Monthly Archive for May, 2009

Clown Princes of Basketball

Published on May 24, 2009 in This I like. 12 Comments Tags: basketball, harlem globetrotters.

Lyn (my boo) and I popped over to the Indoor Stadium last Sunday evening to catch the Harlem Globtrotters in action. Dating way back in the mid 1920s, the Harlem Globetrotters have been around before the NBA and with humble beginnings, fighting oppression and segregation due to the nature of their skin. Yes, they really go way back. Although the team is made up of professional basketball players with some hailing from the NBA, their style of basketball is pretty much unorthodox with a huge focus on entertainment. In this case, humour…lots of it.

My memory of the team dates back in 1991 when they first visited Singapore. I was in my early teens with absolutely no money (pretty much like my current status) and my brother-in-law was kind enough to take me to the game. Back then, a legend who went by the name of Fred ‘Curly” Neal dazzled us with his ball handling skills. But that was no surprise given that he was known as the greatest all-time dribbler (or so I found out very much later). Now with a fresh batch of players led by a towering 6′ 9″ Big Easy Lofton from Louisiana, the current team has successfully mimicked a number of the Globetrotters’s style of play with some new moves and comical materials.

Sitting comfortably with a huge serving of beer, we laughed into the night as the team attempted to defeat the cheating Washington Generals (who have been part of the Globetrotter’s entourage for a few decades), with amazing dunks, spectator participation (mostly players playing tricks on them) and loads of comedy. Heck, even the referee is part of the show. So you know its all entertainment. Needless to say, we had a blast and look forward to their next visit. Here are some photos I took. Once again, my camera has failed me on countless occasions. Time to get a new DSLR I think… .

Left and Right: Some tricks in the famous Magic Circle

Left and Right: More tricks

Left: A moment with the spectators | Right: A behind the back half court attempt

Left: A Globetrotter (can’t remember who) had to be carried off for laughing too hard | Right: Some ball juggling

Left: Referee ordering Hi Rise Brown to get down from the rim | Right: Bull Bullard skies for the two-hander

Left: The Globetrotters thought it would be fun to include a spectator in the game | Right: More goofing off

Left: Big Easy trying to distract an opponent’s free throw attempt by pulling down his shorts… | Right: …only to be avenged by the same player (and yes, that is a pair Guitar Hero boxers)

More photos of the Harlem Globetrotters in my Flickr album.

Chill & Grill with Archipelago

Published on May 17, 2009 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 2 Comments Tags: sentosa, world gourmet summit.

In a bid to mix both pleasure and work, Lyn (my boo) and I popped over to the closing event of the World Gourmet Summit about two weeks ago to meet a media who was in town to cover the Summit. Basically, she eats while I network with the media, good deal for her I say… . Unlike the other events that were held at posh locations from hotels to restaurants, the Chill & Grill with Archipelago was one of the fewer ones located outdoors, in this case at Sentosa’s Sapphire Pavilion and a small part of the Siloso Beach. A refreshing change I must add.

As the title of the event suggests, the gourmet fare served that night were mostly grilled meat, much to our enjoyment. This time round, I was unable to take a whole lot of photos of the spread. The main area was packed and really not easy to capture anything with a plate on one hand and a drink on the other. But here are some I managed to squeeze out .

Left: Beef cubes satay style | Right: Ice cream..mmm…

Left: Kebabs | Right: Two choices of beef, one flavoured with wine and one without, the latter tastes better in my opinion

Left: My portion | Left: Lyn’s portion

As the dinner continued into the night, we had a few more glasses of wine with our beloved media while sharing our personal experiences (he is a music enthusiast) and keeping work conversation at a minimum. I think he has enough of our endless ’soft-selling’. We parted ways about an hour later with us heading back and our guest heading for more parties. Another successful World Gourmet Summit amid the current economic climate I must say… . Until next year.

More photos in my Flickr album.

Yantra + first anniversary = sweetest deal of the year…I think…

Published on May 10, 2009 in This I like. 4 Comments Tags: fine dining, yantra.

For those who are currently looking to take advantage of a really fantastic gourmet meal in a posh set up (for a limited time), I’d suggest you give Yantra a shot. Tucked nicely in the corner of Tanglin Mall, Yantra is a popular fine dining restaurant that serves up a wonderful host of Indian delicacies including the Tandoori chicken, lamb, naan, grilled mushrooms, bryani and other seriously mouthwatering desserts.

The restaurant is currently celebrating its first anniversary and all their a la carte dishes for both lunch and dinner are going for just $7 (yeah I know, its really sweet). Of course as compelling deals like this go, it only last for a week (until 14 May 2009). Given that it is mother’s day and Lyn (my boo) and I love fantastic deals such as this, but still wanting to pamper my parents a little, we popped over to Yantra this afternoon for lunch.

