May 19, 2014

4 Unique Décor Restaurants in Seminyak, Bali + Outfits

Nowadays the factors that are taken into consideration in choosing a restaurant are not only whether it is a treat to our taste-buds and ears, but also to our eyes.

 Here are 4 restaurants with great interiors in Seminyak, Bali that will make you want to punch yourself if you forget to bring your camera.
 1. Motel Mexicola
If you love colorful places with fun and quirky decor, then you have to visit Motel Mexicola. You will immediately feel happy just by being here! Aaand the place is full of beautiful spots to take pictures! Ahem.
Duo Taurus!
The atmosphere was great too, but it's SO hot in the afternoon! No wonder most people prefer to come here at night for some fun drinks with their friends.


Love this casual, yet sweet dress from GOWIGASA next arrival! And the material is just perfect for hot humid weather! ♥
What I Wore: GOWIGASA Dress | Amble Footwear Shoes | Gowimawa Bracelets

We only ordered a plate of nachos with guacamole and two juices. Not a great selection, but okay for snacks. I will definitely be coming back here again to try their other dishes!

My other outfit! Because life is too short to wear one outfit a day. B)



What I Wore: ZARA Top | GOWIGASA Polkadot Midi Skirt
Told you they have many interesting spots to take pictures. Even the toilet sign is cute!
MOTEL MEXICOLA
Jl. Kayujati no. 9 X, Petitenget Beach,
Seminyak, Bali
Phone: +62 361 736688
Open Hours: 11:00am - 1:00am
Price Range: IDR 23,000 - IDR 230,000
Cuisines: Mexican
Website: http://www.motelmexicolabali.com/

2. La Favela
La Favela, a hidden treasure for all vintage lovers out there!
I felt like I was in a jungle or something when I walked through the pathway to the main door.
Once you get inside the restaurant, it's quite dark so I didn't take any photos of the indoor area. But I've got to tell you that the decor was AMAZING! Definitely one of the best I've ever been to—visually. They really put so much effort into little details! Lots and lots of unique knick knacks! :D
This is one of the seating areas which is located outdoor, near the restrooms.
Talk about the restrooms, I posted a short video on my Instagram:
It literally gave me chills when I went inside! I don't know, maybe because I was alone and the fact that there is A LOT of creepy photos on the wall, fml. But while I was creeped out, I couldn't help but thinking how awesome it would be to have a photoshoot here!!
The other part of the outdoor space. Image credit: Milly&Alex
We didn't get the chance to order anything because apparently they open at 6pm while we got there at 3pm! *sigh
But huge thanks to the nice people there who allowed me to wander around so I could take some pictures and share it with you guys! :)
What I Wore: GOWIGASA Floral Long Sleeve Shirt (Yellow) and Must Have HW Shorts (Olive Green)
On the second floor, there is a roof decorated with vintage toy cars and bikes! It only means one thing: Must. Take. Photos.
The space on the far right was still under renovation when we visited.
What I Wore: GOWIGASA Floral Long Sleeve Shirt (Blue) and Must Have HW Shorts (Brown)

Besides the cool interior design, you also don't want to miss their theme parties!!
Make sure to check out their Facebook for the upcoming events! ;)

LA FAVELA
Jl. Laksamana Oberoi 177X Seminyak, Bali
Phone: +62 361 730603
Open Hours: 6:00pm - 2:00am
Cuisines: South American

3. Sea Circus
One word to describe this place: COLORFUL!

 Quoted from their website:
"Sea Circus is not an actual circus. It’s also not on the sea. It’s kinda near the beach… and probably as entertaining as a circus. OK, Sea Circus is an odd name. But it’s a really good restaurant, bar & coffee den thingy. So there."
So eye-catching, isn't it? I really love the painting!! One of my Instagram followers told me that it was his uncle's work. Well done, sir! :)
When you step in the restaurant, you will be welcomed by this ice cream freezer on your right...
...and a colorful set of bar stools on your left.
Candy colored Buddha statues! x)
This is the main area of the restaurant. Wait... was that random guy staring at my camera?
"I SEE YOUUUUU!" :|
Ok back to the cheerful photos!
Wah! The waitresses were also dressed in colorful uniforms!! And correct me if I'm wrong, they even sell the dress if you want! :D
Our F&B! My drink was Verry Berry (Strawberry, Raspberry, and Blueberry)- love it, very refreshing on a hot day! And Yansen's was a nothing-special Latte.
 Didn't get to taste his food, but he said it was delicious!
I think mine was sauteed mushrooms on toast with feta. Perfect portion if you are not so hungry but want to nibble.
Satisfying our sweet tooth with churros before we left!

