Hannah Al Rashid is a child of all nations. With her exotic French-Bugis lineage, the London-born beauty is far more than just a pretty face, having graduated from the prestigious School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London and experienced an exchange program at UGM, Yogyakarta.

As a skilled Pencak Silat martial artist, Hannah also represented the UK in many World Championships and other internationally renowned tournaments for over 5 years, showcasing a strong and independent side that epitomizes the best of modern feminity.

Hannah's kaleidoscopic body of work includes her experience as a presenter at star-studded events such as the Anugerah Planet Music Awards, making her no stranger to red carpet glitz and glamour.

Apart from her fame as MTV Indonesia's vivacious VJ, Hannah's love of adventure is put to good use as a host of the uber popular Trans TV travel show, Koper dan Ransel, which explores both the luxurious and cost-conscious approach to different holiday destinations, delighting audiences from all walks of life.

The highly sought after model has also starred in the music videos of top Indonesian artistes such as Yovie & Nuno and Marcell, was featured in numerous commercials for leading retailers such as Bloop/Endorse, and appeared in the beauty and fashion spreads of Indonesia's trendiest magazines, thus firmly establishing her presence in popular culture.

With her trifecta of brains, beauty and brawn, charming personality, and fiery passion for discovering and sharing the best of Indonesia's luxury lifestyle options, Hannah is ready and raring to go – stay tuned as she takes the ultra stylish scene by storm!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Hei all!

Hope everyone is healthy and happy! I was absolutely chuffed when I got sent the link to our new webpage! I'm not yet used to seeing my Mug on a website, and reading back on my 1st blog entry I kind of cringed LOL but oh well here goes another one!

I've had a very interesting couple of weeks. Firstly I nearly overdosed on ice cream at the grand launching of Wall's Buavita here in Jakarta. I went to support a close friend who was announced as their new Ambassador. He's so damn lucky, free ice-cream!! Healthy ice-cream to boot as it's made from fruit juice! The strawberry one was super yum and only 60 calories. My kid bro tagged along (he was holidaying in Jakarta at the time) and I was thoroughly embarrassed to see him grabbing ice cream after ice cream, but, once I tried one, I did the same. It appears the Al Rashid children 'Ga tau malu' as we say in Bahasa, indeed we have no shame when it comes to eating!

I also went for my 2nd audition for a role in Joko Anwar's latest film. He is one of my favourite Indonesian directors and an amazing story-teller. And it's always an ego-boost whenever I meet him; he greets you with hugs and tells you you're beautiful! I wish all men greeted women like that! Bang Joko I lop you full deh!! hehe So the casting process was a lot of fun, a nice change to other castings I've been on, and I was secretly chuffed when the producer Sheila Timothy, told me she had seen me on LITV!!! Woop woop!

I just got back from shooting my travel show Koper dan Ransel in Bali and Flores. Flores is so far my favourite island in Indonesia, was so happy to be back there. We went to Labuan Bajo, which is the town you need to go to, to take a boat to the Komodo islands!! We left from the port at 4am, and saw the beautiful sunrise from our boat. The journey was breath-taking. I sat cross-legged at the front of the boat for most of the journey, just gob-smacked at the view of all the islands we passed along the way. I was so excited when I saw dolphins swimming alongside our boat I nearly threw myself in the water!

After 4 hours we finally arrived at Pulau Komodo, where we saw 5 Komodo dragons!! Absolutely amazing creatures, just chilling in the sun looking cool as school! But, when they got up, they were pretty mean-looking! The last time I visited the islands, I got chased by one, so very thankful that they were kind to me this trip!

Afterwards we went to the Pink Beach, where the colour of the sand is pinkish (the result of a mixture of the red coral and white sand). It's one of the most beautiful beaches I've been to so far, and I couldn't stay out of the water as I was drawn by the psychedelic multicoloured coral and fish I encountered. I felt like I was in another world, it all seemed so alien, but ridiculously pretty.

When we got back to the boat, I couldn't help but jump off the upper deck into the crystal clear water, I could have stayed there all day, and was gutted when we had to rush off to our next location. In all, you guys absolutely have to go to these islands. Not only can you witness the last remaining dinosaurs on this earth, but the savannah like hilly terrain offers great views, and the beaches will leave you speechless.

I guess that's all for now. Tomorrow I'll be packing in preparation for our Faces of Li launch in KL. Very excited to meet up with the entire Li tv family, and hoping Jason has more silly stories about sandwiches to entertain us during those long shoots and car rides! Till next time.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Super stoked about my first blog entry for Li!! Basically things have been extremely hectic recently. Just got back from my first proper holiday in three years, since moving to Jakarta!

Went to India, and was amazed at how beautiful and green New Delhi is, honestly I wasn't at all expecting that (I blame Slumdog Millionaire! haha) Went to the Taj Mahal, so that's another wonder of the world I can cross off my list.

But one of the best experiences was going on a city walk organised by the Salaam Baalak Trust, an organisation that offers an escape for street children in New Delhi, by providing them with a safe-haven, education and opportunities to better their lives.

We were taken on a tour of the area around the main train station of New Delhi by 2 former street children who found refuge with SBT; it was so inspiring to hear their stories and see how well they are doing now.

We met some of the children at one of the safe houses, such little cuties with amazing fighting spirit; one even showed us some killer Bollywood dance-moves!! I was like "daaaaaaaaymmmm!!" So, anyone interested in finding out more about the trust just go to their website www.salaambaalaktrust.com.

Back in Jakarta, life is back to normal, back on that gritty grind (London-ism haha) However I did find the time to check out a new Spanish restaurant in South Jakarta, Tapas Movida (@tapasmovida) Amazing Mediterranean atmosphere, super duper live acoustic band, great-tasting starters, and for the mains, we went for the Paella.

It was lovely (not as great as my mother's, but rarely can a restaurant top Mama Al Rashid's cooking!) They have an amazing Sunday promo, perfect for lunch with friends, Paella (enough for 4-6 people) and 4 jugs of Sangria (I swear 1 jug was huge, 4 would definitely be enough to bathe in!) for only about 250,000 rupiah per person. Gutted I didn't have enough space in my belly to try their Churros, so will be back there soon!

Otherwise, super excited to announce our promos for Li in Now! Jakarta magazine (September 2011 issue) Harper's Bazaar Indonesia (September 2011 issue) and also made it into Esquire Indonesia (September 2011 issue). Tomorrow I'm back to work on my sitcom, preparing myself for 16hour work days on a mosquito-infested set!

Take me back to New Delhi!!!!! Peace x