New in Town: Nescafe Dolce Gusto MILO!

Remember back in school, when there were Sports Days and carnivals? And most nostalgic of all, that MILO truck doling out little paper cups of MILO on those hot sunny days?

I don't think there is a kid in my era that didn't grow up drinking MILO  be it at breakfast or at bedtime, and til this day, YZ and I always enjoy a cup of piping hot MILO in the morning, and the rich chocolate malt drink is always a delight, warming our hearts and filling our tummies.

Imagine my great excitement and pleasure to find out that there is a brand new flavour added to the NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto® . And it is none other than that perennial favourite: MILO!


Tadaaaaaah! My beloved MILO in capsule form.. So gleeful that I feel like a little kid all over again! Don't lie, I know you like to fiddle with cute coffee (and tea, and now MILO) making machines too. 

I've loved my Dolce Gusto since I first got it last year, but it's usually just for the occasional coffee when I feel like I need a caffeine booster. But now with the new MILO capsules, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna become addicted to using the NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto® machine daily, because MILO is just that guilty little pleasure that YZ and I enjoy all the time!

It's super easy and fun to make a cuppa hot piping MILO with your NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto®!  These are the two capsules you need for one cup of MILO: One brown and one white capsule!

My Dolce Gusto® machine all ready to make my MILO for me!

All you have to do is to pop in first the brown capsule (containing the MILO powder blend), followed by the white capsule (which contains the milk powder), and you get your hot MILO made in a matter of seconds! 

Here's my secret tip: I like my MILO extra "gao" so instead of using the recommended water level of 3 bars for the milk capsule, I set it to 2 bars instead!

Trust me on this, it makes for a super satisfying cup of MILO!

So.. What's so special about the NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto® MILO  Apart from it being super fun to use.. The NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto® produces a cup of MILO that is so velvety smooth and rich, topped with a creamy milk froth that makes me feel like I'm sipping an expensive cup of latte! This is what I call ATAS (high-class) MILO!

I love my NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto® MILO!

And of course.. The NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto®. Definitely getting more love and brownie points from me with the new MILO capsules :D

Was at NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto®'s special event at Tangs, Vivocity, last week, too!

Apart from the new MILO capsules, there are many many other flavours available for the NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto® system!

And just for the event, there were even specially concocted beverages such as Gingerbread Latte, Caramel Cappuccino and more!

Little snacks prepared for us by the team, those MILO macarons were da bomb!

I had a couple of these Bacio hazelnut chocolates too.. Diet is not happening.

The new series of NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto®, Mini Me, it has even won prestigious design awards for its sleek design!

The smart-looking barista preparing my caramel cappuccino for me.

Check out that topping of milk froth! Something you definitely can't achieve without help from the NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto® machine.

My Caramel Cappuccino!

The Caramel Cappuccino was good, but I have to admit it.. The MILO capsules have totally stolen my heart! I requested to be barista for myself, just so I could make my extra "gao" MILO.. :P

Fun factor +100 points!

Making it my way: extra gao :D :D :D

My cuppa, all ready ;)

Looking super happy with my NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto® MILO!

Look at that thick layer of milk froth! I love how the hot Milo glides down my throat so smoothly :)

Check out this super adorable plushie that had us girls all squealing, a NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto® MILO cushion! Wish I could bring it home. There are different coloured ones for different flavours, and you can get one when you buy 5 boxes of NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto® capsules, including 1 MILO!

Group shots with the other lovely bloggers who are all as happy as I am about the NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto® MILO!

Here's the interesting part!

Think you’re “stylo” enough? Strike your most “stylo” pose with our new NDG MILO®, and 5 lucky winners could stand a chance to walk away week with a S$50 NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto® goodie bag each! What’s more, ONE lucky winner will stand a chance to win a free NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto® and goodie bag!

This contest is being held on Facebook and Instagram, and you can enter this contest by simply posting your photos of yourself being STYLE MILO, with the #StyloMILO hashtag so your entries can be found! Be creative.. Think out of the box ;) For more information, click here!

My entry ain't very Style Milo, but hey, I'm making my Milo in style! Having too much fun, I made four of these tasty beverages in a day hehe.

The contest period is 4 – 25 April, and winners will announced by 30th April 2014, so go forth and submit your entries!

(Winner Announcement and Prize Collection Winners will be picked by NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto®.)


Cheers with the NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto® MILO! ;)

xoxo

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Brunch at Common Man Coffee Roasters

Life has been hectic, but there's no stopping me when it comes to food and cafe-hopping!

