The toy trend for this Christmas : BluTrack

• Company: BluTrack
• Product: Bendable racetrack for toy cars
• Price: From  US$15 to $70, depending on track length

 

Randy Belding credits his son Jay for the inspiration behind BluTrack. Belding and his 4-year-old son were playing with a racetrack that kept malfunctioning. Despite countless tinkering, Jay would walk away bored after two loops. "Jay was disappointed with his racetrack, but I realized how much fun I had with him just trying to make the track work," Belding said.

So he spent two years creating and improving on different versions. In 2006, Belding co-founded MJ Sports and launched BluTrack, a line of bendable two-way racetracks made from flexible PVC. The pieces come in three lengths and can be twisted and looped in a variety of ways. Belding said he's sold around 30,000 BluTracks in the last six years, mostly through specialty stores and online. "One of the biggest struggles is trying to get kids to play with a toy for a long time," he said. "This is such a simple concept and it lets kids use their imagination.

So if you want to give some boy a unique present this Christmas, maybe this will do!

Thinking of Retiring is a favourite pastime here in Singapore!

I'm serious! My friends & I are in our 20s, yet  when we meet up, the conversation always somehow will end up with this topic. Retiring, passive income etc...

I recently read this: Retiring is often the light at the end of the tunnel for stressed workers, especially for those who have saved all of their life so that they can do it earlier. Sadly, that lifetime of financial sacrifice is leading to a shorter lifespan according to research.  

Studies discovered that people who retire at 55 on average died younger than those who waited until they were 65.  As they say  “you use it or you lose it” – by retiring early, your body misses out on its daily dose of activity and you gradually become more unhealthy.

So dear friends if you are reading this please can we talk about other things in the future?
 As retiring could shorten your life, & we don't want that do we????

 Especially now that we are super slim  & fabulous!!!!

And now here comes the Cronuts aka Crodos ????

For now, the cronut reigns supreme in the world of fanciful food fads. All other fads measure themselves against the breakout popularity of this doughnut made with croissant dough.

While some insist that this deep-fried croissant has been around for decades, trademark rights go to Dominique Ansel Baker
in New York City, where people endure long waits and pay $5 per cronut (with a limit of two per person).

If the wait is too long and you're willing to spend more, score one on Craigslist where cronuts sell for around $30 each.

You can find plenty of similar attempts (all with different names on account of that whole copyright thing) in other cities around the globe.

Singapore bakeries like Da Paolo Gastronomia offer their own take ( a deep-fried cross between a croissant and a doughnut ). The “Crodos” from Da Paolo Gastronomia are available in all its stores, including at Great World City, The Paragon, PasarBella, Holland Village and I12 Katong. The Crodos sell for $4.90 each. Two flavours, one topped with chocolate and another filled with pastry cream and sprinkled with sugar.

The Sugarloaf Cafe at Temasek Polytechnic's Culinary Academy will also start selling its version, called the Really Good Donut.

Patisserie G at Millenia Walk, also has their  version. Go try it...

 

Thanks to Panbesy & Duromine, I've lost a total of 10kg!

Today I feel extremely happy as I weigh myself & I'm about 10kg lighter.
I've taken panbesy & duromine for 1 month.
I've been off it for 2 weeks now.
Watching my diet carefully from now onwards.
For you who's thinking of losing weight, I'm assuming you are since you are reading this, it can be done  & you'll feel great after you've lost all those weight!
Jia U !!!!

Panbesy & Duromine & their side effects

Panbesy is a brand of phentermine.   A drug that  works on the appetite control centre in the brain. This reduces your appetite and you feel full with a smaller portion of food.  Panbesy  is meant to be taken as part of a complete weight management programme that should include exercise, a healthy diet and other lifestyle changes.

You should take panbesy  before breakfast. It is best to take Panbesy  early in the day to avoid difficulty sleeping at night.  For some people effects comes fast others may need to take it  for some time before the full benefits can be felt.

Common side effects of Panbesy  include palpitations, headache, dry mouth,  problems sleeping and loss of appetite.

Less common side effects are nausea, indigestion, constipation, flu-like symptoms ,  rash &  dizziness.

Is Panbesy or Duromine effective? Got them from Dr Keith Ong @ Parsons Clinic Singapore !

They are effective, that's why it has become a trend people !!!!! Ahem... as of late I've become one of these "super-thin-hopefuls". Nothing wrong with that right? What's wrong with wanting to look great?

Have been researching a bit on where to get it, went onto a couple of blogs & found out that there's a world out there where people like me- go to talk about their struggles with FATS.

Last week I finally went to the current "go-to-doctor" , Dr Keith Ong from Parsons Clinic & got my panbesy.  Was given 3, 15mg Panbesy to ease me into the program, & to reduce any side effects if there is any. And a month's supply of Duromine. 

