Thursday, July 30, 2015

SG50 @ Conrad Centennial Singapore

Sponsored Review

Ever since we have made contact with Conrad Centennial Singapore, we have nothing less than “excellence” to say about the host we have received thus far. Invited back a second time (really an honor and pleasure), we were treated to the the launch of the hotel’s selection of mooncakes from the award-winning Chinese restaurant, Golden Peony.

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Golden Peony Signature
Sweet Potato Mooncake in Crispy Filo Pastry 迷你酥皮金薯月饼
(crispy pastry with unsurpassable fillings of lightly whipped sweet potato, presented in a luxurious deep red faux leather box with subtle floral imprint)

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Classic Favourites
Traditional Baked with White Lotus Paste 纯正白莲蓉月饼
Traditional Baked with Mixed Nuts 传统五仁月饼
Traditional Baked with Single Yolk in White Lotus Paste 单黄白莲蓉月饼
Traditional Baked with Double Yolk in White Lotus Paste 双黄白莲蓉月饼

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Popular Mini Snowskin Delights
Green Tea with Melon Seeds 迷你冰皮绿茶瓜仁
Mango with Nata de Coco 迷你冰皮香芒椰果
White Lotus with Cookies and Cream Cheese 迷你冰皮白莲蓉乳酪曲奇饼
Chestnut with Red Bean 迷你冰皮马蹄红豆

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Not only were we treated to unlimited mooncakes, we were privileged to watch the Dim Sum Chef at work, preparing the signature Sweet Potato Mooncake in Crispy Filo Pastry. Chef is from Hong Kong, so he was explaining all the steps in Cantonese and there was an interpreter for the guests. But personally I was very entertained by Chef’s humorous presentation and explanation.

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From preparing the sweet potato to mixing the dough and finally demonstrating how to fill the stuffing, Chef made it looked easy but without his 20 over years of experience, we would not be able to have the same standard.

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The key in making the Filo Pastry, is how you prepare the dough.

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Ready to go!

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Done!

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Oscar’s SG50 Buffet Dinner

Certainly not just the mooncakes are enough to tempt you for more. The amazing buffet dinner at Oscar’s presents SG50 in its patriotic red with the signature Homemade Waffles. Together with it comes the sumptuous spread of local delights such as Wok Fried Pepper and Chilli Crab, Crispy Fried Squid with Salted Egg and Oyster Omelette.

Oscars SG50 Buffet

The special SG50 Lapis makes its debut at The Terrace to commemorate Singapore’s 50th birthday. Layered in red and white, this unique “Bandung” flavored cake is a true tribute to the nation.

The Terrace_SG50 Lapis

 

Unique offerings from the buffet:

Salad Station – One of the largest Caesar salad station with a Parmesan drum bowl for tossing
Crustacean Station – Oscar’s famous Oyster bar, as well as an assortment of fresh seafood like Boston Lobster, Prawn, Sri Lanka Crab, Sushi and Sashimi
Carving Station – Daily variety of Roast Beef, Lamb, Pork or Fish
Live Station – Daily selection of one Asian and one Western dish cooked a la minute

 During this period, don’t miss out on the special promotion offered to celebrate Singapore’s Golden Jubilee. Simply quote “Ice Kacang” and you will be able to enjoy the fabulous buffet dinner at S$50++ per adult, S$25++ per child on Monday to Wednesday. Diners of 60 years and above enjoy 50% off regular price for Buffet Lunch or Dinner, except on eve and public holidays.

For my previous review on Oscar’s, you can click on this link. 

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To grab hold of Golden Peony mooncakes, you can head down to the following venues for their sales.
- Ngee Ann City, B2 Takashimaya Square, Aug 27 to Sep 27, 10am to 10pm
- TANGS VivoCity, Central Court Level 1, Sep 1 to Sep 27, 10am to 10pm
- Millenia Walk, North Galleria, Sep 7 to Sep 27, 11ma to 8pm

For enquiries, corporate orders or bulk purchase, please call +65 64327486/87 or 83222 9841. Alternatively, you can email sinci.fb@conradhotels.com

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

LEGO Rebuild Your Memories

Media Invite

With over 22,000 LEGO bricks, Nicholas Foo, a LEGO certified professional put together the amazing Singapore iconic Dragon Playground. It was done over 32 hours, painstakingly completed on 25 July 2015.

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And Mr. Nicholas Foo adds the final touch after some 32 hours. Everyone was so excited and ready to see his ‘thumbs up’ sign.

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It is finished!

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The kids are always the blessed ones to have photos when everyone else can only yearn to be young again.

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If you have not managed to see it or get a picture with this excellent creation, do drop by Raffles City Level 3 Atrium. It will only be on display till end of this month.

