Tree In Lodge Singapore’s first environmentally-friendly hostel

Tree In Lodge, Singapore’s first environmentally-friendly hostel located at Tan Quee Lan Street in Bugis, offers green hostel experience such as filtered water to fill up guest's water bottles as an alternative to buying bottled
water and a station where guests can give away or exchange unwanted items. The hostel, which has opened more than a year ago, has hosted more than 2,500 guests. It costs around 27-29 SGD (21-23 USD) to stay in one of the dorms but globetrotting cyclists passing through Singapore are entitled to 50% off the rates for each night’s stay (owners are cyclists themselves).

“I’ve been backpacking for quite a long time, and there are not many places that try to educate their guests like this place does. To find people that are this passionate is really rewarding to the guests as well.” says Canadian travel writer Ian Ord.  

“There are a lot of signs and exhibits on what you can do to save energy and water, and what you can recycle. Just walking around the hostel and seeing those little things, it just raises awareness,” said Mr Marco Eder, a guest from Germany.
Source : A green hostel stay

Tree In Lodge Common Area - Source : Tree in Lodge

The hostel is in the center of Singapore city; within 3 minutes walk to Bugis MRT Station (so you can reach the hostel from Changi Airport via MRT train). Tree In Lodge has recently won TripAdvisor's prestigious "2012 Certificate of Excellence" by travellers consistently commend the hostel with the highest praise and give on average 4.5 rating. This is important because according to TripAdvisor, only the very best in the business are awarded a Certificate of Excellence.


Tree In Lodge's co-onwer Tan Swee Kian, said: "Rather than building a new building out of featuring a lot of green features, we use an old building, fit it in with some facilities for going green and build in practices to make it a habit. I think it's more important because this goes back to the basics." An avid traveller himself, Mr Tan said he drew inspiration from cities in Europe, Japan and Taiwan that are known for their green lifestyles.

Providing filtered water for guests to fill up their own bottles as an alternative to buying bottled water and setting up stations for guests to give away or exchange unwanted items are among the many green practices they embraced in the hostel. To reduce its carbon footprint, the hostel's interior decoration is kept to a minimum.
Source : Green backpackers hostel provides eco-friendly accommodation for tourists

Scoot Airlines saves on fuel with in flight iPad

Scoot Airlines, the long-haul budget arm of Singapore Airlines, has started its flights today with a new innovation which cleverly cuts fuel costs while offering a great budget flight experience. Instead of carrying around tonnes of seat back entertainment system and wiring, Scoot offers iPad tablets loaded with movies, music, games and television shows, free to business-class seats and 22 Singapore Dollars (17 USD) to economy class seats.

The innovation helped Scoot to cut 7 percent off the weight of Boeing 777 planes taken from parent Singapore Airlines. This is even after a 40 percent increase in seating (the budget long haul flight on Boeing 777 carries up to 400 passangers). These savings will help Scoot cope with fuel prices that have jumped about 36 percent in two years.[1]:

The iPads are "a very smart move," said Corrine Png, JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Singapore-based head of regional transportation research. "If they can make the aircraft lighter, it does help improve fuel efficiency." 

The budget carrier will loan the iPads free to passengers in its business-class seats. It eventually intends to have users access content via a wireless system onboard planes. 

JetStar, Qantas Airways Ltd.'s budget arm, also offers preloaded iPads on domestic and international flights lasting longer than 90 minutes. Qantas's main unit began trialing a wireless iPad system in December.[1]

Scoot has already sold more than 100,000 tickets for its flights which have started today. Singaporean budget carrier Scoot's maiden flight was a little bumpy start and was delayed of almost two hours on Monday night due to a technical fault.[2]:

Source : relax.com.sg

The Boeing 777-200 jet was originally scheduled for departure at 11.25pm, eventually took off at about 1.05am, according to reports. 

The flight with a full load of about 400 paying passengers, guests and members of the media left Terminal 2 at Singapore Changi Airport 20 minutes later then scheduled. However, it turned back on the runway and returned to the boarding area at 12.20am. [2]

The airline has a web site named Flyscoot from where you can buy tickets and check promotions and latest news.

