Punggol Park

Was woken up by Lucas early this morning... He always wakes up early over the weekends... I prefer sleeping till late morning.

Anyways, we went to Punggol Park after breakfast. My only recollection of the place is that a murder took place there 10 odd years ago.

It's the usual park with a lake, like a smaller scale Bedok Reservoir. There is a playground, swings, exercise areas, resting areas, a running track around the lake, a cafe, and apparently NParks allows boating on Saturdays and Sundays... just bring your boat along... there is a boat launch ramp near the cafe. I thought this was quite amusing... How many people in Singapore has a trailer where they can bring their boat to a boating area? I see it quite often in California. Scramblers or boats or even houses are transported on trailers.

There are some quite unusual trees in the park. One of which is a cotton tree (at least I think that's what they are). It attracted a type of red insect. First time I see cotton trees in Singapore...

More pics here.

iPhone 3G

Have you gotten yours yet? I reserved my 16G iPhone 3G yesterday from SingTel's hello!

Well... just so you know. ;)

And if you are keen to do so, just drop by the shop (you will still need to go to the shop even if you filled up the web form). A new phone line or a re-contract of an existing line can be done. You can change your mind prior to 1 week from date of sale confirmation.

Barney - Let's Imagine - Live

San got three Barney tickets even before I went on my Reservist. Lucas kept asking when he is going to watch the show... Well... tonight is the night.

We had a quick dinner near the child care and then hurried off to Suntec Convention Centre hall 602. As expected, there are lots of parents with toddlers. I even saw a long lost secondary school soccer buddy with his wife and daughter outside the hall, buying Barney merchandise.

We were (or at least I was) quite amused to see some families with 3 girls and some with a 4th member on the way. Not because they may be hoping for a boy, but more of the quantity... Not a norm amongst Chinese families in Singapore nowadays. Aren't we known as the DINKS (Dual Income No Kids)? Or perhaps at least one kid? Hmm... our number 2 is on the way though. Just in time for the first F1 night race. ;)

Wasn't it a generation ago when 7 or more siblings was the norm? Guess the government's child policy did take good effect in the 80s. The concern for young families today could be due to living expenses, quality of living or lifestyle.

The Barney show was like an extended version of those staged at the shopping centers during school holidays. About the same, but with more props and a larger scale.

Lucas enjoyed the show, I just kept yawning...

More pics here.

Joanna Wang - Start from Here

The red cd at the bottom is the demo cd. The one at the top is the Start from Here SACD.

I first heard her cd in a colleague's car. Her voice sounded not bad. Then I went to her showcase at Oosh on the 24 April 2008. It was an event organized by Sony BMG. Our host was very accommodating... finding seats for all 4 of us even though it was crowded. Finger food at Oosh was great, of course, beer helped too.

Hearing Joanna live was disappointing. She talked very softly, could not really hear her. Maybe she is still new to entertaining people live. She is not very engaging with the audience, just preferring to get onto her singing, no small talk with the fans gathered at Oosh. Her singing was slightly louder, but I think the audio setup there is a let down.

The 2 piece band that came on later was much louder and better actually.

Anyways, I got one of the demo cds from Sony BMG. Listening to it back at home, her vocal was actually quite good. I then decided to get her cd when I happen to see it at the music stores.

It was not until today that I got her cd... and a SACD. I remembered seeing a review on this cd in the weekly Sunday chinese papers where there are a few writeups on audio related stuff.

The SACD was quite odd. It is semi-transparent when held up to light.

The SACD did have better details and air as compared to the demo cd. I'm just doing the comparison in normal CD mode, not SACD mode as I do not have a SACD player.

All in all, a nice cd to listen to. There are 2 new tracks (11. New York State of Mind and 12. 50 Ways to Leave your Lover) on this SACD, followed by 4 mandarin tracks that are translated from her english songs.

I also bought Saint Etienne's Travel Edition LP... Think this will be a group whose LP I will try to collect. ;)

Coral Beta 8

Well, before I disappear for 3 weeks reservist, I thought I should just post one more. ;)

These vintage drivers from the now defunct Coral Corporation are quite sought after. They are high effeciency fullrange drivers. At 8" with huge Alinico magnets, they are a nice sight to behold.

It's really quite difficult to get a pair in perfect condition. Some people have searched for a long time to get their hands on such specimen... Just take a look at these beauties on diyaudio.com.

I actually preferred the sound of the 8" better compare to the 10". No doubt, the 10" had better bass response, but it seemed a little too in-your-face for my comfort. Also, the 8" would be easier to integrate into my room than the 10". Well... this is one of those future projects in my backlog.

For now, enjoy the pics here.

Xu Beihong in Khatib?

The "Xu Beihong in Nanyang" solo exhibition is now on at the SAM till July 13.

Seems like he is also in Khatib, at my in-law's place... now, we only need to validate the authenticity of the painting...

Some pics here.

Jacob Ballas Children's Garden

We went to the Singapore Botanic Gardens last Sunday in search of the Jacob Ballas Children's Garden. It was right after lunch, in the hot sunny day. We dropped off at the Visitor's Centre (wrong move) and had to walk all the way towards the other end along Bukit Timah Road.

Lucas was all ready to play in the water area. We brought along his sun-screen and swimming shorts. We also brought along bread so that we can feed the swans, fishes and tortoises in the pond.

Besides playing in the water area, we went onto the suspension bridge, the children's maze. Then we went back to the Eco-Lake within the Botanica Gardens to feed the creatures there. We saw a monitor lizard devouring a dead bird, fed the swans and fishes, and also the pigeon.

After a long hot afternoon, we went to Grandparent's place for McDonald's. Map of the Botanica Gardens can be found here.

More pics here.