City Square Mall Review (Singapore)

City Square Mall

Located at the junction of Serangoon and Kitchener Roads, this mall is relatively accessible by public transport and car.

Getting there:

By Train Farrer Park MRT Station (North-East MRT line)

By Bus Kitchener Road
(Before Tai Hoe Hotel)
Service No. 21, 125, 130

Serangoon Road
(Outside Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple)
Service No. 21, 23, 64, 65, 66, 125, 130, 139, 147

By Car / Taxi Drop-off at Basement 1 (Ample parking)

By Shuttle Bus
NO MORE Free shuttle bus (Edited).

Free Shuttle Bus

Free Shuttle Bus Service at Toa Payoh MRT Exit Bus Stop

Mall Entrance

The Mall

The Mall is relatively big. It has 5 levels and 2 basement levels. About 700,000 sq ft. It has your regular store mix you find in a normal Singapore Mall, but none of the crowd.

There is a food court in the basement, Banquet. (Not very appealing, quiet, even for lunch)

On the 4th floor, there is another foodcourt, Kopitiam. (Same old Kopitiam as everywhere else)

On the 5th floor, there is Ishi Mura Japanese Foodstreet. (Looks pricey, and not very appealing too. But heh, no crowd.)

The mall is pretty clean and nice. It has ample natural lighting and the layout is simple to navigate.

Besides being generic and no special selling point, I am here on weekdays twice and once on Sunday, and I have yet to see any large crowds. It may be because of its location, but Mustafa in the area always seemed packed.

The fact is I could not recall anything special about the mall, or even any store worth visiting, and that may be a problem as most malls, I can say I go there for xxx. For City Square, I think I saw a Metro.

E.g.
Plaza Singapura - Carrefour, Daiso, Golden Village
Parkway Parade - Giant, Borders
Daimaru - Mediya, Kinokuniya
Central - Marutama Ramen, Azabu Sabo
Nee Ann City - Takashimaya, Cold Storage, Kinokuniya, Post Office
Raffles City - Shukudo, Jasons Supermarket

I however like City Square Mall as it is opposite Zen Fut Sai Kai Vegetarian Restaurant.

The food is tasty and reasonably priced.

If you are not there on the 1st or 15th of the lunar calender, you can probably find a place to sit easily, even during lunch time.

Most of the dishes there are delicious!

Overall

City Square Mall is a pretty nice mall.

If you live near a place that offers a free ride there, (Lavender, Novena, Toa Payoh) Why not check it out? It is not as crowded, and it offers the same stores as the others in town. It is clean and nice now as it is still very new.

And if you are there, check out Zen Fut Sai Kai across the road.

-- Robin Low

Hot Pot Buffet - Genting Highlands

 

At First World Hotel in Genting, within the indoor theme park, there is a Hot Pot buffet. I have always been a big fan of Hot Pot buffets and I decide to try it out.

The Hot Pot Buffet is not very expensive, at about RM$25 per person, it is not bad at all! However the following is what I encountered.

1) The Marinated meat does not look appealing at all. There is no beef or pork, just chicken and perhaps mutton.

2) The shrimps are constantly out. People wait when the shrimp is arriving and 3 persons can empty the tray.

3) The soup is tasteless. How can you fail at adding chicken cubes to water?

4) Fish and other ingredients is not fresh. You will know before you even cook it, it looks wrong.

5) Everything tastes... Wrong.

I picked a little of everything to try. And even when I did not have breakfast to have this lunch, I could not finish my first trial serving and I could not bear to stay for seconds.

The food was rather rancid and disgusting and I could not bear another minute there.

AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COST. THIS IS PROBABLY THE WORST HOT POT THAT EVER EXISTED!

Surprisingly I did not have diarrhea, but the bad lunch experience even make me skip dinner. I did not feel like eating anymore!

I don't understand how a place like this could exist and still have patrons!

Please don't go! Avoid it.

If I had 2 more hands, I'd give this place 4 thumbs down!

-- Reviewsguru

NATAS Fair 2010 (Singapore) Review

I was at the NATAS (National association of Travel Agents Singapore) Fair 2010 today, and is happening now 26 Feb 2010 - 28 Feb 2010 at the Changni Expo.

This is the review of my experience.

