony will release 15 new models by the end of this year and high-end products will be top priorities.
Matsushima believes the demand from Chinese customers for large- and wide-screen TVs and the need for high definition models with the country's push for digital TV programmes will stimulate the high-end demand.
It is said that 35 per cent of TV sets sold this year will be large-screen models and the proportion of 16:9 wide-screen TV sets will rise from last year's 14 per cent to 26 per cent. MDPJ TV sets, or LCD projection TV sets, will play a big part in Sony's ambition.
Noriaki Negishi, general manager of the East Asian area with Sony's TV Group, said that out of 100 TV sets sold in China during April to July, only 22 were projection TV models, but the ratio in the United States was 43 per cent and the sales value of MDPJ TV sets already reached one-fourth of the total projected TV sales. That means there is huge potential in the Chinese market for such models.
"Now is the best timing to launch our top products," he said.

Dollar hits new low against euro

US Treasury Secretary John Snow has reiterated the US commitment to a strong dollar, as the greenback hit another record low against the euro.
He told the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London that US policy "is for a strong dollar".
European policymakers have called the dollar's slide "brutal", blaming the euro's strength for dampening growth.
But Mr Snow's comments made little impact on the markets, with the euro reaching as high as $1.3047 in London.
In late trading in New York on Wednesday, the euro eased to $1.3032.
Meanwhile, an organisation representing more than 95 industry and agricultural groups accounting for about 90% of US exports, have dismissed European complaints.
"Pundits have forgotten that the dollar's descent began only after it had soared to abnormal and dangerous heights," said Frank Vargo, from the National Association for Manufacturers in a statement.
"After years of stability, the dollar shot up 25% against other currencies, peaking in 2002," he said.
In his speech earlier, Mr Snow said the world "functions best with free trade and free capital flows."
"Nobody has ever devalued their way to prosperity," he added.
He pledged to curb the US massive budget deficit - but said the size of the current account deficit at the moment was evidence of "economic strength".
"Our dollar policy remains unchanged because a strong dollar is in both the national and international interest," he added.
But while admitting that the deficits were hampering growth elsewhere in the world, he said that a "shared responsibility" among nations is needed to solve the problem.
He praised China, saying it had moved towards market discipline for its currency.
He said China's decision to raise two key interest rates last month for the first time in nine years "represents significant steps consistent with China's move to a flexible and market-based exchange rate".
Analysts point out despite the positive comments on the dollar, President George W Bush's administration had done little to stop the currency's slide.
Some analysts maintain the US is secretly happy with a lower dollar which helps makes its exports cheaper in Europe, thus boosting its economy.
They also say the dollar is unlikely to strengthen significantly, until the US economy improves.

Cards to replace notes in our affections

Credit and debit cards are expected to overtake cash this year as Britain's most popular method of payment, according to a new industry report.
It will be the first time that card payments have outstripped cash outlay for goods and services. There are 246 plastic card transactions made every second.
Total plastic card use is expected to exceed ￡269bn in 2004, just a whisker ahead of the predicted ￡268bn for cash payments, said banking industry body the Association for Payment Clearing Services.
The group, which represents the major banks, said credit cards had become "demonised" as one of the main causes of ballooning debts, but added: "Without plastic, our society would virtually grind to a halt."
Last year, the number of plastic cards in use in Britain grew by 13m, or 9%, to 160m - the equivalent of 3.5 cards per adult. Two-thirds of card transactions are now made using debit cards.
Plastic accounted for ￡244bn of spending in 2003. "This year, total plastic card use, if business card usage is included, is expected to top ￡269bn. In 2005 it is expected that personal plastic card usage alone will overtake cash payments," said Apacs.
In terms of numbers of transactions, cash will remain much bigger than plastic for some time to come, it added. "Cash will always remain there for low-value payments."
Meanwhile, 2003 was the year that e-commerce "came of age" in the UK. More than 18 million people bought goods or services online, up 50% on 2002. Credit cards accounted for 69% of the 200m transactions, with debit cards mopping up most of the remainder.
Last year was a landmark year for another reason - the first reduction in card fraud for eight years. Fraud losses on plastic cards fell by 5% to ￡402m as measures to combat crooks started to take effect.
A new generation of cards containing computer chips is being introduced, and by the end of this year most people making face-to-face purchases will have to type their four-digit Pin number into keypads at tills and will no longer have to sign receipts.

