The Gardens Have Bloomed!
The Gardens @ Midvalley finally opened its doors yesterday and I couldn’t wait to check it out! I had been watching its construction for a while and wondering if it could meet its Sept 2007 launch date. And meet it it did, albeit half empty and dusty! So today, I strolled over to take a look and my first impression, unfinished as it was, was “WOW!”
It’s designed with luxury and high-end in mind which seems to be the trend today with the swanky Pavilion and Starhill downtown. Everywhere was highly polished surfaces, gleaming wood panels and shining metal. The workers were on their hands and knees, literally (!), frantically scrubbing and polishing the tiles while others were vacuuming the rugs at the entrance. Walk in and you’ll be greeted by uniformed staff at the door, complete with white gloves, just like a luxury hotel. A concierge desk is there to assist you with all your needs while lots of comfortable chairs such as these are scattered all over for weary husbands and boyfriends!
The first thing that struck me was that The Gardens very strongly resemble the layout of Vivocity in Singapore with perhaps a bit more luxury brands. Most of the stores here were luxury stores such as Mossimo Dutti, Wedgewood and even a Samsonite boutique. The majority of them were still closed but my main reason for being there was to check out the brand new Robinsons and Isetan stores! I took a quick little stroll around and while Robinsons was quite nice with a cute little display of Lulu Guiness quirky bags at the entrance, it didn’t seem very different from the other stores that we already have. Perhaps I didn’t have much time to walk around but I was hoping it would be a little more like the Robinsons in Singapore with lots of funky brands and stuff we don’t usually get here.
I made a quick dash to Isetan, the other anchor tenant, opposite Robinsons and was rather impressed with their Isetan Beauty Centre which is essentially facial and massage rooms for a few different cosmetic brands. The centre even came with showers and its own makeup room for you to make up at after your facial or massage and amazingly, it came equipped with a full set of Shishedo makeup!
I do wonder though who would dare use it after countless people have touched it!
It was a whirlwind dash through The Gardens and I just had time to take a peep at the funky food garden coming up too which again strongly resembles the quaintly designed Food Republic in Vivocity! For all its opulence and luxury, I just had that feeling that they were trying a little too hard to compete with the big stores like The Pavillion and Starhill which has their own charm. Then again, it could turn out a lot more interesting once the food garden, cinema, Cocoon (I wonder what’s that!) and all the other shops have opened fully by the end of the year.
I wish something could be done about the parking though. The whole area around Midvalley is one huge mess!
Nice Colleagues
Dilbert has always been one of my favourite comic strips. I can relate to it only all too well especially the cubicle concept and the pointy-head boss! I didn’t always have nice colleagues in my previous jobs. So, it was a very refreshing change when a new colleague joined us here. I found out that she used to come from my old school (what a small world!) and don’t ever believe people who tell you the old school ties don’t work because they definitely do!
Case 1:
I was recently chatting to her and in the course of conversation about Pasar Ramadhan and Ramadhan buffets, I told her that I love acar buah. It’s a sticky, sometimes oily concoction of all kinds of preserved fruit cooked in a sweetish, spicy sauce which is simply out of this world and usually found only during Ramadhan. The very next day, she popped by in my room and handed me a box of acar buah! She said she was in the Bangsar Pasar Ramadhan the evening before and thought of me when she saw it! So she got one for me to try and refused any payment! 
Case 2:
I mentioned to her once, too, that I was longing to watch the new Indonesian drama “Love is Cinta” and she was really amused that I watch Indonesian and Malay shows like Cerekarama which she, a modern Malay, doesn’t even watch! In contrast, she watches lots of Cantonese movies which I have no idea who the actors or actresses are! Heh…We got to talking about shows like the famous Sepet by Yasmin Ahmad and two days later, she suddenly passed me a DVD for Cinta starring Syarifah Amani! I was really pleased as I’d been wanting to catch this show and am definitely going to watch it soon…once we get our DVD player! 
Case 3:
Just this morning, she excitedly burst into my room to tell me how Kanebo in the newly opened Gardens@Midvalley was doing Kanebo facials at only RM45, as a special promotion in conjunction with their opening! She remembered that I once told her I go for facials at Kanebo and thought I’d like to take advantage of this discounted one as well! She told me she’ll get me a copy of their discounts and promotions when she heads there later which I thought was really very nice of her.
She’s been a really nice colleague which does make the workday a little bit more bearable. I guess the old school ties do have a role to play but I’m just really glad to have a nice colleague to chat to and discuss girly stuff with. Sis swears, though, it’s because I’ve bought her over for a bar of chocolate the last time I travelled!
Whatever it is, nice colleagues definitely make life a lot more pleasant, especially when it comes to battling frogs!
Unazukin - My Decision Maker
I’ve got me a new favicon! *points to little pink icon* Yippee! Thanks again, PB!
So what’s my favicon? It’s the uber-cute Unazukin, a little doll by Banzai that’s my answer to all my indecisiveness! The story has it that she’s a little fairy who usually lives under a mushroom in the woods. And she’s a really good listener who just sits nodding or shaking her head occasionally so if you have any problems and need decisions, speak to your little Unazukin!
She’s the perfect decision maker for me!
Should I go to work today? - *shake*
Should I wear that dress? - *nod*
Does that shoe look nice? - *shake*
Should I blog today? - *nod*
Hehe…anyone who knows me would know that I’m a big fan of Japanese things so if you come across anywhere I can buy the Unazukin from, give me a holler! - *nod*
Defibrillate My Blog
Before I even started to learn about the powers of blogging, I used to visit Project Petaling Street (PPS), a novel brainchild by a blogger who wanted to bring together Malaysian bloggers in one space for them to air their views. Those were the times when bloggers were far and few in between and there were some really good quality blogs that used to ping on PPS. It was through PPS that I got to know the big blogger names way before they become famous celebrity bloggers.
I was just telling sis that PPS is like defibrillator to my Reviews blog. When I ping it, the readership spikes and the little heart of my blog starts to beat feebly. When I don’t, the little heartbeat that I got going stops again and “eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” I get a flat line again and it’s dead!
So now and for a while until I get some readership on Reviews, it’s stand back and CLEAR!
*beep* *beep* *beep*
