PMSSMP UKM/UPM Trip - May 2009

**Long post alert**


PMSSMP had organized an exchange with UKM and UPM students during the holdiays in May and I was fortunate to be able to join the exchange. We gathered at KL Central at around 12noon and left for UKM at 3pm via UKM provided bus.


We arrived at UKM FST (Faculty of Science and Technology) and was greeted by... No one! After we looked around the foyer like a bunch of curious children, the lecturer in charge finally appeared and brought us into their lecture hall after navigating through some narrow and short hallway (I bet even Qiao Xin could touch the ceiling too!).


In the lecture hall, we were greeted by the students from UKM and after a brief introduction, they brought us to visit their labs.

one of the labs in UKM

take note:: THIS IS THE FULL VIEW OF THEIR LAB

**SSMP students, be grateful of our own labs. =)**

After touring the labs, we had some refreshments and before leaving for the hostels, we were asked by the UKM students to leave our handprints (using dragonfruit juice) on a large piece of paper as memories.


After some gift exchange and group photos, we left on the UKM bus and arrived at their hostels. We waited at the bus stop while Mr. Tiang went into the office to get our room keys. As a norm, the guys got the keys to the dorm which are seperated from the girls. However, the room we got were rooms at the female blocks! Imagine how confused and shy we were when we walked pass the glaring eyes of the female students still staying there while we head up to our rooms.


After showering and some light rest, we gathered again at the bus stop at around 8pm and left on a UKM bus to get our dinner, KAJANG SATAY! We had a fun time stuffing ourselves up while making lots of noise in the stall. We went back to the hostel around 10pm at night and retired for the day.


The next morning, we went back to FST to visit their Taman Paku-pakis which is located right outside the faculty. After a short briefing on the types of ferns they have, we were taken on a tour into the park and was introducted to all sorts of ferns.


The tour ended in an hour due to the fact that the park was still under construction. We then took the bus to the main entrance of UKM and took some group pictures there before leaving for UPM.

Does this remind you of something Purple and Green?
**answer will be at the end of the post**

We arrived in UPM around noon after a short bus ride and were greeted by a huge group of UPM Student council of Food Science and Technology Faculty. It was a very warm welcome from them =) They took us into their seminar room to put our belongings before sending us out for a tasty lunch prepared by them.

After lunch, they showed us their corporate video while our YDP Debbie Teo gave a small presentation on SSMP and PMSSMP's activities.


We were also shown the activities and competition that were joined by them. Mr Siew, one of the winner of MIFT which were held in UMS last semester, briefed us more about UPM and their postgraduate studies while we were waiting for the bus to bring us around UPM.


While in the bus, the student councils acted as tour guides and showed us around. The bus brought us everywhere until we reached the UPM Food Complex which is used by the students of Food Study (Food service). In the complex, we were taken all around the place and they showed us all their expensive equipments and teaching facilities which amazed us even more.


They even have a nice furnished cafe right outside the complex which served amazing food and drinks.


After the tour, we went up the bus once again and were brought to their pilot plant.


We were told that the pilot plant was not in a very good condition due to the fact that the original pilot plant was burnt down by an accident caused by a postgraduate student and the current plant was just a makeshift plant.

We returned to the seminar room soon after and took our belongings out to wait for the bus to pick us up and drop us off at KL Central. While waiting, we took the chance and took group photos with them right outside their faculty.



**oh, and by the way, the answer to the Purple-Green thing: Barney!!**


Reported by: Chan Kaang Cheing the Panda

A Public Announcement: H1N1 Prevention

Hi people! I know its kind of "late" to post this on the blog, but hey, the number of cases keeps on rising, and I think its still useful tips. Better be safe than sorry, right?



Swine Flu Symptoms & Facts

* Swine flu is a respiratory illness & mostly has same symptoms as a standard flu

* You can not get swine flu from eating pork

* The Swine Flu like other flu variations is highly contagious

* The swine flu is a virus - don't ask your doctor for antibiotics - there are specific medications like Tamiflu which may help to alleviate the symptoms and severity.

