TRAVEL
Sara Shantelle Lim Flying First Class on Singapore Airlines to New York City
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Suite, Trump Tower, Fifth Avenue
Woodbury Common Premium Outlets, Kenka Japanese Restaurant,
The Setai Hotel Suite Capella, King George V Whiskey, Vero, Astoria
I love New York City!
NEW YORK - is one of my favourite cities in the world, filled with lots of good food, shopping, recreational activities, etc. Recently, I took Singapore Airlines First Class to visit some friends and family members. I checked in my luggage at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3, Gate 1, which is reserved for the First Class ticket holders. Then went through the VIP departure gate, one lane gate especially designed just for First Class ticket holders, just behind their check in lounge. I went to The Private Room to have some fruits and latte before I went onto the plane. Singapore Airlines First Class food and service is always extraordinarily amazing. The flight there was quite long, but I was entertained by the countless movies that they have on board the plane. Flying First Class is always a memorable experience with Singapore airlines!
The moment I landed, I hopped onto the hotel transfer Mercedes to The Mandarin Oriental Hotel located at 80 Columbus Circle. It is a prime location, located near all the shopping street, facing The Central Park. It has a perfect view of both the busy city and the big famous Central Park of New York City. The suite was pretty good but it was not as big as The St. Regis Hotel Suite at San Francisco (that I recently stayed at), but I guess, space cost a lot more in a prime district area of Columbus Circle in New York City~
The suite room cost approximately USD$1545 - USD$1609 a night on average. There are quite a few different types of suites, prices depends on peak seasons too.
While staying there, I decided to try out their SPA facilities. Their Mandarin Oriental Spa was truly quite an amazing experience! The decoration and ambience inside is very Zen and serene. The jacuzzi pool, steam room, lounge are all pretty big. The locker room was filled with towels, lockers, mirrors, etc. Imagine going to a GYM's shared wash/locker room, but this is better designed, smells much nicer and looks super grand. The massage there cost around US$350 for a 1 hour full body massage.
TRUMP TOWER - After feeling re-energized and recovering well from my Jet Lag, I decided to drop by Trump Tower, to visit my close friends, Luca (Trump Bartender) and Richard Lorenzen. He's the CEO of Fifth Avenue Brands, a New York based public relations and digital media firm. As an active media personality in issues on business, economics and politics, Richard has been seen in Forbes, Fox Business, CBS magazines and others. He is young, very successful and gorgeous. Luca was the one who introduced Richard to me, about 3 years ago. Whenever I fly to New York, I would make it a point to have a drink with him at our usual place - Trump Tower, by Donald Trump, owners of the TV Series - The Apprentice, famous for their tagline, "YOU ARE FIRED!". Luca is really sweet, she always offers me complimentary popcorns when I'm at Trump Tower - YES! I Love Popcorns!
Trump Tower
725 Fifth Ave East 56th Street
58 Stories Skyscraper developed by Donald Trump
I also met my cousins, K and C, who brought me to Woodbury Common Premium Outlets. This place is excellent for shopping especially with the 220 stores that offer premium savings for brands such as Burberry, YSL, Dior, Gucci etc. I usually purchase quite a few pairs of shoes during each visit. I also bought several dresses from BEBE. Website at http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=7
Woodbury Common Premium Outlets
498 Red Apple Court
Central Valley, NY 10917
(845) 928-4000
Woodbury is located around 2 hours drive away from New York City. On the way there, we felt a little hungry, so we stopped by this Pumpkin Patch Market Place. It has huge pumpkins like in a Halloween cartoon! I like eating sweet pumpkins too! So yummy! All you need to do is just boil them without adding any oil, salt or pepper as the pumpkins taste naturally sweet and delicious!
Woodbury's car park space is huge. You would need to spend at least 5 hours there before you can complete walking into every single boutique. The land area is huge! Hence, you are advised to spend your entire day there. Please go there in the morning, if you plan to do some serious shopping! There's a coupon book, that you should pick up at the information counter. There are special extra discounts in that book.
You may choose to book a bus ticket for your transfer from
New York City to Woodbury, at US$40 a person for a round trip!
Woodbury Bus Services from New York City: http://www.woodburybus.com/
Kenka Japanese Restaurant
25 Saint Marks Place
New York, NY 10003Neighbourhood: East Village
My cousins brought me to Kenka Restaurant to have dinner the following day. The food there was pretty special. They served all the weird intestines and liver, but thankfully they serve normal food too. This place is full of customers and we had to wait for about 30 minutes before we managed to get a table. The food menu is really fun and interesting. At the end of the meal, we each received a cotton candy stick and to experience making our very own cotton candy for dessert.
