Bradley's Old Fashioned Weblog

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  • Two Tiered Bicycle Stands

    Two Tiered Bicycle Stands

    Everyone knows that in Asia, bicycles are used quite frequently as a means of transportation.  It’s even used in jokes occasionally, but it’s true.  People do use bikes quite a bit, for quite a few reasons, here in Singapore at least.  It’s cheaper, as opposed to buying, fueling, and maintaining a car.  It’s also smaller and easier to park or store.  In fact, there are some foldable bikes here that you can take on the buses with you.  That could be perfect for a family outing to a nice park that you want to bike through, but that’s too far away to bike to.  Plus, it’s a great way to get where you want to go and get some exercise at the same time.

    The problem with having so many bike riders is that there’s rarely enough room to accommodate all of the parked bicycles, especially in major traffic hubs or around the malls.  For example, if you go to the Tampines MRT area, you’ll see bicycles jammed in at the bike racks, but you’ll also see bicycles chained to poles, fences, gates, or basically anything that’s stuck to the ground.  In some extreme cases you’ll find bicycles that aren’t chained to anything at all, but just have a chain through the wheel spokes instead, because there’s just no space available.

    It all seemed crazy and amusing to me and I never really gave it any thought.  Apparently, someone did though.  At the Pasir Ris MRT station there are also bike racks, but the bike racks there are two tiered.  I guess they figured that if there wasn’t enough horizontal space to accommodate all of the bicycles, they could go vertical with them.  It looked like it worked well too.  There was more space to park bikes, and as a result, the area looked a lot nicer and neater, which seems to be something Singapore as a whole looks highly upon.

    This isn’t the only measure I’ve seen to accommodate the bicycle riders in Singapore, but it’s definitely the neatest.  There are also bicycle only lanes that run parallel to sidewalks on most major roads, as well as Park Connectors that run between major parks in different regional areas.  Also, there is a wide path that follows the MRT tracks that seems to get used pretty heavily by cyclists.  I think I noticed a bicycle lane there as well.

  • Pasir Ris Park

    Pasir Ris Park

    My wife and I enjoy getting out of the house when possible, and we’re interested in finding new ways to get some exercise.  It was only natural that we would find ourselves in Pasir Ris Park sooner than later, considering how close it is to our house.

    When I looked at the map of Singapore, Pasir Ris seemed to be such a big area.  I was sure that we would have to take a bus to get anywhere.  That doesn’t seem to be the case though.  We can walk to either of the two malls in Pasir Ris in about 15 minutes and there are two parks close to us.  One is the Pasir Ris Town Park, which is just around the corner.  We’re planning on checking it out in a few days.  The bigger one is Pasir Ris Park, the one that borders on the water.  That’s about a 25 to 30 minute walk from our house, but it’s well worth the trip.

    We entered the park through one of the larger walkways and we were greeted with the fantastic sign pictured at the top of the post.  We didn’t get to see everything, not by a long-shot, but we really got to stretch our legs.  Don’t let the map fool you!  It’s bigger than it looks!

    What stood out to me the most about the park wasn’t just it’s well manicured appearance, but how lively it was.  The place was packed with people, all engaged in their own activities.  I saw groups of friends rollerskating, couples walking under the trees or sitting on benches, joggers, bikers, people walking, kids playing, and even one football (soccer) game.  Oh, and there were campers and fishers too!  Everywhere I looked there were people, out having a good time!

    It gave the place a very lively feel that made walking through it a joy, despite the heat.  In fact, my wife and I have decided that it will be our primary jogging location in Pasir Ris.  It looks like you could spend weeks going to the park to jog and rarely cross the same path, other than the main junctions where the bridges are.

    Below are some great photos I got of the park!

  • Is Starbucks Really That Great?

    Is Starbucks Really That Great?

    I used to be a pretty big fan of Starbucks.  I would stop by one when I had time, or when I happened to be near close-by, to get a cup of “fancy” coffee.  I didn’t go often, because of the price, and because there usually wasn’t one that close to where I lived.

