Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The Hatch Tree

Summer up! The Hatch Tree is a new online apparel store co-owned by a friend of mine, so do support!

I wore one of their tops out one evening, to my baby cousin's birthday celebration.


My cute and cheery baby cousin who just turned one! Didn't managed to catch smiling photos of him but seriously, he is really one happy kid. Haha. He can walk already ^^


Ice cream birthday cake!



So anyway, I wore this flare top with a thin green belt. The flare adds some feminine touch to this simple versatile top. I think it is very suitable for work too. (Sorry, I was rushing out and didn't have the time to iron the clothing properly!)


The Hatch Tree also post some lookbook photos on their web. I quite like these two below:




The summer breeze collection is up just today! The tagline was: "Playing with chiffon and colours in the midst of the summer breeze." Sounds so fun and dreamy doesn't it!

You can mention my name "estherxie" to get 10% off. Support my friend!! :D

Check them out now!
Shop: http://www.thehatchtree.com/
FB: http://www.facebook.com/hatchtree

Also, don't forget to add your email address to their mailing list so that you get the latest updates :)

Monday, July 30, 2012

What's In My Closet

Finally finished packing my closet after one week of slogging!

I used to have my own table in the study room but I seldom use it as I am usually at the computer table in another room. Soon, my original table area became like a storage area where I pile my belongings - on the table, on the floor, on the chair.

Over the years my mum nagged several times and I tried to tidy it up but this time it was the grand clearance.

My parents went to buy me and my sister a closet each from Ikea and informed us that they are replacing our tables with it. And so, we proceed to start transferring items from our table to the floor and then to our new closet. Yes, closet. It's not even a cupboard meant for putting things. Haha.

I threw away like 3/4 of my belongings while packing. Lots of useless stuff I've been hoarding over the years! Found several brand new items which I bought a long time back and left there and forgotten. Great find! Haha.

So anyway, since I spent so much effort on it, I felt that I cannot let it go to waste! Must blog!



I quite like my new storage space! It's a wonder how I managed to stuff all my belongings (even those stuff that I used to store in another rack) into this tiny closet. I used to have so many things stacked up!

Breakdown:



Top compartment: Paper bags, perfumes, gift sets, hair gel, etc. Things I seldom need to use, because this part is harder to reach. Haha.


My favorite shelf - the accessory corner! I need these items on a regular basis so everything is eye level :) Placed a 'rack' so that I make use of the space!


I bought these earring racks for $2 each at Daiso. Quite useful!


Totally love these three boxes I bought from Daiso too! The design is so pretty ^^ The pink one is for rings, green one is for necklaces and blue one is for nail polish. At the back that red box given to me from a previous event has an ESTHER label - It's for my hair accessories! The tiny box in front store some ear studs and non-dangly earrings.


Inside the ring box... (Realise I mixed some earrings in too)


Hair accessories.


Some nail polishes in the blue box. I seldom use them because my manicuring skills are very lousy. Only use them when I am unable to slot a visit to the salon into my schedule.


There are 3 bigger boxes on the rack at the right. This light pink one below is on the upper level of the 'rack'. It stores all my bracelets. When I need to choose my bracelet, I just need to pull it out :)


The two boxes below are for storing my bangles and headbands. Just need to pull them out of the 'rack' in order to see and select!


The next level, I have these racks (originally for paper/file usage) to make use of the space. Skincare items on top.


Chunky necklaces on 2nd rack. Other necklaces are in the green box as shown on the upper level earlier!


Last rack are for the stationary and tech stuff like batteries.


At the side, I placed tissues, lashes from Blink.sg (Purple boxes. These are the ones I use regularly and I used the file racks horizontally so that they are easy to slot out) and the pink floral box stores random lashes. A new pack of nail polish lays just there. Haha.


Next level, I have my wet tissues and makeup remover wipes.


Below that are the skin care products which I plan to use after finishing my current supply of products.


And the last shelf stores all my everyday wet wipes! I'm so happy that Zappy sponsored me this huge box of everyday wipes! I love the refreshing touch and cooling effect it has, especially on a warm day! The fragrance is lovely too. Very useful and I bring a pack out everyday!


