MBS Orchid Suite – Food

In previous post, I shared how the Orchid Suite looks like. So in this post, I shall share about the food we had during the stay.
Note: All the food is complimentary as part of the room’s perks.

This is the 500gm wedding cake which was delivered to our room on the next day. Just give them a call and the cake will be sent. This mango cheese is really light and yummy. Love it lots~
Initially we thought that the cake has a chocolate base, but soon we realised it’s just a brown cardboard to hold the cake. LOL~

As mentioned in the previous post, the Orchid Suite comes with access for 2 to The Club (Daily, from 6:30am – 7pm) in Tower 2 on level 55. At The Club, You get to enjoy:
– Complimentary Afternoon Tea
– Complimentary cocktail & canapés from 5pm to 7pm
– Complimentary non-alcoholic beverages
– Complimentary internet, international newspapers and magazines
– Laptops, MacBooks and iPads for use in The Club

I only found out about these on my second day stay and hence we only get to try the cocktail and canapes. Wasted our complimentary afternoon tea! =(

Anyway, we went down to The Club at around 5.30pm.

(Picture from MBS website)

The place is brightly lit with natural light. We were given a seat by the floor-to-ceiling glass window. I did not go around taking pictures because I didn’t want to disturb other guests.

The ambience is great and there’s staff taking care of specific tables.

Once we were seated, the staff presented us the beverage menu. We were only interested in the alcoholic drinks, so the staff recommended Shiraz and Chardonnay to us.

Snacks were given to each table. Non-alcoholic drinks and canapes are self service at the buffet counters.

I skipped the bread and went for crackers and cheese. I love the mushroom pate the most because of the intense and rich flavor. The sesame breadstick tastes so good with the mushroom pate.

For the canapes, this Kong Bak Pau caught my attention. Look at the braised pork belly so beautifully glazed and sandwiched between the steamed mantou. How can I resist it?

The other 2 canapes were not bad too. I skipped the tofu canapes because SK doesn’t like tofu.

The highly recommended item is the roasted chicken with cream sauce. It’s the best chicken I ever had! The skin is sooooo to-die-for and the meat is sooo tender that you hardly need to chew. Even the breast meat is juicy. I was at the chicken station when I heard a little boy saying “Can I have the whole chicken?”
LOL~

The greedy husband went to get more canapes after finishing off 3 roasted drumsticks.

If you don’t like savory items, there’s also sweets (e.g. macarons, fruits, tarts etc.) at the buffet counter.
We had 2-3 glasses of wine before heading back to our room with flushed faces.
=)

For breakfast, we tried the buffet spread at the level 1 RISE restaurant on the first morning, and Sky on 57 for the second morning. I didn’t take many pictures for the RISE restaurant. Basically it’s like a normal hotel breakfast buffet with a good variety of cuisines. Also, the restaurant is pretty crowded and noisy during breakfast hours. Here are some pictures to share:

For Sky on 57 at Tower 1, the experience is totally different.

It is less crowded and much quieter compared to the level 1 restaurant. Also, it comes with a beautiful view from level 57. Similar to The Club, you will get special attention from the staff serving your table and empty plates are cleared very promptly or rather almost immediately. Thumbs up for the great service.

This is the menu presented to us on that day. Each of us get to choose 2 items from the menu. The husband and I chose 4 different dishes to try.

Item 1: Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon

Both the husband and I love the eggs benedict lots! The hollandaise sauce is perfectly done; tastes creamy but not jerlat. The English muffin was pan-fried with butter, giving the crispy outer layer with fluffy and moist inner layer.

Evidence of eggs perfectly poached~
Yum yum~~~~

Item 2: Tonkotsu Ramen

The broth is good. Usually tonkotsu broth will taste a bit porky, but this doesn’t. The soup is rich in flavor but yet not too oily or heavy. The ramen is very springy and char siew is tender. Both of us finished the whole bowl.

