‘Twas a beautiful bright cotton cloudy day to go hunting for cheap treasures at Old Blossom Box Store! Jess and i braved the journey to Shah Alam (actually it was quite near but sounds far to us!)
I bought a long denim dress from Adeline of iLoveSnackFood for RM10.
Can you say STEAL with me?
Also paused at a dress on her rack that caught my eye,
till i realised it used to be MY dress!
It’s a vintage one with unique blue print so it’s very recognisable.
Wouldn’t it be shy if i bought back a dress i sold to her years ago?
Hahaaaaa
Salty Caramel macarons from That Last Slice is my FAVOURITE FLAVOUR.
4 for RM10. I bought 8.
Thanks to Jezmine for organizing the flea!
Been a long time since i’ve been to a PROPER flea sale where shopaholics sell their clothes for supercheap,
instead of those flea markets filled with blogshops that all sell the same stuff.
I got some supercolourful scarves for… RM3 each. *smirk*
When i paid for all my finds, Jezmine asked whether i wanted a paperbag,
to which i said no cos i already came prepared with a shopping bag.
“Are you sure?” she said, “The paperbag has a unicorn on it…” *waves unicorn in front of me*
Sorry Mother Earth,
but i couldn’t resist a UNICORN PAPERBAG OMG BEST PAPERBAG EVAAA
It’s like Charlie‘s shopaholic unicorn girlfriend.
Also went weak in the knees upon seeing these paperdolls from the 80s i used to play with!
I bought them of course.
I would have REGRETTED for life if i’d let them go.
+ + +
There are a couple of NEW shopping sites just launched in Malaysia so i want to give them my support!
Check out sevendaysonline.com!
Besides running the most successful boutique in Bangsar for years,
they’ve expanded to launching their website where they’ll be stocking their own items,
as well as designs from brands of their personal pick like PU3, Nurita Harith, thirtyfour, and more!
Also just launched a few days ago is azorias.com
founded by long-time shopaholic Hui Wen.
The flight to Sri Lanka from KL took about 3 and a half hours,
and we landed in Colombo early in the morning, Sri Lanka time.
I thought we’d be traveling around Sri Lanka backpacker style via bus and train,
but Clem made sense when he said we only had 1 week there.
Travelers usually take 2-3 weeks to explore the whole country,
so we’d save time by hiring a car instead of having to follow the bus/train schedules.
We went to one of those car rental agencies in the airport,
and managed to get a car for 200 euros for 8 days.
Throw in 60 euros and the driver is included for the entire trip so that’s what we did.
First place i made our driver take us to was somewhere for breakfast!
We went to a mamak-like restaurant where we had our first authentic Sri Lankan meal – curries with noodle patties/roti.
It’s quite interesting… you simply tear up the noodles and mix it with curries on your plate.
With your hands of course.
The curry was really spicy, even for me!
And i love my spicy food…
I took one taste, looked at Clem and said, “You’re going to be in trouble here…”
We decided to travel to the Hill Country (central province) of Sri Lanka,
spend a few days in the mountain and hill areas,
make our way down South to the beaches,
and work our way up the West side and end up back in Colombo to catch our flight home.
So we didn’t even stay in Colombo at all…
really explored the other parts of the country,
which i preferred!
First thing i noticed on our road trip were how different the trees and foliage are!
The trees spread out really wide, and make me think of India (which i’ve not been to)
so it felt really exotic!
First place we decided to head to after breakfast was Sigiriya,
a UNESCO World Heritage Site situated right in the middle of the country.
It’s a huge rock that juts out of the earth’s face,
and is thought to be a former palace (on top) and gardens.
Archeologists think otherwise – that it was a long-standing Buddhist monastery.
built in 3rd century BC.
It was quite expensive to visit the area,
as, i discovered later, is common in Sri Lanka.
The entrance fee to visit Sigiriya rock is 1,500 rupees / RM52.
Comparable to the fees to the Mosque of Cordoba, which is in Spain.
One of the pools that was allegedly built in the 5th century AD by King Kassapa,
who reputedly murdered and overthew his own father off the throne.
Vicious!
That’s Sigiriya rock behind the dog.
Tiny dot of white is a person… so you can guess how far away we still had to walk to it.
Entrance to the start of the climb!
