Happenings in December - Celltive Taengstick + Gathering with Friends and Family

Thursday 3/12/20 

I like collagen supplement that comes in the form of jelly because they often taste better, easier to consume and convenient to carry around. Celltive has introduced Taengstick, a daily vitamin intake in the form of collagen jelly. 

With Taengstick, I can enjoy the nutritious small molecule fish collagen and tart cherry anytime, anywhere in a fuss-free manner. The first sensation that hit me once bite was the sourness from the 100% concentrate of tart cherry. 

As the name suggested, tart cherry brings a sourer taste than normal sweet jelly. It also brings many health benefits too, it helps to decrease cholesterol level, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and promote deep sleep. No additive is added. Thanks 0.8L for being my health and beauty one stop provider, bringing balanced health and beauty to my life.

We ventured to RedDot Brewhouse at Dempsey Road, a popular spot for gathering away from the hustle and bustle city. The glittering steps of RedDot immediately caught our attention from far.

December is the month of Christmas, we are already feeling the happy vibes of the holiday season with many people start clearing their leave.. We didn't expected the restaurant to be almost full house on a weekday. 

It was my first time trying Vanilla Milkshake ($12++), The milky taste was strong and the whipped cream added creaminess to the milkshake.

I had Spaghetti Carbonara ($22++), where the portion was just nice for me. The spaghetti was cooked al dente and the creaminess did not make me feel gelat.

Friday 18/12/20 

Hanging out with friends on a Friday night, enjoying delicious food, gossiping over latest happenings and having Christmas gifts exchange is a great way to begin our weekend. We had our dinner at Route 65 Bar + Kitchen @ Suntec City. Our reservation was not found on the list and we were being placed at the alfresco seating.

We ordered 4 main course to share among 4 of us which includes Crispy Chicken Don and Slipper Lobster Pasta. We didn't took much photo that night because the environment was just too dark for photo taking.

Thanks Meryl for the group photo. 

Our bill totaled up to $11.50 per pax, as Tracy had 1-for-1 deal on main course using Entertainer App.

Friday 25/12/20

Merry Christmas!

We welcome the festive season and my long weekend with a buffet feast at Buffet Town @ Raffles City, Singaporean's favourite because everything is free flow. This was my first buffet under Covid-19 measures, we can no longer going around the stations helping ourselves with the array of food. We will place our order on iPad instead and dishes are served to the table.

Buffet Town features a substantial spread of servings from Japanese, Asian, Western, seafood, local comfort food.

My favourite dish was definitely the scallop, it was very juicy, chewy and flavourful with the ingredients and sauce coated on it. The fish and chips was disappointing because the food was only a little warm when served.

Buffet will never end without dessert for me. I had Green Tea Ice Cream which has a bittersweet taste. 

Because it was Christmas Day, Buffet Town prepared a complimentary Chocolate Fondue for every table. It look really beautiful with all the colourful ingredients placed on the plate and I loved dipping the flower shaped marshmallows into the thick chocolate coating. 

It was a nice celebration with my friend.

Monday 28/12/20

Today marked the first day that allows 8 pax dining at outdoor. Since I was not working today, I took this opportunity to bring my family and relatives out for a dim sum lunch, my mum picked Red Star Restaurant. I didn't expect the restaurant to be so crowded on a Monday, I queued for 45 minutes before we were given a seat. 

Note: The restaurant does not accept reservation.

There is no ordering system at Red Star Restaurant, the staff will push the food trolley around and we can take the plate we want, and the staff will tick your list. We were a bit sian after a few rounds because the variety of food were the same.

One of my favourite was the fried prawn dumpling, it revealed the juicy prawn when we bite away the crunchy skin.

Because we didn't took a lot of dishes because the variety of food was repeated, the bill only totaled up to $125 for 7 pax. It was my treat because my relatives have been feeding me food when they came to my house while I was working from home these period.

I received a 7 sachets of Privia Miracle Yeast Cleansing Foam from Allura Asia. The rich foam lathered well and spread easily when applied on our face, taking away the impurities and sebum that accumulate on our face, leaving our face feel fresh and healthy after the cleansing.

