Marina’s Bloggariffic

Last Sunday, I joined the Vesporeans for a trip exploring the side of Singapore that is not commonly seen. Its surprising. Beneath the cosmopolitan side commonly known to Singapore, there were still a less traveled, charming, urban side.

It was a beautiful morning. We rode on the secluded, winding roads and after traveling by a long stretch, we reached our first stop. The Qian Hu fish farm. This place was famous for its fish spa treatment, which seemed to be all the rage lately.

It was an interesting place, there were so many fishes here that it seemed more like a museum. There were even some exotic ones which costs thousands of dollars!

I saw one of my favorite fishes - the Blood Parrot cichlid. Its the one in the bottom right - easily recognizable from the shape of their mouths. They seem to always be happy and smiling.

Eventually, we headed to the fish spa area where we paid $10 for a 30 min session. We walked past a number of children who seemed engrossed in catching some tiny fishes and then we finally dipped our feet where the nibble fishes were.

It was a most memorable experience! At first it was scary, and then it was ticklish but after a while, it actually felt kind of nice!

Here is a quick video :

Getting eaten alive by fish! from rinaz on Vimeo

And at the end of the session, I don’t know if it was from the soak or from the fishes nibbling my feet, but my feet felt noticeably softer. It was amazing :D

Check out our sexeh feet!

On the spur, Ah James suggested that we head to visit the goat farm, which was a short ride away and thus our second stop - the Hay Dairies Goat Farm!

Who says that goats are not educational?

It was already noon time when we reached there and we quickly seeked shelter and got for ourselves a bottle of fresh goat milk. It was refreshing to drink in the hot weather. It tasted a little different from cow milk as it was not have a thick aftertaste.

I got myself a packet of hay and we walked to the goats pen where there were a number of people whom were already there. Amazingly, the area did not have a bad smell as generally perceived.

It was interesting seeing the goats. I was surprised to see the shape of their irises. Unlike our round ones, theirs were ellipse - like tadpole eggs.

The baby goats were so adorable. I couldn’t resist touching them (and even attempting to kiss them) I found out that their fur was actually rough to the touch.

The older goats nibbled greedily at the hay that we gave them and they were smart enough not to bite us (although there were a number of goats which tried to eat my bag and t-shirt) but it was their mouth to watch out for. It was really … wet!

Here is a quick video :

Trip to the Hay Dairies Goat Farm from rinaz on Vimeo

Quick trivia

Did you know that the shape of a goats teeth will tell you their age?

The goat farm trip was amazing. In a way, it felt as if I went back in time and was going on a school excursion for geography - learning about the different rural practices. But I didn’t mind it one bit. It was so much fun! :)

Initially Ah James thought of having lunch at Jurong Point Shopping Center. It was only when he noticed a brochure that we decided to have lunch at an organic farm. So our next stop was Bollywood Veggies!

I know about the place through Shaz and Aidil whom gave raving reviews about the food here, so I know that it was good :)

It was another short ride, we went past a number of interesting sights. One of the memorable landmarks for me was an abandoned building in the middle of nowhere.

As soon as we noticed the sign “Poison Ivy” we knew it was the right place. It seemed such an idyll place. There was so much green as far as the eye can see. By the time we entered the dining area, there were already a number of people whom were having their lunch. Some of them I recognized from the goat farm even.

We ordered a number of items :

This one I liked a lot!

Mmmm …!!

Here is a quick video of our lunch :

Lunch at Bollywood Veggies from rinaz on Vimeo

I felt a tinge of sadness when all the nice food were gone.

Finally Leonids suggested that we head to Petal Leaves for a tea break. By then I was already tired out of the activities. Hence the lack of pictures. I spent the time plonked out on the seat.

However, Leonids mentioned that it was a nice place for wedding ceremonies as there were a plentiful of flowers and greenery. The only problem was that the place was very secluded and difficult to get to, unless the person had their own transportation. Nevertheless, the place seemed a lovely place :)

Eventually, it was time to get back home. As I stayed in Jurong, I said my goodbyes to the rest of the gang who were heading to Kallang, feeling euphoria from the wonderful activities that we had together.

It was such a nice day. I’d love to do it again!

Have you ever been to a farm in Singapore? Would you consider spending time here?

Links :

• Qian Hu Fish Farm
• Hay Dairies Goat Farm
• Bollywood Veggies
• Vespa Club
• Kah Woon’s blog post
• Ah James blog post

Sidenote : I’d like to watch Leap Years. Care to join me? :)

A most spectacular event. It was surprisingly captivating that I enjoyed every minute of it!

Recently, my friend, Mus invited me to attend the event, An Evening of Southeast Asian Music and Dance.

Having already hanged out with the Singa Nglaras group during their jamming session, I was definitely looking forward to watching the concert.

I brought my mum as a date. By the time we got into the theatrette at the Arts Faculty, it was completely full of people! We had to content ourselves by sitting on the stairs instead.

But the music was beautiful and hypnotic. They sounded so put together since their first day of their jamming session. Mum was going on and on about how powerful the Indonesian singer’s voice was. Whereas I was captivated by the hypnotic sounds of the musical instruments.

Here is a short clip of the first part of the concert :

Gamelan 2008 from rinaz on Vimeo

I think they were great! Thumbs up for the concert! :)

Links :

• Hanging out with the Singa Nglaras jamming session
• Mus’s blog post
• Eileen’s blog post
• Very impressive Thai Music

Last Friday, I went to watch the Chingay Parade. The Chingay Parade is an annual parade held in Singapore as part of the new year festivities. I’ve been to one in 2003 with Geri and I quite enjoyed myself, looking at the many display of colours and costumes.

