desserted

Franken-food

2008-10-12T14:12:00.002+08:00

Results from a survey conducted in Europe revealed that consumers are still very much reluctant to try and are wary of meat from cloned animals.

Europeans are generally opposed to meat from cloned animals, feeling not enough is known about the long-term effects of eating it, according to an EU survey published Thursday.

- Todayonline, 10 Oct 2008, http://www.todayonline.com/articles/280568.asp

While most think that it is justifiable to clone animals of endangered species, it takes a lot more for them to actually accept cloning as an alternative source of food production.

Personally, I think there is heightened consumer awareness in food safety, especially after the tainted milk scandal which was a rude awakening for people all around the world. It is true that there is much uncertainty in the safety of cloned or genetically modified food and food safety is one area that should not be compromised.

Tainted milk scare

2008-09-30T08:49:00.004+08:00

I had read an article in the local chinese newspaper, regarding the recent tainted milk issue, except that for the particular article, the focus was on taiwan and its parliamentary issues.

Apparently, the opposition party attempted to exploit the opportunity to sow discord.

As quoted from the Young PAP,

Allowed Level of Melamine
American dog food: 0 ppm
Chinese pig fodder: 2 ppm
Taiwanese human food: 2.5 ppm

Taiwanese opposition MP said Taiwan's health authority had treated the Taiwanese people worse than how American dogs and Chinese pigs were treated - 台湾人猪狗不如。

Interesting how the examples the opposition MP picked fit so snugly into the analogy.

However, the wonderful thing about us human beings is that we’ve got a much higher tolerance for contaminants as compared to smaller-sized animals. 0.5ppm is hardly going to be of much biological significance when consumed. Theoretically, the opposition's argument doesn't make any logical sense and it's no cause for alarm.

I guess it’s not surprising judging how this is coming from a country famed for its parliament fistfights.

Coursework B practical

2008-09-10T19:01:00.002+08:00

A to E with measurements:

In order of A to E:

Group pics:

SLF 2008

2008-08-28T22:27:00.003+08:00

Familiar sight, anyone?

SLF 2008
Muffin Making Madness

My 'students' and me!

The experience of being a facilitator was pretty enjoyable (thank goodness their questions weren't too tough). My 'students' had attended FCS' Vday cookie-making workshop, so they were looking forward to the muffin workshop and really stood by to chope their places when the workshop was open for signups! We are really popular huh. They were very impressed with our spanking new equipment and utensils. Good investments indeed!

I probably won't touch a muffin/cupcake for the next... goodness knows how long.

Sustainability - Go green in Singapore

2008-08-26T20:03:00.011+08:00

There is another news worth to note from the Straits Time yesterday, 26 Aug 2008 - Public burst with green ideas

Sustainable Singapore

The whole idea about being sustainable is about fully utilizing our resources in the best and efficient way. Our ministry has put in tremendous effort to set up this website, about a month ago. It serves to gather all the minds of Singapore to brainstorm and feedback on ideas from various perspective like an individual Singapore to the government body. I think this campaign will definitely bring about great impacts to our lives.

(This chart is directly taken from this website)

1) Live and play - Lifestyle
2) Work - how business is run etc..
3) Commute - transport etc..

We have to take into consideration the people factor - the values and behaviour of our citizens. I feel that at the moment it is extremely crucial to create awareness because I feel that the people in our country are still not taking enough initatives and are quite inconsiderate. An example that I am sure most train riders will face almost everyday - people squeezing hard into the train when half of the passengers are still stuck in the cabin!

The next factor is the limitation of our current technology and resources. Ms Johannah Soo often mention about being sustainable. This word may seem vague but like the latter factor, we have to consider our inadequate land + resources. Our growth is mainly governed by talents and this means we have to be self-sufficient.

Creating awareness through education could be one of ways. Incorporation of NE and sustainability into our classroom lessons and hopefully our next generation will make a big leap. They will fight skyrocket inflation and greater challenges (Check out today's straits time here as well on food and transport). Perhaps at that time, who knows... the young and brillant ones might even contribute to our economy when everyone develop new innovative ways and sustainable technology for enterprise.

Getting greener.... Are we? It is not just about going solar and encouraging cycling blah blah blah... but it is certainly one wise step as a nation.

QCX 521 Review 3- Budgeting (Consumer studies)

2008-08-26T16:39:00.018+08:00

Most instance when anybody 'googles' or search for lesson plans and resources, the website that would be guided requires sign ups and payment. Thus, to add on to Huimin's post on website review 2 - Teachnology, I would also like to introduce this website for teaching money $$ management http://www.safehealthyschools.org/family_studies/D1BasicEconomics.htm

It provides mainly free lesson plans, fact sheets, powerpoint slides (samples) and articles that are handy to teach mainly family and finanical ($$) management. There are also incorporation of some thinking skills and national education messages.

However, the limitations to this website is that there isn't much interactive resources available but you may consider using this as reference when planning in the future (Please note that some of the information might not be relavant to local syllabus).

QCX 521 - website review 3

2008-08-26T11:46:00.007+08:00

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) is a government body that "ensures a resilient supply of safe food, to safeguard the health of animals and plants and facilitate agri-trade for the well-being of the nation". In short, AVA helps to ensure the safety of the food we eat in singapore.

How the website is applicable to HE

The main AVA page serves as an update page for highlighting the most recent food-safety-related happenings in Singapore, as well as other parts of the world. Taking for example, an outbreak caused by contaminated deli meats in Canada earlier this month. The main page of AVA is updated at once with the warning message from the Canadian food authority and continues with the reassurance that Singapore is free from such imports at present. In a way, National Education can be promoted to the students with the aid of this website as this is a demonstration of national security and is in line with the following 2 NE messages:

We must ourselves defend Singapore.
We are proud to defend Singapore ourselves, no one else is responsible for our security and well-being.
We have confidence in our future.
United, determined and well-prepared, we have what it takes to build a bright future for ourselves, and to progress together as one nation.

