Health is not merely the absence of diseases; it is a state of optimal well-being and wholeness. This includes the food you eat, the relationships you build, the jobs you fulfill, and your life experiences.
Aiming for balance in your mind, body, and soul is a good place to start. Below are seven ways to help you begin the process.
#1: AVOID SITTING FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME
Given our current situation, many Singaporeans are working from home. Try to stand or walk around while you work. Take a few minutes to refresh your mind and body. Sitting for extended periods of time was linked to diabetes and heart diseases.
#2: READ AND LEARN MORE
Learning does not stop once you get out of school. Open your mind to new possibilities by taking online classes, reading books, watching documentaries, and attending workshops. Cultivate a heart that yearns for lifelong learning.
#3: MEDITATE ON A DAILY BASIS
Meditation improves concentration, memory, mood, sleep, and creativity. All it takes is a few minutes per day to start reaping its benefits. You may even ask your friends to partake in a 30-Day Meditation Challenge with you.
#4: EXERCISE REGULARLY
Apart from meditation, regular exercise offers benefits for both your mind and body. A complete fitness plan includes exercises to develop cardiovascular conditioning, strength training, and flexibility. Get at least 15 to 30 minutes of moderate to fast-paced exercises each day.
#5: DISCONNECT FROM TECHNOLOGY
Our society heavily depends on technology such as laptops and smartphones. Our busy lifestyles glued to our devices can cause detrimental effects on our overall health. Which is why people are tapping into the concept of mindfulness. Try unplugging for the weekend. Start by giving yourself an hour of mindfulness (i.e., no devices allowed).
#6: TAKE A RESTFUL SLEEP
Restful sleep is vital to having energy and optimal well-being. Take a restful sleep of about 7 hours per night. When you are well-rested, you can approach stressful situations in a calmer manner.
#7: CREATE LOVING RELATIONSHIPS
Research showed that a good social network has numerous physical and mental health benefits. Social support can keep you from feeling isolated, inadequate, or lonely. Your friends and family can give you advice on how to manage your problems.
Over the weekend, I had the chance to meet up with a childhood friend. With her contagious personality and unwavering enthusiasm, she encouraged me to try the plant-based options at Starbucks. You read that right! Starbucks, of all places, introduced me to the wonderful world of plant-based meat alternatives.
To my surprise, the dish resembled the flavors and texture of the real meat. I expressed how eager I am to try another plant-based dish and my friend said: “If you think about it, meat primarily gets its taste from its herbs and spices.” My curiosity grew and I began to search for other vegan creations offered by restaurants and supermarkets in Singapore.
Through the innovation of companies and startups, the vegan scene is thriving with its amazing plant-based meat products. Read this article for the best brads and where to find them.
#1: IMPOSSIBLE FOODS
When the well-renowned plant-based meats by Impossible Foods graced our sunny shores in 2019, it won the hearts of many with its beef-like flavor and texture. Two years later, it became a center of many dishes such as burgers, pizzas, and even curry puffs.
Image Credits: facebook.com/ImpossibleFoods
Craving for the OG plant-based meats? Satisfy your hunger with Impossible Foods’ selection at FairPrice, Cold Storage, or RedMart. Its Impossible Beef (340g) retails for S$11.90 at these stores.
Let us move the spotlight from California’s Impossible Foods to United Kingdom’s Quorn. Quorn sells a wide variety of vegetarian meat products including vegan fish fingers, crispy nuggets, burgers, sausages, and more. Their products are made from a fermented protein that is derived from the fungus that grows in soil.
Image Credits: facebook.com/Quornfoods
What separates Quorn from the rest is its competitive prices. For instance, a 336g packet of Quorn Sausages retails for just S$6 on RedMart. Quorn is available at most supermarkets including Cold Storage and FairPrice.
Let’s face it! Many Singaporeans drop by IKEA to eat their Swedish meatballs rather than to buy a list of furniture. Instead of braving the crowds, you can taste their plant-based alternative at the safety of your own home. Take home a frozen bag of plant balls for S$8.50 (12 pieces), S$10.50 (16 pieces), or S$12.50 (20 pieces). These plant balls are made of nourishing ingredients such as yellow pea protein, oats, and potatoes.
Image Credits: Lara Isabella Parry via facebook.com
Visually, these plant balls resemble the Swedish meatballs. Order a plate of 8 plant balls with mashed potato and mixed vegetable for S$6.50 to see for yourself!
