easels salon

*back dated entry*

bought a voucher on deals.com.sg to dye my hair for the wedding... there are quite a number of salons coupons but most of them are not suitable for me.... either locations too far or they have some bad reviews... so in the end i choose easels salon.... this was my voucher...i gotten the $45 deal which includes Shiseido Colour /Highlights + Shiseido Hair Treatment + Haircut + Wash + Blow Dry + Style (worth $258)... basically everything.... cause my main concern are dye + cut so i had to go for that option & $45 is a pretty good deals...

Easels
Address:14 Scotts Road, Far East Plaza #05-32/33, Singapore 228213
Timing: 10.30am to 8.30pm (Mon – Sat), 10.30am to 7.30pm (Sun & public holidays)
Tel: 6735 6260

easels

the salon is located at the corner of far east plaza....one thing to take note is that, the salon does not have enough staff so you have to stick to your appt timing... i reached the salon like 20min ahead but it was full house (actually there was only like 2 customers but only had 2 staff) so i had to walk around far east before heading back to the salon...

the usual, after you sat down, the staff will let you select your choice of hair dye... i go for something dark brown since i dont want to have too contrasting colours on my head when the roots grow out... the staff has kindly suggested to me that she will mix 2 colours so that the colour wont be too dull.... then she went onto put the dye on my head...

me with the hair dye

there was not any magazines to read in the salon, only those brands pamphlets kind so i just took my nap there.... the hair dye does not have ammonia smell so that was good but it has a strong salon smell... i dont know how to describe it but it's those kind that you will smell when you enter those old salons in the neighbourhood.... 

anyhow,  after about 30min+, went to wash my hair & put some treatment wax on my head.... then had a trim... since my wedding is coming up in 2wks time, i want to keep my length so i only asked the stylist to do a trim for me.... so that was fast... like a 10min cut & i am done....

new hair

tada, my new hair colour.... the toilet light didnt do the colour justice but it's really nice.... very natural & yet not solid dark colour = i like.... the whole thing took about 1.5hr which was much faster than what i anticipated since the passed few times it took me like at least 2hr to complete the process.... another thing i like about the store is that the staff didnt promote me anything.... normally will ask me to top up for a better treatment or hair dye or some special shampoo... this time, NOTHING!?!? like ZERO sales... i was really surprised... i was like planning how to reject them that i dont want to buy anything... haha.... so i guess it was good... most importantly is i like my hair colour =)

cafebiz @ hotel jen

*back dated entry*

today is our annual lab lunch, normally we will do it in december but due to everyone's holiday schedule, prof decided to push forward the lunch date.... same as last year, we went to cafebiz & only then we realised traders hotel is gone!?!?!? it has been changed to hotel jen... according to my lab members, the boss is still the same but just change name for the hotel... i dont know why they want to do that, maybe for feng shui? anyway... i dont care about the name, is the food that we are concerned about =) so lets move onto the food pictures =)

roast meat aread

roast chicken

dessert

coffee area

DIY rojak

sushi

seafood

bread section

salad

fruits/salad

i would say the spread was not as good as last year... the very least we didnt have roast turkey this year =( & then the salad section shrink too... there was no CORN!!! i was like OMG!!! where is my corn... so i didnt go for salad this year.... let me share what i ate at the buffet...

1st round = rojak & appetizer

seafood + bread

meat + indian delight

sushi + porridge

dessert

haha... now then i realised i ate a total of 5plates of food!!! i mean they are not like packed to the brim so i think i didnt overeat =p i think my favourite was the DIY rojak since i can add ALOT of you tiao & fried bean curd skin inside.. yummmy.... the choice of sushi was very limited so i only had 1 piece.... another of my favourite was the bread section, they had quite a spread over there... i had the pretzel with garlic butter... NICE!!! but had to avoid too much carbo since it's a taboo for buffet.... the braised port was quite nice & tender but way too salty for my liking... the roast pork was nice & crispy too.... normally dessert corner is my favourite but the 1 at cafebiz was just average... the waffle was not tasty but chocolate moose cake was not bad....

