The Chewys’ Christmas Countdown 2012 at Butter Factory!

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Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas everbardy! Omg it’s freaking 3am as I’m typing out this post! Yes I’m still sober. This year, misterchewy and I decided to do a Christmas countdown at Butter Factory and we were decked in rather bright colors 😀

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I’m currently staying over for about a month at misterchewy’s place and didn’t bring my nice nice clothes over. LOL. My OOTD was this chili red dress which was bought on the day itself at Topshop. I don’t usually shop at Topshop because I think it’s kinda overrated.

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I think I’m very jialat. Not only did I not pack my nicer clothes over, I only brought my super duper basic makeup stuff too. So misterchewy dragged me into SASA at Bugis Junction and I started to pick out my glitter falsies, liquid eyeliner and mascara 😛 I’m spoilt! LOL. As you can see, I decided to go RED for our Christmas countdown.

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Let the party begin! Whoohoo!

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The cover charge entitles us to 2 standard drinks which were not enough. Lol. Ordered a jug of Vodka with green tea and it tasted like we were only being given green tea. Really diluted to the max. Felt cheated D:

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I really had an awesome time dancing the night away with my Santa baby! Will be sharing more about our Resorts World Sentosa S.E.A Aquarium outing in our next post. Have a blast chewy chewy friends! Go out and have fun! It’s Christmas! 😉

Celebrate Christmas with PrimaDeli’s Truffle Log Cake!

Sponsored Post

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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!

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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.

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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!

Grand Park Orchard Hotel Singapore Staycation Blog Review

Sponsored Staycation

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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! 😀

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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?!

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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.

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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.

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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 – sure beats turning up to the office in downtown Singapore!

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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! 😉

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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.

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A handwritten welcome card from the General Manager, which is a really nice gesture 🙂

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The hubs was trying to use the hotel wifi while I continue snapping photos in our room.

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Shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and lotion. All lavender! I like!

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Just about everything that you need, it’s in there.

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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 😛

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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.

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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*

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A quick look at the mini bar. Only the bottled water, tea and coffee are complimentary.

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The fridge certainly is very well-stocked with most of our favorite drinks in there!

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Takashimaya Shopping Centre is just across the street! I told you Grand Park Orchard’s location is awesome, didn’t I?

Grand Park Orchard Premier Room

Photo taken by misterchewy using iPhone 5’s panorama function 🙂

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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! 😀

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We were totally famished and decided walk over to Mandarin Gallery for late lunch at Ippudo because misterchewy was craving for ramen.

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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.

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*SCAPE is also one of the more popular locations for casual outdoor wedding photoshoot! I’m giving you people some ideas ok? 😛 Oh yeah, misterchewy was carrying a Sephora paper bag because we bought a really sweeeeet smelling shower gel! 😉

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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! 😛

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How nice and thoughtful of the hotel to supply gym goers with towels, bottled water and energy drinks. Yes the energy drinks are free!

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Bar Canary is located right next to the pool.

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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.

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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. -_-

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Besides the hotel stay, we were also welcome to try the dinner buffet at Open House Restaurant.

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Here’s a sneak peek!

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I will be sharing more about the dinner buffet at Open House in my next post 😉

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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.

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At last! I’m as tall as misterchewy! Hahaha.

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Time to chill out with some drinks at Bar Canary, which is located on the same floor as the lobby.

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Shall tell you guys more about the drinks we had in the next post 🙂

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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 😀

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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.

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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! 😀

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Selection of bread and pastries are constantly being replenished. Everything is warm and toasty!

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This was misterchewy’s favorite station! We had scrambled and poached eggs.

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You can choose either plain or pork congee and various condiments are available.

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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! 😀

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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! 😀

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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* 😛

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The hubs continued to laze in bed and read soccer news on his iPad.

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Made a cup of Gryphon Earl Grey Lavender tea from the mini bar for myself!

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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. 🙂

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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!

Click here to check out our list of Singapore staycation reviews!

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

Bangkok Day 4: Victory Monument Boat Noodles & Ban Khun Mae

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Heyhey chewys! We have finally come to our fourth and final Bangkok blog post! I was feeling kinda emo on the last night of our trip because time passed way too quickly. We had so much fun in BKK, eating shopping and sightseeing! Next time honeymoon how? Sure emo until very jialat one. LOL. We wanted to get the most out of whatever remaining time we had left in BKK so we chose to check out early and leave our luggage with the conceirge. Decided to forgo hotel’s buffet breakfast as well, so that we could hunt down the famous Bangkok boat noodles. Word has it that everyone should go to Victory monument for the best boat noodles! 😀

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It was really coincidental that we bumped into our cab driver whom we had hired to take us sightseeing on the second day of our trip! This time, we told him that it was our last day and we just wanted to try the boat noodles at Victory Monument. The hubs asked him what are boat noodles called in Thai and he replied, “Kway Teow”. Hahaha seriously? 😛

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Victory Monument! I’m sure it will look more stunning at night. 🙂

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Not exactly what I would like to see before a meal! But anyway that’s how we knew we were on the right track. Our online research tells us that the boat noodle shops are located along the canal.

