The Marina Bay Sands - Singapore

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Marina Bay Sands News and Briefs

2011-10-25T04:26:00.000-07:00

MARINA BAY SANDS NEWS BRIEFS: 25 October 2011

Marina Bay Sands

Media AugustMan.com
Date 24 October 2011
Headline One night only: Inniskillin Ice Wines at SANTI

Here’s the alcohol hierarchy for you: You get breweries anywhere and even a handful on our shores. Vineyards? Head Down Under to Perth and you’re sipping wine amidst verdant greenery. But to observe the making of ice wine, you’ll have to travel some 8000 miles to Canada.

Ice wines are dessert wines produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. As such, the sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing a more concentrated grape to be pressed from the frozen grapes and this results in very sweet, robust wines. The process is slightly risky and labor intensive, and as the amount produced each time is small, ice wines are generally expensive.

For one night only on 10th November 2011, celebrity chef restaurant SANTI will present an ice wine dinner with Inniskillin wines, known to be one of the most renowned ice wines around and made from one of the best wineries in Canada. We’re talking seven courses with SANTI’s prized fare, and this is also the first time such a large variety of ice wines from Inniskillin are featured in a single seating. An Inniskillin representative will be present to share his thoughts on wine pairing recommendation as well.

Personally, we can’t think of anything more delicious than a wine-soaked dinner amidst the buzz at Marina Bay Sands. Here’s the straight up version of what you can expect.

Inniskillin Wine Pairing Dinner at SANTI
Prawn and Scallop Salad with yoghurt mint sauce and avocado paired with Inniskillin ‘Two Vineyards’ Riesling 2010

Foie Gras Terrine with Inniskillin icewine, grapes and citrus paired with Inniskillin Icewine Oak Aged Vidal 2006

Ocean Trout “Mi Cuit” with Mediterranean tabbouleh and Iranian saffron butter paired with Le Clos Jordanne ‘Le Grand Clos’ Chardonnay 2008

Wild Mushroom Cocotte with potato gnocchi and Swiss chard paired with Le Clos Jordanne ‘Le Grand Clos’ Pinot Noir 2007

Smoked Duck Magret with celeriac, chestnuts and black truffles paired with Le Clos Jordanne ‘Le Grand Clos’ Pinot Noir 2007

Ice Lemon Tea with ginger and pineapple paired with Inniskillin Icewine Riesling 2007

Chocolate Textures with cherries and vanilla paired with Inniskillin Icewine Cabernet Franc 2007

Priced at $265++ per person. Reservations can be made at +65 66888501 or at santi@marinabaysands.com

From: http://www.augustman.com/2011/10/24/one-night-only-inniskillin-ice-wines-at-santi/

Media FeverAvenue.com
Date 25 October 2011
Headline Cheers to savor Canada’s Finest Ice Wine at SANTI

Tricia has previously shared with you some of her favourite dishes from SANTI, located at Marina Bay Sands, which might have piqued your appetite. On 10 November, the award-winning restaurant will be holding the Inniskillin Ice Wine Dinner where three different wines from the famed Canadian winery will be paired with the exquisite cuisine of SANTI!

Enjoy an indulgent evening at SANTI with one of the best wineries from Canada, Inniskillin. The seven-course dinner on November 10 marks the first time that many ice wines from the world-renowned winery are featured in a single seating. Each course will be paired with a different wine, including three types of ice wine from Inniskillin. Guests will have the opportunity to taste the award winning “Inniskillin Icewine Riesling 2007” and “Inniskillin Icewine Cabernet Franc 2007”, amongst other premium Canadian wines. Both wines were awarded the Gold Medal in the All Canadian Wine Championships as recognition of their premium quality.

Established since 1975, Inniskillin produces ice wine that is made with precision at every step, from the harvesting of frozen grapes at a specific temperature, to the strict selection of the grapes and even the fermentation process. Ice wines have a more intense flavor and aroma, and each year’s harvest yield only a very small amount of the precious liquid.

The one-night only dinner, priced at S$265++ per person, will feature signature dishes from SANTI such as the aromatic “Foie Gras Terrine with Inniskillin Icewine, Grapes and citrus” and “Chocolate Textures”. Each course will be paired with a different wine from Inniskillin. A representative from the award-winning winery will be present during this exclusive dinner to share his expertise on wine pairing recommendations.

Reservations are necessary and can be made at +65 6688 8501 or email santi@marinabaysands.com.

