Colours, Sights & Patterns At Kampong Glam

In the 19th century, Kampong Glam was essentially an ethnic district with a strong Malay-Arab influence. It was a place where locals patronized for their Arab-Muslim traditional foodstuff and merchandise...

Immersive 4K HDR Viewing Experience With Sony Projectors

Sony’s latest innovative laser light source projector is High Dynamic Range (HDR) compatible with native 4K resolution, creating an amazling clear lifelike experience, as if you are there yourself…

Back 30 Years To Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre

Iconic along this stretch of road is the rectangular block of a nondescript beige-tiled building. The facade of this building is blocked by an overhead bridge. And this is the front entrance to a shopping centre - the Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre… (USSC).

Monti - Singapore's Longest Brunch Every Sunday

Enjoy brunch by the bay concept, complete with stunning views of the Marina Bay and its surroundings, and a fabulous menu and music programme to match at Monti…

Where Freemasons Convene

In 1886, the Masonic Club was established to support Singapore freemasonry. Guess who was the first Freemason in modern Singapore?

Christmas ChariTrees - Story Trees Of Care And Share

6:41 AM  , , , ,  

Marina Bay
South, Singapore
November 2013 
  
A total of 30 ChariTrees, which are mostly adopted by Community Chest’s corporate partners, will transform and light up the Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade for six weeks from 15 November to 27 December 2013, adding to the festivities and celebration of the yuletide season.

Guest-of-Honour, Dr Lily Neo, Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency officiated the Switch-On Ceremony on 15 November...
A very gracious and elegant Lily Neo specially requested if it was ok to bring her around and take her photos...
This is the first year that Community Chest and URA are working with LASALLE College of the Arts to present the Christmas ChariTrees. The theme for this year’s Christmas ChariTrees is “Story Trees”, where touching and uplifting beneficiaries’ stories are retold by design students from LASALLE College of the Arts through the design of the trees. Through these young artists’ understanding of the beneficiaries’ stories, and using their imagination and interpretation, 20 of the 30 ChariTrees will be transformed into Story Trees, each telling the story of a beneficiary.
“The ChariTrees project has been a great opportunity for our students to give back to community through creating public artworks that are meaningful as well as beautiful. The students were inspired by the heartwarming stories of the beneficiaries to make each design special and unique for the public to enjoy during the festive season. We are honoured to be part of this collaboration with Community Chest.”
Ms Nur Hidayah, Dean, Faculty of Design at LASALLE College of the Arts.
The Christmas ChariTrees @ Marina Bay 2013, jointly organised by Community Chest and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), has raised more than $380,000 for Community Chest at the start of this festive season. The funds raised this year is almost 60 per cent more than the amount collected last year, making it the highest since the project was first held in 2011.
Catchy tunes from the Police Band added to the festive atmosphere...

In conjunction with the Switch-On Ceremony, staff volunteers from Arrowcrest Technologies Pte Ltd,  a company which adopted a Story Tree this year, brought a group of 20 elderly beneficiaries for an evening’s outing to bask in the year-end festive mood. The elderly from Lions Befrienders,enjoyed a hearty dinner before witnessing the official light-up of the 30 ChariTrees and touring the scenic Marina Bay...

The Story Trees

Chelsea's Story Tree

Diagnosed with cerebral palsy since birth, 4-year-old Chelsea Lim could only move around by crawling and was unable to walk and run around like most children of her age. After receiving physiotherapy, Chelsea is now able to walk with the help of the Kaye Walker. She hopes that with therapy, she would be able to jump and walk on her own. Due to her physical challenges, Chelsea may not have the chance to enjoy and experience carnivals. A carnival wonderland has been created for this Story Tree to bring joy to children like Chelsea during this Christmas season.

 

Awesomeness Divine Hands
For the past 30 years, Community Chest encouraged the community to care and share with the less fortunate. Today, it supports 83 charitable organizations helping over 300,000 people. The hand palm ornaments represent people in the community coming together to lend a hand to people in need.


