My Travel Feature with St Giles Hotel

Remember back in July this year, I took Dee, my best friend for a trip of a lifetime to Kuala Lumpur to work on a #StGiles360 #BeCentral campaign? Well exciting news, the travel campaign is finally live!

Watching it has brought back so many happy memories and I want to go back again!

Thank you once again to the creative team at Piranha and St Giles Hotels to be a part of this incredible opportunity xxx

Here is the official anthem #StGiles360 #BeCentral Campaign:

The one for Kuala Lumpur:
Wait…. if that’s not enough, here’s more of my KL travels here:

If you haven’t been to KL, I suggest you do now and the last time I’ve checked the flights are now on sale at Air Asia, and of course book your stay at The Gardens – A St Giles Signature Hotel & Residences at Kuala Lumpur.

NYFW 2016 Coach Street Style

 

The street style circus outside the Coach fashion show was overwhelming frantic with a super long line of photographers, tourists and asian fan girls obsessively waiting for their heroes to show up. When they appeared, there was a lot of screaming, pushing and shoving. Courtney Love, Serena Williams, and popular fashion bloggers like Chiara Ferragni, and Eleonara Carisi also made appearances.

Sadly I didn’t get a seat at the runway show, but thankfully I was invited the next day for a ‘re-see’ which basically means I get to visit the Coach Headquarters’ showroom to touch and feel all the clothes that appeared on the runway. Coach SS17 was all about punk edge rock, with Elvis Presley on Tees, high platform boots with rock studs, and bags weighing a ton from all the metal hard-wear dandgling off it. I’ll show you what I mean in my next post.

In the meanwhile, here are the street style highlights from the Coach fashion show.

All street style images were created by, and copyright licensed to Karen Woo. Please seek permission regarding licensing before use on social media/web by emailing hello@karenwoo.com.au. Thank you so much for your support x.

 

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New York Fashion Week 2016 Street Style Day 1

If you haven’t seen all my latest NYC Instastory posts, I suggest you jump on @heykarenwoo. There is way too much stuff to tell you and I really don’t know where to begin.

In a nutshell, since I’ve landed in NYC, I have been busy creating content for Samsonite; collaborated with the Ruby Canvas for the Benjamin Hotel; previewed Coach’s impressive “Varsity Shop” new collection (and even spoiled myself a limited edition, customised Saddle Bag which is only available in Soho NYC); finally met and caught up with Abigail, the CEO of St Giles Hotel Group for a nice dinner at the Sushi Roxx; and of-course roaming from street to street capturing my favourite NYFW Street Style looks.

Ok it’s 4:00am NYFW right now, so I’m going to keep this super short and we’ll talk more later. Enjoy xx

All street style images were created by, and copyright licensed to Karen Woo. Please seek permission regarding licensing before use on social media/web by emailing hello@karenwoo.com.au. Thank you so much for your support.

 

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Exploring Kuala Lumpur in Style and Wonder

Eat, Play and Love is what KL is all about

 

What I love about travelling to a new country is hanging out with the locals and immersing myself into their culture. Kuala Lumpur was no exception – the sweet smell of durian (well…to some it’s smelly and prohibited in hotel rooms); the high-pitch sound of motor bikes passing by; and the incredible taste of traditional Malay street food.

We explored the Central Market street stalls and found myself devouring a variety of traditional sweet and savory food. I ate a fried whole fish covered in spicy sauces, custard vanilla and durian puffs, bowls of prawn mee, curry laksa, and nasi lemak, milk pearl tea and even drank an icy cold passionfruit drink from a bag.

Of course I couldn’t have claimed to have visited KL without visiting the grand Petronas Twin Towers. The towers were so popular that I couldn’t even get a ticket to experience the walkway between the two towers (tip: pre book your tickets at least 5 days in advance). I’d have to say my visit to the towers was surreal – they really do glitter and glow. Although for me the highlight was in the gardens below where a magical little forest of ancient looking trees with roots exposed and dangling, provided a nice resting place and of course a great photo opportunity. No I am not posing in a scene from Lord of the Rings, but this was really the garden at Petronas Twin Towers.

