Zestful One

TGV Club (Sunway) – A premier movie experience

Posted by IcedNyior on January 27, 2012  |  2 Comments

The TGV Club is a new premier concept movie theater which just opened in TGV Sunway Pyramid offering a special experience from moviegoers.

TGV graciously invited members of the media and social media influencers to experience this new offering/product that they had. We started off in the outside area near the Cantina for a selection of reds and whites, mostly from Australia (and sponsored by GAB I believe). Then it was a walk into the Lounge with a display of their SUPER YUMMY Popcorn Royale.

(photos from TGV Facebook page. My phone was running out of batt so didn’t take photos)

As you can see the lounge is pretty spacious. They removed the tables and chairs to make way for cocktail tables but one side of the area has a row of sofas (not in pic). The middle table also has ‘bar stools’ so you can sit around and chit chat or order food/drinks while waiting.

Kenny Wong, CEO of TGV Cinemas said a few words thanking us to for attending. Kenny is one of the most friendly and down to earth CEOs I’ve met (not that I’ve met many) and its quite interesting to see how much TGV has progressed since he took over the reins.

After some drinks and nibbles, we were ushered into the cinema halls (there are two) to watch Underworld : Awakening (Kate Beckinsale in black leather and skin-tight latex..mm). Kenny came in to make sure everyone was comfortably seated and we had a bit of photo taking before the movie started.

The Cinema Halls

The halls are the smaller halls with limited seats. The last two rows consists of 8 couple/twin seats while the other rows have 10 seats each. The couple seats are so big that I saw 3 guys who tested the sit and manage to sit comfortably. Each seat is also separated by a small table with a cupholder to hold your goodies.

So the big question is, how much is it la?

Its RM25 for the single seats while the twin seats are RM52 for two people. Its quite affordable considering the comfort level you get. Also I would recommend to sit in the top 4 rows for optimum viewing pleasure.

I’ve already been to TGV IMAX (watched MI4 there – awesome!) and now the TGV Club which I think will be nice for an occasional treat. Next is to try the Beanieplex!

Hotmail’s new look–15 years and going strong

Posted by IcedNyior on October 4, 2011  |  1 Comment

If you’re like me, Hotmail was the first real email address you had. It was the coolest thing to see your nickname and getting really excited if and when someone emailed you. Hotmail launched in 1995 and was one of the first free email service.

Over the years, unfortunately, Hotmail started to lose its luster, especially with a whole lot of new free email providers cropping up like mushroom. Hotmail with its clunky design and lack of features (2MB space only!) got left behind.

From left : (i) The small crowd of techies & bloggers
(ii) Unsubscribing from a newsletter with a dropdown menu within Hotmail.

Fast forward to 2011 and Hotmail is still (surprisingly) the largest free email service in the planet with 360 MILLION unique users per month who receive 9 billion and send 300 million emails Every Day! And in celebration of its 15th year, Hotmail is ready to unveil new features! These new features offer improvements in the vital areas of spam filtering (which is a big issue for Hotmail users), performance, storage and mobile compatibility.

“We’ve all used Hotmail at one point in time and we loved it for its features and simplicity. Things are a bit more complicated today. People want more than just an email address. Users want huge storage space, seamless integration with instant messaging and contact management as well as easy access across all mobile devices.

With our latest Hotmail release, we are bringing all this and more to our users. Hotmail has come along way since its humble beginnings. It is now more feature rich, more integrated and more secure than ever before. It’s the perfect time to fall in love again with Hotmail, “ said Barrie Ooi, Head of Windows Live, Asia Pacific.

From left : (i) Attached photos will be automatically presented in a album format
(ii) Hotmail is coming to Mobile. In fact I think the Android one is launching later today!

Last night, I was invited as part of a select group of bloggers who were given a sneak preview of the new features launching today (press release was embargoed till 6am this morning) by Microsoft. Barrie, quoted above walked us through some of the exciting things coming to Hotmail in the next few weeks.

The new features include:

• Smart Newsletter Filtering which allows users to highlight and delete newsletters with a single click or unsubscribe completely.
• Categories and advanced folder management that allow users to choose to categorize their messages in the inbox as opposed to having to file them in separate folders.
• Scheduled cleanup allows you to automatically get red of emails of a certain age sweeping away old newsletter and out-of-date offers. You can also now keep only the last message from the sender.
• Flags done right that position your priority messages right at the top of your inbox. No more having to mark messages as unread or email them back to yourself to keep them at the top of your mind.
• Instant Actions are buttons that appear when your mouse hovers over a message allowing you to delete, flag, sweep, etc messages with one click. Users can also customize their UI by adding and removing buttons based on the tasks they use the most.

One of my favourite new feature is the Sweep function. The sweep function lets you select a bunch of emails then proceed to setup rules or filters on how these emails should be have (get deleted, move to a folder, etc). This will be really convenient for people who have tons of email.

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Hotmail has always been (unfortunately) associated with spam and they know it. In fact, they found out that 35% of your inbox is made up of spam. That’s more than 1/4 ! Thus, they have implemented a SmartScreen filter (made up of humans reporting spam and a computer algorithm) and managed to cut down the spam to ONLY 3% currently. In fact you can see the sharp dip in the left image below.

Another interesting fact is that Hotmail servers has the storage capacity of 140 Petabyte! 140 petabyte =1400 terrabyte = 1400000 gigabyte! Not only that, they are continuously increasing 10% every month (or was it week? I forgot.) That’s how Hotmail can give you virtually unlimited storage. Best part is, you can send attachments of up to 100MB – compared to the usual 10MB!

After a scrumptious dinner at Apartment, KLCC and an interesting demo and discussion with Barrie, we were given instructions not to announce anything until the press conference with media today. We were also given some Windows Live goodies. I also won a set of Windows Live plushies! Don’t they look cute?

So what do you think? I think Hotmail’s new features looks very useful and this puts them back in the running with the other big email giants like Gmail and Yahoo! Mail. Was Hotmail your first email too?

Malaya Optical, Uptown Damansara

Posted by IcedNyior on January 17, 2011  |  No Comments

I got invited to a blogger event organized by PlusSizeKitten & hosted by Malaya Optical in Uptown Damansara. We were all allowed to bring a couple of friends but my friends weren’t free / was lazy to go so I went alone.

Malaya Optical is a brightly light store with rows upon rows of eyewear ranging from specs frames to sunglasses. Its on the same row as Uptown 37 (where there’s Starbucks, Umai-Ya & HSBC) and before the Satay Haji Samuri.

Left: The hard working people at Malaya Optical. Right : Tammy welcoming everyone and giving away the prize for best FB post/comment/slogan

There were a lot of people in the shop but Ryan – the owner (I think), Optometrist & Professional Eyewear Stylist/Designer – was very friendly, asking if I have already registered and if I wanted coffee/tea (they have a small dispenser right at the corner, cute!) or a lollipop. They also had some refreshments outside (sandwiches and kuih).

Upon registering, we were required to line up to purchase our contact lenses. Oh, on the same day, they had a special one-day promotion on Facebook (join here!) where if you printed out the voucher, you can get the “Logic BigEyes” contact lens for RM15 a box (1 pair inside). Usual price is RM90. I picked up 2 boxes for myself (brown and black) and a couple more boxes for a friend. Will be reviewing this in my ShoestringBeauty blog soon!

Besides the special RM15 contact lens offer, we were also given two vouchers:

• a Comprehensive eye exam (worth RM150)
• Voucher for 1.50 Super Multicoated UV Protected worth RM150 (valid to 31 March 2011)

The eye test machine on the right is different from most machines I’ve seen in the sense that they have these rings around your iris which are differently coloured. I forgot to ask what the rings mean. They also did the usual round of Eye test with the different lenses. I found that my power/degree is pretty much the same but my astigmatism seems to have gone up a little. I asked about the astig and the guy said that, mine is not that serious as its less then 1.0, so that means I don’t have to change to toric lenses.

As you can see from the many compartments and boxes stacked up high, Malaya Optical is surely where you can get a lot of brands of eyewear. In fact, Ryan mentioned, “whatever brand you want, we have it.” I even saw high end brands like Miu Miu, Marc Jacob, CK and the like. Even for the contact lenses, they have a whole cupboard (with glass cover) of the different lenses – non-coloured and coloured. Even some really cool ones like the Glow in the dark and Jewel series types below.

Oh I’m also pleased that they carry Biomedics55 which is this really awesome non-coloured contact lens that I usually wear. It’s a bit more pricy but its super comfortable especially during long wearing times.

I left pretty early as I needed to go off someone and I made an appointed to do my eye test the next day as there were way too many people in the store on that day. But all in all, I found that all the staff in Malaya Optical were friendly and patient in explaining and answering questions – even when they had a lot of people in store.

Check out their history printed at the back of their card, their first store was way back in 1957! Explains the name doesn’t it? Pic frm Sugar Coated Muffin.

