Page 58 – ShaunChng.com

Collins Western Grille Premium Restaurants

Western

Shaun

-

Sunday, April 29, 2018

Collins Western Grille Premium Restaurants

Collins is a household brand in Singapore when it comes to offering good western grille at a matching good price. The brand has now expanded into a more premium market with dine-in restaurant setting. You can remember Collins from the last time I wrote about my dining experiences to their coffee shop western grille stores. They can be found in several heartland central areas and are known for their value for money western food grille and Japanese Bento Sets.

Tapping on a bigger market

I can see the chain’s decision to expand into the already crowded western food segment. Notable competitors in the scene include Astons, iSteaks and Char-Grill to name afew. They saw their founding after the popularity from the now defunct Botak Jones western outlets. Moreover, you might remember Botak Jones as one of the pioneers in the premium coffeeshop western food, with their trademark Cajun fries.

Hence, it would be logical for Collins to cast their net to expand into a greener market. A Collins with a restaurant setting (or what I would like to call the “Atas Collins“) can truly diversify their product line as well as command a more premium price on their selections.

Restaurant ambience

Their restaurants have a modern yet casual style concept, with a mix of table and booth-style seating. Furthermore, given the restaurant setting, you get waitered service and the ability to pay with all major credit cards. This expands on the cash or NETS payment options only available at all the other Collins coffeeshop outlets. Moreover, this will be good for rebate junkies looking to maximise your credit card returns with Collins.

Additionally, Collins membership scheme is also applicable to all Atas Collins restaurants. Their outlets are typically located in central city areas So far I had dined at their branches in Marina Square mall, as well as their newest outlet in the basement of Cineleisure orchard. Other branches includes Northpoint city, Jubilee Square and Shaw Plaza.

Similarly, these range of sit-in restaurant are run and managed behind by the brains who brought you the largely prevalent Collins western shops. They are founded by Mr Collin Ho, a culinary veteran, where all the restaurant bears his first name.

After dining in their Marina Square and Cineleisure outlets, I am pleased that Collins still stuck to what is tried and tested. Offering an affordably cheap, (or I would say value for money) casual dining experience for the mainstream diner without being too expensive. Lets us see what’s on offer.

Mains and Grille Choices

Moreover, you get more premium offerings in this Atas Collins. A differentiating area between the coffee shop variant of Collins and that of the restaurant Collins is the provision of several premium menu items. Never seen before dishes includes Duck Confit going at $15.90. This offers a more exquisite finer side of dining at Collins.

Moreover, other notable premium options includes the Wagyu Beef selections. You can have a go at the US Mishima Wagya Ribeye Steak (250g) it has a marbling score of 5. It is served with Beer battered potato sidewinders, seasonal vegetables and topped with a corn on cob, setting you back $35.90.

Mixed combo $30.90, with 1/2 roasted chicken, 1/4 BBQ pork ribs, 1/4 St Louis style pepper ribs, tiger prawns, bratwurst sausage, fires fires an corn on cob with salad — Massive mixed combo for the truly hungry, with 1/2 roasted chicken, 1/4 BBQ pork ribs, 1/4 St Louis style pepper ribs, tiger prawns, bratwurst sausage, fires fires an corn on cob with salad. $30.90.

Also, if that is not it, there is the mixed combo set. This massive combo, at $30.90 gets you behemoth serving of food comprising of a 1/2 roasted chicken, 1/4 BBQ pork ribs, 1/4 St Louis style pepper ribs, tiger prawns, bratwurst sausage, fries and corn on cob with salad. Now that is quite a mouthful!

If you wish to tone it down a little, there is of course the traditional Mixed-grille options. Allowing to savor bit of every type of meats Collins have to offer.

Collins Mixed grille $16.50 — Collins Mixed grille, $16.50.

These selections, together with dishes such as Scallop and crab croquettes with tossed spaghetti with chili crab sauce are items you can’t find in your regular Collins for now. They are not bad for the price, with the market competition usually going for $5 to $6 more per serving. Who knows, maybe these dishes might be brought into their mainstream coffee shop menus. I’d really like their Duck Confit to be available.

Same, but new old

Commendably, if you are in for the usual line of Collin staples, you still get your usual selection of Collins favorites. Usual offerings includes Rib eye steak (200g) at $19.50. Moreover, their Quarter roast chicken and half St Louis pork ribs are also available on the menu at the same good price at $19.50.

1/2 roasted chicken with a salad of BBQ baby back pork ribs — 1/2 roasted chicken with a slab of BBQ baby back pork ribs.

Moreover, in the restaurant setting, the dishes are served on much better presented on more premium-looking ceramic plates, rather than plastic ones in the coffee shops. Furthermore, returning icons includes their trademark grilled chicken chop with spaghetti. This favorite is similarly served with corn and a salad side. I found it pleasing that Collins kept to their tried and tested menu and expanded it with interesting options.

The all time chicken chop and pasta favorite presented in a more Atas style at the same good price! — The all time chicken chop and pasta favorite presented in a more “*Atas*” style at the same good price!

Additionally, seafood and fish offerings includes ocean Haddock fish and tempura. French herbs breaded haddock fish and tempura fried squid with sweet potato fires, coleslaw, corn cob and tartar sauce.

Ocean Haddock fish and Tempura squid Seafood platter.

Adding to the mix I found the breaded haddock fish very nicely cooked. The fish is well done without being overly soft. It is well-seasoned with french herbs which brings the flavor in the meats. To complete it as a meal, the dish is topped with tempura fried squid with sweet potato fries.

Scallop and crab croquettes with tossed spaghetti with chili crab sauce

Moreover, I particularly like how their outlets open past late. With some opening up to midnight. It makes it an ideal supper place to-go after say, a late movie or a musical play or even after a long day of overtime work.

An extensive Pizza and Pasta selection

You can get Pasta and baked rice dishes as a main instead of as a side here too. Notable options includes a larger selection of pasta choices such as Tagliatelle, Penne and even Potation Gnocchi. The restaurant prides themselves using quality Brailla Pasta in all their dishes. Staples like Prawn Penne, Aglio Oli, Carbonara or Beef Bolognese will set you back under $13- $16 a serving.

I recommend trying their 12″ stone fired oven baked pizzas as a side to share with your main course. They go excellent in groups and can be served upfront first before your mains. Only a standard size is available with 16 different thin-crust varieties. I recommend their Shroom pizza. It is is light a goes well with the light thin-crust without being too filling.

The Shroom pizza, a Stone oven baked goodness! Check out the burnt edges!

Furthermore, adding to the mix is an assortment of Milkshake and smoothies to go with your western grille. I recommend their Avocado shake at $5.90 Shakes. Their premium Ice Earl Grey Tea at $3.50 a cup is not something I fancy, especially worth the money as it is all loaded with Ice. I did advise to go for their plain water. It comes served with flavored mint leaves and strawberries.

Baked rice

Prawn Penne Pasta

Avocado Milkshake

Value for money for the mainstream

I found their menu selections are priced to suit all budgets and the hungry. They are affordable, but don’t leave you thinking you had been ripped off. You can’t go wrong coming in and finding something you will like. Moreover, Collins pride themselves in using only quality produce in their dishes.

Examples includes use of Sadia chicken for the poultry dishes and Barilla pasta. In context, I would say the dishes, using an airline seating context sits and appeals more to the mass market “economy premium” customers rather than Business class.

Going on that, if you wish to bring your dining to “premium economy“, Wines by the bottle are also available via their restaurant bar. Average prices range about $60 a bottle originating from Australia, Chile or France.

All in all, I found Collins premium restaurants a fine addition into the array. It is a good attempt to diversify their already popular coffee shop outlets into the restaurant market. The benefits we see are a greater variety of dishes and with more quality selections offered in a more comfortable upmarket setting. At a price hard to beat too. It gets my pick as one of my top go-to places in town for Western grille.

Collins premium restaurants
At various locations around Singapore.
Check their website for full franchise list around Singapore.
Collins Atas Restaurants typical opens daily: 10:00am – 12:00am

Hamburg Steak Keisuke

Japanese

Shaun

-

Friday, April 27, 2018

1

Hamburg Steak Keisuke is a small Japanese dine-in restaurant in Tanjong Pagar region. It offers good quality Japanese patty steaks at a fair price in a setting hard to beat. It is located at Peck Seah Street just in front of Gucco/ Tanjong Pagar Centre in front of Tanjong Pagar MRT station. You might remember it being a stone throw away from Amoy Street, home to sliced fish soup delicacy I covered previously.

Hamburg (Hamburger) steak is essentially a patty of ground beef. It originated from Germany. Also, it bears a very close resemblance to the Salisbury steak, largely popularized by migrating Germans worldwide. It comprised of cooked ground minced beef flavored with marinate spices. Also, it is not until the start of the nineteenth century where people start to take notice, with it becoming a global mainstream dish.

The rest is history, Hamburg steaks took Japan by storm. It became quite a hit that the Japanese are larger fans of what previously known as a European “Budget dish”. Multiple franchises started overflowing out from Japan, into the region and into Singapore shores.

Tucked in the Tanjong Pagar Business District

Notably, the restaurant is popular with lunch office goers in the commercial Tanjong Pagar area. It is open daily at two time slots per day starting at 11.30am to 2.30pm for lunch, and 5.30pm to 10pm for the dinner session after an afternoon break. The place can get rather packed on weekday lunch hours and even on weekend dinners with snaking queues.

Interior and general restaurant ambience.

The restaurant ambience is chill and compliments the combination of light and dark wood interior of the dining area. The restaurant has an open concept kitchen too, with the working area visible behind a salad bar counter.

At times you can see staff members busily preparing meals or cooking eggs on an open grill. Moreover, Keisuke is laid out with central open seating and private dining booths around the edges of the restaurant with privacy curtains if need be.

