Lewré’s 20th Anniversary at The Gardens

Hello readerss ..

Lewré’ Bespoke recently celebrated its 20th Anniversary with a grand celebration held at The Gardens Mall, Kuala Lumpur and Misz-ella.blogspot.com was invited to be part of the glorious ceremony.

I was there together with my bestfriend, the lovely Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil who was among the esteemed guests.

Lewré’s 20th Anniversary Celebration was officiated by the Royal Patron, Her Royal Highness Sultanah of Pahang, Sultanah Hajjah Kalsom on 25 September 2017 at The Gardens Mall, Kuala Lumpur. Former Minister of International Trade and Industry, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, who played a role in encouraging Dato’ Lewre Lew, the founder of Lewré in moving the Lewré brand to where it is today, also graced the event. 

During the 20th Anniversary Celebration, Dato’ Lew also launched his first coffee table book, ‘Luminous Ray’, which highlights the journey of Lewré to its success in becoming an award winning shoe couturier. Dato’ Lew stresses “The big goal in Lewré is to continue pushing the boundaries in shoe design. From the very beginning, our company’s goal is to push the boundaries of shoe design.” 

In conjunction with the 20th Anniversary, Lewré Galleria are currently happening until 29 September 2017 at The Gardens Mall, showcasing Lewré’s creations for the public to see and appreciate the 20 years of diligence and milestones achieved by the brand.

Dato’ Lew then accompanied Her Royal Highness, Sultanah Hajjah Kalsom, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz and esteemed guests on a tour around the Galleria.

Dato’ Lew hopes to inspire the younger generation and to remain a homegrown international market leader in the art of shoe design and bespoke creation. The brand first started in 1997 when Dato’ Lew ventured into creating his own designs and brand. Lewré first started as an OEM and then ODM manufacturer under the Roondy Trading Sdn. Bhd (RTSB) trade name in 1987. Since then, the humble company soon enticed businesses from 40 other countries from multiple continents. After achieving worldwide recognition with RTSB, he decided to venture into creating his own brand. Lewré is now a personalised shoe couture that creates shoes on a much more personal level.

These displays highlight the values of Lewré that focuses on pushing the boundaries of shoe design and to be on the forefront of using advanced technology in shoe manufacturing and design. The works displayed includes a brief write-up of its idea and inspiration of each artwork when creating the pair of shoe. It also highlights the 3 main elements from the conception of idea to visualization from the artwork and lastly, production and the pair of Lewré shoes. Among the other displays are a craftsmen’s booth where tools of the trade are displayed as well. This includes the hand tools and shoe lasts that are used in the actual process of making a shoe. 

Galleria also displayed Dato’ Lew’s paintings of friends who have in one way or another inspired him and positively contributed to his life and brand. The art that is painted by Dato’ Lew is a token of appreciation to the person for their kindness and generosity. 

Amongst those paintings that on display that of Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina, Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza, Dato’ Sheila Majid, Datin Winnie Loo and Chui Ling. The Inspiration Dato’ Lew credits much of his success and inspirations to his mentors and friends who have in one way contributed to the success of Lewré. 

Being an artist himself who paints and draws, a big part of his inspiration comes in the form of artistic expressions. He sees with his eyes and his heart appreciates what he sees. This is subsequently translated to his hands illustrating and painting the art. Most of the shoe designs in Lewré are influenced by art in one way or another. A big part of Lewré’s vision is also to ‘constantly push boundaries’.

Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina with her painting and wearing  Lewré's bespoke shoe made specially for herself. The Wedge booties named Ray Of Light were made personally to suit Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina who has a bold personality and edgy in style.

The modern and structural design made the shoe and her stand out. Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina has been a loyal customer of Lewré for three years. When asked ~ Which is your favourite design Puan Sri? I can't comment much as all shoes made by Lewré are special and carry its own characters to suits my daily wear needs.

Misz-ella.blogspot.com would like to Congratulate Lewré on its 20th Anniversary. To Dato' Lewre, stay generous, friendly and humble as always.

So readers, do not forget to drop by to The Garden Malls and visit Lewré's Galleria and find out how you can win a pair of Lewré Bespoke shoe worth RM3,000.00.

3D/2N Nature Exploration at Maxwell Hill (Bukit Larut) with PEKA & WSFFM

Hello readers ..

I am back with Cuti-Cuti Malaysia Entry. I know most of Dari Jari-Jari Halusku readers love my travel entry most, compared to other kind of entry.

Sharing is caring .. so this entry is for you, lovely readers.

