We just had a KTV session yesterday to celebrate Adi’s Birthday. Come to think about it, that’s the only time I really got a chance to listen to some Chinese songs. It has been awhile. And somehow, Chinese song is always full with love, passion, and beautiful love stories… which always serve as a reminder to me that there is something more in this world than just work and sleep.
Honestly, my mood has been very foul this week. I slept late, woke up late, and welcomed in office with endless meeting until 10.30 PM at night. In addition, my boss went on leave and all the work automatically came to me T_T even the smallest thing like people being late for lunch actually make me mad. Something was really wrong with me. I suspect that it’s because I haven’t been exercising for few weeks now. I need my exercise dosage! Lets try to start from next week…
One month from now, we’re going to rollout the implementation in Saudi Arabia. That’s mean I need to make myself ready for really late night meeting (12 AM or 2 AM) and spending some weekend in office. Hopefully though, we have learnt something from previous implementation and can have a better coordination this time :)
This week, we managed to catch up with few Big Bang Theory and How I Meet your Mother. In addition, watched a Japanese movie “Confession” which is… awesome!! It depicts how psycho the Japanese can be… but it was a totally awesome movie... from the beginning to the end. It always amazes me on how creative Japanese is. It was 2 AM when we finished watching, but somehow I didn’t feel sleepy at all.
Anyway, there is nothing much this week, but I enjoyed spending weekend at home playing some restaurant city (I know, sounds very introvert) Hope to rejuvenate and get ready with a better mood for next week. Haha..
And yes, Bye, Feb!
ED
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Germany Once More
Hump. Nothing much to say for my trip this time T_T
I got out from office pretty early everyday (max at 7pm), but I stil didn’t get the chance to see much of Frankfurt / Eschborn. What can you see when all the shops are actually closed at 7pm? T_T In addition, the winter doesn’t seem to get away yet. The sky is getting dark at 4pm… so no chance of me taking shots with blue sky.
Pathetic attempt of getting some proof that I was in Germany
On Tuesday, I was pretty much recovered from my jetlag… and had quite a good time in office. At night, we had a cozy German dinner in a restaurant near office.
With team members after a delicious dinner
On Wednesday after office, I randomly walked at the area near my hotel, and found a mall that opened until 8pm. So lucky! So I went in and… felt that the mall looks familiar… and… then I realized that it was exactly the one and only mall I went to last year =__= Talk about how big Frankfurt is. So I shopped at My Zeil’s supermarket (again), got some candies, chewing gums, and chocholate, then buy a Korean noodle on my way back home. Spent my night watching Korean drama “The President” while eating Korean soup. Nyummy!
On Thursday after office, I rushed to LV shop to get some items that my colleague has asked me to. I reached there at 7.03 PM, and found the shop locked. What!@#. I tried to call the people inside… the people saw me.. but instead of coming to ask what I want, they come to check if the door is locked, then just walk off! Leaving this poor lady stand by outside the shop! Freezing! Huh LV… you just missed EUR500 revenue and a customer! Haha… like they care.
On this second visit to Germany, I guess I learn more on how they view job / work as just as a small part of life. It’s not that they didn’t feel they work important… no. They respect their work. But there is a limit of 39 hours per week of what is called work life. Other than that it’s family, friends, and self-interest things to spend time on. I learnt that they have 30 days leave per year, and most of the people actually work only 4 days a week.
...And that’s why, on Friday, my boss and I become the only people in our team after 2pm. Now that is what we called Friday mood. I was so hard to keep working while the rest of people are saying bye and wishing you a nice weekend.
Last pic with complete team members in the office
In the end, we gave up at 6pm, went out to one of bar in DB, and then catch our flight at 10pm. I guess the Apple Cider was too strong for me. I dropped dead during the take-off, woke up only during the supper, then unconscious again until the breakfast and landing time. I didn’t finish a single movie! Give me back my movie marathon time! I was around 45 minutes into “The Switch” before finally landed in Singapore.
Back to SG, I took a taxi home, unpacked, then went to Sentosa for the Crane Dance and Lake of Dream’s show. It was around 11pm when we reached back home. After chatting for awhile, I finally slept at around 2.45am.
