Travelogue: Mt. Rinjani (Transit x Sembalun Crater Rim)

"Nature, in the purest sense, is where both serenity and wilderness coexist in harmony. When we visit it, we feel both peaceful and uneasy all at once."

Still feeling the "Post-Rinjani Withdrawal Syndrome" even after being back in SG for a few days now. Miss everything about Rinjani, other than the torturous climb and aching muscles.

Well, here's my recount of the trip for future viewing!

Decided to go on this NTU ODAC public trip as my 7rek mates were signing up for it and they asked me along. Rinjani was on my list since last year after we completed our 7rek Indo recce (Read more about the previous trip here). And since the trip leaders are people I know too, so why not? 

This was a 5D4N trip with 1 day of transit from SG to Lomobok and resting one night before the start of our trek. However, it soon became a 5D5N trip... Read on to find out why.

Anyway, we went with Green Rinjani and yes their service was really good! From the accommodation before the trek to the food and tents provided during the trek, they were all excellent! We had 6 guides and approximately 25 porters for the 28 of us. The guides were extremely friendly and patient with us, accommodating to our needs and all. Really thankful to have them during our trek! 

I was all excited yet nervous all at the same time while preparing for the trip, not knowing what to expect. 

Day 1 (SG x Bali x Lombok):

Our day began at 6am at Changi Airport T2. Gathered for check-in and prepared for our flight to Bali. Flew by Tiger Air from SG to Bali, which took approximately 2.5hrs. 

First stop: Bali International/Domestic Airport. Made our way from the international arrival hall to the domestic departure hall, with plenty of time to kill. So we went around looking for lunch before checking-in for our domestic flight to Lombok.

View from domestic departure hall

 If you look closely, you can actually see the blue seas behind the runway.

 Second experience on a propeller plane

So our domestic flight was by Wings Air and it was a propeller plane! There wasn't much ventilation in the plane before take-off cause the air conditioning wasn't turned on. It felt like we were in a sauna x.x Thank goodness it was only a 30min flight.

Felt like ages before the plane finally took off.

 Bird's eye view of Bali

Travelogue: Bangkok (BKK)

Spent the new year in BKK shopping! Went there from 31 Dec 2014 to 3 Jan 2015 for a family vacation. Didn't really get to go most of the places I wanted to visit (like the sunflower field in Lop Buri and the Alpaca farm) or tried the food people recommended though. Worst of all, I feel like I haven't shopped enough ): I guess one can never have enough of shopping...

We probably went at the wrong date too cause on the 31, stores closed earlier than usual and some remained closed throughout the first 2 days of the new year... Tough luck. So a note to anyone who's planning to celebrate the new year in BKK, go for sightseeing on the first few days of the new year before doing shopping. By 2 Jan, most shops should be opened. Anyhow, still enjoyed my short getaway with my family, shopping till my back and feet hurt.

Booked our flight during the SQ 2-to-go promotion 1-2 months before. The timings for the flight were great as it was a morning flight there and a night flight back. Which meant that we got to spend 4 whole days in BKK. It was quite a last minute decision by my mum, but what's new? The past few family vacations we had were mostly impromptu too. Haha.

After booking the air tickets, I researched on the hotels near Pratunum area and we decided on Centara Watergate Pavillion Hotel, as recommended by my aunt who stayed there previously on her trip to BKK. The hotel was quite pricey, considering we could get a cheaper price for a 5 star hotel nearby but we went with that recommendation anyway.

So off to BKK we go!



Day 1: Arrival in BKK, Siam Paragon (After You Cafe), Central World

Hello BKK!

After clearing immigration, we went out to get the 3G SIM card. They have different service providers (AIS, DTAC) which charges the same rate (299 baht) for 7 days unlimited 3G internet and 100 baht talk time. We went with AIS and got it settled within minutes.

We took the airport city rail to Ratchaprarop Station which took around 30 min and cost 40 baht per pax. It was cheaper than taking taxi which would cost around 300 baht and since we only had 2 luggage, it wasn't that much of a hassle. Our hotel was about 2 or 3 streets away from the station and it was easy to locate the hotel.

Even though it was only 10:30am when we reached, the receptionist checked us in immediately. Rested in the room for awhile before heading out to get lunch.

First stop, Siam Paragon. Walking from our hotel to Siam took about 15-20min.

Headed straight to the food area to look for lunch. Saw the "After You" Cafe that everyone has been raving about and without hesitation I told my mum that I'm gonna have that for lunch. Haha. So we ordered 1 Shibuya Honey Toast ($175 baht) to share. I'm gonna admit, their cafes aren't exactly cheaper than those in SG (or rather even pricier) but since everyone raves about it, I had to give it a try.

I do love it! It's similar to having hot and crispy waffles with ice cream! Heavenly taste. However, it was ultra sinful. The toast is covered with butter, but I guess that is what makes this toast so yummy!

