Tuesday, June 30, 2015

1 year of braces!

It has been 1 year since I got ceramic braces!

Here are some photos documenting the process!


June 2014
This was when I first started. Protuding and slightly crooked teeth.


3 months later, September 2014, the teeth were significantly straightened! I already like how it looks, just that the extraction gap is still there. Time to move my front teeth in!


Dec 2014


Fast forward 6 months in June 2015, the extraction gaps are closing up, and teeth pushed in alot from where we first started!


Still many months to go before I get to remove the braces, but I like how the progress is going! My side view looks much better now and I can smile without showing my teeth already :)

Can't wait for the end result so that I can show you all the difference before and after braces!

***

My ceramic braces are done at TLC Dental Centre, by Dr Enrica Sham.

9 Penang Road #07-27
Park Mall
Singapore 238459

Phone: (65) 6338 6639
Website: http://www.tlcdental.com.sg/aesthetic-braces/


Feel free to email me or leave a comment if you have any questions about my braces journey~! To read all my entries featuring my braces journey, click HERE.

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Line Pop Up Store at 313 Somerset

Hello all! I have been rather busy recently hence the lack of regular updates! Just came back from my trip to Taiwan and I'm so excited to blog about the holiday. Will need time to sort the many photos I took!

So anyway, Line Friends Pop Up Store is here again after the successful launch last year! This time it's at 313 Somerset and I went visited earlier this week. I am a big big big fan of the Line chat app and its characters, especially Brown, Cony, and Sally :)




Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Pretty Nonya Kueh Lapis

I had always wanted to make Nonya Kueh Lapis so I researched for recipes online.

Instead of the usual rainbow colours, I did a pink/white version, and I only have 6 layers instead of the traditional 9 layers because my pan is not high enough. Haha. 


My layers aren't very equal, but still pretty lah! Lots of hard work put into steaming this ok! I thought it was going to be easy but I ended up quite late into the night because I was afraid it would be understeamed so I steamed each one for around 10 minutes before pouring the next layer. Then, I also made a terrible mistake of forgetting to check the water in the wok..... It dried up within the third layer or something but I didn't notice till the fifth layer. I was still wondering how come I hear hissing sound and smell weird stuff in the air! While I was frantically trying to pour water into the wok after realizing my big mistake, I accidentally poured quite abit on the kueh lapis pan!!!!! Which means my fifth layer is half kueh mixture half water. Sighhhhh and I was already almost finishing by then! If this ruined the kueh lapis I would be very sad and I don't want to restart everything so I just continued steaming and pouring the sixth layer on top hoping the fifth layer would turn out fine. In the end it came out okay, but abit hard the next day. Must be because I was steaming with no water lor. But at least the taste is nice! And it looks pretty. No more trying to steam kueh lapis myself liao! Just buy from outside easier and yummier lah. Haha. 

Saturday, June 20, 2015

My new puppy!

Awhile back, bf randomly bought this box of "microblocks" for me. So one fine afternoon, I decided to try piecing them together in case he ask about it and thought that I never appreciate his gift and throw one side! Haha.



The blocks were tinier than I thought! Luckily, there was an instruction sheet else I really won't know how to build the little puppy!


Final product! Quite cute hor? But not sure why there are leftover blocks?


Side view! The puppy is quite light and fragile though. It feels like I just need to knock it and it will fall apart already. Haha. But it was quite fun building it! I don't mind another one! Hehe.


Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Catching up with Social Media

All my friends know that I am a slowpoke when it comes to Social Media.

When I first started blogging, most online influencers are bloggers. There weren't as many bloggers during those years because updating blogs required a certain amount of dedication, but many people were too lazy to maintain one. Then came twitter which was quite fun for awhile, and more convenient for mobile users. Now, we have more and more influencers who gained their initial base of followers on Instagram/Youtube, instead of Blogs. As you can see, the peak period of blogs seem to have passed.

When Instagram first came out, I wasn't very interested until mid 2012 when Isaac and Ben very randomly signed up an account for me while we were having dinner. I was hooked afterwards and I am very happy that I didn't missed out on all the fun due to my stubbornness to explore new social platforms!

Then now, there is Snapchat......

I have downloaded Snapchat many times and deleted it many times. I just don't see the point in Snapchat. Recently, many influencers have been active on it so I gave it one more chance lor. But I didn't find myself snapchatting nor viewing videos much.

