It's SingTime

Singapore Fashion Festival 2006 / Mercedes-Benz Fashion Award 2006

Last week we were lucky to go and see the Jean Paul Gaultier fashion show which was a part of the Singapore Fashion Festival 2006 (this year: 24 March – 2 April). About 30 regional & international brands present their Spring Summer dedigns at the festival. JPG specificaly showed this time his odyssey-inspired Spring Summer 2006 collection: his designs were really cool and most of them looked wearable actually!
The festival is one of the Asia Pacific’s key fashion events. Most of the shows are held in the Tent at Ngee Ann City in Orchard Road. Many Singaporean (not only) celebrities show up (unfortunately most of them not recognizable for us, coming from the other part of the world…). One of them was the local super model: Dennis Keller. On the JPG show, she was running around with a microphone smiling in the most adorable way you can imagine, making interviews…and even hosted another event we have been to this week:

Mercedes-Benz Asia Fashion Award (MBAFA) (this one took place in Zouk (one of the hip Singaporean clubs) on March 28th . A few words description about that one from the net:

During MBAFA emerging Asian fashion talents are given the opportunity to showcase their collections and springboard into the international fashion arena. Amongst the panel of distinguished expert judges will be international London-based Singapore designer Ashley Isham

(a propos, he presented his collection on Sunday 26th March at the tent).
The whole event, as the name itself indicates, was SPONSORED BY MERCEDES-BENZ : ) This will definitely bring a measurable increase of the brand awareness and the brand image all over the region, since the show turned out to be very impressive and well organized. The designs of the 10 young regional designers were fantastic (!), with a Malaysian fashion talent winning the contest. We mustn’t forget excellent food and fine selection of drinks we were enjoying the whole evening. And the party of course, which we joined after the show, together with other guests, models and sponsors. The atmosphere was great! Especially that some “a little bit” bizarre or,…let’s say, extravagant individuals showed up on the dance floor – how typical for the world of fashion & art however, very interesting for me – a graduate financier!

Talking about celebrities, one of the faces of this year Singapore Fashion Festival was one of the hottest and most in-demand British supermodels, Lily Cole. She was also one of the models presenting proudly Jean Paul Gaultier collection. We truly enjoyed both events that we were to! You do not get to see the finest fashion designs every day, especially enriched by the unique Far East vibe!

Here are some photos from the Jean Paul Gaultier show:[all photos here]

Pictures of the Mercedes-Benz Asia Fashion Award 2006: [all photos here]

Update: Here is an article that I recently found about Lily Cole “Lily Cole stops traffic on Orchard Road“ read the full article here!

Trip: Malaysia Kuala Lumpur (KL) / Sepang Formula 1 Race 2006

Saturday: Bus drive to Kuala Lumpur / KL City sightseeing

We started our trip on Saturday at 7.30 in the morning. This time the bus was quite ok. We arrived at Kuala Lumpur at around 1pm. The first step out of the bus was a real shock! The air was so hot and dry, you could hardly breathe. They dropped us somewhere at a street where it actually didn’t look like a bus station.
The very first thing we were told to do, was to buy bus tickets back to S’pore on Sunday night. Since it was the “Formula One” weekend, most of the evening buses were sold out, and we managed to get only these at 11.30 pm. So at least we knew there was enough time to get back from the track at Sepang, which is near the KLIA (International Airport), and about 1-2 hours outside of KL (depending on the traffic).

After buying the tickets we took a taxi and headed straight to the hotel. Taxi driving in KL is always fun since 90 % of the taxi drivers refuse to use the meter. You need to bargain about the price every time and most of the times they fool you. There was no difference this time … we paid 10 Ringgit for a 3 minute drive which would have been 2 Ringgit on the meter if we had succeeded in convincing him.

We arrived at the hostel and the first impression was OK. You need to know that the hostel was only 50 Ringgit which is about 11 Euro. We left our lugguage there and left again to see the city!

See all photos here!

Our first destination was China Town with the huge so called “night market”. You can buy there almost everything that is worth faking. From a faked Rolex to Louis Vuitton or Gucci purses. The fun part begins if you actually find something. They will tell you a price that is far too much. Lets say you want to buy a Gucci purse, they will start at 260 ringgit, after 30 minutes and 3 attempts to walk away the price is at 60 Ringgit. You would think that this was professional bargaining and you made a snip, but when you walk away the guy will smile at you with the money in his hand and you will notice that the purse is no more than 30 Ringgit worth … anyways it’s FUN !!!

