Tuesday, November 30, 2010

What are you doing this X'mas?

Yesterday RY told me he doesnt wanna repeat the same thing again this year, i.e. going back to Ipoh/ KL for the festive celebration.
So today he spent almost the whole day looking for tour which will depart during x'mas period.
Unfortunately, all tours departing during the said period were sold out!

Looks that we'll stay in SG for X'mas and New Year!
But I've a feeling that he may still go back Malaysia to spend X'mas which his parents.........

I shall update nearer to the date.........

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Loong Fatt Tau Sar Piah

Tau Sar Piah means "bean paste filling biscuit" so the main ingredient is mung bean paste.

Along Balestier Road, you would find a whole stretch of shops specialising in this mung bean paste filling biscuit. I think at least 4 of them!

However the authentic one would be Loong Fatt as the history dated back to 1948, when the Hainan-born Mr. Li Fanlong established Loong Fatt at the present Balestier site.

Two flavors are available: sweet or salty. The sweet tau sar piah is marked by the sprinkling of sesame seeds on its crust.


A bite of this Loong Fatt tau sar piah would surprise you since the crust is soft and light.  This is due to the use of butter that create a smoother texture that is less dry.  The tau sar filling is also moist and creamy ......... yummy!

At the shop, you can see the bakers in action at the kitchen where new batches are freshly baked daily. Drinks are also sold here so you can sit down to enjoy your pastry with a cup of kopi or teh.



Loong Fatt Tau Sar Piah

639 Balestier Road
Singapore 329922
(65) 6253 4584
Opening hours: 8am – 4:30pm (Closed on Sundays)


The original Loong Fatt Tau Sar Piah is located at the extreme right end of Balestier Road by the junction of Thomson.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

How to Keep Your Employees Happy Without Raising Wages?

The old saying, “a happy employee is a productive employee” has been proven to be true time and time again. Looking at many of the most successful companies today, many of them have a wide variety of ways they keep there employees happy and working. While it’s true that raising wages will always make employees happy, there are several other things you can do to ensure their happiness. These things will also probably be significantly cheaper than an across-the-board wage hike.

1. Flexible Hours
Allowing employees to have some flexibility is a great way to keep them happy. If a employee asks to leave work early to pick up their child from school, letting them go, and having them make up the time later (if you so desire) is much more effective in terms of employee happiness.

2. Casual Fridays and Other Themes
No employee likes wearing a suit and tie every day, so allowing employees specific days of the week to “dress down,” is a great way to keep them happy.

3.  Coffee and Tea for Everyone
 It’s no secret that a little caffeine can do wonders in terms of motivating an employee. It’s often difficult to complete tasks if you are run-down, or otherwise simply very tired. Giving employees a high quality coffee-machine, with a variety of options (including tea, for those who don’t like coffee), is a wonderful decision.

4. Family Events
Employees like to take their families to work-related events. It’s a great way for them to build new relationships, and just have a good time outside of the traditional workplace

5. Company-wide Competitions
Competition is the mother of productivity. If you can come up with a great competition, with a great reward, you just might find that your employees really get into it.

6. Child Care Facilities
Sometimes things happen, and employees will need to bring their children to work. If you don’t have anything that could be used as a childcare facility, you risk unhappy employees who will be forced to jump through hoops in order to take care of their kids in difficult situations.

7. Nice Office Supplies
Employees need supplies to do their work. So having nice post-its, pens, and paper readily available is a must if you’re going to be keeping your employees smiling and working.

8. Parties
Some of the happiest employees are those who are celebrating a coworker’s birthday and eating some cake.
Get everyone in the workplace’s birthdays written down, then you might just see happier employees. The gesture will look great on you as a boss, and it will keep employees being social and happy.

9. Friendly IT personnel
There’s nothing more angering and frustrating then coming into work, only to find that your computer is malfunctioning which prevents you from doing your work. Having a friendly, well-staffed, IT department can do wonders for employee happiness.

10. Delicious Food
If the food is delicious and healthy, then employees will be much more well fed and therefore happier.

11. Decorations and Windows
There’s nothing more depressing than a dark office with very little windows and seemingly endless rows of cubicles.
Adding color to the workspace, paintings, and making sure that it is well lit with ample windows can do wonders in terms of employee morale.

12. Be Open to Suggestions
Being open to suggestions is one of the simplest and most-effective ways to keep employees happy. If employees feel that their opinion is valued, and if they see some of their suggestions implemented, then they will be much happier. The improvements could also turn out to be really great for your business.



Does your company do the above to keep you happy?
Mine doesnt and I dont think it'll change in the next 5 years unless there's a majoyr change of management.
But I know One company does and it's Google!

I just came back from a 2 days seminar organised by our corproate bank and Google happens to be the client of the same bank as mine.
It was a very engaging session since Google shared on the company implementation of the corporate card programme and the "focus on employee" global policy.
After Google's presentation, we were so impressed and wished that we can work in Google too!

Laptop computers affect mens fertility

New research published in the medial journal Fertility and Sterility (Nov 2010) reveals that laptop computers can roast a man’s testicles to the point where sperm production (and quality) starts to drop.