Keisuke menus choices are really simple. You won’t have much of any difficulty choosing what to order on the menu here at Hamburg Steak. Ordering from the menu here is a very simple affair. It is simply just the beef steak patty with or without the cheese fillings.

Quality Beef Patties

The Japanese-style Beef Hamburg Steak patty is served on a hot plate over a bed of bean sprouts. It comes with a side serving of tempura, bean curd, rice and miso soup. It is a pretty hearty meal by itself. Moreover, wait times are short. The food comes out pretty quickly, greatly aided by a highly simplified and streamlined menu choice. The portions are just right.

The cheese hamburger steak with the usual additions.

The Hamburg steak patty is pretty sizable, it is well cooked and wholesome. On a hind side it does look like an oversized burger beef patty. However, it has a much better smoother texture than their processed meat-counterparts you tend to see in fast food burgers. The cheese variant has cheese infused into its centre core. It deliciously oozes out once you cut into it.

Though one can argue that Hamburg steaks are no Wagyu patties, and what you are essentially paying for could be overpriced beef patties. However, you don’t seem to see that here. The meat is soft, and juicy. It feels like the patties were minced from quality chosen cuts of beef, rather than packed together using cheap reprocessed meats. Furthermore Keisuke touts that their hamburger steaks are made of 100% beef with no pork and no lard.

Salad Buffet Fest

With every main course, you are entitled to full access of the restaurant buffet salad bar. This further adds to value you get from the already competitively priced Hamburg steak. The salad bar counter runs along the length of the outlet. It is visible from all areas of the restaurant being a center piece.

Salad choices are rather wholesome and well stocked. It touts up to 25 salad selections. You get soba noodles, pasta on top of your usual salad selection of mixed greens. Hence, it offers a sizable selection of sides and salads which you can access for your pre-meal appetizers, as well as desserts and fillers. No one will leave the restaurant hungry.

Egg buffet anyone?

Additionally, beside the salad bar is the egg frying section. The name “egg buffet” does sound odd at first, but it is exactly what it says on the tin. Also, they are all freshly cooked in batches and put up for collection.

Eggs for thought. Sunny side up with teriyaki sauce.

You have a choice of 4 ways in which you eggs which are prepared. They are range from mainstream western to traditional Japanese styles. Examples include fried sunny side up, scrambled eggs, or traditional Tamagoyaki style, in which the omelette is pan fried and rolled.

Tamagoyaki

Poached Eggs

Salad sauce selection

In addition, the salad bar also houses a sauce section to go with your salad picks. here, you can find selections such as Keisuke special dressing, such as Keisuke original, with French, soya bean. In addition there are also Spicy, Ao Shiso, Honey Miso Ginger and Sesame dressing choices.

Well Priced for the offerings

Keisuke Prime Beef Hamburg Steak set with free flow of salad and eggs starts at $18.80. If you wish to up the ante, their Triple Cheese prime Hamburg steak set similarly with free flow of salad and eggs starts at $20.80. Do note that only cash or nets is accepted, so won’t expect to chalk up credit cards rebates here. There are no time limits to how long you can stay in the restaurant.

All in all, I found my visit to Hamburg Steak Keisuke an enjoyable one. Though it could get rather crowded at times, especially before 9pm on weekends. However, this is made up for by the value and quality of food offered. The restaurant gets my recommendation for offering both a mix of quality, price and accessibility. it is definitely worthy of a visit if you are in town.

Hamburg Steak Keisuke
72 Peck Seah Street
Singapore 079329
11.30am to 2.30pm and 5.30pm to 10pm
Open daily

Makan Place Locality Map

Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice

Asian

Shaun

-

Saturday, April 21, 2018

0

The eatery I shall be touching on today is not a stranger to Foodies in Singapore. Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice has long been a household name for anyone who desires one of the best home growth local dishes right in central Singapore. The stall is located at Maxwell food center off Tanjong Pagar (Maxwell road). It is within walking distance from Chinatown (along South bridge road).

The name Tian Tian, translated into “Everyday“, or crudely (and wrongly) “Sky sky” in mandarin. They are best well known for their authentic Hainanese chicken rice- a Singaporean food staple synonymous to Char Kway Teow or Laska. The stall unit itself is located on the side away from the South Bridge main road. The stall number is 10. You won’t miss the stall with it’s long snaking queues by the store’s twin unit. The unit is topped with bright blue signs board.

Adding to the store’s popularity, the store also had prominent publicity from Anthony Bourdain, having included the store in his wishlist for his new street food hall in New York.

Expect long queues

On a typical day, it is not uncommon to see locals and tourists alike (from foodie reviews) flocking to the store to try what is touted as Singapore’s best chicken rice store.

Queues can get pretty long, especially during lunchtimes. However, it is very fast moving queue. A 20 person odd long queue line in my visit was served in less than 10 minutes. Unlike most hawker stores, here, you will be greeted with a point-of-sale cashier tilt at the first stall where you make your order and pay- very commercial indeed. Thereafter, you proceed to collect your order food down the queue towards the other store’s 2nd unit.

The full Tian Tian Chicken rice experience

Chicken rice is known for their infused flavors, cooked with Pandan and stock of chicken. The rice is topped with your chicken, served with slices of cucumber and a bowl of chicken stock soup. The rice is oily, but not overwhelmingly salty from the infused chicken stock. It gives the rice it’s primary flavor. The rice has a distinctive yellow-brown colour. It is derived from added butter and a trademark of Hainanese-style chicken rice. It is also reminiscent of the Hainanese Chinese rice on my visit to Thien Kee Steamboat at Golden Mile.

Juicy and tender chicken

Tian Tian are known mostly for their “Bai ji” white chicken rice. The other variant being “Shao ji” (Roasted chicken). You can distinguish them from the colour of the skin. The roasted variant spots dark brown crispy skin. The white variant having pale off-white skin. The chicken are served with chicken oil, topped with green parsley.

Moreover, depending on the cuts offered, your chicken could served cut with bones. It is all similarly garnished with parsley with gravy served on their trademarked light green plates. The gravy oil, infused chicken stock may be over powering and tad saltish to some people. Though it’s meant to provide the meat with flavor.

If you want to have the best of both worlds, have a go at mixing both types of chicken on your platter. The combination is called “Black & white”, where both the plain and roasted chicken are served together. Their contrasting dark and white skins.

On food quality, Tian Tian chicken rice does impress. The chicken meat is soft, juicy and tender. The rice is fragrant, the gravy source is flavorful with chicken stock. If you wish to have the most authentic chicken rice experience. The white skin option is the dish of choice, it is also healthier too.

Tian Tian’s Chicken are prepared using traditional Haninanese methods. Here, the chicken are stewed using their traditional recipe. And blanched in cold water to give the chicken it’s uniquely cold and jelly like outer skin. On my visit, the chicken is cooked to the right tenderness. The chicken skin is soft and almost jelly-like. It has the texture of jelly with no visible fat layers under the skin. Moreover, what amazes me more is how Tian Tian managed to perfectly mass-produce this level of quality in all their dishes nearly everyday.

A thing not to forget is their complimentary Chicken rice chili. The dipping is meant to go with your chicken, though it is not uncommon to lace their entire plate with it together with sweet black sauce. The chili is full with garlic. The bright orange chili mix is flavorful but not overly spicy in small amounts. It’s tameness is good for patrons new into the scene, like for Tourists who wish to try a slice of Singapore’s hawker cuisine without the horror of Asian spiciness.

Garlic Chili sauce

Vegetable sides servings

Gizzard (chicken parts) sides

Pricing

The portions served are alright. Not too much or too little. It is reasonably priced too, though prices can quickly escalate when you start to add options such as green vegetables (xiao bai chai) or chicken gizzard sides. Prices for a standard chicken rice start at $3.50 for a small plate, $5 for a medium plate and $7.80 for the largest plate. This is not exactly what you call affordable.

Moreover, $4.30 gets you a small dish with premium meats cuts such as Drumstick meat. In addition to their main standard plate staples, Tian Tian also serves sides. Sides includes chicken gizzard starting at $3 a plate, and vegetables at $4 fried in oyster sauce. For a single meal, will be generally fine with the smallest option as you won’t want to be too full from just your Chicken rice. Considering you might want to save some stomach capacity given Maxwell market home to plenty of other food delicacies too.

If you have meal group of at least 2-3 pax, it will be recommended to order a Half-chicken instead which will set you back $12 excluding rice. It is more value for money. A full chicken costs $24. Additional chicken rice served by the plate costs 80 cents each.

All in all, Tian Tian is a good introduction to the Singapore chicken rice scene, especially for tourists visiting the Chinatown area. For locals, it is not something I would eat everyday, given cheaper and not necessarily inferior choices all around Singapore.

Also, Tian Tian, with it’s high popular and rather commercialized way of running the store does somewhat robs away of what is typical of a traditional Chicken rice hawker store. It does loses quite abit of the traditional old hawker feel. However, if it is quality, Tian Tian does gets a recommendation on what a proper Hainanese chicken rice dish has to offer.

It truly lives up to it’s name as one of the best chicken rices stores in Singapore.

Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice
Stall 10, Maxwell Food Centre (1 Kadayanallur St.)
Singapore 069184
Opening hours daily: 10am – 8:00pm
(Closed Mondays)

Makan Place Locality Map

Eighteen Chefs at Star Vista

Western

Shaun

-

Sunday, April 15, 2018

0

Eighteen chefs is a small casual eatery located at various spots around Singapore. The branch I am visiting today is Eighteen Chefs at Star Vista. Their Star vista branch is situated on the third floor of the sparkling shopping and entertainment complex.

The eatery ambience is good. It is set to a dark modern contemporary setting with a hipster feel to it. Noticeably, the restaurant has a bar which strangely does not serve drinks or where you can sit at. On closer inspection, the bar is rather a kitchen storage location. Looks pretty unkept and messy.

