Archive for the ‘#Advertorial/Sponsored Review’ Category
Korean Brand Skin Care Product Review: Zymogen Green Apple AHA Series
- Sponsored Review –
How is your week coming along chewy chewy friends? Good I hope! Anyway, today’s blog post content is gonna be very different from the usual food and lifestyle posts cuz it’s my very first time doing a review on skin care products! Sometime back, Cotde Inc. from Korea approached me to review their products when they were preparing to launch Zymogen in Singapore. Cotde Inc. currently manage four cosmetics brands, of which Zymogen is one of them, and each of their brands has its own characteristics and concepts. I received a large parcel of Zymogen Green Apple AHA skin care products when we got back from our honeymoon trip! :)
The brand story of Zymogen revolves around Fermentation and Enzyme Cosmetics; in other words, components of Zymogen are clean, highly active for improving your skin (has anti-aging & whitening effect), and cosmeceutical (treats pimple, acne scars and blemishes).
Step 1
For almost 3 weeks, I have been engaging in a 4-step (morning) and 5-step (night) skin care routine on a daily basis. Needless to say, I start with cleansing my face with the Zymogen Green Apple AHA Wash Foam ($25, 250ml). The natural AHA contained in an apple exfoliates the old dead skin cells gently to make the texture of the skin smooth and even.
I normally use about half to two-thirds of a pump each time after wetting my face, which is sufficient. A full pump would be too much. The consistency is gel-like and lathers easily on the face. What I like best about the facial foam is that it doesn’t leave this tight sensation on my face but instead, my face feels soft and supple.
Step 2
The Zymogen Green Apple AHA Toner ($34, 105ml) contains organic acids from fermented Korean famous ‘Yesan Apple’ extracts which recover your skin’s soft and smooth texture soft through eliminating old skin cells and rough skin texture, while apple and licorice root extracts help pore control for oily and combination skin types.
Although it’s not stated anywhere on the bottle, I have this habit of inverting it a couple of times before dispensing two to three full pumps of toner onto my hand. I prefer patting the toner all over my face with both hands to moistening a piece of cotton wool with toner. The toner leaves a light and fresh feeling on my face.
Step 3
Believe it or not but I have never ever included an emulsion in my skin care routine before prior to using the Zymogen Green Apple AHA Emulsion ($34, 105ml).
Please don’t ask me what is the difference between an emulsion and a lotion because I honestly do not know. I can only conclude, from using Zymogen’s emulsion, that an emulsion is white, has a cloudy appearance and has a consistency slightly thicker than water. The absorption is quick and upon application, my face feels moisturized instantly.
Step 4
I don’t have the habit of using face cream too because of my oily skin. However, the Zymogen Green Apple AHA Cream ($35, 50ml) is highly recommended for almost all skin types.
I use only a bit of cream every morning and night and spread it evenly on my face. Surprisingly, it is not very greasy and my face feels firmer.
Step 5
Ok, throughout this post, you have been seeing ‘AHA’ popping up many times. AHA is alpha hydroxy acid and is believed to reduce wrinkles and signs of aging by giving the skin a smoother appearance. As the Zymogen Green Apple AHA 10 Essence ($39, 30ml) contains a high concentration of over 10% of AHA, a patch test is highly recommended to determine if your skin is suitable for it.
As per the instructions, I only use a few drops of essence at night. Thankfully, it doesn’t result in any redness or itchiness although there is a slight tingling sensation on my face.
If you have noticed, I did not really describe the effects that each of the above five products have on my face individually because I used all of them together and it would be difficult to pinpoint which product did what. All I can say is that, on the overall, I am very happy with the results derived from using Zymogen Green Apple AHA products because my face is visibily more radiant and skin tone is more even after just one week. This is also why I chose to stick with using them rather than switching back to my original skin care products even after this review. The above photo was taken at Sentosa over the weekend. Absolutely no makeup on and no editing was done to the photo. If you are interested, you can purchase Zymogen products from Qoo10. I love Zymogen! ;) Connect with us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy :) Cheers!
Wedding Sponsor: Beehoon Productions Instant Prints Photobooth
- Sponsored Post -
Howdyyy chewyyys! Previously, I blogged about our wedding gatecrash and tea ceremony, followed by our wedding banquet dinner in a separate post. Today, I’m gonna tell you more about another very awesome wedding sponsor of ours! The husband and I were so thrilled because we had been toying with the idea of having an instant prints photobooth set up at our wedding banquet venue for the longest time! :D
Founded in July 2010, Beehoon Productions (米粉制作) specializes in cinematography and photography for weddings, parties and events. No doubt founders of Beehoon Productions, Nigel Tan and Hacktor Chris Wong are barely 3 years into this business, but after looking at their various works, I can truly feel their sincerity through the tremendous effort that they put in, in producing the best memories for their clients. Not forgetting that this duo is young and full of vibrant energy, anything and everything is possible! They have even ventured into underwater wedding photography!
About 1.5 months before our wedding, we met up with Nigel and Hacktor to have a look at the quality and past designs of their instant prints artwork. Basically, there are two sizes to choose from – 4R or card sized prints. Besides the photobooth, Beehoon Productions also offer the “Roaming Photographer” instant prints service whereby the photographers will roam around the reception and banquet to ask for shots.
