Happy Chinese New Year - Year of Goat 2015

Today is the eve of the Chinese New Year. I have been busy with attending event like #blogmeetsg and also doing spring cleaning for this Chinese New Year. Have you decided on what you are supposed to wear for tomorrow ? I have more or less decided on what to wear already.

Let me show you what I  am going to wear tomorrow

I am off to my reunion dinner at my grandma's house. So wishing you guys out there a happy lunar new year .

May the Lord bless you all out there with good health and prosperity!

 

Give away ~~a skin analysis

Have you done a check on your skin condition before?

Skin, being the largest organ throughout our entire body can be neglected by us. No doubt for ladies, we might tend to ply on tons of skin care. There is also tendency that our skin where our skin might be dehydrated.

Today I was being blessed with  two tickets by my friend on doing a deep skin analysis which can help to see on the skin's evenness and also the size of the pores. It is called the visia scan analysis. I am planning to do it on either on the 6th or 7th of February 2015 as I am keen to know how to protect my skin further.  There are limited slots for it on each day.  I will be giving away one ticket away for my readers who would like to participate in this with me.

Here's some of the images that I found with the courtesy from pleinvanity.com

 

 
Seems that the scan is pretty comprehensive. I shall see my results on the day when I do my analysis.

I wonder how my results would be like when I do the analysis.

To participate in this free giveaway,please do share my facebook page Secretbeauty with others and like my page with your email address in the comments. The winner would be notified by 5th of February 2015 by 8pm .

 

Beauty Website that I stumbled upon

In the search for a good hair stylist for cutting curly hair, I stumbled upon this website called Wellnessly.com. It works on the concept like hungrygowhere.com just that it has got some points system on going where you could use it to offset your booking fee at the certain salons or spas that you are going to.

I guess the most beneficial thing from this website is the honest reviews from people who really go and try it on personal experience. It is really not based on bloggers' reviews or whatsoever. Even though I am a blogger, I would really only blog on what I experience personally.

There's something that I would like to share on for Chinese New Year. As you all know usually Chinese new year period hair salons would usually increased price. From Wellnessly.com, here are 9 hair salons that do not have the surcharge on CNY period.

                                          99% Hair Studio

                                          Chapter 2 at marina square

                                          Hairloom( shaw towers)

                                                                                             
                                                        
                                           Headlines Hairdressing(china square central) 

                                          J's Hair Salon

                                          Koinonia Salon (Pacific Plaza)

                                          Monsoon Hair House (Velocity @Novena Square)

                                          Salon Vim

                                          Zinc Salon

 You might want to consider using my referral link to get yourself  to visit the website.  Here's the link : http://www.wellnessly.com/r/3uKyVVj3 . Hope this helps for those who are not celebrating Chinese new year this year.

Daily blessing - Comparing myself to a patient who needs dialysis

Today I visited my grandmother 'cos she is always busy on the weekends. So today is her routined dialysis day. As I accompanied her while she is doing her dialysis, I just realized that that it is taxing to be on a dialysis.

The thought of going dialysis is really scary after seeing my grandmother on the dialysis. Throughout the dialysis session, she was feeling cold. Got to keep her warm by rubbing her hands. It also helps me to set my goal further to reduce weight 'cos I know I have no one to rely on when I am old.

Here's the image of a dialysis machine

 

Many at times, we youngsters are neglecting our own health due to the fast food trend and unhealthy eating habits. However, how many times are we considering our health in our old age. It is essential to take good care of our health from a young age rather than we are being plagued with the three highs, which are high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high visceral fat content.

I would like to encourage more people who are looking for weight loss buddy in the east to email me at akimoto_emi05@yahoo.com.sg so that we could help and spur each other in weight loss program.

 

Free Qoo10 cash voucher to be won

I have just gotten an email from one of the mailing list that I subscribe for business use. It states that there are qoo10 cash vouchers worth between $100 - $500 to be won. There is no requirement needed just submit your email address in and you get to stand a chance to win the cash vouchers.