Lets continue to the left side of the closet! At first I was quite worried about this area because it has no shelving and I was afraid of wasting space. But I got some racks from Daiso and the problem is solved!

Hung some bags just to fill up the space. Most of my bags are in another container. The pink basket holds some random stuff which I didn't know where to put.


Racks again. These from Daiso are really useful, but stacking it up high and putting heavy things are not recommended because it isn't exactly stable or strong. But for $2, what kind of standard do you expect? I'm quite satisfied with it!

Umbrellas and random stuff on top. Then, shavers and hair straightener and a paper fan. Random, I know.


The pink box stores new iphone covers I've yet to use and the white pretty box stores all my eye shades. Next level, the pink container holds small cosmetic items like blushers, eyeliners, etc. At the side are contact lens solution, new contact lens, and a spectacle case from Papier Rever at Jipaban!


These are cosmetic palettes which are quite heavy so I left them at the most bottom rack.


At the middle of the closet, the top rack holds current magazines. 2nd racks are these notebooks and scheduler. Bottom rack are random stuffs. Beside the rack, I placed files and wallets!


A random cup in front of the rack because I did not know where else I can place it.


Below are random stuff which I didn't want to throw away, memorable items and nice cups which I have yet to use! I forgot what's in that brown box behind. Oh, I think I store canvas bags inside.


Lastly, my pretty floral dustbin from Daiso!


My whole closet is so Daiso-ish. Haha!

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Garnet Showroom [Adv]

Met up with Nadia yesterday for lunch and had our nails done at Millys!



Tina did my nails for me. Love the final result! Simple, yet cheery at the same time.


The color combination is so pretty! Close up photo:



Outfit of the day, Hearts top from Garnetshowroom.


The top is so soft and light, perfectly comfy for a sunny weekend! There are also other similar wearable styles available at Garnetshowroom. They are also participating in a flea on 5th August at Scape. All past items are going off at really cheap prices. Remember to book the date on your calendar! If you can't wait, sale items on their web are priced at $5-$10!

Saw these pouches in collection 2. Hope they are selling this at the flea! If not, you can also order it at their web - past collections tab.


Readers may quote 'ESTHER' to get free normal postage for collection 3 and the new upcoming collection!

Remember to add yourself to their mailing list for future updates :)



Web: www.garnetshowroom.blogspot.sg
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/GarnetShowroom
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GarnetShowroom

[Advertorial]

Friday, July 27, 2012

Language

Try reading this out loud. Do you understand what it means?

《施氏食狮史》
石室诗士施氏,嗜狮,誓食十狮。
氏时时适市视狮。
十时,适十狮适市。
是时,适施氏适市。
氏视是十狮,恃矢势,使是十狮逝世。
氏拾是十狮尸,适石室。
石室湿,氏使侍拭石室。
石室拭,氏始试食是十狮。
食时,始识是十狮尸,实十石狮尸。
试释是事。

According to Wikipedia, the meaning in english is this:

« Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den »
In a stone den was a poet called Shi, who was a lion addict, and had resolved to eat ten lions.
He often went to the market to look for lions.
At ten o'clock, ten lions had just arrived at the market.
At that time, Shi had just arrived at the market.
He saw those ten lions, and using his trusty arrows, caused the ten lions to die.
He brought the corpses of the ten lions to the stone den.
The stone den was damp. He asked his servants to wipe it.
After the stone den was wiped, he tried to eat those ten lions.
When he ate, he realized that these ten lions were in fact ten stone lion corpses.
Try to explain this matter.

So interesting how this story can be written with just one syllabus of the Chinese language!

So anyway, I also read up on syntactic ambiguity. It means like how one sentence can have two meanings because of the way it is structured. I'm especially particular about this when writing my blog entries because I don't want anyone to misread my words so usually I'd try to write in the simplest and clearest way I can.

Here are some examples I got from Wikipedia too.

(1) The man saw the boy with the binoculars.
- The man saw the boy with the binoculars (in this case, binoculars is with the boy)
- The man saw the boy with the binoculars (in this case, binoculars is with the man instead of the boy)

(2) They are hunting dogs.
- A group of dogs trained for hunting
- They (predator) are out hunting for dogs (prey)

(3) Free whales.
- $0 whales
- Returning freedom to the whales

(4) He saw that gas can explode
- He witness the gas can exploding
- He saw that the gas has the ability to explode

(5) We saw her duck
- Duck (action/ animal)

(6) Hole found in changing room wall; police are looking into it.
- Looking into it (Eyes looking into the hole / investigating)

Language is so amazing!








