Washington

Washington

After 2 hour flight from Orlando, we reached Washington!

Ashley's Travelogue 2013 - Koh Samui

28 May 2013


After returning from Ho Chi Minh City, I departed on another trip the very same week - all thanks to the public holidays we have in Singapore.  So over the Vesak Day weekend, me and my atas friends (that's what my other friends have decided to affectionately call this group of friends) are going to Koh Samui! We met at 6.30pm at Changi Airport Terminal 1 for dinner at Ruyi before departing.

Discovery Cove & Richard Petty Driving Experience

Discovery Cove & Richard Petty Driving Experience

  

Still from our Orlando Trip...Discovery Cove. Discovery Cove despite the expensive tickets, I think it is well worth it. Discovery Cove is a day resort where you get to enjoy lazing around the beach, playing with dolphin, playing with birds and snorkel around seeing many species of marine life. I saw more types of marine life here snorkeling than I saw in my diving trip hehe...

  

The check in lobby of Discovery Cove. They limit to 1000 Guest per day for the resort, that's explain the high price of the tickets.

It's a very cold morning when we arrived there...

Our breakfast....

Not a big fan of birds.....

Some very exotic bird that you get to feed them inside the bird feeding area...

The water behind me is warm...you can laze around on the float...and float around in the comfortable water...

Our Lunch....

Lazing around...enjoying my afternoon beer.

It's dolphin time....we get to interact with the Dolphin for 30 minutes. The trainer will explain to us how they train the dolphin and let us know more about dolphin. We get to feed the dolphin, touch the dolphin..(they feel rubbery), kiss the dolphin and swim with the dolphin. Superb experience.

It looks like a normal beach...but underneath this is all the species you can find in the water.

At night, we went to Downtown Disney for Dinner.

This restaurant looks good as the queue is super long. We skipped this due to the long queue. It looks like a Jurassic Park theme restaurant.

Posing inside Harley Davidson Shop. Price in US and Singapore is about the same.

Mickey Mouse shape candy apple.

The man rolling cigar...

A very bustling Disney Downtown...

Chained Hot Air Balloon...you can go up and see the bird eye view of Disney Downtown but it is chained so you can just go up and down...not around lolz...

Inside lego store....the legos look like jelly beans....

Lego Kombi..!! My fave car...

Lego Dragon...

Disney Store...

Cinderella Castle without bling...

Cinderella Castle with bling...

Brothers reunited...

Dinner at Wolfgang Pluck Cafe....the steak was good!! The price was even better only one fifth of the Wolfgang Cut price....hehe

Next Day is Nick Richard Petty Driving Experience that I had planned for him.....you can get the tickets from Orlandovistor Counter at some discounts compare to purchasing the tickets from Richard Petty website.

 Beautiful Sky to start off the day....

The entrance of the Carpark....

 Posing around ....I can't race as I can't drive stick....after many years of auto driving experience lolz..

 Nick climbing into the car thru window, the car got no doors...

  The very excited and happy man after his ride.

 

Ashley's Travelogue 2013 - Ho Chi Minh City

21 May 2013

My 2nd trip for 2013 was to Ho Chi Minh City with Angela. I got to know Angela during my days at IRAS and we have kept in contact till today. In our group we have another girlfriend called Hsing Hui. But Hsing Hui does not enjoy travelling therefore we were on our own for this HCMC trip.

Groupon Deal - House of Balinese Traditional Massage

Groupon Deal - House of Balinese Traditional Massage

Saw this deal on Groupon, $28/- for 90min traditional Balinese massage. This is the price of massage in Thailand lolz...., after much consideration, I bought this deal. You must be asking, why do I still need to consider, the deal is so cheap. Reason - I am very afraid that they want to lure me there and force me to sign package. But anyway, I bought the deal lolz...

Here is my review:

Easy to make reservation? 

There are two branches listed on the voucher, I made a few calls to the Thomson branch but no one picks up the phone. I tried the branch at Bukit Timah, it was easy and got the slot I wanted. 

P/s: The Bukti Timah outlet is not so accessible if you are not driving.

How is the experience?

The place is decorated to look Balinese House. The therapist is very professional and give us the full 90 min massage. I enjoyed the massage, it is really very traditional Balinese Massage. Ginger tea is served after the massage, I love their Ginger Tea, very strong Ginger taste. 

Any Hard Sell?

No.

Will I go back again ?

Yes, even there is no Groupon Deal

W Hotel - High Tea

W Hotel - High Tea

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, we went to check out W Hotel High Tea. Located at Sentosa Cove Area, W Hotel is far away from the buzzing side of Sentosa.

W Hotel Lobby..very modern looking

I was attracted by this dog at the reception area...he look so cute

Entrance to the Woo Bar...the place was quite empty when we arrived but it is recommend to make reservation as the seat is quite limited.

The list of tea and coffee for your picking.....p/s: the tea and coffee is free flow..

Had a quick pic before the food came...

The starter, starting from the left Foie Gras Ganache Tart which I love it. I thought it was a chocolate tart but to my suprise the filling is Foie Gras. It was simply delicious and my favorite item of the high tea set . The muffins look alike are Smoked Chicken Brioche with Tomato and Peach Relish and the white item on the right are Sliced Gravlax Salmon Soft Goat’s Curd rolls which Nick and I are not a fan of it. Goat Cheese is not something we would enjoyed.

Look at the variety of sweets they had for your tea...white, brown  and artificial sugar, honey on stick and in tube...

I've chosen honey on stick for my tea....

The beautiful bird cage...high tea set..

On the top tier, we had macrons. I like the earl grey macrons, not too sweet.

The second tier...Scones. I am not a fan of scones so Nick polished them off. He say the scones tasted not bad. He still prefer the one at Fullerton Hotel.

The third tier.. we have white and dark chocolates, egg mayo sandwiches, Lemon Meringue Tart, different flavor of marsh mallows and mango fritters which is not shown in the pic. After, we ate it ...we realize we haven't took a pic of the last tier...

Swimming pool of W hotel, only accessible to Hotel Guest.

Overall : The high tea at W hotel is value for money. $58++ for set of 2. The detail set up of the high tea presentation right down to the utensil chosen is very pleasing to the eyes too. The waiter and waitress of Woo Bar is very attentive...thumbs up.

P/s: Do ask for Complimentary Car Park if you are driving. There is a 15% discount if you are a SPG (not sarong party gal..lolz) member....another reason to go Woo Bar High Tea on top of its already very value for money high tea.

Verdict : 4/5

Address:
W Singapore Sentosa Cove,
21 Ocean Way, Singapore 098374
Tel: 6808 7258

Opening Hours:
Daily from 3pm - 5pm