Costly Mistakes a Traveller Must Discontinue

Posted by Editor on Dec 10th, 2016 in Travel the Planet | 0 comments

 

When you travel especially alone, you cannot possibly oversee everything. You are not perfect and there are numerous times that you realized you made costly travel slipups. These slipups are normal but you do not want a financial slipup at the end of the day. It is time that you are aware of some financial oversights that you commit and discontinue it for the sake of your next trip.

Here are some costly mistakes you must discontinue right away:

Booking flights too late or too early

Booking your flight too late as in on the day of your travel will surely cost you. This is also true booking a year or two in advance. In fact, there is a big chance that you will miss your flight if you book too early. With this, you have to know the best time to book your tickets. Actually experts recommend that you book at least 6 to 8 weeks before your scheduled travel. Do not be afraid because every now and then airlines throw flight promotions so be sure to keep tabs and act right away.

Not considering hostels

You spend most of your money with your accommodation and to think you only use it for sleeping and taking a bath. Do not commit this mistake again. Instead of choosing boutique hotels, why not try hostels? In the past, hostels have this image of crummy bunk beds with bed bugs. You will be surprised to know that these days, hostels come with many amenities from cable television, hot and cold shower, bike rentals, free wi-fi, free breakfast and the like. The best part is you pay cheaply.

Taking taxi most of the time

Yeah, you will surely get tired of commuting. Commuting in another country is twice as exhausting because you have to be observant and be on your guard. The quickest and most comfortable solution is you take taxi most of the time. You will end up spending more if the driver know you are new. No matter how tiring, take the public transport.

Dining at restaurants

Unless you are a foodie or your ultimate goal is to eat in all Michelin-starred restaurants in the world, you should by all means dine exclusively at restaurants. If you are traveller and you want to be immersed in the country’s culture and cuisine, some good foods can be found without paying too much. Trying local flavours is cheap plus you are one step closer to knowing the culture of the place.

Knowing these, your ultimate goal should be – steering clear of costly travel slipups. Good luck on your next trip!

6 Ways to Prevent Child Abuse

Posted by Editor on Dec 5th, 2016 in Parenting Bulletins | 0 comments

 

Any help you can offer to support kids and parents will greatly help in reducing the stress that can lead to child abuse. By educating yourself—and other people—you can help the community prevent child abuse. The behaviour of children may show signs of abuse long before you start noticing changes in their physical appearance. If you suspect that abuse may be happening, report it to the authorities right away.

1. Talk to Your Children

Make sure that your children knows that it is their right to always feel safe, and that it’s not their fault if they happen to find themselves in abusive circumstances. When your children know that they have the right, they are more likely to report to you if and when they feel that they are abused.

2. Understand the Scope of Abuse

Other than sexual and physical abuse, there are many forms of child abuse. There’s mental abuse, isolation, rejection, insult and failure to provide the basic necessities of life. The more you know about the different forms of abuse, the better you will see when it is already happening.

3. Know the Signs

Obviously, physical signs like wounds and bruises are clear signs of abuse, but there are also signs that aren’t visible. Oftentimes, children who are abused show signs of mistrust, depression, hostility and lack of personal hygiene, as well as difficulty in making new friends. If you see any of these signs in a child, suspect that there is something wrong going on.

4. Notice if the Child Fears Going Home

If you notice that your child doesn’t want to go or stay home or doesn’t want you to leave home without him or her, it could be a sign that they are abused at home. If they are afraid to go to school or to go anywhere with certain people, it could be because they are being abused.

5. Notice if the Child is Too Sexual

While sex education is taught in school, certain lessons are discussed at appropriate ages. However, children who are sexually abused often display more knowledge about sexuality than they ought to know. They may also use explicit language or display sexual behaviour.

6. Notice Any Changes Physically

Children who aren’t getting enough food to eat at home often show obvious physical changes. If you’re often away from home and your child is always left with someone else, such as a babysitter, seeing unexplained weight loss could mean that they are not getting enough nutrition.

If you have concerns or see any possibility of abuse, do not delay in addressing the issue. The sooner you take action, the earlier you’ll be able to prevent the physical, mental and/or emotional effects to your child.