Of course, we opted for the photobooth because there is a wide variety of cute and fun props that our guests can choose to pose with at the photobooth! These props definitely liven up the photos and also give an extra touch of wackiness!
Beehoon Productions took about 30 minutes to do their setup outside our ballroom at Orchard Parade Hotel and they were kind enough to stay till around 9pm in order to make sure that our guests had a chance at the photobooth. They were also very generous in sponsoring us unlimited 4R prints. At this point you must be wondering what printer they use! Beehoon Productions uses an industrial grade printer with a printing speed of around 12 seconds for each 4R photograph, which means that if you have 5 people in a group shot, it will only take about 1 minute for everyone to receive their instant prints!
My cousins seem to be having a good time at the photobooth!
More cousins! (LOL sorry my creativity in captioning is limited)
The idea is very simple. You queue, pick up as many props as you like, position yourselves properly in front of the backdrop and then strike your best pose for the camera guy! Speaking of backdrop, we chose a white one. There is also a pink and a blue backdrop, but you can only decide on one color. Beehoon Productions also offer, at a top-up, a live projections service whereby images can be viewed instantly while your event or wedding is ongoing.
Hahaha yeah call me bochup but I was simply too lazy to think of a layout design that I want and left everything to Nigel after sending him a few of our wedding photos for him to choose from. Basically, he cropped us out, together with ladder, blackboard, TV, stool and radio. Hahaha. I guess Nigel chose the wooden borders to fit our photo since it had some wooden elements in it. I chose to stay with this design so as not to complicate the overall outlook of the photo. Every customer is entitled to a unique customized border design which I think is really cool!
I have selected some shots to be shared in this post. You will be surprised that as many as eight or more people can fit into the photo booth!
I’m so glad we managed to take a keepsake shot with the Beehoon Productions team who helped out at our wedding banquet. Love them! Do head over http://www.facebook.com/beehoonproductions and view more of their works! And don’t forget to stay connected to us via Facebook and Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy :D
Wedding Sponsor: Bridesmaid Dresses from ClothingCandy
- Sponsored Post –
Hellooooo chewys! Very long never hear my ‘voice’ right? Hahaha. Just got back to work after returning from our honeymoon trip so basically I’m busy clearing hundreds of emails and trying to piece things together. And by the time I get home, I’m like already half dead. Very eager to share our free and easy travel experience around Europe so stay tuned for the upcoming blog posts. The husband and I have a #thechewyshoneymoon hashtag on Instagram so you can check some photos out in the meantime :) On Tuesday night, we went to collect our actual day wedding photos and video from our photographer at Vivocity and we are super satisfied with the PGs’ and VG’s work! Wanna share as much as we can over here but first, let me do a feature on one of our wedding sponsors, ClothingCandy!
Thanks to ClothingCandy, my bridesmaids were each adorned in a beautiful Sky Blue Bridesmaid Dress. I absolutely love this piece even though I didn’t get a chance to wear it. It’s a really unique design for a bridesmaids dress featuring my favorite shade of blue and the chiffon material is really soft and light. ClothingCandy has a very wide collection of bridesmaid dresses and other cocktail dresses from sizes XS to XXXL. Plus size dresses are at no additional cost! Other than bridesmaid dresses or dresses in general, there are also plenty of shirts, hoodies, pants, etc to shop for, which are affordable, trendy, of great quality and exquisite design. And if you are into Korean fashion, look no further!
Bridesmaid #1 and Maid of Honour: Pei Rong
Bridesmaid #2: Maureen aka misstamchiak
Bridesmaid #3: Bee
Bridesmaid #4: Adelene
Bridesmaid #5: Ying Pei
All of my bridesmaid looked really sweet and dainty in their dresses, don’t you agree? The dresses are available in sizes S, M and L.
It’s hard for misterchewy’s brothers to not be smitten by my pretty bridesmaids! Hehehe. :P
Like ClothingCandy’s facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/ClothingCandy/app_160291820682178 and you will get an instant 8% discount code!
Celebrate Christmas with PrimaDeli’s Truffle Log Cake!
-Sponsored Post-
I really have to thank PrimaDeli for sending me their delicious cakes every now and then. Last Christmas, I received a really cute Frosty the Snowman cake and this time, they sent me a beautiful Truffle Log Cake ($35.90 standard, $46.90 per kg) which totally blew me away when I took it out from the box!
The rich and luscious chocolate sponge cake covered with velvety-smooth truffle cream was absolutely pure decadence! Everyone who had a slice of this cake agreed that the truffle cream was surprisingly good and didn’t taste overly creamy.
Special Promotion till 20 December 2012:
-15% off Log Cakes (1 kg and above), Santa’s Cottage and Frosty Snowman.
- Additional 3% off for Prima Privilege Cardholders
- CitiBank Cardholders: 8% off + 10% Citi rebate (for Log Cakes (1 kg and above), Santa’s Cottage and Frosty Snowman)
- Starburst – Purchase any Christmas cake and add on Chef Supreme Pie @ $8.90 (u.p. $11.90)
* while stocks last
Thank you PrimaDeli!
