Realizing life when you are ill.

I have been away for while now.. and realizing the importance of it as i'm sitting down on my hospital bed with oxygen and nebulizers every 2 hours and have doctors worrying and checking on me twice a day.

Recent obsession with stories on cancer made realize that one does not realize how important life is until they get really sick. Chronically sick. Having the fear to wake up in the morning knowing that you're never going to get better frightened me. No amount of medicines , doctors , surgeries will help you but just need to take up the courage to accept the fact that you will not get any better. 

Recently an elderly close family member was diagnosed, unfortunately , of pancreas carcinoma, fortunately, early stage and hopefully will recover after a major surgery. But compared to me, i'm so young, i'm only 28 years-old. Well, correction, I'm not saying that i'm diagnose with it but very strong genetics of cancer. Being ill tells a different side of humanity and isn't as glamorous as seen in movies. The worst part being chronically ill isn't just the physical pin but the emotional pain that comes along with it when you realized who really cared and who will go extra mile for you just to make you feel better (at least).

Sometimes you reach a point knowing news that is so sad that cannot hold back your tears when thinking of it. You think you can mask it and escape the emotional torture but it comes in a package. the overwhelming emotional burden makes you feel like holding your head down in the water  slowing drowning and finally pitch dark tunnel is all you can see. Any day anything could go wrong , even having the risk of walking down the street  the possibility of getting runover by a car is unknown. It is difficult not to feel anxious and what lies ahead in the future is still a giant question mark. Most of the time you do not get answers that you want when you are sick, and when you do those are the answers you wish you hadn't heard any way.

There is one thing that i wish for when i'm sick. That is hope. Hope that there will be finally a day i can get better on that silly little scale. Hoping that one day i will get a glimpse of normal life like being fine when i travels and even enjoy adventurous things that i loved. Knowing technically being sick means my genes sucks of God just plain hates me but i definitely not blaming anyone here. But somehow being sick has made me a better person. But i do strongly feel that being that sick person - or rather representing young sick people-  are some of the best person that you'll ever meet. 

Healthy people are great too. But when you are sick you tend to love every good second, every minute way much more and you tend not to fear death because you have stared it straight in the face. The best thing is you understand things that other people might take granted for. 

Being sick allow you to have insight and knowledge about life as it eats away at your on its own , at your own to be exact. You know it is not important to dwell on the little things anymore although it matters because you have more important things to worry about. Being sick is the greatest blessing in disguise. It is so much more than just having an illness. It’s having your entire life be taken out of your control, and fighting to get it back. And that fight will never end. 

Lazy Sunday..

Woke up really late because i have been having this 'untreatable ' headache.  been bugging me for close to 3 months now. seriously annoying when the headache comes. Even, my boss couldn't diagnose me , heh. i was feeling tired at about 6.21am and i was tossing and turning and voila! i manage to fall asleep.. yeaps... woke up really late and just in time to head over to Dempsey for brunch!

i hate it when my eyes look puffy,oh well, i can't complain anyway.

We were at Barracks Cafe, i heard that there are a lot of good reviews about this place so i decided to give it a try, moreover they have pancakes... i love pancakes! especially, mcDonald's pancakes!!! but too late to get it from McD. But the door host was being an asshole seriously, and no one ever mentioned about the service at all. i was pissed of course, and was asked if i mind to sit over at the bar, of course i wouldn't and i did ask if we are allowed to change to a table which I'm more comfortable to have my meal and guess what, he said no. WTF. NO? so i asked what do you mean ? i can't change? so i told him I'll leave at once if i need to tolerate these kind of service. Then the manager took over. i got what i want eventually, a table of course. 

i ordered this, uhm, Curry Mustard Fries.. ($9).  Not something that they are famous for actually. But, I'll give it a 8/10 because it's nice, not too spicy but the curry fragrance is kinda strong tho. Portion wise, too much for one person, just nice for two or three to share. they have all kinds of fries like truffle taro fries ( i don't feel like having truffle) and also Carrot Fennel Fries , uhm, something like straw cut sweet carrot fries.

