Filipino Dessert Galore

Hey everyone! So this is the final blog post assigned to us in English 5. It's been real fun being able to express your thoughts and opinions with others. After contemplating many ideas for my last blog post, I thought to myself, "What better way to end than with something sweet". That's right fellow readers, today we're going to be talking about some authentic Filipino desserts that are just down right exceptional.


Have you ever wanted something ice-cold, refreshing, and sweet with a unique blend of flavors? No I'm not talking about snow cones or ice cream, oh I'm talking about halo-halo. This Filipino dessert combines the various flavored coconut jello cubes with shaved ice, evaporated milk, shredded young

coconut and ube flavored ice cream. The flavor of all these ingredients contributes to the uniqueness of this dessert which can be  found in different asian Filipino markets such as Chow King, Red Ribbon, and Jollibee's. This sheer look of this dessert alone is enough to make heads turn. There are different types of halo halos that are customized to your preference. As a child I was always given the whole "shabang"(everything on it) of ingredients, which contributes to how I like my halo halo when ordering one.










Not in the mood for something cold? Have no fear! Turon is here! Turon known as "banana lumpia" is a Filipino dessert made with sliced bananas, sugar, egg, and a spring roll wrapper. Once the sugar coated banana is encased within the spring roll wrapping and bound together with a whisked egg, the turon is then deep fried until crispy and golden brown. This treat is guaranteed to satisfy that sweet

tooth with its crunchy sweet exterior and soft rich banana encased within. An eye catcher at family gatherings, this dessert will keep you coming back for more.











Last but not least we have the decadent leche flan which is one of my personal favorites because of its unique variations in different parts of the world. Leche flan is essentially a custard dessert made of evaporated and condensed milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract. This mixture of ingredients is mixed

and steamed until firm, finalized with a layer of caramel sauce. Extremely rich and light, this dessert is delicious after those heavy meals. As a child I had always seen leche flan at parties, which encouraged me to eat dinner as fast as I could to eat this amazing dessert.







I hope you enjoyed Late Nights with Leonard! This is Leonard Yalong, signing off for one last time!!!

Analysis of "Nuclear Waste" by Richard A. Muller

The article, Nuclear Waste, by Richard Muller discusses the dangers of nuclear waste and his criticism of how important figures are handling the situation. Nuclear waste is the leftover nucleus of elements that were split and the result of nuclear fuel. Muller explains that because of the nuclear waste's half life we are left to decide where to place this waste, resulting in various debates. Muller criticizes that people are not considering the effect of placing the nuclear waste in the deepest parts of the earth. Instead of focusing on guaranteeing that the nuclear waste will be kept safe and isolated for 10,000 years, Muller makes the argument that people shouldn't just focus on absolute containment. Muller claims that we have to just account for 1% that all wastes should leak out making the storage problem seem tractable.

Overall I believe Muller's argument to be very persuasive and reasonable. He makes very effective claims by using factual evidence and statistical analysis. Muller takes account some of the other ideas by people used to solve the nuclear waste issue and critiques them. The article follows the cause and effect organization, giving a background of the subject before going into detail. Muller uses his own research to come up with a solution that instead of accounting for an absolute containment of 10,000 years; we should just focus on a more feasible answer such as guaranteeing leakage every 300 years. The article "Nuclear Waste" by Richard Muller uses many examples to support his claim and its effectiveness shows throughout the article. That's all for today. This is Leonard Yalong, signing off!!!

Violent Video Games: Blurring the line of fantasy and reality

This news article by Mike Jaccarino, an editor for Fox News, discusses the potential threat of violence in video games and its link to mass murders by ordinary people. These ordinary people had a blurred sense of reality by playing violent video games and as a result had begun to re enact scenes of violence towards innocent people. The video games analyzed by Pssociate Professor Bartholow of University of Missouri, showed a promotion of rewards when participating in its violent nature. The article provides many example of school shootings by those who had played video games such as Mortal Kombat, Doom, Call of Duty and Counter Strike.

In my opinion, there has always been an instance where frustration seems to consume you after being overwhelmed by the varying competition in video games. Many people face this frustration and it slowly dissipates. What it comes down to however is the violence of video games. Violent video games promote disruptive behavior, sexual profanity, etc. The modern day video games we know today such as Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty have all developed exponentially. The graphics and the characters become so realistic that you feel as if you are in the game, blurring the line between fantasy and reality. What unnerves me the most from the article by  Jaccarino was the quote made by one of many mass murderers, Devin Moore. He quoted, "Life is a video game, everybody's got to die sometime". Just hearing those words shows the mental disturbance violent video games have among the youth of this generation. Moore as described in the article has had no history of violence, until he started playing Grand Theft Auto. A game that is built on the premise of killing, robbing, and manipulating people. This reoccurring trend of killings shows that there might be a link to the violence in video games and its affect on the youth. That's I have for tonight. This is Leonard Yalong, signing off!!!

Wrassling!

When you think of wrestling, what's the first thing that comes to your mind? For most people, wrestling is associated with World Wrestling Entertainment also known as WWE. As entertaining it may be to see people jumping of ladders, hitting each other with tables and chairs; wrestling was actually a very serious sport. Originating in Greece, wrestling was used as a means to train its soldiers. This wrestling however was much more brutal than the wrestling we see today. Soliders were often beaten for losing in wrestling, some were put to death. Modern day wrestling has developed into different variations and has been an part of the Olympic Games since 708 BC. The different variations of wrestling are as follows: Greco Roman, Freestyle, Entertainment, Sumo, Folkstyle and many more. The type of wrestling I will be talking about tonight is Folkstyle wrestling.

As a former high school wrestler, I am very familiar with Folkstyle wrestling. Although I've only wrestled for two years, I've seen the dedication of people who partake in such an underrated sport. A lot of high school students saw wrestling as just a bunch of dudes rolling around on a mat but there was so much more to it. The technique, endurance, and strength you needed to have to play in such a competitive sport was tremendous. There were only three rounds in a wrestling match which lasted from a minute and thirty seconds to two minutes. Let me just say that those are the longest two minutes of your life in the wrestling ring. Now they didn't just pair you up with anyone to wrestling with, students were divided into different weight classes to ensure that everyone had an equal opportunity to demonstrate their technique, strength and endurance. The weight classes, in pounds, were divided as follows: 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220, eventually making it to heavy weights which were 285. The rules were simple; win by pin or win by points. To pin someone, both parts of the shoulder blade had to be in contact with the mat. Winning by points meant you had to score with taking down your opponent, achieving near fall, and escaping. Taking down your opponent meant throwing them down without brutal force to the neck or over-strain of the legs and arms. A near fall was basically keeping one of your opponents shoulder blades on the ground for more than 6 seconds, awarding you points the longer you kept them down. Escaping is essentially escaping the control of the wrestler in top position. There were essentially three positions in Folkstyle wrestling: neutral(both wrestlers are in standing position), bottom(one wrestler is at bottom position, trying to escape) and top (one wrestler has to maintain control over the bottom wrestler).

As easy as the rules were, wrestling someone with the same weight as you yet varying in different body mass composition was very difficult. You had two opponents who were doing their best to take each other down. Technique was vital in planning your next move and being quick to do so. The rounds do take a toll on the body and wrestlers are subjected to the body's desire to give out. The mentality to keep pushing forward and draw energy from what you had left in your body, is what made wrestling an exciting sport. Wrestling displayed the will power of those who desperately wanted to win. I hope I was able to educate my fellow readers with an underrated sport that should be highly acknowledged. That's all for tonight! This is Leonard Yalong, signing off!!!