Plus! Presents Zumba Fitness

You got exercise one meh?!

I may not look like it, but as a matter of fact I do. Well, it depends on what kind of activity too.

I haven’t been exercising much in 2014 so when Nuffnang asked if I was keen to join a Plus! Programmes Zumba Fitness event late last year, I immediately agreed.

Zumba is this Latin-inspired dance-fitness programme that is pretty popular in Singapore in recent years. I know a couple of friends who go for these classes on a weekly basis. Our instructors of the day were from 1Fiesta. To have an idea of how an outdoor Zumba session with them looks like, watch the video below:

It may not look like much, but try it yourself once and you’ll be guaranteed a good workout session. I guess the best thing about Zumba is that it doesn’t matter what age or fitness level you’re at, you’ll still be able to join in the fun.  The instructors are usually very energetic to motivate the crowd, and the rest of us will follow whatever steps they’re dancing to.

While I enjoyed being a part of Singapore’s biggest Zumba event, I gave up after the second hour because I was exhausted. Can you believe that some of the participants actually went on for 4-5 hours?? Amazing stamina.

Plus! Presents Zumba Fitness

To cool myself down I spent some time at some of the booths located outside the tentage. The Coca-Cola booth was quite fun as we get to complete different game challenges and earn free Coke merchandise, and the HPB booth was promoting their 1 Million KG campaign.

Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza

Like many others, I always thought the Plus! Programme (LinkPoints anyone?) was only utilized with grocery shopping at Fairprice. Currently I only have the basic black Plus! card, but I’m considering getting the NTUC Plus! VISA card since I visit Fairprice quite regularly these days -__-. The following cards under NTUC Link can help you earn LinkPoints:

Plus! Card

NTUC Plus! VISA

NTUC Plus!

Plus! VISA

nEbO

So besides holding events such as the Zumba one that I attended, they also have another incentive program called Plus! Rewards where you can redeem your points for something more! For instance, regardless of the following Plus! cards you own, you can use these points to either do partial/full redemption for musicals (uShow) tickets; redeem them for activities (uExperience)  such as simulation flying:

Alternatively there’s also uBid, where Plus! members get to use existing points to bid for a listed prize item (weekly).

If you’re still not interested in any of the above, sometimes it’s just more practical to use your LinkPoints to redeem dining/shopping vouchers under “Top Favourites“.

The Zumba event was a success and I look forward to more Plus! Prgramme Health & Fitness related activities this year!

Reflections – Entering 2015

It was an evening to remember.

The fireworks was spectacular, the atmosphere was electric. I mean, almost every single person at the Marina Bay Singapore Countdown was in such high spirits.

I guess I am lucky I was one of them. I was supposed to be stationed outside Esplanade, with backstage access to have an unobstructed view of the fireworks (my request); but my husband and I was too engrossed in our conversation of our plans in the New Year that we missed the cut-off time to make it back. Due to the massive crowd, it was almost impossible for us to get backstage access unscathed. Some of the audience had after all stood there for hours to get a good view. They “chope” the space with the bigass tripods, portable seats or get their cousins/neighbours/classmates/colleagues to join them thereafter.

My husband and I was re-routed to the Helix bridge, along with 2 other blogger brothers and another photographer from the print media. For a good hour we stood at a special cordoned-off area meant for the media, taking pictures of#selfies and the view. The Helix Bridge wouldn’t be open to the public until the last 30 minutes. It was a blessing in disguise!

Our new allocated spot was AWESOME.

Husband against Singapore’s skyline like a boss waiting for countdown; (left) Special SG50 logo on ArtScience Museum

We were trying to sneak a couple #selfie but the crowd behind yelled “BO JIOOOO!!!!!” at us, one of the best moments that night. It looks like this:

It was at the last 15 minutes that a number of the famous Duck Tour boats came and parked below us, carrying VIPs to catch the fireworks.

Hubs said he thought the long fireworks display was extraordinary, and he finally got to see the full extended video projected onto The Fullerton Hotel (it had a LKY segment). Although we didn’t have tickets to watch Big Bang up-close, but from where we stood we could hear the entire concert performance at the Floating Platform.

MediaCorp Presents: Celebrate SG50

This is just the beginning of all the SG50 activities that are happening throughout the year!! Be it a big or small part, the organizers have definitely put in a lot of effort into THIS countdown.

You see, that’s the problem with me. I was privileged. I am privileged (in certain ways). We are privileged as compared to many Singaporeans. Yet sometimes we take things for granted. I do so unknowingly, and I feel like crap when I do realised it. I want to increase my self-awareness on this flaw this year.

