Lone Pine Room Balcony with bath tub

Duration of stay : 1 night

COMFORT – Love the bed, spacious and firm. Comfortable pillows and comforter. The room also has a ceiling fan which you dont find very often in many hotels. It kinda compliments the room with natural air and wind along with the sound of the ocean waves. Very nice touch.

TOILET – Toilets are well-designed, with 2 sliding doors, nice interior and strong hot shower. Bath tub however is located at the balcony.

Lone Pine Impressive Room Toilet

NOISE – quiet, you wont hear neighbours / other patrons. but you do get the sound of ocean waves as one of the window panels is a fixed wooden panel for ventilation. Not complaining about that though. I find that its a nice touch to the comfort.

OTHERS – hair dryer provided in the wardrobe, along with bathrobe and slippers.

BREAKFAST – extensive breakfast spread, from bread to cheese spread to local dishes like congee and noodles. Eggs and omelettes freshly made.

INTERNET - wifi available, however you might find it a little slow and congested.

PARKING – plenty and free for guest

* * *

CONCLUSION – first time visiting this re-furbished hotel and am loving it. Worth the price and will definitely re-visit. *favourite*

ARE YOU KIASU (scared to lose)? ARE YOU KIASI (scared to die)? or ARE YOU KIALANG (scared of people)?

if you’re living in Malaysia / Singapore, you’ll defintiely know the above terms as we pretty much use them daily. And since you’re already from Malaysia, this kiasu iPhone app is for you. Its call “WHOlah”. Download this app from itune and start playing – recognize your facebook friends as many as possible in 60seconds.

basically the mechanics goes like this

iPhone App download -> PLAY -> goto nearest Carrefour outlet in Malaysia -> find parking -> goto redemption counter redeem winning vouchers on iPhone -> go SHOPPING! Heres the catch, you need to have VISA Debit card.

me and my friends have been playing and I’m telling you, this game brings out the aunty and uncle side of you.

With VISA Debit + Winning Vouchers, you get little prizes like twisties, pringles, oreos, sunsweet prunes, magnum icecream and ferero rocher chocs.

You redeem the prizes with ANY purchase using the VISA Debit card. IMAGINE THE KIASUNESSSSS!!!! i buy dish washing scrub for RM1 and get Sunsweet Prunes worth RM8.90! i buy parsley for RM1.50 and get pringles worth RM2.80! HAHAHAHHAHAHA

psst tell you a secret plan, i dunno if Carrefour n Visa Debit will have this for CNY next year or not, but I think hor, best to stock up now, i check already, expiry dates on the snacks are next year August 2012! muahahahahahaha shhhhhhh !!!

friend paying 11 items one by one to redeem 11 vouchers. the next customer not too pleased

disclaimer – people above in this post are all my friends. not me. i where got as kiasu as them kan?

campaign running from august 19th – sept 19th 2011. more details head to Carrefour

CONVENIENCE – The hotel is convenient and about 5 minutes walk away from Wan Chai MTR station and easy to get a cab as well. There are also bus stops outside the hotel if you know how to get about on bus. There are restaurants nearby (on the way to MTR station), 2 convenience store and 2 pharmacy. If you look at the map, Wan Chai is also in between Central and Causeway Bay, so getting to those 2 areas are only 1 to 2 stops away. I would give location and convenience 4 out of 5 stars.

COMFORT – Very comfortable bed and pillows. Easy access to lighting, switches at bedside table. Sleep wasnt a problem.

TOILET – All amenities available, towels are clean, shower cap, toothbrush etc all provided. Floor mats, hand towels, tissue, you name it, they have it. Shower was powerful and hot water was available, no complaints there.

NOISE – walls are kinda thin though and rooms are very near to each other, could hear neighbour going in and out of room, that was a little annoying.

OTHERS – hair dryer provided in cabinet, safe deposit box also available in wardrobe.

BREAKFAST – very good buffet breakfast downstairs, however same selections for 3 days. congee, salads, cereals, wide selection of bread and cheese. Favourite item is the croissant. Didnt like the fresh milk and coffee though.

COMPLAINTS – no wifi. i was really annoyed by this. when i booked the rooms, i thought it had free wifi, but my mistake, there was no wifi in room, only ethernet cable on study desk. Plus, i think you have to pay for it as well. We also stayed on 6th floor. Not sure if its because its summer, the hallway was musky, i didnt like the smell of it at all. Room smelled a little funky , but after a while you kinda get used to it.

