Mad About Shanghai

Singapore Sights - F1

Yes, talk about Singapore. I finally got my 3 day pass to the Singapore Grand Prix on 26,27,28 September !

The package came in an inconspicuous white box.

I attended a F1 race in Sepang, Malaysia a few years ago. My ticket then was just a plain cinema ticket type piece of paper. This one looks a lot better.

To be honest, on race day, it is very difficult to catch much of the action as the race cars would be zooming by so fast all the time. You have them in your sight, perhaps for 5 to 7 seconds at most. Usually I prefer to watch F1 races on TV as I would have visibility of whats going on at other sections of the track and also in the comfort of my home. But the roar of the engines and the atmosphere is something you cant really feel on TV. Also, this is the first ever night race in F1's history. Who could give that a miss?

Singapore Food - Chicken Rice

No introduction is complete without talking about FOOD. At almost every corner and every turn, an eatery of some sort can be easily spotted.

Beside the chilli crab dish, the humble chicken rice can be deemed as a contender to be called the Singapore national dish.

Its simple, relatively inexpensive and available almost everywhere.

A good chicken rice meal can be found in many parts of Singapore. For first timers going to the island city,  I would recommend these for they are quite easy to locate and not too far away from the city:

Wee Nam Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice Restaurant
275 Thomson Road
#01-05 Novena Ville
Tel: 6255 6396

Chatterbox
Meritus Mandrain Hotel
333 Orchard Road
Singapore 238867
http://www.mandarin-singapore.com/dining/the_chatterbox.htm

Boon Tong Kee Chicken Rice
401 Balestier Road
Singapore 329803
http://www.boontongkee.com.sg/

Singapore Sights - Sentosa & One15Marina

No trip to Singapore would be complete without a trip to the famed resort Island, Sentosa. For shopaholics, Singapore's biggest shopping mall, Vivocity, is just next to the island.

I attended Josephine's wedding at One15Marina, a yacht club on Sentosa. Just before dinner, together with Catherine, I took a short walk around the club. At the end of a footpath in the club, we came across an islet linked by a short bridge. We crossed over and was amazed to find a solitary spa on the islet.

That must have been quite an experience ! Having an islet all to yourself, indulging in a massage with a magnificent seaview.Sorry folks, no pics here cos it was getting dark and I couldnt get any decent shots from the compact camera I had that day.

I like the concept of the pool side restaurant (above). Very smart. You can have food from the nearby BBQ served to you while you are IN the pool. Dining partly submerged with a romantic view of the sunset..hmmm..I would like to try that some day..

Oh, the Italian-themed dinner was splendid ! Congratulations Jo!

Singapore Sights - The Singapore Flyer (Part 2)

Feels like on top of the world - the scene from top of the Singapore Flyer.

Final view of the Flyer:

Catch the photo series here.

Singapore Sights - The Singapore Flyer (Part 1)

Since we are at the topic of Singapore, lets take a short break from our usual China/Shanghai related topics. Let me show some of Singapore sights.

Wondering what the capsule above is?

It is a view from the Singapore Flyer, just at the top of the wheel. It currently carries the accolade of being the tallest observatory wheel in the world, eclipsing the The Star of Nanchang by 5 m and the London Eye by 30 m.

The Singapore flyer wont hold the honour for long though. Come late this year, the Great Dubai Wheel, once constructed, would be taller than this one. In 2009, the Beijing Great Wheel would be the world's tallest.

Located on the southeast tip of the Marina Centre reclaimed land, it offers broad views of the city centre and beyond to about 45 km, including the Indonesian islands of Batam and Bintan, as well as Johor, Malaysia.

Each ride takes about 30 mins. I liken the whole sequence of boarding the capsule to taking a flight. Boarding sequence and security checks are in place, airport style too.

At the lobby, there is a host of entertainment outlets, restaurants and even a park for you to relax in either before or after the ride.

Communic Asia 2008

I was at Communic Asia 2008 a couple of weeks ago. Held in Singapore from 16 to 20 June, the event is one of the biggest in Asia showcasing the latest and coolest from the telecommunication industries. I saw HuaWei and a few other big Chinese telco names too.

