Out & About: Malaysia, Are you Ready for UberEAts?

With the launch of UberEATS in Malaysia, we are welcoming yet another food delivery company except that this one originates from the ride-hailing app, UBER. UberEATS, is a standalone app that is powered by the same pioneering technology that made ride-hailing a norm around the world.  Malaysians can now enjoy a myriad culinary experiences and greater dining choices at the comfort of wherever you’re located at, be it the home, office or even a friend’s house during a party! The possibilities are pretty much endless, all this with just a touch of the button.

For this initial release, there are only three areas which they deliver to — KL’s central business district, Damansara Heights, and Bangsar. Of course, we should expect the coverage to expand further in the coming days, so fret not if you’re not located within these region. I’ve had a browse on the restaurant partners of UberEATS and within seconds, I’m already salivating at the thought of having so much choices available. Can you believe that there are about 200 restaurants already on the platform, offering foods, beverages and desserts of different cuisine?

During the launch we were given a chance to sample the food from Stika Studio, a fine dining restaurant with the chef preparing the dishes right in front of us. There was also Inside Scoop ice cream for us to sample, along with the servings of Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa. It was definitely a fun night, filled with delicious meals as Malaysia have always been famous for - the variety of food choices available! And now, with UberEATS hopes to bring this food experience right to your doorstep, minus the hassle of queues and the jam!

If you’re wondering how long your order would take to arrive, it will be approximately 35 minutes from start to finish and the service will be available from 9am till midnight. Presently, there is only option to pay via credit or debit cards with the delivery charges at RM5 with no minimum order required. Additionally, UBER have also ensured that the delivery process satisfy the Halal requirements for both restaurants and consumers by working together with JAKIM. Halal and non-Halal food will be delivered in different carrier bags, which is a good initiative for our Muslim friends.

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To get​ ​the​ ​UberEATS​ ​app, follow these few simple steps

1. Go to Google Play or App Store and select “UberEATS: Food Delivery” to install

2. Register your details: Name, email address, mobile phone number and login password

3. Verify your details with a verification code that will be sent to your phone ​ ​ ​ ​

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How​ ​to​ ​use​ ​UberEATS: 

1. Tell​ ​us​ ​where​ ​to​ ​deliver​ - add your home, work, or any other address or location you’d like

2. Browse​ ​local​ ​restaurants​ - search for your favourite local spot or select from a list of restaurants available.

3. Check​ ​out​ ​with​ ​a​ ​tap​ - pay with your card already on file and enjoy free delivery during the introductory period.

4. Track​ ​your​ ​order​ - watch as your order is prepared, picked up, and delivered straight to you.

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Till next time,

xoxo

Review : Royal Bride Spa Package at OSTA Salon & Spa, Publika

Days leading to the big event, the wedding itself are one of the most stressful times that any bride will vouch to that. With that thought, came an inspiration to design a Royal Bride Spa Package by the ladies at OSTA Salon & Spa, Publika. The Royal Bride Spa Package is a 2 hours long package which consists of 60 minutes body baume massage and 20 minutes body bamboo scrub , both of which uses products from the Arise Swiss Alpine Cosmetic. This is then followed by a 20 minutes sauna with rose essential oil and 20 minutes floral milk bath with coconut milk. By reading the description, I could already visualize how amazingly pampered I would feel through out the experience.

| Double boiled Body Baume |

| Bamboo Scrub |

True to that, it was the best 2 hours I ever had in the longest time! My masseuse , Fieza is a petite, skilled lady whose skills are in the traditional Malay massage type. Combined with the body baume from Arise Swiss Alpine Cosmetic,  all the tensions from my body was relieved and it felt so relaxing! The body baume feels rich, yet it doesn’t leave a sticky feeling on your body. Body baume is double boiled to be liquidated before applying onto the skin for the massage session.This is followed by the body bamboo scrub which has bamboo beads that works to eliminate dead skin leaving skin soft and supple.

These two products are from the brand Arise Swiss Alpine Cosmetic, a skincare brand from Switzerland with Ecocert and Cosmebio certification. Organic Edelweiss flower is the main ingredient of this brand, a herb which is known for its anti-aging properties.

After the massage and the scrub, it’s followed by the sauna treatment, in which the heat from the sauna treatment helps to stimulate blood flow and the essential oil will help in clearing the sinuses and relieves congestion. 

Then, this is followed by the floral milk bath, filled with beautiful rose petals that helps to make skin radiant along with an additional ingredient; coconut milk that nourishes the skin with richness of nutrients that the skin need to stay healthy. Ending the pampering session with a floral milk bath, is the perfect way indeed. The rose petals in the tub can be used to scrub the body too!