The second sightseeing stop was at the Petronas Twin Towers. The night was already approaching and the lighted up towers looked amazing. I didn’t know that there is a huge shopping mall at the bottom between the towers.

It was already after 9pm but we decided to go up the Menara Kuala Lumpur TVtower. It’s a pity that you can’t go to the top of the Petronas Towers. From the Menara Kuala Lumpur TVtower you have a really nice view all over the city. There is a “11 stops” window tour with a headphone and a mini LCD-screen player. The tour is defenitely worth the 20 Ringgit, don’t miss it.

The last stop that day was a relaxing bar near our hostel. Everybody was really tired after that long day.

See all photos here!

Sunday: Formula One race at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia

Sunday morning Formula One day !!! We headed to the track very early at around 10.30 in a corporate bus. Once arrived there after a one hour drive we proceeded to the ticket counter and bought the cheapest tickets you could get. Tremendous 50 Ringgit for the Hillstand C3 area with no roof, no giant and nothing else but plain grass.

We were so lucky that we took an umbrella with us because this thing, supposed to keep the rain away, saved us from the worst sunburn you could imagine. The show before the race wasn’t that good, but when we first heard the cars and then saw them everything was excused. The cars are soooo loud you can’t image if you have never been to a F1 race before. And here comes the second advise, don’t forget your earplugs

The first few laps you can keep track of the standings and who is leading, but after the first round of pitstops you are totally lost without a Giantscreen to look at.

Anyhow, this was an amazing experience and we could recommend that to everybody who has the luck to be there at that time. Even all the girls that came with us enjoyed the indescribable atmosphere.

See all photos here!
Continue reading Trip: Malaysia Kuala Lumpur (KL) / Sepang Formula 1 Race 2006…

Trip: Malaysia Perhentian Island – Kecil Long Beach

Thursday: Journey starts with the bus trip!

We started our trip right after work on Thursday. We left work a little bit earlier to have enough time to catch the bus in time. We picked up our luggage at home at the Plaza, changed some SingDollar into malaysian ringgit (the exchange rate was 1 S$ – 2.23 RM which was not to bad … at the Perhentian Island they changed it 1S$ – 1.95 RM) then we got a taxi and drove to the Lavender street bus station (next to lavender MRT-station) for the Transnational bus to Kota Bahru, Malaysia.

The bus was Mercedes-Benz busniess class and looked really comfortable … wide seats with footrests and a lot of space around you, just 3 seats per row, 2 on the left and 1 on the right. At that point I thought this would be a chilled 12 hour busride, but the freezing aircon in the bus prooved this to be wrong! Have you ever tried to sleep in a moving fridge ???? Seriously, you need a thick winterjacket to be able to get some sleep in such conditions…especially that this moving fridge offered another attraction: COCKROACHES. Not many but one was enough to cool down the excitement and optimism Shall I mention the Malaysian toilets that we were forced to use on our way to Perhentian? No…let us skip this. Just please take a note that they do not belong to the most pleasant aspects of the Malaysian landscape

Friday: Minivan and Speedboat – ride

Early Friday morning the drivers woke us up (at least those who were sleeping) and dropped us in the middle of nowhere as it seemed … it defenitely wasn’t a bus stop! All the more amazing it was that the minivan that should pick us up was already waiting there to take us to the fairy terminal. btw: Thanks to Nicole for the very good organisation!!! At the ferry terminal we took the speedboat to Perhentian Island. We already had tickets which were also already booked by Nicole! Both-ways was about 60 RM. The speedboat cruise was really fun! Since the monsun season was over, the sea was peaceful enough to enjoy the trip without getting seasick. Before reaching our destination, we drove first to some other beaches at the other of the 2 Perhentian Islands – Besar Island, to drop some other people that were on the boat with us. The last stop was “our beach”: THE LONG BEACH on Kecil Island.

