#nalinna

[nalinnali]

Wandering Wanderer x Rockwood Hotel & Spa

I must say, it’s been many years since I left my footprints in the snowy ground. I do often travel to Japan every March but somehow always got caught in either chilly breeze or heavy rain. So there you go, since we decided to drop by and say konichiwa again this January, it would be a blast to be out and about in the snow!

After making a trip back from visiting mum’s friend in Kanazawa, we were back at Tokyo, there we met up with my brother, my sister and my brother in law for Aomori. 

Day:1

If you are talking about traveling towards the north of Japan, I bet you’d think of Hokkaido first on the list. How about spending sometimes escaping crowds of people, enjoying and spending a good quality time with your family? Let me tell you, Aomori is the place to go. There we were, staring out through Shinkansen windows waiting impatiently, already started to plan what to do when we reach Rockwood Hotel and Spa (accompanied by this pocket wifi @japanwirelesstokyo of course) .

Aomori station, -12 C. You couldn’t even tell what time of day it was..

Snow there was pretty different from Kanaza, it was super duper powdery and fluffy woo!

Before checking in at Rockwood Hotel, we were all feeling a bit peckish so we decided to make a brief stop at Aomori city, and took a stroll around the snow covered wonderland to digest our heavy meal.

I cherished every moment when I was alone, with no chitter chatters around. The moment when you can only hear your breathing and looking back at your ‘only’ footsteps on the snowy ground. 

Believe me, I wasn’t afraid of the cold weather but, the blizzard was getting a bit far too strong. Mum started to stop walking and dad was turning blue, yep it’s time to check - in for a warm onsen..

Rockwood Hotel and Spa under Aomori Spring Resort Group. This lovely hotel situated along the foot of Mount Iwaki at Nishitsuguru district, about 55 minutes drive from Aomori station, however in the summer the traveling time is a little faster. The hotel has 188 rooms and built in the 70s, yet, had been undergone partial renovation in 2015, leaving scents of 70s decors fused in with contemporary interior design. 

Perhaps if you decided to pay a visit at Rockwood Hotel during winter season, never miss out snowboarding and skiing. For summer, some putting and hitting at the golf course would be great before relaxing at the spa.

I ended my first day with....hot onsen definitely :)

Day: 2

Ohaiyogozaimasu! Suite room on the 8th floor amazed me with superb view through every windows. I was totally awake by 7am, ready for buffet feast and aha snowboarding private class.

In this suite room you could onsen all day long..

What’s for breakfast? Whoa! So many things lined up rows after rows! Apple curry rice, toasts with fresh strawberry jam, all kind of soups, salad, Japanese breakfast, Chinese breakfast, International breakfast you name it!

And my most favourite out of all...fresh homemade yogurt with strawberry jam and apple juice! Never miss apple juice here by the way cus’ it’s impossible to miss hahaha :D

Beautiful view from the breakfast hall enormous window!

Oh dear, the snow blizzard just before our snowboarding lessons...

Let me get ready and put on many more layers. 1st layer with bodysuit from Paul and Joe Paris which I got from www.shopcosabella.com and snow boots from www.sorel.com

Wee hee!! I’m ready folks!!

These were best photos I could take with my Iphone 6s before dropping it into the thick snowy ground ahh!!!!

Who says snowboarding is hard? Lol ya I fell like hundred times :”D So did my brothers and sister :P

It’s a shame I couldn’t take my camera with me while snowboarding, but never mind I had a lot of fun, leaving me some bruces behind and the worse thing was my entire body was in pain, seriously!

We got back safe and (with a lot of moaning sound lol). I decided to quickly snap our dinning area view before the sunset. This is an a - la - carte zone for dinner only. If you’d prefer something different from buffet, you could make a reservation here for all kinds of dishes, Japanese to steak! Yums!! 

A little too much eh? Hey! I had a long long day!

Day:3

Surprisingly we woke up with lesser soreness from our snowboarding class, hence, we were determined to go for another round. However, due to heavy snow storm in the morning we decided to hibernate for some tea time in mum’s and dad’s room.