AVA and Food Safety Education
There is a section in the AVA website that is dedicated to educating the public on the safety of food. The Food Safety Education page carries useful information on what food safety is all about, the factors that endangers the food we eat, as well as tips on how we can prevent the food contamination. Tips on how to ensure food safety in school are also available and this can be beneficial information for the students. The information is presented in a table format and reasons why these practices have to be carried out are listed alongside, so students viewing the website will have a clear idea of the impact of their daily hygiene habits on their well-beings.

AVA and Food Labelling requirements
Under the Food Labelling section of AVA, students can find out the mandatory features of food product labels, as well as the restrictions that are imposed on food labelling. The explanations are explicit and suitable for use together with the assigned HE text/workbooks as instructional materials. Students can then observe and understand the practicality and applicability of textbook information in real life and learn about the importance of it.

Personal comments
I like the clean interface of the AVA website, because it allows for easy reading, especially since it is loaded with information that are relevant to the topics covered in HE and F&N. This is also a good website that can be recommended to the students as it's a platform for them to see how food safety is correlated to national security and we can easily incorporate NE into the lessons!

QCX 521 - website review 2

2008-08-25T13:17:00.008+08:00

Teachnology is an online teaching resource for teachers. One of the main focus of this website is that it endeavours to provide teachers with the option of incorporating technology in teaching and learning easily. As such, it provides professional development consultation services for schools with the intention of developing customised IT-integrated programmes, original software products for teachers to create instructional teaching materials as well as original publications by experienced educators for teachers.

At present, Teachnology is a web portal that offers a wide range of free resources and more (if one signs up for any of their membership programmes). Of the free resources available, lesson plans and worksheets are available for downloading and they can then be adapted or modified for use in the classroom.

On top of that, other useful functions include "Teaching Tips" and "Teacher Tools", the latter of which is extremely interesting and you can actually create endless possibilities with the tools. The Crossword Puzzle Maker, for instance, helps in the creation of crossword puzzles which can then be used as a classroom activity in the reinforcement of the information learned under the topics in home economics. There is the Classroom Materials page as well, from which useful forms for administrative and instructional purposes can be created easily to save time. As we know, teaching often includes the administrative side of things and worksheets have to be crafted as well. If things like a Parent-Teacher-Meeting form or rubrics for a TLLM lesson can be created with the help of a webtool, it will save us a lot of time and effort which can then be better used on other areas of education.

Lesson plans, worksheets and such are categorised under the following subjects and themes. This makes it easier for one in carrying out a search for the relevant information. Besides the already-crafted resources, there are also message boards in place for teachers from all around the world to exchange ideas and interact with each other, adding on to the functionality of Teachnology.

All in all, Teachnology is an extremely useful teaching resource for us educators as it can help us to generate more ideas for use in the classroom!

QCX521 - website review 1

2008-08-25T07:27:00.005+08:00

1. Sewing At About

Sewing At About falls under one of the many subsidiary sites at About.comthat cater to a wide range of interests and hobbies, such as gardening, travel, electronics and so on. With the slogan "Guidance, Not Guesswork", you definitely need little help in guessing the purpose it serves.

At Sewing@About, it's all about sewing!

The resident guide is Debbie Colgrove who has won awards in many sewing competitions and has more than 30 years of experience in sewing. She has had 2 publications on sewing and believes in the use of visual cues to help beginners in the learning of sewing. Naturally, you can expect an extremely guided and comprehensive learning journey over at Sewing@About if you are interested in picking it up as a hobby.

How it is applicable to HE lessons

As our students are namely noobs when it comes to sewing, they will need to learn and understand the basics before they can even start on any sewing project. Over at the LearnToSew page, it is divided into 4 main categories - Sewing Terms, Basic Sewing Techniques, Sewing Machine Techniques and Beginner Projects & Patterns. Each section is then further broken down into sub topics and comes with illustrated diagrams such that the student will find the information easier to digest. Sewing@About can serve as a useful revision site for students whereby they can refresh their memory on the sewing relevant information and at the same time, pick up extra knowledge on topics that are not covered in class.

For sewing lessons in class, the activities often include sewing projects in which the student may be required to brainstorm on little items that they can construct. The teacher can also gather ideas on what is appropriate to be taught in class for sewing projects. As such, Sewing@About offers some simple projects which come with step-by-step guided instructions. Of these sewing projects, a number of them e.g. hair scrunchies, tote bag, pillow covers, are things that the students may be interested in making. At the Project Index, the projects are classified under different skill levels, which makes it easier for the students to sieve out projects that are suitable for themselves.

Is that all to Sewing@About? Of course not!

Sewing basics form just one of the many subtopics at Sewing@About. On the main page, one can find hyperlinks to other areas such as Home Decorating, Sewing Fabric, Costumes, so on and so forth. Under Holidays And Occasions, especially, the students are likely to be very interested in the different valentine's day projects that are available. Information on the applicability of various fabrics and the comparisons between each are also given. Thus, if a student is required to work on a fabric-related project for lower sec coursework (for example), this website can be a good guide for them at the research stage. A simple ICT/TLLM lesson can be constructed and students can explore the various avenues in sewing.

Besides, Debbie Colgrove blogs regularly at Sewing@About where she will post her most recent seasonal sewing projects and ideas, so it is interesting to take a look at how one can constantly come up with new ideas on what can be done. Readers can exchange ideas with Debbie by leaving comments in her blog. A sewing forum is also in place, so students can make use of this platform to inquire more about the topics or clarify their doubts with the sewing experts out there, outside of the classroom. Sewing enthusiasts from all around the world will upload their completed projects from time to time and most of them are very functional items. Therefore, students can get a good insight on how textiles and sewing is relevant in our daily lives.

(picture credits: sewing at about)

Review: Boden.co.uk

2008-08-24T23:50:00.004+08:00

Online shopping is a growing trend among many, however there are still many people like me who prefer the traditional methods of shopping which is to visit shops and make payments on the spot:). I am the type that would prefer to feel the texture of the clothing, try out the size, look at the colors and of course being able to ask refunds and exchanges by just returning to the shop!

