Where To Find Pools, Public and Private, In Singapore and Worlwide

Olympic size pool at a condo.

Singapore
You can find private pools in hotels and condos all over Singapore. If you have family licing in a condo, take up the offer to put you up and compare the aerial view of their condo's pool and the hotel you can afford. Sometimes a night at a hotel is included in the price of a stopover air fare.

Hotel Pools
Some hotel pools are open to non-residents for a day or visitor fee. Might not be worth paying if you are only there for coffee or lunch, but if you are all day visiting overseas relatives could be worthwhile.

The biggest, best, most expensive infinity pool is at the landmark Marina Bay Sands hotel at the top of the triple tower. Just sitting in the bar next to it is exciting.

Wiki says:
World's highest and longest rooftop infinity pool at 200 metres (650 feet) high^[15] and 150 metres (490 feet) long^[16]

Another infinity pool is at the Mercure near Newton MRT.
I have written another blog post on the hotel on Fort Canning.
Coming down in price you have branches of the YMCA and YWCA. I have other posts on these venues.

Club Pools
Other private pools are in clubs such as The American Club and The Tanglin Club. If you have a family member or friend they can take you in but they have to pay a fee. Other clubs include the club by the cricket club on the Padang.

The British Club in Singapore is further out of the city.

Public Pools
Public pools are all over Singapore. The more modern ones have children's pools and chutes and diving boards and swimming lessons which you can book. Some are central, others further out. For example, one at Senja Cashew near Bukit Panjang MRT, end of the Downtown line. Another is at Yio Chu Kang.

UK
Hotels with pools include several of the mid-price chains.

USA
Big hotels have pools. So do motels - moderate prices, included with the bedroom fee for singles or couples or families. Might be out of town and along motorways, excellent if you have a hire car and are doing a cross-country trip.

Useful Websites
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2018/10/yio-chu-kang-swimming-pool-singapore.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/03/hotels-above-or-near-mrt-stations-in.html

About The Author
Angela Lansbury, author of 20 books, blogger, travel writer and photographer. 

How To Visit An Overseas Club

Chinese Restaurant in the Tanglin Club, Singapore.

Elegant Chinese restaurant in the Tnaglin Club, Singapore.

View over swimming pool from the Tanglin Club in Sinapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

If you are not a member of the Tanglin club, how could you get to visit it?
1 If you live in Singapore and are considering joining you could ask for a guided tour.
2 If you are visiting Singapore, ask your business or social contacts or friends if they have membership.  (If you are invited to a club, the member does not pay money but simply signs. You can reciprocate by

1 Taking the host to dinner at another club

2 Taking the host to dinner at a restaurant

3 Buying the host a gift (ideally gift-wrapped)

4 Offering the host a gift in advance and asking what they would like, eg something brought from your home country

5 If your host is keen on money, and many Europeans and Asians are happy with financial gifts, simply giving them the cost of the meal and drinks and any fee they have to pay for taking a guest into the club.

6 Some clubs admit outsiders for a day for a fee - a club in Hong Kong does this - for a whopping sum, about £100 per person for spending a day using their swimming pool and slides and gardens and restaurants - which will charge extra I imagine! I suppose if you were to compare it to visiting Disneyland, or buying a hotel room, it's not that expensive.

7 Many clubs worldwide have reciprocal arrangements with other clubs. You just need to pick a club and ask your club to write a letter of introduction. For example, we used a letter of introduction from the Tanglin Club in Singapore to visit the RAF club in London, England, and an Overseas club in London, England. We could also have visited clubs in Malaysia, Australia, and several US cities. You might find that an elderly relatives has membership of a club from time spent doing national service, which also has reciprocal arrangements.

Events are often held at clubs which are open to outsiders for a higher fee. You may need to be introduced or accompanied by a member. Occasioanly all you need to do is to get a member of staff to sign you in, after showing your identity such as a passport, and filling out a form giving your homne address and local hotel and possibly giving a credit card number.

Other events, such as Christmas Fairs, are held in ballrooms, as well as weddings. Whilst you are there you can enquire about arrangements for visitors, as well as asking people you meet if they are members.

Some clubs have associations which use their premises for a lower fee, such as a women's association, bridge club using the card room, visiting sports club playing in a tournament, and golf clubs.

A local phone directory in your hotel bedroom often provides a list of local clubs. Websites for cities can provide lists of clubs.

Some examples of Clubs
Singapore
American Club
Canadian Club
Tanglin Club

Useful Websites

visittheusea.com
visitbritain.com
visitsingapore.com

Author
Angela Lansbury

What Do I Do At A Yu Sheng Chinese New Year Dinner In Singapore?

Problem
What will I eat? What should I wear?

Answers
Yu Sheng or Lo Hei Dinners
What I like most in Singapore is the celebration dinners, a uniquely Singaporean recent invention, the Yu sheng Lo Hei. The words mean Prosperity toss.

A big communal dish of shredded vegetables of all colours and if you are lucky smoked salmon pieces. The food is on a large round platter in the centre of the table. The organizer or chef or server adds the different ingredients one by one.

The Prosperity Toss
Everybody stands up and gathers around, chopsticks at the ready. At a given signal, everybody starts mixing the food with their chopsticks and tossing it in the air. The higher you toss, the greater the prosperity.

Don't wear clothes which might be damaged by grease or flying food or dripping food.

You then sit down and take the food, including the sauces. Lots of fun.

