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Hello Kitty Land, Malaysia - Part 1

In December last year, a few of my fellow Hello Kitty loving friends and I went to Hello Kitty Land for a day trip! We bought a Groupon for the bus ride there and back but the service by the travel agency was reaaally bad, the coordination and planning between the Singapore travel agent and the Malaysian travel agent was terrible. We were stuck at Hello Kitty Land because they didn't have a bus for us to board!! In the end they had to squeeze us in by asking some parents to carry their children on their laps.

Enough of horrible travel agencies, onward to cuteness and happiness which was why we went there in the first place!

 Onward to Malaysia!

It wasn't very crowded when we reached, so we couldn't help ourselves and started the cam-whoring in front of the ticketing booth.

Just to set expectations, Hello Kitty Land is unlike Lego Land, Universal Studios, or even Disneyland. If you want excitement, thrills and spins, this definitely isn't the place. Most of the people there were either fans of Hello Kitty (hence dragged their boyfriend's along) or wanted to bring their children for a fun day out. However, this one-storey attraction is air-conditioned and filled with activities for you to enjoy!

Also, before you judge me (it's going to happen sooner or later), let me explain my outfit for the day! Above, you see me in a white sweater and pink shorts. Below, you'll realise that I'm actually in a Hello Kitty pink jumpsuit, which comes with a Hello Kitty hoodie.

Why does she have this?! You may wonder. It's actually a birthday present from my japanese pen pal, she thought that I would look cute in it, so I thought it was apt for Hello Kitty Land! I'm not wearing this in Singapore, so why not wear it in Malaysia when no one will recognise me? Hurhur.

Let me act cute for once k?

#1: Hello Kitty's house!

Our first stop was Hello Kitty's pretty house, where you're encouraged to take photos of everything! 

Every room had Hello Kitty's watermark, there was something to feel and touch, and it was exciting because every room was differently designed so you never knew what was coming up next. Let's step inside and pretend you're a child again and make believe!


How adorable is this Hello Kitty portrait?!

Welcome to Hello Kitty's home! Here's a Hello Kitty desktop frame and a Hello Kitty game for you to play with!
 
Accompanied by some music on the piano :D

Join us for a Hello Kitty tea party?

I promise I will whip up a nice meal! :)

After your meal you can take a long bubble bath in this awesome bathtub


Toiletries provided!

Feel free to take any clothes you like


and dress up til you're picture perfect!


 

Even the human toilets are decorated.

Stay tuned for the rest of the Hello Kitty Land journey! :)
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Book your hotels with Hotels.com and get a welcome reward!


It's no secret that I love to travel. Unfortunately, the suckier part of travelling... is the planning. Gotta have a rough idea of the attractions in the area, whether you need to buy unlimited train passes, book flights from city to city if they are too far, and of course, having a bed to sleep in at night.

During a bloggers event hosted by hotels.com, I got to discover how easy it is to reduce one frustration of ravel-planning, which is... booking hotels!

Hotels.com, part of Expedia Inc, lists more than 155,000 hotels in over 25,000 locations across the GLOBE and has been around for more than 15 years! So you can be sure they're reputable AND reliable.

 Dawn and I. She's super slim! Yoga must really work.

If you search for a hotel with hotels.com, prices shown are already inclusive of taxes and charges so you don't have to worry about "hidden" costs. Also, if you change your mind or there are last min changes, there are no Hotels.com cancellation fees, although hotels may apply their own charges, which are a given.

Plus point!! There are local language call centres to provide support and help with bookings. :D


 GET THIS! Price Match Guarantee: If YOU find a lower rate for their hotel on another site, Hotels.com will refund the difference.

 

One of the things I LOVE the most about hotels.com 's mobile apps is that it saves my booking details and allows users to access hotel information including the map and telephone number without the need for a data connection.

When you're overseas, it's not that convenient to get a sim card with a data connection, and using your local number to access the internet is crazily expensive, so when you're sorta lost and trying to find your hotel, this is a great plus!
 
 Shenny and Mel with our pretty new lomo cams!

 Now, to share something super awesome called the Welcome Rewards. Just accumulate ten qualifying nights and redeem your eleventh free night*!! This 11th night can be anywhere AROUND THE WORLD.

The maximum value of your free night is the average daily rate of your 10 nights before taxes and fees. You can choose to use your free night credit for a higher rate room if you pay the difference.

Very worth the money!! If you go for a honeymoon break or a 2 week holiday, you should easily pass the condition and get a free room stay!! Furthermore there are NO blackout dates! It's a really good deal!

