Saturday, May 23, 2009
Chapter 394 - Simi-Lan? Gamelan!
Esther and I went to the Esplanade yesterday to catch some of the FREE performances, as part of Esplanade's Flipside! Festival, which is also in conjunction with the Singapore Arts Festival. We watched this weird energetic Japanese guy do some "Rhythmic Painting" at the Esplanade Concourse, which was okay lah. I suppose it's not so hard to train yourself to paint while "dancing", though I think the way he operated his music jukebox thingy was pretty good. (He hangs this hi-fi stereo thingy around his neck, which is a sort of digital music player which he operates while painting. i want a box like that too. ;p)
After that (and some Or-luak), we went to the Outdoor Theatre to catch Rhythm in Bronze - this Gamelan ensemble (read more about: Gamelan) from Malaysia, which has purportedly taken Malaysia by storm. After their opening song, I was convinced by that claim. I enjoyed the songs they played as much as I enjoyed their showmanship, and they played tunes on their Gamelan instruments which I wished all Gamelan ensembles would do at weddings - a wonderful fusion of traditional Gamelan tunes with modern instruments. They play every night till Sunday night - do go catch it if you have the chance. Now I only wished they had a CD of their songs....
After that (and some Or-luak), we went to the Outdoor Theatre to catch Rhythm in Bronze - this Gamelan ensemble (read more about: Gamelan) from Malaysia, which has purportedly taken Malaysia by storm. After their opening song, I was convinced by that claim. I enjoyed the songs they played as much as I enjoyed their showmanship, and they played tunes on their Gamelan instruments which I wished all Gamelan ensembles would do at weddings - a wonderful fusion of traditional Gamelan tunes with modern instruments. They play every night till Sunday night - do go catch it if you have the chance. Now I only wished they had a CD of their songs....
Labels: Singapore
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Chapter 393 - In Singapore Without A Penny II
Well, this is somewhat a continuation of "Chapter 390 - In Singapore Without A Penny" (link here - not sure if it works).
The last week has been quite a busy one as I was entertaining a couple of friends from the UK (John & Gayle), whom I met while I was travelling in the Middle East (in Jordan to be precise), who have travelled overland through much of Asia, and have arrived in Singapore.
Thus Kenny (& Esther) became tourists in their own country, visiting attractions such as the Singapore Zoo and the Jurong Bird Park. It was my first time to these places - my memory fails me when I try to recall when the last time I visited these places was. But I must say both places were really quite enjoyable, and I particularly enjoyed the Bird Park! The birds were simply quite incredible, and the variety of ways of displaying birds (in enclosures, cages, aviaries) were superb! Photos to the bird park are HERE.
The Lory Loft. The lories (not lorries) were everywhere! You could even pet one on its head (or be bitten by one, as I did) if you so fancied.
Did you know that Ostriches have the longest eye lashes? (and the stupidest looks... lolz)
Pelicans! I haven't got an interesting fact about Pelicans. ;p
Us at the Jurong Bird Park!
So why is this post "In Singapore Without A Penny" then? Well, because we didn't pay a single penny to go to the Zoo or Bird Park, many thanks for the MOE Corporate Pass! (check out this website). The Corporate Pass admits up to 4 adults to the parks for free! (that's $72 worth of savings!) But well, you need to call MOE the day before, reserve the passes, and pick it up, and return it the day after you use it, which can be troublesome if you're working I guess.... But well, $72 is a lot of money saved. (x2 = $144, if you include both the bird park and the zoo)
Now, that's a money-saving tip you probably didn't know about! (neither did I actually, until Esther told me about it... ;p)
The last week has been quite a busy one as I was entertaining a couple of friends from the UK (John & Gayle), whom I met while I was travelling in the Middle East (in Jordan to be precise), who have travelled overland through much of Asia, and have arrived in Singapore.
Thus Kenny (& Esther) became tourists in their own country, visiting attractions such as the Singapore Zoo and the Jurong Bird Park. It was my first time to these places - my memory fails me when I try to recall when the last time I visited these places was. But I must say both places were really quite enjoyable, and I particularly enjoyed the Bird Park! The birds were simply quite incredible, and the variety of ways of displaying birds (in enclosures, cages, aviaries) were superb! Photos to the bird park are HERE.
So why is this post "In Singapore Without A Penny" then? Well, because we didn't pay a single penny to go to the Zoo or Bird Park, many thanks for the MOE Corporate Pass! (check out this website). The Corporate Pass admits up to 4 adults to the parks for free! (that's $72 worth of savings!) But well, you need to call MOE the day before, reserve the passes, and pick it up, and return it the day after you use it, which can be troublesome if you're working I guess.... But well, $72 is a lot of money saved. (x2 = $144, if you include both the bird park and the zoo)
Now, that's a money-saving tip you probably didn't know about! (neither did I actually, until Esther told me about it... ;p)
Labels: Singapore
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Chapter 392 - Past Bedtime!
It's interesting (& amusing) how teachers have this unspoken pact to sleep early. Granted, since we have to get up early to work anyway. Recently, at a dinner (where all of us were teachers), you could feel the sense of tension, and people got edgy when we were still chatting at the "unearthly hour" of...... 10pm. Well, you know, it is past my bedtime on some nights. That's how draining it can get.
Labels: Teaching
