Most of the time, people get bored at the mention of airport hotels. But not if it is Singapore’s airport hotel, or better known as Crowne Plaza Hotel. Located at Terminal 3 of the Changi International Airport, Crowne Plaza Hotel is anything but boring-looking.

Think a business hotel but with touches of a holiday resort; plush sofas in candy pop colours juxtaposing clean white work desks with reading lamps, pots of orchids and other greens in a predominantly wine and berry-hued space. The facade alone welcomes the world to Singapore with the subtle reflections of how our Garden City is like.

An afternoon walk around the hotel led us to several quiet gardens and courtyards, each with a view to boast of, and some even over-looking the majestic airport runway.

The pool is also one of the nicest in Singapore. Nestled in the quiet outdoors on the third level, the sheer landscaping blew us away. The tall palm trees brought a sort of calmness, and the elusive little “boxes” (or relaxing corners) within the pool itself made us feel like we were on a total hideout at a private beach where there was nobody else but us.

We checked in to a pool-access room, also located on the third level. Clean and spacious, the modern-looking room is furnished with wooden touches and felt very much like a holiday resort. The rooms are also fully soundproofed and complete with an oh-so-comfy bed and huge bathtubs.

And if you are looking to indulge in some weekend brunch, head to Azur – the hotel’s all day dining and buffet restaurant – which offers a selection of local dishes and international fare.

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Hotel
75 Airport Boulevard
Tel: +65 6823 5300
Nearest Station: Changi Airport
Note: This was an invited media stay.

The giveaway is now closed. Thank you for participating. The winners are #401, #254, #15, #198, and #152. I will be contacting you via email shortly after.

From 16 – 25 March, Azur Restaurant at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport is presenting a special true-blue Peranakan buffet by Guest Chef Kenny Chan.

Some of the Peranakan dishes include the signature Ayam Buah Keluak (stuffed Indonesian black nut with chicken), Babi Pong Teh (braised pork in salted bean paste), Ikan Goreng Cili (fried fish with sambal), Nyonya Chap Chye, Telur Cincalok (fermented shrimp omelette), and Nyonya Cendol.

So here’s the good news. The kind folks at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport has kindly agreed to give 5 couples the chance to try the Peranakan buffet ($55++ for weekday dinner, and $65++ for weekend dinner). All you need to do is to answer a question by leaving a comment.

As usual, remember to ask your foodie friends to join the giveaway by sharing via the tweet and facebook buttons so that you guys have more chances of winning!

How to enter Crowne Plaza Peranakan Buffet Giveaway

1. Five winners will get to bring along a guest to go for the Peranakan Buffet at Azur Restaurant, Crowne Plaza Changi Airport.

2. Answer this question by leaving a comment below: What is your favourite Peranakan food?

3. Azur Crowne Plaza Peranakan Buffet giveaway is open to Singapore residents only.

4. A random generator will be used, everyone has an equal chance of winning.

5. Giveaway ends on 4th Mar 2012 Sunday 12 noon. Winners will be notified by email.

6. Note that comments are moderated, they will only appear after I approve it. Please do not submit more than once.

Azur Restaurant is located at 75 Airport Boulevard, 2nd Floor Crowne Plaza Hotel (Next to Changi Airport T3) Tel: +65 6823 5354.

Full Disclosure & Fine Print: This is not an advertorial, no monetary benefits were received for this giveaway.

The idea of a food trail is very seductive. What’s there not to like when we can just eat, eat, eat, and eat for the whole day? Oh heck, we don’t even need to walk, there’s a chartered bus to bring us to the different places.

Bitez is an all-new SAFRA card and it offers an extensive list of dining privileges that is perfect for the avid food lover.

After I went for the Safra Bitez food trail a while back, I have been recovering from the feast and only got better enough to post it up now. The Safra Bitez Food trail is a 9-hour non-stop eating mission to savour the signature dishes of Bitez’s partners. Wow! That’s all I could say after joining the food trail for half a day.

