Birthday Drinks at Wine Connection Rob Quay (2nd Aug)

3 August 2014 Entertainment, Food No comments

A great group of people always make for a great birthday celebration, so we went to the Wine Connection in Robertson Quay, to have a few wines and bevvies and food – to celebrate a fab mate’s birthday…what a young man he is 🙂

After a few drinks, some grub and a birthday cake, we decided to continue the night (the night was still young!), and ended up at Fern and Kiwi – which is actually one of the nicer of the bars in Clarke Quay. The night continued with drinking and dancing, and more drinking, followed by more dancing.

I decided to leave around 1.30am, as I was getting sooo sleepy … seems I do struggle doing these type of sessions now…maybe it is the lack of practice 🙂 But it sure was a great night!

Hanoi Vietnam Trip (17th to 19th July)

19 July 2014 Trip No comments

I had to take a business trip to Hanoi, a place I always wanted to visit, so whilst the business trip same ol’, same ol’, the non-work part was very enjoyable.

I had to go the day before, due to the timings of the flight, and went with Vietnam Air – as this was a fair bit cheaper than Singapore Airlines – probably due to the lateness in booking. The main challenge was to get the Business Visa, so as my business trip was only confirmed a couple of days prior, I ended up going to the Vietnam Embassy to ensure I was able to pick-up the morning on the day of my departure…call it down to the wire – it certainly felt like that!! Phew!

When I arrived at the airport, I decided to visit the Butterfly Exhibition – something only a few people know about exists at the airport – it was actually quite nice, not a huge display, but very enjoyable to view and relax, as I waited for my flight.

My Vietnam Airlines Flight Arriving

My Vietnam Airlines Flight Arriving

After another hour, the flight arrived, so we waited to board and then took our seat.

The flight took around 3 hrs 15 mins, so it wasn’t too long. The flight was uneventful – luckily – food was so-so, but I wasn’t that hungry, so it wasn’t all bad.  I managed to sleep most of the flight – which was a great opportunity to catch-up on your sleep.

We arrived on time, and I managed to get a taxi to the Sheraton hotel, which lasted about 40 minutes or so.  Not too bad, although I couldn’t see much of the journey in the darkness.

 

The Friday lunch was a nice treat – as we were taken to a very nice restaurant in Hanoi – taking the tastes and delights of true Vietnam cuisine – yummy indeedy!

I also got to enjoy the local Vietnamese beer – tasted pretty okay actually, and the trip went very well. The hotel itself was located very nicely, overlooking the lake – a nice view indeed.

I left on Saturday morning, but didn’t have much time to enjoy the sights and sounds of Hanoi in all its glory, so I do think I will come back and visit again at some point for pleasure!

Professional Portrait Photos

14 July 2014 Family and Friends No comments

A colleague from work offered to take some professional portrait photos for me and another friend, and we agreed to use of my apartment – well within the small space I have available. There were pretty reasonably priced, and I think that they capture what we wanted to capture in the photo – amazing vibe.

It took us a few poses to get the right photo, but I am very, very impressed with the outcome.

Intelligent Cleaning Robot (iClebo) GroupOn Offer

12 July 2014 Shopping No comments
iClebo Groupon Offer

iClebo Groupon Offer

During an expo in Hong Kong a couple of years ago, the iRobot vacuum cleaner was the fad device on show – lots of manufacturers had stalls set-up promoting the device. They were quite expensive, 3-4 hundred quid, so I decided that I would probably not require it – and for me, it was easy to clean my UK home and my Singapore apartment with the more traditional Dyson vacuum cleaner.

However, there was a GroupOn offer and I noticed that there was one device on offer – so I decided to get it 🙂 It was the second time they offered it, so I presume that they had quite a few in stock – and were trying to shift them quick. It wasn’t the more traditional iRobot brand, but it was a Korean brand called iClebo (Intelligent Cleaning Robot).

The model number was YCR-M06-L1 – which looking on the iClebo website seems to imply it was a dated model – but alas, it should fit the bill for my needs. It’s listed RRP was S$999 (about £500), but the GroupOn offer was priced at S$389 (£190 ish.) – that was okay in my books.

