A day in MBS

Has it been more than a year? Let me just check that... yes, it's been more than a year since the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) area was opened and the hubs and I just managed to spend a day there. It really has heaps to offer, now that the whole area is up and running. I remember when it first opened, there were hiccups (as a new place would have) and since we weren't interested in going into the casino, we've been putting visiting this place off for the longest time. Well, having taken a weekday off from work, it was the best possible day to visit, sans the casino even!

The MBS area is made up of a three over 50 storey high tower hotel with over 2000 rooms, large convention centers, a sky park on the 57th floor, theater, a casino, a shopping mall and outside, an art science museum and the Helix pedestrian bridge.

Taken from the Art Science Museum looking back at the MBS and shopping mall

Art Science Museum
What's unique about this museum is that it is shaped like a lotus. Circular and not very big, it spans over 3 levels of exhibition space. Dali is being shown currently and I must say that I was impressed with the exhibition.The last time I went to a proper Dali exhibition was back in the year 2000 while visiting London, the tiny one in Brugge recently doesn't count. Two other exhibitions are on at this time, Van Gogh and Shipwreck. I felt it was quite pricey at S$30 per person, but if you purchase a combination ticket with entrance to the Sky Garden, there's a S$5 discount.

Entrance to the Art Science Museum with Dali's Melted Clock

The Lotus of the Art Science Museum

A night view of the Art Science Museum

Theater
The Lion King is showing at the moment. The original season was supposed to finish at the end of May, but seeing that the response has been great, they've extended this season for another two months. Again, not expecting much as it's not in the same class of musicals as The Phantom and Les Miserables, I was pleasantly entertained throughout the show. The storyline and music were all taken from the movie, so anyone who had watched it would know what to expect. A small stage, which made the scenes more focused and the live band, hidden from everyone's view was superb. The characters would come onto the stage from behind, running down the aisles and the props! They were the most eye-catching of all, especially the head gear of Scar and Mufasa.

Shopping mall
In a country as small as Singapore, most of the international brand shops were only located on Orchard Road, the shopping belt of this country, but with the opening of the MBS, they now have a branch here. The layout is almost like Ion where big brands are located on levels one and two and local/smaller brands are located on basements one and two. There's a man-made canal running through a small part of the mall, maybe only 100m long where they provide 'sampan' rides for a fee. I guess they wanted to remind people that the Venetian is also a part of the Sands group.

Sampan rides

Dining
There are a couple of popular restaurants located where the general public can access, and a few within the casino area where guests with entry to the casino can access. There is also a food court, an upmarket one, or one that tries to be upmarket, called Rasapura Masters. It didn't hit me in the beginning that the name was all wrong for a food place that serves food from around the Asian region. Only until I ate my first mouthful of a dish that was supposed to be from KL, did it hit me that they were truly rasapura masters. 'Rasa' means taste and 'pura' means fake in the Malay language, so putting them all together, it's maters of fake taste! And sadly enough they were so spot on for that.

The Helix Bridge
After walking the bridge, I'm still not in awe of it. It's supposed to be constructed ingeniously with the shape of the double helix holding the bridge together, but I still don't see it.

The Helix Bridge

Sky Park
Located up on the 57th floor with an entrance fee of S$20 per person, it really gives a great bird's eye view of the central business district and surroundings. With the purchase of the Art Science Museum ticket, there's a discount of S$5. Lucky for us, it was a clear day. Managed to see far, far into the horizon and there weren't many people blocking access to the edge.

An eastern view from the Sky Park

Food Blog : Singapore Food Trail

If it weren't for an IRC gathering, I don't think the hubs and I would even know this place existed. Recently opened (late Feb 2011) the Singapore Food Trail was established to revitalise a dying market of olden day reminiscing. That's the thing that hit me while I walked through the place.

Can't say much about the food as I didn't get to try a lot of it... thinking that the East Coast Laguna food center serves better food... but this, Green Spot! It has been EONS since I last had one. It was so long ago that I didn't realise that it's actually a non-aerated drink! Startling sweet and served here in an old aluminum cup. I think the last time I had one was when I was a teenager! For those of you who have no idea what this is, it's similar to F&Ns Orange crush without the gas.

