Before and after the SG Blog Awards Event

Being able to attend the SG Blog Awards Event was something I had never dreamt off. However, this year as a finalist for the best cooking blog award I got to attend it with a guest. Preparations for the derby dress code for this event got me excited.  As I am seldom interested in fashion trends, I ended up googling and shopping online just for it. I am happy with my purchases as it can be recycled for many rounds.

On the actual day of the SG Blog Awards Event

Together with my guest , we arrived a little earlier. Thus we went shooting some photographs around the mall.

Here's some photos before the event started (Photo courtesy by my guest cum friend)

       
My favourite food blogger - Tony Johor Kaki ( glad that he won for his category )
Best Food Blog 2014

 

   the entrance view ( the lady in blue dress was the winner for the cooking

blog category- the domestic goddess )

My guest and me

Items in the goodie bag

                                    
                            


Inside the event hall

Haha this photo looks like I really permed my hair

Having fun at the photo booth

 

Guest of Honor - Miss Sim Ann (Minister of  State,

Ministry of Education & Ministry of Communications and Information)

 

She was a lady who is always on the constant move in upgrading. She was even presenting the award to her ex classmate , Ms Regina Chow for the best fashion blog.  Next, we had some dance performance by a group of dancers and fellow bloggers Smith Leong and Ninja Girls. Forget to take pictures as too engrossed with the performance.

 

 

Last but not least groupie photo with the category winners

 

We were all treated to some light refreshments after the event. Indeed, it was the experience to be able to join in the event as a participant, observer and also supporter for bloggers who I am admire. To me , it is the first lifetime achievement which I got for myself into attending big media event like this.  The takeaway from the event was being able to truly appreciate everyone's participation in the event. Without that , I guess it would not be memorable for all the category winners nor the fellow participants.I really thank my friend for waking up so early to join me at the event.

 

Last but not least, I want to thank all my friends, blogger friends for supporting me throughout my this blogging journey for making it so enjoyable and fruitful.

 

Controversial Issue about Slim Couture and Xia Xue

With the interesting and controversial issue about Slim couture and Xia Xue, it makes me ponder on what is on the minds of management of Slim Couture. I seriously do not know how badly Xia Xue has commented on her posting.As by the time I read her blog, she has taken down that blog post that might cause her a legal suit with Slim Couture. Seriously, when bloggers are being engaged to write reviews for companies we are given the ability to express freely about what we felt throughout the review for either products or services.However, it does not mean that the bloggers would only say good things on their blogs for the reviews.

Here's a picture of Xia Xue where the cupping marks did not subside after a few hrs as per advised by the staff of Slim Couture.

Companies must also manage their expectations that there might be some bad reviews as that it is not everyone will like everything. If all good things are said about the products or services , readers might think is it true. Plus if after trying out themselves and they find that it is not up to the standard as per what the blogger has mentioned earlier on they will also feedback to others. Companies should also take this opportunity when bloggers are there to do reviews, it is also time for them to take note of what is needed to be change to further improve on the packaging of the product or training for staff for better service.

For me, I stand on xia xue and nuff nang's point of view that xia xue should be given the freedom to write how she felt about the treatment. Though the treatment might work for others, it did not work for xia xue and xia xue is being honest to reveal that. I think that it would actually manage some expectation of the consumers who might be visiting Slim Couture. No doubt that advertisement is supposed to be a positive light, consumers today will go out to check reviews first before going to the place. So be gracious about whatever bloggers comment when they do the review. I would always prefer to be given the freedom to write on how I feel about the treatment, product and service. I blogged true to my feelings as I do not see the need to bluff my readers.

Tips for companies to manage on their expectation of bloggers doing blog review
1. Manage the expectations that not every blogger will write only good things
2. Set boundaries for the blogger if you are like targeting a certain image for the company
3. Provide QR scan code or printed vouchers for bloggers so that they can sort of work as mystery shopper as they write the review and the staff will not be on their guard.

 

Review of S & N Spa @ 488 Changi Road

S &N Spa which is located at 488 Changi Road is situated at the junction where frankel avenue and behind the Trumps condo. S &N Spa has been around for about 4 years. The range of services that S & N Spa provide are body massage(thai , javanese, tuina), cupping therapy, jacuzzi massage, foot massage, foot spa and foot massage,jade back massage, ear candling and whitening body scrub. They are fully operated on 24 by 7 daily. Most importantly, they are case trust.

