Admittedly, finding this place was a challenge. It is like one of those elusive treasure islands that you see from a distance but when you try to navigate your way to it, all bearings are lost. But that is due to the confusing layout of Publika. HotShots Coffee and Tea is on the first floor of Solaris Dutamas, facing the main road and along the same row as Pappa Rich.
HotShots gives off the feeling of coming home to the smell of fresh brewed coffee as you walk into a well-furnished warm and inviting kitchen/dining room area with a black marble island table in the middle. While one side of the table made up the coffee brewing area, the other was a sunny homey space with high-chairs and sofa seating. There is also outdoor seating on the balcony walkway overlooking the busy road. This is the kind of place you could just sit and relax for hours either catching up with friends or just doing your work.
I have been very stressed out lately due to pending assignments deadlines, my part-time gig as a PR consultant and a few blog posts that has been piling up.But I am going to tackle them one at a time. Starting with a review of HiShop's little welcome box of chocolates beauty stuff.
Thanks, HiShop
So, a few weeks ago, I was invited to become a HiShop (pronounced as Hai-shop) beauty ambassador and upon accepting the invitation, received a welcome beauty box from HiShop to review a few days later.
In unexpected turn of events, I actually managed to get an invitation to Bag of Love's Unboxing-turned-Unzipping event after days of doubting my earlier blog post on the event was enough. There were so many creative bloggers out there that went the extra mile to recreate their own imaginary tea party.
It was easy to see why so many wanted to be a part of this event organised by the Butterfly Project and Bag of Love in collaboration with Delectable Treats, Paradigm Mall. Not only were we treated to an overdose of yummy sugary and savoury treats, we were the first few in Malaysia to unzip our very own April edition of Bag of Love.
The Red Beanbag could very well be my new favourite place to eat at whenever I am in Publika. On three separate visits, I have been wow-ed, impressed and mouth-orgasmed to their yummy dishes, coffee and desserts. You can read about my first trip here.
My second visit was supposed to be for lunch with a friend but because we arrived before 12noon, we could only order from the Breakfast Menu (10am - 3pm) as the Lunch Menu starts from 12pm onwards. As we were starving, we went ahead and ordered even though it was only 20 minutes to noon.
Friend ordered the Specialty Baked Eggs (RM17.90) that comes with three slices of crusty bread. The eggs are baked and served in a baking dish along with a combination of lamb, beef and chicken bratwurst sausages, sundried tomatoes, potatoes and cheese. The dish was oozing with tomatoes and cheese that can be scooped up with the bread. Every helping we had of it had at least a piece of meat that was juicy although albeit salty. My friend was super pleased RBB had French unsalted butter upon request for the bread. There is a 15-20 minutes waiting time for this dish so it's not advisable to have this if you're starving. God knows why my friend ordered this....
Le Ann Maxima has brought a sense of a dreamy garden party to fashion with their Spring/Summer 2013 collection themed the Secret Garden. At the fashion showcase recently held at the Scott, Jaya One, bloggers, media and die-hard fans and supporters of the brand caught a preview of the gorgeous pieces of the Spring/Summer collection.
L.A.M fashion showcase at the Scott.
Known for their simplistic and versatile designs, Le Ann Maxima's latest collection highlights the soft and subtle colours of the pastel pallets with the lovely colours of sea foam green, lilac, salmon and lemon yellow. The ever classical tone of black, white and grey compliments and balances out the pastel pieces perfectly for a look that eludes a carefree spirit.
And off we go with Phase 2 of Marvel's film series!
Rightfully so, kicking off the series is Iron Man 3, starring Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle and Ben Kingsley as Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, James Rhodes and the Mandarin respectively.
Thanks to Groupon Malaysia, I was treated to the opening night of Iron Man 3 and was blown away by the storyline. And they say, superhero stories were becoming too predictable. Well, along came Iron Man 3.
Well, hasn't the Malaysian weather gone all wonky on us and has seem to have lost its ability to make up its mind. Pretty much like our country leaders right before General Elections. Anyway, back to the weather. One minute it's raining cats and dogs and the next, blazing hot with no cloud in sight. And when it's hot, it's really supernova hot. That's Malaysia for you. Lovely food, crazy weather.
But thanks to Timeless Truth Mask and Plus Size Kitten, I have just the thing to combat the blazing hot days in the form of TT Mask's Instantaneous Brightening Cooling Mask.
