Harry Potter Studio Tour in London

Disclaimer: Some spoilers ahead if you haven’t visited the studio. I have very selective pictures in this post so that I won’t spoil the fun for you. 🙂 

I remember extending my trip for about 5 more days in London just so I can visit the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio.  As I only finalised details of my Cambridge study trip rather late, all the other dates and time were already sold out online!

The Harry Potter Studio Tour requires advance booking (up to 2 months) as no tickets will be sold at the door. There are basic tickets (£30) and package tickets (£39.95 for additional paperback souvenir guide and audio guide). This was a no-brainer for me, obviously I went to the Complete Studio Tour Package, and I wanted a tour slot as early as possible. I also booked a musical on the same day so I had to rush back into the city in the evening. 

 

 

Go to Watford station.

Getting there wasn’t as easy because I had to change trains, then take bus and then walk to the studio. Watford is sort of outside the city and I didn’t plan enough time to reach there. There’s a fast train from Euston, but I accidentally took the wrong one and ended up on a 1-hr ride. No complaints though because the view was nice and the train was quite empty.  🙂

 

These people live next to the railway stations.

Siriusly wait until a bit pek chek.

 

The special Harry Potter bus comes every 20-30 mins (feels like forever!) and costs £2 for a round trip (just retain the ticket stub). En route there, the bus was playing a video hosted by Warwick Davis about how exciting the studio tour is gonna be etc. Nice build up there. 

 

And then you see this – 

Entrance to the studio

😀 😀 😀 I finally reached! 

 

I didn’t have time to take nice pictures outside as I was running late. So a pretty ticketmaster scanned my e-ticket and I entered the lobby. 

 

(Click to enlarge) Panoramic shot of all the HP posters over the years.

 

Oh by the way, there’s a cafe at the lobby if you’re hungry or what. 

 

A HP fan in her Slytherin school uniform 🙂

 

I quickly collected my audio guide and entered the queue line. Some lady was kind enough to help me snap a picture because I was struggling with failed selfies. :< 

The boy who lived (here)

 

 

The scene that began the entire book series is none other than The Cupboard Under The Stairs. Did you know that a cupboard was really built to film the scene? 

 

Next we entered a dark room with multiple screens with snippets from the movie (much like Singapore’s exhibition) only this is WAY better, then the walls are lifted up to reveal The Great Hall entrance!!! 

 

The Great Hall Entrance

You cannot imagine my excitement. Hehehe.  I think it’s stupid that Singapore’s TINY exhibition didn’t allow any pictures but the studio tour in London is okay to do so. I took pictures until 2 of my batteries went flat lol. 

 

Long dining table

Fireplace with school and house crests

The professors

The Great Hall is the first guided spot. All visitors will have to go through the Hall to reach other rooms. Can you believe they built an entire fake hall? The details of each prop are amazing. You can explore the costumes and sets, and the guide also explained a little bit about the floating candles above the hall. 🙂 

 

Who wore this, in which scene? 😉

All the costumes displayed here are actual pieces worn by the actors/actresses during filming.

The tour also showcased the many filming techniques and technology that went behind the scenes. For instance, can you recognise this place?

It’s The Leaky Cauldron!

This was created using a visual technique called forced perspective, which makes it appear longer on screen. It’s actually just a small box set/prop.

The studio is well organized, you go from “room” to “room” (Gryffindor Boys’ Dorm to whoever’s office etc) and the related costumes/props/technology used will be presented. Each stop has an information board that you read, and some even can interact with (more on that later).

Dumbledore’s office. Lots of fun facts here.

Hagrid’s Hut

The Weasley’s slanted house and dining room. I love this stop!

More notable prop displays-

The full wand collection.

I wish I had the money to buy them all!! They are all pieces of art in my opinion.

Mirror of Erised

See what you desire!

Goblet of Fire cup and the Golden Egg

Deluminator (I think so), Hermione’s Time-Turner and The Golden Snitch

Entrance to the headmaster’s office is guarded by a gargoyle, and for the films they actually built a real thing. It’s fixed with all the mechanisms and will actually move, and not done by visual effects.  These are also applicable to –

Chamber of Secrets snake door

Philosopher Stone’s door (can’t remember this one :/)

Mrs Weasley’s house clock

Check out Prof. Lupin’s loots (hehehe):

There was also a section dedicated to the animal actors. From time to time, the studio actually invites them to the venue for performances and what not, very cool.

The last stop before you head outside (part 2) is the graphic design section where it showcases mostly Weasley’s Wizards’ Wheezes products, among others.

Once you’re outside, you’ve completed part 1 of the studio tour. The outdoor compound isn’t just empty though, it showcases mostly the bigger sets and outdoor scenes from the movies.

DRINK ALL THE BEER!!!

Oh it’s also where Butterbeer is for sale. HAHAHA. I had high expectations of it and it was a disappointment. 😦 The only good thing was that we get to keep the cup 😀 But I had to clean it with toilet paper like 3-4 times because it was so oily, don’t know how to stuff inside my bag.