and then i saw  7-layer Pancake on the menu, which costs ($18) and i thought it would possibly be the biggest pancake that i have ever had! 7 layers!! i was excited , at the same time, i was disappointed too.

 so, this is my pancake, 7-layers? yes.. I've counted it but comes in only a quarter of the full pancake?! sobs..... but thumbs up for their food presentation... although i felt cheated with my pancake, the mixture of colors and the nuttela in between the layers make me wanna just gobble it and eat it with my hands.

they have blueberries and pistachio too:)

then i had the Barrack FreeForm Eggs where you can choose either scrambled, sunny side up or have it poached. i love the roasted tomatoes and the mushroom ragout! taste like breakfast. heh.

Burp.. brunch wasn't fantastic like what others have mentioned.. but as long as my cravings are satisfied.. i'm happy.

it was still pretty early, and it's time to do my monthly shopping:) 

I went to  always happy being there.. cuz i get to get my gummies and play with softies and cars and NERF GUNS!! who wouldn't be right? i get really envious cuz kids nowadays they get to play with hell lots of toys.. back in my era, we only have like h=the normal and boring stuffs like barbie and spiderman  mask and HE-MAN.. now they have a barbie that can blink and change hair color???? it's not fair.. not fair..

it's been raining for the past one week and it hasn't really stop .. i don't like it when the sky is dark and gloomy.. looks like sign of demon or some darkness happening .. heh.. I've been watching horror for the past one week too... I'm probably thinking too much but i really wish for a sunny weekend next week.. i wanna get back to my daily swimming regime.

Nom-nom and friends

Visited Dolce Tokyo with fwens: ) it's amazing how they could combine eggs and pancakes together. I honestly thought that it would taste
funny but to my surprise.. it is darn goooood. 

Eating became my hobby lately and I should really start cutting it down = eat clean and healthy. Well, Mister and I enjoy watching movies and spending time together a lot but we enjoy snacking slot before sleep too! Bad,bad badly bad. Well we have been exercising,  we tried and will try harder!

Ugh.

Fml.fml.fml yes, fml. I accidentally deleted pictures in my SD card. And those are my pictures from Tokyo Disneyland. I cried. I cried so hard. Im crying now as i blog.

海底捞火锅

Yup! Guess what ? I've been craving for chinese steamboat lately and I would say this is the best stecustomization er out of all the places i've been to. Well, of course, good food comes with a price to pay, It's either it's expensive or longer queue, and so, I waited 2 hours to get to my seat. This is the only place that provides free drinks and snacks for customers while waiting in queue. Nt just that, they have free manicure as well, but i suggest you can forget about getting your nails done there.. there's only one manicurist and there will be like 20 people before you. meh.

I was impressed with the place as it was spacious and comfortable to sit in. It is clean, and temperature was just nice and the staffs were extremely friendly. you get smiles everywhere and greeted as you walk by. Everyone seems to be very happy working there and it makes me happier to be there!

we went for the usual broth, the "extreme spicy "and  chicken ginseng . It was a wrong move to get the spicy soup base because it has STAR ALICE! yes star alice what the eff.. i'm sure i will like the soup if its not for the star alice.

I love it when their ingredients were fresh and portion was just nice. Best part is you get to have a personal server that standby all the time whenever you needed something.

Very nice ambiance and because it is located at the central and clarke quay, you get to see alot of people dressed up in minis and heels. We ordered some "la mian" as well and this guy basically just go around tables to perform his specialty in making "la mian" in the air like doing some kung fu taichi stuffs with the la mian. Fascinating. 

Remember to make reservations earlier!

Hai Di Lao Hotpot
Address: 3D River Valley Road
#02-04 Clarke Quay
Tel: 82636674
Opening hours: 12pm to 3am

Then we headed to the Magnum house for our own customized magnum ice cream! I would say it's quite pricey for just a Magnum, well it's not like MEGA MAGNUM but just ordinary size ones.. so i paid $7 bucks for one.. mehhhhhh

Look at the gold flakes and my hearty choco and i caramelized my magnum. hahah. 