I am no dining expert nor food critic, but in my humble opinion, what sets Yantra apart from other fine dining restaurants (not that I patronised many) in addition to their food, is the level of detail the staff would pay attention to. One such incident was when a wait staff who upon witnessing my table napkin slipping from my lap and onto the floor, immediately picked it up and replaced it with a fresh one. To top it off, they were extremely courteous were able to use the right words, especially when they were trying to politely kick us out. “Excuse me sir, may I present you the bill as we are preparing for the second seating?”. Yeah I love to be pampered too… .

Food wise, it was amazing. This is the second time I have tried gourmet Indian food and the symphony of flavours just takes you to another world. With sweet deals like this, we were able to order a number of dishes and shared them amongst the four of us. Nevermind that we only had just a piece each, this allows for a reasonable variety and in all honesty, each of them just blew us away…well…except the lamb chop, they were mainly bones… .

At the end of the meal, we left the restaurant extremely satisfied and my parents are planning for another visit with their friends before the 14th. Not too sure if they can get a seat though, heard that their phones were ringing off the hook since the public got word of the promotion and chances are that reservations are full. But no harm trying I always say…~Crosses fingers~.

Just in case you need a little more push, you can read more of Yantra’s food reviews at hungrygowhere.com. They are mostly positive… .

Singapore longest-ever catwalk

Published on May 9, 2009 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 0 Comments Tags: catwalk, orchard reloaded.

Thanks to my colleague who scored me a couple of photographer’s passes, my fellow shutterbug colleague Ryan and I popped over to Ngee Ann City last Friday to catch Singapore’s longest-ever catwalk. The event by the Singapore Press Holdings’ (SPH) Female and Nuyou magazine was the start of a three-week campaign called Orchard Reloaded that launches Orchard Road’s recent makeover.

The catwalk stage spans about a good 163 meters beginning from the main tent at Ngee Ann City to the outdoors along the streets and back into the tent. While taking a little photographers’ walkabout, Ryan and I were honoured to be allocated a couple of official spots. This means that we didn’t need to fight with the hundreds of fellow amateur photographers who were waiting outside a few hours before the show started. However, in a bid to beat the heat outdoors, we stayed indoors most of the time with the other official photographers and furiously snapped away in the cool air conditioned hospitality tent while sipping on some good ‘ol alcohol.

Enough talk, here are some of the photos I took.

Left and Right: Gap

Left and Right: Jimmy Choo

Left and Right: The catwalk takes to the streets

Left and Right: The scene and hundreds of photographers trying to get good shots

Left: This lady is about a head taller than me | Right: Lee Hwa Jewellery (think they collaborated with a designer)

Left and Right: More from Lee Hwa Jewellery

Left and Right: Staying with Lee Hwa Jewellery

Left: “Bride” heading back | Right: Entourage heading out to the streets

More photos in my Flickr album here and here.

Hello Windows 7 RC

Published on May 8, 2009 in Mac and Me and This I like. 4 Comments Tags: apple, windows 7.

I know I had earlier sworn never to install any Microsoft operating systems in my Macbook again. My previous adventure was about a little more than a year ago when I installed Windows Vista via Boot Camp. It was an absolute disaster leaving me very much ashamed and with an extremely corrupted hard disk that decided to to take a permanent vacation (looking on the positive side, I got myself a new paper weight). But when Microsoft last week announced that they released a release candidate (RC) of their latest operating system, Windows 7, I knew I have to give it a shot. Yes, I’m pretty sure this is another one of my classic ‘backside itchy and I will be paying for it sooner than I think I would” moments.

Instead of partitioning my hard disk again, I decided to take a different approach this time round and installed VMware Fusion first followed by mounting the operating system as an image. Pretty much similar to the popular Parallels, VMware Fusion allows you to install an operating system as an image within the Apple environment. Think of it as an operating system within an operating system. Don’t really want to go all technical on you and to be honest, I’m not sure how this will pan out given that I was bitten once. But since the operating system is an image instead of a partition followed by a direct installation, I am sure all will go well ~crosses fingers and Jedi wave~.

For a light weight operating system (or so I’m told), I must admit that installing Windows 7 was not only a breeze but lightning fast. In fact, it was so quick that all was completed in under a half hour with all the required drivers and network set up. The comedy that I was watching before I started the installation hasn’t even ended. I believe that the folks at Microsoft are trying to redeem themselves after a dismal performance with the Vista and so far, they are heading the right direction. But do allow me to be prudent with my opinion, I have been burnt before and will take the wait and see till it crashes approach ~touches wood~.

Meanwhile, HELLO WINDOWS 7!! .

Left: Full screen with Windows 7 | Right: An OS in an OS, Windows 7 on my Macbook

One year

Published on May 5, 2009 in Usual Ramblings. 4 Comments

This is a really short post. Today marks exactly one year in my current organisation. Taking a quick look at what I have accomplished with much sweat, blood and tears, and reviewing what is needed for improvement all thanks to my bosses, seniors and colleagues I must admit this – I think I like it here… .

