This is a Circus Theater at Resorts World Sentosa. If you have been to a Cirque du Soleil, you roughly can get the picture of what Voyage de la Vie is about.
Firstly, the set of Voyage de la Vie is fantastic! The stage, lighting, pyrotechnics, props, music and costume, just one word to describe it -- Fantastic! It was one of the higher production value shows I've been to, and it does make the experience more pleasurable. The gigantic dragon pillars at the sides of the Festive Grand theatre stage were the amazing, and the use of lighting makes it spectacular!
The theater is world classed. Great acoustics, comfy seats, great views... Two thumbs up!
The cast. Viktor Kee is an amazing juggler. Back in 1999, his segment can easily steal the show. No wonder in Voyage de la Vie, he is pretty much in the lead.
Jonathan Leong, a local boy was 2nd at Singapore Idol, and there is certainly no lack of fan support and talent here.
Aurelia Cats, a Trapeze Contortionist does things that are not only dangerous, these stunts are pretty much impossible to attempt without years of training.
Liina Aunola, famous for her rope and cloud swing acts is also renowned globally.
Martti Peltonen, a marksman is also pretty good in what he does.
The story. With such an amazing cast, can they strong out a cohesive story? Frankly, no... My mom did not understand, and I could not explain to her as well. The transitions are not terribly well done either, but the changes in each scene is pretty dramatic, and rather exciting.
The singing & music. I would not say that this is a musical, so the music is just average. Nothing you can really feel for, and the lyrics not very memorable. I can remember the lyrics when I watch Avenue Q, Sweeney Todd, or Rocky Horror, but not really for Voyage de la Vie. Well the final song that is played in the trailers can be recognized, but otherwise, nothing was great about the music and songs.
The Performance. I would say that for most parts, it was rather enjoyable and exciting. Certain acts definitely could be a show on their own, but the others kinda felt rather blend, but it was rather unfair to compare it with Cirque du Soleil I watch 2 months ago. I felt that the skills of a lot of the star studded cast is not fully leveraged, and it shows. The cast could do more, but the script was rather limiting I suppose.
The Price. Well, I would not pay to go watch it again. I guess this is meant for Casino high rollers... and they have to be pretty high to pay for these prices. A decent seat would cost close to S$100.
Overall -- I enjoyed the show, very entertaining, and lots of fantastic bits. The question is whether I felt it was worth S$100.. and sadly, even with the great stage and cast, I would not go back to watch it and pay S$100
I would give this a 7/10. If you win big at the casino, why not watch it and redeem with your bonus points!
-- Robin Low
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Kung Fu Panda 2 - Movie Review
From the beginning, you can get to see a new level of 3-D, the beginning was very well animated, and you get to see Po spitting buns in your face... in a good way. The 3-D was very impressive and awesome.
List of cast:
Po - Jack Black
Tigress - Angelina Jolie
Shifu - Dustin Hoffman
Shen - Gary Oldman
Monkey - Jackie Chan
Mantis - Seth Rogen
Viper - Lucy Liu
Crane - David Cross
Mr. Ping - James Hong
Soothsayer - Michelle Yeoh
Wolf Boss - Danny McBride
Master Ox - Dennis Haysbert
Master Croc - Jean-Claude Van Damme
Master Rhino - Victor Garber
The plot: Shen -- an evil peacock killed all the pandas as a soothsayer foretold that the peacocks will be defeated by "black and white". Shen with the power of gunpowder must be defeated by Po or it will be the end of Kung Fu.
The movie: Po integrated well with the furious 5 and fought to bring justice and help the other animals against the various raiders. Shifu has acquired inner-peace and wants Po to learn it to get to the next level.
Shen, used the power of fireworks to make cannons and wants to take over China. With the power of the cannons, few oppose him as he acquire metal to make more cannons.
As Po defended against wolf raiders raiding his town for metal, he saw the insignia on the shoulder of a wolf and caught a glimpse of his past...
...
Po went to the city and try to find out more about his past, and learns more about himself on his journey towards inner peace.
...
Not to reveal the whole plot, here are my thoughts.
The beginning of the movie started strong. The story was pretty lighthearted and fun and it does include some emotional scenes to try to give an emotional kick. There is more development of feelings between Po and Tigresss and they hugged twice in the movie. However the movie does feel a little empty in the middle as the story develops, but it sort of lacks comedy or action... Something was not right, and the flow was somewhat interrupted. However, it did try to finish strong and did a descent job with a few moral takeaways.
Overall, Kung Fu Panda 2 is a pretty good movie, a tad shy of "How to train your dragon." but still pretty good one. A few must watch scenes though -- about how Mr. Ping found Po (the cutest baby Panda ever!) and some great laughs here and there. Great fun for the family matinee on the weekends.
