Ups and downs of high heels

Everyone, whether men or women, agrees that wearing high heels for a long period of time is disadvantageous to one's feet. This belief may soon change after a Canadian designer based in Paris created the world's first multi-height heel.

This is the product of Tanya Heath after spending three hardworking years of her life on research. Heath used to suffer from foot problems due to her love for heels which explains why she embarked on this project.

The shoes, which comes with changeable heels, can be switched from 3.5 to 1.5 inches. Ladies who start to develop aches in their feet after a couple of hours at work can easily substitute those high ends for a lower one which enables them to walk faster.

You may want to think twice before getting a pair of this feet-friendly heels as they come at a hefty price tag. The multi-height shoes start at approximately 250 euros which translates to almost 400SGD.

Do you think it is worth the buy?

Knoword

Here's an interesting website which I happened to come across a couple of days back. It is knoword.org and is basically consist of a game in a question and answer format. Sounds easy? Not exactly when you realize that you are being tested on your spelling, vocabulary, general knowledge and even typing speed.

I firmly reckon that you need at least two other friends to play the game with you. The one who types the quickest must be the one pressing buttons on the keyboard, regardless of his spelling skills. The other two will assist by helping him to think of the answers.

Some of the times, if not most, everybody will go "Chey!" or "Why didn't I think of that?" when they decide to save time and skip a question that was deemed to "difficult" to answer.

I learnt quite a number of new words after playing more many rounds with three other people. Our high score of four brains, eight eyes and ten extremely quick fingers achieved a high score of 1880. Can you beat us?



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Oh yeah, Carrefour is closing down tomorrow so what are you waiting for? Actually there isn't much left to buy  except for mineral water and some dinosaur printers which are more than five years old

Police midwives

The infamous traffic jams in Bangkok, home to more than five million vehicles, have been present for a long time. Commuters have been victims of the Thai capital's flawed road network and what the heck when they include pregnant women who can take it no more.

Enter the Royal Thai Police, or at least a certain unit within it that is known as the police midwives. A special department was formed with the support of the Royal Traffic Police Project and has delivered more than a century of babies to date.

One of the unit's stars is Mana Jokkoksung, a 43-year old traffic police who has delivered 47 babies. Mana has since been featured in the media for his impressive record of non-police, life-saving (to a certain extent) tasks in bad traffic situations.

However, childbirth assistant cum constable Mana still advises those who are expecting to plan ahead as he believes that improvements to the traffic conditions in the city still have a long way to go.

4th Anniversary

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to this blog

Happy birthday to you

Alright, I know I am lame but how can I not wish this blog happy birthday? It is finally four years old this year! I am unsure of the number of posts which I have written but I hope all of you, whether old or new readers, enjoyed some of them. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all readers for your support over the past four years. Hopefully, there will be many more four years for this blog and the blogger in me.

Ask the PM?

Singapolitics, The Straits Times' new current affairs website, conducted a "Ask the PM" exercise not too long ago and have identified the so-called top 10 questions out of the short-listed 25 for the prime minister to entertain.

Embarassingly, Straits Times only managed to receive 400 emails from the public during a two-week period. After that, it proceeded to sieve out 25 issues for readers to vote and when the polling concluded last Friday, it came up with the "Top 10 questions" which it will "ask" PM Lee in a series of videos.

Here are the 10 questions which The Straits Times have to query the PAP leader.

1. How will you ensure the cost of living in Singapore remains manageable? How will you keep healthcare affordable? (10%)

2. Can we really have work-life balance? (7%)

3. Can we change the model of public houseing so it is a home, and not an investment asset? (6%)

4. We are trying to help parents look after children, what are we doing to help children look after elderly parents? (6%)

5. What is the limit to our population size? What do you, as PM, think is the optimum size? (6%)

6. Can the Govt do more for those with special needs? It should sign the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. (6%)

7. Can we do more for those in the 50s and 60s who have been retrenched or are being rehired at lower pay? (5%)

8. Having a childhood is good in theory, but how do we reduce the reliance on exams? For example, do we need the PSLE? (4%)

 9. Where do you see Singapore in 20 years’ time? What will our niche be? Will Parliament still be dominated by the PAP? (4%)

10. Could a percentage of a citizen’s CPF account be set aside for unemployment insurance? (4%)

Interestingly, issues like the actual amount of reserves, influx of foreigners and depression of wages did not make it into the top 10. Instead, topics like questions five and nine are the subjective kind which do not require a concrete answer.