[1] - iPads on a Plane Let Scoot Save Fuel by Shedding Tons of TVs
[2] - Scoot makes maiden flight to Sydney

SingTel 4G smartphones are on sale today

SingTel, one of three telcos in Singapore, has become the first to launch 4G (Fourth Generation) smart phones in Singapore yesterday. The 4G service providers up to five times faster internet speed compared to the maximum speeds delivered on the 3G network! The 4G network technology is called LTE (Long Term Evolution) and  marketed as 4G LTE. It is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals.[1]

"LTE stands for long-term evolution of 3G and offers much higher data transfers compared with the 3.5G (HSPA) speeds most commonly used now. The theoretical speed of LTE is 75Mbps, more than three times faster than HSPA, which tops out at 21Mbps in Singapore. 

SingTel expects to provide between 3.4 and 12Mbps download speeds when the network is loaded with more customers on 4G plans."[2]

SingTel is currently offering 3 LTE enabled smartphones by June 5th: HTC One XL, LG Optimus True HD LTE and Samsung Galaxy SII (S2) LTE. LTE coverage in Singapore is currently available only in half of the island but will be available in 80 per cent of the island by the end of the year, and islandwide by early 2013.[3]

HTC One XL one of three 4G mobile phones available from SingTel  - Source : http://asia.cnet.com 

But the greater speed comes at a cost. New data plans offered for 4G are not "eat-as-much-as-you can" style:

Among SingTel’s new price plans — which would apply to both 3G and 4G customers from next month — the lowest data bundle for its Flexi Lite plan was at 2GB, down from the previous 12GB cap. Data usage caps for the other three plans — Flexi Value, Flexi Plus and Flexi Premium — were also cut to 3GB, 4GB and 12GB respectively.

 Charges for excess usage will be S$10.70 per GB and S$5.35 per GB for 4G and 3G subscribers, respectively. All excess usage charges will be capped at S$88 per month.[3]

This may look like bad news for some but it is actually a very very good news. Connecting internet on mobile network has been painfully slow in the past few years thanks to the large number of users and these unlimited data plans offered. In Singapore, 10 percent of all users are the download maniac minority and abuses these plans at the expense of the majority. According to SingTel CEO Consumer Singapore Yuen Kuan Moon, 90 percent do not use more than 2-, 3-, 4- or 12GB in their respective Flexi plans. But the last 10 percent of its customers consume 64 percent of the company's mobile data! By providing a tiered data bundle, the company hopes to improve the speed for the majority by giving heavy users a disincentive to consume too much data. [2]



[1] - LTE
[2] - SingTel announces LTE plans for mobile phones
[3] - Faster 4G is here, but at a cost


 it also unveiled plans that do
away with the “buffet-style” mobile
data bundles that consumers had become accustomed to.

HDB Launches 4,627 New BTO flats in Choa Chu Kang, Punggol, Sengkang and Kallang/Whampoa

Housing Development Board (HDB) has announced the launch of 4627 Built-to-Order (BTO) flats among 6 projects in 4 towns today. The flats offered are in  three non-mature towns (Choa Chu Kang, Punggol, and Sengkang) and one mature town (Kallang/Whampoa). The projects are in projects named Compassvale Boardwalk in Sengkang Town, Keat Hong Pride in Choa Chu Kang, Pungol Edge and Waterway Sundew in Pungol,  Bendemeer Light and McNair Towers in Kallang / Whampoa.[1]

Although the flats are called Built-to-Order, HDB currently releases the flats ahead of the demand due to a long wait list in the past few years. Since last year, , HDB has also changed its policy of not launching new BTO flats in mature estates. Previous launch was in March 2012,  where HDB has launched 8,000 flats in Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang, Clementi, Geylang, Bedok, Toa Payoh and Bukit Timah. Next HDB offering will be in Jul 2012 with about , HDB will be offering about 3,900 new flats for sale in Bedok, Bukit Merah, Clementi, Geylang, and Punggol.

At least 95% and 85% of the BTO flat supply (excluding Studio Apartments) in mature towns and non-mature towns respectively will be set aside for first-time buyers. This launch is the 3rd launch in 2012 and HDB plans to release 25,000 flats in 2012, on the top of 25,000 released in 2011.

Artist Impression of Waterway-Woodcress, a new BTO project released in September 2011

Last year, Singapore government has announced that they are committed to helping newly weds to obtain their first build-to-order (BTO) flat as soon as possible and has stated that HDB is able to construct more than 100,000 flats in its current term:

National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan mentioned this in Parliament, as he shared plans for the next two years. Recently married first-timers are getting Mr Khaw’s immediate attention. The government is building 50,000 HDB flats in the first two years and ‘if the demand remains strong, we have the resources and the capacity to build more than 100,000 HDB flats during this term of government’, he said. New flats may start coming up in Bidadari, which can potentially accommodate up to 12,000 units. 

