Posts from — June 2008
JCPenney 4th of July Sale
JCPenney.com.my is having their 4th of July sale which features some houseware at 50% off the normal retail price! Click here to view JCPenney’s houseware offerings.
photo courtesy of JCPenney.com.my
Payment options: Visa or MasterCard
Advantage: Shop from home convenience, well defined return policy,
Beware of: Shipping Costs (it will be factored into your grand total as a separate line item during checkout)
I like the clean, uncluttered and intuitive web interface which makes it a breeze to browse and shop. They’ve got some good looking tableware and well-priced bedding items. Personally, I’d go to Jalan Ipoh 3rd mile for bath and kitchen accessories but if the effort of leaving the home to shop outweighs the cost savings you could get offline, then it’s a blessing for you to be acquainted with JCPenney.
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Special thanks to Adrian Schmitter for prompting me about the existence of JCPenney in Malaysia.
June 30, 2008 4 Comments
Tips for Storing Wine at Home
Wine is the the new social elixir of Asia and many of us tend to keep a few bottles stowed away in the home for functions or simply to consume when friends and family come over for dinner. Here are a few tips on how to store wine properly at home.
The first thing to know is that it is NOT true that all wines will mature and taste better with age. The rule of thumb is that wines under RM70 should not be kept for more than 12 months. Australian wines such as most variations of Hardy’s and Jacob’s Creek will not benefit from extended keeping. The same applies for wines labeled Vin de Pays (France) and QBA (Germany).
Temperature - most wine can be stored at room temperature. The more important thing to consider is that the place you’re storing your wine should not be prone to temperature fluctuations of more than a few degrees a day. Don’t store wine in a place within the home that can have dramatic temperature changes.
Humidity - Experts reckon the ideal humidity level is approximately 70%, to prevent the end of the cork from drying out. In Malaysia, we are fortunate not to have to worry much about this factor
Light - Do not expose your wine to direct sunlight or strong artificial lighting. Light could heat the wine and spoil it. Best to keep wine in dark corners (especially white wine which is at higher risk of light exposure)
Vibration - This is usually a non-factor, unless you’re keeping your wine on top of your fridge! Make sure you store your wine in a vibration free zone (e.g. cupboard/shelf). Vibration causes internal movement which could adversely affect the ageing of the wine.
Here’s a useful article from The Wine Anorak on how to store and place wine bottles
Here’s an article from My Wines Direct with tips on wine storage
Don’t like to read very much? Then watch this video on tips on how to store wine
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To start storing wine, you can get VURM, an affordable 4-bottle metallic wine holder from IKEA for RM39. It’s got a contemporary look and can look quite nice if hung up in a set of 2 or 3. A simple way to help decorate or fill up an empty wall.
For several times the price or VURM, you could consider buying this opulent looking wall hung wine rack from Relish for USD65.
June 28, 2008 1 Comment
HowTo: Use Trouser Hangers Instead of Frames
Here’s an unconventional method to hang your art prints or blown up photographs, using trouser hangers! Came across this marvelous idea via poppytalk and ladies & gentlemen home. This little idea has apparently even been featured on O at Home.
To implement this great moneysaving idea, you can purchase your trouser hanger (model: BUMERANG) from Ikea at RM2.90 a piece. It’ll cost you less than RM12 to hang up a series of 4 prints. You can always opt to lacquer the hanger to give it a more aged/classy look.
June 27, 2008 6 Comments
(Plant) Life Begins at Sungai Buloh
Want to buy plants? Sungai Buloh is THE place for just that, with plenty of nurseries selling a myriad variety of plants for very reasonable prices. It’s about 10km from the beginning of the LDP highway (at the crossroads to Sri Damansara, Sungai Buloh, Kepong). I found this useful location map on claritydefinesyou.blogspot.com. Clarity’s blog post is very pictorial and clearly illustrates just what sort of beautiful flora is on offer at Sungai Buloh.
Basic directions- follow the road signs that say ‘Sungai Buloh’/’Kuala Selangor’ and head towards the Sg. Buloh Hospital. The road to the hospital forks out into a ramp that curves right (going over and across the main road you were on) – there’s a small ‘Hospital Sg. Buloh’ sign at the fork which is quite easy to miss. I was fortunate enough to have had an ambulance help lead the way as it was going back to base. Go past the hospital and you’ll come to a set of traffic lights. Head straight past the lights and you’ll start seeing some nurseries on your right. Ignore these as they’re generally more pricy and continue on and you’ll find that the path/road narrows with nurseries on either side of the road.
My aim was to buy some indoor plants for liven up the home a little. If you fancy a particular plant and are not a subject matter expert on all matters flora, make sure you check with the workers if the plant is suitable indoors (i.e. does not require abundant sunlight). I ended up buying several plants (ranging from RM5 to RM12) and some black river rocks- a 10kg bag cost approx RM20 (try your luck bargaining a couple of dollars off the tag price. I did). I was not able to pick up any nice indoor pots (i.e. no holes at the bottom of the pot) as most pots sold there are largely meant for outdoor use. I guess I’ll try IKEA for simple yet affordable pots.
For those of you seriously intending to start your own garden, I’d strongly suggest getting your plants from Sungai Buloh. I had a very pleasant experience the ‘Lim Jik Heok Nursery’ (look for Ms. Lim)- great service plus they also had a large variety of indoor plants for sale. TIP: It’s easier to get a discount off them currently because they’re planning to relocate to the Rahman Putra area so they would rather sell to you cheap than worry about plant logistics.
June 26, 2008 1 Comment
Pavilion KL Home Fair- Updates
I went, I saw, I left disappointed and empty handed. That’s how I would sum up my experience at the Pavilion Home Fair over the weekend. The fair took up a footprint of about 1k sqft at the concourse area and displayed limited wares from the stores in the Home Precinct (e.g. XQZT, Vertzu, Molecule, Aussino). Sadly, nothing much was greatly discounted or seemed like a bargain at all. It seemed more of a marketing effort to let shoppers know of their existence at the Home Precinct located at one end of the mall on the 5th floor. Ironically, the booth with the most traffic was the one selling subscriptions on local home magazines.
No surprises that Molecule (check out www.moleculeliving.com) displayed the most attractive and interesting home ware. If you’re into designer items, I recommend you check out Molecule (located on the Home Precinct) as you will be amazed with the myriad items they have on display. The store is just cluttered with designer items ranging from small items such as clocks, vases and decorative ornaments to larger items such as tables and sofas. They’ve got interesting lighting and art pieces on sale as well but note that generally ALL things at Molecule are rather pricey (you’ve been warned, but I still believe you’ll find something you fancy at this store. Question then would be- Are you willing to part with your money for that item?). I love the fact that they have a marvelous clocks display with plenty of distinctive designs to choose from (ranging from RM248 for Karlsson clocks to RM2k). Even though the items on sale at Molecule are fine designer items, personally, I’d still prefer to get my wares from G.D.O simply because of one key factor- price.
I thought I’d end my disappointing visit to Pavilion by getting some J-Co donuts to cheer me up. Alas, the line was too long and I wasn’t prepared to wait in queue. Strangely enough, when my parents came over last night to pick us up for dinner, my mom brought us a box of donuts, from where else but J-Co! Mom always knows best.
June 25, 2008 No Comments
Footballer’s Cribs on MTV
Got stuck in several traffic jams and it took me almost two whole hours to get back home today. I sung to Jason Mraz and the Click 5 whilst my left foot was getting excessive clutch action. Methinks my next car will definitely be an auto transmission. For now, my zippy little Proton will do just fine- provided it continues to behave well. Saves me a bundle on petrol anyway what with the rising fuel cost.
I was knackered by the time I got home and decided to watch a bit of the telly before having my Kuchai Lama fried beef kuay teow (thanks Mom and Dad for bringing it over!). As usual, they were showing the morning’s matches on channel 817 and 818, of which I’ve caught the live games so I decided to channel surf. There was nothing interesting on AXN, StarWorld, AFC or Disc Travel so I decided to go further up the 700 channel range. I stopped at MTV because the blue program display bar showed ‘Footballer’s Cribs’ and I was secretly wishing that ‘Footballer’ here would not mean the American variety. Wait a minute… could it be? PASCAL CHIMBONDA!?!?! Woo hoo, ‘footballer’ = ’soccer player’!!!
What could be better- I LOVE football and I am into home decor- a perfect match. Chimbonda’s home was in a penthouse in Manchester (this must’ve been when he was still playing for Wigan) with a view of overlooking what I figured was Arnsdale Shopping Centre (FYI- Ryan Giggs is the official image ambassador for Arnsdale). During the show, the camera would follow him whilst he showed off his abode in little english he spoke. What I didn’t fancy was the swaying action of the camera- MTV, that may be cool to you but some of us really just want to see his place without having to feel like we’re on a ship at sea.
Anyway, I’m really excited about this show and I’m definitely going to tune in every Thursday at 830pm on channel 714. You should too because I believe many of the footballer’s homes are ultra-modern, mainly featuring contemporary themes as the majority of players in their peak are in their 20s or early 30s. The reason for sharing this little find is because I am certain that you will be able to extract many ideas on home design and decoration from the show.
