Posts Tagged ‘staycation ideas’
Staycation @ Wanderlust Hotel: Romantic Space Themed Birthday
Happy birthday to me! Over the weekend, my dear misterchewy planned a birthday surprise and he checked us into Wanderlust Hotel which was conceptualized by Singaporean boutique hotelier Loh Lik Peng. I really have to admit that after our staycations at Porcelain Hotel and Oasia Hotel, we are indeed hooked on to this whole staycation idea in Singapore! Additionally, it’s extremely fun to explore certain parts of Singapore that you are not familiar with. We cabbed around most of the time :)
Since the standard check-in time was at 2pm, we had a simple and light lunch at Plaza Singapura’s Itacho.
Wanderlust Hotel is located in Little India, more specifically along Dickson Road and it’s quite near Sim Lim Square. It is a boutique hotel which draws people like misterchewy and myself, who want a totally new and refreshing experience from their hotel stay. There are four thematic levels of 29 rooms. We stayed in a Whimsical room on level 4 and we strongly recommend this for a fantasy-filled experience! :) There are five varying themes, ‘Bling’ , ‘ASCII’, ‘Space’, ‘Tree’ and ‘Typewriter’.
Very cool-looking lobby!
Took a couple of shots while waiting for the front desk personnel to be done with our paperwork.
Ohh, Cocoette is just beside the lift!
*GASP* It seemed like misterchewy had planned a bigger surprise for his wifey :P
Later on (after much grilling), I found out that the hotel had earlier promised a birthday cake but when misterchewy emailed to confirm two days before we checked in, they could only provide a birthday cookie instead. Lol. The room decorations cost him quite a bit.
Philips iPhone/iPod docking station and Nespresso Essenza coffee making machine in our room. Getting more common these days?
Yuppp! Our room is a two-storey room! There’s a staircase like OMGEE. As mentioned earlier, we stayed in a Whimsical room on level 4. These rooms are about 20-32sqm. Our room is a Space themed one! It’s super nice and super romantic~~~! :D :D :D
The stairs are a little narrow though! Plus the room is dark at night so you really gotta watch your step. Parents with young tots have to keep a close watch ya? :)
I can’t stop emphasizing how r-o-m-a-n-t-i-c the Space themed room is! There are even ‘twinkling stars’ in our room! :D
The Sealy Posturepedic queen sized bed is up on the second floor.
There’s a red hot rocket in our room!
We spent quite a bit of time camwhoring in our room before moving off to our next destination which is at Hougang! We took a cab down and reached in about 15 minutes.
I thought I should be nice and give misterchewy a little break from too much planning so I signed both of us up for a Terrarium Workshop the day before our staycation. I know it’s very last minute arrangement but it was a perfect decision! I reckon it’s a very unique couple bonding and dating activity, so I will definitely be sharing more on this in a separate blog post :)
Since we had a couple of hours to kill before dinner, we decided to loiter around the area so that we didn’t have to travel too much. Dinner would be at Chinatown :)
And yeah, what other dating activities are there besides eating, shopping and watching movies?! We headed to K Ki and shared two slices of cakes! :D It was misterchewy’s first visit and he loved the souffle cheescake :) The chocolate cake was good too!
I’m back here again after two years :D The owner, Delphine, told us that her baby girl is 15 months old now!
Did more walking up and down Ann Siang Hill to burn off the extra calories. Hahaha!
Lovely dinner at Senso Ristorante & Bar along Club Street. There will be a separate post for this too!
Before returning to our room, we went to level 2 to check out the jacuzzi. Look look see see only because we didn’t bring swimwear.
A quick look at the standard bath amenities before we took our bubble bath.
Rain shower. The bath amenities provided are from Kiehl’s. The hubby liked the fragrance from the Kiehl’s shampoo and shower gel so maybe it’s time for me to pamper him huh? Haha. And nope, we are not showing pics of us enjoying our bubble bath this time :P
Wheeeeeee~ Making sure that our terrariums are doing ok before we go to bed.
The view of the room at night and in the morning is actually similar since the curtains are drawn shut. So, we fell asleep to a night sky full of stars and woke up seeing stars. A very very lovely experience I would say! :))
The next morning, we went down to Cocotte on level 1 for breakfast. Room rates are inclusive of semi-buffet breakfast over here.
After breakfast, we prepared to check out of our room and spent the last 30 minutes doing some last minute camwhoring. LOL.
Yay! One last shot before checking out! :P
This is a photo collage done by misterchewy on his iPad, using the photos he posted on Instagram :) And yes, he treated me to lunch at the renowned Pollen at Gardens by the Bay! Will share more about Pollen and Flower Dome in another post! :D :D :D
Some sneak peeks at the photos we took at Flower Dome! Hehehe.
Posted this on our Facebook page last night! This uncle totally photobomb us man..
Thank you misterchewy for making my birthday so extra special and for making me feel like a princess! Hehe! Lub chew! <3 <3 <3
Oasia Hotel Singapore: 1st Year Anniversary Party & Staycation!
-Sponsored Staycation-
Hot on the heels of our blog post on The Chewys’ very first Singapore staycation, we have lined up another mega blog post filled with many photos taken during the 1st Year Anniversary Party and staycation at Oasia Hotel! The party was very fun and lively; with lots of cocktails and chocolates to go around. As for the staycation, we are summing up our experience in three words: awesome, impressive and exclusive! :D
Oasia Hotel is situated in the heart of the charming Novena enclave, just a stone’s throw away from shopping malls, Novena Square Velocity and Square 2, as well as the Novena MRT Station. Talk about extreme convenience and accessibility! Since it was a little early for us to check-in, we settled our lunch at Square 2′s Sakae Sushi before crossing the link bridge over to Oasia. At about 2pm, we proceeded straight to Level 22 because that’s where the check-in/check-out is done for Oasia Club rooms or suites guests.
The club room that we stayed in for the night is on the 24th floor, highest being the 25th. The room features understated modern decor, subtle hues of nature-inspired elements and ambient lighting that will soothe one’s senses.
All Oasia Club Room guests will also enjoy very exclusive privileged access to The Living Room and its pool facilities on the 22nd floor, as well as complimentary breakfast, cocktail and all-day coffee, tea, juices, soft drinks and alcoholic drinks at The Living Room, complimentary one piece of suit pressing per stay (non accumulative) and daily newspapers.
Fresh fruits in our room. How nice! :)
There’s even stationery! It’s all the little things and personal touches like these that are both welcoming and intuitive, which left us impressed.
We love listening to music and we were grinning from ear to ear upon seeing the iPod/iPhone docking machine! :D
Most hotel rooms only have like two or three pin power point sockets so it was pleasant to have this USB power socket. One USB cable does the trick of charging all your electronic devices like your camera, mobile phone and MP3 player. At least it works for me! Imagine the hassle of having to bring ten different chargers for all your devices. :P
All Oasia Club rooms are equipped with unlimited broadband access. Here’s misterchewy calling the reception to find out what’s the correct ‘last name’ to key in together with our room number, in order to log onto the WIFI network.
46 inch LED television!
Woots! Complimentary mini bar is rather well-stocked. :D :D :D
If you want a hot drink, there’s also Nespresso coffee-making facilities! :D
Not a fan of coffee? There’s Naturalis tea!
We went, “Whoaaaaa!” In this wardrobe, there are bath robes, bedroom slippers, iron with ironing board, and even a large umbrella! Very thoughtful indeed!
And here comes the part many would be concerned about, other than the bed. Bath tub on the left, rain shower on the right!
I first had the chance to use these bath amenities from Thann when I stayed in one of the hotels in Taiwan. Madly in love with the aromatic wood scent!
Everything that you need, it’s in there! Toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, shaver, showering cap, cotton buds, loofah, etc!
Heh heh heh. You can derive a little bit of fun and excitement from watching your partner shower! :P The blinds can be operated with a simple click in the bathroom.
Same goes for the blinds and shades in the room! We were greeted by a very breathtaking view of the city! Basically, the husband and I just sat on the ledge and admired the sight for a good 10 minutes :) Haha but of course, we had to pull down the blinds after a few minutes because it was getting kinda hot! :P
As we had a couple of hours to kill before the event, Hubby Chewy and I went for a little tour around the hotel! Went to level 8 first.
The swimming pool looks very nice right! I like the ‘feel’!
There’s a jacuzzi too!