Makeup & Hairdo by CrystalLin Artistry for Casmin’s Wedding
-Sponsored Makeover-
It seemed like it was not long ago when I blogged about Casmin’s hen’s night party! Sorry that this blog post came a little late :P I attended Casmin’s wedding last month with my other other colleagues at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel. Sweet memories for me because that was where misterchewy and I held our ROM!
I was really lucky that I had a makeup and hairdo sponsor for the wedding dinner! The timing was right when Crystal from CrystalLin Artistry approached me to do a review and I told her that I had a wedding dinner to attend and everything fell into place. She came over to my house with a huge makeup trolley bag! I was actually quite worried because it was raining that day but she arrived well on time!
Here’s a ‘Before’ photo after putting on foundation.
The process of the makeup and hairstyling was photographed by Crystal’s bf! Thank goodness he was around to help take photos :P
Crystal is a very friendly and affable makeup artist. She puts me at ease and I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all during the session :)
I told Crystal that I didn’t want to have my hair bunned up because I was afraid that it would make my face look rounder than what it already is :P She said that there are many hairstyles that I can try out even with my hair down.
She went on with doing a half-updo with a hair bow for me, which she later revealed that it was inspired by one of Lady Gaga’s music video!
OMG I mad love the hair bow! It’s really sometime unique and very cute too! :D
We are not done yet! Crystal suggested curling my hair too.
Can you see my purple highlights? Really satisfied with the curling effect that it has!
An ‘After’ photo with Crystal! :) Super happy with the overall makeover! If you are looking for a MUA for casual or wedding photoshoot, D&D, prom night or Christmas parties, you can contact Crystal and find out more from her at https://www.facebook.com/CrystalLinArtistry :)
A wore a long black tube dress which was also one reason why I preferred to let my hair down.
Good thing my parents offered to send me to Grand Copthorne Waterfront if not I would have a hard time walking around in my long dress and heels! This was the candy table setup!
This and the next few photos were taken by Casmin’s actual day photographer!
Love attending wedding dinners! :) Next customary wedding update whose one? Wanna make a guess? LOL! :P
Dining at Grand Park Orchard: Open House Restaurant and Bar Canary
-Media Invite-
Happy Friday, chewy chewy folks! As mentioned in my Grand Park Orchard staycation post, I am gonna tell you more about the buffet dinner that misterchewy and I had at Open House Restaurant on the day that we checked into the hotel.
Located in the heart of Orchard Road, Open House Restaurant focuses on dishing out numerous local culinary delights as well as serving a la minute signature dishes such as pizzas and dim sum.
The Cold Buffet Selection consists of sushi, salads and other cold cuts.
We kicked off our dinner with some Japanese Sushi! Of course, we had to resist carrying the entire tray back to our table. It was a pity that they don’t serve sashimi.
There are four ‘live’ cooking stations at Open House Restaurant. Starting with the Roast Meats with Noodles or Rice station, we have Chef Jacky Chua expertly chopping up a roasted duck for us.
We don’t have an enormous appetite so we decided to only try two of the roast meats. We were very satisfied with the Roast Duck as it was tender and had a very nice, deep flavor. The sauce was so good on its own that we didn’t even bother with the chili. Not forgetting the crisp and crackling skin!
I have to say that the Roast Pork Belly was equally good too and it went really well with mustard. Very tempted to order another serving.
Actually, I would see the Noodles station as separate from the roast meats station because they have laksa etc and you don’t really need to order say a plate of chicken before you can enjoy your laksa.
Again, we only had two types of noodles. The Laksa was pretty decent and I guess the spiciness would work well for the average Singaporean and probably suitable for most tourists who are keen on trying our local food.
We were recommended to try the Szechuan Noodles but I felt that it wasn’t sour and spicy enough like how the typical Szechuan noodles should taste like. In fact, it was neither here nor there.
Both of us were excited upon knowing that there is a Dim Sum station!
Heh heh.. Dim sum gone in a flash! Can tell that it’s very popular with the rest of the diners too right?
Both the Har Gau and Siew Mai did not disappoint and I kinda regret that we did not eat the glutinous rice, radish cake and BBQ pork bun!
We were pleasantly surprised that there is a Claypot station too!
I wish I could put in some good words for the Waxed Meat & Chinese Sausage Claypot Rice but it could have tasted better with more salted fish (if there were any at all, I can’t remember). Also, the claypot rice wasn’t cooked long enough for the fragrance to come through. And also, more sauce please!
We went for our usual choice of pizza which is the Frutti Di Mare. Pizza dough was thick and chewy enough for our liking. Crust was also quite moist.
Festive All-You-Can-Eat (till 23 Dec)
Lunch: S$42++ per person
Dinner: S$58++ per person
All-You-Can-Eat (26 – 30 Dec)
Lunch: S$25++ per person
Dinner: S$33++ per person
Here’s something for you guys! Quote “missuschewy” during reservations via phone (6603 8855) or email (fnb.gpor@parkhotelgroup.com) and 1 gets to dine free with every three paying guests at Open House for All-you-can-eat lunch or dinner! Please note that this offer is valid till 30 December (not applicable on 24 & 25 December).