Karaoke Restaurant & Bar Japas 38
9 E 38th St
(between 5th Ave & Madison Ave)
New York, NY 10016
Neighbourhood: Midtown East
After dinner, we went to sing our hearts out at a karaoke bar~ It has an open bar concept, whereby the whole place can hear you sing. It was fun! We made quite a few new friends. Drinks there were reasonably cheap. The people there are fun and out going! Nice place to make new friends!
The Setai Hotel by The Capella Group
Fifth Avenue New York City
The next few nights, I stayed at The Setai Hotel at Fifth Avenue New York City. This hotel is by the Capella Group. This hotel suite is slightly more spacious and bigger than the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at Columbus Circle. It is located near all those shops like Guess, BEBE, Forever 21, etc. I really like this hotel. It is very spacious! There's a restaurant and bar downstairs. The cocktails at the bar is very well mixed! Refreshing and tasty!
The Setai Hotel Room Rates
I stayed in the City One Bedroom Suite. That is approximately USD$1185/night. That is around SGD$1450/night. But it is really pretty!! And super comfortable! Another thing that I loved about this room is that the mini bar is completely complimentary. Of course they don't serve food or alcohol on their mini bar, but, there's at least 20 cans of different soft drinks and bottles of water.
So while waiting for my cousin, who was an hour late!! I helped myself to some King George V whisky that was purchased at the airport duty free DFS and I grilled myself some Chicken Kebab. I love The Setai's kitchen! Amazing.. Okay, fine, I got the Chicken Kebab from those street stalls downstairs my Hotel, they are delicious! You will see a super long queue of people in their tie and suits lining up for this delicious stick of Chicken~ I reheated using the oven in the kitchen, just to make sure, I've killed all the street food bacteria from it. I don't want to have a tummy ache.
For the whisky lovers out there, you would appreciate this. You would know that whiskey have different blends and grade. Blue Label is known to most people as the highest grade for Johnie Walker. But this particular Johnnie Walker King George V is much more premium.
One bottle of Johnnie Walker King George V cost approximately, SGD$900. This is the kind of whisky whereby you appreciate it with only whisky lovers, if not, it is just a waste~ It is made of the rarest and finest blend from Cardhu, Lochnager and Port Ellen. It has a really nutty finish, absolutely tasty!
When my cousin, K finally arrived (1hour late!) at my hotel suite, I showed her around and took lots of photos! There's a living room, a kitchen with full facilities including pots and pans for you to cook and even an oven and microwave. It also have a bar top counter, facing the living room. The wash room is huge with a bath tub facing the bedroom, and a walk in closet that can fit 10 people in. I loved The Setai Hotel, after all, its by the Capella Group. I would definitely stay there again.
Verdict: I prefer The Setai Hotel Suite over the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Suite.
VERO Restaurant & Wine Bar (Uptown)
1483 2nd Ave (between 77th St & 78th St)
New York, NY 10021
(212) 452-3354
After we were done fooling around in the suite, we brought our madness down to the hotel lobby. We took photos with the good looking bell boys and front desk staff. Then we left for family dinner! They brought me to this place called VERO. It looks like a bar, yet they serve proper food. The table seatings were the high bar top kind of seats. They are famous for their Wine Collection and their Sangrias.
Astoria
Hell Gate Bridge
The next day, my cousins brought me to Astoria (their home town)~ That is only 10 minutes away from Manhattan. Its is only a bridge drive away. So they showed me Hell Gate Bridge, this bridge connects Manhattan and Astoria. Interesting name right? I took a photo with it.
My relatives also brought me to this cosy Spanish Restaurant in Astoria. The atmosphere of Astoria is totally different from the busy city of New York City Manhattan. It is a more relaxed setting where many people were sun bathing while they dined alfresco style. Everyone was relaxed and nobody look like they were rushing off to their next meeting unlike in New York city. I think Astoria is an amazing place to live!
Read about my First Class Singapore Airlines Travel to Hong Kong: CLICK HERE.
Read about my First Class Singapore Airlines Travel to San Francisco: CLICK HERE.
Read about my Business Class Singapore Airlines Travel to Bali: CLICK HERE.
Sara Shantelle Lim's SGD$40,000 Birthday Bash 2014
Club Altimate at 1-Altitude (1 Raffles Place)
Candylicious Neon Party
PART 4
Blogger Sara Shantelle Lim's S$40,000 Birthday Bash
Club Altimate at 1-Altitude
Featured on 2 June 2014
CANDYLICIOUS NEON PARTY
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