We were a bit worried that the serving might be too big, but it came out just nice for sharing and leaves room for other food.

Item 3: Chef’s Special – Zha Jiang Mian

The husband likes this Chinese zha jiang mian. The minced meat and tofu is cooked in sweet and mildly sour sauce. The sauce tastes like a combination of ketchup, chilli sauce and soy sauce. Again, flavorful but not too heavy.

Item 4: French Toast, Wild Berry Compote with Vanilla Whipped Cream

This doesn’t taste like the typical french toast because it’s so fluffy~~~ And full of egg aroma. Initially I thought it’s vanilla ice cream made with fresh vanilla beans until I noticed that it doesn’t melt. Aiyo.. how can whipped cream taste so light and yummy??!

I was supposed to end off the breakfast with the dessert but, some how it made me greedy for more food. =P

The husband went to the buffet counter to get some cheese and pastry. He loves sweet breakfast while I prefer salty stuff.

Greedy me went to get some fish congee and miscellaneous savory breakfast items.

For Sky on 57, the variety at the buffet counter is quite limited in comparison to RISE restaurant, but we get to taste the more exquisite menu which is only available at Sky on 57. So my recommendation is to try both if in doubt, otherwise, stick to Sky on 57 for a different breakfast feel.

For our wedding package, it comes with a pre/post refreshment in the Bridal Suite. We can choose 2 main courses and 2 non-alcoholic drinks from the in-room dining menu.

(Pardon me for the poor image)

 

Both of us chose the Flame-grilled Wagyu Beef Ribeye (200gm) because we are beef lovers! Having decided what to eat, I call for the in-room service and was informed that the food will be delivered within 40 mins.

I went for a hot bath and when I came out of the bathroom, the tables were already set up and the steak was there waiting for me~~~

 

 

The steak was nicely done (medium-rare). We love it lots~ The mashed potato was creamily good and I poured some red wine sauce in to add more flavor to it.
We had red wine (leftover from the banquet) in the room to go with the steak. Yummy~

 

The meal also came with warm bread and butter. The multi-grain bread is pretty good.

We felt like we were having dinner in restaurant. LOL~

 

For the non-alcoholic drink, we chose Mango Smoothie and Chocolate Milkshake. We felt that the Mango Smoothie is a better choice because it’s not too sweet and very refreshing.

After the dinner, we just have to call again for the removal of table service~

In case you wonder what other food is available for in-room dining, here are the menu:

The hotel also offers late night (after 11pm) in-room dining and breakfast too.

That’s all the food I had during my stay.  I am so going to come back for staycation!

*Blissfully Married*

MBS Orchid Suite

While waiting to sort my wedding photos, I shall write about the awesome stay at Marina Bay Sands hotel after the wedding.
My wedding package with MBS entitles me a 2-night stay in the Orchid Suite. I didn’t get to enjoy the hotel room on the first day because of the banquet, but I made sure I stay in the hotel for the entire 2nd day. =)

I was given a garden view Orchid Suite at level 52 in Tower 3. For Orchid Suite, there is city view and garden view, so it depends on your luck or you can try requesting for the view you like. By the way, city view is more expensive and the room layout is different (and no balcony if I am not wrong) from the garden view. The room range from 92-97 sqm, as big as a HDB 4-room flat!

For the Orchid Suite, it comes with:
– Complimentary breakfast at Sky on 57 or at RISE Restaurant (level 1)
– Complimentary Standard Internet access (wired/wireless)
– Complimentary garment pressing (one item/day)
– Access to the stunning Sands SkyPark Infinity Pool
– Access to The Marina Bay Sands Club (Daily, from 6:30am – 7pm) (Club access has been personalised for two guests per room; additional guests are welcome to use all of our offerings at a supplementary fee. Children below the age of six are complimentary.)
– Complimentary Afternoon Tea (2.30pm – 5.00pm), Cocktail & Canapé Hour (5.00pm to 7.00pm), non-alcoholic beverages
– Complimentary internet, international newspapers and magazines at The Club
– Laptops, MacBooks and iPads for use in The Club
– Complimentary local calls
– Complimentary wi-fi (Daily, from 6:30am – 7pm)

So here’s my bed with the roses when I checked in.

