Postcards from Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Thanks to MRT Downtown Line (coded in blue), the first visit of baby Ren to Marina Bay Sands (MBS / 滨海湾金沙) was a realization. Except for the transport fare, the visit to The Shoppes (shopping mall) in MBS - the world's most expensive building at US$ 5.5 - 5.7 billion (as of 2010) - is free.

“Everyday is a journey in our lives, and an MRT ride can be an interesting journey.”

每天是一个旅程;乘坐地铁可以是一个有趣的旅程!



Spacious seats of MRT serving Downtown Line make us happy! Thank you MRT.

 

We took the MRT Downtown Line from Bugis via Promenade to Bayfront station.



♥ ♥ ♥

Designed by Moshe Safdie (an Israeli/Canadian architect) with an inspiration from card decks, MBS is a unique icon of Singapore. "Does it look like ancestral tablets (tombstones)?" a taxi driver once asked me. To me, it looks like an ancient Chinese scholar's hat (古老的中国学者的帽子).

A canal inside the Marina Bay Sands reminds us on the Venice (Italy) and River Cambridge (England).

 

A tea break by the water side beneath the Rain Oculus created by Ned Kahn - famous for transforming an invisible aspect of nature into visible, is pleasing and relaxing. That day, I had a snack leftover that I bought from near Lavender MRT station whereas baby Ren had grape cuts and a bottle of breast milk.



♥ ♥ ♥

Luxurious brands ... offer a pleasant opportunity for window shopping! They are sources of inspirations: the creative designs (创意设计), the careful attention to details (精心细节) and exquisite craftsmanship (精湛的工艺).

Dior 



A different kind of worlds ... 



Are you interested to hire baby Ren as your little model?



♥ ♥ ♥

I remember ...

When baby Ren was in my belly, my maternal grandmother, Dad, Mom and I had a memorable early dinner at Ding Tai Fung (鼎泰豐), Marina Bay Sands. It was a good decision so that we did not have to queue for a table. I did not feel significantly inflated prices as compared to other outlets of Ding Tai Fung, given the posh location.

My family encouraged me to eat more xiaolongbao (小笼包) - my favorite dish. I also like the chilli oil dumplings.

Xiaolongbao was originally from Shanghai and Wuxi, China. Their mini sizes made them so delicate and cherishable to savor.

It is not only about the food, but also the people whom you dine with and the people who transform our food into food art.

“I choose to collect memories instead of things.” ~ Elena Levon

我选择收集回忆，而不是东西。

♥ ♥ ♥

What's next?
1. visit Sands SkyPark that connects the 2 hotel towers and is large enough (1.2 hectare) to park four-and-a-half Airbus A380 jumbo jets. Plan your visit at the end of the afternoon before dusk to enjoy the view during daytime and at night. It costs a visitor SG$23 to get to the Skypark by high speed elevator of the middle tower. The ticketing office is not accessible by lift, and a friendly staff kindly offered to carry my pram / stroller, but in the end I decided to visit Sands SkyPark next time.
2. Alternatively, you can take the free elevator (Tower 3) to Ku DÉ Ta Lounge to enjoy some drinks and scenery of Singapore's cityscape and skyline. PS: casual dress is not allowed, no shorts, slippers, singlets and tank tops plese.
3. swim @ The Infinite Pool on the 57th floor - the largest elevated pool in the world, which is only accessible to the hotel guests.
4. watch Wonder Full: Light Show and Water Show. Each show starts daily at 8pm and 9.30pm. On Friday and Saturday nights, there is another show at 11pm.
To watch the Water Show, be at the Marina Bay Sands side.
To watch the Light Show, cross the Bay.
Please remember to bring your tripod for taking blur-free photography / video.

Address: 10 Bayfront Ave Marina Bay Sands, Singapore 018956


View Larger Map


Other travel posts that I love:
♥ Ku De Ta by Journeys of the Fabulist
♥ SkyPark Infinity Pool by Escape with Style
♥ Light and Water Show by Rosie and Edmund Tay
♥ our #travelxp posts

With love,
ServicefromHeart
2014

Little Minh {#ministory}

This story is part of our #ministory series that we share to little pre-school friends, hope you like it too!



In a farm at a countryside of Vientnam, little Minh lives with his Daddy and Mommy.

Every morning, Daddy and Mommy start to work before the sunrise and only end work after the sunset.

Daddy and Mommy often feel tired. Little Minh wants to help but he cannot walk.

Little Minh stays at home. He loves reading books and watching flying birds, dancing leaves and people from his tiny bedroom.