Can’t wait to use it now – haha! 🙂

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The Features – the What, Why and How:

 

The User Guide:

Eye Examination – at Eagle Eye Centre (11th August)

11 July 2014 Well-being No comments

In June 2013, at the height of the bad haze period, I suffered from a really bad eye infection (although I still am unsure if it was actually linked to the haze, or just a pure coincidence!?)

After a few weeks of treatment, I had scheduled a follow-up visit after 12 months, and today was the check-up appointment.

I went across to the Eye Clinic, at Eagle Eye Centre, at Mount Elizabeth Hospital – and went to see the specialist again.  I was hopeful that he confirms that there is no re-occurrence and that my eyes are back to 100% health again.

The great news is that he gave me the green light, but decided to give me a further prescription fo eye drops – in the worse case it reoccurs – this whole visit costs me another $90 odd dollars (ouch), but it is probably best to be safe then sorry – especially with my eyes.  He scheduled another appointment in 12mths time, but I will probably cancel if I don’t require it – as it is just costing me too much money now.

Luckily, I can claim the costs from my work’s medicare allowance 🙂

Mount Faber Walk

6 July 2014 Exercise No comments

There is nothing like a nice evening walk, so I met up a colleague at Harbour Front, and we went for the start of a long stroll around the south-west area. We went up the stairs to the Mount Faber trail, all the way to Mount Faber peak, we then joined the Mount Faber loop which went further to the west, as we reached Henderson Road, before we went across to the Southern Ridges.

This led us to Telok Blangah Hill Park – where it led us further West, towards Alexandra Road at Hort Park. We could see the weather turning, but it did not yet rain at all during our trip.

Going through Hort Park, we entered the Kent Ridge trail which took us near to Buona Vista. We then entered back to the concrete pathways, as we reached South Buona Vista Road, we took the road South until we reached the West Coast Highway, and then we reached Pasir Panjang, and the MRT and Food Court. This walk took us almost 2 hours 45 minutes, not bad at all 🙂

We had a nice and quick dinner at the Pasir Panjang Food Court, before calling it a down and I left home via the MRT across to Bishan (okay I took the long way home) before I changed to the North-South line to Novena.

Magnum Pleasure Store Singapore

25 June 2014 Food, Marina Bay No comments

I had noticed that a mysteriously store had ‘popped-up’ alongside Marina Bay at Custom House.  I was intrigued to find out the reason, and it seems that it is just a Magnum’s marketing campaign – to celebrate their 25 year anniversary.

I thought it was going to be an store serving nothing but ice cream, but instead this store actually was an eatery in addition to servicing desserts that involved Magnum’s ice cream – intriguing indeed.

The view overlooking MBS and Marina Bay was very nice, especially on a nice day in the Singapore sunshine, and the store looked very nice indeed. Looking over the bay did make you feel that it was floating, so you coudl very easily feel nauseous if you stayed too much outside.

The service was very good, and the meal was average in quality and taste – they served a couple of dishes, including pasta, which was okay…wouldn’t rave too much about it. However, the desserts were simply lush – served in perfection, and tasted like most Magnum products – delicious and refreshing. It wasn’t the cheapest of places, but I am glad we paid a visit before this pop-up store closes for good. You could actually make your own dessert ice cream, with a pick and mix selection of toppings on top of the classic magnum stick.

Magnum Pleasure Store Singapore
Customs House Terrace
70 Collyer Quay
Singapore 049323
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MagnumSingapore
URL: http://www.mymagnum.com.sg

Beerfest Asia 2014 in Singapore

16 June 2014 Entertainment, Food, Shopping No comments
Beer Fest Asia 2014

Beer Fest Asia 2014

Well it is traditional annual event in Singapore, and I have managed to skip it for the past 2 years I was in town, so this year I decided to go and pay it a visit. This year it was scheduled for 12-15 June, so it is a short event to enjoy the sights and sounds of some delightful beers.

It’s located near to the F1 circuit, in the Marina Promenade, just behind the Singapore Flyer, and the entry fee was $30 for a day entry – you get a complimentary beer, and then you have the buy beer credits to ‘buy’ the beers on show. It was a great location, and a great venue for this event, and I am still amazed on the amount of beers, flavours and alcoholic beverages that are available – you have such a choice.

We got a few beers – one Crabbies (still like that), and then we went for a Banana Beer and a Double Chocolate stout – which was quite ‘interesting’ to say the least.

