Good Dermatologist

My brother has been battling acne for a while and he was really relieved when his friend recommended a really good dermatologist in town. He paid him a visit and was given a host of steroid medication for his acne treatment process. It has been approximately 2 months since he first went for treatment and his skin has cleared up remarkably! Maybe I should try going to him too since I've been breaking out terribly!

Bad Debt

A friend works in a licensed collection agency and was recently telling us that commercial collection agencies everywhere are starting to face problems in collecting from their debtors. I guess it has been especially bad since the recent petrol hike and subsequent increases in food prices. Everyone has been trying to keep a careful tab on their spending but that shouldn't mean not paying your commitments!

IT Boom

I am a real technology idiot. Most times I don't understand any techno speak and am usually lost when the siblings start discussing things such as quad cables, CAT6, routers or complex computer stuff! It's a pity I never considered doing a course in Information Technology as they seem to be the ones earning the big bucks in the IT boom now!

Sunnies for You and Me

My family and I have a very bad tendency of misplacing our sunglasses. I used to own a nice pair but it mysteriously went missing after a trip and I have never been able to find it since. Perhaps we should seriously consider buying Discount Sunglasses for the family to ensure that we always have sunglasses whenever we go out which are so important for protecting our eyes and for keeping crows feet away! I found a great site online that provides replica branded sunglasses for a great discount. The sunnies are available at much cheaper price than the original ones and are just as good! They're great for someone who is planning to have a sunglasses business or who wishes to earn some extra money on the side, especially in these times of inflation and rising prices. They also make great gifts for those who wish to give their friends a useful yet stylish gift.

Playing Online

I have been seeing lots of Online Casino links available in the US. However, here it hasn’t caught on so tremendously yet. Many people I know prefer to go up to the hills for a stint at the physical casinos. Some even go after work, gamble the night away, take a short nap in the car then come back down and go to work again! However, with the recent fuel hike, perhaps some of these people might want to consider playing on an Online Casino instead of having to drive all the way up there and incur more in terms of fuel.

Most of the online casinos sites I have seen such as Gamblecraft, give great reviews on the best casinos to visit and which casinos give the biggest bonuses so just a little research will be sufficient for you to decide which is the best casino to play at. They even provide advice to the players as to which are the best sites to pick for the best games or the chances of winning the biggest bonuses! So why play at physical casinos which impose all kinds of dress codes and are expensive to get to when you can play for free right in the comfort of your own home!

Expensive Strollers

I went out for a celebration lunch the other day with my boss and some colleagues. We happened to walk past Mothercare and I saw some really beautiful strollers in the window I would have been really tempted to get if I was a mother! Unfortunately, they all came with a four figure price tag so I guess it will just remain a dream for now!

Lose Weight Naturally

Losing weight is hard to do when we live in a country that has lots of good food! I have friends who have struggled to lose their weight and some even resorted to drugs such as Phentermine. It worked quickly but I do have some concerns about the side effects diet drugs might have on your health. It is better to lose it slowly and steadily.

Hair Styling

I never used to think of hair salon jobs as a career until I came to the city and realised how much people here pay for a hair cut! I found a fantastic hairdresser that I'm regularly going to now but he is pricey as each haircut and wash costs me RM70. I do hope his prices aren't planning to go up in the near future. I have never dared to check what his prices for colouring or styling are! Who knows, in the future, we'll probably be encouraging our children to go for jobs like these which require creativity and talent as they definitely seem to be earning more than those in conventional professional jobs!

Breakfast from Home

I used to buy my breakfast from the office cafeteria and surrounding shops in the past. However, recently I've started bringing my own breakfast from home. I usually put some bread in the oven to toast while I'm getting ready and when I'm done, it's perfectly toasted. So all I need to do is to pop it into a tupperware and I'm ready to breakfast in the office. Although buying breakfast doesn't cost me too much, I guess every little bit of savings do count.

Wifing the Home

I'll be moving to my own place towards the end of the year. One of the most important things I'll need is wireless and my Wifi set up. Otherwise I can't imagine not surfing from home! I'll definitely need to consult my brother on the best router to buy. Previously he told me that the Linksys router is one of the best in the market but there may be better ones out by the end of the year. Hopefully the price would have dropped as well.

Job Market

There's lots of talk about a general worldwide recession due to the soaring oil prices and inflation. Some have advised that now isn't the best time to job hop and that you should stick to whatever job you currently have, even admin jobs. However, when I was out in the mall last weekend, I did notice several job advertisements in the restaurants and stores. So now I'm a little confused as to the condition of the job market.

