That’s Nicholette Chua, a full-time student, part-time tiger from East View Primary School, showing everyone three simple steps to take towards eco-responsibility.

She was just one of the many young children the NTU students worked with for an environmental campaign that encourages positive change via meaningful actions like the above. We heard the children set up booths at the canteen and romped about in tiger costumes to get friends and teachers to pledge their support to save animal habitats.

Speaking of which, consider adopting a tiger via WWF (not related to aforementioned campaign) to support their conservation efforts. Go tiger.

Technorati Tags: tiger conservation, save the world, green advocacy

Tip #1

I try my best to phrase this in the best way possible.

So you got dumped or dumped, hurts and feels good doesn’t it? You probably think that it is something you deserve, or maybe something your other ex-half deserved, don’t you?

I don’t disagree. Maybe you ended up the victim of the broken relationship and know (’think’ is such a weak word) negatively of the other gender. Considering turning to the same gender for comfort or maybe something more?

I highly recommend it!
Reasons:

1. No such thing as unwanted pregnancies
2. You won’t have stereotype other genders
3. Some people from the opposite gender may find you totally hawt.

Tip #2

Completely avoid all anniversaries, birthdays,  couple’s holidays or special landmarks of a couple’s dating life. That way, complaining that he/she dumping you for another won’t feel so bad. Let’s face it, men cheat and women weep, women cheat and men turn into creeps.

Tip #3

Gifts are a waste of time and effort. If you got perfume, leather goods or jewelery, you’re being considered encouraging materialistic tendencies or calling him/her cheap for not putting more effort into gifts or being a concerned partner. Of course, if you were planning to put effort into gifts, it usually ends up where you can’t be bothered to make that extra trip down to popular or art friend.

What are the odds that your partner does not appreciate the gift you got him/her? Pretty high.

Tip #4

Dates are for losers. One Night Stands are plain boring and Marriages are too darn expensive!

Think about it, single hood is best! Nobody to be accountable for, anniversaries and birthdays happen on the same day and instead of spending time and money, you receive them. Nothing to feel sorry about in case the gift isn’t good.

Tip#5

Make your date pay! Especially if you’re a guy.

Assuming you’re feeling really low and on one of your loser-ish days, on a date. Always choose to not say anything when it comes to picking a place to eat. By the time your date starves, he/she will pick a place, that way, you won’t have to succumb to the obligation of paying.

To do so, please bring extra food with you. Excuse yourself to the toilet and gobble away. While you munch, your date waits for you outside the washroom, growing hungrier and hungrier with every passing minute.

Tip #6

Have fun! Fool around, commitment ties you down and honestly, other than a complete distraction from work, it proves as nothing beneficial at all!
Think about it, when was the last time you saw a couple love each other for themselves? After time together and they remain absolutely the same? Commitment changes people and does things to them. Horrible things!

Take time, get to know a couple more guys out there, girls, if you see that cute Youth.SG writer, go ahead, talk to him. He’s probably friendly anyway, know more people, build your contact list. These things are more important than just knowing one guy really well and hitting it off as a relationship.

Most guys are douches anyway.
With the major exception of Youth.SG writers.

Tip #7

Ever wonder why marriages fail and relationships sour?

Everybody grows old sooner or later. When you grow old, you change, you don’t look like your 18 year old awesome self. Ex-Cheerleaders don’t get cheered on past their forties. Men don’t ‘perform’ as well past their fifties.

Today, I am introducing to you a revolutionary solution to all these problems. Surgery.

LADIES! - Saggy (Everywheres) - [face it, boobs are not the only ones that matter, too bad if you couldn’t afford a proper set of milk jugs back then. But that’s besides the point.] Your cheeks are dull, a lost of luster, no longer the smooth delicate money makers that make men drool for a peck. Your thighs are a little flabby, thundered them in the past? Those under-arms deflatable pillows sprung a leak, now it dangles like a silken bed sheet?

Use BOTOX! For god’s sake! This miracle drug pushes more than just face beauty into a clinical syringe.

MEN! - Blue V does more than just wonders. Other than separating the boys from the men, it turns men into Gods. Maybe i’ve been watching too many fantasy movies. But there is always a pill of immortality in those soddy chinese soaps. I figured, since immortality doesn’t exist in the real world, this is the closest thing.

Note: only one prize per person!

Merchandise includes collector’s items including Lyo and Merly plush toys(worth $79.80), back packs ($149.90), Singapore 2010 sports bottle, pins, lanyards…

Keep Mar 11, 11am to 2pm free!

