Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel

I can’t believe I’m writing this post without completing my Marina Bay Sands experience.

We stayed at Marriott Orchard for an overnight stay this month and the experience was very pleasant.

Was it better than MBS? Thanks to its location, I can say its pretty equal.

Room size was ok, big plus that the room had an alarm clock with Qi Wireless Charging compatibility! (yes, its 2020 and hotels should have one)

Table was smartly placed which is perfect for quick meals and working.

Like MBS, the room had a Nespresso Machine with 3 different coffee capsules (I really hope this becomes a standard in all local hotels)

TV size was ok, they didn’t have HBO (which was strange) and our rooms TV had an issue where half of the screen was on greyscale!

Unlike MBS, they were giving 2 hour access to the swimming pool.

The gym was also way better.

As this hotel was NOT as expensive as MBS, we managed to book a club room which offered meals until 7:30pm and drinks until 9:30!

This hotel may not be as fancy as the newer hotels in Singapore, but thanks to its location, I can highly recommend it.

Millennium Resort Patong Phuket

Before I start typing away… I just can’t believe I don’t have an entry for Andakira hotel.

We stayed at Andakira during our first Phuket visit and it was fairly ok.

For 2020, we stayed at Millennium Resort which is more expensive than Andakira, but it’s also better.

If location is important to you, Millennium hotel is connected to Jungceylon Shopping Center, and Bangla St. is just across

Cross the street from Jungceylon and you’ll be at the Banzaan Fresh Market / Night Plaza.

On the other side is Bangla St. and then Patong Beach.

Millennium Resort has a Lakeside and Beachside wing, both have different lobbies so it will be very important to inform your transport in advance.

We stayed at the Lakeside Wing.

Room was spacious with the usual amenities.

Level 4 has the Pool, Gym and Spa

Drinks and food are also available on the poolside.

Pool size is great, only drawback is the lack of jacuzzi for non-swimmers like me.

Beachside has the Straits Dining Thai Restaurant which was sadly closed during our visit.

Lakeside has The Bistro which offered Seafood BBQ and International Buffet.

Reasonably priced if you check our seafood prices outside…

The only part I disliked is that our balcony was connected to the other room’s balcony. So the other guests can basically go to our balcony with minimum effort.

Other than that, Millennium hotel is highly recommended for you and your family.

Nice and spacious rooms, nice and reasonably priced restaurants, good breakfast buffet.

https://www.millenniumhotels.com/en/phuket/millennium-resort-patong-phuket/

Park Hotel Alexandra

Stayed in a club room for a night… Christmas Eve 2019 to be exact.

Quick info (sorry, no photos) – Club lounge was at the 19th floor, pool, gym and restaurant (The Carvery) was at the 7th floor and the lobby on the ground floor had a coffee shop.

Around the area, the hotel is connected to a mall (Alexandra Central Mall), but don’t expect too much from it.

Beside the hotel is Ikea, across is Anchorpoint and Queensway Shopping Centre. Again, don’t expect too much, but it may be worth your visit if you planned to walk in the area.

The room, just like any modern/new business hotel in Singapore is small.

 

I honestly can’t imagine having 2 big bags in this room.

I have to give 2 thumbs up for the club lounge at the 19th floor… Nice space, quiet and really good staff. Even the food served during the happy hour (5:30-7:30pm) was more than enough.

The next day… breakfast at The Carvery was ok, could be great if the coffee was better. Had to go back to the lounge for coffee which had an excellent machine!

Note that the breakfast served in the club lounge was different from the spread available at The Carvery, during our visit, Lounge was more western while The Carvery was more Asian/local.

Depending on the price, Singapore itinerary and length of stay. Park Hotel like any other new hotels in Singapore is easy to recommend. Only thing I can see against it is its location…

https://www.parkhotelgroup.com/en/alexandra/

Hotel Benilde Maison De La Salle

Stayed in Hotel Benilde for a week in October.

