Up at CapitaSpring Tower today to visit its Sky Garden and Green Oasis.

As you may have already known from my last post, I took a day off today after feeling exhausted from my trip back to KL/Genting on last weekend. After getting enough rest, did laundry and cleaned my room, I have the rest of the day free. It suddenly came to my mind early today that I shall take this opportunity to visit a place that I have wanted to visit for a long time but is only open for public on weekdays.

So why not? The place I’m referring to is already revealed on the title of this post; CapitaSpring Tower. The tower is the joint second-tallest building in Singapore and was designed by architectural firm BIG. It is 280 metres tall and is famous for its Green Oasis (from Level 17 to 20) and Sky Garden (on Level 51 which is the highest level of the tower and is Singapore’s tallest public observation deck) that are open for public access (free admission!) only on weekdays with limited opening hours. They are opened since last year after the construction of the tower was completed in 2021.

I went up to visit the Sky Garden first. It contains observation deck that runs around and across an urban farm and two restaurants. The views from up here were quite spectacular. However, most of the views are kind off obstructed due to its enveloping facade. You have to get close to the edge (may not be for those who are afraid of height) to see unobstructed panoramic views of the CBD, Marina Bay, and the rest of Singapore. It was not a very clear day today (gloomy, cloudy and scattered rain at other parts of Singapore) during my visit today hence the pictures may not be the best looking.

After that, I went down to visit the Green Oasis, a multi-level garden deck connected by stairs and lifts. Its interesting shapes, the emphasis on the details of materials, balanced spatial composition and the play of levels here are quite remarkable. Quite an impressive space I must say. I didn’t even bother to look out for the views outside as I was already so occupied with the architecture within the space.

I spent about an hour and a half exploring the two attractions of the tower. Before I left, I also took some cool shots of the exterior of the massive tower. CapitaSpring Tower can be spotted easily among the towering skyscrapers right after you exited from Raffles Place MRT Station (Exit A in the middle of the park).

As the gardens are only opened on weekdays, there usually won’t be too many people around which makes the visit more relaxed and peaceful. The tower also contains a large food centre on the second and third floors but I didn’t check it out as I went there after my lunch today.

Got my new iPhone 15 Pro and went to Genting for the weekend.

Yay! I collected my new iPhone 15 Pro on last Friday’s evening after work at the Apple store at Marina Bay Sands. There were a lot of people in the store that evening (which is expected as it was the first day of its launch in Singapore). The queue for pre-order collection was long but fortunately, everything was quick and I got my phone in no time. I also took the opportunity to get my hands on the new smartphone models on display (all the iPhone 15 series and their various colours).

Previously I was hesitant on which colours should I pick for my iPhone 15 Pro. I couldn’t decide between the landmark colour, natural titanium or my favourite colour, blue titanium. In the end, I selected blue. After comparing both that were on display, I’m glad I have chosen blue. I’m just not that into bright coloured phone. Took a last photo of the beautiful bayfront area with my old iPhone 12 Pro before heading back home for a 2-hour setup to my new phone (took that long because I have to transfer about 250gb of data from my previous phone to my new phone).

Now I was a bit undecided whether to sell off or trade in my iPhone 12 Pro (which is still in good condition) or just keep it for memory sake. It still worth about SGD$400 in trade-in value from my recent online check. By the way, I do kept all my previous Apple phones (from iPhone 5, to 7, and now 12 Pro). I also do kept a Nokia phone of which I did used back then when I was in secondary school. That antique must be very valuable after some time.

On Saturday, I went back to KL and gifted my parents a box of mooncakes I bought from Singapore as the Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner (will be on this Friday). I prefer to take flights for weekend trip back to KL nowadays. Costlier than bus but took lesser time and much lesser energy from me. I also always enjoy walking around in the Changi Airport Terminal 4 while waiting for my flight. This particular ‘Heritage Zone’ in the terminal showing the facade of intricate shophouses with visual projection always mesmerizes me.

I went up to Genting Highlands with them for a one-night stay immediately right after I reached home from the airport. Took a shot of KL city skyline (testing quality of my new phone’s camera) during the trip to Genting. Not bad. The city is actually very far from where I took the photo.

We went to the casino (I played roulette and won a bit…hehe…I will always stop once I win a bit and not being greedy for more). The funniest thing is that the security personnel still wanted to check my IC to verify that I’m above 21 when I was about to enter into the casino. Oh man….I couldn’t hold my laughter and told him that I’m turning 32 soon already. He also laughed.

