Destination: Bali

Greetings lovelies!

It's really quite shameful how my last blog post is dated January. Guess I was so busy yet bored with life that I didn't know what else to write here after that. Do follow me on Instagram for more frequent updates! Chances are I'm usually more alive active there.

I planned a trip to Bali in February as an anniversary getaway for Darren and myself. We desperately needed to spend quality time together, that would not be interrupted by his phone, because life has been craaazy since his gym opened. Sob story aside, here's a summary of our vacay in Bali!

Accommodation

Jas Boutique Villa (Seminyak): S$410 for 3 nights

Review: I liked it but be warned, you will be sharing the place with mosquitoes, fat lizards, and the occasional exotic-looking spider which may or may not be poisonous. You will never know until you get bitten. I will recommend this place because it's value for money and the bathroom is clean and nice. They also provide a mobile phone for you to call the front desk whenever and wherever you need help. We made use of this to call for room service, massages, and transport.

Location-wise isn't really ideal because we took a taxi from the airport (IDR80,000) and the driver couldn't find it. We also had to use the villa's free transportation service to get to places and of course, we tipped all the different drivers for every trip.

Kitchen/dining is separated from the bedroom/pool area

HELLO RESIDENTS UP THERE! (mozzies and lizards)

Clean

Clean

Divine

We did not make full use of this pond :(

Breakfast included is served

Moving on to what we did! We had no concrete plans, nor did we know the area at all, so we just did whatever we felt like. Mel recommended Aultimo and so we had it for dinner on the first night. I call this our "official anniversary dinner" because dinner with my hottie (wit da bodie) was great. I would totally pay just for the delicious warm bread and amazingly tasty butter which was free! We both had steak and enjoyed it.

The next day, we decided to go to Potato Head for a late lunch because Mel said I would like that place. I loved it! And Mel is totally wife-worthy to me because she knows me so well omg.

Food we chose was alright but the drinks were so freaking good. I would've ordered a few more drinks if we didn't have to rush off for our massage appointments at Bodyworks.

Fish and chips was alright

Grilled chicken was too dry for my liking

DRINKS TO SAVE THE DAY

#awkwardcouplephoto

I made pre-bookings online for 2 nights of massages at Bodyworks Bali because it looked so good on the website and has been highly raved about. However, we only ended up going for the first night because it was bad so I canceled our second appointment. A review I read stated something along the lines of, the demise of Bodyworks being its success and I totally agree. The staff were so freaking rude and obnoxious, like they didn't care for our business at all.

The masseuse attending to me went for a bathroom break halfway through the session, cut short the treatment time, and not-so-discreetly signaled for Darren's masseuse to wrap up her massage so they could leave early together. She cut off about 20mins of treatment time which is such a rip-off! Just thinking about it makes me so mad.

When I asked the staff at the counter if they got my appointment for a 1.5hr treatment wrong, they said no and proceeded to argue with me about how I reached early which's why treatment ended early. That is totally untrue because we were actually running late for the appointment. I did not want to make our night worse or continue to get told off by the staff (lol), so I just paid up and canceled the appointment made for the next day.

I hope everyone who is planning to pay Bodyworks Bali a visit sees this review and if you insist on going, don't say I didn't warn you. I have experienced my fair share of spas and massages in different countries and this is possibly one of the worst I've ever had.

Silver lining of the night was when we stumbled upon Sea Circus, or technically Darren's sharp eyes did. I planned to try it but didn't even realize this was the place until I saw the menu! Service staff here were so nice and polite, stark contrast from our experience earlier on.

Almost cried eating this delicious marinated pork quesadilla

So good :')

T_T

On our third day, I was craving Chinese food badly so we went out looking for lunch. Decided on this random Santorini-inspired restaurant because I was too hot and tired to continue hunting. It was the worst decision ever. The pasta was barely edible and the mango margarita was tasteless, and had black flecks in it. The bartender was smoking while making it -_-

After lunch, we walked really far down the street to a grocery store, and to a separate mall with bubble tea, J.Co donuts, and Burger King. Bought tons of snacks and headed back to our villa where we had massages, followed by room service for dinner.