* * *

CONCLUSION – i will not be going back to this hotel. Everything great except that for the price i pay for the room and no free wifi, i’m not pleased.

TIPS – If you do stay at this place and need internet connection, just walk down the street to HSBC, stand outside with your wifi device and you will be able to get the “HSBC_wifi” connection I was desperate and survived on that. Thank you HSBC!!

*editor’s note : i’m a no-sugar added latte person, i take milk , microfoam and latte art seriously. so, heres my top 3, not in any particular order.

F Buffalo Kitchen
its at Bangsar, just right upstairs from Chawan, same row as Madam Kwans. Not easy to find parking, best to park at Bangsar Village and walk over.
Smoking area : YES
Pet friendly : NO
FOOD : MODERATE, they have lunch sets

What i like about the coffee / latte : coffee beans from GaBee (taiwan), milk thick enough with microfoam and an after burnt bitter taste on the foam. Coffee doesnt taste sour. Regular latte priced at RM8, takeaways half priced. *awesome* “F” closes around 1am.

Departure Lounge

Available at 2 places – Damansara Utama & Solaris. Parking at Solaris Kiara relatively easier.

Smoking area : YES
Pet friendly : NO
FOOD : light sandwiches, english breakfast, pasta

What i like about the coffee / latte : very good latte art, satisfying coffee and baristas have won awards. no doubt, very very good coffee.

Great travel books free to read too.

WHISK

Small little place in Empire Shopping Gallery Subang Jaya. (just outside of Jaya Grocer)

Smoking area : NO
Pet friendly : NO
FOOD : cakes, bagels, macarons, sweets. famous for red velvet cake

What i like about the coffee / latte : creamy and thick, however, coffee not hot enough. constantly changing different beans, so watch their menu. Regular latte priced at RM10, a little on the pricier side.

Easy parking available as its in a shopping mall. Closes at 10pm.

* * *

i have few other favourite coffee corners that I’d like to recommend, maybe next post, gotta head back to work now. If you have other recommendations, please shout out here cheers!

Interior decorating is modern and pleasing to the eye with wood panels and book displays. 3 main attractions to the interior that i really like is…

1) the open kitchen

2) the coffee bar

3) balcony for smoking session

Seared tuna salad

squid ink linguini

teriyaki chicken risotto

Overall, the food was alright, good but not GREAT, can be improved definitely, BUT what i really really really LOVE about this place is the coffee. I fell instantly in love with it. Had both regular latte and cappuccino. The milk microfoam was incredible, great latte art and i didnt have to out sugar into them. it was that good. i love the end bitter / golden roasted taste from the microfoam itself. Later got to know that they carry coffee from GaBee (Taiwan based)

cappucino

latte

Conclusion : Definitely going back for coffee.

F on Facebook

Tel : +60322011710 or +60172512299

Address: 69-1 Jalan Telawi 3 Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

This was what kept me super crazy since February. With a very tight deadline of over 2 months…

• we refurbished 7 Generations of Honda Accord
• worked closely with 3 other photographers : Asyraf, Darren & Patrick
• went to the factory/plant to shoot the process
• produced a coffee table book
• and produced a photographic roadshow exhibition set-up nationwide

Although its been painful months of hardwork process, i must say thank you to Ktalyst International for giving me this opportunity again (previously similiar project was The Perfectionist). It has always been a pleasure working with the team.

Do go check the roadshows out while its still on at these places:

13 to 17 APR Queensbay Mall, P.Penang
20 to 24 APR 1 U shopping Centre, P.J.
11 to 15 MAY Bangsa Village, K.L.
25 to 29 MAY Empire Gallery, Subang, Selangor D.E.
21 to 26 JUN Tebrau City, J.B.

* * *

image by yours truly shot with the GF1

shot by yours truly with the GF1

the making...midnight set-up

unloading the precious photos

More pictures on FACEBOOK & FLICKR

Being an internet savvy person, i read up about it and saw some interesting cannot resist deals. Striking words like YOU SAVE 80%! YOU GET THIS AND THIS AND ITS ONLY RMXX AMOUNT! WOW! So yeah, i got sucked into buying 2 deals which i totally DO NOT NEED.

* * *

DEAL 1 : 4-course Bento Set: Unagi Don + Salad + Miso Soup + Fruit + Bottomless Green Tea at Kushi Q, Tropicana City Mall. Now just RM7 instead of RM13.90.

