What every F1 fan should know about Singapore

There is an air of unmistakable excitement in Singapore as the country heads into the opening night of the 2008 Formula1 Grand Prix on September 28. It will be the first F1 race to run at nighttime and on a street circuit, so expect many surprises from the Singapore GP than you will normally expect from previous F1 Grand Prix. This is going to be a part of motor racing history.

Come get-go time on September 28 Singapore will be overflowing with both F1 fans and tourists alike. Before the frenzy start, here are Singapore must-knows that every visitors ought to know. As part of our F1 Grand Prix coverage, the Singapore Travel Blog gives this essential introductory guide to Singapore and 2008 Formula1 SG races:

General Travel Information—The Singapore Changi Airport is one of the more technologically advanced air terminals in Asia. With the opening recently of the state-of-the-art Terminal-3 of Changi Airport, Singapore has lessened passenger gridlock at its airport and is able to clear tourists off the immigration from 15 to 20 minutes after they leave their flights. So that you can zoom-zoom faster out of the terminal and into your hotel in Singapore for the Formula1 races, be sure to be ready with these travel documents (must be met prior to arrival):

1. A passport with at least six months validity

2. Sufficient funds to last for the intended period of stay in Singapore

3. Confirmed onward/return tickets (where applicable)

4. Entry facilities to their onward destinations, e.g. visas.

5. Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate*

*if you are from any of these countries that are endemic for Yellow Fever.

Hotel, Inn, and other Accommodation—The Marina Bay area has a handful of hotels that will get you near the action of the Formula1 races. Most of these hotels, like the Ritz Carlton, are on the southeastern side of the city. Another vantage point in Singapore is the Bras Basah Road and Orchard Road, which forms the retail and hotel ‘heart’ of the city. Here you can find the Raffles Hotel as well as a cluster of other less-priced hotels.

A little further West from the city center are places of interests such as Chinatownl Little India, the Robertson Quay eating and leisure area, among others. There are also a slew of resort-type hotels on Sentosa Island south of the city and linked by a causeway and cable cars. Below is a list of hotels in Singapore, from three- to five-star hotels, worth checking out:

Cape Inn Singapore
Singapore Beach Hotel
Harbour Ville Hotel
Joo Chiat Hotel
Park View Hotel
Treasure Sentosa Resort
YWCA Singapore Hotel
Tekka Hotel
The Aspinals Hotel
The Ambassador Hotel

Transportation, Communication—From the airport, the Marina Bay area where the races will be held is about 20 minutes away by taxi. It is not a major problem to look for taxis in Singapore. They are cheap and easily available. Taxis are on call 24 hours a day at the taxi stand of the airport departure gate and it normally costs around SGD 20.

A number of hotels also offer shuttle service that serves two or three hotels at a time. Information on fares and availability can be had from the hotel itself. Another way to travel around Singapore is the country’s MRT system.

The East-West line of the system runs from the airport to the city center of Singapore and it normally takes 30 minutes to cover the entire route. The East-West line is connected to the North-South line at the City Hall station. From here you can access the Orchard road area.

Single fare tickets from the airport costs SGD 1.50. If you intend to use the MRT system often, the Singapore Tourist Center website offers transportation packages for unlimited travel on buses and MRT.

For your communication needs, there are wi-fi internet services in Singapore that serve most of the city center. Public areas in the city are hooked up to wireless@sg that gives wireless broadband access with speeds of up to 512 kbps. Also, most GSM and 3G mobile phone services are supported provided you have the necessary international roaming account.

Discover History and Art on International Museum Day 2008

Culture and history buffs, you’re going to love this: from May 31 to June 2, Singapore will be holding International Museum Day, a cultural event wherein the country’s 46 museums will be featuring 39 fun-filled events and activities all aiming to show that museums can be lively and just as interesting tourist destinations when you're visiting Singapore.

With the theme “Museums ALIVE!” the National Heritage Board of Singapore hopes to pique the interests of museum-goers young and old with unique activities such as cultural bus tours, calligraphy classes, and free visits to selected museums. Each day offers something new, and interested visitors can have their choice on what events to check out.

A convenient place to stay during your museum-hopping would be the Tekka Hotel located just near the Mustafa Centre Mall, and is minutes away from Singapore's Museum District. This nicely situated budget hotel offers easy access to Singapore's tourism and culture centers like the Veerama Kaliamman Temple, Sim Lim Square, and even the Singapore Zoo.

