Showing posts with label Singapore. Show all posts

A Birthday Staycation @ 5 footway.inn Project Bugis

5 Footway.inn @ Bugis

I think it was roughly at start of this year or last year that the idea of a hostel staycation popped into my mind. I've been bitten by the hostel staying bug since my last hostel stay in Korea. I truly enjoyed my evening hanging around the common area till late just to talk to people from different parts of the world.

Personally, I like staying in hostel compared to hotel because of the warmth cosy feeling compared to a cold lonely room. Being Asian, I practically hate seeing any mirrors around me when I sleep and hotels have mirrors hanging right in front of your bed half the time.

View of our en-suite double deck room.
My girl friend picked 5 Footway.inn @ Bugis for out staycation over the weekends. It's a pretty short walk from Nicole highway MRT station and they had good directions provided on their website. I wanted to surprise my girl friend who was waiting in the room by not letting her know when I was arriving but she had a better one waiting for me instead! She customised a dozen lovely cupcakes from Blackbird Bakery. I love how the little miss twins were made into a 3D figurine.


My favourite fondant little miss twins
The rooms were smaller than what I originally expected but it was clean and nice. We explored the area for a bit to check out the common areas within the hostel. They were clean and cosy, just the way I like them to be. I guess conversations didn't quite happen as the people who are staying here are more in their own groups.

What I didn't like was that we were near a pub and the music penetrated the walls. I'm a pretty light sleeper and the thumping of the bass pretty much kept me awake till 3-4am.

Kitchen/open porch common area on the 2nd floor
living hall common area on the ground floor behind the reception area
I had a few cafes pinned out around the hostel area and we decided to go around visiting them. You can click into the post below to read more about the cafes:
It's also been a long long while since we had late night movies outside and considering that taxis are so expensive nowadays, we decided to have a late night movie at Bugis Filmgarde. Oh! I have a habit of bringing instant noodles (has to be the chilli crab Nissin brand) to places we stayover everytime. I don't know why but the idea of bonding over instant noodles while you're staying in a hostel/hotel gels really well with me. Might be the fact that I enjoyed camping during school days; I still do but I would like to sleep in comfort now. It was instant noodle party that we had a chance to make use of the common pantry area for a while.

If you would like to save some transportation cost (e.g air or ferry tickets) and dislike staying in hotels, this is an alternative way to do a staycation for 2D1N. Trust me, I'm already wanting to do this again in another hostel like Alder or Bunc @ Radius. Have fun! :)

Food Review: Symmetry (Bugis)


Food: ★★★☆☆ 
Ambience: ★★★
☆☆
Service: ★★★☆☆

Symmetry is a very popular place over the weekend. Be prepared to wait for at least 45 mins if you didn't make a reservation. Alternatively, you can check out their quieter neighbour, Artistry, on the next road. As we didn't make any reservation on Saturday, we decided to come back again on Sunday morning for breakfast.

We were back on Sunday without reservation and yes, the place was already beginning to fill up. Having a choice of either the counter or outdoor sitting, we chose the counter seats. The cafe was designed to have a rustic and laid back/casual feeling. Do note that noise level can rise when it gets really packed since it is a small space.

Flan & Latte
Depending on what time you're there, the menu differs for brunch and dinner. Overall, the food that we've ordered was decently good. The truffle fries were great and it came in a mini bucket. I ordered Flan and a latte to start my morning. Upon googling what Flan was, I realised that it was suppose to be an open pastry or sponge cake containing a sweet or savoury filling. What I ate looks nothing like that, so I'm not sure why it was called Flan. Prices are a little steep and I might come by here in the future when it's a little less crowded.

Food Review: Miam Miam (Bugis)

Miam Miam -  A French/Japanese Fusion food place

Food: ★★★☆☆ 
Ambience: ★★★
☆☆
Service: ★★★☆☆

I remembered passing by a new cafe/restaurant last week, and ta-dah... This place became our dinner location on one weekend during my birthday staycation.

I was quite sceptical of their Matcha drinks initially as I had really bad ones at Hoshino Coffee at Plaza Singapura. They proved me on wrong and I enjoyed their Matcha latte. :)

We ordered Miam Miam Spaghetti and it was yummy. I felt that their Soufflé items could be improved as I find them a little thick instead of being light and fluffy. Overall, it was a good meal and slightly to the pricey side. Since there was a promotion of 20% off the total bill, the prices were justifiable.

