Saks Offer

My inbox is always flooded with emails from various sites I very often have forgotten I've subscribed to. I've tried unsubscribing to many of them as well but they just keep coming! But once in a while a certain sale or offer catches my eye. Ok, more like once a day..

Which brings me to today's email from Saks, subject: "The Hottest Shoe & Handbag Trends + $19.99 International Express Shipping".  Very nice! Especially since I have been wanting a pair of Manolos recently and Saks is one of the few online stockists of Manolos that I trust that ship to Australia (Neiman Marcus also ships here but you have to call a customer service rep to place your order which is really really annoying - I want to just click click buy already!) And with the AUD still relatively strong against the USD it's like everything's on sale!! (*cue Mr Ng's eyes rolling*)

So after a bit of a browse, this somehow made its way into my shopping cart:

I've been watching old episodes of Sex and the City and I think that's to blame for the sudden switch from Loubies to Manolos. Loubies are still the top choice when you want to look sexy but I miss the simple elegance of Manolos..and is it just me or are some of the CL designs just a little too OTT lately?

I mean this looks more like a weapon to me..

The Saks $20 shipping promotion is only available until midnight, 1st April US East Coast time (so the equivalent of 3pm 2nd April for Sydneysiders), just enter ROWMAR12 at checkout.

UPDATE: Totally forgot about the end of daylight saving on Sunday! So promotion will only be available until 2pm 2nd April ;)

 

Nice Hotels To Date

Before I go travelling somewhere, I tend to do a huge amount of research on which hotel to stay in. And of course since I'm usually travelling with Mr Ng, I am also required to find hotels which are within the budget he gives me (read: cheap). But as we have experienced in the past, cheap does not always equal good. And I really love the feeling of coming back to a beautiful hotel room after a long day, I'm not one of those people who believe a hotel room is only for sleeping so it doesn't matter where you stay! Fortunately I have had the good fortune of staying in some really nice places over the past few years (especially now that we are no longer confined to a uni student's budget!), but usually in the standard rooms to make it a little less painful for Mr Ng when he finds out the cost per night.

First up, The Upper House in Admiralty, HK in a Studo 70 Island View room - still one of the most impressive hotel rooms I have ever encountered:

And Mr Ng's favourite part - the free 'maxi'-bar which included non-alcoholic drinks and snacks replenished twice a day:

All but the first photo of the bedroom are ones that were taken on my phone but as you can see, rooms look exactly as they are pictured on the website

Mr Ng and I stayed here on two separate occasions within the hotel's first year of opening but with Studio 70 rooms now starting at HKD4,000 (significantly more than the rate I remember we paid) I'm not sure we'll be staying here again any time soon. But you definitely get what you pay for considering the sheer size of the room and all the food/drinks and awesome toiletries that are included (we had Ren toiletries and I've read that the bigger suites are stocked with Aesop ones). The whole hotel has such a zen atmosphere and is a calming refuge in the hectic-ness that is HK - we didn't want to leave! If you have the opportunity, The Upper House is definitely one to experience at least once in your life.

Next, The London in Midtown Manhatten, NYC. I stayed here with my mum in a standard London Suite which comprised of the bedroom, separate living room, wardrobe area and spacious bathroom - absolutely huge by New York standards:

The suites were so much bigger than I was expecting and the extra lounge area really came in handy, especially considering the amount of shopping that accumulates between two females over 12 nights in NY! We did pay almost USD600 per night (which included daily breakfast) however I would not hesitate to stay here again. The location (just around the corner from the Hilton) is also fantastic and we pretty much managed to get to wherever we were heading by foot.

Third up, Mr Ng's and my most recent hotel stay which was at the Mandarin Oriental in Central, HK. I had previously read stellar reviews about the impeccable service here and I have to say, we were not disappointed. We stayed in a Superior Room which is not overly big but cleverly designed in an open-plan and you can really tell from the quiet-ness of the room that this is one well built property:

welcome tea upon arrival

and my favourite part (apart from the Hermes toiletries), a little goodie for you at turndown which differed every night:

Service here is probably the best I have ever encountered anywhere up to this point in time (this is the only place I have ever been greeted with a 'Welcome home!' by the door man) however my one main gripe is that free wi-fi is not included in the rate for Superior Rooms, although we did manage to get a discounted rate at HKD2,350 excluding taxes per night which is not too bad. In this day and age though I think it should be mandatory for hotels to provide free wi-fi, don't you think?

