Davies McDonalds Happy Meal Project

The whole world is talking about Sally Davies's photos about this popular McDonald Happy Meal. Mrs Davies, 54, had purchased this McDonalds Happy Meal from McDonald on April 10, 2010 and posted her pictures to Flickr and have been photographing for the past 6 months.

Take a look at : http://www.flickr.com/photos/sallydavies/sets/72157624739645253/

Placed on her coffee table with nothing covering it. According to the reports and photos, the Meal looks almost as fresh as the day it was bought with no sign of decomposing after SIX MONTHS.

Without any sign of mould or decay ? According to her, it no longer emit any smell on day two of her experiment and her dogs stopped circling and sniffing around the Happy Meals.

Many had responded to Yahoo! Answers on this Happy Meal.
Will you still eat this Happy Meals ? What is your response and view ?
We welcome to share your view with us.

Facebook and Mark Elliot Zuckerberg

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg,a Harvard sophomore,is the youngest billionaire in the world,as at March 2010. Do you know what is his net worth ? US4 billion, yes, ie 24% share of Facebook. Wow, so how old is he ? Born May 14, 1984.

Facebook,founded in 2004, apparently the world's largest social-networking site now has 500 million members and a valuation of $10 billion, according to some reports. Facebook is cementing itself as the leader and often displacing other social networks,MySpace and Friendster

Who are the investors in Facebook ? Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel,Accel Partners, and Greylock Partners. Microsoft took a 1.6%, which is $246 million in 2007. Hong Kong billionaire, Li Ka-shing also made a large investment too. Interested to buy over. we have Yahoo! and Google, but Mark Zuckerberg apparently has rejected that Facebook is not for sale.

Interested to find out how to search Facebook by location ?
http://www.ehow.com/how_4818870_search-facebook-location.html

Double helix bridge at Marina Bay

The Helix Bridge ( Chinese :螺旋桥), previously known as the Double Helix Bridge (Chinese : 双螺旋桥) is one magnificent structure was officially opened on April 23, 2010 at 9 pm. It is the world's first double helix curved bridge. It is located beside the Benjamin Sheares Bridge.

The Helix Bridge is to link up the Marina Bay precinct, from Esplanade, to the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort.

This 280-metre long new iconic pedestrian bridge,assembled with great precision, using a special stainless steel to withstand corrosion. It includes a computer-controlled lighting system to set the mood.

It is made up of a major and minor steel helix that wing around each other. If the steel was stretched out straight end to end, it would have a length of 2,250 meters and the entire structure weighs about 1,700 tons equivalent to about 1,130 saloon cars.

The pedestrian bridge, just beside Marina Bay floating platform - world's largest floating stage and is chosen to hold the opening and closing ceremonies of the inaugural 2010 Summer Youth Olypmics in August - further help to transform Singapore's city landscape to another level.

At night, the bridge will be illuminated by a series of lights that highlight the double-helix structure, thereby creating a special visual experience for the visitors.

It will probably take less than five minutes to walk the entire length of the bridge. While doing so, one will be able to admire the city skyline and the entire structure of the bridge.

How to go to the Helix Bridge?

Nearest MRT station: Promenade MRT Station (just opened on 17 April 2010)

Getting to know Hokkaido

Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands.The four largest
islands together accounting for 97% of Japan's land area. They
are : Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū & Shikoku.

Japan is separated from the east coast of Asia by the Sea of
Japan. Most of the islands are mountainous, many volcanic; for
example, Japan’s highest peak, Mount Fuji, is a volcano. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 128 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto
capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.

Recently, we have the chance to take a short trip and visited Hokkaido. Will take this opportunity to find out more about the island.

Hokkaidō - 北海道, literally "North Sea Circuit", is Japan's second largest island, northernmost and least developed of Japan's four main islands. The largest city on Hokkaidō is its capital, Sapporo. It has a population of 1.8 million, is the administrative and economic center of Hokkaido. It is the largest city north of Tokyo, and about a third of all Hokkaidō residents live there. Sapporo became a household name in 1972 when it held the Winter Olympic Games.

Hokkaido's weather is harsh in winter with lots of snowfall, below zero temperatures and frozen seas, while in summer, it does not get as hot and humid as in the other parts of the country.

With its unspoiled nature, Hokkaido attracts many outdoor lovers, including skiers and snowboarders in the colder seasons and hikers, cyclists and campers from June to September.

Home to Japan's aboriginal Ainu race, Hokkaido continues to represent the untamed wilderness with many great national parks.

Asahikawa, the coldest city in Japan & Noboribetsu Onsen is Hokkaido's most famous hot spring resort.

Japanese sometimes feel that Hokkaidō is not really Japan, although it belongs to it. Even food is different. Here, people eat lamb (a popular dish is called "Genghis Khan"), which most other Japanese never do.

Hokkaidō has however become indispensable to the Japanese economy and even culture. Most of Japan's milk and dairy products come from Hokkaido. Japan's first beer brewery (Sapporo) is also from Hokkaido, and is still one of the country's most popular.

We also visited Lake Toya (Toyako) which is part of the Shikotsu-Toya National Park. In addition to the lake itself, the Toyako region features hot springs and an active volcano, Mount Usu, which last erupted in the year 2000. The area also offers many fishing, hiking, and camping opportunities.

What are your thoughts about retirement

After the stock-market debacle,the challenge of retirement seem hit uncomfortably close to home. Time to re-think about your retirement plan and check your assumption again. So how do you realize your retirement goals?

What are your thoughts about retirement ?

