Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Product review #2 - Body Shop Vitamin C Facial Radiance Capsules

I've grown a bit concerned about my skin's radiance of late. I've never been somebody with fair skin, my skin has always been yellowish/brownish, just not the radiant glowing kind. :( Which also explains my recent obsession with skin care products.

That day, when I was shopping for Christmas gifts in The Body Shop, I came across this:

There was a sale going on and I thought,"Why not?" so I bought it. According to the company website, this item contains:
1. Brazil nut oil - moisturizes and helps to leave skin feeling soft
2. Blackcurrent extract - helps to revive the skin and give it an uplifting boost
3. Orange oil - orange oil is known to uplift, refresh and energize the senses. Has a sweet citrus smell.



Pros: Smells great! The orange oil really comes through. Not oily, even though it supposedly has brazil nut oil and orange oil in it. The little capsule looks small but the amount inside is usually just right for face, unless you have a really huge face. I've been using it for a week and I think there's really a slight improvement to my facial radiance, but the lady did say you have to apply everyday for 28 days, which explains why there are only 28 capsules in a bottle.

Cons: Does not really moisturize. I have dry skin and the brazil nut oil, which is supposed to moisturize, doesn't really work. So really, this thing has no effect on skin except to make it look brighter. Which also means that you have to keep applying this to keep the radiance. Retailing at $45.90 per bottle of 28 capsules, some people may find the price tag a deterrent for continuing this skincare regime. I got it at $29.90 so wasn't that bad, but I don't believe I will continue buying this after my current bottle.

Product review #1 - Somang bb cream

A colleague introduced me the bb cream from Somang. Was wondering where I could get it when I saw it in JB during a weekend drive into JB for some seafood.

Ta-dah!

Pros: contains pearl minerals that gives your face a pearly sheen. Texture of bb cream is quite light, it doesn't feel heavy on the face. Face looks natural, as though no make-up (or minimal make-up) on.

Cons: Only SPF 15, some people prefer more SPF. Personally I don't think there's much difference. Application is difficult because of the sheen, you need to apply evenly, any uneven application is obvious. Not enough coverage.

I guess it really depends on what you want. If you want good coverage then obviously this is not the product to buy, but if you just want to look au naturel with a nice glow then this bb cream is definitely worth a try.




Sunday, December 9, 2012

Relationship 101 #1 - Men vs women in the car

"Add the salt, add the salt!" "Stir it, stir it, STIR THE DAMN THING!" "How can you flip the egg over this way? You need to flip it by flicking your wrist!" Sounds familiar? No? I guess no women likes to be told how to cook. We'll probably throw saucepans at the boyfriends/husbands who do the above.

I guess in the same way, men don't like to be taught how to drive. Or have us comment on their driving skills (or lack thereof).

It's standard procedure for a couple to quarrel in the car. Perhaps it's due to the claustrophobic environment, or it may be because of the near proximity to each other. To men, their driving skills equal their manhood and to comment or criticize it is to comment or criticize their manhood. I used to criticize the boyfriend's driving all the time. If he drove too fast, drove too slow, didn't put signal, braked too hard, turned too wide, turned too narrow etc. My comments sparked off SO MANY quarrels that now I've reached the zen level. I no longer criticize. When we meet a**hole drivers on the road who are true idiots and should never have been given driving licences, the boyfriend would be cursing and swearing beside me and I would normally agree and throw in a few comments of my own.

Other times when someone isn't in the wrong but he's just in a foul mood and thinks the whole world can't drive to save their lives, I would just keep mum. Well, he's already in a foul mood, being disagreeable with him would just piss him off further.

However, there are times when he's childish. Case in point: recently we went out for movie. He tried to park between a car and a wall (there was a valid lot), but he couldn't coz the idiot next to him parked too close to the lot. So anyways, to cut a long story short. If it were me (or other girls), I would have just driven off to look for another available lot. But for him (and maybe some guys), oh no, he has to do something about it. Like my girlfriend says, it's like guys have to carry out vigilante justice, be the super cop of all carparks and arrest all parking/driving idiots etc.

