Movie Review - Kingsman: The Secret Service

Talking about the most recent movie I have caught up is the British spy film: "Kingsman - The Secret Service" by Matthew Vaughn. No idea who is Matthew Vaughn? Director & Writer of "Kick Ass", "Kick Ass 2", X-Men"First Class" and Producer of "Fantastic Four".  This time, confirmed by 20th Century Fox, he presented us an adaptation of a comic book "The Secret Service".

The story talks about a super secret spy agency recruited and trained a seemingly hopeless street kid into a professional spy agent, called the 'Kingsman'. The film is 'nerve wrecking' from the beginning until the end, as the pace is fast and vibrant, with conspicuous structure of storytelling. It is a mixture styles of "James Bond" and "Sherlock Holmes", it combines the hyperbole method with fun and quirky into violent and gory parts. Needless to say audiences love it when all the killers (or mafia?) wear high quality London bespoke suit holding guns and gadgets, cutting off people's head!

Somehow I think Colin Firth's (playing the role as Harry Hart, the veteran secret agent) brilliant acting skills boosted the whole film. Other than winning the Oscars with "The King's Speech", the few essentials representative films of his included Pride and Prejudice (1995), Bridget Jones' Diary (2001), A Single Man (2009), and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) - yes a warm up before Kingsman happening. His skilled actions and charm are simply gem of the film.

I like this spy film, second after Sherlock Holmes. Don't know about reviews in the U.S, but this film is definitely something awesome for the me! Don't trust me? Go watch it by yourself!

Xenri on Valentine's Day 2015

On this year Valentine's Day, something came out on the actual day so me and the boyfriend have decided to spend time together the next day (15th Feb). Realized this is rather a wiser decision as there are lesser customers, almost like we booked the whole restaurant, no fatigue traffic jam, no-forcing expensive set menus. This time he brought me to a classy Japanese fine-dining restaurant which was many years' Malaysia best restaurant - Xenri.

I love the ambiance so much as the interior was designed to be like a garden terrace, calming and comfortable surroundings with a little water-flowing sounds from the water fountain; and of course  they are playing my favorite jazz / bossa nova music. 

After making order, we were served a complementary starter - fine seaweed which was so crunchy and delicious. 

Xenri is a real fine Japanese cuisine restaurant and they are really taking their food so seriously. For about 10 minutes waiting, we were served the first appetizer of the night, Soft Shell Crab Salada. Perfectly done soft shell crab salad side with an appetizing sauce, and now we are hungry!

I always like Temaki, this is California Temaki I had and Unagi Temaki the boyfriend had. 

Another must-ordered in the menu is this Sake Carpaccio. It was salmon slightly cooked at the surface accompanied with surprisingly matching fungus and a sweet sauce made with apple juice and something else I forgot. It was an amazing dish.

Not forgetting my favorite dishes in any Japanese restaurant - the grilled Shiitake Mushroom and Chawanmushi.

And the boyfriend wanted to know whether the garlic fried rice here is better than the one we had in Fukuharu last time. This is good, but still he said couldn't beat Fukuharu's. 

Last but not least, the luxurious platter that we have waited a whole night long, the main character of the dinner is this:

Generously served, these sushi was fresh and well done. The only turn down point was I think the rice were too loose that when I dipped into the soy sauce they all fell apart into my saucer, and they are over sticky that when I used my hand to eat the rice all stick to my fingers. Gosh.

Overall, we are delighted to dine in here and definitely going to revisit one day. We just love Japanese food so so much!

And the lovely one gave me a sweet Valentine's Day gift, thanks to him but felt so sorry because I didn't get anything for him. I, love this guy.

Rejuvenate Holiday - Ossoto Spa

I've always nagging to go to Ossoto Spa. By looking at my friends' post and photos on Facebook, and curiosity made me went searching about it on Google, reading other people's reviews and blogs made my desire got even stronger until the last Saturday, my dream has finally came true.

We called them beforehand to avoid disappointment, however the operator said there is no booking required we can just walk-in anytime. The recreational hub is 24-hours available, but just with certain services close between wee hours for cleaning-up purposes.

