Last day of TV Mobile

While others will post about fireworks or parties. I will miss this on the Singapore buses!

TV Mobile broadcast live television to buses, and the broadcast will on 31 Dec 2009.



Though many find it a nuisance, but I find it entertaining. I will miss the "just for laughs".  You can see many people laughing or smiling to themselves on the bus watching it.

Good bye TV Mobile!

Last day of work...

Today's the last day of work for 2009 in our organisation. (Except for a few colleagues who are doing system maintenance, do a good job guys! haha...)

It's also a day where we got our new year present for 2010. A new replacement work notebook for our super old, out of warranty notebook.




We promise we will work harder boss! ;-p

Wedding Hand Bouquet Flowers

Momo and I attended a friend's wedding a day right after Christmas. It was not boxing day for the couple, it was wedding day!

I was just looking at the photos in my camera and noticed this.
Momo took so many photos of the bride and herself. This shot is also taken by her.
The flowers are beautiful aren't they?



Wishing CL and YL a very Blessed Marriage!

The roller coasters are running at Universal Studios Sentosa

While having lunch at VivoCity the other day, we could see from where we were sitting, things moving.
Hey, it looks like the roller coaster at Universal Studios at Sentosa are going through the testing phase!




I don't have zoom lenses, so the photos are not so sharp. Can you see the roller coaster in this photo? It's on the red tracks. Right in the middle of this photo :-)

Blessed Christmas!

Wishing all of you a very Blessed Christmas!



Managed to take a photo just before the service started.
This blog will take a break till next week. ;-)

Christmas Eve Rehearsal

The last few weeks have been busy time for many of the Orchestra and Choir Members. They have been busy rehearsing for the Christmas Eve Service.



Which means I have been equally busy too. Been busy with the audio visual part of the service. Took a photo while they are rehearsing. ;-)

MV Doulos last port of call @ VivoCity

Colleagues and I happened to be at VivoCity for our 'unit' lunch and saw MV Doulos there. It's so sad that this would be her last port of call. It will be decommissioned very soon as it is costing too much to make it sea-worthy.

Doulos is the world's oldest ocean-going passenger ship. It's now 95 years old. I remember visiting it when I was a little kid with my parents.



If you are looking for books to buy for children or Christian books, it's having a great great sale. Some last minute presents perhaps?

I think it's opened till 31 December 2009. For more info about Doulos, visit their website at www.omships.org

Big Bright Star

Yesterday was Christmas Sunday. (The Sunday just before Christmas this year).
While walking to church before 7 A.M., I saw from afar a big bright star.

A house at one the blocks behind the church I attend has put up a star. It was still not very bright so the star shine brightly. It sure caught my eye!


I thought: - I was like the shepherds who saw the star 2000 years go. - I was like the Three Wise Men who same the same star 2000 years ago. - It's just you and me seeing this star and being reminded what Christmas is all about. Have a very Blessed Christmas week to all!

Oh, I need the sun...

Saw this at the NUS Bukit Timah Campus. It's not something you see very often. The student was soaking up the rays of the sun.

Unlike universities in temperate countries, you don't see people having picnics or sitting under the sun just for the love of the sun. Almost everyone hide in air-conditioned rooms.



The only place in NUS where you see people suntanning is probably at the swimming pool. People (both locals and foreigners) are almost stark naked. LOL

Are you a sun person? The last time I remember sitting and enjoying the sun was when I was living in Melbourne. In winter when it's so cold, when the sun's out, everyone sits in the lawn. I even eat my lunch under the sun!

My boss has been asking everyone to sun ourselves. He is saying everyone is getting sick. We all need Vitamin D. 

Wheelchair access right ahead...

This sign on the road beside the bus stop is new. Recently I noticed some bus stops have this sign on the road now.



But it did not look very correct. Where they draw the sign, it is outside the bus stop and not sheltered.

Hmmm... Oh well, we shall see if they will correct it soon.

Mandarin Gallery

It's a "yet another" shopping mall on Orchard Road kind of post again.

This is the shopping mall at the Mandarin Hotel. They relocated the hotel entrance to renovate this 'mall' or as they call it Gallery.The hotel used to have the entrance facing Orchard Road. Now it's the shopping mall that is the front of it.




Photo was taken a few weeks ago.When not every shop was open for business yet. Like most modern shopping malls, it's nicely renovated and looks classy and chic.

But the 3rd floor has very low ceiling though.  Feel a bit claustrophobic walking on that floor though.

Done with your shopping for Christmas?