So the boyfriend went and pull up both wipers of the car. And I'm like, for what? How in the world does that solve anything? -_-" I think he was just being ultra childish.

Common childish things guys do:
- car A in front keep on braking, pissed off boyfriend drives to the front of car A and keeps on braking, just to "give the person a taste of his own medicine".
- car B drives on the fastest lane but drives really slow or according to the speed limit (which isn't fast enough for some people), boyfriend tailgates car B, and flicks highbeam at car B to signal to him to get out of his way.
- car C cuts into boyfriend's lane dangerously, causing boyfriend to slam on the brakes. Boyfriend goes to the next lane, drives up so his car and car C are abreast, then either (a) wind down window, (b) scold vulgarity at car C or (c) point middle finger. According to experience, the boyfriend says combining (a) and (c) is usually very effective. Sometimes when he's busy, he borrows my middle finger instead. :(

Anyway, girls, just bear with them! :) just like we don't like them to nag about our cooking, dressing etc, they don't like us to nag about their driving either. Keeping quiet is the way to treat this problem. Unless you have a child in the car. That's when you need to be firm and tell him to stop driving like a maniac.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Money and the lack of it.

I was getting excited about my impending wedding, which will happen a year later, until all the email responses stopped. *frowns*

I emailed the venue lady, but didn't hear from her ever since. I really really want that venue. At all costs! I will even change the date if need be. This is the first time I've seen or heard the boyfriend so enthusiastic about a particular venue. He keeps calling it his dream wedding. Haha.

I emailed the AD photographer, also no news! :(

The only one who got back to me was the live band I was thinking of hiring, but I found their charges a bit too steep. Let's see when the time comes how much money we have left. :)

I think of the other things that I need to prepare and I feel a little faint. Like, where on earth am I going to get so much money?
- Invitation cards
- rental of gown and suit
- florists
- catering of buses
- wedding car (maybe use the boyfriend's car)

I wanted to do it small because we didn't want to spend too much. But now looking at all these, after factoring in all these, perhaps I'm better off going to a cheaper hotel. =( I know the boyfriend isn't keen so we'll try to make it work. I really need to save $ from now onwards...sigh.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

I'm getting married!

It's been almost a year since the boyfriend proposed. I still remember the excitement then, I couldn't believe I am getting married. After several failed discussions, and many disagreements, I'm glad that the boyfriend and I have finally settled on a wedding venue. They say that when you find your wedding dress, you will recognize it immediately and know that it is "THE DRESS", I like to think that for our wedding venue, it was pretty much the same. It is so rare for the boyfriend to just take one look at the picture and like it immediately. He even said "Wah this is exactly what I want leh". I've never seen or heard him so agreeable before. I myself was also very taken by the photographs. Heard good reviews about the person-in-charge too. Just emailed her this morning and am waiting for her to get back to me. :) I have a good feeling about this!

Day 6 - Taipei

Another gloomy day - still, we decided to head to Taipei 101. I've gone up to the observatory before but the 3 of them haven't. Anyway going up costs NT$450, almost SGD$20! (Note: Don't go if you don't like tourists from you-know-where, coz they were truly EVERYWHERE.) More shoving and pushing. These people are weird, they don't know how to say excuse me and they are always pushing/shoving others. I got so fed up that I told myself the next one who shoves me aside will get it from me. Fortunately, it didn't happen again. 









The view was quite breathtaking at first, but when you walk one round around the observatory, you kind of feel that it all looks quite the same. :( or maybe it's just me not knowing how to appreciate the scenery.

After Taipei 101, Cy and I wanted to shop some more as we both felt that we haven't shopped enough. The boyfriend wasn't feeling well again so he went back to the hotel to take a nap while K, Cy and myself went to the underground mall and Taipei MRT station. We bought quite a fair bit of stuff there! :) Surprisingly nice place to shop, with plentiful clothes and shoes. 