Finally, the most jaw-dropping room I have stayed in is none other than the Deluxe Suite (or 'Honeymoon' suite) at The Peninsula in HK which I mentioned previously here. And I'm happy to say it lived up to (and actually exceeded) expectation:

Two highlights of the room were the guest lavatory and of course, the view:

I'm not sure if I will ever be lucky enough to stay in this type of room again - the rate we paid was HKD8,888 per night and that was already discounted. But being able to stay in this beautiful suite in one of the most luxurious hotels in the world really was the cherry on top, and made the whole wedding that much more special. This is definitely one to book for a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Ocean Room

One more restaurant down, this time Ocean Room at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Circular Quay. Unfortunately a ship was docked for the entire night blocking what appears to be a spectacular Opera House view (judging from the photos on the restaurant's website) but the food more than made up for the lack of view. We settled on the Tasting menu which proved to be a good choice. Mr Ng even stated he enjoyed the food here more than he did at Momofuku Seiobo! Although we both agreed that you could tell the difference in the ingredients used between a $175 and a $98 tasting menu (understandably).

mandatory cocktail to mark the end of the working week, this time in the form of a Nashi and Ginger Cosmo

Oyster Duo

Tuna Tartare

White Gazpacho, Anchovy & Sorbet

Uni Tamago, Calamari Pops

Spanner Crab Bonito Consomme

Deconstructed Summer Ceviche

Saikyo Miso Cod

Duck (we opted for this instead of the Smoky Wagyu Beef)

Sushi Collection

Gorgonzola Panacotta

Good food, lovely presentation and reasonably priced. One minor thing that bugged me though (no pun intended) was the presence of a couple of tiny flying insects that wouldn't stop buzzing around our table. Mr Ng blamed it on us being so close to the water (we were seated right next to the window) but it always puts a little doubt in my mind as to the cleanliness of a place when insects are flying around, no matter how small they are. But again, was only a minor annoyance and one that will probably not stop me from going back (hopefully not seated next to the window though just in case).

Shoe Craving - Satisfied! (for now)

Unfortunately the silver glitter You-You's I mentioned here were no longer available by the time Mr Ng got around to contacting my sales guy in HK (wouldn't be surprised if he did that on purpose so as to increase the chances of them being sold out..) so I was forced to buy a pair here to get it out of my system. Well that's my argument anyway haha.

So presenting my new favourites, Pigalle 100 glitter pumps:

I have read many good reviews about the Pigalles and am glad to finally own a pair. I tried it on for my mum and she was most unimpressed with the amount of toe cleavage on show that this particular style is famous for, but I love it! Mr Ng also said it's quite sexy hehe.

In fact I was so happy with how comfortable they are (unlike my Decollete's which for some reason I find REALLY difficult to walk in) that I bought it in Nude as well yay! I'm sure Mr Ng is rolling his eyes right about now but in my defence, David Jones is offering cardholders 20% off ALL full-priced shoes and my size is always one of the first to sell out so it would've been silly not to!!

And it's terrible but I think I've now become one of those wives who hides their purchases from their husbands but these caught my eye just as I was leaving with my new CL's in hand and it was love at first sight:

I'm glad I have so far stuck to my no new black shoes/bag/clothes, it's such a refreshing change. Now I just have to figure out what to wear with them..

Momofuku Seiobo

I miraculously managed to make a reservation a couple of weeks ago for dinner at David Chang's first Sydney location at The Star, Momofuku Seiobo but unfortunately, the food here just didn't do anything for either Mr Ng or me. I guess we were just expecting too much what with the difficulty in getting a table in the first place, the 14 course degustation menu only on offer and the no-talking-on-your-mobile-wilst-on-the-premises policy of the restaurant (you may however use your camera/camera phones, but only with no flash!)

snacks: shiitake chip, nori, mochi, smoked potato

steamed bun (what was supposed to be one of the standout dishes but seriously, nothing special): pork belly, cucumber, hoisin

sea mullet: nectarine, szechuan pepper

marron: fennel, dill

beef: radish, fermented black bean

Smoked eel: jerusalem artichoke, pink grapefruit

Spanner crab: old bay, yorkshire pudding

Egg: toasted rice, brown butter

Pea agnolotti: parmesan, ham

Mulloway: smoked roe, lettuce

Lamb neck: onions, mustard seeds

C2: honey licorice, bee pollen

Peach: rose, pistachio (Mr Ng's favourite dish)

Miso: cherries, black sesame (my favourite dish)

And the very strange final dish: a huge chuck of pork which was to be eaten with your hands. Admittedly the pork was extremely tender but we were both quite full at this stage and honestly weren't in the mood for a savoury dish after dessert.

The restaurant also offers matching juices if you do not want to go for the matching wines and so trying to be more responsible, Mr Ng decided to go for the juices which he soon found out was probably not the best decision. Things such beetroot juice are definitely not his thing lol.

So in sum, I'm glad we went but we'll most likely not go again. Although I wouldn't mind checking out some of the other Momofuku branches if/when I am ever in New York again to see if it lives up to the hype over there.