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I love to drink water, plain H20, non stop. I calculated that I drink at least two litres of pure plain water everyday. This improves our body skin texture and rejuvenates facial complexion together.

Our body needs water for many reasons, and well I drink for other reasons, and didn’t realize it helps my skin too.

Overcome skin problems

Drinking water prevents your skin from getting dry. It also helps by preventing your skin with problems such as acne. My weather is very hot and humid, all year round. Healthy skin should look something pure and plain, without any marks. It should look eleastic and shiny too.

Our body is able to heal by itself, with adequate amount of water. With additions like minerals and nutrients to help the skin and body in general, water generally moisturizes our skin, and keeps acne breakouts, blackheads and spots away, especially on our face.
 

Cleansing with water

Water removes toxins and and harmful substances from our body. When more water enters our bloodstream, it helps our blood to clear the toxins away. Instead of impurities forming up and releasing themselves as acne or pimples, water does a great job by removing them regularly, and flushes it away from our immune system. This enhances our skin for better complexion.

Remember, water also helps in overall digestive and waste system, and that leads to one of the factor in preventing acne. Acne are toxin released through your pores, anywhere on your skin, so water does matter alot.

Reminding yourself to drink

I stayed in an air-conditioned environment for one third of the day. One way for me to stay hydrated is to have a bottle that can fill up one litre of water. This reminds me to drink, as and when I feel thirsty. After going to the toilet, I return to my desk and drink immediately. Because our body is built such that everytime we visit the toilet, we need to replenish with water right away.

Many who stayed in an air-conditioned place don’t feel the need to drink as much as compared to staying in outdoors, just because your body loses water at a slower pace. Even so, we ought to drink often.

Conclusion

For a healthy body, water is definitely an essential element that do us good. You could probably add some lemon juice, or drink tea (chinese or english) to give yourself that restorative magical potions through drinking more often.

The end result is a natural, beautiful, and younger looking skin. So do get your own one litre bottle beside your desk and a bring along a 500ml bottle everywhere you go, if possible !

Banks these days offers saving plans that promises a certain percent of interests pay out. In my local banks, saving plans with interests of 1.2% P.A are not uncommon. Due to the recent economy recession and uncertainty in the financial markets, interestes rates of these banks have dropped. I remember it was up to about 2% to 3% about 1 year back.

Here, I did this interesting way to calculate the difference between simple and compounding interest, and found out that simple interest actually pays more ! All along I thought it was the compounding effect that earns more interest. In my scenario, I want show the calculation of both simple and compound interests, and the actual effective interest rate after the end of 2 years.

Here is my scenario, taking a savings of $1000 monthly throughout a year for 2 years.

Simple interest rate based on 1.2%

Savings for 1st year:
$1000 x 12 = $12000

Total interest earned:
$12000 x 0.012 = $144

Total savings as of 31 Dec Year 1:
$12000 + $144 = $12144

Savings for 2nd year:

Savings for a year:
$12144 + ($1000 x 12) = $24144

Total interest earned:
$24144 x 0.012 = $289.72

Total savings as of 31 Dec Year 2:
$24144 + $289.72 = $24433.72

Total interest earned by simple interest for 2 years:
$24433.72 - $24000 = $433.72

Effective interest rate:
$433.72 / $24000 = 0.018 or 1.8%

In summary, if we save $1000 a month on a 1.2 % P.A for 1 year with simple interest calculation,
we will have a balance of $12144, with an earned interest of $144, effective interest of 1.2%.
For 2 years, we will have a balance of $24433.72, with an earned interest of $433.72, and an effective interest rate of 1.8%!!!!

Compound interest rate based on 1.2%

Compound meaning for each month= (1000 + balance) * (0.012 / 12) = new monthly balance.

Calculations for the first year (adding $1000 a month):
1st $1000 * 0.001 = $1 (interest)
2nd $2001 * 0.001 = $2
3rd $3003 * 0.001 = $3
4th $4006 * 0.001 = $4
5th $5010.01 * 0.001 = $5.01
6th $6015.02 * 0.001 = $6.01
7th $7021.03 * 0.001 = $7.02
8th $8028.05 * 0.001 = $8.02
9th $9036.08 * 0.001 = $9.03
10th $10045.12 * 0.001 = $10.04
11th $11055.16 * 0.001 = $11.05
12th $12066.22 * 0.001 = $12.06

Total balance after 12 months:
$12066 + $12.06 = $12078

Total interest earned (1st year):
$78.28

Effective interest rate:
$78.28 / $12000 = 0.0065 or 0.65%

Calculations for the second year (adding $1000 a month):
1st $13078 * 0.001 = $13.07 (interest)
2nd $14091.07 * 0.001 = $14.09
3rd $15105.16 * 0.001 = $15.10
4th $16120.27 * 0.001 = $16.12
5th $17136.39 * 0.001 = $17.13
6th $18153.53 * 0.001 = $18.15
7th $19171.68 * 0.001 = $19.17
8th $20190.85 * 0.001 = $20.19
9th $21211.04 * 0.001 = $21.21
10th $22232.25 * 0.001 = $22.23
11th $23254.49 * 0.001 = $23.25
12th $24277.74 * 0.001 = $24.27

Total balance after 24 months:
$24277.74 + $24.27 = $24302.02

Total interest earned (2nd year):
$224.02

Effective interest rate:
$224.02 / $24302.02 = 0.0092 or 0.92%

Based on a $12000 (1000 a monthly savings with 0.1%), you only earned $78 which is 0.65%.
Which means to say the effective interested rate is only 0.65%, not 1.2% although it is true that 12 months of 0.1 % adds up to 1.2 a year but its compounded.

For 2 years, we will have a balance of $24302.02, with an earned interest of $224.02, and an effective interest rate of 0.92%!!!!

Conclusion

There is still some difference between the 2 after looking at the 2 ways of calculation and for 2 years.

If your local bank or funds management has a plan that give returns of 1.2%, be sure to ask if it is a simple interest rate or a compounded interest, because it may mean alot for long terms savings!

In recent years Yahoo has added a good feature to its search engine. You might have notice it, its a quite a good way to search for things fast, and get popular searches.

I personally use it as my online dictionary, if I can’t spell out the entire word.

Heres the tip. All you need to do is to type the first few characters of the word you wish to enquire about, and let Yahoo’s search engine figure it out.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Typing the words “dark kn…” and you can see related searches.
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Here you see the word “busi…” which i tried to find out more about business searches.

Today I had a jog around my neighborhood and I decided not to jog too far as I just wanted to relax my mind. I ran at about 9pm, pretty late for an exercise but I love night jogs.
 

I planned my route, and decided to take a turn into a road leading to some terraces and bungalow houses. They are all in a rowed-style along a one-way road. Then I begin to admire the architecture, the exterior design and the beauty of these houses. I could only build my dream house in computer games like “The Sims”, but not anywhere near there in the real world.
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Living in Singapore, the way the residential houses here are similar to apartments in the States for example. But we call them flats or “Pigeon holes” by others. We have many 10-12 storeys buildings erecting all around Singapore. This is quite a common sight. Compared to Hong Kong, Singapore is much much more spacious as in the distance between these “blocks of flats”.
 
  
 

 
 
Pictures of HDB flats in Singapore

 
All of them had BMWs and Mercedes, and some other Luxury cars. Some of the lands and houses are quite big (and tall), enough to be transformed into a shopping centre. I really envy and admire these rich folks. Some day I would want to live like them, buy a plot of land and build a house on it. A simple 2 storey building will be terrific! The prices of these landed property cost a bomb, ranging least 2-10 millions in USD. Thats quite a lot of money … to me.

 
 
 
Bungalows

Although I live just one street away from these “wealthy” resdential areas, it feels so different to be living in these houses. The comfort, the status, the priviledge and only the rich can afford to stay in there. Singapore is lack of lands and so it is really quite different from what we see in other countries.

Back to my daily routine…
 

References:
*Photos were taken from: http://flickr.com/photos/nadzrieunos/

Lets say everyone here are employed and worked for money. What are the pros and cons about it?

