Dubai Shopping Haul

When speaking of Dubai, everyone go gaga over the shopping there. Since I had really limited time there, I choose to stay at Al-MuroojRotana Hotel, right opposite The Dubai Mall, which is the largest mall in the world. As a shopaholic, you really have to pay your pilgrimage there!

There are many fantastic malls in Dubai, but if you’re short of time to explore, just go to The Dubai Mall because it has anything and everything that the other malls have, maybe more.

I spent the entire day at Dubai Mall because I visited the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo which located inside the mall. Do drop by if you ever go there. Being the largest mall in the world, I thought it would be really difficult to look for the places I want to go. To my surprise, it is so convenient getting around inside. They have information kiosk at every escalator where you can look for direction. Admittedly, it is also quite tiring to walk around. Layouts of the shops are pretty much the same as Malaysian malls, where high end boutiques on the first floor, food and supermarkets on the lower ground, etc. I’m sure you’re very familiar with that. But there’s one thing special at The Dubai Mall is that, they have this section called The Souk where all the jeweleries shops are.

In traditional Arabic term, the souk is a market place where business people trade their goods. Anyway, I was searching for Thomas Sabo there. If you don’t know, Thomas Sabo has limited edition charms sold exclusively in each country. So, I was looking for the exclusive UAE charms there. The lady told me that the ones sold exclusively there was a palm tree charm where sold only in Arab countries and another one was the Turkish eye, sold only in the Middle East. I’m really not into Turkish eye because I think it’s too generic. So I got the palm tree one:

Sadly, when I came home, I found out from my Thomas Sabo UK catalogue that they have the palm tree charm. When I went to Thomas SaboPavilion, they have the palm tree charm as well. I feel like I’ve been cheated :(

I found Bath & Body Works there and was sooooo happy. I almost grab the entire shop but when I remember that I have luggage limit, I had to restrict myself. In the end, I only bought the candles. 

I really wanted to get the shower gel but to choose between candles and shower gel, I think it would be much better for me to get the candles. You know how hard it is to get room candles in Malaysia? Meanwhile shower gel we have plenty here. By the way, if you love home fragrance like me, do check out Voluspa luxury candles. They are the candle company which made the wedding favours for Kim Kardashian’s wedding and scented her wedding reception. I believe Zalora Malaysia is the only place where you can get it.

 

Next, I’ve bought the legendary Victoria’s Secret Bombshell bra!!!! This is the mother of all push up bras. I think it cost about RM280, but it’s all worth it.

The Victoria’s Secret in The Dubai Mall was huge! There are 5 sections in it. I think I spent the most time in there. Almost bought a VS robe but I thought I needed the cash later. This is one decision I regretted the most.

And of course I bought some souvenirs for my housemates.

 

 

I also bought a Starbucks tumbler for my housemate who collects the travel edition. A note to all of you who plans to buy the Starbucks tumbler in Dubai.... It doesn't come with a free coffee like every other country. This is something I hate about Dubai. They're really stingy with their services. Even free wifi is technically not free. You still need to register for a hotspot account which requires you need to pay. 

 

Things in Dubai are generally expensive, despite the shopping there is duty free, but it is still affordable. I think I wouldn’t travel there just for shopping because what they have there are mostly available here in Malaysia. In terms of retails, you will definitely find more US brands there.

Have you been to Dubai? What are the things that worth to purchase there?

KL Fashion Week Photo Diary

Not sure if you are aware of it... Last week, Malaysia launched The New KL Fashion Week. It is such an honour for yours truly to be invited to some of the events by L'Oreal Professional Mythic Oil and designer Fairuz Ramdan. It was not an easy task to put together all the designer's work on the runway. So, I really appreciate the show that the put up on KLFW.

Here are some snap shots of my experiences during KLFW. It wasn't just a fashion show, it is a fiesta where everyone in town celebrates fashion in every aspect of our lives.

Friday 21st June 2013

Getting my hair done at Miko, Level 6 Pavilion

My hair was done with full range of L'Oreal Mythic Oil range - shampoo, conditioner and the Mytic Oil itself

Say hello to Jessying. Had to camwhore with our fabulous hair

 Done our hair, and Kelly camwhoring with her beautiful hair

Some goodies courtesy of L'Oreal

L-R: Yours truly, Cecilia, Jessying & Jin Sou. Such lovely girls

Dinner at Ben's. I spotted this Diptyque doll house. Remember this???

Dinner is served! I had the Salmon Teriyaki, which is quite awesome

Mingling with the girls after food

Table topic! My current one is to have snuggles and cuddles during cold nights

Headed down to Pavilion concourse and found the L'Oreal Mythic Oil booth there!

Jovian Mandagie's show... One of the highlight

The overview of the runway. So grand!!!!

Female wear by Lotus

And Jovian's show starts with his contemporary collection!

Traditional couture

This piece is something I love a lot. Look at that bling around the waist line. So sophisticated!

Love this as well!!!

Spotted Mr. Andrew from Andrew's Model sitting across

Jovian Mandagie with Lisa Surihani at the end of the show

Lotus that parked outside Pavilion. Can see, cannot take home :(

The uber awesome silver Lotus, main subject of all the Lotuses parked outside Pavilion

Saturday 22nd June 2013

Hearty breakfast before the show

 KLFW Mens wear showcase featuring 4 distinguished designers: Bon Zainal, Fairuz Ramdan, Joe Chia and Roslan Wilkinson

Fairuz Ramdan's show was quite extraordinary. I can feel some Scottish here

The iconic Teddy from FR's collection

Oh, nose bleed!!!!