Tom Riddle’s Grave, Hagrid’s motorcar and the Knight Bus

Do you find this bridge familiar? Many wide angle shots of Harry & friends in the films were shot here… turns out only part of a bridge is needed to complete the picture.

Details, details

Oh just a funny story to share, because I intentionally dressed up like a Slytherin student, I was asked at least 4 times where the toilet is/ how to get to xxx exhibit/ where can they get the stamp booklet for their kid etc.  HAHAHAH people thought that I worked there wtf.  But I think I should be proud lol.  *pats self on back*

Life-size chess pieces

Who knew they actually built all these chess pieces??! I always thought they were just done by the computer.

“KNIGHT TO E5!”

Enter part 2 of the tour and you will find yourself in all the ‘dark’ places. I’m talking about the Dark Arts.  I spent some time in knowing more about the Dementors and of course, he-who-must-not-be-named…

I thought these mechanisms were just too cool because they are so realistic!

There’s also the famous a Monster Book of Monsters:

There are also many exhibits here that involves the making of the Goblins and magical creatures too. One of which including the famous Hippogriff.

Hello, Buckbeak!

Due to lack of time, I cut my second part of the tour short and headed down to Diagon Alley! It’s a pity this set only showcases the exterior facade, but I heard the theme park at Universal Orlando have all these shops in operation!!

My favourite happy lane.

Next, I went to a hall that is very similar to a museum/art gallery. There were many sketches, paintings and even 3D models.

Creating Hogwarts

Super talented bunch of set designers. And all these hard work were translated into…

A HUGE HOGWARTS CASTLE!!! 
Please use the visitors on both sides of the castle for comparison of the size of the castle.

Lower ground of Hogwarts

As you walk around Hogwarts, the lightings in this room changes as well. It goes from day to night and vice versa, pretty cool. We will also start from the top view, and make our way down the slope.

Individual  lightings of Hogwarts stairwells, hallways etc.

The details and work that goes into the making is unbelievable. Shut up and just take my money!

The tour ended in a room that is probably Ollivander’s Shop:

Fake wand boxes lol

I made sure I had at least an hour for …

Harry Potter merchandise shop

I went CRAZY here. The range of products is so much bigger than what I saw in Singapore’s exhibition. So I kinda bought those that I haven’t seen before. I have collected many items over the years but have not started on the wands (no money and glass cabinet to store) nor the cloaks (when will I ever wear them?).  In the end, I bought a quaffle ball (lol, I’m serious), Felix Felicis T-shirt, Slytherin wool cardigan (mad expensive), Hogwarts keychain, some other nonsensical items and …. photographs of me flying on the broom. Heheheh.

And that sums up my VERY enjoyable Harry Potter Studio Tour!

To visit – 

Website: http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/

Opening hours: 9am – 10am and the last tour between 4pm – 6.30pm; closing time is 3 hours after the last time slot.
Address: Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, Aerodome Way, Watford, Hertfordshire WD25 7LS, United Kingdom

Photolog Throwback: 台北 2012年3月 的 忍者主題餐廳

都快两年了，这 blogpost edit好的照片还在Desktop坐着摆美？ 太逊了吧。 就让我简介 this Ninja-themed restaurant in Taipei! Sometimes I am impressed by my memory capacity hahaha.Whenever I travel I like to dine at interesting concept cafes and this was one of them. One of my Chinese friend whom I knew from my Berkeley art class happened to be in town so I had to meet up with her for a quick catch up! My sister tagged along and we arranged for a dinner.

Entering the restaurant was pretty fun because we had to shout out a “passcode” before the door would open for us as we enter through a smoke door.

The restaurant  stands alone along the main road and is highly visible with its “忍者” 标签。 The interior was dimly lit but well-decorated with ninja related props. This was kept rather consistent even with their dinnerware  as well (see below).

Oh did I not mention we were served by a cute waitress? Our menus were actually secret scrolls ( 武林密集）！

Dinner for three:

Love the cute Alien toilet signage, I followed it of course

We won 2 dozen test tubes of alcoholic drinks. How cool is that!  I think it was happy hour and we got to pick toy knifes from a container to win merchandise or free food and drinks.

The restaurant seems to have a low rating on Tripadvisor but honestly it wasn’t bad at all. Us girls had a lot of fun and the food was good too! It may be a bit pricey as compared to food in Taipei but it in the range of SGD$20++.  No reservations needed, the environment was conducive for long conversations as well.

Oh good, I just Googled and they are still open! Hahaha.

Address: 台北市松山區市民大道四段129號, Taipei, Taiwan
(捷運:忠孝敦化站8號出口(往機場方向走約5分鐘)

我們在市民大道與敦化南路交叉口(合作金庫正對面)

Opening hours: 11:00am – 3:00pm, 6:00pm – 11:00pm
Website: http://www.ninja-tw.com

I’m Engaged!!!! The Full Proposal Story!

I know this is almost 6 months late, but yes, he proposed and I said “YES!”

To friends and family member who have asking about the proposal, I’m sorry I haven’t been quick enough to update. So here’s the full story (sort of) of how it happened! 🙂

THE TIOMAN TRIP 

It started with my usual bugging him to go overseas for a holiday together earlier this year. Of which, he disagreed. 😦  I wanted to celebrate his birthday with him.  However, he told me that he had planned for a weekend trip to Sentosa instead.  We should have gone there during April, but it was one of my last few days of school so I couldn’t afford to skip it.