Thursday, July 26, 2012

Ramen and Ikea

Had ramen at Ramen Champion at Bugis+ again! LOVEEEEEE ramen so much recently! This particular stall has awesome chashu. Very soft! I put in too much chilli flakes though. It taste good enough without. Next time I shall eat it plain :)



Another stall though, wasn't that good. So many beansprouts! That's why I say, always stick to what you know is good for you.


Before dinner I went to touch up my roots at Bugis Essensuals (Call 6333 0039 for appointment). Had a really good head massage during the hair wash ^_^ Wish I could hire someone to massage and wash my hair at home everyday. Shiok! Haha.


Dress is from Bargain Vogue!

On another day, I went to Ikea with my family. I was late due to work so I only ate at the cafe and left already. Was feeling slightly sick that day but still had the fried chicken wings anyway. Nothing can come between me and my fried chicken wings!!!! Hahaha.

As I was feeling cold, I wore cardigan over my dress which is also from Bargain Vogue.


Check out the full photo of my vibrant floral halter dress below! It's such a lovely dress!


If shopping for renowed brands are way too expensive, Bargain Vogue might just be the right place for you. The owners are constantly on the look out to bring in inspired clothes from various brands, so that girls can continue to look good without over spending on the actual product. Bargain Vogue is here to bring you the pleasure of shopping without the worry of burning a hole in your pocket.

All the apparels are instocks except for those under the pre order tab. Everything is below $25 yet the quality of their clothes are still maintained at the best they could find.

There is now Free Regular Islandwide Mail! Get Free Registered Postage for purchases above $35! Be sure to check the right box during checkout. *Promotion ends on 31st October 2012*

To get an additional 10% discount, please quote ICEANGEL!

I saw plenty of items going at $14- $16 only! Prices start from $12!

Like their FB to get more updates: http://www.facebook.com/BargainVogue
Shop: www.bargainvogue.com

Sign up for an account to be added into the loyalty and rewards programme. Credits will be given for every purchase. 1 credit = $1. These credits can be used to offset your future purchases!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

SBA2012

During the weekend, I attended the Singapore Blog Awards 2012 organized by Omy. I'm a finalist for Best Individual Blog! I've taken a look at some of the other finalist blogs and each have their own individual style. Almost everyone is a strong contender of the title. Compared to them, I'm probably more "anyhow" and lacking in seriousness. Haha.

So anyway, happy to be a finalist! My photo in the brochure! ^_^



And on the screen!



So anyway, of course I didn't win la. But I would like to thank every single one of you out there who spent some time to vote for me! I don't think a lot of people bothered, so that makes every single reader who did more special :) Nice of you to do that for someone you do not know at all! Also, thanks for the friends who voted for me even though I didn't mention and thanks also to Randy who surprised me by rallying votes for me on his blog. Haha. What a kind gesture!



I took a photo at the photobooth. The dress code was Superhero. Take it I was on undercover shift that day.


Was famished after the event! We head to eat La mian at this restaurant which the guys raved about.




I had the chicken soup. Soup was superb, though the rest is just okay.


Took pictures!


My bag is from MissQueenie.com This is also going to become one of my 'daily' bag, just like the previous one I got from MissQueenie.com too! Love the simple design.


My outfit is from SMITTEN at JIPABAN.COM!

Told ya they have lots of cute cropped tops. It comes with a black inner mini dress but I chose to pair it with this mint maxi skirt also from SMITTEN! I loveeeeeee the maxi skirt! It's does not make you look frumpy and the material is light and comfy too. There were 3 colors available and I finally chose this one.  I really like my outfit that day, I had to take plenty of photos!


Photo with Isaac and Benjamin!


Don't know why they both look at me together. So funny! But I like my face here, so I'm gonna post it up anyway. Haha.


Adding Randy in~


Have to say this again - I major love my outfit! Get it from SMITTEN at JIPABAN.COM!