Here's the outlook of how S & N Spa look like now

S &N Spa offers a ladies' room , a man's room and couple's room. This is to better facilitate that the customers to enjoy the service. Within the couple's room , there is a jacuzzi pool. Within the man's room , there is a shower room. As for the ladies' room, it is just solely for the ladies.

Let's take a look at the ladies room

The men's room 

 The couple's room

After looking at the surrounding environment , I headed for my one hr massage. I was told that I will be trying out the tui na massage. As a usual personnel who goes to see chinese sinseh for tui na massage, my expectations are slightly higher since I could lay on the bed for tui na massage this time round. 

My overall experience with  S &N spa was average cos the time management of the therapist is not really good as she only focuses on 1hr for back massage and I never got to do the front. However, the massage did make me feel more alert and relaxed. The therapist's strength was good enough for me that I don't have to scream and shout like I usually do in the medical hall.  One thing I like was that there are no sales consultants doing hard selling as I stayed back a little to observe.

Currently, there is a promotion on going which is that when you get the 90 mins massage package you get to get an add on of either one of the following for free which is body scrub, ear candling, aroma oil, cupping therapy and gua sha. Further to that, after going for your massage you can head over to seng kee black chicken herbal soup as they are diagonally opposite S&N spa.

***Disclaimer "Though this is a sponsored review, I reserved the right to my own honest opinions. I do not believed in not being true to myself.

A night out at Alive Museum

Seriously, there are too many museums to visit nowadays as the government has allowed free concessions for locals . I have not been to a museum for a long long time. The last time I went was probably during my secondary school days.

Currently, there is so much hype about trick eye museum and alive museum.  I was wondering which one should I go first to....It so happened that I was given an opportunity to review Alive Museum as per invitation from omy and Alive Museum thus I am out to Alive Museum on a Thursday night.

Upon arriving at Suntec, I headed to the food court so that I could be linked to tower 3 & 4 via the foundation of wealth where Alive Museum is. As I was walking thru the linkway, I chanced upon the directions to Alive Museum.

Directions to Alive Museum via foundation of wealth~Guess this is huge enough for everyone not to miss it .

Upon arriving at the Alive Museum alone, I was suggested by the staff that they could get one of the staff to accompany me to tour around and take pictures. I actually took the tour of the place with the staff where she could explain to me how to better pose for the photos for the pictures in Alive Museum. There is also a baggage depository system at the counter where the staff would tag your bag with a tag.

Here's mine.

My favourite number

I began the tour with an famous art piece where most people would know. It's Mona Lisa which is animated version.

For art lovers, you might want to take this picture.

I have managed to get a model for one the photos. This lady is very kind to help me pose for the photo as I felt she look angelic while posing for that photo.Really thank her for posing for me and also the staff for helping me to ask

Up close look of the angel 

As for me, here's the range of the photos that I like.

I feel that I look so cute in this pic

 

I am flying with cartoon character

I feel like I am the modern yang gui fei

Overall , the tour of the museum was filled with tips by the staff on how to take better photos. There are pictures of Ames room which psychology students could go there to take to further understand concepts in cognitive psychology.  One tip is to go toilet before you enter into the museum as there are no toilets inside the museum. Further to that, it is best adviceable for ladies not to wear skirt and do wear dark colour cos u might want to lie down on the floor to take photos.

After walking the tour, one must be either tired or thirsty. Fret not, there is a current promotion that Alive Museum has tied up with Burger King which is just besides Alive Museum. All you have to do is to like Alive Museum on their Facebook page and get the free meal from Burger King with the purchase of a full price purchased ticket. Promotion ends on 30 Sept'14

Alive Museum SingaporeSuntec City Mall #03-372
(Between Towers 3 and 4)

Ticket Price:
$25 (Adults)
$20 (Children 3 - 12 years old)

Operating hours:
10am - 10pm daily
(Last admission at 9pm)

 

  

Thoughts throughout this blogging period for the Singapore Blog Awards

Seriously, this blogging period for the Singapore Blog Awards did kind of stressed me up. It is not just about the voting only but also coming out with recipes that is not too costly and time consuming for people to make.

