Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix 2012

September 20, 2012

To all F1 fans, Sebastian Vettel needs no introduction. For the uninitiated, Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in 2010 and 2011. The defending champion is currently fourth going into the upcoming race held in Singapore, and he is certainly gearing up to close the gap on Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen who is currently ranked first, second and third respectively. Singapore is one of Vettel's favourite hunting ground, as he came in 2nd and 1st place in 2010 and 2011 respectively. This Championship is of great significance to Sebastian Vettel as winning it would complete a hat trick, a feat achieved only by Juan Manuel Fangio (1954-1957) and Michael Schumacher (2000-2004). It is also worth noting that Michael Suhumacher is the idol of Sebastian Vettel.

The drivers will be racing at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, with a total of 61 laps covering 309.316 km. The race is held in the night, which is a novel event compared to the other circuits. Drivers mentioned that racing in the night gives a different experience with an increase in difficulty. They must display a higher level of performance but they are relishing the challenge.

The tracks are now all sealed and prepared to welcome this event. At the same time, many booths are set up around these tracks to give tourists more information of this event as well as other useful information of Singapore. Tourists with access can drop by these booths on the event dates (21 - 23 Sep) up to 24 Sep 2012. We recommend tourists to visit the Singtel booth located near the Cenotaph, where you can view some race cars on display, use the on site iPads to find out more information about F1 and Singapore. You can also try finding our TouristPads icon on the displayed iPads and rent our iPad rental product!

Just like in the popular game "Daytona", the commentator would say, "Gentlemen, start your engines". You can take a sneak peak of the start this coming 21 Sep 2012!

Thomas from Austria

September 14, 2012

Thomas took up our iPad rental service for 3 days and just like all our previous customers, he was happy with the service. He was seen sharing something on the iPad with his friend on their way to meet me. I asked him about it and he mentioned he needed directions. Instinctively, I blurted "gothere.sg, right?". He nodded with a smile. I was really glad that this iPad rental benefited him, even to the last min of the rental period. Unfortunately, they were in a rush and could not stick around for a chat. Nevertheless, he was nice enough to let me take a photo of him and we waved each other goodbye.

"Being Together" by John Clang at the National Museum of Singapore

September 8, 2012

Photo credit: http://mashable.com/2012/09/06/john-clang-being-together/

Local photographer and artist John Clang used Skype to create family portraits. According to the artist as quoted on Mashable:

“To be able to witness all these technology progress and wondering what the future looks like, which they may not be able to participate brings a tinge of sadness to me. I think maybe I’m the one sensing the sadness.”

The full series of forty portraits will be on display at the National Museum of Singapore next year.

In the meantime, while visiting Singapore, you can rent our iPads, and use Skype to call and talk to your family and friends back home with 3G internet included with your rental for free.

TouristPads

Swiss standard of living.

September 3, 2012

Andrew is from Switzerland, the country Singapore aims to model. We are happy that Singapore has come a long way and this young nation is doing its best to achieve the "Swiss standard of living". If you study closely enough, both countries share some similarities, with compulsory military service, affectionately know as National Service (NS) in Singapore, on top of the list. In Singapore, the nation requires all male Singaporean citizens and second-generation permanent residents who have reached the age of 18 to enroll in the military. They serve a 22- or 24-month period as Full Time National Servicemen (NSFs), either in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), Singapore Police Force (SPF), or the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). Singapore is a multi racial and cultural nation, just like how Switzerland is made up of three main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, and Italian, to which the Romansh-speaking valleys are added. Although Bahasa Melayu (the Malay Language) is the nation's official language, speaking English is more than enough to get you around! Our nation's (unofficial) language, Singlish, somehow gives us the sense of a common ethnic or linguistic identity. TouristPads is started to allow tourists explore Singapore in depth. Our apps will help you get around easier powered by unlimited 3G on the go. So why wait? Hire our iPad rental service in Singapore and start enjoying the Swiss standard of living!

We are on Singapore Business Review!

