Book from Hotel.com and earn the cashback with Shopback

20:00 Jia Ying 1 Comments

We can't deny the convenience of  internet access which made our life easier.Online shopping is getting more common and I believe most of us at least tried to buy something through online. We enjoyed the benefits and conveniences from online shopping.

As a traveler like me, the 1st two thing I have to do once I decided the place to go is to book flight ticket and accommodation online. The good thing that you have to know is you can even save money if you use ShopBack to book the flight and accommodation on your next travel. In this post, I would like to introduce more benefits that you can have by using ShopBack.

Shopback is a Coupon and cashback site for online shopping from a whole variety of merchants — fashion, food, travel and many more!



"Cashback" is quite common rewarding concept if you owned a credit card. In ShopBack, same concept of cashback is used on your every spending on certain online stores. To get the cashback, you have to click on the store through ShopBack, to redirect to the store's website. After redirect to the store's website, just make the purchase as usual. That mean in order to get the cashback and discount, you have to go ShopBack first. What I can conclude is just visit ShopBack if you wanna do online shopping and check out whether the stores you wanna make purchase are in ShopBack list or not. If yes, Hurray!!! you get the cashback!!!  


Enjoy Hotels.com discount codes and cashback
Different store have different rates of cashback. For example, if you book the accommodation in Hotel.com, you can get 6% cashback for your booking. Not only the cashback, you can get the latest discount codes information for your booking from Shopback. No worry about spending money during your travel, as you get the cashback on your every booking of accommodation in Hotel.com.



ShopBack have collaboration with not just the stores based in Malaysia. As I browsed through all the stores available in ShopBack, I did find quite a few international and overseas websites.




So, do your shopping smart with Shopback and save money with every spending.  Get ready for their New Year promotions from ShopBack and more discount you can entitled during the festival. To enjoy all the cashback and discount, sign up for the ShopBack and Get RM5 off on your 1st purchase redirected from ShopBack. Here's the link : https://www.shopback.my/?raf=glPrvp


You may watch their video to know more about ShopBack and how it's work:
 https://youtu.be/J6OuRVAxPVg

ShopBack FB page:  https://www.facebook.com/shopback

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Visit to Christmas Wonderland 2015 @ Garden by the bay, Singapore

01:24 Jia Ying 1 Comments

If you ever celebrate Christmas in any western country, you will definitely visit their Christmas market, which is exclusive in Christmas month only. Almost every city have their own Christmas market, size can be big or small depend on the city. I still remember when I stayed in Paris 2 years ago, I went to the Christmas market in  Avenue des Champs-élysées. It's actually like Pasar malam in Malaysia, just that the thing sell is more related to the festival, plus the lighting decoration. In the market, you can eat, you can play, you can buy the gift and you enjoy the festival phenomenon with the Christmas song and deco.

So, I'm glad to know that in Singapore there is a Christmas Wonderland, which is just like the Christmas Market in western country. I went to have a visit in the early December. I can see the excitement from the locals and tourists with this new Christmas Wonderland in Garden by the bay. It's just too crowd with full of people (I went on Sunday night, still lots of people even tomorrow is a working Monday).

The magnificent luminarie light sculptures, delicately handmade by Italian skilled craftsmen is so beautiful and I really amazed with the design , which make Garden by the bay more beauty than before.





There is various stalls selling food, gift, etc. In addition, there is a merry-go-round and game stalls that you can play in Christmas Wonderland.

 There is a place for ice skating !!!!





In tropical country like Singapore, there is no winter and white Christmas. So, you will see the "fake snow" around the Christmas Wonderland. From photo it's really look like real.




The day when I visited, there is a Christmas Carol by a choir group. There are various performances and programmes coming soon .You may check their official website for the date and time.




The Supertrees at Gardens by the Bay come to life in a spectacular light and sound show. It's interesting to see the light changing on the supertrees with the Christmas songs.



Don't miss the chance to witness the beauty of the luminaire at Christmas Wonderland in Singapore and I believe no matter you celebrate Christmas or not, you will feel the festival mood. However, I have to say if you really wanna avoid crowd, you may have to come on weekday or come early . I believe there will be more crowd when it's near to Christmas, as this is the latest attraction in Singapore.


Location and How to go: http://christmaswonderland.sg/web/index.php/event-info/getting-here
Christmas Wonderland will be open until 3rd Jan 2016. Admission is free.
Official Website: http://christmaswonderland.sg/web/



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My personalised gift from Printcious.com

00:52 Jia Ying 0 Comments

Did you read my previous post about the personalised gift from Printcious.com ,  here is the link to know more about  Printcious.com :
http://mush4crazy.blogspot.my/2015/11/personalised-gifts-from-printciouscom.html

Printcious provide printing services on DIY gift items such as T-shirts, mugs, puzzles, cushions, mousepads, keychains etc


After went through their website, I decided to order a cushion with my blog name.
So, I just click on "Create" , then choose a Basic Cushion.
Various colours can be chosen , with the centre, which you can put your own design, such as photo, words, pictuures,etc...

