Oasia Hotel Singapore

Dear Friends & Readers,

Get to enjoy 10% off Oasia Hotel's Special Weekend Staycation Package if you book the Deluxe Room (S$240++) or Club Room (S$300++) through my link here ---> http://bit.ly/shaunoasia 

Promotion is till 31st December 2012.

was invited to a party at Oasia Hotel recently..

It was really good!

Find out more at www.oasiahotel.com

 Try out one of these staycations some day!

Read More

WATCHED THE WICKED & THE ILLUNSIONISTS AT ONE GO... ON THE SAME DAY!

Watched these on the 4th March 2012. 

The Illunsionists tickets were purchased last min on that day.

Mich has this crazy idea of getting the cheapest ticket and watch this for the night.

Well.. i find it not so crazy afterall and i agreed to watch it too and we purchased! :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Winner of 35 major awards including a Grammy® and three Tony Awards® including Best Musical, WICKED is the untold story of the witches of Oz. Long before Dorothy drops in, two other girls meet in the Land of Oz, one born with emerald green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood.The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular.WICKED tells the story of their remarkable odyssey, how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West called Elphaba and Glinda the Good.

Currently in its 8th year on Broadway, WICKED’s North American and International companies have cumulatively grossed over US$2.2 billion and have been seen by nearly 28 million people worldwide.

“We’re delighted that Singapore is now set to follow WICKED productions in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, the North American tour and London’s West End,” Marc Platt and David Stone said in a joint statement from New York.“This will be the first time that WICKED will visit the South East Asian region,and we’re absolutely sure that Singaporeans – and visitors from around the region – will be just as enchanted by WICKED as the audiences are in America, England, Europe, North Asia
and Australia.”

WICKED opened in London’s West End in 2006. In 2007, a Japanese language production of WICKED opened in Tokyo and a German language production of WICKED opened in Stuttgart in the same year. This show has been running in Australia since 2008.

he Producers of WICKEDtake great pleasure in working with Milan Rokic,Managing Director of BASE Entertainment and local promoter of WICKED. Rokic says, “Get ready Singapore for a musical that is unique, a phenomenon, quite unlike any other show. Music theater lovers and audiences from all different backgrounds will adore WICKED.It’s an enchanting musical with wit and spectacle and a wonderful score, but it also spans the demographic of people from 8 to 80. It brings in audiences who’ve never been to the theater, and never thought they would go and they come out spellbound and wanting more. Singapore is in for a treat.”

The smash-hit musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell,Pippin, Academy Award-winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman (My So Called Life, Once and Again and thirtysomething) is based on the best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire. WICKED is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone. Gregory Maguire’s best-selling 1995 novel, has sold more than 3 million copies -2.5 million since WICKED opened on Broadway in 2003. The album sold more than a million copies and the amazing companion book that goes with the show, The Grimmerie, has sold almost 150,000 copies.

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

THE ILLUNSIONISTS

 Admit it. It doesn't matter how old you are, and how blase you claim to be towards magic. When the lights dim and the tricks are unveiled, it's tough to reign in the sheer thrill of childlike glee at witnessing something quite so fantastic. Smokes and mirrors they might be, but for a couple of hours, you're allowed to suspend disbelief and open your mind to the most outrageous of tricks and unbelievable of illusions.

And what could possibly be better than a spectacular magic act by one of the most-respected performers in the field? Try five of the world's most-respected performers, together in one space for a show that'd banish any and all preconceived and outdated notions of magic tricks. Don't worry; no David Blaine-esque bizarre self-torturing stunts either.

Just for two weeks from 17 February to 4 March, The Sands Theatre at Marina Bay Sands will shed the cloak of witchy-green from Wicked -- the Musical , and don a magical cape of a different sort: for the first time ever, five international illlusionists -- Dan Sperry, Brett Daniels, James Dimmare, Phillip Escoffey and Andrew Basso -- will come together for a two-hour show that promises jaw-dropping illusions, spectacular sets and good old-fashioned theatricality.

