Hot Food Vending Machine in Singapore

Spotted a new kind of vending machine in Singapore. It's a Hot Meal vending machine!

It's located at the Central Forum at the National University of Singapore.  It's where there's a stretch of around 10 different kinds of vending machine, all in a single row.



I am not sure how it works. I did not try it. Maybe one of these days I will try it!
(not because of how the food will taste, but how the machine works!)



There's a touch screen where you can order your meals.
There are 4 different meals on sale now. Pasta with sauce, Fried Rice, Hor Fun and Curry Chicken.

I am just curious to find out, how the Hor Fun will turn out!
I saw the email address on the machine and googled Jiayen. It seems they manufacture frozen food and their products can be found in supermarkets.

The techie in me wonders how the food is heated up. I suspect it will be microwaved. On the screen you can see that the food in the machine is stored at minus 14.2 degree Celsius.  Wow, how cool!

Would you buy Hot Food from Vending Machines? 

Building a new house for the 3 Dinosaurs in NUS.

Was passing by the so called OED (Office of Estate and Development) or sometimes known as Estate Office in NUS and it's being boarded up and the building going to be demolished soon.

OED has moved to a new modern building build around trees facing Clementi Road.
Their old building will be making way for the "Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum".



The Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum will be the new home of the 3 dinosaurs found in Utah and bought by the museum.



The museum will look like a huge rock with moss over it. Looks quite interesting.
You can see the artist impression at this link, the NUS Newshub link.

You can read more stories about the dinosaurs here and here if you are interested.

LEDs Street Lights for NUS

Saw this a few days ago at NUS. Contractors replacing the street lights. OK, I am weird because I like to look at street lamps!

I have seen some street lights at the car park near my home using LEDs. I noticed that the street lights inside NUS are being replaced from the High Pressure Sodium bulbs to Light-Emitting Diode (LEDs). These looks more high tech and the casing nicer than the ones near home.



I don't have bionic eyes, but I think these are the Philips LED lights.
I think there are 'lower hanging' ones near the NUS Engineering canteen. Maybe I should take a closer look at those to see how many lumens they are.



The NUS campus is quite well lit at night, so probably these changes will save them quite a bit of money. These gizmag and Forbes articles show that that savings is between 85-88%.

I have not seen how bright these lights are at night though.

Wonder if the rest of the street lights in Singapore will be converted soon. Many HDBs in Singapore have switch to LEDs for the corridor lighting.

Witnessing Venus Transit at NUS

Earlier today, many people were around the NUS Multipurpose Field all excited to see Venus!
Yup, the planet Venus!

Colleagues and I also joined to welcome Venus at the NUS fields.
NUS had a series of event and you can read about it here or here.


You can get better photos on the internet, but this was what I got to see when I viewed through the many telescopes that was around the field. I managed to take a photo of it using my iPhone via the telescope's eye piece!

The little black dot, that's Venus!


I am not sure who this person is, but he is very knowledgeable and was sharing what he knows to people around.



One of the many queues on the field on a bright warm day.
This was the biggest telescope around and it also had the longest queue!


This telescope was connected to a laptop.
This person was looking at this laptop under his jacket so that it can be dark enough.



The crowds!

Were you there too?
Did you watch it in the country you were in?

Hug Me Coke Machine @ NUS

Something interesting spotted at the NUS Campus today.
A coke machine that looks very different from the usual Coke Vending Machine.

(For those who wants to know where this was located, it's near LT14 / LT15, the walkway in front of the Lecture Theatre, near to Forum)



It just has a Hug Me word on it and a 'hole' to collect the can drinks.

How do you get the drinks out, since there are no buttons to choose your drinks and no holes to insert your coins?



You Hug It!

Noticed this guy took a few hugs before the machine is satisfied with his hug!



Maybe tall guys have it easier.
This guy held the machine up close and the machine likes him and gave him a coke immediately!



I tried it too and got a hug. Hug it 3 times before I got the drink.

If you are in NUS these two days (Thursday and Friday) you can find the machine and give it a hug.
A special project by the NUS Student Union (NUSSU). They call it the NUSSU Exam Welfare Initiatives.

(Hmm. My prev uni in Melbourne during my undergraduate years did not have this!)

NUS Commencement and the Singapore President.

Today, it's the start of the Commencement Ceremonies for the NUS graduates again.

Probably the happiest time for students, where they finally get to put on their gown and receive their scroll on stage. Not everyone loves to receive that 'piece' of paper it seems, there are always people who will skip the ceremony. I always wondered why some would do that!

I have 2 degrees, one from Monash Uni down under, and a graduate degree from NUS. I don't have the brain capacity to study a PhD, and I think two is enough. Maybe one day when it becomes hip to wear the "strawberry shortcake shape" bonnet,  I will reconsider.

Do you know not every university has a mortar board for the Academic Dress? It so happens that both universities that I got my degree have mortarboards for graduates! I remember friends who went to University of Melbourne complaining, they don't get to wear it! LOL




On the first day of the Commencement ceremony in NUS, the NUS Chancellor which also happens to be the President of Singapore, His Excellency Mr S R Nathan gives out the scrolls to the graduates.

Since HE Mr S R Nathan would not be seeking re-election, this would be his last time giving out the scrolls. Now we are all wondering, who will be the next NUS Chancellor. Historically, the Chancellor has always been the President of Singapore. We are all guessing, but one thing for sure, the family name of the President will be 'Tan'! 

Congrats to the class of 2011!
You like many of us will start receiving letters every year to contribute back to NUS! (in monetary form haha)

NUS Rag Day 2010 and the Youth Olympic Games Flame

Two brief photos about the NUS Rag and Flag 2010.

The university was in such a festive mood! You can see so many people at the field.
Loud speakers were blaring away and the students took turn to show off their floats and dance performance.




