For the first time, the Army Open House (AOH) was held outside military grounds at the F1 Pit beside the Singapore Flyer.
This is in tune with the Army's effort to engage the public and showcase NS45 and the capabilities of our 3G Army.
Showing posts with label snapshots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label snapshots. Show all posts
It is the annual Vesak Day today.
Also known as the Buddha's birthday, it encompasses the birth, enlightenment Nirvana, and passing (Parinirvana) of Gautama Buddha.
Buddhists all over the world celebrated this holy day by paying homage to the Buddha.
We do this by not taking lives (eating meat of any kind is prohibited), participated in the ritual of bathing the Buddha, singing hymns in praise of the holy triple gem followed by the candlelit procession.
I visited the Singapore Buddhist Youth Mission at Clementi with my parents just like previous years.
We first went to bathe the Buddha as usual.
During one of my history lessons many years ago, I have learnt that the British surrendered unconditionally to the Japanese at the Old Ford Factory located along Upper Bukit Timah.
I had always thought that the Old Ford Factory have been left vacanted ever since the war ended.
An abandoned building with such a historical story behind it would surely be home to many grievous spirits? (I really outta hand it to my vivid imagination sometimes!)
Coincidentally, that is where I had to pass by on my way to school every day.
Maybe that is why I would often get the creeps each time my bus pass by it during my journey to school in the pre-dawn hours.
After graduation, I was still fascinated by the rich history associated with the building (albeit still fearful of whatever thing that could be lurking inside).
What I did not know was that The Ford Motor Factory has actually resumed operations after the war in 1947 and was shut down in 1980.
It was only a week ago that I learnt the building was gazzetted as a national monument and already turned into a exhibition gallery from 2006.
Silly me! And I thought the building is still in ruins!
I'm sure you have come across such amazing 3D pavement art from your email or facebook before.
Wouldn't you have wished to see them 'live'?
In partnership with Bugis Junction, organiser National Heritage Board has brought in renowned 3D street art artist, Joe Hill from the UK, to present two new pieces of artwork.
By the time this post is up, I would have already visited Sentosa twice - the first time being the week before Chinese New Year and the second time during the annual Sentosa Flowers (圣淘沙春節花會).
I will be combining shots from both visits into one post. I have blogged about the Sentosa Boardwalk in the previous post. I shall now begin this post with entering Sentosa.
The S$70 million Sentosa Boardwalk was officially opened on 29 January 2011. It has been almost a year since it's opening but it was only until last week that I had the opportunity to visit this beautiful boardwalk linking Sentosa to the mainland.
After leaving [Guanyin Shan], we headed for Klonghae Floating Market.
Alighting from the coach, we had to walk some distance before making our way down the slope to where the boats are.
There was no proper path for us to walk and no handrail for the elderly to hold onto. Due to the bout of rain earlier, the ground was slippery with mud.
Should one person slipped on the slope, many more would be knocked down like bowling pins.
Quite dangerous, if you ask me.
Alighting from the coach, we had to walk some distance before making our way down the slope to where the boats are.
There was no proper path for us to walk and no handrail for the elderly to hold onto. Due to the bout of rain earlier, the ground was slippery with mud.
Should one person slipped on the slope, many more would be knocked down like bowling pins.
Quite dangerous, if you ask me.
My apologies for the delay of this post! Blame it all on the recent Christmas and New Year's Eve distractions! (Excuses! Excuses!)
So after visiting Kim Yong Market in the morning, we returned to our hotel for a quick rest before starting our itinerary for the day at noon.
It was still drizzling when we boarded the coach to go for our lunch at a local chinese restaurant during which, the sky seemed to have cleared a little.
After dinner, we did a bit of shopping at a local produce store （土产店）and leather-craft store before setting off for Guan Yin Shan.
Before I proceed with Kim Yong Market, allow me to digress a little about the previous night after checking-in into President Hotel.
After inspecting the room and making sure that everything is (not) in order, we swiftly hopped onto a tuktuk headed for the night market around Lee Gardens.
One of my aims for this Hat Yai trip is to have the Samurai Burger from McDonalds. Woe is me that I could only have a taste of this divine burger once a year!
Seriously, can we not have even one non-halal outlet in Singapore that serves all things porky?
*Recycled pic
While booking this trip, we were told by the travel agent that we would be staying at Lee Gardens Hotel.
We could not be any happier as all who had been to Hat Yai before would know that the said hotel is situated at a centralised location surrounded by all the major shopping centres and night market.
Thus, imagine our bewilderment when the coach drove past Lee Gardens and all we could do is watch on in horror as we got driven further and further away until the hotel was out of sight
Leaving Samila Beach, the coach made a few turns and before we knew it, we were already at the foot of Tang Kuan Hill.
