Spicy Mother - News and Entertainment

Ris Low, Singapore's infamous celeb, has got Singaporeans talking again. You got to admire Ris Low's thick skin (she doesn't mind embarrassing herself) and her ability to create news.

Her latest gimmick is teaching us how to do a proper Singapore cheer at the upcoming Youth Olympics, in response to TNP's challenge.

The Youth Olympics is supposed to enhance Singapore's reputation for hosting world-class events but it has angered some Singaporeans due to a massive budget overrun which may come at the expense of other community and social developments.

Will Ris Low add glamor to Youth Olympics and help create a more positive vibe for this event? I don't think so...

Anyway, check out the video below but don't blow your top and smash the computer after seeing how Ris Low performs the cheerleading.

Natalie Faye has become the first actress in Singapore to do a full frontal scene in a movie, "Hush."

Hush revolves around a family with dark secrets and contains other steamy scenes besides Natalie Faye's frontal nudity.

Directed by Jeremiah Oh, it also stars Evelyn Maria Ng, Vincent Tee, Janice Yeo and hottie Canadian-Chinese actor Darren Scott.

The 20-minute film, hyped as the most erotic film made in Singapore, is recently approved without cuts by the Board of Film Censors.

"Hush" will premiere on August 24 at Singapore's Cathay Cineplex and will then be shown to the public at Sinema Old School.



[Straits Times]

The Singapore Food Festival is back, and this year's theme highlights dishes from the main Chinese dialect groups in Singapore.

The festival aims to show how Chinese food has evolved since it was first brought to Singapore by immigrants.

Over the next 10 days, food lovers can look forward to a Food Street at Clarke Quay, hosting some 30 stalls.

Source: CNA

Singaporeans are united by their love for food and Singapore Food Festival 2010 is a good time to titilate their tastebuds.

We can also appreciate the diverse mix of culinary delights passed down from our immigrant forefathers or created uniquely in Singapore.

Since it started in 1994, the Singapore Food festival has been promoting our local food culture to the world. This year, an emphasis is placed on specialty dishes from various dialect groups – Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, Hainanese, etc.

A myraid assortment of mouth-watering Chinese food awaits Singaporeans and tourists who make their way down to Clarke Quay.

Check out other highlights of Singapore Food Festival 2010 below:

1. Clark Quay Food Street
16 July to 24 July, 4pm to 11pm
Venue: Clarke Quay Read Bridge

2. Singapore Chinese Dialect Tingkat Cruise
16 July to 25 July, 4pm to 10pm
Venue: Merlion Park

3. Singapore Chinese Dialect Street Snacks
16 July to 25 July, 4pm to 11pm
Venue: Clifford Square, Central’s River Promenade and Merlion Park

4. Singapore Chinese Dialect Heritage Feast
25 July 2010, 5pm to 10pm
Venue: Clarke Quay Read Bridge

K-pop R&B sensation SHINee, from SM Entertainment, has whipped up excitement over their comeback by releasing a video teaser and hot cover for their second album Lucifer.

The first video teaser for Lucifer was revealed recently and it utilizes a matrix camera, otherwise known as Flow-mo, and will include part of their gentle song Your Name.

SHINee's full album will be out on the 19th July and will appear on the 23rd via KBS Music Bank. Check out the awesome video below.

Are you guys ready for a happening night of theatre, dance, music, and visual arts? Well, it gets better with two nights of fun at the Night Festival Singapore 2010.

The Night Festival Singapore 2010 is organised by National Museum of Singapore and will take place on 16th July and 17th July (7 pm to 2 am) at Bras Basah, which has been make-over into an arts and heritage area.

Some of the highlights of Night Festival 2010 include acrobats, spaceships, drag queens, torture chambers, fire performances, death defying stunts, etc.

Since admission is free, be sure to stake out the pulsating actions at National Museum, Singapore Art Museum, Peranakan Museum, The Substation, Singapore Management University Campus Green, etc.

Click here for more details of this dazzling street theatre extravaganza.

[Today]

K-pop has established a firm footing in Singapore after SHINee, Super Junior, U-Kiss, Wonder Girls and Beast did their promotions here.

The latest frenzy to hit Singapore is a four-member ballad boyband, 2AM, from JYE Entertainment who staged a one-day showcase on Saturday.

2AM made their debut as 'One Day' with fellow Korean group, 2PM, but they branched out to form the current entity. The members are Jinwoon, Jo Kwon, Seulong, and Changmin.

Though 2AM specializes in love tunes, they prove to be equally adroit at techno music and dancing in their new album "I Did Wrong."

Check out Jo Kwon's sexy dance at the press conference below.

<a href="http://video.xin.msn.com/?mkt=en-sg&from=&vid=de44afc7-d60f-de60-441c-8ab73477d79e&from=en-sg" target="_new" title="Catch Jo Kwon flaunting his dance moves!">Video: Catch Jo Kwon flaunting his dance moves!</a>



[Xin MSN]

Singapore will be celebrating its 45th birthday on Aug 9 2010. Aptly titled "Red, White & Wow!", this year's National Day Parade (NDP) draws inspiration from the Singapore flag.

NDP 2010 returns to the Padang for the first time in five years and will feature military columns, aerial acrobats and spectacular fireworks.

There are also performances from singers Kit Chan, Corrine May and Singapore Idol winners Sezairi Sezali and Sylvia Ratonel. More highlights from the parade on RazorTV.