“URA is happy that the ChariTrees has brought the community together to help the less fortunate. This is a meaningful project that we hope can grow every year, and we are glad to be part of it. We hope the ChariTrees at Marina Bay will bring good cheer to the beneficiaries during the year-end festivities.”
Mr Ng Lang, URA’s Chief Executive Officer


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Festivals - Christmas

 

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Life In Light & Colour With Philips hue

5:46 AM  , , ,  

Singapore
November 2013
Recent days have been filled with overcast skies and rain, rain and more rain...
So it was a certainly a warm thought when the nice folks at Philips invited Merlion Wayfarer to the evening launch of hue.

hue, the world’s smartest LED bulb from Philips, allows one to create and control home lighting directly from am iOS and Android device.

  
What Can hue Do?
  • Set timers e.g. to wake you up and send you to sleep
    -  It can be set to gently wake you up in the morning and send you to sleep in the evening
  • Keep your home safe
    -  You can turn your lights on or off wirelessly and remotely from anywhere in the world
  • Change the color of your home
    -  You can create the atmosphere you want and use any photo on your smartphone or tablet as a palette to paint with light
For aspiring designers and the artistic,
have the full suite of bulbs in your house to play with is just like a new playground reopened...

  
  • Ask your lights to turn on as you approach your home
    -  The new geofencing means that hue can sense your smartphone or tablet’s location and your bulbs can now be set to turn on/off automatically, change color or light setting
With an open source program code, the techies can design their own customizable apps...

  
  • Set recurring schedules
    -  The recurring schedules feature means you can program it to enhance your family’s daily routine and create settings for activities such as waking up, homework or bedtime

  
  • Hook up hue to your essential Internet services
    -  Through IFTTT (If This Then That), it can hook up to your essential internet services, meaning your bulbs can act as indicators for weather, stock quotes, sports scores, email, social media and more. They can be programmed to behave in any way you choose.
 

  • Change your lighting to suit your needs
    There is a range of LightRecipes that change your lighting to suit your needs:
    -  Relax
    -  Concentrate
    -  Energize
    -  Read

   
 The thoughtful gift from the organizers which will ensure many more multi-hued days to come...

The Philips hue introduction pack with 3 hue light bulbs of 600 lumen (50W equivalent) and a hue bridge retails at S$319 (including GST) at major retailers. An individual bulb pack retails at S$89. More information on hue can be found on www.meethue.com.

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Captain Underpants - A Hero For Our Kids?

2:09 PM  ,  

Singapore
October 2013
 
This is what Merlion Wayfarer spotted in a second-hand bookstore in the heartlands...
 

   
Apparently, according to the retail assistant, this series is very popular with primary school children here coz of the portrayal of comic and funny characters that they can identify with.
 
So... Is Captain Underpants a good hero for our kids?
 
Captain Underpants is a children's novel series by American author and illustrator, Dav Pilkey. The series revolves around two fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, and Captain Underpants, an aptly named superhero from one of George & Harold's comic books, that accidentally becomes real when George and Harold hypnotize their megalomaniacal principal, Mr. Krupp. The book series includes 10 books and 3 spin-offs, and won a Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Award in 2007. As of 2013, more than 50 million books had been sold in the United States DreamWorks Animation acquired rights to the series to make an animated feature film adaptation.
 
The Characters...
  
  • Principal Benjamin Krupp - The obese and extremely cruel principal of Jerome Horwitz Elementary School and the main antagonist (at least when no real dangers are present). For unexplained reasons, Mr. Krupp has a very deep hatred of children, and also tries to protect Jerome Horwitz Elementary from George and Harold's antics. Why he is so mean to children in general is unknown. In the first book, he gets hypnotized by George and Harold for being so mean to them and becomes the superhero Captain Underpants, with a flaw in their attempt to return him to normal resulting in him alternating between Captain Underpants and Mr. Krupp whenever someone snaps their fingers (As Mr. Krupp) and pours water on him (Captain Underpants). He does not know of his superhero identity, though in the ninth book it's revealed that he does know of the real Captain Underpants's existence.
        
