Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Holiday Frames

Holidays are the best time to destress. We feel more relaxed and everything tastes and smells better too. We shop for clothes and wear the casual ones when we are on our holiday trips or during this festive occasion. But we always get stuck with the same pair of glasses, the one we have bought for both work and home. Selecting glasses always puts us in a spot because they cost so much and we tend to pick one that is neutral and practical so that it is not too fancy in the office or when meeting clients. But when we are enjoying ourselves in a holiday mood, we are dressed for it. Why not get a pair of glasses for that occasion too. If you worry about costs, then Zenni Optical will put your fears of extravagant spending aside. They are well known for their cheap eyeglasses that costs as little as $8.00 so you can never go wrong when you have more than 2 pairs of eyeglasses.

To usher the holiday spirit, Zenni Optical even has Holiday frames specially designed for you. Instead of putting on the same pair of glasses you wear at work, perhaps you can have that spare eyeglasses for every occasion because Zenni Optical's frames are all so affordable!

I had a good look at their holiday frames and I really like the black and white theme with snowmen and evergreens. I seldom get to see frames that has any designs like that on the side. Most of those I see are patterns that are generic but these were a little different. This will never go out of fashion and you can wear them during the last few months at the end of the year to usher in the holiday spirit of Christmas. And because it is in Black and White, it can be worn to match with many clothes too. Cool.

Flyer has Back-Up Mechanism Now

Remember the Singapore Flyer that had stopped due to some problems recently on Tuesday? It stopped for almost 7 hours because of some power disruption. Some passengers were lowered down to safety but the ones located on the higher level were impossible to be lowered down. Well it is not yet running and won't be for the New Year. Business that are located in the location had complained on their drastic drop of business since the Flyer stopped operations. But a shop there is organising a New Year's Party there so I guess that may help to bring in some customers. Their rent for retails will be waived until the end of the year so at least that helps to offset their poor business operations cost a little.

The flyer will be open for operations only when it is being double checked for safety. Also, additional back up mechanisms will be added, although there is additional generator standby, so that the flyer will be kept on moving.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Value for Money Hosting Packages

I have been considering getting a domain name for another blog of mine but have not decided on which web hosting company to use. One thing for sure is that there are so many hosting sites available and they all have their own packages at different price. Some of the pricing offered are not the final one you see on their website so as you check out, you may end up having to pay more than what you see initially.

That was until a friend recommended me UK-Cheapest. There lots of savings with UK-Cheapest because you don't pay for unnecessary and hidden costs that may occur during checkout. All that is listed on their website is what you pay. And if you buy hosting from them for Starter, Personal and Business packages, they will give you a FREE .UK domain, not one but two years! How about that!

They have packages suitable for all from Budget, Starter, Personal and Business. Their packages do not incur any setup fees, unlike some other hosting company and you can get a refund after 30 days if you are not satisfied with your buy, with no questions asked.They also have a 24/7 customer help desk and 100% Free Support to help those who may have problems.

Other non charges services they provide are unlimited nameserver changes, unlimited number of forwarding of email addresses, URL forwarding and free homepage builder. Unbelievable!

So the next time if you are considering a web hosting company, choose one that gives you more value for money such as UK-hosting. Cheap and reliable, it's a dream.

Punish those Drunk Drivers

With Christmas and New Year's celebration both within a week each, there are certainly more parties to attend and more reasons to celebrate. Some Singaporeans and residents are forgetting that no matter what, it is still dangerous to drink and drive. So, on Friday night, when the traffic police set up a series of road blocks covering the watering holes in town, as many as 18 were caught for drink driving when they failed the breathalyser test for alcohol limit. All of these arrested were men between 28 and 60 years old. And during this 4 hour, there were also 21 others who were summoned for other traffic related offences too. Can you imagine how much danger all these people are causing to the rest of the road users and pedestrians?

I think the police should clamp down harder before more any harm. Perhaps pubs should not allow their patrons to drive back by offering them a special pub taxi service as a special deal for those who consumes more than 2 drinks.

In Singapore, first time offenders are fined between S$1,00 to S$5,000 or jailed up to 6 months but can you imagine how much grief, costs and others if there was an accident or even a fatal one. Perhaps these people should be slapped with a Drink Driver Offense sticker on their car, driving license to warn people and also to shame them. Singaporeans are all very image conscious and always like to avoid embarrassement. If those caught for littering got to wear the CWO (Corrective Work Order) jackets and sweep the streets in Singapore, these drunk drivers should be punish too. How about letting them wear Drunk Driver jackets and have them prune the trees... perhaps they would understand why the streets should be free of drunk drivers!

Monday, December 29, 2008

Help for those in Debts

With the bad economy downturn lately, the reports on newspapers and other media had reported that more and more people are using their credit cards for big ticket items by paying in intalments. I guess when one does that, the larger amount when divided by a year or two or even more is a smaller amount but this way of payment can be addictive. A report also shown that for one who didn't realize how much he is paying in total, ended up signing up for several items on instalments and chalked up a debt of S$110,000 and got himself in a spot when he cannot pay up his monthly payments.

What is Credit Counselling SingaporeCredit Counselling Singapore is a body that can help you if you are in trouble with your debts. This is for those who are residing in Singapore. They were set up because of rising problems of credit debts. It started being registered as a Charity in 2003, then officially registered as a society with full time staff in March 2004. With their successful programmes in managing debts, under a Debt Management Programme, CCS was finally officially launched to the public in 2004. Since June 2005, it is now a memeber of a National Council of Social Service.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Blogging for Money Works for Me. No Scam.. Phew!

A year ago, I had blogged for fun. Then a friend of mine introduced me to paid blogging. I had not believed him at first. He said, no harm trying it out. " If you make your first 100, that is one big step into the many 100s you will earn." I didn't believed him but I signed up anyway.

I was really sceptical about all this paid blogging. I thought lots of fishy business and how can I really earn. Perhaps it's only few cents worth and it will take me as long as a decade to make a few dollars just for the benefit of some scam that benefited someone at the top.

But how wrong I was, because as soon as I sign up, it was few days that my blog got approved. I made my first $5 on July 28 with a post about sunglasses. Yes, the money is there shown on the dashboard, a virtual dashboard and I had 30 days before I could really see if that $5 will end up in my PayPal. Before the end of 30 days, I had written more jobs, from reserving jobs from the marketplace. Almost 30days and I braced myself that if this works Great but if not, a month of writing is not a waste of time. I got to read more about advertisers' products and did research to know more about it.

It was really true when the first $5 finally went into my PayPal account. You will need to open a PayPal account before you register PayPerPost, okay. So that you can have all the information required at your fingertips. Yahoo! As days passed, each job that I did was deposit into my PayPal without fail and pretty soon, I saw my first 100, 200 and it kept me going.

I took a print screen of my dashboard here. I may not have made as much as some of the full time bloggers who earn as much as 500 per month, but this is really helpful to me. It is up to you how much you want to earn.


To date: I have earn $435.75 and I still have $146.39 to be paid into my PayPal.



If you are convinced that this will work for you, I hope you will than sign up from my blog so that at least the genuine information that I have imparted works and you are being referred by me. I don't hide anything but at least I earn a small tip by being your referral.


Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Luxury Items Not Popular in Recession

With the gloomy economy and recession blues, pawnshops are now doing brisk business. Many people have started to bring in their valuables like gold and gems to pawn. However, second hand luxury stores are are hit by the recession wave and not doing as good business as Pawn Shops. They are receiving more than the usual luxury watches like Rolex. However, the second hand Rolex is not very much in demand now as new ones are selling at lower price compared to previously.

So, luxury items are not very much welcomed in second hand stores. People are not looking for such items to buy anymore and are getting very cautious about their purchase now.

Singapore is the first country in Asian that slip into recession recently. Business has drop generally as few people are buy.

Great Eyeglasses Website

My eyeglasses cannot fit me proper now because i lost the nose pads that holds the ridge of the nose. I brought it to the optical shop and they told me they do not have the missing parts in stock and advice me to get a new pair. I was shocked when the lady quoted me $120 for a pair of eyeglasses that belonged to a no frills section. How expensive and since I didn't buy it, I had not worn my eyeglasses for a while.

Then as I was surfing, I found this website called Optical4Less that is an online store selling prescription eyeglasses, bifocal reading glasses, tinted sunglasses and more eyewear. I was stunned when I saw that the price that was stated was as low as $15 for a pair or prescription eyeglasses. That is a lot of difference from retail shops that I have been buying from! And also the range available for other low prices are wide and the frames are trendy, fashionable and really stylish. Never would I have thought that I can get eyeglasses cheap from the internet at all. They have them in alloy, plastic, rimless or semi-rimless, bendable titanium, kids' eyeglasses and a big range of overstocked eyeglasses at $15 only.

What is even more wonderful is that if you were to purchase more than a pair of these eyeglasses, they offer FREE shipping! So can you imagine getting two pairs of eyeglasses for under $50? This is really a steal.

If you upload your photo, you can do a virtual fitting on the eyeglass of your choice to see how the frames look on you. It's way too cool.

