Saturday, March 30, 2013

Cover My Bagel + Giveaway

Ever since I had an Iphone, I was obsessed with collecting cases and changing them occasionally. Because I changed them so much, it also means I had to find affordable ones as well.

I particularly love delightful cases like this one that I just changed into!



The color is so pretty and the graphic is so adorable and smiley and makes me happy!

I also got myself a phone pouch in the same color to go with it. Don't you love the pouch?? So cute!!! It's a bear by the way. They have bunny, sheep, cat too, which are all equally lovely. I got all these from COVERMYBAGEL!




COVERMYBAGEL has a wide variety of cute iphone cases and pouches for Iphone 4/4S and Iphone5 at extremely affordable prices. (The pouch is only $6.50)

You may check them out on:
SHOP: www.covermybagel.com
FB: www.facebook.com/CoverMyBagel
Twitter: www.twitter.com/CoverMyBagel
Instagram: @covermybagel

Do follow them on the various platforms to be the first to grab when COVERMYBAGEL updates with new designs!

And to reward you for following COVERMYBAGEL, I'm giving away the bear pouch to ONE lucky winner! All you have to do is follow COVERMYBAGEL on FB, Twitter or IG! :) I'm going away for a short trip early tomorrow morning, so I will come back on Wednesday to select the winner. You have more chances if you follow all 3 platforms, or post a message with @covermybagel on twitter/instagram! Good luck!

**If you want it now now now, you can just buy it from www.covermybagel.com! **



Thursday, March 28, 2013

Flowers On My Nails

Did my nails at Milly's again!

Don't they look lovely? Florals and polka dots on alternate fingers.


I was telling the manicurist that I want a nail color that can last longer because I do not think I would be free to go back to the salon any time soon. Was about to do glitter (it is usually more durable than normal color) but I had an idea to do nail art on light pink base after seeing the pattern on the manicurist's own nails. This way, I get to have pretty nails, yet even if they chip, it is not obvious because the base color is almost the same as my natural nail color. You all can do this too if you need your nails to last longer than usual! Of course, get Gelish. You know since the time I 'converted' from normal nail polish to gelish, I almost never ever do normal nail polish anymore. Why? Besides from the main point that it lasts longer, it takes only 3 minutes to dry under UV light.



Milly's have a wide range of colors to choose from, I always decide very long!



Recently Milly's brought in this Gelish nail strengthener. Now you can harden your weak nails even when you do Gelish!



Make an appointment with them before heading down!

Bugis Street Level 2 - 63384137 (I usually get my nails done with Tina or Yen. If you are doing special, complicated gel extension designs, I heard Gina is very sought after. The rest are equally good too actually, but I don't remember their names haha. If you are going for fast, ask for Tina.)

Far East Plaza - 67376723 (Here, I get Chloe to do my nails. Everyone at the Far East branch is chirpy and friendly.)

Web: http://www.millys.org/

FB: http://www.facebook.com/millys.beauty


Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Steamsia

My instagram account (user: theiceangel) is usually more active during weekends because that is when I have lots of yummy food to take photo of! During weekdays I had to make do with the lousy cafeteria food, so of course I had to feed myself well on weekends!



Heard of Steamsia some time back but did not manage to try the food there till a month ago. Check out the TV set on display! Yes, this is yet again another eatery banking on the retro wave. (More about the old mobile phones further down this entry!)



Sunday, March 24, 2013

Korean Accessories

I am loving my latest arm candy - this pastel blue-pink braided bracelet. I love the gold line that twirls around it too!



If you are keen to get one of these too, I got them from COVETEDSG. It was part of their recent collection which featured Korean styled accessories. Something about Korean accessories are that they are all so feminine and lovely.




Here's a collage of the pretty ones from the same collection. Many more not in this collage!




Besides accessories, COVETEDSG also feature other little things like phone covers, pouches, and interesting lifestyle products.

This set of polaroid skins caught my eye! Each set contains 20 pieces to beautify polaroids, and is a cheaper alternative to pre-printed polaroids.



There is an ongoing giveaway where you can win the EIGHT beauty items listed below! Simply like the CovetedSG Facebook Page to find out more!