Mr. Fairuz Ramdan himself

 End of the show

With the designer Fairuz Ramdan. I feel so outfashioned beside him

With Muzammin from InTrend magazine & Adwina, the legally fashionable chick

My stylo milo colleague, Rushdy

Did you manage to catch a show at KLFW? 

Personally, I had a memorable experience there. It puts me in a life that I see on Devil Wears Prada and Vogue. I never thought I could be in such swanky event. The people I met are so awesome and the ambience is filled with the energy that you won't experience anywhere else. Million thanks to L'Oreal Professional and Fairuz Ramdan for the invitation.

Shopping Tips & Haul from Greece & Souvenir Pack Giveaway

Tadaima!!!!

OMG! I’m so freaking tired after a long haul flight and decided to blog a haul. Before that, I’ll give you all some shopping tips, just in case you’re traveling to Greece soon. Basically, the souvenir stuff is pretty generic and standardized throughout Greece. For example, whatever you want to buy from Santorini are available in Athens too, and vice versa. But there are certain things which are cheaper in certain places.

I will start with Santorini because that’s my first stop. There are two main tourist places in the island which is Fira and Oia. Fira is the “town” area and Oia is a pretty relax coastal village.

Rule number one, remember to bargain. If you’re going with friends/family, remember to buy all your souvenir in one place. That way, you can get better price when you’re buying in a huge quantity. We did that in a shop in Fira, Santorini and was able to get 10% off.

If you have the time, scout around to compare prices. I think I bought some stuff which is much more expensive in Fira and then found out it is much cheaper to buy in Oia. It is also cheaper to buy those “Greek goddess” dress in Santorini than in Athens, although Athens have much more choices.

Then in Athens, you should shop in the Roman Market, which located at the foot of Acropolis. You might get confused what to get for souvenir as there are plenty of choices from different shops there.

And here is my haul. Let’s start with the very typical souvenir…

I bought a handpainted curio box for Christine. I actually choose a very nice one for her, but they exchanged it with another one that looks quite crappy. Although both the box are the same painting, but the one I got has some handywork flaws. Lesson learnt, when shop for souvenir, hold on to your stuff before paying and check to see if it is what you wanted to get. The church model is for Alie and the fridge magnet is for my housemate who collects fridge magnet from different countries.

At Athens, I bought these…

The magnet totally broke in half. I was so devastated because it is for my housemate. If you’re going to buy those clay souvenir, remember don’t put it in your check in luggage. Or better still, don’t buy the clay souvenir. They’re so fragile. Just a little knock it will shatter. Luckily I bought another magnet of Athena figure for her. For myself, I got the Panthenon model for memories. It is one of those place you must visit before you die. Although ruined, it is still beautiful.

I bought a Lady Justitae figure to put on my office table. Sadly, the Lady’s got completely beheaded. I actually hand carried this figure, I think I must have knocked my backpack while carrying it inside. Now I have to find a way to fix it back and paint it. I’m thinking of painting it in pink.

I got these pretty expensive souvenir for mom. A handpainted tea cup from Santorini and an antique-like jewelry box from Athens. I really love the jewelry box and thinking of keeping it for myself.

Keychains, obligated to buy when travel.

Some local produce from Greece… the olive oil and honey. Greek’s olive oil is much sweeter than the Italian’s. It is perfect to eat with bread. And I’m not too sure about the honey though. I bought it for my aunt because I don’t know what else to get for her.

Santorini is famous of their white wine Nykteri. If you love sweet wine like Moscato, you’ll love this even more.

Also brought back some x-rated stuff. Hahahahahaha….. Must use Playboy centrefold as inspiration to work harder for nicer body!!!!

Lastly, some beauty related stuff. I think I’ve mention to you guys about the brand Korres before? My friend introduced this brand to me and I fell in love with it immediately. This brand is originated from Greece and it cost so much cheaper there. Initially I wanted to grab the whole store because it is really cheap. But I came to my senses and bought only the Guava Body Butter and the Milk Cleansing Wipe. The body butter is super good!!! I’ve been asking everyone to try this, so you should too. Don’t worry about flying to Greece. You can buy it from Luxola and they will send it directly to your doorstep.

Greece is really proud of their olives. Since I love olive in my skincare, I got all these…

The Peeling Soap Sponge is really cool. Basically it has few layers of sponges and the last layer is made of soap. You need to rub the soap part on your body to create foam and then use the sponge to exfoliate. This is the first time I see such thing. Bath bombs that made from olives. These are amazing!!! I tried the Olive with Olive Leaves already to distress myself from the long flight. It is superb! It leaves the skin thoroughly moisturized and all the rough skin on my feet are all gone after soaking myself in it for 20 minutes. And soap bar made our of 100% pure olive.

As part of the norm after my trip for you all. Ok… Not all, but only 1 person. 1 reader of this blog will receive a special souvenir pack from me. The souvenir pack contains:

1. One natural olive soap bar from Greece – they’re so good, I decided to give one away.

2. A L’Occitane travel pack that contains shower gel, shampoo/conditioner, and body lotion – this travel pack saves me a lot of space and really useful during my trip. I’m giving one set away so you can bring it for your next trip.

How to get this souvenir pack?

1. As usual, you have to be a subscriber of this blog. If you haven’t, click on the “Join this site” tab on the right hand side.

2. Comment below by leaving your email address. If you don’t leave your email then I will assume that you’re just commenting and don’t want the souvenir pack.

3. I will pick a random reader and send email to her on 23rd May (Thursday).

I want to go back to Santorini so badly! It’s so nice there and the view is nothing like what I’ve seen. OK… Now I’m getting my ass back to work, earn some money and plan for another trip again.