Precious Creams

"Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?"  These days, beauty is not only a want for ladies but also for men.  There are all kinds of creams and serums available in the market which promises youth, beauty, anti-age and coming in different packages and prices.  Does luxury cream really produces luxury results?  There are moisturisers that costs as low as $10 per bottle and moisturisers that costs over $500 per bottle.  So whats the difference in them all?  Should ladies really invest in an expensive moisturiser that is being marketed to be THE CREAM of them all? 

I was gifted the Cream de la mer sometime back and had also invested in  the Lamer Concentrated eye cream.  I had wanted to try this supposedly amazing cream in the hope of also finding THE CREAM for myself. 

A small amount of cream de la mer was supposed to be warmed between your fingertips to release its key ingredients; comprising of sea kelps, vitamins and minerals, oils of citrus, eucalyptus, wheat germ, alfalfa and sunflower.  The ideal part about this cream is that it can serve as both the day and night cream! this really is the reason for me to be keen to try this on. 

The 'miracle' cream

The verdict :  I find this cream rich in ingredients (as it promises) and yet when you apply it on, it does not feel sticky and makes you uncomfortable.  It is so easy to forget that I am using a cream based, as opposed to a liquid based moisturiser. The face feels well-protected and immerced in all nature's richness.  I had used it for some several months and have not seen amazing, astonishing results.  I am hoping that miracles will appear in time to come.  I certainly find this cream easy on the skin and convenient to use. Worth a try BUT you may want to access skin condition to determine whether you want to continue usage, taking into consideration this is a rather costly cream to use.

Office is closed for Year End! Yippie....



Office Closed for Year End Holidays!

Is your office closed for the year end holidays?  Mine is! Since about a decade back, I had always have the priviledge of working in an office where this time of the year, the office is closed!  Though I remembered there were years where we need to take leave for this (as in compulsory to take leave), this is certainly a most welcomed break!  This is a real time to rest, take a break, rejuvenate and heading back to the office in the new year, all energetic and full of drive. 

Personally, I love going on holidays.  This said, to avoid the crowd, I am perfectly fine with staying in town!  There are tons of actitivities which I can do.  Just a matter of planning for it.  I will already be happy to spend some time with my son at the bookshop and head for a good meal afterwhich.  And I don't mind doing this day in day out for couple of days.  Totally relaxing :)

So what do I like to do during year end holidays?  Here's some suggestions on what you can do too!

1) Take a holiday out of town! Visit some exotic places and immerse in their culture for a week or so
2) Take a driving holiday to Malaysia.  Plan for a fruit garden trip; go garden hoping and savouring the many different fruits that topical Malaysia have to offer
3) Take a yoga retreat holiday in renowned Thailand or explore further to India.
4) Take short break in 1 of the newly opened resorts in Sentosa.  Check out the newly opened resorts world hotels. Head to the beach for a good tan in the day followed by a relaxing dinner by the beach or inside the resort inside.  Take the relatively new, revamped tram rides around the island, hop on and off to visit the places of interes.  Otherwise, take a leisure walk around your hotel vacinity and simply relax...
5) Catch up with friends over coffee/tea or head to one of the many Hi-Tea buffets Singapore had to offer and engage in a day of catching uo, chit chatting and updating
6) Head for long relaxing body message inclusive of scrubs and baths. 
7) Pamper your nails.  Book an appoint for a manicure and pedicure
8) Hang out with your kids - anywhere they fancy! east coast park? gogobambini? bigsplash? universal studio? bookshops? followed by a nice happy meal? yummy!
9) Exercise day! Yes, work it out.  A gym session followed by a swim?  or gather some friends for wind surfing or blading?  Or go for a run in the park?
10) Immerse in your hobby!  Be in bookscraping, blogging, tennis or what have you... plan to totally immerse in your hobby for the day!

What is your New Year Resolution?

Come year end, many people will starting thinking about their new year resolutions for the coming year.  So, what is/are your new year resolution/s?  How many new year resolutions have you to set for yourself this coming year?  What about reflections on the past year? How have the year been treating you?  How many of your current year resolution/s have you achieved?  What lessons are learnt from this past year?

A couple of things I learnt about new year resolutions. 