1) Getting there. Singapore Expo, at Changni is not exactly the easiest places to get to, being really far from civilization, I decided to drive there. Going there at 7 pm on the first day isn't that bad traffic wise, but when I arrive at Singapore Expo, there was surprisingly no queue getting in. HOWEVER, THERE WAS NOT PARKING. There are lots of cars circling the carpark, cars parked on double yellow lines, curbs, etc. Any place available. It was CHAOS!

My suggestion: DON'T DRIVE -- even when Singapore EXPO is so freakin' far away.

2) Getting in. There was a loooooooonnnnnnnnnnnng queue. It took me slightly less than an hour, just to get in. I listened to the radio, and thought it was a good idea to go on a vacation with my mom, and never did I expect to pay to get into a travel fair where you PAY TO BOOK FOR A HOLIDAY??!!

3) At the entrance. There was a cash queue, it was S$4 to get in. Well there is no queue there. The Mastercard entrance is S$3 per person, and guess what, there is indeed a loooooonnnnnnnggggggg queue. For savings of S$1 per person, I wanted to chance it, and it too me another 20 minutes to get through the queue, I guess it was not worth it.

My suggestion:  Pay the extra $1 to get to the shorter queue.

 

4) Booths, booths and more booths. There are lots of tour agents there, trying to sell you tours to exotic places. Well, my mom was interested in the Resorts world booth as you pay very little membership points to get the rooms at this fair, so we browsed around and found the booth. There seemed to be a queue number, and we asked around, and everyone waiting for their queue number seemed to be frustrated and not very helpful. My mom approached a staff to ask where can she get the number, and she was shouted at with a very harsh tone, "Can't you see I am serving someone?"

The staff at Resorts World seemed pretty rude, especially to the people there. I reckoned that since a lot of the members are all "Silver card" members, and do spend quite a bit of money in the casinos every year, they ought to be more polite.

 

We arrived at the booth slightly before 8:30 pm (My phone is 15 minutes faster) and when we found queued up to get the queue numbers, a manager told us to come back tomorrow. I do not understand why the booking process is so long, and at 8:30 pm we are not allowed to book and get queue numbers.

Firstly, we were bombarded by Resorts World ads to call us to take action and book rooms at NATAS fair to enjoy this promotion. The ads include the ones we see in Genting Highlands, ads in the mail and SMSes. And finally when we acted and decided to go to NATAS fair 2010 to book, we were told to go home.

I find this extremely disturbing. How can a company that can build Resorts World in Sentosa, one of the 2 integrated Resorts in Singapore with Universal Studio and a casino have such poor form at a Travel Fair?

Firstly, many people, including 30 or more others behind us are at NATAS simply for this specific purpose. To book a room at Resorts World in Genting with their membership points. And when they leave work and arrive at NATAS on the first day, they were ALL told to go home.

Secondly, there seemed to be lack of communications to inform people especially members who have not been to a paid travel fair before that this NATAS Travel Fair 2010 cost money to get in. I would definitely be crossed if I brought my whole family along to book this ticket, travel all the way from Jurong to Changni, and was turned back and told I can't book when I left after work at 7pm and the NATAS Travel fair closes at 10pm!

If I need to pay to get in, Resorts World should inform people in their ads that people need to pay to get into this travel fair to enjoy the discounts. (I mean if it cost $50 to get in, and you save $50, why do I even need to go and book there? There is travel time, cost, etc.)

Thirdly, how can the booking process take so long? Isn't it using some efficient booking system, swiping the membership card, and simply book? Booking takes 5 - 10 minutes online, and I do not understand why they cannot allow people to book when they arrive at the booth before 8:30 pm, an hour and a half before closing time.

I expect some form of compensation for loyal customers who come and pay to get in the NATAS travel fair just to book and get turned back because of inefficient process, slow workers, slow system or other bad business practice. Face it, many people who go to Genting are not the high end crowd, but treating members in such an unprofessional manner does not buy loyalty.

I walked around and compared some prices amongst the different booths, and NONE caught my eye. Some felt slightly expensive, and others felt like false advertisements as the price of fr $138 became $578 when you include airfare and other random taxes. (For Macau)

I don't understand why there was such a crowd for everything, when there isn't much a deal. I would say when you book a $5000 vacation for your family, and they throw in a new 24" luggage bag because you use your CitiBank Masterscard looks pretty ok, but then again, its a $5000 vacation!

I was really disappointed with the fair and even more disappointed with Resorts World.

