Girls Only Getaways!

Oh my! Aren’t we are just aflush with lurvely getaways galore! Time to round up your best friends, lay down the ‘to-do’ list for the hubby and kids, and run off for a well deserved holiday. We have a few tempting options…..

Mid-Air Spa

First and nearest is Indigo Pearl, a delicious luxury resort in Phuket, Thailand and one of the most stylish resorts in the world. There’s one great reason to go: Coqoon Spa. Just opened, it’s a cutting edge designer spa. What’s so special? How about a suspended treetop treatment room for mid-air pampering? Designed by internationally renowned designer, Bill Bensley, it’s set amid lush tropical rainforest and uses a banyan tree as the hanger for its signature treatment room! It’s piece de resistance, The Nest (top), is a luxurious spa suite suspended midair and accessed by a flying bridge. Beyond that, Coqoon Spa features six deluxe treatment rooms and an exclusive ‘Coqoon Suite’ complete with private pool, rain shower, steam room, sauna and Vichy shower available for private hire for up to 3-days, and even a spa butler!

 

Treatments here are steeped in Thai tradition, offering Andaman elixirs and Thai herbal spices for in-the-culture rejuvenation, detoxification and total zen out sessions. What’s more, you can avail yourself to custom-designed ‘D-Buk’ spa suites, where spa executives can design individual treatment programmes for you, incorporating diet, exercise, activity, and spa treatments!

More good news: to mark the launch of the new spa. Indigo Pearl is offering the “Coqoon Revival” package available at THB 22,500 (S$935 or HK$75,2300) net until 15 April 2011. You get a 120-minute Detox Body Treatment for two people per stay, two-night accommodation in a D-Buk Suite, and special in-room breakfast, complimentary airport transfer, 30 percent discount on additional treatments and a 30 percent discount on additional nights in a D-Buk Suite.

Email reservations@indigo-pearl.com

Tel: +66 (0)76 327 006

Lara Crofting in Luxury

Our next option: get in touch with your inner Lara Croft! Check in to the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor Siem Reap and drink in the world famous Angkor Wat, with the ‘Girlfriends Getaway’ package, a luscious 3-night escapade for four girlfriends. It includes spa treatments, gourmet meals, escorted shopping (oh my heaving bosom!) and temple outings at US$1,955 (S$2,490 or HK$15,236) per night.

Picture this: after your leave the respective hubbies and kids at home, you and your friends arrive in Siem Riep and are “whisked from the airport in style by stretch limousine to your private two-bedroom villa at the refined French-colonial retreat where Raffles Butlers offer round-the-clock assistance to ensure the delivery of Raffles’ hallmark style of attentive and heartfelt service”!

On your itinerary are daily Champagne breakfasts, a private cocktail party, two gourmet dinners, including a ‘Royal Khmer’ tasting-menu of imperial cuisine at the hotel’s fine dining restaurant Le Grand, and a private culinary class led by a Raffles chef. Is there more? Can we survive the decadence?! Assault us further with in-villa manicure and pedicures, facial and reflexology treatments, a meditation session and aromatherapy or traditional Khmer massage, a private guide and driver to explore the ancient Angkor Wat, and a day and a night customized shopping tour! And if you are reluctant to go home – who wouldn’t? – take heart that you have a late check out at 3pm.

The ‘Girlfriends Getaway’ requires a minimum three-night stay for four ladies, with a 25 percent discount for subsequent extensions.

For more information, visit www.raffles.com/siemreap

London Laboutin

If you prefer something a little more fast paced, wing off to London and live it up with your gal pals at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in Knightsbridge with its Paint the Town Red’ package. This is put together with Christian Laboutin which means there are shoes on the horizon!

Let’s walk you through it: after check in, you get a mani/pedi nail paint and polish treat by their spa team. Then once you’re ready, hop into a cab for a ride to Christian Louboutin’s flagship London store in Mayfair. Imbibe in complimentary champagne and nibbles while you shop in the private ‘Library Room’ in the heart of the boutique, designed to be invisible to other shoppers through a series of mirrors and Perspex alcoves!

