Wine is an alcoholic beverage obtained from the fermentation of the juice of freshly gathered grapes. There are four major classifications of wines

(1) Table wine

Table wine, also known as still wine or natural wine, can be white, red or rose. These wines are consumed primarily as complements to food. Table wine has an alcoholic content of 12 to 14 per cent.

Red wine is made from red grapes that are crushed gently, stripped off their stalks and the resulting juice (called “must”) is fermented together with the skins, pips and pulps in large vats. Red wine gets its colour from the skin of the grapes.

White wine is made from the juice of either red or white grapes. For making of white wine, the skin of both the red and white grapes have to be taken out of the vat before fermentation. This is to prevent the skin from colouring the juices. White wine is not water clear, it is a little yellowish or yellowish green.

Rose wine gets its colour by allowing the juice of red grapes to remain in contact with the skins and pips for about 72 hours. Another method of making rose wine is to blend both white and red wines in order to get the right colour.

For the producing of still wine, grapes are first picked, sorted, weighted and transported to the presses. After pressing, the resulting juice (“must”) is put into Vats where the sugar and yeast present in the grape juice will start the fermentation process. The length of the fermentation period will depend on the type of wine that is desired to produce. Sweet wine is taken out of the vat before the fermentation is completed whereby the sugar content is still present. Dry wine is allowed to ferment in order for the sugar in the grape juice to convert into alcohol. The fermentation process will be stopped naturally when all the sugar is converted into alcohol.

(2) Sparkling wine

Sparking wine, such as champagne, is obtained when the wine is normally allowed to go through a second fermentation in the bottle. Sparkling wine has carbon dioxide within the bottle and this causes the wine to be effervescent (gassy/bubbly). There are three methods in producing sparkling wines.

The Champagne Method, known as “Method Champenosie” in French, is done through the same process as producing of still wine. It is only after the first fermentation, cane sugar and yeast culture are added and the wine is bottled and left to go through the second fermentation.

The Tank Method is to allow the second fermentation to take place under the pressure in vast stainless steel tanks.

The third method of producing sparkling wine is simply carbonating a still wine, in the same way as in making lemonade or tonic water.

(3) Fortified wine

These are wines whereby brandy or other spirits is added to increase the alcoholic content or to stop the fermentation process. The reason for adding spirits is to increase the strength of the wine and if the spirit is added while the must is fermenting, the fermentation will cease. In this case, a sweet wine will be produced as not all the sugars are converted into alcohol. The alcoholic content for fortified wine is around 16 to 20 per cent.

Fortified wines, such as Port wine, Sherry, Madeira and Marsala, are most commonly drunk before or after meals and are frequently used in cooking.

Most of the Port wines come from Portugal, though there some port wines produced in California, Chile, South Africa and Spain. Port wine is made from both white and red grapes. To make port, the fermentation is stopped by the addition of brandy. Some different types of Port wine are Ruby, Full-Port, Red Port, Tawny Port, White Port, Vintage Port and Crusted Port.

Sherry comes from Spain. The different between Port wine and Sherry is that the basis for Port wine is sweet and the basis for Sherry is dry. This is due to the fermentation in the Port wine is being stopped and therefore some of the sugar are preserved. As for Sherry, the fermentation process is not disturbed. Some different types of Sherry are Fino, Olorosa, Brown, Amoroso and Cream.

Madeira is made from the mixing old wines with young wines. It can be drunk as an aperitif or as a dessert wine. Some examples of Madeira are Sercial, Verdelho, Bual and Malmsey.

(4) Aromatised Wine

These are wines that have been fortified and flavoured with various fruits, herbs & spices. Some examples of aromatised wine are Martini, Cinzano, Dubonnet and Noilly Prat. The alcohol content for aromatised wine is between 15% and 20%.

A national language is the language of a political, cultural and social unit. It is general developed and used as a symbol of national unity. Its functions are to identity the nation and unite its people. The national language in Singapore is Malay. It reflects both the historical and geographical position of the country.

