Hello hello! I was away for a very long, relaxing holiday just like you! Well before I talk about the crazy stuff I did on New Year’s eve, lets time travel to 2 days before year 2010 begin. Why? Ah that was the day 24seven organised a very happy Hat-py Party at one of my favourite place in Singapore, The Singapore Art Museum.
It was a breeze thinking of fun activities for bloggers to do in the museum. It helped that the museum had some really intriguing art pieces exhibiting during that period.
Thrice Upon A Time: A Century of Story in the Art of the Philippines was up and I would say that my favourite art piece is Anonymity. It’s a whole series of pictures taken by a witty guy called Poklong Anading. He had random strangers he met on the streets of Manila to pose, holding a small mirror, covering their faces. Then right at the moment when sunlight was reflected on the mirror, he took a black and white photograph. What’s left of the picture is a strangely stunning image of a faceless person sitting on an ice cream cart/holding a bunch of balloons/sweeping the streets etc. Nice. I like Poklong Anading’s interpretation of Anonymity.
I found this picture of Sidney posing with one art piece out of the series I was talking about. Man holding a bunch of balloons. Sidney submitted this picture for games during the event. Took this pic with his Blackberry and sent it to Hat-py Party Submission. Yeah we made the bloggers run around the galleries to so some fun stuff so they can go home with prizes! Btw nice outfit Sidney and that’s an adorable pose (:
Interesting isn’t it? Go check it out the other art pieces in Anonymity. The exhibition is still on till end of this month! Oh I’m gonna share another picture of a thought-provoking art piece in the museum submitted by a blogger. I love how the flash makes the picture more interesting. If I’m not mistaken, he was using a Samsung Pixon 12, proudly sponsored by Samsung. Picture turned out less grainy than Sidney’s. Not bad at all.
And here’s a lovely shot of the team at 24seven taken with Kelvin’s Diana Mini and instant Polaroid accessory. Thanks pirate!
So I was helping out at the reception with molemole. Oh don’t you agree that molemole looked so sweet in her cutesy little lamb hat. Wah so hardworking.
Since this was a Hat-py party, guests who came without a hat will be imposed a penalty. They have to wear these ugly party hats!
Fortunately, almost all of them came in funky hats! I got more and more excited as more and more bloggers found their way to the museum because their have such awesome hats! Look!
The three ladies in kinky wigs and masquerade-ish hats.
Turkey in headphones and a Goth babe
The horny hunk
That’s Claudia’s mini hat which looks like mine and Lester in his yellow-brown shower cap with a cute-looking pile of shit attached to it. Ingenious idea.
No fancy party is complete with pirates! Thats Jerrick and Kelvin!
Not forgetting our wonderful emcee, Ben who wore a very sweet, pretty spiky green cap!
Jng jng jng… and the winner of the best Hat for the night goes to Feliza! Yeah you’re right. Her partner for the night was the horny hunk mentioned earlier. What a lovely horny couple!
Too bad I did not have time to camwhore with them. Busy! Didn’t even have time to let Nicole try out my glittery eyeliner from Bodyshop. Sorry babe! How bout next week at 24seven’s BBQ for bloggers? It’s happening on a Wednesday, January 13 at Aloha Loyang Sea View Bungalow 6. By the way for those of you reading this, feel free to RSVP if you are interested to join us!
Before I end, I want to thank all the bloggers who made one of the biggest gathering of bloggers 24seven has hosted such a bubbly affair. You guys ROCK! Oh oh talking about a rocking crowd, I must also thank Black Diamond Ninjas and Only After Coffee for the rocking band performances! No party is a party without good music right?
Yes yes I love my job. Can’t helped it. Social media is wayy cool. Correction: the people behind social media tools are cool! Yes you, you and YOU!
Pss. Pictures here were all taken by Kris and you can find them here. Thanks Kris!
