Word of the day - Stellenbosch

"Stellenbosch”, which means to relegate someone incompetent to a position of minimal responsibility.

Guess this word can be frequently used in the workplace than scolding someone moron or imbecile.

Derivatives: Self-Stellenbosch, UnStellenbosch, Un-instellenbosch, Non-Stellenboschable, Stellenboschalicious

Have fun with English !

Review of Oral Botanica

Oral Botanica is a product which aims to prevent bad breath, swollen gums, receding gums, and gingivitis. It is an anti bacterial oral care product.

As this is the first time I am doing a review on oral products. Excited cos first time I am doing a review that is not on food though it is a bit related to food cos I am using my gums and tongue to review.

I would say that as I am more concerned with bad breath when after eating garlic. Thus my first usage would be right after a meal of garlic fried rice which is something i love to eat .As Oral botanica is made of organic oils like almond ,clove, myrrh, tea tree, peppermint and spear mint, it literally kills the garlic smell. This would last about 2-3 hours. For kids, the taste might be a bit too spicy for them. However, I feel that it would be good if the packaging would be that the bottle cap was attached with the dropper. It would makes it easier for people who wants to use oral botanica as
breath freshner.

 

My next attempt on trying to use oral botanica as tooth paste does not really work well cos it was hard to get the drops of oral botanica right onto the tooth brush thus wasting a few drops of precious oral botanica.

Overall, my experience with oral botanica as a breath freshner was good. I would rate it 3 out of 5.
As I am always able to produce a smile like the following picture for photo taking with my friends.







For more info about oral botanica, please do not hesitate to visit the website http://www.botanicaculture.com.





**Disclaimer: The above review is solely on my own experience when I am trying out the product.

How to improve your body fat metabolism process?

 By having variety of protein , you can actually increase your body fat metabolism process by maintaining lean muscle mass and burning more body fats.

Here's the list of food that you can take to burn more body fats

1. 1 glass of soya milk
2. 1/2 cup of lentils
3. 1/2 cup of quinoa
4. 1 piece of tofu
5. 1 egg
6. 1 cbow of cup of plain yoghurt
7. 1 bowl of artichokes
8. 1 bowl of cooked and boiled broccoli
9. 1/2 cup of sweetcorn
10. 1 bowl of cooked and boiled aspargus
11. 1 bowl of cooked and boiled brussels sprouts
12. 1 bowl of water cress
13. 1 bowl of collard greens
14. 1/2 cup of sliced carrots
15. 1 bowl of cooked and boiled cabbage
16. 1 bowl of kales
17. 1 bowl of romaine lettuce
18. 1 bowl of cooked and boiled turnip
19. 1 bowl of alfafa
20. 1 bowl of cooked and boiled spinach
21. celery
22. cucumbers
23. green beans
24. garlic
25. onions
26. parsley
27. tomatoes

For those of you who are planning your diet for weight loss program, you may want to find receipes to make dishes which you are comfortable with to eat.  Happy weight loss cos I use the food list to make dishes that helps me to lose 2 notches of viseral fats. 

Recipe of Bak Kwa adapted from Cheekiemonkie.net

Bak Kwa is a delicacy which a lot of people cannot afford to miss when visiting relatives. It is my favourite snack when visiting the relatives. Sometimes in order to get to eat to good bak kwa like those from Lim Chee Guan as it is not so oily as compared to their competitors, one might have to queue more than 10 hours to get it.

As such, I went surfing for recipe for bak kwa and chanced it upon via Cheekiemonkie.net. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

1. 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
2. 1/2 tablespoon of light soy sauce
3. 1/2 tablespoon of oyster sauce
4. 1/2 tablespoon of rice wine
5. 75g of sugar
6. 250g of minced pork
7. A drop of red colouring

Steps

1. Mix all of the sauces & sugar together in a large bowl until the sugar dissolves.

2.Then add in the minced pork and continue to mix with gusto!

3.Set aside the marinated meat for at least 2 hours. For best results, you can leave it overnight in the fridge.

4.Flatten the minced meat with a rolling pin on the parchment paper.

