Christmas Day Staycation

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2012! :)
My girls and I went for our Christmas Day staycation at Swissotel The Stamford. We arrived just after 12pm and were promptly checked-in and given our Grand Room on the 52nd floor! :)
The girls were really excited to be so high up from the ground. Actually, Juliane was more like freaking out because of the height and kept asking me to change to a room on a lower floor haha. The Grand Room (50m2) was nice and spacious for the three of us. The views from our room were spectacular (there were two balconies). 

From the door, looking into the hallway (bathroom and closet)

Study table and the first balcony (view of Marina Bay)

From study corner, view of living area and king size bed

Living area, bed and second balcony (view of city)

View of living area from the bed

From left to right: Singapore Flyer, Marina Bay Sands, Esplanade

Civilian War Memorial (and Park)

Looking down from the second balcony: swimming pools and tennis courts

Lots of flats

The green patch is Fort Canning Hill (and Park)

After having explored our room and done taking all the photos, we left for lunch at 1pm. We were spoilt for choice as Raffles City is the attached shopping mall with lots of eateries. We went to Xi Men Ding (Taiwanese cuisine) as the girls couldn't decide what to eat.

Taiwanese-style "Bai-ye" Tofu ($13.90), Taiwanese-style double-boiled soup ($18.80) and Salted Veg with Tripe Soup ($6.90)

Pork Ribs in Plum Sauce ($16.90) - Delicious!

Sweet Glazed Duck ($15.90) - Tasty!

Fried Noodle with Shrimps ($11)

Stir-fried Pig's Intestines with Ginger and Pineapple ($13.90) - I like it lol

Taiwanese-style Noodle Soup ($4.90)

After lunch at 2.30pm, we walked around Raffles City and spent most of our time in Paper Market, NBC bookshop, Precious Thots, and Marks and Spencer. We returned to our room at 4.30pm. 
As the sky looked cloudy and cool earlier in the day, I told them they couldn't swim. But the girls were lucky. The sun came out in the late afternoon and I brought them down to the swimming pool on the 8th floor. They swam for close to an hour before we went back to our room at 6pm.

Marieann looking pensive

Juliane looking cheeky

After we watched our Korean drama, Ice Adonis (7-8pm, yes we are Korean drama addicts lol), we went for dinner at Out of the Pan, Raffles City. We shared a Grilled Honey Soy Chicken crepe ($15.50), Traditional Roasted Turkey Breast crepe ($19++), Fresh Berries Waffles with custard cream, berries and vanilla ice cream ($14), and Old Style Rum and Raisin sweet crepe with caramelised apples and rum & raisin ice cream ($14).

Views at dusk

At 52nd level lift lobby waiting for the lift

Fresh Berries Waffles - Sweet!

Old style Rum and Raisin Crepe - Yummy! (the girls didnt like it because of the rum lol)

After dinner, we went back to NBC bookshop. The girls just love the shop. We returned to our spacious and cosy room close to 9.30pm. We watched Discovery channel for the rest of the night! Lol. The girls couldn't sleep. They were like "Princess and the Pea"!  They complained that the bed was so different. They turned and tossed in bed, kept going to the bathroom and even tried to sleep on the couch! Finally, they knocked out just after 12 midnight. :)

The goodies that the girls bought

Amazing night view of the Marina Bay area from the 52nd floor

Mom's Cooking

We went to Xi Men Ding at Vivocity for dinner. I guess we must be missing my mom's cooking lol. Xi Men Ding serves Taiwanese cuisine. I was pretty excited to see some classic Taiwanese dishes on its menu. We ordered Baby Clams in Light Sauce, Grilled Fish Roe, Deep Fried Fish in Sweet & Sour Sauce, Pan-Fried Pork Liver, Wok-Fried Tofu with Meat Sauce, Radish Fried Rice, Oyster with Tofu Soup and Herbal Pork Rib Soup. For dessert, we had Egg Pudding and Almond Tofu.

The food was pretty good but I am quite sure my mother would probably disapprove of us eating at Xi Men Ding because she could cook most of the dishes we had! :P

"Last shop, last shop, I promise!"

I have designated today to be shopping day since it is late night shopping in Sydney. Why waste the extra hours I can get for shopping?! Lol. However, to make it easier and less exhausting for my girls, I have a list of specific shops that I wanted to visit at Pitt Street Mall. :P (A good friend said I was OCD to have a list of shops that I wanted to visit lol!)

After 2 days of waking up at 6.30am, we were able to sleep in for today. :) We arrived at our first stop, Paddy's Market at Haymarket just after 10am. The girls wanted to buy gifts for their friends and Paddy's Market is the place to get souvenirs! :) We spent almost an hour shopping at Paddy's Market. There is a shopping mall linked to Paddy's Market, Market City. We spent another 30-45 minutes browsing at the shops there. :)

At World Square monorail station

Paddy's Market



We went to a Taiwanese cuisine restaurant, The Meeting Point at Market City for lunch. This was one of the restaurants I wanted to eat at. Yes, I have a list of restaurants that I wanted to eat at too lol. :P Juliane had a small Minced Stewed Pork with Rice (A$5.80), Marieann had Stewed Pork Ribs Noodles Soup (A$10.80) and I had Crispy Deep-Fried Pork Tenderloin Noodles Soup (A$10.80). Our dishes were really delicious and portion was huge! We were struggling to finish our lunch. My girls said it reminded them of my mother's cooking lol. Girls, your grandmother is Taiwanese, it is no wonder that you think the dishes tasted like her cooking lol. :P




After lunch around 1.30pm, we took the monorail to Pitt Street Mall. Westfield Sydney, one of the main shopping malls, is spread out over several buildings. As my shops (remember my list of shops? haha) were located in different buildings, we had to navigate our way around lol. :P During the hunt for one particular shop, we accidentally found ourselves at Queen Victoria Building (QVB), another shopping mall! Goodness, all the malls are interlinked with one another! Shoppers' heaven. :) We rested for a while at the QVB basement where the girls had gelato. It was a good break from all the waking lol. :P

Pitt Street Mall

The girls taking a break at Pitt Street

QVB Stained Glass Windows

QVB clocks


By 6pm, we were at Darling Harbour, Harbourside Shopping Centre lol. Travelling around was really easy with the monorail. A family day pass (A$23) allowed us to travel as many times as we want on the monorail. The girls by then were tired and hungry but there was a shop that caught my eye so I told them, "It's the last shop, I promise". As I came out of Temt, I saw yet another shop. The girls were complaining really loudly, "But you said last shop just now!". "Last shop, last shop, I promise!" The saleslady was amused and she helped to keep the girls occupied while I browsed round the shop lol.
After dinner at the Harbourfood Shopping Centre food court, we walked outside in the cold, crisp night to look at the lights of Cockle Bay Wharf and Darling Harbour.





We got back to our hotel close to 8pm. Since the girls were so nice to accompany me on my shopping (actually they had no choice lol), with my Perfect Portion cooling foot and leg lotion, I gave them foot rubs to soothe their aching feet. :)

The monorail back to our hotel home

Juliane pretending to be frozen

Marieann and Juliane (who was making a funny face) at the World Square Shopping Centre that is connected to our hotel, Rydges World Square