Buying or exchanging money with time

For most of us here, being an employee is quite common. We exchange our time and then we get paid. We either get paid by month or by hourly basis, etc. And so we get a sum of money, called salary or wages whatever you call it. Ultimately it is still exchanging time with money.

Working by the hours

Group A
I favour those jobs which are limited by the hour, because although working hours might sound like short, it is a good choice for those who want to have freedom and control. Its a good kinda of job hours to consider if you just want a part time commitment. Examples of these jobs includes giving tutions, coaching, part time staff etc…

Group B
There are another group of people who are employed full time. So at the end of the month, he’ll get paid. When I said by the month, I never meant to say 8 hours a day. It may stretch, for long working hours, and that might be some of the typical working culture for some of you. This is a common example, like most white collar officers. Jobs includes accountants, software engineers, designers etc…

Group C
And then theres yet another group, who have a hell lots of freedom in personal time. They have no bosses to report to, no fixed working hours, and probably work from home. No they are not bosses, but somehow they still fall under the employee category. They could be property agents, insurance agents, sales personnels etc…

Selling away our time… precious time

Time is precious, and everyone agrees with that. Time is used in spending time together with our family, going out with kids, relaxing our mind, doing things that we like. For teenagers, they’ll prefer playing PC games, hanging out at parties, dating, etc etc. But other than these activities, what do we do ? The answer is probably clear. It is a mindset that most people accept, its a matter of earlier or later.

What most of us do for a living, is to “sell” our time to an organization, a company, a shop, a stall, known as slogging… err I mean being employed. This means that we are limited, in the sense that what we could do in a day. Read the following article to see how I spent my day at work and travel..
http://www.dennisquek.com/2008/06/i-spent-12-hours-half-a-day-at-work

When I say limited, I meant time and money limitations, for as long as we stay employed. For Group A employees, I should say they are not really limited by time, but the level of income varies by number of hours.

As for Group B, the good news is when there are increments and bonuses payouts, they differ from industries, trades and companies. Income stays stagnant for a year before some change. So you probably live the life the same way for a year…

Lastly for Group C, there is the good and bad, like I’ve mentioned. Time is more flexible, and I hope so for those who fall under this category. (They might be very busy now, but who knows?) They call the shot in meeting the clients, and probably their income level fluctates, according to the market, with the factors like business oppotunities and personal charisma.

So… towards the end of the road we are always finding what is our objectives, and probably this article might help… Things will start to get interesting…if we become employers or self-employed.

I was so busy with work, school projects, this and that and the only thing that was on my mind was my payday that credits on the 12th of every month. Looking at the dates with starting with July 1x which was so familiar… Oh yeah I was born on the 14th of July.

Happy Birthday to me !

We have some point in time wondered what is the most efficient way of learning new stuff. Just to share with you the different ways of learning something new, and share with your my personal experience to have acquired various types of different skillsets.
 

Throughout the years, I’ve learn Martial Arts, Music, Pool with the 9 Ball, and these skills require some talent, and much more practises. There are other stuff like academic studies, public speaking and communications, human to human relationship and team building, which are another realm on its own. With that said, there are ways to improve or speed things up to be at the top.
 

In my post http://www.dennisquek.com/2008/06/pryamids-and-
how-it-helped-me/, if you look at the pryamid carefully, it represents data on how effective can students learn in a particular subject, or how much information it can retain. Perhaps it is interest on the subject some may argue, but the graph defines the precentage breakdown in a many different processes.
 

My point being, the top 3 most effective fashion to learn and surpass others is to have mainly discussions, practises and by teaching / guiding others. For the last point it might sound like you have to be very good at a subject but it fact it is not.

Most of the stuff that outshine against others are learnt through the various methods. First, you observe what others are doing and how it is done. Then you think of ways to make it better. I often watch Top world players on ESPN fight it out in the 9 Ball Championships. Then I spot my coach on how he teach others during my martial art lessons. Then you’ve got to practise. In my musical journey, for example on the piano, there is no other way better than delibrate practise. There may be other aids like using ears, watch a video, a 1 to 1 teacher, but practises definitely help alot.
 

