Folders for SG50 Commemorative Notes

We collected the two complimentary SG50 notes folders meant for each Singaporean household from our Community Club last Friday. There was no queue in the afternoon so the collection process was very fast and hassle free. All we needed to do was to present the collection card (sent to each Singaporean household via mail) and the counter staff (in charge of the distribution of the folders) would then gave us the two complimentary folders.

Very nice folders! Our children loved them too. 

Thank you MAS!

《歌台星力量》"Ge Tai Challenge" Finals and Toggle Awards

The finals of《歌台星力量》"Ge Tai Challenge" was telecast on Channel 8 on 16 August 2015. By now, most people would know who the winners were. 黄振隆 (Desmond Ng) was the champion, 陈建彬 (Marcus Chin) was the first runner-up, 皓皓 (Hao Hao) was the second runner-up and 朱莉莉 (Zhu Li Li) was in the fourth place.

I couldn't get enough of the show so I watched it again last Saturday night. I especially loved Hao Hao's performance of the song 《菊花台》with his lady friend.《菊花台》was originally sung by Jay Chou. I find this song was even better when it was performed as a duet by a man and a woman. I also noticed that the prelude/starting music of this version of the song, performed by a Chinese orchestra, was different from the original version. It was a combination of the tunes from some other songs. I only know one of the tunes was from the song 《梁祝》("The Butterfly Lovers"). There were also some dancers dancing before Hao Hao and his friend started singing. It seemed more like watching a musical play than a competition. A hearty Thumbs Up for the performance! 

For the second part of the final competition, Hao Hao performed the song "Para Para Sakura", originally sung by Aaron Kwok in a movie with the same title which was released in 2001. Wow, it had been a long time since I last heard this song. He also got the audience involved in dancing along with the him and his performers during the second part of the song. This really made everyone perk up! I really liked the songs he chose and the way he presented/performed the songs. 

Hao Hao got the Best Costume Award (最炫服装奖) and Most Popular Award (最高人气奖) whereas Desmond Ng got the Best Interaction Award (最佳互动奖) organized by Toggle. These three awards were given based entirely on results of online voting.

Related posts:
《歌台星力量》"Ge Tai Challenge" (Episode 9)
《歌台星力量》"Ge Tai Challenge" (Episode 10)

Gardens by the Bay

Singapore celebrated its 50th birthday on 9th Aug 2015. We had a long weekend from 7 Aug to 10 Aug 2015. Many places of interest had SG50 promotions and events held during the Jubilee Weekend. Some events were even free to attend.

We planned to visit one of those places on 7 Aug 2015. However, on 7 Aug 2015, it was raining till about mid afternoon. It would not be a good idea to visit places that were too far from our house, that were outdoors and required paid admission since half the day was gone. 

By the time we got ready to go out, it was already 5 pm. We decided to go to Gardens by the Bay since we had never been there ever since it opened. 

In celebration of the Jubilee Weekend, all Singapore Citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents would enjoy 50% off admission tickets to Flower Dome and Cloud Forest from 7-10 August. All Singapore Citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents aged 60 years and above would also enjoy free entry to both Conservatories.

There was also a special edition of the Garden Rhapsody (SG50 Special) held from 6 - 10 Aug 2015 at 7:45 pm, 8:30 pm, 9:15 pm and 10:00 pm  to celebrate Singapore’s 50th birthday. This edition of the Garden Rhapsody presented nostalgic favourites from yesteryear sung by prominent local vocalists.

By the time we reached there, Sera was hungry so we had our dinner at MacDonald's.

Sera was happy to be able to purchase this SG50 edition of Hello Kitty from MacDonald's. 

After dinner, we went to the ticketing counters and found that the queue was very long with a waiting time of about 40 minutes. We reckoned that after buying the tickets, there would not be much time left to walk around the conservatories as both of them closed at 9 pm. Thus we just walked around the area and went for the Garden Rhapsody (SG50 Special) held at the Supertree Grove at around 7.45 pm. 

After the show, we caught glimpses of a fireworks display and we walked up a bridge towards the direction where the fireworks was seen but the fireworks stopped. It lasted less than 5 minutes :(. Since we were already up on the bridge, we stayed there for the next Garden Rhapsody. Below is a combined video of the Garden Rhapsody (SG50 Special) which was taken at the 7.45 and 8.30 pm show and taken from different angles. Enjoy!

National Day 2015 (Golden Jubilee)

《歌台星力量》"Ge Tai Challenge" (Episode 10)

In Episode 10 of 《歌台星力量》"Ge Tai Challenge", 朱莉莉，罗翊绮, 黄振隆 and 谢伟娜 competed with each other for the chance to return to the semi-finals of 《歌台星力量》"Ge Tai Challenge" . 

谢伟娜 was known for her powerful vocals and the tonal range that she was able to reach. She sang the song 《如果云知道》, originally sung by Valen Hsu, for this episode. She said that because this song was basically "very quiet", in an attempt to make a difference by singing one part slightly higher than normal, her voice cracked at one point. 

In the end, she only managed to get 79.3 marks, which was 0.7 mark short of the passing mark set by the judges to proceed to the semi finals. The other contestants managed to get above 80 marks.