Parental Matchmaking for Singaporeans

Singaporeans are now moving back in time when it comes to marriage. Well, behind their back, that is. Apparently parents who have given up their single children looking for their own partners have decided to take matters in their own hands. They turn up for parental matchmaking session to find partners for their children between the ages 25 - 45 years old.

Woo hoo, this is the second session after a successful first session in September when 80 parents turned up. And what is surprising is that knowing how some of their children will protest, some of these parents are doing it without their children's knowledge.

In this event, there are also talks on how to bring up this subject to their children without letting them liken this event to something like an arranged marriage. Organisers deemed this as a way to interract and expand social networks.

Well, good luck Parents!

Increasing Drug Smugglers Lately

Despite Singapore being some of the world's strictest drug laws, there is an increase in the country being used as a transit point for shipping of heroin to countries like US and Europe, the recent reports wrote. In the local newspaper, in the first 9 months of this year, as much as 46kg of heroin were seized, which is 3x the total of whole of 2007.

In Singapore, a mandatory death sentence is applied to those who carries over 15 gms of heroin. Due to the bumper opium harvests last year in countries between Thailand, Laos and Myanmar, security officials are bracing themselves for more smuggling acts.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Monitor Your Website

Those who are into online business relies on their website greatly for business. When the site is down, the owner of the site loses many potential business. Sometimes one do not realize that the site is down until someone emails or when he himself tries to access it. How about if you are on holiday and you have no idea that your customers had not been able to access it for a few days?

However, there is a new service that one should consider should there be something wrong. This is a feature that can be signed up online that features Website Monitoring service. And the best part? It is FREE! This server allows you to be kept up to date whenever your site is down so that you can make calls to your webhost to fix the problem as soon as possible. This website, SlashDot provides website monitoring, web server monitoring service and is available worldwide. All you need is to register an account with your details and preferance for uptime reports. You can select a daily, weekly, monthly report on your website uptime. This information is gathered and will be sent to you by email or you can also choose to select an sms alert. If you site is down, you can quickly contact your administrators or webhost almost immediately. This way you will not lose precious time and money. If you are not sure, why not go to the site and do a quick test or try out their demo. This way, you have an idea how it works. Or read from the FAQ section for any queries.

It is important to keep your online sites and business available at all times.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Crude Oil Down Again

Motorists are no longer complaining and sighing when they pump up full tanks. That is because for the second time this week, pump prices have gone down yet again. The petrol stations islandwide had reduced their prices by another 5 Singapore cents per litre.

Reports have been rumoured that crude oil prices may still hit south in coming weeks. If you are at the petrol station, you might find your regular 95 petrol to be only S$1.546 per litre. So pump up full now and enjoy it while it lasts.

This year in July alone, crude oil had been rocket high hitting as high as $147.27 per barrel.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Singapreans to get top priority

Business employers have been urged to give priority to Singaporeans by avoiding retrenchments. This was a message by the secretary general of the National Trade Union Congress, Mr Lim Swee Say recently at the Singapore Tripartism Forum on Thursday.

In the late, many companies have been making decisions to axe/retrench their employees to keep the costs down and to survive in this economy downturn. DBS and NOL were among the list.

Local companies are being reminded that there is a quota to be met, by hiring local talent before foreign ones can be hired. However, it is understandable that foreign workers are also neccessary for these companies to keep their costs down and avoid relocating to overseas.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Rui En's Second Album

I am excited to hear that Rui En, the Singapore actress is going to be releasing her second album soon. Her first album was Rui En Vol 1 and it was released back in 2002. I had enjoyed watching her act in the local mediacorp's drama recently too. It ended just recently.

According to reports, the songs in her new album are solely her works, her thoughts that she had penned down. An English educated background she certainly shows a lot of challenge and zest in writing Mandarin songs. I can't wait for the release, which will be soon.

Lavrenti Lopes



Watch out for Lavrenti Lopes, a young good looking actor who hails from Mumbai, India but is now looks set to be a heart-throb in the states. He is currently based in New York after graduating from the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute in New York. With many ads under his belt (Zip Car, Axe Deodorants and Microsoft), you will next see him in SubHysteria, a new Hollywood film that will be released in April 2009. Read about him in this Official Site.

Hollywood certainly has a good mix of cosmopolitan actors from Asia. Having someone from India is going to be a dream come true.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Woodlands Checkpoint sees more traffic

Woodlands checkpoint was designed to handle 35.2 million vehicles a year. And with the integrated resorts and events, such as the APEC 2009 and 2010 Youth Olympics, the volume of traffic looks like it is increasing even more. Last year alone, 38.7 million vehicles passed through the Woodlands checkpoint.

To allow a smoother drive and ease congestion, ICA has decided to add more counters and secondary check lanes to allow faster clearance during peak periods. The old checkpoint will be used to clear departing cargo vehicles. New clearance facilities for motocyclists will also be added. All these will come in phases. Motorchycle lanes will have 70 checkpoints from 50. Extra staff and security will also be needed for these additional counters.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Work in Home Team of Singapore

If you are keen to work with the Home Team, then there are about 1,000 jobs awaiting. These jobs are available in the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA), Police, Civil Defence, the Prisons Service and the Central Narcotics Bureau.

The largest number of vacancies are available int he Police Force, followed by ICA. There will be a coordinated Home Team recruitment event organized by the ministry next month. Keep a look out for it.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Help the Children

We remind ourselves about the spirit of Christmas and about giving and sharing. With the high cost of living, we also learn to be prudent and save for a rainy day. However, this Christmas, perhaps we should take a look at the deplorable living conditions in a landfill in Payatas, in Phillippines. For more than 35 years, the plight of those in poverty struggle to survive by climbing on the high hills of garbage, hoping to find some material to sell for a living. What is even more heartbreaking is that some of them are children as young as four years old.

The children depends on your donation to survive. Let's all work together to make their life a little warmer this Christmas. Here is a press release about Christmas For Payatas, a charity drive organized by ToteDaddy.com and Lighthouse Center for Children Foundation.

Press Release:

The landfill in Payatas, The Philippines, is notoriously known the world over as Smokey Mountain. For over 35 years, the smoking dump site has grown to become a stark and heart-tugging reminder of the desperate onditions of humanity.

On a daily basis, children pick through newly arrived garbage to collect material to sell. The earnings made by one child are not enough to even buy food for the day. Hence, entire families are forced to climb the mountain each day, hoping to earn enough to feed everyone. Children as young as four years old are forced to work in this daily struggle for survival.

In response to the plight of these children, Totedaddy.com is working with Lighthouse Center For Children Foundation to bring a little cheer to the children this Christmas.

Totedaddy.com has kicked off with a cash sponsorship of USD 10,000 to enable the children to celebrate Christmas. FusionExcel International has also pitched in a USD 5,000 in cash sponsorship. The money raised will help fund the projects already in place, and help fund additional projects aimed at providing better housing, and a means of livelihood for the Payatas community.

It is hoped that by creating better awareness to the plight of these children, more support can be garnered towards their betterment. Together we can bury poverty!


PSLE Singapore 2008 results

The result for PSLE is out after months of anguish! PSLE is known as the Primary School Leaving Examination that every Primary 6 students will sit for at the end of the primary school. Their result will determine where they go for the Secondary school.

So this year the top Primary school that produced most of the top student is Nanyang Primary School. Wow, that school has been among top school listing for many years. This PSLE, they manage to produce 4 top students in the country's 15 top student, including the highest scorer.
I'm sure the parents and family members of Wee Yen Jean is very proud for her achievement!

Congratulations Wee Yen Jean!

According to news reports, Yen Jean also beat all primary six students in this year’s PSLE with a top score of 287 points.

Friday, November 21, 2008

2009 Year of the Ox Almanac Coins

If you are a coin collector, don't forget to place orders for the 2009 Year of the Ox Almanac Coins set that will be issued on January 3. However orders will have to be placed by December 23 to get your coin collection.

It is part of the series that has been designed by Xu Yunfei, who is a designer from the the Shanghai Mint. There is also a contest for the biggest Ox family. Do you have one to show? That means in your family, do you have any members or MANY members who are born in the year of the OX? If you have, hurry up and register for this contest. You might win the contest!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

NOL will cut 1,000 Jobs

Another shocking news that will set off more grim outlook for Singapore's employment sector. I have just read the news online that Neptune Orient Lines is next on the list to be axing employees to stay afloat in this gloomy economy turmoil. NOL is the the world's seventh largest container carrier. About 9% of the workforce will be shed as it battles to weather the economy slowdown that is spread globally.

Even with the decision, analysts thinks that it will still be difficult to keep NOL in the black and is expected to lose $100 million in 2009 and $115 million in 2010. So far this year, NOL shares have fallen 74.4 percent.

Singapore's unemployment sector doesn't look too good.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Part Time Work is Competitive in Singapore, Now.

Singaporeans looking for part time jobs will soon find it more competitive during this holidays because of the bleak global economy. The reason is because many of them are not made up of students having their school holidays but also made up of those adults in the 40s and 50s who may be getting part time jobs to cover additional expenses, 30s who may have just retrenched and while waiting for jobs opt for part time jobs as well as those who are fresh grads.

