Immerse in an array of festivities by the waterfront~

Incepted in 2007, The Singapore River Festival is known by many locals to be one of the largest sundown parties in the city area spanning two bustling weekends.

This year, the festival will take place from 25 June to 3 July. Located by the Singapore River, which is one of the city’s most prominent heritage spots, the festival will leave you spoilt for choice with an assortment of events taking place. From Empress Place and Boat Quay to Clarke Quay and Robertson Quay, the whole river will come alive with free nightly events and activities.

Mostly free of charge, they are specially created for merry-making locals and visitors to revel in. Events include the romantic bumboat parade, spectacular aerial shows, various music festivals and themed parties, all set across magnificent river views.

With celebrations that go well into the night, the Singapore River Festival is definitely an event to look forward to, whether you’re looking for an awesomely fun time in the city with newly-made friends or a moment to remember for your family scrapbook.

Here are some of the highlights not to be missed at the Singapore River Festival 2010.

Witness an AIR spectacular

Air is an aerial aquatic production of surrealism and theatrical romance. Inspired by the concept of the infinity of air and the elegance of water, it is a celebration of life. The show pays tribute to the river as a source of human life. Blending aerial acrobatics, dazzling choreography and whimsical characters, the show plunges the audience into a fantastical journey between dreams and reality.

Relish your childhood memories

Catch the transformation as five traditional bumboats turn into whimsical giant paper boats as they cruise down the waterway, passing by Clarke Quay, Boat Quay and Marina Bay. This colourful bumboat parade will bring back nostalgic childhood memories of growing up along the Singapore River. Enjoy enthralling performances by the local award-winning dance company, Fireflys, which fuse elements of dance, music and fire, during the bumboat parade,. The special Fireflys’ performance will
be available on 25-27 Jun and 2-3 Jul with special fire effects from 28 Jun-1 Jul.

Indulge your fantasy

Catch this never-before-seen fantasy production that explores the magic and poetry of water. This performance features a dynamic choreography of water displays and dance. Be amazed as statuesque fountain sculptures come to life at the sound of music. This show is the first-of-its-kind, and offers audiences a wet and wild experience as dancers twirl and leap to create a variety of fountain displays. The Fountain of Fantasy is brought to you by Central, so log on to www.thecentral.com.sg for more information.

Discover a new art experience

An urban art project which brings art to the riverbanks, this visual art component will feature art installations by local artists and focuses on themes based on the overarching concept of the river. Brought to you by Muse inc., Art by the river is a series of installations that will be inclusive, highly visual, accessible and fun.

What are you waiting for? Book a bed with us and head to Singapore River for nine nights of spectacular performances, great music, chic fashion shows and non-stop partying.

Source : http://www.yoursingapore.com/content/traveller/en/experience.html

Signing off

Waren

Hello everyone! It's Dylan yo!

Hey EVERYONE!

I’m Dylan, the newest member of G4 Station! I’m actually a chef by profession, but I’m taking a break from the kitchen till I start culinary school in February in Melbourne. I’m really really looking forward to Melbourne! I absolutely LOVE that place! So meanwhile, here I am part-timing at G4, hoping to make friends from all over the globe!

I’m an avid football fan! I’ve been watching and playing football since I was 10! My teams are Manchester United, Barcelona and Brazil. I’m hoping for Brazil to win the World Cup this year and add another star to the 5 they already have on their jersey. I prefer playing Futsal to the usual 11-a-side game. Futsal is a 5-a-side game that is usually played indoors on a hard court, using a special size 4 ball that doesn’t bounce. It relies on pace and a lot of skills. I prefer it mainly because you get tea ball at your feet a lot more than the 11-a-side game.

Besides football, I also do Aggressive Inline Rollerblading. It is the kind where we grind, spin and do flips. I’ve been doing it since 2002 and I will only stop the day my legs can no longer support me. Most of the time you can find me either at Somerset skatepark or East Coast skatepark. I try to rollerblade about 3-4 times a week. It’s my other form of exercise besides football.

That’s basically what i got to share with you guys!

The Dumpling Festival is a colorful festival which is traditionally celebrated during the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. This year, the famous Dumpling festival is celebrated on 16th of June which is today. Dumpling Festival is also named as Duanwu Festival and Dragon Boats Festival. You can find the brief history of dumpling festival here that gives a bit of background information of this festival.

Duanwu commemorates the life and death of the famous Chinese scholar Qu Yuan. He was a loyal minister serving the King of Chu during the Warring States Period in the third century BC. Initially his sovereign favored Qu Yuan, but over time, his wisdom and erudite ways antagonized other court officials. As a result Qu Yuan was accused of trumped-up charges of conspiracy and ejected by his sovereign. During his exile, Qu Yuan composed many poems to express his anger and sorrow towards his sovereign and people.

In the year 278 B.C., at the age of 37, Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Milo River. He clasped a heavy stone to his chest and leaped into the water. Knowing that Qu Yuan was a righteous man, the people of Chu rushed to the river to try to save him. The people desperately searched the waters in their boats looking for Qu Yuan but were unsuccessful in their attempt to rescue him. Every year the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated to commemorate this attempt at rescuing Qu Yuan.

