Male Toilet Advisory

The male urinal has been likened to a rifle range where you practise target-shooting on etchings of a fly and what-not at the base of the urinal. The following is just a more rarefied take on taking aim.

For males who take a fancy to machine guns, then the following figure of speech would drive the point home.

And, for die-hard males who persist to squat on toilet bowls with the attendant risk of slipping and unsavoury deposits from an abnormal height, please sit-up, we implore you.

Finally, do take a leaf from this message printed stringently on each sheet of paper towel so as not to choke up the loo.    

Let's keep our toilets clean and fit-for-use for our mutual benefits.

You Can Count On A Friend

This just a short tribute to friendship. Starting a friendship may take only a brief moment, but it would take a lifetime to sustain it. 

Our friend may be a Coach or Expert with the wisdom and panache to assist us in a particular aspect or aspects of our life. A friend could be a Comrade or Buddy who have similarities with our background and/or situation in life. Then, we have the Casuals or Associates, who are acquaintances and may well turn out to be a potential Coach or Comrade. 

Just as a ship setting sail, it would help to have other ships alongside us on the same journey of life heading for a better tomorrow. The following are some Friendship Nuggets for your munching over with your favourite cuppa be it at Starbucks, Mc Donald's, your favourite cafe or at home.

"My best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake." --Aristotle

"A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same." -- Elbert Hubbard

"Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity." -- Khalil Gibran

"My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me." -- Henry Ford

"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence." -- George Washington

"A true friend is one who overlooks your failures and tolerates your success!" -- Doug Larson

"Friends are the siblings God never gave us." -- Mencius

"A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." -- Proverbs 18:24 (NKJV)

To round up, may I entreat you to enjoy this ditty by superlative Bruno Mars as he take on friendship with "Count On Me" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JNtAtGGNRU

Dream Bigger

1. Revisit your dream and keep pursuing it. 

Don't give up even though it may seem faint, distant and lacking in focus now.

2. Clarify your dream. 

Make your dream clearer so much so that you can see it with all the details. Make it as big as you can.

So, are you doing juicier and crunchier fried chicken? 

Does your juicier and crunchier chicken come as a meal?

Or, are you doing charbroiled burgers, after all? What is the unique selling proposition of your burgers?

3. Keeping nurturing your dream. 

As you keep sowing into your dream and set the conditions right, it will get bigger and clearer. 

This is a three-in-one tree. 

It started off as three separate frail-looking saplings like the ones shown below. 

Now it stands tall, strong and robust.

4. Your dream will make you smile and establish you when it comes to fruition.

So, keep FOCUS (Focus On Completion Until Successful). Have the wisdom to see now how your decisions will, if fast forwarded, affect your future happy outcome. Yo, you got something going on for you, man, I tell you.

Gotta Hold On

When navigating through life, you gotta hold on tight to the things that would put you in good stead, come what may. 

And, if you are taking the bus as a metaphor of life, then let Joe the cool dude show you the ropes.

This Is For Him -- Fashion Perspective for Men

If you are looking to buy a gift for a man or the man in your life, why not browse through https://thisisforhim.com (TIFH).

This is their mission: "THISISFORHIM.COM is a online destination for the provision of men’s styling and lifestyle needs. Bringing in interesting brands from Asia and all over the world, we aim to provide a curated website solely catered for men.

Fashion is fleeting, it has a cycle, it evolves. What gives them substance is perspectives. We are not just a clothing store, we are a perspective."

Its line of products are categorized into: Apparel, Bags, Watches, Accessories and Lifestyle. 

The offerings are tantalizing as per the following small extracts to pique your interest (Image credits: TIFH):

Astrodeer Tank Top by Mr Gugu & Miss Go

Bananas Swim Shorts by Mr Gugu & Miss Go

City Carry Bag by Monofold

Vintage 44L Bag In Original Grey Color by CabinZero

Aries Gold Inspire Aviation Wingman 728

MSTR Watch Ambasssador Series in "Tifanny"

Happy Shopping!

How To Have More Money (Part 7)

Today, the 11th day of September 2015, is polling day in Singapore and I am glad to be able to squeeze some time to continue with this series on How To Have More Money.

In countries where there is good government, stability and social-economic progression, the price of real estate would increase over time and it would make economic sense to own your property rather than lease one. 

