Back dated post - Revisit to Watami

I din have time to do a proper post on our visit to Watami at Clarke Quay, their 2nd branch in Singapore.

After the first visit to Watami (ION) for sis's bday lunch, I was in fact quite pissed off. 2 hours for our food to arrive and still have to argue with them is not my idea of a nice lunch.at.all.

So, I made an online feedback.

The marketing comms person apologized profusely and she invited me and 3 other friends to the branch at Clarke Quay for another lunch. The branch at Clarke Quay was not yet opened then. I got my sis, her friend and hub to go with me for this invite.

It was a pre-launched session and besides us, I think there were some photographers and journalists.

We were treated to a yummy-licious lunch!

Service was good too!

Their staff; regardless at ION or Clarke Quay has always been attentive.

This, I really appreciate and like. Of course, I do think that they need to improve on product knowledge. But then again, its a new store, and staff are new too. Training and learning will take time too. Give them another chance to learn and train their staff and it should improve.

Watami @ Clarke QuayOur lunch menu.Long long list of food for just the 4 of us!

Our drinks for the day... Looks pretty. But I cannot remember what is what now. One for each of us... But we can't differentiate and we just cross drank. Hahahah...

Seafood Salad I thinkThe crispy prawns in the salad are so good! We were fighting for more!

My ALL time favorite - Sashimi!!!One Word. FRESH!

Stir fried UdonI find this OK. But a little too oily.

Beef SkewersYUMS lor!

One of the main dish - Sukiyaki. I like this very much!Soup base is just a little too salty but very tasty!

Desert - Chocolate sauce on brownie!
My sis's favorite!

Mochi with mocha ice cream (LOVE the mochi!)The red beans are pretty good too!

In my excitement, I forgot to take a pic of the garlic rice in stone bowl! But for that, I don't quite like. Or maybe, to me, I've already associated stone bowl rice to Korean food.

I can be sure to say that we would re-visit the place another time if there’s another chance. The ambiance is nice, food’s really quite worth the amount that we are paying for!

Check out Watami at ION, #B3-23 or at Clarke Quay, The Central, #02-82/83/85

shopping by proxy

I missed the Isetan Private Sale physically yesterday but my proxy did my shopping for me. And she did a fanastic job!

I got tones of RMK as I was trying to hit the min purchase and to get the freebies. These can last me till next year at least!

Freebies from RMK....Got this off the online brochure, there's supposed to be a pocket mirror and cosmetic pouch and an additional face protector that comes with my purchase of $220. Whoo hoo!

A must-have for washing off those cosmetics that I pile on my face daily! 10% off per bottle lei. Even cheaper than the bundle price! Of course must get. I use 1 bottle in about 5 to 6 weeks. So this should last me till Dec since I still have 1 new bottle at home - which I should be opening soon.

This is my favourite sunblock. Nothing else comes close. It's totally so smooth and so easily absorbs into skin!

Clarins Sunblock with SPF 40.

Damage... $56.

20% off lei! Orginal $70 lor. Current bottle about 40% left. This should last me till June 2010.

The down side of shopping, proxy or not, I'm $330 poorer.

But, with the mega sale rebates and credit card rebates, I have earn for myself a total of $60 in vouchers! So, my shopping is only $270 la. Not so bad after all considering I have soooooo many things!

Loots are now with another friend (proxy shopper passed it to friend of mine, her colleague)... got to wait till I meet friend for dinner to get my loots. Heng, I have enough stock of everything at home for the time being.

Thank you hor, Proxy Shopper! =) Appreciate your hard work in squeezing with all those women!

Lobang lobang for I Nouvi Cosmetics.

Yo Girls!

My friend has a voucher for 40% off regular priced cosmetics / skincare / accessories from I Nouvi. (Site is US based, but there's Inouvi stores in J8, Vivo, Suntec and Far East Plaza)

Do go and browse and see if anything catches your eye, let me know! 40% off is a very good deal lor!

I'm thinking of getting some myself too! hahahha...

Voucher expires by end of this month. Let me know by 28 Sep LATEST.

Just wanna know...

WHAT brand of skin care and regime you girls are using / following? And what skin do you have? Oily? Normal? Combi? Any specific problem areas?

