Sponsored video: Toyota Dominoes - spirit of Toyota innovation

"A car company with a positive environmental effect" sounds like an oxymoron. Well Toyota is trying to show that this is not impossible with the launch of Toyota hybrid technology!

Their new Fuel cell vehicle (FCV) shows that cars can be eco-friendly.

In case you are wondering how a Fuel Cell Vehicle works, read on....
IN a FCV, the Fuel Cells generates electricity through the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen to power the motor driving the vehicle. Hydrogen, which replaces conventional fuels (Petrol and Diesel) is an environment friendly energy source that can be produced from various raw materials. However, the most amazing thing in FCVs is that they have zero emissions or in other words, zero CO2 emissions during operation.

The dominoes picking themselves up in this clip captures the essence of the spirit of Toyota innovation.



Explore Toyota's Global website to learn more and watch more videos on their YouTube page.

This post is sponsored by Toyota, but all of the thoughts are our own.

Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Center in Carlsbad.

Amazing car designs from the Mercedes-Benz design center in California - Carlsbad, USA.

Vanilla Protein Bliss Balls

Vanilla Protein Bliss Balls

Bliss balls... Little bites of gooey, chewy, sweet deliciousness. Nut butters, superfood powders, dried fruit, seeds, grains. The possibilities are - quite literally - endless! So quick and easy to make, bliss balls is one of my favourite vegan treats. This batch was made yesterday, as a result of an intense craving for something sweet that struck, well, by noon. What can I say, my sweet tooth is unstoppable.

Not only are these delicious, they also pack a punch of raw protein from the Purple Balance protein powder that I like to use in my recipes. Hope you like them as much as I do! (Ehrm, make that 'did'. I'm afraid they're all gone now.)

Vanilla Protein Bliss Balls

Ingredients:

200 g soft/medjool/soaked dates (about 18 small)

3 tbsp oat or coconut flour

3 scoops (tbsp) Purple Balance Vanilla Protein (or vegan protein powder of your choice)

A pinch of pure vanilla powder

1 tbsp coconut oil

Coatings:

Raw Lucuma powder, carob/cacao powder and desiccated coconut

How to:

1. Put all ingredients in your food processor and blend until smooth.

2. Scoop the dough out with a spoon and roll into small balls.

3. Place in an airtight container in the fridge to let the coconut oil set, about 30 min-1 hour should suffice. (That is, if they're too soft to roll immediately after blending)

4. Coat the balls by placing a small amount of your powder of choice in a cupped hand, then use both hands to coat the balls, without putting too much pressure on them to keep the round shape.

5. Store in the fridge! 

Double Trouble Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream

 Double Trouble Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream

Another banana ice cream recipe that I hope you'll enjoy as much as I do! Prepare for DOUBLE trouble with peanuts both in the ice cream and on top...

Banana Ice Cream:

3 medium sized sliced and frozen bananas

1/4 cup of almond milk

1 1/2 tbsp all natural peanut butter

Pinch of salt

Peanut Butter Sauce:

1 tbsp peanut flour

3/4 tbsp almond milk

1 tsp liquid sweetener of choice (I use date syrup)

Optional: 1 tsp of cacao/cocoa and 1 tbsp almond milk (instead of 3/4) for a chocolate peanut butter sauce

How to:

1. Start by making your peanut butter sauce. In a small bowl (Well. I use a shot glass but that's just me.), mix all of the ingredients with a fork until no clumps remain. Easy peasy.

2. If you want your peanut butter to be evenly divided throughout the ice cream, thin it out with a  the almond milk first. Stir in little by little until you have a runny sauce. If you'd rather have peanut butter chunks, feel free to skip this step.

3. Place your bananas and a sprinkle of salt in your high speed blender/food processor and blend on high for about a minute or until there are no bigger pieces of banana left.

4. Carefully remove the top cap/lid on your nana ice cream maker and slowly, as you blend, pour in the almond milk and peanut butter mixture. (Or each of them separately if you skipped the second step.)

5. Blend until you have a wonderfully creamy and smooth consistency. Stop to scrape down the sides if necessary.

6. Spoon up in a bowl/jar, top with the peanut butter sauce and a handful of crushed peanuts and cacao nibs if you so wish, eat and enjoy!

Jaguar Land Rover opens its first overseas manufacturing plant

Jaguar Land Rover has opened its first overseas manufacturing facility in China. The award-winning Range Rover Evoque will be the first model to be built in a joint venture with Chinese auto company Chery Automobile Company Ltd worth RMB 10.9 billion. This is in fact the first Chinese-British automotive joint venture.