Continue with drinky-poos in the evening with specially-created ‘Paint the Town Red’ cocktails at Mandarin Bar, and get treated to brunch the next morning at Bar Boulud, London (yes, of Daniel Boulud fame)with a bottle of wine thrown in!

The ‘Paint the Town Red’ package starts from £495++ based on twin sharing, and is available until Dec 2011.

Call +44 (0) 207 235 2000 or log onto www.mandarinoriental.com

- Ee Waun

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Breakaway - Marathon Stays and Rugby Sevens in Hong Kong

Even as I write, I know I have eaten too much and consumed waaay too many martinis and Champagne last night. CNY has this effect on you – obligatory binges that I am not complaining about, but which I will regret later when the fat sets in. I wish I had paid my dues earlier, and ran more, did more push ups, etc. I am still trying to bust my underarm hang. Sigh…but how to you go jogging while nursing a hangover?

I guess those who are planning to run the Hong Kong Marathon on 20 Feb have no such issues, fit as a fiddle and all ready to leap on the plane to fly there to run all 42.7 kilometres, if the smog doesn’t get to you first.

The Excelsior Hong Kong is offering a ‘Get Ready for the Marathon’ package between 18 and 28 February. For HK$1,600 per night, it gives you accommodation in a Superior Room, daily brekkie for two, complimentary InBody body composition analysis, HK$220 body treatment credit at the hotel’s fitness centre to relax and recuperate after the run, a training session at HK$400 per hour by the hotel’s personal trainers and 20% discount on F&B including room service. This deal requires a minimum two nights’ stay. It’s an old hotel, mind you, but it’s centrally located in Causeway Bay – lots of pre and post run shopping and eating – and if you get the larger rooms, you can get the great view of the harbour!

281 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay

Call +852 2837 6840

e-mail at exhkg-reservations@mohg.com

or book online at www.mandarinoriental.com/excelsior

Still on Hong Kong, lots of people around the region potter over for the annual international Rugby Sevens each year. This time it falls on 24-28 March. Award winning boutique hotel The Fleming in Wanchai, is offering a special package from HK$2,280 a night to HK$3,680 for Executive rooms with fully-equipped kitchens, based on a three-night minimum stay.

Apart from smart digs, this gets you daily breakfast, complimentary cocktails every evening, 20% discount on room service and 50% discount on all drinks except wine at signature restaurant Cubix, where the 3-course set dinner is priced at just HK$150. There’s also complimentary broadband Internet access, local calls, and access to the California Fitness Centre located nearby. Why stay here? It’s a 5-10 minute taxi ride from the Hong Kong Stadium, and steps away from Lockhart Road where fans celebrate after games.

41 Fleming Road, Wan Chai

Tel: (852) 3607 2225

E-mail: rsvn@thefleming.com

www.thefleming.com.hk

- Ee Waun

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Breakaway – Need An Excuse To Go Tokyo?

Here’s a perfect excuse to pack your bags and escape to Tokyo – which we all love for its food and shopping! The new five-star Capitol Hotel Tokyu has a two nights for the price of one opening offer at US$360 for two nights! That translates to about S$225 per night for luxury digs in Akasaka in downtown Tokyo. This deal gives you free wifi and access to the fitness centre and swimming pool, too.

Overlooking the city’s historic Hie Shrine, The Capitol Hotel Tokyu’s got panoramic views of Tokyo’s skyline from the 18th to 29th floors, five restaurants and bars, as well as the necessities like spa facilities, etc. Designed by the world famous Kengo Kuma, it sits on the site of the former Tokyo Hilton Hotel, which has since been demolished. Need to know: the hotel is a 10-20 minute subway ride from Tokyo Station and the major shopping and dining areas of Ginza, Roppongi, Shinjuku and Shibuya.

The deal stands until end April. Only down side is, it’s capped at only 10 rooms per day.

