Reading Circle

Hi Good people,

For the life of me I couldn’t find the earler Reading Circle postings/comments, except for the latest by Ron Wie. The last thing I want to do in a discussion of books, is to be listed under ‘Fart Facts’…..interesting tho’ it may be.

ELibrary costs and is tedious. Nothing like putting up your feet, relax in an armchair or better yet be in bed  with, a good book. The libraries in S’pore are good sources and free.

RonW if you are looking for a good classic book that pertains to our forefathers culture, hardships in China….then " The Good Earth " by Pearl S. Buck is a very good start. Very well and interestingly written. Its about a farming family and  gives an insight of life and attitudes in China. It is no wonder why our ancestors left the Orient shores and sailed the 7 seas to look for a better life. So here we are alien, to our own kin in China.

If its possible watch the {black & white} movie. Over the years I have read the book twice and the movie 3 times….I don’t seem to tire of them. They are classics.

 It sure beats reading a foreign Russian setting like " War & Peace " with its very long winded names that you cannot identify with after a while.

Hope this is informative and encouraging. Anyone, with further input or books to recommend???? Do share………………..Happy reading…………Jie

Trivia Thread

It is oft said that forgetfulness is the first sign of ageing. We cannot stop the process but, perhaps, we can try to slow it. So, after much egging here is a thread to test our mamm – oops, not again (another sign of ageing) – test out memories or otherwise gain that knowledge our parents and teachers told us were unimportant and wouldn’t get us anywhere. Now is a time to find out how sweet that forbidden fruit is and have a good giggle at how little we know because we had allowed the good life to pass us by.

So move that cursor over your hippocampus (the hard disk in your brain, for the technology savvy), click out those trivia questions and put out the challenge: “So, you didn’t know this did you … smart-a***?”

Okay, so you take pride in not wasting your youth with trivia. Well, show us that you are indeed a real smart-a*** and answer the questions posed here!

Please also  participate even if you are genuinely seeking answers.  Example, a tune keeps going through your head and you are dying to know the title of the song. You may want to ask the title for the song with the lyrics:

    "Stepped into a church I passed along the way/I get down on my knees and I pretend to pray"

Also, you may not want to ask the question, but just want to share some trivia information like:

    Cat Stevens, who had a big hit with "Morning Has Broken", has embraced Islam and now goes by the name Yusuf Islam.

But do keep questions as trivial as possible – we’ve all got this far in life because we’ve passed the “other” intelligence tests already. And for starters, we’ll stick with trivia pertaining to music and films.

So, ready … set … let the fun begin!

Kong Hei Fatt Choy meet-up in Feb 2008

During this Chinese New Year month, how about having something different?  Dim-sum, raw fish or go easy on Chinese tea?  Name a place, somewhere where the venue wont mind our noise.  We can decide  by Jan 17.  Cheers.

As of 8 Jan 2008, the tentative (99% confirmed) venue for the Chinese New Year event is "Fortunate Restaurant at Toa Payoh (Block 181, Lorong 4, next to the Toa Payoh libary).  We will have a small dim sum menu for lunch, starting at 1100 hrs and finishing at 1400 hrs.  I plan to block 6 tables of 10 each.  The date is Sat, 16 Feb 2008.  More details after Jan 17.

After the lunch, cyclists can proceed to the East Coast for their cycling event at 4pm.  Yew Kwong thinks this arrangement is workable.  Let’s try it out.

List of SHCians bringing Mandarin oranges (Confirmation by 31 Jan 2008):

  1. Lily Ho
  2. Caroline Gee
  3. Mary Chan
  4. ChristinaCL Chan
  5. Yew Kong
  6. Dan Huang
  7. Boon Liang
  8. An Nee
  9. Gingko Tay
  10. Grace Kok
  11. LH Jie
  12. Tim Liu
  13. Eileen Lee
  14. Andrew Yeung
  15. Bira Lupolo
  16. Terence Seah
  17. Joy Chuang
  18. Ann To
  19. Eyvonne Chew
  20. Roland Tong – Event Organiser
  21. Oi Cheng
  22. Kenneth Tn
  23. Target is 4 tables of 10 pax.

