Aha, it’s finally done. Behold, one of the largest updates to the photo galleries in a long time. The university photo gallery has been online for sometime since early this year, but I’ve not actually found time to update anything nor caption any of the photos till my breather time this summer holidays.

Thankfully for that done now, though I actually take quite some musings in updating the galleries than actually seeing it as a chore :]. This post serves as a bookmark and table of content in logging all these album entries before I go about revisiting my travel dairies for each of the individual trips in detail with their own respective blog posts each, going more in depth of the photos in the galleries itself. There are also additional photo stitch panoramas which I am still in the midst of compiling, so I guess that’s something to look forward here under the travel section!

Glad I had one of these many chores looming over my head cleared before term starts in a month’s time. In the meantime, do check out the various new galleries I have listed. You can also access it directly by clicking on “university” on the links on the left under the gallery section.

Musings in London, with time to spare!

London for a walk!

Natural history museum

Sights along the Thames!

These photos in the first section encompasses random photos I take on my regular trips to London, which is not too far off where I stay in Cambridge. The city is always buzzing with events and parades, let be meeting up with friends studying in the various city colleges there as well. London is a relatively safe world class city with an ethnic melting pot and many things to see, their museums are no exception either.

Cardiff wales and Christmas with Aunt Jenny

Cardiff castle

Christmas stayover!

1207 Oaiham castles

These next photos are taken last winter during my trip to Cardiff in wales followed by a Christmas stay over at at an old family friend’s place for a Christmas dinner. It’s also the first time I get to stay with a British family, so it was quite an eye opener for me.

Trip to Alton towers.

There is no roller coaster too scary for me! much to the others on the trip too who never quite saw the thrills you get from the fantastic coasters alton towers have to offer. Alton is widely know to be a pioneer in few of their roller coasters still in operation today, like be the first diving, inverted and flying coasters (That includes the first corkscrew coaster in the world too, now defunct)

Nemesis rocks!

Oblivion

Flying on Air!

The Lake District

Ambleside beaches

Steamer in Ullswater

Mountains of Keswick

The lake district is one of the most scenic sights in the whole of Britain, possibly said to be the “yellowstone of UK”, the views offered in the vicinity are breathtaking given the number of lakes and mountains around the area, providing endless opportunities for mountain goers and trekkers alike.

That is not all, you can view all of them and more at the university photo gallery.

Upon my return back to Singapore for the summer holidays, the Marina bay sands resort is one of my few places must visit places before I head back to the UK for my next university term. I remembered passing by the ECP from the airport ogling at the newly glass-cladded monstrosities, standing on a once large undeveloped piece of reclaimed prime land, which never quite saw the light of development until the conceiving of the IR and construction more than 3 years ago.

It’s one to brag about too, the Marina Bay Sands in a nutshell is an integrated resort (IR) fronting Marina Bay in Singapore. Developed by Las Vegas Sands, it is billed as the world’s most expensive standalone casino property at S$8 billion (US$5.7 billion), including cost of the reclaimed prime land.

A good way to get started off the Sands is to arrive offsite, let be taking public transport such as the MRT to the Promenade MRT Station on the Circle Line or parking around the flyer/millennia walk area and taking a short walk over to the resort- where you can really appreciate the sights along the way to your destination. The resort will be served by the Bayfront Station on the Downtown Line in 2013.

The helix bridge link

Peeks of the IR through the Helix

CBD from the Bridge

You will see yourself hitting the Youth Olympics park, presumably not a one-off item created for the games but I believe a place marked in stone as the venue of the world’s first Youth Olympics. The Helical bridge, widely known by engineers as one of the most structurally stable designs conceived from nature is flaunted in full glory over the marina bay. A dedicated road bridge runs parallel and serves the IR directly together with few active bus services.

You will have the option of the main entrance to the shopping complex or the bay-side pavilion at the end of the bridge. A 120,000 square meter, convention center resides adjacent to the shopping complex. There is also an Art & Science museum, the iconic Lotus shaped amphitheatre, sands theatres, complimented by two floating pavilions and six “celebrity chef” restaurants.

Impressive and large was the shopping area on first impression only to be greeted disappointingly, largely by unfinished works despite it’s official opening nearly 2 months ago. The shopping centre is still largely under renovation, with half of it only open and accessible to shoppers.

