CPF Educational Talk

I absolutely love CPF Board. They are among one of my favorite government agency in Singapore (the other being NLB). The thing with being in Singapore is, I really do feel that I gain some what from the annual tax money that I pay!

The reason I like CPF is because they are forward thinking, and don't sent me any letters or statement of account when I can get them online these days. They also provide great services on their websites. myCPF online services is one of my favorite site to visit for information on my retirement funds and savings.

Recently, I attended a talk organize by CPF entitle "Managing Personal, Family and Financial Challenges". The talk was very educational in terms of how your CPF work for you, plus there are some pro-family life-balancing talk as well. The one we attended was held on a Saturday, 9:15am - 12:15pm, and consist of 3 talks, each lasting about an hour. The cost of the half day talk as S$5 per person (light refreshment and goodies bags included), and I guess you need to be a CPF contribute to attend. If you have a chance, do find time to join one of their talk, I find it extremely educational.

Their upcoming talk is titled "3 Ways to a Happy and Secured Retirement". If you are interested, you can read more about it here.

Ref:
IM$avvy

Kiam Chye Buey

It's been a long time since I blog a recipe, and seeing today's a Sunday, I thought it would be nice to put up a traditional Peranakan recipe today. I cook this dish some time back, and have always wanted to blog it down to share, and also to document it. It's a traditional dish in my family, and my Mum usually only cooks it once a year during Chinese New Year. So here's a recipe for my 2nd favorite peranakan dish - Kiam Chye Buey (Salty Vegetable Soup). In Singapore, it is also known as Itek Tim (Duck Boiled Soup), but I haven't learn the art of cooking duck yet.



Cooking Instruction:
1. Bring a pot of water to a boil, then add in the salty vegetable, together with the crush nugmet to boil for 10 minutes. (Try to get fresh Penang Nutmeg)
2. Add in the chicken next, mushrooms, and onions next and let it cook for 30 - 40 minutes. (For a more elaborate dish, you can also add in any other meat. Pork knuckles goes very well in this dish!)
3. Add in the tomatoes last, and let it cook for a further 20 minutes.
4. Done! Serve with rice. Give it a kick by adding dash of brandy or sake before serving. Also goes best with Penang Sambal Belacan :)

Easiest and tastiest recipe!

Ref:
Peranakan
Nugmet
Itek Tim Recipe

Can You Spot It?

I got a free recycling bag from a government agency the other day while attending a talk. Here's a photo of it. I've blanko off the government agency's name. Can you spot anything special about this bag? When you do spot it, let me know what you think about it :)

Blog Ads Are Paying Off!

I must say, activating my blog ads is becoming quite a profitable decision after all. Although the stats show that there has only been 2 clicks on my blog site (of which one of them I click on it myself), I have actually benefit from it! Here's how.

While replying a reader's comments one day on my blog, I saw the advertisement you see here on the comments page of my blog. So I click on it to find out more, and found out that Clinique was giving away free skin care kit in their skin care challenge. So I sign up for it :) Got my free kit that gave me great skin for 4 days, and join the skin care challenge round 1. And as luck may have it, I just won myself S$110 worth of 2 weeks trail skin care product! And that is just cool! Will update you again if I made it further into the challenge :) Who knows, maybe I'll get to attend the free make over workshop, and you'll see me on the runway soon at Vivocity :P Wish me Luck!

Ref:
Clinique-Her World Project Makeover
Clinique

Canon Digital IXUS 80 IS For SALE! - SOLD

As I'm not using the new camera I won from a photo competition, I've decided to sell it. And as usual, I always post what I am selling online here in this blog first so that my readers get special privileged to the sale! So available for the next 12 hours before it goes on sale on a public site, I'm currently selling my new Canon Digital IXUS 80 IS.

Canon Recommended Retail Price: SGD $349.00

I'm selling it inclusive of a 4GB SD card (Toshiba SDHC), leather casing and a mini tripod. Total package value is SGD $429 (as quoted by NLB, refer here)
Final price I am willing to part with is SGD $325. But if you contact me via phone or email, the price is negotiable :)

Note that sale is on a first come first serve basis, and offer is only available for collection in Singapore!

For a full specification on the model, please click here.

Stay tune. I might be selling my Nikon Coolpix 4200 next :)

Steve McCurry Photo Exhibition

One of my favorite photographer's photo will be on exhibition at the Singapore Asian Civilizations Museum from 19 Jun 2009 till 19 July 2009. If you would like to see real quality photography, do visit the exhibition. Admission to the exhibition is FREE! But I'm not too sure if they will charge you for the admission to the museum. Either way, I think it's worth every penny of it! Why? Just check out Steve McCurry's website here. (Note: some of the photos shown might be a bit disturbing to some people)

Anyway, here is the official poster. Click to view it in full size.

Or you can also visit the link by clicking here.

Ref:
Steve McCurry

Bincho-tan (びんちょうタン)

Before I head to Japan in May, I downloaded 12 episodes of Bincho-tan and didn't managed to watch them (yet!). I managed to finish all 12 episodes of it last weekend, and really really love it!

Basically, it's a story about a girl who stays in the mountain all alone, but is never lonely. Her life is simple, and she live each day to the fullest, appreciating everything that comes her way. It's a nice and simple story about nothing, and the drawing is SUPER CUTE! And it's inspiring to me. When I retire, that's the kind of lifestyle I'd like to live by :)

Ref:
To download all 12 episodes, click here.

Saving Gaia

Ladies and gentlemen, here's another "lobang" (opportunity) for you to win great prizes if you're handy with your cam-corder! Mediacorp has starting their Saving Gaia campaign, and they have a video contest where you can win Citizen Eco-Drive watches! Check out the link of citizen and drool! I absolutely adore Eco-Drive watches! You would too if you own one! In my pathetic attempt to motivate you, here's a photo of my 7 year old EcoDrive :P She's a beauty isn't she. The whole watch could collapse, but the glass will forever be perfect :)

You have one month to work on that video if you are interest. Deadline 30th Jun 2009! I absolutely dread making video clips as it's so time consuming to edit it. But for an Eco-Drive Watch, hmmm, maybe I'll reconsider :)

If you are not interested in making a video, you can also win a EviroSax bag by submitting your pledge to save the earth. Hurry, only first 3000 pledge will get the free bag! But saving the earth has no expiry date :) Will post more environmentally entry in this blog soon.

World Environment Day celebration 5th June 2009. Wear green to show your support!

Post Note:
Hmm, one day after I posted this, I can't seems to find back the video contest link. And the Mediacorp website seems to have change it's content! Was it just my imagination? Or is the information on the site unreliable? Let's give it a week and see...


Ref:
Saving Gaia
MediaCorp marks World Environment Day with new campaign
World Environment Day
UNEP World Environment Day 2009