1) Always have this written somewhere you can remember! Yes, somehow I am sure I had it written somewhere...BUT I have totally forgotten where that somewhere is :)
2) Resolutions should be something not too far fetched and totally unattainable.  It should be something attainable (if you put in the right effort).  This is where you will feel motivated instead of demoralised to achieve
3) Resolutions should also not be something too easily achievable.  If such is the case, there is no real effort required to work towards these resolutions
4) Perhaps not a super long list of resolutions?  Personally, I would think 1 in each key area of your life eg : family? work? personal development? kids?
5) Look back at the resolutions set the past year to determine if there are any which you should keep and make a real serious affort to achieve or some which you may want to amend slightly
6) Keep it in mind and always review review and review.  Take the list out every 3months to see what you are working on, what should be worked on harder.  Hopefully, this motivates you to work towards those not yet started/achieved.

So, lets all put some thoughts to your new year resolution and have it ready when the new year comes!

Christmas Eve...

How do you spend Christmas Eve and Day?  Are there many gift exchanges going on?  Are you the one who will always have a big Christmas meal with family and friends?  What about sharing love with the underpriviledged?  Big christmas meals and gift exchanges is our usual way of celebrating Christmas and Eve.  Nearing these dates, everyone is busy buying gifts for each other and making preparations for the celebration on the eve.  As eve draws nearer and nearer, we get more and more excited -wrapping gifts, displaying gifts in the BEST location, sharing hints on what each others' gifts is for the other?  what special meal to have for this christmas?  the build up to the dinner is indeed interesting and fun....

And in the kitchen, since 3pm, this is what is happening : (lots of preparation)

The preparations before the meal

Boiling the baby potatoes for baby herbs potatoes

The real mushroom soup (from scratch) and purple mash potato

The Big Fat Turkey in the Oven and the Fruit Cake on top

While the kitchen is hard at work, the living room is hard at work too!  Heres whats happening :

Getting all the pressies lined up!

And everyones waiting for the BIG CHRISTMAS MEAL.... heres how everything turns out at 7pm in the evening :

Yummy Yummy!

Everyone dug in and this is what you can hear :

during the meal :
add the turkey sauce! add the turkey sauce
this turkey is surprisingly tender and tasty! not just some hard chicken!
the ham slices are HUGE
mushroom soup is yummy with serious real mushroom cooked from scratch - water + flour + all kinds of mushroom
we should have salad to make this complete!  I told mei to buy...

near the end of the meal :
I am sooo full that I am going to burst
this is food enough for 20pax!
just one more turkey for you...plsss...
pack it up for tmr...bring home! bring home!

by the end of the meal :
unwrap PRESSIES!!!!!

Unwrapping the pressies is actually shouts, yells, clapping and camera snapping time.  Everyone wait on for the Emcee to announce how to do and what to do...while the Emcee herself is soo disoriented :)

All the happy faces in anticipation

and someone whom we turned into a kitty fan...all because of a kitty pot!

KTV here we come! yes, while we are having the meal and unwrapping the gifts, theres another group already at the Karaoke place 'chopping' the place and utilising the hours before we arrive.  The night ended in songs and dances and Ricco finally finding out what Karaoke is.... He was reluctant to leave the KTV place and told me that that he want to go KTV somemore....

Singapore Starbucks Bear? Or just a Christmas Bear? There is nothing like Starbuck Christmas Bear

In this holiday season, with the line up of some many holidays, many are buying special gifts for loved ones and families, colleagues and friends, gifts for that office/party gift exchange.  I had given out quite a number of gifts for kids during my pre-xmas party at my place.  I have yet to complete my gifts shopping till this day though.  With this at the back of my mind,  I had sub-consciously been looking out for the 'prefect gift' everywhere I went.

Last Monday, after a couple hours of gift shopping, I was feeling tired yet satisfied.  I had completed 80% of my gift shopping in those short couple of hours! Aint it an achievement?  I wanted to reward myself with a nice hot Latte and starbucks is surely my choice.  I walked into Starbucks united square and was greeted warmly by its staff.  While waiting for my hot warm Latte to be ready, I saw this small display of some bears over the counter.  I never knew Starbucks sell bears! It caught my eye.  Almost immediately, I thought of my endearing colleague in India who told me before that theres no Starbucks in India (with India's FDI regulations and policies, Starbucks seems not successful thus far; though there had been talks about having its chain in India).  I thought  that she will be pleased to receive a Starbucks Christmas Bear as a gift.  So I went about looking for this.  I was sure theres bound to be a starbucks christmas bear?

