Month: September 2010

Categories
Stamps

1990 Asian Games Maximum Cards

This set of six maximum cards (or simply, maxi-cards) was issued on 22 September 1990, and are released to celebrate the 11th Asian Games held in Beijing, China. The third series of stamps for the Games was released on 22 September 1990, the opening day of the Games. Today’s date marks exactly 20 years since the opening day. The stamps were designed by Lu Dehui and Liu Bo.

Featuring a similar illustration compared to the postage stamp, the sketches on the maximum cards are more detailed. They depict Track and Field (4 fen), Gymnastics (8 fen), Wushu (10 fen), Volleyball (20 fen), Swimming (30 fen) and Shooting (1.60 yuan). The stamps have a dimension of 40 mm by 30 mm with a perforation of 11 by 11.5. These maxi-cards are cancelled in Beijing and dated 1990.9.22.9.

The 11th Asian Games was held from 22 September 1990 to 7 October 1990.

Categories
Banknotes

Singapore $50 Banknote with Two Square Dots

And it seems that the Singapore $50 banknote has two square dots on its reverse too, just like the $2, $10, and $100 banknotes. Now, these four denominations come in three different varieties, viz. no dot, one square dot and two square dots. In March, two triangles were spotted on the $1000 banknotes, making the whole pattern even more unpredictable. For any denomination, these symbols are always found beneath the word describing its featured theme.

Scan by Vincent Tan.

Categories
Running

Safra Singapore Bay Run & Army Half Marathon 2010

The 2010 Safra Singapore Bay Run & Army Half Marathon was held this morning in the city area. The flag-off for the half marathon was 0515 hours at Esplanade Bridge. The highlight of this year’s 21-kilometre route was running past the Double Helix bridge along Bayfront Avenue and alongside the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resorts.

In the first two kilometres, participants proceeded towards Collyer Quay, Shenton Way and Robinson Road, finding themselves surrounded by skyscrapers in every direction. After running past the Fullerton Hotel and the Esplanade Bridge again, there was a right turn towards Raffles Avenue, running behind The Float@Marina Bay. Another right turn brought the participants to Bayfront Avenue leading to Marina Bay Sands. Bayfront Avenue was gently sloped, so there was a slight slowdown up to the Sky Park entrance.

This was followed by running up the Benjamin Sheares Bridge towards East Coast Park, following last year’s route. That’s 9 kilometres so far. We then proceeded into East Coast Park via the Fort Road exit. Last year, there was a 50-metre-stretch-of-darkness. This year, this stretch was lit up with floodlights, and there was an event marshal stationed in that area to ensure safety of the participants.

After the East Coast Park leg, which indicates the 13-kilometre mark, participants proceeded to Mountbatten Road and subsequently, Nicoll Highway. Upon making a right turn after Nicoll Highway MRT Station, it was approximately 17 kilometres done. Just like last year, the final four kilometres brought the participants onto the F1 track, past the Esplanade, across Anderson Bridge and into the Padang.

Overall, the event was well-organised and certainly massive. Water points located less than 3 kilometres apart were more than sufficient. There was a slight improvement from last year’s timing with a net time of approximately 2:14.

Up next is the 10 km Mizuno Wave Run, 15 km New Balance Real Run and the Nike City 10k. All three are held back to back on three consecutive Sundays starting 10 October 2010.