wanderlust: vientiane and luang prabang, laos

Sabaidee! This is means hello in Lao language. My friends and I visited Vientiane and Luang Prabang, Laos during Easter break recently. Laos has similar culture or has influence of Thai, Vietnamese cultures and not forgetting tiny bit of French influence as it was under French rule. Luang Prabang is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Laos, so it is worth visiting place. Here are some photos from my trip. Enjoy!

Buddha park - 24 km south of Vientiane, is near the Mekong River. The park is filled with religious sculptures and was built in 1958 by the philosopher Bunleua Sulilat.

Phat That Luang - a symbol of Lao's nationhood and the country's most sacred Buddhist momument. It was built in the 16th century under the rule of King Setthathirat.

Patuxai - Gate of Triumph, is situated in the centre of Vientiane and was built between 1962 to 1968.

Wat Ho Phakeo - was built in 1565 as a royal chapel and repository for the celebrated statue of the Emerald Buddha which was seized from Northern Thailand in 1551. However, in 1778, the Siamese (Thais) invaded and recaptured it, taking it to Bangkok. The temple was destroyed in 1828 to 1829 during the Thai sacking of Vientiane. It was rebuilt in 1936 and restored again in 1993.

Wat Sisaket - the only temple in Vientiane to survive the sacking of the city theSiamese in 1828. It is the oldest and considered by many to be most interesting of the Laotian temples.

Kuang Si waterfalls - A three tier waterfall about 29 km south of Luang Prang. This is one of the favourite trips for tourists in Luang Prabang. Local tours often offer tours to this waterfall.

Royal Palace Museum - It was closed during our visit. It houses royal portraits and busts, religious artifacts and gifts from foreign states. 
 

Whet your appetite with local food!

Khao Soy soup - Laotian breakfast; a bowl of noodle soup with pork meat and vegetables flavoured with special fermented bean paste. The soup it is not spicy as all the condiments are served separately.

Lao style sandwich - this can be bought at any fruit juice or shake stalls by the road.French bread + scramble egg + shreds of bean curd + meat floss + tomato slice + cucumber slice + lettuce = Lao style sandwich for 15,000 kip; less than US$2 (I think).

Click here to see more photos. 

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Until the next post, stay chic and stylish!

mini getaway

I was away few days for a truly a mini getaway... away from the hustle and bustle of the city, laptop and internet etc. I practically did nothing else besides eating, sleeping, watching telly most of the times. And not forgetting taking photos whenever I could to pass some time.

Enjoy the beautiful scenery either during the day or at night. 

Feel the breeze softly brushes skin and hair, feel the texture of the sand whilst strolling along the beach

Treat taste buds with scrumptious, mouth-watering food

 

 

 

Relaxing by listening to the sound of the waves

Although it was a rather short trip, it was good to chilling out in a different way in away from the city. For fellow Malaysians, today is a public holiday. Another day to rest and chill out for me before starting to get back into workin mood. For more photos of the trip, click here.

buttons on the move: Singapore II

the look: tank top, vintage skirt, weave belt, thrifted granny loafers, thrifted bag

On the second day of outing, I did a bit touristy thing. I snapped photos of the Merlion. Merlion is a well-known mascot of Singapore. So, it is a spot not to be missed if you would like to show anyone that you have been to Singapore!

From the park, my friend and I walked to the ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands. It was about 20 to 25 minutes walk and we enjoyed the scenery of the Bayfront whilst walking. Soon after the walk, we were at the entrance of the museum. At last, a place with air conditioning was just we needed. We went in and purchased tickets. Admissions ticket is S$24.

Boarding pass

From the brochure

As we entered the exhibition gallery, each of us was given a boarding pass with details of a passenger of RMS Titanic. We were advised to cross check the name on the boarding pass with the name lists on memorial gallery.

The exhibition took us through the life journey of Titanic, from the birth of the idea to built Titanic, its constructions, its magnificent and luxurious interior to cater first class passengers to simple interior for third class passengers, to iceberg warning, to its fatal tragedy and conservation work. Artifacts of related theme will be displayed.

My favourite part of the exhibition is the promenade deck. At this section, the moonless night with many stars was created using black cloth and LED lights as stars. Special lights were used to emulate the movement of the sea and special effect sound of waves was aired. I felt like I was on the ship!

Throughout the exhibition, I had mixed feelings of overwhelmed and sadness. Overwhelmed with the greatness of Titanic and sad because of the tragedy. Remember the boarding pass which was given at the beginning of the exhibition? I checked and I 'survived'.

It was a great exhibition and I would suggest any history lovers or anyone to visit the exhibition.

After lunch, we headed to Haji Lane to check out a vintage shop, Dulcetfig. It sells its own label items as well as vintage apparels, accessories. In terms of price range, I would say it is pricey after conversion, for example S$89 for a piece of vintage dress. I saw three Ettiene Aigner handbags in the shop and if I remembered correctly one of the bags costs S$109.

I had a great time in Singapore although I did not score anything in thrifting department. I just wish I have more time so I could check out the rest of the SA family thrift stores. Perhaps, next time?

Hope you have enjoyed reading the posts of my trip as much as I have enjoyed writing them. Happy mid-week!

buttons on the move: Singapore I

the look: vintage top, short pants, thrifted granny loafers, scarf as headband

The last time I was in Singapore was about 6-7 years ago. It was a very short visit as the main destination at that time was Batam Island, Indonesia. From Singapore, my friends and I took a ferry to Batam Island. Singapore was not on my holiday destination list until I learnt that there is an exhibition on Titanic artifacts. And at the same time, it would be good to check out thrifting spots.