For a list of possible things you might just win, click here!

Ever since I first read Tuesdays With Morrie, I’ve wanted to meet with Mitch Albom for a chance to pick his brain. Where do you get inspired? Where do you write - in a proper office/in a park/in your toilet? What’s your thought process like? Do you ever think about what your editors/publishers/readers will think about when they read your books? I need to know!

Well well well, the man himself, author of international bestselling titles like Tuesdays with Morrie, The 5 People You Meet in Heaven and his most recent novel, Have A Little Faith, was in Signapore last week and Youth.SG, along with over 150 people, rushed down to { prologue } to meet the man in person.

Just a fraction of the crowd that day…

Tickled pink by the unique names he gets here in Singapore..

I was blown away by Mitch. Not only was he down to earth and honest, he was witty and funny too! Young and old, fans lined up in front of the store over an hour slated before his appearance. Sweetly surprised by the turnout, MItch promised not to leave until he authographed each and every person’s books.

Before he got down to signing books, Mitch shared that Have A Little Faith was an accidental book, just like Tuesdays With Morrie. He was asked to write the eulogy for his rabbi when the time comes.

He shared that the process of writing Have A Little Faith humbled him and taught him a lesson. Despite the differences that we may have in our beliefs, our skin colour, and different set of challenges, one thing for sure is that faith provides comfort in a being larger than ourselves..

There’s only so much kam that one can stomach. So what do you do with the leftover mandarin oranges? Well, here are a few things that I can think of for now..

1. Freeze it for dessert
Cold mandarin oranges (peeled, of course) seem to somehow go down better and it’s easier to eat once someone else has taken the effort to peel it for us.
2. Juice it!
Juicing is probably the fastest way to finish up that truckload of mandarin oranges on your dining table. So go ahead and juice them up for a quick dose of Vitamin C!

3. Go for a picnic and volunteer to bring fruits
Have yet to get into the mood for work? How about a picnic for lunch one of these days to get out of the office? You can volunteer to bring mandarin oranges for the picnic and everyone gets their Vitamin C for a happy and balanced meal

4. Use the peel as freshener – fridge and car!
Don’t throw away those mandarin orange peels yet! Keep them in a net or a bag with holes as fresheners for your car, your room, or even your fridge. Trust me, it works and smells real good too!

Hong baos

Before we draw up a wishlist of things that we want for ourselves, why don’t we spare some of that collection to share with the people in Haiti? Or any other causes that you feel strongly about

Share your hong bao! <3

Cookies

Looks familiar?

The only thing that is more overwhelming than too many varieties of cookies is well, a mountain of cookies that you can’t seem to finish. I believe we’ve all done our fair share of munching on these treats even before the start of CNY so why not swap them with your friends for other varieties that you may not have?It’s a win-win situation. First, both parties are relieved of their leftover treats and second, they get new ones to try. You never know what you may get!

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR EVERYONE! 
Photos: Google

Tip #1

When faced with a never-ending rage of steamboats, raw fish dinners and never-ending orders of dishes nobody in the right stomach can stomach. Take things slow, eat really slowly. I mean slow like slice each rice grain into five sections before further bite-sizing it.

My gawd! I had my reunion dinner with my paternal grandmother last night and boy was I surprised at the amount of food she was able to squeeze into that one-room apartment. For obvious reasons, Grandma being Grandma, we could not finish the food even as she pressures us to chunk down tablespoons fried spring-rolls and steamed chicken. I love you grandma.

Round two this weekend!

Tip #2

Family gatherings tend to be the driving force behind the peak in the tourism industry during the CNY period. Two reasons to back this claim.

#1 - Expats return home for some home cooked food and loving family warmth.

#2 - People exit from the awkward family gatherings. The constant bombardment of

“When are you getting married?”
“When are you graduating?”
“You are already in NS aren’t you?”
“Did you put on weight?” (Which usually leads to)
“Why don’t you lose some weight?”
“Wah! So big already ah?”

Blame me for being only human but the usual stance of botox induced smiles and laughing at every stupid or lame remark thrown at me or around the dining table leaves one with the lesser warmth of a human-being. As I cursed the day I was born into a family of *never shuts-ups* I remember the good times family have. Usually from the other side of the family, but maybe I’m just being biased.

Tip #3

Don’t bother trying your ang-pow luck when in an office filled with people below nestling  grounds. One of the only set-backs of working in an environment where the combined age of the office is lesser than that of a five year-old.