5. Put it into the baking tray and grill it at 150 degrees for an hour and turn it onto the next side  and bake again .

 

The current trend of the 52 weeks money challenge

Recently, there has been this posting of the current trend to keep savings for 52 weeks with the starting of each week with the amount from either $1 or from $52. Here's the table how it looks like:

52 Weeks Money Challenge
Week	Date to Deposit	Amt to Deposit	Cash Balance	Week	Date to Deposit	Deposit Amt	Cash Balance
1	6 Jan 2014	$1	$1	27	7 Jul 2014	$27	$378
2	13 Jan 2014	$2	$3	28	14 Jul 2014	$28	$406
3	20 Jan 2014	$3	$6	29	21 Jul 2014	$29	$435
4	27 Jan 2014	$4	$10	30	28 Jul 2014	$30	$465
5	3 Feb 2014	$5	$15	31	4 Aug 2014	$31	$496
6	10 Feb 2014	$6	$21	32	8 Aug 2014	$32	$528
7	17 Feb 2014	$7	$28	33	18 Aug 2014	$33	$561
8	24 Feb 2014	$8	$36	34	25 Aug 2014	$34	$595
9	3 Mar 2014	$9	$45	35	1 Sep 2014	$35	$630
10	10 Mar 2014	$10	$55	36	8 Sep 2014	$36	$666
11	17 Mar 2014	$11	$66	37	15 Sep 2014	$37	$703
12	24 Mar 2014	$12	$78	38	22 Sep 2014	$38	$741
13	31 Mar 2014	$13	$91	39	29 Sep 2014	$39	$780
14	7 Apr 2014	$14	$105	40	6 Oct 2014	$40	$820
15	14 Apr 2014	$15	$120	41	13 Oct 2014	$41	$861
16	21 Apr 2014	$16	$136	42	20 Oct 2014	$42	$903
17	28 Apr 2014	$17	$153	43	27 Oct 2014	$43	$946
18	20 May 2014	$18	$171	44	3 Nov 2014	$44	$990
19	12 May 2014	$19	$190	45	10 Nov 2014	$45	$1035
20	19 May 2014	$20	$210	46	17 Nov 2014	$46	$1081
21	26 May 2014	$21	$231	47	24 Nov 2014	$47	$1128
22	2 Jun 2014	$22	$253	48	1 Dec 2014	$48	$1176
23	9 Jun 2014	$23	$276	49	8 Dec 2014	$49	$1225
24	16 Jun 2014	$24	$300	50	15 Dec 2014	$50	$1275
25	23 Jun 2014	$25	$325	51	22 Dec 2014	$51	$1326
26	30 Jun 2014	$26	$351	52	29 Dec 2014	$52	$1378

I think it is a good way to save money too. However, I would save coins in the different denominations in different piggy banks and then go and change it with hawkers. Firstly, the hawkers reduce some transaction fee from changing coins. Secondly , you can see how much u can save. There was once i use at least $15 worth of coins to buy some stuff. It was in the denominations of $1 and 50 cents.

I would always look forward to thurs or fridays newspaper advertisement from Ntuc or Cold storage to determine how much my grocery money for the week is going to be. Like right, it is the best time to look for scallop offer or abalone.

Let's see how much I can save by end of this year!

Writing a good 2014

2013 was really a bitter note year for me. As for writing a good 2014, I decided keep myself sane by just reading, blogging and keeping away from as much human contacts as possible unless it is work related so as to prevent hurts. I do not want disappointments to come again and again where I just felt that I am useless. I just want to be happy in my own small world. Anyway , you guys have a good time writing 2014 as colourful as possible.

Fast and Easy to Cook recipe-Canned Campbell cream of mushroom soup with asparagus with instant noodles

Ingredients

1 packet of instant mee or udon
3 stalks of fat asparagus
5-6 pcs of shitake mushroom
1 can of campbell cream of mushroom soup 

Step 1
Wash the mushroom clean , take off the stem and diced it.

Step 2
Peel the first layer of the asparagus and sliced it ,

Step 3
Boil and cooked the instant noodles and drain it dry.

Step 4 
Heat  up the can of cream of mushroom and throw in the ingredients of mushroom and asparagus. After about 10 mins, throw in the instant noodles and cook for about 1 min. Add a dash of ground black pepper if you want to.