Tuesday 29/12/20

Yet another dim sum feast again because yesterday one was not satisfying. It was at Red House Seafood @ Grand Copthorne this time round. 

The restaurant has a strong oriental feel when we walked down the Red House pathway. It is definitely a great place to enjoy the Chinese cuisine with family and friends.

I love the wide variety of dim sum that Red House Seafood offers and every plate was able to tantalize my taste buds., making it the best dining I had this December. Be it the unique carrot cake, crispy mango prawn roll, buttery egg tart or runny salted egg yolk encased in the fried pillow bun, it was savoury and delicious.

Before we mark the end of 2020, I got myself a new phone. Definitely going to change my phone after using it for 4 years.

2020 has been a year that passed extremely fast, a year filled with important lesson and valuable insights, a year fully swamped with work and no low peak period. With all the challenges faced and hardship endured, I survived through 2020. I really hope that 2021 will be kind to me. Lastly, happy new year.

2D1N Staycation at D'Hotel Singapore + Coq & Balls Gastro Bar

Sunday 6/12/20

Moving on to our second hotel staycation at D'Hotel, which is located in in the midst of Tiong Bahru. I have passed by this area by bus many times, but this was my first time stopping by to explore the area.

Little did I know, the hotel is actually known as Wangz Hotel previously and they had rebrand themselves as D'Hotel now.

D’Hotel is a 7-story building that offers 41 well-appointed rooms which are spacious, stylish and punctuated with bursts of floral and nature-inspired artwork.

231 Outram Road 

Singapore 169040

We arrived at D'Hotel at 1pm, it immediately gave us a good vibe upon entering. If you are looking for a spacious room setting at a pocket friendly price, this is the place for you. Linda paid $95 for a non peak one night stay. So using the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers, she still has a balance left. Super worth it.

We were lucky to have a room available immediately as we reached early before our check in time at 2pm. 

A glimpse of our Deluxe Twin Room (27sqm) at level 4, we love how spacious and comfortable the room is, the interior design and the floor-to-ceiling window that revealed the surrounding view of the city. Most importantly is the super valuable rate. D'Hotel has the ability that makes us feel switch off and don't mind spending our entire day in the hotel, and be a couch potato.

Even the bathroom offers a window view as well. Not to worry, there is a window blinds which we can let down to prevent us from being exposed while bathing.

Every room offers a different view of the city, retaining that connection to Singapore and offering a sense of place. D'Hotel is well hidden in the estate of Tiong Bahru, we were glad to found this gorgeous hotel for a wanderlust stay.

We had a 10 minutes rest in the room before making our way out for lunch. But before that, we went up to check out the rooftop area.

There was a gastro dining bar at the rooftop which was closed in the afternoon and will open at night for dinner.

Checking out the view from the rooftop, offering the wonderful view of the skyscrapers and architecture. It is a familiar sight of our urban city.

Both of us wore printed dress that we got from our Vietnam trip, it was really matchy. My dresses are usually in solid colours, this is my only printed dress. The fabric material was very lightweight and perfect to wear during sunny weather.

We walked over to Coq & Balls Gastro Bar which was about 15 minutes walk from our hotel. We were already feeling hungry, just nice it was 2pm, on the dot for our booking time using Eatigo app.

The interior of the gastro bar was displayed with wooden tables and chairs, it made a comfortable place to hangout for a meal or drink. We are both busy with our working life and we managed to squeeze out time this weekend to give ourselves a long weekend break, making a life out of our work.

We ordered Calamari where the squid was coated with batter, making it crispy with a squeeze of lemon. Dip it with chilli sauce for extra boost.

Chicken Quesadillas was our favourite among all, it was served with tortilla chips. The BBQ sauce drizzled on the tender chicken meat added savoury to the overall taste of the Quesadillas. It was mouth watering.