Here's a snapshot of how the email look like when I got it

 

 

So if you are a frequent qoo10 shopper like me, it will serve u well . To join in the contest, please go to http://independencefreegifts.com. Contest ends on February 19 at 11.59pm.

 

 

 



 

Maintenance for curly hair

I have always been bogged down by my natural curly hair that can look like perm hair. It is only since last year I started to embrace my curly hair.

 First thing to know about curly hair is that it is frizzy and that it requires high maintenance. Like for me, the thing I hate about apply a lot of the hair cream on my hair 'cos I have oily hair scalp. Too much of the hair cream will make me have lots of dandruff.

So here's what I usually do

1. Change my shampoo range between clarifying and balancing range when I go swimming, moisturizing on the next day. Further to that, I also will do hair treatment mask for my hair the next day.

2.Using a comb to detangle my locks

3. I don't towel dry my hair neither do I blow dry it.

4.I will use a water based hair spray or anti frizz serum before I go out.

5. Come back home  I just wash the hair with water to remove the dust accumulate.

6. Blow dry with a fan in order to sleep faster.

On weekly treatment, I will use my hair treatment mask for my hair

Here's the range of products I use

Balancing shampoo

                                                              Moisturizing shampoo

Clarifying Shampoo 

On Off Fever week for me and a general update for the week.

This week is quite tiring for me cos I had been having on off fever since last fri and yet I still go to work. So that is why I haven been posting on my blog. I just managed to be able to finalize the details of my upcoming skin care workshop for pre valentine's day and Chinese new year. The first workshop will be on 31.1.15 which is 2 weeks down the road. Title of my workshop would be how to get a smoother skin before valentine's day and v lined face for Chinese new year.

Fast forward for events that happened through out the week , I was shopping online and manage to get myself a coat for my upcoming trip to seoul. I am now waiting for its arrival at my door step.

I thought this might be good for to wear as in the layerings with the clothes when I am in Seoul.
So what do you think of my fashion sense? This is what a plus size gal like me would choose.
Shall update you guys on the material when it arrives at my door step.



 

Monday Blessing

Feeling so good that I dun have to work on a Monday. However, I really have a good rest as I was sick since last Friday. Having on the good rest was really necessary as I need to fight off the virus.

I was sort of able to refocus my heart and mind after the rest.

Fitness Matters -Standing Abs Exercise

I am hoping to stay committed to this exercise regime  ..so let's meet up if you are keen to motivate each other. Going through my weight loss with an app called Noom coach.
I  shall review my weight loss after 3 months.


 

Learn how to make your own diy souffle foundation this sat from 1 -3pm.

There are many types of makeup foundations in the market. The various types are  liquid, cream , tinted moisturizer, oil based, sheer, powder, mousse ,shimmer, waterproof, stick and mineral .

Souffle foundation is considered to be under the mousse like kind foundation. In this kind of foundation, it is literary liquid make up with air being whipped in the foundation. It is suitable for all skin types . Even oily skin can use it as it can offer a perfect matte finish and weightless feel.

In this workshop on learning how to make the diy soufflé foundation, you get to learn on your own skin type and also customized your soufflé foundation according to your skin type with anti aging. This workshop requires you to bring your own foundation, sunblock and some other special ingredients. Else you might want to take up my special package.

For more information about this workshop, please email me at akimoto_emi05@yahoo.com.sg.

Daily Life Rants- lost of concession card

I am so sad that I lost my concession card for travel as I have paid $120 for it .This is only beginning of the month . Hope that I could get it back tomorrow morning back in my office.

 

One of my favourite books for personal development

 

This book helped me a lot when I used to attend lots of meetings to discuss projects. Hope this book can also be of some help for those who needs to attend meetings frequently.

PILATES: 10 MINUTE WORKOUT

This is something I would like to try out to make my new year resolution for fitness aspect. I shall try it for 3 months and tell you guys out that how I feel about it then.