Santi
Marina Bay Sands Shoppes
Casino Level 2
Operating Hours:
Sunday Lunch 12PM – 2PM
Dinner 6:30PM – 10:30PM
Tapas Bar/Lounge 6:30PM – 11PM

From: http://www.feveravenue.com/cheers-to-savor-canada-finest-ice-wine-at-santi/

RWS

Media The New Paper
Date 25 October 2011
Headline Bust pipe floods casino’s entrance

She has stepped outside the casino at Resorts World Sentosa on Sunday to buy 4D. When she returned 20 minutes later, she was surprised to be redirected to the VIP entrance. Miss Tan, 32, who declined to give her full name, isn’t a high-roller or a celebrity. So she was wondering why- until she saw the water. The main entrance of the gambling hall was flooded, with water levels just below the ankle.

Said the customer services officer: “There was quite a lot of water, all the way up to the membership counter.

“People couldn’t walk in and out of the casino freely, I had time, so I could walk one big round to the VIP entrance.

“First-timers might not have been able to find their way, but there were staff members around to guide them.”

A RWS spokesperson said water leakage had resulted from a sprinkler pipe that had burst at the ceiling of the casino’s main entrance. That area was closed for upgrading when it happened. The leakage was detected at 2:40pm. In addition to the main entrance, the areas around the drop-off and valet points in the basement carpark were flooded as well.

Another casino guest who wanted to be known only as Mr. Tan said he had just stepped inside the Orchid Club when he realized something was wrong.

Jackpot machines down
Many of the jackpot machines had been shut down in the room, reserved for Singaporeans and permanent residents. Said Mr. Tan, 36, a marketing manager who described himself as a regular at the casino: “There was some commotion, a lot of staff members just walking around and looking for contractors.

“Some staff were rolling barrels which looked like oil drums to the toilet. I think they contained water, which was meant to be thrown away.”

Chinese evening newspaper Shin Min Daily News reported that water was swept from the casino entrance to outside the building, resulting in the closure of two lanes for traffic, one of which was for valet use and the other for taxis. With these lanes closed, many taxis had to share a lane with private cars, leading to a traffic bottleneck.

According to the RWS spokesperson, power at the Orchid Club had to be shut for safety reasons. Normal operations resumed within an hour, the spokesperson added.

Miss Tan said that the staff members also drove industrial-sized vacuum cleaners to suck up the water. She said, “Thankfully, the water was clear and there was no smell.” Miss Tan’s friend, who had stayed inside the casino that afternoon, did not even know about the flood.

RWS has apologized for the inconvenience. “We are fine-tuning the procedures for upgrading works to prevent any re-occurrence,” said the spokesman.

Media The Straits Times
Date 24 October 2011
Headline 3 arrested for trying to enter RWS using other people's IDs

The police have arrested two women and a man for trying to enter the Resorts World Sentosa casino with other people's passports in three separate cases in June, August and September this year.

In the most recent case in September, a 31-year-old Singapore Permanent Resident was arrested after she tried to enter the casino using a stolen passport and an identity card.

In the other two incidents, a 54-year-old female PR and a 38-year-old Singaporean man were detained by RWS security officers and handed over to the police after they were found to be using other people's passports.

The police said that the three suspects had wanted to enter the casino without paying the entry levy by using another person's identification.

If convicted of cheating by personation, they face a maximum jail term of five years, a fine, or both. They may also be convicted of attempted entry without payment of entry levy. The 31-year-old woman may face additional charges.

From: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_726715.html

Retail

Media The New Paper
Date 25 October 2011
Headline Crab meet

Marina Bay Sands has turned out to be quite a good place to get good food. You can’t turn a corner without finding a celebrity chef’s restaurant or a restaurant that will test the limit of your credit card. It will cost you, but most of the time, you will have an above-average food experience.

That was the case at Yu Cuisine. It’s by the same group that manages the popular Bosses restaurant at VivoCity. I ate at Yu Cuisine thrice- twice at their invitation- and was impressed. (Although I was less impressed the day I went on my own, unannounced.)

The thing you have to order is the roast meat plate ($28 for a small portion, which is good enough for two). Always get the duck because you can’t go wrong. The roast pork was good the two times I was invited, but it was way too salty when I went on my own. Still, it is a popular choice.

This was also the case with the barbecued pork, or char siew. It was tender and I had just the right amount of fat the first two visits, but it has morphed into charred, dry pieces of meat the last time I ate there. But what remained good was the dinosaur rice ($8.80), which is basically fried fritters wrapped in steamed rice rolls. The fritter remained crispy and the sauce helped the dish.

