of a tour around Resort World Sentosa

On Tuesday, I made my first visit to Resort World Sentosa (RWS). Even though it was not a personal leisure trip (was doing site visit on behalf of my company), I was already feeling excited along the drive in towards RWS!

Who won’t be right, especially after being greeted with this castle-like building at the entrance?



I somehow felt teleported to some theme parks overseas.

The taxi dropped us at the Casino entrance as that it is only entrance we don’t have to pay the entrance fee. We then needed to make our way to Hard Rock Hotel where all the meeting facilities are housed.

Me and my colleagues made our way pass this huge walkway with pseudo water ripple effect reflected on the high arched ceiling. It’s akin to walking in an underwater tunnel. Very dream-like.





On our way there, we also passed by much-hyped about Victoria Secret store. To me, it looks small and a tad messy. As we are in a hurry, we didn’t pop in to have a look. Maybe next time…




After about a 10 minutes walk from the Casino, we finally reached Hard Rock Hotel. My impression of Hard Rock Hotel is a good one. It has a huge and spacious lobby and created a modern and relaxing feel. They used unpolished cement flooring with brightly colored carpet. At the centre of the waiting area is an island bar counter. How clever! (Too bad, the picture turned out blurred)





We headed to the outdoor swimming pool area where there is a huge Coliseum that can house an out-door concert for at least 800 people. The swimming pool flooring is not the usual tiles but filled with fine sand purchased from some other countries.



Our guide gave us some background info on the 4 hotels; Crocksfords Tower, Hotel Michael, Festive Hotel and Hard Rock Hotel Singapore.

Crocksfords Tower is a by-invitation all suite hotels, reserved exclusively for high rollers. It overlooked the Singapore harbour and Southern Islands. It is situated just above the the Casino for easy access 24/7.

Festive Hotel is a family get-away hotel situated next to Crocksford Tower and the Festive Walk. The hotel lobby is decorated with colorful lantern-like lights to exude a cheerful feeling. I heard that they gave candy and Shrek toy to kids who stayed there?



Hard Rock Hotel Singapore is more of a modern and contemporary hotel for the jet-setter with a rock-and-rock attitude. It houses all the meeting and conference facilities, and indoor exhibition space. This includes 26 differently-designed function rooms and one of Asia's largest ballrooms with seating for 7,300 guests. It also has a fully-equipped classy-looking gym. (No hunk spotted inside though)

Lastly Hotel Michael is boutique hotel named after and designed entirely by Michael Graves & Associates, Hotel Michael pays homage to Michael Graves' artistic streak.

Anyway, after touring around, we finally made our way to the much hyped about Universal Studio.






A quick check with our guide tells us that the theme park should open by end of the month. I'll come back again once it is fully operational!

Just before saying goodbyes, we saw this huge Hershey's Chocolate Store and made a mini detour inside.



Look what we saw!! Mammoth looking Hershey's sauce and Gigantic Hershey's Kisses!!!





My colleagues clowning around:






Look at the amount of candy!





By the end of the site recee, we are so exhausted...But I'm sure I'll be going back again. haha.. Bye...

of a vainity affair

I’m not usually a lavish spender but yesterday I spent $1,800 on a facial package with Leonard Drake. It’s one of my big ticket items. I’ve discussed with MArk and we both agreed that it is an investment leading up to the wedding preparation next year. Wedding photo shoots, actual day wedding, etc. Being the doting boyfriend, he decides to pay 1/3 out of his own pocket even though he can’t enjoy the facial.
(Even though I didn’t marry a rich man, I married a generous one! They say that a generous husband might become rich but a rich husband might never become generous. haha )

Anyway, Xueli introduced me to Leonard Drake Demalogical a year ago when I noticed that her skin has shown great improvements. I took up their $888 package to try for the first time. Results were quite good, just that it would have been better if I am more consistent.

What I really like about them is that they take my comments seriously. There was once when I commented that I felt cold and dislike therapists with cold hands, they gave me a warm blanket on my subsequent visits and make sure that I never get therapist with cold hands in future. They also make sure to give me a reminder calls a day prior to my appointment.

This time round, after spending so much on the package, I am determined to be more religious in going for my facial!

For the $1800 facial package, they gave me $2800 worth of credit + $270 product vouchers. It’s quite a bargain right?

I redeemed the product vouchers immediately!

I’ve gotten the following products:

Skin Hydrating Booster, $112. Contains Hyaluronic Acid to help improve hydration and skin’s elasticity



Skin Smoothing Cream, $86. A medium-weight cream suitable for dehydrated combination skin with a cauldron of botanical extracts and anti-oxidants vitamins (C, E & grape seed) to reduce skin damaging free radical activity. In another word, prevent pre-mature aging skin




Super Sensitive Sunblock at SPF30, $92. A chemical-free sunscreen with mineral UV-blockers Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide to provide invisible protection against UVA & UVB.



Hydrating Mask. $86. A refreshing oil-free gel masque with calming botanical extracts (Cucumber & Bitter Orange) and anti-oxidant minerals to restore skin’s suppleness



So hopefully with all the products and regular facial, I’ll have the skin of a glowing radiant bride by next march.

of Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult

For last year Christmas (sounded like eons ago which in fact is just a couple of days before), Xueli bought me a novel by one of my favourite author; Jodi Picoult. I was so excited that I read the book that very night. Thanks gal!

