Facts on Honey

Honey is the only food on the planet that will not spoil or rot. It will do what some call turning to sugar. In reality honey is always honey. However, when left in a cool dark place for a long time it will do what I rather call “crystallizing” . When this happens I loosen the lid, boil some water, and sit the honey container in the hot water, turn off the heat and let it liquefy. It is then as good as it ever was. Never boil honey or put it in a microwave. To do so will kill the enzymes in the honey.

Cinnamon and Honey

Bet the drug companies won’t like this one getting around.

Facts on Honey and Cinnamon: It is found that a mixture of honey and Cinnamon cures most diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world. Scientists of today also accept honey as a ‘Ram Ban’ (very effective) medicine for all kinds of diseases. Honey can be used without any side effects for any kind of diseases.

Today’s science says that even though honey is sweet, if taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm diabetic patients. Weekly World News, a magazine in Canada, in its issue dated 17 January,1995 has given the following list of diseases that can be cured by honey and cinnamon as researched by western scientists:

Heart Diseases: Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply on bread, instead of jelly and jam, and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also, those who have already had an attack, if they do this process daily, they are kept miles away from the next attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heart beat. In America and Canada , various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have found that as you age, the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and veins.

Arthritis: Arthritis patients may take daily, morning and night, one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. If taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week, out of the 200 people so treated, practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain, and within a month, mostly all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis started walking without pain.

Honey and Cinnamon

Bladder infections: Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder.

Cholesterol: Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water , given to a cholesterol patient, was found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours. As mentioned for arthritic patients, if taken three times a day, any chronic cholesterol is cured. According to information received in the said Journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol.

Colds: Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold, and clear the sinuses.

Upset stomach: Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and also clears stomach ulcers from the root.

Gas: According to the studies done in India and Japan, it is revealed that if Honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.

Immune system: Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacteria and viral attacks. Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of Honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacterial and viral diseases.

Indigestion: Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals.

Cinnamon on Honey

Influenza: A scientist in Spain has proved that honey contains a natural  ’Ingredient’ which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu.

Longevity: Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly, arrests the ravages of old age. Take four spoons of honey, one spoon of cinnamon powder, and three cups of water and boil to make like tea. Drink 1/4 cup, three to four times a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age. Life spans also increase and even a 100 year old, starts performing the chores of a 20-year-old.

Pimples: Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it next morning with warm water.

If done daily for two weeks, it removes pimples from the root.

Skin infections: Applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts cures eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections.

Weight loss: Daily in the morning one half hour before breakfast on an empty stomach, and at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup of water. If taken regularly, it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also, drinking this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.

Cancer: Recent research in Japan and Australia has revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder for one month three times a day.

Fatigue: Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than being detrimental to the strength of the body. Senior citizens, who take honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts, are more alert and flexible. Dr. Milton, who has done research, says that a half tablespoon of honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, taken daily in the morning and in the afternoon at about 3:00 P.M. when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, increases the vitality of the body within a week.

Bad breath: People of South America , first thing in the morning, gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water, so their breath stays fresh throughout the day.

Hearing loss: Daily morning and night honey and cinnamon powder, taken in equal parts restore hearing. Remember when we were kids?  We had toast with real butter and cinnamon sprinkled on it! Yum!

If you are in Ubud, find Verona’s for a day spa. It was about $35 for 4 hours massage and pampering in the spa complete with being scrubbed down and then bathing in a bath of flower petals.

When bartering in the markets, do not be fooled by the disappointed looks and the resistance to sell. Decide what you’d be willing to pay and then aim for that. It may sound too low, but I recommend starting the price at one third the asking price and then flex from there (remembering what you’d be willing to pay). I bought sarongs for 30,000 rupee each (less than $4) and that is only because I really liked it. Remember, they don’t have to sell to you if they don’t want to.

And for a final tip for Bali, put the effort in and spend a few days up at www.balimountainretreat.com. A friend had been before and recommended it and we ended up having a wonderful guided walk down through the paddy fields and were shown a range of fruits and spices grown in their natural habitat including cocoa, coffee, vanilla, clove, snakefruit, durian, bananas and mangoes as well as watched honey being taken directly from a tree where some bees were living. The location itself is great and the mountain rain a delight.

Hope you can make it and have fun!

Traveltrain’s Tilt Train is a quick, cruisy and convenient way to access Queensland’s favourite backpacker destinations, including Fraser Island, Hervey Bay, the Whitsunday Islands and famous Great Barrier Reef.

Traveltrain operates three Tilt Trains; the Bundaberg service (a quick four hour trip) the Rockhampton service and the business class style, overnight service to Cairns.

On the Cairns Tilt Train you’ll see amazing scenery as you travel along the coast from Brisbane to Cairns, stopping at key tourist hotspots including the backpacker haven of Airlie Beach!

