Turning the big 3-0

 I had so many plans for my big 3-0 hahaha...I knew what I wanted to do, what I wanted to eat, where I wanted to go etc But...well, as life had it, MCO had to happen the week of my birthday >.< #pasrah

In fact my husband had planned for everything but everything had to be postponed until after FMCO and had to bring certain plans to celebrate in our house haha Nevertheless, I think I had a very wonderful celebration. I also think that people got very creative during quarantine and the amount of deliveries received on that day made my heart really full and appreciative of all my loved ones in my life <3

Firstly, the day before my birthday, my best friend colluded with my husband and surprised me with an awesome fulfilling dinner! I guess I had ONE day of self indulgence and then after that, it's about clean and healthy eating LOL

All these for 2 pax! Does she think I am living with a kampung of people in my house? Jk hahaha All these from Curious Kitchen, Tropicana Avenue. The tacos were good, the pasta had huge prawns and..

..these ribs though had me salivating til today...so flavourful, so soft it comes off the bones and was the highlight of the night.

As if those weren't enough, she also delivered Piccoli Lotti's gelato in two flavours to my house!Mint is my all time favourite. Pistachio tasted like the one in llao llao which is my favourite flavour there. Both were really good. Thanks my love <3

At midnight, my husband brought out a cake for me to blow out candles!

And surprised me with a HUGE bouquet of the prettiest flowers! Yes, he hid it in one of the rooms which he knew I would not open when I went to work that day. And only brought it out during midnight.

And also as if that was not enough, I woke up the next day for a treasure hunt in my house where he hid thirty small bouquets of flowers for me to find. I didn't even know my house had so many hidden compartments lol

I found em' all!! What a crazy day!

Lunch was from my favourite Sri Lankan restaurant, Aliyaa!

I love love love their crabs!

Yup, it came with the claypot.

So huge, so juicy, so flavourful and spicy. My type of flavour. So yums! I finished it all by myself because my husband doesn't eat seafood lol

Surprise delivery from an ex-colleague from the popular Eat Cake Today's popcorn cake.

Shared these with my in-laws. Surprisingly not as sweet as it looks. No wonder it's popular.

Another surprise delivery from my friends. The amount of cakes I ate this year is quite unbelievable hehehe

Shared this with my family because I only live with my husband and we would have gotten diabetes on my birthday hahahha

Next day lunch by my mummy. Again, my favourite crabs hahaha...Okay, no more crabs for the next 3 months >.<

More food and cake!!

Tarts from Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart from colleagues.

Wahh I didn't know Hokkaido has so many new flavours. 

Chocolate crepe from Salon Du Chocolate.

Another surprise delivery from SIL! Waa so much desserts! This was luckily not too sweet and we loved it plus there was a chocolate shot that came with it. I was drowning in a sweet heaven.

Okay maybe it wasn't a day of indulgence, it was more of like days of indulgence LMAO. Cheat days cheat days. Well, you only turn 3-0 once right? And since it's MCO, there's really nothing much to do other than eat HAHAH

Felt really grateful with all the thoughtfulness. It brightened up my birthday during MCO. What did I do to deserve such nice people in my life <3

So, turning 3-0 has impacted me in the health department. I realised I'm definitely more health conscious now. For every unhealthy food I eat, there should be an accompaniment of a salad bowl, or a superfood bowl the next day or eating clean after that. I mean prevention is definitely better than cure right? Why not start now I thought. After a month of healthier eating, I realised improvement that I don't feel so bloated, I didn't gain weight like previous MCOs and I felt more energetic. So that's why I thought of continuing the lifestyle and try not to relapse. I'm just afraid that after FMCO when restaurants open, I will relapse and start the unhealthy habits haha.. We'll see.

