Ms Skinnyfat

A Food & Travel Blog from Singapore

Almost forgot to update my review of the Singapore Airlines B777-300ER Business Class ride from Singapore to Frankfurt when we went on our Germany trip (check out our 10 day Germany itinerary here)! Now that we're working on our relocation, i thought it was opportune to share the updated SQ Business Class review. 
Our trip started with a visit to the temporary SilverKris Lounge, which is the current KrisFlyer Gold Lounge. We didn't have much time to spare actually so i'm gonna do the lounge justice and refer you to Mainly Miles review of the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge here! One thing that i appreciated was the online ordering system which ensures that your food is fresh and "clean". 
Onto the already not so new Business Class seats on SQ. The seats are handcrafted from Scottish leather and diamond-stitched. 

The seats have new seating positions- the Lazy Z, a cradling position; and Sundeck, a lounging position that extends the base and foot of your seat so you fully stretch out. The seat back and leg rests could be adjusted independently, and you could adjust it to your preference. I actually fell asleep in the Lazy Z position while watching my pre-dinner movie. 
Of course, my favorite feature is that the seat transforms into a fully flat bed with a cushioned headboard so i could easily just prop myself up to watch a movie comfortably. I also caught some beauty sleep on the bed complete with linen, duvet and pillows. This is a must on any long haul flight! The 18 inch LCD TV could also be tilted downwards for viewing pleasure while you're lying down. 
I also appreciated the side console, which allows for easy stowage of small items and even a laptop. Since it sits above the armrest, i could easily grab my toiletries pouch, hand sanitizer etc. while seated or lying down. Ports (eXport, HDMI and USB) are also readily available for easy charging of electronic devices. 
A highlight on SQ is the 'Book the Cook' dining selection and i make it a point to try something different each time. Currently SIA is featuring a series of popular local dishes from renowned hawkers to celebrate the addition of Singapore’s hawker culture to UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This includes Bismillah Biryani Restaurant Chicken Dum Biryani, a Michelin Bib Gourmand Award Winner from 2016 to 2019, and also Boon Tong Kee Chicken Rice and Qiu Lian Ban Mian! And hello SQ satay how much i've missed you!
We didn't think we were going to travel in 2021 earlier this year due to work restrictions and so we decided to give the cruise-to-nowhere a try again given our desperation for a break. Since it's our first proper break in a while, we decided to just go with the Palace Suite on Genting World Dream, which is an all-inclusive and exclusive suite experience. 
The price tag for a 3D2N cruise was about $700 for us. This was for a booking in July but we postponed it to October at no further charge (our original cruise was cancelled due to a COVID case). While it may seemed pretty pricey for a short cruise, it's like going to a fancy resort with a huge suite, meals entitlements at all the specialty restaurants, special activities at no costs, free Wi-Fi, plus a 24-hour butler concierge service to assist with all your restaurant reservations, show bookings, and any other requests you may have. 

One thing that wasn't conveyed to us is that there's priority check-in and embarkation. If you're a Palace guest do take note of that so that you could skip the queue. I would suggest checking in earlier if possible to enjoy all the facilities and to get your hands on those popular restaurant bookings. 
Stepping into our Palace Suite cabin, we were surprised by the size of it. The average suite size is over 42sqm and there's plenty of room to fit a king size bed with fine Italian linens, a sitting area, dresser, work counter, wardrobe,  a huge balcony with expansive views of the ocean, and a bathtub and shower. This time i made sure i was fully prepared with my bubble bath!
 
Bath amenities from Etro™which are decent enough, though i did bring my own shampoo still. 
Coffee and mini bar are all complimentary with our room. Apart from beers, there are also these cute single serve bottles of Prosecco. Make sure you finish everything before you leave, if not you would have to go through the hassle of paying for taxes should you decide to bring them home. 
Another perk that we enjoyed as Palace Suite guests are the dedicated facilities. Check out the dedicated pool and lounge area for the Palace guests. You could also choose to enjoy Happy Hour at the pool area as well, just that it's a bit more troublesome getting your drinks. Note that you'd need to make a booking for the pool or jacuzzi due to COVID social distancing measures. 
  
The dedicated facilities like the gym and all-day-dining Palace restaurant could be easily accessed by the dedicated lift, which connects your cabin level to them! It is entirely possible to spend all your time within the Palace facilities only. 
 