The next day, I woke up at 11.45 AM, quickly took a shower, then went to Pasir Ris for Cit’s Housewarming event. I like her place a lot! It’s quite spacious and I love the way it’s decorated =) Back from her house, I did my weekly chores, had dinner, and now ready for my usual movie time!
Back to work tomorrow!
ED
I got out from office pretty early everyday (max at 7pm), but I stil didn’t get the chance to see much of Frankfurt / Eschborn. What can you see when all the shops are actually closed at 7pm? T_T In addition, the winter doesn’t seem to get away yet. The sky is getting dark at 4pm… so no chance of me taking shots with blue sky.
Pathetic attempt of getting some proof that I was in Germany
On Tuesday, I was pretty much recovered from my jetlag… and had quite a good time in office. At night, we had a cozy German dinner in a restaurant near office.
With team members after a delicious dinner
On Wednesday after office, I randomly walked at the area near my hotel, and found a mall that opened until 8pm. So lucky! So I went in and… felt that the mall looks familiar… and… then I realized that it was exactly the one and only mall I went to last year =__= Talk about how big Frankfurt is. So I shopped at My Zeil’s supermarket (again), got some candies, chewing gums, and chocholate, then buy a Korean noodle on my way back home. Spent my night watching Korean drama “The President” while eating Korean soup. Nyummy!
On Thursday after office, I rushed to LV shop to get some items that my colleague has asked me to. I reached there at 7.03 PM, and found the shop locked. What!@#. I tried to call the people inside… the people saw me.. but instead of coming to ask what I want, they come to check if the door is locked, then just walk off! Leaving this poor lady stand by outside the shop! Freezing! Huh LV… you just missed EUR500 revenue and a customer! Haha… like they care.
On this second visit to Germany, I guess I learn more on how they view job / work as just as a small part of life. It’s not that they didn’t feel they work important… no. They respect their work. But there is a limit of 39 hours per week of what is called work life. Other than that it’s family, friends, and self-interest things to spend time on. I learnt that they have 30 days leave per year, and most of the people actually work only 4 days a week.
...And that’s why, on Friday, my boss and I become the only people in our team after 2pm. Now that is what we called Friday mood. I was so hard to keep working while the rest of people are saying bye and wishing you a nice weekend.
Last pic with complete team members in the office
In the end, we gave up at 6pm, went out to one of bar in DB, and then catch our flight at 10pm. I guess the Apple Cider was too strong for me. I dropped dead during the take-off, woke up only during the supper, then unconscious again until the breakfast and landing time. I didn’t finish a single movie! Give me back my movie marathon time! I was around 45 minutes into “The Switch” before finally landed in Singapore.
Back to SG, I took a taxi home, unpacked, then went to Sentosa for the Crane Dance and Lake of Dream’s show. It was around 11pm when we reached back home. After chatting for awhile, I finally slept at around 2.45am.
The next day, I woke up at 11.45 AM, quickly took a shower, then went to Pasir Ris for Cit’s Housewarming event. I like her place a lot! It’s quite spacious and I love the way it’s decorated =) Back from her house, I did my weekly chores, had dinner, and now ready for my usual movie time!
Back to work tomorrow!
ED
Monday, February 14, 2011
The Longest Valentine’s Day Yet
My Valentine’s Day started with me sitting in a plane wondering why all these stewardesses are so stingy with their smiles. Maybe we have the same thoughts as me. Spending Valentine’s on a 13-hour flight is not the best plan :(
My Valentine’s Day Meal
Thankfully, I did have a fulfilling Sunday before the flight :) We managed to catch the last day of Sentosa Flowers, and had so much fun exploring Sentosa for the whole day (and getting some sun-tanned along the way) Thanks, Winson, Helios, Jessica, for such a great company :)
At Sentosa Flowers :)
After the long flight, I touched down in Franfurt on time... at 6.00 AM EST. I took a quick shower and some refreshment, and then went directly to the office. After a long day (with 5 cups of coffee), I took a taxi to Hilton Frankfurt. Check in, order for dine-in, shower, and the only energy remaining was for me to roll to the bed and sleep.
@ Hilton Frankfurt
So. I got 24 hours + 7 hours for my valentine, but 0 hour with my dear :( Next year has to be better!
