Staycation @ Meritus Mandarin: Day One

At last, the mini weekend getaway (to the heart of Orchard) arrived!

The service we experienced at Meritus Mandarin was quite impeccable overall...and a pleasant surprise was in store for us when we were checking in -- Hubby and I were supposed to get a deluxe room for the promotion, but we were bumped up to a premier room instead cos the former's all fully booked, and at no extra charge! Lucky us! ^_^

We were given a room on the 26th floor near the lift, so it was really quite convenient for us. The view was quite great, with familiar shopping malls in sight everywhere, just that at that level, we got to view the top and less noticed parts of those buildings. :) I think the coolest part of our room was the bathroom -- it was so spacious, with a comfortably large bathtub and two separate sinks before a full mirror. Other hotel bathrooms we've used before weren't this nice. Hmm...wonder what the deluxe room's bathroom is like...

After chilling out in the room a bit with Beebee, and giving her her birthday pressie (a DS Scrabble 2009 game), we left to explore other parts of the hotel. Was a tad disappointing that the swimming pool was still in the process of undergoing upgrading works, so that was out of bounds, and Beebee didn't get to explore the hotel gym as she'd hoped to, cos there was someone sitting at a counter right outside the gym and it'd be a little weird to ask to go in for a look-see. :p We did get to go about the restaurant where we'd be dining at the next day for breakfast and lunch -- the Chatterbox, located on the 38th/39th floor. Pretty cosy. The 38th floor's more like a bar lounge while the regular diners climb the stairs to the 39th floor. The lift doors that go straight to the 38th floor double up as the direct entrance to the restaurant. Lovely. :)

Next, we walked right out for some shopping-- pretty decent having Ngee Ann City at our doorstep, albeit for a day or two! :p Time really flies when you're having fun. The next moment we knew, we were settling down for dinner at the Forum. Oh, and I finally got the TH large pink and brown tote bag that I'd been thinking about for two weeks. Like the bag, like the Hilfiger Denim carriers it comes in! Beebee liked them too, and got Hubby to ask Isaac, the manager we were familar with, for extra ones for her carriers collection -- the second time she did that to him! Haha... after that he kept joking about how 丢脸 it was... :p

After dinner at Secret Recipe, we went back to chill out again in the hotel room, but not before Beebee chose some cakes at TCC for her pre-birthday desserts. Had some fun singing a birthday song with Hubby for Beebee, and then sharing the cakes. Then we just watched some TV programmes on the different channels.

Later, after Beebee had gone home, Hubby and I had fun filling the bathtub with hot water, cos we wanted to soak in it and savour our Tokyo onsen experience once again. It was so hilarious cos it took us ages to get the temperature of the water right! At first it was really too hot... each time we out a foot in to test the water, we ended up taking it right out a few seconds later, going 'oww...oww...owww..' and making all the hissing sounds, and maybe a few #@&#@#*! from Hubby. Heh. Oh but once the temperature was fine, my...it really was shiok! You could just feel the tiredness and stress of the week al draining from your body. Of course, it wasn't exactly like the onsen experience, but it's good enough for me! ;D

Finally retired for the night after watching "Wanted" on HBO, a film Hubby'd wanted to catch. Next day's pretty fun too! ;)