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Volkswagen Golf R32 launch in Singapore

On Friday last weekend we got the honour to attend the launch of the brand new Volkswagen Golf R32 here in Singapore. One of the interns that was with us on Pulau Besar, invited us to this launch party. She is doing an intership at the Volkswagen Singapore Group.
The event was really nice, very small however, with just about 150 people right in the middle of the financial district. Drinks and food were provided and we really enjoyed the chance to eat a lot of chocolate covered strawberries. You should really taste them, fantastic!

The event was a reuse of the German marketing campaign, I believe. You could see the “Volkswagen, aus Liebe zum Automobil” slogan all over the place.
The show was pretty short, Dr Olaf Duebel, Director of Volkswagon Division for South Asia and Pacific, held a short speech and they released (from the “lair of the beast” as they say) the car with a short movie. Watch the movie if you are interested. After that the cars remained there for all the media, interested customers and us – the competitor’s spies .
All the time a local DJ from Velvet Underground club was spinning the records, very nice trance and house music.
All in all it was a felicitous event with a very pleasant atmosphere. It’s only the car that didn’t look like a real BEAST ….;)

The blood of a genuine top athlete flows in the veins of the Golf R32. The 6-cylinder engine achieves its power output of 250 hp (fuel consumption: 9.7 – 10.8 l/100 km; CO2 emissions: 233 – 259 g/km**) from a swept volume of 3.2 litres with an overwhelming 320 Newton-metres of torque. Its acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.5 seconds. With the optional dual clutch gearbox DSG, it needs just 6.2 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h and ensures supreme pulling power in all situations. The engine cover features a powerful “V6” – an unmistakeable sign of uncompromising power.[Volkswagen.com]

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“School Trip” – Malaysia Pulau Besar – D’Coconut Island Resort

During this year’s Easter we visited Malaysia again. This time we did not go that far as a couple weeks earlier when we went on Pehentian Island…Our destination: Pulau Besar, is an island on the south east malaysian coast, close to the Tioman Island, and it takes about 3 hours car and 1/2 hour boat drive. Our escapade was actually much like a “school trip”…with 16 interns from the Plaza travelling in a minibus I’m afraid we reallly looked like kids on a school excursion . The ”KIDS’ were interns from Volkswagen, BMW, Lufhansa, DaimlerChrysler and others.

Our weekend started early Friday morning, since this was a holiday here in Singapore (differently than in Europe where there is Easter Monday free..whereas Good Friday is still a working day). The mini-van that was supposed to pick us up was half an hour late, so we left the Plaza at quarter to 7. Crossing the border was very tiresome as always. There was a lot of traffic due to the holiday and it took us quite a while to cross it. The ride to Mersing Jetty was nothing special, all of us in this tiny mini-van packed like sardines in a can and Simon trying to talk to the Malaysian driver in mandarin … guess how funny that was? very good entertainment indeed !!!

The speed boat ride from Mersing Jetty to Pulau Besar was included in our package bought at the D’Coconut Island Resort and took about 30 minutes. The rooms at Coconut Island resort are all with AirCon, really nice and clean. The hotel has a nice pool with a waterfall and a lot of nice flowers smiling at you. Staff is friendly and most of them understand at least some English. The food which was also included in the package was OK, just OK…actually a slight dissapointment as we felt. There was a buffet 3 times a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. The bar could not make up for the rather poor cuisine. It almost offered nothing except from some can beer, gin and rum. Looks like they haven’t had a lot of German&Polish guest previously – worldwide known demanding and experienced alcohol enthusiasts ….
The island doesn’t offer a lot of recreational options. There is a beach-volleyball field that we obviously intensivle used …. considering lack of alternatives Apart from that not much to write about. The 2 days we spent there were therefore extremely relaxing. No diving unfortunately, although the website tempts with diving trips descriptions. As it turned out, last diving school on the island closed over a year ago. And next closest diving spot is Tioman. As we found out, the corrals in this region are distroyed in big part, so if any diver has a chance to go further north the Malesyian coast, it is defenitely a good choice.

Besar is undoubtedly a beautiful, virgin, clean island, optimal for 2-3 days beach relaxing. But defenitely not a good choice for a longer holiday, especially for sports enthusiasts. Since the spot is relatively close to the mainland, the water is neither as clean, nor as transparent & wavy as on Perhentian Island.
However we made 2 interesting discoveries:

There are beautiful shells on the beach brought everyday with the tide. This makes every walk really exciting, you never know what you can find ! And the sand is sooo soft and white…your feet will be delighted
The reality show : ”Expedition Robinson” was shot on the island. So TV teams from different countries came for a couple weeks each, inclusive the Polish one my astonishment was enormous as one of the hotel guys spoke to me in my mother tounge…whereas most people there do not even know where Poland is a really sweet surprise I must say !

Here are some photos from the school trip to Pulau Besar [see all photos]

East Coast Park – Seafood Center

This weekend we stayed in Singapore so it was very relaxing …no hurry, no stress. On Saturday we went to Tanjong Beach on Sentosa Island to catch a little bit of the nowadays very rare sun. It seems like the rainy season is back again…or at least the sunny season took a break…really hard to get a sunny day recently. So, since it was cloudy again, just a few of us used sunscreen … guess what? Right! All the others got heavily sun burnt… The equator sun, even if it is not there…it is still there, believe us, STRONG and DANGEROUS, even behind thick clouds
On Saturday night we checked out the “club momo” . The music was really fine R’n'B and HipHop style. Not to forget the very good live music in the small momo – live club.

Sunday: After two months, finally the time came to say goodbye to Christian, also known as JUAN. We decided to go to the Seafood Center at the East Coast Park to have the farewell dinner. After heavy discussion, we picked the No Signboard Seafood restaurant and it turned out to be an excellent choice! Although a little bit costlier than others, we highly recommend it! The food was DELICIOUS. We had an over 2 kg black pepper crab, 2 different kinds of prawns, vegetables and some spicy fried squid. The whole experience of eating seafood there is a MUST if you are in Singapore!

No Signboard Seafood, outlets at East Coast Park and Kallang Oasis. Known for its butter crabs.

East Coast Seafood Centre
The East Coast Park is a beach park located on the southeastern coast of Singapore. It was opened in the 1970s, when the government completed reclaiming land off the coast at Katong which extends from Changi to Tanjong Rhu.

The 185-hectare East Coast Park is the largest park in Singapore, and is built entirely on reclaimed land with a man-made beach. The beach is protected by breakwaters, with no other natural features. The park is easily accessible by East Coast Park Service Road with numerous exits along the East Coast Parkway. The place has ample parking space with many carparks near the park. The park is also accessible via public transport in the form of bus services, available on East Coast Park Service Road. Underpasses link the park to the nearby Marine Parade housing estate.

The park is a popular place for families and friends to relax and enjoy themselves. The park has barbecue pits, entertainment facilities, chalets, food and beverage, and amenities for sports activities. A cycling and rollerblading track runs along the perimeter of the park, which measures at least 20 km long.

East Coast Seafood Centre
The East Coast Seafood Centre was opened at the same time as the East Coast Park, with eight restaurants serving seafood. Its initial name was known as UDMC Seafood Centre, which was later changed in 2000 to its current name. Local favourites such as chilli crab, black pepper crab and mee goreng can be found there. In 2005, the Seafood Centre was upgraded to give it a modernised look, and better facilities. Many of the features were revamped, and a number of old tenants vacated for new tenants to take their place.[wikipedia.org]

Here are some photos from Christian’s farewell [see all photos]