The gymnasium is located on level 8 too. Not very big but it has a handful of cardio machine like the treadmill and stationary bike. Those who are on an endurance or strength training regime can make use of the free weights and the all-in-one machine!
And now, level 22! Over here, Oasia Club room guests get to enjoy very exclusive benefits and be pampered like kings and queens!
Tadah! This is The Living Room! Very nice place to chill out!
Here’s a sneak peek of the setup for the event at night! ;)
We pushed past the glass door and stood in awe in front of this very beautiful infinity pool which boasts a magnificent view of the city! Oh man, I wish I could jump right in! Anyway, this is only open to club room guests!
This jacuzzi looks way bigger than the one we saw at level 8!
How relaxing it is to just lie here and enjoy a glass of orange juice as you get your dose of Vitamin D! Just remember to apply sunblock! :P
Hey hey hey! That’s not all to it. Light bites by the pool are available for club guests between 6-8pm at the Club Lounge. If you are like me who gets hungry after a swim, you should rejoice to this! :P
Since the event was scheduled to start at 7pm and we didn’t have time for dinner, we ate a bit from the spread.
We are now ready to party! I love how these glasses are being made use of here. Brilliant!
Some of the early birds that night :P
Very addictive Monbana chocolates from France! I loveeee dark chocolates :D
Pretty Monbana girls who flew over to Singapore as a team!
I met winner of Project Superstar Season 2, Daren Tan Sze Wei!
Turns out that he’s the Sales and Marketing Director of Naturalis! Their products include teas, jams, spreads, honeys and sauces.
The bartender was preparing the welcome drink for everyone, which made use of products from Naturalis.
Summer’s Bouquet is a lovely concoction of vodka, elderflower syrup, Singapore Sling tea, lemon and ice cubes!
I’m sure everybody present that night enjoyed the exclusive Chocholatier Masterclass conducted by Mr Geoffroy Maubon, who’s the first barista of Monbana!
I can’t recall the name of this drink but I loveeee its color very much! My favorite color :P
Next up was the highlight for the night, the unveiling of Oasia’s signature cocktail drink! It has also been very aptly named, “L22“.
Since we were there to celebrate Oasia’s 1st year anniversary, we couldn’t go without a massive birthday cake topped with macarons that brought about surprised gasps from the awe-stricken audience!
We called it a night after singing the birthday song and grabbing a piece of macaron! What a night! :D
Hahaha I kinda sabo-ed misterchewy to be interviewed instead of me doing the job because I’m camera shy! Oops! :P
Back in our room. LOL! I told misterchewy I’m gonna do a test shot and he did this pose. Super cheeky la!
Oh yes, after the event ended, I was feeling kinda hungry and we hopped over to Novena Square. It’s that convenient! Had a craving for sashimi, as usual, and we grabbed some from Cold Storage. Half price somemore. Hahaha!
Feeling very refreshed after a long hot shower! :D
Face masking time for us! I swear we friggin look like Alien Workshop! LOLOLOL.
The bed was way too comfy and we decided to just lie there watching Titantic on our iPad! :D :D :D
I can’t believe I got hungry again towards the end of the movie! Hubby Chewy then suggested that we order something from the supper menu that’s available from 11pm to 5am by calling room service! He had the fries while I was contented with my mushroom soup with truffle oil.
Time for bed! A couple who brushes their teeth together, stays together. Hahaha! :P
We had a very good sleep and woke up to the rhythmic pitter patter of raindrops against the window pane early next morning. :)
Nothing beats lazing in bed with your loved one while listening to music from the iPod docking machine! It was fabulous! We played songs from Rita Ora, Katy Perry, The Wanted, Jayesslee, Jay Chou and many more. :D :D :D
The husband and I have a thing for having breakfast in the hotel. Good thing we remembered to tick the items that we wanted and hung our order on the door knob before we slept the night before.
I don’t have much of an appetite in the morning and settled for the mini pancakes and some cornflakes while misterchewy had a hearty American breakfast with bacon and poached eggs!
Woots! Breakfast is served! No words can explain how blissful we felt :D
That’s all folks! Have a fantabulous weekend and a lovely holiday on Chewsday! :P
Thank you Far East Hospitality and Dice Studio for the kind invitation.
