Kaylah in Kuala Lumpur #1: Thean Huo temple

Last Friday, my family and I headed to Kuala Lumpur for a few days! I had never visited this city before, although it had been on my list of things to see while I’m living in Asia.

As the rest of my family had visited Kuala Lumpur before, it was up to me to organize the itinerary. I absolutely love organising itineraries so it wasn’t a problem. They make me so incredibly excited knowing that I will soon be able to lay my eyes upon such exciting sites in person.

On Saturday morning, I had planned for my family to visit the Thean Hou temple. This Chinese temple is an absolute landmark. It is six tiered and is dedicated to Goddess Tian Hou (The Heavenly Mother).

I was totally blown away as we made our way towards the entrance. None of my photos are able to do the temple justice. The traditional exterior was mesmerising. Each of the corners on the rooftops flicked up in a way that made them appear somewhat like crashing waves from afar.

As we made our way closer, the intricate details which lined the edges of the temple soon began to make themselves seen. The array of colours outlining the temple contributed to the beauty of this tranquil site.

I started to make my way up the staircase to where the worshipping area could be found. This was on the second last tier. Groups of people crowded around the entrance, removing their shoes and performing rituals. The scent of incense was extremely prevalent. There was also a wonderful view of Kuala Lumpur from this tier.

After removing our shoes, we entered the hollows of the temple. To say that I was blown away would be an incredible understatement. The paintwork and architecture inside made this one of the most beautiful interiors I had ever seen. I could have gazed upon the ceiling for hours. The copious amounts of colourful patterns caught your eye from every angle. It was easy to become lost in the never ending list of things to admire. Every single wall was covered in the most grand of designs. The ornate carvings and delicate embellishments made this temple a complete and utter spectacle.

I couldn’t imagine anyone spending less than 45 minutes here. There are gardens and statues to see. Areas are also dedicated to statues for each of the Chinese zodiac signs.

If you are in Kuala Lumpur or are planning on visiting you should DEFINITLEY put this site on your list of things to see! You will not be disappointed. I absolutely adored spending time here due to the beautiful setting and the wide range of areas to explore and learn about. It was the sheer size and delicacy of the temple that also made it worth the visit.

I plan on splitting my time in Kuala Lumpur into multiple posts as I saw so much and would love to give a detailed description of the major sites.

Stay tuned for more posts from Kuala Lumpur!

Best Ever Melting Moments

I used this melting moment recipe a few weeks ago and was blown away by how amazing the biscuits turned out! I made a few adjustments to it to make it my own. This recipe is super easy and the biscuits turn out absolutely perfectly! (If I do say so myself…)

Ingredients:

200g butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

½ cup icing sugar mixture

1 ½ cups plain flour

½ cup cornflour

 Passion fruit butter cream filling

1-2 passionfruit/s 

80g butter

2/3 cup icing sugar

For lemon butter cream filling:

1 lemon

1 tablespoon of zest

80g butter

2/3 cup of icing sugar

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Grease and line two biscuit trays.

Beat butter, essence and sifted icing sugar in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Stir in sifted flours in two batches to the mixture.

Using a teaspoon, spoon out the mixture and roll into small balls with lightly floured hands.

 Place the dough about 3cm apart on the baking paper lined oven trays.  Flatten slightly with a floured fork. Put the trays in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Leave to cool.

To make the butter cream beat butter and sifted icing sugar in a small bowl. You can use an electric mixer if you wish. Add the passionfruit juice. Add however much juice you need depending on the taste you want, usually one passion fruit will be enough. You don’t have to use passionfruit juice; you could always use 1tbsp of lemon juice and 1tbsp of zest . You may need more icing sugar depending on the consistency you want.

Sandwich two biscuits together with a teaspoon of  butter cream.  Dust the biscuits with extra icing sugar.  Enjoy!

The Moon Festival!

On Monday was the Chinese Moon Festival in Singapore. Legend has it that a young girl named Chang Er flew to the moon and has lived ever since. It is believed that you may even get to see her dancing on the moon during the festival.

Additionally, this festival is a time for family occasions and reunions. When the full moon rises, families gather together, gazing upon the moon, eat moon cakes and some even sing moon poems.

As you all know, my favourite thing about Singapore is experiencing the culture. Chinese New Year was probably, for me, the best experience of this year, so I was incredibly excited to experience another tradition; the Moon Festival.

At university, about a week before the moon festival, I asked some of my Singaporean friends what the best way to experience the festival was. I wanted to get the full, authentic experience! So we sat down and they told me that I should go and buy lanterns and head to the closest park to my home. Here, children and families will gather, with sparklers and run around carrying lanterns. With this in mind, my next stop was to buy some lanterns and get prepared!

With my unlit lanterns in hand, my family and I headed to Bishan Park on Monday evening. We walked around the massive park, hoping to find plenty of people there celebrating.

Soon the sky darkened, and the moon, so full and bright, helped light the path, guiding us to where everyone was celebrating.

