Random: Hello!!

Hello there!

I recently got a constructive feedback saying that my blog has not been updated for more than a year.
Well, that's a fact - hence here we go!

Life has been pretty much the same - same same but different. Shan't go into details - but you get the idea.

Work has been quite the same. By the same, i mean i'm still in the same job. Congrats to me right!~ My longest serving job as yet (besides my part time job which i've been doing for almost 8 year and still on-going). 104 more days till my 2nd year anniversary! Naturally, more responsibilities has been assigned. Although i'm more than willing to assume said responsibilities, i'm just not quite sure if i'm capable of it? --心有余而力不足
Nonetheless, let's just see how things go - 船到桥头自然直

So here's just a quick short rant to let you know i'm still around~ sick of stuff, but surviving

Perhaps i shall start to blog more exciting posts to bring back the spark in life ;)

Love,
Jalyn

Makan: Hamanoya Robata @ Marina Square

Hello there!
For today's post, I'm going to do a quick one on a visit to Hamanoya Robata @ Marina Square.

Hamanoya Robata is a Japanese Restaurant located on level 2 of Marina Square (beside Hifumi near Charles & Keith area). Initially we wanted to go to the cafe in front of them (I can't recall the name) but they placed us at a miserably small table even though we had 2 more people coming to join us. I'm not sure if they are placing us there to wait or what, but no one bothered to tell us anything. Hence we left and decided to try HR instead. - Which I'm glad we did.

Overall impression of the place was good. We were given a table that was visible from the outside of the restaurant. Right in front of the area where people would queue up. But as there was a good "divider" between the outside and main part of the restaurant, I like our seat! It almost felt like a VIP room. Lol. You have to be there to understand what I'm trying to describe~ Price wise, its cheaper that I thought. My impression of such Japanese food chain was that their price would be extremely steep. But I was wrong.


ABURI SALMON DON //

First up, this is what I ordered for my main - Aburi Salmon Don. This is a salmon don served with lightly grilled salmon with salmon roe, served together with a bowl of miso soup. There's a lot of things in their miso soup too! (unlike those cheapo ones with only miso, few small tofu and some seaweed.)   Personally, I'm very skeptical about salmon roe because most that I've tried tasted very "fishy". But this didn't and I even finish all of the roe! This cost $17.99 before tax and service charge. (It's also one of the slightly more costly mains.)  *all the prices I'm gonna share doesn't include tax and service charge ok! 

What more can i say, I LOVE IT! 

UNAGI TAMAGO DON //

 Next up, is the Unagi Tamago Don that my sister ordered. It was also serve alongside miso soup and pickle (i think). It was also worth the price (of $17.99 before tax etc). And really decent for a unagi don!!

OKONOMIYAKI //

Our friend ordered the Okonomiyaki but was so much that she had to share. Although it wasn't what she was looking for, it was great too nonetheless. (She worked in a okonomiyaki place way back and was trying to find the kind they used to serve since.) This was $7.99. 

TAKOYAKI //

The takoyaki was $6.99. But this didn't struck the string for me. I didn't felt that it was worth the price (for 6 balls). The takoyaki at ION basement (and raffles city basement - idk the name ;p) was way better even though it didn't taste as good after they change it to the automated cooking machine.


CHAWAMUSHI //

Our friend ordered the Chawamushi too. I didn't try it, but she said it was good too! Not just plain old steam egg! I didn't managed to get the price down for this. Oops! :D

FRIED TOFU //

To share, we ordered this Tofu. It wasn't worth the price (i can't rmb the price again) as it only came in one piece. We both thought it was for 2 pieces as depicted. But too bad~~ It tasted normal?!  I'm not really a tofu person, so can't really comment much. XD

MIXED YAKITORI //

 Is this exciting or is this exciting. I love yakitori! My impression of yakitori in restaurants was freaking expensive (after dining at the sushi place at wisma atria, food court level). This was a set that you can choose. It's 4 skewers at $16.99. You get to choose from 4 types - you can choose the same 4 etc-.(Trying to clarify to I don't sound retarded.)
Here's a picture to help illustrate what I'm trying to say. :/

Then another of our friend came along and ordered these!!