Finally after several years of practise, you become so good at something, its time you start to guide others. I was a Taekwondo Coach for 3 years, teaching people from kids to adults. It is beneficial as I get to work out my body, as well as coaching people, by speaking to them. This doesn’t just stop the learning. As my instructor once said, “Martial arts isn’t complete once you’ve passed your black belt. You got learn to coach other students so that the next generation can benefit from you.”
 

These skills can be brought over to another area, such as public speaking. And because I have many chances of performing pop and classical songs, so I am used to being on stage. That is during the old school days, I took any oppotunities to give group presentations. I also, often ask stupid questions but that helped me to build the confident to speak. For academic studies, I gues it was one of the toughest area for me. You realised that studying only involves mostly systems in the least %, which is very bad.
 

Nevertheless, we should understand that different topics have their own ways to overcome in effective learning. You should approached something new in different angles, and not just the traditional ways and stop there.
 

There are more interesting discovery on human characters to be posted on later…

A colleague of mine took this wierd looking plant into our office. I thought it was stupid to bring a plant to the workplace. I didn’t really know what this plant could do until I saw this.

It is a great video thats filmed and edited nicely by my colleague! Lets see what this plant is capable of. Poor fly.

I am busy lately with the tremendously astonishing heavy tasks working on my school projects. I am taking a part time bachelor degree now and so I’ve been spending the whole weekend, or at least 30 hours looking straight to my 21 inch Samsung LCD screen.

About my school project

My project involves me as a project manager, to lead my team of 4 guys to do a “not-so-simple” tutorial assignment. Being considered one of the better writers, I volunteered to do some of the report writing contents, while I leave the rest split equally among the other guys. It is good to identify who likes to do what.

Task assignment

For example, I have a guy whose good in Mathematics, so I gave him a task that requires calculation to produce some graphs in Excel spreadsheet. Another guy likes working on his laptop, so I got him to do a Grantt Chart with Microsoft Project 2007.

Theres another guy who is technically very savvy and because this project doesn’t require that, I had him do all the support stuff. This includes all the point of contacts for personal details, cover and content pages, and some of other simpler tasks where examples were given. The last guy was self motivated, so after finishing his part, he helped us with collecting of all the tasks to be handed up

Secrets to writing

Last but not least, I have a secret on writing to share with everyone. YES A SECRET REVEALED! That is using the thesaurus to write. What I mean is, how to flourished your text with flowery, high-sounding bombastic words.(I got these words from thesaurus).

I find it a humane, advantageous, excellent, superlative and laudable referencing point (oh my…), but it is just a supplement to your writing, if you ran out of words. An easy place would be www.thesaurus.com.

I just hope this misery ends soon. Oh, more school projects coming up…

Here is a Wordpress tip on how to change the Wordpress’s pages’s permalink so that it can be used as a navigation menu instead.

Problem

I had a problem because I am afraid you will be lost while navigating this site, and wanted YOU to return to my index page (root directory). You can only click my DennisQuek.com hyperlink on my header right at the top, and that is the only way so far.

In this Wordpress CMS, I created had a page called “Home” that appears on the menu, but after clicking this “page”, a page of static post was expected. I needed have a more obvious way to return visitors to my home page, where index page is, without the need to click that DennisQuek.com link.

The picture shows my old “home” pages page.

Solution

The solution is to edit the permalink such that you remove the “/home/” in the hyperlink to null. I found out a way by changing this, and that is to go into your mysql database or other database that you are running, and by changing to blank, you will be able to link the “pages” home back to your home page.

Step 1
Go into your Wordpress database. Locate the wp_posts, and find the structure tab. You will need that to execute the SQL search query later on.

Step 2
Click on the SQL tab and you should see a query that allows you to display the data in that table.

Step 3
Scroll to the row where your post is. Although its a post, but its type is a page. Look carefully. Locate it and edit the row values. Look out for the “Post_name” value because this is where you change the value to null, or blank.

The bad point is you can’t use this method to link to other sites, so you’ve got to use the Links instead. But the good point is now you have a way to “cheat” and navigate around.

After you are done with the change, you should be able to see… err… it in live. Mouse over to my “Home” pages and you should see the URL as my domain name only and nothing else. Hope that enhances your Wordpress blog.