SEA aquarium

I must say I am very impressed by the aquarium. My dad and uncle absolutely enjoyed it. Me too.

Another interesting attraction is the 4D Zheng He show. After it ended, the door opens to a wreck, which is really awesome.

I would recommend anyone to visit the aquarium. Of course nothing beats actually diving into the sea. But this is as close as it can get!

This is the baby bamboo shark. They are in a small tank where you can touch it. Not sure if this is good for the baby shark though.

Slow Revolution (or maybe evolution)

I have blogged this before a number of years ago. Incidentally, that was my first post.

In this fast paced and crowded society, this movement is much needed. The appearance of speed yoga and one-minute bedtime story really sound the alarm.

The author argues that doing things slowly is actually more efficient and effectively.

Also, what is the use of flying if you can't feel the wind on your face?

Costa Cruise

Some quality time with my family and relatives. We went to a Costa cruise. 

Cruise started at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre. 

Halloween at Universal Studios Sentosa, Singapore

One of the most amazing nights!

I must say USS has indeed done an awesome job! Even though the place is small, they have superb utilization of spaces available. The 'exhibits' are so densely packed, every turn of a corner is ghost, gore or something else.

Too busy enjoying myself, didn't really take lots of pics. Hee hee. Took the Battlestar Galatica rides 5 times! twice on Cylon and thrice on Human. 

Also, the express tickets were really worth it. Couldn't have such a fun-packed night without it.

Guilty Pleasures

" I don't believe in guilty pleasures. I think the only thing anyone should be guilty about is not taking pleasures"

 Nigella Lawson

She changes my mentality on eating food. 

This picture says it all:

Some sample videos on her cooking and eating on the Youtube:

Instant Noodles

Do you know that instant noodles are deep-fried noodles?!?!

 

Wine Wise

I'm colleague recommended this wonderful place for wine appreciation. It is located at the heartland just opposite Tiong Bahru market. They don't sell food ( you can always buy from Tiong Bahru market and take it inside, or you can order pizza to be delivered there), just decent wine.

What is good: You can sample a variety of wine before buying a glass or bottle. There are a number to choose: Different types of red, white wine; sweet wine for desserts such as port and moscato...

It is a wonderful place for chit chat and get-to-gather. A very decent place, unlike clubs and pubs with smokes and such. It only opens from 11 am - 2 pm and 4 pm to 10 pm. For extended hours, do call the place up to arrange for extension of opening hours.

Directions to Wine Wise:

http://www.streetdirectory.com/restaurants/singapore/reviews/location-Wine_Wise-1000010261.php

Marina Bay Sands - Infinity Pool

Infinity pool!!!

(btw, the photos here are taken with Nokia N86 8MP, and I have not touched up the colours)




Akan Datang. More coming up



This is a documentary on the engineering marvel of Marina Bay Sands from Science Channel - Build in Bigger. I salute the architects, engineers and all those involved in the construction. This is civil engineering at its finest!

Matcha Balls!

A green tea cafe at CityLink. Matcha Ice balls with warm milk.

Melting ... Melting ... Melting ...

Melted.
Result: A superb matcha latte!

Green Tea

I have written a bit about coffee and tea briefly in my blog. By now, readers would have known I am much of a caffeine lover. It is probably time to go into some details on green tea - in particular, Japanese green tea.

A summary of different types of tea is as follows:

Recently, I asked my colleague on a trip to Kyoto to buy me some Matcha, powdered Japanese green tea.

1. Matcha is made from the sprouts picked at the shaded tea field. After been steamed and dried, the leaves are ground by stone mill. It is originally used for Japanese tea ceremony. Now Matcha is often used for making sweets, ice cream and other dishes. Other variations of drinking Matcha include green tea ice blended. I believe something like this is available in Starbucks.
2. Gyokuro is one of the finest shapes of green tea. Gyokuro tea leaves are cultivated at shaded tea field for 2 weeks before havest. Its flavour is smooth ,and it is less astringent.
3. Sencha is the most popular Japanese green tea today. Its tea leaves are grown in open plantation. It is available in wide variety and prices.
4. Genmaicha is a mixture of tea leaves and roasted rice or hulled rice kernels. It has a savory flavour.
5. Houjicha is roasted green tea. It is brown in colour and has a toasted taste.

There are a lot more to Japanese green tea than this. To keep things brief, below is a glimpse of different types of Green Tea and how they should be prepared:

Cafe Haiku

Come across this book from National Library, these are a few of them:

1.

Enjoy this moment.