If you have been wondering about Oasia, wonder no more! Click here to enjoy 10% off Oasia Hotel Singapore Weekend Package! :)
Oasia Hotel Singapore
8 Sinaran Drive
Singapore 307470
Tel: +65 6664 0333
Fax: +65 6664 0300
Email: info@oasiahotel.com
The Chewys’ First Staycation @ The Porcelain Hotel’s Theme Suite!
Whoohoo! I’m finally blogging about the AWESOME STAYCATION that misterchewy and I had over the long Easter holiday! So what is a ‘Staycation’? Credits to Google: A vacation spent in one’s home country rather than abroad, or one spent at home and involving day trips to local attractions. It was definitely a first for us, and we are not counting our previous stay at Grand Copthorne Waterfront as a staycation because we merely checked in for the night right after our ROM and checked out the very next morning. I somehow realized that there is this ‘staycation trend’ lately, and have always thought that it’s ridiculous to spend money staying in a hotel when you have your own comfortable bed to sleep in. One fine day, I came across The Porcelain Hotel which is a boutique hotel and decided to test out the experience there! Yours truly booked the Queen Executive room for a night and it was also meant to be a surprise for the hubby. I was so excited that I started planning our activities two weeks before! :D :D :D
Hehehe our OOTD was matching leopard prints top and jeans! I don’t really like to wear jeans but this time I made an exception. The name necklace was a gift from the hubby during Valentine’s Day! :D
We woke up really early for this. Brunch at Alkaff Mansion! The place is gorgeous! More photos later :P
Our new iPad! Haha the funny thing is, misterchewy had been pestering me endlessly about it. I didn’t see the point in getting one but gave in anyway. Guess what? He paid for it but it’s mine now because Hubby Chewy said that my BB’s keypad is not functioning properly. :D *Soooo touched* And I love what’s engraved on it! ;)
A glass of freshly squeezed orange juice to kickstart the beautiful Saturday morning! :)
Hubby Chewy knew that he wanted the Alkaff Breakfast Set ($14.80) the moment he had his hands on the menu. He’s decisive like that sometimes! :P
Hungry boy all ready to tuck in! ^_^
I can’t remember when was the last time I had pancakes!
It was an instant pancakes-craving-finally-satisfied moment when I ate the first half of my Banana Hot Cakes ($12.80). Thick, fluffy pancakes drizzled in blueberry sauce with sweet banana slices sandwiched in between, I knew that I did not wake up early that morning in vain. However, my appetite seemed to have shrunk recently and I was struggling to finish the pancakes.
I had planned another outfit but a couple of days before the staycation, I saw this top on display and stood gaping at it. LOL! I grabbed misterchewy’s arms and went, “OMG! Can totally match your t-shirt!”
This is really beautiful! I bet it would be nice to sit here and read a book while enjoying the cool breeze.
The fountain attracted many little kids who happily splashed water with their hands!
This huge rocking chair is way too cute! If only we could have this in our home! :P
Apparently, we couldn’t find anyone to help us take photos and decided to put our camera on self-timer mode.
It started to drizzle right after this shot! Talk about perfect timing.. ;)
We went a little downslope and found ourselves at Telok Blangah Hill Park!
A final self-shot before making our way to the next destination – The Porcelain Hotel at Chinatown! :D :D :D
Photo credits: The Porcelain Hotel
Whoa. Look at this. Stunning isn’t it? I love most of the photos posted on the hotel’s website and facebook page, which led me to the decision in booking a night’s stay here! :)
Check in time is anything after 2pm. We arrived at 12plus and decided to try our luck! And yes, our room was ready! :D
Our Queen Executive room was located on the fifth floor which also happens to be the highest floor. The corridor was really dark and kinda creepy. :S
The reviewers sure weren’t kidding when they commented that the rooms are insanely small. Can you believe that this is an Executive room? This was what greeted us when we opened the door. Like, so in-your-face. Not for the claustrophobic puh-leeze. I was really upset and misterchewy phoned the reception. It turns out that the pictures I saw on their facebook page are taken at the new wing, which is not available yet. Plus there’s no bath tub! *Cheat my feelings* Hubby Chewy checked that we could upgrade to either a room with jacuzzi or the theme suite at an additional $50++ or $80++ per night respectively.
