All posts filed under: Singapore

On Social Media & Free Speech

Published by

I am a little flustered right now. My head is flowing with many thoughts, but I must start at the start. A month and a half ago (mid Sept), I had an unfortunate lunch-time experience at a restaurant I frequented. In a nutshell, a server spilled all kinds of food all over me and my clothes while I was eating, seated along the corridor, and the “service recovery” after that was excruciatingly bad; all in the middle of a work day! Expectedly, I was appalled by the experience, and also exhausted by the conversation I had with the restaurant manager. I resorted to HungryGoWhere, a popular Singapore-based site where I often review food joints. Here is my entire review on Zaffran, the restaurant in question. With little else to pacify myself, I moved on and went about my life as usual. Until a few days back, when HungryGoWhere’s moderator wrote to me the following message: To this, I immediately replied with my contact details, standing by the integrity of my review. Following 4 days of …

My First Chinese Wedding

Published by

A wedding is a must-attend to graduate in the understanding of a culture. A batch-mate at work took the plunge last night, giving me my first sneak peak into a Chinese-Singaporean wedding. Gate crashing The title’s a misnomer. It’s a Singaporean tradition in which the groom must earn the right to his bride. The groom, accompanied by his brothers (the western equivalent of the best man), shows up early in the morning at the bride’s house. They are greeted by the bridesmaids and tasked to pass tests on life’s essential skills (culinary, physical, endurance etc). Before the tasks started, all the brothers were made to sign indemnity forms! In this particular wedding, the tasks were considered rather mild, and included doing push-ups, decorating a cake, dancing & eating dumplings of 4 kinds – sweet, sour, spicy (stuffed with chilli) & bitter (boiled with panadol!) After completing all the tasks, the groom is given the key to his bride’s room where she waits in her bridal gown – rescuing the girl, Bollywood style 🙂 Tea ceremony …

The Tempest – Singapore Act

Published by

Kudos to Sam Mendes & the traveling cast of The Bridge Project. Singapore is one of the 7 cities to be stricken by The Tempest. If you are or were ever into Shakespeare, watch it! Watch it for creative, insightful direction by Sam Mendes (of the American Beauty fame). Watch it for a mind-blowing performance by Ron Cephas Jones as Caliban. Watch it for Prospero’s ardor, Miranda’s innocence, Ariel’s fragility, Trinculo’s humor, Gonzalo’s frailness. Watch it for the love of theatre. In exploring the Shakespearean themes of betrayal, love, power, wisdom, sacrifice, forgiveness & magic, The Bridge Project team did every bit of justice (and more) to the written version of the play. The actors breathe life into the characters with oodles of imagination & emotions, backed by stunning sets, and an apt selection of sounds & music. “These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits, and Are melted into air, into thin air, And, like the baseless fabric of vision, The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe …

The Singapore Grand Prix!

Published by

The Formula One came to Singapore this weekend, made the city glow in the dark, and left everyone awestruck (and deaf) by the sheer speed of the race. Oh, that night race was a spectacle!  Our vantage point was less than five feet from the F1 track! That’s right. The best view we could’ve asked for, without paying a dime! A humble Alonso supporter, I was thrilled, ecstatic, to see him race to victory, after Massa and Kimi crashed. Alonso’s first win of the season, and it had to be the Singapore Grand Prix! Life couldn’t get better!  Force India enjoyed a few laps of fame too, with Adrian Sutil in the third place, until of course, he slipped lower and crashed. Here’s to my first Formula One race, an unforgettable view of the F1 track, the blinding speed of the F1 cars, and of course, Alonso’s long-awaited victory!  The video: The third last lap of the race, with Alonso in the lead, followed by Rosberg, from our vantage point beyond Marina Mandrin, by a …

Bungee Jumping!

Published by

Imagine riding in the sky, with your adrenalin soaring, the wind in your face, your heart in your throat, your stomach somersaulting, your head screaming obscenities. That’s just how it felt, like you were dropping, flying, defying gravity, falling, all in the same instant!  Bungee Jumping wasn’t initially part of the plan. We were only looking for a 7-eleven at Boat Quay, landed instead at Clarke Quay, and got talked into “living the moment!” Carpe Diem, Seize the day. So the next thing the three of us know, we are on the Bungee Xtreme Swing at 1:15 am. It was beyond scary, because the damned thing has nothing you can hold on to. You’re strapped in your seat and that’s about it. Then they raise you real high, and for the fall to start (it’s reverse bungee), you have to press a release lever. It’s a catch, trust me, if you’re entrusted with the responsibility of pulling it, sitting in the centre, shit scared.  The drop was insane! I really can’t think of words to describe it. It was …