My first visit to a wine fair

I visited the Singapore Wine Fiesta on Saturday.

What is the Singapore Wine Fiesta? It’s an open air wine fair organized by the Straits Wine Company.

Entrance fee is S$38 but more expensive if you purchase it at the doors.

Luckily, I won two tickets to the wine fair through a Facebook contest organized by MyDestination Singapore or else I don’t think I would have ever gone to one.

This year’s Wine Fiesta’s held at the Customs House which is just opposite of Marina Bay Sands.

I asked D along to the fiesta since she’s my drinking buddy.

No, we don’t go out drinking but we buy back a bottle of wine sometimes and have a glass or two to celebrate the weekend.

I guess it’s also a wine shopping trip for us.

Entering the Wine Fiesta

The tickets allowed us to visit the Wine Fiesta on one of the three days. I picked Saturday, just in case we have a hangover that we need to sleep off on Sunday.

After showing our tickets, we were given a pink tag. Then we collected a wine glass by handing over a S$10 deposit and was given a yellow tag.

Even though it was a paid event and it was about 3pm, it was really crowded.

The venue itself is tiny and a lot of people would stand in the middle of the already crowded path to chat about the qualities of the wine they had.

Being a non wine connoisseur, my comments usually are: “It’s nice.” “I don’t like it.” “It’s so dry.” “Yummy!” and so on.

There were 65 different brands, according to the booklet. That is a lot of wine!

We mostly tried out Moscato since I do not like dry or tannin wines.

Since it was wine “tasting”, the amount doled out is usually enough for two sips. However, sometimes, one sip of a terrible drink is half a sip too much.

Nice finds

One really fun wine was Chocolate Wine by Rubis. The dark red liquid smelled like chocolate. It was sweet and smooth. But I didn’t like the high alcohol content (15 percent) as it made me dizzy just from the few sips.

Another cool wine was Little Miss Collet Moscato 2012 by Australian winery Woodstock Estace. It was named after the daughter of the winery owner. It smelled like mangoes! Imagine that, a mango-scented wine.

There was a booth with Japanese white wine from Grace Winery. It was too dry for my liking.

I’ve tasted a bit more than 10 different bottles of wine and ended up with a the Rosso Brachetto N.V. (S$27) from Villa M while D bought the Bianco Moscato.

It was the best tasting wine among the rest of the drier wines. Ok, I admit that I was attracted to its price too. There is no way I will spend more on a bottle of liquid.

Take lots of breaks

In the beginning, we went in search of only Moscatos.

After a few 1/8 glasses, we were starting to feel a little woozy so we took a break. We took a lot of breaks afterward too.

Marina Bay Sands was just opposite so everyone who wasn’t drunk had a nice view.

After some tasting, I wasn’t too drunk but I was starting to space out too much. One of my daydream was living in a vineyard (or a house next to a vineyard) and sneaking out to eat the plump grapes. Mmm…

One reason I didn’t as much as a lot of the red-faced visitors there was because I haven’t been trained to down copious amount of alcohol.

I used to break out in hives when I drink wine. So at the start of my Venerdì Vino (which I hope translates as “Wine Friday”), I had hives and rashes.

After a while, I stopped getting bad rashes. Now I’m more used to alcohol so having a little is fine but I get rashes if I drink too much.

Thoughts about the Wine Fiesta

Honestly, I would not pay to join such an event.

Despite the high entrance fee (I could have bought another Rosso Brachetto N.V. and a meal to go with it for S$38 ticket.), the event was really crowded.

It’s not pleasant trying to elbow your way to the table for two sips of wine. It wasn’t fun waiting for the person in front to finish flirting with the wine guy before I could actually hand my glass over for some tasting.

Plus, a lot of people were flushed and looked drunk. You would think that this is a posh event where people float around in clouds of fabric and take delicate sips of wine instead of the huge gulps.

With that entrance fee, I wish the organizer could find a bigger venue. There were too many times, the crowd couldn’t move because everyone was stuck.

Have you visited a wine fair? How was the experience?

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Why visitors should get the Singapore Tourist Pass

Day passes can save money. I’ve saved plenty in San Francisco.

