What is Polished Concrete ?
Concrete floor polishing was initially used for a matter of function in commercial buildings and warehouses as it increases lighting using the natural reflection off the floor, eliminates dusting and is extremely low maintenance saving time and money. Polished concrete techniques have progressed and technology now allows a qualified contractor to add colour and different finishes to the concrete making each floor unique which has made polished concrete floors the sought after flooring solution for residential, retail and office buildings as it is functional and visually appealing.
Concrete is manufactured from natural materials and can also be mixed with some recycled materials; the concrete itself can also be recycled. Concrete is so versatile as its durable, the materials are readily available and it can absorb then release heat better than other floor coverings as concrete polishing doesn’t alter the thermal mass of the floor which is a property that enables materials to absorb, store than release heat.
The materials in concrete absorb the energy slowly and hold it for a long period of time which can help to reduce heating and cooling requirements. Concrete floor polishing eliminates any need for additional floor coverings, all of which would require manufacturing and transportation so polished concrete reduces the effects on the environment. Depending of the quality and condition of the concrete, polished concrete has a longer life cycle than traditional floor coverings and if correctly installed by a qualified specialist in concrete floor polishing it can last forever which reduces the environmental waste which would be caused by replacing carpet, vinyl and tiles.
A polished concrete floor will resemble a polished stone floor; with a high-gloss finish the floor will have a mirror like effect. Polished concrete floors also improve the air quality, unlike carpet it doesn’t trap pollutants or bacteria and the surface is reflective which will reduce the need for unnatural lighting. Polished concrete has many more benefits which cannot be achieved from any other traditional floor covering. The concrete floor polishing process uses non-toxic chemicals, and no sealers or solvents are required.
Concrete floor polishing is created by processing the concrete surface by means of a mechanical process which involves grinding and refining the surface using diamonds till a desired finish is achieved, this process takes some time and only a qualified specialist in concrete floor polishing should be appointed to install a polished concrete floor. Polished concrete enhances the new or existing concrete which reduces the use of energy draining manufacturing processes and fossil fuels used for traditional floor coverings.
There are many different results that come from polished concrete floors by using multiple abrasives which are measured in grits which are generally applied from roughest to finest and each density will refine the surface in preparation for the desired finish. A specialist in concrete floor polishing may use up to nine different grits to achieve the durability, reflection and clarity of polished concrete and will apply a densifier which has a chemical reaction in the concrete resulting in a hard crystalline structure making the concrete floor more durable and resistant to stains, offers extra protection to the floor and prevents water from penetrating the surface. These reasons and more are why polished concrete is the eco-friendly and sustainable flooring solution which cannot be compared to any other flooring option available.
Concrete flooring is a great option. If you are considering polished concrete in Brisbane or concrete polishing in Brisbane , and would like a free onsite evaluation call (07) 5549 3573 now. We have offer our unique high-gloss finished backed with a 10 year warranty in Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.
Sphere: Related ContentMatt Cutts Interview
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Bargain Hunting in Southern India
South India has a multitude of beautiful things to buy. The region produces fabulous textiles including the famous Kanchipuram silk. It’s also known for woodcarving, especially sandalwood, and various forms of metalwork. Fort Cochin in Kerala has one of India’s foremost antique bazaars. Orissa has a wide selection of handicrafts. Some of the best devotional kitsch in the world is available from temple bazaars.
Every town has a bazaar, and big cities such as Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai have many bazaars that seem to merge into each other. Bazaars are like a world apart, with specialist areas set aside for particular goods (shoes, saris, jewellery etc).
For the traveller, bazaars are more about looking than shopping. Here you’ll see acres of unbelievable plastic kitsch alongside fine silks and cottons as well as mountains of cooking implements. In many towns Tibetans have set up their temporary bazaars of woollen clothing. These are especially popular around the hill stations. In all the tourist centres, Kashmiri vendors sell nearly identical wares of carpets, sandalwood elephants and lurid batik and tie-dyed cloth. Much of it is mass-produced and tacky, but if you persist they often have better stuff stored away. Pilgrimage towns have shops selling religious artifacts to Indian tourists, including beads, statues, ash paste and amazingly bright posters. The food stalls present an olfactory as well as a visual delight.
Official emporiums can be found in major cities and usually stock a large range of local crafts. Prices are fixed and are a little higher than you would pay in the bazaar, but for novices who don’t know the going rates for crafts or who are inexperienced in judging quality, the emporiums are a reasonably safe bet.
Be careful when buying items that include delivery to Australia. You may be told that the price includes home delivery and all customs and handling charges. Sometimes this is not the case, and you may find yourself having to collect the item yourself from your main port or airport, pay customs charges (which could be as much as 20% of the item’s value) as well as handling charges levied by the airline or shipping company (up to 10% of the value). If you can’t collect the item promptly, or get someone to do it on your behalf, exorbitant storage charges may also apply.
Metalwork
Bidriware is a craft named after the town of Bidri in northern Karnataka where silver is inlaid into gunmetal. Hookah pipes, lamp bases and jewellery boxes are made in this manner. Bidri employs the technique of sand-casting. Skilled artisans make a mould from sand, resin and oil and then pour in the molten metal.