By the way, check out the Sezairi Sezali and Sylvia Ratonel version of the NDP 2010 Theme Song - Song For Singapore below.



[AsiaOne]

ONE of Singapore's celebrated songbirds Corrinne May will be giving this year's National Day Parade a soulful vibe.

The dulcet-voiced Singaporean will be keeping some 26,500 spectators at the Padang - and more than a million television viewers - in tune on Aug 9 when she takes centrestage to perform this year's NDP theme song (Song for Singapore), which she penned.

It is the first time that the Los-Angeles-based singer-songwriter has been picked and given the honour to sing for the nation.

[Straits Times]

Corrinne May is another musician which has done Singapore proud. She made her first foray into the music industry after co-writing the song "If You Didn't Love Me" with legendary songwriters Carole King and Carole Bayer Sager in a competition on Tonos.com.

Corrine May's songs had been used frequently in TV dramas and movies. "Journey" was featured on the Taiwanese drama "Love At The Dolphin Bay" and covered by popular singers Angela Chang and Gigi Leung.


Corrinne's cover version of the Burt Bacharach classic "Close to You" was also featured prominently in the movie So Close released by Columbia-Tristar films (2002).

In September 2004, Corrinne May became the first (and only) artist singing exclusively in English, to be signed by the record label Forward Music in Taiwan.

You can check out her touching Birthday Song below:

Jung Da-yeon, known as "momjjang ajumma" (mom with a striking figure) in Korea, has written another popular diet book.

Her second book, "Momjjang Diet Premium," sold 200,000 copies two weeks after publication in Japan and is sitting atop the bestseller list on Amazon Japan.

The 44-year-old hot mom published her first diet book "Momjjang Diet" in 2007 which reclaimed the No. 2 spot due to popularity of her second book.


Jung Da-yeon was formerly a housewife, but she became famous after losing weight and gaining a sexy figure through physical training and exercise.

Rarely has a Korean writer gain so much success in the Japanese market. The hot mom has also moved into Korean entertainment industry with a role as fitness guru in TV series Aquarius.

[AsiaOne]

Germany may have Paul the Octopus to predict World Cup match winners but Singapore has its own football tipster in Mani the Parakeet (Parrot) which also has a 100 per cent record.

Mani the Parrot had correctly predicted all four countries for the World Cup semi-finals, namely Holland, Uruguay, Germany and Spain.

For the upcoming matches, the psychic bird predicted that Uruguay will win the semi final against Netherlands.

It then picked up the Spain card when asked about the winner for World Cup 2010 Finals. That will be indeed be a dream come true for the Spainish players who are already champions of Euro 2008.

Are you guys looking forward to a Uruguay-Spain final? If Mani is proven correct for all his predictions, punters are going to make a windfall and Singapore Pools will be a big loser for World Cup 2010 liao.

[TNP]

The banking network of Singapore's largest lender DBS and sister bank POSB crashed on Monday morning when a technical glitch affected its entire online
system.

The banking outage sparked anger and frustration among customers who needed to access the system urgently.

Scores of DBS and POSB customers took to the social media to vent their anger. Some said they had visited as many as five different ATMs, but were left cashless and unable to top up their cash cards to pay for Electronic Road Pricing (ERP).

Source: CNA

I don't know if such widespread breakdown in ATMs and internet banking has happened in other countries but Singaporeans just experienced what empty pockets felt like as they went about their daily tasks.

Judging by the online furore, Singaporeans who are used to things running smoothly, thanks to our efficient government and civil service, are not happy. Anybody who cannot withdraw money or do transactions at a bank cannot be smiling right?

Our government is known for setting high performance benchmarks, so they should not tolerate such inconvenience and lost productivity to businesses and consumers caused by our banks.

Nowadays, everything go online or paperless, many people shift to internet banking liao, thus economic losses from unreliable banks is massive.

As Singapore strives to be a world class financial hub, another repeat of today's breakdown will really hurt our reputation.

DBS/POSB have clarified that our money is safe. Maybe they can also reveal the cause of the technical glitch or any backup measures to allay our fears.

After news came out that one plate of sultan fish cost $1224 at the high-end Feng Shui Inn restaurant at Resorts World Sentosa, this relatively obscure fish has got Singaporeans talking.

According to some chefs, the sultan fish has tender, smooth and snow white flesh. It is highly sought-after because it’s not easy to catch and feeds on fruits only.

I have never heard or eaten Sultan fish. It sounds like a delicacy which should be avoided by lesser mortals like us.

Is the price reasonable? Well, for those multi-millionaires or billionaires, $1200 is small change lar. The more expensively you eat, the higher your status. Those wealthy people in China and Hongkong all think in this way.

For normal diners like us, we have to learn from this situation, else even if the restaurant give us 15% discount, also no money to pay... maybe must stay back to wash dishes.

Next time we order anything in a restaurant, must ask for price first, especially when the staff recommend dishes outside the menu.

It may be a bit embarrassing to ask about price and then reject the dish in front of your VIP guests as they may think you are calculative or stingy but better be safe than sorry lor.

By the way, last year a stall in Newton Circus ripped off tourists by selling 8 tiger prawns for $239 and got suspended. I think Feng Shui Inn should get a fine or at least warning from the authorities too.

Since the customer ask for marble goby (soon hock), the restaurant should recommend dishes within the same price range. What do you guys think?

[Straits Times]