Nick Chan Dot Net

ION and Orchard Road

Written by Nicholas Chan on November 23, 2009 – 12:02 am -

I think I am getting into the last post of my Singapore trip, should be saying that this is the last part of my one day Singapore tour and Orchard Rd was my last stop. We skipped and ran away from Royal Selangor Gallery from the Nuffnang tour and came here by ourselves via the MRT, it’s was just a few stop away, pretty fast.

One thing I got to say that my legs were really tired at that time, had been walking whole day already and it’s evening.

The Orchard Road station was really very crowded with people and this was my first time getting off at that. The times before that I went there few years back were by cab. Somehow, we still have to queue up again at the MRT station to get S$1 refund from the ticket.

I was just so excited about Orchard Rd, especially ION @ Orchard, the main reason I went there. I wanted to see how beautiful the building is.

Look at the LED bar. Pretty isn’t it?

The MRT station is just right below ION and the first thing I saw was ION! It’s so cool, with all the lights and all those huge designers’ label made me saliva drop and it’s felt so not-Singapore, perhaps Tokyo?

I was so amaze and salute to the developer. Before that I thought Pavilion in Kuala Lumpur was cool, but now, I can’t think about that already.

I can’t afford branded, designers’ label but I so like to look at them.

The ION is so round, I like also!

And they got a huge curve LCD screen outside, showing news, weather, info and stuff, just like a small part of Times Square and Tokyo. I think Malaysia don’t have big screens and with sound. There’s big ad screen, but mostly no sound, that’s not cool.

Alvin and I spent quite a lot of time out there “Wah, wah, wah” which made us don’t really have many time to walk around inside, and really we just walked a little and that’s when my brother called me to meet him at Cineleisure. Fast window shopped the first and second floor, then we started walking to Cineleisure, it’s like 10 minutes apart. Not far.

Their Cineleisure and ours Cineleisure at Damansara is also no fight, so crowded, so happenings and like the LED tickers out there.

Legs were tired and was looking for place to seat, then I found the cinema and there’s chair. =D I was like so hungry and didn’t feel like exploring anymore, moreover I’ve went there before, once, 2 years ago, where I was among the first getting the first release of iPod touch.

They came and we had our dinner at Sakae Teppanyaki, delicious and good. Again, Malaysia has it or not?

After dinner, daddy thought of going back to the hotel but I insisted to walk for a little while and to visit Uniqlo in ION. It’s part of my itinerary and I wanted to check out this Japanese store for a long time already. Daddy didn’t feel walking anymore so he found a pub in front Wisma Atria and he got his alcohol.

Walked back to ION and went shopping at Uniqlo and a few stores. Woot! I bought a couple of nice tee at there. Shopping does take away my tiredness. Maybe it’s my first time going to ION, the place inside is like a maze, most of the shops are underground, few floors down. Upper floor would be all those branded and designers’ label.

Me, brother, daddy, mommy. =)

After shopping and getting late, we went to find my dad at the pub. Interesting was, I saw a she-man dancing and lip-syncing with the live band playing. Woo.

Went to Lucky Plaza and took the cab back to hotel.

Next stop? No more. It’s going back home on the next day.

again, thanks to alvin yang for the photos.

Tags: Crowded, Happenings, Many People, nnawards, nuffnang, nuffnang blog awards, orchard, Shopping, singapore, Travel, trip
Posted in Cool Stuff, Shopping, Singapore, Travel | Comments

A Short While at Royal Selangor Gallery and Clarke Quay

Written by Nicholas Chan on November 22, 2009 – 2:17 am -

So this Royal Selangor is not the one in Malaysia. They have a showroom ala gallery in Singapore, at Clarke Quay there, but sorry I got to say that I got no interest in Malaysia’s stuff in Singapore. So, I decided to skip the tour in Royal Selangor Gallery and went straight to Orchard Rd to meet up with my parents who were some shopping somewhere there too.

We did not run right away from Royal Selangor Gallery, Alvin and I still did step foot into the gallery, for a little while, at least to prove that we were there. Haha. Only then we went off to the nearest MRT station to go to Orchard Rd.

Some Australian bloggers were too tired and decided to go back to the hotel, so do us, tired but didn’t want to rest yet, continue walking.

Clarke Quay is beautiful, it gets even beautiful when dark falls. All the pub lights up and the riverview is just great. Sad that I didn’t get a chance to visit there at night on this trip, but there still be a chance, I’m sure.

There’s no sign about MRT station, so we asked our way around. Quite near, really near, like 5-10 minutes walk can arrive already.

Thank you Alvin for the photos because at that time, I felt that there’s a better camera (Nikon D90), why not use that one instead of mine (Canon 400D)? Great.

Next stop: Orchard Rd!

Tags: alvin, nnawards, river, riverside, singapore, Travel, trip
Posted in Cool Stuff, Singapore, Travel | Comments

Went on the Singapore Flyer!