And when I was hosted, we had the Hong Kong Aberdeen Chili Crab ($58 per kilo but it’s based on market rate, so the price might fluctuate). This is a gorgeous looking dish- fried crab with tones of dried chili on it. And it tastes as spicy as it looks. I went through it gingerly, having a low tolerance for chili, but my lunch companions ripped through it with relish. They proclaimed it delicious and when my tongue stopped burning, I agreed.

Another good dish to order is the rice noodles ($16). It is off menu, so you will have to ask for it. I like the wok hei (that slightly burnt taste that makes it special) and the flavors are strong and confident.

However, the dim sum selection didn’t impress. Yu Cuisine scraped through the har gao (prawn dumpling, $6) and siew mai ($6) test. Both items were not too bad, but were hardly impressive. The carrot cake ($6) fared better, although I wish the texture was less mushy.

As expected of a place with high rollers, the service staff play nice. There were smiles and polite service and they made us feel like high rollers ourselves.

Media Singapuradailyphoto.blogspot.com
Date 24 October 2011
Headline Todai @ Marina Bay Sands

This is my 2nd time to Todai since it opened. My first time was during the first few weeks that they opened. This time round, I tagged along thanks to the folks from HungryGoWhere.Com Todai says on its website, it's an international seafood and sushi buffet restaurant. In my two trips there, I think of it more as a Korean Buffet plus International Seafood restaurant.

The first time I was here, I ate probably half of the things served here. This time round, I tried more with some overlap. Meaning I might come back in a few months time to try other things. I don't think it's wise to try every single thing. By the time you eat them all, you would be too full and be too full to appreciate what you have eaten. I noticed that there's a Korea Promotion on and decided that I shall try those special food plus a few 'must try' things here.

They call themselves a sushi buffet restaurant so expect to lots of it. They do have a huge variety of sushi on the buffet tables! You know sushi is mostly rice, it makes you really full. So I was quite selective. I picked those that stood out and also those with Korea Festival on it.

The above I think was the White Dragon Roll. I was tempted by the mushroom on top.
It had my favorite ingredient and I went back for thirds!

If you are a Kimchi fan, this Kimchi Sushi roll is a must try! Wrapped in kimchi cabbage leaves and also some kimchi on top of it! I like kimchi and find their kimchi not too fermented, so it's to my liking. I had 3 of this!

If you watch Korean soaps, they always talk about Korean Beef. These are marinated BBQ Korean Short Ribs! Verified it with the Manager that these are all imported from Korea! The taste, you can't get enough of it! Probably because of the marinate and also the slight char smell. It's not sinewy and cuts easily with the fork and knife. The get wiped out by fellow diners quite quickly though. So when you see them, take a few pieces to try.

This is another thing that you must try. Deep fried Ginseng! If you hate the smell of Ginseng, then skip it. I am OK with it.

Fried Ginseng does taste better than small ginseng pieces that mum forces us to suck like sweets when I was a kid studying for exams! It's just skinny pieces of ginseng roots with tempura batter. Not the super potent kind.

Tuesdays and Thursday are Oyster Nights. (We went on Tuesday night). I am not an fresh oyster fan and I ate it just because it's expensive. I ate one and passed the next one to my wife!

I like the Alaskan Crabs though. It's lots of work trying to cut the thing out. I think these are easier to cut than the usual Sri Lankan varieties we have with chilli or pepper crabs.

By the way, I was told, that Todai Singapore might be ending their Alaskan Crab on the menu quite soon. Todai in other countries like Korea and US are already removing it from their menu. Prices of Alaskan crabs are getting too high to be viable to serve them as buffet now.

They have a churrasco section too. I like the pineapple and the fattier portions of pork.
They are kind of lightly salted, so you might need sauces. This might sound weird, but the kimchi station has nice pickles to go with these Brazilian styles of meat!

There are the usual fresh sashimi station as well. More cold seafood, do you find that the smaller the shell fish, the sweeter it taste? The common stuff that you get in many other buffets around.

These are some Korean Rice cake snacks in conjunction with the Korea Festival.
Some are nicer than the rest and probably an acquired taste to some people. The texture is chewy!

For desserts, I had some cakes. What I liked was the self service sundae machine!
I can't resist ice cream!