Older guys will remember this place as the Angelo King Center (or was it institute?).

I was initially skeptical about this hotel as I can’t seem to find their parking facilities…

But then I can assure you that they have parking at the 3rd floor.

(sorry for the dark photos)

Room was clean and big. It even came with a sofa that is big enough to use as a bed.

Internet speed is decent, big plus that they don’t have a limit for number of connected devices.

TV has the usual channels…

Room fridge has enough power to cool your drinks…

Bar items are available… Although there’s 7-11 and Ministop in the area, since the hotel is beside a school, convenience stores do not sell alcohol/beer.

Swimming pool and smoking areas are at the roof deck.

They also have a French restaurant.

Gym is at the 11th floor… Facilities may not wow you… But more than enough.

Additional persons for breakfast will cost you PhP 300.00, if you ask me. It’s better to spend that along Taft Ave.

The hotel was fully booked during our visit and the hotel staff still managed to keep everything in order.

Service was good, rooms were big and ample parking…

Highly recommended and will definitely stay here again.

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Owndays Snap Review

My eyes aren’t that bad. But vision with spectacles are way better (and comfortable) than without.

Then there’s the size of my head, nose and cheeks which make finding and buying a good pair of spectacles and sunglasses a pain.

Easy solution… Contact lenses + sunglasses during my holidays.
Spectacles for work.

So here’s where Owndays Snap comes in handy…

You have your spectacles that can function as sunglasses… in a Snap!

So after finding the frame that suits my face, I bought one (it will always come with a free “snap sunglasses.”

After a month use…

Using the spectacles with the snap-sunglasses are heavy… The snap was an additional 8 grams and the additional frame is in front which can feel a bit unbalanced.

The sunglasses also give off this weird rainbow effect which can be seen when I look at my phone and the front LCD panel of my GoPro. It was so strong, I initially thought I broke the LCD of my camera!

Lastly, it would have been nice if Owndays’ case had a special pocket for the “snap,” not a big deal but it would be nice to have.

Owndays’ Snap is perfect for roaming around the city and driving (you have to test that rainbow effect first). Tried it on the beach and it was really bad.

If you find a style that suits you, I cannot imagine buying another non-Snap spectacle from Owndays at there’s almost no difference in price.

Planet of the Apps – Nope, not happy about it!

Phone apps have been around for ages!

I remember my Tanager days when you download an .exe file, transfer it to your phone (either via the SD Card or IR) then use the file explorer to have it installed.

Nokia’s 7610s and phones running Java also had apps…

Fast forward to 2019…

Don’t you just find it annoying that there’s an app for everything?

My gym has 3 separate apps.

Class Booker
Body Trax – to monitor your progress
Spinning App

My bank has 2 apps

All me cameras have their own respective app.

Even DJI has separate apps (Mavic Air and Osmo)!

KFC has an app if you want to order

Establishments have decided to replace their membership cards with Apps

I’m not sure if it will ever end…

And I find it annoying.

D’Resort Singapore (REVISIT)

Visited D’Resort again last weekend thanks to a company event.

This time, we stayed in what they call the “Rain-forest” section which was more like a hotel.

Compared to the rooms in the “Mangrove” side which have a real fridge, we only got a small chiller.

I also remember seeing a microwave oven in our first visit, which is not available in our room this time.

View from the window is Wild Wild Wet

TV is available, but it only has local channels.

I have to admit, I was really surprised on how nicely the rooms were maintained.

Shower and toilets were all clean and free from molds!

Even the A/C vents were dust free!

Room internet is available and as per my testing, there’s no limit on the device per room. Although the speed is just enough for light work.

(speed test was done using Google Chrome on my Windows 10 Company PC)

4 years after my first visit, I am just amazed on how nice D’Resort is and I hope they can maintain it. The bar has been set high and will see if they can meet the same bar again on my next visit.

iPod Touch 2019… What was Apple thinking?