Convention center, shops & casino

Inside the main building

The casino entrance

I guess Sands might have their operational objectives in place. With the casino and convention center possibly being the biggest revenue draws, it’s not surprising to see them all primed and operational in stark contrast to the sawdust still around most of the other less important attractions.

Humorously, a small “river” spans the width of the shopping area, which could be mistaken for a fountain/canal. Unlike most Casinos in Vegas, I was still torn to finding a theme for the Marina Sands resort. It’s not quite Venice with the boats but not in any way “Singaporean” in any way too with a few Asian themed boats to add to the “oriental feel”. With a casino nearby, I guess the stores around the area have quite a fight to share for when punters.

The Casino is undeniably the major highlight of the attraction, let be exclaimed to be one of the
a casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines. Given strict gambling rules in Singapore, the design of the Sands resort involves having the casino as a separate isolated entity as with the hotel and the convention center.

The iconic hotel blocks

Hotel front facade

The tower interior

In contrast, I remembered the Casino gaming grounds in Vegas notorious for being just about everywhere, even a simple trip to the restaurant, hotel or lifts involves cutting through lines of jackpot machines and dealer tables, passing by most of the Casino at a go. You can either love or hate this.

I’ve not personally been into the Marina Sands Casino, despite the many recommendations from people I know we’ve been in there, citing that it as a once in a lifetime-experience, even if you do not gamble in there. It looks big, with one of the most modern gambling facilities I’ve seen to date, but I think I have better uses for the $100 Singaporean entrance fee.

Come to think about it, if I were to have any affiliation with a Casino, chances are I will be working for them, knowing the science and workings of Casinos myself. It’s an interesting subject combining the musings of mathematics, probabilities, psychology (human greed) & business elements such as gaming/jackpot revenue optimisation, beats actually throwing my money on the floors. I personally do not gamble on the grounds of the odds, the Casino is just a novelty here.

Looks awfully similar to Mandarin hotel

The Rise Cafe

The CBD from the shops

The hotel blocks across the road is one of it’s kind weighing in with 2,560 rooms spanning over 3 towers each 55 floors high, all topped by a 340m-long sky park with their trademarked infinity swimming pool, which spans half the total length of the sky park itself. The sky park have capacity of 3,900 people and is too home to the world’s largest public cantilevered platform, with an overhang of 67m from the north (third) tower.

Interestingly, I remembered a remark from one of the engineers who designed the platform on the vibration analysis of the cantilever itself- despite it’s capacity to take on an excess of 1000 people dancing and stomping on it at a go (the cantilever is heavily counter-weighed on the other end of the tower 3). They even tested crowd vibration resonance tuned to various contemporary songs itself which can be played in a gig, and yes, there is actually a song blacklist for DJs.

The main hotel entrance and atrium is located at Tower 1. The atrium forms a long continuous span at ground level linking all three tower blocks through a glass covered walkway which tapers downwards towards tower 3. The cavernous open spaces in the Tower 1 lobby looks almost like that in Marina Mandarin, (which noticeably is just a few blocks away). Food-wise, there are 2 notable restaurants in the hotel itself, serving Chinese & international cuisines respectively. The latter located within the hotel’s main atrium café (rise) offers an impressive international buffet spread at $80 per head. It is so packed, the restaurant have a stand against reservations. No wine is served, unlike that at Ritz Carton with a better ambience a finer spread with a rate not too far off either.

Helical bridge all lit

Fireworks!

The IR at night

The views offered from the bay area are ones you will never see yourself getting sick of. Guests staying in the hotel will be treated to fantastic views of the Singapore skyline, whether you are on the north facing block towards the CBD or the south side overlooking the barrage, sea and the gardens by the bay. There are also occasional fireworks displays, coupled with a synchronised CBD light show.

That’s all I have of my first trip to the Sands Resort, I guess I might be back possibly next year for another peek where everything is nearing completion, not to mention also checking out the Sentosa resort as well. Cheers.

More photos of the Marina bay sands

A HD video I got compiled from last Monday’s celebration of the national day parade 2010. Celebrating Singapore’s 45 years of independence.

The video essentially starts after the National anthem and lasts through the whole 5 minute firework show, ending with the president’s leave from the Padang.

Happy 45th birthday Singapore! And so, I was at the national day parade (NDP) tonight. I was fortunate to be invited to watch it today at a rather short notice thanks to an ex-classmate of mine who knew I was around town and happened to have an additional ticket at the last minute. :3

This was of course contrary to my initial plan to just spend the long weekend at home watching it, seems the unexpected kind honours of attending this year’s parade at the Padang itself came very much impromptu!

