2013 Year End Holiday Calendar Planner

3 things that I have done since the exams ended:
01. Put the used textbooks aside till the next donation drive.
02. Dropped the non reusable activity books and exam practice papers in the recycling bins.
03. Cleaned up the study room.

I am currently looking out for activities to do in November and December.  Knowing how much I love planners, I created a monthly version this time, for simple tracking of available events around town and my family’s holiday schedule.

Link to November 2013 planner (PDF) here.
Link to December 2013 planner (PDF) here.

Have you started planning your year end activities?

Grocery Shopping List

A shopping list is great (if you stick to it) for:
– saving time and money, just head straight to the section and buy only the stuff you need,
– better meal planning,
– resisting impulse purchases of in-store promotional items that are unhealthy/useless/in excess at home,
– less food wastage from buying too much.

The fruits selection is the only food category that is somewhat unplanned in my household, and I usually see what’s on offer that day.  EWG in US compiles an annually lists of Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen to educate shoppers which are the most pesticide contaminated produce. Wish I could find similar information here for the supplies in Singapore.

I still use the lists from EWG as a rough guide to decide when to buy organic produce (from the Dirty Dozen list), and when I can save money by buying non-organic ones (from the Clean Fifteen list).  I am making a very huge assumption that farming techniques and technologies are similar around the world; i.e. if it is profitable to grow a crop with a particular pesticide or that much of pesticides, farmers in other parts of the  world would also make the same commercial decision to raise that crop the same way.

Also, if the fruit comes with an outer peel, I don’t mind getting the non-organic version by removing the peel upon serving.  Alternatively, scrub clean the produce properly with vinegar & water solution before cooking or eating.  Though we know that pesticides cannot be 100 percent removable with these methods, we can try to reduce our exposure to them, keeping ourselves and our household balance sheet healthy at the same time.

The latest 2013 version was released in April, and I updated my simple shopping list template with a small corner dedicated to this piece information.  Downloadable here.

Completed // June 2013 School Holiday Activity Planner Printable

Planners Template Link Below:

My Holiday Plan started this week (lucky kids!). Week 1 template posted here.
Week 2 (3 June – 9 June) planner template here.
Week 3 (10 June – 16 June) planner template here.
Week 4 (17 June – 23 June) planner template here.
Week 5 (24 June – 30 June) planner template here.

Mark your dates now! I have a thing for outdoor, closer to nature kind of activities and have been keeping tab on various groups for their activities held (mostly free!) throughout the year. I am listing their June activities below, together with some museum activities that I find interesting, in chronological order for easy reference. Some activities require advance registration. Do click on source link for more details.
My earlier postings on school holiday must-visit museums here and here.

More June 2013 Activities:

25 May – 9 June – National Orchid Garden School Holiday Special (Free entry) @ Singapore Botanic Gardens

Week 2 (3 June – 9 June) :
6 June (Thurs) – Fun for all under the Stars (FREE) @ Singapore Turf Club (5pm – 9pm)
8 June (Sat) – Gardeners’ Day Out (SOME CHARGEABLE ACTIVITIES) @ Hort Park (9am – 6pm)
8 June (Sat) – HeART for nature (FREE) @Dairy Farm Nature Park (9.30am – 10.30am Registration Required)
8 June (Sat) – Rainforest Tour (FREE) @ Singapore Botanic Garden (Various time slots)
8 June (Sat) – Mangrove Walk (FREE/Admission fees apply) @ Sungei Buloh (9.30am)
8 and 9 June (Sat & Sun) – The Young Collecter (FREE) @ Asian Civilisations Museum (1pm – 5pm)
8 June (Sat) – NSS’s Kids Fun with Beautiful Butterflies at Upper Seletar Reservoir ($5/$10 per child) (9.30am, Registration Required)

Week 3 (10 June – 16 June) :
14, 15 June (Fri & Sat) – Movie Nights (FREE) @ Malay Heritage Center (8.30pm)
15 June (Sat) – Horseshoe Crab Rescue and Research by Nature Society (7am – 10am, Registration Required)
15 June (Sat) – Opera in the Park by Singapore Lyric Opera (FREE) @Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage, Singapore Botanic Gardens (6pm – 7pm)
15 June (Sat) – History through Drama (FREE) @Old Ford Factory
15 June (Sat) – In Search of Balestier’s memories (FREE) @ Sun Yet Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall
16 June (Sun) – Love MacRitchie Walk by Cicada Tree Eco Place (FREE) (8.30am – 11.30am, Registration Required)

Week 4 (17 June – 23 June) :
21, 22 June (Fri & Sat) – Under The Banyan Tree, Open Air Cinema (FREE) @ Stamford Green (Fort Canning Park, besides National Museum)
22 June (Sat) – Race Against Time – Science behind a Botanic Garden Tour (FREE) @ Botany Center, Singapore Botanic Center (10am – 11am)
22 June (Sat) – Heritage Tour (FREE) @ Singapore Botanic Center (9am)
22 June (Sat) – Fun Walk Along the Southern Ridges (FREE) (9am – 11am, Registration Required)

Week 5 (24 June – 30 June) :
29 June (Sat) – Mangrove Walk (FREE/Admission fees apply) @Sungei Buloh (9.30am)
29, 30 June (Sat & Sun) Children’s Kite Carnival (FREE) @Grand Lawn, West Coast Park (4pm – 7pm)
30 June (Sun) – Love MacRitchie Walk by Cicada Tree Eco Place (FREE)(8.30am – 11.30am, Registration Required)

Crafting // Recycled Envelopes Part 1

These envelope security patterns look interesting.  I think they make great journal paper patterns.
I followed these instructions to print on my recycled envelopes, also created a mounting template for 5″ x 5″ and 4″ x 8″ below.