The Denpasar Airport was bad, both when we arrived and when we were departing. Makes me appreciate Changi Aiport so so so so so much. Wanted to grab a bite before our flight and this Black Canyon Coffee outlet in the departure hall was just the worst. You've to stand in line and place an order first before getting a seat and everyone was getting that screwed up system wrong so confusion ensues. We waited 15mins to order, and another 30mins for food, and when food arrived it was tasteless and pretty much inedible. Should've just stuck to coffee...

YAY FINALLY GOING HOME!

Bali was enjoyable but I have had much more fun visiting other places. It is a little too touristy for me so I will think twice about planning a vacation here. Feel free to contact me if you would like to know more about anything mentioned above and I'll help you to the best of my ability!

If the ending to this post seems rushed, it's because it is... Olivia and Elliot in Law and Order SVU are beckoning to me. Happy weekend y'all!

Room Envy: Revenge

So I fell down the stairs a few days ago and fractured my toe while in the midst of exams, which means that even though exams have just ended, I'm pretty much cooped up at home hoping to recover as soon as possible. Hopefully before Chinese New Year so I can actually wear shoes. #luckof2014

Being cooped up at home means entertainment is limited to books, watching Sundae sleep, or the internet. It also means continuing to watch shows that I had to put on hold during exams! My recent obsession has been Revenge. These days, it's so difficult to find shows that encompass both great style/decor and a good plot.

Charlotte Grayson is the rich girl who has everything a girly girl could want. Her bedroom is a mix of elegance and romance judging by the pink hues and cream-colored decor pieces. There're hints of floral patterns everywhere from the lampshade to her sheets. It does not look messy as accent pieces of dark furniture such as her headboard, desk, and couch provide a neutral color base. The entire room has a very Anthropologie feel which I love.

After scrolling through the photos, did you realize that her room seems to have changed quite a bit?! The color of the walls, headboard, desk, and wall decor made a complete change in the later half of the series! Wow this is such a revelation. Wondering if it has anything to do with the change happening within her family, forcing her to grow up... Okay shall not get too literary about a TV series.

Next is Emily Thorne's room which has a shabby chic and beachy touch to it. The main color scheme is white and mint/turquoise which always looks great when paired together as it creates a clean and soothing atmosphere, which is something I'm currently trying to achieve in my own room. I love the contrast of modern lamps and vases on vintage-looking furniture as it keeps the room from looking boring or outdated.

If you've noticed, warm lighting is a must in creating many different types of atmosphere. I am a personal believer in using warm lighting especially at home because it makes the place look so cozy and inviting, just like in a resort or a spa. Light a few candles and voila, your own personal sanctuary.

Besides the decor in Revenge, I love Victoria Grayson's and Emily's style. Was thinking if I should write up another entry on that but there're so many other websites that find the exact clothing piece they were wearing. Maybe I'll come up with a guide to channeling Victoria Grayson or Emily's style if I'm patient enough to go through the series again in order to take screenshots.

Thursday is almost over and it'll be Friday soon. We made it!

Weekend Guide to Bangkok, Thailand

It feels like ages since my trip but technically it's only been a month. What I would give for another vacation right now!

As my trip was a short weekend one, I wouldn't be able to give information on many locations so this guide shall be more like a review of what I experienced, and perhaps some recommendations on alternatives if I can think of any.

Airfare/Airlines
Departing Singapore: Tigerair approx. S$115 per pax
Departing Bangkok: FlyScoot approx. S$108 per pax

Review: We had a very pleasant journey on Tigerair. I know they recently revamped their brand and I'm loving it. There's a noticeable difference in service attitude and a level of professionalism this time round. Definitely would fly Tigerair again.

