Premium Musang King (King of Kings) Durian unboxing video, as well as feeding some to Charlie the toy poodle dog!
The durian is “King of Kings” durian (王中王榴莲, Wang Zhong Wang), which is actually more expensive than the usual Musang King (猫山王榴莲 Mao Shan Wang). I read somewhere that it is the original Old Tree version of Musang King, other sources simply say it is a higher grade (AAA grade) of Mao Shan Wang. The major durian season is between June and September. There is a minor durian season during December to February.
Just feeding Charlie a little bit of durian, too much durian seems to be not good for dogs (due to it being too sweet). A little bit of durian is not harmful or poisonous to dogs though, dogs can eat it. Just be careful not to let the dog swallow the seed. Charlie once accidentally swallowed a small durian seed, fortunately he vomited it out.
Review: The taste is very creamy, thick, rich, and bittersweet. It is more sweet than bitter. I would rate it 4.5/5. The worst durians in my opinion are those that are either too watery or too dry and rubbery. This King of Kings durian is neither!
I compile some sources on the Wang Zhong Wang (King of Kings) Durian:
DrChansKitchen (The stallholder recommended me 王中王 which he claimed to be the best of 猫山王.)
TimeOut (Looking for something even better than MSW? Then you have to try Wang Zhong Wang, which literally translates to the king of kings. The triple-A grade MSW durians are set apart from the pack for its well-balanced bitterness and velvety smooth)
AvenueOne (While Mao Shan Wang is arguably the most well-loved in Singapore, there is actually a type that is arguably even better – Wang Zhong Wang (translates literally to ‘King of Kings’). The smooth texture and fine balance of bitter flavours are definitely worth the higher price tag.)
Just some relaxing video of Rasbora fish (Phoenix rasbora) schooling together in a group of 8.
Some rare footage of my Boraras Merah (close relative of Chili Rasbora) schooling in a tight formation. They don’t do this very often. Most of the time they school loosely, or even do their separate stuff. In the middle of my filming, Charlie the poodle is curious and watches as well!
Some Trivia: 7 of the Rasbora were bought in the same store, but 1 of them was from another batch. It took a few months for the 1 sole rasbora to familiarize and join the 7 other rasbora as a team. Quite interesting!
Mathtuition88 will be starting a series of Homeschool Math Challenging Problems, aimed at age 8 to 10 (Grade 2 to 4).
This series is targeted at kids age 8 to 10 who are strong / gifted at mathematics and wish to further stretch their potential. It is also useful for children who may not be strong in math at the moment, but have a keen interest in math nonetheless.
In particular, it is very suitable for the following purposes:
Homeschooling for gifted kids
Preparation for GEP (Gifted Education Programme) screening and selection tests
Preparation for Math Olympiad
Puzzles for kids interested in math but find school work too easy.
PSLE challenging Math problem sums. The questions are also well within the PSLE Math Syllabus, and will be challenging to Primary 6 students as well.
This series of questions will follow the Singapore Math syllabus for Grade…
Miu Miu Guitar Girl is a young six year old girl who is expert at playing the guitar. Her YouTube channel has amassed a huge following (174k subscribers) within a very short time.
Currently, there is no Wikipedia page on Miu Miu Guitar Girl. However, there is quite a lot of information on her (in Chinese) online. We summarize as much on Miu Miu Guitar Girl in this short Wiki page as possible.
Real name: Zhou Zhaoyan 周昭妍
Stage name: Miu Miu Guitar Girl
Nationality: China, Nanjing
Age: 6 years old (2020)
6 and a half years old in April 2020 to be more precise.
Most famous video: Fly me to the moon (This is also my personal favorite)!
5.2 million views
Special traits: She has an elf ear (pointy right ear).
Instruments she plays: Guitar (Acoustic, Classical and Electric), Ukulele, Piano, Drums, Bass, Vocals
Miu miu has passed the highest grade certification for acoustic guitar in China (Grade 10 Guitar). She has learnt guitar since the age of 3, and since then has racked up over 2000 hours in practice time! She can practice 5 or 6 hours (maximum up to 7 hours) in a single day, especially during the lockdown period where she stays at home.
Even for her secondary instrument, the piano, Miu Miu has obtained a grade 4 certification.
Ambition: Miu miu aims to be a doctor in the future.
Miu Miu Guitar Girl Parents: Her father, Mr Zhou, is a guitar teacher.
Miu Miu’s father is a guitar teacher.
“Practicing guitar is hard, but it’s easier than doing homework.”
– Miumiu
Trivia: Miu miu calls her fans “icy candy”, “icy cookie”, “frozen lollipop” or “frozen strawberry”. She likes the movie “Frozen”, as well as eat the above types of food!
Do vote above whether you prefer GrabFood, Foodpanda, or Deliveroo (or others)!
Personally, I prefer Foodpanda for this one single reason:
You can order ahead of time (e.g. when the store is not opened yet, or order the lunch menu when it is still breakfast hours).
GrabFood seems to have this limitation that you can only order when the store is open. For example, if a restaurant opens at 11am, you can only start ordering at 11am. Also, during breakfast hours, you can only order the breakfast menu.
I have not tried Deliveroo yet. Do comment below if you find it better, or worse, than GrabFood and Foodpanda.
Grab food vs Foodpanda Price
Pricing wise, the price seems similar between GrabFood and Foodpanda. By the way, it is certainly not the case that GrabFood, Foodpanda only earns the delivery fee! It is well known that the prices are often “marked up” and the delivery companies will earn the difference in price as well. For example, if a plate of chicken rice costs $3 in the hawker center, in the app it can be listed as $5. Read more in this Mothership article.
Nevertheless, the amount of “mark up” seems similar or even exactly the same between GrabFood and Foodpanda, according to my experience.
Grab charges a 30% service fee to the merchants (the food sellers). This is charged on every order received through Grab, for both Delivery and Self Pick-Up orders. (Please note that this service fee is subject to prevailing GST rates.)
Hence, it is logical that most merchants (hawkers, restaurants) will pass on the cost to the customer, marking up the price by 30%.
