singapore – Seriously Sarah

Nex is not for beginners

Nex at Serangoon is a mall not for beginners or that you got to know all your exits ready when the escalators keep being out of order.

I took this picture weeeeeks ago but guess what, on Friday, the 14th, the EARLY morning, mind you. I was there and the escalators were off for the ‘main’ side since the one next to it was all being fixed upon.

SO I HAD TO WALK ALL THE WAY UP to NTUC aaaaaaaaaall the way. That’s on the third floor and escalator steps are higher than regular staircase steps.

If you have never gone to Nex before, you will find yourself going up and up and have no idea how to get down.

BECAUSE OF THE ESCALATORSSSSS.

If ALL the escalators are working, you should be buying your lottery because wow.

Wow, for once you don’t have to figure out the alternate ways of going around the mall.

Especially when Isetan has closed, it means another set of escalators are blocked off from the public.

And should you not be able to use the ‘main’ escalator to go down, you have to walk all the other way to the end to use them BUT this is just me.

I will try to avoid that one shop that usually will ask people to try out things and unfortunately I HAVE to go past it because if you see the red arrow, if you go via there, you turning a WHOLE round, around the mall because there’s NO floor to head to the escalator going down.

If you’re a Nex-ian, you know what I mean. AND THE ANGST of going an extra round, around the mall like some marathon is le stupide when I just have to avoid that one shop and head to the only working escalator going down at times.

Maybe Health Promotion Board should sponsor Nex somehow or have special bonus stickers.

BECAUSE YOU EITHER have to go a whole round, around the whole mall to get down. And sometimes if the basement escalators don’t work, you have to walk up. And then find another location from OUTSIDE to go in up again.

Oh mein Gott, just.

Start your step tracker when you’re in Nex cause you’ll find out you’re walking a lot more than you expect to.

Ps. No, I’ll leave the lifts to those who need it and it usually gets crowded anyway.

Pps. Every time I go to Nex to get my groceries or stuff or food, I will prepare myself, can I do it. Can I escape Nex?

Ppps. WHAT IS WRONGGGG with Nex escalators?? Is it the number of people going up and down? Is it the fengshui? Is it an old model or something?

Comment if you too feel the angst of Nex. Maybe I should make merch of “I managed to escape Nex!”.

The Sengkang Sci-Fi Journal Issue 3 Launch

Firstly, feel free to follow the Sengkang Sci-Fi Journal on their instagram account here https://www.instagram.com/sengkangsfj/ for updates.

Currently they have their website at https://sengkangsfj.cargo.site/ where you can read their issues too.

If you’re interested in the science fiction scene in Singapore, this is one of the budding journals that will take contributions with Editor in Chief, Zubin Jain.

One question I did have and I didn’t really know why still is… Why is it called Sengkang Sci-Fi Journal? Why Sengkang? Was it formed or the idea for it popped up in Sengkang? Or was there an alliteration needed, if so. Seletar… Simei… Singapore?

I believe this was their first in person launch and it was a pretty good turn out!

I could tell they were knew to it as well, firstly let me give you a spoiler alert.

I’m featured in issue 3, in the 4th article “And They All Lived: Remembering the Happy Smiley Writers Group by Ng Yi-Sheng” where he managed to investigate and find out about us and that yes, we were one of the ones who kind of broke through the sci-fi scene in Singapore so that others would just think sci-fi here is ‘casual’ cause oh man, back then we had to tell people it’s OKAY to write/enjoy it.

TL;DR you got to enjoy what you write ok? No matter what genre.

Anyway, just know. We’ve got the experience, we know how literary events are run and we’re (sometimes) secretly around. If we show our actual creds, we know people might pull us in, into literary events (again) and we’re just trying to enjoy what you guys are putting out. (But we can be back IF NEEDED or for consults, y’all just need to message, so don’t be shy if you really need it.)

The SSFJ are a newish team to in person launches and it brings me back to one of my first book/literary launches.

I believe they’ll get more experience in speaking and running their programme. Their enthusiasm is great and I hope they’ll have more launches or contributions in the future.

Cause you need more events or launches to get into the groove or get experience on running it and also to promote the journal to more potential writers and readers.

I don’t want to give you spoilers of the actual stories because you should read it yourself in issue 3 and check out issue 1 and 2 while you’re there at https://sengkangsfj.cargo.site/

EDIT 21/04: Zubin replied it was called Sengkang Sci-Fi Journal because “I used to live in sengkang when I founded the magazine”. Mystery is solved, everyone!

An indulgence of me

Well, not exactly but I had the urge to chope my name as a url. I don’t know why I didn’t do it before because we all know my branding as Seriously Sarah for my creative works such as also writing and portfolio.