A truly blessed weekend.

Satisfying

Have you ever wonder why some people have marvelous beautiful skin? I'm pretty sure that they are not born with it but because they bother to do enough skin care to keep their skin youthful and healthy.Well, 1'm getting nearer to the BIG-THREE-O and I'm certainly afraid of aging.

Besides, getting regular facial (cleaning for my clog pores), I have been hydrating myself a lot (at least 2.5 litres/day) and hydrating my skin as well. I have hypersensitive skin and that causes much dryness on my skin and i really need to be careful when choosing facial products i.e free from alcohol components or just probably minimal of it. I used products that are just purely hydrating - like 95% aqua, even my make up remover is aqua base and alcohol free.

Apart from my regular alternate day Shirobi Tsubaki Collagen drink, I make an effort to put on hydrating mask every other day. Well, the reason I'm doing so because my beauty consultant told me that my skin is way too dry to do any treatment involving chemicals like whitening or peels.  To my horror, that is the reason why i get hypersensitive skin too *sobs Sobs*

You might not be able to see from the pictures but i do have really fine freckles all over my cheek and my lower eyelids. I hope in time to come i will be able to do some laser or whitening treatment to lighten up the spots. Not for cosmetic purposes but i am just afraid that my freckles will turn into cherry hemangioma in a long run ( i love exposing myself to the sun).

-don't ask me why my left eye is smaller than my right, i just woke up lah!-

The picture above is the result of a combination of INTENSIVELY - collagen drinking and hydration ( drinking and putting on masks) after a month. I only put on sunscreen - making sure i get good coverage for from UV. Well, i got pretty much fairer from the collagen drink apart from applying sunscreen on face and body.  I noticed by consuming Shirobi Tsubaki collagen drink, my overall skin condition has improved tremendously, not just on my face but my body as well! I did not apply any make up , just 95% aqua base gel moisturiser  + clear gel sunscreen and my hair is still wet.. hahah. FYI, my brows too.. it's just really good embroidery done. I was extremely happy for sure.. and you can actually compare my skin to my previous blog post HERE and see how to transform from dull and tired looking skin to glowing dewy and healthy skin :)

P/s : not sure if you notice? I lose weight using products from Shirobi too:). Will share more in near future.

Skinovation with Shirobi

There are many ways to keep your skin looking and feeling young. One of them is by using collagen . It is important though, to know the ingredients of the products that you apply onto your face. But instead of just applying, why not make is easier by just consuming them instead of applying them on your face everyday. What is Collagen and what does it really do to your skin?

Collagen is a protein substance found in our skin.This protein substance is most available on your nails, hair and skin. Collagen keep your skin moisturised and prevent water loss. However, in order to actually know what collagen does for your skin, it is important for you to understand as well what it does to your skin and what it is made up of.

 Well, finally i took up the courage to blog about my skin. I took a few pictures about a month ago after shower and to my surprised when i compared it with some of the pictures i took today in the morning after my skin care products. I wouldn't say that my skin is perfect now but i definitely see some improvement.

No photoshopping and no nothing for this set of photos, so you can see everything!

Having wrinkles, sagging skin and other signs of aging is due to the lack of collagen cells as it also loses its elasticity. Since the composition of collagen is quite large to get into the dermis layer of the skin and to be absorbed by the body, it does not replenish or strengthen the collagen structure of your skin. It merely stays on the surface of your skin and gets washed away when you take a bath. It has been said that it makes wrinkles disappear, but this notion has not yet been proven by collagen creams and other skin firming lotions.

I used to have really bad eye bags and dark circle as well before this. Skin tone looked dull and my face shape is uneven. Even with loads of hydration masks and moisturizer, my skin just doesn't look dewy and firm. yep. i know i looked awful without make up. i couldn't really leave the house without tinted sunblock to cover up my eye bags and also to even up my skin tone.

And so that was a month ago , and I was really happy looking into the mirror today. I see a difference like on my complexion condition, supple, fairer and doesn't really look like a zombie in the morning especially the minute right after you got out from bed. Okay and of course people will say pictures are deceiving and so n-so-n-so.. i guess seeing (me in person) is believing.