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We walked past a number of boat noodle shops and weren’t sure which was the one everyone was raving about. That was until we saw some Thai workers clad in orange, and we knew this was it! Beatrice Tan also blogged about her experience at this stall but I first got to know about this place through J2Kfm’s blog.

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Interestingly, we read from various blogs that nobody ever leaves without eating a few bowls of boat noodles in a single sitting because the serving is very small. Most people order at least 5 bowls and probably another 5 when they are done with the first 5. LOL.

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We didn’t want to be too ambitious, so we ordered 4 bowls to be shared amongst ourselves for a start. We were also served with two metal cups of crushed ice, so we thought we had to order some drinks by default. Haha.

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Here are some facts about Bangkok boat noodles. Apparently, boat noodles are not called boat noodles for nothing. Bowls of noodles served in thick and savory broth were originally sold and served from boats along canals and floating markets. Other than dried spice and herbs, a little bit of pork blood is also added to further enhance the taste of the broth. If you have read our post earlier this week, and wonder how does this differ from the boat noodles we had at Chatuchak market, I think I kinda prefer the latter although I like the novelty of these being served in small portions at Victory Monument. The flavor of the broth was intense, but not as full-bodied as the one we had just the day before. It was also slightly saltier (which explains the need for free bottled water on each table? Idk..) in my opinion.

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One of the waiter seemed to be ‘peddling’ some of the fried stuff and asked if we wanted any of these. Asked him what were these and he was smiling sheepishly at us. Actually none of them spoke English. Oh wells. Found out from J2Kfm that these were Salt & Pepper Crispy Pork Rinds. Something to go along with your noodles and if you like fried cracking stuff, you will like this.

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Lo and behold! Both misterchewy and I managed 9 bowls in total. We probably could stomach a couple more bowls but we had to think ahead, for lunch! 😛

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Clearly, the husband gave his stamp of approval. Everything totalled up to SGD4, including drinks! Cheap right? 😀
Now here’s the details:

Sutyot Kuetiau Lua Payak
Phaya Thai, Bangkok 10400, Thailand

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Took the BTS to….

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Mahboonkrong (MBK) Center! Time for some serious last minute shopping! Actually, I had never felt so stressed shopping before. Had to constantly keep track of time and we were brisk walking from shop to shop, machiam GSS going to end soon. Hurray! We managed to get our Paul Frank iPad covers! 😀

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Back in Singapore when we were planning our itinerary, I thought it would be nice to go to Siam Ocean World at Siam Paragon. However, it did not materialize in the end because I kinda feared that it would be too kiddish for us and we would be bored out of our wits. Maybe we can bring our little Chewys there in a few years’ time 😛

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The cab driver who dropped us off at Victory Monument earlier recommended Ban Khun Mae Restaurant. He mentioned “Khun Mae” in short. Hubby Chewy was very eager to try their food and after shopping at MBK, he pulled me into an Apple store and approached the customer service people behind the counter. I was trying not to laugh because the Thai staff couldn’t understand him of course. We didn’t know how to pronounce “Khun Mae” properly and any slight variation in pronounciation could lead to an entirely different meaning all together, or it just doesn’t mean anything at all. Suddenly, one of them exclaimed, “Khun Mae!” and everyone went, “Ahhh Khun Mae!” LOL. It was hilarious!

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We got one of them to write down the name of the restaurant in Thai, along with its address so that we could ask for directions along the way in case we got lost. And with that, we managed to find Ban Khun Mae. Nice to know that the restaurant had been awarded Certificate of Excellence for the year of 2012 by TripAdvisor! It had to be good right? *Rubs hands in glee*

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Ban Khun Mae is kinda like a family restaurant and it has been around since 1998. It is located in the heart of Bangkok, in the area of Siam Square. Prices are wallet-friendly and you get to enjoy authentic Thai food in a casual and comfortable setting.

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Hahaha. Fourth consecutive day of stuffing myself with food food food! I got chipmunk face alreadyyy..

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Since this was gonna be our last proper meal in Bangkok, we had to order the Tom Yam Kung (170 baht). The soup was spicy enough to tickle our taste buds and the ingredients were really fresh.

