Years ago, i remember wanting to order this handmade body chain necklace from Esty store, Norwegian Wood. She was the FIRST person to spark the body chain craze (i swear) that snowballed into thousands of mass-produced pieces sold by boutiques and high streets stores the world over.
Her piece was custom-made to my body measurements.
It was high quality.
It was amazing and i HAD to have it.
It was also only shipped to US and Canada -_-
By pure chance, my friend Lisa was flying back to Canada to visit her family, so i pounced on the opportunity to order the piece, get it mailed to Lisa’s family’s house in Montreal, then Lisa would bring it back to me in KL.
It sounds easy but it required some tai chi planning moves, and i must have confused the designer too cos we had heaps of emails going back and forth. Havoc.
I finally received my piece with much glee. And despite all the trouble… having this AWESOME fashion piece made JUST for me by HER made it worth it.
This is a fringe necklace also made by Norwegian Wood. I’m tellin’ ya, she made this also before the whole fringe accessories craze started. That’s the thing with shopping online! I see so many things i really want but it’d kill me when i find out they don’t ship to Malaysia. Like American Apparel. And Topshop.
The latest item i’ve been thinking about buying are a pair of Saltwater Sandals. I saw them on Yishyene when we were on holiday in Italy, and she swore by how durable, comfortable and waterproof they are for beach trotters like ourselves.
I’ve heard of online services that let you ship your shopping to an allocated address before they send it to you, but i never felt i could trust these people… first of all, their websites didn’t look professional, and WHAT IF THEY STOLE MY SHOPPING?!
Hence i never tried it.
Now, we’ve got Borderlinx Maybank. It’s professional, detailed, and they don’t look like they’re gonna hold on to my treasured fashion items.
Borderlinx provides international shoppers with a personal local shipping addresses in the US and UK, before shipping to wherever you are (they partner with DHL and ship to more than 60 countries).
Gone are the days the first thing i check is whether they send to Malaysia!
Gone are the days where i’d despondently click the ‘x’ on the page cos there’s no point looking at things i can’t have shipped to me!
Now i can have access to brands not available locally (come on, we all like some exclusivity in some of the things we wear/use!), and it’s great for those who can’t find their sizes easily in Malaysia.
WE CAN EVEN BENEFIT FROM THE ONLINE SALES OFFERED ONLY TO US OR UK RESIDENTS HELLO!!!
Have you heard of Black Friday? It’s traditionally the day following Thanksgiving Day in the US, and signifies the beginning of Christmas shopping season. What makes Black Friday memorable is that most shops offer 80% discounts or more. The Monday after Black Friday is dubbed Cyber Monday, and is also a day for lots of discounts everywhere on sites like Amazon and Walmart.
Even if you find brands that are available in Malaysia/Singapore, the sales and discounts you find online in US/UK make the effort worth it, and you also get more selection than just what is brought here.
I can shop till i puas and done for the month, and THEN ONLY do i get Borderlinx Maybank to mail everything to me at once. They have a service where they hold all your parcels for you for 30 days, free of charge. They even help you repack everything if you allow them to – so the entire package is smaller and shipping fees are cheaper. Seriously. If i got friends overseas to do this, i’d be buying them very expensive meals in return…
All my shipping costs, tax and duty is paid in advance and there are NO surprise/additional costs upon delivery. DHL Express can deliver things in 2-4 days, and of course allow me to track my parcels as they make their way into my delighted arms. 😀
I’ve already created my account easily by linking it to my Facebook.
So every time i shop using Borderlinx Maybank, i just enter my personal address that’s given to me above. I can also calculate the estimated full cost of shipping that item by using the Total Cost Calculator
.
Besides fashion items, one can also ship books, gadgets, toys, whatever! (as long as it’s not illegal haha)
If you own a Maybankard Visa Credit Card, you get free shipping the first time you register at the website. Of course, your payment for purchases must be made using your Maybankard Visa Credit Card issued by Maybank & Maybank Islamic Malaysia only. The free shipping promo is capped at USD25 per person and ends on 31st Dec 2012.
I first heard of Stolen when i blogged about Bazarro boutique. When i found their A/W lookbook online, i fell even more in love with their aesthetics. Started by Singaporean designer Elyn Wong, the brand’s signature style is subtle asymmetry and bare backs. Apparently she likes the idea of women being able to wear clothes without bras, hence the thick fabric used for the front. I think it’s incredibly sexy without showing too much.
Their A/W 2012 shots:
They’ve just released pictures of their S/S 2013 collection on their FB.
“A new use of colour inspired by rich spices;
add flavours to the clean lines and simple structures
that characterise the collection.”