Last dish was Smoked Duck Pizza which has a very crispy crust. The pizza was nice but the amount of food we ordered were too much for us, resulting in us have a hard time finishing it. We were super full by the time we left the gastro bar and we needed a walk to digest the food. We gotten a 50% discount from Eatigo App and we each only paid $14.56.

We walked over to Tiong Bahru Plaza to takeaway dessert and snack for our indulgence in the hotel later, in case we might not travel out in the night. The weather looked gloomy when we finished shopping, we better made our way back to the hotel.

While walking back, we passed by the Tiong Bahru old estates that leave a nostalgic charm. It is hard to find such historical sites in the modern Singapore, we are glad that these places are still preserved over at Tiong Bahru.

The wall mural made me think of the street art of Penang. Due to the drizzle, we didn't walked around to explore more of the street art.

We managed to get back to hotel at 5pm just before the heavy rain approached, we were really lucky to purchase food back because we dragged going out in the rain. What I love about this unplanned staycation is I don't feel the pressure to tick off any checklist in the itinerary, we don't mind doing nothing, just chill and laze around.

D'Hotel provided Twinings tea set which we reached out to give us energy boost after a long walk. The room was so perfect for a chill out. With all the amenities available, it made us feel at home. 

We just spent the next 2 hours drinking, talking and eating in the cosy room while it was raining outside, it gave us a good reason not to leave the room. It was really amazing we can talk so much for 2 days and we still have endless topics to talk about.

We got dessert from Nine Fresh which become our dinner. I was having Eight Treasures Grass Jelly which comes with mixed bean, milk ball and chewy taro balls. The grass jelly was very smooth.

The bed was so comfortable and I like that it comes with two pillows. The perfect setting made us want to retire to bed early to enjoy the ultimate relaxation. 

We escape to bed by 9.30pm and kickstart our tv marathon all the way till 2am. We started with X-Men 2, followed by A Korean Odyssey and Chinese Restaurant 2. I was hooked to A Korean Odyssey, I am going to catch this drama when back home.

Monday 7/12/20

Good morning, waking up to our last day of staycation.

Not really looking forward to check out time because I need to rush back home for work as I only took morning leave.

Our stay comes with breakfast which we collected at 9.30am from the lobby. We had a cup of coffee and croissant from Delifrance. I opt for egg mayo while Linda chosen seafood.

Our short vacation came to an end. It has been a therapeutic retreat with long hours talk, lazy meal in the room, plenty of relaxation to soothe our empty shell soul physically and emotionally, a little reward for the tough battle last few months. Stress has been all time high this year for many of us during this pandemic crisis.

A well weekend spent made us forget the negativity in life. Hope the next vacation is not too far away.

I'm ready to head back and continue working in the afternoon - Monday not so blue.

2D1N Staycation at Harbour Ville Hotel Singapore + Tiramisu Xpert Food Review

Saturday 5/12/20

Luck is always not on my side when it comes to travel during these two years, things happened for some reasons when I want to travel. I fell terribly sick when I went for staycation at JB last year and couldn't enjoyed myself fully, I was badly injured just few days before my trip to Penang and I had to forgo the air ticket and hotel. This year, we are all lockdown due to Covid-19 which leave a damaging impacts to the world.

To revive our local tourism economy, the government has given every Singaporean $100 SingapoRediscovers Vouchers which can be used for attractions, hotel stays and tours. During the first day of issuance, Linda and I immediately booked a staycation for a city break to escape the busy schedule that we have been experiencing for months. This was really an overdue trip for us because we were supposed to go on a trip last year.

My day started off raining when I was on my way to Harbourfront. Linda wanted to have Pasta Mania for her late lunch using Eatigo App where we can enjoyed 50% off when dine at 3pm.

After the late lunch, we then made our way to the hotel which was 2 bus stops away from Harbourfront station. The rain has stopped by the time we alighted at the bus stop.

Harbour Ville Hotel is about 5 minutes walk from the bus stop.