The king bed is really comfy. With this Sealy Posturepedic mattress and the don’t-know-how-many-thousands-thread-count bedsheet, we slept so well on both nights. I did the “snow-angel” move on the bed because the bedsheet is so smooth~ Air con temperature can be adjusted in the bedroom and living room (separately).

Bedside cordless phone allows you to roll on the bed while calling for room service. LOL~

I used the rose petals for my bath tub~ 泡澡 with bath salt and rose petals~ Just like the scene in movies~
=)

There are a total of 3 vases of roses in the living room, bedroom and changing room. Universal sockets and usb ports are also available by the bed and work desk. I forgot to bring my cable for iphone so I used the iPod docking station to charge my phone.

That’s the 42-inch TV for the bedroom, there is another TV in the living room. It comes with satellite/cable TV channels and payable inhouse movies.

This is the living room with sofas and coffee table. There’s a full length mirror beside the main door, so you can check your appearance before leaving the room or simply camwhore there. *Selfies alert*

That’s the work desk area with more sockets and usb ports.

This is the TV for the living room. Behind the wall will be the bedroom as shown earlier. It’s supposed to have a DVD player according to the website but I don’t see it in my room, or I may have missed it. Anyway, no time for DVD! There’s so many more fun things to do in the Sky park than the room.

The mini bar and coffee station along the corridor. You have a selection of Nespresso coffee capsules and tea (complimentary). The mini bar has a good variety of drinks and snacks but do note that items will be automatically charged if you remove them from the mini bar for more than 30 seconds. Anyway, if you really accidentally take things out of the fridge to look and put it back later, you can call the service hotline to inform them, so that it will not be charged to your room. To save the trouble, don’t touch it unless you intend to drink it.

Wine glasses are also available in the drawer. We used it to drink the complimentary champagne and leftover wines from our banquet.

Here’s the dressing area which is linked from the corridor to the bathroom and bedroom. Meaning there are 2 doors (2 entrances) to the bathroom. Remember to close both doors unless you want to perform full monty show.

Note: bathroom sliding doors do not come with lock.

Anyway, there’s a safe for you to keep the ang baos collected from the banquet, extra pillow and blanket, iron facilities, bathrobes and slippers.

Alright, time to see the huge bathroom~

There are freestanding bathtub and walk-in shower to choose from.

The bathtub is so ergonomic that you won’t feel like getting out.

Bath salt, loofah, soap etc. are nicely displayed on the rack across the tub.

Toilet is separated with frosted glass door.

There are 2 sinks with hair dryer and all the toiletries you need. The body lotion is good, do try it.  (Cousin and mum eyeing at my bathtub, planning to enjoy it while I am busy with the banquet prep…)

That’s the view of the Gardens by the Bay from my bedroom and living room balcony. Remember to close the glass sliding door or else the air con in the room will be automatically switched off after 3 mins.

By the way, the curtains are remote controlled. Simply press the buttons beside your bed or the living sofa to open or close the curtains. I had fun playing with it~ LOL~

I woke up to this view the next morning… Oh, sunrise~

That’s all for the Orchid Suite intro~ Stay tuned for the food and Sky Park review~

*Blissfully Married*

Wedding at MBS Review

Before my wedding on last Saturday, I have been searching through the forums and blogs for reviews of wedding at Marina Bay Sands. Unfortunately, most reviews are just 1 sentence e.g. Not bad, good food, had my wedding there and it’s good, etc. So basically I couldn’t get much info from there, except for 1 bride who is willing to share with me her experience in private message.
Therefore, I shall be nice and share my actual day wedding experience at MBS in this post.