We later settled on the first week of May.  He had managed to convince me that we were REALLY going to Sentosa (because he really love Singapore), and that we were gonna be heading to USS on Saturday.

Yet, a week before our trip something funny happened.  His parents, him and I were going for dinner at Nex as usual, and his mom suddenly mentioned,

“While we’re away in Europe, please take care of the dog ah”

I looked at him and he looked constipated.  He stuttered,

“Err, we also going away for the weekend leh. Can we find a dog sitter?”

His mom:

” Oh. Cannot bring the dog to Sentosa meh?”

Alien:

“Cannot”

After we arrived at Nex, I noticed he behaved oddly. He pulled his parents aside (rather non-discreetly) and spoke softly. I pretended that I didn’t see and checked on my phone.  I disregarded that, but halfway during dinner …

His mom:

“You all going Tioman for how many days ah”

You should have seen Alien’s face.  Lol. He was at a loss for words and looked pissed.  He immediately replied, quite forcefully:

“Sentosa. We’re going SENTOSA.”

The same night I asked him if we’re really still going Sentosa… because there were too many loopholes already. He even said I need to bring passport to check-in at Sentosa hotel. Hahahaha.  I told him I know where we’re going already la, no need to bluff me.

We broke into evil laughter coz’ his surprise getaway was ruined… by his mom.  Lol.  He was a bit disappointed because he only told a handful of people about the Tioman trip. He wanted to minimize the chances of news being leaked.

So a few days later we packed for Tioman and left home bright and early!  😀

Note the cute caucasian baby in background! 

I would just like to add here that please DO NOT EVER TAKE A PLANE TO TIOMAN.  Because Alien like planes (understandably), he decided that we should fly to Tioman via the only flight provider — Berjaya Air.

We had time to take pictures because we were already ON BOARD the plane, and Berjaya Air decided to refuel the plane.  This means the AC was off throughout this period, and we were all sweating like pigs inside.  I don’t mean those stand-under-the-sun kinda perspiring, I mean we were sweating inside the cabin as if we had just ran 10km.  It was real stuffy and warm.

When they finally switched on the AC, it was NOT cool air!  The ventilators were dirty and out came a whirling fog of dust. I sat by the window and had water droplets drip on me every 3 minutes. 😦

What is this shit.  Worse of all, Alien paid a lot more to take the plane than the boat.  We were pretty upset already.  We endured it all but the flight was unbearable (shall elaborate more at the end of this post). 

The happy stuff first.  The flight was a short one and here’s the view of the island!!!

…. Welcome to Tioman!

This is Tioman “airport” in its entirety lol.  I didn’t know Tioman was SO hot.

We put our stuff down in our resort room and went to the beach.  The beaches and clear waters are the redeeming factors to the bad start of our trip. 

Alien and I spent a few hours frolicking under the sun, finding fishes and watching the sunset.

Sunsets at Tioman is really BEAUTIFUL.

After dinner we stayed in to watch plastic surgery on TV (old liao) and discussed if I would ever go under the knife.  The girl in the documentary broke both her knees in the hope of growing 1-2 inches taller, wtf!

View from our room.  It was the 15th (Chinese Calendar) and so it was full moon.

The following day we went snorkeling (Alien’s first) and returned to the resort mid-afternoon really exhausted.  But after a satisfying lunch we took a dip in the resort pool.

THE PROPOSAL 

We had to be dressed properly in order to enter the restaurant so we headed back to our room.  At this point of time I still didn’t know he had anything in mind!  Apparently while we were heading out, he was so focused on hiding the ring that he locked us out of the room. 

At dinner, out of nowhere he suggested that we should go for a walk by the beach afterward.  I was doubtful because he HATES walking in the dark by the beach (for fear of sand flies and what not) and he actually WANTS to do that???

So after our buffet we went to the lobby to ask for a spare key but the concierge told us to go back to our room and wait for somebody to unlock it for us.   Since we wanted to go for a stroll by the beach first, he told her that we would come back later instead.  All these while with me asking him “Are you sure?? We don’t have to walk by the beach one, it’s okay”.   But he insisted anyway.

As we walked towards the beach, he started behaving all weird.  We strolled and came to a quiet spot, so we stood and watched the distant ships … and then he had to come and say,

“Eh look. I own that yacht over there leh.” 

 –______–“

I immediately replied,

“Yah yah. (Me pointing at another random boat) And that’s mine, the island’s mine, the bar is mine.” 

IT WAS AWKWARD AND ODD, I DON’T KNOW WHAT HE WAS DOING.

I wanted to walk on to find a spot to sit so I turned away and at this point, he grabbed my hand!  The next thing I knew was that he had led my hand towards his crotch area, and he said,

“Touch here!”

 I wasn’t facing him so I didn’t know exactly what that was.  It was something very hard that I touched  HAHAHAHAHAH DO YOU GEDDIT.  I panicked and my immediate reaction was to pull back my hand and exclaimed,

“WHAT?! HERE?!  ARE YOU CRAZY?  THERE ARE PEOPLE AROUND!!”

