My 28th Birthday Celebration 2013 - SEPIA

Instead of the usual big birthday parties I held annually back in Singapore, I have chosen a quiet dinner this time. Ever since I moved to Australia, "parties" have been totally extinct and I have been enjoying quieter and simpler days of content. I do miss all my beloved friends and family in Singapore though...

My 28th Birthday dinner was celebrated at SEPIA - a 3 Chef Hats restaurant in Sydney city located at 201 Sussex Street. The food was beautifully presented and the degustation menu was decently priced at only AUD160 per person. The service was pretty good and the wait staff was polite and attentive. Among all the dishes, I found the squid to be excellently cooked as I usually do not eat squid. Award-winning Chef Martin Benn utilizes the freshest produce from Japan to create delightful dishes for diners. Visit www.sepiarestaurant.com.au for more information. Oh, I received a really sweet card hand-made with a pink furry envelope and embellished with a pink crystal button that looks like a female purse! Very pretty indeed!

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Sara Shantelle's Birthday Bash 2014

worth more than SGD$40,000 of sponsorship

Club Altimate @ 1-Altitude (1 Raffles Place)
CLOSED-DOOR PRIVATE EVENT

8-10PM. Cut Cake 9.30PM. 

YAHOO! NEWS SINGAPORE
www.Yahoo.com.sg

Blogger Sara Shantelle Lim's S$40,000 Birthday Bash
Club Altimate at 1-Altitude

Featured on 2 June 2014
CANDYLICIOUS NEON PARTY 

Original Video Link: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/video/singapore-blogger-sara-shantelle-lims-080807098.html

Thank you!! YAHOO! NEWS SINGAPORE, for covering my Birthday Party!
This video looks damn awesome!! Cheers!!

OFFICIAL BIRTHDAY VIDEO 

Sara Shantelle Lim's SGD$40,000 Birthday Bash

Club Altimate at 1-Altitude

VZUALL STUDIO PRODUCTIONS

This video is made by Billy Yuen by Vzuall Studio Productions

Billy Yuen - www.facebook.com/nomuziknolife

Thank you to my talented Friend - Billy Yuen for creating and sponsoring this cool and amazing video taken on the night of my Birthday Party held at Club Altimate. It is definitely an excellent video to capture the wonderful memories I had with all my family, relatives, friends and sponsors. If any of you need videos for events,corporate,campaigns,viral videos or wedding, I would highly recommend that you contact Billy Yuen :)

This is his page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Billy-Yuen/126152144185127

Read More about Sara Shantelle's SGD$40,000 Birthday Party (OFFICIAL FULL STORY): CLICK HERE.

Sara Shantelle's Interviewed by YAHOO! News Singapore on her Birthday: CLICK HERE.

Read Sara Shantelle's SGD$40,000 Birthday Bash (PART 1): CLICK HERE.

Read Sara Shantelle's SGD$40,000 Birthday Bash (PART 2): CLICK HERE.

Read Sara Shantelle's SGD$40,000 Birthday Bash (PART 3): CLICK HERE.

Watch YAHOO! NEWS SINGAPORE Full Birthday EVENT VIDEO COVERAGE: CLICK HERE. (MUST WATCH!!)

♥ Lora Christelle Lim ♥
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SYDNEY - Visiting Hunter Valley - Hunter Valley Gardens

Hunter Valley is Australia's oldest wine region and is known for having some of the world's leading winemakers, finest restaurants and the most beautiful Gardens. We drove our Ferrari F360 and it took us about 2 hours from Sydney city. The roads at Hunter Valley were pretty rocky so drive carefully. We ate at Twine Restaurant and had their famous signature dish "Chilli Mud Crab" and it was very delicious! It was served in a hi-tea style! See www.twinerestaurant.com.au for more information. We prefer Asian food above all cuisines :)

Hunter Valley Gardens has a Rose Garden that has over 8000 spectacular roses and a Storybook Garden that feature timeless childhood favorite characters such as Alice in Wonderland and Humpty Dumpty. It is a beautiful garden suitable for both adults and children. A lovely way to spend a beautiful sunny day indulging in beautiful nature and to relaxed with a picnic on the fresh green grass.