A simple reply that starts with "Singapore is a small country blah blah blah" followed by "hence we must blah blah blah" and "depending on the blah blah situation" before ending with "we'll do the necessary blah blah in the interest of the country".

Well, I think I can be the prime minister as well, at a much cheaper rate.

How can Straits Times justify that those 10 were the genuine questions which topped its poll?

Super Sunday

On Sunday, there are two exciting sports programmes to thrill local fans. First, into its fifth edition this year, is the F1 race at Marina Bay and second is none other than one of the fiercest rivalry in English football, Liverpool vs Manchester United at Anfield.

For F1, I do not have much to comment on. Fernando Alonso has won F1's only night race twice and is currently in good form to make it a hat-trick. Other than the inaugural race in 2008 where a crash controversy allowed Alonso to finish first, the leader of the qualifying round has always been the eventual winner.

To put it simply, whoever that clinches the best timing in qualifying is highly likely to become the champion. Singapore has a narrow track so overtaking is not an easy feat. My bet is Kimi Raikonnen to stand the highest on the podium. Do note that a certain Lotus bias may have inflicted the prediction.

As for the renewed rivalry of Liverpool and Manchester United, this match is sure to be charged with emotions. Liverpool will be playing at home for the first time since news about the truth of the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy surfaced.

Patrice Evra and Luis Suarez are expected to finally shake hands in order not to cause any trouble during such a sensitive period. But do expect diving, violence and other stuff like these that makes your viewing more entertaining to occur.

The Reds are still winless after four league games. The team has yet to gel together and there aren't many options in the striking department. On the other hand, the Red Devils are on a run of four consecutive wins and look strong in every position.

I would be very glad if Liverpool can claim a goalless draw but their defenders are still adapting to the short-passing style which Brendan Rodgers favours. Robin van Persie will probably be the goalscorer if Man United grab a goal or two. Kagawa is another Red Devil to look out for.

If poor Liverpool are able to survive this Manchester United match, then the defining player might be Nuri Sahin, a former winner of the Bundesliga Player of the Season award. Sahin is the kind of midfielder that can change the game and competition for the three-man midfield is stiff.

Steven Gerrard, being the captain, is definitely bound to start while Joe Allen, Rodgers' precious pet, is also certain to be among the first eleven. Jonjo Shelvey, scorer of two goals including the decisive one in a Europa League match on Thursday, will give Rodgers more headaches about selection.

Anyway, whatever players the Reds field, they are still the underdogs in this match. 10 to Man United. I predict them to score the only goal of the game after numerous misses and saves.

Precision knife-cut noodles

If there's anything original that China can boast about, plus it is a new technology, then it has got to be this noodle-cutting robots. If you had ever tried making knife-cut noodles, you will understand the level of difficulty and energy needed to cook this dish.

But with this new robots, noodles will be sliced with precision and perfection so that every single strand would be similar, in terms of length, to the rest. Cui Runguan, the man behind this innovation, is mass-producing his robots for restaurants where having a robot is much cheaper than employing a human cook.

Indeed this is a wonderful piece of creation but China is still China after all. The robots, decked out in red and silver with a pair of glowing eyes, look similar to Ultraman.

Well, I guess it is just some marketing ploy. However, now that anti-Japanese sentiments are high in China and Ultraman originates from the land of the rising sun, I wonder if these robots would still be a hit.

Yong Tau Foo: No regrets

Among the many delicious but unhealthy local food, there is one which is truly considered nutritious but it is still up to the individual to create it. Yes, I am referring to Hakka yong tau foo. There are other variations like Teochew but well, you get the picture.

