Day at the (British) Museum

I was in London back in Sept 2015, a year ago and I realized I have not had the opportunity to blog about it yet.

One fine day, we went for breakfast at Duck & Waffle, which is lovely restaurant with a killer view on the 40th floor of 110 Bishopsgate. It is open 24/7 and caters for breakfast til drinks at night. 110 Bishopsgate is one of London’s tallest buildings

Guests are transported to Duck & Waffle from a private entrance on Bishopsgate via two express, double-glazed scenic lifts.

We went there with one of my dear friends, Wendy, who has been relocated to the UK with her husband.

My boyfriend

Mentioned dear friend, Wendy

I ordered the Duck & Waffle because... I figured it was their signature, with their name being.. Duck & Waffle.... My boyfriend ordered the English breakfast set which I don't have a photo of. He said he couldn't accept waffle and a penyet duck. Haha. I was content with my food, with it being quite the special combo. paired with a cuppa latte, my breakfast was great for me to 'bon apetit'!

Picture 40 floors up, photobombed by the Shard

I had some kinda gothic look going on, I know... I was trying out a new lipstick I got from Revlon, I think.

After that, we spent our Day in the Museum!

My boyfriend wanted to check out a museum, so we  went to the British Museum.

Entrance to the Museum is free, but you are encouraged to leave a donation of £5, although it isn't compulsory.

We had to queue for a little bit at the entrance, as there was a quick check by the security guards

Sup?

There are 10 D curatorial and research departments in the British Museum:

• Africa, Oceania and the Americas 
• Ancient Egypt and Sudan 
• Asia 
• Britain, Europe and Prehistory 
• Coins and Medals 
• Conservation and scientific
  research 
• Greece and Rome 
• Middle East 
• Portable Antiquities and Treasure 
• Prints and Drawings 

We started off with the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan bit first because that was one of the most interesting and popular ones.

There are over 100,000 Egyptian antiquities kept here. 

Room 4 – Colossal bust of Ramesses II, the 'Younger Memnon', 1250 BC

Real mummy!

Rooms 62 to 63 - Mummies on display in the Egyptian Death and Afterlife galleries

After that, we branched out to the Department of Greece and Rome, also a crowd favorite. The Museum was huge and had many floors so we had to literally make our way to find the Departments we wanted to see.

Of course we had to go back to our roots at the Department of Asia:

 So glad to have had my friend take us around London that day!!

We spent a couple of hours in the Museum, which ideally isn't enough if you really want to soak it ALL in, but it was a lot of information and we were pretty contented with what we got to see.. (aka MUMMIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no, not really but you know what I mean).

Xx

Kopi Luwak and Tanah Lot

On our way to Tanah Lot temple, our driver took us to a Luwak Coffee Farm.

This is a civet (luwak).

You can read about how civet poop is made into coffee here. It involves coffee leaves being digested by the animal, and it's poop being made into coffee. Kopi luwak is apparently the most expensive coffee in the world, which is rather interesting,

the farm also produces tea and other coffee of sorts; from vanilla coffee to ginseng tea. If you liked them, you could purchase them in cups or sachets

My kopi luwak. What did it taste like? Black coffee, really. I like my coffee black, so it was good for me. Nothing so special.

Kopi luwak 101

We sat by a paddy farm(?) and had our coffee and tea! It was a very serene experience :)

On our way out, there is a store that sells all the tea and coffee we had for tasting, as well as Kopi Luwak. I didn't buy any kopi luwak, which I wish I did now!

After that, we continued our journey to Tanah Lot.

Bali Tanah Lot temple is a Hindu temple in Bali Indonesia that has a stunning natural beauty, it stands on solid sea rock and Tanah Lot Bali or (Pura Tanah Lot) is one the very famous temples in Bali and became one of the top places in Bali to watch the sunset.

Tanah Lot temple is one of the very sacred temples in Bali island, and according to the legend, Tanah Lot Temple Bali is protected by holy sea snakes which was formed from the scarves of its founder. Tanah Lot Bali is a romantic place to visit while enjoying the sun goes down when spending the holidays in Bali Indonesia.

