Hello Everyone,
recently, Baby and I were invited by Dawn [blogger of 365 Days to Play and Eat] to an exclusive all-bloggers food tasting event at the Hard Rock Cafe Singapore and I must say this, the dinner was a blast!
It was my virgin experience to Hard Rock Cafe Singapore and when I received the invite from Dawn, I was totally excited about the whole event! As I was there early, I went around taking photos of the external facade of Hard Rock Cafe Singapore. Here are some of the noticeable structure that caught my attention.
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
I believe everyone whom frequents Orchard Towers/St. Regis/The Forum Mall would have past by the Hard Rock Cafe Singapore and noticed this rather unique facade of Hard Rock Cafe Singapore.
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
I also like their unique guitar railings along the stairs.
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
In case you’re wondering what are the operating hours of Hard Rock Cafe Singapore, they are open from Tuesdays to Fridays from 1100 hours to 0200 hours and from Saturdays to Mondays from 1100 hours to 0300 hours. It is highly recommended that you make a reservation before going to dine at Hard Rock Cafe Singapore. Their contact number is 6235 5232.
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
And yes, Hard Rock Cafe Singapore has live band performances so do enquire about it before heading down.
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
When we were inside, the interior was simply vintage and classic. There were musical instruments all over the place and they are real! It would have been lovely if Hard Rock Cafe Singapore gave me a guitar as a welcome gift instead! =P
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
Anyway, the dining area at Hard Rock Cafe Singapore is pretty cosy and it is suitable as a venue for group gatherings, romantic dates, or even for a simple drink and snacks.
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
The Happy Diners for the Night!
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
While we were looking through the menu, we were really spoilt for choices because there are really tons of food and beverage offerings! Nevertheless, because Hard Rock Cafe Singapore recently launched their Seafood Menu, we had the privilege to try all their seafood items!
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
And also, we were given the liberty to order any sort of beverage for the night [liquor included]. Hence for beverage, Baby ordered the Berrilicious while I had the Mango-Berry Cooler.
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
I really like the presentation of the drinks and what’s really cool is that you can actually bring the glass home as a souvenir, just by paying a few additional bucks.
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
Alright, so much for the introduction, here comes the glorious food from Hard Rock Cafe Singapore! By the way, due to the poor lighting, some photos might look a bit darker than usual.
As mentioned earlier on, Hard Rock Cafe Singapore recently launched their new Seafood Menu and here are all the seafood dishes that we tasted.
Seafood Platter
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
Chilli Crab Spaghetti
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
Crispy Sea Bass
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
Crab Fried Rice
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
Chilli Crab Dip- served with either Chinese buns or Nachos
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
Of all the seafood dishes that were served, I personally like the Seafood Platter and the Chilli Crab Dip.
Here are some of the side dishes that we had for the night.
Hickory Smoked Chicken Wings
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
Hard Rock Nachos
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
The side dishes were fabulous and I really like the Hickory Smoked Chicken Wings. There are in fact three flavours that you can choose from; classic rock, heavy metal, and tangy BBQ and you have to try them all because their flavours are unique and extremely tasty!
For Mains, we had the Hickory Smoked BBQ Ribs.
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
I’m not exactly a fan of pork ribs but if you fancy them, you could give it a try.
After all the awesome tasting food that we had, it was time for desserts and we tried three of their dessert offerings.
Apple Crumble
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
Mud Pie
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae
 |
| From Hard Rock Cafe Singapore 2012 |
Honestly, all their desserts taste good although they are kinda sinful to my diet plan. Nevertheless, they are really a sweet ending to an extremely perfect meal.
Well, this will definitely not be the last time I will visit Hard Rock Cafe Singapore because the food is truly awesome, the ambience is comfortably cosy, and there’s live band performances for some chill-out session too. All thanks to Hard Rock Cafe Singapore‘s Marketing Manager and Dawn of 365 Days to Play and Eat for hosting us and the kind invitation. It was really a lovely start to the weekends and both Baby and I really enjoyed the dining experience at Hard Rock Cafe Singapore.
If you haven’t been to Hard Rock Cafe Singapore, you should visit it one day because it is something you must do once-in-a-lifetime and not only that, you should check out their souvenir shop that sells memorabilia items too [perfect place to shop for gifts!]
Stay tuned to more updates from us!
God Bless!
Hello Everyone,
it is the time of the year again where we offer you some performance updates of A Winsome Life and how we have been faring thus far.
Major Exclusive Events That We Were Invited to Attend and Cover Till Date: 12
McDonald’s Hello Kitty Launch, 2012
Golden Village Jurong Point Re-Opening [Featuring Marvel's The Avengers Movie], 2012
Greenwich Bloggers’ Amazing Race, 2012
Crocs Fashion Show, 2012
Hawker Kings’ Campaign at Food Republic @ 112 Katong, 2012
Evening Dinner/Cocktail Party At Grand Mercure Roxy Singapore Hotel, 2012
21 Jump Street Movie Invite, 2012
John Carter Movie Invite, 2012
The Lorax Movie Invite, 2012
Contraband Movie Invite, 2012
Real Steel Movie Invite, 2011
Blackberry Bold and Beautiful Event at Zouk, 2011
Major Public Events That We Attended and Cover Till Date: 10
Mosaic Music Festival at Esplanade, 2012
Wine Classics, A Wine Fair at Plaza Singapura, 2012
iLight Festival at Marina Bay, 2012
Career Fair 2012 at Suntec City Singapore, 2012
Bugis Street Art Project at Bugis Junction, 2012
F1 Race at Marina Bay Grandstand, 2011
COMEX at Suntec City Singapore, 2011
Voyage Night Festival at National Museum of Singapore, 2011
Night Lights Festival at Singapore Arts Museum, 2011
Singapore Toys Games Comics Convention, 2011
The above-mentioned events are all above and beyond our other normal movie reviews, restaurant reviews, and many other topics.
Since our inception in December 2011, we have had a total of 19,882 views so far and yes, we are definitely going to cross the 20,000 mark soon. The most number of views we had on 1 day is 1,007. Our average views per day currently stands at 128 and we are expecting the numbers to grow as the year goes by.
Well, what does all these facts and figures got to do with you?
If you have a product/event offering and you are looking for avenues to advertise your product/event, engaging bloggers like us can be a fantastic and terrific idea because the costs are relatively low as compared to traditional advertisement medias like your newspapers, radio, sms-es, magazines, televisions and etc. A simple advertisement on the local Straits Times can easily cost you a few thousand dollars while an online advertorial can easily cost you $2,000 per article per week.
So.. what are our advertising or marketing rates?
As of now, we are not charging a single cent for writing reviews, advertorials, and covers. For food reviews, we expect dining expenses to be covered. For movie and concert reviews, we expect to have complimentary seats. For covers on exhibitions that are arts-related [music, art, theatre and etc.] and events such as product launches and roadshows, we expect to have priority access. For product [health, electronics, clothing and etc.] and service reviews, we expect to have product trials and demonstrations.
Hence as you can see for yourself, it really doesn’t cost a great deal just to have an article published on our blog. However, we do have some precautions for you though; as we are an objective blog site, we are brutally honest with what we publish on our blog. This not only gives our readers/viewers a rather credible point of view from the consumers’ perspective but it would also allow for constructive feedback to be given by our readers/viewers so that you can improve your product and service offerings.
Some Information About A Winsome Life:
A Winsome Life is a lifestyle blog that covers a wide range of entertainment and lifestyle topics such as food, movies, finance, photography and many more!
About Melvin Lee:
Melvin Lee graduated from Shatec Institutes with a Diploma in Hotel Management and was the top student for the July 2007 Cohort. He enjoys serving the community, playing the guitar and drums, and is always on the move to check out the latest happenings in the local scene. Melvin also contributes to A Winsome Life as the main contributing blogger and he is never too tired to pen down his thoughts and opinions on wide-ranging topics. Currently, Melvin is pursuing his Honours in Marketing Management with Northumbria University, United Kingdom.
About Jacqueline Teo:
Jacqueline Teo completed her tertiary studies in the engineering field in 2008 and have been working in many MNCs ever since. She enjoys serving the community, checking out the latest fashion, and is always full of fresh ideas to bring about a transformation for A Winsome Life. Because of her love for photography, Jacqueline contributes to A Winsome Life as the main photographer. Currently, Jacqueline is working for C.A Technologies, an IT management software and solutions company with a deep expertise across all IT environments—from mainframe and distributed, to virtual and cloud.
Hello Everyone,
I have a Yamaha CPX-700 Semi-Acoustic/Electric Guitar For Sale! The condition of the guitar is 9.5/10!
 |
| From Yamaha CPX 700 Shots |
 |
| From Yamaha CPX 700 Shots |
I am selling it for $650 (negotiable). Retail price for the guitar is $835.
The reason why I am selling this is because I am planning to upgrade to a new guitar.
You can see that the guitar is extremely well-maintained. Look at the well-polished shiny smooth surface.
 |
| From Yamaha CPX 700 Shots |
 |
| From Yamaha CPX 700 Shots |
 |
| From Yamaha CPX 700 Shots |
 |
| From Yamaha CPX 700 Shots |
The guitar comes with a pickup and a pre-amp tuner that runs on 9V battery as well.
 |
| From Yamaha CPX 700 Shots |
 |
| From Yamaha CPX 700 Shots |
If you are interested or know of anyone whom is interested, please kindly drop me an email at melvin.ocs@gmail.com. No trades please. I have people asking me if the guitar have any small “dings” a.k.a knocks and I can be brutally truthful here. There aren’t any noticeable “dings”/knocks. You can view my guitar personally to believe my word. In fact, the guitar itself looked as if it is just bought from the store.
 |
| From Yamaha CPX 700 Shots |
In case you are wondering how the Yamaha CPX-700 Guitar sounds like, check out this youtube video.
On a side note that is entirely not related to guitar, here are some photos [nightshots] taken by Baby with the Canon Powershot S100 from my house. Credits also goes to Baby for the Yamaha CPX-700 Guitar photos.
 |
| From Yamaha CPX 700 Shots |
 |
| From Yamaha CPX 700 Shots |
Stay tuned for more updates from us!
God bless!
Hello Everyone,
this is one long overdue post but nonetheless, we shall just put it up as it is something that we felt worth mentioning.
The Mosaic Music Festival Singapore 2012 was held from 9th to 18th March 2012 and it was organised by the Esplanade. So without any need for explanation, I am very sure that you would know that a music festival is basically all about music.
 |
| From Mosaic Music Festival 2012 |
Well, Baby and I were there two weeks ago on a Saturday evening and we were very much just strolling around to see what they have in stored for us. So while strolling, we actually chanced upon these lightings which we found really cool.
Me with the Drum Man
 |
| From Mosaic Music Festival 2012 |
Me with the Guitar Man
 |
| From Mosaic Music Festival 2012 |
Me with the Saxophone Man
 |
| From Mosaic Music Festival 2012 |
Baby with the Trumpet Man
 |
| From Mosaic Music Festival 2012 |
Baby with the Piano Man
 |
| From Mosaic Music Festival 2012 |
And besides admiring all the beautiful lightings, we took a walk inside and found many paper cranes that were on display!
 |
| From Mosaic Music Festival 2012 |
 |
| From Mosaic Music Festival 2012 |
Yes, the big paper crane that you see in the above picture is made up of these individual small paper cranes!
 |
| From Mosaic Music Festival 2012 |
And since it was a Music Festival and not some Lighting Festival, we went to the Mosaic Music Station a.k.a Outdoor Theatre to soak in the atmosphere and listen to the music/band performance that was taking place. When we were there, the Murder Mouse Blues Band from Australia co-performed with some local musicians and we were just blown away by the groovy jazz and blues music!
 |
| From Mosaic Music Festival 2012 |
Local Musicians Performing with the Murder Mouse Blues Band from Australia!
 |
| From Mosaic Music Festival 2012 |
After enjoying the music, we headed to the HTC Living Room a.k.a Concourse and we were greeted with so many bean bags that Baby just had to lie on one to take a rest. Sadly, we missed the opportunity to catch the music/band performance here, else it would have been a really relaxing time for us to just listen to the music and lie on the bean bag.
 |
| From Mosaic Music Festival 2012 |
 |
| From Mosaic Music Festival 2012 |
Finally, we wrapped up the day and were on our way to the train station where we saw this picture which was quite interesting.
 |
| From Mosaic Music Festival 2012 |
This is the caption of the picture which I felt pretty touching.
 |
| From Mosaic Music Festival 2012 |
To me, the picture tells us to really appreciate our loved ones and to honour them because one day, they might just not be around anymore. So, do cherish and appreciate your loved ones while you still can! Well, that’s all for the Mosaic Music Festival Singapore 2012!
Stay tuned for more updates from us!
God Bless!
Hello Everyone,
initially, I wanted to talk about how unfair things really are but after much consideration and counting of my blessings, I ought to see things from another perspective. What may be unfair to me may be fair to others, while what may be fair for me may be unfair to others. And yes, its mind-boggling indeed. So, I shall talk about guitar instead. This is also one long overdue post but again, for memorial sake, I shall put it up. Before I continue, let me remind everyone that the Free Starbucks Gift Card Giveaway Contest <–< is still on so do submit your entry if you haven’t.
So, What About the Guitar?
Well, on the 30th of August (a Tuesday), Baby and I in collaboration with Kenny organised a mini guitar jamming session. Its not exactly a jamming session but rather, we got together to learn more about the guitar, the various styles of playing songs on the guitar and also conducted a super crash course lesson for Cheryl who is interested in learning the guitar. Personally, I have 8 years of experience playing the guitar and have taught students since 2006. I own two guitars, one which is a Yamaha CPX Acoustic Guitar, and the other, an Ion-Audio Electric Guitar (which I use when playing the guitar discreetly is required).
I was inspired to play the guitar in 2003 when my ex-teacher, Mr. Chin, whom was in charge of the Student Council that time, picked up the guitar and started playing some family chords and sang some songs. Hence, I decided to enrol myself into a music school and there and then, my mum bought me my very first guitar which cost $70. Honestly, my very first few and subsequent lessons were really painful. Pressing chords on the strings with my fingers were so difficult and blisters developed soon after. There were times I wanted to give up learning the guitar altogether but I’m really glad that there were friends around me whom were extremely patient with me and began to guide me step by step. [Derrick Kam, one of my closest friend at Nanyang Polytechnic, was fundamental in my progressive learning of the guitar].
When I joined The Strikeforce in 2005 (a local percussion group), my guitar skills improved a notch higher as I was able to use some of the drum beats I learnt in percussion and integrate them when playing of the guitar. During the period from 2005-2008, I have performed for many internal and external events and have also begun teaching students from children aged 6 to adults aged 30. And in 2009, I enrolled into an Intermediate Guitar Course conducted by the Church. Since then, I have never stopped playing the guitar and I’m continuously learning more about the guitar day by day. In time to come, I will write more articles about the guitar for e.g. how to buy a guitar suitable for your own use, what are chords, a little bit about music theory, strumming and etc.
Here are just some photos of our mini guitar get together session:
