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Vichy Ideal White

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Had tea with Team Vichy for their Ideal White range. Thank you Sugar (Elaine) for bringing me along!

I am so so so going to miss her when she is in confinement 🙁

Anyway, the launch was for their New Ideal White which boosts the skin metabolism to reach fairer skin.

Like any part of our body, metabolism starts to deteriorates as we age. And when the metabolism slows down, cell repair = skin repair and collagen production slows down as well. The damage can be irreversible or reversible. Dark spots, dull or yellow skin tone can also surface.

Vichy Ideal White to the rescue!!! The scientist investigated on the mechanisms of pigmentation disorders and found out that the cause of it was the metabolic flow of melanin. 3 stages to take note:

1) Melanin production
2) Melanin diffusion
3) Melanin expulsion

In a nut shell, if your cells are loaded with melanin, dark spots will be more visible and it can worsen the effects of pigmentation.

And what does Ideal White do? The new Metabolic Whitening complex works well with the 3 stages natural life cycle while targeting the other influencers of pigmentation disorders.

The complex is made up of:

– PhE-Resorcinol: Powerful whitening agent. Lighten pigment blotches, imperfections and even out skin tone

– Ellagic Avid: Antioxidant, whitening. anti-pollution and anti-inflammatory agent. Defend skin against sun.

– Adenosine: Anti-aging and whitening.

– LHA: Exfoliation, increase skin renewal, aids in desquamation by accelerating the expulsion of melanin from the skin. Smooths and refines skin.

What can you find in this range?

Left to right:

Ideal White Whitening Re-Plumping Gel Cream ($59)
Ideal White Meta-Whitening Essence ($85)
Ideal White Brightening Deep Cleansing Foam ($39)
Idea White Anti-Sun Spots Daily Ultra Block ($49). Comes in purple as well for dull skin.

Left to right:

Ideal White Meta-Whitening Cosmetic Water ($39)
Ideal White Eyes Deep Whitening Illuminating Concentrate ($65)
Ideal White Meta-Whitening Emulsion ($59)

I have yet to try all the products yet but I am hoping to do a review on them soon.

Some of my current take of the products so far, they are pleasantly scented. I can’t describe what do they smell like but I pretty much like the scent of it.

The essence kind of a cream base but it has a watery texture and nowhere near greasy.

The Ideal White Whitening Re-Plumping Gel Cream was one of my favourite that afternoon because I love gelish products. It doesn’t look too rich for my skin to cause any breakout and offers whole day hydration and flawless luminosity.


Happy ladies all thanks to Team Vichy!

The range will be available in Derma Center (Westgate), Guardian and Unity from March 2015 onwards. However…. as they are Watsons exclusive for the first few weeks, you can already find them in selected Watsons!

Fairer skin… Who doesn’t want it?

The Shilla Duty Free

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James always complain about me overspending on clothes and cosmetics. Cosmetics are generally way more expensive than clothes.

Now, I know where to stock up for the cheapest and branders cosmetics and perfumes! The ultimate shopping experience with 182 Cosmetics and Perfume brands can be found in our Changi Airport!!! It has the largest collection of beauty brands among airport duty free shops in Asia Pacific.

The prices are up to 40% cheaper than what is retailing in the city from Marc Jacobs to SK-II to Revlon to Laneige to Chanel to Jo Malone to NARS and more. Some sets are travel-exclusive so you can only get it inside. Terminal 1 was also the first place to launch the world’s first new SK-II AurActivator Complete Correction Cream!

You will be able to find The Shilla Duty Free at all 3 terminals but the iconic one will be at Terminal 3, which is expected to be completed in June 2015. It will house a Dior Makeup Flagship store, a beauty cafe and an SK-II Pitera spaaaaaa!

Korean pop stars, TVXQ and Chinese actress & Model Angelababy were there during the ribbon cutting session as they are the stores’ official ambassadors.

Why them? You must be thinking. Singapore is also hit by the Korean wave so you can find a lot of K-beauty brands there as they are highly sought after. Be prepared to be welcomed and look forward to a range of over 34 K-beauty brands!

Everyone was screaming for the k-pop boy band and Angelababy. And that goes to show that The Shilla has got the right ambassadors! Haha.

Apart from the departure hall, if you are only visiting Changi Airpot and not for traveling, be sure to check out the famous Korean brand which is finally now in Singapore – Whoo. You can visit them at its new flagship store at Terminal 1 Departure Check-in Hall area.

I must comment that the products looked like they are made for royalty.