Firstly, note that Business Times is part of SPH (Singapore Press Holdings) and hence is a rather reliable source.
This is quite a good news for large families or large households. For small households, the total expenses saved may be quite negligible (maybe just $10 per month). Another thing is that the calculation seems quite difficult and hard to justify (for example whether increased air con usage due to work from home is justified as electricity expenses).
Another scenario where it is useful is maybe those telemarketers who use their own phone to call at home.
Currently, this source from Business Times seems to be the sole source of information. Probably when more official sources appear, there will be more information on how to calculate and provide justifications for the tax expenses savings. Some worked examples would also help, for people to gauge what is the typical amount they can claim.
WORKERS working from home can claim deduction against employment income for charges such as electricity and telecommunication expenses not reimbursed by employers.
An Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) spokesperson told The Business Times: “Tax deduction against employment income is allowable for expenses incurred wholly and exclusively in the production of employment income. ”
To qualify for deduction, the expenses must be incurred while carrying out official duties, not reimbursed by the employer, and not capital or private in nature.
These expenses include the additional power and telecommunication bills incurred when employees are required to work from home. This is not limited to the “circuit breaker” period, the taxman said.
The average of 5 numbers is 73. When 2 numbers were removed, the average decreased by 3. What is the average of the 2 numbers that were removed?
This is part of a series on Homeschool Math Challenging Puzzles, suitable for Grades 2-4. (Of course, students of other grades are also welcome to try them out.) The questions are suitable for:
Homeschooling for gifted kids
Preparation for GEP (Gifted Education Programme) screening and selection tests
Preparation for Math Olympiad
Puzzles for kids interested in math but find school work too easy.
Answer:
This is literally an “average” question. 😛 The word “average” appears 3 times.
The trick is to focus on the total instead.
The total of the 5 numbers is: 73×5=365.
After removing 2 numbers, the average is 73-3=70.
Hence, the total of the 3 remaining numbers is: 70×3=210.
We can then conclude that, the total of the 2 removed numbers is:
365-210=155.
Hence, the average of the 2 removed numbers is: 155/2=77.5 or 75 1/2.
There is this relatively new product called “Adaptil” Calm Collar for dogs. Apparently, it is supposed to contain pheromones mimicking those from a mother dog to calm the puppy. The scientific name for the active ingredient is DAP or Dog Appeasing Pheromone.
Reviews on Amazon are quite mixed, there are as many 5 star reviews as 1 star reviews. I think this shows that dogs are complex creatures, it is unlikely that one product works universally for all dogs. Similarly, for humans, there is no single medicine that can “calm” a person down.
If you have any experience with Adaptil with your pet dog, for example how long it takes to show results, please comment below!
Additional Mathematics questions can range from standard all the way to super challenging among the secondary schools in Singapore.
Certain schools (such as IP schools), and also some schools such as Anderson, Chung Cheng High School, are well known for setting hard A Math papers.
Note that even though top schools set hard A Math papers, it is not often the case that top schools teach or prepare well their students for the tests! Often, the teachers in school teach at a basic level (due to time constraints or other factors), but still test at an advanced level. Hence, many students in top IP schools are not well prepared for their school’s tests (unless they have excellent self study skills or have a parent or tutor to guide them). It is not uncommon for a student in a top IP school to be failing his/her math tests due to the above phenomena (difficult tests which do not match what is taught in school).
Some of the more difficult types of questions in the A Math syllabus are listed below.
Algebra
Conditions for ax^2 + bx + c to be always positive (or always negative). This type of question has potential to be very tricky. Somehow, many students will assume wrongly that b^2-4ac is always positive as well (where it should be the opposite).
Partial Fractions with Improper Fractions. Only top schools tend to test improper partial fractions. Many students will miss out long division or make mistakes along the way.
Binomial Theorem. Many students have serious problems with this topic. Also, not many seem to know that .
Sketching of Tangent graphs. 90% of all sketching questions are on Sine or Cosine. Only top schools will set tangent sketching questions, and many students will be caught unaware.
Half-angle formula sin(x/2) or Quadruple angle formula sin(4x) Top schools like to test half-angle formula, many students who have not seen such questions will be stuck.
Integration
Finding area to the left of the curve, i.e. . Most schools kind of brush off this type of questions during teaching. But it is a hot topic for testing among top schools. Hence, students will have a hard time solving it if they lack practice for this type of questions.
I realize that many students from top IP schools don’t know these formula. In fact many students have not even seen or heard of these formula in school! (Not entirely their fault since the teachers don’t teach/emphasize it.)
Nevertheless, they are often tested in the harder A Math Trigonometry questions, it is a must to know if you are aiming for A1.
Negative Angles Formula
Supplementary Angles Formula
Complementary Angles Formula
Click on the link “View Original Post” below to see the original post with the formulae.
A popular question (which is also related to financial Math), is how much money does it take for a person to retire in Singapore? We will collate reliable sources and their calculations in this blog post. By reliable, we mean that we will only select sources posted by major banks (POSB, OCBC, etc.), as well as those posted on major Singapore news outlets (Straits Times, Today, Channel News Asia etc.). Major insurance companies (AIA, Prudential) etc, can also be considered. Lastly, we also consider famous blogs like Mothership, Seedly, MoneySmart.
We will also post the relevant “metrics”, which include Retirement Age, Retirement Monthly Income, Years to Retirement.
Note that the Straits Times has estimated that a recommended Retirement Monthly Income is $1379, or around $1400. This covers mostly necessary items only, with just a few small “luxuries” like “occasional inexpensive meals out with family or friends, homes that are safe and comfortable, and an annual holiday to a nearby destination”. Note that air-conditioning and owning a car is excluded from the budget.
(Note that this list is not finalized, we will continue to add new sources here when we encounter one.)
1) OCBC: S$1.3 million
OCBC has a very interesting “fishing video” featuring a talking fish. In it, it is calculated that “to retire in 20 years and live on S$3,000 monthly, you need S$1.3 million”.
Retirement Age: 62
Retirement Monthly Income: $3000
Years to Retirement: 20
Talking fish from OCBC Video and its retirement calculation!