The room was super cosy, I didn’t have to put on my cardi, just one layer of Paul and Joe from www.shopcosabella.com would do me well this morning. 

My parent’s room was slightly different, they got one of the corner rooms which have been renovated a year ago with touches of modernism in grey. What a cool room with mountain view!

What about lunch? Though Rockwood Hotel doesn’t offer lunch but no worries just a second drive from the hotel you could enjoy hot broth ramen menus while watching others skiing and snowboarding outside. 

This place really reminded me of a scene from Detective Conan!

We didn’t make it to another snowboarding class that day but instead we took a drive back in town to grab some souvenirs at A - Factory. I bought a few things for family and friends, and this for myself ‘Wonder Apple’ :D

Let’s just grab a few drinks before saying goodbye to this homey Rockwood Hotel and Spa. A few days there were just too short. I’m coming back!!

Thank you so much Rockwood Hotel & Spa and team for your warm welcome and great hospitality. I will come back again not just for winter but summer as well! 

A place you must come!

Arigatougozaimazu!

Nalina

Credit:

Aomori spring resort Instagram: @aomorispringresort

Rockwood Hotel Instrgam: @rockwoodhotel

Site: www.rockwoodhotel.com

Contacts: LINE: lynnalinnali Email: theforestwanderer@hotmail.com

Instagram: NALINNALI Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/nalinnali Facebook: www.facebook.com/the.forest.wanderer Tumblr Blog: http://nalinnali.tumblr.com

Subscribe for more of my videos on: www.youtube.com/nalinnali

[nalinnali]

Say hello again!

Wow it’s been 3 years since I last posted something on Tumblr! Time flies yet these absent years of mine have aged me so much!! I’ve been meaning to shift everything from here to .com which I bought the domain like 4-5 years ago but somehow I got stuck with some other things which literally took most of my spare time. Finally let’s get things going on this site again before I make up my mind whether or not to kick off the website.

The corona virus have made all of ours lives become so difficult in a way and another kinda give us so much time to learn about ourselves. ‘Reflect’ that’s what I’d called. A minute you’d think you’ve got too much time, yet once you’ve listed the ‘to do’ list you’d realized oh dang no I don’t!! That’s life but we all should enjoy every second of it! No more time wasting, let us all stay safe and get something done before the world starts to get going again.

Just a short message to you all (who are still following me). I shall up date other posts real soon. What about twice a week?

Now let me get back to my book for today.

Have a good one and take care,

Nalinna*

Contact: 

LINE: lynnalinnali 

Email: theforestwanderer@hotmail.com

Instagram: NALINNALI 

Instagram 2: LYNNALINNALI

Facebook: www.facebook.com/the.forest.wanderer 

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/nalinnali 

Tumblr Blog: http://nalinnali.tumblr.com

Subscribe for more of my videos on: www.youtube.com/nalinnali

[nalinnali]

The secret recipe of happiness

Let me share you the simplest recipe of happiness I have been working on these recent years.

Yes, flower pressing may sounds easy peasy but living in a hot and humid country like Thailand results usually come with disappointment. 

For years I have been collecting flowers from places I visited and figuring out how to do flower pressing without leaving stains and marks on the beloved encyclopedia. 

There were times when many gone mouldy, some stuck between pages I didn’t dare to rip them apart and some left stains on books after books very badly :s

A year ago I came back with bunches of flowers I got from Japan, I left them aside hanging for a couple of days and started to categorize them, separating leaves and flowers. 

1. I selected the thickest book from the shelf and this time I tried the pressing process with toilet papers. 

2. Sandwiched each stalk between 3 layers of tissue paper. 

3. Left them under the sun for half a day before..

4. Slotted them between pages, all in one thick book. 

5. Instead of keeping the book in a room, I left it in an open space where air flowed and piled up many other books on top. 

9 months passed I opened the book with glee! Their colours still remain to be seen, no moulds, marks nor stains :)

Try it and you will find your own secret recipe of happiness from an old boring book. 

