S1F: Family Olympics 2012

Sunray Woodcraft Construction Pte Ltd (SWC) held its first ever family day last September. Being part of the recreation committee, S1F (Sunray 1 Family), I got involved planning the event. Everyone got to mingle outside of work and had a great time!

The S1F Ambassadors demonstrate how the games are played.

Evelyn and I racing each other to get the 'bone in Dog & Bone. 

Initially I thought it will be easy to outrun this girl...

But then I just saw her come at me, plus another opponent, Vincent, joins in!

I fell flat right after that. No photo available. :)

Yellow Team + Jona (Dog & Bone)

Red Team (Paopi RJ is there!) (Dog & Bone)

Blue Team (Dog & Bone)

White Team (Dog & Bone)

Only in Singapore: Pink Dot SG 2012

Pink Dot SG 2012 was a blast. We were joined by Denise and her colleague Yin-yin and all of us experienced it for the first time. When it was time to form the dot and everybody was singing Cindy Lauper’s True Colors (at some point after graduating from university, Denise ‘gave’ me this song), I felt that the whole world was still and all that mattered was that moment. I looked at Paopi and wished that we could stay forever and spend the rest of our lives loving each other deeply.

 We're finally here!

 Paopi with shocked auntie

 Yin-yin, Denise, me and Paopi

Getting Cultured

One thing that Paopi and I love about Singapore is its easy access to and appreciation for art. We're always on the lookout for free art shows and performances. Esplanade Presents' Beautiful Sunday is featuring home-grown talents until next month, and so one Sunday after hearing mass, we took off for the city and enjoyed an afternoon by ourselves.

Lau Pa Sat

Passing by Raffles MRT Station

London School of Business & Finance

Approaching the city

The Esplanade (Durian as Singaporeans call it)

Broadway Without Music

At Makansutra

Jologs at Lucky Plaza

Powpow and I got tickets to the preview of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Before we went to Shaw Lido's preview theater, we ate dinner at Jologs in Lucky Plaza for some home-style food.

Jologs is located in the fourth floor of LP. It can be a challenge to find, because it's not near the escalators. To go there, go to the left quadrant facing Orchard Road.

I liked this wall decor, which showed typical Filipino scenes and ingredients.

Here's Powpow, hungry after a long day at work, waiting for our food.

We ordered these:

Lechon Kawali

Sinigang na Baboy

Pancit Miki-Bihon

Everything was good--simple, familiar, and thus, comforting.

The lechon kawali was crispy and yummy. The sinigang was sour, with thick cubes of tender pork and some slices of veggies. The pancit was excellent, though the serving was small.

My only suggestion for Jologs is to avoid using styrofoam and plastic utensils, considering that each viand costs $12 up.

OVERALL SCORE: 9/10

JoLogs

304 Orchard Road #04-03

Lucky Plaza

Singapore

http://cafecallereal.com/

Pangdemonium's Spring Awakening

Last Friday (Feb 3), we caught the opening (yes, the very first!) show of Spring Awakening at the National Library's Drama Centre.

These are our tickets:

Because we booked early, we got really good seats--just four rows away from the stage, giving us close look at Pangdemonium's production.

Spring Awakening, as the title suggests, is a coming-of-age story about a bunch of teenagers who get a taste of the real world's many pleasures and pains. The play tackles difficult topics: suicide, sexual abuse, unplanned pregnancy.

Some comments about the cast:

Photo credit: www.feveravenue.com

It's nice to find a Filipina cast in the female lead role. Julia Abueva coasts by smoothly in her sweet role as Wendla (the character's name distracts me, by the way). Initially, I thought that she lacked gravitas to do justice to her character, but hey, the role is that of a clueless, virginal lass, so I shouldn't be nitpicking. I have no doubt she'll eventually mature and be a star in the international scene.

Photo credit: www.feveravenue.com

Powpow thought that Eden Ang (in the pivotal role of Moritz) was more concerned with getting his moves right than actually singing the part well. And I agree: he seemed like a poseur--someone who does rock star poses and stances without really feeling and understanding the heart of the song.

Photo credit: www.feveravenue.com

I think the star of the show was Nathan Hartono. He sang bravely and wonderfully, connecting with the audience on a primal level. Two songs--"Touch Me" and "Left Behind"--became my favorite because of him.

Pangdemonium's Spring Awakening bristles with raw emotions, but somehow, it didn't really "come together" or "hit the spot" for me, if you know what I mean. It had great moments, especially "The Bitch of Living" and the two songs I mentioned, but ultimately, the musical (at least during the opening) didn't fully satsfy me.

OVERALL SCORE: 6.75/10

Pangdemonium! Productions Presents: Spring Awakening!

Date: 3 – 26 February 2012

Venue: Drama Centre Theatre at the National LibraryTickets can be purchased from Sistic (www.sistic.com.sg, tel: 6348-5555).

Hanis Cafe & Bakery

Last night, Powpow and I watched 'Spring Awakening' at the National Library's Drama Centre (review coming up in a separate post!). The show was slated to start at 8PM, so before we entered the theater, we grabbed dinner at the cafe just outside the lobby of the library building.

Hanis Cafe & Bakery is an alfresco affair, with different burgers, sandwiches, pasta, and pastries on the menu. The choices are quite extensive (overwhelming even). Here's what we had:

Aglio Oglio with Chicken and Fungi

Spaghetti with Chicken Sausage (in homemade tomato sauce)

We had both pastas upgraded to set meals--soup, bread, beverage and a slice of fruit were added to our pasta dishes.

The soup--I think it was cream of mushroom--was a bit salty, so I cut up my bread and soaked the pieces in the soup. This made the soup more hearty.

The Spaghetti with Chicken Sausage was rustic. The sauce did seem to taste homemade. I had expected the sausage to have some full-bodied zing to it (as German sausages do), but it was bland.

Powpow was not happy with his Aglio Oglio, since it was too spicy for his taste. But I liked how the pasta combined different types of mushroom.

For dessert, we had a Blueberry Crumble, which was too hard (sorry no photo!).

Despite the food being so-so, I would be interested to try out the rest of their pastries. They have different pies and cakes, perfect for sharing with friends.

OVERALL SCORE: 7/10

Hanis Cafe & Bakery

100 Victoria Street

#01-01 National Library Building

Singapore

http://www.hans.com.sg/hanis.html