Earth Hour in Singapore

I was in Orchard Road and realised there was so so so many people in blue t-shirts around.
Out of curiosity, went to take a look.

The Earth Hour folks are having a mass gathering.



It was really a lot of people around!



I don't believe doing these things prove anything. It's just to make a statement. If these people here really practice what they preach, good, but we doubt it. ;-)


We at home do our little part, by making our daily lives more earth friendly.
We make our own statement daily instead.

We know we need air-con at home, so we got ourselves the most energy efficient ones. We also used energy saving bulbs, in fact we use LEDs at home. We also use induction cooker at home. It is the most energy efficient, using around 80% of electricity is used for cooking. Compared to gas where efficiency is only 40%, the rest get wasted as heat. We use both gas and induction because Chinese cooking still need flames ;-)

Probably Singapore's Greenest Merlion

This is probably Singapore's Greenest Merlion.

Also the only one decorated with plants and flowers.
(The red and green Anthuriums form the 'body' of the Merlion)



Located at Changi Airport Terminal 3.

Hug Me Coke Machine @ NUS

Something interesting spotted at the NUS Campus today.
A coke machine that looks very different from the usual Coke Vending Machine.

(For those who wants to know where this was located, it's near LT14 / LT15, the walkway in front of the Lecture Theatre, near to Forum)



It just has a Hug Me word on it and a 'hole' to collect the can drinks.

How do you get the drinks out, since there are no buttons to choose your drinks and no holes to insert your coins?



You Hug It!

Noticed this guy took a few hugs before the machine is satisfied with his hug!



Maybe tall guys have it easier.
This guy held the machine up close and the machine likes him and gave him a coke immediately!



I tried it too and got a hug. Hug it 3 times before I got the drink.

If you are in NUS these two days (Thursday and Friday) you can find the machine and give it a hug.
A special project by the NUS Student Union (NUSSU). They call it the NUSSU Exam Welfare Initiatives.

(Hmm. My prev uni in Melbourne during my undergraduate years did not have this!)

JCube

More shopping malls are popping up! "Green Malls" seems to be in the in-thing too!

This was the previous Jurong Entertainment Centre. It's now called JCube, because it's design to look like an ice cube! I think it's gonna be very different from the previous mall. I used to only walk through it because it was a shortcut to get the Jurong Regional Library.

Remember the skating ring on the top level? Now, it has Singapore's first Olympic sized Ice Rink.




What caught my eye was the people fixing up the panels.
These should be LED panels.

Read that LED lights are used inside and they have solar panels to supplement energy from the Grid.



I was like looking at the numbers of squares and the numbers there!

The numbers seems to be sequential if you look at it horizontally. But each line has different starting number.

The mall's opening on April 2. Wonder why not April 1? :-)

Changi Airport Air Traffic Control Tower

The Changi Airport (IATA: SIN, ICAO: WSSS) Air Traffic Control Tower viewed between the Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel and Terminal 3 building.



It's such an icon isn't it?
That when you draw that control tower on "Draw Something", people immediately know you are drawing the word "Airport"!

Don't you also love the details on the next building?

International Cruise Terminal @ Marina South

Took a shot of the International Cruise Terminal at Marina South recently.
Not a very clear photo, it was too hazy....




Reports says it will be completed by 2013, which is next year.

It has really deep waters, no height restrictions and a large turning basin compared to the Cruise Centre at Harbourfront. Can't wait for it to be ready and huge cruise liners can berth here!

Sorry No Public Toilets Here

The security guard at this building must had been fed-up of people asking the same question probably a million times a day.



Where is your preferred place to 'relieve' yourself?

I know many ladies will go to a hotel's washroom if it's nearby. I had a chat recently with someone who works for a hotel. She and her colleagues observed that there's a person that "visit their hotel" every morning at the same time every week day!

Tanah Merah Country Club

The Tanah Merah Country Club.



View from the sky while we circle around in the plane.
I like how the grass are cut that gives them a criss-cross pattern. 

The Changi Depot

The bird's eye view of the MRT Changi Depot, while we were circling around Changi Airport.



Info from Wikipedia, this depot comprises a train yard, which can hold a capacity of 35 trains and has an area of 250,000 square metres.

Ships along the Singapore Waters...

I was flying back to Singapore the other day and because the air show was on, I think there was some delay at the airport. Our flight was circling around Singapore for around 20 minutes. 



I saw this same thing a few times because of the circling and I took a snap of it.
Beautiful isn't it?

The pilot finally said we got a landing slot and everyone cheered!

Light of the Merlion

The Merlion looks very different this month!
For the iLight Marina Bay 2012 Festival, the Merlion has been used as the 'canvas' for the 'light paint'.




Projectors shine colourful lights unto the Merlion at the Merlion Park.
You can just stand from afar like in the photo above, and admire it from afar.....



Or go nearer and enjoy some 'noise' from the speakers as well.
Some says it's not noise, but the genre of new age sound does not go too well with my ears.

But it is something enjoyable though.
We were just standing near the merlion for almost an hour looking at the colour change.



If you have a phone with a camera, say an iPhone, the photos come out super clear!
These two are the samples of it...



For the next 2 weeks, if you are around the area, drop by and say hi to the Merlion!

iLight Marina Bay 2012

Go Fly Kites! Not being rude, but these youngsters known as the Singapore Sky Dancers were really flying kites. Go Fly Kites is the name of their performance.

They were flying kites fitted with colourful lights that has long tail with lights.



My parents in law, wife and I find it very elegant. It's synchronized flying.
Forming patterns that will just "wow" you away.



Go take a look if you are in Singapore these weekends:
It's free!

16, 17, 23, 24, 30, 31 March 2012
7.30pm to 11.00pm
Waterfront Promenade, The Promontory

For a list of interesting lights to see, visit http://www.ilightmarinabay.sg/

Richard Stallman in Singapore

This post is more for the geeky people out there.
Richard Stallman will be giving 2 talks in NUS next week.



COM1/206 in the poster is actually Seminar Room 1 (Room 02-06) if you get lost and need instructions.
The good folks at NUS School of Computing would have provided the signs.




For more info, you can go to:
http://freesoftware.sg/

Counting Ships....

Sunset, 6 March 2012



View of the sea on the southern part of Singapore.
Taken from Level 57 of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.

The sun is setting, the moon is out and if you can't sleep in Singapore, you can start counting ships.