Archive for abrigatti

Escape Plan Movie with Friends

21 November 2013 Entertainment No comments

Well the are a few good releases out at the moment, and the next movie in line for viewing is the Sylvester Stallone and Arnie Schwarzenegger hit called Escape Plan. It was about Stallone’s job entailing testing out the security of prisons to see if they are escape proof. His current assignment was in a new tech prison complex and he was there to test it out, not knowing that he was in a trap, and the Warden had other ideas.

Anyway, the story line was pretty good, a bit far fetched at times (like most movies in this genre), but the chemistry between these two lead characters was always going to be fun and entertaining. The issue I have with these types of films, is the the plot can be slightly unbelievable. The main one related to Stallone being stuck in an isolation cell/chamber, usually meaning that there are “no way out”, but as per usual he finds a way – apparently there were bolts on the floor leading this (of course, a lucky discovery) a secret chamber/ladder that leads to another area of the prison…hmmm…

Film was okay, and the ending was interesting, but as I said it was the fun of Stallone and Schwarzenegger that made the movie 🙂

Dirt PS3 Game

16 November 2013 Entertainment No comments

Well I was invited around to a mate’s place and he was playing Forza Horizon on the Xbox 360, and after viewing the amazing graphics and the gameplay, I decided that I should ‘invest’ in a similar but competing game for my PS3.

I looked at Grand Turismo 6, Dirt 3, Grid 2, Need for Speed, WRC 3 and GTA5. I believer that Grand Turismo 6 and GTA5 are in a class of their own, but their game play relates to their classic gameplay style. What I wanted was more of a racing game but similar to Forza Horizon had a of road-race challenges in the mix, so I found that Dirt 3 was the closest on offer on the PS3.

The next challenge was to find a place nearby in Singapore, I did a quick Google search and found a few putty close by…well close as in Orchard area. FunzSquare was down Scott’s Road in Far East Plaza, another called Qisahn.com in Far East Shopping Centre and lastly another one called FunzCentre in Orchard Centre, the last two both in Orchard Road.

I decided to venture to Far East Plaza, and after walking around the mall for about 10 minutes, I located the place. The item was around £30 on Amazon.co.uk and it cost around S$64 – so around the same price, a few quid more, but not too bad.

I just hope I have time to play it and improve 🙂

Gold Class @ Golden Village

14 November 2013 Entertainment No comments

As part of the Great Singapore Sales (GSS) promotion between May and July this year, I managed to get some free tickets courtesy of Standard Chartered Bank. They had a prize draw with 96 prizes awarded daily, and I won Golden Village Gold Class cinema tickets.

Awaiting for the opportunity to redeem, I knew I had to redeem the letter for the cinema vouchers by 30th November. I decided to take a colleague from work, and we decided to go see ‘Enders Game’ (which ‘okay’ – nothing special, but fun to watch…) in VivoCity on 13 November, thinking it would expire at the end of the month. When I went to exchange the letter for theatre vouchers, they then told me that the cinema ticket voucher was actually valid for 12 months – grrr…. That wasn’t clear was it :(. Anyway, since we we there, we decided to make the most of it and enjoy the time at the Gold Class theatre.

It was the first time I went to this Gold Class theatre, it was quite nice, reclining leather chairs, a nice selection of food that they deliver personally to your theatre seat, and an intimate sized venue. It usually costs S$39 per seat. Ouch! But at least I saved almost S$80 worth of fine tickets. Next time I should take a fine lady – rather a bloke … Haha!

Apparently, Cathy Platinum is meant to be slightly better (not that I had the opportunity to try it yet) – I guess that is the difference between Gold vs Platinum – haha! But either way, it was enjoyable, and more importantly free 🙂

Boracay Holiday vs. Typhoon Haiyan – Typhoon Won :(

8 November 2013 Holiday No comments

Earlier this year, a group of us from work (and an ex-colleague) decided to go to Boracay in the Philippines – what is known to be a magical island towards the centre of the country, north of Palay Island.