ED
My Valentine’s Day Meal
Thankfully, I did have a fulfilling Sunday before the flight :) We managed to catch the last day of Sentosa Flowers, and had so much fun exploring Sentosa for the whole day (and getting some sun-tanned along the way) Thanks, Winson, Helios, Jessica, for such a great company :)
At Sentosa Flowers :)
After the long flight, I touched down in Franfurt on time... at 6.00 AM EST. I took a quick shower and some refreshment, and then went directly to the office. After a long day (with 5 cups of coffee), I took a taxi to Hilton Frankfurt. Check in, order for dine-in, shower, and the only energy remaining was for me to roll to the bed and sleep.
@ Hilton Frankfurt
So. I got 24 hours + 7 hours for my valentine, but 0 hour with my dear :( Next year has to be better!
ED
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Happy Bunny Year 2011!
For me, CNY is identical with gathering + eating. And the result is always the same: overweight me with sore throat due to excessive consumption of cookies. This year though, my gathering is a bit different. Instead of having rounds of visits to friends’ place, we take a short family trip to explore a little bit of North Sumatera.
Happy Chinese New Year: Chu 1 at my place
We had the usual reunion dinner on CNY eve and relative’s gathering (a.k.a. red pocket collection period) on CNY Chu 1. On Chu 2, all of us woke up early and all ready for the first destination: Sidikalang.
Taman Iman, Sidikalang
The destination is called Taman Iman “Garden of Beliefs”, where it contained the symbols & statues for all the five religions in Indonesia. It has Vihara for Buddhist, Church for Christian, Pura for Hindu, and definitely Mosque for Moslem; all in the same garden. The garden itself belongs to the government, which is well taken care of. The entrance fee was Rp 5,000 (less than a dollar), which is reasonable considering that we can actually spend one whole day to wander around the place.
Unfortunately, the road to that location wasn’t very accessible. It was a painful 5 hours ride from my hometown with bumpy road. In addition, the lousy driver (I’m sorry, he really was) washed away my will to visit the place for the second time.
Our second location was Taman Simalem, which is called the Pearl of Lake Toba. It was located around 4 hrs from my hometown. The journey is as bumpy as the first one. The entrance few was Rp 200,000 per car (!!!) which is quite expensive in my POV. It was raining when we reached, and there is nothing much up there as well. Most of the locations are still under construction… and my sister told me that it has been under construction forever. We spend less than 2 hours there, then moved on to have our dinner and rest at Brastagi, Sibayak.
Taman Simalem Resort
All my family members (except myself) are morning risers. They could say that they were super tired and wanted to sleep for the whole morning, and then woke up before the sunrise. The same thing happened in the trip. They promised that I can sleep as much as I want, but finally knocked me awake when they have all showered and ready to go for breakfast. It was freaking 7am in the morning!! T_T Luckily, I was quickly refreshed by the morning shower. After breakfast, we spent the rest of the morning at the warm swimming pool before going to Brastagi Market. After sometime, we proceed to Sibolangit for lunch.
Sibayak - Brastagi
It was 1PM when I queued for the KFC there… and 2PM when I finally got the food. I can’t believe how lousy the service was. The person at the cashier can spend 5 mins at the cashier, then disappeared for 10 mins for frying some chicken. Even when the meal came with milo, they gave us Pepsi, saying that they run out of Milo (but refuse when we want to change it to tea). Further on, they run out of Rp 500 money for change, and so they just don’t give us the Rp 500 change!! What kind of rule is that?
KFC Indonesia – So little choice, so expensive!
After getting disappointment from KFC, we then move on to the themepark: Green Hill. It was crowded as they came with 2 CNY package. Package “Chin”: Pay Rp. 50,000, which come with 15 ticket rides or package “Chay”: Pay Rp 12,000 just for the entrance ticket. If you combine both words, it actually means “Generous” in Hokkien dialect. We picked the later and went in to the theme park. Of course, the place is not as amazing as USS, but considering its entrance fee (which is less than SGD 2), I think the place was really worthwhile. I paid another 2 bucks to try the rollercoaster “Gelegar” ride, which ended with me getting bruises around my legs. The ride was brutal!
Green Hill - Sibolangit
It was already 5PM when we decided to call it a day and traveled back to Medan. Alas, the traffic was jammed; so much that it took us 2.5 hrs for the normal 1 hrs ride. We reached Medan only at around 7.30PM. After dinner at Bakso Sumatera, we went back home and get some rest.
