Marina Bay and Boat Asia

Many thanks to Marina Bay Development Agency, URA, for giving me tickets to Boat Asia 2011, the Singapore Biennale 2011 and a weekday lunch buffet at Todai Singapore I won them in a contest organised by Marina Bay Development Agency.

I treated my mother and myself to a Post-Mother's Day and a belated birthday celebration respectively at Todai Singapore, before heading out on my own to Boat Asia.

Todai Singapore

My mother took part in the Todai Spicy Roll competition and won herself a weekday lunch voucher. The prize was secondary, I hope that she has had fun doing something new that day!

Todai has great and thoughtful service. I could see that the folks there serve with pride and joy. The food is good. Todai was described by Elmer Dills, a famous Los Angeles food critc, to be "the mother of all seafood buffet".

I found out that Todai is a family oriented upscale restaurant that offers a variety of seafood and sushi. In addition, it serves snow crab legs, green mussles and cocktail shrimps and a variety of Asian dishes. I had to limit my intake of seafood for health reasons and had to miss quite a number of Todai's fabulous signature dishes.

I must have very simple preferences. I like its baked pineapples from the Churrasco section, the daily Korean soup, the bulgogi and the sashimi. The cray fish chilli was great too.

Todai Singapore
http://www.todai.com.sg
#B2-01 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
2 Bayfront Avenue
Singapore 018972

Tel: (+65) 66887771
Email: enquiry@todaisingapore.com


Marina Bay City Gallery
I have learnt more about the Marina Bay after a visit to the Marina Bay City Gallery. There has been a lot of planning and wonderful work to realise the vision of a vibrant and fun-loving Marina Bay that is great for work, play and great living.

Admission to the gallery is free.

Marina Bay City Gallery
http://www.marina-bay.sg/marinabaycitygallery.html
11 Marina Boulevard, Singapore 018940

Opening hours:
Tuesday - Friday: 10:00am to 8:00pm
Saturday, Sunday, Public Holiday: 10:00am to 9:00pm
Admission is free.

Boat Asia 2011
 Boat Asia was a splendid conclusion for the day. I visited the two venues at The Promontory@Marina Bay and the Marina at Keppel Bay. I have had a good time learning about yachts and the marina lifestyle when I was at Marina at Keppel Bay. Thanks to the generosity of the yacht owners and the participating companies, I went up on a number of yachts and was fascinated with the design of the yachts. This event is held from 12 - 15 May 2011.

If you love the sea, the marina lifestyle or yacht, you may wish to make a visit to Boat Asia.

Boat Asia 2011 (12 - 15 May 2011)
http://www.boat-asia.com/home/home.asp

Serene Centre: During my childhood days

In a mood for nostalgia, I shall find some time to blog about the Serene Centre located at 10 Jalan Serene. Basically, I very often associate Serene Centre with the MacDonald's fast-food restaurant that is located there.

My maternal grandparents' place is fairly nearby the Serene Centre. I fondly remember that during the times when I visit my grandparents' place when I was a child, one of the occasional treats was a visit to the Serene Centre's MacDonald's outlet. More than two decades ago, the MacDonald's outlet at Serene Centre had a much bigger floor area that spanned two storeys. It was so big that there was enough space to accomodate a modest indoor playground within its premises. One of the highlights of my visits to the outlet was not to eat the food, but to play at the indoor playground.

I remember that the indoor playground had a lot of colourful plastic balls that form a sea of balls that one could jump into and play with. The playground, with its slides and built-in obstacles, was simply a fascinating ground for yours truly as a young child.

Come to think of it: As a young child, I did not quite comprehend that it would probably cost my grandmother, who was usually the one who would take me to the MacDonald's outlet when I was a child, quite a bit just to have a simple meal there. The thing I could understand then was that it was fun and novel to be at the playground. That was all. I hope that it had brought her some delight to watch her grandchild enjoy the moments at the playground.

I shall take this chance to express heartfelt gratitude to my grandmother for her care, encouragement and love. She is one person in this world whom I am deeply thankful for.


****
Footnote: As I was writing this post (which would be published on 22 Jul 2009), my heart guided me to give my grandmother a phone-call to find a time to meet up with her.

Time with the elders

A few days ago, I took time out to have lunch with my maternal grandmother who's now living alone. After the lunch, as she was looking for a piece of furniture, I gladly accompanied her out.

Strangely, what seemed to be quite easy for me, i.e. to travel about places in Singapore, particularly the Suntec City and Marina Square area, could proved to be a challenge for my elderly grandmother. She was trying to find her bearings throughout our journey. Then again, she seemed delighted to be out.

Perhaps setting time aside to spend with the elders could mean more to them than we could realise?

Cheers and more

On 24 Mar 2007, I had a bit of a sun-tanning session at Plaza Singapura while I was there supporting my youngest brother as his team was participating in the Cheerobics 2007 (Open Category) competition. The sun did me good, I hope. I became a little more darker after that day.

Back to Cheerobics 2007, a cheerleading competiton, I found one of the items put up by members from Denvers' to be inspiring and touching.

In most cheerleading performances, most of those people who get to be carried up onto the air (also known as the flyer) would be the lighter ones. But Denvers have proven to us that anyone and everyone can enjoy the fun and joy of cheerleading. Everyone deserves a fair chance. Denvers did so by choosing to lift up a not-so-light member of its team up above ground level. At that moment, I could not help but cheer. The magical moment proved to me that nothing is too difficult to overcome.

Competence and techniques count, not the superficial physical attributes. Cheers to Denvers for showing us the possibilities.

So folks, next time if you think that cheerleading is only for a prescribed group of people, think again. It is meant for anyone, including yourself. Of course, do ensure you get the relevant training before you attempt the stunts. Meantime, please check this clip right below out and you would know how uplifting it can be to be lifted up above ground level. Click on and experience the triumphs, the joys and the inspiration.



Source: Video-clip posted on YouTube by infusedpizza

Also view the entire clip of Denvers' Team A's performance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1qCbf4R8mw

Here's the URL to catch the entire Denvers' team in their action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQJ_Y5_kA8A

While searching for related articles, I came across this link. It has some noteworthy reads.

Special words of congratulations to my brother and his team from Denvers. Well done! I am proud of you folks.

**

The very much coveted trophies await their winners.

Also view:
The Electric New Paper: Photo Gallery
http://sports.webshots.com/album/558340200pPowUe
Cheerobics 2007, NTU Aces team (Youtube video of the winning team)
http://www.ntu.edu.sg/corpcomms2/news/CNAonline_24Mar07_NTUaces.pdf

Dinner together

Today's dinner with my family members was held at the restaurant under the Tung Lok Group. The restaurant's name is Noble House and it is located at UIC Building.

I enjoyed the dinner. We had the ala-carte buffet dinner. The food was nice. The company was fine. It is not quite frequent that everyone in my family dines together. The last one that I remember we had was on this Chinese New Year eve.