Honey4Boyz

The Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture & Agrotourism (MAHA) Expo in MAEPS Serdang, Selangor is a big scale event held once in every 2 years in Malaysia.  It's something we look forward to go as a family outing. It has a comprehensive overview of our nation's resources, how we manage them and what we are capable of doing.  The theme this year - Agricultural Transformation Through Innovation may seem a mouthful, but in essence you can see what the nation is capable of doing - "a hybrid goat with wings" - is this innovation or a crossbreeding monster? Price tag @ RM9,999!! This is something I'd like to see more in shows like MAHA or similar ones - recognising the value of our resources, maximising the use of our resources and creating value from waste. Some of those stuff we consider as waste like wood chips, leaves, stems, straws, hays can turn into beautiful and premium products.  We saw fibre from pineapple and banana turned into fabric,

"Race!" - the boys' first experiment in stop motion after their visit to Rhythm & Hues . They did it on Windows Movie Maker and found their way to incorporate the sound too. This software was not so smooth and the computer hung many times. They took more than 150 pictures for this video. Enjoy...

Reviewed by Xian Jin The title of this book is Frindle. There are 105 pages in this book.  This story is about a boy called Nick Allen. He was full of brilliant ideas but most of them got him into trouble. However, that did not stop Nick from thinking of more ideas. When Nick was in fifth grade, everything was different. He had to face Mrs Granger, his English Language teacher. He learned all about words and wanted to invent one himself. One day he bumped into his friend and dropped a pen. This gave Nick a new idea. He decided that he would not use the word pen. It would be “frindle”. The word soon passed on and the whole school began to use the word. Students were punished for using the word “frindle”. Mrs Granger became enemies with Nick. Soon the world used the word frindle. Nick became popular. The  newspaper reporters and journalists came to interview him. As Nick grew older, he became a rich man. Frindle soon became a normal word. One day, a man came and gave Nick a

Posting by Xian Jin We joined a homeschooling group to the Zoo Negara for the Malaysian endangered animal programme. The endangered animals included the orang utans, tapirs, Malayan tigers, elephants and hornbills. This programme explained the unique physical characteristics of animals. The zookeeper also told us of the animals' diet, behaviour, the habitats they live in, the population of the animals in the wild and the conservation efforts to save our endangered friends. The Malayan tapirs are black and white in colour. A tapir has a large stocky body and a flexible proboscis (nose). A young tapir looks like a watermelon for camouflage, after six months they will be like their parents.  Did you know that tapirs sleep in the day and are active at night?  The hornbill has a casque above its beak. The male hornbill hunts food for the whole family. Therefore if a poacher kills a male hornbill, it is like killing the whole family as the female hornbill does not go out to

A free 'n easy walkabout at the KL Craft Complex, Jalan Conlay to visit the 'Craft - Inspired by Nature' exhibition. There were many activities lined up for the occasion including craft and traditional cuisine demonstrations, cultural performances, traditional weapon art carvings, sales of all sorts of craft products, art exhibition, craft fashion, craft garden decor and others. Artisans demonstrating the wooden blowpipe with darts from Pahang (top) and traditional pottery from Sabah (bottom) -  I was attracted to the small, simple kinds of earthenware pottery which could be made with very little tools. Kids were quite intrigued by various traditional animal traps especially the quail trap from Kelantan (bottom) . They were very exquisite. Also many types of carvings from wood, stone and bamboo and Sape, a traditional string musical instrument from the Kayan indigenous tribe in Sarawak. Fun with coconut shell - I think we've to work much harder

We're privileged to visit Rhythm & Hues Malaysia, the multiple academy award-winning film production studio specialising in visual effects and computer animation for feature films and tv commercials. Maybe not many of us are familiar with the company name, but mention Narnia, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Golden Compass, X-Men, Yogi Bear, Mr Popper's Penguins etc etc and the coming movie, Life of Pi then it'll ring a bell. This company has been singled out as a leader by virtually all the major competitions that recognise excellence in computer graphics. Chic office to inspire - with a soothing, spa-like setting and a tatami-style centre courtyard Couldn't work on an empty stomach? Thanks to the generosity of the company, we've a great light refreshment and fellowship in the cosy kitchen. And more Q&A with a passionate Pn Sarini from the company. All ears to an introduction of what the company is doing, what CGI (computer generated imagery) i