Christmas Eve All-You-Can-Eat (24 Dec)
Lunch: S$42++ per person
Dinner: S$98++ per person
(Includes free flow of wines, chilled juices & soft drinks)
Christmas Day All-You-Can-Eat (25 Dec)
Lunch / Dinner: S$68++ per person
(Add S$50++ per person to enjoy free flow of Champagne, wines & soft drinks)
New Year’s Eve All-You-Can-Eat (31 Dec)
Lunch: S$33++ per person
Dinner: S$148++ per person
(Includes free flow of Champagne, wines, beers, House Pour spirits & soft drinks till 12.30am)
After a bit of strolling around after dinner, we headed to Bar Canary for drinks. It was fantastic chilling out under the stars!
On ladies night (Wednesday), there is a 50% discount on champagnes, wines and standard housepours.
Bar Canary’s talented bartender, Ryan, has come up with some Christmas specials that will put a smile on everyone’s faces! Misterchewy and I really enjoyed the drinks!
Peanut Butter Martini ($18++)
Santanilla ($18++)
Thank you Park Hotel Group for the invitation.
Grand Park Orchard
270 Orchard Road
Singapore 238857
Tel: 6603 8888
Email: info.gpor@parkhotelgroup.com
Singapore Staycation Blog Review: Grand Park Orchard Hotel
-Sponsored Staycation-
Hola chewy chewy friends! The kind folks from Park Hotel Group invited misterchewy and I for a staycation experience review at Grand Park Orchard Hotel about two weeks ago! Guess what? This is our fourth staycation this year! :D
Grand Park Orchard is situated in the heart of town, right smack in the middle of where all the bustling activity is! Its strategic location makes it a very popular hotel choice among locals and tourists because there are so many shopping centres nearby. Do you know that the hot and half naked bodies of the A&F guys are just downstairs?!
Lobby is on the 4th floor and Grand Park Orchard’s hotel ambassador had already positioned himself outside the lift, waiting to greet us with his dazzling smile. We were promptly showed to our room on level 9.
We were given an ultra swanky room with high speed Internet access simply by logging in with my name and the password written on the card.
Our 29 to 32sqm Premium Room was simply gorgeous! We love the floor-to-ceiling glass windows which gave the lofty room a more dramatic and posh feel. And not forgetting the artistic designer wall mural! <;3
A large glass window for your viewing pleasure. Oh no I meant that you could soak in the tub and watch TV at the same time! What a brilliant idea! ;)
Can the hotel be any more generous than this?! It’s as though someone went grocery shopping at the supermarket and picked up every single variety of fruit that she saw. If you like fruits, good for you! If you don’t, I’m very sure there must be something on that plate that you will fancy.
A handwritten welcome card from the General Manager, which is a really nice gesture :)
The hubs was trying to use the hotel wifi while I continue snapping photos in our room.
Shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and lotion. All lavender! I like!
Just about everything that you need, it’s in there.
I was telling misterchewy that if the bath tub looks enticing enough, we could go shop for a nice shower gel for our bubble bath :P
I knew I didn’t have to worry about misterchewy feeling bored about being left alone because the reclining sofa (not sure what’s the exact term for it) looked really comfortable and he was already glued to the LCD TV.
Oh let’s backtrack a bit. The hubs wore another set of clothing when we travelled to the hotel and he wanted to change into the set which I had picked out and packed for him. However, the shirt had some creases and I took the chance to use the iron and ironing board in our room to prove my caliber as a good wife. *AHEM*
A quick look at the mini bar. Only the bottled water, tea and coffee are complimentary.
The fridge certainly is very well-stocked with most of our favorite drinks in there!
Takashimaya Shopping Centre is just across the street! I told you Grand Park Orchard’s location is awesome, didn’t I?
Photo taken by misterchewy using iPhone 5′s panorama function :)
Our outfit of the day! Both our clothes were gotten during our recent trip to Bangkok. I wore a light yellow dip hem maxi dress and paired a metallic gold bangle to go along with it. Cheery colors! ;) The hubs is usually seen wearing jeans because he works as an engineer so I made him wear shorts this time. Totally love the white long sleeved shirt with navy blue anchor prints that I chose for him! :D
We were totally famished and decided walk over to Mandarin Gallery for late lunch at Ippudo because misterchewy was craving for ramen.
We were walking around aimless and then misterchewy suggested that we go to *SCAPE to catch some toys! But nothing caught my eye :( Or am I too old for this? LOL.
*SCAPE is also one of the more popular locations for casual outdoor wedding photoshoot! I’m giving you people some ideas ok? :P Oh yeah, misterchewy was carrying a Sephora paper bag because we bought a really sweeeeet smelling shower gel! ;)
Was tired from all that walking and decided to head back to our hotel room for a short rest before dinner. Took a mini tour around first. The gym faces the swimming pool so if you need some motivation on the treadmill, there you have it! :P
How nice and thoughtful of the hotel to supply gym goers with towels, bottled water and energy drinks. Yes the energy drinks are free!
Bar Canary is located right next to the pool.
I think I had stretched my walking limits and was really eager to head back. Sky was turning dark too, from what we see when we reached our room.
LOL! The hubs was already waiting for me to turn around when I was done with taking photos and was waving at me from the toilet. He then proceeded to act as though he was surprised. -_-
Besides the hotel stay, we were also welcome to try the dinner buffet at Open House Restaurant.
Here’s a sneak peek!
