Hola pretty peeps! I just got back from Kuching - Rainforest World Music Festival and as you’ve known, it is held yearly in Sarawak Cultural Village. *It was great… no doubt… and I will definitely fly back to witness next year’s festival*

BUT instead of waiting for next year to fly all the way to our neighboring state, you can now visit our very own indoor rainforest in Sabah *YES.. indoor* The 1 Borneo Rainforest!

No more smelly insect repellent. No more worries about the hot sun and pouring rain. No more figuring out how to use the compass and getting lost in the jungle. No more screaming and clutching on to your friends when crossing a suspension bridge and convinced you were going to fall to your death into the rushing currents below. No more being afraid of the dark… and offending ancient forest spirits.. *gulp*

Rina: Fara… don’t be silly
Fara: I had a bad experience okay~

AND* it’s air conditioned. Wheeeee~

On the 10th July 2008, The GoShop/GoLife team were invited to the opening ceremony/cocktail party of the 1Borneo Rainforest.

Initially, It looked kinda small from the outside…

Borneo Rainforest Entrance

Registration counter

But once we got in, it’s a different story!

It was BIG!

The 1Borneo Rainforest, is a vast 14,000 square feet handicraft & cultural centre within a hypermall. It is the first of its kind in East Malaysia and worldwide; with a mission to provide an insight of Sabah’s rich handicraft and culture to both local and international visitors under one roof. An interactive cultural experience that excites all the 5 senses of visitors are fully employed makes it a unique venue worldwide.

Handicrafts

Chocolates for sale!

Located at the 2nd Floor of 1Borneo Hypermall, staying guests at Novotel, Mercure, Tunes & Best Western Courtyard Hotel can visit the 1Borneo Rainforest conveniently while visitors in the city can easily hop onto 1Borneo’s shuttle buses to visit this centre.

Luckydraw

Games

Dance Demo

Fun Activities

Here are some of the features you might find in 1Borneo Rainforest:

• Mimics tropical rainforest setting
• Hanging bridge with flowing riverine
• Life birds and live stocks like chicken
• Heritage Galleria
• Traditional performance arena
• Sample authentic Sabahan cuisine
• Handicraft making under a long house
• South East Asia souvenirs

Other than mingling around during the event, Julian, Marissa and I also had our mini escapade inside.

From ‘Jambatan Tamparuli’ adventure:

To Indiana Jones Adventure:

To Romeo and Juliet scene:

… what?

It was fun.. okaaaaay~

Oh! There was also a cultural show during the cocktail party too! …and as usual, Marissa and I tried running away to avoid being caught and forced to suffer embarrassing moments on stage.

But this time… we were… pretty unlucky.

Just look at this! I was just chit chatting with Marissa, when suddenly, out of nowhere, *pak* a hand grabbed Marissa’s wrist!

“Haaaah~~~ I’m glad it wasn’t me….“

*or so I thought*

Till I got dragged right after……..

TWICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We also met Chris, the PR & Communications Manager of Sagajuta and Jonathan, the Chief Editor of the prominent Breeze Magazine.

With Chris Ho - PR & Comm. Manager of Sagajuta

With Jonathan - Chief Editor of Breeze Magazine

So if 1Borneo Rainforest is in your next ‘must-go’ place, here is the detail of the admission:

• Admission free (by minimum purchase*)

• Malaysian (Adult) RM10, (Child) Free of charge

• Non-Malaysian (Adult) RM25 (Child) RM5

Ah-ah~~~ I know I heard “What???!!! I gotta pay???????”

Been there. Done that. So listen up.

With the RM10 ticket that you bought at the entrance, YOU will be able to redeem souvenirs inside worth of admission fee. Meaning, with the RM10 worth of ticket, you can use it to buy/redeem souvenirs, food, activities and etc inside just like a coupon! And you won’t lose anything coz you’ll still walk out with souvenirs/well fed tummy/ happy face.

Happy?

Remember my post on Fressh before?
Yeah! I’m talking about THE* FRESSH Café, at City Mall.
After my almost every day visit to this café, I’ve come to decide that I should* pay Michelle and Byron a visit (the owner behind this yummy-licious and brilliant health cafe) and get to know them more in person.

Sooooo… here is the warm couple, Michelle & Byron.

Our GoLife team was greeted warmly by them and no sooner it was started, the couple prepared a lot… I mean.. really* a lot of drinks and dishes for us.

*checking tummy compartment*

Uh! How la we’re gonna finish all this?

So many choices… We don’t know which one to choose!

Food after f… nope.. in this case.. drinks after drinks were served one by one and we were… overwhelmed by their generosity.

Thanks Michelle… Thanks Byron..

Fyi, Byron was so enthusiastic that he kept saying, “You want anything else?”… “Eat it while it’s hot”… “You want anything else?”

We had* to show him the ‘white flag’ for him to stop from serving anymore food and drinks. Haha!

For a head start, let me give you a preview of one of my favourite… the ice cream!

Colourful huh?

This* is the Fressh Ice Cream.
You have the choice of Vanilla Ice Cream OR Yoghurt Ice Cream and mix it with 3 different fruits/toppings/mixes of your own.

So I* would recommend this:

Vanilla Ice Cream + Oreo + Chocolate Chip + Banana

Or..

Yoghurt Ice Cream + Mango + Banana + Peach

The verdict?

You’ll feel.. heavenly fresh!

You can also try their YoFruit (Fresh Yoghurt + Fruit).

It’s low fat, less sugar and enriched with live cultures. You can view my post on the best YoFruit combination that you can try HERE. Truly yummy and mouth-watering!

One of the most sought after drink that they always receive from the customers would be the Chocolate Banana which is available in both hot and cold. Loved it!

If you want a quick breakfast to provide an instant boost to your morning, you can also try their Muesli Banana OR try their Fressh Wrap (the tortilla wrap is fully imported from Australia) and Fressh Sandwich!

For thirst quenching drinks or snacks, you can also try Fressh Health Orange Juice, which is one of customers’ favourite pick. This baby contains no added sugar nor water. It’s 100% pure orange juice!

Or, you can also get your hands on Fressh’s 3 most popular smoothies; Mango Marvel, Brilliant Banana and also Blueberry Bliss (The fresh blueberries are imported from Australia too!).

As you can see, “The Fressh Café” is an Australian Brand.
It was first opened in September 2006 at Kompleks Karamunsing, and after an overwhelming support and demand from their consumers; they decided to open up a second branch at City Mall, in November 2007 last year, which is now, my favourite hang out place after a tiring workout at the gym.

One thing that you can be proud of Fressh is that they are the* only one in Malaysia so far, and best of all… it is only available in Sabah. How cool is that?

Their ingredients used in their servings are also very fresh, especially their yogurt, which is freshly made out of live-cultures instead of using powder-base types (powders can contain some chemical which is not good for you) ; and mind you… unlike other juice bar that would just recycle days-old fruits, Fressh waiter/waitresses will never fail to inform you about their food conditions. Plus, they are not stingy to add little extra toppings as well

And you know what? Even our very own “I fell in love with the DJ~” Che’nelle, the uprising international artist as well as Daniel, winner of the 2nd music reality tv show, The Malaysian Idol loves coming to Fressh as well.

Freshh provides free Wi-Fi connections and is open for service everyday from 11.30 a.m. until 10.30 p.m. And If you have been to Fressh, I’m sure you’ll agree that the interior was cute and excellent too!

Oh! Good news for all you food lovers out there, Fressh is coming out soon with a “Fressh” Pizza, Spaghetti and Salad Bar in the near future! Yeyyyyy!

So..~ no more excuse for starving yourself to death. Choose a healthy lifestyle today; get replenished and kick your day of with a healthy snack only at FRESSH!

Do you know what really annoys me when I bought a new pair of beautiful shoe?

THIS* is what truly annoys me!!!

A non lasting easily broken rubber heel!

*ketak..tak..tak…screeecccchhh~!*

The screeching sound of the embedded nail without the rubber heel is really bothersome especially when people starts to give you an irritated stare ><”

I have sent few of my shoes to a few shoe repairmen and it usually take days for them to fix one… ONE shoe! And it costed me 10 bucks to fix a single rubber heel!

Silly…? I know

But not this time baby.

I have found this* shop in Kompleks Karamunsing.. Tadaaa!

The A2Z Shoe Repair shop.

They told me to wait 15 minutes… but It only took them 10 minutes to fix it.

Not only it is cheap (costed me RM8/pair only), the craftsmanship was also neat, fine and amazing

They will also help and fix the little-little things for you, like in my case; they fixed and glued one part of my high heels uncharged

Their service is not limited to shoe only.. they also provide services for bags, belts, wallet, zip slider, leather goods and so much more.

If you want to get your show fixed just like mine, all you gotta do is go to lower ground level of Kompleks Karamunsing (just below the broken escalator near McDonald) and find them every Monday to Saturday (9am to 7pm) or Sunday and Public Holiday (9am to 4pm).

On 28-29 June 2008, The Body Shop® officially launched their New Limited Edition: Sun Drenched Collection 2008. The launch, which was held at City Mall concourse, was lined up with plenty of fun-filled activities for the public to enjoy.

Among them were Quizzes, Summer Make up Demonstration by The Body Shop Makeup Artist, Ms. Beverley Shim, Fashion Show Mannequin Exhibition by Olumis Borneo Batik House, Lucky number 8 customer (each customer with the number 8 on their receipt received a gift from The Body Shop) and Happy Hour Promotions where everyone could purchase all Lip Colours at RM 26.90 (Actual price: RM39.90) and White Musk Perfume Oil 15ml, the best selling fragrance at The Body Shop at RM33 (Actual price: RM48) during the Happy Hour period.

Love Your Body Members also enjoyed a 25% discount off all The Body Shop makeup whereas non members enjoyed a 20% discount.

The Body Shop retail team during the event.
In red is The Body Shop® General Manager, Ms. Victoria Engku

Ms. Beverley doing a makeup demonstration

One of the fun parts during the event was when a Couple Makeup competition was held. But this time, it was the *MEN who had to do the daunting task of giving the ladies a full makeover in 20 minutes.

Couple makeup competition on 29 June 2008

The Body Shop® Makeup artist, Ms. Beverley Shim giving the prize to the
Couple makeup competition Grand Prize winners on 28 June 2008

The Body Shop ® Graphic Designer, Streisand Tan giving a makeup hamper to the
Couple Makeup competition Grand Prize winners on 29th June 2008

Another activity was the Makeup for charity. For a donation of any amount, customers received a FREE makeover by The Body Shop. All donations will go to Sabah Women Action Resource Group (SAWO), which is an organization that deals with women and children welfare in Sabah.

For their new Summer Trend Collection, The Body Shop has come out with the Sun Drenched Make up which consists of twelve new products.

One of the new product is none other than the sultry Sun Lustre Bronzer, which is also one of the magic tools that can make your face look slimmer in seconds!

*I kid you not*

I am nuts about this bronzer and I have reasons for it.

Exactly a year ago, after I got back from my long happy-non-stop-eating-fat-fat-stuff holidays, my dad just *HAD to push my panic button.

“Hrmmm….. fat cheek?”, he smirked
“Wha’??”
*signaling “your cheek looks chubbier”*
*lips twitch slightly*
“NooooooOOoooooOOooo!!!!!”

And that’s when I started to find articles and endless tips to make my face look slimmer. Some of them were okay… some of them were just a total waste. After I had a try of this bronzer during the 1 borneo soft launching few weeks ago, I immediately fell in love with it. And you should too

If you would like to have the same experience as I did, I am now calling all ladies out there who has a cute cheek like me *wah lahh…. So ‘ai mei’* to send in your photos by clicking HERE and if you’re lucky, YOU will be my next makeover model for The Body Shop Summer Trend Makeup!

So Click here! Click here!

*****************************************************************************

The Body Shop is also offering the Limited Edition Eye Lustre Pearls, a shimmering metallic mini beads eye colour for 3 lucky winners. All you have to do is answer 3 simple questions here.

Anyhow, congratulations to all May Winners of GoShop!

Below are the 3 gorgeous winners from The Mother’s Day – Aqua Lily Contest: Ooi Kim Ean, Angeline Chin and our Grand Prize Winner Michelle Shak. Congratssssss!!!!! ^^

Be sure to get your face in here as well in our next contest! Cheerios!

Hey guys!

I got the news regarding the Indie Band Festival 2008 which will be held on this Saturday, 28th June 2008 at Sports Complex Likas, KK.

Featuring 6 independent music bands such as the rising HUJAN, SASUKA, 7 MISSING PORTRAITS, GOYANG72, FOUR COLOUR CIRCLE and BINTANG BATU, I’m sure that your weekend will surely be a delirious one!!! *that is if you’re a fan or want to explore our Malaysian Indie music bands*

Thanks to the organizer, we from GoShop! are now offering 1 pair of tickets worth RM20 each to the first 10 lucky winners of GoShop! TILL 2 PM TOMORROW ONLY!!! (27th June 2008).

All you gotta do is go to the contest page and fill in your details, just like that.

Yeap! No hair pulling slogans and no questions asked

The selected 10 lucky winners will be contacted by Rina tomorrow (Friday) at 3pm and details regarding ticket collection will be explained then.

So what are you waiting for?!! First come, first serve baby. GO!!!!

Fine… just click here lazyfinger