The next day on Chu 4, I went for a swim at Aston Swimming Pool. Oh God it was small T_T I took some 50 rounds of swim and still didn’t feel anything. After the swim, we continued with lunch at Aston’s restaurant: Green Jade.
With Uncle #5 & Family
Chu 6, I flew of to Singapore. After some belated spring-cleaning, I went to pay a visit to Lily sis. It took me 5 mins to get her a gift, but an hour to hunt for mandarin orange. It’s so hard to find it anywhere now. I still don’t really understand why Singapore doesn’t have mandarin oranges in its normal fruit list.
Chu 7, I went to Bugis and did some praying. Along with that, managed to tick some tasks off my to do list. I reached back home at around 5PM, and then start to prepare myself for tomorrow. Downloaded Bangkok Traffic Love Story and Hello Stranger. Can’t wait to watch it!
Overall, I’m 4 kg fatter and still happy o^.^o
Have a fluffy year, everyone!
ED
PS: Saw this comic strip from xkcd and love it :p
Happy Chinese New Year: Chu 1 at my place
We had the usual reunion dinner on CNY eve and relative’s gathering (a.k.a. red pocket collection period) on CNY Chu 1. On Chu 2, all of us woke up early and all ready for the first destination: Sidikalang.
Taman Iman, Sidikalang
The destination is called Taman Iman “Garden of Beliefs”, where it contained the symbols & statues for all the five religions in Indonesia. It has Vihara for Buddhist, Church for Christian, Pura for Hindu, and definitely Mosque for Moslem; all in the same garden. The garden itself belongs to the government, which is well taken care of. The entrance fee was Rp 5,000 (less than a dollar), which is reasonable considering that we can actually spend one whole day to wander around the place.
Unfortunately, the road to that location wasn’t very accessible. It was a painful 5 hours ride from my hometown with bumpy road. In addition, the lousy driver (I’m sorry, he really was) washed away my will to visit the place for the second time.
Our second location was Taman Simalem, which is called the Pearl of Lake Toba. It was located around 4 hrs from my hometown. The journey is as bumpy as the first one. The entrance few was Rp 200,000 per car (!!!) which is quite expensive in my POV. It was raining when we reached, and there is nothing much up there as well. Most of the locations are still under construction… and my sister told me that it has been under construction forever. We spend less than 2 hours there, then moved on to have our dinner and rest at Brastagi, Sibayak.
Taman Simalem Resort
All my family members (except myself) are morning risers. They could say that they were super tired and wanted to sleep for the whole morning, and then woke up before the sunrise. The same thing happened in the trip. They promised that I can sleep as much as I want, but finally knocked me awake when they have all showered and ready to go for breakfast. It was freaking 7am in the morning!! T_T Luckily, I was quickly refreshed by the morning shower. After breakfast, we spent the rest of the morning at the warm swimming pool before going to Brastagi Market. After sometime, we proceed to Sibolangit for lunch.
Sibayak - Brastagi
It was 1PM when I queued for the KFC there… and 2PM when I finally got the food. I can’t believe how lousy the service was. The person at the cashier can spend 5 mins at the cashier, then disappeared for 10 mins for frying some chicken. Even when the meal came with milo, they gave us Pepsi, saying that they run out of Milo (but refuse when we want to change it to tea). Further on, they run out of Rp 500 money for change, and so they just don’t give us the Rp 500 change!! What kind of rule is that?
KFC Indonesia – So little choice, so expensive!
After getting disappointment from KFC, we then move on to the themepark: Green Hill. It was crowded as they came with 2 CNY package. Package “Chin”: Pay Rp. 50,000, which come with 15 ticket rides or package “Chay”: Pay Rp 12,000 just for the entrance ticket. If you combine both words, it actually means “Generous” in Hokkien dialect. We picked the later and went in to the theme park. Of course, the place is not as amazing as USS, but considering its entrance fee (which is less than SGD 2), I think the place was really worthwhile. I paid another 2 bucks to try the rollercoaster “Gelegar” ride, which ended with me getting bruises around my legs. The ride was brutal!