Benefits Package

I'm now about 6 months into my new company. While there have been some ups and downs, one thing good about the company is their benefits package. They offer a substantial dental and optical benefits package which even cover prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses. Too bad I have done Lasik otherwise this would be one benefit I could really utilize!

Gold or Money?

I'll be getting married in less than 5 months time! I can't believe how fast time is flying by! My aunt called from overseas the other day to ask my mom if I would prefer gold jewelry or cash as a gift. Personally, I think I would prefer cash but a gold keepsake from my relatives will be nice to have. This is especially so since the gold prices have shot through the roof due to investors clamoring to get into gold investing to hedge their investments. I can't decide...perhaps I should just leave it to them. I know I'll be happy with whatever they choose to give!

Plush Home Theaters

Some people are really rich. I was reading a home magazine recently and was amazed at the grandeur of some home theaters. They are built in a truly luxurious fashion with comfortable theater chairs. Some even have theater rope cordoning off each row to give it a real theater feel! I think I would still prefer going to the movies. That way I wouldn't feel so pressured to use my home theater simply because it's there! I wonder where they get their movies from!

Expensive Travel

If I thought planning for a wedding was hard, planning for a honeymoon is even harder especially with the increasing costs of travel. I've been receiving several email updates from various tour agencies and airlines of good hotel deals but the high cost of getting there is another factor altogether! It seems like the good ol' days of affordable travel is over!

Construction Buzz

I used to work in a construction company and it was truly a steep learning curve for me. There I learnt from the engineers and quantity surveyors themselves how building costs were calculated and what Precast Concrete meant and how important it was for building a sturdy house. In recent times, we have moved from using red mortar bricks to precast concrete simply because precast concrete is a hardy material that is fast and easy to build.

Part of our projects included building some homes in Africa and our engineer originally suggested using Precast Concrete Septic Tanks for their homes as they did not have a good existing sanitization system. However, that idea had to be scrapped as the prices of cement and concrete started increasing beyond what the poor African nation could afford. Although I spent just a year in the construction company, the amount of information I picked up there was really valuable in helping me understand how my own house is built and what questions I should be asking my developer.

Renting Out

I have been terribly busy these past few weeks trying to finalise the furnishings of our new place to rent. I never knew so much trouble went into just getting a house ready from buying of new hoods and hobs to faucets for the bathrooms. Hopefully after all the trouble we have gone through, we will be able to get a good tenant.

Pashminas Available for Less

Pashmina seems to be the current trend now. It used to be very expensive and I used to long for one but they used to above the budget I was prepared to pay. However, recently there seems to be a huge number of them available in the market and for a very cheap price. I believe quite a number of them now are probably made in China which explains the cheap price. Funny...I may be wrong but I thought pashminas were a certain name given to a certain type of shawls available from Nepal! Perhaps this are now imitation pashminas!

Rock to the Music

I have a friend who is a huge music fan. He can’t bear to be away from his radio or iPod for any periods of time and perpetually seems to be plugged in! Sometimes I think these little music gadgets such as the iPod or the new HD Radio Receiver is indeed handy especially if you have a long and boring bus or train journey to take. A friend who recently moved to Singapore told me that her little digital radio is now her best friend on her long commutes to work on the bus. She’s indeed lucky to be in Singapore, land of technological gadgets. The new radio she showed me comes with iPod tagging so she can easily transfer tunes from her iPod to her little radio. Her radio is really quite nice and perhaps I should consider getting one for my office desk to help me pass some boring afternoons. Apparently the signal is really good despite it being antenna-less. Who knows I might just be able to get signals for Texas High Definition Radio stations here!

New Station

In today’s world of technology it seems that hardly anyone ever listens to the radio anymore. I hardly listen to the radio myself unless I’m commuting somewhere in my car. Even then I hardly have a favourite station and tend to just listen to whatever is playing on the radio. So needless to say, I was surprised when I was told that I won a free Polk Audio I-sonic ES2 dinky little radio in a contest I don’t remember entering! It is a nifty little digital radio that plays lots of new country music stations and whatever other station you might fancy. It’s a really sleek little thing with nice funky buttons you can use to change your station to easily. I liked its display panel which had nice crystal LED digits which gave it a very nice look overall. Radios have certainly come a really long way since those I remember during my childhood with their little dials and unclear antennas. Now, with new digital radios, you no longer need to fiddle around with antennas just to hear your favourite Florida High Definition Radio stations.