KL Work Trip, Aug 2012: Arrival at Traders' Hotel

Hello! It's now less than 15 hours before we jet off for our holidays :) I'm kinda excited and yet worried at the massive itinerary that we have planned. There are still a couple of items that I have to finalise, but we are all set to go *excited* Before I take off, here is another entry on the (aug) KL Trip :)

I started the day extremely early, reaching the airport at 4.45am for the 6am flight to KL. The sky was dark when I went to bed & it was still dark when I had to drag myself out from bed at 4am to prepare. Normally, I'll take a shower and put on makeup. However, this was way too early, so I just took a quick shower, grabbed my bags and headed downstairs for the cab.  

Empty airport, which makes checking in a breeze :) 

No time for breakfast, so I headed straight to the gates for boarding. 

Not used to the quiet airport. I took my own time to stroll to the gate, only to discover that it was the first gate. 

 No makeup face for the flight.

 
Trying out Osim leg massager. I have seen this around the airport, but never had the chance to try it. Grab the chance to try it since there wasn't anyone in the vicinity eyeing it. 

 

 50 min later, I landed in KL. It was a mad rush clearing the customs > waiting for my luggage > getting airport transfer. My first appointment was at 11am & I still need to head to the hotel first.

  

 The airport taxi is a convenient way of traveling to the city. A budget cab will cost around RM74.30 and takes around 40 min to reach the city, right to your destination. I have travelled by their express train but I still have to switch to a cab at the central station. Thus, I'll normally take the cab since it is hassle-free.  

  

It was raining along the way to the city. Nice weather to sleep in, but alas, I'm out working already.   

  

Reached Trader's hotel but my room wasn't ready yet. So, I headed to the gym for a quick shower & changed into my working clothes. 

Headed down to the cafe for a quick breakfast. The early morning crowd hasn't arrived, so I was lucky to get a table quickly. 
 

Orange juice & my usual cup of tea to start the day! I think I have developed a strange habit - I'll usually start my day with a cup of tea in Singapore, but whenever I travel, it will be a mixture of juices + tea. 

 

The hubby is also enjoying his breakfast with fellow colleagues too! 

I was feeling slightly chilly & ordered a bowl of hot soupy noodles (with chicken). Interesting concept of putting the chopsticks on the bowl - this ensures that the chopsticks won't dropped off the bowl while carrying it across the dining hall. 

Traders Hotel, Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur City Centre
50088, Malaysia
Tel: 603 2332 9888

Soon, I was on my way out for meetings. I was stuck in 2 back-to-back meetings, with only 30 min in b/w for traveling. The 1st meeting took longer than expected, so I had literally run to my next appointment. Thankfully, the places were within walking distance from each other, so I just had to quicken my pace to reach the 2nd destination on time.

 

Selfie in the toilet before I embark on the long journey back to hotel.   

I decided to take the train back to KLCC instead of waiting for a cab. Even though cabs are abundant in KL, you'll get stuck in traffic jams during peak hours. A 5 min journey could become 30 min journey. Hence, it was easier to take the train. 

 

Token that I used for the train ride back. 
  
Spotted my idol Takeshi Kaneshiro! He still looked the same after so many years ~ ok, from boyish to man-ish. When J-pop was at its peak during my schooling days, I would watch every ep of his drama & "drool" in his looks.

Before I left, I asked them to bring up my luggage to the assigned room once it was ready. It was almost evening time when I headed back to the hotel. Once back, I went straight up to the room immediately after collecting the access card from the reception. At Traders', they will always leave a chupa chups on the towel in the bathroom :)

   

A quick change of outfit later, I was ready to head out for dinner! Till the next post, tata :) 

Honeymoon: Cruise along River Seine Part Two

 

Romantic Morning Walk in Paris 

Picnic in Tuileries Garden

Exploring Tuileries Garden

Vacation Rental in Paris 

Grocery Shopping

L'Angle Cafe/Restaurant

Cruise along River Seine Part One 

******

 

The famous Paris love locks: where couples will write their names on a padlock and locks it onto one of the bridges. They then throw the keys into Seine River as a symbol of their undying love. This phenomenon of padlocking your love across continents - from Japan to Canada to New Zealand.

 

There are 2 bridges in Paris with the locks, so you must be careful which bridge you put the locks on. Pont des Arts is for your committed love while Pont de l'Archeveche is for your lover. Make a stop at these 2 bridges to admire the ocean of locks or adding to the collection. Since we are in the city of love, we should do cliche commercialised romantic things right? Sadly to say, Leecher think otherwise :( Sometimes, this hubby is a tough nut to crack!

Samaritaine was the department store in Paris, owned by LVMH. It has since became a combination hotel/apartment/offices building, with a small retail component. 

 

Viaduc d'Austerlitz is the rail bridge that crosses the Seine in Paris. Its usage is solely dedicated to the railroad traffic, linking places from the left bank to the other side of the river. Even though demonstrations & strikes are common throughout Europe, I was thankful that we didn't encounter any strikes during our journey. 

 

Most of the bridges in Paris are named. This particular bridge that we crossed looked ordinary, but I was captivated by the statue of Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris. She was standing on Pont de la Tournelle (name of the bridge), as if she was keeping a close watch on the people & boats crossing the river.  

 

French history is never completed without mentioning Napoleon Bonaparte :)

Just like every tourist, our cameras started clicking away the moment we left the jetty *face-palm* in an attempt to digitalize our memories. I believe we took close to 150+ pics just on the cruise alone.

Leecher was also trying out the new lens that he brought along which allowed us to capture the intricate details on the buildings along the banks. 

Notre Dame Cathedral (back-view) - we visited the famous church on a separate day, so I shall leave the details in the entry. Cupola of the Institut de France. This building housed the 5 national institutions of academic wisdom - French Academy, Humanities & Literature Academy, Science Academy, Fine Arts Academy & Policial/Moral Academy, pretty much like our faculties in University. As I'm typing this, I thinking of planning a trip back to NTU just to look look see see. It has been almost 2 years since my last visit & I'm pretty sure things have changed by now. 

Saving the best for the last, we finally cruised towards the Eiffel Tower :)
  
Wa, this Leecher actually insisted on taking his pic with Eiffel tower, lol! With the love, in the city of love ~ see, it rhymes!
 

While researching on places to eat in Paris, I came across the legendary Le Jules Verne restaurant in Eiffel Tower. The initial plan was to head there for a meal, where you get to dine while overlooking the whole of Paris. However, we didn't have the luxury of time thus we had to abandon the thought :( Well, I think there's always next time, right? Heehee. 

Oh my! Carousel spotted ~ so pretty :)
  
❤ ❤ ❤
 
 Time really passed by quickly when you are having fun. We finally reached the end of the river cruise. A couple of us were reluctant to leave & lingered around to take a few more pictures.

Bateaux Mouches

Port de la Conference 

Pont de I'Alma, Rive droite

75008, Paris

Nearest RER C: Pont de I'Alma station

Tel: + 33 0 1 4225 9610