* The Swine Flu is a type A influenza (H1N1)

* Symptoms of the swine flu are include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Also sometimes diarrhea and vomiting.

* The duration of the swine flu is about 7 days

* Coughing & sneezing on someone is usually the fastest way the flu can be spread.

* The flu germs can also be picked up on places where someone had sneezed such as a keyboard, telephone, door knob - clean surfaces with alcohol or antibacterial wipes whenever possible

If you suspect that you or a loved one may have contracted swine flu contact your doctor. There are medications that can help ease the symptoms of the virus.


Swine Flu Prevention

* The best way to avoid the swine flu is to wash your hand thoroughly and often

* Avoid being in contact with someone who may have the flu or been exposed to the flu

* Avoid large crowds if there is a breakout in your city

* Shop on days and times when there will be less people there (Weekdays)

* Avoid touching your eyes, nose & mouth

* Get plenty of rest

* If possible try to avoid stress which can lower your immune system

* Eat as healthy as possible - fresh fruits & veggies

* Drink plenty of fresh water

* Take immune boosting supplements & vitamins

* Before traveling check the Healthmap to see if there is a current outbreak so you can take precautions

* Listen to the news, CDC, WHO and other resources listed on this page

Basically take the same precautions that you would take during the normal cold & flu season.

The swine flu is just a flu, but just like any flu there can be serious symptoms and it can be deadly. Even if you you are not concerned about catching H1N1 you should still take measures to protect yourself and your family members.

You won't be any good to another family member if they get sick and you are too sick to take care of them.


**credits: www.squidoo.com**

MSM muffin making, June 2009

25th June, a very special day, it was the first day of muffin baking by SSMP muffin baking team. We were going to make thousands and thousands of muffins for breakfast and tea-time for the new-coming juniors throughout the orientation week.

We had insufficient manpower… most of us are inexperienced… time was so short…
Will this mission be possible? We wondered…


At the end of the day, we didn’t realize that we had already baked over 1,600 vanilla flavored muffins, and at the same time, Thank God, the oven did not explode out of fatigue.


Oh yeah, we did it!! We hit our target on the first day since our target was 1,200 muffins.


On the next day, we continued our mission at 8am. Guess what… We succeeded in producing about 2,000 vanilla muffins!! It was tiring throughout the whole day, but I believe all the members in the muffin team enjoyed the process.


Throughout the few days, we produced mountains of muffins and did some packaging on bread and muffins for our beloved juniors. (Yes we do love you guys!)


We produced not only vanilla flavored muffins, but also chocolate flavored muffins. We produced the chocolate muffins with strawberry jam fillings for morning tea during “Program Bersama Sekolah”. Those muffins were specially made fresh from the oven on that morning itself, and served piping hot to our juniors. We do hope the juniors enjoyed it a lot!


We ended our muffin-baking days after baking a last batch of marble muffins for VIPs of the university. Despite all the hardship and our worn-out body, we enjoyed the days we fight our way together to our goal. A big thank you to the muffin making team! CHEERS!!



Reported by:
Lai Siew Hong

Mushroom Farm Trip, April 2009

PMSSMP organized a mushroom farm trip to Kundasang under the lead of our EXCO of Sports and Recreation, See Soon Chai on 11th and 12th April. 80 seats were offered to students from 1st year and 2nd year of SSMP.

I joined the trip on the 12th as I had some work to do on Saturday. It was a fine sunny day and we waited at Kg. E bus stop as early as 6.45am. After everyone was ready and set to go, we boarded busses provided by UMS to the destination.
On the way, we enjoyed the scenery and took photos together =)



When we reach the mushroom farm, we were warmly greeted and welcomed by the organizers over there. All of us, if not most, tried the lingzhi tea prepared, one of the proud products produced by the farm.

We had a briefing about the process of mushroom farming, and also get exposed to different species of mushrooms being farmed in Malaysia.

After that, we had a tour around the farm. It was really interesting!

