This is a continuation of my Singapore travelogue last Oct. 23-25, 2009. For prior details on this trip, please click the links below:
Bonding with the Boys @ Clarke Quay
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This day started with a scream. Yes, you read that right. My roomy (Frances) and I didn’t hear our alarms go off that morning and right at the same exact second, we both woke up with a jolt realizing that we were super-duper late for the tour and a nano second later, screamed “Aaahhh!”. Nevertheless, this was still such a good day for me. The fact that I woke up ten minutes before the bus was about to leave for the day’s tour (my roomy and I actually thought the bus already left us), that I managed to dress up in flash, look awesome and feel great, these were blessings enough for me. Oh, Mica and Hannah were also kind enough to let me sit beside them inside the bus. Thanks girls! You’re awesometastic! ^_^ Little did I know that our first itinerary for that day would be at Royal Selangor in Clarke Quay where I was at just a few hours ago. It looked so peaceful and quiet in the morning. All the restaurants and bars were closed and we were the only group of tourists visiting the area that early morning.
Entering the Royal Selangor Gallery…
Royal Selangor is the world’s largest pewter company. Renowned for innovative designs and craftsmanship, they strive to create objects of desire in precious pewter. What is pewter by the way? For those who don’t know, according to Wikipedia:
Pewter is a malleable metal alloy, traditionally between 85 and 99 percent tin, with the remainder consisting of copper, antimony, bismuth and lead. Copper and antimony act as hardeners while lead is common in the lower grades of pewter, which have a bluish tint. It has a low melting point, around 170–230 °C, depending on the exact mixture of metals. The word pewter is probably a variation of the word spelter, a colloquial name for zinc.
A guided tour runs through the three sections of the Pewter Centre: The Pewter Gallery, Pewtersmithing Demonstration and Retail Floor. Our group was divided into two. I belonged to the first batch that went through the Pewtersmithing Demonstration. It was sooo cool! I thought it was going to be difficult, but with a little effort, making a pewter dish wasn’t really that hard to do.
In the Pewtersmithing Demonstration, we were afforded a firsthand view of and even participate in Royal Selangor’s pewter crafting processes.
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This is a continuation of my Singapore travelogue last Oct. 23-25, 2009. For prior details on this trip, please click the links below:
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Right after the Asia Pacific Blog Awards, Mark and JP picked me up from the hotel lobby and we all headed to Clarke Quay for some drinks and much needed bonding. Though the last we’ve been together was just a few months ago when we went swimming in Subic, it felt like ages and I missed the boys so much! They’re Peter’s best buds and I just feel so comfy with them, it’s like having big brothers around. I may not be with these two as much as I’d love to but because they love Peter so much, I’d like to believe that I somehow grew on them all these years… I think they’ve come to love my weird quirks and idiosyncrasies despite everything.^_^
It was one humid evening. There was no wind and it felt quite warm. I was perspiring like crazy but it all got worth it when I saw this view of the river. The water was so still it perfectly reflected its surroundings. Nice!
Anyhoo, I wasn’t only excited to see Mark and JP but I was also really looking forward to seeing Clarke Quay at night. It’s one of those places I missed when Peter and I first visited Singapore in 2006. I heard many good things about it too, one of which is their spicy crabs. Unfortunately, in this place, the crabs cost a fortune so I just settled for cocktails and some pulutan. I was still full anyway from the 6-course dinner served during the Blog Awards.
Oh by the way, I had a little boo-boo that night. For the longest time, I kept saying Clarke Quay like KLARKEE KWEY when it’s just supposed to be KLARKEE. Lol! Thanks for correcting me boys! What a LOL moment!