NDP 2013 - Many Stories, One Singapore

Marina Floating Platform

South, Singapore

August 2013

Merlion Wayfarer was recently at the site of this year's National Day Parade held at the Marina Floating Platform. It was a fun and exciting two hours amidst the cool sea breeze and stunning city skyline...

 

A sea of red to show the support for Singapore's upcoming birthday...

 

A moment of pride as the Chinook and Apaches fly by with the Singapore flag...

  

Excitement as the F15s zoom past...

  

The 21 gun salute followed by the volley of rifle shots... 

The F15s re-enter with another aerial display. One of them breaks away after igniting its afterburner...

  

A dazzling display of rings trailing from its afterburner...

  

A quick series of spins before the goodbye...

  

Doing last minute checks on the water...

 

A spray of rainbow fireworks ignite the start of the night segment...

 

Displays in the night segment...

The Esplanade has recently upgraded its roof display to showcase the Singapore flag...

 

Audience participation with the bouncing balls...

 

The concluding segment with this year’s theme "Many Stories, One Singapore" where circles of different sizes and colours come together to form the shape of Singapore...

 

The crowd favourite - two rounds of spectacular fireworks displays...

  

|   "The Big Squeeze"   |   "Fun & Excitement Over Land, Sea, Sky"   |

|   "The Merlion Goes Missing"   | 
  



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More photos are available on Merlion Wayfarer's Picasa at :

Events - National Day

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Mouthwatering Summer Berries Profiteroles

Forum The Shopping Mall
Orchard Road
Central, Singapore
July 2013

 

Recently Merlion Wayfarer attended a cooking session organized by Benjamin Browns & De Dietrich.

 

In line with the Summer Food Fiesta theme, the menu of the day was Summer Berries Profiteroles.

 



 

Chef Lester Heng mixing the batter in front of the audience and showing the consistency of the batter - non-sticky, smooth and creamy...

Squeezing out the batter info circular mounds on the baking tray for the puffs...

How the puffs look like after 10 minutes of baking, and after 20 minutes...

Indication of a good puff...

Preparing the cream cheese and adding the final touches with the chocolate ganache...

The generous goodie bag...

 

 

Thank you, Benjamin Browns & De Dietrich!

 

 



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More photos are available on Merlion Wayfarer's Picasa at :

Events - Food

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4 Fingers Crispy Chicken - Decoding The Resistance

ION Orchard
Orchard, Central, Singapore
July 2013
 

4 Fingers Crispy Chicken has been open in Singapore since time immemorial and Merlion Wayfarer has yet to try it coz of its popularity. After facing uber-long queues each time she went there, Merlion Wayfarer finally found a night near closing time when there was NO queue!

 

The popular wings and drumsticks were sold out. So what else is there?

Chicken Sandwich Combo (S$9.90)



• Fries : Option of seaweed or kimchi seasoning.
• Kimchi coleslaw : Good enough to eat separately and as part of the sandwich. Not too strong, but with a distinct kimchi flavouring.
• Buns : Similar to the mantous eaten with chili crab, quite novel to eat this in a fast food meal. There are 2 sets of them with accompany "innards", so a significant amount of space is required to eat them!
• Chicken cutlet : Done just right, tender with lots of juices!
   

Chicken Burger Combo (S$9.90)

Similar chicken and fries, minus the kimchi coleslaw. Significantly less kick than the Sandwich but nonetheless scores on the chicken too.

 



All combos come with fries and a drink.

Despite the unhygienic environment (oily tables with stacked up leftover food, food on the floor, dustbins filled to the brim without emptying), have you ever wondered why 4 Fingers is still so uber-popular even after so long?

 

Decoding The Resistance

Symbols.

Merlion Wayfarer was fortunate enough to be trained enough in books by Dan Brown's symbologists and cryptologists.

4 Fingers' materials have been cleverly designed by street artists who weave messages into their design to put across what they want to say. Insidious! 

A cup with a smart design. Ever counted how many times you are bomoh-d to go back to 4 Fingers when you are drinking from their cup?

 

Yeah, every single rectangle says at least one something about their product.

A typical poster on the wall - Where is this scene located? At first glance, it looks like South Korea...

  

 Look closer - Does this building look familiar?

And these water tanks...

 

There are English words in the poster. Where can the only English words be found?

 

"STOP HERE ON RED SIGNAL". Look closely.

Where can the only RED be found?

(Hint : There is no RED traffic light visible in this poster.)

 

 

Look at the other English word found in the poster :

No left turn. Please stop at the BANK.

 

No wonder 4 Fingers generates so much profit for its owners...

 

Symbolism is rampant. Creepy little black lines appear all over the poster - on the delivery truck, on the clothes of people walking around, on buildings, on the crates...

 

 

Have you counted how many lines most of them have?

Oh... and how many lines does this logo have?

  

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More photos are available on Merlion Wayfarer's Picasa at :

Food - Fast Food

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The Days After GSS

Orchard Road
Central, Singapore
July 2013

 

The days after GSS show a picture of desolation and emptiness as shops are closed, shoppers take a break, and leases are ended...

 

 

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More photos are available on Merlion Wayfarer's Picasa at :

Places - Orchard

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Orchard's Evening Rays

Orchard Road
Central, Singapore
July 2013

A weekend out in Orchard at sunset reveals interesting elongated shadows... 

 

 

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More photos are available on Merlion Wayfarer's Picasa at :

Places - Orchard

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Lau Di Fang Scissors Cut Curry Rice Up Up And Out

Lau Di Fang Scissors Cut Curry Rice

Food Republic VivoCity

South, Singapore

July 2013

 

The price of the Curry Rice has gone up again and again. It is now S$5.20. For this price, you get a heaped mass of pork chop, vegetables, fried egg, and curry chicken.

 

• Portion Size : The portions given were huge! The big plate ended up being very full. It was at least 1.5x a normal dish.

• Gravy : The signature brown and curry gravies were thick and rich.

• Egg : Normal.

• Pork chop : This was fried cutlet-style. It was a bit cold and there were bones and sinews in the meat.

• Vegetables : The cabbage was sold out. The replacement broccoli and cauliflower tasted raw.

• Curry chicken : The chicken was overcooked to the point of tough. The gravy tasted a tad sourly stale.

 

All in all, despite the huge portion size, it was a meal Merlion Wayfarer could not eat beyond half of. And it's not the first time.

 

To Lau Di Fang Scissors Cut Curry Rice:

Most disappointing leh. Please keep your original standard high by sticking to your own eateries...

 

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