2) Mothership: S$720,000
This plan is worked out by Daniel, 29, and featured on Mothership. His retirement plan is to spend “30 years on a piece of farmland bought overseas, where he will build a ranch, and live off the earth surrounded by free-roaming livestock”.
Retirement Age: 50
Retirement Monthly Income: $2000
Years to Retirement: 21
The $720,000 can be broken down into S$360,000 cash and S$264,000 in his CPF Retirement Account at age 55 years old. Note that the above doesn’t quite add up to $720,000. That is because the CPF amount is for ensuring that he will “receive a steady stream of monthly payouts of around S$2,110 from age 65 for as long as he lives”.
3) Mothership: S$360,000
This is another plan from Mothership, by Melanie, age 25, female.
Retirement Age: 70
Retirement Monthly Income: $3000
Years to Retirement: 45
Again, the magic number seems to be “S$264,000 in her CPF Retirement Account at age 55”. Melanie can then defer her monthly payouts to 70. She will then receive around $2,600 per month for as long as she lives.
4) Seedly: $228,960 to $473,760
The Seedly blog calculates that one would need $228,960 to $473,760, depending on the age of retirement. It is summarized in the table below.
Retirement Age
Average Life Expectancy Of Singaporeans
Years Left To Enjoy Retirement
Retirement Savings Required
50
82.9
32.9
$473,760
55
82.9
27.9
$401,760
62
82.9
20.9
$300,960
67
82.9
15.9
$228,960
The above is based on:
Retirement Monthly Income: $1,200
This is on the low side considering the Straits Times article that recommends $1379 for monthly retirement income. Nevertheless, the amount of total retirement savings required seems quite low compared to OCBC and Mothership.
Recently, a well known news is that Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho dies at 98. Everyone knows that Mr Stanley Ho is rich (net worth of at least 2.5 billion USD). He is also a philanthropist, well known for purchasing and donating two precious Qing Dynasty relics (worth millions) to China’s museums. These two relics were previously looted by French and British armies from the imperial Summer Palace in Beijing in around 1860. Hence, his donation is very important and symbolic indeed. Rest in peace, Mr Stanley Ho.
Stanley Ho was descended from great-grandfather Charles Henry Maurice Bosman (1839–1892), who was of Dutch Jewish ancestry, and his Chinese mistress Sze Tai (施娣) a local woman of Bao’an (present-day Shenzhen and Hong Kong). His grandfather was Ho Fook (何福), brother of the great merchant Sir Robert Hotung. (Wikipedia)
Mario Ho, son of Stanley Ho & Math Genius
What is less known is that Mario Ho, one of Stanley Ho’s 17 children, is a Math Genius as well.
Here are some of his accomplishments (from his official LinkedIn page):
Graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and was the youngest graduate of the school’s history in finance.
In 2008-2013, he won the Hong Kong Championship of the World Mathematics Open twice.
Won five gold medals in the National Mathematics Competition in UK.
British National Mathematics Open 英國全國數學公開賽
Gold Medal 金牌
British National Mathematics Open 英國全國數學公開賽
Gold Medal 金牌
British National Mathematics Open 英國全國數學公開賽
Gold Medal 金牌
British National Mathematics Open 英國全國數學公開賽
Gold Medal 金牌
World Mathematics Open, Hong Kong 世界數學公開賽香港
Ranked first 排名第一
British National Mathematics Open 英國全國數學公開賽
Gold Medal 金牌
World Mathematics Open, Hong Kong 世界數學公開賽香港
Ranked first 排名第一
He can also speak 5 languages at native proficiency: English, Chinese, Cantonese, French, Korean.
Mario Ho (何猷君) also participated in the Super Brain contest (最强大脑), where he came in first in the “Sam Loyd 15 puzzle” section among hundreds of other geniuses from top universities in China.
2011年3月，获得全英国数学 Olympiad test 中以 109/120 胜出，代表学校参加更厉害的 Mclaurens 数学比赛。
In March 2011, he scored 109/120 in the British Mathematics Olympiad test, representing the school in the more challenging Mclaurens mathematics competition.
“Gambling King” Stanley Ho Hung-sun and his son Mario Ho (He Youjun) are both excellent at mathematics. The sixth grader won the “World Mathematics Test” Invitational for two consecutive years. On the prize presentation ceremony, Stanley Ho and his wife served as awarding guests and personally presented the certificate to their son. Stanley Ho couldn’t hide his joy. When he spoke on stage, he said that he was as proud of his children’s achievements as the parents of more than one hundred children who won the prize.
CCA enhances the overall portfolio of the student, but at the end of the day, the foundation of the portfolio is still ‘A’ levels.
Especially for local uni admission, CCA is not really taken into consideration.
For top tier scholarships / top local courses, it would require good ‘A’ level results + good CCA though.
Question from JC1 student on Kiasuparents: “but the school focuses a lot on other areas of development like CCA and etc so i want to know that is it really that important cos i don’t feel like taking part in all these activities anyone got experience in these areas??”:
I would think for majority of students, it would be better to prioritize to get: Good ‘A’ level results & Mediocre CCA rather than Mediocre ‘A’ level results & Good CCA.
Of course, if one is all-rounded, one can aim for the ideal goal of: Good ‘A’ level results & Good CCA. (To be realistic, not everyone can achieve that…)
The only exception is if one’s CCA results is so excellent (e.g. win top award at national or international level), it can potentially lead to special case arrangements for university admission even with poor ‘A’ level results. Note that this is probably a 0.1% case scenario for top CCA performers, a typical “President of CCA group” position may not suffice, let alone an ordinary member of the CCA.
CCA training hours can vary widely among different CCAs. I have seen students with CCA that can last up to 9pm or later on weekdays. This can be extremely tiring considering that school starts at 7am next day. Someone succinctly summarized on Kiasuparents that: “In conclusion, the minimal you need to do is to choose a CCA with only one session per week and make yourself physically present on that day.“
Maths Physics Hub
Quite a large collection of recent (2017) Physics Exam Papers, ranging from top schools (ACS, Nan Chiau, etc.) as well as neighborhood schools (Fuhua, Zhonghua, Xinmin, etc.).