Then I turn to face him. LOL

It was a look a disbelief on his face and he said,

“Walao! What are you thinking?! It’s this lah! (took out the hard object from his berm pocket)”

 It  turned out to be a blue box that he put inside his pocket!!!!  

The box was a bit too big for his pocket and that was how it ended up near his crotch.  0__0 

 LOLOLOL.  Thinking back, I will still laugh about this every time. SO EMBARRASSING on my part!!!

My memory of the proposal is henceforth blurry.  I remember being breathless and mumbling “OMG OMG OMG IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING” many times.

He handed me the gorgeous blue box and wanted me to open it.

!!!!!!

It’s THE ring. The ring I liked and mentioned a year before when I first saw it on the T&C website.  He remembered and now IT IS BEFORE MY EYES.  WHAT????

If you know Alien, you would have know that he’s not the romantic kind of person who remembers anniversaries, send flowers,  etc… and so to have him do all these (and a surprise!) was unexpected.  Some friend even asked me if he actually knelt down (ya he’s really not romantic one!) to propose.

The answer is … he did go down on one knee la.  And popped the question. :.)

It was simple like that.  No video crew, no long speech, no make up or fancy clothing (I haven’t showered the whole day) … and with that I said yes to him on the beach, under the galaxies of stars and moonlight (full moon!).

We laughed, walked back to room, and found out more about his original proposal plans.  He had hidden the box in a blue plastic bag along to avoid my detection!  The kind of blue plastic bag that you dabao lunch kind leh! So unclassy! LOL.  But he did succeed. I just assume that was to put his wet trunks.

Alien had to place an order for the ring at the shop because it was unavailable in Singapore. He had to get it imported and paid a lot more for that! 😦

Because he had to untie the classic T&C bow to check that the ring design was correct, he told me he had no idea how to tie the ribbon back.  He learnt it from YouTube and here he’s trying to show me how he did it. LOL. Hahaha okay lah give you effort point.

Tioman is a quite the sunny paradise; just make sure you go there by sea okay.

On the flight back to Singapore we thought we might die because the turbulence on Berjaya Air was very  bad  due to a heavy thunderstorm.  We “levitated” in mid-air and even hit the overhead compartment. There were screaming (I’m not exaggerating I swear) which came from the air stewardess coz’ she wasn’t wearing a seat belt, and she flew out of her seat.  -__-

We will NEVER fly Berjaya Air ever again.

—

THE RING

Here are closer pictures of my ring.

Didn’t have to resize! He found out my ring size by playing around with my acrylic rings!

Yep, and I know it’s not considered an “Engagement Ring” without the main diamond.   The salesperson at T&C told him that too.  I don’t like a having a big diamond on my finger.  I will just lose it (if you know my history with safekeeping). 

Somebody told me this is called an Eternity Ring, what with gemstones lined all around the ring.  I love the tiny hearts in rose gold!  :3

—-

For some bizarre reason, Alien has also became a little sweeter after he proposed.  He gave me a bouquet of roses when I came back from UK. :.)

The love(s) of my life.

Posted this picture on my instagram+FB last month, and some people thought it was our actual  pre-wedding studio shoot!  We were filming for a ChannelU reality TV show and this was part of the challenge for the program.  Alien had to choose the gown, decide on the makeup and hairstyle for me, and I had to do the same for him too.  It was fun!!!  🙂 But we had to kiss onscreen for more than 5 seconds. WEIRD.

—

THE WEDDING PLANS

Now that we’re engaged, we have already started planning for the wedding. 🙂 Thank you for all your well wishes on FB, instagram, Whatsapp 😀

We have confirmed our banquet and theme for the wedding.  Will update more about our wedding gradually.  We are also in discussion with a photography company for our pre-wedding shoot + AD.

Thank you Adeline for agreeing to help us with the wedding invitation design!  Do check out her works and find out more about her quirky little world with Yellow!

Thank you Marriage Central for our upcoming Marriage Preparation Course!  Can’t wait to learn about building a happy marriage. ^^

Currently looking for sponsors and seeking collaborations in preparation for our big day next year end.  Looking for hair, makeup/facial/beauty, fitness services;  gowns, dresses, 
suits, shoes/heels; decorations and flowers; car rental; wedding bands; food catering, cake/pastries/desserts; videography services, couple activities etc, please contact me HERE!

We would really appreciate it. 🙂   Also if you have anything/anyone to recommend,  please contact us too!  THANK YOU SO MUCH ! 🙂

XOXO,

Alien and Thiang

Backick.com!

Gonna share the website which I used to book my hotel when I was in London!

3 months ago I brought Alien to an event at Loof and that’s when we found out about Backick.com!

The slogan for the site it “It pays to be popular“, very shameless one, but it‘s quite true to its words. You DO get to save money when you travel if you’re popular (among your peers!). 

We were told to wear something orange, and I gotta say it’s not an easy color code!  Terence’s so smart, he brought an orange plastic bag! Lol. 