The first quarter of 2015 is almost gone in the blink of an eye. In January, hubs and I were just so busy with all the renovation work, building furniture and shifting in because we had to be ready for open house and move in before Chinese New Year.  Then came February where we start to unpack, clean up and hosted multiple housewarmings, get-togethers (thank you guys, feel so loved!)… We were both exhausted because on top of that he had drama rehearsals and I had dance rehearsals.

Now, we aim to get our house fully set up and focus on our health and careers.

The news of Mr LKY being dependent on a machine has definitely put a damper on the SG50 spirit, considering that we all secretly wish that he would be there to wave his frail arms on 9 August this year. Either way, I hope he gets better soon.

2015 (SG50) will be a remarkable one, I’m sure. As a nation we take a big step forward. As Singaporeans, we are going to take on more responsibilities as new homeowners. I cannot describe the joy of owning our place, but the household chores are seriously no joke. My mom would have said,

i told you so!

Here’s to many more great 50 years. Looking forward to enjoying more SG50 perks and attending events, and most importantly, to catch NATIONAL DAY PARADE (balloting please, please let me win the tickets)!

Vote for N.E.mation! 9 ACRYLICS & MILLENNIUM DRAGONS!

I’m here to garner votes for both my very hardworking and vote-worthy teams ACRYLICS (C01) & MILLENNIUM DRAGONS (C09)!

But first, view their final animation clips:

Be-leaf
by Acrylics, Raffles Instituition 

Thank You, SAF
by Millennium Dragons, CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School

I LOVE THEIR WORKS!!!!

The public voting period is from 17 January to 9 February 2015, and public votes account for 50% of their final scores! Here’s how the voting works.

There are 4 ways to vote, which means each person with an NRIC can vote up to 4 times for a team on different platforms (direct links provided below). With your NAME, EMAIL ADDRESS, NRIC & WHERE YOU LEARNT ABOUT THIS, you can proceed to vote for 3 teams of your liking. 

1) N.E.mation! Facebook App 

2) N.E.mation! Website 

3) N.E.mation MOBILE Site (use your phone!)

4) SMS to 76677 (Copy text below) :

NE9 FB C1,C9, C(your choice) NRIC YOUR NAME

 * * *

Last weekend all the participants were at #NEmation9picnic held outside NLB, where they joined the cast of Ah Boys to Men as well as Power 98 DJs to garner more votes. I took these pictures from FB to see what happened there (I couldn’t attend, so sorry guys!):

I’ve kept in contact with my teams and from what I heard they had a lot of fun, but they were dead beat by the end of the day. Haha.

PLEASE PLEASE VOTE FOR ACRYLICS C01 & MILLENNIUM DRAGONS C09 NOW!!

Homegrown Brand OSIM Celebrates SG50

Happy New Year! It’s 2015 and in the blink of an eye 2 weeks has gone, where did all that time go?!

With my new workload and extra-curricular activities, in addition to the ongoing house renovation and shifting, I am super stretched and having a really hard time juggling everything. D:

As one of the official MBSC bloggers, we were given the honour to review one OSIM product each. I was assigned the OSIM uPhoria Warm, which came in handy this week. Since 2013, OSIM has been one of the official sponsor for Marina Bay Singapore Countdown, and I think it’s great that a well-established local brand is paying it forward by taking part in our Golden Jubilee. 🙂

Much like how Singapore is the leader in economy around the region, I daresay it’s the same for OSIM when it comes to healthy lifestyle products such as massagers. Singapore is proud to have its own success story and so does home-grown brand, OSIM, who has enhanced many Singaporeans’ lifestyle through their development and innovation of their products.

The OSIM uPhoria Warm that I received came in a combination of classy pearl white colour, rose and bronze. This new and improved massager features 8 different massage modes – Relax, Energize, High Heels, Toning, Sleep, Reflexology, Sports Recovery and Senior.

Needless to say, the High Heels and Toning modes are the ladies’ (myself included!) favourite. Although a bulky item, the OSIM uPhoria Warm takes up little space in the house. Equipped with parts and functions such as the calf-glider, kneading discs and vibration plate, the OSIM uPhoria aims to relieve tension, reduce stress and improve circulation of your tired feet.

Even if you find the 8 modes too strong for your liking, you can also opt for the normal “Vibration Massage” or “Glide & Knead” functions. Mr Tan and I both gave the leg massager a try.

It also comes with a Warm function to alleviate muscle aches and strain, like a heated 推拿 session, providing instant relief to my tired legs. Besides leg massagers, OSIM carries a wide range of other healthy lifestyle products which you can check them out HERE.

Anyway, I believe this organic-shaped massager will be a hit when your fellow aunties & uncles come to visit during Chinese New Year, haha!