Rating: 7/10
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Palo Alto - Trip Review
I arrived at San Francisco Airport on May 19th and the weather was very nice. It was nice and cool with green all around. The drive was slightly packed with traffic at even 4pm, but it was otherwise pretty nice.
After placing my bags at a home, I visited Stanford and Palo Alto area.
Located in Menlo Park, CA, Stanford was HUGE and it does take a few hours to visit the parts of campus. There are a few Famous spots like the Hoover Tower, Memorial Church, Mausoleum and Angel of Grief ... It is very big to explore, and certainly more than a few hours is required.
After visiting Stanford, you can easily get to the rest of Silicon Valley and check out Cisco, Intel, Google, Facebook, Nvidia and much more. It all happens here!
But be reminded, security is tight and you need to get a friend who works there to bring you around.
-- Robin Low
Monday, April 25, 2011
Galaxy Tab Review
I've used the iPad, Archos 7, Huawei Tablet and the Viewsonic tablets for a while, and now I decided to get the Galaxy Tab.
This is not the latest review of the Galaxy Tab launch last year, but I'm going to share with you my experiences and reasons why I got the G-Tab.
Quick specs: 1GHz processor, full Flash support thanks to Android 2.2, dual cameras, support for up to 32GB of storage and WiFi / 3G connectivity
The Galaxy tab looks great and the screen is fantastic. I would say Samsung has did such a good job of making such a bright screen, compared to the other tablets, it is definitely brighter.
The reason why I got the G-tab is because the price with a 2 year plan is S$248 (on a Singtel S$39 plan) It is pretty ok in price, and I love the specs.
Pros:
1) a headphone jack
2) microSD card slot
3) form factor is great for 1 handed use.
4) solid build.
5) great screen, great viewing angles.
6) Responsive screen.
7) supports flash.
8) 1Ghz processor. (much less lag compared to other tablets)
9) Internet tethering (via mobile AP app)
10) ok 3mp camera. (crappy flash)
Cons:
1) no micro-USB slot. (random Samsung Slot)
2) no kickstand
3) Gmail app on the Tab sucks, I sent 3 emails out when I pressed the send button.
4) ~ 6 hours of battery life vs the ipad 9.5 hours
After using all the Android tabs, even now with the newer tablets out, the Galaxy Tab is still a pretty choice which is better than the other tablets.
If you can get a plan with a relatively cheap tab, why not get it.
Overall 8/10
-- Robin Low
Thursday, April 14, 2011
just1book.com.sg Photobooks Review.
Recently I've used just1book.com.sg to print a Relief 2.0 photobook, and here is my experience.
Traditionally, I am not a big fan of photobook services as I feel that they are overly expensive, and in this case, a medium sized book of 40 pages, with a wrap hard cover costs S$104. Although I used more than 100 photos in the book, I felt that it was a tad expensive.
The software that you can download and use is not especially intuitive, and overall, I spent 8 hours putting photos and addition captions, then resizing the photos.
However, a week later, I received my photobook, and the quality was amazing! The paper quality, printing quality and colors were simply amazing. It was a true 300 dpi digital print and I love the book!
The service and the choice of books at Just1book, located at Dhoby Ghaut MRT was fantastic, and I highly recommend it!
So do try out their software, if you are good enough to design on your own, save a 300dpi PDF file and they can print it too.
They are definitely worth the price you pay for the books and service.
-- Robin Low
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Ishinomaki - Japan
I've always wanted to travel to the "Manga city" in Japan, but being here today is rather heartbreaking
I'm at Ishinomaki, Day 8 after the Tsunami. Streets are being cleared, but damage is still very obvious.
I hope the town rebuilds, so I can come visit another day.
I am with Relief 2.0 to help empower, enable, engage and connect the local. And will share their brave stories of perseverance so others may learn from them.
The brave Japanese does not need pity or donation, they need loans to help rebuild their businesses and come up with creative ways to starting over.
I wish them well, and believe that they are strong people and will succeed.
-- Robin Low
I'm at Ishinomaki, Day 8 after the Tsunami. Streets are being cleared, but damage is still very obvious.
I hope the town rebuilds, so I can come visit another day.
I am with Relief 2.0 to help empower, enable, engage and connect the local. And will share their brave stories of perseverance so others may learn from them.
The brave Japanese does not need pity or donation, they need loans to help rebuild their businesses and come up with creative ways to starting over.
I wish them well, and believe that they are strong people and will succeed.
-- Robin Low
Monday, March 07, 2011
Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (Singapore) Review
Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve is a 130 ha wetland site, designated as a nature park in 1989. Located near Kranji, it is in the north of Singapore.