Here’s a list of places that we went on the Safra Bitez Food Trail:

Breeks @ Changi Airport T2
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport
Billy Bombers @ Marina Square
Mushroom @ MacRitchie Reservoir
Old Chang Kee @ Toa Payoh
nydc @ Holland Village
Lifestyle E-Mart @ Safra Mount Faber

The day started in a dramatic fashion: strong gushing wind, with dark clouds looming behind. It didn’t matter what the weather was, the spirits of all 30 foodies was not dampened. We started our adventure at the most unlikely of places – the weighing scale! The organizers wanted to weigh the participants and see the differences in weight at the end of the food trail.

Whatever. I am not going on the weighing scale!

Stop 1: Breeks Cafe at Changi Airport

On the bus journey to the airport, I was hosting the “show” with my partner, DJ Charmaine from Power 98FM. The participants were really very enthusiastic as they gave us some recommendations on the best food places in the east.

Our first stop was a hearty  English breakfast at Breeks Café, an American-style café that has three branches in Singapore. Toasted muffins, double sunny side-up, 3 chipolata sausages, chicken bacons, and 2 slices of pancakes with maple syrup – brunch is the reason why we work so hard in life.

“Please pace yourself and eat moderately.” This was the advice that I told everyone. I’d know, since I always have ample experience when it comes to food.

After breakfast, Charmaine and I were paired against another two foodies to compete in a mini-contest. The task was relatively simple: eat the egg white without breaking the yolk. Easy? That’s what I thought too, until I realized that the organizers had something up their sleeves — we were only allowed one toothpick each!

To cut the long story short, the other two participants won as I accidentally broke the yolk within the first thirty seconds, it was a very close fight right till the last second. But the two participants eventually won the contest with their sheer determination. Both of them walked away with $50 worth of Safra vouchers each. Oh damn, I had already made plans on spending the vouchers!

Oh ya, there’s a current 1-for-1 promotion on selected items on Breeks menu for Bitez’s members.

Stop 2: Crowne Plaza @ Changi Airport T3

We moved on to Crowne Plaza at Changi Airport Terminal Three next. Time seemed to stand still as we entered the lounge. Rows and rows of dessert shooters were placed on the table, screaming: GRAB ME! All of a sudden, it felt like we were in a mini dessert paradise, and nothing else seemed to matter anymore.

The 7 Sins signature desserts from Crowne Plaza were appealing in both visual and taste. My eyes failed to focus as they drifted around while the chef was introducing the different desserts. Hurry up chef, I’m not interested in the name and ingredients of the dessert shooters – just give them to me, just give all of them to me!

Other than greed, lust and love, there’s really nothing like a good tiramisu. I easily finished two shooters on my own, and for a moment, I was tempted to ignore the other desserts and concentrate on the tiramisu.

After the initial craze over the pretty desserts, the participants crowded around the Executive Chef of Crowne Plaza, Chef Eric Neo. Most people recognized him from television and they were scrambling to take photographs with him. I had a few minutes with him, and it was really interesting to hear about some of his experience in the daily running of the Crowne Plaza restaurants.

Stop 3: Billy Bombers @ Marina Square

I’m sure everyone knows Billy Bombers. They are an American café chains that serve huge portions of your favorite burger, chicken wings and milkshake.

It was around noontime when we arrived at Billy Bombers @ Marina Square. You know what that means? It’s LUNCH TIME! After the heavy breakfast and all the desserts, I almost fainted when I saw the amount of food waiting for us at Billy Bombers. By then, my stomach was almost filled to the brim and all I could manage was a few nibbles here and there.

Milkshake is like ice cream, except it’s better because it never melts.

Billy Bomber’s rendition was one of the best milkshake in Singapore I’ve had before. It was thick, yet not heavy, creamy and tooth-achingly good. I bet you are very hungry by now. So here’s good news: Bitez members get 50% off 2nd order of Billy Bomber’s Special main course. My journey of the food trail ended at Billy Bombers, and my fellow blogger Sheylara took over for the second half of the day.

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The organizers had recorded down the entire food trail; you can drop by www.facebook.com/safrasg to see the other two videos. But you have been warned – it’s just going to make you even hungrier!

If you are interested to join the next Safra Bitez food trail, check out Safra Fanpage for more exclusive food and beverage dining deals!