on the whole, cafebiz buffet is still quite nice, the choice of food will vary depending on the seasons i guess... so probably december will be a better time to go.... if i am not wrong the price for cafebiz is $47++/pax... last time my prof told us there was 1 for 1 but nowadays i not sure... but since it's free food, no complain =)

wedding reception deco: angbao box & guest book

*back dated entry*

today i want to share how i design my angbao box & guest book.... some time ago i had some fancy ideas to do my guest book & ang bao box... want to do something extravagant & unique cause if you have been reading my posts, you all should have guessed that i am quite an AA (attract attention) person... not the kind who give alot of personal opinions but more of dressing & decorating things.... i wanted to have a very fancy reception table that will one look, people will know that i designed it... but due to my lazy bug, i only start doing things last minute, i cant achieved something too fancy so i just improvised with whatever things the hotel provided.....

so for fairmont, the banquet package will include 2 ang bao box & a guest book... you dont have any colours to choose from, they only give you white....

fairmont guest book

guest book interior

i forgot to take picture of the angbao box but basically is just a white paper box.... for the guest book, there are some patterns embossed on it but hello.... who can see them unless you stare really hard at it.... so when wendy (fairmont banquet sales personae) passed us the things, i was like ooooooooookkkkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy... i MUST do something about it... there is no way i am going to put these 2 plain things on my reception table..... i maybe quite good with my handicraft but when it comes to designing things, i totally suck.... so i went online to search how to decorate/design guestbooks & ang bao box..... but most of the things are too fancy & i cant complete it within the few weeks.. i thought of just wrapping the items with some nice wrapping papers but that's troublesome too so i went for something simpler = colour the items...

so i coloured my ang bao box light pink & added some paper flowers on it...

decorated ang bao box

tada!!! this my my ang bao box!!! not bad right!?!?!? at least is quite colourful & not the dull white box... the paper flowers i gotten them from taobao.com.... if you dont mind the limited choice of colour, DAISO also sells them... i think like 5 pieces for $2... quite a good buy too especially when you are pressing for time...

decorated guest book

guest book interior

tada, the guest book!!! i just use glitter pens to go over the embossment so that you can see the designs... i know the choice of colours maybe a bit weird but good enough for me... then for interior, i punch some designs at the side to give it a different look.... the chops can also be found at DAISO....

so you see, you can beautify your items easily!!!! of cause mine are not of SUPER NICE designs but at least it has transformed from its original plain white thing.... you dont have to buy those fancy guest books or ang bao box from online cause seriously you not going to keep the angbao box UNLESS you have a big house.... just need to move your fingers & with some creativity, you will have your very OWN guestbook & angbao box to display at the banquet reception =)

Ah Yat abalone @ grand pacific hotel

happy bday to myself =) this is the last single-hood birthday!!! i actually didnt think about it till my friend told me... haha.... the previous years i will plan where to eat or what to do but this year we were busy with wedding preparation, i didnt pay much attention to my bday... i thought of just going out for a nice dinner with bf... & he surprised me this year by the choice of restaurant.... since i only like to eat a very narrow range of cuisine, i expect him to bring me to some nice japanese or ang moh restaurant but nope, i was wrong... he brought me to Ah yat abalone.... i was really surprised cause this is like the least place that i would think he will bring me to because i told him that i personally dont like to dine at chinese restaurants cause i dont like to spend $ on food that i know how to cook.... & somemore ah yat abalone?!?!?! thats a real surprise.... his reason was that i always said i want to hold our wedding at one of the ah yat abalone place cause it's cheaper than having it at hotel & restaurants normally have nicer food.... so he thought i REALLY want to try their food, so he brought me there... i do want to try but not the dying want to try kind but still.....so sweet =)

so he made reservation at grand pacific hotel outlet... the restaurant is kind of small, it's like the size of a normal fastfood restaurant, i was expecting something bigger since they do banquets.. but perhaps they will get the hotel ballroom to have those events... oh well.... so we sat down & the waiter came to ask what tea we want to drink... i told him just plain water & he said "oh, 你们是groupon的啊?".... like wth!?!??! where does that come from!?! i guess i was too shock to give him the "you are so screw & i so gonna kill you" face but i just nicely told him that "nope, i just dont want to drink tea".... i was like WHAT?!??! firstly i didnt know groupon has ah ya deals but even IF i do bought the voucher, so what!??! i still paid for it OK!!! what kind of attitude was that!!! so throughout the dinner, we avoid eye contact with that waiter... really shitty man.... & when the other staff came over to ask us fill in the form for membership card, i put my title as "Dr"... normally i dont do that cause what's the point, the title wont give me more discounts or what... but because of the shitty attitude, i purposely put my title there & indirectly tell him that I CAN AFFORD the food here OK!!! *roll eyes*

irritating issues aside... lets move onto the food...

