Hey Hey! Hope everyone's week has been going awesome! I finally got a day off and decided to well trim my nails and give em a loving coat of polish. Please excuse the uglily shaped nails, I was negligent and got a little bit lazy. I regret though because nowm they are completely driving me crazy and every crooked line is screaming to me in my face -_- Shall make a mental note to do a better job filling them down.

Here's what I went with. Nothing complicated.

Essie Nice is Nice (French affair collection 2011) and Zoya Caitlin as accent colour (see swatch here), Essie Kisses and bises top coat (French affair collection 2011)

Didn't feel like doing anything fancy with my nails so I ended up with this look. I'm really into the whole accent nail thing. Think it helps to change up the look at little and break up the monotony. Sometimes though I appreciate a nice classic mani. Perhaps my next post would be a uniform chic one? OMG I just put this on and here I am think about my next design already LOL!. Anyways I can bet with you that my sister is going to tell me that my colour combination is weird. Thankfully I think the top coat kinda made them look more similar to each other.

So far, I've been really loving Nice is Nice. It's a sweet pinkish lilac creme. On it's on it looks quite demure and sweet =) Somehow I feel as if the pink tones in this polish warms up the colour nicely =) With kisses and bises on nice is nice takes on a much cooler look albeit pretty subued with more of its purple tones peeking through. Looking at the effect that kisses and bises left, I can't help thinking about a candle lit effect. In person the pink shimmers are less distinct and give off more of a flash of pink when it catches the light right. Definitely more obvious and mesmerising in person. Although I must say that interestingly, this effect is most evident under dimmer lights, in the direct sunlight it's just shimmers brightly.

This time round the application this collection was way way better than previous essie polishes. A lot less streaky and less runny too! Thumbs up for that!

Note that kisses and bisses is not a transparent base containing pink, purple and after some scrutinisation perhaps gold shimmers. It has more of a sheer opalescent finish to it. You can tell because it changes zoya's caitlin into another colour instead of retaining it's original cornflower blue. The more I talk about kisses and bises the more intrigued I am. I have been looking at my nails countless of times now. Mysterious.

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Hey Hey. Not too long ago... perhaps slightly more than a week ago I tweeted that I was going overseas on a little R&R trip, so here's some pics that I took back with me.

We stayed at the Bintan Lagoon. Nice place! I had a really great time basking in the sun, albiet pretty short lived and well chilling with my friends. It was a great catch up esp since everyone couldn't use that smartphones AKA ASD (anti social devices) which really gets on my nerves. It really piques me when someone uses the phone continuously over dinner. I mean come one, seriously, could you look away for one moment and engage in some form of REAL conversation? I guess not LOL! Ok, 1 major complaint about Bintan is that it's a freaking tourist trap (TT) seriously. Food's expensive, water sport's expensive. EVERYTHING IS EXPENSIVE. Owing to the fact that we are all stuck on an island with virtually no where to go, I guess it explains the crazily inflated prices. Other than that, the island is pretty relaxing, away from concrete jungles and into beautiful seasides.

FYI, bintan prefers SGD to rupiah.

Severely overpriced Mee Goreng that wasn't too great. This was a resident of the hotel's cafeteria menu. Blah...

Dinner on the other hand was simply delicious. Also EX but at least DELICIOUS. We headed out to the kelong restaurant. COST US 40SGD for 7 people just to get to and from the hotel... omg... The kelong was a 20min drive from the hotel. Btw, there are HARDLY any street signs/street lamps along the roads of Bintan. If you ever get lost there, I think there is a chance of death. Seriously. QUITE SCARY AT NIGHT

Calamari.

Awesome stuff! But I have to say that the calamari I had at Modesto's was way more tender for almost the same price. Not to mention that the portion at Modesto's was BIGGER. >.< (more about it in the posts to come)

Baby Kai Lan.

Really delectable. VEGGIES?! Yes, VEGGIES. The sauce that came with it was refreshing and light. Completely complimented the perfectly cooked veg. Also, the light hint of garlic just made the dish that much more fragrant =) LIKE! One of the best kai lans I have had. We polished off the LARGE portion

Stir fried beef.

Nice and tender with a great black pepper base. Yummy. This was the 1st to go, as with almost all forms of beef dishes

Sambal stone crab.

Seeing that this is Indonesia, the spice level of the crab kinda disappointed me. It was just borderline spicy, too mild for my expectations >.< The crab was good nonetheless. The shell was soft enough to be cracked by teeth. Love!

Butter prawns which my friends mistaked by cereal prawns. 
This was kinda mediocre. Prawns weren't the freshest. On the other hand though, the crust that lined the prawn shells was addictive and absolutely tasty! I actually haven't come across a place that makes the perfect ceral/butter prawns. Still searching although I kinda give up since my family has stopped ordering this dish due to countless of disappointments.

