yina goes

Lunch with the Nuffies!

2012-02-17T17:11:00.000+08:00

so i had lunch with the Nuffies and some other bloggers a couple weeks ago. and and and the other bloggers are all famous bloggers one!!! (except for me la, okay) our lunch group consisted of Boss Ming, Huiwen, Gabby and Jayne from Nuffnang, and Xiaxue, Qiuqiu, Sophie, Jessica, Jayne Tham and myself. i know right. made me think "eh wtf why they invite me to the same lunch as everyone else" yah. i know i am not of the same calibre. #shy

Boss Ming treated us all to Crystal Jade Palace at Ngee Ann City, and it's my first time there and i was like blown away! why so nice one! partially cos i just finished my 4-day detox that time so maybe everything tasted particularly good.

so so so so so so so so good. i really can't think of a single dish that i didn't like. omg i am a glut. everything was like so fresh and crunchy and flavorful and delicious!

Boss Ming, Qiuqiu and Huiwen!

Gabby, Jayne and Sophie!

Jayne, myself and Gabby!

don't be confused, yes there are two Jaynes! haha. Jayne the blogger and Jayne the Nuffie. and i realize that no one else can get my camera to focus correctly except for me. (the only picture in focus is the one i took =.=) anyways, Jessica and Xiaxue arrived later, when we were all too busy eating to take any more pictures ahaha.

food picture spam!!! don't read on if you're hungry.

i swear everything is good. NO JOKE.

above two pictures from Qiuqiu's blog!

and a group photo. Boss Ming smile until damn happy, LOL. one guy with 9 girls!!! shiok or not!

anyway, it was a damn awesome lunch, thanks Boss Ming! so proud to be a part of Nuffnang and the amazing team. and i love our new "managers" Gabby and Jayne as well! spent a lot of time with these two girls while we were in KL for the Napbas and they are really awesome people. can't wait to see Nuffnang soar to new heights together with the blogging community! without Nuffnang, so many good things wouldn't have happened to me. *sniffs*

after lunch, Jayne and i went shopping.. wheee! we conquered Topshop and H&M!!! alright.. not really, but we both got a couple of pretty good buys :D

i saw this uber uberrr cute pair of booties at Topshop on sale from $323 to $129!!! last pair in my size some more, woohoo! straight away buy. don't care even if i only wear it twice in my entire life. hello, i am Cruella de Vil.

and a cute polkadot bra plus some shades from H&M, only $19.90 and $9.90 respectively :D yay!

my outfit for the day: Topshop denim bralet and Miss Selfridge printed flare skirt! bralets are coming back into fashion this year... so awesome! love how flattering it is! :D gonna make something similar for TVD but without the exposed zipper which is kind of skanky :X

it's so short that if you don't wanna bare any midriff you have to wear something really high waisted! but i still love it.

another outfit: Zara blazer with adorable lipstick prints top and contrast stitched shorts from TVD!

the lipstick prints are like how cute!!! :D these two items should be coming up on TVD soon :D actually i wanted to make a similar blazer as well but i can't find the right fabric that's structured enough to give it that nice fit. still need to hunt for the right fabric!

***

something to share for those who're interested in taking up vocal classes or just enjoy singing in general.. you might know (or maybe you don't know) that i took vocal classes under 沸揮老师 at Imagine Music previously, they're opening up a FREE ADMISSION Vocal Workshop, on the 23rd Feb, Thursday! there are only 30 seats available!

to register, just call Imagine Music at 6337 0855! ^_^

it sounds like it'll be really informative and fun, and it's free, so do give them a call to register yourself for the workshop!

***

anywaysss, YZ just left for South Africa last night, and i sent him off at the airport at midnight, took a cab back home and it was like $26 or something... bloody hell. so expensive =_= he'll only be back on 3 March so i have 2 weeks of boyfriend-less time hahahaha :X hope he doesn't come back with any STDs. LOL. supposedly, 17% of the population in South Africa has HIV.

and since he's away, perfect time for me to diet since i can't go on any couple dates at the moment. bwahaha. you wouldn't believe how much junk i've been eating the past couple of weeks. so today i had grapes and fish soup. my life is one long never-ending diet. byeeeeee!

Happy Valentine's Day! + Oreo Truffle Recipe

2012-02-15T11:57:00.001+08:00

happy valentine's day, y'all!!!!

well, it's YZ and i's 4th Vday together, i'm not a very big advocate of Vday and all the roses/gifts, and the last time YZ and i really "celebrated" Valentine's Day was during our first Valentine's Day, and we did the whole roses and dinner thing.. hahahaha. i bought couple pillow cases and a quilt/bedsheet set for YZ! remember he used to have super old skool Doraemon bedsheets and i was like WTF this guy needs to change his bedsheets LOL so i bought him some :X

found these pictures on my old blog!

our first Valentine's Day, 2008! omg.. hehehe YZ damn fat! and i had short hair then! contemplating if i should cut my hair again, but thinking about how long it took to grow out to the current length, i think i better not ;__;

we took a bus to.. i forgot where. romantik much!

and YZ bought us PSPs for our first Vday together. guys and their notions of romanticism... =.=

back to the point, cos YZ's leaving for a 2 week reservist stint in the ulu grasslands of South Africa in 2 days time, i thought we ought to just spend some time together this Vday since we won't be seeing one another for 2 weeks soon! ):

we didn't do much nor really celebrate celebrate, no roses and fancy gifts this time round, but YZ really likes my home baked goodies, so i thought it was time to whip up something again! :D my old oven's spoilt already, so i could only do something non-bake, and i thought of a trusty old recipe that i found online a long time back and decided to revisit for this Vday: White Chocolate Oreo Truffles!!! :D :D :D they're like the easiest thing ever to make, and super tasty especially if you're a fan of Oreos and cream cheese!

don't know why, i had some trouble with melting the white chocolate this time round, and my truffles turned out really ugly =.= don't judge it by its appearance, cos it's super super super super yummylicious!

i'm gonna share the recipe with y'all, even though Vday is over, i'm sure such an easy and delicious recipe will come in handy one day! all you need are the above three ingredients: White Chocolate Chips, Oreo Cookies, and Cream Cheese! super easy or what! you can probably make about 50 truffles with this recipe, depending on how big you make them.

i'm sure y'all know where to get Oreo cookies from, just any supermarket or minimart will have them! three packs of the regular tube-packaging Oreos would be enough. some recipes remove the cream filling, but i've always kept them in and i don't think you need to bother removing the filling. also, even if you removed them, you won't be able to do anything else with the filling so it's pretty wasteful!

for the Cream Cheese, you can use really good quality (more expensive!) Philadelphia Cream Cheese (one block would be enough), or just go to Phoon Huat (baking supplies store) to buy the generic cream cheese which is cheaper. 250grams of cream cheese is just nice for this recipe :)

as for the White Chocolate, you can either buy the house brand chocolate chips that Phoon Huat sells, or just buy a block of Cadbury or any other brand of good quality white chocolate :) i had a lot of trouble with melting the Phoon Huat one that i bought this time round, and i'm wondering if a better quality block of white chocolate would have melted better.

the recipe is so simple that anyone can follow it, but it does require a bit of hard work and effort! i think the most time-consuming bit would be grinding the oreos into fine crumbs, but if you have a food processor, you can just throw in the cookies and let the food processor do the work for you! i had to do it by hand, so i used the really old fashioned stone pounder to do the job. phew, hard work!

so sorry, i didn't take any pictures of the last 2 steps, partially because i was having trouble with melting the white chocolate! white chocolate is supposed to be harder to melt than regular chocolate, and my white chocolate just didn't get liquidy enough for me to be able to use it to dip the oreo and cream cheese balls in properly. what you can do to thin out the melted chocolate is to add some vegetable shortening or vegetable oil and give it a thorough stir, it will make the chocolate smoother and easier to use as a dip!

the white chocolate chips can either be melted in a microwave (be sure to check constantly, 30 second intervals should be the safest!) or melted via boiling. click here for more information on how to melt chocolate.

i did the microwave method for batch 1 followed by the boiling method for batch 2, but i didn't get a watery enough consistency and had to add some oil to the chocolate so it was thin enough for me to dip in.. but even then, i ended up with really ugly truffles =.=

what the first batch looked like: damn ugly!! :( so sad.. like this i also don't dare to 送人! i tried harder for the 2nd batch, and ended up with slightly better looking ones.. so....

TADAAAH!

my 大功告成! anyway, the taste of these White Chocolate Oreo Truffles will totally make up for their ugliness, so don't worry, just ask your man to close his eyes and pop one into his mouth. hahaha. i've also tried it with dark chocolate and regular milk chocolate before, but somehow, white chocolate complements the oreo and cream cheese best! it's almost impossible to stop at one, trust me! :P

for our Vday itself, i decided we were better off going for a lunch date than a dinner date.. as i'm sure most restaurants would be packed full of happily-in-love couples holding hands and carrying roses... good thing for flexible working hours! i've been DYING for xiaolongbaos lately, and pestered YZ to go to Paradise Dynasty with me for the xiaolongbaos that come in 8 different flavors :D :D :D been craving for the Black Truffle ones like mad and YZ hasn't tried them before so off to Paradise Dynasty!

it's located at Ion, easy enough to find!

and their tag line is....
LEGEND OF XIAO LONG BAO.
lol.

didn't dress up much or do super heavy make-up, partially cos i left my makeup pouch at office =.= wearing my favorite Zara blazer and new floral romper from TVD :D

without further ado: introducing the 8 different flavors of XLB: Original, Garlic, Ginseng, Foie Gras, Black Truffle, Cheese, Crab Roe, and Szechuan! you can get a basket of all 8 flavors to try for variety.

my personal favorites are original, cheese and black truffle! the crab roe isn't very distinct in its flavor, while ginseng XLB just sounds weird to me. garlic is just plain garlicky and nothing special, and i had a really bad experience with the Szechuan one cos when the dumpling skin broke in my mouth and the spicy szechuan soup came out, it accidentally went into my windpipe and i nearly died from choking on the spiciness -___- beware!

i'm sucha bad girlfriend. ordered the (cold) drunken chicken while YZ went to the loo and i totally forgot he doesn't like cold chicken :( i thought it tasted fine, but YZ really doesn't like it, lol in the end i put it into our la main soup so it was warm :X

ordered one basket of the black truffle XLBs! :D love them muchly.

french beans with minced pork! tasty. a little heavy on the sodium so its best eaten with some fluffy white rice.

pork belly la mian in signature pork broth! YZ wasn't impressed with the soup at all, it was a little bland and didn't taste fantastic, so we added some of the chilli (there's a little pot of chilli on the table) and it was very much improved! the pork belly slices were tender and melt-in-your-mouth and i thought it tasted pretty ok to me! i guess the next time i come with YZ, i won't be ordering the la mian again though!

pricing wise, i think it's fairly affordable, but the special flavor XLBs are kinda pricey, for a basket of 6 it's about $12 something while the original flavor one is like $6.80. in total, we paid about $66 (there's an additional 4 dollar miscellaneous charge for tea/water) so i suppose it'd be about the same as any other casual dining chinese restaurants like Ding Tai Fung or Crystal Jade.

Paradise Dynasty
2 Orchard Turn,
#04-12AION Orchard Singapore
Tel: +65 6509 9118

Operating Hours:Weekdays 11am to 10pmWeekends 10am to 10pm

decided to round up our feast with my favorite dessert: Sticky Date Pudding with Ice Cream at Marmalade Pantry, just one level under Paradise Dynasty! we were intending to just share one, but ended up ordering one each :X omg sinful to the max!

i love how the caramel sauce and salted caramel set off the sticky date pudding and vanilla ice cream so so so well :D eating this is like eating a little piece of heaven!

like i mentioned, Vday's a low key event this year, but i still thought it'd be nice to get YZ a little something, plus i just like dressing him up in clothes i like! :D bought him this pastel printed shirt from Topshop that i think looks really stylish and preppy if worn with the right pants/shoes! i know YZ would definitely not buy something like this for himself lol. luckily, the fit is perfect and he looks great in it! heehee.

new addition to the wardrobe!

he went to try it on immediately and gave it the thumbs up! :D yayness!

after all the immensely satisfying food, we strolled around in town for abit before YZ had to attend to some work matters. soooo many guys holding roses/carrying soft toys D: after being together with YZ for almost 5 years now, we're like super 老夫老妻 and unromantic, i always tell him not to buy me flowers or spend money on useless things. i'd rather enjoy a good meal and spend some quality time with him. and we ended off our day with ROTI PRATA for supper. OMG. #dietfail as usual!

but freaking shiok la. RK Eating House at Serangoon Gardens, best value in the neighborhood and the prata and curry is damn shiok!!!! we ordered 2 kosong, 1 egg, and one mee goreng pattaya and one lychee drink, total came up to $9.80 only. my sticky date puddings at Marmalade Pantry can eat x 3 of what we ordered at RK Eating House liao!

regardless, it's still nice to speak words of love and affirmation every day, and especially so on Vday when the entire world is commemorating their love for one another :P

Happy Valentine's Day to all my friends too!!!!!!!!! i heart you all veli much. love love. if you're single, may you find a mega rich and yandao 白马王子 today. if you're attached, may you stay in a blissful relationship 恩恩爱爱白头偕老一生一世 forever. MUACKS.

Brunch at Artichoke!

2012-02-11T19:36:00.002+08:00

celebrated Aini's birthday last Sunday, with brunch at Artichoke! :D :D :D sigh, we've been meaning to catch up over a meal forever since December or something, but everyone's so busy with work and their own stuff. finally managed to arrange time for a brunch meeting, just in time to celebrate Aini baby's birthday, heheh.

our little gang of four.. we've spent a good part of our 20 year old lives together! gosh. i was looking back at old blog entries, and found my 2nd blog entry when i first started the blog in 2009, and we all looked so young and cute back then D: hahahaha

back when we were all newly turned 20 somethings and now we're all in our mid 20s =_= so scary.

anyhow, Woon recommended this place along Middle Road for brunch: Artichoke! i googled it and it seems to be pretty popular and well established for brunch and dining.

specialising in "Modern Moorish", with recipes from Turkey, Lebanon, Spain, Greece and Morocco, which i don't know much about. really reasonable prices for their brunch menu, and a nice atmosphere that's very chill and casual. you don't have to worry about making too much noise here, cos just about every other table's in a hearty conversation over their food! there's both indoor and alfresco seating but it was a really hot day so we stuck to indoors!

well as usual everyone overslept =.= our brunch turned into lunch!

Fish brought mini strawberry cheesecakes her brother baked to compensate for lateness :D never thought of baking cheesecake in mini cups, but what a good idea!

so we started ordering our food! :D :D :D

scrambled eggs and mushrooms on toast. *slurps* i am in love with the eggs and mushrooms, they were so good we ordered extra portions (TWO portions of mushrooms in fact) for both! i uber love mushrooms.

the heartiest dish of the day: Lamb Shashouka: eggs baked in tomato sauce with braised lamb, yogurt cheese and toast! very generously seasoned with spices and herbs which some people would like. i loved the eggy/tomato portions and the lamb was tasty too!

Fruit and Yogurt: which is a homemade rhubarb apple compote with honeyed Greek yogurt and pistachios! super yums. yogurt lovers will definitely like this, though the portion is rather big so it's better to share!

we ordered a sticky date pudding which also doubled as the birthday girl's cake.. the sticky date pudding comes in a lake of smoked milk custard with salted caramel on top and is just a little on the so-sweet-your-tooth-might-almost-hurt side but i enjoyed every mouthful of sweet pudding goodness with crunchy sweet salty caramel on it :D

group shot!

with our birthday girl! (ノ゜ω゜)ノ

spent almost three hours playing catch-up and enjoying the food/company! my best "support group" throughout the highs and lows of having joined the SYC and making choral music with talented people from all walks of life. i'm really glad i made the decision on a whim four years ago to try my luck to audition for the choir. since then, it's been one incredible experience after another, there's been both good and bad times but i've never regretted joining the choir. in no small part, thanks to these three girls :) thank god for friends!

brought along my GXR for the girls to ooh-and-ahh over as well hehe tried using it in the Black and White mode and it renders really smooth and gorgeous shades!

hearts

Aini's birthday "cake"

making a wish

Aini and Fish, the '88 girls. Woon and i are '87.. quarter century crisis approaching us soon ):

the braced gang :P you can't see Aini's cos hers are only on her lower teeth! le sigh, can't wait for all three of us to get "de-braced"! another one year at least for Fish and i!

my three pretty girls :D

happy birthday, Aini darling! go to Italy with us pleeeaseeeee.

Artichoke Cafe and Bar

161 Middle RoadInside Sculpture Square (beside NAFA)

Tel: +65 6336 6949

Operating Hours:Mon closed

Tue to Thu 6pm – 10pm

Fri 6pm – midnight

Sat 11am-4pm, 6pm-midnight

Sun 11am – 4pm

***

LOL i bluffed poor QQ into going "gai-gai" again. she's sooooo cute. Baby's wearing this really ugly tshirt that Mummy bought for her, and it looks like a surgeon's scrubs. haha

put her down and she STILL didn't want to come out. awwwwwwwww.

anyway, i am so ridiculously full now from attending a wedding lunch earlier and having "office dinner" steamboat the night before. my stomach feels like it's going to burst..... @_@ why do i keep on eating even after i'm full??? i really need to get a hold on my never-satiated appetite.... =.=

January happenings!

