Bangkok ONE

The long awaited shopping holiday in Bangkok after 4 years was finally... over. Despite being his birthday trip and daily massages, Aaron was so shagged more than ever. :(

This trip was FANTASTIC, to me of course. We had a hell loads of shopping, shopping and shopping. I think I had enough clothing for a year. Hah. 

Holidays are never complete without photos. AND I HAVE TO LOSE MY CAMERA. :X 

So I only have limited pictures available in my iPhone and Facebook where I am tagged. What the hell, just when I thought I should be getting a new camera (I'm aiming at the Olympus EP3 that SY was carrying), and this HAS to happen! 

Sobs. 

Back to happier things... It was our first time on Scoot and I think it was pretty pleasant. The flight was safe and smooth, and we touched down earlier than expected. However, there was only one evening flight daily, by the time we reached Bangkok, it was already 7pm. It would be better if we could start our day earlier instead.

I love cities with train service to and fro the city. Cities like Bangkok, Hong Kong, Taipei, etc. It's so easy, fast and comfortable. You simply avoid all potential traffic jams. We took the express train to Makkasan so that we can take a cab to our hotel. 

See! Their train tickets are so cute - it's a coin ticket! 

We thought we would be at the hotel soon since we arrived earlier but all cabs REFUSED to take us because our hotel is simply just too near. 

In the end, we had to take the city train to Ratchapraprop station instead and walk there! :(

Ok, it is really NOT that far and there were signs along the way to point us in the right direction. Thank god I watched the directional video at the hotel's website before coming. I think they are so smart to make a directional video. It is soooo useful for a lot of tourists, especially for their location.  

We reached! Our hotel - Budacco. 

The following pictures are grabbed from Budacco website: 

See all the rooms are painted in delicious colours. So pretty! 

The layout is really basic and simple but it has ample space for luggages so that we can pack. Like how can you not think of that when you are in Bangkok right? You need lots and lots of luggage spaces. 

We got the lime green room, actually I secretly wished that I have gotten the fushia pink one. 

The reception and cafe. It is so cosy and the staff are really friendly, it felt so much like home. 

I just found out that the name of the hotel has a meaning. It means BUDget ACCOmodation. So apt. LOL. 

Another wonderful thing about our hotel is that it is right smacked in the middle of Pratunam (in one of the small lane and almost right next door to Baiyoke Sky). This means daily shopping!

Although it is almost invisible to most taxi drivers but with Baiyoke Sky as the landmark where we always alight, it is extremely convenient because its almost like only 5 minutes walk away. 

You can check out the hotel's official website here but I feel that it will be cheaper if you can use some booking engines. We booked through hotels.com about four months ahead so we managed to get the early bird price. We got our stay at about SGD 51 per night compared to if you book direct (think its about a few bucks difference, but still... savings means more shopping)!

We were estatic that the hotel wasn't too far in or difficult to find. We hurriedly checked in, put down our luggages and rushed out so that we do not missed out on our first night. 

The thing about travelling in a big group is that you often end up spending more time waiting then you should be shopping. There were 7 of us but it was great, more people more fun actually. 

We planned to go Chinatown on our first night for seafood, bird's nest and shark's fins soup but we got convinced by our taxi driver that Chinatown was too crowded. So he brought us to a nearby seafood restaurant at Phaya Thai station - Somboondee Seafood. 

And we got conned! We had like super duper ex seafood at SGD 120 for 7 of us (we had a feast in the next few days and ordered more food, it cost wayyy lesser!). For the amount we spend on food, we could have bought like 10 more dresses! 

Argh! We learnt that you never ever ask the taxi driver "How much?" It is a magic word that brightens up any driver's eyes. 

So angry and so full from dinner that we decided to walk back instead of taking cabs. Surprisingly, it took us way longer to walk back. I think the city layout was a little weird as you need to do big roundabout to go back to the same spot. No short cuts. 

Anyway, it is good enough for us to digest our food before a Thai massage to cool our anger. 

There is a whole stretch of massage palours near our hotel that we had to try a new one everyday. The best ones are still those located further outside (shop houses next to Baiyoke Sky and opposite Indra Square). Oh man, the massage was so good that I fell asleep!

Check out the map above. 

It's good to be travelling with a big group of friends because you know that you will always have pictures floating around even when you lose your camera. 

That's it for now, will be back for the rest of the trip shortly. 

zum-zum-Zumba

I first heard of Zumba a few months back and I got interested in this new form of exercise class. It is actually more of a dance fitness programme so it is very fun, especially for those clubbing fanatics (like us). Haha! 

It's like a major clubbing event. :D

So when the Groupon deal on Zumba classes came up, we grab at the chance to try out the classes at Physical ABuse. It was so fun! We love it... 

The instructor told us that Zumba is very freestyle, there is no hard or fuss rule about it. Even if you can't follow or remember the steps, just MOVE. Just like clubbing. 

Zumba is 70% Latin and 30% International so it's a mix of hip-hop, samba, salsa, latin, mambo, even bollywood and belly dance. A dance fusion. 

It has been my second lesson at Physical ABuse and oh man, I didn't know that dancing could so tiring. Never felt so tired before but I guess the fun actually made up for it. 

