Rambla 130 Urban Spa Giveaway

Last week I decided to pamper myself and book a beauty service through Bellahora, the leading website in Spain to book beauty salons, and I decided on beautiful Rambla 130 for a nice pedicure + foot massage. Rambla 130 Urban Spa couldn't be better located, right at the heart of the city, it's on Rambla de Canaletes, 130, as its name suggests.

Once at Rambla 130, I was greeted by the owner and showed all the place {it was early in the afternoon so there was practically no one at the time and I was able to peek all around}. It was love at first sight. The most stunning room is their mani-pedi room, but they have different massage rooms and even a huge fitness room, too! I was surprised by how well curated everything was, even the bathrooms were perfect. 

I was offered a drink in the lobby while my beauty agent came to find me for my pedicure. We first decided on the color I'd be using {Essie only!}, and then off we were to enjoy the pedi and the massage which comes with an amazing exfoliant and hydrating mask. I was surprised the hubby noticed when I went back home that my feet were way for hydrated than before!

Now that you know how my experience was... comes the best part: 

I have a GIVEAWAY for you all today, {anyone who can make it to Barcelona whitin this year, that is!}. The giveaway is a full pedicure + foot massage, for a total of 50 minutes, at Rambla 130, valued at 35€.

All you need to do is head over to my Instagram @oliviaschoice, find the picture in which I'm talking about the giveaway and follow the steps there!

************************** CATALAN VERSION ************************** 

La setmana passada vaig decidir dedicar-me un temps i reservar una pedicura a través de Bellahora, el portal líder a Espanya per reserves a centres de bellesa. Al seu web vaig tenir la sort de descobrir Rambla 130, que em va enamorar només veure'n les fotos. A més, la seva localització no podria ser millor, i és que està al cor de Barcelona, a la Rambla de Canaletes, 130, com el seu nom indica.

Una vegada a Rambla 130, em va rebre la propietària i vaig tenir sort, perquè com que era un dia entre setmana a principis de tarda, no hi havia gaire gent i vaig poder veure totes les instal·lacions. L'habitació que enamora més és la de mani-pedis, però també l'entrada, la sala de fitness i fins i tot els lavabos estan cuidats fins a l'últim detall. 

Vaig demanar un tè mentre era a la bonica entrada esperant la noia que em faria la pedicura. Vam començar escollint el color d'esmalt que faríem servir, i a partir d'aquí va començar al pedicura i el massatge, que inclou exfoliant i mascareta hidratant. Em va sorprendre que quan vaig arribar a casa, el Jeff va saber, sense que jo li digués res sobre el massatge, que els meus peus es veien molt més suaus i hidratats que abans! :)

I ara que coneixeu la meva experiència... arriba el millor: 

el SORTEIG! Sortejo una sessió de pedicura + massatge per un total de 50 minuts, a Rambla 130, valorat en 35€. Busqueu la foto al meu Instagram @oliviaschoice on en parlo i seguiu els passos!

Molta sort!

Staycation at Praktik Bakery Hotel - Barcelona

You may remember last year around this time {exactly this day actually since today is J's birthday}, we went on a really nice staycation at the Praktik Rambla hotel. This year we decided to go on and try another of their nice hotels, this time the Praktik Bakery hotel. All of the Praktik hotels are in premium locations, all within 10 minutes walking distance one from another, along Passeig de Gràcia and Rambla Catalunya. This, their sleek design and the good price is the reason why Praktik hotels are always the ones I recommend to friends traveling to Barcelona from overseas. 

Even though our room at Praktik Rambla was way more amazing {hey, that's why they call it WOW Room!}, we enjoyed our stay at the Praktik Bakery just as much, the main reason being the amazing bakery on the first floor, where we enjoyed a yummy afternoon tea and breakfast buffet. 

Afternoon tea at Baluard Bakery

Breakfast buffet at Baluard Bakery

We also did a vlog of our stay at the Praktik Bakery that you can now watch on my YouTube channel. I hope you like it!

Praktik Bakery Hotel
Provença, 279

Barcelona

Cactus Garden Barcelona

This is apparently one of the most unheard of gardens in the city. Yet, given its beauty, it's hard to understand why! The Mossèn Costa i Llobera gardens feature an amazing selection of cactus from all over the planet, mostly Mexico (duh!), and South America. It's pretty amazing that the cactuses get to make it here in Barcelona. I mean, I know it is a relatively warm city, but it's no desert either!

The cactus garden, as it is known, is located at the top of Montjuic, a bit out of the way, wich may explain why not that many people know about it. 

The most perfect plan if you decide to visit, is to stay for lunch at Martinez, an amazing restaurant located right at the entrance of the gardens, from which to enjoy awesome sea-views while having a yummy paella. Ask for a table by the window to make sure you get the most out of it!

I was wearing TRF dress and Elvio Zanon boots. Liam was wearing Zara baby clothes and Privata boots. 