At night, little Minh tells funny stories to Daddy and Mommy. Often, Daddy and Mommy laugh "hahaha...hahaha" loudly.

Little Minh is the sweetheart of Daddy and Mommy. He brings happiness to Daddy and Mommy.

One day, little Minh sees a little bird flying in stress outside his window. A furious cat tries to catch the bird. Little Minh wants to rescue the bird and stands up to chase the cat away.

Daddy and Mommy see the miracle: little Minh can stand and walk now. They hug each other in joyful tears.

Inspirations for this #ministory:
♥ baby Ren's favorite activity of gazing at birds
♥ baby Ren's Godmother
♥ cheerful and friendly Nguyen Ngoc Minh

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140224

7 things to do at Mount Alvernia Hospital while waiting for patients

Recently, I accompanied a good friend for a day surgery at Mt. Alvernia Hospital, Singapore. The nurses are polite. A nurse manager (in red maroon uniform) even addressed me with my name when she told me what to expect (e.g. approximate time when I should be back after the operation is done). I am impressed. For professionals who have to attend to high number of customers daily, I greatly appreciate the extra mile of efforts.

After my friend went into the operation theatre, I turned the volume of my mobile phone to maximum, in case the medical staff needs to contact me.

So, what can we do while waiting at hospital?

1. Be patient-centric
Update concerned family members, relatives, friends of patient.
Recall what the nurses, doctors, administrative staff mentioned. Jot them down so we can remind the patient later on.

2. Enjoy food
I had a brunch of ginger soy milk (SGD $2) and salmon sushi with wasabi (SGD $4). Before that, the sushi stall staff, a middle age woman (whom is called auntie in Singapore - though we have no biological relationships) pro-actively promoted her products. That's why I decided to support her and I was satisfied!



For lunch, I packed a Subway meal, with extra olives please. While munching my meatball marinara sandwich, I thought of a dinner of udon and a grocery list for it.


3. Visit the beautiful chapel



The stained glasses of predominantly blue tone at the backdrop of the altar, with flashes of moving cars outside, look like a serene ceiling-height aquarium.

I also prayed hard. The background music reminded me on quiet moments in Catholic churches in Europe.

4. Admire newborns
Around noon time, there are few very lovely newborns spotted at the lobby, presumably their parents are waiting for transports to bring them home for the first time! New lives are always inspiring, they are so fragile yet full of potential, with many wonderful years lie ahead.

5. Shop or window-shop at pharmacy and gift shops
We love shopping, especially buying gifts for our loved ones and friends. The pharmacy staff was friendly, answering my inquiry politely. We cannot use the Ladies card to shop for formula milk powder, so I ended up window-shopping.

6. Read -- an alternative of playing mobile phones or tablets
At liaison office, I browsed a Mother&Baby magazine (January 2014) and collected a cooler bag with a redemption coupon that comes with my Alvernia's Ladies card. It was on my to-do-yet-non-urgent list for ~ a year. Done. Happy!



I also finished reading a TimeOut book that I packed with me in the morning.

7. Learn a little history

Stories connect minds and souls. Learning the story of Mt Alvernia Hospital makes me think of extraordinary nuns worldwide who have served from their deepest hearts. While Mother Teresa represents them as a global icon of compassion, agape and love, there have been many, if not countless, sisters who have made significant contributions in the betterment of our lives, directly or indirectly.

In 1949, three intrepid young Catholic nuns of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood (FMDM): Sr Mary Angela McBrien, Sr Mary Camillus Walsh, Sr Mary Baptista Hennessy traveled all the way from Surrey, England* to tropical Singapore.  Professionally trained in healthcare, these sisters started to care for tuberculosis patients at Tan Tock Seng Hospital and lepers at "The Leper Camp" in Woodbridge.

Besides caring patients directly as nurses and caregivers, the Sisters also taught and trained nurses. I really love their ideas and actions to empower and delegate others, because everyone has only limited 24 hours but there are many people to serve.

The Sisters have a vision that every patient would be offered comfort and solace at a retreat where gospel values would pertain and persons would matter for who they are, not for what they have. In 1950s, they started door-to-door appeals for donations to build Mt Alvernia Hospital. Finally, with generosity and enthusiasm from all walks of life, the hospital started to admit patients in 1961. 

The first baby born at Mt Alvernia Hospital was named Francis Chan, after the hospital's patron saint, St Francis of Assisi, who also greatly loves animals and environment. This little story reminds me on Ren's name which has been inspired by St Luke, patron saint of artists, physicians and students.

Hope this little list makes your hospital wait interesting and less worrying, and please share with me other ideas of yours. I love to hear from you!