    What did I like most about Starbucks?  Well, the coffee was decent, but it wasn’t really that great.  The atmosphere in the store is nice, but I never really hung around.  Most of the time I would go through the drive through, or, if I were in a mall, I would get my coffee and get out.  So… what was it?  After spending some time thinking about it, I realized that the only reason I really went to Starbucks is because of effective marketing.  It wasn’t for the cheesy atmosphere and it definitely wasn’t for the so-so coffee.  It was because of how I viewed myself when I was standing there holding a cup with the Starbucks logo emblazoned on it.  Starbucks managed to effectively market itself as a prestigious, premium coffee seller, and because of that, I felt as though I were treating myself to something nice when I purchased their product.  It’s not really bad.  I can’t call them evil for it.  It just means that they did their business the right way and used effective marketing plans.

    Having realized that, and having realized that there are far better coffees available than what they offer, I’m no longer as interested in going there anymore.  That’s right!  I’ve found a coffee that is far superior to what Starbucks offers, at a fraction of the cost.  It’s called Kopi O, and it can be found at any hawker center in Singapore.  You won’t be served by a fancy “barrista,” you probably won’t have air conditioning, and I doubt you’d find free wifi (though most wifi in the US locations isn’t free anyways), but you’ll get a damn good cup of coffee that will certainly hit the spot after a meal, or along with your breakfast.

    I’m sure those of you in other countries are wondering how that helps you, but use it as an example.  The best coffee, or really the best of anything doesn’t always come with the highest price tag.  So, get out there and take a few chances and explore smaller shops to see if they have a better version of what you’re interested in.

    As for myself, I’d take Kopi O over Starbucks any day, which is why I’m glad I found this fantastic little store in the Downtown East mall:

    It sells the same stuff as the hawker stalls that sell Kopi O, but it’s located inside the mall.  The prices are a bit higher, but only by about 30 to 50 cents, which is ok, considering its location.  When my wife and I visit the mall to see a movie, we can buy our tickets, have dinner, and then hang out at this little coffee shop while we wait for the show to start.  Oddly enough, this Kopi Alley store is located right next to The Coffee Bean ( a Starbucks clone for those of you not familiar with it), but that doesn’t seem to be hurting its business any.

  • Downtown East Mall, Pasir Ris

    Downtown East Mall, Pasir Ris

    [Edit: I found out later that the part of the mall that these photos is from is actually called E-Hub. Though I think it is part of Downtown East, there is half again as much mall as this that I completely missed. When I make an updated post I’ll leave a link here to it.]

    My wife and decided to stop by the Downtown East mall on our walk around Pasir Ris.  It was sort of on the way, and we hadn’t been there yet, so, why not?

    It looks like a great place.  As we came through the door we noticed a girl handing out free samples for premium yogurt.  I didn’t catch the name of the place, but the yogurt was nice.  It had toppings added onto it too that went along with the flavor.  It looked a bit pricey, but one of these days when I have money to burn I’ll probably get a cup to share with my wife.

    The mall as a whole seems to be tailored to young kids and teenagers.  I guess you could say it has a theme, including the types of stores in the mall.  It’s really not that big a place, as far as how many stores are inside it, but it does have quite a few restaurants and drink shops, plus an arcade, a type of paid playground for kids, an indoor Ferris wheel, some anime shops, and a movie theater.

    I suppose the best part of it all is that the mall is only a 15 minute walk from where we live.

  • Bizarre Ritual With Snake and Incense

    Bizarre Ritual With Snake and Incense

    My wife and I were walking down the street in Pasir Ris, intent on exploring the area.  We spent most of last weekend moving our stuff, so there wasn’t much time to do anything special.

    As we walked by these two guys, I heard a snapping sound, so I stopped to take a look at what was going on.  One of the guys was holding what looked to be a preserved cobra that had been turned into some sort of whip, with the head and hood and skin intact.  He would hold the snake over his head, as seen in the top picture, and then he would snap it out, to make the crack noise.  I also noticed that there was incense burning.

    I imagine this is some sort of religious or remembrance ceremony, but it’s definitely one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen during my stay in Singapore.  Perhaps someone can shed some light on exactly what’s going on here?  I didn’t want to disturb them, as it might have been improper and rude.