Notably, the outlet is popular with students. You noticed there a a number of on-going student and NSFs promotions where you can get discounts by flashing your student or SAF 11B respectively. It is commendable that the outlet recognizes the contributions of our full time national service man with these discounts.

You pay off your order first at the counter first before being served. The restaurant accept credit cards, nets and cash.

An interesting but yet less than overwhelming kitchen

Eye catching dishes includes the trademark heart attack platter. There are two variant which serves 2 at $ and another which claims to serve 4 at $48.

Moreover, you also have the menu choice of the DIY pot. It is a baked pot of goodness where you start of with a choice of a a bake base. Where you can add toppings to your liking. Starting point comprises of a choice of rice or pasta options. Thereafter, you get to choose an ingredient base. Additionally, you have a choice of meats such as chicken, beef and fish, as well as vegetable choices.

The 18 Chefs heart attack platter, it was disappointingly underwhelming.

My heart attack platter was less than overwhelming. You get about 200 grams of steak and a full chicken. It could hardly feed 4 people. The chicken is tiny, tad smaller than a spring chicken. Moreover, the side servings are really small, it could not even feed two persons. Let be I can even finish the dish it all by myself.

Furthermore, to make matter worse, the food was not on-par with what I ordered. The meats was dry and over cooked. The steak was overdone from my medium-rare order. The meat was even charred in some areas.

But to my dismay the staff got the orders of my baked rice mixed, instead swapping up. You are paying almost $15 per plate for essentially a tiny pot serving of baked rice. The servings are tiny. It felt more like a students kid meal than one fit for adult consumption. For what you get it should be better priced even below $10 a plate.

Their DIY baked rice, it is not as tasty as it looks — Their DIY baked rice, it is cold and not as tasty as it looks.

Below average service

The service is not exceptionally good. It takes a long time to get the attention of the waitering staff. Humorously, the staff all seemed to be very good in avoiding eye contact with tables so they do not need to tend to you. When you finally get the attention of the staff, often you will be greeted in a less than enthusiastic manner which sets the tone for the rest of the night. Don’t expect to get any tips from me.

The quality of the food and service would be bearable if the food were not priced so high. This disinformation of the portions and pricing leaves you wondering whether are you getting your money worth as expected. In comparison, a mixed grill set at Collins costs $10 cheaper, has better quality food and fills you more.

Thankfully, you get a free flow of water from self-help water dispensers, cheese sauces and cutlery from the self-serve cutlery stations. Otherwise, my table would have to eat with our hands. During my visit, even the cutlery shelf and cups were all not replenished and are bare empty. It was nearly impossible to get the staff to refill them. Not a pleasant experience at all.

All in all, my visit to this 18 Chefs branch was a disappointment let down by horrible cooking. The standards of had dropped much since they first opened several years back. It will be difficult for me to justify a revisit to 18 Chefs again given better offerings. I would recommend better alternatives today, such as Astons or even iSteaks.

Verdict:

~~Must Go!~~ | ~~Worth Trying~~ | ~~Shortlist Optionally~~ | Should Avoid

Eighteen Chefs at Star Vista

Level 2, 1 Vista Exchange Green
Unit #02-22,
Singapore 13861
Opens daily: 10:30AM–10:30PM

Wong Kee Wanton Noodle at Depot Road

Asian

Shaun

-

Saturday, April 14, 2018

1

Wanton noodles stores are aplenty around in Singapore. You can usually identify them by the arrays of Char Siew (Char Siu) strips (Sweet roast pork), which can be seen hanging at shop fronts. Often glistering until spot lamps. Good ones however, are dime a dozen. Wong Kee Wanton Noodle store is one of the few gems I came across serving good Wanton noodles worth talking about. The store is located at Depot Road in Yue Hua Eating House at 118 Depot Lane. It is situated beside the main road along depot road in a light industrial estate area. The location is not exactly what you call too accessible.

The eating house is primarily a lunch area, where crowds are usually the largest. The venue offers an assortment of food stalls including ze-char restaurant. The store opens rather early in the day, as early as 6 am making it ideal as a breakfast place.

You won’t miss the store there, identified by it’s iconic signboard usually with a queue in front of the counter. Also, it is not uncommon to see long snaking queues forming in front of the noodle stall. This is especially using lunch time peak periods where queue waits can be as long as 20 minutes. As the store opens till late, it is advised to visit after the lunchtime peak period at about 2-3pm.

Wanton Noodle Galore

Wantons are essentially mini-dumplings, usually filled with a combination of minced meat, prawns and assorted condiments. They are usually cooked through steaming or boiled in water. It is subsequently served in a accompanying soup bowl with the noodles.

Here, at you get the usual bell and whistles selection of Char Siew wanton noodles with a myriad choice of premium noodles. Wong Kee’s best selling dish will be their Char Siew Dumpling noodle at $4.50 with noodles similar to Mee Pok, but are firmer and of better quality. Their Char Siew (sweetened roasted pork) are nicely barbecue, chewy and not not burnt.

In addition, you also have a choice of the Wanton dish with their trademarked green Spinach noodle ($5.30). Their Spinach noodle are unique to their store. It is bright green and is easily one of the most distinguishable trademark dishes on offer at the store. It also does turn heads with patrons gawking at the rather unusual bright green spinach noodles.

Wong kee Green noodles selection — Green noodles selection

Every noodle dish are individually cooked and blanched in water that Wong Kee claims is less alkaline. Tossing in cold water gives the noodles are rather firm and light taste. Henceforth, the noodles are subsequently tossed with a mix of sauces. Here, the noodles muted flavors are brought out in taste with the sauce that it is mixed in. There are no preservatives added.

Notably, the store owner will at times reset and replenish their water stock. This ensures the quality of the cooked noodles. But it could also add an additional 5-10 minutes wait to your queue time. Just make sure not to get caught in that, especially if you are time-strapped for lunch.

Besides the spinach noodles, the other popular item in the menu is their tomato flavored Mee Pok similarly served with big wantons. A 7-piece dumpling soup without any noodles costs $4.50.

I found their noodles are very well complimented with the clear soup sides, which you can use to wash down your meal. In addition to their range of noodles are their large dumplings soup servings. Their dumplings are large and bursting with ingredients packed into sizeable mini-packets. A bowl of dumplings can easily take up most of the space in your soup bowl. An excellent compliment to your lunch noodles.

Wong kee Dumpling soup — Trademark Dumpling soup

In addition to their signature dishes, their Beef Brisket Noodles, though on the pricey side (starting at $5.30 per plate) are rather generous in portions. It is a dish also worth mentioning out of their mainstream Wanton options. The Beef served is tasty, well marinated but not oily.

Moreover, Wong Kee claims their special Beef brisket pieces are cooked with more than 20 different spices. This locks in the unique flavor which the dish is known for. The dish is served drenched with a rich beef sauce. When paired with their signature spinach noodles, it is a wondrous combination.

After all, you do pay what you ask for. Despite the above average price of their dishes, the quality of the noodle are nice and the portions are good and sized above average. The vegetables served are fresh and crunchy. Just like my past visit to Han Kee sliced Fish Soup store at Amoy Street, I found the dishes are well prepared, healthy, clear and soupy enough for daily consumption in moderation.

In addition to the original Depot road store, this outlet is not the only Wong Kee branch in Singapore. Notably, Wong Kee runs another store at the upmarket Timbre+ at One North near the Fusionopolis area. They also serve their specialty selection of green noodles there too.

All in all, Wong Kee Wanton Noodles tick many boxes for offering good quality, healthy food in sizeable portions. If you are in the Depot road area, it is a worthy a treat for your taste buds.

Wong Kee Wanton Noodle
Yue Hua Eating House
118 Depot Lane, Singapore 109754
Opening hours daily: 6am – 8:00pm (Weekdays)
Closes by 1.30pm on Weekends.

Makan Place Locality Map

Vivo V7+ benchmarks, camera, battery performance

Gadgets

Shaun

-

Friday, April 6, 2018

0

Vivo V7+ benchmarks, camera, battery performance

Following my earlier review part on the Vivo V7+ exterior, build and software. This section carries on into other aspects of the phone. Lets take alook at the Vivo V7+ benchmarks, camera, battery performance and the eventual review conclusion.

Performance Tests

The V7+ hardware specifications are not quite something to brag about. The onboard entry-level CPU and 4GB RAM is far from high end specs offered on the market. This is also considering Qualcomm 600 to 800 Series CPUs and 6 to 8GB of RAM on phones being mainstream. On hindsight, 4GB of RAM is comparable to flagship models phones 2 years ago.

However, those phones can easily cost twice as much. Despite the V7+ specification shortcomings, surprisingly, the phone does an excellent job in handling any productivity task you throw at it, such as editing documents, emailing and messaging. Also, the Funtouch OS UI does a good job in minimizing taxing the hardware through running only the apps in-use.

When translating to real-world use, the phone is well optimized from a software perspective which makes use of available limited resources. Notably, despite its lower hardware specification, the phone performs well in my gaming performance tests. The V7+ plays mainstream games well without any hiccups.

The V7+ plays games, but it should be not what you get it for.

Also, 3D games such as Asphalt and Mobile legends run well without any noticeable lag or drop in frames. 2D games such as Hearthstone perform well too. However, if you are a serious gamer, games should be not what you get the V7+ for. This is mainly let down by the sub-HD screen resolution.

When translating to real-world use, the phone is well optimized from a software perspective which makes use of available limited resources.

Benchmarks

Physical benchmarks is one area where you can really see the shortcomings of a slower entry-level processor. The phone managed an AnTuTu Benchmark score of 75213. This benchmark tests for acceleration that takes advantage of heterogeneous hardware on the Android platform. The score places the phone in the lower 22% percentile of benchmarks.