Oh did i fail to mention how high the climb is?
12,000 steps.
The other day i flew up 3 flights of stairs in Uptown and completely lost my breath.
The 12,000 steps in my near future was… daunting.
Not to mention i didn’t have anywhere to change at the entrance (the toilet was really filthy!)
so i was still wearing my Old Blossom Box leggings and black Jimmy Lim jersey shirt i wore in the airport.
I thought i would survive the climb in that,
but OH HOW I REGRETTED IT LATER cos it was SUPER HOT CAN DIE x 10000.
The Lonely Planet book was our bible the whole week.
So useful! Think i’ll be buying Lonely Planets every country i decide to explore now!
These signs were everywhere, think Ashley might never venture in Sigiriya…
she’s got stung before and is damn paranoid.
The start of 12,000 steps.
I think we did 100 by the time i took this picture.
On the way up, there are natural cave shelters that have ancient paintings…
More formidable steps…
We took a rest and took Wilson out for a picture.
‘Twas very risky cos the wind almost blew him off the ledge and Clem caught him in time!
Didn’t put him too close to the edge after that!
The colour of the rock and my Blue Hat reminds me of my pix in Elba…
We bumped into lots of schoolchildren
who shouted out greetings, asked us our names, where we’re from,
and laughed cos they thought Clem’s name was funny.
Below is the last series of flights of stairs to reach the top.
My face was as red as a lobster
and my thighs felt like Arnold Schwarzenegger had just put me through the gym.
Note the big stone claw(?) on the lower left
There was an old auntie climbing the stairs right in front me who was so painfully slow, she held up a long line of people behind her in the hot sun…
We couldn’t say anything of course, and waited as patiently as we could…
First thing i did when i reached the top was to HIDE IN THE SHADE.
The scenery was GORGEOUS.
We could spot the glimmer of faraway lakes amidst the jungle!
The gardens below
Lots more stairs and terraces to climb and explore at the top.
Must say i’ve never had a more bonding relationship with stairs.
It was really something.
And we don’t regret climbing the 12,000 steps.
In fact, i think we would have done it if it were 24,000 steps!
(cough, maybe)
It ended up being our favourite spot to visit in Sri Lanka
I just laughed and laughed to myself (alone) like an idiot when i saw these pictures…
Check out the TTDI market people staring at this…
Ooh…. Aah….
They’re the Munchy’s Funbots!
To celebrate 20 years of making yummylicious biscuits, Munchy’s have sent their Funbots to make a fun-taste-tic journey
from their factory in Batu Pahat the city of KL.
They went sightseeing in Malacca,
and reached KL last week where they’ve been out and about if you’ve been lucky enough to spot them.
I felt kinda… jealous when i saw they were at the TTDI market.
That’s where i go sometimes!
Why couldn’t they have gone when i was there!
It would have been so funny!
I could have introduced them to my other toys like Wilson, Cassie and Maurice (my new mouse).
Life’s not fair! (I definitely learnt this from Claudia…)
They even went to the park…
to do tai chi with the uncles and aunties..! Hahahaha!!!
Really following the moves, don’t mess.
I love how all the uncles/aunties seem so… oblivious to the giant Funbots exercising with them.
Happy bouncy jog! Even the uncle is smiley, look!
Well, i would be smiley too if i had a robot jogging next to me one random day…
Now this is very important, there are FOUR Munchy’s Funbots.
You gotta know your Funbots… imagine calling one by the wrong name,
he’d be so hurt!
All the info in black is provided straight from the Munchy’s headquarters!
Occupation: Packing
Beat Box is the creative genius behind all the Munchy’s packets and boxes.
He loves creating the latest designs to complement the tasty snacks and biscuits inside. He also loves hip hop music and breakdancing.
Hobbies: Breakdancing, grafitti, origami.
Origami…?
Occupation: Biscuit Mold Maker
Chop Chop is a martial arts fan from Batu Pahat. When he was young all he ever wanted to do as a job was to chop stones (batu pahat ma). Munchy’s discovered his artistic talents and now he’s happily chop-chopping all the fun-looking snacks at the Munchy’s factory.
Hobbies: Martial arts tricks, watching Bruce Lee movies, playing Street Fighter on Playstation.
