Cycling at East Coast Park

Last Friday, Gabriel and I went cycling at East Coast Park. There are many things to do at East Coast Park and i have blogged about it here: http://doriateo.blogspot.sg/2014/07/east-coast-park-memories.html

East Coast Park holds many wonderful memories for me. It's also the place where my relationship with Gabriel was finally official.

Along our way to East Coast Park, the weather was so good and we decided to take some photos.

We then headed to the rental shop to rent two bikes! It's my first time cycling after almost a decade and i'm very thankful that i have Gabriel to teach me how to cycle again! Thankfully, i managed to remember how to cycle quickly.

We took many photos along our cycling route. We cycled at about 5pm and the view was just gorgeous.

All these photos were taken at East Coast Park. It looks like a different place doesn't it?

The sun was starting to set and we just had to capture the beautiful sunset.

Psalm 19:1The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of His hands. 

Great Italian food at Etna

Back with a post on a place Gab and I recently visited. We went to Etna along Upper East Coast since Gab stays really near there. The service was impressive. We were created by a warm welcome the moment we reached there and shown to our seats. We reached there pretty early so it was relatively empty. It got crowded later on so i guess it's a good idea to reserve a place here.

The interior of the restaurant is lovely. It's really warm, quiet and private. The seats are so comfortable was well. Sadly, i was severely underdressed so i didn't take photos of myself in this place.

There's a black chalkboard listing some of the specials for the day. I almost got the angel hair seafood pasta but ultimately decided against it. It sounds good and i might get it the next time i'm here.

We had ordered a bottle of still water. This costs us about $6 i think? Hahaha. Gabriel wanted me to have a complete experience of the restaurant and he didn't want to just order plain water.

Like most italian restaurants, we were served with complimentary bread.

Ravioli di Ricotta e Spinach in Salsa di Pomodoro con Stracciatella ($24)

Wow! This has such a long name. I really enjoyed this dish, although it wasn't mind-blowing. It was a rather decent meal for the price. Each ravioli consisted of handmade ricotta cheese and spinach. I think there were about 8 ravioli in this dish and definitely good enough for one serving. The tomato sauce also consisted of stracciatella cheese. I thought that the sauce was so creamy and so rich in tomato.

Norcina Pizza ($28)

I really love this pizza! This was incredibly good! Its a pizza with Italian truffle paste. I love anything truffle. This did not use truffle oil but a truffle paste and the truffle taste was so strong! This was topped with mozzarella cheese, porcini mushrooms and homemade pork sausages. Just looking at the photo here and describing this pizza makes me want to get one to have right now. It is that good.

Moscato d' Asti ($13.50) and Passito ($16)

The Moscato (on the left) was a 2011 bottle while the Passito (on the right) was a 2009 bottle. I like the Moscato! It's a lot sweeter than the one at Lighthouse (See my review here: http://doriateo.blogspot.sg/2014/11/how-we-celebrated-our-first-anniversary.html). This tasted like sweet apples and apricots. The Passito was a little sweeter and heavier. It is fuller and richer. This tasted like plums with a taste of pear. 

At first, we were very amused by the great disparity in cup sizes and couldn't help laughing about it. But we realized that the serving sizes were just perfect in the end. The Passito was really rich and we just couldn't imagine having anymore of it.

I caught Gabriel in that blissful moment enjoying his wine. Heh.

We didn't order any dessert so they gave us some complimentary biscuits! How thoughtful. As i have mentioned, the service here was really great!

This meal costs us over $100 including the GST and service charge.

Etna Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria

110 Upper East Coast Road

Tel:  68846884

https://www.facebook.com/EtnaItalianRestaurantPizzeria

Review of theBalm NUDE 'tude Eyeshadow Palette

Recently i have been watching youtube makeup guru StyleSuzi (https://www.youtube.com/user/StyleSuzi) and figuring out how she does her makeup. I absolutely love her!

I actually took a picture of her looks that i really like and i'm hoping to replicate them! When i saw that she had theBalm NUDE 'tude Eyeshadow Palette, i knew i had to get it as well! I checked out SASA for their price only to realize that it costs a total damage of $57. There's too much to pay for one eyeshadow palette.

