Notepad Corner

2014 is the Year of the Yang Wood Horse (Jia Wu). In preparation for the start of Chinese New Year, Chinese lanterns and other decorations have been popping up and displayed in most Chinese countries and Chinese community areas around the globe to herald the new year. Chinese New Year is known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival which usually lasts 15 days. This year, the date of the Chinese New Year 2014 is on Jan. 30, 2014 (Chinese New Year's Eve) to February 13, 2014 (Lantern Festival). As a tradition, weeks before the New Year celebration, enormous preparations has been made as the Chinese people consider Spring Festival accompanied by good fortune.

As a child, sea and marine life has always excited and thrilled us. Even as adults, nautical artifacts and anything connected to the sea still reminds us of nostalgic memories and for many, the thought of the sea can rejuvenate and energize their mind and spirit. This is why many choose to go for marine and nautical inspired home decorations. To do the same with yours, start with those amazing handcrafted nautical ships to display in your living room wall. You can display an assortment of boats and ships on your sofa side table, on your wall shelves or your window sill. These ships even including those of pirate ship replicas are always a visual treat to both adults and children. Anchors as well as port holes may also be displayed on doors or walls of your rooms while a ship wheel clock will find the perfect spot above your mantle in the dining area of your home. Sea shells may also be great pieces for your center or coffee table while blue and white stripped pillow case...

Many people have difficult times in their lives and could benefit from going to counselling therapy. However, to go down this route feels too official and a little too prescriptive for some people, so they end up not confronting or dealing with the challenges they are facing. One alternative to counselling that can be very helpful for analysing your particular circumstances and issues is to have a reading with a psychic or clairvoyant. In psychic or clairvoyant readings at TheCircle.com, you can discuss any subject area that you want to, and looking at different problems or dilemmas you are facing with the help of an independent and objective listener can be really beneficial. If you were to talk to a friend or relative, they might find it impossible not to try and sway you with their own view of your situation. A clairvoyant will not do this – they are not involved in your life and remain objective. 

Children love playing together.  Many moms arrange a scheduled date and time for their children to get together and play. Playdates are great opportunities for kids to learn how to develop relationship and socialization. They can learn how to interact positively in different play scenarios. It is meant to be enjoyable for the kids and the moms as well. image via  http://flic.kr/p/8GhaQJ To play and to have fun is the main purpose of a play session; however there are times when things go awry due to kids’ behavioral concerns. Here are 5 of the most common behavioral issues on kids playdates. Toy sharing . “You can’t play with this toy” - This is the most common cause of clash and emotional game play. Solution : If you will be hosting a playdate, it will be a good idea to first ask your child which of his toys he is willing to share to his playmates and put away his special or favorite toys. It is the parent’s role to explain the idea of sharing - sharing ...

The kitchen is the heart of every home.  Being the busiest part of the house, it is essential to keep it clean and organized. Most homemakers prefer to have enough available supply of food and other cooking essentials to make the daily family meal preparation with ease. While it is necessary to maintain kitchen cleanliness, it is also a must to choose the best methods on how to keep and preserve food freshness when storing. Unsafe food stocking can give way to growth of bacteria, virus and threat of food poisoning which will harm the family’s health. Choosing the highest quality kitchen containers for food storage can help preserve pantry food supplies and help reduce kitchen waste by preserving leftovers and unused food for later use.  Storing food in specially designed containers can keep food fresh for a longer time. image via  http://flic.kr/p/675gbz Aside from the pantry or kitchen cupboards, the refrigerator plays an important role in keeping an...

During winter, the whole family wants to hibernate – even energetic children who just love playing outdoors. However, once the frost has melted away and the sun is in the sky, your kids will be eager to take their activities outside. Image via shop.tacttiles.com A garden filled with rubbish, debris and general hazards is not a safe environment for playtime. That’s why you’ll need to make sure your outdoor space is the perfect place for your little ones to while away a summer’s afternoon or two. Here’s how to do it:

Filipino families and holiday seekers will have ample of time to unwind this year. With the recent declaration of Malacañang's Proclamation No. 655 there will be at least 18 specified national holidays to be observed for the year 2014. The enumerated holidays includes 4 long weekends that can make way to schedule a family getaway. The four long weekends are as follows: The first long weekend will kick off on January 31, Friday which has been declared a special non-working holiday due to the celebration of the Chinese New Year. The second long weekend is on Holy Week which will start on April 17, Maundy Thursday until April 19, Black Saturday. The third one is on August since the last Monday of the month will be the National Heroes Day, August 25 is a regular holiday. Finally the last long weekend is during the Christmas holidays. Christmas holidays will be longer this year as December 24, Wednesday, and December 26, Friday, are declared as special non-working d...

Let us know if this scenario sounds familiar. The real estate called and you have just over two days to makeover your rental, transforming a cluttered, lived in ‘home’ into a photogenic property, securing another few months of suburban living. You panic a little (or a lot), hitting the local supermarket and splashing out on new sponges and harsh chemicals packaged in purple plastic; sure, a few drops burn your knees into oblivion and your eyes pearl with tears in your mission against bathroom scum, armed with bleach and spray solutions, but beauty is pain, or something like that. The reality? Everyday people just like you unknowingly place themselves in risky situations, rushing from one job to another, making amateur mistakes and exposing their bodies to harm. Cleaning is deadly, and no, we’re not just talking about the pile of underwear threatening to catalyse a new form of bacteria; corrosive, flammable, toxic, noxious, each word is a justified descriptor of the chemical yo...

You might have heard about memory foam mattresses and pillows and how incredibly helpful they are in ensuring your comfort while you sleep. Many users have also claimed to have improved memory and recall upon use of these mattresses and pillows. They do not only get a very good sleep each night, but their bodies are also pampered and relaxed. The same can be applied to our body’s most used part – the feet. Not everyone take notice of how stressed their feet are until they are already painful and achy – our feet need a fair share of pampering and indulgence with a pair of memory foam slippers.  The technology applied in memory foam mattresses and pillows are the same with the ones used in these slippers. It uses visco-elastic foam which is highly-reactive to the body’s temperature so you can be assured they your slippers take the contours of your feet to its tiniest details. You’d feel extremely comfortable wearing these slippers as it gives needed support to the a...

It’s difficult knowing what to do with an unwanted Christmas gift: do you ask the person who gave it to you for a receipt and risk coming across as ungrateful, or guiltily throw it in in the trash? Luckily, you don’t have to do either of those things – there are plenty of ways to dispose of presents you don’t like in a way that benefits everyone involved. One of the most popular options is selling items through sites such as eBay. This gives you the chance to unite your gift with someone who will appreciate it more, while also allowing you to make money that can be spent on something you love.  In order to ensure you get the best price possible, avoid opening the packaging and explain in the description that your item is an unwanted gift – buyers often like to know why things are being sold. An informative title, thorough description and plenty of photos can also help boost the price.