Same goes for this set of pictures, no photoshopping and same lighting and angle as well. Although my eye bags are still visible at this point of time but the color has lighten so much more compare to before.

Collagen has a consistency that changes with heat and before being bottled into different products, has to go through chemical processes and high temperature These processes disentangles the helix structure of collagen making it unusable to humans if ever it gets into the inner layer of the skin.

I have blemishes due to sensitive skin and i get hives and rashes easily. I don't get to use most of the products that are available out there in the market. Hmm after trying out so many other product that seem to be beneficial for others but not me somehow made it very difficult for me to get the right product. I would advise to try to minimise skin care products to like what is essential only to your skin.

For healthier skin, try to put hydration mask like at least once or twice a week. Facial treatment to clear of pores and scrub are essential. Don't take our youth for granted, remember. 

Here's an extra-large-closed-up photo on my skin. I am amazed..I have to declare that I didn't not use any whitening product at all. Now i have very even skin tone, very minimal blemishes, and my skin is hydrated at all time. Do you realize that my creases /wrinkles at the corner of my eyes reduced as well?

Taking care of your skin and ensuring that you would avoid pre-mature aging is still better. As they say, prevention is better than cure. When situations are irreversible though, there are other natural options than collagen creams that you can opt for. Check on the Internet for more information or better yet, ask your dermatologist before buying or using any collagen creams. I may sound like I'm promoting my own products here but I've tried it myself to believe in my own products and of course to feel as a consumer point of view. No hard selling here, but just never try never know. 

Just a bottle a day, keeps my skin better each day.

Leave a comment or get your products at www.shirobi.com if you are interested:).

Weight Loss : Tip Two

DIET.

Mention that four-letter word to any woman in anywhere in the world and you will get the same reaction - sigh. About 40-60% of women are dieting at any given moment. But starving yourself isn't the way to lose those fats. Learn how to eat healthfully and making ready accessible home remedies to get your diet off the right start.

Eating smart and exercising is the best pairing when it comes to losing weight. But I guess people often misunderstood the meaning of "losing weight". When it comes to weight, it is just a number. Our total body weight comprises or fluids weight, muscle mass and fat mass weight as well. As we grow older, our metabolism rate slows down as well hence in a long run = weight gain. Increasing muscle mass = increasing metabolic rate = increased of weight.

Heavy doesn't mean you are fat. Sometimes I'm sure you feel bloated or you skirt or pants got tighter in just a day . That's because of water retention or what we call water weight. Try pinching your inner thigh or the back of your arm, if it's more than 0.5cm you should really start taking my advice on reducing all these water. 

One way is to include natural diuretics in your staple meals. Cut down on salt and eat more food that are rich in potassium. Simply because our kidneys regulate fluids based on the dual pumping action of sodium and potassium. Salt (sodium) tends to draw water into the body and potassium helps to extract it. Try cutting down salt and include food that contained high percentage of potassium like bananas, apricots,avocados and raisins. These helps to regulate the fluid levels in our body and get rid of excess water.

Ginger tea is a natural diuretic that can help in colds and of course water retention. Yogurt not only helps with digestions but aid in reducing water retention too.

Avoid water retention culprits

Processed meat, frozen food, chips,canned vegetables and soup contain surprisingly high amount of sodium. Thinking of drinking Campbell's soup everyday to lose weight? yes you will but even though you look average size, you will have a lot of cellulite on your lower body and upper arms. SO, DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT DOING SO.

Carbonated drinks, packet drinks, ribena, cordials decreases your body's ability to excrete sodium by increasing your insulin level because of those high in sugar content.

In short, avoid eating out and start cooking:) 

Drink water

It may seem counter intuitive but water helps to flush out the excess fluids and excess salt in your body. You may think its a good idea if you are suffering from water retention but it is not drinking water that causes you to retain fluid.  Drink plenty while cutting down on sodium and sugar. This promotes proper kidney function as the kidneys can excrete excess water. If you are not hydrating enough, avoid tea, coffee and alcohol as these will cause water retention.  Be sure to continue your good eating for long lasting maintenance. 