OSIM has a reputation of making quality massagers. It has grown so much over the decades and even catapulted its brand name onto the world map. I just want to highlight how similar OSIM is to Singapore. We were an unknown third-world country then, and within 50 years we have achieved so much. There are more SG50 activities to look forward to after the countdown ar Marina Bay.  Make this year count! 😀

Marina Bay Singapore Countdown – 3 More Days to 2015!

Mr Tan and I attended the MBSC media preview over the weekend at The Fullerton hotel, and we got to catch the first 3D projection on a boat ride!

Here’s an overview on what’s happening on 31 December 2014 around Marina Bay. The event locations are split mainly into six venues – The Fullerton Hotel, Esplanade, The Float@Marina Bay,  Event Plaza (MBS), Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade and The Promontory@Marina Bay. 

1. The Fullerton Hotel / Merlion Park

If you chose to celebrate countdown at the prestigious hotel, you can catch < Reflections of Our Past, Present & Future>, a digital art showcase featuring a 3D projection mapping display on the facade of Fullerton Hotel Singapore. The building will come alive with light, music and colours, featuring montage of sketches depicting Singapore’s growth and transformation.

The two-minute projection is displayed every half hourly from 8.15pm to 11.15pm until tomorrow night. On the 31st, there will be a special 3-minute extended version of the projection at the same timings and a final run at 11.55pm, which will showcase five key historical milestones and prelude to final countdown:

• Independence – Then-PM Lee Kuan Yew declaring Singapore’s independence
• Housing – Introduction of public housing
• Defence – Start of National Service
• Growth – Rise of Singapore’s economy
• Transformation – Singapore’s development into one of the most liveable cities in the world.

This will be followed by a 10-second countdown to 2015, and a 8-minute fireworks display. Do remember to bring ponchos/umbrellas and your cameras!

2. Esplanade

Take a walk around the bay and you’ll find the SG50 logo displayed on Esplanade’s famous durian-domes. In addition to that, the indie ones can also catch Esplanade’s Celebrate December free music programmes and craft workshops that will take place at the Concourse and Outdoor Theatre.

3. The Float@Marina Bay

Broadcast live on national TV is the much anticipated Celebrate SG50 presented by Mediacorp. Local superstars Stefanie Sun, Kit Chan and Dick Lee will be united with over 60 local celebrities, and regional performers to commemorate 50 years of pop culture and diversity with seven hours of non-stop hits. Korea’s BIG BANG will also be be performing live for the countdown.

4. Marina Bay Sands Event Plaza 

Titled “Drum Gaia”, 400 drummers will be performing live to specially-commissioned music and choreographed fireworks. We managed to catch a snippet of the simulation of the choreographed fireworks display and it’s awesome! The score was composed by local musicians Julian Wong ad Riduan Zalani, who were under the guidance of the late Iskander Ismail.

If you’re there earlier with your family, you can also participate in drum circles, where your children can create rhythms with hand-held percussion instruments.

5. Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade

It’s a flea market!  From handicrafts, clothings and accessories, to lighted gadgets/toys and party novelties, this is where you can do a bit of shopping, beginning from 4pm. Tidbits and light refreshments are available for sale too.

6. The Promontory@Marina Bay

From 1pm, there will be a carnival held at this area, offering food, drinks and games of yesteryears. The concert, Celebrate with the World 2015, will start at 6pm, where there will eight hours of non-stop performances by local artistes and international DJs.

How are you going to spend your last day of 2014? 

Marina Bay Singapore Countdown 2015 – VWOs: Launch of Wishing Spheres

In my first post on Marina Bay Singapore Countdown 2015, I shared about one of the major activities which is the floating red and white wishing spheres you can see on the river in commemoration of SG50.

Jointly presented by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), the 10th edition of Marina Bay Singapore Countdown will usher in Singapore’s Golden Jubilee with more wishes collected on a record 25,000 wishing spheres that is now set afloat in Marina Bay. Five thousand red spheres will be included for the first time to form a giant number ‘50’ in the Bay. I went down to Esplanade to pen my wishes on the wishing spheres and last Friday was also the launch of the wishing spheres by various Voluntary Welfare Organizations (VWOs) in Singapore.

I’m glad to be there to witness the meaningful event, seeing that many smiles were brought to the people’s faces.

Esplanade’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Benson Puah, as well as GE’s CEO, Dr Khoo Kah Siang,were present along with other 200 VWOs members.

They signed the wishing spheres, followed by a symbolic launch of spheres into the water as per the annual tradition.

The VWOs were also treated to dinner and enjoy Celebrate December performances as part of Esplanade’s countdown programme. 

