Spread Some Awesome

When I received an email that I was invited to the Singapore Blog Awards 2012, I immediately decided that I will be staying more than the required duration for the event. Since the complimentary accommodation was only for 3D/2N, I needed to book a good hotel right at the smack of the city center because I wanted to go around some of the places near the city that I haven’t been before. One of which is the Gardens by the Bay. The invite was of perfect timing because the Gardens by the Bay has just opened recently.

With a little planning here and there, I decided to arrive a couple of days before the event. Searching for hotels was relatively easy because there are lots of online booking websites available like agoda.com. Moreover, you can easily find raw and straight from travelers hotel reviews via tripadvisor.com. What was difficult is picking out the one that can give the best value for what you are paying for.

There were several hotels I was considering but I ended up choosing Peninsula Excelsior Hotel. After checking out its website, viewing photos of the hotel, and reading several reviews, I was okay with it. It appeared to be a good hotel with a good location – 5 minutes away from City Hall MRT. Though its exterior appeared to be rather quaint, the rooms seem to be cozy and the view from the rooms is pretty nice.

Peninsula Excelsior Hotel

Peninsula Hotel Excelsior has two towers. Apparently, one tower is the Peninsula and the other one is Excelsior. Had I known that the Peninsula has better view of Marina Bay, I would have specified that on my reservation. I suggest that you do because Peninsula blocks the Marina Bay view of Excelsior. Bummer!

Peninsula Blocks View of Excelsior

Outside Peninsula Excelsior Hotel

But Excelsior’s view isn’t that bad after all, just make sure you ask for a room at the top floors (probably 8th flr. or higher) so you can still see the Singapore Flyer greet you “Good Morning!” when you wake up.

St. Andrew’s Cathedral and the Singapore Flyer

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Tags: hotel, Peninsula Excelsior Hotel, Singapore, Singapore Blog Awards, Singapore Flyer

The nominees have been scrutinized. The votes were cast. The winners were announced. “It’s a wrap!” for the Singapore Blog Awards 2012.

It was a great privilege to be one of the international bloggers from the Philippines, Malaysia, and Hong Kong who were invited to observe and cover the Singapore Blog Awards 2012. It was also a great opportunity to witness first-hand how the Singapore blogosphere feels like and you know what, it feels awesome.

The Singapore blogosphere is very diverse, with bloggers coming from different age groups and social backgrounds discussing all walks of niche. Would you believe that the youngest blogger awarded that day was just 6 1/2 years old. Blogging starts young in Singapore and their recognition for bloggers has no limits or requirements even when it comes to age.

The Singapore Blog Awards 2012 commenced by acknowledging the “Super Bloggers”. The Super Bloggers are considered as the excellent examples of individuals who provide valuable content via blogging. I bet these are the people you look for when in search for guys and gals who really know their stuff.

SBA2012 Super Bloggers

For more info regarding the Super Bloggers and their superpowers, get it here.

Right after that, the winners were announced one by one. A brief audio-visual presentation for every category was shown before the award was given. There were 10 Main Categories, 2 Celebrity Categories, and 3 Special Awards. Here is a photo of all the winners courtesy of omy.sg.

Singapore Blog Awards 2012 Winners

For a complete list of winners, get it here.

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Tags: awards, bloggers, Singapore, Singapore Blog Awards, Singapore Flyer