(1) Jimmy Choo Eau De Toilette 4.5ml
(2) Pink Moustache Necklace
(3) Skin Food's Water Berry Gift Set
(4) Crab Tree & Evelyn Lavender Eau De Toilette 30ml
(5) Bonavoce Mascara
(6) Diamond Nose Makeup Palette
(7) Sleek Mini High Shine Lip Gloss
(8) Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balm


SHOP AT COVETEDSG : www.covetedsg.com/

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Just Give Me A Reason

Two nice songs to share today.



Watching the drama "Marry Me" made me see things a lot clearer from a bystander perspective and I'm slightly afraid that sometimes no matter how much effort you put into some things, some things are just not meant to be, some things are just written in the stars.

Bf says that he hopes the next drama I catch is a comedy instead. Haha.

- - - - - - - - -



Sometimes I feel stuck. I feel that I'm not moving forward. I feel like I'm drifting by day to day. I feel that I'm on the wrong route. I feel like I'm lost. But recently little things came to pick me up and these little things encouraged me :) So I will stay positive and take one step at a time. Keep the good coming.

Sometimes I think that it's better
to never ask why

Funny how the heart can be deceiving
More than just a couple times
Why do we fall in love so easy
Even when it's not right

Ever worried that it might be ruined
And does it make you wanna cry?
When you're out there doing what you're doing
Are you just getting by?
Tell me are you just getting by by by

Where there is desire
There is gonna be a flame
Where there is a flame
Someone's bound to get burned
But just because it burns
Doesn't mean you're gonna die
You gotta get up and try try try
You gotta get up and try and try and try

Friday, March 22, 2013

Makisan





Before our movie at Plaza Singapura, boyfriend and I decided to have lunch at this cute place called Maki San. We were able to design and decide the ingredients for our sushi roll! First, we tick the items on the order sheet and the staff will roll our sushi accordingly. So interesting!



Very satisfied with my 'Little San' ($6.90)! I thought long and hard before I decided on my final combination! Let me share with you the items I chose, so if you are a safe-eater like me, you can select the same items!

Seaweed
Japanese Nori
Roasted Mushroom
Shredded Chicken
Cheddar Cheese
Tempura Crunch
Teriyaki Sauce

Very yummy!! Actually I thought that I won't be full but it was actually very filling!
The seaweed was however, quite difficult to bite into and each piece was too huge to be eaten as a whole.



Boyfriend ordered the 'Mega San' $9.90, which had additional choices for ingredients. Size of the final roll was almost the same as 'Little San'.

I liked mine better, but if you are curious, following are his choices:

Traditional Nori
Healthy Brown Rice
Tamagoyaki
Parmesan Cheese
Steamed Ebi
Silken Tofu
Tempura Enoki Mushroom
Smoked Duck
Turkey Bacon Bits
Yuzu Honey Vinaigrette

Felt that his one was overpowering with all different strong flavors.


I liked the Miso Soup which we also ordered. It came in a cute cup! Love the packaging at Makisan! The sushi rolls are all in beautiful boxes like the one I showed in the first photo of this entry.




Outfit breakdown:

Accessory: Necklace from www.lyraminn.com and gold bangle
Top: Black lace blouse which was a gift from Bf's mum
Skirt: Florals from www.jipaban.com
Shoes: Black wedges from Bugis Street at $15
Bag: www.missqueenie.com





Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Recipe to share: Black Pepper Prawns

I love cooking and experimenting with new recipes!

I am definitely not the kind that can whip up a good dish anytime anywhere. Most of the time, I stick to easy recipes with simple steps. Like the one I'm going to share today!

Cooking is not that difficult actually. (Cleaning up is the difficult part. Haha)

Try out the dish below and let me know what you think? Ready within minutes, can be eaten with just rice too! :)

In the past, my black pepper dishes are always "cheat" methods. I just fry meat with ready-made black pepper sauce from the supermarket. But after seeing so many black pepper recipes using crushed peppercorn, I decided to try that. I must say that it really tastes better than ready-made sauce!




Final result is a dish that looked like a lot of hard work but in actual fact it's easy peasy!

