Category

KL What to Do

in Beauty & Fashion, Expat Life, KL What to Do, KL Where to Go, Uncategorized

Kuala Lumpur’s Perfect Zen Hideaway: EOS Wellness (Discount code inside!)

If you know me personally, you must have seen how stressed I have been the past couple of weeks.

Events, write-ups for news sites I work for, marketing work, some freelance work with the United Nations (which I finished today, yay!), diplomat’s wife duties, and there’s also The Binge. 😉  Of course, I’m not complaining. My career is on a pretty good roll, and I’ve never been this fit. Alvin has been constantly reminding me to slow down though since I’m quite overworked. He is kinda right.

My eye bags looked more like luggage and I’ve been experiencing some back pain despite my regular workouts. 😭  My brain is constantly on overdrive that sometimes I even dream of work! I truly needed a moment of relaxation as my husband suggested!

EOS Wellness invited me over just in time and I swear, I made the right choice to squeeze it into my already-packed schedule. A lot of times, we just need to hit the pause button and just relax. I needed a full on reboot and I got it that day in the couple of hours that I spent there.

Continue reading

Masjid Wilayah, Federal Territory Mosque, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Mosque Tour, Visiting a Mosque, Tour Guide, Guided Tour, Mosque, Islam, Travel, Asia, Non-Touristy, Not Touristy, Locals, Things to do, Places to visit, KL,
in Expat Life, KL What to Do, KL Where to Go, Kuala Lumpur

KL Adventures: Masjid Wilayah Persekutuan (Federal Territory Mosque)

dsc03651-1_zpscndw6b4e

As a diplomat’s wife, I often get the fun yet daunting task of taking visitors of the embassy around KL. Fun, because I love playing tour guide. Daunting because sometimes, people I need to show around KL have already been here before so I need to find a new place to take them. I wouldn’t want them bored, repeating the same sights and activities they’ve done before.

This is where the Masjid Wilayah Persekutuan comes in. The husband and I actually saw it from afar months ago – during our first excursion to Publika.

It’s a gorgeous, imposing structure that really had us wanting to visit for the longest time. However, we never got around to doing it – until recently.

Continue reading

in Expat Life, KL What to Do

Events + Movies: The Avengers: Age of Ultron Advance Screening! (Win a trip to NY, Hollywood, LA, or Seoul!)

The Avengers, Age of Ultron, Movie, Movie Premiere, Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Watsons, Contest, Win A Trip, Travel Contest, Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, Ultron

The Hulkbuster! Seen in Pavilion prior to Watsons Malaysia’s advance screening of The Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Though I’m a huge lover of Marvel, going to the advance screening of The Avengers: Age of Ultron wasn’t in the plan last Wednesday. But thanks to my friends Ella and Mira plus the Watsons Malaysia team, I ended up going! Even Alvin made it despite the looong hours at the office these days due to the ASEAN Summit. He made it just minutes before the movie started! Whew!

I love movie premieres and advance screenings as usually, there’s a lot of fun things to do prior to actually watching the movie. Cocktails, a fun programme, etc. And of course, since it’s an Avengers screening, some of the “cast” members were there. Well, not exactly Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, and the gang. But you catch my drift. 😉

The Avengers, Age of Ultron, Movie, Movie Premiere, Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Watsons, Contest, Win A Trip, Travel Contest, Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, Ultron

Continue reading

Betjeman & Barton, Tea, Perfume Making, Afternoon Tea, Bisou Bon Bon, Paris Theme, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, The Butterfly Project
in Expat Life, KL Food, KL What to Do

Events: Bisou Bon Bon Perfume Tea Party at Betjeman and Barton

**As promised, here’s a new post! I’m back! <3 So happy to have time to write again!**

A couple of weeks back, I was so fortunate to be able to attend an event organised by The Butterfly Project where I, along with several other beauty bloggers, learned the basics of making perfume while indulging in oh-so good tea and desserts. Definitely my kind of party. 😉

I’m so, so happy to see Betjeman & Barton in Kuala Lumpur. Prior to being told the venue for this event, I was not aware that this French company was present in this part of the world.

But quite frankly, I’m not surprised to find a Betjeman & Barton branch thousands of miles away from Paris. After all, they’re one of the most trusted brands for tea and has been around since 1919. I’m happy that they’re here in KL as I just love their tea selection!

Which has a wide variety, by the way. 😉

Continue reading

in Expat Life, KL Shopping, KL Tips, KL What to Do

Events: Surviving the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale 2014

Just got home from the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale and I gotta say, my arms (and also my husband’s) are dyiiiing from carrying our purchases. This has got to be the craziest book fair I have ever been to – even crazier than the ones we have in Manila. And that’s saying something.

Don’t believe me? Well here you go:

Big Bad Wolf, Books, Book Sale

So I guess this is how a book sale with 3.5 million books, running for 24 hours look like. I felt like Belle discovering the library inside the Beast’s castle!

What I thought was going to be “just another book sale” turned out to be one of my most favourite shopping experiences in Malaysia. Also, I’m proud to say that we’re almost done with our Christmas shopping thanks to this event! (Granted that our shopping list contains just a few names since we’re far away from our friends and family back in Manila – but still!)

We got there around a little bit before 5 in the afternoon. The crowd was tolerable so I can honestly say that the biggest enemy you have to face during the sale is the urge to grab everything in sight.