  • Exercise Equipment For The Elderly

    Exercise Equipment For The Elderly

    This is just something odd I saw while at the shopping center near my new place.  I was leaning against a rail while my wife was using the ATM, and I noticed this sign behind me.  I thought it was amusing so I snapped some photos.

    Apparently, the children are supposed to hang out on the adjoining playground while the old people get their workout:

    These workout areas and playgrounds are common in Singapore, but this is the first time I’d seen one that claimed to be specifically for old people.

  • X-Men Origins: Wolverine

    Golden Village Movie Ticket for X-Men Origins: Wolverine
    Golden Village Movie Ticket for X-Men Origins: Wolverine

    It had been a long time since my wife and I had gone to see a movie at the theater, but we’re both action movie and X-Men fans, so we decided that going to see Wolverine was something we just had to do!  Lucky for us, we went on a night when the theater had multiple screens showing the movie, so there were good seats, and the prices were even discounted.  Typically a ticket in Singapore costs 10 to 11 bucks, but our tickets were only 8.50.  We booked our tickets 21 hours in advance of the showing, which was a smart move because they were selling out fast.

    I didn’t really know what to expect going into this movie.  The third X-Men movie was sort of a let down.  It didn’t seem to follow along with the story in the comic at all.  Also, I’d scanned over a few articles  about the movie and I saw a lot of negative comments.

    Luckily, we decided to find out for ourselves.  Wolverine is definitely worth seeing on the big screen!  It was packed with action and gave a lot of background history to one of my favorite characters.  I say I’m an X-Men fan, but I stopped reading comics over a decade ago.  Still, I remember being excited any time Wolverine was involved in a story.  I always wondered where he came from, and when I watched the other X-Men movies it renewed my interest in where he was from and why he did the things he did.

    The first few minutes of the movie give a brief overview of Wolverine’s first hundred or so odd years.  I remember reading someone’s complaint that they felt it was unnecessary, but I think the movie would’ve been a bit confusing without it.  You’ll get a rough idea of how old Wolverine is, how his powers first developed, why he has such an aggressive personality, and what his relationship with Sabertooth really is.

    Scene from X-Men Origins: Wolverine
    Scene from X-Men Origins: Wolverine

    The rest of the movie played out nicely and filled in a lot of the gaps about the years just prior to his meeting Rogue.  The only part that confused me a bit is why Professor X didn’t recognize Wolverine when he met him later (in the first X-Men movies).  He was present at the island and was in mental contact with Scott Summers, which means he should have been able to detect Wolverine’s presence as well.  On top of that, why didn’t any of the people present there every mention Wolverine to Professor X?  Why did no one ever make the connection?

    Despite that, the movie is still fantastic.  You get backstory, action, some new characters (like Gambit) and it leaves you excited to see what they’ll come up with next.

    This is a bit off-topic, but I just wanted to use this opportunity to point out that taking infants or 3 year olds into a movie theater isn’t the brightest thing to do.  Some little punk was kicking my seat, hanging off it, hanging off my shoulder, and making noise right behind my head during the majority of the movie.  I kept having to turn around in my seat and stare down his parents before they would grab the kid and sit him back down.  Then, they would apparently get caught up in the movie and there he would be, hanging off my chair or shoulder again.  If you’re going to take your kids into a theater, try to make sure the only one they’re bothering is you, or someone (not as nice as me) may lose their temper and club them like a baby seal.  I mention infants because at the start of the movie I heard a baby crying.  Wolverine isn’t a kid’s movie.

  • Cosplay and Dance Routine Mascots at Tampines 1

    We were walking out of the Tampines 1 mall to take a shortcut down to the lower level and heard loud music playing and saw a crowd gathering. I ran over to see what was going on and immediately got my camera out. This is kinda weird, and not something I’d ever expected to see going on as a mall promotion. I’m not entirely sure it was the mall they were promoting, though. I saw a Tampines 1 logo on one of their suits, but the wading pool in front of them had a message about renewing energy, so it could have been a mall sponsored energy conservation promotion.

    [Update: I found out that the mall has a blog and that these guys are promoting the Amore Living store on the 5th floor, which has an outdoor pool on the roof, as part of their fitness complex.]This second group surely had something to do with a toy store. I quickly took a few pictures. Then a woman asked if I wanted my photo taken with them. She looked like she was wearing a jacket with a business logo on it so I was scared she was going to ask for money. I politely said no and then quickly retreated!

  • Manpuku Restaurant, Tampines 1 Mall

    Manpuku Restaurant, Tampines 1 Mall

    A few weeks ago I was checking around the new mall in Tampines (Tampines 1) and I saw the entrance to a restaurant called Manpuku.  The entrance area was jam packed with people in line to get in and people ogling the items on display in the window:

    I met up with my wife there during her lunch break and while we were walking around together we even got to see the mascot.  At the time we didn’t know what restaurant or store the mascot represented but it was fun anyways.

    We both love to go out and eat, and we particularly love Japanese food, so we were excited about going to check this place out.  We finally made a visit to Manpuku today and it was great!

    It wasn’t quite what I expected, in a good and interesting way.  As you get to the head of the line a greeter will ask you how many people are in your party and will then pass you a corresponding number of cards that look and act like credit cards.  The waiter will explain that as you walk around inside the restaurant, you pick different foods from the various stalls and the price of the item is charged to your assigned card.  At the end of your meal, you bring the card to the cashier by the exit and settle your bill.

    That’s when I realized that Manpuku isn’t simply one restaurant.  It’s a collection of restaurants acting under one name, serving Japanese style food.  In fact, the place reminded me of a big, themed food court, though a very well appointed one.

    Here are some photos we took inside Manpuku:

    As you can see from the pictures, the interior of Manpuku is pretty big.  It sits at one end of the mall on the 3rd floor and stretches from front to back.  There are at least half a dozen different mini-restaurants inside, offering everything from skillet plates to sushi.

    The prices have a wide range from a bit on the high side (a four piece sushi plate at 38 bucks) to the affordable (my pork okas was 9.90).  I saw quite a few dishes I want to try, and I’m looking forward to going back again.  For this trip, we wound up having a sushi set, a dish called pork okas, and a soup that my wife devoured and said was delicious.  I forgot to ask her what it was and she’s asleep now!  Just thinking about it is making me hungry again!

    The above picture is the pork okas.  It has strips of pork along with cabbage, onions, and maybe a few other things cooked into an egg omelette.  It’s topped with four different sauces while it’s still on the grill, giving it a nice design that adds a visually pleasing aspect to the tasty dish.
    Like I said, the place is great!  We’re looking forward to our next trip.
    One special consideration for anyone planning to go there is that the place is busy.  Expect to wait for up to 15 to 20 minutes for your dish to be prepared, and, unless you’re lucky, another 5 to 10 minutes to get a drink.  A good workaround for this is having one person hold the table for you and designating someone else to order and pick-up their food for them.  That way you can leave your food at the table while making trips to get drinks, or other goodies, without having to worry about someone else helping themselves to what you’re going to pay for.

  • TAN’s Tu Tu Coconut Cake

    Looking for something sweet to nibble on while you’re walking around Vivocity mall? Want a snack to enjoy while you’re sitting outside, enjoying the breeze and the wading pools? I really have to recommend that anyone who visits Vivocity stops by this stand and picks up some of these coconut cakes. They’re about the size of your palm and about half an inch thick. They’re made fresh as you wait, and they’re best when eaten warm. The outside is some sort of chewy dough and the inside is sweetened coconut shavings. It looks like it’s mixed with brown sugar, but it still maintains a mellow, even taste. I know, I know, I should’ve taken a photo of them, but we gobbled them down too fast!

    If my recommendation isn’t enough, you can see in the picture above that her stall was featured in The Straits Times, which is the major newspaper for Singapore.

    The last time we were at Vivocity, which I think was in September, we tried these coconut cakes on a whim. I mean, why not? You get four for only 2 SGD. They were incredible, and since then I’ve talked about them frequently, reminding my wife that the next time we’re there we should get more. Sure enough, almost right after arriving at the mall we made our way to this cart and snagged a little bag of four of them. We then found a cozy spot outside with a view of the water, got comfortable and enjoyed them.

    The shop lady making our coconut cakes.

    A cruise ship docked in front of the mall, and you can also see the Sentosa cable cars that go between Sentosa and the main island of Singapore.