Intercontinental Staycation

Last weekend I & my wife had a staycation in Intercontinental Hotel Bugis.  It was some sort of a replacement for a holiday for me.  Had it not been for the rain I would have explored further to Kampong Glam area.  But seeing how much time we spent in Bugis alone I guess it makes sense to explore Kampong Glam another time.

Check-in was speedy and convenient, everything was as expected.  The room was marvelous, to say the least.

Deluxe Room in Intercontinental Singapore - Bugis

Gardens by The Bay Christmas Wonderland

My wife and the kids are away for holiday at my wife's hometown since last week.  I'm stuck for some work related issues, although not a lot and mostly are already settled by now.  That also means that I have lots and lots of free time on weekends...  And for me that means going to Gardens by The Bay to see the Christmas Wonderland exhibits and take some great photos.  For this trip, I brought along both my X-T2 + XF 16mm F1.4R WR and D750 + AT-X 16-28 F2.8 PRO FX.  But for this entry, I'm using the shots from my X-T2 only.

I arrived quite early at before 4:15 pm.  My first destination was the Flower Dome where the Christmas Wonderland exhibit is on.  I wanted to scout around for good spots, taking sample shots, adjusting the lighting and shadow/highlight setting in my camera.  These are two of my daylight sample shots which turned out well.      

A foliage tunnel going to the South American Garden

Pompompurin Cafe

[UPDATE: Pompompurin cafe has since been closed]

Last Sunday we dropped by Pompompurin Cafe in Orchard Central after Lindsay's ballet class.  Just for the heck of it.  I mean, when it was first launched in April this year people were queuing for about two hours or so to dine there.  Now that the hype has cooled down, it's a good time to drop by for a visit.

For this visit I brought along my X-T2 + XF 16mm F1.4R WR combo.  Unfortunately the indoor shots weren't so good.  I had been taking photos outdoor earlier and reduced the highlight setting to get better dynamic range under the harsh sunlight and forgot to reset that setting after I moved indoors.  As a result the photos mostly lack contrast and sharpness.  Gotta remember to change the setting next time when I move indoors!!

We arrived 10 minutes early and before us there were already two ladies in the queue.  Not so bad.

The entrance to the Cafe

Lincoln's Graduation Party

Last Friday was Lincoln's graduation party at his school - he's already on full holiday now, getting ready for his trip to Purwokerto next Monday.  The party was a private event for the graduating class of 2016.  It was an intimate gathering for the kids as they were about to say their goodbyes to each other soon.  For Lincoln it was just 3 days away from his last day there.

Lining up to get their graduation presents

Double Promotion - Orange Belt 7th Kyu!

I went for my grading 5 weeks ago and got a double promotion.  From 10th kyu to 7th kyu.  In belt language that means I'm an orange belt now.  So I skipped yellow belt and went straight from white to orange.  Lincoln didn't join me in grading that time because he still couldn't remember his Heian Shodan (平安初段) and Gohon Kumite (五本組手) steps.  

My "new" orange belt

Lincoln's K2 Graduation Concert

Last Friday was Lincoln's graduation concert.  It was a combined graduation event involving more than 300 children from 29 centres which took place at The Theatre @ Mediacorp.  It was just 1 week after his primary 1 orientation.

The event started with a presentation of certificates to the graduating classes.

Class photo at certificate presentation