Rakuten Super Sale!

Ironically as I was writing this post about Japan fashion trends, I was also packing for my trip to Japan.

Rakuten Malaysia has spotted several Spring/Summer 2014 trends from Japan and anticipates a flourish of pastel and vibrant colours that draws the eye to the fine detailing of elegant lace or illustrated with floral prints.

BluMed restaurant, the Gardens New Menu review

Strangely enough, no matter how many times I have been to Midvalley and Gardens, I never once thought to step into BluMed Ristorante e Bar for a meal or drinks. It might be because I was intimidated by the elegant and posh exterior and interior of the two-leveled restaurant that sits between Midvalley and Gardens.

Recently, I was invited by Ivy of Food Malaysia to try out several dishes from their new revamped menu (available 17 March onwards0. Upon entering the outlet, it turned out it wasn't at all that intimidating as the entire restaurant was warm and inviting with an open kitchen concept, a bar and a dessert display. 

Indonesia: Bali Day 3 (Part 2) - Waffle, Crepes and Pancakes at Flapjaks

After a disappointing early morning excursion to Lovina, a two hours drive from Kuta, we were starved and after the tour van dropped us back at the hotel, we hopped into a rather pricy cab (I suspected that he just overcharged us) and headed to Kuta in search of Flapjaks based on a friend’s recommendation.

 

Indonesia: Bali Day 3 (Part 1) - Lovina Dolphin Cruise

The night before, we stayed in the hotel and watched American Ninja Warrior. We were in bed by 10pm and this was why. We had to be up by 2am to catch the pickup van that took us up North to Lovina beach where a boatman greeted us in his odd looking boat.

 We gave up our sleep (actually we slept on the way to Lovina which resulted in the worst sleep of the trip) for a chance to see dolphins at sunrise. Marketed as a dolphin-watching sunrise cruise, we bought the deal over Groupon months in advance at about RM90 per person and it included transportation to and fro Lovina from any hotel in Kuta.

Singapore: Men's Health Urbanathlon 2014

It was another mad weekend in Singapore at the start of March and this time, the OBC gang and I were there for the Men's Health Urbanathlon 2014. Along with several other friends, my mom and my sister, I stayed at the same hotel as my previous trip, Fragrance Hotel - Riverside as it was a 20 minutes walk to the Float at Marina Bay which was also the start point of the race.

Singapore's Urbanathlon has been hailed as one of the best obstacle races in the region and having caught the obstacle race bug last year, I wanted to try it out for myself. The race was a 14km course around the city's riverside and had 9 obstacles for us to look forward to and tackle. My auntie asked me which obstacle did I dread the most and I answered, "The running. I just want to try out the obstacle but I don't want to run from obstacle to obstacle."

Indonesia: Bali Day 2 (Part 2) - Bali Mall Galleria, Kuta

After a busy morning in Ubud, racing from attraction to attraction, we were beat and were eager to move on to the next part of the holiday - Kuta. 

The drive from Ubud to Kuta took about 1 hour and a half and we slept the entire way while Joe from Bali Joe's drove us in his ever comfortable van to the main tourist hotspot. Our hotel, Grand Mega Resort and Spa, however was in the outskirts of the town center, a good 10 to 15 minutes drive away. Fortunately, it wasn't completely devoid of shops and stores as there was a shopping mall across the road. Unfortunately, that road was a busy freeway with no traffic light to stall the rushing cars and motocycles for us to cross.

Indonesia: Bali Day 2 (Part 1) - Ubud by Foot

I love Ubud. Quite possibly even more than Kuta. I love how simple the road is, it's just one long road that has everything including a Starbucks! That's right, Ubud has a Starbucks. But I am getting ahead of myself.

After a day of temples, monkeys and rice field with our guides from Febris Bali Tour, we only had the morning to explore Ubud after a slow and leisurely breakfast. From our hotel, we headed into town and it took us only 10 minutes by foot. Walking on the street can be quite dangerous though as there was no pedestrian walkway on the very narrow roads. However, the locals seem quite adapted at dodging us. To be safe, we struck to the edge as close as we could.

William's Corner, Taman Mayang

The famous Williams Corner in Taman Mayang and their gigantic portions of fusion mamak italian food has been circulating the world wide web for some time now and I have always been curious to try their dishes and their just-as-huge drinks.

So one fine day my girlfriends and I popped over to Williams to catch up over dinner. As warned by multiple blogs, there was no clear signatures or signboard of the place. Your only hint would be the tables and chairs set outside an open lot-turned-into-a-kitchen.

As soon as we sat down, a waiter came up to ask if we had ordered. We told him no and took turns checking out the menu on the wall inside the lot-turned-kitchen. They don't offer the typical book menu but here's a glimpse of they offer.

Indonesia: Bali Day 1 - Temple Tour, Ubud

A month before my trip, it suddenly dawned upon me that we had no idea how we were going to carry out our itinerary. We had no transportation or sense of direction to get to our intended sites. So I consulted Lord Google and came across Febris Bali Tour. Reviews of this tour group have been positive and assuring so I shot them an email and received a prompt reply confirming my tour booking in Ubud.

After a stressful night of delayed flights and missing purses, I was looking forward to a day of visiting the historical and cultural landmarks that made up Bali. Our guide, Mathir and driver, Putu were at our hotel, Sri Ratih Cottages in Ubud, early and waited patiently while we finished up breakfast. Mathir was very polite, courteous and spoke good English as he explained our itinerary for the day.

Our first stop was Taman Ayun Temple, located in Mengwi Village and is about a 40minutes drive from Ubud and 30minutes from Denpasar. The pond and garden surrounding the temple were huge and well-maintained with a clear pathway leading to the temple area.

5 Interesting Facts about Cellphones

I forgot to bring my iPhone to work one day and I just went into a complete mental meltdown upon discovering the absence of my phone right there in my office. Thankfully, all of my bosses were on  leave and only two of my colleagues bore witness to this. *hm, I would have to kill them now...*

Anyway, the point being that, without realizing it, our phones have become such an integral part of our daily lives. Try to think of a time when all we needed it for was to call and text people. If you can, do you think you would be able to go back to that time with a smartphone? Most probably not and if you can't recall such a time, you might have been just a toddler then.

But from a device that was once used for simple communication, phones has evolved into a multitasking tool. Courtesy of Lion and Lion, here are 5 Mind-Blowing Facts About Cellphones!