Sweat away!

Sweating is good. Exercise or sports helps you to lose water by draining excess fluid through perspiration.  I'm sure some of us will have excuses that they don't have time for sports and all. As long as you sweat, you can do ANYTHING.

 I got so inspired by my childhood friend Janise who's living in Brisbane. She got abs! She's already pretty to start with and now she's like a bomb. So she gave permission to use her picture and ta-dah! awesomeness. i'm proud of her. totally.

 I know it's easy to put it into words but here's a picture of me without edit and using a lousy iPhone camera.  yes i know, no visible abs yet that's why i'm posing side ways. I'm working on it!

and there's more. I had my weight count done at the gym the other day. if you noticed, everything else on the chat is normal except for the total body water percentage. I'm seriously working on this water retention program. I will definitely do a recheck soon:)

And yeah, my desired weight is 48kg. Some say that i will look too thin. But i was 48kg before this. Just trying to get back in shape:)

Will share on how to lose fat mass in my next post.

Thanks for reading

Introducing SewChiq

SewChiq  is an upcoming favourite for fashionista everywhere. Since it's a Singapore based e-commerce store , SewChiq gonna make it a little different and set up a new fashion trend as chic as can be.

Here are some of the styles that is available at SewChiq. It's young and fresh for sure but some of their apparels are suitable for work and leisure.

Personally I love pullovers. Pullovers are something like a sweat shirt, not like a jacket but just something like a sweater without zip. It's really to put it of course, just needa pullover your head and ta-daH! 

This piece of Color Block Pullover from SewChiq is cute and just nice for my size. I'm an average size girl where sometimes i find it difficult to get clothes online because of my build. i like something that i lose and comfortable and of course , protect me from cold.

This piece is extremely suitable for late night movie with boyfriend and supper with friends on a rainy night. Some may find it too casual to even put it on to go to places like the city or restaurants. Well, casual late nights out is what it is meant for. I wish I'm in a colder country where i can pair up pullovers with so many other things! 

Here's another pullover which i like, the crossed-belt may seem like simple for the pullover but it's really cute when you put it on. 

I usually pair up my pullover with shorts and shoes, mostly denim shorts and any kind of shoe from canvas to high cut flat boots. Or maybe with a pair of skinnies and boots with shades just like the picture below showing how Nicole Ritchie style it up in her own way.

 They even have really cute designs for some of their available pullovers. If you love Korean style, they have it too.

You can tie a side bun and put on a pair of colorful skinies and a black shoe. I'm sure you'll look edgy and loud enough like what we normally see in Korean fashion.

Last but not least, SewChiq offers femininity in their style too! this piece of dress is comfy and breathable. It has flare sleeves and it's pleated too:). I love the color as well.

SewChiq launch their items and styles every two weeks . Visit the store now at www.sewchiq.com and enjoy 10% discount for every 50 dollars spent at the store. It's a one stop online fashion store that you wouldn't wanna miss.

Django Unchained - Film review

I was invited for the latest and highest profile installment, Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" movie premier. A part-blaxploitation film, part-spagetti Western and all-Tarantino, the movie comes charging its audience with blazing guns and probably the most fun slavery revenge-fantasy show you'll ever watch.

Tarantino's take on slavery is wildly creative, funny and frightening outrageously entertaining and yet remarkably very much about the pernicious lunacy of racism back then. A true classic slavery's singular horros. Setting, costumes and the music, I was amused, generally i feel that all fall squarely in the contemporary  Fitting in scenes like "Mandingo fights" transformed the movie in between fictional and non-fictional.  Django Unchained highlights the fact that in pre-civil war America many atrocities were committed against black slaves by white owners, and especially those with great power and wealth. "Django" presented a variety of black slaves were exploited for white entertainment.