First of all, please take into consideration that the followings are based on my personal experience and preferences. Also, there were a total of 6 wedding banquets at level 3 ballrooms (running concurrently), and Michael Bublé’s concert at level 5 on my wedding day, 17 Jan 2015, Saturday. 

1) Preparation (a few days before the wedding)
My MBS coordinator was Jennifer, but after she left, Aih Kim took over from her, which is probably why she is very busy. Despite that, she does reply emails promptly and answers to our queries. To be fair, promptly means within 1-2 days, as she has so many banquets to take care of.
So, Aih Kim called me to finalise the details of the banquet (number of bottles of wine with corkage waivered, time and venue of solemnization, venue of bridal changing room, hotel stay dates, total number of tables for the dinner, technical requirements for playing videos/music during banquet, banquet floor plan etc.). I was reminded to provide her a wedding photo (min. 5mb) to display on screens outside the ballroom, and a copy of the banquet event flow.

2) Actual Day Arrival at MBS Hotel
If you haven’t noticed, the ballroom is at the convention centre beside the casino, while the hotel room is across the road in one of the 3 towers.
Before we set off to the hotel, we were supposed to call MBS to let them know. But due to over excitement, we forgot about it. On our way to the hotel, the MBS staff called me to check on our estimated time of arrival (ETA). Upon arriving at the drop off point outside Tower 1 lobby, the MBS staff (sorry that I forgot your name) greeted us cheerfully and helped me out of the car. They know it’s us because of the bridal car and the informed ETA. Without any delay, the bellboys rushed to unload our barang barang from the bridal and groomsmen’s cars.

Meanwhile, the MBS staff walked us to our hotel room in tower 3. Yep, this means we have been checked in prior to our arrival, and the bridal car will be valet parked. They made us feel like VIP. =)
So, the staff brought us to our hotel room (Orchid Suite) at level 52. We had the garden view room. After settling us down, she left us to rest in the room. Our wedding package came with a free deluxe room stay for helpers which is located at level 33 in the same tower.
I will write about the hotel room in a separate post.

3) Time for Bride’s makeup
The complimentary champagne and chocolate praline (part of wedding package) were sent to our room. I only had time to drink a cup of nespresso coffee, remove my morning makeup, and a quick shower, then it’s time for me to proceed to the ballroom area for evening makeup.
My makeup artist arrived at 3pm to do makeup and hair do for my mum and mother-in-law, and my turn is at 4+pm. So my mum and I made our way from the hotel to the convention center using the basement 1 linkway. I had changed into my casual clothes so that it’s easier and less awkward for me to walk over. You can choose to take the bridal car over, but I walked to save the trouble and time.

Makeup and gowns changing is done at the bridal changing room beside the banquet ballroom. For me, I was given Angsana room 3E which is as big as my food tasting room. Inside the room, there are tables, chairs, sofa, bottles of water, power points, 2 small mirrors, 1 standing mirror, 2 clothes racks, and drapes to serve as changing area.

My husband stayed in the hotel room to rest until 4pm before calling the bellboy to bring my gowns and shoes from the hotel room to me.

4) Meeting of Banquet Manager & Solemnization
My banquet manager is Dexter. He is so helpful that I have nothing but compliments. He was already there overseeing the banquet tables set up when I went down for my makeup. My bridesmaids, groomsmen, and emcees met him at around 5pm for briefing and rehearsal.

At the same time, my solemnization room was already set up in Angsana room 3F. Since I did not top up to decorate the solemnization room, my reception table flower was brought to the solemnization table by the banquet staff. They automatically returned the flower to the reception table after the ceremony. The lovely assistant (very sorry that I didn’t catch your name either!) even advised me to take a deep breath before marching in the room with my husband.

I did not top up for the audio system, but my guests were able to hear very clearly without the use of microphones. We just have to speak a bit louder.

