Archive for August 2019

Antabax is 'Sensitive to Your Needs'

10:15 AM Rawlins GLAM 18 Comments A⁺ a^-

Antabax is 'Sensitive to Your Needs' | Who needs a partner that might change his/ her mind at any second or gives you attitude that will irritate you to the max when #Antabax is there to cater to your every whim and #SensitiveToYourNeeds?

Antabax, Sensitive Range, Sensitive to Your Needs, Sensitive skin, eczema, Dr Sharon Gopalan, Mia Ibrahim, Rawlins GLAM, Rawlins Lifestyle

Growing up with super sensitive skin, it could lead to low self-esteem when your skin is marked with eczema scars. And I have had extreme eczema when I was about two years old (my mum and my aunties shared the stories) and I still have some scars until now. And I made it my life-long mission to find the suitable shower/ personal care range that will not irritate my skin.
In my search of the right ones, Antabax introduces the 'Sensitive Range' - the range that boasts innovative antibacterial bath cream with a balanced pH of 5.5, 100% soap-free and alkaline-free, with a pleasant, light and delicate scent, excellent and gentle for sensitive skin, giving 99.9% antibacterial protection.
The 'Sensitive Range' consists of antibacterial bath creams that can be used by the whole family, including the baby and is enriched with vitamins and natural moisturizers that restore the skin's natural moisture level and minimize dryness caused by dryness, for healthier and smoother skin.

During the 'Sensitive Range' introduction session by Antabax, Dr Sharon Gopalan (Procare Dermatology) shared about the Dos and Don'ts in taking care of our skin in general and she also emphasized on taking extra care for the sensitive skin. Growing up and looking at my scars, I have always felt that it was parents' fault that I have had eczema but Dr Sharon said that sensitive skin is NOT HEREDITARY. Point taken, Dr Sharon. And she further mentioned that choosing the right kind of shower range for your kind is crucial in taking care of one's skin health.
Ms Mia Ibrahim, an avid user of Antabax, shared that Antabax shower cream has helped her through tough times and assisted her in facing her active day job as a sports reporter that requires her to stand under the sun most of the time.

Antabax is now on its mission to educate the country about sensitive skin and currently having a 'one for one exchange' program, happening from now until September 2019. Here is the schedule. Be there peeps!

Just bring any brand of empty hand soap bottle (size from 200ml), to exchange for NEW Antabax Hand Soap Sensitive 220ml at the following participating Watsons outlets, between 12:00noon to 4:00pm with these dates:

AEON Taman Equine- Saturday (17/8/2019)
One Utama Shopping Mall- Sunday (18/8/2019)
Tesco Extra Cheras- Saturday (24/8/2019)
Alamanda- Sunday (25/8/2019)
Sunway Pyramid- Saturday (31/8/2019)
Cheras Leisure Mall- Sunday (1/9/2019)
KLCC- Saturday (7/9/2019)
The Mines- Sunday (8/9/2019) *Terms and conditions apply

Follow Antabax's social media platforms to be the first to know about its latest products and amazing deals. Antabax FB | Antabax IG

#Antabax #SensitiveToYourNeeds #RawlinsGLAM #byrawlins #byrawlinsdotcom

Rawlins GLAM
012.280.1977

Utara @ Hotel Armada PJ - New and Improved

8:38 AM Rawlins GLAM 15 Comments A⁺ a^-

Rebranding is a crucial step in positioning oneself to be even more visible to others, without compromising the status quo of quality and such. In fact, rebranding oneself is to project oneself further and it bears a symbol of better and grander quality.

Utara @ Hotel Armada Petaling Jaya, Hotel Armada Petaling Jaya, Rebrand, Penjenamaan semula, Rawlins GLAM, the best coffee house in Petaling Jaya, Rawlins Eats,

When I was told that Utara Coffee House at Hotel Armada Petaling Jaya has rebranded itself as just Utara @ Hotel Armada Petaling Jaya after a major makeover, I was so tempted to see the uplift for myself. I know that after serving the public for 22 years and being fondly known as Utara Coffee House, the step to rebrand itself was not an easy step.
As I entered the coffee house, I was pleasantly greeted by the easy and brightly lit facade. The facade portrays a younger and fresher connotation to the once-seasoned coffee house. And walking into the coffee house, I was immediately transported to a totally new place - like the one that I have never seen before.

It is much brighter, feels very spacious and I love the simple yet elegant decoration throughout the coffee house. Looking closer, I realised that the space is effortlessly divided into several sections - an open eating area, a corporate meeting area and an area for a closed party. The sections are all there but with no apparent segregation - very chic and effortless! Thumbs up!

I also realised that the tinted glass overlooking the highway was removed and replaced with clear glass. This allows the rays of natural sunlight coming in from its full-height windows, making it look wider and spacious thus offering a more comfortable dining environment.

