Singapore in November

[Carol_Roberts]

The Singapore discus club has invited me to be one of the judges at their discus show this November. None of my family or friends can come with me due to work or school committments. I was wondering if Dottie or April or any of the other women hobbyists might be interested in going to see Singapore and the discus show. I was thinking of leaving Novembver 11th and returning November 20th. Here is the schedule:

16th Nov 05- Benching in
17th Nov 05- Judging
18th Nov 05- Open to Public
19th Nov 05- Prize Giving Ceremony
20th Nov 05- Benching out

[Tad]

Congratulations and Kudos to you Carol!

regards,
Tad

[AADiscus]

How sweet and most deserved. You are their perfect choice. Have a great time and take many pics to share with the rest of us!

[April]

wow what an honour Carol.YOur right..well deserved..and a great choice. im not sure i could..too soon..and i have a shop to run. hope dottie can..shed have fun..theres a few great singaporeans over there who would treat you well.
Although.id love to go and meet sly..and roy .

[Andrew Soh]

It great!!... coming to Singapore, Carol?

PM to me and see how the finer details of your arrangement is. It would be nice to meet up with you.

Take care,
Andrew :angel:

[korbi_doc]

:D WOW!!!! CONGRATULATIONS CAROL!!!!!!! What a wonderful opportunityfor you!!!!!!!!!! & wouldn't I love to go with you... How soon do you have to know, & what would the costs be ? Would you pm or email me with any details & maybe, just maybe I can work it out. I'm supposed to be finished working for this Dr in Dec. & totally retired by end of the yr, but this might be too much to pass up............ wow, Dottie :sun:

[Lynn]

Dottie! you gotta go girl!

Congrats Carol! :D

[rsawest@yahoo.com]

Hey, that's great Carol! Much deserved for all the work you've done with Discus.

[Carol_Roberts]

Thanks, everyone. I'm really excited about going - Singapore is a beautiful country! I'm told there should be more than 150 discus entries and I can't wait to see all the new color morphs.

I would love to meet you in person Andrew. I have sent you an IM.

I hope you can go Dottie - I've just sent off for my passport and that's the first thing you will need to do. I've sent you an IM too.

Any other discus ladies interested in going? I plan to leave November 13th and return November 20th. I'm told Singapore is very safe and reasonably priced.

[korbi_doc]

:D You bet Carol, would love to go, will get right on it. I'm sure I can manage it, & I just talked to my daughter & she also thinks I should do it...first the passport, sap....thank you, Dottie

[Carol_Roberts]

Great Dottie! It will be so much more fun with another discus hobbyist along :)

[John_Nicholson]

Carol while you are there you might mention that I have also been trained to judge discus....LOL. Have fun.

-john

[Carol_Roberts]

I will tell them, John. One of the goals I have for NADA is to develop a pool of judges for discus shows. I also would like to see standarized judging forms which could eventually lead to standards for discus along the lines of AKC standards for dogs.

[Spices]

Good luck with the trip, Carol. Congratulations. Sounds like Andrew really is a good source of contact too. This is a great start.

If perks includes attaining discus, girl, you go!! I know I'd be ordering: "six of these, six of these, 10 of this, etc...." :D

Keep us informed.
:wave:

Angie

[crimson cross]

Congrats Carol, you will enjoy your trip. Have lots of fun and make sure you try some "durians". Take care.
Phil.

[KIWI13]

I have been to Singapour 3 times before and I have friends there. It is an amazing country and I have been even considering moving over there for a few years. Carol you will have a ball and the best thing to do is to go to Sentosa Island.
The Zoo is one of the best in the world too.
i wish i was a girl cause I'd go with ya LMAO. Oh well maybe next time we can do a boys road trip to Singapour. LOL

Jas :D

[rsawest@yahoo.com]

Actually Carol, watch out for durians... I think they are banned in most hotels. :D

But it's always good to try it once...

[Greg Richardson]

Congrats Carrol on your upcoming adventure.

I hope you know we have great expectations from you taking this trip!

Like about a 150 pictures. LOL! As you judge each one take a picture.

BTW.............

If your husband is going to be stressed out about taking care of so many discus while your gone I'll be glad to take some off your hands to keep the stress level down.

Hey I'm just that type of nice fellow!

[ping]

Congrats Carol. That's a great news :)
Please take as many pics as you can :D :)

Regards,
Ronny

[CliffsDiscus]

Carol,
Congratulations, have a nice trip.

Cliff

[Carol_Roberts]

My husband is building a new particleboard plant in Montana, so my fish will be on feeders and no water changes for the duration.

Kiwi: You are welcome to come see us. I just don't think my husband would approve if I invited a bunch of guys to travel with me, LOL.

Any more recommendations of what Dottie and I should see?

[bio new]

A very warm welcome to Singapore Carol Roberts.