Here's why.
1. There is no "explore" function to check out other snapchatters. I could only add by username, which is only possible if I was following someone on instagram and that instagrammer posted a shoutout. It would be great if I can check out who my friends are following, just like instagram.
2. There was no way I can add someone without first "previewing" their content.
3. It is quite pointless to view a long video of somebody else's mundane day especially those that has no highlight nor meaning. Maybe I am not following enough interesting people?
4. Videos get deleted after 24 hours... For me, blogging and instagramming is a memory pot for me. I dump all my thoughts and photos, then maybe when I'm thirty or something, I can read back and remember the moments. So sharing videos on Snapchat is kinda not my thing - I might as well share my videos on Youtube if I wanted to, then at least years later I still can check out what I did today!
5. Plus, it eats up lots of mobile data! People say use wifi lo. But I only use phone when I'm on the go and not connected to wifi. If got wifi, I would be on the laptop already.

And this final point was the trigger point to why I don't feel motivated to post videos anymore.
6. There was a period of time I tried posting more videos and I realize that some videos vanish before they get posted. Imagine watching a movie and certain parts of the storyline gets cut off -_- And also because videos to be posted on Snapchat can only be taken using Snapchat camera, it means that when such things happen, the videos cannot be repost from my camera roll too. Imagine I see my favourite celebrity and decided to snapchat the moment, and it vanish?? Then the moment is really gone forever! Hence, if it's a special moment, I feel safer using the phone's main video function which saves into my camera roll folder. But that also means that special moment doesn't go up on Snapchat, only mundane unimportant ones.... Which brings back the point of... what's the point?

I have friends who told me that it helps them to be updated about their friends' day. I guess that's one of the point, but nah.... I guess I prefer the traditional way of catching up - text/meet.

Maybe I will love Snapchat in the future just like how I misjudged Instagram at first. So anyway, that's Snapchat. But why am I not that active on Instagram, Dayre, Facebook, and Twitter as well?

I really don't know how other people do it, but I find that updating all these social accounts on the go is very much a hassle.

I really cannot multitask! When I am out and about and if I want to instant update on Dayre or Snapchat or Instagram, I will have to stop whatever I am doing and concentrate on posting. Then I won't be able to truly enjoy the moment already. Lol. Like if I see something nice now, I will quickly take a photo but wait till tomorrow when I have nothing to do already then post and think of caption. I guess other people have faster fingers and brains? Haha. So actually instagram is latergram for me. I know posting on Instagram is actually so much easier and faster than blogging.... But I am very picky.... I want to post only nice photos on Instagram. Hahaha. Like many people, Instagram is a gallery of "highlights", only good and pretty things go there. But for my blog, everything goes on it, even the bitter bits.

I think most people find Dayre useful for times when they are on the transport on the way home, etc. But usually when I have time, I would be on LINEchat or Instagram first, then by the time I am done, I have no time to update Dayre anymore! Haha. And I don't like to post halfway. So for example if I am blogging this on Dayre and I reach my bus stop already, I will get down the bus and sit at the bus stop to finish my story before I move on. Hahaha. Another reason I don't use Dayre much is because I am not a very mobile person. I don't really like typing on my phone and I like to talk alot and explain alot when I have a thought so typing on a laptop keyboard is really much faster and easier for me!

I like Dayre, as it is a convenient alternative to blogging as it's easy to use and mainly mobile-based. But if I am already blogging, then how do I differentiate what I post on dayre and what I post on my blog? I guess people who post on Dayre mostly curate their blogs like how I curate my Instagram? But for me my blog is my main overall outlet which will have everything that my other social media accounts have, and everything that I don't post elsewhere - both nicely edited photos and ugly low-res photos will end up here.

As an online influencer, of course I felt worried about not catching up on the latest social platforms but I guess inside me, I am still very much a blogger over other things. I love blogging long-form and I don't find it tiring or troublesome at all. If I had a splendid day or if I go travelling, I prefer to  post a complete entry with words, instead of just uploading afew photos. And I am very lor-sor one! I need to have space to write long paragraphs of words. Haha. Imagine if I wrote this on any other platform, I think I would have ended at the first sentence.

So anyway, I guess every influencer has their own base of followers who like them for different reasons. I am a very average person - not pretty enough for Instagram, not funny enough for Youtube, not interesting enough for Snapchat. Unlike many people who probably have more influence on other social media platforms than on their blogs, I realize that bulk of my followers are still my blog readers. I have more people connecting with my blog entries than anything else I post on any other platforms. Haha. I guess I'm just a terrible instagrammer/snapchatter/dayrer/etc? I will continue doing what I do best and I feel very thankful that I still can do this after so many years thanks to the silent supporters who continue to read day after day.

But still, the rest of you can continue to follow me elsewhere:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/theiceangel
Dayre: www.dayre.me/estherxie
Twitter: www.twitter.com/theiceangel
Snapchat ID: theiceangel

Lots of love!

