Gift Idea: Made in Malaysia

Tweet How many times have you tried to look for a gift which you want to give to a foreigner friend, and you wanted it to represent Malaysia? Well, if you are like me, you would have given gifts like Royal Selangor, Boh Tea, Vincci, and Old town coffee.

Something more creative (and with a cause) which you can give the next time you need a gift could be something from Gadis Manis Malaysia.

Her cute shop is located in Publika and it houses many nice Malaysian-made items which will surely be unique (not your typical gifts from Isetan/ Parkson). Her story is quite inspiring and it was told to me by the art gallery owner beside Gadis Manis. After I checked out her shop, I fell in love with the scent in-store and asked about it. Their "Yati" scent was nice and it was made in cooperation with Spice Garden of Penang. I bought one of their essential oils, while I browsed around for future potential gifts. Their items like t-shirts and bags have the beautiful design which represents Malaysia -- 3 ladies (Malay, Chinese, and Indian). Subtle yet directly representing the wonderful multi-culture of Malaysia... The perfect gift. The shop also donates some of its proceeds to 2 foundations. Once you visit the shop, you will find some printed copies of Gadis Manis (I have included a photo of the front and back).

I wasn't able to take a photo of the colourful bags. Definitely the designs are nice and not too pricey. Lovely gifts for the ladies! They also have children t-shirts and adult tops, shirts and polo.

Hope this helps you in your next gift idea!

Paintings and Art in KL

Tweet Last week I was invited to a friend's Art Gallery opening at Publika Mont Kiara. The owner is a passionate art collector who has been buying art from struggling artists in Indonesia. The gallery called Artemis Art is full of affordable original paintings, which also had some other Asian artists. After attending the opening cocktail, I was inspired to pick up my brush again. Yesterday, while little Alex was at school, I finished a 40"x50" painting . I was inspired to try something totally different from my usual abstracts and flower series. It was scary because I rub the risk of "failing" in my own attempt... But life is too short! Worst case I would spoil a canvas.

After 5 hours of painting, I finished my first teddy bear painting. It turned out okay, despite my doubts. After my daughter woke up from her nap, she was happy to see it! And even attempted to shake its hand, gave it a kiss and a hug. Wow, what a reward! The day after, she realised that it is in fact her teddy bear which we bought long ago from France.

I hope to pass on all my paintings to her one day. Maybe my future grandchildren will inherit it!!! (my daughter is just 2 yrs old now, haha)

To people who want to try painting, I believe Artemis Art will be organising a painting workshop for adults and kids. Just contact U.C.Loh at +6012-3732188 Artemis Art.

Artemis Art
A1-01-3 Solaris Dutamas
No.1 jalan Dutamas KL (Publika)

KL Birdpark: Nice Morning With Toddler

Tweet Today is Tuesday which means no classes for my 2-yr old. Decided to spend the morning at the KL Birdpark as we haven't gone back for a year now. I searched their website and saw that Jusco card has discount for those with myKad. As a Resident Pass owner, we have our pink ID cards and I used that today. With those cards you can get a discount for entrance fees. 2 adults (plus Jusco card discount) amounted to rm35. My 2-yr old has free entrance. I remember spending close to rm200 a few years ago when 4 of us came to visit (we didn't bring our gold expat cards). Now I know and came prepared :)

We had a nice time walking around as Tuesdays are less crowded / busy. Mostly tourists and few locals. Nice weather as we start off our walk at 10am. Finished at 12noon and we left for Gardens Mall where we had our Filipino food fix at Pancake House.

Overall it is a nice 2-hr walk with your toddler. It can get hot so bring a hat and water. Lots and lots of birds around. You won't be disappointed!

JPJ Maju Junction : a pleasant experience

Tweet I'm currently here at JPJ Maju Junction. In my 5 yrs in Malaysia I have never gone to do our driver's license because we used to use a runner who charged us high fees! Now that I am a housewife I took an adventure and went to update hubby's driver license. It was a pleasant experience driving and waiting at JPJ. The queue was organised, ample seats, was easy to park, friendly and English speaking government staff. This is heaven compared to the land transportation offices in Manila!!! I was impressed with the service and location. Stress - free coming here! I also came to update the home address of our car registration cards (pink card) which had wrong info. Wrong address only means one thing: if you get a police summon or ticket, it will be sent to the wrong address! That already happened to us and we never received the ticket, and only found out when we were about to renew the car registration.

Overall, the efficiency and ambience were good. The 3 officers I interacted with were all pleasant and helpful! I would not hesitate to come back!