Breakfast at Swenson

Went to try their omelette breakfast set and though presentation looked nice, the omelette taste rather bland though it included chopped tomatoes and herbs. 

 Omelette set at Swenson

 I love the ciabatta though

F1 Night Race in Singapore

I saw F1 racing for the first time outside Marina Square shopping mall as F1 racers test drove the track in Singapore. I caught a glimpse of the stunningly beautiful racing cars as I went up the escalator to Marina Square mall. Wow the sound was so loud that I could hear the roaring cars inside the mall. 

The cheapest ticket price for the final race tomorrow costs $128.00. If you are in Singapore and want to watch the F1 night race, the only F1 night race in the world, you can click this site to find out more.

Image from http://www.singaporegp.sg/

Singapore Noise Festival 2014

Missed the Singapore Noise Festival exhibition at Ion Orchard? Not to worry, you can take a peek on my blog and see arts and design by Singaporeans artists and designers. 

 Hanging national flag before Singapore National Day 

 Different types of kuehs, a type of snack in Singapore and Southeast Asia.

 I like this art simply because I like lotus

 Art Science Museum and Singapore city landscape

Cavalia in Singapore

Cavalia is a story of horse and men and how both achieve amazing acrobatics and stunts in the two hours show. Actually I don't really want to watch but my friend said that it is really spectacular. If you are in Singapore, you can catch Cavalia in Marina Bay Sands till 28 September this year. 

Mid-Autumn Festival at Gardens by the Bay

From now till 14 September, hurry down to Gardens by the Bay with your friends and loved ones to immerse in the Mid-Autumn Festival while admiring exquisite lanterns of different themes like iconic places from around the worlds, the Chinese 12 horoscopes and classic Chinese legends and heros. 

Besides the dazzling lanterns, you can also play games like Chinese chess and guess the word and watch free performances near the Supertrees. 

How to get to Gardens by the Bay?

Just alight at Bayfront MRT and walk for about 5 minutes. 
Mid-Autumn Festival4 - 14 Sep 2014
6:00 PM - 11:00 PM (Mon - Fri)
3:00 PM - 11:00 PM (Sat - Sun)

This is definitely my favorite lantern, the bejewel pineapple that symbolize prosperity 

 Award-winning lantern design by students. This design uses recycled material.

 Free performance

 Seriously I don't know how to play this game. You need to guess the word.

 You can watch people playing Chinese chess on this really big chess board.

 These birds look really cute.

 Dancers dancing in front of the pavilion.

 My Chinese horoscope: Rooster. Oh dear you know my age already. 

 Singapore new sports stadium

 Horses lantern sponsored by Taipei 

 Chinese deities the third prince (三太子）which is commonly worshipped by Taiwanese.

 Popular Chinese legends 八仙过海 8 deities crossing the sea

 Zheng He, the famous Ming Dynasty admiral who travelled the world 

 Holland theme

 Sydney Opera House and iconic animals.

Arts in Promenade MRT

Saw these sparkling  raindrops in Promenade MRT on the way to Gardens by the Bay. It kinda enliven the MRT station and you can admire the arts and daydream while waiting for the MRT. 

Singapore Chinatown: A Blooming Mid-Autumn Festival Light-up 2014

After Xinyao concert and a hearty dinner yesterday, I went to Chinatown to catch the Blooming Mid-Autumn Festival Light-up as my cousin shared that this year light-up is very stunning. The light-up in Chinatown is from now till 28 September mid-night this year.

Next Saturday,6 September, there'll be a mass lantern walk and Smith streets will be closed.

From Chinatown Festival website. Click here to read more. 
Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Mooncake or Lantern Festival, is recognised as one of the most important Chinese festivals. Traditionally, it is an occasion spent with family members and friends, gathering together to indulge in tasty mooncakes and taking in the beautiful view of the moon when it is at its brightest and fullest.

This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Monday, 8 September 2014. In Singapore, the Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2014 organized by Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng Citizens’ Consultative Committee (KA-KS CCC) (牛车水—金声区公民咨询委员会), will showcase an exciting, colourful and vibrant month-long programme from 23 August to 28 September 2014.

 Beautiful bouquet of flowers along Chinatown street.

 Really stunning light-up right?

 Just alight at Chinatown MRT near the ChinaTown Point shopping centre to see the light-up.

 There are different flowers along the street

Cute bird admiring the flowers

More flowers up above the cars

 This is orchid, Singapore national flower

明天32新摇 XinYao Concert 2014

So glad I went to the 明天32 新摇 XinYao concert at Star Vista today. XinYao 新摇 means Singapore Chinese Folk songs composed,wrote and sang by Singaporeans. Xinyao was inspired by Taiwanese college students who penned and composed Chinese folk songs in the 70s. 

