HAPPY BIRTHDAY Z !!

I propose a toast to Z.

Happy birthday to my dear friend, my go-to person. I may not hear you 100% of the time ( mumblies) but I love you all the same.


The French Martini.....and oh yea, i thought of you when I saw this pair.

Hmm, actually probably not, a little too drag .

Sunday Eats

I was in Singapore for A's wedding last weekend and decided to stay an extra night to relax. For Sunday lunch, we went to Sichuan Dou Hua for the Dim Sum marathon. It was only average. I definitely have tried better dim sum and someone told me that Carlton hotel's Wah Lok Restaurant does a brillant one, so will try that next time.

Dinner was at White Rabbit with T's friends. We arrived late, after having cocktails are their place. The last time we were there, we only had cocktails at the back garden or the The Rabbit Hole. The time before last, which was a year ago, we had brunch and the food was disappointing. It has been a year and since I liked the decor so much, I was happy to give it a second chance.

I orderd the Sea bass with braised root vegetables in a broth and I thought it was quite nice, light and tasty.

These photos are courtesy of Chubby Hubby who is a partner too I hear.

I want to go to there

There are chain hotels and there are chain hotels.

The ones I am familiar with and drool over are the Banyan Trees, Aman Resorts, One and Only, Six Senses and most recently - Bvlgari but I just found another to join the ranks. The Anantara Resorts, are found in Thailand, Maldives, Abu Dhabi and Indonesia.

The Anantara in Chiang Rai, is found on the brink of the Golden Triangle so the resort faces the three countries, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. I suspect since it is in the north, that the weather would be rather cool and pleasant.

Anantara Golden Triangle has a Suite Essence Package that offers travellers a bottle of champagne DAILY !!!! and it includes all the other fringe benefits like breakfast, free internet blah blah and may I repeat a FREE BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE DAILY !! The package for one night is about RM 1,800, guess you pay for your own champagne.

Here are some photos from their website.



The balcony comes with your personal sala, or daybed as seen in this pic.


The Anantara in Bali is found on the Seminyak Beach, with the legendary Legian beach sunset view. In this resort, you can pick any of the sea facing rooms or if you feel like treating yourself, there is always the Penthouse with 2 bedrooms and your own pool.

It comes with sweeping views of the beach, private terraces and personal butler. Not bad but prices start from USD 2,900.

This is the main pool. I love the jacuzzi jets that are built into the single seats, imagine leaning back with a mojita resting on the deck, checking out the view in front of you..........aaahhh


Here's the same pool at dusk,


And the penthouse.
What a balcony. Perfect for a bbq or deck party !!

Let me go daydream some more............

Land of Smiles

Since the girls are off to Bali, the boys are also taking their own holiday. T and D have finally got their shit together and planned their own boy's weekend away. Well I am doing the planning and probably the packing, while they just turn up.

Bangkok is the destination of choice. The hotel rates are really reasonable in the land of smiles, perhaps to boost tourism after the street protests not so long ago.

Conrad Bangkok is having a buy one get one night free, so a room only costs USD 97! Lebua State Tower where Sirocco is, is offering rooms at USD 12o, not bad especially with the views.

During lunch today, our friend said he just got back and stayed at a lovely boutique hotel called Arun Residence.

I checked it online and it looked rather nice. The rates start at USD 107 and the view is breathtaking.

These are the bottom rung Suites but don't they look comfortable ?



and the separate living area with adjoining balcony. What a view !


Even from the bathroom !


They offer split level rooms so bedrooms are upstairs with terraces facing the river and the Temple of Dawn. Nice.

Games for a Rainy Day

The skies were a deep grey even though it was only 12 noon today. We could hear thunder and soon it was chucking it down. Our golf game however will not be interrupted despite the weather because we were playing it indoors. KL's indoor city golf is at Bangsar Shopping Centre and they recently slashed their hourly prices from RM 100 to R M 50.

We arranged for G to meet us there for lunch and then a play. I have been to this once about 6 months ago and it is quite a lot of fun. Though it is only a simulation, it is supposed to be quite accurate. You play with actual clubs and you hit a ball as you would normally on a real course. Either bring your own clubs or use any of the sets placed at each booth. It is the predecessor of the Wii but with more grit.

You can choose to play at any of the world famous courses too and there is a bar too so you are never far from a beer or some wine. It is perfect for rainy days and no worries about getting sun burnt too!





Hurray for technology!

Thai Delight

Today is V's birthday, we met up for lunch at Damansara's Thai Village Place. The facade of the buillding looked rather drab but it was packing a crowd in there. M was already there and she ordered the starters.

Have had these at Chatuchak before and found them delish! Since there I don't know why I never order them at Thai restaurants because I always enjoy them.

Thai Meang Khum or Betelnut with lots of codiments.

These photos are from Seasaltwithfood and she's also given the recipe. The filling includes dried lime skins and grated ginger. The ones we had today had roasted coconut shavings and green chilli padi. The sauce was plummy unlike in these photos which are more sambal like.



Since it was v's birthday and she took real good care of me when I was in hospital, I bought a nice gift hamper from Acca Kappa for her. Acca Kappa is a brand that is similar to L'Óccitane or Crabtree & Evelyn. They have a rather nice collection of soaps, hand creams, body lotions etc.

My personal favourite is the Calycanthus, a blend of jasmine, honey, orange blossum and mask. But they have a product that I like- solid perfume. The scent comes in a pot much like lip glass and you apply it on as a cream. The scent is suppose to last as long as two days as it is so concentrated.

They only have it for the White Moss collection which has wood, amber and moss. Not bad but I prefer the former.