Test Papers Free
A large collection of Pure Physics as well as Combined Science (Physics) exam papers. No login is required, however the interface is a bit messy. But you should be able to find quite a few Physics Test Papers.
https://testpapers.com.sg/
A treasure trove of school papers (including Physics Pure and Combined, Express and Normal Academic (NA)). Needs login to download.
‘A’ Level / Prelim Physics Exam Papers
http://tinyurl.com/holygrailrepo2
This weirdly titled Google Drive (“Electric Boogaloo”) contains a mega-database of JC Prelim papers for Physics. Exam papers ranges from H1 to H3, and from the years 2008 to 2019.
Note: The Free Physics Test Papers listed above are hosted on external sites independently. Sometimes, the site may be down or the link may be broken.
The results show that the majority (57.6%) of voters think it takes at least 75 marks to get ‘A’ for H2 Math. Notably, a significant percentage (27.17%) think that it takes 80 marks and above to get ‘A’ for H2 Math.
Students who have taken the H2 Math exam can actually estimate the cut-off point for ‘A’ grade quite well. Basically, the worked solutions are typically released by seniors/tutors, and students can estimate their own marks rather easily. Then, they can compare with their actual grade received.
Nevertheless, the above is just a poll, it may not be 100% accurate and it also depends on the difficulty of that year’s exam. An easier exam would naturally lead to a higher mark required for ‘A’ grade for H2 Maths.
Is there bell curve for ‘A’ levels?
This is a tricky question. The technically correct answer is that there is no bell curve, but there is a similar thing called “grade boundaries”. It is like certain schools saying that they have no Midyear Exam, but there is a “Block Test”. Read more about whether there is bell curve for ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels.
WordPress has released a new editor called “Gutenberg”. While WordPress should definitely be applauded for its new innovation, personally I find it more convenient to just use the Classic editor instead. Perhaps it is just a matter of habit. Basically, I find the learning curve not justified for basic blog posts. I would need to see a truly impressive application of the “blocks” in order to switch over to the new editor.
WordPress New Editor Disable
If you search on Google, one of the most popular search terms is actually “wordpress new editor disable”! This shows that many people are actually trying to disable the new WordPress editor completely! Personally, what I do is I first create a new post (by default it is the new editor), save post, and then edit it using the Classic Editor.
Do vote in the poll above and it would be interesting to see the results!
I have been there personally once. Had a good impression as they had exotic fish not commonly found elsewhere. (For example, Gertrude Rainbowfish (Pseudomugil gertrudae), Celestial Pearl Danio, etc.) They are also specialized in shrimp and plants. It was my first time seeing the Gertrude Rainbowfish, and I was absolutely fascinated.
The guy (not sure of his name) there was clearly knowledgeable about fish (much more knowledgeable than me). Taught me a bit about how to keep Celestial Pearl Danio. The owner was friendly, and can see that he is passionate about the fish and aquarium hobby.
Also, ordered plants online from them. Their plants are of good quality, and labelled correctly. For example, my Ludwigia Super Red was bought from them. It was grown submersed (underwater), and was of good quality (had roots, leaves are bright red color).
For comparison, many other aquarium shops in Singapore don’t label their plants, as well as sell non-aquatic plants. (I as a beginner was “scammed” twice, once with Malayan Aqua Fern, and another time with Alternanthera Sessilis.) Had they been labeled, a simple Google check would suffice to know that they are non-aquatic.
Currently, they do have a free delivery promotion (no minimum purchase), so do check them out on their Facebook or online store.
Overall, I would say that they are more of a premium aquarium store, they have great quality and range of rare exotic fish and plants.
There is one negative review of them in a blog online (dated 2014), that was certainly not my experience in 2019. In 2019/2020, my review of Aquatic Avenue is definitely positive.
Overall Review of Aquatic Avenue:
Very Good!
Exotic and rare fish
Exotic and rare plants (properly labeled and grown)
Quality fish and plants
Premium high-end aquarium shop, prices are still affordable
Friendly and knowledgeable staff
If you decide to visit them (after the virus situation stabilizes), do check out the nearby Redhill coffeeshop as well. There are many vintage hawker food there which are of good quality, and at very affordable prices.
This plant Salvinia (to be precise Salvinia Molesta or Giant Salvinia) is a super easy floating plant. It has 3 forms: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary Forms. I started with Tertiary Form Salvinia, and now have a lot of Primary Form Salvinia, as well as a few Secondary Form Salvinia.
I find that Salvinia is an easy floating plant because:
1) It only requires medium light
2) It has 3 forms and will evolve to the form that is most suited for your tank. The Tertiary Form is usually for outdoor ponds.
3) It is ok with getting a bit wet. Many other floating plants must be completely dry or else they may rot.
4) It has short roots. Hence, there is no need to trim its roots.
5) Easy to remove if you don’t want it. Most of its leaves are linked together. Hence you can remove all the leaves in a few grabs. This is in contrast to duckweed, which is notorious for being hard to remove.
I find that the Primary Form of Giant Salvinia is quite similar to Salvinia Minima, and the Secondary Form of Giant Salvinia is quite similar to Salvinia Natans! Could they be the same species?
Tropica also sells this version of Salvinia which they call it Salvinia auriculata.
The following are some of the most important topics for Integrated Programme (IP) Additional Mathematics. Also applicable for the usual ‘O’ level Additional Mathematics.
Notice that Secondary 3 topics are very important as well, for the final Promo or ‘O’ levels. This can be a major problem for students who only start to study seriously in Secondary 4 — it can be a tough job to catch up with the important Secondary 3 topics.
Secondary 3 topics
Binomial Theorem
Indices and Logarithms
Coordinate Geometry of Circles
Linear Law
Secondary 4 topics
Trigonometry: R formula and Graphs
Differentiation and its Applications
Integration and its applications (including area under the curve)
The following are some motivational quotes by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, former president of India. The source is from Pinterest. I have also translated some of the quotes into Chinese.
I believe the quotes make perfect sense! Hope you find it motivational and useful as well.
Love your job but don’t love your company, because you may not know when your company stops loving you.