Mossèn Costa i Llobera Gardens

Crta. de Miramar / Plaça de l'Armada

Barcelona

Círculo Ecuestre - 48h Open House Barcelona

This weekend Barcelona people have been lucky enough to yet another year being able to celebrate the Architecture Festival, also known as 48h Open House Barcelona, in which hundreds of buildings with architectural interest are open to the public. 

This year we chose a beautiful house from the beginning of the 20th century located in the corner of Balmes with Diagonal, nowadays known for the social club that owns it: Círculo Ecuestre. 

This amazing romantic creation was built in 1910 for a Catalan family who had made their fortune in the Philippines when it was a Spanish colony, that is, up to 1898. Once the Philippines became independent, the family decided to come back to Barcelona and build this little palace for their own use. 

Círculo Ecuestre, a social club mostly for men for networking, do business or simply relax, bought the building in 1947, and it has been its HQ ever since. 

Since it's still Sunday and most places open until 7PM, here's the list of buildings that joined this 2015 edition of 48h Open House Barcelona, in case you decide to join. Be prepared to queue for a while, though! Alternatively, buy the official guide for 3 euros and get premium access to most places avoiding the queues! :)

Hubby's First Father's Day

Last Sunday, the third Sunday of June, was Father's Day in many countries, including Hong Kong, and it was the first of many to come for the hubby! 

We went out for a stroll in the Born neighborhood, ate some churros at La Xocolateria by Oriol Balaguer, where we discovered yummy hot toffee to dip the churros in, and ended up at Ciutadella Park. 

I love Ciutadella Park during the warm season. It's always full of people relaxing on the grass and enjoying the sun, yet it's never crowded. I'm considering it as the location for Liam's first birthday party, picnic style! :D

I was wearing Privata shoes; Maje skirt; Zara top; Gianni Chiarinni bag; and Forever21 headband.

Mercantic - Vintage Market in Sant Cugat

Remember when I wrote about Palo Alto market and said how in all these food/style/vintage markets were recently? Well, I visited another one a couple weeks ago, Mercantic, located in Sant Cugat, about 20 minutes away from Barcelona. 

While Palo Alto was mostly focused on food, Mercantic is more of a vintage market. There's so much to see if you like antiques, you'll need the whole day to go through all the stalls!

This doesn't mean there isn't some nice food trucks as well, in fact I came across the cutest one ever!

Ever since I took Aiala Hernando's Food Styling & Photography course, I've wanted to buy some vintage crockery, since she said that's what's in nowadays in food photography. The truth though, is I ended up buying nothing :( I guess my style is not really vintage but rather colorful and cute, so I couldn't make up my mind on what to buy.

Go visit Mercantic if you're into vintage stuff, because you'll most certainly fall in love with it. There's free parking if you're driving, or you can go by train, too, so there's no excuse! 

Mercantic

Av. de Rius i Taulet, 120

Sant Cugat del Vallès

Open everyday. Check the schedule here.

Usagui Barcelona - Japanese Cafe

I just recently discovered Usagui, and it's already my favorite Japanese in Barcelona. When we think about Japanese restaurants, we tend to associate this concept to sushi, and yet Japanese cuisine is so much more than this! 

We have amazing ramen in town, like Ramen-Ya Hiro, and also, luckily, Japanese cafes, my favorite. There's currently two in Barcelona, Takashi Ochiai, a Japanese bakery and cafe I must write a review on soon, and Usagui, an absolute hidden gem. 

Usagui is run by a Japanese couple and the sister of the wife, making of this a perfect family business cafe. Not only do they serve outstanding matcha drinks and Japanese desserts such as mochis or matcha cakes, they also have some dishes available for lunch and dinner. Absolutely everything is homemade, of course. Usagui means Rabbit in Japanese, and you're bound to see little rabbits everywhere: in their business card, decorating the blackboards at the entrance, on their menus, and even their  hashioki (the chopstick rest) is a cute little rabbit. 

The first time we visited {last week}, we went for tea and absolutely adored it, so we decided to go back yesterday for dinner. We had Yakisoba Omu {Yakisoba noodles wrapped with egg}, and Oyakodon {Chicken and egg with rice}. 

Both dishes were delicious, but I liked the Yakisoba the best. We had miso soups as well. And for drinks J had cold matcha latte, and I had a hot matcha latte with soy milk. Matcha latte is my absolute favorite drink in the whole world, and I cannot understand why Starbucks has it in Hong Kong but not in Spain :'(

Visited on: May 29, 2015
Overall Quality: 5*
Price: You may find matcha latte sort of expensive at 4€ but I think it's all worth it for the quality you get. Cake slices are around 4€ as well, and main dishes around 9€. We paid 31€ for this dinner. They lunch set for 11€.

Value for Money: 5*
Would I recommend it? You simply cannot miss it. It feels like being in Japan!

Usagui - Te Japones & Cafe

Carrer dels Santjoanistes, 28 (next to Plaça Molina)

Phone: 93 200 55 41

Opening hours: 

Tue: 4:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Wed-Sat: 1:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Sun: 4:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Closed on Monday