Opportunity for seven long weekends in 2013

Opportunity for seven long weekends in 2013

SINGAPORE - Singaporeans can look forward to five official long weekends in 2013, including two four-day-weekends for Chinese New Year (CNY), Hari Raya Puasa and National Day. CNY falls on February 10 and 11 which are a Sunday and Monday. The next day, Tuesday, February 12, will be also a public holiday. Hari Raya Puasa falls on Thursday, August 8 while National Day is celebrated the next day (Friday, August 9) which results in the second four-day weekend.

Other long weekends include Good Friday (Friday, March 29), Vesak Day (Friday, May 24) and Deepavali (Sunday, November 3).

The date for Deepavali needs to be confirmed against the Indian Almanac when it is available. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will make an official announcement should there be a change of date.

There is no change to the date for Deepavali this year. It will hence remain as November 13, 2012.

Meanwhile, New Year's Day (January 1) and Hari Raya Haji (October 15) both fall on Tuesdays in 2013. Therefore, taking two days of leave will result in two more long weekends.

The complete list for the 2013 holidays is as follows:

New Year's Day	January 1, 2013	Tuesday
Chinese New Year	February 10, 2013 February 11, 2013	Sunday Monday
Good Friday	March 29, 2013	Friday
Labour Day	May 1, 2013	Wednesday
Vesak Day	May 24, 2013	Friday
Hari Raya Puasa	August 8, 2013	Thursday
National Day	August 9, 2013	Friday
Hari Raya Haji	October 15, 2013	Tuesday
Deepavali	November 3, 2013	Sunday#
Christmas Day	December 25, 2013	Wednesday

# The following Monday will be a public holiday.
Under the Employment Act, an employee who is required to work on a public holiday is entitled to an extra day's salary at the basic rate of pay, in addition to the gross rate of pay for that holiday. The employer and employee may mutually agree to substitute a public holiday for any other day.

DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR, CHECK PRICES BEFORE BUYING HOME APPLIANCES !!

Saw this posting over at HWZ forum : 

DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR, CHECK PRICES BEFORE BUYING HOME APPLIANCES !!

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TV, soundbar, vacuum cleaners, etc etc etc

Please always check the price with NEIGHBORHOOD SHOPS first!

Sometimes they offer better prices for the same package!

NOTE : YOU MUST HAVE THE FULL MODEL NUMBER OF THE ITEM YOU WANNA BUY


If you need to pay by credit card please check price with the following

Parisilk
15A Lorong Liput Singapore 277730
6466 6002

Mega Discount Store
5 Stadium Walk Leisure Park Kallang, Singapore 397693
6348 7998


If you can afford to pay cash, please check price with the following

Goh Ah Bee
210 Hougang Street 21, #01-247. Singapore 530210. 
6288 8611

Everjoint
159 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4 Singapore 560159
6458 2531

Kong Tai Electrical Trading
504 Jurong West St 51 #01-221, 640504, Singapore
6565 8924

Hong Liang
123 Bukit Merah Lane 1 Singapore 150123
6278 3331

Woodlands Domestic (this is sony centre, sony products 5yr warranty IIRC)
727 Clementi West Street 2 Singapore 120727
6778 8980


All above shops can place order by phone. And they deliver direct to your residence. You can pay COD.

Do yourself a favour. cross check with the above shops before buying. If you plan to go down, save the contacts on your phone so that you can call directly at the show!

Let's all not be chopped!

How to unlock your samsonite luggage

The following are the lock picking instructions you requested from Samsonite Consumer Relations. 

1. Position the luggage so that the numbers on the wheel are
right-side-up as they face you and set all three wheels to "0′.
2. Starting with the wheel on the left, to the right of the wheel,
look into the narrow space between the right side of the wheel and
the body of the lock. Look down into the shaft. (If you have a
safety pin, straight pin, or thin nail file, place that in the
narrow space.)
3. While looking down into the shaft, rotate the wheel slowly. You
are looking for an indentation (a square notch). When you find
the indentation, stop and write the number down. (If you are using
a tool, the tool will fall into the indentation.)
4. Follow the process for the remaining two wheels.
5. Try to open the piece of luggage.
6. If the luggage still will not open, please try the following:
a) If the number on the wheel is over 5, subtract 5 from the
number showing. For example, if the number showing is 8 turn
the wheel to 3 because 8-5=3.
b) If the number is under 5, add 5 to the number showing. For
example if the number showing is 2 turn the wheel to 7
because 2+5=7. The numbers showing on the wheels will be
your combination.

just worked for me... remember the + 5 - 5 part if it does not work first time.

