Searching for the perfect yet inexpensive last minute Valentine’s gift for your techie sweetie? Fear not, here are 5 Coolest Techie Gift Ideas Under S$30…
1. EC TECHNOLOGY® PORTABLE POWER BANK WITH FLASHLIGHT (2600mAh)
Available in 5 colors, this mini power bank with flashlight fits easily inside your bag or pocket. Its capacity is a one full cycle charge for your Samsung or iPhone handphones. Its weight is about 3 ounces that only requires 4-5 hours of input charging time.
We all have important files we want to protect. But, as soon as the computer crashes, all of it can be gone forever. To prevent this from happening, it is important to back-up your files with this 16 GB SanDisk flash drive. You can store a lot with this small thing.
Since airlines are now charging by the extra pound, knowing how much you are bringing on board is a serious business.
Image Credits: amazon.com
Tackle with weight of your luggage with this portable luggage scale. Its features include LCD back-light and varied unit options (i.e., grams, kilograms, ounces, and pounds). The two AAA batteries it requires are included when you purchase.
This collapsible storm lantern by Secur boasts its ability to act as a light source and as a charging source for your Smartphone incase of a storm or any light shortage emergency. There are two light settings that require different amounts of charging time. This product can also double as either a lantern or a flashlight once you collapse or fold it down.
Embrace your partner’s inner child with this cool Griffin Technology Helicopter controlled by using your IOS or Android App. Yes! You can be a pilot and control the plane’s onboard LED with just a tap of your fingertip. It features twin twin missile launchers and 6 Redeye missiles.
Each year, hundreds of tax deductions and credits may go unclaimed due to the lack of taxing knowledge. To prevent that, here are 5 Tax Deductibles You Need To Know based on the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore.
FOR THE EMPLOYEE
1. EMPLOYMENT EXPENSES
A good news for all employees—employment expenses can be claimed as long as they satisfy these three conditions:
a. Expenses are sustained when carrying out official duties.
b. Expenses are not reimbursed by the employer.
c. Expenses are not private in nature.
For instance, traveling expenses on public transportation that are not reimbursed by the company may be deducted from the tax. Also, entertainment expenses that occurred while pleasing the clients may be deducted from the tax.
FOR THE EMPLOYER
2. STARTUP TAX EXEMPTION (SUTE)
A start-up company, have enough financial worries in your plate. What should you do then?
Take on the SUTE. Suited by SUTE, a start-up company that meets the required conditions can claim for full tax exemption on the first S$100, 000 of normal chargeable income for each of its first three consecutive years.
3. CORPORATE TAX INCOME REBATE (CTIR)
Since 2013, all Singapore companies are eligible to take on the CTIR. No! There is no catch. This scheme aims to help companies to cope with the rising costs in businesses. Suited by CTIR, companies will receive 30% rebate or up to S$30, 000 off the tax bill from 2013-2015.
OTHERS
4. ANGEL INVESTORS TAX DEDUCTION SCHEME
Be an angel, invest in start-up companies in Singapore to receive a huge tax benefit from the Angel Investors Tax Deduction Scheme.
Enjoy 50% tax deduction on the investment costs at the end of a two-year holding period. This is up to S$500, 000 of investments in each Year of Assessment. Investments made from March 1, 2010 until March 31, 2015 are eligible for this scheme.
5. DONATIONS
Want to double your tax deduction? Be generous and donate in all forms. The following types of donations will qualify you for a double tax deduction (twice the amount of the donation):
a. Cash Donations
b. Shares Donations
c. Computer Donations
d. Artefact Donations
e. Public Art Tax Incentive Scheme
f. Land and Building Donations
For instance, a donation to the Singapore museums that have obtained the Approved Museum Status with the National Heritage Board is tax deductible.
Image Credits: TaxCredits.net via Flickr
Equipped with these tax deduction knowledge, prepare to be impressed with your managed taxes now!
As we welcome Chinese New Year in a week, many of us are busy during this period to do our shopping for new clothes, food and house decos.
It is also the time when we have the perfect excuse to put on more calories with numerous steamboat dinners as well as snacking on the CNY goodies such as Bak Kwa and pineapple tarts!
Chinese’s culture is rich in traditions and superstitions and we are constantly looking for inspirations to boost our luck and prosperity.
So you want to be rich? Then eat these food during Chinese New Year to bring your luck, wealth and prosperity. (At least that’s what the Chinese think)
1. Tangerine (桔子)
Tangerine or Mandarin Oranges are often given in pairs during Chinese New Year. That’s because ju (桔) – sounds like luck (吉) and it looks like “gold” with its orange hue.