For transportation, travellers to Singapore can choose between a day pass, the EZ-Link (stored value card used by locals for transport and other small payments) or paying by cash.

Singapore’s day pass is called the Singapore Tourist Pass (which I will shorten to STPass).

When I first read about STPass, my gut feel told me the pass is not worth the money and that a regular EZLink is an even better value for a traveler.

Here is the cost of the pass:
1 Day Pass S$10
2 Day Pass S$16
3 Day Pass S$20

The official site also lists a comparison between the STPass and EZ-Link.

However, I’m not quite sure what this line means: “Hence passes issued in Singapore come with a rental deposit of S$10 which is fully refundable if the card is returned within 5 days from the date of issuance.”

Update: You’ll need to give an extra S$10 when you buy the card. You’ll forfeit the money if you decide to keep the card. (Too expensive!)

The math

To see if my gut feel is right, I’ll do the math of travelling on an EZ-Link card for 3 days.

I’m using Wikipedia’s 3 Days in Singapore as an itinerary and use gothere.sg as my guide for transport cost.

For accomodation, let’s pretend that we’re staying at Raffles Hotel which I cannot afford (but bear with me).

Day 1:
Raffles Hotel to Singapore Zoo $1.89
Singapore Zoo to Orchard MRT station $1.72
Orchard Road to Clarke Quay MRT $0.83
Clarke Quay back to Raffles Hotel $0.88
Total spent: $5.32 + (non-refundable $5)=$10.32

Day 2:
Raffles Hotel to Chinatown $0.88
Chinatown to Little India $0.88
Farrer Park to Raffles Hotel $0.83
Total spent: $2.59
Day 1 + Day 2 expenses= $7.91
+ (non-refundable $5) =$12.91

Day 3
Raffles Hotel to HarbourFront $1.26
Monorail from HarbourFront into Sentosa ~~$3.00~~ [Micheal said the pass does not cover this charge.]
Sentosa back to HarbourFront (Free)
HarbourFront to Raffles Hotel $0.83
Total spent: $5.09 + $3 Monorail
Day 1 + Day 2 + Day 3 expenses= $16
+ (non-refundable $5) =$21

There’s a small flaw with my calculations though: Most of my transport cost involves taking the bus. I like taking buses but some travelers might shun buses because there are too many routes.

Verdict

[Update (12/6/2012):] If we add the $3 for Sentosa Monorail, it gets a little more expensive.
~~Turns out, the STPass is quite a good value for travellers. This is due to the unrefundable $5 in the EZ-Link card.~~ But you have to make sure that you will take enough public transport to cover your STPass.

I have to admit that the STPass does look a lot prettier than a regular EZ-Link. So if you are travelling to Singapore, maybe you can give it a try.

UPDATE: As Gurpal mentioned below, the card is only available at selected MRTs and at specific timings. Boo.

Have you bought the Singapore Tourist Pass before? How was your experience?

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Top 5 localized GANGNAM STYLE covers

I have a confession. I have very bad taste in music: I love viral music.

Back when Rebecca Black’s Friday and Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe were popular, I listened to them repeatedly on Youtube not ironically but with full appreciation of the catchy lyrics and head bobbing tunes.

Currently on my Youtube loop (because I cannot buy it from the Singapore iTunes) is GANGNAM STYLE from PSY.

I thought about sharing the deep meaning of the song which parodies the dirt rich in Korea but I thought it would make you click the X button. Instead, I have compiled a list of Top 5 (in no particular order) covers of PSY’s song. (And leave the heavy reading to WSJ.)

From Malaysia:

ORANG SABAH STYLE (OPPA GANGNAM STYLE PARODY)
A Hakka version of Gangnam Style featuring my hometown (or homestate) Sabah. Lots of locations taken at places I am familiar with. The ending even has Bruno Mars.
Best line: Come to Sabah, wanna try the seafood. Go to island, Hey!

GANGNAM (SUPER KAMPUNG) STYLE
This is a version made by a Malaysian radio station. I think it’s really cool that the employees are sporting enough to do the invisible horse riding dance everywhere in KL.
Best line: “But in your kampung, you can wear sarong. Anywhere you go oh. Everybody knows oh.”