Substituting oil with butter also eliminates the need to add salt for this dish!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Nuffnang Is 6!

Saturday, March 16, 2013

When there's no way out. Love is the only way.

你要相信爱你的那个人一定会抓线绳的另一端,不管绕多少湾,依然会找到你.

Recently I have been watching "我要嫁出去" on XinMSN Catch Up TV, and I just want to share how much I love the drama!

The storyline is relateable, pace is just right, and I totally love the characters! Jesseca Liu's acting is very fresh and commendable here, managing to portray the less-than-perfect personality in a really like-able way. She looked totally gorgeous in the drama too! Actually, she reminded me of someone I know.

Pierre Png, as usual, acts as the romantic guy. He seem to always get the "perfect lover" roles! In some scenes I totally went "awwwww...." I would totally fall head over heels in love if I were in the female lead's shoes.

Watching the drama had me thinking about a lot of stuff. Some parts made me lose hope in men (seriously, it's hard to swallow the fact that such terrible jerks really exist), some parts made me positive that there are men who truly care about their partners. But, how many of us are lucky enough to meet a good man?

Over the past year, I thought a lot about how so many of us just settle with an average someone and have an average relationship and lead an average life together. Maybe just because we are afraid we cannot find better. Or maybe there isn't a strong enough reason to leave a safe nest. Or many for other reasons that I cannot comprehend. I see some women (a lot of women from previous generations) stick with extremely flawed partners, try to stay contented based on merely one good point which is not even worth the many other flaws.

I totally agreed when Tommywee tweeted this last month:
"Unless it's a fiery, mad, extraordinary love, everything else is a waste of time."

I also nodded my head when Rainbow Hong said this in the drama: "You were still in the rational stage. You didn't love her enough." 

I understand that sometimes it sounds really 没事找事做/身在福中不知福 to ponder over making a correct choice when we are with someone who is "Mr-Good-Enough", but not "Mr-Amazing,-Just-What-I-Always-Wanted.". But I think that nothing else matters more in a relationship than to feel truly in love.

However, I also found some reason in these words below from 王沺裁.
“不一定要等到最好最好的出现,因为最好的出现的时候,你不一定是他的最好。”

But on the other hand, if you keep feeling that something is missing in the relationship, should you just ignore that feeling? Well, I'm a believer in speaking out about such issues. Like what Rainbow Hong says in the drama, "忍?你有没有听过得寸进尺啊。你越忍男人就越离谱。要忍到什么时候,忍到结婚生小孩,忍到六十岁啊? 百忍成金 (There's a saying, 'Tolerance is a virtue'), 白白忍,成全狐狸精!"

In one of my past relationship, I once had to suppress my thoughts because the guy didn't like girls who thrash problems out to discuss. At that time, I was thinking, if I had to tolerate any unhappiness I feel all the time, wouldn't I be very miserable for the rest of my life?

插班生 《逞强》 - "我要嫁出去" 插曲


I once felt like the lyrics of this song. I'm sure many of you once felt this way too.

有點煩 是有點煩  我習慣沉默對峙吶喊
駕駛盤 隨他去轉  免得說我刁蠻
有點難 真的好難 我們得獨立同時委婉
多脆弱才算適度的勇敢
聰明人對愛很柔軟 內心很強悍  現在懂是否已太晚
是逞強或堅強 委屈都自己扛
我以為那是一種退讓 是一種善良
我站在你身旁 冷靜得像堵牆
把淚水都抵擋 遮住自己傷口的真相
最後誰有心思體諒 (多希望有人會體諒)
我的趾高氣揚 (我的不愿投降)
是逞強或堅強
越隱藏 越恐惶 越是防不勝防
越設防 越逃亡 淪為沉默羔羊
為何不能夠好好愛一場 公平著不需要誰投降
是堅強或。。。逞強

Then, there is also the issue about how tiring it is to play little mind games with each other. I think every girl prefers to be able to be open and comfortable with her love one, but sometimes reality is just so zzz. Truth is, only a small bunch of men cherish partners who treat them well. I see that most relationships are very unbalanced... There's always one side putting more effort into the relationship. And of course, if there is a choice, who would rather be the vulnerable one who loves more?

