Singapore F1 Grand Prix Finally Over!

Found more pictures from Yahoo slideshow of the F1.
Aerial view of the street circuit in Singapore, lit up by the lights.
Alonso driving past the old courthouse in Singapore.
Rosberg driving past the old courthouse during the race. It is a very pretty shot. I didn't find any shots of the cars on Anderson Bridge, that was very picturesque too.

I watched my very first F1 Grand Prix race on telly and I must admit it was boring. Well, it was all about cars going round and round. I didn't even know it would be 61 laps (silly me thought it would be like the movie where it would be done in 5-10mins :p) and would take close to 2 hours.

I'm not the only one who felt this way as my gfs were feeling the same. Hahaha. So there I was, having the telly on, msning with a friend watching in the UK (constantly asking him what was going on as I didn't understand why there were penalties and the safety car etc), texting gfs about the race and reading a book. Multi-tasking me ;p

Gf who was watching from the track could hardly hear the sound system over there and had to text me to ask who was leading, and which laps they were in and basically what was going on. So the telly was much better in giving information. She was given free ticket (lucky her) and was seated at the Marina area where she said lots of accidents happened over there (still no idea where she was seated). She texted that it was very noisy over there and lots of commotion and just got bored watching the cars going round and round too since she had no idea who was driving which car. Hahaha. Her friend who was equally bored, wanted to leave with 10 laps left to go. I told her to stay on since it would be ending soon, so probably they did.

Conclusion: it would be better to get a suite or something where one can walk about. watch the race and feel the excitement and hear the roar of the engines, have the tv on for the commentary and just enjoy it with friends.

Pictures of the race: sources from Reuters, AFP and Straits Times.

The street circuit in Singapore, lit up by 1,600 lantern light projectors to illuminate the street, making it look like day. You could see the various landmarks though while watching on telly, it was all a blur :p
The Singapore Flyer in the background, plus lots of advertising from SingTel the main race sponsor or organizer.
The race started with Massa leading the pack. Again, advertising by STB for Uniquely Singapore.
The pretty infamous fuel hose which was still attached to Massa's car when it pulled away from the pit stop.
Towards the end of the race, I think. No idea who the drivers are :p
The winner of the very first Night Race and very first Singapore Grand Prix - Fernando Alonso for Renault.
The top 3 drivers - Fernando Alonso (Renault), Nico Rosberg (Williams) and Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) - having a bit of podium fun with the giant bottles of champagne.
Alonso dropping the bottle of champagne down to his crew, who shared the bottle. This really reminded me of the Stanley Cup where they poured champagne into the cup and everyone will take a sip from it. Ahhhh....NHL!

Goodbye F1 2008. Hello F1 2009. I just realized Singapore has won the contract to host the race for 5 years. So for those who didn't manage to get any tickets, get ready for next year's race.

New Innerwear

I just signed up for La Senza Express Privilege card which is a pretty good deal, especially if you do buy lingerie from La Senza. You get a booklet of coupons which is pretty ho-hum but what is really good is that you can get 10% off all your purchases. Yes, 10% off on top of whatever promotion or sale items you buy. So that will certainly help a lot :)

The lola collection is so similar to VS. I know VS has bought over La Senza, but seriously now it is so hard to differentiate between the two brands. The undies were so cute!

Kiss Me
Puppy Love
Look But Don't Touch
Let's Party Like A Rockstar
Heart Breaker

and many more in the shop.

Ready, Set, F1 Go!

The excitement is building up and is certainly palpable in the air surrounding the restricted area. Through the whole week, I could feel the electricity in the air. I worked near the restricted area and was affected by the road closures and diversions.

No one remembered the roads being affected when it took effect on Tuesday (Sept 23) and it was massive congestion in the Nicoll Highway, ECP and Beach Road area. Colleagues were stuck in traffic for 30mins to over an hour. In the end, I walked over to the building too.