In terms of achievement, of course everyone can do better. But I must say I did what I wanted to do before 30. Could I have done more? Definitely! But had I achieve what I intended to achieve? Yes! I also think I've probably reached that stage of life where I no longer need the approval from people. I'm comfortable doing my own things, comfortable eating alone in restaurants, comfortable having fewer groups of friends and just taking others' opinions with a tinge of salt and move on with life. I realised I'm not so much affected with negative opinions these days and start to listen more of me and what I want. All those white noises out there don't really get to me anymore. People are going to have their own opinions anyway so I do me and you do you hehe

My wish is that I just want to see more of the world. There's so much of this world I have yet to experience. I want to go out there when all these pandemic is behind us and just want to experience- the good, the bad, the unknown and everything in between. I want to know more of what is beyond the four walls of my home which I'm spending wayy too much time in. Hopefully, that can happen in the nearest future xx

MCO 3.0

 How are we feeling these days? Since the Covid-19 outbreak, I guess our country haven't really caught a break. Felt more of like the year 2020 again. After one whole year and we're back at the same if not worse situation. We're back to working from home, self quarantine since we're not allowed to cross districts, back to no dining out, long queues at the grocery stores, now even double masking from the last year's single masking and so on. Well, this is the new normal huh? At first, I was still in denial thinking 'new normal' was only temporary but I guess it is here to stay =.= Also thought that once vaccinated, everything will go back to normal but then there's news of people who were vaccinated and still contracting Covid- 19 so even after vaccines, we need to be wary. 

I really hope this is our last MCO. I can say that I'm kind of an introvert (except with my friends) so I thought I could do this staying at home thing for a long period of time. In fact, during the first MCO I was kind of enjoying the whole self quarantining and trying out baking and new recipes etc. Now that we're in the third MCO, hmm...I kinda miss travelling the most!! Forget overseas, in fact, I even miss crossing district to KL lol! I miss going shopping at Pavilion, KLCC, dining out, going for spa, staycations and everything else. 

I take comfort in the fact that we did manage to make the best during CMCO last year and this year when restrictions were eased and managed to squeeze in quite a few staycations; Datai Langkawi and EQ KL, Tanjong Jara resort and most recently Shangri-la, KL and went to Penang for a short trip for work and staycation for a friend's birthday. So since I kinda tasted a bit of freedom, I really miss it >.<

But oh well, we need to do this for the safety of our nation. I know, you know and everyone knows it but it just sucks to be limited in your daily lives. I have also been reading so many articles on people getting depression during this difficult period and I think this third wave really hit hard. At least during the first MCO, it was probably more of a shock but coming to the second and now third MCO, people are just fed up, losing or lost jobs, businesses who are closing down and even declaring bankrupt, staying sane at home either with screaming kids who are also studying from home or in an abusive relationships. I guess everyone is battling their own daily demons. Hang in there peeps and stay strong! Hopefully, we come out of this stronger! If you need to reach out for help, please do!

On to normal daily things and happier note, as usual MCO is the time for me to unleash my creativity skills in the kitchen haha and this time it is no different. In fact, during this MCO, my aim is to really eat clean and be healthy. The first 2 MCOs were try and error in my recipes and sometimes, I do shortcuts with ready to eat food packets which I now realise is very unhealthy. I also reduced my baking because all those sweet stuffs ain't going to do any good to our body haha and also because last MCO we gained weight so this time, I'm all about the healthy lifestyle.

Been doing fruits/vege smoothie on a daily basis.

A mix of banana, dragon fruit, acai, chia seed, collagen powder and blend it all for a good bowel movement during the day hehe

Made Devil's egg with a hint of truffle oil which makes all the difference. Yums!

Have you seen this before?

I recently saw the hype of sea grapes on social media and was wondering what it was. Further research on google let me in on all the good benefits of sea grapes and next thing you know I was on Shopee buying it. It has no taste so had to dip with some given cili hijau. It's not bad at all! Try it.

First time cooking cod fish. Luckily it was relatively easy to steam so I didn't put a good fish to waste.

Now, I have my ever ready lettuce in my fridge ready to just insert into any types of dishes for some added greens hehe

Recently been into trying out new types of greens. I saw this in the supermarket and although I'm late to the game but healthy lifestyle only came when I start 30 hahaha

I'm sure many already know it's ice plant. It's a bit salty on its own so it's good to just eat it raw just like that.