First thrifting spot I visited was Upper Serangoon Family Thrift Store. For full listing of family thrift stores, visit this link. I picked this store due to its proximity to MRT station (Woodleigh) and there is a bus stop within few minutes walk from the store.

Store at Upper Serangoon Road

The store is well managed with items are neatly placed on shelves and items are categorized properly; shoes, ladies clothes, books, toys so on and so forth. I am amazed with the size of the store; a two-storey building. Bigger than the thrift stores I have been in Malaysia. I came across with a pair of Chanel pumps, a pair of Anne Klein pumps, a pair of D&G pumps and couple of Charles and Keith shoes. Too bad none of these were in my size or my liking. As for bags, there is a Charles Jourdan bag, which I think it is from 1980s.

Next stop was Thieves' Market at Pitt Street. Prior to this trip, I was luck enough to come across upon a post on Thieves' Market by Cute Granny Vintage.

How to get there? For first timer like myself, I used this site, recommended by my friend, to find my ways to places in Singapore. One can alight either at Little India MRT station or Bugis MRT station and then walk to Pitt Street.

Most items displayed were old electrical goods, clothes, shoes, watches etc. Perhaps on that day, I was not so lucky to come across with cool vintage or old items at Pitt Street.

And for those who enjoy shopping, perhaps you would like to check out Bugis Village, near Bugis MRT station.

It houses many clothes (Hong Kong or Korean fashion). shoes and accessories outlets. Goods are sold at reasonable price, as low as S$10 for a top or S$9.90 for a pair of shoes/sandals. Still great deals even after currency conversion.

It was tiring but fun exploring all these new places for thrifting and shopping even though I left each place empty-handed...

A trip to Kuala Selangor

The trip to Kuala Selangor happened pretty spontaneously. My colleague just sent me a text on Saturday's morning asking me whether I would be interested to join her and her boyfriend for a trip to Kuala Selangor. Without any hesitation, I replied 'Yes'.

The look:
Vintage blouse from Vintage Packstocks (now known as anaabu)
Thrifted belt
Thrifted bag (hidden)
Flare shorts
Studded sandals

On our journey to Kuala Selangor, we spotted an orchid nursery and decided to check it out. Just look at the pretty orchids...

We arrived at Malawati Hills, late in the afternoon. Instead of walking up the hills, we decided to take the tram to go up the hills after checked with a local their if the hills are too hilly to walk up. The queue was pretty long but we waited patiently with the rest of the crowd.

The lighthouse

Besides the view of the Malacca Straits from the hill, these cuties are another attraction. Visitors would buy food and feed them. The babies are in golden yellow colour but once they have grown into adults, they would be grey-ish silver.

Poisoned well

Instead of taking the tram again, we walked down and it was not a difficult walk at all. Perhaps, nowadays people are too depending on vehicles. Passed by this poisoned well. It was used to poison traitors by placing the individual inside the well and put poison into the well water. The level on the water is up to the chin of the individual. Eee...

Today is a public holiday, in lieu of Labour Day (1st May) which was on Sunday. So no Monday blues today. Yay!! Hope to catch up on my sewing. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Happy Monday and have a good week ahead.

Hat Yai trip: Part 1

Hat Yai is a shopaholic shopping heaven or destination. I was lucky to join a group of friends to experience a holiday full of mouth watering food (had at least 4 meals a day!) and fun filled shopping trips. We stayed in a hotel at the heart of shopping area with most of shopping complexes or malls are within walking distance. Here are some of the shopping places:

Odean Departmental Store

It is a so-so place and in my opinion it is equivalent as the Store in Malaysia. I guess, you can guess how is the mall like.

Ocean Shopping Mall

This is a very, very small mall. It houses couple of shoes stores, clothing stores and a point of sales store. You could give it a miss on your trip.

Main market

A must-go place to look for great bargains for clothes, bags, shoes and accessories. There are many stalls inside the building besides the ones by the road sides. I purchased my Zara-like pants here. According to a seasoned shopaholic, the best time to shop at markets is in the morning when the stalls have just opened. In order to get first business of the day, customers have the most bargain power, well at least the sellers make some profit and not total loss from the transaction, they would agree to sell.

Central Departmental Store

Window shopping in Central made me feel like I am window shopping in Metrojaya. A good place for those who want to change the shopping scene for a bit. I came across a Chanel inspired leather quilt blag for sale at 229 Thai Baht which I had been contemplating to purchase but in the end I did not get it. I bet you would think that I should get it because it was so cheap, less than RM25 for a bag!

Robinson Departmental Store

Do I need to say more?

Diana Departmental Store (also known as Diana 2)

It is a mixture of departmental stores with outlets of fast food chains, clothes, gadgets and a section of mini bazaar full of small stall of clothes, shoes, bags and accessories. Many options to choose. Another good place to go.

BKK Bangkok

There are many stalls by road side or outside of shop lots along some streets. As I wandered around the street near the hotel I stayed one night, I came across this shop; BKK Bangkok. At a glance it looked like an ordinary fashion boutique until I check the below rack....

"Some of the clothes or designs look retro or vintage," I thought to myself. To check whether these were vintage or not, I picked up one or two clothes and tried to smell them. Smelt a bit of old clothes. To verify this I asked the shop assistant and I was so thrilled that these were indeed vintage dress. Without wasting any minute, I picked a few to try on. Guess what? I bought three vintage dresses. Though the price range was almost the same as in Malaysia but I could not resist (again these vintage dresses hit my Achilles' heel). However, I had to let go of these vintage dresses...

I did not have the chance to check out Greenway Night Market. I read on a website that you could find used clothes, shoes, bags and new items in this market. Perhaps on my next trip, anyone wants to follow me?

Stay tuned for next posting on my finds!