Swallowtail Moth Lyssa Zampa spotted around many places in Singapore

Lyssa Zampa, which is also known as the tropical swallowtail moth is a species of moth of the family Uraniidae. Monday seem to be the day where it suddendly burst in population!

Spotted about 3 in Bedok Camp during IPT session then when having dinner at Bedok Food Center also spotted another one. Was at first thinking it might have be the same one as from the camp as it could have just flown out since the camp and food center are just opposite each other. However when I back in Sengkang spotted another 2 more near my lift lobby... Confirm plus chop not the same two I spotted in Bedok Camp...

Man sacked after posting vulgar reply to PM's Facebook post

A Facebook user who posted vulgar abuse in response to Mother's Day wishes by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has been sacked from his job.

Kinda dumb if you ask me. Nowadays whatever we post on social media had to be careful... No one really care if it is your personal views or what as long as it is on social media it is available to the whole world to view and judge what you wrote. Luckily for this man he is only sacked from his job and nothing else...

More info here.

All households to receive free N95 masks as part of 'Stay Prepared' Starter Kits

Starting from 06 May, all households in Singapore will receive a 'Stay Prepared' Starter Kits which consist of 3 N95 masks as well as emergency contact numbers.

On first look the N95 marks might not be familiar especially since it is flat instead of the usual cup shape but it is still the same N95 mask from 3M except this is the 1 yr old design. So a total of 1.2 million kits will be distributed island wide and that is like 3.6 million N95 masks! Hopefully with this 'Stay Prepared' Starter Kits, the next time a haze hits Singapore, there will not be a last-minute scramble for masks...

So do check your mailbox for this 'Stay Prepared' Starter Kits!

Read more here.

Container truck carrying ice overturns along Ubi road

A container truck containing ice had overturned at around 2pm (01 May 2014) at the junction of Ubi Road 1 and Ubi Avenue 2, no one was injured but packets of ice were spilled out on the ground.

An interesting way to "cool" the day... From the photo we can see some smaller ice trucks, why they are there I wonder if was to recover the ice??? From the looks of it at least 10% of the ice packs are not recoverable since already in contact with the road so maybe the remaining 90% can be safe? Hopefully they will inspect the recovered ice packs again just to ensure it is not contaminated especially if they were for consumption...

More info here.

HSA issues new warning on Herbal Health products

Herbal Health V+ was found to contain Tadalafil and Sildenafil as undeclared ingredients. Tadalafil and Sildenafil are used to treat erectile dysfunction!

Interesting read here as Herbal Health products contain some undeclared ingredients which include things used to treat erectile dysfunction, anti-allergy and anti-fungal...

Somehow I am able to understand if they say Herbal Health V+ which contain Tadalafil and Sildenafil to improve physical strength and stamina especially for men but for Herbal Health Backplus which contain Tadalafil to relieve back muscles and lower backache... abit far fetch if you ask me...

More info here.

No ridiculous queue at McDonald's for Hello Kitty

Thanks to the fact that hardcore fans can order the collector's set online at a premium, the queues at the restaurants are very well managed this time round.

Still remember last year when people queue as early as 6 hours before the launch of Hello Kitty at the various restaurants island wide, this year comparably is much more organised. My wife actually manage to bought 1 Hello Kitty Bubbly Kerokerokeroppi without any issue this afternoon (still remember last year when we actually went down at 10pm and the queue was like...)

Good job McDonald's at managing the expectation of your Hello Kitty fans.

Tissue sellers in hawker centers to pay $120 annual licence fee

National Environment Agency (NEA) required all street hawkers including tissue sellers to pay an annual fee of $120 or $10 a month to legally sell their wares in public.

I knew that most tissue sellers are unemployed aunties or uncles in their 70s or 80s but seriously having them to pay an annual fee of $120 just to sell tissue? Based on current market rate of $1 for 3 packs if $10 a month that would mean they need to sell 30 packs in a month to cover the licence fee. The precious $120 would be more useful if it was used to pay housing rent or simply buying food than to get a piece of paper which no one actually bother about.

Although it is possible that some of these tissue sellers might be manipulated by syndicates as a way to use compassion to make money but in Singapore I seriously dun think it is common. Even so if that is the case then NEA should come out with a scheme which issue free licence to these genuine tissue sellers and also a simple note to have them display their licence at all time. This I believe not only will curb any illegal syndicates from benefiting it also help to generate more trust with customers like us when buying tissue from them. Furthermore many of these tissue sellers have been doing this for years and it is part of the hawker culture to have them coming over to tables to sell tissue.

For more info read here.

Bye bye Longhouse

Longhouse in Upper Thomson Road had closed on 20 Apr 2014. Another popular food haunt shut down to make way for resident and commercial development.

After 14 years it is time for Longhouse in Upper Thomson Road to finally give way to redevelopment. This was a hot news especially since we early knew about Lavender Food Square which will be shut down before end of 2014 to be developed into office building.

Question which many will ask is whether are there any popular food places in Singapore left?

More info here.

Hello Kitty Bubbly World Collector's Set at MacDonalds Singapore

Hello Kitty Fans here you go the Hello Kitty Bubbly World Collector's Set will be available at from 23 Apr 11am onwards!

In celebration of Hello Kitty's 40th anniversary (wow Hello Kitty is so old already!), Hello Kitty will be dressing up and appearing for the first time shaped like a balloon. The full set includes a protective Shipment Box, certificates and folio as well as 6 beautifully boxed toys.

You can either choose to have the whole set delivered to your Singapore address of your choice or self collect at SingPost POPStation. There is no need to rush this time round and hopefully the event/promotion will end with everyone getting what they want happily.