Genital Warts and HPV

Posted by Editor on Dec 2nd, 2016 in Secure in Health | 0 comments

All of us want to be protected from STDs, like genital warts. These tiny, below-the-belt bumps are caused by the human papillomavirus, or commonly called HPV, which are transmitted through sexual contact.

HPV infection is one of the common STDs in Singapore. Some forms of this virus can cause vaginal, cervical, rectal, and penile cancer. Once a person gets infected by HPV, it usually takes one to three months for the warts to surface, although in some cases they don’t show up at all.

Symptoms

Genital warts are flesh-, red-, or pink-coloured skin growths that appear on or inside the genitals during your STD screening check. They look like small cauliflowers or even tinier that you can barely see them. They are usually not painful, although in some instances can cause mild pain, itching, and even bleeding. Left untreated, the warts can spread rapidly in the genital area.

In men, genital warts can grow on the penis, scrotum, groin, thighs, and inside or outside the anal region. In women, they usually grow inside and outside of the vagina or anus and in the cervix. And since HPV can be transmitted through oral sex, warts may also appear in the mouth and throat and on the lips of the infected person.

Even if you can’t see the warts, it’s still possible to detect them if there’s vaginal discharge, bleeding, itching, and burning sensations happening in the genital area which can be discovered at http://www.mlamclinic.com.sg/std-testing/ in SIngapore. If the warts are left untreated, they can spread or enlarge, which can make the situation even more uncomfortable and painful.

Causes

There are over 40 types of HPV that can affect the genitals. However, according to some Singapore healthcare experts, 90 percent of such cases are caused by HPV 6 or HPV11.

HPV is a transmissible virus through skin-to-skin contact; therefore, any sexually active individual is at risk for HPV, although it’s more common in people below 30 years old. The viral particles penetrate the skin through microscopic abrasions in the genitals, which often happens during sexual intercourse. Once human cells are infected by HPV, it quietly works inside in a period of months to years, showing no signs of infection. Later on, warts start emerging in the genital area, which usually appears in clusters of three to four.

Tests

In an STD screening, your doctor will likely perform the following examinations to check for genital warts and any related STD:

• Physical examination of visible skin growths to confirm whether they are warts
• Application of acetic acid solution to highlight unnoticeable growths
• Pap smear and pelvic exam (for women)
• A specialized test for high-risk HPV
• Biopsy of cervical tissue (if any abnormality from the Pap smear result is found) to ensure that there’s no abnormal cells that could develop into cervical cancer
• Physical examination of the anal area.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of genital warts is often based on the history of the growth and finding from an STD screening. During the screening, your doctor will do a physical examination of the regions where you suspect warts are growing. Because warts can grow inside the body of women, your doctor will likely perform a pelvic test as well. A mild acidic solution may also be applied in the area to make the warts, especially the unnoticeable ones, more visible ones.

The doctor will also take a swab to get sample cells from the cervix. The sample is then tested for any signs of HPV. Some types of HPV can cause abnormal Pap smear results, which may lead to precancerous changes. If the specialist detects such abnormalities, you may be requested for more frequent screening to tack the changes.

You also be asked about your sexual history. This could include the number of partners you’ve had, your last screening, and whether or not you have engaged in unprotected sexual intercourse.
If you’re concerned about being contracted of an HPV type that causes cervical cancer, your doctor can do a DNA test.

Treatment

Unfortunately, there’s no cure for HPV, but it can be treated. Genital warts can be removed with laser therapy, applying chemicals on it, or freezing it. There are also prescription drugs and topical treatments available to use at home. For warts that are larger and more difficult to treat, surgery may be necessary. However, it won’t permanently remove the warts as they can resurface after a few months. You may need to return to your healthcare provider for more treatment.

Prevention

The surest way to prevent genital warts is abstinence. But if you’re sexually active, having sex to only one person and having a mutually monogamous relationship greatly lowers the risk of getting genital warts.

An anti-HPV vaccine named Gardasil can also protect both men and women from common types of HPV that cause genital warts, as well as some HPVs that show links to cervical cancer. There’s also Cervarix, another anti-HPV vaccine, which protects women from cervical cancer but not from genital warts. However, these vaccines are most effective when injected before a person becomes sexually active.

In addition to the vaccines, protected sex should be practiced every single time to reduce the risk of contracting with HPV and growing genital warts.

