Review - MovieTowne's Green Park POS

I just love the Green Park at Movie Towne Port-of-Spain. It is such a beautiful place to just relax in such greenery and the perfect place for kids to play and ride bikes. Many people bring their kids to enjoy this green space as it gives them an opportunity for their kids to play outdoors instead of the regular cinema and mall outings. There is a really breath taking man made stream decorated with all types of greenery. I really love it and my kids do too.

I must commend Movie Towne for upgrading the Green park to now include three amusement park rides. These rides are kid friendly and perfect for the area, bringing more fun and excitement to the area. My kids love the Carousel, it is huge and very old fashioned. I really love that. They have also newly opened their children's Ferris Wheel and Rocket rides which are most enjoyable. The rides are well supervised and very safe for kids. Of course, smaller kids must be accompanied by an adult.

 

There is even a canteen in the Green Park selling drinks, snacks and pop corn which is incredibly convenient. Now, patrons do not have to walk over to Movie Towne for drinks and snacks.

 

Thank you Movie Towne for this gift to the west, we look forward to all the other amazing ideas and fun things you have planned for us.

Recipe - My Famous Lasagne

I finally found the time to write down my famous lasagne recipe, with photos I might add. I say it is famous because everyone who has ever eaten it has fallen in love with it, although it is a vegetarian lasagne. This dish is my specialty. I usually make it for Christmas Eve, however, I have found ways to make it healthier and packed with good stuff so I can make it all year round.

I use one container of fresh mushrooms. I cook my mushrooms first, with a little olive oil and lots of fresh basil until slightly brown.

If you can't find fresh basil, use dried basil or the Bertolli Tomato & Basil pasta sauce for the flavour.

 

 

Then I add the chopped carrots, onions and sweet peppers. I chop them chunky but you can chop them finer if you like. When they have softened, add the spinach and broccoli bits. Remember the vegetables will also cook in the oven, so don't over cook them on the stove.

 

 

 

 

You can put the lasagne strips to boil while the vegetables are cooking to save time. Don't over boil them, if they are too soft they will fall apart. I usually take out the strips one by one and line them around a bowl. This prevents them from sticking together.

 

Grate both cheeses, and begin layering the pie. I use the Bertolli brand pasta sauce because the quality is great. It tastes like restaurant sauce and tastes fresh unlike the other brands like Hunts and Prego.

 

Put some sauce in the dish and spread evenly, then layer with the strips. Spread some more sauce on the strip then layer the vegetables and cheese, then strips again. Continue until you finish with a thick spread of sauce and cheese. You can put less cheese if you wish to make it healthier.

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, it should look like this when finished:

 

To make this dish even healthier, eat a smaller portion with salad and vegetables.

 

For my recipe, I use lots of good stuff like:
 
1   container of Fresh Mushrooms - PriceSmart
3   Carrots
3   Sweet Peppers
1   head of Broccoli
2   small Onions
3   cups chopped Spinach
2   handfuls fresh Basil
2   bottles Bertolli Pasta Sauce -PriceSmart
1   package of Mozarella Cheese
1   lb regular cheese
2   packs lasagne strips (Ronzoni brand)

This recipe is for 2 packs of lasagne strips.

You can also use pre-washed American spinach instead of the local. Also, you can use baigan instead of mushrooms if you don't like mushrooms or are allergic.

 

ENJOY





Independence Weekend Events

First let me start off by wishing everyone a Happy 52nd Independence. This year's Independence celebrations are grand and there are so many family oriented activities and events that everyone is invited to be a part of.

Independence weekend kicks off at the Divali Nagar site where The National Council for Indian Culture (NCIC) will be hosting their 3rd Annual Rainbow Dance Festival on Saturday 30th of August 2014. This event promises to be a beautiful night of dance as every cultural group in Trinidad will be represented. Their flyer is posted below for further reference.