* Do I want to retire?
* How do I want to spend my time in retirement?
* How will I handle not having to go to work?
* How much will I miss the social contacts and friends at work?
* Will my friends also be retired?
* How much income will I need in retirement?
* Am I psychologically ready to retire?
* Should I consider semi-retirement or a second career?
* What impact will my retirement have on my family?
* What if I don't retire and instead keep on working like I am now?
* Will I have to get a part-time job to make ends meet?

Let take a look at some of the quotes on retirement :

1) A time to do what you want to do, when you want to do it, where you want to do it, and, how you want to do it."
Catherine Pulsifer

2) Is the beginning and not the end.

3) Retirement is when the living is easy and the payments are hard.

4) Retirement: World’s longest coffee break.

5) The challenge of retirement is how to spend time without spending money.

6) Retirement is not at what age but at what income level.

7) Retirement is wonderful if you have two essentials - much to live on and much to live for.

Share your views on how you would plan your retirement. We welcome your comments here.

Singapore Ageing population

Singapore has one of the fastest aging populations in the world, with over 65-year-olds estimated by 2030 to represent 23% of the population, the second highest percentage in Asia lagging behind only Japan. If current demographic trends hold, the island state's median age will rise from 36 presently to 41 by 2030.

Silver tsunami - referred to the Baby-Boomer generation, those 76,000,000 persons who would begin celebrating their 60th birthdays in 2006.

Baby-Boomers are unlike their parents and grandparents in the following ways:

* Achieving higher levels of education with different quality of life expectations.
* Hold worldviews vastly different.
* Not experienced the same struggles and suffering of the Second World War and Great Depression as their parents and grandparents did.
* Living Longer and have greater physical health.
* Able to take better care of themselves, physcially and financially, less in poverty.
* With high disposal income.

Singapore government has long enforced individual savings through the mandatory Central Provident Fund (CPF). More recently the government has also announced plans to pass a so-called Re-exmployment Act, which will take effect in 2012 and extend the standard retirement age from 62 to 65.

With the growing number of senior citizens and cash-strapped children who are unwilling or unable to shoulder the burden, what are some of the solutions to our ageing population ?

Is ageing population, a looming time bomb for Asia or can be repackaged as a business opportunity ?

The inaugural annual CEO-level conference, Ageing Asia Investment Forum (AAIF) the first conference in Asia, held in Singapore on 5 & 6 April at Pan Pacific Hotel. They included business and government leaders from the Netherlands, USA, China, India, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Malalysia.

It focused on key growth industries - Property, Nursing, Healthcare, Wellness, Finance and Investment. By 2050, the number of people in Asia above 60 years of age is expected to be
1.2 billion, four times higher than Europe and the United States, combined. In Asia-Pacific, baby boomer consumers control an estimated wealth of us$11.3 trillion, 35% of the total.

That prospect has led to rapid job creation in the health and social service sectors. Property developers are also cashing in by building multimillion-dollar integrated retirement villages and private residences catering to the needs of the elderly.

What are your visions on your retirement plans ? Share your comments with us.
Photo extracted from Straits Times article 6/4/2010 -Riding on silver tsunami.

Singapore Circle Line another 11 stations opened

At last the long awaited opening of the Circle Line's (CCL) 11 new MRT stations opened on Saturday, 17 April 2010, joining the 5 stations - Marymount to Bartley - which were opened on 28 May 2009. This is part of the 29-station line, 33.3 km long.

These 11 stations, Tai Seng - Dhoby Ghaut, opened to much fanfare. From now,catching a concert at the Esplanade, support your favourite football team at the National Studium, and shop at Plaza Singapura is just a train-ride away from one another and linking these parts of town to the suburbs.

A summary of the 11 stations are :
1) Dhoby Ghaut station
2) Bras Basah station
3) Esplanade station
4) Promenade station
5) Nicoll Highway station
6) Tai Seng station
7) Stadium station
8) Mountbatten station
9) Dakota station
10) Paya Lebar station
11) MacPherson station

As at 8pm Saturday, SMRT had a ridership of some 220,000. Over at the Stadium Station, we
had the Taiwanese pop band SHE event and Taiwanese rock band Mayday's concerts.

Before the opening of Stadium Station, concert-goers had to go to the Kallang MRT Station, transfer to a bus or walk to reach the Singapore Indoor Stadium. With the opening of Stadium Station, which is withing walking distance to the one of Singapore's most popular concert venues. Cheers to all concert-goers.

1) The Dhoby Ghaut and Paya Lebar interchange stations will allow commuters who are travelling to and from the east, north and north-east to bypass City Hall and Raffles Place.

a) Paya Lebar to Bishan, 17 minutes instead of current 35 minutes.
b) Kovan to Suntec City, 26 minutes instead of current 40 minutes.

The original budget of $6.7 billion was busted after a tunnel near Nicoll Highway collapsed in 2004, killing four workers. Since then, all underground works had to be made far more robust and changes made for some stations. Also with the increasing cost of raw materials like sand, concrete and steel from year 2007, it definitely has pushed the cost up. What is your guess of the cost of the entire project may reach, $10 billions ?

The Circle Line Stage 3 that connects Bishan on the North-South Line and Serangoon station on the NEL was opened for revenue service on 28 May 2009. More stations on the Circle Line such as the Thomson and West Coast Stations will be opened subsequently to enhance the reach and connectivity of the Circle Line, and allow more people to benefit from the MRT. The remaining stretch of the line will open some time next year, he said. It lies in the northwestern and western parts of Singapore, with stations at places such as Holland Village, Botanic Gardens and the National University of Singapore.

To enhance the accessibility of the Marina Bay area to the rest of the island, LTA will also build and open the Marina Bay station as part of the CCL extension beyond Bayfront station in 2012.