Sunday, November 15, 2009

2 November 2009 - Singapore - A City in a Garden

From Singapore Post Miniature World Issue 79 http://www.singpost.com/downloads/mw79.pdf
Special Gift Ideas from Miniature World
Produced by Singapore Post Ltd.
Available for sale at the 11 Philatelic outlets from 02 Nov 2009.



Date of Issue: 2 November 2009
Designer: Lorette E. Roberts
ISBN no: 978-981-08-3933-8
Retail Local Price: S$35.00 (Prices inclusive of 7% GST for purchases within Singapore.)
Overseas Price : S$ 32.71
SODA members are entitled to 10% discount for the Special Gift


Picture is extracted from the Miniature World Issue 79, page 10.
http://www.singpost.com/downloads/mw79.pdf


Description:
Singapre - A City in a Garden consists of a coffee table book which artfully combines the delightful illustrations of Lorette's and a selection of Singapore's stamps.




Extracted from the Miniature World Issue 79, page 10.
http://www.singpost.com/downloads/mw79.pdf
Stamps are little miniatures of art and as they also reflect Singapore’s heritage, history, nature and lifestyle. They are ambassadors of Singapore and make unique gifts for friends and tourists alike.





SingPost specially put together the following series of products, featuring not only the beautiful stamps, but the garden city and the unique heritage of Singapore.






Singapore – A City In A Garden
Working with Lorette E Roberts, a renowned botanical artist, SingPost produces this coffee table book - titled "Singapore – A city in a Garden” - which artfully combines the delightful illustrations of Lorette’s and a selection of Singapore’s stamps. The illustrations were sketches done during Lorette’s visit to Singapore and they captures the colourful and lush landscape of Singapore. This made a great gift and a beautiful collectible for all nature lovers.




Lorette E Roberts
From: http://ridgeonline.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/singapore-sketches-of-the-lion-city/
Born in 1945, in Bath, England, Lorette had taken a keen interest in drawing since a young age. Over the many years, she has experimented with various themes and techniques, developing her own style of water colour sketching. Armed with just her pencils, water colours and sketch pad, she usually does her sketching on location if time permits.



An avid globetrotter, Lorette is a self confessed ‘Asiaphile’ who frequently visits China, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. No stranger to travel, she has also resided in the USA, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Hong Kong. It was in the Cantonese island that she first attempted sketching as a means to preserve her memories of her stay in her city.



One thing led to another and she soon published her first sketchbook, “Sights and Secrets of Hong Kong in 2003 which sold over 15 000 copies. Over the next four years, Lorette published four more sketchbooks on China and Hong Kong; receiving international acclaim for her illustrations.



She currently resides in Suffolk, United Kingdom and continues to host various joint exhibitions both at home and abroad.

For more information about Lorette and her work, her website is at www.loretteroberts.com


Reference

Sunday, November 1, 2009

World's largest cruise ship

The Straits Times, Saturday October 31, 2009, Lifestyle
From:
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Lifestyle/Story/STIStory_448884.html
http://www.straitstimes.com/gallery/Breaking%2BNews/Lifestyle/Story/STIStory_448884.html - Photos
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Lifestyle/Story/BgSty_448884_1.html



PHOTO: http://elitechoice.org/2008/04/26/elite-find-of-the-day-worlds-largest-cruise-ship-worth-793-mn/ - worlds-largest-cruise-ship.jpg
http://elitechoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/worlds-largest-cruise-ship.jpg
The Oasis of the Seas will meet its first obstacle Saturday when it exits the Baltic Sea and must squeeze under the Great Belt Bridge, which is just 1 foot (30 centimetres) taller than the ship - even after its telescopic smokestacks are lowered.



VIDEO: http://www.stxeurope.com/upload/?id=3860dc6536abf2dc2da1a15a6ebbe5ee


HELSINKI - IT'S five times larger than the Titanic, has seven neighbourhoods, an ice rink, a golf course and a 750-seat outdoor amphitheater. The world's largest cruise ship is finally finished and beginning to glide toward its home port in Florida.


PHOTO:
http://www.funonthenet.in/content/view/363/31/


The Oasis of the Seas will meet its first obstacle Saturday when it exits the Baltic Sea and must squeeze under the Great Belt Bridge, which is just 1 foot (30 centimetres) taller than the ship - even after its telescopic smokestacks are lowered.