From Taiwan:

這群人 – 學尬乾那塞 (GANGNAM STYLE Cover/Skit/台語版)
“Studied like Shit”
A Mandarin + Taiwanese Hokkien version with a sexy dressed as a teacher/librarian. Sex sells, of course. Best line (translated): You… don’t study. Learn! Learn! Learn! Learn! Studied like shit

From Singapore:

Singaporean Style (Gangnam Style Parody)

Best part: Instead of the invisible horse riding dance, they have a shake your fist up and down dance.
Best line: “Ehhhhhh give me Tau Huay”

From Korea:

PSY (ft. HYUNA) 오빤 딱 내 스타일
“‘Oppa Is Just My Style”
OK, I’m cheating with this video. It’s actually a follow up to the original song, sung from the girl’s point of view.

UPDATE: Oppa KL Style

From KL, again.

The original video

PSY – GANGNAM STYLE (강남스타일) M/V

Have you found any interesting covers of GANGNAM STYLE?

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#FoodFri ‘Large’ glass of sake

It’s Saturday now, didn’t manage to post on Friday but better late than never.

Was out for Night Festival tonight, visiting museums and watching outdoor shows and lights (update to come soon).

Anyway, we stopped by Standing Sushi Bar, intrigued by their alcohol promo.

I got the “large” glass of sake and D got the plum wine. Mine tasted very “adult” and was dry.

Not really my type of drink. Thank goodness the glass wasn’t as large as I imagined it.

//PS I realized that I sent the post to my other blog instead of this one, so bringing it over.

24 hours in Singapore

This post first appeared on Diario de un Curtido as 24 horas en Singapur. Spanish version available for those who read español.

Singapore, the Lion City, is the smallest country in Southeast Asia but it is also the wealthiest. The country has a reputation of being clean, safe and strict in enforcing its laws.

For many travellers from the west, Singapore may only be the stepping stone to other countries in the region or to Australia. If you do end up in Singapore for only a day, here is a sample itinerary. I would recommend giving the city at least two days so there will be a second “24 hours in Singapore” coming up.

Day 1
9 a.m.
1. Explore Bugis area for food and temples
Take the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) to Bugis Station and head to the Bencoolen hawker centre on Albert Street. Choose between the Chinese, Malay or Indian stalls for breakfast.

For coffee lovers, skip the Starbucks and get a Kopi which is served with sweet condensed milk.

After food, head to the Goddess of Mercy temple, or Kwan Im Thong Hood Choo Temple on Google Map [178 Waterloo Street]. You won’t miss it because of the scent of incense. Outside the temple, there are flower sellers and fortune tellers who will read your palm or your face and tell you if you will have a good life or a bad one.

guanyintang — Temple of the Goddess of Mercy

A couple of doors away is the bright and colorful Sri Krishnan Temple which is over 130 years old. You can visit the temple after taking off your shoes. The statues of gods and goddesses inside the temple are worth looking.

Opposite the temples are stores selling dried food. When you approach the stores, you will smell a unique scent of dried mushrooms and Chinese herbal medicine.

After the temples of Bugis, turn back into the shaded Bugis Street. Inside, there are many souvenir shops and drink stalls. If you are adventurous, at the other end of Bugis Street, right next to the bus stop, is a Chinese food stall selling marinated spicy duck neck and duck feet.

12 noon
2. Arab Street
It is time to head to walk to Arab Street for more sightseeing and also lunch.

On Arab Street, you can visit the Sultan Mosque[3 Muscat Street] which is said to be the most beautiful mosque in Singapore. Tourists can go into the mosque at specific hours.

For food, you can visit the various restaurants on Haji Lane for Arabic food. For Indian food, I recommend Zam Zam Restaurant [697 N Bridge Rd] which also has another branch at the other end of the shophouse lot.

After lunch, you can wander around the area for trinkets and even Sari cloth.

3 pm
3. Chinatown
From Arab Street, the easiest way to Chinatown is by bus. If not, you can take the MRT to Outram Park and change to the purple line and to Chinatown.

