Want to win S$10,000 cash? MasterChef Singapore is back with season 2 and looking for contestants

MasterChef Singapore logo

MasterChef Singapore is back with season two and auditions are now on. If you’ve been spending more time in the kitchen recently and realized a new found love for cooking, you might want to be part of the world’s most popular cooking show.

Here’s what to expect.

#1: Requirements

Before you send in your application, make sure you meet the following requirements:

  • Must be 18 years or older on 17 August 2020.
  • Must be a citizen or legal permanent resident of Singapore.
  • You have never worked as a professional chef.
  • Your current main source of income cannot come from preparing and/or cooking fresh food in a professional environment (restaurants, hotels, canteens, catering etc.).
#2: How to apply?

If you meet the requirements, start cooking and take the best snapshots of your dish. Also, to prepare for the online application, make sure you have a recent photograph of yourself that was taken within the last 12 months. Lastly, record a 30-second introductory video of yourself.

Got all the documents in place? Go ahead and submit your application here.

#3: Audition deadline

Registration for auditions will close at 11:59pm SGT on 4 October 2020. Any entries received after the deadline will not be considered. Don’t wait until the last minute!

#4: Audition results

The casting crew will inform you via phone or email if you are selected to progress to the next stage. Only shortlisted cooks will be notified.

#5: Competition & filming period
masterchef-singapore-season1

Image Credits: 8days

Not sure if you’re available to commit for the competition and filming period? Check if you’re available during these periods:

  • Week of 26 October
  • Week of 2 November to week of 7 December

If yes, you should be good to go! Filming will place only on selected days during the above-mentioned periods.

#6: Prepping yourself for the competition

Cook as often as you can and extend your repertoire by using unfamiliar ingredients. Go ahead and experiment with new techniques! You can also practice by cooking against the clock or coming up with your own mystery box challenges to test your creativity.

Practice your presentation skills and make sure you have some dishes up your sleeve to cover the most common Asian and international cuisines, plus be able to adapt your dishes to different core ingredients.

#7: Exciting prizes to be won

Other than the exciting new opportunities of living your culinary dreams and ability to show the world your talent as the next MasterChef Singapore winner, you will also walk away with a S$10,000 cash prize and more!

To get a feel of the competition, you might want to rewatch MasterChef Singapore season 1 here. All the best for your application!

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5 Budget-Friendly Ways To Improve Your Digital Life

#1: HAVE A HEALTHY DOSE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

During the pandemic, more and more people are turning to social media to occupy their time. Many people use their social media accounts to air out their frustrations and rants on different topics. This may be overwhelming for your self-esteem and overall mental health.

Only follow the accounts that post insightful and useful content such as recommendations for delicious recipes, financial books, home decorations, and more. Tune out or mute accounts that are negative and toxic.

#2: USE SPREADSHEETS TO BOOST YOUR PRODUCTIVITY

It is easy to lose track of your schedule or important tasks when the usual 9 to 5 routine is gone. The line between work and play can be blurred, especially when you are working from home. This is why you must manage your tasks and expenses through spreadsheets.

Record your daily activities and the amount of time you spend on each task. Make adjustments and plan for the next week. For your expenses, you may use a spreadsheet to guide you towards necessary and unnecessary expenses. Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel are some of the popular tools.

#3: USE RSS FEED READERS FOR YOUR NEWS CONSUMPTION

Apart from this website, you can get a digest of the stock market or the marketing industry without a wave of fake news by following reputable websites through their RSS feed readers (e.g., Feedly or Digg Reader). This will help you curate your reading consumption without the daily noises from others. You can do this if you do not want any unnecessary triggers to dictate the flow of your day.

Image Credits: unsplash.com

#4: REDUCE THE NUMBER OF APPS ON YOUR PHONE

A surefire way to cleanse your phone is by reducing the amount of apps on it. Apps can be very helpful, but they can also be very distracting. Choose apps that help enhance your relationships with your friends and family, your productivity in the workplace, your clarity in your mental and spiritual well-being.

Some essential apps include your transportation, food delivery, private messaging platforms, banking and finance, and emails. Remember that you can always adjust your notification settings to work efficiently.

#5: USE EDITING AND VISUAL PLATFORMS THAT INSPIRE YOU

Vision boards or photographic lists can help you develop ideas and reach your goals. Some visual platforms that ignite inspiration are Pinterest and Evernote. Some of the free graphic design platforms that I swear by are Canva and PosterMyWall. These two are helpful in creating posters, flyers, covers, and so on.

You may use these tools to visualize your business plan or to create your financial vision board. Pleasure is felt when a person achieves what is inside his or her vision board or lists, amidst all the uncertainties.

Source: 1

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6 Low-Maintenance Indoor Plants That Purifies Air

Many Singaporeans have dabbled into gardening in the recent months due to the limitations of the Circuit Breaker. One thing is for sure, bringing your first houseplant home can be exciting and intimidating.

