Bright Wheel

While shopping at Metro at Causeway Point on Sat, I stumbled upon the Fun Fair now happening at the heart of Woodlands. You can see the large structure of the ferris wheel and its bright lights once you alight from the MRT. There are also the usual fun rides but no roller coaster. Not that I was disappointed, I think I am too old for these heart-in-your-mouth flip flops. Instead, I preferred the noisy pasar malam across the street, and the 20% storewide discount offered at Metro department store inside the cool but packed Causeway Point shopping mall.

Golden Spirals of Life

The fascinating fact of life is that many natural things exhibit mathematical constants, one of which is phi (1.618...), also known as the Golden Ratio. The leaves of birds' nest fern growing along the road home develops from spirals and one of these (see pic) captures the Golden Spiral quite accurately. The rectangles drawn are called the Golden Rectangles. The ratio of the areas of each set of consecutive rectangles follows closely to the Golden Ratio.

Arrival Hall at Budget Terminal

Last week, both of my parents went on holidays. They went different places, with different friends. :) We seldom travel together anymore. But anyway, I was at the budget terminal's arrival hall last Saturday to pick up my dad, and gosh was I lost for words to describe what I saw. It resembled a warehouse. Its roofs were almost bare, and the air vents were left exposed. The floor was unattractive, the toilets were not even half as luxurious as the ones in the shopping mall, the seats were not very comfy, and there were only three vending machines if you were hungry. Outside the carpark was so far away, and you had to drive in circles just to get in, and then it was the same when you want to get out. Presently only Tiger Airways uses this terminal. Just don't expect to be pampered. :)

Dash of Rainbow Colours

I was on my way up to the marina foodcourt when I passed by this colourful display of awkward lanterns. If you take the escalator, you'll not miss this. If you eat at the Secret Recipe cafe below, these lanterns will be perching right above your heads. These lanterns have been around for some years, but this is the first time I actually bothered to slow down and take a picture of it. With the reflections above the lanterns, I feel it is quite a nice piece of work.

Brands Suduku Challenge

Brands has launched an online Suduku Challenge on Stomp http://www.stomp.com.sg/BRANDSstaysharp/ . Apparently entering the contest is easy and there is a lot of money worth playing for. The top prize is $10,000. To enter the contest online, you just need to purchase a set of Brands chicken essence from the supermarket, and search for the 7 digit code inside the packaging to start the game off. 900 semi-finalists will be chosen based on the shortest times taken to complete the puzzle. Does taking Brands help you do better at Suduku?

Singapore IT Show 207

Over the last four days, Suntec City played host to the Singapore IT Show 2007. Since the evening session of tennis was to be cancelled, there was time to spare to take a look at what are the IT products on sale. I recently bought an Acer laptop from my school's IT fair, and was rather disappointed that there was another Acer laptop on sale today at $200 less, and offered Microsoft Vista. Sometimes it is just better to wait for a better offer. But guess what, this entry is typed on my new Acer laptop. Its meant for my mum, but she isn't using it as often as I hope she would. Canon was offering its SLR today with all those freebies, but I thought I should wait a few more months while I further explore my A640 powershot. Instead, I bought myself a brand new tripod, and I hope it is level, unlike the old one I keep under my bed.

Lion Dances

The past week I had been witness to at least two formal lion dances for heartland businesses. The lion prances excitedly into the store where it is offered vegetables and mandarin oranges. It crouches on the floor for quite some time, forming the auspicious word "Fu" under its chin with the mandarin segments, and occasionally spitting out the mandarin skin and vegetable stems at the audience. I have noticed that of late, there are no more lorries carrying lion dance troupes around my neighbourhood. But am happy to watch these traditional shows at the heartland shops. Every Chinese New Year is a chance for us to feel close to our roots again. :)