热爱你的工作，但不要爱你的公司，因为你不知道公司何时停止爱你。
Work is a never-ending process. It can never be completed.
工作是一个永无止境的过程。 它永远无法完成。
Interest of a client is important, so is your family.
客户的利益很重要，您的家人也很重要。
If you fall in your life, neither your boss nor client will offer you a helping hand; your family and friends will.
如果你在生活上遇到挫折，老板和客户都不会给你帮助；您的家人和朋友会。
Life is not only about work, office and client. There is more to life. You need time to socialize, entertain, relax and exercise. Don’t let life be meaningless.
Ludwigia Super Red, also known as Ludwigia Palustris or Ludwigia sp. red (mini) is one of the easiest low tech (No CO2) red plants. Due to its small size, it is suitable for nano tanks (with trimming).
It is rated “easy” by Tropica. In comparison, most other red plants are rated “Medium” or “Advanced”.
I am trying out this low tech easy red plant without CO2. Future updates will be posted on this page as well.
Day 1 (May 22, 2020):
Ludwigia Super Red 1st day in low tech tank!
Day 2:
This is the second day of growing Ludwigia Palustris, also known as Ludwigia Super Red (sp. red mini). I think new growth has already appeared at the top of the stems! The new growth seems not so red though, maybe my light is not strong enough.
Day 4:
Currently, it is day 4 of growing it. I dose basic fertilizers like Tropica Premium, Seachem Potassium (weekly) and also Seachem Root Tabs (once every few months). I think the plant is adapting to the new environment, I did notice a bit of melting going on.
Day 8:
Still surviving on Day 8! The new leaves are quite cool, they are mixed red and green in coloration, with red mostly at the tips. I wonder if they will turn red completely eventually.
Day 13:
We continue with Day 13 of growing Ludwigia Palustris (aka Ludwigia Super Red) in low tech without CO2. Seems to be surviving! There is a bit of “fungus” problem after feeding Hikari frozen brine shrimp, hopefully it clears after the water change.
Stay tuned for future updates. If you have any experience on growing Ludwigia in low tech tanks, please comment below!
Xiaozhuang Wong, also known as Dennis Wong (an expert aquascaper), has demonstrated that Ludwigia sp. red is actually the same plant as Ludwigia mini super red. It is the same plant, except that it grows smaller adult forms under lean fertilization regimes. This is similar for many plants. The below image shows Ludwigia plant taken from same cutting, grown under 2 different tank nutrient regimes. (Source: Xiaozhuang Wong Facebook)
Experiment done by Xiaozhuang Wong. Image from his Facebook.
Deviated Septum refers to the condition where the nasal septum (the bone and cartilage that divide the nasal cavity of the nose in half) is slanted or tilted to one side. The symptoms are typically nasal congestion or stuffiness in one side of the nose. Mild deviated septum is actually very common, 80% of people have it. Moderate to severe deviated septum may lead to nasal problems.
Deviated septum can be typically diagnosed through an X-ray or by nasal endoscopy. Currently, the main treatment for deviated septum is septoplasty, which is a surgical procedure. Due to the surgery involved, quite many people with deviated septum are not keen to undergo the procedure unless it is really serious.
Deviated septum is not a major illness, but the symptoms (of nose congestion) can be very annoying, and also may lead to related problems like sinus infections.
In my personal experience, the deviated septum itself is not the main cause of nose blockage. After all, air molecules are tiny, no matter how narrow is the nose passage, definitely air can pass through it. It is the associated problems of nasal turbinate swelling, and also other nose tissue (such as polyps) swelling and blocking the nose passage that causes the main problem of nasal blockage.
I have compiled a list of natural treatments and remedies that I have personally tried and found to relieve the symptoms of deviated septum. Hope it helps, and if you have other tips, you are welcome to leave a comment below.
Medical Disclaimer: This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding deviated septum or other medical conditions.
1) Nose Unblocking Exercises
I have previously blogged about this on Amazing method to unblock stuffy nose. This should be the first method you try since it is totally free and does not require any special equipment.
Basically, pinch your nose and sway, until you are almost out of breath, then breath in through your nose. This has scientific basis, by allowing carbon dioxide to build up and naturally clear your nose by constricting the blood vessels in your nose.
Another method is Nasal Septum Mobilization invented by Dr Alan Mandell. It is quite a novel method, so far I have only seen it on his YouTube channel and not anywhere else. I think it may work for people with Deviated Septum as a natural remedy. Basically, the way it works is by moving the septum so as to create a “motion” to unblock the nose.
2) Nasal Sinus Rinse or Spray
Due to deviated septum, there is a high chance that mucus / dust particles can get “stuck” on the side of the nose that is narrower. Without help, it can be stuck there for a long time and lead to sinus infections, nose blockage, or allergic reactions.
One way to loosen the mucus and wash away the dirt particles is via Sinus Rinse. This is actually a modern version of Neti Pots, which is an ancient Indian Ayurvedic treatment. The classic brand for Sinus Rinse is NeilMed, which is very convenient with pre-packed saline salts for the sinus rinse. (Rinsing with pure water is not recommended as it will be painful. Adding saline salts will make the rinse more comfortable as it has the same osmotic pressure as the human body.)
A related method to sinus rinse is sinus spray. It is a low-volume method of spraying salt water into the nose. The advantages is that it is more convenient to perform (no need to be near water source or sink). The disadvantage is that it may not be as effective as the high-volume sinus rinse in terms of dislodging particles in the nose.
Vicks inhaler is a menthol-based scented stick, that has the effect of creating a “cooling” effect in the nose, hence immediately creating a sensation of the nose being unblocked. It also has mild decongesting properties. I find that it does reduce the symptoms of nose block due to deviated septum.
The above 3 methods are considered non-medical in nature. Basically, safe to try as long as you follow the instructions in the labels.
4) Decongestants / Anti-histamines
When the nasal blockage is serious, one may try decongestants, which can typically be found in pharmacies without a doctor’s prescription. An example is pseudoephedrine, which can be found in medications like Robitussin, or Clarityn-D.
