Press Ons

I love these express beauty aids. You have heard of press-on nails. How about press-on eyeshadow and nail polish?

I have been using press on eyeshadow for some time now and have to say it's much faster to apply and the end result looks more professional. Oprah Winfrey discovered the new fangled cosmetic must have in her show the next best big idea competition. You can buy them from http://www.eyemajic.co.nz/ or more dramatic theatrical ones from http://www.coloronpro.com/. To get it now, try Sephora or SASA. $3-8 per application.

Press-on nail polish is another extremely convenient 21st century invention. No drying time, perfect application each time. Just tuck the excess polish under your nails. Buy from Sephora or Watson's. $5 -17 per application.

Juicy Couture

I finally stepped into the Juicy Couture store at Ngee Ann City, Singapore and surprised myself by buying a whole load of stuff. Stuff I never knew I wanted. For the unacquainted, Juicy Couture sells cutesy, girly pink stuff at prices comparable to Burberry Blue Label. Same price category, completely different vibe. Actually, I shouldn't be surprised at myself. All females love the things that are sold here.

I read a few other blogs and have to agree that this particular store sells stuff at 30-40% mark up. You can save a bundle by bulking your online buys with your friends to split shipping or buy from online retailers that offer free shipping to Singapore: http://www.shopbop.com/ci/brand_landing/brandlanding_juicy.html. Personally, I stuck with the sale items. I think I am a brand new fan of this brand.

Evian

It's summer! In Singapore, arguably, it's summer all year round. I can't live without my atomizer. Evian brumisateurs have kept me awake during class for years. I have tried the many versions of atomizers in the market and always fall back on the basics.

2009, Jean Paul Gaultier designs for Evian. 1 of my favourite designers for 1 of my favourite water brands. Sounds lovely right? The haute couture version of bottled water is made by Baccarat and toured the world before being auctioned for 16,000 euros to benefit the RAMSAR charity. Wonder if the buyer will pop it open to drink? See below picture of the JPG Pret-a-porter version.

If you live in the America and fabulously fashionable, you can order a monthly supply of Christian Lacroix or JPG Pret-a-Porter Evian bottled water for your home from: http://www.shopevian.com/c-12-evian-recurring-orders.aspx. The glass bottle's cost price is SGD 13.30 each. Pictures of Christian Lacroix 2008 designs below.

In Singapore, you can still get monthly deliveries to your home. But, only for the normal version: http://evian.com.sg/delivery.html.

Coming soon to the restaurant near you, the Evian "Palace" 750ml bottles that are transformed into carafes (see picture above). With matching engravable metal pourer and coaster. Cost price of each luxe pet bottle? SGD 5.50 each. So, that translates into SGD 15-20 per bottle at the restaurant?

Chocolate Research Facility

I read about this place in Time magazine. The article was exploring the latest and hippest in each country as part of a travel special, and this shop came up as Singapore's offering. Being a fan of all things chocolate, I find the variety on offer simply fascinating. 100 flavours of chocolate bars with flavours like Lychee Martini, Rose with Rose Petal and Pandan with Coconut flake. For the no frills chocoholic there are 19 different types of cocoa to milk by region. I could go on. My lovely sister works near the Millenia Walk shop and dropped by to get me a bar of cheese chocolate. It's good quality chocolate with just a hint of cheese flavour.


Visit their website : http://www.chocolateresearchfacility.com/

Father's Day

No, I didn't fold an origami wallet for my dad. It's bought from an online store. From my online forays, I found the perfect present for my dad. An eco-friendly wallet made out of recycled milk cartons, it feels like paper and you can even write on it. I love it so much, I bought an airmail envelope version for myself.

Buy from Dynomighty Design: http://www.dynomighty.com/

Work Souvenirs

My 3rd year with the bank and I got another souvenir. It's actually a memento for completing my project. The colour is awesome, reflecting Obama's "time for a change" tag line. It even has my name engraved on the other side =)


I am sure everyone has the usual, to be expected stuff like photos, lanyards, mugs, stickers. Somehow, I have amassed a collection to rival a preferred banking customer. Many thanks to my employers.


I have this massive A4 leather Citibank agenda from my first job. It's for note-taking and appointments (cheaper than a blackberry) and a silver photo frame with the bank's name embossed below. Yes, a silver photo frame. Then I moved to UBS and acquired a couple of stress balls and toy footballs to reflect the many initiatives that were going on at that time. Picked up 1 more when I moved to CS then a coffee table book collection on a sponsored artist and now this pen.

Nails - crystals

The crystals reflect light nicely. Unfortunately, the design doesn't last long.