There are too many cool stuff to write about. I guess I would focus on something more every day - the mobile phone. Can you spend a day without a mobile ? I know some people that absolutlely cant ;)

Heres a preview of whats the consumer market can expect to see in the coming months:

LG Viewty with 5 Mega Pixel Camera (above)

Hummer Phone (above) (Not sure if this one would hit the market)

iPOD killer,Samsung Omnia (above) 

Garmin Sat Nav Phone (above)

Of all the booths there, I would say Samsung and LG have the most innovative products.I didnt take too many pics as the Samsung booth didnt allow me to take pictures of upcoming mobile phones. Well, you heard of the Prada Phone by LG, Samsung did a similar co brand by (would be) introducing a Giorgio Armani phone. No expected date of released yet. There is also another phone, one with Bose speakers.

I know this is already quite common in Japan but this is the first time I am seeing the real thing. Very COOL! 

The Docomo guy at the booth was very patient and explained to me nearly every function the phone had.

You can dock the mobile phone onto a speaker and it becomes like small TV or stereo set at your work desk. When you need to go just detach:

This one is as if its coming from a spy flick. A mobile phone watch from Samsung:

Oh, theres an F1 simulator as well:

How to Avoid Vacation Disasters

Imagine this.

While planning a vacation to an exotic location, you googled the web for the best hotel deals. and you found one. Just when you thought you found a great room at a great price, you got a real "surprise" when you checked in. You then realised the glossy, well angled shots from the hotel web site is all too deceiving. Suddenly, the great deal isnt that great anymore. Its too late to make changes too.

How many times have this happened to you before ?

Well, with TVtrip, this is a thing of the past. Now, you can view the hotel room on video before you book it. Whats more, you can even read reviews from others that stayed there before committing with your credit card number.

Launched in May 2007, TVtrip.com is the first website to enable hotel searches using online videos. The site offers over 1000 videos showing rooms and services of over 5000 hotels in the top 60 worldwide destinations. TVtrip.com is an impartial service which includes a section for visitors to the site to post comments and evaluations. It also offers the possibility to book the hotels through partnerships with online travel agencies such as Expedia, Booking and Venere or directly on the hotel websites.

Check it out at: www.tvtrip.com.

Ticket to Nanjing Presidential Palace

I was rummaging through my luggage to look for some other stuff.

Stumbled upon my post card/ticket to the Nanjing Presidential Palace from my last trip to Nanjing.

I wanted to show you guys how the ticket look like then. Anyway, here it is..

Note : In case you miss the post, you can read it here.

F1 Singapore

Yes ! The F1 season is warming up!

Second race of the season. Kimi Raikkonen just won the Malaysian GP with Lewis Hamilton wining the previous round in Melbourne.

For this season, I  predict McLaren and Ferrari to go neck to neck with each other till the last race of the season. My personal favorite, Honda Team, is just too much of a disappointment (again) to be talked about.

Incidentally, the last F1 race I attended  few years ago was in Sepang, Malaysia too. Despite the sweltering heat, crazy crowd and not able to see much of the action (everything happened too fast!) I had a great time. Michael Schumacher was the winner that day.

This year, Singapore would create F1 history in September by hosting the first ever night  race. To make things more exciting, it would be a street race too, ala Monaco GP. I just couldnt wait and have already booked my three day pass over the internet. The online ordering process is a breeze. I got one of the better seat in the house too.

For those of you interested in this inaugural event, you can book online from the official ticketing site here.

For folks in China, the Shanghai leg is scheduled on 19 Oct, the second last race of the season. Cant wait too? Book from the official site here.

Picture from Thousand Lake Island

Last pic for the week from our contributors...this time from Irene.

If you are looking for a short getaway from Shanghai, perhaps an overnighter, you can consider a visit to the Thousand-Island Lake in Hangzhou.

The Thousand Island Lake  is actually a resevoir dotted with about a thousand small islands. This tousist attraction is rated amongst the top 20 most scenic place in China too.