After that we were deciding where to go so we decided that for our last night in Taipei, we wanted to revisit Shi Lin Night Market, so off we went! We shopped some more, this time in detail so as not to missed out any "goodies". We had dinner at the underground food mall then shortly after the boyfriend came to join us. We walked around some more then headed back to Ximending. After depositing all our purchases in our rooms, we took a cab to the nearest Carrefour to buy cup noodles. Taiwan has the BEST cup noodles ever, with cubes of real meat! :) So we bought back quite a few bowls, some for C and some for myself. 

The next day, we headed for the airport and for home...

Day 5 - Taipei

Waking up on day 5, I felt a little melancholic coz I will be leaving this lovely country soon! :(

Anyway today was hot springs day so we decided to settle our breakfast at Ximending first then head to Xinbeitou.



Next up: hot springs! Actually it wasn't the best day for hot springs, especially when we were planning for outdoor hot springs. It was actually drizzling! But we've never done outdoor hot springs before and it was really very cheap so we didn't mind. Entry costs NT$40, which is about SGD$1.60 heh.


This was really easy to find. Come out from Xinbeitou MRT station, cross the road and walk straight down, past the staircase and the entrance is right there.


Actually not allowed to take photos inside the hot springs, but I only found out after I snapped this picture. :)
Was quite excited actually, until Cy and I stepped into the hot spring...it was REALLY hot. No joke leh the heat. But it was fun and quite an experience. Haha after that had to go into the cold pool....that one also no joke haha it was really really cold. Sigh but it was a fun experience and if ever I go back Taipei I will go to this hot springs again! Cheap and good!

After the hot springs we decided to go to Danshui as we were only one stop away. Unfortunately the sky continued pelting down rain and it was gloomy. The rain came intermittently and in the end we had to buy ponchos in order to continue our journey.






We walked around Danshui until the sky turned dark. The boyfriend had a lot of fun playing shooting games. We won an inflatable club, an inflatable sword and a spongebob squarepants balloon. After that, it was dinner time!


This is the Kanpai branch at Zhongshan station. Both the food and service were great! The waitress introduced us the standard set, upon hearing that it was our first time there. The standard set was quite a big portion, but there were certain items that I felt were not worth ordering. If ever I go again, I'll be sure to skip those and order the rest! One of the items was chicken soft bones 鸡软骨, which none of us knew how to appreciate. The other item was the prawns because they were of a measly size. I'd rather order another portion of meat or mushrooms.

However, I have to say that the appetizer (seen in pic above) that consisted of soft boiled egg, kimchi and tofu was mighty refreshing! And also the lettuce with salt and pepper! I never knew just how nice plain lettuce with salt and pepper tasted! You have to eat it to believe it.

Anyway the meal wasn't cheap, with the standard set plus 3 beers (and a coke) and 3 bowls of rice coming up to about SGD$114...or NT$2640. But I think it was well worth it! Highly recommended!

Day 4 - Taipei

Woke up and was soooo happy to see the sun shining brightly. Today was an important day! We were going to 五分埔 for some wholesale shopping and the weather was absolutely vital to a day like this! First of all, we definitely had to eat Formosa Chang or better known as 胡须张's 鲁肉饭 when we are heading to Wufenpu. Cheap and good! Love it. Regretted not eating more than once. :(




After shopping we were quite hungry so decided to go for steamboat!! K and Cy introduced us this fantastic restaurant that served really good quality food! With freeflow Haagen Daz and Movenpick ice cream (but almost all their steamboat places have this)!



The steamboat was delicious! There were lots of variety to the food (or at least, enough variety for me.), anyway I just go there to eat the beef wahaha. The soup base was nice and at the end of the dinner, the soup tasted really flavourful!

After dinner the boyfriend wasn't feeling well, he's been sick throughout the day so he went back hotel to rest whereas K, Cy and I continued shopping around Ximending area. :)