No matter how still we sit,

time passes quickly

2.

Slowly savor sips.

Enjoy as you empty cup.

Life is delicious.

3.

No refills in you.

Thrown away, stepped on, crushed.

Must it end this way?

A Moment - have you tasted your coffee this morning?

Every morning I wake up, I will quickly prepare my coffee and drink it with a gulp.  That is my daily caffeine boost.  This has become so routine that most of the time, I fail to enjoy the smell of it, and actually taste it.  

Life is such a rush now that we do things like flowing with the ebb of tides, but seldom stop to appreciate what life has to offer. Even breakfast with colleagues in school has mostly been reduced to filling in the stomach for day , or filled with petty talks and gossips . . .   So next time before you ask your friends, have you drank your coffee this morning? Ask them instead, have you tasted your coffee this morning? 

So here I present to you a few suggestions to cherish the moment, to slow down  and stop for a while. All of us deserve some rest.

1.  One way to stop is to - STOP - and see other people rushing by.  I catch a 20 min morning coffee on my way to a course.   The nice thing about being a teacher is that during the holidays, we get to find opportunities to go to town in the morning and see the morning rush, and enjoy a nice slow breakfast to see the world go by.

2.  Appreciate subtlety.  A good frothed latte always impedes the sugar sinking into the coffee.  Add the sugar little by little and see them sloowwwlly siinnkkingg.  Alternatively, you can try to drink black coffee without sugar.  Then, you can taste the originality of the coffee.

Of course, this pic has nothing to do with coffee. I took this some time back when I occasionally pamper myself with sinful food.  Note the distinct layers: crisp skin on top, follow by a thin layer of fats, then the meat , and then the ... you know what I mean.

3.  Add some sweetness to your life.  Then hit the gym and running track.  Ha Ha.  It is not the amount of sweets you take, but amount of sweets you have enjoyed.  Take some time to enjoy some desserts ( literally and figuratively ) in life.   

'Stealing' some time

Kind of addicted to have some quite time drinking coffee. Manage to ended the school early today , and 'steal' some time ( isn't time relative and has always in the 'mind'?) and pop by Kino at orchard.

Amazed at the latta : the gradual colour made by the coffee and milk and form ...

Osaka Style - Eating Place @ Jurong Point

A stretch of new eating places at Jurong Point. A wonderful place for Japanese food lover.  

Mana Mana in Singapore and Legend

I visit Mana Mana a sea sports operator in Bintan Resort a few years back. I'm glad they open a branch here is Singapore, East Coast Park. Not sure about the pricing though. Would pop by and enquire the price the next time opportunity rises.

After that, went to one Chinese restuarant at Legend @ Fort Canning Hill for dinner.

Dempsey Road

I am not sure if it is up and coming, but it is rather a nice place to have a meal. Do find it a bit unaccessible if you don't have a car.

Was having lunch and discuss some work stuff with my 'bosses' in the IT dept.



For more information about Dempsey Road, here is a link to the Uniquely Singapore website:

http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/home/about_singapore/ezine_home/Jun06/60_seconds/Dempsey_Road_.html

HDTV dummy guide

Numbers when shopping for a (High Definition TV) HDTV can be quite intimidating, especially when there are eager salesman trying to persuade you to buy their products. Sometimes there are sales person, who are super eager, but when questioned further, you realized they are just one of those read-from-the-pamphlet salesman. Most of them follow one rule in sales:

If you can't convince them, confuse them.

(if you are a salesman, and are reading this, I'm sorry. Don't take it personally)

It's time to show them who's the boss! - I mean customer. ( when we are suppose to be always right, right?)

HDTV Glossary

720: 1280 x 720 pixel (pass the criteria for HD)
1080: 1920 x 1080 pixel ( full HD)

usually there are 'i' or 'p' after the number. If not, ask the sales.

i: interlaced:Interlaced scan redraws every second line (a field) in one refresh and the remaining lines in a second refresh. Interlaced scan increases picture resolution while saving bandwidth but at the expense of some flicker or other artifacts.
p: progressive : Progressive scan redraws all the lines (a frame) of a picture in each refresh

Therefore:
fps: frames per second
Hz: Hertz: 50 Hz or 25fps(PAL), 60 Hz or ~30fps (NTSC)


For example
24p means 24 progressive scan frames per second and
50i means 25 interlaced frames per second, consisting of 50 interlaced fields per second.