Green Hill - Sibolangit
It was already 5PM when we decided to call it a day and traveled back to Medan. Alas, the traffic was jammed; so much that it took us 2.5 hrs for the normal 1 hrs ride. We reached Medan only at around 7.30PM. After dinner at Bakso Sumatera, we went back home and get some rest.
The next day on Chu 4, I went for a swim at Aston Swimming Pool. Oh God it was small T_T I took some 50 rounds of swim and still didn’t feel anything. After the swim, we continued with lunch at Aston’s restaurant: Green Jade.
With Uncle #5 & Family
The time was 2PM after lunch, so we checked out from the hotel and then went to visit one more relative. Afterwards, my parents traveled back to hometown, where I stayed for another 2 nights before my flight to Medan on Tuesday.
Chu 5, I woke up at 8.30 and welcomed by black out =__=. My sister was teasing me saying I’m the blackout bringer in the family. After breakfast, I browse through photos, help sisters to burn some into CD, and then idle for a while before deciding to pay a visit to Lisa & Lifen sis. I had a great fun chatting and eating with them. Lifen’s baby is so adorable! Jadyn Kimberly, may you grow to be the girl that both your parents proud of!
The latest addition to the family - Jadyn Kimberly
Chu 5, I woke up at 8.30 and welcomed by black out =__=. My sister was teasing me saying I’m the blackout bringer in the family. After breakfast, I browse through photos, help sisters to burn some into CD, and then idle for a while before deciding to pay a visit to Lisa & Lifen sis. I had a great fun chatting and eating with them. Lifen’s baby is so adorable! Jadyn Kimberly, may you grow to be the girl that both your parents proud of!
The latest addition to the family - Jadyn Kimberly
Chu 6, I flew of to Singapore. After some belated spring-cleaning, I went to pay a visit to Lily sis. It took me 5 mins to get her a gift, but an hour to hunt for mandarin orange. It’s so hard to find it anywhere now. I still don’t really understand why Singapore doesn’t have mandarin oranges in its normal fruit list.
Chu 7, I went to Bugis and did some praying. Along with that, managed to tick some tasks off my to do list. I reached back home at around 5PM, and then start to prepare myself for tomorrow. Downloaded Bangkok Traffic Love Story and Hello Stranger. Can’t wait to watch it!
Overall, I’m 4 kg fatter and still happy o^.^o
Have a fluffy year, everyone!
ED
PS: Saw this comic strip from xkcd and love it :p
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Home :)
The rest of the week passed really fast… It was too fast that I came unprepared when it’s time to go back home. I totally forgot that I bought the cheap ticket, which didn’t come with the luggage allowance. Only when I put my luggage to the scale and the lady told me that I have to pay SGD60 for my luggage, I suddenly remember and I don’t know what to do. Thanks God I got a nice friend who actually asked me to just join with her luggage allowance. I was saved. Love you, Bol!
Apart from that, I also forgot to send CNY card for my relative in Singapore! I forgot to get my nephew’s order of BBQ pork, my mum’s order of fortune cookies, my dad’s order of century eggs, and even forgot to get a gift for dad :( Feel so disappointed with myself v_v And I don’t know when else I can come back and give them all those… Next year must be better!
My flight back to Medan was scheduled for 7.35 PM SGT, but then rescheduled until 8.45 PM SGT T_T Oh dear Valueair. Thanks that I got companies to grumble together.
Happy Bunny Year from Changi Airport Terminal 2!
I finally reached Medan at almost 10PM and omg… the traffic in Medan was really bad. It took me almost an hour to just get fried rice and went back home v_v I slept at around 12 AM, feeling all full and satisfied.
The next morning, I woke up at around 10 AM. I didn’t know what happen, but I had such a big appetite that day! I ate a bowl of noodle at 10AM, then had chicken rice at 12PM, followed with Shrimp Tau Kua at 1PM, continued with Seaweed Corn as a dessert at 2PM. Lucky that I got stuck in a car traveling back to hometown for the next 5hrs… Otherwise I would have gained several more pounds. Reached back home, the ritual continues… few more rounds of food before sleeping at 11PM. Phew!