Here’s an article on MTV UK about Footballer’s Cribs
Get MTVasia’s TV schedule here
Don’t watch the show thinking you can never afford the things these footballers have. You’re probably right (for now, at least). But watch the show to get ideas- themes, color schemes, shelving, furnishing, art, fixtures, furniture etc… rich people always want to differentiate themselves from their social group peers so there’s bound to be lots of unique design elements in their homes.
June 19, 2008 4 Comments
Pavilion KL Home Fair
The Pavilion KL Home Fair starts today, from 19th – 29th June. I’ve been waiting a while for this and will definitely visit the fair this weekend to see if there’s anything worth getting for the home. It must be said that most, if not all the home stores there are rather pricey but they do carry very interesting designer items and I’m willing to take my chances that I might just find something nice and affordable at the fair. If not, I could still go home with fresh and new ideas for the home.
Strangely, there is no mention of the home fair in the Pavilion KL website. Maybe the IT dude who maintains the site’s been watching all the Euro2008 games and zombie-ing at work, forgetting to update the site (admit it, some of you are just coasting during the day!).About the other only trace of information about this home fair can be found here at TheStar online
More updates after my visit this weekend.
June 19, 2008 7 Comments
Kirp Wall Shelf
The shelf that resembles the Nike Swoosh. That’s how I would describe the IKEA Kirp Wall Shelf in less than 10 words. This neat little shelf is great for storing CDs, DVDs, and books and has quite a designer feel to it as well. Would look great hung on a narrow piece of wall to accentuate the area. Wouldn’t look bad hung in a series of 2 or 3 similar shelves placed vertically apart.
The best thing about Kirp? It’s for sale for only RM35 at IKEA.
June 18, 2008 1 Comment
HowTo: Make A Great Photo Compilation
Went for a holiday and want to tell the story in pictures? Want to make an artistic photo compilation, have it printed, framed and hung on a wall in your home? I’ve found just the perfect tool. At tabblo.com, you can edit and compile your photos online, save your work and download it in pdf format to be printed. To get cracking, all you have to do is register for a free tabblo account.
Here are some samples of tabblos i made using photos from our trip to Bali sometime last year.
Pictures taken at Jimbaran.
Don’t mind that the base of the picture is cut off. That’s because the compilation is made up of many more pictures (similar with all the tabblo examples below) and I am not able to capture them all in one screenshot.
Pictures taken all around Kuta and Ubud area.
I was so fascinated with tabblo that I made some for our friends who travelled to Bali with us as well. As you can see, I used different standard layouts for each of the tabblos below.
Pictures featuring my best friend, Dennis Wee. Made for his fiance who was unable to join us on the trip.
Photo compilation featuring the effervescent Pei Lin. A great friend to have on any holiday. Gladly makes funny faces without being prompted.
A steep learning curve is not required to figure out how to create tabblos. All you need is some imagination and creativity. Once your tabblos are compiled and saved, you can select the ‘print at home’ option to save your work as a .pdf file, ready to be printed at home or at a local print shop. I decided to go to a local print shop to blow it up and print it on good quality paper.
Tabblo.com also allows you to create a photobook (image album) and photocubes (cube with a photo on each of the 6 sides) of which you will need to pay a fee to have it printed for you. You can also share your work with others online as well as view other people’s works (some of which are excellent and look very professional)
It sure is a great tool and I truly recommend it for those of you wanting to create your photo compilations as the tool is easy to use, comes with a predefined framework to ease design, and best of all- free (if you decide to print your tabblos on your own).
Once you’re done, all you have to do is print it out, frame it up and let it hang proudly on your wall. Another unique work of art created by YOU!
Pssst… you could get a large frame and put one of these compilations in your wall-o-memories too!
June 17, 2008 7 Comments
Birzi Table Lamp
Product Description (from Luceplan):
Birzì is an ironic and playful light, designed to be “mistreated”, deformed and touched. Made of silicone, this lamp takes on different shapes and sizes according to the user’s whim
Easy to use and to position, it is bump and fall resistant. The different colours – white, orange and green – flatter its silhouette, giving it a dynamic and contemporary look
Designed by Carlo Forlocini & Giancarlo Fassina, the Birzi table lamp sure is a refreshing and attractive lamp to have that can brighten any room. I really like the idea of a malleable lamp- shaped to suit one’s mood or feelings. You never have to worry about guests knocking over and breaking your table lamps if you have a Birzi!
Check out Luceplan’s website here for more interesting and quirky lighting solutions. To purchase it online at ylighting.com at USD104, click here
I also like these lamps from Luceplan (the top two are designs which you can find in many local lighting stores):
June 13, 2008 2 Comments