During my visit, I was lucky to catch the Christmas Lights Spectacular and it was amazingly beautiful with more than 1 million lights put up in decorative style to make the night a magical experience! It kinda reminded me of the nights in Tokyo Disneyland! Below are some lights displays listed on the Hunter Valley Gardens website:

• The Twelve Days of Christmas music and light display in the Border Garden

• The Cactus music and light display

• Three Mega Trees that are 12m, 9m and 6m high

• Breathtaking Tunnels of Light

• Music and light display throughout the Storybook Garden

• The greatest story ever told at the Nativity Scene

• Life size Horse and Carriage Lights Display

• Giant Christmas Tree

♥ Lora Christelle Lim ♥
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Amsterdam - The Capital of Netherlands

Amsterdam is the largest city with a population of more than 750,000 people and it is the capital of the Netherlands. Its principal language is Dutch. It is the most visited city in Netherlands with over 3.5 million foreign visitors annually.

When visiting The Netherlands, it is highly recommended to visit the only public windmill originated in 1847 - The Sloten Windmill: http://www.amsterdam.info/windmills/sloten/

I love Amsterdam! It is such a colorful and vibrant city. The buildings there are multi-coloured, painted in Pink, Blue, Yellow, etc. The place almost look like a cartoon being brought to life! Amsterdam has 8 precious windmills, and I visited their famous Sloten Windmill. The olden wood cracked as I walked up to the roof to see the vast of countryside view with sheeps roaming around freely. It was a beautiful view and a relaxing one too!

The Netherlands is synonymous for its windmills, clogs, tulips, canals, cheese markets, etc. And I was lucky enough to covered almost everything I needed to visit there. I went for their cheese tour and my favourite was their "SMOKED CHEESE". It was easy to eat. Really, even if you hate cheese, you have to try this! "Asking a Chinese man to eat Blue Cheese is just like asking a Caucasian man to eat Durians". I also managed to take their ferry from their countryside back to their city area.

A visit to Amsterdam's SEX MUSEUM is a MUST! Gosh~ Their pictures, sex toys, films, etc.. are reallllyyyy.... EXTREMELY CRAZY!!!! Look at the above photo CAREFULLY. Do you see many dicks? That's what they call, ART. It was my first time seeing photos of people literally PEE-ING on each other during sex.: http://www.sexmuseumamsterdam.nl/index2.html The Amsterdam Sex Museum also known as "The Temple of Venus"  features erotic paintings, recordings and objects and it is conveniently located just 2 mins walk from the Central Station or 5 mins walk from Dam Square right in the bustling Amsterdam city.

 The drug policy of the Netherlands officially has 4 major objectives:
- To prevent recreational drug use, to treat and rehabilitate recreational drug users.
- To reduce harm to users.
- To diminish public nuisance by drug users.
- To combat the production of trafficking of recreational drugs.

But despite all these policies, coffeeshops in Amsterdam where smoking Marijuana is accepted. On top of that, they even use weed in their pastries, called "SPACE CAKES". They call them space cakes as you would really just space out in a daze. It also makes you really hungry so do not try with an empty stomach unless you want to get gastric pain. As space cakes take quite a long time to hit you, beware of the dangers of getting overdosed by consuming too many "space cakes". Some tourists tend to consume too many and end up in the hospital.

I also visited the Amsterdam Dungeon: http://www.the-dungeons.nl/amsterdam/en/index.htm which features 500 years of dark history in 11 shows with the use of 7 actors to produce an extremely terrifying experience. Watching people getting tortured was rather horrifying but I shut my eyes most of the time! I can't bear the sight of blood, gore and extreme horror!

Another interesting thing about Amsterdam is that they have earth eco friendly - "SOLAR Powered Rickshaw". We should really have this in Singapore where it is hot and sunny! They provide 30 minutes city tour around the city covering major tourist attractions and historical sites. It's a very interesting mode of transport in Amsterdam city and they help to paint the city bright Red to bring the city to much life!



XOXO
Little Sister - Sara Shantelle Lim
www.SaraShantelle.com
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SYDNEY - Visiting Port Stephens - Shoal Bay, Fingal Bay, Nelson Bay etc.

Port Stephens is a beautiful holiday destination and it's just 2.5 hours drive from Sydney and 1.5 hours drive from Hunter Valley. So it is highly recommended to visit both places at the same time! Visit their official website at www.portstephens.org.au for more information. We visited the different beaches in order to compare which was the best and I must say Zenith beach is number 1 on our list. Zenith beach is not as crowded as other beaches as it is quite difficult to find and the waves are huge. There are no beach patrols so swim at your own risk! We stumbled upon it after we did a climb to the top of Tomaree Mountain. It is highly recommended as the view from the top was breathtaking! The entrance to begin trekking up to the Tomaree lookout is at the corner of Shoal Bay and after the climb, go relax by Zenith beach located just beside it.

There are so many lovely beaches to explore. The soft white sand, clear blue waters and the sounds of the crashing waves provide just a relaxing atmosphere for a retreat away from the bustling Sydney city where I live at. We did beach combing, swam in the lovely beaches and went for Moonshadow Dolphin watching cruises at d'Albora Marinas. We were lucky to spot several dolphins and I thank God for such a lovely birthday surprise! We ate the Award-winning Fish and Chips in Australia at BUB's Famous Fish & Chips located at 1 Teramby Road, Nelson Bay which is extremely fresh and crisp! We also had hi-tea at Inner Lighthouse Cottage Museum and Tearoom which had quite a beautiful view of Port Stephens headlands at the top of Nelson Bay.

We visited the famous sand dunes in Anna Bay which is easily accessible from Birubi beach. I must say I was surprised to see sand dunes located just beside the beach at such close proximity! Birubi beach is patrolled by beach life guards so it's safe for swimmers who need extra reassurance to swim in the beach. There is camel-riding, sand-boarding, quad biking activities that will be suitable for the young and energetic. We have done that previously when we travelled to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

♥ Lora Christelle Lim ♥
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Angela Deng's Birthday Dinner cooked by Langding Ding

It was Angela Deng's birthday and I woke up early to bake her some cute little cupcakes made from scratch. I made blueberry and chocolate cupcakes frosted with white and pink icing. I also bought her a sexy light pink tube dress from Block Out! which she loved so much. Angela has been the best girlfriend I made in University of Sydney. She's been a wonderful friend and I hope she finds happiness! Langding Ding has been kind enough to offer his place for a dinner gathering and he proved to be an amazing chef who cooked very delicious chinese cuisine for us!

I arrived late as the wheels on the Ferrari F360 ran out of air and we had to get to the nearest petrol station to pump the tyres. When I arrived, I was surprised by everyone as they waited by the road with a big bouquet of flowers and a birthday gift - J'adore perfume from DIOR! Such a wonderful surprise! I was very touched as I did not expect them to celebrate my birthday together with Angela's. It was a cosy dinner gathering with lovely friends from University of Sydney and I'm glad to have met them in the same Business Class as me! 

♥ Lora Christelle Lim ♥
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Sara Shantelle Lim goes to France - Paris the City of Love & Romance

From Paris.. With Love.. by Sara Shantelle Lim

Paris is the capital of France and it is one of my favorite cities! It is a city of love and romance. Everybody needs to visit the Paris Eiffel Tower at least once in their life time. I have heard many stories of people proposing at the Eiffel Tower. I know that it may sound Cliché  but I honestly think it is an extremely romantic idea. This is unlike the typical Singaporean man that would "PROPOSE" to his lady by asking "Shall we apply for a HDB flat together"? 

We had a picnic with fruits, snacks, wine and champagne below the Eiffel Tower on the fresh green grass! We bought all our food and snacks from the super market near our hotel and took a the METRO Train there. The nearest Train Station would be Champ de Mars / Tour Eiffel on the RER C line.

The picture you see above is the La Basilique du Sacré Coeur de Montmartre located on top of the Montmartre hill which provides a breath-taking view of the city. It is also the Highest Viewing Point in Paris. Climbing to the top of the hill was tough! It was a long walk, but there were a lot to do on the way up! You would see painters sitting by the side of the roads, painting flowers and building and there are numerous bakeries and ice cream shops to help you snack to you walk all the way up! The amazing view from the top was worth the climb. After all, it was a great workout. Please wear comfortable shoes especially for ladies, no heels allowed!

The Closest METRO Station to Sacre Coeur includes:
- Abbesses - Line 12 (Green).
- Anvers - Line 2 (Blue).
- Lamarck Caulaincourt - Line 12 (Green).

I also went to the RED LIGHT District of Paris, that is where MOULIN ROUGE is located. It reminded me of the movie where Nicole Kidman and Ewan Macgregor acted in. Having dinner while the actors performed was highly entertaining. The meal served there was classy and enjoyable. Buy your tickets that cost EUR105 (include drinks) for The Moulin Rouge Feerie Show at their official website: http://www.moulinrouge.fr/index_gb.php

A visit to Paris is incomplete unless you have tried their most famous Ladurée – France's infamous luxury cake and pastry emporium which began in 1862! More info at http://www.laduree.fr/ They invented the double-decker macaron and are the best makers of macarons in the world. The good news is that Laduree will be opened in Singapore in 2013! 

