Ant:dote @ Fairmont

After hearing so much about the "drawers", we finally came and gave it a try. Suprisingly, all the guests at Ant:dote today were females.  And I literally mean ALL. Well which girl would say NO to quality bonding time over gossip, pretty cookies and hot tea.

The standing bar area.

Christofle fine silver flatware - nice.

Yummy bubbly.



For the standard set, you have an option of either egg with truffle or dim sum.

The dim sum trio.

The famous chest - on the top tray were all sorts of pastries and chocolates.

Level 2 comprised of the savory items.

Level 3, scones and lemon sponge cake.



Homemade cookies.

Pink Narumi tea set.

I was caught stoning.

Tea with the girls (minus Karen who is back in Ipoh for Christmas).

Ant:dote

Level 1, Fairmont Singapore

Tel: 431 5315

For me, I find the experience to be "once is enough". I personally prefer places where I get to savour an unlimited tea selection and have the freedom to switch between tea or coffee. But in Ant:dote, you are only allowed to 1 tea flavor (refillable) which I find to be very restrictive. Food selection wise, the variety was not to bad but the taste was mediocre.  Most Japanese bakeries would have done an equally job, if not better.

But Ant:dote's centralised location and nice ambience definitely make it suitable for girlfriend gatherings.

Happy Wedding Anniversary - Raffles Hotel

4 years ago,we held our wedding at Raffles Hotel.  4 years later I decided to return to this hotel for a staycation to celebrate our 4th year anniversary.

 

There were definitely some regrets to the wedding and I am sure this happens to all the brides out there. We would always tell ourself if we could do it again, we would do this way and not that way, or we would have chosen this and not that. But sadly we can't turn back time. So I decided to make use of this opportunity to make right somethings which I felt could have been done differently. I had always wanted to take more photos in Raffles Hotel which I was unable to do so 4 years ago. So the purpose of this staycation was to leave footprints in every corner of Raffles Hotel. And of course I had a theme.  Since I could not put on the same wedding gown, I chose something white but much shorter so that our pictures would still sort of look like wedding shots but yet not so. Before I present the pictures I would like to say a special THANK YOU to the Hub who is always so sporting.  He's always agreeing to what I want to do and going the flow. Likewise for this time.  And I loved the surpise flowers in the room. I really appreciate all your effort.

The Ballroom on 25.12.2010

I remember 4 years ago, the ballroom was really busy, there was a wedding lunch followed by our wedding dinner.  But this morning it was really quiet. Well maybe they knew that we were coming back to take some photos today =)

4 years ago from Sophia Peh's mobile phone.

4 years later.

 

 

After reminiscing, let me showcase the series of photos I took this morning with the help of the tripod stand. I purposely made Mr Guan wake up at 7am and we started taking pictures at 8am. This was to avoid unnecessary photobombers and have eyes staring at us like as if we were mad people.

 First let's get started with the outdoor shots.

Not the same Christmas tree 4 years ago but this real tree smells so good.

The same staircase we took to the wedding ballroom 4 years ago.

Looking even better than 4 years ago. And who says we can't age gracefully?

Along the beautiful courtyard rooms.

The Lawn - so romantic to have an ROM party here.



Then Indoors

 

Our room for the night - room 350

Lastly, Merry Christmas!!

Vancouver

Vancouver

After more than 20 hrs of flight, we are finally in Vancouver!!!   Note: Canada's Border Security is tight, so remember to print your hotels and return flight tickets before hand for them to know that you still wanna come back home!

Cab is expensive in here. And while public transportation is a breeze, we booked a hotel which is easily accessible.

Our Hotel Blue Horizon...15 mins walk from the train station. We chosen this hotel because it is one of the stop for "hop on hop off bus" which makes it convenient for us. The hotel location is good, it is on Robson Street, there are many shops and eatery nearby the hotel.

PAL From Singapore to Vancouver..

There is no direct flight from Singapore to Vancouver. I was searching online for the fare and I came across a good promotion by Philippine Airline. One way from Singapore to Vancouver business class ticket only costs only $1900+. I knew i had to book it straight away! But, I became to worry the moment once II paid for the tickets. Nothing comes cheap right?

After doing a Google search, I din't feel better. The reviews we read online are mainly negative comments about the old Cabin and inadequately updated entertainment system. We can't seem to find any legit photos online to convince ourselves that their business class is of certain standard. And so we wait for the DEPARTURE DAY!!!!!!!!!!! SURPRISES DO COME AFTER SUSPENSE!!!!!!!!!

The Premier Lounge we checked into before we board the plane was good! There were some fair food, drinks and massage pods for us!

My shoe wearing Sun-glass...more glam then me...lolz

Our first stopover: Singapore to Manila

The seat, Nick saw the seat and he was really disappointed...hahaha. He was soooo worried that this is the exact same flight from Manila to Vancouver and we were beginning to regret in settling for "cheap stuffs" without doing much research...boo hooo
It is more like Economy Plus seat.
 Trying to show the legroom of the seat.

The Welcome drink - Mango Smoothie. This is really really good!

The meal menu from Singapore to Manila

 

 The meal..

The in-flight entertainment system, as commented online had very limited choices of movies. And I have to make do with it, only blaming myself for leaving my Ipad at home......

Manila Airport Lounge.... We transited here for 5 hours and I am soooooo glad we took business class.  Because........Manila Airport has NOTHING!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

FINALLY.... Manila to Vancouver

BUSINESS CLASS came to us!!!!!!! This is what we paid for!!!!

Cute Steward :0

Mango Smoothie again...

Amenities Bag with Clarins sample size

Welcome drink and snacks..

Our menu for dinner and breakfast but my hp ran out of battery before I can take the breakfast meal pics...Boo Hoo :(

Our dinner..

Conclusion of my flight experience:

Pros:

Food: the food was great.

Seat: The seat was good, very spacious leg room for the flight from Manila to Vancouver.

Pilot: I feel that the pilot skill is good to as the landing is very smooth. Also, I don't have terrible ear             pain due to the air pressure of very fast descending. Some airlines like to do that.

Service: The air crew service is great, truly representing that Filipino is superb in service. 

Cons:

Very Very Very limited in flight entertainment, that is shocked me.

Had to transit in Manila Airport...It's a pain to transit there

The plane from Singapore to Manila is really old.

All said..I would love to travel with PAL again if there is good deal on the business class ticket. 

Next up my journey in Vancouver!

More Post on Canada Trip..

• Vancouver
• Banff Part 1
• Banff Part 2