The whole experience left me feeling ultra pampered and luxurious, which makes me wish for a next session already even before it ended. The Royal Bride Spa Package gives the body a total anti aging massage and enhance microcirculation to nourish and improve moisture retention of the skin.  Hence, it’s definitely highly recommended, especially if you’re looking for a package which combines both masssage and scrub, as well as the sauna and the bath too!

After the treatment, T2 tea and Royce chocolate is served to end the session on a sweet note! There is also a complimentary hair blow drying after the shower which you can utilise to dry your hair. Very thoughful indeed, to include that option. :) The Royal Bride Spa Package is priced at RM368, but in the whole month of October, there is a 20% discount! The price after the discount is RM294.40. 

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Allow me to share some information about OSTA Salon & Spa, which is unique and different than other spa places because they are a FEMALE only spa which caters only to FEMALE clients. The concept behind this was to cater specifically to female clients as they believe women deserve exclusivity in every aspect in life. Women nowadays are much sensitive with their surroundings, who know what's best for them. Hence, ladies can let loose and relax yourself at this little sanctuary without worrying about bumping into men, after you’ve finished your session.

| The Garden Room |

| Traditional Malay |

| English Facial |

The OSTA Salon & Spa has four different concept rooms with different themes in each of them. There is the Garden Room, Moroccan room, Traditional Malay room and the English Facial room. The latter rooms of Traditional Malay and English Facial, each have two beds in them which allows them to accomodate friends who came in pairs. :) 

| Moroccan Room |

Besides that, all the rooms have bath tubs in them but only the Garden Room has the sauna in it. You can actually pick which rooms you’d like it to be in but for the Royal Bride Spa Package,  it’s recommended to go to the Garden Room. For ladies, who plan to have a pampering session here, there is also an option to have a spa party for a maximum number of 5 pax with treatments, food & drinks and decorations provided.

Besides that, it is also worth noting that OSTA Salon & Spa is proud to support female and entrepreneur empowerment. The core belief stems from the fact that support comes from family members and they want their clients to feel like they are at home able to share their ideas with family members. They welcome women out there to share their knowledge, thoughts and ideas with them. Every bi-weekly, a small talk for a small group of 10 guests will he held at the OSTA Salon & Spa to share their knowledge and ideas. Guests will get to know each other and that's how word spread; via recommendation. Here is the link to attend their next event on November 11, a session called Personality Enhancement & Building Your Own Brand <<<< click here to find out more!

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OSTA Salon & Spa

// Publika, A1-UG1-09, Solaris Dutamas, No. 1, Jalan Dutamas 1, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia //

Open from Monday to Saturday from 10AM to 8PM

// 03-6207 9006 //

Review : Mesmerizing Japanese Gel Manicure At Enchanted Siblings

If you think that mesmerizing is an odd word to describe my manicure experience at Enchanted Siblings, then you’ll need to read on to know why I said so. From the picture of the nails above, you can tell that their designs are unique and different than others. The designs here at Enchanted Siblings are inspired Japanese and Korean trends, with over 1,000 different designs which you can choose from. These designs are framed and displayed for the ease of the customers to make their selections.

I’ll be honest and say that I was overwhelmed by the myriad, different designs available for me to pick from. It wasn’t just the colour/shade that I needed to decide on because I could pick opt for either a plain nail base, an ombre one, a cosmic inspired or any others you fancy (they have marble too)! The most exciting part came after that, when you can also pick charms for your nails.

Before my visit to Enchanted Siblings, the only charms I know is the ones from Thomas Sabo or Pandora to be worn together with their bracelet. So, what are the charms for nails? They are actually these tiny adorable accesories placed on your nails; there are many different options like dreamcatcher, seahorse, shells, stars, ribbons, hearts and etc. Really, there are too many to list them down here. There are also option to add quartz stones to your nails as well and I was informed that these stones are shaped according to the curve in our nails, allowing it to stay in place.

At that point, I was pretty much overwhelmed by the possibility of different combinations of nail designs that I had. It feels like I’m at a buffet and I just want to have everything! But with only 10 fingers, of course I had to decide on a design which I like, with a theme. This is when Munny, the Nail Art Director based in the Sri Petaling branch came to help me with my selection. Munny is also one of the founder  of En-CHAN-ted Siblings, together with her sisters Celeste and Ylinn, along with their youngest adorable brother, KW Chan. Together they are the Chan siblings and hence, their beauty nail parlour is given the name of En-CHAN-ted Siblings. Very creative indeed with usage of words there.

