Niseko-Osaka 14-21Dec 2013 (1)

Our first and last r&r trip (inside story). Really made the most out of it! Off to a good start on board ANA. Where else can you find such appetising plane food?? On econ at least. Stayed a night in Osaka first before catching the morning flight to Hokkaido. Sheraton Miyako Hotel was perfect as it has direct airport bus transfer, and it's right next to a shopping mall (can't do without our usual supermarket sashimi fix). Next day, easy internal flight to Chitose. First meal in Hokkaido - a crab-ikura-uni bowl. Airport food already so yums! The drive to our ski resort took ~1.5 hour.

          

Arrived at Akazora Resort. Got upgraded to a 2-bedroom apartment and the place was absolutely lovely. Spacious and bright, looking out to a blanket of white. Love love love.

  

By the time we settled down it was late. Time to eat again! Randomly chose a restaurant round a corner. Everything we ordered was so good. Even though it was only our 2nd meal in Hokkaido, we concluded Japanese food is at its best here. Just look at that mountain of uni. Took all the limelight away from the abalone. Hands down the best rice bowl I ever had. *drooling while blogging*

  

Signed up for private ski lessons and it was well worth it, for me. Skiing's not really S' thing so she pretty much left me alone with the coach. Which was super as I soon progressed to doing rounds on the bunny slope. Bunny slope may look like chicken feet but for a absolute beginner like me, can be quite intimidating :S Skiing makes me hungry. Can't remember which slope we were at but there's a hotel just beside (prince?) that serves really good sashimi and tempura (once again my love for Hokkaido food grows).

     

Back on the slope for a few more rounds and I was done for the day. Definitely a must to follow with onsen~ And then of course, a hearty dinner. Small packed izakaya place. Another awesome meal. Seriously. I could grow fat if I lived here!

      

SG Hen Party (7-8Dec 2013)

What can I say.. This was the craziest weekend I ever had - and not exactly in a good way. Flew back for the weekend for dear PY and Belle's hen party. Supposed to reach Friday AM, get a haircut, dental and other miscellaneous stuff done before checking into the hotel and wait for everyone to arrive. Unfortunately, the perfect Friday I expected never happened. In fact, anything that could go wrong went horribly wrong.

Arrived at the airport all hopeful at 11pm even though the drive through the haze was quite hazardous. Exactly what the photos show, visibility was less than 2 cars down. I should have known. The reading hit 500 psi. Day flights had been delayed but they were taking off. I thought mine would too eventually. I guess midnight flight cancellations were a no-brainer. Got sent home and put on a flight next morning. Next day came and before I left the house, received a delay sms. Waited. Another sms received. Went to airport. Delay again. Alas, I finally reached in the wee morning of Saturday (note the red-eye return on Sunday midnight).

Nevermind. I arrived and that's all it mattered. So happy to see all my lovelies! Stayed at Amara Sentosa and had a great day out at the beach. Also appreciate Rena and Joey for coming all the way. *bisous*

Such a lovely day had to be followed by a lovely dinner (Faber Peak). Ok here's where the horror story continues. Halfway through dinner I started feeling weird in the gastric (began on the flight actually). So while the rest continued dinner, I excused myself and returned to the room to rest. Wanted to nap for awhile then meet them for the party-after. Little did I expect things to turn worse. So bad so that I had to go to the hospital and ended up being put on a drip!! And of course missed out on all the fun I actually specially flew back for :( Like I said, it was crazy.

I kept myself together on Sunday by downing meds. Really didn't wanna go through an 18-hour delay, 5-hour flight, endless rounds of puking and a hospital drip for nothing. Anyway karaoke and massage just about sum up the weekend :) -_-

Shanghai Dec 2013

Look at how sweet Angel's bb is...

Name: Haiyi Seafood Restaurant 海逸酒家(新天地店)
Location: 181 Xintiandi 新天地北里太仓路181弄
Review: Trustee Shanghainese seafood restaurant at reasonable prices in Xintiandi. Always book in advance. Don't forget the roast pigeons!

Banyan Tree Hangzhou (Dec 2013)

Sweet birthday treat in Hangzhou at Banyan Tree. Very charming and tasteful hotel with huge rooms. Really loved it. Felt thoroughly refreshed! (Shanghai air was particularly bad in 2013)

The weather was so good we rode the hotel bikes (free I think) in our winter coats round the Xixi National Wetland Park 西溪湿地 :) Absolutely easy and pleasant. Haven't done this in awhile! Away from the city and into nature. 

The popular Impression West Lake Show by Zhang Yimou was good but we were seriously freezing our asses off! It must have been a torture for the performers splishing and splashing in the waters :o Anyway it's worth a go. There are deals on the tickets so make sure you try to find some discounts off regular prices. Boat seats are at a premium but they seem further away from the "stage". Though might be worth the investment during winter!

Also worth a visit is the city centre market street. Rather vibrant with small hawker-style eateries on one end. Overall a nice getaway =)

Shanghai HSBC Golf Championships (Nov 2013)

Special thanks to Angel for getting us tix! The VIP clubhouse access and freebies made it especially enjoyable ;) Always inspiring to watch golf live.

Up close and personal with the stars! To name a few: Ernie Els, Rory Mcllroy, Phil Mickelson, Ian Poulter, Andy Garcia and Dustin Johnson whom I captured the best shot and who eventually won the championship :)