What's that thing all covered in Green?

What's that all covered in Green?
That's one of the exits for the up and coming Circle Line MRT - Holland Village station.



I can't wait for the 'great unveiling'. It would certainly cut traveling time because the road's always jammed!

Starhub TV on iPhone

I am a late bloomer when it comes to iPhone.

But probably waiting until now has its advantages. On the 'green' network that I am on, I get to watch Starhub TV (local cable tv company) on it. The streaming is quite smooth. I am surprised.

I tried to play both same channels on the real TV, and on the iPhone, it's around 10-15 seconds lag for the iPhone.

But my favourite channel Asian Food Channel does not seem to be available for the iPhone, while it is available for subscriber of this 'green' network on other compatible phones. I wonder why..




Pardon the green cover. It's the free cover that the 'green' telco gives. I am too 'cheap' to buy a new one.

What are your favourite apps on iPhone?

Oh.. No queue for iphone at the "Green Camp"

Earlier this evening, I went to get my Apple iPhone. Guess what? There's no queue!

(I remember Momo had to queue up for hours to get her when the Apple iPhone 3GS came to Singapore with Singtel.)

I waited till now to get the iPhone because I had an existing contract with Starhub and I could not switch telcos without paying a hefty penalty. Since I had waited so long, I did not get it on 9 Dec that it was launched, 2 more days would not have made any difference right? But it was worth the two extra days. I work in a company that has CIS (Corporate Individual Scheme) with all 3 telcos here.

I emailed Starhub's rep that handles the accounts for our company. The rep said there's a corporate rate it gives me 20% off if I take the lower end plan or 30% off if I took the dearer plan. I could place an order and she can arrange for me to collect it at Suntec Convention Centre. 

I thought for a while, and decided, why not?



(Hmmm, the whole place is so green!) I wonder if Starhub chose this place, because the colour here matches their corporate colour!

I went at 7.30 pm, and there was no queue! Everything was settled in less than half an hour. It could have been less, but I decided to trade in my old phone for $200. ;-)



I am a happy boy today.

- I was 21 months into my 24 month contract so there's no penalty for early renewal.
- No long queues with impatient people around.
- 20% off for my monthly phone bill.
- What made it even sweeter was that the guy whom processed my order said, as a corporate customer, I can choose 12 months of free caller ID and international roaming or 24 months of free caller ID without roaming. I took the 24 months free caller ID. (that's a savings of $126).
- $200 off after I traded in my old phone.
- free cover (green cover! I think they give green stuff on purpose!) and screen protector.

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Yet another shopping mall...

Yet another shopping mall along Orchard Road. It seems that Orchard Road now have 'sections'. There's the high-end section, ie ION Orchard, Tangs, Wisma Atria, Paragon and Ngee Ann City (Takashimaya).

Then there's the young and hip section. Orchard Central, 313 Somerset and the Heeren Shops.

Ok the list is not complete, but don't you see there's so many same shops in different buildings?



One thing I want to try next time is the Via Ferrata (wall) in this building. Wonder if it's scary.... Hmm..

Open Magic Competition

Saw this magician perform at a stage. Somehow magicians always make you stop to take a look. Don't you think so?



By the way, do you know that to magicians, IBM means something other than the famous big blue (International Business Machines). IBM to magicians means International Brotherhood of Magicians! Check out www.magician.org

Not too long ago, while attending a friend's wedding did we find out, he 'was a magician'! His wife was captivated by his magic!
 Oh by the way, if you are interested to watch this Open Magic Competition, the finals is on Sunday 13 Dec 2009, 3.30-6.30 PM at Square 2 (Novena Square).

Ice Skating Rink in a mall, just for kids

Over the weekend, I happen to be at Velocity Novena, and was surprised to see an ice skating rink inside. It's just a tiny one. It's tiny that only kids are allowed in.



How clever of the mall! If your kids want to have a free half an hour skate, the parents got to spend $60 in exchange for a chance to skate.

 

You know something? I can't roller skate, ice skate or 'anykind of skate'. Can you?

313 Somerset

It has just daunted on me, the few train stations that's located on Orchard Road is becoming more and more like subways in big cities like London.



When I took this photo, I was thinking of Covent Garden station because of the sign. I thought for a moment that sign was a lift (elevator) sign. Then I realise, hey, Somerset station does not have the lifts like in Covent Garden tube station. haha..

I took the H1N1 Vaccination Jab..

It was about 2 weeks ago, a few colleagues and I got an internal memo to go for a company-funded flu vaccine jab.