I will be sharing more about the dinner buffet at Open House in my next post ;)
After dinner, we decided to take a long leisurely stroll outside Grand Park Orchard and soak in the Christmas atmosphere! The entire Orchard Road lights up beautifully at night.
At last! I’m as tall as misterchewy! Hahaha.
Time to chill out with some drinks at Bar Canary, which is located on the same floor as the lobby.
Shall tell you guys more about the drinks we had in the next post :)
Earlier in the day, we stopped by Sephora at Takashimaya and bought this Caramel Toffee bubble bath and shower gel. There were about 10 different ones for us to choose from. We smelled every single one and this is the one we liked best! Highly recommended if you and your partner like really sweet scent. A bottle costs only $15 and we used a third which was more than enough :D
The hotel provides bedroom slippers and bathrobes too. So there’s no need for you to pack your pyjamas along for your staycation! The bedroom slippers are of really good quality and very comfy too.
Good morning sunshine! We were supposed to wake up at 8am but overslept and woke up at 9plus instead! :O By the time we got dressed and reached Open House downstairs, it was nearly 10am. Good thing the buffet line closes at 11am during weekends! Phew! Hey, we both agreed that our bed was really way too comfortable and we had a really good night’s sleep! :D
Selection of bread and pastries are constantly being replenished. Everything is warm and toasty!
This was misterchewy’s favorite station! We had scrambled and poached eggs.
You can choose either plain or pork congee and various condiments are available.
Below are some of the a la carte buffet dishes that we had that morning. We were totally spoilt for choice and tried a bit from each station. My favorite dishes were the mee siam, eggs and waffles! :D
After a hearty breakfast, we just wanted to laze in bed. Good thing it had been arranged for us to check out at 4pm instead! We borrowed Crazy Stupid Love DVD from the concierge at the lobby. There were many other movies but most were already loaned to other guests in the hotel. But it’s ok because I love romantic comedies! :D
We had not watched Crazy Stupid Love before and had a really good laugh at some of the scenes. Ryan Gosling is sooooo suave and hawt! *Drools* :P
The hubs continued to laze in bed and read soccer news on his iPad.
Made a cup of Gryphon Earl Grey Lavender tea from the mini bar for myself!
We found that a copy of The Sunday Times had been delivered to our room early in the morning. Decided to make myself comfortable on the reclining sofa and catch up on the news with my cup of hot tea in hand. :)
All in all, the husband and I had a pretty marvelous staycation at Grand Park Orchard and managed to spend quality time with each other over the precious weekend. Currently, Grand Park Orchard is having a Christmas Escapade promotion from 15th to 30th December. Receive your last night free simply by staying for 3 consecutive nights or more! There’s no better way to spend Christmas with your loved ones than a luxurious staycation at Grand Park Orchard. ;)
Thank you Park Hotel Group for the kind invitation!
Grand Park Orchard
270 Orchard Road
Singapore 238857
Tel: 6603 8888
Email: info.gpor@parkhotelgroup.com
For room reservations, please contact 6603 8829/6603 8830 or email
rsvn.gpor@parkhotelgroup.com
The Chewys’ Genting Adrenaline Junkie Challenge 2012 (Part Two)
-Sponsored Trip-
Yippee! It’s Friday, chewy chewy peeps! As promised in my previous post, I will be sharing our Genting Adrenaline Junkie Challenge experience in greater detail with all of you! I had also mentioned that I was actually quite nervous about having to go through all the thrill rides, especially when we also had to perform additional tasks while at it! Oh wells, a challenge has to be challenging. A few days before the trip, curiosity got the better of me and I started googling ‘genting adrenaline junkie challenge’ to see if I could get any info from the web. And I did! One of the more informative blog posts was written by Malaysian blogger and celebrunner, Runwitme and reading her story certainly got me even more excited, and yes, more nervous as well! Imagine having to blow a balloon while you are on the rollercoaster?!
The husband looked a little perturbed. LOL. I don’t know why. Probably as afraid as me?
Btw, this is the view from our room. Took a couple of shots before we went down for breakfast :)
Breakfast buffet was at First World Cafe.
The buffet line was quite miserable but we weren’t complaining because it’s not like we wanted to stuff ourselves with food before going on all the thrill rides!
After a quick breakfast, we adjourned to the Genting International Convention Centre (GICC) for our briefing which started at around 9.30am.
There were 19 pairs of participants and each pair formed a team. The hubs and I belonged to Team 18! And we had to paint our faces omg! I was like, “Don’t draw so big ok!”
All of us had to step forward to ‘claim’ our map. Basically, it was kinda like Amazing Race. All 19 teams had to complete the nine stations/rides located in the indoor and outdoor theme parks. No skipping of stations was allowed; we had to get on the ride, complete the task, get the station marshal to sign on the map and collect a piece of the jigsaw puzzle before moving on to the next stop. All our routes were different so we didn’t have everybody rushing to the same place at the same time.
All hell broke loose the moment it was announced that the challenge had officially started! LOL! We were given two hours to complete all rides and return to the GICC.
