INDULGE Yourself at TGV 1Utama

You know how sometimes your most highly anticipated movie screening is right smack in the middle of your usual eating time (ie dinner time) or at odd hour that leaves you with hardly enough time to grab a proper meal?

 I do and usually I find that these are my options to curbing the grumbles in my tummy at the movies:

a) Change the movie timing or movie title altogether. (oh, the headache of reschueduling)

b) Indulge and enjoy the movie while dining on grilled salmon (ah, this is the life)

c) Popcorn to curb the hunger pangs (oh, the calories....)

d) Eat earlier or later (thereby throwing your eating routine off course)

e) Tapau and sneak your meal in. (not advisable) 

Now out of these options, you must be thinking 'walio, which cinema will let us watch movie while eating something as luxurious as salmon?' Well, TGV 1Utama will, in the form of their luxurious cinema-and-restaurant concept, Indulge.

The Flavours of Haagen Dazs Japan

Much like their manhole covers and Kit Kats, Japan shows no signs of limiting their creativity when it comes to ice-cream flavours, especially when it comes to major premium brand, Haagen Dazs.

As I discovered on my recent Japan trip, their flavours are exotic as they are unique to the country.

First up were the floral duo, Sakura and Rose flavours that was released to celebrate Haagen Dazs Japan's 30th anniversary. Earlier feedback over social media had reported the rose flavour coming off as 'like eating rose-flavoured shampoo' while the Sakura edition bore no resemblance to the subtle scent of cherry blossoms at all.

I disagree. 

Japan 2014 - Day 7: Osaka - Pokemon Center & Cherry Blossoms, Osaka Castle Park

Our 7th day in Osaka was a busy one with us on our feet from morning to night and hitting some of the main attractions of the city such as the Cruise Ship Santa Maria, the Pokemon Center in Umeda, the Museum of History, Osaka Castle and Nishinomaru Garden for the cherry blossom viewing at night.

Because we had the Osaka Unlimited Pass (now known as the Osaka Amazing Pass), we had unlimited rides on the public transportation and had complimentary accesses to the most of these attractions we visited, saving some money in the process.

Standing Theory SS2 review

Standing Theory has taken the unpretentious neighborhood of SS2 by storm, bringing hordes of coffee drinkers, hipsters and bacon fans to the quieter side of the town. And why?

Two words. BBC Waffle.

Curious to try this weird combination of sweet and savory, I headed over to Standing Theory with my equally-as-curious-friends. It was very crowded and we had to wait for a place to sit inside. Even then service was on the slow side as it took us alerting them to get our table cleaned up of the empty cups and dishes and even that took about 20 minutes. 

Mission Chips & Dips for World Cup

So it is Germany versus Argentina in the 2014 World Cup!

After Germany's brutal trashing of Brazil, I got my money on the black, red and yellows (although I am also rooting for Argentina because my boss is a huge fan and might declare holiday for the company if they win).

In anticipation of the finals, a huge gathering between my friends and I are in the works and I found myself stuck with chips and dips duty. To my defense, I wasn't present when the delegation of tasks were given out so yeah, resulting with me stuck with chips and dips duty.

 

Honestly I don't have a clue what goes with what. Enter Mission Chips! (cue Mission Impossible theme song)

Montagne Jeunesse Creamy Coconut Mud Mask review

Hi, peeps!

This post is waaaay overdue but you know what they say, better late than never. Thanks to Montagne Jeunesse, I had the opportunity to try out two of their newest facial masks; the Creamy Coconut Mud Mask and the Manuka Honey Peel Off.

Montagne Jeaunesse is a mask brand based in the United Kingdom, offers their products at affordable prices and most importantly is cruelty free. The ingredients are all-natural and the brand is against 'animal testing' which immediately give them a nod from me.

Coffee Societe, Publika review

Mochatella...the holy offspring of Nutella, frozen coffee cubes and hot milk and an must try at Coffee Societe in Publika. I went into the coffee cafe not really expecting anything other than a good cup of coffee with my friends. We had just come from Coffee Stain a few doors down and were keen to try what Coffee Societe had to offer.

It was crowded inside, a good sign and we found a table outside. The servers were foreigners but the first guy who gave us the menus was friendly and courteous. The one who took our order, not so much. He was pretty snappy while we were still deciding what to have and more or less snatched up our menus as soon as we were done.

Despite the flippant serve, the Mochatella came promptly. Priced at RM14.90, when a drink has Nutella in it, nothing can go wrong and Coffee Societe's Mochatella is the ideal example of that. The Nutella's sweetness mellows the coffee cubes and the hot milk melts and mixes the both elements perfectly. 

The Artistic Manhole Covers of Japan

While I was in Osaka, I so happened to look down at random and chanced upon their uniquely designed manhole cover.  Soon I was noticing this beautiful manholes covers was all over Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe and Nara.

It is no secret that Japan is a beautiful country, historically, culturally and architecturally and even its manholes have an artistic touch to it.  This started out in the 1980s when Japan started to modernize the sewage infrastructure in the rural areas of the country. These, of course, were expensive changes and the people then refused. Until someone came up with the idea to let the towns and cities design their own manholes and display their local attractions. (source: Bored Panda)

Okay la, not a manhole cover but cute nonetheless.

3D Latte Art at Coffee Stain by Joseph, Publika

Coffee drinkers have always been fanatics over their beloved drink and of late, the coffee scene seems to have taken it a step further from just the simple artistic foam art and gone to 3D Latte art. I only caught on the 3D latte craze....well, last month and along with a group of nutty friends, headed over to Coffee Stain by Joseph for some 3D art instagramming. 

It was 9pm when we arrived and boy, was it still crowded. People were still pouring in at that hour and we quickly secured a table outside after making our order. Another drink that we were curious to try was the coffee cube drink (RM15.90) where hot milk is poured over the cubes of coffee to create an iced latte. The resulting effect was a less diluted, creamy coffee drink. We found out though that we had to wait for a while for the coffee cube to melt into the milk.  

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.