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We were eager to try the Deep Fried Squid Seasoned with Garlic and Pepper (220 baht) when it was served. However, it was a little disappointing. Both misterchewy and I agreed that it was somewhat tough to chew. The tentacles part was pretty alright though.

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We felt that the Deep Fried Marinated Chicken wrapped in pandan leaf (120 baht) was well done. Juicy, tender and fragrant best describes this dish.

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I think this was our one and only Mango Sticky Rice (150 baht) that we had throughout our Bangkok trip, which is kinda sad. LOL. The mango was really sweet! Who would have known that mango could go so well with coconut and rice? 😛

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The bill amounted to less than SGD30 for the above dishes and two fresh coconut drinks. On a random note, I look quite small here. LOLOLOL.

Ban Khun Mae Restaurant
458/6-9 Siam Square Soi 8, Rama 1 Road,
Patumwan District, Bangkok 10330
Tel. (662)250-1952-3, (662)658-4112-3

Opening Hours
Daily 11am – 11pm

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Started to emo again after lunch because it meant that we had to go back to our hotel soon to collect our luggage. Boohoohoo. Passed by Krispy Kreme and after finding out that misterchewy had not tried it before, we immediately joined the queue and bought two Original Glazed donuts 😀 Yummyyy!

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Krispy Kreme! When are you ever gonna come to Singapore?!

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At the airport checking our boarding details!

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For the benefit of those who are wondering, misterchewy and I arrived with a half-filled luggage on the first day and we went home with a full one and an additional hand-carry which we had packed into the luggage before we flew to Bangkok. We bought mostly clothes at Platinum Mall but we didn’t buy alot also.

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Deng deng deng deng! I was searching high and low for Luk Chup since day one but only spotted it at the airport! I wanted to buy more but it was the only pack left D: Basically, these are a type of Thai dessert made from mung bean flour and are shaped like various fruits and vegetables such as watermelon, banana, cherries, mangoes and chilies. It has a unique sticky texture and is very sweet! Bali Thai used to sell them but I can’t find them anymore. Heard that these can be found at Golden Mile!

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Me and my favorite Thai dessert were reunited! And I’m gonna eat you~ Nom nom nom 😛

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Some of my last few shots together in Bangkok after checking in our luggage and before boarding our plane.

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Goodbye land of smiles! We look happy but actually I was really reluctant to leave Bangkok! Sob sob.. But nevermind, we are about to start planning for our next trip which would probably be our honeymoon after our customary wedding! YAY! 😀 😀 😀

Bangkok Day 3: Fine Dining @ Vertigo Restaurant and Moon Bar

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Good Tuesday morning, chewy chewy friends! I had a really shiok weekend staycation with misterchewy and I can’t wait to share it in words and photos with all of you! But first, here’s another photo-heavy blog post that places more emphasis on the highlight of our third day in Bangkok! Before we get to that part, let me tell you that misterchewy and I woke up super duper early so that we can go shopping! Why don’t we get this kind of enthusiasm back home? LOL. Again, breakfast at the hotel!

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We chose to walk about 20 minutes to Platinum Mall. Good thing I tied up my hair in the morning because I knew that it was gonna be hot. The funny thing is, we reached the shopping mall early at around 10.30am but most of the shops were not opened for business yet! So we sat there and wait. Sorry no pics of us shopping because we were too busy keeping a lookout for nice clothes etc. Don’t bother to haggle with the store owners because they will automatically give you a discount if you buy 2 pieces or a wholesale price for 3 pieces and above.

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Took a tuk tuk to Chatuchak Weekend Market! Yeah tuk tuk FTW~ 😛 Hungry us decided to eat lunch first before shopping around! There wasn’t any menu, just the banner on top and everything was in Thai. We tried conversing in very simple English. “Chicken, beef or pork?” Luckily the young one understood and replied, “This pork. This beef.” “Ok two bowls. No beef.”

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Photo taken by misterchewy while I was busy Instagramming and subsequently posting on Facebook 😛 We only found out later that these are the famous Bangkok boat noodles. Took a sip of the savory, hearty broth and the rest was history! The boat noodles were really slurpilicious goooood! We enjoyed the broth thoroughly; it was well-flavored for a good amount of spring onions, sweet basil and probably a dash of pork blood had been added.

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Felt really satisfied after finishing our delicious bowls of boat noodles and it was time for us to see if there was anything worth buying at Chatuchak market!