2012-02-08T01:40:00.002+08:00

firstly, i haven't actually posted up pictures proper of my red head that i did at Salon Vim before CNY, so here it is!!! as usual, i entrusted my hair in the competent hands of my favorite hairstylist, Stephanie, and she's never failed to give me mega duper awesome results!!! my first hair color of the year, and it's gotta be RED for CNY!!! :D uh, i just realized that i cannot find the pictures i took inside the salon, but i'm sure you've seen many pictures of the process in my previous blog posts about Salon Vim!

you can find out more about Salon Vim and read my entire hair journey with Salon Vim by clicking here to read all the past entries!

over a dark copper red base, Steph did brighter red highlights that peek out from amongst my head of hair, she's always so good at picking out exactly the right strands to highlight, to really bring out depth and a richness in the hair color!

so damn nice :D it looks like it's very red here, but that's actually cos of the flash, in real life it's a slightly darker shade that's crazily chic!

i got my fringe cut as well, and went for a wispy sort of bangs that doesn't look as cutesy as the straight china doll bangs, but i don't know why it looks so weird when my eyebrows can be seen! now that it's grown out, it looks muchie better. （´・ω・｀） wahaha! this emoticon awesome.

uber love the strands of red highlights all over! it's so mad chio please.

the only problem with red hair dye is that the color fades the fastest (something to do with the red hair dye molecule being the largest and hardest to adhere to our hair) so you really need to take care of the color, by using the right shampoo/treatment!

i've been using these two products from Loreal: a color protect shampoo and a hair mask, and i just read that washing your hair with COLD water helps to keep the color longer too! damn... i always use hot water to shower, no wonder my red hair fades so quickly :( never mind, cos it still looks chio!

remember that you can quote my name YINA for 10% off all hair services at Salon Vim! :)

SALON VIM
313 @ Somerset #04-07/08/09
vimsalon@yahoo.com.sg
68847757/68847767

http://salonvimbychezvous.com.sg/

check out Salon Vim's facebook page too, for the latest promos and services available! :)

***

since this was just a few days after i got my hair done, i'm gonna blog a few pictures of the event i attended two weeks ago with Fel, it was a lunch event that was held at Novus, a restaurant/bar located inside the National Museum! shit, i thought it was at SAM (Singapore Art Museum) and ended up at the wrong place, thankfully the staff at SAM were very well-informed (they probably get a lot of lost souls wandering into the wrong museum) and informed me that Novus was at the National Museum instead which was about 5 minutes walk away.

unfortunately, with my new mega tall wedges, it took me like maybe 10 minutes instead to walk to the National Museum LOL price of vanity :/

so i was attempting for a different look that day, and i'd just recently acquired a very cool pearl sequined collar! decided to match it with a simple black chiffon dress for that i'm cool-but-minimalistic look hahahaha :X

oh yea, my dress has got damn nice back details too, i'm really into unique details like this!

front view: it's a balloon sleeved chiffon dress that's all floaty and nice!

naaaissss right. it's a piece that's currently in the midst of being manufactured for TVD and i mad love it! probably will take another 1-2 months though. the factories are still all closed for CNY!

back to the event: i'm just gonna blog about the food HAHAHA. will share more on the actual event and what we were there for, in a future post!

impressive interior, it's not very big but due to the high ceiling, it looks really posh and has a very nice, elegant ambience to it.

our special menu for the day... NOM NOM.

out of topic.. i think i really eat a lot. sometimes i ask YZ "Baby do you think i eat a lot?? Actually not a lot right?" (in denial) and he is freaking honest and he replies me "Actually... you eat a lot, for a girl." uhhh. then i start sulking at him and trying to make him say i DO NOT eat a lot for a girl. of course he refuses to take back his words and i end up trying to defend myself "No what, i where got eat a lot? i always don't eat carbs mah!" blah blah blah...

but OK i admit it. i can really really eat ALOT. last time when i was fatter, i ate even more. like can eat one UPSIZED Double McSpicy Meal with large fries and coke. tell me i'm a pig. wait, i already know. why is my appetite so humongous??? i was seated at a table with three other girls, and they all didn't finish their food, while i tried my best to leave a small bite or two of every single course served so i looked more normal lololol. sad max :(

with skinny Fel, who is always trying to gain weight! such irony.

ran into Melissa at the event too!! *waves* this girl is so sickeningly photogenic, i don't want to take pictures with her anymore =_=

appetizer: Mozzarella cheese with watermelon! quite a unique combination, and interestingly presented on this rectangular slab. this was the only course i left mostly untouched, only because i don't eat cheese. i ate all the watermelon though!

Carrot and Ginger Cream soup with Grilled Tiger Prawns! i finished every last drop cos it was so good :D and the grilled prawns were hidden inside the soup, and the well-seasoned, crunchy prawns really set off the sweet and slightly tangy flavor of the cream soup so delicately!!!

our main course: Red Snapper with Broccoli and Lemon Risotto! this was good! i liked the fresh fish and i'm actually a huge fan of risotto. all-in-all, the heaviness of the risotto was balanced with the broccoli and fish, and i almost finished every last grain of rice (had to tell myself to leave a few, self-restraint)

and finishing off with dessert: Lemon Tarte with Pistachio Ice Cream! ooh, love the pistachio ice cream though the tart was almost sickeningly sweet, but i like anything with pastry so my standards aren't too high :X all the other three girls at the table couldn't finish it while i *almost* finished mine. told ya, had to leave a little to make it seem like i was less greedy :X

overall, i really enjoyed the food there! it's a nice place for a date. perhaps i'll bring YZ there some time! :)

Novus Restaurant and Bar, National Museum,

93 Stamford Road #01-02

http://www.novus.sg/

Hours:

Mon-Sat: 11:30AM - 2:30PM

Mon-Sat: 6:30-10:30PM
Closed on Sunday

***

another event that happened in the midst of CNY was a movie screening organized by Nuffnang, for the movie "孩子不笨"!

i've been wanting to watch this movie, because i've always enjoyed Jack Neo's movies.. honestly, i think his movies are all very good because they are so close to home, they really strike a chord with the Singaporean audience, and this movie is no different! his movies never fail to make me laugh, and cry, and every other emotion in between.

also... guess you might not know that my singing mentor and teacher 黎沸揮老师 also debuts in this movie, as a uncouth and coarse mouthed Ah Being, and he is SO GOOD at acting his role in the movie!! i really really laughed damn hard at some of the scenes and wise cracks, while other scenes threatened to unleash the floodgates. the two lead male actors, Joshua Ang and Shawn Lee (child actors from 小孩不笨 but all grown up now!) also did an excellent job, and i was pleasantly surprised to see Daniel Chan 陈晓东 act so well too. SPOILER: you get to see Daniel Chan's hot bod in the film too!!! HAHAHA. ok go and watch yourself.

the movie is a little long, so get some popcorn and snacks to seat back and enjoy it in its entirety! i promise you, you won't regret watching it.

YZ accompanied me for the movie as well :)))

the two lead actors, Sean and Joshua, as well as 梁导演 and 沸揮老师 attended the movie screening as well, and it was an honor to speak to them and have a picture taken with them!

with the Nuffies as well as Jack Neo, Joshua Ang and Shawn Lee!

YZ and I with 梁导演!

please watch the trailer, and then go and watch the movie. that little boy from the beginning of the trailer is SOSOSOSOSOSO cute i tell you. and there are lots of funny scenes! really laugh until peng! :O

***

an update on my last detox plan: i did the Neera Detox for 4 days this time round, and managed to lose all the CNY weight! phew! weighed 55.1kg before detox, and 52.4kg after day 4! this time round, it feels easier as compared to the first time we did it, and YZ even managed to do it for 5 days (even though he ended up eating a lot on the 6th day hahaha) and as usual, i feel a lot better after the detox, physically and mentally! tummy's flatter and i feel like my system's more cleared of all the junk i took in over CNY :X which is really good!!! still attending Pilates classes so i get some exercise in as well. healthy lifestyle! (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

okaaay. i need to go and edit pictures now! new launch just in time for Valentine's Day :D pictures are up on Facebook already! wanted to launch a couple more items, but we didn't have enough time to shoot them all :( so, next launch instead! all sorts of exciting things happening this week, yay!!! i'm going to the orthodontist to adjust my braces again on Thursday, and i've got a special dinner planned for Friday!!! OMG cannot wait :D :D :D

(ﾉﾟοﾟ)ﾉﾐ★゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜☆゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜

be back soon! (found a website with all the really cute Japanese emoticons. so awesome. hahaha)

Camera Lust: Ricoh GXR!

2012-02-04T12:14:00.001+08:00

warning: geek talk ahead so skip to the pictures if you're not interested in techy stuff!

back in the good old days, i used a PnS (point & shoot) camera like most people did, and i was quite a fan of the Canon IXUS series.. they were the best when it came to compact cameras 3 years ago, and this handy little camera was good enough to take pictures of myself, my life, my friends.. etc. i don't know how i got influenced into taking a more serious interest in photography/cameras, but it was probably because i started blogging, and also because i travel quite frequently at least two times a year, and i wanted to document my life and my experiences as well as my travelogues down with better pictures that would capture those memories for me.

so in August 2009, I somehow set my eyes on the highly raved Panasonic Lumix-3, which was a step up from the Canon compact and finally got my hands on it! blogged about it here, and i was super excited then! sharper pictures, better quality, and more manual controls and functions that i could play with! had so much more fun with it as compared to the Canon Ixus, and i enjoyed this camera a lot. it's still in use by Gina currently, and it's so sturdy that even after getting all dented and scratched up due to taking multiple falls, it's still working as well as the day i bought it :)

i remember how i fell in love with the Olympus E-P1: my art director from IFS, Stan was proudly showing off this camera during office christmas party in December 2009, and the pictures were soooo gorgeous i couldn't believe it came from such a small camera! (as compared to a DSLR!) so i did lots of research on the M4/3 system, pondered long and hard over GF-1/E-P1 and in January 2010, i managed to get it second hand, which made me a happy girl! blog entry here.

ever since i started using the E-P1 (interchangeable lenses!!!), i could never go back to using a PnS (point and shoot) compact anymore, because i was so used to the high quality images, rich colors, better performance in low light, bigger sensor leading to shallower depth of field etc... coupled with the E-P1's awesome art filters (my favorite are Grainy B&W and Pop Art), it was a joy to use, and this camera accompanied me to Bali, Korea, Italy, Poland... i have so many good recollections of all those beautiful places, all thanks to the digital memories captured with this camera! in fact, i love the E-P1 so much, even after i damaged my first set (water damage from a water bottle that wasn't capped properly!!) i went back to Clubsnap to search for another set second-hand despite the newer version E-P2 being released already.

one thing about the E-P1: it didn't have a built in flash, and the AF (auto focus) was just on the slow side.. i made do, and still managed to get the shots i wanted most of the time, but the E-P3 was released in 2011 and it was a super improved version, with flash AND faster AF and other very useful new functions! i thought about it for awhile....

and succumbed to the E-P3 in September 2011! love the flash, love the super fast AF, and it even has a touch screen focus function which makes life super easy.. after using the E-P1 for so long, i was very accustomed to the controls and interface on the Olympus so this was a breeze for me to use! still love it very much and enjoy using this wonderful camera! another plus point is that as the lenses are all interchangeable within the M4/3 cameras, i can use the lens i bought for the E-P1 just the same on the E-P3, so i don't have to invest in new lenses all over again.

some of my favorite shots were produced by the E-P1 and E-P3, mostly with the Panasonic 20mm 1.7 pancake lens, and you can look at the pictures i've taken with my trusty E-P cameras, in my travel blog posts!

in Poland.

in Korea

in Venice, Italy

in Bologna, Italy

in Florence, Italy

in Bali, Indonesia

moving on,

i remember reading about this nifty little machine called the Ricoh GXR some time ago when it was just released: it appeared to take really good pictures, but i read that the AF was slow, so i didn't pay it much attention, plus it wasn't all that cheap either! the interesting part about the GXR is that instead of having interchangeable lenses, it has interchangeable modules, with the sensor and lens built together, and you can swap your modules to use on the same body! it sounds a little confusing, but if you're interested to find out more you can read a review on the GXR here.

after way too much research and googling, i decided to take the plunge and got myself the GXR with M-mount module! this camera body allows me to to mount manual Leica M-mount rangefinder lenses on it, so it's kind of like a marriage of film meets digital! i'm not patient enough for film cameras, and this is by far a better alternative for me to explore photography.

the cool thing is that the Leica M-mount cameras were introduced in the 1950s, so any lenses that were made for the M-mount from then to now can all be mounted and used on the GXR M-mount! (in theory that is!) which is where the appeal of the GXR and M-mount module really lies in. cos a "real" Leica M camera body would set you back by about 10K, in comparison to the GXR M-mount, which is almost 1/10th of a Leica's price.

DENG DENG DENG!!! say hello to my GXR M-mount :D together with the Voightlander 40mm 1.4 lens! (no money to buy Leica M lenses, they're a few thousand bucks for one lens!) got a leather case for the new baby as well, don't want it to suffer any injuries due to my clumsiness!

rangefinder lens work by focusing through distance calculation. there's no AF on this lens, its fully manual. so i guess that's a "downgrade" from my super fast AF E-P3 :S

isn't it a beauty? heheh. it's not as sleek or pretty as the E-P3, but looks much sturdier and industrial in a very impressive manner!

other than the M-mount, i also got the A12 28mm module, which has AF and an awesome 12MP APS-C sensor. (which is slightly larger/better than the M4/3 sensor on my E-P3!) supposed to have better image quality and better low light performance, it's just a back-up module though, i'm pretty sure i'm gonna be using either the E-P3 with my current M4/3 lenses or the GXR with M-mount mostly. the E-P3 is definitely more useful for stuff like taking pictures of myself, lifestyle shots, events and etc. what i really want to do with the GXR is to explore the world of M-mount lenses, manual focusing and use it to make good pictures. maybe even try a couple of TVD photoshoots with it? :D

i'm no pro, but i'd be happy enough to play with my cameras and take pictures for myself hahaha. don't have to take any award winning pictures! just want to enjoy the process of working the camera and taking pictures with it. without further ado, here's some pictures from the new baby, hot off the press! edited for color and contrast!

these few are taken with the A12 28mm module. very clear and sharp lens, and the performance in low light is quite impressive too! the auto focus is slower than the E-P3 but manageable.

self portrait! light make-up day.

Baby waiting for her toy to play Fetch

Zavier boy late out for supper!

very yummy chicken rice

and satay!

Zavier being mischievous as usual, couldn't get his hands off the straw and cup!

isn't he a cutie pie :D makes his grandparents very happy

Geylang road.. just a random snap as i was going home from office.

i settled on the Voightlander 40mm 1.4 which i bought from Chiif Cameras at Excelsior Shopping Centre, after a lot of googling and research :) it's one of the cheaper Voightlander lens but appears to perform well from all the reviews/photos i saw!

this really cool old school polaroid camera Chiif has. so amazing!

Baby sleeping like a human, still got blanket some more! really #likeaboss, this dog.

CNY cards on the living room wall

pussy willow plants out by the pond

Gina doing her makeup in the morning.. i snapped a couple just to try.

more bokeh-licious pictures. hehe i hate to sound shallow but i really really like shallow depth of field! good foreground/background separation or whatever they call it.

tried a shot of Daddy's arowana fish, i like how it turned out!

pictures on the wall, more shallow depth of field going on

what you get with aperture set to 1.4 and lots of lights in the distance. mad nice bokeh shot! mwahahahaha.

i really love fiddling with the lens, it's very fun! plus manual focus on the GXR is quite easy to use with the focus assist. not gonna go into detail la, this is not some camera review on a geek forum. you need to work harder to get a shot, but when you do get a good shot, the satisfaction is immense. heheh. like i said, this camera is just for myself to explore photography and if you want a good, user friendly, efficient, everyday use camera, you'd be better off with other cameras like the Olympus E-P3, or Panasonic GX1, or Canon S100 etc..

promised myself that i won't get another camera body for the next.... 2 years. =_= judging from my track record for the past 2-3 years, i think it's gonna be a struggle.... i like cameras the way some people like branded bags. lol. i'm so terrible. but with two fantastic cameras and another DSLR body i really don't NEED any more. i will tell myself that it's a NEED and not a WANT. no-no to more camera lusting. *fingers crossed*

hope to have more beautiful pictures for myself and everyone else to enjoy with the combination of my two cameras! :D sorry for the long, draggy and geeky post!!! i really really wanted to gush more about the new camera and explain in-depth about rangefinders, Leicas, manual lenses, M-mounts and all that, but it'd be too confusing and i think most of you wouldn't be interested anyway. if you have any questions though, feel free to leave a comment and i'll get back to you if i can be of help!

suffice to say i am really happy with my new camera. can't wait to take more pictures and get better at using it soon!

CNY 2012: Day 2!

2012-02-03T20:40:00.000+08:00

tooooo many pictures from CNY day 2!!! so i just picked like 1/3 of the photos to edit and upload! :D

the entire family went visiting at 大姑姑's place on 初二! after which i went for buffet dinner with YZ's family D: CNY is seriously the best time to get fat!

what i enjoyed most about CNY this year was spending lots and lots of family time, with my family as well as YZ's. seriously, i'm really appreciating my family and especially my parents more and more every year, and being able to spend this festive time with them is really precious!

my own family culture is rather strict and not exactly very loving, my parents never pampered us the way we saw other kids were. of course they love us, but they just express it differently, especially with my surly, 大男人 dad who's the epitome of stoic man. as a result, we're all pretty independent emotionally and don't do heart-to-heart talks cos it feels awkward.

the first time i got to meet YZ's family, i got quite a culture shock, and vice versa for him too, cos his family's all very loving, encouraging and supportive vocally and they put in quite a fair bit of effort to maintain good relations amongst the family. while for us, we generally all mind our own business and don't take any special care to show our care and concern for one another. sometimes i don't even see my parents for 2 or 3 days (they work early and are already asleep when i reach home late) even though we're all living in the same house. my dad never asks me much when it comes to showing concern, never encourages me when it comes to work or even studies, he only lectures us! he won't ask how my relationship with YZ is going or stuff like that, he only asks me when i'm giving him his 家用 or (lately) he'd randomly ask me when i'm getting married. (but not in a concerned i'm-excited-for-my-daughter-to-get-married-tone) =.=

Mummy's more affectionate when it comes to showing us love cos she's the one who cooks for us and asks us what we want to eat, or calls us to remind us to come home early for dinner, but she also doesn't really go into depth about the specifics of our lives. i guess in short, we all just kind of mind our own business despite being a family all living under the same roof?

i don't know how to describe it, i'm sure there are some of you out there with similar family cultures as well. the older i grow though, the more i've grown to appreciate my parents and understand their love for us, despite the lack of verbal and physical affection, i know my parents show their love in different ways and having brought us three up is no mean feat possible without them loving us :D i'm trying to show more concern and love for them too even though it felt awkward and unnatural for me at first, at least i want them to know that we appreciate and love them for being our parents. blood is thicker than water, after all.

outfit for day 2: decided on a lace top + maxi skirt combi cos lace more CNY-ish to me plus my skirt is wine color!!! :D :D :D love both the top and skirt when worn separately too. damn nice.

got a row of non-functional gold buttons at the back so pretty!

and since i did the ANG GONG GONG look the day before already, i decided to go for something more neutral! pink lips and did my eyes up with the Urban Decay Naked Palette.

walao, if this picture had any thought bubbles, QQ's would be like "..... yawns. what is SHE trying to do???"

she's so not a camwhore lor! i think she only looks happy in like 1 out of maybe 20 pictures.

another picture to prove my point. QQ is like "i'm looking but i'm not interested kthxbai"

first family photo of the year!!! :D :D :D along with Princess QQ (prime spot in Daddy's arms) and poor Baby (spot her behind Lina's feet HAHAHA) anyway, asked our domestic helper to take this photo for us, and.... i gotta say.. she really very noob at taking pictures LOL -.-

the original looked like this:

#familyportraitfail hahaha! don't know why we were so tiny in the picture and skewed to some side some more! nvm, saved the picture with some simple photoshop :D yay!

a shot of my lovely Daddy & Mummy with QQ and Baby! and QQ's looking happy for once!!! Baby just looks sheepish. hehehe. Mummy is so pretty in this picture ^_^

with my midget sister Gina whom everyone thinks is like my younger sister or something. cos she's short :X picture is not accurate because Gina's on killer stilettos!

Gina drove so Lina and i get to camwhore at the back! :D

at 大姑姑's place!

Lina with Nelly and Oreo! our whole family loves dogs and my two aunts have a chihuahua each too. LOL. so every CNY is like... dog gathering!!! all sit around trying to make the doggies do tricks to show off.

i guess it's cos all the children are all grown up already :S so the "adults" don't have anymore babies and kids to entertain themselves with anymore!