Yesh I was at Supperclub for an exclusive World AIDS Day event of art, music and dance! Despite the gloomy weather on the outside, I managed to have quite a rocking time with plenty of good food, great company and wonderful music at the VIP chill out room (:
If you remember a while ago, I was spreading the message of AIDS awareness and early testing! A big thank you to all who supported this effort by commenting on the post. Of those who commented, Kuan, Ivy and their partner joined me at the party! Hope you girls had fun! Kudos to the folks from Health Promotion Board and Ogilvy 360º for organising it.
I still prefer Maroon 5. But having any rock bands in the house always make a good party and partying for a good cause always rocks! Supperclub’s King sized beds with plush cushions is very comfy. Not to mention the many servings of Shepherd pie I had that evening.
Jack and Rai performed Pixelated, a song dedicated to World AIDS Day 2009. As what Vic said, this song reflects the need for more people to “look at HIV/AIDS through pixelated eyes so Learn more about HIV/AIDS to protect yourself and your love ones and show your care and concern for people living with HIV.”
Here are some lovely pictures of me and my peeps.
Claudia, me and Vic. Thanks dude for the pictures!
Vic was showing off his geeky specs! I must try it on!
With the geeky specs, I tried to do a wink here with my left eye. fail. lol.
By the way, a graffiti was created by graffiti artist Killer Gerbil near the entrance, driving the message to paint our life right with bright, striking colours!
Thanks to 24seven’s partnership with Standard Chartered Bank, I was at a new sushi haunt that Twitterers were buzzing about lately. Yup, Standing Sushi Bar has been attracting lotsa attention lately from sushi lovers! Glad that I finally had the chance to drop by for the Japanese omakase experience with a few foodies!
Also present at Standing Sushi that evening was Barry and Fin. We had so much fun dining at this cosy sushi bar! By the way it was dinner time so there were chairs for us to sit on. However, expect no chairs during lunch time! This is a standing sushi bar remember?
(:
Before I get on to the food, I must introduce Howard! He owns this unique bar! Does he look familiar? Recall and tell me where you saw him before! You must had if you’ve watched Channel 5 years ago. Heh
OK Howards’s recommendation. First dish is the Chef’s Special (Sashimi platter) $25.00. It’s very fresh! And the thick chucky slices of shashimi spells H-E-A-V-E-N.
Look at the juicy orange balls of goodness!!! Is your tummy growling now?
Wait wait. There’s many more coming! Here’s the Nigiri platter that has Maguro $2, Sake Toro $2, Hamachi (a type of yellowtail) $4, Aburi Hotate $4 and Shime Saba (Mackerel) $3.
Out of the five, I like the Saba (Mackerel) best! Special instructions from the chef to eat from the lighter taste to the stronger taste fish and not to dip the Aburi Hotate (Scallops)/the one with pinky paste on top of it on soy sauce. It was very useful to have the chef checking on us all the time to see if we are treating the sushi right.
Hey I’m sure you’ve tried Unagi, freshwater eels. Behold here’s the Anago $6! Salt-water eels that are slightly less rich and oily than the unagi!
The anago was simmered to perfection! I fell in love with this exquisite eel sushi at first sight. The problem was how to chomp it down in just one bite. Well, we’re suppose to eat sushi in just 1 bite right?
The deep-fried chicken nuggets, Tori Karaage $6 had a good crispiness to it. I thought that this would make a great snack for pa to enjoy with a can of beer over a golf programme on TV.
(:
At first glance, the Salmon Yuzu Yama-mayo yaki $15 looked like a Hong Kong-style fried toast with condensed milk drizzled on it. Haha. No this is a big piece of flaky and moist grilled salmon! Yummy.
Are you a fan of tofu? If yes, you’ll be pleased to know that the Agedashi Tofu $5 had a slight crispiness before giving way to a sogginess as it absorbed the Dashi Broth which had light notes of the Kombu (Kelp) and Shoyu (Soy Sauce).
One of my favourite! The Mix Kinoko Foil Yaki $10 was AWESOME! Mushrooms lovers alert! A good mix of Shitake, Enoki and Shimeji mushrooms glazed in a secret special sauce which the chef won’t tell and we just can’t figured out what is it. This is a must-try.