September 1, 2012

We are very excited that our company, TouristPads is featured on Singapore Business Review (SBR). According to Krisana Gallezo, the journalist who interviewed Joshua, Singapore Business Review is the only local business magazine in Singapore guaranteed to reach senior decision makers in the top 1,700 companies. We are very blessed to have this opportunity and appreciate it wholeheartedly.

They are featuring us as a "Hot Startup" with the purpose to feature promising startups in town and at the end of the year, choose those to include in the "10 Startups to watch in 2013". We will do our best to be one of those come 2013. We will go out and get more tourists to hire our iPad rental service!

You can view the full article here.

Things to do in Singapore #3: Night Festival

August 31, 2012

Night Festival is a "nocturnal extravaganza of spectacular aerial performances, music, dance and installation artworks at the heart of Bras Basah/Bugis precinct, Singapore’s arts and heritage district," which takes place every year on the public green spaces of the Singapore Management University, in the vicinity of Singapore's museums like the National Museum of Singapore, Singapore Art Museum, and the Peranakan Museum. It will be on 24, 25, 31 Aug, and 1 Sep, or last weekend and this weekend Fridays and Saturdays, and the performances are simply amazing. I was there last Friday, and here's a photograph and video of the Singapore Art Museum:

Tourists! If you are in town tonight or tomorrow, please do take the time to watch the performances at the Night Festival. I'm particularly excited by this performance where a 15 metre pool will be suspended over the audience to fingertip level, while four dancers swim above the crowds. Seems like a great technical and artistic feat. Details of the performance are as follows:

Mylar | Fri 31 Aug & Sat 1 Sep 8.45pm, 9.45pm & 10.45pm Singapore Management University Green

Apart from that, you can also visit various exhibitions, shows, and performances in all the various museums, and all these for free. Signing off, here's a photo of another exhibition by Distorted Forest, By Stéphane Blanquet:

For more information, visit the website at http://www.nhb.gov.sg/brasbasahbugis/nightfestival/index.htm

Andy from Taiwan

August 25, 2012

Andy took up our iPad rental service and despite being a staunch supporter of hTC of Taiwan, he enjoyed the use of our TouristPad. If you have been to Taiwan, you will know that it is a food heaven, very much like what Singapore offers. While I personally love Taiwanese food and the night markets, nothing beats the multi-cultural and numerous variety of food you can find within Singapore. As usual, Andy found the transport and food guides the most useful. The food guide told him where to have the food, and the transport guide led the way. He also used the trip planning apps to do up his itinerary to Indonesia over the long weekend, which proved to be of great help. After all, all these are made easy, since he was holding onto the iOS 6 beta version, which could only be found on the new iPad!

Yong Loo Lin School Of Medicine, White Coat Ceremony 2012

August 24, 2012

According to Wikipedia, "The white coat ceremony (WCC) is a relatively new ritual in some medical (both M.D. and D.O.), optometry, dental, chiropractic, occupational therapy, physical therapy, podiatric, pharmacy, physician assistant, and veterinary medical schools that marks the student's transition from the study of preclinical to clinical health sciences. At some schools, where students begin meeting patients early in their education, the white coat ceremony is held before the first year begins.

WCCs typically involve a formal "robing" or "cloaking" of students in white coats, the garb physicians have traditionally worn for over 100 years and other health professions have adopted."

TouristPads is indeed very privileged to be involved in this year's Yong Loo Lin School Of Medicine (YLL SOM), White Coat Ceremony 2012 held at the University Cultural Centre (UCC), National University Singapore (NUS). Our new iPads were engaged to take photographs of faculty, family and friends who were gracing the event. At the same time, we were given access to the (YLL SOM) Facebook page so that family and friends could post their wishes to these graduates. You can find more pictures and all the best wishes to these future doctors here.

Once again, congratulations to these outstanding students and we hope that they serve the community well in years to come!