Check out the promotion that they are running now.
Todai Marina Bay Sands (Singapore)
B2-01 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
2 Bayfront Avenue
Singapore 018972
Tel: +65 6688 7771

From:
http://singapuradailyphoto.blogspot.com/2011/10/todai-marina-bay-sands.html

Tourism and Hospitality

Media The Straits Times
Date 25 October 2011
Headline Tourism receipts for Q2 jump 18% to hit $5b
Tourists have been flocking here with sightseeing and spending on their minds. The latest performance report put out by the Singapore Tourism Board shows tourism receipts for the second quarter this year hit an estimated $5 billion - an 18per cent increase compared to the same period last year.
Receipts from sightseeing and entertainment, which includes gaming at the integrated resorts, registered the biggest jump at 48 percent. Spending on accommodation went up by 16 percent, while receipts from food and beverage saw an increase of 15 percent. Visitor arrivals also went up.
International visitor arrivals reached 3.2 million in the second quarter of this year - a 14 percent increase on the same period last year. The total number of visitor days stood at 12.5 million, a 9.4 percent rise. While the latest results not are surprising given the growth in visitor arrivals, it is indicative of a larger trend, said Ngee Ann Polytechnic tourism lecturer Michael Chiam.
'We are seeing dollar spending going up due to more high-value customers coming in compared to the past,' he said.
Tourists, he pointed out, are spending more money, in part due to a changing entertainment landscape. He noted: 'Room rates have gone up, and there are also more high-end food and beverage options, like the restaurants helmed by gourmet chefs at Marina Bay Sands.'
The latest average room rate is $246, an increase of 14 per cent compared to last year. Mr. Robert Khoo, chief executive officer of National Association of Travel Agents Singapore, said the latest figures are encouraging. He said: 'With receipts increasing with arrivals, it shows that our products are becoming more attractive.'

This year, the STB is aiming to reach a record 12-13 million visitor arrivals and $22-24 billion in tourism receipts. That is up from last year's 11.6 million visitor arrivals and $18.9 billion in receipts. Asked whether he thought STB and Singapore were on track to meet this target, Mr. Khoo said they were well on their way, 'notwithstanding any major crisis or downturn in the economy'.

How VIP Market Operates in Macau and China

2009-09-08T22:23:00.000-07:00

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An insider’s take on how casino junket agents recruit VIP players in China.
This month a leading figure in the Macau gaming industry explains how the agents identify and then ‘recruit’ high roller players in the first place.

Extending gambling credit to VIP players via sub-contracted third-party agents or sub agents, rather than direct from the casino to the player, is a central pillar of the Macau gaming industry. To a lesser extent it is also a feature of some other Asian landbased gambling jurisdictions including the Philippines and Cambodia. The online gambling industry in Asia also uses thirdparty agents for the provision of credit and collection of debts.

The stakes are very high when it comes to recruiting high net worth casino players, because agents and sub agents—depending on their place in the junket system pecking order—may be paid either a recruitment fee or take as commission a percentage of the revenue ‘rolled’ by the VIP player over the course of a month, six months or a year.

There are potentially a lot of VIP players to be recruited in China and a lot of commission to be won. As reported in IAG last month, a recent study published by investment bank Merrill Lynch in October in association with Capgemini, a business consultancy, estimated there were around 345,000 US dollar millionaires on the Mainland.

Among that group of Chinese millionaires are a group Merrill labelled as ‘Ultra-High Net Worth Individuals’. These are nearly 5,000 people with net worth of at least US$30 million. Of that cohort, 106 were classed as US dollar billionaires.

An obvious question is how do these third party betting agents make contact with such potentially lucrative players in the first place, given that in China, a key market for Macau and casinos overseas, the advertising and marketing of gambling and gambling products is illegal?

The answer is many different ways—some of them through introduction or social networking and some of them through a growing system of VIP clubs.

“You can think of the junket network as the foot soldiers of a multi-level marketing strategy, rather like that you might find for a company selling consumer products such as Amway,” the industry insider said.

“They have thousands and thousands of people in China. In each province and each city, they know all the important people. They know who’s who. They know who are the big factory owners, they know the business people, they know what business they’re in, and by knowing them they have a way to help these ‘customers’ to come to Macau and gamble.

“Because advertising of gambling is clearly prohibited in China, the junkets provide an important network,” he adds.

The source says the network of VIP clubs is growing within Mainland China. They have many of the luxury facilities found on the VIP floors of Macau casinos—with the crucial difference that there are no gaming tables or machines, and no gambling is permitted.