Common Man Coffee Roasters has been on my to-visit list for some time now, and so I finally got the opportunity to visit, and at the same time arrange a meeting to confirm our wedding photographer! :D

I seriously haven't been doing much about the upcoming wedding at all, and my wedding planners and styling team and even my bridal studio are asking me when I'm free to start discussing stuff with them :( Shucks. Obviously not a Bride-zilla (yet) cos right now I'm just too pre-occupied with other more pressing matters -.-

But anyway.. YAYYYY! We've decided upon our actual day wedding photographer so that's one thing settled!

Back to brunch at Common Man Coffee Roasters, it's located along Martin Road and I find it pretty inaccessible without a means of your own transport :/

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Common Man Coffee Roasters

#01-00, 22 Martin Rd

Singapore 239058

Tel: +65 6836 4695

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I do like the interior decor of Common Man Coffee Roasters, which has a very rustic air with lots of wood accents.

The menu at Common Man Coffee Roasters isn't extensive, but it took a long time to decide what I wanted to have, because the food all sounded really good! Haha. Breakfast is served all day, which is a plus point! I hate missing breakfast hours.

The obligatory flat-lay shot.

A shot of expresso that's accompanied with.. a miniature bottle of soda? To dilute the expresso if it's too "gao"! The coffee at Common Man Coffee Roasters is apparently highly raved, but since I'm not a coffee connoisseur, I'll have to take other people's word for it!

The hot chocolate that YZ ordered: very thick, rich and chocolatey.

Organic Eggs Benedict ($24) that came with braised ox cheek, this was mine! I loved the tender ox cheek and I enjoyed the dish but it was quite heavy on the hollandaise and egg yolk, which was a bit too much after awhile.

French Toast ($18): This was good! The toast was just the right amount of soft and fluffy. It tasted especially delicious with the ice cream and berries compote!

Pulled Pork Bun ($24) that reminded me of bakwa because it had a sort of savoury sweet marination. The crunchy coleslaw and cucumber accompanied the pulled pork and bun well! The pulled pork was also well-cooked and wasn't tough nor stringy.

I prefer the French Toast over the similar Common Man Pancakes ($19) cos anything tastes better with ice cream haha and also I found the pancake batter too dense for my liking. I prefer fluffy pancakes and one of my favourites is the one at Habitat Coffee.


Churros with chocolate sauce ($12), I've been craving for churros but haven't yet found one that I really like (in Singapore, I mean)! So far, close contenders are Max Brenner's, which is a hit-and-miss sometimes, and the one at Grub! Common Man Coffee Roasters' version is okay, but nothing to rave about. Too doughy and soft for me, I prefer it with a thicker and crispier crust.

SO rare that I can get the boy out for brunch, believe me. He's not a huge fan of expensive eggs and toast. Heheh.

Overall verdict for Common Man Coffee Roasters, I wouldn't go back to the place again just for a meal, because it is really quite pricey. Dollar to dollar, I very much prefer the food at Symmetry, which although is equally expensive, but I feel is more worth the moolah! The bill for four came up to like $120? I felt like we were paying more for the ambience than the food itself.

Ron's long arm makes for a great four-person selfie! Oh yes, if you're wondering why Evonne was there, it's because she's actually the person who introduced Ron to me, because Ron was her wedding photographer as well! :D

I've so glad to have confirmed Ron as our AD photographer, and very excited too, because Ron's works are really exquisite! He has had years of experience and even shot for celebrities (like 黑人 and 范范?! Wah the wedding photos got Lee Hom, I swoon) and famous personalities! Deciding on a wedding photographer to me is one of the most important aspects of the wedding planning, because the photos are the captured memories that'll stay with you for a lifetime, and it would be terrible if they weren't well-taken :( I'm secretly very worried and afraid of all the candid photo taking because I actually feel quite awkward in front of the cameras and I have the worst kind of candid expressions.

But I am sure that Ron will do an amazing job, and I hope I'll look damn chio on my wedding day. *fingers crossed* What I really like about Ron's works that I've seen is that he manages to capture the moments so well, a lot of raw emotions and "feel"!

Ron's photography website: EYEDEAS Photography!
Or look for EYEDEAS Photography on Facebook here.

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Headed to Salon Vim to get my hair pampered with the Keratase treatment: I do it regularly at least 1-2 times a month to maintain my healthy tresses. It is really a must to take care of your hair especially if you subject it to frequent chemical services like I do.

There are different booster caps for different purposes, like for colour protection, or strengthening!

Super love for the soft and nourished locks after treatment! I also touched up the colour: check out those feathery purple and violet highlights at the ends of my hair!

