Moving Around

Java Zelo 20 Inch Folding Bike Review

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Cycling has suddenly become everyone’s favourite pastime — not surprisingly given that people can’t travel anywhere and cycling seems to be one of the better ways to explore Singapore, while having fun and getting some exercise in at the same time.

I too, have been suckered into this phenomenon. My last bike was an Aleoca mountain bike bought from Carrefour in 2002 (when I was in Primary Five…) — which I disposed of in 2016 after years of storage because it was starting to fall apart. This time around, like many others, I opted for a folding bike for its convenience — you are no longer restricted to cycling within a limited radius from your house, since you can take the bus or the train with your bike. Rain or a flat tyre? No problem. Just hop on the next bus or call a Grab and you’re on your way home.

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Christmas on Orchard Road 2020: Still Wonderful

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2020. Like the term 20/20 vision, 2020 was meant to be the perfect year, the year to strive towards. Just do a quick Google search on the term “Vision 2020“.

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Christmas on Orchard Road 2019 — A Rather Muted Christmas

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Following criticism that last year’s Christmas decorations were too commercialised, the Orchard Road Business Association has opted for a more traditional feel this year.

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Smove and TribeCar Car Rental — Long Term Experience Review (2019)

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I wrote about my experience with TribeCar and Smove back in 2017. I’ve continued to use both hourly car rental services up until today, so I thought it would be good to share my long-term experience renting cars from both companies.

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Orchard Road 2018: A Very Disney Christmas

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As part of a three-year collaboration between the Singapore Tourism Board and Disney, this year’s Christmas light-up at Orchard Road takes a break from tradition, with Disney characters substituting the usual gift boxes, orbs and Christmas tree designs which have become a mainstay over the past 30-odd years.

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Wildlife Spotting Along Gardens by the Bay

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Singapore's Central Business District may just be about the last place you think of when spotting wildlife in this urban jungle. Still, I gingerly ventured a little south towards Gardens by the Bay and the Marina Barrage and with a little patience, I was in for a little treat.

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The Growing Pains of Bike Sharing in Singapore

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From the moment cycling on footpaths became legal in Singapore (finally), bike sharing operators wasted no time in flooding the island with bicycles. Today, barely a year in, there are at least five bike sharing operators (Ofo, oBike, Mobike, SGBikes, GBikes and potentially Baicycle, just in case you lost count) in Singapore, owning a fleet of about 100,000 bicycles. And with exponential growth comes the inevitable pain points.

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Light to Night Festival 2018: Exploring the Civic District

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Not to be confused with Marina Bay’s i Light festival or the Singapore Night Festival, the second edition of the Light to Night Festival, which is currently ongoing until 26 January 2018 as part of the Singapore Art Week, spans Singapore’s historic Civic District, from Esplanade Park to Padang and all the way to the Asian Civilisations Museum.

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Welcome to the Logistical Revolution

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During my marketing module in university some four years back, I remember my fellow peers coming up with ideas like making healthy lunchboxes and delivering them within the CBD, and hassle-free renting of bicycles around campus. I thought, at that time, whether such concepts would seem a little too far-fetched. Six months later, during my environment sustainability elective, we were tasked to come up with a  car-sharing scheme similar to ZipCar in Singapore and promote it via video. We eventually settled on allowing users to drop off and return cars at select locations across Singapore, using a membership card that would serve as a car key. To solve the potential problem of having too many cars one at location, we proposed a roving crew that would chauffeur ‘stranded’ cars back to their rightful homes. While we were forced to sell our proposal, deep down, I wasn’t convinced that this would work out in the real world.

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TribeCar Review — Fuss-free, Ad-hoc Car Rental

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Update 11 March 2017: TribeCar has formed a partnership with Grab allowing freelance drivers to drive on an hourly basis under the Grab PowerHour scheme. Check out my thoughts below.

I first knew of TribeCar a few months back, when a promoter gave me a flyer somewhere along the City Hall area. Initially, I didn’t think much of it.

Then, it was time to make some Valentine’s Day plans this year and I toyed with the idea of renting a car for an entire Saturday. After some research, I found this was harder than I anticipated. Most car rental companies operate on a traditional model where you have to make a trip down to their offices to collect the car. On weekends, this poses a problem since their offices are not open. Weekend rentals for these companies would then mean you have to rent the car from Friday to Monday and incur the extra costs that come with it, including overnight parking.

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Walkabout: Chinatown Street Decorations & Bazaar 2017

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For a few weeks before Chinese New Year every year, Chinatown will be all dressed up, with the centrepiece being the sculpture at the intersection of Eu Tong Sen Street/ North Bridge Road and Upper Cross Street.

This year, the sculpture is that of a giant rooster, one that is so conspicuous that it appears in almost every other post about Chinese New Year.

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