The facilities onboard are excellent.  It’s clean, new and modern.  There are huge toilets (and showers on the Cairns service), water fountains, and luggage racks located throughout to plonk your huge backpack if you choose not to check it in.

All seats face the direction of travel, are reclinable and have footrests with a fold down table.  There’s onboard entertainment on all trains and business class seats have personal entertainment systems, power points, pillows and blankets – what more could you ask for?

Whilst chilling out in your big, comfy, seat your Traveltrain onboard crew frequently stroll through the carriage with light refreshments, confectionery and beverages – including alcohol, all served to your seat!

My favourite part of all is the Tilt Train’s Galley where you can stretch your legs and best of all make friends!  Relax, grab a meat pie and cold beer and strike up a conversation with your fellow backpackers.  It’s a great opportunity to meet people and share your travelling tales.

I just checked today (Jan 2010) and the Backpacker price starts at $68 one way Brisbane to Bundaberg and, as a bonus all backpackers would appreciate, Traveltrain regularly offers sensational discounts and specials throughout the year.

All in all, the Tilt Train proves to be the only way I’d head up and down the Queensland coast.  You really can’t go wrong; as a backpacker it’s got everything and more than what you’d expect on a train service, providing the ultimate backpacker journey!

For more information or to book your terrific Tilt Train trip, go to www.traveltrain.com.au and click on Tilt Train in the destination snapshot map.

Amanda Silva
Round the world backpacker with train travel as preferred on-land mode of transport.

Note: Thanks to Amanda for sending in this contribution

Enter your details and this will give you an idea of how to stay afloat on your adventures!

There were over 2,000 performers this year and 200 performances over 22 venues at the Woodford Folk Festival site. I’ve never experienced anything like this and have been back 5 times now. Although it is called a folk festival, I find that the music and performances are across the board.  Some of my favourites this year were Sketch & Rhyme (rapping and pictionary at the same time!), Mr Percival (a guy who uses sampling and looping to create amazing effects) and I loved the John Butler Trio who were awesome again.

Here are some videos and clips to get an idea how cool it is. Whatever you do, make sure that if you possibly can that you go some time in your life – preferably sooner rather than later.

And here’s a quick video of Mr Percival – he makes all the sounds himself and uses a sampler and looping to create music.

And here’s a past preview of the whole event:

Enjoy – and get there one year – UNBELIEVABLY good!

Also, there’s an another event like it coming up on 12-14 Feb 2010. Check out www.earthfreq.com for details. It’s about 2 1/2 hours from Brisbane.

Fortunately for you, Brooka (James Brooks) has given permission for these files to be available to you and also if you check out his Facebook links, you’ll find more of his great dance mixes to download.

When you consider that other DJs charge $30 or more for their albums, there are a few hundred dollars worth here – always great to start a year with Free stuff!

About Brooka

Armed with Ableton, a Mac laptop, his incredible aural capabilities and his superb visual editing skills, Brooka has broken into the electronic dance consciousness as one of the country’s most unique DJs.

As a visual editor of promotional and corporate footage thanks to studying in one of New York’s finest film schools, Brooka has expanded his editing skills to include the medium of sound. For Brooka, music is about timing and rhythm. His abiding love for music is born from the powerful emotions music can produce, and thus Brooka’s sets never fail to elicit an emotive response where his sets are aurally designed to draw out the listener’s emotions and trigger a memory.

With it, all is possible, without it, nothing. The supply of time is truly a daily miracle, an affair genuinely astonishing when one examines it. You wake up in the morning, and lo! your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the unmanufactured tissue of the universe of your life! It is yours. It is the most precious of possessions. A highly singular commodity, showered upon you in a manner as singular as the commodity itself! For Remark! No one can take it from you. It is unstealable. And no one receives either more or less than you receive.

Talk about an ideal democracy! In the realm of time there is no aristocracy of intellect. Genius is never rewarded by even one extra hour a day. And there is no punishment. Waste your infinitely precious commodity as much as you will, and the supply will never be withheld from you. No mysterious power will say: “This man is a fool, if not a knave. He does not deserve time; he shall be cut off at the meter.” It is more certain than bonds, and payment of income is not affected by Sundays. Moreover, you cannot draw on the future. Impossible to get into debt! You can only waste the passing moment. You cannot waste tomorrow; it is kept for you. You cannot waste the next hour; it is kept for you.

Which of us has been saying to himself all his life: “I shall alter that when I have a little more time? We never shall have any more time. We have, and we have always had, all the time there is.

By Arnold Bennett

Here's a Kristmas Super Kombi I saw at Central Station when I came down to Sydney for my interview

Here’s my recent interview on Radio National. The way it all happened is quite freaky really as the day before I was contacted to be their Meet the Listener guest, I’d said to a few friends that I thought it would be great to work with the ABC as I listen to Radio National every day and love it. The universe had obviously heard me as the next day I received an email from Tracey, the producer of Life Matters, to say that I was the 500 facebook fan and could they interview me for the program.

