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About Me

About Me
CrystalPhuong.net is a Personal Style & Travel Blog based in Singapore, written by Crystal Phuong. The blog was nominated FOUR times in Top 10 Best Fashion Blogs in the annual Singapore Blog Award from 2012- 2015, voted as one of the Best Lifestyle Blogs in Singapore in 2013 by Hotelclub.com, and Best Travel Blogs in 2016 by Foodpanda.com. Crystal hopes to connect and inspire young women to lead a healthy and happy life. Be confident, be positive, and be kind.
Showing posts with label LIFESTYLE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LIFESTYLE. Show all posts
LIVING GRAND WITH GRAND HYATT

LIVING GRAND WITH GRAND HYATT



When it comes to the idea of Living Grand, no one could do better than Grand Hyatt hotel. To prove this statement, the incredible team behind this five-star hotel has come up with a global campaign "Living Grand" to unlock the extraordinary in every moment, celebrating Chinese New Year, and showing their world-class services. I was extremely honoured to be invited to join their campaign. 

Last Wednesday, I went to an exclusive dinner with Grand Hyatt and came home with so many magical moments in my head. First, a limousine picked me up and brought me to the hotel. Then, one of the hotel staff greeted me from the entrance when I arrived. He escorted me to the ballroom where the dinner was held. We had some champagne, introduced ourselves to each other and listened to the Grand Hyatt's stories shared by their PR team. While mingling, we were asking each other if anyone knew about the agenda for the night. None of us did. But we didn't have to wait for long. 

The night officially started with Chinese New Year traditional Lo Hei (Yu Sheng prosperity toss) that was well presented by the Chef and his team. A little bit of choreography to make the presentation more unique. I knew there would be a Lo Hei session, and I guessed a traditional round table dinner would follow. But I was wrong. None of the guests saw this coming. 



Right after we ended our Lo Hei session, a big door slowly opened, leaving us astonishingly surprised for a moment. A garden-circus themed dinner setup no less. I was one of the first few guests to enter the magical garden as I couldn't wait. How could I wait? Right! I quickly looked for my seat and settled down so that I could have more time to enjoy every little detail to the maximum. 


The dance and music performances, 


the hundreds of fresh flowers on the long table,


 the dreamy lighting and the red flowered ceiling. Everything was so beautifully arranged. 


While we were all still living on Cloud 9, another door opened that brought our attention to the kitchen where all the chef and cooks were standing still. Surprise after surprise. A fairy tale dancer touched each of them to wake them up and to continue what they were supposed to do. How more magical can it be?




Enough with decoration! Let's talk about food because that's what we were here for. Again, I didn't know what was on the menu, but I knew that it must be spectacular just by looking at how beautiful dinner was setup. I was right this time. First, it was the famous "Buddha jumps over the wall" soup featuring chicken, mushroom, abalone and 100% sustainable seafood. 


Then, the roasted duck with crispy chicken egg, water spinach, and lotus rice. In between dishes, there were performances to entertain us through the night.



As if all of that was not good enough, then came the dessert presented on a Chinese hand drawing calligraphy scroll especially made for the dinner.  It included white lotus blossom flower, Buddha's hand lemon and mango pudding, mini lui sha bao, and other sorted pastries and sweet treats. It was a grand finale of the night I must say. 


I attended many luxurious dinner events before, some as expensive as $800/ pax, but there was, certainly, none that came close to what I experienced with Grand Hyatt. I had several goosebumps throughout the night. There were so much effort, hard work, and passion put into this dinner for us and I couldn't be more grateful to be part of it.


Having some hot chamomile tea after the dinner. 


Meeting some new friends: Flora and Melissa


Having great conversations with amazing people who made this dinner so successful. 


That was the best night that I've ever had! Thank you so much Sarah and Grand Hyatt for having me. 


and thank you for the 100 pieces of chocolates as 100 Blessings of Good Fortune. I couldn't eat them all by myself, so I decided to share them with everyone in my office. They loved it! Good things are meant to be shared, aren't they? Just like how you shared the wonderful things with me.


It took me two days to get back to the reality from your dreamy garden. It was a hard Goodbye, but I'm sure we'll see each other again soon.  It's official! You are now my most favorite hotel, Grand Hyatt! 

Thank you so much for allowing me to share this magical experience with my readers and thank you so much for reading everyone! 

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HOW TO AVOID THE MONDAY BLUES?

HOW TO AVOID THE MONDAY BLUES?


Photo credits to Jeff Sheldon

Hello everyone! 
After a wonderful weekend, it's hard to get back to work on Monday, isn't it? I believe every one of us experiences the Monday blues, and there is nothing wrong with that. The problem is how to get rid of the Monday blues and to start your day productively. I have some personal tips that help me overcome this, and I thought they'll be useful for you too. 

1. Start your day earlier. 
Photo credits to Chris Sardegna

Get up earlier than you normally do and start your day with some exercises at home. Instead of going to the gym, I usually play some Latin music and dance for 15 to 20 minutes. My favorite dances are Samba or Chacha as they can give me a lot of hips and leg movements. 