Here is the platform that you can insert your images, adjust , adding words you would like to have, etc...
Tips:
1. You may zoom in to see your design more clearly.
2. There is a safety line which remind you on the measurement of your images/design in the cushion.
3. There are various different font you can choose if you insert words on your design.
4. Try to avoid very light colour design. It may not so obvious after printing on the cushion.
5. If you put the photo on your design, make sure it's clear with high resolution. You may edit your photo with some app before upload.

Delivery is faster than I expected. The parcel just arrived in the next day after I placed my order. In fact, I missed my 1st delivery of my parcel, and therefore request a second delivery, and in the end my parcel arrived one day later.
Well, my cushion packed tightly with a courier bag.
My cushion just as nice as I expected. It's sofy and comfortable. The cover of the cushion can be changed and it is washable.
I totally in love and proud with my design. Haha (lol)




Overall, I believe Printcious.com provide a good platform for online personalised gift and I quite satisfied with their efficient service. As festivals is around the corner, if you still wonder a good gift to your friend, you may try to design a gift and give a surprise to your friend.


More information:
Website :  www.Printcious.com
FB page : https://www.facebook.com/printcious
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Gran Fiesta Review @ Johor Bahru (CLOSED)

13:23 Jia Ying 0 Comments

Facing the Straits of Johor, just 5 minutes distance from Foon Yew High School, Gran Fiesta provides free parking lot and nice dining area in both indoor and outdoor.
The restaurant also provides adequate outdoor space for events,group gathering and drinking.
As for indoor, the decor in restaurant mainly in white, classy and comfortable .



Gran Fiesta serves every dish just like what it looks like on the menu.
First, Seafood Platter (RM99.00), which is one of the good choices to choose and share with your friends. 5 types of seafood including the squid, prawns with mash potato, scallop, salmon fish and baked cheese mussels. For me as a seafood lover, I like this platter which include all the seafood I like. The prawn taste juicy and fresh, quite perfect to match with the mash potato.The salmon is a bit dry, but taste good too if eat with their sauces provided.





Next come to the signature dish in Gran Fiesta-- Red Wine Herb Chicken (RM66). The chicken has been marinated with some chinese herb and wine , and cook in stew. The presentation of this dish is unique, with the fire burning on the whole chicken in front of the us to make the outer part more fragrance.




In a western restaurant, pizza is one of the significant dish represent the wet. The unique selling point of this restaurant with their pizza will be with the Wasabi paste. The dough are thin and crispy, with the most usual ingredient in pizza such as onion, tomato, cheese, meat , pineapple, etc. From the top of photo, Gran Fiesta's signature wasabi pizza and Chicken Hawaii




If you familiar with Spanish food, you will definitely know their national dish-- Paella. It'a a popular Spanish rice dish served on a big pan.  In Gran Fiesta, they served seafood paella, in smaller size with some local fusion. The seafood and vegetables are spread on the top of the rice. The rice is quite fragrance with the seasoning added.





Every night around 9pm,  there will be performances on the stages.



Dessert is served before the end of our dinner. Waffle in Gran Fiesta served with little chocolate sauce, plus honey, a scoop of ice cream and some fruits. The waffle is not the crispy type; it's soft and good to eat in warm.



Overall, Gran Fiesta provides a good ambiance and environment for eating and gather with friends and family. They served wide variety of alcohol, which you may drink in a more classy, quiet environment. The food they served is well deserved to the price you paid. I would not say it's cheap to eat in Gran Fiesta, but with good quality of western food, good services and good venue, the price you paid is just totally worth.  



* Price stated in this post is nett including GST and no additional service charge.

More information about Gran Fiesta:
Address: PTD 12478, Lot 5504 & 5505, Jalan Ibrahim Sultan, 80300 Johor Bahru
Opening hours: Everyday 12:00pm–01:00am
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DIY guide to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, Bangkok Thailand [UPDATED VERSION 2015]

21:31 Jia Ying 7 Comments

I went to Bangkok for a short break in June. This trip was just spontaneous.
I bought the flight tickets one month before the trip, and later start to plan the trip in 1 month.
The most important thing to do for an independent traveler before a trip will be doing research before depart.
For Bangkok, it's consider easy to discover it by yourself. Information available online are quite sufficient .It doesn't necessary to follow a tour or having a tour guide.

