Magic Wingdom - An Innovative, Addictive Game for iPhone

Some things that are free may actually come with a price. 

For example, this Magic Wingdom i downloaded for free using the App Store resulted in me spending endless hours on the trains and on my bed; the price of time! 

The game play is really simple; use your finger to connect moving eggs of the same colour. Points (which would help you to level up) would be generated and the eggs will be cleared off the screen. 

A power-up or golden coin (the blue diamond is equivalent to three coins) is given as a reward for a successful link of at least three same-coloured eggs. 

These power-ups (there are three types and my favourite is the fire ball!) would help you immensely in clearing the chaotic arena filled with many rolling eggs while the accumulation of coins is used for another purpose off the main game. 

One boost point is given for every experience leveling and this would allow you to purchase essential boosts for extra life, more coins, double score and increase the power of the power-ups! 

The game officially ends when two eggs of a different colour hit one another in their endless yet desperate crusade to roll all over the place. 

Playing this would have been an easy feat if not for the irritating eggs that continue to roll out in greater quantities and faster speed as you advance to the next level!!

Coming to the coins - they are used to buy items to build up your wingdom (known otherwise as the badly named show yards) and complete mini-quests for bonuses on the main arenas.

These show yards (there are four of them) do not fulfill much of what i call a game but they do have star ratings (a maximum of three stars) that compel the competitive streak in me to do my best to max them out!

On a related note; my top score for Arena 3 is 316,683! 

Try to beat that!! 

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Download from App Store

It should be chargeable by now! 

XXL Family Pizza @ Peperoni Pizzeria [Binjai Park, Off Dunearn Road]

I had the intention to mention that Peperoni Pizzeria was part of the Les Amis Group (a one Michelin star restaurant) and blah blah blah but given that i don't really give a hoot about it, i decided to scrap most of it and give you just the bare fact! 

This was a treat by the Great Kon [kam-sa-ham-ni-da] who is forever on the lookout for delicious fare. In fact, Kon contributed the most whenever it comes to food suggestions and recommendations for the Gang of Four outings! 

Calamari Fritti

One look and you would probably guess that this would be different from the deep fried squid rings sold in many other places! 

The thin, buttery yet crispy batter was a perfect shell for the tender and meaty calamari hiding inside. I could not stop soaking them in the special red dip, which would have passed off as a tomato sauce if not for the slightly tingeing sensation on your lips a few seconds later. 

Mozzarella Fasciata Con Prosciutto 

As a meat lover, i could not wait to sink my teeth into what appeared to be a sinfully thick chunk of ham sausage! Alas, it turned out to contain a humongous amount of mozzarella cheese! 

The taste was, to be honest, better than expectation (this coming from a non-cheese lover) even though the dish might have performed better if the cheese were served melting hot.

XXL Pizza [Frutti Di Mare and Pancetta

At 21 inches, this was easily one of the biggest pizzas i have seen in Singapore! As a point of comparison, the largest pizza in PizzaHut is only 13 inches! 

For this family sized pizza, you can select up to two different types [we chose Frutti Di Mare (prawns, clams, scallops, squid rings and fish) and Pancetta (egg, tomatoes and bacon)].

Honestly, i found the pizza to be generally too salty and after taking into consideration my review for Pizzeria Mozza, i reached the sad conclusion that supposedly authentic pizzas are just not my cup of tea! 

Furthermore, i totally detest burnt crust!

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Location

7 Binjai Park

[Opposite Maplewoods Condominium]

Map

As above.

Reservation

Strongly recommended!!

Call 6463-7800

Opening Hours

Monday - Saturday : 12noon to 10.30pm

Sunday : 11am to 10.30pm

[Closed on certain public holidays]

Price

Calamari Fritti - S$14

Mozzarella Fasciata - S$18

XXL Pizza - S$50

[Nett - No Service Charge!]

Additional Information

Outdoor seating available!

Outcome for Appeal of Driving Offence - Driving without An Off Peak Car (OPC) e-Day License Coupon

Guess many of you could not wait to know the outcome of the appeal; which was filed by Mr Alex, the driver of my OPC on that fateful day of 18 July 2012.

Would he be fined the maximum of S$20,000 or, as informed by some of my friends, a first-time penalty of between S$1,000 and S$5,000? 