2. Raw Fish Salad (鱼生, Yusheng)
What’s Chinese New Year without lo hei? Lo Hei stands for 捞起 or Prosperity Toss and it comes with different types of shredded vegetables with raw fish slices. Raw fish slices were used because 鱼生 sounds like “rising abundance” and each of the other condiments has its own meaning in the dish. For example, deep fried flour crisps were added to symbolise 满地黄金 (Floor full of gold)
3. Long Noodles (长寿面)
(Image credit: weelicious.com)
Longevity Noodles are often served during birthday celebrations and during Lunar New Year. The noodles, as the name suggests, comes in long strands and this symbolize long life or longevity. Do not break the strands with your chopsticks or by biting them until you put them into your mouth to chew.
4. Chinese New Year Cake (Nian Gao, 年糕)
(Image credit: chinancient.com)
Nian gao is very popular during Chinese New Year as the Chinese words 年糕 sounds like 年高 which can be translated to 年年高升, which means “higher year” literally or a better year ahead – with better luck, wealth and improvement in career.
5. Pomelo (Yòu, 柚)
With its sheer size, pomelo is often used as a symbol of good luck. 柚 (yòu) sounds like 有 (yǒu) which means “to have” or 又 (yòu) which means “again”. It stands for continuous prosperity and abundance (again, and again)
6. Dumplings (Jiaozi, 饺子)
Dumplings can be eaten any other days but on Chinese New Year, it has its own meaning to the Chinese. It look like gold/siver ingots, a currency used in China long time ago. These delicious dumplings symbolise wealth on the table.
7. Lettuce Wraps
(Image credit: tastykitchen.com)
When you pronouce Lettuce in Cantonese, you get “Sang Choy” which means “rising fortune”. It is no wonder Chinese treat it as their “lucky food”. You can use minced chicken and even dried oysters in the wrap. Let your creativity flows through.
8. Pineapple tart (Feng Li Ta, 鳳梨酥)
(Image credit: maameemoomoo.com)
Pineapple stands for 鳳梨 (feng li) or 黃梨 (huang li) in chinese. It also means “Wong Lai” or “Ong Lai” which literally means “Prosperity Come”. Its sweet golden filling looks like “gold” which is an auspicious colour for the Chinese.
9. Spring rolls (chūnjuǎn, 春卷)
(Image credit: thatslife.com.au)
At first glance, what does spring rolls look like? (Hint: Think Colour & Shape) Right, if you haven’t guess it, it looks like slabs of gold bar with its golden brown colour after being deep fried.
10. Tray of togetherness (全 盒)
(Image credit: dukascopy.com)
You will always see this when you go visiting during Chinese New Year. Also known as the chuen hup, it packs an assortment of candies, chocolates, dried fruits, seeds and nuts in a presentable red octagonal box. It usually has 8 sections (‘8’ is an auspicious number for the Chinese) and each of the food items in each section has its own meaning – such as dried kumquats as prosperity and red melon seeds for happiness.
11. Dried Oysters with Black Moss (Ho Si Fat Choi)
(Image credit: nationaltimes.com.au)
Dried Oysters stands for Ho Si or “Good Business” and Black Moss stands for “Fat Choi” or 发财 which means “Strike Rich”. When paired together, it is amazingly delicious when braised and it would often leave you craving for more.
12. San Yang Kai Tai (Goat Stew, 三羊开泰)
(Image credit: janechongyc.hubpages.com)
With 2015 being a “Goat” year, many people find Lamb/Mutton dishes to be auspicious. The Chinese for “goat” (羊) is in a Chinese character for good luck (祥 xiáng). The character “泰” (tài) means lavish and grand.
13. Bamboo Shoots (zhú sǔn jiān, 竹笋尖)
(Image credit: arielleinchina.blogspot.com)
Bamboo shoots in Chinese stands for “Wishing everything to be well” and is often stir fry with mushrooms, black fungus or golden lily bubs.
What? Dragon and Phoenix? Do they even exist? Well, at least it did in Chinese’s folklore. The dragon and the phoenix have positive connotations and usually symbolizes grand and grace. Not surprisingly, the creativity of the Chinese has adapted it and uses lobster (龙虾)as the “Dragon” because of the first character “龙” and chicken meat as the “Phoenix” because of its resemblance as a golden rooster. As lobsters may not be accessible to some, some uses shrimps/prawns as an substitute ingredient.
15. Red Eggs (红鸡蛋)
(Image credit: tastespotting.com)
Usually eaten together with the longevity noodles during your Chinese Birthday, red dyed eggs can be auspicious to eat during Chinese New Year Eve with the colour red being an auspicious colour for the Chinese and it symbolises birth or a new start.