2-10-3, Nagata-cho, chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0014, Japan

Email: capitol.ma@tokyuhotels.co.jp

www.capitolhoteltokyu.com

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Besotted – Buy A Holiday Home in Niseko

Step aside, Bali. Despite Japan’s strong yen, Singaporeans are flocking off to the powdered slopes of Niseko every year end these days to ski and après ski in style. No need for Aspen, Chamonix or Whistler, Niseko, with its light, dry ‘champagne powder’ snow, is ranked No. 2 in the world and it’s just a seven-plus hour flight from our tropical doorstep!

Come the holiday peak season, this snow resort in buzzing with holidaymakers from Singapore and you’re bound to bump into people you know from home.

In fact, one of my girlfriends was just talking about wanting to buy a property there. Then voila! Look what news fell on my dainty lap!

Summit Properties (based in Hong Kong) has just launched the first phase of The Rocks Niseko Resort, a ‘condominium hotel’ development with townhouses and penthouses for sale. This initial phase, The Rocks Edge, in the centre of the alpine village of Hirafu, is due for completion by the end 2011. This sets it amid a lively vibe of restaurants, bars and cafes.

Pick from three-bedroom 169 sqm townhouses, and four-bedroom penthouses of 259 sqm and 286 sqm. Including roof terrace, the top floor penthouse spreads over 440 sqm.

Master planning, architecture and interior design is led by Riccardo Tossani Architecture, and Japan’s landscape architects ‘studio on site’, known for avant garde planning and design of luxury resorts, is part of its design team.

Expect units to offer floor-to-ceiling windows for panoramic views of Mount Niseko Annupuri, Mount Yotei and adjacent ski fields; large rooms, open fireplaces, balconies, gardens, broad terraces and top-of-the-range fixtures and finishings.

Beyond divine good looks, the property is green and responsible too, with natural energy generation and thermal performance initiatives, like large solar panel ‘farms’ on the roofs of all buildings, generating electricity sold back to the local grid. Natural volcanic hot springs pumping into onsen baths and private rotenburos also contribute to geothermal power generation used for heating rooms, pathways and plazas and driveways.

Subsequent phases will incorporate a Kid’s Club, onsen, modern spa, gym, restaurants, bar, deli, café and ski concierge. Eventually, in the plans are full access to the on-the-snow facilities at the ski-in ski-out Upper Village development including onsen, ski concierge and storage, boot lockers and owner storage cupboards and parking.

Details: www.therocksniseko.com
- Ee Waun

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Besotted – Drop Dead Gorgeousness at Six Senses Con Dao Resort!

Oh, chihuahua!! What a drop-dead, over-the-moon, gorgeous beach! Don’t we just have to pack our bags and shuffle there as quickly as our flat feet can take us?!

Drink in the view, girls! This is the Six Senses Con Dao resort in Vietnam which was just opened just last month. Huh? Where? Con Dao is part of a cluster of 16 islands 100-odd miles off the south east coast of mainland Vietnam about an hour’s flight from Ho Chi Minh City. It’s the only five star resort in the archipelago so if you’re going out to embrace nature here, this is the only place to stay.

 

Check into one of their 50 villa, laze on the mile-long stretch of pristine beach, go to the spa, swim at the pool and eat at their three restaurants including one serving local Vietnamese food. The archipelago is 80% a national park which includes a marine reserve, so go explore Mother Nature and see hawksbill turtles, dugongs, black haired goats, wild pigs and macaques. For sea activities, ride on the Vietnamese, round ‘basket’ boats, snorkeling around the best coral reef in Vietnam, take boat rides to other islands Turtle, Bird and best of all, wait for cocktails served by waiters on beach bikes. Cool!

If you're planning to potter off for CNY, they are offering a promo package. Three nights start from US$1550 per villa, and five nights from US$2550 for Ocean Front Villa. This includes brekkie for two. Kids are 6 eat for free while those 12 and under are charged $15. This package is available from now til end February 2011.  