Anyway, it is certainly worth to pay a visit, although just need to quick yourself hydrated as it gets very hot in the mid-day sun!

Beerfest Asia
1 Old Parliament Lane #02-01
Singapore 179429
Tel: +65 6338 8277
URL: http://www.beerfestasia.com
E-mail: info@beerfestasia.com

Singapore Gun Club – Shot-Gun Shooting (15th June)

16 June 2014 Entertainment No comments

After an episode in the US, where I held a rifle too close, and ended up getting a bit bruised on my forehead, I was a bit weary of guns…I am not a gun person by norm.  So when a group of friends scheduled a Clay Pigeon shooting session at the Singapore Gun Club, they kindly invited me along!  I didn’t even know that a Gun Club was actually allowed in Singapore, yet alone that one existed, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was one.

I knew it was going to be a great experience, but I was also a bit concerned that I was going to be pretty crap at hitting the target.  The location of the place was a bit far to the west at Choa Chu Kang…in fact any further west I would be in Malaysia…I recognised the name, but couldn’t recall why, only to realise that it had its own MRT station on the North-South line, the one I use to get to work, so I knew I had seen the name somewhere before!  Haha!

Anyway, I knew it was still quite west of the MRT station, so I decided to go by taxi…I jumped it and then told the driver where I wanted to go, I could tell he was pretty annoyed, as it was soooo to the West, it almost out in the sticks…he agreed to go (unlike other taxi drivers) and we went on our way.  As we approached the area, I noticed that there was a lot of defense and military and similar installations around, and the driver told me that this is where all of the Singapore defense offices are largely based…now makes sense why there is an official national gun club just along here.  There was also a lot of cemeteries too, the driver made a poignant comment that they were intending to move the graves because they needed to build on the land – which I still find very distasteful – but alas, that’s the issue when you are in a Country / island with limited land around!

To the sport in hand, when we arrived, I registered which was a temporary 3 month membership for $82, which allowed you to visit for this period of time. We were then led to the Clay Pigeon shooting range and provided the gun handling and safety awareness course instructions (health and safety briefing) on what to do, and how to hold the shot-gun etc. After this, we went for the Trap Shooting, which means that we stay at one position along the line, with various severity of aim, and the clay then came out of a central location. We had 25 clays in total each, and as we were still novices, the guide went down the line to ensure that only one person was firing at any one time, so it took about 2 hours all in all to finish the session. It was actually very tiring, and you could feel your arms and shoulders aching, but it sure was great fun – I ended up hitting the target about 70% of the time, so hit around 17-18 clays, not bad for a beginner! I would certainly do it again, at some point, just need to rest my brain and arms a bit! Haha!

Singapore Gun Club
Gun Club 990 National Shooting Centre
Singapore 689810
Tel: +65 6466 1575
E-mail: info@singaporegunclub.com
URL: http://www.singaporegunclub.com/

Comedy Night at Grand Park City Hall (13th June)

14 June 2014 Entertainment No comments
Comedy Night - Line-Up

Comedy Night – Line-Up

I am always game for some laughs, so when the Comedy Club Asia website featured another comedy night set, I decided to go for it.  I arranged a group of friends to visit on Friday, 13th June event – locate at the Grand Park City Hall, so we could go straight after work…well okay, after a few drinks first.

The line-up looked okay, although I had not heard of the cast before, and I know there are always 2 good ones, and 1 mediocre ones in the line-up in most type of sessions, so I was expecting a mix bag reaction.  Unfortunately, the place itself wasn’t that packed, so we were ushered to the front row (always a mistake on a comedy event), and the jokes just kept on coming.

Getting ready for the laughs!

Getting ready for the laughs!

I actually felt bad for another member of the audience who was poked on throughout the night, as soon as you give a comedian a little of bit of fun info, they truly take advantage of us…so luckily for us, our involvement was ‘limited’ in comparison to that poor fella!

Overall, a fun end of the night, and we certainly laughed a lot!  Comedy events are such a great way to chill, relax and drink a bit – although it does help when the comedians are a bunch of funny arses too!

Comedy Club Asia – Singapore
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheComedyClubAsia
Email: info@thecomedyclub.asia

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