Riot in little india

Seriously, this is riot in little india should really make the government think twice for importing foreign talent. The importing of foreign talent should be more stringent , should do more character check before importing foreign talent and also check if they have any signs of mental illness.

Hopefully, it is not going to happen any time again.

How to make salted eggs adapted from Sunday Times 8.12.13

Today , I read the sunday times . Apparently, I saw the receipe of salted eggs being published. I think this receipe is good for those who are overseas studying and miss eating the salted eggs.

Ingredients
300g of sea salt
1.2 litres of water
1 tablespoon of sichuan  peppercorns
2-3 star anise
12 extra large eggs
2 tablespoon of shaoxing wine

Method
1. Bring sea salt and water to a boil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add the sichuan peppercorns and star anise.Turn the heat off and let the brine mixture cool completely.

2. Meantime, wash teh eggs under running water, making sure to gently rub off feathers that might be clinging to it.

3. Let the eggs drip dry in colander while the brining mixture cools.

4. when the mixture has cooled, pour in the shaoxing wine and stir to mix.

5. Wipe off any moisture on the eggs with a paper towel.  Check that there are no cracks on the eggs . Use the cracked eggs quickly for other dishes. Place the eggs in a clean glass or plastic container with a lid.

6. Pour the brine into the container. Be sure to scrape the peppercorns into the container too.

7. Fill a resealable plastic bag about a third of the way with water, seal it and place gently over the eggs to make sure they stay in the brine. Cover the container and place in a cool, dark place for 30 to 40 days. Best bet is to keep it ard 32-25 days.

8. After 30 days, cook 1 egg to see if it is salty enough.

9.Remove eggs from the brine, rinse under running water, wipe dry with paper towels and store int eh fridge where they will remain good for about a month


 

Review of the event Business Think Different workshop by Anne Mckevitt and Pam Siow

Seriously when I first knew that I got the business scholarship, I did not know what to expect at all. The theme Business Think Different was something intriguing to me yet at the same time is what is it that cause that made Anne Mckevitt and Pam Siow so successful.

Day 1

Not knowing what to expect, I did not think that I would be meeting one of my friend who was one of Pam Siow's student , Lea at the event . I asked her whether if she has any idea on what is it going to be like and she said she had no idea too. So I decided to go into the workshop with an open mind to see what is it that makes the both of them so successful.

We started with Pam for the workshop for her to share and story and a bit of how this event got started. What was captured in Pam's sharing was this quote which is  "Keep calm and remember it is always your fault". Cos in business you can't blame anyone except for yourself. Whether when are u going to take action is the crux to your business. 

 Next was Anne talking about how do we differentiate ourselves from our competitors in the market.

Throughout the workshop, we were all given exercises which we are supposed to learn on the spot. I really like this method cos that is the best way to learn for me. Not only did it get registered into my mind, it was something that Anne taught that was really valuable.  According to Anne (2013) ,"Simplicity is the best".
 I made me realized that whatever I studied in the subject Operations Management came alive! Anne was the best example of that. The exercises the we did caught me thinking as there was one business opportunity that arise from that. Now is to do my research on it then. I really find the both of them really very approachable and real as compared to some other trainings that I have attended.

I got Anne's autograph!!!!

Imagine a billionaire getting so up close and personal to do an autograph~~seriously i nearly couldn't sleep last night.


Day 2

After attending 1 day workshop, my expectations got a little higher. I was thinking will they be teaching what is their trade secret to success. Indeed , they talked about it. It never daunted in me that personal branding is an important asset in a business besides getting the corporate image up. So my next step is to revamp my own look .. hoping that I will look more pretty by end of Dec 2014. Work in progress will be starting from tonight!!  Action , Speed , Your Key Drivers to Success !!


Indeed this workshop is really worth the value of going down.I got recharged and motivated from this workshop. Personally, I do have personal friend who commented that Pam was good.....Before I forget, there is another workshop that is going to be held in Kuala Lumpur on 30th Nov & 1 Dec. There are only a few places left. For business owners who finds that they need a tweak in their business, I highly recommend that you ought to go and attend this workshop.

To register, please go to http://www.businessthinkdifferent.com.