Anti-histamines can also help to reduce nasal turbinate swelling due to allergy. (Nasal turbinate swelling, also known as nasal turbinate hypertrophy, makes deviated septum worse by making the already narrow nasal passage even more congested.) Clarityn-D also contains the anti-histamine loratadine.
Not Recommended
It is usually not recommended to use Afrin nasal sprays or similar products. It is well known that it can lead to “rebound effect”, meaning that your problem becomes worse when stopping the spray.
The above are just personal natural remedies that I have tried, and found effective in combating deviated septum symptoms. Hope it helps!
I am a huge fan of simple, minimalistic Powerpoint templates with white background.
Why white background: Basically it is more convenient for printing (save ink), as well as it looks more elegant and professional.
However, most Powerpoint templates are too “flashy” or “colorful”.
On the other hand, the most basic template (just pure white background) is too dull and boring.
Simple Elegant Powerpoint templates
Actually the official Microsoft website has quite a few nice templates. The problem is that less than 5% of them satisfy the criteria of being simple, elegant, and white background.
I recall that this was very big news around 10 years ago. Basically, the author Dr. Cai Mingjie was a research scientist with a PhD from Stanford, specializing in Life Sciences (biochemistry and cell biology). However, he was fired/retrenched at the height of his career, for reasons that were largely unknown. He did not manage to find a job initially and became a taxi driver in November 2008, which he persisted for around six months. (He managed to find another job, though non-academic, subsequently.)
He started a blog called “A Singapore Taxi Driver’s Diary” (now deactivated), which became hugely popular. Subsequently, he published his blog as a book which is featured below.
For a free preview of his stories, one can actually click on the Amazon book preview to read a couple of the short stories. The stories are quite insightful, and motivational in a way. Taxi drivers have a unique perspective since they are able to observe all strata of society on a daily basis.
The free preview on Amazon has the following stories:
Day One (first day of working as taxi driver)
Broken Barrier and Two Unforgettable Customers
Preface & Epilogue (which describes the interesting background of the author)
Overall, the author deserves deep respect for being 能屈能伸, being able to take temporary setbacks; able to bow and rise at will. After all, being a taxi driver is a honest job.
I think the above book and news represented the start of the “bursting of the bubble” of Life Sciences, at least in Singapore. (If a life science researcher with Stanford PhD has problem finding jobs, how about those with lesser qualifications?) For those who recall, life sciences was hugely popular as a major around 10-20 years ago (2000-2010). Many JC students, including many of my classmates/acquaintances would choose it as their major in University. The life sciences department was one of the largest compared to other sciences like Physics or Chemistry. It turned out that the job opportunities in Life Sciences was not that plenty, and many would end up in careers totally unrelated to Life Sciences / biology.
iMovie is a great free movie editor for Mac. However, an annoying bug is that when two video clips are put together, there can often be “corrupted” frames, glitch, or even choppy video between the two clips.
Simple solution to iMovie Transition Glitch
There are some complicated solutions online, such as re-importing the video clips in certain formats.
However, a simple solution that I tried and tested to work in most cases is to try trimming off a few seconds from the start of the affected video clip. Or even adding a transition effect where the problem arises may work.
To explain more precisely, suppose the problem arises in between A -> B, where A and B are video clips. Then, you can try trimming off a few seconds off the start of video clip B, or adding a transition effect between A and B. (If there is already a transition from A -> B, try removing it!)
Another solution to iMovie Transition Bug
Another solution that I tried and works in some cases, is to export the movie via File -> Share in Best (ProRes) Quality, with Better Quality Compress.
Best (ProRes) Quality and Better Quality Compression may solve your iMovie glitching bugs.
Other solutions to iMovie Bugs between Video transitions
If you have other solutions that you have seen or tried out, please share it in the comments below!
Recently upgraded my air pump to the Eheim Air Pump 200, with dual output. My previous air pump was not strong enough to power 2 sponge filters simultaneously.
This Eheim Air Pump is very strong. In fact, it is almost too strong, I had to lower to the lowest setting for my 2 gallon nano tank. For the 5 gallon tank, I select the medium setting, and angle the output towards the wall. The sponge filter output was made to be above the water level (there is less turbulence this way).
Overall, this air pump is very good and quiet. Do expect some noise though, it is not totally silent. I would say it has the same noise level as a fan, which is totally acceptable. Also, I find that the 2 adjustable valves are not totally independent, when I adjust one valve it will affect the other output as well.
Review: The Eheim Air Pump is a highly recommended air pump for fish keepers with 2 aquariums.
The Eheim 200 Air Pump is also labelled as Eheim PHL207184. There is a more powerful Eheim 400 (twice the output), but based on my review most aquariums under 50 gallons should not require such a powerful pump (maybe 50 gallons and above may need it).
There are indeed more stray dogs than you imagine in Singapore. With the Trap-Neuter-Release-Manage (TNRM) Programme, we aim to reduce the number of strays out there over time. SOSD works closely with stray feeders in different parts of Singapore, in order to trap the dogs, especially the feral ones. Very often, these dogs have learnt to trust their feeders, and catching them would only be possible with the help and cooperation of the feeders who feed them daily.
Amidst the fight against COVID-19, we hope to extend a helping hand to our thankless stray feeders. 365 days a year, the stray feeders painstakingly prepare the daily meals for the stray doggies that they feed, before making their rounds around industrial areas, construction sites or forested areas to deliver food straight to the doggies’ bellies.
If you’ve been wondering how you can chip in during this difficult period, why not make a contribution to ease the pockets of the feeders?
For $98, you can purchase 1 large bag of dog kibbles, to feed 1 stray dog for 40 days.
Simply place your order below, and make payment via PayPal. Orders will close at 2359hrs on 31 May 2020, Sunday. When the donation drive ends, SOSD will coordinate the collection directly with the stray feeders at our supplier’s warehouse.
The WordPress Twenty Ten Theme was my favorite for a long time. However, it is now retired, meaning that it is no longer updated or supported by WordPress. Hence, it is recommended to switch to a newer theme.
