Singapore Diaries: Food trip, Reunion & Crossing off an item from my Bucket List

Last week, my friend and I were in Singapore to attend some meetings for our personal business.  Ok,  the trip was 50% personal business, 50% leisure.  Haha...

We stayed at the Fairmont Hotel - super nice hotel, great location and the buffet breakfast is so good! I was so scared to weigh myself after 4 days of buffet breakfast. Haha...

The view from our room is the Chijmes and Raffles Hotel.  The best view though is from the Executive Lounge at night where you can see the beautiful Singapore skyline - 

At the hotel lobby and in one of the hotel exits, there are beautiful artworks on display.   Check these out - 

I wasn't able to capture all of the sculptures' stories except for one - the little girl in green dress.  Entitled "Dear Children - I See", it's by a Chinese artist named Xing Jing.  

So this cute kid has a look of wonder in her bean eyes.  She has lots of questions and is looking for answers.  But she will eventually realize that there isn't always an answer so the best that she can do is to love this world with a kind heart.  It's entitled "I See" to differentiate it from "I know" or "I get it" as "I see" signifies an act of comprehension from the heart.  Such beautiful message! :)

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Last Sunday, we were able to hear mass at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd across Chijmes.  The church is fund-raising and they were selling these beautifully-crafted statues of the Good Shepherd made from Tiger Wood and sculpted by people from the village of Banteay Prieb, a vocational center for people with disabilities in Cambodia.

The statue has a unique and nice concept - it's a hold and pray statue. The statue is detachable from the base so when you pray, you can actually hold the statue with your hands. 

Incidentally, volunteers were distributing some handouts at the church exit and one of them had a very beautiful prayer (the prayer isn't related to the statue though).

Sharing it below (with minor edits):

I Pray
Gracious God,
You have done so much for us.
You ask for willingness
and we are often stubborn.
You ask for humility
and we are often proud.
You ask for open listening hearts
and we are often deaf.
You ask for service
and we are often busy.
You ask for our love
and we are often self-centered.
Grant us mercy that we may be compassionate;
that we may give life to others.
Grant that we, like Mary, may be your willing servants.
Amen.

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We also had time to meet up with ex-colleagues from Singapore. The first dinner, they took us for chili crabs, salted egg crabs (yes, crabs with salted egg sauce!), cereal prawns, clams on bamboo, etc.  The second dinner was Chinese at Ban Heng.   Out of excitement to exchange stories and eat, I forgot to take photos except for these. Haha...

It was so much fun to see our ex-colleagues after so many years - more than 10 years!!!  I think the last time when we were all together was during a regional event in Brisbane, Australia.  Since I'm not active on FB, I was totally out of touch with them.  But it's amazing that even if we come from different cultures, we share the same sense of humor.  It was non-stop chatter and laughter.   :)

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Where else did eat?

Soup Restaurant.  We had Samsui Ginger Chicken and I super love it! Yum!

We also ate at Tim Ho Wan.  Just like in Manila, there's always a long queue during lunch and dinner time so the best time to dine is during odd hours.

One night at 11pm, we got hungry and went to Lau Pa Sat.   Yummy sate and baby squid!

I'm trying to avoid cold dessert since I've become prone to colds lately but how can you say no to shaved ice?!  We had yoghurt bingsoo at Ice Lab. 

If you're crazy about Salted Egg Chips, the most popular brand in Singapore is Irvin's.  They quickly run out of stocks so they've implemented a cap on purchases - they only allow a maximum purchase of 5 small and 5 big packs for every buyer.  But between the salted egg fish skin and salted egg potato chips, I highly recommend the fish skin. True to its tagline, it's dangerously addictive. :)  

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Our last agenda in Singapore was to do some Christmas shopping.  But nope, we weren't able to tick off everything on our list since our luggage allowance was maxed out already and we didn't want to pay for extra weight. Haha... 

Finally, while in Singapore, I was able to tick off an item from my bucket list!  To watch a movie alone. Haha... 

My friend had a meeting for her other business and I didn't want to tag along.  Instead, I took it as an opportunity to watch Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.  I missed watching it with friends the first week since I was in Bangalore.  I can't afford to miss it on the big screen since I'm a big Harry Potter fan. :) 

Watching alone isn't as awkward as I thought.  I've always admired those who can do it and I finally did it!  And I think I can do it again.   Haha... :)

What to see at the Gardens by the Bay

If you like plants or just want to get a feel of nature in a busy place like Singapore, you may want to check out Gardens by the Bay.

We visited two sections – the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest Dome.

The Flower Dome is about 1.2 hectares and features plants (not necessarily flowers) found in the Mediterranean, Australia, South America and South Africa.   

Sharing with you some photos. Sorry I don’t have captions for most of them because I don’t know what they are and I was too lazy to read labels.  :)

Gumamela

Stargazer

 Since it was Christmas season, there were Christmas-themed sets.

Poinsettias

More poinsettias

 Here are 2 topview photos of the Flower Dome from the upper level.

