Christmas is nearly coming and I’m very excited for Simbang Gabi. I’m also looking forward for delicious arozcaldo of Father Angel.

What is Simbang Gabi? Simbang Gabi when translated to English means Mass at Dawn. It holds a special place in the observance of a Filipino Christmas. The tradition of Simbang Gabi is to complete the series of nine-day novena to the Blessed Mary. The annual novena begins at the

dawn of 16th of December and continues until Christmas Eve, 24th of December.

Last year I’ve completed the 9 masses here in Singapore, in fact it was my first time. Hopefully this year I can complete it again.

Here is the schedule of Simbang Gabi in Singapore:

Thursday, 15 December 2011, 8pm – Mother of Christ

Church of Saint Anthony of Padua
25 Woodlands Avenue 1
Nearest MRT: Woodlands
Buses: 587 & 912

Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea
10 Yishun Street 22
Nearest MRT: Yishun
Buses: 800 & 804

Church of Saint Francis of Assisi
200 Boon Lay Avenue
Nearest MRT: Boon Lay
Buses: 99, 240, 246

Friday, 16 December 2011, 8pm – Mother of Divine Grace

Church of Saint Mary of the Angels
5 Bukit Batok East Avenue 2
Nearest MRT: Bukit Batok
Buses: 61, 66, 157, 174, 178, 852, 174E

Church of the Holy Spirit
248 Upper Thomson Road
Nearest MRT: Marymount
Buses: 52, 132, 162, 163, 165, 166, 167, 410, 855, 980, 162M

Church of the Holy Family
6 Chapel Road
Nearest MRT: Eunos
Buses: 10, 12, 14, 32, 40, 10E, 14E

Saturday, 17 December 2011, 8pm – Mother of Most Pure

Church of Diving Mercy
19 Pasir Ris Street 72
Nearest MRT: Pasir Ris
Buses: 58, 88, 359, 518, 538, 518A

Church of Saint Vincent De Paul
301 Yio Chu Kang Road
Nearest MRT: Yio Chu Kang & Buangkok
Buses: 70, 103, 70M, 854

Church of our Lady Queen of Peace
4 Sandy Lane
Nearest MRT: Paya Lebar & Dakota
Buses: 30, 40, 43, 76, 135, 197, 853C

Sunday, 18 December 2011, 8pm – Mother of Most Chaste

Church of Saint Michael
17 Saint Michael’s Road
Nearest MRT: Boon Keng
Buses: 13, 23, 26, 31, 61, 64, 65, 66, 107, 125, 133, 147, 853, 857, 985, 107M, 853C

Church of Holy Cross
450 Clementi Avenue 1
Nearest MRT: Dover
Buses: 33, 96, 151, 183, 196, 151E

Church of Saint Bernadette
12 Zion Road
Nearest MRT: Tiong Bahru & Outram Park
Buses: 5, 16, 75, 175, 195, 970

Monday, 19 December 2011, 8pm – Mother Inviolate

Church of Saint Ignatius
120 King’s Road
Nearest MRT: Farrer Road
Buses: 48, 93, 153, 165, 174, 186, 855, 961, 961C

Immaculate Heart of Mary Church
24 Highland Road
Nearest MRT: Serangoon
Buses: 136

Church of Saint Stephen
30 Sallim Road
Nearest MRT: Aljunied
Buses: 40, 61, 63, 65, 66, 135, 154, 155, 158

Tuesday, 20 December 2011, 8pm – Mother Undefiled

Saint Joseph’s Church
143 Victoria Street
Nearest MRT: Bugis & Bras Basah
Buses: 130, 133, 145, 197, 851, 960

Church of Saint Teresa
510 Kampung Bahru Road
Nearest MRT: Outram Park & Harbourfront
Buses: 61, 124, 143, 166

Church of Saint Francis Xavier
63A Chartwell Drive
Nearest MRT: Lorong Chuan
Buses: 317

Wednesday, 21 December 2011, 8pm – Mother Most Amiable

Church of Christ the King
2221 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8
Nearest MRT: Ang Mo Kio
Buses: 22, 24, 128, 135, 159, 162, 262, 853, 162M

Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
1259 Upper Serangoon Road
Nearest MRT: Hougang
Buses: 74, 112, 113, 119, 136, 147, 74E

Church of the Holy Trinity
20 Tampines Street 11
Nearest MRT: Tampines
Buses: 8, 17, 18, 28, 34, 39, 59, 292, 518, 552

Thursday, 22 December 2011, 8pm – Mother Most Admirable

Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour
31 Siglap Hill
Nearest MRT: Kembangan
Buses: 2, 7, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, 32, 33, 67, 854

Church of Saint Alphonsus (Novena)
300 Thomson Road
Nearest MRT: Novena
Buses: 5, 21, 54, 56, 57, 131, 143, 162, 162M, 166, 167, 851, 980

Blessed Sacrament Church
1 Commonwealth Drive
Nearest MRT: Commonwealth
Buses: 61

Friday, 23 December 2011, 8pm – Mother of Good Counsel

Church of Our Lady of Lourdes
50 Ophir Road
Nearest MRT: Bugis
Buses: 170

Saint Anne’s Church
66 Sengkang East Way
Nearest MRT: Sengkang
Buses: 82, 88, 136, 161

Church of the Risen Christ
91 Toa Payoh Central
Nearest MRT: Toa Payoh
Buses: 56, 88, 105, 153, 157, 163, 231

Saturday, 24 December 2011, 8pm – Mother of Our Saviour

Church of Saints Peter and Paul
225A Queen Street
Nearest MRT: Bras Basah
Buses: 131, 147, 166, 857

Source: Veritas Singapore

Expect an exciting mix of 2011 Singapore F1 Grand Prix along Marina Bay Street Circuit and non-stop live entertainment. Catch the live performances of Linkin Park, Shakira, Boy George, Rick Astley, Shaggy, Charice and other international artist this weekend.