We also signed up for a pilates class at the dedicated gym. The class size was really small to start with (it was limited to 4-6 pax) so we almost didn't think we could squeeze in but it became a private session because only 2 of us showed up! Absolutely lovely experience with a view too. We also booked ourselves a steam and sauna session. Just look at that soothing ocean!
If you were to venture out of the confines of the Palace, some fun activities include the Waterslide Park with five slides. There's also a ropes course and zipline, a rock climbing wall, mini golf, pool, and VR games arcade. 
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't that great when we wanted to check out these activities, so we chose to go into our private hot tub and enjoy a wine instead. 
We also caught one of the shows, which is Vision by Vincent Vignaud. I was really amazed at the illusions because they were quite impossible? There's another show called Faith which is a mix of ballet, acrobatics, and comedy but our schedule was too packed and we couldn't fit that in?? Honestly 3D2N was too short a break and i would recommend a longer cruise to check out all the restaurants and activities. 
Now the food. We only ate at the specialty restaurants during this trip. Our previous experience with Royal Caribbean was that the general dining and buffet selections were very underwhelming. Silk Road Chinese restaurant served pretty decent Chinese food and we were surprised at how empty the restaurant was. We enjoyed the dishes but the portion were really small. I guess better since we could check out the supper offerings at the Palace Restaurant.
The food wasn't super wow for supper but at least you get fresh veggies and fruits too. The curry, dimsum, and congee are among the better tasting items we had but yes you can have char kway teow too. The Palace Restaurant also serves afternoon tea, which was again quite basic but well it's just something to pass your time.  
 
We also enjoyed our experience at the Seafood Grill and Prime Steakhouse by Mark Best, which was our favorite restaurant on board. The quality was great and so was the ambience and service. You could enjoy both the seafood menu as well as the grill menu at the same place. Umi Uma is another hot spot for dining but honestly if you don't manage to get the Teppanyaki tables, you may wish to skip their Korean BBQ or bento services. I may just have gone for the alfresco Hot Pot restaurant instead if i knew how meh the Korean BBQ was. 
I'm not gonna delve too much into the COVID measures on board but we felt quite safe with the reduced capacity, contact tracing measures and sanitation, except that there could be better enforcing of group dining (guests were speaking across tables). There are still queues for the main cruise activities but the crowd was orderly. The Antigen Rapid Test at Marina Bay Cruise Centre pre-boarding was a breeze as well. 

So yes, the short and sweet review of the Palace Suite on Dream Cruise. I've definitely changed my mind on cruise holidays after this experience. Would you give it a try? 



If you were following me on IG, you may have noticed that sometime back my cruise getaway was cancelled last minute due to a positive COVID-19 case on board. I was desperate for a holiday and immediately started searching for a suitable staycation. Unfortunately the suites at Raffles Hotel Singapore and Goodwood Park Hotel were both unavailable at the last minute (mind you it was mid-week). We finally landed on Sofitel Singapore Sentosa since it is the most resort-like without breaking the bank. I had previously stayed at the property before and remembered it to be decent. There are a few staycation packages to choose from and we went with a 3d2n stay with full-board option (without knowing what it really entailed because the t&cs were not clear). 
Sofitel Singapore Sentosa is a 5-star resort by the French Accor Group. The location is away from the hustle and bustle, so you get to enjoy the lush greenery with wildlife (the peacocks are free-roaming) and lots of privacy. Once we stepped onto the hotel grounds, we immediately felt relaxed with the expansive space, and breeze from the South China Sea. However, if you are more into the island life action, you should note that it is a bit of a hassle getting around if you don't drive as the shuttle bus service is quite slow, and it'll take you a while to get to the beach clubs or the integrated resorts. The hotel's own complimentary shuttle service to Vivocity is more reliable imo (every 30mins) and you could easily head out for a better meal, or for some shopping if you wish. 
Accommodation

Our bedroom for 2 nights was in the Luxury Garden Room and this was our view. 
Our room is quite sizeable at 36sqm and features a king-sized bed. A LED Smart TV, digital newspaper and magazines and WiFi access are also provided. There are several powerpoints and USB port for easy charging of your digital devices located next to the writing desk.
 
While there is also a pillow menu that you can choose your pillows from, their firm options were too flimsy for us. Our twin towers of pillows were absolutely useless in providing any decent neck support. 