From a distance I spotted bright orange lanterns, delicately hanging off the branches of trees accompanied by the loud sounds of laughing children. I then excitedly lit my lantern.

It was such a lovely night. Wandering around outside in the evening in Singapore is so pleasant and refreshing; you would hardly think that this countries climate is almost unbearable during the day. I loved just simply carrying my lantern around the park and people watching. There was such a wide, colourful assortment of lanterns held by people of all ages, from ones that played music, Disney characters and some that even had flashing lights on them.

I was totally surprised by how many people showed up, being a Monday night. It was so busy! There were people everywhere in big groups celebrating.

I had such an enjoyable time, and will treasure this experience. I am once again going to say (for the millionth time) how much I just LOVE experiencing this culture. I am always blown away but what I get to see with my own eyes and be a part of now that I am living here. Some of these traditions I obliviously and ignorantly had never even heard of until I moved to Singapore.  I am so interested in this culture and am so glad I have been able to understand some of South East Asia’s traditions while I have been living here. I hope I get to experience many more!

Things I Have Been Loving!

InnisFree Nail Polish: I came across this brand only a few months ago. It is a Korean brand which prides itself on manufacturing organic and natural products, for really good and extremely affordable prices. These nail colours are only SG$4 each!!! They have SO many colours, like for me, its just nail polish heaven. I have struggled to find a nail polish which doesn’t start chipping after the first few days after application. I can wear this nail polish with two or so coats for a WEEK without any chipping! It’s a dream. It comes out super shiny and the brush is wide enough to colour your entire nail. I am definitely going to be purchasing many more colours!

YIN²  JF.Paris Perfume: I have worn the same perfume for so long now, I literally cannot remember wearing any other perfume. I have always worn the Elizabeth Arden Mediterranean scent. So, when I was in Malaysia about a month or so ago I picked up a different perfume, because I felt the need to branch out, you know; living in another country, I may as well match it with a new perfume. I picked up this one and it’s an absolute WINNER.  It’s very fresh and fruity with tones of rosewood and jasmine blossoms (wow, I feel so weird writing that). It’s not very strong, which is something I always look for.  I am always getting asked on what I’m wearing so I totally recommend this if anyone is in the same position I was and obviously, even those who aren’t.

LA Girl Lipstick: This lipstick is in the colour ‘Forbidden Love’. The thing I love most about this product is that it is so pigmented and so so creamy. This is actually my second tube of it because it’s just able to match everything and it adds such a lovely, subtle colour to my lips.

Maybelline Rocket Volum’ Express Mascara: I love this mascara because quite simply; it’s amazing. That pretty much sums it up. The formula is wonderful in that it basically doubles the length of my natural lashes with an application. It doesn’t clump and the brush is awesome in keeping my lashes separate and long. Because of this, it actually makes my eyes look so much more open and awake. I always see beauty bloggers raving about this mascara, so im so glad I finally got around to using it! Definitely my new favourite mascara.

Twining’s Camomile Tea: I am an avid tea drinker, but I recently had found that drinking black tea before bed was causing me to stay awake. So I decided to try Camomile. I don’t usually tend to gravitate towards fragrant teas, but I love drinking this in the evening. It’s so incredibly relaxing and calming. The honey and vanilla adds a really nice flavour in comparison to the traditional Camomile. The vanilla and honey makes it the perfect amount of sweetness.

Skinsense Mattifying Moisturiser: Singapore obviously being an extremely hot and humid climate means that it’s a constant battle with the weather to keep your makeup from falling off your face. Now, I don’t wear that much makeup, but I still struggle with this. I was recommended to try out this moisturiser. It is the absolute best thing. I apply it before I apply any makeup on my face, wait for it to mattify, which takes about a minute and then I apply the makeup. By allowing it to mattify, it keeps makeup looking fresh and not cakey for most of the day, even when I am outside; which is a must.

Big girls don't cry

I have been contemplating whether to right this post for a while now. I thought that maybe, just maybe writing about this topic may help me deal with it, you know move on, find one of the many things in my life that I can rejoice about.

My most popular post is the top 5 things about living in Singapore, so why not do the opposite and write about the hardest things about living away from home and the ways I have been coping?!

This last month the whole ‘living in another country’ thing has really set in. I have found myself struggling with so many aspects of living in another country which to be completely honest, I thought I had been passed by now.

I think it is the friendship aspect which has been the hardest for me to deal with. I honestly have made the most wonderful  and kindest friends here in Singapore; it is such a HUGE blessing, but being in a country where I literally only know a handful of people and have only known them for six or so months, makes me feel pretty lonely sometimes. It’s hard because I just wish I had friends here like in Australia that I had known for years upon years. A close network of friends who just knew pretty much everything about me. This was something I really didn’t think would affect me when I moved here.

How I cope with this is still something I am working on. I suppose the easiest way to deal with it is to know that I will have the chance to visit people and to take each day at a time. I find that I am ALWAYS thinking ahead and how each of my actions will dictate my future. There is nothing wrong with this, but I just cannot let it consume me to the point that I forget about the moment; we all need to live in the PRESENT. I need to be embracing where my life is, and the new doors that have opened and ARE opening living away from my home country.

Something I also struggle with (which is both a positive and negative) is having friends of many different races besides my own. I love speaking and interacting with people from all these countries, but the only Australian people I know here, hilariously, are my family. I suppose it is only normal to miss being around people from your culture and what I am trying to say is not racist in any way! As I said, this is only starting to affect me recently as I see people around Uni including Singaporean groups, Vietnamese groups and often Russian groups of people who are surrounded by these familiarities that I have not yet been able to experience.

How I deal with this, is similar to what I said above, but I really enjoy reminding myself of the many benefits that come from having friends from other cultures. My mind has grown, my horizons have broadened, I have been awakened and I have met people and had discussions that I never would have been able to if I was living my usual, predictable life in Australia. I am living an absolute adventure and I need to value that. 

I started this blog in order to share my experiences, and this is something I am going through at the moment, something I assume is only natural.  There are of course other things I struggle with living here including how everywhere is so busy and the lack of open spaces, but I have realised there is so much more to life than this. As you can probably tell, my struggles in the big scheme of things really are only minor. This is something which I really do need to focus on. I have learnt that it is most important, that in order to move forward, you must embrace these unpredictable moments in life, as they are where the greatest lessons can be learnt.

Top 5 Things About Living in Singapore:  http://australian-living-abroad.blogspot.sg/2014/04/singapore-being-popular-stop-over-for.html

Book review #3: Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

So I just finished reading ‘Ninteen Minutes’ by Jodi Picoult. This is the first book I have ever read by Picoult. I had known she was popular, but for some reason I had always put off reading her books.

This novel is centred on the character of Peter Houghton, who for the entirety of his schooling has faced verbal and physical abuse by his classmates. Josie Cormier was his best friend and the only person he could count on growing up, although she soon succumbed to peer pressure, absorbed by the façade that everything is better when you are part of the ‘popular’ crowd. Coincidently, this crowd are the ones instigating the harassment towards Peter.

Soon the bullying got too much for Peter and one March morning he enters his school heavy laden with guns and starts shooting. Ten people were killed, forever changing their town and many are left calling for justice and answers.

As you can probably tell, this novel is full of thrill and intensity, although it was also full of psychological and social insight. I was totally unaware of the many different ways bullying can affect someone psychologically and the lengths people will go JUST to be accepted. I think these social issues really resonate with many today, especially those in high school. I felt so horribly sad that people are made to feel so empty and worthless around the world to this day. We should have grown past this by now!

Picoult described everything in this novel intricately, patiently and with great awareness which is such a credit to her. She allowed me to understand each character and the entirety of the story line by switching from past to present tense character accounts depending on the chapter.

Although in saying this, this was a slow read. There were times when the book took a turn and something shocking was made aware to the reader and it was page turning and gripping, but for the most part it was so incredibly predicable and the ending was so disappointing. I suppose I had really high hopes for the novel after what I had heard about Picoult, although I found myself thinking when I finished the novel, ‘where was the unprecedented ending?’. I saw what the ending turned out to be within the first few chapters, so I had to read almost 600 pages to find out that yes, I was right. Although I do have to say, it was an awesome story line and the characters were really interesting and different to most books I had read, but I just wish so badly I had been able to get more into it!

My Unique Sushi Experience!

On Friday I had one of the best sushi experiences ever! I went with two of my friends to Genki Sushi in Orchard Central. 

The sushi at this restaurant is so incredibly delicious and SO affordable! You could easily fill up on 15-20$ worth of sushi. There was such an extensive range offered, from tuna to salmon, lobster and crab; catering to all pallets. There were even small dishes including Fries and Teriyaki Chicken.  Each table was situated beside a sushi train.  

The most exciting aspect of this dining experience was how you received your chosen dish.  Once you glanced at the menu,  you were to choose what you wanted using an ipad which sent your orders through to the kitchen. A few minutes later an electronic train came straight to your table, carrying your dishes, ready for you to collect your sushi. You then had to press a button to send it back to the kitchen. 

I tried to get out of my comfort zone when choosing the types of sushi I would devour. I think I came close to successful! One of my friends was eating plates of just raw sashimi, some even without rice! I thought that that was perhaps a little too daring for me. I chose Tuna, Spicy Salmon (which was AMAZING; like hands down the best sushi I have ever had) and the Seared Shrimp with Black Pepper Sauce. All of which were delicious! Of course I had to finish my meal which a scoop of Black Sesame Ice-cream; its standard. I felt like I was back in Japan after eating here.

 I thoroughly recommend this restaurant to anyone who is a sucker for cool contraptions and exciting service alongside a delicious array of foods!