China and India Brighten Outlook at Boeing

Boeing, which has been surpassed in the last two years by Airbus in the delivery of commercial aircraft, has said it may raise its forecast for deliveries in 2006 because of higher-than-expected demand from Chinese and Indian airlines.
China Southern Airlines, Air India and other carriers from the two nations may order more planes next year, especially smaller aircraft with single aisles, enabling Boeing to deliver "a little" more than an earlier target of between 375 and 385 planes, said Lee Monson, Boeing's senior vice president for sales in the Middle East and Africa.
"Demand is starting to increase rapidly," Monson said in an interview Sunday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. "There is more demand than supply," he said, declining to be more specific about next year's target.
Growth among the airlines of Asia, where 10 low-fare carriers began flying last year, is leading global demand for new planes. Chinese airlines may need 1,790 new planes worth $230 billion until 2023, while Indian carriers may need 570 new aircraft, Airbus said on March 8. Boeing put the forecast at 2,300 planes valued at $180 billion for China while India's airlines may spend $35 billion on new orders.
"The demand for aircraft will continue to rise rapidly in China in the next few years," said Sun Liping, an analyst at Tianxiang Investment Consulting in Beijing.
Airbus delivered more planes than Boeing in 2004 for the second year, becoming the biggest manufacturer in the global market for new planes, valued at $64 billion.
Boeing is competing with Airbus for 60 planes worth $3.8 billion in list price. Airbus last week won a contract from AirAsia, Southeast Asia's biggest discount airline.
China is easing travel restrictions to let more people fly abroad for business and leisure. Air travel in China will increase by 8.2 percent every year until 2023, compared with a global average of 5.3 percent, Airbus said, without giving its 2006 deliveries forecast.
India's government plans to spend $20 billion over the next five years expanding two state-owned airlines and upgrading its airports to draw passengers from regional hubs like Singapore and Dubai.
Air India is planning to buy 68 planes from Boeing and Airbus to increase flights to the United States, Europe and Asian countries. It will also expand its network to Australia and Canada.
Indian Airlines, which flies mostly domestic routes, is buying 43 planes and aims to offer more flights to Europe.

Disney sees profit climb 30%

Desperate housewives and a potbellied superhero helped Walt Disney Co. continue its financial rebound as the company Wednesday posted a 30% earnings jump in its fiscal second quarter.
Disney's profit of $698 million, or 33 cents a share, was a shade above Wall Street estimates and contrasts with the $537 million, or 26 cents, it earned a year earlier. Revenue in the period ended April 2 climbed 9% to $7.8 billion.
The Burbank-based entertainment giant's results were boosted by the recovery at the ABC network, which has benefited from such hits as "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost." DVD sales from the animated hit film "The Incredibles" also were a key factor.
Theme park results improved and are expected to get a further boost from the company's worldwide celebration of Disneyland's 50th anniversary.
"Overall they had a solid quarter," said Jeffrey Logsdon, an analyst at Harris Nesbitt. "Most of the divisions are operating in a healthy manner."
Disney's top brass predicted double-digit earnings growth for 2005.
"We're on a path right now to continue this trend," Chief Executive-designate Robert Iger said in an interview. "That's very good news."
The robust earnings come at an opportune time for Iger, Disney's president, who was tapped in March to succeed Michael Eisner. Eisner plans to retire Sept. 30 after 21 years as chief.

Two Teens Ride Horses to School in Utah

Frustrated by rising gas prices, two high school teens got fed up and decided to saddle up.
Mellissa Evans and Chapa Stevenson made their 30-mile roundtrip trek to school last week on their horses, Nighthawk and Wink.
The seniors live in Rush Valley, a town of about 500 people 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
"When you have a car that gets 10 miles per gallon, you have to do something," Evans said. 　
The trusty steeds spent their days in a stall inside the high school's animal laboratory.
On Thursday school officials stepped in, telling the girls that horses on school grounds were against the rules.
"I guess we'll have to go back to carpooling," Evans said.
Evans' mother, Karren, is disappointed her daughter can't ride her horse to school anymore. "It took hours for her to get to school," she said. "But hay is much cheaper than gas."