I am sure that many other 'traditionalists' would still prefer to visit shops. I have gone through some sites exploring the possibilities of online shopping and tried out this particular clothing shop called 'Boden' -UK. Before I started looking through this portal, I set some standards which I have gathered from previous experiences.
Image taken from http://www.boden.co.uk/

A brief introduction to boden, they started in 1991 in menswear and slowly ventured into womenwear and childrenwear. Their first website was for the UK in 1999 and subsequently websites for USA and Germany were launched. And today, there are two store outlets in UK.

Delivery / Shipping cost

If I were buying something from a website, my first priority would be to find out if the supplier delivers the items to Singapore. This Boden portal makes it easy for customers to locate such information by simply clicking on delivery. Users will be directed to a page where they will be able to find out all the relevant information they need on shipping and delivery. Other points that were also clear to its users were their return and exchange policies.

I am glad their information is simple to understand and allows the customer to be assured of their initial concerns, so they or at least I could start shopping. So I would my experience....

Variety and Range

Boden is a clothing company covers a broad range of selection for men, women and children. Their products are sold through mail order, shop front, telephone and their website. The website itself offers a wide variety of clothing lines and accessories in different colors for all genders and ages.

Types of products available: Clothings, knitwear, accessories like scarfs, hats.., shoes, nightwear and undergarments etc.

**Special highlights**

What is also interesting is that they even offer 'Outfit ideas' (see left) to help to suggest to all their customers how they could dress up for a particular season or occasion.

**End of special highlights**

SIMPLY FANTASTIC!!!

User Friendliness/interface and accessibility

Most importantly, I feel that I was greeted with a simple and neat website which does not require me to scroll and figure out where I could start looking. Information is well laid out and it was clear to me or maybe anyone who just one who just wishes to get something he/she wants and ignore irrelevant information.

**Special highlights**

1) The webpage has two search engines at the top of the website to allow users who know what they require through product codes and keywords.

2) To the left of the webpage is their range of clothing lines. Anyone who wishes to browse through their collection could just click on one of the many range and start shopping. Take for example.. Under the knitwear section, they have organized the wardrobe into subcatgegories (See left)....

3) Anyone who needs to gather some quick information before shopping could easily look through the headings for related information at the bottom of the page. One example - Choices for trousers are made easier with Hemming guide and Trousers fit guide (see right).

4) What's best! Females can shop by preference in terms of skirt length, waist sizes, styles and even weather!!

**End of special highlights**

The website provides lots of information which customers would find useful as they navigate through the site. Each product page comes with simple to understand with legends, instructions and related clothing suggestions to help users along the way. The sizes were indicated and for those of us who were not sure of the local equivalence in size, there is a sizeguide!

However, certain webpage still require slightly more time to load. Improvements can be made on this aspect!

Product information
Imagine going through all that you wanted and only finding out that it is out of stock. Worry not! A useful feature of the Boden online shopping site is that they actually tell you the stock levels for a particular clothing line.

Each product is displayed on a page of its own. Simple and clear description is being added for the ease of use. There are also useful features that allow users to zoom in to the products. There is the last section to showcase other products that customers might be interested in.

There are also detailed reviews are also available for those who need a second opinion at the end of each product page. Items will be rated on their fit, appearance, quality and value.

On the whole, it was relatively easy to use and information is clear and readily available to customers who require them.

Payment and Security

Checking out was what regular online shopping sites normally does, I simply do the shopping I decided and checkout. I was directed to the payment page where I had to register an account with Boden. To my surprise there is not much fields required to fill up, I simply had to input the necessary mandatory details like name, address and location. It allows flexiblity during purchase to provide special instructions for delivery. Gift vouchers are also available for sales. At the final payment page, they also indicated the delivery charges to Singapore. The checking out process was simple.

The company also ensured that the information entered at the checkout page is encrypted using the services of ‘VeriSign’.
They accept most credit cards however, the mode of payment is mainly limited to credit cards which main targets are mature adults and families.

Customer Service and redress

The customer journey is most customers would find friendly and easy to navigate. The information is simple and easy to understand, helpful information is always available and easily found within the portal. Any instructions given were helpful and foolproof because it is short and concise.

And Boden has absolutely no issue with customer return policy. They value the customer’s feedback and satisfaction through online survey. It just makes shopping online at ease and easy.

Wouldn't you smile for that? =)

Conclusion
This website makes shopping a breeze for anyone who needs to do online shopping. The clean layout appeals to me because I could simply find information is clearly indicated and summarise for customers. What’s more it promotes consumer loyalty and referral services. Any customer who recommends a friend to the Boden website will be rewarded with cash in their Boden account. There is even also an overall draw with a huge prize to reward their customers which clearly is a great multi level marketing strategy.

Overall rating: 4.3/ 5

On overall, I had a positive experience from the way this website impresses and gain my confidence and trust the website is through the effort in presentation which explains my overall rating for Boden. There are still small areas of improvements to be made to the website such as providing better interphase for webpages with many photos and including other modes of payment such as paypal. This shopping experience changed my perception on shopping online. It is no longer the 'traditionlists' or rather, I will recommend this website to others.

P.S. Apologies for the alignment of this post. I faced difficulties adjusting after publishing the post. :(

QCX 521 Website Reviews

2008-08-24T23:46:00.006+08:00

1. Food Network - www.foodnetwork.com

Food Network is a good website for the young and old to view and learn new recipes and cooking techniques from. It maybe written more from the western context with focus of recipes more on the western cuisines, but due to the multi-racial communities in major cities such as Los Angeles and New York, there have been various multi-national (international) cuisines added to the recipes recommended.

As indicated next to the food network logo, this website is DEFINITELY
the "#1 Cooking Site"!

You can find not just recipes for every meal of the day, but also other information that will help you plan and prepare for the perfect meal.
Information provided :

Recipes, Cooking Guides such as cooking weights and measures, seafood guides, basic kitchen protocol and more.
Food planning for parties and holidays such as weddings, Christmas, birthdays.
Quick & Easy meal preparation - mostly within 30 minutes. Recipes used on popular TV shows are used with guided videos to follow.
Healthy eating recipes and meal ideas that cater to the different diet groups like the vegetarians, the diabetic and also those with heart problems.

