SAFRA Yishun Country Club Open House

Action hero or pai kiah? There aren’t many places in Singapore where we can legally pose with a gun. This is one such place. Read on to find out exactly where you can have your Terminator / Rambo / Lara Croft moment…

As I opened the door and entered the clubhouse, a sweet whiff of cotton candy greeted me and momentarily distracted my gaze from the horde at the reception. Is the circus in town?

Well, something like that. But the performers are you at…

Oh what fun! For a small fee, members and guests get to clown it out at a funky photo booth, get caricatured, take on heart-stopping ‘stunts’ at the adventure zone, hone marksmanship at an indoor shooting range and much more!

The one-day only open house of SAFRA Yishun Country Club was packed with people for good reason. Most of the activities such as rock climbing, Canopy Challenge Walk and Indoor Air Weapon Range were opened to public specially during the open house.

On normal days, one needs to be a member of the various sports and shooting clubs and pay equipment rental fees before access to those facilities is granted. So a SAFRA open house is definitely an event not to be missed to sample all the fun and adventure!

Monkeying around with existing friends and newfound ones. What a great place to foster friendship and connect!

Here’s a good reason to laugh at ourselves…

… through the comical interpretations by a caricaturist. The queue was rather long so I didn’t get mine drawn.

The main draw for me at the open house was the chance for a shootout at the Indoor Air Weapons Range.

Anyone above 13 years of age got a chance to take out the bull’s-eye. Showing off your bon bon is a bonus.

One job I won’t be able to do is an assassin. My aims with a F-16 rifle were usually off the mark during my army training days. I haven’t held a gun in a long time. I wonder how I would fare at this 10m air weapons range.

Pellets used for the shoot. Each shooter is given a target sheet and 6 bullets for every trial.

After a short briefing on safety measures and how to take aim, I tested my marksmanship after almost 18 years!

Not too bad! At least I managed to punch all 6 bullets within the black spot. Phew… the shooting range was great fun!

Moving on from the indoor range, the next thrill sits atop a hill at SAFRA Yishun Country Club.

I attempted this 25m wall on a previous visit to SAFRA Yishun but I couldn’t conquer it. Perhaps one day I will.

Spotted : Spiderman. Check out this guy’s traps and deltoids!

It’s no child’s play. Well, in this case, it is. Kids and first-time climbers can try the easier walls before attempting the more challenging ‘adult’ walls.

In addition to rock climbing, the Adventure Sports Centre houses 2 sets of obstacle courses that will definitely get the adrenalin pumping at maximum capacity. Not for the faint hearted. Pictured here is the Cargo Net Bridge.

Cirque du Soliel? Almost. Called the Elvis Walk, this challenge requires adventurers to hold on to dangling braids while negotiating a narrow rope-path suspended amongst a canopy of trees. I think my legs would turn to jelly.

Spotted : Fly trapped in a spider web. The obstacle courses are definitely no walk in the park and stretches not just one’s fitness, but guts.

I had a really good time during the open house and wished it wasn’t just for one day. Other SAFRA clubs will be holding open houses at different times of the year so keep a lookout and join in the fun with friends and family!

Scaling New Heights in Fitness & Adventure

No need to search for that elusive Rapunzel to let down her hair. I satisfied (and survived) my lust for thrills at SAFRA Yishun’s towering 18m abseil challenge and many more!

In the not too distant past, I could hardly sit still and had an insatiable appetite for the kind of adventures and thrills mama wouldn’t approve of. Rollercoaster rides?… No problem. Skydiving?… Where do I sign up? Bungee Jumping?… The higher the better!

Then age happened. I’m 39 by the way. And suddenly, I get mild acrophobia just by staring down my HDB window on the 15th floor. Where I used to be a daredevil, I now have a distaste for heights and anything that could raise the heart rate beyond a yawn. To rub salt into the wound, my fitness level declined and my muscles are melting faster than I could feed them with albumin. Plus, I’ve been inflicted with a chronic neck problem since late last year.

But being older doesn’t need to mean leading a poorer quality of life. A lot of how we feel and look has to do with metabolism. The slower the metabolism, the less zest we have. The good news is, we can re-program our metabolism to behave younger through sound nutrition and certain exercises.