Another would be the Beach Hotel, also a lovely but affordable hotel that is just walking distance from Singapore's National Museum, St.Andrew's Cathedral, and the War Memorial. If you ever take a break from visiting your museums of choice, there's still lots of interesting places to go sight-seeing.

For more information on International Museum Day, visit their official site.

Shop 'Til You Drop at the Great Singapore Sale 2008

So you’re a shopaholic and you’ve decided to go crazy at the Great Singapore Sale this year. You‘ve got your credit card or hard-earned cash in hand, comfortable walking shoes on, and probably even a huge bag where you plan to stuff all your purchases in. You might even have a list of your target shopping venues so you can strategize how to go about your mission of finding the best bargains. There’s a determined look on your face; and if other people saw you, they might even think you’re ready for war.

Well soldier, you definitely have the makings of a plan! All the way until July 20 when the Great Singapore Sale closes, you have plenty of time to scour Singapore for those good finds. One other thing you might want to consider, though, is the place you’ll be staying when you need to take a break from your shopping excursion. A good Singapore hotel to choose would be one that’s near most of those target shopping venues on your list so you can conveniently drop off your haul, rest your feet for a while, then easily go right back out for another round of shopping.

If you plan on targeting the Mustafa Centre or Little India, ideal hotels to check in would be The Claremont Hotel, the Aspinals Hotel, and the Tekka Hotel. All three budget hotels offer affordable comfort and are conveniently located within the area and are all walking distance from these shopping hubs. The Farrer Park MRT Station is also just nearby, ready to shuttle you off to other shopping destinations like Orchard Road or Suntec City.

If you’re thinking of going to Bugis, the Marina or Raffles City, the Park View Hotel and the Beach Hotel would be good budget hotel choices, as they are located just a few blocks away from the Bugis Junction, reputed to have fine accessory finds. The Beach Hotel is also near Suntec City, known for their electronic goods. Both offer cozy, reasonably-priced rooms aside from the convenient location.

For more information on the Great Singapore Sale this year, visit their site to learn more about their tourist specials and coupon deals for those much appreciated discounts. Happy shopping!

A taste of Singapore: Comfort food at your comfort

Great holiday starts with great food. From May 23 to 27, the Singapore Food Expo will bring together what’s hot in Singapore cuisine to start off the tourist season in Singapore. Featuring a record-high number of 150+ exhibitors, the 9^th Singapore Food Expo is poised to showcase the widest selections of food and beverages now available in Singapore.

Also scheduled to top-bill the event are the kitchen products, condiments, and spices from local merchants. If there is an upcoming event in Singapore that combines shopping and food at their best, the Singapore Food Expo would be it.

The Singapore Food Expo will be held at Hall No. 5 of the Singapore Food Merchant Association, located at the Changi District in downtown Singapore. The trade fair is five minutes away from the airport, accessible by busses and MRT stations, and close to hotels and other accommodation providers in Singapore’s Changi District.

In anticipation of the Singapore Food Expo, accommodation providers in Singapore like the Harbour Ville Hotel open up an online reservation system where Singapore visitors can make reservations with instant confirmation.

Located at the Singapore Harbour Front, formerly World Trade Center, the Harbour Ville Hotel is a cheap and chic (boutique) hotel on the southern coast of Singapore. The Harbour Ville Hotel in Singapore is within the vicinity of the Harbourfront MRT and busses regularly ply the route so that moving around Singapore will not be a problem.

Each room at the Singapore Hotel of Harbour Ville is well-appointed, serene, and ready, providing a sharp counterpoint to the bustling city of Singapore. Also, the hotel location of Harbour Ville is convenient. For those really keen on food, the famous Maxwell Hawker Centre is just minutes away from the hotel. At Harbour Ville Hotel, great holiday starts with great food choices.

Experience Asia without leaving Singapore

Asia is a nice place to seek a change of scenery, different in one country, not the same in the next. Asia has everything for everyone, from its refreshing vacation spot to its captivating culture and cities far removed from the usual. What makes it an even better place is that you can experience Asia by being in only one country: Singapore.

One of Asia’s celebrated playgrounds, the tiny tropical island of Singapore offers a wide range of itinerary ideas. Visitors will find it convenient that the imported sand of thecelebrated Siloso Beach in Singapore is just minutes away from the shopping centers, cultural hubs, and modern theme parks across Singapore.

Added charms in Singapore can be found at the Chinese, Malay, Indian, and European districts that stand cheek-by-jowl to one another in downtown Singapore. From food to arts and crafts and entertainment, the melting pot of culture in Singapore takes visitors across Asia without leaving Singapore.

