Yes / No - fashion cum cafe

The outlook

Simple menu book

The bar corner

Last weekend, after the tiring day-out spent at Kebun Raya Bogor, we headed to SMS at Serpong. We had an appointment with a friend and while we were looking for some quite place to sit and talk, we found this lovely spot. At the first glance thru the clear glass separator, I thought it was a fashion shop since lines of clothes in various style and model were hang neatly. However, we read (the glass was decorated with fancy handwriting) that it was indeed a nice blend between fashion shop and a cafe. We stepped into the shop-cum-cafe and we kinda liked what we saw.

 The hanging chair

 

 One corner

 

the wall's decorator

 



Quickly settled ourselves into a corner near the entrance, we read the menu (2pages of menu which made us confused on what to order). The cafe provides a number of beverages in either hot or cold, snack bites, and some selection of food (mostly pasta though). Pity, they didn't have any cake nor pastry (I always crave for cake or two, to accompany my tea otherwise I would have given a higher rate for the cafe).

 Some goodies for sale

 

 Sorry, it was kinda blur...I asked my girl to take the pic

Knick knack for you to choose



While we waited for our order...we browsed thru the shop. The whole wall was in black with high ceiling, some part were covered with brick. They covered all walls with either framed wording or chalk-look-alike-stokes. Awesome...I really liked it a lot. On the corner where we sit, they put lots of small knick-knack for sale. Most of it would be a lovely gift for birthday or any other occassion' present. On the other side of the entrance, there was sort of public phone booth (in white and red like the ones we see on the western movie) which...to my surprise...was made for the fitting room. At first, I wondered on why they put that phone booth there and thought it was some kind of ornament for the shop. At the far back, they put the clothes on display and some goodies here and there, adding a missmatch touch but in a nice looking way. A cluster of chairs occupied the middle of the room, from low couch to hanging chair, love seat to rocking chair, wooden to garden chair as well. It was really nice setting with relaxed atmosphere...BUT...some of the table apparently were rocking tables too. We tried 3 tables there...all weren't stable...we gotta hold the table strongly otherwise our drinks would be spilled out during our animated talk. I didn't know whether it was by design or anything but imho it was just unconvenient to have a rocking table, especially if you are eating some meals. But...if you could put aside the table issue, it was a great place to chitchat...especially when we could use their free wifi :-)

The fitting room

 

 

PS. I didn't know how this post will turn out once I publish it. This is the first time I write my blog using my brand new Samsung Ativ touch screen with Windows 8 and it was quite difficult for me to write a caption on each picture. I just hope it will turn out okay   :-)

 



Vie Hotel - Bangkok

The hotel facade from BTS station bridge

Rooftop pool on annex building

The slump but safe neighbourhood

Another Accor-M Gallery hotel that we tried is Vie Hotel, a new minimalist one. Right in front of the Rachathewie BTS station. Apparently, since it was still new, most of taxi drivers didn't know it. In this case, just tell them about Asia Hotel (old grande hotel) which is located across Vie. Vie itself is only 2stops from Muse (Chit Lom station) but we went there using taxi (B60). Vie blends its simplicity into the shabby neighbourhood, making it stand out more. There was an abandoned space with rubble on its far left which attracted local and tourists with its unusual grafitty. Funky bars and Thai seafood restaurants can be found on the right side. While 7eleven is located across the street. Despite the surrounding, Vie was very strategic for shoppers, only 1 stop to Siam (where you can buy the branded items) and Pratunam area (heaven for fashionista which will not make you dig deeper into your pockets). If you prefer to walk, Siam and pratunam can be reached from Vie in less than 15mins (B40 using tuktuk instead of B15 per pax using BTS)