Then at 3:01pm on Friday (26 Sept), I heard rumbling sounds in the office. The practice for F1 had started! It was so exciting! I rushed over to the windows even though I knew we could not see the cars. The roar of the engines, and sounds of cars zooming past were infectious and you could not help but want to be involved. Though after a while, it could get a bit annoying (especially when you didn't see anything) as it sounded like motorbikes revving.
After work, we walked to Raffles City to get to Capitol Building. More F1 stuff. Roads closed. Restricted areas. Lots of tourists or locals taking pictures. You got to feel the difference. Those allowed within the gated F1 community and those lesser mortals who didn't get tickets. People proudly wearing the lanyards showing they are the "in" crowd. This is the one time where you actually can see people wearing lanyards outside the area.

Ahhhh....it kinda reminded me of when APEC 2007 was held in Vancouver. It was about the same. Restricted zones. People with lanyard passes were allowed into the areas and I was one of the "fortunate" ones to be involved then.
Waiting at the traffic light where it was the start of the road closure at the Raffles Hotel area and going into Suntec City. No doubt there are more tourists, I could see them all around town but I wonder if they will really spend at the malls inside the restricted zones. Personally I am avoided the areas as I have no idea where non-F1 pass holders are allowed to enter. Plus getting a cab will be horrific.
Another race car inside Raffles City. By Lenovo and RBS. Didn't manage to take a pic of the one at Paragon and it was gone when I went over on Saturday.

Tonight will be the race. Maybe I should stay home to watch it. I was kidding with my friends that I go to the office and watch it since I can hear the actual sounds but watch the telly for the actions :p

Tatsuya Japanese Restaurant

This is a really crappy photo as I took it without flash on my phone's camera. I didn't expect to go there for lunch.

I had a really bad headache/migraine and saw the doctor. After the doc's visit, I was advised to eat some stuff before taking my pills. So walking around, nothing was really appetizing and I thought maybe Japanese will be ok.

And since I hardly had the chance to be in town area during lunch time, I decided to go to Tatsuya at Park Hotel. I heard so much about it but had yet to try. Obviously I didn't have any reservations and the restaurant was packed! It was so tiny and people were waiting. Good thing I was alone and was able to get a seat by the bar area.

I ordered the Sashimi Unajyo Bento which came with fruits, unagi on rice, pickles, tempura, sashimi and chawanmushi. It was really fresh and good though it took quite some time to arrive.

The tempura was not oily and fried just right. Now I finally understand why some people raved so much about good tempura. It was really light and not too floury. The unagi was not overly sweet or drenched with sauce. The sashimi was fantastic. Fresh thick slices of raw fish just made the day. The chawanmushi was silky smooth and soft. Very nice. All these for $30.90++.

The set lunches are affordable especially since the quality is there :)

Location
Tatsuya Japanese Restaurant
270 Orchard Road
#01-05 Park Hotel Orchard
Tel: 6737 1160

Opening Hours:
Lunch: 12 pm - 3 pm
Dinner: 6:30 pm - 10:30 pm

Luxasia Sale Loot

I was wondering when the next Luxasia Sale will be when I got the sms from D. It happened over the weekend and so we decided to just pop down and see what else we can find since we missed the first day. I always loved the Luxasia Sale for its skincare (Phytomer!) and fragrances. I managed to pick these up from Decleor. I happened to bump into my face therapist from Decleor and she recommended me what to get, plus she also remembered what I use from Decleor. I can never remember the products which were ok for me as I only remember the Aroma White range which was not available there.

I bought the Hydra-Floral set (full size moisturizer plus 3 other stuff), bust firming (to try but apparently it works very well), deodorant (smells really light and fresh and non-sticky), skin refresher and body oil (moisturizes well and not sticky too) and the gift set of the cleansing water, I love that.

And my phytomer products. I picked up 2 Hydracontinue night moisturizers. They are salon sized, hence the tube form. Also trying the eye cream and I like the face scrub. The cleansing milk will be useful removing makeup for days when I didn't have mascara on. Don't want to waste the cleansing oil :p

I also got Annick Goutal Rose shower gel. It is a very light rose scent, very nice. And I was a good girl, I only bought one perfume - Burberry Touch. I have been looking at that for such a long time. I was also tempted to get Paul Smith Woman, Lanvin Eclat something (the purple one) and Ferragamo Incanto Charms but I resisted.