If you could service the mortgage on your property until completion, you would be better off in the future when the price of your property would have appreciated in market value. Even if you could not service the mortgage, you may choose to, say, let out a room and obtain passive income to ease your financial commitments. 

It is advisable to hold on to your property as far as possible rather than sell out and revert to leasing. Some smarties would flip their property after it has appreciated in value and use the proceeds (and tidy profit) to fund a new acquisition, and repeat the process. These shrewd opportunists usually do this when the property market is on a roll and, savvily at that, before the authorities step in to avert a property bubble. 

So start early by allocating more financial resources towards the down payment to start your journey towards owning your own home. Start small within your budget and keep at servicing your home mortgage by adjusting your lifestyle or improving your economic value as a worker (you are paid according the size of the problem you can solve for your boss). 

It's a long term investment project in view of its size and economic significance, and you are gonna have to slog for it. But, the reward or exchange value is worth it. You are enriching your own life rather than the pockets of a landlord.

In summary, Make Real Estate Investment a Priority and you would be able to lock in much money, instead of squandering them on leasing, and become the eventual owner of a property which would appreciate in value (if you have done the homework, obtain expert advice and barring unforeseen adverse circumstances).  

Notes:

* Money is not the root of all evil. It is the love of money which is the root of all evil.

* Money is great servant but a terrible master.

* You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving.

* "Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich; restrain yourself! Riches disappear in the blink of an eye; wealth sprouts wings and flies off into the wild blue yonder." (Proverbs 23:4-5; MSG)

Twist or Tornado Potato Is Hot !

It has been a while since I last went to a pasar malam (night market) where duly licensed makeshift stallholder ply their wares. 

The usual gamut of stuffs would include clothing, potted plants, knick-knacks, household or bathroom utensils, mobile phone accessories, food and even more food such as pisang goreng (banana fritters), sweet potato fritters, Ramly Burgers, candy floss, kebabs, sweet corn, a variety of cold drinks and so forth.

Recently, while passing by a pasar malam the sight of a twist potato (also known as tornado potato) caught my attention. Just when you thought that one has seen all there is to what can be done with the humble potato, somebody came up with this new twist, literally. 

After the potato is twist-cut, it is dipped into a batter before being loaded into a fryer and fried till crispy. For the novelty of it all, at least for now, that stick of twist potato can be yours for SGD 2.50.

If you are interested, please catch the following YouTube clip showing a manual potato twist-cut done in a jiffy:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jybgAQ1PF1A

Catch a Viddsee Film Today. It's free!

Get your daily dose of Asian short films at  www.viddsee.com  -- your mobile cinema serving up a selective range of quality films from Asia for a global audience. 

You will be spoiled for choice as you browse through by genre, topics or channels. Also, you get to watch a choice movie for the day (Film of The Day) and a shortlisted film for the month (Winner of Viddsee Shortee award) -- all for free on your mobile device or computer. 

For those of you who are interested, this blurb from www.viddsee.com proffers that "Viddsee is more fun with your sign up - Get specially recommended films delivered to you weekly."

If you know of a budding filmmaker enthusiast and/or film buff, then you may do him or her a good turn by sharing Viddsee website.

Be refreshed by a film today. 

Happy viewing!  

Customer Service Illustrated

These inanimate animals gave me a good vibe, made me smile and left me with a lingering effect. So I came back from about 100 meters away and took the following pictures of them with the accompanying inspired take on customer service.

1. When you stand prepared and ready to offer a real or perceived value, your customers will come.

2. Look the part, stand tall, and bring on a smile to welcome your potential customers.

3. Offer your customers with a selection of products or services so that they would be spoiled for choice.

4. Step-in to assist your customers to resolve their query, indecision or hesitation.

5. Once the customers have confirmed their buy-in, do what you do best and delight your customers! 

Leave them with a great experience which you can be sure they will share with others. (Sorry, no picture here as I had to move on.)

Bringing Kiwifruit Home

As gleaned from Zespri website http://www.zesprikiwi.com, this is how the name kiwifruit came about:-

"Back when Isabel Fraser brought New Zealand’s first kiwifruit seeds over from China in 1904, the fruits were known by the Chinese name, yang tao, but New Zealanders soon began using a local term, calling the furry fruits Chinese gooseberries.