SOY RICE BALL & CLAM SOUP //

The clam soup can in this pressurised pot thingy. and the taste (of the soup) is crazy!! So sweet with the rich taste of the clams! We waited quite some time for this dish, and it was well worth. Everyone keep taking sip after sip of the soup. We even used one of the big spoon that came with our don! 

Though the takoyaki was a disappointment, I'll give it a ****/ 5 for it. They have to do better than they had to get a five full stars! 

Have you tried HR before? or have other Japanese food to recommend? Leave a comment below and let me know! 

Love, 

Jalyn 

Beauty: Haul from Luxola!

Hello there lovelies (:

I'm uploading a haul video on YouTube, please check it out here - H&M and Luxola Haul! 

In the second part of the haul, I shared on my most recent buy from Luxola.
If you do not know already, Luxola is a online store that you can get your beauty products from. I love shopping there as the delivery is real quick. I believe if you buy above $10 you get free delivery. It's usually the next-day door step delivery.

Do watch the video first to better enjoy all the information below! :)


1. Real Technique brushes //

I got 3 brushes from real techniques. I have been seeing this a lot in the past everywhere on YouTube.  So I guess I should totally buy them. I have yet to used them yet as I'm currently using my Zoeva brushes and Beauty Blender so I see no point in opening them right now.

But generally its the price is quite decent. Check them out on Luxola here.

• Retractable lip bursh - $15 
• Expert face brush - $18 
• Blush brush - $18

2. Miss Ferling Baume de Dalmatie Hand Cream //

Unfortunately Luxola no longer have this brand and hand cream in store. But I paid $9.50 for it. I can't quite remember if there was any discount on it though. :)


3. Duwop Cheek Venom //

This is a cream blush. Diamondback is a deep coral blush and have a cinnamon scent to it. 

I got this at $38 which is quite pricey for this small amount cream blush. But it smells nice at lease ;) 

Unfortunately, I think it's no longer available on Luxola anymore. : /

4. 3CE //

Since I got a few 3CE products on the video, let's put them all together here. (:

• 3CE Glossing Waterful Foundation in Natural Ivory - $45
• 3CE Skin Tone Control Primer in Purple - $38
• 3CE Lip Marker in Pink - $22

Get them - 3 Concept Eye

The lip marker wasn't really a very satisfied buy. I get it works more like a lip tint, but you have to go over it a lot to have some colour. I would rather go for Posie tint by Benefits if I'm looking for a pink lip tint. 

5. Tangle Teezer //

I Love Tangle Teezer! -and this is probably an understatement. If you are a person with long and ever tangling hair, you will love this product. I'm not sure how many other detangling brushes is there out there, but look no further. My tangle teezer can comb through any sorts of tangle I have. Be it the - I didn't condition my hair for 2 days  /  just work up  / wet hair tangle - you got it all covered! :D

This compact version cost $35, the normal kind cost $30.

Get yours -  Tangle Teezer.


6. Mario Badescu //

 I can't remember how long I have been using the cleanser but it works for me and removes make up really well after washing. So I thought to try the toner out as well! (I actually also got the silver powder, Drying Lotion and Herbal Hydrating Serum too!) I love them all. And what's best is that Luxola is selling it cheaper than Sephora. SShhhhhh - don't tell anyone I say that!

• MB Enzyme Cleansing Gel - $27
• MB Glycolic Acid Toner - $40
• MB Silver Powder - $27
• MB Herbal Hydrating Serum - $64
• MB Drying Lotion - $36

Check it out here - Mario Badescu

7. Steam Cream //

Steam cream is a product of Japan. I saw it while I was in Japan in June but had no idea what it was. So I ended up getting it from Luxola. I bought 2 tins of it previously (1 for a friend) and now I'm getting another as Gift! 

It's in a 75gm tin and cost $26. Unfortunately yet again, it's sold out on Luxola. But you can join in the wait list~ Check it out - Steamcream.