Colour Inspiration

Previously I posted about Delight by design, an interesting blogger whose fashion picks are inspired by her favourite interiors. Then I came across this other website, colorhunter that identifies hues from uploaded photos. I tried it with my own photos and it sort of works.

Here are some examples



Now if only they tell me what the codes are for the colours. To me there are a string of codes that could be paint codes or something else, Have to figure out how this website can be useful.

Home Sweet Home

Spent close to 8 hours cleaning and wiping the whole house yesterday as the workers put the finishing touches to the walls and the bedroom. By the end, I was completely wiped out.

But at last all the work is done and I won't need to see any more contractors until the next project. We moved back into the bedroom last night. The room looks remarkably bigger even though we only raised the ceiling but a foot.



The light coming out the ceiling is new, and it is also part of a concrete beam that we could not remove, so we just built around it.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to G and M !

I am celebrating my own Father's Day a week late, but it would be so much easier on my pocket ! Hah ! This weekend while we are in Singapore for A and C's wedding, I am going to treat my family to a dim sum marathon.

I found this restaurant Si Chuan Dou and they have a Weekend 100 Dim Sum Buffet at $ 39.00 per person. 100 dim sum mind you, don't play play.

This food blogger, Camemberu took some really appetising photos that bought my vote in picking the rest. for this weekend.

Steamed dumplings with quail's egg


Pan fried Shredded Yam pancake

Braised Spicy Beef Noodle Soup


All this and more ! while you soak in the Singapore skyline.


The waiters perform theatrics while pouring your tea. Good food, great view, family and a show, what more does one want ?!

TOP of UOB Plaza
80 Raffles Place, #60-01 UOB Plaza 1,
Singapore 048624
Tel: (65) 6535 6006

Clever Inspiration

These days I spend a considerable amount of my free time reading other people's blogs and I came across an interesting one. Delight by design is a blogger who is obsessed with interior design and fashion. What she does which is different from most other bloggers obsessed with the same things, is her fashion picks are inspired by the room she talks about.

Here is the country house alcove


And here is the outfit that goes with it !!



Again, here is the charming fireplace.



And the matching outfit !!


I am not so hot about the wrap dress though I like her combinations of texture and the pairing of casual and bling.

I want !!

D was overseas and she, as always, returned with a whole bunch of magazines for me. I refuse to buy mags here and besides the local ones are dull as dishwater. Foreign mags though are overpriced and just not worth it.

Browsing through the fashion pages I came across this stunning Michael Kors Turquoise Blue rubber watch !! I want !!! Think it costs like US 300 or so, not bad I think.


I think it will look great for weekends and casual days. Now where can I get one ?!

Home Improvement

We have decided to go ahead and fix the new aircon unit in the bedroom. The old unit is more than 10 years old and is starting to give us some problems. During discussions with the contractor, we also realised that the bedroom ceiling can be raised about a foot higher.

This was good news since the current ceiling is unusually low and is made worse with our unusually tall bed.

The work started yesterday and the house is now a giant dust ball. Hopefully it will be done by tomorrow and I will get to move back into my room.





I do wish we could raise the ceiling right up to the wooden slates you see there but it is not possible.

Image Enhancing Doll

Mattel has just launched a new doll that aims promote self confidence in little girls. The perfectly coiffed Barbie is deemed to be too psychologically damaging to the young egos.

This new doll is quite the opposite of Barbie, she is modelled after a size 14, rather unattractive and sad 30 something. Plain Pamela is designed to make little girls feel better about themselves. Press a button and there will be 24 preprogrammed phrases like "I wish I was as pretty as you" or "Go out and have fun without me".

It is hilarious, the doll comes with several hair options like Too-long, Too-short, Just-woke-up or ( my fav), "What's-the-Point-of-Even-Trying-Anymore-It's-Not-Like-It's-Going-to-Make-a-Difference"!! Brillant.

Mattel says if this doll sells then they will release the sets like Plain Pamela Cramped Studio Apartment, complete with special Dinner-for-One Kitchenette and Depressing Stack of Old People Magazines !!!!!!

See the whole article here.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T

Not only is he the first black American President who can string two sentences together and make sense. He is now the coolest dude on that continent!


Wonder what they are discussing during his smoke break ( apparently the man is a puffer) Foreign policy ? Economic meltdown in California? Where to go for Friday cocktails or Friday casual days. One of the guys is wearing flip flops!!!

Fantasy dream beds

I can almost smell the sea and am fantasizing especially after I saw these luxe hammocks online. These babies come with a sweet price tag as well..........ah to be rich and famous............

The Royal Botania is only $23, 439 froom Unica Home.



Or this - the cheaper alternative from the same company. Kokoon free standing hammock only $10, 619

Holiday Dreaming

The Indonesians must be burning their forests again. Skies in KL are a constant grey and the air is dense and has an rather unappetising odour. Coupled with 30 degree heat, it leaves you feeling sticky and sluggish.

I am leaving to go to Singapore next week and hope the weather there will be better although I am not optimistic.

However there is a plan to head to Bali early July and I am relishing the thoughts of blue skies and cool sea breezes ( the drink as well ).

I want these pieces of luggage from Streamline to pack for my trips. Shame they only retail in the West.


I booked a hotel for the Singapore stay already and I am quite excited about seeing the place. The Quincy is brand new and has an all inclusive rate, a first in town. The room comes with 3 meals a day, free parking, free mini bar, free evening cocktails and it is right on Orchard Road!!

The rooms boast luxe fittings and there is a rather cool pool on the top floors.









I like !!