. staycation at Porcelain Hotel .

A short weekend getaway can do wonders for the jaded and tired soul. However,  not everyone has the luxury of time or money to head overseas for a rejuvenating holiday. As much as I would love to head to 1 of our favourite resort – Tempat Senang in Batam – for the weekend, the boy, however, has work commitments and wasn’t able to take leave from work. What’s the next best alternative? Why not settle for a relaxing weekend staycation right here in Singapore? 

And that was exactly what we did for the weekend leading to Chinese New Year! After a thorough search on Agoda for a reasonably-priced hotel (accommodation is outrageously expensive in Singapore), we eventually chose The Porcelain Hotel as it offers 1 of the cheapest rates for a boutique hotel and is only a stone’s throw away from the boy’s new workplace. $159++ for the Deluxe Room! On top of that, it is located at a prime location in Chinatown – The heart of all the CNY festivity!

What I love about The Porcelain Hotel!

#1 – The oh-so-comfortable bed that made us slept so soundly through the night!
#2 –  Free Wi-Fi … Yes, I belong to a generation that cannot live without the internet!
#3 –  The romantic lighting and ambiance of the deluxe room … so much so that I   decided to stay in throughout the entire staycation instead of heading out to join in the celebration!
#4 – Quirky porcelain-inspired touches to the room, such as the unique porcelain sink and flowers-motif mirror!

What I didn’t enjoy about The Porcelain Hotel!

#1 – The really tiny room and I’m not kidding about the size! While we didn’t expect the room to be as big as the standard business room in the average hotel, this room was way smaller than expected. Thank god that we didn’t have any luggage with us!
#2 – The lack of channels on the cable television.

With the boy away at work for the most part of the day/night (he works from 4pm to 2am), I’m basically left with no choice but to self-entertain myself during the semi-alone staycation. Here’s my girly guide to enjoy a 24-hours staycation by yourself in utter bliss and relaxation! Who ever says that we will need a boyfriend to enjoy a staycation? Lol. In fact, I’m already looking forward to the next hotel stay! :p

The MUST HAVES

♡The cable television (AXN and STAR World) that kept me entertained as I sunk into the comfortable bed!

♡ The boy’s iPad and the books that I have brought along for the hotel stay (didn’t do much reading in the end as I settled for the lazy option of being a couch potato!). But remember the goal of a staycation – To relax! So try not to get glued to the iPad and its 1001 apps … Take up a challenge and try to live without it for a few hours!

♡ Having the time to pamper myself with all sorts of masks – For the face, eyes and yes, even for the hands! The ideal way to indulge in a (DIY) SPA getaway, minus the exorbitant price!

It was pure coincidence when we found out that Groupon is offering a fantastic deal on a mini-staycation at The Porcelain Hotel on the same day that we checked out of the hotel. Did a quick comparison, only to realize that the Groupon deal is slightly cheaper than what we paid for on Agoda! What a pity! Which means it’s a great deal for any of you out there who’s looking for a cheap hotel getaway either with a loved one or friends!

Click here to visit the Groupon deal – $73/pax for a 1 night stay!

. the growing family .

Family and 3 + Ones!

. The Descendants with Bausch+Lomb PV2HD Lens .

High definition has taken a whole new different meaning with the introduction of the latest contact lens from Bausch + Lomb. In other words, it is simply not just the films, television or sound effects that have gone high definition … Even personal items such as the contact lens feature High Definition™ Optics that are specially designed to support high-quality vision and enhance our visibility in poor conditions such as low lighting and sun glare. Pretty amazing, huh?

Here’s introducing Bausch + Lomb PureVision2 (R) HD contact lens – Lenses that let you see your world in high definition!

♦ High Definition™ Optics, designed to help reduce spherical aberration – a barrier to high-quality vision in low light and result in blurred vision, halos and glare.
♦ Extremely thin lens for a remarkably natural feel throughout the day.
♦ Packaged in a moisture-rich solution designed to give users an outstanding comfort on insertion.
♦ PureVision2 HD lenses are one of the more breathable lenses available.
♦ Comes in both monthly and daily disposable SofLens(R)

The Descendants with Bausch+Lomb PV2HD Lens

Learn about the movie: The Descendants is set in Hawaii and follows the unpredictable journey of an American family at a crossroads. Matt King (George Clooney), a husband and father of two girls, must re-examine his past and navigate his future when his wife is in a boating accident off Waikiki. 

