By Brett Israel, OurAmazingPlanet Staff Writer Space.com | SPACE.com
(Article copied from Yahoo News)
The Red Sea has a new inhabitant: a smoking island.
The island was created by a wild eruption that occurred in the Red Sea earlier this month. It is made of loose volcanic debris from the eruption, so it may not stick around long.
According to news reports, fishermen witnessed lava fountains reaching up to 90 feet (30 meters) tall on Dec. 19, which is probably the day the eruption began, said Erik Klemetti, a volcanologist at Denison University in Granville, Ohio.
Ash plumes were seen emanating from the spot Dec. 20 and Dec. 22 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites. The Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA’s Aura satellite detected elevated levels of sulfur dioxide, further indicating an eruption. By Dec. 23, what looked like a new island had appeared in the Red Sea off the west coast of Yemen.
“I am surprised about how quickly the island has grown,” Klemetti, who writes Wired’s Eruptions Blog, told OurAmazingPlanet.
The volcanic activity occurred along the Zubair Group, a collection of small islands that run in a roughly northwest-southeast line. The islands rise from a shield volcano (a kind of volcano built from fluid lava flows) and poke above the sea surface.
Scientists will keep a close eye on the new island to see if it has staying power.
“Many times the islands are ephemeral as they are usually made of loose volcanic debris, so they get destroyed by wave action quite quickly,” Klemetti said. But the volcanic activity could outpace the erosion due to the wave action.
Newly emerging islands aren’t unheard of. Other newly emerged islands include Surtsey off of Iceland, Anak Krakatau in the caldera of Krakatoa in Indonesia, and Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha`apai in Tonga in the South Pacific.
Last year, during one of the Maghribs on ‘Puasa Enam’ days (the six days after Eid ul-Fitr), all of us went to the Bukit Pak Apil to hunt and ‘capture’ the bedil on photos and videos (please refer to ‘Bedil Hunting’). A few days ago, my father had posted the video of the bedil on Youtube.
Notice that you can hear the adzan (the call for prayers) right before the bedil shot upwards. The man who pressed the trigger of the bedil was listening to the Terengganu fm, waiting for the adzan. As soon as the ‘bedil shooter’ heard the adzan, he launched the bedil into the air where it explodes into a beautiful fireworks display.
My mother, my little brother and I love to draw. My mother and I really enjoy visiting art shops, we can spend hours looking at the wonderful arrays of professional art materials like paints, colour pencils, pastels, brushes, graphite pencils, charcoals and others. The best part about sharing a hobby with our parents is that we’ll have the luxury of using different mediums of professional quality for our drawings.
I also enjoy drawing cartoon for my siblings. Most were based on our little plays and jokes. I started drawing comics or simple cartoons either to ‘document’ wonderful moments that we shared or to amuse my siblings. I draw the characters in stick figures because whenever I tried to add meat and bones, my drawings turns out awkward. It is true that there’s no specific rule to cartoon drawing and one can exaggerate as much as one wish but simple cartoon saves a lot of time too. According to my mother, my cartoon characters are somehow alive; something which I cannot create with a proper human drawing.
Here is the one that I drew a few months back telling the story of my hair. I did not intend to post it on my blog because I never think that my cartoons are good enough to be shown to other people but my mother ‘made’ me post it for she said that it is really good and the comic really made her laugh. My mother also said that by gaining the confidence, I may be able to draw better in the future.
*Note: Kanillia is a cat living at the back of our house. The second drawing shows Khanillia pulling my hair with its claws.
I hope that I manage to make somebody smile Kindly give some feedbacks on my cartoon and I would really appreciate useful tips and comments so that I can improve myself.
Ramdhan Mubarak to all Muslims! Alhamdulillah, the holy month of Ramadhan is back with us and once again, vendors flock the streets around the Kampung Baru Mosque to sell the much loved and awaited iftar delicacy, Bubur Lambuk Kampung Baru. Since this special porridge is only available during the month of Ramadhan, hundreds of people from all parts of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur could be seen lining up to get their share of this delicious dish. Of course, bubur lambuk is given out by many (usually mosques) all over Malaysia but up till now, no other bubur lambuk that I know taste as good as the Bubur Lambuk Kampung Baru from the well-known Masjid Jamek.
Bubur Lambuk Kampung Baru
Due to the fact that the Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru is so famous for its ‘bubur lambuk’, the queue at the mosque would be very, very long and some may even have to wait for over an hour for a pack of free bubur lambuk. Those who would rather skip queuing may buy the dish from the many vendors who set up their stalls around the area for about RM2.00 per pack. Unfortunately many were disappointed since the bubur lambuk sold by the vendors taste far different than those given out by the mosque. However, there is one stall that sells the authentic Bubur Lambuk Kampung Baru and taste just as good the ones given out by the mosque, ‘Bubur Lambuk Kak Sham’.