I did learn that baking with prima bread flour and bake king flour is a lot of difference cos the moment i ate the bread. Though I am someone who prefers to cook rather than bake,  i get to learn more about baking. Like the teaspoon , it can't be a heap must be level. Oh, one thing must make sure in baking dun ever use granulated sugar .. it is supposed to be caster sugar.

However, I also get to know new supportive blogger friends and also got to know who are really my true friends. I did actually get to learn more about myself cos entering into this blogging scene onto the big scale involves lots of courage. It is no longer about just writing for the sake of entertaining my small circle of friends.

Anyway, just wan to say a big thank you to all who have voted for me!

 

Don't Worry, Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin- I know it says Marley ( sorry it...

Hope you guys out there have a happy midweek... Enjoy

Review of the book of David by Charles Swindoll-Part 2

In this part, I would like to cover chapter 5-8. As there are 24 chapters, I thought it might be good to develop it into 6 part series  rather than 1 whole lump chunk.

Quoting from Charles Swindoll, he wrote that God is always good cos He never shows us tomorrow. This stems out from Matthew 6:33-34. What comes out from reading the verse of Matthew 6: 33-34 was that we do not have to worry about what tomorrow will happen and not to worry on what we will eat and just be merry.

As he wrote about the issue of intimate friendship, he states that an intimate friend is willing to sacrifice, will be there to assist in whatever and whenever is needed. It reminded me of the relationship of david and johnathan, the relationship between God and me and also the relationship between veron and me. I am thankful that I do know that in this life I am able to find an intimate friend cos not everyone is able to be blessed to find an intimate friend.

In terms of relationship, can one find loyal defense in the partner ? There ought to be a need to give each other complete freedom to be themselves and be a constant source of encouragement for the partner. As in we can never reach a level where we are above criticism or we no longer need the input of others.

In life, there are bound to be some pillars or so called known crutches in our lives. However, there are 3 warnings we ought to beware of . The first one is that the crutches become substitutes for God - Deut 33:27 and Isa 41:10. The second one would be crutches keep our focus horizontal as we tend to lean on one person or another thing, our focus is not on God and hence that the human crutches paralyze the walk of faith. The third thing is that crutches only offer temporary relief whereas God gives a permanent solution.

When the crutches in our lives are gone, what do we actually do ? Do you actually change?
Change is needed . First and foremost, are you being hurt enough to admit  your own need? Secondly,are you honest enough to cry to God for help. Thirdly, are u humble enough to learn from God?

The need of coming back to God for refuge are simply because we are in distress and sorrow accompanies us, because of we are sinful and guilt accuses us and because of we are surrounded by adversaries and misunderstanding assault us.

So help yourself to identify your crutches today and submit to God on the issues.  Have a blessed weekend!

Ribena Berry Bread Recipe and Chicken Curry Party

Ingredients

100g of mixed berries- dried cranberry and blue berries
250 g of bread flour
2 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of milk powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1.5 teaspoon of instant dry yeast
10g of butter
150ml of cold water
40ml of ribena

Method

Firstly, I put all the necessary ingredients in the bread pan except for the yeast and mixed berries.
Secondly, I select menu 2 for it and also select raisins with music. So as to facilitate the putting in of the berries at 32 min. Last but not least, set the timer to bake and press start. It will end at 2 hrs later.

As for the chicken curry party, it was an impromptu decision last night between me and my friend cecilia. I offered to bake the basic bread to her house while she cook the curry. It was a day of baking 3 loaves at one go  with less than 1 hr apart from each loaf . You can't use it straight after baking one loaf for another loaf else the machine will prompt the word U50 to prevent you from using.

Here's the pictures of the chicken party.

My friend's kid even mentioned this is the first time that I would eat the bread crust.The curry cooked by my friend was super nice. Long time never had nice chicken curry. Next time , I shall share with you my friend's chicken curry recipe.

Food Review of Maggie Thai Chinese Restaurant at 1 Liang Seah Street

I am glad that I have been invited to this food review for Maggie Thai & Chinese Restaurant recently. The hospitable Ms Maggie made me and fellow bloggers so at home as she shared with us the history of Maggie Thai & Chinese Restaurant and a little about Liang Seah Street where no one knows.

History of Maggie Thai & Chinese Restaurant

  

Maggie Thai & Chinese Restaurant has been established since 1998. It was conveniently located at the heart of the city, only minutes away from Bugis Junctions .

Maggie started her first Thai food stall at Queen Street hawker centre. It soon became a famous eatery outlet. Customers packed up in an endless queue at busy hours. Encouraged by customers, Maggie and her family decided to move the business to Liang Seah Street in 1998 starting with only one shop unit. Maggie Thai & Chinese Restaurant was established since there. Years later, it was expended to two shop units. Despite the high rent of the city central area, Maggie insists to provide “cheap and good” food for loyal customers. 

Accolades won over the years by Maggie Thai & Chinese Restaurant

 

Upon arrival at the shop, one can see the decorations on  the walls via painting and the big sign board of their specialities.

 

 

Ms Maggie's hubby's collections~~~unique right

 

 

Here comes the actual food review of the food that Ms Maggie prepared for us

 

Thai Steamed Grouper

 

For me, this dish does not struck a chord with my taste buds even though I am someone who loves sour stuff. Perhaps, it was due to that the fish seems to be fresh water fish and not sea water fish. However, the sauce that was used to steam this fish was pretty good. The meat was very tender.

 

Rating of this dish is 3/5

 

Assam Fish

 

This dish is really appetising . The sauce when pour onto plain rice was so appetising that one could have a few bowls of rice if not controlled. The brinjal that was cook to just nice for its softness and lady fingers were well cooked that it was crunchy and yet not slimy. The fish meat was not filmsy at all and could taste the freshnesss of the fish. Ms Maggie also told us tat she used all the fresh ingredients daily from the wholesalers instead of the frozen ingredients.

 

Rating for this dish is 5/5

 

Salted egg prawns

 

What I liked about this dish is that the prawn is not heavily coated with flour when fried before stir frying with the salted egg .

 

Rating for this dish is 3.5/5

Cereal Prawns

 

As for this dish which I usually get to eat it at home, I feel that this dish is a bit not on par with my home standard. Perhaps it was the lack of the chilli padi in the cereal mix and the buttery taste.

 

Rating for this dish is 2.5/5 

Red Curry Beef

 

This dish though named red curry beef is not exactly spicy and the meat is really tender . I wonder if they have added any meat tenderizer. It kinds of melt in the mouth that kind of feeling.

 

Rating of this dish is 5/5

 

Thai Fried Grouper

 

The fish was deep fried till it was so crunchy and the sauce that was with it could not be more than awesome. 

 

Rating of this dish is 5/5.

Butter squid

 

This is one of the signature dishes in Maggi Thai. It does not taste like calamari cos it feels very qq and not a lot of batter was being added to fry. You are supposed to dip it with either the sweet thai chill sauce or mayonaise sauce to eat.

 

Rating of this dish is 5/5

 

There are also a lot of other items which are available for lunch time special. So people who is working around the gateway west or gateway east you guys can go and try.

 

Lunch Time Special Menu would be Black pepper udon noodles, Taiwan dry minced meat mee tai mak,  Thai mango fried chicken rice, Hong Kong style orange fried chicken rice, fried hokkien mee, Thai prawn paste chicken rice. This is solely applicable at the Liang Seah Street outlet.

 

For those working at the west, you may wan to head down to their food court outlet store for the cravings at  50 Jurong Gateway Road, Jem Food Court, #05-14 Singapore 608549

 

 

Address of the 2 outlets of Maggie Thai & Chinese Restaurant
(Main Outlet)
1 Liang Seah Street, #01-01/02
Singapore 189022

(2nd Outlet)
50 Jurong Gateway Road,
Jem Food Court, #05-14
Singapore 608549

 

 

For more info, please visit their website http://www.maggiethai.com. Do remember to make reservation on the weekends if u are heading down there.

 

Last but not least , I would like to thank Maggie for her generousity to treating us the bloggers for wonderful food and also street directory for arranging this event

 

*** Disclaimer: all the opinions of the food are of my own personal opinions.*****

 

Please remember to vote for me if you have yet to vote for me today ...Click on the finalist badge to link to the voting system.