Tuition Discounts Increase in Popularity

Hungry for the brightest students, many of the country's stronger universities are actively discounting tuition. And it's the high achievers, rather than the needy students, who are getting a good chunk of the money. The practice is remarkably widespread, reaching almost all but the 30 or so Ivy and other elite colleges that ban merit-based financial aid. Schools are also becoming more aggressive in promoting their discounts. At the DePauw University Website, enter an SAT or ACT score, gradepoint average and class rank, and a computer program immediately tells you what kind of " award". Only " the real unlucky" pay full price any more, says Kenneth Redd, director of research at the National Association of Student Financial Aid

Administrators.About 76％ of first-year students got some form of discount this year at 331 private schools polled annually by the National Association of College and University Business Officers. Average award per student: ＄ 7,000. At small schools with tuition under about ＄ 20,000, the average discount is even higher, with some schools returning over half their tuition revenue.
Carnegie Mellon even tells students it will " negotiate" and perhaps match financial-aid packages if kids are offered bigger awards at other schools. Much as banks and insurers offer special rates to their best customers, schools are giving the biggest breaks to their top students. Public four-year colleges, too, are offering discounts.
The flip side of big discounts is that less money is available to improve academic programs and keep school infrastructure up to date. Mr. Redd says he found that universities that have sharply increased their tuition discount rates have seen graduation rates fall, and that's true even among highly selective schools. " They get the students in the door, but don't have the services to keep them," he says.
Wallstreet Journal

"Kung Fu" with a Kangaroo

I never found out how long I had been asleep. It seemed that a lot had happened while I was sleeping. One thing that I did find out in my time in Mr. Borman's class, fall asleep and you are missing a lot. I don't think he ever "caught" me sleeping once. Though he must have known, I was always right under his nose. He probably didn't care and knew that you were missing a reenactment of a good story while your mind was off in dream world. That is exactly what happened that day.
From what I gathered from my friends, Mr. Borman had been talking all day about the lesson then triggered by some question posed by a student, Mr. Borman had launched himselfsintosanother one of his stories.
Though I didn't catch that one, I did hear the next two that he told that same day. It seemed that the conversation had changed from bacteria and cellular functions to how Mr. Borman got beat up by a kangaroo when he went down to Australia.
Mr. Borman: "So we went down to this little animal care center, and there were guys here giving a tour of the place. We went through the tour and saw a bunch of Australian wildlife and crap like that. Then we came to the end of the tour. Has anyone ever seen or heard of a Kangaroo fighting? Yeah, you have? You know how they fight? They don't have the instinct or the teeth to be very effective at biting, but these suckers, man, I'm tellin ya, they can punch! Well the demonstration was this Kangaroo that has been trained to box. The tour leaders were lookin for someone to come down and box with the Kangaroo. No, I swear. Well, it seemed I hadn't had my share of humility for the day and said, "What the hell, I'll kick that thing's ass!" So I walked down there, and I was kinda getting in sort of an Ali position. Now at this point I felt pretty retarded. I was standing in front of about 20 or so people all hoping that this kangaroo kicks my ass. Well, you gotta do what you gotta do. I stared that thing in the face, you know, trying to psyche it out a bit. The damn thing took a look at me and…BAM! Got me right across the cheek. Knocked me out cold! The damn tour leaders couldn't believe it, my wife said they called the ambulance and I was taken to a friggin hospital. So I was sitting in the emergency room and the doctor came in and said,‘So, what happened to you?' I looked him in the eye and tried to tell him with a straight face that I got my ass whooped by a damn Kangaroo!"
Immediately after the Kangaroo story, Mr. Borman launchedsintosanother one about his wrestling match at the state championship tournament. He said, "This one is even more exciting than that kangaroo one…" By the time he finished there was barely two minutes left in the period and the homework that we were supposed to do that night was pushed back a day due to "technical problems".

