Sunday, March 27, 2011

My Fanta-Bulous Weekend Part Three!

It's a Sunday, beautiful Sunday! Well, it only means Monday's peeking right over my shoulder, thus I planned to take it easy. The best option was to go shopping and a nice meal in the mall nearest to my place! Yeah, shopping again!

One of my first stop was Watsons, which I'm starting to love again, with must control nowadays. Once again Jade Jade, who completely took after my love for make up, started "exploring" the testers of Majolica Majorca's display counter.

Caught in action...

I must admit, she seem to be immensely enjoying herself

"Oh, which one's nicer..."
Next we had lunch...
At Sake Sushi
I'm not one of those "paranoid extremist" who refuse to eat sushi after the recent, but saddening, tsunami incident in Japan (that brings me to recall a person I once knew that made a fuss and insisted that the doctor gave him the vaccination shot, which were reserved for the pregnant and children at the time of the Bird Flu, because he was not well with a common cold. Come on, you were a 24 year old healthy male, can't believe how you went through your National Service without any guts...)
Some of the dishes: Agedashi Tofu, 揚げ出し豆腐 (left) & Soft-shell Crab Temaki, 手巻

Jade Jade trying to learn how to use the chopsticks

Lobster Temaki

My favourite Beef Kimchi Kaminabe which I've blogged before

Chawanmushi (茶碗蒸し) for Jade Jade

Dragon Roll Sushi

Chicken Katsu Cheese Yaki

Potato koroke (croquette)

Okonomiyaki

Jade Jade finding after-meal entertainment with my Ipad
We continued walking around after lunch before heading to the supermarket for our grocery and headed home. To wrap this entry up, the below is the haul I've done, enjoy!
Guess what I bought...

They are very prettly, it was love at first sight

I have a slight fetish for "owl" stuff

See the detailing, this cost me only SGD 14.


Some other stuff I bought randomly: Travel-size Contact Lense Solution (for my office) and Mentos Mint (for Jade Jade)

My haul from Watsons

Eyeshadows: Kate Blendzone in BR-2 (left) and Majolica Marjolica Trick on Powder in BR-752 (right)

I think I have too many nuetrals...
Then I discovered a new shop, which is not really "new" as I have not been shopping for months. It's call Magic Shop. The sales consultant told me that they empahsize on water-based product and is a Taiwan brand that I mistook for Korean. That's something new, without doing any research beforehand, I grabbed a number to their stuff to try out.

The shop's carrier bag

Nail polish at SGD 3.90 each (it was buy 4 get 1 free)

They are not named but numbered (from left to right): #23, #54, #63


#71 (left), #94 (right)

Swatch of #54, 2 coats with Sech Vite Top Coat.

Topped with Daiso's Light Color Nail Enamel #8 by Minmax@New York to add interest.
Reminds me of the starry sky on a clear night.

Magic Shop Luxurious Lip Gloss: It's colorless in the tube but turns
 into a healthy pink stain once in contact with your lips. Comes in one
shade (Chameleon Pink) at SGD 24.
 

Ingredient List

I have used 2 of the nail polish shades that I bought (#54 & #63). They are quite pigmented, 2 coats will give the color as the bottle. However, I notice that they started chipping much faster that the rest of other brands that I use. It normal last about 2 to 3 days before the first chip appear. You may like to know, I type but not alot at work, I don't do lots of household chores and I used Sech Vite Quick Dry as my top coat. Hope that clarifies. Therefore I'm not really impress with their polishes.

On the other hand, I love the Luxurious Lip Gloss, which is a lip stain. It's watery in texture, gives a slightly cooling sensation once applied and you can witness your lips turn pinker within the minute. Do note that it does have a soft rose-scent as well, which I love. I've used it for a whole week & still loving it. I'm not "glowy" recently so the pop of lovely rosy hue on my lips gave my face some "life" and I'm lazy, I only have to reapply around 4 to 6 hours later (depending on how much you talk and if you are drinking or eating). So hassle free and it does not dry out my lips.

I'll definitely step in again if I pass by the shop. I hope it open a few more branches so the girls who do not stay around my area can get to try out this new brand at their convinence as well.

That's all for this three-parter. Until next time, take great care!



Monday, March 21, 2011

My Fanta-Bulous Weekend Part Two!