Wallpaper City Guide by Phaidon

August 22, 2012

Singapore: Wallpaper* City Guide, is one of my personal favourite apps on our iPads available for rental to tourists when they visit Singapore. It is full of really gorgeous pictures of places of interest in Singapore, and, as you can see below, is tightly packed with up to date essential information, landmarks, hotels, shopping, sports, and what to do, to name a few features. For example, the essential information sections lists the numbers and addresses of useful places and services like the Tourist Office, Transportation Services, Emergency Numbers, Embassies, Postal Services, and Cost of Living indices.

The guide is conveniently integrated with Google Maps, so that every attraction they feature is mapped, and you can find you way around very easily from within the map since you can also locate yourself. In the picture below, you can see that KPO, a nice place to chill out with food and drinks, is plotted on the map together with my current location.

The app also features over 50 images optimised for our new iPad's Retina display of amazing architecture in Singapore. I've included a screenshot of how the photos are laid out and a picture of MBS.

Here's what the publisher, Phaidon, has to say about the book:

Wallpaper* City Guides present a tightly edited, discreetly packaged list of the best a location has to offer the design conscious traveller. Here is a precise, informative, insider’s checklist of all you need to know about the world’s most intoxicating cities.
Whether you are staying for 48 hours or five days, visiting for business or a vacation, we’ve done the hard work for you, from finding the best restaurants, bars and hotels (including which rooms to request) to the most extraordinary stores and sites, and the most enticing architecture and design. Wallpaper* City Guides enable you to come away from your trip, however brief, with a real taste of the city’s landscape and the satisfaction you’ve seen all that you should.
In short, these guides act as a passport to the best the world has to offer.

I-S Magazine Singapore

August 20, 2012

We are very pleased to announce that all our TouristPads are now preloaded with the latest digital copies of I-S Magazine Singapore. I-S Magazine Singapore is a product of Asia City Media Group, which provides city living and lifestyle content and marketing solutions. Being the first to introduce city living magazines to Asia, they have adopted the concept of free-distribution publications in the region. We'd like to thank Asia City Media Group for reaching out to us and allowing us to load their publications onto our TouristPads for tourists to access when they visit Singapore.

We are delighted that we participated in an interview with their editor, and we are looking forward to be featured on their website and/or publications.

We took a quick peek at their website and 4 features caught our attention:

New Openings. This page shows the most interesting new establishments and happenings in Singapore.
Happy Hour Finder. Who says Happy Hour can only be found at certain time of the day? With their Happy Hour Clock, you can find a Happy Hour any time of day.
Top 10 Things to Do in Singapore. On a monthly basis, this segment will provide readers on what's happening the current month, so that you can be part of the action.
Singapore's Best Set Lunches. With deals under S$40 to above $100, just go take your pick according to your budget!

Tourists renting our TouristPads will be able to access these great magazines and guides from now on! Our iPad rental service will delight you, and now with I-S Magazines, you get even greater value.

Neshan and Daniel from Denmark

August 17, 2012

Neshan and Daniel are friends visiting Singapore. They are Danish, and it is our pleasure to rent them our TouristPads, our first 2 customers from Denmark. They were impressed by the service from the start, especially with unlimited connectivity with 3G on the go. I could see that they are particularly interested in finding out more about our transportation system, as they wanted to get to places in the shortest time possible. They liked the fact that the MRT map is clearly pictured on our iPads, and that the SG Nextbus app keeps them informed of the waiting time. I went on and introduced the Hungry app to them as I wanted them to try our best local food at reasonable prices. Apparently, they are food hunters too, and had traveled to Chinatown the day before to taste one of the best chicken rice found over there. Sensing that I could be taking up their precious time in exploring Singapore, I summed up the use of the other apps as soon as possible and wished them a good stay in Singapore. Fortunately, I remembered that I wanted to take a photo of them with our iPads, which they enthusiastically obliged. =)

iOS 6 on TouristPads

August 15, 2012

Here's a sneak look at iOS 6 on the new iPad and what are the cool features that it brings which will be of use to the tourists renting our TouristPads.