Occupation: Mixing ingredients and flavours
DJ Mixer is inquisitive, curious, and very adventurous. He can often be seen mixing and matching ingredients to create another tasty new Munchy’s snack. Sometimes his experiments don’t go as plan but it’s ok, cos he knows the most important thing is to try and try.
Occupation: Baking biscuits and snacks
Michael Oven is always full of funny jokes that cheers up everyone at Munchy’s.
He also loves playing practical jokes on the rest of the unsuspecting Funbots.
Hobbies: Football, pulling pranks, telling jokes, baking.
Besides sightseeing and exercising in the park, the Munchy’s Funbots will be at 1 Utama Oval Concourse for a grand celebration for their 20th Anniversary
from 1st-6th June!
[click to view larger size]
Besides providing lots of fun activities and games for the whole family,
there’s also a Munchy’s Funbots Dance appon Facebook
where you can win THINGS I OSOWAN like a
Macbook Pro 13-inch
2x iPad 2 wifi + 3G
an iPod Nano
and 7x iPod Shuffle (2GB)
You just need to select a Funbot of choice
to create your own combination of dance steps.
Each dance step has its own points with every successful submission unlocking a new dance move and background (up to 4 new unlockables).
You can also boost your dance scores on the leaderboard by inviting friends and earning votes!
To play, click on the ‘Funbots’ tab on the side of the FB Page.
Ahhh i’m so backlogged with all my blogposts!
Had to put my head down to online ad work when i got back from Sri Lanka,
so i haven’t even had time to start to edit the hundreds of pics i took during the past two weeks!
First of, i really want to say a big thank you to Singapore Tourism Board,
who sponsored my trip there and hooked me up with Marina Bay Sands,
who in turn upgraded my room and treated me like a rockstar.
Marina Bay Sands is a resort that includes a hotel with 2,561 rooms,
a world-class casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines,
a massive convention/exhibition centre,
The Shoppes mall,
the new gorgeous lotus-shaped ArtScience museum,
2 theatres (one in which we watched The Lion King!),
and more things i’m going to leave out before i get carried away..!
Clem and i were put up in the massive Sands Suite that measured at roughly 2,390 square feet.
I’m glad i went there *before* Sri Lanka…
cos if it were after, i’d feel ever so guilty for the amount of space we got,
considering some people in the world have a tiny box to live in..!
The living room and dining area
Floor-to-ceiling glass windows lined the whole living + dining area,
complete with remote controlled curtains of course. I mean, who’s going to pull open and close the massive curtains every time i wanted it done?
Hmm the butler maybe… :p
I kid!
Actually… i think the butlers would have done them if there weren’t any remote controls!
Living room couch
Tea + coffee
One side of the theatre room
Our bedroom + 2nd living room (because… the other living room just seems so FAR away at times you know?)
Bathroom
Walk-in wardrobe.
Should’ve taken pictures of it with my clothes and shoes in there,
but oh well i forgot!
I had a super tight schedule the entire time i was in Singapore,
and decided to skip out on walking along Orchard Rd. cos i was simply exhausted from being up at 9am and going on till 1am.
So the first evening we were at Marina Bay Sands,
I decided to check out the famous 150m infinity pool…
I think i’ve got terribly spoilt with all the places i go to,
cos i thought the pool was terribly crowded!
And i’m used to privacy and having… the whole place to myself haha.
So i shifted to the jacuzzi to chill there for a bit..
But i left after tourists started taking pictures of me sitting in there with the bg.
It just felt too weird… -_-
Decided lounging about in my our massive suite was SO much better!
I was bouncing with excitement cos we were going to watch The Lion King musical that night!
Musicals! Costumes! Songs!
Most of all – THE LION KING!
My dad bought the OST when i was a child and i memorized ALL THE SONGS WORD FOR WORD.
Before the musical, we dressed and headed to Santi for pre-show tapas and drinks.
Having been awarded Best New Restaurant by Singapore Tatler Best Restaurants Guide 2011,
Santi combines Mediterranean culture with the authentic taste of the Catalan region.
Oh it was all sublime! My favourite was the octopus,
followed by the hams. I’m a real sucker for authentic hams and salami!
No pictures for The Lion King but i must say,
I was almost crying with happiness when i watched it.
