My First Ice Ball at Singapore Food Trail

Few weeks ago I read about the Singapore Food Trail, our first 1960s-themed food street, and made a note to visit the place. Last Saturday I finally got my chance. After my free visit to Asian Civilizations Museum (thanks Jerome for the heads up), I trooped down to the Singapore Flyer via Anderson and Esplanade Bridge for lunch.

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Cards and Canals - My Marina Bay Sands Experience

Sun and Sands

After 5 months, I decided to re-visit Marina Bay Sands in October to check out its "progress" (this integrated resort seems to be perpetually under construction, even after its official opening on 23 June 2010). In my Great Casino Report, I highlighted the long queue outside the Casino and a canal with no water in the Shoppes. Both sights were not very encouraging. After my October visit, I had a better feel of the place as more areas are now accessible after the progressive opening up. My experience in Sands can be summed up thus: cards and canals.

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A Land of Hope and Wealth from Marina Bay Sands

I revisited Marina Bay Sands a month ago to find out what has changed since the last time I went in May. It was reassuring to know the casino – the raison d'être for the Integrated Resort – is still there but with less crowd. In addition more shops have opened and the canal is no longer dry. After the visit, I decided to try out a new return route. Instead of walking back to Promenade Station using the Helix Bridge, I would walk the other way to Raffles Place Station via Marina Boulevard. At One Marina Boulevard or One Raffles Quay would be an entrance to the MRT station via the underground shopping mall.

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Acts of Terrorism in My New Passport

My Singapore Passport

What has Terrorism got to do with Passport? You see, recently I renewed my passport and I must say the online system (APPLES) has made it so convenient to renew our passport now. On collection day I dutifully presented myself at ICA and couldn't wait to lay my hands on the little red book. Finally the tangible feeling that citizenship has its benefits! On flipping the pages, I reeled back in shock and horror.

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The Great Casino Report (First Visit to Marina Bay Sands)

I was getting impatient. Since Resorts World Sentosa opened its door in January, my Facebook has been inundated with photos taken in the integrated resort (IR). Uploaded by my female friends, they show the girls having fun at Singapore's first IR and gosh, how you wish you were there with them as well. Unfortunately none of them checked out the most important attraction and I am not referring to the theme park.

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2010 Countdown Fireworks from Central Promontory

Credit: Streetdirectory.com

I love our 2009 location for viewing the countdown fireworks display but not the Great Squeeze along Esplanade Bridge. Therefore an alternate route had to be found.

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Earth Hour in Singapore 2009

Judging from the media releases, Singapore’s Earth Hour event was a major success. Over 2000 people were estimated to have congregated at Esplanade Park where official festivities took place. I was one of them.

I did not join in the obstentious display of public support. While I support (emotionally) others who took part, my personal view is that any public display is there to raise awareness. This objective has been met judging from Earth Hour in the news. In fact, while over 25,000 individuals signed up formally in Singapore, many thousands more were estimated to have taken part without having the chance to formally register for the campaign. These were the silent heroes.

What is the real objective of Earth Hour 2009? You can read about using the light switch as your vote.

For Earth Hour, I did my part by not staying at home (lights off automatically) and taking public transport (like I always do). Even my camera pledged her support by going out on me – the battery went flat.

Most of the photos below were taken using my colleague’s camera. I brought him out to experience Earth Hour in Singapore.

I was at Esplanade Park not for the candlelight picnic and concert by WWF, Nadya Hutagalung and Gold 90.5FM DJs. I was there expressly to “soak myself in total darkness” and to take before and after shots of the city skyline.

City skyline at 20:14 hours:

City skyline at 20:42 hours. Taken with a different camera. Maybank and Fullerton Hotel supported Earth Hour enthusiastically:

If you were as naive as me, you would no doubt be disappointed. Car lights were still on and so were the road lamps. While the wish to soak myself in total darkness is exaggerated, my observation about the city skyline still brightly illuminated is not.

Not quite Earth Hour for some of them. The main “culprits” were the construction sites. The future Integrated Resort was basked in construction glory. Picture shows construction at or near The Sail:

On hindsight and after conversation with a friend, I surmised a reason could be the workers are paid hourly wages. Management willing but workers not, the paycheck comes before the candle. It was easier for Shenton Way to support Earth Hour which fell on a Saturday this year.

I did not pay attention to the concert, but the panda sure caught my attention. It so happened my colleague came from China and the panda is as iconic to their country as the Merlion is to ours. Imagine seeing our Merlion on stage in another country.

Not a kung-fu panda, just the mascot for WWF:

I can’t resist taking a photo of the plush toy. I think my colleague quipped about the panda looking ugly (哎哟，好难看). Or did he say cute (可爱)?

During Earth Hour, many supporters lighted their candles. I read they were beeswax candles and such candles reduce rather than add to pollution. Lit candles are often used to express solidarity. As lights were switched off, it was akin to killing two birds with one stone.

The light in the darkness. Using the light switch (and beeswax candles) as your vote:

Candlelight picnic at Esplanade Park taken along Esplanade Dr. There was a countdown to Earth Hour on stage:

I observed the Flyer was in darkness. I read that Orchard Road too joined in the pledge of darkness, but to what extent I’m not sure. If you were there, perhaps you can drop me a note in the comments.

Our dinner at Tony Roma’s subsequently was not in darkness. Not for these people at Starbucks though.

