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Singapore Blog Awards Ceremony 2013 @ Shanghai Dolly

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Last Saturday, we attended the Singapore Blog Awards Ceremony 2013 that was organised at Shanghai Dolly by OMY and it was a good time of catching up with our friends from the blogosphere. This annual event is a rather big event for bloggers and it always gets bigger and better every year.
The theme for this year’s Singapore Blog Awards is the 1960’s and we found it really meaningful. It was through the theme that we learnt how the people in the 1960’s live and what their culture were like. To be honest, Jacqueline and I didn’t thought of participating in this year’s Singapore Blog Awards 2013 as we didn’t felt like we had the chance of even winning anything. However, a really good Blogger friend of ours, Mag, felt that we had the potential and nominated us for the Best Lifestyle Blog Category.

Seriously, there are a lot of Lifestyle Bloggers in Singapore and even then, the title of a “Lifestyle Blogger” can be rather generic and vague. As a matter of fact, lifestyle can cover anything and everything from topics like fashion and entertainment to topics like food and events. Hence, we were extremely surprised when the results were out and we ended up as the Top 10 Finalists for the Best Lifestyle Blog! Looking back, I guess we have come a long way now and it definitely wasn’t easy as the Best Lifestyle Blog Category was a hotly-contested one.

Although we didn’t clinch the title of “Best Lifestyle Blogger”, it didn’t matter to us because we know that all this wouldn’t even have happened if not for our Blogger friend, Mag, whom believed in us and nominated us. Hence, a very much of our success for this year’s Singapore Blog Awards 2013 is attributed to her. Also, the other group of people whom we would like to thank would be our family members and friends whom constantly and religiously voted for us every single day. Like we mentioned from the very first day, we don’t enjoy canvassing for votes because it is such a tedious and long process. If only the voting campaign was shorter and straightforward, I believe it would have levelled the playing field as Bloggers whom have more followers would definitely have a major advantage over those who don’t.

Nevertheless, we enjoyed ourselves at the Singapore Blog Award Ceremony 2013 as both Jacqueline and I wore quirky retro outfit that kinda attracted a little too much attention. It was a blast and it was really nice meeting new people and making new friends.

Here are just some of our photos that were taken during the Singapore Blog Awards Ceremony 2013.

A photo of both Jacqueline and I
[Credits to Alvinology.com for the Photograph]

A photo of Jacqueline in her retro 1960’s outfit.

A photo of myself in my retro 1960’s outfit.

Here’s a short interview of the bloggers at the Singapore Blog Awards Ceremony 2013

Since we don’t usually have the time for some me-posts [a.k.a personal posts], here are just some heads-up information about our coming blog posts [arranged in order of sequence] that you might want to look out for:

  • [5 Pairs of Golden Village Movie Tickets Giveaway]-Sponsored by ciNE65
  • A Preview of the Kia Forte K3
  • Announcement of the Winners for the $20 NTUC Vouchers Sponsored by SingTel
  • [2 Packets of Cafedirect Ground Full Roast Coffee Giveaway]- Sponsored by Cafedirect
  • Announcement of the Winners for the Golden Village Movie Tickets Sponsored by ciNE65
  • A Preview of the New Nokia 925 Smartphone
  • Annoucement of the Winners for the Cafedirect Ground Full Roast Coffee Sponsored by Cafedirect
  • [2 Bottles of Jaillance Semillon Sparkling Wine Giveaway]- Sponsored by Jaillance
  • Our 2013 Trip to Taiwan [Xinshe Castle in Taichung & Mushroom Farm]
  • Announcement of the Winners for the Jaillance Semillon Sparkling Wine Sponsored by Jaillance
  • [2 Tins of Cafedirect Sao Tome Hot Chocolate Giveaway]- Sponsored by Cafedirect
  • Our 2013 Trip to Taiwan [Carton King & Banana New Paradise]
  • Announcement of the Winners for Cafedirect Sao Tome Hot Chocolate Sponsored by Cafedirect

Do note that the upcoming blog posts may be subjected to changes as we might be attending some other product launches and events that may fall in between the scheduled blog posts. Nevertheless, we look forward to all of your wonderful participation as we work with our partners and sponsors to bring you great content and products! 🙂

Stay tuned!

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A Trip to PasarBella @ The Grandstand [formerly Turf City]

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It was my virgin trip to PasarBella and it was Jacqueline’s second time.
Having saw the awesome photographs that were taken by Jacqueline during her first trip to PasarBella, I told her that I must check it out for myself and try some of the food over there!

So, when we were there, my first mission was to conquer Oceans of Seafood and guess what I had over there?

Yes, you probably got it right! Oysters!

Oceans of Seafood was selling two types of oysters; the Canadian Fanny Bay Oysters and the Australian Coffin Bay Oysters. Both types of oysters were selling at $16 for half a dozen and $32 for a dozen. So, to get the best of both worlds, I requested for half a dozen of oysters where I had 3 Canadian Fanny Bay Oysters and 3 Australian Coffin Bay Oysters.

Canadian Fanny Bay Oysters

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

Australian Coffin Bay Oysters

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

The oysters were really fresh and I found the Australian Coffin Bay Oysters to be rather creamy. But that doesn’t mean the Canadian Fanny Bay Oysters weren’t good. In fact, I kinda like both of them so much that I wanted to order half a dozen more but was stopped by Jacqueline.