We did try out other classes that is within the deal like Latin Dance and Shape Up but it didn't make the cut. We didn't like them as much, I guess the fun element was missing but it did work our muscles ALOT. 

Netty and I went for Latin Dance and Shape Up last Thursday. God, our body is aching like hell, even those muscles that we didn't know it exist. Nah, no. Don't like. 

I think Physical ABuse is a boutique gym that is relatively new in Singapore. For the last few times we were there, it seems like they do have a number of University students. Thus, the crowd there is generally younger, but they do have working class OLs too.

The decor is also unlike the usual gym centres, it uses lots of black so it exudes masculinity to the whole place. I find that their class schedules are limited and not as many as the bigger gym franchises. Still, it has its own character. 

Check out their website here: http://www.physicalabuse.com.sg/

We still prefer Zumba and yesterday a new song was added to the mix. And it's the latest K-Pop craze that everyone is talking about. It was fun... and funny... 

PSY Gangnam Style

Gangnam Style MV with Hyuna

OPPA GANGNAM STYLE! 

Real Yoga

It seems that the girls were all in the midst of preparing their once-in-a-lifetime event that everyone is trying to get that perfect bod for this occasion. 

We bought a Groupon voucher for 10 yoga sessions at Real Yoga studio, hoping to get our ass out of the office in time for a fitness regime.

Must say that we girls (known for our ill-discipline) have been really good for the past month. With our erratic work schedule, we have been going rather religiously. Twice a week, at least, for the past 5 weeks. I think this is an achievement. 

*pat on the back. 

The experience at Real Yoga was just so-so.

I really like the instructors and lessons conducted there. The instructors were attentive and will always ask if there were new students or beginners in the room before he begins. 

I think that is a nice gesture considering that newbies like us can find it hard to follow. 

There were more than 30 types of yoga to choose from but we particularly love Hot Yoga because it makes us perspire so much. Apparently, it burns more calories than yoga in normal room temperature! 

Unfortunately, the heater was down for past few weeks that we only managed to enjoy 2 lessons in the full heat. 

Totally not a fan of their changing room. It was small and squeezy. Though there were sufficient lockers most of the time, the walkway between the lockers were so tight that it can only comfortably accommodate one person at any point. 

The shower rooms were built with almost transparent glass that I can see whatever the women were doing with the body while showering. Erm, quite a turn-off. 

It was really limiting and difficult to find available lessons for all four of us. Perhaps we were limited by the voucher, but hey, we are also potential customers right? :(

Thought that these studios who tie up with Groupon usually have pesky sales persons who can't stop harassing you to sign for their package, but our sales rep was pretty relaxed. Almost non-existence.

We always communicate via Whatsapp on lessons availability. However, I only seen her once at the studio (the first time there) and thereafter, we never get to talk to her personally. She don't even acknowledge us when we were there or perhaps we looked so alike that she couldn't recognize? 

I genuinely wanted to find out more about their package because I really like the lessons (despite all the environmental factors) but the attitude of the sales rep turn me off. All she did was to send us relentless text messages on the existing promotions but never once did she offer to meet up?!?

*argh

I even offered to meet her on one of the occasion but she told me that its her off day BUT she is coming back to meet a member. DUH. 

But other that this person, the rest of working staff there were pretty helpful and friendly. I think its just her. We wonder if she is ever working because we hardly see her. 

Despite that, I still do think that it is a decent place to go to if you want to try yoga. The place is not as intimidating as some gyms/studios could be. I'm actually quite comfortable and they are opening a second outlet in Tampines. 

They have pretty good testimonials too! So check them out and evaluate them yourself: http://www.realyoga.com.sg/

Kinda sad that my sessions have ended but I'm not sure if I want to continue there because their membership package is quite ex. I am definitely going to check out other places before I decide! 

Bought another Groupon voucher at Physical ABuse for their Zumba lessons! So fun! And we are going to check out California Fitness and Fitness First before we settle on one place. More about them next time!  

GAMBATTE! 

Hairstyles 2012

I think it's time for a change. Was looking around the Internet for the latest hairstyles and it seems like some trends are back this time.

The long bob

My heart seems to sway towards this because it reflects individuality, freedom and versatility for the modern woman. Heavier with volume on top and thinly layered at the ends. Apart from the occasional trimming, I think it seems to be kind of easy to maintain such hairstyle. 

The longer bob

Easy to maintain bob with relatively equal ends. Longer fringe frames and elongate the face, seems to a perfect hairstyle for oval face. 

The long bob with bangs

The return of the innocent school girl. This girly hairstyles fit most outfit, minimal styling does wonders. 

The shaggy bob

This heavily layered bob gives maximum volume to fine hair and works well with thick hair too. An edgier bob for the rocker chick feel. The down side, styling required daily or you may end up look like a mushroom head. 

The curly pixie cut

I love this longer pixie cut with curled ends. It adds feminine to the usual edgy cut, seems to work well even for girls with a stronger squarish jaws. Not sure if I am daring enough to carry out this style though... hmm. 

After looking at some many hairstyles, my heart seems to go with the bob but was convinced by my hairstylist to go for curls instead. Curls for my length seems to go hand in hand. I have never permed my hair before, hope this wouldn't be the last time... 

Ta-dah! 

What do you think? 

Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011