Exploring SG Sights: Chinatown + 味香园desserts & SportsHub at Night

Just two places I went during the previous semester which I really really like and wanna share here :D

Chinatown -- Experience Chinese Heritage and festivities   

The beginning of the semester was kinda suffering, coz CNY is still so far away and work was piling up. So much to do and so many assessments to prepare for, there was barely any PreCNY excitement. What is CNY you tell me??? 

Anyways finally there's one free night for me to go have a lil taste of CNY at Chinatown. I was here also in 2014's CNY but it was day time. At night, the whole Chinatown was pretty much roaring with life. People doing festive shopping at the CNY goods market, crowds savoring delicious local dishes at the food street, audiences enjoying special Chinese Opera performance at the Kreta Ayer Square, love the atmosphere! I wonder if Petaling Street feels the same back at home. 

Apart from enjoying the CNY atmosphere, you can go sampling all the cookies, jellies, mochi, mushrooms and much more. (sue me for being a cheapskate hahahahha) The shops in Chinatown has lots to offer as well, like cute CNY decorations and pretty bags and clothes at affordable price, What's more, the area was brightly lit up with decorative lanterns in shades of gold and red. The excitement and joy of celebration is up in the air and it feels good to be part of it. :) 

At the corridors of the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

At night, the rows of red lanterns were all lit up while the colorful wind wheel spins quietly on the side. Gives a very happy yet serene scene.  

 

People Mountain People Sea

Time for another idiom: Car Water Horse Dragon 

牛车水还真的是车水马龙

The street all lit up with coins above and lanterns in the form of goats on the side to celebrate the Goat year. 

Looking magical and It's like how they lit up Orchard during Christmas!

Anyways we added some desserts to sweeten the night woohoo!
Gosh this shop is super crowded and it took us some time to get a table despite having 3 shoplots.
 (And I was told that there's an unwritten rule for customers to quickly finish their food so that others can enter) That simply signals good food righhtttttt :D

MeiHeongYuan 味香园
Dessert joint that sells many of our favorite traditional tongsui and pudding which most chinese families are familiar with. They also have the popular shaved ice in various flavors as well.

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芝麻雪花冰 Sesame Snow Ice -- S$5.00

usually when it comes to dessert, cakes will pop up in my head. But cakes and many other western desserts may be too heavy due to all the butter, flour and cream. Which is why I really love flavored shaved ice because the ice gives a cool and smooth texture and carries all the delicious natural flavor of the sesame. The aroma of sesame is just heavenly...the redbeans give the right amount of natural sweetness.  

榴莲雪花冰 Durian Snow Ice -- S$5.00

Again, all the smooth ice carrying the durian flavor just melts on your tongue and the rich durian goodness escapes and fills up your whole mouth. Well real durians are better of course, but there are times where I don't really feel like having the heaty and sticky durian fruit. So I suppose shaved ice is another way for you to get your dose of less intense durian flavor.  

芋泥 Yam Paste -- S$ 3.00

It was my first time trying this!

Another yam product checked haha

I don't like eating yam (probably because of the texture) but I love any yam flavored items like 芋角，芋头酥, Yam bubble tea etc and today the list extends to this Orh Nee!!

The paste is kinda chewy and packed with all the yam-starchy flavor. Love the sweetness from yam.  

will be there again next CNY!

Mei Heong Yuan 味香园

No. 63 - 67

Temple Street 

(Can go from Chinatown MRT)

Singapore 058611

Contact number: +65 6221 1156

Check out the locations of other MeiHeongYuan outlets at their website:
http://www.meiheongyuendessert.com.sg/index.php/location

Also, do check out Chinatown Festivals' website which details about special activities at Chinatown during Chinese Festive season like CNY and Midautmn Festival.
http://chinatownfestivals.sg/

And finally, find out anything you wanna know about Chinatown at http://www.chinatown.sg/

Okay next is 

SportsHub -- Venue for healthy and fun lifestyle, with a peaceful view of the city center. 