WordPress Theme similar to Twenty Ten
I find that the Twenty Sixteen theme is quite similar to Twenty Ten in terms of layout. It has the signature top header as well as right sidebar classic layout. After much consideration and testing out other themes, I decided to switch to the Twenty Sixteen theme!
It does take some time to get used to the theme. The theme has a very clean and minimalistic look. In fact, the only downside I would say is that the 2016 WordPress theme is a bit too minimalistic, there is not enough colors other than white.
Recently, there is a sad news in Singapore about the euthanasia of a perfectly healthy dog called Loki, for purported “aggression”.
To read more, just google the following keywords:
loki dog
loki dog singapore
loki dog euthanasia
loki dog put to sleep
#justiceforloki hashtag on Twitter
You can also find more information on the Exclusively Mongrels Limited Facebook page. Exclusively Mongrels was the organization that Loki came from (Loki was a stray dog). One of the volunteers at Exclusively Mongrels was brave to speak out about Loki’s euthanasia, but unfortunately he is now being accused by the owners for “doxxing”.
Just to reblog this post on where to find “A Level Free Exam Papers”. The link below is literally the biggest collection of JC Prelim ‘A’ level papers I have ever seen. Both H1, H2 and even the occasional H3 exam paper can be found, for multiple subjects. Do download while it is still available!
This weirdly titled Google Drive (“Electric Boogaloo”) contains a mega-database of JC Prelim papers for most if not all subjects, even esoteric subjects like “Theatre Studies and Drama”. Exam papers ranges from H1 to H3, and from the years 2008 to 2019.
Do download in advance if you need the material, from experience such Google Drives tend to “disappear” from time to time.
On the other hand, some games are educational but not fun!
This very popular website Cool Math Games is a combination of fun and educational!
Benefit of Cool Math Games
Their games are all browser-based, there is no need to download anything. It can be played on your Internet Explorer or Chrome browser.
They have a wide range of different games, ranging from Numbers, Logic, Trivia, and Strategy.
Their games are kid-friendly and educational.
Cool Math Games Example
This games “Swap Sums” is suitable for lower elementary school kids (age 5-10). It starts off easy, but the later stages are actually quite challenging. For example, the stage below actually requires some thinking to get it right.
This is the Swap Sums game from Cool Math Games.
Cool Math Games Review
Children naturally love to play games. When I was a child, my favorite activity was to play computer games. Hours can just fly by when playing games. When playing games that are educational at the same time, it can hugely benefit a child in terms of increasing his/her interest in the subject.
Hence, parents are encouraged to let their child play educational games, such as Cool Math Games, to relax as well as to learn. Most children learn better when the content is fun and engaging.
Recently, bought a suspected fake SanDisk Micro SD Card on Qoo10 (Singapore online retailer).
Apparently, fake Micro SD cards (used for cameras as storage) are very common, even on Amazon and eBay. A popular estimate is that 1/3 of all micro SD cards on the market are fake!
The one I bought was a 16 GB SanDisk microSD card. Basically, according to this website, “The 16GB SanDisk branded item is a fake. There is no 16GB micro SD product in the SanDisk product line — it is a fake.”
What made me quite angry is that not only it is fake, it couldn’t work as well! (If it were fake but worked well, I could close one eye…) Both my Xiaomi Camera and also the card reader I got could not even detect it. The card reader with the fake microSD card could not be detected by either PC or Mac.
I think the main visible difference between the real SanDisk Micro SD and the fake is that:
The real microSD card has a imprinted rectangle box on its flip side (see the 1st video below for more details, the real one is on the right).
If you shine a light on the front face, it should say “Made in China” for the real Sandisk microSD card (see the 2nd video below).
Other differences include:
The fake microSD card has lower speed and volume (for example it could be rated 64GB but only has 2GB space!)
Lower printing quality on the fake microSD card
The authorities should really crack down on these fake SD cards. It is getting harder and harder to distinguish between the real and the fakes, some of the fakes replicate 99% of the real product up to the design of the packaging.
Quite interesting, and makes a bit of sense too. In this new age where almost everyone has a degree, not having a degree may in fact stand out (for unique career paths)! It carries risk though, naturally.
When her son Jairus, 12, said he wanted to be a Twitch streamer, Evelyn was confused. According to Toggle, she did not know about the online streaming platform for gamers.
She called him a “thinker” — he had told her that if he started his career now, it would be established enough to be profitable by the time he turns 21.
Her son then pointed out that a degree would be irrelevant to his career, which Evelyn said was fine.
Evelyn Tan majored in Math in NUS
Not many people know this, but actress Evelyn Tan once majored in Math in NUS, and graduated successfully. “Upon graduating from the National University of Singapore with a degree in mathematics, Tan joined the fifth edition of Mediacorp’s Star Search in 1997.”
Étude Op. 25, No. 1 in A-flat major by Chopin is also called Aeolian Harp Etude. It is considered to be of moderate difficulty among the etudes, but can be difficult to play perfectly…
Just saw this article on Medium. Quite motivational and applicable to students and even working adults. There are 4 tips on the original website. We just quote one of the tips here. The Chinese equivalent, would be 千里之行，始于足下, or “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.
Enduring Work Ethic Stems From The Moment
I had an interesting conversation with him about Hell Week (some US SEAL army training week) a few years back.
For those who don’t know — Hell Week is ridiculous. You wake up on a Sunday to gunfire. You then work out until Friday with no sleep. Hell Week is the bottleneck that breaks a lot of talented people. It’s where the top 20% are whittled down to the top 5%.
I remember him saying, “Tuesday morning was the worst.”
It was a bizarre response. Tuesday? Wouldn’t Thursday be the worst? Or Friday morning? Then he explained and it made total sense.
You wake up on a Sunday morning at ~2 AM to gunfire. You run around getting yelled at. You are doing pushups, carrying logs, rolling in the sand. This continues all day, then into the night.
As people are sleeping in their warm beds, you continue exercising, shivering, and getting shouted at.
Monday morning comes. The drills repeat from sun up to sun down with non-stop exercise and physical torture. Then, all through the night, you do it again.