What to do

Get a high-rolling start on your Singapore vacation with the newly opened Singapore Flyer on Raffles Avenue. With its 165-meter top, the Singapore Flyer outsized the London Eye Ferris wheel and provides a 360-degree panoramic view of Singapore.

From the Singapore Flyer, one can see most of Singapore. Singapore’s playground, the Siloso Beach, lies on the southern coast while the city’s sky scrapers are up north. Each carriage is air-conditioned and UV-protected, really the nicest Singapore attraction that should be on anyone’s itinerary.

Below the Singapore Flyer is the street track for the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix, which is scheduled for flag-off on September. Already, though, there are shops in and around Raffles Avenue that will draw your attention.

After getting off from such great height, a good follow-up would be to get a fix for your shopping needs. Singapore visitors can take a walk or hop on a taxi to Suntec City, Mustafa Center, Little India, Chinatown, or to Orchard Road.

Don’t overindulge, though, because there remain the Siloso Beach and Mount Faber on a Singapore itinerary. Located 500 meters off the southern coast of Singapore, Sentosa Island can be reached through road, monorail, or cable car.

A good time to visit the island would be in the late afternoon, when life really starts in Sentosa. Must-sees in this vacation island include the travelator at the Underwater World, the Butterfly Park, and the Insect World.

Where to stay

Hotels are scarce and prime in Singapore all through the year, so that there is a good chance of getting a great value hotel if you book well in advance. Prime hotels in Singapore include those on Raffles Avenue and around Marina Bay, where midsize and big hotels stand next to one another.

Medium-size hotels in Singapore like the Claremont Hotel are located at the busy city center of Singapore. The Claremont Hotel in Singapore is located in front of the 24-hour shopping haven of Mustafa Center, 20 minutes from the Changi Airport, and is pretty much a walk away from many city attractions in Singapore.

The Marina Bay area, on the other hand, offers easy access to a bucket-and-spade holiday in Sentosa Island. Harbour Ville Hotel, a small boutique hotel in Singapore, offers convenient hotel accommodation south of Singapore. The Singapore hotel of Harbour Ville is right at the Harbour Front district, where cable cars offer a great way to reach the Sentosa Island.

In the middle of the Old World charm of the Singapore City Hall district is the Park View Hotel in Singapore’s Beach Road. Located 15 minutes from the airport, the Singapore Hotel of Park View offers guest convenience. Among other places of interest near their hotel in Singapore are the riverside plazas of Clark Quay, the Raffles City, and Little India.

Get Your Culture Fix at the 2008 Singapore Arts Festival

If you ever find yourself yearning for a taste of the arts in Singapore this May and June, then you are in for quite a treat. The Singapore Arts Festival will be held at various venues around the metro from May 23 to June 22, 2008, showcasing the most eclectic mix of local, regional, and international works. Known for being appreciative of innovative artistic endeavors, the annual Arts Festival in Singapore promises to deliver the finest in the fields of dance, music, theater, and visual art, featuring both Asian and international world-class artists.

The various shows and exhibits will be held at several venues all over Singapore, and so it would be wise to familiarize yourself with the very efficient train system to get yourself to the event of your choice. Just as wisely, it would be good to find a comfortable but cheap hotel that enables easy access to most of the places that the festival will be held at, such as the Claremont Singapore Hotel. Located at the heart of Little India, opposite of the huge Mustafa Centre shopping mall, it is just a minute’s walk away from the Farrer Park MRT Station.

Ideal for business and vacationing travelers, this particular Singapore hotel offers affordable accommodations without sacrificing topnotch service and quality facilities. Quite favored for its proximity to the local attractions, the Claremont Hotel will allow you to fully enjoy your stay as you hop around Singapore, shopping and sightseeing, and of course, checking out the various cultural events offered by the Arts Festival.

For tickets and bookings to the Singapore Arts Festival, get in touch with the SISTIC Authorized Agents and Hotline at +65 63485555 or visit their site.

Around Singapore… with a fork

The World Gourmet Summit is one event in Singapore where all people speak the same language, the language of food. So leave the travel brochures home. If you are in Singapore this spring, a fork may be what you’ll need to get a taste of the island.

Where to go

Pierre Herme Culinary Master Class, April 19, Singapore Tourism Board Auditorium—Find out what makes this pastry shop in France one of the famous in the world. Each of the Pierre Herme master chefs in Singapore will be conducting a cooking demonstration and prepare their signature dishes for the Singapore audience.