This blog post couldn’t go without saying that I honestly believe the hidden gem in this city is its rustic street art, which is spread all over the city’s buildings and walls. The bold colours of the colonial buildings creating a rainbow of endless photo opportunities and backdrop. As a shopaholic I’d expected to leave Central Market with bags of cute and probably useless trinkets, instead I spent hours in the heat scouting and photographing all the locations that I fancied.

I ate, played and loved KL. Definitely a place to be if you are thinking about escaping Melbourne’s wintry weather.

Finally as I bid my farewells to this stunning city, I want to thank the following special list of people:

  • Ruby Wang of TheRubyCanvas for this unexpected and awesome opportunity. I can’t wait to travel with you to NYC in September coming up real soon!
  • Synthia Kek for her lively personality as she showed us off to her Facebook friends and interviewed us live, and of-course for her warm hospitality when we stayed at The Gardens – A St Giles Signature Hotel & Residences
  • Venicia Gaul and her creative team at Piranhanyc for the opportunity to work with them on the St Giles Hotel campaign
  • Last and not the least, my travelling partner in crime: Dee of AdaptTrend, who has not only been such a great friend over the years but a super stylist, writer and photographer who took on my creative direction to heart and made it her own. Thank you and love ya to bits xx

 

words and images of me  // DEE DARWICHE of AdaptTrend
creative direction, words and images // KAREN WOO

outfits // SHEIKE
rose gold sandals // BARED FOOTWEAR

 

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The Gardens – A St Giles Signature Hotel & Residences at Kuala Lumpur

Location, Location, Location!

Any Aussie would tell you that where you reside is all about the location, so staying at the The Gardens – A St Giles Signature Hotel & Residences did not disappoint. I couldn’t be happier to discover how central the hotel was, especially that a mall was attached to the hotel! It wasn’t just a mall, The Gardens Mall is a Fashionistas’ paradise of high end fashion brands such as Gucci, Hermes, Balenciaga, Mulberry, Louis Vuitton, DKNY, to name a few; and their local designer brands and food markets. I was also in complete awe by their immaculate presentation of shopfronts, fit outs and of-course their individual marketing campaign images which gave me so much photography inspiration.

Puffy eyed, and dishevelled after an early flight I was delighted to step out of the humidity of the city to the crisp, clean, and very elegant hotel lobby. I was greeted by the enthusiastic Synthia Kek, who kindly gave me a tour of the hotel facilities and my room at the Executive Premier room. All I could ask is that I had more time to enjoy everything the hotel had to offer. Pool, gym, and all the modern comforts you’d expect from a five star hotel.

The hotel’s award-winning, Sage Restaurant & Wine Bar did not disappoint either. Well of-course since it is consistently voted among the Top 5 restaurants in Kuala Lumpur! The elegant dining room and attentive service set the table for Chef Daniel’s creative take on French & Japanese classics. And when you sit at the open kitchen table, the Chef and his team prepare their heavenly delights right before your eyes. I’m still salivating as I’m reliving my foodie experience.

Therefore if you are like me, who is after convenience and being central to all the touristy hotspots like Central Market, Petronas Twin Towers, Train stations and mega malls, then look no further. I definitely recommend staying at the Gardens Hotel & Residences.

Next up I’ll delve into my adventures out and about on the streets of KL so stay tuned xx

 

 

images // KAREN WOO
words and images of me // DEE DARWICHE of AdaptTrend

printed top, pants and playsuit // SHEIKE
rose gold sandals // BARED FOOTWEAR
caftan // CAMILLA

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Our tasting menu as it unfolded throughout the night:

Entre:
Carpaccio of Wagyu Rump with Plum Infused Konbu Sauce
Royale of Maine Lobster with Yuzu Citrus and Fresh Chives

Main:
Smoked Duck Breast with Watermelon and Foie Gras
Grain Fed Beef with Yuzukoshou and Noisette Miso Sauce
Slow Cooked Almond Crusted Lamb Rack with Meaux Mustard Sauce

Dessert:
Fresh Berries with Champange Sabayon and Vanilla Ice Cream
French Chocolate Fondant with Earl Grey Tea Ice Cream

 

 

Address: The Gardens Residences, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia