Pink Saturday - Special Post for Pink Saturday's 2nd Birthday

This is a very special post for Pink Saturday on the occasion of its 2nd Birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PINK SATURDAY.

I just came back from Ho Chi Minh City and I thought I wont get to tell you all the story that I am going to share.

The coach that we were on caught some electrical cables that were low lying. I saw one part of the cables already exposed with the wires showing out (photo of exposed wires taken from inside the bus). It was scary, had the driver been impatient and drove off, the cable will snap and the exposed wires will hit the bus and we would get electrocuted.

Our tour leader who forever been taking good care of us make sure all of us are out of the bus and guide us to the rest stop and let the driver and his assistant handle the whole situation.

Cables caught in the ventilator on top of the bus.

I did not buy much in Vietnam, just some keychains and a couple of tee shirts, spend most of my money on food and beverages and just enjoy the sights....lol. I think in my group, hubby and me bought the least...hahaha.

It could be.... I just visited Cambodia six months ago, I find everything in Vietnam is about the same as Cambodia. Also because been travelling so often, I become so lazy to hunt and bargain for the best price and also house run out of space to keep more stuff.

I am more interested in taking more photos and looking at the beautiful architectural buildings, places of attractions, etc.

I think I enjoy most in Vietnam is the water puppet. More about my Vietnam trip will be in my travel blog.

A short video of the water puppet.

I hope I have enough pink in today's post for Pink Saturday.

For more pinky participants, please visit Beverly of How Sweet The Sound.

Award

Oooh I love this award from my good friend, CC of Lacenribbonroses .

Thank you so much CC for the trendy award. I love it so much. I catch up with everyone of you out there when I return from my trip. :)

Going on a vacation

Blogging have to stop for a while.

I am preparing for a short trip to HCM City.

Hope for good weather there so that I could take lots of photos. :)

Kallang - Driving Lesson

This is the car park outside the Singapore National Stadium. Since the stadium had already closed down, this car park is very quiet and deserted.

The only people I saw using the car park are these learner drivers. Hahaha, it reminded of the days when I was learning how to drive. My instuctor brought me to a cemetery to learn parking..lol. It really scared me but luckily there are other learner drivers in that area too.

And hey, I passed on my first attempt after learning for only twenty over lessons but now I rather take the public transport or be driven than to drive cause there are simply too many cars in the city.

A short video showing the learner drivers.

Leisure Park

Still at Kallang, I remember this shopping mall at Leisure Park. Used to bring my kids here when they were very young. This mall should be at least around 20 years of age. Surprising the mall looked so new or did they renovate the whole place.

The mall is now even easier to access by the new Circle Line Stadium Station. It is located beside the station.

Spotted some costumes of movies characters in the mall.

You can find out more about the mall in their official website.

Skywatch Friday - Singapore Indoor Stadium

This is the Singapore Indoor Stadium, it is located just opposite the new Stadium MRT Station.

The indoor arena is a vibrant entertainment and sports venue capable of hosting major events for up to 13,000 spectators.

This is the meeting place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium where friends get to meet each other. As there were be huge crowds during a huge concert and event, it is easier to meet friends at this point.

You can read more about the Singapore Indoor Stadium from its official website.

For other sky watchers, please hop over to Skywatch blog.

Circle Line - Stadium Station

Continuing with my exploration of the new Circle Line (extension of the Mass Rapid Transit Transport Sytem), I arrived at Stadium Station. This is the station where I can go to the Singapore National Stadium which I posted yesterday.

I think the architectural design of this station is the best among all the stations but I have yet to visit other stations of the new circle line extension.

As this station is near the future sports hub, there are pictures of footballers plastered on the glass of the station. Very interesting.

From the top of the station, I can view through the other end of the station. It looked like it is very narrow.

The exit/entrance of the station is very spacious.

The station is very empty when I was there. Normally, there is no reason to go there unless you worked there or there's a concert at the nearby Indoor Stadium. Crowds of thousands will be expected on such occasion.

But once the Sports Hub is built, I think it will be crowded again with people going there to watch football matches and also to exercise there.

My World Tuesday -Singapore National Stadium

This is the Singapore National Staidum in Kallang, it was opened in 1973 and I remembered that I visited it the first time when I was about 14 years old when the school brought us to watch the youth festival celebration held at the Stadium. It was so long ago and when I visited it last month, it was a far cry from its hey day.

The stadium is now closed for demolition and a new stadium will be built. The whole stadium now looked so eerie and quiet.

I could not get in and take photo of the field and tracks.

These used to be the ticketing stands.

A short video showing the quiet staidum and only hubby and me were there that day. It was so quiet that I could only hear the birds chirping in the background.

Please visit "That's my World" for other parts of the world.

Mother's Day Stress

Took this photo during lunch time when we were looking for a nice restaurant to have our celebration. The queue at Ding Tai Fung Restaurant was so long that I am prepared to settle for a meal at the fast food outlet...lol. I think I will stress out if I have to wait for more than an hour for seats in the restaurant.

It is nice to see children taking their mothers and grandmothers out for a meal to celebrate the day but can be quite stress for the old folks having to stand outside the restaurants for so long.


However, we are lucky to find seats at Crystal Jade Restaurant after waiting for less than half an hour only.

Many like me have to settle for these dim sum restaurants after failing to get reservations for buffet at our nice hotels. I heard that some booked one week ahead for Mother's Day Lunch and Dinner at the hotels and some even stay for the night at the hotel.

Next month is Father's Day, we are definitely celebrating earlier together with hubby's birthday.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

A VERY HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL MOTHERS OUT THERE.

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A HAPPY TIME CELEBRATING THE DAY.

I wondered why mother's day is so commercialised and popular than father's day. Trying to get reservations at well known and popular restaurants turn to disappointment for me.

I even thought of staying at home and cook a meal for the family....lol.

But hubby told me to just eat at any restaurants that we can get seats tomorrow.

Just like a pampered child, I was feeling quite sad that I cant celebrate the day at my favourite place, then my youngest son came back with a mother's day present for me. A photo frame that can put four photos at the same time. I am so happy not because of the present but I always wanted this type of photo frame. (Note: Did you spot the photo of me and my late mon in the above photo frame.)

So I now dont care if we get seats at a good place tomorrow or not, the most important we get to eat together as a loving family. :) (big smile.........) Hmmm, now I wondered what my eldest son is getting me...hehehe.

Just to share these cards that my two sons gave me on mother's day and other occasions when they were in primary school (below 12 years of age). I had a box where I kept all these cards and gifts that my sons gave me.

Old Airport or Kallang Airport Estate

This is Kallang Airport or Old Airport Estate. It used to be part of the airport premises and therefore the estate is named after the old airport. Kallang Airport had long been closed and shifted to Paya Lebar and now shifted to Changi Airport. You can read more about Kallang Airport in wikipedia.

The flats here are very old but are very well maintained. Most of the flats are probably over forty years old.

Many people walked along the corridors of the ground flat at the above flat to shelter from the hot sun. Most like me are heading for Dakota MRT Station.

Keat asked me a very good question about the meaning of Dakota. As Kallang Airport Estate used to be the old airport, so Dakota was named after those Dakota Planes that used to land in the airport.

The road in the above photo is Old Airport Road. It used to be the runway for the Kallang Airport.

Many estates across Singapore have a space like the above. It is a multi function space. Some used them as venue for arts competition, wedding, birthday, etc celebration. The one that many wont believe is that it is also used for funeral wakes.

The above apartment block is known as maisonettes. It is an apartment flat on two levels with internal stairs.

My World Tuesday - Circle Line - Dakota Station

After so many years of waiting, part of the circle line (almost a circle linking all the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines that go round Singapore) is finally ready. Those in dotted yellow lines will be open next year.

The circle line is not fully a circle yet but they are still discussing the best place to close the circle so that commuters dont have to change trains at the interchange. See report. http://www.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/Transport/Story/A1Story20100424-212250.html

Hubby and me decided to explore the areas around some of the circle line stations. We decided to go to Dakota Station (Above map - circled).

Dakota is a quiet neighbourhood and its hawker centre is very very well known. Before you come out of the station, be sure to check the map inside the station for the exact location of the hawker centre. We decided to exit at B and make a U-turn once we reach the top of the escalator. We found the hawker centre after only a five minute walk.

The food in this food centre is very local and very tasty and yummy. The price is very reasonable too. They are so much cheaper than eating at the air conditioned food court in shopping mall. But please be warned, the hawker centre is not air conditioned but there are huge fans inside it.

If you are driving, there's a car park at the food centre but space will be limited if it is during peak period i.e. lunch time and dinner time where there's a big crowd at this food centre. Parking fees in heartlands are so much cheaper than parking fees in the city.

If you are unsure what to eat or which is the best stall, just look for the queues.

Normally, if there's a queue means that stall is popular and their food must be very yummy. The queues are usually during lunch time and dinner time.

The food centre is so popular and with the convenience of the circle line, I spotted many office workers (in their company's tee shirt and uniforms) coming from as far as Marina and Paya Lebar Area.

Results: Hubby and me enjoyed the ride in the new circle line. Very clean and quiet train and fast.

Please visit "That's my World" for other parts of the world.

Map of Mass Rapid Transit in Singapore

It is very easy to move around Singapore.

This is a map of Singapore MRT system in Singapore. I got the map from the official website of SMRT. You can read more from its official website.

The circle line (yellow colour) was recently added to the MRT System.

Despite the name, the Circle Line is not actually a full circle, as there will be no through service on the section between Harbourfront and Dhoby Ghaut. Passengers will need to transfer onto the North-East Line instead.

In my next few posts, I will show you some of the stations of circle line that I visited and its surroundings.

Note:

NEL (North East Line) - purple colour

EW Line (East West Line) - green colour

NS Line (North South Line) - red colour