Hot Air Balloon Ride In Singapore

Hot Air Balloon Ride In Singapore

I had missed an earlier opportunity for a hot air balloon ride some years back in Gold Coast, Australia. Wife and I had booked us on a hot air balloon ride but due to poor weather, the flight was cancelled at the last moment. I remember that point in time clearly as I was woken up to receive the news at 5.02am.

When another opportunity presented itself for a chance to win a hot air balloon ride during the Singapore Air Force Open House, I was elated. Much as I would have liked, my family did not manage to get on board the hot air balloon at Paya Lebar Airbase this time.

Photograph: Aviation Carnival

We arrived late to cast our tickets for the first Hot Air Balloon Ride lucky draw in the Singapore Air Force Open House. With the delay in the launch of the hot air balloon ride on the morning of 30th August 2008, coupled with our family schedule to leave the Air Force Open House 2008 early, the opportunity to ride the hot air balloon was lost.

The closest we could get to a hot air balloon ride was at the Aviation Carnival at Paya Lebar Airbase. This was located at the stadium in the Airbase where an un-inflated hot air balloon sat next to an empty basket in the center of a field. It was also a pity we could not witness any hot air balloon ride high up in the sky of Singapore as we had to leave early.

Photo: Empty Basket For A Deflated Hot Air Balloon Ride

The odds of winning a free ticket to get onboard a hot air balloon were extremely slim. Many visitors were ahead of us and more were streaming into the carnival zone to add their tickets into the luck draw box. The single hot air balloon did not look like it could accommodate more than 5 or 6 ‘high flyers’ at a time.

Picture: Promo Illustration of Hot Air Balloon Ride

I noticed the name “Wanderlust” printed on the hot air balloon of the Air Force News magazine’s promotional picture of this ride. A check on the web revealed that there was such a company providing hot air balloon ride. One of their hot air balloons called ‘Timepeace’ has the same colours and stripes as the balloon ride in the promotional picture.

According to Wanderlust's hot air balloon ride website, only four passengers can get on the hot air balloon at any one time. Their one-hour sunrise hot air balloon ride will cost US$185 per person. Unlike the DHL Balloon Ride that is anchored by wires, riders of Wanderlust’s hot air balloon will get to float across the sky with the pilot having no idea where the hot air balloon will land at the time they lift off from the ground. As hot air balloons move according to the wind, the weather condition and wind speed have major influences on the decision to take off or to wait.

Hopefully next year’s Open House will offer another opportunity for a hot air balloon ride.

You can click here to read about yg's hot air balloon ride in Cairns.

Read more about:

1. Air Force Open House

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Learning Points: Team Singapore Table Tennis, Beijing Olympic Games

Learning Points: Team Singapore Women's Table Tennis, Beijing Olympic Games

The past fortnight has seen my family and I glued to the TV screen because of the Beijing Olympic Games and especially the efforts of Team Singapore Women's Table Tennis.

The Team Singapore Women's Table Tennis Olympic Silver medal winning performances were the highlight of the 2008 Olympic sporting extravaganza that have never been witnessed since our nation gained independence. The previous Olympic Silver medal winning performance that was won by Singaporean weightlifter Tan Howe Liang took place way back in 196o.

I am sure these Team Singapore Women's Table Tennis Olympic Silver medalists and their winning performances will become colossal role models for Singaporeans. The unprecedented Olympic medal winning performance since independence by Li Jiawei, Wang Yuegu and Feng Tianwei will likely be telecast on national TV repeatedly whenever an Olympic Games year comes around every four years.

I will not go into debate about the degree of 'Singaporean-ness' these table tennis athletes are. As far as I am concerned and in the eyes of the Olympic competition, they are Singaporeans. This mighty Olympic medal-winning achievement is a Singaporean record worth celebrating.

As learning points for my family, I’m glad to say that my children were inspired to follow the table tennis women’s team and single’s events closely, even though they aren’t the athletic type, or particularly sports loving, unless the sporting event is played on PC with a mouse or joystick.

My kids have been learning how to point their table tennis bats correctly since the exploits of our Women’s Table Tennis Silver medallists at the Beijing Olympic Games. They have also been busy learning how to count points in their ping pong games. Inevitably, one loser will be learning how bad it feels to lose while the other will be learning how to win with respect and grace.

This win-lose concept of sports, the emotions that go along with it and attendent how-to-deal-with-it aspects are also learning points. Just like in the real world, learning how to handle both the positive points and negative points in their journey through life is an essential skill that they must learn to acquire.

Hopefully, the momentum of their interest in sports can be sustained long after the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The exposure to sports and physical games as recreational pursuits is a continuous learning experience for my family. I hope to add more points to their learning of sports in order to make their academic life more rounded and more balanced in our everything-must-be-number-one society.

Read more ...

1. Singapore Youth Olympic Games blog

2. Team Singapore Table Tennis: Beijing Olympic Games

See more sports, live more life.

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Water Cable Ski Places in Singapore: East Coast Area

photo: Water Cable Ski Places at East Coast Lagoon

Water Cable Ski Places in Singapore: East Coast Area

On the East Coast area that used to be the East Coast Lagoon sits Water Ski 360, billed as the first water cable ski recreational park in Singapore. Of the several water cable ski places in Singapore, this water cable ski park is placed in a sheltered body of water located at East Coast Park Service Road.

From carpark E1 at East Coast Parkway (ECP), it is a short walk across a path meant for cycling, inline skating, roller blading and pedestrian use to reach East Coast Lagoon.

At this sports park for water cable skiing, thrill seekers can attach themselves to a wakeboard and hang on to a wire for hours as a system of pulleys drags participants around in circles (360 degrees) for hours of water cable ski fun in one of the many fun places under the East Coast sun.

You can differentiate the semi-professionals from the novices by counting the seconds before a water cable ski participant loses his or her grip on the ski wire. While I do not have the inclination to try cable ski out, others who tried have enthused about its high degree of water ski thrills and spills.

Water cable ski usage fees apply, while equipment rental is also available on site. Even if you do not engage in water cable ski sport, you can grab a chair to sit as there many sitting places at the restaurant that carries the same name. Just be careful that you do not develop nausea as you watch water cable ski enthusiasts perform vertiginous 360-degree cable-led water spins in one of east coast’s many outdoor sporting places.

Related Reading in Seen This Scene That:
1. In-line skating at East Coast Park
2. East Coast Park Camping
3. More on East Coast Park

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