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.
Upon my return from Koh Lipe a couple of months ago,
i sifted through dozens of emails to read a lovely invitation from a new villa in Bali
inviting me to come stay with them and blog about it.
The moment i saw Bali, i knew i’d say yes.
I love Bali so much… and have been trying not to return twice a year as i used to
and use our travel days to explore other countries instead!
(But Bali once a year is acceptable… XD)
The invitation came from Emma and later on,
David Beevers the GM, started answering my emails too.
I did a bit of research and discovered that
David has had 30 years of experience in the leisure and hospitality industry under his belt,
before being pulled to Bali to helm One Eleven Resorts.
He was incredibly friendly and down to earth,
and even assured me that a team of staff were waiting to blow up my pool floats
when he greeted Clem and i upon our arrivals at bvilla+spa and One Eleven separately.
How awfully nice of him!
I will love anyone who entertains my request to blow up pool toys seriously.
One Eleven was conceptualized to be a discreet and private sanctuary
that offers guests the newest high living lifestyle that fuses an ‘in-villa’ and ‘resort exprerience’.
Discerning travelers enjoy privacy, attention to detail and personalized services
while being located in the bustling area of Seminyak – close to all the nicest shops and restaurants!
This is the gorgeous pathway with a vertical garden of over a million pots
that leads to the nine villas that are One Eleven, which takes up 5000 square metres of land in total.
When i first stepped through our villa door, i just thought: “It’s SO BEAUTIFUL!”
Each of the nine villas is 350 sqm. (3,800 sq ft) with a spacious 14-meter long swimming pool
and a 35 sqm spa gazebo, which is what you see on the left above.
There is of course a butler service to ensure that every guest’s various needs are met.
The 14-metre long swimming pool with my hula hoop already in it.
I’m halfway editing the pictures i took when we stayed at One Eleven in Bali
and there are so many…
that i’m resorting to give you a sneak peek (via all the instagrams) i took, first.
I’m standing in the living room while taking this. Across is the spa pavilion. Bedroom to my right.
Like someone commented on my IG: “Now THIS is a bathroom.”
So much thought was given to the various textures and surfaces in the villa
A BLUE dragonfly! Have you ever?!
I was balancing precariously in the swimming pool while holding my iphone
which i think stressed Clem so much, he got me an underwater camera for Valentine’s
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!