Remember the legend about the Mouse and Cat Island?
This is the hill which the Dog turned into.
Where we are visiting is located right on the top of this hill and to get up there, we had to take a 3 minutes, 170m inclined-lift ride up where a breathtaking 360° panoramic view of Songkhla City awaits.
Our first destination upon reaching Songkhla - a province in southern Thailand, was Samila Beach.
Residing here was one of the more famous landmarks in Songkhla - the bronze Mermaid. On this particular day, tonnes of tourists were waiting in line just to have a picture taken with her.
Unfortunately, many were being poached for their tusks or chained up to perform in circuses under deplorable living conditions.
The Elephant Parade is the world’s largest open air art exhibition of decorated elephant statues that seeks to attract public awareness and support for the Asian elephants conservation.
Haw Par Villa, formerly known as the Tiger Balm Gardens, was originally constructed in 1937.
The pictures here were taken two years ago when I last visited Haw Par Villa with my parents after a long hiatus of more than twenty years!
It was first published on my other blog link (which explains the different watermark) but I thought it was a shame for it to be buried and lay forgotten under the archives hence, I decided to reproduce it here to remind other Singaporeans, visitors and *cough* STB about the existence of this theme park.
Aw Boon Haw created the park which depicts Chinese mythology, heroes, folklore, legends and history to teach and preserve Chinese values.
The gate, which was built originally for the Villa
I was in the vicinity of Bugis a few days ago and came across these "painted" Smurfs on display.
These were painted by local celebrities...
This has got to be my favorite!
These were painted by local celebrities...
In the Spring of 1974, several farmers from the Yang Village near Xi'an were digging a well when they stumbled across the most priceless archaeological discovery of modern times!
Excavations have un-earthed thousands of terracotta warriors, each with a unique facial expression and positioned according to their ranks.
They are a replica of the Qin army from more than 2,200 years ago and it was believed that each terracotta warriors were replicas of real Chinese soldiers.
The army of statues, numbering in the thousands, is testament of the forces the first Emperor of China had at his command.
Qin Shi Huang (259 - 210BC) was the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty and he was the founder of China's first empire after unifying the Seven Warring States. If this name sounded all too familiar, that was because he is the one who ordered the building and restoration of the Great Wall of China!
Upon ascending the throne at the age of 13, Qin Shi Huang ordered the construction of his tomb which took 38 years to build and utilizing the labor of over 700,000 conscripts many of whom were killed to protect the privacy of the Emperor once it was done.
I was feeling bored at home last Sunday so I decided to change into my jeans and shirt and hopped onto an east-bound train with no destination in mind.
As I travelled, I figured that I had nowhere to go to on the east side so I changed my mind and u-turned at Jurong East, headed for Chinese Garden instead.
Since young, it has always been my dream to visit the garden together with my family but due to some reasons whatsoever, this dream never did materialize.
UPDATES (6th June 2014): Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice has moved location. New address is updated at the end of this post.
Mention Tiong Bahru and what comes to mind?
Other than the unique pre-war and post-war architecture as mentioned in my previous post, what draws people to this quaint little estate has got to be food!
And indeed, Tiong Bahru boasts some of the best hawker stalls that Singapore has to offer!
While planning my Tiong Bahru trip, l did some research on what to eat as well. Among all the suggestions that turned up in the search list, what caught my eye was Hainanese curry rice.
I have long heard about Hainanese curry but have never got around to tasting it. Since most of the reviews that I found have been quite positive, I see no reason to deny myself a visit to this stall!
The stall in question was Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice located at Blk 57 Eng Hoon Street.
Mention Tiong Bahru and what comes to mind?
Other than the unique pre-war and post-war architecture as mentioned in my previous post, what draws people to this quaint little estate has got to be food!
And indeed, Tiong Bahru boasts some of the best hawker stalls that Singapore has to offer!
While planning my Tiong Bahru trip, l did some research on what to eat as well. Among all the suggestions that turned up in the search list, what caught my eye was Hainanese curry rice.
I have long heard about Hainanese curry but have never got around to tasting it. Since most of the reviews that I found have been quite positive, I see no reason to deny myself a visit to this stall!
The stall in question was Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice located at Blk 57 Eng Hoon Street.
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| Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice SGD 4.90 (Bernese Mountain Dog in the background) |
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| That low rise building was where my Grandparents' flat once stood |
During that time, we would visit my Grandparents every weekend and I remembered I could see CK Tangs Tower in the distance right from the corridor.
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| Soup Restaurant at Jurong Point |
Having walked past the Soup Restaurant so many times, I still have yet to try their food. Since Dad's birthday was round the corner, we decided to hold his birthday luncheon here last Saturday.
I called and booked a table for ten at their Jurong Point branch.
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