Terence Seah

2008 Monthly Walk – Jan

After all the Christmas & New Year feastings, it is time for us to burn up some excess calories. Join us for the first monthly walk of 2008.

CharlesW,ChristinaC,VeronicaW & MaryT

Bishan Park and Lower Pierce Walk  
12th Jan 2008, Saturday, 4.30pm
Meeting place:  Bishan MRT , next to  Taxi/ Bus stop

From meeting place, we take a 7-minutes walk to Bishan Park . Walk through  Bishan Park 1, then  cross Marymount Road to Bishan Park 2 , after which we cross over Upper Thomson Road to Lower Pierce Reservoir .

Bishan Park is a matured park. Along the way we visit a small vegetable & spice garden , a beautiful lotus pond, and view a variety of flowering trees, shrubs and palms amidst ponds with Chinese style bridges. For dog  lovers there is  a dog run enclosure where the pets are let loose. See roller blading ring and visit  Aramsa, Singapore first garden spa. Identify the source of our famous Kallang River.

Toilets,  rest benches and rain shelters are easily available along the way .There is also a nice cafe near the big pond .

At Lower Pierce, enjoy the magnificent reservoir view and perhaps meet some real monkies and marvel at the cute babies hanging onto their mothers. We take the board walk by the waterside  and follow a short trail into the forest before  emerging at our destination the famous Casuarina Roti Prata  Café .

Total distance is about 6 kilometres and takes about 2 hours including rest breaks.

Travel Club

Some members have expressed interest in an exciting business proposition ie to start a Travel Club. In that thread (("Christmas cheer and thoughts" https://silverhairsclub.com/2007/12/1327) the idea was to link Spore / Perth on the uncommon packages designed for our special interest group.

At the same time, we can extend the scope to include other countries. Our SHC members residing abroad can help us to organize tours in their countries (ie the inbound leg). We will organize the outbound leg from Singapore.

If there is interest, we can call a meeting to further this idea together with the Oz team.

Fart Facts

Farting is good for you. I set to correct the  misinformation written on this greatly misunderstood and unappreciated body function.

Those who fart in public usually try to deny it. Some go quickly on the offensive and ask loudly "who farted ?" Others try to cover it up by clearing their throats, scraping their chair or shoes against the ground to make it seem like that had been the sound all along. What do you do?

The gas is mainly CO2 and comes from overeating in general. Carbon dioxide is a component of bacterial action in digestion and bacteria cause gas.  Loud farts require more excessive gas. So there is a scientific basis that fat people fart more and louder. Eat less and you should fart less and lose weight. The farts also tend to be quieter for lack of volume and therefore less noticeable.

The odor of farts comes mainly from sulfur. So the more sulfur-rich your diet is, the more your fart will stink. And the more people will notice. Sulphur-rich foods include eggs, seafood, beef, veal, tongue, liver, chicken, dried apricots and peaches, cabbage, Brazil nuts, peanuts and cheddar cheese. Onions, garlic and leeks are also rich in Sulphur. So eating onions does not necessarily cause more farts. But because they are less stinky, it goes undetected more often.

Sulphur is used to make new substances in the body such as the hormone insulin, which is vital for the control of blood glucose levels. So cutting sulphur from our diet, is not an option either.

Yet not all is hopeless. Here’s something you can do. The way you eat and drink can cause gas as well. Not carefully chewing and chugging a drink can cause you to swallow an excess of air therefore causing farts to emerge. Also, chewing can help the digestive system break down the foods so bacteria can be prevented.

Eating slowly and chewing food for longer allows the enzymes in saliva to break the food. The more that food is chewed, the more it is broken down for the digestive system,” MedicalNewsToday said.

Now you know. We should just accept that, on most occasions, farting is good news for our bodies. Next time, sympathize those who can’t fart to save their life.  So, go ahead, let it rip.