FlyScoot wasn't that great for me as the crew seemed to be in a hurry most of the time and were frowning at passengers while giving instructions?! #whythelongface It was also a very noisy journey as there was a group of tourists across the aisle who talked non-stop throughout the flight, and they were really loud. Needless to say, that pissed me off big time.

Accomodation
Citin Pratunam: S$122 for 2 nights

Review: Never stay here, or at Ten Stars Inn which I stayed at previously. When it comes to hotels, cleanliness and maintenance of room amenities are important to me. If the hotel can't even fulfill these most basic requirements, they shouldn't be called hotels. Every morning, I woke up to the sound of construction/banging woks/Singaporeans talking really loudly in the hallway (ha-ha). The shower area was pretty gross too.

If you're on a budget, you can check out LemonTea which we saw while exploring the area. It looked like heaven compared to Citin Pratunam and I was this close to moving over. If you can afford to spend a little more, check out Baiyoke Sky or Glow as I believe these are the higher-rated places to stay.

Platinum Mall/ Main Shopping Area

This lady sells the best coconut ice cream omg

Review: I remember the food court at Platinum Mall had good food so I was disappointed at the drop in standard. The beef noodles used to be really savory but now, it tastes like salt soup with black sauce.

We asked the hotel for restaurant recommendations and after much confusion in terms of the language barrier, we were directed to Once Upon A Time. It took us a good hour to finally locate where the place was and it was literally a hole in the wall restaurant. I was overwhelmed by the decor but everything was so interesting to look at. Please use Google Maps if you want to find this place, unless you've time to waste.

Review: The food tasted alright. I've a feeling this restaurant is more catered to expats/tourists as the prices are comparable to tze char places in Singapore, except a smaller portion. The highlight of the night was when I found a huge housefly in my soup. The line from a joke, "Waiter, I found a fly in my soup" was finally put to good use. Most of the customers were drinking bottled alcohol instead of eating so that's a safer way to enjoy the ambience of the place if you'd like to go.

Review: I was expecting this to be as good as the beef noodles I had at a roadside stall in Phuket, but one should never have any expectations while traveling so you wouldn't be too disappointed.

Thong Lo BTS Station

Made a trip to Thong Lo because Darren recommended this Thai restaurant to us called "999" if I'm not wrong. Please ask the station service staff for directions because I did not find out the exact address of this place. It's located just underneath the stairs right beside the control station. Save the photo below to show the station staff if you're interested in going!

We found out it is only opened at night so we settled for this phad thai place in an alleyway. I'm not sure what's the exact address but there's a signboard saying it's the 5th World's Best Phad Thai ranked by CNN. Give it a try if you find it!

As the 999 restaurant wouldn't be opened till night, we decided to head to Siam Center first, followed by Terminal 21.

Review: Let me first proclaim my love for these two malls. No doubt prices are similar to when shopping in Singapore but quality there is so much better (referring to their local brands). We spent a lot of time in Forever 21 at Siam Center. I appreciate how everything was so neat as compared to the F21 stores in Singapore. Siam Center has more of their local brands and how I wish I brought more money to spend there. There were so many unique and well-made pieces of clothing ranging from dresses to pants.

Terminal 21 was where I did more shopping at. The top level has little stores that offer a huge variety of apparels for ladies. I would very much prefer to shop at these two places compared to Platinum Mall. More on Platinum Mall below.

A ukelele festival swarming with Jason Mraz(s)

We decided to give Mr. Jones Orphanage a try since it's highly recommended by locals and tourists. I stumbled upon the cafe, joined the longgg queue, but was immediately given a seat because there were only two of us. Benefit of traveling in twos!

Review: Am I the only person who thinks this is a morbid name for a cute cafe? I get very creeped out in places like that. We had the chocolate banana cake which was good. My mocha drink could've been better. I think prices were equivalent to Starbucks in Singapore.

