Terrarium Workshop

I wish I could take an afternoon off work next week to join this. It would be fun!!! 

Hoo Are you?

Another Hoo Are You?!  I love it... :-)

1. What is your favorite magazine? 

Oh, I don't read magazines on a regular basis, but I do like National Geographic. Love the pictures and articles in them.

2. What color are your eyes?

My eyes are an extremely dark brown. I always thought all Chinese have really dark brown eyes until I met my hubby - his are a very light brown and penetrating.

3. Do you go to the dentist on a regular 6 month schedule, or do you put it off?

Yes! We  went just last month and the dentist gave the verdict of "no bad teeth" for the whole family :-)

4. Do you use anything to make your house smell good?

No, we don't maybe because we have a very good breeze coming through our flat and it drives all the pongy smells :-)  But we do have an oil burner in the bathroom - we use ocean breeze.

5. Do you have any pets?

Nope, but my son has been asking for a pet - a rabbit or a dog. We've told him that he'll have to wait until he's in upper primary school and when's he's read up about rearing a pet. Want him to be a responsible pet owner and understand what it means to have a pet. 

Stuffed Owl

Angel Hearts Crafts gave me this stuffed owl as part of the Craft It Forward. Isn't it cute?

Physics for Future Presidents

I'm not going to be the next President of anywhere, but my physics is horrible. In fact, it was the subject that I least liked at school, probably because in Secondary 3 all we did was ticker tape timers, magnets and electric currents - boring! So, I didn't take it for my GCSEs or A levels.

However, eversince my colleague recommended me this book by Richard A Muller, all I can say is that it has actually made me like physics as he puts everything into perspective and applies them to real life, including nuclear power, energy and climate change.  Thank you, professor!!   You can find his lectures at UCLA on youtube (for those of you who want to catch up on your physics!)

Someone forgot to switch off the lights!

Not me!

Old jeans into a tissue holder

So, I've made the jean bangles with the inner seams of hubby's old jeans. What next? 

I was thinking about what happened in my friend's car the other day - tissues at the front of the car on the dashboard and kiddies at the back getting all dirty from eating chocs and biscuits.  Why not have the tissues at the back so that the kiddies can reach them? So, I decided to make a tissue holder that can be hung on the back of the front seat.  No need for mum to hand the tissues to the kiddies while driving, and no need for kiddies to get up to get the tissues if they're placed at the back!  Everyone's safe!  This one's for Angel Hearts Crafts for the Craft it Forward! Hope you like it :-)

Buttons & Bags to Save Water

I read on the PUB website (PUB is our water authority) that you can use thimbles to reduce water consumption at home. Currently, our per capita domestic water consumption is 154 litres per day. Our national target is to lower it to 140 litres by 2030.

Photos: PUB

Craft It Forward - First Batch Done!

Woo hoo! Finally got something done for the Craft It Forward :-) These are made using recycled materials (here, my hubby's old jeans).  Hope you like them! Will be popping them in the mail.  Have 3 more crafts to make!

This one's for JubilantWares

For Breaking Free From Old Ways!

Fellow crafters who have joined my Craft It Forward:

a) Kayla (Breaking Free From Old Ways) - done!

b) Amie (Kitty Cats and Airplanes)

c) Gayathri (Jubliantwares) - done!

d) Hosy

e) Angel Hearts Crafts

My turn to fall sick!

Think my little boy has passed the germs on to me..... no coughing but a really sore throat, and I had a fever last night. Doc prescribed some medicine and a day of rest at home.

Have been drinking lots of warm honey water with slices of lemon for the vitamin c, and my ginger and mint tea too :-)

Take care everyone!

Nuclear Power Plants

These are my thoughts on nuclear power plants. I think with what's happening in Japan, the nuclear power plant industry will be taking a battering at the expense of the fight against climate change. I'm not saying that nuclear power is better, but I just want to provide the facts.

a) Nuclear power plants provide energy.  A large nuclear plant can supply power to a million homes.  This is comparable to a conventional coal power plant.

b) Nuclear power plants have comparatively less air pollution compared with conventional coal power plants e.g. carbon dioxide (climate change agent), sulphur dioxide and particulates. The latter two cause respiratory problems, lung cancers, asthma attacks etc.

c) There is a risk of radiation leak from nuclear power plants.  Radiation causes cancer. The UN estimated the number of deaths around the world caused by radiation that leaked from the Chernobyl disaster to be 4000 (source: Physics for Future Presidents, Richard A Muller, UC Berkeley).  Compare that with the following US findings from the report Dirty Air, Dirty Power:

"i) Power plant pollution is responsible for 38,200 non-fatal heart attacks per year.
ii) Hundreds of thousands of Americans suffer each year from asthma attacks, cardiac problems, and respiratory problems associated with fine particles from power plants. These illnesses result in tens of thousands of emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and lost work days each year."

d) Nuclear power plants shouldn't be built on fault lines or areas with earthquake or volcanic activity! One of the famous cases is the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant  in the Phillipines.

e) Nuclear power plants should be built in countries where there is the capability and the know-how.