In general, business owners are also hiring less workers as their business have seen a drop lately, due to the recent weak economy. So for those who are applying for part time jobs, they have to be contented with lower paying jobs or be in competition with workers with more experience.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Asia Youth Games 2009

Prior to hosting the Youth Olympic Games in 2010, Singapore will play host to the inaugural Asian Youth Games in 2009. The logo for the event had also been launched. Asia's Youth, Our Future is the slogan for this. There will be 9 sports in this events for athletes between 14 to 17 years of age. It will be staged from June 29 - July 7. About 1,000 young athletes will be taking part in this event.

It will be a good time for Singapore to promote it's tourism industry as there will be thousands of visitors from the region and global. Hopefully it will boost up the Singapore's economy and create some new jobs as well.

Singapore is in it's technical recession in the last quarter. The recent axing of about 900 jobs from the local bank also create worries among the people.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

White Tigers in Singapore Mauled Worker


First time in history, Singapore Zoo's white tigers mauled at a Zoo contract worker in the enclosure. The contract worker, who works in the chimpanzee area had apparently jumped into the moat after behaving strangely before the incident. Once in the moat, he had also been shouting at the tigers and using the broom to intimidate the tigers. 2 of the tigers than pounced on him, and dragging him into a passageway as the crowd shouted and throw things to distract the tiger from attacking it's victim. The worker put a bucket on his head and curled up in a foetal position and was bitten behind the head.

Zoo onlookers who were there when the incident happened had first hand experience and some had pictures taken. Zoo keepers had also tried to distract the tigers but apparently their method was futile.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Singapore's Casino Delayed?

I've just read that Las Vegas Sands Corp needs to raise new capital now. The billionaire, Sheldon Adelson who runs the international casino empire just got his companies shares plummeted. If he doesn't raise some capital, some of his development projects may have to be suspended. I wondered if that will affect the development of Singapore's Marina Bay Sands Casino. If it is being suspended, hopefully it will not be taking too long as it will be an eyesore with all the constructions in around that area.

DBS, one of the many banks that were formed for the funding of this development project however had reported that there were no signs of any default on the loans so far and had not shown any indication of suspension of project.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Man in Women's Clothes Tries to Rob UOB

Arousing suspicion should be the last thing when attempting a robbery in a bank. With securities, cameras and careful bank tellers around, a robber made a mistake by donning on gear meant for a women. With this feminine dressing, it had been a cause of alarm and suspicious for the security when this man walked into a bank in Singapore. He gave a teller a slip of paper and subsequently faced the security guard and gave him a warning not to be heroic.

Within seconds, the security guard pinned the suspiscous man down with the help of other bank employees. So the robber's attempts were foiled from the moment he stepped into this bank. Perhaps his suspiscious attitude too alerted the security and employees.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Lehman Bros and Singapore Investors

Investors who bought Minibonds linked to Lehman Bros are seeing some compensation, finally by Hong Leong Finance. However, those compensated are those who are aged 62 and above and those who only have primary school education.

Not sure how it is turning out yet for the other banks and those who don't fall in this category of investors. Some banks hold dialogue session with their investors and requires them to fill in forms, attend interviews too.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Egg Donors Compensation

Compensate women for those who donate their eggs for research? Yes, that was the recent news after Singapore's Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan announced recently too to amend a law about allowing living organ donors be compensated. With this, the Bioethics Advisory Committee suggests that these women should be fairly compensated.

When a woman decides to donate her egg for research, should she be compensated, do you think? Do you think that it might become an inducement that it becomes inethical?

I suppose a small sum is alright. Perhaps she should be compensated in many other forms, such as free medical consultation for life, subsidised payment for medicine or something in that line? Perhaps if she is being compensated in terms of money, it should not be too big a sum and being paid out in a certain time frame like a sum once every year? Just my two cents' worth.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Distance Based ERP?

In concrete Singapore, motorists are charged for using roads leading to congested areas. Gantry points call the Electronic Road Pricing is widely used and charged at different rates to deter motorists coming into the restricted district by taking other routes and paying a reduced rate for the lesser used gantries.

But recently many Singaporeans have insisted that these gantries do not work and instead had created more jams as motorists reaching the gantry slow down and reaching a bottle neck instead.

The latest news about Singapore's ERP is now being considered to charge motorists based on distance, using a GPS technology. Wonder how it will turn out as this is still being worked on by LTA (Land Transport Authority) and being tested for the past couple of years.

Hopefully a fair enough system is borned.

Pretty and Cheap Glasses

If you have been wrecking your brains like I did about budget and saving cost, then this website selling eyeglasses should be the first thing that comes to mind if you are in need of getting a pair of prescription glasses. The first thing that one should understand is that prescription eyeglass do not need to be costing the earth. This website that I mentioned, is none other than Zenni Optical. What is amazing about this online site is that the eyeglasses on sale here are as low as $8.00 a pair. I've been to retail shops whereby a simple no frill eyeglasses with prescription already cost about $60.

How did Zenni Optical managed to offer it's customers such a price. For one thing, there are no large figures to be paid for advertising on media like television, newspapers or magazines which can costs tens of thousands. The other thing is that because Zenni Optical's frames are owned manufactured by Zenni Optical themselves and sold direct to the customers via online, there are no additional commissions nor extra costs involved.

If you don't believe me, try browzing on their website and you'll be surprised that they not only have simple no frills frames but they do have very unique and trendy looking ones as well. Furthermore besides glasses, you can even get swimming goggles with prescriptions which generally costs more in retail. So, what are you waiting for? You can order your eyeglasses online and not have to feel the pinch for once. I'm going to order my second pair of sunglasses from the wide variety they have.


This one with the pretty posie design is really awesome!


Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Oil Prices Coming Down At Last

Remember when oil prices reached a record high of 147 dollars and above in July recently? It affected many motorists and especially those who depended on transportation to travel, deliver goods and ferry passengers. School buses increased fares, public fares went up and even the taxis charge extra 30cents for fuel surcharge. Travelling was especially expensive as fuel charges or tax were high though there were budget flights.

Many people refrain from going out as often to keep their petrol bills low. In the past month, world oil prices had been coming down and it was really something to be celebrated for. I could get a little more than 3/4 tank of petrol at S$50 compared with half tank or less in July!

Yippeee!

Something to Cheer About?

Just a little while ago, the results for the U.S. president election had finally come to an end in victory for Barrack Obama. He has won and is set to become the next U.S. president. And with his win, Asian shares hit a 3-week high. A new administration headed by Obama will take place from January, will be facing the world's worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Orchard Road Shopping Belt Getting A Facelift

If you have been to Orchard and thinks that it is getting boring, it certainly is getting the facelift it deserves. Orchard Road has always been the country's popular shopping belt for tourists and locals for its exhaustive and large shopping malls that lines all the way from Tanglin to Orchard/Scotts Road towards the end of Orchard Road and Bras Basah Road. The Singapore Tourism Board had given the shopping district a multi million-dollar makeover that had started in April 2008 at US$26.7 million.

The makeover will be completed by February 2009. Some of the refurbishing done are the changing of tiles of some old shopping malls and adding Green resting rooms for tourists and shoppers.

Although the economic outlook is a little gloomy now, perhaps we can see a revive by next year. Visitor arrivals have dipped 7 per cent since June and the country may even fall short of its 10.8 million travellers target this year.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Retailer Must Remove All Products containing China Dairy

Singapore's 80 officers from AVA and NEA will be conducting daily checks on premises such as supermarkets, food manufacturers, hawker centres and food shops to ensure that following the band on China milk products, none is being used or on sale without consumer's knowledge.

If was found that a retailer had failed to remove these affected products from its shelves and continued to sell them. This retailer will be charged for that. Consumers are also encouraged to report any product that has been banned yet still remain on the shelves to AVA at the number 6325 7625.

Consumers are also advised to make it a habit to check, inspect these items for the safety of their loved ones and family so that they know if the products have any ingredient or dairy product that could have been manufactured in China.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Ministry of Sound in Singapore to Close Soon

If you were partying in Singapore's Ministry of Sound at Clarke Quay three weeks ago, you probably saw the last of this two storey nightclub because it ceased operations on Oct 6. That is because Lifebrandz, which is responsible for bringing this UK based nightspot will be terminated its licence agreement with Ministry of Sound International Limited. Lifebrandz which still holds the tenure of this prime spot in Clarke Quay of 38,000 sq feet, will turn it into another night entertainment venue soon.

I'm sure it will be even more exciting. Ministry of Sound had been a popular club in Singapore since 2005, but like all other clubs, a refreshing change is always good. Hope to hear more good news in the coming weeks.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

First Transport fee, Electricity, Now Telephone Bills, What is next?

Singapore residents are going to see their phone bills going up starting from January 1, 2009. If you are a customer with a subscription with Singtel, be prepared to pay S$110 per year.

Calls from the local fixed line will also be increased from 0.7 to 0.8 cents for every 30 second block during peak hours. That sums up to an average of additional of S$1.50 per month with the new rate. I suppose that these cost are unavoidable because everything goes up in recent years and the land line calls have remain stagnant.

