Japan 2014 - Day 6: Osaka - Nara & Dotonbori

After two nights in Kobe and three nights in Kyoto, we were finally heading back to Osaka for the remaining 4 nights of the trip. But first, a quick stop in Nara to see the famous Nara deer park and Todaiji temple. 

We took the Kintetsu Nara semi-express train from Kyoto station and rode it all the way to Nara without needed to transit. We had our luggage with us and quickly ditched them in the lockers provided at the Nara station.  While there were a lot of medium and small lockers, the large-sized lockers suited for big luggages were limited. My group was lucky to have gotten lockers to store away our massive bags before they were all taken up by other travelers.

BBQ Thai - Thai Street Food, Old Klang Road

BBQ Thai restaurant in Old Klang Road is known for offering up authentic Thai street food in an chic environment that resembled the Bangkok night market that has since closed down. With different buildings that double as dining aircon rooms and unique decor in the main outdoor eating, BBQ Thai does leave an impression food-wise and ambivalence-wise My first visit a year ago, left me impressed with their BBQ pork neck and seafood Tom Yam soup and craving for more but since then I haven't had the time nor the company to revisit the place until recently.

The best landmark to look out for when approaching the restaurant (if you are coming from Midvalley) is Coco Steamboat. Upon spotting that, best to stick to the left lane and slow down. The nearly-invisible entrance to BBQ Thai is a few meters down and parking can be found inside the compound although limited. It is advisable to carpool and/or driving a small car. Reservation is recommended for larger groups and if you would like some privacy, request for the air-con rooms although it could get noisy inside.

Sneak Preview of M2 World of Brand in Tropicana City Mall

 

M2 World of Brands has finally opened up in Tropicana City Mall! I was treated to a sneak preview of the newly opened outlet and found shelves and racks of luxury brands of bags, dresses and accessories ranging from Hermes, Chanel to Miu Miu.

Digi Challenge for Change 2014 Finale

The fifth edition of DiGi's annual Challenge for Change (#DiGiCFC) programme officially ended yesterday with the announcement of the winners of the best mobile apps.

In case you don't know what the DiGi Challenge for Change is, it is a competition to discover new, community-centric ideas that are then developed into mobile applications. More than 2,500 ideas were submitted at the ideation phase and only five of these ideas were selected to become the basis of the mobile apps that were later designed in the app development phase. About 56 full-fledged mobile apps were created across these five categorizes in hopes of winning prizes amounting to over RM200,000. 

SCKLM: Run for a Reason and I am on TV!

Look, ma! I am on TV!

Thanks to Standard Chartered KL and Essence PR, I was invited to join Rainer Biemans from Dirigo Events, organiser of SCKLM and Elena Koshy from Malaysian Nature Society on Hello On Two, an afternoon segment of TV2. While Rainer spoke about the run itself, Elena shared about how MNS' cause and how SCKLM is contributing and helping them. And that was where I came in as a runner for SCKLM and MNS.

Whittaker's Chocolate Malaysia Launch

The first time I heard about Whittaker's Chocolate was four years ago in the country of its origins, New Zealand when I was there on a media tour. I saw the chocolate brand in the airport shops and its variety of flavours was huge! Kiwi, dark chocolate of different richness, strawberry, orange....you name it, they had it. Needless to say, I boarded the plane back to Malaysia with my carry-on filled with Whittaker's Chocolate bars. 

Fast forward four years later to June 2014 and Whittaker's Chocolate has finally had its way to Malaysia! And to mark its entry, Whittaker's bringing flavours that has not been so readily available in Malaysia before such as peanut butter chocolate and dark peppermint fondant-filled chocolate.

NST Street Race 2014

So I just completed my first ever NST Street Race yesterday with my team, the Killah Cherry Poppers. A mix of running, treasure hunting and obstacle racing, it was by far one of the hardest challenges I have done to date and that included Tough Mudder. Completing and even getting to each challenges and checkpoint called for a mix of brains, strength, luck and a bit of experience.

We arrived at the NST main office building bright and early to get good parking and already the atmosphere was buzzing with anticipation. Everyone was in either teams of four or three and a good chunk of us were from our bootcamp gang. Some of us had joined this previously and were the favourite to get a placing. As for me, I just wanted to do this without decking or killing my teammates as I have been known to get snappish and bitchy in a stressful situation. Once during a car treasure hunt, I shoved my friend out of the car at a traffic light to grab a treasure we needed.

Taylor Swift - AirAsia Merchandise for the Fans

So who managed to catch Taylor Swift's first ever concert in Kuala Lumpur as part of the RED Tour 2014 recently? Well, I can't say I did because I didn't but I heard it was one heck of a swell concert, 

And the best part is, she flew in on the day of the concert itself aboard this special Airbus A320 Taylor Swift livery by Malaysia's very own Airasia. While it is off to Singapore next for Taylor for the final leg of The RED Tour, die-hard fans of the singer have the chance of owning the special AirAsia Taylor Swift aircraft model. 

Japan 2014: Namba guesthouse (NUL-Live.com House), Osaka Review

On my mom's recommendation, I stayed the last leg of my Japan 2014 trip at Namba Guesthouse (NUL-Live.com House). My mom who stayed there a few months early and during that time, helped me secure a room for my group, told me of its friendly owners, its ideal location, the cosy accommodation and finally, of its resident cats.

CATS! That immediately sold the guesthouse to me and prior to my trip, I promptly cancelled my booking with a hostel in Shinsaibashi and reconfirmed my booking with Saito, the owner of Namba Guesthouse.

We arrived in Namba station in Osaka coming from Kyoto after a short stop at Nara and quickly found our way to Namba Guesthouse. The accommodation was only a 5 minutes walk from the main transportation hub of midtown Osaka and just a stone-throw away from otaku and technie heaven, Den-Den Town. .

How to Train your Dragon 2 movie review

Wow, it has been ages since I did a movie review and I am not sure I can even remember how to do it. Anyway without further ado, on to the review of Dreamworks' most highlight anticipated movie of the year, How To Train Your Dragon 2 courtesy of Nuffnang.