2. Having a yummy and healthy breakfast. 

Photo credits to Jeff Deng

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day so don't skip it. My favorite morning food are fruit pancakes with an avocado drink (Like this one I made) or yogurt cereal. What could be a better way to start your day than a delicious breakfast? 

3. Dress for success.
I was wearing G2000 Sleeveless Shirt- (Similar here)- ASOS Wide Leg TrousersTwinbag Heart Edition- Thanks to Porsche DesignNewLook Platform Heels- (Similar here, currently obsessed with these ones) - Michael Kors watch- Topshop Floral Ring- (Similar here)- Coach Sunglasses- (Similar here)

Like I mentioned in the blog entry Getting back to work, having a good appearance is one of the keys to our confidence. When we look good, we'll feel good about ourselves. Whether you are working in a corporate office, in a retail store or even at a Starbucks coffee shop, dress as if you are going to sign a huge contract with a big client today. Do not get out of the house with a crumpled shirt, torn shoes and messy hair. 

3. Have your To-Do list ready. 
Photo credits to Alejandro Escamilla

The first thing I do, when I get to my office, is to jot down a list of the important tasks I need to get done on Monday and for the rest of the week. As a result, I don't feel lost and distracted throughout the day. Believe me, Monday will go by so much quicker, and you won't even have time to feel blue at all. 

4. Talk to happy people.

Whenever I feel like the Monday blues is hitting me, I try to talk to someone who is happy and energetic. My nephew is that person. His cuteness and innocence always make me smile and cheer me up no matter how upset I am. Happiness is contagious, so is unhappiness. If you are feeling down, don't mix around with people who are negative, because they won't make you feel better. Not at all.  

5. Keep reminding yourself "It's going to be a great day today."
Photo credits to Jake Givens

Our mind is so powerful that we can't even imagine. It can control our life without us knowing it. According to the law of attraction, when we think positively, the positive things will come. If you want to have a great day, then you'd better believe that you'll have a good one yourself first. 

I hope these tips will help! Do you  have any other "remedies" to cure the Monday blues? Please share with me in the comment section blow. 
Have a fantastic Monday at work, and as always thank you so much for reading!
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STANDARD CHARTERED: THE GOOD LIFE!

STANDARD CHARTERED: THE GOOD LIFE!


Sponsored event

What is a Good Life to you? Having a lot of money, nice car, nice house, eating nice foods everyday, traveling to different places at first class ticket, etc...is considered good life? Well, I agree to certain extent.
But that sounds like a dream to me more than a reality (at the moment). In many years to come, I dream to have a comfortable life like that.

But what I am talking right now is Reality. When your average monthly income is around $3000 - $5000/ month, what is a Good Life to you?

Anyway, to cut the long story short, I'm gonna share with you something interesting that can make your life more eventful, joyful and beautiful. This something is called:

It's an iPhone application by Standard Chartered Bank: The Good Life! 

I and Mike were invited by Standard Chartered Bank to their special dinner last week to experience their special product. Now, after browsing through their apps, I think I'm sold and I'm jealous. Why my banks applications are not like that? -_- . I feel like I'm going to apply for Standard Chartered Credit Card next week already. And no, they are NOT freaking giving me $500 or $1000 cash for signing up in return for this blog post, I'm going to apply for their credit card just to use this amazing app. I'm going to tell you why now.

But first and foremost, I will feel guilty if I don't talk about the awesome dinner that I went. Thank to you, the Standard Chartered Bank (a.ka SCB) team for having me at your event. It was an exquisite dinner specially prepared by the award-culinary team of Stellar @ 1- Attitude. It sounded so inviting already and I couldn't say No when I received an email from Wild Interactive.

When we arrived at the event, everyone from SCB was so friendly, warm welcoming us. We were seated at the best seats, at the middle row,  right next to the big window looking at Singapore skyline. 


The view is spectacular. Took this photo by my iPhone. 

Many other bloggers were in the room too with SCB team, we talked, we drank, we ate. It felt like a family dinner rather than a formal event dinner.


One of the yummy foods served on that night. I will surely come back again another time to enjoy more the foods here. 


I and Clara took a photo together. It was a first time we officially met. 


After dinner, we were invited to go to 1- Altitude at rooftop for a drink and social networking. 


Guess who is this handsome man "flirting" to me? ;)

Honestly, I enjoyed the event more than I thought I could. The people were nice, foods were awesome, atmosphere was fantastic. But all of the above, the product they introduced is amazing. 

So, what's so good about Standard Chartered The Good Life app?

1. It's the most downloaded application on iTunes- Finance category. 

2. It has more than 1000 exciting dining, lifestyle, shopping, travelling deals for their cardholders. Something like this:




3. Something FREE on every Monday. So, don't worry if you have Monday blue, The Good life will make it pink for you. 



4. The application is so smart, it helps us to find any deal available near by us. Tell me, which app could do this? 



5. You don't have to hunt for good deals, The Good Life will notify you. I know, Life is getting easier isn't it?

6. You can order the foods from application once you are at the restaurant. We did it on the event dinner, it was pretty awesome. 