Selat Panjang Chicken Rice
Monday, I woke up at 8.30 and had nasi padang as my breakfast. Afterwards, I challenged myself by trying to get some Internet connection in hometown. I ended up paying RP 100,000 for the slowest connection. EVER. If I managed to post my blog today, some miracle must have happened. After several failed attempts of increasing the speed, I ended up playing Diner Dash for 2 hours. Had lots of wonderful food and can't imagine how to burn the calories later.
Tuesday, again I woke up at 8.30 and had chicken rice for breakfast. When we’re about to cook, there was sudden black out… so we decided to go out and settle some stuff at bank. The black out continued until 2PM… then we continued to make some fishball for tomorrow’s reunion dinner.
It was already 4PM when we finished… After doing some delivery services to relatives around, I continued playing some game… and yes, I finished my Diner Dash!! Yay!! No more game addiction for the rest of holiday!
Diner Dash - Ending
Tomorrow is already the CNY Eve… I am looking forward to it… but don’t want to let it pass too quickly too. Haha.
Happy Chinese New Year to everyone to celebrate it :) Time for dinner!
ED
Apart from that, I also forgot to send CNY card for my relative in Singapore! I forgot to get my nephew’s order of BBQ pork, my mum’s order of fortune cookies, my dad’s order of century eggs, and even forgot to get a gift for dad :( Feel so disappointed with myself v_v And I don’t know when else I can come back and give them all those… Next year must be better!
My flight back to Medan was scheduled for 7.35 PM SGT, but then rescheduled until 8.45 PM SGT T_T Oh dear Valueair. Thanks that I got companies to grumble together.
Happy Bunny Year from Changi Airport Terminal 2!
I finally reached Medan at almost 10PM and omg… the traffic in Medan was really bad. It took me almost an hour to just get fried rice and went back home v_v I slept at around 12 AM, feeling all full and satisfied.
The next morning, I woke up at around 10 AM. I didn’t know what happen, but I had such a big appetite that day! I ate a bowl of noodle at 10AM, then had chicken rice at 12PM, followed with Shrimp Tau Kua at 1PM, continued with Seaweed Corn as a dessert at 2PM. Lucky that I got stuck in a car traveling back to hometown for the next 5hrs… Otherwise I would have gained several more pounds. Reached back home, the ritual continues… few more rounds of food before sleeping at 11PM. Phew!
Selat Panjang Chicken Rice
Monday, I woke up at 8.30 and had nasi padang as my breakfast. Afterwards, I challenged myself by trying to get some Internet connection in hometown. I ended up paying RP 100,000 for the slowest connection. EVER. If I managed to post my blog today, some miracle must have happened. After several failed attempts of increasing the speed, I ended up playing Diner Dash for 2 hours. Had lots of wonderful food and can't imagine how to burn the calories later.
Tuesday, again I woke up at 8.30 and had chicken rice for breakfast. When we’re about to cook, there was sudden black out… so we decided to go out and settle some stuff at bank. The black out continued until 2PM… then we continued to make some fishball for tomorrow’s reunion dinner.
It was already 4PM when we finished… After doing some delivery services to relatives around, I continued playing some game… and yes, I finished my Diner Dash!! Yay!! No more game addiction for the rest of holiday!
Diner Dash - Ending
Tomorrow is already the CNY Eve… I am looking forward to it… but don’t want to let it pass too quickly too. Haha.
Happy Chinese New Year to everyone to celebrate it :) Time for dinner!
ED
(Still) Not an Impressive Marina Bay Sands’ Experience
It was a hectic yet fun week. My sister was in town from Saturday to Monday and I was trying to show her as much of Singapore as possible. Yet, she is the type who treasure relaxation more than sight-seeing… in the end, we spent half of the time in the hotel T_T
For the first day, we stayed in Festive Hotel, Resort World. For SGD 538, we were given a family room (with 3 beds!), 2 Universal Studio tickets (peak), SGD 50 Resort world vouchers, 10 SGD retails voucher, 10 SGD food voucher and 4 unlimited entries to Sentosa... it was a good bargain :)
After checked in, we went out to Chili’s for a supper… well… it wasn’t as good as expected =__= the chicken was too sweet, the prawn was smelly, the pizza was tasteless, and I can’t really say anything about the salad…
My dear nephew :)
We ate until around 10.30PM, have a walk around Sentosa, and then went to bed while bro-in-law went to pay a visit to the Casino.