AnTuTu Benchmark Scores

Geek Bench Single and Multi core scores

3D Mark Sling shot on OpenGL and Vulkan

The V7+ achieved a less-than average single core score. It scored 763 in the single-core Geek Bench. This score is similar to the Samsung Galaxy S4. However, it does score well in the multi-core score, achieving 3897- comparable to the Google Pixel XL, Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 around the sub 4000 score. But is about 25% lower than a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 (with a score of 5228). On data-parallel computation, the phone benched 2958 in the Geek Bench RenderScript score, comparable to a Samsung Galaxy S7.

3D performance is below average with a 3D Mark Ice storm extreme score of 7879 and a Sling Shot Extreme score of 432 on OpenGL and 369 on Vulkan. Additionally, API Overhead test scored 47666 on OpenGL, and 202444 on Vulkan (4 times higher). Notably, throughout the benchmarks, the phone hovered around the 34-35°C with a useable FPS range of 28 to 103.

Excellent Heat Management and Temperatures

Commendably, heat was not an issue on the phone. The Snapdragon 450 does a good job in running well without getting too hot. In my stresses tests, the phone never got hotter beyond body temperature, hovering under the 37°C mark. Noticeably the CPU does not exceed over 80% load in my tests, it could be due to a conservative down clocking to keep the CPU running at efficiency operating point.

Good Camera Performance

Camera performance is good for the segment. The V7+ comes touts a conventional dual camera setup, with a single lens on each face. However, the unique selling proposition of the V7+ is its humongous “selfie-shooter” secondary front-facing 24 Megapixel (f/2.0, 23.8MP 5632×4224) camera.

The front camera dwarfs its rear facing 16MP (f/2.2, 15.9MP 4608×3456, f/2.0, 1/3″, 1.0 µm) rear primary camera. The phone is capable of recording 1080p video at 30fps.

The Rear 16MP camera offers phase detection autofocus and LED flash.

Additionally, the camera software comes with your usual bells and whistles such as photo geo-tagging, touch focus, panoramas, face detection and HDR. The camera capture interface is incredibly easy to use. It is lag-free, intuitive and easy to use out of the box. If you are coming from Apple’s books, you won’t feel lost.

V7+ Photo Test Shots

In my camera test, the colour accuracy of outdoor photos are visually good and accurate. The default setting offers more of a slightly muted cold tone without appearing too rich or overly saturated.

The skies in day outdoor shots are not over-washed, especially in sunlight. The camera manages adequate contrast to capture details in the skies and clouds without underexposing dark parts of the foreground even without HDR mode activated. With HDR on, photos take twice as long to capture. Resulting pictures have richer darks and darker whites such as the ripples as seen on the water reflections.

Outdoor night shots are reasonably fair, but not great. There is noticeably more noise as well as a lower dynamic range for night shots. There are also noticeable higher chances of blurring. This is given a higher ISO, longer shutter speed as well as limitations of a small sensor able to take in so much light at once in low-light conditions.

For indoor shots, the camera does a good job in filtering indoor lighting, such as fluorescent tints and automatically adjusts the colour modes correctly. There are adequate contrast as well as colour accuracy which makes this shooter very suitable for indoor use.

Outdoor macro shot

Indoor photos

Lit dim indoor shots

The camera handles macro shots well. Focus is achieved via tap-to-focus, though there is very limited depth of feel with a single lens. In selfie mode using the front 24MP camera, it enables a humorous “beauty mode“, or what I call the “K-mode” which automatically cleans up any blemishes on your subject’s face.

Reasonable details in outdoor shots

Over-saturation at night

Less detail at night

Excellent Security and unlocking options

The phone offers 4 modes of unlocking. Pin and Pattern unlock modes are your basic offerings with base Android phones. In addition, there are Fingerprint and Face unlock modes. The face unlock utilizes the phone’s front camera. You manage all your security settings, including deletion of fingerprint and facial recognition data all in the phone’s unified settings page.

The V7+ security unlock options

The Rear Fingerprint sensor

Front camera for face unlock

A fingerprint sensor sits centered at the back of the phone by the phone’s rear logo. With the phone held in-hand. You can quickly unlock your phone from a cold standby (i.e. with the screen off) with a fingerprint swipe. Unlocking through fingerprint brings you right into your home screen or your last activity. Registering your fingerprint is a one-time setup and is rather painless. Also, you can also register more than one finger print if the phone is to be used between multiple users.

Lighting fast fingerprint unlock

The fingerprint sensor is one of my favorite methods of locking. Where you can simply take your phone one-handed out of your pocket, swipe the back and it will be ready for use as you bring your phone up. It can be pretty habitual after awhile and minimize the time needed to pause to enter an unlock code, etc.

In addition, for face recognition, registration of your face is rather quick and painless too. It took less than a minute to setup. The front large camera does a good job in capturing your face in a variety of light conditions. Just make sure that lighting is adequate for the best facial registration.

Upon registration, the facial recognition is rather quick too. Double tapping the phone screen wakes it up, presenting an unlock screen. Staring into the front of the phone for 2 seconds will instantly unlock phone without any input. Similarly, the unlock brings you pass your unlock screen into your home screen/last used activity.

Failed facial recognition screen prompt.

The face unlock is smart enough to fail unlocks from photos graphs and photos from another screen. If face unlock fail, you will be presented with alternative unlock methods, such pattern, pin or fingerprint.

Excellent Battery Life

One of the main selling points I find of the V7+ will have to be its fantastic battery life. Sealed inside the phone is a sizable non-removable Li-Ion battery sitting at 3225mAh. I managed to get easily 2 full days of use of daily moderate use on the phone. Test case mirrors a typical work day using the phone for productivity and entertainment on my work commutes.

Usage includes continuous 4G standby with mixed Wi-Fi use, 1-2 hour of internet browsing and social media and 2-3 hours of music daily. Apps used includes communication, such as about 30 minute of phone calls a day, WhatsApp and social media.

Unexpectedly useful Vivo Wisdom Engine

One of the largely unnoticed software innovations by Vivo is what they call the Wisdom engine. It sounded really gimmicky as first. Almost like their quirky dual split-screen feature (similar to Samsung’s Multi Window) which never quite worked for me due to a large number of unsupported apps incompatible with the dual screen feature.

In a nutshell, the Wisdom engines is a passive background monitor app running on Vivo’s FunTouch OS. It notifies you on any abnormality’s your phone encounters out of the ordinary, such background apps with high battery usage to prolong battery life.

Wisdom Engine Notifications

Geekbench Battery score

Quirky dual split-screen mode

And I say it does a pretty good job at it. Surprisingly, with enough effort, you could push the V7+ battery to last 3 days of regular use. I ended up having to charge at the end of the third day before the battery became totally depleted. Noteworthily, in the pursuit of feature innovation, most phone manufactures these days often cramp in more power-hungry features at the expense of battery life.

Battery Benchmarks

On continuous usage drain tests with the screen on at 50% brightness, the phone managed a respectable 9 hours and 42 minutes of battery life before being depleted. Despite not supporting wireless charging, the phone supports fast charging via a single Micro-USB port. It takes about 3 hours to fully charge from 5% up to 100%.

Moreover, the V7+ sub-3000 mAh battery capacity is comparable to that of the current Samsung Note 8. However, the V7+ runs circles around the Note 8 in the battery department, up to 2 times at least. This impressive battery score puts it top in its class, and just behind the sub-4000mAh heavy-weights, such as the Redmi Note 4 and Oppo F3 Plus.

Furthermore, the phone also spots an impressive Geekbench Battery performance score of 3807. The Vivo V7+ is a good example where the benefits of a lower sub-HD screen, coupled with a low powered CPU where you can truly see the benefits of a lower specification for a less power-hungry device. For the average consumer, it will fit in nicely for you if you demand a simple no-frills phone which can easily last you over a day in battery life with more to spare.

Last impressions and Conclusion

All in all, though the V7+ might not spot the latest specifications and probably not the poster boy of you would call “industry-leading“. However, the V7+ does punches well over its weight in terms of the features to offer for its price and market segment. This is especially so if you manage your expectations and just need a phone which is very usable and works well, minus all the bells, whistles and price of current flagships.

The V7+ does punches well over its weight in terms of the features to offer.

Perks such as the presence of a fast extinct 3.5mm headphone jack is a plus point, together with removable storage and a decent punchy CPU providing adequate gaming performance puts the V7+ in a very neat package which makes up for its shortcomings. For example, while the phone could do better with a full HD screen, the lowered power consumption in return, gave it excellent class-leading battery life I simple adore.

The entry to mid-range phone market is one often under looked. In comparison, it is worth noting in the light of the iPhone X, Galaxy S9 and Huawei P20 taking battle on the high-end market, these current flagships can easily costs 3 times more than the V7+ $469 SGD asking retail price (with one year local warranty). You might not be getting as much more phone for your dollar. The Vivo V7+ stands out as one of the few gems in this market segment. Value for money you might say, without the cost.

Hence, if you are in the market for an entry to mid-range phone such as Huawei P10 Lite, Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 or OnePlus 3. The V7+ is definitely a good refreshing contender to consider in the lineup.

It might actually be a phone I would buy.

Good- 72%

Pros:

Excellent battery life
Runs very cool at load
Fast fingerprint and face unlock
Capable front and rear camera
Well priced

Cons

Sub-HD screen
Minimal performance headroom
Sketchy Bluetooth performance
No NFC
No wireless charging

Vivo V7+ phone review

Gadgets

Shaun

-

Thursday, April 5, 2018

0

The V7+ is Vivo’s flagship smartphone for their entry into the Singapore Market early this year. Released globally in September 2017, it sits as a mid to high-end phone set to compete in the already crowded market segment. I briefly introduced the phone previously last month where Vivo Singapore first announced the phone. Today. let’s check out the phone in the flesh in my extensive Vivo V7+ phone review. Also, I shall be looking into form, hardware and practicality of Vivo’s newest flagship phone.

