Singapore Formula One Night Race - Countdown

Hi,

Only a few more days to the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix, the first night race in the world...!

We received 3 complimentary F1 tickets for the 3 nights, 26 Sep Fri to 28 Sep Sun, of fast racing....!

I was having lunch near the street race track and decided to check it out so here are some photos of a part of the street race track.

Please click on the 'X' on the top right hand corner of the screen if the slideshow is not displayed.

I will keep you updated after I have been to the F1 race this weekend so stay tuned.....

David

Singapore Flag & National Athem

Hi,

It was so good to see out Singapore Flag raised and the national athem played during the Gold medal presentation to our women swimmer, Pin Xiu.

I also saw the interview with the 2 girls, Laurentia & Pin Xiu, on Channel News Asia Prime Time morning news today.

I salute them for their achievements and their dreams.

Singapore Swimmer Won Gold in Paralympics

Hi,

Swimmer Yip Pin Xiu has won the first gold medal for Singapore at the Beijing Paralympics in the 50-metre backstroke finals.

Yip broke her own world record during the heats earlier Monday. She clocked a new world and Paralympic record time of 57.92 seconds.















Yip on Saturday clinched Singapore's first silver at the Paralympics, in the women's 50-metre freestyle finals. Despite not coming in first in the finals, she maintains the new world and paralympic record she set in the heats earlier on Saturday, with a timing of 57.04 seconds.



Singapore has won four medals in the Beijing Paralympics. Rider Laurentia Tan aced two bronze medals in equestrian.


We are so proud of these 2 women...!!!

Congratulations to Laurentia Tan

Hi,

We are so proud of Laurentia Tan for winning 2 Bronze medals in the recent 13th Paralympic games.

She became Singapore's 1st Paralympic medallist when she came in 3rd for the individual championship (Grade 1a) event at the Hong Kong Olympic Equestrian Centre in Shatin.

Then she won another bronze medal for the individual freestyle test (Grade 1a).

She quit her job as a mental health worker in June 2008 to train full-time, a sacrifice that have paid off.

I think she deserves as much credit and recognition as the table-tennis women team who also won a bronze medal in their Olympic recently.

Also, fantastic support from her parents and grandparents. I doubt she could have made it so far if her parents have not moved her to live in UK when she was 4 years old.

Once again, we are proud of you.......Laurentia Tan .... our true blue Singaporean who lives in UK but still retain her citizenship!

Check out the blog below for more information on her .........

http://blogs.straitstimes.com/2008/9/2/nothing-to-lose

No Outside Food & Drinks !

Hi,

I was having a late breakfast & early lunch ( brunch ? ) with a friend in a coffee shop near my home this morning.

A car pulled up and the mother asked her young daughter to reserve the table next to ours. The Primary School girl ( she was in school uniform and from Jason's ex-school too ) came out of the car and sat at the table with a book and a bottle of water.

The coffee lady came to clear her table and pointed her to a sign that says " No Outside Food & Drinks ! ". She also spoke to the small girl but I did not catch what she was telling her.

I was a bit upset as the coffee lady could have waited for an adult to address the issue. I wonder whether the small girl felt intimidated and what is the impact on her. Did she share it with her mother when she came or she may be fearful from then onwards of bringing in a bottle of water into a coffee shop?

I was also carrying a bottle of water in my bag too but no intention to drink it in the coffee shop though. It is more for me when I am walking along the road or even on the bus as I am recovering from a sore throat and cold.

I think the coffee lady or waiters in restaturant should use their discretion and observe the customers before they decide on the actions to be taken.

My mother likes to drink from her own bottle of water as she does not take outside drinks or she would order a cup of warm water, if necessary. But she always keep a small bottle in her handbag and takes it out after the meal...... Yes, she could put me in a spot at times if we are dining in a restaurant..!

We should also give some allowances to children too, I think.

Penang Holiday - Some Photos

Hi

A few photos of my recent trip back to Penang, Malaysia.

Signage outside Gurney Plaza shopping mall in Gurney Drive.

The sea is in the background if you can see beyond the trees.

The latern decoration is in preparation for the coming Hari Raya holidays.

We enjoyed shopping and watching movies at Gurvey Plaza.... cheaper too!

Holiday Beach Resort - where we have our daily breakfast......

Quite a good breakfast spread too .......

This is a newer food court in Penang and quite clean too besides the good food.....


Jason liked the local 'Chee Cheong Fun' but and the sauces are slightly different too, especially the black prawn paste I called "Hair Ko"



This shop is inside the Penang International Airport. Last minute shopping of the local treats but slightly more expensive though, as expected.