We were all looking forward to it, as the months and weeks counted down. A couple of weeks per, we heard of a depression that was forming towards the east seas of the Philippines, when it turned into a Typhoon. As it formed and approached the Philippines and it’s many islands on the east side, it gained in strength, we knew it would be close to the Philippines when we were scheduled to leave for holiday, and then we noted on the reports that it was actually going to go across a wide span of the centre belt, and looking at the planned route, it looked like it was going to hit just south of Boracay island. Then our holiday came within a couple of days, and then we looked at the timing of when the Typhoon was about to hit, and you guessed it, on the actual day we were scheduled to leave, it was scheduled to hit Palay Island and Boracay. In fact, our flight was arriving on Friday, 8th November at 3pm local time, at the exact hour when it was meant to be at its fiercest.

What annoyed me most is that Tiger Airlines made no attempt to contact it’s many passengers who were affected but this human nature disaster, we only heard word of move and it was only when someone referenced us to the Tiger Airlines Philippines Facebook page, did we get the full score. Their Communicates and Operations Director basically stated that all flights on Friday 8th had been cancelled to the central Philippines, including ours to Kalibo airport. Luckily, we didn’t just risk going to Singapore airport to find it out there, rather we slept on it, and decided to go back to work – I know get the small violin out, but I think it was the right cause of action to cancel the flight and holiday, noting how fierce this Typhoon ended up being. The last thing we want is to be in the middle of a massive natural disaster.

My hearts and thoughts remain to the Philippines and the Filipinos impacted by this event, as looking at the news, it really was very bad indeed!

Life is more important, and there is always the possibility to re-schedule a holiday, that can’t be said for replacing a life.

Halloween and Glenn’s Birthday Party

3 November 2013 Entertainment, Family and Friends No comments

Well it might have been a few days after Halloween (31st October), but a friend had arranged a dual Halloween and his Birthday party for 2nd November. And to mark such a occasion, it was a fancy dress one 🙂

I had been searching for a costume for a while – and didn’t really want to spend over the top, so after a few visits to a few places, I found one In Toa Payoh, it was called Number 1 Costume and was a huge place in one of the business units, but I just didn’t find one that I liked. I then decided to get a last minute purchase at another place in North Bridge Road, called Global Mascot – this place had a few costume sets all wrapped up, and I decided to get one of these. Only cost me S$50 as well, and yes I know – you get what you paid for. Last time I dressed as a Grim Reaper, so this year I brought one which was meant to have been a Vampire, but personally, it was quite poor, and the cloak didn’t have the proper attachments to hook onto my shoulders, so I ended with tape, which didn’t stay for long :(. Hey-ho, it was worth a shot!! Moral of the story, spend more effort to select a good costume, more time planning, and spend a bit more money to get a better quality and more complete costume!!

There is always next year … eek!!

One Republic Concert at RWS Hard Rock Hotel

30 October 2013 Entertainment No comments

A few weeks back, a couple of work people were arranging for a group to go to the One Republic Concert at Hard Rock Hotel at Resort World Sentosa (on 29th October) In total we had 6 people who were keen to join, and we managed to purchase the tickets.

After work, we headed off after work, and after a bit of a headache to get taxis (as it was just after a massive downpour) we finally arrived at the venue. It was a standing only gig, and the venue was quite interesting, it was sheltered but classed as an outdoor gig.

I am not a big One Republic fan, but knew some of the hit tunes, and was bopping along to the tracks that I recognised. The start was a bit frustrating as there was no warm-up or supporting acts, and the wait was just painful for the band to come on stage, but when they did at about 730pm, the crowd knew that they were in for a great show.

I headed out just after 11pm just before the last couple of tracks played, as I knew it would be hell to get a taxi back. I arrived home around 1145pm, ready for another fun-packed day ahead.

Birthday Drinks – Five Izakaya Bar

26 October 2013 Food, Marina Bay No comments

After a whole day on the road and visiting Amex merchant customers, what better way to celebrate my birthday, by adding the birthday drinks after the event.

It started with a few ‘free’ drinks at the end of the ROWAS event at the Fullerton, after the barrels (tab) ran dry, we moved onto Five Izakaya which was pretty nearby, and we continued drinking away.

