Hi everyone! Welcome to my blog. If you are coming to Wisconsin, you are in the right webpage. I am now in Wisconsin, USA. This is my 4th week here. I would like to share with you all, where are the place that you must visit in Wisconsin!!
When you are in Madison, which is the capital of Wisconsin, the places that you must visit are Hinchley's Dairy Farm, State Street, State Capitol.
Hinchley's Dairy Farm
First of all, let's talk about Hinchley's Dairy Farm. I like that Dairy Farm very much because I have had a lot of my first time in the Dairy Farm. It's undeniable that Wisconsin is famous with its name "America Dairyland". The Dairy Farm is the place that you must visit.
There are a lot of dairy farms in Wisconsin, but Hinchley's Dairy Farm impressed me the most!! Hinchley's Dairy Farm is a real working dairy farm in Cambridge, Wisconsin where cows are milked twice each day, 365 days of the year. There are sheeps, chickens, goats, llama and rabbits to see and pet. Besides, they have rapsberry field and you can plug fresh rapsberry and it can be eaten right away. 
Tina Hinchley
The owner of Hinchley's Dairy Farm is owned by Tina Hinchley. This is a family business. She is a superwoman, I would say. She likes her job very much. From the conversation between Tina and me during the tour, she told me that the annual income they earned is not enough to breakeven. They are suffering losses every year. This is because milk supply is high, so the price is low. No government grant is granted by the Dairy Farm. If you wish to get government grant, you must be suffering 35% of losses or damages as to your annual turnovers. Despite of that, she still work hard in the farm. She is loving her job. She likes what she is doing now. This is called job satisfaction!!
For me, I will think that this is a tough job. You need to milk the cow, clean the crap, move the crap and a lot of tough works. It is not easy. Moreover, the income is not as good as what you will get when you are employed in office work. The whole business is managed by her and it is definitely financed by Bank Loans and Long term borrowing from Bank. It is risky! Furthermore, the returns are not so high. Only the person who loves the job will continue to do it forever.
Here are the photos in Hinchley's Dairy Farm. You can play with little calfs, milk the cow, play with little chicks, feed the goats, sheeps, llama. Besides, you can plug and eat the rapsberry right away!!
State Street Madison + State Capitol
Other than that, in Madison, you must go to State Street!! I went there during Maxwell Street Day, the price of the items are cheap and reasonable. I bought 1 Crocs Badgers Shoe, and 15 clothes. OMG!! Too enjoy my shopping trip!! State Street in just like Petaling Street in Malaysia, Xi Men Ding in Taipei, Chatuchak in Bangkok. The big difference is the air in Wisconsin during summer is cool and refreshing. In Malaysia, it is hot and you will keep sweating when you shopping outdoor. At the end of the street, there is a beautiful building, which is State Capitol. That is the biggest building in Wisconsin. The Forward Lady is the image of Wisconsin. The motto of Wisconsin is FORWARD.
Check it out some photos.
The next place that you must visit is the Dells Mill.
The scenery at the water fall is really beautiful. What a panoramic view!!
Let's see!
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EngHwa Tan
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Posted by
EngHwa Tan
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Hi everyone! As you can see in my previous post, it's fried banana. Why I put the fried banana recipe in my blog? Don't you feel weird? This is because we have an activity called Pot Luck on July 23. Everyone will cook something that represent their home country. We shared and ate together with Americans and other international students.
It was my first time to make fried banana. I was very happy that moments as I did it! My friends from Laos (KK) and Thailand (Hooda) gave me compliments on my cook. They said that it was as tasty as the one selling in their country. I was on cloud nine!! Yahoo!
This was the cooking process:
Here we go!! Pot Luck Dinner!!
Most importantly, everyone dressed up in tradisional clothes, included me. I wore Malaysian Tradisional Batik. A lot of people asking me what kind of clothing material and the purpose of wearing Batik. At first, I thought Batik is Malay Language. Now, I've checked the dictionary. Batik is in English and Spanish as well.
Batik is a process for printing designs on cloth. Wax is put on those areas of the cloth that you do not want to be coloured by dye. While, a batik is a cloth which has been printed with a batik design.
We wear Batik during formal Malay Dinner, Malay Wedding, and any other cultural events.
We enjoyed ourselves so much!! I've tried out some nice foods from Myanmar, Thailand, China, Laos, and also America. Thank you everyone for making such a good dinner.
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EngHwa Tan
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According to Wikipedia, Pisang Goreng (fried banana in Malay/Indonesian) is a snack food mostly found throughout Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. It is usually sold by the stall hawkers near the roadside in my country. When thinking about fried bananas, it brings me to my childhood memories. I still can recall vividly that when I was small, I stayed in a shoplot house. Where my father shop was just located at the ground floor. I used to buy fried bananas at the hawker stalls nearby twice a week. I went there by bicycle in the hot afternoon. I ate the fried bananas together among my siblings and my mother while watching the TV channel. I did bring some friend bananas to my father in his office and also shared with all the employees in his shop. I have had a great time with this snack food when I was small. I like it very much. Today, I would like to share with you guys how to cook this snack food.
