It's SingTime

MacRitchie Reservoir Singapore

Our escapade to MacRitchie Reservoir was our first experience of the rainforest we have done so far, since living so close to the equator. The 100 ha natural park is “a beautiful green island” located in the heart of the Singapore Island . It belongs to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve which retains one of the largest tracts of primary rainforest left in Singapore. Perfect to escape from crowded streets, city’s irritating noise, smelly cars and shopping malls full of shopping fans!

We got excited like small kids seeing monkeys jumping from one tree to another over our heads! Not that we have never seen these funny creatures – but never in their “natural” environment. And this is something really special ! After entering the park, the air humidity became hard to stand… at the same time, the intense, exotic smell of a rainforest, (so much different from the way our European trees smell ) was overwhelming, surprising and strange at the same time.. so this is how the jungle smells, we thought .

The Mac Ritchie Reservoir is probably the only place in the 100% tidy & super organised Singapore city where you can feel like getting lost is possible…. not that there are many tracks in the park to choose from, but there are not that many exits… only every couple kms. So what happened to us was: we missed one exit (thinking, we just take the next one whenever feeling tired) and it turned out that in order to arrive at the next one, we needed at least 2 hours of fast walk which was pretty…ok, really exhausting. ok…I admit, it was my idea not to take the first exit .

After all, our “walk in the jungle” took us over 4 hours, we made about 10kms by foot and were left with aching feet and feeling of satisfaction that we truelly explored this oasis of peace and nature hidden in the middle of bustling Asian metropolis. The MacRitchie Reservoir is definately a must see in Singapore.

Over 100 ha of primary forest still flourish in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve today, particularly around MacRitchie. Rubber trees, remnants of the plantations there in the 19th century, can still be seen along the fringes around MacRitchie. You’ll find boardwalks skirting the edge of the scenic MacRitchie Reservoir and walking trails through the forest. They range in distances from 3 km to 11 km, allowing nature lovers to experience as much or even as little of the nature reserves as they like. Interpretative signboards along the boardwalks reveal the mysteries of nature and allow for a self-guided tour along the fringes of the MacRitchie forest.[wildsingapore.com]

Mercedes-Benz Brand Center Singapore

This sunday (19. Feb ‘06) we decided to visit the new Mercedes-Benz Brand Center that recently opened on Alexandra Road,the auto-mile, here in Singapore. The whole weekend was open house, with lots of people serving food, coffee and cold drinks. You can see on the photos that we enjoyed this “all you can eat/drink” opportunity.

Despite the fact that we were dressed very casual (shorts and flip&flops) they have been very friendly, asking us to have more drinks and food. This was compared to the experiences with german retailers and dealerships, where they are not interested at all in you, a very surprising und unique experience.

The new CI/CD interieur that they used at the Brand Center was really beautiful. The furnishing is decent but stylish at the same time.
They had almost the whole Mercedes-Benz product range at the showroom. Especially the new S-Class that has been launched in Singapore recently was presented very well. They had 3 brand new S-class cars in different colours to show them to the customers. Just the brand new R-class, the new M-class and the B-class haven’t been launched in Singapore yet.

Update: The B-Class is finally launched in Singapore now.
The price for the new B-class here in Singapore will start at 120.888S$ for the basis B200 model and 130.888S$ for the B200 Turbo.
Check the Mercede-Benz Singapore Website to find out about the new B-class.

If you want to visit the new Mercedes-Benz Brand Center you can find the map here.
The Cycle&Carriage Website is here.

Some of the many highlights at the MB Brand Center are:

the “SLK 55 AMG Asia Ultimate Experience Edition” in silver

and the “CLK 55 AMG DTM Edition“, the very first (serial number 001) of just a 100 built cars.

Check out the photos in our photo-section.

GermanBreakfast Paulaner Brauhaus Singapore

After living in Germany for 2 years, I adore BRETZEL (German typical breakfast bread – pretzel) as much as Germans themselves. So I was pleased to join Patric for the German Breakfast which was held at the Paulaner Brauhaus Singapore -a German pub and restaurant.
The Paulaner Brauhaus Singapore offers the unique chance to enjoy “origin bavarian” cuisine. The atmosphere is really nice and cosy, getting more and more lively as more people enter the place.
Around noon it gets pretty loud. With some of the guests starting singing some german traditional songs…the place resambles a mini Octoberfest the food was OK, with a delicious desert !
Disappoining: until the moment we arrived, the beloved Bretzel, that we were looking forward to, were already all gone….well, next time we won’t be late for sure !

Thaipusam 2006

Thaipusam is the most dramatic of all Hindu festivals. Celebrated during the full moon in the Hindu month of Thai, it is a day of fasting, thanksgiving and consecration.
The festival is an intense show of faith. The devotees go on a three-kilometre trek with ritualistic act of worship and thanksgiving. The main participants in trance, haul or carry beautifully decorated kavadis (containing milk pots). These are literally hooked to their bare bodies. It is a display of belief that transcends pain.[Visitsingapore.com]

I have never seen such a festival before. It hurt just by looking at them, so we decided not to stay very long. Take a close look at the photos…

Clubbing: Gotham Penthouse – Clarke Quay

Last Saturday we decided to follow some German girls to a club called Gotham Penthouse. The club is located at Clark Quay in one of the houses on the 3rd floor.
They picked the club because it offers free flow vodka for ladies till late on Saturdays only for 15$ entrance fee. The guys, as usually in Singapore,are discriminated,:) so what they get for 15$ is one drink with a drop of bad quality vodka. If they want more, they have to pay 10$ for each next alcohol drop drowned in a small glass filled with juice.

We arrived there very early (somewhen around 10 I guess) and except from 2 or 3 local girls we were alone in the club. We decided not to give up (after paying 15$ we were determined to enjoy ourselves there, no matter what). We ordered our free drinks and looked around. Actually it is a pretty nice club with sofa areas for lounging behind the DJ’s console. One interesting thing are the 3 tanks with jellyfish on the walls! These jellyfish glow in the dark because neon light is flashed on them, creating a surreal and mystifying atmosphere.

The cool R&B and HipHop music was defenitely the best aspect of clubbing in Gotham. Only the DJ talked way too much, and drove us crazy advertising all promotions and upcoming events at the club.

So..summing the last Saturday Night Fever experience, Gotham is a good club for girls to warm up for a good price (:)) before moving to more trendy places. As far as the male part is concerned… they can wait outside if 10$ for a drink is too much … and then explore the trendy clubs with warmed up, happy ladies.