Paint the Town Red with Emirates Red Fashion

If you were at Capitol Piazza last weekend you would have noticed the Emirates Singapore Derby Roadshow happening.

The Emirates Singapore Derby Roadshow is now at CHIJMES, The Lawn from 11am to 8pm and 12pm to 10pm respectively. 

What to expect?

Horse Pitching Competition. If you went to the roadshow last year, this was a must have activity and it happened at Ion. The host of this activity is so engaging and friendly that you will be inclined to have a go.

Horse patting and feeding. The thing that everyone wants to do most. Feeding the horse? Not so much. More like taking a photo with her.  

There are also other activities such as the Fashion Show by Reckless Shop and Fashion House, Singapore Turf Club Mascots, Racer and Clover walking around and you can have a look at the history of Emirates Singapore Derby Exhibition or check out the InstaPhoto Booth.

In conjunction with the Emirates Singapore Derby, they are also running an Instagram contest starting from 20 June 2016 to 8 July 2016, 2359PM. All you have to do is to upload your best RED outfit of the day (RED OOTD) onto your Instagram and hashtag #EmiratesRedFashion & Tag @SGTurfClub and you will stand a chance to win a set of premium gift worth about S$2,000 from Emirates. I hear that there's a Chopard watch in that gift set, so what are you waiting for?

Celebrating The Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Singapore Turf Club

On a fine Sunday afternoon we were off to the Singapore Turf Club and this time for...The Queen Elizabeth II Cup. 

Feast your eyes on the Queen Elizabeth II Cup! Credit: Singapore Turf Club

What's this Queen Elizabeth II Cup about? It is a race in order to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s first visit to the picturesque Singapore Racecourse in 1972. With this theme in mind, the Singapore Racecourse was spruced up with a British flair as you get to see ladies dressed in unique hats. Why not try out a hat yourself? There was a “Best Hats on Tracks” contest to complement the fashion theme as in past years. 

Besides that, there was an elegant fashion showcase by “Shopping at Tiffany’s” where models parade the latest seasonal collection. Definitely something to look out for for the fashionistas.

While this race was named in the Queen's honour, unfortunately she was too busy to grace the event but it was still a really eye-opening experience watching jockeys race around the field. The thrill and excitement is something to be experienced! 

Dining in comfort in the Marquee, we got to see the horses race around the track. They were so much closer this time round, close enough for me to get some good shots of them in action. 

And...they are off!

A photo with my colleague, Yi Hong.

We managed to get up close with the horses where they were guided a few laps around the ring so that we could judge their energy level for ourselves and decide whether they were in a winning-state. 

Up close with the jockeys

The finalists of the Miss Singapore International 2016 pageant were also at the racecourse enjoying the races with package holders. 

The Pageant Queens. Credit: Singapore Turf Club

It was a time of chilling out, having fun and watching races here at the Singapore Turf Club. If you are interested to find out more about the activities happening at the Singapore Turf Club click here.

Learn From the Best, Learn From TheSmartLocal

From what I remember of The Smart Local when it started out, there was a lot of content being produced by different contributors who write for the purpose of expressing themselves. There was a system which generated points for them and it was a platform for them to showcase their content whatever it may be. In that sense contributors were rewarded for engaging readers and it gave them motivation to write. The perks of hosting all these contributors is pretty clear, The Smart Local became a site more youngsters would visit, with lots of content being generated and pretty much for free. 

However, this system could have been somewhat messy and from then till now things have changed. No speculation on why but if you are an active reader of their site, you would have realised that at present they have a very clean site layout. 

What I think? This change might be a way to control the content that is being produced. After all, advertisers and clients like a site that has a clean and professional look.  That brings me to my next point. Online content nowadays aren't produced just for fun or expression. It takes time to write and as much as it might just be a hobby, few will turn down the opportunity to write and be paid for it. Be realistic. Make the best of every opportunity and that's exactly what The Smart Local did, monetise their site after gaining readers.

That said, their content is still relevant to the young and us, Singaporeans. Food, travel, things to do, it's stuff that we want to know about. Look at this article for example.

Would you ever see such content being produced elsewhere? Probably not the most interesting content since it has nothing to do with food, Singaporeans' favourite but hey, it is definitely all about us. Ok, I have to admit that seeing an image with words from 5 languages in 1 sentence sparked off some of my linguistic knowledge. It is organic content that's for sure and there's even a video included. In my opinion, that's the new direction that The Smart Local is taking if you haven't guessed it by now. Videos. Jump on the band wagon if you want to attract a larger following, videos are the new thing. Go post videos on your blog, Youtube, Instagram, Snapchat and you might just be the next up and rising star.