Shopping and decorating is great fun for some people—the excitement of looking around, bringing new treasures home, and choosing new paint colours and materials. But what happens to these flawless finishes and great finds months or years later? Before giving in to the urge to replace old with new, consider some of these tips to show off what you already have in the best possible light. You never know, you may find yourself falling in love with your home all over again.

1. Patch Walls

Look at the walls of every room. See any nail holes or unfinished patch jobs? Fill in nail holes with spackle or wood putty, and then spot-paint. Not only is this quick and easy to do, but it helps to brighten everything up.

2. Replace Old Light Bulbs

Nothing makes a home look creepy and gloomy like burned-out light bulbs. Keep in mind that good lighting makes a huge difference. Replace dead and dim bulbs with the brightest wattage you can find. LED lights come in ‘soft white’ and ‘daylight’ variety, so just pick your choice. Now, doesn’t your space look more appealing?

3. Clean the Trim Moulding

Because of fingerprints, dust and vacuum scuffs, the windowsills, baseboards and other mouldings are bound to look grimy. Wipe off dirt with damp microfiber cloth to brighten and clean surfaces.

4. Trim the Plants

Grab your hedge trimmers and trim dead flowers, overgrown shrubs and bushes and other greenery that has grown wild. Weeding wouldn’t hurt as well. You want your yard to look manicured, so be diligent with this. When plants are overgrown, it conveys age.

5. Brighten Dark-Coloured Furniture

A dark sofa can suck the light—and life—out of a room. The solution: colourful throw pillows. Adding pops of colour with your accent pillows can make a huge impact on any space. If you have a huge, black sofa in your living room, put two pillows on each side—solid-coloured and printed ones.

6. Replace Old Blinds

With blinds, the cords break, a slat goes missing or they get covered in dust. When your blinds and shades get to that point, it’s time to replace them. Spending S$20 for a new set of blinds can make a huge difference in making your home look fresher and brighter.

Revamping your home and making it look new again doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Simply by being creative and resourceful, you can repurpose old furnishings, repair damages, and improvise decor to make your home look brand new.

At any given time, there are trillions of bacteria existing in your gut. This culture of microorganisms, known as a microbiome, plays an important role in your digestive system. What’s more, experts suggest that the condition of your gut also impacts your mood and the ability to ward off illnesses.

Though the market is flooded with different kinds of probiotics that claim to boost your microbiome, it turns out that you can actually improve your gut health by adjusting your lifestyle and your diet.

1. Diversify Your Diet

Most people with gut-related illnesses—or even other diseases like allergies and diabetes—show one thing in common: a lack of variety in their microbial population. Remember that a healthy gut is a diversely-populated gut, and the best way to improve diversity in your microbiome is to eat a wide variety of healthy foods.

2. Watch Your Dental Health

It might seem strange to mention dental health when talking about gut health, but it’s actually connected. Multiple studies have concluded that harmful bacteria in the mouth often make their way to the gut or even to your bloodstream. Regular brushing and dental check-ups keep those harmful microbes in check—and your gut health in healthy balance.

3. Eat More Whole Grains

Whole grains, such as barley, oats and quinoa, are rich in dietary fibre that can’t be broken down by the intestines. This means they will reach your colon intact, where they can be taken by the microbes and help boost their population.

4. Add a Bit of Spice

Adding spices in your food does not only make your meal more flavourful, but also curbs the development of harmful types of bacteria in the gut. Spices like turmeric, ginger and garlic contain powerful antibacterial chemicals, which aren’t bad for good bacteria—only to the bad bacteria.

5. Indulge in Dark Chocolate

Rich in fibre and polyphenols, dark chocolate is a good food to have once in a while to help improve your gut health. Since the said compounds can’t be broken down by the intestines, they can travel deep down to your gut where they serve as food for the microbes. In result, the process releases anti-inflammatory chemicals for your body to use.

For the best gut health, it’s about getting your diet under control. Eat the right food and give yourself enough sleep and rest.