Floating market is one of the unique attractions in Thailand.
This floating market is one of the hardest research that I ever made.
It is hard as most of the travelers mentioned about scam pier in Floating market and how commercialize the floating market is.
To be honest, when I saw so many negative feedbacks and scams about Damnoen Saduak floating market, I'm a little bit distract from going.
I should try once, at least once to see how this floating market is packed with tourists.
I would like to go without following the tour with gang of tourists.

I found that the information provided to get in to floating market are mostly not updated.
Therefore, I decided to compile and update the information on the simple way to get in to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market independently without following the tour.



How to go??
Considering as budget fare as possible, there are 2 ways you can go,
- By Bus no.78. You have to wake up very early and make your way to the Southern Bus Terminal(or Sai Thai) . The 1st bus at 6am depart to the Damnoen Saduak. The single trip fare per person is 73 baht
- By Mini Bus ( aka van) . The mini bus depart from Victory Monument, which is nearer to city centre compare to Southern Bus Terminal. The single trip fare per person is 90 baht. Personally, I strongly recommend taking this mini van rather than the bus. The departure location is nearer to the city centre.

It's about 2 hours ride from Bangkok city centre to the floating market.

The driver will turn into a pier and let you get off. You will meet some people approach and ask you to take their boats. They will say it is impossible to walk in. Just ignore them. Why?? It's just a scam which charge you a higher price on boat going to the floating market.


Sources: http://www.diytraveltips.com/2012/07/damnoen-saduak-floating-market-bangkok.html


The truth is the distance to the heart of floating market is walkable. Now what you can do is either walk to the floating market or taking a local "yellow" bus.  Actually, it looks more like a mix between mini van and lorry. The fare for yellow bus is 10baht.

For trip back to Bangkok from floating market, you have to take this yellow bus to the main road ( You may refer to the drawing above), then later take bus no.78 to Bangkok.


Here is the entrance of floating market





and of course for first timer to floating market, I strongly recommend you to take a boat ride within the market. After some bargain, I managed to get a 45 mins boat ride for 300 baht for 3 people. I believe it's a good deal . Remember to do some bargain for all the thing you would like to buy in floating market.

I enjoyed the boat ride, saw the locals preparing and selling the food on the boat. The boat ride will stop if you wanna buy something on the way.
The boat ride is enjoyable, a bit annoying when encounter the motor boat, which disturb the silent of the market. Here I strongly recommend paddle boat instead of motor boat. Motor boat travel fast but it's just spoil the whole environment.







As floating market is one of the very famous tourist attraction, the price might go a little higher. You may buy some of the food, such as coconut ice-cream and fruit .
Besides the boat ride, it is possible to discover the floating market by walk. There are different sections of the market are connected with bridges and walkways.







Why you should DIY and go to floating market without following tour?
1. It's cost saving. If you following some tour agency, the whole jouney will cost you at least 1000baht. If you DIY, you can save up to 70% of the fares.
2. You can avoid the crowd in floating market. Normally the floating market will be crowded after 9am. If you take a boat ride in a crowd, your boat will get stuck and wasting time.
3. You have freedom!!! You can decide when to go and leave the market. You will have time to discover some hidden treasure in the floating market.
It's not as difficult as you thought to DIY a trip. Just try and you will like it.


You may read this blog about DIY to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. I found it useful and help me a lot during the trip.
http://www.diytraveltips.com/2012/07/damnoen-saduak-floating-market-bangkok.htm



All prices listed as accurate on my visit to the floating market on June 24, 2015.

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Personalised gifts from Printcious.com

01:06 Jia Ying 8 Comments

Personalised gift has become a trend nowadays as we see the growing numbers of offline/online gift customise and design services.
Your creativity can run wild while putting your idea into your personalised gift.
It's a great choice with unique meaning to your recipient. Moreover, personalised gift  is limited.
It's the effort to create the personalised gift, which make it special.

So how to choose from so many choices given in the market?
In this post, I would like to recommend this website -- Printcious.com
Printcious which stands for Printing of Your Precious Gifts, is a B2C online platform for customers to customise their DIY gifts with their very own design, picture or text.
‘Printcious.com – Precious Gifts From Your Heart’


Printcious provide printing services on DIY gift items such as T-shirts, mugs, puzzles, cushions, mousepads, keychains etc






All the products sell in the website are clearly label with price, colours option and details on product.






In their website there is quite a few creative template, which you customise yourself by changing the text. As you see the photo below, I tried to change from " you're cute" to " Crazying" with very easy steps.





Once confirm your product, you can just proceed to checkout, enter your shipping & payment details, and ready to receive your product in few days.
Printcious.com do provide 7 days free return on your unsatisfied product. Besides that, delivery fees is free if you purchase above RM75 for West Malaysia.




Gift should be usable, affordable and Printcious.com provides convenient ways for you to create a memorable gift to your specials.
Do register an account on their website and explore the hidden treasure .