Whoohoo! The Chewys are just about to unleash the adrenaline junkies in them! Hahaha. Some of the photos in this post were taken with my Sony compact camera, while the rest were taken by some of the RWG people. ;)
Our first station was the Spinner! We were lucky because it’s situated just in front of the entrance of the outdoor theme park. Only one of us had to sit on the Spinner. Both misterchewy and I were given a card each and we had to count the number of stars! It sounds easy but it’s not! Didn’t take photo of the card but it was madness! I think I counted until I saw stars!
Spot the yawning dude!
We had to total up our number of stars and shout out the answer but our answer was wrong. Hahaha! And we were made to sing twinkle twinkle little star at the top of our lungs as a forfeit!
Our second station as drawn on the map given to us was the Corkscrew. This was one of my most dreaded thrill rides. My legs turned into jelly and I think my face turned pale as we approached the ride.
Each time I sat on a roller coaster, this is my most hated part.
And this too! Lol. Ok la not that I always go for such thrill rides anyway.
Guess what?! Only one from each team had to go up on the ride while the other was tasked to drink 100Plus from a milk bottle. LOL! The hubs displayed his heroic side when the marshal asked, “Who’s going to sit?” and he shouted “ME!” without any hesitation :D
If I had to come up with a caption, it would be “sucking while corkscrewing”. Lol! Was that what the organizers had in mind when they paired this task with this ride?! Anyway, all of us had to finish the bottle of 100Plus before the ride ended. So just imagine all the girls sucking really furiously. Omg tough job.
Oh yay! I was the first to finish the entire bottle! The marshal was really strict. We weren’t allowed to leave even a single drop. Hoho. The hubs did great too! He looked really refreshed after the ride, don’t you agree? Hahaha :P
Our third station was the Flying Coaster. I can’t remember if I had tried this ride before but it did seem a little less scary than the Corkscrew.
We were given two tasks to do before we could go up on the ride. First, we had to find 10 ‘flying’ words in the puzzle given to us. We only managed to find 6 until the marshal told us the words could be broken up too, and then we found the remaining 4 very quickly. -_-
For our second task, one of us had to memorize a tongue twister in 20 seconds. There were a few tongue twisters printed on cards and were laid face down for us to choose. After memorizing for 20 seconds, we had to pass it to our partner, take the Flying Coaster together, and repeat the tongue twister to the marshal.
However, the ride had to be closed for 20 minutes for maintenance check so we were all made to hula hoop for at least 10 seconds. As you can see, misterchewy is a better hula hooper than me. LOLOLOL. I was the one who memorized the tongue twister and it went, “I saw a saw that could out saw any other saw I ever saw.” I had to memorize under pretty stressful conditions ok!
Next up, we headed to Snow World at the indoor theme park! I think during the 2010 challenge, the participants had to finish a cold drink and ice cream at Snow World. I also said that I would rather do this 100 times than having to go through the thrill rides. Read on to find out what happened..
We were supposed to carry a tube up and slide down. When we reached the bottom, we had to pick an ice cream flavor as shown in the above photo. If you and your partner picks the same flavor, one would have to go up, slide down and draw again, until you get a different flavor.
The first time, misterchewy and I got chocolate. So he offered to carry the tube up and slide down again. Draws chocolate. Up and down. Chocolate again omg. And then finally vanilla. ARGH.
Our next task was to finish the 5 (4 chocolate and 1 vanilla) cups of ice cream in 45 seconds! IMPOSSIBRU.
We were made to finish all the ice cream before we could proceed to the next station. Boohoohoo! I had a love-hate relationship with ice cream that day.
The Flying Dragon is also located at the indoor theme park. The indoor rides are very mild and suitable for kids.
Guess what. We had to solve Sudoku and everyone took really long to solve it! Also had to solve two mathematical questions each before the Flying Dragon ride and tell the marshal our answers when we got down.
Deng! Deng! Deng! Deng! Space Shot! I tried this before at Ocean Park in Hong Kong and Movie World in Gold Coast so I have somewhat more experience than misterchewy. Haha! But I was still having cold feet before the ride D:
The station marshal flashed us some names which belonged to the Genting mascots and we had to memorize them before the Space Shot ride. I was quite confident that I could remember “Tabby, Allie, Bennie, Geno, Joe” but the moment I sat down and started to tremble, I forgot everything. “Geno.. Beno..” Wrong already la.
Almost wanted to cry when we were slowly taking off!
Forcing a weak smile but I was like NO I wanna get down now!
Ok the ride was really quite scary and we agreed that the second drop was scarier than the first. We made it anyway! :D We had a time penalty of 40 seconds I think because we couldn’t remember the mascots’ names. Lol.
Our task for the Pirate Ship station was quite a funny one. Within each team, we had to decide who would be sitting on the fourth or last row. The one on the fourth row would be blindfolded and had to help his/her partner draw his/her lips with a lipstick!
Not very obvious on misterchewy because we chose an orange lipstick. But it did give him a sexier look. LOL!
Oh yeah~ Oh yeah~ Our 9th and final stop was the Sungei Rejang Flume Ride! Both of us had a piece of napkin pegged to the collars of our shirts. Our task was to keep the napkins dry! Very easy because we could just zip our jackets. ;)
We rushed back to the finishing point which was the GICC Hall.
Our map and completed jigsaw puzzle! Yay! :D
With our fellow Singaporeans!