I woke up at 8.30 the next morning. After a buffet breakfast in the hotel, we went to Universal Studio. It was my second time there… and I still dare not to take up the Mummy’s ride ^^; I seem to have lost my guts. We took quite a lot of pictures with characters in the beginning… and then took some other rides before calling it a day at around 5PM.
Group Shoot with a Panda :D
Moving on, we took a taxi to Marina Bay Sands hotel… The hotel was as grand as usual… as it was Chinese New Year period, they got pretty ladies wearing Chinese dress to open the door for the guests!
But my good impression stopped right there.
The lousy services I had back in May 2010 happened again. I queued for 10 minutes for my turn at the check in counter, and then wasted 45 minutes just to get a room! The guy was horrible. I bought the promotional package, where I was charged SGD 410 (before GST & Tax). After totaling everything, the charge goes to SGD 483, which I’m fine with. BUT! On top of that, they are actually charging additional SGD 30++, which I have no clue about. He asked me to click the approve button, but I don’t feel comfortable, so I asked.
Me: ”Sorry, what is the SGD 30++ for?”
Guy: “Oh.. it’s called the Resort Fee.. you know, when you check in to the hotel, this is the fee you paid for the usage of the FLOOR, the ELECTRICITY, the WATER”
Me: “Water?, Electricity? You mean the package I bought doesn’t include water?”
Guy: “Oh, it’s a compulsory fee for Marina Bay Sands”
Me: “I never heard about this fee from any other hotel!”
Guy: “Yeah, as I told you, this is Marina Bay Sands. It’s different”
Me: “But I was here 8 months ago, and I wasn’t charged this fee anyway!”
Guy: “Yeah, it was 8 months ago, this is now. Of course it’s different”
Me: “(FURIOUS!) I’m not accepting this terms and conditions unless you tell me where in the website this fee is being mentioned. I didn’t read this anywhere.”
And guess what, he clicked “Accept” on the terms and conditions on my behalf!!
(By that time, it was already about 30 minutes and my sister actually came and asked if there is any where to sit as they are tired.. he simply said “We don’t have lobby” without being apologetic at all. )
I was very pissed off, but I can see that the fight is going nowhere, so I agreed to sign it in the end. He said that I could mention his name upon check out and get a waiver, but refuse to give me any document to support that. Anyway.
So we went up to the room. We were given the ONE BIG BED despite asking for the DOUBLE BED room many times during the check in. I feel like punching the guy. What’s the point of being able to speak hokkien, malay, Chinese, and English, if you don’t even register what the customer want into your mind. ROARRR!
At that point of time, I make a vow not to book MBS anymore for the rest of my life. I shouldn’t have given it a second chance after the disastrous experience on my first visit.
---
After a messy re-allocation, we finally settled in a double bed room and went out for dinner at No Signboard Restaurant @ Esplanade. I had my first yu-sheng for the New Year, followed by chili crabs and other dishes. From Esplanade, we walked back to the hotel and catch a view of Skypark at around 9pm. It was dark and cool… but there are still people swimming around @.@
Yu-Sheng!
Having decided to take leave from office the next day, I stayed with my sister at Marina Bay Sands.
In the morning, I woke up and get some breakfast from Coffee Bean, then went for a swim at the infinity pool. The pool was actually divided into 3 parts, so you have to climb over if you want to swim the whole length of “Infinity Pool” (which I did”) Despite looking all sunny, the water was really coooollldd.. I can’t imagine how the people swam the other night.
After swimming and some relaxing, we checked out and had lunch at Hide Yamamoto, one of the celebrity chefs at Marina Bay Shopping. Anyway, the food was mediocre T_T It was my last dine with sister for her visit this time. I felt bad as I didn’t manage to find her any food that can make her say “Nyummy!!” I should really bring her around hawker center next time.
Finally – the 57th Floor Sky Park!
Ok, I shall continue on the next post before it's getting too long :p
ED
For the first day, we stayed in Festive Hotel, Resort World. For SGD 538, we were given a family room (with 3 beds!), 2 Universal Studio tickets (peak), SGD 50 Resort world vouchers, 10 SGD retails voucher, 10 SGD food voucher and 4 unlimited entries to Sentosa... it was a good bargain :)
After checked in, we went out to Chili’s for a supper… well… it wasn’t as good as expected =__= the chicken was too sweet, the prawn was smelly, the pizza was tasteless, and I can’t really say anything about the salad…
My dear nephew :)
We ate until around 10.30PM, have a walk around Sentosa, and then went to bed while bro-in-law went to pay a visit to the Casino.