We went for dinner at the popular Burger & Lobster Restaurant. It was actually my first time visiting this restaurant in Malaysia (I did tried this restaurant in Singapore before). I had a chilli lobster served with sweet bread. It was very delicious (sauce is very similar to chilli crab dish). The lobster meat was huge, firm and fresh. The price is also quite reasonable.

We head back down on Sunday’s afternoon and my dad drove me straight to the airport for my flight back to Singapore. What a rushed weekend but it was a good quality time spent with the family (despite the short amount of time). Fortunately, I took a day off today for a much needed rest.

Monday’s evening at Gardens by the Bay to check out the Mid-Autumn Festival light-up.

It’s Monday, start of another typical five-day work week again. I’m curing my Monday blues today by finding things to do for the evening after work. Besides having dinner with a friend, we decided to go check out the annual light-up event at Gardens by the Bay in conjunction with the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival (with the theme being ‘Garden of Blooms’). This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival falls on 29th September 2023.

Besides than featuring many bright and colourful lantern displays scattered across the picturesque Gardens by the Bay (most displays are at the Supertree Groove), this year’s event also includes food street, carnival rides, cultural performances, cultural programmes and workshops. The daily Garden Rhapsody light and music show at the Supertree Groove also had moon-themed soundtracks only for this particular month in conjunction with the festival. I watched the show as well which lasted a little over 10 minutes.

Here are some of the photos I took of the lantern displays. They are gorgeous, isn’t it?

Although it’s Monday evening, but there were still a lot of people here tonight to visit Gardens by the Bay and check out the light displays like us surprisingly. It must be super crowded here during weekends then. We also noticed a lot more ang-moh (white people) tonight (and lately too). I felt like I was in US or Europe just now. I believe they are most likely here for the past F1 weekend and decided to stay longer to explore Singapore.

We spent about two hours walking around the area before calling it a day. It was very warm and humid this evening though (and there’s no wind at all) and it’s working day tomorrow hence we don’t plan to stay longer there. At least today it was an interesting end to another typical busy day at the office after checking out these wonderful lantern displays. No matter what, with or without event, Gardens by the Bay remains one of my favourite places in Singapore for a leisurely walk or a bicycle ride. A place full of memories on top of great views.

It’s mid of September…let’s talk about iPhone 15 and F1 weekend.

Early this week, Apple has announced its latest line-up of gadgets including the new iPhone 15 series. This is the year that I can’t delay anymore in replacing my current iPhone 12 Pro with a new one. The main reason to get a new one is that my current’s phone storage is reaching its limit of 256GB (took too many pictures and videos!). My phone’s battery performance has declined over the past 3 years too. Haha…kept persuading myself to get the latest iPhone 15 Pro.

And yup; I did. The pre-order started last Friday’s evening and I immediately went for it. That’s determination right there!…Excited to receive the phone on next Friday (the first day it will be released in Singapore) but at the same time was feeling sad too for my bank’s remaining balance after the purchase. Why smartphone has to be this expensive?! Had to put up with negative balance for this month (this month’s expenses were over my salary). I chose the iPhone 15 Pro in blue titanium colour and with 512GB storage. SGD$2129 gone.

On the other hand, it’s F1 this weekend in Singapore. I’m not that keen into racing cars but I did followed one of my colleagues (who is very interested in it) to catch a glimpse of the race last evening after work (also after making my iPhone pre-order…haha). It was just a practice session last night though. The Grand Prix (main race) will be happening tomorrow.

We went to Marina Square mall and saw some of the actions from few outdoor terrace spots at the mall which were crowded with many F1 enthusiasts. The loud engine noises and sparks flying from the speeding cars do got my attention during the 1 hour practice session that began at 9pm last evening. The action must be more speedier and intense during the main race this Sunday. I have been here in Singapore for about 5 years and this year is the first time I’m watching this annual F1 night race which is considered one of the biggest annual events in this country.

My colleague friend did went again though to check out the qualifying session today. I’m not joining for today as I had to go back to the office in the afternoon just now to complete my pending tasks for the week. I can’t remember when was the last time I had to return to office on a Saturday. There’s just so much work to do. After that, I came home for a nap as it is so hot outside this afternoon. That’s all for my update for this weekend. Oh by the way, it’s Malaysia Day today. Happy Malaysia Day to all Malaysians!

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Slow and quiet weekend at parks before the coming intense work week.