Small bronze figures of various Indian Gods are available in Tamil Nadu, especially in and around major temple towns. The bronze makers still employ the centuries’ old lost-wax method of casting, a legacy of the Chola period when bronze sculpture reached its peak in skill and artistry.
A wax figure is made, a mould is formed around it and the wax is melted and poured out. The molten metal is poured in and when it’s solidified the mould is broken open. Figures of Shiva as Lord of the Dance, Nataraja, are among the most popular. Small copper bowls, cigarette boxes and paan containers are still handmade in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), Bell metal lamps are a good buy in Thrissur (Kerala).
Jewellery
South India’s most important jewellery-making centres are Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mysore, Ooty and Thanjavur. Hyderabad is a major centre for cultured pearls. Cuttack in Orissa is a centre for delicate silver filigree jewellery andornaments. Tirunelveli in southern Tamil Nadu is a centre for many types of jewellery, particularly large chunky pieces. South Indian jewellery is generally distinguished from that made in the north by its use of motifs inspired by nature -lotus buds, flowers, grass stalks and in Kerala. birds.
Woodwork
Mysore (Karnataka) is South India’s main centre of sandalwood carving, and while sandalwood was once reserved for carving deities, these days all manner of things are made, from solid pieces of furniture to keyrings and ornate fans. Rosewood is used for making furniture and carving animals. Carved elephants are a speciality of Kerala.
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Sphere: Related Content[Chic|Trendy|Fashionable] Inner City Living
Most lofts still offer a bit of the feeling of living in a warehouse due to their original use as factories located in industrial areas. But in many cases, the latest examples have all the trappings of the most sophisticated downtown units, including walls, fancy floors and ceilings, shared lobbies, enclosed garages, and even balconies and roofdecks.
Instead of the original occupants, including struggling artists, architects, and other professionals who had to work from their homes for economic reasons, the newest crop of owners are successful executives, physicians, lawyers, television and film actors, product managers, sports stars, and others who have come to see the charm and wisdom of such large scaled units in accessible neighborhoods.
Residents are also no longer restricted to living in lofts just in downtown Sydney, where the genre first developed in the large cast iron manufacturing and printing buildings of the Paddington district. Over time, the loft concept has spread to more of Melbourne and on to other towns in Australia and around the globe.
Rather than share a geographic commonality, the tie that binds most lofts is a building that makes economic and aesthetic sense to save and remodel as the back to the city movement continues to grow. More and more people want to avoid commuting, traffic, and McMansions. And they want to take advantage of all the benefits of city life.
With greater acceptance among the mainstream, the interior architecture of lofts has also changed. The loft has evolved from the original “hard” design, so termed because of its hard surfaces, to a “softer” style. The original wood or concrete floors are sometimes covered; the brick or concrete walls are sometimes platered; the ceiling ducts, sprinkler systems and timber beams are often concealed; and the walls and halfwalls used to partition off bathrooms sometimes shield bedrooms from the public living spaces as well.
Whether these changes are favorable or too far removed from the original form is argued among purists, but many observers of the changes applaud the quieter, more energy efficient and human oriented lofts that often result.
The way lofts are furnished has also undergone a marked change through the decades. The first generation of lofts tended to be decorated in Salvation Army chic and recycled, secondhand or hand me down objects and lacked any thought out design.
Loft interiors have evolved through the decades, revealing a much wider range of furnishings and styles from the sleekly modern Italian mode, where less still remains more, to the traditional international mix with English or French antiques, American quilts, and Oriental accessories and holland blinds.
The finished design does not look overmanipulated or untouchable, but is relaxed and easy to live in. The most favored look, however, remains a highly edited leanness of whatever period, so that the open feeling associated with this style of unit comes through strongly. Some call this an undesign where the unalterable can serve as inspiration.
Two surprising twists in recent loft development are also noteworthy and bode well for future occupants who desire a choice. Brand new lofts are now built to mimic the original buildings, but these modern architectural versions are made with a combination of both old fashioned attention to the art of the structure and new amenities.
In addition, the boundaries of acceptable areas in which to live in a loft have been expanded to the suburbs and ex urban areas, so now more can enjoy the form. The primary goal of the loft, however, remains the same: an abundance of space, light, and air and an eclectic flair in the choice of furnishings and accessories.
Just Roller Blinds retail a wide variety of window blinds and customised blinds for your loft apartment or home. Order online and save today. Fabric samples are also available. BSJRB101208-2
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Sphere: Related ContentLinkages Between Our Goal and Our Personal Thoughts, Feelings, and Actions
Sports situations in which athletes have an opportunity to display physical prowess (i.e., in training or competition) activate their task or ego involved goals. They might be either highly task involved or ego involved in that situation, or they might even switch between the two, because their perception of what they need to feel could change from moment to moment.
For example, imagine yourself as a young soccer player in a grudge match. You’ve felt great during the game because you’ve worked hard, made some great tackles and accurate passes, and your work on your concentration skills has paid off by allowing you to refocus quickly. You’ve spent most of the game in a highly task-involved state of mind and have received praise from your teammates.
