Spread Some Awesome

 

July 20, 2012, the international bloggers invited for the Singapore Blog Awards 2012 (SBA2012) were treated with a Welcome Dinner – some sort of a meet and greet event with their Singaporean blogger hosts, omy.sg peeps, and the distinguished members of Far East Hospitality Group. The Welcome Dinner was held at the Landmark Village Hotel Poolside at around 6PM.

 

 

The Welcome Dinner also marked the first night of stay of the international bloggers in different Far East Hospitality Hotels, which was a perfect time to get to know the awesome people who made our stay possible. Far East Hospitality is an umbrella group of eight stunning hotels in Singapore. These hotels are Orchard Parade Hotel, The Quincy Hotel, The Elizabeth Hotel, Albert Court Village Hotel, Changi Village Hotel, Landmark Village Hotel, Oasia Hotel, and East Village Hotel. Aside from hotels, Far East Hospitality also provides residences around Singapore.

 

 

Several international bloggers are staying at the Landmark Village Hotel so lucky for them because they simply needed to go to the poolside area to attend the event. The Landmark Village Hotel was a pretty chic hotel located near the budget-friendly shopping destination in Singapore – Bugis St.

 

 

Since we were coming from Changi Village Hotel, a shuttle was waiting for us at the lobby of the hotel. Changi Village Hotel was about a 45-minute drive to Landmark Village Hotel. We left our hotel at 5:10 PM and arrived 5 minutes before 6 PM. The drive may be a bit long but it wasn’t boring because of the picturesque scenery in Changi and various places that we passed through.

 

Welcome cocktails began flowing instantly as bloggers and guests filled the poolside. As expected, the event was filled with getting to know you enthusiasm and chit-chats to find out which blogger blogs which blog. Aside from enthusiasm, the air was also filled with the scent of… durian.

 

Of course there was durian! Not only because we were in Singapore but because it was in season. And when else is the best time to eat this fruit that only the brave dare to try? It’s now!

 

 

After a few cocktails, everyone was already relaxed and chatting the night away. Other activities such as portraiture and henna painting were made available to all guests. Several bloggers queued up to get their portrait created instantly or to have their hands embellished with intricately-designed henna tattoo.

 

Here is Melissa Koh from Melicacy, one of my Singaporean blogger hosts, sitting seriously still to get an accurate snapshot of herself via old-school pencil and paper sketch.

 

 

Here is a male guest getting his hand inked with henna. I just found out that getting henna tattoo for guys in Singapore is uncommon. Unlike in the Philippines, especially in Boracay, where dudes go around shirtless to show off their temporary tats. A lot of persuading happened for this image to take place. If my memory serves me right, the one doing the inking is a lady and the one getting inked is a gentleman. Awesome!

 

 

Melvin Lee of A Winsome Life, another Singaporean blogger host, horsing around for a photo op with the Quincy Hotel paraphernalia. This is one pretty rad guy!

 

 

Another Singaporean blogger host that I met was Charmaine a.k.a Kiyo of xKiyo. She is really cool and was all like “Yo! Man!” all night. Check her out yo! And for the record, she’s not Japanese!

 

 

Yeah, I agree with you guys. I know she’s too pretty not to put another picture of her. So before I get tons of requests for another shot, here is a more raw image of Kiyo. A candid image. It’s as if it was taken from a movie. Peace Kiyo!

 

 

Before the actual dinner, the bloggers were given a quick tour of Landmark Village Hotel. Outside looking in, the hotel is already gorgeous and when you go inside, you can witness its quintessential beauty. I can remember myself saying wow here and there while walking across corridors and going from room to room. Wow.

 

The Executive Room

 

The Executive Room is quite spacious. It welcomes you with a nice living area with a compact dining space on the side. There’s a comfy couch at one side of the room that is pointed towards a large flat screen TV. Utmost relaxation can be found here because at the end of the day, you can simply lay back on the couch, put your feet up on the table, and start channel surfing.

 

 

The bedroom seems to be very cozy. It sports a large king-sized bed surrounded by two bright lampshades on both sides. At one side of the room is a large glass window that gives quite a view of the city.

 

 

All Executive Room guests have access to the Executive Lounge.

 

 

At the Executive Lounge, there is a complimentary buffet spread of cheeses, cold cuts, salads, alcoholic beverages, and whatnot. Guest can stay here to eat and hangout.

 

 

 

A few things I admire about luxury hotels are their stairways and corridors. Both look splendid at Landmark Village Hotel. The stairway is poster-ready picture perfect and the arched design of the corridor is right on the spot. The lighting is also perfect however the corridor could use more ventilation. It feels a little too restricted sometimes.

 

 

 

After the tour, we ate dinner and continued chatting with our newly-found friends. We were already starving so we immediately attacked the buffet table right after the tour. We ended dinner with servings of durian.

 

 

The Welcome Dinner was a great avenue to meet new friends and create new social connections with people who share the same passion – blogging. For me, it was a great experience because it worked like a door being opened to be acquainted with awesome individuals coming from different countries and cultures. Even though the night was short, it was an opportunity seized to create new bonds among bloggers.

 

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LANDMARK VILLAGE HOTEL by Far East Hospitality
390 Victoria Street
Singapore 188061

Tel : +65 6297 2828
Fax : +65 6295 4332

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Disclaimer: Spread Some Awesome is not directly related to Landmark Village Hotel, Far East Hospitality Group, and any PR Team promoting the hotel. Spread Some Awesome got the privilege to stay at one of Far East Hospitality hotels (Changi Village Hotel) for free as part of being one of the international bloggers invited to cover the Singapore Blog Awards 2012. This blog post is a requirement in exchange for the accommodation but it is an honest to goodness review of all personal accounts. Spread Some Awesome is not promoting it but simply telling experiences hoping it helps future travelers in Singapore.

 

Spread some awesome..ness..

Tags: bloggers, Bugis, cheese, cold cuts, dinner, Far East Hospitality, Landmark Village Hotel, omy.sg, Singapore, Singapore Blog Awards, wines