But for many Singaporeans who are already been heavily affected by other rising prices, I think even an increase of $10 is going to affect them to rant about it. I have a personal handphone and am thinking of cutting the plan subscription to the basic plan since it is under utilise. I may decide to do away with my landline instead and save me more than $110 a year. A few of my friends have also decided to do away with fixed landlines since they are also using handphones with a basic plan. Can save a lot, actually. As our electrical bill is also going to be increased by about 20% in average, it makes sense to cut down unnecessary things.


What about you.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Great Eyeglasses at Low Price

I normally pay for a pair of eyeglasses about $80. This is about the cheapest that I could find in the retail shops and these include prescription lens. So it was a great surprise when I found out that I could actually buy a pair of prescription glasses for as low as $8. It was something that was even mentioned on a radio talk show, The Clark Howard Show. It mentioned that ZenniOptical.com is an online eyeglass website that sells stylish glasses at that low price. I had to see it for myself so I logged on and went to ZenniOptical.com

To my surprise I found that their prices are so much cheaper than what I can get in many retail shops. They also carry many fashionable frames with modern designs as well. Look at this trendy looking glasses from Zenni Optical. They are so cool and definitely fashionable.



Zenni Optical is able to sell their eyeglasses at their low price because the practically have very low overheads. They sell their eyeglasses direct to customers as they manufacture them in the their own factory. What was wonderful to know was that I really do not have to pay so much for swimming goggles with prescrition lenses as well. And I see so many lovely designs for sunshades that will go very well with my new wardrobe. It is wonderful to know that I can save so much on my purchases. The next time I need a pair of nice sunshades, I know where to get them from.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Foreign Workers Dormitory Concern in Singapore

If you had been following about the resentment the residents have over the building of a dormitory for foreign workers in Serangoon Gardens, the recent news reported that a new concern shifted over to the residents who live at Tai Hwan and Mei Hwan estates.

To ease the fears about the security and more to the Serangoon Gardens estate, buffers and fences will be built around and the road that will allow access to the dormitory is the one that leads to and from Ang Mo Kio Ave 1. So the buses that ferries these foreign workers will travel along a new access road to the dormitory. However, now that the decision to the access is through Ang Mo Kio Ave 1, the unhappiness had been shifted to the residents that lived at estates - Tai Hwan and Mei Hwan.

The new roads will take as long as 6 to 9 months before they are completed. So now if the residents at these estates find that it is impractical to build the entrance due to congestions, what will be the next decision or steps the government is going to take.

This issue is getting complicated. You can never please anyone. Singapore is a small country with limited land. Not many will want to admit that they really do not want the foreign workers to live in big numbers near their residence.

I feel for them really. It is different when you have a handful but not when you see them crowding in large groups of more than 6 or 10. I believe these are some of the concerns parents have, basically. I would also be uneasy to see groups of men at the void deck, anytime.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Shopping for A Trophy or Award

School children are encouraged to pick up sport as a co-corricular activity. Sports are also a wonderful way to learn teamwork, have good hand-eye co-ordination and keeps us fit with a competitive spirit. Whenever there is a sporting activity or competition, trophies, medals and awards are used to reward those who have been outstanding and done well. A a committee handling purchase of these products in the school sports club, our most common trophies and awards are mainly common sports like the soccer trophies and golf trophies.

However, I have always find it a little difficult to find other niche sports trophies such as gymnastics and cheerleading trophies. The retail shop that I used to patronize have very limited designs. It was until I found an online site that specializes in all types of sport trophies, awards, certificates, badges and signages. This site also has lapel pins, ribbons and those who are in the military could also find awards like Police, Firefighter and Military awards.

For non-sport purchase, you can even choose a variety of academic trophies, acrylic plaques, resins, religious awards, desk plates and even stock lapel pins. In this site, you'll never run out of ideas.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Dormitory in Serangoon Gardens To Get Go Ahead

The decision for the government to convert an old school site at upper middle class residential area - Serangoon Gardens into a dormitory had been given the go ahead. Before this final decision, the residents or more than 1,000 had signed a petition against this. The residents were concerned over this issue in the past month and weren't very happy about it.


I was wondering perhaps they are concerned because they do not want their home ground to lose the privacy like those who lived in Tekka market who has foreign workers sleeping on their doorsteps and some who had been drunk loitering around. Some voiced out their concern about security issues as they have young daughters and children. The government were mindful of their concerns and had actually decided to work towards having a road connected to the CTE and Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 so that the dormitory that ferries the workers to work will bypass the Serangoon Gardens estate. The entrance that opens to Burghley Drive will be closed and only open for emergency access. Also the government will also cap the number of foreign workers at 1,000 and for a start, will only have 600.

There will be pass identification system put in place, and activities that will not be allowed beyond a certain hour. There will also be amenities like provision shops and recreational corners in the dormitory as well.

I saw the television interviews that the residents were disappointed with the decision. Perhaps it takes a while before they finally accept this. The only consolation for the residence was that this will be temporary housing and not more than 5 years.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Report Scam Calls

If you ever find yourself having to pick up calls from sales, telemarketing or agents who have been continuously calling to sell you their product, it certainly can get into your nerves. What can one do about these calls then. A site that lets anyone Reports Annoying Callers by posting up the displayed numbers and warn others in advance is the way to go. Write about the number or any information you may have about the caller. You can also look at other reported numbers that others have posted online, some that may turn out to be scam numbers too.

Choi Jin-sil Commited Suicide?

It was sad news reading about the popular actress from South Korean, Choi Jin-sil who was reported believed to commit suicide by hanging herself in the bathroom on the 2nd of October. The report says that she was depressed since her divorce in 2004. She also worried about how to care for her two children who are in elementary school.

What a terrible thing that should happen to a divorced mother of two young children. There is always help extended to many of those poor children and family but perhaps there should be social help for single mothers or those who have gone through a divorce. I believe many divorcees and single mothers do worry about their livelihood and sometimes it is hard to get back into society especially when they have just had a broken marriage. I've seen many friends of mine, of whom are women and they, find themselves deep in depression when they have had unsuccessful marriages.

If it is true that Choi Jin-sil had comitted suicide for depression, it must be hard for her as being an actress she has had to fight off scandalous and rumours as well as putting on an act while acting. It must be a very tiring affair for her to decide that she is too tired and decided to take her own life?

May God Bless Her Soul. She should not be blamed and I hope someone takes care of her two young children too.

No More Bulky Telephone Books

Forget about those thick yellow pages when you look for information of anyone who had just called but did not leave a message on your answering machine. Now, you can actually access telephone numbers that are listed and unlisted from an online site. This site, National Phone Book also contains cell phone numbers listed in it. Can you imagine if not for this online site how thick your telephone book will be especially when each household may have a landline as well as several numbers from being cell phone users.

Wheelchairs on Singapre Buses?

In the recent news, it was reported that disabled commuters have been denied from boarding the SBS bus although the bus had displayed decal that the bus was a wheelchair accessible bus. What a shock. This apparently was proven so when an auditor tried to board the services of the 4 public buses in Singapore recently. Although the buses drivers were apologetic, he was denied from boarding the buses because they told him that they had no approval from LTA (Land Transport Authority and the SBS Transit that they are allowed to ferry wheelchair users.

It was only 20 minutes later, he flagged down another bus service 57 that the bus driver without any hesitation, laid the ramp on the kerb and wheeled Mr Lee aboard.

I suppose the public bus transport need to iron out their issues over which buses are allowed and which are not. And if they are not, I hope they will take the decal off the windscreen to prevent any misunderstandings. This way the drivers for the buses would not be caught in between the decisions too.

I'm sure while this is being iron out, in future, LTA will be working on features and accessibility for wheelchair bound passengers. Hope it will be fast so that we can be a gracious society to the less fortunate or the handicapped passengers.

Calls In The Night

Are you bothered when you get some crank calls in the middle of the night and no one is on the line? Well there is an online Phone Book if you wish to find out who the caller is. This feature is available online and has a database on all the numbers and owners particulars in the United States. So, in future if you receive any calls even when you are not in, you still can find out who just called.

Horse Riding School Opening in 2009

Young Singaporean are being encouraged to take up horse riding and other equestrian sports. To do so, the largest riding school that will be available to the general public is being built and will be ready by September 2009. That will be located just next to the Singapore Racecourse at Kranji. It will be built by Singapore Turf Club, on a 3 hectare site at S$24 million.

For the first time, riding will be offered as part of the school Co-Curricular Activity. School children who are interested in horse riding can try them and will be targeted at those aged between 8 and 18 years old.

There weill be a comphrehensive curriculum that includes lessons held in classrooms as well as practical lessons outdoor. They will also be taught about management of the sable and also caring for the horse. With this facility, riding lessons will also be more affordable in the future, at between S$15 to S$75 for a ride of 45 minutes.

So those who thought that horse riding has always been something not widely available in Singapore can brace themselves for lessons when the facility for school children is opened!

Unanswered Calls

A large organisation pays for a receptionist to pick up the calls so that the company will not miss out any important phone calls that may be invaluable to the company. But there are some businesses that are actually a one-man-show where when he conducts his business appointments, his calls goes unanswered. The need for a Reverse Phone Search will mostly likely help him to retrieve numbers and make a call back to the number to see if it was anything urgent. It is also a good way for many to filter their calls and return the calls according to the owner's particulars.