Lim Sam – Profile

Hello to all SHC members,
 
You can call me Sam. I am a new member. I am happy to know that there are a lot of interesting activities organised by SHC. I enjoy meeting people and make new friends. My interests are brisk-walking. I go brisk-walking 4 times a week and each timo for about an hour.

I also enjoy karaoke. I like listening to Chinese love songs and English evergreen love songs. Reading books and playing Chinese chess and scrabbles are activities which I also enjoy.

I would like to thank Terence for his help and look forward to meet you at one of the club activities.

Thank you..    
 

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Terence Seah

 

Grace Kang – Profile

Hello to all SHC members

My name is Grace, I am a new member and I am please to know that there’s a lot of interesting activities organised by SHC. I enjoy meeting people and making new friends who shared the same interest. My interest are cycling(but still on ‘L license’ need alot of practice), walking(also spooky walk) and others.Before I forget I would like to thank Terence for his help ang looking forward to meet you all at one of the club activities.

I am so sorry Terence, thank you for reminding me . I forgot there are some members by the name Grace, anyway the more the merrier (more graces). My full name is Grace Kang and I will be joining the walk, cycling and kelong next year 2008, so once again Iwould like to wish you a Blesses Christmas and this coming New Year 2008.  emoticon

Die, die also must eat.

The food pyramid revisited for the older folks

As we are trying to survive the next eating binge from here to CNY, it is helpful to remind ourselves that humans are designed so that they eat to live. Then read the latest research  from Tufts University researchers. They have updated their Food Guide Pyramid for Older Adults to correspond with the USDA food pyramid, now known as MyPyramid. The Modified MyPyramid for Older Adults continues to emphasize nutrient-dense food choices and the importance of fluid balance, but has added additional guidance about forms of foods that could best meet the unique needs of older adults and about the importance of regular physical activity. This will be  published in the January 2008 issue of the Journal of Nutrition.

Here’s a link
http://www.seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Nutrition-Vitamins/7-12-20-SenCitGetTheirOwn.htm 
 
There is no substitute bto reading the whole paper if you are interested to find out how to avoid eating to an early grave. There are many enlightening snippets. I’ll nibble at some to help those hard-of-reading.

The main message is the old one re-emphasized with a fresh sense of urgency – take more fluid (the water-kind, not alcohol) and exercise.

"food and beverages with high water content, such as lettuce, vegetable juice and soups, are important contributors of fluid in an older person’s diet."

"The need for calcium, vitamin D and vitamin B12 can increase as we age and some people find it difficult to get adequate amounts from food alone, especially when calorie needs go down,"
 
"However, we continue to emphasize that the majority, if not all, of nutrients an older adult consumes should come from food rather than supplements."

If you must live to eat, watch the swill before you shove them in. Eat well, sleep well.

Merry Christmas.  

Remember your 1st step?

Remember your first step?  emoticon

What a fuss everyone made then!  you continued to walk right on through
childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood, but somewhere along the way, like
most adults, you probably stopped walking so much.

In fact, the percentage of adults who spent most of their
day sitting increased.  Sedentary
lifestyles have been held partially responsible for the excessive poundage.  hahahaha

Walking
is one of the easiest, least expensive, most enjoyable, and most profitable
forms of exercise.

All you need is ….

A pair of comfortable walking shoes

Socks to keep your feet dryer and blister
free

Comfortable clothing – dress for the
weather

A small bottle of water

Add a hat, suncreen and sunglasses on a
sunny day.
and desire ….

Suffice to say that walking is certainly good! Many SHCians
had enjoyed the walks and made new friends…. 
if I continued, there’d be no time for you to start walking!  

Monthly walks for SHCians are on Every 2nd Saturday of
the Month, once scheduled; Rain or Shine we Will be there!     emoticon

Thunder & lightning, we shall all, take cover, somewhere
in the vicinity to fellowship.