8. Beauty Blender // 

The beauty blender have been in the mart for a very long time but I just tried and fell in love with it. It's so easy to use and blend all kind of liquid foundations so well and QUICK!

• Beauty Blender > Pro Double Blender - $50
• Solid Cleanser - $30
• Blendercleanser (Liquid) - $29

Check them out - Beauty Blender 

9. This Works. //

This is LOVE! I wasn't a fan of the lavender scent. But since its relaxing and mixed with Chamomile - WHY THE HELL NOT RIGHT? XD  I was in need of a relaxing scent as I wasn't sleeping well some time back so i tried the smaller bottle out which you saw in the video and fell in love with the scent. 

• Deep Sleep Heavently candle - $56
• Deep Sleep Pillow spray - $66 (250ml)
• Deep Sleep Pillow spray - $40 (75ml with roller ball) 

Check it out here - This Works 

10. Olay Specialist Cleanser

The last product I will share today is the Olay Regenerist Megasonic Specialist Cleanser Divice, Brush Head and 20ml Skin Renewal Cleanser. This kit cost $54.90. I bought a box or replacement heads which cost $12.90 and comes with 2 replacement heads. I find it very affordable compared to the clarisonic one. But of course, Clarisonic have its own reason to have such a big price tag to it. 

I'll probable post more about it once I tried it out! Get yours here - Olay Megasonic. 

Is there any product that you've tried above that you love? Leave a comment and let me know! 

Love, 

Jalyn 

How to: Start a blog!

Hello there, Welcome back!

It's now the last evening of our long(er) weekend. I've spent most of the time today working on this blog, trying to look for a nice and suitable layout and customising here and there. And here is my finished product! It's still a work-in-progress nonetheless. But I've got most things up. :D

When I was starting this blog, I can totally say that I have lost touch with everything. Blogs looks so different nowadays. It's not just the simply putting some HTML code together and replacing codes with other template you like on Blogskin.com.

For today's post, I am going to share a bit about my process of starting this blog. Of course, I'm not a pro. But I hope to give some insights to someone else as confused as I was (and still am), a good head start.

One;

Where are you going to post? 

By saying this, I'm talking about all that hosting, domain, whatever.
To be frank, if you really am reading this - you probably just started blogging. In my opinion, you don't have to have your own domain, just go for a free Blogger or Wordpress account. There are A LOT of different sites you can have your blog on. Blogger and wordpress are by far the most popular and established sites you can try out.

You can definitely get your own domain (an URL that ends with .com / .net / .sg etc). If you are considering this option, do look for a few different sites to purchase it from. The prices may be different for the same exact domain.

Besides having your domain, you need to have a Hosting place. You will have to pay a monthly fee to have your site hosted. And the fee, (I believe) will be depending on how much bandwidth you will need. This is the reason why I decided not to have my own domain. I don't feel like its really necessary to pay a fee just to have my site up. Especially since I have just started blogging and really can't tell if anyone is reading anyway. But if traffic picks up on my blog, youtube etc - maybe I'll consider if I should have all these up?

To make things even more complicated, you need to have a thing that you can manage your site on. I spent half a day trying to download wordpress on my MacBook. But isn't using it now since I'm not going to get my host and domain.

In short, I'm currently using Blogger, which is connected to my Google account (like YouTube) to maintain my blog. It's free and simple to use! AND I realise it's even easier to use now then how it used to it the past.

Two;

How is your blog going to look?

I must admit. In the past (my previous 2 blogs), I have always turned to Blogskin.com for blogskin aka blog templates. At one point, I am even uploading my templates up for others to download. (sounds like a Pro? actually am not!) It really wasn't too difficult to do those things. All I'll need to do is to put some boxes, pictures and default blogger codes together, and there- your skin is done.

But blog template now looks so sophisticated. My boxes and image just wouldn't do anymore.
I've spent the last week or more looking for an ideal template. I found one by Sora templates (Loveria). It's simple and have everything that I was looking for! It made my blog look like a very professional site.  But the coding and everything looks too complicated to change. I tried to change the code a little here and there to customise - nothing changes. Then I tried tweaking some other things on the layout page, only managed to add an instagram widget.