When it was known that Qu Yuan had been lost forever, the local people began the tradition of throwing sacrificial cooked rice into the river for their lost hero. However, a local fisherman had a dream that Qu Yuan did not get any of the cooked rice that was thrown into the river in his honour. Instead the fish in the river were eating the rice. Thus, the locals decided to make zongzi to sink into the river in the hopes that it would reach Qu Yuan’s body. The following year, the tradition of wrapping the rice in bamboo leaves to make zongzi began.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duanwu_Festival

Boat races are held every year and rice is thrown into water on this day in order to give a compliment to the patriot which symbolizes the struggle made to rescue Qu Yuan. Since years, Dumpling festival is one of the most significant festivals celebrated in China. Dumpling festival is marked by consumption of thousands of dumplings and furious races of dragon shaped colorful boats on the loud beats of drums.

In Singapore, during this festival everyone is lazy or the skill has not been really passed on to the later generations. The older generation gets too old to prepare this dish, the working generation is too caught up with work to bother.

Why not head down to G4 Station, book a bed with us and head out to hunt for this yummy traditional snack which we will only get to see around this time of the month!

Signing off~

Waren

Join us in G4!

Fancy working together with one of the best team in the Singapore hostel industry? Hesitate no further!

The G4 Team is opening its door to diploma/ degree students who needs an internship sponsor. In this position, you will learn how to interact with an awesome globetrotter crowd, the ins and outs of our business as well as a chance to innovate your ideas to improve our backpackers stay with us.

Requirements are:-

• you are a student from the 5 local polytechnics or any relative-field degree courses
• drop us a note why do you want to work with us, along with your resume and a self attached photo
• your lecturer-in-charge contact so we could get in touch with them.

Feel free to e-mail us to arrange for an interview today.

World Cup Opener - South Africa vs Mexico// Images from Getty Image, Soccernet

I was undoubtly the winner of a mug of iced cold tiger last night as Mexico drew with host South Africa last night

Tonight there’ll be 3 more games in play, namely:-

• Greece vs South Korea
• Argentina vs Nigeria
• England vs USA

What’s your pick?

Join Us!

Join us at G4 Bistro tonight from 1930hrs onwards and take your pick! Spend only $30 to qualify for our game to get a free mug. Winner who gets a strike 3 games in a row wins a jug of iced cold tiger! (I’m on one now, let’s hope i win 2 more!)

Having trouble finding us? Call us at  +65 6334 5644. This number is also reservation friendly

Now, for my picks tonight..

• Greece to hold South Korea for a draw
• Argentina to beat Nigeria 2-1
• England to draw USA

Just to keep you guys updated!

The score for yesterday’s matches was 1:1 for South Africa vs Mexico and 0:0 for Uruguay vs France.

Yeah, you can see customer from our very own hostel and public in the picture above. It was a rowdy yet enjoyable night so why don’t you head down to G4 Station and book a bed with us now!

Good news for all G4 Guest, 2010 Fifa World Cup which would only be held once every 4 year will be screening *LIVE* in our G4 Bistro. Not amaze? Many places in Singapore will not have it since our subscription fees are rather high, but as a premium backpackers inn, we are proud to offer this to our guests.

What are you waiting for? Book a bed with us now and i am sure you won’t regret~

Ciao~

Waren signing off

Hi everyone

It’s been awhile since the last update on our blog as we’ve been busy with transforming our hip and chic bistro for the one past year. Now that we’re back, do join us in the adventures of all the individual G4′ers who’ll share their experience with you on the Singapore Story.

Do contact us if you have any queries about staying with us in Singapore or even simple things like what can you do. Uh, yes we may be small, but there’s really a lot a lot of things you could really do here. Rest assure!

Hope you’ll join us during the crazy world cup season!

The Night Festival is back! It’s a Saturday and Sunday evening thing, party till late! From Fri 10 Jul 2009 – Sat 11 Jul 2009, 7.30pm – 2am, go in for an outdoor extravaganza  of theatrical performances with live music and dance, and experience delightful interactive light installations created in and around the hem of Bras Basah. Taking the centre stage this year, is Bersama Hijau, one of the Singapore acts, which consists of dance, percussion and vocals by 80 talented performers.

Best of all, ADMISSION IS FREE!

Much Love, Kettle

Good news for clubbers and culture lovers out there!

In view of The Singapore River Festival which will commerce from the 19-27 June, there will be free weekend river taxi ride onboard the Singapore River Festival Party Boat and weekend shuttle bus service from Orchard Road to Clarke Quay on the Singapore River Festival Bus, including numerous free-admission Festival events, are planned to make the Festival affordable and within reach to most festival-goers.

View the free rides schedule

The event highlights of the Largest Sundown Party includes

- Bacardi Launches Singapore’s 1st Mojito Fiesta (with Cuban Parties)

- Circus Pop Series 1 & 2 at Boat Quay and Robertson Quay

- Happy Hour Deals at Clarke Quay

- Milestones Musical Heritage Festival and Flea Market by Timbre

- Asian Civilisations Museum- Free Admission and Jazz by the River

- A River Romance- Bum Boats Parade and Dance Musical

- Campfire- An Outdoor Dance Festival at the Arts House

In addition, on Sat, 27th June, the Singapore Tourism Board will close the 9-day long Singapore River Festival with a world record magic performance at Central Promenade by the Singapore River.

For “The Impossible Record”, two illusionists J C Sum & ‘Magic Babe’ Ning will be making themselves appear, vanish, teleport, exchange places, dissect their bodies, pass through solid objects, making a motorcycle appear, and much more in this physically & mentally challenging feat of attempting 15 grand illusions in 5 minutes. (credits to Singaporehappenings.com)

See here, for more info..

Much Love, Kettle