I loved how they put simple beauty thing

The cozy lounge

Durex? *speachless*

Thru its simple and minimalist concept, Vie still gave off the hip and chic ambiance. Cozy plush sofas in various colours were very inviting for us to have our welcome beverages in the lounge. Pretty chandeliers sparkled brightly above the low coffee table and numbers of small pillow. So comfy...especially with free unpassworded wifi available (I could post pic immediately уααу!└(^o^)┘ \^o^/ └(^o^)┘уααу! ). We got another 14th floor room, and again, the first thing that was checked by my girls was the bathroom. My girls were excited seeing the big square tub inside it (I couldn't resist myself for soaking directly ‎​Ħǎː̗(^▽^)ː̖Ħǎː̗(^▽^)ː̖Ħǎ). The room was quite big (though a bit smaller than Muse) but it felt spacious. Perhaps it was due to their minimalist interior design, with the basic furniture only (I was glad...no fragile items inside the room that I need to remove уααу!└(^o^)┘ \^o^/ └(^o^)┘уααу! ). 2beds were in the middle with a side long couch next to the window. My hubby directly claimed that couch for his sleeping quarter (despite the beds were enough for 4 of us). Small flat screen tv was available, together with the mini bar (with durex being provided LOL), iron and its table, hair drier, coffe/tea maker and sdb. The bathroom was big, bigger than Muse, with glass door separating the toilet and shower. Aigner toiletries and Vie's amenities were laid out beside the wash basin. Beside the normal room slippers, they also provide rattan-made-slippers for your use (which can be purchased if you would like to bring it home as a souvenir).

Big double beds

The simple yet spacious bathroom

The toiletries

Bigger gym with extended set of fitness machines was available, next to the wellness spa. The spa offers various kind of massage, but the speciality was the deep sleep spa. While the swimming pool is located rooftop on the smaller building adjoining the main building. A modern wooden bridge was connecting these buildings. The pool was bigger than Muse with a small area for kids. So again, my girls could have their fun swimming while I was waiting under the shaded sundeck. Here at Vie, there are xxx resto and bar.

Comfy beds and pillows...bigger bathtub...we totally in one voice, we liked this one better :-)

Bridge to the annex building

Lazying on the sundeck

The gym corner

Floating Market Lembang - Bandung

Welcome to Floating Market Lembang

The right area from the lobby building

The sitting area

The panoramic view

Finally...after longing for few months to visit this place, we were there last weekend. I heard of this from my friend who went there during their opening in Dec last year (yeah...that long). Since then, I had intended to go there but our Bandung trips were cancelled few times due to various reasons, and while we went to Bandung on several occassions, we rerouted our trip elsewhere. So I personally put this place as our foremost destination for spending our last weekend.

Sitting on the stools

Some rides on playground

The bungalow

Though we intended to go there as early as possible and get our lunch there (sincce we stayed quite far from Lembang)...however we were delayed for few hours since my hubby was enganged with his skype. So we had our lunch at Tomodachi instead and when we reached the Floating Market, the parkir lot were full already and there were crowds inside the place. It was easy to find, just follow the Lembang road, but turned to right (after Lembang market) to Takashimaya Hotel. The location was right before Takashimaya hotel (turn to left), with large signage on it. It was difficult to find a place to sit, even the rock stools place along the lakefront (I recommend you to arrive around 11 to book your gazebo). Entrance fee was IDR 10k per person plus another IDR 5k for car parking. The entrance ticket included a cup of beverage of your choices (selected options) for free.

Inside the rabbit farm

 Dusty and rocky parking lot brought us to a wooden building served as lobby. Here, there were row of automated coffee/milo machines available for the free beverage exchange. Across of it, there were a ticketing booth where you could purchase any ticket offered within the premises as well as a reception area in case you are interested with the lodging offers. In case you would like to sightseeing first prior buying any ticket, no worry...since there were several small ticketing booth inside the premises as well.

Pretty boat house

Line of boat house

The crowd in the market

The currency token

Getting ready for some boat ride

Once we stepped outside the lobby building, we were welcomed by broken decayed small boat as the background for your photo taking. With vast panoramic lake view as the backdrop, any picture you take here will be astounding for sure...regardless your photographic skill nor your gadget *grinning. I glanced from side to side, noting the wooden houses circling the big lake. Small scattered islands were isolated on the lake (wondering whether it was natural islands or man-made ones) with papyrus and any other water-plants beautified it. One island housed several small building with foreign touch (reminded me of building in Choco Ville). Many boats and canoes were dotting the lake here and there in a leisure drift. We decided to stroll from our left, seeing the wooden houses served as resto or several merchandise booth. On the corner, there was cluster of bungalows and gazebos for your use (too bad...all were taken already (╥﹏╥) нιкѕѕѕ...(๑•́ ₃ •̀๑) ). In the middle of the wooden houses and gazebos, we saw some unusual place, called The Rock. It was sorta Japanese Zen garden featured simplicity in the design. Few wooden benchs and wooden popart displayed being soften by row of pines trees with small rocky pond. Shells and minutes plants were covering the rock...totally awesome. At the back, there was unfinished vacant Sundanese wooden house, added the solemnity to the atmosphere. And you gotta pay for IDR 10k per person for entrance ticket, which includes a mini Magnum ice stick ...sweet :-)