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Boufe




Thursday, June 11, 2015

Sushi Kou - Affordable omakase

It has been quite some time since our last mysterymakan session! This time is Nadia's turn and she brought us to have affordable omasake at Sushi Kou.

Omakase is commonly used in Japanese restaurants for a meal where the chef uses their experience and knowledge to select and prepare the meal for a customer without specific directions. 

I have always wanted to try omasake but most Japanese restaurants offer them quite expensively and I didn't know there are places in Singapore serving them at below the usual $100++ to $300++ per pax price range!



Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Unveiling SG50 Funpack

I recently got to know that every Singaporean and Permanent Resident (PR) household will receive a SG Funpack, while NDP spectators will receive a NDP Funpack! (Households can expect to receive instructions on the collection of the SG Funpack through mail by July 2015.)

This year's funpack is a tote bag, with 50 unique designs from the NDP 2015 Funpack Print Design Contest which invited Singaporeans to submit designs based on what they thought made Singapore special. Of the over hundred entries received, some are submitted by children, pioneers, celebrities and professional graphical designers!

The one I received was by Colin Seah, 42, Director of Design. I thought it's quite interesting how SG50 was represented by building blocks.
"The inspiration behind our design is Singapore’s constantly changing cityscape and how it reflects the nation’s progress. We have decided to honour this in our design, illustrating a perpetual state of reconstruction, which is also a reflection of our firm’s contribution to shaping the built environment of the country. We wish Singapore a happy 50th, here’s to being really thankful for all the blessings we’ve enjoyed as a nation and people."



Monday, June 8, 2015

LYRA MINN Midyear Mega Sale - From $5 onwards!




Sunday, June 7, 2015

Laneway Market










(Floral dress c/o Earthdoll, $5 bag from a long time back, $6 wedges from Bangkok)

Got to know about Laneway Market some time back when photos of the cafe kept appearing on my Instagram feed, so we visited it for brunch one fine afternoon! Bf loved the spam fries! I think next time I can just feed him with luncheon meat every day for dinner and he will still be very happy. Haha.

After brunch, we went for KTV and because we were early for our reservation and none of the normal rooms are ready yet, we rented one of their mini rooms at $5 for 1 hour, which comes up to $2.50 per pax. So cheap right! Instead of sofa, the tiny room consist of two high chairs infront of a console, which is actually enough!


I sent this photo of the room to my sis, and she replied "lol, desperate choice ah?" hahahah. After one hour was up, we "upgraded" back to the usual sofa room which we initially booked.

Friday, June 5, 2015

DBS Marina Regatta 2015 & Scape Marketplace

Last weekend, I was invited to DBS Marina Regatta and I brought bf along! We went straight to the DBS Food Village by Savour for lunch first before exploring the other activities at the event.


Yummy food from Table at 7, Brussels Sprouts, Bistro 1855, with refreshing orange juice from Brewerkz.


Couldn't resist a pretty ice pop afterwards! The design on my thumb is so apt because it's also watermelon! Haha.


After lunch, we saw this milo truck from afar so we walked towards it. Afterwards, I realize I cannot find bf so I went to queue for milo myself. Then I spotted him from the opposite side also queuing for milo! Hahaha.


Some shops selling merchandise~ It was such a sweltering hot day!


Some other activities also include rock climbing and flying fox, movie screenings, cosplay and also a dance challenge which was quite interesting to watch! Check out www.dbsmarinaregatta.com if you are interested to find out more.


Went to watch some of the dragon boat races against the beautiful marina skyline.


DBS Marina Regatta 2015 will be around for the next two weekends - 6/7 June and 13/14 June.


Wearing one of the dresses I bought from Bangkok!



Afterwards, I went for my IPL session while bf went to cut his hair. When waiting for bf to be done, I went to Cineleisure to walk around on my own and afterwards, the newly revamped Scape Marketplace! It was nice checking out the new curated vendors with wide range of apparels, accessories, beauty products, and much more. Also a center stage where a band played music!

I got a floral passport holder from this stall. So pretty!




Thanks Scape, for asking me down to shop!


Lots of affordable items, I got all these for just $48! So awesome! ❤️ I also shopped some more at Scape Underground and bought two new swimwear ^_^


After shopping, we found this shop called "Pong" selling coconut icecream! Really missing the one I had in Bangkok so much that I decided to try this out! IT IS VERY YUMMY! $5.50 for a scoop of coconut icecream and mango sorbet, with three toppings and coconut meat and some juice. Fantastic.