Here's the link abt this small country
http://www.gov.sg/

[crimson cross]

Hi Carol,
You may also want to check out the night safari.
Phil.

[ppv1951]

congrats carol! sounds like you're gonna have a lot of fun! bring back lots of pics!

pat.

[kaceyo]

What an honor! I know you'll do us proud.

Kacey

[Carol_Roberts]

hmmm . . .maybe I need to get a new camera . . . ;)

[korbi_doc]

Hi Carol,
You may also want to check out the night safari.
Phil.

Hmmmmm, "night safari", sounds verrrry interesting!! Any more info?? lol, Dottie

[crimson cross]

Hi Dottie,
It's a zoo but it's only open for the public at night..You have your choice of walking or riding the train through the park...It would be a good place to go after a heavy dinner...I would recommend it if you are looking for something different...
Also if you are bored during the day, you can always go shopping at Orchard Street. It's a shoppers' haven. Have fun and take lots of pics.
Phil.

[Robo]

Yes, Orchard Road is a shoppers' paradise, and be warned that the place is very crowded during weekends - somewhat like having 8-10 adult discus in a 20g tank :p. Don't forget also the great variety of food here. Try chillie crabs at East Coast Seafood Centre (you'll be able to see it along the expressway from the airport to town). Also local favourites like satays (pieces of meat in sticks dip in chillie peanut sauce), chicken rice etc. There is a wide range of food from everywhere here in S'pore - Chinese, Malay, Indian, Peranakan, Mediteranean, Mexican, Japanese...you name it...

[liz]

Singapore sounds an interesting place.Hope you both have a wonderful time.

[Sindhu]

Hi Carol,
if Sentosa Island is on your agenda, try not to miss Tiger Balm Gardens, it's an awesome place to visit. Lots of fun and laughter. Ask the locals about it. It's before you cross over to the island.

Sindhu
Born in Singapore

[Carol_Roberts]

I've been reading throught all kinds of Singapore travel guide sites on the internet too. I think Dottie and I will find all kinds of fun things to do during our stay. I hope her knees hold up :)

[Spices]

Carol,

I think Dottie trots on her mounties pretty often. I'm pretty sure she'd be a tough gal walking thru any rainforest. It's the airplanes I'd be worried about. :D

And if I were to travel with ya, you'd worry about me in those airplanes too. :D

Dottie, hang on there when you "mount" the airplane. That's some tuff stuff you'll be going thru. LOL

Best of luck again Carol and Dottie. **Angie**

[jim_shedden]

this is terrifc carol. Plzzzzzzzzzzz............take lots of pictures.

congrats

Jim

[brewmaster15]

Congratulations Carol,
Thats a great opportunity and an enviable honor! Please be sure to take many pictures.

-al

[Greg Richardson]

Hi Carol. Notice a common theme here in people's congrats?

Afterwards we all request lot's of pictures! LOL!

Hopefully between the two of you that won't be such a burden and you can use them on the NADA site also.

If you get time to talk to different breeders about any breeding tips or how they handle disease that be cool also.

Thanks!

[CARY_GLdiscus]

WELL DONE CAROL!


Your the best for the Job! Your helpful, You know good discus from bad! And You keep away from Politics!

My hat is off to You!

Best wishes have a safe and fun trip!

Cary Gld!

[April]

Carys right. must be the natural judge in you. : ) so glad Dottie can go with you. you two should have alot of fun.

[bio new]

Thanks, everyone. I'm really excited about going - Singapore is a beautiful country! I'm told there should be more than 150 discus entries and I can't wait to see all the new color morphs.

I'm told Singapore is very safe and reasonably priced.

Carol, here's another important and fun S'pore's link

http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/index.html

I bet, you'll have plenty of fun in Singapore, especially if it will be your very 1st visit.

Dont forget to standby extra batteries for your digi cam.

Well, allow me to give you an example. I purchased a NEC Versa E2000 Notebook during the COMEX 2005 (IT Expo). I was given the followings as freebies:-

1) Upgrade to 512 DDR Ram
2) HP 1402 Printer Scanner Copier All in One
3) Altec Lansing Speaker
4) NEC Wireless Digital Mouse
5) Carrying Case
6) Norton Antivirus s/w
7) Windows XP


All the above including the Versa E2000 for just SIN$1,299/=. How's that, reasonably priced, rite? Oooooppppssss..... carry with you, extra credit cards, just in case.... he he!

CHEERS!

