louis' spin

Skypark @ Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore

2010-07-12T19:43:00.000+02:00

Johan & Corinna were visiting us in Singapore recently. We took a bit of time to go and explore the Marina Bay Sands Hotel (wikipedia article). You can head to the hotel and freely explore the lobby area. For S$20 per person you can also head up to the observation deck (called the Sands SkyPark). We also got a chance to sneak in to the hotel pool area to see the infamous infinity pool. Anyway the building, views and pool all are truly impressive. Check out my picks below.

You can also see more on flickr.

In the lobby looking up

More in the lobby

The lobbies of the three building are connected and you walk all through these.

View of the "Durians" (also known as the Esplenade Theatre)

These are Singapore's answer to Sydney's opera house.

The infinity pool

View from the top

View to the top

Observing the observation deck

The nearby Helix Bridge

Beautiful Helix Bridge for pedestrians connecting the Marina to the Esplanade.

Durian up close

View from afar

A bit more of a classic

The Fullerton Hotel (wikipedia article) is still one of my favourite buildings to see at night in Singapore. It used to be the post office. It usually features heavily in the F1 television coverage.

Dinner & Drinks @ Indo Chine

After a day of touristing...

Related posts by others

imod: Infinity pool 55 stories up in the air!

Malaysian GP

2009-05-18T18:43:00.000+02:00

As mentioned before we went to see the Malaysian Grand Prix just outside Kuala Lumpur.

Well I finally uploaded the photos to flickr.

Anyway we started the weekend and got all the kit together. Earplugs, little kangaroo TV so we could follow the live action,cameras, beer to keep cool, ice cream etc.

The start was very impressive to see. You can see a burst of photos from the start here. Check the McLaren's battling it out on the far side of the track. We had great seats on the main straight so and had a good view of the start as well as all the pitstops.

The race was going round nicely except Lewis was not doing very well. Througout however the rain clouds had been threatening. It got darker:

And then it was raining, with the scramble for wet\intermediate tyres:

And the safter car had to come out because it was pouring down:

And finally the race had to be stopped. It was quite nice as all the cars parked right in front of us.

I must say this Ferrari looked a bit dandy.

Got a shot of Rubens Barrichello

Unfurtunately the race never restarted and the winner was announced as the cars were parked on the main straight.

We also attended the free Jamiroquai concert afterwards. It was very wet, but at least the rain stopped.

Kaizer Chiefs at Fort Canning Park

2009-05-03T19:45:00.000+02:00

We went to see Kaizer Chiefs playing at Fort Canning Park . It was an absolutely great show. They were so much fun to see and the venue was perfect. Sloping grass and easy to see them. Also not crowded at all. Reminded me just a bit of Kirstenbosch too.

We recorded a short video clip which you can see here . This is the ending of the song "Everyday I love you less and less."

You can find our photos here.

Petronas Towers

2009-05-03T18:55:00.000+02:00

Lorna and I recently visited Malaysia to watch the F1 Grand Prix (more on that later). Anyway we stayed near the Petronas Towers and over the weekend saw them quite often.

See all the pics here.

A good spot to view the Petronas Towers from is the Sky Bar at the Traders Hotel. It really has some amazing views, some good cocktails and a full size pool...

I will be posting the F1 pics themselves soon!

Drinks after Mandarin Class

2009-04-19T03:24:00.000+02:00

Lorna and myself are taking a Mandarin course (at the SCCCI ). We went out for drinks recently as it was out teacher's birthday. We went to Brotzeit , a German bar, not far from our class and introduced George (or Zhao Qi ) to some German beer. Obviously he had to have a Mass (one of those 1 litre beer glasses).

Visiting the Taj Mahal

2009-04-11T01:27:00.000+02:00

Lorna and I went to India for work in February . We were there for a week and a half so we had a weekend to do something in India. We decided to head off to the Taj Mahal (photos). We were based in Mumbai, so this involved booking flights to Delhi and then taking a drive from Delhi to Agra . Quite a mission. For the way back we booked a flight from Agra to Delhi and then another flight back to Mumbai.

Getting up early on the Saturday morning for the flight and drive was a mission, but it turned out well worth it. Driving anywhere in India is a mission though. The drive from Delhi to Agra is only 250km but takes 5 hours to complete.