I’ve always been a fan of smelt fish. But most of the time, I would order komochi shishamo (grilled smelts with roe) instead of the fried version which was what we had this evening, Shishamo age $8. The fish was coated with a layer of fried batter so unlike its grilled brethens, this fried fish can’t greet me with its mouth gaping open.
Yes it’s very tasty. Mmmm MMMthe stomach is so stuffed with fish eggs! Another reason why I love Shishamo is that it is one of those fishes where you can eat them from head to tail! DIEEE fish BONESSS
A dining experience at the Standing Sushi Bar calls for the appearance of the standing sushi, Tamago Nigiri $6. Cute,standing, chubby fellas! haha.
Now that’s alot of food right? Check out how full our table was! Haha But no worries we did not waste any food!
Howard recommended a few of the Sake brands they have here and we’ve tried a few too. You can catch the culprit that made Claudia a little woozy here. Hey do you know that technically one doesn’t drink sake with sushi before or after the meal. Well apparently since they are both rice based, they do not complement each other and therefore should not be consumed together. Which is why green tea is a great option with sushi or sashimi. Anyway my vote for drink of the day goes to the cool and smooth Asahi beer! SLurps Aaaaaaah. Goes really well with the California roll $6.
Kampai!
Thanks Barry and Fin from Standard Chartered for the dinner! Good deal for Standard Chartered cardholders because you guys get to enjoy the 15% cashback everywhere you dine in Singapore!
Now, how to enjoy this deal? Just register via SMS “GET15 16-Digit Card Number” to 78722 before 31 December 2009. For example GET15 4508128456789000. You just need to spend at least $500 per month on anything, not just dining, to be entitled the 15% cashback on your dining expenses.
Sigh. My visit was barely a week ago and I miss Standing Sushi Bar already! :/
Standing Sushi Bar
1 Raffles Place
#B1-02B OUB Centre
Singapore 048616
Monday – Saturday
11:30am – 10:00pm
Disclaimer:
Standard Chartered Bank is a client of 24seven. Although Barry and Fin paid for the dinner, this post is not an advertorial by Standing Sushi nor Standard Chartered Bank. I wrote this post because I loveeeeee everything I ate that evening and I know I’ll get killed by my readers if I don’t share about the 15% cashback. You guys gonna like ‘WHY NEVER TELL US?’ Pss do note that this promotion is only valid in Singapore. Lol. Don’t go asking for cashback in Malaysia k?
2 days ago, I woke up really early for a special tour at the Central Fire Station! Was pretty excited to visit the oldest existing fire station in Singapore with 3 other bloggers! Thanks Andric, Andy and Claire for making time to join me on this tour! Well, I was supposed to facilitate them as the representative from 24seven but it was more like a fun outing with friends.
(:
Our guide was LTA Foo Yiing Kai, a former Fire & Rescue Specialist and presently an Senior Officer. Pss. He has a gold badge for IPPT! Impressive! LTA Foo Yiing Kai was also deployed to Sichuan when international help was needed for the earthquake disaster. He’s exactly how I would imagined a fireman to look like! Suave, muscular and manly! Oh la la. Haha. OK come to think of it, all of the officers there fits the bill too! Perhaps it’s because they were all oozing with passion for their vocation. That must be it. Don’t you agree that passionate people are extremely sexy?
Well it’s no laughing matter to be in the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). This is not an occupation for the faint hearted. Besides providing fire-fighting, rescue and emergency ambulance services and mitigating hazardous materials incidents, these guys also formulate, implement and enforce regulations on fire safety and civil defence shelter matters. We are talking about a dedicated team that respond to all types of life-threatening emergencies round-the-clock.
They actually sleep in their uniform and are ever-ready to grab a pole, hop on the fire-fighting vehicle and leave the fire station in 1 minute after the alarm bell rings.