Friday: Perhentian Island and accommodation

The Island was a dream. There is really no other term for it! Anyways, the photos should speak for themselves.
We arrived at about 9am. The beach was pretty big, and seemed really peacefull. But it wasn’t that everybody was still asleep. Since the weekend did not start yet, we could enjoy this paradise on Perhentian Island without crowds and noise typical for most of the beatiful holiday destinations. Pehentian Island seemed from the beginning more like a place that you know about from some friend’s travel hints rather than from tourist guides. There are only a couple small “chalet” type hotels on the Long beach, not too sophisticated and really cheap. The one we stayed at (Panorma Chalet) was ONLY 30 RM per night for a double beedroom with fan. It is only 3.5 EUR per person per night!!! Considering the price, we obviously did not expect any luxury. But we weren’t dissappointed either.

The room was very simple but clean and cosy. Over the bed, there was this white mosquito net which was very practical but also gave the room a more friendly look . Most chalets on the island are low budget, simple standard hotels, so people you meet there are mostly young, back-packer tourists, like us

We would not recommend a family with small children to choose exactly Perhentian: it would be far from Singapore and too much inconveniece for them despite the gorgeous surrounding, unless you stay in the only stone made luxury hotel called “Bubu hotel on long beach”. You can find a price list here.

We spend there 3 wonderful, relaxed days: enjoying the sun (the weather was fantastic !), clear, blue and warm see water and delicious food . Numerous restaurants there offer a vast choice of sea food that you simply have to try in order to make the whole experience of the place complete.

One hint for divers and snorklers: the place is absolutely perfect for diving! coral reefs and amazing diversity of sea life all around the island. There are plenty of diving schools there, offering open water courses, and different dive trip options. The prices are again really low, with about 70 RM (17 EUR) for single dive from a boat!

Sunday: Leaving paradise at 3.30 pm

We left the Island at about 3.30 pm on sunday. The speedboat took us back to the ferry terminal, a minibus picked us up and drove us to Kuala Terengganu (2 hours drive). From there we took the bus to Singapore back … again freezing cold … lots of stops during the night … traffic at the border …. We arrived at 8 am monday morning, took a shower and went back to the “normal working live”.

To sum up everything:
The experience was unforgettable and defenitely worth the long bus trip effort! We could strongly recommend you to go to Perhentian Island

See all the photos here

Another Weekend in Singapore – Chinatown, Shopping and the Beach

First I must say I am really moved that more and more members of my family are opening the ’singtime’ link ! even if they are not able to understand anything, they can look at all the beautiful photos that we upload almost everyday and thanks to this, they at least get the impression how perfect and happy and amazing our stay in Singapore is

We just said goodbye to our next relaxing weekend here. This time we explored China Town which generally means eating chestnuts (Maronen) and visiting some pretty impressing temples (including the biggest and oldest chinese (Confucius) temple in Singapore. Fans of chinese cuisine can also try the very authentic chinese food offered in numerous foodcourts here. Not the first joice for us however…Actually, after a couple of weeks eating local dishes in huge quantities, I started to go for italian and generally european food more and more often. French Fries, Pizza, or simple bread with butter and eggs are something you can never compensate in a long run! Even not with best quality sea food. Well, at least that is my STRONG personal opinion

According to shopping: as one of the most beloved hobbys of the Singaporeans, one must not neglect this exciting activity and spend at least one day in a month on Orchard road! It is exhausting, definitely it is. But also interesting and much much fun , especially for the ladies! So this Saturday, ready for everything, aware of the heavy crowds waiting for us in the malls, we set off to explore the singapore’s biggest shopping street, offering an immense variety of products, and mainly clothes and SHOES !!! Very surpisingly , we got stuck in Zara, which sells really cool stuff here. But also checked more than a dozen of shoe shops. After 2 hours everybody was tired and satisified enough to finish shopping and proceed to Laras condor pool next to Orchard. And that was fun! Really relaxing as you can see on the photos . Only Patric did not buy anything… busy enough advising Lara, Juliane and me on what to buy and what not to buy (there were by the way many more advises rather discourage from purchase..men…they can be so reasonable when their credit card is at stake )

After intensive Saturday, we obviously landed at the beach on Sunday. No sun but much fun , I would sum up in one sentence. Some volleyball, some swimming, some reading and the Tagesschau as podcasts… what more could I want from a Sunday? Nothing pops into my mind hope you enjoyed your weekend too… also those freezing in Germany, and freezing even more in good old Poland ! © by Agnieszka:

Photos from Chinatown

Shopping on Orchard Road – Zara

Condo Cairnhill road – Pool

Dinner in little India