It was back to Thong Lo for dinner after shopping at Terminal 21. I am so thankful that Darren recommended this to us as it was probably the saving grace of our meals in Bangkok so far. No overcharging, no noisy diners, and most importantly, no dead floating houseflies. When we took a taxi back to Pratunam, we saw many other restaurants/bars along the way. I'd definitely go back to this area for more food.

Coconut Curry Chicken, Kang Kong, Tom Yum, Steamed Fish in Lemongrass (amazing)

After that satisfying meal, we headed back to the Pratunam area for massages. The signature Thai massage is still the best. Two hours of massage for around S$20 only! There's this stretch of massage places along the main street leading into the smaller streets of Pratunam. I remember the name of one of them which is "Number One" which we went, as well as the one next to it. I prefer the one next to it.

Review: On the last day, I decided to shop at Platinum Mall and spend whatever money I had left. It was so tiring because of the couple of unpleasant experiences I had while shopping. The store owners were quite rude and hostile towards me for no apparent reason. For example, if I'm asking the price of something, they would quote a price with a scowl. I must state that I am very polite when shopping because I know how it feels to be on the other side of the counter serving rude customers. Their hostility baffled me... Until I bumped in other Singaporeans.

Those Singaporeans are the epitome of ugly travelers. They were raising their voices at the retail assistants demanding a cheaper price, and threatening to leave if the prices weren't lowered, I kid you not. I'm sorry but whoever said you could behave like a b*tch just because you're a tourist?! They seemed to have this idea that as long as you stay fierce and stand your ground towards the locals there, you'd get your way. How obnoxious is that?!

I was so appalled at the disgusting behavior of those Singaporeans, whom I hope are the minority. Respect is a two-way street. When you're on a foreign land, it goes without saying that you respect the way of life there including the locals. This is a major pet peeve of mine because this is a phenomenon happening in Singapore as well.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

On a happier note, do watch my latest videos where I show you my buys from Bangkok. Hopefully it'll give you an idea of what you can expect when shopping at the malls mentioned above.

Hope I haven't left anything out because my brain is pretty much dead from the day spent in school, and my eyes are threatening to close anytime soon.

Do email me/comment below if you'd like to know anything else in more detail. Thank you so much for reading this essay and have a lovely weekend ahead woohoo!

Coming Up: Guide to Bangkok

SAWADEEKA!

I'm back from a weekend trip to Bangkok and the experience was definitely unlike the previous. Will be writing a mini guide to (shopping in) Bangkok based on this short trip, and hopefully also generate a haul video of some sort to go together.

Semester has started and it's only a matter of time before I lose my sanity again so here's a big sane hola to everyone who has been reading this space and checking my YouTube channel out. Thank you sooo much!

Also, do watch my latest video featuring beauty products which I feel were a complete waste of money. It includes items from: Benefit Cosmetics, Maybelline, NYX, The Face Shop.

You have a better day tomorrow!

How to shop Taobao?

Does the idea of getting quality tops at $5 and bags at $10 entice you? Check out my video below so you can judge for yourself the quality of products I recently purchased from Taobao. (This sounds like those cheesy TV ads selling magical kitchen equipments lol)

A little background for people who aren't familiar with Taobao. It is basically a massive online shopping website based in China. There're many shops selling clothes, shoes, and even household items like sheets or curtains. The prices are really competitive which's why I'm so attracted to the site such that I shop there more than necessary. Even developed a tendency to stop myself from shopping locally because I know I can definitely find something similar on Taobao for a quarter of the price. A challenge most people face is the language barrier. The entire site is in Chinese which means people who don't know the language are pretty much excluded from this awesomeness, and there's only so much Google Translate can do.

I was approached by a Taobao agent, Yoybuy.com, to get to know more about their established website. Please note that I was not paid to write this nor did I benefit in any way by talking about Yoybuy here. All opinions are my own excluding the background information of the site which's provided by them.

