Hong Kong (Jan 31 – Feb 6)

upper house, Swire, Hotel, Hong Kong

 

I always celebrate my birthday in a memorable way, be it a circus-themed party (complete with popcorn and cotton candy) or a Vancouver Aquarium dance party and dessert bar. The past few years, I have opted on travel adventures; last year was Loreto, Mexico and this year, I chose Hong Kong.

So after a lengthy 13 hour direct flight and 3 movies (Suicide Squad, Miss. Peregrines home for the peculiar and The girl on the train) I caught the Airport Express into the city and landed at my first stop, The Pottinger. With a central location, I can see why it was voted Asia’s Best City Boutique Hotel in 2014 by the World Boutique Hotels and one of Forbes Travel Guide Recommended Hotels for 2017.

Adjacent to the historic Pottinger Street, I spent a few afternoons checking out the vendors wares. They basically sold everything under the sun. I found the intimate 68-room hotel a tranquil oasis of bespoke décor with a touch of Asian flair. The beautiful pastel pink bird headboard and the blue/grey wallpaper at one of the hotel’s restaurants – Gradini Ristorante E Bar Italiano were my favourites. I loved the lobby’s sitting area decorated in full for Chinese New Year.

I love hotel welcome fruit. Welcome anything is great in my books, but after a long flight – being completely disorientated to space and time I gratefully inhaled the dragon fruit left for me.  I appreciated the huge vanity, as I was able to spread out my toiletries for days! Another shout out for strong water pressure in the shower. Although I never got around to it – the soaker tub looked amazing.

When I travelled to the Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) side via the Star Ferry, I noticed there was more of the bamboo scaffolding. Although I didn’t spend much time there, the streets seemed completely crowded and there was a difference in atmosphere noted.

After three nights at the Pottinger, I stayed at the Island Shangri-La for my remaining two nights. The Island Shangri-La is situated atop Pacific Place, a high-end fashion mecca in Central’s financial district of Hong Kong Island. I got trapped looking for an ATM and passed all the wonderful stores (on my last day – I quickly did a window shop).

The entire hotel is lavish and grand with amazing panoramic views of Victoria Harbor. I managed to get to The Peak on Sunday afternoon and was slightly disappointed that my view from my room was so much better! I could have stayed in and enjoyed more of the treats (tea, chocolates, sour plum candies) – but by the time I had checked out everything was gone 😉

For some reason, I wasn’t ready for how much I would be eating and drinking. Kennedy Town Catchick Street neighbors, Catch and Mamma Malouf were yummy. I feel like there is a Catch everywhere (NY, HK and now LA – I went there in March!).

ON Dining Kitchen and Lounge, Onegroni version #2 concoction is rested in a 4L original Giancarlo Mancino clay pot for at least one week before being batched in bottles, thus heightening their flavour. It was SO good.

The Japanese izakaya, Yardbird, takes no reservations and has limited quantities of menu items, thereby creating a warranted demand. It’s all about chicken here, and different cuts are grilled over traditional Binchotan charcoal. Yardbird is so popular, they now had a pop up  with the beautiful hotel, The Upper House. At Café Gray Deluxe (Upper House’s 49th floor restaurant), upon recommendation I had the famous Earl Gray Martini.

I know that Hong Kong is a shopper’s paradise – but rather than spend money on some luxury good. I came home with some athleisure clothes from Caleum Green and this bright green embroidered sweater that replaced this Gucci 6K sweater that I lusted after for the longest time.

I luckily and two wonderful massages on my trip – one at the Skin Gym, on Wyndham Street. My full body massage ironed out all my airplane kinks and left me in a peaceful slumber.The second was at the (Forbes Travel Guide 2017) beautiful Oriental Spa at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental.

A great intro trip to Hong Kong, with a few surprises along the way.

ELENA:)

From Farm to Face

 

Here is a piece that ran in four different spots about beauty products with sustainable ingredients: BELLA LA, RESIDENT Magazine, Tease Tea.com and co-authored on Huffington Post Canada Lifestyle.

ELENA:)

Bali (Sept 11-Sept 21)

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Where do I begin? This was literally a last minute (two week turnover from decision to flight) to depart to Bali. My cousin had invited me to go back in July when I went to SF. In Aug, I made I quick trip to NY and when I came back the opportunity re-presented itself and I decided to take it.

You would think that 2 weeks before a trip 15 hours away would be at a huge cost. In fact, it was half price thanks to China Southern Airlines. So on Sept 11 I left Vancouver on a 19-hour trip and finally on Tuesday Sept 13 at 2am I arrived in Denpasar, Bali.

A quick 25 min taxi ride to my hotel, Tijili Seminyak. 15 years ago, I had stayed in Kuta but now Seminyak was the place to be. A 5 min walk to the beach, Tijili Seminyak is a colourful and well-designed hotel not even a year old. The breakfasts were yummy and I wish the sun came out while I was there so I could have taken full advantage of the pool.

I stayed at the Tijili for two nights while I roamed around and finally got my bearings. I managed to kick off the trip with a spa treatment at the Praya Spa where I had the Bali Mystique treatment. It included a footbath, full body scrub, full body massage, warm yogurt masque and then rose and frangipani bath. It was the perfect activity to kick off the trip. After making my way back to the hotel, I thought I was only going to take a quick nap – but ended up sleeping the majority of the night.

The next day I headed north to Ubud where I met up with a coworkers brother at his shop (Jamusara) and checked out some local fare before I had a short Flytographer photo shoot amongst the traditional Balinese temples. The Ubud market had some great finds and I knew I would have to be back later in the trip to pick up some finds.

The one thing I forgot in 15 years was how long it takes to get from A-B (almost everything takes 1-1.5 hours) due to traffic.

Thursday-Saturday was spent in Nusa Dua, which is an area on the eastern side of the island filled with resorts. The Ayodya served as the home base as we did some touristy visits on Thursday (Kintamani volcano, a coffee plantation, a traditional Barong and Kris dance).

Friday’s visit to the northern Bali, Munduk Moding Plantation was my favorite visit though. The 6-hectare plantation was beautiful and I learned a lot about the species grown: coffee, flowers, spices and fruits. Fun fact: you can actually stay at the plantation in a suite/villa and they also have an onsite spa. I would definitely recommend the informative visit and if you can, stay a night or two.

The wedding I attended was on Saturday and the reception was in a beautiful coconut grove. Sunday, we headed over to the neighboring island of Lombok. I was really excited to stay at the Puri Mas Boutique resort and spa and it definitely did not disappoint.

My beautiful Jacuzzi villa was massive complete with a four post bed, soaker tub and cathedral ceilings. I loved that although it was a villa – the bedroom was enclosed allowing the A/C to work affectivity. Also, I would have freaked out if I were night bait for mosquitos.

On our first day we took it to the seas as we explored the Gili Islands. The Gili Islands are a group of 3 tiny islands – Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air. I got over my fear of snorkeling (thanks to my cousins lessons) and saw huge schools of fish in vibrant colours. Lunch was BBQ on the beach, which was the end to a great day.

The following day after breakfast I was able to grab a last minute massage and coconut hair treatment at the spa at the Puri Mas Boutique Hotel before I left for the airport. 24 hours later and I was back in lovely Vancouver.

ELENA:)

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