Well I was lucky enough to have a chance to attend an event held at the Stadium Riverside Walk 

I have never really know of anything about Sportshub before, all I know that it's a stadium for the SEA games. But turns out this place has more to offer! They didn't put the HUB word in the name for no reason. I have limited photos here but I'll just briefly describe what I saw over there.

First, there's a MRT station exclusively for this place, so traveling is not an issue here and the moment we ascend from the MRT escalators, we were greeted by various buildings which turns out to be different stadiums and sports center. The architecture is AWESOME. (Sorry, I wish I knew better words to describe about architecture haha) As in it has a very majestic aura to the whole place. And it won't take long for you to feel the pulse of this place, lots of people jogging around and parents strolling around with their children. Then the next thing I saw was a mall. Forgive my suagu-ness but OHmyyyy there's a shopping mall in the middle of all the sporting facilities?!!! Haha I couldn't resist and we entered the mall, and that mall is not just a basic kind of shopping mall, you have brands like H&M and UNIQLO over there. I bought myself a top at Cotton ON that day haha... anyways yep just find it amazing and as we exit the mall, we found the exact venue of our event. And it's right beside the river with a beautiful city skyline as backdrop.  

You can see the Singapore Flyer and the side view of MBS from here!

I didn't bother to edit the photo but my phone's camera didn't do justice to the view. Compared to sights at the Marina Bay area, observing the city skyline over here gives a very serene and blissful view. Probably because of the much calmer waters and the amount of greens over here. I suppose this is where you see a picture of  Garden City. 

Sorry forgive my LQ photo again

But the view at night is also amazing! Love how the waters mirrors the lights from the skyscrapers. The buildings are far away so the lights looked similar to twinkle lights, giving a fantasy-like view. I could stare at it and watch the world goes by if I were allowed to.

Hehe thankiuu dear yiyong's photos, which captured a clearer backdrop.

Never forget to snap a photo over there :D 

This was taken at the entrance of the National Stadium

which gives you another spectacular scenery from a higher location. 

with the WWD bunch :)

Will tell you guys more about the nature of the event in another post. But I'm grateful for this opportunity to attend this event coz it was one awesome night with good food, loads of good food, beautiful view and awesome company. 

Photo source: SingaporeWorldWaterDay
Here's a photo of the National stadium's dome during the event night which showed the tagline of WWD. So cool!!

Anyways, I can't wait to go back SportsHub again coz I just love the atmosphere of the place. It would have been awesome to have a walk around the area while enjoying the whole landscape. Plus I could shop after that haha...You might even get to watch your fave artist's concert here!
Ohmy, just found out that there's a museum and a library as well. Definitely a place where you can surely find something to do,

I shall try checking out the sports facilities next time.
Please visit SportsHub's official website to find out more about the facilities offered:
http://www.sportshub.com.sg/venues/Pages/Home.aspx

Things to do at Marina Barrage: What to Bring for Picnic

For some reason, I visited Marina Barrage for 3 times this semester. Probably because we ran out of places to hang out and Marina Barrage is really an awesome place for fun outings with almost anyone. Decided to compile all my Marina Barrage memories here and make a simple guide for those who wants to visit Marina Barrage...

Just a short intro here, Marina Barrage is actually a dam built by Singapore government to provide water supply and control water levels in case of floods. And yes, awesome enough, the dam triples as a recreation site besides its important functions.

This is one place that you should go if you stay in Singapore.

So....what can we do at Marina Barrage?  Picnic la of course! Here's short guide to what you can bring and do for your picnic at Marina Barrage's Green Roof. :D

1. Plastic Mat
Please bring this unless you don't mind sitting on grass. I'm sure you probably wanna lie down and just enjoy the beautiful blue sky at the Greenroof so the mat will definitely be a must! You may buy this at Daiso.