Robbers to leave part of loot

How hilarious when I read the news about some robbers who had hijacked a security van in Malaysia that had as much as $1.3 million inside. However, due to the robbers' bad planning, they had to leave part of the loot because their getaway car was too small to fit in the small compact car! The bags containing a total of 2.7 million ringgit were quite big. The robbers only made off with $524,000.

Five security guards have been detained for questioning. Can you believe that there are five security guards in the van and none managed to stop the robbery? The robbers were not smart to take all the money and the guards were not smart enough for them either.

Never Miss A Call

If you have received a call from an unknown number and would like to know the source of the number, try Phone Lookup Investigator. This is a feature that contains a database of telephone numbers from landlines and mobiles. Information such as the owner's name and other particular can be accessed here. It works great for those who don't want to miss a call if they are in telemarketing sales as every call is a potential to their sales profit.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Prevent A Loved One From Entering Casino?

In Singapore, the much awaited first integrated resort will open its doors in the the third quarter of next year. It will be located at Marina Bay. Singaporeans are well known for being among the top tourists in nearby countries, playing at casinos.

In Singapore alone, many families are worried that having a casino may become a social problem since it is awailable within their own country. Worry not, this problem had been something that the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) had thought of. From January 2009, families are allowed to apply for their members to be excluded from entry in the local casinos.

This application will need the family member who made the application, together with the person in the application to go for counselling. A committee will make the decision to issue the exclusion only after a hearing is done. There are as many as 60 grassroots leaders and professionals from the social service sectors to be part of the panel of assessors.

There will be some requirements for being an assessors, and based on their experience in social and community service, their age, maturity and academic qualifications of miniumum of O levels and above.

Only upon close counselling and assessment, will the panel of committee determines if the person be determine to be in the exclusion order. So far as many as 29,000 had been submitted to be banned from visiting the casino. I wonder if these are approved or just to be assessed individuals. Isn't it frightening to know that if these are those who may not be able to control their sense of gambling habits, there are still legalized ones like Totos, 4Ds and others.

Trendy Clothes

Did you know that you can now own your own little retail shop selling trendy and fashionable clothes? Well, some business owners I know had to travel far and wide to shop for wholesale clothing at other countries and buy them in cartons back. This method requires time, effort and money sending orders back to the town of their shop. It may work if you are shopping for a large order for a few shops but what if you are looking into limited number of clothing wholesale price but not as many as a whole carton of them? This works great if you have a kiosk selling fashionable clothings and you have no space for a large carton of clothes.

Apparel Showroom is the answer then. Not only do they sell a wide range of clothing at wholesale price, all you need is to make your orders online, without having to leave your comfy chair or office. Browze from their various collection of clothes, bags, sunglasses, intimates and more. You can really get a good range of fashionable wear from here and orders are from minimum pieces of as few as 4 to a dozen or more. You can even shop for half a dozen of handbags and give them as Christmas presents to your friends! The unit price for a handbag is only $5.25 each and the package of 5 cost you only $26.25. What a great deal!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Electricity Bill will be high at last quarter 2008

Singaporeans may see their electrical bills increased by as much as 21% in the final quarter of 2008. That is because of the higher cost of oil price that pushed up the cost of electricity, in general. For this forth quarter of October 1 to December 31, the electricity tariff for are pegged at S$155.14 per barrel.

Hopefully residents of Singapore will look for ways to cut down on their electricity bills by usage and also opting for electrical equipments that do not consume too much electricity.

In my household alone, we have changed the washing machine to a Japanese brand that has water and electrical saving feature compared with our previous European model. The next step would be to reduce usage of the air-conditioning although it will be hard since the weather in Singapore is really hot and humid most of the time.

Quality Travel Luggage

A luggage that lasts, can be of sentimental value. I had one that I won in a lucky draw and I have been using it for almost 20 years when I was a student studying abroad. It was my first luggage that I hold so dear since it had been around for so many years. I was glad that it being a quality and premium luggage, I am able to cherish it for so long.

Having a family now means I need a much larger bag that can store not just my own clothes but also the ones of my family as well when we go for a holiday. As my children are growing up, they now need their own personal luggage so that they can learn to manage and organize their items for short trips as well. There is no compromise for good quality luggage. You may pay a higher price for a premium piece of designer luggage but it may be worth every penny.

For a start, check out Village Luggage & Gifts, an online luggage store that sells everything from designer luggage bags to travel accessories and gifts for your friends and loved ones. I can never resist a Zero Halliburton luggage. Zero Halliburton luggages are lightweight, durable and have a high resistance to extreme temperatures.

Village Luggage & Gifts know what their customers want and they strive to bring the best in quality, a competitive pricing, and even frills like free gift wrapping for customers' purchase. Corporate orders even get free monogramming and special discounts for purchases in bulk as well. A wonderful place for those who intend to get wedding party gifts as there will be free monogramming or engraving of initials which make great personalised presents.

Paul Newman, dies at age 83

If you had been a fan of Paul Newman, you will be heartbroken as he had just passed away on Friday, 26 September 2008, at the age of 83. Paul Newman had been successful for being an Oscar winning legendary actor for his roles in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Cool Hand Luke. He had had major roles in more than 50 motion pictures since 1950 and co stars include the famous Robert Redford, Elizabeth Taylor, Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks.

A heartthrob with a soft and kind heart, he had given tens of millions to charities and set up camps for the children who has cancer or other life threatening diseases. From acting, he also took part in auto racing which was a sport that he had studied in a film, Winning. He turned into a professional race in 1977 and won some major races such as a second in Le Mans in 1979.

A legend, a racer and a generous heart. Paul Newman is survived by his wife, 5 children, grandsons and an older brother. He will be a hero in our hearts, for a long time.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Blog is Good for Business

When a person starts our a small home based business he or she rely mostly by word of mouth. Many a times, there is no budget for advertisements and brick and mortar shop to rent. Blog About Blogging is guide that teaches you why this type of business should own a blog. One advantage is definitely because it is publicity itself. It helps to boost your business, through online awareness, updates and the customer base is wide. Read about this marketing tool of blogging and learn more about it's advantages.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Man Arrested in break-ins over 6 days

A 33 year old Chinese national had been arrested for being involved in a series of break-ins at private condominiums around River Valley Road, Tanglin Road and Balmoral Road. This was done over a period of 6 days and they were reported and the suspect was traced to a hotel located in Geylang. At the lobby, police arrested him and uncovered items like foreign currencies, electrical equipments like laptops, mobile phones, watches and more from the man's hotel room. The stolen items were reported to carry a total value of about S$30,000.

He will be charged in court with housebreaking and theft.

More Flights for Sin-KL daily from December 1

From December 1 onwards, there will be an increased of flights between Singapore and KL. This will be when the liberalisation of flights between the two cities start in December month, 2008. Tiger Airways will be adding flight operation between this two cities up to five flights for each way, daily. That will be good news for tourists from both KL and Singapore as well as those who travel for business purpose to KL and Singapore, vice versa.

Jetstar Asia had also reported that it will increase it's flight schedules to 19 flights a week from December 1 too. This access to budget carriers were given since February 2008.

Friday, September 26, 2008

The Right Web Host

A company that wishes to bring forth the company to the masses and have online presence will need to have a unique domain name. A unique name, is similar to the signage of a store. When a company has this domain name registered, a hosting company is required to host this website. Choosing a good hosting company is crucial to the performance of the website, in terms of speed, upload and download time and graphics, accessibility and support.

There are numerous web hosting providers in cyberspace. How would you make a decision over which to choose or which is the best solution for you? It is full of time and effort if you were to go to every host and do a full rundown on their packages and value for money. Why not go to a web host rating site that had already done all the hard work for you. This site compiles information from many customer's honest reviews so that you can find the answer to what you are looking for in a webhost. Some webhost charges a premium price that comes full with features for an online store. If you are only looking for a webhost for a simple blog you definitely would not need to be paying for these features. These are some of the mistakes that customers may end up choosing a package that is not right for them. Let web hosting rating be the guide for all your hosting queries.

Read from their wide range of informative articles about Web Hosting, Should You Purchase Cheap Hosting to some c-panel tutorial articles which may prove handy when you found your webhost.

Lost Confidence in China Products for Singaporeans

In just less than a week, sales of Chinese products, especially foodstuff have taken a drastic decline in Singapore. Even those sold in traditional Chinese medicne shops have seen a drop of about 20%. The confidence in Chinese made products is now lost among many Singaporeans.

In the past 3 days, as many as 600 emails and 630 phone calls were made for enquiries on safety aspects over the dairy products from China. Some supermarkets reported no significant change to sales as China products make up a small portion of its retail product offerings while two major supermarket claimed that their sales were adversely affected.

Marriages and Infidelity

Some married individuals did not expect that a harmless flirt in the office could harm their marriage. A simple lunch with a colleague friend could spark off a romance in the making or an exciting forbidden fruit for some married men. First signs of infidelity occur when a married men or women starts to look forward spending time with another of the opposite gender and finds excuses from spending time with their spouse.