HI - TECH POKER THREATS

2009-09-02T06:02:00.000-07:00

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As poker takes off in Asia particularly in Macau, and the sums involved grow, cheaters will employ increasingly ingenious methods to make off with players’ money. Infamous casino scammer turned anti-cheating expert Richard Marcus warns of the potential high-tech security scams to be aware of in brick and mortar cardrooms
For several years now, we’ve been hearing about high-tech scams in online poker games. First came collusion-type cheating engineered by players using multi-PCs and multi-IP accounts. Then came poker “bots” whose software programs are now believed capable of incorporating artificial intelligence into strategy decisions. And recently, we’ve heard reports of hacked security codes and high-tech money laundering involving criminals washing their illicit earnings while playing poker online.

But what about good old-fashioned lowtech or non-tech poker rooms? Are they safe from crafty cheaters using high-tech wizardry to earn ill-gotten gains?

Well, until two years ago it appeared that they were. Besides some weak and rather unprofessional attempts to use hidden computers to track played cards (especially in stud games) and calculate playing and betting strategies with that knowledge, nothing much about sophisticated technology was heard through the real-world poker-cheating grapevine.

Something up her sleeve
That changed in 2005. In September of that year, a woman playing three-card poker at the Mint casino in London, England, aroused suspicion while winning at an exorbitant rate—34 of 44 hands, which is highly unlikely at that game. The same woman had been noted winning at similar rates in other London casinos offering three-card poker. Another thing Mint security personnel noticed was that a white van was parked in the proximity of the Mint’s front entrance—as also observed during her previous wins at the other casinos.

An immediate on-site investigation was launched, and it was discovered that beneath her sleeve, the woman was wearing a harness on her arm that housed a tiny digital micro-camera. Sitting in the back of the van outside, security staff found a computer techie hunched over two computer screens. One was for the live camera feed, the other to play the recordings of what the woman’s hidden micro-camera was filming inside the casino: the cards coming off the dealer’s pack as he dealt them facedown to the players and himself.

By positioning her arm on a downward slope from the dealer’s hands as he dealt, the woman’s camera was able to film the cards’ faces. Back in the van, the techie slowed down the digital images on the screen and perfectly read the cards. He then relayed the info back to the woman and another man—also an accomplice— at the table, through the hidden earpieces they wore. The two cheating players were thus able to play their hands with an enormous edge on the casino.

True, three-card poker is not poker, but it is a step closer to it than say blackjack or roulette. It is certainly a poker derivative game. But if this incident was not enough to make you wary about possible goingson in brick and mortar cardrooms, in July this year, we learned of another frighteningly high-tech scam that did involve poker in a brick and mortar room, just not a public cardroom.

2009-08-05T03:27:00.000-07:00

Online Games making a Big Move

Online gaming software provider CryptoLogic Inc. has developed hit slot products based on casual games and Marvel Comics superheroes. VP - Marketing and Product Management Justin L. Thouin tells Inside Asian Gaming about his company’s commitment to creating “the most entertaining, authentic user experience possible”
Many point to the intensity of play at Macau casinos to support the claim that Chinese are the most hardcore gamblers in the world. It is true that notions of fate, luck and fortune run deep in Chinese culture, but another major reason for the gambling fervour in Macau is that the city is the stage for the release of a great deal of pent-up gambling desire.
Macau is, after all, the only place in China where casinos are legal. China recently introduced lotteries and video lottery terminals (VLTs), but before that the range of legal gambling options available to its population was severely restricted. It was only in mid-2003 that the Chinese government began progressively easing travel restrictions on mainland Chinese wishing to visit Macau, and unsurprisingly, since then, Macau has embarked on a heady casino boom.
As the Macau market matures—with newly opened mega resorts drawing a more diversified visitor demographic to the city, and mainland Chinese becoming more used to the realities of gambling— there will be a rise in gambling for the sake of entertainment, rather than battling with the house in search of riches. Slot machines will steal an increasing share of revenue from the baccarat tables, while even slot preferences will evolve away from the currently dominant high-volatility games to those that offer a more entertaining user experience. “Serious” gambling, by its very nature, is likely to lead lighter forms in terms of revenue share for perhaps decades to come, but those offering the best entertainment-based games should see a steady rise in sales.
The online gaming market, like the Macau casino market, is relatively immature, evolving fast and booming. While Macau was recently granted access to the bulk of its potential customers by China, the floodgates to the online gaming market have been shut by the US and many Asian jurisdictions, including, of course, China. The tide will eventually turn, however, and as with China’s introduction of VLTs or squeaky-clean Singapore’s legalisation of casinos, it could happen sooner than expected.