Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

QUICK HITS
12:15 Speed Monopoly
12:20 Spices: Cinnamon
12:35 Coffee storage
12:45 Tech news: Bebo and E3
13:10 Foraging: Fennel
13:20 The Supermarket Guru
13:40 Mekong River Part 1
13:55 Caffeine withdrawal

THE SMALL PRINT
First up this week we're speaking to speed Monopoly player Dan Myers who thinks he's found a way to finish a game in 21 seconds flat!

At 12:20 pm we start a new spice series with Alison Sandle. Loads of the cinnamon we're buying here isn't real cinnamon (90 percent grown in Sri Lanka) at all, but cassia grown in China and Vietnam. So does it really matter and how can you tell the difference?

www.herbies.com.au

At 12:35 pm more food-related questions and a listener in Lithuania wants to know what the best way is to store her coffee. There's lots of conflicting advice out there...so should she go fridge, cupboard or freezer?

And before the news, our tech commentator Bill Thompson beams in with news of AOL's sale of the social networking site Bebo. Looks like it's lost a cool US$800 million inabout 2 years!

Plus the latest in video gaming technology from this week's E3 conference in Los Angeles with Microsoft's motion-controlled challenger to Nintendo's Wii and some exciting developments in the field of 3D gaming.

After the news we're foraging for a free feed of fennel with Johanna Knox - and to be fair it's not something you have to hunt around too hard for!

Then at 1:25 pmPhil Lempert aka the Supermarket Guru has some tips on how to save money on your food bills and his insight into what the supermarkets of the future are going to look like. Apparently there will be no queues and your mobile phone will do everything for you- even paying! Think you have to pay it back though.

At 1:40 pm we start a 5-part odyssey down the 5,000 kilometre course of the Mekong River in the company of NPR's Southeast Asia correspondent, Michael Sullivan. This week, we start the journey at the source of the Mekong up in the remote Tibetan plateau.

And before we go a new study on the ability of caffeine to kickstart your day. Hate to say it caffeine users but you're actually suffering from withdrawal symptoms in the morning- so that espresso or flat white just makes you normal again!

WE'RE PLAYING THESE TRACKS TOO....

Track: The High Road
Artist: Broken Bells
Album: Broken Bells
Label: Sony Music
Broadcast at: 12:30

Track: Walking on a Dream
Artist: Empire of the Sun
Album: Walking on a Dream
Label: Capitol Records
Broadcast at: 13:10

Track: Opposite of Adults
Artist: Chiddy Bang
Album: Opposite of Adults EP
Label: Regal Recordings/Parlophone
Broadcast at: 13:45

AND OUR THEME IS:

Track: The Green Termite
Artist: Jefferson Belt
Album: Table Manners
Label: Round Trip Mars
Catalogue #: RTM 2009