New kid on the block

Vivo might not be a brand first to mind when talking about Chinese phones. In the likes of incumbents such as Huawei, Xiaomi or even OnePlus. Vivo is a budding new brand in Singapore looking to make a name for themselves in the already crowded Smartphone market. You might recognize them as a major official sponsor for the FIFA 2018 and 2022 World Cup too. Furthermore, Vivo is part of the BBK Electronics portfolio with subsidiary brand to Oppo under their belt too.

However, Vivo in particular is no stranger to the consumer smartphone market. The brand has a big presence in China. Moreover, it is one which Vivo touts for providing consumer smart phones equipped with cutting-edge technology at very affordable prices.

Since their branding founding in 2009, Vivo has since expanded their presence in 20 markets globally. This includes their main markets China, Hong Kong, India as well as Taiwan, Thailand, and Malaysia. This year, Vivo is looking to expand their presence in Singapore with the Vivo V7+ and Y65 phones. The V7+, code named “Vivo 1716” is also known as Vivo Y79 for the China market.

Vivo touts for providing consumer smart phones equipped with cutting-edge technology at very affordable prices.

Under the hood and Box

Under the hood is a Qualcomm SDM450 Snapdragon 450. It is a 64-bit Octa-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU coupled with 4 GB of RAM and mated to an Adreno 506 GPU. While the specifications of V7+ is not exactly high-end, it is healthy and adequate for the usage patterns for majority of users out there. Moreover, it offers benefits of battery life longevity which I shall covered in the battery performance part of the review.

Phone box packaging

First level packaging

First boot

The packaging box is minimalistic in design too. Out of the box itself is the V7+ unit with an Apple-ish box held together in a cardboard holder. You get an assortment of manuals, guarantee cards, SIM-ejector pin as well as a Gel case slotted in the cardboard backing.

Additionally, you get a regular 5 volt 2.4 Amp charger, a Micro-USB fast charge cable. In my package, there is a soft gel case included with the phone. A standard V7+ plastic screen protector is pre-applied on the phone out of the box. This screen protector is not tempered glass and could scratch easily with daily use.

Exterior and Good Build

The V7+ form factor and design is typical of touch screen candy bar phones in the market. Albeit, bearing some resemblance to the iPhone 8 or the OnePlus 5. The phone is available in colours, champagne gold, matte black and infinite red.

Visually, the phone is sleek in black. I found the Matte Black the nicer of the colours available. It reflects a sense of sophistication and luxury associated with the Matte Black look. The design of the phone is clean and sleek.

Additionally, the phone is cladded in aluminum and plastic. It is solid and gives the phone a premium feel. There are noticeable plastic bands on both the top and bottom of the phone. These plastic bands are areas which houses the top sensors as well as the mobile and Wi-fi antennas.

Aluminum and plastic body in a tight neat package.

Moreover, the V7+ controls too are rather intuitively laid out. Physically, the bottom of the phone houses a microphone, micro-USB charging port which supports fast charging, a mono speaker, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack (thankfully).

Bands around the phone

Bottom ports

FM radio functionality

The headphone jack, when plugged in with your headphones, uses the wire body as an antenna for the in-built hardware FM radio. Hardware FM radios are fast becoming extinct in most modern phones these days. It is a throwback to a feature fast replaced with digital radio, and internet streams. Glad to see the option still available.

the phone is cladded in aluminum and plastic. It is solid and gives the phone a premium feel.

Less than exciting Screen

Flaunting the front of the phone is Multi-touch IPS LCD capacitive touch screen. It sits under a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 4. The 6 inch screen itself has a 18:9 aspect ratio. Hence its form factor is tad longer than your typical 16:10 screen. However, it does not feel large when held with one hand.

The phone could catch up with a full HD screen.

Also, this screen ratio allowed Vivo to cramp in more screen without making the device width wider. This is reminiscent to what we first saw in the Samsung Galaxy series, where the form factor became mainstream.

The slender width makes a good fit in-hand.

The phone feels lightweight and balanced in-hand for its size. The exterior dimension sits in at 155.9 x 75.8 x 7.7mm and weighs under 160 grams. This form factor yields a ~78.4% screen-to-body ratio. One-handed operation and typing on the phone is comfortable with two hands even on the stock keyboard.

Default keyboard is well spaced for it’s screen size.

Strangely, in the age of High definition (HD) and even quad HD screens in flagships, I found it intriguing that Vivo went for a sub-HD screen. The resolution sits in at 720 x 1440 pixels offering 16 million colors. The pixel density correspondingly sits at 269 ppi. This isn’t what you call “Retina range“. For an IPS panel, the phone has impressively deep black levels. Also, the screen is tad more on the blue side, though you can easily switch to a warmer colour via software.

The sub-HD screen is more than adequate for small devices such as phones. Though you will experience some quirks such as HD video and images no scaling up and not appearing as sharp. You will also need to scroll more when browsing. But the visual difference between a retina-like display and this sub-HD screen for its size is minimal.

Intuitive Exterior Buttons

There are no buttons on the left side of the phone with only a small pin-hole and sim-slot. The right side is dominated by three buttons. These are the volume up and down buttons as well as the single power button. The power button is located below the other two, towards nearer midway of the phone.

In real-world use, I found having all the buttons on one side of the phone intuitive and removes button guesswork. Particularly on which side the power button is located. This is particularly useful when you phone is in your pocket.

Good Connectivity and Expansion

For mobile connectivity, the phone supports dual-sim standby on GSM/HSPA/LTE via dual Nano-SIM slots. Dual-sims are the norm for Chinese phones. The V7+ flaunts its oriental background with similar offerings. Ejecting the hybrid sim-tray at the top left of the phone reveals a rather lengthy card tray.

The tray has space for a single Micro-SD card too in addition to the two said nano-SIM slots. This allows you to accommodate up to an microSD, expandable up to 256GB to complement the phone’s 64 GB Internal in-built storage.

The V7+ Sim tray on the left of the device

Additionally on the wireless front, you get the usual bells and whistles such as Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n (including hotspot functions), and Bluetooth 4.2. Wireless performance is solid and I am pleased to report no issues on daily use. I however, had some issues with Bluetooth file transfer. Connectivity at times was sketchy, with Bluetooth dropping between file transfers. Moreover, there is no NFC support, as well as wireless charging.

Bluetooth sending quirks

Default Call screen

Additional device info

Call quality of the phone is good. There were no crackles, pops or distortion to voice. The phone also provided good feedback on voice calls as well on speakerphone calls.

Software and Speedy UI

However, despite its minimalist spec, the phone is quite a speedster for productivity. The Funtouch OS is Vivo’s proprietary skinned UI running on top of Android 7.1.2 (Nougat). Menus are zippy and responsive, especially to quick swipes.

Moreover, the home screen is set up with a grid like series of apps, largely similar to iOS. In my usability tests. I found the menus really optimized with frame rates consistently above the 30 fps range, at times hitting 60 fps. Providing for a butter-smooth UI experience.

Vivo’s FunTouch OS

FunTouch OS Homescreen

Home screen Grid Layout

Rearranging the Home screen icons is similar to how you do so in iOS too. Holding the home button will bring the home screen into an jigging icon “edit” mode. Here you can move apps icons between screens, folders, uninstall or delete them.

You however, cannot remove system installed apps including Vivo apps from here. With the exception of a few Vivo apps such as the V-appstore and V-cloud service, I am glad to report that there are not many bloatware preinstalled on the phone.

Pre-installed apps

Rearranging icons

Limited Web browsing visibility

The menus are fast and speedy. Unlike iOS, you can rearrange icons to any position on the grid. I would however prefer stock Android experience. Undoubtedly, the UI totally screams Apple iOS, which you can tell where Vivo got their design cues from. Despite this, the UI is fast and responsive across home screens.

On use on apps such as web browsing. Page loading speeds are fine and the Chrome browser performs well and able to provide a speedy browsing experience with no rendering jitters. Web browsing view port visibility is limited and let down at times by the V7+ small sub-HD screen. Picture don’t appear as sharp and crisp as say rendered on a HD or UHD screen, such as the Oneplus 5 or Galaxy S9. This limits what you are able to see at a go on a page.

In the next part of the review I shall touch on the phone benchmarks, camera and battery performance, as well as the conclusion to my review.

Mobile One My M1 App bug causes excessive background data use

Blog

Shaun

-

Monday, April 2, 2018

0

If only this was an April fool’s joke. It looks like the Mobile One My M1 App bug causes excessive background data use. Today, I received an SMS from my telco Mobile One (M1) today that I had exceeded 100% of my mobile data allowance use.

This was rather odd as I am a rather light data user. A typical month for me see myself using an excess of 1GB of mobile data to spare. There is no reason for such excessive data use so quickly.

Excessive background data consumption

Henceforth, a quick check on my data use on my phone pointed to a shocking revelation. M1’s own “My M1” app was the top data consumer on my phone. Shockingly, it had hungrily consumed by itself over 1 gigabyte of mobile data overnight.

It will also continue to sap data during daytime standby in the background. If gone unnoticed, it could potentially go on consuming all your data until you start receiving “out of data” SMS prompters. Then it might be too late.

This was puzzling as the App is not a data-hungry app to begin with. It is used mainly to check on account details, talk time, data and SMS quotas. A quick call to M1 mobile customer helpline to disable my mobile data brought me to learn that this was a known bug with the App.

The main intent of my call too was to cut off my mobile data as soon as possible. So I do not incur any additional exorbitant data charges. This is also given the chance that the telco possibly would not honor the error or reimburse customers.