Bought a whole big bunch of kale as well and once in awhile if we need to snack on something, I'll make my kale chips via an airfryer- so easy!

So crunchy and so yummy. If you don't like its bitterness, add a bit of salt/sugar when pouring olive oil before air frying.

Saw these gooseberries or also known as physalis on some people's instagram and was wondering what it tasted like and of course, who do I go to? Shopee hahaha and bought one packet to try.

Though it is very beneficial for health but I cannot eat too much at one time because of its sourness. Not really my thang.

That's how breakfast look like these days >.< You cannot get any healthier than this haha

My husband is not really a fan of salmon but I am so I decided to make salmon with a twist. Flaked the salmon and cooked with chilli. 

He said it was more bearable to eat this way LOL...like I'm feeding him poison haha. Salmon is soo good for health with its omega benefits.

Was into an acai craze for a bit. Bought a whole bunch of acai and acai sorbets.

Acai sorbet with granola for an added crunchiness. You can eat ice cream tanpa was-was now!

Also into superfood lately.

-Rolled oats

-Acai

-Granola

-Pumpkin and sunflower seeds

-Sacha Inchi Oil

Also first time experimented doing inari.

Yay, a success! 

Repeated with tuna inari. Bought inari from Lazada hahaha. I'm an online shopping queen now

Superfood is kind of like a must have in my household now.

I try to mix it up time to time. This time I added bananas and walnuts for some texture.

Fist time made smashed potatoes. 

Failed. Haha...will try better next time.

Also, first time made wantan mee. So tedious- had to put in boiling water then cold water then boiling water then cold water then...I got confused haha

But luckily turned out well.

Made a good wholesome meal.

Bone broth with cabbage, ayam paprik and kuchai egg with brown rice mixed with some white rice.

Indulged a bit in baking as well recently.

Smores brownie. But quite fail la this one lol

Peanut mochi however was quite a success!

Yummy!

Looking back, a year a go I know nothing about all these recipes. A year later, look what MCOs did to me. Maybe this is my blessing in disguise lol

Here's hoping that you're coping well during the pandemic and remember, if you need help, please reach out! Staying inside your depressive mind ain't going to do you any good. Talk to a friend, talk to a doctor or anyone. Stay safe everyone!

Power Up Your Glow With New Melano CC

Are you tired of using products to mask your dark spots, acne marks and uneven skin tone? Does the thought of going for laser treatments or chemical peels sound intimidating to you? Further, now that we are stucked during FMCO, facial salons are not even opened. Leading Japanese brightening skincare brand Melano CC by Rohto Mentholatum, known for its Vitamin C Brightening Essence that can reduce dark spots and acne scars, has the answer to your woes. This brand uses a stable form of Vitamin C – L-ASCORBIC ACID – the purest and most powerful form of Vitamin C to give you brighter, smoother and even skin tone. 

Melano CC Essence has been the No. 1 whitening essence in Japan for 5 consecutive years and it has come up with a new Premium Brightening Essence that is formulated with 4 types of vitamin C, designed to fight stubborn dark spots, lighten stubborn pimple marks, acne scars, minimize pores, revive dull skin and rebalance skin tone for a visibly brighter and more radiant complexion. 

The brightening ingredients within Melano CC Premium Brightening Essence is able to penetrate deeply into the skin layers to fight stubborn dark spots and promote a healthy glowing skin using a high penetrating technology that ensures full absorption. The texture feels quite oily however it does not feel oily on the skin after absorption. And it absorbs quite fast after application. Does not feel sticky on my skin at all.

The Essence combines 4 types of Vitamin C – PURE Vit. C, Penetrating Vit. C, Oil Soluble Vit.C and Long Lasting Vit. C. to penetrate into the skin to actively fight stubborn dark spots, lighten stubborn pimple marks, lighten acne scars and improve uneven skin tone.

It also contains vitamin B6 that can help control excess oil production and minimise large pores as well as vitamin E that softens and hydrates the skin for glowing, radiant and healthy skin.