I think this goes to reinforce that when you are clear to the universe what you want, that it provides you with the opportunities to achieve the outcome you desire. No loss of freedom occurs when you decide what you want, in fact you are actually exercising your freedom of choice when you do choose something.

Enjoy the interview and tune in to Radio National – it’s AWESOME and I learn so much from it. Click here to go to the Radio National website to hear the interview and remember to sign up for my Find  your Purpose course on the front page if you’re interested ).

BTW, I stayed at YHA Sydney Central and this was the piano computer they had there

Have some fun in the kitchen and make yourself some gingerbread men for friends. Prep time is only 15m with 10m cooking time and makes about 20-30 men depending on cutter size. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

• 125g bugger
• 1/2 cup golden syrup
• 1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons mixed spice
• 1 teaspoon bicarb of soda
• 2 1/2 cups self raising flour
• Decorating pens or icing
• Go to second hand shop and buy a cookie cutter of some sort.

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 170C
2. Combine butter, syrup and brown sugar in a small pan and melt. Remove to a bowl and cool. Stir in egg yolk and remaining dry ingredients to form a soft dough. Turn out into plastic wrap and press into a flat disc. Rest in fridge for 1 hour to firm up.
3. Roll dough to 7mm thick and cut gingerbread men or other shapes.
4. Place on baking tray (with baking paper or greased with a little butter) and bake for 7-10 mins until firm.
5. When cool they can be decorated.

Note: I went crazy when I did mine and added chocolate chips and pecans as I didn’t have quite the right ingredients so if you’re creative, then be creative! P.S. If you do something creative with them after they’re made, you could probably use the photo as a Christmas Card print too!

P.S. You could swap your men for other food with friends, or take a photo like the one above and print it out  as a Christmas card front cover.

Top Tips

• Have a plan: I think you need to have a plan (most of the time). Especially if you are only visiting somewhere for a short time. I like to chat to locals straight away and find out the best places to go out or the most beautiful places to visit. Get a group of people together so you can organise the transport, if it’s necessary, for cheaper. Think about what you want to do most and prioritise.
• Free pleasure: If you don’t have much money enjoy the simple things, like sitting on the beach in Byron Bay, or walking around Darling Harbour in Sydney and just taking it all in. If you have a bit more money the possibilities are endless, but you might have to ask someone else about those possibilities since I am in the former group.
• Eat for only $10 per day: I’m a bit of a control freak so I like to play this little game that helps me keep my spending down to a minimum when it comes to the food…it’s called “don’t spend more than ten dollars on food a day“. Ladies, the great thing about this game is that you WILL lose weight haha. No but seriously, being conscious of how you spend your money makes you eat healthier! Instead of getting a pub meal for ten bucks, you could buy fruit for breakfast and sushi for lunch for that amount of money. Or muesli and a loaf of bread for the week. Organisation is key!! Dinner for me, like most musicians, comes from the venue I play at that night…so maybe try singing for your supper? haha.

Some of my favourite things about being a travelling musician are:

1. Singing My Songs. This is the be all and end all in my world. What makes me happiest is singing the songs I have written and seeing people relate to them. I love being able to spread joy and happiness through the very powerful medium of song and lyrics.
2. Meeting New People. I tour the country over and over, visiting so many places and seeing so many faces along the way. The kindness and generosity of both foreign travellers and other Aussies blows me away every time I visit a new place. People are so interesting! There is so much to learn just from having a conversation with someone else and learning about their life and experiences and culture.
3. The Free Meals. Of course this is one of my favourites!!! I generally get a meal from the venue i am playing at so I try to make that my BIGGEST meal of the day so I can save on spending dollars. I try to cram in as much as possible so it’ll last hahahaha.
4. Inspiration. Basically, I get paid to sing my songs and visit some of the most beautiful places not only in my country, but in the world. No matter how tiring travelling gets, or how many airports i see, or how many downpours I have to carry my luggage through, nothing beats the fact that I am doing what I love. That simple fact inspires me everyday.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my little story and maybe I’ll see you at a gig one day soon. I’ll be the girl on stage with a big grin on her face singing her heart out.

Love Coby xxxx

Note from Backpacker Tactics

Coby Grant is a delightful singer I met at the Mullum festival in Mullumbimby, Australia. A friend recommended we go and see her and the three of us were blown away by her natural beauty, talent and heart-felt emotion she shared through her songs. Her albums are awesome and you can also see her on Youtube.com – just type in “Coby Grant”.  She can also be found at www.cobygrant.com and I massively recommend getting along to see her live around Australia, or if not, buying one of her albums.