Apple announced a new iPod Touch last night (28 May 2019, Singapore)

May 29 – status is still “coming soon” – Apple Singapore store

Price:
32GB – S$ 299.00
128GB – S$469.00
256GB – $S639.00

So it’s almost S$ 200.00 cheaper the the “iPad”
S$ 430.00 cheaper that the cheapest iPhone right now (iPhone 7)

My question… Who is this thing for?

Apple only upgraded the processor to A10 (same processor used by the iPhone 7)

Main camera only records 1080 videos (front facing is even worse at 720)

So why am I complaining?

I am actually a guy who has been waiting and hoping for a new iPod Touch.

With the right specs, it would have been the perfect device for me.

I presently have 2 iOS devices, an iPhone 8 and an iPad mini 4.

iPad mini 4 – for my guitar’s iRig 2, It connects to the headphone jack

iPhone 8 – for my DJI Mobile, Mavic Air, MadV 360 and GoPro

So I can get rid of my iPad mini if the iPhone has a headphone jack!

I can’t use the new iPod Touch on my DJI mobile since I prefer to future proof my videos by capturing everything in 4K.

I need a device with GPS for my Mavic Air and MadV 360 (to Geotag photos)

So who is this thing for?

Gamers? – I bet they have an iPhone XS Max
Kids? – they’re either using a new iPhone or their parent’s old iPhone.
Audio guys? – there are better DAC players in the market
Netflix? – I bet you have an iPad

So there’s only one reason I can think of on why Apple still sells the iPod Touch… They  have a lot of 4 inch screen in their parts bin and they need to get rid of it!

Waterstones Hotel, Mumbai

Stayed at Waterstones Hotel for less than a week during my visit to Mumbai (2019).

Hotel is very near the airport and they use BMW’s for transfers.

Hotel lobby is located at the 2nd floor.

They have 6 levels, with different “themes” in each level.

Locals told me the top floor “Glacier” has their best rooms.

G – Entrance
1 – Meeting Rooms
2 – Lobby/Restaurant/Coffee Shops and “The Marine Floor”
3 – The Rain forest Floor
4 – The Fire Floor
5 – The Mountain Floor
6 – The Glacier Floor

Beside the Hotel is Waterstones Club which has their pool and gym… For a hotel near the airport, I was surprised by the size of the pool and gym… Staff told me the also had sauna facilities.

As for my room… Mountain Floor.

It was big.

Floor is not carpeted, but they will provide slippers.

All toiletries I need were also provided.

Hotel service was really good.

And for a 6 floor building, the elevators are really fast.

I highly recommend this hotel when you visit Mumbai!

https://waterstoneshotel.com/

Selleys Shoe Glue Review

It seems that the old Rugby Contact Cement no longer works as it used to.

Yes in 2019, it’s only enough to have your shoe fixed for a day or two!

So while walking around the nearest mall, I saw Selleys Shoe Glue! A 15ml tube costs S$5.90

So for my first test… A cracked rubber sole.

As you can see, I used a generous amount of glue on this one.

Shoe was glued between the crack and excess glue can be seen oozing out of the sole.

Will leave it for 2 days to dry before starting to use the shoe again.

Second test… my wife’s Canvas Shoes (same issue with my Chucks)

Since this one will affect the looks of the shoe, I have to be careful with the amount I’m using.

For my leather shoes (cracked sole), adhesive was applied around 1300H on a Friday and I started wearing the shoe Monday at 0900H. That’s more than 2 days for the adhesive to dry.

After a week use (I only use the shoe during office hours, I use Chuck Taylors 2 for my commute), so far so good.

Wife’s (white) shoe, more than a week to dry.

Chucks, more than 1 day.

Cracked sole – it lasted for a week. I’ll try to re-apply the adhesive again later and put a more generous amount.

Canvass shoe – this one is still ok, its not used everyday hence I’m happy that it’s holding up well.