Month: January 2019

Centrum Vitamin Review

I used to think that with a balanced diet, there is no need to take vitamins. However, recently I read several articles that due to soil depletion, there is lack of minerals in the soil that is used to plant the crops. According to the Bible, the soil is supposed to rest every 7 years for the Sabbath, but I doubt many countries practice this as it will lead to total loss of income for that year.

By the way, Northern China has a type of rice called Dong Bei Rice that is considered one of the best type of rice, certainly superior to Thai rice. I have tasted Dong Bei Rice in Liaoning Province, it is absolutely delicious. The reason it is so good is because due to the harsh winter, the soil there is forced to rest once a year during the winter. Hence, the soil is rich in minerals.

As a result of soil depletion, the plants that you eat may lack certain trace minerals like Magnesium, Molybdenum, Zinc, etc. The animals (cow/pig/lamb) eat plants that lack the minerals, hence the animals themselves lack the mineral too. Basically, the entire food chain, including humans, lack the mineral. Magnesium deficiency is especially serious, even in 1st world countries like America, 57% of the US population lack Magnesium.

Centrum Men’s and Women’s Vitamin Review

Centrum is the number one selling vitamin in the US. And it is very affordable. For its price range, it is probably the best multivitamin. There are two types for Men and Women. (Women need more iron due to the monthly loss of blood; Men need less iron. There are some other differences too, like Men need more Zinc.)

After just one day, I can feel the difference, more energetic and alert. My wife feels it too, and also experienced less hair dropping. Possibly people in Singapore and 1st world countries do not need to eat it everyday, since our diet is relatively nutritious (but still lacking certain minerals due to soil depletion). One can eat it every other day, or up to your own schedule.

Amazon sells it quite cheaply (different packaging from the Singapore version):


Centrum Men (250 Count) Multivitamin / Multimineral Supplement Tablet, Vitamin D3


Centrum Women (250 Count) Multivitamin / Multimineral Supplement Tablet, Vitamin D3

For faster delivery in Singapore, one can purchase in Qoo10:

[S$23.90](▼53%)[Centrum]★Centrum★ 40% OFF SALE! Silver / MultiVitamin / MultiMineral Supplement For Adults / Women / Men

WWW.QOO10.SG

How to Study in Extreme Noisy Environment (+ Math of Decibel System)

mathtuition88's avatarMathtuition88

[S$54.90][3M][STOCK IN SG] 3M Peltor H10A Optime 105 Earmuff Ear Muff Ear Protection Head Set. Noise Reduction Rating of 30dB

WWW.QOO10.SG

The exams are coming, but your neighbor decides to do a major renovation? Neighbor has loud music blasting/ very noisy children? An urgent and drastic measure must be taken, as scientific research has shown that loud background noises reduce children’s test scores!  Recent research in London (UK) has shown that high levels of environmental noise outside schools reduce children’s scores in standardised nationwide academic tests.

This is hardly surprising, as it is very hard to do any studying in the presence of very loud noises. The source of noises, in Singapore context, may come from the following:

  • Neighbor’s heavy renovation (Drilling, Hammering, etc.) Singaporeans are big fans of renovation and like to renovate their houses every couple of years! Unfortunately, as long as the neighbors stay within the…

View original post 724 more words

Probably the Best Yong Tau Foo I’ve Ever Had

chinesetuition88's avatarCooking For Fun

Yong Tau Foo is a Hakka Chinese cuisine. Yet, I have never tried it in China before. Yong Tau Foo stall is quite similar to Chinese spicy hot pot (malatang). All the meat, vegetables and seafood are displayed on shelves. Customers can choose whatever they want to add in their Yong Tau Foo. The main difference I guess lies in cooking method. Malatang (麻辣烫） includes 3 Chinese words. 麻 （ma）means numb, it refers to the feeling caused by pungent spices like Sichuan pepper corn. 辣（la）means spicy, it refers to chili, chili powder and chili oil. 烫（tang）means hot. Because malatang is always served very hot. I still remember when I had social linguistic class, my teacher taught us malatang could be translated as “3 hots”: hot, hot, hot. 🙂

I have tried Yong Tau Foo several times after I came here. Since I really missed malatang and I couldn’t find it…

View original post 303 more words

import matplotlib on PyCharm: Quick 3 min solution

Students trying to import the package “matplotlib” on PyCharm will soon face the cryptic error message: “Python is not installed as a framework. The Mac OS X backend will not be able to function correctly if Python is not installed as a framework.”

It is extremely puzzling what to do. I have researched the steps that you can follow to solve it in 3 minutes:

First you need to install the “matplotlib” on PyCharm following the instructions here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/21883768/pycharm-and-external-libraries

Then, to import matplotlib, you need the following lines:

import matplotlib as mpl
mpl.use('TkAgg')
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

Done! You are ready to use matplotlib on PyCharm interpreter, by using:

plt.plot(...)
plt.show()

Steak & Portobello Mushroom

chinesetuition88's avatarCooking For Fun

This is the first time for me to cook Portobello mushroom. They are really big and look like a giant brown umbrella.