Happy New Year 2015

 

I prepared this salad to celebrate the new year just like the Chinese new year. During Chinese new year, there must be a dish where there is fish so that one will be prosperous. So for me , this salad consist of smoked salmon and all the salad mix makes me feel happy as it really symbolize that this is the year of jubilee as what my senior pastor has preached last night.

 

So meanwhile, let me wish you guys out there

 

Hope to see you guys visiting my blog more often.

Recipe of Lumpia Shanghai

Due to my cell group's Xmas party which all of us are to do pot bless, I decided to do one fuss free and easy recipe which is called Lumpia Shanghai.

Lumpia Shanghai is a Filipino dish which is equivalent to the Chinese dish, Ngoh Hiang. Ngoh Hiang is deep fried beancurd skin roll with meat whereas Lumpia Shanghai is deep fried spring roll with meat inside.

I first tried this dish about eight years back when a friend introduced it to me. The crunchy bite of the Lumpia Shanghai which I thought might appeal to kids.

Recipe of Lumpia Shanghai

Ingredients

·         1 packet of spring roll skin under this brand tee yih jia

·         900g of chicken thigh meat

·         half a dessert spoon of garlic powder

·         half a teaspoon of salt

·         2 dessert spoons of light soya sauce

·         1 egg

·         a dash of pepper

·         1 dessert spoon of finely chopped yellow onion

·         1 small carrot which is grated

·         2 and a half teaspoons of corn flour

 

Method

1. Clean up the chicken meat if there is any trace of blood.

2.Mince the chicken meat using chopper, else the crunchy bite won't be there

3. Crack the egg and take a bit of egg white out so as to seal off the spring roll

4. Mix salt, carrot, onion, garlic powder, light, corn flour, pepper and egg together with the the minced chicken meat

5. Leave it inside the fridge overnight

6. Wrap the marinate in the spring roll skin

7. Deep fry it till golden brown .

8. Serve it with thai sweet chilli sauce

 

 

                                                      

Review of Nuskin clay pack mask

This mask, clay pack  has got to be one of my favourite mask when i have my monthly breakout due to pms. I will usually apply a thin layer of it every night  and wash it off the next morning. I will  apply on those acne to reduce the reddishness  daily until the redness goes off .

So for anyone of you out there who is suffering breakout during pms, you might want to check out this mask.

Benefits of clay pack

Deep-cleanses the face and creates a clearer, more refined appearance

Imparts a smoother, softer feel to the skin

Leaves skin feeling soft, luxuriously supple and never dried out

Aids in your skin's natural exfoliation process by removing dead skin cells, leaving skin with a refreshed, thoroughly cleansed feeling

100% Fragrance Free

Safety-Allergy-Dermatologist Tested

If you need any discount to get this mask , do let me know. I can help you to get it at a cheaper price.

Hoyu cielo hair colour

Recently, I was given an opportunity to do a review of CIELO Cream Hair Colour by Hoyu.  I was given a choice of 3 colours to choose from. I chose the colour 5p as it is not on the extreme red.

The hair dye came at the right time 'cos I was planning to touch up my roots. I had a lot of strands of white hair popping up during my exams. However, before dying of hair I would always want to do hair treatment so that my hair would not be so dry. This time round, I decided to skip this step as there is a conditioner provided within the hair dye kit.

How to use Cielo? It is as easy as 1,2,3. 

 

What I like about this is that the pre-packed colour mixture is stored inside a unique bottle dispenser. Most importantly, the pre-packed colour mixture which is unused can be kept inside the bottle.

                                                 Picture of what is inside the box


As for my coverage over my grey hairs, it was good. My friend who is also like me having lots of grey hair said that the multiple applications for the touch up is rather pretty helpful when the grey strands of hair start to pop up as it is easy to use.

Currently, there is a promotion at the leading pharmacies and supermarkets which is two for $28.00 where the usual price of one is at $17.90.

For  more info, please go to http://www.hoyu.com.sg/123-cielo/

Trinity Christian Centre - Christmas Presentation 2014 - The Light Of Ch...

Christmas is a season of giving. This season of giving has been commercialized so much that the true meaning of Christmas has long being gone. The true spirit of Christmas not only denotes the birth of Christ yet also a time of worship onto Jesus Christ, the King.



