Katelyn Tan | A Singapore Beauty, Travel and Lifestyle Blogger

Showing posts with label hotel. Show all posts

Saturday, 4 January 2014

No matter what, I have to finish my travelogues!

It's sort of like a diary for myself.

So no matter how back logged they are, I'm gonna finish them! =P

While you are reading this, I am already in HK.

Will be doing HK travelogues when I am back.

But no matter what I have to clear the USA ones first!

Aim to clear it before the two years mark opps.

So the last post was Los Angeles Week 2.

That was Monday to Thursday.

Friday (6th July 2012) - San Diego [this post]

Saturday (7th July 2012) - San Diego [next post]

Sunday we were back in LA so it will go into LA Week 3 ;)

♥♥♥

Another road trip! This time it's San Diego! :)

* warning: photo spam *

Tuesday, 30 July 2013

We entered the waiting/shops area early and had a quick bite,

cause by the time we reach BKK and settle down it would be around 9pm.

A movie theatre that we passed by!

Never knew Changi Airport waiting area had a movie theatre.

Can't choose your movie though.

You can only watch whatever they are showing.

We visited the Butterfly Park!

Okays I've never toured the waiting area of Changi Airport terminals before.

Usually when I board a flight, I enter 45mins before flight time and go straight to the gate.

I'm not someone who will go to the terminal early and tour the place.

Random photos inside :)

This were all taken before our flight.

By then, I already had 50+ photos inside my camera. Lols.

Flew to BKK through flyscoot.

Departure fare was SGD50, Return fare was SGD160.

We travelled light (only handcarry) so no check-in luggage needed for the departure.

For our return flight, we had a 15kg check-in (shared amongst the 4 of us).

Total was about SGD296 per pax (inclusive of fees and taxes)

Anyways I did a blog post about flying with no check-in baggages

and also the stuffs I brought to BKK.

Do check it out if you are planning on traveling light ;)

On the plane! Btw the isle of flyscoot is rather narrow.

I have this impression that it is more narrow compared to normal planes I took. No idea why.

Anyways, look at the pretty fluffy clouds! Sadly we didn't have window seats :(

Reached BKK!

They have this Parking area at their exits, where ever there is a toilet nearby.

A place for people to park their baggages?

First thing to do was to... GET DATA CARDS!

I cannot survive without data plan =P

Anyways, I did homework and found that dtac has 299bhat sim cards.

Unlimited data for 1 week, with 100bhat credit in the card. I think it's a very good deal :)

Shared this on my BKK tips blogpost before ;)

It's super easy to locate them. They have the longest queue!

Our first cab ride in BKK!

The cab ride from Suvarnabhumi International Airport to Baiyoke Sky Hotel was about 300bhat.

Always make sure that you get cabs that are metered! More tips here :)

Our hotel room! Baiyoke Sky Hotel Junior Suite!

We paid for Superior room but they ran out of those rooms.

So they upgraded us to Junior Suites for free :)

The room was HUGE! Hahas.

Baiyoke Sky Hotel

222 Ratchaprarop Rd., Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400 Thailand

4 nights ~ SDG820 for 4 people (two rooms)

The view from the room! :)

Baiyoke Sky Hotel is like a BKK attraction on it's own.

Cause people do pay to go up their observatory tower!

People who stay in the hotel can go up for free though :)

But I have to say, they don't really check if you have the room key.

If you mingle with a group and go up together, no one will know.

I'm not saying that you should try though.

Hungry people need to eat!

Took a cab out and wanted to eat at Roast.

We planned to go there on another day.

But Kai Ru say that they open till 11pm.

So we could go there and eat after we land in BKK.

But end up they take last orders at 9.30pm.

So... end up I didn't get to eat there at all.

Cause we never did go back.

Those who want to visit Roast Cafe, here are the details.

Roast Coffee & Eatery

SeenSpace Thonglor 13, Bangkok, Thailand 10110

We randomly ate at a jap restaurant there.

I had Ochazuke Sake (Rice with tea and salmon flakes)

It was yummy! Super easy to make too that's why so cheap.

Basically it's just rice with green tea, furikake seasoning and salmon flakes hahas.

I love furikake seasoning. So any rice with that can never go wrong =P

Chanced upon Mr.Jones :)

We had to enter and take photos with the pretty cakes!

Also, we bought cakes as our breakfast for the next day :)

Cakes are about 100bhat each.

Alicia and I bought a Banana Chocolate Cake to share.

Cause both of us don't eat much for breakfast =P

Mr. Jones' Orphanage

251/1 Thonglor Soi 13 | G Floor, Seen Space, Bangkok, Thailand

After that we cab back to our hotel.

It was metered and cost only 70bhat!

When we went there, we took a flat rate cab and it was 200bhat!

So... remember to take only metered cabs in BKK!

That's all for Day 1.

More interesting things and a yummy food recommendation will be up soon in the Day 2 blogpost!

Keep a lookout for it ;)

Thursday, 23 May 2013

First we had to rent a car!