The game is tied and goes to a penalty shoot-out. You are the last player of five selected, and the score is 2-2. As you make that long walk to the penalty spot, how does the situation and its potential consequences affect your view of success and skill? Will your feelings of competence depend entirely on scoring or missing? And, if you do become ego involved, how might it affect your chances of getting that winning goal?
All athletes have an innate preference for task or ego involved goals in sport. These predispositions, referred to as task and ego goal orientations, are believed to develop throughout childhood largely due to the types of people the athletes come in contact with and the situations they are placed in.
If children consistently receive parental praise that’s contingent on their degree of input and recognition for personal improvement from their coaches, and are encouraged to learn from their errors, then they are likely to engender a task orientation. It becomes normal for them to believe that success is associated with mastery, effort, understanding, and personal responsibility.
The behavior of their role models in sport also affects this development. Such an environment is far different from one where children are shaped by rewards for winning (alone), praise for the best grades, criticism or non-selection despite making their best effort, or coaches whose style is to hand out unequal recognition. This kind of environment helps an ego orientation to flourish, along with the belief that ability and talent, not effort and personal endeavor, earn success.
Goal orientations are believed to be somewhat stable and enduring characteristics that are largely formed by mid to late adolescence. Hence, coaches and parents should attempt to shape a child’s development as early as possible during the 6- to 14-year-old phase.
In this developmental period, children’s cognitive abilities start working overtime as they begin to understand that effort isn’t the sole reason for success at a task. At about 11 or 12 years of age, they begin to realise that regardless of effort, some kids simply have more ability than others. That’s when the fantasy of being the next super-star comes under obvious pressure for some children.
The strength of a goal orientation influences whether a player will adopt a task or ego involved goal in a specific sport situation. It is also perfectly feasible for evolving athletes to develop both high task and ego orientations if they have been exposed to an assortment of task and ego oriented situations and people. However, never underestimate the power of a particular situation.
The evolving athlete might be quite high in task orientation, but in a competition with a high degree of public evaluation, judgment, criticism, or comparison based on who’s best, with rewards and benefits for winners and negative consequences for losers, he or she may become ego involved. Competitions accompanied by high perceived expectations and consequences arguably form the natural spine of professional sport.
Factors such as the stage of the event (e.g., final or qualifying match), whether selection is at stake, previous head-to-heads, financial rewards, age of the opponent (e.g., playing a talented younger player), representing the team or country for the first time, and the support of the audience can make a match a natural ego-involving laboratory.
Nevertheless, not all sport is like that; in fact, some sport situations offset the natural importance of superiority by emphasising participation and publicly reinforcing or rewarding personal effort, improvement, and problem solving rather than focusing on comparisons.
An example is a swimming club that encourages all standards of swimmer, with a coach who gives recognition solely based on individual improvements in time or technique. These situations increase the importance and number of task-involving cues. The key message here is that the availability of task-involving cues in sports that are naturally ego involving allows the athlete to develop a more task-involved approach to competition.
If you’re looking for FIFA Players Agents, a Australian Football Academy or Football Tours, contact the Football Management Group.
Sphere: Related ContentGet Married in Paradise? So many choices for your and your wedding party!
When you get married, it is all about the love, sharing that special day with your partner, family and friends. However, as air fares get cheaper and destinations more accessible, it is becoming more and more common for couples to take their weddings off-shore, or off-state to a new and romantic location.
Why is this becoming popular? Firstly, it allows you tailor your wedding around a favourite holiday destination or place of significance. Did you dream of getting married on the beach, frangipanis in your hair and a golden sunset, but you are stuck in the city? Dream no more, tropical weddings are affordable and professional with many tropical destinations offering specialist wedding and honeymoon packages.
Destinational wedding packages can be tailored to suit your dreams. From romantic couple only escapes to complete family and friends getaways.
When thinking of taking your wedding away, beachside nuptials appear to be the preferred escape and Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the perfect destination. Cairns offers happy couples a variety of options. A ceremony on the beach, with the sand between your toes, or something more formal in a seaside chapel, followed by a beach reception with tables set up in the sand. Arrive by car, or for something different, you can kayak or even sky dive into your nuptials. Many couples have experienced the thrill of this in Cairns, Australia and it brings a whole new meaning to pre-wedding jitters or nerves.
Is this not close enough to the water for you? In Cairns, you can even get married underwater, while diving the Great Barrier Reef. Don’t believe me! ~ It has been done, underwater photographers are available to capture your special moment with nemo and a graceful sea turtle as your witness.
If that is too extreme, but you want to include a visit to the Reef in your destinational wedding, then simply plan a half day or full day trip around your nuptials. There are plenty of combinations available in Cairns Australia, from a helicopter trip to an isolated coral cay, to an exclusive charter taking you to a remote, pristine coral reef.
What about your guests? Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia are considered a must visit destination for many people. Everyone wants to go there, most just need an excuse. Make your wedding a trip of a lifetime for you and your guests by bringing them to Cairns.