Outfit of the day, dressed entirely in Dorothy Perkins from head to toe :)
Even the pretty clutch and silver heels are from DP as well

A close up of the details. Purple is obviously one of my favourite colours :D

If you've been missing my updates, do look for me on Dayre and Instagram, which I try to update with a little something everyday! I also apologise that there has been quite a number of advertorials here of late.. Sometimes all the ads come at one go and I have to adhere to the client's timeline :( I still try to keep all posts (advertorials or not) relevant and interesting! :D

Working on my next BKK post with the super give-away.. Wait for it!!

xoxo

Lifestyle Talk: Blackmores Sleep Sound Formula!

Did you know:

Humans spend approximately 30% of their entire life sleeping?

That is 1/3 of our lifetime, and that means if I live to be 100, I would have spent 30 years of it sleeping! D: What a strange way to put things into perspective.

Sleep is probably one of the most disregarded aspect of health, and I recently found out that 20% of adults and children in Singapore have sleep-related disturbance! Looks like I'm one of the statistics too :(

I usually have issues falling asleep at the right time, and the earliest that I'm asleep is usually 12 to 1 am! Due to my erratic work schedule, I tend to stay up very late since I'm out and about the entire day busying about doing a multitude of things: I'm very much of a multi-tasker and YZ has complained more than once that I have way too many things on my hands :(

From attending events, meetings with clients, doing photoshoots for TheVelvetDolls, discussing about samples with my suppliers, going for choir rehearsals twice a week... And when I get home late at night, I still need to blog, edit photos, and reply emails! Stressed much.

My mind is constantly in a frenzy most of the time, thinking about the million and one things on my to-do list. This makes it very hard for me to settle myself down for bed on many occasions. Can't help it sometimes, even when I try to sleep earlier, my brain and body refuse to listen to me -.- I end up feeling sleepy in the afternoon and it really limits my productivity. I always feel annoyed and extremely lethargic whenever I don't get enough sleep, too.

The worst thing is even when I do manage to get my 7-8 hours of sleep, but wake up in the mornings still feeling tired, because I wasn't able to get a good night's worth of quality sleep! I tend to toss and turn around in bed a lot and wake up in the middle of the night.

Does anyone else experience the same issues as me?

Did a quick google search and read up on the importance of sleep, and I think it's time for me to start committing to being more healthy, while I'm still relatively young. Because lack of sleep can lead to a slew of other problems, which I certainly want to avoid!

Here's some reasons not to scrimp on sleep, from Harvard Health Publications:

Learning and memory:
Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.

Something that students could take note of: staying up late to mug may have adverse results instead!

Metabolism and weight:
Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.

Yikes.. Is that why it's so hard for me to lose weight?? :( Because I don't sleep enough?

Mood:
Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.

Like I mentioned earlier.. My lack of sleep really limits my productivity and gets me all tetchy and irritable at times too! Sigh.

Cardiovascular health: 
Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.

Disease: 
Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.

I certainly don't want to have healthy issues due to lack of sleep! :(

Sleep related disturbance could be due to stress, depression, age, lifestyle or medical issue – but the result is always a reduced quality of life.

I wasn't aware that there are actually health supplements to aid healthful sleep, until I was told about Blackmores Sleep Sound Formula! Of course, Blackmores is a familiar name to me, but sleep supplements are something totally new to me!

Blackmores Sleep Sound Formula is a safe and natural formula that helps support the body’s natural ability for good quality sleep. It also leaves you refreshed and rejuvenated the next morning.


Blackmores Sleep Sound Formula contains the following ingredients:

• Valerian extract reduces time taken to fall asleep
• Lemon balm provides a calming effect and relieves restlessness
• Magnesium helps healthy muscle function

The fact that it's all safe and natural really appeals to me!

With required regular intake, Blackmores Sleep Sound Formula can:

• Enhance sleep quality naturally
• Help users fall asleep, sleep soundly and wake up feeling well-rested
• Improve well-being after sleep

All that's needed are 2 tablets, 30 minutes to an hour before bedtime!

I've only just started on my Sleep Sound Formula supplements, but I am also making sure that I'm getting my quality sleep with a healthier lifestyle: trying to avoid working late on my computer at night, or even just mindless surfing Instagram on my phone! Sometimes, a glass of warm milk or camomile tea will also help to calm the senses, and allow you to fall asleep better.

Trust me, you will feel the difference when you get a well-rested and quality night's worth of sleep! Just got my first good sleep in a while and I feel a lot more refreshed and rejuvenated! Not to mention, it helps my dark eye circles and puffy eye bags too :P


Blackmores Sleep Sound Formula is available for $39 (30 capsules) at all major pharmacies and departmental stores in Singapore!

And for the late-night owls like me, there is an IQ quiz scheduled every 12 midnight (from Mon 31 Mar – 7 April) on Blackmores Facebook page for you to crack your brains and win prizes!