Chocolate Soufflé @ Miam Miam

Food Review: Artistry Cafe (Bugis)

Counter at Artistry

Food: ★★★☆☆ 
Ambience: ★★★★☆
Service: ★★★★☆

Artistry is a pretty little cafe owned under Chemistry where they would modify their little space to host events and exhibitions. I like how quaint and quiet this place was compared to the noisier & buzzling neighbour, Symmetry. The barista who served us was really friendly and he even told us how Artistry happened. We went with the barista's recommendation on food and it was really yummy. The truffle fries was a little salty but it was very flavourful, so were the mini burgers.

Barista's food recommendation and the coffee had an interesting name.
We stayed for a good hour before we left. That's how comfortable we were in the cafe and my girl friend and I had a good time catching up! I would come back here again and this time, I would make a reservation with them before coming. :)

Beauty Review: Hair Colouring & Treatment at Salon Envy


It is always a bet when you are purchasing from Groupon or any other deal sites. I would usually do a search to see if I can get any review from customers before purchasing them. There will be times that there are no reviews but the location is so near to where you are... and thus this is a chance you're giving them.

That chance happened to me and I decided to place my bet on Salon Envy as I needed to touch up my roots. I always hated having grown out black hair against my light brown dyed hair. I believe a lot of you would agree with this. I proceed to make a booking and purchased the deal with for $58 soon after. It includes hair colouring with a 2-Step Hair Repair Treatment (worth $280). It was a rather good deal.

Ambience: ★★★☆☆
Overall Service: ★★★☆☆

Before: You can see my dark hair roots sprouting out
On the appointed day, I entered the salon and was the only customer then. Seeing that there wasn't any other customer in the store can be quite nerve wreaking. It usually means 2 things, either you're early or it's bad. I can't back out now so I sat in the chair and prayed that everything would turn out smoothly. People started streaming in when I was half way done with my hair. It wasn't super crowded it was a good number to make me feel comfortable.

A China lady attended to me the whole time and I did finalised my hair colour with her feedback. She was friendly and her feedback were useful. For the whole time, she didn't try to hard sell me anything and I really appreciate that. I hate it when people tries to hard sell me while I'm trying to enjoy the service.

Her skills wasn't top notch but I do like her because she checks on my hair like every 5 minutes to ensure that the colour was absorbed properly. She can be a quite rough on hair combing but I'm fine with that as long as the final look was what I looked for.

After: Love the dark look
After the whole hair session, I was actually very pleased with how my hair looked like. I chose a dark ash brown and it turned out the way I wanted to it. She also ensures that there isn't an odd patch between my black hair and the blonde ones. The treatment was wonderful and it leaves my hair smelling like chocolate for about 3 days (had to resist eating my own hair). I don't know the brand that they used but I like how soft my hair felt after the whole treatment.

I didn't take a shot of the price list but you could call them to check. All I remembered was that the price for their services are rather reasonable and affordable. Would I go back there? I would, if you had to ask me so. They lived up to their Groupon service and I hope it continue to stay that way.

Salon Envy Address:
46 Peck Seah Street
Singapore 079316
Tel: 6221 1220 or 9722 1220

My Gua Sha Experience for Relieving Stiff Neck


If you are here looking for a way to relieve your stiff neck, you've found it. Be prepared mentally that it can potentially be a very painful experience. No pain, no gain.

I've never got such a bad stiff neck in my life before that lasted me for 3 days before I sought for help. I couldn't turn my head to the left and my neck was aching from staying upright. Instead of recovering, it just got worse each day until I couldn't take it any longer.

Working at the heart of Chinatown sure has its perks as there are quite a lot of TCM Practitioners located in this area. After a colleague's recommandation, I've decided to drop by the place to seek help. I was forewarn that it will hurt like crazy but until I tried it, I never knew how painful it will get. Getting rid of my stiff neck was all I cared at that point.