As well as being a part of your special day, this tropical paradise offers a range of exciting activities. Reef trips, rainforest excursions, beach horse riding, tropical taste tours and some of the world’s leading spa retreats are all found here.
If you lean more green than blue in your wedding choices, Cairns is the only place on earth where World Heritage tropical rainforest slides down to meet the golden beaches and fringes of the Great Barrier Reef.
These are the world’s oldest continually surviving tropical rainforests and you can get married here, celebrating your love in this pristine nature’s paradise. Let towering cathedral figs be your altar, mossy pavers your aisle and falling leaves your confetti. Rainforest weddings can be as formal or informal as you like. A range of chapels are nestled amongst the greenery for more traditional ceremonies, or slip off your shoes and take your celebrant somewhere remote for a memorable ceremony.
Your guests will thank you for bringing them to this amazing tropical paradise. When they are not at your wedding, they can enjoy luxurious accommodation, explore the reef and rainforest, cuddle a koala or even take an outback tour.
There are many activities to choose from that the wedding party and guests can enjoy. There could be activities such as shopping, snorkeling, boat rides, guided tours or even wine tasting. Just keep in mind that it is typically the bride or groom or their families footing the bill so be sure not to tell your guests the cost of the bill because they more than likely would feel uncomfortable having someone else paying for them.
The great part of destination weddings is that it is usually more intimate and typically only the close family and friends come. So you could have more personal activities. You could have a sleepover the night before the wedding and have everyone over to the hotel for movies, drinks, and popcorn.
Just remember that for many of your guests your destination wedding may double as their vacation. So be sure to find out their plans so that you don’t over book. Some guests may choose to plan their own activities.
Any activities you choose, your destination wedding will be sure to be special and a long lasting memory for many years to come.
When planning your destinational wedding, make sure you use a professional Cairns wedding photographer, because you will want to capture your Cairns Wedding Photography in the best possible light. Photographers can also capture amazing images of you, whilst scuba diving in Cairns
Sphere: Related ContentCommunicating a Service Offering in Cairns
Because services are intangible, marketing messages for services do more than sell services. Communications render services more tangible, and present prospects something firm to consider.
As a result, marketing communications for most services haul around a heavier burden than communications for products. A bright red Porsche 911 convertible, for example, yells loudly and beautifully for itself. Very few services speak for themselves at all.
We implicitly trust most products. We trust that our new tyres won’t explode, our white sugar will taste sweet, and our aspirin will cure our headaches without bad side effects. But we are far less trusting and certain about most services.
We worry that our lawyers and web designers will work more than necessary, and charge more than is warranted. We are concerned that the latest weight loss service will fail, just like the three we have tried before. We worry that our builders will exceed their budget and finish weeks after they agreed to. We worry that the collection agency we hire for our service will badger our clients worth keeping and collect only a small part of our outstanding receivables.
So unlike communicating about products, talking about services must make the service more tangible and real, and must soothe the worried prospect. It’s not like selling Porsche automobiles.
For more information about services marketing and making services more concrete, visit Rob Johnson’s Twitter page. Sponsored by Rob Johnson of http://seocairns.seovoodoo.com.au/
Sphere: Related ContentMail Charity Fundraising
A mailing is often the most practical way to reach many donors. Sending letters also is a simple way to raise money. There is no need to recruit, train, manage and motivate a large group of volunteers. A few talented individuals can run the entire operation. And you will find you will get a lot more volunteers to fold and stuff envelopes than to cold-call potential contributors. That’s not to say all one must do is write a letter, post or e-mail it, and wait for the returns.
What makes mail fundraising campaigns difficult is that they are one-sided. No allowance exists for a campaign member to personally motivate prospects. The most enthusiastic letter simply cannot match the give-and-take between a skilled solicitor and an open-minded potential donor. Lacking aggressive salesmanship, only minimum gifts can be expected, no matter how well written the solicitation letter and enclosures may be.
Here’s another angle to think about. Assume that I’m a small-donation prospect with some interest in your cause. There’s a good chance that I’ll donate generously to your appeal if you knock on my door or phone because your enthusiasm and presentation will be hard to resist. And how many other organisations will solicit me in these ways? Very few. But send me a solicitation letter and you place your request in the midst of enormous competition for my same gift dollar. And because it’s a letter, I have little problem withstanding its impersonal nature. If your organisation is not among my very favorites, you won’t receive a contribution of any consequence.
You see, although I think highly of your cause, I have a table covered with fundraising letters, from the best known national charities to all sorts of noteworthy regional and local groups. I am overwhelmed with mail appeals. After sorting through them and making my top-ranked selections, I find my charitable budget is about depleted. But I still care about your cause, so here’s five bucks to show you my heart’s in the right place.
With these factors as a downside, letter solicitations produce highly profitable income derived from small-gifts for organizations that plan and carry out meticulous programs. However, first-class mailing programs get extremely involved, both creatively and from a marketing standpoint. There are six elements to understand before considering a direct mail campaign:
1. Fundraising by mail is an ongoing component of annual fundraising programs. In capital campaigning, letter writing is a tool for wrapping up an appeal and giving thanks.