Did i like it? it was mediocre. i have ate at this place before and didnt find it great, i bought the vouchers anyways coz its cheap. Will i go back to that restaurant? probably not.

* * *

DEAL 2 : [63% Off] Exhilarating! 5 full laps (choose from Double-Seater Buggy / Krazy-Kart / ATV) + additional Human Hamster Ball experience. Must try! Only RM28 instead of RM75

Now this is an interesting one! the pictures posted on GrouponMalaysia as well as the vendor’s website was deceiving! Heres what was advertised:

800m (per lap) of rough-it-out adventure Total experience (off road driving + Hamster Ball) takes approximately 30 minutes Purchase multiple vouchers for double the fun Choose from 3 types of vehicles Experience the Human Hamster Ball Shower facilities available

I bought 8 vouchers and after going thru the hassle of gathering working friends to get together, we went with anticipation!

When we got there we were so so disappointed with the place. It was not at all “exhilarating” as the ad says.

- That place was simply just a piece of land next to some high-tension wired area and across a cemetery, clear off the land and you call that extreme park??

- The parking area was so small (barely fits 3 cars) so we had to park outside by the roadside, again across from the cemetery.

- We made an appointment at 3pm, we arrived at about 2.45pm and was told someone came in earlier and said that they were us and took our slot. So we had to wait for at least an hour before we can play.
Question is….didnt the company check the booking number or check the vouchers? How did another group came in and took our slot?

dangerous pieces of scrap metal around the premise

- The pictures of people in mud  portrayed in ad was not from the trek nor from the driving, but it was from their staff spraying water hose at you and stopping your buggy in the middle of the trek, by using some small pails, pour mud on you. Now, we are not kids and we do not accept this kind of cheap thrill. We thought that going on an ATV or Buggy is about going on some rough terrain, with mud holes, and that the tyres will “splash” the mud on you. Not getting dirty from water hose??

- The buggy / equipment were poorly maintained.

Also, there was no “hamster ball” available for the day. Again, from the condition of that place, i dont think i’d be too comfortable do any hamster stunt.

* * *

Simply, AGAIN, i’d like to stress to GROUP DEALS company to test out and visit vendor’s deals before putting up on sale. I also noticed that the “Extreme PD Buggy Trek Pit Stop” Deal is up again on GrouponMalaysia site. I strongly advice that you dont buy the deal. In fact I’m boycotting that Trek and would really like to see them closed down!

And will i be buying another deal after all these experience? Probably not for a long time.

WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!!!

i think its all over the place, everyone specially companies & organizations are doing their part of CSR, cut down plastic bags, save the trees, treeplanting campaign yadda yadda yadda…and you know what? i think its just bullshit. they do it one time, you and i see it, 6 months later, the campaign is forgotten. they spend money, lets have family fun day, built up tents, treeplanting activity, hire some celebrity to endorse it…all these events EATS UP ENERGY and kills more trees. its pretty ironic isnt it?

my main main main concern and i think the bigger culprits are FACTORIES, LOGGING INDUSTRY and the non-stop ever building HOUSES & APARTMENTS. any piece of land available, they see business opportunity.

i can do my part and not use plastic bag, but hey, one bulldozer drives in, cleans up the grass and tress, thats probably more waste than i can throw.

so heres something new i learn from TED.COM the other day, instead of the regular 3R, theres the 4th R now: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle & Refuse.

you should already be cutting down plastic bag usage, saving water & energy, but heres also few other pointers which you might add on…

• discourage products that has too much plastic packaging, and encourage those who uses recycled material
• buy local food products in supermarket to cut down flown-in products.
• eat less / cut off red meat
• discourage new building plans / constructions (if the world stops building for a year, i think it could make a drastic change)
• use paper cups instead of styrofoam ones
• for takeaways in malaysia, theres way too much usage of styrofoam boxes for hawkers. bring your own plate / containers!
• switch off the aircon and use the fan when possible

unfortunately, going green and choosing recycled paper packaging products definitely will cost but if you have a small family and can afford extra 1ringgit to spare to encourage, do it!

i admit, i dont even follow 100% whats been said above, but hey, at least its at the back of my head and i’ll try to work on them, even harder this year.

* * *

adding on, i’d like to say kudos to the government for implementing a no-plastic day on every saturday, starting from selangor, and its nationwide! hoorah! and kudos to both IKEA (no plastic bags everyday) and Carrefour (for providing carton boxes at check out counters for your goods).

so addicted to this track found in Eat Pray Love OST