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MidValley

in Beauty & Fashion, Fashion Tips

Fashion: Charles & Keith re-opens in MidValley with a new concept store

My love for classy shoes and bags is of common knowledge among my friends and most of the time, it’s often hard to resist the temptation once you find yourself a style that you really want.

Charles & Keith has often been my saviour during times when my craving/need for a new pair of shoes or bags gets a bit too much as their products are always easy on the pocket without sacrificing style and durability!

I’ve been a fan of theirs back in Manila when I was still working as a journalist, wearing their shoes to coverages and stuffing everything that I need for a long work day in their bags. Now, here in Malaysia as a Diplomat’s wife, I often wear Charles & Keith shoes and use their bags to diplomatic receptions and events. I often get compliments for them as well!

Oh, and did I mention that their stuff lasts for years? Yay for value for money, right?

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in Beauty & Fashion

Beauty + Photos: Hair Makeover at Andy Ho Haute Coiffure

Up until last week, I can honestly say that I never really had a full hair makeover. I would usually give myself drastic hair cuts or get my hair treated. I even tried experimenting with with hair colour by dyeing my bangs blue or pink (Don’t judge. I was a But of a rebel). But all these happened one at a time – never all at once. I also never coloured my hair in full.

I guess I’ve always been comfortable with my dark brown curls. Brunette through and through here! 😉 It even took a while for me to actually consider highlights!

I love my curls a lot and I’ve always been very particular about who touched my hair. In Manila, there was only one person I’d go to for a hair cut. This is because – being curly haired and all – I cannot afford a bad hair cut. I’ve been told before that dealing with curls is a lot harder than dealing with straight hair. My curls which are composed of big rings and waves, look best when layered and layering curls can be quite a task.

Andy Ho, Andy Ho Haute Coiffure, Hair Stylist, Hair Cut, Hair Colour, Hair Salon, Salon, Kuala Lumpur, KLCC, Pavilion, Bukit Bintang, Top Stylist, Hair Cut Kuala Lumpur, Hair Stylist Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Hair, Beauty,

I haven’t gotten a hair cut since moving to Malaysia (don’t judge!) mainly because I just didn’t know who I can trust to give me layers that won’t leave me looking like a long-haired poodle. By the time we hit June of this year, my layers which I got exactly a year ago was just all over the place, my curls weren’t swirling to their proper rings anymore.

So when I got the invitation to go to meet Andy Ho (!!) himself for a haircut, I was over the moon. Andy Ho is a name that you hear a lot here in KL – especially in the beauty scene. With two decades of experience plus his own, in-born talent, Andy has become synonymous to classy hair styling here in Malaysia.

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in Expat Life, KL Food

Food: Tim Ho Wan Opens in Kuala Lumpur (Things to expect + Prices)

I could live on steamed Chinese shrimp dumplings (hakao) for the rest of my life. That addiction brought me to Chef Mak Kwai Pui’s (麥桂培) Tim Ho Wan in 2010 during a visit to Hong Kong. That’s when our long distance love affair started. That first visit was also the start of another addiction – their BBQ Pork Buns.

Trivia: Tim Ho Wan literally means “to add good luck” or “more good luck” (thanks, Rob and Diane!) in Cantonese. 

I can’t begin to tell anyone how much I love those two dishes and at the risk of being deemed basic, I order those two every single time I’m inside a Tim Ho Wan. In Hong Kong, in Manila when it opened last May (I was writing an article about it and was lucky enough to be one of the first people to dine there during opening day), Singapore, and now in Kuala Lumpur. True, I’ve tried the egg cake, the Vermicelli rolls, and the rest of it during that media visit in Manila but I guess I’m just in too deep with those two.

While a lot of neg-heads would often go like: “It’s overrated” and “The branches in other countries will never be at par with the one in Hong Kong”, I myself am just happy to have my hakao and pork bun fix – especially here in KL where not a lot of restaurants serve pork. I’m a Filipina and pork, is part of our basic food groups back home so halal food is usually okay and healthier but I do miss some good old pork in my food. Oh, and did I mention I miss chicharron (fried pork rinds) a lot too?

And come to think of it, there are lots of Chinese restaurants and hawker stalls here in KL and even in Singapore but not everyone and not a lot of them serve hakao! It drives me into bitch fits, sometimes when my craving is just too much. I went to Ying Ker Lou, a Chinese restaurant in Pavilion where they serve different kinds of dim sum, hakao included. Went in with a smile on my face, went out disappointed. The shrimps were obviously frozen so they didn’t taste the least bit fresh and were a bit gummy.

So I made it to a point to go to the Tim Ho Wan opening yesterday, November 28, in MidValley just to makeup for that bad experience. Expecting a long line, I wore comfy sandals. But I was surprised to see that the line was manageable.

Tim Ho Wan, Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Dim Sum, BBQ Pork Buns,

Expect a line outside the restaurant.

When going to Tim Ho Wan, one should expect that they wouldn’t be seated right away. It’s like that in almost all their branches. The cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant (I think it’s a tad cheaper than Din Tai Fung) is of course, very popular everywhere it goes. Even those who don’t know of the restaurant before it came to their shores are drawn in because of the hype that comes with it and the intriguing line.

In KL though, the line is manageable since it’s a non-halal restaurant, a huge percentage of the population here are not part of their target audience. But still, the restaurant will be full. Even if it’s slightly bigger (with an upper floor for dining opening soon) than its sisters abroad. I waited in line for about 10 minutes max which isn’t so bad.

Tip: Smaller groups, solo diners in fact, get seated faster.

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