Since my father medical result is good and his next check-up is scheduled in a year's time, and they are visitng Melbourne in Australia early next year, I am unlikely to visit Penang so soon.

Singapore in the Olden Days

Hi,

This video is great and really brings back memories of the good old days where life was so much simple and less stress......sigh....



Enjoy it.....

Rainstorm in Penang

Hi,

Just flew back from Penang yesterday afternoon.

While Singapore may be having some sporadic rain during the day over the past week, it was raining non-stop on Sat and Sun in Penang.

There were flood, landslide and trees fallen down onto the road. We were partly drenched while having supper at Gurney Drive hawker centre, one of the famous tourist spot.

We only felt the impact of it when we took a taxi back to our hotel along the beach, Batu Ferringhi, on Sat evening. The taxi was not able to send us back and we have to u-turn back to Gurney Plaza shopping mall as the only road up there was blocked by a landslide and fallen tree.

As this taxi does not have a radio, he has no update on the situation but he painted a bleek picture that it will take hours to clear the road as it is Puasa time and the people is not very efficient.

Luckily, I managed to call my regular taxi driver who drives my family in Pg around and also our neighbour in our Pg home. He made a few calls and got his taxi friend to send us back to the hotel after they have confirmation that the road was opened, which was pretty fast.

As I was also feeling sick ( running nose and headache ), it was a terrible experience if not for our taxi friend to the rescue. The earlier taxi driver was not much of a help and was more interested to get out of the jam and back to the shopping mall.

I now know how it is like to be stranded in a foreign place though I can go back to my parents place but all our luggage was in the hotel and we were flying off the following morning. Besides, I was sick and really wanted to lie on bed and nap for a while.

Well, like Jason said, it was an interesting experience and luckily, it ended well and we were back in the hotel in no time and shielded from the rain which continued till the next morning.

The good news was that my Dad medical results were good and he need not see the doctor until a year's time but I think I will aksed him to re-schedule his appointment to avoid this raining season!

The family was also quite successful in our shopping spree and watched two movies there, as it was so much cheaper.

Glad to be back in Spore, my home!

Orchard Road

Hi,

I took my Dad to have a look at Orchard Road since he was there 2.5 years ago and a lot is happening there........ renovations, new buildings, etc....

During the walk down Orchard Road, we came across a few interesting sights as shown in the photos below :






I thought it was a new MacDonald stall but it is a bus-stop!

Good advertising gimmick!












A nicely put up tent selling mooncake ... it really stood out!





Not forgetting our famous Singapore Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantry in the background.

Payment for every entry into Orchard Road to curb the heavy traffic.......


















Ngee Ann City - huge shopping complex with anchor tenant, Takashimaya.

Wheelock Place in the background, across the road where we have Borders book store, and Apple retail shop on one of its floors.

Orchard Roand junction, some major road and a huge building construction in progress....

Visit Orchard Road in a few years time and you will see all the huge shopping complexes being connected together ..... waiting to empty your wallets...ha..ha...ha....

The locals hardly shop at Orchard Road these days as there are similar smaller shopping complexes in the heartlands like Tampines Mall, Lot One, White Sands, Parkway Parade, etc.......

Touring Part of Singapore

Hi,

My father , from Penang, is visitng me for a week since last Wed.

I have been busy taking him out in the morning till early afternoon daily.

Here are some photos ....

Met my Dad, who arrived in the afternoon, and we headed to the foodcourt in T3 basement for a late lunch since he did not eat the food or snack given in flight. The food court is big and clean, popular with office staff and some students too..!

Taking the travellator in Dhoby Ghaut MRT interchange to connect to the North-South line. My Dad is so impressed with the MRT and air-con bus system here.

Sporeans have been gracious too as a women gave up her seat to him in the MRT twice. He commented that the men were not so gracious though as they waited for the women to give up the seat... so he noticed!

Took him to Vivocity and looked across into Sentosa as we were not keen to go into the island. But we have a very good lunch at Hog's Breath there, very well cooked beef.... should give it a try if you are there......

Showed him the F1 Grand Prix race track preparation; ie the specially installed overhead lights for the first night race and the concrete and steel barriers next to our Padang.

Singapore River basin next to our financial centre and the tall buildings in the background.

Also, went to Bugis Junction and prayed at the Kuan Yin temple in Waterloo Street.

Tomorrow is a rest day but we will be going to Siglap Centre for pizza; something that he miss when he is back in Penang.

These are just a few photos but we have covered quite a few places as his last visit was 2.5 years ago.

I will be flying back to Penang with my Dad on Thu for a short visit, with my family too.

Have a good one week school holiday !

( P/S Jason is complaining that he has almost full-day remedial classes in school + tuition this school holiday. This is the typical Spore education system....!)