Not all bumps are caused by HPV. They could just be skin tags or haemorrhoids, but can also be symptoms of other STDs, like syphilis, or worse skin cancer. STD screening Singapore can examine closely any suspicious bumps you may have. Have it checked by a healthcare provider right away to protect your health and your partner’s health from potentially fatal health problems.

The Possibility of Real-time Language Translation

Posted by Editor on Nov 11th, 2016 in Language Readiness | 0 comments

 

Language is a form of communication that seeks to connect people. However, not all people have the same language and sometimes language barriers can indicate difficulties. People who do not have common language can face hurdles in their attempt to communicate. This is the reason why there is a universal language and Singaporeans should learn it as well.

The universal language is English. English is not an easy language especially if you do not use it all the time. Regardless, you are still required to learn it because it can greatly help in the accomplishment of some tasks at work. You can even use English to make friends. You should not let barriers keep you from doing the things that you love.

For example, if you like to travel, it is imperative that you learn some basic words especially if the country is does not widely speak English. This is so you can express things that you like. Some people do not consider traveling because it can be very inconvenient. The good news is that in few years, you can go to places and just bring a handy box.

Have you heard about real-time language translation? If not, you should know that Indiegogo is already on its way to develop SIGMO. SIGMO is a small device that has been designed to link language gap for people who are travelling abroad. As of this time, it is still under development with funding foal of $15,000.

How does it work? You only need to establish the native language of the country you are going to visit. After setting the language of the country, you only need to hit one button then speak through the microphone on SIGMO. SIGMO then pay attention to the phrase and play the translation through its speaker. Another button is available which will enable SIGMO to listen to the response in the foreign language and then translate it so you can understand.

SIGMO developers said that it can support four English dialects, two French dialects, three Spanish dialects, two Portuguese dialects and two Arabic dialects. It does not end there because it can also translate two dialects of Ukrainian, Turkish, Thai, Swedish, Slovak, Russian, Polish, Norwegian, Mandarin, Malay, Korean, Japanese, Italian, Indonesian, Hungarian, Hindi, Hebrew, Greek, German, Finish, Dutch, Danish, Czech, Croatian, Chinese, Catalan, Cantonese and Bulgarian.

What is the catch? Well, you have to know that SIGMO is dependent on your data connection through tablet or smartphone. SIGMO is a mobile application that can connect your device through Bluetooth. The battery will have at least three hundred hours of standby time and at least eight hours of usage.

How to Improve Your Memory and Remember More Details

Posted by Editor on Nov 8th, 2016 in Mastery of the Mind | 0 comments

 

Without memories, what would our lives be? Maybe our lives will only be fleeting moments. Memories are important because it makes us who we are. If we could not recall the what, who and where, we would never be successful in life. It is important that we harness memory. Start by developing that photographic memory.

Imagine you remember everything in complete detail. That would be awesome. Recalling great moments are beneficial. The good news is that there are things that you can do to harness your photographic memory. It is just a matter of consistency. Singaporeans should know tips on harnessing photographic memory.

Use associations

If you want to remember things in general, it helps to use pictures. The brain remembers things in pictures. If you associate something or someone, make sure that you have a mental picture so it is easy to remember. The reason is that the brain remembers and thinks using pictures. Actually the more ridiculous and intense the picture is, the better for you to remember.

Minimize distractions

For other people, forgetfulness is not an issue of memory but a result of being preoccupied. When you want to learn the information, you have to free yourself from distractions so your brain will not be preoccupied. If you are trying to remember something, it is recommended not to multitask and simply focus on the task at hand. Do not fret over memory loss, just look around you and know that distractions can keep you from realizing your full potential.

Repeat names

It is good to remember names but you have to admit that sometimes you forget names even after thirty seconds from meeting them. To remember names, you need to repeat it. When introduced to someone, make sure that you are completely aware and not constantly think of the way you look or your conduct. If you concentrate even for few seconds, you will remember names longer.

Use chunking

Chunking in psychology means clustering things together. This is a memory retention technique used by many people. In chunking, you remember better and easier because you already sorted things out. For example, when you go grocery shopping, you should sort the meats, dairies, condiments, fruits, vegetables and other things.

With the tips mentioned above, you will live more plus your career will move forward. You are not born with natural impressive memory so do not feel bad about yourself. Remember that memory experts are made not born. Improving your memory can be challenging but it can do you good at the end of the day.