To me, it is a precious moment which I could celebrate with Jesus Christ. Some thing simple and quiet time alone with my family this christmas. Planning to cook a special meal 'cos this is the first christmas that my grandma is celebrating as a true believer of Christ.



This is a season of giving .. For this Christmas, I am hosting a giveway in a goodie bag which has mysterious gifts within the goodie bag. I shan't tell what is in the goodie bag. Awaiting for the lucky winner to post it on the instagram or facebook.



 Before I forget, I would like to invite all to come my church for the 120 children choir to celebrate this xmas...



To join the giveaway, the first step is to like and share my facebook page secret beauty.

Second step is to say what is the most important thing you want to do with your family during this xmas.



The results of the give way will be on my facebook page on the 20th Dec 2014.



Hope you guys have fun out there this xmas!



Merry xmas ~~~~~~~~~~

About 1 day getaway

Remember that some time back I wrote about getting  a short break...Ended up I just went to Jb just for a short makan session.

This short trip was like practically queuing for food. First, it was to eat the fish head curry that was recommended by my friend, Pillay. This fish head curry restaurant was like having constant queues that will allow people to wait at least half an hour and above. I waited for 1.5 hrs whereas my friend went to get some errands done.

Photo courtesy from Hannahchia.blogspot.com

Photo courtesy from Hannahchia.blogspot.com

 

This is the medium size fish head curry

 

Seriously, I find that the fish head curry is so-so only. Not really very fantastic as compared to my mom's cooking . However, a notable fact was the introduction of the tau kee into the fish head curry which was nice. I dun really fancy the curry which has got coconut milk. My rating for this dish is 2.5 out of 5.

 

After lunch, I went to city square mall for shopping. There are so much changes in jb.  I did my pedicure and manicure at the nail studio. However, there is really a lot of difference in the service between Singapore nail studios and Malaysia one. One major difference is in the applying of the top coat.They don't apply two layers of top coat as per Singapore nail studios. The manicure was done in a mess. However, the pedicure was done nicely.

 

 It was really a short good getaway for my mind as I was kinda stressed up due to getting of my exam results on 18th December. So do stay tuned for my Xmas giveway soon!

 

 

Work stress -how do you deal with it ?

It is seen everywhere that everyone is stressed up either at work, school or even at home. So how do you deal with it ?

Talking about the topic of stress sometimes shudders us. However, stress in fact can be view as positive or negative depending on how you view it.  Stress management can be done at organizational level or individual level.

For a start, what kind of stress management activities does your organization organize to help you de-stress? Ponder a while....

Stress management at organizational level could be role analysis, quality circles, organizational mirror technique, stress audit, employee, assistance program and job and task redesign,

What is role analysis all about ? It is clarify the type of role that the individual is working on. At the end of the day , it is not more than the common job description that we see on advertisements for job.

Organizational mirror technique works a little like 360 degree feedback. You would see that the conflict of various work groups are being discussed between the various workgroups. Each workgroup would send a representative to discuss about the problematic inter-workgroup issues in a fishbowl. End product would be both group to sit down and discuss about the reforms.

Quality circles program is a specific type of participative management. It got a group of workers gather to brainstorm and give back into managerial decision making. This is put in place to enhance product quality and reduce cycle time, but it has the added effect of allowing workers to exert some control over their jobs.  According to demands-control theory, stressors cause less strain when workers have more control over the way they do their job.

These are the main three techniques which I felt could help an organization to reduce stress in the organization. Perhaps you might want to try it out with your team.

Hope that helps!

 

First day after my final papers at Unisim 22.11.14

My first day plan after the final papers

Morning would be going to see my dentist to get my antibiotics for my wisdom tooth operation on Monday. Haha, I did not even know that I got a wisdom tooth.

Here's my collection of medicine

 

Afternoon, I headed to Little India for eye brow threading @ Indigo palace which I have been patronizing them for 6 years.
 