Every time you’re in a relationship, there will be friends and family who will give you a set of dating tips and conventions that you are expected to follow. However, these stereotyped rules aren’t necessarily the secret to a successful and long-lasting relationship. Rather than blindly following these laws, play by your own instinct. We’ve shortlisted some of the most common and outdated concepts of dating that are better off ignoring.

1. Girls should play hard to get.

Paying attention to the guy who has shown his interest in you doesn’t mean you’re an easy girl. It simply means you are giving yourselves a chance to get to know each other. If you are into this guy but insist on playing hard to get, it could turn him off or give him the impression that you are no t interested in him. Guys might like the thrill of the chase, but if you portray ‘I don’t care’ signals, they may just quit pursuing you and move on.

2. After the first date, wait for a day before calling him.

Why wait that long to communicate? If you had a great time with someone, go ahead and let him know. If you put it off for too long, you might send the message that you didn’t like the date and that you’re not interested. If you’re afraid of getting turned down, go for a more passive way of communicating, like texting or messaging him on Facebook. This way, you still get to close the deal, while minimizing the ‘ouch’ factor.

3. The guy should say ‘I Love You’ first.

Many women suppress their true feelings, because they believe that the guy should be the first one to confess his feelings. Just because tradition says that the girl should wait for the guy to propose, it doesn’t mean that the girl can’t do the same thing. If you know you love him, do not wait for him to reach the same conclusion. Be brave to confess your feelings. He is courting you because he likes you, and he’ll be happy to know you feel the same way, too.

4. Get rid of all evidence of the past.

You both had a life, and perhaps a happy relationship, before you two crossed paths. You most likely have a whole bunch gifts and photos of happy memories with your ex before you decided to go separate ways. Are you supposed to get rid of all those memories and act as if it never existed? As long as you no longer have feelings for your past, there should be no problem with existing photos of your past relationship or keeping gifts from your ex.

Needless to say, these dating rules need to go away. You do not need a set of rules to tell you how you are supposed to treat your present relationship. Love is all about embracing your feelings and the person that completes you.

As parents, we want to protect them, help them and cultivate them into happy humans. Unfortunately, being overprotective has the opposite effect, leaving our teens dependent and unready for adulthood. If you wish to turn the tables, start training your teenagers by teaching them these simple life skills.

1. Manage Money

They may still be too young to invest in stocks and bonds, but your teenager should already have his own savings account, knows how to check his balance, and when necessary write a check to cover cost of school trips, sporting equipment or classes your teenager wishes to join. A healthy respect for money at an early age will help your teen in the future.

2. Cook a Meal

While most days you’re going to prepare their meals, you also want them to be able to whip up something good for themselves. When an emergency happens, say grandma gets sick and you need to look after her, you want your freshman in high school to be able to pack his own lunch and make his dinner when he gets home.

3. Do His Own Laundry

When teaching kids basic household chores, be patient about it. As much as possible avoid feeling grumpy and make them feel bad about not what to do. If they don’t know how to do it yet, it’s because they were not taught how to do so. Instead of scolding them for doing it wrong, show them and guide them how to do it to make sure they got it right.

4. Go Grocery Shopping

Has your teen ever noticed those labels hanging from the ceiling or every aisle in the grocery store? If so, then use it to your advantage by letting them go grocery shopping without you. Send them off with a list of five or six things to pick up.

5. Mind Their Manners

While etiquette standards change, basic courtesy and politeness never gets old. Teach your teenager to take off his hat when in a restaurant. Get him to call his grandparents to thank them for the birthday gift. Make him understand that his behaviour around his friends may not be appropriate at work. Apart from making sure he learns the basic chores, every parent should also make the effort to teach their kids of basic social skills.

The key to a happy life is to sustain two important life skills—willingness to learn new things and unlearn the things that are no longer useful. While teaching life skills to teenagers aren’t easy, but if you, you’ll give justice to your job as a parent.