An evening with Curtis Stone, April 21, Pan Pacific Singapore—Get your dose of the Take Home Chef from Discovery Travel and Living when the 2008 World Gourmet Summit presents celebrity chef Curtis Stone. Singapore visitors will be treated to a private dinner with the TV show host, and get a chance to get intimate with some of his culinary secrets and gastronomic creations.

An Evening with Anne-Sophie Pic, April 25, Grand Hyatt Singapore—One of the only three female chefs in Germany to receive a Michelin rating, Anne-Sophie Pic is scheduled to work on her fish specialties and signature dishes. Backed by the culinary team of Grand Hyatt Singapore, An Evening with Anne-Sophie Pic guarantees that only the crème de la crème will be served at the table.

Where to stay

The World Gourmet Summit is scheduled throughout April in select venues across Singapore. Singapore visitors will find it easy to go to the summit events via the Singapore MRT. Singapore hotel that fringe one of the key MRT stations in the island is the Park View hotel in Singapore.

Located at Beach Road in the Bugis District, the Park View Hotel offers affordable convenience at one of Singapore’s busiest and oft-visited districts. Park View Hotel is 5 minutes from the Bugis MRT, near the City Hall area, and on a location commonly plied by buses.

With 88 well-appointed rooms available, the Singapore hotel of Park View gives budget hotel accommodations a touch of discreet luxury. Intimate and snug, each room provides escape from the hassles of city life that Singapore guests will find sufficient and satisfactory.

Park View Hotel
81 Beach Road
Singapore 189692

Singapore Guide to 2008 Spring Fashion and Music Festival

Nurture culture in Singapore this March with a dose of these musical, fashion, and arts festivals lined up across different events destinations in Singapore. From fashion shows to musical performances and arts festival, Singapore plays host to the following spring events this season of the arts in Singapore.

Singapore Fashion Festival—Top designers and international models come to Singapore for fashion exhibitions and club parties presented by the 2008 Singapore Fashion Festival. Scheduled from March 28 to April 6, the Singapore Fashion Festival brings not only the biggest names in the international fashion industry, but also the season’s hottest buys straight off the runways of New York, Paris and Milan. For fashion show and club party schedules, visit the 2008 SFF website.

Getting There—The 2008 Singapore Fashion Festival is scheduled to hold exhibitions and parties at different events destinations in Orchard Road and Somerset areas. MRT Stations NS22 in Orchard and NS23 in Somerset bring Singapore visitors to the fashion festival, or the hotels in Singapore’s nearby Fort Canning area like the YWCA Singapore Hotel. The shows and parties across Singapore are for free unless those specified as By Invitation only.

Singapore Mosaic Music Festival—Now on its fifth year, the Singapore Mosaic Music Festival features different genres of live music performances from March 7 to 16 at the Singapore Esplanade. The 10-day music festival in Singapore promises to be as comprehensive in its scope as it has ever been with scheduled performances from top artists in Jazz, Indie, Rap, Hip-Hop, Funk, and many others. Highlight of the festival is scheduled on Saturday, March 15, as simultaneous performances takes center stage at the Singapore Esplanade:

• House of Blues II, Singapore Esplanade theater studio
• Yanokami with Akiko Yano and Rei Harakami, Singapore Esplanade recital studio
• Nanu and The Disclaimers, Singapore esplanade Concourse

Getting There—The Esplanade Concert Hall is located near the MRT City Hall Station. Singapore visitors will find the Singapore Esplanade easily accessible from different MRT stations and bus stops across Singapore, or from hotels in the area that offer convenient hotel accommodation like the ParkView Hotel in Singapore’s Beach Road. Tickets for the music festival are available online at the mosaic music online store in Singapore.

We Will Rock You Singapore—From British comic writer Ben Elton comes the musical discography of rock band Queen scheduled from March 28 to April 13 at the Singapore Esplanade Concert Hall. Starring New Zealand’s pop princess Annie Crummer and Rockstar: INXS finalist Mig Ayesa, We Will Rock You reprises in Singapore one of theater’s most successful musical about the legendary Freddie Mercury and Brian May band whose hits include the Bohemian Rhapsody, We Are The Champions, Killer Queen, Another One Bites The Dust and This Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

Getting There—The Esplanade Concert Hall is located at the City Hall area in Singapore, and can be accessed through the MRT City Hall Station, CityBuzzTM routes C1, C2, and C3, and numbered busses that go to the Clark Quay in Singapore. Visitors on a short stay in Singapore can find hotel accommodations in Singapore’s Beach Road area, or near the Ferrer Park MRT at the Aspinals Hotel in Singapore. For show schedules and ticket information, visit the Singapore Tourism Board.