 

 Independence Day starts off with a bang in San Fernando with their Dragon Boat Regatta at 9:00am on The Waterfront (King's Warf). This will be a sight to behold and the event I am most excited to attend.

 

 

It's an all day affair in San Fernando after the Dragon Boat Regatta. It will be a day of fun and entertainment for the whole family as the City of San Fernando hosts a Cultural Show, live Steel Bands Orchestra and Tassa. San Fernando's Independence Day will culminate with a Grand Fireworks Show on the San Fernando Hill at 8:30pm.

 



 

 If you live in Central and don't feel like traversing down to San Fernando to join in their all day festivities, Central has events planned for you too.

 

The perfect lunch solution is in store for you at the Chinmaya Ashram of Mc Bean as they invite you to part take in their International Food Fair with over 108 Dishes on sale from 12 to 6pm. This will indeed be a delicious event and one I will be sure not to miss!

 

 

After filling up your tummies, head on over to the 3rd Annual Fishing Tournament hosted by the Felicity Charlieville Fishing Association for some fishing fun! Be there to witness the teams as they bring in their catch for judging. See the youngest male and female fisher folk and cheer them on. Be sure to be a part of the fun and excitement.



 

 

There sure are many very exciting events this Independence weekend, a good opportunity for the kids to have some fun and experience some of Trinidad's culture before they head back out to school.

 

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE!!

 

 

New perspectives of RAKSHA BANDHAN

Raksha Bandhan is a celebration of brotherly love and protection. The Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga Centre of Trinidad and Tobago, in collaboration with the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Cultural Co-operation (MGICC) hosted grand festivities celebrating the chaste bond of love between brothers and sisters. The audience was entertained with song and dance by students of the MGICC and serenaded by the nectarine voice of Mrs Meena Ramsaran. Sister Kuldeep of Hyderabad, India flew in to be a part of the celebrations and to share her positive energies and wisdom in the form of a story, teaching that God sends help to us in all forms; we just need to recognize it.

Raksha Bandhan sets aside a day where brothers and sisters can seek out each other and rekindle their love for one another forgiving any differences or misdeeds. As humans, we all make mistakes and as some may say, we are entitled to make mistakes, as that is how we learn. Raksha Bandhan gives siblings an opportunity to bury unresolved issues and find a way to rebuild their relationship and live peacefully together. It is an occasion that brings fractured families together to show our younger generations how they should live. It reminds brothers of their responsibility towards their sisters to protect them from harm and keep their honour intact.

 

Swamiji shared his wisdom and his unique connotation of Raksha Bandhan. He explained that the significance of tying a Rakhi for protection can be extended to all of nature and as we ask nature for its protection, we too must protect nature. If we can develop this way of thinking, then we can enjoy nature in its purest for a much longer period of time. Then we would not allow big money making companies to obliterate our environment and make it increasingly toxic for our future generations.

 

 

Raksha Bandhan has since evolved to also signify a promise in which the strong must protect the weak. India’s history has proven that the symbolism of the Rakhi has resulted in political ties between many kingdoms. Many Rajput and Maratha queens have sent Rakhis to Mughal kings who were primarily muslims. Despite their differences, they offered protection to their Rakhi sisters at critical moments and honoured their bond. This proves that Raksha Bandan is not only celebrated by Hindus, but all religions can participate in this celebration. This bond between brothers and sisters transcends religion and family and I believe that if youths of all walks of life were to honour this tradition then men today would respect women more. Young men would see young women as their sisters and treat them respectfully instead of being immoral with them. A society that condones such mentality and promotes the bonding of youths and children on this level will definitely witness more love and less violence, specifically, less sex crimes, and men will be more encouraged to protect their female counterparts rather than take advantage of them.

 

 

 

Pure love is the underlying lesson to be learned from this age old tradition of Raksha Bandhan. Love between brothers and sisters, love for nature, love and respect between kingdoms, love across religions and between youths everywhere. When every individual can live peacefully as brothers and sisters, then every member of the community can commit to protect each other and society as a whole.

