TAPPED Birch Water

When you tap a rubber tree, you get latex for making stuffs like tyres and rubber bands. With maple trees (sugar maple and black maple, predominantly) you can extract the saps for making its eponymous syrup. 

Well, it's not rocket science, and Tapped, a British startup, has the ingenuity to milk the Finnish birch trees for a natural source of water with a novel paperboard-based packaging designed to look like the trunk of a birch tree -- a distinct departure from the normal plastic or glass bottles.

Photo credit: tappedtrees.com

According to its website, "For centuries, the Finnish birch forests have been tapped for their sap in spring. More commonly known as birch water, it’s said to keep skin youthful, bones strong and a twinkle in your eye."

Also, according to Wikipedia, "Birch sap was a traditional beverage in Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Ukraine, France, Scotland and elsewhere in Northern Europe as well as parts of Northern China."

The science of birch water is that in winter the tree would store vital minerals and vitamins such as calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc and vitamin C in their roots. When spring dawns, the water is filtered up the trunk to nourish the tree.

At Natural Living Ideas, Sierra Bright outlines the following 7 reasons for drinking birch water:

1. Lower cholesterol

2. Weight loss

3. Supports liver health

4. Clearer, brighter skin

5. Faster wound healing

6. Joint pain relief

7. Reduces cavities

Click here to read her article in full. She will even teach you How To Make Your Own Birch Water!

Tapped is persuasive with regards to the anti-oxidising manganese found in its birch water and I think it will only be a matter of time before it is listed as a source of manganese at The World's Healthiest Foods (whfoods.org), which currently lists the following as excellent sources on manganese: cloves, oats, brown rice, garbanzo beans, spinach, pineapple, collard greens, cinnamon, raspberries, black pepper, beet greens, Swiss chard, strawberries, kale, turnip greens, mustard greens, summer squash, turmeric, sea vegetables, garlic, basil and bok choy.

Afterthought

Prior to birch water and Tapped, the birch tree connects me solely to the poem Birches by Robert Frost.

Stuff'd with Inspiration

A salad bowl which is inspired to inspire. No kidding.

Come closer and read a sample of its label.

Welcome to the Menu Board of Stuff'd!

Let the kebab fire up your appetite!

Whaddayaknow, they even wish you an Amazing Day when saying Bye!
How not to love Stuff'd like this?!

To me the best takeaway is that the staff at Stuff'd are service-oriented, at least in my experience here. Their stance came across to me as: What would you like? More of this and less of that? What else would you like? No problem.

While there is no seating, it is well suited for the tribes of people on the go or eating on the go and I think the reasonable pricing is just compensation.

Everything -- the location, unique selling proposition (kebab, burrito, quesadilla), customer engagement with inspirational words, decor, sleek equipment, menu, fresh food, etc. -- adds up, but I would still maintain that it is the service-oriented staff who would win repeat customers. This is the connection that will be stuff that lasts after the meal. Bon appetit! 

Blog Spotlight on: The Smart Local

The Smart Local is one of my favourite blog. It has many interesting articles written about Singapore which even a local like me find novel and refreshing. That's why they are The Smart Local! 

There is also coverage on overseas travel. And, yes, they have expanded to reach the shores of Malaysia and Australia, as well.

Their articles are well-articulated and engaging with  heaps of photos. You will be amazed at the great length that they go to cover their topics such that they deliver more than what you would expect. That's value-added and great quality control.  

If you are visiting Singapore or new in Singapore, reading The Smart Local will put you ahead of the pack of none-the-wiser tourists or newbies. In any case, it makes for great reading and offers you a banquet of brain food.

The following 2 links is a sampler for you:

12 Mind-Blowing Singapore Facts You Never Knew

12 Spanking NEW Ways To Explore Bangkok Unlike Anything You've Already Known

Ride On Electric Dreams

Dreams live on if you believe in them and nurtured them. 

Here are just 2 showcases of dreamers who are riding on their electric dreams. 

Parker Brother Concepts

Neutron Bike
Photo credit: parkerbrothersconcepts.com

Electric Motorcycle
Photo credit: parkerbrothersconcepts.com

Vacio Hubless Wheel Kit
Photo credit: parkerbrothersconcepts.com

"If you know you're doing the right thing, just keep moving forward." -- Shanon Parker

"If you believe in it strong enough, nobody can stop you but you." -- Marc Parker

Click here and go on a ride with the Sheriff.

RYNO Motors

RYNO
Photo credit: rynomotors.com

It all started with Chris Hoffmann's 13-year-old daughter's asking whether a one-wheeled motorcycle she had seen in a video game could be built. 