After a brief consultation session where Munny suggested a couple of combination of designs based on my preference of colour choices and charms, we started with the gel manicure. I’m amazed with the emphasis placed on hygiene here, as hand sanitizer is provided first before the gel manicure begins. As with any gel manicure, there are the basic steps of trimming and filing of the nails, pushing and then buffing the cuticles, followed by the cleansing of the nails.

What differentiate a gel manicure from a normal one is the application of a layer that bonds the gel polishes to your nail, ensuring that it lasts longer and maintained chip-free! After that, the gel nail polishes are applied on to the nails and for every layer applied, the nails are placed into the UV lamp to cure or in simpler words, to dry them thoroughly before applying the next layer. Because of this technique used, there are pretty much no down time after the manicure that you’ll need to be careful not to spoil your manicure.

The design I chose in the end, is a Japanese themed one which was designed in 2016 and was one of their best sellers, known as Path to the Past. It’s a cosmic galaxy themed based which is created with the blending technique. It was captivating to be able to witness the design forming right before my eyes. It started out with a white base polish and as the colours are being added, layer by layer, it was unbelievable to see the final results!

After the cosmic galaxy base is done, it was time to accessorize my pretty nails with charms! I’ve always been a fan of dreamcatcher so I picked that and the other one was a cross. There are actually more charms on it, but I’ll show it to you in pictures instead. Besides these that I have picked, there are actually many other option available.

To get an idea of what other charms there is, feel free to stalk Enchanted Siblings on their Instagram page here >>> https://www.instagram.com/enchantedsiblings/. Every month, there will be a new set of nail designs released which follows the theme of the month. So do keep a lookout for that!

Next up, it was time to bling up the nails with genuine SWAROVSKI crystals! Enchanted Siblings is certified by SWAROVSKI themselves, hence rest assured that only genuine crystals are used for your nails. These SWAROVSKI crystals have a  brilliant shine that is far superior to the shine of any other crystals. At the time of this post, a week have passed and the crystals on my nails are still as shiny as ever.

For my nails, Munny did a full tip nail adorned with SWAROVSKI with crystals of different sizes and colour on my ring finger, as an accent nail. My other nails also has SWAROVSKI crystals but with a different arrangement. The final effect was a very sparkly accent  nail on my ring finger, with complimenting arrangement of the crystals on other nails. :)

The last step is to finish off the manicure with the gel top coat, which holds everything in place! This will ensure your nails won’t get chipped and the crystals stay on your nails. During the consultation with Munny earlier, I did have my concerns of the crystal coming off, but she assured me that it takes a lot of effort for them to fall out. True enough, it’s been a week plus since I did my nails and all the crystals are intact. I must also add that I’m thoroughly impressed that I didn’t experience a single chipping on my nails at all!

This is despite the fact that I did house chores, went to gym (with heavy weights lifting too) and even helped my dad shifted items around the garden as our house is undergoing construction! My last experience with gel manicure was horrendous, my nails chipped after a couple days and kept chipping on. In contrary I’m so in love with my nails done at Enchanted Siblings, which stays intact! Everyday I’m admiring my nails and no, I’m not even bored of staring into them sparkly  nails!

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If you’re interested to have a mesmerizing manicure experience as I did, Enchanted Siblings have two different branch that you can check out the pastel home themed  one in Sri Petaling known as Erelise while the one in Publika called Lunaria Palace which is the pink heaven palace themed. The branch I visited was Erelise in Sri Petaling. Let me share with you some pictures of the beauty parlour, so that you can get a feel of what it looks like. :)

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Here are the contact numbers and addresses of both the Sri Petaling and Publika branch. It’s definitely recommended to call in to make a booking to avoid disappointment. :) I hope you’ll enjoy your experience as much as I did.

Erelise  - Sri Petaling Branch

// 11, Jalan Radin Bagus 9, Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia //

Open daily from 11am to 8pm

// 012-668 8717 //

Lunaria Palace  - Publika Branch

// Block A1- G2-08 , Solaris Dutamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia //

Open daily from 11am to 8pm

// 013 668 6688 //

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Till next time,

xoxo

Out & About: Fashion for Love, a cause for the needy students

Growing up, I’ve had what would be considered as a privileged life, being able to study and complete my studies from primary, secondary and then tertiary education as well. But, there are many children & teenagers whom might not have that privilege, where it’s a struggle to obtain an education. These are the kind of things, that most of us take for granted and yet, we don’t realise just how fortunate we are. 

With this in mind, a community educational fund raising project with the theme “Fashion for Love” was organized by The Giving Bank together with Creight Event & Services and the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. The project’s slogan is simple and straight-forward ;  “Supporting Children to School”.

