iPhone 4 launched!

This morning when we came to the office, it was all so so quiet because it was a super wet day.
On wet days, people seem to be quiet and moody.

Around lunch time, we remembered a colleague queued for the iPhone 4 last night!
One of the very few who queued for it.  She said it was fun! So entertaining and what a grand affair it was at Marina Bay Sands.

That was when we all got excited during lunch time!


My old iPhone 3GS on the left, with the spanking new not even 12 hours old iPhone 4!
The screen on the iPhone 4 does look so much clearer than the 3GS!




It is also thinner!
And so much sleeker!



In the background is the IP Phone and not the iPhone. :-)
Now, can we configure our iPhones to receive calls from our IPPhones?


Colleague got the 16GB version for only SGD150 from her telco.

I can't get it subsidized rate from my telco yet, as I still have a contract! Arghh.. I got to wait!

It's good to be in Primary 5

Wondering why are these seats reserved?

It's reserved for Primary 5 students in Singapore, in this example Woodgrove Primary School to attend the National Day Parade rehearsals.

Every year, all the Primary Fives in Singapore get to attend one of the many rehearsals. Ah, it's good to be young eh? It's really fun, especially if you are a kid. (or even an adult)




I saw some Army Boys rehearsing their moves few nights ago.




Two hardworking ones perfecting their moves.
While the rest were watching the big screen TV showing the YOG Music Video. ;-)

Majulah Singapura

Majulah Singapura means Onward Singapore in Malay, the National Language of Singapore.
(In case you are confused, English is not the national language but one of the 4 official languages of Singapore)

The "Majulah Singapura" signs had been mounted on the City Hall building as part of the National Day Parade Celebrations.




For these few weeks, rehearsals have been on-going during the weekends. It's crowded.
Oh, the lucky fellas who managed to ballot for the tickets!

For today's photo, the above was when most lights were dimmed. The below was when the lights turn night into day!

 

Since we are talking about Majulah Singapura, if you would like to hear Singapore's National Anthem, click on to http://app.www.sg/who/43/National-Anthem.aspx

This might sound so wrong, but when I hear the Majulah Singapura being played on TV on Saturday mornings when I was a little boy, it means that TV broadcast has started for the day and it's cartoon time!

Hokkien String Puppet Show

I was around the Merlion Park and saw a group of people all congregating looking or admiring  something.
I was curious and walk towards it. Oh, they are having a Hokkien String Puppet Show.

Although Hokkien is my dialect, I only manage to catch half of what they were singing. 
Oh man, I need tuition for Hokkien lessons!




This is a dying art. You seldom see these anymore.
Look behind and you see this lady is manipulating the puppets and singing the story out at the same time!




Do you enjoy these 'shows'? Are you able to understand them?
Maybe we need 'subtitles'. hehe...

Pretty Yellow Bird

My aunt became a part time 'nurse' last week or so. She was nursing this bird that was found very weak nearby. It's leg seems to hurt as it can't stand or walk. The wings also seems to be hurt.

My aunt used 'human' treatment to treat the bird's legs and wings. When she told us, we all laughed, but it did make sense.




She left the bird on her patio and fed and cared for it for 3 days. The bird seems happy living there. It was a lazy bird. It just perched near the pots.




On the day I went to visit it, the bird seems to be all right.  We knew this bird is ready to say bye bye. So we decided to take some photos before we said good bye. This bird is vain! When we took out our cameras, the bird started to stand and pose!

The bird also started to chirp and we heard other birds nearby chirping back! They seem to be communicating. They took turns to chirp! (I actually recorded the bird's chirp on my phone!)

We think the other bird gave instructions to this pretty yellow bird how to leave! The bird then  perched at the window and looked down. Then it jumped off! My cousin screamed when we saw the bird started dropping directly down from the 9th floor.

When it fell for around 3 floors, the bird finally decide to spread its wings! It then flew so gracefully and started to lift off and flew to the huge tree around 100 metres away. Phew!

Good bye yellow bird!

Anyone know what species this bird is?
 

Paths of Time, Night Festival 2010

The Paths of Time production at the Night Festival 2010.

I was enjoying the show like everyone else, and suddenly these people that walked like robots appeared beside me. *shocked*




Then I realised hey, isn't that Emma Yong?
You see they walked amongst the crowd so quietly, that the lady beside her did not even know!





It was quite a good show.
I just wanted to smile at their creativity. The umbrella that has only the skeleton.

(hey look, they are using Shure microphones, for those who are interested. haha)

Night Festival 2010

I think I need a tripod and better lenses to take photos at night.
These are some photos I took at the recent Night Festival 2010.



These was one of the many highlights of the show.
It sure had lots of lights!



Even the roads were closed. You see these people, they are on the main road.
Closing roads for events seems to be in vogue in Singapore recently. LOL Many people are complaining though.



But I guess I am not a late night person. I was too tired and went home around 1 AM. The show goes on till 2 AM.

Were you there? Which show did you enjoy?

World's Slowest SMS Billboard

Last Friday and Saturday was when the Night Festival 2010 was on.

I was there on Saturday late night and one of the many interesting installations was this interactive artwork by Thai artist Wit Pimkanchanapong. It's called the World's Slowest SMS Billboard.




You text a message to the number and it might get displayed. Humans would put up the message!
Did I text anything? No. ;-)




Here's the short description on the Installation and how it works.



How creative!