The 'In' Crowd and Social Cruelty

Among Kids, Competition to Belong Is Fierce
The bully of my middle school in Wilmette, Ill., scared me so much, I dreamed about him. I'd walk blocks out of the way to avoid him. I'm now 55, yet the fear is still fresh.
And I wasn't even a prime target. I was just an average geek, not one of the "bottom 20 percent" - the kids who really worry psychologist Michael Thompson.
Thompson, author of Best Friends, Worst Enemies, says almost every school has an "in" crowd, popular kids who decide what's "cool." The "cool" kids are followed in Thompson's social hierarchy by the roughly 60 percent of kids who are "in the middle." Then there are the "victims," the roughly 20 percent of kids who lack the social skills to make many friends. They are often not only excluded, but picked on or severely bullied.
"There's a ferocious competition at the top," said Thompson. "It's particularly rugged in middle school because the need to be part of a group is so human. It's so primate."
What makes someone popular? For middle school girls, Thompson said, the top three criteria are looks, clothes and charisma. For boys, he said it's athletic ability, stature and humor.
"Everybody knows who's cool and who's not," said a sixth-grade girl in Engelwood, N.J. "It's obvious."
Cruelty Adults Rarely See
ABCNEWS obtained copies of Canadian research tapes that followed bullies in school playgrounds - cruelty that adults rarely see. It's horrifying to watch. The tapes show other kids passively watching as bullies kick and punch victims. Worse, sometimes the other kids all "pile on," joining in with the bully.
"To identify with the victim makes you feel weak," explained Thompson. "To identify with the aggressor makes you feel strong."
The footage also shows that kids are often so desperate to be part of a group, they'd rather be punched and kicked than be alone.
"No attention is worse than this type of attention," said psychology professor Wendy Craig. "If he wants to belong, he has to take it."
Former bullies and former victims agreed to talk about their experiences. One 16-year-old explained that he became a bully because he wanted to stand out.
"I wasn't very popular," said Michael from East Lyme, Conn. "I figured, push people around, get people to see what I'm doing, that'll get my name out there, that'll get people to notice me."
While girls are less likely to bully physically, they do it, too.
"It was fun for me to see people cry," said Jenny, a 17-year-old from New York City. "I used to continue doing it for the simple fact because they used to cry."
Another bully said he was fully aware he was making life miserable for some of his classmates, and he still looks back on those days with apparent pride.
"I made someone bulimic because I was very continuous about that they were fat and stuff," he said proudly.
Helping These Kids
Some kids are permanently damaged by such bullying. They are at greater risk of depression, and of sacrificing their education - because you can't learn when you're afraid.
For the kids who are constantly picked on, said Craig, "recess is the most terrifying moment of their day."
What can be done to help them? Parents and teachers must intervene, said Thompson. "Sometimes adults rationalize bullying as 'Well, that's kids,' when in fact, it's traumatic," said Thompson. "Those kids need to be protected."
In the Canadian study, teachers told researchers that they intervened to stop bullying all the time, but the tapes showed that they actually stepped in less than 5 percent of the time.
Some schools are actively trying to reduce bullying and social cruelty.
Jeff Parker, who runs an anti-bullying program, said good programs don't just fight bad behavior, but they also encourage good behavior. He teaches kids that the key to stopping bullying is in the hands of the bystanders.
If just one bystander says "stop," said Craig, or "don't hit my friend," the bully will stop half of the time. But rarely will that happen, Thompson added, because most kids are either afraid, entertained by bullying, or don't think speaking up will help.
At a school in the New York City borough of Staten Island, George Anthony tries to teach kids they have more choices than just accepting harassment. He runs a class for peer mediators, where he teaches students how to force the warring parties to hear each other's point of view.
Students say such anti-bullying programs have made a big difference.
"It's really helped me a lot," said one child who was the victim of bullies. "Everyone treats me nicer, and I'm not 'Elf Boy.'"
Other students agreed that the programs had reduced the cruelty. "There used to be fighting everywhere," said one girl. "Now I like school … I don't even want to on summer vacation."
Whether it's an adult or student who steps in, what's important, said Thompson, is that someone intervenes.