So it was mainly skincare for me. They are enough to last me for 2 years? Just in time too since I am down to my last tub of moisturizer from Phytomer and had intended to use the Tangs voucher to help offset my purchase.

Marc by Marc Jacobs Wallet Clutch

I was invited to the Marc by Marc Jacobs preview for the Fall/Winter 08 collection last week. It was quite a fluke. I went there the other night to check out the bag which caught my attention online. So we saw the bag - black - not the color I wanted which was either grape or portobello, when this caught my eye. I love the color - fool's gold.

The SA said he will call me after he checked if a certain credit card will be entitled to 10% off. So he called the next day and he invited me to the preview tea party. He said it would be better to buy it then because there will be GWPs :) So yes, I got the wallet clutch. And I got the free tee too. If I spent more, I would get a tote which was quite alright but not what I need.
The wallet clucth is really useful for days when I don't want to bring too many things out or when I drive. I can actually fit in my car key and lipbalm and tissue pack in there. Plus my cards and cash and coins.

The interior of the wallet clutch. Image from shopbop.

Farewell @ Airport (VL)

Another belated post. Farewell for VL at the airport last month. We sure do miss her. Here are are slogging away in hot Singapore while she is living it up over in London.

Tea Cosy @ Eclectic Attic

We decided to go to Tea Cosy at Eclectic Attic over at Plaza Singapura for dinner. I have heard lots about it and have also walked past it many times. I like the place for its mis-matched vintage furniture as you can actually buy them. Baked mushrooms in cheese was really really good. I loved the fresh juicy mushroom with the creamy cheese in it. A definite must order.
C who didn't want to be photographed. I put this up as I want to show that stagecoach, rickshaw like chair in the background. Isn't that cool? To dine on that?
My dish of laksa pasta with prawns. Errr....despite the numerous praise for this, I find it to be average. It was just ok and cost cutting, only 3-4 pieces of prawns? The best laska pasta I had was at Teaspa when it was at Raffles City. That was so yummy.

Me with my pasta and our shared appetizer of mushroom. Quite a cozy place after all.
C ordered the fish in miso. The fish was not bad but the miso was so salty and the fish seemed to be swimming in it. You really can't drink the miso at all.
The salad which came with it. I am not sure why I took the pic like that. A bit tilted. It was not bad, tangy dressing.
Our shared dessert of the mini cakes. tiramisu, banana, brownie, chocolate, strawberry mousse. They were ok, nothing fantastic.
Cappuccino for me and tea for C. Nice coffee though.

Location:

Tea Cosy @ Eclectic Attic

68 Orchard Road #05-10

Plaza Singapura

Tel: 6732 7356

UPS - Service Recovery

After I blogged and ranted about the poor customer service from UPS, I finally received a response from the person in charge. After doing the usual checking and questions, I was informed that they had received several feedback about the wrong charges from Victoria's Secret.

They had actually submitted the claim for GST refund from the government and it would take 2-3 months to process because of the unusually high volume of cases. Typically it would take 1 month.

See, this was what I wanted to know. If they had processed the claim for refund and how long it would take. So I was fine once I knew that.

A week later, someone from UPS called me (I don't remember the name now) and he did a fantastic job on restoring customer confidence. He told me because it would take so long for the government to refund them, UPS would just send the check over to me first while they wait for the refund.

This is excellent customer service response. And yes, I managed to get my check within the week. Kudos to the person who called me :)

Cova Pasticceria-Confetteria Tea Set

We went to Cova again in the late afternoon after a session of massage and facial at Paragon. We were fairly famished and ordered the Royal Tea Set which came with 9 pieces of bite-sized sandwiches and sweets, plus coffee or tea. I had the cappuccino - so sweet with the heart shape in the foam.

Royal tea set for 2 persons. They brought us one each of everything but since it would be tough to spilt everything into 2 to try, we requested for them to give us 2 of every item.
The savories - smoked salmon was pretty normal. I loved the prawn sandwich. I don't remember what was the third.
The fruity sweets - strawberry tart, mango mousse and chocolate cake or something.
Very blurry pic of the sweets - sacher is nice but the chocolate cake was even betterl. Blueberry cheesecake was not bad.
And a surprise, we were given 10 items. Chocolate covered a raspberry inside the tart. Blurry pics as taken with the phone camera.