You can find their first and most famous Ladurée Tea Room at Champs-Élysées.

LOUVRE MUSEUM is the home of MONA LISA. Visit http://www.louvre.fr/en for more info and buy your tickets online to avoid long queues. This museum is a walking maze. It is huge, I took more than 5 hours touring this place, and yet I still have not completed seeing every single piece of ART there. This is where many movies were filmed, where paintings and statues come alive. The MONA LISA is housed in a grand bullet proof glass. Many tourists flocked from all around the world just to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. You practically have to wrestle with large crowds just to steal a peak at this fine art piece.

The BANANA CHOCOLATE Crepe in Paris is a must try as it is extremely delicious. They have quite a few crepe stalls along the streets. Having their crepe is a must in the cold weather. Walking around Paris is amazing and relaxing especially in the Champs-Élysées area. You can see couples walking around hand in hand and take in the magnificent beauty of the Paris city.

The famous Arc de Triomphe is pretty much walking distance away in the nice cold breeze. It is built in remembrance of those who fought for France especially in the Napoleanic wars. It is a revered patriotic site. It is situated in the middle of Place Charles de Gaulle, also known as the "Place de l'Étoile". You can find it at the western end of the Champs-Élysées.  Visit http://www.arcdetriompheparis.com/ for more info. 

XOXO
Little Sister - Sara Shantelle Lim
www.SaraShantelle.com
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Go-Karting in Johore Bahru, Malaysia

Go Karting in Malaysia

It was a few years back when we went Go-Karting in Malaysia. Although my sister Lora Christelle Lim and I don't look like the type that will ever try Go-Karting, we managed to break out of the lady-like stereotype and did it! It was an exciting experience and we had loads of fun in Malaysia with our good friends such as Christine Ng, Jamie Teo, Arjuna Chandramohan, Jonathan Low, Faizal Yusmal etc.

It was quite a scary experience when the go kart was going at high speeds and being so low/close to the ground. We put towels over our heads before placing the helmets so that our hair do not stink of other people's sweat. The weather was hot and we were perspiring in the heat. The thrill of go karting was exhilarating and a must try for both men and women. It felt like the real thing, driving at high speeds, chasing each other to be in front and the experience was adrenalin-pumping. Permas Jaya Go-Kart Circuit is located in Johor Bahru, Malaysia and provides a chance to go kart in a fun way. Do visit http://www.permasgokart.com/

XOXO
Little Sister - Sara Shantelle Lim
www.SaraShantelle.com
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Buying an exotic car in Sydney - The Ferrari F360 Spider

Driving a beautiful car is every girl's dream and I am extremely fortunate to have such an opportunity. The Good News is that buying a car in Sydney is not as expensive as compared to Singapore. However, parking the car in the city or in car parks can be pretty expensive at approximately 2-3 hours at AUD65 at Westfield Pitt Street Shopping Mall (Sydney CBD) and maximum at AUD90. It's the best shopping mall in Sydney City with my favorite retailers such as Gucci, Prada, Chanel, Miu Miu, Zara, Swarovski, Ladurée, Valleygirl, Portmans, Forever New, Peter Alexander etc.

I know some people feel that buying such a "loud" car can be considered "arrogant", "flashy" or to be a "show-off" but real car lovers or car enthusiasts will understand that nothing beats the feeling of owning and driving a Ferrari. Obviously, Ferrari owners must enjoy driving the car if not why waste so much money buying it? Why should anyone be prevented from realizing their dreams just to avoid jealous criticisms from others? If you love something, work hard and achieve it! Be confident! Dare to dream and live your dreams! After all, life is short and time waits for no man...

The Ferrari F360 Spider is such a beautiful car that brings great happiness to both driver and passenger. It looks amazing and feels even more amazing especially when you listen to the lovely sounds of the Tubi Style Exhaust System. The car roars when you start the engine and continues to create music for car enthusiasts. It moves fast and you must be delicate in stepping on the accelerator in order to move carefully through traffic. It is semi-automatic and sometimes it can be pretty tricky in changing gear as most of the time, the car seems to have a mind of its own and always aim to shift to second gear in order to move faster on the roads. Some people have the misconception that driving a Ferrari can be extremely difficult but let me clarify that that this car is easy to drive and there is no need to go across humps in a diagonal way. We have increased the suspension so that we can drive this car conveniently to shopping malls and park in their cramp car parks. Also, the Ferrari boot is pretty big/spacious unlike the Lamborghini and I managed to put in my weekly groceries into the car every time!