I’ve heard many tourists say that Singapore’s Chinatown is the cleanest Chinatown that they’ve visited. Still, the area is a bit stuff so try to be there when the sun is not too high up.

Recommended sights:
Chinatown Heritage Centre [48 Pagoda Street]
In this three-storeyed shophouse is a recreation of a typical Chinese quarters in Singapore’s early days. The early Chinese immigrants lived in tiny rooms during the night while they did labor work in the morning.

Sri Mariamman Temple [242 South Bridge Road]
If you did not visit Sri Krishnan Temple in Bugis, there’s another Indian temple in Chinatown. This temple is even bigger with even more painted statues.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum [288 South Bridge Road]
This Buddhist temple houses the tooth of Buddha. I find the exterior of the temple too “modern”–the walls too white, the paint too fresh and the lines too straight.

There is plenty to eat in Chinatown. Opposite the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple is Maxwell Food Court where famous chicken rice stalls are located. I prefer the food court next to People’s Park Complex although it can get really hot in the day.

7 pm
4. Clark Quay
After dinner, walk along Eu Tong Sen Street to Clarke Quay MRT station. This area comes alive at night, although I must warn that the restaurants and bars are targeted at tourists.

If you feel like it, take a boat ride on the Singapore River. I would not recommend this as it is too touristy.

Sit by the river next to The Central shopping mall and watch boats float by or hear people screaming on the G-MAX Reverse Bungy & GX-5 Extreme Swing.

Then take a stroll to the mouth of the Singapore river. You will walk through many underpass and past many bars and restaurants. Use the brightly lit Fullerton Hotel as your guide, walk towards it. On the left of the bank is the Asian Civilization Museum which has a good collection of Asian artefacts (but is closed at night).

After you pass The Fullerton Hotel, cross the road to the Merlion Park. Here, you will find two Merlions–half lion, half fish beings made up by the Singapore Tourism Board.

Opposite, the strangely shaped Marina Bay Sands sparkles. At night, it has lazer shows with light beamed to the sky.

Our last stop is the Esplanade, which is the shiny durian (prickly local fruit) building. It’s like the Sydney Opera House, but pricklier.

10 pm
5. Mustafa Center
After the Esplanade, you can choose between going to more pubs, heading back to your hotel and rest or visit Mustafa Center. The nearest MRT station is Farrer Park.

The shopping center is 24-hours and has almost everything you need. If you want to get Indian spices, gold chains, a watch, T-shorts, souvenirs, this is the place.

After all that shopping, maybe it’s time to head back to sleep so you won’t miss your plane.

IF YOU GO

ACCOMODATION
Rooms in Singapore will not be as cheap as the rest of Southeast Asia. As transportation in the city is convenient, it does not matter much where you are staying.

If you only have a short time in Singapore, the best locations will be near the sights: Little India, Chinatown, Bugis, Clark Quay etc.

This list is only a reference:

Five Stones Hostel http://www.fivestoneshostel.com/
Near: Clark Quay
[Disclaimer: One of the owners of the hostel is a friend of my colleague.]
From photos, this looks like a funky place to stay. All dorms and rooms have shared bathrooms.

Value Hotel Balestier http://www.valuehotel.com.sg/
Nearest MRT: Novena (It might be faster taking the bus./)
I’ve shared a three-person private room with my parents at this budget hotel.

MONEY CHANGER
Most money changers in Singapore are honest and give rates that are similar (even at the airport), although those inside shopping malls have more expensive rates.

While these are the more famous money changers, it’s not worth the transport fee to reach them just so you could save a few cents. “Best” (everywhere is quite good) places to change money are Chinatown and Mustafa Center.

STAY CONNECTED
Prepaid 3G in Singapore is not as cheap as Malaysia. There are only three mobile operators here: SingTel, StarHub and M1.

Personally, I use StarHub’s prepaid because it gives me 50 (yes, five-zero) free international SMS for the day when I send 5 international SMS in a day.
StarHub has a special Preferred Tourist Prepaid SIM Card with free 300MB data and has S$18 credits for S$15.

I’ll be doing a part 2 of 24 hours in Singapore. Have I missed out any must see sights? Tweet me or leave a comment below.