From beef patties to ground beef, you can easily recreate your favorite meal dish with the plant-based meats offered by Beyond Meat. Australian company Beyond Meat’s plant-based products not only look and taste like meat, but they also cook in a similar fashion. Best of all? All their products are made without gluten or soy.
Image Credits: facebook.com/beyondmeat
Beyond Meat products are available at the local restaurants such as Porta and Wolf Burgers and supermarkets such as FairPrice, Cold Storage, and RedMart. Grab a 453g pack of minced beef for S$19.95 at FairPrice or S$19.67 at RedMart.
These plant-based meat substitutes can affect your wallet, your body, and the environment. Sticking with non-processed food like vegetables, grains, nuts, fruits, and tofu can help you save more money as meats tend to be relatively expensive. Incorporating these plant-based meats to your diet can affect your budget too depending on your frequency of cooking and your brand of choice. Plan your meals wisely.
At the end of the day, items made with plants are nutritious and versatile. Do not be afraid to explore other vegan options in Singapore!
Thanks to technology, running an e-commerce store or a small business has become more manageable. Online shopping applications and social media platforms help business owners to reach consumers islandwide – and even worldwide. In addition, some courier services provide pick-up options wherein they can collect the items from you. This option makes it possible to operate a business without leaving the safety of your own home.
While we do not need to solely rely on SingPost to ship our items, the issue now is the multiple options for delivery services. Which courier should you choose? Will your parcels be shipped in time and intact?
To help you decide, here are five delivery services that you can choose from. Keep the size of the parcel in mind!
For small parcels: Postage-paid solutions such as PolyM, SmartPac, or Ninja Pack are incredibly convenient. Simply put your item/s in, seal the pack, and drop it off.
For bulky parcels: Qxpress’ next-day delivery provides the cheapest rates for bulky or heavy items. Check out their rates below.
For huge parcels: When it comes to van or lorry deliveries, you cannot skip on Lalamove or GetVan.
FOR SMALL PARCELS
A. EZIE App
Enjoy the cheapest deliveries in Singapore! (only from $2.89) EZIE’s ambition is to help eCommerce sellers to grow and scale their online businesses by providing tailored eCommerce solutions.
Their eCommerce solutions portfolio is tailored to eCommerce multichannel services to help our customers selling on multiple online channels (ie: Lazada, Shopee, Shopify, etc.) and includes:
No min. order is required. Free door-to-door deliveries are available in EZIE!
For more information, visit their website.
B. SINGPOST
SingPost is the country’s forefront in mail and logistics solutions. As a well-established courier, SingPost offers cheap rates for small parcels that weigh up to 2kg, 324 x 229 x 65mm.
Forget about queueing at the post office! You can ship your small parcel through convenient options such as the PolyM and the SmartPac. PolyM (no tracking) is a local postage-paid packaging that delivers your parcel directly to the letterbox. While, the SmartPac (with tracking) is a prepaid postage service that comes with free packaging and letterbox delivery. Delivery takes about 2 to 3 working days.
NinjaVan’s Ninja Packs are postage-paid polymailers that come in different sizes. Best of all? It does not have a weight limit unlike other couriers. You can put all the items you want in the bag, which makes it ideal for delivering small yet heavy items such as books. After preparing your Ninja Packs, you can quickly drop it off at the Ninja Point. Track your parcel as it is being shipped. Delivery takes about 1 to 3 days.
Oh, by the way! The only downside about using this is that it comes in packs of 5 when you purchase it online. Online orders below S$50 will have to pay S$1.90 for postage. Individual packs can only be bought onsite at selected locations.
Fees:
XS 230 x 170mm S$3.17 (S$3.60 – padded)
S 350 x 250mm S$3.50 (S$4.00 – padded)
M 470 x 330mm S$3.90 (S$4.48 – padded)
If you are planning to have your bulky or heavy parcels delivered, you can go for Qxpress. Qxpress accepts parcels for up to 30kg! Its standard Qxpress Delivery is a next-day service that offer deliveries for a variety of sizes such as 5kg, 20kg, and 30 kg. It is an affordable solution for shipping bulkier items that do not fit in a SmartPac or a Ninja Pack.
Are you in a hurry? Then, select the Qxpress Quick Delivery (same day delivery) which costs about S$5.99/km. This is only practical for short distance deliveries.
GetVan specializes in huge and heavy deliveries that are completed instantly and on-demand. The only exception is the Extra Large lorry, which you have to book 2 hours in advance. The fee includes loading and unloading time, but does not include the driver’s help. You will need to load all the items yourself by default. To get the driver’s help, you must pay an additional fee of at least S$15.
When comparing the published rates, you will notice that GetVan generally charges lower base rates compared to Lalamove. However, it has higher per-km fees. It is wise to weigh your options and to consider getting GetVan for short distance (van/lorry) deliveries.
Fees:
Send (car) $25++
Regular (small van) $35++
Large (large van) $40++
Extra Large (14ft lorry) $70++
Lalamove is one of the most popular delivery service provider in Asia. Although it is best known for its vans and lorries, Lalamove has a full suite of vehicles such as cars and motorcycles. Use these vehicles for moving smaller items, instantly!
You do not have to wait by your doorstep the entire day because you can book their services on-demand. The driver will also help you to load the goods. So, you can definitely buy the second-hand washing machine on Carousell.
With the help of these reliable and cheap courier services in Singapore, online resellers are presented with the opportunity to grow their small businesses. Since buyers will be able to enjoy the lowest possible rates for quality service, this sounds like a win-win!
(Disclaimer: Terms and Conditions apply per courier. Fees may be subject to change. Please visit the courier’s website for more information.)
In this modern-day era, the average person goes straight to the Google search bar to find new information. But do you know that Google may not be the best way to learn new things?
Well, more than half of the information written online is rewritten content. Let’s also not forget about the high marketing spend certain companies are pumping into every month to rank their websites up on the first page of Google.
This is the reason why we would like to introduce to you a five-step approach called the ‘Spiral Method’ to help you gain a new perspective in learning new things. Consider this as an alternative to Google if you would like.
In short, the ‘Spiral Method’ is made of 15 to 20 meetings with people in your network and their extended connections. At the start, you may not get as much learning data. However, it progresses into something deeper as you advance to your 10th meeting and beyond.
Please also note that we’re not asking you to ditch Google. Google can still act as your supplemental tool and learning partner. Just in case you get conflicting views from the industry experts you’ve spoken to, you can always confirm it with the content on Google search.
When you head to Google, chances are that you already have a topic in mind. If you have a couple of questions in your thinking cap, you may want to pick on the ones that matter and sub-categorize them accordingly.
Next, instead of typing the keywords in your search bar, go to your social media or LinkedIn and take a good look at your connections. You don’t have to pick out 15 people at once because referrals can come into play later. Just select at least five to eight people and then reach out politely, asking for a short 30-minute conversation on your decided topic.
#2: Prioritise big concepts from the get-go
Life often throws us lemons. But the smart people use it to make lemonade with a tinge of sweetness. Depending on who you meet, you may be bombarded with lots of valuable information from the get-go. It’s okay even if you don’t remember down to the exact details.
The idea at the beginning is that you prioritize big theories surrounding your chosen topic. Think of it as the main takeaways from each conversation. At the start, don’t stress yourself over being an expert at the topic you’re researching. At this stage, you’re just trying to be a bit smarter and more informed. You could even tap on keywords that you’ve not heard before and use them as the basis to dig deeper.
#3: Be brave to request referrals
Image Credits: unsplash.com
At the end of every conversation you have with an expert or industry personnel, thank them for their time but don’t leave it at just that. Be brave to ask for referrals so you can turn one connection into other relevant contacts. If you think it might be impolite to reach out to these new contacts personally, request a short introduction to ease you into your newfound relation.
#4: Keep up with the conversations until you’ve met 15 to 20 specialists
Remember what we mentioned in the introduction about the ‘Spiral Method’? The approach is essentially made of 15 to 20 meetings with people in your network and their extended connections. Hence, keep up with the conversations until you’ve met about 15 to 20 industry experts.
As you reach your 10th conversation, you might have gathered some key concepts or keywords which require some research into. Don’t be afraid to use Google to do some reading up before you go on your next meeting with your 11th connection and beyond. The last thing you want to do is to rush into conversations without doing the necessary read-up on selected concepts beforehand.
Also, as you expand your network and receive referrals from your existing connections, you will be more likely to meet niche experts in the field. Remember to ask for the latest trend or where your particular subject is heading towards in the near future. These people have been in the market for an extended period and can be trusted with their predictability over what’s out on the worldwide web.
#5: Track your progress and recall the information you’ve learned throughout your conversations
Image Credits: unsplash.com
As we come to a close, be aware that it is absolutely normal for your learning rate to slow down as you progress. As a good gauge, about 60% of the information you hear may be new, while the other 40% is what is already ingrained in your mind by the 5th meeting.
Depending on the chosen topic and the people you meet, some spiral approaches may be at a faster or slower rate than others. That is why it’s essential that you track your progress by recalling the information you’ve picked up throughout your conversations.
Hopefully, by your 15th conversation, you would have maxed out your professional knowledge regarding that subject and no longer have to continue setting up meetings any further. But if there’s a need to continue, then go ahead until you’ve reached the peak point where there’s no need to speak to anyone anymore.
There‘s more to researching than just relying on Google. Try using the ‘Spiral Method’ next time!
A booster shot is a supplementary dose of an immunizing agent administered as an injection. In particular, the COVID-19 (coronavirus) booster vaccine shot helps improve your protection after receiving your first two doses of the vaccine. It aids in providing long-term protection against getting seriously ill from COVID-19.
Before getting your booster shot, it is best to educate yourself about the frequent questions surrounding it. On that note, here are the answers to the frequently asked questions on COVID-19 booster shots.
1. WHO CAN GET THE BOOSTER SHOT?
According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), the following people are recommended to receive a booster shot of a PSAR-authorized mRNA vaccine after completing their primary series.
a. People aged 30 years and above,
b. Residents of aged care facilities*,
c. Healthcare and frontline workers*, and
d. People and staff in institutionalized settings*
Note: *Must be 18 years old and over.
2. WILL PEOPLE BELOW THE AGE OF 30 BE OFFERED THE BOOSTER SHOT?
At the time of writing, individuals aged 29 and below are not yet recommended to receive the booster shot. However, there are exceptions to this. People who are 18 years old and over are recommended to receive the booster vaccination if they are healthcare workers, frontline workers, or if they belong to institutionalized settings. Exceptions were given to people who are at high risk of infection.
Alongside EC19V, MOH states that it will continue to monitor data and will update the recommendations when necessary.
3. HOW CAN YOU REGISTER FOR YOUR BOOSTER SHOT?
The booster shot or booster dose is recommended to be taken from six months after you have received the initial two doses of your COVID-19 vaccine. People who are eligible for booster shots will be gradually invited to receive their vaccination through SMS. An SMS with a personalized link will be sent to your handphone number. Please use it to book for an appointment on vaccine.gov.sg.
Eligible seniors aged 60 years and above (i.e., have met the recommended window of about six months after their second dose) will be able to walk into any Vaccination Centre or participating Public Health Preparedness Clinic (PHPC). They can step inside these establishments without a prior appointment to receive their booster shot. People who belong to this category are recommended to get a booster shot as the risk of severe illness from COVID-19 increases with age.
4. DOES YOUR BOOSTER SHOT HAVE TO BE OF THE SAME BRAND AS YOUR FIRST 2 DOSES?
According to Singapore’s director of medical services Kenneth Mak, taking a different brand of mRNA vaccine as a booster will lead to an equally effective outcome as receiving the same brand of COVID-19 vaccine. He assured the public of its safety by speaking from his personal experience. At a press conference last November 8, he shared that he was able to receive the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine for his first two doses and the Moderna vaccine for his booster dose.
He said: “This is perfectly safe and provides adequate continued protection against COVID-19. If you are eligible, get your booster vaccinations within the range of vaccines available that the expert committee has recommended.”
5. WHAT IS THE DOSAGE USED FOR THE BOOSTER VACCINATION?
The dosages for booster vaccinations differ per type. For instance, the booster dose of the Moderna vaccine is 50 mcg. It is less than the dose given to the first two doses. On the other hand, the booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is the same as that used for the first two doses. Recipients of this booster will get a dosage of 30 mcg.
6. DO YOU NEED TO RECEIVE A BOOSTER SHOT IF YOU ARE IMMUNOCOMPROMISED?
People who are immunocompromised are already required to receive three doses as part of the primary series. According to MOH, they are recommended to receive a booster dose of PSAR mRNA vaccine. They must receive the booster dose from six months after the completion of their three-dose enhanced primary series.
7. ARE YOU RECOMMENDED TO RECEIVE A THIRD DOSE IF YOU ALREADY RECEIVED TWO DOSES OF SINOVAC/SINOPHARM?
Individuals who received two doses of Sinovac/Sinopharm are recommended to receive a dose of the PSAR mRNA vaccine as a booster. This is only if the individuals are not contraindicated to receive the mRNA vaccines.