I woke up at 8.30 the next morning. After a buffet breakfast in the hotel, we went to Universal Studio. It was my second time there… and I still dare not to take up the Mummy’s ride ^^; I seem to have lost my guts. We took quite a lot of pictures with characters in the beginning… and then took some other rides before calling it a day at around 5PM.
Group Shoot with a Panda :D
Moving on, we took a taxi to Marina Bay Sands hotel… The hotel was as grand as usual… as it was Chinese New Year period, they got pretty ladies wearing Chinese dress to open the door for the guests!
But my good impression stopped right there.
The lousy services I had back in May 2010 happened again. I queued for 10 minutes for my turn at the check in counter, and then wasted 45 minutes just to get a room! The guy was horrible. I bought the promotional package, where I was charged SGD 410 (before GST & Tax). After totaling everything, the charge goes to SGD 483, which I’m fine with. BUT! On top of that, they are actually charging additional SGD 30++, which I have no clue about. He asked me to click the approve button, but I don’t feel comfortable, so I asked.
Me: ”Sorry, what is the SGD 30++ for?”
Guy: “Oh.. it’s called the Resort Fee.. you know, when you check in to the hotel, this is the fee you paid for the usage of the FLOOR, the ELECTRICITY, the WATER”
Me: “Water?, Electricity? You mean the package I bought doesn’t include water?”
Guy: “Oh, it’s a compulsory fee for Marina Bay Sands”
Me: “I never heard about this fee from any other hotel!”
Guy: “Yeah, as I told you, this is Marina Bay Sands. It’s different”
Me: “But I was here 8 months ago, and I wasn’t charged this fee anyway!”
Guy: “Yeah, it was 8 months ago, this is now. Of course it’s different”
Me: “(FURIOUS!) I’m not accepting this terms and conditions unless you tell me where in the website this fee is being mentioned. I didn’t read this anywhere.”
And guess what, he clicked “Accept” on the terms and conditions on my behalf!!
(By that time, it was already about 30 minutes and my sister actually came and asked if there is any where to sit as they are tired.. he simply said “We don’t have lobby” without being apologetic at all. )
I was very pissed off, but I can see that the fight is going nowhere, so I agreed to sign it in the end. He said that I could mention his name upon check out and get a waiver, but refuse to give me any document to support that. Anyway.
So we went up to the room. We were given the ONE BIG BED despite asking for the DOUBLE BED room many times during the check in. I feel like punching the guy. What’s the point of being able to speak hokkien, malay, Chinese, and English, if you don’t even register what the customer want into your mind. ROARRR!
At that point of time, I make a vow not to book MBS anymore for the rest of my life. I shouldn’t have given it a second chance after the disastrous experience on my first visit.
---
After a messy re-allocation, we finally settled in a double bed room and went out for dinner at No Signboard Restaurant @ Esplanade. I had my first yu-sheng for the New Year, followed by chili crabs and other dishes. From Esplanade, we walked back to the hotel and catch a view of Skypark at around 9pm. It was dark and cool… but there are still people swimming around @.@
Yu-Sheng!
Having decided to take leave from office the next day, I stayed with my sister at Marina Bay Sands.
In the morning, I woke up and get some breakfast from Coffee Bean, then went for a swim at the infinity pool. The pool was actually divided into 3 parts, so you have to climb over if you want to swim the whole length of “Infinity Pool” (which I did”) Despite looking all sunny, the water was really coooollldd.. I can’t imagine how the people swam the other night.
After swimming and some relaxing, we checked out and had lunch at Hide Yamamoto, one of the celebrity chefs at Marina Bay Shopping. Anyway, the food was mediocre T_T It was my last dine with sister for her visit this time. I felt bad as I didn’t manage to find her any food that can make her say “Nyummy!!” I should really bring her around hawker center next time.
Finally – the 57th Floor Sky Park!
Ok, I shall continue on the next post before it's getting too long :p
ED
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