What I Wore: Topshop White Turtleneck Top and Necklace | GOWIGASA Red Pinafore
SEA CIRCUS
Jalan Kayu Aya, Oberoi Rd no. 22 (opposite Samaya Villas), Seminyak, Bali.
Phone: +62 361 738 667
Price range: IDR 20,000 - IDR 145,000
Cuisines: European, Australian, Central American
Website: http://seacircus-bali.com/

4. Revolver Espresso
On the way to the next place! :D

I must tell you that it was quite challenging to find this cafe as the signage is very easy to miss. My taxi driver even got lost before he finally asked some guys on the street who told him that Revolver Espresso is located in the lane opposite Bali Clinic. So you can walk down lane way and find the front door (above picture) OR otherwise, you can enter from "This is a Love Song" store.

Many reviews say it's a must-go place if you love coffee. Unfortunately, I don't drink coffee, but as you can see, there is another reason to visit this place: Interesting decor! :D

↑ The first floor. ↑
I absolutely love the atmosphere and the cozy vibe here! The staff were very friendly too! ♥

↑ The second floor. Lol, it seems like Yansen was staring creepily at the man on the far left, but nah, they were just chit-chatting. ↑
↑ With my BFF, Vincent! He was the one who suggested ALL these cool places! Great taste or what! :D ↑

↑ My juice: a mix of banana and peanut butter (yum!!) :D ↑

↑ They also have unique names for their menus. This one is AK-47 which is basically poached eggs and bread, filled with spinach and supposed-to-be-spicy-but-it-was-not sauce. ↑
Image credit: Revolver Espresso's Facebook page.
♥ My Outfit ♥
Thank goodness I've taken outfit shots before I went to Revolver! Because let's face it, the place is cool but it's too dark to have decent #ootd pictures. :/
DONALD!!! One of my all time favorite Disney characters! Jess and I used to subscribe to "Majalah Donal Bebek" when we were kids! :D
What I Wore: GOWIGASA Donald Duck Plaid Shirt, Black Sleeveless Turtleneck Top, HW Acid Washed Denim Shorts, and Mirrored Sunglasses | Forever21 Gold Chain Necklace | Charles & Keith Mustard Bag | Jeffrey Campbell Black Boots

REVOLVER ESPRESSO
Jl. Kayu Aya/Gang 51,
Seminyak, Bali (Opposite Bali Clinic.)
Phone: +623617884968
Price range: IDR 34,000 - IDR 57,000
Cuisines: Cafe, Australian
Dining options: Breakfast/Brunch

If you have any restaurant recommendations in Bali please share in the comments below! I'd greatly appreciate it! :)
Elissa Yamada
By ELLE JESS at 1:12 PM 19 comments
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May 17, 2014

Work Made Easy | 'Microsoft Office 365 Personal' Review

L-R: Ines, Arif, Dila, me, and a very nice MC whose name I clumsily forget -_-

What software do you have in mind when you have to do a paperwork, say like... a school essay, a presentation, a budget report, a contract / agreement letter, etc.? I myself have to say Microsoft Office because I've been using it since 2001!! Yes, it's been 13 freaking years, ladies and gentlemen, our relationship goes WAY back. ^^v

The thing I'm gonna share to you today is that Microsoft recently launched a new, cloud-based product:

Yes, designed especially for us, high mobility individuals who travel a lot or like to work outside the office and NEED to get the paperwork done without the fuss; Office 365 Personal is now available in store with very affordable price. The IDR 71,999* package includes ALL seven Microsoft Office daily heroes: Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access and Publisher.
*monthly auto-renewal package price
**the 1-year auto-renewal package price is IDR 719,999 /year

Complete top features you'll get out of this deal:
• 1 year subscription includes the latest full Microsoft Office applications
• Office on 1 PC or Mac plus one iPad or Windows tablet
• Easily access your docs with Office Mobile apps for iPhones, Android, and Windows phones
• Free 20 GB OneDrive online storage
• Free 60 minutes Skype calls per month for over 60 countries

Pretty neat, huh?

So anyway, few weeks ago I was invited to Office 365 Personal launching event at Crematology Coffee Roasters, Jakarta. I was also being asked to be one of their key opinion leader (KOL), together with Arif Rahman, a very famous yet friendly Indonesian travel blogger; sharing our opinions about the product on public. Being a loyal user of Ms Office (as I mentioned before ^^), I eagerly joined the opportunity and became one of the first few lucky peeps to own and try out this awesome product!

From my experience using Office 365 Personal, I gotta say that the feature I like the most is the synchronized data that allows me to use across devices.
Yup, as the presentation sheet says up there: "Go mobile. Stay productive."