Interestingly, I did create two other portfolios using Adobe since it was in my subscription anyway and that’s for sending out to other client or educator types what I’ve done in video work.

Now, this is a new website for mine: https://sarahcoldheart.com/

Yep, it’s for pro-wrestling so like, might as well yeah?

After all, if you’re a fan and want me to wrestling in whatever country you’re in, I should make it easier for you so that you can show to the booker who I am.

Also yes, this is today’s Monday post.

I’m not going to bother insta-storying it just yet or telling it anywhere.

I’m just going to see if there will be data traffic for people who actually check on my Monday posts or if anyone sees it…

Anyway, do tell me what you think of the website or if there’s anything else I should add? I don’t want it to be too complicated though.

Singapore has Furry Gold

When I saw that our Singapore mint was selling gold, I took a double take because, yes. They usually do sell gold and coins there, however what caught my eye was the design of the Lion Bullion.

That lion is terribly handsome.

This isn’t your usual lion design. This was a furry lion design.

Who designed this?

Interestingly, you can’t buy lion bullion if you’re not in/from Singapore. You need to buy using your Singpass to register it.

The whole point of Lion Bullion it’s gold for Singaporeans to use to invest in. The card stock feels good in an archival way, and there was a little velvet pouch with a magnetic closure.

So was the proposed design real?

Yes.

Singapore has furry lion gold.

I’m not that rich, I used birthday cash for the lols, just for this post because really. Really?

It takes at least 48 days to mint and for them to put a serial number code on it too. So really, this is registered to you and can be traced.

I censored the serial number because hellooooo, why would you need to know?

Just know, you can only ‘preorder’ it in a way and they will literally mint for you. It seems they don’t have ‘instant’ purchases for some reason.

The upside, since I bought in early January and it has arrived now in March, the price I paid for it and the actual cost of gold now has increased.

It is so tiny that I can’t take a picture of it properly with my phone but looking at it in real life, yes. The design is as stated and now I can proudly say.

Majulah Singapura, we have furry gold.

H4PW … InvincIIble

Last year on 20 December 2025, there was a pro-wrestling show called H4PW – the end of yea at the Grapplemax Studios at the Ubidome. Rumours say it’s not pronounce “Hetch four pee double you” but it might be called Hee Hee Haa Haa Pro Wrestling.

But worry not my friends, I am your intrepid journalist and found out more about H4PW! (Aka, I messaged the booker, SPD to ask how did they come up with it.)

It was also the first pro-wrestling show in Singapore that with my ticket I got a nice Halal certified snack pack of a sandwich, epok-epok and an apple turnover. There was some pandan teh too! Snacks and tea were sponsored by the relatives or wrestlers of the show.

H4PW isn’t a regular show, it was more a community fun thing which also included the Grapplemax Community awards then. It’s also a comedy wrestling show that reminded me of Mystery Wrestling and DDT antics.

SPD told me for the first H4PW’s theme was that “it was really to celebrate the end of the year (hence the event name) and to allow the performers to let loose and enjoy doing what they do best. Also to give audiences a chance to see another side of the wrestlers that they have never seen before”.

The opening match of the night pretty much showed people what to not expect. We had Rush Hour fighting against a Rose Ranger and a kawaii magical school girl who wasn’t a kawaii magical school girl?!

The plot was thickening and the audience had to play along to solve it. There was betrayals and reveals and really dubious sounding accents along with really good wrestling.

With the first match of the afternoon, (yes H4PW is on afternoons!!), I horked down my sandwich as I watched so I wouldn’t choke on it while laughing.

The next one had to do with a dinosaur fighting a very distinguished gentleman. At this rate, I think I was shrieking.

I had a lot of video clips but you know what.

I won’t post them because you need to experience the vibe of H4PW itself.

Then there was the main event which was The Happy Birthday Remus Battle Royale. No one in the studio can say Happy Birthday to Remus (he’s the videographer at the events AND a wrestler when he’s in his Wildfire mode) until the winner of the battle royale was ‘crowned’.

Yes, it was Remus’ actual birthday so no one could say it.

Looking at these pictures remind me, maybe I need to pack one of those travel packs of Nin Jom Pei Pa Kao.

We had Hurricane Helms versus John Cena.

There was Tommy Invicible with a very glorious drop in by Mr Bean.

There were so many different people in the battle royale but then… POWER WARRIOR CAME OUT.

The last time I saw Power Warrior in person was in 2017, which interestingly I did blog about him before here. OMG, he has upgraded in the year 2025.

Unfortunately, unlike 2017. Power Warrior did not win the rumble but Kelvin did! Finally we could say Happy Birthday to Remus.