"人们常说不要等到失去以后才懂得珍惜。只是他们不懂,珍惜后的失去其实更痛苦。"

I guess it's okay if the relationship is 40:60 if it cannot be 50:50.
But anything more unbalanced than 30:70 are headed towards failure.

Back to the drama, I really like the OST! They match the story very well too. I shared the sub-theme song earlier in this entry. This one "明天的自己" By SHE is the theme song.



你希望明天的自己
像一道彩虹 還是剛淋過雨
你想完成的 那些憧憬
比抱著回憶流淚有趣有意義

你希望明天的自己
有微笑眼睛 還是半夢半醒
一直在原地 那兒也不去
也就永遠看不到 新的好風景


Thursday, March 14, 2013

Blue Glitter

Had my nails done at Millys (tel: 8383 5395) again over the weekends!

Went to the Far East Branch and had Chloe to color my nails blue and add some light blue glitter gradient. Adding glitter at the tip makes it more difficult for your nail polish to chip, which in turn lets your pretty manicure last longer.



Enjoyed the relaxing weekend out with bf. It has been quite awhile since I last had a good rest. It's like day in day out I'm always in a rush to complete stuff and never found time to laze around. Very reluctant to sleep early at night because to me it's time wasted. But then every morning I would be really tired and regret not letting myself have more sleep. Have been more diligent in my skin care routine recently but I doubt it is going to be of any use if I continue this bad sleeping habit.


My tank top is from the latest collection at www.lyraminn.com
Really love the prints on top. If you are getting this or something else from Lyraminn, remember to quote "Estxie5" for 5% discount ok? :)

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Randoms!

Another random entry of photos taken from many different days.

Met up with Ben after work for dinner last week! Can't believe he hasn't had Din Tai Fung's drunken chicken before. It's so yummy, I can have FIVE plates of it on my own (if someone else pays the bill lah. hahahah. One tiny plate $7+ leh, tsk.)



Sunday, March 10, 2013

Delilaroselabel

Advertorial:



Yes, I cut my a few inches off my hair! I'm glad I did because I feel so much more refresh now!
Haircut by Bugis Essensuals - Call 63330039 to book an appointment with my stylist Wayne.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Rabbit Carrot Gun



Rabbit Carrot Gun. What a random name! Fidelis brought us to this place for our latest Mystery Makan session, which also doubled up as a little birthday surprise for Nadia.




Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Falling Down

Yesterday started out quite awful.

I woke up, and then decided to rush through my morning routine so that I am able to catch the bus early.

See, the neighbourhood bus that heads to the MRT station from my house comes at a stupid interval of 15 - 20 minutes. This bus goes around my neighbourhood and everyone takes it to get to the MRT station. I remember when I was younger, this bus came regularly at 5 minutes interval.

So anyway, that's not the point. In the past when I was earning more, I used to always take the cab from my house to the MRT station because it takes only 5 minutes while taking the bus to the MRT station sometimes takes up to 30 minutes or more (inclusive of waiting time). That's ridiculous because I could have spent the extra minutes doing more important stuff.

Once, I woke up after my sister left home. I bathed, dressed up and head out. Took a cab to the MRT station and boarded the train. Few minutes later, my sister came into the same cabin. So you see how much difference it makes when you take the bus versus taking the cab? My sister was exclaiming, "You were still sleeping when I left the house but I ended up being later than you!!!"

So anyway, recently I try to wake up earlier and take the bus instead to save money. Sometimes I fail so I end up taking the cab anyway. However, back to yesterday, I did manage to leave home early and actually, I could have caught the bus and still reach work on time. If not for that fall :(

It was raining heavily when I left the house. Wanted to wear my non-slippery slippers but it was nowhere to be found. Didn't want to end up being late so I just wore the regular slippers at my door.