ah yat abalone

table setting

peanuts + weird chili sauce

set menu 1

set menu 2

 they do have ala carte menu but seriously those items are OMFG expensive... a simple abalone will cost at least $200.. like OMG!!!! so we just went for the $48++ menu....

close up on menu

i actually prefer the $39.80++ menu but the first dish is pork & they cant change it to other things so we go for the $48++ menu instead.... $55++ menu looks not bad but i find it abit weird to eat teriyaki fish & prawn.. so i didnt choose that option....

shredded chicken

i do expect the portion to be small but when the waitress put down the dish & i was like WHAT!??!?! that's like a baby portion... but ok.... expensive restaurant... suck it up.... but the shredded chicken does taste nice...

sharkfin soup

this is ok.... slightly salty but still quite nice

braised TINY abalone

like excuse me, where is the abalone!?!??! it's this tiny 2cm thing at the side... from the picture the abalone look so HUGE.... i know... i know... pictures are deceiving.... but seriously... that was TINY.... lucky the other side dishes taste quite nice...

fried fillet

the chef has very fine skill in frying... the batter is very crispy yet not thick & fish is still tender... the sauce is like sweet thai style... but i dont like fish & chip so this dish is average to me

stuff crab with minced seafood

in my opinion, this is the worst dish in the menu.... i thought of crab will be baked or steam but is deep fried... & due to the frying, the seafood taste has been masked so nope, not my kind of dish

noodle

quite ok dish but too oily for me.... but still better than the crab dish

mango pudding

not too bad, is better than i thought but it still taste more jelly than pudding....

on the whole, if this is the standard of the food during banquet then i am glad that i didnt hold my wedding at ah yat abalone... i would say the food is pretty average there, at least for the set menu... perhaps the ala carte dishes will be much better but they are way too expensive.... for me, i doubt if i will go back to this expensive place again......& i shall end off this post with the lovely bouquet from my bf =)

lovely bouquet

taobao batch for wedding stuff

well, i am sure by now many people would have known about taobao & today i want to share some of the stuff that i bought recently especially wedding stuff cause they are much cheaper to get from taobao than in SG....

1. bow tie @  9.9rmb each
this will be for the brothers.... i think they will look cute in bow tie & i gotten them the rainbow colour (including groom)

bow tie

2. vest @ 49.50rmb each
i think a simple vest will cost like SG$50 so i cant really afford to give each brothers a new vest here & since i not getting those tight fitting vest, i can just get them online.... there are other stores on taobao which sell nicer designs but so far this is the only site that i can find sizes that can fit the brothers, so yup... no choice... but it still looks nice =)

best man vest

3. kua hair accessories + bridesmaid corsages
so i am going to wear kua during the tea ceremony & i thinking very hard what hair accessories to go with it... of cause i can let my makeup artist decide but i dont think she has accessories that will match kua so i decided to get my own... & i go for those traditional look....

kua accessories

quite nice hor... so i gotten the 3 of them as a set.... lovely...

accessory+corsages

4. red bedsheet @ 268rmb
this is pretty pricey to me but then is still much cheaper compared to SG... & i cant seem to find a suitable design here, those kind i found at wedding shop will cost like $88 with weird designs & lousy quality.... so taobao solves my problem =)

packaging

actual design

5. room decorations
normally we will put those 喜喜word around the house during wedding but again those things are quite pricey in SG, so taobao is the saviour

room decoration stuff

6. reception+angbao box deco
since fairmont gave me a white ang bao box so i had to do some DIY to beautify it... i intend to just paste those paper flower on top to make it like a flower box... simple...

simple deco stuff

7. winter clothes
since we are going to japan for our honeymoon in end dec, we need to stock up some winter clothes... of cause i had quite a fair bite of winter clothing, i need a down jacket & so does my bf... so we gotten them on taobao since it's more expensive in SG...

bf down jacket

touch screen enabled gloves

boots

my lovely green down jacket

misc winter clothes

this batch order cost me like SG$300+, pretty expensive but at least i settled some of the wedding stuff =)