After noticing the vigorous advertisements for the current chingay, my interest in attending was roused. After all, this could possibly be the last chingay that I’d be watching.

I went with my friend Attilio to City Hall on Friday evening for the previews. By the time we reached there, there were a lot of barricades and we had to show our passes numerous times before being allowed to enter the area.

Eventually we approached the audience area where there were already a number of performers who were getting ready - some were practicing their moves, some were joking around, all of them in interesting costumes.

At length we got to our seats and waited for the performance to begin. There were a number of glitches, but it was understandable as it was a preview.

There were a number of memorable highlights from the performance, such as the F1 Car show, dances from various organizations and of course, the floats. It was a much grander scale as compared to the more modest one of 2003. There were a plentiful of flashy displays. But I felt that the heart element was missing.

However there was one display that I truly enjoyed would be the fireworks after the grand finale. It was gorgeous and it went on for a good 5 minutes! I didn’t mind having a neck cramp looking up!

Here is a quick video clip of the event :

Chingay 2008 from rinaz on Vimeo.

Did you go to the chingay 2008? What did you think of it?

Links :

• Chingay Website
• Some pictures from 2003 Chingay
• Chingay Parade 2006 at Taman Jurong

Sidenote : On Saturday, I’ll be attending InteresThink while this Sunday, I’ll be going to a fish therapy! Join me? :)

On Valentines day, I spent the evening sweating with a tall, dark and muscular man. After we were done, I was left tired, but feeling really good!

This is Nicolas in all his sweaty glory after a cardio workout. He’s a fitness instructor for the sports council. I was introduced to this workout class when fellow blogger friend, Lizan recommended it. And for the past few weeks, my friends, Lizan, Dolly and I has been attending cardio-mix sessions with him in the hopes of becoming more fit.

The first session was pure torture. I didn’t realise that it was so high impact!

As soon as we entered the room, Nicholas started to bark the instructions … “Grape Vine! Easy Walk! Double! Step Touch” and he would laugh maniacally motivate us when he noticed us slowing down.

It was so exhausting, I thought I was going to die! And that was when he announced, “Alright, that was your warm up. Lets start our session”

It was the longest 60 minutes of my life. For an entire week my body ached and felt beaten up. Yikes!

And now after going for a couple of sessions, it is still tiring, and many a times my coordination is completely off. But I think I’m slowly getting a hang of it. I am looking forward to the next sessions.

Here we are after our cardio session. Though I look completely unglamorous in here (while Lizan and Dolly still look amazingly fresh faced) I feel really good. Its been such a long time since I felt that rush. Its a great feeling :)

Do you exercise? What do you do to keep fit?

You may be interested in :

• I am fat
  
• Yoga makes me feel sexy
• My first time inline skating!
• Singapore Sports Council Website

Sidenote : On monday, I went for my first class of level 2 yoga. The next day, I felt like the after effects of running the marathon. Yikes!

I joined the pingsters this evening to Decoder’s Cafe for a round of board games. I love board games!

I arrived a little late. I missed out seeing Nicole and Claudia as well as the Yu sheng. Neverthless, I had a lot of fun playing the games with the ones remaining. One of the most exciting games that we played was Jurassic Jumble where you swap cards with other people so that you complete a set of dinosaurs.

I think I got a little carried away playing the game :P

I like Jurassic Jumble from rinaz on Vimeo

TWO! THREE! TWO! Hahahaha!

Links :

• Farinelli
• Claudia Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
• Daphne
• Yuhui
• Priss
• CC
• Nicole
• Ah Wei
• Plaktoz

Its such a pet peeve of mine when I hear people mispronounce common Malay words such as Nasi Lemak, Otak-otak and Jelak.

Here is the correct way to pronounce them :

Stop saying Nasi Lomak! from rinaz on Vimeo.

A friend of my mum asked her to visit during Chinese New Year. Hence mum asked me to join along. With the day free, I decided to join in too. It was an interesting experience for me, as this was actually my first time visiting a Chinese house during the lunar new year.

This year is the year of the rat. Momentarily I remember the tale about the Zodiac origins of how the rat tricked the ox to finish the race first.

When we arrived, Iris, one of mum’s friends told us that it was a custom to give a pair of mandarin oranges to the oldest member of the house. Oranges symbolises gold as the word orange sounds like gold, in Chinese.

My venusaur protecting my gold

Inside, it was very lively with the chatter of the other visitors already inside. There were a plentiful of food and drinks. I looked around and there were a number of decorations such as calligraphy in bright red parchments. These were pasted on the walls and the doors. These was supposed to bring in wealth and luck.

And that was when the granny handed me the ang pow - little red packets with money inside. Ang pows are given from the married to the unmarried people. I’m not too sure why though. But being given the red packet made me surprisingly happy. I felt like a kid again during hari raya, being given our own green packets :)

After spending a lovely time snacking and talking with mum’s friends, we made our move. Interestingly enough, the host took out a box of oranges and asked us to take a pair. She said, “You’ve given us gold, so we are repaying you back with gold”

Those gold are going to go into my stomach :D

Happy Chinese New Year everyone. Enjoy the wonderful weekends :)

You may be interested in :

• Hungry Ghost Festival
• Chinese Lion Dance
• Chingay Parade in Jurong