I browse through the lot and this is what I see :

Just a Christmas Bear... No indication this is a Starbucks X'mas Bear

So I hunted through the lot again and saw this :

I see Starbucks! and Singapore! BUT this is not a X'mas bear.  This makes an ideal bring home gift as a rememberance of your visit to Singapore.

I did not want this Starbucks bear for I thought this will be more appropriate for someone to bring home as a rememberance that he/she had visited Singapore.  Not ideal as a Christmas gift I thought.

So, where is the Starbucks Christmas bear?

Sale Sale Sale

Do you get excited when you know that MNG is going to be on sale?  MNG clothes' designs are contemporary and updated.  There are also many basic designs/pieces which are all-time favourites.  MNG is thus a popular brand in Singapore.  Its difficult to think of any ladies not owning an MNG piece in her wardrobe.  With this, MNG discount/sale are always welcomed!  You can see real discounts off items during MNG sale.  Discounts go up as high as 40%, 50% and nearer to the end of the sale season, it can go up to as high as 70%.  WOW... meaning a coat which originally costs 100 can now be bought at 30!  Ain't that a shoppers' joy and excitment?

My most vivid memory of the MNG sale is that it is the 1st brand offering a huge discount off items during its sale period.  The discounts provided far exceeds the usual 10%, 15% or even 20% (ON 2nd item) kind of sale that we see going on almost everyday.  MNG sale had started off with huge success and this is still the case now.  I heard that some ladies even took the day or 1/2 day off work in order to head for the 1st day sale! wow... During the 1st week of sale, stores will be packed with shoppers and clothes as everyone tries to grab a piece of item which they had been eyeing for months! 

There were times when I wonder... if the discounts offered during sale is so great, wont it affect the actual everyday sale?  Esp. so when MNG really takes out the seasons' clothes for sale before bringing in the next seasons'?  Well, I guess the answer is clear.  Bulk manufacturing of these items are sooo cheap that even with the huge sale going on, profits are still achievable.  This is also a means to get rid of this current seasons' items before bringing on the next seasons' and most importantly, I learnt that most ladies will still go ahead to purchase items which they really like even if its not on sale so that they are able to wear them NOW and of cos during the sale season, many times some sizes are out of stock.  You may not even be able to buy the item that you so specially like.  By the time that items are going on 70% sale, we see maninly those odd sizes.

I am glad MNG is having this major sale on a twice yearly basis.  MNG sale is certainly an "event" which i look forward to.  Though some times I end up with only 1 or 2 items, I am still happy to join the crowd in choosing, tossing, trying on the clothes.  And I am even happier when I look at the original Vs sale prices of the items!  I love MNG sale..

MNG sale! Clothes and people everywhere...(store at Takashimaya)

Look at the piles and piles of clothes thats going on sale sale sale

after visiting 4 different MNG shops at different locations, this is the only item I got for myself :)

Pre X'mas Party

Christmas! Time to be Merry!  Do you always wonder if you should spend time whipping up a meal? or should you just cater/buy from out?  There are tons of shops offering Christmas meals delievery.  Or maybe a mixture? Some buy in items and some home cooked?  Busy working mums are usually tired by the end of the work week and imagine having to whip up a meal over the weekend for a group.  Its not the actualy frying, baking, cooking. It the pre-preparations inclusive of grocery/market trips, the cutting and slicing, the washing, the marinating AND ALSO the after cooking work.  Including the utensils washing, drying, kitchen washing, oven clean ups... uuurrgghhhss.. the thoughts of the pre and after work kind of put me off 50% though I really like to cook!  Thank god, my helper came last Wed! yippie... she is a good help.

I had my 1st pre-christmas party at my place this year with couple of good old friends.  The menu kind of changed a little but its still 80% kept according to plans. I cooked the bee hoon an hour before dinner time.  Added in sausages, cabbage, eggs, chicken slices, fishcakes.  The end product is really yummy!

My Bee Hoo is seriously nice. So much so that I am invited to cook for a friend's house warming!

 And, after the bee hoon comes the rest of the food... heres what happens :

Doing some serious cooking but never losing a moment for the camera

Tiger Prawns - still preparations stage.

Ends up in the pan.. Pepper Tiger Prawns

The Tiger prawns seems kind of tasteless.  I thought I had added tons of pepper and salt??? Still it taste kind of blend..

Oily Oily Pork Belly

With a dash of lemon juice, the pork belly's pork smell is totally gone! wow... good tip?

Thats the end product of what we are having for the night!

Finally! A X'mas toast with my friends