On the way

Arriving in Agra we went straight to the the Taj Mahal. We arrived just in the middle of the afternoon and were quite lucky to get the light as the sun started setting. The Taj really is something to see!

The Taj Mahal

Entering through the gate you get your first glimpse

And then

Agra is a "small" town of 2.5m people. It really does look like a smallish town but in India they do manage to fit a lot of people, cattle, markets, cars and many other things in a very small town. This makes it take ages just to get out of the town. We stayed at The Bagh (photos ) in Bharatpur outside Agra.

Driving through Agra

Halfway between Baharatpur and Agra you can find the Fatehpur Sikri (photos ), a palace and mosque which is quite amazing.

Fatehpur Sikri

After Fatehpur Sikri it was off to Agra airport to discover that our flight was delayed, and later cancelled. This from an airport where this was the only flight departing... I learnt to love Kingfisher (the airline not the beer ). I suppose that is my reward for flying with an airline that also makes beer (or should that be the other way round?). So at 9pm we had to hop in a car again and drive back to Delhi, to experience an hour long delay outside Delhi to get through a toll gate on a toll road. They seriously still made our driver pay after making us wait an hour to pay! The pay point was a table with 1 guy sitting there getting money, so everyone has to stop, get out of their cars and go pay. So I can say I was stuck in a traffic jam after midnight on a Sunday evening.

Delayed...

Anyway reaching Delhi in the early hours and catching a flight back to Mumbai first thing in the morning was not fun. Back in Mumbai you also spend much of your stuck in tuctucs and taxis in traffic. It is really jaw-dropping how bad traffic can be in Mumbai.

Tuctuc in Mumbai

Dino enjoying business class back to Singapore

See all the pics from our trip to Taj Mahal here.

Bali

2009-03-02T07:41:00.001+02:00

A couple of days after I arrived in Singapore for the first time we left for a weekend to Bali. This was during Chinese New Year. This is a more of a family holiday so not much was happening in Singapore over the long weekend during which this is scheduled, so a trip was in order.

We stayed in very nice places. We first spent some time in Semanyak near the coast and more the typical beach holiday destination. We spent some time in beach bars like Ku De Ta and also organised a diving trip to the North of the island. The place we stayed in was Puri Madawi (photos) which was a bit out of the way but offered excellent value and lots of relaxation.

We also then stayed near Ubud (photos) at Sunset Hills (photos).

Again Sunset Hills was a bit out of the way but the view from the infinity pool is just the best. It has a brilliant view looking down on a ravine with a river down below. Here we continued the R&R

. One highlight was going for a massage Maya @ The Ubud. This is a hotel with a amazing spa centre which is situated next to a river at the bottom of a tropical ravine. Really stunning.

Ubud is centrally located in Bali and is renowned for its art and crafts industry. In Ubud we also saw some Balinese dancing. We were glad that we combined it with dinner because it wasn't exactly riveting stuff.

We also went off to see the volcano (dormant for now) and a Hindu temple with a spring which is quote famous (called Pura Tirta Empul I think - photos). And investigated local coffees.

At the volcano

Tasting coffee

Fountains

I would recommend Bali for a chilled out holiday. Really beautiful. We went in the off seasons so it was really relaxed. I would not recommend it for the beaches as they are not all that great.

Kim's wedding

2009-01-09T00:00:00.001+02:00

When Lorna was down in Cape Town in December we attended Kim's wedding.

The service was in Wynberg, but the reception was at the Gold Museum in Cape Town.

Kathryn & Dave were also there.

Had a lovely time. Some more of the pics are posted below. You can see all the pics I took at Kim's Wedding on flickr.

Louise & Kerry's Christmas Party was fun!

2008-12-14T08:05:00.005+02:00

I am writing this with a nice headache and a great need for lots of water. Had fun at Louise & Kerry's Christmas Party last night. Took my camera with and took a few pics. I post some of the pics here but you can look at all the pics from Louise & Kerry's Christmas Party here.

Kerry & Louise organised secret santa gifts and Santa himself showed up to hand them out.

Later the music was turned up...

And that is pretty much how I got a headache...

Car accident in Kloof Street

2008-12-07T10:53:00.003+02:00

On the way to get some fruit, smoothy ingredients and other goodies to cool down I came across this car that had crashed into a wall in Kloof Street. Not sure when this happened but it had made a serious impact into the wall.