I am a nature lover. Listening to the sound of nature, be in the nature is the best therapy in life. I supported PEKA's vision for years before I officially joined PEKA as one of their Exco members early this year. PEKA or Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam or in English "Organisation for The Protection of Natural Heritage Malaysia" was established in 2010 by its founder Puan Sri To' Puan Datuk Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil who is an avid nature lover with a vision to save the oldest rainforest with all its biodiversity from extinction. 

Orang kata, Tak Kenal Maka Tak Cinta. Bila dah duduk dalam PEKA, barulah Misz-ella tau yang perjuangan Puan Sri Sabrina dan PEKA tidak lah mudah dan segala-galanya hanya boleh dilakukan atas nama cinta. Banyak pengorbanan baik dari segi masa, tenaga, wang ringgit yang perlu dilakukan kerana perjuangan cintakan alam kurniaan Allah SWT kepada kita ini.

Apart of being PEKA's President, Puan Sri Sabrina is also a President of Women's Sport & Fitness Foundation Malaysia (WSFFM).

Recently both organisation, PEKA and WSFFM organised a Team Building program for its Exco in the wettest part of the country, Bukit Larut or formerly known as Bukit Maxwell.

Our 282km journey from Klang Valley started at 6:30 am and we reached Bukit Larut foothill at 10:00 am.

 Parked our car

And get ready for 10 kilometres journey to the top of Bukit Larut using the Land Rovers provided. Private vehicle are not allowed to access the road without permit.

The access road to Bukit Larut is very steep and narrow. Get ready for an adrenalin rush as the ride up and down is quite exciting - just like riding a roller coaster. Masa naik excited gila .. masa turun senyap sorang-sorang menahan mual rasa nak muntah ..*hehe*

Arrived and were welcomed by a cool weather - fresh zero pollution air, quiet, natural surrounding. If you are a  'pampered in luxurious surroundings' tourist, Bukit Larut is not for you. Unlike most developed resorts in Malaysia, Bukit Larut, the oldest hill resort in our country remains its untouched beauty ~ raw, wild and 'virgin'. 

Visitors who came to Bukit Larut are mostly nature lovers, birdwatchers and hikers ~ embellished with flowers, birds and tree ferns .. the main reason why our President chosed Bukit Larut as our team building location ~ ways far from our normal routine and our hustle bustle city life. We are going to explore the nature here!

And the exploration started with 'look see look see' and off course .. capturing best moment together *wefie lah, kan*

Enjoying Jeruk Madu Pak Ali with Puan Yati, Admin PEKA Malaysia and Azrizal Secretary General of WSFFM infront of the Land Rover station - kat tempat sejuk macam ni, makan apa pun berselera .. Thank You to Zabidi from PEKA Penang who brought this jeruk over .. rebut-rebut kita makan, kan.

Due to the limited internet access, we have to keep moving around to get an internet coverage. For a blogger like me .. update is a MUST!! For Yati and Azrizal .. their work never ends .. walau di mana mereka berada, kerja tetap tak lupa and this spot is the best spot for 012, 016, 019 coverage .. but be careful!! we are at the wettest part of Malaysia .. leeches are everywhere .. menunggu mangsa yang leka

Bukit Larut may not have the fine luxury like other resort hill in our country but that's what attracts nature lover like us. Romantic in its own way,everything here is still old and natural .. from the land rover adventure ride, to the limited facilities .. our trip to Bukit Larut which initiated by our President is a peaceful mountain retreat where nature is the attraction.

Taiping town from the altitude of 1036 above sea level .. I love Taiping. I have so many memories in this second largest town of Perak. My first brother live in this beautiful peaceful town since 15 years ago. Taiping is known with its beautiful nature and heritage and the name was formed by two Chinese characters - Tai & Ping (Great peace).

Bungalow Angkasa was our home during the trip. Built in 1906, this big bungalow has 4 big bedrooms and can accommodate up to 20 persons. This 111 years bungalow are still in good condition but we seriously think the bungalow need refurbishment. Anyway this was the place where we spent our quality times together for 3D/2N in Bukit Larut.

While the men stayed in Beringin Bungalow.

And tadaaaa .. Hello from the top! We climbed the rock to get the best spot for this pose!This is the result lah when mom said jom panjat and anak kata lets do it *haha*

As I said earlier the only activity you can do here is NATURE! Unlike any other hill resort in Malaysia, there is no community here, no night clubs or bar, no shop, mosque, clinic but there is one small little Cafe with colonial architecture.

Some of the flowers found at Bukit Larut 

Beautiful in their own ways ~ the best sentences to describe both the cafe and our President, Puan Sri Sabrina.