It's amazing how creative they can be. Transforming literally 'junk' and other recycle materials into such beautiful floats!




According to the NUS Office of Student Affairs tweet (http://twitter.com/nusosa), for the flag day, they collected $510,000 for charity. Well done!

Later in the evening, the Olympic Flame is to arrive at NUS.
I could not stay back to take a look and enjoy the fireworks, but here's a youtube video of the floats and the lighting of the Olympic Flame in NUS.

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

NUS Open Day

I visited the NUS Open Day last Saturday. The even is now over, but since I took a photo there, it's a 'waste' not to post this up. ;-)

NUS School of Computing is where I took my Masters degree.

The photo shows these helpers having a rest as everyone has gone next door to listen to the talk by the School at the Seminar Rooms.




There are two departments in the School. Computer Science and Information Systems.
If you have facebook, you might to be a 'fan' of the Department of Information Systems. ;-)

Oh, I need the sun...

Saw this at the NUS Bukit Timah Campus. It's not something you see very often. The student was soaking up the rays of the sun.

Unlike universities in temperate countries, you don't see people having picnics or sitting under the sun just for the love of the sun. Almost everyone hide in air-conditioned rooms.



The only place in NUS where you see people suntanning is probably at the swimming pool. People (both locals and foreigners) are almost stark naked. LOL

Are you a sun person? The last time I remember sitting and enjoying the sun was when I was living in Melbourne. In winter when it's so cold, when the sun's out, everyone sits in the lawn. I even eat my lunch under the sun!

My boss has been asking everyone to sun ourselves. He is saying everyone is getting sick. We all need Vitamin D. 

New National Monuments - Oei Tiong Ham Building

I shall not bore you with photos of the same thing all at one go. I shall stop at two photos of this series. :-) I know not everyone is interested in 'old stuff'.

This is the Oei Tiong Ham Building, at the National University of Singapore's Bukit Timah Campus.

This building was named after the donor who donated $150,000 to the then Raffles College.



So who is Oei Tiong Ham?
The National Library Infopedia has a write up about him. It sure is interesting to read about him!

New National Monuments - Manasseh Meyer Building

Recently there are a few new addition to the list of National Monuments. I happen to be at the NUS Bukit Timah Campus and I saw a few persons taking photos of the buildings. So I joined along!

This is the Manasseh Meyer Building.



It looks especially nice at night! I got to go there at night to take a photo to show you all! (one day... i will....)

It's the season of free milo again

It's the time of the year. Uni starts and there's bazaar almost everywhere.
With the bazaar around, there's always the Free Milo Truck.



On such a hot sunny day, a cup of ice cold milo brings smiles to everyone's face.
(Oh, the milo cups are getting smaller by the year!)

University Term Starts

For students who are studying at NUS, the school term starts today.

Which also means, for those working in NUS, NUH, Science Parks, it's too crowded to get lunch in NUS as the students are back. haha...



This photo was taken around last week where students were on an orientation session.

Float Building...

If you happen to be around NUS, you would see many students building floats. This photo shows the 'mess' they have created. The 'mess' will eventually turn into something very pretty.



Here's one by the NUS Dentistry students.

NUS Open House: The School for Inventors

It's the time of the year where the various universities in Singapore are having Open Houses.

If you only time for one Open House, which one will you go to? The most vibrant, exciting and prestigious university of course - the National University of Singapore.

Mark your diaries and make a trip down to NUS this weekend! (14 - 15 March 2009)
If you are overseas and it's impossible for you to be physically here, you can visit NUS Virtually at Second Life.




Of all the faculty and schools that's participating in the NUS Open House, let me highlight to you the "School of Computing - School of Inventors". Check out their Open House Promo site at: http://www.schoolforinventors.sg/


More information about the NUS Open House, click on to: http://www.nus.edu.sg/openhouse/

NUS Arts Festival Banner

I think these banners are so eye catching.



Especially the ones that are vertical. There are many more designs. The one with the man blowing the morning glory horn is the one I like most.




Support the local University Arts Group. For more information, log on to:
http://www.nus.edu.sg/cfa/

"I Was Here" actually travelled around Singapore....

I never knew this "I Was Here" was a traveling installation until recently. It has been around Singapore and it's currently at the University Cultural Centre, NUS.






Francis Ng’s I Was Here is the travelling installation encountered at various spots across Singapore. The monumentality of the structure appears to engender an ambiguous ability to provoke questions of identity (I), presence (WAS) and place (HERE). Teasingly, it also engages the subtle urges of vanity of its passersby who seek to leave their footprints behind by merely observing the work or of those who choose to take away a piece of the space perhaps by taking a photograph with it.

For the fresh graduates of Commencement 2007, this installation provokes a nostalgic experience of intellectual becoming. It recalls memories which can range from disturbing tales of struggle to relieving sighs of success to realizations of indifference.

Therefore, if you do indeed take a photograph beside I Was Here—remember—it only records but it does not see, it endorses your presence at NUS but it does not reveal, it confirms the infinite possibilities of the future but it does not promise.

This is just the beginning.

Remember, the world is your idea!

Bus Tracking Project - ShuttleNet

Few days ago, I saw one of the wifi routers around. Ah... saw another router hanging at another bus stop. With hints from the notice there, I found out it's the ShuttleNet project by the Communications and Internet Research Lab at the School of Computing, NUS.




It's dangling very dangerously isn't it?

If you are bored and want to find out where the Internal Shuttle Buses in NUS are right now, click here. It shows that these dangling stuff works!

Another view of the NUS Alumni House

Thought the circular structure in the foreground looks rather contrasting with the odd shaped design of the building.



I should walk in the building to see more.
I was just passing by this area.