Spotlight on St.Petersburg

St.Petersburg.The very name brings to mind some of Russia's greatest poets,writers and composers:Pushkin,Dostoevsky,Tchaikovsky.The 19th century was a golden age for St.Petersburg's wealthy classes.It was a world of ballets and balls,of art and literature,of tea and caviar.
　　The golden age ended with the advent of World War 1.Working people were growing more and more discontented.In 1917,Communism came,promising peace and prosperity.

St.Petersburg had become Petrograd in 1914.People wanted a Russian name for their city.Ten years later,the city's name changed again,this time to Leningrad.Then in 1991,Leningraders voted to restore the city's original name.Some people opposed the name change altogether.Others thought it was just too soon.Old,run-down Soviet Leningrad,they said,was not the St.Petersburg of 19th-century literature.
　　　What,then,is St.Petersburg?In the confusing post-Communist world,no one really knows.The quiet,if Soviet-style,dignity is gone.The Communist sayings are down,and gaudy advertising up.Candy bars and cigarettes are sold from boxy,tasteless kiosks.And clothing?Well,anything goes.Everyone wants to be a little different.But many people do not know the true meaning of freedom.Personal crime has gone up,up,up in the past few years.
　　　　Yet in spite of this,you can still find some of the city's grand past.Stand at the western tip of Vasilievsky Island.To the right is the elegant Winter Palace,former home of the czars.Its light blue sides and white classical columns make it perhaps St.Petersburg's most graceful building.It houses one of the worlds most famous art museums:the Hermitage.Inside,20km of galleries house thousands of works of art.Look over your right shoulder.The massive golden dome of St.Isaac's Cathedral rises above the skyline.You'll see,too,why St.Petersburg is called a "floating city."Standing there,nearly surrounded by water,you can see four of the city's 42islands.
　　　　Cross the bridge and turn behind the Winter Palace.In the middle of the huge Palace Square stands the Alexander Column.It commemorates Russia's victory over Napoleon.The 650-ton granite column is not attached to the base in any way.Its own weight keeps it upright.Hoisted into place in 1832,it has stood there ever since.
　　　　Continue to Nevsky Prospekt,the heart of the old city.Let the crowds hurry by while you take your time.Admire the fine carving on bridges and columns,above doorways and windows.Cross over canals and pass by smaller palaces and other classical structures.Let your eyes drink in the light blues,greens,yellows and pinks.
　　　Take time to wander among Kazan Cathedral's semi circle of enormous brown columns.Or, if you prefer Russian-style architecture,cross the street and follow the canal a short distance.The Church of the Resurrection occupies the site where Czar Alexander 11was assassinated in 1881.
　　　　Travel outside the city to Petrodvorets Palace for a taste of old imperial grandeur.After a visit to France in the late 17th century,Peter the Great decided to build a palace for himself better than Versailles.His dream never came true in his lifetime.It took almost two centuries to complete the palace and park complex.
　　　　Seldom does any city have the chance to reinvent itself.That chance has now come to St.Petersburg.A few people might hope to return to the glory of the past,but most know that is impossible.They want to preserve the best of past eras and push ahead.You can bet the city won't be old St.Petersburg,but something altogether different.

Ethiopia's fascinating

Much of the fascination of Ethiopia lies in its myriad historical sites, the obelisks and stele of Axum, the churches and coptic monasteries in the Tigre, in the Lake Tana isles and in the Lalibela: the African Jerusalem with its monolithic churches. In Ethiopia there are also nine national parks, two of which include the mountain groups of the Simien and the Bale, while the others lie in the Rift Valley towards Kenya. The unforeseeable wild landscapes are surely the main attraction of these parks, where many of the animal species are protected, and some of them are endemic to the area. The proximity of Ethiopia to the Equator and the variety of its habitats make it one of the richest countries in Africa in wild bird life.
　　History and nature are not the only attractions of this surprising country. It is a unique experience to come into contact with its people, so deeply rooted in their traditional culture, to participate in religious rites in one of the many Coptic churches, to meet native populations like the Hamer, the Mursi, the Caro and the many others whose lifestyle is hard to imagine today, so far is it from our modern life.

