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Monday, March 28, 2011

~ Earth Hour 2011 coverage on TNP & Shin Min ~

Our previous blog post on the Earth Hour has given us an opportunity to be featured on The New Paper on Sunday for the very first time. Many Thanks to Linette for dropping us a note and giving my family a chance to appear on the papers. Thank you Gavin for the photo-takings and Shi-an for the phone interview. It has been an unforgettable experience for all of us.
My colleague later told me that we were also featured on Shin Min Ri Bao and we managed to find a similar article online.


Most importantly, through this event, hopefully it has created more public awareness and more families, homes and offices will continue the effort to this movement even after the Earth Hour has ended.

Monday, March 21, 2011

~ Earth Hour 2011 ~

Earth Hour 2011 is back and will take place in Singapore at 8.30pm, Saturday, 26 March 2011.

We can do our part in conserving energy and protecting the Earth. Switching off the lights on Earth Hour is a little step and commitment to this global movement. Of course, we can always make an attempt to keep this  habit beyond the hour:

1) Switching off the lights/appliances when not in use.
2) Keep our air-condition to 25-26 oC.
3) Using energy saving bulb/appliances
4) Reduce the amount of waste. Keeping in mind the 3R principle. (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)
5) Whenever possible, take a walk or public transport. :)


Lights will also be out on many of our iconic landmarks like The Merlion, The Fullerton Hotel, Esplanade, Singapore Flyer etc. Various organisations will also be participating actively in this year's Earth Hour movement.

Hotels - Various hotels (e.g. Pan Pacific, Intercontinental Singapore etc), have pledged to switch off/dim the lights at certain areas in support of the global initiatives.

IKEA - Join IKEA for a solar-lamp lit dinner at both restaurants at the Alexandra and Tampines outlets during Earth Hour. All proceeds collected at bothe restaurants will be donated to WWF Singapore in support of their conservation and outreach efforts in Singapore. The IKEA building facade and external lights will also be switched off!

Woodland Waterfront -  There will be flea market, star gazing activities and movie screening of "Monsters vs Aliens"!
Date: 26 March 2011, Saturday
Venue: Woodlands Waterfront, Event Space
Time: 5pm – 10pm

Orchard Road - Lights will be off in Orchard Road on Earth Hour and transformed into "Sea of candles"! Light up a candle to make your pledge! (Venue: Stage in front of Wisma Atria)
http://www.orchardroad.sg/events/events_content.php?id=earthhr

Earth Hour Night Walk -  Singapore's first Earth Hour Night Walk starting on 26th March 2011 at 8:30pm at the Promontory @ Marina Bay. The walk will be about 3.5km long and takes around 1 hour to complete. It will pass by Marina Bay Sands, The Float@Marina Bay, Esplanade, One Fullerton, Clifford Pier and back to The Promontory. Registration fee is $15 and children below 12 join for free.

Mark your calendar for this Saturday's Earth Hour!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

~ Singapore Food Trail @ Singapore Flyer ~

Dining at hawker centres or food court is a very common sight and frequent routine for Singaporeans. Singapore is a food haven where you can enjoy different cuisine from all over the world. It is not difficult to find Western, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Malay or Indian dishes at the local eateries or restuarants.

Last week, we were at the Singapore Food Trail (located at the Singapore Flyer) to have a sneak peek of the 1960s themed, non-airconditioned food street which was officially opened in Feb 2011. It has many established old stalls selling Singapore's well-known hawker food that aims to brings back the good old memories.



At the entrance, we spotted swings and hop-scotch which were little games that we used to play in our younger days.


As the food street was designed in the 1960s theme, there are many old items on display that we were once so familiar with. Old telephone, type-writers, ice-maker, hot water bottles, posters, sewing machine and even the swinging old tins that were hanging on top as cashiers reminds me of the provision shops in the older days.

Denver and Gladys are so in touch with the latest technology that they have never seen a type-writer before. Most of the things look 'new' to them as we tries to explain our parents' history and lifestyle back then.




The main attraction of the food street is the various food stalls selling Singapore's local delights. Chicken Rice, Fishball Noodles, Kachiang Puteh, Popiah, Bak Ku Teh, Fried Oysters, Satays, Nasi Lemak are some of the hawker street food that we are so familiar with.


Since we already had our dinner, we settled for a bowl of Ice Ball (冰球) which cost $2.50. Father-in-law said that it used to cost only 5cents back then. (That is how inflation rates has rised over the past 50 years.) In addition, the traditional way of eating the ice ball is sucking from it instead of using the spoon.


It has been an eating and learning experience at the Singapore Food Trail and we may just come back again to try out the other local delights at the other food stalls.

Singapore Food Trail Opening Hours:
10:30am - 10:30pm (Sunday - Thursday)
10:30am - 11:30pm (Friday - Saturday)

Friday, March 18, 2011

~ Kidz Play @ NEX SkyGarden ~

Yesterday evening, we took the children to NEX shopping mall to have some water fun at the Kidz Play located in the SkyGarden (level 4R). We prefer to come in the evening since it would be much cooler.

The playground located on the roof level of the shopping mall has a dry and wet play area but do note that the slides tend to be wet with the children running between both sections. :) Denver & Gladys were all set to get themselves WET!







