Author: Nicole Han

Yesterday, I shared with a new fellow intern that the highlight of my internship was writing about the recent Singapore General Elections. However, today’s hunt for off-the-beaten-track in Singapore proved to be more experiential than I ever imagined. We have all heard about Bedok Reservoir, which is well frequent by joggers and water sport enthusiasts. However, unknown to many, a stone’s throw away, is a quaint and secluded water body—Tampines Quarry. It is hardly known and heard of simply because it is covered by the thick foliage of vegetation. On Google, this forgotten piece of paradise (at least from the…

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Sometimes, a single visit to the Art Gallery is not enough to fully immerse yourself in all the wonderful works of art. But now, with National Gallery Singapore’s annual membership programme, Gallery Insider,  you take unlimited trips to the art gallery and soak up all the art to your heart’s desire. So, here’s the deal; in celebration of the NDP2020, National Gallery Singapore is offering a 1-year free Gallery Insider membership for all Singaporeans and Permanent Residents. Being an insider gives you unlimited access to their dynamic line-up of exciting exhibitions, priority access for Insider-only events, unique museum merchandise, and…

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Working from home, back-to-back zoom meetings, and badgering little children have been par for the course for most working parents. Yes, it can be a handful and extremely busy yet also a whole lot fulfilling. If you want to keep your children entertained and if your kid desire to be a chip off the old block, the Fisher-Price® My Home Office set is ideal for your preschooler. With this 8-piece playset, your kid can be the boss of his or her workstation. Just like any office goers’ workstations, it includes a pretend laptop, 4 fabric apps attached to the screen,…

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Have you been looking to sign up for DBS’ digital banking services but can’t bring yourself to leave your sofa? You can now do so within the comfort of your home. Gone are the days where we will need to painstakingly type the string of confusing numericals and all that jazz. The new SingPass Face Verification feature is designed to make the digital banking registration process more intuitive and seamless with these four simple steps. 1. Download the digibank mobile app via Apple App Store, Google Play, or Huawei App Gallery. 2. Select “SingPass Face Verification” as the identity type…

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Due to our mandatory national service for Singaporean males, the term ‘Singaporean Son’ has become more recurrent in our speech than the expression “Singaporean Daughter”. However, check out this recruitment advertisement posted by the Republic of Singapore Navy in an effort to encourage more female citizens to join the Navy. At the end of each picture, the little caption reads, “Read the post in reverse for a different message”. My first intuition is to read the individual image in this way. Picture 1: The text in reverse is ” weak too are women”. Picture 2: The text in reverse is…

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Remember the French comic, The Adventures of Tintin, that grew up with us? With heavy heart, The Tintin Shop (Singapore) at 28 Pagoda Street is bidding us farewell. Similar to all other retail businesses in Singapore, 2020 has been an extremely tough year for everyone. This is their recent announcement to Tintin fans on Facebook: As we close the chapter of Tintin Singapore retail business in the next 2 to 3 weeks, the store is holding a clearance sale with most of their items steeply discounted, a minimum of 30% and above. So grab your friends, and visit the Tintin…

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In line with National Day celebration and to comply with the safe distancing measures, Kaki Bukit Community Centre is organising a National Day Observance Ceremony where residents—gathered within their safe zones—would sing the National Anthem and recite the Pledge as “One Kaki Bukit, One Singapore”. Sounds like any national day community event, right? However, look closely at the host adviser or rather the guest-of-honour invited for the event, and that alone has triggered an angry mob with spews of negative irate comments on the Facebook post. If you haven’t followed GE2020 closely, here’s some brief background on the newly elected…

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In less than a month, we celebrate our nation’s 55th birthday. Besides chorusing the national day parade theme songs—new and old—and reciting our timeless pledge, what a better way to celebrate this national milestone by revisiting shows on Netflix by Singaporeans, for Singaporeans. Coincidentally these shows echoes how far our nation has progressed in the arts scene and reflects what makes us “uniquely Singapore”—is it the Singapore dream, our dogmatic education, our multicultural society, or simply the culmination of everything into our DNA? 1. Shirkers ‘Shirkers’ is a documentary produced by Singapore-born filmmaker Sandi Tan. What makes the movie enchantingly…