Many women are usually very attentive to their spouse's actions and behaviour that it is not difficult for them to find initial Signs of Infidelity of their spouse. For some who are more financially able, they would pay for a private investigator's services to Catch Cheating Spouse for purpose of alimony and child's support if there are any children in their marriage. For many women, it is a shock to them when the signs of a distress marriage is broken down with infidelity. Some goes into blaming themselves and depression whilst some could try to put themselves in a denial stage.

Infidelity does not conclude an end to a marriage or the end of the world. There are many things one can do before one makes the final decision like a close study of their marriage, problems or how to pick up the pieces. An Infidelity Support is available to those who need to know more about this issue, how to deal with it and more information for those who are really lost.

In Infidelity Support, one can read up from a complete resource of services from a divorce attorney, a mediator, about child custody or even perhaps look for help in counseling services to mend a marriage. Pick up some tools that assist to help you heal or prevent infidelity. An Infidelity chat room is also created where chats cover anything from support from chatters to how to look for Signs of a Cheater from those who have survived infidelity.

F1 Tickets Found on Ebay

Just a day before the F1 race flags off on Sunday, there have been cases of tickets sold online at prices as high as S$2,000 for a three day pit grandstand package. The official price of it is at S$1,400. Guess some are determined to make a quick buck knowing that the F1 is something that is much sought for and also the first time in Singapore history. The tickets that are also sold below the market prices are those that are on other spots whereby you probably will see the race car for some few seconds before it speeds away.

Some of those who are selling their tickets online claims that they are selling it because those were gifts and they will not be able to attend it. Reselling of tickets is prohibited based on the F1 purchase terms and conditions.

Goths and their friends

With so many types of subculture lately, you won't be surprised to find many mix and match in trends. These include an extreme in the dressing sense, the hairstyle, or even hanging out with the group of their choice. A Free Goth Chat is available to those who embrace the Goth lifestyle or wants to learn about their history or how it came about. Perhaps they would be the best people to reveal what goes one in their lifes and how they become a Goth.

More Products Tainted with Melamine

As more and more countries are moving into banning dairy products made in China, Singapore has found 5 more products made in China that has traces of the industrial chemical melamine. In the past week, the products that were scanned and tested for melamine were:

YiLi choice dairy fruit bar, yochurt flavourd ice confection
Dutch Lady strawberry milk
White Rabbit creamy candy

The latest findings are:
Dutch Lady Banana Flavoured Milk
Dutch Lady Honeydew Flavoured Milk
Silang - House of Steamed Potato: Potato Cracker,
Xu Fu Ji - Puffed Rice Rolls, Butter Corn Flavour and Cheese Flavour.

Hygiene officers from National Environment Agency have been deployed to inspect bakeries, confectioneries and places that use dairy products to make sure that employees are not using tainted milk on their food products. There are about 2100 bakeries, confectioneries, cake shops and drink stalls in Singapore.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Get Your Circus Tickets Fast

Buying tickets for circus and other family entertainment have always ended in exasperation for me. I hate long queues and some of the good seats are usually sold out. If you want to get special discounts, you will need to purchase with certain credit cards to qualify.

If you really want to watch some of the popular shows such as the Ringling Brothers Circus, you can try to purchase your tickets in advance online. The Ringling Brothers Circus Tickets are usually sold out fast at the box office. But if you want to be assured of a good time, you can try using A Cheap Seat, that also markets the tickets to the public. To check out the information like schedule venue and seats, you can view it through the website ACheapSeat.com. Their information is updated frequently so that you are in touch of the availability of the seats.

Besides this popular circus show, the other events that you can get tickets for are the Radio City Christmas Spectacular tickets and the New York City Christmas Show tickets. Ordering tickets from ACheapSeat is very simple. They are also available via telephone besides online. A confirmation for your ticket order is within 24 hours, mostly. They accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. Hurry and get your family the Ringling Brothers Circus Tickets now to avoid disappointment.

Traffic Upsurge To Be Expected During F1

The Formula One Grand Prix in Singapore is just around the corner, starting from Sept 26, 2008. In view of this, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) of Singapore is expecting a surge of traffic, both ways at land checkpoints during this time.

There will be enhanced security checks by the ICA and a traffic build up is expected. With this, the ICA is advising the public to adjust their travel plans and avoid land travels to Malaysia. The Singaporeans who have valid passports and registered with National Registration Office are adviced to use the Enhanced Immigration Automated Clearance System lanes (eIACS) to encourange efficiency for clearance. Travellers are also advised to double check their passports and to avoid cases of handling of wrong passports as it had also happened before.

Identify The Caller

The access to public phones, cell phones and many phone lines are increasing. Almost everyone has a cell phone or at least a permanent number at home. Sales persons sometimes gets our numbers to make cold calls to sell their products. It can be very irritating especially when the call comes in during a meeting or when you are in the middle of something. If you know the number comes from the same source, block it off with your mobile. If you are not sure whose number it was, use the Caller Identifier feature to check the number up. Some companies call up the same customer with several landlines they own. Know who they are and block them from calling you. You can also place this number on the page to warn others about their persistent. selling tactics.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Better Library for CCK and Yishun

New larger libraries for Yishun and Choa Chu Kang will be part of the plan when the libraries are closed for relocation. Yishun Library will be closed from October 13 and Choa Chu Kang Library will be closed on November 1.

During this close, reservations and book drop facilities will be on hold. Users who wish to return the items can return them at the other branches. Yishun will reopen it's new library at Northpoint Shopping Centre and Choa Chu Kang reopens at Lot 1 Shopper's Mall.

Hopefully these new libraries will be bigger, better and more seating spaces. The current one in Choa Chu Kang is usually taken up fast.

Ultrasonography Benefits

Technology in medical science has progress tremendously in the past decades. A technique that allows parents to view their baby from fetus to the development of baby before birth by ultrasound is wonderful. It also helps many medically trained individuals like doctors, surgeons to get a clearer picture of any abnormalities that may occur in abdominal parts like liver, kidneys, the brain, and eyes.

Some specialist hospitals engaged in the skills of an ultrasound technician. A fully certified ultrasound tech can be very fulfilling and rewarding. This is a long term career and with progressive upgrading, one can command a good package of salary, benefits and competitiveness in this industry alone. An ultrasound technician is very much sought for in the medical profession especially in hospitals and other medical industry.

Training for this specialized field is provided by many ultrasound diagnostic schools located in Georgia, Florida, New Jersey and more. There is even an online school provided in Florida. Ultrasonograhpy training and courses are spread over as many as 102 programs for you to choose. Choose the speciality to focus or read up on more information about benefits and environment in being an ultrasound technician.

To find out more about any specific career or jobs that fits your personality, take a career quiz by Career-education.net or read about about the various professions, industry and courses provided.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

More Products Taken Off Shelves

News reported that over 15 brands of China made products are now been taken off the shelves of many major supermarkets. Some of these products include bread, biscuits such as Want Want Crunch Wafer, Oreo Wafer Sticks, Snickers Peanut Snack Sized bars, Dove Hazelnut Milk Chocolate and more. Condensed milk, crackers and butter that might have it's raw products from China have also been banned from sale. Products are all now been tested for sources of melamine and major supermarkets will only be able to sell them upon the green light by the Singapore's food safety authority.

News also reported that The Chinese company was aware that their dairy product had been contaminated as many complaints about sick children had poured in since last December. In Hong Kong, a second child is ill with kidney stones after drinking contamited Chinese dairy products.

Philippines is now the latest country to put a ban on the import and sale of Chinese dairy products.

Be A Fashion Designer

Fashion trends keep changing every season. It can be a revival of a certain fashion adopted from years or decades ago or it can also be something new and inventive from a new and upcoming fashion designer. The job of a fashion designer can be very interesting. The need to be able to visualize and mix and match with colours, textures, and different materials is important. A successful fashion designer commands very high respect and earns very good money. Their design trends are splashed in fashion magazines and expanded globally in fashion stores.

If you hate to work in a 9 to 5 kind of office job and have a flair for art and drawing figures and fashion sense, a career in the fashion designing industry may be suitable for you. You get to study about the theoretical and the practical aspects of fashion design, or pick up some merchandising, marketing studies for additional prospects. To learn about the numerous fashion degree course available, check out fashionschools.org to understand the various fashion degrees for individuals.

No Singaporean Casualties in Pakistan Bomb

On Saturday, at least 60 people were killed when a bomb exploded at the Marriott Hotel, in Islamabad, Pakistan. The truck was detonated by a suicide bomber and there were at least 200 people that were wounded in the attack of the massive explosion. Fears of many of them could be buried under the debris. This hotel is a key metting place for many foreigners.

So far, there are no reports of any Singaporean casualties during this brazen bomb attack. The bomb had ruptured a gas pipeline and it then triggered an enormous blaze into flames. Some of the victims whom were caught trapped on the upper floors of the hotel, had leapt to their deaths trying to escape the fire.