Stay with a peace of mind knowing that everything is sanitized and wrapped. The standard coffee and tea making facilities are still available, with TWG tea bags and Nespresso capsules wrapped in a package. You could ask for more when you have finished this. The mini bar cabinet has been emptied and sanitised but you could request for it. Orders, requests, and bookings are all made through the hotel app, which i found extremely frustrating as it was either very laggy or didn't work. It was just much easier to call housekeeping/ front desk directly for assistance.
My favorite part of the room was the bathroom. Just check out the spacious bathtub for the perfect bubble bath! I was in a rush and forget to bring my bubbles but that was easily solved with an order from LUSH. There's also a separate rainshower area if you need a quick rinse. 
The bath amenities.
Dining
We were informed that dinners are served at Kwee Zeen and it is buffet style. Unfortunately, buffets only work if there were sufficient diners (and there weren't) and it was a terribly water-down version and a shadow of what i remembered Kwee Zeen to be. We were terribly disappointed with the variety and quality of dishes available- no live stations and the food wasn't fresh or piping hot and tasted really mediocre. The roast beef and soup were probably the more decent dishes and we only ate for sustenance. The a la carte menu certainly looked more appealing as we saw our neighboring diners polished their pizzas. Honestly that's all we needed, a simple pizza or burger instead of a sub-par buffet.
 
Breakfast was a lot better in comparison since it caters to more diners. My recommendations are the congee and laksa station. The nasi lemak is also quite satisfying with the crunchy ikan bilis and peanuts and a fragrant sambal.
 
I suppose our displeasure with the food didn't go unnoticed by the restaurant manager but the service recovery was very spotty as well, which we realized that evening. The manager shared that for our package, dinner is only served at Kwee Zeen (which we swore never to eat dinner there again), and offered to make arrangements for us to dine at The Cliff instead. While we were not really enthused about it, since we had a super meh dinner there not too long ago, we reckon it could not be worse than another lousy dinner so we agreed. That said, when we finally went to dinner that night, we realised that no reservations were made whatsoever, and we ended up being forced to order from the set menu and paid extra as it was considered a top up. Thankfully the food was better than expected and we saw no need to kick up a fuss. 
So back to lunch. As part of our dining entitlement, we could either have the set lunch at Kwee Zen or The Cliff. We went with the Kwee Zeen since they offered the a la carte menu and had more variety and honestly the food was a lot better than the buffet. We enjoyed the Hainanese Chicken Rice with poached chicken, which was smooth and the rice was very fragrant as well.
 
I was also very pleased with the beef burger. Just check out the size of the massive stack layered with ground beef patty, tomatoes, bacon, gherkin, an oozy fried egg & cheese and toasted sesame bun. The fries were fresh and crispy and exactly what was needed for a holiday. 
So The Cliff has been regarded as one of Singapore’s most romantic dining destinations but on this visit we noticed that the dress code wasn't strictly enforced and there were diners in shorts and slippers. Imagine you brought a date to what you thought was a fancy dinner and this happens? I guess they were just trying to fill the tables. 
 
We were made to order a 3 course dinner though we only had faith in their pizzas and pastas. Thankfully the starters delivered as described, though i can't imagine the combination of Heirloom tomatoes with burrata and basil pesto going wrong. 
For mains, we had the fennel sausage pizza with Mozzarella, panna, spring onion, fennel sausage, and fennel pollen; and the Linguine and clams with pancetta, chilli & white wine. Both dishes were seasoned and cooked well and we had no complains. Either we set a super low benchmark, or was really hungry, or it was actually not bad. Desserts did nothing for us, which we wouldn't even have ordered it if we weren't made to. 

Amenities & Activities
You would not miss the 33-metre pool at Sofitel Singapore Sentosa and if possible, i'm sure everyone would spend their entire day here. Unfortunately, each room is limited to one booking per day with a maximum of two hours per visit (which you could extend if it wasn't crowded). 

There's also a gym which is housed in a little shack. We didn't bother with this and headed to our own gyms in town instead. 
 
We took the opportunity to explore Sentosa on bike since Sofitel offers free bike rentals for 2 hours. Their bike was obviously too big for me to handle but i had to make to. We checked out the Fort Siloso exhibition and also went up the Imbiah Nature Trail (i meant to walk here but Jr convinced me that we should just cycle and it was just crazy with the rocks and roots). This was possibly the most exciting part of our stay because we've not experienced these before.  
We also discovered a shortcut to Tanjong Beach from the pool area! It's about 130 steps down to the beach, which we found rather convenient. This makes for easier suntanning at this less crowded beach.
From my review, it's quite clear that the stay was rather lacklustre for a 5 star resort. Skip the full-board package at any opportunity, it's really not worth it. The facilities and rooms are also little worn and not particularly comfortable but a night's stay is still manageable. As for us, i doubt we'd visit Sofitel Singapore Sentosa again. 