Getting there was not much of a problem, with the exception of the rather packed MRT stations. The tube is in fact one of the few best ways to get there with all the crowds above ground and contrary to the bus route I taken (which actually made diversions further than what I’ve expected from the venue itself). Nonetheless I arrived on time at the venue with a good selection of grandstand seats to choose from.

Found a good seat, now wave your flags!

The bad goodie bag pile

The Durian & Sands IR from the Padang

Prior to being seated there were of course security checks and the distribution of famed goodie bags. I was not surprised that my bag items and funbox were all damaged, with their faces dented & corners ripped, considering how the logistics have them all piled up in mountains. Guess my box is not that lucky in the handling department despite it’s serial number ending with 0888 . On a bright side, thankfully there was ample food for always-hungry people like me, not to mention enough drinks in the packs to last the whole parade proper.

Having toured some parts of the marina bay since I returned to Singapore, I was initially puzzled by the fact that both the Padang and the floating platform had performing stages decked on them, so I thought there were going to be 2 concurrent venues for this year’s event. Later do I know from some of my contacts on the YOG that the floating platform was actually used for the opening ceremony the day before. In other words, given the smaller seating capacity at the Padang this year, there are actually much fewer tickets and thus more exclusivity to this year’s parade as I was told.

Overview of the flag flypast.

Neat shot of the F15 flyover

Great views with the fantastic CBD skyline

Looking back, the last time I’ve attended a live NDP parade in person was more than 10 years ago, in 1997 to be exact where I participated as a performer in the combined school choir- something which I never actually see myself doing but got to understanding and appreciating the workings into bringing about a successful NDP performance. I’ve been much of an NDP critic over the last few years then, with a benchmark of the next always being better than the last. This is also particularly true towards the NDP songs, which are always notoriously known to be too cheesy for their own good. The ones over the last year including this present one are commendable indeed.

The mobile column

Midshow fireworks

Night lighting

The parade was rather short in my opinion, lasting about 2 hours tops. I remembered past NDPs being slightly longer, or maybe the considering of the mobile column segment eating considerably into some performance time, therefore fewer performances this year.

With the exception of one band parade member fainting, performances are good, the floats this year are at least proper ones too and not some “pick up truck convert”. The lighting throughout the performances were nice as well, with the exception of those situated in front of the green grandstand, where 2 sets of coloured floodlights were constantly on blinding all the audiences sitting on the yellow grandstand.

Noticeably is the animated projection on the city hall which I last saw at the Cambridge University’s 800th Anniversary courtesy of Projection Studio London, wondered if they are responsible for the ones at this NDP too.

Forming the flag

Some of the performance pieces

The finale fireworks

The ending fireworks lasted about 5 minutes, not the longest NDP fireworks to date, but one of the most diverse with new launch points on top of buildings as well as whole new sights of the central business district and the marina bay sands. Crowd control after the event was well managed too, with everyone moved on steadily out of the venue. Humorously a looping audio reel constantly playing the background reminds you of the respective MRT station directions to head to from the event, with smooth calming instrumental jazz music.

In all a great event, fitting for Singapore’s 45 years of independence.

As what Tychus Findlay would say “Hell, it’s about time”. Yes indeed, with 12 years in the waiting since 1998, Starcraft 2 is finally released and in the hands of gamers as part of a 3 series story starting with the Terran campaign- “Wings of liberty”. The official launch party in Singapore was on today afternoon at atrium of Funan the digital lifestyle mall. Long queues snaking around the building can be seen right before noon today, with the first in line said to be camping in the mall for the last 48 hours.

I usually see great value in the games Blizzard publish, namely from their 3 flagship games and universes- Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo, I am not really a fan of the Warcraft series, particularly getting hooked on World of warcraft, despite playing the series since WC2 and all their expansions. Besides Diablo too, Starcraft has always been a series which stood close to my heart during my growing up years, let be the endless multi-player sessions with friends right after school everyday via our 56kps dial-up modems. Those were indeed the days.

No stores in Funan were stocking the game as of yet today, with the launch party being the only exclusive source of the game today. Boxed versions of the game will be available in store tomorrow with or without additional freebies/goodies depending on the store you brought your game from. Had a chat with Brian Kindregan from Blizzard who was there for the launch as well, a nice chap who also had no problems with photos!