Singapore National Day 2010 Rehearsal

The National Day Parade is much loved public event in Singapore. Everyone wants to get tickets to the show. To give everyone a chance to experience the parade in person, they have rehearsals that people can attend.

I was nearby and caught a glimpse of these fairies walking to the site.



You can see someone was glad to be photographed in the photo above. What a big huge smile!

The photo below, the ladies rushing to their rehearsal. They walk really fast!



Hey folks in Singapore, do you want to win a Flip MinoHD Pocket Camcorder and MXR WizQubes? You can at the "Enjoying a Digital Lifestyle" roadshow.

I was informed that as part of the National Day Parade 2010, they have organised a free "Enjoying a Digital Lifestyle" roadshow at ION Orchard (24/25 July) and Bishan Junction 8 (31 Jul/1 Aug).

At the roadshow you can learn how to use infocomm tools like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and set up blogs. I think the most interesting part is experience holding the Chinook in your hands with MXR technology.

To find out more about the New Infocomm & U roadshow, you may wish to visit the Singapore Netizen page in Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/singnetizen.

NUSSU Rag and Flag Preparation

If you are wondering if this is a new model of lorry in Singapore, no, it's not.

It's one of the many groups students in the premier university in Singapore (3rd in Asia by the way according to this recent news) building a float for the NUSSU Rag and Flag.
NUSSU = National University of Singapore Student Union.

Building floats is part of the "Rag" part of the show. Floats and performances by students of the various schools/faculties, staff and alumni will be a presented and the best will be picked.



For the "Flag" part, students will collect money to be distributed to charities. Looking at this wiki page, they raise quite a lot of money for charities.

If you are free on 6 August 2010, head down to the NUS.
See how the lorry above will be transformed into a beautiful float.

The Singapore President will be there!
The Singapore Youth Olympic Flame will also make its way there.
Why don't you go as well? ;-P

G-Max Reverse Bungy Jump at Clarke Quay

I had dinner earlier at Clarke Quay.  Doesn't this place looks really beautiful at night.



Every now and then, you will hear people screaming. Do you know why?
There are folks doing the G-Max Reverse Bungy Jump! They are screaming their heads off!



I have been saying I want to try the reverse bungy jump, but until now I dare not try it!
Yeah, I am a scary cat!

SMRT Bus with the Singapore Flag Design

Spotted this bus when I looked out the window this morning.
Isn't this the bus that was featured on the TV news about "Fly Our Flag" yesterday?
 



These bendy buses is the perfect choice for the flag wrap eh?
It is long enough to make it look so nice.

Centre for Aquatic Science Research

I have been wanting to walk and see what the structure is. So I detoured on the way home today.
It has a translucent wavy roof and it is eye catching from a far.



I now know what it is. It's the Centre for Aquatic Science Research at Ulu Pandan. It's a research centre for Singapore-Delft Water Alliance. I have not heard of this before. If you want to find out more, you can visit their website at : http://www.sdwa.nus.edu.sg/

One more month....

One more month to Singapore's National Day.
The flags and banner are up all over!




Above, the NDP2010 banners along Orchard Road.

Orchard Residences

Was passing by this building and wishing I own an apartment here.



Our real estate agent recently asked us if we wanted to sell our current place. She has a buyer willing to pay 150K more than what we purchased 2 years ago. We asked her, then where are we going to stay? Not selling. You just wanna get more commission from us right? LOL...

So we continue our dream. Dream of owning this apartment called The Orchard Residences. It's right above ION Orchard and above the Orchard MRT. Sigh....

Golden Flying Crane at Parkview Square

Looking at this reminds me of the many sculptures in Europe that has the shiny golden top.
It looks so graceful doesn't it?




If you can read Chinese characters you can see what read what is says here.



If you want to read more about Parkview Square, you can visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkview_Square
It is quite interesting to read about it and fengshui elements with the nearby Gateway building.

Sun Yat-Sen

Dr Sun Yat-Sen seems to be loved my some in Singapore.
I just discovered another statue of him today at Parkview Square.




There is also a Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall in Singapore.
One fine day, I will go take a look.

Mushrooms

There has been lots of rain and floods in Singapore recently.

Because of the rain, I discovered something has been quietly appearing too.  Mushrooms among the grass!



I would not dare to eat them though.
But looking at it, it makes me want to have mushrooms for my meals. ;-)

NUHS Tower Block

Recently pass by 'the other side' of NUH, and realise the tower block is almost ready. (or probably ready).



Probably the lower section of the building is a carpark.
The leaf motif on it makes it quite nice eh?

Reflections - 1 July 2010

How time flies. It's already 1 July 2010!
It's the start of the 2nd half of the year, the 3rd quarter of the year.

It's also Theme Day for City Daily Photo bloggers.
The theme for July is Reflections.

Just a quick picture that I just took, one that irritates me sometimes. Reflections from the screen of the gadgets that you have. It's irritating if you see the light in the room being reflected on your say iPad or iPhone.

(This is triple reflection. The iPad's screen is reflecting my whiteboard on the wall, and the whiteboard is reflecting the fluorescent light in my office!)




Our eyes are amazing eh? It's like the lens of the camera. You can choose to focus on the things you want. You can focus on the foreground or the background.


If you focus on the background or the reflections, what can you see? :-)




Have a great start to the second part of the year.

Oh yes, 1 July is also the day I change my toothbrush!
Do you change your toothbrush every quarter? :-)



Click here to view thumbnails for all participants of the Theme Day.