I’ve resolute to switch on my metabolic rate again for a long time, maybe not back to when I was 18 but at least 28 *haha*, but work and frequent travels constantly thwart my plans. Thankfully, I’ve made it as SAFRA’s partner in fitness for the next 12 months and I’m excited to start reclaiming my health through facilities and possibly personal training (PT) sessions at its various clubhouses built specially for NSmen!

As I embark on this journey to rehabilitate bodily aches, improve muscle tone and reignite my passion for physical adventure, I’ll share highlights and fitness tips along the way as well as progress updates in achieving my ideal physique (I have a secret desire to be like Schwarzenegger. Whoops. I said it. It’s no secret now… haha) should I go on PT.

I am determined to succeed in delivering the promise of better health for my body and mind.

Have you made your promise to live better?

A Mystery Package from Nestle

A mysterious package marked “Top AFL Secret” arrived at my doorstep this afternoon. Could Nestlé have mistaken me for Tom Cruise or David Duchovny?

The red label made the parcel even more intriguing. What secret does it hold? Will it self-destruct in 5 minutes?

The truth is in there. Love the simple yet eye-catching packaging that came with a balloon floating above the box.

There’s even a docket customized with my photo taken during Songkran in April this year! How very apt that this pic was chosen to fit the secret spy/agent theme. This shows the effort undertaken by the sender in researching my background.

But the photo was only a prelude to the amount of trouble Nestlé went through to know the person they are sending the package to. I was so tickled and amused by the Bio section that I was laughing from beginning to end. This is the first time I received something from a brandowner with this level of creativity and thoughtfulness to launch a campaign. By going the extra mile to know its customers, no wonder Nestlé is at the top of the food chain.

*Drum roll…* Ta-da! The contents inside the box. It was another surprise as I was expecting the parcel to be a food hamper of the company’s household brandnames such Kit Kat, Milo, NESCAFE and Maggi noodles among others. But no! It’s a call for a holistic approach to health and nutrition through the T.A.G. principle in order to enjoy an Appetite for Life (AFL).

Enjoy an Appetite for Life (love the double meaning in the phrase) is Nestlé’s latest campaign to reinforce its promise to deliver good food and a good life to Singaporeans by reminding us that sound nutrition, an active lifestyle and connecting with people around us are tenets to great health and overall wellness.

The 3 items in the box each represented the T.A.G. principle to enduring health. ‘T’ is for Togetherness where sharing a good meal or snack with friends and love ones strengthens our communal bonds and social ties. The t-shirt sent to me were size ‘S’ instead of the often over-sized ‘M’ or worst still, ‘L’ sizes that I’ve been given for events. Either my preference for tight tees is very obvious or Nestlé and its PR company once again showed how meticulous they are in knowing their target audience.

‘A’ is for Activity to keep the body and mind in good shape through exercise and continuous learning. Based on my ‘Agent Profile’, I’ve been assigned the mission of completing an activity, which is to spend an adrenalin-pumping day at Adventure Cove Waterpark! Nestlé must’ve known that I haven’t been to this theme park and marked this as my mission. Fantastic!

‘G’ is for Goodness and a shoutout to eat well to ensure we get adequate nutrients. Eating well is more than just about having fresh, nourishing food but eating everything in moderation. There is no such thing as a good or bad food but a good or bad diet! It is okay to indulge in an occasional chocolate or ice-cream, but balance is the key.

Not that I’m a big-time blogger or social media blockbuster but amongst the campaign launches I’ve had the privilege to be included in so far, ’Appetite for Life‘ has to be one of the most interesting and fun in terms of concept, mechanisms, copywriting and execution. I think it’s a great case study in marketing via social media engagement.

Normally, I prefer not to announce commercial promotions on this blog because I would like to keep things I talk about heartfelt and grounded in direct personal experiences. Afterall, this blog is not a classifieds listing. But I really enjoyed and appreciate the creativity and attention to details in this marketing exercise. So here’s what the good folks at Nestlé has in store for Singapore netizens and shoppers these coming months…

GIVE-A-BASKET, SURPRISE GOODIES & PREMIUM GIFTS!