INGREDIENTS
• 6 tabletspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tabletspoons of sugar
• 1/4 tabletspoons of salt
• 1/2 cup of water
• 2 Ripe bananas, sliced into smaller pieces
• Approprite oil for deep frying
METHOD
1. Mix the flour, sugar and salt well in a bowl. Beat the water into the flour mixture until batter is smooth. Set batter aside to rest for anywhere from 5-15 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a deep skillet or deep fryer to between 350° and 375°. Working in batches, fold in banana slices until evenly coated in batter. Let any excess batter drip off and drop in the hot oil to deep fry. Fry it until golden brown and crispy.
3. Drain on paper towels and serve warm.
VARIATIONS
• Use 1/2 cup of coconut milk and 1/2 cup of water in the batter for a more tropical flavor if you like.
Thank you! Enjoy your Fried Bananas.
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EngHwa Tan
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Today, we learned about The Hmong people in the United States, especially in Wisconsin. Majority of Hmong is staying in Wisconsin. For more information about the Hmong people, please visit here.
We are given a Peom, titled "Journey to America", by Tou Lee Vue, a new generation of Hmong people in the United States. It is a meaningful poem which conveys the importance of the Hmong history.
In the first stanza, the writer is questioning himself regarding his differences as compared to Americans in the United States. For instance, hair color, skin, and appearance. The writer found the answers from his father. Their ancestors were from Laos. This stanza shows that the importance of the Hmong history, especially for the new generation to know their identity.
In the second stanza, the writer introduces the Vietnam War which emphasis their sorrow and their agonizing flashback. The Hmong had been trained by the United States Elite soldiers to oppose the Vietnamese and the Pathet Lao communists of Laos. The Hmong lost the war and they fled due to the subsequent genocidal actions. A lot of sorrow stories had been occured. In order to keep their children from crying and to hide them from murderous soldiers, the desperate parents overdosed their babies with drugs and consequently their babies died. They survived everyday in panic and fear.
The third stanza emphasis the Hmong's desires. They were lived in fear for the past time. Their dreams come true when they are in the United States of America. They are no longer living in fear as refugee.
The writer expresses his perseverance in the last stanza. Although their homeland had been conquered, their freedom still be with them. They are free people who desire for freedom. They are the Hmong!!
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EngHwa Tan
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On 10th July 2009, we have an excursion to Chippewa Valley Museum in Eau Claire. This is my first excursion in the United State. It is so meaningful as we can know all the history of Eau Claire by visiting the museum. For your information, Chippewa Valley Museum is located at Carson Park in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It is about 15minutes drive from UWEC to there.
Chippewa Valley Museum, Here I come!!
He is our museum tour guide. He looks old but he still can recall the past time in Eau Claire vividly. We have a good tour guide because he had, in fact, experienced all the old time in Eau Claire.
One of the most interesting facts in Chippewa Valley Museum is the music instrument. Nowadays, we used to play guitar, drum, piano, flute, and so on. Could you imagine what music instrument is being used in the past?
Here it is:
It is made by turtle shell with the combination of seashells which plays as a music instrument in the past. The old generations wear it at their knees and dance their traditional dance. They music will play simultaneously with their dance. It was so cool!! Although we are not the same generation now, but we all know that what is MUSIC. At least, we know we have some similarity, just it was presented in different way.
The other fact that impressed me much is the Lumberjacks. Lumberjacks are men who worked to cut down the trees with long saws. It is also known as Lumber Industry. Long long time ago, Wisconsin was fully covered by large forests. The Lumberjacks did a great job and it is a must for everyone to know them. This is because, if there was no Lumberjacks, no Wisconsin I would say.
With Lunberjacks, the story that you will know eventually is the Paul Bunyan, who is a giant lumberjack and Babe, his huge blue ox. The story is also called as Tall Tales, which are unbelievable and unusual stories that have been retold over the years and exaggerated.
Apart of that, I was impressed by the old classroom in Eau Claire. The place where the old generation went for their studies. It is still well kept until today. The tables and chairs are too small and it does not fit me. It is for kids. Let's see some photos of the classroom.
In a nutshell, museum serves as a unique and invaluable place where we can achieve the display of the fossils and other historical collections. I am very glad to know more about Eau Claire as well as Wisconsin. This excursion has made my day! It was a memorable excursion.
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EngHwa Tan
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Hi, everyone!!
I've created a new web log in the United States.
If you guys wanna know more about me, where I blogged when I was in Malaysia, please feel free to visit my blog at http://enghwa23.blogspot.com/