Hahhahaa...... now almost 9 days later I'm 4 kg lighter !!!
It works like magic! I'm thinking of sending my doctor  a Christmas card this yr just to thank him!......... Yes... I'm this grateful!

If you are interested call 8777-0736 or 9746-7720 for appointment :))

Losing weight- what you need: Panbesy or Duromine ?

Being super thin has been a trend for as long as there are super models. Mortals like us just want to look like them. Unfortunately things do get in the way!!! Things like FOOD, soft drinks, snacks, chocolate, cakes... & any & everything nice.

The worst is, exercising is so damn hard. Most of us are just too tired or just plain lazy to haul our ass up to do anything! I envy those gym freaks, health freaks, jogging freaks... To me anyone who exercises regularly is a freak of nature! How they do it? Makes me think of  those good old days when one has to hurt for food! You probably have to run after an animal for long distances (that'll take a few kgs off easy...), skinning it after, is hard work too. You go everywhere by walking or climbing, what a life- you'll never have to worry about being fat- EVER !

But modernization has set us back, now we get fat almost as easily as catching a cold! To deal with my problem, I'm resorting to the latest trend- just pop a pill be it panbesy or duromine per day & watch the fats go away.

Friends warn me about the side effects- last time  I heard coffee could kill you too. Too much tea will make you weak, & when you are weak, you'll catch the latest disease easily & the rest you know.... Milk  & cheese is good for you, providing you with calcium & all, but you can also put on weight & that's really unhealthy. So I figured what's a little side effects, I'm only taking it for a short time & I've been drinking coffee, tea, & milk all my life!!!!

Printing 3-D objects at home !

People here are "making" their own toys and household items without stepping into a shop. All they need to do is to click on a digital design they desire, from websites dedicated to the sharing of such files, print it on their 3-D home printer and - presto - the digital design will be physically transformed into a solid object made of sturdy plastic. 

Developed in the 1980s, 3-D printers build tangible objects from computer design by repeatedly depositing thin layers of material one over the other, layer by layer, to form a three-dimensional object. 

3-D home printers use plastic materials such as ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) and biodegradable bioplastic called PLA (polylactic acid), which gives the product a glossier finish. They usually cannot print products longer, taller or wider than 20cm. Depending on the density of an object and the details needed, printing can take between one and six hours or more.

Now3-D home printer  can cost more than US$2,000 (S$2,499). But if that’s too X, you could just pass a 3-D file of your design to companies which offer 3-D printing services and get your prototype within a couple of hours or days, depending on how big the item is. 

Unlike home models, professional 3-D printers cost between $90,000 and $1.5 million. Highly precise, they can capture details such as the dimply texture of orange skin or the finer texture of hair. 

Printing industry insiders estimate that about 40 home printers are being sold here every month, up from about 20 in 2011. It is believed that home printers first arrived in Singapore around 2008, through orders placed on online stores, mostly American ones. 

At least two companies here started selling home printers recently. SG Tooling at Fook Hai Building in South Bridge Road started with DIY 3-D home printer kits from local company OrangeKnob LLP last year. It has since switched to, and now sells only, American brand MakerBot, the market leader in ready-made home printers. It is its main distributor here. The MakerBot Replicator 3-D home printer costs between US$2,199 and US$2,799.  

DIY 3-D home printers such as Panther 3-D printer can be bought from OrangeKnob LLP, believed to be the only local maker of 3-D home printers here. Its home printers are said to cost between US$480 and US$960.

Another local firm Pirate3D, which has an office in Mountbatten Road, is developing what it hopes will be the world's most affordable 3-D printer, the Buccaneer. It is estimated to cost about US$347. 

The 3-D printer-making company made its debut recently on online crowd funding site Kickstarter.

A different kind of building trend in India

 A different kind of building trend in India
Over In India the trend is to build more houses too.  But the situation is total different from Spore.
Just recently the Thane building in Mumbra collapse- this  yet again brought to fore the dangerous illegal construction business booming in Mumbra belt near Mumbai and the failure of the civic authorities to rein it in.

Experts say the trend is concentrated in areas where infrastructure is inadequate for the growing population. In Mumbra, there was hardly a population of 45,000 in the 1990s. It has increased 20 times driving up illegal construction activity propelled by high demand.

The modus operandi is frightening. In a matter of three months, small-time builders encroach land and erect multi-storey buildings that are quickly absorbed by locals.

According to a civic official, most houses are low-priced and sold at flexible rates to ensure buyers take them. Several massive illegal residential settlements have come up in the past few years, pushed by real estate prices soaring in Mumbai's shrinking housing space. Builders often give away houses for almost nothing or in easy instalments to ensure houses get occupied

Buildings as tall as eight storeys have come up, some without lifts. People buy them as they are affordable.  In Mumbra, no construction laws are followed. "A small-time businessman can buy, encroach or usurp a plot and construct a building in a few months. The building that collapsed, as is the case with many others, was apparently constructed on an open nullah covered up by mud," said a local activist. 