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We managed to get some souvenirs for colleagues and friends. I bought a handful of Singha, Chang and Leo beer magnets for myself! Really cute! Took a tuk tuk (yes again) back to our hotel and showered plus nua-ed a bit before our long awaited dinner! 😀

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Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you that I had actually made email reservations to dine at Vertigo Restaurant and Moon Bar around 2.5 months before the trip. Kiasu much? Kiasu better than be disappointed right? As the popular saying goes, “Book early to avoid disappointment!” 😛

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Since most things in Bangkok are cheap, I decided to splurge a little more on fine dining while we were there. Also, prior to this, we were actually comtemplating a staycation for our first year wedding anniversary cum misterchewy’s birthday. Decided not to go with the staycation in the end and chose this short getaway instead. So this dinner is also part of the belated celebration 😛 Our dinner cost around the same as our airfare, even more than our hotel stay!

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Located on the 61st floor of Banyan Tree Hotel, Vertigo and Moon Bar is an alfresco fine dining restaurant that offers a breathtaking view of Bangkok both in the day and at night. There are two sittings for dinner and I chose the first round which is the sunset period, from 6pm to 8pm. Second seating is from 8.30pm to 10.30pm. Moon Bar closes at 1am so if you want to chill out after dinner, you know you are better off staying put in your seat.

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Allow me to backtrack a little.. We didn’t take a tuk tuk to Banyan Tree la. Cab fare from our hotel costs 200 baht only. Considering the distance, we probably had to pay 150 baht if we were to travel by tuk tuk. Anyway, we can’t afford to mess up our hair. LOL. We reached about 30 minutes early and had pre-dinner drinks!

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Please be warned that there will be quite a number of photos because I was trying to capture the various views during sunset 😀

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A very friendly waitress offered to help us take some photos! 🙂

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From this point, the sky started turning purplish!

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I love this scene the most! How I wish time would just stop.

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The both of us chose the 5 course set menu (3100 baht) which was around SGD300 for two after GST. Yes, this was our most expensive meal in Bangkok 😉

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We were later asked if we could change tables so that they could accomodate a large group. Didn’t want to make things difficult for them and we agreed. They gave us two complimentary glasses of Prosecco but too bad I’m not a fan. Hehe.

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Amuse Bouche

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Roasted Tomato and Tangerine Soup

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Lobster Spring Roll with Spicy Mango Dip, served with mesclun salad

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Seared Bay Scallops, Sweet Potato Puree, Green Asparagus, Coconut, Chili, Lime

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Duck Confit, Sauteed Onion Potato, Braised Red Cabbage, Orange Jus

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This dinner place was solely planned by yours truly and I’m glad misterchewy enjoyed the dinner and ambience as much as I did! Besides, I picked up the tab for this one because he paid for my airfare, accomodation and expenses for the trip. Why does this sound so familiar? 😛

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Cabbed back to our hotel!

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A little souvenir from Vertigo and Moon Bar for us to bring home! They went round taking photos of all guests and developed the photos for each table, which I thought was a really nice gesture. Our dinner at Vertigo will definitely serve as sweet memories in the many years to come! 🙂

Vertigo and Moon Bar
21/100 South Sathon Road
Sathon, Bangkok 10120, Thailand
Banyan Tree Bangkok, 61st level
Tel: +66 2 679 1200

Opening Hours:
Daily
Vertigo Restaurant: 6pm – 11pm
Moon Bar: 5pm – 1am

Bangkok Day 2: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, The Grand Palace, The Fabulous Bar & Dessert Cafe and Khao San Night Market

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Hello chewy chewy friends! Very good right? I didn’t make you all wait long long for my second BKK post! 😛 If you have not read our BKK Day 1 post, it’s here! Soooo.. We were quite disciplined and woke up early enough to settle for breakfast at the hotel. Looking to save money of your accommodation? There are great deals on the Expedia hotels page.

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The buffet breakfast spread was alright, nothing to shout about. While we were seated, we looked around and noticed that there were quite a number of Singaporean youngsters like us. Hoho.

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I didn’t really think much about the food. Can’t believe misterchewy went for a second helping! Hahaha.

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Our plan after breakfast was just to visit one tourist attraction which is The Grand Palace. The moment our cab driver knew we were tourists who were interested in more than just eating and shopping, he offered to ferry us around and take us to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market and Temple of the Reclining Buddha in addition to The Grand Palace for just 1000baht (SGD40) excluding ticket admission charges. We felt that it was quite a good deal considering that at least we would have something to keep ourselves occupied with for about 5 hours.

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Little did we know that Damnoen Saduak Floating Market is located damn far away from our starting point, about 100km southwest of Bangkok. It took us more than 2 hours to get there! If I were a kid, I would be like, “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?!?!” Hahaha you get the drift. And to our horror, the admission cost us 1500baht per person, which means we paid a freaking SGD120 for the two of us to sit on the wooden boat for two hours!

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The only consolation was probably that we had the boat (I’m so inclined to call it ‘sampan’) all to ourselves and it was sheltered. But then again, it made taking photos kinda difficult.

