Scaling the Teotihuacan Pyramids & Conquering Six Flags, Mexico City!

Its been more than three weeks since my trip to Mexico, since then I’ve even been to Shanghai for a weekend in between as well, and I’m finally getting around to blogging about the second part of my trip to Mexico City – long overdue, but as they say, better late than never!

After the work part of my trip, for the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame Mexico City leg, I was fortunate enough to get two days there to see the place a little – which was a lot more than I had expected. I was invited, by CEO of SYOGOC, to join them on the visit to the Teotihuacan Pyramids the day after the City Celebrations, and I am so glad I went!

It was about a 45min journey there, and we had really pleasant weather, especially compared to the rain the day before. Actually no, it was pleasant while we were in the vehicle, but the moment we got out, it was HOT! That explains why I look so dark and unrecognisable now, but oh well, it was worth it!

This is a picture of the team of us, with the Moon Pyramid (which is the smaller one) in the background, before we climbed it – that’s why we still look so fresh and happy! Next to me is CEO SYOGOC, and next to him is Chairman, SYOGOC, glad I got to spend the day with them after all that work

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Attempting to spell YOG with our bodies - can you make it out? [I'm the G

The highlight for me though, of the climb, was watching CEO & Chairman do the YOG cheer atop the Sun Pyramid! Just try to ignore my annoying laugh in the background of that video – really need to work on changing it man.

So that was our trip to the Teotihuacan Pyramids, I’m sooo glad I went, it was totally worth the climb, the view from the top was amazing! Not to mention, it was a fantastic workout after all that Mexican food

That evening I took it easy, did some blogging and slept early coz I was so tired out and the lack of sleep from my entire trip was catching up with me. Plus, I had to rest up for the next day, coz Luis was taking me to Six Flags!! Did you know that the Six Flags in Mexico City is the only one outside of the US and Canada?

The next morning I woke up bright and early, and decided to take a walk around the Polanco area before meeting Luis. There was a street near my hotel called President Masaryk Avenue, where there were a lot of shops, boutiques, cafes, etc. It had a very European feel to it, totally didn’t feel like I was in Mexico City. Pity the shops were all closed when I went there, but it was a lovely walk nonetheless!

Shortly after Luis picked me up and we made our way to Six Flags, which is just a 30-40min drive from Polanco, where I was staying. We got in and bought ourselves VIP passes, which allowed us t get on all rides without having to queue up, it was awesome, we went on every single ride like twice! I’m not gonna say much more about Six Flags, and let the pictures and videos (which I took against the rules) do the talking.

That's me outside the Superman ride. We started & ended with it, my favourite!!

I was in Mexico, HAD to have a churro! This one was filled with what tasted like condensed milk. It was really good but toooooo sweet - I couldn't finish it

The Drop Tower (can't remember if that's the exact name) - I was sooooo scared of this one initially but we ended up doing it twice!

That's me and Luis! He took the day off work to take me to Six Flags, how sweet right?

Posing with Batmobile before getting on the Batman ride!

This is a video I managed to sneak in on one of the rides – if I’m not wrong its actually the Batman one. You can only hear me screaming coz I’m closest to the camera, haha!

This photo opp was too tempting to pass up on

And that’s about all for Six Flags Mexico, I had a blast! But that was just one part of that day. After Six Flags, we headed to a nearby mall to pick up a Mexico training jersey for my brother (no idea what else to get him!) and did some shopping. Then Luis took me to a lovely resaurant in Coyoacan for lunch, though by that time it was already 5.30pm, so it ended up being more like an early dinner. I got to try tacos with mole on them, which is a spicy chocolate sauce that Mexico is known for, and I had a sangria! Perfect end to a perfect day!

Except I was greeted with two more things I wasn’t expecting – the first was hailstones! It went from being a sunny day to us having pieces of ice fall onto the car. And last but not least, this number plate on a car there, which totally amused me coz you’d NEVER see that in Singapore.

This totally made my day (which was already going fabulously!)

Technorati Tags: Mexico City, Six Flags, Teotihuacan, theme park

Viva la Mexico! Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame

Can’t believe that after months and months of work on the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, I’m finally here in Mexico City for the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame! And its OVER already But nonetheless, it was a blast!!

I didn’t get off to a great start at the start of my journey though… I flew United Airlines, and was appalled, first of all, that they don’t have personal entertainment screens even for long-haul flights!! Anyway it didn’t really matter coz I slept through 90% of the journey anyway, from Singapore to Tokyo and from there to San Francisco. When I got to the San Fran airport, I had an hour to make it from one flight to another, so when I saw the queue at Customs, I was so scared I wouldn’t make it.