 

 

 

Sch reopens for me

Today is the first day of my school reopen for my final semester in Unisim. First time getting around the block C.  Haven gotten around block c to see if there is any canteen anot ...This term I am going to take positive psychology. As for next term , I will be taking work stress and creative psychology.

Today's lesson was practically just mostly on the definition of positive psychology and on the concept of broaden and build theory by barbara fredickson . There is also something called the flow experience and savoring.

Actually, in life which type of emotions do u focus more on ? Positive or negative?  Positive emotions help ppl to expand the perspections to view things whereas negative emotions tend to narrow the views as negative emotions will trigger fear which will cause us to go into fight or flight mode mainly for survival.

Indeed when i feel loved, i tend to perform better and also find more opportunities in life. So keep yourself happy and you will find better opportunities in life.

 

Gals , Important to know between a date vs a hook up

Sometimes , when you are interested to get involve into a relationship you forget to check it out whether the man you are going to date is really interested in you as a person or dating you just for hook ups. The picture below explains it all . Dun just blindly date

 

If you like my blog, please kindly vote for me by clicking on the best cooking blog finalist badge on the right to help me vote. Many thanks in advance.

 

 

Retro Sunday

Today I just have the urge to listen to this song called Lemon Tree . It was rather popular during my teenage years. It is so different from the current kind of songs that singers are listening. I still feel that there are lesser and lesser talented song writers... Sometimes I feel that my generation's songs are better than this current generations.  To each of his or her own taste, enjoy your sunday with this cute and catchy song.

If you like my blog, please help me by voting daily via clicking on the badge of the cooking blog finalist at the side to vote for me. Many thanks!!!!

Recipe of Lemon grass ginger drink

A few stalks of lemon grass smashed
2  gingers being smashed
some rock sugar from eu yang sang

Method

Just put the ingredients in add some water and boil it. After that , let it cool down . If  you like it chilled, then put it inside the fridge and dun put ice cubes in cos it will dillute the taste.

How to do winged eyeliner for 4 types of eyes?

Celebrating mom's birthday by making home-made focaccia bread using Panasonic bread maker

Today is my mom's birthday so i decided that yesterday night that I will bake her focaccia bread so that she could bring to office to sort of treat her colleagues.

I would very much like to show the photos of my mom cutting the bread in place of the birthday cake but I think i shall keep it for private viewing. My mom was so excited about it cos it is first time she does not have birthday cake but birthday bread for cutting . She was so cute that she made a wish before cutting the bread. After she cut her first slice, I helped her to pack the bread into ziplock bag for her to bring to work.

You know it is like the kind of feeling preparing those goodie bags for kids when kids have parties at school.

Here's the recipe

Ingredients

225g of bread flour
25g of plain flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of mixed herbs from master foods
2 tablespoons of  olive oil
170 ml of cold water ( reduce water by 10ml if rm temp is above 25 degrees Celsius)
1/2 teaspoon of instant dry yeast

After which , i used the menu 4 and set it on timer for 5 hrs to go on baking.

End results

Ladies , how would you want to build your man with $5?

Recently, I saw this picture from facebook. It says that ladies you have $5 to build your man. So what are the attributes that you ladies out there need in a man ?

As for the men if you chanced upon this blog, do take a look what ladies are looking for and start to build on those attributes to help yourself get a partner or build a long lasting relationship. In a relationship, both parties play a part. So do let me know what are your thoughts after this in the comments box ?

For me , I would choose 2, 6 and 8 cos i think that is what i needed in a man .
 

Want to have natural black hair from shampooing , no longer will you need to dye your hair?

Seriously, nowadays we are getting too stressed up and often you will find yourself getting more white hair even you are in your 20s. I happened to find a solution for that. Thus , I would like to share with you people out there on how to get natural black hair from shampooing.

Here's the product picture

Uniquely formulated, it holds the secret to healthier hair follicles and growth. Enhanced with Nano-Technology, nutrition included can immediately reactivate your melanin-producing melanocytes to naturally give your hair the healthy and lustrous look.

A non-dye product, the oxidation concept employed restores your premature white hair to its original natural black hair within 5 minutes and safely even after long term usage.
A product of scientific R&D, it combines both eastern herbs with western technology to help repair and rejuvenate both your hair follicles and scalp, whilst promoting hair growth, thus giving you a healthy, lustrous looking hair and a youthful look.