The government will also start planning for Tengah town – with a capacity for 56,000 units when fully developed – although it will not launch BTO projects there in its current term. What it will do is start building infrastructure such as roads and drains, and the works will commence later than those at Bidadari.[2]

[1] - HDB Launches 6 BTO Projects Offering 4,627 New Flats
[2] - 100,000 new HDB flats over 5 years

Samsung Galaxy S3 in Singapore

Samsung Galaxy S3 (SIII), world's top-selling mobile phone maker Samsung's new Android smartphone, is now in Singapore and sold by all three telcos of Singapore (SingTel, StarHub and M1) with almost similar prices. The launch was met with queues where some buyers has started waiting from as early as 10 AM. The new Samsung Galaxy has a 4.8-inch (12.2-cm) screen which is 22 per cent larger than the previous S2 and comes with a more powerful processor, voice recognition software, multi-tasking capabilities and a new cool eye movements detector which can override the automatic shutdown if the user is looking at the screen.

Samsung has unveiled Samsung Galaxy S3 in London earlier this month and it will start selling itin 28 countries from Tuesday the phone will be available in 145 nations by July via 296 wireless carriers[1]. Samsung introduced its first Galaxy in 2010, three years after the iPhone's debut, to counter Apple's roaring success in smart phones when the troubles of bigger rivals Nokia and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion had started.[2]

Samsung Galaxy S3 was announced to be available in 2 colors, white marble and pebble blue but due to manufacturing issues there will be considerably less blue versions available on launch day, with most customers having to settle for the white clad Galaxy S3 for the time being.Samsung's GALAXY S III Pebble Blue version comes with a newly invented blue colour and special hyperglaze material according to Samsung.  [3] .

Samsung sold 44.5 million smartphones in January-March - equal to nearly 21,000 every hour - giving it 30.6 per cent market share. Apple sold 35.1 million iPhones, taking 24.1 per cent market share.

Singtel Samsung Galaxy S3 price plans starts from 3G Flexi Lite for 39.9 SGD per month and 498 SGD for the phone and ranges up to iThree Plus for 192.9 SGD per month and 198 SGD for the phone.

Singtel Samsung Galaxy S3
Price Plans	Monthly Subscription	Samsung Galaxy S III Phone Price
3G Flexi Lite	$39.90	$498
3G Flexi Value	$59.90	$348
3G Flexi Plus	$99.90	$198
3G Flexi Premium	$205.00	$198
iOne Super Value	$15.00	$748
iOne Plus	$25.68	$648
iTwo Value	$48.15	$498
iTwo Plus	$82.93	$348
iThree Plus	$192.60	$198

M1 Samsung Galaxy S3 2 years price plan starts from Value Surf for 39 SGD per month and 498 SGD for the phone and ranges up to SunMax Plus for 195.81 SGD per month and 198 SGD for the phone.

M1 Samsung Galaxy S3
Price Plans	Monthly Subscription	Samsung Galaxy S III Phone Price
Take3 – Pay nothing for phone	on mobile plan from  $82.93 per month
ValueSurf	$39.00	$498
LiteSurf	$55.00	$348
ExtremeSurf	$95.00	$198
SunSaver	$25.68	$648
SunSaver Plus	$48.15	$498
SunMax	$82.93	$348
SunMax Plus	$195.81	$198

StarHub Samsung Galaxy S3 price plans starts from PowerValue 100 for 25.48 SGD per month and 648 SGD for the phone and ranges up to SmartSurf Unlimited Plus for 205 SGD per month and 198 SGD for the phone.

Starhub Samsung Galaxy S3
Price Plans	Monthly Subscription	Samsung Galaxy S III Phone Price
PowerValue 100	$25.68	$648
PowerValue 300	$48.15	$498
PowerValue 700	$82.93	$348
SmartSurf 100	$38.00	$498
SmartSurf 300	$58.00	$348
SmartSurf 700	$98.00	$198
SmartSurf Unlimited	$205.00	$198

Singapore consumers queuing for Samsung Galaxy S3 in front of M1 shop in Paragon - Source : CNet Asia

In an article in today's Today (First look at the Galaxy S III) Peter Yeo takes a look at Samsung Galaxy S3 to understand that much-hyped device worth the buzz or not. The device's Super AMOLED screen is quite huge but this does not make it any more unwieldy than its competitors with smaller displays. He notes that the layout of the phone is clean, with few buttons:

"Its much talked about Smart Stay feature, which senses when you are looking at the screen and keeps it lit, worked well except for a couple of occasions when it dimmed before detecting my presence and brightened up. Also important to me was the ability to create a personal hotspot, as we need to be on hand to report news at all times, and the GS3 did not disappoint. Connectivity via tethering stayed strong despite moving around. 