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Welcome to Ghost Month

You know how the west (and Americans) have one night of Halloween to play dress up, ask for candy and honor the dead?

Guess what, we Chinese have a whole month of that but minus the dressing up, candy or playful spirits.

What we have instead is the opening of Hell Mouth and a bunch of Hungry Ghosts.

Welcome to the Ghost Month

The Ghost Month begins on the 7th month of the Chinese lunar calendar. In 2012, the first day of the 7th month falls on Aug. 17, Friday.

On the first day of the 7th month, it is said that the gates of hell open and the spirits leave the underworld and come back to visit their families. Unfortunately for homeless ghosts, they would have no where to go and would roam the earth.

To appease these homeless (and most likely hungry) ghosts, the Chinese would burn “hell money” and incense as well as put out food to feed the hungry ghosts.

ghost-month-001 — Paper money burning place

Getai

Besides all the money burning, there’s an interesting event happening in Ghost Month.

In neighborhoods in Singapore, outdoor stages are set up. At special days, these stages transform into “getai” or “song stage”. From an old Hong Kong movie I watched, the shows are performed for the benefit of the wandering spirits.

I’ve only been to one getai performance because we don’t have this sort of stuff back home in KK. The getai that I went to had a small stage, which disappointed me.

There was a host who told jokes and young sexy singers who sang and danced. The usual female singers for getai are known for their skimpy outfits and high heels.

If you are interested in seeing a getai, the performance schedules for 2012 is available at STOMP.

I suppose the sexy ladies are there for the benefit of the sex-hungry ghosts as well. Unfortunately, I have yet to hear an equivalent Chippendale performances for the lady ghosts. I assume hell does not support equal rights. If I were a ghost, I will petition for a male stripper show.

My experience with Ghost Month

I cannot describe the fear I have of Ghost Month as a child. To the little me, ghosts lurked everywhere in the 7th month and were out to get me.

There are superstitions such as: Never turn back when walking alone at night if you hear someone call your name. Also, try not to go swimming because the spirits of those who drowned will want to put you down to replace their place.

Today, I don’t fear Ghost Month. I have a wish to see a real ghost and get proof of it so everybody else can rest in peace that our spirits do stay back after death.

Do you have a similar festival as Ghost Month back home? Or do you have ghost stories to share? (I love ghost stories.)

#FoodFri Murtabak @ Singapore

It’s very rare that I praise local food in Singapore. By local food, I mean Chinese, Malay, Indian or Peranakan dishes. (I would rather put American food to represent Singapore.)

Why? Because the Malaysian-made version is usually better.

But, I admit that the beef murtabak at Zam Zam Restaurant is up to standard. The dough was fried crispy and they were not stingy with their corned beef.

However, at the price of S$6, it’s really a lot more expensive than what we could get in Malaysia.

Zam Zam is located at the Arab Street area. Address: 697 North Bridge Rd, Singapore 198675

#FoodFri is a post up on each Friday featuring a dish or meals I’ve had when travelling (or staying put). Happy eating!

How many travellers does it take to renew a passport?

Extra: How to renew your Malaysian passport online
1. Sign into MyOnline Passport using Chrome.
2. Fill in correct information and upload a photo of the right format.
3. Pay using credit card.
4. Save the receipt onto your computer.
5. The passport should be ready at where you said you will pickup in 2 hours time.

How many travellers does it take to renew a passport?

The answer is one. But when the traveller is well-known for being a scatter-brain procrastinator, it might take a lot more than that.

My passport with the number H180XXXXX was expiring on Jan 30, 2013. But we need at least 6 months of validity for our passports if we want to travel overseas.

I’m working in Singapore with a Malaysian passport, I don’t think having an “expired” passport will sit well with the authorities.

While I was determined to get a new passport when I head home during the end of June, I only successfully retrieved the new passport on July 28, in Johor Bahru which is 8,000++km away from home.

Here’s the story of how I finally renewed my passport.

Pre-June 29. Location: Singapore

(Countdown to expiry 30+ days + 6 months)

More than month till my passport expires. No worries.

I keep announcing to my colleagues that I will renew my passport when I am back home at the end of the month for my classmate’s wedding.