I was totally sold by the lipstick!!! I bet you would be too!

For your information, you can also find The Shilla Duty Free at Seoul (Flagship Retail Store), Incheon International Airport, Jeju Island, Gimpo International Airport, Daegu International Airport and Macau Airport.

Visit http://sg.shilladutyfree.com/en for more information 🙂

Valentine’s Photoshoot with J

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Because of blogging, I was given more opportunities and ways to spend my pre-Valentine’s with James.

We did a couple shoot with Lee Cooper apparels. They apparels are really comfy and stylish. I was quite amazed by how stretchable the jeans were. We could even roller blade and stretch in it! Airy and lightweight – What a bonus!

The pictures you see here are the more serious ones.

We had more pictures of us laughing like mad (the smiles were so huge that my mouth looked really big LOLOL), fooling around and all. The photos looked really natural. Love how Chee BP Photography managed to capture all the silly moments we had.

Lovely couple (HAHA), comfy apparels (Lee Cooper), talented photographer and the cute Phoebe made all these come true!

Fine stitches, quality clothes at good prices. We got ours at Orchard Gateway Shopping Centre #02-17A 🙂

I love this pair of mint green shoes so much that I got another color in coral.


I remember whining about not being different like coral on the left and mint on the right few months ago. Lol!

Still loving this denim jacket which is now finally mine 🙂

To everyone who made it possible, thank you. Valentine’s Day 2015, I love you!!

Family bonding time with Magni-fish-cent!

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James and I whipped up some dishes at Fish & Co. previously and today, tonight, we Lao some Yu-sheng with my family!

I don’t like celebrating Chinese New Year because I prefer quiet environment but I can’t deny that CNY bonds the entire family together. And because of this Magni-fish-cent Yusheng delivery from Fish & Co., it made our night more a little more special!

James’s big eyes lit up when he saw the juicy salmon slices. The fresh Norwegian Sashimi-grade Salon melts in the mouth! For me, it was the sliced cooked prawns that caught my tastebuds’s attention! Hehe.

My parents and brother were pretty happy to Lao together as a family!

This huge platter (maybe not so huge in the picture, but my, IT WAS HUGE FOR MY FAMILY) serves 8 – 10 people and it is only retailing at $36.80. Do your Maths, less than $4 per pax?!

Fwahhhhh. The Magni-fish-cent Yusheng is available at all Fish & Co. restaurants from 5 Feb to 5 March 2015.

Of course, with good stuffs, comes good promotions!

Early Bird Offer – 5 Feb to 11 Feb (Pre-order Period)

Non-Member – Receive $10 Fish & Co. Dining voucher with every purchase of Magni-fish-cent Yusheng

Member – $20 dinning vouchers + usual 15% fish points rebate

DBS/POSB cardholders – $20 dining voucher

12 Feb – 5 March (Dine-in/ Takeaway)

Non-Member – No ongoing promotion

Member – $10 dining voucher + usual 15% fish points rebate

DBS/POSB cardholders – $10 dining voucher.

.

.

Seriousllllyyyyy? The preorder promotion sounds crazy! For $36.80 and if you are their member or DBS/POSB cardholder, you are entitled to $20 dining voucher. That’s like paying only $16.80 for a platter that serves up to 10. TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE OR WHAT?!

Hurry up because preorder is so much cheaper!!

Happy advance Lunar New Year people! 🙂

Thank you Fish & Co. and The Good Folks! 😉

Our 1st 2015 Lou Hei @ Xin Cuisine

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Our first Lou Hei started off with a BANG at Xin Cuisine housed within the newly-renovated Holiday Inn Atrium Hotel! *Make sure you don’t make your way to the wrong one !*

Look at that BIG Bang on the table as the Goat has found its way right up to our table!

This amazing Lou Hei was delicately designed by the head chef himself! Can you see the Goat infused with the year 2015 within the Lou Hei? Really innovative & magnificent, isn’t it?

The second amazing thing is the extravagant ingredients they splashed within the Lou Hei! Some of you guys probably go “chey no big deal having salmon and abalone what!”. How about some Bird’s Nest then? ><

Ralph, the restaurant manager personally served us! I thoroughly enjoyed his enthusiastic hospitality during the entire dinner!

After making a HUGH mess at the table with our rowdy Lou Hei, we made our way back to our original table to enjoy some nice Chinese delicacies.

Starting off with the Chinese New Year Dim Sum Combination:

Pan-fried Yam and Pumpkin Cake with XO Sauce – For this one, i like the infusion of the XO sauce with the crispy Yam. The two tastes did not seek to overpower each other but instead infused to give a rather savory and flavorful taste.

