rise and shine

My birthday morning was spent with Serene @ Halia, Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Initially, we were deciding between Halia and Hatched for brunch. After reading the reviews, we concluded that Hatched won’t be a good chill-out place on a Sunday.

Halia was located somewhere in the middle of Botanic Gardens, within the Ginger Garden.

We were surprised to see an almost full house seating and waited at the entrance, to be served. However, after 10 minutes, none of the staff came to us. They were just busy serving the seated customers. I had to walk up to one of them to enquire about the available tables.

We sat indoors, by the full-height glass windows and had a greenery view.

Blue Cheese Mousse with bread dips.
Hur hur, I really liked this. Making the cheese into a mousse texture lightens the strong overpowering taste (to some people). The honey-coated walnuts surprisingly takes off very well with the cheese.

Poached eggs with Bacon. I love the combination of the melted butter and runny egg yolk drizzled over the bacon, tomato, spinach and thick toast.

The Cinnamon Toast was recommended on the menu but it was a disappointment for us. It was slightly bland and we didn’t like the fluffy toast.

We were totally bloated after the meal, with so much bread. The 3 dishes plus 2 hot drinks amount to almost $80!! A hefty sum for a weekend brunch.

Throughout the meal, we were constantly getting attacked by the flying insects and ants around our table.  For some reasons, they seem to only appear at our table.

Tea appreciation

Last weekend, Kelvin and I attended the Multi-sensory Nanyin Banquet in support of K.A.

What is “Nanyin”, you might ask. Frankly speaking, I had no clue about it too.

I was initially overwhelmed by the setting of the dinner. It was decorated like the dynasty times while the performers were dressed in traditional costumers and held the lanterns as guidance to our seats. (I guess that makes up part of the multi-sensory experience.)

Unlike other dinners whereby they kick start the event with speeches, this began with the dinner and upon serving, the host announced “开席” (dinner commence).

We were seated with other friends of K.A., in a round table of 10. I have to admit that I felt extremely uneasy, especially knowing that most of them are from the arts scene. Unlike me, I’m just a student.

After the 3rd dish, the performances started.

This was really interesting. The musicians were holding 2 bamboo plates on each hand and played astonishing music through some techniques of clapping the plates! I was pretty impressed and enjoyed this performances.

We had tea appreciation in between the dishes and my gosh! I never liked chinese tea as much as that night! There was 3 different types of chinese tea served and I could only remember the name on one, which is 大红袍 (Red Scholar). All three were fragrant and refreshing. The tea was sponsored by one of the authentic teahouse in Singapore.

The chinese food served was also fantastic! Every dish was prepared perfectly and I was glad that I attended the event. The performances, food and tea appreciation was totally worth the price.

Oh yes, I wore a cheongsam top and bun up my hair to match the night. :)

the durian cake

On my way home from school today, I decided to get myself a birthday cake.

My parents have stopped buying me a cake for almost 10years. Ever since I started dating – I’m always out on the day itself.

Besides, too many things have happened over the past few months and I guess the cake would lighten the mood.

I bought the durian cake from Angie the Choice, at the same time satisfying my durian cravings.

I lighted a single candle and made a wish.

On a side note, my mom seem really excited about the cake. It felt like her birthday instead of mine. haha.

September Part2

New in @ Frenchfleurs!

We have brought in new colors for Chiffon Bandeau Maxi – Royal Blue and Black~ And they come in 2 different lengths too. Be sure to grab a piece!

The Rosy Chiffon Tube Top has such a flattering pink tone that suits Asian-skin color! So dainty-sweet~ :)

And don’t miss out on the Lace Contrast Workdress! Love the intricate lace detailing and the fluttery sleeves! Definitely a classic modern style. ;)

Check out the Pinstriped Waist Shorts too~ A H&M inspired piece. :D

Lash Diary – Day 4

I was running late for my morning class today and so I decided to let my lashes take a break – I went without the mascara.

My everyday makeup routine consist of sunscreen, loose powder, tinted eye essence, blush, eyeliner plus mascara. Oh ya, and my brows. I often forget to draw brows.

I try to keep everything at minimal level.

Since I didnt have time to curl and coat my lashes today, I took heavier strokes on the eyeliner.

Using an eyeliner pencil, I drew a line on the upper lid and extended out. Next, I lined 1/3 of the lower lid (outer corner) and thicken at the most outer corner.

This helps to define the eyes. You can draw a full lower eye line if you want a more dramatic look, which I supposed it’s too much for school.

Still looking fresh and sharp without mascara or falsies! =)

love cuts

I attended the movie preview of Love Cuts over the weekend, made possible by omy blog club.

Initially, when I learnt about the movie before the trailers were out, I was wondering how much can they do on the theme – “breast cancer”.

I caught the trailer on TV unintentionally (I was drawn to it by the “天天想你” music) and it totally changed my perception. I was pretty much looking forward to the screenings. The trailer itself had triggered some emotions.

The film shared about how Cecilia, a seamstress in her 40s, married with 2 kids fight against breast cancer.

I was impressed with several aspects of the movie. Firstly, conversions between Sissy and her husband were in Cantonese. How rare is it to hear Zoe speaking in Cantonese! And she did a good job.