Written by Nicholas Chan on November 21, 2009 – 1:39 am -

Singapore Flyer, taller than the Malaysia’s Eye on Malaysia, London Eye and so on, currently tallest. Finally I got chance to get on it and have a spin. I would probably don’t get the chance to go on it if it isn’t the tour provided by Nuffnang because my parents are probably not into Ferris Wheels, they prefer shopping, they love shopping, and eating too.

I got excited when I got to know that everything in this trip was free and this included the Singapore Flyer. It’s S$30 per spin man! ($29..50 to be exact) and would be around RM70-RM80 if converted, for one round, one 30 minutes long round. Worth it or not? I don’t know, but mine trip was sponsored, so it’s very worth for me. Ha. Though, it’s really fun if you goes with friend, you can party in the capsule! =D

The two Australian babies damn cute OK. At first it was one blogger started taking photos of them, sooner, a group of bloggers joined in. We were waiting for our tickets by the way. Then, the photo taking didn’t end that soon, a bunch of Indian tourist, not blogger came down and saw what we were doing, they joined in too, and even have their children photographed with the two cuties kids. Just like a superstar.

Look closely to their shirt, they DIY printed it, for these event. The Australians were well-prepared. I didn’t wore my DIY shirt because the print is off a bit already.

I got a ticket, complimentary from Uniquely Singapore! Thank you. =)

The capsule is a size of a mini bus. Why the Singapore can make so big but our Malaysian one so small? OMG.

They cramp everyone into one capsule, we went in by groups or partner. So let’s say your group is just 4 people or less, fine, just occupied the whole thing.

Photo speaks. There’s little bit of Singaporean bloggers and many bit of Malaysian bloggers. Tag yourself at the comment if you come across this, I can’t remember a few links. Hehe.

They claimed this can see part of Johor and part of Indonesia, but I got no idea which and which is Johor or Indonesia. Not many things to see up there because it’s day time. Night time will be nicer because all the lights but another ugly one would be all the construction and development going on.

30 minutes and we were off, it didn’t feels 30 minutes to me, I felt like a while, probably because we were fooling around inside. It’s fun for me, that’s all I can comment about. Haha.

Next stop: Little bit of Royal Selangor and Clarke Quay.

some photos credit to alvin yang.

Tags: city, ferris wheel, nnawards, nuffnang, singapore, singapore flyer, tall, Travel, trip
Posted in Singapore, Travel | Comments

Finally Get To Go To The Merlion Park

Written by Nicholas Chan on November 14, 2009 – 11:26 pm -

My first time stepping into Singapore was Standard 4 when my brother got his scholarship and got to study at their high school. Since then, I go to Singapore every year to check out my brother, went to a lot of shopping malls, food court, eating places but not really a tourist destination. The closest I went was the cable car ride to Sentosa and back (for fun and to past time while waiting for mom does her shopping). Thanks to Nuffnang, I get to tour Singapore.

Every places have a must-visit, have a photo taken at there, only can “certified” yourself have visited the city, the place, the country. So Merlion Park is a must-visit in Singapore.

The bus took us from Bugis Junction. It was very hot in the afternoon and everyone has already started feeling tired because of too much of walking. But I don’t care because this is a must-visit. Haha. The bus dropped us at the opposite of the road, near to Fullerton Hotel and Clarke Quay. I believe the road that we crossed was one of the route in the recent SingTel Singapore F1 GrandPrix. Cool man.

It’s really very hot, if there’s winter in Singapore, temperature like in Hong Kong, it will be perfect. The place is nice, with the Durian Esplanade at the back and Clarke Quay on the other side.

Here’s the Lion. Merlion should be, the symbol of Singapore. Yay, I can now tell people I’ve visited the Merlion in Singapore.

Then for photo fun, we did this.

Alvin Yang.

Water shoots into mouth. Drinking water. =D

My attempt. The water taste like, I don’t know.

Nice Mermaid-Lion with the under-construction Marina Bay Sands casino and resort at the back. This place is gonna be cool when the Marina Bay Sands is ready.

A photo with the Australian bloggers. =) Jimmy America, Violet Lebeaux and Super Kawaii Mama.

Before getting off, bought an ice cream in a bread to chill me off and took photo in the middle of the road with the luxurious Fullerton Hotel at the back. Nice!

Next stop: Singapore Flyer! Woohoo!

photos credit Alvin Yang.

Tags: flyer, nnawards, nuffnang, photos, singapore, Travel
Posted in Cool Stuff, Lifelog, Singapore, Travel | Comments

Chinatown Heritage Centre and Singapore City Gallery

Written by Nicholas Chan on November 11, 2009 – 11:11 pm -

Hola! Let’s back to some Singapore treats. So previously, I mentioned about going to the very cool looking toy museum and now I am bringing you guys to go to Chinatown. Actually we skipped a stop in the itinerary and that is “taking photos at Raffles Hotel”. I was not so interested in that so that didn’t really bother me.

I’ve been to Chinatown for like 3 times before this, all the times were eating dinner at the food stalls area, but for this time, I was going there a tourist, touring to the Chinatown Heritage Centre. Frankly, I was not interested in this place and it’s not a guided tour.

