This is not Japanese. This means THE INSANITY IS SPREADING!
Nah, this is just a parody.
Uncooked white rice can be stored for a decade or more if sealed in an airtight container. Too bad those 10kg bags are usually not airtight, especially the cheaper brands.
If it isn't stored in airtight containers, I know very well through experience what can happen to it even if it stays dry.
One, weevils. That happened to one of the 10kg bags I bought before I learnt that washing the bucket I hold the bag in helps. Now my rice is always weevil-free.
Two, booklice... or at least I think that's what they're called. They're very tiny white bugs that are found on walls and within books (hence the name). Since these bugs can live anywhere, they tend to stay in areas that are rarely touched, including rice that isn't moved for a long time. Learnt this when my parents used dried (by heating in a wok) rice to store dried ginseng. Sure, no mold, no rot. Baked rice really works as an excellent dessicant. But after a few years when I took out the jar out of curiosity, it was filled with lice.
The ginseng was fine though. Booklice don't feed on blood, so they don't spread diseases. But they do contaminate things just by being there.
There goes my plan of buying rice in bulk during promotions. I could buy airtight storage bags that work with vacuums but the prices of these doesn't seem like they will make it cost-effective.
For about S$30 I can get four 100*80*20cm box-shaped bags. These should be able to hold two 10kg-bags each. Maybe four.
After some googling, I realized that a bag meant for 10kg of rice is only about 40*60cm generally speaking. Those airtight bags will easily handle four of these bags then. The only issue is whether I have to keep sucking air out of them every month or something.
In any case, there are no rice promotions for the SNS housebrand rice yet. My plan is to either buy the airtight bags when they're on promotion or when there is a discount on that brand of rice. The latter should work since leaving the bags unopened for a while should be ok. At worst, I'll find some dessicants and seal them together once the bags arrive.
...
Ok, bought 3 suspiciously cheap Made-in-China vacuum bags during a sale. They don't have to be used for rice but it's an option. I also have plenty of stuff I can store in these bags like extra blankets and clothes.
Found something called a "security wallet" on Qoo10 and thought that's a nifty idea for my business trips. I also thought the security holster (which is like a gun holster but has zipped compartments instead of a holster. Like a sling pouch with a belt.
Then I thought the holster would be like a giant "FOREIGNER" announcement painted on my forehead.
After last year's waist pouch, I found that I needed to blend in more by not using that. Some of the touts seemed to pester me more than others.
Hence that security wallet, which is a flattened pouch with zipped compartments and an elastic loop that seems to be designed for wearing around the neck and under my clothes.
I'm planning to get two if my bro doesn't want one, just to get free shipping.
It's a stupid idea since the free shipping only saves me a dollar and I'll still need to fork out the extra S$2.24 to get a tracking number. S$2.24 is exactly what Singpost charges for articles registration ie tracking service.
But having two is good too. I'll use one under my clothes for most of my money and passport, and one in my pocket looped around my belt for a much smaller amount of cash.
I'm also trying to find a way to carry my iPad as surreptitously as possible so a small backpack or one of those "messenger pouches" look like a good idea, except I dislike backpacks since they're not secure enough IMO.
Or maybe I should just get a detailed map of the city plus a notepad. But I'll also need to carry a bottle no matter what. Hmm...
Water pouch?
I think I'll have plenty of time to decide since I'm only buying from that store when it's having a promotion or 3 weeks before my next trip.
Two days after I started using the remaining Pantene shampoo, my hair started clumping together into hard sticks again. The upside is that I don't have to style my hair with gel or whatever. The downside is I don't style my hair with gel or whatever in the first place.
I guess it is now beyond doubt that it is the Pantene shampoo that's causing some kind of chemical buildup in my hair.
I've already bought that organic herbal shampoo bar from Qoo10 and waiting for it to arrive this week but in the long term, I don't know if I should stick with that. I'll have to see if it does anything. I think it will make my scalp dry but I haven't actually used it yet.
Moreover, I'm more inclined to use an anti-hairfall shampoo like the recent heavily-marketed Silkpro Hairvolution Hairfall Control shampoo. Tried its sample the other day and it felt really nice to use that strongly mentholated shampoo instead of the cheaper ones from the budget stores. Not sure if it really does anything to reduce hair fall though.
Or maybe it contains eucalyptus oil, not menthol, but the feel's the same anyway.