Although it is not as common as char kway teow or chicken rice, you can easily find a stall selling this dish at most food courts. To me, there isn't a scrumptious yong tau foo, normal yong tau foo or unsavoury yong tau foo. There is only healthy yong tau foo and how healthy one can make it to be.

Yong tau foo is the one and only dish which people can actually "build from scratch". You get to choose what vegetables you want to eat, whether to pick tofu or tau pok and even decide on the staple to go with your selection of food items.

During lunchtime on any weekday, you will see hordes of office ladies (the vainness in them giving orders to lose weight) ordering without any staple food. Occasionally, the elderly uncle who favours light palates or the slightly plumped male that is feeling guilty would make an order.

In recent years, variations like curry and laksa have appeared. If your objective of having yong tau foo is to stay healthy, then just stick to soup. Skip the dry version as well since it contains sauces which result in unexpectedly more calories.

Pick more greens when choosing your food items. If the stall you are patronizing happens to have tomatoes, do include one in your bowl to up the vitamin level. Try to refrain from selecting fried stuff like ngor hiang or fried wanton to reduce the amount of fat you consume.

Nowadays, I have been eating yong tau foo as one of my meals. The more I eat it, the better I learn how to make healthier choices with it. A typical bowl of yong tau foo for me would be bee hoon with xiao bai cai, tomato, brinjal, tofu stuffed with fish paste, lady's finger and a hard-boiled egg.

Sounds boring? Well, I can only say that the more I look at and eat this combination, the more I get used to it and my brain has already processed it into a habit. Do opt for bee hoon instead of noodles as the latter contains more calories and fat.

So, why not pick yong tau foo and make it a regular feature in your meals to stay healthy?

Germany urges people to dump IE

Germany's cybersecurity agency has urged the public to ditch Internet Explorer and switch to alternative web browsers amid fears that a flaw in all versions excluding IE 10 has yet to be fixed by Microsoft.

It is noted that the security vulnerability has already been taken advantage by computer attackers as they are able to infect a PC that was used to visit a malicious website thereby, introducing codes to take control of their victims' devices.

Only Internet Explorer 10, which comes with the latest Windows 8 OS, is free from the glitch. Although Microsoft has vowed to solve this issue, it refused to provide a deadline.

Unlike Germany's Federal Office for Information Security, other computer security agencies like US-CERT recommended IE users to heed Microsoft's advice to run EMET 3.0 (Exploit Mitigation Experience Toolkit) for protection.

This is not the first time that Germany's government has told users to stop using arguably the world's most famous web browser. In January 2010, together with several other countries, it urged people to dump IE whilst Microsoft was still working on a patch.

This news is bound to be music to the ears of anti-IE fans, users who agree that Internet Explorer is a piece of crap but cannot see eye to eye whether Firefox or Chrome is finer. By the way, die-hard Apple fans are certain to make a fuss out of this flop by Microsoft.

LG Optimus G

LG Electronics is still in the battlefield after all. These days, looking at Apple and Samsung fighting each other in the markets and courtrooms seem monotonous to geeks and tech fans. Luckily, Nokia is still hanging in there with its Windows phones and then there is LG.

The South Korean company has launched its new flagship smartphone known as Optimus G. It will be out in Korean stores from next week and arrive on Singapore shores only a few months later, maybe?

The first impression of Optimus G makes it look promising and has the potential to rival the iPhone or Galaxy S III. I particularly like its clean look when turned off and the crystal-like design on the back.

Optimus G draws influence from LG's Prada series and it looks like another target for Apple to file a suit against. However, since Prada phones originated before the iPhone made an appearance in the market, the Optimus G may make Apple reconsider taking any legal actions.

The most commendable new feature of LG's latest gadget is the QSlide feature. It allows users to hide their current app in the background while handling another task or you can also view two apps juxtaposing each other.

Optimus G is shorter and less broad than Samsung's Galaxy S III so it should make it easier for people to squeeze it into their pockets. It may possibly be the star product from LG this year and my new phone when it comes to Singapore.

Wisdom tooth extraction

Today is no doubt an important day for me. It is the day I had my wisdom tooth extracted. There is still the one on the left which I intend to have it out in January next year.

