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 St Giles Hotel 360 Gear Campaign in Kuala Lumpur

This week I jetsetted to Kuala Lumpur to be a part of the St Giles Hotels, Be Central Campaign for The Gardens – A St Giles Signature Hotel & Residences. I took my dear friend and colleague, Dee from AdaptTrend, to enjoy and document our journey via the very innovative Samsung Gear 360.

The Gear 360 is a 360-degree camera equipped with dual fish-eye lenses, both featuring 15 megapixel image sensors. So basically, what this means is that it will capture everything. Yes everything! Our double chins and probably even Pokemon *jokes*. We even got footage of another tourist running over my foot with his luggage. How’s that for being caught on camera.

The device attracted a lot of attention wherever we went. We marched through our hotel, streets and markets, proudly holding the Gear 360 like it was our Olympic torch. Locals and tourists alike stared with amusement at this futuristic looking alien. Many stopped us to discuss the device!

It paired easily with Dee’s Samsung Note 5 via the Gear 360 app. We snapped and it synced, a seamless process allowing us to then use the app and manipulate the pics to create interesting, quirky, and nothing-of-the-kind images. It was a fun little Virtual Reality Cam which made capturing tall buildings like the Petronas Tower easy. It had photos, video, video-looping and time lapse functionality.

If you get a chance, you should check it out. We had a blast and will keep you posted after all the campaign footage is released!

Thank you Synthia Kek from the The Gardens – A St Giles Signature Hotel & Residences for having us.

Stay tuned for my next post about my experience at the Hotel and places we explored around KL xxx

 

words // DEE DARWICHE
images // KAREN WOO

 

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Eat and Drink at Awesome Canteen, Penang

Penang continued to surprise us with their quaint little spaces such as one which we happen to stumble upon while we were searching for a foreign currency exchanger. Thank God, the Awesome Canteen accepted card so we had the liberty of trying some of their healthy paleo dishes. The Awesome Canteen are known for its ‘Paleo’ receipes, focusing on nutritious protein sources, vegetables and fruits, with vibrant highlights like grilled butterfish fillet with sweet potatoes and honeydew sauce, and a pomegranate salad with rocket and avocado. I ordered the Paleo eggplant and chicken stack with sweet potato fries – it was filling and light.

The walls were covered in faded paint giving it a special effect, seats were re-purposed industrial furniture, and what I loved most were the tall skinny trees planted into the middle of the space. This was definitely one space I would come back for a catch up with my foodie friends.

red dress // ZARA
rose gold sandals // BARED FOOTWEAR

All images by Karen Woo.

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Finding rest in Penang

“He that can take rest is greater than he that can take cities.” —Benjamin Franklin

I wasn’t expecting to go overseas with my family this holiday season, but Alan whisked me and JJ away for a week of family fun and soaking in the warm golden sun. We had a few destinations in mind: Hamilton Islands, Bangkok Thailand or Hong Kong, but we decided to go back to Penang, Malaysia; to the place we first had our overseas trip together when we started dating.

Our little family flew with Qantas and Jetstar Asia, and we checked into the Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa (Batu Feringgi Beach, 11100 Penang, Malaysia) for a 6 nights stay. Besides devouring bowls of Assam Laksa, sipping endless supplies of Mocktails and Teh Tarik, I spent a majority of my time braving the humidity and 37 degree heat exploring George Town. This little town was perfect in every way – a photographers and art lovers haven to say the least. There were plentiful of hidden gems to discover such as 3D interactive street art, textured walls, piles of ruins, and odd combination of coloured buildings which eventually grew on you. We were really lucky to come at a time of Hari Haya (Malaysian New Year) because the streets were quite deserted which made walking around town a breeze.

Here are some of our most favourite places spotted around George Town. Pictures of me taken by my love, Alan Woo, and the rest are from yours truly x

black jumpsuit // ALICE MCCALL purchased from Very Special Kids Sale
red dress // ZARA
rose gold sandals // BARED FOOTWEAR
clutch // OLGABERG

 

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