2. Ongoing mail appeals focus equally on retaining and upgrading present contributors while discovering and cultivating new prospects to make up for donors lost to attrition and to enlarge the group of donors. Present givers won’t always be an available source of funding.
3. Donors via mail don’t come free. Depending on the package, to obtain a new contributor, you can spend from $1.30 to $1.60 (or more) for each initial dollar raised from that person.
4. Mail programs are long-term propositions and instant financial rewards are very rare.
5. Be clear who you designate as a donor and who you label a prospect. Donors are people currently contributing to your campaign. Someone who gave you a gift two years ago or a person who once contributed a painting to your auction are prospects, not donors. Get used to thinking of three distinct groups: current donors, past donor prospects, and new prospects.
6. Some prospects have more interest in and knowledge about your organisation than others. Cultivated potential donors are first approached because they represent the highest rate of return. For instance, a past donor prospect is a better bet to send you a new donation than someone who once came to a special event that you held. The person who came to the special event is more likely to fund you than someone who never heard of your group.
In planning a full scale mail campaign, don’t lose sight of the fundamental fundraising requirements. Make sure your project has compelling goals, high visibility, specific, attractive, and timely needs.
Additionally, make sure your group has start-up funds on hand for what can become a relatively large investment to get the program rolling. For example, depending on the scale of your operation, you might want to engage a letter shop or mail house to provide the many functions necessary to get your direct mail package to recipients. This is an expensive proposition.
Or you might opt to subscribe to an online software provider to help drive your mail program. Since the highest percentage of return comes from current contributors, they are the first group to target. If a goal is reachable by only contacting these people, expenses will be minimal and your problems will be solved. If that’s not realistic, additional prospects who might fund your project would need to be reached. That’s fine so long as you realize that their percentage of return will be far less than supporters.
For instance, you send a letter to current donors and perhaps {30|40|50} percent of them respond with {donations|gifts}. A letter sent to brand-new {potential donors|prospects} typically yields responses of around 0.5 percent to 2 percent. Until you’ve won over a new potential {donor|giver}, don’t expect relatively large {donations|contributions}. A return of 5 percent to 12 percent can be expected from present donors.
If your group, school or {sports club|club} is looking for fundraising ideas and easy fundraisers, have a look at Goldstar Gifts and Stationery’s easy to manage ideas for fundraising.
Sphere: Related ContentPostcard from Manila
Manila is the political and economic centre of the Philippines, and it serves as a honey-pot for people from all over the Philippines. For most visitors from North America or Europe, this metropolis does not seem to merit more than a few days’ visit, after which the serenity of the provinces may seem all that much more attractive. Although a trip to Manila is taxing, it nevertheless gives the tourist important insights into the culture, history and politics of this island republic, insights that stem from its very wealth of contradictions.
In the sights of foreign conquerors
Natives who settled at the mouth of the Pasig River in Manila have seen a great many rulers come and leave. The first to come were the Malaysians, who arrived in the Philippines during the pre-Christian era. Hindu and Buddhist rulers from Indonesia followed. Islam got to Manila at the end of the 15th century. The Muslim sultanate established in the mid-sixteenth century had been in existence for barely a decade when Spanish Catholic seafarers appeared on the horizon.
Colonial Manila
Miguel de Legaspi conquered Manila in 1571, declaring it to be the capital of the Spanish colony of the Philippines. Despite the ravages of World War Two, when Manila was heavily bombed, traces of the city’s colonial past are still in evidence, particularly in the Intramuros district. Intramuros, literally “within the walls”, meaning within the wall enclosure of the city/fortress. The city centre, with its partially restored wall , is the site of a number of sixteenth-century buildings including Fort Santiago, Manila Cathedral and the church of San Augustin, the oldest in the city.
At the centre of power
The heart of Manila is now elsewhere, in Makati, the modern commercial and banking quarter. Elegant high rises, gorgeous residential groves, super-modern shopping centres and numerous international hotels can be found there. The modern development of this quarter began in the mid-twentieth century. Like much of the development in Manila, Makati is closely connected to the politically powerful Zobel de Ayala family. The family name is found throughout the city, on streets, buildings and public monuments.
They come here not only to pray
Pasay City is located in the south-west of Manila across the superhighway from high-class Makati. On Wednesdays, Pasay is overrun with people. In Baclaran, the faithful crowd into Redemption Church, where weekly services are held in honour of the Virgin Mary. But one suspects that even more Manilans make their way to Pasay in order to patronize the neighbourhood’s famous lech6n stands, known to be the best source of that quintessential Philippine specialty, roast suckling pig.
A bit of folk culture
Throughout Manila, a light rail station is never far away. If your stomach is complaining after a feast of suckling pig, a gentle ride on this elevated railway is highly recommended. The trip back to town can also be made by Jeepney, of course, though it will be slower and more crowded.