Aunty Sham stirring a pot of bubur lambuk
If you have not tried the authentic bubur lambuk Kampung Baru, you should try to get some before Ramadhan ends. Believe me, it is worth the trip especially for those who love bubur lambuk. We stay in Ampang and there are lots of places around our area that give away free bubur lambuk (without us having to queue) but we would still be making our journeys to Kampung Baru for our bubur lambuk; and it has to be Aunty Sham’s, of course. And it is always nice to see the delighted faces of our friends when we send them the delicious bubur lambuk. If you are a bubur lambuk lover like I am or have never tasted the famous Bubur Lambuk Kampung Baru before, try to queue at the Masjid Jamek for a pack or just drop by at Aunty Sham’s stall which is opposite the mosque and you would surely be back for more. Aunty Sham’s stall is located in front of the Al-Islam Specialist Hospital.
My family and I had just arrived from Penang two days ago. Unlike most of our trips to Penang when we stayed at the Feringghi BayView Beach Hotel on the island, this time we stayed at the Butterworth Palm Inn Hotel which is just across the road to the Dewan Dato’ Haji Ahmad Badawi where we attended a seminar on Sunday.
For my parents, a trip to Penang won’t be completed without having Penang’s special ‘mee udang Sungai Dua’ or ‘Sungai Dua prawn noodle’; so we headed to Sungai Dua for the special dish as soon as we reached Butterworth. In fact, we drove to Sungai Dua again that night where they again had ‘mee udang Sungai Dua’ for dinner at another restaurant! I had ‘keoy teow goreng’ or ‘fried flat noodle’ for both lunch and dinner which I think is much cheaper and tastier. The restaurants are not fancy but both are located in beautiful natural surroundings; we had lunch at a riverside restaurant and dinner at a restaurant facing a large paddy field.The food are very, very good and the price of food is far cheaper than in KL.
On Sunday, we attended the ‘Seminar Mendaulatkan Islam – Agama Negara (SEMAIAN)’ (see here) at Dewan Dato’ Haji Ahmad Badawi across the road from our hotel for the whole day. In the afternoon , I sat down on the floor outside the hall and drew a picture of the hotel which turned out quite nice. My siblings walked around the large field in front of the hall, playing in the wind and watching the pigeons performing airshows and playing ‘guess the plane’. And Ahmad Ali caught a feather that flew down from a flying bird(and decided to start a feather collection) and made such a fuss about it on the car trip back to KL.
We had a lovely time in Penang although we didn’t go to the island and played at the beach. The view from our hotel room is marvelous, especially at night. We snapped lots of photos from our hotel rooms which face the island and the Penang Port. I hope that one day we could go on another trip to Penang.
TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE PROGRAM – 16 JUNE 20 There will be a total lunar(moon) eclipse in Malaysia on June 16, 2011. The eclipse will start at 1:25 a.m. until 7:01 a.m. On the 16th of June 2011, we will be able to observe a total lunar eclipse starting from 1:25 a.m. to 7:01 a.m. In conjunction with Total Lunar Eclipse, National Space Agency (ANGKASA) and National Mosque will be organizing a Total Lunar Eclipse Observation Program at the Main E … Read More
The yet to be crushed ginger and cinnamon. On the left is the traditional Malaysian pestle and mortar
There is nothing better than indulging myself to a warm cup of ginger and cinnamon tea after a long day of hard work. Only a whiff of the tea is enough to make me craving for a sip of this wonderful and aromatic tea. The aromatic and spicy flavour of ginger together with the sweet and warm taste of cinnamon blends wonderfully with that unique aroma of tea resulting a drink that is so flavourful and heavenly delicious. And the best part is, not only that the tea is so tasty but it is also loaded with tremendous medicinal benefits!
Cinnamon is known for its ability to improve blood circulation and the effectiveness of insulin which plays a role in lowering blood sugar and bad cholesterol level; while antiviral, anti-fungal, antibacterial, anti-clotting and anti-nausea are some of the many medicinal properties of ginger. And black tea has a good amount of antioxidant too! For a ‘spicier’ taste, I sometimes add some cloves which is an excellent source of manganese to the brew.
The result of the 'crushing' process.
Every once in a while (since I am not that eager to crush the spices), I would prepare the ginger and cinnamon tea for both my mom and I. The process is not that hard actually, but I find grinding cinnamon quite tiring especially to avoid the pieces of cinnamon from ‘jumping’ all over the kitchen. While mom loves her tea the way it is, I prefer mine with a richer taste of milk. Since ginger and cinnamon tea has a unique blend of taste, it goes best without sugar which is all the better for your health!
On Saturday, 26th March, 2011, my family and I attended the Khalifah Dinner & Talk. The talk, titled ‘Do Your Best’, was given by Bro. Idris Tawfiq. Bro. Idris Tawfiq was a Roman Catholic priest before embracing Islam and had served the church for 20 years. In his speech, he told us that as muslims, we should not just look at the things going around us and hoped that someone would come and make things right. Instead, we should all lend our hands and do the best in whatever we do with the aim of making the world a better place to live in.
Bro. Idris Taufiq presenting his speech.