-- Robin Low

Universals Studios Singapore: Sentosa - Review

I was at Universal Studios at Sentosa, Singapore on Feb 14, 2010, and the following is my review.

Please note that this is a preview trip, I was not allowed to ride the different rides and not the whole park is open.

Location:

The Universal Studios Singapore is located at Sentosa. A southern island off Singapore. Quite accessible by Bus and Trains (Harbor Front MRT Stop)

Price:

I've heard the prices for a weekday ticket is S$66 and Weekends/Holiday S$72 (+$30 for express pass)

 

The Carpark:

The carpark is HUGE! I would say it can fit 1000+ cars per level and it does have more than 1 level of sheltered carpark in the basement. Finding your car and walking around WILL definitely be a problem but there seems to be a vehicle you can sit which takes you to your car.

The entrance area at the basement is also HUGE, and able to accommodate large crowds. The air is rather stake and I'd not stay in the basement for long.

The escalator going out seemed pretty nice and for day 1.

Universal Studios

The entrance area seemed grand and nice, definitely very interesting and inviting. I'm not sure about the tons of people greeting you, but I liked it overall.

 

There are lots of people waving you in everywhere, some have lack of enthusiasm, but other were filled with it. Generally, the service seemed pretty ok, and staff can relatively give directions even when this is day 1.

The whole park does indeed look very interesting as there are no walls, but the walls actually look like parts from a movie set. Many things are of very large scale, and it definitely looks awesome!

Though this is a preview, there are actual performances, and the above is from "Madagascar" the cartoon. Performance is good, and I'm not sure it was because there were actors in those thick suits in the Hot and Humid Singapore weather!

There were kids and kids and more kids!! Even when there were no rides, many of them seemed to have a good time!

There were many interesting sights to see, and it looked definitely fun!

Many of the structures looks HUGE, and definitely photo worthy.

Attractions:

The Lost World
Far Far Away Land
Sci-Fi City (BattleStar Galactica)
New York
Hollywood
Madagascar
Ancient Egypt

Overall, I would say Sci-Fi City, Ancient Egypt and New York does look really nice. There are rides in the attractions too, and I'd love to go on those rides.

Food:

I've had some food at Loui’s NY Pizza Parlor and Mel’s Drive-in. I would say the decor is relatively ok, but the food is kinda bad.

Loui’s NY Pizza Parlor : The food does not look so appealing and the cheese is not that good. I've tried the chicken wings too, and they don't do it for me. The decor is not noteworthy.

Mel’s Drive-in : Wow, initially, the place looks awesome. It is like a 50's diner and the setup is great for handling crowds. However, the food is simply bad and the cheese burger has a HUGE bun but a tiny patty! The BBQ sauce they use tastes foul too. I can say I enjoyed the soda, and that's about it. I got ice cream on my brownie, but the ice cream did not melt even after 30 minutes and something felt wrong as everything melts in Singapore. The brownie and ice cream was however edible.

The other food places :
Oasis Spice Cafe, a middle eastern food place looks and smells awesome.
Fossil Fuels, a small little hot dog stand.
Friar's, an ice cream place with S$2 soft serve!!
Fairy God Mother's Juice Bar, looks pretty interesting.

I did not look and try out the other food places, will do it next time I go.

I would say, the rides looks really good, and I'd definitely come back for the rides. (Not open to public at time of visit)

The rides I'd try:

BattleStar Galactica: Human
BattleStar Galactica: Cylon
Accelerator
Revenge of the Mummy Ride
Waterworld
Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure
Dino Saurin'
etc.

For More Information visit:
Resorts World Singapore

I would definitely return to try out the rides and review it at a later date.

-- Robin Low

Air China Review (SIN - JFK)

Air China Review (SIN - JFK)

After completing a Trip from Singapore - Beijing - New York (JFK) and back, I guess I have sufficient experience to review this flight.

First and foremost I would like to say that the flight was the cheapest I could find. I flew American Airlines, United, Malaysian Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Etihad, Eva Air, Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines, and more, but for my trip on 28 Oct 2009 - 28 Jan 2010, Air China has definitely the best price.

Airport - Beijing Airport.

Flying Air China, the hub is Beijing Airport, and you probably have to stop over for a connecting flight.

 

 

Beijing Airport is pretty new looking, looks rather clean, and nice from photos, however, I find the following very strange:

This area looks nice and I sat on the couches and it smelled like someone shit on it. There are a few more areas near Gate 57 where I can smell shit. I approached the cleaners and informed them and 2 ladies quarreled loudly with each other and I felt uneasy and walked away, I think they actually found some shit in the "drain" near the viewing area.