I was determined to find a template so easy to use that I can just get down and do the changes that I want immediately. And I was glad I did. Here I chanced upon BloggerCandy.

Sharnee's free templates are really a life saviour! They looked pretty and professional and they are available for download free of charge. I see many other nice looking template, but the cheapest I found still cost at least 5USD. For a (re)beginner like me, I really don't want to be spending money just to have a nice layout.

Instructions on the site is very clear and Sharnee is very responsive to any questions posted. (Based on the comment section that I read through (:  )

Thanks again Sharnee!


Three;

What do you want on your blog?

Here, I'm not going to talk about your content. Because if you have decided to start your blog, I trust that you already have a million things up your mind. :D

What I am going to share here is what do you want to include on your page besides your blog post?

First thing I immediately put up was an Instagram widget. You can get yours here.
One of the most go-to social media app that I go to is Instagram. Although I may not update as frequently, I always browse my feed every once in a while.

Having more pictures on your blog always make things looks more vibrant and interesting!

Then, the template that I'm using have a navigation bar. I was browsing the comments on BloggerCandy and saw that you can add new pages via Blogger and link them on the navigation bar. AND I DID!

But having the bar with no content is meaningless. SO -I went to google for Pinterest Widget and created new pages based on the pin boards I have.

Now I'm satisfied.

The last thing I have to do is to display all my social media links somewhere on the blog. I've yet to decide how it should looks like, where it should be, and how to do it.  Slowly, but surely!


Have this post helped you in your blog? Let me know down in the comment space below!

Love,
Jalyn

Makan: Eazy Eazy Kitchen

Hello there! Jalyn here. Thanks for hanging around!
To keep the ball (of blogging) rolling, I'm going to blog about a trip to Eazy Eazy Kitchen last Friday!~

Eazy Eazy Kitchen is a halal cafe along Bussorah Street. Somewhere around Arab St area near bugis.
Check out this link to find out the exact location.

It took us pretty long to actually locate the place as we were not very familiar with the area (at least for me) and even when we were in front of the store, we were also not too sure if we are at the right place. There was no signboard in front of the store~

We popped by slightly before 7pm and luckily there was still a couple of empty table for 2.

The menu was a clipboard with a few pieces of brown printed paper. Very old school indeed. I settled for a fish and chips (i can't remember the fancy name on the menu) and for drinks I ordered flower power which is elderflower syrup mixed with soda. I've tried elderflower Ricola candies and elderflower cider. But little did i expect the drink to be green in colour.

Juz order the meatball and a strawberry(?) drink. 

We waited for AGES and my main finally arrive and waited for even longer till the meatball's here. 

The fries was very home made. There are still the potato skin on it. But I like how it tasted very "original and unprocessed", hard and crispy because of the skin.

I tried the meatball too, it's made up of ground beef and topped with some crispy onion. The onion was super sweet ^^

I'm can't remember exactly what everything cost, but to put a number we spent no more than $50 for 2 person.

In general, the place did make an impression to me because;

1. There was no signboard and thought for a very long time if we were at the right place
I had to whip my phone out and check my current location to confirm. (lousy me with poor sense of direction)
2. The decor of the place was unique, their utensils used were cool too.
3. We waited reaaaaaaaaal long for the food to arrive. But give it a benefit of doubt, maybe they just started for the day when we ordered.

Overall I will give this place a ***/5. I probably wouldn't return unless I'm looking for a cool halal certified cafe.

Have you tried Eazy Eazy Kitchen before?  What do you think about it? Feel free to leave a comment down below!

Love, Jalyn

Travel: Adventures to Hanoi, Vietnam in May!

Hi there! Jalyn here. Thank you for popping by my blog.
I have recently decided to get "online" again after not blogging for almost 2 years. Now I'm back and getting better at stuff! Ha. To welcome myself back on being socially engaging (if someone is reading), I'm starting a youtube channel as well! Which on my channel, i'm trying to make video or vlog every week or maybe every two weeks.

