I’m going to Singapore!

delucca

I attended a dinner hosted by Singapore Tourism Board a couple of days ago at Delucca, One Residency. The dinner was held to unveil the new YourSingapore.com site on the digital front with a blogger engagement program. It just so happens that I’m one of the two bloggers going on an all expenses paid trip to Singapore! πŸ™‚

delucca kristine

The restaurant was decked out with banners displaying the different facets of Singapore. That’s the lovely Kristine over there – in hindsight, it was a bad idea to stand next to her in my color clashing outfit. πŸ˜‰ I just got back to KL and most of my wardrobe is still at the laundry. Heh!

fresh

Fresh here was the one who pointed out that my shirt and jeans color combination makes her want to stab her own eyes out with a hot poker. Okay, she didn’t exactly say those words but that was the gist of it. Easy to say when you have a color matching outfit to the romance themed banner. :p

delucca restaurant

I love the themed banners in the restaurant displaying the different facets of Singapore. There was a bit of mingling around and then we all settled down for dinner.

bread

Delucca is an Italian restaurant with a simple but superb starter of bread drizzled with olive oil and oregano.

aud

I’m an avid traveller and I love to go for everything from long trips to Europe to short sojourns a few hours drive away from KL. It’s a passion that my family has imbued in me – we have a tradition of going on at least one family vacation a year.

delucca interior

I first visited Singapore when I was 7 years old. I can’t remember the details of it but I remember it as a very safe place. It still is – I was there 8 months ago, and I had no worries at all walking down the street at 3 am in the morning. I don’t believe there’s any other city in the world where you can do that without fear of being mugged or worse.

door gift

Well, Singapore has changed a lot since then. It’s a constantly changing city – that’s part of the appeal – they manage to preserve their heritage while moving forward and modernizing the city. It’s the perfect tourist destination. It was when I went on all those annual family trips and it still is. I just turned 30 and I’ll continue the family tradition with my own when the time comes. πŸ™‚

prawns

Back to the dinner, there was a lot of good food and wine. I particularly liked the Panzanella Gamberetto – it’s a Tuscan bread salad with poached fresh water prawns, cherry tomatoes, shallots, olives and balsamic dressing. The prawns were succulent!

gerald

It was a great start to the launch of the new website. Gerald, the Area Director of Singapore Tourism Board took the stage and went through YourSingapore.com – their new site which allows you to see country specific promotions, upcoming events and festivals and even an intuitive travel planner where you can organize your own itinerary.

celebrity-bloggers

They also have a Facebook page where you can see the latest offers and promotions. It’s a great platform for interacting with the Singapore Tourism Board staff and other like minded travellers. There are discussions about everything Singapore and the Facebook page nicely complements the YourSingapore.com website by providing a sense of community.

I was filming the speech when I heard that I was one of the bloggers who will be going to Singapore based on the itinerary that I made earlier this week. w00t!

lion-king

I’ll be going to see The Lion King musical at Marina Bay Sands! This is the first South-East Asian premiere and tickets were given out during the dinner along with shopping vouchers during a contest. I’ve seen the cast perform at West End when I went to London earlier this year and it’ll be great to see the Singapore production. I hear the cast is sourced from London too!

vogage-de-la-vie

Another highlight would be Voyage de la Vie, the theatrical rock circus by Mark Fisher at Resorts World Sentosa. I’ve heard a lot of good things about this and I can’t wait to see it for myself.

universal-studios

I also put Universal Studios Singapore into my itinerary – it’s a place that I’ll love to visit. I’m a huge fan of Battlestar Galactica (it’s an intelligent science fiction series – kinda like Star Trek for mature audiences who can understand the nuances of politics) and there a new ride based on the show. It’s dubbed a β€œduelling roller coaster” with two simultaneous rides going around and with near collisions mere centimeters apart! I’m excited already. Heh!

bloggerholic

My itinerary is a mixture of culture, adventure, nature and pleasure so I named it such. You can view it here or plan your very own itinerary. It’s really user friendly and everything Singapore has to offer is categorized with excerpts so you can just drag and drop to plan your trip there.

itinerary

I also added some island hopping action (did you know you can see dolphins in Singapore?), a bit of nightlife (you haven’t been to Singapore until you’ve sipped the original Singapore Sling in Long Bar at Raffles Hotel), and a pampering session at a spa.

yoursingapore

The best thing about YourSingapore.com (besides the nifty itinerary planner, which caters for everything from travel to health care tourism) is the country specific deals. There is a lot of promotions going on and you can choose whatever floats your boat.

cindy

There’s one in particular that caught my eye – the Ultimate Fun at Universal Studios Singapore, Resorts World Singapore package which starts from 1st April to 31st July 2011. You can choose to stay from a variety of hotels – including Hard Rock Hotel Singapore and 2 x 1 day adult passes into Universal Studios Singapore. You’ll also get Resorts World Sentosa Singapore gift vouchers worth S$25 and other offers. Choose from a 2D/1N or 3D/2N stay and the prices starts from just S$488 for two!

I think that’s a really great deal.

winner

It was a great dinner and everyone went home with something even if they didn’t win the prizes in the contest. Thanks Singapore Tourism Board!

group

YourSingapore.com allows you to see Singapore YOUR WAY. You can create your own itinerary or choose one of their suggested itineraries and customize it. It’s one of the best official tourism websites I’ve ever seen. Hop on over and check it out for yourself.

gift

See ya in Singapore! πŸ™‚

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32 thoughts on “I’m going to Singapore!”

    • Hello Del!

      Why? I love to travel and I always do that whether it’s just an hour away or a full 14 hour flight.

      You’re Singaporean, your IP is 220.255.1.84 – which is Singtel.