We had fun, had memories and also had cheap mushrooms!




reported by:
Charlotte

Food Bites Edition 3 / April 2009

Note from Editor:
I’m sure this month will be a very stressful and busy month for everyone as the finals are coming closer. However, I do hope that everyone will not forget to have regular meals everyday, and to exercise regularly to release the stress.

In this issue of Food Bites, there is an article on “Food Safety Tips”. Here, we learn to cook our food till a certain temperature to ensure that the food are safe to be eaten. Next up, we have news from The Institute of the Food Technologists, and an article on the reasons why do we have to consume seafood.

A very exciting event coming up this month is the Borneo Mushroom trip on the 11th and 12th April. To those who will be going for the trip, do not be late as the bus will not wait for you!

Last but not least, I would like to take the opportunity to bid farewell to everyone as this will be the last issue for this semester. Don’t forget to look out for Food Bites next semester and all the best to everyone in your finals!



“HOT” FOOD SAFETY Tips

Heat kills germs and exterminates bacteria in food. Cook your meat, poultry, eggs, and seafood until they reach these internal temperatures. Use a good, clean, instant-read thermometer and place its tip in the thickest part of the food. (Don’t forget to wash it each time before you insert it.)

Sources: USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service and FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

Why Getting Into Seafood?

When the sea breeze is blowing gently on your face, you would probably think of the underwater creatures and then having a seafood buffet would be best while enjoying the gorgeous view on the beach. Feel like eating it already? It’s great if you have the thought of eating seafood than those who choose to stay away from it. Adding a little bit of seafood in your diet just by saying ‘yes’, and you will find out how the wonders of seafood would help you to be back on track to your healthy life.

If you do not like seafood you should start to pick up the habit of eating it. You may wonder why is it beneficial to do so, it’ll be elucidated right off. Have you ever heard of omega-3-fatty acid (O3FA)? This term may sound alien to some of you. It is actually one of the subclasses of fatty acid. One should increase intake of this fatty acid than increasing saturated fats and trans fats which will increase the ‘bad’ cholesterol within the body. The advantages of increasing intake of O3FA are listed below:

· Positive effect on heart rhythm

· Reduce risk of heart disease

· May reduce incidence of most common type of stroke

· May have a role in macular degeneration ( common form of blindness)

· Some other positive influences on: kidney disease, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.

So what has it to do with seafood? This O3FA is found to be abundant in seafood especially fish, which is one of the primary sources. Some examples include salmon, sardine, tuna and even shellfish. So waste no time and act fast to change your way of eating simply by giving a little space for seafood on your plate. Here are a few handy tips for you to gradually alter your diet to having a twice-weekly seafood diet:

· Sardine or tuna on crackers to chew on in front of the box as snacks.

· Tuna salad sandwich for a quick lunch as it’ll be ready in no time.

· Starts to have fish or other types of shellfish in your meal per week and slowly increasing to two per week.

You will see how the beauty of seafood will be revealed to you as in aiding you to reap for a healthier life!

Source: www.ific.com


News From The Institute of the Food Technologists
Gene linked with desire for fattening foods
A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine led by Dr. Colin Palmer at the Univ. of Dundee, Scotland, suggests that the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene could be associated with a desire for high-calorie foods. The scientists genotyped 2,726 Scottish children, age 4–10, for the FTO variant rs9939609. In addition, their height and weight measurements were taken. Nearly two-thirds of the children had at least one copy of the gene variant.

After confirming the obesity link in the larger group, the researchers examined 97 of the children. They took a number of measurements, including body fat and metabolic rate. The researchers wanted to figure out if the FTO gene also had to do with the eating behavior or whether it involved how the body burns calories. The children were given three meals at school to evaluate their eating behavior. The researchers found that children with the gene variation showed no difference in metabolic rates, levels of physical activity, or the amount of food eaten.

However, they found that the children with the gene variant were eating higher-calorie foods, and consuming, on average, 100 more calories than the children without the gene. The researchers concluded that the presence of the FTO variant “may have a role in the control of food intake and food choice, suggesting a link to a hyperphagic phenotype or a preference for energy-dense foods.”

Source: http://www.ift.org