“Handle with care” by Jodi Picoult is her more recent work after ‘My Sister’s Keeper”.

Thought it isn’t as much a tearjerker as the latter, it is nonetheless still a good read.

To me, both books have very similar theme but crafted so differently.

In “My Sister’s Keeper”, which by the way is one of my favourite book, it explores the controversy of ‘designer babies’ and their social, emotional and mental implications. Will a mother compromise the life of a child in order to save another dying child?

While in “Handle with Care”, it breaks the barrier of medical ethics and personal morality. It’s about a mother’s love and protection over a disabled child at the expense of losing her own family and betraying her best friend.

Both book that a recurring theme of “How far will you go for someone you love”?

Spoilers ahead!

Charlotte O'Keefe’s baby girl is born with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), or brittle bone disease. Like an irony, her family name her Willow just like the willow tree so that she will bend and not break. You see, Willow will suffer hundreds of broken bone throughout her life. She could easily break a bone while sneezing or by turning in her bed. In another words, it will be a lifetime of pain and suffering. As her family struggles to cover astronomical medical expenses, her mother Charlotte decides to file a wrongful birth lawsuit against her obstetrician for the compensation which might ensure that she can fund a lifetime of care for Willow.
But it means that Charlotte has to testify in a court of law that she would have terminated the pregnancy if she'd known about the disability in advance. It would mean that she has to testify that she had rather Willow has never been born.
But that’s a lie because Charlotte has never loved another person as much as she loved Willow. At the same time as Willow brought her inconvenience and disrupted her life, she also brought Charlotte joy, love, sunshine and the strength she never knew she had. But will Willow know that Charlotte is lying in order to give her a better life? At a young age of 5, will she know that sometimes loving means you have to lie? Does her husband and her teenage daughter that for a fact?

To make matter worse, the obstetrician she's suing isn't just her physician - she's her best friend.

Faced with the accusation from local media that she is a gold-digger, betrayal of her best friend, separation from her husband and teenage daughter, Charlotte still choose to continue the law suit for Willow’s sake.
In the end of the court battle, she won the case at gotten 8 million dollars for compensation for the “wrongful birth lawsuit”.

The story ends with a final chapter written from the perspective of Willow. It is 2 years after the law suit and she is alone at a frozen lake, or so she thought. Suddenly, the surface of the ice break and she has fallen into the water. As soon as it breaks, the ice started to freeze again and trapped Willow in-between. This time, she thought: “Finally, I’m not the one who breaks”……

of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

I just finished reading 'The Bell Jar' by Slyvia Plath. It was just one of those random book I picked up from the national library and boy am I glad I did that.

It is the first and only novel by Sylvia Plath and the protagist life's run somewhat paralle to the life of Plath.

*Warning* Spoiler ahead.

Esther Greenwood is a young girl who wins a dream assignment in a big-time New York fashion magazine in 1953. She is elated, believing that she will finally realise her dream to become a writer. Instead she finds herself spiralling into depression and eventually a suicide attempt.

The story is written in 3 parts. Esther's glamour life in New York during her intern-ship at the fashion magazine, her depression and suicide attempt back home and lastly her time at the asylum.


During her internship in New York, Plath subtly suggest that the significant causes of Esther's depression is certainly the high-pressure environment in which Esther lives. As Esther is the quinessential overachiever, a scholarship winner and gifted student who consistently wins prizes and scholarship.

Jay Cee, Esther's boss during her internship repeatedly told Esther : " Don't let the wicked city get you down". Which aparently, Jay Cee has seen many young and inspiring writer fallen from grace.

Esther grew increasingly depress each day even though she is supposingly leading the time of her life. She questions about her own sexuality in the time of sexuality repression in America. She is uncertain about her career and what she wants to be.

After her internship, Esther went home and found out that she is not selected for a pretigious writting class. She grew more listless each day and have insomia each night. Both symptoms indicating a deeper depression. Death fills her mind that she consider many methods to end her life before deciding to down her sleeping pills.

Esther woke up in a hospital and was later sent to an asylum to recuperate on her 'illness'. She received shock therapy to make her feel 'better'.

" Sitting in the front seat, between Dodo and my mother, I felt dump and subdued. Every time when I tried to concentrate, my mind glided off, like a skater, into a large empty space, and pirouetted there, absently."

I suppose the shock treatment just stopped Esther from thinking/concentrating but not really making her feel better. In this case, the cure of the diesease seems worse than the dieseas itself.

Soon after, Esther is being transferred to another asylum and stayed there, receiving treatments until she feels better. Her path towards recovery.

The author uses The Bell Jar as a metaphor as to how depression can trap the soul and being or the patient.

"If Mrs Guinea had given me a ticket to Europe, or a round-the-world cruise, it wouldn't have made one scrap of difference to me, because wherever I sat - on the deck of a ship or at a cafe in Paris or Bangkok - I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own soul air".

This book reminds me of 'Girl Interuppted' by Susanna Kaysen in her best-selling book in 1993.

A strongly recommended read, though you might feel slightly depress after reading.