  • Captain Underpants - The alter ego of Mr. Krupp, when he is hypnotized to think he is "Captain Underpants," a character created by George and Harold. He always wears underpants and a red cape with black polka-dots. Whenever Mr. Krupp hears the sound of fingers snapping, he turns into Captain Underpants, and turns back into Mr. Krupp when he is soaked with water. Originally, he did not have any real superpowers (even though he believed he did), so George and Harold would have to follow Mr. Krupp every time he transformed into Captain Underpants to make sure he did not get hurt. He gained his superpowers in the third book by drinking some "Extra Strength Super Power Juice" found on an alien spaceship. Captain Underpants is considered to be the 'light side' of Mr. Krupp himself, as he is nice and kind to everyone, especially children. In his Captain Underpants form, Mr. Krupp seems to know everything about Captain Underpants from George and Harold's comic books. This may be due to the fact that he actually read all the comic books made by the two boys, which he confiscated by the hundreds over the years. 
Hmmm, walking around as a superhero in underpants... hynopsis... alter ego... dark side... split personality?
 
You make the choice...
   
 
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Sources

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Of Lovable Rainbow Magnets & Edible Sci-Fi

1:24 PM  , , , ,  

Universal Studios Singapore
Resorts World Sentosa
South, Singapore
September 2013
 
Merlion Wayfarer's latest favourites at Universal Studios Singapore:
 
A Sesame Street plastic bag with matching fridge magnets...

Pocky and Pretz in Star Wars packaging - from Japan!
 

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Places - Universal Studios Singapore



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Wake Me Up When I'm Rich

11:00 PM  , , , ,  


313 Somerset
Central, Singapore
November 2013

 
 
Or sleep like a Beauty forever?
 

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"I Love Singapore" Says He

11:59 AM  , , ,  

Marina Bay
South, Singapore
November 2013
 
"I Love Singapore" says he. He is a construction worker in the nearby Marina South site. At 7pm, he gets on his trusty bicycle which he bought at a discount from a second-hand bike shop and cycles his way back to his dormitory in the suburbs.
 
Nearby, Marina Bay is warming up with the Switch-On Ceremony of the Christmas ChariTrees. The fairy lights of the Gardens By The Bay will be turned on soon.
 
Yet, he only wants to get home. To his rest and his dinner.
 

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No Place Inside

9:40 AM  , ,  

Singapore
November 2013
 
In the morning peak hours, all the seats were full. As the bus was filling up, this lady (in black) stood at the raised platform near the door and refused to move in even when the bus driver requested for everyone to move in.
 
 
As a result, people were not able to get on the bus and were left stranded at the bus stop.
 
There was still a lot of standing room left.
 

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Sleepers On Trains

9:36 AM  , ,  

Singapore
September 2013
 
In the evening peak hours, these foreign nationals were sitting on the seats during peak hours.  At the next stop, the doors opened and in come 2 pregnant ladies and an old lady who stood in front of them.
 
A passenger requested in English for them to give up their seats. When no one acceded, she asked again in Mandarin. The whole row of them pretended not to hear and continued sleeping or playing with their phones.



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Oishii! X JRunway - Showcase Of Fashion & Food

1:42 AM  , , , , , , , ,  

JRunway, Plaza Singapura
Central, Singapore
01 November 2013
In collaboration with Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture Forestry & Fisheries (MAFF), JRunway hosted an evening event : Oishii! X JRunway. Hosted by popular artiste, Shu An, this event showcased Japanese desserts and sake to members of the public.

Oishii! X JRunway combined two of the best aspects of Japanese Culture:  Fashion and Food. The aim of this event was to introduce sake (rice wine) and sweets (the Japanese term for sweet products) to the Singapore public.
Japanese sake, known as Nihonshu, is made from fermented rice. The sake that was introduced at the event is Ozeki Hanaawaka which is awarded the best sake in the Wine Glass 2013, Sparkling Wine section. This sake contains 7% alcohol and its sweet, sour taste is suitable for most sake beginners.

The Matcha Castella made its first appearance in Singapore at the Oishii! X JRunway event. It is made in Tanitsune Seika, Hyogo prefecture, and is a soft, baked cake that contains egg, honey and ujimaccha powder.

There was also a Lucky Draw to add to the excitement. Prizes included a $100 JRunway shopping voucher, a FREE Cut and Color session at pact + LIM, a FREE Gelish Design session at Peony Nail Tokyo, a bottle of Sake for 5 winners and yokan (a thick jelly dessert made of red bean paste, agar and sugar) for 4 winners.

Oishii! X JRunway is one of the events held in conjunction with the “Celebrate Japanese Cuisine and Culture!” campaign. This campaign, from 04 October to 30 November 2013, aims to promote Japanese cuisine and culture in Singapore by bringing together a series of trade and consumer events.


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