Lots of medium sized cars for us to choose!

We (Me, Sandra, Joy, Dan) chose a silver Chrysler! :)

We have 4 cars traveling together on this trip!

You can see the 3 cars behind us ;)

One white Chrysler, one black Chrysler and one black Ford.

Our car rental cost was split amongst 4 people.

But still cheaper than the rest cause Dan is above 25.

We only need to pay for additional driver insurance for Joy.

The other drivers in other cars weren't 25 yet so they had to pay more (even though split by 5).

The rule in USA is that you have to be above 21 to drive

and drivers below 25 need to pay additional insurance.

Dan started off as the first driver and Sandra the navigator.

After our pit stop, we will swap.

But I saw both Sandra and Joy fell asleep. So I didn't sleep and kept a lookout for Dan.

But Dan is a zai driver hahas. Though it was a long 3hours drive, he didn't need any help ;)

He was super alert. He saw a car almost coming into us even before I shouted careful.

Since I wasn't sleeping, I was taking random photos while helping to keep a lookout ;)

And we finally reached our pit stop - tanger outlet (barstow)!

Those who are driving from LA to Las Vegas, I will definitely recommend this place as a pit stop!

No idea how the guys search for this place and used it as a pit stop.

But it's right is the middle of LA and LV plus it's an outlet.

You can a break from all the driving and get to shop too! :)

Lots of parking lots there so no need to worry that you can't find a lot.

A photo with some of the girls and someone photobombed us!

Had a short break/lunch there. Then we headed towards Vegas!

Tanger Outlet, Barstow
2796 Tanger Way
Barstow, CA 92311
P: (760) 253-4813 or
P: (800) 409-3175

Regular Hours
Monday - Sunday
9:00am - 8:00pm

Refilled petrol at a petrol kiosk which was extremely nearby.

Told you this place is a perfect pit stop already ;)

Lenwood Oil Co
2795 Lenwood Rd, Barstow
CA, United States

Now Joy was driving and I was navigating.

Didn't sleep the whole way to Vegas.

Was feeding Joy with gummy bears to keep her awake ;)

Gummy bears are really life saviors!

Saw this long long train along the way to Vegas!

It was so far away it looks like toy train =P

Or are they really toy trains?! #confused

Hello Vegas! We finally arrived! :)

Our hotel room and the scenery outside :)

the D - Las Vegas

301 Fremont St Las Vegas, NV 89101
2 nights - US$244.72 for 4 people

Should be $109 per night for Friday and Saturday.
I don't have the exact price cause I wasn't the one who booked.

Right outside our hotel it's Fremont! :)

The flying fox seems quite fun ;)

Some group photos outside our hotel entrance!

This is the largest group road trip we had! 18 people in all! :)

Welcome to Vegas! Hahas isn't this what Vegas is famous for (other than casinos)?

We saw this while we were driving by.

It caught our attention case the photographer was squatting

in the middle of the road and taking photos of the couple!

First up - Outlet shopping!

It was Kuan Yee's first outlet trip.

She basically went on a shopping spree and bought lots of stuff!

We had our fair share of crazy outlet shopping in Orlando already ;)

* control... shall not go into crazy shopping mode again *

Las Vegas Premium Outlets - North
875 South Grand Central Parkway
Las Vegas, NV 89106
(702) 474-7500

Regular Hours
Mon - Sat: 10am-9pm
Sun: 10am-8pm

Back to our hotel at night.
We shopped longer than planned hahahas!

A walk around Fremont to search for a place to eat.

But all the restaurants were FULL! :(

Here comes the disadvantage of traveling in a huge group:

you will never be able to make decisions!

So end up we split. Two cars travelled to Denny's (recommended and led by Wei Da hahas).

Denny's
1826 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89104

A drive around The Strip!

Amelia, Kuan Yee and I were spamming photos while in the car hahas.

Then Wei Da decided to bring us around to walk!

Walked around and took our tourist shots ;)

Kuan Yee found her favorite soccer team poster and took a photo with it!

Oh and we saw Fatburger there but never did try it during this USA trip.

The reason why I love DSLR is cause I can walk and take photos without having blur photos!

As long as I set it to the correct shutter speed =P

Another thing Las Vegas is famous for is their Yard Long drinks!

Frozen cocktails! The ones we had wasn't Yard Long but it was the same kind of drink =P

They have lots of these around The Strip and even along Fremont Street.

More photos around the place.

Then we met up with the rest in the Bellagio!

All the gamblers arr... Hahas. Anyways, it was a super pretty hotel!

Some of them stayed on to gamble while we went back to the hotel first.

Bellagio

3600 South Las Vegas Boulevard

Las Vegas, NV 89109, United States

(702) 693-7111

That's all for Las Vegas Day 1!

Stay tuned to my Las Vegas Day 2 post ;)

Genting 2D1N March Getaway! Day 1 :)

Saturday, 6 April 2013

Sis and Grandma accompanied me for this trip :)

Tired face in the morning.