:)

How To Update to latest iOS Manually

How To Update to latest iOS Manually

In some cases, the iTunes update process might not work for you for several reasons. In those cases, you can also update your device to iOS 4.3 manually. Here are the steps to manually update your device to new iOS.

Step 1: Download the new iOS IPSW file for your device.

Step 2: Connect your device to the computer using the USB cable and wait for iTunes to detect it.

Step 3: Once your device has been detected – follow the steps given below for different OS.

• For Windows – Hold the Shift key and then click on the “Check for Update/Update” button.
• For Mac OS X – Hold the Option key and then click on the “Check for Update/Update” button.

Step 4: In the next dialog browse to the file that you downloaded from Step 1 and select the IPSW file.

Step 5: iTunes will now use the IPSW file and update your device to new iOS. The process should take around 10-20 minutes.

That’s it. Your device will be updated to new iOS 4.3 with ease.

Hotel Lifetime Elites

SPG Lifetime Platinum Elite

Qualification: 500 nights and 10 years as SPG Platinum member. The main thing to know is this is lifetime Platinum-lite. The benefits for SPG Lifetime Platinum are only the basic Platinum benefits unless you achieve the 50+ nights for additional Platinum benefits. 500 nights at $100 to $200 per night is around $50,000 to $100,000 in hotel spend. Award stay nights and credit card nights can lower that amount significantly.

The spend level needed to reach lifetime elite in other hotel loyalty programs is much higher.

Hyatt Gold Passport and Marriott Rewards already had Lifetime Elite Qualification

Hyatt Gold Passport and Marriott Rewards also offer lifetime elite status. Here is a Loyalty Traveler post discussing Marriott Lifetime Elite Qualifications and FlyerTalk thread on Hyatt Gold Passport Lifetime Diamond elite.

· Marriott Rewards offers lifetime elite status for all its three elite tiers with much harder to reach qualification requirements.

· Marriott Rewards lifetime Silver elite qualifications require 12 years membership, 600 nights and 1.2 million points earned. Marriott counts all points earned in account for the points total. Assuming $100 per night on hotels is equivalent to $60,000 to meet 600 nights threshold. Earning 1,200,000 points is likely going to be at least $60,000. This is a far higher nights threshold for lifetime low tier MR Silver elite compared to SPG Gold.

· Marriott Rewards lifetime Gold elite qualifications require 12 years membership, 800 nights and 1.6 million points earned. (I estimate about $80,000+ in spend for lifetime MR Gold).

· Marriott Rewards lifetime Platinum elite qualifications require 12 years membership, 1,000 nights and 2.0 million points earned. (I estimate about $100,000+ in spend for lifetime MR Platinum).

· Hyatt Gold Passport lifetime Diamond requires 1,000,000 lifetime base points earned and 10 years membership which is equivalent to $200,000 in hotel spend.

HHonors Gold through 2013 after 4 stays for CWT customers

Carlson Wagonlit Travel customers can register to earn a fast-track to Hilton HHonors Gold elite membership after four stays within 90 days of promotion registration. HHonors Gold normally requires 16 stays or 36 nights in a calendar year. This offer is exclusively for Carlson Wagonlit Travel customers, but I am posting this fast-track HHonors Gold offer since there are millions of you out there across the globe who book travel with CWT.

Register by phone with Hilton Reservations and Customer Care by requestingPromotion Code ‘CFTE’.

Online registration is here.

HHonors member must complete the four qualifying stays within 90 days of enrollment to earn HHonors Gold membership. Elite membership status will be valid for the year earned and the subsequent year.

8 more long-weekend opportunities beckon

The first long weekend of the year may have just ended on Monday, but relax, there are eight other occasions to plan an extended weekend getaway.

Four will coincide with public holidays that fall on either a Friday, Sunday or Monday - Chinese New Year (January), Good Friday (April), Hari Raya Aidilfitri (August) and Hari Raya Haji (October).

And as four other public holidays - Labour Day (May), National Day (August), Deepavali (November) and Christmas (December) - are on a Tuesday or Thursday, taking leave either on Monday or Friday can open up a four-day break.

Those eyeing a longer holiday can take the week off between National Day and Hari Raya Aidilfitri in August to create a 12-day stretch.

2012 Calendar