Properties in London is becoming a trend!

Reports show that  the  demand for London property increased from domestic and international buyers, & particularly from South-east Asia. Some UK companies e.g.  The Berkeley Group are setting up offices in Singapore in respond to this trend. 

The Berkeley Group will be the opening its corporate office,  a new 3,175 sq ft marketing suite at the Marina Bay Financial Centre, which will serve as a customer service centre and  provide a permanent show home for prospective customers to view development models and experience the specifications/fittings and fixtures on offer. 

Knight Frank reported that in 2012, Singapore accounted for 23 % of new build purchases in central London, Hong Kong  for 16 % . And that’s a lot! 

The trend is still going strong, looking at the  steady stream of UK projects being launched here. Projects launched in recent weeks include London Square in Putney, Amberley Waterfront in west London, One The Thames close to the banks of the River Thames, and Putney Place. 

What is sustaining this tend? For one, London  is viewed as a safe haven for investors. Many of their children are educated in the UK and the weakness in sterling is another key driver. On top of all that, the sky rocket prices of property in Singapore has made local property less attractive for the locals, & London properties seems almost cheap in comparison.

Properties in London is becoming a trend!

Online banking has finally reached the well-off & seniors!

Internet banking is becoming increasingly widely used among seniors and the well-off, its no longer limited to the young and tech-savvy. Possibly because there is the  growing confidence that personal information is safe.

DBS reported that abt  53.5 % of its high-net-worth clients use Internet banking compared to about 40 %of retail customers- & that’s a lot!  Enhanced security is seen as the key to wooing more people over to Internet banking, which started at DBS in 1997. Its new Internet banking tokens, introduced in 2011, add an extra layer of security.

Instead of simply generating a one-time password, they require customers to enter details such as account numbers and the amount they want to transfer - a process which is called transaction signing. This is in line with industrywide guidelines requiring transaction signing for high-risk Internet banking transactions.

Having said all that, it's possibly everyone is  just tired of waiting in line & checking your account in the comfort of your own home , wins hands down...LOL.....

Smaller home for all in the future

Developers are downsizing apartments to find ways to keep overall prices within the reach of buyers. Experts say overall prices of up to $1.5 million are the most popular among first-time buyers and second-time investors in the light of the property cooling measures that have tightened loan limits.

Second-time buyers with an existing housing loan, for instance, will be subject to a 50 per cent loan-to-value ratio and must fork out a minimum cash down-payment of 25 per cent under the most recent January curbs.

Some experts add that while the Government has clamped down on developers building shoebox units, the more worrying trend could be the size crunch in the two- and three-bedroom apartment types instead. It's actually reasonable for one person to live in a shoebox unit of 500 sq ft. There should be more concern over three-bedroom units shrinking to as small as 600 to 700 sq ft instead.

With the high cost of land, it is "hard to fight the situation" of smaller homes as many Singaporean might not be able to afford the large sizes of previous three-bedroom units at current prices.

In the past, a three-bedroom unit would more likely be 1,500 sq ft in size, while most are now around 1,000 to 1,200 sq ft. However these flats look large compared with the offerings at Urban Vista, next to Tanah Merah MRT station. The  two-bedroom units of 549 sq ft and three-bedders of 850 sq ft. The 32-unit Treescape in Telok Kurau also has micro three-bedders starting from 603 sq ft.

Sizes are changing fast as developers grapple with the opposing pulls of higher land costs and demand for affordable homes to fit buyers' tight budgets. The easiest solution is to build more compact homes, it seems. Sorry folks that's the trend now!!!

Korean Wave

Has Korean  drama serials taken over from those TVB series from HKG as the most popular past time here in Singapore? It seems so!

They even  led to fans  wanting to visit the places where the film was shot.

 Props up the tour business…lol….. Boy bands, girl bands & even Psyc – everything Korean is HOT hOT now!!!

Me...nay... I don't mind their BBQ but not their drama series. I still prefer those from America follow by HKG

Anonymous confessions online by just anyone is all the rage here now.

So what are the reasons  for launching these sites??? 
According to some of these sites adminstartors  :

-To  provide a platform for people  to speak freely, to share things they would otherwise NEVER share as some of these topics could be taboo & uncomfortable.

These virtual spaces are fast becoming  "safe havens" for individuals to pour out their deep, dark secrets, fears,  worries & whatnots without revealing their identities.  You don’t have to go to a therapist now!

People can now meet others with similar interest & issues through these sites- it could be meaningful when one read & relate to others  who are also struggling with the same or related issues. It reminds one that they are not alone. That could be very helpful.

Others are just interested in reading about all the juicy gossips and revelations.  Me??? I'm not very special, like most, I go for the gossips of course what else....lol.....?????