LifeCode Anti-Aging Review

Posted by IcedNyior on May 17, 2010  |  No Comments

A few bloggers were selected to join Miu of PlusizeKitten for the Venus 0.8 Project on LifeCode Anti-Aging International Berhad. The people at LifeCode specifically opened the area for us on a weekend to accommodate us.

The lobby is a comfortable sitting area with lots of seats and little tables. This leads to the treatment rooms and also the spa area. Life Code has a spa under the same company called The Asia Spa, which is an award winning spa.

Top left picture is the ingredients used in the spa treatments – ground ginger and the like. The special function of this spa is that each room has a pair of beds and a private toilet and bathtub. Yes, individual toilets.

After the tour, we were asked to put our items into a locker before going for the Miracle ST (Super Tourmaline) House Rejuvenation Therapy room. The ST House has electromagnetic gemstones embedded in the wooden benches, the ceramic floor, the multilayer ceiling cabinet and the bamboo walls.

The black panels in the photos are ceramic balls that are embedded with electromagnetic gemstones. If you have backache, its perfect to lean against those balls to sooth your back. The room also has a essential herbal mist coming out of the holes at the side and also a quantum skin activator at the top corners.

The treatment lasts 30 minutes and we started to sweat. These are the toxins coming out of the body so we had to wipe it off constantly. We were also required to drink at least 4 glasses of the provided active micro-dew beads purified water.

After the treatment, surprisingly it didn’t feel sticky at all. In fact it felt rather refreshing even though we cannot take a shower in the next two hours. After towelling down and changing, it was the makeup and skincare session.

Chris our friendly trainer demonstrated with the Life Code Instant Face Lift Gel. The gel is water based and super absorbent. With just a few strokes and giving it 3 minutes to fade into the skin, there’s a significant decrease in sagginess of the face and also wrinkles.

(Photos of makeup by pinkylicious) Makeup by Life Code is designed to repair skin as well as make yourself beautiful. The eye shadow contains natural extracted anti-aging Hyaluronic Acid that can lift up and firm eye bags.It also refines fine lines around the eye and eliminates deep wrinkles.

The lip glosses are my favourite. The gloss is blended with natural organic skin firming ingredients and herbal extract, it plumps up your lips instantly and fills in all the wrinkles. I mean seriously my lips look plumper.

After the makeup and skincare session, we proceeded to Rasa Sayang downstairs for some Malaysian food.The private room we were in was decorated almost like a balinese style. The food was vegetarian briyani which was quite nice.

All in all, it was a nice experience at Life Code and I really want to thank them and Tammy for this opportunity. Are you interested to try? The ST House treatment costs RM150 per session but if you mentioned that you read this blog, you can get your first session FREE. Just contact Life Code service line 03-2289 0888 between 10:00am – 7:00pm Monday to Saturday (non-public holidays). Enjoy!

Disclaimer: All my reviews are written based on my unbiased review.
To see the full disclaimer, please read this.
Photos are all by Miu unless stated

Life Code Anti-Aging

Posted by IcedNyior on May 5, 2010  |  4 Comments

I heard about this in Tammy’s blog a few days ago – actually she’s been talking about this project for a few weeks now, even before I went to Perth.

At first I thought its a typical spa with massages and steam room, so I checked out their website http://www.lifecode-antiaging.com/

Here’s an excerpt of what they believe in

Life Code Anti-aging is enthusiastic in delivering Safe, Effective, Rapid, Natural products to our customers. Our products range from skin care, cosmetics, to anti- aging cellular supplement. With highly trained management and staffs to provide reliable and professional service, Life Code Anti- aging is marked a world class anti-aging platform which has helped thousands of people in the world to reverse aging within 3 to 15 minutes.

They have four core products, which are:

• BioTRA™ Skin Care Series – creams and gels which promise less lines and facelifts in 3-15 minutes. Yes! That fast
• Cell Regenerative Series – an any aging cellular supplement based on complex royal jelly and other special ingredients
• Organic Makeup Series – makeup and skincare in one, such as anti wrinkle lipstick and lifting eye shadow
• Miracle S.T. House – This is a treatment for whitening, detox, anti-aging and slimming all in one.

I was actually quite interesting in the Miracle ST (Super Tourmaline) Rejuvenation Therapy. It uses chinese herbs essential mist, quantum skin activators, micro elements water and gemstone treatments.

How does this work?