Tel : +84 64 3831 222

E-mail : reservations-condao@sixsenses.com
 
- Ee Waun

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Breakaway – In the Mood For Christmas?

Whether you happen to be there or not, or just living vicariously like me, here's a fun and random peek at what Christmas is like in other parts of the world....just to get into the mood....!

Frankfurt, Germany 
Fancy a fairytale Christmas? Head to Frankfurt’s Christmas Market, one of Germany’s most traditional, and set against the old town hall and the historical half-timbered homes of the Römerberg. Bundle up and wander through stalls selling traditional foods, Christmas ornaments, arts and crafts like local pottery and stoneware. Pop into the honey shop for all things honey, drink hot apple wine – a local speciality – or head to the hated outdoor taverns for Christmassy mulled wine, smoked sausages and bratwursts. Look out for Germany’s tallest Christmas tree there, standing over 30 metres tall. If you’re in town on the Saturday before the 1st Advent, listen out for the churchbells in the afternoon. At precisely 4:30 pm, 50 bells of 10 downtown churches ring in the festive season with a performance that’s heard across the entire city. What else to do there? Take a guided tour of the market (entitled “Stories, Sweets and Savouries. Enjoy the Frankfurt Christmas Market with all of your senses” available every day) or a historic steam train ride along the banks of the River Main. The Christmas Market happens now til 22 December. Stretching from Liebfrauenberg and the Römerberg old town centre to thebanks of the River Main, it’s got a history that dates back to 1393.

Perth, Australia

From now til Christmas eve, explore the city’s Christmas lights along the new Festival of Christmas Trail. Look out for roving characters, carollers and unexpected entertainment, and end the journey with some retail therapy at Myer SantaLand, on level 2 at Myer Perth City. Pick up the Trail brochure from the trail marquee outside Myer in Murray St Mall between 5.00pm and 8.00pm weekdays, or the i-City Information Kiosk in Murray St Mall. Then catch the Nativity story performed live in Forrest Place with hundreds of performers, animals and Christmas carols from 21-23 Dec 7.30pm. Bring the family and get there early as seats are limited.

Greenwich, UK

All eyes on the heavens at Greenwich, at longitude 0° and the official starting point for each new day and year. The Royal Observatory at Greenwich, on the Thames east of London, is offering Yuletide Star Gazing events 19-23 December at 4.30 and 5pm. Look at the winter skies and a double star through the Observatory’s historic 71-cm (28-inch) refracting telescope – the largest of its kind in the UK and the seventh largest in the world. Or join in the Christmas Star Party (17 and 18 December, 5.30 and 6.10pm) which features a Christmas Stars planetarium show, a chance to look at the moon through the large telescope and an opportunity to use smaller telescopes in the Meridian Courtyard while keeping warm over hot chocolate, mulled wine, mince pies and other festive treats.

Royal Observatory,

Blackheath Avenue, London SE10 8XJ

bookings@nmm.ac.uk

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/

Madeira, Spain

Madeira in Spain transforms into a fairytale setting throughout December, with Funchal’s streets twinkling with over 250,000 fairylights. Check into cliff-top hotel, Reid’s Place for the Christmas and go on jeep tours along secret mountain trails, guided tours of Funchal by night, and lectures on traditional Madeiran wine. Santa Claus will spread Christmas cheer by surprising younger guests with presents and a black tie Christmas gala menu will also be served in The Dining Room for all the family. If you’re hanging around until New Year, Funchal’s fireworks on 31 December is one of the most spectacular in the world, even making it into the 2008 Guiness Book of World Records for being the largest of its kind. The Holiday Celebration 2010 Package at Reid’s Palace starts from £348 per room per night in a classic double room, and includes daily buffet breakfast, round-trip airport transfer, one gala dinner per person and one bottle of champagne in guests’ room upon arrival based on a four-night stay for arrivals on 21 – 24 December.

http://www.reidspalace.com/

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Breakaway Shanghai – Luxe Out in Shanghai's Iconic Fairmont Peace Hotel

If you want to go Shanghai the luxe way – and there’s no other way to do Shanghai – check into the recently reopened Fairmont Peace Hotel, a cut from the city’s checkered history and one of the most noticeable buildings along The Bund. Interiors are deliciously art deco glam which transports you to the jazzy days of 1930s Shanghai (which while lovely when seen through rose-tinted nostalgia, probably had the colonials shamelessly discriminate against the Chinese then!).