After the dessert, we headed to the food court to get more food. In BKK, the food you get from the food court tastes as great as those in the restaurants! I love their Phad Thai! Non-spicy food for a person like me who cannot take spicy food hehe.

We walked around the ground floor and found this other dessert store which sells eclairs and this really cute chocolate "toast bread"!

Walked around in Siam Paragon for awhile but since all the shops there are mostly international brand or branded goods, we decided to go to Siam Square for more budget shopping.

However upon reaching there, most of the shops were closed cause it was New Year eve... What a bummer. I didn't expect that as I read online reviews saying that BKK shopping is open 365 days a year. They weren't exactly wrong since the shopping malls do open all year round, but not the individual shops along the streets.

So we moved on to our next shopping destination, Central World. Walked about 10min from Siam Paragon via the "overhead bridge" or connecting walkway to Central World.

This was another huge shopping mall with many international brand such as H&M and Topshop. Yet another mall where there's no opportunity for budget shopping, so we mostly window shopped.

They have this Snoopy themed decoration all over the shopping mall which was really cute!

Directly opposite Central World, there is the Big C Supermarket. We went there to see what goodies and snacks we can buy back to SG. Bought cup noodles and chips for late night snack in the hotel and headed back to the hotel for a short rest before heading out for dinner.

The view from 20th floor of Centara Watergate Pavillion Hotel. They had a new year's eve dinner which costs about 200 SGD per pax.

Streets of BKK. On the left is Pratunam Market and on the right is our hotel.

Had dinner at Black Canyon Cafe but I wasn't satisfied. Hence after shopping around the "night markets" along the streets, we went to Tom N Toms Coffee for supper. Without hesitation, we ordered 2 tortilla pizza.

I first had it when we were at Busan last year. I love it to bits that I had 2 servings in one meal. And now since I chanced upon it in BKK, I felt like I could eat this every meal (and I ended up having at least once every day throughout the entire 4 days I was there).

After supper, headed back to the hotel as the streets were getting crowded since everyone was heading towards Central World for the countdown party.

We wanted to have an early night since we were waking up at 5am the next morning for Pratunam market. But the noise from the countdown party everywhere was making it impossible to sleep. So when it was midnight, we manage to catch some of the fireworks display from our hotel room.

Happy New Year!

Product Review: Essential Haircare Range

Time for another product review. Previously I've done a review on Essential Sleeping Hair Mask (you can read about it here) and today I'm going to be reviewing on their relaunched haircare products!

Received these products from SampleStore.com a few days ago!

Essential haircare range has relaunched with new, improved formula and technology!
Now, Essential is available in 4 variants to suit all hair needs and types:

• Nourishing Breakage Defense (orange) – for weak & damaged hair
• Moisturizing Frizz Free (pink) – for dull & rough hair
• Light Finish Volumizing (yellow) – for flat and limp hair
• Deep Cleansing Care (blue) – for oily scalp & dry ends (new)

Out of these 4 variants, the yellow and blue variants have technology that caters to people with combination hair – oily scalp/roots yet dry ends.

The concept of ‘combination hair’ is similar to that of ‘combination skin’, where hair condition 

from the same person is not uniform from root to tip. People with combination hair usually 

have oily roots and dry ends. 

People with combination hair currently do not have one haircare product which they can use 

to solve both problems of oily roots and dry ends. Using a rich moisturizing product to care for 

their dry ends usually ends up having too much product buildup on their scalp, resulting in a 

heavy, oily scalp. Using a light, clarifying product to care for their oily scalp will then cause 

their ends to be even drier. 

As a result, people with combination hair will either have only one out of the two problems 

solved, or they have to rotate between using a rich moisturizing product and a light clarifying 

product to achieve a balance.

However, New Essential Light Finish Volumizing (yellow) and Deep Cleansing Care (blue) variants have the optimum combination of Smart Cuticle Care & Sebum Cleansing Technology to target 

both problems of roots and hair ends! 

So firstly how do you choose the correct variant for your hair type?

Ask yourself the two questions and choose from the matrix below:

1. Do you have oily hair roots/scalp?

2. Do you have dry/damaged hair ends?

Deep Cleansing Care (blue) variant has the lightest formula and is suitable for people with very oily roots, followed by Light Finish Volumizing (yellow) variant.

People with very dry/damaged hair should use the richest formula Nourishing Breakage Defense (orange) variant for treatment and mask while the rest can use the Moisturizing Frizz Free (pink) variant which is comparatively lighter.

For me, I have oily hair roots and my hair ends are a little damaged due to the heating hair tools I use occasionally. Hence I would choose the Deep cleansing care (blue) variant for shampoo and conditioner together with the Moisturizing Frizz Free (pink) variant for treatment tube & hair mask.

Treatment Tube
Improved treatment now works its magic on your hair in 30 seconds! The result – deeply moisturized and manageable hair. Perfect for busy days.

Hair Mask
For more intensive treatment to treat those dry/damaged ends, leaving hair softer,
smoother and more manageable.

Do note that you should apply treatment/mask to hair ends only and NOT on your scalp.