An official language is a language which may be used for government business. Its function is primary utilitarian rather than symbolic. Singapore has four official languages – Malay, Mandarin, English and Tamil.

Mother tongue is the superordinate language of one’s official ethnic group. So, the mother tongue of a ‘Chinese’ is deemed to be Mandarin, that a ‘Malay’ Malay and that a ‘Tamil’ or ‘Malayalee’ Tamil.

The first language is the main medium of education studied, which is now always English.

The second language is the other language studied, which is usually the official mother tongue.

The term bilingual is often used in Singapore to refer to a person who has succeeded in both the language learnt at school.

A major language is defined as (a) a language which is spoken as a native language by more than 25% of the population or more than one million people in the society, (b) an official language of the nation and (c) is the language of education of over 50% of the secondary school graduates of the nation. There are five major languages in Singapore – English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil and Hokkien.

A lingua franca is a language used for communication between people whose first language differs. Both Malay and English could be qualified as the lingua franca in Singapore for inter-group communication. Mandarin has also gained ground to become the lingua franca among the Chinese in Singapore.

Source : “English in New Cultural Contexts”. Published by The Singapore Institute of Management. “An Introduction to Sociolinguistics” by Janet Holmes. Published by Pearson Education Limited, UK.

According to Dr Janet Goodrich, a psychology, we often restrict energy flow through our whole body by unconsciously holding our breath when we want to yawn. This ‘impolite’ yawn is, in fact, the most naturally freeing and the fullest kind of breathing possible when we have a spontaneous need for fresh oxygen, stretching of muscles, and a change of pace.

In her book, “Natural Vision Improvement – Improve your eyesight and enjoy life more”, Goodrich listed the following benefits of yawning.

(1) Yawning brings fresh oxygen into our body cells, including those in the eyes and brain.

(2) Yawning contracts and expands muscles from the top of our head to the tips of our toes, including those in the eyes, neck, shoulder and belly.

(3) Yawning is capable of changing our emotional states from negative to positive.

(4) Yawning changes the pH of the blood reducing toxicity levels in our whole body system.

(5) Yawning opens our minds to new experiences and ideas.

(6) Yawning helps to detoxify our liver and to balance the energy in the liver meridian.

(7) Yawning wakes us up in the morning and clams us down for deep restful sleep at night.

(8) Yawning stimulates the production of refreshing tears that bathe our naturally tired eyes and moisten the chronically dry eyes.

(9) Yawning relaxes our solar plexus area and tummy muscles that accompany indigestion.

Source: “Natural Vision Improvement” by Janet Goodrich. Published by Penguin Books Australia Ltd.

Packing and postage will be S$2.

Australia Post – 200 years classic Vehicles Stamps (S$10)

1985 Finnish Stamps (S$15)

Commemoration of the Operating of the Lautau Link stamp (S$2)

Canada’s first Olympic gold (S$2). Canada’s first Olympic gold in Canada soil (S$2).

2008 Zodiac Rat Stamp Series Collector’s Sheet (S$15)

Meet at MRT station for the collection. If send by mail, packing and postage will be S$2 (up to 2 sets).

The Oodles of Riddles is a collection of children’s riddles and jokes written by Lori Miller Fox. This book features hundreds of wacky one-liners targeting school-aged kids. I have taken some of them and presented in here.

(1)       Where do swimmers sit to eat lunch? – At the pool tables.

(2)       What piece of furniture will never learn to swim? – The sink.

(3)       What do you call the celebration of 200 year of shopping? – The buy-centennial.

(4)       Where does a store keep its extra clothes? – In a wearhouse.

(5)       What mall sells only knives? – A chopping center.

(6)       In what shopping center do you meet famous people? – The Mall of Frame.

(7)       Why are calendars so popular? – Because they have a date every day of the year.

(8)       Which month of the year do soldiers get most tired? – The month of March.

(9)       Where do dieters go for vacation? – Hungary.

(10)     Where does water go where it gets ill? – The sick bay.

(11)     Why couldn’t crabs learn to share? – Because they are shellfish.