Harbour Ville Hotel Singapore is a boutique hotel ideal for travellers seeking budget-friendly accommodation with over 100 rooms available. We decided to book this hotel because this hotel offers one of the bigger room size among many of the choices we looked at and the price is quite attractive for a weekend stay. I paid $48.38 for a night stay after deducting the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers.

512 Kampong Bahru Road 

Singapore 099448

We checked in our room just nice at 4pm, we booked a Superior Twin with room size about 20sqm.

Though the room might not be very spacious, but for a night stay, it was still pretty decent with basic amenities provided.

Upon entering, we discovered that the remote control for aircon was not working and the hotel staff managed to get it fix. Everything was fine after that.

I occupied the bed on the left and my first thought was that, "wow the door was just right besides my bed when I turned, a very unique design of the room."

The bathroom.

This was the view from our room at level 5, we were sandwiched between a condominium and logistic company. Nothing much at the surrounding and the nearest coffeeshop was probably 10 minutes walk away.

My tiramisu delivery arrived at 4.30pm, just perfect for our indulgence in the room. But before that, we placed it in the fridge to have it chilled. 

Linda brought her scented candle to make the room smell aromatic.

Just as we were discussing on what to do during the staycation, the heavy downpour started again. It was a good thing that we didn't plan any activities for our staycation except for the Pasta Mania. Moreover, our hotel is situated in the middle of the city where we need to travel out by bus, so we felt lazy to travel out in rainy day. Nothing has dampened our mood as we were perfectly fine with just spending the day in the hotel having our girls talk and watching fox movie channel. 

Thanks Tiramisu Xpert for the collaboration during my staycation week.

As the name suggested, they are the expert in tiramisu making and every piece of tiramisu is handmade with love. There are two variations (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) available for selection currently at three different size: 

Solo-misu for 1 to 2 pax ($10 - $12) 

Medio-misu for 2 to 3 pax ($18 - $20) 

Grande-misu for 3 to 4 pax ($25 - $28) 

We had the solo-misu for the alcoholic and non-alcoholic variations. The non-alcoholic tiramisu boosted an aromatic coffee note while the alcoholic tiramisu brought us on a heavenly sensation. The tiramisu revealed multiple layers of cream and airy moist cake with cocoa powder topping the top layer.

Time passed so fast, it was already 6.30pm by the time we started eating our tiramisu, the rain has stopped too.

 The coffee flavour was not too overpowering and complemented well with the sweetness from the cream. 

It was rich in flavour with the presence of sweet and savoury, we cleared the dessert in no time. Feeling happy and satisfied after the dessert.

We ordered Grab delivery for dinner from Omo Oishii which arrived at 7.45pm. Both of us have Kimchi Soup with rice ($6). Thanks Linda for the dinner treat. The kimchi soup was packed with fiery, which left a spicy kick after eating. 

I brought Taengstick from Celltive for our vitamin intake in the form of collagen jelly each night.

We love hiding in our room and enjoyed girls time. Perhaps because we are in Singapore, everywhere is so familiar to us that we don't feel the needs to travel around during staycation.

Linda brought 2 bottles of Osmanthus Sencha with Passionfruit from Gryphon Tea, a handy drink to have after a spicy dinner. We brought lots of goodies to enjoy during our trip.

The cold brew tea has a floral aroma from Osmanthus flowers and accompanied by light acidity of Passionfruit, the beverage was very refreshing and aromatic. We enjoyed the drinks while watching Night at the Museum and X-Men.

Without us knowing, it was already 12 plus. Time to retire to bed.

Sunday 6/12/20

The price we paid for the hotel was inclusive of breakfast. At 7.30am, the staff knocked on our door to deliver our breakfast bento. It was good that the door was just right before me, I rose immediately and collected the food.

The breakfast was a packet of nasi lemak and an apple.

It was still early for consumption so we went back to rest again.

We were up for breakfast at 9.30am. I had nasi lemak for 2 consecutive days and my third chicken wings these 2 days too.

We continued to laze in the room till check out time at 12pm. Half of our trip is already over, time to head over to our second hotel hopping.

Stay tuned to the next post.