“Marina Bay Singapore Countdown 2015 kicks off the SG50 festivities by bringing people from all walks of life together in a night of celebration. We invite everyone to join us and together, watch the Bay area come alive as we usher in the New Year and the start of Singapore’s golden jubilee. As we wish for an even brighter future, we hope that everyone appreciates the specialness of what we have as a young nation and what is precious in our lives.” – Mr. Benson Phuah

Love her message that’s written on the sphere! 

It was truly a beautiful sight to see people from all walks of life, regardless of age, race or religion where Singaporeans come together as one.

That evening after work the weather was great, I took a stroll from my workplace to Esplanade and enjoyed the view tremendously. Many of the spheres were already floating on the water.  When I approached the outdoor theatre, the staff were cleaning the spheres as it was raining heavily earlier.

Despite the wet floors, there were still many who took time to write their well wishes for SG50, including this adorable pair of grandma & granddaughter!

Have you see this giant poster/display at CityLink Mall?

If you did, you will know that the MBSC has an exciting lineup of programmes this year to welcome our Golden Jubilee!!! 9 days to countdown,10 days to 2015 everybody!! I will try my best to share more on each of them in my upcoming posts! Until then, go pen a wish TODAY and TOMORROW! 🙂

If you want to be part of the Wishing Sphere project, this is your last chance to pen your wishes at Esplanade Outdoor Theatre as well as the Esplanade Concourse area today (22 December) and tomorrow (23 December)! 

N.E.mation! 9 Production Visit #3 – MILLENNIUM DRAGONS (MG)

Who is suffering from Monday blues?

They are. 

For the past three weeks, Millennium Dragons have been busy measuring, drawing, cutting and putting pieces together for their giant pop-up book.  Despite all that, the girls are still three days behind when I visited them last Monday. 😦

BUT! The undefeated girls are motivated by the stress and believe that they will emerge as winners. 😀

It was Family Open House on the day I visited and the parents were given an introduction to N.E.mation!9. Many of the students’ parents and siblings came to show their support, which was really heartwarming. 🙂

As the team’s workload build on, their instructors also assisted in the setup. According to the instructors, Team MG may be a bit slow in terms of progress, but they are very hardworking.

Like the others, I dare not disturb their work-in-progress, hence I was observing quietly at the side. Min Yi’s mom came early and stayed with her throughout the evening to give moral support. ❤

Cindy’s mom and sister also arrived earlier and her chubby little sister was eating while kneeling next to her, watching her draw the next big scene. She has just completed the airport scene earlier and was feeling tired, because that scene was challenging as she has to create it in 3D (see picture on my Instagram).

Of course there were also fun times, where the Top 10 teams also celebrated the co-founder of Animage , Wei Siong’s birthday the week before.

You may have noticed by now that the girls are sweet and kawaii, just check out the manga eyes they did for our SAF personnel! 0.0

MG has to film the turning of the pages in the final week of productions and the teams are allowed to come back and do some touch up for their animation this week, so hopefully the girls manage to do all that!

Go go fighting, 加油 Millennium Dragons!

LIKE them on NEmation Top 10 Facebook App. [MILLENNIUM DRAGONS]. 

N.E.mation! 9 Production Visit #3 – ACRYLICS

The production of the animation have finally concluded last week!

By the looks of the pictures and blog entries I saw online, the students all seemed to have enjoyed thoroughly. I wouldn’t be surprised though, they deserved the massive celebration after all the hard work put in. According to past years’ tradition, the wrap-party is a celebrated fanfare with the entire lounge filled with balloons, buffet dinner, games, sparkling drinks, and this year even had pinatas! So, so awesome.

Team leader Clarence was busy preparing the content on their Wacom tablet. 

I couldn’t make it to the wrap-party, but managed to catch up with my teams on Monday’s open house. Families came to visit in the evening and I got to meet some of the parents too. When I arrived, the boys were still in the midst of setting up what they want to showcase.

The boys’ teacher, Ms Xie, was helping out in their tent and were teaching the boys how to be gentleman by offering me their snacks (pictured above). Haha. Brayden, in the background was still playing with their makeshift football.

Here’s a screenshot of Team Acrylics’ for their showcase – animated Brayden, aloe vera plant, simplified animation with self-composed song and the old-school coolie warehouse.

Before the parents/families went around to visit the exhibits, they were shown the process of selection and the scope of N.E.mation.

Brayden’s family came earliest and we watched Brayden gave a presentation on the story concept. His dad also found the animation entertaining and engaging, which I think is great!