Continue reading

//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
in Expat Life, KL Shopping, KL Tips, KL What to Do

Events + Photos: KL Vintage Festival 2014

Last Sunday, Malaysia celebrated Hari Merdeka (Independence/Freedom day) which commemorates the independence of the Federation of Malaya from British colonial rule. The holiday was extended to Monday, September first, and since my husband had to make a quick nip (ok, not that quick – he was there from 8:30am until almost 4pm) to the embassy because the whole team as well as our Ambassador needed to rush a few things for our President, I was able to get most of my chores out of the way before he got home and we decided to check out the Kuala Lumpur Vintage Festival.

We left the condo at around 4pm and took the Monorail to the Maharajalela station which was basically connected to Stadium Merdeka – the festival’s choice of venue.

Upon entry to the stadium are walls filled with photographs of the Malaysians’ heroes and revered leaders.

Continue reading

in Beauty & Fashion, Expat Life, Fashion, KL What to Do, OOTD

Happenings + OOTD: Vision KL 18th Anniversary

Photo wall! Strike an (awkward) pose! 😉

Last night, the husband and I attended the Vision KL Anniversary Party at Signature by the Hill (The Roof). It made me totally excited cos it meant that I can wear something that’s not too formal for a change. The husband was tasked to attend the party in place of the our Ambassador who had a prior commitment. So, yay! Lucky, lucky!

Vision KL is a popular magazine-slash-city guide here in Kuala Lumpur. They have over a million readers and has been around for 18 years.

I loved Signature by the Hill’s interior. It’s pretty chill with striking elements. Like this:

An LED-lighted tree. It changes colour every couple of seconds.

Continue reading

in Expat Life, KL What to Do, KL Where to Go

KL Adventures: The KL Planetarium

I haven’t posted anything in days as we have been busy putting the condo together. And now, I am quite glad to report that we’ve made substantial progress. We now have couches in the living room, the TV is off the floor and finally on its own chocolate brown stand, and our 6-seater dining set is now in place.

We even got curtains up on the sliding glass panels that open to the balcony yesterday and our cooker (with an oven!) was delivered today. I can’t wait to start cooking. Maybe we’ll look into buying pots and pans this weekend. I’ll share photos of the condo in a couple of days but for now, I’d like to share a fun activity we did here in the city a couple of days ago. It’s something I’d recommend to families with children. We don’t have our own – yet.

We’re more like children at heart (not childish, I hope) and we enjoy activities like going to theme parks and checking out toys like Lego Star Wars sets and robots. So for one of our weekends, the husband and I went over to the Planetarium Negara (National Planetarium). I personally love Planetariums and reading about space programmes in other countries (so is my husband but I honestly think he’s nerdier than I am when it comes to this).

KL Adventures: The KL Planetarium

I would pretend I was an astronaut or a member of the Rebel Alliance back when I was a kid. Yep, Star Wars geek through and through. We took the train to Pasar Seni station (Kelana Jaya Line) and walked towards the Kuala Lumpur Lake Gardens – a huge complex that houses several KL attractions such as the Bird Park (which we plan to visit when my Mom and her boyfriend come over), the Butterfly and Deer Parks (these are reserved for my grandma and my parents-in-law).

The National Mosque and Islamic Art Museum is are also in that area and we plan to visit them in the next couple of weeks. After getting off Pasar Seni, you would have to go through the Old Railway Station (which still works, serving a different line) and walk towards Jalan Lembah then Jalan Perdana.

Continue reading

in Expat Life, KL Shopping, KL Tips, KL What to Do

Photos: Bookfest @ Malaysia 2014

I figured it’s rather timely to post these while the book fair is still ongoing – just so people who love books as much as I do can still make their way to Bookfest @ Malaysia 2014.

It’s the first day of Hari Raya (Eid al-Fitr) and here in Malaysia, it means that everyone gets to have a long weekend. No work until Tuesday for most people as our Muslim brothers and sisters celebrate the end of Ramadan and break their fast.

We had a long day today – we (along with other people from the Embassy) visited the house of the Ambassador’s chauffeur (he’s a loyal employee and has been with the Embassy here for decades) to celebrate Hari Raya with him and his family. It was nice to be exposed to their religion’s traditions which, I must admit, seemed really foreign to me prior to coming here.

And it was so heartwarming to see how his family is so tight-knit and are happy to see each other during the holidays. It’s like Christmas back at home but without alcohol and a bit more quiet. After that, my husband’s colleagues from the Embassy decided that we all drop by the Batu Caves (as it was only 5 minutes away) before going home. But I will write more about that next time. After the Batu Caves, we went home for a nap, caught the Philippine President’s State of the Nation Address via live streaming, then went to the book fair to check it out.

We weren’t disappointed. The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre was filled with books and people trying to get their hands on the titles they wanted. The best part about the book fair? All the books are on sale – some with even massive discounts. Here are some photos from the fair:

The halls in the ground floor were divided into two – the Chinese and English sections.

Continue reading

in Expat Life, KL What to Do

Creative juice: Batik painting lessons

As mentioned in the previous post, it’s basically hard to get bored in KL. I guess that’s why a lot of expats choose to move to this city or other neighbouring ASEAN capitals due to vast amount of things you can do, places you can explore, and new things you can try out. A couple of weeks back, I went with a couple of ladies that I met at the International Women’s Association here in KL to a Batik Painting lesson.

I’ve always loved painting and doing something creative with my hands so when they told me about this activity, I knew I just had to go. So at around 9:30 in the morning, I found myself walking to Kompleks Kraft (KLCC) which was a mere 10 minute walk from our condo. Yay!

It’s quite easy to spot along Jalan Conlay as it’s right next to the pretty Royale Chulan Hotel.

Continue reading

Close