Opening Hours: 7.30am to 7.00pm on Monday to Saturday
7.00am to 7.00pm on Sundays & Public Holidays
Admission: Free entry
except on Saturdays, Sundays, Public Holidays and School Holidays.
$1.00 per adult
$0.50 per child / student / senior citizen
Theatrette show screenings: Mondays to Saturdays -
9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm & 5pm
Sundays and Public Holidays -
Hourly 9am to 5pm
------------------------------------------------------
There is much to see at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. But much of the beauty and ecological diversity can only be observed by one with an eye for the small details and patterns of nature.
I embarked a trip to Sungei Buloh, at 8am on Sunday, and as recommended, these are a few things that I packed and recommend packing.
1) Water Bottle with plenty of drinking water. (There are no vending machines and water coolers in the middle of the nature reserve.)
2) Good COMFORTABLE walking shoes. (The terrain is rather accessible, paved with gravel most parts, but the distance is HUGE, and you need to be able to walk several kilometers.
3) Camera. (There are a lot of things to see, but you really need a lens which can reach very far. I brought along a DSLR with a 200mm lens, and it is not even close enough to shoot the wildlife.)
4) Mosquito repellent. (lots of mossies out to get you.)
5) Umbrella. (Singapore's weather is unpredictable, and there is not a lot of shade.)
6) Binoculars. Birds are pretty far away.
-------------------------------------------------
I took the bus 925 from Khatib MRT Station with several photographers (watch out for the bus stop signs, but will not stop elsewhere.) and upon arrival, we we greeted by the smell of fresh air.
We were initially greeted by some Herons by the water and a few other birds that are hiding in the trees and bushes. The Herons are pretty far away, and pretty much just hanging out.
Then a huge Komodo Dragon walked by and slowly strolled along the path ignoring everyone taking photos of it. It is at least 2m long and is sized of a small crocodile.
Nature is everywhere, there are fist sized spiders in the trees, squirrels on the branches, It does take a good eye to spot them, and your reactions have to be quick to catch the perfect picture.
You can hear crickets and birds in the bushes, but more than often, not see them. If you are a little into nature, and want a safe controlled environment, this is the place.
Like always, there is claims of biodiversity, but after walking for some time on the well kept and concrete gravel path with people pushing strollers along the way, it just did not feel that much like your traditional nature reserve.
Walking around Macritchie reservior, you get to see butterflies, dragonflies and many other insects, and an occasional snake, however, at Sungei Buloh, the only few butterflies I found were small and rather common.
However, finally at one spot, we found flowers and one bee.
The walkways are later nice and made of wood, perfect for photographers with heavy equipment, and perhaps -- even a Trolley! The feeling of sort of in nature, but with a nice walkway is a little strange, but I do like the setup, but I felt that it did probably affect the wildlife, which was very elusive and hard to spot.
As we continued on the nice path, we spotted more spiders, and somehow, it became a lot less interesting.
With the lack of wildlife, spotting a bird became much more interesting. When a bird landed nearby, the photographers all shot hundreds of frames for a bird to land on a branch and then fly off again. Watching photographers may just be as amusing as the birds.
Later, there are bees. Lots of bees. They are not in your face, but rather, high up in the trees!
Walking to the mangrove area, you get to see many things which we took for granted when living in Singapore in the past but have disappeared in our lives. The giant mudskipper for example was common when I used to go fishing at the drains and canals, but they are impossible to find with Singapore getting so built up!
The next thing at the mangrove area was tree crabs. Its amazing to see small crabs climb trees.
Walking out of the mangrove area, we came across a bridge and saw fishes jumping on the surface of the water. It was very challenging to capture the fishes in the photos and again they were pretty far away, and you need far reaching lens.
As noon approaches, the weather was a lot hotter, and a little unbearable. Resting in a shaded area overlooking the water, a jellyfish was spotted, and it was indeed fascinating.
We decided to go home as lunch approaches and the weather was getting darker, and we spotted a large spider hanging out with flies. I'm not sure why the flies did not get stuck to the web, but they seemed to be getting along well.
Getting on the bus, we finally made our way out of the nature reserve. It was rather big, and we took 4 hours to cover only a small part of the park.
Overall, I would say that the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve just feels like any old park in Singapore. Calling it a Wetland Reserve is rather misleading, and the biodiversity and wildlife is rather limited. Being a reserve, it just means the land will probably not be developed into a golf course, and none of that adventure / danger you may expect in wildlife reserves.
But I would still applaud Singapore to keep such a place and not building more factories, roads, malls and offices which they do all so well.
If you intend to visit, as with any nature parks, do not keep your hope too high, as you may not see any rare birds at all. It is interesting to visit, and rather accessible terrain. Even one in a wheelchair can move about here.