QQ on her favorite daddy's lap. see, she looks so happy. wtf. every time i try to take a picture of her, she doesn't even look remotely close to this =.=

this is QQ doing her favorite "gai-gai" trick as demonstrated by Daddy! HAHAHA. it's really cute. you just say, "QQ, gai-gai!!" and hold out an open bag to her, as long as it's big enough for her to fit her butt in, she'll scramble right in and won't want to get out cos she super loves going gai-gai! lol she looks so silly with her head sticking out of the bag like that. i've brought her out around in my sling bag like this a couple of times, and she's always so comfortable being carried around in the bag!

mumsy with Lina. i really think Mummy looked extra pretty that day! :D

and with me! Mummy doesn't like to smile cos 1) it'll show her crooked teeth 2) don't smile got less wrinkles.
my mother is actually very bimbotic like that. hehehe. but that's why we love her too!

me!

with 三姑姑, supposedly Lina resembles her the most hahaha

YZ came over to 拜年 too ^_^

oops, cut off YZ's head! :X but nvm, still shuai :D

with Nelly and cousin-in-law Paul along with their precious Oreo! they just got married last year so this year is our first year getting a red packet from them. HOHOHO :D 恭喜恭喜!!!

all seated cozily in the living room while trying to work the DVD player.

and we had our very first Lou Hei of the year!!!!! huat ah!!!!!!!!

Lou-ing in progress!

faster pick up all the 黄金满地!!!

super cute Oreo! he's majorly in love/lust with Baby. eww. they're always kissing and he's always trying to go after her!

hehehe can't miss out on the gambling :P didn't have much luck this year though! boo.

Gina with 大姑姑!

and me with 二姑姑 whom i kind of resemble the most too! Daddy has got 3 sisters and he's the alpha male. hahaha. so all the sisters dote on him quite abit! we're close to our aunts that way.

had to go off to YZ's to join his family dinner at Carousel, at Royal Plaza on Scotts, so YZ and i went over to his place first.

say hello to cutie pie Zavier! he's YZ's nephew, and is the love and joy of the family. and he's damn cute and mischievous! i really don't have any particular love for kids, but even i think Zavier is super adorable and very very lovable! lol.. this is him trying to transport all the mandarin oranges from the paper bag into his "car"

stun face. lolol. so cute!

he's really precious and very cheeky!

Zavier all ready to go out in a smart little shirt and hair styled nicely. he's a 小帅哥! with YZ's mummy, his Ah Ma!

and three generations of 白家族，三代同堂! the resemblance is uncanny right. strong genes!!

family portrait on YZ's side! ^_^

oh, YZ's wearing yet another Merrymen.com.sg ensemble! i love the smart but stylish checked shirt together with this pair of pants! heh. quality and fit are both fantastic.

arrived at Carousel, but i was so not in the mood for a buffet cos i've been eating non-stop since the week before CNY! i really felt like i didn't even know the meaning of the word "hungry" anymore. LOL. cos i kept on constantly eating all the time, my stomach didn't even have time to feel like it was hungry! =.= that's not normal right.

Japanese selection at Carousel!

and the fresh Seafoods selection. too bad i don't know how to appreciate raw oysters!

at the Chinese food selection, and that's Edwin, YZ's cousin! nice, humorous chap, single and available. LOL. any takers?

fresh sashimi and lobster! nom nom.

and some meats/fish dishes!

food there is generally quite good for buffet style, and there's a wide selection too! too bad i wasn't hungry to begin with, so i couldn't enjoy the food more. it's a good place to try for buffets though! i think i'm not cut out for buffets anymore, cos i don't know how to eat the expensive stuff like raw oysters and all that and i'm full after 2-3 rounds :X not worth the money for me!

YZ with his younger sis, Glynise!

Bro with sister-in-law and Zavier boy trying to stuff a sushi in his mouth hehe

Gly with Andrew!

and YZ together with me :D

the desserts selection at Carousel is mad awesome though! i think it might be the best part of the selection for me. LOL. chocolate fondue that comes in white, dark and milk chocolate!!!

lots of mini desserts too, like creme brûlée, tiramisu, shortcake, and many more! super satisfying for the sweet-toothed. the ice cream there is yummy too!

YZ's family + some of his relatives! :)

full length picture of my outfit! love it even though my mother/aunts don't like -.- they don't know how to appreciate! bleh.

the 14 days of CNY officially ends this weekend, but YZ and i decided we had enough of the feasting and we're currently halfway through the Neera Detox again!! today's day 3 already, and this time we're gonna go for a 5 day detox! :D i honestly like the feeling of doing the detox fast, it makes me feel like i'm cleansing my system thoroughly! gotta break fast properly this time round instead of binging after the 3 days D: i just went back for Pilates sessions after missing 2-3 weeks due to work and CNY too, my muscles are aching from all the hard work! feels damn rewarding afterwards though it's a torture during the class!

SO..... if you follow me on instagram, you'd know that i just succumbed to camera lust and bought myself a new camera... AGAIN @_@ i only got my Olympus E-P3 in September last year..... i'm so terrible! this time round though, it's not an "upgrade" but an addition to my camera family! :D am still gonna use my beloved E-P3 which has been serving me pretty well ever since i jumped onboard the Oly E-Pen ship with my E-P1 in January 2010.

i've gradually gotten more and more interested in cameras and taking pictures (especially during my travels! click to see all the previous blogposts on my travels) and even for TVD's photoshoots cos i'm usually the one behind the camera during shoots!

oooh... so excited. shall post pictures of my new baby up in the next post!! :D i really really really really really really really love it! *jumps around in glee*

in other news, TVD's currently on a short hiatus cos we're doing some physical organization of stocks, inventory, spring cleaning the new office, going through a complete operations overhaul and getting everything in order to serve customers better! we might also be hiring more help soon.. we will be posting an announcement on Facebook when we do! i haven't been active on Formspring lately as well... but i'll probably log in soon to delete all the older/no longer relevant questions and start replying some questions again.

hope everyone enjoys the last two days of CNY! love love!!

CNY 2012: Eve + Day 1!

2012-01-30T22:38:00.000+08:00

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR to everyone!!!!! ^_^

heh, kind of too busy the last week catching up with family and simply indulging in the CNY festivities, so i hardly spent any time on my computer! :X had a wonderful break, and now i'm baaaaack!!!!!!!!

first up, the two winners for the Luxola give-away from the previous blog posts: i selected the winners at random, so a very hearty CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Winner #1: Shermaine!

Hello Yina <3!

Oooo! Naiiisee giveaway! :) I love reading your blog, not forgetting TVD too! :D Thanks for this give away and Happy New Year :) 恭喜发财！Thanks once again! *crosses my fingers and toes*

Winner #2: Lynn Marie!

Hello Yina, I may be one of your older readers here but your posts are always so refreshing and I'm looking forward to the success of your diet plan! Press On!

dear Shermaine and Lynn, please email me at ask.yina(AT)gmail.com with your address so that i can mail out the two gift sets to you two lucky ladies! :D i enjoyed reading through all the various well wishes and comments very much as always, thank you so much to everyone who took part! i'll definitely conduct more give-aways this year, cos i really enjoy being able to give back in some way to the readers who drop by here regularly to offer advice, comments and encouragement!

this blog is definitely one of the best things that's happened to me and i'm so grateful for it :') being able to connect to so many people, and having a space to share snippets of my life, my thoughts, my loves, my joys, it's really been an incredible experience thus far, and i hope it'll only get better! teehee.

anyway, just some pictures from 除夕 as well as 初一, just realized that i didn't really take all that many use-able shots :( ah well. had such a great time with my family and YZ's family though! somehow the older i get, the more i appreciate my parents and family.

i don't really talk much about them here, but my parents are always working hard all the way til CNY eve, cos my dad sells pork (and my mom works for my dad!) at a market stall and business is always hectic the week before CNYas everyone's rushing to get well stocked-up for CNY! they often have to stay late at the stall during the last few days pre-CNY and operate the stall through the night on very short hours of sleep, and my mom still needs to prepare our own household for CNY when she's home, so she doesn't get much rest :/

i dare say we've got the bestest and freshest pork in town every CNY though!!! hee. my mom's super at marinating pork, and we stew our steamboat soup stock from pork bones so it's damn good. i love my steamboat at home so much!

daddy's really old fashioned too, instead of using an electric pot, we still use this gas cooker, and our soup stock is cooked over a charcoal fire! not complaining, like i said, i love the steamboat at home! all our food and ingredients are always freshly bought from the other stalls at the market.

my lovely family! with YZ too of course.

very used to having my steamboat in this old fashioned pot and cooker.

greedy QQ was barking for all she's worth and attempting to win our sympathy into feeding her...

happy reunion dinner! ^_^

and CNY day 1.. i was contemplating over what to wear, and ended up wearing this halter lace cheongsam from Herwalkincloset for the ching-chong factor!

definitely in the mood for CNY.

i decided to don red lipstick as well to match the whole oriental look! used my very deep red MAC lippie that i usually reserve for choir performances haha. ANG GONG GONG.

Lina wore my maxi dress from F21. and that's Gina the shortie trying to do a jump shot behind us lol

with my darling mummy who was also decked out in a halter cheongsam! i think Gina's still trying to be funny behind us. isn't my mummy pretty? i think she's gorgeous ^_^ she doesn't like to smile cos she thinks she has wrinkles lol.

the women of the Goh family! Gina's wearing a dress from LB!

gambling den in the house. CNY is always exciting when you get to win/lose money. hahaha. the two kpo dogs wriggled their way into our circle!

QQ was so bored she fell asleep. guess black jack's not her cup of tea!

fat Baby with Oreo! she's really a little leg of ham. shooooo fat.

YZ came over to my place to 拜年, all decked out in apparel from Merrymen.com.sg! we popped by Collin's office the week before CNY to do some last minute shopping for YZ and phew, managed to find three tops and a bottom!

always a must every CNY is the lion dance troupe to welcome the new year! we even had the dragon dance in this year, i'm sure everyone knows it's the year of the dragon! HUAT AHHH!!!!! check out the little boy from the troupe who was hitting the gong, he looks like he's about 8 years old, and super cute. haha. his little sling pouch is angry bird one! sibei cute.

龙年行大运!!!

everyone retired to the stairs to give the dragon and lions space!

good thing we have a high ceiling. if not cannot do this kind of stun already!

daddy receiving the scroll of prosperity. ok i'm just making that up, i don't know what it's called haha.

the mandarin oranges arranged in the shape of numbers and patterns! supposed to use the numbers to buy 4D or something. heh.

me camwhoring, and look what's that in the background, a chihuahua so fat her body looks like a box shape! haha. Baby was probably trying to reach for the CNY goodies on the coffee table!

anyway, it's so hard to smile properly with the braces! my face/smile looks really awkward and strange especially when i try to smile without teeth =_= i gotta re-learn how to smile without looking unnatural! very happy that my teeth are much more aligned and less crooked now, i hope the braces will come off by the end of this year! :D

i've got lots more pictures from the rest of CNY, will post them up soon! :D sigh, so fast over already! :( it's back to the real world, and of course, back to work!! gotta work hard to make up for the one week of indulgence!

promise to update more regularly as well! :D be back real quick!

CNY Give-away from Luxola.com!

2012-01-18T17:37:00.000+08:00

it's a short, short, four days away from CNY and boy oh boy am i all excited to dress up and devour my CNY goodies already! all those thoughts of bak kua are giving me mega cravings. and pineapple tarts! and cookies! and steamboat!!!

CNY has got to be my favorite festivity to indulge in, especially when i'm with my family and loved ones :D i used to be really excited about red packets last time, but i guess now that i'm all grown up, the appeal of red packets isn't such a draw for me anymore! nevertheless, CNY is another period of giving and receiving, and Luxola.com has very kindly sponsored me with two miniature goodie bags to give away!

actually, one of them is for me to keep, but i decided i'd just give both away, to thank all you awesome readers for being so awesome and for having seen this blog through yet another year! ♥

if you haven't heard of Luxola.com, you can find out more about them on this page here, but in short, Luxola.com is an online luxury cosmetic and skincare website that imports and sells a selection of the most exciting international cosmetic and skin care brands to Singapore and deliver them for FREE on the next business day! Luxola.com is also the first store in Singapore to be backed 100% by every brand that they are associated with.

so what you're receiving in this goodie bag is a selection of cute miniature and also full sized products, and some of them are really really good stuff!!!

Deborah Lippmann Nail Polish in Ruby Red Slippers, this miniature bottle of nail polish in a glittery red bling shade is def one of my favorite items in the goodie bag! puuuurfect for CNY or what!

Sleek Maximum Impact Eyeshadow, full sized product in a very wearable shade of Khaki (which looks like a shimmery smoke grey to me)

and two samples of Deborah Lippmann's products, a hand and cuticle cream as well as nail laquer remover finger mitts! the mitts sound super cute!

to get your hands on this little goodie bag, you just need to leave a comment on this entry, remember to enter an email address that's contactable, along with your name! :) simple as that. can go ahead and shower me with compliments or wish me happy CNY or whatever if you want. hahaha. just kidding la. just your name and address, most important!!! :)

give-away ends this Sunday, 22nd January, 12 midnight! :) to welcome the new year hehehe.

last picture of myself before i turned redhead. which i already did, on Monday together with Eils baybeh. i'm kind of neutral about it though, i think the red is a bit too red now if you get what i mean and it's making my complexion look sallow D: the red will fade though, so once it fades a little i think i will love it! :D red for CNY! huat ah!!!! also cut my hair into bangs again cos i just wanna look younger for CNY. you know, all those nosey relatives are gonna start asking you how old you are and when you're getting married so maybe i can smoke them if i look younger with my bangs and braces... hahahah.

i'll show off my red hair soon enough! :D CNY is the perfect excuse for camwhoring. awesome or what? i really can't wait for CNY :D oh no! diet plans all down the drain. i've already started on the chiku chips and pineapple tarts. just waiting for bak kua only. woohoo! :D life is good.

i've been on a book reading craze as of late, and just finished two of Murakumi's books, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle and Dance, Dance, Dance. i'm not sure what to think of them, except that they are really intriguing and different. lots of alternate universes and realities and dreamscapes and psychic activity going on. it's kind of disturbing cos whenever i finish a book, it makes me feel like i'm waking up from some other universe and having to adjust to reality again.

ok, enough of blabbering nonsense. decided not to do a last minute collection before CNY cos i don't think we can handle it! and i'm secretly feeling relieved cos the backlog of emails from the last few collections is already getting rather hard to handle, can't imagine if we did a last minute launch on Thursday night (that i was initially thinking of doing), would be terrible with Singpost being so delayed and also the rush for self-collections and all that. we'll probably take the time instead to ensure that all existing transactions are dealt with smoothly so that customers will all be happy before CNY! and then it's time for a super office spring cleaning and stock taking and accounts on a new slate and all that before we start afresh for the new year. sooo many things to do, sooo little time. all the time.

bye, now!

FOTD: UD Naked Palette + Clio and Peripera!

2012-01-13T15:03:00.000+08:00

dolled up a little today, so i thought i'd share some of the products i used for my Face of the Day! :D

it's a pretty neutral look, just emphasizing a lot on the eyes! oh, i tried to do a semi-centre parting too, but it's kinda messy :/ going back to Salon Vim with Eils baybeh on Monday, can't decide if i should grow out my fringe or do bangs again! probably bangs, cos i wanna look younger for CNY... HEHE.

all the products i used today!

starting with my holy grail BB cream: Biotherm's White D-Tox! i love the light weight texture and the instant brightening effect :) comes with SPF 25+PA+++ and 24 hour hydration!

usually go over it with K-Palette's Oil Control 0 Teka Mat Powder, which is a pressed powder that has light coverage and oil control properties that helps to mattify! it's a daily essential for me, use until i hit pan on it already D:

followed by my favorite cream concealer, BeautyTech ice cream concealer :D use it on my under eyes to conceal my dark eye rings as well as around the nose and on blemishes! the Make Up Store's "Must Have" powder blush is great for a natural sun kissed look.

bought Urban Decay's Naked Palette while i was in KL, and i'm super loving it! all the shades are so useable and i've been using it really regularly. today, i used the following shades Virgin, Smog and Darkhorse :D

like i said, the emphasis are on the eyes today, so here's all the many different eye products i used! :D from top to bottom: Lancôme Virtuose Drama, K-Palette Lasting 2-Way Eyebrow Liner, K-Palette Real Lasting Eyeliner Waterproof, Clio Eye Love You Shadow Pencil in Violet, and Peripera Flash Color Eyes Crayon Liner in Pearl White!

most of these products are regulars in my makeup pouch, except for the following two new products from Clio and Peripera! These two brands have kindly sponsored me some of their best selling products and i'll be reviewing more of them in future entries!

Peripera Flash Color Eyes Crayon Liner in Pearl White. This is a shimmery crayon that glides on smoothly, i use it to highlight the inner eye corners! this product retails at $11.90!

Clio Eye Love You Shadow Pencil in Violet. used this to line my lower eyeliner on the outer corners to add abit of color and to make my eyes look bigger! :) the staying power is pretty good and i like the brilliant shade of violet with a slight shimmer in it. this product retails at $16.90!

close up. i also put on FreshLook monthly contacts in Brown :D Lancome Virtuose Drama mascara was used on both my upper and lower eyelashes! love the lengthening effect and that it isn't clumpy as well. you can see the crayon liner in pearl white on my inner eye corners as well.

swatches of Clio Eye Love You Eyeliner in Violet, and Peripera Flash Color Eyes Crayon Liner in Pearl White!

and my simple neutral eye makeup with the Urban Decay Naked Palette. all i did was to blend some darker colors into the corners a little.

3/4 profile view!

and the final look :D easy peasy!

You can find a wide selections of CLIO and PERIPERA products at the following Watsons outlets:

1. Ngee Ann City (Takashimaya)

2. Vivo City

3. Bugis Junction

4. Compass Point

5. Parkway Parade

6. IMM

7. Katong Mall

8. Tampines One

9. Toa Payoh HDB hub

10. Changi City point

i'll be blogging about a few more products from these two brands again when i get the chance to try them! :D

***

anyway, today's the 2nd day after finishing my detox, and happy to say my weight's still pretty much the same! weighed 52.9KG this morning, which is quite comforting cos i kind of pigged out on dinner yesterday! :D need to tell myself to get a grip though cos i'm still watching my calories :/ 9 more days to CNY, very excited to dress up nice nice and celebrate the festivities with my family!

three random photos of my adorable darlings to wish you a happy weekend!

they never fail to make my day! SHO CUTE. i think i'm gonna buy doggie cheongsams to dress them up in for CNY!!! hohoho. can't wait! :P

Neera Detox Diet: Day 2 + 3!

2012-01-12T17:34:00.001+08:00

yessssss!!!

guess what everybardi. YZ and i actually completed our 3 day detox diet successfully!!!

*throws confetti in the air*

today is day 4, and i'm supposed to break fast with light meals, such as fruits, veggies and soups. not supposed to take meat or anything heavy cos you need to let your system adjust slowly back to digesting proper food!

i still had a bit of pork though :X pork rib lotus root soup for lunch! and and and i had a handful of sinful chiku chips already hahaha. i've come to realize that i actually DO have the power in me to resist snacking/eating unhealthy food though, cos i managed it for 3 entire days!

day 2 was fine for me, i just drank Neera and distilled water throughout the entire day and didn't even think of having a single bite of food! iron strong determination :P YZ had it a little worse, cos by night fall, he said he was so hungry he could eat a cow!

you won't believe what we ended up doing when we got back to my home at night LOL. my mother cooked like soooo many dishes for dinner and they were all on the dining table and in the fridge, and worse til, we spotted little containers of bak kua at home already!!! but we couldn't touch any of the food, so the only thing we could do was to look at all the food and even went as far as to open the container of bak kua to sniff its fragrant aroma..... omg! smells so good!!! if i weren't on Neera, i confirm plus chop eat already.

so we just went to sleep off all the thoughts of yummy food, because it was just one more short day to go to end our 3 day detox! i was obsessing over it so much, i actually dreamt that i ate a piece of dim sum my parents bought home, and was immediately overwhelmed with serious guilt and regret... D: D: D: damn kua zhang right! in my dream, i was thinking "OH DAMN IT... there goes my two days of hard work!!!" so relieved when i woke up and realized that it was only a dream, and that my will of steel was still holding on fast!

i also took the herbal detox tea regularly every morning and night, so it did have some effect on me after all, on days 2 and 3! which made me feel lighter and less bloated! weighed myself on day 2 night, and was a little disappointed that i was still the same: 53.1kg!

the last day was pretty easy for me, it helps that i was busy working the entire day, so i could concentrate on work instead of thinking about food! one of the interesting things is that my energy level was fairly high throughout all three days, i woke up very early every day and felt alert mentally. i didn't have any sluggish afternoon period or like post food coma, which made me feel pretty good. whenever i felt a little hungry, i'd just have another drink of Neera (carried a 1.5 litre bottle to work and kept it next to me on the table) or drink some plain water instead. all went well til night time, and when i got back home and weighed myself, i dropped another 0.5kg to hit 52.6kg! :D finally under the 53kg mark!!! YAY!

for some reason, YZ didn't seem to take to the detox as well as me, while i felt completely fine for all three days, he's suffering from some symptoms like sore throat, stuffy nose and heatiness, which i'm not sure if it's cos of the detox, or he just caught a bug from somewhere!

*edit* just read from Neera's website that YZ's symptoms seems to fall under the "Cleansing Symptoms" that means your body is detoxing!

hmm.. fly-like symptoms and stuffy nose sounds exactly like what YZ's experiencing! i suppose it's good cos it means his body is pushing the toxins out? :P nevertheless, he weighed in at 74kg after the 3 days, and i think he lost like 3kg or something? win me liao lor!

i'm pretty sure that once i start eating proper meals again, my weight will probably increase a little cos it's probably lower due to the fact that there's no food in my system for the past 3 days! but i believe that with some control and moderation, i'll continue to watch my diet and hopefully maintain/continue losing weight healthily.

some readers and friends have expressed their concerns about how crash diets don't work well and will have adverse effects in the long run, but i'm not depending on crash dieting to lose weight, cos i've done it the hard way before and i know that weight loss is the most successful with a healthy diet and regular exercise.

i've done a lot of googling and research as well, and have read about all the pros and cons of fasting/detox, as well as how the human body works/reacts to weight loss and the most effective ways to lose weight healthily and successfully. doing this 3 day detox for me is more of a challenge to myself that i have the will power and determination to abstain from food and deny all my addictions and cravings for 3 days! it's helped me realize that i am in control of my own eating habits, and i'm glad YZ and i both made it to the end woohoo!

from my post-Christmas weight of 56.7kg (i honestly haven't weighed this much for a couple of years already!), i lost weight to about 54.4kg through watching my diet (myfitnesspal!!!) and now i've lost another 1.8kg to 52.6kg through Neera Detox, which for my height of 163cm is nowhere near low. my face seems to look sharper (is it an illusion only???) and my tummy is definitely flatter. don't worry, i'm never going to become stick thin or skinny cos i just don't have the right genes. LOL. but i'm still hoping for a 50kg! :D see how la. even if i never reach 50kg, i will still try. hahahaha. will still continue to attend my Pilates classes weekly and keep track of what i eat!

found an interesting article: Study Shows Why It's Hard to Keep Weight Off
explains a lot about why so many people put weight back on after losing it! :( apparently our bodies are working against us. grrr. can't let those damn hormones get the better of us!

10 more days exactly to CNY! :D

my face got sharper abit right :D just a leeeetle bit! less chubs than my Christmas post!

weight on day 1: 54.4kg

weight on day 2: 53.1kg

weight on day 3: 53.1kg

weight on day 4: 52.6kg

total weight lost: 1.8kg

Neera Detox Kit consisting of a Madal Bal Tree Syrup, Neera Detox Organic Tea & Cayenne Pepper retails at SGD$120 :)

if you'd like to find out more about Neera Detox, you can go to their website:

http://www.neera-detox-diet.com/ or go ahead to leave a comment on this post as well if you have any questions i can help answer!

it's available in several clinics/spas/aesthestic centers in Singapore and the locations are all here:

Nu Reflections Medical Aesthetic Clinic 123 Penang Road, Regency House Office Tower #05-12 Singapore 238465 Tel: 6235 5333/0555 www.nu-reflections.comClosed on Sundays and Public Holidays	Posh Wellness 3 Temasek Boulevard #02-078/078A Suntec City Mall Tel: 6337 0226 Closed on Public Holidays	David Tan Medical Aesthetics 391B Orchard Road #09-04, Ngee Ann City Tower B Singapore 238874 Tel: 6736 7360 Closed on Sundays and Mondays
IYAC Aesthetic and Anti-Aging Camden Medical Centre One Orchard Boulevard #06-03 Singapore 248649 Tel: 6738 9989 www.iyac.com.sg Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays	Nuwach Spa Unit #05-01, 100 Tras Street AMARA CORPORATE TOWER Singapore 079027 Tel: 6222 0178 Info@nuwachspa.com	Dr Raymond Nyam Ngian Choy Nyam Family Clinic 312 Bedok Road Singapore 521892 Tel: 6446 0069 nyampoh@gmail.com
Dr Vivien Chong ViviEN@Robinson.Practice 80 Robinson Road #01-01A Singapore 068898 Tel: 6226 1216 Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays	Healthcrest Medical Clinic 349 Bedok Rd Singapore 469536 Tel: 6443 0642 Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays	Killiney Family and Wellness Clinic 61 Killiney Road Singapore 239522 Tel: 6736 2998
Slenderworkz Bugis Village No 158A, Rochor Road (level 2) Singapore 188433 Tel: 6336 9917 Email: Slenderworkz@yahoo.com.sgClosed on Sundays and Public Holidays	Skin Sanctuary Pte Ltd 1 Coleman Street #04-29 The Adelphi Singapore 179803 Tel: 6337 9113 Email: skinsanctuary@hotmail.com Closed on Public Holidays (near city hall mrt)	Beauty Horizon 10 Anson Road #02-46 International Plaza Singapore 079903 Tel: 6733 4653 www.beautyhorizon.com.sg Email: joo_li@beautyhorizon.com.sg Fri & Sun Closed
Bodywork Clinic Pte Ltd290 Orchard Road #05-02 Paragon Singapore 238859 Tel: 6235 0688 Fax: 6235 5990 www.bodyworkclinic.com.sg Email: gina@bodyworkclinic.com.sg	Bodywork Clinic Pte Ltd583 Orchard Road #08-03, Forum Galleria Singapore 238884 Tel: 6737 1328 Closed on Sundays	Our Solution Blk 449 Clementi Ave 3 #01-219 (2nd Floor) Singapore 120449 Tel: 6777 0757 (Wendy Low) Email: wendylow77@hotmail.sg
Fresh De Beau 3 Pickering Street #01-09 Nanking Row China Square Central Singapore 048660 Tel: 6227 8544 www.freshdebeau.com.sg	ClearSK Aesthetic 181 Orchard Road #03-16/17/18 Orchard Central Singapore 238896 Tel: 6397 7280 www.clearsk.com Closed on Sunday	ClearSK Aesthetic 10 Sinaran Drive #10-01 Novena Medical Center Singapore 307506 Tel: 6397 7280 www.clearsk.com Closed on Sunday
ClearSK Aesthetic 177 Toa Payoh Central #01-134 Singapore 310177 Tel: 6397 7280 www.clearsk.com Closed on Sunday	ClearSK Aesthetic 5 Tampines Central 6 #01-03 Telepark Singapore 529482 Tel: 6397 7280 www.clearsk.com Sunday closed

Neera Detox Diet: Day 1!

2012-01-10T13:14:00.001+08:00

can't believe i've survived day 1 on the Neera Detox Diet!

not a single morsel of food, just water (distilled) and a drink concocted from the Neera Detox Kit.

and the best part is... i actually dropped some weight already! :D YZ is doing the detox together with me as well, and he's also dropped abit of weight too! (i know i know... don't eat for one day, anyone also will drop abit of weight)

i weighed in at 54.4kg on Day 1 morning and today (Day 2) weighed in at 53.1kg!! omg.. i hope i can like get to 50kg or something hahaha. today is the second day, and i don't even have any food cravings! :O

if you're confused and am wondering what is this Neera Detox thing i'm talking about, it's actually a detox/weight loss programme that's been around for about 50 odd years already, and consists of drinking nothing but a concoction made from Madal Bal Natural Tree Syrup, fresh lemon juice, distilled water and a dash of cayenne pepper. it's also accompanied by a special organic detox tea to be drank in the morning/at night to help bowel movement and cleansing.

the Neera Detox is supposed to have the following benefits:

Lose 2-5 pounds safely and effectively in 3 days
Clears congestion Improves functioning of the digestive tract
Eases chronic ailments like asthma and colitis
Strengthens the immune system
Achieves a clearer and more radiant complexion
Improves concentration and increases willpower
Improves sleep
Gains a sense of inner peace
Stronger nails and shinier hair
Increased energy and vigor
Reduced addiction to junk food
Motivated to adopt a healthier diet and exercise regime

the programme i'm following is the 3-5 day plan, which is supposed to provide a thorough cleansing of toxins from the system, as well as improve your health and result in weight loss. there are a few different ways of doing the Neera Detox, like the once-a-week plan, 7-10 day plan and meal replacement plan. i decided to go for the 3-5 day plan cos i want to see visible results, and at the same time challenge my willpower and determination hahahaa.

deng deng deng! the main ingredients you need to carry out the Neera Detox Plan! YZ's sister was the one who told me about this product and introduced me to the distributor, who kindly sponsored me the Neera Detox Kit, which comes with a 1000ml bottle of Natural Tree Syrup, Cayenne Pepper, and the Neera Detox Organic Tea.

all the ingredients you need.

bought distilled water from the supermarket, luckily the shop downstairs my office sells distilled water too so it's really convenient!

YZ and i chose to pre-mix our drink at the start of the day, so we don't have to keep on mixing it throughout the day! for a day's worth of Neera drink, you need 3 fresh lemons, at least 1.5-2.5l of water, and 16 tablespoons of Madal Bal Natural Tree Syrup.

squeezing the lemons!

and this is the syrup, YZ thinks it smells like Gula Melaka! there's maple syrup in it as well as syrup procured from 4 other different types of palm trees.

Madal Bal Natural Tree Syrup
Madal Bal Syrup is made from a special blend of organic tree syrup from the sap of 5 types of trees –4 rare Asian palm trees and the maple tree. This is pure organic syrup, vastly different from the maple syrup found in stores, which can be over 90% artificially synthesised from sugar and corn syrup.A blend of pure grade C maple and wild palm syrup rich in potassium, calcium and zinc; the Madal Bal Natural Tree Syrup can be mixed with distilled water, fresh lemon juice and Cayenne pepper to make a delicious, refreshing Neera Drink. This is a perfect mix with all the necessary nutrients and compounds to support, detoxify and neutralise toxins during your Neera Detox Programme.

it's pretty easy to mix the drink, just add maple syrup (12 table spoons for me), lemon juice (juice of 3 lemons), then distilled water (abt 1.5 litres) and a pinch of cayenne pepper and mix it thoroughly!

Lemon Juice

In the late 18th century, lemons were recognised for their medicinal properties when used to treat scurvy. Today, lemons are an important ingredient in natural remedies to detoxify the body, especially the liver. It provides the body with Vitamin C, magnesium, and potassium. It neutralises the PH balance of an overly acidic body, reducing bacterial and fungal growth. In addition, it acts as an internal detergent and an effective agent in dissolving fat during Neera Detox.

Organic Cayenne
PepperCapsiasin, a pungent compound found in Cayenne pepper, has a ‘heat effect’ on the body. When taken during Neera Detox, it loosens accumulated mucous in the body's internal lining where toxins are collected for easy elimination. It also speeds up metabolism to burn fat and promotes circulation in remote areas of the body.

and i ended up with these two bottles of Neera drink, which is about 2.5l worth. brought one full 1.5l bottle to office yesterday, and i almost couldn't finish it! so yup, 2.5l was too much for me! so i made a smaller quantity today, about 1.5l instead :D YZ finished all his 2.5l though! oh yes, i also took the Detox Tea (which is a mild laxative) last night and this morning, but so far haven't had any effect yet, hahaha.

i thought it'd be really difficult to abstain from eating, but taking regular portions of the Neera drink alternated with plain distilled water actually kept me quite full throughout the day, and i didn't really have any hunger pangs at all! it did feel strange not to consume any food at all, but i think it's more psychological than physical. thanks to the natural plant sugars from the Natural Tree Syrup, it provides the body with energy, and other necessary nutrients such as minerals like potassium, manganese and zinc, so you won't be starving your body of nutrients!

oh and the Neera Drink actually tastes quite yummy! kind of like lemonade with maple syrup taste! i let some of my friends try it and Fish said it tastes like pancake maple syrup hahaha. so it's really not difficult to drink at all, except that i have to keep on running to the loo from drinking too much water/liquid! =_=

happy that i'm doing good so far, and hope it lasts to the end of the three days! i'll keep you people updated at the end of Days 2 and 3, and i'm hoping to see really positive results! all the above information are all extracted from the website: http://www.neera-detox-diet.com so if you're interested, you can go to their website to find out more about Neera Detox! it's available at quite a few clinics/spas/aesthetic centers locally, all the store locations are here!

i'm like super determined this time, i'm so gonna hit my target weight! please let me see 50kg on my weighing scale soon!

***

outfit: i really really love this dress and i'm considering if i should wear it for CNY! gees, haven't actually gotten any clothes specifically for CNY yet! adore the florals on this dress as well as the super flattering cutting that skims the waist and flares out prettily! love love.

the weaved straps are gorgeous too :D so simple but unique!

vintage english roses.

also went for my third orthodontic appointment today, and all's looking good!! changed my rubber bands to purple hhehehe looks so nice!!

and check out (almost) how straight my teeth are already! just that one crooked tooth that's really annoying. Dr Cheng said we won't do any extractions yet cos we'd need to extract 4 teeth to straighten out just 1 tooth! so he shaved down some of my teeth to create a bit more space and hopefully this little crooked tooth will fit in nicely soon. fingers crossed!

and a progress collage: so far so good right! clockwise, from pre braces, to month 1, 2 and 3! so much straighter already, looking at it makes me feel happy!!! :D awesome max.

gonna go edit photos for the upcoming collection now! update again soon!

week one: mostly counting calories and work

2012-01-09T05:20:00.002+08:00

hello all!

well, it's one week into 2012 and i've been pretty much still busy with the usual: moving into our new work nest and counting my calories!!! hahahaha. how boring :S

haven't had much to put on the blog, mainly cos i'm too lazy to bring my camera out to take pictures! partially caused by the iPhone. i mean it's like pictures look so good with all the photog apps on the iPhone already, and you can upload it straight away to twitter, instagram and all that! makes it a chore to carry out my camera, then have to upload pictures onto the computer and then edit and upload online :X

alright, promise to be less lazy :D but i've also been really busy with setting up our new office, as well as keeping things going for TVD (Gina was away in HK last week!) so i had a rather unexciting past week, tackling emails and drinking fish soup and the likes.

we just had a photoshoot today, and i wanted to shoot somewhere that had an old school vibe to it, decided on Ann Siang Hill and i love the place! somehow, shophouses seem to have so much more personality than our modern architecture. and i like how every different shop front has its own interesting decor! super love the vintage old shops with gorgeous tiles, and also the newly established shops that look more avant garde, all on the same street. i didn't think we explored enough, so we'll be back some day!

i'm so tired of being the (lousy) photographer too =_= everyone's coming out with amazing photos and i feel so amateur with my pictures! ): have to make do for now, cos it's really hard to find a good photographer who has time to accommodate our weekend shoots. i guess you also need to have good chemistry and mutual understanding for the photos to work, cos there might be a conflict and clash in terms of art direction and style. really hope to have a breakthrough in terms of higher quality looking photos and all that. i feel the clothes and the model could be done a lot more justice if it were handled by a professional!

thank God the rain stopped by the time we went down to shoot. i was just telling Fish the day before that at least we don't have to worry about weather conditions cos it's been so damn sunny the whole bloody week, and then it just had to be gloomy skies today. JINXED.

Cher doing her thing! woa.. i uber love this shop front. it looked empty though but it's so pretty!!!

LOOK AT THOSE GORGEOUS TILES! damn nice.

shooting the new floral dress in time for CNY! yayness. inspired from my Topshop floral top (the one i wore for Christmas!) made a dress version instead cos i thought it'd be perfect for CNY. and it looks SO good on Cher! the cutting just skims the figure nicely and flares out into an A line with a little swing to it. i love the vintage roses prints as well!

we digressed during the shoot into having a cuppa tea at a little cafe called K Ki, also cos we needed to "borrow" a toilet for Cher to change in! HAHA. all the perils of outdoor shoots. toilet is very important!

pot of Earl Grey and a little Tiramisu cake. very expensive leh ): the Tiramisu cake cost $9 or something! but it was really good.

*drools*

my pretty model! having a "no photography today" face. very 吃亏 to take picture with your model one. so this is the only shot we took! LOL.

and Farah, who wasn't feeling well but still had to endure the humid weather and guard the belongings!

SO FUNNY. after some time, our tiramisu looked like a Batman logo!!! LOL. it was unintentional!!! just that we were all trying to get to the sponge cake middle! (which is soaked with coffee liquor and tastes fantastic)

loving all the random quirky shops around the area. saw this one called Trolley on Club Street, and it had like super super nice stuff i'd want to buy for office, but i heart pain! ):

lots of cool stuff inside!

wa super like this one, chairs with Pantone color swatches!!! ok only the designers will appreciate this but it is SO cute! someday i'm going back there to shop for office when i feel rich :D (which is probably never, looking at the amount of bills we still have to pay!!!)

we finished our shoot at Ann Siang and wanted to head else where to continue, and i thought of going to MBS to shoot at the Sky Park!!! but, alas, big mistake cos it was like damn freaking windy and near impossible to shoot there! :( plus, you can't get the fantastic sky line without the backlight being crazy strong, meaning to say either the model will be under exposed or the sky will be over exposed! so it was kind of a wasted trip... oh well, at least i managed to get a pretty shot of the beautiful sunset and cityscape!

but y'know, with iPhone filters, everything just looks X1000 times mega cooler. hahahah

woohoo!!

infinity pool.. i wanna go back there for a dip in future! it was rather crowded though.

since we were already at MBS, i decided to just #dietfail for today and bust my calories on Mozza!!!! megamassivelove. been telling Farah about it forever hahaha so yay finally got to bring her to try! YZ came down too so we ordered TWO pizzas instead :D

happy at Mozza!

couldn't get enough of the cripsy bread thingies they served us and we asked for a second plate hahahah #gluttonymax

tried the meatballs on recommendation of Trish, she keeps on telling me they are to die for, and they are REALLY to die for!! juicy, soft, and just heavenly with every bite, love the cheesy bolognese sauce too! i had to control myself, and had half of one meatball! (i bet i could have finished all three by myself hahaha)

and my favorite, Funghi pizza! the mushrooms are just so delicious! today's was a tad dry though, but i'm still drooling as i look at the picture now. so yummeh! ate one slice of this and "donated" my crust to YZ teehee.

our second pizza was the Pizza Alla Benno! parma ham with tomato and pineapple! i didn't try this cos of my diet. proud of me right! portion control!!! i didn't even have a single bite! though the parma ham was tantalizing me....

sigh, i want to go back again when i'm not on diet! Mozza is definitely one of my favorite pizza places in town. damn awesome.

oh, and just wanna announce that we finally have our very own sofa in the office!!! *tears of joy*

went furniture shopping for the office at IKEA last week with Mega!