In addition to the launch of the extremely exclusive mini builds, LEGO has also launched LEGO SG50 Mega MiniFigures. With only 50 pieces available, these Mega MiniFigures are extremely coveted. Spend a minimum of S$100 on LEGO toys in a single receipt from 5-31 Aug 2015 at participating outlets*, and you stand a chance to receive a LEGO SG50 Mega MiniFigure.

LEGO SG50 Mega MiniFigure
- limited edition to commemorate SG50, and there are only 50 pieces available
- the ‘mega’ size, stands at 31cm tall
- back of the minifigures comes with a unique serial number and birthday message to celebrate SG50

*Participating Outlets
- All LEGO Certified Stores in Singapore
- Toys’R’US
- LEGO Mono Brand Stores
- Departmental Stores and selected toy stores

On display were also the creation of Singaporeans based on how they see and remember Singapore. This aims to bring to life the fond memories of Singaporeans by tapping into nostalgia.
#LEGORebuildSG

Aquarium in the Mall

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SBS Double-Decker Bus

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Sir Stamford Raffles

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Fire Cracker & Lion Dance

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The Mama Shop

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Childhood Barber Memories with Dad

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Nostalgic Chinatown Street Scene

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Bukit Timah KTM Railway Station

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For the Star Wars fans, you won’t want to miss this!

Death Star Final Duel

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Wookiee Gunship

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The Ghost

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Imperial Assault Carrier

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We stayed back for a while and managed to catch a photo opportunity with the LEGO Land Police Officer.

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Thanks LEGO Singapore for the chance to be part of this media invite.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Interplay @ Science Centre Singapore

Media Invite

Interplay is a collaboration between Science Centre Singapore and Ars Electronica Linz GmbH (Austria), to present science, art and technology all in one place in a magical way.

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The exhibition is held at the Annexe Hall, and if you have been to the Annexe Hall before, you will know that the place is quite big and you can easily spend 2-3 hours inside. Plan your time wisely so that your kids can enjoy the rest of the exhibitions in Science Centre too. My advice is to go right at the start when the Centre opens at 10am.

So, let’s dive in and I will bring you through some of the artistic, scientific and technological fun!

Deep Space
This is a multidimensional space, that allows visitors to experience the micro and macro-systems in crystal clear images.

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Since the exhibition is in 3D, I tried to take some photos through the given 3D glasses. This is far from what we experience on site, so do yourself a favor and try in personally. Do take note of the timing to plan your visit, the show is about 20-25 mins.

The girls created their own unique sea creatures just before entering the room, and here they are trying to find their creation in the deep sea bottom.

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Second part of the 3D show brought us into the outer space. A look at Earth, the Solar System and the Universe.

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ShadowGram
This is a social sculpture that thrives and grows as long as visitors to the installation contribute their shadows and their opinions on a particular topic. Here, the participants pose as if they are on stage and are photographed. The illuminated background provides the lighting for their silhouettes to be captured.

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The perfect chance for Jayne to show off her modeling aspirations.

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As mentioned, you can paste your shadowgram on this huge piece of art wall. Adhesive speech balloons can be pasted next to the shadow stickers for visitors to leave comments.

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Ideogenetic Machine
Custom-made software captures the portraits of the participants and transforms them into “hand-drawn” comic book characters.

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The cool thing is, you can email a PDF copy of the completed comic book to yourself for keepsake. Complete with speech bubbles for the child to write his/her own invented dialogue.

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Temporal Distortion
This is a five-screen video installation that captures and warps, in real-time, the movements of participants who pass by.

Jayne did her usual ballet dance but the old man’s photography skills cannot catch up with the speed. So just some still shots for reference.

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Sandbox Ocean
This is a multi-user interactive installation which brings together physical and digital environments.

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The girls can create dynamic and animated ocean by changing and shaping the topography of the sandbox. If you push the sand up on a certain plane, the installation will capture this as a mountain, thus the green ground. Similarly, the lower ground will be captured as the ocean.

This is the night view as compared to the top photo. Move your hand lightly over the ocean and you can create random sea creatures. Super cool.

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AR-Muse
This is am Augmented Reality (AR) application to augment learning in museums. By using natural feature tracking techniques, AR-Muse enables artists and curators to digitally enhance their artworks with AR technology in order to bring them to life.

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Kinetic Light Sculpture
In this installation, a visual medley of light and motion is presented by shining light onto a rapidly rotating piece of rope that is attached to two fixed points.

There is a panel for the kids to explore the different lighting sets.

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Frozen Shadow
Simple installation where visitors can lean against the wall, a flash will appear and shadows will be imprinted.

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You can also use the torchlight app on your mobile phone and place it near to the wall and write words.

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And that is us signing out!

Interplay
Date: 30 May to 16 Aug 2015
Time: 10am to 6pm (last admission at 5.15pm)
Ticket Price: Adult ($13), Child 3-12 years old ($9), Family package 2 adults 2 children ($36)