I need my own weights. Sharing them is making life inconvenient. But 1.25kg weights seems to be so popular in Singapore that it's actually hard to find right now. Most stores are out of stock only for plates of this weight.
I'll keep this in mind for end-of-year sales.
Interesting!
There's a project on space elevator research going on on Kickstarter! It's just the first step in what's going to be a series of projects for this research, but a step towards a very intriguing idea nonetheless.
Decided on the US$9 bracelet reward and since the shipping charge is up to us, I gave them US$19. Probably not enough should they use certain courier services but US$10 should be more than enough if they use the cheapest postal service available together with corporate/bulk discounts, unless the bracelet and the other gifts are heavier than I thought.
If so, I can always raise the pledge to US30. For a research project like this, US$30 is not a big deal, but I'm keeping in mind that this won't be their only KS fundraising project so I'll try to keep my donations conservative. Simply seeing the title had already excited me.
For now, this first KS project is a minor one with a US$8000 goal, though it's already exceeded it by US$2000 at the moment with another 17 days to go.
The stated goal of this project is to set up a helium-balloon-lifted 2km-long cable with a test platorm on top plus robots to climb it. The rest of the money goes to rebuilding a community which I believe means maintaining their website and stuff.
Stretch goals are starting with extra sensors like GPS and weather sensors at US$20k, followed by an extra 1-3km of cable and video feed from the top at US$30k and etc up to US$3M.
IMO it's probably only going to hit US$30k at most unless some big shot comes in and floods them with cash, ie a miracle happens.
Since this is just the first project, I don't think anyone will do that. They will have to prove themselves through this before any big roller's going to open his wallet.
I'll have to admit this is really too small to appear to be any good right now and the final elevator is planned to be constructed on the Moon, but this is the most anyone's ever done towards building a real space elevator at all that I can help with, so that's why I'm contributing a token sum.
I mean, as they have stated, eventually they're going to have to ask for US$3M. I'm not going to give everything I'm willing to donate right now, just in case it doesn't work out in the end.
...
Holy shit!
14 days to go and they're at US$32k - 400% of their original goal!!!
All the publicity they've been getting on various online media must have worked really well! Looks like there are plenty of people who are also excited about this great idea like I am.
Since this is so, I'm going to say it's going to hit $75k at least.
However, as of this moment, I'm still right about the absence of high-rollers jumping onto the bandwagon. There are only 8 people pledging at least $250 and none higher. 99.9% of the people backing this project are contributing $100 or less, though it's actually spread more evenly than I expected among the different levels.
It would have made more sense to me if the number decreased as we move up the pledge amount levels, but there are about 100 people at the $1, $9, $35 and $100 levels. Of course, a lot of them probably gave more than that in order to cover shipping since that amount is up to us to decide.
So Qoo10 has a kind of coupon called "cart coupons". This really reduces the value of normal coupon in my eyes.
Normal coupons can only be used on individual item types. For example, a store may sell multiple items. Normal coupons can only be used on one or more units of each item, instead of being on all the items you buy from that particular store.
After a bit of experimentation, I found that cart coupons are to be used on whole orders on top of these normal coupons. For example, cart coupons can be used on an order that consists of multiple different items from multiple stores, even if normal coupons have been applied on every of those items.
This is so interesting, and it's really smart of them to think of such a coupon because now I really feel like using it.
But it's a $5 coupon with a minimum purchase of S$50 (excluding other coupons' discounts), so I'll need to buy quite a few items.
Still, it's very cool because lots of sellers are beginning to wise up to the usual coupons by having extremely low basic price while every item adds an extra charge. There's even been one shop that sells everything for $0 but every item charges pretty average prices. The thing about this is that the minimum purchases requirement does not take into account these extra charges that were meant to be for people who want the more expensive options, like larger bottles. The cart coupon takes into account the nett price so this stupid trick doesn't work on it.
The catch is that it's very rare.
The Omen Machine, the latest book by Terry Goodkind, was a disappointment.
It was so obviously meant to be half a book that when published by itself it broke one of the cardinal rules of storytelling.
All plots must build up to a climax slowly before cooling down again with an ending.
The Omen Machine, in contrast, got to the climax and finished abruptly with an ending.
Richard Rahl was doing his own thing throughout most of the book until the last 10 pages when, all of a sudden, he went Super Saiyan mode and killed a little-mentioned supposedly powerful henchman. The end.