Steamed Prawn Dumpling with Truffle in Egg White Sauce – Look at how real the dish mimics a goldfish in the pond. I almost couldn’t bring myself to eat this one down. The most memorable part of this dish was how fresh the prawns were within the goldfish’s “Belly”

Poached Whole Mable Goby with Hairy Gourd and Dried Shrimp

“Home Style” Roast Duck with Tea Leaves – My 2nd Favourite Dish of the Night! It was easily the MOST tender and juicy duck meat that i have tasted ! For tea lover, this is a definite MUST TRY cos you will be able to taste a mild tea flavor within the meat.

Xin’s Traditional Pen Cai – My personal favourite! I had 2 bowls because the entire pot was filled with goodness. Goodness beyond description! As you can see, there were abalones, scallops, mushrooms, fish maws, dried oysters, prawns etc. The portion was also very generous as portrayed below.

And the desserts…… Double-boiled Milk Pudding with Bird’s Nest!! Seems like Xin Cuisine is serving Bird Nest feast for CNY this year! Yum yum.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole CNY menu food tasting experience @ Xin’s Cuisine because of its flavorful traditional chinese dishes & the delicacy in details they have placed into every dish to make them look as appealing as they tasted.

Xin Cuisine Chinese Restaurant is located at:

Outram Road, Holiday Inn Atrium, Singapore 169075

🙂

Love Bonito Pop-up Showcase

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If you still need to do some CNY shopping, why not hop over to Love, Bonito’s first CNY pop up showcase at 313 Somerset (beside Precious Thots)?

Don’t you hate it when you wanna buy some clothes and it gets sold out the very next minute? Or when the sizes don’t fit very well? Expect the most glamorous and stylish of Shanghai in the last century from Love, Bonito’s CNY collection this year!

My Xiao Xin (Xinyi) went to the pop up showcase with me! I was really excited when I was realized how affordable the clothes were, ranging from $32 to $59. I saw a really nice cut out jumper for only $39 but it ran out of my size 🙁

Look at the different fabrics and textures in real life than in pictures.

I love how colorful the clothes are!

You know what? You can try them on to ensure a perfect fit before making a purchase. Also, the transactions are cash-less as you are to order them via their website through the iPads installed around the showcase. Click, Pay with card and receive them right at your door step! There is also complimentary express courier which will allow you to receive your online purchases the next working day. ONLINE SHOPPING MADE REAL!

More clothes at the showcase!

Some other pieces which caught my attention:

I saw this faux fur top and almost wanted to get it! Being stylish at the simplest level. Wow~~

The pop-up showcase will be opened through the Chinese New Year holidays as well. So don’t worry about last minute shopping 😉

The Love, Bonito Pop-up Showcase is located at 313@somerset, 313 Orchard Road #04-32 and will run daily from 18 January till 28 February 2015.

Operating hours: 10am to 10pm daily

Valentines’ at Fish & Co.

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– Valentine’s Special –

Officially, today marks the first day of the 2 weeks to Valentine Day! However, a different case for us; Valentine’s came early for us this year as we already had quite a few sessions of Valentine’s food tasting.But cooking wise….

….Fish & Co. hooked us first !

So what do food are we cooking this time around?

A FULL course meal ! It comprises of a starter, a main course and a cocktail.

See how happy we are in our strippy aprons and cooking tools! All ready to learn from the true fish cuisine master! Also, met couple of friends there and in fact they are seated next to us here. Can you all guess who they are?

Spare you guys the guessing game la! Here they are! William and Shaun.

In any case, we were more than happy to share this happy day with them. In fact, they are the cupids that got us together! Since this post is kinda related to Valentine’s Day & we have never really shared with readers how we got together, i shall briefly share it in this special post then!

Even though both of us are in the medical line and many have guessed that that’s where we might have potentially met. But the true fact is we met during an EVENT with them all and it wasn’t long before the feeling of LOVE blossom between both of us!

Started crafting our first dish after the chef taught us the procedures to prepare a decent Garden Salad. The only thing prepared for us was the dressing, hence pretty much we started from scratch.

After some slicing…squeezing…mixing…*poof*

…our Love @ First Sight Garden Salad accomplished!

You must be wondering does it taste as good as it look or not?! Well, all i can say is It better be cos end of the day, we are the one eating our own creations! Lol!

With that done, next comes the main dish! We were given a choice to pick fish or prawn for this one. I did the decision making for ours knowing one of my picky M’s favourite food is the Prawn!

