ASTRO Channel 412 & 511

Are you currently having problems with viewing the above channels on Astro? If you are, this might just solve your problem in the simplest of ways.

Step 1 - Do you own a Panasonic cordless phone? If, yes, is it currently plugged near your Astro decoder?

Step 2 - Turn off or unplug your Panasonic cordless phone.

Voila! Your problem should be solved. If not, call Astro for the technician again.

How did I come to know about this? I have not been able to watch the above channels for a few months. Recently, I got fed up of waiting for it to magically correct itself and called Astro. A report was filed and the Astro technician came to my house a few days later. All they did was turn off / unplug my Panasonic cordless phone and MAGICALLY, I could view Channel 412 & 511 again. I asked for clarification and the technician stated that many people had complained about this and most of the time, it has been because the frequency of the Panasonic cordless phone is interfering with the Astro frequency for those channels.

However, I have had this cordless phone for 4 years and never had trouble viewing the channels until recently. So the technician guessed that Astro could have changed certain frequencies (can't explain more since I don't know anything about this satellite stuff!). Apparently, the technician said one of the customers requested that Astro replace his Panasonic cordless phone since it wasn't his fault that the frequency was interfering with the Astro channels. I wonder what became of THAT request. Hahaha.

So hope this blog post helps some of you having the same problem as us!

Burt's Bees in Malaysia!

Yesterday I was at The Curve and pretty much walking aimlessly for awhile when I stopped and stared at something for a long while because I couldn't really believe my eyes. Right next to Border's Bookshop on the Ground floor of The Curve, were the renovations boards indicating that Burt's Bees ("Burt's") was going to be a new addition to the shops at The Curve!!!

I first learned about Burt's when I went to Singapore sometime last year and walked into Sephora. I bought the Replenishing Lip Balm with Pomegranate Oil just to try out the product. Suffice to say, I am very happy using this product as it keeps my lips smooth and moist. The pomegranate oil is supposed to infuse your lips with antioxidants.

Replenishing Lip Balm with Pomegranate Oil

Picture extracted from Burt's Bees website

Basically, the brand is all about using natural ingredients for its products. Currently, half of their products are 100% natural and the company is aiming to to meet a goal of 100% natural formulas for all their products. All products are free from the following:

• Sulfates
• Parabens
• Phthalates
• Petrochemicals

Currently, Burt's has the following product ranges : Lips, Face, Body, Hands and Feet, Hair, Baby and Mom, Men, Sun and Outdoor and Gift Packs. Let's hope that when the store opens in Malaysia, most of the products will be available. I would really love love to try out some of their other products, for example their Lip Shimmer products which I was told by the Sales Assistants in Sephora, were one of Burt's best selling items.

I believe the store will be open for business in another month or 2. You can read more about Burt's Bees' products at www.global.burtsbees.com.

Has anyone used Burt's Bees products before? If you have, please let me know which product you love and would recommend to others!

Update : The Burt's Bees store is now open at The Curve right next to Borders on the Ground Floor.

Update 2 : If you buy above RM200, you will be eligible for a loyalty card which entitles you to 10% off on all products for life and a 30% discount on the week of your birthday.

My old love is back!!!

My all time favorite restaurant is called Cilantro Restaurant & Wine Bar. It is a fine dining restaurant located in MiCasa All Suite Hotel on Jalan Tun Razak. I was pretty distraught when I found out that the hotel would be undergoing refurbishment works and that the restaurant would also be closed down during that time. It's not that I frequent this restaurant often (otherwise I would be flat out broke), but even though I only went once a year, the food and the service never disappointed me. So you can imagine how devastated I was when my husband braced me to hear the news that Cilantro was supposedly never going to re-open!!!

Fortunately for me, we found out that Cilantro DID decide to re-open and my hubby decided to take me there to celebrate my birthday. All smiles!!! I couldn't wait to find out if the restaurant was going to be able to maintain its level of service and food quality. So here goes.....

On arrival at the restaurant, I did not notice any change to the entrance of the restaurant. On the interior, nothing had been changed at all except for perhaps some lighting fixtures and upholstery being done on the furniture. Otherwise the layout was entirely the same as before. Cilantro is not a big restaurant. The whole restaurant probably holds about 14 tables with 4 private rooms. In the basement, there is a room that can accommodate a party of about 20. There are also sofas in the basement where you can adjourn to for after dinner drinks and perhaps, a cigar. :))

As for the food, my hubby decided to go for the Degustation Menu which consisted of a little of everything. 'Degustation' is defined by Wikipedia as a culinary term meaning 'careful, appreciative tasting of various foods" and focusing on the gustatory system, the senses, high culinary art and good company. The degustation menu was priced at RM300++ per person. For a full description, please refer to the Cilantro link.

Appetisers under the Degustation Menu

Main Course of Lobster under the Degustation Menu

As for me, seeing that I'm a less adventurous person when it comes to food, I decided to order a Cream of Truffle Soup (RM58) as my appetizer. Boy, was it delicious but that's because I like truffles. They used to have a Truffle Souffle in the previous menu which I absolutely loved but the soup is a good substitute. For my main, I decided to go with Maine Lobster Acqua Pazza with Asari and Pistou (RM238). Yes, I had to ask the waitress what it all meant! Hahaha....Basically you get three large pieces of lobster meat, one gigantic asparagus and small clams in a dish with some soupy type of sauce. It was uber yummy as well.... Oh, and they also brought some more vegetables and asked if we would like extra on our dish. I thought that was good of them. There was nothing left on the plate by the time I had finished with it. :))

My all time favorite butter with mixed with olives (although it might be truffle this time) ... I get confused... But it's good!