I am not amused.
I like the story up till the end, and despite the characters' behaviour being kinda obnoxious at times (as usual), I have nothing against Terry Goodkind's style.
Until now, that is.
One does not simply chop a long story into two and label them as two volumes.
It doesn't even feel like a cliffhanger when the protagonist can't know for sure who the final boss is.
Then again, Goodkind could probably turn on Richard's god mode in the sequel like he did in this book and a few others and suddenly the protagonist would know everything including how he could go about defeating the boss whose powers he so far knows nothing about.
I am not sure if it's just me, but I do not like heroes who magically know the secret weaknesses of the villains at the very last moment through some extremely vague hints in the absence of pretty much all information.
I mean, how the feck can anyone figure out that "to let the truth out" is to slice open the leather that sealed her mouth simply by noticing them?
How the feck did he associate them together at all?
How the feck did he know she would open her mouth?
How the feck did he know "the truth" didn't mean something about the Omen Machine instead, since it was describing what it did as the messenger of truth? Or something about his sword since it was, after all, the Sword of fcking Truth?
Of all the things that could have made a lot more sense, he was able to link "let the truth out" to "unseal her mouth".
I am truly disappointed with this book. I guess this is probably what a lot of ME3 players felt - it was great all along until the end.
Speaking of ME3, now I feel like playing it again, except I've already finished it so recently that it's going to be boring.
Oh fck yea! SAFRA is having another NTUC Income insurance promotion at the Toa Payoh roadshow from the 1st of September!
I am SO going!
My plan is to get the S$200k Living Care plan with that S$40 monthly premium. According to my simple calculations using their annual premium rates, which are lower than the sum of monthly premium rates, despite the rising premium rates as I grow older, it's going to be worth the money even if I'm more fortunate than my parents and cancer hits me only at the age of 65.
($462 * 3) + ($484 * 15) + ($970 * 5) + ($1176 * 5) + ($1846 * 5) + ($4246 * 5) = $49,836
Since the full sum assured ($200k in this case) is claimable when I get hit by any of the most common cancers. This means that when I finally get by cancer, I'll make a profit of S$150,164, or more if it comes before I reach 65.
Moreover, after calling the hotline, I was told that the premium rates are fixed across the board (but the fineprint says they are subject to review from time to time, probably also across the board due to factors like inflation) regardless of whatever existing conditions I may have. This is important because I'm currently seeing an ENT specialist about my nasal problem.
Apparently, at most they will tell me that they won't cover that problem, and I'm cool with that.
Also, I'm currently waiting for the person at the call centre to get back to me on which cancers are covered. Mainly, I just want to be covered for all common cancers like liver, lung, colon and prostate. Breast too, just in case.
Finally, if the guy at the roadshow confirms that I can get another set of freebies just for signing up for another policy, I'll get a $100k Essential Term in addition to this. It's not important but my profits from the first policy will more than compensate for the premiums I will pay for this life policy by the age of 70.
($115 *3) + ($127 * 15) + ($208 * 10) + ($288 * 5) + ($404 * 5) + ($1200 * 5) = $13,790
I'll still have a net profit of about S$137k if I somehow live beyond the age of 65, and keep all my fingers and toes and etc.
And if I am alive and well till the policies' age limit of 70, the rest of the premiums for between 66 to 70 for the Living Care policy will be
($4384 * 5) = $21,920
The only downside to all this, financially speaking, is if I live healthily without major illnesses till after 70, but the chances of that are so slim I'm never going to bet on them. I mean, if that happens, cool, I'll be perfectly fine with not getting anything from the $85k worth of premium payments, but either way, I win.
Oh wait, there IS a real downside to this: I lose everything if I change my citizenship before I get cancer.
...
Ok she got back to me and told me that the definition of "major cancers" isn't specific cancers. Instead, the term, as NTUC Income defines it, means malignant tumours. That's... not exactly what I expected.
My concern is derived from the fact that my mother had benign tumours the first time. So it's not guaranteed that I will get that profit, though it's still very likely. Just not guaranteed as I thought it would be.
I'll still get it anyway, just for a sense of security. The premium rate is only $40 a month right now till I hit 31, so it's not going to be any problem.
One thing that surprised me was that she noticed that my birth date and wished me a happy birthday. That really caught me offguard because I had completely put that out of my mind.
