Saturday, February 27, 2021

Singapore - To Do (27Feb21 Fort Canning Park)

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Fort Canning Park
nearest Fort Canning MRT

Fort Canning has 9 historic gardens each of which have its unique history and their own unique look to it. There are two main car parks namely at the Registry of Marriage and the other on the other side at the park. End to end is about 1.1km. and very manageable for a leisurely walk. Most paths are very well shaded and each section gives different vantage points and feel to the place.
Click here for ABBA location of Fort Canning Park
 
Artisan's Garden
A pseudo archeological dig site with relics from Singapore's past.
 
Sang Nila Utama Garden
(As many others have called they have found 'Bali' in Singapore)
 

Nice look and feel to the place. This straight stretch has got some fish and terrapins in their ponds.

Raffles House and Fort Canning Lighthouse
You'll catch a view of one of this iconic rain tree which overlooks Funan IT mall.
*The Fortcanning Lighthouse*

*Really nice to have random swings around to just enjoy the open space and a view of the city as well.*

*One of the two iconic 9-Pound Canon
*A classic Banyan Tree*

Sally Port

*Pathway though which soldiers traveled in the past*
There's also a Battlebox military museum tour located there.

Spiral Staircase Photo Spot

There's nothing historical or remotely connected to Fort Canning Park but this photo spot has become a go-to for many. Its located nearest to Fort Canning Car Park B

We walked about 4km plus in total spending half a morning. Toilets are fairly spread out throughout the park. Just about 2hours of exploring covered about half of the park and the major key features which are all visible along the way. Will have to return for the other half and ticketed attractions.

A beautifully maintained park in the middle of town, similar to world heritage site at Botanic Gardens (Click here for full review and tips). Fort Canning Park has quite a lot of picturesque and must go to historical spots. Just a Saturday stroll had two wedding shoots on going.  
ABBATips:
- Lots of nice open spaces but like many parks, mosquitoe patches are highly recommended. 
- No cafes or eateries that I know off located on the park premises.
- Parking at the Registry of Marriages gets you pretty central to most of the attractions.
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Sunday, February 21, 2021

Singapore - To Do 21Feb21 (Marine Cove Playground)

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Click here for ABBA location of Marine Cove Playground
Located right along east coast park, this huge, playground has almost every type of play covered for all age groups.


Apart from the size, its only unique selling point was this fun interactive digital light play (unfortunately one was out of commission while the other's sound feature was out).
Marina Cove offers nice open spaces for picnics with a view of the coastline and eateries for simple dining. A weekend dine-in at McDonalds would be very challenging.
Pros:
- A nice large open space with loads of picnic spots. The beach is right there and a great view of the coastline.
- A variety of different playgrounds for multiple play ages all well spread out.
- Simple selection of eateries and fast food for your cuppa and meal breaks

Cons:
- No discernible theme. Could have been so much more.
- Dining at McDonalds on a weekend is gonna be a long wait.

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Singapore - To Do (20Feb21) Marina One Residences Architecture and Picnic

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 Marina One Residences
Architecture and Picnic
Located at Marina Bay Station

Marina One Residences is Priced at 2000-3000+++ SGD/Psf during date of visit. Don't worry, there isn't a charge to explore the retail and open public green spaces in this mix development of residence, retail and offices.
The draw here is the architecture and the many generously sized wood table seating, which can easily sit a party of 8. Washrooms are located at every level and eateries plus a cold storage are located within the premises.
Interesting factoid was that the place was used in a scene for HBO's Westworld Season3.


ABBATip:
Many of the retails shops located in the basements are only available on the weekdays and targeted at the office crowd. They also close early by 6pm.
Weekends when we visited its pretty much quiet. Cold Storage still remained open while 70-80% of the stalls were closed. 
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Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Aviation Reads - Back to Basics Performance: SID segments and Go-Around Performance

Disclaimer! This is NOT an opinion piece, but rather a collection of various readings and clippings which serve to spur further exploration in the topic. These are not full articles but simply excerpts from the bulk of reading material that is available.  As much citation and references were taken with regards to the topic. Legitimacy and accuracy of the clippings are read at your own discretion.
Click here for More Aviation Reads

Performance
SIDs segments and Go-around performance



SID
There are two basic types of departure routes: straight and turning. Departure routes are based on track guidance acquired within 12 miles (20 km) from the departure end of the runway (DER) on straight departures and within 6 miles (10 km) after completion of turns on departures requiring turns. The design of instrument departure routes and associated obstacle clearance criteria are based on the definition of tracks to be followed by the airplane. When flying the published track, the pilot is expected to correct for known wind to remain within the protected airspace. ATS stands for air traffic services.