Where can you have a Yu Sheng? All the big hotels offer Yu Sheng meals. Look in the entrance halls for placards, also at the entrances to restaurants. In addition check out the local papers for special offers. You can pick up free newspaper at hotel receptions or at the MRT railway stations in central areas in the mornings.

Singapore Airlines
I always fly there on Singapore Airlines, economy class. We collect airmiles on a credit card. My husband is sometimes in business class.

Useful Websites:
www.singaporeair.com

Are You Organising An Event For International Delegates? The starfish story

Problem
Is it worthwhile running an event such as a conference or party every year or twice a year? Is it an incentive?

If the organizers get free accommodation and food and attendance at a national or international conference, it's an incentive for them. What about everybody else?

Freebies
Many freelancers don't realise that conference attendance, if it involves training, can be offset against income tax. Also consider whether a spouse can share the room at no extra cost, whether you have a spouse programme, and whether the local tourist board or its members can provide free or discounted tickets to attractions.

Incnetives and Sales
Companies involved in sales are keen on incentive schemes. What about clubs and charities and not for profit organizations? Even if you don't benefit 100 of your membership, that's no excuse for not helping the remainder. Remember the starfish story.

The Starfish Story
An old man on a beach filled with dying starfish watched a little boy approaching, throwing starfish back into the sea so that they survived. The old man shook his head. "What a wasted effort. What a waste of time. It makes no impact."

When the little boy reached the old man, the old man asked, "Why are you bothering to do that? You can't possibly help them all. It makes no difference."

The little boy picked up a starfish and threw it into the sea. He said, "It makes a difference to this one." He continued walking on his way, throwing starfish into the sea, saying: "It makes a difference to this one!"

Here's some feedback inspired by answers I gave on a questionnaire: from Toastmasters

Internal Contests
The autumn contest events should be retained because:

It is important for membership recruitment. Many people, myself included, have joined clubs in order to compete in a contest, or to have second chance to do a contest.

If holidays or family events or business prevent you from entering the spring contest, an autumn contest gives you a second chance.

Certificates
Winning a contest or receiving a certificate of participation is a boost to morale, a measure of your progress, and status for your office wall or c.v.

Mentoring a speaker for a contest is useful team-building.

Entering a contest means you have to improve your level of speech giving. At club level people often prepare at the last moment and there is no incentive to put in more time. For a contest, you must take more care to gain hope of winning a trophy.

Judges
For the judges it is a chance to visit other clubs and network and judging helps you to give better evaluations and to make your own speeches better and to be a better mentor.
Some clubs promote themselves as producers of speech contest winners.
Individual's careers have developed as a result of being contest winners

Mailing Lists and Membership
The contest is another excuse to mail out to former members to attend the contest, and to lapsing members to come back and be in the contest.

I know members who have no time to attend meetings (they officiate at weddings and funerals) and join only to enter contests in the hopes of winning and brushing up their skills pitted against top speakers.

Retaining Seniors
Many clubs are full of first speeches and it is the higher level club contest and area contest and Division contest which helps you hold onto the experienced speakers who might otherwise leave.
The contests are great practice for event planners. Without them how will you complete the projects on event planning?

Juniors can be offered the event as an incentives. Seniors who don't need the information can be asked to teach and paid a salary or honorarium or gain experience and status as trainers.

Remember to inform the local papers and magazines to get publicity for your organization and the members.

Larger Audiences
Many clubs are small and you give (sales) speeches in tiny rooms to half a dozen people including your spouse, the president and two other club members. Without area contests and other venues, many members will never get practice at public speaking, only practise at talking to four friends.

Many community centres, especially ones newly opened, like to hold grand events which attract outsiders. A prestige event puts the location on the map and is Toastmasters contribution to the community and the country. Otherwise we are just small groups of friends talking to each other.

Feedback Needed
We need more feedback forms for clubs - most of which don't have a General Evaluator, and Contests. Clubs and contest venues are so badly signposted, Community centres tell you there's no club meeting or they don't know the room; at clubs and COTs no sign further than two feet from the front door, nothing on the three building blocks, the lift exit; banners are displayed after you have found the venue.

The covering letter to this questionnaire said it must be in by January when I received it in February. I could not open it and assumed it was no longer available. Then a family member found I had to copy the link into chrome (I was on an Apple Mac.)

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. 

Teaching English overseas and Giving Speeches In English to speakers of other languages

Many people stand up and apologise for their poor English and everybody nods politely and protests and reassures that the speaker is just fine. But in some countries such as Singapore the speakers join clubs specifically to improve their English.
   Clubs could have an educational on clear speech. At the start of the year do an educational on pronunciation. See how many people have problems with each letter of the alphabet and each vowel. Give the club an evening rating on how many members and visitors need and/or would like help. Ask for volunteer mentors. Put people in pairs to practise vowels or consonants for three minutes. Bring them back and see if the club's rating has improved. Either congratulate them on progress or on identifying the problem and finding a helper. Tell them to keep up the good work.
   I once gave an evaluation on a speech and told a speaker it would be improved by props. She thanked me profusely. At the end of the evening I asked if she had any questions. She asked, 'What is 'a prop'?'
   We used her Chinese-English dictionary to find several translations, translated them back into English to find the correct translation in context.
   When I was teaching English, I spoke slowly. We used to have two translators standing by the whiteboard, one for Chinese, one for Malay or Hindi. They wrote translations whenever anybody raised their little finger to show they needed a word translated.