2. Food!!! All your favorite bites
Of course you need food for picnic and I assure you munching down picnic snacks at Marina Barrage is really an enjoyment thanks to the strong breeze and beautiful view. Even better when you have a bunch of friends to chit-chat with.
Suggestions include Sushi, Egg Sandwiches, Salad, Chips. You may prepare all sorts of ingredients like egg mayo, crabstick mayo, sausages, tuna, bread, tortilla wraps etc and let everyone self-service and customize on their own sandwiches. To add the fun, make sandwiches for each other!

Haha yesh, we got creative and brought Chawanmushi, Yakitori (from Wadori) and Strawberry Fresh Cream cake into the picture hehe :D Yes you probably realized they are all from the Japan street in Jurong Point. 

Egg Mayo sandwiches are just awesome

    it was CNY and we LouSang-ed at Marina Barrage hahahahha

3. Kite

kite flying is a must-do over here. You don't need skills really, coz the strong winds will definitely send your kite floating happily and freely in air. It's also a fun group activity with your friends to take turns flying kites or just simply buy everyone a kite and have fun battling in the sky.

You may buy the S$2 kite at Daiso if you don't plan to go kite-flying often. 

Sometimes it takes two to fly a kite, you have the one controlling the string and the noisy wan beside that keeps shouting 放！放！walao 收eh!  (which is actually me haha)

  If you don't like to fly kite, you may show your support to others'
It was a nice experience to watch how other professionals challenge the limits with uniquely designed kites. 

4. Bubble Kit

Yeshhhhh this is one place you can play with bubbles without the need to blow bubbles till your face flush red. The wind does the job for you! Bubbles are really a fun part of childhood, enjoy the colorful spheres and watch them float gracefully in air. :D
Buy a bubble blowing kit and also one extra bottle of bubble liquid at Daiso!

Use it as props for photoshooting haha
OMY I still find this behind-the-scenes photo so funneh

5. Camera!OK this is like ABUDEN point haha...yes you definitely need to bring a camera with you. Well with the beautiful view, your phone camera would be good enough to capture beautiful shots and even your desired profile picture. The following photos will prove that, every random photo over there is nice!

Flying-a-kite Shot

背多分 shot

just realize i wore the same blouse for two trips LOL

Lacing-up-shoes-but-still-look-cool Shot

The must have Jump-shot

The Profile-Picture

and of course, a photo that takes down the view

It was dusk, the sky has a faint tint of pink

This was taken with my Redmi on HDR and I think it looks good enough. 

6. Other Entertainments

well there's still plenty you can do at Marina Barrage. I saw people bringing their pets for a walk, you may bring some card games. We also played the Wolf-game over there as well! haha maybe you wanna comment below on what else have you did at Marina Barrage?

Btw, if you happen to visit Marina Barrage, don't forget to visit the galleries in the building itself after all the kite-flying and picnic. Well it's a place for you to learn about the functions of the dam and also green plans in Singapore (plus the galleries are air-conditioned, it's good to cool down haha)

Oh I forgot Item no. 7: Friends!!
Yes without them, I suppose no.1-6 altogether won't be anywhere close to fun. Thanks to the following bunch of people, who gave me so many memories at Marina Barrage. I remember screaming in the wind, laughing out loud at jokes, making customized sandwiches like a boss, lying down on the mat to make sure it doesn't fly off etc etc

Here comes the group photos: 

College buddies Sheauwen and Daniel

CPs bonding trip

Econs February Babies Birthday celebration

Earthlink Maincomm Outing oh yeah!!

FOC Maincomm Post-Retreat Bonding 

Marina Barrage Rooftop is really one beautiful place to hang out. Well you don't really need to prepare all the items i mentioned above. Just come here with some friends, enjoy the wind beating against your face, the peaceful view of the straits, the glorious skyline of Marina Bay area, the colorful kites flying over your head, the beautiful fountain at the ground floor, all these are good enough to make a memorable day. 

How to go?
http://www.pub.gov.sg/marina/Pages/Getting-There.aspx

or Walk through Gardens by the bay, towards the direction of Satay by the Bay.

Have fun with picnic!

马铃薯剥皮

突然间有点领悟，干脆写下来吧..