Bf did some quick search and brought me to Noodle Place Restaurant at Orchard Gateway and we had these for dinner. What a great find! I was torn between abalone noodles or wanton noodles and eventually got the latter, which was yummy! Fresh, plump prawn dumplings are always good and the tasty hot soup was so comforting after a tiring day. Bf's pork rib horfun and the soya chicken also earned a thumbs up from both of us. The service crew were very efficient and polite. Will be back again! Wanna bring my family to try this place too :)



Follow me on www.instagram.com/theiceangel for pictorial updates and www.dayre.me/estherxie for snippets of my life! Recently everyone's on snapchat too so you can view my videos there as well~ my id is theiceangel :)

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Hirocon - Your Contact Lens Experts

One of the biggest regrets I have is not taking proper care of my eyes when I was younger. I got my first pair of glasses at six, when I was still in Kindergarten!

It wasn't such a big deal until I became a teenager and realize that most people deem girls with spectacles less pretty than those without. Luckily, I discovered contact lens! I was initially quite reluctant and afraid, but after much persuading, I finally tried on my first pair of contact lens at 17!

I was recently introduced to Hirocon, the first shop in Singapore that specializes in the sales of ONLY contact lens! Founded in 1988 in Japan with branches situated in Toyohashi, Hamamatsu and Toyama, Hirocon wishes to provide safe contact lens wear for every individual by providing qualified optometrist with expertise in eye health.



I like how clean and cozy the shop was, especially with excellent service and traditional Japanese hospitality which Hirocon strongly believes in. Besides Japanese speaking staff, some of the staffs can also converse in English, Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, and Malay, to cater to a wide variety of customers.


First, I had to fill up a form with my particulars and the staff asked me more about the type of lens I was looking for. I requested for colored dailies, so she brought out some menus for me to choose my desired brand and color.


So many to choose from! I chose one of the vivid blue ones.


After that, I was led to the Eye Test Room!


I was very impressed at how spacious it is, unlike the usual tiny rooms in other optometry shops. At Hirocon, a comprehensive eye exam goes far beyond providing the clearest vision possible. It also includes careful evaluation of your eye health with a clinical eye test setting and latest equipment. During checking, many components of the function and health of your eyes are evaluated including: External and internal ocular health, current vision and best corrected vision.

Optometrist routinely diagnose many ocular conditions including:
- Dry eye syndrome
- Diabetic Retinopathy
- Macular Degeneration
- Conjunctivities
- Cataract
- Eye allergies
- Eye infections
- Keratoconus
- Styes and Chalazia



Lockers to keep my belongings.


The optometrist led me to the basin area to remove my existing contact lens, with all the things I needed - clean running water, new lens casing, contact lens solution, mirror, tissue, etc. I had some difficulty removing my lens as usual, and the optometrist offered to help me remove!


After the lens were out, the optometrist ran several tests on my eyes and shared with me more about my eye health. It was interesting to learn about how some lifestyle habits are affecting my eye.




My favourite part was the degree checking! Anyway, I was told that the previous optical shop I went to prescribed me a higher degree than I actually had! Using contact lens with degree that is too high is actually bad and straining for the eyes.



After finding out my accurate degree, it was time to try on the lens I selected earlier!



After putting them on, the optometrist checked my eyes again and noticed that the lens were not the right fit for my eyes. (I have used this brand before and no wonder sometimes it feels quite uncomfortable when I move my eyes!) Not all brands are suitable for everyone, so she recommended me to try another brand instead.


After trying a couple more brands, I finally settled on these beautiful grey lens from a certain brand and it fitted much better! I am glad that the service of giving professional eye advice enables every individual to be prescribed the most suitable lens, protecting my eyes from unnecessary damage using incompatible lens.


There were so many brands to choose from, I was really spoilt for choice! Hirocon has the widest-range of contact lens carried in store in Singapore, with stock available for Myopia, Cosmetic lens, Astigmatisms, and Presbyopia.


So much effort into ensuring quality, life-long primary eye care for you and your family! Highest standards of care is also maintained through state-of-the-art instrumentation and continuing education to provide comprehensive eye health care specializing in diagnosis and management of ocular diseases and visual disorders. They have 4 qualified optometrist, 2 graduated from Singapore Polytechnic (Diploma in Optometry) and 2 are UK graduated with BSc in Optometry from Cardiff University and have up to 15 years of experience on all kind of eye related issues and professional eye care services.

The next time you are looking to purchase your contact lens, do visit Hirocon located at 277 Orchard Road #B2-28 Orchard Gateway! Located centrally, it's convenient for everyone!

The operation hours are 11:00 ~ 21:00 daily. You can call 67023777 or email orchardgateway@hirocon-net.com for more information! www.hirocon-net.com


(advertorial)