You do not want for life to pass you. Do not wait for the moment when you tell yourself “wish I had known these”. Life is hard if you spend the rest of your life regretting everything, it will be a lot harder. You will encounter many frustrations that annoy your deep contentment.

As early as now, you have to figure out what you need and make it happen. Singaporeans are busy but it does not mean that you let life pass you. Sometimes overly thinking of the future will keep you from the life that you love. Here are some things that you should know by the time you reach thirty:

• Do not worry about love: Most of your thoughts are occupied by love. You should know that love will take time. Do not sit around and wait for it because it will just come. Know how to love first and love will surely find you.

• Career is not exactly what and when you want it: You want a bright career to make your parents proud but sometimes careers will be dark and cold. It is the cycle of life. You should accept that your career is not exactly what and when you want it. It can be small and modest but it can still be meaningful.

• Do not buy things you cannot afford: Many people are unhappy because of wrong financial decisions like buying a house or car they cannot afford. Sometimes you have to accept your financial situation and make it work. Buy a small house and you will also buy peace of mind.

• People around you will eventually die: This is somehow the saddest thing that you have to come in terms with. As much as you do not want them to leave, death is part of life. You have to accept that people around you will eventually die and such tragedies should be faced.

• Treasure friends: If the friendship is worth keeping, no matter the distance, it should be treasured. Yes, you will find new ones but old and worthy friends are a treasure and it should be protected.

• Look good and feel good: You are too busy to notice what your body needs. Do not wait for other people to notice something. You have to look good and feel good about yourself. This will translate to a healthier mental state. If it makes you happy and beautiful, apply makeup. Simple things can make a difference at the end of the day.

Relationships are not always rainbows and butterflies. Many Singaporeans are aware of this. In fact, others also believe that there is no such thing as forever love. No matter what you believe in, it is high time that you know who really wins when the couple is breaking up. There are many reasons for breaking up but the most common is infidelity or betrayal.

If you are a woman, you will feel worse especially if you know he is getting busy with Betty or Sarah while you are still in the relationship. Nothing is more painful than being betrayed. Women cope differently. Whether you indulge yourself to Ben & Jerry’s or you throw away his things, you have to know that you are still a winner in that relationship.

You may lose him but at the end of the day, you are the lucky one. As it turned out, science agreed that women who were cheated are the ones who win in the end. Supporting this claim is a study conducted by partners Binghamton University in New York and University College London. The title of the study is ‘Intrasexual Mate Competition and Breakups: Who Really Wins?’.

The study revealed that women who broke up with their partner because of infidelity or unfaithfulness end up the winner in the long run. Why? Women have better experience of adapting to break ups which can help them make better and informed choices in the future. The study included 5,705 respondents. The study concealed that after going through the usual feelings of anger, hatred, betrayal, bargaining, depression and stalking, the woman will emerge a better person at the end of the day.

The led researcher is Dr. Craig Morris and according to him, the woman who lost her mate to another woman will go through the usual stages of acceptance but the experience will give her a higher “mating intelligence”. Her intelligence in choosing a mate will be better which will allow her to notice cues that designate low mate value at the onset.

The losers in this story are really the man and the other woman. So if you find yourself in this situation, it is normal to feel grief at one point in time but remember that you are still a winner. Do not lament for a long time because you are just wasting your time. You will now know better with your “mating intelligence”. You can now spot early warning signs of cheating that way you will deal with heartache better.

Surgical oncology—a surgery that aims to manage cancerous tumours—remains the primary solution for treating cancer.

Your Singapore oncologist may use this cancer treatment method to achieve a number of goals—from diagnosing and completely eliminating cancer cells to relieving you from the symptoms that the disease causes. Cancer surgery may be the only treatment you need, or it could be performed in conjunction with other treatment methods, such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, biological therapy, and hormone therapy.

Purpose of Surgical Oncology

Cancer surgery is used to achieve certain goals. Common reasons why your Singapore oncology consultants may suggest for a surgery include:

• Prevention. If you have higher risk of developing cancer, perhaps due to genetics or your kind of lifestyle, your doctor may recommend removing the tissues or organs (e.g. breast, cervix, and colon) that are prone to cancer.