Salted egg stone crab

This was the star of the show. Perfect salted egg base paired with fresh crab with the perfect shell breaking point. It was unanimous. Everyone loved this so so much. My friends almost fought for the last piece. GREAT STUFF. Order this if you ever visit the Kelong Restaurant.

(not actually the glamest photo but just to show you that it's really a kelong! That pic is actually a side component of the restaurant, I think it's supposedly more atas there? Not too sure but you have to walk quite a distance to get there)

The Kelong Restaurant
Nirwana Gardens, Jalan Panglima Pantar
Lagoi 29155, Bintan Resort
Tel: (62) 770 692 789
Opening Hours: Daily 11:00 – 22:30

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Here's the highlight of my trip. I am a nature retard... seriously, till this day and age until like 1 week or so ago, I have NEVER seen a sunrise. EVER. Wow, haha where did my childhood go? Spent it sleeping cosily in my bed snoozing till midday.

Without further ado... presenting... THE SUNRISE @ BINTAN

Here's how the sky looked when we arrived at the beach at ~ 5.45am. We were greeted with a misty dawn and crab tracks on the sand.

The tide went down really low during the night but we managed to catch the the tide rising all after awhile of soaking up the morning sun. The picture on the left is a little tide pool that was left behind when the tide receeded. Friends caught a few of the smallest cutest fish in there and even mistakenly caught a small lil crab that frantically succried away as soon as it could.

\

See how misty it was in the early morn!

Here's the 3 degree restaurant and bar that overlooks the sea. =) Pretty but too dark in the night.

This is my fave of the lot although it looks like a sunset. By this time, the sun was pretty much searing our eyeballs already >.<

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Today's post is about DESSERTS~ My favourite part of any meal! =) I always believe that somewhere, deep down inside, everyone has a separate stomach for dessert. Don't you agree?

Penut ice kachang recommended by an aquaintance of mine

What in in the world? Who would ever think about such a combination?! Well somewhere in the heartlands of Yishun, just off the "coasts" of Khoo Teck Puat hospital - sorry, this was the most obvious landmark I could quote (side facing away from the MRT station, towards the HDB flats) lies this humble little dessert store that weirdly also sells popiah.

FYI: This store is beside a LAKSA store which sells pretty good laksa (it's famous BTW - I failed to take a photo of the laska though sadly) and on the other side (separately by a walkway) lies an awesome tasting yong tau foo store (also featured before). At this very moment I feel like I should be googling the exactly of whatever I'm talking about. HA! So I shall. *googles*

MUHAHAHAH I HAVE FOUND IT. Here's the post about the famous laska stall! The Dessert stall is the closed one beside it HAHA!

Ok back to the point.  There's always a queue for the desserts sold here. They of course don't just sell peanut ice kachang but it's one of the most interesting combi I have seen so far. HAha! The first mouthful is a little weird because you're excepting a syrupy taste but instead, a wave of peanut butter-esque taste hits you. It's strangely quaint which then makes you wanna try more of it so you just keep eating it to settle your curiosity then it starts to become quite delectable haha! Not the everyday ice kachang. Those who are up for out of the norm foods should try this out! I can't say that I LOVE this but I don't hate it either, it's just really interesting

Just one more thing, their normal desserts are also quite good! I like the normal tasting ice kachang too! It's good, doesn't particularly stand out from any other ice kachang but it's good nonetheless - doesn't taste cloyingly syrupy (if that makes any sense) xD

Iced Rambutan

Ok, I have to admit that I ordered this because of it's name. I love rambutans - the fruit but I've never had a rambutan drink before?! Which I likened at that time to be extremely heaty but ordered it despite having that in mind. The exact description of this drink really escapes me but I do however, recall that it has hints of pineapple in it.

This drink unfortunately, proved to be UTTERLY DISAPPOINTING. There I was, naively hoping that this drink would actually taste like rambutan when the fruit is actually puny, who's juice is probably immensely tedious to extract. What was I thinking really?

Ok firstly, this drink comes pink.... er... the flesh of rambutan is like white? Adding colouring to the drink just to make it attractive doesn't hide the fact that it ALMOST completely doesn't taste like it's name.
Secondly, this drink taste more like diluted pineapple juice than rambutan juice but I give it to them that I am thankfully able to pick up some rambutan taste (hence the ALMOST in the first point). My friend too was quite disappointed at this, she tried mine and then never wanted a second mouthful haha! She also said that it doesn't taste very much like rambutan
Thirldly, ok this may be bordering prejudice but there's too much ice/ water. Drink tastes too bland to be addictive. It's just palatable I would say. In other words. O...k.... but NOT WORTH $6 BUCKS.