"The audience is going to be left speechless when they see some of the things these artists are able to achieve," illusion director Brett Daniels declares. For now, details are sketchy, but audiences can expect a Russian roulette, acts of levitation, mind-reading, as well as disappearance acts and escapes. Not particularly groundbreaking it seems, but who knows? Bring an open mind with you, and you might just leave the theatre spellbound.

 

Read More

Whitney Houston, Pop Superstar, Dies at the age of 48

Whitney Houston, the multimillion-selling singer who emerged in the 1980s as one of her generation’s greatest R & B voices, only to deteriorate through years of cocaine use and an abusive marriage, died on Saturday in Beverly Hills, Calif. She was 48.

Her death came as the music industry descended on Los Angeles for the annual celebration of the Grammy Awards, and Ms. Houston was — for all her difficulties over the years — one of its queens. She was staying at the Beverly Hilton hotel on Saturday to attend a pre-Grammy party being hosted by Clive Davis, the founder of Arista Records, who had been her pop mentor. 

Ms. Houston was found in her room at 3:55 p.m., and paramedics spent close to 20 minutes trying to revive her, the authorities said. There was no immediate word on the cause of her death, but the authorities said there were no signs of foul play. 

From the start of her career more than two decades ago, Ms. Houston had the talent, looks and pedigree of a pop superstar. She was the daughter of Cissy Houston, a gospel and pop singer who had backed up Aretha Franklin, and the cousin of Dionne Warwick. (Ms. Franklin is Ms. Houston’s godmother.)

Ms. Houston’s range spanned three octaves, and her voice was plush, vibrant and often spectacular. She could pour on the exuberant flourishes of gospel or peal a simple pop chorus; she could sing sweetly or unleash a sultry rasp. 

Dressed in everything from formal gowns to T-shirts, she cultivated the image of a fun-loving but ardent good girl, the voice behind songs as perky as “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” and as torchy as what became her signature song, a version of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.”

But by the mid-1990s, even as she was moving into acting with films like “The Bodyguard” and “The Preacher’s Wife,” she became what she described, in a 2009 interview with Oprah Winfrey, as a “heavy” user of marijuana and cocaine. By the 2000s she was struggling; her voice grew smaller, scratchier and less secure, and her performances grew erratic. 

All of Ms. Houston’s studio albums were million-sellers, and two have sold more than 10 million copies in the United States alone: her 1985 debut album and the 1992 soundtrack to “The Bodyguard,” which includes “I Will Always Love You.” 

But her marriage to the singer Bobby Brown — which was, at one point, documented in a Bravo reality television series, “Being Bobby Brown” — grew miserable, and in the 2000s, her singles slipped from the top 10. Ms. Houston became a tabloid subject: the National Enquirer ran a photo of her bathroom showing drug paraphernalia. And each new album — “Just Whitney” in 2002 and “I Look to You” in 2009 — became a comeback. 

At Central Park in 2009, singing for “Good Morning America,” her voice was frayed, and on the world tour that followed the release of the album “I Look to You” that year, she was often shaky.

Whitney Houston was born on Aug. 9, 1963, in Newark. She sang in church, and as a teenager in the 1970s and early 1980s, she worked as a backup studio singer and featured vocalist with acts including Chaka Khan, the Neville Brothers and Bill Laswell’s Material. 

Mr. Davis signed her after hearing her perform in a New York City nightclub, and spent two years supervising production of the album “Whitney Houston,” which was released in 1985. It placed her remarkable voice in polished, catchy songs that straddled pop and R & B, and it included three No. 1 singles: “Saving All My Love for You,” “How Will I Know” and “The Greatest Love of All.” 