Jeepneys were originally former US Army surplus jeeps that had been made into passenger vehicles with as many as fourteen canopied seats. These days, however, most Jeepneys come fresh from the factory. Skillful painting and ornamentation are a must have for genuine Jeepney status. Most have Catholic religious motifs as their central theme, but they may include lighthearted comic strip images.
Many Jeepneys are so thoroughly covered in advertising that they resemble moving billboards, while others looks like temples on wheels. What’s important for visitors to remember, however, is that Jeepneys follow specific routes, just like buses. It is always best to inquire about the route before getting on board.
For unbeatable deals on Jetstar, Virgin Blue and Singapore Airlines contact Flight Centre.
Sphere: Related ContentWorking from Home
Working from home is becoming increasingly fashionable. I work from home and I love it. I don’t think I could ever work at an office again, but I must face the possibility that I may have to move my business into commercial premises if it keeps growing like it has in the last few years. Even if parts of my enterprise get relocated, I’ll try to stay at home myself as much as I can.
Times are changing and working from home, particularly for the self-employed or contract workers is becoming more common. It is pointless paying rent for commercial premises if it isn’t required. Working from home has many pluses.
You can work back late without getting into strife with your family. You can “drop into the office” anytime you like. You can get up really early if the mood takes you and put in a few hours work then go back to bed. But as an accountant, there is one feature I really like, all the tax deductions!
You can claim some of your household expenses on your tax return. Based on the floor area used for business purposes, you can claim a portion of your mortgage interest, insurance, rates, water, electricity, maintenance and the bulk of your telephone bill as well as depreciation on the carpets, curtains, business furniture and so on. At the end of the financial year you will be surprised by the list of deductions.
You will also save on travel costs, wear and tear on your car and more importantly wear and tear on you, having not to deal with peak hour or public transport. Not to mention picking up approximately an extra one to two hours per day of work when you don’t have to travel.
There is a downside to working from home. The first problem is family distractions. Kids home from school at three o’clock, a friend at the front door, phone calls for other members of the family.
You also may not have the perfect workspace, or space may be limited. Work space is vitally important, you must have an area set aside purely for business, nothing else, just business. I have found that it’s best also if you can close the door on the weekends and at the end of the day so you can “leave work”.
I think many of the attitudes of people that working from home is “unprofessional” have lapsed into history. The number of major companies that allow their workers to work from home via the internet has increased enormously in recent years. “Outsourcing” has become a commonly used term and this has brought about a spate of self-employed former employees, most of them working from home.
The other problem that many people working from home suffer is motivation and discipline. You must start work everyday just as you would if you were employed by someone else.
Want to work from home in your own home based business? You can learn more about starting your own profitable and flexible home business.
Sphere: Related ContentWelcome to Hong Kong
Hong Kong welcomes visitors from all over the world with a wide grin. The urban embodiment of the compromise between Chinese and European cultures, Hong Kong has long been one of the most exciting cities on the planet.
Few travel to Hong Kong for the sights; they come for business and excitement. Hong Kong is so lively it sizzles like the oil in the woks of its ubiquitous street vendors. Little has changed since the 1997 return of the British colony of Hong Kong to China. The city that flourished through co-operation between the Chinese and British societies is, if anything, more fascinating and vibrant than ever before.
Opium highs and wars.
In the early eighteenth century, the original British traders to arrive at what would become Hong Kong, found only a few fishing huts. The region had no significance at all within the Chinese Empire and had been ignored for centuries.
The British built a trade port here in 1711, and it thrived during the early nineteenth century when goods from China were in vogue in Europe.
As the fashion for things Chinese waned the British began to deal in opium instead, harvesting it in India and importing it illegally into China, where the Qing dynasty emperor had banned its sale. When the Chinese tried to halt the imports, the British responded with force.
The resulting Opium Wars (1838-1856) were disastrous for China. In 1842, the British took control of the city of Hong Kong and it became a British colony. A 1898 pact with China made Hong Kong and 234 nearby islands a British protectorate for ninety-nine years. The treaty ended in 1997.
Negotiations took place in 1982 to modify the original agreement in order to protect Hong Kong’s special status. China had originally demanded control not only of the so-called “New Territories” around the city, but also of Hong Kong itself. Through a series of agreements and negotiations, Great Britain was able to prevent Hong Kong from being directly absorbed into mainland China. Instead, on 1 July 1997, Hong Kong was declared a Chinese Special Administrative Region.
Skyscrapers and feng shui.
Hong Kong’s special status has allowed it to remain a modern economic city. Despite its visible modernity, traditional ways of life are never forgotten. The ancient Chinese art of feng shui is still applied to new constructions, where measurements are configured according to lucky numbers and windows positioned so as to let good luck in and bad luck out.
Skyscrapers loom where splendid colonial buildings once stood, only a few of which have remained. In the central district, the Cathedral of St. John, the former French Residence and the Legislative Council Building are among the few pre-modern buildings that remain.
Omnipresent Buddha.
Traditional life is a stronger presence in the New Territories than in the city itself. Beautiful temple complexes abound, built in traditional style in tranquil settings. 10,000 Buddhas Monastery is one of the most visited. This number represents “very many” or “countless” in Chinese, rather than a specific number of Buddhas.