The Pyramids，Egypt

Built 4,000 years ago, the three great pyramids at Giza, in the Egyptian desert remain the most colossal1 buildings ever constructed.
The pyramids were built by Egyptians under the orders of the Egyptian leader, whose title was Pharaoh2. There was a sequence of Pharaohs culminating3 around 2615 B.C., with the Pharaoh Cheops who built the biggest thing ever built, the Great Pyramid, also known as Khufu. Cheops built a pyramid 770 feet on one side and 481 feet tall. How ancient builders managed to build these massive structures has never been fully answered but the effort clearly required brains and brawn4.
Was there engineering genius involved? Yes, there was. For example, when you're putting the block right at the top, how are you going to lug5 a block of stone that weighs several tons 480 feet up a structure? How are you going to do it, and how are you going to do it without leaving scratches6 on all the rest of the structure? And how many people does it take to drag a block weighing several tons 480 feet up into the sky? Approximately, 2.3 million blocks of stone were cut, transported and assembled to create the Great Pyramid. The Pharaohs may have set out to build magnificent tombs for themselves, but in the end they created monuments to human potential. There's a universal message in the pyramids. The pyramids belong to Egypt, but the pyramids also belong to the world. That's why we can all identify the pyramids as an early monument of human greatness.

Niagara Falls, introduced in English

Niagara Falls comprises three distinct cataracts. The tallest are the American and Bridal Veil falls on the American side, separated by tiny Luna Island and plunging over jagged rocks in a 180ft drop; the broad Horseshoe Falls which curve their way over to Canada are probably the most impressive. They date back a mere twelve thousand years, when the retreat of melting glaciers allowed water trapped in Lake Erie to gush north to Lake Ontario. Back then the falls were seven miles downriver, but constant erosion has cut them back to their present site. The falls are colorfully lit up at night, and many say they're most beautiful in winter, when the grounds are covered in snow and the waters turn to ice.
　　The best views on the American side are from the Prospect Point Observation Tower (daily; 50￠), and from the area at its base where the water rushes past; Terrapin Point on Goat Island in the middle of the river has similar views of Horseshoe Falls. The nineteenth-century tightrope-walker Blondin crossed the Niagara repeatedly near here, and even carried passengers across on his back; other suicidal fools over the years have taken the plunge in barrels. One survivor among the many fatalities was the Englishman Bobby Leach, who went over in a steel barrel in July 1911 and had to spend the rest of the year in hospital. That practice has since been banned (though a couple of maniacs did it in summer 1995 and came away with minor bruises), for reasons which become self-evident when you approach the towering cascade on the not-to-be-missed Maid of the Mist boat trip from the foot of the observation tower (summer Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat & Sun 10am-6pm; $8.50; 716/284-4233). From Goat Island, the Cave of the Winds tour leads down to the base of the falls by elevator to within almost touching distance of the water (mid-May to late Oct; $5.50). A combination pass for these and other attractions costs $16. Rainbow helicopter tours (716/284-2800) are a more expensive proposition at $40 per person for a ten-minute ride. To check the view out from Niagara Falls, Ontario, it's a twenty-minute walk across the Rainbow Bridge to the Canadian side (25￠ each way; bring ID, and check with US Immigration officials before heading across), where you get an arguably better view, bigger crowds and even more tawdry commercialism. Driving across is inadvisable: the toll for a car is just 75￠, but parking on the other side is upwards of $15.
　　As you look on in awe, reflect that you're seeing only about half the volume of water - the rest is diverted to hydroelectric power stations. The full story of this engineering feat is related at the free Niagara Power Project Visitors Center in nearby Lewiston (July & Aug daily 9am-6pm; Sept-June daily 10am-5pm; 716/285-3211). With your own transportation it's also possible to trace the inhospitable Niagara Gorge two miles along the dramatic Robert Moses Parkway to the Whirlpool Rapids, a violent maelstrom swollen by broken trees and other flotsam.
　　Ten miles east of Niagara Falls, the town of LOCKPORT takes its name from the series of locks that raise and lower boats some 65ft at the western end of the Erie Canal. You can see the impressive flight of locks from the Pine Street Bridge, or up close on canal boat tours (May - Nov daily at 12.30 & 3pm, also 10am on Sat; $9; 716/693-3260).