2 Bukit Manis Road
Sentosa 099891
It's been a while since this travelerintransit was actually in transit. I've been grounded since Mar 2020 but was one of the lucky ones who managed to squeeze in two good trips before the world went to sh***. The thing about holidays is that they really restore your sanity because you could really take time to unwind and we haven't been able to with COVID. While i wouldn't have splurge on a staycation in the past, given the current situation, please feel free to take my travel money. 
Our first staycation of the year was to celebrate our second anniversary and we decided to go Shangri-La Singapore's Valley Wing Indulgence package. While the $650++ price tag may seem hefty, it comes with daily breakfast, afternoon tea, evening cocktails and all-day champagne at the elegant Champagne Bar. Other than the free flow Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label NV Champagne, the highlight for me was actually the 90-minute massage treatment for two at Chi, The Spa. The spa treatment alone would have costs $235++/pax so you're actually not paying that much for the stay. 
The nice folks at Shang upgraded us to one of their 26 Valley Wing suites for the special occasion. The 110sqm Deluxe Suite is split into a living and a sleeping area and there's even a dining spot, where some sweet treats in a lacquered box greeted us. I expected a bottle of complimentary champagne given the reviews i read but that never came. 
Our pool facing room came equipped with a Nespresso coffee machine and a nice selection of tea bags to be enjoy in one of those pretty Wedgwood teacups. They are very dainty in fact and fit nicely with the typical old school luxurious hotel decor (which i found a little dated).  
The marble clad bathroom with double-vanity sinks was very spacious, and there's a huge bathtub that fits two comfortably (tried and tested). Unfortunately, there was no view in the slightly dimly lit bathroom. Ok i correct myself, there was a good view of Jr in the tub and that's good enough for me. :P You could request for the bubble bath to be drawn anytime you want, since the butler service is 24h, just give them 30mins to prep it for you. 
The bath amenities in the suite are from Acqua De Parma, while other guest rooms in the Valley Wing are stocked with amenities from L'Occitane en Provence. There are two sets of these toiletries in the bathroom (at the shower and bath), and another set in the toilet in the living area. 
Afternoon tea is served from 2 to 5pm at the Valley Wing Lobby Lounge. The selection was quite simple, with a couple of sandwiches, fried spring rolls (which we had seconds of), sweets, and very delicious scones. I was very pleased with the quality of the scones (it is served with clotted cream and jam) and we had more of those as well. Simply tell the service staff which item you would like more of and they are more than happy to oblige. 

I'm not sure if there is a separate Champagne bar or if it is closed during Phase Two but we were happy to have our drinks at the lounge anyway. While there are quite a number of families on vacation, the children were all very well behaved (thank god). Other than champagne, there are other alcoholic beverages include some signature cocktails from Origin Bar, wines and spirits. So go ahead and knock yourself out. The staff was more than happy to top up our glasses without us asking.
We took a nap on the heavenly king bed and had to peel ourselves from the bed in order to catch the evening cocktails and canapes session (it was from 5 to 7pm and we got there 30 mins before it ended). We were still pretty full from the afternoon tea in fact so we didn't mind that we only had a serving of the canapes, which was quite unmemorable. A different spring roll was served and that was quite decent. We chose to sit outdoors on the patio which gave us a nice view of the garden, and we also spotted a proposal event! How sweet. 

Drinks are served until 10.30pm each day (yes champagne too) but we were too lazy to head downstairs for a nightcap after our bubble bath. Plans to have some food at Origin flew out the window too as we  too comfortably cocooned in the fluffy bathrobes. Well it's a holiday after all, why rush ourselves? 
Room service it was and we had the foresight to place our order before we adjourned to our bath. The timing was impeccable and the food delicious. The laksa with lobster claw was an absolute delight and so were the satays that accompanied the nasi goreng. I found the fried rice to be a tad oily and blank though it had a good wok flavor. 
Breakfast for Valley Wing guests are now served at the Summit Room. I believe you could still go to The Line if you wish but why squeeze with the crowd? 
Plus the menu at the Summit Room is definitely more exquisite, think a crispy egg confit with Kaluga Queen caviar and parmesan sabayon (this is a must-eat)! And why not steak and egg for breakfast too! Jr was very pleased with the 200 days grain-fed Australian tenderloin. Top it with the lovely rosti too!
The Bikini sandwich with Parma ham, mozzarella cheese and truffle butter was milky on the inside and a little crisp on the outside. Perfection. Can't say the same for the pancakes which were very very meh and dry. 
We were looking forward to the spa the most but what i didn't realize was that we had to book it ahead of time. I called a weekend before and was placed on the waiting list. I thought perhaps a slot would have been reserved for us with the package but i thought wrong. Since we were unable to get a slot during our weekend stay, we got a voucher for a return visit instead. My deep tissue massage was pretty strong and good!
Our stay at Shangri-La Singapore was fabulous and doing nothing at all was definitely a great break for us. Highly recommended! 

22 Orange Grove Rd, Singapore 258350