Silk or Cotton

Baju Kurung & Baju Melayu

Yesterday my friend asked me, "What is the difference between silk and cotton?" I'm totally taken aback by the question. I told him: "eh, silk is produced by silk worm and cotton is by a plant." Absolutely not the answer that he is looking for. Turns out that he is trying to look for a material for his baju melayu, traditional malay costume for males, and he wants something that can keep him cool especially when the weather is so warm and humid in Singapore. Anyway, since I have the time now why not use this time to do some research? Here I am, gonna explain some basic differences between these two materials. 

Silk production

Lavae & Cocoon

As previously mentioned, silk is produced by lavae of Silkmoth. Bombyx mori is the most commonly used silkmoth to obtain silk. Another silkmoth Samia ricini, is also used but at a smaller percentage. Silkmoth undergo 4 distinct stages namely, eggs, larvae, pupea and adult, to complete metamorphosis. In the second stage, larvae will spin to form cocoons in which they will develop further into pupae and eventually emerge as a hairy moth.


Silk that made up the cocoons were excreted from these larvae's spinneret and it can be extracted from cocoon after boiling, which kills the larvae, to soften the cocoon(cocoon are usually harden by the larvae's saliva). Since each cocoon is produced by a single thread of silk, the length of this thread can stretch up to 900 meters!

Wonder why price of genuine silk is rocket high? The steps in boiling and extracting the silk requires experienced hands to ensure that the thread remains as a piece. Broken silk are worth much lesser. Since the process of obtaining silk cannot be overtake by machines, the cost of obtaining silk stills remained high. 

Silk fiber: 80% of it is made up by natural protein called fibroin and 20% sericin. It is a bad conductor of heat hence external heat has less tendency to penetrate fiber and body heat are hard to escape. Keep one cool in summer and warm in winter. In my opinion, this will definitely be a great material for baju if money isn't a limitation. Although it may be desirable to have clothes made up of silk, but the inflexibility of the material makes one hard to maneuver around. Hence it is advisable to make a baju with a certain percentage of cotton to ensure that one can stretch around easily.  

Cotton production

Cotton Plant

Cotton is produced by species Gossypium. It is the portion that surrounds the seed to serve as a protection. As compared to Silk, the production of cotton requires lesser effort to monitor. The harvesting process is also much simpler. As the demand for cotton increases, technology has made it easier to harvest, process and turn cottons into fabric. Here is a video of how cotton can be made into jeans. 

舞蹈社的尾声

从几天前，我已经不再是舞蹈社的会员了。其实被迫离开的我并不觉得可惜，心里有的却是一种解脱。我想一年前我就应该有所觉悟，不应该再执迷不悟的想要让舞蹈社自立，不让奸人所害。一年来的所有努力如今就象过眼云烟，一拍而散。想了两天，唯独可惜的是建立的友谊没法继续延续。一切的回忆，美好的常景，将被埋葬因为再也没有人会眷恋这些事。我决定了放下记忆，友谊。从此划清界限。

Difference between Thosai and Prata

Having so much free time during work allows me to do some research on the above topic. This caught my attention as I was browsing through Plus.bigdeal for some dinning deals and this prata buffer stood up. However, I don't what's the difference between the 3 products that they offer - Prata, Naan and Thosai (Dosa). Here I am, making this clear for all of us!

Thosai - Indian Pancake that is relatively thin and similar to crepes. Obviously, the dough that is used is very different. Thosai is mainly made up of rice and lentils that are crushed into fine grains, soaked in water overnight. Nutrition in rice - 80% carbohydrates in which 1.3% are dietary fiber or carbohydrates that human cannot digest. Nutrition in lentils - 71% carbohydrates in which 21% are dietary fiber and 30% Proteins. Both ingredients used in Thosai contains almost or zero fats! Thosai will therefore make a good breakfast!

Naan - These are basically flatbread. Unlike Thosai, they are made from dough, hence contains gluten and yeast. The dough is then mould into circular shapes before placing it in an oven. Main ingredients of Naan includes flour, yeast and yogurt. 76% of flour contains carbohydrates and 10% of protein. Yogurt contains 22% fats, 43% Carbohydrates and 35% proteins. Just like any other bread, one will feel bloated easily after several bites on Naan due to the presence of gluten and yeast.


Prata - All time favorite breakfast loved by most Singaporeans. The difference between Naan and prata is that prata do not contain yogurt and it was fry on a hot flat grill instead of heating in an oven. The dough is swirled in circular motion to create thin and translucent layer before placing on the flat grill. The sides of the prata are folded in to generate the multi-layer texture once it hits the grill top.

After this research, to make my $4.90 worth, I will be tackling all the Thosai! No gluten nor yeast to make me feel bloated! Also, it is about time that I packed up and get ready to exercise!

聚餐

又到了女朋友聚餐的时候！我们光顾的是位于Bukit Batok 的NOOK. 看似普通的店面其实另有玄机。它其实就是新加坡第一间DIY的煎饼！就好比去麦当当吃早点一样，但现在你能够画出你想要的图案并且吃了它，享受制作的过程。 让我们看看那天的成果吧！

接近午餐时分，吃早饭的也人随之离开把座位慢慢空出来。

简单的介绍点餐的基本

可爱的Yan Ping

那天我们主要的目的是想庆祝Joanna的生日。这也是我们迟来的礼物。

干杯！

启动！

想要制造混乱的局面但还是不够乱！

加以补充

哈哈。其实乱涂鸦不适一件难事。但想翻过煎饼就真不是那么简单了。

Yvonne 和 Yan Ping!

千成煎饼制造中！

煎饼蛋糕出炉！！

寿星婆灿烂的笑容

起刀，向可爱的煎饼切去。（真惨忍啊~~~）

它的体内

Yvonne 勇敢的挑战千成，一口咬下去！

那天我们点的是香蕉，巧克力，班兰，原味的。香蕉口味很香醇，比起剩下的口味更可口。浓浓的巧克力味也可以打动女孩的心。班兰味也不错，吃不腻。原味的呢就少了煎饼香喷喷的气味。除了以上的口味，他们也提供草莓味的。虽然没法尝试草莓味的，但鲜艳的粉红色感觉也不错。

到了尾声，我想说NOOK 其实是个建立感情的好地方。但这种经验一次就足够了。所以我不回再去了！

Caller Shift

Its the caller shift again! Excited to be back and hope my results today will still be okay. Let me crack that Egg!

恭喜发财

蛇年到了！今年将会有不一样的经验，我妈决定带我们去抢上第一炷香！希望一切都可以顺利进行！

2013：明天一定会更好

心血来潮，想在我的小小世界里涂鸦一番。

新的一年到了，我并没有像之前这般兴奋许下一年内向达成的目标。只是心想，我很高兴2012的人生，就算2013年没来我也没所谓。

虽然是迟了些但我想好好说说2012的成就！

年头时，我表演了！在台上的感觉很好，虽然不能清楚的看到观众的表情，但掌声中不难发现他们的兴奋。表演完了，我瞬间变回了普通的自己。一分钟的荣耀很可贵但我不贪恋这感觉因为我更喜欢自己躲在人群中的模样。人生只有一次，我要好好的发觉自己所以一定要尝试不一样的新鲜事。随着日子的流失，我终于鼓起勇气剪短了两年的感情。两年说长不长，说短不短。这两年我得到了很多教训，也学了很多，只希望能遇到对的人。本以为结束一感情之后会单身一会儿，人算不如天算啊。在两个月后，我跟另一位在一起了!! 现在还过得很开心！事业方面没什么进展。希望今年我的事业运会好吧！让我找到一个能让我带点钱回家的兼职公。届接着是我的21岁生日！过得很开心，因为有好多人来，礼物也收得多多！哈哈。就这样我的2012年结束了。

在2013年里，我只希望自己的运气会好转，让我所有的愿望都能达成。最后想要说句口头禅：明天一定会更好！！