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Some people call this the James Bond Floating Market, since some scenes from the The Man with the Golden Gun was shot there and subsequently released in 1974. Another 2008 crime thriller film, Bangkok Dangerous, starring Nicholas Cage, was also filmed there.

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And trust me, it was a nightmare whenever the boatman stopped the boat in front of these merchants because their prices are marked up really high and they would try to sell you every single thing that they could. What’s even funnier is that we didn’t express interest in those things that they were selling in the first place and they kept asking us to name our price. Like wth?! In the end we bought some cutesy elephant pouches for my colleagues there and then just to shut them up. LOL.

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We also spotted a few of them selling fruits, drinks, noodles and other snacks but the boatman didn’t even slow down 🙁

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Part of the boat ride included stopping by the souvenir shop for about 10 minutes. I was actually quite reluctant to get off the boat because I was so afraid that I would slip and fall into the water.

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Nothing worth buying here!

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We were like O_O when we saw these! I mean, what are these doing here?! LOLOLOL.

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Hahaha. Told misterchewy to pose for a photo and he did! And the shades on the statue didn’t belong to us :S

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This, on the other hand, looked pretty cool. I could have bought something here but the boatman didn’t stop.

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This old granny looked quite cute sitting there so I hurriedly snapped a photo. Hahaha.

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Ummmmm.. No comments.

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And then, we stopped by a temple. So cool right! There’s a temple within the floating market! Yeah, had to get off the boat again.

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Fish feeding time! Fish food cost 10baht. I got tired of watching misterchewy throw the food in small quantities and told him, “Aiyo like that feed until tomorrow also cannot feed finish one leh. Just dump the entire pack la” and he did. LOL. -.-

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The rest of the boat tour was uneventful. Even the boatman knew that there was nothing interesting for us to see, and he sped up for the last 10 minutes.

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Let me tell you that our visit to The Grand Palace was pretty much a nerve wrecking one. They stop selling admission tickets at 3.30pm and when we reached at 3.25pm, there was already a queue. We were all advised to return another day. Both of us were like.. Whuttttttt.

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And so we walked back dejectedly to our cab driver who had parked his car some distance away from The Grand Palace and told him what was being said to us. He actually ran in and came out with tickets and said we could pay him afterwards! We had to loan proper attire because no shorts and sleeveless clothing were allowed. Mehhhhhh.

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I think misterchewy looked quite cute in these pants or whatever you call it. As for me, I was quite pissed with what the Thai auntie picked out for me but I couldn’t take my own sweet time to choose since we were already running out of time. The husband kept offering to help me take photos but I refused because my attire was really quite chui! Walking fashion disaster I tell you! D:

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My mood was kinda ruined because of the fugly outfit plus we didnt have much time to tour The Grand Palace. Yeah despite that, I still tried taking some photos here and there. Trust me, when I’m in a bad mood, I refuse to do anything one. LOL.

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This photo was taken by misterchewy! I can’t master this! Arghhhhh..

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TADAH! I know you guys must be wondering how AWESOME my outfit was. LOL! Towards the end of the tour, I told misterchewy, “Help me take a photo.” He thought he heard me wrong because I was quite adamant initially about having my photo being taken in this horrendous attire. “Don’t take my face la. Just take my back, I pretend I taking photos with iPhone.” Very awful combination right?! Wah lao very malu, face don’t know where to hide liao. T_T

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Our final stop was supposed to be at The Temple of Reclining Buddha but we were exhausted. More importantly, we were feeling ravenous! So we told the cab driver to take us to The Fabulous Bar & Dessert Cafe. Decided to tip him nicely too since he really went all out to help us.

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This cafe turned out to be a pretty hip and nice place to chill out at! We made ourselves comfortable while poring through the menu, which only consists of desserts and drinks.

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Basically we want everything when it comes to desserts and sweet treats! But of course we have to be realistic. Lol. We narrowed it down to just two desserts and two cocktails! 😛

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The Fabulous Signature didn’t exactly blow us away but one good thing was that the cake was not cloyingly sweet.

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The hubby has had a weakness for molten lava cakes for the longest time! Naturally, he was the one who had his eye on the Chocolate Satin, which I felt was yummier than the cake. Just imagine creamy rich chocolate oozing out from a warm cakey crust.

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My Bangkok Delight and misterchewy’s Single Lady. LOL.

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The Fabulous Bar & Dessert Cafe is quite strategically located along Khao San road, where the entire street comes alive at night.

Address: The Fabulous Bar & Dessert Cafe @ 32 Jakkapong Road. Taladyod Phranakom, Bangkok 10200.
Tel: +66 2 6291144

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Ehhhhhhhhh sexay laday ohohohohoh oppa gangnam style! See what I mean?