Honestly speaking, ever since we bought this Ferrari, there seems to be great excitement to wake up early in the morning in order to plan where to drive to for breakfast or brunch at a lovely beach or cafe near the beach. Waking up early to enjoy the beautiful day with the hood down was simply enjoyable. This car is elegantly designed and has an automatic hood that folds away into the engine bay smoothly just with the press of a button. It is extremely convenient to put up and down the hood without much hassle. I just love the wind blowing against my face especially on a beautiful sunny day.

The funny thing to note is that driving this Ferrari can gather quite a lot of attention! Some people on the streets love pointing to the car and some even give me the "thumbs up!". I have a friend who messaged me on Facebook accusing me to be a "snob" for not waving to him but in actual fact, I did not even see him on George Street in Sydney city. There are so many people on the streets and I can't possibly be looking out for my friends in the crowd each time I drive passed right? Anyhow, it can be quite embarrassing at times when people start whipping out their iPhones or camera to take photos of the car and therefore, I usually hide my face using my sunglasses or a big straw hat or putting the hood on to avoid too much attention. Driving a Ferrari in the city makes you feel like a celebrity which I have not hoped for. All eyes on the car! I can't stop admiring this car as well as it is truly a remarkable beauty :) Other strange things that happened to me so far is that there are some cars who wind down their windows to challenge me for a race but seriously I feel like telling them that there is no point racing due to the many traffic lights in the city and the risk of losing my license to the police. I always believe that life is precious and safety comes first!

Some technical facts from the official Ferrari website on the F360:
1. Top speed is over 290km/h
2. Acceleration 0-100km/h takes about 4.6 sec
3. Maximum power is 294 kW (400 hp) at 8500 rpm


♥ Lora Christelle Lim ♥
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NYE Countdown to 2013 in Sydney!

New Year's Eve celebrations are where city skylines explode into colorful flames of fireworks display and Sydney's fireworks have been rated one of the best in the World! Celebrating NYE in Sydney requires planning and placing reservations months or even 1 year in advance as many tourists around the world flock to Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge to catch the spectacular fireworks display.

After considering all options, we decided to book a Sydney Harbor Dinner Cruise which lasted 5-6 hours from 7pm until about 1am. We booked THE BLUE ROOM luxury cruise costing AUD550/adult. Dinner and free flow of drinks were provided and we managed to get pretty close to the fireworks without having the need to squeeze with the massive crowds all around the area. Being on the cruise, we were able to sit on comfortable sofas on the upper level and when it gets hot, we were able to go to the lower level which was air-conditioned. Service was fantastic, food was decent and crowd was well-behaved and sophisticated. There were no rowdy teenagers or drunkards.

If you plan to celebrate NYE in Sydney City, below are some handy tips:
1. Plan, book ahead months in advance as hotels/restaurants/cruise get booked out very quickly
2. Be prepared to spend as it is going to be expensive
- Most hotels require minimum booking of 4 nights or more over NYE period
- Most restaurants with Fireworks view have special NYE dinners that cost around $300+/adult
- For free viewing, people camp overnight or go early morning to book a best viewing spot in gardens and bays around the Sydney Harbour
- Most roads are closed so wear comfortable walking shoes as you need to walk a lot, squeeze with massive crowds of people and be prepared to reach home late ... patience is needed!
- Best Free viewing spots are: Areas near Sydney Opera House, The Rocks, Cremorne Point Reserve, Bradley Field Milson's Point, Birchgrove, Macquarie Street lawns etc.

The fireworks display started at 9pm specially for families which was beautiful. However, the 12 midnight one was even more spectacular and everyone was in high spirits for such a festive occasion. This year, there was a giant set of sexy lips in the middle of the Sydney Harbour bridge and Sydney's skyline exploded into fiery burst of pink, gold and white flames. It was an amazing feast for the eyes! Dazzling display!!!

Photo: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2013/01/01/08/12/new-years-eve-2013-in-pictures

Photo: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2013/01/01/08/12/new-years-eve-2013-in-pictures

♥ Lora Christelle Lim ♥

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