We were given two TIGER PRAWNS of which were sliced in the middle for us to spread the mentai sauce upon. While I am doing this, M helped with preparing the COLESLAW as the side dish. I say we both did our part well and make an extremely good team when it come to food preparation!

Don’t they look yummy after the baking? Cheese and Roe on the prawns!

Our final product! Look at the rice! We moulded it into a heart shape!! Sweet not?

Extremely satisfied with our final product for the main course 🙂

The last item on the menu would be the Mocktail – Deep Love. Look at how serious M is.


Now, for the main highlight, Come and spend your Valentine’s at Fish & Co.!

Seafood lovers would totally love the Love Bounty Set ($59.95) as it is specially created for Valentine’s. Enjoy most of the seafood at one go!

It is available from 9 – 15 February at all Fish & Co. restaurants in Singapore.

Look at all the goodness in a pan! The Love Bounty Set includes two soups of the day and two soft drinks as well. Guys, this set will keep your wallet safe! Heh.

If you are a Fish & Co. member, you are still allowed to enjoy your usual perks and boy, now our wallets are safe. They don’t have to go on a diet when we are busy celebrating Valentine’s!

😀

A Taste of Italy @ Oliva

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Author: James

M and I have been exploring the Arab Street region this week! Why this area? Because we both firmly believe that there are many hidden gems there!

Good news if you are huge fan of Italian cuisine because one of that not to be missed is the Oliva Italian Restaurant lining the Arab street !

This is truly a hidden jem. You may have walked past it a lot of times but not step foot in. That was what happened for us as well until the food tasting.

It has a very cosy exterior. We sat outside because we wanted to chill, eat and chat while doing some people watching at the same time. Who knows! We sat there from 6pm to 10pm. Gosh. It was such a relaxing day.

So much for the exterior! What about the interior you might ask. We felt the interior is even more amazing! (unfortunately we were too eager to try the delicacy that we forgot to take a pic of the interior. Ops! ><).

But a shoutout to the Dudes out there for a nice Valentine Day venue! For the ladies, hint your guys! The restaurant interior ambience is surprisingly nice, with candles and warm lighting, absolutely PERFECT for a romantic dinner. Shall save it for you lovebirds to explore the mystery!

Anw, M was down with eye infection so she had to go lenses-free. But no lessen my affection for her cos we are already in the Vday mood! Lol!

The lady boss, Diane is a very dedicated person and sat with us throughout our dinner to share the highlights of her menu.

One of her pride and joy is their Brushette (below): $7.50

I would say this is definitely one of the MUST TRY if you visit the restaurant. Even for a not-so-bread-eater like me, i find the texture of the bread very palatable as it wasn’t too hard but yet able to maintain its crunchy feel.

Next came the mains! *stomach growls*

I was pretty happy with the mains even at the first sight of it!

Why? Cos personally i have seen too much of restaurants trying to cut their operating cost at the expense of their customer’s growling appetite. Worst, they charge a premium for it! Booooo!  But here, it was totally different story! The restaurant was very generous with their serving, enough to satisfy BIG eaters like me! So first tick checked!

M, being an avid carbo lover kickstarted her meal with her usual pasta choice!

Ocean Lovers $24.90

Don’t be deceived by the pale complexion of the noodle (in this pic)! The savoury & peppery taste is gonna set you going for the glass of water if you cant take even a bit of spice!

But for M, who doesn’t really take much spices enjoyed it nonetheless!

What about me, the avid Protein-eater!

Lamb shank $25

I fell in love with this tomato-based dish with the generous portion of Lamb shanks (Definitely enough for a normal guy! Ladies, be ready to share!) that is served with a more herb-ish version of bolognaise sauce.

There you have it! Our meal for the evening..

‘You mean that’s all & you dare call yourself a big eater, J?!’ So Yes, that cant be all if J is in the house!

The pasta was the restaurant’s specialty. So how can i let go of such good opporunity to try more right? Next, we ordered another portion of their Crabmeat pasta. *with real crabmeat (not those crabstick kind!)

So much for savoury. What about some sweet? Especially that kind of Sugar Sweet in Adam Levine latest song: Sugar. Here we have it!

Oreo Cookie smoothie $5.90

Upclose with the thick and creamy Avocado Smoothie. Good for the skin, ladies!

By the time we reached the dessert, M’s stomach was already putting up the white flag! But upon hearing her favourite Panna cotta, the white flag become green flag! For me with the sweet tooth, it’s a no-brainer! Bring it on, sugar!