Brayden is the most confident among the three boys and he did really well with the sharing session! He was also the only who said they are confident of their work and winning the competition. The two others are worried about the public voting, so PLEASE VOTE FOR THEM IN JANUARY & FEBRUARY!

Why do you think you don’t stand a high chance of winning?

Because we’re an all-boys team, but the other girl-groups have beauty.

Oh, so it’s relative? The lack of beauty in your group will determine low voting numbers?

Aiyah, girls have more leverage.

Hahaha, that’s the boys’ logic, and i hope to prove them wrong.

While waiting for more visitors, Kok Hai wasted no time and continued touching up the animation. Even with all the long hours and late nights they spent working, the boys remained chirpy and energetic. The only time I saw them being awkward and shy was when they have to present in front of crowds. 🙂

This is also one of those awkward moments, when they have to take a picture with me. Lol.

In the final week of production, ACRYLICS are left with putting the animated characters with the background.

For some reason, I think Clarence’s brother is rather intimidating…  such pressure.

Anyway, the boys are still very active on social media so please help to “LIKE” them on the Facebook App Top 10 Teams!  Note that during the voting period, you will also stand to win attractive prizes such as iPad Air 2, iPad Mini etc.  

So happy for ACRYLICS that they have endured the toughest three weeks, congratulations! 😀

N.E.mation! 9 Production Visit #2 – MILLENNIUM DRAGONS (MG)

By the time you’re reading this, Millennium Dragons from St. Nicholas Girls School have already finished most of the scenes for their animation. All the late night staying back in school to finish their work will be paid off in the wrap-up party on the third week of production.

To motivate all top 10 teams in the competition, some of them have been bringing snacks from home to share, leave encouraging cards and banners for the other teams and I heard that some even gave handmade keychain/souvenirs for new friends. All these are so heartening to hear and see, and definitely makes the process of animation much more fun.

Since my workplace has a Medz cafe nearby, I thought I would get both teams a rainbow cake to brighten up the (rainy)day! In return, the girls also gave me a cup of KOI. 😀

Did I already mention that they are the only team that chose to use make a giant paper-cut pop-up book to create their animation??!

Due to the nature of the medium being labour intensive, the girls didn’t have much time to blog about their progress. But here’s what I manage to document from Week 2!

Despite their attempts to to tidy their desks …

 It still looks like this or worse every time I visit, hahaha.

One of the biggest accomplishments last week was the completion of the Black Knight. This is how it’ll look when they attach it to the pop-up book.

I especially like how the team leader, Min Yi, brightens up when Cindy “opens” the plane. 🙂

Using different recycled materials, MG showed me how to put them into creative use, such as making the rotor blade and mast of the Chopper.

This is the area in the studio where they will spend most of their time in the following week. Upon completion of the pop-up book, MG will have to animate scene by scene before the final editing!

How MG came about the concept of their animation is actually inspired by their school’s Gratitude initiative. Each week, the girls have to pen down in their journal who and why they are thankful for, be it family, friends or someone who has been kind. This initiative has led them to appreciate the little things people do for them.

Without our SAF and NSmen keeping an eye out for us, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy what we do every day – be it studying, working or playing

Thank you for protecting our nation. 

N.E.mation! 9 Production Visit #2 – ACRYLICS

I went back to Nanyang Polytechnic to check on the boys’ progress last week and from what I can see, they are on track with their schedule and have covered quite a bit of work.

“This is awkward” – Kok Hai

Team leader Clarence.

Brayden was demonstrating how they have animated the cropped photographs to achieve exaggerated expressions. That was done using a software called CrazyTalk Animator 2.

First Clarence had to “mark” out the features on the face, then Brayden took over and manipulated a particular region using the tools on the right screen. I can imagine it being a lot of fun to distort friends’ faces using the software. 😀

Like this.

Within a week, I also noticed new random additions in ACRYLICS’ tent such as funny cut-outs, and captions. Apparently their tent will be hijacked from time to time when they’re out of lunch etc.  Random stuff was placed and they had to go on “treasure hunts”.

With the leader in command, Clarence demanded guided his team to stick to the timeline to ensure that the animation can be completed on time.

Kok Hai, you better finish this tonight or you don’t get to go home.”

I kid. On an unrelated note, I spotted this on the desk and asked who drew it. This is drawn by their instructor, Jonathan. These guys ah, all so talented one. #envy 

Week 2 flew past and the boys worked on piecing the limbs and costumes to each characters and it’s tedious work!

Lastly, the boys are really active on social media and maintaining their NEmation blog, so for a more immediate update on your schoolmates’ progress, you can read their blog entries HERE.

Don’t forget your daily motto —

LEAF LAUGH LOVE ❤