Then, Tuesday morning rolls around. You’ve gone more than two full nights without sleep. You’ve endured intense stress, cold water, and difficult exertion the whole time. By Tuesday morning, you’re more tired than you’ve ever been in your entire life.
That’s when you start to feel sorry for yourself.
“Oh man, it’s only Tuesday. How am I going to get through all of this?”
“If I’m this tired already…and I’m not even halfway through…”
The people that start thinking like this are the ones that quit.
The people who succeed — only look a few minutes in front of them. They don’t worry about Thursday or Friday. They are only focused on each individual exercise. They get through it one thing at a time.
You can apply this to many aspects of your life.
If you are studying for a massive test, take it one page at a time. Working on a huge presentation, one slide at a time.
For example, I swam in college. Our training was very grueling, 5 to 6 miles of swimming a day. Sometimes the coach would put a set on the board that made me think, “You’ve got to be f#$king kidding me. I’m going to die.” I just took it one lap at a time and got through it.
Lower your vision and piecemeal those big hurdles. It reduces the perceived mental weight of the tasks. Take it one thing at a time.
I have never seen this fish before in Singapore. In China, it seems common. It is called “Pang Pi” fish, or Rhodeus /bitterling fish. Although it is not very colorful, it is quite unique due to its relationship to the clam.
As you can see from the video, it likes to hang around the clam/mussel, and it will even lay its eggs inside. Apparently, the clam also deposits its eggs on the “Pang Pi” fish.
Clams are hard to keep, and can be quite tricky for beginners. It is hard to tell if the clam has died or not. (Even an alive clam does not move much. You can see how it moves in the video.) Once the clam has died, it will start decomposing and producing toxins which may harm the entire tank. Also, it is quite common for clams to have parasites and worms in them.
The Church must never forget the priority of providing spiritual food to the People of God. This is critical and can never be replaced by mere humanitarian services. This was precisely what the early Christians did. They did not simply do humanitarian works when they cared for the poor and the widows. Their goal was ultimately spiritual. The works of mercy that they did were in continuation of Jesus’ works of mercy. They were meant to reveal the Father’s mercy and love for them. The gospel cannot be proclaimed without the works of charity, otherwise, it will merely be words. People need to see Christ and encounter His love and mercy concretely in their lives.
Although Gmail has 15 GB of space, it can run out of space quite fast, especially nowadays many emails contain attachments that can be quite large.
To free up space on Gmail, I usually do the following 4 steps:
1) Search “size:100k older:2018” on Gmail
The above searches for files 100 kilobytes or larger, dated 2018 or earlier.
You can modify your search accordingly, for example “size:1M older:2017” searches for files larger than 1 megabyte, older than 2017.
2) Search “from:facebook.com”
The above searches for all email sent from email address ending with “facebook.com”. This can be quite effective, since many small emails typically end up being larger than 1 single big email.
You can modify your search accordingly, for example “from:twitter.com”, etc.
3) Delete unwanted emails (found using methods above), and clear Trash
Clearing trash is important (otherwise the deleted files will still take up space). Messages that have been in Trash more than 30 days will be automatically deleted though.
Double check before you delete, since once deleted it is not possible to recover the emails.
4) Refresh your browser, and see that you have more space!
Typically, by using the above steps, I can delete up to 1o0 MB of email.
Just to share some pictures and videos of Charlie the toy poodle. Actually, we are unsure of whether he is a pure toy poodle or not, some people commented that he does not look like one! Charlie is 6 months old now.
Poodle apparently descended from a water dog in Germany. Charlie the poodle loves to play water! Also, poodle is commonly said to be the 2nd most intelligent breed, after Border Collie.
In this post, we describe how to convert w/w% (weight concentration of a solution) to ppm (parts per million, or mg/l), with applications to liquid fertilizers.
This method is an approximation for dilute solutions.
Finally I made one of my favorite dessert: mango sticky rice.
Ingredients:
Sticky rice 1 cup
coconut milk 2/3 cup
sugar 1/3 cup
salt 1/2 tsp
1, Wash sticky rice in water till water is completely clear. Soak them overnight.
2, Drain them and steam over hot water for about 30 mins.
3, When the sticky rice is about to be done, start to make the sauce.
4, Add coconut milk, sugar and salt into a pot. Turn to low heat, keep stirring till sugar is dissolved.
5, Put sticky rice into a big bowl, pour the sauce in. Stir slightly to mix them. Then cover the bowl and let it rest for about 20 mins. Rice will absorb the coconut sauce and flavor.
NUS High School has put out its school presentation as part of its E-Open House on 15 May 2020, and its related e-engagement events for parents and interested P6 students. The content is well planned to clarify common questions from parents and potential students.
YouTube link to the school presentation (about 30mins long):
There is also a Telegram group to receive information on NUSH Admissions for DSA 2020 (for the Class of 2026) :-
(please subscribe for timely updates !) https://t.me/nushighschool
This is a favorite type of homeschool math challenging puzzle — The Snail question.
Question: An aquarium is 47 cm deep. A snail starts at the bottom of the aquarium. Each day, during the daytime the snail climbs up 8 cm, and during the nighttime the snail slides down 3 cm. How many days will it take for the snail to climb out of the aquarium?
This is part of a series on Homeschool Math Challenging Puzzles, suitable for Grades 2-4. (Of course, students of other grades are also welcome to try them out.) The questions are suitable for:
Homeschooling for gifted kids
Preparation for GEP (Gifted Education Programme) screening and selection tests
Preparation for Math Olympiad
Puzzles for kids interested in math but find school work too easy.
Solution:
A tempting answer would be 10 days. This is a trick! Those who get the answer “10 days” reason like this: each day the snail moves a net distance of 8-3=5 cm.
Hence, 47/5=9 R 2.
At the end of the 9th day, the snail moved 45 cm. Thus, rounding up will give 10 days as the answer. However, there is a tricky part to the question!
The correct answer is 9 days.
We can do a list:
Day 1 — 5 cm
Day 2 — 10 cm
Day 3 — 15 cm
…
Day 8 — 40 cm
Day 9 day time — 40 +8 = 48cm > 47 cm !!!
The snail is already out of the aquarium on Day 9!
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