As recounted in its web site, "Hoffmann – a self-taught engineer with 15 years of auto industry engineering experience designing heavy plant machinery – approached the dilemma in a unique manner. Rather than figuring out if he could build it, he instead spent time trying to figure out what would stop him from building it. He kept finding low cost high tech components until all that was left was the sheet metal to connect it. So he took a machine-shop class at the local community college and got busy.

Six years and three prototypes later, all the lessons learned in the shop and all the feedback from the road have been combined into an amazing product, which is set to enter production as the world’s first. The one-wheeled, ultra-efficient urban personal transportation device of the next generation."

Yeah, you read that right. It wasn't built overnight. Patience, persistence and partnership with co-founder Tony Ozrelic (an engineer and inventor with a keen interest in self-balancing machines) finally paid off.

Click here and enjoy the ride.

Book review: "It's Not Rocket Science" by Mary Spio

"When you share your light, you live in a brighter world." -- Mary Spio

ISBN 978-0-399-16931-1 (hardback)
Published by the Penguin Group

This book is one of my best find in 2016 and I had a blast reading it during the New Year holiday. The pages are loaded and Mary Akua Spio is well-qualified to write it as she is living the dream of her life with more to come.

Let her inspire you to become a Game Changer with 7 key traits:

1. Unbridled Creativity

2. Radical Passion

3. Active Compassion

4. Obsessive Focus

5. Relentless Hustle

6. Extreme Audacity

7. Pit Bull Tenacity

"There is no passion to be found in playing small -- in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." -- Nelson Mandela

That's Part One. In Part Two, Mary will spur you to Break Through To Uncommon Success with insights for you to:

- Discover your greatness

- Embrace your difference (Your difference creates your relevance)

- Live your life by design

- Find your tribe

- Start where you are

- Dare to do something great

One of my best takeaway from this book is on finding one's sweet spot. Mary has aptly put a finger to it as the intersection between our Passion, Purpose and Potential (talent/ability/skill).

All of us would have heard of the Maslow's hierarchy of needs, but what about this quote to spur us in our quest to find our destiny: "A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be." -- Abraham Maslow

Then there is:  

Destination (Where you wanna to go)  + Obsessive Focus = Distinction

"People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things we have done. Innovation is saying 'no' to a thousand things." --Steve Jobs

"If you chase two rabbits, you end up losing both." -- Mary Spio

Allow me to leave you with this propulsion from Mary: 

"Passions, talents and our gifts are our fundamental energy sources. Everyone has talents and gifts, but without focus, that talent is diffused. Like the light from a light bulb, it doesn't make much of an impact. But when we focus our talents and gifts in one direction toward our goal or vision, it's strength on top of strength. Focus amplifies all our abilities, and the results are powerful.

Game Changers focus their talents (potential), passions and purpose like a laser and etch their mark on the world."

About The Author

Mary Spio, the U.S. Ambassador of Innovation, went from being a barefoot girl growing up in Ghana to a deep space engineer earning major patents with Boeing, and is now an Internet entepreneur who speaks to audiences around the world about leadership and innovation. Her personal story is a remarkable one, but her message is universal: Anyone can be a Game Changer.

Inspiration from Your Own Abode

Inspiration is literally everywhere and closer than you think. 

Just take a look at the ubiquitous things around your home or place away from home and see with fresh perspectives (as per the following as adapted from what has been circulating in WhatsApp):

Roof says: Aim High

Fan says: Be Cool

Clock says: Value Time

Calendar says: Be Up-to-date

Wallet says: Save Now For The Future

Mirror says: Always Observe Yourself, Learn & Make Adjustments for the Better

Bed says: Take a Rest and Dream

Window says: Expand Your Vision

Floor says: Always Be Down To Earth

Stairway says: Watch Each Step You Take

Toilet Bowl says: When It's Time To Let It Go, Just Let It Go

Happy New Year 2017!

The End of Shoelaces as We Know It?

There are famously a few certainties in life and the favourites are taxes, aging, death and change.

And, just when you thought that the humble shoelace as we know it is indispensable, HICKIES has just started an evolution in the making which may well displace the need-to-tie shoelaces.

Photo credit: www.HICKIES.com

As gleaned from its website, "The HICKIES® Lacing System connects each pair of eyelets separately. This allows you to customize your fit with different tension levels for different parts of your shoe."

It may well work for the likes of sneakers and trainers. But, can you imagine how this would pan out for business shoes? It would look different; it's a brave new future to embrace change for a custom-fit.

Click here to check out HICKIES.


"All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come." -- Victor Hugo