Maps

First, let's take a look at maps. You will notice on our TouristPads that the Transport tab now has the rebooted Maps app from Apple:

Apple Maps has replaced Google Maps as the native maps app in iOS, and I must say it looks prettier now. The icons indicating roads, train stations, restaurants, hotels, museums, to name a few, have a much better design compared to Google Maps'. There's a 3D mode where you can see the map in perspective, which should help you find your way around even better. Better than a physical map, this map actually shows you where you are all the time. Never get lost again. Now even better!

We have taken a screen shot of the new Maps App:

Facetime, over cellular

Facetime over cellular is also exclusively available on the new iPad (3rd generation). Tourists will be able to use their Facetime account to (video) call their loved ones on Apple's networks without the use of Wi-Fi, which means that you can now make calls anytime, anywhere back home using FaceTime. Note that with Skype preloaded, you can also make phone calls via Skype on 3G cellular anytime anywhere with your Skype account to any number in the world. Say byebye to roaming mobile costs when you use our iPad rental service for your stay in Singapore.

Personal Hotspot

Tourists who bring along their laptops and other smart devices are going to love their rental for this. Personal Hotspot is now enabled on our TouristPads, which would allow you to connect all your devices to the internet through the wireless hotspot on our new iPads. No more fretting about finding a wireless hotspot at your hotel, or on the go anywhere in Singapore. Comes with all our rentals!

Gothere, the best way.

August 13, 2012

Even as a local living in Singapore for a quarter century, I must admit I still do not know how to get to many places in Singapore. I still remembered the days when technology wasn't that advanced and every time we wanted to go out, we would memorize which train/bus to take, where to alight and change transportation. Then, I held a little blue notebook around, jotting down important bus service numbers as well as major landmarks to help me find my way. I am glad to say, those days are over! These days, Singaporeans are so blessed with a smart device on hand and 3G on the go, they could simply find their way with just a few touches on their mobile screens. Moreover, they are many apps that are created just to give you directions to your desired destination.

I would like to share with you my favourite - the gothere.sg app. This app not only offers accurate details on how to get to places, it is also kind enough to offer the user many alternative routes with the approximate cost and time! This will allow the user to choose the best way, according to the time and money on hand.

Just arrived in Singapore and wondering what's the best way to get to Esplanade? To save the trouble, why not just pre-book our iPad rental service and we will hand deliver a TouristPad to you once you exit the custom gates. From there, you can gothere, the best way.

9 August - Singapore's National Day

August 6, 2012

In 3 days' time, it will be Singapore's National Day. The logo is known as the "Orchidstar". As mentioned on the official website of NDP 2012, the logo is inspired by our national flower, "Vanda Miss Joaquim" orchid. The theme for National Day Parade (NDP) 2012 is “Loving Singapore, Our Home”.

Not known to many, Singapore is only 47 years old this coming Thursday. Her development and rapid growth is considered to be a miracle given her limited natural resources and small population. Against the odds, Singapore managed to emerge as an International Financial Hub as well as a leading research centre for Science and Technology.

I have been hearing sounds of explosions these few days leading up to National Day. What's happening? These sounds of explosion bring excitement to the hearts of the locals because they know fireworks are being displayed at the NDP preview which is held at the floating platform at Marina Bay. Don't worry if you missed the chance to view these fireworks. The most spectacular ones will be on display this coming Thursday. The best of all, you can find both free and paid viewing options here.

For tourists coming to Singapore during this period, you have made a great decision. So why not take up our iPad rental service, and you can get to these viewing points effortlessly, take some epic shots of fireworks and share these memorable sights with family and friends back home via social media with our unlimited 3G services, all using the new iPad we have for you.

