Singapore's public transport system is one of the best in the world, so you should have no problem finding your way around like a local. There are three main forms of public transport that you would find in any other major city－trains, buses and taxis.

TRAINS

    Trains run from 6:00 am to midnight. Single trip tickets start at 80 cents. If you buy an EZ-Link card for $15, you can ride the trains and buses as you like.

If you need more information, just call Transit Link on 1800 767 4333.

BUSES

    There are several bus services in Singapore and fares start at 80 cents. Be sure always ask the driver the cost of your ticket as he cannot give change.

If you need help, just call Transit Link on 1800 767 4333.

TAXIS

    There are three main taxi companies－City Cab, Comfort and Tibs. Booking can also be easy by calling the numbers listed above.

RENTAL CARS

    Driving in Singapore is a pleasure and if you like to travel at your own pace, renting a car is a good choice. Renting takes away the hassle of getting to places around Singapore. Just sit back and enjoy the city. It also means you'll get to see a lot more that a trains or a bus won't let you see.

    For car rental, call Avis on +65 6737 1668.

    If you have ever been left wondering why your emails are riddled(充斥着) with grammatical errors, or why you can never quite find the right phrase, it may be because you are typing with both hands.

    Our vocabulary becomes richer and our writing style becomes more fluent when we type using just one hand, scientists have found. "Typing can be too fluent or too fast, and it can actually weaken the writing process," said Srdan Medimorec, the lead author of the study conducted at the department of psychology at the University of Waterloo, Canada. "It seems that what we write is a product of the interaction(互动) between our thoughts and the tools we use to express them."

    Using text-analysis software, researchers asked 103 university students to write essays under different conditions, using one hand to type and using both hands to type. The software was used to analyze(分析) elements of the essays, such as range of vocabulary, sentence complexity and the cohesion(衔接) of the writing.

    Researchers found that participants' vocabulary became more advanced when they typed with one hand rather than two. The research team said that by slowing our writing down, typing one-handed allows more time for an internal (内在的) word search, resulting in a larger variety of words.

    In contrast, fast typists might just write the first word that comes to mind. However, it is important not to slow typing down too much. Those who typed essays one-handed in the current study slowed down to about the speed of handwriting.

    This is the first study to show that changing people's typing can make their writing get better. The researchers suggested that the speed of writing could affect writing quality regardless of the tools used, whether they are computers, or pen and paper, although further research would be required to prove that idea.

    Enjoying a musical performance no longer requires a costly ticket or a trip to a theater. These days, musicians are performing in private homes,at haircutting shops,at airports...even on ferry boats.

    Musicians like house concerts. At music clubs, they often have to perform over loud conversation or deal with people who have had too much alcohol.People at house concerts are more focused on listening to the music.

    Just a few hours before the Bombadils started singing at the O' Hair Salon,Lindsay was cutting hair and Tamera was doing facials.Then,they moved chairs and microphones to create a small performance space.The Bombadils made music in the front part of the hair salon,near the hair dryers and make-up table.

    "This is our first show at a hair salon,"Sarah Frank of the Bombadils told concertgoers at last week's performance.Frank said she and band members Luke Fraser and Kaitlyn Raitz had a great time "interacting" with the audience.

    Concerts in people's homes, or small businesses such as O' Hair's,are becoming more popular,musicians say. "There is a more relaxed atmosphere,"said Domenic Cicala,a musician who opened up his O' Hair Salon to concerts. "People really get to know the artists."

    At house concerts,people get time before and after concerts to meet the performers.Often,the hosts or guests will provide food and drink.

    "People really like listening to music in the living room of a friend,"said Matt Hart,with Aubrey Zoli making up Local Strangers,a folk-rock group based in Seattle.At many such concerts,the musicians do not need microphones. Yet,every word of their songs can be heard.

    Using too much water or throwing rubbish into our rivers are clear ways that humans can put our water supply in danger , but we also affect our water supply in less obvious ways. You may wonder how paving(铺砌) a road can lead to less useable fresh water. A major part of the water we use every day is groundwater. Groundwater does not come from lakes or rivers. It comes from underground. The more roads and parking lots we pave ，the less water can flow into the ground to become groundwater.

    Human activity is not responsible for all water shortages(短缺). Drier climates are of course more likely to have droughts(干旱) than areas with more rainfall, but in any case, good management can help to make sure there is enough water to meet our basic needs.

    Thinking about the way we use water every day can make a big difference, too In the United States , a family of four can use 1.5 tons of water a day! This shows how much we depend on water to live, but there's a lot we can do to lower the number.

    You can take steps to save water in your home. To start with use the same glass for your drinking water all day. Wash it only once a day. Run your dishwasher (洗碗机)only when it is full 。Help your parents fix any leaks in your home. You can even help to keep our water supply clean by recycling batteries instead of throwing them away.

    It is made from grapes grown without pesticides (杀虫剂) and chemicals, is kind to the environment and rarely causes hangovers (宿醉). Sales of organic(有机的) wine are booming in the UK.

    According to the organic food and farming group Soil Association, sales of organic beers, wines and spirits rose by 14.3% last year to reach nearly ￡6 million, driven by the demand from consumers who are increasingly seeking “natural” food.

    “It seems that people are rediscovering their link with the environment through organic food. Organic wines also taste better, perhaps due to less use of man-made chemicals.” said Finn Cottle of Soil Association. As well as the benefits of producing grapes without using pesticides, organic wine also contains less sulphur dioxide (二氧化硫), which can contribute towards hangovers.

    Supermarkets are increasing supplies on their shelves to meet consumer demand, while the switch to online shopping has also helped, as people are more easily able to find what they are looking for. Vintage Roots is now one of the UK's biggest online shops of organic wine, while Ocado provides more than 100 different organic wines and Daylesford, best-known for its organic vegetable boxes, has branched out into organic wine and spirits.

    The discount supermarket Aldi is set to start its first collection of so-called “green” wines this week, offering eight wines with organic certificates. Aldi expects the wines to appeal to the young shoppers who are increasingly concerned about the environmental influence of the produce that they are buying and consuming.

    English organic wine producer Oxney Estate's Noir Rosé recently won the Waitrose prize for the most outstanding rosé wine at the competition. A spokeswoman for Waitrose said:“Organic wine is a growing trend globally and we have seen sales increase by 16% in the last year”.

I arrived in this beautiful Spanish island at the start of September, full of enthusiasm and eager to start work as an English teacher. I sorted all the necessary paperwork out and moved into a flat of my own within the first couple of days. Great! Or so I thought. At 4 am and at several intervals after that, I was rudely awoken by the cock that lives opposite me. Fantastic! I now have five extra alarms every morning.

In the following weeks, I also started to notice a trend. Things in my flat started to break at the rate of one object per day, like the hot water, bowls, cups, shower, doors or glass shelves. Yes, I was clumsy but things just fell apart. If it wasn't broken, it would either be dirty or missing. Using my washing basket for the first time was pretty disgusting. When I took out my clothes, they were swiftly followed by a hundred or so insects that were living in the bottom.

As for the general lack of equipment in the house, there was no oven, tin opener, sharp knives or potato peeler. It turned out making a burger wasn't the best idea. I had a small microwave and a grill. I thought the general understanding was never to put metal in a microwave but I went with it. Smoke soon started to appear. I was not quite sure if it was the burger or the grill but as soon as I opened the door, the electricity cut out. I spent the following 10 minutes in a dark, smoky room hunting for the power switch using the light from my mobile phone, which broke the week after and left me without a connection to the outer world.

Luckily, I'm now borrowing a phone and my luck has returned. No more things have broken (probably because there is nothing left to break). I've also realized that even if a flat looks pretty, it doesn't mean its contents work. I am also learning how to adapt to life with limited, broken utensils.