Part Two of my Fanta-Bulous Weekend start late Saturday afternoon as everyone slept real late on Friday night. I meet my friend at Sembawang Shopping Centre's Daiso (one of my super favourite haven on earth) and bought SGD $50 worth of items which was restricted as I set myself a limit of 25 items. If I did not, I guess will not be able to carry my "loot" home. You can't blame me, I have not stepped into a Daiso for about half a year. The haul is covered later in this entry, I'm so happy.

After Daiso, we drove back to my friend's place and we spotted a huge rainbow! Oh, I'm going to be so lucky. It was one with the full spectrum of colors, however it was so huge that we could only see a part of it. It's so pretty, totally brightened up my already happy day.

Tried to take a photo of the rainbow after whoo-ahh-ing, but it was too late. It vanished into the blue sky just like the way it appeared. Better luck next time!
Happy me!
I helped her mum do her Dinner and Dance makeup. I was really starving at that point of time, gearing up for a nice dinner that we have not even make the slightest plan for. Great, I'm such a hopeless piece of glutton but I'm happy! After I completed my "simple transformation" task, we drove her mum to Fairmont and continued in search of our dinner. There was 4 of us, my friend with her dad and boyfriend (who broke his arm chasing her naughty dog) and me.

We headed to Beach Road for the famous Yew Chaun Claypot Rice, my friend's dad had a craving and was raving on how delicious it is. Well, I'm more then eager to add another food haunt to my list. We reached about 9 pm and was prepared to wait for quite awhile before our claypot rice could be serve, thus we ordered some Herbal Soup from Chang Fa Hong Kong Stewed Soup before we all die of hunger.

Chang Fa Hong Kong Stewed Soup stall sells a good selection of Herbal Soups

Angelica Sinensis Silkie Soup  (当归炖乌鸡汤) 

Ginseng Chicken Soup (人参鸡汤)

Salted Vegetable with Duck Soup (咸菜鴨汤)
The soups were all very tasty as they are not tight-fisted with the ingredients and chinese herbs as many other stalls out there, the soups were really full-bodied. That's explains why they are slightly more expensive by just a bit, they range from SGD $3 to $4.50 each, however it's definitely worth every cent. 

We ordered our Claypot Rice (瓦煲飯, SGD $18 for serving enough for 4 moderate eaters) before we ordered our soup, hoping to shorten the waiting time

Finally after 45 minutes of neck-stretching wait. My friend's dad leaped into action to stir-up the rice in the scorching claypot, mixing in preferred amount of dark sauce and oil.

There a good amount of mainly super fresh, tender chicken meat, Chinese sausage (臘腸), Salted Fish and some green vegetable.
Everyone had 2 bowls of the fragrant rice except my friend who did not like the distinctive burnt flavour of this rice dish. On top of the above, we also ordered yummy-licious Sambal Stingray which I did not manage to take any photo of. Everyone enjoyed the feast and smiled ever so contentedly after the last bite. I sipped my favorite Lime Juice with Sour Plum drink in bliss.
Don't underestimate how two sour ingredients can complement each other, it's not sour (coming from a person who hates anything sour) and is super effective in aiding digestion after a heavy meal.
After a completely satisfying dinner, we strolled back to the car and decided to head down to the nearby Mustafa Shopping Centre for leisure shopping. Great, my kind of activity! We thought it was going to be crowded since all the labour workers will normally flood down to the mall, but we were pleasantly surprised that it was not that bad at all. Trying to find a parking slot was horrid but we explored and discovered a new car park in the new Mustafa extension building next to the existing one. There were amply space in it which maybe explained by the obscurity car park entrance.

We left Mustafa close to 1 am and I went home walking on air with my 2 bags of purchases
Below are some photos of what was inside the bags, so
Hair Fragrance Lotion

I bought the one in Soap, there were two others: Rose & Citrus.

A little hair accessory for Jade Jade to cheer her up, she's unwell for many weeks...

From Left to Right: Blue Fluorescent Light Sticks, Glass Jar (I plan to D-I-Y it to a Makeup Brush Cleansing Jar), Cheddar Cheese Pretzel, Silver & Gold Ribbons (for my handicraft), Screen Protector for Ling, Blue Whiteboard Markers (for Jade Jade to scribble with), Velcro Strip (for my D-I-Y project above) and Paper Fastener (for me to use in office, they are really nifty in holding around 16 pages together)

Left to Right: 2 Pill Boxes (for my earrings and rings, I love collecting unique pieces. Through the years, I have a collection of 4 "pill boxes"), 2 boxes of Blotting Sheets, Single False Eyelashes, Standard Black Hair Bands, Mirror (for office use), Squeeze Tube Containers and Metal Hair Comb Accessory.