Update to the latest App

After talking to the customer service representative on the phone, the only recommended solution now from M1 is to update the app. Affected versions includes all known versions of the M1 My M1 App before the current 5.13.0 Version. This is known to affect Android versions. However, I have yet to get confirmation whether iOS is affected too. This latest 5.13.0 Version was just released today on April 2nd 2018 as I last checked on the App store.

M1 as of this evening too, has just similarly sent out notification prompters to all app users telling them to update. There is however, been no mention of the data-hungry bug to date.

M1 charges up to $10.70 extra per 1GB block of excess data on my post-paid plan. So I am hoping this was an honest mistake and not one to deliberately blow off all their customers data quotas. Lets just assume it won’t be of the latter. Moreover, I am hoping that M1 will be able to honor the issue and inconveniences you are giving to customers. Also considering that I will have no data left for the rest of the month.

No official statement yet

To date there is no official statement of how M1 is going to compensate customers for the My M1 App bug. I shall update when I get more details.

Update 6th April

After 5 working days, M1 still has no updates or acknowledgement of the issue. The App store for the My M1 app are humorously full of angry reviews of customers complaining about the issue. Some customers reportedly claiming the App using up as much as 2GB of data over a day on their phones. M1 replies to the review comments had been the least unhelpful and non-actionable. M1 is definitely not handling the situation well.

Following after another call to M1 customer service helpline, they indicated too, there is nothing much they can do now. It is recommended to let your data use overrun for this month.

Thereafter, you can refute the additional data charges with your bill by calling M1 support again the following month. This is where the extra charges should be waived on your following billing cycle.

CUBE & My Urban Backyard Exhibition

Events

Shaun

-

Saturday, March 31, 2018

0

CUBE and My Urban Backyard Exhibition is a small Urban and Built Environment showcase organized by the URA as part of the Challenge for the Urban and Built Environment (CUBE). Held at the City Galley URA building. The exhibition aims to showcase built environment ideas portrayed through school projects. The event is jointly produced during the CUBE workshop for pre-university students. Participants includes Singapore Junior Colleges and Polytechnics.

Moreover, the exhibition is situated at the Level 1 open atrium of the URA Centre. The exhibition building is geographically located right beside maxwell food center. Also, the venue is within a 10 minute walking distance from Tanjong Pagar MRT station. There is parking available at the URA building.

Simply put, the My Urban Backyard exhibition is a platform for various schools, ranging from the primary to pre-university level, to present their visions for urban planning. The brainchild of the event were ideas from the 16 schools, as showcased in the exhibition. It runs for the month of April. from 23 March till 27 April 2018.

School Exhibits

Furthermore, works here on display see contributions of design tasks submitted from various post-secondary education institutions from Singapore. In addition, the showcase comprise of mostly printed works and drawn concepts, as well as a combination of print and physical models. The printed materials are displayed on vertical display stands. They are neatly lined all along the lower atrium of the building first floor.

The displays are typical of that of your high school science fair displays. Here, models made out recycled materials all crudely and rudimentary put together. Also, physical displays such as paper and cardboard models have their own space in front of the stands. These showcases studies and research on design and built concepts form around the world. Moreover, this includes those by the Netherlands and Switzerland. just to name afew.

The models are nice simple and creative. Some of the exhibits are pretty brilliant. One such example is a tasks to redesign the Mei Chin neighborhood in Queenstown. Another such notable project is Yishun Junior College Warung project. It aims to preserve the Kampung Spirit through an Eco food hub at the Commonwealth Queenstown area.

Notably, this was conceptualised through a modern “super tree” like formation of buildings. Additionally, there was even a rather adorable display of the Jalan Besar area by the fast-extinct bamboo clothes drying poles we know of in older HDB estates.

Works around the world

Smaller wall mounted exhibits

Models on displays

Built-up model of Singapore

Furthermore, a display highlight is a large cardboard scale model of all the buildings in Singapore. It fronts the display as grand center piece. The large exhibition model sits center stage, being laid out in it’s very own sector. It is located similarly in first floor open lobby atrium of the URA building. It is presumably those managed by the URA. The modules includes all residential buildings as well as commercial buildings in the central business district.

Singapore map main piece

Details to individual blocks

Works by various JCs

Also, the buildings in the model are represented using a combination of cardboard and wooden blocks. 3D building models build using cardboard and held up using a combination of of tape and blue tack adhesives. Also, small green wall pins used to demarcate trees. Also, shown on the model too are new developments. Areas of interest includes the soon-to-be developed Punggol North digital hub village as well as the new Tuas port extension.

Moreover, the model is an accurate scale representation of the Singapore built up areas. The density of the certain areas such as the central business district and mature housing board estates like those in Ang Mo Kio, Toh Payoh and Punggol. Moreover, it also paints how densely populated Singapore actually is.

Notably, only sectors like the central water catchment area and military training areas in Jurong West are clear and devoid of high rise building developments. Moreover, restricted areas such as government buildings, army and air force bases are not shown.

A good place to chill with ideas

All in all, you are good at the my urban backyard for about 30 minutes. There isn’t too many displays to bore you with content. The exhibition is highly accessible and all conveniently laid out on the open lobby atrium of the URA building. It is a good break from the buzz of the central business district to see the student works on display at both exhibitions. Also, the exhibition is also open on weekends with free admission.

CUBE & My Urban Backyard Exhibition

Grab Uber takeover, the Rise of monopolistic private-hire

Articles

Shaun

-

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

0

Grab Uber takeover, the Rise of monopolistic private-hire

The fallout of the recent Uber acquisition by Grab had been hitting the local headlines daily. The deal was seen pretty much of a takeover than a blatant acquisition. Thereafter, Grab swiftly spared no expense in promptly shutting down their bitter rival. This includes shuttering Uber offices, leaving staff on leave and taking over all App-booking in the region.

Grab recently announced taking over Uber operations in the entire South East Asia

Note worthily, the news had definitely caught the attention of government watchdogs. The Competition Commission of Singapore indicated their intentions to intervene on the deal given the uncompetitive nature of the acquisition. However, that regulatory intent was over-shadowed by the acquisition deal, which was completed in the blink of an eye before anyone could react. Henceforth, the news came very much of a shock surprise to many, including regulators. This left both drivers and commuters including myself wondering what to do from here.

So how did it all happen and what is it from here with an incumbent here in Singapore? Let’s examine the areas of concern.

A ride-share history back in time

Before we touch on the specifics, lets that a look back at how ride-sharing came about in Singapore. I am not much a stranger to the Private-car hire since. Looking back, the foray started with Grab Taxi almost 5 years ago. Grab was previously also known as MyTeski around Oct 2013. There were no private-hire cars then and Taxis then were the Kings of the road. They were ruled by the three major companies (Comfort/Citycab, Prime and SMRT taxis).

Moreover, Grab Taxi started out as a more efficient and cheaper alternative to notorious Taxi call booking centers to call cabs from remote areas from Singapore. Also, taxi drivers I spoke to then loved the Grab Taxi app. It empowers and allowed them to greatly minimize their vacant ride time. Things were good for cabbies, until Uber came along.

The rise of Uber and Grab

Uber came into Singapore in Feb 2013 as a limo service, where their mainstay UberX private-car hire first started operating in 2014. However, it is not until Aug 2015 where Grab Car (now harmonized under the “Grab” name) made its foray into our shores and the region. I am glad to be one of the first adopters of Uber and Grab till today to see the transformations.

It was then too, where Lion city car rentals (LCR), an Uber-owned company was setup for drivers looking to affordably obtain a car. They offered car rentals in address to exorbitant Singapore car prices where the competition with Grab truly started to heat up.

The early transport civil war

Henceforth, both Uber and Grab rapidly captured the market. The rest was history as we know it. Taxi rides and Taxi numbers on the roads plummeted. In 2017, there were two private-hire cars to every single Taxi on the road. Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices shot up with the influx of new private-cars purchased to meet the demand.

In retaliation, Taxi drivers painted an anti-competitive sentiment to both Uber and Grab by undercutting prices. This was fueled by unsustainable private-hire pricing. Moreover, this ate into the Taxi-drivers livelihood who saw their monthly earning fall as much as 30%.

There were also brief moments then where Taxi drivers started finding fault with Uber/Grab drivers. Cabbies once accused private-hire companies of insurance fraud. Comfort also once calling on cabbies to report on errant Private-hire drivers who pick up passengers from taxi stands. Such wars were not healthy and were promptly condemned by the public amidst much publicity. Taxi drivers who could not beat the competition, ended up joining the private-hire gang instead, furthering the Taxi fallout.

Henceforth, this resulted in 2016-2017 being one of the worst years in the Singapore Taxi industry. It had a record number of cars unrented/on-idle with corresponding tumbling of Taxi company share prices.

Transformation of the Taxi industry

But unlike protectionistic measures in Japan and Europe, the Singapore government was thankfully open to let the market run its course. This also supported the nationalistic ideology of a car-lite society. Moreover, it was this too, with Uber and Grab where we started to see dramatic improvements in the Singapore Taxi industry.

These improvements ranged from service and efficiency improvements, to better driver-altitudes. For example, Taxi drivers are less picky now. Furthermore, Taxi call centers started creating more user-friendly Uber-like taxi booking apps to rapidly link drivers and riders. These were all in the benefit of the consumer. It won’t be possible if private-hire car companies didn’t give Taxis a much-needed wake-up call.

Uber’s Puzzling exit strategy

Uber’s exit was definitely uncalled and unplanned for. It came much of a shock to many. The announcement was a smack in the face for new initiatives such as Fastlane and Driver training academy in Malaysia. It also put Comfort’s newly launched Uberflash in the lurch following Comfort’s partial acquisition of Uber just last January 2018.