Drinking your coffee in darkness. Starbucks outlet at City Link Mall:

Earth Hour is over, but you can still make your vote count at the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December. You can add your Earth Hour photo to Earth Hour’s flickr group (Earth Hour 2009 Global) and tag it with your city and country. Or you can, like me, write a blog post about the event and tag it with earthhour or voteearth and your location.

Marina Bay Countdown 2009 .. How I Found the Best Place for Fireworks (Video)

The clock is slowly ticking.

2345 and I'm still wandering. Now I'm standing at the driveway of Clifford Pier. The entrance is right in front, but the staff are guarding the door. They accept a group arriving hastily but reject all others.

The grim truth hit me: there is no way in. My last bastion of hope is gone.

**********

If you're lazy like me, you probably joined the big squeezing party without knowing the ground zero for fireworks. So you camped at the only spot left best spot and hoped for a good view of the fireworks. But are all public viewing locations equal?

The countdown website lists seven vantage points to view fireworks, excluding the Float @ Marina Bay where tickets are needed.


The website does not tell us the ground zero, however. It should be near the Esplanade and Float, but the wallpapers at their download gallery hint anywhere but that.

In fact, the left wallpaper has the fireworks firing up from Marina Bay Sands. Is that a rehearsal for the Integrated Resort opening?

The prelude has me standing helplessly at Clifford Pier watching the privileged entering, It was the same story at One Fullerton where the privileged were already inside. Dejected, but not to give up, I backtracked and dug in at the B02 bus-stop below Change Alley.

Oh boy, I believe I found the best location that night! My line of sight was about perpendicular to the line of fireworks and the distance to ground zero was just right for the fireworks to fit into my camera. And most importantly, the place was not too crowded or cordoned off.

Take a look at my video. You be the judge.

Marina Bay Countdown 2009 .. How I Squeezed and got Squeezed

I'm not a sucker for crowded event, but last night I made my way to Marina Bay for Countdown 2009.

After an enjoyable steamboat session with my subordinate and ex-subordinates colleagues from the Mainland, we trooped to the Bay area.

We stopped for photo-shoot along the way. My Mainland subordinate colleague touched down less than a week ago, so he was trying to capture some night shots of our city. This was my attempt on Raffles Hotel.



As we turned left into Bras Basah Road from Beach Road, I could see pockets of people making their way to Suntec City. We saw the 'chopstick' across the junction. I'm not sure whether Mainlanders understand sook-ching, so I told him that is a memorial for massacre victims and I added - "like Nanking Massacre".

We took the CityLink to the Esplanade and the first sign of what was to come greeted me. The police closed the underground entrance to the building. So everybody was made to exit on the side of Esplanade Park, across the road from the Esplanade.

Since our main purpose was to enjoy the fireworks and not the crowd, we continued along Esplanade Drive to find a suitable spot. The whole Esplanade Bridge was infested abound with people.



The police had blocked access to the road before the bridge. There was no way to get to the Esplanade side and once you're on the bridge, there's no way to cross-over to the other side.

Esplanade Drive was closed from 8pm to 2am for the countdown event. I was on the bridge around 11pm.



The bridge was infested crowded all right, but looking back on what happened last night after the bridge, it wasn't too bad. At least we could still move.

Many people settled down on the bridge. They might had thought the bridge was the best location for the fireworks. Or they might had given up.



I thought the crowd situation at Merlion Park or One Fullerton would be better, given the countdown epicentre was at Marina Bay Floating platform.

Bleah, what a miscalculation.

The monster was after the Esplanade Bridge. Just before Esplanade Drive and Fullerton Drive converge, there's a pedestrian crossing. Two human streams - from Esplanade Bridge and The Fullerton Hotel - flowed, or tried to flow, into Marina Bay One Fullerton.

It was a terrifying sight and experience. The human stream became stagnant here. You couldn't advance or retreat. In the distance a policeman was gesticulating wildly for people to move back from One Fullerton.

Moments before crowd moment stopped completely, I was actually relishing the experience of squeezing people and getting squeezed. There was no violent shoving. In fact I do not remember any skin contact or anybody breathing on my neck. It helped that a girl was constantly in front - and not some burly male dripping with sweat.



When moment got frozen, I imagined having to countdown from this uncomfortable position in the middle of the road. Unforgettable, but no thanks. Luckily the gesticulating policeman was successful. The group in front was persuaded to return.

Amazingly, when they turned back, our moment resumed! We were on the One Fullerton side in no time. Those people were foreign nationals and I suppose you can find them at construction sites. I'm inclined to blame them for the inconvenience. Even my Mainlander subordinate colleague was surprised at their number in Singapore.

One Fullerton was another public viewing location for the fireworks and the whole area had been cordoned off by the police, who thought it unwise to allow more people into the area. Standing outside, I looked at the crowd behind the cordon and in the restaurants.

My eyes were green with envy.

**********

After the fireworks display, there was an exodus to the MRT station. I was like huh, why's everybody so pragmatic? There was no public celebration, nobody's dancing and before 12:10am, the exodus had began. The fireworks was 7 minutes long and everybody was there just for the fireworks.

Train service was extended into the wee-hours. At 12:20am, I was in Raffles Place Station together with other, ahem, revelers.



It was then I witnessed the true operational capability of our SMRT. You didn't know they can be that efficient until you witnessed the countdown for their train. Trains were practically queuing up to ferry the revelers home.

You feel cheated during normal peak hours, don't you?