In 1959, the name Chinese gooseberry was changed again, becoming kiwifruit, after New Zealand’s national bird, the kiwi – small, brown and furry, like the fruit.

The decision was made when New Zealand growers were ready to export kiwifruit to North America. They needed a term that would help establish the new fruit in the newly opening American export market and elsewhere around the world.

The name change was spurred by an American importer, Norman Sondag of the Ziel Company in San Francisco. Turners and Growers, who were leading exporters of the day, had sent him the berries under the novel name “melonettes,” which for his business was even worse than calling them “Chinese gooseberries,” as both melons and berries attracted high duties at the time.

So at a company meeting in Sir Harvey Turner’s office in June 1959, Jack Turner came up with the name “kiwifruit.” They tried it out on Norman Sondag, and he liked it – thought it would be a real winner and began using it immediately.

And that is how the kiwifruit got its name."

Zespri also proffers the following 10 Reasons To Eat Kiwifruit:-

"1. Calorie Control – A serving of kiwifruit has fewer than 110 calories.

2. Superfruit – Kiwifruit is one of the most nutritious fruits with the richest combination of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

3. Vitamin C – Kiwifruit is high in the antioxidant vitamin C. In fact, just one covers your daily needs of vitamin C!

4. Fiber – A serving of Zespri® Green Kiwifruit contains 4 grams of fiber, which is as much fiber as 1 pouch (1 cup) of instant oatmeal (4 grams), 1 oz (23 nuts) almonds (3.5 grams), 1 cup of cooked Brussels sprouts (4.1 grams).

5. Potassium – A serving of kiwifruit provides as much potassium as a medium banana.

6. Glycemic Index (GI) – Kiwifruit is a low GI food (Zespri® Green: 39, Zespri® SunGold: 38) and is a great choice for people with diabetes.

7. Folate – One serving of kiwifruit is a good source of folate.

8. Vitamin E – Kiwifruit contains a good source of the antioxidant vitamin E.

9. Fat and Saturated Fat – Kiwifruit is a naturally low fat, saturated fat free food.

10. Portability – Zespri® Kiwifruit are nutritious and portable, as each fruit can easily be cut into two halves and scooped."

From my experience, a kiwifruit's taste index shoots up a few notches when it is eaten chilled. Imagine the difference between drinking a can of your favourite drink at room temperature as compared to drinking it chilled.

It's time to pack some super kiwifruits home today!

Borrowing Your Name for a Pleasant Train Ride

In an effort to make train rides more pleasant for commuters, especially during the peak hours, the relevant authority has taken the liberty to borrow your name for this cause, that is, if your name is: Benny, Glenda, Stacey, Martin or Hannah.

BagDownBenny

One of the pet peeve of train commuters is to see inane fellows who carry their haversack on their back only to see them turn around and about, banging into people unknowingly. 

By putting their bags down like Benny or carrying it in front of them, this unpleasantry of uncalled for knocks could be alleviated.

GiveWayGlenda

Imagine alighting from the train, but on-boarding commuters are not giving way. Be like Glenda who gives way to alighting passengers first before boarding the train.

StandUpStacey

Be like Stacey who stand up and let another person who is more needy have her seat. For examples, a pregnant woman, an elderly, a child and a handicapped person.

MoveInMartin

Be like Martin who moves in to the centre of the train so that the door area is cleared for other commuters to board or alight with ease. 

HushHushHannah

In spite of medical reports on the damaging effects of loud music on the ear drums, some ill-informed music lovers are still having a blast, for now. Not so with Hannah who is considerate and tones down the volume of her electronic gadgets.

The Case Against Runaway Metallic Balloons

The following poster caught my attention today at a local Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) train station:-

With my curiosity piqued, I decided to delve deeper and found the following report by South China Morning Post published on 1 March 1996:-

http://www.scmp.com/article/151200/rush-hour-chaos-may-foil-balloons-mtr 

As reported by John Flint and Michelle Chin, a runaway helium-filled foil balloon had floated into a tunnel in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, "tripped an electric current and burned through an overhead cable". As a result of the incident, train services between Admiralty and Quarry Bay were disrupted for 1.5 hours.

In view of this, members of the public who commute by trains could do well to intercept runaway balloons or alert the train authority of any such rogue balloons on the loose.

And, that poster makes sense. Better safe than sorry.