With the endless varieties of indoor plants, you may not know where to start. Consider starting with these forgiving plants that will not easily die on your watch.

#1: SNAKE PLANT

Plant lovers all over Instagram have been posting their own pots of Snake plants. Snake plants are aesthetically pleasing and are easy to take care of. In fact, it was the first plant that my uncle requested for when he moved into his new home.

Image Credits: unsplash.com

They do not need to bask in a ton of light and they can weather different conditions such as drought. Its blade-like leaves come in varying colors and patterns that offer beauty and air-purifying benefits.

#2: SPIDER PLANT

Add architecture and personality to your indoor space by placing a Spider plant. A Spider plant has “spiderettes” or small plants, which dangle from its stems like spiders hanging from a web. These spiderettes can be planted into smaller posts as this plant loves to reproduce.

Image Credits: unsplash.com

Another benefit is its ability to remove harmful xylene, toluene, and formaldehyde from the air. It accomplishes this without harming your curious and beloved pets.

#3: ALOE VERA

Aloe vera is one of my favorite plants because of its multi-purpose applications in the beauty and skincare industry. Although Aloe vera is a desert plant, direct sunlight can create black spots on its leaves. So, keep it away from the sun’s rays. Find a place that can help you take take advantage of its air-purifying benefits such as your bedroom.

Image Credits: unsplash.com

This plant is believed to have similar effects to a combination of air purifiers. Besides being a skin balm, it can also remove microorganisms from our air. Not to mention, its plump leaves can provide a soothing gel for burns and cuts. Allow this succulent to dry completely in between watering. You may water as little as every two to three weeks.

#4: PEACE LILY

Ahhhh peace! Who does not want peace to enter their homes? Native to tropical rainforests, the Peace Lily delights in dim lighting. You can put it in a windowless office or an enclosed bathroom. This will add brightness to your space with its subtle white flowers. Moreover, it removes trichloroethylene gas and ammonia fumes from furniture and paint.

Image Credits: unsplash.com

When this indoor plant has had enough water, it will subtly droop its leaves. This is a sign to move it into a new pot for better drainage.

#5: BAMBOO

Like air plants, Bamboo can grown without soil. Simply place its stalks in a vase full of water with pebbles or marbles at the bottom. If your bamboo starts to grow beyond your first container, just upgrade to a new one without additional re-potting procedures.

Image Credits: unsplash.com

Aside from being low-maintenance, it is capable of providing a higher amount of oxygen in comparison to other types of plants.

#6: RUBBER PLANT

If you have pollen allergies and you cannot seem to hold your sneezes with certain outdoor plants then, you may opt for the Rubber plant. A rubber plant cleanses the air by removing formaldehyde, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide. Its flowers and fruits do not grow often when its kept indoors too. Thus, they are perfect for newly painted or renovated flats.

The rubber plant can withstand neglect as it thrives in drier soil. They can be watered only once a week.

Image Credits: unsplash.com

Spruce up your home and purify your air with these forgiving and low-maintenance indoor plants!

Sources: 1 & 2

 

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Feeling down? Locally-designed colourful Freshly Pressed Socks to your rescue!

Freshly Pressed Socks Banner

Do you need a little perk-me-up? Then you might need a collection of colourful socks to put on. This is because colours have psychological effects on us. Warm colours like red, orange, and yellow stir up feelings of warmth and comfort. While cool colours like blue, purple, and green induce calmness or even sadness.

With this in mind, we chanced upon a local socks company named Freshly Pressed Socks. We headed straight to their website to shop their range of quirky-designed socks and thought maybe you guys would be interested too.

Having been in the industry for 5.5 years, their brand has won a shout-out from Peter Linz, who performs Ernie on Sesame Street. Furthermore, they have had partnerships with other brands like Grab, UOB, Gamestart Asia, Sole Superior, and Mothercare over the years.

We also love how all of their socks are designed with details that reflect a character and story behind them. We will show you some right away!

#1: SINGAPORE SERIES

Since our nation’s birthday is coming right up in a few days, we shall give their Singapore Series the spotlight. There are 11 designs at the time of writing with all priced at 12 SGD for a pair.

MRT

Apparently, their MRT socks are one of the best-sellers among their wide offerings. Here’s how it looks like:

MRT socks

ICONS

There are also designs of Singapore’s iconic skyline and Supertrees highly raved by visitors.Singapore Skyline Socks

Supertree socks

FOODS

For the foodies, you might want to get your hands (or rather, feet!) on the kueh tutu, kueh lapis, or iced gem biscuits.

Kueh Tutu socks

Kueh Lapis socks

Iced Gem Biscuits socks

View the rest of the Singapore Series here.

