Salsa / Escrima / Diving / Clubbing / Bantam

[danzig1976]

Whoa, that's like what, 5 wishes at once?

Just arrived in SG (see the long-forgotten "meat for the grinder" post over in the "meeting friends" forum, unfortunately I'm not a blonde girlie, so the reply quote was zero plus a disinterested Brit , I'm staying in the Bukit Batok area for the next 3 months for starters.

1. Latino dancing seems to have been all the rage on these boards some time ago. Could someone give me an update, as I'd like to go to a nice salsa party once in a while.

2. It's Asia but I don't see any martial arts joints yet, which feels like visiting Italy completely void of pizzerias (yes, I think in stereotypes). Anyone here knows a dojo, preferably Arnis / Escrima or something related (wing chun and such)?

3. Diving. never done it, but it's supposed to be fun and comparatively cheap over here. Any recommendations?

4. I don't have any idea where to go, so I'm just poking around. First 2 weekends covered ministry of Sound, MOMO, Attica and KM8. Decent places all of them, although the residents in MOMO looked at me very strangely (it seemed to be a local joint, and a lone blond caucasian sticks out like a pink giraffe) and Attica was a crazy-assed pick-up joint (OK once I used to it though). Any other good clubs to go to?

5. The internet grapevine says that Bantam Island is a lovely place for a weekend trip. Any more specific info somebody could give me?

thanks in advance, guys

Michael

[hei guess what]

You definitely must hit Union Square at The Amara Hotel
http://www.ntucclub.com/clubs/unionsquare/salsa/
If you're already a Salsero, then it's no problem inviting the girls to dance

Most of the Salsa hotspots are listed on http://www.salsapower.com/cities/singapore.htm

plus a newly opened joint Fuego at 01-01, No5 Gemmill Lane (off Club Street)

Que viva la Salsa

[jpatokal]

5. The internet grapevine says that Bantam Island is a lovely place for a weekend trip. Any more specific info somebody could give me?

Unless you're into whores, dodgy casinos and industrial estates, your grapevine is feeding you a line of poop. Bintan is marginally nicer, but Malaysia's East Coast islands (Tioman, Perhentian, Redang) are much much nicer. They're also good places to learn to dive. Get going though because the season ends in October or so...

[sanz33]

Hi Danzig

1. Salsa is still on my things-to-do list so can't comment much but heard Union Square is a good place to salsa.

2. In my opinion, Singapore is not quite associated with martial arts; China is. You can try Shitoryu Karate Association of Singapore(http://www.ska.org.sg/index.htm), Capoeira - seems to be in the rage now (Brazilian martial arts), Wushu (http://www.sgwutan.com/index.php). If you like something with stick, you can try Chanbara (http://www.sportschanbara.org.sg/)

3. If you need an English speaking instructor, you can try Scuba Corner (http://www.scubacorner.com.sg/). If native instructor is fine with you, you can try Seahounds (http://www.seahounds.com/) or Waikiki Dive (http://www.waikikidive.com/)

4. You can try Thumper at Goodwood Park, Zouk at Jiak Kim Street (near Great World City), Gotham Penthouse at River Valley Road, Clarke Quay or Insomnia at Chjimes. If you like to chill, you can try Indochine Wine Bar (http://www.indochine.com.sg/)

5. I scanned a day trippers on a weekend getaway to Batam on the newspapers a few months back, I can forward it to you if you are interested. Nothing dodgy unless that's what you are looking for!

Hope you enjoyed your stay so far!

[jazzmatazzie]

Hey Danzig,

There are actually at least 2 Wing Chun schools in Singapore. There's one in Toa Payoh. I learnt it at a school in Lavender, very near the Lavender MRT Station. I met quite a few foreigners there, so you wouldn't feel out of place there. It's actually quite a small school so you can get pretty good training. The link is: http://www.geocities.com/kahjoo_chua/

There's another one which teaches at the Civil Service Club and Toa Payoh, http://www.geocities.com/wingchun_sg/index.htm

Here's a pretty fun clip on the Wing Chun wooden dummy, as featured in HK movies. http://youtube.com/watch?v=8pW_cDgrFaw

If you are looking for other Southern Chinese styles, there's also a school in Chinatown (near George Street, 'fraid I can't give you more exact directions yet) which teaches Five Ancestor Style. If you're not sure what Five Ancestor Style is, look here http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 2937842758

Try this site as well, http://www.mamaster.com/main.php, it has a link to a Bagua Zhang (8 Trigrams Palm) school which I myself have been trying to find for a while now.
Cheers

[Waterfall]

Hey Michael,

if you're keen to take salsa lessons, or improve on it, or get to hang out with local salseros through classes, you can chk out
- Attitude Dance Studio (www.asiasalsa.com)
(Artistic Director is from Montreal Canada)

- Jitterbucks Singapore (www.swingapore.com)
(Local and competent instructors)

These are the 2 main schools where most dancers come from in the scene in Singapore

and Yup, Union Square is THE place 2 go, though it's PACKED like sardines, esp on Fridays when it's ladies night.

=

Lastly, tons of places for a weekend trip. You'll get recommendations for all around u.

If you're keen for a CLEAN massage in BATAM, good indonesian rub in therapeutic environment, give me a shout

Gotta friend who owns a 3-storey massage building there!

I go there with my wife once a month