Modern Music Not Fit For Youths

Youth today are bombarded by music and movies that are dangerous for their minds. Mainstream music teaches youths that it is accepted to dress scantily, abuse alcohol, party all night, wield guns and disrespect women. Is this what we want our kids to grow up learning? Do we want this lifestyle to become the norm in society? If we take a look at what is going on around us, we can testify that the effects of modern music and movies have slowly crept into our community and made its way into our homes.

 

Although music is freedom of speech, why can't lyrics be more positive and encouraging to young minds? Why can't positive images be portrayed for our girls to pattern from? Do we want our girls to think that they need to be skinny, almost naked and carry themselves without pride or respect in order to fit in? Do we want our young men to grow up thinking it is accepted to disrespect women and idolize women for their body and not their minds? It is my view that if an artist needs to use sex appeal to sell records, then he is not an artist at all but a money maker who will use any device to make money. 

As parents and leaders in society, we need to take a stand to protect our defenceless kids from these evils which we have allowed into our homes. We need to monitor what our kids listen to and what they watch, we need to build strong bonds with them and build confidence in them so that they do not give into this type of brainwashing but can think for themselves. The music of today encourages peer pressure as it suggests that girls and boys are supposed to look and behave a certain way. The damage in society didn’t just happen; it’s what we exposed them to. As a mom of two girls, I have boycotted this type of music and films and I propose you do the same as well if we are to change society and undo the damage done to our kids. We must expose them to only what is appropriate for their age.

However, I am not discouraged. Although there are many negative songs out there, we are also given much hope from many of our nation’s young and very talented singers who sing to make a difference, not just to entertain and sell records. Their example should be followed by the adult singers who pride themselves on singing about negative and degrading things. Once such admirable young man, Vinesh Ramnarine, son of Raymond Ramnarine of the Dil-E-Nadan, speaks against bullying in his song, I AM A STAR. His song encourages victims of bullying to be strong as their struggle will soon be over. This eight year old strives to portray to bullies that it is not cool to take advantage of others. It is very brave and compassionate of him to want to make a difference. We need more kids like this and more parents like his. I do need to applaud his parents for raising such a fine young man, by I am sure exposing him to positivity and teaching him to respect others. Vinesh is just one example of how good only begets good and why we need to plant more good seeds in the minds of our kids in order to reap more good in society.

Emancipation Celebrations

 

 

 

As our country celebrated Emancipation last weekend at the Queen's Park Savannah, I can truly say that I am proud to be a Trinidadian. Named the Lidj Yasu Omawale Village Emancipation, the exhibition celebrated many African figures with very artistic and creative displays. The first thing I saw upon walking through the entrance was a map of Africa made out of various pebbles and stones, it was quite genius. I must congratulate the Emancipation Support Committee of Trinidad and Tobago (ESCTT) for successfully hosting such a grand celebration. All the hard work, planning, designing and finally implementation were represented in every display, banner, booth and corner. It was also evident that all the booths were meticulously prepared and displayed, adding to the ambience. The village also showcased live performances, African art, crafts, jewellery and clothing. Their knowledge zone was particularly interesting and informative and I think quite an important part of the exhibition.

 

 

 

 

I must also applaud the various Ministries and government agencies for supporting this effort and the African community. The Emancipation village was generously attended by every colour of Trinidad’s beautiful rainbow. It was an amazing sight of colourfully dressed women, men and children in their patriotic native wear.

 

 

Patrons were also delighted that there was no shortage of food at the exhibition with the seemingly never ending line of vendors to choose from. This also showed much organization by the ESCTT for ensuring there was enough food for the crowds. Tents and chairs were also available for shading the heat and comfortable food consumption. Every aspect was well catered for; there was even a petting zoo for the kids provided by the El Socorro Centre for Wildlife Conservation.