Green Spot!

Lamb, Snag, Ham Jam!

Spotted in Cold Storage. What are they selling these days?! I'm sure it's ok to put this jam-my thing onto your meat, but wouldn't it stuff up the marination? Plus the fact that they're not cheap, imported from Australia at S$17.50 per bottle

Anyways, when I first saw it, I thought the worst! Literally Jam made out of Lamb or Snag!!! Eu... which would explain the above paragraph. But have no fear, it's actually Apply Mint for Lamb, Smoked Tomato for Snags and Cherry for Ham.

Photo Blog : Rays of Sun

This was an impromptu shot, taken with the iPhone from inside the car over Buona Vista MRT station

Rays of Sun

New Toy

Last weekend, I ended up getting a new toy, a D7K. I've been thinking of getting a DSLR camera for a long, long time now because I was getting irritated with the automatic cameras which wouldn't allow me to quickly choose what I want to focus on, especially when we're talking about depth of field and bokeh. The only thing that was stopping me was the size of these cameras. Not something you can fit in your handbag and carry around everyday.

Anyways, I ended up getting this model as it is mid-sized and has most of the latest digital functions. I've only read the manual one third of the way... which is pretty sad. I think I'll have to read up on the hub's photography magazines to get more out of the type of photos which I would like to take and hopefully be able to use this camera to its fullest ability... and mine.

Piano with the 50mm lens

Useless doors

This morning, the hubs and I decided to have breakkie at our usual place, the Ghim Moh Market and Food Center. They offer quite a few of the yummiest dishes like Chee Cheong Fun, Pontian Wonton Noodles, Duck Rice, Fried Kuay Teow, Chwee Kuey, Big Bao and fried carrot cake to name a few.

Anyways, we usually end up parking at this housing board car park and today we noticed something hilarious which someone has pasted on the door leading out of the car park to towards the Market in both English and Chinese.

"This unnecessary door is similar to drop pants to fart"

Wiling the hours away

There's a game
In the iPhone
That has me hooked
It's called Sudoku Daily

There are only 16 levels a day
Not that I know all the rules
I'm still learning
But still...
What now?

Photo Blog : Chap Goh Mei

One of the things to note on this final day of the Lunar New Year is the full moon.

Here's a pic taken by the hubs on the 105mm. My hands are just not steady enough *grin*

Chap Goh Mei Moon

Photo Blog : Raw Fish Dish

The infamous Raw Fish Salad dish... every Lunar New Year, it's a must have dish... at least once! Of course, people tend to have it as many times as there are days, and then some! It's all in the good name of prosperity.

So this is what the hubs and I ended up having on Valentine's Day *grin*

Raw fish salad from Putien

Photo Blog : 35mm

Piano's make great subjects
Playing with the 35mm
I can't believe how with the digital era, we're going back to the basics. Film cameras without zoom used to have 35mms lenses only

My Piano

Tidbits Galore

It looks like the Lunar new year is nearly upon us.

Everywhere you go, stalls are starting to display all the yummy goodies; cashew nut cookies, love letters, peanut brittle, pineapple tarts, mandarin oranges, barbeque sliced pork and the list goes on! Hmm... I've got to remember to get a couple of new clothes!

Takashimaya market place

Anniversary Meal

It's been thirteen years since I started going out with my husband... to date, it's still a poignant part of my life. I remember the tears... of sadness and joy and I will never regret saying yes. Hopefully the hubs doesn't regret asking either!

Anyways, today's blog is about food. Again. When has it ever been about anything else...

We were supposed to have a simple dinner of grilled chicken wings, satay and a plate of noodles but the East Coast Laguna Hawker Center was closed. Not sure if they're just doing renovations or are only cleaning the place up. Late as it already was, we ended up having Korean food at Ju Shin Jung.

Loved the atmosphere (big open restaurant with excellent ventilation), the beef and generous side dishes. The short rib beef was gobbled up so quickly that I only managed to take a picture of the belly pork. Will definitely come back again but will only order a variation of cow parts.