I even make sure to place my passport in my handbag (which is really redundant because I need it to travel home anyway.)

June 30. Location: Kota Kinabalu

(Countdown to expiry 30 days + 6 months)

jan 2012 kk — Home sweet home. No, that's not my house

I am supposed to renew my passport today. I have even planned out the day’s schedule: renew passport in morning, go to mall nearby while waiting for the passport to be churned out in two hours, collect passport.

But it didn’t happen. Why? Because I’ve forgotten to bring my Identification Card (IC) back home.
It did cross my mind that I should bring my IC back. But being me, I didn’t heed that small warning.
My parents grumbled. I told them to relax.

Instead of a new passport, I had passport photos taken.

July 2. Location: Singapore

(Countdown to expiry 27 days + 6 months)
Back in Singapore, maybe I can renew my passport at the High Commission of Malaysia here.

Oh no, Sabah/Sarawak passports need two extra months of processing since they need to send it back. This is ridiculous.

July 11-15. Location: Hoi An, Vietnam

(Countdown to expiry 15 days + 6 months)
Well, since I’m overseas having fun. It’s not possible to renew my passport.

Let’s not worry and eat this bowl of pho. Nom nom nom.

July 19. Location: Singapore

(Countdown to expiry 10 days + 6 months)
Only 10 days weeks till I’m considered an illegal alien. Gaa! Let me drink this cup of tea to calm my nerves.

Boss asks when my passport is expiring, gives hint of an upcoming trip.

I call up the Johor immigration office to ask if Sabah passports take a longer time to process. It doesn’t. (Phew.)

But the immigration office will be closed during the 21st and 22nd weekend because of the beginning of the fasting month.

Panic starts to creep in.

July 23. Location: Singapore

(Countdown to expiry 7 days + 6 months)
OK, do not panic. D suggests I sleepover in Johor and run to the immigration office as soon as the door opens.

Sounds like a plan.

July 24. Location: Singapore

(Countdown to expiry 6 days + 6 months)
I decide I should get the online passport renewal system, MyOnline Passport, a try.

I use Firefox which has always been more stable for important sites. After filling in all my details, I find out that I cannot upload my photo.

Panic.

I decide to use Chrome. Oh! Photo upload works. Let me fill in my credit card details, select Johor as my pickup point, and sent everything over. A Web page gives me the receipt for the transaction and says I can pick up my passport after 2 hours.

July 25, 26, 27. Location: Singapore

(Countdown to expiry 5, 4, 3 days + 6 months)
I keep worrying that MyOnline Passport doesn’t really work, while reassuring my boss my passport will be collected on Saturday.

July 28. Location: Johor Bahru

(Countdown to expiry 2 days + 6 months)
Today’s the day of passport collecting, if I don’t get it done, I will be stranded in Johor until I get it sorted out.

I wake up at 7am, take the bus to Woodlands, switched to a bus to the checkpoint. A cab drives slowly pass the lobby after the checkpoint, I jump in.

After a RM16 cab ride, I am at the Johor Bahru immigration center at 9.40a.m. I don’t know which of the four buildings houses the passport office. I sprint from the car park to the center of the buildings–if my online passport application hasn’t been successful, I will need to get the paperwork done before 10am as the office closes at noon on weekends.

The employees at the carpark stopped me.
-Where are you going?
-To get my passport renewed.
-Oh! I thought you dropped your passport or something. Take that lift to the third floor.
-Thank you!

I reach the office. The queue is crazy. I am going crazy. I ask the lady for a queue number. She sees that I am collecting my passport so send me to counter 11.

OK, not as many people here. I hand over my passport pickup slip, telling the person I renewed it online. He tells me to take a seat and they will call out my name.

I stand in the corner and send an SMS to mom to tell her that I am waiting to collect my passport. I see a man with a stack of passport coming from behind the office.

My name is called. I take a seat, sign my passport and give them my right thumbprint.

I’m in the office for less than 10 minutes and my brand spanking new passport is in my hands.

My photo’s not flattering but whose is?