After giving us a really informative special-guided tour with exclusive entry to some of the off-limits areas to the public, LTA Foo Yiing Kai shared a heart-wrenching story with us of how he once rescued a toddler from an accident scene. The terrified baby girl actually clung on to him like a koala baby, refusing to let him go because of the trauma she suffered. He had to leave his team at the accident site and accompany the baby to the hospital. I can’t imagined how bloody the scene was. The little girl’s mom was on her way to the hospital for a check-up. They were in a cab and apparently the cabbie took a wrong turn. When the stupid cab driver made a u-turn ILLEGALLY to get to the ride side of the road, a lorry ran over the cab. Luckily the mom and baby survived.
High chance that the firemen had to use this super loud and scary saw to rescue the mom who was stuck at the back of the car when they found her. The roar of this heavy machine (which he lifted effortlessly) was deafening.
After the tour, I kinda got inspired to join SCDF as a part-time fire woman. Oh look! I had loads of fun trying out the equipments!
The gun-like hose handler was so heavy! How can they hold on to this thing for so long while fighting fire? No wonder their arms looked so yummy sturdy!
Oh that’s the Light Fire Attack Vehicle or more affectionately known as the “Red Rhino”, a formidable well-designed vehicle which could maneuver into every corner of a HDB void deck! Woah, it looks small but it is equipped with a hydraulic system for rescue tools, a water mist gun and a water monitor.
You know, it was amazing to see so many families spending their Saturday morning at the fire station! Kids were running around in firemen helmets and attire, playing pretend. These mini fire-boys/girls were so adorable! I strongly recommend parents to bring their kids to visit a fire station! There’s a few fire stations around the island. Just pick one that’s near you. Visiting a fire station a fun activity for both kids and parents to do on a weekend. Plus, they will get so exhausted by the end of the day, you can enjoy some quiet time with your spouse alone. Have some wine and laugh over your kids’ hilarious stunts at the fire station.
OMG I had so much fun! A big thank you to LTA Foo Yiing Kai for broadening my knowledge on your occupation. Don’t you agree that the peeps at SCDF are unsung heroes who we remember only in times of need? Perhaps in time, more will acknowledge the efforts put in by SCDF to protect and save lives. You can start by finding out more about what they do here or even drop by a fire station and talk to one of the friendly officers. If you’re lucky, they may stay long enough for a chat before the alarm bell rings!
(:
I’m so pleased with my experience at the Central Fire Station that I shall end this post with a whacky picture of me taken by Andric! Thanks aaandric de blondee for the nice shot! The building totally rawks! I mentioned earlier that it’s 100 years old, remember?
Disclaimer: SCDF is a client of 24seven. This post is not an advertorial by SCDF. I wrote it because I really enjoyed myself and I want share my awesome visit to the Central Fire Station with my friends!
This is the Eevon-the-photographer shot by Geng Hui. Thanks Geng Hui, I like this pic alot!
The purpose of this visit is to discover fun places and facts of Singapore in light of the contest by S’pore Discovery Centre called SG Tidbits 365. More info about the contest here!
This group picture was taken at the Clementi Railway Track, Our last stop. Before that we were at Dairy Farm Park and Bukit Timah Hill.
It was a dewy evening
The muddy trails were soft
There was a fresh scent of greenery
and life whizzed by the moment
I thought I heard squirrels are scurrying back
but perhaps I was wrong
for the trail was mostly silent
if not for our chatters and laughs
I enjoyed the stillness of hiking
We were aware of the scenery along every hidden path
I breathed the scent of nice fresh air
I saw clouds form shapes within the skies
I smelt the flowers with my nose
No real dairy cows but
I saw two black bears play
(:
Out of the forest,
we chanced upon an abandon trail
We trekked the unkempt path and took a chance The way across this old bridge seem peculiar, different and strange
It must had been the caramel-grained face of the rusty bridge
or the gushing waters from the river beneath it
for my senses danced as I walk upon the rustic tracks
As I navigated the old train tracks that made up the rusty bridge
I thought that this was a fabulous photo-outing
A good start for many more to come