16. Pen Cai or Poon choi (盆菜) or Big Bowl Feast
(Image credit: thediningtable.sg)
This dish originate from Hong Kong as a Cantonese cuisine and it usually filled with an assortment of delicacies ranging from abalone, scallops, prawns, braised mushrooms and other vegetables. It was a dish served to the Emperor back in the Song Dynasty and it also signifies abundance and prosperity with its luxurious offerings.
17. Abalone (Bao yu, 鮑魚)
(Image credit: juzdeals.com)
Abalone makes a popular dish for Chinese New Year and is one of the higher priced food item in Chinese New Year. It can be eaten in many ways such as being braised with mushrooms and kailan or you can simply dip it into your steamboat! “Bao” stands for assurance and “yu” stands for surplus and eating them means an abundance of surplus or wealth.
18. Golden Lily Buds (金针)
(Image credit: springtomorrow.com)
Golden Lily Buds is often one of the ingredient found in vegetarian dishes such as the Nonya Chap Chye. Best eaten when stir-fried with black fungus, tang hoon, cabbage and/or black moss. The Chinese translation for lily buds is “golden needle” and you can understand why the Chinese loves them.
19. Fried Tofu
(Image credit: expatedna.com)
Just look at the colour and shape! Do i need to say more to describe these ‘gold bars’?
20. Rabbitfish (Pei Tor Hee, 蒸泥鯭)
(Image credit: blazinghotwok.com)
Rabbitfish are highly sought after during Chinese New Year. They breed during this period, so expect to see its stomach filled with roe which is a sign of prosperity and abundance to the Chinese. Price can go as high as $60-$120 per kg during this period.
21. Whole Fish (清蒸魚
(Image credit: taste.com.au)
It is believed to eat with the whole fish with the head and tail intact as it symbolizes a year begining’s to the end. Chinese word for fish (鱼) also sounds like abundance (余), so for this lunar new year, 祝你新年快乐, 年年有余! (Happy Chinese New Year, wishing you a year of surplus and abundance!)
*Don’t finish the entire fish, as it is believed that the unfinished portion represents the “surpluses” of the coming year.
22. Leeks (suàn, 蒜)
(Image credit: noobcook.com)
Leek is an auspicious food for Chinese New Year because the character “蒜” in its Chinese name (蒜苗/大蒜) sounds like calculating (“算”) in Mandarin, symbolizing wealth. While i’m no fan of this on other days, i will make this Chinese New Year an exception.
A vegetarian dish that is considered auspicious in Chinese New Year, traditionally enjoyed by Buddhists Monks. Buddhists believed that as a form of self-purification, one should maintain a vegetarian diet for the first five days of the new year. With more than ten ingredients, you will definitely taste some of the “auspicious” vegetables like fat choy and snow fungus.
As Chinese New Year approaches, there is an increasing traffic in malls and online stores where the latest designs of outfits get snapped up in a jiffy. Many are having a headache on where to get trendy outfits without burning a hole in their pockets. In addition, many prefer to wear red, the auspicious colour, during their visits, which adds on to the difficulty to land your hands on suitable clothing for the festival. The trend of traditional costumes has returned and cheongsams have made their comeback. Many stores have brought in beautiful designs and colours and displayed their cheongsams proudly. However, most of them come with exorbitant prices due to the demand and supply during this period of time.
As the belief goes, one should wear brand new clothes, shoes and accessories when celebrating the first day of the lunar new year as it represents a prosperous new beginning. As much as we wish to have a brand new start to the new year, finding suitable new clothes could be a real pain in the neck, especially clothes that are budget-friendly and deemed auspicious. This is especially when you are someone who has to visit traditional seniors who would be particular about the colours of the outfit as well as how conservative you should look. Since different people have different demands for different kinds of outfits, here are 3 places you can shop for a wide variety of cheap clothing!
Bugis Village
(Image credit: missterfaith.blogspot.com)
Bugis Village is a very popular place for young people to shop at. That is because they sell many imported products from Thailand and Taiwan where they are cheap and trendy. The clothing are up-to-date and they have a wide variety for you to choose from. Although the area could be cramp and extremely crowded, jostling through the crowd would be completely worth it when you scavenge for the best deals in town. Many of the stalls sell almost the same thing, which means that the sales competition would be steep. Prices could go as low as $8 per clothing where they can get cheaper if you bought more and you can even bargain in some of the shops. It is a 3-storey building so if you are unable to find what you want in the first floor, you can always go upstairs where it is usually less crowded and you can comb the area at your own time. In addition, between the shops are food and beverage stalls where you can take a break and munch on your favourite street snack from all around the world. My personal favourite would be the ‘I Love Taimei’ stall (located at the first floor at the back facing Waterloo Street, they have several other branches as well) where I can sip on flavourful milk tea and munch on crispy aromatic fried chicken as I browse the items.
