Surabaya [19/07 - 21/07]

This is my first overseas trip to Indonesia (by flight) and I will be travelling with a fellow colleague. We departed from Singapore in the evening and arrived 2 hours later. Indonesia's time is 1 hour in front of Singapore (similar to Japan).

We arrived at Surabaya airport and our chauffeur picked us up and brought us to the hotel. We are staying at The Sun Hotel.



The front desk counter service is pretty good and we were treated to a cocktail drink.



Here is how our hotel room looks like. It's extremely spacious, but the internet during the first day was down. :(



For the next 2 days, we will be having breakfast in the hotel.



I have a large breakfast each morning. Here is the first round. It's a great Indonesian fair.



And the second round. I love the local chips.



We didn't do much during this trip to Surabaya. It's mainly work and hotel room.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel [07 - 08 / 08]

On this day I will be checking out the hotel rooms and skypark of Marina Bay Sands (MBS) with lovely AJ. Previously in May, I have visited the shopping arcade and the hotel lobby of MBS over here with FP.

There are 3 towers in MBS, at each tower there is a seaward-facing or financial district-facing front. There are two lift landings that service the lower 22-floors of the hotel and the upper levels of MBS respectively.

Here we are at the walkway of level 10.



A view from the top down into the general lobby of MBS hotel.



The rooms are huge! And the beds are cosy. According to AJ, the hotel is very well-equipped and well-thought of for visitors.



The bathroom is equally large and posh.



With many mirrors.



It's quite a good getaway in the city.



I just got my iPad on Friday (6th August) and managed to equip it with all the apps the night before. Here we have AJ playing Diner Dash. iPad is suitable for multi-player, so I joined in to become the chef while AJ is the main player.



After a week discussion with AJ on how to make tempura, I got down making it on the Saturday morning. Got down to NTUC supermarket to get the freshest ingredient for the day and begin preparing it, here is the final end-product - golden crispy tempura.



And AJ has given it the pass!



The most famous segment of MBS is the sky park, and the swimming pool is only for hotel guests.



Let's take a look around.



The view directly to the front.



And let's take a look at the other side.



I have always been curious what lies beyond the pool, is there an additional barrier which prevents swimmers from falling down? It is actually double-barrier, so you will have to go down two floors and you will still be stopped by a barrier.



Here I am sunbathing.



The evening time is here.



We decided to check out the 'gondola' boats and the river that run through MBS shopping arcade.



Here is AJ with Merly. This posting is continued with a separate post call the Youth Olympic Games Opening.



It is definitely a lovely and memorable weekend with AJ. We have visited the MBS skypark, explored the hotel rooms and preview the YOG opening ceremony. And I have also learned how to cook tempura.

Youth Olympic Games Opening [07/08]

AJ managed to get tickets for the YOG opening rehearsal and here we go! The Double Helix bridge is closed. Since we have tickets, we can just walk through it.



Here are the two YOG mascots.



Notice the Singapore Flag emblem (crescent moon and 5 stars) beneath the sky park. There are also lasers shooting out.



The financial district is beginning to feel a lot like Hong Kong, with laser lights shooting into the night sky.




The audience will also have to stand up and dance together.



With fireworks galore!



Fireworks going off at MBS.



Here comes the performances.



Each segment is split into chapters and the below is a chapter on 'Monster'.