This was the little parking area in front of the Shoprite in Kloof Street. Would be interesting to know what happened here. I suspect a Saturday night gone wrong, but I may be wrong...

The smoothies went down well on a hot day next to the pool though.

Johan's Birthday at Dieu Donné in Franschhoek

2008-12-03T12:33:00.001+02:00

We spend a lovely day at Dieu Donné in Franschoek for Johan's birthday. It is really a lovely restaurant with a great view over Franschoek and the valley. Can really recommend it. Also has seating inside with massive windows for days with less than perfect weather.

See all the pics here.

Dieu Donné also brews their own beer and we tasted some inside on our way out.

Dinner at Karin & Carsten's

2008-12-03T11:07:00.002+02:00

World AIDS Day

2008-12-01T06:38:00.000+02:00

Starfish
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Support Starfish!

Birthday - 1980s pool party

2008-11-29T15:27:00.007+02:00

For my 33rd birthday I held a 80s pool party at my house. The intention was to chill by the pool in the afternoon and braai a bit later.

You can see all the pics here.

The weather didn't play along 100% for the pool element so we turned up the heating and added some bubble bath...

Later we had our braai, and started playing some loud music trying to guess the names of those hits from the 80s. Think Visage - Fade to Grey.

Packing for Singapore

2008-11-29T02:21:00.002+02:00

Recently our stuff was packed and placed in a little green container to be taken to Singapore! Didn't even come close to filling the container. Stuttaford van Lines did a good job packing. But probably only find out how good it was once I get to Singapore.

I am flying out on 16 January.

Amsterdam

2008-11-27T11:41:00.001+02:00

Recently went to Amsterdam for a conference. Had some time to wander around the streets and take some pictures. Also took a boat trip on the canals. Here are some of the photos I took.

Bicycles

Coffee shops

The Grasshopper

Houseboats in the canals

Bicycle Park

CSI Miami - Horatio Caine Collection

2008-09-10T11:49:00.004+02:00

A couple of funnies about Horatio Caine, the chief investigator in CSI Miami. He is played by David Carusso.

He has this habit of fiddling with his sunglasses and saying cheesy one-liners. If you haven't seen for yourself see below:

The other actors of the series had fun copying his moves. Check from about halfway in this video:

Jim Carrey also tried and almost succeeded:

And then there is two below the belt comic strips to top it off.

And:

If you want to be more like him you can try the David Carusso school of acting:

Great White Shark Cage Diving

2008-09-03T01:23:00.005+02:00

Lorna, Sandy and myself went shark cage diving in August just before Lorna left for Singapore.

We used Shark Cage Diving Unlimited . They provided good service and a good video before. One of the guys running this business is also know to free swim (no cage, or oxygen just goggles and wet suit) with great white shark! We had a nice chat with him afterwards and he showed us some of his personal footage and photos. There are a couple of documentaries out or about to be released on BBC, Discovery and National Geographic.

Here are a few cool pics we took from the boat and from a disposable underwater camera (you can see all the pics here)

On the way back we went via Hermanus for a walk with some spotting of whales and a late lunch. We had a table on the rocks near the old harbour.

Then a chilled drive back to Cape Town with a lovely sunset on the way back. All in all a great day out!

See all the pics here.

Sani2c 2008

2008-05-23T00:15:00.007+02:00

Lorna, Ruth, Jimmy, Nick and Richard all did the Subaru Sani2c this year. I went along as supporter with Pippa and Lorna's mom. Here are a couple of photos.

You can find most of my photos on here.

Day 1 (all day 1 photos)

A cool day for the start and everyone was looking keen and excited at the start.

Later as people were coming up a nice big climb:

... and later ...

and finishing day 1!

Camping was well organised.

and everyone went to bed pretty early...

Day 2 (all day 2 photos)

Day 2 started off very foggy. Supporters had to leave before the cyclists. We headed off to the concrete strip. This is a strip of concrete down a steep incline. Saw one nasty fall there due to a rider attempting a wheelie on the strip and slipping in the moist conditions. That was his race over...

We spotted got Lorna & Ruth just after a water stop with some pretty dirty faces.

The day was getting long and hot. Riders needed support halfway:

Luckily there was a shower further on.

And a nice tent was waiting...