Overall, this restaurant is my new favorite in Arab Street. Unfortunately, they have a few wine selection and desserts which I have not tried as we were busy having an equally  hearty conversation with the nice and humble boss of the restaurant. Will definitely return to try it.

Tips for readers:

*Try to go down during the evening to experience the nice and zen ambience within the restaurant as i have mentioned. You can make reservations as well.

**For us Singaporeans, we love promotions right?

Oliva Italian restaurant offers promotions for dinner!

Set Dinner – Only $12.90 (Sunday – Thursday)

Lastly,

Find them at: 34 Arab Street, Singapore 199733
Ring them at: 6291 2297

Oceans of Seafood

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You know what we like about dining at PasarBella?

IT IS THE FREE PARKING!!!! TELL ME, WHICH DRIVER DOESN’T LIKE FREE PARKING?!

Okay, that is only one out of the many reasons. Another reason is that you can find a lot of nice restaurants here! We were invited to Oceans of Seafood, located inside PasarBelle @ The Grandstand Bukit Timah Singapore for a CNY tasting session. Yup, Lou Hei started already!

Freshness is doubly or triply important when it comes to seafood because they spoils easily and seafood which are SLIGHTLY not fresh taste…. urgh..

However, do rest assure that the seafood from Oceans of Seafood is fresh, or EVEN FRESHER. Those that I had that night was not only fresh, but super sweet as well! The thought of it makes me drool already.

They are also proud to present their very own and unique yusheng – Vibrancy of Life. All the main ingredients are seafood flown in from Tsukiji Fish Market, which is touted by TIME as the world’s largest and busiest fish market. Therefore, be very honored that we can get to eat the one of the best seafood presented in yusheng style just for our Chinese Near Year!

Premium ingredients such as Rock Lobster, Salmon Sashimi and Amberjack sashimi can be found on the plate along with crunchy vegetables that are imported from Japan. Other unique ingredients include braised smelt fish, turnip pickles, tobiko and more.

FYI, for every set of yusheng ordered, you will get a bottle of Sake too! Each set is retailing at $128++ (Dine in), $128+ (Takeaway).

You can also preorder them from 21 Jan 15 onwards but the set will only be available from 31 Jan to 5 March 15.

Look at all the juicy ad sweet flesh from the lobster!!!

Other than the yusheng, you can also find new items in their menu.

For the whole of 2015, they will be launching Lunch Specials:

– Negitoro Chirashi at $18++ only
– New Pasta offerings from $12.80++ onwards.

There are 7 pastas to choose from! 5 of it are tantalizing seafood flavors, and the other 2 are Carbonara spaghetti and Vegetarian pasta with Pesto sauce.

Again, the seafood were very very very fresh and the noodles blended well with them.

Other than Lunch specials, they have All-day specials too!

– Perfect-two Seafood Platter $66++ (suitable for 2 pax)
– Seafood Hotpot at $38++ (suitable for 2 pax)

But in my opinion, the hotpot can feed up to 3-4 pax!! All the goodness in a pot. We finished everything including the soup *slurps*

This is only part of the seafood platter as it would be served with the freshest oysters as well.

Remember, fresh seafood and free parking just sounds too good to be true, but THIS IS THE TRUTH!

Find them at:

Address: PasarBella @ The Grandstand Bukit Timah Singapore
200 Turf Club Road #02-06 (#02-K2 to #02-K11)
Singapore 287994

Opening hours: 11:30am – 9:30pm daily

Telephone: +65 64661005

Makeup of the day

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What are your top few favourite makeup brands when it comes to blushers?

I have personally tried a lot of brands, but I still have a lot which are uncovered yet.

I love highly pigmented blushers because I don’t like apply them again and again. But having said that, I don’t wanna look like a monkey’s butt too.

I also love blushes that comes with a little brush so that I don’t have to carry extra brushes around.

My top favourite is currently from Laneige and Revlon.

Although you don’t see Revlon in the picture above, I am currently using this:

Yup, that’s my first Coral blusher instead of my usual pink. I bought this when I left house without makeup one day. I need a blusher and a lipstick but there was a promotion going on. So I thought, hey why not. It seems good.

Highly pigmented and long lasting. I don’t have to retouch my makeup with this blusher. Money well spent on “accident”.

Natural coral instead of pink.

Makeup of the day by these awesome cosmetics:

Foundation: KATE Tokyo
Eyebrow: Collection Cosmetics
Eyes: Etude House Play 101 Pencil
Blush: Revlon
Lip Colour: Etude House