Tanah Lot is derived from the word "Tanah" means land and "Lot (lod / laut)" which means the sea, because it is situated on a rock in the sea and resembles a small island floating on the sea, so the people call it TANAH LOT, Tanah Lot temple is located at Beraban village, Kediri district, Tabanan regency, on the south coast of Bali island, approximately 25 kilometers from Denpasar city. extracted from http://www.baliglory.com/2015/04/tanah-lot-temple.html

It was quite rainy when we were there and the tides were strong. It actually only stopped pouring when we were walking in to the temple. That is the view of the temple from the other side.

group picture!

It was rainy, that's why my friend was in a hoodie and looking incredibly out of place.

We also had a photographer with a dslr take our picture for only 20k each (B$2) in a frame that says Bali, which is a nice souvenir.

time-lapse of the high tide

After that we made our way to the temple.
The journey to the temple is around 45min- 1 hour from our villa in Seminyak.

Here's to us!

Our sweet driver followed us in and helped us take a gazillion photographs because we kept getting photo-bombed by Chinese tourists everywhere!

Here being photo-bombed by a crazy tide The wind was strong!

After that, Wendy and I went to that little "island" for blessings. We could make a small donation (any amount you wish), drink and wash your face from the holy water and receive blessings.

The tide was high and the ground was rocky, full of pebbles so it was important we took caution while making our way through.

We did not go to the top because its meant for serious worshipers. Tourists usually just stop where we stopped for blessings. 

There was also a holy snake which we did not stop for.

Wendy and I. We were both given a flower each and rice bits on our forehead but mine all flew/fell before I could take a photo :(

There are a lot of people selling these flower clips/ head bands so I got a bunch for my colleagues and we got a bunch for ourselves too. Can't say you've been to Bali without wearing a flower on your hair (like San Francisco)

OH! And it is also this temple where legend has it that if young couples who are not married who go to this temple, they will break up. This is called the Bali Breakup Island Curse. It is a real thing that I am not making up. You can read about it here: 7 Ways to Avoid the Deadly Bali Breakup Island Curse

In brief:

The story has it that a Prince and a Princess from the Brahman caste, the highest one in the Hindu order, came to visit Bali from the neighbor island of Java. While visiting Bali and watching a romantic sunset at the famous Tanah Lot temple, the unmarried couple had sex (“became intimate” as the legend goes). Sadly, one the Prince had taken the Princess’s flower, he left her and refused to marry. Devastated and ashamed, the Princess became so enraged that she threw a curse on all unmarried couples visiting Tanah Lot: Should come here, then they would break up within 6 months. Thunder. Lightning. Fear.

I personally don't know if it is true but my friend said it did happen for two of her friends. A friend of mine went last year and is now married, so maybe it isn't that much of a truth, but I guess just better to be safe than sorry, I will go back here with my significant other only after we are married :-D

Om suastiastu!

Om suastiastu!

(At least I hope that's correct. I got it off Google for "saying hi in Balinese")

(If it wasn't, the thought was there)

(It is the thought that counts, right?)

(Right)

I just got back from Bali less than 2 weeks ago with 5 of my girlfriends, because two of them are getting hitched! So it was a short get-together hen's trip. It was 5 days, but technically and factually it was only 3 because we flew to Bali at 9pm on 11th, and back 7am on 15th.

Royal Brunei.... Take this as a public plea to amend the timings of flights to Bali, please?

So we booked a villa through airbnb in Seminyak, and it had 4 rooms which could cater up to 8 pax. They were 6 of us so it fit us comfortably. The villa came with airport transfer at 240K rupiah for 2 cars, due to our luggage which couldn't fit into one. We arrived to the drivers waiting for us with signboards, which was a first for me. Haha. Also, one thing we had the distaste to experience was a man coming out of nowhere "helping" us to carry our luggage only to later demand payment for his services. It stunned us because we thought they came with the drivers. He asked for 500K rupiah, of which we gave him 400K which he accepted reluctantly. We were later told by the local drivers that these "helpers" are always there and that he are not inclined to tell them to go away because its not a good thing for them to do.

Okay, anyway.
Our villa was acceptable, I suppose, but I expected something more which I am not sure why because I was there when we made the decision to choose that villa. We chose it over a few shortlisted ones because it had the biggest pool, and that meant a lot to many of us.

The villa is old, the cracks are visible on the walls, and the villa is not as clean as we would've liked; the floors felt sticky. The pillows in our rooms did not have pillow cases on them and we were unable to use any of the safe deposit boxed because they seemed to be jammed shut. A dragonfly died on Day 1 and there it stayed for the remaining days, with its new-found ant friends.

However, we had a "live-in" helper who was there to help make breakfast (they actually lived in a small house outside the villa). We could tell her what we wanted a day before and she would return with the groceries and a receipt for you to pay off. The pool was nice too, but it was very deep (I'm 5' and the pool was at least 6' and it is the same depth entirely). Location-wise, it was okay. We got a personal driver taking us around so location was not a big problem for us. We had a driver for 600K/day for 6 pax, which is not expensive at all. He was also very helpful in guiding us (aka take pics for us) and was very friendly, and he could speak English well.

Overall the villa was acceptable, but I would not return.

The pool

Just be my the pool

We took a gazillion photos by the pool, in the pool, next to the pool, outside the pool- you name it. We also rented floaties (because what else is more insta-worthy?) from an Instagram account for 2 days. They delivered it to us and collected it when we were done.

We basically had the watermelon, pizza slice, clam and donut floaties.

We spent a lot of time taking photos on these floaties because it was not easy to position them. You literally just float away on a slice of pizza, which is really most people's dreams but it did not do photo-taking any favors at all. However, the floaties kept me afloat in the (deep) pool so thank you for that, floaties!

Different swimsuits because they were taken on different days. We spent a lot of time in the pool (aka taking photos).

Yours truly livin da life

I really don't know how many bottles we devoured on that short trip! haha

Breakfast!

The last supper

Will blog about our excursions around Bali in my upcoming posts!

Bye!

Singapore #TelcoTalk

I've been to Singapore 4 times over the past 2 years and have been purchasing a local SIM each visit.
I've tried Singtel, Starhub and M1. There is no denying that Singtel is Singapore's biggest telco and no doubt has the widest coverage and best internet experience. I remember having an M1 SIM and it could not upload due to congestion (I was at USS) while my boyfriend, who was on Singtel, had INSTANT upload.

I usually get the SIMs at Changi airport, right after arrival.

Singtel used to have a $15 Hi! Tourist SIM offer that had up to 100GB local data, 500 minutes local calls and 100 local SMSes valid for 5 days, which I managed to get on my visit late November 2015 to catch Elton John live in concert.

They have since stopped that offer, and is now apparently offering the same but with 4gb of data only. However, I could not find any such offers in the airport. Every telco seemed to only offer a $30+ Tourist SIM when I was there a week ago (21st Jul- 25th Jul).

Hence, I bought a Starhub Prepaid Internet SIM which only offered data for 5 days. It had up to 2GB per day allowance which I did not exceed daily.

The SIM only offers data, and absolutely no voice or SMS. However, Whatsapp conveniently allows in-app calls now so we actually utilized that aplenty (especially when I am lost in the huge Malls of Singapore LOL). 

Coverage was fair, albeit slightly slower than my previous experiences with Singtel. Singtel speeds is really smooth- you can click on a Snapchat video and it loads in a second.