Mega just left to go back to Indo :( and she's going to Melbourne to study!! ;(((

so we had a farewell lunch at IKEA together with Farah and Poh sisters. slurps. another #dietfail day that i had to skip dinner so that i wouldn't exceed my calorie count.

got IKEA to deliver our furniture to us, and i think they hired part time helpers for the CNY period? cos the noob delivery man made this giant dent in one of our tables while assembling it, and left this black stain on our sofa cover!!!! =_= angsty. good thing IKEA is sending someone down to do a one-to-one exchange for both items tomorrow!

YAYNESS. so neat!!! (for now) i can just sit on the sofa and like admire the space. LOL. even though it's still barren at the moment! we still need chairs and maybe a rack and some storage under the tables. also haven't gotten our studio set up yet! still, loving how it looks so far :D

can't wait to move in officially and get everything up and running!!! heehee. and then maybe throw an office warming party!

just two random photos of me. LOL.

i've been keeping count of my calories on myfitnesspal for almost two weeks, and yay i actually did lose some weight! :D guess being conscious of what you put in your mouth helps! i went from 56.7kg (!!!!!! i know, i was horrified and traumatized to step on the scale post Christmas and realize that i was so heavy) to 53.8kg already! but then again, my "regular" weight is about 53.5kg, so even though i've "lost" weight, i haven't actually really lost any real weight. some of it was probably just food weight that's been digested now that i'm trying to eat less, and maybe some of it is water weight. still hoping to lose another 2-3kg if possible!

in order to help lose the additional 2-3kg, i'm going to embark on a 3-day detox diet called Neera Detox recommended by my friend, tomorrow!!! omg, hahaha. excited! you can't eat at all during the 3 days and you have to use specific ingredients to make a drink that's supposed to help detoxify and cleanse, which will result in weight loss as well as other health benefits! already got the main ingredients kit from her, but i still need to buy lemons and distilled water. hohoho. supposedly, you can lose 2-3kg during the 3 day diet, but i guess the real challenge will be to maintain the weight loss after that!

i'll try to do a day-by-day update for all 3 days if possible! this is going to be a test of my willpower to resist food completely for 3 full days. so, no one is allowed to offer me any food during these 3 days okay!!! i'm so excited to see if it works! only 14 days left to CNY! bwahahaha.

wish me lots of luck and determination! :D update soon!

the last of 2011

2012-01-02T23:35:00.000+08:00

HAPPY 2012 EVERYBARDI!!!!!!

didn't party as usual, but spent my new year's eve afternoon in office, and then new year's day quietly just having quality time with YZ, haha. we had a movie marathon and watched Harry Potter 7 part 1 and part 2!!! quite draggy, didn't think it was that good. i still like the books best! but i had such a relaxed two days that it feels strange for Monday to still be a public holiday! guess i've been working too much through the weekends, and i don't know what two full rest days feel like anymore lol.

yet another new year D: time is passing by so quickly, i feel like i don't even have time to catch up! :( and this year i'm hitting the dreaded quarter century age..... i don't even want to think about it. on the other hand, life has been treating me well, and every year has been bringing about new blessings and treasured friendships that i sometimes feel undeserving of. i mean, i hardly have time to go out and meet friends to maintain relationships, and most of the time i have so many things on my mind, i don't even like, check Facebook and realize that it's a friend's birthday or something??? and if my friends want to meet me, they either have to book me 1 month in advance, or come down to office to look for me. *guilt stricken* i'm such a terrible person! (in fact, i only remembered it was my little sister's birthday some time ago on the afternoon of the day itself cos she mentioned she was going out for a birthday celebration with her friends cos i didn't even know what the date was. YES. i'm that bad)

nevertheless, i don't know how i still have so many wonderful friends and people around me, and they're such a blessing to me! i must have accumulated a lot of good karma in my past life or something :D :D :D

went out for a Christmas dinner with this bunch of lovely girls during Christmas week! wanted to eat XLB one, but it was so damn crowded everywhere, we settled for a spot at Skinny Pizza, Raffles City!

as usual, we had the early birds and late comers hahaha so we went ahead to place our orders first cos we were starving already, plus i guess cos it was Christmas week or something, they needed us to place our orders for mains within 15 minutes or something! oh well.

anyhow, it's not a very good idea to be writing this entry right now when i'm like OHSOHUNGRY but cannot eat cos i busted my calories on lunch today.... more on that later =_=

here's the food we ordered for sharing! Skinny Pizza has a good selection good for sharing, ranging from pizzas to mains to pastas. four of us (who arrived earlier) had two pizzas, one pasta, and a selection of side dishes!

squid ink pizza, which is supposed to be a must-have! i liked the flavor but the squid was a little too tough for my liking. the crust is really crispy and crunchy, cos their speciality is (obviously) their skinny thin crust pizzas! :D pretty awesome. especially if you're the kind who doesn't like too much dough in your pizza!

black pepper prawn linguine. would rate this a 7/10, tasty but not super good until want to keep on eating kind. the prawns were huge but i felt the pasta was slightly dry! had a nice peppery taste to it though :)

selection of three sides, we chose truffle fries, sweet potato fritters and a sausage! yummeh. liked all three! especially the sweet potato fritter thingamies! :D

my favorite dish of the lot, don't know what's the name hahaha but it comes with a sunny side up and bacon!!!! awesomeeeeeeeeeemax. very tasty and the crispy crust was really shiok with these ingredients :D

Joyce and Steph were late: but forgiven cos Joyce showed up with delish cupcakes from twelvecupcakes!!!

this is really not doing my self-control to diet any good right now. boohoo.. i tried the oreo one and the salted caramel one!!! super sinful, but very rich and decadent!!! NOMS.

when everyone had arrived and all our tummies were fed, we moved on to our gift exchange!!! :D this was my idea ok. HAHAHA. gift exchanges are always fun!!! bwahaha Steph has a sad emoticon next to her name cos she said she bought a paperweight and no one wanted her present LOL.

yay all the gifts up for exchange!!!

after a few mishaps, we all managed to pick a name each LOL. but we still got swap gifts around so that everyone would get something they would use!!!

after swapping around, i ended up with this! :D :D :D miniature mail polish set and facial masks from Fel! yay!!! still got a sweet little handwritten card from Fel as well! thank you dear!!

Nancy handmade this gorgeous frame and printed out photos of us to put in it :D :D :D wahahaha i kept on telling Nancy i didn't want to get her gift cos it looked so bulky, but awwww it's such a sweet gift!!! Wendy ended up with it in the end! :D

and the "paperweight" went to Fel... LOL. it's actually a loooovely Christmas musical box!!! exactly what Fel likes hahaha. not such a bad gift after all!

uh, dunno what the siao kias doing. hahaha

Joyce and Steph! oh i think Joyce got my gift in the end lolol it was a REALLY CUTE hand cream and lip balm from Etude House!!

group picture!!! ♥♥♥ missing Noi that day! ): we need to have another gathering with full attendance soon!

always happy to meet up with this bunch of girls that were brought together by chance via the WWW! wahaha, like those online dating websites like that. who would ever know that i'd actually make friends online, and friends that would actually become close in real life??? ah, the wonders of technology never cease. isn't it amazing?

those following me on Twitter or Instagram would know that i've been busy with getting our new office in order of late... Vera is not in Singapore so i've been settling most of the stuff, renovating, repainting, cleaning, and getting the racks up! YAY, so happy that we're almost ready to move into our new space soon!!!! EXCITEDMUCH!!!! now, we just need to get the furniture and studio set up in place! oh and internet as well :D this time round, making sure we have a big enough refrigerator so that i can keep froyo in the freezer compartment and fruits in the fridge! wahaha.

deng deng deng deng!!! all our racks up last Friday!

and my lovely pixies Trish, Shirl and Xuan were even more excited than me to start packing LOL. these girls are a bit siao one. hahahahaha. we shifted up half our stocks to start organizing neatly onto the new racks already! :))))))

MAD NEAT!! come 2012, we're gonna do a total overhaul to TVD's operations, and this will mean more organization to maximize our efficiency, so that we can serve the customers better! such a daunting task, but i hope we're more than ready to do this!

my pixies didn't just come down to help with the packing, they even got me little gifts for Christmas!!! ♥♥♥ i told you i was blessed already. thank you girls! sigh. i really dunno where all these good karma come from ;')

and the last sunset of 2011. it was just gorgeous! :) so glad i managed to catch it while on the roads.

on the weight loss/ dieting front, i've been quite good this week! thanks to myfitnesspal, counting my calories is really easy and i'm being a lot more conscious of what i'm taking in, cos my calories are precious and i don't wanna waste them on sinful food!!!

went to the supermart to grab some healthy/calorie light food earlier LOL. strawbies and grapes!! and CP wonton has amazingly little calories!! miso soup is good for a quick fix as well. bought some other snacks too that are somewhat more sinful like digestives and granola cookies/bars, but it's all about portion control!

wahaha been quite addicted to myfitnesspal :X it's quite fun, plus you can change your settings so that your friends can view your food diary! stalking all my friends to make sure they're keeping to their diet. LOL. hope all the friends who's joined me so far will keep up with their diet too! cos it's only a short 3 weeks to CNY!!!! horrors. happy to report that i've lost 2kg already!! that were probably mostly food weight from all the overeating during Christmas :X i'm still 1.5kg above my regular weight!! =_=

went for lunch with Daddy and Mummy earlier cos i wanted to spend more time with them! good for tummy, bad for diet. today's lunch busted all my calories for the day which is why all i had for dinner were five miserable strawberries!!!!! hai. trying very hard to keep to my calorie count! cannot cannot cannot overeat.

i'm so determined, i drove out to buy roti prata and mee goreng for daddy's supper last night, and i didn't get anything for myself!!!! the temptation......

on the plus point... i still managed to keep within my calories for the past seven days!! yippee!! MUST.. KEEP... IT.... UP..... determined to shed off some weight by CNY! (and hopefully not gain it back during CNY, lolol)

last self portrait for 2011 :D with crappy iPhone frontal camera that makes everyone look good :D

and my OTD! boho frock that i haven't worn for ages. still love it :D

my new year resolutions for every year almost always remain the same: stay happy, healthy and love those around me :) this year, i also want to remind myself to work hard, and not bum my time away cos time is so precious. i will love, work, and play with equal fervor. i'm so blessed already, so i'm not gonna take it for granted.

jiayou to a bigger and better year ahead, with a slimmer, healthier and happier me!!!

christmas was a blast but now i'm fat

2011-12-27T15:50:00.003+08:00

just a shitload of random pictures from Christmas weekend! i really didn't do much this Christmas weekend, on Christmas Eve, i spent my day in office clearing emails and stocking in new stuff at Kissjane, then YZ and i went to collect our turkey and quiche we ordered from Hans and went home to happy happy happy family Christmas celebration!!! ^___^

my family ain't big on Christmas, but mummy cooked her awesome beehoon and curry and together with the super delicious turkey and quiche and cookies Gina baked and baby donuts from J Co we had a wonderful time feasting :D so happy!

$2 cheap cheap christmas hats and accessories all from Daiso! :D as usual, QQ is so bad at taking pictures. she refuses to keep still for the camera!

with mumsy!

the best freaking turkey i've ever had :D :D :D sooo good!!!!!!!!

mummy slicing up the yummy bacon quiche

mumsy and Lina

poor QQ kena forced to be an impostor of a reindeer hah but her head so small can only fit one antler! ahaha.

and all i did on Christmas day itself was sleep sleep and sleep more!!! :D so shiok! and then YZ and i went out to catch Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol at night. quite a good watch with lots of action! funny, too. we hardly go out to watch movies :D so it was a nice date ^_^

followed by family lunch on Boxing Day! i secretly enjoy spending time together with my entire family cos it's so rare to get all five of us (+ YZ) all together at the same time. had fantastic lunch at Thai Village and went to Taka cos mummy needed to exchange something at LV.

heehee. and then we all went back home, and Gina and I started on our spring cleaning cos we're renovating our room before CNY! i barely got started =_= all i did was to throw out lots of rubbish and organize my makeup. didn't even get to my wardrobe wtf which is in the biggest mess!!! it's a disgrace. mummy can't stop nagging at me to start throwing out and packing the clothes.

instagram pictures!

Christmassy on eve!

the sisters :D

bought this cake from Taka, it's yummy! tastes like a marriage of chiffon sponge cake + kueh lapis. expensive, though!!

oh and i was so excited to realize that my teeth have started shifting already :D :D :D :D DO YOU SEE IT???

YZ found my Urban Decay Book of Shadows palette while helping me pack! YAYYYY *dances in joy* i thought mummy accidentally threw it out, but nooo she packed it together with my storybooks LOL.

my domesticated BF. bwahahaha.

and then i started organizing my make up... look at the number of Kpalette eyeliners i've gone through!! crazyyyyyyy

and i seriously have tooooo many eyeshadow palettes for my own good!! i need to curb this buying eyeshadow palettes thing. i only have two eyes hello?? and some of the colors are sooo repetitive! like i have a similar shade of blue from three different brands! =_=

i had such a lovely Christmas with my family and YZ even though it was nothing spectacular . i'm so happy to be able to spend some time with my parents, most of the time, i get home late and i don't even see my parents everyday cos they're already asleep when i'm home. so i'm glad that this long Christmas weekend was spent together with my family!

***

as you might be able to tell, i've been eating and snacking a lot and pigging out, and i've put on weight quite significantly.... D: D: D: HORRORS!!!! i'm not exaggerating, my face is so chubby in all the pictures above, and i feel really really flabby. i went to weigh myself this morning and it was terrible D: i put on like 3kg!!! FML ):

this won't do at all, so i restart my diet today and i'm making sure i'll keep to my diet this time round, and i found this really amazing app that's gonna help me!!! y'all know how in my weight loss post, i was talking about how keeping a food diary and having a weight loss buddy will really help you in succeeding in losing weight? now we can be virtual weight loss pals together on myfitnesspal!!! (this is not an advertisement!)

go and download myfitnesspal from the app centre, and add me as a friend (my user name is yinagoh) to join me on this weight loss journey together!!! it's really cool, you can input your current weight/height, targeted weight, and then you can clock in your calories everyday into the food diary and the app will calculate for you how many calories you ought to be taking in! can even calculate calories for our local hawker food and all that cos the database is very extensive! can't think of any better way to keep track of your calories.

me on myfitnesspal. 0 kg lost so far :D but i will work to losing at least 4-5kg!

supposedly i only get 1240 calories to spend a day. so from now on i will try to be religious in keeping my food diary to make sure i don't exceed my daily calorie intake!

so that's for today.. i just had Red Mango after Pilates! :) gonna be going for Pilates 2 times a week as well to work out and keep fit :)

i will really work hard at the diet this time, especially when the app is able to track all my food intake D: you have to be diligent and conscientious, if not the app won't help! do come and join me on myfitnesspal if you're struggling with weight loss as well, we can help and motivate one another! ^_^

lastly, posting three VERY VERY CHIO pictures of myself to motivate myself to look better and lose weight successfully. LOL.

iphone front camera shots are the best. can take your most chioest angles ever

partying at Zouk KL, i look kind of spastic but in a cute way LOL i like.

wahahaha love iPhone apps. all kinds of nonsense apps also have!!!

aite. come look for me on myfitnesspal okay! really!!! i can't wait to see results real soon! in time for CNY i hope :D stay happy and healthy everyone!

Review: Sophie Monk Strawberry Byebye Blackhead!

2011-12-23T20:27:00.002+08:00

i'm sure i'm not the only one who's fascinated with blackheads/whiteheads and removing them.. LOL.. it's damn shiok and gross at the same time to squeeze blackheads, but we all know that removing blackheads by yourself can be very problematic, cos it might lead to your pores getting infected and even cause pitted/enlarged pores!! D:

if you don't know what blackheads/whiteheads are....

A blackhead is a yellow or blackish bump or plug on the skin. A blackhead is a type of acne vulgaris. Contrary to the common belief that it is caused by poor hygiene, blackheads are caused by excess oils that have accumulated in the sebaceous gland's duct. The substance found in these bumps mostly consists of keratin and modified sebum (an oily secretion of the sebaceous gland), which darkens as it oxidizes. Clogged hair follicles, where blackheads often occur, reflect light irregularly to produce a blackhead's "black" hue. For this reason, the blockage might not necessarily look black when extracted from the pore, but may have a more yellow-brown colour as a result of its melanin content.

In contrast, a "whitehead" (more commonly known as a pimple or a closed comedo) is a follicle that is filled with the same material, sebum, but lacks a small opening to the skin surface. Since the air cannot reach the follicle, the material is not oxidized, and remains white.

i've tried many blackhead removers on the market, including stuff like Biore's pore strip (shiok to peel off but abit pain!), massage oil like Faceshop's Green tea oil (leaves my nose feeling oily...) and masks like Kose's mask white (super freaking expensive)! however, Sophie Monk's Strawberry Blackhead ByeBye set is really special cos it comes with three different products that you need to use all together for maximum efficacy!

Strawberry Blackhead Byebye set comes with three products labeled 1, 2 and 3! 1 is the Deep Sebum Softener, 2 is the Sebum Purifying Mask and 3 is the Pure Treatment Essence! it's really very simple to use!

make sure your face is clean, then just use the Deep Sebum Softener to gently massage your nose, so as to allow the blackheads and etc to be removed more easily! make sure your nose is still wet when you proceed to step 2, which is application of the Sebum Purifying Mask!

this is what the texture of the mask looks like. it's more watery than i expected, so be careful when you're squeezing it out of the tube, cos you might end up like me, squeezed too much of the product out! D: anyway, it smells totally yummy!! kind of like strawberry flavored pocky :D there are also little beads in it so it's slightly grainy!

you need to apply the layer of mask thick enough, if not you won't be able to peel it off properly when it dries! apply it all over your T zone if required, for me i just did the nose and surrounding area!

WTF PPL!!! look at all those disgusting blackheads!!!

you gotta wait til the mask is totally dry before peeling it off, if not you'd be left with bits of wet mask all over your nose!! i think it takes at least 30 minutes to dry properly, after which you just need to gently peel it from the bottom to the top! not painful at all! i was like super grossed out with all the blackheads and tiny facial hairs that the mask removed!!!!! D: D: D: included a close up HAHAHA for your viewing pleasure. (i think i'm a little obsessed cos i couldn't stop staring at all the blackheads on the mask it was just so grossly fascinating....)

in conclusion, i pronounce the blackheads removing a success!!! some of the blackheads that didn't come out (too big i think!) were easily squeezed out (since they were already softened with the Deep Sebum Softener...) with that metal extractor thingy. i squeezed them out before using the Pure Treatment Essence to tighten my pores! :D :D :D the essence dries to a non-sticky/oily feeling so you don't even have to wash anything off after using the product! two thumbs up for this product, cos i really love it! ;D

some other products i got from Sophie Monk are these Double Lifting Masks, which are among the best selling items in Singapore and in Taiwan! the masks have a full chin wrap that hooks onto the ears, these masks create a lifting effect while allowing its active botanical ingredients to penetrate, moisturize and firm the skin.

the Double Lifting Masks cater to five different skincare needs:
1. Whitening (Makiyo's favorite Double Lifting Mask)
2. Hydrating
3. V Shaping
4. Pore Minimizing
5. Moisturizing

i havent gotten a chance to try these masks yet, but i heard they're really good! :D once i've tried them i'll do another review again ^_^ for those who're keen to try these products, the Strawberry Blackhead Bye Bye set retails at $25.90 and the Double Lifting Masks retail at $2 each. All Sophie Monk products are available at Guardian!

***

my latest look! kind of going for natural but still with colored contacts and falsies ahaha. i tried this double eye lid tape from Sasa recommended by Qiuting, in an attempt to even out my eyes (i have ptosis in one eye and my eyelids are uneven) love the falsies from DUP and the brown contacts from Freshlook are really natural but help to brighten the eyes! :D

gonna have a quiet Christmas this year, all i want for Christmas is to nua my weekend away and get some lazy time together with YZ! haven't really spent time with him properly for awhile now cos we've been working pretty hard at the office the last few weeks to churn out new collections in time for the festive season, and all my dear friends have been in and out of office to be my very willing Christmas elves. appreciate them all so much!

drowning in parcels D: my self-sacrificial Eils baybeh came to help us pack when she was supposed to be out celebrating her birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY EILS BAYBEH. your present i pass to you on Monday so you better come and have lunch with me :D love love.

hope everyone has a superduperfantasticawesomemax Christmas, with your family and loved ones and friends!!! ^_^ spread the love, show some appreciation for those people around you, and i'm sure your Christmas will be a wonderful one! oh. don't eat so much or you'd end up like me ): i keep on binging non-stop on junk food, i don't know if it's cos i'm feeling festive or just cos i'm too stressed from the crazy amount of things to get done everyday! =_= i am gonna get so so so so fat! *depressed* don't mind me... just ranting. it's like my diet always fails. ugh. ok let's talk about dieting again once CNY is over. hahahaha.

til then, STAY HAPPY!!! :D :D :D love love love *sprinkles stardust and love all over*

have yourself a MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Nuffnang Asia-Pacific Blog Awards 2011!

2011-12-20T20:17:00.000+08:00

BACK from the Nuffnang Asia-Pacific Blog Awards 2011 that was held in Kuala Lumpur, Marriot Putrajaya!!!

what a mouthful of words =_=

when the awards were last held in 2009 in Singapore, i was like almost non-existent in the blogosphere or something. this current blog was started sometime in 2009? so yea i wasn't into the whole blog community thingamy and all that! but things have changed since i joined Nuffnang in 2010, and i got to know a whole bunch of awesome bloggers and friends through events, activities and the likes!

woke up way too early after the late photoshoot the night before and packed frantically like my life depended on it. and YZ dropped me off at the Nuffnang office where we were to meet everyone else to board our coaches to KL! anyway, hate my camera cos the flash died on me and it was like close to impossible to take good pictures in the dim lighting during the dinner and after party. FML. told the Olympus Service Centre that the flash was not working liao, but in the end still like that, wasted my time to make a second trip down to send it for repair AGAIN. plus half my pictures from the awards night turned out like shit =_= so, am gonna insert random instagram-ed pictures. follow my instagram @yinagoh for more pictorial updates on the go!

shades are your best friend on long coach rides cos you know, it gives you some privacy (especially me i sleep with one eye open wtf it's very unglam) and you can snooze in peace on the long journey :)

with my bus buddy Valerie and the two Nuffies behind us are Gabby and Jayne who take care of us (and our blogs)! finally got to meet them in person cos i've only been communicating with them via phone and emails for the last couple months. teehee. they are super nice girls!

it was a terribly long ride and it took us like 7 hours to reach the hotel, with pit stops in between and all that! so tiring cos the coach wasn't the most comfortable lor. luckily, Val and i stocked up with necessary amenities at Mustafa before the ride LOL. well equipped with chocolate digestives and biscuits and chips and all that. we were supposed to reach the hotel at 2 ish or something, and reached at like almost 4PM!

christmas decorations up at Marriot.. snowflakes!!!

waiting to check in to our rooms

actually had an appointment with the hair stylist from 76style at 3PM so we were late late late! rushed off to the special make-up room when we arrived at Marriot, to get our hair done!

my hair stylist was called Steve, and he did this awesome braid into side swept hair do pony tail thingy for me. it's like damn nice! Wendy aka Xiaxue was also getting her hot pink hair styled into curls as well. omg leh i'm getting my hair styled next to the queen of bloggers! 有爽到的感觉! #cheapthrill

look at the amount of makeup on the table! we didn't have time to get our makeup done by the stylists as well, so, hair only.

from the side/back, this is what the braided section look like. cool right! thank you 76style for the hair styling!

checked into the awesome hotel room! i was sharing a room with Bea, but she left the morning after the dinner, so i had it all to myself the next night. one king sized bed all to myself is... 爽. hahahaha.

really spacious and very very comfortable accommodations for the two nights we spent at Marriot!

make-up time! some of the stuff i used on my eyes! eyeshadow colors from MAC and Majorlica plus K-palette eyeliner and brow liner and Lancome Virtuose mascara (my new favorite!) falsies were a gift from Ling.. dunno where they're from, but they're damn nice can!

anyway, decided to do a gold to turquoise to indigo gradient on my eyes since i was wearing a blue dress.. nice right!

coupled with Virtuose mascara on my lower lashes and some glitter liner on my inner eye corners. plus that awesome falsies from Ling! contact lens from Freshkon. my favorite pair at the moment! they're quite comfy and look really good.

random outfit picture la. both top and cardi from TVD!

another pic of my hair. is chio!

all changed into my dinner outfit! this HoH necklace is fake one by the way. imitation only hahaha. cos the original one doesn't have the abalone one for this leather stations design?!

wore a full length maxi dress! the fit is fantastic and it's vvv nice! i manufactured it for TVD too heehee.

clutch from Kate Spade and i had initially wanted to wear this mad super gorgeous pair of gold glittery bling heels from Newlook... but really cannot la. cos the shoes were way too hard and they were a size too big ): bought insoles but still couldn't walk about in them comfortably so i gave up the idea!

so i wore another pair in the end. #sadface

went down to the grand ballroom where the NAPBAS was just getting started.. pre-dinner cocktail party!

took a picture with Steve from 76style who did my hair for me! this was while my camera flash was still working. FML stupid flash. i shoulda just brought the DSLR instead =_=

together with Huiwen, Nuffnang Singapore Country Manager! if you look closely at us, you'll notice something very funny.... i don't wanna tell you what it is. bleh.

Wendy in this super ultra mad bling dress with low back details! definitely stood out in the crowd!

with the Nuffies! Mel, Jayne, Gabby and Amanda!

with Ben and Randy! they were wearing the same shirt and shoes. so cute please.

dunno how i started talking to these two girls, hahaha. but we ended up pretty good friends by the end of the night, lol. Jean and Lenne, Lenne's a fashion photographer/blogger and she's one of the fashion blog finalists and she was dressed really awesome with a vintage glamour touch. i really like Jean's androgynous outfit and hairstyle too!

told'ya my camera was being a piece of shit. but i thought Gabby looked very cute in this candid shot hahaha. dunno where she's looking?!

Val was outstanding in her very striking outfit with lots and lots of blingggg! and as usual, she was towering over everyone else. bleh. my proportions look super stubby standing next to her!

with the other girls of more normal height heehee not so left out anymore!

and here's with my "twin" Fidelis whom everyone says we look alike. ehh i think we look more alike when you don't put us next to each other hahaha you know, the "feel" more like then the person! probably the chin and dimples though. Fidel has got bigger eyes!

seated next to Ben!

our menu for the night. 7 courses!

the bloggers at our table! Thiang, Peggy, myself, Ben and Randy :)

with Peggy :)

there were some dance performances, singers, a standup comedian and even a pole dancing performance! quite a line-up. our table was pretty far from the stage though so didn't really get a good view.

random self portrait with instagram! i like how my eyebrows looked. the K-palette eyeliner very natural!

Medditeranean Seafood Terrine with Wasabi Tobiko Dressing on Cripsy Salad. long fanciful name hahaha.

we all attacked the bread basket. best ever! warm soft and fluffy bread! everyone agreed it was like probably the best course or something. ahahaha. how sad.

Puree of Split Pea Soup with Herb Twist. another fanciful name. i would have called it green pea soup with bread stick thingy LOL.

Grape Sorbet with Fresh Mint! too sweet for my liking.

Pan Fried Dory Fillet with Peach Sauce served with lagsana potatoes and garden green vegetables

Tiramisu in Chocolate Cup. yummy, this one.

by the time this plate of cookies came round, we were too stuffed to eat liao... =_= think none of us touched it! ahaha. plus i would have broken my teeth or more specifically my braces on it.

how d'yall like my nails? did gelish on them, with a gradient and topped off with diamontes. bling bling! awesome thing about gelish is that it's super lasting! none of the diamontes have dropped off yet! D:

Xiaxue won the Most Influential Blog Award as well as the Region's Best Blog Award! didn't really come as a surprise, of course.

i honestly thought Wendy was gonna win the Best Lifestyle Blog, but she didn't, and after winning the Region's Best Blog Award, Wendy teared on stage too cos all the Nuffies bluffed her that you can only win this award once (??!) i also kena bluffed cos i was next to Huiwen during the cocktail reception, when Wendy asked Huiwen about it, Huiwen say can only win once so i wasn't expecting it too! =_= but still, genuinely happy for Xiaxue cos she's such an inspiration to many bloggers for being one of the pioneer bloggers and being so amazingly influential. even YZ finds her blog funny, and he's not someone who reads blogs lor!

who would have thought (a few years ago) that blogging could be a profession? but now.. everything's different. we can actually EARN MONEY FROM BLOGGING. thanks to Nuffnang and all the bloggers who took out that first step in faith to put their heart and soul into blogging!

and if you were curious as to all the other award winners!

Best Parenting Blog - Childhood 101 http://childhood101.com

Best Geek Blog - IPinoyLike http://Ipinoylike.com

Best Photography Blog - Photoblog 摄影札記 http://photoblog.hk

Best Food Blog- Lady Iron Chef http://ladyironchef.com

Best Fashion Blog - Cheesie http://cheeserland.com

Best Lifestyle Blog - Jenni Epperson http://jenniepperson.com

Most Original Blog Design - Eat, Show and Tell http://eatshowandtell.com

Best Travel Blog - Just Wandering http://justwandering.org

Best Entertainment Blog - Beautiful Nara http://beautifulnara.com

Best Micro-Blog - @Kennysia http://twitter.com/kennysia

Hidden Gem - Googly Gooeys http://googlygooeys.com

congratulations to all the award winners for awards well deserved!!!

all the award winners on stage! the other award winner from Singapore was Ladyironchef who won the best food blog! yay! congrats, Brad!

red carpet glamour heehee. with Peggy, Fidelis, Clara and Nadia! we are so color co-ordinated. i know, right.

with Nadia who was looking curve-licious in a sexy mermaid-ish gown!

random picture, i don't even know who's the two girls on the far left and right? LOL oops. Clara, Silver, myself, Jean and Lenne! edit: ok the girl on the right is called Sochiii.

was quite tired already from the long day, but decided to still go for the after party regardless! changed into a more casual dress, the Razzle Dazzle Gem Dress from last year's collection. so glad i kept this dress cos i love the bling on it :D

and it was time for the after party at Zouk! Silver and I! she was looking really gorgeous!

stupid EP3 (i cannot seem to stop cursing the camera in this entry) flash not working again. can't even take a proper picture FML. i can't even recognize who's in the picture LOL. ok i think it's Silver, Clara and Nadia. random bouncer guy at the back?

resorted to iPhone again.

the clubbing scene in KL is really quite rocking, it was an eye opening experience for me! music was awesome and everyone was damn high! the male attention was a little too aggressive though. all the girls basically all got hit on and like even the bouncers tried to cope a feel by putting their hands on your backs when you walk past lor =_= if you ever get the chance, go check out the clubs when you're in KL to know what i mean. oh. be care of pickpockets cos we heard there were people who got their phones/money stolen! heng, nothing happened to my stuff.

it's also a really bad idea to wear platform heels to club and my feet were killing me by the end of the night! =_= gei kiang lor. we left the club at 2.30AM and when we got back to the hotel, it was 3 something already. i just washed up and crashed into bed at about 4AM.

woke up the next morning late, and all i grabbed for breakfast from the hotel international buffet breakfast (which i was so looking forward to some more!!!) was this:

wtf one half of a grilled tomato, a sausage, a beef slice and some potato wedges FML. damn sad you know???

we then proceed on a tour of KL's sights, which was frankly speaking, not the most interesting with our tour guide being very very boring =_= and cos the sun was so hot, Brad, Silver and i just stayed on the bus all the way, except to grab ice creams halfway through the tour LOL. luckily, we were dropped off for lunch soon at KLCC, and we came upon a cafe that looked promising, called Ben's!

menu kind of reminds one of PS Cafe.

they had this cool box of recipes, table topics and suggestions to keep diners entertained while waiting for food to be served!

definitely interesting and kept the conversation going as we discussed various table topics.

Brad's crabmeat linguine and Silver's aglio olio in the background

my mexicana tortilla wrap

some mushroom with feta cheese and salad.

posing with the food hohoho

table portrait!

the food was quite good, especially for the prices, it's like half the price of what you'd pay at PS Cafe. and we were all waiting for the best part to come around.. desserts!!! huge extensive dessert menu, and we picked these two:

apple crumble

toffee date pudding

mad yums! imagine, the desserts only cost about 11RM each. that's about $5 sing or something! all in all, only paid about 20 sing dollars for our meal. it's hard to find a restaurant in Singapore serving similar food at this kind of price!

buh-bye to KLCC

the rest of the day passed with a series of unfortunate events (Gabby fell into one of the drains cos the grilles were spoilt!!!) along the way to Sungei Wang and later to Pavilion, and i was too tired to take pictures! so sad that i didn't get any shopping done too! wanted to stay at KLCC to shop, but someone suggested we go to Sungei Wang for cheap shopping ala Far East Plaza style, but it was totally not for me, and all i did at Sungei Wang was get a 25RM express pedicure.

in the end, all i bought was an Urban Decay palette from Sephora, which retails in Singapore for about the same price too =_=

sianz! never mind, change so much RM, got shop a bit also better than nothing.

grabbed a cab back to hotel instead of going for drinks which was part of our itinerary and had a damn good sleep on the king sized bed all by myself hahahahaha. and i made sure i woke up early enough the next day to enjoy my last breakfast at Marriot!!!

SHIOKAZOIDS. egg omelette, potato wedges, sauteed mushrooms and grilled tomatoes.

and i ate THREE of these things. chocolate croissants!!! really really really very shiok. it was worth it to wake up early :D

happy happy.

as you can tell, i gave up taking pictures with EP3 on the last day cos i dulan with the spoilt flash already. also cos i was lazy :X we checked out of the hotel at 1pm and arrived back home to a cold dreary and rainy Singapore in the evening!

i had a wonderful time at the Nuffnang Asia-Pacific Blog Awards 2011 and can't wait for the next awards to roll around again in two years time! glad to have met so many new friends, as well as renew existing acquaintances! it was really an unforgettable experience :D glad i didn't ask YZ along hohoho. cos if he went, i wouldn't have the chance to interact with other people so much :X hahaha.

ok. abrupt end. five more days to Christmas only! so fast. don't have any plans this Christmas yet though. does everyone celebrate Christmas?? meh.

if you need to shop for an outfit for your man this Christmas though, i got a new mens apparel shop to introduce! good quality stuff, YZ has been shopping there already :D :D :D

what YZ got.. checked flannel shirt! melikes the forest green color. vvv smart looking. trying to make YZ dress up more hahahaha. sign up as a member to get 5% discount!

http://www.merrymen.com.sg/

all things pretty!

2011-12-16T06:38:00.000+08:00

i found the perfect website to shop for iPhone accessories and cool stuff, thanks to my fwen Ling, who just started this new venture online! and the shop name is so memorable hahaha i can't help remembering it for life it's called AHBENGSHOP.SG! lol.

there's all kinds of awesome stuff, from bling bling earphone dust plugs, to super pretty iPhone casings and other functional stuff, like screen protectors and colorful USB cables!

some of the stuff i got from Ahbengshop.sg:

love this casing to bits, it's my current case! :)

matched together with a dust plug with a dangly ribbon charm.. sibei cute!!

i ordered two other cases as well, one is a Lace + Bling case, and the other is Tokidoki inspired! i love Tokidoki graphics!

the Diamond Dust Protector can't really be captured properly except in real life, so i'll just use a picture from Ahbengshop.sg lol. my screen protector was damn chui, so i got a new one, and it's the sparkly diamond one too!! mad nice.

anyway, Ahbengshop.sg is having a 15% off almost everything for Christmas, so when you shop on Ahbengshop.sg, just enter the voucher code XMAS15! :)

lots of great stuff on Ahbengshop.sg and they're all very affordable some more with the Xmas promo code! can go and check it out and start shopping for little gifts for colleagues and friends! :D

a random OTD, closer look at the Criss Cross Romper! my new favorite to-go romper after the Cupcake Romper, haha. crazy good material and unique back details and i love the two colors it comes in, on TVD. it's a collaborative effort between TVD and LRH!

there's S and M and i wear size M, it's meant to be a comfortable fit and not worn tight fitted, but comes with a matching color obi sash! i like how it looks with a contrast belt. so cheery looking!

had a rather disaster fraught photoshoot earlier, when we were attempting to shoot this romper and some other items! aiyo, so tired. i had the smart idea of shifting one of the studio lights home cos i wanted to do an "outdoor" indoor shoot at home with our Christmas tree!!!! and smart ole me brought the bulky studio equipment, all the clothes, shoes, accessories and what not, and then realized that i left the damn flash trigger thingy (the one you put on the camera hotshot to activate the studio lights to go off) at the office!!! walao FML. had to beg my mummy to drive me back to office to get it cos i thought that no one was in at office already, but when we drove back and i ran up to the office, Zi was in office! made a wasted 2-way trip when i could have just asked YZ to drop by to get it for me instead (i thought he couldn't cos noone was in and only i had the key)

=_=

we had home cooked dinner by Mummy, then we started doing makeup and all that and the shoot only started at like.. 10PM. and one of the dresses we were shooting just had to have zipper problems and caused even more delays. in the end, we shot all the way til 1AM or something! poor Cher has work today, hope she survives the day on the meagre amount of sleep!!

thankfully, i think some of the pictures turned out rather nice, so at least it wasn't a complete fiasco! so tiring to do shoots somethings. and i still need to lug everything (studio lights, clothes, shoes and all) back to the office!!

we had the most adorable 'guest models' during our shoot though. HAHAHA.