We were on our own at there. The 3 levels building showcase the history of Chinese immigrant in Singapore. I was wondering I am a Chinese and why am I looking around. Actually, I know quite some of stories and histories from my text book, so that place didn’t really fancy me a lot. Though, it’s a good experience touring there.

There’s like story about how the live of Chinese immigrants were, where they lived, what they did in the olden days. Boring a bit and we were out after spending a very short while in the Chinese Heritage Centre.

Saw a very cool looking temple. Japanese style. Likes!

Time flies and it’s almost lunch time. We took a walk to Maxwell Food Court for lunch and had the longest queue for the famous chicken rice. The queue was really long, and it took like 45 mintues. I guess I would never try that again although it’s good.

Skipping the food as I won’t be talking at here, the next stop was the Singapore City Gallery at URA (Urban Redevelopment Authority).

Alvin and I were actually late because we took the longest queue for the chicken rice and finished late. Everyone was already there at the gallery.

It’s all about the Singapore City, the planning, the building, the places, how well the government plan for the country and etc etc. Guess you know what is it already. The first part of the gallery features a video presentation and interaction where Mr Phua Chu Kang will talk about Singapore, ask a question and we will have to vote for the answer via the buttons. It’s quite funny sometimes when other people vote for some stupid answer and looking Mr Phua Chu Kang talking silly on the screen.

But the video presentation was long and we’ve decided to jump.

Phua Chu Kang’s boot!

Guess that’s all because these 2 places were not very interesting. No choice, because Singapore wanted us to see it and I didn’t about it, at least I know, “Oh, that’s Singapore. Cool.”

Next stop: Merlion Park!

Tags: Boring, centre, chinatown, gallery, nnawards, nuffnang, singapore, Travel, trip
Posted in Lifelog, Singapore, Travel | Comments

Mint Museum of Toys in Singapore

Written by Nicholas Chan on November 9, 2009 – 2:04 am -

Thanks to Nuffnang and Uniquely Singapore, I got to join this Uniquely Singapore one day blogger tour for free. This is part of the Nuffnang Blog Awards trip to Singapore and happened on the next day of the blog awards night. I slept quite late on the night before, spending some times on the Internet and woke up at around 7.45am, it’s like 5-6 hours of sleep.

Freshen up. Put on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, got my camera and off I was. The bloggers tour were divided into groups and I was in Group A with bloggers from Malaysia, Philippines, Australia and Singapore too.

First stop of the one-day tour was Mint Museum of Toys which is also a cafe, restaurant and wine bar. Pretty cool right? A toy museum which is quite different with the one in my hometown here in Penang.

Located on Seah Street, very near to Raffles Hotel.

A 5 stories building with a basement, it doesn’t look like a museum from it’s outer contemporary view. It’s a sponsored tour, so I need not to pay the S$15 entrance fee, which I would say a little bit expensive but worth it if you are a museum hopper and a toy fans. There’s so much to see in this little cozy space.

We had already been divided into group, but at here, we were divided into a smaller groups to tour different floor because of limited space and guide. Randolph Chew was so kind to guide us around and told us almost everything about the toys and the stories behind.

The top floor is a bar which house a lot of old school coffee shops advertisement plates. It’s like travel back in time to the olden days.

It’s a very modern-ish, contemporary gallery of toys. Everything are well-displayed with very sweet lighting on the acrylic illuminated shelf, which makes photographing easy and nice.

It’s all about toys from around the world, America’s, Europe’s and Asia’s. You see the above King Kong’s poster? What’s so special about it is that it’s one of few which features King Kong itself on the World Trade Centre instead of the Empire State Building.

The owner of the musuem is a serious hardcore toy collectors. I would say he turned hobby into investment, and he must be eff-ingly rich! Just look at the price tag and imagine how much he had spent on the toys. Oh my god, pro.

I know only a few of them, eg. Popeye, Disney’s characters, Tin Tin, Star Wars, Star Trek, Astroboy and a few more. I realised that there’s no Japanese cute anime figurine, where are they?!

I am not really a fan of cartoons now. Do you know that Astroboy was actually Astro(girl)? The Japanese felt weird and later changed her sex into a boy, and the girl character had became Astroboy’s sister.

See the above’s mouse. They are evil Mickey Mouse created by the English to defame the real Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse. Interesting stories back then when there’s no patent about toys and cartoon character, everyone copys.

Ugly bear.

Another cool piece is the the wagon. The wagon is not cool, but the box is because it came in from Penang’s port and travelled to Ipoh and lastly, lies in this museum. Penang yeah!

Free door gift too! Nice tour.

Next stop: Chinatown Heritage Centre and more!

Tags: blog awards, contemporary, cool, free, Freebies, modern, museum, nnawards, nuffnang, singapore, Tour, toys, Travel, trip
Posted in Cool Stuff, Lifelog, Singapore, Travel, Uncategorized | Comments