F1 Grand Prix: Something great is happening in Singapore

In the runup to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, events organizer Singapore GP announces that it will be releasing 70,000 tickets and official passes on Feb. 14 at 9 am (Singapore time GMT+8). The first batch of Singapore GP tickets will consist of 15,000 walkabout passes and 55,000 grandstand seats at strategic locations throughout the circuit.

Where to get tickets

Three-day passes to the Singapore GP are priced from S$168 (walkabout) to S$1,388 (Premier Pit Grandstand). They include a separate ticket for each race day and can be used by three different people over the three days. However, tickets cannot be interchangeable on the same day.

All prices include the relevant processing fee and Goods and Services Tax. Singapore GP patrons will receive a printed confirmation at the time of the booking, which they can then use in June to claim the plastic commemorative tickets and lanyard currently on hold for security reason.

Singapore GP bookings can be made through OmniTicket Network outlets located at Forum Shopping Centre, Marina Square Shopping Centre, and Singapore Visitors Centre at Orchard Road, or via Singapore GP sales counters at post offices across the island.

Online, F1 patrons can log on to the official Singapore Grand Prix website for tickets reservation, seating chart, grandstand descriptions, and details on the historic F1 races at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Where to sleep

Singapore GP is set to break cover on a street circuit around the Marina Bay area. With downtown Singapore as backdrop, spectators get a glimpse of the exotic garden city of Singapore with its quaint mix of historical landmarks and modern-day buildings.

Marina Bay is the district in Singapore that flanks the sheltered waters off the Raffles Boulevard, Beach Road, and Esplanade Drive. Across the district are Singapore hotels that range from budget to luxury.

The Singapore Beach Hotel on Beach Road offers room-per-night as well as long-term hotel accommodation at special rates, which can be luxuriously economical for the lengthy schedule of Singapore GP events.

Over at downtown Singapore, where Singapore GP fever is most likely to be evident on island residents, Singapore visitors can opt to stay at the upscale classic accommodations of Claremont Hotel in Singapore.

The hotel in Singapore of Claremont is in the vicinity of Farrer Park, near in the heart of Singapore while accessible from the rest of the island through the Farrer Park MRT Station.

Need a crib near enough to feel the rush of Singapore GP yet not isolating from other must-sees in Singapore? YWCA Singapore offers its Fort Canning Lodge to Singapore visitors looking for rooms within reach.

The YWCA Singapore Hotel is located on the outskirts of the Fort Canning Park, adjacent to Orchard Road that leads to downtown Singapore, and to Fort Canning Road that heads toward the get-go flag of Singapore SG at Raffles Boulevard.

What to expect

The 5-km street circuit of Singapore GP features wide tracks and sharp turns that can only make overtaking and cornering all the more electrifying. At 300 kph on average, F1 entries from Ferrari to Mercedes will rev up in the heart of Singapore’s garden city with the charming blend of old and new buildings in the background.

The 2008 F1 Singapore GP races are scheduled to run at nighttime, so expect the Marina Bay area in Singapore to be bathed in light at night and exude an impression of a city full of activities that it never sleeps. Clark Quay and the Esplanade are just around the corner, so expect as well a zoom-zooming nightlife well into sunup.

How great cuisine and fine wine can cook up a unique dining experience in Singapore at the 2008 World Gourmet Summit

Wine and food make every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, and every day more civilized. As in any attempt at sophistication, however, there is art in mixing and matching food and wine, which if followed ignorantly can leave a bad taste in the mouth.

It used to be that white wine is paired with fish and chicken, and red wine is partnered with meat and game. The rule, however, is no longer cast in stone and from April 7 to 28, gourmet luminaries across the world are scheduled to showcase new ideas on food and wine cultures as the 2008 World Gourmet Culture kicks off in the “island spice” of Singapore.

Host to the 2008 World Gourmet Summit, Singapore relives its glory days as the premier trading post on the Asian spice route as the celebrations of the gourmet summit gather the big names in the food industry and conduct workshops and luncheons for the benefit of food aficionados in Singapore.

Masterchefs and Good Life celebs Curtis Stone and Ian Wright, as well as renowned Singapore hoteliers are set to grace the 2008 World Gourmet Summit in Singapore with a one-night-only presentation on how to create a unique gastronomic experience from choice food and wine.