[korbi_doc]

:D :D Ok, I'm getting really excited 'bout this trip now!! Never been out of the country, will be an entirely new experience. Haven't any idea 'bout $$ exchange, language differences, or "customs" which I understand can be overwhelming....the hotel looks impressive, & I'm anxious to see the countryside... wonder if they have horses there? Probably not...
What I'm going to look into is a tiny digicam so it'll be easy to carry. Have a Sony Cybershot, & it takes short videos, I guess with extra memory cards that'd do, takes good pics, but if I use 5Megapixels, not too many fit, so maybe I should just get extra cards..
Angie, the air travel will be lonnngggggg! But I think we're up for it..& walking wil be a daily necessity, so believe me the ole treadmill is getting a workout for a change. Gotta get in shape to make the best of a great trip! & I'm sure between Carol & I we'll get lotsa pics, fish, fish, fish!!! :fish: Gosh I'm anxious to see Asian discus in there home habitat, & maybe we'll get lucky & see a hatchery or two...... Dottie :bouncegre

[bio new]

:D :D Ok, I'm getting really excited 'bout this trip now!! Never been out of the country, will be an entirely new experience. Haven't any idea 'bout $$ exchange, language differences, or "customs" which I understand can be overwhelming....the hotel looks impressive, & I'm anxious to see the countryside... wonder if they have horses there? Probably not... Dottie :bouncegre

Hi Dottie,

$$ exchange is generally about US$1/= to SIN$1.70 cts. On 16 Sep 05, US$1 closed at SIN$1.6781

Generally, most Singaporeans speak English. As for "customs", differences are obviously but not to a great extent. Imported TV programmes from the West have to some extent, cultured Singaporeans like Europeans but nevertheless, local customs are hard to put aside.

U can see horses only at the Turf, Polo and Saddle Clubs. Countryside, well.. hmm.... wait till u see it yourself.

Assuming there's no tax if u brought digi cam from S'pore to US, how abt buying it in S'pore?

CHEERS!

[korbi_doc]

:D Thanks Bio, helpful info!! & yes, I had considered buying a digicam in Singapore, & who knows what else?? 'Cept maybe I need to save my $$ for "FISH", LOL. Decisions, decisions, decisions, what fun! Glad to hear that language will not be a barrier. :rolleyes2 Dottie

[Carol_Roberts]

I think Singapore has different current than the US. Will the hotel have a converter so I can charge my camera battery or should I purchase one in the US? If in the US would Staple or Office Max have something?

[Orient]

Hi Carol

Nice to see that u are making a trip down this area in Nov. I will be seeing u there.



I think Singapore has different current than the US. Will the hotel have a converter so I can charge my camera battery or should I purchase one in the US? If in the US would Staple or Office Max have something?

[bio new]

I think Singapore has different current than the US. Will the hotel have a converter so I can charge my camera battery or should I purchase one in the US? If in the US would Staple or Office Max have something?

Spore is using 3-pin plug with a power voltage of 200-220. I'll check with my brother in law who is in the hotel line regarding the current converter. Will let u know a.s.a.p.

CHEERS!

[Carol_Roberts]

Thanks Bio New :)

I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone and putting faces to the names.

[Andrew Soh]

Hi Carol and Dottie,

The digita cameras in Singapore are fairly cheap...even Taiwaneses come here to buy.

Wonderful thing is that it is now selling 8 megapixels range @ plus or minus a 1000Sing. which is US$609. The present exchange rate is about 1.64. By the time you come in November...it might be 1.625.

As to farm visits, don't worry...just stand in the middle of the show site and many breeders will love to invite you to their discus farm/ hatchery. If I am not mistaken, you will be invited to more than 6 discus hatcheries.....and some, though small..have the best discus. Don't be deceived by the size of hatchery. Most are true breeders while a few are traders. I think you should put aside 2 days for this activity (hatchery visits).

As I have PM to Carol, it is best to come Singapore a day before the judging....just to have enough time to buy a better camera. You are also not encouraged to visit the site during benching...you know what I mean. You can but usually not advised to visit any farm before the judging is complete.

So, best to leave lots of time after judging for farm visits and tours. I am sure many breeders are very willing to bring you for sightseeing.

Last yet most important, bring more cash and cards...he!he!he!

Take care and see you,
Andrew :angel:

[bio new]

Thanks Bio New :)

I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone and putting faces to the names.

Hi Carol,

O.K, I just called him up. U can ask hotel's housekeeping for US voltage converter to charge your digi cam battery.

As for hphone, I WAS TOLD that US hphone s/ware not compatible in S'pore. As such, ur US hphone cannot be used in S'pore. U can temporary swop ur hphone and get a Spore hphone at Changi Airport upon ur arrival. Upon ur departure, swop back the local phone with ur US hphone. Pls check this out at Changi Airport Info Counter.

CHEERS!

[Carol_Roberts]

Dottie and I will arrive on Sunday the 13th and hope to spend the next few days visiting tourist sites, shopping and eating :) I believe judging is the morning of the 17th, so we will have the 18th and 19th to visit any farms we are invited to. WE fly home early Sunday morning.

Are you saying I can swap my cellphone for a Singapore cellphone at Changi airport?

[bio new]

Yes, I was told u can swop the hfon at Changi Airport. Pls check it out b4 u leave the airport.

However, if u r using a tri-band fon, swopping is not necessary.

CHEERS!