Staycation: Capella Singapore

With all the intention of doing my NYC post, I realised that I didn't have half of the pictures with me while starting on it. They are with Joel so I have to wait for him to sync them to our Dropbox. :/

I decided to do a very belated post about our Capella Singapore staycation sometime last month instead! (:

Courtesy of Crocs Singapore!

Warning: Picture-heavy post!

Back Story: In December 2012 when I was in the States, I was checking my email randomly and I don't know what came over me but I actually checked my spam. And there, sitting pretty was an email from Crocs Singapore, telling me that I've won the Grand Prize for the "New Crocs, New You" campaign contest. I was so surprised because I didn't do much, only played their app on Facebook, and entered my details for the lucky draw at the end of the game. But I was really anxious cos the email was sent 3 days before the day I saw it, and was afraid they'll pass on the prize to the next winner. So anyway, I replied them and they were nice enough to declare me the winner!

So the following year (2013) after returning from my trip. I went down to collect my prize.

I won: 2 pairs of Crocs Shoes

Two Nights Stay at Capella Singapore, inclusive of breakfast, a romantic candlelight dinner and two-way transport. Also, an Auriga Spa signature treatment for two!

I was so excited because I have never had a staycation of my own (always at my friends' hotels etc) and have never gone for a spa treatment in Singapore (Thailand massages don't count). So to have my "first experience" of both fulfilled at an awesome 6-star hotel, I was thoroughly ecstatic! :D I was thinking of booking it for my birthday (in August) but unfortunately, it expired on 13th June 2013.

I decided on 7th June, since Joel would only be back from his exchange programme in Canada then, and I wanted him to enjoy it as well. And after waiting, the date finally came! I consider it a great Graduation present as well, so thank you Crocs Singapore!

Day 1: Friday, June 7th 2013

We scheduled the car to come pick us at 2pm, so when we woke up, we headed to Kovan first to eat our favorite chicken rice! 

A chauffeured Mercedes came to pick us at Joel's place and brought us to Capella Singapore, situated on Sentosa Island. And immediately upon stepping out of the car, I felt so warmly welcomed by the staff! 

The host brought us to settle down at the sofa area and served us our welcome drinks. Love how we don't have to stand and wait at the reception table. I was busy snapping pictures of the lobby and Joel was like so embarrassed cos he felt that people who can afford to stay there don't do such things. lol

Then we were personally escorted to our room by one of the Personal Assistants - the name given to customer service staff there. The moment we stepped into the room, we were immediately blown away because of the full length windows that opened up to a beautiful view!

Ours was a Garden View room, but we were lucky to get a partial view of the sea (:

The walk-in closet area. Haha, just a small red suitcase for myself. Joel brought a backpack and he was astounded at how I had soooo many things to bring that I needed a suitcase! Guys just don't get it. :/

The same view of the South China Sea can be seen from the bathroom window (:

How the rest of the bathroom looks like from the bathtub. The shower area is right at the end, and the closed door on the left leads to the toilet. 

Sink area which I absolutely loved!!!! I told Joel that we must have couple sinks in our future home, and he was like, "You think our house will be so big?" Haha. Can't a girl dream? (: And and and I love the large cushion stool, where I can sit comfortably to do my makeup. 

The bathroom is designed with an "open concept", but there's a big sliding door (pictured above) so you can bathe in private! I also appreciate that the TV can swivel out, so depending on where you are sitting (bed or sofa) you can adjust the angle. 

 I am a coffee lover, so I immediately got down to making use of the Nespresso machine! All the drinks in the hotel room are complimentary and refillable btw! ;)

Complimentary fruits and cookies (:

The view of the room from the bathroom. Can I just say we were fortunate enough to get the room on the highest level, so it came with a super high ceiling! Love high ceilings, it immediately makes the whole room feel more spacious.

Found it convenient that there is a master control touch-screen panel at the side of the bed where you can adjust the window blinds & curtains, the lighting and the temperature. Basically, everything!