(12)     How do you mail a boat? – Ship it.

(13)     Where did the fishes deposit their allowance? – In the river bank.

(14)     Why did the computer have to go to the hospital? – It had a terminal illness.

(15)     Which ruler is shorter than Napoleon Bonaparte? – A twelve-inch ruler.

(16)     Why wouldn’t the lightning bolt go to the storm? – Because it was on strike.

(17)     What happened to words when they break the law? – They get sentenced.

(18)     Who cleans up a judge’s office’s ? – The chambermaid.

(19)     What do secret agents invest their money in? – James Bond.

(20)     What type of courses pilots will avoid? – Crash courses.

(21)     What music do steel workers play at parties? – Heavy metal.

(22)     What is a thief’s favorite game? – Hide and sneak.

(23)     What do attorneys wear to work? – Lawsuits.

Source: “Oodles of Riddles” by Lori Miller Fox. Published by Sterling Publishing Co. Inc.

I am selling these Fridge Magnet collected during my travel. We could meet at MRT station for the transaction. I can also send the magnets to you by post with S$3 extra for packing and local postage. Just let me know which magnets you are interested to have. Buy 5 pieces and get one piece for free.

(1) If you kick a stone angrily, you will only hurt your own foot.
(2) If you remain silent, even a ghost will not know.
(3) It is darkest just under the lamp.
(4) The one who praise me can only be my enemy.
(5) Even a rat’s hole can be reached by sunlight.
(6) A good start is half the work done.
(7) Although your aunt may be selling cakes, you will not buy them unless they are cheap.
(8) When he succeeds, a man praises himself; when he fails, he blames his ancestors.
(9) The soya beans in another person’s rice look larger.
(10) Boats cannot sail unless the wind is blowing.
(11) Glass and ladies are both delicate.
(12) Through hard work, even a beggar can get hot rice.
(13) One who chases two hares will lose both.
(14) A dog that steals will never grow fat.
(15) A lazy woman often uses her baby as an excuse for not doing house chores.
(16) The previous governor is always the best governor.
(17) When in temple, do as the monks do; when in a village, do as the laypeople do.
(18) The fish that escaped is always bigger.
(19) No one who has starved for three days will keep himself from stealing.
(20) While the newest clothes are the finest, the oldest friends are the best.

Source : “Jokes, Comic Tales and Proverbs from Korea” complied and retold by Chong Kum Fatt. Published by Asiapac Books Pte Ltd.

South Koreans have being called “the Irish of the Orient.” This is because they can be likeable, affectionate, passionate people who enjoy partying and imbibing.

Yet there is another side that prevents them from showing emotion or sentiment. For example, although South Koreans are always polite and courteous, it is sometimes difficult for them to express those feelings. It is therefore useful if we could understand the Korean customs when we are communicating with them.

Here are some Korean customs worth noting.

(1) Seniority and age are highly respected. This ranges from offering seats to elderly person on the bus to showing special respect for the most senior businessperson at a meeting.

(2) Married women in Korea who adhere to traditional ways will wear their hair in a neat, round bun, while unmarried women favour a pigtail.

(3) In Korea, males rules the society and women are usually subordinated.

(4) Korean women will be flattered if a Western visitor opens a door for them or practices “ladies first”.

(5) Direct eye contact is not practiced in Korea. In fact, it is considered as impolite.

(6) Handshake may be weak rather than firm. Any other body contact is avoided.

(7) Avoid first-name usage until invited to do so.

(8) Blowing nose in public is considered gauche, but belching is not.

(9) Avoid any action or statement that could bring embarrassment.

(10) Heavy drinking and even drunkenness are not frowned upon in Korean. In fact, this is considered a typical way to become friends.

(11) Social entertainment often involves karaoke singing. Even if your musical repertoire is limited, stand up and join the singing.

(12) When invited to a home, the hostess may be too busy to eat with guests.

(13) People, especially women, will cover their mouths when laughing.

“Do’s and Taboos of Using English Around the World” by Roger E. Axtell. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1995.