I've picked Gua Sha as my choice and that was literally the start of my 30 minutes endurance. It was the most awakening massage ever and I have never been through so much physical pain before in my life to know fully that I'm very much alive. Well, I was said to have a high tolerence of pain but this is just extreme. You can say that I paid money to be physcially abused.

The abused paid off when I started recovering the next day. I went through a series of painful massage to unknot my stiff muscles, followed by Gua Sha and finally another massage before the whole session ended. That 30 minutes felt like eternity and I can't imagine myself going through that in hell ever.


The next surprise I've got when I flip up my hair was how badly brusied I was. My colleagues got a shock when they saw the back of my neck and said that I look like I've been abused. In fact, I was... just that it was consented abuse. As bad as it seems, I recovered so much faster the following day and the chinese guy said that I'm in air-conditioned places too much and obviously lacking of exercise as well, which is so true! It only happened within the month when my brisk-walking buddy was overseas! I told myself I rather exercise then to go through that pain again.

Gua sha in general is a love-hate thing for me. It will be my last resort when everything else fails.

My First Public Post on RunSociety

Chilling out at East Coast Park after the event.

I was given a wonderful opportunity to be able to write for RunSociety. I never dreamt that I would be able to write publicly in this manner. Yes, I thought of doing so before but I've never put too much thought into it before. Thank you, Charlotte, for making this a dream come true!

And so ta-dah! I'm proud to present you my very first work on how to start Start Training the Right Way for Your Run.

I was really excited but the idea of going there alone to cover an event with a group of strangers (plus it's my first time) made me a little nervous. It was a relief when I realised that everybody there turned to be really warm and friendly. I've chatted with some of participants and they were really enthusatic about the training. The training was tough and I would have gladly join in the training if I wasn't too tired.

I've pen down loads of information in my "ideas" book and was a slightly concerned that I might not have points to write in my articles. Am I so glad that it turned out to be the opposite as I had a hard time later deciding what I should focus on. Again, a special thank you to Charlotte and her copywriter, whoever you are, to help vet through my writings before posting them up.

*Ahem* I know I don't look sporty as I'm all fair and squishy but the fact that I crave for high adrenline activites leave loads of my friends in dismay. It can be white water rafting, diving or even sky diving! It's a dream to sky dive for me, really. Being bold in what I asked for, if I can get a sponsor to sky dive, it will be exhilarating.

If you are a running enthusiast, I encourage you to signup for RunSociety newsletter to get the latest updates or upcoming events in Singapore.

Beauty Review: Getting Rid of Freckles at Velvety Beauty


Freckles! Those little light brown dots that are also known as "Hor Sin Sai" (housefly's poop in Hokkien dialet) in my family. These little things have been in a part of life for a pretty long time and no matter how I tried to get rid of them, they won't go! Not over their dead bodies, if they have one.

Are you also guilty of having freckles on your face and body? Yes yes, some people find freckles really cute (I don't disagree if I have red hair and green eyes) but as long as I'm an Asian, it's a sad no.

On top of that, I am a pretty lazy person when it comes to taking real good care of my face. I am guilty of not having a vanity table filled with skin care products that are stacked up sky high. Only using what is required and skipping all the in-betweens to go straight to the gel/cream portion. The only add-on I have for maintenance is to use a mask during Sunday noon if I'm available, else my poor skin will have to suffer for that week.

I've recently purchased a Groupon deal for removal of pigmentation at Velvety Beauty. Hopefully, by the end of the 3rd session I will see some lightening. I am going to be judged for only having my beauty fix only once a year as I really do not see the need to have them so often and many times, I rather spend it somewhere that I deem of better use (like holidays).

So here's my personal review on my trip down to Velvety Beauty. They are located at 155/157 Telok Ayer St, which is about 10 mins walk from Tanjong Pagar Mrt station. Location wise, they are still rather near to the Mrt station and it's convenient.

Ambience: ★★★☆☆
Overall Service:
 ★★
★☆☆

They called me twice to confirm the appointment, one day before and on the day itself. My appointment was set at 6.15pm but for some reason, they kept wanting me to come in at 6pm. It makes me want to question why.