While I was walking to the bus stop with my umbrella, I saw the back of the bus at the bus stop. Tsk, bus came early. So, I ran. And then I fell on my bum. On a puddle of water. With rain splashing all over me. In front of the rubbish dump. My wrist hurt. My bum hurt. My waist hurt. The impact was quite painful and it feels quite drama cos the heavy rain was still splashing on me and one side of my slippers flew out -_- I remember being shocked for a few seconds before standing up and still trying to run towards the bus stop with one slipper on my hand, hoping I still get onto the bus but nope, the bus vanished already :-(

I seriously wanted to cry at that moment. Falling would have been fine if I manage to get onto the bus. But nope, I missed the bus. Next bus was more than 10 minutes later, which means I'm late for work. And I was already late the previous day so it's not nice to be late two days in a row...

I felt so sad!
Like, I purposely rushed through my routine and was so happy I left the house early, but one fall is all it takes to make me miss my bus and make me late. Like all my efforts gone to waste!

The only thing to feel lucky about is that I didn't get any outer wounds on my skin. I only injured the insides I think, because it's still painful. Another thing is, lucky the wet mark on my dress wasn't obvious due to the material of the dress I wore.

Sometimes when unfortunate things happen to me, I try to think on the bright side, like giving myself reasons why it happened and how it's actually a lucky thing in disguise.

For example, the day before, I missed the earlier bus again and was trying to get a cab as usual to get to the MRT station but in the end I saw so many people waiting for cab by the roadside and the bus was just arriving. So, I took the bus instead and decided to be a little late for work instead of waiting for the cab which might take even longer. I was feeling quite happy that I managed to save money by not taking cab.

When I reached the MRT station 15 minutes later, I realize I forgot to bring my work laptop. Tsk! I felt so suay immediately cos I wasted 15 minutes of my time when I was already late! End up I had to wait at the taxi stand to take a cab back home and then take the cab straight to work. So I spent a lot more on cab. Such a waste of money! However afterwards, I felt it was lucky that I didn't manage to get a cab in the first place because wasting 15 minutes on bus is better than wasting even more money on the cab to get to the MRT station only to realize I need to head back!

So, my point is, always try to find little luckiness in unfortunate events. I realize that sometimes the lucky stuff would not have happened if the unlucky scenario didn't brought me to it. I feel very upset when things go bad for me but days later I would realize that this "bad turn" led to something good for me which may never happen if things had gone the way I initially wanted it to.

I always have a lot of suayness in many little things in life. But I believe all this little suayness will be used as exchange for good big things for me :)

Monday, March 4, 2013

Too sensitive?

This might be a sensitive topic. Ahem.

I believe everyone of us knows at least one friend who is over-sensitive. As in, the kind of people that over-analyse everything and think negatively of every silly remark or action unintentionally made by other people. This is when they start holding a grudge and misunderstandings occur.

Everyone of us have different sensitivity levels. It is important to be understanding towards people like that. I know it's not easy! I have experienced being frustrated with friends who make a huge fuss out of nothing. But, we all know that sensitive people aren't sensitive on purpose. It might be due to self-esteem issues or other underlying reasons. And maybe, sometimes it might be us being too insensitive? It is important for us as friends, to talk to them and try to clear any misunderstandings.

Well, at least we can easily get rid of an over-sensitive friend if we really really really cannot stand it. But how do we deal with sensitive skin? Everyone of us have different sensitivity levels for skin too. Today, I want to share a solution to a skin sensitivity issue that has been affecting me in recent years.

If you look at my photos closely enough, or if you have met me in real life, you would have noticed immediately that I have severe dry skin. The dry skin makes it very difficult for my makeup to settle properly so sometimes I have uneven or patchy tones.

Not just dry, my skin is sensitive + dry too! I used to have eczema on almost all my fingers but luckily it has gone away. Occasionally it will still appear on one or two fingers when I do dusty things like housework or packing stuff. I also itch when I touch detergent or bleach. But I still have to do housework sobs.

Fingers are fine now but eczema still appears every now and then on my eyelids. It is especially sensitive when the weather is humid and eczema rashes start forming and actually looks quite disgusting in real life. This is also why I seldom post up close up photos of my eye. I really have no idea how to edit away the rashes! You can see in some of my photos that at times my eyelid looks somewhat weird. That's because I caked a thick amount of concealer and foundation to cover up the rashes before I put on my eye makeup! Some people have seen me without makeup and commented on the redness on my eyelids.