5) March-in Rehearsal
Dexter coordinated with the A/V technicians (provided by MBS) and the groomsman to play the music and adjusted the lightings. We did both the first and second march-in, wedding cake cutting, and champagne pouring (not real) rehearsal. The assistant helped me with my wedding dress train when I was going up the stage. She is really very helpful and kind.

6) The Banquet
We started the banquet on time at 8pm. Some of our guests couldn’t find parking lots and were late for the dinner.

Food
For the VIP table, I felt that we were well taken care of. Food was nicely portioned and served. The chef had listened to all the comments which we provided during food tasting (I will write about food tasting in separate post).
But some of my guests feedback that the roasted pig skin was not crispy enough, steamed fish and soup were not hot enough. We feedback these to Aih Kim when we settle the final bill and she said that she will investigate. We were a bit puzzled because we have absolutely no issue with the food at our VIP tables and some guests do not have these problems too.
Portion wise, it’s huge. All the guests compliment the generous serving of food. Especially the stir fried scallop with asparagus, the scallops were so big and juicy, and no fishy taste at all. Each guest had about 3-4 pieces of scallops. The steamed fish was very fresh, juicy and tender~ I finished my portion in the changing room. *Greedy Bride*

Service
Overall the service is very good. Except for a few part timers who needed reminder for refilling beverages. Plates were changed timely and food was served promptly. My banquet went so smoothly that we ended at about 10-ish pm. Guests were very happy.

Decor
I chose June Florist to do my banquet decor. Previously I was praising them being so flexible about the choice of decor in my blog, but now I have to take back my words.
Here are the stuff that went wrong:

– Flowers were not fresh. When I was doing my march-in rehearsal, I noticed that some flowers had already browned. Like seriously? If only I had my phone with me, I would have taken pictures to prove my words.
– I repeatedly told June Florist that I do not want too many leaves in the aisle flower stands and VIP centerpiece. But, they did as per their usual template. I can only say: Leaves, leaves everywhere~
– Stage Canopy disaster. First I must say that the canopy is pretty and fills up my stage well. BUT, the hanging flower was slanted with the crystals entangled. I noticed the error the moment the I stepped into the ballroom. Seriously? It’s so obvious that anyone who is not blind would have spotted it. They may have many banquet decors to do on that day, but that’s not an excuse for it’s my once in a lifetime wedding.
Also, the stage flowers were fake flowers.
– VIP table. I can only describe it as pathetic. I was assured by Lawrence from June florist over the phone that he will fill up my 20-pax VIP table with flower petals and big candles so that it would not be so empty. But on the actual day, my VIP table only had 1 Mega-top vase and 6 tiny side flowers.

I got my cousin to call June florist to rectify the problems. Guess what? They only came and put a few tealight candles on my VIP table. That’s it.  My pathetic looking VIP table and the slanted hanging flower on stage. I shall post the pictures when I received them from my photographer.

Banquet Manager
As mentioned earlier, my banquet manager is Dexter. I am very lucky to have him managing my banquet. He is so professional and friendly that I would definitely vote him for best service award.
Here’s the stuff he did for us:

– Took good care of the banquet flow
– Pro-actively informed us of the number of bottles of wines opened throughout the banquet
– Pro-actively suggested to open the entrance door slightly for us to watch the morning highlights while we stand by for 2nd march-in
– Pro-actively suggested to do the dry-ice effect for our 2nd march-in as well
– Personally sent the food to our changing room when we have to change for 2nd march-in, and our dessert after the banquet ends
– He adjusted my wedding dress train for me before I march-in. This was really sweet of him.
– Lastly, he got the bellboy to bring our stuff back to the hotel room after the event.

Also, not forgetting the assistant (a Malay lady) who helped and took good care of me during the banquet.

That’s about it for the banquet review. If you need more information, feel free to leave a comment.

I will write about the food tasting and hotel stay in separate posts, so stay tuned!

*Blissfully Married*