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Khao San Night Market is really very happening!

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We saw this auntie selling Phad Thai! There was a queue and we decided to join it. Must be delicious! We couldn’t resist the aroma too.

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Eating Phad Thai by the streets and downing Singha beer! Best! Oh and one plate costs a mere SGD2.

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I think we covered most of Khao San Night Market and took a tuk tuk back to our hotel.

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Upon seeing that there’s another night market right outside our hotel, we decided to shop around some more!

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It had been a really loooong day for us but it was fruitful, that’s for sure! Our next post will mainly feature our experience at one of Bangkok’s fine dining establishments that offers a spectacular view of the city, so look out for it! 😉

Bangkok Day 1: Erawan Shrine, Chu Chocolate Bar & Cafe and Once Upon A Time

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Greetings chewy chewy friends! Yes I’m finally blogging about our Bangkok 4D3N trip! We were there from 12th to 15th October, a few days after our wedding photoshoot. I had been really looking forward to this short getaway because I can finally indulge in whatever I wanted to eat and drink temporarily! Not that I was on a crazy diet before the photoshoot.. I still ate practically everything I craved for, but in moderation 🙂 Anyway, it’s too much to squeeze everything into one blog post so I will be splitting them into 4 separate posts which will basically cover our activities from Day 1 to Day 4 😀

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We reached Bangkok in the morning and as it was still early for us to check into our room, we left our luggage at the hotel and carried out our plans without wasting time!

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We walked about 15 to 20 minutes from our hotel to Erawan Shrine that is in front of Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel, near Chit Lom BTS station. Despite the hot weather and sweltering heat, many devotees could be seen at the shrine.

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Address: Erawan Shrine @ Thanon Ratchadamri, Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Opening Hours: 06:00-24:00

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And it was time to find something to eat! Good thing misterchewy had also done a bit of his own research and suggested going to Chu Chocolate Bar and Cafe for our very first meal in Bangkok. The food isn’t Thai cuisine to begin with but it is opened by a local, Toey Na Ranong who is also the chef.

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Chu is highly accessible by BTS, just have to alight at Asoke station and it is connected to Exchange Tower on the second floor, where Chu is. Very convenient!

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I had a Hazelnut Cream Soda (100 baht) while misterchewy chose the Vanilla Cream Soda (100 baht).

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Even though we were famished, we decided to share only the Lemon Curd Pancakes (190 baht) because we wanted to save stomach space for dinner. The pancakes were so fluffy and delicious that we were kinda tempted to order another item from the menu to try out!

Address: Chu Chocolate Bar & Cafe @ 2nd Floor Exchange Tower (Asoke Intersection), Bangkok, Thailand 10110
Tel: +66 (0)2 663 4554
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday: 07:30-21:30 and Saturday – Sunday: 09:00-21:00

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We shopped for a couple of hours at Platinum Mall before heading to Swensen’s for a short break because our legs were protesting already. Haha.

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Does our Swensen’s have Snic-a-Choc sundae? I only recall seeing Frosted Chocolate Malt, Sticky Chewy Chocolate etc!

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It was both our first time sitting on a tuk tuk and we were quite excited! But we weren’t aware of the market rate and the driver ketok-ed us. We only found out from a taxi driver the following day that the average rate from Platinum to our hotel is about 50 baht but the driver quoted 150 baht.

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We didn’t want to splurge on accommodation and my colleague recommended Baiyoke Boutique Hotel which really was good enough for us. When we got off the plane in the morning, we took the railway from Suvarnabhumi International Airport which is very convenient and the trip took only about 30 minutes. Baiyoke is about 5 minutes walking distance from Ratchaprarop railway station if you take the shortcut 😛 We checked into our room, which was clean and cosy, and took a short rest before heading out for dinner.

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Our dinner place, Once Upon A Time, was also suggested by misterchewy and the restaurant’s name sounded appealing enough!

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We walked from our hotel and I was quite amazed that misterchewy knows his directions quite well! Both our last time to BKK was with our parents when we were still kids. Of course, he navigated using his iPad but he only had to check a couple of times and knew which way to go.

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Alfresco dining looks very romantic right! But it was too dark and we were afraid of being bitten by mosquitoes so we chose to sit indoors.

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It is actually darker than what you see in the photos. I actually had to bump up the ISO to get decent shots of the interior.

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Look at the amount of food! I think we kinda over-ordered for two. Hohoho! Good thing the food was lip smacking and we licked our plates clean.