Overlooking Shanghai’s Huangpu River with a view of Pudong if the pollution index allows, the hotel boasts 270 guestrooms and suites, six restaurants and lounges, and the Willow Stream Spa. Look out for the art deco revolving doors and memorabilia of historic occasions and personalities that have swung through them.

Now that it’s undergone three years of renovation, the hotel is serving up a Discover Winter with Peace Package starting at RMB1929. It includes a one-night stay in a Fairmont room, daily breakfast for two in The Cathay Room, welcome cocktail for two persons in The Jazz Bar, high tea for two persons in the Jasmine Lounge, complimentary access to the Fitness Center, and a complimentary guided hotel tour to discover the hidden treasures of the Fairmont Peace Hotel. This rate it available from 15 Nov until 31 March 2011.

See the pretty pictures and soak up the gorgeousness! Don’t we wish we were there.

20 Nanjing Road East, Shanghai

200002, China
Tel: +86 21 6138 6950 
Email PeaceReservations@fairmont.com

Fairmont Gold

Speaking of Fairmont, the hotel chain has recently launched Fairmont Gold in Fairmont Yangcheng, Fairmont Beijing and Fairmont Peace Hotel. Essentially it’s a club room concept just taken a step further and great for those who like a little more exclusivity when they travel and the complimentary cocktails before din-dins. Check into a Fairmont Gold room and you get the services of a Fairmont Gold Butler who will cater to needs ranging from packing and unpacking to drawing a bath and ensuring the morning tea is just right, private floors for checking in, and the run of the Gold Lounge. Enjoy an honour bar, complimentary breakfast, afternoon tea and canapés, late night desserts, free Internet usage, and of course, the raison d’être for its existence and our patronage - complimentary evening drinks with hors d’oeuvres service from 5pm - 7pm daily! (Make sure you return from your sightseeing in time for chin chins!)

Fairmont Gold rooms are usually larger or have better amenities. For example, such rooms at Fairmont Beijing, include a 41-inch TV with DVD player, BOSE Wave speaker with iPod connector, tea kettles, Nespresso coffee machines and 24-carat gold plated rain-shower head (no scraping, dearie) and heated floor!

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Besotted – Fullerton Bay Hotel’s Room with a View

If you’re all for sophisticated accommodation in a picturesque location, check into the new Fullerton Bay Hotel in Singapore, one of the most beautiful hotels in Singapore and the latest addition to the historical Fullerton Heritage precinct. It’s right by the glitzy new Marina Bay waterfront and occupies the old Clifford Pier, Singapore’s landing point for early migrants over a century ago.

All high ceiling, full-length glass windows, refined detailing and elegance, it’s a mini Raffles Hotel, and spanks of old world glamour with a stylish, contemporary flavour. If you’re checking in, just remember that the Bay View and Premier Bay View Rooms are the ones with views of the Marina Bay waterfront while the Premier Rooms have views of picturesque landmarks like

The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, Clifford Pier and the Merlion Park.If you’ve booked into a deluxe room though, be prepared to just have an eye full of Customs House – not a very pretty building, I’m afraid.

Booking early for the national day fireworks? The best views are from their suites. In the latter rooms, remember to check out the toilets – walk into the cubicle and don’t touch a thing. Just clap your hands and see the wondrous mysteries of toilet technology unfold! You don’t even have to handle your toilet seat ever again for a sound sensor lifts the cover and later, closes it again when you’re done and gone. Gorgeous rooms, this is a definite choice for a kinky weekend away.