Standard Instrument Departure (SID) routing are designed to allow efficient traffic flow, avoidance of noise sensitive areas and deconfliction from both arrival traffic and the traffic from other aerodromes. They also ensure obstacle clearance provided that the standard minimum climb gradient of 200'/nm (3.3%) or, when published, a specified higher climb gradient is met. The standard 3.3% SID gradient exceeds the certification requirements for engine out climb capability in virtually all transport category aircraft. Consequently, in the engine failure case, following the SID routing does not necessarily ensure obstacle clearance.

Engine Out Obstacle Clearance Profile

The Net Takeoff Flight Path for the engine failure case is divided into four segments. Three of these are climbing segments with specified minimum gradients which are dependent upon the number of engines installed on the aircraft and one is a level acceleration segment. A brief description of the four segments is as follows:

  1. First Segment - depending upon the regulations under which the aircraft is certified, the first segment begins either at lift-off or at the end of the takeoff distance at a screen height of 35' and a speed of V2. On a wet runway, the screen height is reduced to 15'. Operating engines are at takeoff thrust, the flaps/slats are in takeoff configuration and landing gear retraction is initiated once safely airborne with positive climb. The first segment ends when the landing gear is fully retracted.engine

  2. Second Segment - begins when the landing gear is fully retracted. Engines are at takeoff thrust and the flaps/slats are in the takeoff configuration. This segment ends at the higher of 400' or specified acceleration altitude. In most cases, the second segment is the performance limiting segment of the climb.

  3. Third or Acceleration Segment- begins at the higher of 400' or specified acceleration altitude. Engines are at takeoff thrust and the aircraft is accelerated in level flight. Slats/flaps are retracted on speed. The segment ends when aircraft is in clean configuration and a speed of VFS has been achieved. Note that the third segment must be completed prior to exceeding the maximum time allowed for engines at takeoff thrust.

  4. Fourth or Final Segment - begins when the aircraft is in clean configuration and at a speed of VFS. Climb is re-established and thrust is reduced to maximum continuous (MCT). The segment ends at a minimum of 1500' above airport elevation or when the criteria for enroute obstacle clearance have been met.

Each segment of the one engine inoperative takeoff flight path has a mandated climb gradient requirement.
For example, a gross second segment climb gradient capability of 2.4%, 2.7% or 3.0% is required for two, three and four engine aircraft respectively. Similarly, the required gross gradients for the fourth segment are 1.2%, 1.5% and 1.7% respectively.

Missed Approach PANS OPS doc 8168


- An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
- http://expertaviator.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Departure-Design-New-Terps.jpg
- www.v-prep.com
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Singapore - To Eat 15Feb21 (Youngs Bar & Restaurant)

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Youngs Bar&Restaurant
Opens daily from 1130-11pm
Weekend 830-11pm
*Adequate outdoor seating spots for different vibes and feels.*
*Indoor air-conditioned seating, though limited is also available*
Ordered On:
15Feb21
Choose Any 3 Different Meats SGD86
comes with 2 sides and sauces
We went for 2 Rib-eyes and a sirloin cut. Sides choices were roasted potatoes, mushrooms with accompanying mustard and Cafe de Paris Butter sauces.
*Beautiful char and one can really smell the charcoal smoky flavors hitting the meats. Very rarely do we get that medium rare down but all pieces of steak were executed well.

The rib-eye maybe considered a little blue to others but it was okay for us. Flavored butter with the subtle mustard sauce was an excellent accompaniment.

A thoroughly enjoyable meal. Sides were decent, nothing really to scream about but sauce and star meats shown through. The only thing they could have done to make it better was to have warmed plates for the steaks as toward the end of the meal the steaks had lost all of its heat in the air-conditioned place.*
Cheese Board SGD18
Granda Padano, Bleu Des Causses, Camembert
Fed 2
Total SGD122.41 after taxes and service charge
Enjoyable meal with a little hiccup with the service times in between the mains and the after dinner cheese. Ordered the cheese platter at 7pm with service only at 725pm due largely to the fact of being understaffed and overwhelmed with the dinner crowd.

