Sunday, November 30, 2008

Starbucks Christmas 2008

I love the Christmas season, with the warmth and tingly sensation it always send to my spine. The new design for the Christmas cups and a cinnamon roll. Alas Cinnabon cinnamon roll it is not. I still prefer Cinnabon (yum!) with its thick frosting and soft roll.

Toffee nut latte was nice with the sprinkle of toffee bits in the milky coffee. No need to add sugar.

Simple and probably high calorie sweet breakfast to kick off the day.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Sephora in Singapore.......soon......

I spied that last weekend when I was at Ngee Ann City. The familiar black and white striped facade. The makeup haven from France is finally going to be here. After reading about Sephora going to open in Singapore so often, it sure took its own sweet time to finally pin down the exact location in the mall. It was supposed to open in July 2008, but somehow that didn't happen. Not this time.
There it is....in black and white. It is opening in December 2008 which is soon going to be here in just a few days. Not sure of the exact date though. I just hope it will be like those in the States, with a wide range of brands which we do not see here - Too Faced, Nars, Vincent Longo, Cargo, Philosophy, Bliss, Fresh, TheBalm and many more! If they are priced reasonably, it will make sense, otherwise we will still continue to buy online or get people to buy when they are in the States or Canada.

The current little Sephora counter at DFS Galleria is pathetic, plus it only carries its house brand which is not as exciting as the usual ones in States. I do like the shower gels though, they smell good :)

Friday, November 28, 2008

Feed at Raffles Card


I know I have talked about the Feed at Raffles card for the longest time ever....and finally...I have it! :) So far I have used it once for a dinner buffet over at the Plaza Market Cafe (I think - I always get the name wrong) at The Fairmont. For 2 of us, the cost came to around $55 at 50% off.

Now thinking of where else I could go to utilize the card :p

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Confessions of a Shopaholic Trailer



The movie trailer for Confessions of a Shopaholic is finally out! And the movie is slated for release on February 13, 2009, so that will be a Valentine chick flick feel good movie. Can't wait for it to be screened here. Hope we will get the same timing as the States.

Based on the beloved Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella, the movie is slightly different as it is not totally true to the series at all. It is set in New York in the movie, unlike in the books where the story is set in England. There are several differences but if you are not a stickler about it, it can be an enjoyable movie.

Based on the trailer, it is funny. The fashion and the goodies are just so tempting. Shoes, clothes, sample sales...shopping is just so in a woman's blood. Sniffing out the best deal and the thrill of the hunt are just intoxicating :p

Synopsis of the movie
Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) is a sweet and charming New York City girl who has a tiny, little problem that is rapidly turning into a big problem: she's hopelessly addicted to shopping and drowning in a sea of debt. While Rebecca has dreams of working for a top fashion magazine, she can't quite get her foot in the door -- that is, until she snags a job as an advice columnist for a new financial magazine published by the same company. Overnight, her column becomes hugely popular, turning her into an overnight celebrity, but when her compulsive shopping and growing debt issues threaten to destroy her love life and derail her career, she struggles to keep it all from spiraling out of control?and is ultimately forced to reevaluate what's really important in life.

Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy played the leading roles and the movie is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.

More information can be found in the official movie site. It is surprisingly sparse that I wonder if this is a low budget movie.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Ghirardelli Chocolate - Intense Dark

I absolutely adore chocolates from Ghirardelli. Founded in San Francisco, it is what most people (who knows about it) will buy when they are there. There are not many Ghirardelli stores all over the States and are confined to only 5 states (California, Nevada, Florida, Wisconsin and Illinois).

I requested for dark chocolates and my friend bought the Intense Dark assorted squares for me. I love all 3 flavors - Twilight Delight, Espresso Escape and Mint Bliss.

Smooth, rich and luxurious. Not sugary sweet. I like! I wish they do ship international.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

TheBalm Shady Lady Eye Shadow Palette

I discovered theBalm when I was living in Canada last year. We were down in States for the Thanksgiving holiday (read = massive sale!) and so of course, I just had to pop in to Sephora for my beauty fix. Sephora was just amazing with its huge collection of fragrances, cosmetics, skincare, hair products and whatever you can think of in a beauty heaven.