Why did this drink cost 6bucks you say? Reason's simple, it came from The Coffee Connoissuer (TCC). Do not order this. Really. Spend your money on something better. My friends mentioned that the ice peach tea float or something remotely similar is not bad and the other drink containing baileys is not bad too (although it costs like a whooping $10 for a just shy of modest cup relatively)

Bottom line: To those who are looking to try something "outlandish", peculiar or just out of the norm to satisfy your bored palate can should the peanut ice kachang but seriously, dont' go for the poor excuse of a rambutan drink, it's a facade I tell you

Hey Hey! All about nails today =) Before I go on, just wanna wish my dear sister A HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY =)

Recently, I've been invited to my friend's 21st party which was a blast btw and had to show up in a retro themed outfit. Naturally polkda dot is the way to go haha. Easy, simple and fuss free. While I was putting my outfit together, it struck me to also incorporate it into my nails and thus the design was borned!

Base: Sally hansen base coat (in other words, my natural nail colour)
Tips: China glaze pink voltage (neon)
Dots: Etude house WH702

Here's what I came up with =) Neon tips muted with white polka dots. These nails caught some serious attention. Really proud of them! They turned out a lot better than I had imagined! Please excuse the accidental hand jerk that led to the almost disaster on my pinky where the dots almost blended together. Thankfully they are still pretty distinct.

China glaze's high voltage neon is a retina searing hot neon pink colour that can catch you eye miles away! I'm not kidding! It's full on neon which makes me think that the name high voltage crazily apt, gotta see it in person to believe it. What's interesting is that it's no ordinary pink, it contains blue micro shimmer in it that makes me visualise a lightning bolt for some reason. Probably because of the name >.< Hence at certain angles you can see it flash hints of blue while sometimes it make certain parts of the nail that catches the light right a ligher pink or almost purple. I am extremely intrigued by this property.

Consistency wise, I won't say it's the best. It's quite thick and potentially streaky. I'm thinking it's because it's a neon colour. Come to think of it, it seems to dry to a finish similar to that of a crackle polish, in particular the black shatter. Also it dries matte!

Here's how the nails look in the sun. You can see the parts that flash sligtly bluer than the others. If you look carefully it enough, you can see it in the other pictures as well.

On a side note, I really like how the base coat turned out on the nails. I wasn't thinking that it was going to do anything but somehow I feel that it made my nails look more even and perhaps slightly pinker? Maybe it;s because of the shine it imparts. I shall keep it in mind that base coats can double up for a natural looking base colour! Cool

Another pic in the sun. Please ignore the random holes and damages here and there, esp on the white polka dots, I once again knocked my nails around really bad. Didn't decide to put a top coat this time because there was only the tip to cover. Figured that it'll be a waste so I skipped it all together. Now I'm wondering if the topcoat would make the pink even brighter. HMS

What better way to enjoy a lazy afternoon then to have a nice heartwarming cup of coffee.

I am a really strange person, or at least my metabolism is really strange. Coffee doesn't seem to have a strong effect on me? Why do I say that? I am able to fall right asleep despite having a cup of coffee a couple hours before. I am extremely thankful for that =) That being said, BRING ON THE COFFEE!

Hazelnutt latte.

I am a complete sucker for hazelnuts. Hazelnuts, hazelnut cream, hazelnut coffee. hazel nut chocolate etc etc, so this is no exception! I first tried this drink cold. I still remember sipping into it! It was a really pleasant experience because I was addicted to it on the first sip. It was crazy! Not to mention, I shared it with a friend which only served to augment that addiction. Haha! by the last few mouthfuls, we were fighting for the drink! LOL! I kid you not. My friend almost wanted to go buy ANOTHER cup cause I stupidly ordered the smallest portion when it was another 50 cents more for the next upgrade. Kudos to not paying attention to the sign board.

As I grew older~ (LOL just added this for effect, I didn't actually grow much in between) Rather, my palate changed recently, and I've started to appreciate the beauty of hot beverages because I find that coffee/tea is more fragrant when served HOT. (my warped theory about hot beverages)

ATTENTION: Btw the buy 1 beverage get a glazy donut for free offer is no longer. I'm utterly heart broken because J co's glazy donut is SO so nice! Plus their donuts are among the fluffiest! =(( Oh well! SO much for cheap deals =(

Complete the day with Canele's awesome macaroons. Of course they are nothing compared to that of La Duree (french macarron patisserie that makes the BESTEST, CREAMIEST, SOFTEST macaroons in the world) but still, the ones at canele's are definitely worth mentioning. ESP love the Rose flavour and the salted caramel which happen to also be among the 2 most popular flavours! These babies burned a huge hole in my wallet but they flavour is definitely worth a not so occasional splurge! Mind you though, they are a teeny weeny ok maybe more than a teeny weeny but too sweet. I don't recommend eating more than 1 a day + if you can, please share it for sheer fear of sugar intoxication. I exaggerate but still, mind the sweetness.

Also, just so you guys know, eating too much sugar does not CAUSE diabetes but it may lead to other risk factors for diabetes such as putting on weight, obesity, high cholesterol etc etc yeah. As they say, moderation... moderation >.<

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