To conduct the study, researchers placed temperature sensors on the scrotums of 29 men, then asked those men to use laptop computers on their laps. It didn’t take long before scrotum temperatures rose to levels known to damage sperm production — just 10 to 15 minutes of computing time.

Testicles are supposed to stay cool. And I don’t mean “wow, that’s cool” but rather that they are supposed to remain a degree or two below body temperature in order to maximize sperm production. When the testes get too hot — even with as little as a one degree Centigrade rise in temperature — sperm production starts to fall. Using a laptop computer on your lap can cause temperatures to rise by 2.5 C in one hour, according to this research.


And the men in the study didn’t even notice the rise in temperature, by the way. Probably because they were too busy updating their Facebook pages with comments like, “Check it out, I’m actually getting paid to roast my nuts for the advancement of science!”

In the world of temperature-sensitive sperm production, 2.5 C is equivalent to a scrotum barbeque cook-off. And all it takes is a little laptop computing to send temperatures soaring

Surprisingly, even using a laptop cooling pad didn’t help, researchers reported. Scrotum temperatures still rose just the same.


Reuters reported that Belkin International, Inc., makers of laptop computer cooling pads, “…did not wish to comment on the new findings.” (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS…)

No surprise there. This is dangerous territory for marketers. After all, there’s really no way to spin this story in a positive direction. Even if Belkin unleashed ads such as, “Feeling the heat? We keep your scrotum cool,” they would be hit with complaints about lewd marketing tactics.

It turns out the biggest determining factor of whether a laptop computer heats up your testicles is your leg position while computing. I’m not making this up: Researchers found the best position was to spread your legs wide while computing in order to dissipate heat and cool your man-crotch

Because men who can’t keep their junk cool are actually practicing a form of laptop birth control. Although the drop in sperm quality from laptop heat isn’t considered permanent, it’s technically a form of short-term sperm suppression. Sort of like soaking your sack in a hot tub for twenty minutes

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

女人我最大 Nu Ren Wo Zui Da

Ok, I admit that I'm rather slow in posting about 女人我最大 Nu Ren Wo Zui Da.
I've heard about this Taiwanese programme few years ago but only get to watch it when Channel U started showing 3 weeks ago ...... (now showing every Wed 9pm on Channel U).
This is a very informative programme that gives you quick tips on skin, hair and body care, as well as teach you useful make-up techniques.

Each week, 3 celebrities are invited to bare their face to the audience and the make-up gurus will perform the make-up on them right on the spot to fix their face/ look.

After watching the show, I'm so tempted to buy the products featured!

Found this website which can be useful to track the different products featured in the programme.
http://forums.cozycot.com/url/aHR0cDovL3BvcGJsb2cudHZicy5jb20udHcvQmxvZy93b21hbi8=

Monday, November 8, 2010

Deepavali 2010 in Ipoh

Last Fri 5 Nov was Deepavali holiday in SG & MY and RY and myself drove to Ipoh (instead of KL) to spend the long weekend with his family.

We left SG about 5.30am for Tuas 2nd link and was delighted to see no queue at SG custom but we were trapped in MY custom for > 1 hr before we got thru.

It was also heavy traffic on the hi-way and we only managed to arrive Ipoh about 2pm (usually it only took us 5 hrs to reach Ipoh).

Basically we just eat, sleep and watch TV in Ipoh to R&R whenever we go back .........

However I was surprised to meet 4 new golden retriever puppies since the neighobur's retrievers (Barney & Angel) just gave birth to the baby retrievers 5 months ago.
The owner was kind and friendly to allow me to play with the puppies, namely Gigi (eldest girl), Tommy (2nd boy), Danny (3rd boy) and Meimei (youngest girl).
They were really playful and left countless paw prints on my body!

I really enjoyed my stay in Ipoh since its carefree and simple life ............
I'll consider retire in Ipoh and get to eat all the good and tasty food there ......... yum yum yum ............

Do let me know if you're considering going to Ipoh and I shall recommend you few nice places to visit and tell you where to go for good food!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

IVF baby doesn't have father's DNA

This is a shocking news!
http://health.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20101103-245484.html

Thomson Fertility Center is such an establishd, expensive and renowed medical centre in SG and it's a shame that such boo boo can happen.
Obviously someone has made a terrible mistake!
So this incident proof that Expensive may not equate to Quality and Reliability!

I hope the couple keep the baby and raise him/ her up ........

Monday, November 1, 2010

Daiso - my favourite store!

I always enjoy going to Daiso to look at the fanciful stationery.tupper ware, Japanese cutlery, bento making gadgets, beauty and shower products and many others etc.

http://www.daiso-sangyo.co.jp/english/

This evening, I went to Daiso as I was at my dentist for my follow-up visit.

It's amazing that they now sell hair colouring product (henna powder, mascara for covering grey hair).
I was also facinated to see that they've a good range of Christmas party costume head gear and I bought 3 for RY's sis' daughters.
I think they'll look really cute putting those cute "rein deer antler" look alike hair band.
The most amazing thing is, it only cost SGD2/= per piece! 

This Deepavali long weekend, we'll be going to KL and I shall present this cute Christmas head gear and Mongolian tibits to KL folks.

Oh do you know that Daiso has a USA online store?
Check it out here!
http://www.daisojapan.com/