One of the judges, Lin Qiyu, felt that it was a pity that she would be out of the competition. He requested for other judges to give her 1 more mark so that she could return to the semi finals. He previously mentioned that 谢伟娜 has the type of voice that could sing many different types of songs. As a music record producer, if he were to sign on one of the contestants as a singer, he would choose her. He also said that even very well known and good singers would sometimes experience voice crack when singing very high notes. 

With the support of the audience, and concurrence from the production team, 谢伟娜 was able to proceed to the semi finals.

Related posts:

《歌台星力量》"Ge Tai Challenge" (Episode 9)
《歌台星力量》"Ge Tai Challenge" Finals and Toggle Awards

SG Funpack

We were finally able to collect our SG Funpack last week. We received the dragon playground design tote bag. I was pleasantly surprised that the bag came with a partition inside and a zip on the outside. It should come in useful.

Sera especially loved the Singa figurine.

I used to be able to play the capteh very well when I was in primary school. Now, I can only manage one kick. Sigh. 

Capteh

We haven't tried playing Snap yet. Maybe we will try to play during the National Day weekend. However, I don't really remember how to play this game.

Some other stuff in our SG Funpack.

Thank you to the NDP committee for giving us this SG Funpack.

《歌台星力量》"Ge Tai Challenge" (Episode 9)

《歌台星力量》("Ge Tai Challenge") is a variety show currently airing on MediaCorp Channel 8 on every Monday, from 8 pm to 9 pm. 

歌台(Ge Tai) is a unique culture and arts in Singapore. It is a boisterous live stage performance traditionally held during the Hungry Ghost Festival (lunar seventh month). MediaCorp Channel 8 presented this GeTai Challenge - a singing competition among current GeTai singers - as part of SG50 (Singapore's Golden Jubilee) celebrations this year,

The first show of《歌台星力量》("Ge Tai Challenge") started with 10 groups of contestants who were shortlisted. All of them were Ge Tai singers whose experiences ranged from a few years to a few decades. The first episode was purely a performance to let everyone see them perform in their most relaxed state. The actual competition began in the second episode. Each of their scores would accumulate from episodes 2 to 7. 

In last night's episode (episode 9), one of the contestants皓皓 came up with the idea of having flowers and snow as props to create a very good effect which complimented his song very well. The title of the song that he sang was 《寒江雪》 ("Snow on the River")。However, the most impressive part was that he was able to sing some parts of the song in a high pitched female voice which was originally sung by a female Beijing opera star. He was truly amazing! He really put in a lot of effort in all the shows that he performed and I am truly impressed!

I also liked the song that 黄振隆 performed. It was composed by him and his band members. His band's name is called "乱乱来乐队". So cute! The title of the song was《埃菲尔的骄傲》which could be translated as "The Pride of Eiffel". It was a fast song. The lyrics were mainly about encouraging people not to give up their dreams. As long as you have the willingness to work hard and the determination, no one can stop you from succeeding. Just like the Eiffel Tower was not built in one day; it was built upon the sweat of many people. 

皓皓 got the highest score in last night's episode. Team A, which he belonged, got into the semi-final of the competition too. Other members in Team A included 陈建彬，承泽&秀萍(husband & wife group), and 李宝恩. The competition format for this round was that as long as the total scores of the whole team exceeded the total scores of the other team, the whole team would proceed on smoothly to the semi-finals. Team B lost to Team A by a very small margin in their total scores and thus team B was kicked out of the competition.

The contestants in Team B (朱莉莉，罗翊绮, 黄振隆，谢伟娜）would be competing with each other in the next episode for the chance to return to the semi-finals of 《歌台星力量》"Ge Tai Challenge"

Songs sung at Ge Tai used to be old songs. During these few episodes of Ge Tai Challenge, the contestants really put in a lot of effort to create props and performed many new songs too. I also learnt that they actually have to come up with their own money to engage dancers and helpers for the stage performances for this competition. They have really brought Ge Tai to a whole new level!



Related posts:

《歌台星力量》"Ge Tai Challenge" (Episode 10)
《歌台星力量》"Ge Tai Challenge" Finals and Toggle Awards

NDP 2015 Exhibition and Marina Square Shopping Mall

Singapore is celebrating its 50th year since independence this year. There are various activities for our community to take part to mark Singapore's Golden Jubilee. One of them is the NDP 2015 exhibition held at Marina Square Central Atrium, from 5 June to 14 June 2015. 

Last weekend, we brought our two kids to the NDP 2015 Exhibition. The Exhibition showcased the eight chapters of our NDP 2015. We were given a "Progress Card" upon entering the exhibition area.  It was not necessary to visit each booth in sequence. As long as we visited all the booths, we could get a goodie bag from the Majulah Singapura booth and take part in a lucky draw to win NDP tickets and other attractive prizes.

The designers of the NDP Totebag and the totebags

Sera posed in an SAF no. 1 Uniform

Photo taken with Captain Green

As we went during the weekends, there were some live performance in the evening.

After getting our souvenirs, we lingered around Marina Square Shopping Mall. We found this big retro TV and took some fun photographs.

Can you spot the little red dot inside the TV? This little red dot was something we bought at the NDP 2015 exhibition and was supposed to be put outside the car. The sales proceeds would go to 4 charity organizations. 

Was that a flying penguin on the right?