I went to Singapore for a business trip on 6 October 1996. It was epic.

I visited the mainland, all the different districts, I went to Sentosa on the last day of my trip and had a beautiful bath in the sea, drank coconut milk, and relaxed.

Sister in law Kim was sending me to Changi airport from JB Malaysia. Jude came along to accompany his mom. Cousin brother Dan and his wife Jas surprised me when they came to send me off as well and came together with their kids. I am very happy they came along to send me off. Jewel Changi was just opened a month ago (I think) and we were amazed with all the decorations and the huge man made vortex performance. We had "Malat" KFC, I was trying first time as it was a new promotion from KFC Singapore. The performance was spectacular and full of colours. Later on they all had to leave as the kids have to sleep and I check myself in one of the lounges while waiting for my flight back to Melbourne.

As part of her visit to Singapore in 1972, Queen Elizabeth II was invited to pay a visit to Toa Payoh, the first satellite town built after Independence. Its town centre was a focal point where residents could meet and shop. Today, Toa Payoh is not only a well established estate, but also where Housing And Development Board (HDB) has re-located its headquarters, now known as HDB Hub.

Here is a recount from a fellow Singaporean (Jerome Lim) of that fateful day on 18 February 1972:

The highlight of what was a most memorable childhood, was the visit of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of England, to the 3-Room flat that I lived in in Toa Payoh in 1972. Living on the top floor in the then VIP block with a roof-top viewing gallery in Toa Payoh, in a unit just by where the only lift that went right up opened, brought a stream of dignitaries to the flat. This included John Gorton, the Prime Minister of Australia in 1968, and President Benjamin Sheares of Singapore in 1971. It was the Queen's visit however, that I would remember most. My family had been contacted by the HDB in the lead-up to the visit, first to seek permission, and then to be prepared for the visit. There was a lot of protocol that we were made aware of, as well as a makeover my parents decided to do to the flat in preparation for the visit. Being in the afternoon session, the afternoon's visit which took place on a weekday, meant that I had to skip classes (not that I minded). When the Queen did appear at the doorway, I had been caught unawares sitting on a sofa - one of the things I well remember was watching myself scrambling to my feet on the evening's news. Besides the Queen, her consort - the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Phillip and her daughter, Princess Anne, also visited. The Royal family were shown round the flat by my parents and senior HDB officials and perhaps because of the view the kitchen windows offered, spent more time in kitchen than in any other part of the flat (see picture). The visit was brief, and in a flash it was all over. Following the visit, what I remember most was my reluctance to wash my hands - it was because a neighbour had told me that I should not wash my hands after skaing the Queen's hand as it would wash the luck away!

Guess what, she returned to the estate 34 years later in 2006 during her Diamond Jubilee tour of the world.

Photos courtesy of Straits Times, National Archives Singapore, Jerome Lim personal photos

Visiting Uncle in Singapore right before Chinese New Year. Uncle bring me around to view the amazing Garden by the Bay Zodiac decorations. It's a Huge Glass Dome Garden.

Catch up with Uncle in Singapore. Uncle bought me to Whampoa Keng Fish head Steamboat restaurant at Balestier Rd . We had Red Grouper base soup with abalone! Very good steamboat or called Hotpot in China.

As I was doing my first trip to Singapore for promoting the opening of Metablox here, I decided to meet up with some Singaporean friends that I have as I haven't been able to come here for many years and friendship is always still the best in-person. Of course, I wanted to be able to create more memories in order to make various Blox more valuable too!

As I was reaching out to Eric Tan, an ex-Googler and currently working at Tiktok (he's doing amazing work focused on self-harm prevention), I asked him what's a good place to meet. He gave me a Google Maps file of 455 of his favorites places in Singapore. WHAT? This guy cares about his Singapore places to hang! Exactly what I needed.

I was also able to connect with Anna Gong (re-Founder and CEO of Perx, a "Singapore Top 100 Women in Tech", as well as Board Member of a dozen organizations), Arcadia JP Ang Mirai (fashion entrepreneur and Founder of Pyzis), as well as Joshua Wong (Business Management at DWS Group who I've met many times at gamification conferences in the past 7 years).

Based on Eric's suggestion, we ended up meeting at a Chye Seng Huat Hardware, which was an old hardware store-turned hip cafe. Ordering was purely done by using the QR Code on the table and I tried some new drinks.

Aftewards, also based on Eric's suggestion, we went hopping to a nearby place called Druggists (which I forgot to take a picture!). Since I was having a big dinner coming anyway, I wasn't going to eat much, but Eric used a beautiful way to persuade me to try some Chicken Wings that apparently has shrimp baked under the skin (or something).

I'm usually a decisive and momentous kind of guy, and I RARELY change my mind on anything. But I noticed that he changed my mind successfully on 2-3 things just based on his passion, dedication, and persuasiveness, so I deemed him a Connoisseur. He denies he is one, but I totally see greatness in him like a rockstar working at a bakery. 