We didn't have time to sit around too long, cos it's time for our spa!

Walkway to the Auriga Spa (:

Seated in the reception area while filling in our particulars.

Before our massage, we get to use the spa facilities and I was separated from Joel cos there is a separate area for each gender.

It was a weekday, so I was glad to have the whole place to myself (almost) cos there were only one or two other patrons walking around.

Steam room on the right.

Relaxing in the vitality pool. I know that when you are enjoying the spa facilities you should be "technology-free" and so I snapped some pictures before keeping my phone in the locker for the rest of the session. Not long later, it was time for our massage!

Didn't manage to take a picture of the couple's room before our massage began, so here is the messy look afterwards! The massage was pretty good, just cos they made sure to ask your preference of the massage, so the masseur used just the right amount of strength so I was very very relaxed (I am very ticklish so it's hard for me to relax during a massage). I told Joel I am now hooked on spa treatments and that he has to bring me for more next time hehe.

We were then ushered into the relaxation room to enjoy our tea and a plate of fruits and nuts.

Must be feeling happy cos he has the luxury of getting a spa treatment thanks to me! *shameless*

So anyway we headed back to the room to chill before dinner. And guess what we saw!

Three cockatoos walking outside our window sill! I was so excited snapping away while my uninterested boyfriend continued watching TV. Lol.

Getting ready for our romantic dinner and enjoying every moment of the process, just cos I love the comfy cushiony chair + awesome bathroom lighting + big mirror!

Pardon the badly taken picture, the DSLR lens fogged up cos it was sitting in our aircon room and was exposed to the hot air outside. Anyway, we're here at the Knolls! Our dinner was actually a romantic candlelight dinner by the pool. But because of the rain, it was moved indoors. Boo! 

I found this on Instagram, and reckoned this is how the setting would be like: 

(Credits to the owner.)

But I guess being indoor has it's perks, like the air-conditioning and the absence of the flies and insects! Kudos to the staff who made an effort to make the place more romantic with candles and rose petals (:

Our menu for the night (:

And my handsome date for the night!

Champagne and bread for starters.

Amuse Bouche, the hors d’œuvre. Forgot what it was exactly, I think it's battered crab cake with green apple and apple sauce, just to whet the appetite! 

Seafood salad.

My favorite Lobster soup! (:

Catch of the day! Some type of fish but the dressing was divine. (:

My main course: Pigeon. I can't remember if this is my first time having pigeon but I loved the meat cos it melted in my mouth, but it was also very fatty (which I didn't like).

Joel changed his main course to steak which was also pretty good, but we've definitely tasted better ones. However, the sauce used for both dishes was absolutely the one that excited our taste buds!

On to the star of the night - DESSERT!!!!!

The moment I put a spoonful of this into my mouth, my eyes opened wide cos it was pure foodgasm!!! And the most awesome part? We each had our own plate!

Look at how the fondant flows out. Absolutely PERFECT. The hazelnut ice cream (with cookie crumbs) complimented the chocolate well, while the fruits made the whole dessert less "jelat" (overwhelming). Best I ever had, and totally unforgettable (craving some now)!! 

Believe it or not, the bill for dinner came up to $700!!! (Probably because of the champagne and red wine.) We were so glad we didn't have to fork out a single cent. Most expensive meal we ever had.

Decided to take a walk around the hotel after dinner to digest our food in our tummies.

The empty lobby at night.

Headed up the stairs from the lobby to the Library! 

The table full of snacks. During tea-time, the table will be filled with pastries and desserts! Too bad we missed it that day cos of our spa.

Plush sofas and lots of reading materials for you to enjoy. They also had a small selection of DVDs which you could borrow to bring back to your room to watch. But we didn't find anything nice that we hadn't watched already.

Outfit of the night: Aztec denim dress and my comfy Crocs wedges! Yup, those wedges are from Crocs, a far cry from our usual perception of those bulky Crocs. 