For food, Clifford, the hotel’s modern brasserie – more like a fine dining restaurant – has become one of the prettiest restaurants in town. Sitting close to the water with full length glass and soaring ceilings above, you get a fine sense of occasion here. But happily, the service isn’t stuffy, and they’ve got baby chairs too for your gourmet tot. Friendly, huh? Food here is modern European and from sustainable, organic producers. We like the creamy porcini mushroom cappuccino, hearty duck confit served with delectable truffle mashed potatoes and a lemon tart with crème fraiche ice cream. And you don’t have to spend a bomb: the set lunch menu is an affordable $45 for three courses, and $36 for two. Considering the kind of surrounds you will be pampered in, this is incredibly good value. Having a power breakfast? How about scrambled eggs with shaved black truffles, and waffles with Champagne mango compote?

The Landing Point gives you the best view of the bay front in the day time and light bites all day. This gorgeous lounge with an al fresco terrace forks out afternoon tea ($38) all nicely infused in colonial nostalgia, and featuring such classic morsels as finger sandwiches, chocolate eclairs, caneles (excellent stuff), and scones with jam and clotted cream. Reserve a table by the window thought – it’s the best spot here and gets snapped up very quickly! Sniff hard here and you’ll notice a particular fragrance that will bliss out your olfactories. That would be the customized room fragrance, ‘The Scent of Fullerton’ – which is the latest practice among hotels these days in attempts to brand their ambience with a distinctive, unique smell. At this hotel, the fragrance is admittedly lovely – top notes of white jasmine, ylang ylang and lily, followed by a lovely floral rose and neroli middle note. Free smells!

Up to the rooftop, The Lantern – named after the red lanterns that used to light up the pier in days of old – is the latest bar to pack in the crowds with its 360 degree view of down town Singapore and downright breathtaking setting amid landscaped greenery and picturesque pool. Order signature cocktails, Red Lantern ($19), Merlion ($19) and Imperial Berry Mojito ($24) and nibble on bar snacks like wagyu Short Rib Mini Burger ($20), Pork Belly Sandwich with Apple-radish Slaw ($18) and Truffle Fries ($14). Definitely a must-go in Singapore, expect a full house every weekend so don’t forget to make your reservations!

What’s sad is that in the most historic part of the hotel – what was once the Clifford Pier building – is occupied by a Chinese restaurant, One on the Bund. It’s kinda crass and the staff downright unfriendly, and the food, to put it gently, ain’t that great. This is leased out and run by a third party. Hopefully the hotel will eventually put the space to better use.

80 Collyer Quay

Tel: 65-65975277

www.fullertonbayhotel.com

- Ee Waun

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Breakaway Singapore - Wanderlust: Fantasy Hotel Only For The Adventurous!

Fancy a night in a colourful loo? Or up on a tree house? How about a typewriter monster for a bedfellow? Or pretend you’re living in a popup book? That’s what you get at Wanderlust, the latest and most talked about boutique hotel in Singapore, nestled in slightly fraying Little India.

Definitely not for your average traveler, this is a quirky place that occupies the old Hong Wen School dating back to the 1920s. The façade has been maintained, but inside…well, let’s just borrow a line from the kindergarten song…. “Here we go, loopy-loo!” No kidding.

Accommodation with view and ensuite bedroom

When I visited the hotel not long ago, walking into the most basic rooms on the 2nd floor, I felt like I was in a bathroom with a swanky bed and TV - literally an 'ensuite bedroom'. Each room on that floor is decked out in one colour only, so take your pick. The best one to me was the yellow room....Take a look at the pretty pictures. Each room on the second floor is covered in mosaic, a little small for my liking but there are nice views of the streets outside. Be assured that unlike the picture above, the glass walls encasing the loo and the shower have since been frosted but you'll still have to step out the put your clothes on, if you're the modest sort. Be warned that 80% of the space is your bathroom. No desk, no table for in-room eating….Like I said,…not for everyone.