Brian Kindregan from Blizzard- SC2 lead writer

The queues outside

And we have boxes! & boxes

The thought of Starcraft 2 is indeed nostalgic, with thoughts of reliving the good old days in pure high definition glory or visuals. Graphics had definitely improved, though anyone familiar with the old Starcraft interface will be disappointed with nothing really new introduced in the game- mostly everything being a fancy repacked remake of what is currently existing with a few additional units. On the contrary, that was exactly what Blizzard had in mind too, so that old players can simply just jump right into the game and play it just like the old game, 2 sides of the story.

The game is highly optimized for performance too, the game runs flawlessly at Ultra settings (1920×1200) with a high respectable frame rate on an i7-950 and GTX280 setup as well as a dated Q9450 and HD3870 setup at home. Will be trying the game out on my tri-screen setup at 3600×1920. Sure beats the old game fixed at 640×480.

With Wings of liberty released, Blizzard was unable to comment on the launch of the boxes campaigns for the Zerg and Protoss campaigns as well, only time will tell where more information will be released in public. In the meantime, the next Blizzard game to put your crosshairs on next will be Diablo III.

Currently on display at the Singapore National museum are one of the most talked about pieces in modern art- Cai Guo-Qiang’s flying pack of wolves, Head on. Just like any modern art, it can either awe, shock or draw controversial flak. But you can’t deny this is a show stealer.

Head on!

Not an everyday scene

Wolf-off!

Showcase talk
Located in the underground bowels of the National museum, the display was made out of 99 individual replica wolves and were produced in Quanzhou, China in 2006 (from January to June). The wolves are made to follow a continuous circle, running off in a pack before leaping off into an orderly floating frenzy before coming head first into a glass wall. The glass wall symbolizes the invisible roadblocks and challenges we face in life due to miscalculated risks or greed, which will inevitably stop you dead in your tracks.

No wolves were harmed in the making of this showcase- The workshop commissioned in manufacturing these remarkable, life-sized replicas of animals are local in Cai’s hometown. First, small clay models were created as movement studies, out of which Cai subsequently developed Head On’s artist editions of cast resin wolves. However, the realistic and lifelike 99 wolves that grew out of these models and drawings possess no literal remnants of wolves. No wolves were harmed in making the exhibit. they are fabricated from painted sheepskins and stuffed with hay and metal wires, with plastic lending contour to their faces and marbles for eyes.

A running start

Take off!

Bonk!

There are two other works on display as well, Illusion and Vortex:

Illusion II (2006)
The destruction of a small exploding house packed with fireworks, exploring the contradiction between beauty and violence.

Vortex (2006)
One of Cai Guo-Qiang’s gunpowder masterpieces, depicting thousands of wolves chasing one another in a ciruclar motion as if sucked into a vortex. The pack of wolves moves with grea tengery force and determination, simultaneously demostrating a perfect unity with organic power of the gunpowder.

About Cai Guo-Qiang
Cai Guo-Qiang was born in 1957 in Quanzhou City, Fujian, China. He was trained in stage design at the Shanghai Theater Academy from 1981 to 1985. Cai’s work is scholarly and often politically charged. Cai initially began working with gunpowder to foster spontaneity and confront the suppressive, controlled artistic tradition and social climate in China.

Double Bonk!

A pile of wolves

A gun powder piece

While living in Japan from 1986 to 1995, Cai explored the properties of gunpowder in his drawings, an inquiry that eventually led to his experimentation with explosives on a massive scale and the development of his signature “explosion events,” artistically choreographed shows incorporating fireworks and other pyrotechnics. In 1995, he moved to New York with a grant from the New York-based Asian Cultural Council, an international organization to promote artistic exchanges between Asian countries and the United States.

Be sure to check out the displays before August!

The Singapore national museum had changed quite a lot since I last visited the place a few years back. The front lobby area is still left largely intact, but though seemingly nothing much has changed on the exterior, the magic comes when you enter the building. The compound now spots an extended basement exhibition hall area, effectively increasing the exhibition floor area by a substantial amount.

Decked in modern-ish white and black it’s like the perfect showground for contemporary media- whether it’s the vast open spaces for large sculptures or the high walls to deck large paintings on. The two most interesting exhibits for the day are located in these two basement level exhibition halls, namely the Singapura 1960s exhibit and Cai Guo-Qiang’s controversial art.