Things to do in Singapore #2: Shopping at Haji Lane

July 23, 2012

After getting enough of Orchard Road and its all-too-familiar shopping brands, I decided to check out an interesting clothing district tucked away in a narrow alley of the Bugis area. Haji Lane. This tiny lane has become a much raved about destination thanks to its one-of-a-kind clothing, accessories and quirky store concepts. My favourite would have to be The Blog Shop, a two-storey store dedicated to selling independent designer labels at extremely reasonable prices. Find a wide array of edgy, vintage and modern apparel, as well as rings.

Not only for female fashionistas, Haji Lane also caters to males with its punk rock and classic menswear, offered by Sup Clothing and White Room respectively.

Even though Haji Lane is a little hard to find, our iPads will have you there in 6 minutes from Bugis MRT Station! If you’ve got more time to kill, walk around Arab Street to get a more cultural experience. Beautiful fabrics and batik, rattan products, carpets and little trinkets can be found along rows of colourful shophouses. There is also a hint of nightlife here as several Mediterranean restaurants offer shisha, best described as inhaling (usually fruity) favoured air.

iPad rental just got tastier with ieathawker app

July 20, 2012

Ever since I came back from the US, I’ve been having an insatiable craving for local food. That’s one big reason why I love Singapore – it’s a heavenly place for people who live to eat. Now that my US trip has burnt a hole in my pocket, I’ve been determined to feast on foods that are more wallet-friendly. Thanks to the hundreds of hawker stalls in Singapore, you won’t be missing out on great food even on a tight budget.

Ieathawker is the app I just downloaded on my iPhone. With instant access to over 460 hawker stalls, it’s an awesome way to find good local food quickly when you’re on the go. Search based on food categories and get ratings, photos and write-ups on each dish. Better yet, find out how to get there or check out which food centres are near your current location.

The Ieathawker app is also available on our TouristPads. Rent one now and get your hungry on!

Newsloop now available on all our TouristPads

July 18, 2012

Newsloop, a Flipboard-like app for Singaporean content and news, has just been launched. It is an aggregator of local news, blogs, and content, and has a pretty good user interface. After testing it on our iPads, our verdict is that it is quite useful for browsing through interesting local and international news, and has quite a number of useful categories of content which the user can select. Currently only an iPad app, we are making it available on all our TouristPads, and we believe that it will be of much value to our iPad rental customers when they visit Singapore.

Picture caption: We also like the fact that a write up of our iPad rental service is featured on one of their content categories.

Things to do in Singapore #1: Pasir Ris Park

July 16, 2012

Minutes away from the bustling city but miles away from the constant hustle of life, Pasir Ris Park is a perfect escape destination.

Sit by the sea and enjoy peaceful serenity in this tranquil space. Enjoy a nature walk around dense mangrove swamps, a well kept herbs and spice garden, or watch the sunset.

Pasir Ris Park is also a great place for family fun and healthy exercise. Ride on a pony at Gallop Stable, go fishing, rent a bicycle or better yet, have a barbeque party. If you’re up for more adventure, try out water sports activities such as kayaking or dinghy sailing.

Access other parks (Changi Beach, Tampines and Bedok Reservoir Park) through park connectors and explore Singapore’s network of beautiful national parks.

Our iPad rental service will have you finding this park effortlessly. Take stunning photos using the Instagram app and upload them instantly.

Official Launch of TouristPads

July 12, 2012

We are proud to say that TouristPads has officially launched. 3 friends with diverse personalities, Josh, Caleb and I connected through our love for travel, adventure and the aim to provide something useful for society. We settled on the people we felt we understood best – people like ourselves, travelers with the spirit for adventure.

To some, people may see Singapore as a boring little island. To us though, there are many underrated sights, local delicacies, little cafes, streets and happenings that should be discovered by any traveler wanting a truly authentic Singapore experience.

TouristPads was established, therefore, to make that possible. With a lightweight, fully connected iPad on hand, information and resources are at your fingertips. Access our range of installed apps to get recommendations on the best hokkien mee in town, ideas on what to sightsee and get directions instantly.

Interested? Call, email or submit a form to us at our official website www.touristpads.com now and a TouristPad will be hand-delivered to you promptly.