1. The precious gemstones release far infrared and negative ions
2. Quantum Skin Activators will boost immediate whitening and skin rejuvenation
3. Essential Herbal Mist Complex for its detoxifying, anti-cancerous and slimming properties
4. Micro-elements water to avert free radials and prevent cell oxidation

All these combined will give you lighter skin by two degrees in 30 minutes Guarenteed! I gotta try this one!

Also, if you see their website, they have a lot of certifications and quality control such as USA FDA, European EEC, Halal certification and many more. So its very safe for everyone.

Maybe you can go and try it out and tell me your experience? :D

Road Trips

Posted by IcedNyior on January 6, 2010  |  2 Comments

When I was younger, we used to take long road trips in my dad’s trusty proton saga. We lived in Miri (top right near Brunei) and would travel down all the way down to Kuching over the course of two days with a stopover at Sibu (somewhere near Sarekei on the map above).

My digital photos are here (& how to get yours for free!)

Posted by IcedNyior on September 16, 2009  |  4 Comments

A few days ago, I wrote this post titled [Tutorial] Print Digital Photos online with EOE that showed you a step by step method on how to get your digital photos printed online at EOE’s website and sent straight to your doorstep.

A few days after I have made my order, I got my package. Its a nicely wrapped 50pcs of 4R photos and 2 pcs of 8R photos. As you can see, I printed a lot of my graduation photos – since they were all digital photos and I wanted a hard copy.

Each 4R print only costs RM0.30 and each 8R photos is RM6 each. Also you get free delivery when you make orders above RM35. Basically you can just collect all your digital photos from your friends and print about RM120 pcs to get free delivery.

So, How to get yours free?

If you are a Blogger, EOE online invites you to review and write about their service. In return, you will get to print some photos for FREE. Yes you heard me, FREE. They will even post it your your house. Awesome right? I wish more companies did this

Check out : www.EOE.com.my to find out more :D

[Tutorial] Print Digital Photos online with EOE

Posted by IcedNyior on September 5, 2009  |  1 Comment

I was surfing around the other day and came across this site that allows you to print your digital photos online. All you have to do is upload the photos, choose what size you want, and then make payment. Then they will send all the printed photos to your address.

So I decided to try it out and write a short tutorial as well :D Hope you guys find this helpful

Step One

Go to www.eoe.com.my and click the REGISTER button on the top. This is a standard login, so just fill in your details and reply the confirmation email.

Step Two

Look at the top and click on Shopping then e-Print and you will see this page. Click to enlarge

Clarins Power to Try Workshop

Posted by IcedNyior on August 24, 2009  |  1 Comment

First of all, thanks so much to Clarins and Miu of Plusizekitten for organizing this workshop. It was held at Amoda near Bukit Bintang. Well I misread the map that Miu posted, thinking that the red building is Amoda but apparently its the other side. So I was a bit late. Heh, sorry!

*pics are all courtesy of Miu. I didn’t bring a camera. Yea i know, what kinda blogger doesn’t bring a camera for events right? But my camera batt died on me :(*

Clarins headquarters is very inviting and so fresh. I really like how they took care of all the participants and even providing refreshments – chocolates, chrysanthemum tea, fruit tarts, tuna croissants, etc.

The workshop area is also very nice, slightly bigger would be better so that we can mingle around comfortably. Ample mirrors and product was provided to everyone. Some people came really prepared with no makeup and even hairbands to tie back their hair. Well it was my first time at a skincare workshop.

This was the box of products available for our use. First I used the Gentle Eye makeup remover to remove my makeup. Then I used the Cleansing Milk with Alpine Herbs (for Normal/Dry Skin). Did you know there’s a proper way to wash your face? And that is from the middle of your forehead and ur nose outwards to your cheeks and chin. Clarins also taught us how to use our palms to create a ‘suction’ affect to help draw out the impurities.

Texas Hold ’em

Posted by IcedNyior on March 25, 2009  |  1 Comment

On facebook, most of my friends are playing Texas Hold ‘Em. Its a type of poker game commonly played in casinos. I personally have no idea how the game goes, but according to wikipedia, “is a community card game where each player may use any combination of the five community cards and the player’s own two hole cards to make a poker hand, in contrast to poker variants like stud or draw where each player holds a separate individual hand."

You can also play it online where you can get benefits like PokerStars Bonus. These Poker Star Bonus Codes allows you to receive 100% of your initial deposit up to 50USD. But its exclusive so only FlopTurnRiver members can use these PokerStars Marketing Codes.

Hurm, I better get one of my friends to explain this game to me soon :) What game are u most addicted to in Facebook?