And when I told an officer I only had an hour till my next flight, all he said was, it’s ok, they’ll put you on another one – WTH!! So anyway I made it through customs in about 45min, barely in time for my next flight. Then I went to the gate only to find that the flight had been delayed by 4 hours So I bought a book, sat around and read till it was time. At the time of boarding (no earlier, mind you), UA made an announcement saying the crew had was nearing their quote of hours of work in a day according to US labour laws, so the flight was postponed till the next morning!

Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco

Obviously there was a lot of complaining, fighting, whatever… and eventually they got us all accommodation near the hotel for the night. I was completely uncontactable coz my mobile phone and laptop battery were both dying, with all my chargers and adapters in my luggage at the airport. It wasn’t all bad though, I made some Mexican friends, with whom I shared a cab down to Fisherman’s Wharf. They went on a tour, but I decided to take a walk, get a Ghirardelli Quake Shake – which is awesome, by the way!! I had a chocolate, peanut butter shake, that’s made from real Ghirardelli chocolate, and the milkshake’s nice and chunky!

So anyway I just took a walk and bought some clothes for the next morning and headed back to the hotel. Good thing my layover was in San Fran, not in some unsafe place where I wouldn’t be able to go out on my own

I eventually got to Mexico City a day late, and by the time, I think I had been traveling for 48 hours. Then the next day I sat through the longest meeting I’ve ever had in my life – but it was an experience! Then Luis, my colleague from Ogilvy PR, and a couple of other people from Mexico took me out to dinner after.

We went to 50 Friends, an Italian restaurant at a really high-end shopping mall, whose name I can’t remember. Dinner was nice, I had some Mexican wine which was pretty good! Then we headed out partying, not sure where either, which was good fun! It was a mix of pop and spanish music, and again I believe that all Spanish guys can dance salsa like gods. I’m good at it at all, but they do it so well, you feel like you actually know how to dance!

And then, my favourite part of the night – I had tacos out of the back of a van!! The tacos were alright, I had to have just a cheese quesadilla, coz everything else was beef, but just the idea of it was so exciting!

The next few days are a blur of activity, as we prepared for the Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame in Mexico City. I went to the Ogilvy Mexico office several times, which is gorgeous! That’s a picture of me, Luis, Marta and Miguel at the lobby

At the lobby of the Ogilvy Mexico office

I even went on some site recces, including a visit to Hidalgo Gardens at Coyoacan, which is gorgeous! We made a quick pit stop into the St John Baptise Church as well, which is worth seeing! Coyoacan is one of the areas of the city in which the colonial legacy can really be appreciated; some decades ago it used to be located on the outskirts of the city and it is now located entirely in it, but it still conserves its traditional Mexican character, which in addition to its beautiful plazas, streets and houses, has attracted a great number of artists, and has given it a pleasant intellectual atmosphere.

At Hidalgo Gardens, Coyoacan

Inside the St John Baptist Church

And then finally all the preparations were done, and the Flame arrived in Mexico City. It’s first stop was the Universidad Iberamericana (UIA), which is a very important private university in Mexico. It hosts many large scale events, and has even hosted Michelle and Barrack Obama before, apparently. Some pictures from the event and press conference:

Preparing for the arrival of the Flame

The main event area - taekwondo demonstration

That's me with the young Mexican athletes coming to Singapore 2010!

The atmosphere at the event was brilliant, as you can see from the video!

The crowd proper, when the event began

At the press conference

Inez, our gorgeous presenter

That night we were invited to the Mexican Olympic Committee (MOC) for a very fancy dinner!

That's me and Wai Leng with Merly and Lyo, the Singapore 2010 mascots - aren't they adorable?

There were these weird, fancy stilt-walkers at the dinner...

And some very fancy table centrepieces

And that's the Ogilvy PR team at the dinner... Luis and Marta from Mexico, and Stephanie and me from Singapore

The next morning, the Flame went to several iconic sites in Mexico City, and while I wasn’t there myself, I’ve included some pictures that the team took…

SYOGOC chairman (Mr Ng Ser Miang), the Coyoacan mayor with the athletes hold up the torch and the safety lantern

The Coyoacan mayor holds up the torch with a bunch of enthusiastic Mexican kids

Cutting a cake that says "Bienvenidos" which means "Welcome" at the Angel of Independence

Mariachi players at the Angel of Independence as the cake was being cut

After the Angel of Independence, the Flame headed to Zocalo, a historic square in Mexico City. Unfortunately at the time, it was raining pretty heavily, and none of us were sure that the City Celebrations at Zocalo were even happening. The Flame had to be re-routed to the Government Palace of Mexico City, which was really grand – unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a nice shot.