Comfort announcing in January 18, their now defunct Uberflash service, pending integration with Grab

Uber is not exactly not doing well in Singapore or the region. Uber had a strong customer base, local and foreign. They also have a large pool of high-quality drivers. This makes the Grab takeover very much more puzzling.

Moreover, even the entry of small operators like car-pooling operator Ryde will have insignificant impact on Grab potentially monopolistic position on setting prices. Furthermore, there is no stopping Grab from easily taking over small competition to maintain their dominant market position.

Feeding the Unicorns

Ride discounts and coupons are all the talk on Uber and Grab. Despite consumers cheering on ride discounts, it does not take an expert to know that undercutting the market is a completely unsustainable business model. Both Grab and Uber as Unicorn companies burn through cash in the battle for the private-hire ride market share.

Where does all these money come from? Notably, from Venture capital and angel investors. Grab had received funding from Temasek’s Vertex Venture Holdings, as well as an additional S$2.7b investments on July 2017 from Didi Chuxing and SoftBank. This possibly could had given Grab the needed cash flow to put forward an offer even Uber could not resist.

Good for business, bad for consumers

Going on that, no sane investor will pour in money not expecting returns. One of the most widely-known market strategies of private-car hire companies is to undercut the competition for market share to embed themselves well into society as a need to achieve indispensable normalcy. This shall be followed by strategies to jack up future prices for revenue maximization. Hence, that is where the profits will start coming in.

Several big-stakes key investors in the private-hire market has plenty to benefit too from the acquisition. This includes the Hyundai Motor Company and Emtek group looking to tap on the fast growing South East Asian market. Moreover, there is also Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, who own stakes in both Grab and Uber through Comfort-owned Uber and Vertex Venture Holdings with Grab respectively. Japan’s Softbank too, own stakes in both companies.

it is a no brainer in a monopoly where a single operator will ultimately control the prices of a market.

Prices may inevitably rise

Moreover, it is a no brainer in a monopoly where a single operator will ultimately control the prices of a market. Hence fares will ultimately increase over time to a new equilibrium without Uber. While Uber has Lyft as a competitor in the US, for Singapore and South East Asia at least, it is the battle between Grab, Go-Jek and Uber. Uber’s presence has always kept Grab on their heels in Singapore at least.

This, through natural market forces kept prices manageably low. The competition was often fought through aggressive driver recruitment, incentives and rider coupon deals. Additionally, it is not uncommon to receive Uber discount coupons, with Grab catching-up with a similar undercutting offers of their own some hours later. Humorously, this move often labels Grab as the “Uber copycat”.

Consumers may end up having to pay more for rides with a single player

Since following the takeover announcement, and to much dismay, Grab fares at times had been consistently higher (up to 2 times more) than Uber fares. It could be a one-off coincidence, but it does leave a sour taste in your mouth knowing that come April 8th, there won’t be even much of a choice for commuters.

Notably, when Didi took over Uber operations in China on 2016, driver promotions and incentives corresponding fell with the lack of competition.

Drivers could earn more, but at expense of Driver welfare

The acquisition could be a welcome to Private-hire drivers, whose earnings coffers had been losing steam from the Uber-Grab competition. Henceforth, driver earnings could go up with the increased fares. Additionally, traditional Taxi companies have plenty to cheer too. With increased Grab fares, Taxis fares are also expected to match those by Grab as an oligopoly.

However, Grab ultimately controls how it pays its drivers. Hence, it can’t be assumed that higher fares directly co-relate to higher driver earnings and welfare. Just like disposable pawns on a chess board, a single operator with an oversupply of drivers at their disposal could reduce driver’s bargaining power, eventually leading to reduced driver welfare.

Notably, when Didi took over Uber operations in China on 2016, driver promotions and incentives corresponding fell with the lack of competition.

Also, companies could to exploit their position in their pursuits of growth revenue and expansion ahead of drivers and commuters alike. Drivers I rode with these days after the acquisition announcement echoes a strong worry. It’s a sentiment about the consequences of what a sole service provider can potentially do.

Many will miss Uber’s welfare model of treating their drivers well, a policy well-known in the market to offer relatively better service and satisfaction than Grab. If Grab were to win over loyalty of commuters and drivers from Uber, it would be wise to start listening to their drivers and take ownership of their development. Drivers are the face of the organization, and that is where you can align their commitment to the organisation.

Deterioration of service standards

Despite arguments of the acquisition achieving economies of scale through consolidation of services. However, we can expect ride quality to corresponding deteriorate. The lack of competition promotes complacency and inefficiencies. This could in-fact strife service improvements and innovation, given a much-lesser incentive to do so now.

Commendably, through the years, Grab themselves had well-established itself as a private-hire company with strong localisation know-how. This is true not only for transport, food deliveries, but payment systems too (with higher profit opportunities). This is particularly strong in the South East Asia.

Hence, this critical tactic knowledge has allowed Grab to reach into local heartlands way better than Uber. However, that too comes with the risk of greater service level variability and uncertainty. Hence, the added complexity should be managed well. Otherwise, it could inevitably translate into overall lower quality drivers and correspondingly lower service levels.

The return of drivers cherry-picking customers

Furthermore, Uber’s anonymous destination policy is a love-hate relationship. It puts commuters first, allowing you to request an Uber pick-up from pretty much anywhere accessible in Singapore. Customers, especially those calling a ride from remote areas love it. Drivers, hate it.

With only Grab now, we could expect drivers now to be more picky and even probably discriminatory on their choice of customers. I was thankful for Uber picking me up remote areas of Singapore several times as a commuter myself, while Grab had often let me down.

Henceforth, we can see drivers only accepting rides only in high-yield, popular and surging areas at the expense of commuters from less-favorable regions. Hence, do be prepared to wait for a Grab ride from remote areas, or not to be picked up at all. This can be seen as a step backwards in service quality, reminiscent of the throwback to the notorious Taxi ride-picking of the yesteryear.

No clear future direction

Through the years, Grab had always been playing the catch-up game, improving and localizing very well, Uber’s business model and services offered. The short-term repercussions of the acquisition are evident as highlighted in my discussion.

still, the acquisition is a proud and commendable “David versus Goliath” moment with a local unicorn overthrowing a Silicon Valley global giant.

It is highly unlikely that Grab would reverse the deal already made. While we can be sure to expect prices to go up, there is more than it meets the eye. In the absence of “guiding competition”, the future of the private-hire industry is pretty much uncharted as it is. This is a question including Grab I believe would like to have a crystal ball for answers.

All in all, still, the acquisition is a proud and commendable “David versus Goliath” moment with a local unicorn overthrowing a Silicon Valley global giant. It will be pressing to know what is next for Grab. A good place to start is for the company to understand their role in the country, and up-hold the primary mission to serve the people well, at a fair price.

Now that would work.

10th Apr Update: Added supporting references to Didi-Uber takeover.

Checking out Timezone Flagship Arcade at Vivocity

Places

Shaun

-

Friday, March 23, 2018

0

Checking out Timezone Flagship Arcade at Vivocity

Timezone, Australia’s most widespread and popular gaming arcade outlet has opened their newest and largest flagship store right in the heart of Vivocity Mall Singapore. They were previously tucked on the upper third floors of the mall (where Diaso was also located). Now they had moved down to Level 2 at Vivocity unit #02-43 just between Candy Empire and Fish & Co restaurant. Let’s check out the Timezone Flagship Arcade at Vivocity Singapore.

Large Arcades- A rare sight in Singapore nowadays

Timezone is an international chain of family amusement arcade centers based in Australia. The first Timezone arcade opened in 1978 in Perth. Their newest and largest branch in Vivocity boasts over 12,000 square feet arcade goodness. Despite its large size, the Timezone arcade is nothing to brag about in the likes of old expansive arcades of the yesteryears.

Remembering arcades of the Yesteryears

Furthermore, it is refreshing to see the return of such large arcades previously thought to be extinct in Singapore. You might remember Magic Land amusement center at Marina square which previously operated by Uncle Ringo in the early to late 90s.

Moreover, there is also the Parkway Parade amusement center with a large arcade on the top floor of the shopping center. It too has a couple rides such a Merry-go-round and a Viking ride ship. Moreover at Cineleisure Orchard in the early 2000s is the E-zone arcade with VR rides and ghost trains.

However, the amusement industry is under threat in the face of the new changing preferences now. People don’t spend time in the shopping arcades anymore or playing games at home. Families and arcade geeks don’t see much the value of entertainment today. Especially in a country these days where play is often “unproductive” or secondary.

Inside the Arcade

Timezone itself has 10 outlets all around Singapore. Locations include Plaza Singapura, City Square Mall, Westgate to Northpoint city. Moreover, this range from small kiosks like mini arcades to large expansive ones you expect from Timezone. Having said that, despite being over 12000 sq ft in size, it not being as massive as the Timezones in Australia. Timezone claims it features non-stop entertainment.

The arcade has your usual bells and whistles of a classic Timezone. Staples includes crane/candy machines, racing machines, shoot ‘em up and air hockey stations, and basketball games. Timezone are known for offering rides in addition to their arcades. Payment to all the arcade machines and rides are done using Timezone contactless smart card credit system.

Space invader classics

Prize Loft

Ticket churners

A row of larger than life game machines sits at the store entrance. This adds to the wow factor. Besides the latest carnival games, you can some bizarre arcade games modeled off their mobile platform counterparts, such as Crossy road, Subway surfers and Flappy bird- arcade edition.

Ticket and prize galore

At the front of the arcade is a walk-in prize shop, allowing you to view all your possible winnings from the ticket machines. Moreover, your winnings from ticket-eligible game machines dispenses traditional tickets. Also, it is nice that Timezone stuck to offer the enjoyment of classical paper tickets. These tickets can be fed back into an automatic ticket counting machine. Here, it will print you out a total tele-count receipt for redemption at the prize shop counter. Timezone beckons you to play, shop and redeem attractive prizes at their this new prize shop too.