As I was still reeling from shock, Hubby Chewy said, “Ok la let’s go for the best. Theme Suite ok? I treat you to the upgrade.” :D :D :D
The first thing that we saw upon entering was not a bed, but a couch.
Although it’s not written all over my face, I was really stunned to see a staircase in our room! Haha!
Woots! That’s our bed! :D
Our Theme Suite is about 43 square meters. If I didn’t remember wrongly, the Queen Exec is about 13 to 14 square meters. Tremendous difference yo!
There’s free WIFI! Hmm I think this would benefit tourists more.
Photo credits: The Porcelain Hotel
THIS. Yes this made my jaw drop and I actually squealed out loud in excitement. LOL.
The bath tub is situated behind the bed, partitioned by the mirror and basins. So it’s like u can soak yourselves in the tub while enjoying the air-con yo! Machiam hot spring during winter! :D
Haha aiya misterchewy also excited lor. :P
Time to check out the fridge! Heh :P Well, there’s nothing except for two bottles of water. Good thing they chilled it for us!
Coffee, tea or me? Lol.
These hotel bedroom slippers are a must for me!
Another must-have in the hotel – hair dryer!
Like I said earlier, I had our activities all planned out! Decided to go to My Waterway @ Punggol (also known as Punngol Waterway) because it was along the NEL. Seemed like it rained before we arrived!
Haha seriously, we were laughing at this staircase. No idea where or what does it exactly lead to..
“Ahhh! My bus come already!” LOL just for fun.
LOL misterchewy told me to run towards him for this shot! Can you see how happy I am running towards my love? :P
This pose was not exactly a deliberate attempt on my part. I was feeling tired and wanted to sit down.. and hence this! ;) Hehehe misterchewy was teaching me some ‘leading lines’ photography composition and he took this photo to show me an example. Ok la I think got a bit :P
*Cues “Wa meng ti! Wa meng ti!” song* HAHAHA! I should photoshop some dark clouds and a storm but I don’t know how! :P
I think we are starting to look more and more alike. >;_<; LOL!
It was our first time here and we were kinda surprised that there weren’t many people even though it was a weekend. Everyone’s busy shopping, perhaps? We saw a Malay couple having their wedding shots taken there and a couple of joggers. Plus a few lone rangers. That’s about it I think.
I can’t believe I actually shouted, “Look! Got coconut tree!” Damn fail. But it does look like one, no? :P
This was where we deviated from the original plan! We had wanted to go to Chomp Chomp for early dinner like at around 4plus but the place opens only at 6pm! Hungry us found ourselves at Ramen Champion at Iluma :D
Went back to the hotel after dinner. We found another ‘secret’ entrance to the hotel! Nobody mans the counter over here. Haha! It’s me again, holding up the new room card this time :P
The weather was really quite humid and the first thing we did was to take a nice long shower! We used the hotel’s shampoo and bath gel. Bought the facial wash and hair conditioner at Bugis after dinner! Ok the thing that I like is that there is a wide enough ledge where I can place all our toiletries on!
We had been eagerly looking forward to this! A week before, I pulled misterchewy along to choose the scents he like or didn’t like because he’s quite fussy. We went to Marks & Spencer but nothing appealed us. Found this Bodycology Vanilla Cupcake Shower Gel & Foaming Bath in a small shop and the moment we took a whiff, we knew this was the one! Very very candy-sweeeeet-smelling! Vanilla cupcake mah! :P We poured the entire bottle under running water! The water was only slightly hotter than lukewarm. But we enjoyed it a great deal nonetheless! :D
Everyone should indulge in some bubble bath fun with your partner! :P Our tub was able to fit two, even though misterchewy’s legs are quite long and he had to bend his knees a bit. Haha. We talked, laughed, splashed water at each other and sipped beer till our fingers turned into prunes! :D
Ok this photo should come last but nevermind. Just wanted to let everyone know that I really liked how the sunlight shone into our room through the roof! No need for alarm clock! Hahaha.
Hope everyone enjoyed reading about The Chewys’ first staycation! Definitely not going to be our last! Soooo fun! Lalalalala~ We are looking forward to our next staycation! ;)
missuschewy
misterchewy