MANY MANY videos that provide clear instructions of cooking, cutting, baking and more techniques used in preparing all kinds of food. All these amazing videos can be viewed through broadband streaming and note: most have been shown on the FoodNetwork TV channel in America!

Lastly, shopping is available for recommended kitchen equipment by renowned chefs and professionals!

HOW CAN THIS WEBSITE BE USED IN HOME ECONOMICS LESSONS?

Basically this website provides a good platform for teachers to teach and show demonstrations commonly used cutting techniques in the kitchen such as dicing, slicing and before/during practical lessons using the videos provided and also explain the terms from the encyclopedia available on the website.
-> This is a good form of incorporating ICT - online videos into home economics lessons.

For the Upper Secondary Food & Nutrition lessons, students are also able to use this website for coursework research by navigating this website for historical background of how certain dishes came about, and also for recipes - both thematic and task-based.
-> This is a good form of incorporating project research development into the students.
-> The racial harmony aspect of one of the National Education values can also be incorporated into the lessons by searching on various cultural food recipes.

2. Nutrient Data Laboratory - http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

This Nutrient Data Laboratory website provides detailed information on the nutrient contents found in most kinds of basic food products. The search format is made really easy for students to use as single food keywords are only required and then they just need to select the food group which the food belongs to from a drop down selection. This is simple for secondary students of all levels to follow and use.

For better illustration purposes, I will use 'milk' as an example.
-> Keyword : Milk
-> Select food group : Dairy & Egg products

Next, choose the item that is the closest to what you are looking for. Let's say I'm looking for 2% fat liquid milk.
-> Milk, reduced fat, fluid, 2% milkfat, with added nonfat milk solids, without added vitamin A

Note: The options may get a little confusing after a while due to the numerous varieties available to choose from and it can also get very wordy. So choose carefully to get the closest option as possible.

The next page asks for the amount/ weight of the food product desired to be analyzed. Nutrient values can be calculated for any desired gram weight by clicking on the amount field for the weight to be reported.
-> We can choose from weights in grams, cups or quarts units.

There you go!
A VERY DETAILED analysis of every nutrient possibly present in the type of milk chosen.

HOW CAN THIS WEBSITE BE USED IN HOME ECONOMICS LESSONS?

This website comes in extremely handy for the Upper Secondary Food & Nutrition students for the coursework component. They are able to utilize this week for nutrient analysis on their chosen food products for the research part. They can also sieve significant nutrient information from here to explain and create comparisons between recipes.
-> Project research skills are learnt by the students.
-> Students are trained to think critically whilst interpreting numerical information and eventually concluding on them.

As for the Lower Secondary students, this website can serve as an exploration platform for them to find out about the variety of nutrients that can be present in a single food product. It also allows the students to apply the theory of nutrients into actual food.

QCX521 Review2- More than just PERSONAL CHEF

2008-08-24T23:14:00.017+08:00

BBC - http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/get_cooking/ and http://www.allreceipes.com/

My definition of the role of a home economic or food and nutrition teacher is not just to plainly teach what's on the textbook. We are around to INSPIRE students and ASSIST them relate what they have learnt in school to work.

BBC website can cover many interesting field like

1) Personal chef

2) School to work

Textbook/ coursework may include

1) Receipes

2) Methods of cooking and cooking guide

PERSONAL CHEF AND SCHOOL TO WORK

As quoted from one website -A personal chef serves several clients, usually one per day, and provides multiple meals that are custom-designed for the clients’ particular requests and requirements. These meals are packaged and stored, so that the client may enjoy them at his or her leisure in the future.

To let the students understand more about personal chef at http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/get_cooking/chefs/001.shtml, first of all, they need to know the role of a chef.

With MOE initatives in mind

1) IT masterplan/ICT

Using of this website offers any curious mind to know more about working as a chef and the career prospect and get them mentally and socially prepared for work by teaching of skills. The teacher can help them think of what is required of them to know from school before becoming a chef. For example, they need to understand balance diet or meal alternatives during their lesson. Another scaffold that the teacher can create is to ask students questions on other alternative careers besides dreaming about being a chef.

2) Thinking Skills

We will get the students thinking ahead when they read about the personal experience of other chefs life and whether it will apply to them in the future.

This website also it has MANY receipes available for students to create their favourite dishes! It provides precise stepwise instructions and even videos (click to view sample video). Of course to elaborate more on this aspect, this website alone might not sufficient to implement National education through understanding cultural differences in preparation and choice of dishes. Teachers can also consider exploring http://www.allreceipes.com/

Research on their coursework or project tasks can be based on a theme like BARBEQUE HOST. Students will spend time on google or wikipedia (ICT) the background of how barbeque began in wartimes or their dishes*, what to expect of a barbeque event and to explore the possiblities of exercising the student's innovative ideas and creativity to modify dishes.

*To add on to Ms Johanna Soo idea of sustainability, like for example besides students doing research on barbeque in wartimes, we also create awareness in our students. Hopefully they will be able to meet the needs of their future through getting to know the economic and social development and to teach them how to integrate their knowledge into use for environmental protection.

Review : Gap.com

2008-08-24T01:00:00.007+08:00

SHOPPING!!!

Which woman doesn't love this 'sport'? I definitely belong to this group and am glad to say that I adore the idea that shopping has been extended to the e-world that is so easily accessible with the click of a mouse.

Gap Inc. from the United States was created by Don Fisher in 1969, opened it's first store in San Francisco, and is one of 'the world's largest specialty retailers'. It is just like the Giordano here in Singapore, except that the quality and prices are a little more upper class. Before Gap opened their first few stores in Singapore in the last 2 years, Singaporeans would make it a point to visit Gap stores in the US and at least purchase a shirt or some clothing that said 'Gap' on the front. It was as though one would be considered as 'cool' walking down Orchard Road in a Gap outfit.

Now that we have Gap in our shopping malls, taking a peek at the latest arrivals on gap.com would assist in speeding up our shopping time at the store. Shopping websites should be designed to allow consumers to view products in a quick, convenient and attractive manner. I will be basing my review of gap.com on these 3 factors and rating sub-categories using shopping bag icons on a 5-'bag' scale. So on to the review!