 

 

The Lidj Yasu Omawale Village Emancipation celebration was enjoyed by all attendees and I am sure all would like to see such a rich outpouring of culture not only for Emancipation but for all culturally related events. We also hope to see continued support from the government of the day and Ministries as we hope to salvage and protect what is left of the various cultures of Trinidad and Tobago.

 

Early Reading is the Key to Success

I love to read books, since I was a child I always loved to read and even now, books excite me. I wanted to pass this love on to my daughter when she was born and R.I.K. bookstores has helped me to accomplish this. Their bookstore in Chaguanas is my favourite outlet and I buy most of my books there. I love to pop in and browse their books and the staff is most helpful and friendly.  They stock books for every age group and of every interest. My daughter especially loves the bite sized sofa they have for her to sit and read books whilst I browse the store. For my second daughter who is now one and a half, I bought her hand puppet books that she absolutely loves. They are so creative and fun and allow for imaginative play as well as have helped her to like her books. She has her own mini library now and will go and pick out her own books for me to read to her.

 

As parents, all we have to do is make the books available to them and their curiosity will do the rest. Of course she patterns after her older sibling whom is constantly reading and playing with her own books. If you expose your kids to books from babies, you will see how different your child is from other kids as they grow and blossom. Not only are they smarter, but their minds think differently and they are more aware of everything. They can speak better as they are exposed to a bigger vocabulary and they will even start spelling faster. My daughter also loves Maths and other areas of work and does not need to be forced to do her school work. Apart from reading books, I do love to buy craft books and activity books which my daughter just loves. R.I.K has a wide variety of these and they are cheaper than other bookstores. Their stores are stocked with the most fun books for kids that will make them so excited that they will want to finish the book in one day.

 

You also need to be aware of the fact that when your child has this thirst for learning and needs to be challenged, that a normal kindergarten just will not suffice. You child will become bored and will not want to go to school since he is doing more work at home. A school that will give the child individual attention instead of classroom attention will be better and will help mould his mind and brain. Our children are capable of so much more than we think, then why keep them back? Why is it that kindergartens are instructed to only do a certain level of work? This concept I do not support and I will never succept my child to this.  Kids must always be encouraged to do their best and if they do not like colouring, like my child never has, then they shouldn’t be made to do it. My daughter thinks that colouring is boring but instead loves to write and her teacher complained that she wouldn’t colour. Well, because she needed to do a higher level of work. Needless to say, after sending her to another school where her individuality was promoted, she covered so much more work and read so many books and she was always excited to go to school. Every morning, as I drove her to school, she would read her day’s lessons for me and I barely had to help her. She loves reading for me and is excited when she realises that she can read so well.

I believe that if parents can cultivate this love for reading in their kids from a tender age that our kids would spend more time reading and at our nation’s libraries than in gangs, and the less likely they are to get into trouble. I must applaud our governments for providing our kids with well stocked libraries and the best facilities; however, it is entirely up to parents to help their kids love reading. You cannot expect to take a primary school child to the library and he will just love to read, you need to start the process from baby and watch it flourish at primary school. That is the right way! Only when parents can adopt this way of thinking can they better the lives of their kids and the country by extension.

Parents need to step up and take responsibility for their kids and their actions. They need to teach by example. A child is the product of his environment. All we need to do is provide the child with a good environment, one in which education and love is prominent and we will have more confident and smarter kids. Why do some parents expect teachers to be solely responsible for their kid’s success or failure in exams? Education should be a team effort and if this is done from kindergarten, then your child’s success is certain.  A few simple changes can change our nation’s kids and make our country the paradise it used to be, however, parents need to change their attitudes first. Our kids need to be more important to us, we need to spend more time with them and educate them from babies. We need to break the cycle, send our kids to school if we want a better life for them. Invest in their future and stop being selfish! Our kids are not our slaves and should be given every opportunity in life. Education now is free to all and no excuse should be accepted since Trinidad is small and we have several schools in every area. If your kid has to walk to school, hold his hand and walk with him, be a parent! All your child needs is an opportunity to go to school and this will change his life forever.