I travel quite a lot and this synchronization feature would really help with my blogging activities; not to mention managing my online store from a distance! XD See, I had this problem when I was in Hongkong a couple months ago. I needed to send my assistant GOWIGASA's daily finance report so she can proceed with the shipping. But it was an unexpectedly hectic morning so I had no time to do it until I reached the MRT. So, among the crowd inside the train (I was lucky I got a seat!), I pulled my laptop out of my luggage (needed to skip to another town that morning), found that it only had 13% power left (O_O;;;), dimmed the monitor light to the last bar, did everything in a flash and......... luckily managed to send it right after the power reached 2%! *whew*

Well anyway, imagine if I had this Office 365 Personal already then, I wouldn't have to go through all those troubles! I'd just do it all on my phone and send it in a jiffy. Wait, I wouldn't even HAVE to send it because it automatically syncs with my PC back home (okay, my assistant doesn't have the access to my computer but I can always ask my brother to copy the file and give it to her ^^)! Saves a lot more time and energy, huh?
P.S. The free Skype calls would also help a lot with the business, while the large *also free* 20 GB online storage PLUS additional 7 GB SkyDrive personal cloud storage allows me to roam around without my USB. It also lets me compile large sized photos and files securely before finally printing them on paper or publishing them to the blog. ┌( ˆヮˆ )┘

GOWIGASA Fuzzy Sweater, Floral Perforated Leather Skirt

Took a quick OOTD shot and then...

A cute barista (the one on my left) came over and asked me to take a group picture before I finally took off. ^^v

Okay then, thank you so much for reading and see you guys on my next post~ ;D ♡

XOXO
Jessica Yamada
By ELLE JESS at 1:03 PM 8 comments
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Rail Truck (トロッコ / 軌道) | WAKUWAKU JAPAN Movie Review

Elle and I recently watched this Japanese movie at WAKUWAKU JAPAN TV Channel (#168). It is a family drama called Rail Truck (トロッコ / 軌道).

Synopsis
Yumiko Yano, with sons Atsushi and Toki, travels from her home in Tokyo with the ashes of her late husband to his parents' home, a mountain village in the south of Taiwan. Having been raised in the big city, the boys are wide-eyed at the verdant rural scenery...and waiting for them is a Taiwanese grandfather who speaks Japanese.
Yumiko, who married against her parents' wishes, has struggled on in stubborn determination since his death. Her son Atsushi, strongly conscious that in ethnocentric Japan he is ‘different', is in a state of rebellion against both the society in which he has grown up and his mother. In the verdant rural home of his grandparents, who have lived through vast changes in the political landscape and the values that prevail in society, the family rediscovers the bonds that unite it.
Setting out on a journey aboard an old-fashioned hand-powered ‘rail truck', Atsushi discovers a world outside of his family and his school, and is forced to confront the question of what it means to be both an ‘elder brother' and a ‘son'.

Review
Heartwarming as a family drama should be, this movie remind us to our late grandfather. (TᴗT) The grandfather figure in this movie is a disciplined yet loving man, and so our grandfather was. Nostalgia aside, Rail Truck displays the contrast between an urban city life and a modest village life, similarities and differences between Japanese and Taiwanese cultures, a bridge that connects them all, and the bravery to embrace yourself and choose your own path after knowing and making peace with life's bittersweet facts.
The lush green mountain forest and the village that lives in it were beautifully captured, but unfortunately, the emotions in the film weren't. There are several scenes that could have squeeze our tears out, but none were shed that night because…… something was just….. off. It might be Machiko Ono (Yumiko)'s rather emotionless face, the bond between the people that doesn't feel quite right or something else but that's that. It's such a waste, though, because the plot is a rather good one and it could've been a more heartfelt and memorable movie.

We dig the scenes with the boys, though, because they remind us of our childhood. Atsushi (Kento Harada) resembles Jess as a curious, rebellious, protective and choleric (leading) elder brother. The little brother Toki (Kyoichi Omae) resembles Elle's childhood persona, which is an easygoing, happy-go-lucky naive crybaby lol. (≧▽≦)づ♡
Directed by Hirofumi Kawaguchi and based on Ryunosuke Akutagawa's 1922 short story, Rail Truck is a rather fine movie which teaches us to respect the elders, protect and love our family, and above all, embrace ourselves despite being 'different' and be grateful for the choices we have made.

Thank you, WAKUWAKU JAPAN TV for bringing this movie up. We can't wait to watch another ones! :D

XOXO
Jessica Yamada
By ELLE JESS at 9:38 AM 1 comments
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