Anna also discussed some gamification with me and I learned a lot about her story of re-founding Perx from a well known consumer experience in Singpaore into a hugely successful B2B company. We discussed potentially working together so who knows what the future holds. Perhaps this memory becomes the first step of some greatness people look back and feel inspired about.

I'm excited to see this memory eventually preserved on the blockchain forever via Metablox. Things come and go in life, but it's the relationships and memories we have together that last forever. I feel honored to be a Memory Creator for this Blox and hope the future Memory Curator (the Blox owner) will take good care of this memory.

My first trip to Singapore for a telecom conference in 2018.

My 3 co-workers went first on an earlier flight and I flied alone, checked in at the hotel, then came to meet them near the Merlion. 

We took some photo plays with the Merlion.

• Drinking from merlion
• Pushing the Marina Bay Sands, wearing the Singapore Flyer as a crown
• Our group of 4 (or 5 including the Merlion)
• Merlion in my hand

We walked a lot around the area and took many photos.  Such a happy time 😊

One day I will surely visit Singapore again.

I share a few more photos in Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/korakot.chaovavanich/posts/pfbid02iiBSmL6bBSUmsSHdJSnQZ773JxYMQkrGghrGACe26PaLNUqo2vNZN3wbQwvQQwzhl

Jurong English: /rɒŋ/ (, Tamil: ஜூரோங்) is a geographical region located at the south-westernmost point of the West Region of Singapore. Although mostly vaguely defined, the region's extent roughly covers the planning areas of Jurong East, Jurong West, Boon Lay, and Pioneer, along with Jurong Island in the Western Islands cluster and the southernmost portions of the Western Water Catchment. Should it be described at its greatest historical extent, the region can also include present-day Bukit Batok and Tuas as well. Jurong also covers several offshore islands as well, including Pulau Damar Laut and Pulau Samulun, both of which are located within the planning areas of Jurong East and Boon Lay respectively; along with the aforementioned Jurong Island. The coastline of the region on mainland Singapore, faces the strait of Selat Jurong, while the southernmost island of the region, Jurong Island, faces the strait of Selat Pandan.

Jurong was largely industrialised in the early 1960s in a response to the general economic situation of post-war Singapore. The heavy redevelopment of the region paved the way for the opening of a large-scale industrial sector in the country, something which was unprecedented at that time.

Today, the rapid growth and much development of Jurong has led it to become one of the most densely-populated industrial areas in the city-state.

This blox is currently under construction but is a part of a large park network. Scheduled to be reopened in late 2022.

Some notable features on the island:

--moon lantern terrace at night

--restaurant called the Plant Factory Cafe with edibles from the local grow garden on the island

--a cooling bamboo tunnel and waterfall

--a venture trail for kids to explore biodiversity

--pagodas and terraces

Chinese Lantern Festival video https://youtu.be/xrhHvbHLbMc

Chinese Lantern Plant Video https://youtu.be/xob2heMAFGk (my brother loved planting and gardening and tried many exotic species like these)

This garden will likely be a popular first date, proposal, wedding celebration location. 

Thnkas Dara for sharing your insights.

I was visiting Singapore to do a keynote speech at the Blockchain Fest 2022 in Marina Bay Sand (I added my memories there - go check it out), and took the opportunity to meet a long-time dear friend in the startup world So-Young Kang.

So-Young has an impressed background of being the Founder/CEO of Gnowbe, an EdTech training company that has impressive scale. She is also ex-Harvard Business School and ex-Mckinsey. In recent years we have been talking more about Web3 and NFTs as she explores this new exciting space.

She then invited me to visit her home, which also acts as a coworking space for her company. She mentioned the whole block of Emerald Hills is a historical area that is highly recognized in Singapore. And her place is well-renovated to be a great co-working space with lots of great art there.

After I explained to her the concept of Metablox, she immediately minted this very Blox. Beyond recognizing this place would have significant future growth value and that she has great memories she could add here, she was also learning to use NFTs and is being a very supportive friend to my project.

I also learned more about knowbe and became quite impressed with what they accomplished. I plan to use this product heavily one day as it is perfect for author/speakers like me to create fast, easy, and interactive learning content.

She also invited her coworker Jiaf, who really resonated with many of my gamification concepts and played many of the games I played when I was younger. 

We all enjoyed some Pineapple Cake together and 3 hours just went by so quickly. I really look forward to visiting this place again with great new conversations and adventures with So-Young and Jiaf.

Finally, for those who don't know Emerald Hill like how I was, I searched about Emerald Hill on Google Maps and as of June 7 2022 this is the description:

"Petite and picturesque, the Emerald Hill area highlights historic architectural styles. Emerald Hill Road has a row of colourful shophouses, some of which are occupied by atmospheric bars. The rest of the neighbourhood's restored homes, showcasing Chinese Baroque architecture and European influences from Singapore’s colonial past, are private residences. Emerald Hill lies just off the Orchard Road shopping district."