Rating: 7/10
-- Robin Low
Opening Hours: 7.30am to 7.00pm on Monday to Saturday
7.00am to 7.00pm on Sundays & Public Holidays
Admission: Free entry
except on Saturdays, Sundays, Public Holidays and School Holidays.
$1.00 per adult
$0.50 per child / student / senior citizen
Theatrette show screenings: Mondays to Saturdays -
9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm & 5pm
Sundays and Public Holidays -
Hourly 9am to 5pm
------------------------------------------------------
There is much to see at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. But much of the beauty and ecological diversity can only be observed by one with an eye for the small details and patterns of nature.
I embarked a trip to Sungei Buloh, at 8am on Sunday, and as recommended, these are a few things that I packed and recommend packing.
1) Water Bottle with plenty of drinking water. (There are no vending machines and water coolers in the middle of the nature reserve.)
2) Good COMFORTABLE walking shoes. (The terrain is rather accessible, paved with gravel most parts, but the distance is HUGE, and you need to be able to walk several kilometers.
3) Camera. (There are a lot of things to see, but you really need a lens which can reach very far. I brought along a DSLR with a 200mm lens, and it is not even close enough to shoot the wildlife.)
4) Mosquito repellent. (lots of mossies out to get you.)
5) Umbrella. (Singapore's weather is unpredictable, and there is not a lot of shade.)
6) Binoculars. Birds are pretty far away.
-------------------------------------------------
I took the bus 925 from Khatib MRT Station with several photographers (watch out for the bus stop signs, but will not stop elsewhere.) and upon arrival, we we greeted by the smell of fresh air.
We were initially greeted by some Herons by the water and a few other birds that are hiding in the trees and bushes. The Herons are pretty far away, and pretty much just hanging out.
Then a huge Komodo Dragon walked by and slowly strolled along the path ignoring everyone taking photos of it. It is at least 2m long and is sized of a small crocodile.
Nature is everywhere, there are fist sized spiders in the trees, squirrels on the branches, It does take a good eye to spot them, and your reactions have to be quick to catch the perfect picture.
You can hear crickets and birds in the bushes, but more than often, not see them. If you are a little into nature, and want a safe controlled environment, this is the place.
Like always, there is claims of biodiversity, but after walking for some time on the well kept and concrete gravel path with people pushing strollers along the way, it just did not feel that much like your traditional nature reserve.
Walking around Macritchie reservior, you get to see butterflies, dragonflies and many other insects, and an occasional snake, however, at Sungei Buloh, the only few butterflies I found were small and rather common.
However, finally at one spot, we found flowers and one bee.
The walkways are later nice and made of wood, perfect for photographers with heavy equipment, and perhaps -- even a Trolley! The feeling of sort of in nature, but with a nice walkway is a little strange, but I do like the setup, but I felt that it did probably affect the wildlife, which was very elusive and hard to spot.
As we continued on the nice path, we spotted more spiders, and somehow, it became a lot less interesting.
With the lack of wildlife, spotting a bird became much more interesting. When a bird landed nearby, the photographers all shot hundreds of frames for a bird to land on a branch and then fly off again. Watching photographers may just be as amusing as the birds.
Later, there are bees. Lots of bees. They are not in your face, but rather, high up in the trees!
Walking to the mangrove area, you get to see many things which we took for granted when living in Singapore in the past but have disappeared in our lives. The giant mudskipper for example was common when I used to go fishing at the drains and canals, but they are impossible to find with Singapore getting so built up!
The next thing at the mangrove area was tree crabs. Its amazing to see small crabs climb trees.
Walking out of the mangrove area, we came across a bridge and saw fishes jumping on the surface of the water. It was very challenging to capture the fishes in the photos and again they were pretty far away, and you need far reaching lens.
As noon approaches, the weather was a lot hotter, and a little unbearable. Resting in a shaded area overlooking the water, a jellyfish was spotted, and it was indeed fascinating.
We decided to go home as lunch approaches and the weather was getting darker, and we spotted a large spider hanging out with flies. I'm not sure why the flies did not get stuck to the web, but they seemed to be getting along well.
Getting on the bus, we finally made our way out of the nature reserve. It was rather big, and we took 4 hours to cover only a small part of the park.
Overall, I would say that the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve just feels like any old park in Singapore. Calling it a Wetland Reserve is rather misleading, and the biodiversity and wildlife is rather limited. Being a reserve, it just means the land will probably not be developed into a golf course, and none of that adventure / danger you may expect in wildlife reserves.
But I would still applaud Singapore to keep such a place and not building more factories, roads, malls and offices which they do all so well.
If you intend to visit, as with any nature parks, do not keep your hope too high, as you may not see any rare birds at all. It is interesting to visit, and rather accessible terrain. Even one in a wheelchair can move about here.
Rating: 7/10
-- Robin Low
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