Bumper cars

When it comes to rides, the arcade here is no exception either. Here, premium rides and attractions costs $5 to $8 a ride. The selection includes Bumper cars and a mini Bowling alley. Also, the Spinner bummer bumper cars are circular type- boat like karts. You can control via both a left and right lever at the side of your seat.

Mini Bowling alley

In addition to the bumper cars are two lanes of a mini bowling alley. This miniature bowling alley is activated via paying a game with your Timezone card. Moreover, the rules of the game are similar to a regular bowling match, but smaller than life. Notably, the size of the bowling balls here are humorously small, almost sized like shot-put balls. Even the lanes are at most 5 meters in length. This makes the mini bowling alley very kid and family-friendly.

In addition to the Mini bowling alley are a couple of premium rides such as a Mini motion simulator. However, there is however, no laser tag games and obstacle areas unlike the previous Vivocity Timezone location on the 3rd floor.

Mini simulators

Bookable Party Room Area

Packed weekends

Furthermore, the arcade also offers event spaces via bookable party rooms. With prior notice, you can get to book a party at the arcade’s Monster-themed Party Room. This you can use for events like family gathering to birthdays. The party room has a full glass window offering views overlooking out of Vivocity into the Sentosa island area.

Also, the arcade is noticeably more packed on the weekends. Though it tend to get quieter on weekdays. However, this also means not having the need to queue up for arcade machines when you want to play.

All in all, the new Timezone revamp is pretty much a much need upgrade to inject more fun into the Vivocity area. Definitely a good way to spend in addition to your hours of window shopping when you are in the area.

Marveling at the i Light show displays at Marina Bay

Events

Shaun

-

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

1

Marveling at the i Light show displays at Marina Bay

Singapore is often renowned for her fantastic modern skyline which defines the city and stays lit throughout the night. Blending that urban lighting sprawl together with the love for arts is the i Light show which runs at the Marina promenade for this month.

Show Details

For a limited time, the show runs from 9th March to the 1st April 2018 at the Marina Bay Waterfront. It employs an open concept with exhibits littered throughout the vicinity. It claims to be Asia’s Leading sustainable light art festival.

MailboX i Light display by the Marina Bay

The light show has an open concept idea. The displays starts off from the Customs house near Clifford pier, running all along the Marina Bay, past the Promontory Carnival and Red Dot museum towards the Marina Bay shops. Here, you can interact with the exhibits either digitally or physically. Additionally, the main event runs daily from 7:30pm to 11:00pm, with extensions to midnight on Fridays & Saturdays.

Moreover, admission is free, with almost all the items on display are free to access. However, the organizers claim that some charges apply for some attractions, with more details on their partner event website. That was not the case during my visit. It was free to use them all.
Let’s have a run through what’s on display.

Meet the Octopoda

Fancy some Amigo and Amigo Drumming? Located in front of Marina Bay Event Square is the Octopoda. It is an interactive Australian light installation that invites audiences to become part of his tentacle percussion ensemble. Moreover, the free standing octopus is suspended up from a jig superstructure.

Also, it features eight independent tentacle drums. Banging on each drum beyond a certain threshold activates a unique display of colour and light. Notably, these lights are animated and can be seen travelling directed into Octopoda head, lighting him up and bringing it to life.

Dreamscape at the Mist Walk

Furthermore, one of the nicer looking exhibits in the show. Brought to by Magdalena Radziszewska from Poland. Dreamscape is a mystical display of gothic looking flowers. Moreover, it is seemingly made with the texture of crushed paper and sets a dark mysterious tone in contrast to the myriad of bright exhibits in the show.

Additionally, Radziszewska, in her display synopsis speaks of supernatural and magical properties being attributed to flowers for centuries. Their delicacy and mysteriousness seem ephemeral and out of this world. Often, you can see people just standing in front of the exhibit, staring and marveling at the sight in front of them.

Tap to the Kloud

An array of white polygons located along the pavements on the Marina Boulevard. This assortment of locally-made interactive light exhibits are brought to you by students from Nanyang Polytechnic (School of Interactive and Digital Media). Also, the interactive light installation claims that it that connects people and the colours of their ever-changing emotions. These emotions are portrayed by the assortment of colours which the box displays in response to how they are.

Here, patrons can tap on the “cloud” (Kloud) shaped boxes, causing them to change and pulse their lights within the boxes to the external disturbance. Moreover, patrons via the web can select and alter the colours on multiple surfaces through the app.

NYP’s Kloud

Chandelier of Spirits

i Light Event map

Through the Bay area, you can find the i Light Event map, which serves to show you the entire event map as well as directions to the two next closest exhibit displays.

Moreover, the Kloud exhibit is also situated by the Breeze Shelters. This is where the Chandelier of Spirits display reside. It is brought to you by Living Spirits from Thailand. Furthermore, it is an assortment set of animating light bulbs strung from permanent shelters along the Marina broadwalk by the Promontory. It is located besides a peculiar installation of lit mushrooms titled Whareatua – Field of Dreams by Jamie Boynton, New Zealand.

Located by the Lower Board Walk is Light Play. It is the works by the School of Arts, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University featuring programmable lights.

Tweet to the MailboX

MailboX is probably one of the few most eye catching and interactive digital exhibits on the show. It can read tweets and display the message with a lightshow. The interactive display piece is a joint work by a number of collaborative artists from Australia. This includes artists Christopher Simpson, Isabella Bain, Khanh Nguyen, James Rotanson, Anthony Zeater & Steven Bai.

During the period of the i Light show, participants can send a tweet using the hashtag #ilightmarinabay. Often, you can see crowds gathered around the MailboX as patrons composes tweets to have them displayed. Henceforth, your sent tweets will be read and your message will be automatically displayed on the MailboX light surfaces. Moreover, the lights can pulse, animate and change colours. It engages the sender with the audience around the installation.

Enter The Passage

Canadian Serge Maheu installation is one of the iconic “show boys” of the i Light show. Passage is an immersive, minimalist, contemplative and interactive artwork. Moreover, it explores the emotional connections people develop with the use of light and sound. Structurely, it comprises of a series of lit rings which animates and pulses from the movement of the people walking the passage.

Furthermore, the installation uses a series of light gates to track your movement as you walk along the passage. Light animations will follow your movement through the passage. You got to keep walking to keep the light installation going. Additionally, there will be helpers on standby (especially on weekends) to regulate crowd flow given the installation’s popularity.

Moreover, with its strategic location by the Marina Lower Boardwalk, it offers great photo opportunities being flanked by the skyline of Singapore central business district. The passage just visually stands out in the dark surroundings with its line of concentric lit rings.

Through the loops!

Caricature booths at the market

Inside the Red Dot Museum

Market of Artists and Designers

In addition to the light show, the Market of Artists and Designers is a market place running concurrently with the Light show. The spot hawks a variety of novelty items along the Marina Broadwalk area. Also, the marketplace is distinguished by a line of white canvas tents accentuated with LEDs lights strung between the tent roof. It gives the marketplace a rather dreamy atmosphere.

However, this is definitely no flea market. You can find mostly lifestyle and health products on sale here by independent sellers. Items of trade includes clothing, bags, trinkets, jewelry as well as aroma therapy products. However, most of the items sold are rather, over priced novelty items.

All In all, i Light Marina Bay is a nice and refreshing compliment to the spectacular Marina Bay reservoir area. It adds more energy to the area and serves as an excellent location to showcase the arts, by the Bay. You are good through all the exhibits for an evening. Especially if you were to have a go at interacting with the exhibits.

Definitely a fun evening out!

Welcome to Shaunchng.comDocumenting the world, one post at a time

Welcome to Shaunchng.comDocumenting the world, one post at a time

Shaunchng.comDocumenting the world, one post at a time

Tapping on a bigger market

Restaurant ambience

Mains and Grille Choices

Same, but new old

An extensive Pizza and Pasta selection

Value for money for the mainstream

Tucked in the Tanjong Pagar Business District

Quality Beef Patties

Salad Buffet Fest

Egg buffet anyone?

Well Priced for the offerings

Expect long queues

Juicy and tender chicken

Pricing

An interesting but yet less than overwhelming kitchen

Below average service

Verdict:

Eighteen Chefs at Star Vista

Wanton Noodle Galore

Performance Tests

Benchmarks

Excellent Heat Management and Temperatures

Good Camera Performance

V7+ Photo Test Shots

Excellent Security and unlocking options

Lighting fast fingerprint unlock

Excellent Battery Life

Unexpectedly useful Vivo Wisdom Engine

Battery Benchmarks

Last impressions and Conclusion

Good- 72%

New kid on the block

Under the hood and Box

Exterior and Good Build

Less than exciting Screen

Intuitive Exterior Buttons

Good Connectivity and Expansion

Software and Speedy UI

Excessive background data consumption

Update to the latest App

No official statement yet

Update 6th April

School Exhibits

Built-up model of Singapore

A good place to chill with ideas

A ride-share history back in time

The rise of Uber and Grab

The early transport civil war

Transformation of the Taxi industry

Uber’s Puzzling exit strategy

Feeding the Unicorns

Good for business, bad for consumers

Prices may inevitably rise

Drivers could earn more, but at expense of Driver welfare

Deterioration of service standards

The return of drivers cherry-picking customers

No clear future direction

Large Arcades- A rare sight in Singapore nowadays

Remembering arcades of the Yesteryears

Inside the Arcade

Ticket and prize galore

Bumper cars

Mini Bowling alley

Show Details

Meet the Octopoda

Dreamscape at the Mist Walk

Tap to the Kloud

Tweet to the MailboX

Enter The Passage

Market of Artists and Designers

Singapore Places

Column