Plasma - ( well, it's kind of ionized gas, when molecules and atoms get heated up to ..... z Z , let's not get too technical here)

LCD: Liquid Crystal Display

The debate for plasma vs LCD can be quite a challenge I will just quote from CNet

If you're in the market for a big screen television -- and we're talking 50-inches and above -- then we'd suggest plasma as a safe bet. Plasmas give you more bang for your buck at the big end of town, and while LCDs can give you better resolution, plasma still has the edge in terms of picture quality.

One other thing to look for, whether you opt for plasma or LCD, is an integrated tuner -- many TVs still have analogue tuners, which look pretty terrible on a large screen. Try to get a model with an inbuilt HD tuner if you can.

At the smaller end of things (15" to 42" TVs), LCD is the only way to go if you want something slim and tasteful. And the best thing is that LCDs are getting cheaper all the time.

Here is a good guide from Panasonic website:

Click for bigger image

HD can broadcast in surround sound- Dolby Digital or DTS. For more information for surround sound, here is a good wikipedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surround_sound

Actually, if you notice most of the TV sales person are quite quiet and less aggressive (compare to those credit card promoters). Probably, they are just as bewildered as most of us. It's nobody's fault - it's a fast changing world.

The Singapore Eye?

Everytime I pass by ECP, I see the 'Singapore Eye' developing. Actually it is called The Singapore Flyer. Actually it is a Ferris Wheel. What's in a name? It seems that it is an 'in' thing to build ferris wheel these days.



The tallest ferris wheel so far is the Star of Nanchang in China standing at 160m high. But after Singapore complete hers, which will stand at 165m tall, Singapore will have the tallest ferris wheel in the world, for how long, I am not sure. The picture below is the Star of Nanchang.
The more famous ferris will is probably be the London Eye .


Malaysia also has its Eye on Malaysia. ( want a pun)
More information about tall ferris wheel from wikipedia:

Name	Height (m)	Year Built	Country	Town	Remarks
Singapore Flyer	165	2007	Singapore	Singapore	Under construction
The Star of Nanchang	160	2006	China	Nanchang
London Eye	135	1999	UK	London
Changsha Ferris Wheel	120	2004	China	Changsha
Zhengzhou Ferris Wheel	120	2003	China	Zengzhou
Sky Dream Fukuoka	120	2002	Japan	Fukuoka
Daiya to Hana Ferris Wheel	117	2001	Japan	Edogawa, Tokyo	Located on Kasai Rinkai Park
Palette Town Ferris Wheel	115	1999	Japan	Odaiba, Tokyo
Cosmo Clock 21	113	1999	Japan	Yokohama
Harbin Ferris Wheel	110	?	China	Harbin
HEP Five	106	?	Japan	Osaka
Dream-Mall	50	2007	Taiwan	Kaohsiung	adding the building it stands on, it is 102.5m tall
Tempozan Harbor Village Ferris wheel	100	1997	Japan	Osaka
Space Eye	100	?	Japan	Kita-Kyushu
Ferris Wheel of Paris	100	1900	France	Paris	built in 1900 for world exhibition, demolished in 1937
Janfusan World	88	?	Taiwan	Yunlin
The Ferris Wheel	76	1893	USA	Chicago	first-ever Ferris wheel. Built for World's Colombian Exposition (World's Fair). demolished
Panoramic Wheel	75	?	Russia	Moscow
Miramar Entertainment Park	70	2002	Taiwan	Taipei	adding the building it stands on, it is 100m tall
Texas Star	65		USA	Dallas/Fair Park
Vienna Ferris Wheel	64.8	1897	Austia	Vienna
Steiger-60-metres Ferris Wheel	60	1980	Germany	differnt locations	transportable Ferris Wheel
Roue de Paris	60	1999	France	Paris
Hablützel Ferris Wheel	60	2003	Switzerland	different locations	transportable Ferris Wheel
Eye on Malaysia	60	2006	Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur
Eye of Emirates	60	?	UAE	Dubai
Wheel of Birmingham	60	?	UK	Birmingham	dismantled and moved to Australia

Alan Tam's Concert

I'm still not sure how I actually go to Alan Tam's concert?!?! My cantonese is less than half past six, hardly know any of his songs ... but you know what - I actually enjoy the performance.

It's more of a family thingy, quality time with my cousins whom I usually meet once or twice a year. Need such events and common-things-to-do to keep family members from drifting away. If you find yourself not knowing where your cousins (whom you spent most of your childhood with) work, what they like to do, even the full names of your nephews and niences ... It's a signal to take proactive actions.

At age fifty +, Alan Tam still has his huge share of fans; I am pleasantly surprised.

Here are two snippets of the concert: