Koh Charming

Published in The Peak Malaysia, July 2012 (Click on images to read the article).

Poolside Panorama

Published in The Peak Malaysia, May 2012 (Click on images to read the article).

Koh Samui Thailand

Our recent trip to Koh Samui Thailand was the perfect weekend getaway. A short direct flight from KL via Firefly Subang to Koh Samui we discovered magnificent luxury hotel resorts for the ultimate chillaxing pampering vacation.

HANSAR SAMUI RESORT:

Hansar Koh Samui is Situated just 10 minutes from the Island’s International airport, Hansar Samui is located on the tropical stretch of golden sands and turquoise waters of Koh Samui’s up-market Bophut Bay, which offers a front seat to island life.  A leisurely stroll down the quaint cobblestone ‘walking street’ adjacent to the resort, is the vibrant Fisherman’s Village, with its antique wooden shop fronts, chic cafes and atmospheric seaside bars. Hansar Samui offers luxurious, beachfront, spacious accommodation with unobstructed sea views from every room, and supersize private balconies and oversize daybeds for outdoor living and chillaxing.

FOUR SEASONS KOH SAMUI: 

As you know with all Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, this one in Koh Samui is no less than sumptuous and luxuriously relaxing. Located 30 minutes away from the airport. One of the most romantic getaways.

SIX SENSES SAMUI: 

The luxuriously appointed Six Senses Samui is set around a gently sloping headland on the northern tip of Samui Island amongst 20-acres of indigenous vegetation that ensures maximum privacy while offering uninterrupted, breathtaking panoramas to the Gulf of Siam and outlying islands.

SALA SAMUI RESORT & SPA:

SALA Samui Resort and Spa is a stunning deluxe pool villa resort on Koh Samui island, featuring private swimming pools in 53 out of 69 total villas and suites. At SALA Samui, a comfortable, relaxing ambiance is created by a harmonious blend of traditional Thai architecture with modern facilities and amenities. Located on Choeng Mon beach on the northeast corner of Koh Samui island, SALA Samui is just 15 minutes from the Samui airport, 20 minutes from Bo Phut’s quaint Fisherman’s Village, and only 15 minutes from Chaweng Beach shopping and nightlife.

So the next time you’re looking for great luxury resorts to choose from in Koh Samui, look no further!

Pampered in Phuket

Published in The Peak Malaysia, January 2012 (Click on images to read the article).

Aleenta Resort, Phuket

This resort is a hidden jewel of Phuket, and no surprises with it being part of SLH (Small Luxury Hotels of the World) as well as winning 4 awards in 2011 by Asia Pacific Hotels Award as ‘Best Sustainable Hotel in Thailand’, ‘Best Small Hotel in Thailand’, ‘Best Sustainable Hotel Asia Pacific’, and ‘Best Small Hotel Asia Pacific’.

If that isn’t enough accolades, Frog and I were in 7th heaven – a slice of paradise! The service was friendly and excellent, the food was superb, the facilities top-notch and our Ocean View Loft room was just perfect – and the best part you wouldn’t believe is that it’s great value for money.

Located on the pristine, secluded beach of NaTai beach, 20 minutes north from Phuket airport. We didn’t move from here. So content we were to chillax by the beach, by our pool  with free WIFI everywhere, we soon forgot the mundane world.

Aleenta Resort also offers Thai cooking classes, free yoga, taichi and detox programmes too and a great looking spa by the beach. It was our perfect relaxing weekend getaway, a great discovery to fall in love again with Phuket -Phang Nga Bay. For great excursions, we recommend the day boat trip to Phang Nga Bay (remember The Beach) and James Bond island (remember The Man with the Golden Gun).

This resort will definitely see Frog and I making a return trip in the near future! Bliss.

PZ.

Weekend at The Oriental Bangkok

As PZ’s favorite singer Kylie Minogue was performing in Thailand last Saturday, we decided to stay a few days in our favorite timeless hotel in South-East Asia: The Oriental. The oldest hotel in Bangkok, a legend in its own right,  instantly put us in an Aphrodite mood.  In a heartbeat we were relaxing by the Chao Phraya river, enjoying every second of the calm, stunning luxury of our temporary home.

In the evening, Kylie’s latest extravaganza took us in a trip through Greek mythology featuring winged horses, troupes of acrobats, synchronized swimming and Thai fans dressed up like their goddess of love! What a show  Two hours featuring both songs from the new album and classics like Can’t Get You Out of My Head or The Locomotion. I have to admit that although I am not a big fan of hers, that concert was truly spectacular.

Thank you Bangkok, once again, the magic city took us to another world.

Chic Collection

This has to be one of my latest favorite book collections – Chic – published by Editions Didier Millet. Enough to entice you to travel all over the world, the Chic Collection is illustrated with stunning photography and written by local experts on all things chic in hotels, restaurants, spas, shops, art galleries, places of interest and culture. It is the definitive guide to travel mixed with the handsome look of a coffee table book. So far I have Malaysia Chic, Spa Chic Asia, and Eco Chic… don’t worry my collection will expand!

For fellow dreamers, I present you the Chic Collection in its entirety:

PZ.

Which is the best city to live in Southeast Asia?

Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta: the four main cities of Southeast Asia, although quite close to each other, offer a wide variety of lifestyle. Our relationship with our city is always a love-hate relationship, too much traffic but affordable, safe city but expensive, great weather but polluted, unsafe but very fun etc etc…

So to measure the best urban living experience in this part of the world, a good real estate magazine “Property Report” has published recently it’s own reader’s survey on what they like and dislike about their cities. They have measured and analysed cost of basic necessities, prices of apartments, rentals, and interviewed architects and analysts. Here is a sum up of the most interesting results.

Singapore

Kuala Lumpur

Jakarta

Bangkok

So wich city would you choose to live in?

Basically it really depends on what you are looking for. Singapore has high stability and safety but is expensive, KL is affordable with a vibrant nightlife but KLlites do not feel safe (? I feel much safer than in Paris), Jakarta is facing major problems of urbanisation, and Bangkok is affordable and fun but has a lot of pollution.

Frog.