Cream of Truffle Soup

Maine Lobster

I must apologize in advance as I forgot to take pictures of the dessert that I ordered. I had the Ginger infused Blanc Manger with Mango Sorbet (RM35). Basically it's a soft jelly like pudding which has a slight ginger taste to it, accompanied by a scoop of the most delicious and smooth sorbet I have ever tasted. The sorbet was so good that we ordered two more scoops each of three different flavours to be shared with my sisters, brother in law and soon to be brother in law. SO SO SO good.....

My sis had this dessert - Chocolate Terrine with Pistachio Ice Cream

The only little grouse we have about Cilantro is that the coffee is not very good. The coffee has not been able to measure up to our expectations but what the heck, everything else is good and I'm NOT a coffee person. Hehehe.

Has anyone eaten at Cilantro lately? Let me know what you thought of it!

Eeek!!

Today, I just want to post a short rant about something I saw while driving past the SS2 morning market. It was towards the end of the morning market and the owners were cleaning up their respective stalls. I saw this owner of a, I guess it was a 'Yau Cha Kwai' stall and I saw him wiping down his wok and thought, 'oh, that is good of him to keep the wok clean'! When I looked closer, I saw that he was wiping it down with newspaper!! I mean, is there a good reason to do this? Isn't the ink detrimental to the health of consumers??!! I could not believe my eyes. Note to self, let's not eat food from those stalls anymore!!! Eeeeek!

Serenity Gemz - CHRISTMAS OFFER

Serenity Gemz is currently offering a 25% discount on ALL items until 31st December 2009 as part of its Christmas promotion.

Do check it out and who knows? Perhaps pick out your own Christmas present? Hehe....

EcoTools in Malaysia

Has anyone ever heard of EcoTools? Well, EcoTools has many products under its earth friendly line but the brand is more well known for its makeup brushes. Why? Because EcoTools brushes are made of natural and recycled materials and much cheaper than other branded makeup brushes and supposed to work just as well. It was all the rage in the USA but unobtainable in Malaysia. I managed to buy a few brushes when a friend went to the USA.

Yesterday, while I was walking around One Utama Shopping Centre, I decided to pop into the Shins retail outlet just to check out if they had anything interesting. And my eyes nearly popped out when I saw that they were selling EcoTools makeup brushes!! I couldn't take any pictures as the shop was very small and had 3 SAs which would probably be eyeing me curiously if I were to start taking pictures.

The pictures below are some brushes that I managed to obtain through a friend in the USA:

Bamboo 5-piece brush set - Baby Kabuki, Mineral Powder Brush, Concealer Brush and Eyeshader Brush

Bamboo 6 piece brush set - Blush Brush, Concealer Brush, Eyeshading Brush, Eyeliner Brush and Lash and Brow Groomer

EcoTools Powder Brush

EcoTools Foundation Brush

I managed to purchase the first 3 items at a total of about RM125 after conversion. Here, the price of the 6 piece Bamboo Brush Set was retailing for RM85, while the Powder Brush was retailing for about RM50. I must apologise for forgetting to check the price of the 5 piece bamboo brush but seeing that the price of my 3 items from the USA is only equivalent to the price of the 2 items in Malaysia, I'd say it's way more expensive to get in Malaysia.

The makeup brushes are made from synthetic bristles which are 100% cruelty free and bamboo handles that have a low impact on the earth's resources as it is a highly sustainable plant. The silver part of the brush is actually recycled aluminium. Although the bristles are synthetic, I must say that the brushes feels truly soft and luxurious. I personally like the eyeliner brush and the concealer brush. For eyeshadow, I prefer a more dense makeup brush. The blush brush works really well in picking up blush powder as well. I found the baby kabuki brush to be too sparse to work effectively and I think one which is more densely packed would be a better kabuki brush.

Anyhow, this posting is for those of you who might have wanted to try out EcoTools brushes but never got the opportunity to try it out. I can't be sure whether all Shins outlets now carry EcoTools so just pop into the one at One Utama New Wing to avoid disappointment!

Have you ever tried using EcoTools brushes? If you have, let me know your comments!

Totebags Galore!

Has anyone ever heard of the brand Rootote? It is a brand which was created in Japan in 2001 and it's called a Rootote because each bag has a convenient side pocket called a "Roo pocket" (as in kangaroo, I think). There are also convenient pockets to hold all your gadgets and stuff inside the bag. For those who are afraid to use bags with no zip enclosures (like me), you can put your purses and such in the Roo pocket as it is a cleverly hidden pocket with a zip enclosure at the side of the bag. To see what I mean, please visit Rootote.com.

Here are some pictures of the Rootote bags :

Cosmetic Pouch

The prices for the totebags ranges from RM50 to RM125 for limited editions. The cosmetic pouches retail for RM45. The bags made from polyester materials are priced at RM50 and the cotton canvas ones are priced from RM55 onwards. I have seen these and I feel that the material that is used for the totebags are strong and durable, perfect for everyday use. And the above are just a fraction of the designs that are available.

You can find the above bags at :

Life & Style Co.
P2-L1, Tropicana City Mall
No 3, Jalan SS20/27
47400 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan

The shop also sells other brands of totebags such as Funtote (from the USA) and Envirosax which are environmentally friendly designer shopping bags. Everyone should be encouraged to use these bags as their contribution in saving our environment!

Enjoy!!