A gala dinner on April 11 will feature the first growth of Spanish wines for the season—a must-see for every wine aficionado. On April 12, a special luncheon will be held to commemorate the best in the food and beverage industry. Billed as the “Oscars” of food and wine, the World Gourmet Summit aims to keep Singapore visitors in the loop of the latest industry trends.

The 2008 World Gourmet Summit spans across Singapore, hopping from one luxury hotel to another in order to provide an industry-wide conference on the gourmet culture. With a carefully selected hotel in Singapore, one can follow each event of the World Gourmet Summit easily.

HarbourVille Hotel, a chic and cheap hotel in Singapore that offers convenience and comfort to every Singapore visitor, is located at Harbourfront Singapore and can be an ideal jump-off point to follow the 2008 World Gourmet Summit in Singapore.

At Harbourfront, Singapore guests gain easy access to the MRT system and bus transport lines of Singapore. The Singapore hotel of HarbourVille leads not only to the gourmet summit, but to the two most civilized things in the world as well: food and wine.

Because food and wine need more than a tongue and a stomach for appreciation, there is no set formula in pairing a good food and a fine wine for a unique dining experience. And such element of ambiguity, as in the case of the arts, casts a light on the gourmet culture now shining in Singapore.

YWCA Singapore bids good luck with Lunar yusheng treats

Fancy eating a salad of raw fish? You might get lucky doing so according to Chinese legends. But, with a sumptuous mélange of spices and plum sauce, luck or no luck this Chinese New Year treat is a must-have for even the most philistine and discriminating of delicacy buffs.

Called yusheng in local parlance, the raw fish salad treat is introduced in Singapore by 19^th century Chinese settlers from the coastal towns of South China. These seafaring men and women depended on the sea for their fortunes, and gave thanks to the sea by offering the most elaborate seafood treat they had to a Chinese female deity known as Nuwo.

The Chinese dish consist of fish strips, most commonly salmon or ikan parang, and mixed with shredded vegetables and fermented sauce mixes to enchanting effect. Due to the labor-intensive requisite of preparing a Singapore yusheng, the dish has traditionally been served in Chinese-majority countries like Singapore only on special occasions and dates like the Chinese New Year.

Yusheng is a popular dish in Singapore hotels and restaurants. By tradition at the YWCA Fort Canning Lodge in Singapore, families would gather around the table of yusheng and on cue, would toss the shredded bits of the dish into the air while exclaiming auspicious wishes. This practice has given the name “Traditional Toss” to a dish of yusheng.

From January 28 to February 8, the hotel in Singapore of YWCA Fort Canning Lodge offers Chinese New Year yusheng packages at the hotel’s Coffee House restaurant. The traditional yusheng toss comes with salmon and ikan parang varieties. Each set is available for up to 10 persons and can be availed at the Singapore hotel from 12 pm to 8:30 pm.

In addition to the traditional yusheng toss, the Singapore YWCA Fort Canning Lodge likewise offers reunion and celebration packages during the Chinese New Year season. For details on the Chinese New Year Specials at YWCA Fort Canning Lodge, you can visit their Singapore hotel website. Located at Fort Canning Park, the YWCA Hotel in Singapore can get you tossed to prosperity this Chinese New Year.

Singapore welcomes spring with bang of Chinese New Year

Singapore in spring, a time of year when it warms significantly throughout the island, when Singaporeans live through longer days and shorter nights, and when even the flowers can’t help but bloom in anticipation of the forthcoming summer.

Spring, it’s no surprise that they write songs about it, and why the whole of Singapore is upbeat in welcoming the arrival of spring through the monthlong celebrations of the “Singapore Spring Festival,” or Chun Jie in Mandarin, the Chinese New Year.

Of course, it is a New Year’s celebration that is not without a touch of the local colors of Singapore. The 2008 Singapore Spring Festival is set to bring to Singapore streets the traditional Chinese New Year festivities of lion dances, gigantic floats of Chinese mythology characters, and daily lineups of cultural presentations.

Easiest way for Singapore visitors to follow the track of the Chinese New Year festivities is through the island-nation’s MRT system, where cultural centers like The Esplanade and Marina Bay are accessible, and where Singapore hotels and room providers sit most conveniently near.

The Bugis district in Singapore is one of the major tourist hubs in the island that is oft-visited due to its accessibility and convenience. The district has its own MRT station in Bugis, a string of cheap and chic hotels in Singapore, and a wide variety of island attractions.

