Singapore: Fragrance Hotel, Riverside/Clarke Quay

Finding a hotel in Singapore can be real head-scratcher as there are tons of hotels and hostels all over the city and are not as cheap as one would think. For my trip there in December 2013, after days of searching the web, decided to stay at Fragrance Hotel - Riverside in the Clarke Quay area.

Location-wise, Fragrance Hotel Riverside was ideal as the Clarke Quay MRT was just across the main road under CQ Central shopping mall. It takes approximately 5 minutes to get there.

source: http://www.tesyasblog.com

Comic Fiesta 2013 - 'Buy First, Think Later' Day 2

'Buy first, think later' seemed to be the popular motto of the day since it was after all, the second and final day of Comic Fiesta.
 
Everything was selling like hot cakes and even the Pikachu hoodie jacket was sold out by the end of Day 1 and the Shingeki No Kyojin jackets only had limited sizes remaining at the start of Day 2. I saw plenty of stuff that I wanted at the Creative market booths, ranging from doujins to trinkets to handmade jewelry, some of which were going at discounted rates. Abiding by the motto (just like last year) I ended up spending, um, RM600 within two days. I will show you my CF hurl at the end of this post.

Customized charm bracelet.

Comic Fiesta 2013 - Shingeki no CF Day 1

Oh, my. Has it been a year already since the previous Comic Fiesta?

Doesn't time fly when you have something to look forward to each year. Comic Fiesta (CF) has become a permanent mark in my calender for the past six years and the one event I blocked out my entire December for. Seriously, I only start making plans once the dates for CF have been announced.

Over the weekend before Christmas, 21-22 Dec 2013, close to 40,000 (39,855 to be precise) otakus, anime and manga fans and curious visitors (about to be severely overwhelmed by culture shock) from all over the country descended upon Kuala Lumpur Convention Center in a crazed frenzy driven by a one-year-long wait for the biggest ACG (Anime, Comic, Games) convention in Malaysia.

My blogger pass privilege

Australia: 10 Things to do and Eat in Perth

So what do you do in Perth when you are only there for 5 days, 4 nights?  Actually in my case, it was really 4 days, 4 nights because I flew off in the wee hours in the morning on the fifth day.

Things to do in Perth
1. Swimming with dolphins, Rockingham
Forget aquariums and Sea World. Nothing beats seeing these amazing animals in the wild, just going about their daily lives. The fact that we are allowed to witness this makes all the more special. You can opt to fly up to Monkey Mia if you are there on a long trip or just go to Rockingham for a half day trip.

Australia: Adina Barracks Apartment & Royal Hotel Perth

Sometimes the cheapest alternative for a well-located decent accommodation can come in the form of a decent serviced apartment shared amongst 4 to 5 friends. Because accommodation was expensive in Perth (at least by Malaysian standards), my group of friends opted to share an apartment amongst ourselves for the first two night as we were all taking part in Tough Mudder Perth.

We settled for Adina Barracks Apartment in the Perth CBD and shared between 11 of us, we ended up paying about RM400 each for two nights for two premiere two-bedroom apartments. Given the convenience of keeping a huge group together in a comfortable accommodation in a prime location, I didn't mind paying that amount.

The apartment hotel was along Barrack street and at first, a bit hard to spot from the car. We missed it once and had to circle the block a few times also to look for parking. It turned out that the hotel has limited parking and if it is full, the receptionists will direct you to the public parking lot across the road. That can cost a lot overnight.

Twelve Cupcakes, Sunway Pyramid

Twelve Cupcakes has been dubbed 'the best cupcakes' in Singapore and this quint cupcake franchise has found its way to our Malaysians shore, setting up shop in the ever busy Sunway Pyramid.

Why twelve you ask?

Garfield wishes ESG shoppers Merry X-Mas!

Which iconic tabby is orange, fat, lazy, sarcastic and loves his food and teddy bear, Pooka?

Okay, if you do not know the answer to that, you really need to redefine your childhood. I am talking about Garfield of course, the lovable fat cat. Loved by all adults and kids alike, Garfield is undoubtedly the most famous cat in the world.

This Christmas, thanks to Empire Shopping Gallery, Subang, shoppers get a chance to meet Garfield and his friends live! You get to snap a picture and have fun with these lovable childhood characters: Nermal, Oddie, Arlene and of course, Garfield himself.

Australia: Swimming with Dolphins in Rockingham, Perth

In Nov 2012, I had the pleasure of watching spinner dolphins leap from the ocean against the setting sun in Maldives and during my recent trip to Perth, I decided to take it a step further and actually go swimming with them.

Monkey Mia is the famous dolphin sanctuary in Western Australia, far North of Perth but little does many people know that south of Perth and Fremantle is a cheaper alternative. Rockingham is a small quiet beach-side town about 45 minutes drive from Perth and is also the main base for Rockingham Wild Encounters' Swimming with Dolphins.

Frontera Relaunch

If you are looking for good Mexican food, then look no further than Frontera Sol of Mexico in Jaya One, Petaling Jaya. 

Frontera has a reputation for serving up authentic Mexican food in a cosy ambiance and has recently decided a menu revamp was in order to ensure that their choices remain interesting and appealing to its patrons which now include families. 

Organised by the hands-on students of IACT  college, Frontera launched their brand new menu to the food and fashion themed event named Rayos de Colores (Spanish for Rays of Colours). Restaurant manager, Ramesh Vadiveloo said, “Our business in the past focused on working adults looking for affordable and quick set lunch. We now would like to cater more to families, providing a smoke-free, family-friendly environment.”

Bite Hopping with 1Utama & the Butterfly Project Part 2

In this part of Bite Hopping through 1Utama with the Butterfly Project, let me introduce you to the eateries found in High Street. After covering most of Food Street (which you can read about in Part 1 here), the next part of my foodie mission took me to High Street lower ground (LG). 

[Non-halal] But before that, on my way to the former new wing of 1Utama, I dropped by this hidden little hideaway for my Bak Kut Teh fix, Pao Xiang Bak Kut Teh. How do you find it? Just look out for a giant bowl next to the escalator on the lower ground floor and it is right next to the Chinese medicine store, way inside. 

Pao Xiang Bak Kut Teh is famously known for their string-tied meat that ensure the meat remains firm and succulent when it is boiled in the herbal soup. It comes served on a ceramic burner to make sure it is constantly hot as you slurp on it. And it just so happened that when I was here, it started pouring cats and dogs outside. Talk about the perfect weather for piping hot soup and pork!