Sunday, April 19, 2026

The Beauty Expo

Spent our Saturday morning here, at The Beauty Expo. I have surrendered in putting on makeup but skincare, YES!!!
Moreover, this was a good chance to find out what’s in the market these days. 
Surprisingly, this HUGE expo was split into 2 sections. 
First, we got to enjoy nice decorated booths of individual brands. 
Then, it was into a mysterious secretive area of tying up our bags and zips. My guess was people must have been stealing!
Afterwards, we entered into a big warehouse-like section where products were sold in batches … exactly as in a warehouse sale!!!


Nails

Hair mist

This product was appealing. We chatted with the boss and he explained about USDA. Jo is his daughter. 


Products from Hangzhou




Batik painting and local kuihs

From Kedah. This young lady speaks very fluently in English. Impressive!

Zus!!! Life saver.

Okay! Just got our bags and zips ‘locked’. 
Into the warehouse we went. First stop. 








Breath spray




















 

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Seri Negara



 Seri Negara

A historic colonial mansion built in 1913. 
Used to be a guest house only for visiting dignitaries to the British.
First known as the Government House. 
Called the King’s House in 1930. 
Then it was renamed as Tetamu Istana.
Today, it is recognized as Seri Negara.

Hosted the 1957 signing of Malaya’s Independence Agreement.

Seri Negara was one of the locations featured in the 2018 movie Crazy Rich Asians.






This was our little group. We had visitors from Hong Kong and China but mostly are locals. Omar was our tour guide and a great one he was. He speaks fluently and explains in a simplified manner. Very friendly and welcoming. 
The funniest part as we sat down here to share a little… the Hong Kong people did not know how long HK was colonized by the British. We educated them… LOL. 

Seri Negara and Carcosa (another earlier colonial mansion up the road; in the midst of refurbishment) played major roles in our history and they were not even mentioned in our history books. So sad. 

Anyways we started off our tour with a very interesting short film (not allowed to video), from the WWII, the Japanese, the British and Malaya’s independence. Loved it!
Then, 4 Galleries.


Gallery 2



My favorite set of miniatures

Gallery 3




Gallery 4






That’s the drive way that Peik Lin drove up to with Rachel in Crazy Rich Asians!




Gallery 1 
Ground floor. It’s an art gallery. This room was where the signing of Malaya’s Independence Agreement took place. 




The distance between Seri Negara and Carcosa. Both were in the movie Crazy Rich Asians. Carcosa is well known for its grand staircase.