 

1st quarter of 2008, there will be 2 walks –

 

12Jan – Bishan Park & Lower
Pierce

09Feb – Gong Xi Gong Xi     (family
and friends “visitation walks”)

08Mar – Bedok Reservoir  (tentative)

**A week or 2 before each scheduled walk, relevant details
will be posted in SHC’s website.

Greetings fm the team – Charles Wee, Veronica Wong, Mary
Tan and ChristinaCL Chan

       We wish each of
you a

        Wonderfully
Blessed Christmas of Love, Joy & Peace and

         a Prosperous
2008 of Divine Health and Great Harvest!         

 

Be Cool!  Stay cool!      emoticon

This is Christina Chan (now reflected as ChristinaCL Chan in
SHC’s website).

 

Getaway (Perth)

Hi All

I’ve managd to book a self-contained chalet in January costing AUD $90/night for maximum 8 people. It’s very reasonable rate to do a spot of golfing and fishing down south of Perth. If the place is ideal I will recommend it to those who wish to get away from Singapore to have a break in Perth. Read my comments in January.

Wishing all A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Joan

Merry Xmas & New Year Party at the Marina

Hi all,

Wishing all a Merry Xmas and Happy New Year 2008

24th Dec , Xmas Eve – Outdoor Stage Performance at Marina, Stage@Powerhouse, free concert from 0730 to 0815pm.

 Dinner at Sizzler , Xmas Buffet , large spread of Salad Bar, soups ,desserts etc from $18 to $30, drinks included.

 Then to Midnight Mass – at any Catholic Church with a nice Choir , probably at Siglap. 

 31st Dec, New Year Eve Party at the Marina Countdown , free

– Fireworks, Photography competition, Perfomances,etc

– Dinner , Steamboat buffet ($12 per head) at Marina from 7pm

The
above are just my plans for a free , and easy Xmas and New year
celebrations that will not be costly.  Any one who wants to meet
up and join me are more than welcome, and you can bring your own drinks
and food ,etc to share.

Car pooling is encourage, so first come first serve. 

Cheers,

Allrounder 

 

April 2008 – Our fishing time on a kelong

Now, thinking ahead, with all good ideas from SHCians, and flowing in before 31 Dec 2007, we have now scheduled a day fishing trip to a kelong on Sat, 19 April 2008.

And, for those who love fishing ikan with reel and line, like eating fish porridge with kanna, chye poh, kiam chye, play cards or mahjong until the wee hours of the morning, coffee round the clock and able to sleep on wooden planks,  with rats and cockcroaches running around, you can also stay overnight on the kelong.

Let the fresh sea breeze flow past your face, enjoy the quiet away from the city, and have a chat, a long chat, with fellow SilverHairs over the weekend.

If you are prone to sea sickness, we shall prepare some cough mixture for you.  They are proven to calm you down.  In April, the seas are calm too.

However, only the date is finalised.  The place has not been found.  I found a classified travel advertisement in the Straits Times, spoke with them, and found the program interesting.   Haven’t got an Event Organiser to raise her/his hand yet.  But, the gathering is ON.  So, keep this date in your diary.

Please click on this website.  Estimate cost for 2D 1N: SGD 100, inclusive of transport from a Singapore MRT, meals on the kelong.  Have a look and see if you like it.  If you like it, we go for it.  We will limit to 42 pax only, to suit one bus.

Strictly for SilverHairsClub members only.  Here is an earlier POST for those interested in fishing.

Terence Seah

Golden Gateway

Golden Gateway – A Social Entrepreneur Hub

Hi there

My name is Christina Leow, an ex-Regional Accountant and in Financial industry for 5 years now. Currently engaging in various Social Enterprising work. I  first initialled "Golden Gateway – Social Entrepreneur Hub" in October 2007 to Terence and few others with the intention of sharing this knowledge and gifting I have for SHC members.

Would be officially launching this platform sometime in End January/Early Feb 2008. Details like its objective, its purpose, its mission/vision etc will be presented.  Meantime, would like to invite SHC members to participate through sharing and giving feedback on this platform.