The cafe interior ..

One of the picturesque spot for photograph ..

After lunch, we planted pokok gaharu or Aquilaria malaccensis, a species of plant which is the major source of Agarwood, used for perfume and incense. Lead by our President, Puan Sri Sabrina more than 10 gaharu trees were planted in Bukit Larut during our visit. 

Bazlinda, Secretary General of PEKA Malaysia

Betrina and Kee of WSFFM

This is inline with PEKA's mission - to keep the earth green by planting more trees via our various main activities. In case if you do not know, PEKA planted trees every month throughout Peninsular Malaysia via it's Tree For A Tree program and our yearly Save Our Rainforest Race.

The fun and adventure of our day did not stop when our President decided to go for an evening walk. Walking together in a cool breezy weather while filling our lungs with a fresh oxygen *lovely*

After the dinner, we had a casual fun get-together session organised by TeamTac who joined our trip. Shawn, Rem and Yasser created a fun games where myself, Rizal, Sheeda and Puan Sri Sabrina were in a group. I lose the game and our President was the first winner .. It was fun!

Day 1 in Bukit Larut was well spent .. Day 2 was more adventurous. We started our day with hiking ~ one of our President's hobby. Everywhere she go, exploring a new jungle is a MUST! Do not forget your stretching guys or you might hurt your muscle. Immediately after the stretching and 'bacaan doa' we started the hike.

We have to walk 2.5km (all the way up hills) before we reach the entrance of  Gunung Hijau (Green Mountain).

19 of us in a group, walked and enjoyed the cold breezy weather. Everyone were excited, energized and fresh since it was still early morning but wait .. where is our President? Well .. she was among the front liners who lead the hiking ..

And she waited for us at the entrance of Gunung Hijau

As soon as everyone arrived .. we started to hike the mountain

The hiked was not easy as we have to hiked almost 5 hills with the elevation of 70 degrees. Up down the hills, guided by Encik Wan Shahrul of Persatuan Pendaki Negeri Perak and his team.

Three key personnel of Team Tac, Shawn, Rem and Yasir who also our Outdoor event organiser joined the hiking. 

OK dah letih .. Break 5 minutes please .. As this hike will take about 4 to 5 hours to complete the whole trail, we were reminded earlier by Puan Yati, to bring our raincoat, tit bits, additional cloth, proper hiking attire which includes a suitable hiking shoe, drink, medicine (if necessary) and a good stamina is a MUST! Be alert with your surroundings. Our hiked was extra fun when everyone were facing their own battle against the leeches!! Leeches are everywhere in this jungle but what I liked more about this group is .. the teamwork spirit are very high .. we helped and supported each other *love*

Some of the floras and faunas of Gunung Hijau spotted by Haikal's camera

And finally, we reached the summit of Gunung Hijau after putting a lot of hard work. Not only the trail was adventurous but the fight against the leeches was Urgghhhh .. *quite stressful *hehe* Gunung Hijau which is located in Banjaran Bintang is a home for leeches and other wildlife. Get a proper guidance and advise  before you hike this trail. The youngest in this group is Aiman who is also the Exco for WSFFM and the oldest is Encik Halim of PEKA Perak who is 73 years old. Regardless our age, if we practiced healthy lifestyle from the beginning, nothing is impossible. 

This reminded me on our President's advise - Exercise should be part of our lifestyle, more than just a hobby ~ "Health is Wealth" "Be A Sport Life Gets Better"

Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina then later decided to replace this damaged signboard to a new one. If you happen to hike this mountain in the future, please send us your picture with the new signboard donated by PEKA Malaysia to PEKA Malaysia's FB. Apart from we want to contribute to Gunung Hijau, the new signboard will mark our memory of hiking this Mountain together with our two big family (PEKA & WSFFM). A big Thank You to our Madam President for bringing us together here. 

The 64 years old Daniel Wong, PEKA's Exco, Betrina, Bazlinda, Rizal, Secretary General of WSFFM and me at the peak of Gunung Hijau. We made it. Yeay!

Teh O panas di puncak Gunung Hijau ~ cool, right!

Bazlinda, PEKA's Secretary General with her plastic bag

After a short break, we left Gunung Hijau. Everyone were given a garbage plastic. We picked all rubbish that we met along the way. We love the nature and we keep it clean.

Day 1 was sweet. Day 2 ended perfectly with more healthy activities and we left Bukit Larut on early morning of Day 3 with sweet memories. Thank You our Madam President, Puan Sri Sabrina for the lovely moment. We had fun!!