For a Singapore hotel in Bugis, there is the Singapore Tourism Board-decorated hotel of the Singapore Beach Road at the junction of Liang Seah St. and Beach Road. Designed to give Singapore visitors a modern, cosy hotel room accommodation right in the heart of the Singapore CBD, the Beach Road hotel in Singapore provides a warm safe haven and at the same time hooks up hotel guests with the Chinese New Year celebrations.

Center of the celebrations is at the Singapore Chinatown, turned festive and elaborate this spring with colorful lanterns and fireworks displays. Here, the usual Chinese goodies and more are in stock to give Singapore visitors a New Year splurge for some retail therapy.

Simultaneous Spring Festival events are likewise scheduled from Feb. 5 to 16 at the “River Hongbao” float in The Esplanade Park in Singapore, where the highly wrought Chinese myths and legends are set to come alive through the arts.

Highlight of the Chinese New Year exposition will be the Performing Arts Group of Tibet, which have been invited to Singapore in an attempt to make the 2008 Singapore Spring Festival truly unique.

Capping off the celebrations is the Chingay Parade of DreamS on Feb. 16, expected to flood the Marina Bay area in Singapore with a sea of vibrant floats, sequined customes, and psychedelic sights and sounds to put Singapore in a party mode.

For inquiries and hotel reservation requests, Singapore visitors can go to the following websites:

http://www.beachhotel.com.sg/
Singapore Beach Hotel
Beach Road cor. Liang Seah St.,
Bugis, Singapore

http://www.visitsingapore.com/cny/index.html
Chinese New Year 2008
Tourist line: 1-800-736-2000

Switchfoot dares you to move, Singapore!

For one night only US alt-rock band Switchfoot performs in Singapore as part of their Oh Gravity world tour. The concert, scheduled on Jan. 31 at the Max Pavilion of the Singapore Expo, marks the first time Switchfoot brings its Gospel music and highly energetic performances to Singapore.

“Given the band’s immense popularity and diverse range of fans, Switchfoot fans here [in Singapore] have waited far too long for the band to come perform [live],” said Wake Me Up Music productions manager Jon Hemsley.

The Switchfoot concert will likewise mark the first performance of an international act at the Singapore Expo. Equipped with top-end audio-video systems and state-of-the-art lighting, the Max Pavilion of the Singapore Expo is considered the future of concert halls.

Located at corner Changi Road and Xilin Avenue, the Singapore Expo is a landmark in Singapore for its impressive structural design and modern architecture. The site, however, proved inaccessible to most Singaporeans and only with the opening of the Expo MRT Station did the Singapore Expo gained prominence as the premier events destination in Singapore.

The Expo MRT Station connects the Singapore Expo to key commercial districts in Singapore where visitors can find a hotel room. One such district is the Bugis locale in central Singapore, which features a budget boutique hotel called the Singapore Beach Hotel.

The Singapore Beach Hotel is blocks away from the Bugis MRT, which links its part of Singapore to the Max Pavilion in Changi Road. As an alternative to the MRT, buses likewise ply the route of the Bugis district, with bus numbers 12, 24, 38, 35, and NR7 to take every Singapore visitor to the expansive complex of the Singapore Expo. The Singapore concert of Switchfoot is priced from S$70, S$80, to S$90, and features front acts that include the Fire Fight and West Grand Boulevard. For tickets and reservation inquiries contact:

Beach Hotel Singapore
http://www.beachhotel.com.sg/

Singapore SISTIC
www.sistic.com.sg

Wake Me Up Music Singapore
http://www.wakemeupmusic.com/switchfoot/

Sound-and-sight New Year’s delight at Sentosa, Singapore

New Year’s Eve is like any other night. There is no pause in the march of the universe. And not even the promise of a fresh new year can get in its way. Yet nobody has quite the same thoughts on New Year’s Eve as on other nights. It is, after all, the fittest time for festal cheer.

So ring out the old and ring in the new. Wherever you are this New Year’s Eve let us give a warm welcome to the coming year and see the first sunrise of 2008. It is an event not to be missed and best shared with other people. And there is no better place in Singapore to do just that than in the southern island of Sentosa.

Located at the southern tip of Singapore, Sentosa Island is surrounded by the skies and cannot be in a lovelier position to have a grand view of 2008’s first light. What’s more, the strip of Siloso Beach on Sentosa Island in Singapore is throwing a sundown-to-sunup bash for the New Year.