In conjunction with Appetite for Life, Nestlé has launched a ‘Give-a-basket‘ campaign where you can send colleagues, friends, love ones and even strangers virtual baskets of Togetherness, Activity, or Goodness and you or your sendee get to win a real basket packed with Nestlé products weekly!

To take part, simply LIKE Nestlé Singapore Facebook page and click on ‘Appetite for Life’ to start sending baskets of delights from now till 31 October 2013!

What’s more, in the month of June 2013, shoppers of Nestlé products at Giant or Sheng Siong outlets islandwide stand to win Nestlé goodies baskets at any time of the day!

And from now till July 2013, every S$25 purchase of Nestlé products at NTUC FairPrice, Cold Storage, Giant and Sheng Siong entitles shoppers to exclusive premium gifts such as food warmers and glass bowl sets.

If there is any good reason to enjoy an Appetite for Life, the time is now!

Time-Lapse Photography of Sunrise Over Mount Kinabalu

Structures materializing from nothingness, a flower unfolding its petals through the night, a butterfly’s metamorphosis from pupa to adult stage, the sky changing its hues while the sun rises and sets… where it is not feasible to run a video camera for a long period of time to capture these defining moments, there’s time-lapse photography.

I’ve always found this photographic technique fascinating for the photo-video it produces but have never found the motivation to try it until a stay at the beautiful Gaya Island Resort. Located on Pulau Gaya, the largest of 5 islets sitting off the northwestern coast of Kota Kinabalu City, the resort’s hillside villas offer a jaw-dropping view overlooking the South China Sea with the horizon rimmed by Kinabalu’s mountainous range. This awe-inspiring setting was the perfect muse to coax my first attempt at time-lapse photography because I wanted my first time to be special!

In this post, I’ll share my experience and tips on time-lapsing a sunrise in the hope that the information will be useful for anyone attempting this technique for the first time.

Equipment and Necessities :

- DSLR camera (ensure that your battery is fully charged)

- Tripod

- Cable release or remote control

- Torch light, drinking water, towel and insect repellent (if photographing close to nature)

Time-lapse photography involves 2 steps… The first step is acquiring the images and the second step is combining the photos to form a video clip.

Step 1 : Acquiring the Images

Before embarking on a time-lapse photography session, always find out what time is sunrise at the locale you are shooting and be there an hour early to recce, set up equipment and frame the shot. In Singapore, I am used to daybreak happening at around 6.15am but at Kota Kinabalu, the sky starts brightening from 5.30am!

4:30am. It’s pitch black during the wee hours so a torchlight is essential for knowing you are putting all the parts in the right places.

As it was very dark, it was hard to frame the scene and get the horizon straight. I used the city lights in the distance to gauge and frame my shot.

Camera Settings :

- Switch the camera’s lens focus to Manual and set it to infinity

- Use Aperture (‘A’) mode for the shoot and set F-number to 16 (F16)

- Set ISO to the minimal (the lowest for my DSLR is 200)

- Turn on remote control shooting mode (if you use a cable release to control your shutter, this step is not necessary)

- Switch on your patience if your DSLR doesn’t come with a built-in interval timer like Nikon D7000 (I’m using Nikon D90 so I stood by my camera the whole time to click the remote control to shoot)

My time-lapse photos were taken from Gaya Island Resort’s Kinabalu Villa number 852 from 5:00am to 7:00am.

5:41am. Witnessing the arrival of dawn is truly magical. The highest peak in the distance is Mount Kinabalu. Awesome!

Pano view of the scene in front of me at daybreak.

Timing the Time-Lapse Intervals

Math and I are eternal enemies so my mind went into screensaver mode the instant I tried understanding how to calculate my number of shots. Basically, you have to first determine how long you want your time-lapse video to be and decide on how many shots you want per second of your video.

For example, if I want a 10-second video with 24 photos per second, I’ll have to shoot 240 images. Shooting from 5 – 7am (7,200 seconds), the interval between my shots would be 30 seconds. Which means I’ll take 1 photo and 30 seconds later, take another. The shots continue until I reach 240 shots.

That’s a lot of calculating to do!