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If you are a Starbucks merchandise collector, who lives in hot and sunny Singapore, and constantly swimming in your puddle of sweat, this product is for you. Starbucks China has launched its newest Bearista Portable Fan to offer you a cooling break while you are on-the-go! The palm-sized portable fan, which is shaped and designed with the iconic Starbucks Bearista in shades, is available in seven different colours. At one end, you have the fan function; while at the other side, it comes with a mirror so you can check out the beautiful moneymaker of yours—despite having the masks on—anytime…

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After the very entertaining GE2020 politician sticker packs, Starbucks Singapore has joined in the bandwagon and curated a pack of eight stickers, called the SHIOK! sticker pack, to liven up all our social conversations. Each sticker pairs up a Starbucks drink or unique brand feature with a colloquial lingo or witty pun, which you can use at any time of the day. Spur your friend on with a good morning greeting with this energy-giving cup of latte. The cute latte is geared up in a baseball cap and referee whistle, all-ready to cheer you on for the hustle ahead. The…

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“Fire is a good servant but a bad master.” Remember the terrible Australia bushfire this year that took away the lives of cute innocent koalas and kangaroos? Fire, when it tips beyond our control, becomes a tragedy of enormous proportion capable of wiping out entire animal species and, in some cases, exotic flora and fauna that are already on the brink of extinction. However, to think that incidences of fire are contained only in the deforested areas or unattended sites is steering the path of ignorance. Urban cities are as susceptible to fires too. In fact, urbanisation also means settlement…

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Imagine you have been operating a laundrette all your life, some customers left their laundry for wash but have not paid and collect them even after 10 years? That many years of business would translate to wardrobes of unpaid and uncollected garments. That’s precisely the predicament of veteran owners—grandpa Wan Ji and Grandma Xiu’e—of a laundry shop in Taiwan. Instead of the usual approach of discarding or donating them, the adorable 84-year old couple turned these clothes into an entertaining fashion project along with their grandson. In the photos taken by their grandson, the adorable grandparents morphed into fashionistas and…

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Want to be multi-lingual like our esteemed leader? With Supermama—a local design store—you can inspire to be as linguistic as you want to be. This porcelain cup was first noticed on 3 April 2020, during the Circuit Breaker announcement by PM Lee on national television. It became a momentous yet running joke as PM Lee addressed the nation in three languages. Coincidentally, during each transition, he was seen sipping from the teacup. Since then, it was famously known as “the legendary language-changing cup”. On the fame of the blue teacup, our fellow writer, Vera Leng, did an investigative write-up and…

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Singaporean are real food lovers and the circuit breaker has revealed our obsessions over two foodstuffs—bubble tea and McDonald’s. When it comes to visiting the golden arches, who can resist the temptation of enjoying the fries—coated in buttery oil, drizzled in salt, and dipped in garlic chilli sauce? However, with the heightened hygiene standards and also to prevent our dainty fingers from getting all greasy, McDonald’s in China is introducing cat paw grips to solve our life problems. It is available in five designs—Calico (three-coloured cat), orange, light grey, dark grey, and buttery white. To use them, simply fit your…

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17 July is World Emoji Day. Yes, it exists. To celebrate the new age of pictorial conversation, two tech giants—Google and Apple have combined forces to give us a sneak peek of the upcoming emojis on their new smartphones later this year. Google’s new design includes a polar bear, a friendly turtle, hugs, and Singaporeans’ all-time favourite—bubble tea. Apple, too, has revealed their new emojis consisting of a boomerang (not the gif), a dodo bird, anatomical heart and lungs, the transgender symbol, and a Russian doll. In both emoji packs, you can find the iconic Italian fingers with fingers and…

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