The moment I stepped into the store, I was greet by one of the three ladies who was at the counter. They had me to confirm my name and told me to change into a pair of black slippers that they have. The slippers were stacked up randomly at the shoe rack and I had to match my own pair of slippers (something they can improve on). I was then led into a small room to fill in my details and once I'm done, my esthetician led me through a short maze into a smaller room to start my treatment.

For first impression, I quite like my esthetician, Lily, as she was patient and at every step she explains what she will be doing. She went on to explain to me about my present skin condition and what I should or shouldn't do to it. She didn't try to hard sell too much and I appreciated that a lot because it annoys me when people try to do that, especially when you already said no. I was satisfied with the treatment that she provided me.

I was told that freckles will not be erased completed from just treatments and only laser can do that. I was disappointed in a way as I wanted my freckles to be completely gone. This is another topic that I could potentially research on later.

The results that I've got immediately after the first treatment was a more supple and smoother skin. I think my skin was really dehydrated after long hours in a air-conditioning environment. The product that they've used also brighten by skin, thus making me look much more radiant.

To end the session, I was served a hot cup of fragrant tea and the spa manager tried to sell me something which I didn't want and shortly after, I left the store with my 2nd and 3rd appointment booked.

Choosing an E-Ink eReader

Nook Simple Touch
I've been cracking my head over which e-Ink eReader I should purchase for months! Why? Partly was due to studies, procrastination as well as work so I left my research in one corner to dust. Now that I am graduating, I told myself that I need to start reading again.

Why do I want to read again? It breaks my heart to see that I no longer have the capability to write like how I wrote back in Secondary school days. My imaginative brain will just spew great ideas on what to write with just one simple topic and now, I'll be staring blankly at the topic and my lined paper. Also, I need to brush up my English. I realised that I get easily confused with grammars and my vocabulary is going down hill. So... I need to stop going down hill and start learning again.

Why eReader over real books? I love real books, really. I love the touch of those crisp papers, the smell and those pretty covers as well as the weight of them in my hand. The main reason why I chose an eReader over real books is because I can no longer finish reading books within the library loaning periods and my house is small (which means little storage area). I usually do not read the same book twice, so it makes more sense for me to get an eReader.

How do I choose which eReader to purchase?
I throw in many factors while deciding on which eReader to buy:
  1. Design of the eReader (Look, feel & user experience) 
  2. Touch screen
  3. Budget
  4. Functions & Usability (Stablility software &  User friendliness)
  5. Ease of importing external eBooks that I can put into the eReader
I'm going with touch screen and if there are additional side buttons for page flip, why not? I've narrowed down my choices between the giant companies (Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Barnes & Noble Nook, Sony eReaders) and I've chosen Kobo Touch, Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight, Nook Simple Touch and Kindle Touch. Sorry, Sony looks quite terrible to even stand a chance in my choice.

Is it Kobo Touch?
I am quite particular on how pretty the eReader looks especially when I am going to use it for a long while. In terms of beauty, I love totally love the design of Kobo Touch. Kobo won my heart for design.

Kobo Touch
After much research, the popular eReaders that people go for are mainly Kindle and Nook for this year. Reviews said that Kobo's has software/hardware issues & their customer service are terrible. Judging that I am going to purchase this from States, I need it to be reliable.

Couple of things that I do like about Kobo is it's ability to read more formats of the books, compared to Kindle and Nook. No annoying Ads as well (Kindle has it).

It's a sad NO for Kobo due to it's software/hardware stability. No more pretty eReader.

Is it Kindle Touch?
In terms of design, among the 4, I didn't like this at all. I felt that it wasn't classic enough and pretty much of my deciding factor is based on design, followed by software/hardware. With the power button at the bottom, there is a high chance that you will be hitting on it often.

When it comes to software/hardware, Kindle seems to be winning hands down in terms of stability but as I didn't like this design, it was a NO-NO for me. If they have it in black/white, I'll definitely consider it.

Kindle Touch

Is it Nook Simple Touch or Simple Touch with GlowLight?
Nook's design isn't as pretty as Kobo but still prettier compared to Kindle. It is touch screen and it has side functional buttons for page flip which is really handy as well (plus point).