So I simplify. I just made it a point to take a shot every 15 seconds from 5-7am. It didn’t matter how many photos I got, I just combined them all into the time-lapse video. I wasn’t concerned with how long the video lasted either. I ended up with about 365 shots and a sunrise segment that lasted 38 seconds on the video at the end of this post.

6:17am. The fiery disc popped out from the mountainous horizon.

I had it easy with this time-lapse shoot as the location was at the balcony of our villa. During the 2-hour shooting process, a Macaque Monkey came to visit and 2 Oriental Piped Hornbills flew by while countless birds serenaded the dawn. The entire experience was pure magic!

Such a sense of accomplishment for not sleeping in and miss the rare opportunity to time-lapse this incredibly scenic sunrise.

Step 2 : Creating a Time-Lapse Video

After capturing all the images, the next challenge is to combine them all into a video. There are quite a few options with Lightroom providing a pain-free way to do the job, but since I don’t have that program, I went with Photoshop to batch process the photos for a lower resolution and Windows Movie Maker to string the shots into a video.

It is necessary to batch process the photos first to shrink their file sizes before importing them into Windows Movie Maker to cut down on processing time. In Windows Movie Maker, I set the animation duration between photos to 0.07 seconds, add in a title, music, ending message and voila! I have my first time-lapse video! Hope you’ll enjoy it…

Johnnie Walker Circuit Nights Monaco Party

In anticipation of Formula One 2013 season’s grand prix at Monaco, Johnnie Walker revved up the pre-race excitement with another premium edition of its Circuit Nights party. Held at Avalon, the VIP event thrilled fans and partygoers with a spectacular line-up of superstar DJs and a chance to luxe it up at Monaco!

Walk this way for a night of partying in style with the Striding Man!

Avalon rises out of Marina Bay’s waterfront as the only club-on-water in Singapore.

Juliana turned into Drooliana in the presence of the suave captains.

Inside Avalon before the crowd filled in.

In conjunction with the Monaco grand prix, Johnnie Walker is running an exclusive contest that will send 4 fans on a trip of a lifetime to experience the race in person! Details on how to enter this contest at the end of the post.

My favourite way to savour Johnnie Walker is on the rocks. What’s yours?

My aromatic Johnnie Walker nectar blooming in a glass.

Gold is the way to go!

Caught up with a friend and made some new ones. They are fans who won invitations to the invite-only party on Johnny Walker Singapore’s Facebook page.

DJs Denzel Park from Australia turning on the heat with progressive beats.

DJ Helena got the dancefloor moving to her hypnotic grooving.

I hope they didn’t catch a chill.

The dancing girls above inspired Juliana.

Johnnie Walker packed Avalon with a huge crowd.

Firing up the night with a mega dose of Johnnie Walker’s award-winning whisky.

Would you like to go on a luxury trip to Monaco to live it up at the grand prix in person? I do!

The party is only an opener to the real F1 circuit experience in Monaco. Johnnie Walker Singapore is offering fans a chance to win a VIP trip to Monaco worth $80,000!

The lucky winners (2 winners + 1 friend each) will arrive in Monaco in style by helicopter and soak in the thrills of the iconic street race from onboard a private yacht, before meeting the Vodafone Mercedes McLaren F1 team.

All you need to do is purchase a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label or Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve from March to end of April 2013 and it will include an unique Gold Pass code.  Key the codes on the app on Johnnie Walker Singapore Facebook page.

Bottles with the Gold Pass are available throughout Singapore at all leading clubs, pubs, bars, hotels and supermarkets. The more bottles you purchase, the higher the chances of winning! Good luck!

Rustic Serendipity at Pengerang

Spontaneity ruled Good Friday 2013 as Siow Har or I made an unplanned trip to Pengerang. It was 3 years ago (also on Good Friday) that we first discovered the Malaysian coastal town famous for its lobster dishes and had wanted to revisit ever since.

Although we’ve been to Pengerang before, what we intended to do this time round bordered on madness. We wanted to cycle from Sungai Rengit (the chief township in Pengerang) to Desaru, which is 30km away, and back. Total distance : 60km.