It was hardly terrifying and traumatic, contrary to what I thought. Instead, the entire surgery lasted only about seven to eight minutes. I didn't even realize it was all over when it ended.

However, the worst is not over. I had change the gauze inside my mouth every thirty minutes and I have already ran out of the ones which was given to me this morning. Luckily I still had some at home.

Oh, and I probably won't be brushing my teeth tonight.

P.S. You don't expect me to post a picture of my wisdom tooth or the wound in my mouth do you?

Review: Poetic Justice

Poetic Justice, the drama which is currently airing on weekdays at 9pm on Channel 8, is supposed to be one show that is worth watching due to its refreshing concept and cast. However, what looked like a decent piece of work turned out to be a disappointment for me after watching the first four episodes.

This is first time that Rui En and Dai Yangtian are working together but sparks hardly seem to fly when they are together on screen. On the other hand, Rebecca Lim, who clinched the best actress award at the 2010 Asian Television Awards, has difficulty looking like a newscaster.

The only one who stood out among the four main characters is Desmond Tan who transformed well for his role as a fashionable lawyer. However, the popularity of Rui En and Dai Yangtian in real-life might have overshadowed Desomnd's performances.

The fact that the story includes a rich guy (provides money) and a lawyer (provides legal advice) to assist two journalists shows that the plot is fundamentally flawed. The scriptwriter conveniently included two such characters for himself to expand the story with ease.

Rui En was made to look monotonous by donning outfits of the same design every day to reflect her nondescript life. Unfortunately, that conspicuously bleached hair of hers made things look contradicting. It would be more fitting if Rebecca swopped hairstyles with Rui En.

The way Reality TV, the fictional news programme in the drama, reports its news is somewhat baffling. Rebecca Lim is always adding a few extra words for thought after presenting the entire news report. Do newscasters always do this for every single piece of news?

It is also ultra-predictable what the love life of Rui En's character would end up like. Desmond Tan likes her but doesn't have the courage. Rui En rejects him because of the re-appearance of her former boyfriend, played by Yuan Shuai, who went MIA for three years.

In the end, somehow or rather, Desmond will still end up with Rui En since they are the show's main characters and if you happen to be a little smarter, you might have guessed that Desmond's character is so coincidentally linked to the vanishing of Yuan Shuai's character.

Dai Yangtian's character seemed to be purposely created to moderate the flow of the story since rich people do not have many problems other than their love lives which, in this case, happen to be the confident and independent Rebecca Lim who keeps saying no at first but finally relents.

If there was one bright spark which Poetic Justice can boast of, it is Guo Liang. The boss who exclaims in English and doubles up as a contemporary chee ko pek. Guo Liang is no doubt a fine actor although hosting is his main course.

A failed show

If you had signed in to Facebook during the last 48 hours, you probably would have seen the before and after photos at Queenstown where Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton were visiting.

William is no fool and I really wonder what is going on in his mind when he witnessed such a scene at 3:45 in the afternoon. The real fools were the men in white who are infamous for their wayangs including this latest show staged for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

After the photos started to circulate on the internet, the PAP finally had to go for its trademark admit-it-at-last move. The MP for the area, Indranee Rajah confessed that the scenes of children having fun at the playground and uncles doing tai chi were all an act.

She argued that there was only 25 minutes to showcase HDB living in Singapore so the best way to achieve it was to "do it in little exhibition spots". The fact that PAP insisted on showcasing something to the royal couple shows their insincerity.

Why can't we just act like normal? Who does tai chi under the blazing afternoon sun? Ok maybe the statutory boards and government agencies who like to tai chi blames and responsibilities to one another when the real culprits are those who wear white as their party colours.

If a wayang is indeed necessary, they should at least make it look realistic. I don't understand why was there a need for the uncle to wear a traditional costume when putting up the show. Seriously, which uncle wears like this on a normal day practising tai chi?

This Queenstown wayang is further proof that PAP's rallies consists of its "own people" like grassroots leaders (aka dogs) and uncles and aunties who attended for the free food and drinks.

Not to mention the many innocent school students who were forced to participate or attend the Youth Olympic Games in 2010.