Working overtime has been the norm for me in recent weeks. Reaching home when it’s already all dark outside and getting dinner at 9pm are common for me nowadays. There’s just so much to do since two months ago when I was given a huge and complicated project to work on. Well I guess that allows me to redirect my focus more on my career now rather than spending time on things that aren’t for me.

Hence it feels great when it comes to the weekend when I can take my mind off work for a short while. It has been quite hectic for my past few weekends due to plenty of planned events one after another (back to KL for a couple of times, company trip, outing with friends, etc). This weekend is the total opposite. I have a full me-time for these two days to just rest and being mostly lazy at home. Doing nothing besides than playing mobile games and watch plenty of YouTube videos.

Of course I do head out for a nice stroll around parks too. I went to cycle along my usual favourite route between Bayfront to Stadium yesterday during sunset. That’s the place where you get to see nature, heaps of activities and spectacular views (getting all 3 in 1 spot). It has been quite some time since I last cycled too. The view of Marina Bay from that area never gets old.

I’m ending the post with a brief review for a Hong Kong series that I have recently completed. It’s ‘Narcotic Heroes’, a 30-episodes drama that revolves on a drug lord prisoner who was granted release due to terminal illness while the police force aimed to re-arrest him after his return involvement with drug business. The series starred Moses Chan, Nancy Wu, Edwin Siu, Kelly Cheung, Matthew Ho, Raymond Cho, Ram Chiang, Bowie Cheung, etc.

The two actors that shined in this series are Edwin and Matthew. Edwin’s character who possesses lack of emotion due to a past tragedy is quite interesting. Edwin nailed the role with good delivery of restrained expression to match his character. It’s not easy to do that. On the other hand, Matthew put a lot of effort to portray a mute character in this series. After finishing the series, I still couldn’t get why Moses treat Matthew as one of his two most important persons in his life (the other being Nancy) although he only knew Matthew fairly recently. It just doesn’t make sense. The ending clash between Moses and Edwin is also a bit awkward and anti-climactic. Anyway, the series is still watchable overall. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Narcotic Heroes’ 7.1.

(Last three images in this post are from various online sources)

Long weekend back in KL to visit the MATTA Fair.

It’s another long weekend, thanks to the Polling Day in Singapore on last Friday to elect the new President which makes the day automatically a public holiday. Former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Tharman won the election with a huge margin (gained over 70% votes against two other candidates). He will succeed the current President, Madam Halimah Yacob in the coming 14th September.

Many Malaysians working in Singapore will of course take that opportunity to return to Malaysia for this long weekend; myself included. Singaporeans would join in the exodus too for a brief getaway in Malaysia. Hence it took me almost 8 hours to go to KL via express bus yesterday with most of the time stuck at the traffic congestion leading to both nation’s custom building. I’m taking flight for the return trip back to Singapore tomorrow instead; costly but saves a lot of time.

The first thing that came to my mind yesterday once I arrived in KL is ‘pasar malam’ (night market). I couldn’t have my lunch yesterday due to the long bus ride and all I could think was all my favourite food from the ‘pasar malam’ close to my neighbourhood that is happening every Friday’s evening. I even bought durian to satisfy my craving for the king of fruits. Singapore should really bring back the ‘pasar malam’ culture!

Today me and my parents went to visit the MATTA Fair (travel fair) at Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC). Our objective is to look for a suitable guided tour package for the Chinese New Year holiday next year. It’s our annual tradition to go for oversea trip every CNY. It was bustling at the fair that spanned several levels of the gigantic building.

We were first eyeing for tours to China since it has been quite some time since we last visited China (except for Hong Kong and Macau which me and my sisters had just visited two months ago). My dad also wanted to visit China. We were looking particularly for Xi’an, a historical city that is famous for the terracotta warriors. However, there were not many tour companies that offer tours to Xi’an during CNY 2024. The companies that indeed offer such tour are very limited and did not meet our expectations. Jiuzhaigou is our second choice. However, in general, many staff over there also advised us against going to China during CNY holiday as the crowds there would be too massive especially at popular tourist spots. I have to agree.

We ended up choosing another destination; a country that is unlikely to be on anyone’s radar for trip. It is Sri Lanka. RM4300 per pax for a 7 days 6 nights trip to this island country. This price is considered low as compared to many tours to China that already cost as least RM5000++ or at least 5 figures for tours to Europe/US. I do not know much info about Sri Lanka…so let’s give it a try!

(Images in this post are from various online sources)