The only reason why I'm sharing it is because I'm hoping this would be of help to those who don't understand Chinese and are looking for a reliable agent which they can trust to help them with shopping on Taobao. Good things should be shared! I did talk a little about Yoybuy in my video so I'm just going to add on some other information I feel is important.

Yoybuy.com makes the Taobao shopping experience extremely easy and fuss-free. A few examples:

• Service fee is fixed at 10% of item price + China domestic shipping
• Attention: Certain sites may state that they charge lesser for service fee but because they calculate it based on the product's entire price including international shipping, it is actually more expensive!
• Products on Taobao are already on-site, and sorted by categories in English
• Besides searching for items on Yoybuy itself, you can also paste a Taobao product URL to the search form to access and purchase it
• Yoybuy provides reliable shipping methods e.g. DHL, EMS, Aramex

Another thing I am going to emphasize on is the level of customer service. If you've been reading this space long enough, you'll already know horrid CS is a major pet peeve of mine. As I've worked in retail for quite a bit and did really well at it, I expect the same of staff in CS out there. It's called customer service for a reason right?! So anyway, I am so glad that Yoybuy promises efficient CS.

• Emails to their customer service department (service@yoybuy.com) usually get answered the same day within 24hrs
• Live chat during Beijing business hours from 0930-2000 for urgent enquiries
• Yoybuy's Facebook pages (in English, Spanish, and French of course) as well as their VK.com page (Russian) introduce new Taobao products and updates on information about Yoybuy

Based on all the information provided, I would give Yoybuy.com a try should I want a speedy Taobao experience without having to slowly read descriptions in Chinese. Should you require any form of assistance, I'm sure the ever-ready team at Yoybuy would be glad to help you too.

A huge thank you to everyone who has dropped me an email asking how to shop at Taobao (you inspired this blog post!) and I hope I have provided enough information for y'all here.

Happy Hari Raya Haji to my Muslim friends and have a lovely day everyone!

Room Envy: Pretty Little Liars (Part II)

Hanna Marin is a diva and she isn't afraid to let people know it. Despite how dark the show is becoming, her comebacks never fail to make me snort. Wish I had the guts to say half the things she says to people.

Her room reflects her tres chic wardrobe. She never fails to inject just the right amount of glitz and glamor to her outfits, for e.g. a plaid shirt with a chunky bedazzled necklace paired with skinnies and sky-high booties. Unfortunately, the photos captured below don't show any of that so maybe her room will do the talking.

The main color scheme of her room seems to lean towards the lighter side of the purple color spectrum, namely lilac. The pop of color seen throughout is yellow, which I wasn't sure about but it sure works for her room.

In the couple photos above, you can see pillow mountains both on her daybed and her bed. This is something which I'm gradually learning about. Pillows don't have to be the same shape, color, and design in order for it to work in a pillow mountain. The key is to identify the main theme of the room, and use pillows as accents. For e.g. Hanna's pillows are mostly silky-looking, which adds that glamorous touch, and they stick to the purple color theme except in different shades which keeps it interesting.

Her dressing table looks like an organized mess. It works because the main pieces of decor like the tall jewelry holder, tiny jars, and table lamp are all white or glass which always makes decor look so effortless. What I love is the filigree mirror, in lilac of course, and the vase with purple, white, and yellow flowers. I'm a sucker for things that match okay.

By the way, there's so much purple going on in the photo below lol.

The next couple of photos show Allison's room but I'm not going to analyze it. Just wanted to say that I OWNED THAT TABLE LAMP WHICH WE BOUGHT IN AMERICA (Target I believe) BUT MY MOM HAS BEEN CLEANING OUT THE HOUSE AND SHE THREW IT OUT BECAUSE IT WAS DUSTY! The fangirl in me wants to scream I HAVE THAT TOO but alas that's not going to happen.

Goodbye pretty lamp. It was glamorous while it lasted.