Jumping on the voice control wagon, the GS3’s S-Voice crashed whenever I asked if it loved me and could not find contacts I wanted to text. But I have never liked the idea of asking a phone for favours in public anyway. 

The Pop Up Play feature, which lets you multi-task while playing a video “picture-in-picture”, was impressive.  

The contract for my current phone will run out in October. If nothing better comes along, the GS3 might be my next smartphone of choice."

[1] - Samsung to start selling Galaxy S3 in 28 nations
[2] - Samsung Galaxy S3 gets head start on rival iPhone
[3] - Pebble blue Samsung Galaxy S3 delayed

Want to buy Ferrari California in Singapore? Here is the package

Ferrari dealer Ital Auto has done something has never been done before; it has listed a vehicle financing package in an advertisement in The Business Times to announce the arrival of its 2012 Ferrari California. The package, quite affordable according to the dealer, includes a deposit of 150,000 SGD and then monthly installments of $5,999 at the interest rate of 0.88 per cent. The price of this super car, which is considered as an entry level model for ferrari range, is 758,000 SGD+ without including the COE. Ferrari California is a 2+2 convertible and can go from 0 to 100 kmh in 3.8 seconds.

According to Andrew Howes, general manager of Ital Auto, finance schemes are attractive for thos who wants an aspirational car and even at that price they would like to convey to prospective buyers that it is not that expensive with reasonable payments for 8 to 10 years. DBS Bank is the partner of Ital Auto in the financing scheme.

So if you are rich enough and if you are OK with the weirdness of having a super car in Singapore (it is like having a jet-ski in an Olympic pool; jet-ski may be cool but riding it in a pool is not :)) here is an opportunity for you to enter the world of Ferrari. If you only need to have a glimpse of riding a super car like this in Singapore, you can rent a Supercar in Singapore and feel the power of a prancing horse (Ferrari F430 F1 Spider) or the raging bull (Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder).

Ferrari California - Source : Ital Auto

Source : The Business Times, Ferrari publicises financing package

Employment Pass Rejected. Why? What to do?

Singapore Employment Pass (EP) is a type of work visa issued to foreign professional employees, managers, and owners/directors of Singapore companies by Singapore's Manpower Ministery. Unlike other work visas, there is no official quota system limiting the number of Employment Passes that can be issued to a company. You will need to have one to work in Singapore as an executive even if you work for a short period of time.

But your application for this pass may be rejected due to one or more of many reasons. The problem may be you (you may be under-qualified or you do not submit correct documents or information) or your employer (they may have too much Employment Pass holders, they may not look big, sound or legitimate enough business etc.). It may also be your or your companies agent. Or you may be in a position where there are more than enough locals with the same qualification available. So it is important to;

• Make sure that you are qualified. For example, you need minimum $3000 SGD per month salary to get the lowest level Employment Pass. If you exactly get this amount or less, you decrease your chances. Also check with MOM whether your college or university is a recognized one.
  
  
• Make sure that you or your employer work with a good agent and make sure that you provide all documents required to be submitted.
  
  
• Obviously do not submit fake documents.
  
  
• Do not make spelling errors. If you spell your university name incorrectly, do not be surprised to get a straight rejection. Double check all words.
  
• Obviously do not submit misinformation. Actually, you may accidentally submit wrong information which can be interpreted as misinformation. When you appeal for this, you may make the officer think that you cannot even understand a question how come you are qualified to get EP! So make sure that you understand everything clearly, and in doubt double ask/check the questions.
  
  
• If you are an older and experienced worker, 3,000 SGD per month salary will not qualify you for holding Singapore Employment Pass. You need to earn significantly higher.

Employment Pass application may be rejected and if the application is rejected, you need to submit an appeal submitted in writing to Singapore Ministry Of Manpower (MOM)'s Work Pass Division within one month of receiving the rejection letter via post or the iSubmit web portal.