In terms of budget, all of chosen eReaders are of the same price except Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight. I foresee myself reading at night as it is the only time that I have to myself after work. The price is an additional of 39USD with GlowLight. It's much more convenient to have a light in-built into the eReader than to carry one around really. I'm willing to pay more for convenience as I dislike carry too many things around (extra handy when you are travelling). After much research, I gave up the thought of GlowLight as reviews says that the surface is more fragile and it breaks easily. Oh bubbles! I hope they will have a  improved version within the next few years because I really like the GlowLight function.

Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight

So I'm left with Nook Simple Touch which has a certain percentage of stability in the system and looks decent. No annoying Ads as well (Kindle has it). It's cheaper to purchase an additional light to attach to the eReader which only cost 19.90USD! So I  bought it together with my Nook Simple Touch and off it goes to Borderlinx.

I'm still waiting for my shipment to come but I thought I'll like to pen down my small research on my eReader to remind of myself that I can spend so much time to purchase something.

Things to do in Singapore: Forest Adventure

Credit to Sherwin for the photos and as a result, he wasn't in the photo. :(

This adventure course has been under my wishlist ever since it was opened and finally, I had a chance to try it with a couple of my colleagues. We booked through the online website and ta-dah, it's as simple as that. I love being in this generation where everything is so accessible online.

Only cash are accepted for the play and it's $42 per person. The forest adventure is located at the heart of Bedok Reservoir with rather scenic views. We were briefed by our instructors and taught how to move through the course and had a maximum of 8 people in a team. As one of the sites were closed for maintance, we could re-do one site again to complete the course.

The staff were friendly and an adrenaline junkie was totally looking forward to start climbing soon! Out of the many balancing courses, I am terribly lousy at the spiderman web course. Anything that requires arm strength is out of the question for me.

Embrassing as it is, I had to be saved by 2 instructors as I couldn't cross over to the platform and was stucked at the net for a while because my arms gave up on me. Two things flashed through my mind at that point: one was to start training my arms and second was to lose weight. There was a third actually, to start rock climbing.

How scary was it? Personally, heights don't exactly scare me and to be honest, I don't find it very high. I believe it was less than a storey high? Balancing was tougher and climbing was toughest! It was easy for my male colleague and not so easy for the rest of the girls. We took about 2 hours plus to complete the whole 4 course and it was an accomplishment to actually finish it.

My take on this adventure course is that it makes a really great team bonding event for anybody who are planning for some adventure or sweat out. Even for families with children, they have a course for children too.

Just some word of advise:
  • Bring your own bandana as the helmets stinks. 
  • Specially for ladies, bring a pair of gloves if possible as the ropes will rub your palms sore and do wear a pair of long pants as I got scrapes from sand and ropes.
Aside that, have fun and complete the course!

Exploring Custard Buns Around Singapore

Oh, I'm such a HUGE fan of custard buns ever since I stepped foot into Hong Kong last year. I dream of it almost daily to savour the warm salty yet sweet creamy filling that ooze out of the cute round shaped buns. It is one of the only buns I ever eat aside mantou. My sunshine buns!

Alright! I should hit straight to the topic! Below are a list of places that I've tried custard buns and my reviews on them based on how I like them to be in comparison to the one I had in Hong Kong.

I'll update as I go on to places that has them. Do bookmark this page if you are a custard buns lover!

Bosses ★★★★☆
1 Harbourfront Walk, #02-156/157 @ Vivocity or
Yu Cuisine - 10 Bayfront Avenue, #B1-08/09 The Shoppes @ Marina Bay Sands

This was the very first place that I've discovered to have the closest texture and taste as the one I had in Hong Kong! Totally worth the trip and it's my number one place to go for custard buns now.

Mouth Restaurant ★★★★☆
http://www.mouth.com.sg

Ohh, this place has creamy fillings as well! I was elated when I bit into it's soft skin erupting with flowy sunshine! Another place not to be missed!

Kungfu Paradise ★★★☆☆
http://paradisegroup.com.sg/kungfu_paradise.html

If you are looking for cheaper eat outs, kungfu paradise has decent custard buns to go along with your main meals. The consistency of a flowy and creamy filling is delicious.

Victor's Kitchen ★★☆☆☆
91 Bencoolen St, Singapore 189652

I felt it was normal and wasn't as good as creamy as I wanted it to be. Not one of my top few favourite place to go to for custard buns.