QQ trying to get food from us while we were having a super yummy home cooked meal by mummy!

Cher and Farah enjoying Assam Curry. bwahah. Cher looks super lang bei here!

surprise guest model... Gina!!! and look at my two adorable doggies. so funny!

they are too freaking excited. haha

QQ being super cute! we put a ribbon on her head. but anyway she's so not a camwhore. she hardly looks into the camera unless you say "Gai Gai" or "Mum Mum"! =_=

fat Baby even worse, she just sat next to me and didn't want to go over to be inside the picture! tsk

last minute props from DAISO! heh

glad that we managed to at least shoot the stuff we wanted to, though we took forever, it was really hard to adjust the light and get the pictures to look good (for me) cos i'm a noob photographer! nevertheless, at least we can call it a success! :D

and look what my cute model got for me for Christmas!!!

a vanity kit... in the shape of a doll!

AWWWWH. dead useful and soooo adorable!! thank you love! muacks!

love the dress we shot! finally going to launch it, cos this is like my mostest favorite design of the year.

OKAY, am off to pack my luggage now cos i'm heading for the Nuffnang Blog Awards in KL today!!!! soooo exciting. i can't decide which dress to wear!!! #firstworldpains feeling totally shitty cos i only had a few hours of sleep and i'm sure i look horrible. but oh well. makeup to the rescue tonight! :P

be back soon!

Christmas Lunch at Han's + Salon Vim Christmas Giveaways!

2011-12-13T21:49:00.003+08:00

Christmas is only like 12 days away (??!!!!) and i can't believeeeee it, i feel like last Christmas just passed!!! =_= kind of panicking that 2011 is gonna be over so quick already! but well, gloominess aside, i love Christmas cos it means feasting and feasting and lots of celebrations with friends!

Christmas is one of the best times for gatherings and friends, so we organized an early Christmas Lunch for our LL gang at Han's Cafe, Springleaf Garden! so hard to invite all these super busy people to all come together for a gathering you know??

it's my first time visiting this outlet along Upper Thomson Road, but it's probably one of the biggest Han's outlets and very popular cos it's open 24 hours! anyway, some of us arranged to meet at office before heading over together, but everyone else was late! (aiyo, what's new. hahahaha)

checking through Han's menu for drinks first while waiting for the rest of the latecomers.

Eils, Farah and myself!
of course YZ gets to come along too. anything with food, you bet he's invited.

my chio Eils baybeh. i hate her. eyes so big for what???

YZ's old man drink, Kopi-Si! hahahaha. jokes aside, i've always heard that Han's serves REALLY GOOD coffee!! so if you're a coffee person and you ever dine at Han's, do try the coffee!!!

anyway, our highlight of the day was to try the special Christmas items available at Han's during this festive season! and one of them is Roast Turkey!!!! how to miss this out during Christmas? it's not a Christmas celebration without some turkey lovin'!

our turkey sitting on the counter, all waiting to be sliced and eaten.

the Megagamie sisters arrived next!! :D :D :D heehee. bet you never see all three of them before. that's Vera and Mega's youngest sis in the middle! of course la, all need to wear MGG clothes. LOL. shamelessly self-advertising (actually i also, but i only one person they three people?! WIN LIAO)

and the Poh sisters!!! always late one. some more supposed to be organizer! hahaha. it's ok, i forgive you two cos you two are hotness. LOVE LOVE.

OMG the braces gang! HAHAHAHA. we're the metal teeth trio :B how come mine doesn't look so obvious in the picture hor! i didn't photoshop it eh! the braces seem to blend in with my teeth very well lol.

table shot! all hungry and waiting for food. turkey in the middle still cannot eat, cos we were waiting for...

DENG DENG DENG! the Lilypirates ladies! Walao, both also want to upstage the rest. LOL. wear so nice and blow dry hair until so chio some more??!

and the only two men at an entire tableful of giggly girls. YZ and Collin! i think they're quite used to being the only men around liao. probably very shiok for them? hahahahaha.

anyway, our dearest TTR couldn't make it for Christmas lunch cos they had a photoshoot! ): so we're missing them! sadness. if not we'd have full attendance liao!

OKAY. enough of the people. back to the food!!!
gonna start off with introducing one of the special items on Han's Christmas Menu: the Party Platter ($98)!!!

omggggggg those sausages are to die for!! look at the oily, juicy, goodness. everyone was snatching up the sausages! the ham and turkey fillet were very tasty too! the platter came with cranberry jam and thousand island sauce! sooooo yummy. especially when we were all starved for food already!!

and while we were enjoying our platter, our turkey was being prepared for us!

two thumbs up and can't wait to attack the turkey!!! we didn't have to wait long for it, our Roast US Young Turkey with Chestnut Stuffing 6kg ($118) appeared before our eyes not long after!

i was pleasantly surprised, i've always associated turkey to be tough and hard, but Han's Roast Turkey was actually a lot more tender and tastier than i thought it'd be! with the accompanying gravy and cranberry sauce, it was superrrr yummy!!!! the amount of meat from the 6kg turkey is very substantial too!

love all the little Christmas decorations on the dish lolol. so cuteeee!!!

other than feasting on the Party Platter and Roaster Turkey, of course we needed some food as well! ordered a load of dishes from Han's regular menu, to share! omg, we ordered too much and could barely finish!!

everything was good, but i super super super super loved the Beef Horfun!!!!!! it's soooooooo good!!! gooey, with the wok hei (slightly charred flavor) taste, soft beef slices, and the horfun just slips down your throat easily. DAMN GOOD! the Hainanese Pork Chop was fantastic as well, and i loved the Omelette with Mushroom! heard that the local cuisine menu at Han's is more popular than the western cuisine, but i think all their food fared pretty well, it's a good eating location if you have many different tastebuds to please, and you need a menu with lots of variety to choose from!

we were all hard at work, eating! :P cos we wanted to finish all our food, so that we could move on... to desserts!!!

the cake/tart counter looks like a dream come true!

deciding which deserts to take!

oh, that's Mari! nearly forgot, Mari came down too to help with some of our food! heehee we took a picture together cos we were all in the same color palette! very harmonious :D

what i picked, Chocolate Tart with Ice Cream!!!

the desserts will surely please anyone with a sweet tooth, and if you're a chocolate lover, you HAVE to try the Chocolate Tart!! it's super rich and dense chocolate cream with a nice biscuit crust, and is totally heavenly with a scoop if ice cream! the strawberry cake was light and yummy, and Han's is famous for their apple pie too, which is super addictive! in fact, all the desserts were very good, we wiped them all out!

there's always space for desserts cos it's a different stomach!

with pwetty YD! dunno how she does her hair so gorgeously mejealouz.

and SM! she's always complaining abt my face being too small next to hers. LOL i'm sorry i can't help it ok i have a small head!!!! ;_;

with the three sisters!! aren't they cute, they look so alike right! hahaha.

and my dearest helper & BFF Farah! i have converted her into wearing eyeliner. woohoo.

lovey dovey picture to make you puke. HAHAHA.

anyway, there's also a variety of christmas cookies and cakes available from Han's!

includes all kinds of goodies like English Fruitcake, Christmas Cookies, Christmas Stolen, Panettone, Caramel Walnut Strudel, Florentina, Mince Fruit Strudels, Pecan Pie and more! :D

we finished our super long lunch like near to dinner time. LOL. anyway was so stuffed i didn't have dinner that day already! and here's a group picture outside Han's! had an AWESOME early Christmas lunch with this bunch of lovely lovely people!!!! hee. feels good to actually see one another outside of "work".. every time we see one another, we're STILL talking about work. bo bian... #lifeofablogshopowner

Thanks Han's for having us over for Christmas lunch!!! :D :D :D

anyway, Han's is having a special promotion especially for you all! all you need to do is to flash the above coupon on your mobile or print it out, to be entitled to a FREE Limited Edition Christmas Log Cake worth $26, with any order of the Roast Turkey OR Party Platter!

the free log cake is only redeemable at two outlets, Springleaf Garden and Buona Vista CC! both outlets are also open 24 hours by the way!

they do delivery as well so you can have this delivered right to your door step or office for your Christmas party! homemade sauces are provided too! :) for delivery inquiries, call Han's at 6438 2488! :)

Han's@Springleaf Garden
906 Upper Thomson Road
S787110
Tel: 64521125

Han's@BuonaVista CC
Blk 36 Holland Drive #01-02
S270036
Tel: 67790180

http://www.hans.com.sg/hans.html

***

and showing off my gorgeoussssss outfit of the day, Yvaine Jewel Dress in Topaz Blue!! wearing a size M here, it comes in S, M & L :)

it's a newly arrived piece for TVD, and i am sooo in love with it! it's a Temperley London inspired dress, and it took like monthssss for the factory to finish making our order, cos it's so complicated with the beads and jewels! i prefer to wear it without the sash (like the original piece) so that it's more flowy! :D the embellishments are all hand sewn one by one and it's simply exquisite. show you a close-up!

seriously love the embellishments. our supplier was telling us about how the gems are all "Class A" quality, which means that it's SUPER bling. ahahaha. bimbo. this dress is perfect for all your year-end dinners and functions, methinks, you don't even need to accessorize much cos the embellishments will steal the show away already! it's rather expensive cos of all the hand sewn workmanship, but it's super worth every cent!!! had to go ahead with manufacturing it despite the high cost price. i'm pretty sure i'm keeping more than one color for myself. LOL. go and check out the other preview pictures on Facebook here!

***

one last thing: Salon Vim's having awesome Christmas promotions too, don't miss them!!!

get 20% off your next visit + Free Hair Spa Treatment + Goody Bag by simply uploading your photo onto Salon Vim's Facebook page, or "Like" and "Share" the CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAYS by SANTA VIM album!!!

i just went back for a hair trim and treatment, and my tresses are looking all healthy and beautiful now! all the frizzy ends are gone, and i did a scalp treatment that helped a lot with my itchy scalp and dandruff (yes i know gross right, i was having some serious case of dandruff a couple weeks ago!!! supposedly stress or lack of sleep can cause dandruff!)

i blow-dry myself one. NOT BAD RIGHT. it's quite easy to get the curls nicely since the hair is already permed! LOVE my hair, thanks to Salon Vim as always. heehee!

SALON VIM
313 @ Somerset #04-07/08/09
vimsalon@yahoo.com.sg
68847757/68847767

http://salonvimbychezvous.com.sg/

check out Salon Vim's facebook page too, for the latest promos and services available! :)

http://salonvimbychezvous.com.sg/

***

hehe. aren't you feeling Christmassy already! i shall attempt to do something to my blog template to make things a little more festive as well. wait for it!!! oh oh today i was super excited cos i went for my first braces adjustment appointment, and i got a spring as well as baby blue ligatures!!!

cool shit. the spring is awesome right. HAHA. Eils says if it still doesn't hurt with the spring, she will kill me. i'll see how it goes the next couple of days!! so far, still okay. nothing very painful yet! unfortunately, Dr Cheng says i might need to do extractions after all!!!! HORRORS. cos he says there will be more space for my teeth to shift into place once i extract four teeth. now, it's too crowded already ): anyway, i have until next month before any dreaded extractions. shall see how it goes! i feel sad if i have to lose four perfectly good teeth.

be back soon to update again! LOVE LOVE.

Star Cruises: Spongebob At Sea! (Aboard Superstar Virgo)

2011-12-10T23:30:00.000+08:00

the last time i went on a cruise trip was like when i was 19 or 20, and honestly i didn't enjoy it very much cos it wasn't a leisure trip. so, i jumped at the opportunity to go for a 2 night cruise, thanks to Nuffnang and courtesy of Star Cruises... and it's not just ANY cruise, it's a special SPONGEBOB AT SEA cruise on Superstar Virgo!!!!!

EGGCITED VERY MUCH!!?! Superstar Virgo is the largest and grandest ship amongst the entire Star Cruises fleet leh!

(over)packed for a 2 night trip, and made my way down with my awesome cruise partner YZ to the Harbourfront Cruise Centre last Wednesday night.

i totally have no recollection of how crowded the queues are to board the ship! but it was pretty crazy, super duper crowded with many people waiting in line to board!

luckily, we were "Balcony Class', so got no queue mwahahaha. so good to be VIP.

our E-tickets. just gotta print em out and hand them over to the Guest Service Officer!

anyway, the stupidest thing happened to me right before boarding -_- i was sitting down while waiting to board, and totally forgot that my camera was on my lap! so i stood up, and MY POOR CAMERA.. had a very bad fall to the ground ): and it started malfunctioning! sian ttm. every time it took a picture, it'd auto shut off, and i'd have to turn it on again to check the picture, or if i want to take another shot. FML. take one picture need like 15 seconds. haiii. but thankfully, it still worked, heng ah!!! if not, good game already entire cruise use iPhone to take picture or something ;_;

here we are.. going aboard the ship! got on at about 8 ish to 9, and we were brought to our cabin first to put our stuff down and freshen up before a tour of the ship and dinner.

deng deng deng! our cozy looking cabin!

still got complimentary fruit platter!! YZ helped himself to the platter straight away. LOL. the cabin also has basic amenities like a water boiler, glasses, complimentary bottled water etc. like a regular on land hotel!

we're going on a cruise, cruise, cruise, how about youuu youuuu youuuu

pretty dress that i stocked in at Kissjane already, Colorblock Pintucked Flare Dress!

and.. we're all given one access card each. this card is used to access your cabin, as well as used to charge for any food/services onboard! so upon checkout you just give the card to the counter to settle the total bill. super convenient and you don't even need to bring much cash onboard (but still should bring some cash if you want to gamble mwahahahaha)

our friendly Guest Service Offier brought us on a tour of the ship so we could find our way around with ease, and then brought us to our dinner location, Pavilion Restaurant on Deck 6, which is a Chinese family style dining restaurant that's "inclusive" onboard!

basically, there are three "inclusive" restaurants, one of which is Pavilion, which means you don't have to pay to dine at them, and everyone on board can enjoy the food there free of charge! like buffet, but better! hahaha. other than the three inclusive restaurants, there are also exclusive restaurants, where the meals will be charged to your card.

anyway, i don't understand how it works, but they served the same five dishes to every table, regardless of whether you have 2 persons or 4 persons. lol. so the two of us had like FIVE dishes to eat.

pretty simple and decent Chinese fare, it was really quite yummy! i love the fish and omelette!

oh, there was also a self-service congee (plain porridge) station with lots of toppings! damn shiok one. just spam the pork floss!!!

and.. we were kind of cheated into getting fruit juice that cost $9 each or something. hahahahaa. cos the waitress just went like, "Mam, would you like any fruit juice?" and we just thought ok why not then they asked for our card and the bill for two glasses of fruit juice was like $18 -_- we had $100 worth of dining credits, so never mind la.

with our expensive fruit juice ;_;

went back to our cabin with very full stomachs, cos we had time to kill before the next activity: which was a Magic Show!!

#camwhore

did i mention we had a balcony cabin? cool night view of HarbourFront (i'm assuming) from our balcony, the ship only departs at midnight!

still got deck chairs to lounge on as you enjoy the view!

our very well stocked up toilet/washroom/shower, with face towels, body towels and even a toiletries kit! oh, there's a built in hair dryer in the washroom btw, i was worried if there was any hair dryer onboard and even wanted to bring one, but turned out that it's unnecessary!

all got separate cubicles one so you can MYOB (mind your own business)

don't have to trouble to pack toothpaste and toothbrush and shampoo and all that. awesome!!!

headed to watch our first show onboard, the Phillipart Magic Show at The Lido, which is the onboard theatre/show lounge!

nice interior that looks like a cinema. we got balcony seating!

and the show... was entertaining. LOL. it wasn't strictly a magic show per say, but more of a magic/entertainment/dance/singsong show! i'm sure all the kids enjoyed it tremendously lor. i feel so jaded when watching magic shows.

the highlight of our first night was the Midnight Christmas Tree Light-up Ceremony at the Grand Piazza! it was super crowded with all the guests, very festive!

singers/musicians performing Christmas carols!

here's the Christmas tree.....

ALL LIT UP! check out those super cute Spongebob decorations on it haha!

and "live in the flesh"... the REAL Spongebob and Patrick appeared!!!

all the kids were rushing forward to shake hands with the two stars! oops wait. only one is a star(fish) hehehe.

HELLO SPONGEBOB!!! actually, i'm a Patrick fan! Patrick is so super retarded and funny!

all the staff came out and starting singing along with the Christmas carols!! merry merry!

we stayed for awhile to soak in the festive atmosphere, then retired back to our cabin already! it was already past midnight so i just wanted to have a nice snuggly sleep before waking up fresh for the slew of activities planned for the next day!

day ONE on board! woke up bright and early at 8AM to wash up and have our meal at Bella Vista, another inclusive restaurant that's Continental Dining!

having a bad case of uneven eyes -_- was trying to stuff my contacts into my eyes, but they just didn't want to fit properly or something! gave up in the end. zzzzz

our cruise actually stopped at Malacca and Port Klang for the day (from where you can take a coach/cab down to KL to shop!) but we decided to stay on board to enjoy ourselves and relax instead!

outside Bella Vista at Deck 6! wearing my new romper + nautical bow cardi in hand for when it gets cold! heehee. sooo comfy.

inside Bella Vista restaurant! we got a table right next to the full length windows.

here's the menu for the day! there's a self-service continental breakfast buffet with bread, croissants, fruits, etc.. and another menu where you can tick off breakfast items to order!

always happy to eat. HOHOHO.

went for a walk around the buffet tables, there's quite a spread available!

salads and fruits for the health freaks

i just took some of the pastries + toasted bread. YAY to Anchor brand butter, it's daaaamn good!

the view if we look out the window!!! nothing but the vast waters in sight.

tableful of foooood!

my breakfast plate. oooh.... the grilled tomato was SO GOOD. scrambled eggs, omelette, hash brown, ham and bacon were yummy too! super satisfying breakfast to start off the day!

i think we overdosed on eggs. LOL. got scrambled eggs, omelette, sunny side up and half boiled egg! wth.

anyway, every morning onboard, a newsletter called the "Star Navigator" will be placed outside your door! this newsletter informs you of stuff like the opening hours for different restaurants for the day, as well as the entire time table for the day's activities/events, so you can plan your day onboard properly! it even has information such as the time of sunrise and sunset (which i didn't manage to catch...)! super informative!

after breakfast, we went back to our cabin again. LOL. so relaxed i know! damn shiok!

back view of my cute romper.

here's the view of the Grand Piazza from the escalator! you get a really nice view of the Piazza and all the Christmas decorations!

time to bring out the straw hat! (actually, for fun only la. didn't really go under the sun hehe)

outside our cabin, at the balcony area! it's so nice to have a great view of the sea right outside our cabin! btw, i'm not holding on to my hat for posing ok, i was seriously worried the hat would fly off into the sea and bye-bye! the breeze is quite strong as the ship is moving!

hee we changed into our couple outfits! :P blue and red striped some more, super nautical, i like!

i bought the couple wear on some spree website previously. don't remember the website URL liao!

outside The Lido, time table board for all the Spongebob activities available!

we were waiting for something exciting.. the Spongebob's Krabby Patty Celebration LIVE show! :D :D :D off we went back to The Lido, for the show!