My say: With 26 wins (according to IMDB) under its belt and a strong contender for the Oscars 2012 Award, I must say that The Descendant is 1 of the best movies that I have watched in the recent years. A heartfelt movie with strong performances from its lead actors, The Descendants is a masterpiece that deserves the nomination in the running of Best Movie for the Oscars.

Click here to read the full review of the movie. 

    out of 5 

Want to enhance your movie experience?

MOISTURIZING COMFORT WITH COMFORTMOIST™ TECHNOLOGY

With the PureVision2(R) HD (aka PV2HD) lens, I was able to enjoy The Descendants in comfort despite a long and tiring day at work. Being a frequent and long-term user of contact lens, I must say that comfort is 1 of the most important factor because it is very common to experience dryness and severe discomfort after wearing  the lens for the most part of the day. This pair of contact lens has sufficient amount of moisture to provide unsurpassed comfort for the users thus preventing the need for me to constantly blink throughout the movie. This, in turn, allowed me to watch the movie without any interruptions as there was no need for me to either refresh my eyes with eye-drops or constantly blink my eyes to create tears to keep them dewy.

Thanks to Bausch + Lomb and OMY for this experience.

CONTEST: Name 3 benefits of Bausch+Lomb ‘s High Definition™ Optics contact lens vs normal lens! Email your answer together with your name and contact number to omyadmin@gmail.com before 30 January 2011 and stand to be among five winners to each win a month supply of SofLens Daily Disposable contact lenses(worth up to $110)!

*Contest winners will be picked via a random draw and will be notified via email, within one week after the contest ends. Winners’ list is final and no further correspondence will be entertained by the organisers.  

. movie review: The Descendants .

Learn about the movie: The Descendants is set in Hawaii and follows the unpredictable journey of an American family at a crossroads. Matt King (George Clooney), a husband and father of two girls, must re-examine his past and navigate his future when his wife is in a boating accident off Waikiki. He awkwardly attempts to repair his relationship with his daughters — 10-year-old precocious Scottie (Amara Miller) and rebellious 17-year-old Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) — while wrestling with a decision to sell his family’s land. Handed down from Hawaiian royalty and missionaries, the Kings own some of the last priceless virgin parcels of tropical beach in the islands.

When Alexandra drops the bombshell that her mother was in the midst of a romantic fling at the time of the accident, Matt has to take a whole new look at his life, not to mention his legacy, during a week of momentous decisions. With his girls in tow, he embarks on a haphazard search for his wife’s lover. Along the way, in encounters alternately funny, troublesome and transcendent, he realizes he’s finally on course toward rebuilding his life and family.

My say: With 26 wins (according to IMDB) under its belt and a high possibility of being a strong contender for the prestigious Oscars 2012 Award, I must say that The Descendant is 1 of the best movies that I have watched in the recent years. Despite its idyllic setting (the paradise islands of Hawaii), the movie takes on a rather serious tone as it explores the theme of death and family dysfunction. The impending death of Matt King’s (George Clooney) daredevil wife – Liz – has resulted in an emotional turmoil and chaos for all the family members – A “back-up” father who has to deal with the truth of his dying wife’s infidelity, a rebellious teenager who hates her mother for cheating on her father and the youngest daughter coming of age but having no parent to turn to.

As part of the audience, we experienced the roller-coaster journey of the family as they struggled to cope with the grief of losing their mother and watched as the tragic event uncannily brought the family members even closer together. The actors have played their characters so beautifully well that I found myself tearing alongside with them (and many of the women in the audience) during the emotional scenes. As hard as I tried to resist, tears rolled down my cheeks as I saw how the family had to deal with the pain of saying goodbye to a loved one. Having lost my grandfather to old age a few months back, it wasn’t difficult to put myself in their shoes and relate to the emotionally-charged scene.