There was also a section that houses cacti and baobabs.  It’s my first time to see baobabs.  No need to go to Madagascar to see  them. :)

Here are assorted cacti -

And some of them even have flowers - 

Within the Flower Dome, there's this interesting sculpture.  At first glance, you might think it’s a bit morbid because they have missing body parts.

The bronze sculpture is called The Traveling Family by Bruno Catalano.  So what happened to this family and why do they have missing body parts?  This traveling family depicts a family who visited Gardens by the Bay before their flight.  As they leave the garden, they take with them beautiful memories and leave a part of themselves behind. :)

If the Flower Dome has mild and dry climate, the Cloud Forest's climate is cool and moist.  This is what you'll find at the entrance. 

You have to go up the waterfall via elevator (138 feet!) and descend via a circular pathway to enjoy the view of the Cloud Forest.

Sharing with you some photos inside the Cloud Forest.

This is the pathway around the Cloud Forest

An abandoned truck in the Lost World section

Stalagmites

Don't forget to look out the window as you go around the walkway and see beautiful views like this -

It's lots of ferns, moss, swamp, etc. inside the Cloud Forest so if this is not your kind of thing, skip it and just stick with the Flower Dome.  I personally like the Flower Dome better.  It feels like you're just strolling around a park. :)

Red Dot Design Museum: A Peek into the Future of Ordinary Objects

When we travel, we usually go to museums and see a glimpse of the past.  For a change, how about visiting a museum about the present – which could show us a window to the future?

Red Dot Design Museum in Singapore

There’s this museum in Singapore called the Red Dot Design Museum which houses the winning items from the Red Dot Awards.  The Red Dot Award is known for challenging designers, engineers, inventors, professionals and students when it comes to the fundamentals of product design which are then screened by an international jury.  The award originated in Germany in 1954.

It's been in existence for 60 years and yet my first exposure to Red Dot Awards was just a couple of years back when I bought an Ozaki iPad case which had a sticker that says “Red Dot Design Awardee”.  Aesthetically, Ozaki iPad cases are really nice - great colors and the cover has debossed (opposite of embossed) iconic images from popular cities and countries around the world.  But the main reason why I like Ozaki cases is because it could hold your iPad in a portrait and landscape orientation with great stability. 

Ozaki iPad case

But visiting the Red Dot Museum was super fascinating.  Apparently, the Red Dot Awards cover a whole slew of categories – not just gadgets and accessories, but as well as appliances, packaging, vehicles, fixtures, bags, furniture, name it.

Here are some of the items which piqued my curiosity:

This is not your ordinary Foosball.

It's a Foosball that is made entirely from carton!

Utensils made in the shape of tree twigs to evoke the feeling of naturalism.

Can you guess what these are?  They are flower-shaped hand showers.

Nubone Supplements

Don’t the food look yummy?  They are actually pet supplements!  Haha….  The packaging is plastic-free, recyclable and the design immediately communicates what the flavour is to the buyer – whether it’s beef, chicken, veggies or salmon.  Lucky pets!  Haha…

Missing you Honey Bee Hand Cream by Etude

The packaging is in the shape of bees because they were made for a campaign for the protection of bees.  The materials used for the containers and outer box were made from recyclable/recycled materials and using soy-based ink.

Vaccum-sealed burlap envelope for rice.  The sender’s name reflects the Taiwanese rice producer.   And notice the stamp - it's the photo of a ricefield.   The packaging could easily be used for gift-giving too.  How unique for a rice packaging.

Wall made from PET bottles

PET bottles could be recycled but they could also be used as instant building materials for temporary housing or small-scale structures.

Close up shot of the wall of PET bottles

This is a centralized digital dashboard so you'll know the status of all your electrical appliances and be able to control the settings.   Imagine, years from now, this could be our standard electrical dashboard at home. :)

Hexskin

This is a bandage with healing properties that dissolves in your skin.  The concept sounds so futuristic to me like it were from a sci-fi movie.  But guess what?  The technology is already here.

An alphabet-based watch.  Press a button when you want to know the time and the letters would light up on what time is it.

A 3D decorative fabric.  See the 3D cubes?

Hygrometer for Plants

Just stick it directly into the pot and you’ll know when to water the plant depending on the color of the hygrometer.

Puzzle Ring

This is a jewelry and game rolled into one.  Every time you put it on or take it off, you have to put together the 8 pieces.  The last piece you put on is the locking mechanism to make sure the ring doesn’t fall apart while it’s worn.

The Red Dot museum has also a store which sells some of the past Red Dot Awardees.   Here are some:

Senz S Umbrellas

These are wind-proof umbrellas.  They have a demo video to show windproof they are.  :)

Beautifully-designed necklaces.  They have wooden brooches and enamel cufflinks too.

And if you like papercraft, you might like these.  They are called Architectural Model Accessories.  The item is just like the size of a bookmark or greeting card.

With it, you could create a miniature Christmas setting like this -

They also have an autumn setting -

Super nice!

Anyway, if things like these fascinate you as much as it fascinates me, you might want to visit the Red Dot Design Museum in Singapore.  Remember, today's unique inventions could be tomorrow's ordinary objects. :)