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Stayed: Value Hotel Balestier, Singapore, review

My parents bunked at Value Hotel Balestier when they came to visit in Singapore early this month.

I was looking for a place that fits three persons in a room because I wanted to overnight with them during the weekend to make it easier for sightseeing.

The room was S$129 on regular nights, and S$139 on Saturday nights. After the 10 percent service charge and 7 percent Goods & Service Tax (GST), the price comes to about S$150. Quite reasonable for three people.

value-hotel-balestier — Superior plus at Value Hotel Balestier

The room that we got, Superior Plus, has a queen-sized bed and a sofa bed. I didn’t pick the room with windows because who actually need a window? (Please tell me why you need one if you do.)

The room is small, as expected in Singapore, but I think there will be enough space for two large luggage.

value-hotel-balestier-001 — the extra sofa bed

The sofa bed was surprisingly comfortable. It was firm, unlike some foam beds which crush under any weight.

Amenities

At the dressing table, there is a plastic kettle, three glasses and three bottles of water which are replenished everyday. Hairdryer hidden in the drawer.

There was a DVD player, TV with cable TV programs (which weren’t half as scandalous as the stuff I watched on HBO in San Jose) but no mini-fridge (a pity!).

The bathroom is equipped with toothbrush sets, shampoo, soap and toilet paper which are all replenished daily.

I had to ask for a Wi-Fi password slip from the receptionist. It said it’s chargeable by S$10 but it wasn’t billed. Not sure if that’s the usual case.

Location

If you are familiar with the Singapore public transport, Balestier Road isn’t a bad location. There are buses to the shopping strip Orchard Road.

But the location’s not fantastic because it’s not near an MRT station, it takes a bus ride to reach Novena station.

Taxi fare in Singapore is relatively cheap (compared to Tokyo) so if you have more than 2 people in a group, taking a cab is often cheaper and faster than the bus.

Finding the place

On Balestier Road, there are THREE Value Hotels, a Fragrance Hotel and some Hotel 81’s. To get to the right Value Hotel *Balestier*, here’s what was included in my receipt:
“By taxi, inform the taxi driver to bring you to Value Hotel Balestier located at 218 Balestier Road (opposite the temple where durians are being sold)”

Summary

Stayed: Value Hotel Balestier, Singapore, review
Good for family of three
Pro: Not too expensive, comfy beds
Cons: Not central

Visiting Singapore? Here are some travel tips:

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Win travel vouchers writing restaurant reviews

The Pair that Writes Together Wins Together
Restaurant review site OpenRice has a competition which you can win up a maximum of S$2,000 travel vouchers.

All you need to do is team up with someone and start writing restaurant reviews. Each review only needs to be over 300 characters (seriously) and has a photo. The team with most reviews win.

When you are writing your review, remember to tick that you want the review to be entered into the contest. It’s opt-in, sneaky!

Unfortunately, the leading team has 61 reviews now. Fortunately, the quality of their content is not very brilliant.

I’ve teamed up with my housemate because we both love to eat. Watch out for the Pointy Toed Hippo (yes, that’s our team name).

Even if you do not win the contest, they give you points for good reviews. Points can be used to redeem in real life stuff. I’m aiming for vouchers.

May the odds be ever in your favor.

[Update Jan 15, 2013: Hello readers from Hong Kong! What’s up?]

Entering the Wine Fiesta

Nice finds

Take lots of breaks

Thoughts about the Wine Fiesta

Have you visited a wine fair? How was the experience?

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The math

Verdict

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From Malaysia:

From Taiwan:

From Singapore:

From Korea:

UPDATE: Oppa KL Style From KL, again.

The original video

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Welcome to the Ghost Month

Getai

My experience with Ghost Month

How many travellers does it take to renew a passport?

Pre-June 29. Location: Singapore

June 30. Location: Kota Kinabalu

July 2. Location: Singapore

July 11-15. Location: Hoi An, Vietnam

July 19. Location: Singapore

July 23. Location: Singapore

July 24. Location: Singapore

July 25, 26, 27. Location: Singapore

July 28. Location: Johor Bahru

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Amenities

Location

Finding the place

Summary

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UPDATE: Oppa KL Style

From KL, again.