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We called for the bill and it was presented in a huge wooden box. Total bill was 1600 baht, which is roughly the equivalent of SGD $64 for the above 4 dishes, rice and 2 bottles of beer. Definitely not our cheapest meal in Bangkok and not our priciest either 😛

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Once Upon A Time was previously occupied by the owners and is now converted to a restaurant on the ground floor but the bedrooms on the second floor are open to visitors for photo-taking purposes.

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Address: 32, soi Petchaburi 17 (opposite Phantip Plaza) Petchaburi Road, Pratunam, Bangkok, Thailand.
Tel: 0-2252-8629, Mobile: 0-1833-8336
Opening Hours: Daily from 11am until 12am.

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Didn’t wanna tire ourselves out on the first day and decided to return to our hotel for a good night’s rest.

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Our room was cosy and clean, and had practically everything we needed except for toothbrush and toothpaste. Good thing we realized earlier in the day and stopped by a convenience store on the way back after dinner. Our next BKK post will feature a couple of sightseeing places that we went to. Till then, take care and have a great week, chewy chewy friends! 🙂

Address: Baiyoke Boutique Hotel @ 120/359 Ratchaprarop Road (Behind Baiyoke Sky Hotel), Rajthevee, Pratunam, Bangkok, Thailand
Tel: (+66)2 251 8800-1, 2251 8255-58

PoTeaTo @ Yong Siak Street: Lazy Sunday Brunch with Friends!

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Hoho! Sorry this is yet another long overdue post from yours truly 😛 The secondary school friends met up to celebrate the September babies’ birthdays and we had brunch at PoTeaTo on a Sunday afteroon.

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PoTeaTo is at Yong Siak Street, some walking distance from Tiong Bahru MRT station. As you can see, the weekend brunch set is actually quite limited but the offerings are pretty attractive nevertheless.

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I think SS was the only one in the group who ordered the Avo on Toast ($14.80). Look at the generous amount of avocado!

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SS and MJ. These two guys used to sit behind me when we were in Secondary One. LOL.

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Chee and JH.

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The September birthday boys – CY and misterchewy!

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The Brekkie Platter ($16.80) features all my favorites on one plate! I didnt choose this but I koped a bit from the hubs 😛

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I ordered the All American Breakfast ($14.80) because I thought it sounded really good from what I read from the menu but I overlooked that it was ‘baked’. Was kinda surprised when this was served and wondered if I did order this. LOL.

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Me and Bee FF! 😛 She will be one of my jie mei (sister) on our wedding day! Anybody with solid wedding gatecrash ideas please email me at missuschewy@ gmail.com Thanks! 😀

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This is so cute! PoTeaTo coffee art!

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Coincidentally or not, my friend is PoTeaTo’s chef! Ok by the time you read this, she’s no longer working there anymore. It’s such a pity and I can’t wait to find out what other big plans she has in mind! You go girl! 🙂

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It’s the weekend again! I promise my next post will be on our Bangkok trip! Stay tuned! 😀

PoTeaTo
78 Yong Siak Street
#01-18
Singapore 163078
Tel: 6221 2488

Opening Hours:
Tue to Fri
11am – 10pm
Sa
10am – 10pm
Sun
10am – 9pm

Casmin’s Hens Night Party @ The Forbidden City by IndoChine!

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Last Friday night~ Yeah we danced on tabletops~ And we took too many shots~ Think we kissed but I forgot~ Sounds familiar? 😛 We held a HENS NIGHT PARTY for our colleague, Casmin last Friday night! The party was at The Forbidden City by IndoChine, more specifically at Bar Cocoon on the ground floor. Before that, the ladies had a BBQ at our workplace while I was at a briefing for Goldkili & Frezfruta bloggers’ contest. Of course they showered after the BBQ and dressed up for the night! When we finally met outside IndoChine, Clarke Quay, it was 11-ish but the night was still young! 😉

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Casmin, the Bride-to-be (BTB)! You will never be able to guess her age correctly on the first try! Super baby face! Anyway, I was really excited to be part of Casmin’s hens night entourage because I had never attended one before 😛

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With Casmin and Hui Shan! Hui Shan is a hot and sexy mother of a cute baby boy! 😛

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The rest of the ladies, Agnes, Shu Man, Angel and Katherine! 🙂

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Apart from the BTB pink sash and tiara, Casmin was also made to put on this huge diamond ring!

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So cool right~ The ring actually lights up! Ok I shall let the pictures do most of the talking 😛

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Uh huh. You must be wondering why was misterchewy present at the hens night party. He said he was worried about me and told me he would probably wait for me at McDonald’s or something and we could go home together after that. Really sweet of him considering that he had to wake up early to go to work the next day. The girls were kind enough to get him to join us! Hui Shan even whatsapped me that we have more than enough tiaras to go around >_<

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We played a few rounds of “Guess the number of hands” drinking game. LOL Angel epic la! She kena so many times!