To purchase F1 tickets go to SingaporeGP.sg and you can do online booking, phone booking or thru authorized ticketing agents.

Justin Bieber is going to perform here in Singapore on 19th of April (8pm) at Singapore Indoor Stadium as part of his My World Tour 2011. You can get your Justin Bieber tickets via Sistic.com.sg

Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced yesterday the nursing board results given in Manila and other cities in December 2010. Weanne Myrrh Estrada of the Adventist University of the Philippines topped the 29,711 passers followed by Mary Grace Rallo (Central Luzon Doctor’s Hospital Education Institution) and Maria Kristina Bicas (Saint Louis University) in third. You can view the full list of nursing board exam passers via GMANews.TV

Singapore events such as concerts and festivals are one of the favorite attractions in Asia. The Lion City attracts many tourists around the world every year, visiting great places such as Sentosa, Universal Studios, Singapore Flyer, Marina Bay Sands, etc. This year, a lot of new attractions coming up from museums to music festivals.

Singapore Attractions

iFly
World’s largest skydiving simulator coming to Singapore (first quarter 2011). Powered by 1800 hp fans, generating airspeeds over 180 mph, freeflyers can practice both two and four-way vertical, random and block formation. In fact, we can fly up to 20 freeflyers in our wind tunnel at any one time! Visit www.iflysingapore.com for more information.

Battlestar Galactica
Finally, Universal Studios’ Humans vs. Cyclons rollercoaster ride re-opens in the first half of 2011. It’s been closed since March 2010.

ArtScience Museum
World’s first massive museum contains 21 gallery spaces for art and science. It will opens from February 17 at Marina Bay Sands.

Gardens by the Bay
Featuring plants from all over the world and different garden zones. Located along the Marina Bay area and will open November this year.

The Naracoorte Cave
Native cave wildlife such as the beauty snake, roof rat and tailless whip scorpion are the latest attraction of the Night Safari.

The Crane Dance
10-minute show on the waterfront of Resorts World Sentosa featuring 30-meter-high and 80-ton mechanical dancing cranes showing flashing digital spectacles. Opens December 25 onward.

Singapore Festivals

M1 Fringe Festival 2011
January 5-16

Singapore Biennale 2011
March 13 to May 15

Mosaic Music Festival 2011
March 11-20

Singapore Concerts

Janet Jackson
February 7 at Singapore Indoor Stadium

Taylor Swift
February 9 at Singapore Indoor Stadium

Eric Clapton
February 14 at Singapore Indoor Stadium

Eagles
February 23 at Singapore Indoor Stadium

Elvis Costello
March 7 at Marina Bay Sands

Source: CNNGo.com

U.P. released the UPCAT results for school year 2011-2012. Approximately 13,000 senior high school student passed the five-hour examination of University of the Philippines College Admission Test. You can view the full list of UPCAT results via UP website http://upcat.up.edu.ph/results/index.html. Congratulations guys!

Last New Year, my wife and I celebrated the New Year’s eve countdown at Merlion Park located near Marina Bay. While waiting for the midnight fireworks display, we went to Starbucks to have some coffee and chocolate cake. Now I’m thinking how are we going to celebrate it and luckily found some New Year’s eve party ideas.

Spectacular Fireworks Countdown New Year’s Eve Party
Dec 31, 6pm. Ku Dé Ta, Marina Bay Sands, 10 Bayfront Ave., 6688-7688. $188.00 includes 2 glasses of Louis Roederer Champagne

Celebrate 2011
Dec 31, 8pm. The Float @ Marina Bay, Marina Bay Floating Platform, 20 Raffles Ave. $38.00 from Sistic.

Zouk’s New Year’s Eve with Marco V
Dec 31, 10pm. Zouk, 17 Jiak Kim St., 6738-2988. $40.00 includes two drinks

NYE Ever Party: Bounce with Zirca Residents
Dec 31, 10pm. Zirca, #01-02/05 Blk. C The Cannery, Clarke Quay, River Valley Rd., 6333-4168. $25.00-28.00 includes two drinks

Event Source: Yahoo! Singapore

Mikumi National Park was the first safari I ever visited when I worked in Africa. The park can easily be reached by car from Dar es Salaam roughly 4 hours. The bad thing, I never see a lion but what amazed me is the two-colored tree and Baobab – the biggest tree in Tanzania.

Baobab Tree

Two-colored tree

Giraffe eating leaves

Baboon with banana

Photo with Impala

The Philippines election 2010 will start in a couple of hours. Precints from different provinces will open and registered voters can cast their votes. This will be the first automated election in the Philippines and hope it will be peaceful and successful. You can check the following websites below for Philippines election information and updates.

• GMA News Eleksyon 2010
• ABS-CBN Halalan 2010
• Inquirer Politics

Or check partial unofficial election tally results.

Election reminder: Wear neutral colors to the precincts. Avoid wear your candidate’s colors for your safety & of your ballots.