The new Utara is able to seat 200 pax on an occasion and boasts two new additions to the restaurant, an open kitchen at the back of the restaurant and an open café-bar at the front. With the open kitchen, diners become spectators as they can see their food being prepared thus allowing for a greater sense of occasion while the open café-bar was built to serve between the restaurant and the lobby lounge. As such, service staff are able to communicate with and attend to guests in 2 different areas with ease, without compromising on service standards.

While Utara may have undergone a complete makeover, the restaurant still retains its signature flavours and will continue so as an ode to their loyal diners. Utara’s exceptional local cuisine such as the Nasi Lemak Utara, Roti Durian, Kari Kepala Ikan, Daging Masak Assam Pedas, Siput Sedut Masak Cili Padi and Ketam Masak Berlada to name a few are what sets Utara apart from competitors in the area.
My fave would be Nasi Lemak Utara (I had several packs of that small and delicious Nasi Lemak Utara), Daging Masak Assam Pedas and Kari Kepala Ikan.Diet, what?
As part of their new menu, Utara has since added on several Vegan dishes to satisfy all Vegan diners. In addition, a special Vegan Set Menu is available for order too but a 3 days advance reservation is required. The Lunch, High-Tea and Dinner buffets will also feature a special Vegan’s Corner.

The act of rebranding to Utara is certainly a bold move and a successfuk one at that. The move certainly elevates the coffee house to be on trend without compromising its quality. Congrats Utara.

Open daily from 6.30am to 12am, experience Utara @ Hotel Armada Petaling Jaya for yourselves by calling 603-7954 6888 to make reservations or email f&b@armada.com.my
Rawlins GLAM
012.280.1977

47 Meters Down: Uncaged [Movie Review]

8:39 AM Rawlins GLAM 16 Comments A⁺ a^-

47 Meters Down: Uncaged | After The Shallows and The Meg, I have my reservations of going into the water. To be frank, I still do until now. Despite that I am a diver, I have a very wild imagination that there are some monsters (read: crocodile, snakes, sharks and other deadly animals) waiting to devour me.

47 Meters Down: Uncaged, Suspense, Shark movie, Rollo de Pelicula, Movie Review by Rawlins, Rawlins GLAM

I do, however, love to watch the movie about it, although it kinda feeds into my phobia. Thanks to Rollo de Pelicula for the invitation to watch the premiere last night.
SYNOPSIS 47 Meters Down: Uncaged Trivia

Directed by: Johannes Roberts

Produced by: James Harris, Mark Lane, Robert Jones

Production companies: The Fyzz Facility

Distributed by: Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures

Running time: 89 minutes

Rating: PG13

The film had two earlier titles "48 Metres Down" and "47 Metres Down: The Next Chapter"
Budget: $12 million

Box Office: $16.4 million

Metascore:43

IMDb: 5.2/ 10

Tomatometer: 50%

Remember when your parents advise you against going to a place but you go instead, just because your peers told you so?

Mia, the younger and less-sociable step-sister to Sasha joins her sister's unplanned trip to a newly discovered lake with her friends, Alexa and Nicole. Alexa leads them to the submerged Mayan burial ground - all of them promises to return after the first hall. Nicole, being the naughty and rebellious girl, wanders off when she sees a weird looking fish passing nearby. When the fish scares her and she accidentally bumps into one of the statues that disturbs the ocean's floor and makes the water muddy.

Then the big white shark comes out and the girls swim for life - running from the apparently blind shark (Mia's hypothesis that the shark somehow stayed inside the city's ruin, out of light for a very long time that it evolved to blindness) that was hungry and eats anything that moves. When the girls swim into the tunnel that they came in from, the shark tries to fit into the narrow hole. It wiggles so hard that some of the tunnel's ceiling collapses and seals the girls' only way out. Trying slowly to retrieve their way into the tomb and find another way out, they bump into Ben, one of Mia's father assistants. But before he could show them the way out, the mighty shark eats him.
The swim-for-their-lives start after that incident. And it seems that there are two great white sharks, with no viable way out of the underwater tomb.
Will the girls survive the deadly ordeal?

MY REVIEW

Plot: 4.5/ 5.0 I was jumping in my seat. almost throughout the movie. The jump scares was well-timed and not too much. But there are some loopholes in the movie that keep my friend and I thinking and talking about on our way home. 1) How did the sharks manage to grow that big inside a confined cave with not much food source? 2) The girls keep on swimming through narrow tunnels only to meet the white sharks on the other side - meaning there are wider tunnels around and the girls are unfortunate to not be able to find them. All in all, it was a fun movie to watch, don't put your logic into every detail or you won't be able to enjoy it.
Cast: 4.8/ 5.0 Except for John Corbett and Nia Long, the rest of the cast were unknown to me. But all of them carried their character well.
Will I watch it again: Yes, I don't mind watching it again. The pictures are taken from sources on the Internet. Thank you.
#47MetersDownUncaged #47MetersDownUncagedMY #47MetersDownUncagedMovie #RAMEntertainment
#RolloDePelicula #RolloDePeliculaDotCom #byrawlins #byrawlinsdotcom Rawlins GLAM
012.280.1977

Slaying the Flat Lay with Butterfly Project & Teacher Azrin

7:30 AM Rawlins GLAM 19 Comments A⁺ a^-

AvantGarde Blooms, butterfly project malaysia, Delectable by Su, Flat Lay, Flat Lay Partea, From The Top, Rawlins GLAM, The Butterfly Project, The Glasshouse at Seputeh,

Slaying the Flat Lay with Butterfly Project & Teacher Azrin | Have you ever going through some cool pictures in Pinterest, IG or any other social media and thought to yourself 'I bet I can do that too!'?
What? No? Haha.
I do. Especially the flat lay pictures - so incredibly in love with flat lay pictures but no matter what I do (climbing stairs, tapping the camera to a tall chair and have so many ring lights etc), my pictures always turn up not satisfactory.
When The Butterfly Project Malaysia opened up the registration for a flat lay workshop, I immediately booked a place without even looking at my own calendar. And turned out that my aunt's family were flying down from Miri that weekend and I was supposed to be their tour guide. Hahaha. That was some drama that needs another post.

Making my way to The Glasshouse at Seputeh, I was singing along the way - after dropping off my aunt's family at Mid Valley Mega Mall to shop for 4 hours (I told them to have some massage session just in case I ran late hahaha). I was singing as that will be my very first time visiting the ever so famous and glamorous looking event space ever! I vowed to take a lot of pictures there!
I arrived just as Mekonie and Sally were pulling up the driveway in their vehicles. Together, we made our ways to the venue of the workshop.

Aptly named as Flat Lay Partea at the Delectable by Su, we were welcomed by the ever-smiling crew of the Butterfly Project Malaysia. Entering the quaint cafe, I was immediately transported to the filming set of Alice in Wonderland because the cafe was beautifully decorated similar to the Mad Hatter Tea Party. Super love the effort by The Butterfly Project Malaysia for the fancy tea time themed workshop!
The workshop was conducted in a super easy ambient, with the ever-gracious emcee of the day, Mr Leonard. He kept the workshop atmosphere light and that totally made learning even more fun! He introduced the whole group to Mamasan Tammy Lim (the mother of all magical beings in Malaysia), Ms Azrin, the teacher/ flat lay slayer of Malaysia and Ms Emi Goto from the AvantGarde Blooms where every flower is always blooming.

After a few welcoming words from Mamasan Tammy, Teacher Azrin took over with simple guidelines of taking a great flat lay picture - WITH ONLY YOUR SMARTPHONE. Not with any fancy camera or studio set-up but only with your smartphone (not that having the camera or a studio hurts but not all of us are lucky enough to have those, right?)
Here are some tips for a great flat lay.

Think of your 'thing': Be mindful of the product to focus on, its theme and colour combination. You don't want your focus to be lost in the seas of too many items.
Lay down the background: Background plays an important role too - indoor, outdoor, colourful, monogram etc. To be safe, try to use a one-colour background as a starter. Once you get the hang of it, you may want to experiment with multicolours background.
Pop the props: The props of a similar colour hue will help to boost the pictures. Be mindful of the props - don't overcrowd the background or you might lose focus
Change and arrange: Take a few dozen pictures and keep on changing the props, background the product in focus until you get the right location for each one. Some of us might feel like giving up after a few tries but that's the reality of getting a beautiful flat lay - try and error for a few dozen times. haha - kidding.
Date the 'handsome' lighting: The assistance of the 'right natural lighting' will certainly elevate the picture. The use of some ring lights and light reflector will certainly assist you here.
Keep it simple and neutral: Remember - don't overcrowd the picture!
Have fun!: Your inner calm and fun-self will translate in the pictures you take - so be happy and have fun!

Azrin showed us some of the basic moves of taking a great flat lay (she even slayed the picture on her first take! Talking about a professional!).
After a Q&A session with Azrin, we were then asked to group ourselves to a group of three - so I automatically asked Mekonie and Sally to be in a group that we later named ROSÉ (Rawlins, Onie & Sally Eleganza) hahaha.

The first task was to take a flat lay with anything that's available on the Mad Hatter themed tea party table. We were so eager to take and put everything in our picture. When we showed our pictures to Azrin, she told us to keep in mind about the focus of the photo and do not lose the product in the background. Just look at our pictures here. Haha. Amateur much?

After the first attempt, Azrin gathered everyone again and gave us more points on how to get a better flat lay (in other words, how to slay a flat lay). And then we were tasked again to take another flat lay, this time with some essential products from Althea to be featured in our pictures (Meringue puff from Althea).

Taken the ques from Azrin, we kept our layout very simple and we focused more on the lighting. After the group presentations to Mamasan Tammy and Azrin, we realised that ours (the one in the middle) was the most simple layout as compared to others. We might have taken the tip of 'Keep it simple' too literally. Haha.

Guess what? Ours was announced as the best flat lay of the day because we managed to incorporate the items in focus effortlessly and the lighting was on point - those are the words from Azrin (I might have reworded the structure hahaha).

Thanks so much, Azrin for the recognition and thanks to Mamasan for the gifts! The icing on top was the knowledge that we brought back from the workshop. I have since been buying stuff that I think could assist me in taking a great flat lay (you can see from my IG (Rawlins GLAM) that I have been experimenting with flat lays). It certainly elevates my photo-taking to another level.

PS: You may use some mobile apps to edit the photos taken, but we were advised not to use a harsh filter as it might make the photo look 'unnatural'.

Here's another take of the winning photo that I've edited. Do you like the rustic looking photo here?

#butterflymsia #fromthetop #avantgardeblooms #altheakorea #flatlayteaparty #abcommunity #butterflatlayteaparty
#flatlay #RawlinsGLAM #BeautybyRawlins #byrawlins #byrawlinsdotcom

Rawlins GLAM
012.280.1977

Cendol Kampung Hulu Now in AEON Big Mid Valley Mega Mall

7:30 AM Rawlins GLAM 20 Comments A⁺ a^-

Cendol Kampung Hulu Now in AEON Big Mid Valley Mega Mall | Being a Sarawakian in West Malaysia, I love to travel around and whenever my family visits, I would love to show them around. I remembered the very first time they visited, I brought them down to visit the Historical City of Malaysia ie Malacca. We went here and there, trying to fit in all the historical and places of interest during the visit. And of course, not forgetting to visit and try the must-eats in Malacca. One of which was Cendol Kampung Hulu. Back then, it was written all over the blogs, no such thing as viral threads.
My parents gave their thumbs up after finishing their personal bowl of tasty shaved ice. Them kids were equally happy (not forgetting them being hyper right after hahaha). Long after, especially during hot weather, my thoughts will always go back to those tasty Cendol Kampung Hulu and how I wish I got them here in Selangor and KL. Not that I have not tried others in Selangor, but nothing compares to Cendol Kampung Hulu.

Cendol Kampung Hulu, Cendol Viral, Cendol sedap di Melaka, Cendol Kampung Hulu di AEON Big Mid Valley Mega Mall, Rawlins Eats, Rawlins GLAM

Imagine my surprise (and happiness) when I learnt that Cencol Kampung Hulu has finally opened its latest branch near to my place - right in the smack of in Mid Valley Mega Mall.
Not wanting to be the last to taste the refreshing shaved ice and also to quench my craving, my friends and I decided to give it a visit. Located at the Lower Ground Level of AEON Big Mega Mall, in the Cafe area, you'll find the store at the very end of the cafe - meaning more seating area for my friends and me!

It only took us a few seconds (not even a minute) to place our orders as we were all longing to taste the cendol. But as fate has it, the one with Mango was sold out. It was ok - we booked the other ones!
So here are what we ordered! Be prepared to feast your eyes and have some tissue by your side, just in case you might salivate after viewing the mouth-watering cendol.

My very first scoop of the cendol reminded me of how yummy it was and why I fell in love with the cendol in the first place.

What made it so special and tasty? Other shaved ice is made by combining shaved ice, coconut milk and its condiment. Here in Cendol Kampung Hulu, the shaved ice is made from ice infused with coconut milk. Thus you could taste the richness of the coconut milk in the shaved ice. As per the name of each cendol, it will be topped with the fresh fruit of your choice. To top it all, a scoop of ice cream will sit on top of this amazing mountain of tasty cendol.

As I do not eat durian (WHAT?), I wouldn't know how the taste like but looking at my friends' reaction, I would that is was very tasty as my friend's bowl was licked clean!

I chose Cendol Kelapa Laut Madu and I also licked my bowl clean. The flavorous combination of the condiments and the main ingredients certainly hit the spot, especially when it was so scorching hot outside of the mall (haze is back people).

After we have finished the cendol (more like licking clean the bowl), we were all in unison agreed that the coconut ice shaving was the secret recipe of the yummy Cendol Kampung Hulu and eating the cendol certainly brought back good memories of olden days when we were small kids (I am still young at heart, I am actually 21 years old).

Actually, having Cendol Kampung Hulu and reliving the good old days might be a good idea for my next school reunion.

I will be coming again to have that Mango Cendol Kampung Hulu. Wanna come with?