Fresh air, fresh mind: The Haven Lakeside Residences, Ipoh, Malaysia

There's nothing like a stuffy nose in a smoggy city (I'm lookin' at you, London) that makes you appreciate the luxury of fresh air. Fact of the day: braving a cold to board a 13-hour flight will not help you recover - no matter how flat you recline; no matter how many blankets, issues of Tatler, and hot honey-ginger drinks the helpful attendants bring you. Because the simple truth is: the flu does not discriminate, the flu does not care that your fancy arse is flying in Business Class. Fast forward six days later: I'm in my London bed with a raging fever - less convalescing, more 'can somebody call me a waaambulance?' - just dying to dive into these photos of The Haven.

Propensity for seasonal illness aside, I'm blessed with the kind of timing that you either envy or hate (are the two mutually exclusive?) me for. Case study: arriving in Kuala Lumpur for a two-week break just as the haze that plagued most of the region cleared, marking this prodigal daughter's return with long-lost azure-blue skies. I was not alone: during those dark days a handful of Malaysians were spared the ill-effects of the smog, namely the canny few who invested in a pied-à-terre at award-winning, 5-star lakeside resort residenecs The Haven. 

November 29, 2015

Thanks Nature 'sheep café' in Hongdae, Seoul


If you like sheep thrills, I've herd that Thanks Nature Café is the place for ewe.

On the lamb at Thanks Nature Café: Hongdae, Seoul

Critter cafés are a dime-a-dozen in most major cities these days. Part-gimmick, part necessary fur-therapy to fill the void that is the soul-crushing reality of shoebox-dwelling in a capital city many can barely afford to live in (let alone foster a living dependant for fluffy companionship) you can hardly do the Gangnam Style dance in Seoul without jogging into a cat/dog café. But there's an animal café in the student district of Hongdae that makes them all look positively sheepish: I'm talking about Thanks Nature Café - the world's first sheep café. 

November 15, 2015



I found heaven in Seoul: all five floors of it at Dior in Apgujeong, Gangnam.

Café Dior by Pierre Hermé in the world's biggest Dior flagship store: Apgujeong, Seoul

November 12, 2015



 Seoul in 2½ Days - Days 2 and a half: 

Apgujeong, Gangnam and Hongdae


My last thirty two hours in Seoul, in photos. 


November 08, 2015



Photo diary of my first twenty four hours in Seoul. Anyeonghaseyong!

 Seoul in 2½ Days - Day 1: Dongdaemun & Myeong-Dong


I would have felt just a teeny little bit like a twat for curling up under a fluffy down blanket on my Premium Flatbed - the closest thing budget airline AirAsia has for a Business Class - while the rest of the party (except for Michiekins, her hubs, and Baby M) packed themselves like Tetris Blocks on the 6 hour red-eye from Kuala Lumpur, but, One: I made my choice, they made theirs and Two: Everyone who flew down to Seoul for Sheena's hen's night are staying on for a week or more, but I'm only here for 56 hours (I have a wedding on Sunday). Time is a premium and a luxury: and so is the option to 'fly Business Class' on a cheap-as-chips airline. Who else but I?

Either way, the upgrade paid off: thanks to a solid 6 hours sleep I've had the energy to hit the ground running from the moment we landed in South Korea at eight in the morning through shopping all afternoon in Dongdaemun and Myeong-Dong, then back again to Dongdaemun for their infamous 'dawn-to-dusk' multi-story malls (really a maze spread out over several floors, packed with rows of market-type stalls heaving with the most random clothing and accessories), and now at two in the morning I'm blogging my first Seoul photo diary - so hot off the press that you can still taste the kimchi. Which incidentally is what my hair smells of right now...

November 06, 2015



Champagne lifestyle on a lemonade budget: upgrading a budget flight to a luxury experience.

November 01, 2015

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