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

Since Jacqueline ain’t a fan of oysters, she opted for a more safer option by going for the prawns which were served with baby carrots, sweet corn, and smoke salmon with mayonnaise sauce.

Can you see that the prawns formed a nice heart shape?

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

Have a prawn on me!

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

Personally, I really like Oceans of Seafood for their fresh seafood and when I need to have my cravings for oysters fixed, you probably will know where to find me.

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

Following which, we went to check out Merchants at PasarBella and we had the pleasure of meeting Ainslie, whom is the General Manager.

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

Merchants offers an exciting and diverse range of award winning wines produced by small, boutique winemakers whom are mainly from Australia.

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

To top it off, the interesting collection of wines from Merchants are usually not found in other wine stores and they are shipped directly from the vineyards to Singapore. Since there’s no middlemen involved, you can be rest assured that you’re getting premium quality wines at rock bottom prices.

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

Searching for a particular bottle of wine at Merchants is really a breeze because the wines have all been neatly organised by their grape types. This certainly reminded me of the time I’ve spent at Shatec Institutes where we learnt about wine and had to take on the role of a wine sommelier.

Bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

Bottles of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

I even had the opportunity to taste a glass of wine and I really enjoyed the fruitiness and smoothness of the wine.

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

Sharing a light-hearted moment with Ainslie.

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

If you’re at PasarBella and you just want a nice place to sip a glass of wine and chill-out, Merchants even has got a small little cosy corner prepared just for you.

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

To find out more about Merchants and their latest wine-tasting workshops, do check out Merchants’ Facebook Page and join their Wine Club as well! In fact, some of Merchants’ winemakers will fly halfway around the world to host regular ‘pop-up’ cellar doors at PasarBella!

For some light desserts, we headed to Bonheur Patisserie to get some macarons and we bought the salted caramel macaron and the strawberry macaron.

Salted Caramel Macaron

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

Strawberry Macaron

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

Personally, I really like the macarons from Bonheur Patisserie because they are not overly sweet as what some stores are selling and the portion/serving size is just right for taking small savoury bites.

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

While hunting around for some unique and awesome stuffs at PasarBella, we chanced upon Dottinghill and we were so in loved with their temporary tattoos! They had all sorts of interesting designs and the quality is really superb. For myself, I gotten a fierce-looking wolf tattoo for only $6 and it looks extremely real! I even saw a Father and Son getting the wolf tattoo and it’s really so cool!

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

If you’re into body art and you prefer not to permanently ink yourself, the temporary tattoos from Dottinghill is something that you must check out! To see more designs that Dottinghill has, you can visit Dottinghill’s Website or Dottinghill’s Facebook Page!

Our last stop at PasarBella was Le Patio and it’s rustic simplicity and homely fare is a guaranteed sensory explosion of taste, sight and smell.

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

Want to make a guess what is underneath the aluminium foil?

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

Ta-dah! It’s Le Patio’s very own Seafood Paella

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

It wasn’t our first time having Paella and it was first introduced to us by our Church friend, Jacqueline [yes, another Jacqueline whom shares the same name as Jacqueline, my Fiancée]. As our first experience with Paella was a pleasant one, we just had to give Le Patio’s Seafood Paella a try.

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

Truly, Le Patio’s Seafood Paella is really tasty and we highly recommend it if you’re dropping by PasarBella. In case you’re wondering, a portion/box of Seafood Paella like this cost $11.90 and it’s really worth it! And if you don’t know what Paella is, it is a Valencian rice dish that originated in its modern form in the mid-19th century near lake Albufera, a lagoon in Valencia, on the east coast of Spain.

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

We also had the French crepes from Le Patio and it was equally yummy as we had it spread with Nutella.

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

A closer look at Le Patio’s menu.

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

For more information and updates about Le Patio, do check out and like Le Patio’s Facebook Page!

Well, it was overall an enjoyable time at PasarBella and we will definitely make it a point to drop by more often as there are many things that we have yet to uncover and try.

Till then, here’s us signing off but before we end, we have an announcement to make!

Our Lifestyle Blog- A Winsome Life, is currently one of the top 10 finalists for Best Lifestyle Blog in the Singapore Blog Awards 2013. As we don’t really like to canvass for votes due to the really tiresome process, may we make a small little request that you vote for us so that we can stand a chance to grab the Best Lifestyle Blog Award?

Every voter can vote at least once a day till the 23rd of June 2013 and to reward you for voting, you might stand a chance to be one of the 5 lucky winners to walk away with either the JBL Charge Stereo Speaker worth $249 or the JBL Flip Stereo Speaker worth $195, all of which are kindly sponsored by JBL.

The competition is really stiff and every vote counts. We at A Winsome Life are counting on you to help us realise our dream of becoming Singapore’s Best Lifestyle Blog! Help us make it happen! 😀

To vote for us, simply register yourself as a voter via the following link: http://sgblogawards.omy.sg/2013/register/

After which, click on Categories followed by Nanyang Optical Best Lifestyle Blog and then vote for us!

From PasarBella 2013- Part 2

It’s really simple and when you have voted for us, please drop us a note on our Facebook Page or comment on this blog post so that we can get in touch with you and personally thank you for supporting us! Cheers!

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