I enjoyed the four hours concert thoroughly and I got to know good songs I never heard before. By the way, this is my first Xinyao concert. I love the beautiful and heartwarming Chinese lyrics with melodious music that resonate with me. The songs are so inspiring and heartwarming. 

National Junior College organised the first song-writing competition in 1981 thus sparking off 新摇 XinYao. The most well-known XinYao composer and singer is Liang Wen Foo who penned and composed many popular songs sang by himself, Singaporeans, Taiwanese and Hong Kongers. Liang Wen Foo is acknowledged by many as the principal of XinYao.

Sadly I did not get to see him in the afternoon concert. I heard that that he would attend the evening concert as he had to conduct lesson in the afternoon. Well at least I got to attend the afternoon concert as the evening concert at 7.30pm with 5000 seats was sold out. Due to popular demand, the organizer added the afternoon 2pm concert. 

Though I was born in 1981, I got to know Xinyao songs from local Chinese dramas theme songs like 青春一二三 and national day parade songs like 年轻的心 young heart。I also like the song 细水长流 by Liang Wen Foo. I'm only aware of Xinyao concert after watching the Reunion concert also organised by 弹唱人( Tang Chan Ren ), who promoted the 明天32新摇. This year Chinese newspapers like XinMin evening also promote the concert.

From this concert, I realised that there are many talented Singaporeans composers, lyricist, and singers. We should support Singapore music. Perhaps there should be a documentary and a CD compilation of great Xinyao musics like 细水长流,   我們這一班 (Our Class), 年轻的心 (Young Heart),关怀方式,你的倒影,一步一步來 and 排排坐,. Package the above songs into a beautiful album and I will definitely buy. Maybe for next year Singapore 50th birthday, release the Xinyao album with the above and other awesome Xinyao songs. How about reviving song-writing competition for secondary or junior college students in Singapore? It's also a great way to promote Speak Mandarin campaign and the beauty of Chinese language. Really love the poetic lyrics penned by fellow Singaporeans. 

My favorite segments of the concert:
1) Current students from primary to secondary school performed Xinyao songs.
2) Huang XiuLing, channel 8 newscaster sang with her elder sister.
3) Jimmy Ye finally performed after more than a decade hiatus. 
4) Humorous LiFeiHui. 
5) Eric Moo and all the singers sang 年轻的心 (Young Heart).

Hopefully next year there be at least two concerts with all the Xinyao singers performing since next year is also Singapore's 50th birthday. 

Finale at 32 新摇 XinYao 2014 concert

This concert is organised by Tang Chan Ren 弹唱人

青春123

年轻的心 Young heart

  我們這一班 by 顏黎明 Yan Li Min Our Class is a song about a mischievous class

梁文福- 细水长流

        关怀方式

麻雀衔竹枝 我们这里是新加坡

This song was banned for about 20 years in Singapore till 2011 because it include some cantonese. If you want to see Singapore from 1940s to 1990s, watch the below video sang by Liang Wen Fook. 

麻雀衔竹枝 

NATAS Fair 2014 at Singapore Expo

If you are looking for travel deals, then you must visit the NATAS fair (National Association of Travel Agents Singapore) at Singapore Expo which is just a minute walk from Expo MRT. Although the entrance fees is $4.00 per person ( free entry for children below 12 years old), you get free souvenirs and magazines from various countries tourism exhibitors. I love to take free Europe travel books with great picture quality for future references. 

Also you can buy I magazine at $5.00 with many free goodies. The magazine itself is $2.00 so I just pay extra $3.00 for extra magazines like Discovery Channel magazine and Chinese health magazine, two bottles of drinks, BBQ sauce, yellow noodles, AVEDA hair samples, sunblock and a big bar of chocolate. 

NATAS Fair will end on this Sunday at 9.30pm. 

 Taiwan Tourism

 Hong Kong Tourism 

China Tour

New Dishes from Bakerzin

Bakerzin is a western casual restaurant that is known for their delicious cakes. However, their new menu serves really good pasta dishes too. I am delighted with their aglio olio which allows you to add side dish like prawns, bratwurst, ham and bacon or mushrooms at additional cost from $3.00 to $7.00. 

Besides warm chocolate cake with a molten chocolate lava, caesar salad is also another dish I like to order as it comes with half boiled egg and parmesan cheese. After blogging this, I feel like eating their aglio olio this weekend again. 

To look at their revamped menu, you can click here
                   I like the Smoked Salmon Penne but the smoked salmon is too salty.

 The caesar salad ($10.90) is a must order for me.

 A plate of aglio olio costs $9.90 but I add prawns which cost an additional $7.00. I guess I be visiting Bakerzin more often for their al dente aglio olio.

 Cookies and cream cheesecake is served with fresh berries and it taste quite good.

 This is definitely my favorite dessert but the warm chocolate cake costs $11.50

 You can also request for chocolate ice-cream

Molten chocolate lava oozing out