In fact, there are more than 10,000, perhaps as many as 13,000. The enormous bronze Buddha towering above Lo Pin Monastery on the island of Lantau is the largest Buddha in the world, measuring 26 metres tall. Visitors can climb a steep path of 260 steps to reach it. The panoramic view from the top definitely rewards the effort, as does the spiritual enlightenment achieved along the way.
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Sphere: Related ContentHow to Sell Your Vehicle
Unless you are thinking about keeping your old vehicle and giving it to someone else, you will eventually need to sell it. There’s many ways to sell your car, but first let’s discuss the preparation of your vehicle prior to advertising or trading.
Presentation is the key factor
The first thing one should consider when selling an old vehicle is how you can sell it for more money. The technique, which most people seem to overlook, is to simply make it look absolutely fantastic!
This does not mean just washing and vacuuming it, although that’s a good start. It is the overall preparation and detailing that counts. This is a well-known secret of most used car dealers.
You would be surprised to see the condition of some of the vehicles they purchase, but after a few hours in the detailing shop you wouldn’t think it was the same car! The best advice to anyone selling his or her car, is to have a professional car detail carried out. This will cost you around the $200 mark and it will be money well invested.
It will, in effect, save you hours of hard work trying to do it yourself with nowhere near the same result. This alone will add hundreds of dollars to your vehicle, particularly when selling online.
I know of people who have had their car detailed and fallen back in love with their car deciding not to go ahead with the sale.
Once the detailing has been completed you should make sure any small flaws are repaired. It is also important that you have the service books and any relative mechanical history at the ready, as this is now becoming a critical factor when buying or selling a used car. If a service is due or near due, make sure you have it done prior to selling. This will give a prospective buyer a good idea of how well you have kept your car.
What is your car going to sell for?
Before you start selling your vehicle, either privately or to a dealer, you must know its market value. There is nothing worse than advertising your vehicle with a highly inflated price tag.
One way to find out the approximate value of your vehicle is by studying the used car section of your local newspapers, which will give you a reasonable guideline. Another way is to look in dealership yards to see what price similar vehicles are being sold for, but you must remember these vehicles have margins built into them to cover the dealership’s operating costs and over-stock.
Alternatively, the internet can provide a wealth of information on vehicle pricing. This is only web-based information and is generalised, so it does not give you accurate pricing on your own vehicle because of the specific condition and accessories fitted.
Web sites where you can gather this type of information are the individual dealership web sites and vehicle pricing-guide sites such as www.redbook.com.au and www.glassguide.com.au
This information is purely to assist you in making a qualified and rational decision when buying or selling your vehicle. Remember, these sites are to be used only as a guideline, they are not entirely accurate as they do not take into consideration the individual buying or selling parameters within the different states.
There are always variations to the rules about pricing, so you should follow your intuition when setting a price and be sure to leave room for negotiating in your asking price. Your starting price should be higher than the price for which you really want to sell your vehicle.
For classic car hire and vintage car hire, check out http://egocars.com.au
Sphere: Related ContentCan You Make Money with Home Based Businesses?
The answer to this question is a definite YES! I have lots of business associates in the USA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand who are working in home based businesses and making thousands of dollars each week. In fact the lady who introduced me to my home based business is only 25 years of age and she made over $500,000 in her first 12 months of home business.
I am now duplicating her results, but please read on and you will learn about what I have actually done and experienced in 3 very different situations and how in the end I succeeded in taking control of my life.
My Traditional Business Experience
I used to own and manage a very lucrative and high profile restaurant and bar in Brisbane, Australia for a period of over 12 years. I started it from scratch and like most traditional businesses it was really expensive to set up and the running costs were enormous.
Although I earned a lot of money with this business, I finally decided to sell it when I came to realise that the long hours and constant stress of managing over 30 employees, dealing with various government authorities, endless paper work and hundreds of customers per week was absolutely destroying my life.
You can become very wealthy with a traditional business but you will need to be extremely committed as you won’t be able to walk out and close the door anytime you want. There will be lots of work to do and deadlines to meet, customers to service and more than likely, staff to hire and manage unless you want to do all the work yourself. The hours are generally very long and in most cases the business can end up taking over your life. Another point to consider is that you’ll be on your own to work things out and solve any problems as they arise.
My Job Experience
After selling the business, I decided that a job would be a better alternative to being in business so I set about finding one and little did I know what I was in for! I spent 8 hours a day scouring the employment classifieds, networking, perfecting my resume and attending interviews for jobs I didn’t even want. I felt undervalued and demoralised and almost gave up hope before I finally landed a job with a company as an events manager.
All good you might well think but unfortunately this was not the case as now I was into something that would cost me 12 hours of my time, 5 days a week as I got dressed up for work, traveled to and from work and actually did the work. I was working under considerable pressure and was totally stressed out by having to answer to a boss and co-ordinate every single element of each event from travel and accommodation arrangements, key note speakers, entertainment and right down to sorting out what type of lettuce should go on the dinner plates of the attendees. What a nightmare! But the thing that irked me the most was that I was doing all of this to make my boss richer while I had to settle for a small pay packet at the end of each week. JOB = Just over broke.