With that said, I asked SPD, how did they all pull it off. There were elaborate costumes, some people wearing more than what they even usually wear in their actual normal characters and the tron intros were all thematic and really good.

SPD stated that “We managed to lock the dates slightly before Unity (Grapplemax’s anniversary show), but we only started planning, booking, and announcing after Unity. Everyone involved really help to make sure we had everything ready to go by show day. Mr and Mrs Ho reached out to us with the snacks, and Nish with the drinks so we are very grateful to them :)”

I really, really liked those snacks and the tea by the way.

Don’t count me in as a wrestler for this show because I really want to watch it as an audience. If you guys don’t know me, this is the style of wrestling I like to watch and since it’s in Singapore, EVEN BETTER.

It’s said that the next show would be on 28 March 2026. If you think wrestling is just so predictable, try watch a different style of it.

They will release their information on their instagram account so be on a look out for it here: https://www.instagram.com/h4pw1/

Gongxi Raya 2026

There was a Gongxi-Lent-Puasa Light-Up at Telok Ayer on 10th February featuring the minister Zaqy Mohamad with Rev Master Lee Zhiwang, President of Taoist Mission Singapore, Haji Arif Sulaiman, Chairman of Al Abrar Mosque, Rev Edmund Koh, Pastor in Charge of Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church and Ambassador Ong Keng Yong, Chairman of Humanity Matters.

Yes, I copy pasted that all because they really, it’s a Singapore thing to just have everyone in it.

In any case, I went to Kampong Glam and they had their light up too but I didn’t go there for that.

I was wanting to check out what kind of food was in trend at the pasar malam this year and interestingly, the curation of food was not as wild as the previous few years which is good.

I did go “Huh, what’s a pastacos” and no, it’s not a pasta in tacos or tacos in pasta, it’s just a stall selling both.

On the other side of the street there was also ‘cheese wheel pastas’.

We had sweet stuff like tapak kuda, a traditional Malay kueh/cake thing and there’s Indian pani puri!! Pani puri has been a thing in pasar malams now and yes, (in general) Malay people in Singapore like the taste cause it’s got all the flavours mixed up and the textures are great and crunchy too.

When it’s going to be Ramadan, the sugarcane stall is going to be so popular. I like to have it with lemon by the way. And you can totally see the typical fare of Ramly burgers (which aren’t really Ramly patties cause that’s illegal in Singapore) with the lekor snacks and whatnot.

There’s a new shop called RÖSTii that just opened in time before Ramadan and right on that same street so you know it’ll be packed when it’s time to break fast at sunset.

So what’s my verdict? It was a good curation, whatever ‘trendy’ food is spaced away from each other. Like, there’s one Chinese Muslim fried pancake (roti) stall at one end of a street and the other nearer to the entrance of the mosque. Two different brands, same type of food but of course their recipes are different.

Two different taco types. The usual birria tacos are there (I do like those) and then drink stalls all around. That one, it’s of course more than two because people really need hydration but it’s different flavours.

The only sad thing as you walk around, it’s the first year with Warung Pariaman closed at the end of the area where the pasar malam is. It’s kinda weird with it closed up like that.

In any case, there’s also some clothing stalls ‘inside’ and some seating areas with a stage underneath the tentage.

What’s also interesting is that most of the bazaars are opening before Ramadan starts and you DO see all the influencers and video people quickly taking videos of the food to advertise before Ramadan starts next week.

If you for some reason see me around, I’m just trying to jump out of your shot so I won’t be in your background.

Also no, I haven’t been to Geylang to check out the bazaar is there like but for me, the one at Kampong Glam is sufficient for the vibes or takeaway to bring home.

Phoning it in

It’s 9.36pm on a Sunday and I’m typing this on a phone. I’m too tired to switch my laptop on and to type or edit any photos because I just finished the Grapplemax Open House during the weekend.

On Saturday, I helped with the camerawork and in between just helped usher people to the various stations in the beginning part of the afternoon.

On Sunday, was the women’s exclusive so I helped do the stations, or rather in ring techniques with participants and then after we had a match featuring Radiant Rui with Alani vs Divya with me.

Also I saw some of you guys on various days wearing the exclusive Ships Ahoy 2025 anniversary t-shirt so, I see you.

In any case, for both days the audience/participants enjoyed themselves so that is great. Personally, watching day 1’s matches since I’m not in it, it was exciting.

I see why it can be mad.

How is it possible we have people able to throw themselves, toss each other or fly from the ropes to just entertain you all in Singapore?

Pro wrestling is your live theatre with physical action and wow. I was entertained and more importantly, it showed that you too can actually learn pro wrestling too.