• Diagnosis. For most types of cancer, a biopsy is the only way to be able to make a definite diagnosis. To diagnose cancer, the surgeon from http://www.harleystreet.sg/services/cancer/ in Singapore will perform either an incisional biopsy or an excisional biopsy. An incisional biopsy entails removal of a piece of the suspicious tissue, while an excisional biopsy removes the entire suspicious area, such as an abnormal mole or lump, for examination

• Staging. A cancer surgery is also performed to determine the size of the tumour and how much it has spread. The surgery for staging often includes removal of lymph nodes—which are tiny, bean-shaped organs that helps the body fight infections—near the cancer cells to see if the disease has spread there. Alongside the biopsy and results of imaging tests, this surgical treatment helps oncologists come up with a cancer treatment programme for your case.

• Removal of Tumour. One of the main reasons why your doctor may recommend a surgery is to remove cancer tumours and the surrounding tissues that has been infected, which is called ‘the margin.’ This may be the only treatment you need, or it may be combined with other treatment methods, which may be performed before or after the surgery.

• Debulking. If complete removal of the cancer tumour isn’t possible, perhaps because it can cause excessive damage to a certain part of the body, surgery is performed to remove as much of the cancer cells as possible. For this purpose, the surgery is often combined with other treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy, to shrink the remaining cancer cells.

• Relieve Symptoms. To relieve symptoms brought by cancer, a surgery can also be done, which is technically called palliative surgery. This surgery plays a crucial role in improving the quality of life for cancer patients with advanced cases. Palliative surgery can help relieve pain, stop bleeding caused by fragile tumours, insert feeding tube(s) that delivers food and medications into the patient’s body, and prevent brittle bones from breaking.

• Reconstruction of Body Parts. After a primary cancer surgery, a reconstructive surgery can be an option to restore the body’s appearance and/or function. This surgery can be performed right after the surgery for removing the tumour; or it may be done later after the patient has healed from the previous surgery. One example of reconstructive surgery is breast reconstruction after a mastectomy.

Minimally Invasive Surgical Oncology

For the purposes mentioned above, major surgeries are required to get the procedure’s full efficacy. However, there are some situations that don’t require large incisions and extensive surgical processes. Here are some of examples of minimally invasive surgeries for treating cancer.

• Laser Surgery. If any suspicious tissues are detected early, the doctor can remove them by using only a high-intensity light. There’s no need for an incision since cancerous tissues that haven’t fully developed yet are still small enough to be eliminated with laser.

• Cryosurgery. Like laser surgery, any abnormal cells that haven’t yet developed into cancer cells can be removed with minimally invasive procedure, like Cryosurgery. During the treatment, your doctor uses liquid nitrogen to freeze and destroy suspicious tissue and cells.

• Endoscopy. In this procedure, the doctor inserts an endoscope, a thin flexible tube with light and camera on its tip, into an opening of your body (such as the mouth, vagina, or rectum) to get a view of your internal organs. As the procedure goes on, the doctor will get samples of any abnormal tissues inside your body for further examination.

• Microscopically-Controlled Surgery. Your dermatologist shaves off a very thin layer of your skin with skin cancer, one layer at a time, until the layer with cancer is completely eliminated and all cells in your skin’s topmost layer appear normal when viewed from a microscope.

• Laparoscopic Surgery. This modern surgical technique only requires small incisions (usually 0.5 to 1.5 cm) somewhere in the body, where it is closest to the abnormal tissue, using a very thin, lighted tube with a camera.

Surgical oncology, whether invasive or minimally invasive, aims to physically remove the tumour and its surrounding tissues. However, depending on the case, a surgery is often combined with other treatments. To determine the type of surgery suited for you and know whether or not you need more treatment, talk to a certified oncologist Singapore. It is important to work only with the best oncologist in Singapore for dealing with such serious health cases and to ensure you’re getting the best care and treatment plan for your needs.