Tip #4

How to tell that you are growing old?

Simple! Just count the number of red-packets you receive. Usually, the age of a person is relative to the number of red-packets he/she receives. The older the person is, the less. Of course there will be a point where ang-pows no longer constitute the meaning of the festivities. That is the point where you know that your days are numbered.

My suggestion: Pack your bags, escape for the week. That’s always a good excuse to get away from all the drama and that stated in tip #2.

Tip #5

On the other end of the spectrum, if you are one who packs the red-packets, never skimp on the dough. As a representative of your status and the precept that the receiver has of you.

Cutting the crap, I just need more money.

Tip #6

Oranges are meant for eating. If I’m passing two to you I expect two in return. Isn’t that a fair trade-off? Rather than just returning me a packet containing a two-dollar note. Don’t those oranges cost more?

Tip #7

Clothes are overpriced during CNY, save up and only splurge after. That way, you’d be spending less on more on the other hand, you wouldn’t be able to parade down Chinatown in your brand new Qi Pow. I’m being old fashioned of course but heck! Its true!!

Tip #1

There is no such thing as under-packing when visiting China during winter. My gawd! It is freezing and if the minus eleven degrees Celsius temperatures do not deter you, the icy razor winds would. The tour group was at this shrine built specially for the emperor of China in ancient times. It was built on elevated ground and the winds just sliced through the windbreakers, layers of clothes, through my leather boots and long-johns and socks right to the bone.

In total, I was wearing 5 layers of clothing on my torso area - singlet, tee-shirt, sweater, woolen layer of wind-breaker and finally the nylon layer of my wind-breaker at the exterior.

I’m wearing 6 tomorrow.

Tip #2

Don’t bother combing or even trying to ‘neaten’ your hair. When even the trees are dying and any source of water around you is frozen, don’t expect your hair to co-operate. You might end up losing more in the process.

Trialed. Tested.

Tip #3

Pretending to be the emperor of China whilst not knowing a word in mandarin does not make you look cool at all. There is a reason for the Chinese saying “If you do not speak, they will not think you are mute.”

Asking for unreasonable discounts on a tourist budget usually don’t work, the baseline is around 70% off the quoted price and if you try pushing for more and they start cussing and swearing at your face, don’t bother cussing and swearing back with limited mandarin vocabulary like “Ben Dan” (Stupid)

Tip #4

The Tian An Men Massacre happened a long time ago, don’t bother looking for carcasses around the monument of Mao Tze Dong (Its this pillar shaped thing - honestly I think it represents his penis) since then, the security around Tian An Men square has been tighter than a chipmunk’s ass.

At any given point of time, there would always be two people looking at you. One - the security cameras (Quote: “I wonder, if you counted the number of security cameras around, when will you stop?) and Two - The painting of Mao Tze Dong (Quote: “His eyes are painted in such a way that no matter whichever angle you look at Mao Tze Dong, you will always see him looking back at you”)

I guess it adds to the personal touch.

Tip #5

DSLR’s magnesium alloy bodies are honestly a bad bad idea. If you knew me well enough, you’d understand the extent which I love and care for my camera. It, which giveth me warmth and comfort, betrayed me with a sharp and painful shrill of chill.

Yes, my camera was totally icy and to say the least, leaving it under my jacket did not help one bit.

While I am thankful that it never left me, I am also thankful that I can place its breaking-point body onto my sister with pleasure.

Tip #6

Spitting is okay, just don’t get caught. While observing the locals, I noticed the difference from the previous year’s visits to China and this. While there is an obvious drop in spits and people speaking louder than necessary, there too is a non-proactive law behind it. While nobody can be tracked about their actions and the amount of spit that exits their mouths, there technically is no way to be caught. Much like throwing your used cigarette bud onto the ground (when no-one is looking), there isn’t always someone there to scrutinize your every move.

So fret not if some holey water finds it way out, in China and in Singapore. It makes you look cool sometimes.

Tip #7

Always be prepared for instant noodles. China serves up awesome instant noodles! Imagine meat and not the frozen kinds in packets of sauce you typically find in instant noodle packages. You get exactly that in China! I was amazed on my second visit to China where we toured around Shanghai. The ‘dan dan’ noodles were smooth and bouncy and the meat was a far cry from tasteless or textureless.

Look forward for my pictures! Till then, CIAO!!!

Public votes will determine the winning band; this ends Feb 27, 12mn.

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Technorati Tags: paramore, indoor stadium, singapore, concert