My Home Business Experience
As you might have guessed, I didn’t stay in my job as an event manager for long. I had spent 7 months of my life trying to find the right job and after only 1 month I resigned.
I had no idea what to try next but I was determined to find something that would tick ALL the boxes for me and knew that I first needed to get very clear about what I really wanted.
I did not want to:
Own and manage a stressful, traditional type of business
Outlay a lot of money to get started in a new business
Answer to a boss and have to beg for time off work
I did want to
Earn a lot of money
Work from home
Take control of my future
With the above in mind, I spent the next couple of months researching my options until I was eventually attracted to an advertisement (placed by a 25 year old lady) about a home based business opportunity. I must admit that I was pretty hesitant to begin with but I decided I had nothing to lose by finding out more so I answered the ad and within 1 week I was up and running with my very own home based business.
On my best day so far, I earned five thousand dollars but what I really love about my home business most is that I actually took back control of my own life. I now work the hours I choose, from the comfort of home or anywhere I like really with my laptop and phone. I don’t have to juggle and manage staff anymore and gone is all the stress. I fit my work around my life, generally about 25 hours per week and I absolutely love what I do.
It’s not for everyone however and if you are considering getting started in a home business you should ask yourself the following important questions:
1. Is the business aligned with your income and lifestyle goals?
2. Do you have some money and time to invest into the business?
3. Can you work diligently as your own boss and without supervision?
4. Will there be anyone to help or guide you if you get stuck along the way?
Yes! You can make money with home based businesses. Lots of money!
Christine Hamilton is currently making money in with home based businesses. For more information about what she is actually doing, click work at home BSCH110509
Sphere: Related ContentExquisite Brussels – Heart of the EU
Often featured in the press as the seat of government of the European Union (EU), Brussels is much more than a city of officials. It is a meeting point all the diverse cultures in Europe, and exudes a unique multicultural energy.
Brussels is not only the heart of the EU. The Belgian capital is a lively and beautiful city in its own right, a town rich in history and full of places to see. Designated the cultural capital of Europe in 2000, Brussels is no mere town of faceless bureaucrats. It has its own tale to tell.
A fortress in the middle of a river.
The name Brussels (Bruocsella) is first written about in the year 966. It means “chapel in a swamp”, and likely refers to its location on the Senne River. The settlement itself had probably been founded between three and four hundred years previously. The earliest fortification on Brussels Island dates back to around the end of the tenth century.
Central Brussels.
The story of Grand Place (in French, or Grote Markt in Dutch), the town square located at the centre of Brussels, leads us on a trip through the city’s history. Grand Place was created as a market and business square, but soon attracted the trade guilds and city administrators.
They erected magnificent guildhalls and government buildings as proof of their power and affluence, Brussels became one of Europe’s most important trading and banking centres during the High Middle Ages and would remain so until 1695, when French cannons bombarded the city for three days, levelling Grand Place and reducing much of the city to rubble and ashes. It was rebuilt fairly quickly, and the guildhalls that currently stand on Grand Place bear witness to the city’s revival.
Grand Place remains a favourite gathering place for residents and tourists alike. Many of its countless restaurants, cafes and hotels are open around the clock.
Brussels city hall.
The Hotel de Ville (Brussels city hall), completed in 1450, is an architectural masterpiece even among the grandiose guildhalls and buildings surrounding it. Its facade was one of the few structures to survive the French bombing of 1695. With its 96-metre-tall tower topped by a golden statue of St. Michael and the dragon, the Hotel de Ville is Brussels’ most talked about landmark, visible from every part of the historic old city.
A different kind of city emblem.
Most visitors consider the statue called Manneken Pis (literally, “the boy peeing”) at the corner of the Rue de l’Etuve and Rue des Grands Charmes to be the symbol of Brussels. Just who the little boy in this work by sculptor Heironimus Dusquesnoy is supposed to represent remains an unsolved mystery. In any case, the brazen lad is certainly one of the city’s main tourist attractions. Meanwhile, his female version, the Jeanneken Pis, can be viewed at the end of a cul-de-sac called Impasse de la Fidelite just off La Grand Place. The habitants of [the city~Brussels} have always been in favour of equal rights, and if that meant commissioning a statue of a similarly brazen little girl, so be it. The statue was dedicated in 1987.
The giant molecule.
The 102-metre-high Atomium is another favourite installation in Brussels. It began its existence as an exhibition hall built for the 1958 World Fair. It represents an iron molecule, magnified 165 thousand million times. The tubes connecting the nine atomic particles are actually conduits containing escalators and walkways.
Due to its use of futuristic materials and interesting design, it has long been considered both an architectural masterpiece and an impressive piece of grand monumental sculpture.
Inside, the Atomium still houses the occasional exhibition on topics related to nuclear technology, aeronautics, astronomy and meteorology. Inside the uppermost sphere is a restaurant that affords a beautiful view of the entire city.
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Sphere: Related Contenttown could compete with the pie rates of Penn's aunts.