After a while though, the rain stopped, and we were able to proceed with the celebrations at Zocalo, and I’m glad we did, because it was fantastic! The pictures speak for themselves…

City Celebrations Stage

Crowds clamouring for Singapore 2010 merchandise like wristbands and tattoos

They liked the tattoos so much people were putting them on there itself!

The Flame on stage, with a young athlete and Merly & Lyo

She then proceeded to light the cauldron...

That's when the fireworks began!

I managed to catch a segment of the fireworks display, as well as the last 20seconds, take a look!

Following that was the Singapore Showcase, as well as performances by some Mexican bands. All in all, a great celebration!

The next day, which is today, I spent the earlier part of the day at the Pyramids in Teotihuacan with Chairman, CEO and some of the team. And tomorrow I’m headed to Six Flags with Luis! I’ll post about the Pyramids and Six Flags again soon, so keep a lookout!

Technorati Tags: Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame, Mexico City, Singapore 2010, travel

Hide & Seek

While out to lunch at Telok Ayer Street a couple of days ago, I chanced upon a multi-brand boutique offering an electic mix of clothing and accessory brands, cult fragrances and decorative items for the home and even interior design services. The boutique is known as Hide & Seek and was absolutely a delight to walk into!

Started by fashion designer Keith Png, Hide & Seek was previously located at Hong Kong Street, and is about two years old. Explaining why he teamed up with several partners to create the new one-stop shop, Keith, 32, said: “The retail scene is very competitive now. I wanted to do something on a bigger scale, and that would be more impactful.”

Hide & Seek carries four main clothing lines in addition to an exclusive list of accessory brands.

• Koops: Keith’s own made-to-measure and ready-to-wear womenswear line
• Cloak and Dagger: menswear label
• Quinn: local partywear label
• Puma’s Black Station series: designer streetwear

At Hide & Seek’s new four-storey premises, the top floor is office space for Keith and interior design outfit, Seven Heaven. Here is what you will find on the other three floors:

Level 1: Fashion and accessories

Picture Credit: Today Newspaper

Level 2: Fragrances and beauty services

Picture Credit: Today Newspaper

Level 3: Home interior products and Puma Black Station

Picture Credit: Today Newspaper

Technorati Tags: boutique, clothes, local

$450 for a Power Adapter?

YSL Power Adaptor

It’s insane the amount people are willing to spend on their favourite brands, but you know, if its for a nice classic bag or a pair of gorgeous shoes, that’s understandable.

This has got to be the most ludicrous branded item I’ve come across – a YSL Power Adapter for US$450!! Why anyone would need a branded power adapter is beyond me… and considering power adapters are one of those things that keep getting lost, wow, this would be a painful one to lose! I must say, the pink case is really cute, but $450?? Seriously??

Funny thing is, there probably are weirdos out there who would pay $450 for this power adaptor, simply for the logo on it.

Technorati Tags: YSL

Scented Nailpolish… Seriously?

Every now and then, amidst the routine of working life, I come across something that makes me go WTF!! Haven’t felt it in a while, until I read this morning that Revlon has brought back scented nailpolish this season, in its 2010 Scents of Summer collection.

Imagine typing away at your desk and having a constant, lingering perfumed scent wafting up your nose, it just seems a little weird to me. Apparently though, not everyone finds it strange, as for many, having scented nailpolish on makes you want to keep sniffing your nails.

What was a surprise to me though, is that scented nailpolish is not new. In fact it has been around for a long time now, having been first patented in 1997! The formula creates a special ratio of ingredients that allows the fragrance to slowly volatilize from the dried polish, providing a “pleasant human detectable scent,” according to the patent application.

Revlons's 2010 Scents of Summer collection

“It’s pure fun,” said Annette Falso, vice president of product development at Revlon, at a recent editor event. The collection includes scents/colours like Orange Smoothie, Ocean Breeze, Peach Smoothie, Orange Pop, Gum Drop, Grapy Icy, Cotton Candy and Bubble Gum. Limited edition, they’re supposed to be made available from July 2010, not sure if they’ll be making it to Singapore though.

Each scent is supposed to last four to five days, and even be discernible through any clear topcoat. Wonder how that works… And apparently you can even make your own! Just add 5-6 drops of your favorite scent (just make sure it’s not too oily) to a clear topcoat, and viola, custom-scented fingertips.