All guests were given a badge (we get to choose from the different copy) and a sticker of our choice (for games later).  Alien is very thick-skinned one so he chose THAT. 

We girls + Alien are team Gold Coins.  And the $400 voucher I’m holding is from the game I won! 😀 

Each group has to send a representative up to answer a question related to Backick.com.  We all stood back facing a big gong and the first to hit the gong gets to answer the question.  If you answer the question posted by Olli Pettigrew correctly, your entire team will win $400 backick dollars.  That also explains my shocked face coz‘ I don’t usually win anything hahaha. 

There was also another ongoing competition … 

“How Popular Are You?”  

All we had to do was to go to the photobooth, snap a picture and post it on the stage.  The photo with the highest votes will win $500 backicks. 

Took us quite a few times to capture great backick photos. ;D

 In the meantime, guests could decorate their photos and play even more games. 

In another corner there’s a “How well can you backick?” contest and guests will have to literally back kick past 120cm to win backicks! It was super fun because some people already had had alcohol so it won’t be easy to balance. Not to mention some of us are wearing dresses/skirts!  I joined in nevertheless and won even more backicks. ^^v  Alien also took part and won backicks!

 When it was time to announce the winners of “How Popular Are You?” contest …. 

It was us who took the $500 home. 😛  

#nadnut photobomb!

I love Loof, every time I’m there I always feel like having one of their signature cocktails.  It’s so breezy and cozy up there.  Great party~ 

Fast forward a few weeks, my backicks has been credited into my Facebook account (very important! Link backick to your FB account so you can share it with your friends) and I was ready to look for a place to stay in London. 
 
 I really like the website design because everything is so clear: How much savings/ backicks, how it works and search engine for the hotels. 

After you’ve keyed in the the area + dates, you can still filter the hotel options via price and hotel preferences. 

Backick.com automatically calculates your savings and tell you how much you have to pay per night. 

In addition, the information about each hotel is listed below the pictures:

I really like how it tells me what are the nearby attractions because it makes it so much easier for day  planning. 

So I decided on a hotel and want to BOOK it. Backick tells me that I can use an additional 5% discount coupon from my friend who has also booked through Backick. If you don‘t want to use up all your backicks in one location, you can adjust the value to redeem.  Very flexible one. 

 
Then key in your details, wait for it to process and you’re good!

 Lastly, not to forget to share on Facebook and backick the 5% to your friends! The more you share and backick, you and your friends will enjoy savings. 

And that’s how it pays to be popular at BACKICK!  😀 

   

      

Taiwan 03/2012 – From Yilan to Jiaoxi 礁溪温泉

So after a good night’s rest at 芯园宜兰民宿，here’s how our breakfast looks like:

Super shiok please!  Dimsum, salad, wraps, fresh fruits and a big pot of porridge!  The breakfast was just awesome.  We could even ask for more without additional charge!

The weather was great too,  but we had to leave for our next destination.

So once again we lugged our heavy belongings and took a cab to a train station.  There are no buses in the vicinity so we had to pay NT200 to get to the nearest train station. There, we met this little gal. She was with her mom but were following us around. Haha so cute.

She especially liked Sis and even threw a tantrum when our train arrived and had to say goodbye.

Jiaoxi 礁溪 was only three stops down, and we walked to our hotel (Artspa Hotel).

Our lunch was a simple noodle soup + seaweed.  There is NOTHING to shop for around the area. I think Sis and I spent most of the afternoon in the nearby supermarket for snacks instead. The pool/spa wasn’t open until 5 or 6pm.

They have a huge outdoor spa and jacuzzi facility filled with natural spring water. My favorite is the hot stone ‘bed’. I think I really did fall asleep there for a good 15 minutes or so.  I enjoy water activities but I don’t like water massages, so I went back to my room before Sis did.

Even if I don’t want to leave my room, guests can also enjoy the hot spa in the comfort of their own big-ass bathtubs.  I’m not quite sure how to use the smaller one though.

It was only a night’s stay before we headed back to Taipei.

Taiwan 2012 芯园宜兰民宿

Overdue!!! Taiwan March 2012

Our trip to Yilan (宜兰) was one of the most memorable stops during our Taiwan trip this year.

From the city, it’ll take about 1~2 hours drive out to the ‘countryside’.  In fact, not many cabs were willing to take us out as they won’t be able to get any passengers back to Taipei from there.  Besides, we had quite a bit of luggage with us.

We went by quite a few paddy fields and throughout the ride we just enjoyed the view.

Luckily for us, there was a cab uncle who could visit his friend there and agreed to take us there, for additional charges though. It costs us about NT1000+ (near to 2000) to get to our boutique ‘hotel’.

芯园宜兰民宿 is privately owned by a family, who refurbished their land/house and made it into themed rooms/hotel.  The theme they work with is “Fairytale” [我的梦中城堡], it is evident and very consistent in both exterior and interior designs.


The entrance of the hotel facing a paddy field.  The air was good and the surrounding quiet, just the perfect spot for a quiet getaway.

At the “lobby”, one corner was meant for customers to have breakfast or enjoy tea, while further down the corridor is a mini bar bistro.