Secondly, kudos to the fashion stylist. I think Zoe’s outfits portrayed her character perfectly. Love her scarfs~ and how more fashionable can the son be!

Thirdly, the makeup aspect. It was impressive on the effects of the chemotherapy. Losing hair, weight loss and getting weaker after each session are exactly what cancer patients have to face. Seeing these scenes made me thought of a friend who unfortunately has to go through chemotherapy.

I teared several times and those scenes were truly touching, especially when Kristie revealed to Cecilia on her condition and when Wai Mun broke down in tears at the ending.

The only part that I didn’t like about the movie was how the storyline developed. I felt the interactions between Cecilia and Kristie can have put forward more clearly.

Anyway, I would strongly recommend everyone to catch it, even guys! Kelvin enjoyed the movie as well. This is not just a film about breast cancer, it’s about family love, about what cancer patients go through. And we have show some support for local production and Zoe Tay! :)

I think I will sponsor my parents to go watch it.

Lash Diary – Day 3

My day was spent with 4 kids! Now, I have a slightly different perspective of marriage and kids. hmmm…

Firstly, we went to visit Gunilla who gave birth 2 weeks ago. =)

hurhur, he is kinda cute and it is my first time seeing a “ang-mo” baby.
What’s more, Russian-Swedish mix! Can’t wait to see him grow up! ;)

Next, we went on to Ron’s place for dinner. I guess it’s more than a year since I last saw the 3 little ones. Baby Leo is almost 3 years old now! He can walk and speak – I think he’s much cuter when I carried him in my arms. haha..

I noticed that all 3 of them have really long and full lashes, very black too! hur, I’m so jealous.

Do you feel helpless whenever you see a lash falls off? I do. *sad*

Here’s the 2nd item we found at the lash hunt – Ettusais Eyelash Essence.

It contains chrysanthemum and coriander fruit extracts!

The chrysanthemum extract is a good anti-oxidant with moisturizing effects and the coriander fruit extract helps in thickening the lashes and prevents lash loss.

It comes in a soft angled tip which makes application easy. I’m using it before I go to bed, as the last step of my beauty regime.

Since I do not know when is the growing period for my lashes, I (being a little kiasu, haha) condition them everyday! Haha. Can’t wait to see the results! *excites*

Lash Diary – Day 2

Spent the whole afternoon at IKEA with my parents, looking at kitchen cabinets. It was a tiring job, since we are working on a tight budget. Nevertheless, I finally got a mirror for my room! :D

I kept my makeup simple today – powder, eyeliner and a coat of mascara.

Sometimes, it’s pretty troublesome when it comes to removing eye makeup, especially the heavy ones like last night. I had a full eye makeup on – primer, smokey eyeshadow, eyeliner + coats of mascara.

Although I came back home last night feeling really tired after the drinks, I made sure every single bit of makeup was removed. And thank goodness for the Speedy Eye Make Off.

It makes eye makeup removing so easy!

It is one of the treasures we found at the lash hunt. ;)

Here’s how I removed my eye makeup today, with lots of tender loving care. :)

Now that I’m done removing my makeup, I shall enjoy my mini dinosaurs gummies and watch TV~ hehehh..

Lash Diary – Day 1

Having long, curled lashes is like every girl’s dream.

I do envy people with beautiful lashes, especially when I see them on guys.
Like hello, why do guys need long lashes!!

As they say, 天下没有丑女人,只有懒女人.
(There’s no ugly woman, only lazy ones)

Yes, as women, we want to look the best and be attractive. We work so hard just to get long curled lashes – we curl our lashes, apply mascara, stick on falsies, go for lash perm or lash extension, some even opt for lash implants.
But did you know that all these efforts are only short-term solutions, and they actually damage our eye lashes?

Some girls curl their lashes with mighty force.

And I have to admit I’m one of them.

I always press hard on the curler and hold for a second. However, by doing so, your lashes would appear 90 degrees upwards rather than a nice natural curl. Furthermore, it adds a lot of pressure on your lashes.

The way to go, is pressing gently on the curler at each angle :
1. near to the lash line
2. mid of the lashes
3. top of the lashes


I tried the “Gentle 3 steps” method today and I’m so amazed by the results.!

In the evening, we had dinner at a Teochew restuarant and hit the pubs at club street.

Check out my lashes at night, the curls stayed through the hours~

Pretty cool huh. ;)

Lash Diary Prelude

Last week, the ambassadors received this from Ettusais:

Poor thing, we have gotta help out in finding the Lost Lashes!

So the ambassadors gathered at the office this evening, and began the search for the Lost Lashes.

We were given a thorough brief by the Police woman on how did the lashes went missing. It was indeed an informative session and we were even horrified by some of the contents!

Next, we continued our hunt and chanced upon a treasure chest by following the path.

It’s a treasure filled with goodies for our eye lashes~

We were taught on how to take good care of our lashes and we made a Tender-Love-Care pledge for our lashes~

Here’s the ambassadors with their pledge! :D

So stay tune to my blog over the next 5 days for my Lash Diary entries! :)