1. Attractiveness

The first thing you see when you enter the website are photo ads of the latest arrivals and trend of Gap. The design is chic and classic now as the latest trend for Gap is 'The New Classics'. But I must say that the design is very simple yet professionally done. You would want to explore further.

Rating :

2. User-friendliness, Interface, Accessibility

Navigating this website has put a smile on my face.

Layout : Organised very well by the different departments and sub-categorized again into the types of clothings. A simple click of the mouse will lead to you the specific area desired.
Loading Speed : Fast and almost immediate, despite huge pictures.

Star Features :

"Quicklook" option where a window pops out for you to view a general glimpse of the product details.
Links available to assess other of Gap Inc.'s brands eg. Banana Republic, Old Navy.

Rating :

3. Variety

Caters to every woman, man, kid, and infant in the household. There is also a wide selection of products for maternity and intimate wear. Plenty to choose from and good quality stuff! Sales and clearances run on a frequent basis too!

Types of products available : Clothes, shoes, hats, socks, intimates, swim wear, bath, skin & fragrance.

Star Features :

Under BabyGap, there is a wide range of collection specially to set up and decorate the nursery - bedding, furniture, strollers, bath and feeding accessories, toys!

Rating :

4. Product Information

Outstanding details provided about each product sold! Gap really looks to cater to every shape and size, taking into consideration of the varying size conversions as well.
Star Features :

Description about product
Variety of sizes - Regular, Tall, Petite (Size Guides available)
Colour of product changes when cursor rolls over another colour selection icon
Fabric and care details
Zooms into product when cursor rolls over the product picture to further details
Recommended matching looks with other Gap products provided

Rating :

5. Purchasing

Payment : Wide range of credit cards ranging from Visa to Amex to JCB and more. Also the associated brand (eg. Gap) credit cards. Hence target audience are only those with credit cards; mostly young adults and above.
One-time price adjustments : If items are marked down within 14 days of the date of purchase, customers are able to get refunds of the difference of the prices upon contact with Gap at their hotline number or through email.
Tax policies : Noted and adjusted for different states in the US.

Rating :

6. Shipping & Delivery

The first bad point about this online shopping site is that Gap does not ship internationally. Sadly this means we cannot purchase anything online from Singapore. Orders can be shipped to the United States and other US territories, Alaska and Hawaii.

Star Features :

Different levels of delivery, all for your convenience! The fastest delivery takes only 1 day for the order to be posted! Doesn't this sound like the postal services offered locally?
Order tracking is available too for customers to be able to have an idea of the status of their orders.

Rating :

7. Customer Service & Redress

Like most American online shopping websites, Gap offers refunds and exchanges policies within 90 days from date of purchase. Store returns are also possible, if not gift cards will be given in return for store credits.

Star Features :

Cancellations or changes in orders can be made ASAP by simply calling Gap's hotline number.
Customer service is available 24/7 at a convenient call away : 1.800.GAPSTYLE. How awesome and accessible is that?!

Rating :

8. Trustworthiness

Gap.com has a section dedicated to 'Privacy, Security and Web Info' which provides customers with information of how Gap collects and uses the customers' information. Gap assures their customers that their privacy are highly valued and respected. Customers are welcomed to contact Gap on further inquiries.

Star Features :

Copyright Infringement Claims : Gap respects the intellectual property of others. So you are able to write in and report if you discover that your work (fashion designs I guess) have been copied and something will be done legally to rectify the issue.
This issue I believe is not commonly offered for many online shopping websites. Something unusual but good. Something to compliment Gap on!

Rating :

OVERALL RATING : 4.25 / 5

CONCLUSION :

Apart from the fact that they do not ship internationally, I still strongly recommend people to shop at gap.com. It is a good website to view items before heading down to the local Gap stores, saving time going through every rack of clothes. If not, you can always shop online and ship the items to a fellow friend/relative living in the States and get them to carry the items back for you the next time he/she returns back to Singapore. I usually do this because the items are usually much cheaper compared to those sold in the Singapore outlets.

With regards to the layout and information provided on online shopping websites, I feel that many Singapore online shopping websites have alot to learn from American websites such as Gap. It is important to have details and sufficient information that will benefit the customers so they need not go through the hassle of contacting the sellers and be able to speed up the buying process.

Another thing that I like about Gap's online website is that they cater to not only the American sizes, but also to Asians (i.e petite) who are smaller in built than the Americans. Personally, I have not purchased from a Singapore online shopping website before. Why? I do not belong to the typical Asian size and so already have a problem shopping in local stores. I have surfed many local online shopping sites and have found clothes I adore but decided against ordering online. I'm just afraid the sizes will turn out wrong and eventually it'll all be a waste. So I propose for clothes sold online to be sold at US/UK sizes. This way both parties will gain and be happy. :)

Review: eBay

2008-08-23T13:47:00.005+08:00

(Each aspect is graded on a scale of 5 thumbs up)

Let's start off with a brief introduction of our main character here. eBay.com was founded in 1995 in USA and was soon popularised to be The World's Online Marketplace® it is today, with individualised domains in 29 other countries. Despite the lack of a physical presence unlike the conventional business setup, it is an extremely powerful platform for the sale of goods and services offered by the individual or small businesses on a local, national and international basis.

I'm eager for some retail therapy, so what's there at eBay?
Looking to find that special outfit for an upcoming ball, secondhand PSPs or intricately crafted gingerbreadman cookie cutters for christmas? You are bound to find something that suits your needs here at eBay.com. With more than 50 item categories and even more subcategories under each, you can be sure that you are in for some major shopping online. Truth be told, eBay.com is intended for the smart shopper - one who has something to purchase in mind, even if all you have is just a fuzzy imagination of each. Nothing in mind? Well you can move on to what I term as "virtual window shopping". Just clicking and browsing random item listings that catches your eye and most importantly, your pocket remains unharmed!