We could not finish as there were too much sweets. It would be better to give more savories?

Another F1 Race Car (Renault)

F1 fever seemed to have hit town. Everywhere I turn my head, I seemed to encounter something related to F1. The first being the notice hanging at the bus stop outside my work place. Yes, road diversion ahead from Sept 23 to the end of it though some roads will be affected from Sept 20.

The grandstand or whatever you call it are up near the Suntec or Padang area. The lights were turned on too, shining ever so brightly at 7:10pm when my bus went past. Besides the race car I saw in Raffles City a few weeks ago, here is another car right outside Marriott Hotel. I think it is a replica of those driven by Renault F1 drivers. It is just another way to bring the hype to the people.

While I can appreciate how this is adding more life and buzz to Singapore, it is also a bit of a hassle, especially for those who work in or near the area. It was tough enough to get into Suntec during the IMF in 2006, I wonder how the public (without any tickets) can enter Suntec again when F1 is on.

I looked at the map printed in papers and read about which roads are closed and the diversion to occur, but I am still clueless. It is just not so very clear at all. Anyway, I will probably steer clear of the area during the event and let the tourists have the space. Just like what the City of Vancouver is telling its residents. Please leave the city during the Winter Olympics in 2010 so that visitors can have the space. (I am not making this up, this was said by the mayor or someone else. Not enough hotels to cater to the estimated visitors, with a few new hotels being built currently, and many Vancouverites being asked to rent out their rooms or homes during the period and I know a few people who intend to travel out to avoid the crush).

I think I can still hear the noise even though I can see the track out from my office building. We shall see what happens next week.

MoF - Ministry of Food @ Bugis Junction

I have heard a fair bit about MoF but just never really got the chance to sample their food. it was always crowded when I walked past. We decided to order take-out from MoF for a company lunch as the prices were pretty reasonable and within our budget. The service was pretty good and the person who took our order was able to recommend certain dishes and upon knowing we had a budget to adhere to, also helped us with our selection.

While we were waiting for our food, we were asked to take a seat at the table twice. I refused the first time as we were not eating there and it was lunch time. But after being asked the 2nd time, I acquiesced and took a seat. We were given a pot of tea (very pretty) and the tea cups were already on the table. I quite liked the fact that the menus were available under the table top. The food was good and the service was great so I went back to MoF again that same day for dinner with my friend.

I ordered the iced lemon tea. Lovely presentation but it tasted awful. I forgot to check if it would be freshly brewed tea since I disliked any other types. It was either from instant mix or something from Lipton or Seasons or whatever. They do not serve iced water but do serve warm water (I don't understand this logic). Apparently the pot of tea does cost (though I was not charged at all when waiting for my take-out order).
D ordered the kakiage sukiyaki which was not bad.
I had the kakiage cold soba. The soba was a bit floury tasting. Miso soup was good and the kakiage was freshly done. Not cold or soggy.
Topped up to a dessert - macha mixed imo (soft served ice cream drizzled with green tea sauce, deep fried yam ball and deep fried sweet potato ball with red beans). I prefer the sweet potato ball. Nice.

The service for dinner was pretty bad, quite disappointing especially since I had a good encounter earlier in the day. The main server for our table was someone from China. Unfortunately she did not understand much English and I didn't understand her Mandarin (there are always subtle differences in Mandarin from China and Singapore) so it was tough trying to understand what she was saying. Even when I asked if she can speak English or get someone else who can speak English, she kinda just stood there and continued speaking in Mandarin. I have no issue with foreign servers but it can get very trying when you are unable to get your point across.

The bad service continued when another guy came over to serve us another plate of sashimi when we already had it and our dessert was already on the table. Errr....didn't the waiter notice that at all? Then while we were still eating, another guy came over with the bill (not even for our table).

I guess they need to train the staff better for the evening crowd as the staff for lunch was so much more equipped to handle a full house.

Molton Brown Heaven

My little slice of heaven. Bath and body products can always cheer me up. When I have a bad day, I just need to burn a candle (or essential oil) and as the scent sets in, it will just lift up my spirit.