Another note, I found spit near the rubbish bins, and the locals were very loud and pushy when the boarding gates were opened, they would cut the queue and get friends in. I guess this is not Air China's fault.

The stores are also closed really early. I was there at 6 am, and stores were not opened, and on the return flight, I walked around at 7 pm and most of the stores were packing up and closing. I guess they just do not have much transit traffic.



Food is "airport priced" US$15 for a meal with a drink is expected, not terribly expensive, but marginally better than airline food.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Airline Comfort

The seats are rather average sized, the screens are relatively far away, and with the passenges chatting loudly, you can probably not hear with the poor quality headphones which break on contact. Don't expect inflight entertainment. (There are also lots of ads during inflight movies)

The airplane is old and it shows, the carpets are dirty and the side of the plane on the inside is caked with dirt. I had grey socks and the darker shade of grey can be seen of the bottom of the socks after taking shoes off for a brief hour.

The passenger beside me and my row had no reading lights, the cover for the ashtray lid is missing and the seat beside mine cannot be tilted. But seat belts work and plane did not crash, and I'm happy to be alive.

Again, my main complain is with the passengers, they use their phones in the plane before take off, try to smoke "electronic cigarettes" bring too much luggage on board, are loud and have no personal hygiene. I saw a lady sneezing and using the fabric at the head rest to wipe her nose... Yuck!

When plane lands, everyone stands up and takes their luggage down before the plane come to a stop. When I first arrive at JFK, the plane jerked a little and few fell down.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pros



1) YanJing Beer is kinda good, make sure you try it.

2) The flight is awefully cheap, 20% cheaper than Cathay Pacific.

3) Air China is a member of Star Alliance, you can earn United miles and Cathay Miles

4) SIN - JFK (1 stop in Beijing only!)

5) Beijing Airport looks relatively new and nice, there is a slight chance you need to get on the bus to get to your plane, but otherwise, the staff at the airport is pleasant.

6) Flight seem to be on time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cons

1) Food in flight is really terrible. I ordered noodles and got rice, and same thing happened on next flight. The rice is dry and crunchy, and meat rather stale and definitely reheated.

2) Nice shops, but now open! WTF?

3) Passengers are loud and obnoxious, they cut queue, and smell bad.

4) Plane is not really clean, maybe get disposable clothes to burn after the flight?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Verdict

If you are budget conscious and this flight is significantly cheaper, you don't need to read this review, you probably have already considered taking this flight.

For SIN - JFK, I would say take it if you had no other choice, if I get to pick again, I'd pay the 20% more to fly Cathay Pacific. Avoid Airports in China... Passengers may be really annoying.'

--Reviews Guru.

Bank of America Review

http://www.bankofamerica.com/

Yeah, many people have many prejudice of this bank, but I'm going to attempt to have an honest review.

Some Information:

Bank of America is a financial services company, the largest bank holding company in the United States, by assets, and the second largest bank by market capitalization. Bank of America serves clients in more than 150 countries and has a relationship with 99 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83 percent of the Fortune Global 500. The company is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Consumer
Global Consumer and Small Business Banking is the largest division in the company, and deals primarily with consumer banking and credit card issuance. The acquisition of FleetBoston and MBNA significantly expanded its size and range of services, resulting in about 51% of the company's total revenue in 2005. It competes directly with the retail banking divisions of Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase. The organization includes over 6,100 retail branches and over 18,700 ATMs across the United States.

Bank of America is a member of the Global ATM Alliance, a joint venture of several major international banks that allows customers of the banks to use their ATM card or check card at another bank within the Global ATM Alliance with no ATM access fees when traveling internationally. Other participating banks are Barclays (United Kingdom), BNP Paribas (France), China Construction Bank (China), Deutsche Bank (Germany), Santander Serfin (Mexico), Scotiabank (Canada) and Westpac (Australia and New Zealand). This feature is restricted to withdrawals using a debit card, though credit card withdrawals are still subject to cash advance fees and foreign currency conversion fees. Additionally, some foreign ATMs use Smart Card technology and may not accept non-Smart Cards.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In essence, Bank of America is a very big bank with a lot of customers. As the largest bank, the Bank own the largest number of branches and ATMs in America. Together with some of their interesting programs like "Keep the Change", Bank of America seemed to be a very good bank by looking at their numbers.