#2: FAMILIAR CHARACTERS

We will show you three familiar characters that are all priced at 12 SGD too.

STRANGER THINGS

Fans of the Netflix science fiction horror series, Stranger Things, will adore this design inspired by Eleven. The design features a Demogorgon and the famous Christmas lights used by Joyce in the show.

Eleven Stranger Things socks

TINTIN

Freshly Pressed Socks’ Tintin design features the iconic rocket ship that took Tintin on a mission to the Moon. Feeling down? Let Tintin save your day!

Tintin socks

POPEYE

Popeye is our role model for healthier eating. If you need a reminder to eat your greens, get this pair that features nautical colours with icons of Popeye’s pipe, anchor tattoo, and spinach can.

Popeye socks

#3: SALE SECTION

We also hopped on to their sale section to see if we can get a few pairs at a discounted price. And it turns out there are quite a few designs worth looking at.

CAROL (CAPTAIN MARVEL)

With exceptional superhuman strength, this fictional superhero is the epitome of girl power. The former officer in the United States Air Force will remind you not to ever give up!

Usual Price: 12 SGD

Sale Price: 10.20 SGD

Carol Captain Marvel socks

BERT & ERNIE

Pay tribute to everyone’s favourite Sesame Street characters like Bert and Ernie with these no-show socks. They come in a set of two pairs (one pair each with the Bert design and the Ernie design so you can wear them individually or mix them up).

Usual Price: 14 SGD

Sale Price: 9.80 SGD

 

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JUSTICE SQUAD (BABY/KIDS)

Oh yes, Freshly Pressed Socks also has designs for babies and kids. If you think you’re not ready to don colourful socks at this stage, then buy it for the little ones. What’s more, there’s a sale ongoing for the justice squad series! It comes in a pack of four in two sizes.

Usual Price: 24 SGD

Sale Price: 16.80 SGD

Justice Squad socks for children

Visit their website for more designs.

Images are taken from Freshly Pressed Socks.

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You can now customize ‘branded’ cakes with this local team of certified bakers

Lisse Cakes Branded Cakes

Fancy a branded item in your possession? Even if it’s just for a while? You can now customize ‘branded’ cakes with Lisse Cakes! At the time of writing, Lisse Cakes is unfortunately not yet halal-certified. However, they do not use any pork, lard, or alcohol in their ingredients. For bespoke cakes, the charges are based on the number of serving pax as well as the complexity of the cake design.

Interested? Let’s take a look at some of Lisse Cakes’ ‘branded’ masterpieces and more.

#1: DIOR

At the time of writing, we could only find one and only Dior-inspired cake made by Lisse Cakes. With that said, it really reminds us of the Mini Lady Dior Bag, except that it’s in pretty pink.

 

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#2: HERMES

Have you been eyeing the items from the French high fashion luxury goods manufacturer? We would love to possess an Evelyne Sellier 33 bag too. But our bank accounts gave a straight no. Hence, we would happily settle for a Hermès-inspired cake instead. The cake comes in the form of the iconic Hermès attention-grabbing orange-coloured box. Simply irresistible!

 

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Truly perfect for a Hermès fan:

 

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Time for ‘unboxing’:

 

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#3: CHANEL

Coco Chanel would be happy to see her brand so loved by the public it’s even made edible! Other than whole cakes, Lisse Cakes also provides customization for cupcakes if you prefer individual sweet treats for your loved ones. Your Chanel pumps and classic handbag now comes like a cherry on top of lovely bite-sized cakes:

 

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For the double fans of Chanel and Saint Laurent, you don’t have to pick a side.

 

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Going 20, 30, 40, or even 50? There’s no age limit when it comes to this:

 

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If you like Louis Vuitton, keep scrolling!

 

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#4: MOET

Did you know that Moët’s parent organization is LVMH? This French fine winery is a prominent champagne house with roots that can be traced back to 1743. Know of a Moët fan? Get a Moët-inspired cake for them.

 

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Set against blue, we’re ready to chill for the weekend.

 

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Get ready for a sugar rush with a two-tier cake:

 

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Other than blue, it can also be customized in pink:

 

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#5: LOUIS VUITTON

How can anyone say no to the timeless Louis Vuitton monogram bag? What’s more, in a mini version. We will have two to go, please!

 

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And this seriously feels like the real deal, doesn’t it:

 

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If you prefer a brighter LV-inspired outlook, here’s one decorated with fresh flowers:

 

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This is another version fit for a queen:

 

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Monopoly and Louis Vuitton fans will be in awe with this design:

 

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Apart from the ones listed above, there are also other car brands inspired cakes like Porsche, Lamborghini, and BMW. And of course, even if you’re not into high-end brands, you can still customize a cake based on your preference!

Check out Lisse Cakes’ Instagram here.

 

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