Variety/Range:

Wherever do I start from? So many things to see and I haven't got all day!
All you have to do is type in your keyword in the search field and let the eBay search engine do its job. The individual items are listed on the return pages in a systematic manner, with a thumbnail of the stock image at one corner to allow buyers to scan through the listings. eBay's minimalistic layout also serves to bring the focus to the products and save on page-loading time. Don't see what you are looking for or there are simply too many returns? Narrow down your searching scope with the advanced search, or simply change the keywords. eBay offers additional help by including a list of keywords which is related to yours.

User-friendliness:

Hmm I see a dress that I like. Oh wait there are so many of the same dress offered by different sellers.
One much-appreciated feature of eBay is the transparency in which the listings and transactions are handled in its domain. Prices are listed clearly alongside the items in the search results and this offers the buyer a quick comparison. This is when the buyer will have to rack his/her brains in rationalising which offers the best bargain in terms of time and cost, which is dependent on factors such as the current bid price, the number of bids placed thus far, how long more till the end of the auction and also the reliability of the seller. If a certain product listing seems lacking in its description, the buyer also has the option of emailing the seller to request for the details.

Typically, products in eBay are sold off in the auction manner, whereby the highest bid wins at the end of the listing. For those who are more interested in fast and fuss-free transactions, eBay has also created an express section whereby you can buy the items without the need to place a bid. All in all, shopping on eBay is easy as the consumer will have to take the initiative to contact the seller for more information on the product and think through before making the decision to purchase. Great opportunity to apply our smart shopping techniques, don't you think?

Product information:

Is my dress going to fly over to me in a plane or travel by sea?
Most sellers featured on eBay.com are based in USA, with a handful of them located in other parts of the world, if they choose to let their listings be featured in the main site and not just the subsidiary eBay sites for their countries. Even though the freight costs may not be listed in the item description, most sellers are more than happy to ship their goods to overseas customers (still earning moolah anyway!). USA sellers rely heavily on the United States Postal Services to send out international mail, so it will be good to drop by usps.com and familiarise yourself with the international postal costs as well as the mail transit durations. Postal cost is dependent on weight of the goods and the speedier the service, the more expensive it's gonna be. Be sure to ask for a quote on the shipping cost before placing your bid! Just to safeguard yourself against dodgy sellers who try to bank on unsuspecting consumers.

Airmail is loadsssss faster than seamail, anyhow, and takes between 5-9 days for transit (not too shabby for something that comes from the other end of the world!). International Express mail is the fastest at 2-3 days. Seamail, though the cheapest option available, can take up to 3 months which virtually kills off the excitement in waiting for your purchase.

Freight costs/ delivery options:

How am I going to pay for my goods?
For anyone of us in Singapore, buying anything on eBay.com will mean trading on an international level. Credit card payment is definitely the way to go. Before you start worrying about exposing yourself to online frauds, the good news is that eBay has partnered up with an equally user-friendly payment company, Paypal, which allows making payment online to be as easy as ABC. Your eBay account will be tied in to your paypal account, such that you can make payment right after you've won a listing. Paypal enables ease of payment using credit cards and the website is equipped with verisign security encryption that serves to reassure that your credit card and bank account details remain confidential.

Besides credit card payment, Paypal is also a multi-dimensional transaction centre. You will be able to link your bank account to your paypal account and from there, transfer funds to anyone with an email address. These days, technology flies like there's no tomorrow and thus, Paypal has also explored the possibility of making payment via your mobile phone and even Skype.

Certain sellers are also flexible with other modes of payments such as Western Union or wired bank transfer, though these 2 modes go hand in hand with a higher level of risk.

Payment and security:

I've received my dress and the hems are fraying! What can I do? The seller obviously didn't state the condition of the dress!
Looking to seek some form of redress? You'd better pray that payment was made via paypal! Unfortunately, eBay.com doesn't offer any form of insurance program. However, if you paid for your item using PayPal, you are covered by the PayPal Buyer Protection program as long as the eligibility requirements are met and coverage is up to either $200 or $20000. In short, eBay+paypal makes a powerful and formidable combination that offers absolute protection to consumers. As quoted off the eBay's help page, "eligibility for buyer protection services is determined by the payment method that you use and the eBay country site where the item was purchased". If your payment was not made via paypal, you can also look into eBay's Buyer Protection Programs to seek compensation. You can expect fast response from eBay or Paypal, with most of the replies coming in within a day.

If the problem with the item purchased is not too serious and you don't see a need in a third party intervention, you may first approach the seller for some form of solution. Certain established eBay merchants (check their positive feedback count!) have a standard return and exchange policy in place and they do honour their words. It is also important to keep in mind that the consumer has a part to play when making a conscious decision in buying anything, so be sure to check your doubts with the seller before committing to buy.

Customer service:

Other useful features of eBay
My eBay: This is where the eBay user, be it seller or buyer, manages one's own purchases and listings. Items that one is interested in but still hesitating to place a bid on can be added to a watchlist, where one can then monitor the progress of the listing.

Feedback system: Upon receiving the goods, the buyer can rate (positive/negative) the seller and leave a short comment on his/her buying experience.

Help page: The extensiveness of eBay's help page is astounding. It's basically a dummy's guide to anything and everything on eBay, and works just like any websearch engine!

The eBay Community: Unable to find the answer to your question? Want to stay in the loop about the most recent trends and happenings on ebay? This is the place to be. Active members and the staff of eBay will put up announcements and discussions in this friendly neighbourhood hub where they can share their interests and hobbies with the rest of the world. The equivalent of your friendly neighbourhood police post, there are also frequent updates on the latest fraudulous or suspicious activities (bound to have some black sheep out there...) at eBay, so you can be more cautious in your online shopping.

Conclusion
eBay.com is definitely one very reliable platform for one to online-shop at, with a grounded set of user policy and the various buyer protection schemes that are in place. Every single transaction at eBay is recognised as a legal contract. The online shopper can look forward to a safe and secure online shopping experience here. The trust that online shoppers have in eBay is pretty apparent, judging from the high degree of transactions that take place each day.

