Emmanuel's BIG ONE at Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road

In another blink of an eye, our little Emmanuel has turned one! What a milestone, not only for himself, but also for my wife, Lydia and I - we managed to survive one year with two children! Till today, we deeply respect parents who have multiple children, how do you even balance your time and effort between your children? But that's another story for another time.

When we were planning for his party, we were torn between two choices, should we do a party and invite our friends and family? Or should we do an intimate one? Thinking that Emmanuel would be all tired and angsty (like most babies on their parties), we decided to do the latter and started to look for staycaytion places to host the small party.

After filtering lots of hotels, we settled on Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road.

Located just minutes walk from Bugis and Nicoll Highway MRT, this hotel is literally at Singapore's city center. Essentially, you are just beside to major attractions like the Singapore Flyer and Marina Bay Sands, and several shopping centres that we frequent a heck lot - Marina Square, Suntec, Bugis, etc. It's even a stone throw where we used to stay.

For other lovely alternatives (and if you have more budget for a suite), check out these staycation we had at:

1. JW Marriott South Beach

2. Equarius Hotel, Sentosa

Our room: Premier Suite

For a good night stay, this suite definitely fits the bill. At 45sqm, it has separate living and bedroom spaces, and even feature a full kitchen, so you can do your light cooking over here. Of course, we cannot compare the recent suite we did with Emmanuel's 100th day at JW Mariott, which is a whopping 100sqm, considering the price difference. At $380 for a weekend stay, Pan Pacific Serviced Suites was great, cozy and definitely alright for hosting less than 10 pax.

Opus Bar & Grill Review @ VOCO Orchard Singapore

Whenever our wedding anniversary draws near, I will start cracking my head to think of places to bring my wife - by now you should know she's Lady M. Places that I have not brought her to. To be fair, we covered most restaurants with a view. Last year's at Artemis, we did LeVeL33, SKAI, CÉ LA VI, Monti, Riviera.. As you see, we always do Western at Marina area for some reason. So this year after some researching and filtering, we chose Opus Bar & Grill, conveniently located at the newly refurbished VOCO Orchard - once called Hilton. For once something different.

Limbeh and Lady M 5 years already lo!

VOCO does house some fancy luxury brands, but just to set expectations right, the entrance isn't grand. Just as with a lifestyle hotel. Cosy, small, a couple of check-in counters, unlike hotels like MBS or Shangri-la. The location of Opus can be easily spotted beside the check-in counters.

Okay, first impression. Busy Friday night, most tables are filled with crowds chatting loudly away. What do you expect, it's a bar and grill. We were seated promptly, but the table beside was uncomfortably close to us (imagine less than 50cm - how I miss the COVID restrictions), so we requested for a change of table at least thrice before we got our butts nestled at a nice corner.

We got ourselves their freshly shucked oysters (half dozen, $31), which is nicely dosed with plum vinegar, soya and spring onions. The freshness and tanginess from the sauce really hit the spot. But considering one of them cost most than five bucks, I'd say they better taste good. Speaking of which, I do miss the ones we had at the oyster bar in Perth. Cheap and good.

BMW 216i Gran Tourer - The perfect family car?

One of our biggest purchase last year was a car. 

It was finally a dream come through as I sat in my new purchase. Obviously this purchase didn't came easy, so we had a heck load of research work done. Considering our family of five, including our helper, and occasionally going on family trips with the grandparents, we knew we had to get a 7-seater (although I still wished for a coupe or my favourite ah beng Lancer). However, a full-size MPV would be a hassle to drive and park, and would probably use considerably more petrol, and a SUV is probably too small for our needs.

After weeks of filtering, we narrowed down our choices to 3 models, and most importantly, according to our budget of 100k for a second-hand car.

Before landing our hands on this 216i, here's our shortlisted cars (which could be used for your reference if you're considering a family car too):

#1. Mitsubishi Outlander 2018

When it comes to getting a 7-seater, the Outlander was my initial choice. The front looks mascular and seems like it could hold itself in the event of an accident. I did a test drive but found the ride to be extremely bumpy, as if I could almost feel every unevenness of the road. Despite looking bulky from the outside, the interior was quite cramp. To be fair, the Outlander seems to have the most powerful engine amongst our shortlisted cars. Features are basic and slightly limited, but the main con to me was the super tight third row. Imagine the leg space of budget airlines and halved that. Yep.

Blessed Lunar New Year 2023

Another new year, but this time we are celebrating with not just three, but four! Now that Emmanuel is almost hitting the big one, it's amazing how time flies, but that's a story for another time. Here's wishing all a blessed lunar new year. May this year be good, no, even better than the ones that have passed. May you be blessed in so many ways that you can't imagine, in your family, relationships, finances, studies, and most importantly, health. This year will be a year of breakthroughs, just be expectant of it, 2023 here we go!