* is that a free night does not include taxes and fees. Only properties marked with Welcome Rewards qualify. Taxes and fees apply to the free night.



 Thank you Hotels.com and Lewis PR for organising the event and for the lovely La Sardina!


 PS: I had stomach spasms throughout the event and thereafter I developed a fever and almost fainted. Hence, I present to you, my sickly and pale look. Not that I wasn't enthusiastic okay!! I endured til the end and sorta half collapsed into my bed.
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Chanel at Covent Garden 's Pop up Store, Express Manicure experience

In the Summer of 2012 I went to London for a quick week getaway. Before I left I went to Time Out and found out that there was a Chanel Pop up store in Covent Garden!!!

Being a crazy fan, I made sure I stopped by. Make sure you book an appointment first because they are REALLY busy and fully booked most of the time!!

There are a few services you could try, but I was tempted by the express manicure service. Pay £25 for an express manicure (nail shape and paint) that's fully redeemable in Chanel make-up products, after! If I remember correctly there was a makeover service as well.


Oh it was pampering, alright. I was treated to a light hand massage with Coco Chanel's Mademoiselle Fresh Body Cream, which is a heavenly scent, followed by a spritz of Parfum on my hands, which lasted the entire day. I spent the rest of the day randomly smelling my hands I kid you not!!

Very tempted to get the scent and the body cream now.


Then came the buffing and shine :*) 


Super happy face. It was time for me to pick my colours!! Check out the whole rack of colours next to me. Being spoilt for choice was an understatement.

Was tempted to pick this bright red colour but decided not to. Still can pose with the bottle anyway.




Decided to try out a few colours before finally deciding on one!! Absolutely LOVE the shade!!


LE VERNIS

INFIDÈLE

 

 I also painted my fourth finger in a different shade but I can't remember which shade it was <_ br="br">


It looks like I'm concentrating in this picture instead haha.




After the express manicure was over, I was convinced to try on (and eventually buy), Chanel's Winter 12's limited edition lipstick colour- L'infidele, which is now sold out. It was a perfect match to my nails and I love how it brightened my face and gave me this rosy glow which you can see for yourself below!


 
 Whenever I apply the lipstick I feel empowered and immediately more confident! The colour glides on easily, and the Hydratendre complex softens your lips for a plumper, healthier look! Plus, there's an awesome smell which I'm quite addicted to.

 
Buying from the Chanel Pop up store was great as I had free samples and a 'Chanel at Covent Garden' tag which could be used as a necklace or a keychain or anything you like! 

 
No regrets, would definitely do it again on my next trip to London (if it's still there).

x,
Claire.
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Claire's Top 5 MUST VISIT Food Places in Hong Kong!

In September 2012 I had the opportunity to visit Hong Kong for 5 days! Flew Tiger Airways and it was about $270 per person, return. Flew off-peak though. I stayed in Mongkok at a hotel which was near the industrial area, not entirely safe at night (saw some red light massage parlours) and hence I won't really recommend it!

Obligatory photo of me

Most days were spent waking up late, having lunch, walking around a bit, having tea, walking around a bit more, having dinner, then head to a bar for drinks, and perhaps grabbing supper (how awesome are late night cafes?) So you can kind of expect how much I had been eating. I haven't stepped on the weighing scale yet.

Wanted to share with you guys my favourite places to eat ;) Will definitely go back to try more dishes there the next time! Am thinking of weekend trips to Hong Kong already, really loved that place apart from random water from air cons dripping from buildings -_- oh, and the impatient service at restaurants. Sorry but I can't read fan ti (traditional chinese)!!

1. Tim Ho Wan

Before I actually flew to HK, I asked around for some recommendations and this was highly recommended by at least 4 friends? I HAD to try it. Was also warned about the queue though.


Went at about 11am? Just to take a number and was asked to come back 2 hours later. They had a branch somewhere else but we wanted to try the authentic, first outlet! We were also asked if we wanted to tapao instead but we declined.

 
Hence, for two hours, we went shopping around Mongkok, and by the time we got back, we saw that our number had passed! No worries though, just told the guy who wrote our numbers on a different list, and within 10 minutes we were properly seated.

 
Ignore my chipped nail. Chanel F/W 2012 colour. If you view this photo in full size you'll be able to see the description :)
The place was relatively small, could possibly only seat 20 people at once? Be prepared to share seats and eat fast though.

Food came relatively quick. When the char siew bao (barbecued pork bun) arrived, we attacked it immediately.

It was SO good.