Main features of this product:

• Reactivate melanocytes
• Promotes hair growth
• Restore white hair to original colour
• No harmful chemicals
• Natural herb ingredients
• Vitamin A , C, & B5

Frequently asked questions
I    It turns white hair to black hair in 5 minutes using oxidation concept, and may also assist hair growth in 3 to 6 weeks. It helps to reduce dandruffs, hair loss and enhance to restore, repair and reactive the melanocyte cells, nourishing and regain healthy natural black hair. Follow the instructions of usage to enhance the effect and obtain a good result.

INSTRUCTION
1) 12 hours before and after using Shampoo Black, do not use other brands of shampoo; or else it will damage the nutrition.
2) Do not use hot or warm water to wash your hair with Shampoo Black; or else it will damage the nutrition.
3) Rinse your hair and scrub your scalp lightly with water to wash away the dirt, oil and hair gel about 2 minutes.
4) Dry your hair with towel to about 60% dried to avoid diluting the nutrition.
5) Do not shake Shampoo Black bottle before and after used and tighten the cap properly to avoid oxidizing.
6) Wear a pair of gloves.
7) There are TWO methods to use Gene Peptide Nutrition Shampoo Black:

1. Use Shampoo Black A & B in equal proportion dosage (1:1) according to the hair volume. Mix them and apply on your hair immediately. Massage the scalp for 5 minutes, rinse your hair and scrub your scalp well with plenty of water.

OR

1. Use Shampoo Black A &  B in equal proportion dosage (1:1) and mix them in a bowl. Use a comb to comb the hair and scalp with mixed shampoo for 5 minutes, rinse your hair and scrub your scalp well with plenty of water.

8) If the shampoo in contact with skin and oxidize to form black stain, use damp cotton wool to get some form from your hair and rub the blackened area. It will be removed.
9) To avoid irritation or itchiness, rinse your hair and scrub scalp well with plenty of water thoroughly to ensure the scalp and hair are clean.
10) Dry your hair with towel and dry it naturally without using hair dryer, to avoid the nutrition damaged by heat.
Suggestion: Use Gene Peptide Nutrition Shampoo Black 1 to 2 times per week for treatment.
Reminder: Rinse your hair and scrub your scalp with plenty of water thoroughly to avoid itchiness.
PRECAUTIONS

• Keep out of reach of children.
• For external use only.
• Tighten the cap after used.
• Store in a cool and dry place.
• Please rinse with plenty of water thoroughly, if the shampoo gets into the eyes.
• Once the Shampoo Black has opened, should be finished within 2 months in order to avoid oxidation.
• Beware of imitation.

REASONS OF CAUSING LIGHT ITCHINESS

• You did not rinse your hair and scalp thoroughly clean, or
• You have dandruff / dead skin, or
• You had dyed hair and the hair dye’s chemicals still on your scalp which may cause reaction with nutrition.

CAUTION
Not recommended for people who are sensitive allergy to flower or have sensitive scalp or skin. (If encounter any irritation or redness, please wash and rinse with plenty of water without using any shampoo. If still persist please discontinue and further consult doctor if necessary.)

If you are interested to purchase, I am retailing it at $50. Please email me at akimoto_emi05@yahoo.com.sg .

I

 

My own recipe of Organic Chocolate Museli Bread

As all out of you out there knows that I am into the best cooking blog award , therefore I am supposed to create recipes out from the panasonic bread maker. I have been cracking my head on what kind of recipe should i bake . Then this idea came to me as I thought it would be easy for the parents to coax kids to try out museli

Here's my own recipe of organic chocolate museli bread.

Ingredients
75g of whole wheat flour -best to get the brand bake king
175g of bread flour
10g of SCS butter
1 tablespoon of milk powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of instant yeast
60g of organic museli
190ml of chocolate milk

Method
1. Place the above ingredients expect the organic museli and yeast into the bread pan.
2. Place the yeast into the yeast dispenser and organic museli into the nuts dispenser
3.Select Menu no.2 for the rapid mode and select raisin mode and press start
4. Once ready , remove the bread from pan and leave it for cooling before cutting.

Do take note for those who have nuts allergy, please do not try this as I do not know if it contains nuts within the museli.