I was browsing and wondering what to get (as I had pretty much got what I wanted from Nars, Cargo, Stila, TooFaced...) when I saw theBalm. The packaging attracted my attention with its 50s style of calendar pin-up girls. The names of the products further intrigued me. With not much time to spare, I just decided to get 2 eyeshadows (Jealous Jordana and Just this once Jamie), a blush (Hot Mama) and a Voyage palette which contained 2 eyeshadows and Hot Mama plus a luggage tag.

The eyeshadow was fabulous with its very fine and soft powder making it very blendable. It was also heavily pigmented with slight shimmers which were not over the top. When I read reviews online of the products, it seemed like Hot Mama was what most girls would like Nars Orgasm (a hot favorite for blush) to be. It gave a light shimmery glow to the face with its peachy tones. Hot Mama could also be used as an eye shadow too.

So when I saw the Shady Lady eyeshadow palette online (limited edition and only to Sephora), I just had to have it. A friend managed to find it in the Sephora in San Francisco (another friend didn't manage to get it in the Sephora in Seattle as it was out of stock) and bought it for me. So now I am a happy girl :)

The palette with its leopard print cover contained 9 very wearable and flattering eyeshadow colors.

Description from Sephora
Caught in the Act Courtney (rich brown with gold sparkle)
Shameless Shana (tahitian bronze)
Luscious Lani (icy pink champagne)
Jealous Jordana (rich shimmering green)
Risque Renee (dark navy blue sheen)
Curvy Cami (plum shimmer with gold flecks)
Jet-Setting Jennifer (pale gold shimmer)
All About Alex (olive shimmer)
Easy Wheezie (gunmetal gray shimmer)

3 of the colors could be used as a liner too. You could use them dry/wet to create different intensity of the colors but either way, the colors would not fade by mid-day.

I have tried most of the colors and they were just too gorgeous, especially Easy Wheezie. It was not too dark or shimmery light. It added a depth to the eyes when applied on the lids. All About Alex was amazing as a liner or when used on the crease area. I just love theBalm eyeshadows.

theBalm is more known for its lipglosses though and they just introduced lipsticks to its range this year. MUA also has more reviews on its lipglosses. I didn't try it since I am allergic to most lip products. Best to stick with Stila for that :)

Monday, November 24, 2008

Spa Infinity

Following my visit with [Comfort Space] HelioAsia spa at Paragon, I hopped over to Far East Shopping Center for my massage appointment. I still have a package with Spa Elements and when I called to make an appointment, they told me to go over to the branch at Far East Shopping Center.

Apparently they have a new spa and I didn't even know about it. Lol. The location is strange. A spa in the basement of a shopping center right where the car park is?

I am not sure if it is intentional but it is very warm in the women changing room. I like the place though. 2 changing rooms. Plenty of lockers and slippers to change into. Showers, jacuzzi, steambath, toilets, freshen up area where lotions, combs and even toothbrushes are provided. The bathrobes and sarongs are also there, and a small machine which dispenses cold and hot water.

Walking over to the treatment rooms, you will pass by the cafe area (will be operational by end November 2008) where you can grab a bite. There are many comfortable chairs and recliners in the lounging area where you can read magazines, chill out and watch movies. They are also looking to expand their services to include mani and pedi in the lounge area. There will also be a chiropractor stationed there for any inquiry which is pretty thoughtful.

I had the Indonesian massage which was very good. Christina (think she is from Philippines) was the therapist serving me and she was really strong. It was quite painful for some spots but over all it was good. I liked that she pulled my arms over my head and then on either side of the body, stretching the muscles. That was good.

But I do miss the simple room over at Spa Elements at Orchard Hotel Shopping Arcade where I can just go there for an hour massage and leave.

Location
Spa Infinity
#B1-22, Far East Shopping Center
Orchard Road
Tel: 6738 0069

Sunday, November 23, 2008

[Comfort Space] HelioAsia

Andana Spa over at Paragon has closed down for a while now and [Comfort Space] HelioAsia has taken over the premises. That was a pity as I do like Andana Spa for its quietness and spaciousness, especially when I have free time on a week day afternoon. It was good to just chill and relax.

I took Monday off and had some free time. So I decided to kill the 2 hours by spending time at [Comfort Space] HelioAsia. UOB Ladies' Card holder get to enter to use the facilities for free on weekdays (Please refer to UOB website for more T&C), and I decided to add on the foot reflexology as my feet were killing me from the last few days of walking.

The service was pretty good, the staff made use of earpiece to communicate with one another on tracking the guest so that guest will be guided to the respective area for whatever treatment they have requested for.