For those who are concern that The Descendants is a tad too emotional for them, there is no cause of worry as the movie comes with its fair share of funny moments. Acclaimed director – Alexander Payne – has successfully woven humour into the drama thus giving the audience many reasons to laugh throughout the entire film. Some characters, such as Liz’ lover and his wife, provided comic relief with their excellent performance. Creating humour in a tearjerker is a skill to master and Payne has pulled it off with great aplomb! A heartfelt movie with strong performances from its lead actors, The Descendants is a masterpiece that deserves a nomination in the running of Best Movie for the Oscars.

The Descendants opens at all major cinemas on 26th Jan.

Rating:     and half out of 5

* Thanks to Omy Blog for the invitation to the sneak preview of The Descendants. 

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. christmas celebrations 2011 .

You know that I’m “so last season” when I’m posting pictures from my many Christmas celebrations & parties when Christmas was long over and Lunar New Year is just round the corner! Just grabbed these pictures off FaceBook and I must say that I’m so thankful to have a great sister and fantastic friends who have uploaded the pics for lazy people like yours truly to grab!

Happy, happy times! 

Christmas@Home

Christmas with SIM friends
TCC
* pic credit to JZ

Christmas with CJC Friends
Wild Honey @ Scotts
* pics credit to CC

Christmas with colleagues
Serene’s Humble Abode
* Pics credit to Elisa

. the mind heist .

A record-breaking attempt to read 100 minds in 60 minutes. One of the first local act to merge illusion with social media. Here’s presenting The Mind Heist – The Ultimate Social Magic Experiment by JC SUM & Magic Babe Ning.

When I first learnt of the chance to not only be part of the live audience for  a mega-illusion show but also to participate in it, I knew, immediately, that it was something that I had to give a shot. As part of the selection process, all interested candidates had to sign up online and give a reason on why should they be selected for this event.

My answer? I would love to think that I’m Bella from Twilight and that no one else, not even vampires, is able to read my mind! I know, it’s a ridiculously lame reason but hey, it was distinguished enough to guarantee me a slot as a participant! In fact, I was very honoured to receive a call from Ning, 1 day prior to the event, who remarked that my answer is very unique.

 Another FIRST for me and a check on my TO DO list! To participate in a magic/illusion performance!


Venue for The Mind Heist: Sinema Old School

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Our numbers in order – 21 (Me) & 22 (Soy)

My assumption was that every individual would have their minds read by both JC SUM & Magic Babe Ning. Turns out that in order to keep things fresh and interesting, some of us were split into groups instead. In other words, some of us would have to collaborate as a group while the rest would remain as individuals during this illusion stint.

My dear friend, Soy, and myself were part of a group of 10 pax where we were given a task to wind the stationary hand of the clock to a certain time. My “important” task? To be the time-taker of the group and ensure that the final time (2 o’ clock) was recorded properly (but discreetly) on paper before hiding the piece of paper in my pocket. The illusionists’ job? To attempt to “read” my mind and guess the the time! Bingo! Ning managed to successfully heist my mind and got the time correct (answer: 2 o’ clock) upon first attempt! Was that spooky or what?!

1 in 100. Try spotting yours truly in the sea of crowd!

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Another group of 10 participants was given a Singapore street directory, where each of them had to embark on a virtual relay journey before the last person settled on the final location. During the stint, it was left to the illusionists to “heist” the audience’ minds and decipher the exact final location. Surprise surprise, Ning got it correct (again) and was able to guess that the final location was 112 Katong Road (seriously?)!

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Another trick involved the illusionists having to recreate a drawing that another group of participants had created together prior to the show. The details of the recreated drawing were so similar to the original piece that it had everyone in awe!

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JC Sum & Magic Babe Ning, together with the President of the International Brotherhood of Magicians Singapore Ring 115, with their “Patrons of Magic” award and Certificate from the Singapore Book of Records.