Despite that hiccup, the ambience was enjoyable as was the overall meal and would return to try their seemingly popular pizzas and pastas.
Food 4/5
*Nicely executed and little finer points could have elevated.*
Service
4/5 (when low crowd)
*All was excellent. Staff knew their menu well and were prompt to change plates and process menu orders.
3/5 (when overwhelmed)
*Unfortunately we had waited 25mins for a cheese plate order and staff though were asked thrice about the order. There were no updates or feedback on what was going on back end. Our used dinner plate wear for the mains had yet to be changed before the cheese board but understandably is due to be overwhelmed but the dinner crowd rush.
Ambienc 4/5
*I would say 3 different spots for 3 slightly different vibes of the place. Both indoors and outdoor dining are available.*
Value 3.5/5
*Fairly priced.*
From my experience this round, it was overall an enjoyable meal. Others have mentioned that the pizzas are a good order but have yet to try them. Will return again some other time.
3 Other Eateries reviewed a short stroll  within the area.
- Wheelers Estate
- Wildseed Cafe
- Summerhouse
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Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Aviation Reads - Communication 101 - More than just verbal and Active Listening

Disclaimer! This is NOT an opinion piece, but rather a collection of various readings and clippings which serve to spur further exploration in the topic. These are not full articles but simply excerpts from the bulk of reading material that is available.  As much citation and references were taken with regards to the topic. Legitimacy and accuracy of the clippings are read at your own discretion.
Click here for More Aviation Reads

Communication 101Non-Verbal Communications
Professor of psychology Albert Mehrabian studied the importance of non-verbal communication in the 1970s. shows that more than 90% of the meaning in a conversation is conveyed through nonverbal means. 7-38-55 Rule.

 
SIER Hierarchy of Active Listening

*In the early 1980s, the American communication researchers, Steil, Watson & Barker, developed the SIER hierarchy of active listening based on their observation that people recall only about 50% of the message immediately after hearing it and only 25% after two days. Steil, Watson & Barker built upon Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver's general model of communication that was first published*

Sensing

The first stage of The SIER Hierarchy of Active Listening process is to use your physical senses to receive whatever is being communicated.

As this stage you should hear what is being said, see the body language of the person you’re communicating with, listen for tone of voice and observe any other non-verbal cues you can.

It’s important to concentrate and focus at this stage to ensure you collect as much helpful information as possible. Many people fail to be mindful and really present when communicating with others, so miss many spoken and unspoken messages at this stage.

You can improve your sensing with practice. Making eye contact, adopting open body language, being considerate and receptive and leaving pauses in conversation will all help the person you’re communicating with fully communicate what they have to say, meaning there is more information you can sense. Though not technically “sensing” asking helpful questions may also be useful at this stage.

Interpreting

The second stage of the SIER Hierarchy of Active Listening is to interpret the information you’ve sensed in stage 1.

When you’re interpreting what you’ve sensed, you might want to consider questions like: What is the context that the conversation is taking place in? What are the overarching patterns of behavior? What are the rules of communicating in the culture you’re operating within?

It’s important at this stage to really align your thoughts with the person you’re communicating with. It’s also important to wait for the person you’re communicating with to finish their message before starting to interpret it. You don’t want to form your opinions too soon because. If you do, you’ll be less effective at sensing new information in the remainder of the conversation.

Your entire goal in this stage is to ensure that you’re understanding of the messages really aligns to the sender’s meaning.

You can improve your ability to interpret by focusing on the overall social and political context within which you are operating, and by getting to know the people you are communicating with. 

Evaluating
The third stage of the SIER Hierarchy of Active Listening is to evaluate the messages you’ve received and interpreted.

Again, it’s hugely important to wait until the person you are communicating with has finished their message before forming an opinion on any of the content.

In many instances what happens in conversations is that as soon as one person decides they disagree with something being said (by evaluating it), they switch off from the remainder of the conversation or start to discuss that specific point. They don’t allow the person they are speaking with to complete their statement. This is counterproductive for effective listening and relationship building.

Evaluation can be improved through practice, and through mindfully searching for areas of interest in the communication, as opposed to areas of disagreement.

Responding

The last stage of the SIER Hierarchy of Active Listening is to respond to the messages you’ve sensed, interpreted and evaluated.

By this stage you should have a clear view of what the person you’re communicating with has been aiming to communicate. You now need to respond to them. Your responses will take the form of both verbal and non-verbal communications.

It’s important to remember that your communications back to them at this stage have multiple purposes. Your aim is to move the conversation forward, show them that you’ve understood and interpreted what they’ve said and demonstrate that you’ve connected with the emotional sub-text of what they’ve communicated.

It’s possible to get better at responding with practice. Questioning is a powerful tool in this stage, as is playing back what you’ve heard in the same language used by the person you’re communicating with. You may also aim to physically mirror them, nod and provide verbal assurances (e.g. “yes”, “ok”, “I see”) throughout your conversations.

 Active listening:

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