The 400,000 square-metres plant, is located in the Changshu Economic Development Zone north of Shanghai.

They expect to build three Jaguar Land Rover models with total production capacity of 130,000 units a year by 2016 (for the Chinese market only). The facility features highly-automated press shops – including cutting-edge aluminium and steel technologies – along with a steel body shop comprising 306 robots, an energy-efficient paint shop and an ergonomically-friendly final assembly line.

Some interesting information:

• Jaguar Land Rover first established a presence in China just over a decade ago.
• China is Jaguar Land Rover’s single largest market with over 100,000 vehicles sold in the last fiscal year
• In addition to China, Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed plans to create a local manufacturing facility in Brazil and has a local assembly facility in Pune, India.

Buying a car with a budget of only RM65000 ++ in Malaysia

I was thankful that once we came back to Malaysia, a lot of people have been helping us out, especially our parents. Initially, we used my mother-in-law's old Proton Wira and later on was my dad's old Wira, which I am still using. Since both my wife and I are working and not at the same place, we needed to have two cars as I could not send and pick here up from her office. We start looking around for cars here and we decided to live within our means and set out a budget of RM 65000 for the new car. My wife also had one condition - that the car must be automatic as she was still recovering from her leg fracture. We also did not want a small Perodua car and we came up with a list of cars (in the so called popular B-segment) which we could buy with our limited budget, namely:

1. Honda City (starting at RM75800)
2. Toyota Vios (starting at RM73213)
3. Nissan Almera (starting at RM66827)and
4. Proton Preve (Starting RM61471)

Looking at the list, we realised that we could only afford the Proton and if we wanted a better car, we would have to increase our budget.
After driving a Volvo S40 in the UK for several years, we were not really looking forward to driving a Proton. However, the more research I did about the Proton Preve, the more impressed I was with the model. We went to see it at the Proton showroom near our house in Taman Megah, PJ and we decided that the Proton Preve Premium version was what we wanted. However, it was still beyond our budget at around RM72K (approx. £13650).

We were very fortunate because Proton suddenly announced a Merdeka/ Hari Raya discount of 5% across their complete range of models. This suddenly brought the Proton Preve Premium version within our range at around RM68,000 (solid colours) and really great value as it has loads of features not present in the basic Honda, Toyota and Nissan models. This includes a Turbo engine, touch screen with built-in sat-nav, 6 air bags, push button start, automatic lights and wipers, etc.. The offer also included 3 years free service and range of gifts including free in-car wifi hub with access for a year, free SmartTAG, full tank fuel, etc.

So that's the story in brief about how my wife ended up with a Proton Preve 1.6 CFE CVT Premium car powered by the Campro CFE 1561cc turbo engine with 7 speed ProTronic transmission and mounted on great looking 17" alloy wheels with 215/45 R17 tyres.

Watch out for a more detailed review of the car later.

(updated 22 October 2014).

Snippets of a Study on the Future of Mobility

According to a recent Auto Study on the future of mobility conducted by New York based company MRY, via Whitman Insight Strategies, owning a car is still an important part of our day-to-day life.

This study surveyed 1,000 smartphone owners – 500 Millennials, 500 35+) and cover everything from consumers’ thoughts on the “connected car,” to which automakers are perceived to be the most innovative (and how that translates to sales).

The findings reveals that unsurprisingly that mobile phones matter a lot more to people, slightly less than cars. Among adults 35+: 94% say their cars are important vs 82% phones. But for Millennials, it’s 87% cars, 86% phones. Overall, SMS comes in at 72%, high def TV 55%, Facebook 47%, newspaper subscription 32%, and Twitter and Instagram around 20%.

Across ages, access to a car (90%) trumps helping others (77%), raising a family (73%), voting (68%), and being wealthy (43%). However, the youth just want to get rich as being wealthy is a FAR bigger deal for Millennials (53%) vs adults 35+ (33%) - one of the biggest value gaps MRY found in the study.

As for car ownership, 96% of surveyed individuals own or lease a vehicle, and 91% think that owning a car is still an important part of their day-to-day. Even 87% of the Millennial population, which is more aware of car-sharing services and other transportation options, agrees that owning a car is essential. This means that auto manufacturers need to keep people happy, because at least 40% of surveyed individuals are likely to use car-sharing services if offered in their communities.