Slow grilled belly pork and onion on a slice of lettuce

Outside the Louvre

Continuing the Paris is huge theme... my walkabout took me to the area where the Musee du Louvre is. Again, there was a queue to get in, so as I've already been in to see the Mona Lisa (that's the only painting that people come to see, right?) I decided to take a walk around it instead and managed to get a couple of good shots, pity about the sky...

A pano shot

The glass pyramid

Lines

The queue to get in

Paris is...

... HUGE!

This shouldn't shock me anymore as it's not the first time I've been to this city, but I think with all the walking that I've done over the past couple of weeks, my legs are starting to feel the strain. But then again, maybe the city is really, really HUGE!

Here is the Notre Dame with a dismal sky. It was threatening rain the whole day, but stayed cloudy, which is a good thing, walking around in the slush of autumn is no fun. I think I was planning a rather near impossible route from the Notre Dame to the Lourve to the Arc! Not actually entering the places, it should take you half a day to walk the entire length, keeping in mind that the sun sets at 5 in the evening at the moment and I have to take a half hour train back to the airport hotel.

My walk started at 3 in the afternoon and there was a super long queue of people wanting to climb the Notre Dame's tower, so I didn't do that (although it would be such a waste to not do it when you have the time. Maybe I'll need to spend a couple of weeks in Paris!) I went into the cathedral instead and I have to admit, it's HUMONGOUS! Plus I haven't been to the ones in Rome, so it was almost a culture shock. It didn't help that there were thousands of people within the cathedral!

Front facade

Inside the Cathedral

I think they purposely dim the lights within the cathedral. As with all cathedrals, tripods are not allowed, flash photography is not going to help you in places this big so you'll just have to be extremely steady with your camera and pretend that you're the tripod. Not an easy feat.

Photo Blog : Misty Sheep

Winter is starting to settle in over here in Brugge. Is it early this year?

This morning there was a blanket of mist all over the place.
This picture was taken right outside the hotel.
There's a paddock with sheep.
Glad that they're being kept warm with their fluffy curly wurly coat.

Misty Sheep

Photo Blog : Calm Waters

Calm waters make for a great reflection, especially when the sky is clear and blue and there's no wind!

The old city of Brugge is surrounded by water, I guess at some point in time, it was a little island separated from the main land... fortress-like. Of course there are living creatures who enjoy the water besides the boats. But luckily for me, they sleep during the cold early mornings too.

Below is the most photographed spot in Brugge, De Rozenhoedkaai (Quai of the Rosary). On Sunny days, you can spot artists, photographers and find bus loads of tourist here. It's the end of the canal tours, which is also one reason the water's so calm.

De Rozenhoedkaai (Quai of the Rosary)

More of the Rozenhoedkaai

Manneken Pis

When in Brussels, you must visit the pissing statue.
That's what everyone tells you and so you do.
I didn't really know what to expect.
Didn't do any research on it.
The statue is tiny.
It wasn't dressed in any national costume.
The area around the statue was small.
There was just sooooo many people trying to catch a glimpse of it!

Manneken Pis

Food Blog : Meridien 3

There is a cosy restaurant within the Markt Square that shares its space with a Haagen Dazs counter. It looks as though it would be a really expensive restaurant, but their menu is pretty alright. The ground floor seating area has a great view of the Belfry, and the hubs and I were lucky enough to get that seat by the window. So he had the rack of lamb and I got the grilled cod. Extremely yummy on a bed of celery with a butter sauce but there was just so much of the cod. The lamb was yummy too, but again, there was just so much of it. Sometimes, generous servings just doesn't help *grin*

Rack of Lamb

Grilled Cod

Food Blog : Belgian Mussels

When in Belgium, one should have all things Belgian. I have to say that the food here is amazing. The hubs and I finally decided to have the mussels yesterday and they were extremely yummy.

We had to wait an hour for our dish because they get them fresh from the market/ocean. We had them in white wine and in one pot, there were just over 60 mussels. Most of the other guests ordered a pot each, but I'm not much of a mussels person, so the hubs and I shared one... Like most dishes here, it comes with a side serve of Belgian fries *yummy*

Mussels in white wine from Petite Maison

Photo Blog : Windmills

There are only 4 original windmills left in Brugge. Two of them are still working, but with modern machines, I think they're just there for the tourists. Didn't get to enter any of them, but they are huge!

Windmill