Dubbed Asia’s Grooviest, the Siloso Beach Party on Sentosa Island promises to be a fitting start for the New Year. Aside from the usual Singapore staples of outdoor carnivals and theme parks, the Siloso Beach Party is likewise set to gather the big names in the Singapore club circuit to spread the cheer and liven up the Sentosa party scene.

Sentosa Island is a bus ride away from the city center of Singapore, or a spectacularly cable car ride away from Harbour Front, Singapore. Sentosa visitors can look up for a budget hotel in Singapore at Harbour Front for ease of access to the island, or a chic Singapore hotel right in the heart of Sentosa.

Located at 512 Kampong Bahru Road in Singapore, the Harbour Ville Hotel puts guests to the city center of Singapore, while keeping the holiday island of Sentosa within arm’s length through the shuttle bus, MRT, and cable car stations available near the hotel.

In Sentosa Island, on the other hand, guest can opt to stay near the famous landmark of Singapore: The Merlion. Sitting on the gentle slope beneath the famous Singapore statue is the Treasure Resort in Sentosa.

The Treasure Resort in Sentosa is more than a place to stay in Singapore. With a hotel view that looks out to the Siloso Beach, well-appointed rooms, and a prime entertainment location, the resort in Sentosa of Swiss-run Treasure Singapore has all the works for a grand New Year bash.

Wherever you are coming from in Singapore, Sentosa Island can get you ready for the New Year with DJ Shy and DJ Rough at the controls, and their distinct Commercial and Funk beats as prelude to the grand midnight bash. At 12 it’s time for another thrill: The grand Sentosa Beach Party fireworks.

But the party doesn’t stop there. Right after the fireworks display are the feature performances of Incognito, DJ Jensen, and DJ Kavan. Scheduled until 6 a.m. of Jan 1, the Siloso Beach Party is rightfully the event in Singapore that can give you a look at the first light of 2008.

“Chaos in Motion” in Singapore on Jan 17

Knowing where to go, progressive rock band Dream Theater used to have the luxury of walking though experimentation, even if that meant producing an album that was a considerable deviation both in sound and style from what many critics considered their seminal work in 1994’s Awake.

Now the rock impresarios from New York are back, with a brand-new record that sounds more like Dream Theater than their past two albums combined. Theirs was not a case of making up for lost time. Dream Theater fathered the genre and they could move it anywhere they choose. Only now, both Dream Theater and the progressive-rock scene are moving to the same direction.

Nobody might be willing to call the new Dream Theater album a masterpiece. But with traces of Awake and a refined sound of Scenes from a Memory, the new Dream Theater album Systematic Chaos might be the incendiary to bring the genre back to the forefront of the music world again.

Starting in June 2007, Dream Theater has hit the road to promote Systematic Chaos, via the portentously titled Gods of Metal gig in Milan, Italy. Toward the early fall of 2007, Systematic Chaos made it to the US Billboard 200 at 19, the highest Dream Theater album charts entry ever, even surpassing Awake’s debut at 32, and Images and Words at 61.

Early next year it is Singapore’s chance to listen live to the new offering of the Dream Theater. Produced by the LAMC Productions, “Chaos in Motion: The Dream Theater World Tour” will be staged at the Fort Canning district in Singapore on January 17, 2008.

The date is January and the place is Fort Canning, Singapore. It would be very well for Dream Theater fans to be clear about that. It is, after all, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hear live a mature and crucial gig of Dream Theater.

Tickets for the Dream Theater Singapore Tour in Fort Canning are available online at the Sistic website, or through acknowledged agents accredited by the Singapore ticketing company. Hotel rooms in Singapore are likewise available online.

Inside Fort Canning is the budget accommodation of the YWCA Lodge. By providing guests with a twin sharing option, the Fort Canning hotel in Singapore of international foundation YWCA is perfect for Singapore visitors traveling in groups.

Outside Fort Canning are the fashionably low-priced hotels of Tekka Hotel in Singapore and the ParkView. Both hotels fringe the Fort Canning Park, and are near the city center of Singapore for your convenience.

The Singapore gig at the Fort Canning will be the third of five stops of the Dream Theater Asia Tour, after the band revisits the Budokan Theater in Japan and the parental hometown of Dream Theater bassist John Myung in South Korea.

“If you’re a musician or ever aspired to be one, this is a show not to be missed,” said the LAMC Productions. But it isn’t necessary to remind anyone that. Progressive rock fans around and outside Singapore know very well not to miss a gig that features a promising turn at the Dream Theater career.