The puppetry’s creativity was OUT OF THIS WORLD,
and i kept on staring at the giraffes (i love zirafah!).
SO BRILLIANT.
The Lion King is reason and occasion enough to go to Singapore,
just go there and WATCH IT.
I can’t believe nobody convinced me to go there just to watch it before…
YOU SO SHOULD!!
Sigh, i want to be a giraffe puppet.
Anyway, after the show, we went to Kudeta for a few drinks.
I’ve been a loyalist to its Bali counterpart for years,
so was very curious to see how the Singaporean Kudeta was like.
It’s different, doesn’t have the lounges like the Bali one,
but then again, that faces the sea and sand.
Kudeta SG is a beautiful sky bar and we were very lucky it was a clear night…
Just look at that view.
It does feel like a different world up there.
I faced the open air
stared up at the bright moon
danced with my drink in my hand…
Look it was so clear my pancake lens could capture the moon!
After drinks at Kudeta, Clem and i went to join Danny
who was celebrating his birthday in Singapore.
He likes it so much he wants to move there now -_-
And of course… we dragged him back to our suite to party on.
How could we NOT party in that suite!!!
All other pictures and videos censored after that.
Let’s just say we ran around and i managed to convince them to lean on the giant glass windows to pretend we were tiny flies.
Ok yes we drank a fair bit too.
Slept at 3:30am and woke up at 8:30 to go for breakfast at the SkyPark.
I have to say the view is simply fabulous and a lot less crowded in the mornings.
Too bad i didn’t have time to lounge about *sad*
Buffet spread was great, every thing i took made me want more.
I had prawn mee, fried rice, mushrooms, and finished off with fresh kiwi.
We strolled around The Shoppes mall in the afternoon
after going to the ArtScience museum (that’s for another post!)
The huge mall is filled with all these luxury brands that make you want to cry.
There’s a skating rink that’s not made of ice,
but a special material that just makes it seem so!
A few things you really must take notice of when you go to Marina Bay Sands,
is the Rain Oculus and Wind Arbor features that are designed by Ned Kahn.
The Rain Oculus (pic above) is a large acrylic dome that allows a whirlpool motion when water falls through it to the fountain in the mall below/inside.
As for the Wind Arbor, they’re tiny metal plates that move with the wind in between the three main towers,
giving the building a more organic feel to it.
You can see pix of it *here*
We had lunch in db Bistro Moderne.
The moment i stepped in, i felt like i was in New York…
They serve French cuisine (love!) and American fare.
I had a wholesome pot of seafood (which i thought was great for SGD35).
Felt so sleepy after that!
OK this has been such a long post
cos we did SO MUCH at Marina Bay Sands!
One of the favourite part of our stays… was the team of butlers who took care of us.
Thank you Razin, Shuane and Jermaine!
They were so very attentive,
wanting to walk us everywhere (mall, dinner, museum) so we wouldn’t get lost and ‘waste time’.
And every night we returned to the suite,
we’d find a little surprise!
First night was a plate of macarons and penguin towels
I had the fortune of having a butler previously,
so i always looked forward to how they arrange all my things neatly after i throw them around in a rush getting ready!
Clem and i laughed so much when we saw how they neatly arranged Wilson…
I was like, “OH NO, now they’re going to know we’re crazy…”
On the second night they outdid themselves with a red wine from Bordeaux, wines and chocolates.
They even scattered rose petals on our bed
and drew a bath for me!
Honeymoon or what…
Ok yeah i look like a small kid in the robe
I tell you, their attention to detail was astounding!
They’d fold all our clothes, hang up my mess,
put a mousepad under my mouse (they noticed i was using a magazine),
sew Clem’s missing button on (can’t believe they noticed that!),
replace his disgusting receipt he was using as a bookmark with a Marina Bay Sands one,
and even change the radio station to a love one the night they threw rose petals everywhere.
And i thought this was the most amazing of all…
I couldn’t find the plastic bags i used to pack my shoes in
and thought they threw them away.
On the day we were packing up to leave (they even offered to help us pack but i declined)
i stumbled upon them…
Neatly folded into little triangles and placed next to flowers.
How do i return to normal life after this!?
Everytime we’re in a queue, i’d tug at Clem and say “I miss our butlers…” cos they would have just sorted us out.
So spoilt okay.