The 1960s Singapore showcase
This exhibit “Singapore 1960″ celebrates a year on after 50 years of self-government. The display takes the form of a vibrant and colourful ‘live’ show set interjected with both noteworthy and quirky news articles throughout that year, all lined along the curved walls of time, separating the main exhibit partitions. Interesting to note are the news, advertisements and even comics shown on the papers then, some do really stood the change of time. The show features over 300 artifacts will be presented in the manner of art installations.

Interior of the museum

1960 Singapore exhibit

Clothing of the yesteryear

Featured too in the exhibit is a 100-year old Strohmenger grand piano which used used in the composing of the national anthem, sexy sarong kebayas, the Aw Boon Haw jade collection, fully sequinned Chinese opera costumes, hundreds of popular vinyl records and publications, two pairs of sweat-stained boxing gloves and a kitschy diorama; these were some of the icons that dotted post-WWII Singapore’s socio-cultural landscape.

The display is free for viewing and rather professionally done in my opinion. There are some cultural spaces familiar to Singaporeans then such as the eclectic Haw Par Villa and the defunct neon-lit ‘Worlds’ amusement parks. The whole display is rather small in my opinion and I believe could be expanded to show more of Singapore’s part than just that particular year, but that is just mostly it, would love to see more.

Passage through time

Niffy displays

Wall of vinyls

Commendably, in comparison to several museums I’ve been in London, particularly the Tate, British, Natural History and Science museums, which I can vouch for are world class museums, the Singapore national museum in my personal opinion not bad on that standard, with the exception of the smaller exhibition space.

I will touch on Cai Guo-Qiang’s gallery in a separate post.

And so the exams are over, the party’s out and I am back in Singapore for another type of party. I never saw myself coming home so soon, but time really flies. Looking back, the flight back was not too much of a killer too and I guess I have much of the airline on-board flight entertainment system to keep my sanity at bay. Think I am starting to get rather accustomed to the 13 hours odd long flight from London and it will be a journey I will see myself traveling more often these days, really beats the traumatic near 18 hour flights I’ve taken to the states.

On yes, I’ve visited few cool places before returning. Got the visit few of my favorite theme park attractions as well as catching some sights at the Lake District. The views there are spectacular! I will be posting a massive update of my holiday trip in the UK- that provided if I can actually find time to get all my photos and blog posts sorted, not to mention getting some panoramic photos stitched for the albums.

So what I can say after spending about a year abroad in UK? Well for starters I guess the environment is definitely different. I guess the same can be said for those in the states as well. The people abroad are more sociable, friendly and courteous. It’s surprising what you can end up chatting with a stranger at the pub, train, bus or even at the grocery check-out counter. This culture is literally non-existent in Singapore. Moreover, I’ve got to meet many people from all over the world in my college, picked french as a new language and survived my first year in college!

The thing which I really looked forward to upon my return is the food, my family and yes did I mention food? Eating out in the UK is ridiculously expensive, a plate of chicken or char siew rice in Chinatown London can set you back about $10SGD and it’s the same everywhere. The humidity is quite a killer here too, and just when I was really starting to love and appreciate the weather in the UK, it’s sweat town here again.

After more than a week back home, here are some minute observations I’ve made:

Singapore oh Singapore
- Place is not necessarily cleaner, but spit is more evident on the streets.
- The waiting time for public transport is very fast (30 mins min in UK)
- Will never cycle on the roads, motorists have no respect for cyclists here.
- MRT and bus rides reach their destinations trailblazing fast.
- It takes getting used to not greeting people in public (being more unfriendly)
- The urinals here are on average mounted 10-20cm lower. *Bends lower*

Language was a very interesting thing, not many people in the UK can actually understand Singaporean English- I was told we do have an ascent which is distinctively different of that of the Chinese nationals. It’s so unique that we even use it as a tool to sieve out the Malaysians and Singaporeans from a pile of Asians!

Time and again, I often see our British friends eve and awe at the simplicity of the sentences which completely made no sense in English but carried more weight than the few words we use to describe what we actually meant. “Got already?”

Nonetheless, the longer you stay abroad, you will start to pick up the proper English language and pronunciation, now it’s time to unlearn that and switch myself to Singaporean mode and just… Enjoy Lah!