All these people are just ‘regular’ people who wanted to learn and they did.

And now I’m going to sleep and this will be posted on Monday morning. When I’m finally and hopefully awake but busy with my actual regular work.

Ps. If you want to try pro wrestling in Singapore, go to Grapplemax.sg and try out a trial for yourself.

Goyang-goyang into February

Wow, it’s actually February 2026. But what a packed January it was and still is? Maybe cause Chinese New Year and Ramadan is coming.

Before that though, it’s Thaipusam and that happened on Sunday, 1 February 2026.

Interestingly, it was also the same weekend as Renfaire SG so Dhoby Ghaut had the processions at the closed roads on one side and you had elves and rangers walking from Dhoby Ghaut MRT towards Fort Canning.

To those who asked, no I didn’t get to go to Renfaire SG since I was occupied with work and other appointments.

However the weather was really sunny for the weekend, so good for everyone outdoors? I mean, hydration is a thing but at least everyone could walk around to their destinations.

Also happy WWE Royal Rumble day (Riyadh) for those who celebrate the floor is lava day. Yes, every thing on that weekend. No opinions from me about it here because this isn’t a WWE blog and there’s a lot of reviews out there.

That night was lovely and full of drums and music to cheer on the Kavadi bearers. It happened to be on a Sunday so it was pretty grand. Did you know, unfortunately, Thaipusam isn’t a public holiday for us in Singapore? As of yet in 2026. I don’t know about it in the future when you read this but yeah.

Interestingly, I was in Dhoby Ghaut area in the evening after my pro wrestling training in the morning/afternoon to catch 1 night of Goyang Koplo. Unfortunately organizers said that Tenxii & Naykilla was unable to make it a week or so before the night.

Instead it was replaced with Baby Shima so it was a trio of ladies entertaining us for the evening at SOTA with Hafeez Glamour as emcee.

The setting was at SOTA hall so you had to be seated and so it was kinda weird when you have such genre of dangdut koplo.

Ochi Alvara and Dara Ayu had their own solo songs first then it was Baby Shima and then a duet of Ochi and Ayu. However ALL THREE WERE SUCH GOOD ENTERTAINERS.

Baby Shima and pretty much all the ladies had such lovely bling bling outfits.

They did so well entertaining the crowd. I wanna say, the organizers should really try for a venue without seats next time if for this genre of songs. Or at least, maybe got space to goyang-goyang in front of stage?

Thank you ladies for entertaining us.

Ok, this is not their song but I wanted you guys to understand the genre of dangdut koplo with my affection of vtubers and anime.

AND WHAT BEST IS TO SHOW YOU JAPANESE VTUBER INDONESIAN DANGDUT?

Goyang-goyang is a dance move that you’ll do when you listen to this sorta music.

As we like (royal me) to describe it, it’s like a gentle twerk. So gentle, so classy.

Anyway, see you next week guys. For some of you, literally since I have that 8 February open house event at GrappleMax.

Experience Pro Wrestling at GrappleMax Open House

On 7th February 2026 and 8th February 2026, GrappleMax Studios will be having an open house!

Your most family friendly pro-wrestling promotion in Singapore.

And it’s just only $15! Tickets and schedule here: https://pwopenhouse26.peatix.com/

Make sure you check out the schedule cause you don’t have to stay the whole day there.

7 Feb 2026 (Saturday)

2pm: doors open, stations open
3pm: Pro wrestling match
3.20pm: Post-match Q&A
4pm: Pro wrestling match
4.20pm: Post-match Q&A
5pm: event close

8 Feb 2026 (Sunday) – ladies-exclusive!

1pm: doors open, stations open
2.30pm: Pro wrestling match
Post Match Q&A
3pm: event close

You might notice 8 February is a bit different because it’s an ladies exclusive day, bring yourselves, your friends, daughters, girlfriends, wives, nieces to this day because the women’s division will be around to teach some pro-wrestling.

And don’t be scared, in pro-wrestling we always adapt to the other person too. So come try out or find out more about us too!

Yes, I’ll be there so come join the fun. They always say, new year, new you. So why not try a new hobby?

Also, content creators, you can try out what it is to be a pro-wrestler. After all, there’s so many content creators out there turning into professional wrestlers.

It’s closing and I don’t know

Dear future!Sarah,

Warung Nasi Pariaman is closing on 31 January 2026 and I don’t know why. Maybe you’ll know why in the future when you look back on this. Or if someone commented why.

Because no one knows.

The actual Berita news even reported it on TV last night with the shortest report on it with just the shot of the shop and “Warung Nasi Pariaman is closing on 31 January” in Malay, of course.

And everyone is gossiping.