Because Ms. Houston had been credited on previous recordings, including a 1984 duet with Teddy Pendergrass, she was ruled ineligible for the best new artist category of the Grammy Awards; the eligibility criteria have since been changed. But with “Saving All My Love for You,” she won her first Grammy award, for best female pop vocal performance, an award she would win twice more. 

Her popularity soared for the next decade. Her second album, “Whitney,” in 1987, became the first album by a woman to enter the Billboard charts at No. 1, and it included four No. 1 singles. She shifted her pop slightly toward R & B on her third album, “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” in 1990, which had three more No. 1 singles. 

For much of the 1990s, she turned to acting, bolstered by her music. She played a pop diva in “The Bodyguard,” and its soundtrack album — including the hits “I Will Always Love You,” “I’m Every Woman,” “I Have Nothing” and “Run to You” — went on to sell 17 million copies in the United States. It won the Grammy for album of the year, and “I Will Always Love You” won record of the year (for a single). After making the films “Waiting To Exhale” in 1995 and “The Preacher’s Wife” in 1996 — which gave her the occasion to make a gospel album — Ms. Houston resumed her pop career with “My Love Is Your Love” in 1998. 

Ms. Houston married Mr. Brown in 1992, and in 1993 they had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, who survives her. Ms. Houston’s 2009 interview with Ms. Winfrey portrayed it as a passionate and then turbulent marriage, marred by drug use and by his professional jealousy, psychological abuse and physical confrontations. They divorced in 2007. 

Her albums in the 2000s advanced a new persona for Ms. Houston. “Just Whitney,” in 2002, was defensive and scrappy, lashing out at the media and insisting on her loyalty to her man. Her most recent studio album, “I Look to You,” appeared in 2009, and it, too, reached No. 1. The album included a hard-headed breakup song, “Salute,” and a hymnlike anthem, “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength.” Ms. Houston sang, “I crashed down and I tumbled, but I did not crumble/I got through all the pain,” in a voice that showed scars. 

Neil R. Portnow, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which bestows the Grammys, called her “one of the world’s greatest pop singers of all time, who leaves behind a robust musical soundtrack.”

“A light has been dimmed in our music community today,” he said. 

Lt. Mark Rosen, a spokesman for the Beverly Hills Police Department, said that emergency workers responded to a 911 call from security at the Beverly Hilton hotel on Wilshire Boulevard at 3:43 p.m., saying that Ms. Houston was unconscious in her fourth-floor suite. He said that some Fire Department personnel were already on the scene to help prepare for a pre-Grammy party. 

Lieutenant Rosen said that detectives had arrived to conduct what he said was a full-scale investigation into the death. He said that Ms. Houston’s body was still in the hotel room as of 8 p.m. and would not be removed until the investigation was completed. 

“There were no obvious signs of foul play,” he said. “It’s still fresh an investigation to know whether — the reality is she was too far too young to die and any time you have the death of someone this age it is the subject of an investigation.” 

Ms. Houston arrived at the hotel with what Lieutenant Rosen described as an entourage of friends and family, some of whom were in the hotel suite at the time. He said that police had notified Ms. Houston’s mother and daughter of the death; it was unclear whether or not they were there. 

At Mr. Davis’s party, where Ms. Houston was a regular guest and performer, tourists shot cellphone pictures of a police crime laboratory van parked outside. But inside, the glamour of the event seemed undiminished, even if Ms Houston’s name was on everyone’s lips.

The streets in front of the Beverly Hilton, already crowded because of the Grammy Awards party taking place there, swarmed with reporters and fans, drawn by the news of this latest high-profile pop star dying in Los Angeles. 

Even after the news of Ms. Houston’s death had been released, celebrities and other partygoers continued to arrive for the Davis event, which went on as planned, while fans stood behind a rope trying to take pictures. Dressed in evening gowns and tuxedos, people stepped out of limousines at curbside and streamed into the hotel. 

A number of fans came to mourn Ms. Houston and to show their support. “I was in utter, total disbelief,” Lavetris Singleton said. “Who was not a fan of Whitney Houston at some point?” 

“I want to show support because she inspired a lot of people and nobody’s perfect,” she said. “But if we’re not out here then she’ll be forgotten. We are her legacy.” 

Performers at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, where the Grammys are to be held, heard about Ms. Houston’s death just as Rihanna and Coldplay were about to rehearse their number for the awards. 

The show’s producer, Ken Ehrlich, debated about how to acknowledge Ms. Houston’s death. (The show is already scheduled to include a tribute by Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt to Etta James, the blues singer who died last month, as well as a video segment about music figures who died in 2011.) 

After the initial shock, Mr. Ehrlich said he called Jennifer Hudson and asked her to come and sing one of Ms. Houston’s songs during the televised show on Sunday as a simple memorial. “We are going to do something very simple, not elaborate,” he said. “We just want to keep it respectful.” 

“My feeling was it’s to early to do an extended tribute,” Mr. Ehrlich added, “but we really wanted to remember her because she was so closely tied to the Grammys.” 

Besides her daughter, now 18, Ms. Houston is survived by her mother. A woman who answered the telephone at the Edgewater, N.J., home of Ms. Houston’s mother on Saturday night said she would not speak to reporters.

Information extracted from The New York Times.

Read More

EXERCISE MYTHS BUSTED!!!

Don't let exercise myths hinder your workout efforts. Build more muscles, burn more fat and get more out of your fitness plan by making sure you're practising the right exercise habits.

Myth 1 - Low-carbs mean less energy?
Cutting down on carbs from your diet does not mean you will have less energy for exercise. A study among 60 overweight people showed that between a low-carb/high-fat and a high-carb/low-fat diet group, the low-carb group lost more weight and burned more fat during exercise. Don’t use this as an excuse to skip your workout! 

Myth 2 - Running on pavement can lead to over-use injuries?
The surface you run on is just one of many factors that can cause injury. Occasionally depends on where you run. Trail running, for example, offers you constantly changing terrain, so you’ll reduce your chances of suffering the same injury. Besides, the uneven ground will improve your core stability and ankle strength. Mix in running on different surfaces to keep your body guessing – and improving. However, if you’re preparing for a road race, you’ll need to train specifically for that kind of terrain.

Myth 3 - Doing squats on a Smith machine can be dangerous?

Squats of any type, whether with free weights or on a Smith machine, can be dangerous if they’re performed incorrectly. The most common free-weight mistake people make is leaning their upper body too far forward, which shifts weight distribution from the hips and thighs to the knees and lower back.

It’s difficult to make this error on a Smith machine though, because the barbell is in a fixed vertical plane. However, the very fact that the machine allows less freedom of movement can also set you up for injury: If you don’t lean far enough forward during a squat, you can strain your back and knees.

It is recommended to do free-weight squats because you’ll activate more stabilising muscles than you would with a Smith machine. But to squat without weights to enforce correct form: Spread your feet slightly wider than your hips, chest up and knees in line with your toes, lower your body by pushing your butt back and bending your knees simultaneously, until your thighs are at least parallel to the ground – deeper is better. Flex your hips and knees at the same time and don’t round your back. Once you’ve got this down pat, do a few warm-up sets of squats with 50-75 per cent of your targeted load before beginning your full routine.

Myth 4 - Pec decks are best for your chest?

True to its name, the pec deck does target your pectorals. However, there’s a price. “Its design – with the handles far away from your shoulders – increases the likelihood of injury because it stresses the small muscles in your shoulders, including your rotator cuffs.

If you’ve used the pec deck often enough, chances are you’ll have experienced some shoulder pain. A faster, safer way to build your chest is to do more pressing exercises, such as the dumbbell or barbell bench press. These moves target the pecs but also recruit other major muscle groups as you lift and lower the weight, so you’ll build overall strength in your arms, shoulders and chest, too.

Myth 5 - More crunches lead to a six-pack?
Excessive crunch-like movements can lead to back injury. To get a defined abdominal area, you’d not only need a well-developed rectus abdominal muscles, but also low body fat.

If you want to work your abs, go for plank variations, wheel roll-outs and hip drive movements. And make sure you’re getting enough sleep at night. A research has found that three consecutive nights of poor sleep will cause your muscle cells to become resistant to insulin, hence leading to increased fat storage in your belly.

Myth 6 - More pain means more gain?
Experiencing pain does not necessarily indicate a good workout. If an individual is experiencing muscle soreness, refrain from training the same muscle groups the next day. However, pain might also indicate a possible injury from overstraining or incorrect technique.

Your training should be planned out. Decide on your goals, chart a programme on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis, and keep to it. This way, you’ll be able to observe your progress. If you’re suffering, restart your programme with minimal weights and reps, and increase the volume in the ensuing weeks.

Read More

TITANIC - THE ARTIFACT EXHIBITION

went to this TITANIC: THE ARTIFACT EXHIBITION with my gf today ...

 it was quite insightful and interesting... though to be honest, i have not really watch the Titanic movie yet. :P

its at MARINA BAY SANDS - Arts Science Museum 

from 29 October 2011 - 29 April 2012

Here.. i'll bring you thru' some of the items that were displayed in this exhibition and some story to the TITANIC...

a replica of the TITANIC can be found inside.

sailing off on the 10 April 1912... with the Captain Edward J. Smith in command

The RMS TITANIC made her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City.

First Class Cabin

3rd Class Cabin 

crockery used on the Titanic ship

extremely old poker cards that were more than 100 years old.

because the year that Titanic sank was 1912 and now the year is 2012.

we had these as our boarding pass entering the exhibition... its was quite interesting.

at the back of the passes were details that were based on the real person that was on board the Titanic.

Michelle's pass is the one on the left.

My name was Mr. Thomas Andrews Jr and  I'm actually the Chief Designer for the White Star Line which was the builder for this ship. Michelle's was Mrs Victor de Satode Penasco v Castellana.

Both of us were travelling on First Class. hee.. :)

 Mr. Thomas Andrews Jr

after that they actually gave us this to fix...

click on the picture to read more.

here u go.. Lifeboat No. 6 :)

And now... the Titanic is down in the sea... 

Check out this video:

Read More

5 Reasons Not to Quit Coffee!

I really like coffee. The morning ritual of brewing a cup, the smell that perks me up before I take a sip and, of course, the flavor all make it my favorite beverage aside from water (water's delicious!). It has lots of antioxidants and is low in calories if you don't load it up with cream and sugar. Nonetheless, I always feel slightly guilty about drinking it-you know, in a "it's so good, it must be bad" kind of way.
Don't Miss: 5 "Bad" Foods You Should Be Eating
Which is why I'm always delighted to hear of new reasons that coffee is good for your health...and there are plenty! Over 18,000 studies on coffee have been published in the past few decades, revealing these benefits, many of which Joyce Hendley wrote about in the March/April issue of EatingWell Magazine:
Recipes to Try: Hot Fudge Pudding Cake and Other Coffee-Infused Recipes
Don't Miss: How to Brew a "Greener" Cup of Coffee

1. It protects your heart: Moderate coffee drinkers (1 to 3 cups/day) have lower rates of stroke than noncoffee drinkers, an effect linked to coffee's antioxidants. Coffee has more antioxidants per serving than blueberries, making it the biggest source of antioxidants in American diets. All those antioxidants may help suppress the damaging effect of inflammation on arteries. Immediately after drinking it, coffee raises your blood pressure and heart rate, but over the long term, it actually may lower blood pressure as coffee's antioxidants activate nitric oxide, widening blood vessels.