OMG it's Squidward!

anyway, the kids are just tooooo adorable. they were taught how to dance the Krabby Patty dance hahaha super cute please!!!

i really enjoyed the show. LOL. feel like a kid again! :D it was super entertaining and fun to watch!! :D :D :D

after the show, we went to...
....
....
....
....

EAT.

again.

HAHAHA. it was lunch time already what! *defensive*

this time, instead of dining at the inclusive restaurant, we decided to try Samurai restaurant, on Deck 8, Japanese cuisine! :D

mmmm. excited to try the Japanese food onboard! actually, we were still pretty full from breakfast, so we tried to order less. ahaha. but somehow, still seemed like a lot??

started off with salmon sashimi! just as good and as fresh as any japanese restaurant on land!

got the waitress to help us take a photo together with my poor, malfunctioning camera ._.

YAY to more food! (this is why i #dietfail)

Beef Udon! i need some hot soup in my tummy right now!!

Soft Shell Crab! mmmmmmmmm.

and yummy Saba fish!!

feeling like we did nothing but eat, hahaha. went to shop around at the two shops on board, they were selling cute Spongebob merchandise and cookies!! not allowed to take pictures inside, the staff was quite grumpy when she told us not to take pictures.

but we still took pictures, from outside. ahahaha. funny pair of colorful shades which i didn't get in the end!

according to the Star Navigator, there was Tea with Spongebob at 4.30PM... at the Meditterranean Terrace!

off to meet Spongebob!!

i swear, the kids were SOOOO CUTEEEEEE!!!!!

check out this video i took. LOL. seriously too cute. all the kids were singing along to the Spongebob theme song, and when Spongebob and Patrick appeared, they were soooo excited!!! SIBEI CUTE!

happy kids!!!

oh, here's the view from the terrace, you can see the uber fun kids' pool just one deck below!

and and and. I CAN DIE HAPPY NOW. TOOK A PICTURE TOGETHER WITH SPONGEBOB AND PATRICK!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D

also ran into Sophie onboard during the Spongebob tea session! she was also onboard with her boyfriend, Alaric! anyway, this reminds me of why i dislike taking pictures with pretty and skinny girls. FML. i is fat and stubby.

time to work off some of those calories... YZ and i decided to pop over to the pool to soak in some chlorine and swim a little!

WHEE! the last time we went swimming together was probably more than one year ago :( #unhealthylifestyle

we went to the indoor pool first! randomly, there was a gym right next door, but whoever goes to the gym while on a cruise must either be super duper health conscious or just a gym rat. SIAO AH. go cruise still go gym? regardless, now you know there's a gym onboard if you're one of those who can't get through a day without gym-ing :S

whooo. i love swimming actually, i just hate to get a tan! how i wish i had an indoor pool somewhere near my house.

yay soak water time!

happy as a duck in water :D

after some soaking and fun indoors, we went outside, to the main Partheon Pool! got many many deck chairs to accommodate many guests.

check out that uber long and tall water slide. i didn't go on it cos i scared later my bikini come out how. LOL. and i didn't want to get my hair wet so i don't need to wash it again hahahahaha #vanityrules

YZ went on the slide, and came splashing down!! looks so funnnnn. he had to queue quite long for his turn lor! i was below, and kept on waiting for him to come down so that i could snap a photo of him. but there was some old man who came down before YZ blocking me, WTH. had to try to crop him away =_=

and then we got a huge scare cos i was supposed to be taking care of the belongings while YZ went to queue for the water slide, and then he was like WHERE IS MY IPHONE??? OMG SCARED MAX.

but it was a stupid false alarm cos he left his phone inside the cabin toilet!!!!! 害我白白紧张for nothing. but thank god it wasn't stolen or something like that :X so peeps, be careful ah, don't leave any valuables lying around in the open while enjoying the facilities/pool!

checked the Star Navigator, and Kungfu Panda 2 was showing at the Movie Theatre! yes, there's a small movie theatre onboard and a few movies are screened daily! YZ hasn't watched Kungfu Panda 2 yet so we went to catch it! i love animated films! and i've watched Kungfu Panda 2 before but it's so funny and heartwarming ;D inner peace..................

after the movie ended at 6 plus, we went for another round of our favorite activity yet AGAIN.... food!!!! dinner time at Bella Vista!! :P :P :P really never hold back during the cruise. free food, whack ah.

for the dinner menu, you get to choose from a variety of appetizers, main course and desserts, 3-course meal! :D

my crusted mushroom salad thingy. anything with mushroom gets my approval

YZ has this really huge portion of Lamb Shank for his main course, he said it was really good!!

i had the Vegetable Roesti with mushroom ragout (YES mushrooms again!!) which was great as well!

dessert course, my Mango Cheesecake, so prettily decorated and it tasted awesome too!

YZ wanted to digest better and went for the Assorted Seasonal Fruits. haha.

YAY cheesecake!!

there was actually a Chocolate Manic Party (or something of the sorts..) but we already ate waaayyyy too much, so we decided to give the Chocolate Party a miss, and went to do our next favorite activity.. lol KTV!!! there are private KTV rooms onboard, but since it was only the 2 of us, we didn't think it was worth it to take up the KTV packages (which come with food and drinks) and decided to check out the Celebrity Disco instead!

at the Celebrity Disco, Deck 13! it's a pub/KTV lounge/disco.

just have to order a drink to get to sing! ho ho ho. the song list wasn't too bad, it was pretty updated! we were surrounded by aunties and uncles singing hokkien songs though. but still had a good time hahaha.

anyway, we were KTV-ing to kill time cos we were waiting for one of the most interesting programme onboard, the cabaret topless show! LOL. it's called Nikita, and strictly for adults only, no kids allowed. super looking forward to it cos i got fetish for naked women. LOL. just kidding. but i like to admire hot bods!!

obviously cannot take pictures inside la. but seriously, ALL THE FEMALES HAVE TO-DIE-FOR BODIES!!! so jealous. i was ogling at all the boobs and tight abs LOL. it wasn't really that raunchy la. just topless, and a lot of dirty dancing! after while you kind of get used to looking at the boobies bouncing around lol. YZ and i were having an ongoing discussion on which boobs were real and which were fake :X

and since it was our last night on board, we went to try our luck at the casino hahahahahaha. OMG LEH. so exciting, we lost like quite a few hundred dollars before winning back our capital bit by bit hahaha. gambling is very stressful (do not try this at home kids) and we went to the casino at like 4 something am and stayed all the way til the next morning, 8am! luckily got win a little bit. play for fun only la! it wast so crowded in the wee hours of the night already, and it's mostly aunties and uncles trying their luck in there. i was quite stoned already by 8am so we decided to retire after winning back our capital + some modest winnings, and had a short nap before we had to wake up for our last morning onboard.

rise and shine again! kind of overslept for breakfast, and i think we only woke up at like 1030! decided to go back to Bella Vista for brekkie cos we like the food there!

my smart looking boy

puffy faced me! obviously not enough sleep from too much gambling =_=

got another seat by the window, but we enjoyed a different view cos we were at the side of the ship instead of at the back!

this time round, we decided to take it a bit more easy with the eggs LOL. the day before already egg overdosed, cannot already. everyday they have a different Asian special, and today it was Nasi Lemak! surprisingly the food is really quite good.

anyway, the third and last inclusive restaurant onboard is actually the Mediterranean International Buffet Restaurant, which we only tried abit on our last day, cos y'know buffet is more troublesome you still need to queue and get your own food!

there was quite a spread available though, and they even have a special Halal corner. lots of Asian food like kuaytiao, congee as well as the usual "International" cuisine like eggs, ham, sausages, potatoes etc.

bread and fruits station similar to the one at Bella Vista!

oh, there's also a small ice cream cafe onboard, Cafe Gelato! it serves ice cream from Swensen's, so it's good quality ice cream! we were exceptionally hungry (too much concentration during gambling) so we ordered an ice cream to share after our breakfast, lol. i think i probably gained 1-2kg easily during the cruise :X

love the colorful tiled walls and cafe logo! so nice to take pictures with.

our minuscule scoops of ice cream, it's like only 2oz per scoop i think ;_; finished it in no time!

love love!

ok i admit it, i just really like the colorful tiled wall so i camwhored more :P

we had to return to our cabin to pack up and check out by noon time, too quick an end to our cruise! ):

last mirror pic. Polkahearts Peterpan Top + HWS from TCL! super love the top.

the state we left our room in. quite neat, la. good bye to our balcony cabin! it was a cozy abode for the length of the cruise!

taking artistic pictures while waiting for YZ who was queuing up to settle the bill and check out. so 爽 to just lie on the deck chairs outside and enjoy the sea breeze, i was almost falling asleep while waiting! anyway, it was really a hassle free process to check out, and we got off the ship in no time at all, back to the Singapore Cruise Centre! so strange to "return back to Singapore" cos it didn't really feel like we were away while we were onboard at all!

that more or less concludes my cruise aboard Superstar Virgo! had such a wonderful time away from work, and simply relaxing and enjoying the facilities onboard! especially with all the fun Spongebob activities too!!! definitely a very memorable experience with my loved one, all thanks to Star Cruises! :)))))

for those interested, the Spongebob At Sea cruises are only available til the 31st December! but of course, regular cruises are available all year round! ^_^ it's definitely gonna be a fun time, especially with your loved ones and family! if you haven't have the chance to experience a cruise before, Star Cruises is definitely your first choice!

found this picture through google. SO CUTE. hahahaha.
hope you enjoyed reading this post!

10 things you want to know about weight loss

2011-12-07T15:11:00.001+08:00

i frequently get readers/friends asking me how i managed to lose weight, whenever they find out that i used to be so fat. bwahaha.

it's no fun being fat, obviously. honestly, i don't know how i got so fat. LOL. cos i was born pre-mature, and was quite skinny until i was like.. maybe 6 or 7 years old? THEN, i really started to get chubby from 8 onwards, and by the time i graduated from primary school at 12 years old, i must have been like horrendously heavy... like maybe 50 ish kg, which is not light for a 12 year old standing at like 150++cm tall!

it carried on over into my secondary school years, and horrors of horrors, i was FINALLY inducted into the "TAF club", short for "Trim And Fit Club" which every singaporean kid knows is a joke, cos you only have to go for "TAF" sessions IF you are overweight, OR very underweight. i was border lining on 58 to 59kg, and finally tipped the scales to hit 60kg in Sec 3 :S

admittedly, i was only "borderline" overweight, for my height of about 160cm back then, but cos my frame is relatively small (i think), i have very skinny ankles and wrists, so i really looked chubby already. can't believe how much in denial i was, cos i thought i had a small face that wasn't so fat, so i could pretend to be skinnier than i actually was LOL.

i remember this really embarrassing incident back when i was 13 (yes, i still remember it until now WTF cos it was so hurting to me), this guy friend of mine was being teased for "liking" me, and he retorted right back in my face and everyone else present, that i was too "fat and ugly" for him to like me. of course, i just laughed it off, but inside, i was feeling really shitty and lousy.

if you've never been fat, you don't know how it feels like.

this was 2003, and i remember putting this picture up a long time ago, and everyone was so shocked to realize that the whale in pink is, yes, ME. freshly graduated from secondary school, and having taken up a part time job at Swensens (HAHAHA FREE ICE CREAM EVERYDAY + BAKED RICE FOR SUPPER) i think i was weighing at like 62 or more -___-

my head so small -_-

fast forward to my poly years, i was still fat, upsized meals at Macdonalds and cup noodle suppers were definitely not helping, despite my continual attempts to "diet", obviously they never succeeded. at my fattest, i think was probably 64 to 65kg? i religiously avoided the weighing scale, so i'm not sure exactly.

family vacation during CNY, 2006.

god... this picture really freaked me out ): when the hard copies of the photographs were developed and i saw these, i was so mortified and embarrassed at how fat i looked, i picked out all the photos of me looking fat, and hid them ): ): ): (would have burnt them if i got the chance, any way to make sure no one else saw them)

i think i must have been about UK12 to UK14? i probably wore size 32 or 34 jeans and it was so hard to find nice clothes that fit me, i just continued to stay in denial, avoided shopping, and purposely tried to stay tan so that i could preteed to be thinner. HAHAHA :X

whaddafuck right. how did i let myself get so fat!

being fat leads to a whole lot of problems, i was conscious about how big i was, and i was secretly insecure about my looks. whenever i took pictures, i would worry whether i looked good in them. and of course, when you're surrounded by thinner, better looking friends, you just feel really really lousy about yourself. you only dare to wear loose and big sized clothes, or try to cover up every part of your body, and your entire wardrobe is filled with black and dark colored clothes.

it's really very depressing how being fat can affect your self esteem and self image and confidence level. hate to admit it, but let's face it. humans ARE superficial. skinny people are attractive. fat people are ugly. and it sucks to be labelled fat, and along with it, ugly.

anyway,

i don't know what came over me, but i remember exactly when i started to try to lose weight for real, the year i turned 20 years old, in May 2007. i consulted a doctor, together with my best friend Tams, and we both were prescribed Reductil, an appetite suppressant drug, which is now no longer allowed to be sold in Singapore. The medication helped to keep my appetite in check, and i exercised five days a week, every Monday to Friday morning, as good fortune would have it, i had a gym right upstairs my work office.

every morning, i would drag myself out of bed at 7am, take the bus down to office, and head upstairs to the gym to run on the treadmill for 45 minutes, (usually covered about 4.5km) followed by some simple stretches to cool down, then i would return to office to start my day at work.

diet wise, i would have an apple or some other fruit for breakfast, then look forward to lunch time, where we would eat at the zi char stall downstairs, and i would either order a beehoon soup and take only half the beehoon, or a dish with rice, and eat only half the rice.

dinner would be fruits, and soup. strictly no carbs for dinner, and if i had to have supper after my late classes, i would have lotus root with pork rib soup. i stayed away from everything sweet or sugary, and also away from junk food (my biggest addiction).

luckily, i didn't have a very extensive social life and i was single as well back then, so i could manage to keep to my regime more easily than i think it would be for me now. after about three months of strict diet and exercise, i lost about 8kg already i think, and on my 20th birthday in August 2007, i looked like this:

i was starting to be able to fit into Levis jeans (you know how some cuts only have sizes up to 29 or 30? i always felt terrible after going into Levis to look for jeans, and trying on the largest size without being able to button it up -_-)

at my skinniest (or so i think la) after my huge weight loss scheme, i was probably weighing 53kg, but considering i exercised 5 days a week, most of the weight was probably muscle! (unlike now, i'm the same weight but flabbier....)

and feeling SO good about myself. finally, i could actually go shopping, and find clothes that fit.

co-incidentally, August 2007 was also when i got together with YZ. LOL. i always tell him that he damn lucky, "kio dio" me before a long line of suitors started forming up. HAHAHA. just kidding la. but it's true, if you're a fat girl, people usually start stereotyping and associating you with negative behavior. like, oh, she's so fat, she's ugly. and she's so fat, she must be lazy and unkempt. thus, male attention will be far and few in between.

CNY 2008, the first CNY i actually found the confidence to dress up.

fast forward and it's been about 4 years since my weight loss, and i'm still struggling with weight issues and how i look, cos honestly, i loooove to eat!!! my appetite is humongous, and i'm not the sort who can eat without putting on weight, i put on weight really easily, and take ages to lose weight, sigh. i'm less stringent with my diet now, but i'm always attempting to shed off a few kg cos i've never actually hit my targeted 50kg, but even with the braces on, it's not really stopping me from eating at all, lol. i am still doing Pilates regularly (twice a week if possible) and try not to snack too much, but it's really hard.

other than feeling good about yourself and looking good, shedding the extra weight is definitely beneficial to your health, being overweight/obese can led to health issues such as diabetes, hypertension, ischemic heart diseases, orthopaedic problems at a relatively younger age than the average people. you feel tired more easily, and run out of breath faster. you won't be able to enjoy the same quality of life as if you were thinner, healthier and fitter.

diet and exercise is still the best way to lose weight successfully and healthily, and i feel that shortcuts usually don't work, or they will result in you losing weight for a short period, and then bouncing back to your previous weight, or worse, cause you to put on even more weight! :( i heard that some people who took weight loss pills such as Reductil (which is apparently now banned for sale in Singapore cos i's not safe for consumption) ended up ballooning back to their original weight. and of course, there are even more serious cases, like the case of Slim10 and kidney failure. it's no laughing matter.

here's my tips for healthy weight loss!

1. stay away from deep fried food, pastries, cakes, and all things unhealthy. no KFC, no Macdonalds, or any other kinds of fast food. any food with high fat content is generally not good.

2. try to drink only plain H20, and lots of it! or maybe Oolong Tea (zero calories!) if plain water is not available. do not take in any empty calories (drinks that are heavily laden with calories but don't actually make you feel full) like Starbucks (uh huh. that toffee nut latte is really very sinful...), bubble milk tea or alcohol that are very calorie dense.

3. exercise! get moving with some simple exercising, like jogging or brisk walking, or join a pilates class or something! i hate exercise, especially jogging, but i can't deny that it really feels great after a jog, the adrenaline rush and post exercise euphoria is really shiok!

4. avoid eating late, or having heavy dinner/suppers.

5. cut down on carbs. try to eat less rice/noodles/white bread cos carbs may be satisfying, but having too much will make you feel lethargic and sleepy, and also, try to keep your carb meals to either breakfast or lunch, cos they'll digest better!

6. find a weight loss partner, so you have someone to motivate you and exercise/diet together! keep tabs on each other, and provide mental and emotional support! don't be like me and YZ, i think we can't control each other and we only end up eating more together. hahaha.

7. increase your fruits and veggie intake! more fibre is always good. other than that, eat more healthy protein such as fish (not deep fried please!) and lean meats, like chicken breast.

8. avoid overeating, stop when you're feeling 50-70% full. it can be difficult, especially when you're out eating with friends! try to get your friends to help you by planning non-food activities, or to dine at places where there are healthier food choices available.

9. reward yourself! set weekly or monthly weight loss targets that are realistic and achievable, and when you've managed to successfully reach your target, treat yourself to a new dress, or a pair of shoes, or anything that makes you feel good!

10. allow yourself ONE small food indulgence per month, or every two weeks, it could be a cup of Koi, or a small pack of chips, just be sure to make sure you know when to stop, and not to allow yourself this treat too often.

i feel like a hypocrite right now sharing all these tips for weight loss, cos i'm feeling really flabby and chubby right now! :( gosh.. can't seem to stop myself from reaching out for food. been overeating like crazy! could be the PMS, but in any case, my diet is going really badly at the moment, and i'm hoping to motivate myself as well by sharing this entry with you all! wondering if i should set myself a weight loss target of 50kg. which i haven't actually seen that number on the scale since i was maybe 10 years old -_-

some readers may comment that i look fine the way i am, and don't need to lose any weight, but you don't see what i see in the mirror everyday: VERY flabby arms and thighs, a jiggly tummy and i think even my face is looking chubbier D: i don't feel comfortable wearing tight fitting clothing, or clothes that expose my flabby arms and thighs. i really don't want to go back to the fat me from 4 years ago, so i need to do something about it!

if you have any tips and suggestions, or your own stories to share and motivate me, do leave a comment and share! desperately in need of diet motivation! ): even if you don't have anything to share, i definitely wouldn't mind the extra encouragement. LOL :D

putting a nice picture to motivate myself :D jia you!