Since Joyce was in Europe, I had the opportunity to experience Club Med’s Body and Soul event a few weeks back on behalf of KinkyBlueFairy! It was a 4D3N trip in Club Med Bali and all I did was eat, swim, do yoga, talk, and drink! I was with 2 other Malaysian members of the media (Claudia from Tongue in Chic and Evelyn of MissyBlurKit) and Lena, the representative of Club Med who was our guide during the trip.
Club Med from France has been known for being the original and premium all-inclusive vacation resort, with 80sun and snow resorts set in exotic locations around the world. Established in 1950, Club Med today has vacation resorts scattered around the world from Europe to Asia, and is considered one of the best go-to resorts especially for families. We even have one here in Malaysia itself – Club Med Cherating in Kuantan!
A premium package in Club Med usually includes:
- return flights (special arrangement upon request)
- accommodation
- gourmet international buffet 3 times a day and all-day bar + snacks
- bars and nightclubs with free flow of drinks
- sports and leisure activities
- night performances
- child care services
Club Med upholds a longstanding company culture that is unique. All staff are called G.Os - Gentils Organisateurs (Gentle Organizers); whilst customers are G.Ms - Gentils Membres (Gracious Members). The resort is known as a village, whereas the resort manager is called the Chef de Village (Village Chief). There are 94 G.Os in Club Med Bali of different (18!) nationalities, so no G.Ms need worry about language barriers.
In 2013, Club Med came up with a programme named ‘Body and Soul’ – an annual retreat focused on health and wellness to boost and transform overall well-being filled with activities based on 4 colour themes – Yellow, Red, Green and Purple.
The event was initially launched in Club Med Cherating and Bali, but this year it was decided that Bali is the best location for the retreat, with the program being extended for a month. Club Med Bali is located in Nusa Dua, a secluded premium location with breathtaking scenery that is only less than half an hour away from the airport via the new highway in Bali.
Another great reason why Bali is the best destination for the Body & Soul event – their new Zen Pool was just launched in March!
Club Med Bali is huge. Initially I wondered if i would have some time to step out of the resort to explore Bali a little, but it turns out four days weren’t even enough for me to fully explore the resort area! Each night’s walk was a new discovery for me.
The Body & Soul event is designed with optimal relaxation in mind, as Club Med recognises the need to awaken our spirits and hearts, heal our bodies and transform our lives. With the belief that colours deeply affect us in our daily life (from how it impacts our moods and emotions, to our sense of well being) the event tagline was – 4 colours in 4 days: Get rejuvenated, energised, balanced and revitalised inside and out.
The retreat spans four days, with each day featuring a different colour.
Yellow is the day for rejuvenation;
Red representing energy;
Green for balance;
Purple for revitalisation.
Each day offers different specialized classes designed by international relaxation experts, colour-coded fitness activities, and healthy colour-coded meals.
There were yoga lessons twice a day to focus on detox + balancing for our body and soul.
Morning yoga lessons were usually carried out by the beach area, with fresh morning sea breeze and calming sound of waves to boost our morning mood. Our instructor for the lessons was Samantha from Hong Kong, a patient and smiling spirit who was always gentle and calm with everyone.
Trapeze lessons available for all ages!
The most challenging part of the trip was how to do EVERYTHING in what suddenly seemed like a short span of time. There were so many activities, fun games to play and beautiful areas to explore. There are lush green fields everywhere, up till right to the front of my room which tempted me to pack food from the restaurant to have a picnic on.
Read more about my experience in Club Med after the jump!
Thank you to both my parents who made me, and molded me into the person i am today
They were supposed to be celebrating in Bali with me but my dad’s accident with his back prevented him from flying so… next time.
I decided to spend my birthday in one of my favourite places in the world and it’s been great so far!
Friday night we partied at Danny’s villa, called Asa Bali Luxury Villas, ’twas a really nice place!
Whole day Saturday and Sunday was a party at our villa at One Eleven Resorts.
I purposely chose One Eleven cos i had such a great time playing in the beautiful villa grounds last year that i really wanted to get some friends together to play with me too!
Just some quick pix before i have to head out for lunch with Rahul and Clouds.
There are thousands of pictures we snapped so i need a LOT of time to edit them… Below are just a few pix from Sunday (my birthday eve).
We met up for lunch at Biku. Everyone is looking slightly shattered cos we’d already been partying for 2 days…
Road to paradise! Rahul fell off the buggy. He was standing on the back and was holding on with one hand, with the other hand carrying a plastic bag of drinks. He said it was so beautiful going down the lane, that he wanted to take a picture and decided to let go with the hand that holding on, to reach for his phone… -_-
Danny chilling in the kitchen
Cloyce!
Since Clem named the evil koala Joyce, i figured it was only right she had a birthday party too
Man. I don’t even know where to start with Awesomeness Fest.
It was like, the BEST thing i ever went to… and there is SO much to tell about it, not to mention the HUNDREDS of pictures i took over the four days it happened.
I made so many amazing new friends-for-life from all over the world, from Africa to New Zealand.
I learnt, partied, laughed, cried, and EVOLVED.
I learnt SO MUCH STUFF, things which i’ve been sharing with lots of people since i got home, but i think it’s about time i start sharing it here with you all too Well, i’m gonna try to fit in as much as i can across a few blogposts. It”ll end up being an impossibly long post if i tried putting it in ONE!
OK OK breathe, phew! I feel so overwhelmed on where to start.
So i’ll start from the VERY BEGINNING.
I FIRST heard about Awesomeness Fest when i went to Mindvalley for an event in January.
Loved it so much i blogged about it *HERE*
After watching it i was like, “What the hell is this… i have NO IDEA but i WANNA GO.”