One box of the blotting sheets is for my colleague as I told her it may not be an good idea to over-zealously remove all the facial oil as that will only prompt our skin to secrete more. Daiso's Blotting Sheets are the "tracing paper" kind, not as effective as those polymer sheet blotters in the market. Furthermore, it's so cheap: SGD $2 for 250 sheets. However for "heavy duty", I'll still fall back to my Gatsby.

A close up of the Single Eye Lashes, they have another one that is longer. I've never tried this kind of lashes before, so wish me luck for fluttery natural lashes! 

Left to Right: Empty Spray Bottle (I like this range as the mist is real fine, I think it states "Atomised Spray" on the packaging), 2 bottles of Sponge & Puff Detergent (It's really great, I use it even on my makeup brushes), 2 bottles of Nail Polish
The above are from Daiso, the below's from Mustafa which is not much.

Garnier Fructis Hair Shampoo, my favourite shampoo  (I love the scent so very much) that I don't know where else I can buy.


Escada Taj Sunset EDT
The perfume opens with top notes of Alphonso mango, nectarine and blood orange. The middle notes features aquatic flowers with raspberry and pomarosa or Malay apple. The base consists of coconut, sandalwood and musk. This developed on me from sweet, fruity, ever-so-faint citrus scent to a sweet, musky scent. It's a little too sweet for my liking (but it's alright as I don't have any other quite like this in my collection) and staying-power is not really impressive but yes, it's the kind of "warm" scent that I enjoy sleeping with. Don't ask me why, but I love aromatherapy, maybe that will explain.
Freeman Bare Hands Hydrating Cucumber and Water Lily Hand & Elbow butter (In my humid country, I don't really need a "heavy-duty" moisturiser. This worked nicely with a fresh, light flora scent, best of all, it did not leave my hands greasy at all)
I managed to sleep at 3 am, ending my lovely Saturday and welcoming my Beautiful Sunday with Jade Jade, which Part Three will cover. Till then, take care! 

Sunday, March 27, 2011

My Fanta-Bulous Weekend Part Three!

It's a Sunday, beautiful Sunday! Well, it only means Monday's peeking right over my shoulder, thus I planned to take it easy. The best option was to go shopping and a nice meal in the mall nearest to my place! Yeah, shopping again!

One of my first stop was Watsons, which I'm starting to love again, with must control nowadays. Once again Jade Jade, who completely took after my love for make up, started "exploring" the testers of Majolica Majorca's display counter.

Caught in action...

I must admit, she seem to be immensely enjoying herself

"Oh, which one's nicer..."
Next we had lunch...
At Sake Sushi
I'm not one of those "paranoid extremist" who refuse to eat sushi after the recent, but saddening, tsunami incident in Japan (that brings me to recall a person I once knew that made a fuss and insisted that the doctor gave him the vaccination shot, which were reserved for the pregnant and children at the time of the Bird Flu, because he was not well with a common cold. Come on, you were a 24 year old healthy male, can't believe how you went through your National Service without any guts...)
Some of the dishes: Agedashi Tofu, 揚げ出し豆腐 (left) & Soft-shell Crab Temaki, 手巻

Jade Jade trying to learn how to use the chopsticks

Lobster Temaki

My favourite Beef Kimchi Kaminabe which I've blogged before

Chawanmushi (茶碗蒸し) for Jade Jade

Dragon Roll Sushi

Chicken Katsu Cheese Yaki

Potato koroke (croquette)

Okonomiyaki

Jade Jade finding after-meal entertainment with my Ipad
We continued walking around after lunch before heading to the supermarket for our grocery and headed home. To wrap this entry up, the below is the haul I've done, enjoy!
Guess what I bought...

They are very prettly, it was love at first sight

I have a slight fetish for "owl" stuff

See the detailing, this cost me only SGD 14.


Some other stuff I bought randomly: Travel-size Contact Lense Solution (for my office) and Mentos Mint (for Jade Jade)

My haul from Watsons

Eyeshadows: Kate Blendzone in BR-2 (left) and Majolica Marjolica Trick on Powder in BR-752 (right)

I think I have too many nuetrals...
Then I discovered a new shop, which is not really "new" as I have not been shopping for months. It's call Magic Shop. The sales consultant told me that they empahsize on water-based product and is a Taiwan brand that I mistook for Korean. That's something new, without doing any research beforehand, I grabbed a number to their stuff to try out.