Colleague A went to take it immediately even before the scheduled date. He took it earlier because he will be flying out of Singapore and thought it might be better to get vaccinated.

Colleague B went with Colleague A, but as he was not feeling well, so doctor said: "No jab for you!".

Colleague C went few days later. He got the jab and after the next day he is feeling lousy and started to have blocked nose till today.

My boss has read too much literature about the vaccine and decided it's not safe, so he's not having it.

Me? I was procrastinating. Not sure whether to take or not. This morning on the way to work, I met another colleague from another department and she said she took it and she's fine.

After lunch today, I suddenly decided that I should just go have a jab! It's free anyway.

So off I went to the Health Centre. There was actually a queue! I patiently (pun intended) waited for my turn. When it was my turn, I asked the nurse, can I take a photo of the vaccine? She was flabbergasted. She has never seen a patient going in to get jab with a DSLR ever! She hesitated but let me take a photo anyway.


So, I have in me now an inactivated H1N1 virus.
I realised the vaccine is manufactured in Parkville, Melbourne. (I know where that is!)
Hmm I got an inactivated Melbourne strain of H1N1? LOL..



The syringe that poked me.
Hey, it was painful!



Here's my vaccination card. My details masked out of course!



As their tag line says: H1N1 Know What To Do, Let's Fight The Flu.

Old PUB logo

Opposite the Wallace Centre in yesterday's photo, you can spot this 'ancient' concrete shack. With an old PUB logo there, it must be some power substation perhaps?



PUB (Public Utilities Board) is now associated with water resources in Singapore nowadays. But in the earlier time, PUB was in charge of electricity, gas and water.

Anyone know how old is that logo? From which era of PUB?

Wallace Education Centre @ Dairy Farm Nature Park

I guess not many people in Singapore knows the existence of this place. It's the Wallace Education Centre at the Dairy Farm Nature Park.



Can you imagine that Singapore had a cowshed long ago?



Moo.....

You can read more about about this Nature Park at the National Parks website. Oh, I found a website that has all things Alfred Russell Wallace if you are interested to read more about him. http://wallacefund.info

Look at the Moo above, do you like dairy products? My favourite dairy based food is not milk or cheese. It's ice cream!

December Theme Day: Waiting - The cabs are waiting...

It's already December. It's 30 days left for the year. Time passes so quickly!

The first day of every month is the City Daily Photo bloggers' Theme Day. The theme for this month is "waiting".

The taxis here are 'waiting' to pick up passengers.These taxis look like toy cars don't they? :-)



Are you waiting for the year to be over? What have you been wanting to do and have been 'waiting' / 'procrastinating'? You still have 30 days to do it before the end of the year!


Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

The Fly...

We were at a restaurant in a hotel and guess who paid us a visit? A beautiful fly.

It's a pity I don't own any macro lenses. It would have been beautiful. :-)




Phew, we were glad we were not charge extra for the fly. LOL...

Old Jurong Line - Railway at Sunset Way

Can you read this sign? Apparently, the few of us who went for the photo outing can't read.
It is as if the sign does not exists. :-P



That is us on the bridge.


How often do you ignore instructions? ;-p

Hidden Rails of Clementi

Oh how time flies. 2 weeks ago, I went with a bunch of friends for a photo shooting outing organized by a local Social Media Agency, 24Seven Communications.

We went in search of old hidden gems in Singapore. See what we found. Old railway tracks. This is the old Jurong Line of the Malayan Railway.



If you want to read more about this, skip over to Lam Chun See's blog where he wrote an post about it. I think you will be amazed at how much he knows about this line.

If you have any unique photos you can hop over to http://sgtidbits365.sg  to submit a photo/video to join a contest!

New National Monuments - Oei Tiong Ham Building

I shall not bore you with photos of the same thing all at one go. I shall stop at two photos of this series. :-) I know not everyone is interested in 'old stuff'.

This is the Oei Tiong Ham Building, at the National University of Singapore's Bukit Timah Campus.

This building was named after the donor who donated $150,000 to the then Raffles College.



So who is Oei Tiong Ham?
The National Library Infopedia has a write up about him. It sure is interesting to read about him!

New National Monuments - Manasseh Meyer Building

Recently there are a few new addition to the list of National Monuments. I happen to be at the NUS Bukit Timah Campus and I saw a few persons taking photos of the buildings. So I joined along!

This is the Manasseh Meyer Building.



It looks especially nice at night! I got to go there at night to take a photo to show you all! (one day... i will....)