I didn't really have much time after all the changing into the spa attire of shorts and tube top. I found it quite silly to wear that when immersing myself in the warm jacuzzi, steambath or sauna. Maybe I am too used to the hot jacuzzi over at Takashimaya Fitness Club where I usually have a soak after a swim in my bikini.

It was quiet and I had the jacuzzi to myself which was nice. After a quick shower, I changed into another set of dry spa attire complete with satin bathrobe and went to the recovery lounge for the foot massage.

The recovery lounge was much smaller than when it was under Andana. I could not recline fully as the therapist wanted to use a separate stool for my feet to stretch out on, so I didn't manage to really rest. The massage was good though. Not too painful and yet managed to sooth the sore areas.

There was no menu on the table, though I saw a guest ordering food. I guess that is not included in the spa access thing.

Overall, the place looked smaller and darker. I didn't get any view at all. I think it is quite an ok place but just don't expect much.

Location
[Comfort Space] HelioAsia
#06-16/26, Paragon
Orchard Road
Tel: 6836 9988

Saturday, November 22, 2008

OPI Topcoats

Well, technically only the gold glitters nail polish is considered a top coat. The white polish is meant for the white tips of a french manicure.

Thrills in Beverly Hills Glitter topcoat
Alpine Snow

Friday, November 21, 2008

OPI Nudes/Pinks

These are the colors I use for my tips. I prefer something softer and neutrals for the hands as they tend to chip faster and it look unsightly when you have chipped nails.
The pale pinks/nudes (not in order):
Princess Rule!
Pink-o De Gallo
Hawaiian Orchid
Tijuana Dance?
I'm Yours
Altar Ego

Thursday, November 20, 2008

OPI Berries & Pinks

These are the berries/pinks.

It's All Greek to Me (another fave of mine)
Strawberry Margarita
And this little piggy...
Ruby (from the designer series)
Whole Lotta Seoul

Hmmm....I just realized I forgot to take pictures of my burgundy/wine shades of polish.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

OPI Purples


The purples I have from OPI though I really don't remember all the colors too. It didn't help with the flash as the originals are much darker.
Of the 4 there, I only know 3 colors:
Catherine the Grape
Plugged-in Plum
Parlez Vous OPI
Not sure if the last one is Lincoln Park at Midnight or something else.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

OPI Reds

I took this pic a few weeks ago and now I have no idea which is which. But the reds do look very similar to one another, right?

What I have are:
I'm Not Really a Waitress (fave red)
You Rock-apulco Red!
Joyful, Toyful Red
Buy-Buy Tokyo
No Autographs, Please
The More the Berrier

So I am refraining from buying anymore red nail polish :)

Monday, November 17, 2008

Japanese Dining Sun @ CHIJMES again

This is like my favorite place now as I am at the Japanese Dining Sun a few times a month now. We were hungry while waiting for another friend and ordered the avocado shrimp to start. It was so so good. Warm and crunchy with the creamy mayo and avocado. The basket was some fried stuff which was tasty too.
The interior of the main dining area. It was a pretty big place.

And yes, the beef for the sukiyaki. It seemed like this is one dish we would always order either to share or on our own. It was so beefy tender (depending on the way you cooked it)

The sukiyai pot with the steam rising. You could request for the broth to be topped up though it took some time for them to bring to the table.

Pink dragon roll. Somehow I think I prefer the rainbow roll or something - the one with the mango and avocado on it.


My favorite ramen - Hokkaido Ramen with the corn and half runny soft egg and a hint of buttery taste in the soup. It was good.


We shared the dessert - the trio of mango pudding, green tea ice cream and some seasame pudding thing. We ordered another black seasame ice cream and I redeemed a free scoop of green tea ice cream. Lots of desserts for just 3 of us.

Things I like from Sun Moon chains:
Beef sukiyaki
Grilled beef with foie gras
Rainbow Roll
Hokkaido ramen
Avocado shrimp

Sunday, November 16, 2008

OPI Blues

My blue nail polishes from OPI. Don't they all look about the same?

L-R: Yoga-ta get this blue, Sonic Bloom and Russian Navy.