I've personally had accounts from Sovereign Bank, Citigroup, Citizen's Bank and HSBC. And starting an account with Bank of America seemed very easy. For instance, you can do it online, and within a few simple steps, the bank account was setup.

I liked this service and received my account information and ATM card in 1 week. Depositing my first $25 transfered from Sovereign Bank somehow failed, and I tried calling Bank of America, and after being on hold for 15 minutes, I gave up, and deposited $100 in cash.

My first experience with customer service was bad, but I tried using the ATM card, depositing checks and doing basic banking and it all worked fine.

One of my roommate owned me money, and signed a check over to my name, so I deposited it, and it worked. I checked the account and the amount of $75 was deposited in a few days. So when he needed to borrow a little more again, I gave him some money for holiday shopping and got his pay check the next day. Everything seemed fine.

A week later, my bank account was closed by Bank of America. I could not access my ATM card, could not get to the customer service. I did not receive a phone call, nothing. Bank of America just terminated the bank account with fund inside. I was rather frustrated, and the ATM card did not say anything, it simply did not work. I went to a branch and after speaking to a customer service agent at the branch, he called and told me it is a "Corporate Decision" and did not elaborate any further.

3 days have passed and I just received a letter that my account was closed, no reason was given, just a note saying that they have the right to do it, and that my money may be returned to me in the next few days.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


For a bank that has so much advantage over their competitors, Bank of America seemed to be totally unreasonable and simply "un-bankable" with.

I sure hope I receive my money that was deposited in the account.



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Advice:

If you never needed to use any customer service, you simply have a direct deposit and you just use your ATM card to withdraw money, then Bank of America may be fine -- until your debit card is compromised and you need to contact the customer service where there is none.


-- Reviewsguru

Boston First Night 2010 Review.

New Years Celebration occurs in most big cities, and this year, I was in Boston on New Years Eve.

Every year, on New Years Eve, December 31, First Night Boston happens. The following things generally occur on First Night:

1) Parade at 5:30pm (Hynes Convention Center)
2) Fireworks at 7pm in Boston Common
3) Fireworks at 11:59pm at the Boston Harbor.

I would like to thank the First Night Committee and the City of Boston for making this happen. The volunteers for First Night and the Boston Police should also be commended for making the event flow smoothly and keeping order.

I like First Night Boston, for a few reasons:

1) Everything is relatively in walking distance, visitors who visit the events can get to know the city well.
2) Free MBTA Train Rides after 8pm! (Encourages people to get out and use public transportation)
3) Both FREE and "First Night Button" Events to cater for people of all ages.

The following are the "FREE" Events in Boston that I went to.

The Parade at 5:30pm.

The Parade was fun, if you arrive earlier, you may even be able to participate in the parade. The Parade is down Boylston Street towards Boston Common, and every year, regardless of the weather, thousands of people will gather to watch it.

Besides the Parade, you could also see the Ice Sculptures. They are usually located by the Public Library near Copley and in Boston Common.

You can't find ice sculptures in tropical countries, and it is a real treat as the theme for each year is different. If you are a visitor to Boston for the first time, you should go to First Night earlier in the day and watch the artist chisel and chainsaw the sculptures, and then view them at night again. It is really interesting and enjoyable to see them being made.

Like I said before, the ice sculptures are scattered around the city, and you will be able to see the pretty sights getting to them.

I've been around Boston for many years, and walking in Boston on New Years is special and very much different as the crowds seem to make the walk more enjoyable. Everyone is in a festive mood and ready to party!

Next: Fireworks.

There are 2 Fireworks Display.

One at 5:30 pm in Boston Common, where you can get photos of the Fireworks which are launched pretty low above the tree line, and even get great shots of the State House.

The other Fireworks is at Boston Harbor, near The New England Aquarium.

The finale fireworks. I feel something special every year when I watch the fireworks. It always amaze me that "Land of the Dead" when Zombies are transfixed with Fireworks and it happens here a lot in Boston as well. At midnight, when everyone looks up in the sky after the first explosion, there seemed to be this moment of happiness inside that tells me "Whatever happened last year, this year will be better."

Watching the fireworks is one of the most wonderful experience where all the worries disappear during those moments of explosions and everyone seemed to look up in happiness.








To everyone reading this, thank you and have a Great 2010!

--Reviewsguru