Yum Cha ★☆☆☆☆
http://www.yumcha.com.sg/

I didn't like this one as it was a paste filling instead of the usual flowy, creamy goodness. If you like paste filling ones, then this is for you.

DIY: Brewing My Very Own Fruit Enzymes Harvest

Left glass is made from honey; right glass is made from brown sugar

It's been a while and yes! My fruit enzymes have been harvested and it's already gone. What you see above is the harvest after a month. It's my first fruit enzymes and almost everyday I will be looking at it for a minute to ensure that there are no growing black moulds. Just being more "kiasu" to ensure everything is brewing well.

I added 3/4 of the honey on my first bottle (left) of fruit enzymes and after harvesting, it is too sweet to be consumed it alone. I had to mix a ratio of (1:3) fruit enzymes to water to make it more drinkable. The quality of honey makes a difference as mine was a little smelly for some reason.

The smaller glass that was made from brown sugar was actually my favourite as it smells really pleasant compared to the honey version. The taste is comparable to the honey one as they are both pretty sweet for me. So I have made my very first successful enzymes! Did I mention that it is a little alcoholic as well?

Try to store your harvested enzymes in glass as there might potentially be a chemical reaction if it is stored in plastic bottles.

What's next? I've decided to make a dragonfruit version! I wanted the red flesh dragonfruit but I made a wrong purchase and ended up with the white flesh ones. So I have to work with the white ones instead. This time round, I have reduce the sugar in between the layering of fruits and only pack the last layer so that it wouldn't mould. Hopefully this soon-to-be harvest fruit enzymes won't be too sweet. As I don't check regularly on this one, there was some whitish stuff growing on top on it which looked like yeast. Go google and see the difference between yeast and mould. If it is a mould, then you will need to throw away your enzymes as it has been contaminated.

If you are planning to make your first fruit enzymes after this... all the best to making one! Let me know how it goes! :)

DIY: Brewing My Very Own Fruit Enzymes #2

Here's an update. I actually did a version 2 because I did not witness any bubbling after a week which most people did online. I panicked naturally but there was not moulding, that's why I decided to try out another jar with brown sugar this time. So ta-dah, version 2 as below.

By day 2, the liquid level has risen quite substantially and most of the sugar have disintegrated. So after 4 days, it finally bubbled!! You have no idea how happy I was to see those bubbles! It's like a dream. At the same time, my first bottle with the honey version bubbled as well.

Smell wise, brown sugar is the best. It's fragrant and almost alcholic! I will go for the brown sugar option on the next round. The honey one smelled funky but it taste alright. Both bottles was releasing so much gas that I had to open them twice a days to release all the stored gas. It's so gassy that it could almost be a soda. I'm going to harvest them 2 weeks later and hopefully have a mini alcoholic-enzmyes party. :)

DIY: Brewing My Very Own Fruit Enzymes

I'm not surprised at how spontaneous I can be. In fact, I loved it! So on 5th Feb 2012, right after church, I've decided to brew my very own fruit enzymes! Yes, it's my first time doing this and it was spurred on from a colleague, my granny and an uncle who was doing it. I was thinking... if my granny can do it, so can I!

So off to the nearest shop at the interchange, I made my very first purchase on a glass bottle to fit all my fruits in. I've decided to go with the easiest, which was a combination of apples and lemon plus honey. I think rock/brown sugar might be a better option, which I will tell you why in just a bit.

I've decided not to make too large of a portion on my first try, in case I screw up and everything will be wasted. Used 2 lemons, 3 apples and a whole small tub of honey for this.

Tip #1: Remember to purchase the cheapest honey because you will be using a lot of it. That's my good tip for you.

Tip #2: Push your fruits down before you layer it with honey, else your fruits will be floating up by the next couple of hours and risk contamintating fruits that are not covered by the honey. I made that mistake, so I'm telling you now. Brown sugar will be an easier alternative. :)

Because my top layer of fruits are constantly exposed to air, I have been rolling it every day to coat it with liquid so that it doesn't spoil. So my fruit is officially now 4 day old and still looking great! Will update more and thus the journey of my very fruit enzymes starts! Can't wait for it to be one month old! :)