Personal recommendation: I've personally bought some stuff off eBay and most sellers were friendly and efficient in the transactions. I like eBay for the excitement and immense satisfaction whenever I win an auction (the bidding gets increasingly aggressive towards the end!). On top of that, this is where I get my good bargains from most of the time. My best buy so far is this Topshop dungaree which I bought off eBay-UK at around S$30 (inclusive of shipping) and my friend purchased the same at the local Topshop sale for over S$50 :D (She was quite mad about the price difference when she found out.) Nowadays I turn to eBay whenever a certain item has gone out of stock in the retail outlets and my OCD drives me to hunt it down and own it. The odd times at which some auctions end can be too much to bear sometimes.

Are the health claims on food labels for real?

2008-08-22T17:23:00.002+08:00

EU food safety agency disputes products' health benefit claims
Friday • August 22, 2008 - Todayonline.com.sg

The EU food safety agency on Thursday disputed claims of health benefits by food manufacturers, notably that dairy products promote good teeth and healthy body weight in children.

"A cause and effect relationship is not established between the consumption of milk or cheese and dental health in children (or) a healthy body weight in children and adolescents," the European Food Safety Agency said on its website.

Issuing its first eight preliminary opinions on a total of 228 product claims submitted for testing, EFSA cast doubt on commercial claims made for specific drugs.

The claim that "regulat®.pro.kid IMMUN" strengthens children's immune systems could not be verified by the evidence provided, EFSA said.

The agency, based in Parma, Italy, also found "no significant effect" of "NeOpuntia®" on blood lipid parameters (fatty acid or oil absorption) and no direct effect of "Femarelle®" on post-menopausal women's bone density.

The drug "Elancyl Global Silhouette®" has no demonstrable effect on body weight, body shape or body fat or water in humans, EFSA also concluded.

The panel further found insufficient evidence to back the claim that a-linolenic acid and linoleic acid promote children's normal growth and development.

One product, plant sterols used for lowering blood cholesterol, received a partial nod from EFSA, which proposed wording that "reflects the available scientific evidence: 'Plant sterols have been shown to lower/reduce blood cholesterol'."

However it said the product should be used only by those "who need and want to lower their blood cholesterol and that patients on cholesterol-lowering medication should only consume the product under medical supervision." — AFP

The fast-paced lifestyles of the people in today's society have inadvertently led to the production of convenience food and is also seen as the driving power behind the R&D of even more convenience food products.

However, the focus of these products is now on their functionality. Termed as 'functional foods', food companies hope for the gradual replacement of health supplements by their products. It is not uncommon for us to see words like "fortified", "enriched", "antioxidants", etc on food product labels these days.

Are these food products really that incredible? I'm more inclined to think not. I've done an internship at the R&D centre of an MNC early last year and had a first hand experience on how food companies go about with the development of their food products, from brainstorming to creating prototypes and then on to the finalisation and the marketing of the products.

So what was my role as an intern? I saw myself as the search engine and my daily work was all about scanning through scientific journals to sieve out beneficial information on the nutrient that they intend to include in their new product line. Terms like linoleic acid, omega-6, omega-3, lycopene and so on are no longer foreign to the health conscious consumers of today. We are generally more aware of what's present in our foods these days. These nutrients are abundant in fresh foods, but how about processed foods? Do the nutrients remain unmodified after having gone through the processing line?

As mentioned in the article above, the EU food safety agency deemed some health claims unacceptable due to a lack of scientific evidence to back up those claims. This is in line with the research materials that I read as an intern. While it is for sure that the specified nutrients, when extracted and purified, do impart some form of health benefits, most of the research are still in their preliminary stages whereby the tests were conducted on lab rats (!!!). No doubt there are some similarities between rats and humans (we're both mammals. we both have eyes, nose, ears and mouths but humans have got no tail), but numerous trials have to conducted on homo sapiens for the claims and results to be conclusive. This is also the basis for any food product regulating body to decide if the health claim in question is authentic or not. Processed food have to be sterilised at high heat and this treatment itself lends a big question mark to the presence of the nutrients in the products we buy off the supermarket shelves.

Food companies know exactly what the consumers are looking out for, hence most choose to place the emphasis on the nutritional benefits their products may offer. However, certain food companies can be too overzealous in edging out competition such that they simply slap on seemingly relevant health claims onto their products without a thought.

My stint as a food company intern has certainly made me a skeptic when it comes to functional food products. It's always a good thing to read through and review food labels!

It'll be interesting to note that this issue of misleading food-labelling is not new. Here's an article, dating back to 1986, on the importance of explicit health claims on food labels, if you're keen to know more.

To the Home Economics teachers - Cooking is our choice, our forte

2008-08-22T11:13:00.017+08:00

If you have read the Straits Time yesterday - 21 Aug 2008, you might have come across this article in Life section.

"Cooking is all about girl power."

Girl power means the power to choose. We choose if cooking suits us or not. And if you never know this, there is actually politics of cooking - the gender polictics.

Nowadays, kitchen isn't the place anymore for the young as many parents believe that girls should aim high in their professional career instead being a home-maker like my dearest mummy. According to her, mothers of my grandma's generation were dying to be out in the society to work. One example is my mom, she is a wonderful baby-sitter cum a great full-time housewife.

Let you into a secret, I was never allowed in the kitchen all these while, as my mom always define her territory in the kitchen which I hate most, until these recent years when she had to 'baby-sit' my nephew (oh ya... and of course the fact that now I am a home econs teacher!!!). And so she spotted some talent in my 9 year old nephew (Leonard), he is a great boy. When he was 6, he was able to sew his own pencil case for school under minimal supervision. Now, he always takes the initiatives to fry egg in different styles and make little creative breakfast for us in the morning.

Read on.... I feel that these are such great skill to have from mini home economics lessons, don't you agree? It is all about starting and training young. Even for boys, aside from the academics, these skills are worth to acquire such they can help out at home or their own family in the future. Thus, I want to hereby highlight the role of Home economics teachers. We can do wonders - sky is our only limit!

From this little story above, I feel that as much as anybody who can be really a high-flyer at work, there is still a need of fine balance with the importance of family warmth. A simple meal can bring much joy and laughter to the dinning table. Even though people with strong career-mind may argue that they can afford to pay for food instead of spending long hours in the market and kitchen... SO WHAT? They may not appreciate the art and process of cooking and preparation.