My boyfriend and his mum purchased Starhub SIMs too. They are usually Singtel regulars but the time we were in Sg, the booths selling Singtel SIMs were closed for renovation, and only Starhub was available to us. They purchased a different SIM from mine:

Pretty good deal, except:

Note:

• #Per Second Billing applies. Per Second rates are rounded up to two decimal points.
• $8 SIM gets you up to 99 mins of talktime; or 160 Local SMS; or 1GB of data. $15 SIM gets you up to 185 minutes of talktime; or 300 Local SMS; or 2.2GB of data. These numbers are for indicative purposes only. Your prepaid value can be used on talktime, SMS and data, depending on your preferred usage.
• Directory Enquiry - Calls to Service 100 charged at 70¢ per call, plus Local Prepaid call charges.
• International Calls - Local Prepaid call charges plus prevailing IDD charges (StarHub IDD 008 / 018).
• 30¢ per MMS (less than 30KB) / 80¢ per MMS (30KB and more*).
• **What you get is based on the assumption that all of the credits are used solely on that service.
• * Via activation of Prepaid Mobile Data plan
• 100GB local data can only be used on 3G network
• 4G Booster can be activated via *123*3*4*1# after the expiry of 100GB data 

The 100GB is on their 3G network, not 4G and is only valid for 5 days. That was OK for us as we were only there for 5 days but my BF kept complaining about the lack of speed. Mine was on 4G so I did not really feel that pinch.

Personally, I would still opt for Singtel for the coverage and speeds, but it was not convenient and their SIMs were not readily available for purchase.

Bangkok eats

Sawadeeka! I just got back from Bangkok last night (technically this morning at 1am) after spending almost 5 days there over the Raya break. The trip was one of those overdoing it types, with us walking almost every second we were awake.

We covered almost everywhere I wanted to go, and we managed to eat a lot of really good food. We did not get to do any sightseeing this trip because we didn't have that much time.

 One place that I made a point to revisit was Petite Audrey, a lovely cafe inside Siam Center (I always get confused with Siam Center, Siam Paragon and Siam Discovery but I think I pretty much got the hang of it now).

I love this Thai Tea Crepe Cake from Petite Audrey!

I love Thai milk tea, its so refreshing and so authentically Thai. I do not have a single sweet tooth in my body which makes this cake perfect; it isn't sweet but tastes just right.

Me with my Thai Tea crepe cake!

There are several branches in Bangkok, so do make time to try this! Its their bestseller.

One of the nights, we went to have Korean BBQ for dinner. Bangkok is flooded with Japanese and Korean cuisine places because it is like the IN thing for the past few years. My bf;s brother took us to Doo Rae, a triple-storey Korean restaurant in Korea Town, near Terminal 21 in Sukhumvit. Korea Town, as you can guess, has a lot of different Korean shops, cafes and restaurants.

It is only logical to have Korean beer at Korea Town. 

We had a lot to eat, from beef, chicken, pork to kimchi and this mushroom soup. The service was excellent; the waitress constantly helped us grill the meat, as well as renew the metal stoves so that the taste from the previous grilled meat do not linger. It was all very quick so I didn't manage to snap any good pictures of the food!

The food was really good and the meat were all grilled to pretty much perfection. Nyum.

On this trip, I only managed to have Mango Sticky Rice twice. 

The first time was at this small night market near our hotel outside MBK

 Second being some random eatery in Chatuchak weekend market.

Speaking of Chatuchak weekend market, we found an absolute gem of a place where we had lunch. It was as authentic and raw as it could get. It wasn't a nice place but the food was so good! I love Thai food, the more authentic the better (but no pork blood PLS!).

We walked til we did not know where we were (always happens in Chatuchak for us, its like Timbuktu there. Now you see it, the next time you're back you just cannot find it again!) but we walked pass this restaurant where there were many locals eating. Picture cement ground, non-matching wooden tables and plastic chairs and an outdoor stove.

We were grateful that the menu had picture because the wordings were all in Thai. So we just pointed at what we wanted from the menu.

Pork! Apparently our Thai friend said this is the most simple dish in the Thai food world. Haha and we love it. This was really good, we really liked it. It was spicy and sweet in the right dose.

Clams! Normally I don't eat seafood much, especially shelled ones but this was really nice. I normally dislike food like this because of the "ocean" taste but this one had none at all.

Papaya salad, also good.

Basically, we really enjoyed our lunch there and I do feel that even though sometimes food is cheap and the atmosphere isn't great, the food can just be amazing like this one was. I do live for experiences like these.

See you next time x