The project has a simple objective, which is to raise funds from the public community to serve and cater 300 multi racial children in need. They believe that everyone deserves an equal right to education. Going to school and seeking education is a very important element at every stage of growth. It gives the child hope and a chance to experience something that they’ve never experienced before, which then help them become useful members of the society. It’s important to be here together, to bring love and happiness to these children. These children deserve to know that many people out there are loving them.

Most of  these children are from a poor family background and their parents could not afford to send their kids to school. Because these kids are not being exposed to education, the chances of them learning and being able to feed themselves or being independent is relatively low. The cycle of poverty and the relation to being a less fortunate will never end and it will continue for generations to come. The only way to fight this is to give the children hope, giving them an equal chance of education exposure, grow up well and leading them to decent employment. With such, the scenario will change to a positive structure.

The team have been planning this “Fashion for Love” event since August 2017, and a Press Conference was held for the main highlight event of the Charity Fashion Show Gala Dinner in October 8^th 2017 at HGH Convention Centre. For those fashion lovers who would like to attend the event, tickets are availabe at RM500 (VIP) and RM300 (Normal), which comes together with an 8-course dinner. Alternatively, you can also opt to donate to the cause  at the link. Any amount would be greatly appreciated!

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CLICK BELOW TO DONATE!

https://thegivingbank.com/campaigns/campaign/educateforlove

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Eat : An Afternoon Hi-Tea, The French Style in Chez Lèoniel

For the past couple of years, there has been a boom and demand for afternoon Hi-Tea sets. I've seen so many versions of it from those offered in hotels to cafes, of different kind of pastries and savoury food. Recently, I've been invited to a quaint little cafe known as Chez Lèoniel, helmed by Chef Leoniel, who was a flight attendant for almost 10 years before he found his passion in the culinary world, which he had discovered through his travels around the world.

In very beginning, he started out by taking orders and making them at home while attending French language classes at Alliance Française de Kuala Lumpur. By learning the language of love, he was able to understand the intricate French recipes and replicate the delicious French food he had in France, right here in Malaysia. His love and passion for the language and cuisine have then prompted him to start his very own cafe, Chez Lèoniel located in the same building which houses the French Language School - Alliance Française de Kuala Lumpur. It was the perfect match, to be able to serve the French cuisine to the members of the French culture and language centre.

Now, Chef Leoniel DG have launched his very own Afternoon Hi-Tea set where the food items actually changes weekly. It will feature any of the following items – Croissant, Pain Au Chocolat, Fruit Panier, Croissant Sandwich, Tart Aux Fraises, Tart Au Citron, Tart Au Chocolat, Assorted flavored Macaroons, Fruit Cakes, Sandwiches, Madelines, Financiers … just to name a few. This set comprises of 12 pieces pastries handpicked by the Chef according to product availablity, accompanied by a pot of tea or coffee for only RM75. It’s definitely a good value for money, especially for these delicately homemade French cuisine.

When I tried the Afternoon Hi-Tea set, I was served with a variety of different pastries and items too which comes in three layers! On the first layer is the Fruit Panier which came in four different flavours - mango, strawberry , cherry , apple! I must admit that this is the first time I’ve tried this and I do love the combination of fruits with pastries.

The second layer would be the favourite ones for the chocolate lovers because of there is the Pain Au Chocolat, a sweet roll with texture similar to that of a puff pastry and it’s filled with rich chocolate! There is also the Tart Au Chocolat, the chocolate tart if you want more chocolate! Chef have also included in theTart Au Citron, the lemon tart to give your tastebuds a zesty break from all the sweetness of the chocolate.

The last layer which also happens to be my favourite because it’s the savoury part where there is the Quiche Chicken & Ham, Apple Tart from Normandie and Croissant Sandwich! Apples are one of my favourite fruit so it’s no surprise that I love the tart. I found out that the apples used to make these are from France, Normandie… hence it’s named as such. In fact, the ingredients used to make it originates from France!

But if Afternoon Hi-Tea set or pastries are not of your fancy, fret not as you can also try other French dishes such as Croque-Monsieur.  The Croque-Monsieur  is traditionally made with boiled ham between slices of brioche-like pain de mie topped with grated cheese and slightly salted and peppered, which is baked in an oven or fried in a frying pan. As Chef Leoniel described this to me, I made a mental note to return here some day to give this a try! It sounds like love, and I cannot imagine how delicious it would taste like.  If you’re interested in some French cuisine, you know just right where to head on to!

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Chez Leoniel
// 15, Lorong Gurney Kiri, Jalan Semarak, 54100, Kuala Lumpur //

Located within the grounds of Alliance Francaise de Kuala Lumpur.

Open from 9am -5pm on Monday-Friday. Hours extended to 7pm on Saturday. Closed on Sunday.

// 017-610 2420 //

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