The distance we decided to cover may be a yawn to seasoned cyclists but for leisure paddlers like us who don’t own a bike and cycled only when the moon turned blue, 60km is a killer.

But we did it anyway without worrying thinking too much into or understanding fully what that amount of cycling can do to us. We learnt the hard (and long) way that long-distance cycling is not something to be spontaneous about but requires careful research, more so than regular holiday sightseeing.

Packed for an adventure of the unexpected. Our Pengerang trip began with an hour’s bumboat ride from Singapore Changi Point Ferry Terminal to Tanjung Pengelih Ferry Terminal. The bumboat’s retro imprints felt like time had stood still.

We didn’t reach our destination, missing by about another 5-6km, but it was a personal feat nonetheless. Our return cycling tour covered a total distance of about 50km and we took 7 hours due to the many photo stops we made along the way.

That’s the great thing about being the masters of our own journey, we had control over when to stop and were able to explore many places off the usual tourist track. And also discovered parts of our bodies we never knew existed if not for the strains and cramps we endured under such an extreme physical expedition.

I will post up more info, tips and details about the experience later over at Explore Life Lah!. For now, this post will capture snapshots from the rustic-scenic ride and beautiful encounters along the way!

Leaping with energy on reaching Sungai Rengit, the chief township of Pengerang, This photo was taken in front of a small sea-facing Chinese temple off the main road.

Rode warrior! Golden wheat fields and an unbroken chain of balmy coconut trees accompanied our ride on the right while to the left, sand quarrying had defaced mother nature.

Small girl with big bag against a long road and monster trucks. I take my hats off to Siow Har who completed the rigorous trip carrying a backpack that could’ve easily weighed 10kg. We were given a lot of dust facials as cars and industrial vehicles whipped up clouds of smog as they passed us by.

Saw 2 abandoned godowns and decided to check them out. Glad we did because the aura of neglect made for a splendid bask on camera.

Relishing a chance to get upclose with the padi fields carpeting Pergerang’s countryside.

Siow Har fell off her bike and while we checked for injuries (thankfully it was just a bruise), we also surveyed the surrounding burnt field and saw these dandelions ready to seed. I’ve never seen a dandelion in the wild before.

Statuesque trees lined our route with numerous picturesque moments.

Every so often while travelling in a car or coach, such beautiful sceneries sweep past in the blink of an eye. Riding a bike, I am able to savour nature at my own pace and retain its beauty in my SD card.

When we first rode past this scene, it was high tide. On our way back, the waters have receded and revealed a web of mangroves that led to a single treeling rising above the waves.

Took a rest stop at Punggai Beach and hiding in the shade to cool off my badly burnt knees and shin. My chicken legs are proof that I hardly cycle.

We didn’t reach the more popular and touristy Desaru Beach but we found our spot on the quieter Punggai Beach about 15km away. It is not about settling for the next best thing, but appreciating where we’ve arrived at for getting anywhere required a lot of effort. Often, we’re too focused on arriving at our goal and missed being grateful for the minor successes along the way.

There were 3 things against us on the road trip – the scorching sun, state of mind and our bodies. The heat was relentless and coming face-to-face with a long winding road that stretches endlessly into the horizon was a test on determination. I’ve wanted to turn back a couple of times but pressed on. Not looking ahead and just focusing on my front wheel helped keep the mind from being overwhelmed. But alas, the body has its limits. Our legs were cramping so badly, especially after conquering a slope, to the point that I can feel every part of my leg muscles. Thank goodness we had Tiger Balm!

This was the last point we got to before turning back. Desaru should be under 10km away but it was already 4pm and we were worried that our ride back may coincide with nightfall. We didn’t want to risk being roadkill as the country roads lacked street lamps. After this shot, we cycled the 24km back to Sungai Rengit. *Pant*

Pointing to where we cycled to on a map at Tanjung Pengelih Ferry Terminal. Sungai Rengit is at the lower tip of the light green map and Desaru is where the figure of a swimmer is above my finger.

It had been one tough ride from Sungai Rengit but an awesome adventure! Will definitely attempt it again and make it to Desaru the next time!

Related Post : Pengerang – A Cycling Tour from Sugai Rengit to Desaru

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