It wasn't like the typical char siew bao, but the skin was crispy and crumbly, with the barbecued pork tender and juicy. It was perfect. We took a bite and immediately wanted to order more, but we had already over-ordered the other dim sum!




The rest were 'ma3ma2te2' which means average in cantonese. Just eat the char siew bao!

Best of all, it was completely affordable. I think we ordered 8 dishes and it was about 13 SGD per person? We were so full we had to takeaway some dimsum back!

On my last day, I wanted to takeaway some char siew baos to bring to Singapore. I arrived at their shop at 5pm and they made us wait for 20 minutes before telling us that takeaways only start at 6pm. After explaining we were catching a flight, they didn't give a crap -_- and we got chased away. The staff were super unfriendly and uncompromising! Sigh, I guess fame and popularity can do that to a restaurant.

Where? 8 Kwong Wa Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon (CLOSED DOWN)
Check out the one at Central / hong kong station!
Opening Hours: 10am to 9.15pm

PSST: Go early just to get a number!

2. Tai Ping Koon (Causeway Bay)


We travelled all the way to Causeway Bay just to try these chicken wings recommended by Fann Wong! They had a few set dishes to pick from, and we decided to grab a set dinner for 2, which included 6 "chicken wings in Swiss sauce".

Started out with a soup that was so-so.

I must highlight their beef hor fun. It was lip-smackingly good. The hor fun wasn't too soft, the sauce not mushy at all, and the beef, wow the beef was flavourful and tender.

When we reached the chicken wings... Wow. They were marinated perfectly and I found myself licking my fingers. (So what if it was a relatively higher-class restaurant?? Chicken wings are meant to be eaten with fingers hehe)

This place is slightly pricier though, about $20 SGD a head, with 4 courses to share! Completely worth it IMO.

Signature Dishes: Chicken wings of course!
PSST: Service was much better here and their staff introduced each dish to us with a smile :)

Where? 6 Pak Sha Road, Causeway Bay
Opening Hours: 11am to 12mn

3. Hing Kee

Sneakily located on the 1F (you have to take a lift up) in a building along the main road, is a 2 generation famed Boat People style cuisine. The walls are covered with celebrity signatures and the queue even on a weekday, was long. We were really lucky to get a small table (big groups have to wait longer) so our waiting time was about 15 mins?



We had no idea how to read the menu so the waitress brought us a photo album hahahah and pointed some of their famous dishes to us. We predicted we wouldn't be able to finish a whole crab by ourselves so we decided to get porridge (congee) and noodles, with some center dishes.
Porridge was really smooth and the duck hor fun noodles was simple superb. I think the noodles were home-made. A really enjoyable meal to spend with your family!

We also ordered sweet and sour pork that was really fragrant and enjoyable :)

Signature Dishes: Stir fry crabs with black beans and chilli, Roast Duck and Rice noodles in Soup and Congee.
PSST!: Everyone seemed to be drinking some flask with carrot and lychee in it. Point to it on the table beside you so you can try one!! It's really good but we had no idea what it was called.
It looks like this

Where? IF, Bowa House, 180 Nathan Road
Opening Hours: 6pm to 5am


4. Hui Liu Shan

Enough main food? Alright I'll share my favourite dessert place that can be found all around HK!

Try their mango desserts! You get to pick your flavours and toppings as well. Mangoes are really sweet ^_^


I was actually feeling a bit 'heaty' and sickly so I took this hot coconut birds nest drink with some eggs? I don't remember tasting any birds nest but this tasted sweet and... rejuvenating. The next day I was as fit as a fiddle!

They have outlets like, everywhere. You can't miss it!

5. One Peking

 Sneak peak for you. Gorgeous, right?

Hidden on the 29th floor is a really nice bar with an amazing view called Aqua.. This one isn't so much food, but indulge in their delicious cocktails. Can't remember which drink I had but it was one of their specials. You get a wonderful view of HK Island and we were lucky it wasn't a hazy night!


Staff was very polite and would switch on their flashlight to guide you towards the toilet and back to your seat. They also came to ask us if everything was fine, if the drinks were good etc. If you have food here, they're quite pricey!



We spent like 2 hours or so here just talking and joking about random things. What's a holiday without relaxing and not worrying about a thing in the world?

Where? 29/F & 30/F, 1 Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Opening hours: 12pm to 2am
Website: Aqua HK

Hope you liked my list and get to visit some of them on your next trip to HK!
Will also be giving tips for traveling in HK and more soon! :)

Thanks for reading!

x,
Claire.
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