7. Share your favorite deals with your best friends, boyfriend, girlfriend, family member through social networking like Twitter, Facebook, Email, SMS. 

8. Unlike other deals only give us 10%, The Good Life finds for us up to 50% OFF total bill or 1 for 1 deals. What could you ask for more?



9. Application is so user friendly and fast loading. You don't waste your time. 

10. It's FREE on itunes app store. 

I've shown you 10 reasons why you should download The Good Life application NOW. If you are already using SCB cards, congrat! You can enjoy your good life immediately. 

For me, I'm going to call the bank tomorrow to apply. Excited! :D

I'm gonna end my blog entry with a question that I asked you earlier: "What is a good life to you?". 
Now, I hope you've found the answer ;)

P/s: Thank you once again Wild Interactive & Standard Chartered Bank for having me at the event. Thank you for creating such a great application for us. 
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FHM BIKINI CONTEST

FHM BIKINI CONTEST


It was such a long time (almost a year) since my first bikini contest at Singapore Import Night 2009, now only I joined the second bikini contest. Receiving an email from the organizer one month before the contest date, I didn't apply until the last submission date as I wasn't sure if I would take part. Half yes, half no. 

Honestly, I felt lazy and reluctant in joining such contest. Not because I don't have any confidence in myself, just we all knew the winner had most probably been pre-selected which we called it "politic issue" *sigh*. However, no doubt, the fun, the joy, the networking, the girl-ish moments were there among the contestants themselves.

All of my Se7en1nch girls joined too, hence I decided to send my submission email at last without any hope of winning -_-. I know where I'm standing and what I'm good at, that's good enough for me. I joined just for fun.

And YES, I had really great time with my friends at Wave House, Sentosa yesterday!!!!!!!!!! 

I and Keef had a little argument in the morning but we managed to settle the problem positively, sweetly, lovingly as usual before I went to work. *wink*. I'd been thinking past few days about how to talk to him about this event, whether he would encourage me to join or he would not like it. To my surprise, after we ended our cold-war, he agreed to go to support me. So damn touched and happy, I swear!
We headed down to Sentosa at 3pm when the sun shined like mad. My self-make up almost wanted to melt out on the way.

I thought I was late but when i arrived none of my girls was there yet, gotta wait for them! Many other contestants were waiting there, WaveHouse staffs were running around on duty, hot boys, girls in their swimsuits, bikini were either wave surfing or sun tanning. Crowded!

We were having some beers and...looking at people, lolz! Half an hour later, the girls arrived and we started our...
camwhoring



I and Keef
With this kinda quality, seriously my iPhone4 makes other killer DSLR cameras used by some so-called photographers die of shame. It's either the camera is suck or the photographer is damn lousy.


I, Christina, Wyn (our supporter), Rebecca.

Rebecca and I.
And now, 
contest time!!!!

We started up with catwalk session. I'm a pro at that haahaha...Used to cat-walking when i was 5 at...home :D after every dinner just to entertain mom and dad. And now, I'm on a real stage!

 Walk to the left

and walk to the right. 


Interviewed by Vernon (Muttons on the Move), the two DJ from 987fm who also hosted the 987fm turns 21 party which i attended last 2 months.

They asked me such a weird questions and I got stuck in finding the answer right on the spot. My questions were:

"On the freaking hot day like today, I will you do to cool yourself down"
I: *huh?* "Errh, most probably I will go swimming since I'm at beach now, having some drinks with friends and chilling out"
"How do you swim?"
I: Awww, I dont really how to swim well, so I will just (showing some actions)
"No, no I meant what will wear to swim"
I: Topless!
"Hah? Here, in this beach"
I: Depends, maybe a private beach *laugh*

That's all my Q&A session, sounds stupid, doesn't it? When I heard the question, I really didn't know what to say so I just answered randomly.
Look at my face when I heard the question from the MC. WHAHAAAAAA!!!!

I regretted not to answer "Probably I will get my favorite drink called "Duck My Sick" and go topless sun tanning". Purpose is to advertise for Se7en1nch bar's special drink *wink*

And that was the only thing we gotta do on stage besides posing untiringly for photoshoot.

 Posing at the banner!


 Photo by xinmsn.com. 


From one random photographer I found on facebook. 


Waiting for my catwalking turn! Tucking in your tummy all the time is a MUST. :D


Waiting for Top 10 announcement. 

All the contestants that day! 

I wasn't in Top10 as what I expected earlier :D but my girls did! Rebecca and Felicia got into Final FHM Top10. I'm so proud and happy for both!

Anyway, it was still a good and fun time i had. By joining such event like that, I actually gained more than I lost: the confident level in speaking in front of the crowd, presenting yourself in public, meeting new people,  new friendship, etc...It was all good! 

Who knows you might see me somewhere in any coming contest??? ;) 
That fun party has added something happening in my weekend. I'm ready to kick start a new week. Have a great week everyone! xoxoxo
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