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140218

* How I miss my Irish Godmother who is living in England! Hope you are doing well. This post is also dedicated to you ♥

Create reading experience #readxp that makes us happy and wise

When I was studying in Malaysia, one of my favorite activities (homework) was to write about reading experience (读书心得). The homework greatly helped me in learning Chinese Mandarin and had encouraged me to be a more optimistic person than ever.

When we jot down our reading experience, we clarify our thoughts and understandings. We are also doing our future selves a favor. We could quickly recall what we learned from a non-fiction book or instantly re-enjoy the pleasure or excitement we experienced from a story book.

To create reading experience, we can write, doodle, draw, take photographs, record audio notes or videos. Use approaches that we like best.

Our reading experience can be as simple as a word or a picture.

Things that we can also include in our reading experience:
♥ book title, author(s), publishers
♥ summary
♥ ideas
♥ inspirations
♥ questions
♥ impressions
♥ feelings
♥ quotes
♥ review

The summary section can simply be main gist of the book, in a sentence, a paragraph, or a list.

The idea section can include ideas straight from the book or ideas that we conceive upon integrating our existing knowledge with the new one from the book.

Keeping a note of quotes is useful to train our mind. Quotes can serve as advices or affirmations that nourish our soul. Positive quotes can act as instant switches in time of crisis, to quickly and gently shift our moods and emotions away from negativity.

Finally, the review section can include things (e.g. contents, plots, styles) that inspires us, things that can be better, or comparisons with other books.

Writing reading experience is similar to documenting our travel experience. When we travel, our minds and bodies travel. When we read, our minds travel. We can enhance our reading experience by using more imaginations and discussing with others who have read the book or arguing with the authors (known as active reading). Note down our questions. Sometimes, if not many times, we may not get the answers from the authors, but from other people.

Since 2014, I started to be more organized in my reading adventures. We believe that sharing is caring, so I try my best to share my reading experience in easy to digest posts.

To facilitate faster search, try #readxp for the blog, Twitter and Instagram of ServicefromHeart. You are always welcome to share your #readxp!

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140214

A visit to dentist

Mom used to bring me to see a dentist for a regular check-up when I was a kid. Thank you very much mama 妈妈! When I was afraid of the procedures (think of molar teeth extraction!), I would imagine flying to beautiful destinations while lying on the reclining chair. My favorite one includes imagining the beautiful grassy hill with little lambs, toy-like wooden huts, colorful rainbows, singing birds, running children and snow-capped mountains at the background. Perhaps, I got the inspiration from beautiful images of calendars. Thanks to these imaginations, I endured the procedures. Sometimes, I feel that human imagination can help us overcome many challenges in life. Mom was proud of me for being a nice patient. I appeared fearless of dentists, though honestly I had some fear. It is okay.

Now, a mother to baby Ren, in the near future, I will bring him for a dental check-up. I hope he will be more fearless than me. Watching his toothless, gummy grin transforms into big smiles of cute little teeth is like a farmer adoring her growing sprouts nurtured with love. Sometimes, he bites Daddy!

In February 2014, I visited a dentist at Q&M Sun Plaza.
Dentist: Dr Ho Ann Gie
Address: 30 Sembawang Drive Sun Plaza #02-28
Singapore 757713
Tel : +65 67532339

Dr Ho is gentle and patient. I would be happy to bring Ren to see him when his teeth needs check-up.

Scaling and polishing with Passion card costs me SGD $68 and a small filling costs SGD $55. The amount excludes $10 sterilization fee and 7% GST.

3 Tips for visiting a dentist (applicable for our children and ourselves):
♥ Imagination matters. Play and imagine roles of dentist and patient at home, using props such as toothbrushes, flash lights, mirror and small cups to practice rinsing and spitting. Read and listen to encouraging children stories about dentist or dental check-up. Love our teeth. Smile to ourselves every morning and every night, this exercise helps us to appreciate our teeth (and ourselves). Let children count their teeth, this is a simple and fun maths exercise.

♥ Make an appointment early. Select early time slot. Dentist is fresh and alert. We do not have to wait for long time in the event that the patient from the earlier time slot needs longer treatment time.

♥ Prepare a list of questions, if any. Bring identity card and cards that can allow us to enjoy discounts e.g. Passion card. Do not hesitate to pre-inform our budget, especially if we are in tight financial situation; allow ourselves to be aware of available options (including relatively lower cost ones).

Finally, an important reminder (for me):
Not to brush my teeth too hard because the action brushes away my teeth. Be gentle.