To the right is a storeroom where customers are welcome to try out and borrow any of their costumes available to play dress up!  I picked up what I saw first, which is the giant Stitch hat.

Most of the dresses were a bit too long so we (Sis and I) chose about 4 outfits to bring back to our room.

There are 12 rooms in total, each with a different theme. The one we really wanted was already taken, so we decided on “Sleeping Beauty”.

See, although the night’s stay wasn’t exactly cheap, it could accommodate all four of us and it’s not just a tiny room we get, but more of an entire apartment.  To know what I mean, just go check out their site and look at the photo gallery. 

I would LOVE to stay in the Queen’s Dome for my next visit there.   The bed looks SUPER comfy. Hahaha 
  

In order to reach our Sleeping Beauty Castle, we had to climb this flight of stairs! I wouldn’t be complaining, except that my luggage was huge and filled with shopping loots from the previous week. Lol. 

We also went around to explore the vicinity and found the Snow White’s abode (seven dwarfs behind!). 

My parents were exhausted so they watched TV and napped, while sis and I started our dress up and camwhoring.  

Sis explored the coffee machine and I sat in the bathtub (cute!). 

 
Our beds were separated from our parents, of course! We stayed on the second floor. 😀
I love how even the coat hanger is so artistic.

We both didn’t look very good in this dress, but the back + train details were just so gorgeous!
Yes! We have a white wooden horse and a cartwheel bench just outside our room. 

An all-white gown, looks a bit like a casual wedding gown.

We spent the whole afternoon playing dress up and taking pictures lol.  Sis brought the curler so we just went completely had fun (and got my finger burnt -..-).  

Changed into a peach dress, and I have to act all dainty. Eee. Lol

In the evening, it was time to head out for dinner. Since we didn’t have any means of transport, we had to call a cab from the counter (NT20) to head out to the nearby market/central streets.   

We had a quick dinner at one of the stalls and then started shopping (as usual).  Saw Taiwanese stars filming for variety shows; got hungry, bought the 鸡蛋糕 and oh they were SO YUMMY. 

So that kinda sums up our first day at Yilan, away from the city’s hustle and bustle.  Lovin’ it. I would love to bring Alien there some day! 

Last Trip Before Work Starts

I have been busy planning for a last minute trip to London and Paris.  It’s so soon I’m leaving later today!  I’m hoping I will not get robbed, or pickpocketed, if not I’ll be doomed there (alone).   Last year when I went to Berkeley I extended my stay for a week to stay with Jojo, and this time round I’m sort of doing the same thing (school + extension), but completely on my own for this trip afterwards ( come to think of it I really miss Jojo, her Cooper and her bed! :.( ).

I’m really excited though.  

I don’t understand why I was called audacious for wanting to travel alone.  I’m a lady but that doesn’t mean I’m not independent.  I’d rather be called courageous, or an explorer, than staying in Singapore and not having see the world when I had the chance to.  

As much as I wish to stay longer, the accommodation and expenses is expensive there so I’ll be back in Sept!   (Also I will miss Alien and QQ heh)

Coincidentally, during the past two weeks I’ve attended a few events that had helped made my planning easier.   For one, I have used Backick.com to book my accommodation in London!  Secondly, Nadnut has invited me to Rachel K’s event and I brought home a whole bag of beauty products from Rachel K and my skincare regime there is completely taken care of! Lastly, because my overseas stay will be short, I intend to squeeze as many activities as possible in a day.  That means I’ll require more energy during the day (and night for my project/ assignments).   Smith gave me a dozen of Take5ive Energy drinks (which was really effective), as tested at the event last weekend. 

I will share these great products/service individually at later dates, but for now I need to start ironing and packing!! 

Less than 24 hours and I haven’t plan, book or change money. #win

Wedding preparations have also begun but no time to even blog about proposal. #procrastinatorthiang

Also been stuffing myself with Egg Yolk custard buns and other dimsum these two days coz’ I KNOW I’ll miss it!  Shall save money and eat mixed rice tomorrow. Lol.  

A bit late but Happy National Day people!

I know there’re a lot of happy folks who have taken leave/off to enjoy the long weekend! Stay active and happy! 😀

Taipei: Modern Toilet Restaurant

After travelling to Taipei all these years, it was the first time that I got down to the main branch at Ximending to try out the famed toilet-themed restaurant (便所主题餐厅）.

Click on the above restaurant name to be directed to their site.  It’s best to make a reservation lest you be disappointed to find out the venue is fully booked (for dinner).  I made our reservation a few days before on their Message Board.

Usually I don’t hang out at Ximending because of the crowd and overpriced goods,  so I wasn’t familiar with the area and had a little difficulty trying to find this place.

I know many Singaporeans have already been to this place but I still wanted to give a shot anyway.  On our way up, a big family was just leaving.  We could tell they were Singaporeans from their accent (dead giveaway).

From all the media coverage the restaurant received, I’d expected the place to be a lot bigger and “grander”, but it wasn’t.  It’s a cute cafe located on the second floor, adorned with bathtubs, showerheads and toilet bowls.  

