Facial rescue

I have been very bad (facial) skin problem since the start of this year... outbreaks, and pimple scars that wouldn't go away.. and as the wedding draws nearer and the problem is getting worse, I decided to seek the help of a dermatologist. Guess how much did my first appointment cost... a freaking $520!!!! $520 better be well spent hence i am posting on this as part the monitoring mechanism.. and then decide if its all worth it.

Ok, given a second chance (after knowing it will cost $520), I figured i will still go. Cos my problem is really quite serious... just look at all the scars on my forehead which wouldn't go away (even after applying boscia recovery anti-oxidant cream and clarins spot corrector). and new pimples keep popping out! ok sorry the picture quite gross...

So this is the highly-raved-about DRX clinic which one of my managers recommended..

And I was given 20days supply of antibiotics and bought following skincare products...

3 weeks later will go back for second Consultation. Hopefully my face is clear and glowing by then!

St Regis

My dear used his Asia Miles to booked an executive deluxe room at the luxurious 6-star St Regis hotel this christmas... it was a fantastic experience!!

We have had stays at Fullerton, Ritz Carlton and The Sentosa Spa and Resort before.. and they were good. Fullerton has excellent service. The Sentosa Spa and Resort has nice, cosy rooms for a relaxing resort stay. Ritz Carlton.. hmm, not very happy with the service when we were there but the room was definitely 5-star. But on the luxury aspect, from the lift with the red velvet seat in it, the rooms corridor, the personalised butler service, to the bathroom... i think St Regis wins hands down.

The bedroom -
Plush Sealy mattress with a choice of pillows from the Pillow Menu
Rich fabrics surrounding the room
42" Flat -screen HD TV and DVD player with in-room movies
Personalised butler service 24-hour





The bathroom -
French-marbled flooring and walls
Double basins- one for him and one for her
Stand-alone bathtub
Separate shower stall with rainforest shower
Bathroom flatscreen TV
Exclusive toileteries from Laboratoire Remede



Complimentary Christmas Cookie platter


We brought in our own Moscato and cakes from Marriott hotel to self create our own Christmas "celebration" hehe

Next morning (Christmas day), we ordered in-room breakfast cos the room was too comfortable. wahaha. A bit expensive, but it was good! Yummy home-made pancakes for me and omelette for dear!

The room does not have coffee sachets or teas... instead, they can be ordered through the butler service and they serve freshly brewed drinks to your room.

English breakfast tea and hot chocolate

I have heard of coplaints about St Regis not living up to its expectation as a 6 star hotel, but it was definitely a wonderful experience for me. What a lovely Christmas! =)

2009 Christmas is one filled with many many pressies!!

Tiffany & Co necklace - checked.
New sports shoes - checked.
A night stay at St Regis Singapore - checked.
A new 'old' phone - checked.
A Samsung netbook - checked.

I am so pampered.

Enjoying the very last 1.5 weeks with my dear before he goes back to COS for his last semester!!!

Shanghai 2009

Never really expected it, but I am in love with Shanghai. Its a modern city, rather highly populated with foreign students and expats. You get great food at reasonable prices here, whether its Chinese, Japanese, French, South American, Korean etc. There's a comprehensive transport system, consisting of public buses, taxis (rather affordable), metro and spacious and clean trains to the outskirts of the city. For a relaxed afternoon, just pop into one of the cafes (American chains Starbucks, Cold Stone Cremery and Haagen Daz are everywhere) where there is wireless internet and magazines are free for perusal. Last but not least, there is H&M (haha!).

Ten things I learnt about Shanghai:
1. Customers do not have the habit of saying Thank You to service staff. If you do, you are very polite. But well, it doesn't hurt to show some courtesy.
2. Chinese on the streets love to push u to get space to walk, and its perfectly normal. So just get used to it if you are there, there is no point in getting agitated because no one really cares except yourself.
3. Taxis are cheap, start ups are about RMB10-RMB12 and can last 5 mins without any increment. A 15-20mins trip costs about estimated RM40 (S$8), so i guess sometimes sharing a cab is cheaper. As comparison, metro train tickets start from RMB3. Generally, taxis go by the meter. However, beware of taxis at the railway station whereby they will request for a fixed rate at outrageous price.
4. Head to Muse 2 for some clubbing action! Great music, no cover charge, cheap drinks, professional singers/rappers/dancers. Way better than Butter Factory or Zouk i will say.
5. Shopping for clothes is not that cheap here, especially at the malls. Nevertheless, there is H&M which offers affordable and fashionable wear. To get boots, go to qi pu lu. You can also get cheap books (around RMB10/per) and DVDs (RMB10/disc) on the street stalls
6. Eating is cheap. Meals at nice restaurants generally cost less than S$10 per person. For illustration: Korean bbq dinner costs RMB30 (S$6. Maybe $30 in Singapore). Chinese food alike Crystal Jade/Tung Lok costs RMB25 (S$5. Maybe S$25 in Singapore)
3-course fusion lunch costs RMB90 (S$18. Maybe $30-45 in Singapore for the same quality)
7. To tell the cab driver a place to go to, name the road AND the intersecting road. Telling them the unit number is of little help.
8. There are no so-called predestrian crossing here! So watch out for on-coming cars in both directions when crossing the road, even at traffic lights.
9. When shopping at qi pu lu, starting bargaining at 30% of the asking price. (i.e ask for RMB70 if asking price is RMB210)
10. Forget the tourist attractions and go off the beaten path!