And so here we go to Wisma Mirama on the National Day (31st August 2014), very early at 8am. Advice- Just utilize the valet parking with only RM10 as you will be there for 24 hours, afterall its more worth the price than you take normal parking tickets. There we headed up to 5th floor lobby for checking in. I was so freaking excited.

Upon checking in, the waitresses gave us each a bracelet with locker chip. Then I was separated with the bf to enter into ladies section to keep my stuffs and change. Small thoughts in mind: by looking at the cozy and luxurious surroundings, I wondered how much they spent just purely for renovation and decoration, it was so exaggeratedly - cozy. Anyway, women will love it.

Next I've change to their pyjamas and sandals, which I think I suddenly looked like a patient staying in hospital. Please note that normally one has to take a shower before changing into their pyjamas and entering their jacuzzi, fish spa, sauna and steam room, obviously for hygiene purpose. I've taken shower before departed from home, so I skipped the shower. A little turn down here is that the pyjamas I got has stain on it, although it is a bit warm which they might just thrown into the sterilization machine but they might had neglected the stubborn stain.

Basically they provide everything you need, you'll see shampoo, shower gel and hair conditioner in the shower room; and there are a few dressers available, providing from hair dryer, contact lenses solution, face toner and hydrating cream, body lotion, comb and etc. After shower, you can head on to the second changing room to add a pink bathrobe before going out to public area. Seriously I felt like a princess!

Then we go on to have our breakfast at the restaurant in 4th floor. Buffet is served at every meal on the weekends, while you can have ala-carte menu only on weekdays. I heard that ala-carte was served better; well, we actually really think their buffet is at average standard. Simple & not impressive but fillable.

We looked for activities after fixing stomachs. Jacuzzi, Sauna and other related service in the same area is not available until 10am; thus we went explored at 3rd floor.

At 3rd floor, there are cafe lounge, public sleeping area, a number of VIP rooms, facial salon, table tennis room, gym and mini cinema. we sat down at the comfortable sofa chair at the cafe lounge, ordering my favorite hot chocolate and his Earl Grey tea with some reading materials. My hot chocolate even comes with coffee art OMG~ After the tea break and digest session, here we are at the table tennis room and to have ultimate battle. Fyi, I was president for table tennis club during high school, so basically the bf never wins when playing table tennis with me and so he doesn't like to play with me HAHAHAHA!

Seems like our body got heated up after the ping pong game, I suggested to do gym after that. Quite enjoyed as I never tried walking on the running machine with my bathrobe on and without shoes. A little reminder for girls, you have to do gym with your bathrobe, if not, guys will stare at you if you know what I mean.

Locker at the gym

After gym, we slipped in to the mini cinema to watch "Once Upon A Time In Shanghai". The massage chair is adjustable and with pressing a button you can order whatever you want while enjoying your movie.

Don't remember how long we had loafed there until lunch time. There again we filled our stomach with a lot of food included some dessert like fresh fruits and ice-cream. I guess this is what it means by "happiness of gaining weight together".

At last, me and boyfriend separately went for jacuzzi, steam room and sauna room (men's section & women's section). I enjoyed so much for some me time, despite it was really packed with many aunties and kids. I had shower before and after spa. Everything is provided, I really don't need to take out anything from the bag. When you are too tired or felt too warm after the steam and sauna, you can proceed to the rest area for some refreshments, ice water, and even ice-cream for cooling down, so sweet!!! I spent quite some time at the dresser after shower, for drying my hair, putting conditioner on it, apply toner and moisturizer on my face, and baby lotion on my hands and legs (all products provided by Ossoto).

Having my hot steam milk and snack alone after sauna and jacuzzi session :)

There are lots more of things to discover but I decided to stop here. As the best experience is always: go by yourself! I recommended couples to visit Ossoto and this is a good way for rejuvenate after working like hell in normal time. Revisit? It depends. But there are more options available recently like Lavish Spa at Farenheit88 and I-Spa at Austin Heights, Johor Bahru. The boyfriend said he will bring me next time when we have short trip. Looking forward.

All in all, we had so much fun spending time together. :)