For steak:

1. Season both sides with salt and black pepper.

2. Heat a pan. A little oil in. Sear the steak for about 3 mins.

3. Flip the steak over. Cut in a cube of butter. And add in 2 cloves of garlic and dried thyme (fresh thyme will be better, but I didn’t have any at that time).

4. Fry for about 3 mins. Use a spoon, to scoop better and spread over steak. Sear the edge side too.

Steak in the plate and rest.

To cook Portobello mushroom:

Remove the Portobello mushroom’s stem first and wash clean.

1. Heat a pan. Cut in a small cube of butter.

2. When butter melts, add the mushroom in with cap side down. Sear for 3 mins. If…

View original post 109 more words

Cod Fish Fillet

chinesetuition88's avatarCooking For Fun

My husband loves fish, especially fish from the deep sea. We often buy salmon. We don’t buy cod fish that often. Last time when we went out shopping for groceries, he saw the frozen cod fish fillet. He asked if he could buy some. I was a bit hesitant because I didn’t cook cod that much. He told me just to cook it in the same way of cooking salmon. OK, then. My husband always tells me to cook seafood in a simple way with less condiments, even though he almost never cooks.

As he said, I just pretend I am cooking a salmon fillet.

1. Season cod fillet with salt and pepper.

2. Heat a pan, drizzle in a little oil. When pan is hot, place cod fillet in.

3. Sear the cod fillet for 3-4 mins. Then flip over. Sear for another 3-4 mins. I also added in…

View original post 55 more words

National Geographic Kids Singapore

National Geographic Kids Review

National Geographic Kids is a nice magazine that kids will love. Kids have a natural interest in animals/birds/dinosaurs, and this will inspire them to start reading, and learn about animals at the same time. Animals are a key topic in Science and will be tested in PSLE eventually. PSLE requires students to know the difference between mammals, birds and reptiles, and also certain insects.


National Geographic Kids

Note that the National Geographic Kids is for around age six. Many Singapore students are more advanced in reading, and in fact they can move on to the adults’ National Geographic magazine if they are interested.

Especially if your child is gifted or in the GEP, at age 9 they should be poised to read the adult version of National Geographic to learn more advanced vocabulary and scientific concepts. (For gifted students, the kids version of the magazine may be too simple.)


National Geographic

For students interested in Geography, the National Geographic Atlas of the World, Tenth Edition is an excellent book to learn all about the Earth. A piece of trivia is that the chess world champion Magnus Carlsen could memorize the entire atlas when he was just a little kid. “Magnus was able to recall the areas, population numbers, flags and capitals of all the countries in the world by the age of five. Later, Carlsen had memorised the areas, population numbers, coat-of-arms and administrative centres of “virtually all” Norwegian municipalities.”

See also our post on: Recommended Educational Toys.

Chinese High School Student “Proves” Goldbach Conjecture

URL: https://bbs.hupu.com/24931041.html

According to popular Chinese Social Media, a Chinese teenager from high school has purportedly proven the difficult Goldbach Conjecture, which is that every even integer greater than two is the sum of two prime numbers.

Update: He has recently realized his mistake and deleted the post. Do check out his proof if you are interested!

Oven-roasted Tomatoes

chinesetuition88's avatarCooking For Fun

Recently, I’m crazy about tomatoes. I always want to try sun dried tomato, yet weather here in Singapore is very humid. So I guess sun dried tomato is impossible here. Then this oven-Roasted tomatoes came to my head.

And it’s very easy.

1. Chop tomatoes into slices (around 0.5cm thick). You can use cherry tomatoes or any ones of small size.

2. Place all tomato slices in a big bowl. Drizzle in olive oil, spread a little salt and add in dried herbs you like. I used dried oregano. Toss a bit.

3. Put tomato slices in baking tray and arrange them in one layer. You can put them very close to each other. Because they will shrink after dehydrated.

https://flic.kr/p/QaoJHa

4. Preheat oven to 200 degree C. Roast tomato for 15-20 mins or till they get wrinkled and a bit burnt on the edge.

They can be used in…

View original post 9 more words

Seahorse Pillow Review

SeaHorse pillow is my favorite brand of pillow. I have tried many types ranging from “top-end” brands like Tempur, to standard popular brands like King Koil. Basically it is worth buying a quality pillow to have a good night’s sleep.