The hotel's decor, we are told, is a bold experiment. The 29 rooms spread over the four floors are all different, and designed by award-winning Singapore design agencies Asylum, PhunkStudio and fFurious who were given full creative freedom to design. Hence the weirdness or creativity - depends on how you see it. :)

Pop art room - are you slim enough in a 2D world? Is that a real bed?

If the loos-with-beds are not spacious enough – though they are just right for a single quirky traveler – the third floor, titled ‘Is It Just Black or White?’ has large ‘pop art’ rooms all decked in white, and decorated with origami-like installations. That’s where you feel like you’re the only 3D person in a flat story book world....but they are the most conventional rooms there, and possibly for me at least, the most comfy. 

Tree House and loft living!

Up on the fourth floor are the large loft rooms all weird and spaced out….literally! One room is decked up like you were in a rocket ship blasting off into space (complete with teensy pinpoint lights in the black wall and stuffed extraterrestrials on the chairs), another room made out like a treehouse stuffed with forest creatures (see above) and hanging leaves, and yet another with a giant typewriter ‘monster’. Long baths are set out open plan in the middle of the room, so darlings with a thing for privacy may have a little issue there.

The whimsical dining room of Cocotte

My favourite space in this hotel though is the French restaurant Cocotte, which is totally normal in comparison….and thankfully the food doesn’t feature monsters and weird creatures either. With bare wooden floors, colourful metal chairs, even a communal table in the centre, it gives a nod to the building’s history as the old Hong Wen School.

Roast pork collar with Dijon mustard - sluuuurrpp!Menus are made to look like school exercise book paper, and the communal feel of a school canteen carries into the concept of the restaurant where dishes – in larger portions – are meant to be shared. The food is hearty, homely and devilishly good. Must-have’s include the roast pork collar with Dijon mustard, tender, juicy and falls off the bone with enough good meat to go around; Breaded Pig’s Trotter salad – tastes way better than it sounds, and bouef a lad ficelle, a rich, robust dish of beef tenderloin poached to perfection in a beef and vegetable broth. For dessert, the lemon tart and chocolate soufflé duo will send your weight watching efforts out the door – but it’s definitely worth the sin! The place fills up fast, so make sure you have reservations before venturing forth!

Quirky hotel lobby

An eight-minute walk to the nearby MRT station, this quirky hotel for is a quaint base for discovering an old and intensely atmospheric part of Singapore well off the beaten track - and its pretty close to town as well. Just be warned, it's not for everybody.

2 Dickson Road

Tel: 62981188

- Ee Waun

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Besotted – Dreamy Beach House in Seminyak, Bali

The year-end holidays are beckoning, and if you’ve got kids and travel with them like I do, this is the time to plan your great escapes. And as all fabulicious moms know, just because you want kid-friendly – or shall I say, parent friendly – doesn’t mean you have to go down market.

Lust after The Beach House at The Legian in Bali! Located in shop-til-you-drop Seminyak, The Beach House - a private holiday villa - sits on a stretch of Seminyak Beach where you can soak in Indian Ocean sunsets while you float about in the 16-metre infinity pool. Kick back with a good book in the outdoor balé pavilions and sip on cocktails served by 24 hour personal butlers. If you feel like heading out, just jump into your chauffeur-driven private car and trawl the wondrous shops along Seminyak for gorgeous household items and beaded evening dresses, then come back for a meal prepared by your personal chef! Three gorgeous bedrooms can accommodate a party of 6-8 holiday makers, and spread the price of US$2700 a night. (No one said it was cheap!)

Need to be wired? There’s a personal laptop and wireless broadband, plus the usual high end techno-expectations like HD LCD TV, DVD player and audio system with an iPod dock and portable Sony PlayStation. You can also make use of all facilities at The Legian resort too, including The Spa at The Legian. Now that’s what I call a dreamy holiday!

http://www.ghmhotels.com/

- Ee Waun

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