Entertainment

3D2N Stay @ The Villas, Sunway Resort

To celebrate the recent New Year, we checked into The Villas for a short stay. First time visitors will be surprised to find this private sanctuary within the lush tropical garden of Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa, which is only minutes’ walking distance away from Sunway Pyramid via some ‘hidden’ paths. This would be the perfect place for couples who seek to celebrate special occassions with utmost privacy – no babies, no families so no noisy kids running around. And with only 17 villas around, there would only be a maximum of 34 guests at anytime.

pavilion-day

Just to be clear, I am not ‘invited’ to stay here and then write this post to promote them whatsoever. We actually own a SIVC (Sunway International Vacation Club) membership that we signed up with when we just started to work. Yeah we were young and stupid. Frankly speaking if not for the membership, I don’t think I would even consider staying here. But it is good to experience nice things once in a while, we gotta enjoy life sometime.
Anyway, this building behind the small pond is actually a restaurant-cum-reception of The Villas called the Pavillion. You can also think of it as your very own private restaurant, where you will be having most of your meals – breakfast, evening cocktails and romantic set-dinner (if you booked one).

stairs-to-the-villas

Since The Villas is pretty much off limits to everyone except the guests and staff, you have to be driven in by the butlers. The best spot to park your car would be at The Duplex‘s car park. There are plenty of parking space here and it is free of charge as well. If you are not familiar with Sunway and could not locate The Duplex (it’s pretty tricky to find this place) you can also park your vehicles at Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa. Then from the hotel lobby, you can take the hotel’s swimming pool, walk across it and follow this staircase which will lead you to The Villas.
If that is still very confusing, then the easiest way would be to tell Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa’s reception that you are checking into The Villas. They will know what to do and send someone to pick you up. Don’t worry about the parking ticket, you will given another one that looks like a room card that will let you get out for free later.

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The House of Dancing Water @ City of Dreams, Macau

As you all might have known from my previous post, the House of Dancing Water is finally open to the world after 5 years of development and HK$2 billion spent to create and produce. I was lucky enough to attend the media launch even before the world premiere last week, which was an unforgettable experience.

shipwreck

And now I will share with you some facts about the show, hopefully they are interesting enough to make you feel like going to Macau to experience the largest and most spectacular water-based show on earth.

city-of-dreams

This uniquely created show, housed in a purpose-built theater designed with multiple breakthroughs including a stage pool that is able to hold a record breaking 3.7 million gallons water (equivalent to 5 Olympic-sized swimming pools) is located at City of Dreams, Macau. By employing the latest technology, the aquatic stage could be converted into a solid floor in a matter of seconds using 11 ten-ton elevators.

theater

Franco Dragone, a creative genius from Belgium whose shows have been seen by over 65 million people worldwide is the mastermind behind the show. The state-of-the-art theater (click for the full image) is basically divided into four zones, with tickets priced at HK$1,280, $880, $680 and $380 respectively.

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The House of Dancing Water Official Media Launch @ City of Dreams, Macau

Hi guys, I just came back from Macau two days ago from the official media launch of the House of Dancing Water at City of Dreams. Thanks to the nice people at Fleishman Hillard, I was one of the three media (the other two being TheStar and Nuyou) from Malaysia to be invited to this event. It was definitely an eye opening experience and I had lots of fun.
FYI the House of Dancing Water is the world’s largest and most spectacular water extravaganza costing HKD 2 billion+ (USD 250 million) This production is the brainchild of Mr. Lawrence Ho and personally created and directed by Mr. Franco Dragone, one of the world’s greatest show maker.
I will write briefly about my three days spent in Macau and also show some photos from the show, then followed by a more detailed one later.

city-of-dreams

City of Dreams is located along the Cotai strip sitting on the Cotai reclamation area in Macau. The name ‘Cotai’ comes from the fact that it sits between Taipa Island and Coloane Island. Convenient naming eh?

city-of-dreams-mall

Anyway, City of Dreams is constructed in the style of a podium with four towers: Hard Rock Hotel, Crown Towers Hotel and the Grand Hyatt Macau, it also has three casinos, lots of restaurants and high-end retail shops for the jet setting shoppers.
City of Dream’s design is heavily influenced by water, a huge reason why the concept of a ‘Dancing Water Theater’ was born. And if you notice, the walls have a shape of water ripple. For the Chinese, water is an important element especially when it comes to Feng Shui.

grand-hyatt-room

For the first night I was staying at the Grand Hyatt Macau. Seriously, I didn’t expect to stay in such a nice hotel, must have been my lucky day.

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