Here’s another vid to explain what Awesomeness Fest is (soddof)
After i decided i wanted to try to go, i found out how much it cost (RM6K) and thought HMM can i really afford this what with all the money i’m planning to pump into my business this year? And then thought OK I’m just gonna try, and if it happens then it happens. If it doesn’t then at least i know i tried to go.
So i took the first step by sending in an application. Yup. You can’t just pay and go for it, you have to fill in this form on what you do and what you think and why you want to go. Serious stuff. Basically they just want to ensure that they only accept the type of people they want to draw – people who are driven, want to or are running their own business/es, want to better themselves, want to contribute to the community/world. Every year thousands of applicants vie for only 250 spots in Awesomeness Fest. So you see… i wasn’t very sure if i could even GO in the first place.
Sent in my application. Got word that i passed through the first round (yay!) and was requested to schedule a Skype meeting for an interview. Once i got through the interview process then i’d be confirmed as an attendee.
Somehowwww it was SO hard to get that interview done. The person who was to speak to me was Lara Berg, who’s based somewhere in the US which simply meant the only window of hours she could interview me was 2-6AM Malaysia time -_- I canceled the first meeting cos i had too much work and not enough sleep. The second time was cos i was sick and needed sleep so badly. And she was SO nice that when i told her the truth, she suggested to do one at 7AM my time so it wasn’t so bad. I groggily woke up one morning, had a Skype chat with her and found out after that i was IN.
YAYNESS! Then was the paying part. I felt that paying for something that was going to help ME in my life, was money well spent. I also didn’t feel like i was being cheated cos Afest is a 100% non-profit event, and all the money they make from it gets channeled to 3 different charities globally.
Fast forward, and i’m at Afest!
I purposely took a Wednesday night flight so that i could catch the extra sessions on Thursday. Afest is Friday-Sunday but i figured it’s not like i have to take leave, and the Chinese side of me wanting the bang for my buck kicked in :p
I. am. so. glad. i went that extra day.
Thursday afternoon session was held by Lisa Nichols of Motivating the Masses, and perhaps THE most powerful speaker i’ve experienced in person! She’s been interviewed by Oprah and Larry King, and personally spoken to up to 10,000 people in one event at a stadium!
[[ crap. i have to go out now. i think this is gonna be one of those blogposts where i continue it when i can. TA! Happy WEEKEND!]]
After perhaps five-too-many cocktails at Potato Head, Clem and i hopped into a taxi back to One Eleven. We’d arranged to have an anticipated Japanese dinner at Shiro, the resort’s sushi and sake bar helmed by Chef Shiro aka Shinya Kuwazoe.
Shiro is a cosy restaurant on the first floor of One Eleven. Well it didn’t feel so cosy when i first stepped in, cos we were the only customers there at first so i felt like too much staff attention was on us. But after we settled down and started talking to Chef Shinya who hails from Osaka, we felt more at ease and ended up spending a good few hours taking our time tasting all our food and chatting non stop. Oh, and having lots of sake. We must have ordered three bottles… and shared it with Shinya too, cos the food he served us was just too good that it felt only fair we shared our drink.
The restaurant itself is designed by the famed Shigemasa Noi, who’s been experienced in store and display design since 1965. The most recognizable feature in Shiro are its raw walls made out of intricate wooden blocks placed in various levels. I don’t even want to know how much work went into that…
As for the food, never would i have thought that Bali would hold some of the best Japanese food i’d ever had. I still dream about the fatty tuna that melted in my mouth that night…
Being under the One Eleven umbrella assures us that Shiro uses only the best and freshest ingredients they can obtain.
While Clem and i stayed at the gorgeous One Eleven resort, we stepped out for a few hours to meet Aps and Fai for some evening cocktails at Potato Head. It was our first time at the restaurant & bar since we hadn’t gone back to Bali for awhile, and it looked quite nice in pictures so i wanted to check it out.
Approaching the establishment
Corridor leading in
A LOT OF PEOPLE. Now i know why i was advised by the staff to go there around 4pm cos one can’t make bookings. At first Clem and i had a spot on the grass, but he shook his head cos the kwailo simply cannot sit cross-legged on the ground. He just cannot. It’s built into his French physique that he can only sit on chairs. -_- So we sat at a table overlooking this scene (lounge seats next to pool were all full) but it was SO HOT there, we moved to the bar which had shade.
Seriously, it was really really hot. I’m the kind who can sit in the sun and drink and party, but even THIS was too much for me. Even CLEM, the cold-hatin’ sun-baskin’ European, couldn’t take the burning heat and humidity.
Cocktails in shade is good. The other people are just crazy.
Read my first post on One Eleven *HERE* if you haven’t yet
On our second day in the villa, i woke up later than Clem cos i was so tired from the previous night’s partying.
Clem was thoughtful enough to take pictures of our breakfast before he dug in.
French jams that we have at home too!
Around lunchtime i felt a bit peckish despite my late breakfast of koay teow,
so i ordered the batavia beef broth, which i enjoyed so much.
I love the miniature carrots they had in it.
Clem really wanted Burger King -_- so the butler ordered it for him.
I was like, why must you eat Burger King when we have so much better food here!
But he insisted. I held my tongue cos i didn’t want to smother him.
It was a REALLY HOT day – perfect for spending in the villa.
Clem was just STUCK to this sun lounge all day.
He didn’t move off it and even got me to fetch him beers.
“I love this chair baby… oh you don’t know how good it feels… i want to take it home,” he said.
Well, i’m gonna try to fit in as much as i can across a few blogposts. It”ll end up being an impossibly long post if i tried putting it in ONE!