It’s wonderful how nature cures everything :) 

Goodnight,

Nalinna

Contacts:

LINE: lynnalinnali Email: theforestwanderer@hotmail.com

Instagram: NALINNALI Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/nalinnali Facebook: www.facebook.com/the.forest.wanderer Tumblr Blog: http://nalinnali.tumblr.com

Subscribe for more of my videos on: www.youtube.com/nalinnali

[nalinnali]

Forest Wanderer x Matter Prints

‘A day in a life’

Monday is my Sunday.

09:45am

TGIM! A day off from Forest Bake. I got up pretty late specially during this rainy season, no surprise my body clock would automatically slow down to meet the Monday pace. It’s best to just stay cosy in bed, listening to the rain, what a beautiful moment of the day.

10:45am

What should I wear..?

Every time when it comes to a decision making of ‘what to wear’. I’d often go by the weather, or places I plan to visit. Since Monday is an easy for me, I’d rather go for something comfy with a style. So I picked out my Matter Prints dress.

11:45am

Late brunch at “Meena Rice Based Cuisine”. Finally I got myself there after hearing from friends and seen so many delicious posts on Instagram. 

The restaurant located on an outer ring road of Chiang Mai, though not so far from the main city but peaceful enough for you to enjoy a good meal. The place was built from an old Northern Thai style houses, surrounded by trees beside a small pond. Everything was decorated in Thai hand-dyed fabrics, wood and ceramics. What a coincidence I happened to wear an artisanal hand printed shirt dress myself!

As new comers, we had no idea of what to order so they recommended us to try some signature Lanna (Northern Thai) dishes. The highlight was the coloured steamed rice cooked in different kind of herbs and flowers to get their wonderful natural dyes. Mind you all of the dishes were sprinkled with edible flower petals, beautiful!

3:30pm

Back home for an afternoon retreat in the garden. After rained walk is always the best. Loving how everything switched from lemony green to foresty green, the scent and the freshness in the air are just marvelous. In fact, I’m often here for a purpose, either to do some foraging or to get some inspirations, but for Mondays, I shall enjoy myself for nothing. 

Our Carunda trees are bearing their fruits. These are edible, you can have them fresh like having strawberries or even bake them in one of your recipes, you choose :)

4:45pm

Looked like it’s about to rain for the third round, meaning, it’s time for me to stop wandering. I shall get back in and waiting patiently for mum’s best dinner.. 

The day was short but I did accomplish my slow-life kind of day with well received energy from nature.

Hope you guys had a great Monday.

Goodnight.

Nalinna*

Credit:

Instagram: @matterprints

Store Site: https://matterprints.com/

Contacts: LINE: lynnalinnali Email: theforestwanderer@hotmail.com

Instagram: NALINNALI Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/nalinnali Facebook: www.facebook.com/the.forest.wanderer Tumblr Blog: http://nalinnali.tumblr.com

Subscribe for more of my videos on: www.youtube.com/nalinnali

[nalinnali]

Forest Wanderer x Metropole Bangkok The Crest Collection by The Ascott Limited*

It’s been many years since I’ve been traveling back and forth constantly to Bangkok, either for leisure or sometimes, work. I’ve noticed continuous changes all time, whether it’s about new developments, places to shop, cafes to visit or night markets. 

A couple of days ago, I dropped by Bangkok for a short while, 2 nights and 3 days, I got to make it worthwhile, and so forth I came across Metropole Bangkok, again, through Pinterest. 

Metropole Bangkok, one of the luxury serviced residences under The Crest Collection under The Ascott Limited, offers a unique and inviting aesthetic in company with an unprecedented personalized serviced standard. The design from inside out is inspired by the Colonial architecture fused in with the elegance of Thai ‘Golden Age’ like in those Gatsby era (which I adore most!). Likewise Metropole provides a unique juxtaposition between classic and contemporary, which appeal to both international and domestic guests. 

Metropole Bangkok located at the end of Soi Thonglor, Bangkok’s well-known upmarket residential district. You will surely spot the beautiful building from all directions as the European inspired design is so outstanding. Its convenient location provides easy access to Sukhumvit and Petchburi roads, as well as the expressway. Thonglor BTS skytrain is also only a 10 minutes’ drive away.