The shop's carrier bag

Nail polish at SGD 3.90 each (it was buy 4 get 1 free)

They are not named but numbered (from left to right): #23, #54, #63


#71 (left), #94 (right)

Swatch of #54, 2 coats with Sech Vite Top Coat.

Topped with Daiso's Light Color Nail Enamel #8 by Minmax@New York to add interest.
Reminds me of the starry sky on a clear night.

Magic Shop Luxurious Lip Gloss: It's colorless in the tube but turns
 into a healthy pink stain once in contact with your lips. Comes in one
shade (Chameleon Pink) at SGD 24.
 

Ingredient List

I have used 2 of the nail polish shades that I bought (#54 & #63). They are quite pigmented, 2 coats will give the color as the bottle. However, I notice that they started chipping much faster that the rest of other brands that I use. It normal last about 2 to 3 days before the first chip appear. You may like to know, I type but not alot at work, I don't do lots of household chores and I used Sech Vite Quick Dry as my top coat. Hope that clarifies. Therefore I'm not really impress with their polishes.

On the other hand, I love the Luxurious Lip Gloss, which is a lip stain. It's watery in texture, gives a slightly cooling sensation once applied and you can witness your lips turn pinker within the minute. Do note that it does have a soft rose-scent as well, which I love. I've used it for a whole week & still loving it. I'm not "glowy" recently so the pop of lovely rosy hue on my lips gave my face some "life" and I'm lazy, I only have to reapply around 4 to 6 hours later (depending on how much you talk and if you are drinking or eating). So hassle free and it does not dry out my lips.

I'll definitely step in again if I pass by the shop. I hope it open a few more branches so the girls who do not stay around my area can get to try out this new brand at their convinence as well.

That's all for this three-parter. Until next time, take great care!



Monday, March 21, 2011

My Fanta-Bulous Weekend Part Two!

Part Two of my Fanta-Bulous Weekend start late Saturday afternoon as everyone slept real late on Friday night. I meet my friend at Sembawang Shopping Centre's Daiso (one of my super favourite haven on earth) and bought SGD $50 worth of items which was restricted as I set myself a limit of 25 items. If I did not, I guess will not be able to carry my "loot" home. You can't blame me, I have not stepped into a Daiso for about half a year. The haul is covered later in this entry, I'm so happy.

After Daiso, we drove back to my friend's place and we spotted a huge rainbow! Oh, I'm going to be so lucky. It was one with the full spectrum of colors, however it was so huge that we could only see a part of it. It's so pretty, totally brightened up my already happy day.

Tried to take a photo of the rainbow after whoo-ahh-ing, but it was too late. It vanished into the blue sky just like the way it appeared. Better luck next time!
Happy me!
I helped her mum do her Dinner and Dance makeup. I was really starving at that point of time, gearing up for a nice dinner that we have not even make the slightest plan for. Great, I'm such a hopeless piece of glutton but I'm happy! After I completed my "simple transformation" task, we drove her mum to Fairmont and continued in search of our dinner. There was 4 of us, my friend with her dad and boyfriend (who broke his arm chasing her naughty dog) and me.

We headed to Beach Road for the famous Yew Chaun Claypot Rice, my friend's dad had a craving and was raving on how delicious it is. Well, I'm more then eager to add another food haunt to my list. We reached about 9 pm and was prepared to wait for quite awhile before our claypot rice could be serve, thus we ordered some Herbal Soup from Chang Fa Hong Kong Stewed Soup before we all die of hunger.

Chang Fa Hong Kong Stewed Soup stall sells a good selection of Herbal Soups

Angelica Sinensis Silkie Soup  (当归炖乌鸡汤) 

Ginseng Chicken Soup (人参鸡汤)

Salted Vegetable with Duck Soup (咸菜鴨汤)
The soups were all very tasty as they are not tight-fisted with the ingredients and chinese herbs as many other stalls out there, the soups were really full-bodied. That's explains why they are slightly more expensive by just a bit, they range from SGD $3 to $4.50 each, however it's definitely worth every cent. 

