Finally Google Walk on Google Maps

The "Get Walking Directions" feature on Google Maps that I have been waiting for has finally arrived. And it's available in the Sydney metropolitan area. Now I can finally calculate how long I jog in the morning...

Exercise and Blueberries - Keys to Improve Memory

According to a Time magazine article "Forgetting is the New Normal", exercise and blueberries can improve memory.
Scientists found that aerobic exercise pumps blood into the brain to regenerate neurons while stretching and toning does not seem to have the same effect. A group of sedentary people, after exercising on treadmill four times a week for an hour for 12 weeks, "showed substantial increases in cerebral blood volume".
Diet can also help. Blueberries can eliminate free radicals, prevent aging and grow new neurons.
And belly fat is shown to increase the chance of developing dementia.
So, to keep your memory sharp, exercise and have a low fat diet and lots of blueberries!

Eating Out in Newtown - Part I

Partly because I'm reluctant to cook myself all the time, partly because of all the good words I heard from people about Newtown's eateries, I decided to eat out in Newtown every weekend, from Friday night to Sunday.

22 Feb 2008, Friday evening - Asakusa

First stop, the Asakusa Japanese restaurant highly recommended by my colleague. Having heard that it was good and cheap, I wanted to patronise it a few months ago for lunch. But it turned out that it only opened for dinner.

First impression on the decoration was quite good. Then I ordered Icho sushi box and a warm sake. According to the menu, it had grilled salmon on rice. When it was 4 pieces of sushi with raw fish, 4 tiny pieces of grilled salmon on a big portion of boiled rice, and coleslaw with mayonnaise. The raw fish was neither tuna nor salmon. Afraid of raw food, I applied a lot of washabi. Unfortunately, the washabi provided was far from enough. Also, as I mentioned, the grilled salmon was too little and the boiled rice was too much. I ended up having boiled fish with nothing to go with.

By the way, the waiters and waitresses talked to each other in Mandarin, so I suspect that this may not be an authentic Japanese restaurant...

23 Feb 2008, Saturday evening - Yai's Thai

I decided to have Thai tonight, but Newtown Thai, the one I wanted to visit, was fully occupied. So I went to Yai's Thai.

I was led to a window seat, which was nice to observe the night life in Newtown. I ordered curry puffs and pad noodle with chicken. The curry puffs were big and full of flavour; the pad noodle was served with plenty of peanuts. I had a good time.

24 Feb 2008, Sunday afternoon - The Italian Bowl

The Italian Bowl lets you choose your pasta and your sauce. I ordered linguine with grilled Salmon and garlic bread.

The garlic bread was served first. I would like to have it with some olive oil, but could not find it on the table. Then the pasta dish, which was a big serve. You would need to top it up unless you are really hungry. And the past sauce was very creamy, which I love! I left a piece of garlic bread to suck up the sauce. But the bread was cold and became quite hard.

I love this restaurant and would definitely come back again. What I want to mention is that the staff was very friendly, and they seemed to know the neighbourhood quite well...


What restaurants to go next weekend? There are just too many restaurants, and each of my friends have different favourates, I just cannot make up my mind. I desperately need a Newtown local to guide me...

The Two Queens and Andew Boy Chalrton Pool

Today, the two famous huge liners, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II, are staying in Sydney Harbour and will pass each other by in the evening. Many Sydneysiders are drawn to watch the event.

I wanted to watch this event, but I also wanted to go swimming. So in the end I decided to go to Andew Boy Chalton Pool on Mrs Macquarie Rd. The view was really fantastic, you can watch QEII and the Sydney Harbour...

The pool water is sea water, and I found out that I can swim faster in sea water and I really enjoyed swimming there. I'll come back.

To avoid parasites, beware what you eat!

Eileen Harris, the curator of parasitic worms at the Natural History Musem in London, gave her advice:

• Never eat steaks very rare
• Never eat raw herrings
• Be wary about eating sushi
• Make sure fruit and vegetables are properly washed when going to some tropical countries

TV and the internet make focus harder?

Some studies have shown that children who watched more than 2 hours of television a day during early childhood are more likely to develop attention problems later in life, and there may be a link between internet addiction and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Better not let your toddler watch too much television or let your kids use the internet too often...

How to Overcome Procrastination?

A new article from "New Scientist" shed new lights on why people are prone to postpone.
Four factors are found to affect how likely a task is to be delayed:

• How confident you are of succeeding in the task
• How pleasant you perceived the task to be
  
• How easily distracted you are
• How much time will elapse before the reward for completing the task arrives

Some recommendations on how to do away with delay are also given:

• Make a firm commitment to your boss or partner to finish a task by a certain time. This will make delays more embarrassing and difficult to cover up.
• Strip your workspace of all distractions.
• Get a good night's sleep and try tackling the most unpleasant and difficult tasks early in the day.
• Set a series of realistic goals, such as drawing up weekly, daily or even hourly goals. The more readily sidetracked you are, the more you need to divide your main task into smaller chunks.
• Promise yourself a reward for each goal that you meet.
• Believe in yourself.
• Get someone else to regularly goad you into action, as the last resort!

One of my new year's resolution is not to procrastinate and finish all the tasks that have been accumulated in my to-do list, one of them being "to blog regularly". I will surely take these recommendations to get rid of this bad habit...