Similarly I had forgotten about it till the night before my birthday when someone else said the same thing to me and my first reaction was to think,"Wait, it is?"
I had to jog my memory to recall that it really was.
Argh! The Choice groceries vouchers are sold out! Apparently they get "sold out very fast" and next month, only Sheng Siong vouchers will be available.
No!
Oh well.
I was actually planning to go to SAFRA Mount Faber and two other places this Friday and kill three birds with one stone, but now I'll change my plan to just the two of them on Saturday.
So FB friends and Twitter followers can be bought with money. Guess how much I paid for 11 subscribers.
7 years of my life.
Honesty is expensive :S
Someone recommended chia seeds after I asked about honey. Apparently she mixes the both of them and it actually worked on a diabetic person she knew. That person, after a month of chia seeds every morning, got his diabetes medicine reduced from 3 pills to a single pill per day.
However, chia seeds are kinda unproven according my google results, so I'll just get a small packet to try. Or rather, I'll let my bro try since he's got mildly high blood pressure and chia seeds supposedly helps with that too.
That stuff is expensive - it's about S$10 for just 250g!
That's like gold, but edible.
Major sale is coming and I've got something to buy in Oct.
We may have to go vegetarian by 2050 D:
Since this is about our water supply, the change will be gradual. I imagine the prices of all kinds of meat will continue to rise while non-meat foods will either stabilise or rise at a relatively slower pace.
But... what about camel meat?
Maybe. I mean, camels are some of the most water-efficient mammals in the world. Since this is about lacking the water to raise the cattle for human consumption, won't switching to camel meat make sense? Furthermore, Middle Eastern countries have already been raising these animals for meat anyway.
On the other hand, since it is so water-efficient, the meat will likely be dry too. That means tough.
According to Wikipedia, camel meat is best suited for slow cooking. That probably means the shank cut sort of tough.
This sucks.
By 2050, we'll all be eating camel stews for dinner.
Why don't cheap wallets have coin pouches???
Are those pouches so expensive??!??!
Do people who use these wallets leave their coins to jingle in their pockets with every step?
So I didn't buy GW2.
I simply don't see how I can make it worth the US$60.
Branded cosmetic products may be more expensive but a portion of the money goes to R&D. Off-brand ripoffs, even if they contain exactly the same formula through reverse engineering, do not have to invest much on that department.
It's not fair but such is the way of capitalism. That's why they spend so much on marketing campaigns and building a reputation.
Bought a small bottle rack from a budget store downstairs for S$14.50. It's quite small at 21.5 * 9 * 9cm, and it's made of metal so it will eventually rust.
This is actually about the same as the ones I saw on Qoo10 except those have a shipping fee of $4 for every 4 items.
So far it's been several hours since I placed it on the wall and left a few bottles inside, and nothing's happened yet.
Meanwhile, my bandannas are here!
Ok, just the two from one of the shops I bought from for S$11.40 nett and they're not big enough for my head, at 49*49cm. Next time I'm going to try the 55*55cm ones, although the only design the shop has for this size are not that nice.
Unexpectedly, I am unable to really tighten it because it doesn't cling to my skin. Without that friction, I have to let it be just barely tight enough but I'm not sure if that will work. Normally I make sure my towel is really tight around my head so that it doesn't loosen. However, the bandanna's still just long enough for me to tie two knots, one over the other.
These two bandannas CAN cover my head but they're a little too short so only the very tip of the back corner is pressed down by the knots, thus it kinda puffs up on both sides of my head.
As for the printing, it's the cheap hard plastic sort that will crack and fall off over time. Not impressive but it's ok I guess.
They are finally admitting that the lines between university and polytechnics have blurred - and some people are still in denial.
Providing "practice-oriented, industry-relevant courses" is for polytechnics. These institutes are meant to produce people who do the actual work except for the blue-collar labour. The graduates are supposed to be the link between theory and real life application.
Universities, in contrast, are meant to produce scholars. Their students are to be trained to do the abstract thinking and handle the theories.
Clearly this has not been the case for a long time, and it's now come to the point where the difference between these two is the starting salary level of the graduates.
Hence on, universities will have to be semi-polytechnics.
This just means that regardless of what people say, university graduates are too numerous and have been devalued to where polytechnic graduates used to be at.
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