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PH Trip Day 1 -Manila/Makati City

the 1st half of the day was totally torture to my nerves.
because when i got to the office, nothing was working well. the system was not functioning correctly; engineers were struggling with some configuration issues while testing the production environment; Mr. N has released another flawed DLL, XC release was not delivered by our partner; AIC has again being the little-white-guy for interrupting with the team tasks... all in all, a mess, especially b/c it's right before i take off for my vacation.
i had stuggled to sort things out a bit. delegating issues to various people - asking qa to do overtime, blast aic for interrupting engineers w/o early request, etc. and i stayed way past 12:00, my supposed departure time from the office.
when i took off from the office, i was planning for the worst. thinking i might be seeing the flight leaving from the airport lobby. lucky me that the office is right off the express route of hwy 1. amazingly it only took me 20 min to get to nancan, but another 15 min on the local route to the parking garage.
my nerves didn't unwind fully until i actually checked into the hotel. right after i passed the custom, i could literally felt my nerves relaxed inch by inch. it's my longest ever vacation mode switching process.
my day turned brighter when we got a great deal on money exchange at the airport, and we also got an honest taxi driver who charged us only 90PS for the ride.
the moment i saw our hotel room, i knew my vacation has be WONDERFUL. we've got a great room with 2 queen size beds for only US$70. this hotel only rated 3 stars but it actually is more of a delicate little boutique hotel - a 4-story buildig off the Pasay avenue.
we spent the evening at the greenbelt 3... (more comments on the mall & food later)
the time at the mall was nice but not satisfying enough since we didn't get to know the area and enjoy the local flavors. we went out again at 11pm for snacks. it was much better after seeing some restaurants still open after 11pm. the day ended with a great sweet note - a banana/carrot cake at the park cafe to start my b-day celebration.

Time for bed.

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克菲爾FAQ (持續更新中)

1. 問題: 小克如果產生出很怪的發酵乳, 是不是就掛了?! 答: 小克是很耐的菌, 若碰到問題, 請再給小克一次機會, 不要把它扔了. 很可能是因為放在過熱室溫下, 牛奶餿了! 請將菌母濾出, 壞掉的發酵乳可以拿去澆花. 使用可飲用的水將菌母沖乾淨, 再加入新鮮的牛奶(菌:奶=1:1) , 置於室溫下(需低於攝氏27度), 發酵時間約2小時. 再檢查是否正常發酵: 1. 有產生氣體嗎? 2. 有正常發酵嗎? 若一切順利, 表示小克是活著的, 可以逐步增加牛奶的量. 2. 問題: 每個人都可以喝小克嗎? 答: 小克含有微量酒精(<1%), 對酒精或酵母菌過敏的人不能喝. 目前已知 -- 痛風的人不能. 因為小克含有酒精, 朋友的朋友有痛風, 喝完隔天手指就腫起來啦! 3. 問題: 小克顆粒變小了, 怎麼辦? 答: 換種牛奶品牌, 並調整牛奶與菌母的比例 -- 菌母不要放太少. 4. 問題: 哪種品牌的牛奶較好? 答: 目前我試過最滿意的是養樂多及義美的, 喝起來奶香味十足, 且很濃稠. 最糟糕的是福樂, 喝起來有奶油味!!! 5. 問題: 養克菲爾有什麼禁忌? 答: (1)克菲爾菌母不能接觸金屬, 過濾時不要拿金屬湯匙攪拌. (2)需放在21~27度室溫發酵, 溫度過低, 克菲爾菌會休息, 過高菌母會死掉. (3)克菲爾一定要放在玻璃瓶罐或PP耐熱容器中, 其他塑膠容器可能會產生毒素. 6. 問題: 過濾後的克菲爾發酵乳馬上就可以喝嗎? 答: 是的, 過濾後的馬上可以喝. 網路上有人建議放12-24小時「熟成」後再喝. 若是使用全脂牛奶, 熟成後乳脂會集結得很明顯, 發酵乳上方會有一層像鮮奶油的物質. 喝之前可稍微攪拌一下或搖動一下. 若是變成一坨一坨, 最好再過濾一下.

克菲爾養成 - 牛奶的選擇

我都用鮮奶餵養小克, 對自己好一點, 一桶桶買也很方便. 原本是在便利商店買特價鮮乳--光泉二瓶101~107元, 瑞穗一大一中90元. 因牛奶用量很大, 改為去大賣場採買大瓶裝, 稍微省一點(每公升52~54元). 口感上, 試到目前我最喜歡使用的是味全鮮乳(低脂). 做出來的小克酸味中等, 乳脂低, 喝起來不會太濃稠. 而且不會有太多乳脂在瓶身上!!! 另外, 光泉(低脂)也不錯, 但乳脂感覺較多. 瑞穗鮮乳我用了一陣子, 感覺還好, 乳脂也不少. Nancy說她不敢用瑞穗, 因為過期的瑞穗放很久都不會變質, 不知是有放防腐劑或是殺菌太過徹底?! 最差的是福樂北海道特濃鮮乳, 小克會被包覆一層乳脂, 喝起來有奶油味, 很人工! 而且在換掉牛奶後, 還需要約一週時間, 小克才會把那感覺代謝掉!!! 以下為我試過的品牌: 光泉(低脂 & 全脂) 瑞穗(低脂 & 全脂) 統一鮮乳(低脂) 味全鮮乳(低脂, 極品限定低脂) 福樂北海道特濃鮮乳(全脂)

克菲爾養成: 如何加速小克菌母繁殖

分送了許多小克菌母給朋友, 本來滿出濾網的小克, 現在只是剛好裝滿而已. 前幾次直接吃小克菌母, 效果好像更好, 所以查查資料, 讓小克努力增產. 以下為我翻譯及註解國外養小克專家Dom寫的說明, 我非常有同感! 牛奶克菲爾菌母繁殖的最佳環境 ( Dom's Kefir FAQ ) 不用清水沖洗克菲爾菌母, 只接觸牛奶 使用已認證的新鮮有機生牛奶, 以避免奶中含有抗生素 (台灣好像沒這東西, 牛奶至少都加熱殺菌煮熟過) 置於攝氏22度(華氏77度)左右環境 (太低溫的環境下乳酸菌會變少, 酵母菌太多會過酸) 將菌母置於大量牛奶中發酵, 菌母:牛奶 1:30 或 1:50 儘量讓小克處於pH 4.5環境 (檸檬汁酸度為pH2.3) 預防過度發酵過酸, 每隔24小時更換牛奶一次 更換牛奶時, 保留一點發酵乳不要全部瀝乾 (發酵乳中的酒精可促進小克菌母生長) 發酵期間, 偶爾搖動瓶子, 讓小克菌母可接觸尚未發酵的牛奶, 獲得養份 Original Text * The grains are not rinsed with water between each milk change. * Using fresh certified organic raw milk [possibly due to Certified Organic milk does not contain antibiotics as do most commercial milk types]. * Optimal temperature of 22ºC or 77ºF. * Using milk ratios between 1 : 30 to 1 : 50 [grains-to-milk by volume]. * Preventing the pH from becoming too low or too acidic [no less than pH 4.5] over extended periods. * Preventing over-fermentation by fermenting no longer than 1 day in the same milk. * Straining only 3/4 of the kefir i.e. leaving amounts