In the midst of chewing your sweet spiced, raisin-filled bun, have you ever thought about the origins of your tantalising HOT CROSS BUN?

According to Answers.com, the origin of the hot cross bun was that a monk from St Albans Abbey in England made the first hot cross bun in 1361. The cross was originally just cut in, not piped on. The spices represent the frankincense & myrrh. The fruit represents the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The monk then began a tradition of giving Hot Cross Buns to the poor of St Albans on Good Friday.

In years that followed, many customs, traditions, superstitions, and claims of healing and protection from evil were associated with the buns. In the 16th century, Roman Catholicism was banned in England, but the popularity of Hot Cross buns continued. Queen Elizabeth I then passed a law banning Hot Cross Buns except during festivals such as Easter, Christmas and funerals.

I stumbled onto this blog HOT THINGS DEAR today and was overjoyed to find an article describing the little animals.

So they are called Pygmy Tarsiers!

Now I can’t wait for my little son to wake up tomorrow to show off my new-found knowledge!

Oh by the way, for those reading the previous post and wondering who “Mack” is….he is the big truck that “ferries” race cars in the DISNEY PIXAR movie “CARS”.

And I just found out that the name “Mack” came from “Mack Trucks”, one of the world’s leading truck manufacturing companies.

Lin Miaoke - the day after

Lin Miaoke, that’s her name.

She’s the nine year old girl who sang at the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. According to Zhang Yimou, the Director of the Opening Ceremony, she was “…selected among many girls. She is a lovely girl and she sings well.”

Lin received thunderous applause from the 90,000-plus spectators at the National Stadium, known as the “Bird’s Nest”, when she performed “Ode to the Motherland” as 56 children,

each representing an ethnic group of the country’s 56 nationalities, carried the national flag into the stadium at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on 8 August 2008.

No this is not a SPORTS BLOG….but as a parent, you better be PREPARED for questions that your child is going to ask you. Afterall, they are all over, in TV programs, newspapers, billboards and…even at MacDonalds, there’s no escape.

Ok, so lets prepare for the most basic question first then. What do the 5 Olympic Rings represent? Er…..

Duh! Not five Kiwis!!! ( Act stupid, your child will go hee-haw!! )

Olympic Donuts! Tell that to my son and I won’t survive till I bring him to the nearest donut shop!!

Yes ….yes, the boring answer is it represents the five continents of the world, while the six colors are those that appear on all the national flags of the world at the present time. (as of 1931).

Play this game with your child, memorise the colors and regurgitate them : Blue, Yellow, Black, Green, Red………Blue, Yellow, Black, Green, Red………Blue, Yellow, Black, Green, Red…..