I have another blue which I got after I took this pic - Play till Midnight from the Toyland Collection. They all look quite alike :p

Don't you find that you tend to get the same colors all the time? I have so many reds which looked about the same too.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Shokudo @ Bugis Junction

We had a movie and dinner thing as part of team bonding for the office and so we decided to try the food from Shokudo. It seemed like there are so many such Japanese-Western fusioned restaurants now.
Fried mushrooms as a snack for us. It was not too bad, not too oily and crispy. Not fantastic though.

One colleague ordered the rice wrapped in egg with pork cutlet and curry sauce. It was not too bad. Curry was good :)

Another colleague ordered the same thing except the curry is beef. The beef was tough so it was not as nice.

Another dish to share - rosti with egg and curry sauce. I quite liked this. The rosti was done pretty decently and I think the curry just made a difference.


Dessert for one colleague who was too full to have a main (we had early dinner at 5pm or so) - she said the red bean mochi dessert was good. I didn't try it.


Pizze with eel and mushrooms to share. This was good too. Crispy crust - I loved thin crust pizza.
My order of scallops pasta which was not too bad. At least the scallops were not tiny and quite generous too. Didn't take pic of another colleague's pasta which looked similar - some seafood pasta.

I am not sure if I like Japanese-Western fusion food at all. It is interesting but somehow I prefer the traditional Japanese fare like sashimi, ramen, teppanyaki.....I would say leave it to the Italians to make the pizza and pasta.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Tom's Palette Ice Cream

Tom's Palette over at Shaw Tower serves a pretty decent selection of ice cream. They are home made, with no preservatives (I think) and fresh ingredients.

There are so many flavors which you can hardly get elsewhere. They will always recommend that you try the flavors first before making your selection as the taste could be different from the usual run of the mill ice creams.

After trying quite a number of flavors, I still love chocolate (strong taste of pure chocolate, giving a rich, not so sweet yet not too bitter chocolatey flavor) and Granny's favorite (reminded me of horlicks because of the malt, it has bits of chocolate I think and so it has a slight salty sweet taste) which are the flavors I always order.

I got the above - Chocolate and Granny's Favorite - in the smallest size and it costs only $2.50. Very reasonable priced and you get to mix the flavors too.

Another hot favorite is the salty caramel cheesecake which I tried and am not a big fan of. The rum & raisin has a strong taste of rum, likewise for the chocoholic stout. The newest flavor is rose and lychee which is pretty nice.

There are also apple pie, lavender something, and the berries flavors. I don't remember them all now as some flavors change all the time. So I always get to try new flavors but still go back to my chocolate and granny's favorite :)

The service was excellent too. They are patience and cheerful all the time.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Last Day at Turi Beach

I didn't sleep much and woke up several times before deciding to just get up around 7ish am (SG time). After browsing magazine for a while, I decided to go take a walk before waking up the others. View of the Riani wing from the Island Bar walkway. I thought I took pics of the facade of our rooms but somehow they were not in the camera.
View of the Tirta wing with the newer buildings and rooms. J & I decided we should stay at the Tirta wing should we ever go back to Turi again. Elevator rocks!

See the mangrove? The roots showing. These trees are all around the island.


We finally had our massage which was inclusive in the room rate and it was good though service could be better. We were not even served any drinks after our treatment. Also as the hotel was quite full, the only time available for our massage was at 1pm. Good thing we managed to get a late check out.
J & I while waiting for the ferry to depart. Black and white sunnies made the picture. I am so tanned!
Hello world! The ferry was not very nice at all. Good thing it was a short journey. I spent the entire trip leaning over and feeling the wind blowing which was cooling. But the journey back was better than going over. It was like a senior citizens convention with aunties and uncles smoking non-stop (even though there were signs indicating no smoking) and spitting on the floor. Ewww!

One part of Batam from the ferry. Mangroves again. Totally undecided if I do want to go back to Batam. While cheaper than Bintan, it was definitely not a very nice ferry experience.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Birthday Dinner @ Nogusaya Teppanyaki & Grill (8 Nov)

After failing to find BBQ seafood dinner over at the Island Bar which was solely for drinks though you could arrange for private function with food to be served, we headed over to Nogusaya which served teppanyaki and other grilled dishes. We didn't want to take a cab to a seafood restaurant 10 mins away and going to the town center (30 mins away) was out of the question.
Happy people everywhere. With just 3 restaurants, there were not many choices available.
Teppanyaki chef getting busy with the orders placed. This was the 2nd time I actually sat by the teppanyaki counter.

He sure was quick with his spatulas. Had to take pics with camera phone as the camera battery was running low.