Unique aquarium shape

The toilets

Some sourvenir shops

We continued our walk to across of the lobby building and here, 2 rows of small-house-boats were lining properly shaping the L corner. This small-house-boats were the main focus of the whole place...its own floating market. I started to browse along the first row...noting that there were candies and sweets, desserts and snacks, traditional meals, beverages, and many more. I even noticed one boat which sold tiny snails in some sauce (but honestly speaking, it didn't look appetizing to me). There were rows of chairs and tables for you to sit and enjoy your meal, from cut-down-tree-trunks-chairs to the normal wooden chairs. There was small bird cage in the middle with some fancy coloured birds inside...pretty cute. Here, at the floating market, they only accept their own currency...so you gotta exchange your money with their currency token. Be kindly informed that token can't be refunded afterward...so my suggestion...exchange some and if it isn't enough, you can always exchange some more :-) Token can be used to purchase any ride ticket as well. And if you don't bring cash, no worry...there was mobile ATM in the corner...presented by BCA.

Inside the Rock garden

On the farthest corner, there were lines of boat for rental, like paddling boat, cano, bicycle boat, and small boat. The fee was started from IDR 15k per ticket up to IDR 30k depending on your choice. Life jackets were provided and in case you need help in paddling the boat, the staff will paddle for you (though I didn't inquire whether there was any extra charge for this). On the another part, there was playground, from ATV track, fishing pond, feeding the swans, rabbit farm, and many more, with ticket started from IDR 15k. There was boat-shuttle-service as well with as low as IDR 1k per person. This shuttle boat will transport you from the 'pier' in front of lobby to across the lake and vice versa. With these many facilities and attractions, it was no wonder that floating market has been one of the must-visit-place in Bandung.

The Mortal Instrument - City of Bones - the movie

Image taken from www.imdb.com

Finally...last night we managed to catch upon the The Mortal Instruments - City of Bones. We got a glimpse of this movie trailer when we had our share of Elysium and my hubby said...we gotta watch this one. As I was aware, this movie was an adaptation from the fiction (with the same title), however I haven't read any of the series. Well...there are hundreds of books with similar plot (either vampire, warlock, or any mystical creatures...apparently they are on demand nowadays)...so at that time, I wasn't interested much with it. But now, I am eager to wait for the shopping mall to open and rush to get my copy :-)

City of Bones retold a story of shadowhunter (half angel - half human), a legacy left behind by angel to protect human from demons. The story focused on the cup (ehm...I wonder why cup is often told to possess certain magnifying attribute...is it the same cup with the holy grail?) which was lost or hidden by Jocelyn (Clary' mom). As the descendant of shadowhunter, Jodie asked the high-level warlock, Magnus Bane, to block Clary's power as well as her memory that had any relation with shadowhunter. Until a day, when the blocking spell worn off little by little, Clary could see Jace, a shadowhunter which was invinsible to others, killing a demon.

Suddenly Clary's life changed drastically. Her mom was missing, what she believed was a lie...what she thought mystic was so true. Then she, Jace and Simon (her best friend) were set to find the cup, save her mom and discover the horrible truth of all of this.

From the trailer, I didn't expect the movie would be this scary and violent (yes...lots of people or demons in disguise got kicked viciously). I flinched a lot during the fighting scenes...too brutal for my taste though I knew it was just an action. Blurred fighting or running scenes with rapid switching from one scene to another brought a headache to me...especially seeing it on an Imax screen. However I loved the effect, like when the vicious dog suddenly turned into a demon...that was an awesome transformation. When the after-torched-remaining-demon were transformed again...that was gross (well...it was supposed to be that way though). I also liked the scene when Clary put all demons to stop/freeze with her unknown spell. Well, there were still lots of amazing effect on this movie...but I would let you watch it by yourself.

See you at the downworld :-)