More information:
Website :  www.Printcious.com
FB page : https://www.facebook.com/printcious





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360 Rotisserie Ayam Golek Review @Larkin

23:34 Jia Ying 0 Comments

No matter you are from JB or not, Larkin bus terminal is one of the important icon in JB , a place to depart to a journey or return home.
Near to Larkin bus station, there is a new restaurant--360 Rotisserie which served "The Best Grill Kampung Chicken" in the town.
This post gonna introduce you the most affordable meal you can find in Larkin. You must try if you love to eat chicken.
360 Rotisserie just located inside Dataran Larkin. It's a newly developed shoplot area in Larkin. It quite easy to find the shop once you enter Dataran Larkin area.






Next, Chicken Club Sandwich (RM12.90). The toast sandwich bread folding using chicken mayo, fried egg with vegetable and tomato.


Next, you can find Asam Fish(RM26) and Asam Squid (Sotong) (RM16) in their menu. These spicy stew dish triggered my taste bud, a good choice to eat with a bowl of rice.




Last but not least, I would recommend their smoothie. Personally, I chose strawberry smoothie(RM8.50). Not very sweet, and you can feel the sincerity in this smoothies with ingredients used such as yogurts, milk, honey, strawberry fruit and ice cream.  From left to right in photo below, strawberry smoothie, lemongrass honey mint tea and banana smoothie.




P/S: You may take away their signature grill whole chicken( RM19.00) with additional RM2.00 for take away charge.
The good news is all the price shown in this post is nett and no GST and no additional charges to your bill with your order.




More information about 360 Rotisserie Ayam Golek:
Address: No. 47 , Jalan Dataran Larkin 1, Taman Dataran Larkin, 81200 Johor Bahru, Johor
(nearby Larkin bus station)
Opening hours: 12-11pm
FB page : https://www.facebook.com/360RotisserieAyamGolek


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Food République - Restaurant, Grill & Bar Review @ Tmn Pelangi (CLOSED)

14:55 Jia Ying 0 Comments

Next , another appetizer- Fried polenta (RM10.90). What is Polenta?
Polenta, in Italian, means the boiling cornmeal into a thick, creamy texture like porridge. It's crispy coated, with polenta inside.



Come to the main course, first to recommend is this Beef Bacon Carbonara Pasta. The carbonara sauce is thick and creamy, with beef bacon on the top of pasta. It's must served and eat warm, to retain the match between the sauce and pasta.



For those who don't like beef, there is Pan-fried Milked Fish (RM25.90), using fresh Butterfish coated with thin batter, pan fried until golden brown. Beside the fish, there is some vegetable and garlic mashpotato. Personally I like the mashpotato, which is unique in texture and taste.



Next, come to the signature Texas Honey Glazed Beef Burger (RM24.90). The texas honey glazed sauce is homemade by the chef, a blend between sweet and salty. In fact, as I saw the menu, there are quite a few cuisine use this sauce, such as the burger, steak, ribs... etc.  With this price, the size of the burger is big comparable to American style burger, with lots of ingredients inside, not just the meat and bacon. I like this kind of burger a lot. Besides the burger, there is corn and chips as side dish. It's also good taste to dip your chip with their Texas Honey Glazed sauce.



Next , come to new dish by chef -- Beef rib with Texas Honey glazed sauce. It's still not on the menu yet. As you see from the presentation, the chef has applied the sauce by layer and grill. Look shinny on appearance because of the sauce and not overcook. The meat texture is tender and not tough.


Last but not least, one of the dessert in the restaurant-- Double Choc. Brownies and Ice Cream (RM 11.90). The brownies not too sweet, with the fullness of chocolate fragrance and the Ice cream as a match.


As the trend of restaurant not just serving the good food, the theme based restaurant become more attractive to the youngster and the enthusiast toward special interest. The owner of the Food République has displayed some of the well known movie props used by the actor. Some is even the rare collection and highly valuable as it's really used in the movie.Besides the props, there are some model, mask and poster of certain movie.



The most well known of newspaper used in "Harry Potter" movie. Besides the newspaper, there is a flying broom hanging at the corner of the restaurant.



This model is almost same height like me. It's a good spot to take a photo with the model.



Overall, I like the western cuisine served, which make me remind the time when I studied in Europe, especially the Bruschetta, which I always ate during the party in University and the carbonara pasta, which is one of the dish served in the full set of dinner in Italy. Not very big portion, but feel the fullness as the cream is thick.
I would recommend to order 1 main course per person and share the appetizers and desserts with your friends.


More information about Food République
Address : 72, Jalan Kuning, Taman Pelangi, 80400 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Phone:+60 7-331 1718
Opening time: Everyday except Wednesday
                        12-4pm, 6pm-10pm

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