I just want to have some back up brands as earlier this morning, to my shock and horror, the brand that I've been using has gone thru a price hike! *Yikes!* and the amount is quite substantial compared to before the hike.

Luckily for me, I've already spent enough to become their member and so the hike would not have that much of significiant impact on me for the moment.

But it's always good to have some back up brands... you never know when a switch is necessary!

To start off, I have combination skin, (more oily T-zone and normal to dry cheeks - depends on environment and which period of my cycle I'm at la), visible pores, dark eye circles (the damn late nights!).

My basic skin care is from Vitasence.
Cleansing: Cleansing Mousse,
Toning: Revitalising Tonic,
Moisturizers: Protective Hydrator (day) and soothing moisturiser with antioxidant (night).

For my visible pores, I'm using KOSE - Pore Serum and for eyes, Estee's Advanced Night Repair Eye Recovery Complex.

What about the rest of you?

waiting...

... for the online version of the Isetan promotional flyers to be loaded on the net.

I need some skincare and cosmetics if there is a sale!

My list of items is likely to be
Clarins Sunblock
RMK Make Up Base (if there's a sale or attractive feebies)
Fancl MCO (if there's a sale)

I estimate if I were to get all these, easily $200!

misc pic

Had lunch at Soup Restaurant at Seah Street last Friday, as I was at NLB for an event.

And the toilet impresses me!

Olden feel! I normally don't like such olden chinese feel.. but I felt this was quite nicely done and with the light, the traditional feel is indeed pretty! Basin. Another view. Wall mirror. I wanted to take a pic of the basket.. but it din turn out clear.

Sis's Bday

Happy Bday Sis!She's on leave, I took leave and together with the youngest sis, us, Sisters 3 went to ION. They have been there many times I think, but for me, the first.

We had lunch at Watami in ION. Food's not bad, price is reasonable. Service by staff is good too. Only thing is, the food is served cold, wrong and the wait for food, SUPER LONG! It took almost 1 hour for 3 sets of set lunch and 2 side dishes to arrive! That's really very bad lor!!!

Really is mountain turtle. But, the shops there don't attract me much. It seems like the same stores are all over the place. Nothing special while the expensive shops are wayyyy too expensive for me!

I guess, the only boutique that I can afford is Longchamp. I like the new limited edition Le Pilage! Pink with white trimmings! So pretty! There's a 10% off for citibank card holders... but it's a whopping $191 for the small one... Think I'll give it a miss... also coz I find it tough to bring out... and also coz I have too many bags. =(

Went over to Taka and the only exciting thing I got was this bottle of Aqua Gel that my sis highly recommends. Coming from her, its definitely something that I shd not miss. She seldom recommend me any skincare pdts la. Most of the time, its me the SA who keeps recommending her to get this, that and goodness knows what else!

Anyway, the gel removes dead skin gently and I tried it the moment I washed my face. WORKS!! I find my skin so clear and radiant after just 1 time. Definitely going back to buy some more after this bottle finishes.$38 I think, available at Watsons.

We went over to Paragon for tea after that, wanted to go to Coffeebean... and just by this, brought about a joke among us 3. I led the way up to level 1 and the last to come up was the middle sis came up the escalator, she asked me, "Why u come up? At B1 what."

I replied, "But I don't see it ma. So I thought it was higher."

At which the youngest sis said to us both, "Closed already what!"

And by this time, all 3 of us realized that we made a mistake and we all burst out laughing at our silly-ness. The youngest had a conclusion and that's us, the older ones have not been visiting Orchard for far too long.

*sigh* too long did not visit town can't even remember what stores are in Taka or is it a sign of old age?

Anyway, we crossed over to Paragon and we had tea at Bakerzin. Where, the bday girl finally got her slice of cake.

Here, we chatted and laughed at each other for our youth sillyness.. such good time spent together with 2 sisters!

Then, we went over to Tangs where I got Hub's advance Bday and Wedding Anniversary Present. Nothing special, tie and cuff rings. Boring gift yes, but really no idea what to get. Stick to something that he needs is the best!

And now I'm lemming for the Christian Dior. DiorSkin Poudre Shimmer (Ultra Shimmering All Over Face Powder) - # 002 Amber Diamond.$66.

I would have gotten it at Tangs, if it was not out of stock. We have to pass by Isetan to get the bus home and I went to look for the same item. OOS again!

Conclusion: Hot item and hence it's OOS!

It was a good day with my 2 sisters... and I think we should do this again after my exams in Nov!

Happy Birthday once again, Sis!

Happy Birthday Cindy!

Happy Birthday Cindy!
May your wishes all comes true! Stay happy and healthy always!

The few of us (Amelia, Alex, Novia and myself) celebrated her birthday last night at Ma Maison @ Bugis... ya... After I done my shopping, went over to Bugis for the bday dinner.

Lots of chatter, fun and laughter for the few of us!

Us, girlies. Alex was the photographer, that's why no pic of him.

It's time to change

I realised I've been using my make up for a long time. Really. Long. Time. but the amount of make up left is still more than 50% for each item that I'm using and I keep having the thought that I should be changing. But I'm not quite sure.

You know. When you still have more than half left, you don't want to throw. But yet, you know, you've been using it for a long long long time and its about time to change. Just that, not quite sure if it's really time yet. That kind of dilemma. Change equals to spend $$, don't change equals to some fears if my skin will outbreak...

Yesterday, I was at Shaw and pop by Isetan after I've done my work.

I stopped by RMK counter and within 15 mins, got myself a brand new set of face items.Liquid Foundation, Pressed Powder, Loose Powder and a lip gloss. There's was a 10% voucher rebate for the first $100 spent, then 10% voucher for the next $50. I bought 3 items first and I got a $15 voucher which I used to offset the pressed powder on 2nd purchase.

Total damage: $213

But to soften the blow, it came with an array of freebies!2 packs of body and face wipes, body sunscreen, face scrub, make up remover, sample size liquid foundation and also make up base.

Pretty worth my $213 I say.

All together now...A LOT isn't it?!

Went over to Taka after that and I got a brand new eye cream. I've used this item when it was given to me as sample before. It's really effective. But the thing is, pricy too lor. But I was in an indulgent mood and I went ahead to get it for myself.

And I can't resist the Pink Coral! So I got it too.

Total damage: $167

Again, it came with an array of freebies. A pouch, an eye liner pencil, a lippy, a comb and mirror set, make up remover, mascara, moisturizer (I think) and an eyeshadow palette!

After spending close to $400 in 1 hour, my unease got stronger.... is my make up and eye cream really that old to warrant a total overhaul?! This question was at the back of my head the whole night of yesterday and even till now!

And what I did? I went to dig my old blog posts for some clues as to when did I purchase my current items..

The verdict was NOVEMBER 2006!!! Ok granted, I may not have started using it immediately on purchase so even if it's delayed, I would have started using by early 2007. That's still more than 2.5 years ago!!!!

Ok. No more guilt, I'm ditching everything I'm using now! Bye Bye.

I say it's a good thing I blog, at least I have a rough idea when I bought what and when I started using what!

Misc Lunch

Home cooked lunch... My chap ba lang lunch more like. Threw in canned corn, dried chinese mushrooms and canned buttons mushrooms, crab sticks and my ugly chawanmushi egg with yet more mushrooms and crab stick.Really looks ugly.. but hey. Not bad to eat at all. Enough ingredients... so much so that, Hub commented "I can't taste the rice".

Ah.. ya. I decided to leave a spoon and an Ikea plate in office, so I can microwave it... hot things definitely tastes better than cold things anytime!

Olive Rice from the new Thai store in Koufu from Campus. For a mere $3. It's really not bad at all! But I feel the rice is a bit hard but it's still quite nice nevertheless.

Was craving for Chocolates and I got Kinder Bueno. Is this new? I haven't seen it before.

Quite pricy as compared to the normal ones. Taste wise, more chocolate since this does not have so much wafer.

The Gentle Crackdown Theme Song

I like the catchy tune to the song!

Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

Just find it so cute lor.

Lyrics:

明知不知傻痴痴 - 周麗淇&陳豪

作曲／填詞：張婉兒

男: 從小至今日日記住

一生盡力為民

為了實現真理想

遇上艱辛都堅忍

女: 憑身手且機智

挾持貧困以惡為恥

所有事只要有理

想做就做天曉之

男: 從不貪 漠視名利

不倚權貴恃勢凌欺

女: 快樂人 我似人真心

將比己 冇留餘地

合: 唔知當知而先知

明知不知傻痴痴

樂觀一生 而有智慧 正氣有意思

憑良心真心做人宗旨

行惡詐騙人憎之

和我與你一起 感覺這誠意

I'm Glad.

I'm supposed to be writing my TMA but I can't resist posting this.

I happened to go into my SIM site and was shocked to see the tab "Course Registration" there. My immediate thoughts were "Heh! I'm already completing, how come there is this tab?!"

I clicked and then I was immensely glad. =)I'm super happy that table containing the "remaining credits needed" are blank.

Now, all I need to do is complete my TMAs and sit for the exams and then I. AM. DONE!

I think I look like a carrot head

I must look like a bloody carrot head to my doctor la.

For these and a 2-day MC, guess how much I got to pay?$71!

Yes!!!! SEVENTY-ONE freaking dollars!!!!

And I think it's very normal medicine lei!

I have a morning and night flu tablet, a mixture for cough and phlegm (which reminds me of kids' medicine coz of the color) and a box of antibiotics! Granted the antibiotic is more expensive, go in for consultation is $20. But my goodness, $71 just for these?!

Wah lau.. All because I lost my voice, a little sinus and a damn painful cough.

I super heart pain lor. $71!

I really think my doc is cut throat or I really look like a bloody carrot head.

Hub also down already, he went to another clinic earlier and it cost him a mere $20 with 1 day MC.

Ok. he has no antibiotics and 1 day MC, just a normal flu (his colleagues are having flu, so he got it) but VERY big difference between $71 and $20 lei!!!!

ARGH!!!!

Friday - 24 Jul

A special Friday lies in store for me and my 2 friends this evening!

But first things first, I still need to get through the day before the evening comes.

The lunch kaki and I haven't had lunch together for a really long time, with her hectic duties, and my more frequent of bringing lunches to work, it's really quite hard to meet her for lunch and so, we made plans to meet up for lunch today!

Went to J8, coz she needed to get something and I was on a buying-squeaky-boys-shoes-quest for a friend.

In the end, I did not manage to get the squeaky shoes, but instead, I got some cute outfits for her girl.So cute right! I love the small tees and the bubble pink shorts! Will look great on her girl. I would have gotten some for my God-daughter too, but the sizes are too small! *sigh*

Come evening, its time for Cindy, Amelia and myself to meet up! I've been so looking forward to it for the past week!

We were supposed to have dinner at KPO cafe and bar the new place in town.. but they do not accept reservations and we can't get a normal sit down table for dinner. Cin and I were there for a good 45 mins hanging out at the bar, hoping and waiting to pounce onto such a table when the chance presents itself. But no such luck.

*sigh*

Anyway, KPO is not the place for me. Been there. And I doubt I'll go back again.

We decided to go to coffee club express, and just nice Am arrived! Poor girl got a swollen eye, goodness knows what caused it. Hope, she's feeling better by now!

I think it's a good thing we had dinner at Coffee Club. More more comfortable and the night was breezy! We sat there the whole night chatting like old friends and we had a good time!

US!
The 2 of them turned up in white though nothing was said about dressing! I'm the odd one out!

And Thanks very much, Cin for the macroons. Jer and I enjoyed it very much!

Lunches

I've been preparing lunches for both the hub and myself more often these days...

Nothing fanciful, in fact, I think it's on the borderline of being unhealthy with the amount of processed food that I'm piling into our system!

Mixed Red, Brown & White Rice cooked with Corn, paired with NTUC's Popcorn Chicken (or chicken nuggets or chicken wrapped in seaweed), Diaso's Seaweed and Japanese Seasonings. Sounds unhealthy already, I know. But its simple to prepare in the morning la. So, I am really trying not to eat too much processed food.

A slightly healthier lunch for today...Mixed Red, Brown & White Rice cooked with Corn and Carrots, paired with steam chicken thighs.

These are all super easy to prepare in the mornings. I'm still experimenting with more variations to the veggies and meat. Must be simple and fuss free. Only food that either cook together with rice, steam or toaster oven friendly will be considered!