We were treated to a buffet lunch before the prize giving ceremony.
The most happening team!
Best Singapore team!
Best Malaysian team!
Champion team!
With two of Genting’s mascots! Ummm.. Can’t remember their names! :P
Ending off this post with a group shot. Hope you guys enjoyed reading about our Genting Adrenaline Junkie Challenge experience! :)
Once again, a very big thank you to Resorts World Genting for the kind invitation!
The Chewys’ Genting Adrenaline Junkie Challenge 2012 (Part One)
-Sponsored Trip-
Wassup chewy chewy friends? A few weeks ago, I received an invitation from Resorts World Genting to participate in the Adrenline Junkie Challenge 2012. Resorts World Genting is located in Malaysia. We stay in the hotel near Kuala Lumpur. We search Expedia for great hotel deals. Oh boy, I was really thrilled because I could bring a partner along! Also, our transportation, accommodation and meals will be fully taken care of! In my mind, I was thinking, “OMG! I have always wanted to go to Genting with misterchewy!” Now that the opportunity has been presented to me, how could I pass it up? :P BUT, there was a slight catch. This part of the email was enough to make my heart thump really quickly. “You will need to go through the exciting thrill rides at the theme park plus additional tasks while at it. Kindly note that, you partner must take part in the challenge.” *GULP* We are not exactly adrenline junkies or daredevils! Anyway, all photos were taken using my old Sony compact camera because I didn’t think it would be a wise idea to lug my DSLR around at the theme park.
We were told to board the coach at Singapore Press Holdings (Toa Payoh) at 12pm. Guess what? There were only 8 of us! 3 bloggers and their partners, plus two Lian He Wan Bao readers.
Genting appeals to me as one of the couple getaway destinations because it is not too far from Singapore (about 7 hours coach journey. Lol), a one or two night stay should be sufficient, love the cool weather, and there are indoor and outdoor theme parks! :D We were really excited the minute we got on the coach but I also started to worry about the challenge because we had to go up on all the thrill rides in order to complete it :( Oh wells, let’s not worry too much for now! :)
Passports chopped! Wheeeee~!
Stopover for lunch! We already had ours with the in-laws before they sent us to SPH, so we sat somewhere and filled up our indemnity forms.
After what seemed like eternity.. We finally reached GENTING HIGHLANDS! :D :D :D It was around 7pm and we got there and I was freezing because I wore shorts. More comfortable to wear shorts on the bus mah. Hehe.
The PR folks from RWG, Oprah and JQ handed us our room card keys and Genting t-shirts that we had to wear the next day!
Walking to First World Hotel. My last time to Genting was many years ago but I could still vividly remember certain things.
We were told to deposit our bags into our rooms and gather at the lobby so that JQ and Oprah could take us to our dinner venue. This time, I made sure I changed into a pair of jeans! :P
Dinner was at Coffee Terrace. We had to walk a little bit to get there but at least it was way better than the First World Cafe. There is an ice cream promotion for the month of December, which explains the cute ice cream balloons hanging from the ceiling. Haha :P
We were pleasantly surprised when we stepped into the restaurant. Coffee Terrace seemed like quite a nice buffet place!
I think all of us Singapore bloggers went to whack the Japanese section first. Sashimi and sushi galore! :D
After a very satisfying dinner, Oprah and JQ very kindly showed us around the Visitor’s Galleria just next to Coffee Terrace.
With fellow blogger Cindy Kho (extreme right) and her friend, Charlie!
After that, it was pretty much free and easy for everyone. Since we had to endure a 7-hour journey here, we couldn’t just head back to our hotel so early right?! The husband and I decided to walk around and check out the indoor theme park :D
I jokingly said that we should go on one of the rides as a form of warming up exercise in preparation of the next day’s challenge!
Us in the front carriage of Euro Xpress! Of course not scary one la. But we pretended to be really scared and screamed all the way. LOL!
Checked out the casino next. Was quite surprised that nobody stopped me from taking photos. I’m assuming it’s ok?
It was just look look see see, we didn’t gamble. Anyway there were quite a number of smokers there so we left after a while.
Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas! ;)
Our room was located at First World Hotel’s Tower 2, on the 25th floor. When we were at the lobby, I asked misterchewy, “Our room is at which Tower ah? Tower 3 is it?” He replied, “Tower 3? You build yourself ah?” WIN. Bully me :(
When misterchewy learned that we would be putting up at First World Hotel, he kept telling me about how small and cramped the rooms were and that there wasn’t sufficient space in the toilet for people to move around comfortably. However, he was quite impressed because the room was spacious with a couch beside the TV, and a bath tub in the toilet. Turns out that we were given the Superior Deluxe room :D
Stay tuned everybardy! We will cover Genting Adrenaline Junkie Challenge 2012 Part 2 in our next blog post! :D
Thank you Resorts World Genting for the invitation!
Singapore Mid Autumn Festival 2012 Mooncakes + GIVEAWAY!