Culinary Art

Food is similar to art. Not only does it please our tastebuds, it also can be very pleasing to the eye, the way it is laid out and the delightful colours and textures. Many good chefs have made it to become world famous and have cookbooks to their names and food shows to their credit. Chefs awarded with Michelin stars are not many and it takes many years of experience, recognition and continuous passion and patience.

It is not so difficult to get a headstart to learn cooking. There are many culinary schools for those who want to make culinary art into a career. Le Cordon Blue program is provided in many listed schools. It is a wonderful program that embraces the teaching of classical French culinary techniques with the traditional American culinary education.

Culinary Chefs have lots of opportunity in around the world. Work in world renowned hotel kitchens, restaurants, food manufacturer to whip up an invention or healthy food in spas and hospitals. With your experience, know-how and creativity, you bring your skills with you. Whip up a little inpiration anywhere, for anyone. Become the next celebrity chef like Jaime Oliver or Gordon Ramsay. Or you can take culinary journey a little differently like a Food Consultant. The journey is bright.

Monday, September 22, 2008

High Rise Litterbugs

Some Singaporeans living in high rise flats and apartments are seeing a 12 per cent increase of litters thrown from the flats by their neighbours. Town Councils upon receiving any complaints or calls will organise stakeouts by the officers or NEA officers to catch the culprits red handed. Such stakeouts are time consuming and also labour intensive as you will never know when the offender will strike.

Minor litter such as cigarette butts and sweet wrappers are charged with a fine of S$200 while some repeat offenders are sent to court, and maybe sentenced to CWO (corrective work order). Placing cameras are among the common ways to catch these culprits.

Be A Professional Nurse

The job of a nurse is a respectful one. It requires lots of patience and passion for one to embrace this professional career. In order to be a fully trained nurse, there are many lpn schools that offer professional trainings towards a Licensed Practical Nurse. This LPN training may take up as little as slightly less than a year for a basic certificate and subsequently the LPN degree from a community college. LPN nurses can expect to earn up to about $35,000 a year upon graduation, depending on which facility or location.

The career of a nurse does not stop once he or she receives the LPN degree. In fact, there are many accreditation that leads the nurse towards the many other areas such as Legal Nurse Consulting, Forensic Nurse, Life Care Planning or even those that handle Case Management for patients and their families.

As the industry for health care grows, demands for nurses are increasing too. Think about how the world will be if there are no nurses to care for a sick and disabled patient. For more information and available courses for a nursing career, read about it at Nursing-Schools.org, or look for any lpn schools near to home.

Compulsory Education in Singapore

In Singapore, education is compulsory for all children of primary school age. It is criminal offence if the parents do not enrol their children into schools and encourage regular attendance. English is used as the language of instruction. Students also study an extra language which is the language of the mother tongue for races of Chinese, Malay and Indian. International students are also encourage to pick up a second language of their choice as well.

The normal primary school going age is from Primary 1 to Primary 6. At the end of Primary 6, the national school exam is held. This is commonly known as the Primary School Leaving Examination which prepares the children for secondary school admittance, based on the school results.

Create A Little Eden

For a small country that is filled with many high rise buildings and modern technology, residents in their flats and apartments showed a desire to have plants in their homes. As grounds are mainly concrete or tiled, many apartment and building developers and dwellers adopt the use of Indoor Planters as well as Outdoor Planters within apartment buildings and public places.

Landscape designers also put on their thinking caps and creative thinking to create an illusion that the evironment may looked like a natural little green encloved park with the use of
various planters or Decorative Planters. A little pathway to the entrance can be instantly created by just lining up some planters from the main gate.

Some townhouses also adopt the use of Window Box Planters as a divider as these type of homes do not have gates or walls between houses. It serves as a purpose of dividers and prevents residents from intruding into the space of their neighbours. Planters are also a wonderful way to add greens to your home environment as they can be relocated easily without digging up a garden full of soil. They can also be put away when you need additional space for your patio parties and gatherings.

Upgrading Schemes in Schools Postponed

Rising construction costs have caused many upgrading schemes in Singapore's school to be put on hold. There has been no new projects to be announced for the year 2008 while six schools will have theirs deferred for a year. Some schools that had scheduled massive renovation works, such as CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' School will have their upgrading scheme pushed back till 2010. The students and staff had been putting up with water logged walls and classrooms that are cramped. The school building is said to be about 20 years old. The building of indoor sports hall in every school was also planned in 2006, in a S$690 million over a period of seven years. However, this year will not see any of the 25 schools getting the go ahead.

The government has also decided to postpone public sector projects as well. Construction costs are high.

Black is In for Goths

Singapore is a country where it picks up trends and cultures fast. In Orchard Road and places that teenagers hang out, you tend to notice the latest clothes, style, colours and more. There are also a small percentage of them who adopts the culture called Goth. Goth Girls and Boys are usually seen with unusual hairstyles, dark clothings, lots of body piercing and they wear symbols of the Christian cross. Some of these teens turn to such culture when they are alienated, desperate, filled with anger, hatred and many of them come from broken homes.

White Rabbit Cream Candy Banned in Singapore

In the latest news, Singapore found more traces of melamine in China - made dairy products. The latest item that was found to be tainted is the White Rabbit brand Cream Candy that is imported from China.

Melamine is a chemical that can cause kidney stones and subsequently leading to kidney failure. On Friday alone, Singapore had been advised to ban all products that comes from China and to take them off the shelves with immediate effect. Retailers and importers have started to recall the products and not to sell them, based on AVA (Singapore's Agri Food and Veterinary Authority) request. Consumers who may have any of these product at home have been advised not to consume them.

Ban includes yoghurt, chocolate, ice cream, milk, biscuits and candy. Countries like Japan, Brunei, Malaysia have also announced an immediate ban on these products as well. In China alone, gourmet coffee Starbucks have stopped offering milk in their 300 outlets.

Exchange Tips About Fitness

Having a healthy lifestyle is good. Although you see many Singaporens working late on a working week, during the weekends, many will be seen hitting the gyms and outdoor places like park for a little bit of exercise and stretching. The sports stadiums are fully booked with tennis courts and badmiton courts all taken up. If you have a passion to meet more friends and talk about fitness programs or tips, Fitness Guys is a new chatroom to go to. Share with them what you do on a regular weekend of keeping fit.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Tsunami in Singapore

At a news conference in the launch of a report on the impact of climate change on poor people (by the aid and development organisation World Vision) recently, a professor Wong Poh Poh (National University of Singapore geography department) urged the Singapore government to commission a study on the possiblity of tsunamis on Singapore.

He had warned that the people of Singapore should be advised that there are risks of tsunami and should always be prepared for it. A tsunami can hit Singapore's coastal, especially the Changi Airport and the man made Jurong Island. Although tsunamis as high as 10 metres are usually destructive such as the one that hit and killed 168,000 people in Aceh in December 2004, may not strike in Singapore, a low wave that hits Singapore is enough to destruct the many infrastructure on the Singapore coast.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Someone Special

There are many networking sites on the internet. From countries, age groups, hobbies and now there is also a new chatroom for Jewish Singles. A place for them to get to know other Jewish friends, exchange Jewish music, learn about their own tradition in more detail or just chat for fun. You might even meet your special someone here.

Singapore's New Channel, Okto

Singapore is getting a new free to air tv channel, Okto. This TV Channel is owned by MediaCorp and MediaCorp TV12 will be managing it. This channel is targeted at audiences of young children and young adults. The current Central will soon become it's own dedicated channel. Transmission will be from 9am to midnight, daily.

On 19 October 2008, trasmission will be begin. However from 19 September viewers can start tuning in. It is available on Starhub's Cable TV as well as SingTel's Mio as well.

Okto is generally similar with the current Central and Kids' Central with the exeption of Vasantham Central. All Kids shows like preschool, children programs and Arts movies, documentaries, anime, performances will be shown on this new channel, from the migration of Central.

All residents residing in Singapore can start to tune their tv for Okto now. Tuning information can be found at http://okto.sg/

Baby Slings

Decades ago, many women folks in villages used a sarung-type of cloth to carry their babies everywhere they go. At that time, prams and baby carriers were either not practical or even unheard off. Their babies are cradled in this cloths and seen in farms, vegetable orchards or when doing housework. These cloths that are tied in a knot to fit and hold the baby in a cradle like manner have made a comeback as a modern baby carrier. Thare are commonly known as Baby Sling. The advantage of a Baby Sling is very obvious. It keeps the baby close the the mother or caregiver and is held close to the heart. The warmth and security of the mother is very assuring to a baby in it's infancy. With this sling, you don't have to worry about folding up bulky carriers like prams, when you have some shopping bags as well.

Baby Slings now come in many beautifully designed patterns and trendy as well. Check out the range that is provided on an online store - Attached To Baby. They come in many types of materials such as Organic Lightly Padded, Linen, Silk, Cotton mesh or even those that comes in pockets.

Singapore's Paralympic Medallists Comes Home

It was a happy occasion for Singapore's two paralympic medallists. They have been awarded state medals. Yip Pin Xiu, won a gold and silver at the Beijing games and Laurentia Tan for her 2 bronze medals. Yip Pin Xiu will received state medals - Meritorious Service Medal while Laurentia Tan receives the Public Service Medal. A rousing welcome was given to them as they returned home on Thursday night. Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, officials, families and friends welcomed them at the airport.