PHOTO: http://www.funonthenet.in/content/view/363/31/


PHOTO: http://www.funonthenet.in/content/view/363/31/


To be on the safe side, the ship - which rises about 20 stories high - will speed up so that it sinks deeper into the water when it passes below the span, said Lene Gebauer Thomsen, a spokeswoman for the operator of the Great Belt Bridge.


PHOTO: http://www.snegidhi.com/2009/5-3/World_Largest_Cruise_Ship_Genesis.html
http://www.snegidhi.com/2009/5-3/Genesis_oasis.jpg

Once home, the US$1.5 billion (S$2.1 billion) floating extravaganza will have more, if less visible, obstacles to duck: a sagging US economy, questions about the consumer appetite for luxury cruises and criticism that such sailing behemoths are damaging to the environment and diminish the experience of traveling.



PHOTO: http://themaritimeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/3606830397_a180ab75b0_b.jpg

Travel guide writer Arthur Frommer has railed against Oasis and other mega-ships he calls 'floating resorts,' suggesting that voyages on such large vessels are 'a dumbing down of the cruise experience.'


PHOTO: http://www.wackyarchives.com/featured/oasis-of-the-sea-worlds-largest-cruise-ship.html

Oasis of the Seas, which is nearly 40 per cent larger than the industry's next-biggest ship, was conceived years before the economic downturn caused desperate cruise lines to slash prices to fill vacant berths.


PHOTO: http://www.wackyarchives.com/featured/oasis-of-the-sea-worlds-largest-cruise-ship.html






PHOTO: http://www.cruiseweb.nl/images/freedomoftheseas/SideView.jpg



What's in a ship?
From: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Lifestyle/Story/BgSty_448884_1.html


Photo: http://www.desso.com/Desso/Other_Content/Images/Overige/Independence_of_the_Seas.jpg

THE Oasis of the Seas has 2,700 cabins and can accommodate 6,300 passengers and 2,100 crew members.


PHOTO: http://www.wackyarchives.com/featured/oasis-of-the-sea-worlds-largest-cruise-ship.html


It has various 'neighbourhoods' - parks, squares and arenas with special themes. One of them will be a tropical environment, including palm trees and vines among the total 12,000 plants on board. They will be planted after the ship arrives in Fort Lauderdale.




PHOTO: http://www.wackyarchives.com/featured/oasis-of-the-sea-worlds-largest-cruise-ship.html

In the stern, a 750-seat outdoor theater - modeled on an ancient Greek amphitheater - doubles as a swimming pool by day and an ocean front theater by night. The pool has a diving tower with spring boards and two 10-metre high-dive platforms. An indoor theater seats 1,300 guests.


PHOTO: http://www.funonthenet.in/content/view/363/31/

Accommodations include loft cabins, with floor-to-ceiling windows, and 487-metre luxury suites with balconies overlooking the sea or promenades.


PHOTO: http://www.funonthenet.in/content/view/363/31/


PHOTO: http://www.travel-friends.com.au/images/100_2346.JPG

One of the 'neighborhoods,' named Central Park, features a square with boutiques, restaurants and bars, including a bar that moves up and down three decks, allowing customers to get on and off at different levels.


PHOTO: http://www.travel-friends.com.au/images/100_2346.JPG

The liner also has four swimming pools, volleyball and basketball courts, and a youth zone with theme parks and nurseries for children.


PHOTO: http://www.wackyarchives.com/featured/oasis-of-the-sea-worlds-largest-cruise-ship.html

Cost of rooms - US$1,299 to $4,829.


PHOTO: AFP (In-life-oasis4AFP.jpg) Workers were seen aboard the "Oasis of the Seas" cruise ship at a dockyard.



PHOTO: REUTERS (In-life-oasis5R.jpg) A miniature golf course is seen aboard the Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas cruise ship which was under construction at the STX Europe shipyard.


Photo: http://www.goodnewsfinland.com/Oasis%20of%20the%20seas_240609.jpg


PHOTO: http://www.wackyarchives.com/featured/oasis-of-the-sea-worlds-largest-cruise-ship.html


PHOTO: http://www.wackyarchives.com/featured/oasis-of-the-sea-worlds-largest-cruise-ship.html


PHOTO: http://www.wackyarchives.com/featured/oasis-of-the-sea-worlds-largest-cruise-ship.html



Reference