Our chef (Eddie) who was quite serious. So serious that J kept urging him to smile and he finally did. Hahahaha.
J also kept commenting about the lack of showmanship til he finally did something and of course we applauded. Sometimes they are serious because no one actually appreciated what they were doing. The vodka mango which identified us. Hahahaha.


We were so loud and vocal that I think most people in the resort probably remembered us as very bitchy or trying or whatever. We certainly brought life to the places we went to.

At the Island Bar, J offered the vodka mango to the guy in charge (Edwin) after she finished braiding him about the lack of bbq seafood being available in the resort. Lol. It tasted so much better when mixed into a shirley temple. So Edwin remembered us and probably told the band at The Yacht Club it was her birthday and they played that for their first song :p


Then Edwin pulled me onto the dance floor to dance with him. Lol. Alkie helped. We were the only people dancing. The few people at the club were so boring, doing nothing but drinking? Not that I paid much attention. When N came back, Edwin pulled us back onto the dance floor again. The others played pool. There was really nothing much to do. So we helped to liven up the place with free entertainment. Hahaha.
Another shot of us with the bibs.

1st course of our teppanyaki set - salad. The seasame oil dressing was refreshing and not very oily at all. Easy on the stomach.

2nd course - veggies. It was very lightly seasoned and the butter brought out the taste of the sprouts.
3rd course - fish with lemon butter sauce and prawns. The fish was tender and not fishy at all. The prawns were so sweet.

4th course - beef. This was a disappointment. Too tough for medium rare. It might be the cut of meat.

5th course - garlic fried rice which was pretty nice. And miso soup too. J ordered bubbly which was really nice. Cheap too at $50 or so. Last course was the dessert of the day - ice cream. I didn't finish it.

Halfway through dinner, a 4-piece band came in to play some songs. Again, a birthday song was sung to J. J then gave a glass of champers to the teppanyaki chef. It was all good fun, bopping along to the latin music and just enjoying the food and company.
Dinner came to about $200 for 5 of us, which included the champagne. J said it was cheap and it was her treat (though she didn't remember a single thing the next morning - hahahahaha). Thank you, J :)

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Turi Beach, Batam

We went over to Turi Beach Resort over at Batam for a weekend birthday bash for a friend. 5 girls having crazy fun, filled with lots of laughter and alkie. We took the 12 o'clock ferry and everyone overslept and was late for the meeting time. But it was all good. J bought absolut vodka mango to bring over. I didn't bring my alkie over as I was not sure if I could bring in through immigration.

We were at the Riani wing which was where the rustic huts were located. Level 2 was quite torturous as we had to walk up and down steps to get anywhere. Level 1 would be the sea view. The new wing (Tirta) was more hotel like and had elevators to get around!

N and I shared the room (Rm 235) which was the king size bed with the pretty (but useless) mozzie net.
It can actually sleep 3 as there are 3 pillows. We should have asked for more pillows.
My C & E bag, finally put to use. It has a high ceiling with fan which we didn't use. Aircon was good enough.

Pretty modern bathroom with shower and sink. No bathtub. Bathtub is only available in the suite. The towels were big and think and fluffy. Really nice!

Balcony with only 1 chair. I wanted to dry my swimsuit outside but there was something dark flying around which scared me so I decided to dry it indoors. Apparently those were bats or dragonflies.

The connecting room for the other 3 girls. 2 Queen sized beds which could actually sleep 4. Reminded me of those rooms in North America where 4 of us would usually share the room.

View from the restaurant where we had lunch while waiting for rooms to be assigned to us.

Ikan Bakar - grilled black pomfret. It took a long time but it was worth the wait. The sauce tasted like stingray.

Ayam Penyet which C ordered. I didn't try it.

I was on a nasi goreng drive and ordered it. Quite ok. Seafood fried rice with fried chicken, pretty dry beef, satay and prawn crackers.

Walkway to the Island Bar where we were supposed to have our free mocktails.

Turi beach. The beach was not as nice as Angsana Bintan but seaview was equally lovely.

Signposts indicating where to go. Main area was the free form pool. There was another pool at the new wing which looked nicer.

The old wing were we were staying. Huts on stilt which was good to experience but not necessary to try again.

Pool and the huts where you laze the afternoon away. Nice view of both the pool and sea.
We just spent the afternoon hanging out by the pool and drinking cocktails and other drinks.