To put things into perspective: new vehicle sales are around the 16 million mark, with the average sticker price north of $30,000 (See link). That’s $480 billion. A shift in attitude leads to changes in purchase behavior and even a 1% change could mean a $5 billion impact on sales.

However, car-sharing still has a long way to go. Even though Uber ranks above all of the major auto brands when measured against the intersection of innovation and personal connection, it is still a relatively unknown entity. Only 22% of surveyed individuals were familiar with Uber, falling behind Zip Car (33% familiar) and just ahead of Lyft (18% familiar).

The Proton Iriz - pictures

Had the chance to try out the new Proton Iriz a few days after it was launched. There were three variants at the showroom at  Taman Megah, PJ, near my house in Malaysia.

Quite impressed - Proton has indeed come a long way.

The green one is the manual variant.












There was an automatic white car outside (for test drive). Loved the sound of the exhaust. They have tuned it to sound like a much more powerful sports car.







The grey one is the premium variant with six air bags, rear cameras, touch screen GPS, turbo engine and loads of other extras.

Strawberry Vanilla Nana Ice Cream

 Strawberry Vanilla Nana Ice Cream

So. Only today did I realise that there is not a single banana ice cream recipe to be found on this blog.   This shan't be the case on a blog owned by nana ice cream's no. 1 fan! (Me!) Please accept my sincerest apologies. Let's just pretend this recipe has been here since the dawn of time lalala. Just smile and wave boys, just smile and wave. 

÷

I may not be the most dedicated blogger but I do care a lot about my followers and I appreciate you all so incredibly much, you literally have no idea. In the future there will be a thorough step-by-step guide uploaded on here but for now, this will have to do. Hope you enjoy the recipe!

Strawberry Vanilla Nana Ice Cream (Finally!)

Serves: 1

Cook time: 5 minutes, tops.

Ingredients:

3 medium sized ripe bananas, sliced and frozen

1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract or a pinch of pure vanilla powder

1/2 cup frozen strawberries

How to:

1. Place all of the ingredients except for the almond milk in your food processor/high speed blender.

2. Blend on high until there are only very small pieces of frozen fruit left. This should take about a minute or so.

3. Now, carefully remove the small top lid/cap on your food processor/blender and slowly pour in the almond milk, while blending on high.

4. Watch magic happen. (Ok, you may have to stop and scrape down from the sides a few times but seriously, let the blender do the job. No need to poke around in there too much.)

5. Once the ice cream has turned into a creamy, luscious swirl of amazingness, turn the blender off, spoon up in a jar, bowl or whatever floats your boat, top with coconut chips and devour immediately!

Pasta con Funghi

Pasta con Funghi

Pasta con Funghi

Yields one big serving or two small ones.

Cooking time: Approximately 25 min.

2/3 cup uncooked brown rice fusilli or pasta of your choice

Sauce:

1 1/2 cups sliced brown mushrooms

1/2 cup almond milk

2 tbsp vegan cream substitute (I used Oatly's oat cream)

1/2 tbsp brown rice flour or thickening of your choice

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp vegetable bouillon powder

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

Salt, pepper and lemon juice (optional) to taste

Start by bringing a pot of water to the boil, to cook your pasta in later.

How to:
1. Place all of the above ingredients except for the brown rice flour, mushrooms and nutritional yeast in a small saucepan.

2. Bring the mixture to the boil.

3. Stir, then lower the heat and let simmer for a few minutes.

4. Next, add the brown rice flour (preferably through a sieve) and whisk as you go.

5. Put the nutritional yeast in, whisk again and leave the sauce to thicken over low heat while you prepare your mushrooms. (At this stage you could put your pasta in the boiling water so the all the components can be ready at the same time!)

6. In a separate pan, lightly sauté the mushrooms to cook some of the liquid off. You might want to use a bit of cooking oil in the bottom unless you have access to a non-stick pan.

7. Fold the sautéed mushrooms into the sauce, have a taste and add more seasoning if it needs it. Let simmer for a few more minutes for a thicker consistency.

8. Toss the pasta in the sauce and top with a few sun-dried tomatoes if you'd like!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

Dry ingredients:

1/3 cup buckwheat flour

2 tbsp coconut flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Wet ingredients:

1 chia or flax egg (1 tbsp ground chia/flax seeds mixed with 3 tbsp water)

1 ripe banana, mashed

1/3 cup pumpkin purée 

3 tbsp almond milk

How to:

1. Start by preparing your chia egg. Grind the seeds either using a coffee blender or by hand with a mortar and pestle. Put the ground seeds in a small glass/bowl with 3 tbsp of water and whisk vigorously for 30 seconds or so to prevent clumping if you're using ground chia seeds. let sit and swell while you prepare the rest.