There will be 5 sets of Sleep Sound Formula to be won every night for 8 consecutive nights. First 5 people who email the correct answer to promotion@blackmores.com.sg will win a bottle of Sleep Sound Formula!

So if you're tossing and turning in bed at midnight, you know where to go to, you might win yourself a bottle of Sleep Sound Formula! :)

More details of the contest can be found on Blackmores Singapore Facebook page.

For more information on Sleep Sound Formula, do visit Blackmores website as well!
Sleep well, and stay healthy, folks!

xoxo

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Beauty Talk: Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence with BB SPF50 PA+++

When it comes to lazy or rushed mornings, slapping on my essential skincare and makeup routine can turn into a huge chore! Besides the lack of time in mornings, I also dislike piling on too many products on my face as it makes my skin feel uncomfortable and sticky especially after a long day out.

This is why I've always been a fan of BB cream, because it saves so much time! A great BB cream is able to do so much for you with just one product: Superior skincare benefits, good coverage, and (most importantly for me), sun protection!

However, as most BB creams usually come in SPF30, I would still apply a separate sunscreen before my BB cream just to make sure my face is well-protected from the sun!

Biore is one of my favourite drugstore products when it comes to sun protection, and when I learnt about the new Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence with BB SPF50 PA+++, I got pretty excited, because I love the Aqua Rich UV Whitening Cream SPF50+++ from the same UV Aqua Rich Watery series, which I reviewed previously!


The new Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence with BB SPF50 PA+++ not just protects with SPF50 PA+++ (I highly recommend sun protection of at least SPF50 PA+++ because of Singapore's crazy sun), but is able to provide a natural coverage for your skin which also doubles up as a brightening makeup base!

With its high SPF50 protection, I no longer need to apply a separate sunscreen before my BB cream anymore :D Less layers means less time and effort spent in the morning!

In addition, it also contains ingredients to help with oil control and hydration, which are the main concerns that many girls are worried about.

After trying the Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence with BB SPF50 PA+++, I have to say that I really like it!

The benefits of Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence with BB SPF50 PA+++ include:

Superior long-lasting sweat-proof double UV block
The high SPF50 PA+++ helps to provide long-lasting UV protection to prevent against skin-aging UVA rays and skin-burning UVB rays!

Weightless texture with BB coverage
Light, watery texture spreads and blends easily without any sticky feel so skin feels fresh and comfortable. Can be used as a makeup base.

3D brightening effect
Contains soft and fine brightening powder to instantly enhance facial contours and conceal pores and lines!

Long-lasting oil control yet hydrating
It also contains oil control ingredients for longer-lasting makeup, as well as hyaluronic acid and citrus essence for hydration!

Gentle and mild
There is no fragrance and no mineral oil so it will not irritate sensitive skin.

I love the lightweight and watery texture because it is so easy to spread and feels like next to nothing on the skin! My skin feels so fresh and comfortable as there is no stickiness nor oily after feel. Once the BB essence is blended in, you can see that it doesn't look cakey or heavy at all. Exactly how I love my makeup to be like!

There is only one shade available for the Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence with BB SPF50 PA+++, but it blends into my skin well and doesn't look mismatched against my skin tone.

One application of Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence with BB SPF50 PA+++ is enough to help even out the complexion and reduce the appearance of my pigmentation and redness, even my mole looks a little less obvious after applying the Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence with BB SPF50 PA+++! I especially love how the subtle brightening powders help to give radiance to my skin without making it look oily.

Another shot for comparison, you can see that the Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence with BB SPF50 PA+++ looks completely natural, but manages to make my skin tone brighter and more even! :)

Just enough coverage for a regular day out, and if I need extra coverage, I can layer on another product without any issues because it is so lightweight in texture. I also like how the Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence with BB SPF50 PA+++ dries off to a matte velvety finish! It doesn't feel sticky nor uncomfortable on the skin.

For great sun protection with coverage and brightening effect, the Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence with BB SPF50 PA+++ is really effective and extremely convenient to use!

Now, one product is all I need for sun protection and coverage at the same time! Also, the tube is so light, making it super portable and easy to carry around wherever I go :)

Face all made-up with Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence with BB SPF50 PA+++, my makeup does stay on better, with less oiling up of my skin and keeps me looking fresh the entire day.

Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence with BB SPF50 PA+++ retails for $19.90 at all major super/hyper markets and pharmacies.

As always, I can't over-emphasise enough about the importance of sun protection, and with the added convenience of BB essence and coverage, I think that Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence with BB SPF50 PA+++ is a great addition to my vanity table! For ladies looking for a fuss-free product, Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence with BB SPF50 PA+++ will be perfect for you ;)

Find out more about Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence with BB SPF50 PA+++ on Biore's website here!

xoxo

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