No Mozzies Please!

Nobody wants to be hit with dengue or malaria. Mosquitoes like water-logged places, and when it's raining. We get regular house checks from the government to see if we're harbouring any mozzies or breeding any without our knowledge.  OK, it sounds like criminal activity, but once you're down with dengue or malaria, it's really no joke - fever, muscle aches and even death.

Pic from Angel Hearts Crafts

Angel Hearts Crafts came up with a great idea on how to cover your buckets to stop the mozzies from breeding. What's more, you can wash it with your daily laundry, and store it away in a drawer when not needed ! Beats having to use a plastic lid :-)

Old jeans into jean bangles

I was watching BBC's North and South (and swooning over Mr Thornton!) last night and thought that even though the ladies in Milton were wearing dark colours (except for the hyper Fanny Thornton), their costumes were accented with pretty lace.  I thought such embellishments would be great for my jean bangles - remember the jean spaghetti?


I inserted wire into the jean strips - I got this great idea from another blogger Mich L. in LA whose website I forgot to bookmark. If you happen to be reading this, or you know who's blog it is, pls contact me so that I can update it here! 

Inserting the wire - remember to curl the ends in.
I also glued felt to the ends so that the wire would stay in place.

Waiting for hubby to come home

Hubby is coming home from overseas tonight - yay! Sometimes I wonder why business people can't just do a video conference everyday to settle the issues - and then I can keep hubby here - hee. My friend used to work for one of the, or rather, what used to be one of leading mobile phone companies but then got overtaken by Nokia.  Anyway, she told me that they would fly within Asia for D-A-Y trips!! That's right! They would take the night flight and have one or two meetings in the day before flying home in the evening. Of course, now they don't do that because they've cut back on expenses and realised that video conferencing is the way to go. Can you imagine the amount of carbon emissions this company had then?


So, with hubby gone, I have been cutting up a pair of his old jeans.  I know what you're thinking! He did give me permission!  I've been cutting the inner seams of the jeans and I'm going to turn them into bangles!!

Jean spaghetti :-p

EIU Liveable Cities 2011

The Economist Intelligence Unit comes out with their ranking of liveable cities every year. You have to pay a bomb to find out where your city ranks, unless you're in the top ten (or the bottom...)


This year, the top ten are Vancouver, Melbourne, Vienna, Toronto, Calgary, Helsinki, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Auckland.  Osaka, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore were the top Asian cities. 


Sometimes, I wonder how these studies work, and who they surveyed. This particular one was based on a survey of 140 cities.  EIU defines "liveable" on 5 characteristics: stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.  I think they surveyed the rich or the expats with fat pay cheques.

Siberia in Singapore

I've never been to Siberia so I don't know how cold it can get BUT I can tell you that it get so cold in the air-conditioned malls, buses and even in the office, that you NEED an extra jacket. My son needs to wear a singlet in his kindergarten!!!  So, if you are coming to Singapore, remember to bring a long sleeved jacket :-)


WWF's Earth Hour Poll: Nearly Half of Singaporeans Give Thumbs Down to Strong Air-Conditioning.  WWF Singapore is encouraging us to set our air-cons at 24 degrees or higher. 


Read more in Today.


Our very own National Environment Agency Indoor Air Quality Guidelines!

Earth Hour 2011 - Saturday 26 March at 8.30PM

Slow week

This week has been really sloooowwww.... and tiring.  I felt a bit like this lonely green leaf I found after a rainy day..... ugh ..... haven't been doing any refashioning or recycling stuff either .... just thinking and thinking and more thinking (mostly for work too!)

The only thing that brightened me up was that my son has just recovered, and in time for his weekly football sessions on Sunday. He's now full of energy! Yay!  

EU recommends glass as ban on plastic baby bottles enforced

The EU Directive to ban the use of BPA in plastic infant feeding bottles has come into force in the EU Member States on 1 Mar 2011. The manufacture of polycarbonate infant feeding bottles containing BPA has also been banned. From 1st June 2011, this ban will also cover imports of baby bottles containing this material. In the same Directive, the EC recommends glass "as alternative material to polycarbonate" because it does not contain BPA and it is safe for human health as it has to comply with very strict safety requirements set out for food contact materials.


Via : http://www.resourcesnotwaste.org

Bug going around....

Been away for a few days. Think there's a bug going around. My sweetie pie son was down with a high fever from Friday evening all the way until Monday and now he has a cough. All the K1 kids are not in school and even one teacher has been on sick leave for a couple of days. Take care everyone!