Asia Beerfest 2009

I went to the Asia Beerfest 2009 ! And it was worse than flat beer, it felt like flat non-alcoholic beer. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Things started off to a good start with the lovely view from the Singapore flyer of the city skyline..

Then we went in, and discovered how empty the tent was......

And the free beer coupon that I received, could only be exchanged for basic beer. What is basic beer ?? San Miguel, whatever that you could buy from the pub outside....... Wait a second ! Thank goodness for Archipelago, where I tried their 'for beerfest only' dragonfruit beer. It was okay, ....... really.. just okay...

My favorite booth was the Swiss one, where they served up snapps and rice beer and other funky stuff. It was good !!! But otherwise, the rest of the booths were either sold out or they were just serving stuff that we could easily buy like Singha beer, Hoegarden's Forbidden Fruit, San Miguel. -l-

I was really disappointed with the whole Beerfest after all the hype, I was in and out in under an hour and hightailed it to Ooster's at Suntec for a round of Belgium beer in an air-con restaurant with food that justified their prices.

Never again !!!!

Life is What You Make It Out to Be

I am seriously sick of people complaining how boring or lousy Singapore is. I am not wearing rose tinted glasses here, I am still suffering from Shanghai withdrawal symptoms now as I type, but ..... let's be fair guys, it might not be cool to sing "Stand Up for Singapore", it ain't all that bad.

(Especially when you have just been to a place where all shops are closed after 6pm and the only place that you can go to is the supermarket...........I digress )


Next up on our list of activities, would be to challenge our old bones to rock climbing at Safra Yishun. Unfortunately, none of us was certified to be safe to be climbing outdoors yet. But this is something that we all plan to change in the coming month.

For about slightly more than S$10 each, we attempted the Canopy walk instead. I might be tall, well built like a mini bus right now, but inside, i'm a cowering puppy when it comes to heights.




The Canopy walk comes with four different bridges. You will attempt to cross these bridges with no help / tips / advice at all from the instructor and with only a safely harness protecting you from the four storeys distance from the ground below.


Amazingly, I did not fall at all. I just breathed hard, concentrated and prayed like crazy.... Well, one more thing to add to my list of how much I can do if pushed slightly .. :)

There was an indoor rock climbing room for beginners included in our package. Rock climbing is a tad harder than just pushing and pulling. To be continued...

Yishun Safra
60 Yishun Avenue 4 Singapore 769027
Tel: 6377 9889
Fax: 6852 8222

Oh My Crap

I love my friends dearly and I would not trade them for anything in the world. In my sometimes crazy life, they are a rock to hang on to for dear sanity. Right now, my sun fearing friends, T, S and H are risking tooth and nail to help me get back my figure pre-Shanghai.


So we headed for another day at the beach for some blading and cycling. Tomorrow, we are going for rock climbing and a canopy walk. Burn Fats Burn ! (Just stop burning them at my boobs, DAMN IT!)

During the evening, after the gang has left. I headed off for a BBQ organized by my ex-colleagues.

Preordering the food from a BBQ vendor, the items were delivered in a neat set with the much required charcoal, appetizers and BBQ items.

While waiting for the fire to be set up, we were sitting around and catching up on old times when ...

At this fateful pit ......

At this fateful spot.....

I was chatting happily then I felt something on my head. I looked back and thought that someone threw something at me. I was about to snap back when I touched my head.

-l-

.......... Bird flu ? ......... I'm bbqing all those damn birds at ECP !!!!!!!!!!! It did the dirty thing and landed SMACK on my head.

Haiz..........................................................

Istana Open House

Facebook, spam or friend? We get the most ridiculous groups, quizzes and events. Sometimes a quick glance through a person's preferences and photos revealed online might yield us clues to a personality that we might rather not know. Sometimes we get something that proves to be beneficial. A case in point would be this Free Quality Events in Singapore, a group that was set up by some hospitality students in Singapore.

Thanks to this group, I was informed about the Istana Open House. Located along Orchard Road and built on an old nutmeg plantation, the Istana was the former official residence of the representative of the British Crown. Normally, the Istana is not open to the public except on special public holidays such as Chinese New Year, Labour Day, National Day, Hari Raya Puasa and Deepavali. Currently, the President and Prime Minister have their offices on the Istana Grounds and it is the Official Residence of the President of Singapore where he receives and entertains state guests.

During the openhouse, only the Istana(1869)(or "palace" in Malay) is opened to the public for a small fee of S$2.


Going into the Istana grounds, one is immediately greeted by tall leafy trees and sprawling greens.


After a short stroll, the imposing Istana building is perched on the hilltop, imposing looking over the business area in Singapore.

Unfortunately, no photos were allowed to be taken within the Istana itself. During the tour, we were shown the modest furnishings and gifts from foreign visitors.

As a small remainder of our former British colony status, there was a garden aptly named Victoria Garden with a statue of Queen Victoria.

The whole trip around the garden took us under 2 hours in the hot sun. The bulk of the waiting time was actually clearing the security checks at the door. If you are planning a trip down to the Istana during one of the holidays, please remember to bring along your passport and identity card. If you are a foreigner, there is a donation of S$1 required at the door, going to the President's supported charity foundation, Community Chest.

Istana Grounds
(Opened During Public Holidays From 830am - 6pm)
Next to the Doby Ghauht Mrt Station

The Art of Love and War

I must be one of the last people in Singapore to have actually played a game of paintball, judging from all the advice from my friends that were preparing me for the experience. Often used as team building, or just a recreational game among friends, this profitable sport has sparked quite a number of paintball fields in Singapore.

Selecting the biggest and often remarked as the best in Singapore, we embarked to Red Dynasty for a hardcore session of paintball.


Located at the BottleTree Park in Sembawang, this peaceful park houses a seafood restaurant, a race track for miniature remote controlled cars, fishing pond among other shops and lifestyle outlets.

Of course, it is also home to the Red Dynasty paintball court. Scheduled for the last session of the day from 6pm - 8pm, with 250 paintballs per person, we had 5 missions to complete as a team.

I was really equipped with 2 pairs of pants and tops to buffer the blow received from the paintballs. Made up of vegetable oil and sugar, we had the mango tasting balls ( which I unfortunately savored when hit on the mouth during the course of the battle )

It was fun, all the running, scheming, crouching and shooting. Men became boys, and girls became snipers. We retired to a Thai restaurant to share a good meal, battle stories and good company.


Onwards to East Coast Park for blading tomorrow...

Red Dynasty Paintball Arena
Bottle Tree Park,
81 Lorong Chencharu (Yishun),
Singapore 769198
Official Website