2. It diverts diabetes: Those antioxidants (chlorogenic acid and quinides, specifically) play another role: boosting your cells' sensitivity to insulin, which helps regulate blood sugar. In fact, people who drink 4 or more cups of coffee each day may have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to some studies. Other studies have shown that caffeine can blunt the insulin-sensitivity boost, so if you do drink several cups a day, try mixing in decaf occasionally.
Must-Read: 4 Diet-Busting Coffee-Shop Drinks (and What to Drink Instead)

3. Your liver loves it: OK, so the research here is limited, but it looks like the more coffee people drink, the lower their incidence of cirrhosis and other liver diseases. One analysis of nine studies found that every 2-cup increase in daily coffee intake reduced liver cancer risk by 43 percent. Again, it's those antioxidants-chlorogenic and caffeic acids-and caffeine that might prevent liver inflammation and inhibit cancer cells.

4. It boosts your brain power: Drinking between 1 and 5 cups a day (admittedly a big range) may help reduce risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, as well as Parkinson's disease, studies suggest. Those antioxidants may ward off brain cell damage and help the neurotransmitters involved in cognitive function to work better.

5. It helps your headaches: And not just the withdrawal headaches caused by skipping your daily dose of caffeine! Studies show that 200 milligrams of caffeine-about the amount in 16 ounces of brewed coffee-provides relief from headaches, including migraines. Exactly how caffeine relieves headaches isn't clear. But scientists do know that caffeine boosts the activity of brain cells, causing surrounding blood vessels to constrict. One theory is that this constriction helps to relieve the pressure that causes the pain, says Robert Shapiro, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of neurology and director of the Headache Clinic at the University of Vermont Medical School.

Now, that's not to say that coffee doesn't have any pitfalls-it does. Some people are super-sensitive to caffeine and get jittery or anxious after drinking coffee; habitual coffee drinkers usually develop a tolerance to caffeine that eliminates this problem (but they then need the caffeine to be alert and ward off withdrawal headaches). Coffee can also disturb sleep, especially as people age. Cutting some of the caffeine and drinking it earlier in the day can curb this effect. Lastly, unfiltered coffee (like that made with a French press) can raise LDL cholesterol, so use a filter for heart health.
But if you like coffee and you can tolerate it well, enjoy it...without the guilt.

Read More

IF I'VE $100 JIPABAN VOUCHER, HOW WOULD I SPEND IT THIS CNY?

OF COURSE I WOULD SPEND IT AT JIPABAN.COM OVER HERE!

I've browse thru' the website and i think if i've $100 to spend at JIPABAN.COM.. i would get the short-sleeve shirt worn by the model below (btw.. he's my friend.. and we've the same surname :P). Its very casual plus a lil bit of smart.. i like it the way it is. Looks very comfy too... afterall its not jus about nice, but it has to be comfortable when worn.

matching with a light coloured berms above looks nice also... but i will go for the khaki pants below.

I have always wanted to get a nice matching brown pants.. perhaps this is the one. :)

it goes well with casual long sleeve shirt as well. :)

 

I would also get a pair of white shoes to go along. That's probably the only pair of white shoes i saw from the website and i think its not bad. Above, the model matches the white shoes with dark coloured jeans, but i think it goes well with khaki slim-fit pants as well. So, i will get this! :)

 

a close-up picture of the shoes so u can see the details clearer.

-

From the illustrations below... you can have a good imagination of the top and bottoms you have chose.

Over here.. i chose the Short Sleeved Shirt and the Smart Chinos... and as you can see, it matches well! :)

 

 And for the shoes that i've chosen, it matches well with my Smart Chinos... isn't it? haha..

The total cost as you can see.. its SGD$165.

IF i've the $100 JIPABAN voucher.. i will jus top it up with $65 and get 'em all! :)

So.. in another words.. I have ALL THESE at only $65! Isn't it Great?

Shall not drag my time here any longer...

I'm checking out JIPABAN.com for my CNY attire and MORE!

Read More