We ordered our Claypot Rice (瓦煲飯, SGD $18 for serving enough for 4 moderate eaters) before we ordered our soup, hoping to shorten the waiting time

Finally after 45 minutes of neck-stretching wait. My friend's dad leaped into action to stir-up the rice in the scorching claypot, mixing in preferred amount of dark sauce and oil.

There a good amount of mainly super fresh, tender chicken meat, Chinese sausage (臘腸), Salted Fish and some green vegetable.
Everyone had 2 bowls of the fragrant rice except my friend who did not like the distinctive burnt flavour of this rice dish. On top of the above, we also ordered yummy-licious Sambal Stingray which I did not manage to take any photo of. Everyone enjoyed the feast and smiled ever so contentedly after the last bite. I sipped my favorite Lime Juice with Sour Plum drink in bliss.
Don't underestimate how two sour ingredients can complement each other, it's not sour (coming from a person who hates anything sour) and is super effective in aiding digestion after a heavy meal.
After a completely satisfying dinner, we strolled back to the car and decided to head down to the nearby Mustafa Shopping Centre for leisure shopping. Great, my kind of activity! We thought it was going to be crowded since all the labour workers will normally flood down to the mall, but we were pleasantly surprised that it was not that bad at all. Trying to find a parking slot was horrid but we explored and discovered a new car park in the new Mustafa extension building next to the existing one. There were amply space in it which maybe explained by the obscurity car park entrance.

We left Mustafa close to 1 am and I went home walking on air with my 2 bags of purchases
Below are some photos of what was inside the bags, so
Hair Fragrance Lotion

I bought the one in Soap, there were two others: Rose & Citrus.

A little hair accessory for Jade Jade to cheer her up, she's unwell for many weeks...

From Left to Right: Blue Fluorescent Light Sticks, Glass Jar (I plan to D-I-Y it to a Makeup Brush Cleansing Jar), Cheddar Cheese Pretzel, Silver & Gold Ribbons (for my handicraft), Screen Protector for Ling, Blue Whiteboard Markers (for Jade Jade to scribble with), Velcro Strip (for my D-I-Y project above) and Paper Fastener (for me to use in office, they are really nifty in holding around 16 pages together)

Left to Right: 2 Pill Boxes (for my earrings and rings, I love collecting unique pieces. Through the years, I have a collection of 4 "pill boxes"), 2 boxes of Blotting Sheets, Single False Eyelashes, Standard Black Hair Bands, Mirror (for office use), Squeeze Tube Containers and Metal Hair Comb Accessory.

One box of the blotting sheets is for my colleague as I told her it may not be an good idea to over-zealously remove all the facial oil as that will only prompt our skin to secrete more. Daiso's Blotting Sheets are the "tracing paper" kind, not as effective as those polymer sheet blotters in the market. Furthermore, it's so cheap: SGD $2 for 250 sheets. However for "heavy duty", I'll still fall back to my Gatsby.

A close up of the Single Eye Lashes, they have another one that is longer. I've never tried this kind of lashes before, so wish me luck for fluttery natural lashes! 

Left to Right: Empty Spray Bottle (I like this range as the mist is real fine, I think it states "Atomised Spray" on the packaging), 2 bottles of Sponge & Puff Detergent (It's really great, I use it even on my makeup brushes), 2 bottles of Nail Polish
The above are from Daiso, the below's from Mustafa which is not much.

Garnier Fructis Hair Shampoo, my favourite shampoo  (I love the scent so very much) that I don't know where else I can buy.


Escada Taj Sunset EDT
The perfume opens with top notes of Alphonso mango, nectarine and blood orange. The middle notes features aquatic flowers with raspberry and pomarosa or Malay apple. The base consists of coconut, sandalwood and musk. This developed on me from sweet, fruity, ever-so-faint citrus scent to a sweet, musky scent. It's a little too sweet for my liking (but it's alright as I don't have any other quite like this in my collection) and staying-power is not really impressive but yes, it's the kind of "warm" scent that I enjoy sleeping with. Don't ask me why, but I love aromatherapy, maybe that will explain.
Freeman Bare Hands Hydrating Cucumber and Water Lily Hand & Elbow butter (In my humid country, I don't really need a "heavy-duty" moisturiser. This worked nicely with a fresh, light flora scent, best of all, it did not leave my hands greasy at all)
I managed to sleep at 3 am, ending my lovely Saturday and welcoming my Beautiful Sunday with Jade Jade, which Part Three will cover. Till then, take care!