                                

The power of ambition

 My favourite motivational speaker

 

This man, Jim Rhon is really amazing . His philosphy is so clear cut and always never fails me to bring me back to my focus for my ambition.

 

This weekend I will be going for business training from one of the top notch online marketer Pamela Siow aka Pam Siow and her mentor Anne McKevitt, billion dollar business maker for this event called Business Think Different. I got is for free as I won the business scholarship.Hoping to grow more in knowledge for my business to get focus back to my ambition.

Talent Management-part 1

What do talent management actually comprises of ? It actually encompasses developing competency models,assessment tools and framework , recruitment, training and development of employees, identifying super keepers, engagement of employees inline with the company's mission and vision, motivating the employee, retention of talent,sucession planning , integration of work life balance planning into the work place, rewards and strategic work force planning.

What do u define as talent? Talent is supposedly to be able to cultivated and developed via deliberate practice and intrinsic motivation. However, there is no doubt to what the so called in born talent as to what Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences where some of us are muscially inclined, lingustics, bodily inclined like being an athelete, mathmatically inclined, visually inclined and etc.

Do you have a competency model in the workplace which is in place?Look out for it on my part 2

 

Name generator

I saw this interesting thing which is getting a new name so i find that is cute so decided to upload for all to find your other name.

For me,  I will be known as Sprinkles O'bourbon. Anyway , I can so called relax for one day since my exams are over by yesterday but I am planning to update more on the blog for a little while.

 

我的新爱的华文歌

Hee hee this song is being introduced by my friend jenny and it has taken some space in my memory with its lyrics. The song is quite suitable for those who are now hot in the heels of love. 爱有你才完整 these six words sound so simple but yet so deep in the meaning. Highly recommend for those who are searching the meaning of whether if they are considering if their other half is the one that the love.

Xmas is coming ~~~all are welcome to come to my church for this presentation

Gelato Review at Mischiefous in Tampines

I did this review with one of my long lost chat friend, Arifin before I went on my impromptu Malacca road trip. It certainly feels good to catch up with long lost friend to do some catch up.

Mischiefous is a Homemade Gelato shop that is located at Blk 801 ,#01-261, tampines ave 4
Singapore(520801) 

Free reign drawing by some of the customers at Mischiefous

The range of ice cream offered at Mischiefous

Side view of the range of 20 flavours ice cream!!!

Normal Choco pepper mint

Taste like choco banana fudge

Taste like the normal Vanilla

Too rich in the Baileys ...not to my liking but was to my friend's arifin's taste buds

Taste too much liquor in it ..not to suitable for kids

 

 Pistachio - not that smooth still got the edgy taste

 Rich in its flavour

 

Ferrero rocher- taste like the real one

Chocolate

 

Highly recommended by staff for hot weather , lime sorbet 

 

 

 

Salted caramel - My favourite

Durian- one of the best sellers in the shop

 

 

 

 

 

Dragon fruit sorbet - My favourite too

 

Food Creations by the staff

                                                                      Cappucino

I wanted to try this cup of cappucino in the beginning . However since the coffee art done by the staff was so nice  I decided to let the boss take the chance to drink the coffee whereas I opted for affogato.
The boss even complimented his staff for perfecting the art as compared to the initial stage where Mischievous first started.  I really feel happy cos this is where positive and happy working relationships are there to last .

As for affogato, it was my first try. It was made up of ice cream with a strong brew of coffee, simply can be renamed to be coffee float in local context.

                                                                         Affogato

                       First time seeing a shop using air fryer to fry fries and nuggets~kudos to them

Must try !!!

                             Waffle with 2 scoops of ice cream - pistachio and salted caramel

This is my favourite for this review. The salted caramel ice cream is really nice. However, this is the first time i am trying out this flavour have yet to compare it with other shops like island creamy at serene centre . As the pistachio flavor ice cream , it is not as smooth as what  I have tried at Artisan Gelato or at Shloops at my church.

                                         various sizes for you to buy the ice cream home


Last but not least, I would like to thank Mr Yi Quan of Mischeifous and street directory for arranging me to do this review.

****Disclaimer: All the opinions are real as to what I felt during the review .