Social Entreprise covers a wide spectrum of services, however for a start, I will only be targetting on the following areas of services:-

(This platform will also be suitable  for smaller (similar industry)companies to come forward to form a group to provide services to the marketplace):-

Accounting    – book-keeping, tax audit, corporate secretarial, Merger & Acq ,IPO, etc   

HR matters   – Handling Foreigners/Expadriates who want to obtain PR        status with business interest locally. 

Financial/Estate Planning – For both individual and business in areas of Investment(unit trusts) planning, business succession plan, retirement plan, Directors’ and officers’ insurance

Property     –   Redevelopment of land with business model

Business consultancy – business restructuring, business expansion, Funding etc

Funding      –  Separately, will be launching a "Financial’ Hub where SHC          members will be invited to come together to pool in their funds under assets acqusition management eg for business acquisition, business start up (Macro loan model) etc.   ( Members are welcome to forward ideas. Formal Entity will be incorporated and governed by appointed Committee  who will be doing the due diligence. Full details will be review later)

Legal  –    All legal advises 

Objective : To advocate using capitalism(profit/earnings)@business platform instead of charity to address social problems like income gap, poverty etc

Motto       : To be fund-reliant to self-sufficient

Mission : – 20% of above profit generated will be put under Trust a/c where plans of building orpanage homes,  Training school for marginalised people etc

I welcome ideas, suggestions and if need be I can be contacted at HP 96251162.

 

Regards

Christina Leow

IT Workshops in Jan 2008

Chan Kwong Wah n myself will be conducting these workshops wif assistance from some other members in Jan 2008.

Venue : Henderson Community Club, Bukit Merah View (confirmed).

Location Map : http://www.streetdirectory.com/asia_travel/travel/travel_id_3602/travel_site_11600/

Time Slots : 10.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.

Fees : $7 per participant per workshop. Minimum 7 participants to start class. Maximum 12 seats.

Dates n Topics :

1) Sat, 5 Jan 08 – Buying n selling stuff online (e.g. ebay, yahoo, mocca)

2) Sat, 12 Jan 08 – Internet banking (POSB/DBS accounts will be used 4 live        transactions)

3) Sat, 19 Jan 08 – Instant messaging (MSN n Yahoo chat), ICQ n IRC

4) Sat, 26 Jan 08 – Emailing Enhanced (how 2 attach n detach files n pic, how 2 zip n      unzip files, how 2 capture n organise addresses in address book n how 2 retrieve email addresses from "to", "cc" n "bcc")

Registration is now opened on a PAID n 1st COME 1st SERVE basis. Please remit $7 (X numbers of workshop U intend 2 attend) to my POSB Savings Account No. 096248873 after U hv registered ur name. TQ.

My sincere apology. I m sorry 4 some wrong info posted earlier which is now corrected.    Fee is $7 per participant per workshop. Fees collected go to the CC mgt 4 use of IT Centre, equipment n Internet Access.

Registration closes on Fri, 21 Dec 07 or earlier once seats are fully taken up.

Latest Updates :

Workshops # 1 n 4 – full. No more registration.

Workshop # 2 – 7 seats left.

Workshop # 3 – 4 seats left.

TQ 2 all those who hd signed up.

My Travel experience

Hello,everyone. I just registered as a member of SHC and have been reading some of the interesting postings by various members, particularly on the topic of travel.

I myself have travelled extensively to many parts of Europe (e.g France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Greece, Austria) as well as Australia, NZ, Canada and USA, mostly on self drive vacations, although I have also travelled by rail and gone on organized tours as well. For  some of these countries  my self drive holiday has enabled me to made multiple trips to different regions each time. I really admire Terence and his team for having done their Europe trip on rail as being on one’s feet from morning till evening for 14 days must surely be an achievement for a Silverhair.

My message here is that I would be happy to share my travel experiences or give tips for those who may be comtemplating taking a trip in the future. If going to Europe the best times are April/May and Sept/Oct, the so called shoulder season as crowds are less and prices are lower. If you are targetting a trip in spring 2008 now is not too early to start planning an itinerary.