Here's a picture of the two pairs that I redeemed using the voucher I won (: A pair of pink sneakers for my casual days, and a pair of wedges for slightly dressier days. Love how even after a full day of wearing the wedges, I don't get a single blister cos I literally feel like I'm floating on a cloud. The base is super cushion-y. Mad love! If I'm not wrong, the wedges are still available in some stores.

Day 2: Saturday, June 8th 2013

Next morning's view from the balcony!

And that morning we were visited by a couple of hornbills! 

Just right outside our balcony! I was again, excitedly snapping away and exclaiming to Joel but he was still glued to the bed and couldn't be bothered lol.

Finally got up and ready for breakfast! Checking out the view from our 5th-level lift lobby.

Got seated outside of the restaurant and guess who came to join us...

A peacock and peahen!

My first round at the buffet and a cup of latte. (:

The dish that stole my heart was the Eggs Benedict (which we ordered from the waiter) and it was so awesome because it was TRUFFLE-infused. Anything that has truffle oil is definitely tasty. (: You can order others like waffles and pancakes, but we were busy filling our tummies with food from the buffet line.

Second round, back for more nasi lemak and berries!

Sent this picture to my best friends groupchat cos they are all Yakult addicts! And because of them, I did a very auntie thing and stole some back to the hotel room in anticipation of their visit. *guilty* haha

A picture of the courtyard from the 5th level.

Walking back to our room after breakfast (:

Watched The Voice while waiting for our food to digest! I am forever Team Adam, but Blake always wins! ):

Heading to the gym after an hour of resting. Walked past Bob's Bar, which we didn't get a chance to hang out at.

The pool area, with the awesome weather! Capella actually has 3 pools, more on that later.

Love that the deck chairs are cushioned and sooo comfy! 

Reached the gym and so glad to have it all to ourselves (:

Towels and complimentary cold drinks! (:

First time gymming with my new kicks - Adizeros in my favorite color that I got from the States at only $30 USD. Gotta love USA for their good deals (:

The Voice again! Haha. I'm a fan. And somehow gymming while watching TV makes my stamina last longer!

After gymming, we headed to the pool! 

Chose the lower pool cos it had a better view of the sea.

Immediately after we settled down, the staff brought us an ice-bucket with bottles of water. So thoughtful!!

The third pool is a lap pool further down nearer to the villas. The villas themselves have a private pool each, would really love to one day be able to stay there! (:

The sun went away after a while so we headed back to the room to shower and also because my friends were coming to hang out!

When a few of them arrived, we headed to the Library to have tea.

Since it was tea time, the Library was full of guests helping themselves to the complimentary pastries, so there weren't a lot left!

Mango pudding! Another favorite of mine. (:

And of course had to order myself another Latte. (: #coffeelover!

Outfit of the day, top from H&M, shorts from Forever 21 and sneakers from Crocs!

After the bulk of my friends came we walked to Tanjong Beach Club for dinner!

Truffle friessssssssss!!!! (:

Yummy dinner, but not worth the price in my opinion ):

Day 3: Sunday, June 9th 2013

Woke up the next morning looking forward to breakfast! 

Besides the Eggs Benedict, we also tried the pancake, which I wan't crazy over.

But thumbs up for the effort of putting the Capella logo on the pancake! 

Snapped a few pictures of the buffet line for keepsake but I felt weird taking pictures so I didn't managed to snap more!

After breakfast I took the time to take one last bubble bath before checkout! So sad that our time there was coming to an end. ):

Check out time! Capella allows for late check-out, but as the hotel was at full capacity, we had leave the room at the check-out timing at 12pm. However, if you wish, you can hang out around the hotel and use their facilities for the rest of the day. Joel felt it was a hassle to gym or swim cos we would need to hang on to our bags so we can bathe in the swimming pool toilet. So we decided to just hang out at the Library one last time before our chauffeured ride back home.

Capella also gave us farewell gifts (leather luggage tags) for us to remember our time there (: 

It was an awesome 3 days spent in the beautiful hotel, and it wouldn't have been possible without Crocs Singapore. I'm so grateful! (:

XX