Photo source: http://naturalwayforhealth.com/top-foods-that-help-reduce-weight/

人，有时候像是连皮烫熟的马铃薯。外面黑黑有斑点的外皮是缺点，里面金黄粉粉的是优点。我们往往就很想把外面那层皮脱掉，但发现，其实在剥皮的时候，太用力就会不小心在马铃薯上留了裂痕。

我们再怎么小心地除掉缺点，只为了讨好别人的同时，也会伤到美好的自己，到最后还是没有办法完美。

无论如何，马铃薯都是得剥皮才比较好吃，改掉缺点是好事，但也不要追求完美！

今天在帮妈妈拨马铃薯时的领悟, 科科！Maybe too much Minions and Potatoooooooo

好啦，我承认我比较粗鲁，随便剥都会连肉都剥掉。

Movie Review: Minions

Bello!! Just gonna do a short review here...okay not exactly short 

Minions

It's worth sharing coz I really didn't expect the movie to be better than what I imagined.

Well I wanted to watch Jurassic World at first, but it was a rather last minute decision to catch a movie, so there weren't many seats left for JW's (ngeh ngeh wan use my initials haha) showtimes.

There weren't many choices left and Minions seems to be the next best thing on the list of movies. 

To be honest I really wasn't gonna pay to watch minions. One, it's animation, watching it at home should have the same effect. Second, I thought I watched the whole movie already from the trailers. Third, the story will confirm be cliche, the minions would be doing stupid stuffs, singing banana song and running around like idiots. 

Of course it's not totally out of expectation. Yes the story is still cliche haha, but I would say the reason for me to love this movie is really the "acting skills" of the minions. It's quite funny. Trust me, the way they play idiots and goofballs in the movie is really different from your usual comedy by real actors. I thought their signature minion acts in Despicable Me won't make me laugh anymore, but still, they succeeded! Okay spoiler here abit, this movie needs no subtitle!!!! hehe yeap everyone can understand Minion language for sure. Second reason would be the animations, it's really beautiful, all the characters actually have a very realistic feel. The story setting in London is also super real. 

What I don't really like is, the movie seems abit out of the Despicable Me picture despite being a prequel. I know they are making this movie for the sake of making another Minion box office hit. They did explain the minion's villain masters "portfolio", but still they didn't really explain why they like to follow villains. The story just begins with the "they-are-born-to-serve-the-most-despicable-masters and the story goes..." but again, Why????? sorry I can't get over this. At least they did explain why Gru became evil in Despicable Me. Okay la forgive my curiosity, probably not a question that needs to be answered haha. Anyways the movie is still not bad lar, good enough to make me laugh out loud. Owh not to forget, I love Sandra Bullock's voice as Scarlet!! Always a fan of her i'm-the-boss-so-don't-mess-with-me voice. 

Prepare yourself for loads of LOL moments and cuteness from our little yellow friends. Afterall, this is a movie for little kids to learn about courage and realizing dreams. Minions have their despicable dreams, so do us, just go and chase it. Even for adults, finding a cave may shelter you from danger, but you would never know what's outside and you will not get a chance to work hard for things you are passionate with. (unless your passion is sleeping and stay out of the world)

Er I don't think I need to write the Synopsis LOL

Coz you literally know the whole story from the movie trailer

Basically it shows you the story of 3 minions on their quest to find and serve their rightful despicable master and find meaning in their lives once again!

Oh another thing I like, I think it's good that the story centered around 3 minions only. Which makes the story have a better focus and the different characters of the 3 minions shows a great chemistry among them. Love'em

By the way, it was my first time using my phone to buy movie tickets.

I bought the tickets while I'm on my way back to PJ, in the moving LRT!

Just realize how times changed and technology evolved (Okay I know this service existed long time ago) I bought a 8.30pm movie at 6.30pm, just with the touch of my fingertips. Plus I skipped the box office queue summore. Really recommend you guys to download this GSC app, buy tickets at anywhere anytime!

Read more about Minions at:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2293640/

Gonna update again soon.

Papoy Bananas!!