There are 2 main reasons why I want to start blogging again. Firstly after somewhat "concentrating" on work for the past ~3 years I think I'm quite a "no-lifer". I don't hang out with friends as much and rather stay at home for friday nights and weekends. If I do hang out, I hang out with my colleagues. Well, I love hanging out with my colleagues! That's why many of them became friends thereafter :D

The second reason is because I got myself a new laptop! My sister was asking why do I need a laptop since all I do is shop online with it :\  Hence to prove her point wrong, I'm going to do something meaningful! XDDD

So for my debut, I'm am going to blog about my trip to Hanoi, Vietnam with Juzailah (also a colleague turn friend) in May (yes, it's almost October now). With this, I have to say I cannot remember most details of the trip by now. But with whatever information I have left, here goes~

OH, before I start - I have already uploaded videos of my trip on youtube! Editing sucks - I'm still learning! Leave a comment if you wish, you can request for what you want to see next too! Give it a thumbs up if you're a great person!

Our trip was from 13 - 17 May 2014. Little did we know that it was the hottest time in Vietnam. 

How hot? Hotter than Singapore HOT! While we were there, the temperature ranges between 30 degree celsius to 42 degree celsius. FREAKING 42! 

From Singapore Changi Airport, we took Tigerairways to Noi Bai International Airport. 

The fare costed us about $295 each. The ride: priceless. It was a flight full of backpackers and "ang mobs" going back to Vietnam with their wife/girlfriend. The whole plane was basically chitty chatty with each other the whole flight. :( major boo, because I prefer to just sleep on my flight so time can pass faster. (Which I can't even fall asleep most of the time.) 

We arranged for airport transfer services which I'm not sure how much we spent. (It's not very cheap though.) and we arrived at our first hotel - Tirant Hotel.

Please google for your own pictures as I didn't took any of the hotel exterior. 

Tirant Hotel

38 Gia Nga Street 

Hoan Kiem District - Old Quarters 

The hotel cost us about USD130 for two nights. However when we were there, we realised that $130 was for one pax, hence we topped up a small amount for the second person. 

For the first day, we just explore around the old quarter area. 

On our second day, we went for a guided tour - FREE! 

It's guided by student volunteers - available in multiple languages including English and French! 

Check them out here. 

All of the above can be found in Part 1 of my youtube video here. 

After which, we went for our Halong Bay Cruise! We had a small fright as the bus was late. To make things worst, the hotel manager told us that the agency we bought our cruise from was very unreliable and often charge tourist more than what was the previously agreed price. -It's Brilliant Halong Bay Cruise just in case you're curious. 

We booked our cruise for Halong Fantasea. We paid USD198 for 2 pax for a 2 days 1 night tour. The room was pathetically small and dimly lit. It was the worst part of my trip! :( (I like big and clean room, who doesn't?!) On the first day of the trip, we visited the cave - which is one of the 7 natural wonders in the world. Check out my video (part 2) for the name of the cave! 

What's worst is that after hanging out with our cruise-mates, we realised that we paid the most for the smallest room. (This other couple, booked just a couple of days before the trip for a room, twice the size of mine for slightly lesser than what we paid for!! - i.e. they paid lesser but got a bigger room!) 

That just simply made my experience real bad and very "turned off" but their ethics. 

After the dreaded cruise, we finally arrive at our final stop of the trip! 

Sofitel Plaza Hanoi Hotel

1 Thanh Nien Road

Tay Ho District - Westlake

This was the thing I have been looking forward most of the whole trip! This hotel is mainly for "business stays" not much of holiday. That may be one of the reason why I like it better. Very serene environment and children-free. :P 

We spent SGD$134 for 2 pax, 1 night. It was more expensive that the previous hotel. But all so worthy. 

For the second part of the trip, you can check out my youtube video here. 

I hope you enjoy this post! Feel free to leave a liner if you have any questions about stuffs that I have mentioned above! 

till the next post! (which is soon i hope! :D) 

Love, 

Jalyn