Had to reach Golden Mile at 6.15am for this coach!
Super super spacious and comfy coach ;)

After about 7hours, we are finally reaching!

The haze/mist/whatever it is =P

Reason why some photos look so dark is cause some of the lamps weren't on.

I had a hard time looking for the switch! LOL!

Was desperately searching for the normal white main switches.

End up, their lamps have individual switches hahahahas.

If you are there, look for those small black switch connected to the lamp ;)

Love the room as it was clean and spacious, with a big bed and two sofas.

The three of us shared that bed and it was just right ;)

In addition, they have a TV and hairdryer! :)

When we were there, it was 21 degrees.

It felt like a 25 degrees? In the noon it actually wasn't cold.

Nicely decorated place with friendly staffs and service is good :)

Price was reasonable too!

Bubbles & Bites
Level 2, Highlands Hotel

Operation Hours
Monday to Thursday: 11am – 12midnight
Friday to Sunday, Eve of Public Holiday & Public Holiday: 11am – 2am

Sis and I each had a cup of ice chocolate. It was super thick!

Grandma has apple + blackcurrent juice. Heard it was not bad too :)

The food that we had!

Caesar Salad was yummy.

I mean what can go wrong with vege right?

Also, there was fresh salmon in it!

We opted for the no beef one cause grandma doesn't take beef :)

Fish and Chips was rather unique.

It's not the normal plain fried fish.

It had a layer of herbs under the fried skin.

New York Spaghetti with Meatballs was not bad.

Spaghetti can never go wrong ;)

The meatballs were a little hard though. But I liked the tomato pasta :)

Peri Peri Chicken Wings was okay.

It had a special sauce but the chicken was a tad too salty.

Didn't tried all. Most of the main dishes was for individuals.

But as a blogger...

We will always spam photos of other people's food as well! Hahahahas.

And photos of the food has to be taken first, before eating! =P

We had a wine tasting session!
I like the passion fruit one! It was not bad hehex.
And ahhhh *light-headed* hahahas.
I think my face turned a lil red after trying them!
We tried at least 6 different kinds.
Some were strong ones.

Cheers!

Clockwise starting from the left:

Alan, Tiffany, Susan, Sherie, Victor, My Grandma, My Sister, Me, Don, Angie

We were given a short guide on the history of Genting Highlands.

Then, we were brought to their video showing room to watch a clip and that's all we did here =P

All thanks to Dr Lim Goh Tong, we have our nice cold getaway!

If he didn't build up Genting many many years back, there wouldn't even be this trip!

Their wide wide walkways!

Totally don't have to worry about having an over-crowding situation.

I love theme parks!
The first time I came here was in 2005 I think.
It has been 8 years and I am finally back in Genting!
That "flying" ride (no idea it's name) was the first ride I took here in 2005!

Happy girl in the theme park!
I took this mini ferris wheel in 2005 before too =P

Our purpose of coming here.
To try out their new ride - The Waves.
It's madness. Warning to those sitting on the outer corners =P
Take it and you will now why.
Also, be prep that it goes forward, then backwards!
Not bad a ride. It's really fast and I like fast rides! ;)

P.S. Even grandma took this ride!
And she said it was okay lols!

The last photo is thanks to JQ :)
She went around to help us take pics!

Thought the sky was pretty. So I took this photo =P

And we were on our way out of the theme park.

It was free and easy time. We could stay on to play.

But Grandma's feet aches if she walks for too long.

So we decided to go shopping for awhile, then go back to the hotel to rest :)

Grandma and sis :)

Shopping time @ Times Square

Didn't buy anything though.

But I heard Sasa there is quite cheap.

Movie is cheap there too!

The statue of liberty so hip one hahahas!

Photo with grandma :)

Grandma loves taking photos!

Now you know where my love-taking-photos genes came from ;)

It's dinner time!

Two long tables were reserved for all the bloggers.

Coffee Terrace

Lobby Floor, Genting Grand

Operation Hours

Buffet

Breakfast: 5.30am - 10.30am

Lunch: 12.00 noon - 2.30pm

Dinner: 5.00pm - 9.30pm

Ala-Carte

3.00pm - 5.00pm

10.30pm - 5.30am

They had a wide range of food there for the Dinner buffet.
Some of the stalls, even cook on the spot for you!
Eg. You can pick the amount of raw vege and seafood that you want at the Chinese stall,
and they will cook it on the spot for you!

My dinner for that day :)

They had LOTS of desserts too! :)

I love the Chocolate Mousse! Yummy!

The Lian Bu (googled it and it is called Syzygium Samarangense) was very sweet too!

I think Malaysia and Thailand has the yummiest lian bu?

If you go to Genting, please spam the lian bu hahahahas!

Apple Strudel was normal ;)

Since we were done eating, and we have time, so we...

Take photos!
Grandma liked the food here.
Think she prefers chinese food.
Plus the food wasn't salty :)

Collected out tickets from JQ :)
But since we were still early, we walked around first.
(Cause SnowWorld has time slots to enter)
That's how SnowWorld looks like.
A super pretty pink/purple place!