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LIFE AND REAL ESTATE
Carnival Cruise Australia welcomes 1million passengers
NEW COTTAGE COLLECTION AT CINNAMON SHORE NORTH OFFERS SMALL-SCALE LUXURY AND CLASSIC COASTAL CHARM Seven Fountain Plaza Cottages accommodate vacation homebuyers seeking smaller properties, with prices starting in the $400,000s. TL Bureau
TL Bureau Sydney Carnival Cruise Line Australia has welcomed one million passengers since the brand’s arrival six years ago. Many of the guests were past passengers wearing T-shirts with the slogan ‘I’m one in a million.’ CCL spokeswoman told that they do not know which individual passenger is the 1,000,000th, but we do know that he or she is boarding today for an 11-day round cruise to the South Pacific. As reported, VP Australia Jennifer Vandekreeke gets misty-eyed when she talks about the 2,680-passenger Carnival Spirit arriving in Sydney for the first time in October 2012. Vandekreeke was sent to ‘check out Australia’ by then CCL CEO Gerry Cahill. She
arrived in September 2010 and stayed to launch and run the Australian operation. In December her third ship, the 3,900-passenger Carnival Splendor, arrives in Sydney for year-round cruising and Carnival Spirit will move to the new international cruise terminal in Brisbane. Carnival Legend, which supplemented the operation, will be homeported in Tampa in October. Vandekreeke said that from dancing waiters and dazzling shows to wild waterslides and warm welcomes, they are honoured and thrilled that 1 million guests have chosen to entrust their precious Australian holiday time to Carnival Cruise. Every Australian guest we host is one in a million, and we endeavour to deliver fun, memorable holidays for each and every one.
Port Aransas, TexasSea Oats Group announces the groundbreaking of Fountain Plaza Cottages – a collection of seven, small-scale beach homes grouped inside a landscaped courtyard at Cinnamon Shore North. Each cottage is under 1,000 square feet, with names like Minnow and Scallop to denote their diminutive scale. “We’re excited to offer these one- and two-bedroom, single-family cottage homes — and to work with a quality builder like Waggoner Custom Homes,” says Developer Jeff Lamkin of Sea Oats Group, Inc. “Not everyone needs a multistory, multi-bedroom space at the coast, but they still want privacy and the charm of a community like Cinnamon Shore.” The Fountain Plaza Cottages offer very livable floor plans, with ingenious use of spacethat capitalizes on the Tiny House movement and on the down-sizing trend among American homebuyers. Yet each showcases the rigorous design standards of Cinnamon
Shore. Home plans by Schnell Urban Design, LLC, celebrate classic cottage architecture, with design details such as dormer windows, exposed rafter tails, decorative porch railings, and ideas from beach communities that have stood the test of time. Of four home designs, three will repeat in the plaza, giving the group aesthetic continuity. They range from a 749square-feet plan for cottages named Seahorse and Minnow to a 971-square-foot design for a pair of homes called Sand Crab and Starfish. There’s an 853-square-foot plan for two, one-bedroom cottages, Sand Dollar and Scallop, while Piggy Perch, with one bedroom, 841 square feet and a crowning cupola, serves as a focal point for the enclave. “It’s been so much fun to look at these plans and prepare to build these classic cottages,” says Pete Waggoner of Waggoner Custom Homes, based in Port Aransas. “There’s such innovative use of space inside, while the porches and balconies really foster a sense of relaxation and community.”
Fourth-generation German carpenters, Waggoner and his brother, Tim, trained as true apprentices in the craft. They developed loyal crews who have worked with them on projects from the West Coast back into the heart of Texas and along the Lone Star State’s Coastal Bend, where they’ve built homes for the past 14 years. The soughtafter duo has already contributed their skills to Cinnamon Shore, building several homes there, including the Coastal Living Idea House in 2015. “We’re glad to bring a new collection of cottages and a new style of single-family residences to the Cinnamon Shore village,” Tim Waggoner says. “It’s really an amazing collection with such great curb appeal.” The Fountain Plaza Cottages are going up just beyond the Social Circle, helping to finish one side of Cinnamon Shore North. The community has grown for more than a decadeand nears completion, while it recently broke ground on an expansion, Cinnamon Shore South, located just one mile away.
Singapore to host inaugural Asian edition of gamescom in October 2020 Hosting gamescom asia will catalyse development of Singapore‘s gaming industry and further enhance Singapore’s status as a choice destination for first-in-Asia cutting-edge business events TL Bureau Singapore thgamescome world's largest computer and video games festival, will make its Asian debut (“gamescom asia”) in Singapore from 15 to 18 October 2020. This marks a major win for the video games and esports industry in Singapore. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between STB and Koelnmesse today to mark a new partnership for the upcoming festival. Organised by Koelnmesse and sponsored by game, the Association for the German
Games Industry, gamescom has been held in Cologne, Germany annually since 2009. Over the past decade, it has grown to be the largest international games festival and Europe’s leading business platform for the games industry, with over 300,000 attendees every year. The staging of an Asian edition in Singapore is in line with Koelnmesse’s key strategy of growing its global competence in digital media and entertainment.“gamescom is a brand with a worldwide reputation that stands for both games as the largest entertainment medium of our time, and for outstanding business opportuni-
ties. With gamescom asia, we are creating a new event in 2020 for the local games industry and gamers in one of the fastest-growing regions of the world. We are happy and excited about the first Asian edition in Singapore next year and thankful for our partners,” added Mr Felix Falk, Managing Director of game. Mr Keith Tan, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board, said: “STB started discussions with Koelnmesse two years ago to develop an Asian edition of gamescom in Singapore. There were also numerous discussions with stakeholders such as IMDA, ESG, industry associations,
games developers and organisers of local gaming and esports events. Apart from adding vibrancy to our events calendar, we aim for gamescom asia to position Singapore as the natural base for the development and commercialisation of digital and gaming content, which in turn will support our digital media industry.” gamescom asia will comprise a two-day industry gaming conference and a three-day trade and public exhibition, including esports events, emerging technologies in video games, as well as gaming workshops, meetand-greet sessions and cosplay theatrics. Delegates can also
look forward to a launch of global titles and extensive showcase of gaming-related offerings. Over and above the heavy schedule of events and activities, gamescom asia will be a platform for industry thought leaders, local and regional buyers, programmers, game designers and audio professionals to network, learn and exchange insights with their international counterparts. There will be business opportunities for both local and regional companies as the event will allow them to tap into the region’s flourishing and lucrative gaming market.