So..there I was, getting surrounded by an amazing interior from lobby to the studio room. Design combinations of wood, leather and marble blended really well giving the heritage yet contemporary touches to the place. Loved how accents of brass and gold were added to enhance the extravagance ambience..

The bar.

Small kitchen corner to make some tea. :)

Late afternoon vibe at the balcony, I watched the sun went down with favourite book in my hand.

Breakfast time! The swimming pool is connected to the breakfast section. If you are keen enough to wake up early for a swim, go ahead before you lead yourself to full course breakfast just a step away!

Mood and tones are just superb for photohraphy to those who love vintage style, like me, of course. I wished to stay a little longer but my Forest Bake was calling me. 

Let’s travel with a style the next time you visit Bangkok! Pop by and take a look at their site. You’ll find another wondrous world bringing you back to the Thai Gatsby era :) 

Nalinna*

Credit:

Instagram: @metropole.bangkok

Hotel Site: www.the-ascott.com/en/thailand/bangkok/metropole.html

Site: www.lioandlinn.com

Contacts: LINE: lynnalinnali Email: theforestwanderer@hotmail.com

Instagram: NALINNALI Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/nalinnali Facebook: www.facebook.com/the.forest.wanderer Tumblr Blog: http://nalinnali.tumblr.com

Subscribe for more of my videos on: www.youtube.com/nalinnali

[nalinnali]

Forest Wanderer x Royal Orchid Collection

Jewelry says everything about you. 

Have you ever been asked 'what is/are your favourite fashion item(s) that say(s) everything about you most?' For me as a vintage collector I would give myself a good treasure hunt wherever I visit, scouting for either vintage or vintage inspired pieces to keep as memories. When digging deeper into details of your everyday wear. Jewelry may seem small in size but to me they do play big part in dressing. They are what I called 'accents to your fashion', which say everything about your personality and characteristic . I often observe and get to know people through their senses of jewelry choices they put on them. It's just my kind of thing :”D Recently, I came across Royal Orchid Collection, one of the most well known handcrafted jewelry and decorative gifts store based in Chiang Mai for 30+ years. 

After a few clicks to take a good look of their products on www.royalorchidcollection.com and having seen their products up close. I have to say that my adoration towards these beautiful pieces grew more and more. I admire the thought behind each collection and the brand philosophy regarding Mother Nature's partnership awareness in order to bring magnificent products to customers. Nevertheless, every piece is handcrafted from real flowers or leaves which fit perfectly in with my styling direction of being a Forest Wanderer.

Moreover, what caught my attention first was the touch of vintage in every design which you could just mix and match with anything you have in the wardrobe. It is interesting how an item from Siam Royal Orchid could enhance your look of the day effortlessly no matter how plain your dressing looks. Just a piece on your neck or a piece on your finger, it creates a big different and surely will make your day.

I have picked a few pieces from Siam Royal Orchid to work on some stylings as I usually do. To be honest they were pretty easy to mix and match with all most anything I could grab around me from home decoration to fashion.

The sweet sensation of lacquer wear.

Finale fashion styling with one of my most favourite piece from the fine silver wear collection.

These are just a few items I have selected from both of their collections Silver wear and Lacquer wear. If you are a collector like me, I definitely recommend you to take a look at their website or drop by at their stores (locations on the credit below) for more inspiring pieces. 

Perhaps you may want to keep them for yourself or give to your love ones, any ways they would charmed you up from top to toe :)

Nalinna

Credit:

Royal Orchid Collection Instagram: @SIAMROYALORCHID

Royal Orchid Collection (only fine silver collection is available):

www.royalorchidcollection.com. 