      I can’t figure out if you’re a troll or a long time reader. If you’re the former I won’t even reply usually.

      I can understand if you’re looking for other content though – however that is only given to the trusted members of my now defunct forum. You’re not one of them.

      I’ll write what I want to write, thanks. πŸ™‚

      Reply
    • Yeah, I’ve seen their production in West End and it’s really good! I’m very keen to see the Singapore one as well. πŸ™‚

      Reply
  1. I remember a few years back you blogged about being hesitant to go to this security tight country. It looks like everything is green light now. A year older, a year wiser. Hope this goes to you too.

    Reply
    • Heh! You would be correct, my friend. πŸ™‚

      I’ve actually changed a lot since ’06/’07 – some due to circumstance, a lot due to my own personal choice.

      I’ve been to Singapore a lot of times since then and I love the country. It’s safe and clean, not things you can say about any other city. πŸ™‚

      Thanks for the birthday wishes! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  2. HB how wonderful you going to Singapore and to see Universal Studio and many other attractions. I was planing but now change of plan to see Japan Universal Studio and Disneyland now head to my home state California Universal and Disneyland instead.

    Reply
    • Yup, I’m actually very interested in catching The Lion King and Voyage de la Vie. Theatre appreciation somehow became imbued in me during my two recent trips to Europe. πŸ™‚

      Oh, that’s great!

      I didn’t think a lot of people would go to Japan right about now but I personally would love to go to.

      Have fun on your vacation!

      Reply
    • Erm…about that…I was just sitting there in the chair and was supposed to stand at the back for the group photo but I couldn’t get out.

      Okay, that wasn’t entirely true, I could have excused myself and squeezed out if I wanted to.

      ,,,actually, I was just too lazy to move. πŸ˜‰

      Reply
    • T____T

      We can go watch it again at a later date Aud! πŸ˜€

      I hope these productions come to Malaysia, they never do, and it’s not like there isn’t a market for it what with us going elsewhere to watch it and all. It’s like all the good concerts being in Singapore and us having to fly down to catch it. Hmm…

      Reply
  3. Bout time you come SG. Give me a holler when you are here. We go check out the chicks…..erm, I mean, the local tourism products and packages. πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Will do bro! πŸ™‚

      Heh! I’m on an itinerary there but I’ll be sure to find time to go out and have a couple of drinks. I’m thinking Brewerks or a Singapore Sling at Long Bar. I’ve also heard a lot of good things about KU DE TA as well. πŸ™‚

      I have actually been to Singapore several times over the past few years. πŸ˜€

      I’ll send you an email from the hotmail address you provided in the comments before I head down to Singapore ya.

      Reply
      • Cool bro. Both are good choices though you might wanna steer clear of Ku De Ta at the moment due to some franchise problems with the main Bali club owners. Brewerks for beers and Long Bar for cocktails. See ya!

        Reply
        • Interesting! I did not know that. Ku De Ta still seems like an awesome place to chill though – have seen the photos, rooftop bar. Nice.

          Okay, Brewerks and Long Bar then.

          See ya soon bro! πŸ™‚

          Reply
  4. Happy Belated Birthday Huai Bin! I am sure Singapore wont disappoint you. Have a great time here and do check out Clarke Quay. Your eyes will be tired from all the eye candies…haha. Looking forward to reading your Singapore post/posts. πŸ˜€

    Reply
    • Thanks for the birthday wishes! πŸ™‚

      Yeah, I’ll be sure to stop by Clarke Quay as well, a very trendy nightspot, won’t miss it for the world. πŸ˜€

      Cheers and have a great weekend yourself! πŸ™‚

      Reply
    • Heh! I believe I already did. πŸ˜‰

      It’s the Lorong 9 Geylang Frog Porridge. I wrote about it in a previous blog post last year. It’s awesome stuff.

      They have a franchise here in SS2 but the original one in Singapore is much better. πŸ™‚

      Reply
  5. all the above suggestions from every well intentioned singaporean to go to clark quay or some international establishment/eatery are really boring. do something local mate, dont be paying 15 bucks for a beer?! do something gonzo, do something interesting, and i’m sure you would enjoy yourself even more than going to fucken clark quay bro!

    Reply
    • Hello Ken!

      Yeah, don’t worry, I ALWAYS do as the locals do when I travel. πŸ™‚

      I love the frog leg porridge in Geylang Lorong 9, the chicken rice in Maxwell, and am going to look for more obscure food to eat and hang out at local bars that Singaporeans go to.

      However, I do enjoy microbreweries, it’s nice to drink something like that. It has its charms too.

      Where would you recommend, my friend? Where is your local watering hole?

      Anyway, I’m going to the islands too – something I’ve never done (except for Sentosa). πŸ™‚

      Reply
  6. I’ve always like singapore especially their dining scene. There’s just so much to do there and the best of all, the city is safe and cabs are easily available. Will be going there next month again!

    Reply
    • Hello Eiling!

      Yeah, I know! You always go to Singapore, it’s like a monthly thing for you. Heh! πŸ™‚

      Oh, I might be going next month too! Will see if our timing concides. πŸ˜€

      Reply
  7. wah u are 1 of the 2 bloggers that get the chance like this? ..awesome n congrats!…i love to travel too…MARINA BAY sands was really awesome esp their Chairman Suites…:) πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Thanks Devi! πŸ™‚

      Yeah, I was pretty lucky to get chosen for this. πŸ˜€

      Interesting! I would love to stay there. Heh!

      I’m confirmed for The Lion King already – woot! I can’t wait to see the production. πŸ™‚

      I’m also coinciding with the Singapore Arts Fest so I’ll catch When a Gray Taiwanese Cow Stretched too! It looks like an awesome show from what I’ve heard about it. πŸ™‚

      Reply

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