For more info refer to here.

Unidentified insect found in an Old Chang Kee sardine puff!

Unidentified insect in one of the snack chain's signature sardine puffs and the rude staff actually debate on the number of legs on the insect rather than apologise to the customer...

What really made me post is the fact that the staff were rude and even raise their voice at the customer. What more they even try to make it such that it was the customer who deliberately place the insect inside the filling! Come on lar who will do that... The effort to go down to the stall to complain already not worth it...

Glad the customer complain to National Environment Agency (NEA) but hopefully NEA will investigate the case and fine or close down the stall in question. Imagine the shock cause to the customer and the fact that she now has to pick through her food to check it carefully before putting it into her mouth.

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Flowers blooming all over Singapore

Call it the Sakura blossoms of Singapore! Thanks to the recent rain after the long dry period, Singapore was experiencing flower blossoms and colourful blooms can be seen across Singapore!

Very happy that rain had finally decided to return to Singapore and that everything is back to normal or in fact better. Below are some photos captured by my friends and shared on their Facebook page.

NSmen in uniform should stand in trains when crowded?

Was reading this article on The Real Singapore which prompt me to write this post as I felt it was ridiculous for someone to actually write something like that... NSmen in uniform should give up seat when train is crowded??? Is there such a rule???

NSmen or even regulars/NSF are just like any other commuters who travel on trains to report to camps for duty or back home after they have served their duties. They are just like any other working professionals who travel on the train to and from work, making a living. We are all humans and there is nothing wrong in them taking a seat if it is available. Of cos if the seat is a reserved seat and there happen to be someone who deserved this seat more then it should be given up else I dun see why there is even a need make such a fuss for someone who is travelling on the train in uniform siting...

Just because people in uniform are more easily associated with the organisations they were from does not mean that they are not human... Being a NSmen myself we sacrifice our time and put in our sweat to protect a nation we and our family are in. There should be more important things than to have to deal with comments like these...

The writer also mentioned that when he was in the NCC he would never sit unless there were no other standing passengers... Being a fellow NCC cadet many years ago I too prefer to stand but not becos there were standing passengers but rather standing on the train/bus allow the group of us to communicate better and not disturb other passengers, even when there were empty seats around usually we would prefer to stand. I too was conscious of the image I project of the NCC and the school I was from but taking a seat does not mean that I disrespect them!

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Singapore Pioneer Generation Package

A $9 billion healthcare fund for Singaporeans aged 65 and above, meant to help older Singaporeans cope with health-care costs, subsidies for outpatient treatment and annual MediSave top-ups, as well as help with premiums for new national insurance scheme, MediShield Life.

About 450,000 Singaporeans will benefit from this Pioneer Generation Package which mean it is about $20,000 per person. So how is this $20,000 going to be used?

• Annual Mediasave top-ups of between $200 to $800.
• Provision of subsidy for Medishield premium.
• Further Discount at Polyclinics & Outpatient Clinics.
• Disabilities assistance of $1200 a year
• Other ancillary items such as Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS)

For Singaporeans who somehow missed out on thie package, a special panel will be setup to assess appeals to ensure that all is being covered.

More info here.

Gift Pack for Babies Born in Jubilee Year

To celebrate Singapore’s 50th anniversary of independence, Singaporean babies born in 2015 will receive a special gift pack from the Government. It is said that the gift will be an uniquely-Singaporean gift pack filled with practical yet symbolic items the babies. However the actual contents will be up to Singaporeans to suggest and send the suggestions to the National Population and Talent Division over the next seven weeks, until May 15. But just in case you are wondering cash handouts will not be accepted as one of the items as it is noted that parents of newborns already receive monetary incentives under the existing Marriage and Parenthood Package.

Here are some ways you can share your views:

• Submit your ideas through the Jubilee Gift Pack microsite
• Visit the feedback booths at Jurong Point on April 5 and 6, and at VivoCity on April 12 and 13
• Join in the Focus Group discussions by emailing to outreach@reach.gov.sg

Singaporean couple renovates their HDB home into a European museum

A 5-rm DBSS in Tampines had recently attracted many attentions from fellow Singaporeans as it was being renovated into an European Museum... and what is more interesting is the renovation cost a nice sum of $120,000!

The family must be planning to stay there for long term hence willing to go all out to renovate the unit this way... something really unusual even with in private properties in Singapore. Many of our experiences with European interior designs were mainly from TV or Internet where the floor area were relatively larger as compared to a 5-rm DBSS so it must be very challenging for the designer to be able to work out something out of the norm within the limited floor area.

What I really like about the whole European Museum context is the use of carpet grass at the balcony to create a picnic-like atmosphere. However the dining/living room and bedroom... Seems a bit cramp like fitting big furniture into small room...

Designs like these always look better in bigger houses.

Singaporean couple renovates their HDB home into a European Museum | Renotalk.com™

 

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Goodbye to Lavender Food Square...

Hawkers at Lavender Food Square will be moving out soon as the food centre and Eminent Plaza nearby are going to be redeveloped. Regulars will soon have to find a new place to makan, as this food haunt is going to make way later this year for a 16-storey freehold development with more than 160 office and retail units ready somewhere in 2018.

However I'm not surprised that this will happen as the area now is pretty much occupied by condos & new businesses. These days a hawker center just cannot generate much money as compared to Food Court chain like KouFu or KopiTiam which are both air conditioned and much modernized, thou the prices are slightly more expensive. Furthermore many stalls have already relocated from Lavender Food Square hence it is just a matter of time...

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