Would love to hear from anyone whose passion is travel and who knows we may have an opportunity to arrange a trip together in the future.

Wine Tasting for Wine Lovers…

I am organising a Dayton Wine Tasting cum Talk on Annuity.

Its on 19 December 2007, 7.00pm @Scorebot (18 Bali Lane)

Detail info click link http://www.scorebot.biz/DH/Wine_Tasting.htm 

SHC members @25/pax subsidised by Christina Lee, Director Financial Services. (Mediterranean Tapas & Finger Food Included)

Title: Planning for the LONGEST holiday of your Life.

Dennis Har

New Year’s Eve Party

Hi SHCians!

The Countdown is confirmed!   Closing Date : 21 December 2007.  Hurry to register/pay to ensure ur attendance n fun ahead..

Date : 31.12.2007

Venue: SAFRA Mount Faber Clubhouse

Location Map : http://www.streetdirectory.com/asia_travel/travel/travel_id_26995/travel_site_5518/

Time: 7.00pm – 1.00am

Cost : $45/pax

Closing Date: 20.12.2007

Payment Mode: Remit $45/ to POSB Savings Account No: 030-02524-5 upon confirmation

Contacts: Roland (96522220) John Howe (90411218)

Programme : Buffet Dinner, Free flow of soft drinks, Dancing, Singing, Live band, Renowned Local Singers, Radio DJ as Emcee, Games, Lucky Draw, Free Karaoke Room for 30

  1. Roland Tong – Paid
  2. John Howe – Paid
  3. Bessie Lam – Paid
  4. Andrew SP – Paid
  5. Dan Huang – Paid
  6. Yew Kwong – Paid
  7. Edward Lim – Paid
  8. Bira – Paid
  9. Lily Ho – Paid
  10. Agnes Tan – Paid
  11. Jane Wong – Paid
  12. Helen Kuek – Paid
  13. Chew Soh Hong – Paid
  14. Lawrence Khan – Paid
  15. Janet & – Paid
  16. Michael – Paid
  17. Ann Lim – Paid
  18. Ann’s Friend – Paid
  19. Ann’s Friend – Paid
  20. Ann’s Friend – Paid
  21. Ann’s Friend – Paid
  22. Ann’s Friend – Paid
  23. Ann’s Friend – Paid
  24. Connie & – Paid
  25. Jonathan – Paid
  26. Tim Liu – Paid
  27. Jessie Teo – Paid
  28. Eleanor Chan – Paid
  29. Alina Sim – Paid
  30. Jean – Paid
  31. Doreen Tan – Paid
  32. Daniel Ho – Paid
  33. Boon Liang – Paid
  34. Eileen Lee – Paid
  35. Grace Kok – Paid
  36. Caroline Gee – Paid
  37. Christina Chan CL – Paid
  38. Peng Peng – Paid
  39. Peggy Ho – Paid
  40. Anna Seet – Paid
  41. Lina Tan – Paid

Looking for a place to host SHC monthly gatherings

The numbers are growing; and it has become pretty tight with a number of places we currently use for the monthly gathering.  We cannot expand due to limited places.  Do you know of a place with the following specifications.

  1. Something like Hans Cafe at Great Eastern would be excellent.  The venue has F&B, and we don’t have to get involved with serving food, collecting monies and cleaning the tables.
  2. Preferably where the coffee or tea is less than $2.
  3. Plenty of seats, although a minimum of 50 is desired.  SilverHairs need to sit after 10 minutes of standing.
  4. Very flexible with numbers; meaning committment to numbers can be made one week before actual event.
  5. The venue should preferably not be a function room, with boring four walls.  A setting in an auditorium, a cafe, a restaurant (especially off peak times), a food court (off-peak), a swimming pool in a condo ground.

Do you have a place in mind?  But, not to rule out other places, your recommendation most appreciated.

Terence Seah