2. In a small bowl, mix all the dry ingredients with a fork until the baking powder is evenly divided.

3. Add the mashed banana, pumpkin puree and almond milk to the dry ingredients and stir until smooth.

4. Lastly, add in the chia/flax egg.

5. Let sit on the countertop for a few minutes (the batter should be THICK) and pre-heat a pan over low to medium heat.

6. Fry in a little coconut oil (unless you have a non-stick frying pan) on medium heat for a couple of minutes on each side.

Chocolate sauce:

2 tbsp plant-based yoghurt

1/2 tbsp cacao or cocoa powder

1/2 tbsp liquid sweetener of your choice (I used date syrup)

How to:
1. Simply mix all of the above with a fork/spoon until smooth. Pour on top of your pancake stack and decorate with a spoonful of plain yoghurt to create the cobweb pattern.

Enjoy!

The Strati -World's first 3 D printed car

Welcome to the age of printed cars. Arizona based car manufacturer Local Motors has come out with the World's first 3 D printed car - the Strati. It won the 2014 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award in New York yesterday.


The car chassis/frame, exterior body, and interior features are made from ABS plastic reinforced with carbon fibres. The electric engine, wheels and other parts were sourced from Renault’s Twizy. It takes the company around 44 hours to print out.

It only has a top speed of about 40mph (60km/h) but I am sure the speeds will improve as time goes by. I am just thinking at the possibilities. In the future, you can probably print out spare parts at home.

Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

Vegan Cinnamon Rolls 

Hey there! It's been a while, I know. I have unfortunately run out of excuses so a humble apology will have to do. But these utterly scrumptious cinnamon rolls make up for it, I swear. Super easy to make and only require three quarters of an hour to prove. No gluten, refined sugar or any nasty ingredients at all. Just pure, sinless deliciousness.

They ARE kind of miniature so you might want to double the recipe. Or triple. Or whatever you want. So what are you waiting for? Get baking!

Vegan Cinnamon Rolls (Gluten Free!)

Dry ingredients:

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp (65 g) brown rice flour

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp (65 g) buckwheat flour

2 tbsp potato- or cornstarch (25 g)

3 tbsp (40 g) raw sugar or granulated sweetener of your choice 

1 tsp psyllium husk

1 tsp cardamom

2 tsp dry yeast

A pinch of salt

Wet ingredients:

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp almond milk

2 tbsp (30 g) coconut oil

Filling:

8 small dates (85g)

1 tbsp coconut oil (15 g)

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

A pinch of vanilla bean powder

1/2 tbsp of almond milk

How to:

1. In a bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and stir well. (Sifting the potato starch before you stir it in will prevent clumping). 

2. Melt the coconut oil over low heat and pour in the almond milk. Once lukewarm, transfer the oil/milk mix to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Don't let the temperature go over 37C or you WILL kill the yeast. No bueno.

3. Stir. Stir, stir, stir. Then knead the dough until it forms a moist ball, not too sticky, not too dry. If it is, add a bit more flour or almond milk. Leave to prove under a damp kitchen cloth for 45 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, start preparing the filling. Place all of the ingredients in a bowl and blend with a hand blender. I find that blending small quantities like this works best without a food processor but feel free to give that a try if you want to double the recipe.

5. That's about it for the filling. Now you'll have to wait for the dough.

6. Once the proving time is up, roll the dough out into a rectangle on a floured surface (however thin you want it to be) and spread the filling out on top.

7. Roll the dough into a tight spiral lengthwise and cut up in 1-inch sections.

8. Place the rolls on a lined baking tray and once again let them prove under a damp kitchen cloth for 30 minutes and pre-heat your oven to 190C

9. Next, brush on a bit of water-diluted syrup if you want to and bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes depending on size.

10. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. 

11. Eat.

The second generation Proton Perdana

The second generation Proton Perdana was unveiled last year and is only available exclusively to Malaysian Government officials. The car is available in 2.0 and 2.4 litre models and according to reports, is based on the 8th generation Honda Accord.

Saw one a few days back in PJ and it really looks nice.

Stuck at traffic lights when I took this picture.

2014 Proton Perdana Front Three Quarter CC BY-SA 3.0
Paul Tan paultan.org's contribution to Wikimedia