Lovely wallpaper to whet your appetite 😀

Even the light bulbs come in shapes of poop. Lol.

Our dining menu was reusable and creative, you just write what you want on it and it’s erasable (like a whiteboard).  I was interested in a beverage with an attractive name:

Loosely translated as Shit Pee Fly Fruit Tea

While waiting, Sis and I walked around to check out the place a bit.  On the other side of the second level is where the cashier was. We were seated nearer to the toilet (the real one).

It was only after we ordered and paid that I realized almost all the other teenagers in the cafe were eating Milky Hotpot.  As it turns out, that was their best seller and people usually come here for that. Oh well.

What we had:

I thought my baked rice was rather adorable being served in a bathtub, and my Shit Pee Fly Fruit Tea served in a standing urinal.

The rice was so-so, and the drink was pretty nasty (too sour x sweet). 0.0!

Mudder’s hotpot

 She was quite peeved about the whole eating from toilet bowl thing. Lol.

We ordered an extra fries to share, which was surprisingly good (Sis ate everything).

I got a bit confused when I went to the washroom, coz’ i wasn’t sure if I used the REAL one. Hahaha. I had to double check with the flush.

This wasn’t the real toilet bowl, it’s the wash basin. See what I mean?

Last but not least, we had a bit of dessert:

Chocolate ice-cream! Hahaha. I didn’t like it at all.

Overall, I found the furniture was really cute, but the food was below average.  Maybe the waitress could have told us earlier that the milky hotpot was recommended. 

Modern Toilet Restaurant
便所主题餐厅

Address:
2F, No. 7, Lane 50,  Xining South Road, Tapei City
108 台北市万华区宁南路50巷7号2楼

Phone:
(02)23118822

Business Hours:
11.30am – 10pm

Average Meal:
NT$300 

The nearest metro station is 西门 (Ximen) Station, take exit 6 and walk along Chengdu Road.

A380 In-Flight Kitchen Restaurant

This is super backdated but I’ve been wanting to blog about some of the places that I went to in Taipei earlier this March.

I didn’t really want to go back to the same places again because I like to try new stuff, so I brought my family to a novelty restaurant — A380 In-Flight Kitchen Restaurant （A380 空中厨房）.

The restaurant was to model after the largest passenger aircraft – A380. However, I can’t say the same for the service. The “steward” and “stewardesses” were very unattentive, I had to pick up some food myself or walk up to them to let them know we needed something.

It’s a very interesting concept though, for customers to have an A380 dining experience.  Check out these seats and walls:

I like how the restaurant paid attention to the little details, such that the seat belt and no smoking lights signs were also part of the decor.

There was a wide range of western food to choose from.  Sis and I chose lunch sets with different combinations, while my parents chose something from the ala carte menu.  The lunch sets came with salad, soup of the day, bread and butter, main course and a dessert.

I chose the salad with vinaigrette sauce, Sis chose the thousand island one

The soup’s pretty nice and I love the butter buns!

My egg custard (yums!) and sis’s not-so-nice chocolate mousse cake

Mom’s baked rice (too cheesy!) and dad’s nicely roasted chicken

Here’s a short video clip of how the restaurant looks like:

There was a private room available, behind an automatic glass doors, my guess is it’s reserved for private parties/functions/events.

We went on a weekday afternoon where only one other table was occupied other than ourselves. I guess business ain’t that good for them, considering that the food is on the pricier side (in Taipei).
 

Address: 168, Dingzhou Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市汀州路三段168號)
Telephone: (02) 2367-3928
Open: Daily from 11:30am to 10pm
Average meal: NT$500
Details: Chinese and English menu; credit cards accepted

Information taken from TaipeiTimes.

The nearest train station is Gongguan. Take Exit 1 and walk for about 3-5 mins and you’ll see the signboard.

A380 In-Flight Kitchen is the sort of restaurant where you’ll visit once just for the novelty sake, but not enticing enough to make you go back for more.

Foodie Tour at Genting Highlands w/ Ladyironchef

Prior to this short getaway, I kinda got sick of going to Genting.  Some of my family members enjoy gambling at the casinos, so I would go up there at least twice a year.

That said, there is something magical about this trip.  Yah, “magical”. I like to use dramatic adjectives. Lol.  Maybe because this time round I was traveling with my fiance and blogger friends!

I spent the last couple of days to edit the photos (all 200+ of them!) and made some collages, despite being ill.  So expect lots of delicious food photos!  Feeling sian coz’ I’m down with flu fever and I absolutely cannot taste anything. 😦  Tonight was scheduled for a monthsary dinner at Summer Palace but I told Alien it would just be a waste of $ coz’ I cannot taste anything. Wtf.  Looking at the Genting food pictures is just … torturous.

P.S. All pictures can be clicked to enlarge.

The bus departed early (not even bright) from Golden Complex. Look at this Alien, I am totally his personal secretary & slave. -__-  I think because I haven’t been to Genting in the last couple of years, all the coaches now are pretty damn posh, what with the TV and automated seats and all.

The weather was breezy and while waiting for the rooms, we went to walk around and have lunch.  Lunch at the Cafe Lobby was mad expensive! A small plate of chicken rice was RM18 ++. We then decided to go Kenny Rogers instead. Love the corn bits!! Heh.

