The DJ who's not a DeeJay

After decades of this Singapore mall serving the public, Harbourfront Centre officially closed last July 27, 2026. I have very fond memories of this mall dating back to 2016, when I first moved to Singapore with my family. Since we rented a condo just across Vivocity, this area was very accessible by foot.

Official post from @hfc_sg on Instagram

Nature is beautiful. 

I love watching clouds form, ocean waves glide, and the sun rise and set. Whenever I had a chance, I would capture these moments through pictures.

So it was a delight to be able to experience this on a daily basis in two different settings. 

When I used to work in Manila, I would drive along Roxas Blvd., which is known for watching sunsets. Sunrise was too early for me to catch while heading to work, but my end of the workday coincided with the sunsets by the bay. Going home, rush hour traffic was actually something to look forward to because I could catch a glimpse of the Manila Bay sunset while in the comfort of your own car.  In the six years I worked in the Manila area, this was a joy.

The other opportunity I had was when we lived in Singapore. At one point, we lived in a condo near the coast, where our bedrooms and living rooms were exposed to the morning sun. Waking up, I was always looking forward to watching the sun rise from our balcony, which is 22 floors above ground. We lived in this condo for a year and a half. Since most of that time was during the pandemic, we worked from home, giving us the opportunity to catch the sunrise while having breakfast and preparing for the work day.

Here at our current home, we don't have a clear view of a sunset, but we're still thankful that we can catch a a sideview glimpse of the sun as it sets.

For these moments, I will stop whatever I do to appreciate them and be thankful to experience them. 

 

It has been part of tradition in the Philippines that during Holy Week, our families visit several churches in observance of Visita Iglesia. With the numerous Catholic churches in the Philippines, you're bound to find several in the same vicinity. In other countries though where religious diversity is present, it may be more challenging to find multiple Catholic churches you can visit.

Because of this, I found it useful to share some Catholic churches you may visit for your Visita Iglesia observance, celebrate Easter Sunday or anytime of the year while visting Singapore.

There are a total of 33 Catholic churches in Singapore scattered throughout the island.
If you're staying within the central district, here are 3 churches particularly within the tourist vicinity that may be most accessible to you.


1. St. Joseph Church

Conveniently located near Bugis Junction and Raffles City mall, this church is walking distance from many hotels and tourist spots within the vicinity. The architecture of this old church is similar to those of in the Philippines because the history of St Joseph’s Church is intrinsically tied to the Portuguese Mission in Singapore.



Based on my personal experience, a lot of Filipinos attend mass here. There are masses in English, French and Latin. Every last Sunday of the month, the choir is led by a Filipino group with some hymns sung in Filipino. If you're lucky, the priest is also Filipino.

The church has a large accommodation but best to be here at least 20 minutes before mass to be assured of a seat since the church gets filled up fast.
Address: 143 Victoria Street Singapore 188020
Nearest MRT stations: Bugis, Bras Basah and Raffles
Easter Sunday Masses: 8am, 10am, 11:30am (French), 3pm (Latin), 5pm

I've been an avid reader of newspapers.  I admit I don't read the entire paper from beginning to end but I do scan all pages including ads.  I guess growing up in a household which had the morning newspaper readily available almost everyday influenced me to appreciate newspapers.  So you can understand my joy previously working under Public Affairs when we had all the major dailies available at our dispense.  Even if my job required monitoring news online and via social media, I'd always try to take a glimpse of the current newspaper from time to time.

When my family and I moved to Singapore, I was delighted to find out that some newspapers were distributed at convenient commuting locations for FREE!  So part of my daily habit was to pass by the nearest MRT station to get the current newspaper.   Here was where I was introduced to My Paper. It wasn't that thick and there was a section in Chinese so as much as I enjoyed reading it, I felt it lacked my morning literature.

Articles were relatively short but informative, which is good cause it goes direct to the point. Even if I don't read Chinese, I'd scan the Chinese section and if I found an interesting photo, I'd search for it on the mypaper.sg website and do a Google translate.  That's where I found out about this:

Transformers exhibit in Hong Kong

Now, I just found out that The Paper's last publication is today, November 30 2016.  But before I could sadly react, I immediately discovered that My Paper will merge with The New Paper (TNP). And The New Paper will be available for FREE starting December 1, 2016 at MRT stations, selected malls and other locations such as cafes, medical centers, country clubs, car service centers, premium buses, airline lounges and serviced apartments.

The new publication will be purely in English catering to professionals, managers, executives and businessmen.  The thicker form will also offer daily themes like food, fashion, health and movie features.

I wasn't here to witness My Paper's early beginnings over a decade ago, and I'm not familiar with TNP even if it started publications way back in 1988, but I'm excited to see this history in the making and ready to pick up the very first edition of the new TNP tomorrow.  Congratulations to The New Paper!

Further Reading:

• THE NEW PAPER'S NEW PHASE http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore-news/new-papers-new-phase
• My Paper on Faecbook - https://www.facebook.com/MyPaperSG/

Wasn't able to catch the partial solar eclipse the other week but did get to see a sun covered by gloomy clouds surrounding Marina Bay Sands.   Here's a quick timelapse and a photo of the majestic structure.

Starting July 31, 2014, 5 international airlines will be transferring from NAIA Terminal 1 to NAIA Terminal 3.  They are Delta Airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Cathay Pacific.

The Art Science Museum is shaped like a huge hand and in the middle is a huge circular hole with water shooting down to a gigantic funnel and flows straight inside the mall below.

I have no idea what they are but they're huge and just by the road I passed through in Singapore.