Night time, I was actually trying to cook the current trend of tomato rice. However, the tomato at home got mould so end up I din cooked it.

 

How to have positive relationship?

What does it mean to have a positive relationship? To many out there, it should be not having too many arguments and feeling lovey dovey between friends, partners and family members. A positive relationship is a relationship that consist more of positive emotions between partners.

Many at times, people are now either having more of exchange relationship rather than communal relationship. Definition of exchange relationship consists of that there must be a fair exchange between both parties, constantly keeping track of what the other party have done for you, and it is formal. Definition of communal relationship consists of keeping track of what the other party have done for you, share an on-going mutual concern.

Perhaps it is time to look on the kind of capitalization response that you response back to your partner.Capitalization refers to sharing of the event with others
 The four types of capitalization responses are as follow:

Referring to the above capitalization responses, which of it do you  use most? Research has shown that only active- constructive response of sharing of the positive life events would help to enhance the quality of the relationship. By also sharing the positive events with other, it forms the basis of connection between relationships and well being. Try it out and let me know if it works for you to have a happier relationship with your partner.

( photo credit from : mind of nature @ word press)

 

Butt Circuit Training

This butt circuit training aims to help people who are concerned on their butt shape so that they could have nice shape when wearing jeans , dress or skirt .

This circuit is built from four moves: squat toy soldiers, hip raises, plié pulses and stationary runs. The stationary runs are performed in between each of the three other moves, so your workout will look like this:
1. squat toy soldiers: 10 reps (right side + left side = 1 rep)
2. stationary runs: 20 reps (right leg + left leg = 1 rep)
3. hip raises: 50 reps
4. stationary runs: 20 reps
5. plié pulses: 20 reps
6. stationary runs: 20 reps

Squat toy soldiers:

 

Stationary runs:



Hip raises:



Plié pulses:

Review of KOSMEA's discovery kit and my first giveaway ~~~~~~~~~

KOSMEA skincare was started based on the belief of the founder, Ms Marie Jenkins who insisted that the skin needs natural products to be able to heal itself . As the skincare is mainly make from rose hip oil which has been certified to be organic , people with the sensitive skin can use it with ease.

A set of KOSMEA organic skin care, the discovery set was given to me recently for review. The set consists of the purifying wash, clarifying wash, daily exfoliant , hydrating rosewater mist, replenishing moisture cream and rosehip oil.

For the whole set, I have chosen to use the clarifying facial wash, hydrating rosewater mist, replenishing moisture cream based on my skin type which is combination skin where I am having outer skin which is dry and inside is oily.

Clarifying facial wash -This gentle, foaming facial wash removes make-up and skin impurities without over drying the skin, thanks to an SLS-free foaming agent derived from coconut. For me when I was trying out this ,it gives me a smooth feeling and it has a rose fragrance which reminds me of bandung.

Hydrating rosewater mist- This hydrating facial mist is made with a thousand delicately distilled rose petals. With each spray, skin is hydrated and refreshed. It also helps to set makeup. Best use as a toner.

Replenishing moisture cream - Face the day with this replenishing moisture cream now with botanically derived Hyalurolift. Nourishes and hydrates skin and restores your skin’s youthful radiance and elasticity. Organic rose hip oil provides skin with essential fatty acids whilst antioxidant green tea extract helps protect against the signs of premature skin ageing. A great moisturiser for all skin types including sensitive. Mix a couple of drops of Certified Organic Rose Hip Oil with Replenishing Moisture Cream for an extra boost of organic rose hip oil!

I have yet to try out the certified organic rosehip oil which is recommended by Kosmea Singapore. Shall review that later on. However, I am planning to do my first giveaway which is the daily exfoliant aka scrub cum mask  and also the purifying facial wash which is suitable for dry skin.

For more info on the products, you may want to go to http://www.kosmeasingapore.com

How to enter for the giveaway : 1. Like Kosmea Singapore facebook page
                                                   2. Write what kind of blog post you would like
                                                   to see more often on my blog on my facebook
                                                   page Secret Beauty.
                                                  3. Like my facebook page Secret Beauty
                                                 
This giveaway ends on 2nd October 2014 at 11.59pm. Results will be posted on my facebook page on 4th October 2014. This is solely for individuals in Singapore only.

Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want To Have Fun

This song is one of my new favourite ...hope you people out there will like it as well.

All about herbal tea

Herbal tea has also been something that I have been drinking for many years. For me , I have always been drink chrysantheum , barley, white fungus, chestnus and this almond drink from this brand called tian ran . Guess the above picture sums it all for me what is the benefits for drinking the various types of herbal tea.

I think this is good knowledge for all to know what to drink during this haze period.  Drink more to detox and build immune system.

Feeling burnt out?

Holiday trip

This picture reminds me of that when u are feeling burnt out u need to get a breather which is y i suggest u need a break this is because now is already september. For me , I am planning to get a short breakaway before my exams. Seriously, planning the getaway might make my mood better as the hectic schedule that i have is a bit crazy. I shall update you guys on my short getaway soon.

Having a hard time teaching your kids mathematics?



Julie-trainer of the same day and daughter of the founder of Numero



Recently, I chanced upon this fun game called Numero through a workshop conducted by September 21 Enterprise Pte. Ltd. Basically, Numero is an educational game set helping children to increase the ability to do mental calculations and helping elderly folks to slow the process of Alzheimer.

A little history about Numero
Numero is created by Rev. Frank Drysdale (1932-2011) who  was forced into early retirement in 1989 when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. His own remedy to this situation was to keep himself mentally fit by playing mind games, many of which involved cards. He enlisted the help of his young grandchildren to help him pass the time by playing different card games. As a result,Numero® was developed as a product of these sessions with his grandchildren.

Numero® was demonstrated in public for the first time in 1993 when presented at the Mathematics Association of Western Australia annual conference. The reception it received prompted Frank and his wife Joan to print 2000 packs of Numero® which were collated and packaged in Frank’s back shed by a band of willing helpers. Numero® had been born and Frank and Joan Drysdale were kept busy holding workshops and collating and packing Numero® until, 40000 packs later, it grew to a stage where in 1998 they were introduced to R.I.C. Publications, an international educational publisher based in their home state of Western Australia.


Working closely with Frank and Joan, R.I.C. Publications further developed the presentation of the game and started to spread the news to other parts of Australia and the world. Numero® is now sold in many countries throughout the world, to children and adults alike. It continues to grow in popularity, spreading to more and more countries, and gaining enthusiastic endorsement from educators and players alike.


From the very beginning, the ownership of copyright of Numero® was given to Alzheimer’s Australia WA by Frank and Joan Drysdale. This means that royalties provided from the sale of every pack of Numero® are now channelled to the Drysdale Family Charitable Foundation Trust, which provides money to fund various dementia-related programs throughout the world.


Here's some pictures of the workshop which I attended


Photo courtesy from September 21 Enterprise Pte Ltd



                                         

Julie, the trainer for Numero was very interested to help children and parents to increase their ability for mental calculation and have more family bonding time . She mentioned that this game can help to allow children to have the ability to learn how to take risk and think out of the box. She is so passionate in training other on how to play Numero so as to help her father leave a legacy and also to help the alzheimer patients to raise funds via the sale of the Numero so that they could have better treatment.

I had my fair share of fun on playing the game and it is so interesting. Can't stop thinking about the game.

Currently, there is a promotion on the starter kit pack where there is instruction guide book and a pack of the game by September 21 Enterprise Pte Ltd @ $46.65.

For more information about Numero, you may go to http://www.numero.org .
For purchases, you may want to visit September 21's website @ http://www.educationalresources.com.sg

Victoria secret's model ab workout

                                 Photo credit to  www.blogilates.com

I found this on the internet and I am wanting to start this work out by tomorrow as tonight I will be rushing through my assignment. I am looking forward to have an ab rather than chunky love handles. Being a cooking blogger also need to be beautiful as well :P. Hope that helps for ladies who are keen in finding out the victoria secret's model ab workout