Or I will do the whole layering thing. E.g. lavender shampoo and conditioner, lavender body scrub, lavender shower gel and body lotion, plus lavender eo burning in the room.

So I am an extremely happy girl with my loot from Molton Brown. Thank you to a gf who told me about the "event" :)

I managed to pick up the above at a fraction of the actual retail price. Some are bought previously from the store at retail price with my vouchers.

What did I get?

• heavenly gingerlily air candela (my fave scent) - a sensual blend of Indian tuberose, ginger, sandalwood and cardamom
• intoxicating davana blossom foaming bath oil (because the staff recommended it and it is milky) - a blend of Indian davana blossom, grapeseed, raspberry, blackseed and star flower oils
• celestial maracuja shower creme (this was also recommended, I actually wanted to get the bathing nectar but grabbed the davana blossom bath oil instead but it is all good) - Amazonian maracuja passionflower
• energising seamoss bath & shower (supposed to smell of the ocean) - seaweed and horse chestnut extracts to release stress and energize the mind
• seamoss stress relieving hydrosoak (I love ocean scent for bathtub soaking) - blend of Dead Sea salts, seaweeds and horse chestnut extracts detoxify and rebalance body and mind
• warming eucalyptus bath & shower therapy (also recommended by staff though eucalyptus is not my fave scent) - Eucalyptus Oil warms tired muscles, tones sluggish skin and clears a stuffy head
• radiant lili-pili hairwash and conditioner - scent includes lili-pili, rice vinegar, wattleseed protein, green lime, mandarin, ginger for daily use
• purifying plum-kadu hairwash and conditioner - scent includes kakadu plum, moringa seed extract, wattleseed protein, jasmine, tuberose, cardamom to protect hair from environmental damage.
• inspiring wild-indigo bath & shower - blend of wild-indigo, mango, glycerides, pink pepper, clary sage, bergamot, rosemary

Plus many other travel set shower gels. I need another break to just chill and use all the products :p

I think I have been pretty good as I really didn't buy much body products since I came back from Canada and was on a self-imposed ban on bath stuff until now. I am still using my VS and BBW and remaining C&E and TBS stuff.

Seoul Kool

Our delicious Korean food over at Icon at Tanjong Pagar area. Seoul Kool. There were 2 sections. A smaller annex facing the driveway and one across over at the building itself.
We decided to share the set of ginseng chicken soup and beef bibimbap and added an extra order of seafood pancake.
Our kimchi - some beans, sliced sausage and onions and mashed egg with potatoes. That was my fave. Too bad they don't replenish the kimchi at all :(

Some greens, pickled cucumbers and the most familiar pickled cabbage (kimchi).
Ginseng chicken soup. This was really good and quite a big portion. Good enough for 3. The chicken meat was so tender that it kinda fell off the bones. It was actually stuffed with glutinuous rice and chestnuts and lotus seeds.
The beef bibimbap was good too. I love the sauce which came with it.

The seafood pancake was flat and slightly crispy at the side. It was good but could be better. I still loved the Korean food I had in Banff, Canada. That was the very first time I had Korean food and it didn't disappoint at all. I remembered the grill for the meat and the soup base for steamboat type. Really fantastic for a cold Spring night to keep warm.

Japanese Dining Sun @ CHIJMES

We went to Japanese Dining Sun over at Chijmes last week. It is part of the chain which brings us Sun with Moon Japanese Dining at Wheelock Place. The salmon pink dragon roll. I love the presentation on the glass plate with a small side of salad and pickled ginger.

Raw salmon wrapped over rice and salmon eggs on the small piece of lemon. Nice.
Ebi unagi crunch roll. Very nice too though I still prefer the salmon dragon roll :)
I ordered the wagyu promotional dish - Wagyu & Matsutake Yanagawa which was slices of wagyu beef with mushrooms and eggs on the stone pot thingy. A bit sweet but still good.
Beef sukiyaki. Not as marbled as wagyu beef but still very tender and yummy.
T ordered the beef sukiyaki which was really good too. The bowl of rice was an additional order as our dishes did not come with rice at all.

The service was pretty good with the servers topping up our iced green tea without us having to ask. Plus they remembered which brollies belonged to us when we left the restaurant.