Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

Bukit Bintang is a bustling area offers almost everything in every taste and budget.  It is located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur within the Golden Triangle, a premier business, shopping and entertainment district.  I would be here a few times in a year but I had never stayed in any hotel here before. We had a fortune to stay in the JW Marriott hotel in Bukit Bintang by an invitation of  my sister in law last weekend. This hotel is adjoining to the prestigious Starhill Gallery and is just a few steps away to the other major shopping malls like Pavilion, Fahrenheit 88, Lot 10 and Sungai Wang. It is also nearby the popular Bintang Walk, a lively and vibrant pedestrian walkway where you can find a vast variety of restaurants, open-air cafes, entertainment outlets and shops. It will take about 15 minutes to walk the whole length of the walkway. This is one place you should not miss if you are in Bukit Bintang.

Bukit Bintang is really a good place for shopaholic and food lover. It is also a good place for night strolling. If you like nightlife, you will have many choices here. Anyway, I just like eating! haha!! Since we were staying in a hotel close to many shopping malls, restaurants and entertainment outlets,  surely we wouldn't miss the opportunity to visit the shopping malls during the day and at night. Of course we also seized the opportunity to take a night stroll and try out the cuisines in such a hotspot.

JW Marriott hotel in Bukit Bintang

Night scene of Bukit Bintang

Right opposite JW Marriott Hotel is the massive Pavilion shopping mall. Brands available here range from upmarket labels to mid-market labels. I like this shopping mall, it is beautiful and has a large number of restaurants selling a wide variety of international cuisines and drinks. To me, it is a great hangout. We had our dinner in a Japanese restaurant called "iciban boshi" here that evening.

Pavilion

Pavilion - The outdoor walking area

If you are looking for luxury labels, Starhill Gallery is the place for you with Gucci, Dior and Louis Vuitton. This is an upscale shopping mall where I almost afraid to touch everything. Apart from the luxury labels, the unique standout here is the stylish modern designs and decorations throughout the building.

Starhill Gallery

Sungei Wang is one of the most popular shopping malls among locals in Kuala Lumpur. Every weekend it is packed with visitors. To me, this is one of the places we can get good deals on ladies apparel in Bukit Bintang.

Sungei Wang

Lot 10 is located along Bintang Walk. There is a limited variety of stores. Anyway the popular departmental store called Isetan was our favorite shopping spot that night.

Lot 10

Berjaya Times Square is located along Jalan Imbi. What impressed me was the Asian's largest indoor theme park. The huge indoor rollercoaster really attracted my attention.

Berjaya Times Square

We had a great weekend and I would like to wish everyone a great weekend. :-)

FRIM (Forest Research Institute of Malaysia)

Yesterday morning, we took a chance to go cycling and strolling around in FRIM ( Forest Research Institute of Malaysia). FRIM is located in Kepong, Selangor. It is a nice place for outing. We were so happy to explore the forest. We loved the fresh air, the green nature, the tranquil environment and the beautiful scene there.

Entrance of FRIM

After the entrance, there was a signboard showing the way to Taman Botani Kepong (Kepong Botanic Garden), that was our cycling starting point. Later, we had a look and took a rest at Timber Technology Centre.

The scenery of Jalan FRIM (after the entrance)

Surroundings of Timber Technology Centre in FRIM

Along the way, we found that there were many species of plant in the forest. One of the species that struck me was the Eucalyptus deglupta tree. It looked tall and the rainbow color of the trunk was so unique. From a distance, I thought it had been painted on, actually these colors were natural. To me, that was the most beautiful tree in the forest.

Green spaces of the nature in FRIM

Eucalyptus deglupta tree

Beautiful buildings

Fish pond

Information center and cafeteria

There was a picnic area called Sungai Kroh Picnic Area. Opposite the picnic area was a little waterfall called Sg. Kroh Waterfall. Walking up the walkway would lead you to the waterfall. Further up the walkway, there was a shallow pool where the children could wade in.

A walkway lead to the waterfall

A little waterfall

We were so happy to cycling and strolling around the forest. One thing that you have to keep in mind is remember to bring along a can of repellent because you will encounter some mosquitoes and insects along the way.

finger puppets

This is another craft idea of using craft material scraps - finger puppets. I whipped up these little animal cartoons while my daughters were reading their new bought story books. These finger puppets are the right tool to transform a child to be a storyteller. I believe that their minds are full of imaginations and they could tell you a few imaginative stories once they put the finger puppets on their little fingers.

These finger puppets are very easy to make, what you need are a few scraps of felt, ribbon,glue, beads and embroidery floss. I have posted all these five finger puppet templates below, you are welcome to try out these simple finger puppets with the templates here.

Giraffe

Bear

Frog

Rabbit

Panda

Bow bookmarks

I had not tidied up my craft materials for some time. I found that there were a few scraps of ribbon kept in a little box. I didn't want to waste those scraps and thought for a while ...... "I better make some mini crafts than throw them away."  Yes, I got an idea in a sudden! I wished to make some bow bookmarks with these scraps of ribbon.

It is pretty quick to create this mini craft. What you need are some scraps of ribbon, some paper clips or some decorative items like buttons and beads. Here show you one of the way I made the bow bookmarks.

1. Make a desired loop with a piece of wide ribbon and put the paper clip at the centre of the ribbon loop.
2. Insert another kind of ribbon strip (a fine ribbon would be recommended) through the paper clip as shown in the photo and hold them firmly. The fine ribbon should be set at the centre of the ribbon loop.
3. Tie a hard knot at the back of the wide ribbon and then trim the fine ribbon.
4. Done.

If you found that this method is not easy to set a bow on top of the paper clip, you can just tie a bow at the top of the paper clip with the ribbon itself and then sew a button or bead at at the centre as a decoration.

I like these colorful bookmarks..... don,t you? They are simple but they would be a very cute and meaningful gift for girl.

Split stitch

A split  stitch can be used for straight lines, curved lines and outlines. It is also used effectively as a solid filling stitch. You can get a smooth and solid filling stitch when it worked side by side in rows. As far as I know, there is another method of split stitch called two-color split stitch. As the name states, the stitch will be made in two colors.  Usually, I use six strands of embroidery floss to make split stitch as I can separate the stitch in half easily. Of course you can use less or more strands of floss to create a desired split stitch. Let me show you these two methods with six strands of embroidery floss below.



Split stitch

1. Make the first stitch by sending the needle up from the back and then sending it down one stitch length to the back.


2. Then, send the needle up through the middle of the previous stitch you just made.


3.&4. Send the needle back down again the same stitch length and repeat the steps.

 
5. End your last stitch by inserting the needle down to the fabric close to the last stitch.


6. A row of split stitches is done.





 Two-color split stitch

Thread the needle with two colors. Splitting the stitches with the above mentioned method but always keep one color above the needle and the other below.

If you wish to make a very fine line with two-color split stitch, you can thread the needle with two or four strands (even number) of embroidery floss so they split evenly while stitching.