Atopic eczema often appears as dry, itch and inflamed areas on the face and body. Dry and sensitive skin is sometimes caused by eczema, a common skin condition that affects one out of 10 persons at some time in their life, regardless of age. This also means that dry and sensitive skin is a very common woe among many people!

Whenever I buy skin care products, I always buy hydrating and moisturizing ones because I think that dry skin is my biggest problem. It always feels uncomfortable when the itch acts up! But now I know, I first have to control my skin's sensitivity too! I'm glad I was introduced to Curel Moisture Body products, which help to counter both issues!

Here’s a little introduction about Curel first! Curel is Japan's No.1 brand for sensitive Asian skin. Endorsed by over 3900 dermatologist in Japan, it is the Japanese skin care brand specially formulated and clinically proven to comfort dry and sensitive skin. It is suitable for all skin types!



So, what does it do?



I learnt that the loss of Ceramide results in our skin becoming more sensitive. Curel helps by replenishing ceremide into our skin! Curel has the highest concentration of Ceramide in the market, so Curel is definitely the best solution to your sensitivity problem!

I gave the Curel Body Moisture Milk and Curel Body Moisture Cream a try.



Here's more information and my take on the products!





The texture of Curel Body Moisture Milk is light and spreads easily! It feels pleasant on my skin and leaves no sticky feeling at all! It was such an ease to use as well.

If you have very dry skin, Curel Body Moisture Cream is recommended as it is more intense.



It feels airy-light on my skin! I feel it being absorbed really well and skin indeed felt smoother and more supple afterwards.

Extended use will show improvements in skin sensitivities, less redness on skin, more supple, and moisturized.

I just did some packing on a really warm day a couple of days back and I'm surprised by how much Curel has helped to control my skin sensitivity reaction to humidity! There was less irritation as compared to before.

You may get the Curel Body Moisture Milk 220ml at $22.80 and the Curel Body Moisture Cream 90g at $28.80. They are available at selected Watsons and Guardian stores and National Skin Centre!

You may also redeem free samples to try at the Curel Facebook page!




With Curel, everyone can stop being "too-sensitive"!



[Advertorial]

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Watsons Beauty Day Out / Spring Colour Report 2013


Last week, I attended Watsons Beauty Day Out /  Spring Colour Report 2013, also held in conjunction with its Watsons' dynamic brand revamp (check out the new logo!).

The event featured four main areas - cosmetics, hair care, skin care and inner beauty. We were introduced to upcoming products from brands that are available in Watsons. Definitely an interesting event for all the girls!

Photo with Jacelyn against Tony&Guy backdrop. Many girls who chase after beauty focus a lot on cosmetics, skin care and health supplements but neglect haircare. Actually haircare is also very important in the world of beauty and fashion.



Friday, March 1, 2013

Line Play



I have been receiving a lot of Line Play requests recently so a couple of days back I gave it a try! It was quite laggy on my phone but I finally completed the game!!! Haha. No lah, there isn't any 'level' or challenges... To me, the fun was in decorating my house! And I super love Line Play because it's so easy to earn gems. I didn't even have to do stupid stuff like making my doll do random stuff to get mere few coins. I basically just "invited" everyone on my list and I earned tens of thousands immediately. I recommend that you start playing early so that you have more non-player friends to "invite"! It doesn't even matter if they play or not because you get 1000 gems each the instant you click "invite".  I finished furnishing my house in just awhile and there are just too many pretty items to choose from! I couldn't resist a lot of them and attempted to squeeze them all in. Haha.

Here are some screenshots!
** (Update: 2 Mar 2013: Just did a little bit of "renovating" again today... Hehe. Updated with new screenshots!)

Overview (Click to see full view) Click ok!! Cos very nice, must see more close up!!! Hahaha.


Room:



I really love my doll!! Isn't it adorable?? ^_^ You can customize your own and there is a wide variety of looks.

Now that I'm done decorating the house, I'm not sure if there's anything else fun in there....