City Plaza
(Image credit: jpaem.blogspot.com)
Many people know City Plaza to be a rundown building located somewhat opposite Payar Lebar and it functions as a wholesale centre, but not many people know that there are actually many hidden gems inside. Although the building consists mainly of suppliers, they are actually boutiques and if you were to enter any of the shops, most of them would give you reasonable prices should you ask them. They do not just do wholesale but they also sell clothing piece by piece for walk-in customers. Many online stores attain their stocks from here and don’t be surprised that the products sold there are very up-to-date and of pretty good quality! If you are looking for better bargains, it would be best to go with a big group of friends or family so that you can buy in bulk and buy everything at a way better deal.
Fleas & Blog shops
(Image credit: sg.asia-city.com/)
The last option would be to go to any flea organised by blogshops. Many would think that fleas are where people sell their used items at a cheaper price. However, many online stores have taken this path of selling their items in fleas so that their customers can not just come down to collect their ordered items, but also to gain recognition and trust in their buyers. Due to the low rental costs, products can be sold at a more affordable price. In addition, they also sell a wide variety of products so not only do you buy clothes, you can also buy watches, shoes and even hats from there. There has been many fleas organised around Singapore, and more have appeared since it is the Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year period. One of the prominent ones would be the Scape flea where every weekend there would be many venders who set up booths right outside Scape at Orchard Road. Other up and coming fleas include those organised by Three Blind Mice, where they pool famous bloggers and popular online stores to sell their merchandise. The latest flea was held at Triple One Somerset and even City Plaza itself. More details can be found in their website: http://threeblindmice.com.sg/
If you have a busy schedule and don’t want to escape the crowd, why not shop online? There are many blog shops in Singapore and as they operate online without the brick and mortar store, they can pass on the cost-savings to the customers. Popular one includes brands like Love Bonito, MDS Collections, Mich Sara and Love & Bravery.
Blog shops also update their inventory regularly to bring in the latest trendy fashion often curated by tastemakers. For example, for the month of Chinese New Year, Mich Sara carries a range of Chinese New Year’s collection that is not only fashionable but also of high quality.
We hope we have given you sufficient tips to prepare for the Chinese New year! Non-Chinese friends should also come along to experience the hustle of the festival. All the best in attaining your last minute loots!
One of the simple things we can do to help save the environment is to reduce our energy consumption and plant more trees. Little do you know that these things along with other innovative ideas can not only help the Earth but it can also save you a decent amount of money.
Here are 5 Eco-Friendly Home Ideas To Save You Money…
1. USE BLACKLE.COM
Blackle.com is a search engine that is powered by Google Custom Search and created by Heap Media. It helps users save energy consumption because of its predominantly black and grey display. According to Wikipedia, the Blackle’s black screen can save up to 4 mWh of electrical energy consumption.
2. KEEP THE WATER BOTTLES IN
Did you know that a barely stocked fridge has to work harder to stay cold than a fully stocked one? So, put your water bottles inside the fridge to help maintain its efficiency.
Image Credits: Steven Depolo via Flickr
You may also put a water bottle in the toilet tank to displace the water and help reduce water consumption.
3. THRIVE A GREEN THUMB
Instead of purchasing the S$299 branded air purifier, go natural and grow your own succulents.
Image Credits: teresaphillips1965 via Flickr
Plants are more than just decorations as it can improve the air quality in your home by absorbing dangerous toxins. Go for the inexpensive and easy to maintain plants such as ferns, green spider plants, English Ivy and dracaenas. Furthermore, growing your own food is organic at its finest. If you do not have a backyard or an apartment balcony there are community gardens for you to plant your own seed.
4. CLEAN YOUR DUST WITH NO MUSS
Buying a bunch of paper towels and cleaning spray products can be costly. So, use a microfiber duster instead. It is not only reusable but it is also effective. Home Depot sells Microfiber Duster with Soft Grip Handle for only US$3.98 or S$5.39. Just toss it in the washing machine to clean it.
5. CLEAN YOUR COMPUTER
Most of the germs live in your keyboard so it is tantamount for you to tidy it up. Rather than buying cleaning sprays, special wipes that contain chemicals or even buy a new one…turn your keyboard upside down and shake the dirt out. Then swab a cotton tip with alcohol or a double-sided tape to clean between the keys.