For their achievment, Pin Xiu will receive a$100,000 for Gold and Laurentia Tan receives $25,000 for one of her two bronze medals. This is given out as part of the scheme reward only for athlete's highest achievement - Athletics Achievement Award.

Congratulations, Yip Pin Xiu and Laurentia Tan!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Christian Friends

Singapore is a place where many races, cultures live alongside each other in peace and harmoney. They give each other respect to practise their own faiths and religions. Christians who make friends with many individuals may enjoy chatting in a Christian Dating chatroom to find their own partners or someone who shares their interest in many things, and especially Christianity and their lifestyle.

Singapore Banned China Dairy Products

Singapore had finally banned milk products from China since the report of melamine being found in some of the brands of milk powder. The tainted milk powder had caused deaths and illness in many babies. Thus, all milk products such as milk or dairy based products like the ice cream and beverage are being taken off the shelves as a precautionary measure, with immediate effect.

The record of children who have become ill from consuming these milk products are at 6,244 and as many as 158 of these children are suffering from acute kidney failure. So far there has been four deaths.

Melamin is a chemical that is used for making plastics. Children's cups, bowls and plates are made from melamine too.

Senior Chats Online

The world is moving towards many single men and women who prefer to date later in life. They have already built up their career path during their youth and middle age and have some savings for own retirement. Some women insists that life begins at 40. They usually enjoy companies of their good friends and have friendly chats with Senior Men and Women online without any commitment.

Facilities for Foreign Workers

Foreign worker numbers in Singapore are going up. It had doubled to 102,000 last year from the figure of 55,000 a year ago. And at the end of last year, excluding maids, the figures were 577,000 of which, 180,000 are doing construction work. Thus is the reason for lack of foreign worker housing.

The government is looking at possibilities to add more housing for these foreign workers. Some sites have been identified for temporary accomodation which can last for two to five years. But with two upcoming integrated resorts, more foreign workers are expected to arrive. There may not be enough to meet the demand.

There had been some negative reactions about building dormitories near to Singapore residential locations recently. Some were against the idea and some worry about safety issues and the unsightly gathering in public places and noise.

However, a new recreation complex is now in the works for foreign workers who are living in Jurong West and will be completed by the end of the year. It will house a football field, amphitheatre, sports courts, postal and remittance facilities, beer garden, medical station, canteen and supermarket.

This is done to show appreciation for their contributions towards the Singapore economy.

The Sting of Fire Ants

The thought of seeing fire ants just makes my skin crawl. In the UK and Australia, they are also called the red ants. These insects feed on small plants, seeds and they usually make their nest in soil near moist spots like near ponds, river or even in parks. The fire ants bite is generally not toxic but the sting can swell into a small bump. However, there may be some who are allergic to the venom. There some external medicines and oral medicines for treating these fire ants bites. Find out what kind of treatment helps to ease the stinging pain and bites in a fire ant guide online.

Singapore Airlines Getting Its 6th A380, Hurrah!

Double decker Airbus 380 is a superjumbo aircraft, or rather, the world's largest passenger aircraft. Singapore Airlines is the first commercial airline to fly Airbus 380. Comfortable, spacious and quiet, can seat 471 passengers in three classes. 12 of these seats are luxury Singapore Airlines Suites, 60 will be in business class and 399 in economy class. The inaugural flight was to Sydney on Oct 25. The regular commercial service with be once a day on the Singapore - Sydney route. More flights have been planned for other global cities since then.

Up to date on 18 September, Singapore has since received its sixth A380 superjumbo airplane. The latest A380 will take on the second flight daily from Singapore and London. The target by Airbus is to stick to its target of delivery 12 A380 Superjumbo by the end of this year.

Modern Furniture

A recent visit to a friend's home office prompted me to start my own search for home furniture. She had her home designed and dressed in clean lines of modern furniture. The colours blended so well and it is a very conducive place to work and live in.

A comfortable home is fundamental to us. Even if we don't work from home, we want to come home to unwind, relax and release the tension. Good pieces of furniture are important. Modern furnitures create such a pleasant feeling with its simple lines and colours that suit every individual's taste and fancy.

Concept Furniture offers great looking pieces in modern designs. They have a wide range of beautiful pieces from the finest manufacturers in Europe, such as Belgium, Italy and more. I love the variety of styles and designs of the modern looking furniture for bedrooms. The platform bed's minimalistic designs will give the room a spacious outlook. It is great for homes that have small rooms. The last thing you want is to invoke claustrophobic feeling. Concept Furniture offers excellent prices for their furniture. Although they are an online store, they do provide a call number for service and support for any enquiries you may have. Their team of highly trained professionals are skilled in the assembly and installation prior to delivery.

Foldable Bikes Allowed On Buses on Certain Hours

Singaporeans wanted to bring their bicycles to work. Some of them has foldable bicycles that are compact and can be carried along on buses. However there is a regulation that these bicycles are not allowed on buses except on weekend and public holidays. Bicycles are great form of exercise and especially when they can use it to cycle back home by alighting at stops before their home destination.

Well, the new regulation will be eased from the 22nd of September onwards, on a Monday. Singaporeans are allowed to carry their foldable bikes into the buses during weekdays from 9.30am to 4.30pm and from 7.30pm to end of the services. The peak hours are omited because during this time the buses are crowded and it may be dangerous for these bikes when cramped with the bus passengers.

Hopefully when these regulation takes effect, those who have the bikes with them practise courtesy and understanding and not block the path of the passengers and the aisle way. It needs lots of giving ways from both sides in this situation.

Judge A Website

Do you have any favourite websites or any that is not so favourable? If you do, why not share it with the readers at a User Website Reviews site. This is the place where you can let out your steam or rant if you have a bad experience and gives the thumbs down. There is also a list of featured Top Websites that are reviewed by users. Find out how they made it to the top. What do they have that other websites don't. Read and judge for yourself. Users are free to comment. Go for the hightly recommended sites that also include traffic statistics, page ranks and more.

AIG Saved By the Federal Government

It was a heave of relief to hear that AIG had been rescued by the U.S. Goverment in a $85 billion injection of the taxpayer's money. With this deal, the government is the major shareholder of AIG with 79.9 percent stake. This means the government has the right to remove the current AIG's chief executive, Robert Willumstad. The money will be paid in full with proceeds from the sales of some assets owned.

AIG was on the brink of collapse before this two year emergency loan by the Federal Reserve. If it had not been done in briskly, many AIG policy holders may end up losing their hard earned policies and many jobs may be lost as well. What a day unsettlement it had been to many holding policies with the AIG and AIA policies in Singapore.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Old People That Lives Alone

There had been cases when the old member in a family takes a short walk at the park and does not make their way home. This has happened in those who are inflicted with Alzheimers disease. When this happens, it is difficult to locate him or her and these old folks are susceptible to risks like being run over by speeding cars, fall over things or into large canals due to their failing eyesights or run the risk of robbery as they are weak and unable to defend for themselves.

Cases like these also happens also because some old folks prefer to live by themselves and not want to impose on their chidren who may have gotten married and have their own family. What can we do about keeping old people in close contact if we are unable to watch them all the time? Investing in a Medical Alarm device is an excellent solution. There are two device that can be worn by the elderly. One is a band that is worn like a bracelet. This excellent device has features similar to a GPS system and once the person walks out of the safety area allocated, it will trigger an alert to the Emergency Call Centre or your loved ones. It also works as a built in speakerphone so that the lost person can be kept in constant contact. A GPS monitoring signal helps to locate the lost person to the exact location.

Medical Alarm also works in another excellent device that works at home by sensoring motion and detects movement like a fall, no activity alert and intruder alert. When the sensor detects a fall, it will send help to the location and through a speaker phone, tries to make contact to the elderly to see if there is any response. It will also automatically send for the police if the intruder alert is being sensored, like a break in or a door is forced opened. This device can also be set to work like a reminder alarm for appointments or time for medication for your loved ones. Trust in the excellence of Medical Alarm devices that will put your mind at ease. Safety comes first.

COE Quota Reduced for the next 6 months

Cars are high in demand in a small country like Singapore. Despite the high price one needs to pay such as the purchase of the Certificate of Entitlement before the car, demands remain to soar. With this demand, it has pushed the price of COE higher in the recent bidding.

However, in the next 6 months, the Land Transport Authority of Singapore will be reducing the monthly quotas for COEs. A large change is apparent in the Categories C -30% (goods vehicles and buses) and Es -13.9% (open category).

A full report of the categories, the reduction of quota are as follows:
Category A (cars 1,600cc & below and taxis) -9.6%
Category B (cars above 1,600cc) No change
Category C (goods vehicles & buses) -30%
Category D (motorcycles) -8/1%
Category E (open category) -13.9%

With these reduction of quota release each month, will there be more competition for car buyers to sell their cars. Will that bring the prices of COE higher? Or will the demand for cars be reduced, causing prices for new vehicles in certain categories to fall?

But, if there are lesser cars on the road, wouldn't that be better for all?