I’ve been telling Clem that i want to eat at MediTeca since August, thanks to food-stalking on Instagram. All the pictures taken at MediTeca made my mouth water terribly! I finally had good reason to just GO when i received an invitation to their wine-pairing dinner last Friday. However, in a last minute ‘crisis’ at the office, Clem couldn’t go with me and i got Oli to be my wine & dine date instead. Poor Clem… he was really looking forward to it and put crying icons on our whatsapp. Never the matter, I’m definitely going back with him after my first beautiful gastronomic experience there!
The wine-pairing dinner last week consisted of 5 courses and cost RM150++. I think it’s crazy reasonable cos of the standard of food and wines you’re being served. I’m already rounding out a bunch of friends to go for their next one — MediTeca hopes to do wine, cheese and tapas parties monthly.
For their first dinner event, we were introduced to Villa Sandi, whose wines we’d be tasting all night.
Villa Sandi is an Italian winery with land suitable for growing both white and red varieties owned by the Moretti Polegato family. The ancient tradition of winemaking has been handed down from father to son for three generations.
“The Enological team at Villa Sandi is dedicated to producing the best wines possible, and with the support of Riccardo
Cotarella, one of Italy’s most famous Enologists, Villa Sandi has created wines that are considered as some of the finest wines in both Italy and the world.” [source]
We started off with Patatas Bravas; Gorgonzola Croquettes; and Martinated Sardines in White Vinegar, Garlic and Parsley. I’m a bit in love with these sardines.
We started with Villa Sandi DOC Treviso IL Fresco Spumate. A prosecco that is fresh, slightly sweetish and soft to the palate; it is also flavorsome on the back of the tongue and has an agreeable and fruity finish.
Almond Soup with Shrimp Carpaccio, Sautéed Prawns and Sultana Puree.
Paired with the pale straw yellow Villa Sandi Cuvee Di Pinot Bianco Pinot Grigio IGT – which has a dry, round and flavorsome taste with a fruit, agreeable bitter finish.
Local leather, accessories and jewelry designer label Thirtyfour is undoubtedly one of my fondest brands in KL. I went to their Publika store with Clem last week to buy presents for his mum and sister. It’s seriously one of the best places you can find gifts at cos most items are leather, all are beautifully-crafted, and locally designed (by Shuenkee, who went to Parsons School of Design, no less).
Evening envelope leather clutches in store now – each at RM355. I’m SO getting the purple and aqua ones for myself.
You can also order bespoke studded clutches. The fun part is choosing your leather, stud and lining colours! There are two sizes available – i know the A4 size costs RM425, the slightly smaller one is around RM350.
Leather colours
Lining colours
Thirtyfour finally have their own Instagram @thirtyfourkl so you can stalk their designs and new leathers available for bespoke items. They’re also having a contest that ends on the 30th of November:
Below are some pictures of the bags from their BLACKPLATINUM collection:
edie.tote.17 – prism green calfskin
edie.tote.14 – waves cognac calfskin
Click ‘Read More’ to view all the proper shots of the bags, descriptions and prices!
“It’s NOVEMBER! YAY! WE CAN PUT UP THE CHRISTMAS TREE!!!!” “What? No. It’s too early. Nobody puts up their Christmas tree in November. We’ll do it in December.” “Really? No… why don’t we just put it up anyway? Then we can look at it for more months out of a year and get its worth!” “No! 3 months to have the Christmas tree up is too long!” “Hmph.”
Nov 6th
“Baby!!! I saw the Toys R’ Us people putting up their Christmas deco today!!!” “….” “SO. It’s time to put up our Christmas tree!” “Noooo we’re not a shop! And it’s Toys ‘R Us la, come on.” ” 🙁 “
Nov 10th
*walking in Publika* “LOOK! That shop has put up their Christmas tree!!! EVERYONE is putting up their Christmas tree!!” “Ahhh it’s a gift shop, of course. No, we are not putting up our tree.” “But THEY DID IT!!!”
*in bed at night* “Guess what baby. Marion Cotillard switched on the Christmas lights in Paris TODAY. SO. Even YOUR PEOPLE have put up their lights and decorations!!!” “What? No. You must be mistaken.”
I shove my phone into his face, “See?” *pushes obvious picture of Christmas lights in Paris into Clem’s face* “No no, you must be reading last year’s article.” “No i’m not! It says 10th November 2012!” *enlargens date and proceeds to shove phone again into Clem’s face* “Nope. Nope. It was last year’s decorations.” “Whatever you suck.”
Nov 11th
I spotted a picture of Oxford Street that Yishyene posted on Facebook. “GUESS WHAT BABY! LONDON HAS PUT UP THEIR DECORATIONS TOO.” “Oh jeez.” *rolls his eyes* “WHY?! The whole world has put up their decorations! It’s OBVIOUSLY TIME to do ours!” “No. No. We do it when i come back from France (on 23rd Nov)” *steps back into bedroom and shuts the door*