It was a funny session, as there was a see of Amex tops throughout the venue – we usually had about 7 tables, and the best thing is that I knew the large majority of the people here.  So I ended up going around, drinking, toasting the night, celebrating my birthday and chatting away…

A fabulous night – and it was good to have some many friendly faces out from work!

Five Izakaya Bar
16 Collyer Quay
Singapore 049318
Tel: +65 6536 8955
URL: http://www.fivebar.sg

Amex Reach Out With a Smile (ROWAS) Merchant Event

26 October 2013 Entertainment, Exhibition, Marina Bay No comments

Each year, the American Express Singapore team go out on a merchant event to say hello to them and thanks for accepting the card.  This year, it was scheduled for Friday, 25th October and we were based at the Fullerton Hotel.  This is a great way to speak to our merchant customers, something that the majority of the Amex team will unlikely do on a daily basis.

At the start of the event, there was some general quiz questions and I jumped to the chance to answer. I knew the MC that was on stage, and he knew it was my birthday, so he managed to get 400 odd Amex Singapore employees to sing Happy Birthday to me – what a nice treat 🙂

We separated into various teams, and the GNP teams were based around Orchard and Somerset.  My particular location was the Concorde Hotel – I initially was given 3 sheets of merchants (about 75-80 locations), but then 2 of the sheet were taken back, so I only had 30 merchants to visit, phew!

Some of the merchants were ‘interesting’ – especially as this place had a House of Condom and a few bars/clubs – the latter would be difficult to visit, as most would have been closed.  It is strange why these are still added to the merchant list, when we can’t “see them” during the business day. Anyway, I did the majority, gave all of my gifts out and actually enjoyed the visits and speaking with the merchants.

I took special attention to visit the House of Condom location – an ‘interesting’ shop…haha!  I managed to speak with the sales agent/owner, and she agreed to put an open/close sign on the door – which she kindly put up on the spot.  Lovely juvly – job done! 🙂

Internations Event – Professionals @ Hombre, Boat Quay

24 October 2013 Entertainment, Food No comments

I joined Internations about 3 months ago as part of my aim to network in Singapore – and it’s a great forum of interests and general gatherings.

This particular one was called “Professional”, so it was a good way to get into the more business-related network scene. The location was ‘Hombre Cantina’, a new Mexican Bar in Boat Quay. It was located about 3/4 of the way down, an stretch I never usually go to, so it was good to take this opportunity to see what is in and out of Boat Quay.

I went quite early, and got chatting to the boss of the new bar, and they had yet to accept Amex, so decided to do my sales pitch – well anything for the blue box. I then went to a table with my drink, as the other Internations folks arrived. It was a huge event, but the right number of people turned up…possibly about 50 in all.

The table I was on became one of the bigger groups with about 8-10 people gathering to together – from all backgrounds. I spoke with a Jamican guy, a lady who recently joined Ethiopian Airlines, and other folks – all very interesting people, and it was an enjoyable night.

Hombre Cantina
53 Boat Quay
Singapore, 049842
URL: http://www.hombrecantina.com
Phone: +65 6438 6708

National Geographic Exhibition at the ArtsScience Museum

19 October 2013 Entertainment, Exhibition No comments

The Amex Social Club team arranged for a session at the National Geographic Exhibition which was exhibiting their 50 greatest images in Singapore for a few months. It was located at the ArtsScience Museum in Marina Bay Sands, and I always wanted to have a look at this collection. In fact, I was very keen on the National Geographics – as I have this thing about nature and world cultures – in all its beauty, but never got around to subscribe, so this was a good way to see some of the best images in the world 🙂

It was a remarkable collection, and it was certainly a special selection of the best photos of our generation – and it was good spending it with some good chums from the office. The irony is that whilst it was a Singapore Blue Box event (all employees), only 4 people turned up – and they were all from the ‘GNS’ world – so became a mini GNS team-build – haha!

If the exhibition comes to your town – you MUST pay a visit to see the fabulous images!

« Older Entries   Recent Entries »

© 2012-2026 Aaron Brigatti - Brigatti Online   ® All Rights Reserved.