Technorati Tags: nails, Revlon

Meet my personal fashion stylist

I have recently been trying out a new iPhone application, and I have come to the conclusion that it is among the most useful applications yet. Its called Ask a Stylist by Glamour.

Essentially, it allows you to upload a picture of yourself, and ask a stylist a question about it, and you get a response within 5 minutes. It’s completely amazing, but you have to try it out to believe it. Here’s a step by step on how it works.

This is what the application icon will look like on your iPhone menu

Welcome screen - its FREE!!

At this point, you get to choose whether you just want advice on one outfit, or whether you'd like a comparison between two looks

Next you decide whether you want to use an existing picture or take a new one

Once you've taken your picture, you will be asked to choose a stylist - there's always at least one stylist available, but sometimes there are more!

Click on any of the stylists and you'll get a profile of them and get to know their style...

After selecting your stylist, you'll be asked what occasion/setting the look is for

Further categorisation of the occasion...

The final step is to ask the stylist a specific question regarding your outfit, then click Submit!

And that’s it, you’re done! You can then close the app and do whatever else you need to. When the stylist responds (usually within 5 to 10 minutes), you’ll receive a notification with their answer to your question.

Just in case you think they’re just standard replies, they’re not, look at a couple that I submitted to see what it’s like.

Question: Does this look suit me?

Question: Does this combination work?

Cool huh? This has become a part of my daily routine these days, I love it! You should try it out yourself! And once you do, tell me what you think!

Technorati Tags: clothes, fashion, personal stylist

Wonderland rings!

Have you watched Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland? Wasn’t it sooo nice? Well, H. Stern obviously thought so, judging from this new collection, that is artistically sculpted with gold and diamonds and intricately detailed.

The five-piece collection of Wonderland rings features the Cheshire Cat and the spectacular Jabberwocky, which sits atop a double-band ring. Other pieces draw on the film’s rich scenery. The Wonderland rings are available by special order only, so if you want one, place your order now!

Moving away from the obvious and from the well known characters of the story, they chose natural elements and spectacular creatures from Wonderland to give shape to five rings – pieces of art – that follow the intrinsic organic forms to the creative DNA of the brand.

Wonderland Rings - Jabberwocky

Wonderland Rings - Topiary Garden

(more…)

Technorati Tags: H. Stern, rings

Combining colours in your wardrobe

Wow its been ages since my last post, just about a month I think! Anyway, as I was Stumbling today, I came across an interesting blog post, with tips on how to combine colours in your wardrobe, without looking like Ugly Betty. Its fairly easy to combine different shades of a colour, or even similar colours, but contrasting colours are a little bit harder, which is why this is perfect! The idea is to use certain combinations in the Colour Wheel:

Colour Wheel

1. Colors directly next to each other (i.e. yellow and yellow-orange; yellow and yellow-green; violet and blue-violet, etc.)
2. Colors that form right (90 degree) angles with each other (i.e. yellow and red-orange; blue and violet-red; green and orange, etc.)
3. Colors directly across from each other (i.e. yellow and violet; blue and orange; red and green, etc.)
4. Colors that form a T (i.e. blue, orange, and violet-red; yellow, violet, and red-orange; yellow, blue-green, and red-orange, etc.)
5. Colors that form an X (i.e. blue, orange, violet-red, and yellow, violet, blue-green, and red-orange, etc.)

Brown, black, white and denim blues are neutral, so they can generally be paired with any colour on the Colour Wheel.

So the idea is, next time you can’t think of what to wear, instead of heading to the shops and denting your wallet, just pick up a Colour Wheel and look at your wardrobe again. You’ll definitely be able to find interesting items to combine for that unique outfit!

Technorati Tags: clothes, colour

New on my Wishlist

I’m not a huge fan of wedges – in fact, I’ve only ever owned one pair, and after that gave way, I never wanted to buy another. That is, until I saw these – Chanel Carnival.

Aren’t they completely gorgeous??

Chanel Carnival

And they look even better when worn – I saw them on Jane of Sea of Shoes.

Jane in Chanel Carnival

Technorati Tags: Chanel, shoes, wedges

Most expensive T-shirt in the world?

Granted the world seems to have changed a lot in the last decade or so – with luxury brands and ridiculous prices becoming the norm for almost everything. But this has got to take the cake – a Balmain T-shirt that costs US$1,625 (that S$2,280).

Is that insane or is that insane? It’s just a cotton T-shirt that’s been ripped in some places – who would pay that amount for it?? And if anyone does pay that amount, please get in touch with me and perhaps I can share some better uses for that money.

Balmain Slashed Army T-shirt

Technorati Tags: Balmain