Submitting an appeal to Land Transport Authority (LTA) is actually not as daunting a task as many envisioned it to be. It's merely a five-minute process (there's even an e-guide to help you) and could be done comfortably in front of your computer.

Here's the content of his appeal:

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Dear Sir/Mdm,

[Appeal] With Regard to Notice Number 3124062675

For six years since we have the car (XXXXXX), we have always been very conscious of the purchases of e-day licence as we understand this is a heavily subsidised scheme by LTA to enable middle income families the opportunity to own a car. Back when the day licence was in hard copy, we will queue up in the early morning just to buy the coupons from Singapore Post and when the decision was made to go online, we were simply put; ecstatic! 

Therefore, it came as a big shock to receive a mail informing us that there was an offence for "driving an off-peak car without a supplementary licence" on 18 July 2012. I frantically checked out the e-day licence transactions we made via onemotoring.com in July and realised, with great horror, that although i did make the purchase of e-day licence for 18 July, the amount of S$20 was re-deposited back to my bank account (attached)!   

I accept full responsibility for what happened but genuinely hope that you can consider my appeal in waiving the penalty, given this unforgivable yet honest mistake. 

Thank you so much for your time and consideration in this matter.

Yours Sincerely,

Alex 

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You didn't misread. 

It was reflected on the online banking statement (appended below) that S$20 was debited from the account and then credited back! Therefore, an attempt was in fact made to pay for the supplementary licence, the transaction was successful but due to unknown factors, rejected back to the bank.

With this highly important 'black and white' evidence, Alex was finally informed last week that he needed to pay LTA a visit this morning. 

He came back with the above.

A payment of S$20 for the usage of OPC on 18 July 2012.

[HENG AH]! 

Film & Wayang - Singapore Living Galleries @ Singapore National Museum

Over the Hari Raya Puasa public holiday last week, i brought my dad to Singapore National Museum! It was a promise that i should have delivered long ago!

The wait to enter the main Singapore History Gallery was a whooping 45-60 minutes and we thought it to be more time efficient to check out the equally interesting Singapore living galleries. 

Let's begin with the gallery on Film and Wayang.

As i entered via the heavy red curtain at the entrance, i could feel that nostalgic feeling of being brought back to the old cinema days when comfortable and plushy cushion chairs were not an option!

One screen was screening a Malay horror movie that was likely Sumpah Orang Minyak (The Curse of the Oily Man) while the other was showing a classic Chinese love film shot in Singapore. 

I guessed the plot must be really good as they were stuck in that area for very long! 

Leaflets (known as handbills) promoting the movies were displayed and Dad was sharing with me information on the celebrities; specifically whether they are still alive or not. 

My mom would have loved to relive those memories when going for a movie was a very exciting activity! Now, there are too many activities that i can count as exciting - playing Diablo3 is one example! 

The second section of this gallery concentrates on the traditional Chinese Wayang. On display are actual opera costumes and accessories! Do you know that there is a designated costume / accessory for every role? I guessed correctly only for the emperor and the general's costumes! 

To show you a real Chinese opera set would incur too huge an expense and we understand that there is also a space constraint within the museum's compound; therefore, be thankful for the puppet stage! Compare this to the modern puppet stage i posted recently (click here)! 

With so many dialects congregating in one little red dot, the Chinese opera in Singapore has developed into a class of its own. However, as i mentioned before, the future looks bleak for it. 

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Location

93 Stamford Road

Nearest MRT Station

Bras Basah [Circle Line]

Website

Visit http://www.nationalmuseum.sg/ for information like ticketing charges.

Additional Information

Free admission for Film and Wayang Living Gallery from 6pm-8pm daily!

Cycling Trip to Pulau Ubin [乌敏岛] Part 2

I thought i would never get to part 2 of my cycling trip to Ubin! Blame it on procrastination! For those who are interested to read part 1, please click here.

Part 1 ended with a disappointing lunch at Season Live Seafood. The above was a view of the crowded jetty taken within the restaurant. A weird phenomenon as it's hardly sufficient to cover Ubin Island within half a day!

Guess there were many visitors whose main aim was purely to cycle at Ketam mountain biking trail, which was opened four years ago in 2008.