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Katherine pouring the shots for the second round of toasting.

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Casmin still going strong! Haven ‘toh’ yet! 😉

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The girls decided to buy her a drink! Waterfall! Can someone tell me what’s the difference between a Waterfall and a Flaming Lamborghini?

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Well done babeeeee!! 😀

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I didn’t realize this until misterchewy told me that this is our first time ‘clubbing’ together! And never did the both of us expect that our first time together would be with my colleagues. Hahaha! Interesting~~ :DDD

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Thanks for taking care of me and staying by my side the entire night! <3

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And if I’m not wrong, the guys at IndoChine offered us another drink. I was made to drink too since I’m also a BTB. LOL. But I shared this with Casmin if not sure gone 😛

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Next round! Tequila Pop! The hubby told me that this used to be his favorite drink back in uni days. 🙂

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Angel hardcore la! So fast drink finish! 😛

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The girls on the dance floor YO! 😀

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As we were ‘dancing’ (LOL), one of the IndoChine guys told misterchewy to get us to go to the Ice Bar. We were kinda skeptical but went in anyway. We were handed trench coats to put on! It was freezing cold!

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Can’t remember if it was Angel or Casmin who requested us to take a kissing shot. Seemed like misterchewy was more than happy to do so while I was a little intoxicated to be able to resist. 😛

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The rest of the night was like a blur. I don’t remember what I did. The hubby and I were the first ones to leave, at around 3am. Very fun hens night party experience for a first-timer! 😛 Congrats to Casmin once again! Yay! Can’t wait for your big day to come! 🙂

Bloggers + Foodies Get Together Dinner @ High Society Mansion

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Helloooo chewy chewy friends! How did your weekend go? Both misterchewy and I had a very enjoyable time at the Bloggers + Foodies Get Together Dinner at High Society Mansion on Saturday night! It was organized by Maureen and Derrick and the invitation was sent out a few weeks back. Being the supportive friends that we are, the hubby and I RSVPed immediately 😛 Dinner was at 7.30pm and it started pouring only about an hour before that and we chose to cab there. The rain certainly dampened my spirit but I was all smiles the moment I saw my blogger and twitter friends. They were like sunshineeee in the pouring rain~~ 😀 😀 😀

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The Chewys’ OOTD! We didn’t plan this way in advance, I swear. The hubs picked out this denim shirt that I bought for him and I was like “Hey! I think I might have something similar in my wardrobe..” 😛 I was wearing a dark blue chiffon maxi dress with light denim pockets across my chest. As for misterchewy, I pinned a mini white bowtie with black polka dots on his shirt to play up his outfit 😀

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Ok I shall be honest that all the interior shots of High Society Mansion were taken AFTER the dinner, i.e when everybody had cleared the area. I kinda regret not taking photos earlier when it was full house but it was like the moment we found our seats and settled down, my butt refused to budge. LOL. And of course, I was busy talking to the lovely people seated at my table! 😀

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I was at Table 5, together with Charleen. Next to our table was Table 6, where Calvin and some other foodies sat. Table 5 and 6 in the private room YO! It could have been more private if we had drawn the curtains. Hahaha!

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Here’s a shot of misterchewy and I in the private room 🙂

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And here’s my favorite Maureen dearest! 😀

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I have no idea what Maureen and Derrick went through, but they got all of us a very good deal at just $35 nett per person for soup, main, 6 tasting dishes and dessert. However, most of us felt that the food served was not really up to standard. The dishes that I felt were not bad or pretty good were braised lamb shank, seafood laksa spaghetti and duck confit. My choice of Norwegian Haddock was a terrible one.

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Minestrone Soup

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Mixed Mushroom Spaghetti perfumed with truffles scented cream sauce

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Norwegian Haddock in tempura batter and fries with air flown garden leaves

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Braised Lamb Shanks with red wine and tomato

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Crab Caesar Salad

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Cajun baby chicken with chestnuts, brussel sprouts and bacon

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Pork Knuckle with sauerkraut, mashed potato and brown sauce

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Seafood Spaghetti Laksa with pan seared Canadian scallops and tiger prawns

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Duck Confit with mix mesclun, carrot puree and seasonal vegetables

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Assorted High Society cupcakes, macarons and cake

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Met a few new faces and I’m so glad to have finally been formally introduced to one of my favorite PR consultants, Faith! Very blessed to be able to work with her over the past few months. Faith turned out to be very chatty and animated in person! 🙂

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A group photo of Tables 5 and 6 in the private room! We got Keropokman to help us with the shots and he was very cheeky ah.. Snapped and snapped non stop! LOL!

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A big thank you to our wonderful organizers! 😉