Courtesy of DFS Galleria, Malaysia Tatler was able to send a deserving lady to Europe for an exciting, fun-filled photo shoot. This is her experience.

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As the Tatler Ball was to be held three weeks after I was scheduled to fly to Venice, I had to hide the reason why I was travelling to Italy from family and friends—so they wouldn’t find out that I won the Woman on The Rise award before the big reveal.

Luckily for me, I was working on bringing Italian beauty brands over to Malaysia, so I used the pretence of a business trip to explain why I had to disappear the week between my wedding celebrations, to pack up and fly to another continent!

My husband of course knew the truth and was very supportive. the flight to Italy was over 10 hours, thus upon arrival at Venice, I was more than ready to check in at the Hilton Molino Stucky Hotel—my home for the next few days.

Naturally, the first thing on my mind was a shower, but I couldn’t pass the Nutella Bar (located conveniently at the hotel lobby) without stopping by! It was pure bliss, tucking into the decadent selections there... I still get excited at the thought of it. Here are some of the other highlights.

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Amazing Weather and View

All of the girls and I brought thick clothing in anticipation of cold weather, as it was autumn, but our days were so sunny! The weather allowed us to truly enjoy the outstanding sights of Venice; I was so impressed by the designs of the hotels there, such as Hotel Danieli, Hotel Bauer Palazzo and The Aman. Each was in a class of its own. 

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The Aman Venice

I simply have to tell you about The Aman Venice. The moment I stepped into the lobby, it was so breathtaking. And George and Amal Clooney had their wedding here! Enough said. It’s really one of the most beautiful buildings I have been into. Every room was well-thought out and different. We were lucky enough to get a private tour—even to the room that the Clooneys stayed, where I even did a flop on the bed, just because! A trip to Venice becomes extra special at The Aman.

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Food, food, food

I am such a foodie, and spent most of my time researching on food and where to eat. I walked into small alleys just to find pasta—it was so worth it. Plus, I was also able to indulge in truffles!

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Peggy Guggenheim Museum

All of us who flew in for the shoot had a private tour to visit the Peggy Guggenheim collection. Yes, we were well taken care of; we even got to go to the rooftop of the museum to be mesmerised by the beautiful view of Venice at night—the pretty city lights and wondrous vibe just calls out to you.

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DFS Galleria

As you know, the shoot with all of us was held in the newly opened flagship boutique T Fondaco Dei Tedeschi, which is operated by luxury retailing group DFS—the sponsors of our trip. I thought the boutique felt like a mansion instead of a store. It was such a privilege for us to be one of the first few to see it. It was really difficult to look at all the beautiful bags and enchanting shoes, and restrain from buying them though. 

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Rene Caovilla

However, the people from Rene Caovilla brought us good news—we could pick any pair of shoes that we want! As a shoe-a-holic, that was music to my ears. The team was amazing, having arranged for our museum tour and the lovely dinner after as well. 

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Making New Friends

This was by far the best part of my trip—being able to make new friends! All the girls who flew in for the shoot were such delightful company. Despite the different backgrounds, be it fashion, medicine, hospitality and even film production, we clicked extremely well and had so much fun together. Also, as we were referred to by country occasionally, it felt like a glamorous beauty pageant once in a while. Every aspect was memorable for me!


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Watch the video here.

 

 For photos from Zaida's wedding in Kuala Lumpur and Bali, click here.