View of Kidz Play in the night

Apart from the children's playground, there is also a K9 Park - dog park, library and various education outlets located on the same floor. Parents can consider bringing their children here for some reading pleasure and fun at the same time.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

~ Marina Bay Sands - WONDER FULL ~

It's March School Holidays but we do not have any travelling plans. Nevertheless, some activities have been lined up for the kids and one of it is catching the Water & Light Spectacular @ Marina Bay Waterfront - WONDER FULL.

Location: Event Plaza, Marina Bay Sands
Wonder Full will be shown nightly, weather permitting (EVENT IS FREE!)
Sunday to Thursday: 8pm, and 9.30pm
Friday and Saturday: 8pm, 9.30pm and 11pm

We brought along our new camera - LUMIX FZ-40 to the test and am extremely delighted with the photos and video taken. :) The night scene of the Singapore skyline and waterfront is simply gorgeous!



I am really pleased with the night scene and portrait photos taken with our new camera. It is so easy to use and am loving it so much! Hoping to explore the other functions and photo-taking techniques if time permits.
We took a leisure walk from the Singapore Flyer, crossed the Helix Bridge and made our way to the Event Plaza, enjoying the breeze and night scenery along the Marina Bay Waterfront.



View from the Event Plaza - The WONDER FULL performance requires no ticketing or queuing. It is free seating and there will be an additional show at 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Do you know that there is an official radio station for MBS? Tune in to 103.9 FM to listen in real time or you can enjoy the soundtracks which will also be broadcast simultaneously as you watch the performance.



The entire performance last about 13 minutes and it incorporates lasers, lights, giant water screens, music, bubbles to give the public a stunning visual and sound experience. As some moments in the show, we got sprinkled by the water (as if it was drizzling) probably due to the wind direction that is blowing towards us. The lens of the camera got wet and blurry towards the end of the video but it was a great first video-taking attempt with our new toy on the tripod.


On a personal note, I wouldn't mind dropping by to enjoy the show again. It is just as relaxing to sit by the waterfront after a hard day's work and enjoy the serenity of the night or have a heart to heart chat or get together sessions with some close friends. :)

Saturday, March 5, 2011

~ Be a Småle @ Småland ~

Our family has been a frequent visitor of IKEA - Tampines for the past few months ever since our last blog post. Recently, Denver & Gladys have also become a Smålish citizen. :) Children between 4-10 years are eligible to be a Småle that comes with many benefits.

This includes :
- Discounted kids' meal & free drinks (discounted price is $1.50 compared to the usual price of $2.90.)
- Scan your Småle passport to earn $0.50 Smålish dollars during each visit
- Redeem Småle merchandise with your Småle dollars

and many more! For more information, please visit: http://www.smales.com.sg

We filled in a form and brought along the children's birth certificate photocopy to register them as Småle at the Bug House.


A photograph will be taken and printed on their Smålish passport. Next, proceed to the Småle shroom and scan your passport (limited to one per day) to earn $0.50 Smålish dollar. You can also print out a coupon that comes with 1 discounted kid's meal and free drink. To earn more Småle dollars, bring along your recycling newspapers and drop them at the IKEA stores.


Recently, IKEA has been having a lot of dining promotion during weekdays and "Kids dine for free" is back again for the month of March! We spent $4.90 to order a Halal meal that comes with 2 meat and 2 veg and the children got 2 kid's meal FREE! Not to forget utilizing the coupon for free drinks and this is really a cost saving dining option for families!

All these for $4.90 only! (Thanks to the March weekday promotion offer and Småle coupon)

Gladys gets to have 1 hour free play time at Småland, Denver enjoyed the food and drinks, Hubby and I got free time roaming around, we get to accumulate points for future redemption and not to forget free parking at all times in IKEA. We will definitely be making more frequent visits to this family friendly store.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

~ Punggol East Family Day - USS Here We Come (Part 3) ~

We stepped into New York and this is where you can take some nice photos. It's a pity we missed the Lights, Camera, Action show featuring the special effects of a major hurricane. :( There was a waiting time of 30mins and so we decided to catch the other show instead.



Going into Hollywood, the Broadway muscial - Monster Rock is about to start! We managed to catch the 4:45pm show at the Pantages Hollywood Theater. It was a very entertaining musical filled with songs, special effects and pyrotechnics! The 'monsters' (e.g. Dracula, Mummy, Frankenstein, Wolfman etc) sang and dance throughout the show. Gladys find the music too loud but it surely end with a blast!


After the show, we headed back to Madagascar. Since it is getting late, there are not many people going for the rides. That's good for us as the kids do not need to wait too long before going for the King Julien's Beach Party-Go-Round. This carousel is beautiful and Gladys already picked her choice to sit on Melman the Giraffe!



Somehow, Gladys' face changed when she sits on the giraffe. I wonder if it is too high for her that is making her nervous. hehehe.



We went back to the Lost World as Gladys wanted to play with the waters and we promised her that it will be at the end of the day. :) Kids love to get themselves wet!



After a whole day of fun and excitement, it's time to go! Too bad there are no parades or fireworks. :) Before we leave, Hubby bought a Gingerbread man soft toy for Gladys. All of us had a great time together and it will be an unforgettable memory.
Signing off from USS - till we meet again!