Since 2011, Singapore government took several steps to tighten Singapore work visa requirements to slow the intake of foreign workers. The salary minimum levels are increased and number of recognized universities are reduced. So it is more difficult to get approvals nowadays. It even seems like the intention is now to reduce some excess foreign manpower since some people who are already working in Singapore are rejected in their Employment Pass renewal or when they change company (you need a new Employment Pass when you change employer).

So if you are an Employment Pass holder which was approved 2-3 years back and you think your qualification and education is not very high, it may be better for you to think twice before changing employer. The boom times of 2005 - 2009 period where it was much easier to get Employment Pass and Permanent Residency is over.

Singapore Property News Update May 2012

Singapore's low interest rate fueled property bubble entered a new phase in 2012, as monthly private home sales for the first 3 month of the year averaged around  2,200 homes per month which is a big jump from 1,300 homes per month. [1] Is this the new "normal"? Well, as Colin Tan said in Today, there is nothing normal about these numbers which solely depends on artificially low interest rates. We will probably see the real damage of printed money on Singapore's economy, when the printing presses stops, as USA has experienced 2006 onward.

As each round of cooling measure does nothing to stop the rise and there seems to be no cooling measure addressing the real issue, low interest rates Singapore is exposed to, people probably started to believe that Singapore property will never go down as long as a large asteroid do not hit the earth.

Ryan Ong writes in Moneysmart.sg:

"What happened is 2,487 new units got sold by developers. That’s a 3.9% increase from March, and the biggest record in three years. It’s also the third straight month that private home sales exceeded the 2,300 mark. And just days before, the Ministry of National Development (MND) claimed cooling measures “are working“.
Yeah, sure they are. They’re “working” like I work after five on Fridays. While cooling measures have caused modest price declines, the growing sales volume suggests nothing’s under control yet. Resilient demand, coupled with unrealistic investments (i.e. shoebox apartments, Sky Habitat), are propelling Singapore’s property market toward a potential crash.

Why’s it happening? I put it down to:

• Uninformed Optimism
• Low Interest Rates
• Shoebox Apartments
• HDB Prices vs. Private Home Prices"

You can read more here : The April Record: Why are Private Home Sales Still Rising?

Are Shoebox Apartments Inhuman?

According to Bloomberg, CapitaLand's Chief Executive Officer Liew Mun Leong said Singapore should curb the increasing trend of so-called shoebox apartments because they are almost inhuman.”(Capitaland CEO calls shoebox apartments inhuman)
Well, shoebox apartments are not inhuman, the property prices in Singapore are inhuman. At a time when local newspapers are running articles like "cheap apartments for 1 million and below", shoebox apartments are just a natural response buyers are giving to the price problem.  And they are just one type of damages Western and Chinese money printing presses are causing in Singapore.

Shoebox apartments has recently became very popular due to several factors such as 1 million dollar price tags of condominium units. HDB dwellers, with a dream to own a private property but not enough money to buy a so-called "mass market" bigger unit drove demand for shoebox units in Q1.

Number of Chinese buying property in Singapore down 54 per cent

According to a report published by DTZ Research revealed that Chinese, including permanent residents, bought just 292 homes in the first quarter, down 54 per cent down from the 640 homes bought in the fourth quarter last year and the lowest volume in more than two years. (Buyers from China lose property top spot)

Obviously, the last cooling measure, Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty, which adds a 10% stamp duty for foreign buyers is a big cause. 

According to the report, the fall in foreign purchases is bigger than the 1996. "This could be due to the implementation of other broad-based measures in 1996 which also affected other buyer groups, while the additional buyer's stamp duty had a larger impact on foreign demand."

Private property prices starts to climb up again in April

Overall, prices rose 0.8 per cent from March, when it saw an increase of 0.4 per cent. Prices of high-end units saw a 1.6 per cent increase while that of non-central units stayed stagnant in April. 

Only for shoebox units - measuring 506 sq ft or smaller in this case - did prices fall some 1.2 per cent. In March, this segment picked up by 2.7 per cent.

Source :  Prices of private resale homes inch up again in April

Resale prices for small units, currently in the crosshairs of the Government for possible intervention to cool this market segment, fell 1.2 per cent after the 2.7 per cent rise previously. The SRPI Small index covers homes with a maximum floor area of 506 sq ft. 

Mr Ong said: “Recent concerns are surrounded on the proliferation of shoebox apartments and the exuberance or probably irrationality of buyers in the mass market private housing segment.
Source : Resale private home prices rise

[1] - 2012 new private home sales

Qoo10 New Gmarket Singapore

Gmarket Singapore, Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia, popular online marketplaces to buy and sell a wide range of products has been rebranded to Qoo10 in May 2012. This means Gmarket Singapore, one of the most visited and popular e-commerce sites in Singapore will soon operate from another domain named http://www.qoo10.com. This new domain is currently active but Gmarket.com.sg is also still be accessible as the activities moves to qoo10.com.

The usage and popularity of the shop has exploded fast according to the Giosis Gmarket International; (runs the site with a joint venture with eBay); daily transaction of gmarket Singapore was reported to be over 10,000 in the Singapore site for March 2011, and doubled to over 20,000 per day in December 2011 and monthly business amount of  6 Million Singapore Dollars.

The site operates like ebay, a platform to meet sellers and buyers. As a buyer you can register free and start buying items immediately from the sellers operating on the site. The site offers a wide range of products from fashion & clothing, beauty products, sport products to electronic gadgets and accessories, books and music.

Registering as a seller requires more work like getting seller authorization by submitting a copy of NRIC and  a copy of Bank statement (foreigners who hold valid work visas for Singapore (Employment Pass, Work Permit ; not a tourist visa) can also register as sellers by submitting the required documents). There is no listing fee in gmarket but you need to pay up to 12% from the sales proceedings to Qoo10. But the charge rate depends on sellers grade (normal, good and power) and the size of the sales and can be as low as 5% for power sellers and sales costing 500 SGD+. As far as I know, they also keep the money 15 days to get a received signal from the buyer and then release to your bank account.

Why did their change their name from gmarket to a hard to pronounce Qoo10? According to the official statement from the company, they would like to expand to global market from Asia and the branding is the step towards this goal. Gmarket Singapore is a quite well known name and leaving it behind for a new brand name is a bold move and we will see how their traffic will be effected. But although the brand name changes, there seems to be no plan to change the structure of the established online shopping and selling experience.

Looking for shoes or fashion online shopping? Also check ZALORA, Asia's largest online fashion shopping site.

Red Lentil Soup

I have shopped in the Turkish Food Supply shop and bought some red lentil to cook one of my favorite soups in the weekend: red lentil soup. This soup has great taste and it is quite healthy.

Lentil soup refers to a variety of vegetarian and meat soups made from lentils. The soup may consist of green, brown, red, yellow or black lentils, with or without the husk. Dehulled yellow and red lentils disintegrate in cooking, making a thick soup.[1]

If you want to try something different and tasty here is how you can cook this dish:

You need 1 cup red lentil. I bought it from the Turkish supply store but you can find it in Mustafa or in some super markets. You need to wash 1 cup of lentil to prepare for cooking. You also need,

• 1 medium size onion (chopped)
  
• 1 carrot (finely grated)
  
• 2 table spoon of olive oil
  
• 1 table spoon of wheat flour
  
• 2 Knorr Bouillon (if you want to prepare the dish vegetarian skip this ingredient)
  
• 1.5 liters of boiled water

Red Lentil Soup

• I have boiled the water in the Kettle.
  
• I have started cooking by heating the cooker with medium to maximum fire and then adding 2 table spoons of olive oil to the cooker.
  
•  After the oil is also heated I have added the chopped onion and stir it until the onions are soft and pinkish.
  
• Then I have added 1 table spoon of wheat flour and stir 2-3 times while cooking the onions.
  
• Then I have added carrot and 2 Knorr Bouillon tablets and continued to stir for 2-3 minutes more. If you want to keep the dish vegetarian, you can cook without Bouillons. It is perfectly fine.
  
• Then I have added the washed lentils and continued to stir 2-3 minutes more.
  
• At the end I have added the boiled water and salt and let the water boil again. Once the water started to boil, I have closed the cooker’s cover and set the fire to minimum. I have opened the cover and stirred every 10 minutes and cooked it for 35 – 40 minutes until the lentils are very soft and crushed.
  
• After turning off the fire, the dish can be served as it is but there is one more step you should do to perfect the dish.  Smoothen the soup with a blender. A hand blender is better but I used a standing blender. Once you do this, everything will be perfectly blended to a yellow-orange colored creamy soup.
  
• It is better served with a sliced lemon (which can be squeezed into the soup before eating) and bread.

[1] - Lentil soup