Hmm, seems like its all about food and shopping.

sat with mum

30 Oct (Fri) dinner: Itacho Sushi
31 Oct (Sat) dinner: Itacho Sushi
5 Nov (Thu) lunch: Itacho Sushi
7 Nov (Sat) lunch: Itacho Sushi

4 visits to Itacho Sushi in 8 days!

Today I brought my mum to Orchard Ion to show her around the latest, hippest shopping mall. Haha, I actually quite like the place, cos there are many shops and... there is a lot of nice food around!

We headed first to Itacho Sushi for lunch. It is a very famous sushi chain in Hong Kong and they have arrived to set up a branch in Singapore. Staff in the restaurant speak mainly Cantonese among themselves because many of them are from Hong Kong and they are here in Singapore to help with the start-up. Yummy! The food is really good! And very reasonsably priced.

Next stop is Bread Society. Once, I bought these cheese and cranberry buns from the bakery and she loved it.. she ate 6 buns in a day! First time she ate so much of a food that I buy, haha! Yeaps anyway I love the bread there simply because the breads are really soft. And yea, we bought the cheese and cranberry bun again.

We shopped around and I brought her to B4 to look around the food stores. We ordered these takoyaki balls from Gindaco. Another delicious must-try at Ion! Love it because the "skin" is crsipy on the outside and not too starchy. Close fight with the ones I had in Osaka. But beware, the queue is usually very long!

Haha the food tour didn't stop there.. as I urged her to try the tea from Tea Loft. Very smooth, and the taste of the tea is not overwhelmed by the condensed/evaporated milk, which is a usual problem with the tea from many coffee chains nowadays. But a cup here costs a whopping $1.70, about $0.30 more than that in coffee chains such as Ya Kun and Toastbox.

We ended the (food-)eventful day by dropping by Imperial Treasure Teochew Restaurant to da-bao the Liu Sha (Custard) buns. We had that last week in the restaurant and it was REALLY GOOD. The hot custard, with the fragrance of the salted egg yolk ,oozes out when you bite into them. Best custard bun I have ever eaten!

Some much eating and shopping with my mum... what a wonderful day! =D

My loves

Last week I saw a friend's friend's facebook photos.. she went to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris to study baking! Looking at the photos of her in classes, the cakes, bread, pies, cookies and bread that they baked.. makes me want to study Patisierie again. I guess thats what i really love.

Friday night, Ying, Keng and I went for desserts at Bakerzin after dinner. We had the choux pastry and molten chocolate cake.. they tasted so good! i told myself: i want to make and sell this in future.

I wish i can go to le cordon bleu sydney next year end to do the course.
I dun know when my dream of having my own cafe will come true, but i guess learning how to bake professionally will be a good start! Its ever so easy to just pick a recipe and bake according to instructions. But going commercial is not that simple. You really have to learn the character of each ingredient and how ingredients work together. You have to learn that if your bread turns dry, if ur souffle sinks, if your cake cracks, if your muffin is too dense - what is really wrong with it. And you need to know how to come up with new creations to distinguish yourself from other patisiers.

I am not particular about food which i eat (to fill my hunger), but I certainly can tell the difference between good and bad. I guess FOOD is really my interest. Not in the sense that I love to eat good food(who doesn't?), but my interest takes me to another level - Why does that paricular item tastes so good? Is it because of the quality/origin/freshness of the ingredient? Is it because of the way its cooked - the technique/time taken/control of temperature/different stages orfpreparation? Or is it there a special ingredient which was added? I like to know what I am eating.

Anyway check out this new Japanese restaurant at Orchard Ion - Itacho Sushi (I am a great lover of Japanese food and sushi is my favourite!). The sushi at Itacho is really good.. reminds me of the sushi I had in Japan. Yum!


Salmon sushi

Roasted mackerel sushi (Mackerel flown in from Tsukiji Fish Market in Japan!)

Yellowtail sushi

Wafu chicken salad

Crab and avocado salad

Chicken and carrot stew (hmm.. soup is too sweet..)

Home-made tofu

I seriously can eat these everyday.

A love-hate relationship

I love my job because..

1. It takes me to places. Out of Singapore and experience working abroad.
2. Monetary benefits - Salary is ok ( i really feel its reasonable, despite much disagreements). When travelling overseas, can earn per diem to supplement income, can claim warm clothings allowance.
3. The job scope can be really interesting - understanding the mechanics of different industries, learning about organisational behaviour.. there is always new things to learn.
4. It is flexible. Cos its project-based. And when there are no projects, u really have free time (at least at my level).
5. I have really nice colleagues.
6. Can take cab to work, when on assignments at client's place
7. There is really job satisfaction, like when your manager comment that you have improved, and they are looking forward to you taking on more roles. Or when clients are open-minded and accept your opinions and recommendations.
8. I get to continue playing team sports because there are annual inter-department games and inter-CPA games, which i participate quite actively in.
9. There are people from higher management who really do care about your well-being and make you feel like you are not alone in difficult situations.

I dislike my job because...
1. Of how sometimes higher management say they will help, that they care, but those words never seem to translate to real results.
2. Client does not appreciate what you are doing - to improve their business processes- and instead view internal audit to be a compliance cost and makes life hard for us.
3. Nasty clients, and you never understand why they have to behave that way.
4. Over-demanding managers
5. It can be really boring, repeating the audit for the same processes, for the same clients.
6. Sometimes got to work really late, and I am not a person who can work late, cos my brain doesn't really work after a certain time.
7. Have to bring work home to do after working hours and during weekends sometimes
8. Accident happens.