So after trying out the shampoo and conditioner, my hair feels really smooth when I finger comb through it whether wet or dry. My hair does not get tangled up too and drying of hair is surprisingly faster too! Oh and did I mention, I love the smell of the shampoo and conditioner!

Apart from the smoothness of my hair ends, my scalp felt less oily at the end of the day after using the shampoo.

And for the hair mask/treatment tube, it worked like a charm! Even after a whole day out, my hair was visibly less fizzy!

The hair mask is to be used twice a week. So on days which I don't use the hair mask, I replace it with the treatment tube and the conditioner alternately.

Hence if you have combination hair, do try out Essential haircare range! Redeem free samples at http://on.fb.me/1pkXmPr.

Also, like Essential on Facebook (www.fb.com/Essential.SG) and follow Essential on Instagram @essentialsingapore (:

Pumpfest XVIII Subcommittee Trip: Berkelah Falls

Photo credits to Sean

Berkelah Falls: The place where I did my first ever trekking trip with 7rek comm exactly a year ago. This year, I'm back there again for another subcommittee trip. But this time, it's with Pumpfest XVIII ! Once again as a subcommittee member but with a whole different committee and seniors. I was pretty excited to be back at Berkelah once more even though in the beginning, I thought it would have been better if we went for a more chill trek. Turned out to be a good decision to go Berkelah in the end! Thankful for all the seniors who came along and helped us along the way.

Crossed customs on Friday night after dinner & grocery shopping at Sheng Siong Supermarket near Woodlands custom. Took a midnight coach from JB Sentral to Kuantan. Tried to sleep on the way but as usual, it was impossible for me to fall asleep on the bus.

Went to some Prata house for breakfast before taking cab to the entrance of Berkelah Falls.

We had walk about 5-10min and crossed a shallow stream before reaching the "official entrance" of Berkelah Falls.

The weather was blazing hot, which was good I guess, since if it rained it would be rather dangerous to be trekking there because of the slippery rocks.

Berkelah is a relatively dry trek which doesn't have any river crossing even though it is a waterfall trek. The only part you'll have to get in contact with water is in the beginning where you have to cross a small stream. But other than that, the rest of the trek is dry. I personally dislike waterfall treks because my feet has to be soaked in water for the whole trek. But oh well, waterfall treks are good for hot and sultry weathers like in the summer. You get to cool your body down in the water.

Travelogue: Korea Day 3 - Haedong Yonggung Temple x Gwangalli Beach

For the past 2 days I was in Korea, we've been buying breakfast/snacks from Paris Baguette and so far, this has to be my favourite: Sweet Potato Steam Cake! Exclusively available only in Korea I think. It's really good! I can eat this all day longgggg... So I had this for breakfast almost everyday hehehe.

So after breakfast, we took the subway to Haeundae Station and got out at exit 7. Walk to the nearest bus stop and take bus 181. It takes about 20-25min to reach Haedong Yonggung Temple.

Look out for this sign at the right side of the bus and get down.

You'll have to walk up this slope to reach the entrance of the temple.

At the entrance of the temple you'll see stores selling souvenirs and F&B. Walk pass these stores to get to the temple.

Travelogue: Korea Day 2 - Taejongdae Resort Park x Gamcheon Cultural Village

Finally decided to continue with my Korea travelogue after weeks of procrastinating!

For day 2 in Busan, after breakfast, we took the subway to Nampo station and took exit 6. Make a right turn and you'll see a bus stop. From there, take bus 8 or 30 to Taejongdae Park and get down at the last stop. Just in case, do have the name of the places you wanna go in Korean on hand and show it to the bus driver when boarding to confirm that the bus goes to those places and most of the time the bus driver will tell you when to get down! (:

After approximately 30 min of bus ride, we reach the bus terminal and you'll see this cafe on the side of the road where the bus stops.

Continue walking down the path, and at the end of it is Taejongdae Park.

Travelogue: Busan hotel stay - Hanwha Resort Haeundae Tivoli

For our 4 day 3 night stay in Busan, we stayed at Hanwha Resort Haeundae Tivoli. My uncle booked this hotel through Agoda for about SGD $200/night for a family one bedroom which can accommodate up to 5 pax per room. It was the cheapest hotel available then since the booking was done almost last minute.

This hotel is about a 10-15 minute walk from Dongbaek Subway Station. Travellers with large/heavy luggage might find it a little troublesome walking along the pavement towards the hotel as some parts are not well-maintained.

How to get there from Busan Station:

1. Take the Busan Subway from Busan Station to Dongbaek Station and get out from exit 1. The journey took about 45 min - 1 hour, with a transfer from line 1 to line 2 at Seomyeon Staiton. (We took this option because of large luggages.)

This is the street you would see upon getting out from exit one.

2. Take express bus 1003 from the bus stop outside of Busan Station and get down at HomePlus. (Takes approx 43min according to Googlemap) From HomePlus, you would have to walk another 7-10min to reach the hotel.