Royal Orchid Collection store locations which stock both lacquer and fine silver collections:

ROC Chiang Mai Kad Klang Wiang Ratchadamnoen Road (walking street) ROC Bangkok Level 3 (Istanbul) Terminal 21

Contacts:

LINE: lynnalinnali Email: theforestwanderer@hotmail.com

Instagram: NALINNALI Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/nalinnali Facebook: www.facebook.com/the.forest.wanderer Tumblr Blog: http://nalinnali.tumblr.com

Subscribe for more of my videos on: www.youtube.com/nalinnali

[nalinnali]

Magic Hands by forest wanderer: school scout hat to fancy*

Magic Hands by forest wanderer: Fancy Hat from old scout hats.

*This is actually a repeated blogpost from a few years back however since I have just released the video version so there you go I will reblog it again. The design from the video and on the blog may look different as I have created a few designs for this idea. 

Many have asked me from earlier Instagram post, ‘where did you get your hats?’

Do these look familiar to you?

Some of you came across them for sure, in fact some might still be using them at school for girl/boy scout classes (if you attend Thai schools). See you have granted gems in your hands! If you still have them somewhere in your wardrobes or your brother does and he doesn’t use them anymore, please please don’t throw them away! They can turn into something else rather fashionable for yourself or as a gift.

And if you have never attended these scout classes, don’t worry, grab them from any Thai uniform store anywhere in the market for only 70 baht each!!

So here you go, let’s use our magic hands to create fashion accessories.

Things to prepare:

- boy/girl scout hats

- left over laces

- needle

- threads

- pins

- scissors

how to..

1. cut up laces into small pieces.

2. pin them in any ways you like, design them!!

3. slowly hand stitch them on the hat.

4. add more bits and pieces of laces.

5. you could just stitch them up all gathered in one side, or all around like mine, or if you have time why not filling the whole hat!!

Try to create many different patterns up to your our preference and design!!

The original video version has been released on Youtube, please kindly follow the link:

https://youtu.be/uoEDzcLNiiQ

Have a great weekend,

Nalinna*

Credit Location:

Instagram: GINGERLIFESTYLEASIA

Contacts: LINE: lynnalinnali Email: theforestwanderer@hotmail.com Instagram: NALINNALI Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/nalinnali Facebook: www.facebook.com/the.forest.wanderer Tumblr Blog: http://nalinnali.tumblr.com Subscribe for more of my videos on: www.youtube.com/nalinnali

[nalinnali]

Forest Wanderer at Ginger

Pink blue yellow orange green and all shades of pastel colours spotted here and there everywhere as a signature of Ginger & Kafe. It’s like waking into a dream land full of dots, stripes, fun shapes of animals, flowers and pom poms oh I love this place :)

Ginger & Kafe is located at 199 The House, Mummueang road just right inside Ku Mueng or the mote which surrounded the old city of Chinag Mai. People often get confused with this area as all corners look pretty much the same, you’d would probably ended up driving in a square if you missed!! So watch out for Sriphum sub district for the big big sign says ‘The House’, yes the beautiful looking hub. 

The House has a few sections for you to take a look, theres Ginger & Kafe with fashion store created my Ginger themselves at the back, lifestyle & home store and another restaurant section to enjoy the view of Chiang Mai while you’re munching your meals. All are decorated in such a unique way with lots of colours and patterns it creates some kind of unexplainable relaxing atmosphere, making you feel ‘at home’. 

I myself has been there a couple of times and often went back to try out different menus. They do have Thai food, some are fusion with Western style, bakery, long list of drinks, oh I love there juices :) So recently I went back there again to do some styling shoots and video shoots for my Youtube channel, the interior temped me to stay quite long hours, believe me I shot every corner!

If you’re in Chiang Mai or visiting Chiang Mai, do not miss out your chance to visit The House. You’re gonna experience something different and leave good good memories with your family/friends, perhaps with lots of pictures too ;)

Have a great week!

Nalinna*

Credit Location:

Instagram: GINGERLIFESTYLEASIA

Contacts: LINE: lynnalinnali Email: theforestwanderer@hotmail.com Instagram: NALINNALI Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/nalinnali Facebook: www.facebook.com/the.forest.wanderer Tumblr Blog: http://nalinnali.tumblr.com Subscribe for more of my videos on: www.youtube.com/nalinnali