Courtey of TT Mask and Plus Size Kitten of the Butterfly Project.
Thanks to Resort World Genting and Nuffnang, I was given the opportunity to attend the finale of RWGenting's YNOT Graffiti Art event with about 30 other bloggers and their plus ones. After dropping off our luggage at First World hotel's lobby and collecting our blogger passes, we headed to the theme park.
Blogger pass = free access to theme park
Along the way, we saw the vibrant colourful graffiti art works, some complete and others still in progress with their artists still hard at work. Of course, we could not resist taking pictures of the art works and with them. Some of us even got to try our hand at graffiti spraying!
Colourful works of art
Noob at work.
YNot by RWGenting celebrates what was formerly viewed as illegal or part of the 'underground' scene such as graffiti art, BMX and hip hop dance. All of these elements were openly displayed and performed for everyone throughout the event. Emceeing and entertaining us at the event with their sarcastic and deadpanned humour were Dennis Yin and Chris Ooi of Elecoldxhot dance crew.
A recent visit to Fraser's Hill to hike Pine Tree Hill with my bootcamp friends became an overnight trip for me because it has been ages since I visited Fraser's Hill. That and I desperately wanted to escape the KL heat then.
Map of Fraser's.
I booked a studio apartment with Puncak Inn through Agoda a few days before the trip because it was super cheap at only RM120 a night for three people. Upon check-in, we were directed to Silver Park Apartments which was about a 3 minutes drive from the iconic Fraser's clock tower. Our top-floor apartment was there and although it could do with a fresh coat of paint and carpeting, the single room apartment was a comfortable home for a night.
Silver Park apartment.
We had hiked Pine Tree Hill and Twin Peaks prior to checking in and were in dire need for a good hot shower. You can read about the mentally-taxing hike here. Besides Pine Tree Hill, there are seven other trails around and about Fraser's that cater to various fitness levels. I plan to strike off those trails on my next visit.
I am so excited that Iron Man 3 is finally coming out at the end of this month! It has been a ridiculously long year since the Avengers and finally Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) will be gracing our screens once more!
As the first movie to kick off Marvel's Phase Two movies, Iron Man 3 will have Stark facing off again the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) who destroys Stark's personal life and Iron Man suits. Left with only his instincts and brain, Stark must find those responsible for the attack while discovering the answers to the question "does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?"
This is going to be an exciting movie based on the many trailer releases as we will get to witness many designs of the Iron Man suits in action including the Hulk Buster and Iron Patriot. Most interestingly is that Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) too will be doning on the Iron Man armour. Whether it is Stark's or her own remains to be unanswered.
Pepper as Iron Man
Did you know that in the comics, Tony designed a suit specifically for Pepper called 'Rescue'? (Because roses and cars are too mainstream presents for Stark). An aptly named suit if you ask me.
Awesomeness overload!
Tony also designed a suit for good old Spidey with cool mechanical arms. It would be epic to see this suit in the movie but then we would all pass out from 'Iron Man/Spiderman awesomeness' overdose and miss the whole movie.
Iron Spider Armour.
Now if I were best buds with Tony Stark, I would have him customize my very own Iron Man suit with inspiration from Strike Freedom from the Gundam Seed anime series. In addition to the iconic Iron Man repulsor blasters for flight and firepower, my armour suit will be equipped with several detachable remotecontrolled shooters that can engage various targets from multiple angles and directions. When not in used, the shooters will form wings on the back of the suit for additional flight speed.
Detachable remote controlled shooters.
It will also come with a lightsaber for close-quarter combat and additional guns mounted to the back and to the hips for more ammo.
My Iron Man armour will be made from the same vibranium material as Captain America's shield as it is light and can absorb blows and direct hits whilst protecting me. I will also include a special beam-deflecting coating (made from millions of mirrors) to the armour that automatically deflect beam-based/laser attacks and return it to my assailant. Let's see them try to sneak up on me from behind now!
And of course, JARVIS. What is an Iron Man suit without reliable JARVIS?
The result should look something like this in red and gold to live up to Tony Stark's penance for flashiness and I shall call it.......wait for it.....
NOKIA!
As it will be as indestructable as the handphone brand it is named after.
Well, ir might be just me and my imagination running wild but this would definitely be Iron Man my way.
Iron Man hits the big screens on 26 April 2013. But until then, enjoy the trailer:
