What I remember most out of my childhood memories, my favorite is my first time eating one of my favorite desserts.... Barley dessert. It looks kind of like oatmeal, but has a slightly sharper sweet taste and less nutty flavor.If my grandmother or was busy, she would just boil the barley for us as a drink. If she had the time, we got barley as a dessert, with other ingredients added. Candied winter melon are one of the ingredients added to barley dessert, but one does not always see them. When added, it gives a interesting crunch and goes well with the barley.

When I was first introduced to the Barley dessert .I found it to be a strange looking bowl of white gooey beans-like substance. I was very stubborn about not eating the Barley dessert. however the Barley dessert soon got my curiosity and I decided to try just a bit of it.It was very sweet and the dessert won me over,and soon I was pestering for the dessert. I would also help out in the process of cooking it .

It is now still one of my favorite desserts and occasionally I would ask my grand mother to cook it for me.

Journal #1

Done by: Koh Wan Xin 2E2

Before I read this article I did not truly understand what mangroves are. If someone had asked me what were mangroves before, I would had answered that mangroves were just muddy places with a lot of mosquitoes similar to swamps as I had previously believed that. However I did know that they were an important habitat to many different types of animal and plants.

After reading, I found out that the term “mangrove” refers to a wetland ecosystem. Wetlands are land where water covers the soil or is present near the soil's surface all year or for varying parts of the year. Ecosystems are a community of organisms together with its environment, functioning together as a component. That is formed by animals and plants in sub-tropical and low-lying tropical latitudes. It also refers to salt resistant marine forests consisting of many different types of trees, ground ferns, palms, grasses, shrubs and epiphytes. I have also learnt about the unique traits of mangroves. They can live in saltwater but not necessary salt water. Tap water is also able to also make them grow and thrive as well. I did not know that mangroves were so important and useful as their roots provide attachment surfaces for many marine. Mangrove forests stabilize sediments, sieve out pollution, cling onto nutrients, and shield the shoreline from erosion and nesting along with food and nursery areas for many animals that it provides for. Mangroves in addition are an important source of tannins for dying, oil drilling and leather preservation.

(253 words)

http://www.mangrovemania.com/mangrove_home.html