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At the invitation of Zenith, we were invited to this year's pre-Basel presentation in Dubai, UAE. Heard so much about this booming city and I was naturally excited. True to its luxury image, we were treated with luxury all the way from the flight (Emirates Business Class) till we land in Dubai (pick-up by a Lexus ES350) till we left. We stayed at Mina al-Salam Hotel at the Madinat Jumeirah, a 5-star resort city. Our rooms were splendid as you shall see in the pictures below and the cost - US$2,000 per night ! The resort was so huge that we travel within in small boats via a network of water canals. There were many F&B outlets including a Chinese restaurant, a Singaporean restaurant, a hip bar etc. The pool was huge. The view facing the Indian Ocean was stunning.
Our first day was for self discovery where we went about the resort grounds taking many pictures along the way. We also visited one of Dubai's most famous shopping mall - the Mall of Emirates, so huge that it even had its very own skiing slope complete with ski-lifts ! There were many familiar brands including a number of Malaysian and Singaporean brands. Prices were not much cheaper, in fact almost the same. There were many designer boutiques (Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Armani, Bally, Salvatore Ferragamo etc.) including several watch boutiques (Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin, Rolex etc.).
Our Zenith seminar started on the second day afternoon. It was 5 hours long showcasing all the latest novelties presented in an entertaining show comprising modern dance and music. Our third day was spent looking at the new watches and placing our orders. Everything was so beautiful and we bought almost everything!
The hospitality was so good that every little detail was looked into. We were given gifts over the days we stayed and it include a beach bag with a beach towel inside. Initially I didn't understand the meaning until we were reminded to attend our breakfast on the second day at the beach. The gift was actually meant to be used at the beach after breakfast. But as we went to breakfast late, we didn't enjoy the beach other than taking a few pictures for remembrance.
As the resort was so beautiful, I spent some free time in between meetings to take some pictures of the place. Don't think I will be able to afford going back to stay at the resort any time soon.
Welcome to the birth of the youngest and most trendy Sincere store todate. Located at the Pavilion KL, the newest landmark shopping destination in Bukit Bintang, Sincere Pavilion adopts the thematic design style of our Vivo City store in Singapore. It is also the largest Sincere store ever, covering about 3,400 sq ft over two floors.
We opened for business on 5 Oct 2007, after much delay. Many of our neighboring tenants remained under renovation. We are still waiting for them to open and enliven the area. For now, traffic remains sparse but we did managed to attract many curious first timer customer. Let's hope this is a good start to another successful Sincere store!
Omega, the watch brand synonymous with its world famous brand ambassadors from Cindy Crawford, Michelle Wie, Simon Yam to Michael Schumacher - invited us to a one day one night session of Omega hospitality. We were treated to a welcome buffet lunch upon arrival at mid-day. After filling up our stomachs, the main agenda of the trip was unveiled at the main function room where we spent the next 3 hours or so absorbing the wonders of Omega watches, their history, technical innovation and the new Basel 2007 novelties. By 7:30pm, we all headed to the Temasek Beach for our beach side dinner, a well spread of glorious seafood ! Watch salesmen turned singers for the night entertained us as we while away our time. By 11:30pm, I was already so tired that I slept right through like a pig without realizing that a freak thunderstorm just hit PD last night !
We arrived in Geneva on 15 April 2007 by train. It was a 3 hours train ride. As it was a Sunday, all shops were closed. We checked into the Swissotel with spectacular Lake Geneva views. The SIHH watch expo is for trade visitors only and is dominated mostly by Richemont brands eg. Baume & Mercier, IWC, Panerai, Vacheron Constantin, JLC, Mont Blanc etc. As usual, we had back to back meetings from morning to evening. Unlike Basel, we didn't have to take any train, so it was easier and less hectic.
It was also my first time visiting "Watchland", the birthplace of all Franck Muller watches ! We attended the Franck Muller gala dinner featuring a concert by the legendary Tom Jones. We also attended the IWC event featuring the Da Vinci stageplay by Kevin Spacey.
It's that time of the year again, the annual pilgrimage to Basel, in the land of watches - Switzerland ! This time, it's in April. It's also my second trip there. This time, the weather was rather hot. As usual we stayed in Zurich and not in Basel. As usual, everyday we waked up at 6:30am to get ready for breakfast by 7:00am. Get to the train station by 7:30am and board the 8:02am train to Basel. It's an hour ride. By the time we reached Basel, we hopped onto one of the many trams that brought us to the exhibition site. The crowd was tremendous. This time, I knew my way and was easy to navigate through the huge exhibition site to reach my destinations. We visited most of the big brands eg. Patek Philippe, Zenith, Corum, Breitling, Omega, TAG Heuer, Chopard etc.
With back to back appointments from 9:00am onwards, we hardly had time for lunch ! We usually ate whatever we could find inside the brand's booth as there was really no time for us to go for a proper lunch. Anyway, it was no different for me coz I don't really enjoy the food served, it's always beef, venison, fish or duck ! What about pork, chicken, prawns etc, I wondered. After the last appointment at 6:00pm, it's usually dinner with the suppliers till late. Not too late though as we had to catch the 11:00pm train back to Zurich. We stayed 4 days in Basel before moving on to Geneva for our next leg. Basel trip is no fun but sheer work !
It was my first visit to Langkawi. The Four Seasons Langkawi as you can see is a paradise. Facing the white sandy beach, the resort comprising mainly of individual 2-storey villas is surrounded by palm trees. Each of us had our own villas equipped with our very own backyard jacuzzi. The room was certainly a honeymoon suite with a view of the beach. A pity Chloe wasn't there with me. We stayed a night and had dinner at the restaurant by the beach. Well, forgot to add, I was there for work ! It would be great if it was for pleasure and I love to go back, if only the villa didn't cost RM1,800 !
At the invitation of Zenith, we were invited to this year's pre-Basel presentation in Dubai, UAE. Heard so much about this booming city and I was naturally excited. True to its luxury image, we were treated with luxury all the way from the flight (Emirates Business Class) till we land in Dubai (pick-up by a Lexus ES350) till we left. We stayed at Mina al-Salam Hotel at the Madinat Jumeirah, a 5-star resort city. Our rooms were splendid as you shall see in the pictures below and the cost - US$2,000 per night ! The resort was so huge that we travel within in small boats via a network of water canals. There were many F&B outlets including a Chinese restaurant, a Singaporean restaurant, a hip bar etc. The pool was huge. The view facing the Indian Ocean was stunning.