SERIOUSLY.. I think we as home economics teachers should really be proud to say that we are successful career woman and yet not limited to just the space in the kitchen! We have a choice and we choose to make a difference! And like the author mentioned, cooking is an indulgence, not a necessity. So hey! To the people out there especially guys, stop assuming that kitchen is for the girls! =D

Muffin baking trial

2008-08-21T17:29:00.004+08:00

Presenting to you...

Our muffin cover girl!
(with the muffins batter before they enter the oven)

The 140g-flour choc chip muffin team

As mentioned previously, the ingredients that go into any basic cupcake/muffin recipe will confer different textural properties upon the end product. In our trials of blueberry muffins and chocolate chip muffins on 20 August, majority preferred the blueberry muffin recipe which called for more flour, whereas the texture of the chocolate chip muffins with less flour was deemed more desirable. It's all up to our individual preferences, I guess! What's important is that we got to eat everything at the end :D

The facilitators are all ready for the SLF next week!

Olympics 2008 Highlight : The Fastest Swimmer in the World & Food

2008-08-21T14:04:00.002+08:00

Michael Phelps - the reigning 'fish' of the waters is one name familiar to any person of any race and colour on this earth. Talk to anyone about the current Beijing Olympics 2008 and the first topic will be about this amazing man. So, we all know how talented and speedy he is in the pool. Being a sportsman, we assume Phelps maintains a balanced and nutritious diet, and abstains from the junk.

But no. I chanced upon this interesting write up about Phelps' diet and realised he is like any other 23 year old American who loves pizza, pasta and mayonnaise!Yet he looks as awesome and has a body every man desires for! Upon analysis of a typical day's diet, Phelps consumes around 8,000 - 10,000 calories per day! And the only so-called healthy food consumed is enriched pasta. Of course, this may happen to be one of his unhealthy days and so should not be a good gauge of his daily meal plans. Despite the unhealthy food consumption, do bear in mind the frequency and level of trainings and exercises he goes through daily. He definitely has a higher output level than input level.

So all you non-athletes out there, don't think you can start eating and binging like him! If you want to eat that much and (unhealthily), then you had better exercise more than the recommended 3 times a week. Well, my suggestion is to regulate the frequency of junk food (that we all love), eat a good balance of all nutrients we need for our body needs, and to exercise as often as possible. This way we can help prevent the occurrence of undesirable diseases and possibly live longer.

I am still really amazed at how much junk Michael Phelps eats!

QCX 521 Review 1: Kids health - Mummy, I want to grow up healthy!

2008-08-20T21:48:00.011+08:00

Childhood is an exciting phase and a stage of discovery as the child embarks on the journey of life. Let's focus is on kids between age 3 to 14 years old - where kids get curious and begin to constantly ask questions and seek truths in their doubts and prepare themselves to be teens. Along with them, parents and teachers will be their essential scaffold to support and guide them.

Many times, adults may not be able to understand how kids' problem mainly because the childhood period in the past is different from the problems face by kids presently. A recent news article on TODAY newspaper on a Primary 5 (P5) student getting help from counsellor after suffering from severe academic pressure from parents. As an alarming increased number of students are seeking helpline for emotional support and therefore, it is important for us to address this issue.

There are many websites available on kids health nowadays that can easily access to read on information and tips to keep them healthy and happy. I mention happy because I think that mood is part of health development. Their health is view from a holistic point and can be categorized into three main sections:

1) Physical fitness - Exercise

2) Balanced healthy diet

3) Mental well being - feelings

Good physical fitness can be achieve through the first two sections, exercising and eating right. In this way, food and nutrition can be taught through first the importance and effect nutrition requirement, where good calories and bad calories present in heart and junk food. Teachers can also introduce simple recipes for them to make healthy breakfast for school (Like Leonard, my nephew) and teach them to make the right food choice!

Like the Primary 5 student mentioned above, we might not notice that their stress can come from facing bullies in schools and academic pressure from parents and peers etc. Thus, I feel that the best solution is to either advise them or let them experience themselves but teach them the right or best way to handle the matter positively.

In my perceptive, a suggested simple sample lesson plan for kids health will start by bringing the focus of the lesson on them and adopting the MOE initatives, Teach Less, Learn More (TLLM) model:

Anticipated question from the teacher, "Hey, kids today's lesson will be just about you because you are our future tomorrow. Take a look at the cartoon below and think... Is the boy doing the right thing handling stress this way? What would be the right way of relieving any form of stress? " We, as teachers will provided a guided worksheet with questions to help them discover more about their personality, character and current lifestyle to instill some thinking skills in our students.

Use of ICT (MOE initatives) by introducing them to the sources where they can seek help with sensitive topics, ask questions and play games while learning in the following websites. They will get to know more about the benefits of exercising, keeping themselves healthy and happy. Try this! They are fun and pretty easy to access:

For kids and parents, click http://kidshealth.org/ and
http://www.cyh.com/SubDefault.aspx?p=255

For educators, click here for free resources http://classroom.kidshealth.org/

Finally, the teacher could sum up the lesson with the brainstormed ideas suggested by the students.

As adults or educators can share our personal experiences for their reference and be a good listening ear and advisor to them. Hope this helps and bring smiles to the kids and your life. Smiles :D

Mummy, me and daddy =D

Cupcake-baking session

2008-08-17T12:16:00.001+08:00

On this very day, we laid our hands on a basic cupcake recipe and made our own versions by adding various ingredients to the batter. While there were the usuals like chocolate chips, peanut butter and banana, some were also pretty innovative and experimental in their choices of fragrant pear and oreo, jam-filled cupcakes, so on and so forth. It was then that we learned our choice of the ingredients will affect the texture of the cakes (due to the different moisture contents) as well as the factors that enable us to distinguish a muffin from a cupcake.

Some cakes were also baked in silicon moulds which conferred interesting shapes to the cakes.

Of course, the best part of our practical lessons will be the last - the sampling of the food :D

2008-08-14T13:53:00.001+08:00

Hello! We're in the midst of refining our blog so please bear with us while we tie up the loose ends. Hope this will be entertaining and enriching for all :)