Singapore National Day Parade Rehearsal on 29th June 2019

Yesterday I attended Singapore 54th National Day Parade rehearsal at the Padang. We arrived at the Padang at about 4.30pm. After going through security check, we went to get our funpack filled with snacks, Tiger balm ointment, Singapore flag.  

This year theme "Our Singapore" commemorates Singapore bicentennial from the day Stanford Raffles arrived in Singapore which heralded the start of prosperous trading city.  

If you like fireworks, you can wait near Esplanade theatre the following Saturday at around 8 pm before 9 August 2019. There will be National Day education show for the Primary 5 students and National Day preview shows from next Saturday till 3 August 2019. 

For more information, visit National Day Parade 2019 website at https://www.ndp.org.sg/index.html 

Wave the flag!

The finale ended with fireworks as usual.

There were only 22000 people in yesterday rehearsal. Next week there will be about 27000 people. The participants have been practising the performances since March this year.

Majulah Singapura means Onward Singapore in Malay. The building shown is National Gallery of Singapore.

 I was wondering who were at the rooftop at the National Gallery of Singapore, so I used my 16x zoom camera to take a look. Think they must be from the media with their powerful cameras.

 Various acts by students. 

 Since this is rehearsal, the actual guests like Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) were not here. They will only attend on the actual day celebration on 9 August.

 This 'fake' Prime Minister also wear pink shirt.

 POSB is my spending account. I don't save money with POSB. 

 The Singapore flag fly past.

 We sat at the yellow section

 Fun pack also came with potato chips.

 Bamboo straws of various sizes are in the funpack too.

Finally Attended Ajahn Keng Dhamma Talk on 27 June 2019

This Thursday, I finally attended dharma talk by Chao Kun Keng, a Singaporean monk at Nibbaba Dhamma Rakkha located at 24 Lorong 29 Geylang. Normally I don't like to go out on weekdays as I need to wake up early for work. I decided to attend as I didn't attend the March Dharma talk this year and I wanted to offer requisite to him personally.

I arrived early as I anticipated there would be many people. But the building was locked so I thought that I went to the wrong place. Luckily I arrived early and sat near the front. The room at level 4 was filled to the brink and some had to stand to listen to the talk. I like to listen to Ajahn Keng's dhamma talk as he teaches the Dhamma in a light-hearted way and he is also a very humorous teacher. 

Some key points of his Dharma talk:
Ajahn Keng taught us how to meditate by relaxing different parts of our body and observing our breaths. All of us take for granted our breaths. 

During meditation, you can observe your thoughts influenced by the five aggregates （色受想行识）( form (or matter or body), sensations (or feelings, received from form), perceptions, mental activity or formations, and consciousness.

He also shared with us that sentient beings like snake, dogs and rats understand what we said. Also if dogs or cats go to your house, do not treat them badly as they have affinity with you. They could be related to you in their past lives or were past occupants of the house but due to attachment to the house, it came back again. 

If a person is greedy, he/she easily deceived by others. 

One of his student meditated for 13 hours straight. I could only meditate for 1 hour at most. I need to be diligent in meditation. 

Besides meditating, you should observe the five or eight precepts. Do not complicate Buddha's teaching. Basically Buddha taught the threefold practice namely Sila (Precepts, morality), Samadhi (concentrated mind) and Prajna (Insight, understanding). 戒定慧

Sila: Precepts, Morality, Ethics (Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood)

Samadhi: Equanimity, Calmness, One-Pointedness, Absorption, Settled Mind, Concentrated Mind, Undistracted (Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Samadhi) via meditation

Prajna: Insight, Understanding, Emptiness, Interdependence (Right View, Right Intention/Thinking)

Below is the Dhamma talk in Mandarin by Chao Khun Keng on 27 June 2019

To read more, you can visit my blog on Buddhism here. 

Vegetarian Choices at Canton Paradise

If you are Canton Paradise members, you get to enjoy 30% discount for afternoon yum cha time from 3pm to 5pm from Monday to Friday at Marina Bay Sands. At other outlets, they have 40% discount. 

There are now vegetarian choices at Canton Paradise like  vegetarian spring roll, plain congee, stewed ee-fu noodles and many more. 

Tasty chestnut and peanut appetiser. 

Mixed appetiser to plain congee.

Delicious Vegetarian Congee at Green Signature

Lately I feel like eating congee and I'm glad I found Green Signature congee at Tampines Century Square. The salted egg pumpkin congee and fried pumpkin with creamy salted egg are great. Definitely one of the best congees I eaten. I be back for more for the congee.

Salted egg pumpkin congee is priced at about $7.90.

Deep fried  pumpkin with creamy salted egg is very delicious. It is priced at $12.90.

Rose Romance at Gardens by the Bay

From 31 May to 14 July this year, the flower dome at Gardens by the Bay is filled with 40 varieties of roses in different colours, shapes and sizes from Europe. As I explored the roses, I also stopped  to smell the roses which have pleasant fragrant. There are English roses bred by David Austin and the France art of Trelliage. 

Yesterday there is free entry for both Pioneer and  Merdeka generation ( every second Tuesday of the month) so I took my mum to flower dome yesterday. There were many senior citizens yesterday besides tourists. They were enjoying admiring the beautiful roses. If you love roses, do visit the flower dome by 14 July this year. 

Gardens by the Bay, Flower Dome
Nearest MRT: Bayfront MRT

 Do remember to ask the ticketing staff for this informative brochure.

Build your own tower at the back of the brochure.