Attic Insulation
I'm planning to buy myself a house to make home as some of you who follow my blog may know. It is very expensive to get a new house, and for those that have already luckily got a house but are disatisfied with its current condition may think about some upgrading and renovation on your existing homes, e.g, attic insulation, double-glazing for the windows, or even a new patio.
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Reasons to Visit Shanghai Expo No.3 – 7 Top Foreign pavillions
I have post a couple of reasons for you to visit here and here, now here is reason No.3 why you should visit the Shanghai World Expo.
The seven most popular pavilions during Expo 2010 Shanghai's test run as they call it "soft openning", which ended on Monday, are the United States, Australia, Spain, France, Japan, Thailand and Italy, according to the Expo organizers.
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Some simple Chinese for Expo Shanghai
Shanghai Expo is going to open in 4 days only. If you're going to China for this grand event, you may want to pick up the following Chinese phrases and sentences just in case:
Introduction
1. Basic sentences
N?h?o?W? shì Bill?n? jiào shénme míngzì?
Bill? ?????Bill????????
W? jiào Peter.
??? ??Peter?
N? shì n? guó rén?
Bill? ?????? Continue Reading >>
Home
I'm looking for a house, or rather a home. I have rented houses so far, and it's really not ideal for me. one of the things that I hate the most generally is the deco that i dislike and yet I could do nothing with it because I'm renting.
Since I'm getting my own place, I've already began to seach over the internet and try to find all the things that I may need and the styles that may take my fancy. I check pretty much everything that a new home would involve: paint, doors, sinks, locks and furnitures...etc..., you get the idea...
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Reasons to visit Shanghai Expo: 2
I hope you liked my first reason to visit Shanghai Expo. Here is the 2nd reason for you to visit Shanghai for the World Expo 2010: Shanghai Expo to stage more than 20,000 performances.
Man, that's a lot of shows for a 184-day world expo starting on May 1, meaning more than 100 performances on average will be given at the Expo park everyday. Continue Reading >>
Real Estate Tax Benefit
As some of you many know that I have moved to China for quite some time now, things are going smoothly, and I'm looking for a permant place as my home. Things are not as cheap as some of you may think, take property for instance, it'd easily set you back 1 million RMB (about 130,000 USD or 100,000 UK Sterling) normally to get a decent apartment here in Guangzhou. The apartment you get for that kind of price would be like just normal. To be honest, with this much money, I can easily get a decent apartment in the UK and a small car to go with it. The property market is in the height of its boom, and without any help from the government here, I'd have to work pretty hard to become a homeowner.
However, if you live in the United States of America, you're in luck. Because if you're a first-time homebuyer, or one who has not owned in the last three years, you can receive up to an $8,000 tax credit. Now this is the kind of real estate tax benefit I'd like to have.
If you go to the page, you can check the video there, it gives very much inside information about the real estate tax benefit. I find it very useful.
If you do not belong to the category stated above, don't worry, there's more: Homeowners who have lived in a current home consecutively for 5 of the past 8 years can receive up to a $6,500 tax credit.
Please note that there's a restriction on income levels. The income limits are now $125,000 for singles, $225,000 for married couples with a $20,000 phase-out of the credit for both.
One more important piece of information: There may be no future extensions, so all qualified homebuyers are urged to act and have a written, binding contract by April 30, 2010 (close by June 30, 2010) .
So guys, I hope you get the help you deserve. Stay tuned for my homebuying experience.
Bargain hunt in China, Experience No.1
One of the things I heard before coming to China was how cheap things are here. It was proved right.
The other day I went to this optician's and got a pair of eyeglasses, which costed me 300 RMB. I was really pleased, because for about 40 USD (or 30 pound), you can hardly get the specs alone. So please am I that I showed off my bargain buy to my friends over the internet, saying they should come over here and there're so many cheap stuff around.
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Jackie Chan, Lang Lang, Yao Ming, Liu Xiang Sings for Shanghai World Expo 2010
Shanghai World Expo Bureau released a new song to mark the 30-day countdown to the Expo a few days.
The song is called "2010 is waiting for you". The music video features Jackie Chan, Lang Lang, Yao Ming, Yang Lan, Andy Lau, Li Ning, Li Bingbing and Liu Xiang in the production, and you can check out the Chinese 110-meter hurdler singing for the first time.
The music also features the completed permanent buildings of Shanghai World Expo, Urban Best Practice Zone, especially the magnificent night scene, which is shown for the first time.
Enjoy the video: Continue Reading >>
remote access to internet
I'm a netaholic, which is to say that I can not live without internet, literally. It's sad, I know, but it's the way many modern people live our lives. I'm sure that many share my view that internet is essential.
I do a lot of things online, to start off, i'm writing this blog piece over the internet; I also use the internet for checking emails, chatting to friends, keeping in touch with all those important people to me... Without the internet, i'd be truely lost. So thank you Mr Tim Berners Lee for kinda inventing such a wonderful thing.
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