Not that hard to guess when you can see many cyclists with mountain bikes caked in mud! For those who are bringing your own bikes, there are jet sprays you can use for a nominal fee to clean off the mud and dirt.

We took to our trusty bicycles again; not an easy feat when we were extremely tired from all that cycling in the morning and also feeling sleepy after lunch. This time, we shall be covering the Western route.

It didn't take us long to reach Pekan Quarry lake. There are five such quarries on Ubin and Pekan is the nearest to town.

Among the quarry lakes in Ubin, Pekan Quarry was the least impressive. The lack of any massive rocky terrain made it no different from a typical lake like Tampines Pond.

In the past, Jalan Jelutong was a comparatively busier road in Ubin; not due to cyclists but vans ferrying visitors of a generation above me!

For thirsty cyclists who have forgotten to purchase water from the town, fret not! There are numerous drink stalls like this affectionately named one; Ah Ma (means Grandmother) Drink Stall.

Came upon two wooden bridges which provided the additional purpose of damming the rivers.

Apparently, the bridges were good spots for fishing! Anglers were patiently waiting for the fishes to bite their expensive prawn baits under the bloody hot sun!

Sungei Jelutong (Jelutong River) - murky water always makes me feel that a crocodile is lurking within and ready to pounce! Cold comfort for the man on the tiny boat!

This drink stall was pretty famous even though most of us have no idea what the name is. However, we can instantly recognize the sign outside the stall with the words "Y U So Like That"; a classic Singlish catchphrase.

Opposite the shop were two signage pointing to the Goddess Of Mercy rock (观音石); i had to climb up (it's only a few steps) for a better look!

I only found a rock that could barely make it as an image of the benevolent Buddhist goddess! Of course, imagination is required just like the face of the monkey god on a tree trunk in Jurong.

Snorkeling in Singapore?!?!?! This got me excited as we are aware that Singapore's world status as a seaport means that pollution is a given and water can never be crystal clear!

There is no restriction to enter the Celestial Resort and we happily cycled into the quiet resort. I would have loved to pass you a link for more information but it seems the link has information only for the newest resort located next to Ubin Town.

Time to turn back! Celestial Jetty is another entry point to Pulau Ubin and unlike the town jetty, this only serves the resort's customers and available exclusively under private charter.

Could you see what was so unusual about this picture?

Oriental Pied Hornbill! And it was a lucky day as far as animal sightings are concerned as we spotted not just one but a pair of stunningly beautiful hornbills!

Our journey almost ended when we came to the above no-entry sign! I figured they were specifically for motor vehicles (for normal visitors like myself, the signs would have the words "NO ENTRY" spelled out in full)!

I would have been devastated should it be a no-go for anyone since my purpose of cycling so long (40 minutes in fact) was to visit the famous Thai temple or whatever that was left of it. In addition, this road leads to the Chinese cemetery i touched on a few months ago. Click HERE for the post! The road name, Jalan Wat Siam, was in reality given with reference to the temple.

Durian lovers who enjoy picking them in the wild would be comforted to know that there are durian trees in the vicinity! Be careful of your head despite the popular belief that durians have 'eyes'.

We were nearing the location of the Thai temple. I had ridden along this road countless times in the past and it was weird to have it so empty and to a certain extent, gloomy.

The Y-Junction; this was where the right lane led straight to the temple before converging with the left lane towards Kekek Quarry.

Sadly, there was nothing left of the Thai temple except for its foundation. It would have been so much more interesting to find an empty temple full of island history.

A long ride back to Ubin Town. Would have preferred to explore Kekek Quarry but dad was worried for my sister who was 'dumped' at a pavilion for raising the white flag after knowing she had to cycle more! 

The return of my rented bike!

Some people have asked me which would be a good bicycle shop to rent a bicycle. To be honest, i have always patronized the same shop (out of convenience) even though i cannot say i am 100% satisfied with the service of its staff.

The jetty was not as crowded as before and it didn't take us more than five minutes to board the bumboat. By the way, be prepared to pay S$2.50 per pax for the ride back.

It was a good yet tiring trip for my dad. His last visit was in his 20s and i have no doubt this would have brought back much memories on his younger days.

Would i be back? Obviously yes!

I would like to revisit Kekek Quarry!