Alien and I wanted to go take the cable car but it was closed, so we just walked around and I showed him where my family used to hang out.

好友记 is our favourite dimsum place of all time! That’s because we didn’t know where else serves that … but more on that later.

Also walked past this cute restaurant with enlarged scrabble pieces as their signboard. Shall try that this western restaurant the next time I’m there.

Oh not to forget I had my daily Baskin Robbins fix:

 YUMSSSSSS

 Dinner was held at the luxurious Genting Palace.

Everybody was looking forward to the 9-course dinner that night.  Here’s the menu:

How can you not look forward to that???  And we dig in!!

My favourite though, is the soup. I like it so much that I had two servings of it. Heh.

 

 Nadnut loved the Thai Mango Salad thingy,  I love the abalone dish, and the two boys (Clifford & Alien) ate the fish eyes!  

Desserts were sooo good too.  The glutinous ball was so soft and tastes like those Japanese mochis.

The chef came around to talk to us about his creations.  It took us only one dinner for our group of 10 people to bond. Lol. We even went for a late night movie after that – Ice Age 4 in 3D!  (RM18 only)

Can you see the “clique” forming? Lol.

The following day, we woke up for brunch at Resort Cafe.  This place serves rather traditional Malay cuisines.

Dblchin looks so much like a doll! (Digression because got chio girl) /envy
   

It was a buffet lunch and I didn’t take a lot of pictures.  Nadia introduced me to one of her favourite food, beef something. A little gelat for me but very savoury. 🙂

Plenty of desserts for you to choose from too!!  Lunch here is RM43++ per person.

Instead of heading to the outdoor theme park as planned, many of us wanted to visit the strawberry farm.  I’m guessing because we don’t get to see that in Singapore!

4 of us shared a cab down, and us girls (Nadnut, Dblchin and I) had very interesting conversations on the way hahaha.

Nadia wanted to steal the bunting for her engagement shoot. Lol

At the strawberry farm it was pretty warm, I don’t know how Alien can stand wearing his coat!

Alien and his attempted strawberry face.  >_<

The farm has a new section for meant lavender – very pretty lilac flowers in bloom!  Small farm but still, flowers make people happy 🙂

There was also a small area set aside for giant lettuce, and boy they were huge!

We all took a break at the small cafe and I got a strawberry popsicle for myself and Clifford bought mushroom tempura which was the MOST amazing fried mushrooms ever! 

As we headed out, we entered a small mushroom farm as well.   Although the do-not-touch sign was up, Alien and I were just curious. Heh.

The dinner last Saturday was also VERY yummy.  It was an international buffet served at Coffee Terrace.  The place is huge and all the cuisines were very clearly labeled.  We were spoilt for choice.

At the Chinese counter, you can pick your own meat and vegetables and the chefs will cook on the spot for you!

Everybody was queuing for the salmon sashimi (I had one big plate myself), but Alien and 3 servings of that LOL.  Angie enjoyed her laksa and thanks to HP’s introduction of the Char Kway Teow, I get to eat the best CKT I ever had!   We forgot to bring our the strawberries (bought at farm) to go with the chocolate fondue! 😦
 
Dinner was great, so great I almost went into food coma right before Khalil’s Fong concert.  The dinner is about RM70++ per pax.

Alien was supposed to sit somewhere else but Beixin was so kind to swap her tickets with him (Alien is a fan of Khalil)! 

It’s pretty cool to watch a concert at Genting, we’ve got free Khalil posters and light-sticks too!  Some of the bloggers stayed back after the concert and got a group shot with him.  We left by the main door to collect my camera so I missed that opportunity 😦

Khalil is good live, it almost sounds exactly like the recordings really, but his concert wasn’t spectacular or managed to keep many entertained.  

On day 3, we were just so pampered!!! SO MUCH GOOD FOOD at Genting Palace. Brace yourself for —

The carrot cake and egg tarts were the chef’s specialty. 

The chefs were dedicated and skilful, and even asked us to eat more. We were really stuffed.  15-course dimsum for breakfast!!!  A breakfast like this is made for royalty, and costs RM600 nett (I’m guessing the price is for a table of 10 though?). 

If I had to choose, I would say Genting Palace and Coffee Terrace serves the best food for this trip.  I’m definitely coming back for more.

I don’t know how to say this but our table of 10 people became closer after just a short 3D2N trip, we bonded over good food, camwhoring, shopping etc, everything was just very very pleasant.  Proof:

Alien and Clifford (Rachel’s BF) hit it off, joked throughout the trip.

The nice folks at Genting had given such great hospitality, and even gave each of us a box of mooncakes to bring home.  Thank you so much for everything! 🙂 🙂

My Nuffnang trip with the bloggers have been very enjoyable. What’s there to trouble with friends, food and laughter? 🙂

I also came back fat wtf. I gained about 2kg from all the good food I ate. :X

Now I can’t wait to go back there again to enjoy the cooling weather and eat delicious food. Bring your family and friends along, that’s your best bet of having a good time at Genting!