SeaHorse is a Hong Kong brand, and it has several advantages:

  • Designed for Asian body in terms of firmness and thickness. Westerners have broad shoulders so they need a very thick pillow. If you buy Western pillow brands like King Koil, often they are too thick, your neck will be at an awkward angle.
  • Also, westerners like to sleep on very soft beds, while Chinese like to sleep on firmer beds due to an ancient belief in Chinese medicine (the best is allegedly to sleep on a hard wooden bed). Hence, western brand pillows are designed to sink into the soft bed. If your bed is Asian bed (i.e. more firm), it won’t sink in and you will be left with a very tall pillow.
  • Quite affordable in terms of price. If you want the best pillow, it is probably Tempur as they have “space-like astronaut material”. However it is very expensive, and also it may become hot under the Singapore weather due to the “space material”.

This is the standard Sea Horse pillow that is good enough for everyday usage (from Official SeaHorse Qoo10 site):

[S$18.00](▼64%)[Sea Horse]SeaHorse SIL Comfortable Foam Pillow(100-100) Free Delivery!

WWW.QOO10.SG

They also have a memory foam version, which is better contoured to your head.

[S$54.00](▼59%)[Sea Horse]Sea Horse Memory Foam Pillow(100-100) Free Delivery!

WWW.QOO10.SG

‘I refused to meet my son’s JC teacher after the 1st meeting with her’

A mother’s heartfelt comment on Facebook (received 184 likes).

Excerpt: “I refused to meet my son’s JC teacher after the 1st meeting with her after 1st half of JC1. She focused the whole conversation on my son’s grades and that he will fail eventually. She was very superficial all the way and kept reminding me that it’s a prestigious school. I told her it’s just the 1st 6 months, too early to judge anything. My message to all parents, trust your kids and give them moral support and space. They have enough from these so called teachers who just worry about the school reputation and not the kid’s potential.”

Ohm $20 Referral Code: OHMREF25CC5A

*Ohm Referral Code: OHMREF25CC5A

Ohm has just improved their discount off tariff rate to 25%! Their fixed rate is also improved! Previously Ohm was good, now it is fantastic!

Read my previous review of Ohm at: Ohm $20 Promo Code: OHMREF25CC5A

Dear Customer,

Thank you for trying us out. We are glad that you have chosen Ohm as your preferred electricity retailer.

Our mantra is to keep prices competitive and not disadvantage customers who have signed up earlier. We still maintain the same view. Since the start of the Open Electricity Market (OEM) on 19 March 2018, we have kept our prices consistent in spite of the increase in Brent prices. After consideration, we realised that we are able to introduce additional savings to our customers and so, from 1st January 2019, we will be updating various Price Plans. The intention of this email is to inform you that although we are updating our prices, if you are still on our 3-month trial, you would be eligible to switch to any of our other price plans, you can choose to do so on our customer portal. at www.ohm.sg.

Our Fixed Ohm Price Plans will be lowered to the following prices (inclusive of GST):

6-Months Fixed Ohm: From 20.01 cents/kWh to 18.35 cents/kWh
12-Months Fixed Ohm: From 19.58 cents/kWh to 18.03 cents/kWh
24-Months Fixed Ohm: From 18.14 cents/kWh to 17.98 cents/kWh

Our Ohm Discount Price Plans will be updated to the following prices:

6-Months Ohm Discount: From 20% discount off Regulated Tariff to 25% discount off Regulated Tariff
12-Months Ohm Discount: From 22% discount off Regulated Tariff to 25% discount off Regulated Tariff

Below is a Quick Guide on the price plan change process:

1. Go to our website at www.ohm.sg and click on Login at the top right-hand corner. If you have forgotten your password, you can reset your password through the “Can’t remember your password” link.

2. When you have logged into Customer Portal, Go to the “Electricity Price Plan” tab.

3. Select “Change my Price Plan”.

4. You will be redirected to our webpage by clicking on the “leave” button.

5. Select the Price Plan of your choice on the left top corner on the price plan page (e.g. 24-months Fixed Ohm). Click on “Change Ohm Now”, your current information will be auto-populated.

6. You will then reach the confirmation page, click “confirm & verify” to accept.

7. If you face any issues or you are required to re-enter the information, you can refresh the screen by clicking on your account name on the top right-hand corner.

Should you have any questions during the change process or have other general questions about the electricity market, please do let us know and we will be happy to assist you.

#TeamOhm would like to thank you for a great 2018 and an even better one in 2019. Happy New Year!

Sincerely,
Team Ohm

Price Plan Change Summary for Fixed Ohm and Ohm Discount

Fixed Ohm Price Plan (Inclusive of GST)

Current Price (cents/kWh) NEW Price (cents/kWh)
6 Months Contract 20.01 18.35
12 Months Contract 19.58 18.03
24 Months Contract 18.14 17.98

Ohm Discount Price Plan

Discount off Regulated Tariff Discount off Regulated Tariff)
6 Months Contract 20% 25%
12 Months Contract 22% 25%