Singapore Garden Festival 2008

The NUS Community Service Club had some free tickets to the Singapore Garden Festival 2008, from which about 25 tickets were given to the Bishan Home RVP. With these free tickets, we (NUS CSC Bishan Home RVP people) organized an outing to the Festival at Suntec City for the Bishan Home residents.

One memorable thing about this outing was that Bishan Home actually received a Platinum Award in the Community category on stage for its beautiful garden at the Home, i think. And after the prize presentation, the entourage of us (13 volunteers, 4 staffs, 18 residents) just roamed around level 4 and level 6 of the Suntec convention hall, looking at the prize-winning horticultural arrangements and growth.

Because the outing was just a 2-hours tour around the 2 levels of exhibits, it was not enough for me, to take care of a wheel-chaired resident plus taking photos around. So when we were dismissed from Bishan Home after the outing, a few of us decided to go back to Suntec City again for another round of tour plus photography. After all, we had already paid for our own admission and can go in again with the chop on our hands. Must make the admission fee worth. HA.

"Looking at the flowers made me feel like wanting to get married" quoted the Bishan Home RVP chair-woman.

Really meh? Ha. Probably females would share similar sentiments with her. For me, it's just the admiration of the beautiful flora and their arrangements. One word. Brilliant!

DHL Balloon

Went up to the DHL Balloon at Bugis for me and xuan's 3rd year anniversary. Because the DHL Balloon would stop services at the current Bugis area in August 2008, we decided to pop by there before we don't have any other chance to do so.

The DHL Balloon is situated at an open area behind the 7th Storey Hotel, opposite Bugis Junction and also across the street where Happy Pay Steamboat is.

Initially, we wanted to take flight at about 5, however, because of the strong winds, flights had to be suspended as it would be dangerous. In the end, we managed to get up the balloon for the 1940 flight, after a trial flight had deem flight services to be safe enough to resume. Perhaps to be safe, before going for the ride, it is better to call up the DHL Balloon place to check on the weather conditions.

While I was kind of excited to be on some hot air balloon for the first time in my life, I was a little disappointed about the views that unfolded before our eyes. 20 storeys above ground level. Hmmm. Not really interesting. Haha. One reason is maybe buildings in Singapore are not really well decorated with dancing neon lights and bright billboards, like those I see on tv and in movies.

Another reason is probably I'm more of a nature person, than an infrastructure person, so I thought the view was so-so. If I were to pay $23 for such views in a 10min ride, I guess I rather save that $23. I wonder if the Singapore Flyer would more or less be the same.

But nonetheless, I thought it was quite romantic la, hanging in the sky under the moonlight. For people like kakasea and yogi, if u guys read this, probably you can bring your girls up there and *you know*. They have no where to run. Wahahahaha.

Guys, you have up till 31st July. Act fast.

Southern Ridges

On the day we went to collect the academic gown from school, Ralf was driving me and Benjamin past Telok Blangah Hill, when he decided to make a detour into the Telok Blangah Hill to show us his 'territory'- the newly constructed Southern Ridges connecting Kent Ridge Hill, Hort Park, Mount Faber and Telok Blangah Hill.

First up, entering from the Telok Blangah Hill, we arrived at this carpark where there is free parking. Ok, people driving up to the Southern Ridges, here's an alternative carpark. It is also a 5 mins walk from DSTA/CMPB, so people working there can actually park there for free during their working days.

Just a slope up, we reached the platform of the Henderson Wave. The Henderson Wave actually links Telok Blangah Hill to Mount Faber, and what's so special about the Henderson Wave is the wave-like architecture of the bridge, quite cool.

Following the walk on the Henderson Wave, we drove up a little towards the Alexandra Arch, hoping to see and get some pictures of the Arch-like form of the bridge, but apparently, you have to walk a little to get to see that. However, from the entrance of the Alexandra Arch, there is this mega zigzag pathway that apparently links quite a few places together. Sorry, i'm not so sure where link to where la.

From the very same Alexandra Arch entrance, Ralf took us up this very steep slope at the opposite side of the road, and we arrived at this very serene, tranquil place, a very romantic place for couples to hang out. Apparently, it overlooks the beautiful garden of the Alkaff Mansion, and also the busy ports of PSA.

These are the few places of the Southern Ridges we covered during the short half an hour there. I'm looking forward to the day where I will start the hike from Kent Ridge Park all the way to Mount Faber. Probably I can jio Ralf and Benjamin go there jog the whole 7+ km, in preparation for our Nike+ Human Race. Wahahaha...