Other ingredients in the Essence include:

• Allantoin – soothes redness and calms irritated skin. It gently removes rough and dead skin cells to reveal smooth and radiant skin beneath, and boost skin moisture to keep it plump and youthful.

• Alpinia Seed Extract – a ginger extract that helps brighten and balance skin tone. 

• Grapefruit and lemon extract – has antioxidant properties that can rejuvenate dull skin and even out skin tone.

To ensure the efficacy of Vitamin C in providing the optimum skin brightening and pore care, the Melano CC premium essence is equipped with an Aluminium tube and special nozzle to prevent oxidation, keeping it fresh until the last drop.  

The Melano CC has a complete set of products to help hydrate and brighten your skin ranging from Lotion, Essence, Premium Essence and a Brightening Gel. For best results, follow these steps in your daily skincare regimen: 

Step 1: After cleansing, hydrate and brighten skin with Melano CC Vit C Brightening Lotion

This refreshing, citrus fragrance lotion that is infused with Vitamin C intensely hydrates and brightens skin for a radiant, evenly toned and healthy skin. It also helps prepare the skin for better absorption of the active ingredients contained in the subsequent skincare products.

Step 2: Use Melano CC Premium Brightening Essence as an additional treatment for skin

Apply all over the face and massage gently onto problem areas.  Alternatively, you can also use both essence and premium essence together by apply your daily Melano CC essence all over the face, followed by the Premium Essence on targeted areas, especially on stubborn dark spots & stubborn pimple mark area. 

Step 3: Complete your regimen with Melano CC Brightening Gel

Take sufficient amount of the gel and apply evenly on the face and neck. Gently massage to allow full absorption into skin. Thanks to its ample benefits, everybody can have spotless beautiful fair skin!  You can see my review HERE

Incorporate the Melano CC Vitamin C Premium Essence in your daily skincare routine for an instant boost of skin radiance today! The new Melano CC Premium Brightening Essence is priced at RM75 and available exclusively at Watsons starting July 2021.

Colour Correcting Lip Balm by Mentholatum

 Dry and cracked lips are never attractive, not to mention uncomfortable and sometimes even painful as well. You should make a point to take care of your lips by keeping them well-moisturised so that they stay soft and supple all day long. Especially now when we're mostly home under the Movement Control Order, we are always with air-conditioned environment which may result in dry cracked lips.

And just because you are hiding your face behind a mask each time you go out in public these days is not an excuse to neglect your lips. The latest lip balm by Mentholatum called Tone My Lip has colour correction properties and imparts a soft moisturising effect to the lips, enveloping them with a natural glow.

It comes in 4 variants and so beautifully gifted as a 'wheel of fortune' box in the PR kit <3

So colourful and beautifully packaged!

The triple action lip balm works to correct lip colour, moisturise lips with hydrating skincare ingredients and wrap lips with sheer colour thanks to its sheer wrapping formulation which comes with a light textured oil. All lip balms contain hydrating skincare ingredients such as Hydrolyzed Collagen and Hyaluronic Acid and nourishing vitamins A, C and E, and a sheer wrapping formulation that gives lips a fluffy 3D effect.

Contrary to other lip balms that focus largely on moisturizing the lip, the Tone My Lip balm is specially designed to tackle different lip problems. It is perfect for those who do not like wearing coloured lipsticks as Tone My Lip can deeply moisturise and colour corrects lips with a natural colour. Your pretty puckers will look healthy with a natural glow.

The four different variants are:

1. Blossom Pink (for Pale & Dull lips)

It works to brighten pale and dull lips by deeply moisturising and colour correcting lips with a natural colour to make your lips look healthy with a natural glow. It has a sheer pink colour to it for a slightly glossy look.

  2. Bright Up Red (for Dark & Dull lips)

It brightens dark and dull lips and perfect for those with tan-ner skin colour. It is slightly darker than the Blossom Pink but gives the same sheer glossy look.