I had lunch with Jeff some time back and we had Sandwiches.Never heard of this brand before, but it's similar to Subway. But in terms of choices, Subway has more. Be it choices of bread, veggies or the various kinds of meat and even sauces!

I've already forgotten what I ordered. From the likes of it, some ham and the default veggies and don't know what sauce.

I also had a drink and a salad to complete the whole meal. The lettuce tastes a tad too old la.

I think price wise slightly more expensive than Subway as well. But in terms of ambiance, this place is much more comfortable with sofa seats and wide spaces.

1 thing that I find quite irritating at Subways is the way the chairs are all arranged back to back. Really is jam packed. I'm not exactly skinny la. So I find the seating so uncomfortable.

Ah... which reminds me, I'm going to Swensens for lunch with my colleagues later this week. Swensens have extended their lunch time promotion of 1-for-1 lei. Very worth ma.

Thing is got to go there early, else queue very long and then very rush to finish the food coz, service also slower lor.

Shoes

Hole in the sole of my URS...This happens to be my 3rd pair in this design from URS.. Why do I have 3 pairs?

Well, the 1st pair was stolen when it was in good, wearable condition though it does looks like it has gone through some battles so I got a 2nd pair.

2nd pair had a big hole on both sides so I got the 3rd pair.

And less than 2 months, 3rd pair is starting to tear!

ARGH!!!

So, I got 2 brand new pairs of shoes. Flatties, soft and comfortable!

It looks a little like the Crocs Mary Janes doesn't it? But it's only at a fraction of the price!

Grey Heels.
Looks black but it's grey. I don't have grey shoes heels la.

A little hard but still relatively comfy. And it looks and feel very chic. I like.

Best of all, these brand new 2 pairs costs merely $47 (storewide 20%) in total! Cheap and good!

Get it fromI think AMK HUB has another branch though I must say, I've NEVER seen it in HUB. I got both pairs at Orchard Central.

One last pair of shoes... White and Pink dress shoes, complete with sqeaky sounds. According to the SA, these sounds will encourage the BB to walk. If she says so lor. I'm not that sure lar...

Nah... not for myself.

For a little princess whose turning 1 soon.

I hope the size fits and I'll ask Mommy to snap shots with her princess in it.

2 little Indian Boys

This morning, I had a group of 13 India Indian boys, aged between 12 to 16 accompanied with 2 male India Indian teachers and 2 local India teachers for a visit to my campus.

Last minute, the Local teacher in charged decided that they should have lunch in my campus before leaving.

Hence, I went to make arrangements with one of my canteen operator for seats and tables for them.

After promising and making arrangements that I'll come back at 1.30pm to fetch them to the carpark, I left them alone and I went for lunch.

Fast forward to 1.30pm, I went to fetch them.

Somehow, something prompt me to make them do a headcount after we left the canteen. To all our shock and surprise, we are short of 1 little Indian boy!

Then began the panic and rush to look for this lost boy. My campus is huge ok! It's equivalent to the size of 60 football fields. Just where and how do we start looking for 1 boy?

None of his friends nor teachers can call him on his mobile because they don't have his number and they are from New Delhi, according to those present, they won't be able to reach him. Don't really understand.. but speaking to a group of India Indians and trying to understand what they say is tough. Very tough.

Some of the boys want to go and look for him. This gave me another shock. I lost 1, I don't want to loose another few. So together with the teachers, we told them to stay where they are and 2 teachers and I went to search.

After a frantic 20 mins search, my colleague called me, giving me some clue as to where this lost boy is.

I finally found him, seated comfortably in 1 of the admin offices in my campus. According to my colleague, he sounded ready to burst into tears.

Thank God my little Indian boy is found!

He got a bashing from his teachers and a great lot of teasing from his friends when he re-joined his group.

The poor boy must have been embarrassed.

Finally, manged to see them safely on the bus and send them on their way home.

During the tea break earlier on, another little Indian Boy came up to me and he said "Mdm, thank you for today. I would like you to have this" and he gave me gave me a little card with just 2 simple words "Thank You".

So sweet of the little boy right?!

This little boy is coming to 13 in Aug. He told me so himself.

The lost little Indian boy is not more than 15.

1 so sweet and 1 caused me to sweat.