Day 3 (all photos)

Another foggy start but this time there was some clay pigeon shooting to get the riders started.

We caught up with them later as they were entering a forest.

Later when it was warmer they were cycling through sugar cane fields.

Everyone was very happy at the finish. It went to Ruth's head a bit too...

Drinks were enjoyed at the award function afterwards...

Video of water bridge on day 1

Links

Lorna's pics
Ruth's pics
Richard's pics
Jimmy's pics
Nick's pics
Subaru Sani2c Website
All flickr Sani2c 2008 pics

Garth's Birthday in Tietiesbaai

2008-05-18T17:17:00.003+02:00

Garth held his birthday at Tietiesbaai. We camped there for a night making lovely potjiekos. I post some of the pics here. You can see all the photos here.

Also check out pics from a previous trip of mine to Tietiesbaai.

Group photo on the hill

Sunset

Garth frying breakfast

Breaking the eggs

Claire

The birds

Moving out from Spin Street

2008-05-18T15:49:00.004+02:00

In February I moved out of Spin Street my first house. I sold it and moved into Cape Town. Here are a few pics of my last day there. See them all here.

...and here his a map...

Packing

My tree

Sold!

Empty house

Beaverlac

2008-05-18T15:11:00.003+02:00

Between Christmas and New Year's Lorna & I went to Beaverlac.

Here are some photos. You can see all of them here.

Some shots at "Secret pool"

Campfire

Walk up to Totem pools

Relaxing at the camp

Links
Beaverlac
My photos from this trip
Other photos from Beaverlac

Christmas in Namibia

2008-04-23T22:42:00.007+02:00

Lorna & I spent Christmas with her mom and sister at her mothers holiday house in Wlotzkasbaken just north of Swakopmund (in Namibia).

Wlotzkasbaken

Wlotzkasbaken is a lovely small town (well not really, you need 100 plots to be town in Namibia and there are only 99) with a couple of houses. No permanent running water and no electricity. Resident's have been battling it out with the Namibian Government to own their property and make sure development doesn't spoil this little town.

Tour of Walvis Bay

Surfing seal

Hungry seagull

Abandoned ship acting as a bird colony

Seagull catching a fish

Point Lighthouse

Seal on board

Pelicans

Also went for a sail, did some quad biking and had

Pippa teaching me to sail a hobie

Taking a break from the quads

Candle

See all the photos here...

Batholomeus Klip

2008-04-16T22:01:00.004+02:00

Early in December Lorna treated me for a weekend of r&r at Batholomeus Klip, a guest house near Riebeek Kasteel. Had a weekend of chilling, cycling a bit, game watching and chilling at the pool. The guest house also has awesome food. And tea time is not to be missed.

The mountains

Dinner by the water

Tea time

Bontebok

The pool

See more here...

Trip to the Northern Drakensberg

2008-04-15T23:53:00.009+02:00

In November Lorna and I were scheduled to go hike the Whale Trail with friends. That is until a bunch of storms and rain hit the region closing the trail and resulting in a cancelled hiking trip.

So Lorna and I had some leave booked and decided to use some air miles to fly to Johannesburg, drive down to the Northern Drakensberg and go and relax there for an unplanned trip. The main feature of this area is the Amphitheatre. A massive set of cliffs & peaks forming what looks like a gigantic amphitheatre.

Vergezient

We first stayed at Vergezient (pics) which was lovely place with delicious food with a great view over the valley.

Coyote Cafe

We stopped a couple of times here and had a good time here. (Including our anniversary dinner)

Amphitheatre Backpackers

At Amphitheatre Backpackers we also stayed a couple of nights. They organise a variety of trips in the area. They organise a hike up to the top of Tugela Falls, the worlds second highest waterfall. These falls tumble down the Amphitheatre. We took this hike but had some interesting fog, rain and sunny spells on the hike. It was very pretty but the fog at the prevented a 100% clear view of the falls.

The hike also entails some chain ladder climbing on the return trip.

We also spent a morning horse riding which was fun except that I had my horse decided to slip trotting through a stream and I ended up eating some mud.

I more preferred the quad biking.

Little Switzerland

We also spent a night at Little Switzerland. This hotel has a lovely view of the Amphitheatre from the rooms. There is also a relatively tame Zebra walking the grounds.

Had a great time and would really recommend it.

You can see all the pics here.