Comparison of both the colours side by side:

3. Yellow Pink (for uneven lip) 

This lip balm balances and evens out lip colour with its tinted yellow colour. When used consistently over time, it will help turn lips slightly pink to even out the colour of your lips.

4. Green Clear (for lips with too much redness) 

If you suffer from lips redness, this works to neutralise lip redness colour. It also has Pure Pearl Nuance to neutralise redness and bring out the natural beauty of lips by imparting a pearly shine.

This is colourless and great even for the gentleman!

Whether you’re working from home or meeting someone casually outside, glide on the new Mentholatum Tone My Lip lip balm to keeps your lips moisturised and looking healthy.

Taking the trouble to look into your skin regimen means also paying extra attention to lip care and the way your mouth harmonises with the rest of your face so make sure you pick up a Tone My Lip lip balm today!

Mentholatum’s fragrance-free Tone My Lip lip balm retails at RM19.90 and will be available at all leading pharmacies and hypermarkets starting June 2021.

Gong cha launches first flagship store in Kuala Lumpur

Gong cha has officially launched their first-ever Flagship Store in Malaysia! Located on the second floor of The Gardens Mall, Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur, the newly refurbished outlet offers an exclusive menu as well as a premium bubble tea experience with designated seating areas.

With a sleek interior design featuring the brand’s signature red tone, the store aims to elevate customers’ bubble tea experience with a premium touch. 

The space is divided into a workstation fitted with plug points, while the other is a lounge area. This allows customers the versatility to either get some work done comfortably while sipping on their favourite beverage, or have a relaxed, catch-up session with friends, all while observing strict SOPs to offer peace of mind and curb the spread of Covid-19.

Apart from its usual drinks on the menu, the new Flagship Store will also be serving premium tea brews at an introductory price of RM10. For die-hard fans of the beverage brand, Gong cha merchandise such as Straw-Hiding Tumbler, Planner and Color Changing Cup will also be sold at the outlet. 

Some examples of merchandises from Gong cha.

Partnering exclusively with e-commerce platform Shopee and in conjunction with the ongoing Raya Bersama Shopee campaign, Gong cha is serving up a special drink for bubble tea lovers. Called the Raya Bersama Shopee x Gong cha drink, it features sweet and chewy strawberry flavoured heart-shaped pearls bathed in rich, luscious iced chocolate milk and topped off with Gong cha’s signature salty, creamy milk foam -  perfect for iftar, or as an after-meal dessert.

As this drink is a limited edition, Shopee exclusive drink that can only be bought from Food & Services Vouchers via the Deals, Top-ups & Bills in-app portal for RM13 from 16 April till 14 May 2021. It can then be redeemed at any Gong cha outlets nationwide. Do take note that these will be at half price on 18 Apr, 20 Apr, 23 Apr, 28 Apr, 1 May, 5 May, 12 May & 14 May! 

It's not too sweet yet chocolate milk is rich and the strawberry heart shaped pearls are unique from the normal boba we always drink so it's nice to chew on strawberry pearls for a change.

Yummy! Get yours too from Shopee!

Meanwhile, Gong cha fans who already have their go-to drinks should also check out the Deals Near Me in-app portal on the Shopee app for an amazing Gong Cha ShopeePay cashback voucher! At only 5 sen, ShopeePay users then enjoy a 40% cashback (capped at RM4) when they pay with ShopeePay at the outlet. What’s more, only on 18 April, Gong cha lovers can also purchase a Gong cha ShopeePay Voucher to enjoy an RM8 cashback when they spend RM20! 

In celebration of the new store, customers stand a chance to win exclusive vouchers and merchandise from Gong cha when they play ‘Spin The Wheel’ at the outlet. The game will be available every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 23 April till 16 May 2021. To participate, customers will have to purchase their drinks with ShopeePay. Any drink will earn them a chance while the Raya Bersama Shopee x Gong cha drink allows them two chances. 

Terms and conditions apply. From 23 April onwards, visit https://shopee.com.my/raya-bersama-shopee-gongcha for more information.