Lavender & Twill : malaysia

Friday, August 25, 2017

༺ 18th Century Shades of Blue ༻

It was our last weekend in Penang a month ago, and I knew that I had to go out and do some historical sightseeing before we left or I’d really regret it!

We had spent some time wandering around fun interactive museums, and hitting up allll the shopping centres {actually, we didn’t even get through half of them I don’t think…} but dragging small children around for a“don’t-touch-don’t-run-don’t-break-it(!!)” kind of outing is not really… fun… for anyone.

The children hate it, and the adults end up questioning their sanity and hating every moment of it as well as trying to enjoy it, so talk about conflicted and…Yep. So I left the little people with the Mister, and caught an Uber into Old Georgetown to visit the Cheong Fatt Tze, or The Blue Mansion.

Listed as one of the Top 10 Greatest Mansions in the world to visit by Lonely Planet {One down, nine more to go… Haha!}, the 18th century building is an absolute masterpiece in eclectic architectural style. Restored with traditional methods and materials to retain all of its charm and the unique vision of Cheong Fatt Tze ~ the man who moulded his business place and home into an ‘Indigo’ work of art.

The mansion functions as hotel and restaurant, so much of the building is restricted from public access, but there are guided tours inside a small portion of the building and the grounds are absolutely stunning. Completely surrounded by modern and old Penang, I really enjoyed the experience of such decadent luxury from centuries ago.

While I ramble on about luxury though, I do have to say, I absolutely loved the dress I was wearing that day! Another affordable, yet gorgeous offering from Sisjuly, this stunning 1940’s inspired dress felt fantastic on. Even in the humid, sticky and hot Penang weather!

The fabric is really lightweight, and reminds me a lot of a vintage rayon or viscose ~ the hand and drape of it works perfectly for a vintage reproduction piece. It’s honestly my favourite dress from Sisjuly that I have tried so far. It all comes together in this dress for a really pretty, wearable frock!

I mean, it has pockets!! Besides that, I love the square cut neckline, it’s one of my favourite neckline shapes. I love the dainty floral print. I love the colours with the aqua background, peach flowers and navy foliage, and again, the material they used ~ it’s just perfect. Needless to say, but I’m going to say it anyway, I am a huge fan of this dress.

And of blue houses. Haha, it’s nothing really alike at all, but the Blue Mansion sort of reminds me of our Blue House that we had back in Australia. (*• ᴗ ᵕ*)∠☆ Ah, good times.

But speaking of houses ~ we left Malaysia the day after I visited the Blue Mansion, and we have now been located in Chiang Mai for a month.

We found a house to live in, we are beginning to learn our way around, and I have even been driving myself around! Which is really nice to be able to do actually, as you can’t always expect to be able to drive yourself around safely when you are overseas! I would not drive in Penang, and probably many other countries around the world.

All that aside, we have really been enjoying the city and now that we are starting to find our feet here, I am looking forwards to going on more adventures and really exploring our new home town. I can’t wait to show you Chiang Mai! （‐＾▽＾‐）

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

40's Aqua Floral Me Away Dress | c/o of Sisjuly
Caramel Crush Soft Wedge | Local Shop, Malaysia

Friday, July 21, 2017

༺ Miami Beach ༻

It seems crazy to me that our time in Malaysia is coming to an end already… This weekend we are supposed to be jumping on a plane and flying back to Thailand. But we haven’t booked our flights or accommodation yet, so we need to do that stat!

For all our time island hopping the last few months ~ {it’s only been three months, but it feels like years already!!} I think we are all ready to find a more permanent base of travel, and settle down for a while.

Over the course of our journey, we would move to our temporary place, discover what works for our family, and would just be getting into the swing of things ~ only to have to pack up, move, and figure it all out again!

Being able to explore new places is super exciting for me, but we have found that our family definitely requires more familiarity with our surrounds to figure out a good routine for our day to day life. Exploring is best kept to the weekends for all of us, but that being said ~ I still have fun going out by myself during the week as well!

I’ve been walking through a lot of shopping centres here in Penang. There is so much development, so many tall condominiums and giant malls that are eight stories high! It’s a crazy change of pace from tiny Koh Lanta, but I still feel like there is an element of that lazy, sun-kissed island life underneath all the high shine, and the veneer of society.

We catch Ubers everywhere, and I love seeing all the old historic buildings in Georgetown, I wish I could take photos of them, but we whizz by so fast {or sometimes slowly. The traffic here is definitely… Intense… People don’t follow the lines on the road, or the road rules much. Here the motto seems to be – “They are more like guidelines anyways…” Bonus points if you know the quote! (¬ ᴗ ¬) }.

I haven’t had much chance to blog, but I hope that will change going forward.

Silly of me, but I didn’t bring a tripod for my DSLR with me. I didn’t have the space and I thought, “Oh well, I can just shoot on the weekends.” I found out pretty quickly that that idea wasn’t any better than it was back at home in Australia!

We just can’t juggle blog shoots and keeping the children happy at the same time, so I really haven’t had the opportunity to shoot much. However, the other night I went, “I need a tripod.” So I went and bought one and that was that!

Now when I go out exploring by myself, I can stop and take some pictures too. So I walked down to the tiny beach at the end of our street, and hung out under the trees by the surf.

I was wearing this awesome Voodoo Vixen dress, which I have been loving. It’s been fabulous for wearing out and about in hot, tropical weather. Plus, the pockets are just fantastic! You’d think it would get a bit dirty being such a pale coloured fabric, but it really doesn’t which is super great.

I also picked up this Anello backpack very early on here in Penang, {our first full day here, when we were in Queensbay Mall actually!}. It’s been absolutely brilliant!! It’s not only the most elegant backpack I’ve seen, it’s also designed so well, and it is extremely functional.

There is a back zipper for access inside the bag without having to go in at the top, and my bag organiser inside keeps everything neat and tidy. The top handles are great if you want to just loop it on your arm and carry it for a short while, or if you need to open it up.

It’s the best backpack I’ve ever had, and I love it so much! ❤ It’s very comfortable to wear, as well as having a really classic, vintage look. I highly recommend one if you are looking for any kind of stylish backpack that functions beautifully. Oh! And it also fits my Surface Pro perfectly, so it can definitely carry a small laptop if you want to bring one.

The backpack has been a key part of figuring out a slightly different version of my vintage style for tropical weather. But I think I shall save the details of tropical fashion for another post, maybe I’ll do a “Vintage style in the Tropics” guide? For now though ~ I’ve already rambled on long enough. Haha!

To sum up the last few months ~ these islands of adventure have been amazing, with so much beauty just waiting to be discovered… But we are off to the mountainous jungles next. See you on the north side!