Tarantino's trademark, burst of extreme violence, is on full display in the movie, Django Unchained. Images that you see that will frightened you for example a veritable latticework of whip scars. If you are afraid of gory this might not be the movie for you. Even so the movie was filled with bombing scenes and gnarled bodies, Tarantino excel in raucous humor that goes along the way in the movie.

This story tells a travelling dentist, Dr. King Schultz , played by Christoph Waltz, discovered that bounty hunting is profitable rather than polishing and scaling all day. He freed Django ( Jamie Foxx) , a black slave who has knowledge of delinquents that he is after. Schultz then take Django under his wing and hit off from the get go. The movie tells the journey of Django rescuing his wife, Broomhilda von Shaft ( Kerry Washington) . Just like a story told by Dr. Schultz in the movie, he'd walk through hellfire for her, just because she's worth it.

Schultz helps to track Broomhilda's whereabouts and ended up in this notorious plantation Candyland , presided over by Calvin Candie (Leornardo DiCarprio), he who pits his slaves against each in death matches for his own amusement, a hideous human being.  Long winded at times, aside from a small handful of flashbacks for dramatic effect, Tarantino sure did shuffled plots he favors.
Shultz, a man who has seen some serious shit in his travels with Django, witnessed Django's  progression in becoming a great sharp shooter and amazingly increased killer instinct in him. Though Schultz finds slavery a confusing ugly endeavour, he tells his partner Django , they're going to have to get dirty to pull of their elaborate ruse where they planned to purchase fighter slaves from Calvin Candie.  It all leads to one of the gruesome and bloody climaxes in the movie when Candie's staunchly loyal senior house slave, Stephen ( Samuel L. Jackson) raises suspicions that sale of Mandingo fighter is a ruse with Calvin Candie in private and correctly deduces his suspicion that Django and Broomhilda know each other.

Tarantino succeeded in making a fun, violent and badass  spagetti western. The result is not for faint of heart but his whip smart dialogues and pop culture saturated sensibilities as well as making everyone involvind in the movie has a certain blasting role to play, hence that leaves an absolute over the top feeling to the audience.

Novalash at Emmy's

I've been the person who has set my alarm at 5:30am in the morning most of the time (because of my shift work) and basically rush myself to work with huge effort making myself look "awake" and be pretty but i found an easier option to that.... *drum roll* eyelash extensions.

Eyelash extensions really do transform you from BLAH to WOW in an instant.


Well if you have been following my blog, you would have read about my previous post on Novalash. I would say that I'm a very satisfied client after getting my Novalash extension from Emmy's Beauty.

Just a short intro onto my stylist profile.

Emmy's Beauty by Emmeline started off as a humble home business during 2010 providing Eyelash extension, Manicure & Pedicure services. she has undergo NovaLash training and has been a certified NovaLash eyelash extensionist since 2012.

NovaLash has developed award-winning adhesive and cosmetics including Platinum  Bond Adhesive and LashLiner. NovaLash extensions are adhere onto the lashes and not the lash line. It  is also safe for pregnant ladies and even kids because it does not contain formaldehyde

Emmy's Beauty uses both NovaLash sensitive adhesive and NovaLash Platinum Bond Adhesives to cater to each individual eyes condition and preference.

According to Emmeline, she did a full lash extension on me in which  she uses a combination of 8mm, 10mm,12mm,and even 14mm (optional) length to blend in to create the Hollywood look on me. Approximately, she took about 1 and a half hours to put a full set of extensions on me. The whole process was very comfortable and painless. Regular touch-up or refill around 3 weeks later is recommended in which the old extensions will be removed and new extensions will be applied to any new lash growth. 

If you are going for a Natural Look ($128):

Highly recommended for those who like to look absolutely natural and love light make up.

If you are going for a Glamorous Look ($168):

Highly recommended for those who love to have stunning full lashes look.

Engage her services now and book an appointment with her at 9022 6300 and pop by her shop at: 

101, Upper Cross Street

People's Park Centre, #03-22

Singapore 058357

Opening hours: 

Emmy's Beauty does home based appointment as well at:

Blk 839 Yishun Street 81

Singapore 790839