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Honestly, I’m a skeptic (when it comes to magic) through and through and have my own opinions on  the “mind heist” illusion. Nonetheless, at the end of the day, not only did the entertaining performance captivated the hearts of the audience, but it also kept the journalists and media spellbound and wanting for more! More importantly, I got to walk away from this memorable experience with an autographed poster and the rare opportunity to  play a really minor role in a magic show!

. singapore food trail .

History comes to life as the Singapore Flyer attempts to bring back the nostalgic feel and charm of the olden days of Singapore with the Singapore Food Trail, a 1960s-theme food court. From the retro cutlery to the pushcart style food stalls, the interior of the food court has been specially designed and decorated to recreate a scene out of the bustling street market back in the days. As part of their effort to complete the authentic 1960s dining experience, original stallholders of long-established food stalls were also invited to set up a stall at the trail thus not compromising on the quality of the food served. You can even find Singapore’s only iceball dessert over here!

A sucker for all things that are vaguely associated with heritage and history, I have came across many positive reviews of the Singapore Food Trail from various blogs and have been wanting to visit it for the longest time. Hence, when the boy suggested heading to a posh restaurant to celebrate my 24th birthday last year, I opted to have a simple (and cost-saving) dinner at the trail instead. Taste of hawker favourites! Hard to go wrong with that! :p

My verdict? For a dining place that promises mouthwatering and authentic hawker feast, I must admit that I was a tad disappointed by the rather average dishes. Tried some of the recommended dishes (as recommended by bloggers) such as the fried oysters, hokkein mee and popiah and other than the oyster omelette that lived up to its expectations, I personally feel that I have tried more  delicious hawker dishes in other food courts/markets.

Katong Keah Kee Fried Oysters

A plate of gong gong seashells from Boon Tat Seafood BBQ

Chinatown Ann Chin Popiah (minimum 2 rolls of popiah for $4)

Newton Lim Kee Hokkein Mee

A thrift corner that has a small range of 2nd-hand and pre-loved vintage treasures on display. Vintage finds that date back to our parents’, or even grandparents’ generation! Interested in getting your hands on a piece of antique? While the items at the Singapore Food Trail are not on sale, you might like to know that you will be able to find many similar vintage knick-knacks at some of the antique shops in Chinatown. The boy & I will be keeping our eyes peeled for reasonably-priced (and functional) vintage film cameras!

. DEAL discount code .

Enjoy 5% DISCOUNT off your purchase when you key in this code!

* Code is valid from 13th Dec to 13th Jan 2011. 

Shoppers who purchase DEALs totaling more than $100 in a single transaction using the above discount code stand a chance to win $20 DEAL credit rebates! It’s that simple – All you need to do is to shop to your heart’s content while enjoying the 5% savings off your purchase! Happy shopping! 

. perfumestore.sg .

Incanto Bloom by Salvatore Ferragamo – A fun & refreshing cocktail of citrus, tea rose and freesia flowers. The wonderful seasons of Spring & Summer comes to mind immediately as I caught a whiff of the floral-smelling perfume. The scent is crisp and clean and opens up to notes of grapefruit and fresh blossoms. A scent that I truly love.

* Thanks to Gabriel from PerfumeStore.sg for sponsoring this lovely bottle of Incanto Bloom.

Come this Lunar New Year, be prepared to shop to your heart’s content as the mega Chinese New Year Sales is now on at PerfumeStore.sg! With discounts up to 75% , these perfumes are going at incredibly cheap warehouse prices (even cheaper than the fragrance sold at its online competitors). You might also be delighted to learn that delivery is free within Singapore so there’s no hidden cost to the price shown online. On top of that, all customers will receive a free perfume token with every bottle purchased! Sounds fantastic?

Currently Singapore’s largest online perfume retailer, PerfumeStore.sg has over 90 internationally-recognised fragrance brands for sale. Not a fan of perfume? Not to worry as it is also a one-stop website where you can shop for other items such as body lotion, shower gel and skincare products. Shopping for beauty products has never been so convenient and you are sure to find something that catches your eye on PerfumeStore.sg!

Shop now at PerfumeStore.sg! Remember to join their facebook page to receive regular updates!