Go Live

Finally! My project has just gone live. After a year on this, my email account is clogged up with related communication and my archive folders filled with documentation. I am now on my way to closing out. What a relief. =)

Origami

My childhood pastime. I remember learning and sharing new designs with my friends in between classes. The very first version I learnt was the ball (see picture above) where you have to blow into it to inflate the structure. The last design I learnt before I finished school was how to fold cranes (see picture below).


I still can't resist buying beautifully made craft paper when I find them. More recently, I bought an origami book to teach myself some new tricks. Complete Origami by David Mitchell, PageOne publishing.


Cormorant on a rock (picture above). I saw the pantry ladies in my office doing this =P


Clingons (picture above). Strictly for the star trek fans. You hook these onto each other to form a chain, no staplers or glue required. It's supposed to look like "robotic aliens descending from a starship".

For the beginners, there is Egypt. Only 3 folds required.


The Kabuto or samurai's hat (see picture above). Great for dressing up your hard boiled egg.


The Love Knot (see picture above). Love letters are folded up into this knot so they cannot be easily undone and read by others.

Chicky Cupcake

The most highly packaged cupcake I have ever bought. I was swept away by the stuff on top of it. Lilac vanilla frosting, rainbow sprinkles topped with a marzipan jelly chick, wrapped in a gold aluminium holder. It tasted just average, similar to what you can get from your neighbourhood bakery. The cupcakes at Da Paolo Gastronomia taste much better.

Singaporean Seafood

One of my favourite activities when I am with my family is eating crabs. We have the typical Singapore seafood feast at our favourite restaurant Jumbo on all special occasions like birthdays. It's the 2-3kg Sri Lanka crabs, fresh river prawns and crispy squid fritters that we cannot do without every couple of months. Whether soaked in XO milk soup with beehoon or deep fried in oats, we have to get our hands dirty and tuck into these cholesterol laden foods every now and then.


So the classic dish is dough fritters stuffed with cuttlefish paste. Some places do it with seafood paste. Served with chili and peanut sweet sauces, sometimes it's served with mayonnaise and sambal belachan.

Beggar's bowl. In Singapore, this means claypot tofu. Since you are in a seafood restaurant, this gets served with sea cucumbers, prawns, scallops, squid, snow peas, button mushrooms and cauliflower as well.

The noodles are fried over a hot industrial fire to get that "wok hei" taste. Enhances the yumminess.

Wash it all down with iced Chinese tea. Chinese tea is known for aiding digestion. Good after a fatty oily meal.

Malay Wedding

Malay weddings are huge community affairs. To accommodate the sheer number of people that attend the wedding, it's not uncommon to hold the lunch, dinner at the void deck. People come and go all day.

The void deck is transformed by bales of cloth, tulle, chandeliers and bouquets of flowers. A stage is even setup for the wedding couple to go through the religious rites.

The caterers setup stove under an adjacent tent and start their preparations for the wedding feast a day in advance. Peeling potatoes, marinating and mixing the spices. A variety of Nasi Briyani is served (fish, chicken, mutton or beef). For the unacquainted, it's saffron rice with achar (cold & spicy pickled vegetables) and rendang (meat in a thick curry). My favourite part of the wedding is usually the food as it is usually good.

On the actual wedding day, the family and friends start pouring in before lunch starts. My neighbours even chartered a bus to bring guests into the estate.

Great Singapore Sale 2009

The queues, free gifts and discounts are what make up this annual event. The only time of the year you will see several generations jointly participating in the national pastime of shopping.

The same lucky draw held every year organized by SPH (the national newspaper people): http://www.greatsingaporesale.com.sg/2009/eng-tourist/promo/sphshopnwin.html. It's popular because you can win a car.

My favourite giveaway this season is the Goldheart diamond studded Canon Ixus 100 IS camera. They published the price of this thing (SGD 8,988) but I don't think it's for sale.

Best sales are as usual the end of season sales at the luxury brands Gucci and Prada where queues snake around the storefront. Singaporeans and our tourists love these 2 brands in particular. I don't really understand this phenomenon. Are they giving away free stuff? Do we have an insatiable need for luxury clothes and accessories? Having said that, I am guilty of joining these queues as well. Hey, if people are willing to queue there must be something worth looking at.

My best buy is Lothantique hand cream and soap that I gave away as a housewarming present to my colleague.

Oscar de la Renta Giveaway

A once in a lifetime experience is now going away for free! Starts on 1st June and runs for 30 days. So plenty of time to sign up: www.ideeli.com/invite/raspberry2008.

Details:

One winner will receive a one-of-a-kind Oscar de la Renta bubble-hemmed cocktail style dress in floral silk faille. This classic dress has never before been made using this iconic fabric from the Oscar de la Renta fabric archive.

In addition, winner will receive the signed original sketch of the dress pictured in the giveaway for framing.

Winner will provide de la Renta team with various measurements at which point a dress will be made to fit you.

Floral Arrangement - Window