My family and I had the chance of meeting many of our old friends there. There were my friends (Khadijah and Syafiqah) and teachers from Khalifah Model School and my parent’s friends (Aunty Nor, Aunty Alini, etc… ). It was nice to see Aunty Zaharah and Uncle Radzif again and also their son Abdul Fattah, a good friend of mine who I haven’t met for years. Fattah was my classmate through the years I was in Adni. We were close then, not only that we compete with each other for the academic awards but also the one who I can count on in order to complete the notes that I missed during my absents. His younger sisters Umairah and Raudhah was also there.
During the event, I helped to sell books at our little booth. I had been taught ‘the art of retail business’ since I was 10. I helped to operate Khalifah and Muafakat (NGOs) stalls, helped at my grandmother’s bookshop and so on. But my best experience were during the ISNA conferences in the United States.
I had a great time but I miss meeting those wonderful people who I used to meet at Khalifah’s events like Aunty Mislaini, Aunty Atikah, Aunty Habibah, Uncle Nazri, Aunty Tim and some other dear friends of ours. And most of all, I am very sad because we cannot feel the ‘presence’ of the late Bro Muhammad at the event. I know that we should move forward but as what Uncle Awang Goneng always reminds us, we must never forget or bury our past because our past is as precious as our hope.
Both mum and I not only have our birthdays in March but also in the same week. I am 16 this year, Alhamdulillah, and my family members had given me wonderful presents.
Mum gave me a lot of her Australian, American, Canadian and New Zealand stamps wrapped in a lovely silver coloured box. My dad bought me stamps at the stamp fair and an A3 sized document file which I now use to keep my stamps in. My sister Aeshah gave me some Vietnamese stamps featuring dolphins that are missing from my collection and lots of odds and ends that I could use for my craftworks. Anisah gave me a number of her drawings and Ali gave me a hairdryer, a ‘Snoopy’ clock and a watch.
My parents gave me a beautiful birthday card with a picture of a flower drawn by mum (the artist), using soft pastels. Ahmad Ali gave me three birthday cards for he enjoyed card making so much that he couldn’t stop making them… Abang Muhammad sent me a birthday card too, all the way from Chicago together with lots of gorgeous U.S.S.R. stamps.
My mother had a marvellous birthday too. Again, most of her presents were stamps from all of us. I secretly looked through her stamp albums and picked out stamps that I own but is missing from her collection. I’m delighted that she was thrilled to receive the stamps that I gave her. I also gave her some Machin stamps (the British definitive stamps with a picture of Queen Elizabeth’s head – mum simply love them, she has a few pages of those lovely stamps in her stamp album and wishes to own as much as she could). Aeshah gave her stamps too. Anisah gave her an envelope with a picture of a cat that she ‘bought’ for 6 stars (our play-money currency) from my little brother. And Ahmad Ali gave mum a beautiful egg cup and a special Machin stamp(the 1840 Anniversary Machins) with pictures of both Queen Elizabeth as in other Machin stamps and Queen Victoria as in Penny Black.
Uncle Awang Goneng’s latest book, A Map of Trengganu is finally out! This morning, I went out with my father to pick up the books from the country distributor and helped dad with our first batch of deliveries.
I've got my copy... Have you got yours?
Anxious to be one of the first people to read it, I quickly picked up a copy from the box as soon as we reached home. Soon, I was too engrossed with the book that when my mother called me to help her with the chores, she was shocked to hear me laughing alone. At that very moment, I was reading the part when Awang Goneng ‘took a Law degree “from the Academic Registrar’s office one night when the door was left open”.
‘A Map of Trengganu’ proved to be as beautiful and fun as its prequel ‘Growing Up In Trengganu’. Since the book had just arrived from Singapore, (as for today) there is a big chance that you may not be able to get them from the bookshops in Malaysia yet. But you can calm those restless, fluttering butterflies in your stomach by ordering them straight from ‘The Pizzaman’ (who happens to be my father )!
You can contact him by email (akarimomar@yahoo.com) or call/SMS 019-319-9788. You can check out his blog post on the book here!. And what’s more? He can send it straight to your doorsteps (which is why he was called ‘The Pizzaman’). Do not miss the chance and get your copy NOW
Anyway, right after I’ve published this post, I’ll be going back to my room where I shall not be disturbed (nor shall I scare mum with my constant outburst) and continue reading the book
I'm currently 15 and I am homeschooling. My favourite subjects are Mathematics, Science and Computers Studies. I love to sketch, write poems, collect stamps, coins, bank notes, stickers and seashells. And my blog is where I write about myself, things that goes on around me or things that I wish to share with everyone :)
A Map of Trengganu – latest from Awang Goneng
TERBARU DARI AWANG GONENG ...
SEDIA MENGAMBIL TEMPAHAN SEKARANG RM35.90
Perhatikan pengumuman seterusnya di sini ...
The Pizzaman: 019-3199-788
A rabbit and me at the National Science Center on a school field trip in 2006
Kindly give some feedbacks on my cartoon and I would really appreciate useful tips and comments so that I can improve myself.