Hello my Chewy friends! Mid Autumn Festival is just two weeks away! Have you started placing your orders for mooncakes? There are so many mooncakes being paraded out there in the market already! What influences your buying decision? I’m sure the price, flavor, brand and packaging are just some of the many important factors right? Anyway, I know that the ‘mooncake eating season’ is not officially here yet, but I have had the wonderful opportunity of sampling some over the past few weeks! :D
We all know what Swensen’s is famous for. People of all ages will love their ever popular ice cream mooncakes. This year, these icy treats come in 6 flavours: Strawberry Fields Forever, Durian Royale, Yummy Yam, Sticky Chewy Chocolate, Cookies ‘n’ Cream Dreams and Mocha Almond Delight. Gotta love the lovely keepsake box featuring the unique Swensen’s Tiffany lamp designs too! Retails at $29.80 for a box of 4 or at $8.60 a piece. Available at all Swensen’s and Earle Swensen’s outlets till 30 September 2012.
Do you look forward to trying really unique snowskin mooncake flavors that are not readily available elsewhere? Then head to Xin Cuisine Chinese Restaurant at Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium!
Snowskin mooncakes are priced at $48 for a box of 6. Tantalize the taste buds with exciting and inventive mooncake flavors like Rum & Raisin Chocolate and Chinese dates paste, Soursop & Chocolate Crunch, Champagne Chocolate & Pandan Lotus Paste, Lavender Chocolate and Chempedak Lotus Paste, Peranakan mooncake with Durian Paste, and Black Truffle Walnut and White Lotus Seed Paste. I loved all flavors and if I really had to pick one that I really really really enjoyed, it would be the Soursop & Chocolate Crunch :)
Do you know that it is very popular to give and receive pineapple cakes during Mid Autumn Festival in Taiwan? I have always associated pineapple tarts with Chinese New Year but thanks to Sunnyhills, I can totally see myself eating pineapple cakes during Mid Autumn Festival in the future years to come!
Sunnyhills’ Mid-Autumn tote bag and gift box features the iconic Jade Rabbit (which kinda reminds me of Miffy) and are available in boxes of 10 pieces ($25), 15 pieces ($37.50) and 20 pieces ($50).
To ensure optimum freshness, each piece of Sunnyhills pineapple cake is individually packaged with a desiccant.
Its Singapore branch is located at Raffles Hotel while the Taiwan-based SunnyHills is a specialty bakery offering authentic pineapple cakes that are traditionally sourced, made, and baked in Taiwan. Having tasted the pineapple cakes, I have to say that the crust is moist, crumbly with a slight chewy bite and the fibrous pineapple filling is sweet and tangy, which makes this a very delightful snack!
Mention Emicakes and I’m sure everyone will agree that its Singapore’s Number 1 Durian Cake Maker. Fancy some D24 or Mao Shan Wang ice cream mooncakes? They come in small and large sizes as well as a mixed size combo.
I was given the Golden 4 Mao Shan Wang ($73.80) to sample. Remember to thaw it for a while after taking the mooncakes out from the freezer if not you’re gonna just have to risk breaking a tooth :P
Seriously, all hardcore durian fanatics will definitely love this creamy, rich and luxurious Mao Shan Wang ice cream mooncakes! Catching a whiff of this wonderful durian fragrance is guaranteed to make any durian lover go floating on cloud nine.
Singapore’s first bakery franchise, Prima Deli, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and what better way to mark this mid-autumn than to introduce family favourite mooncakes! Toffee Cappuccino, Chocolate Hazelnut and Raspberry Truffle snowskin mooncakes are three new additions to PrimaDéli’s current selection of more than twelve tantalizing flavours of traditionally baked and snowskin mooncakes.
The Royal Gift Set ($38.80) features an alluring selection of nine mini snowskin mooncakes in a classy gold box and makes a generous gift for friends and relatives. These family friendly flavors are perfect for indulging together with people of all ages – Oreo Chocolate, Cranberry Cheese, Toffee Cappuccino Pandan Lotus with Half Yolk, Strawberry Chocolate, Chocolate Hazelnut, Raspberry Truffle, Black Sesame with Mochi and D24 Durian.
In addition to the mini snowskin mooncakes, PrimaDeli also offers their traditional regular-sized Baked Mooncakes ($38.80 for a box of four).
My family and I sat down and shared all four mooncake flavors – Pure Lotus with Single Yolk, White Lotus, White Lotus with Single Yolk and Golden Jade with Single Yolk. Of all three types of lotus paste, I personally felt that pandan and green bean paste in the Golden Jade with Single Yolk was the most fragrant and refreshing flavor.
This Mid Autumn Festival sees Purple Sage introducing their mooncakes for the very first time! As the saying goes, all food.. umm I mean, all good things come in threes. Purple Sage’s mooncakes come in a classic box of Lotus Paste with Double Yolk and Melon Seeds, Jade Custard and Low Sugar Black Sesame White Lotus with Single Yolk ($38+). Of all the three flavors, I liked the Low Sugar Black Sesame White Lotus with Single Yolk best. Pairing it with a pot of Chinese tea makes eating these traditional mooncakes a very lovely experience.
Thanks to Purple Sage, one lucky reader will get to try a box of traditional mooncakes! If you are keen on joining this giveaway contest, click here for more info!
A big thank you to Swensen’s, Xin Cuisine, Sunnyhills, Emicakes, PrimaDeli and Purple Sage for the mooncakes and here’s wishing all our lovely readers Happy Mid Autumn Festival! :)
missuschewy
misterchewy