DBS ATM + Microsoft Windows = boo boo

Published on May 4, 2009 in Things that suck, This I like and Usual Ramblings. 0 Comments Tags: atm, dbs, Microsoft, windows.

Popped over to Tanglin Mall last Monday morning to withdraw some cash and saw this:

Not exactly sure which version they are using but I reckon they might need an upgrade if the system keeps telling you that it is okay to shut down. Thank God for a UOB ATM just a few metres away. I can’t imagine walking around with an empty wallet. Oh by the way, think DBS might need to get someone to clean their screens on a regular basis .

Of wines and such

Published on May 3, 2009 in Usual Ramblings. 6 Comments Tags: Chianti Classico, wine, world gourmet summit.

Lyn (my boo) and I popped over to the St. Regis last Sunday to participate in the Chianti Classico Symposium. Similar to last week at the Night Safari, this event is also part of the World Gourmet Summit with “the premier Chianti vintners leading us through a journey of discovering nature and colourful history of Chianti Classico”. To the wine untrained (which is very very very much like me), the Chianti Classico wines hailed from Italy.

I won’t go into details given that I was not able to comprehend much of what they were talking about. It is not due to the language barrier (they were speaking perfect English), but rather my current knowledge (or rather lack) of wines from anywhere. Featuring 12 wines from Tuscany (I think), the sommeliers brought us through a series of refined taste and appreciation leaving me baffled, confused and ashamed of not recognising a good wine even when I taste one. However, I believe about 90% of the participants begged to defer as they seemed to understand exactly what was going on – a success I reckon.

At the end of the day and after going through a number of wine appreciation courses over the years (without much luck), I think I have concluded my right kind of wines…the free ones .

Left: The nice staff pouring the wine into my glasses | Right: Each glass is cleverly labelled on the A3 paper below

Class is in session

Brunch at the Night Safari

Published on May 2, 2009 in This I like. 2 Comments Tags: food, night safari, world gourmet summit.

Last Sunday morning, I popped over to Ulu Ulu Safari Restaurant at the Night Safari for the Norwegian Seafood Brunch featuring Champagne Devaux. The brunch is part of the World Gourmet Summit this year featuring “a delectable spread of the tastiest catch from the Norwegian seas prepared by the partner restaurants”. Adding to the already amazing list of gourmet food served there is an endless flow of champagne, wine and beer..something no good brunch can go without .

Since I was there for work, I was unable to spend a whole lot of time savouring every single dish during the first few hours. However, given that my job was to take care of my media from Bombay and that they needed to eat anyway, I was able to leave my table occasionally and returned with some plates full of Norwegian goodness. To be honest, I am not too sure what constitutes as Norwegian since the event also features some Chinese, Indian, Japanese and European delicacies (just to name a few). But as long as there is good food, I’m a happy camper. Here are some photos of the food served there.

Left: Really cold mixed fruits | Right: Desserts I forgot to try..tsk..

Left: Chocolate Fondue | Right: Gratinated Norwegian Salmon ‘Scaloppine’…aaaaaamazing!!

Left: Sushi | Right: Indian food

Left: I like waffles | Right: Roasted leg of ham

More photos in my Flickr album.

Capella visit

Published on May 2, 2009 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 0 Comments Tags: capella, sentosa, singapore.

My colleagues and I popped over to the newly opened Capella a couple of weeks back for a little site visit. I guess it is pretty safe to say that one of the sweetest deal about working in my organisation in addition to an occasional food and alcohol is getting out of the office for field trips. Capella is an ultra-luxurious hotel that sits on a whopping 30 acres of lush greenery in Sentosa island. Catering to the more affluent, the hotel boasts of personal assistants that will assist you in whatever you desire as long as it is kept legal, moral and does not disturb the other guests (or so I heard) as well as 38 villas, 11 suites and 61 premier guest rooms with a fantastic view of the sea.

Capella’s driveway, we walked by the way

Although the entrance did keep to its colonial feel from the days of way back yonder, the rest of the hotel was designed with a blend of modernity in mind. Just right behind the building facade and separated by a walkway and vegetation depicting rice padi fields is a nice rounded modern architecture.

A wide angle view inside Capella with a colonial building on the left and a modern one on the right

Left: Padi field inspired greenery | Right: Bob’s Bar and the swimming pool

Guests will truly be spoilt with the amazingly furnished rooms with all the bells and whistles fit for the rich. Each room has a huge 42″ (I think) TV, a fantastic full glass view of the sea, a balcony with deck chairs, two sinks for him and her with a nice walk in wardrobe, a bathtub with a view, free internet access and a whole lot more.

Left: A living room and study | Right: Nice view from the bed

Left: The wardrobe | Right: Sinks!!

Left: Bathtub with a view | Right: The balcony with deck chairs

As much as I would love to spend a couple of nights at the Capella, I’m afraid that the price is not exactly within reach. Think I’ll stick to the ‘ol motels and three-star hotels. Here are more shots taken at the hotel.