Christmas Toys Shopping at Takashimaya

Mr Men and Little Miss performing on stage to shoppers at the Takashimaya Shopping Centre Basement.



After watching the show, the children will nag their parents to buy them the toys! hahaha....

Ugly or Pretty Feet?

My colleague walked into my office this morning to show us these weird shoes!

Immediately I said, I seen those before! But are they comfortable? He said it is, I think they are not. He has been going for runs in it and his ankles and knees don't hurt anymore he says.



We ended up talking about benefits of simulating bare foot walking and fully padded shoes. I like padded shoes. We can't conclude which is better though.

If you are wondering what the above are called, they are Vibram Five Fingers. We wondered why not Five Toes?

I got FitFlops for my birthday and I think they feel better. Any FitFlips fans out there? Or Vibram Five Fingers fans?

Taking a peep at the Jacob Ballas Children's Garden

I was walking at the NUS Bukit Timah Campus and suddenly I turned left and saw a huge butterfly! There was an suddenly an area that was not covered by trees and the sun light shone brightly on the butterfly.



That's the entrance to the Jacob Ballas Children's Garden.
I can't get in. You need have a kid in tow to get in.
But recently the spouses of the ministers that came for the APEC2009 meetings in Singapore got to go in.

Bull Charge 2009 Charity Run

The rain seems to have paused for the The Bull Charge 2009 to proceed as planned.
It's a charity run that has raised over $2 million for 12 charities.



Momo was at the run this year.



Did anyone of you participated in the run as well?

It's Flooding! with Floating Freezers and Garbage Bins

There was loud thunder and lighting and it rained as if we heaven was crying....

But we never expect it to flood at Jalan Jurong Kechil. Colleagues and I were having lunch at a Korean restaurant and Lorong Kilat at Upper Bukit Timah. (Oh, this is so corny, but that's translated at Lighting Lane in English!)

We were stuck and can't get back to the office after lunch. We walked to the corner and saw that Jalan Jurong Kechil was flooded.



Look! Floating garbage bins! That's not the only one floating. We saw quite a few floating by...


See that white box with the word ICE? That's the freezer from the Cheers convenience store that contains the ice. That box is usually located next to the entrance, now it's floating away!

As usual, you see people taking photos. Wonder if she is going to 'stomp' it? LOL



p/s I contributed the rest of the photos to BukitTimah.net

Superficial

Just thought this was funny.




Seen on the wall of a shoe store.

Are you an "Imelda"?  I wonder if the younger folks know what I mean by "Imelda"?
My sis used to have 60 pairs at a time! Until she decided to 'repent'. ;-p

Picnic in the Park

It's a picnic in the park opposite Orchard Road MRT / Wisma Atria / Takashimaya.

Every Sunday there would be a group of mainly ladies having a picnic here. This group used to meet at what is now known as ION Orchard when it was still a mini hill with greenery.



You know, the picnic food they bring actually smells really good! Why? Their day jobs mostly require them to prepare food for families they work for.



When was the last time you had a picnic? I have not been to a picnic for years!

Chinese Procession

It's said that you don't really get many sculptures in Singapore. Not very true. As I walk around, I am discovering more and more of it!

(They love to move around though. Sometimes you see it here, then next it's shifted to a new location. LOL. Even the Merlion has moved around so many times!)




This work is by Lim Leong Seng.
Ooo. I just found out he has a website too at: http://www.limleongseng.com.sg/


Do you like to admire sculptures?

Queensway Shopping Centre

There are so many new shopping centres in Singapore recently. But if someone wants to get sports goods, there's still one place they will go to. Queensway Shopping Centre.



It seems to be stuck in people's mind that QSC = Sports wear mall. Oh yes, QSC is also known as the photocopy centre! LOL..

Bentley Continental GT

A few of us of spotted this Bentley parked on the side roads. Then we realise it's not only us. Almost everyone was staring at it!

I even saw a person from another building taking out his camera to take photo of it. I did the same thing. It's quite rare to see a Bentley in Singapore. It looks nice isn't it?



The front view of it. Very unique black and white Bentley Continental GT.



Is Archie's car a Bentley? I can't really remember. I have not read Archie comics for a long time now!

Posing with Reindeers...

OK. Since I took so many photos of the chio reindeers, I must post them up. But this will be the last post about it. Too much of a good thing is bad.



You can see so many people posing with the reindeers. Just like this couple.



We saw some cheeky boys trying to look under the skirt of the reindeer. Sigh. So juvenile eh?