Thankfully, people online are selling it for half the price and i managed to get it only at $30 including shipping! I got mine from here:
http://list.qoo10.sg/item/THE-BALM-THE-BALM-NUDETUDE-NUDE-EYESHADOW/415392934

I'm very satisfied with my buy. The quality of the eyeshadow is there, just that the packaging inside is a little dirty. The mirror isn't too clean but i guess i can make do with that!

You get what i mean when i say the mirror isn't too clean...

The colours are perfect though. It isn't extremely pigmented so it's very easy for me to control how much product to put on my eye.

Some close up shots of how my make up looks under indoor lighting.

 Okay, the quality of pictures here isn't too good as i was using my front camera. Here's how my makeup looks under outdoor lighting.

I really love this eyeshadow palette. It's so versatile and nothing loud. I've been wearing it on a daily basis! I hope you enjoyed this post. I'll be back for more blogging soon!

A bit of Vietnam

Lately i have been trying out some vietnamese food because i'm under the impression that Vietnamese food seems a lot healthier?

I've tried out two places– Crystal Jade Viet Cafe and Sandwich Saigon. Can i just say that they are two completely different restaurants? The quality of food is also really different. I didn't like the Crystal Jade Viet Cafe at all and they should probably stick to Chinese food. Sandwich Saigon however was a really nice place to have Vietnamese food. They really live up to their name. I enjoyed their sandwiches so much.

So anyway, Gab and I headed to the Crystal Jade Viet Cafe at Bugis+. We decided to try this new place we saw for dinner since we were waiting for The Hunger Games to start. Unfortunately, this place really disappointed us. It did not taste like Vietnamese food. 

To be honest, the only saving grace of this restaurant was its really nice interior.

Vietnamese Vermicelli with Fried Fish Cake ($8.90)

This came with sauces which you could mix with the noodles as the noodles isn't seasoned. But even though i had mixed the sauces in, it still tasted bland. The sauce didn't look too healthy too. It was just oil? The fish cake was too fishy of my liking. This was served cold too. I definitely did not enjoy this dish at all.

Chicken Pho ($8.90)

Gab had ordered this and the soup was bland. I couldn't really taste the chicken broth. We couldn't really taste the chicken broth. The pho was not of good quality was well. It had a very rough texture compared to some of the phos we've tried before. I was thinking that Crystal Jade would actually serve something of better quality and we were both very disappointed with our meals.

Well, but this didn't stop us from trying Vietnamese food. We actually walked past Sandwich Saigon, which to our surprise was really crowded! We thought that the food must have been pretty good so we decided to head inside to try it out. The food was really great and we've been making trips back to this place for their very awesome sandwiches!

Menu

Fresh Spring Rolls with Prawns ($5.50)

We were in high hopes when we ordered this but it didn't meet our expectations. Sadly, although the sandwiches were perfect this didn't taste as good. The prawns were halved and there were only three of those halved prawns for one roll. Also, there's absolutely zero dressing in this and this was filled with vermicelli. Certainly not what we were expecting as we didn't want additional carbs to our meal.

Smoked Chicken Sandwich ($5.90)

This costs us only $5.90 with no GST and service charge! Yay! I really enjoyed this because the bread was so crispy and there was so little mayo but it still tasted really good? I liked how they added the Chinese parsley. It gave the whole sandwich such a refreshing taste.

Garlic Chicken Sandwich ($5.90)

This was even better than the Smoked Chicken Sandwich! I like how they seasoned the chicken in a really sweet sauce. There wasn't so strong a garlic taste. If i were to go back, this would definitely be on my order list!

In generally, i really enjoy Vietnamese food because it's really healthy. I'll definitely be on the look out for more Vietnamese restaurants in future! 

Crystal Jade Viet Cafe

201 Victoria Street

#04-05 Bugis+

Tel: 65099698

Sandwich Saigon (Closed every Monday)

93 East Coast Road

Tel: 63453849

https://www.facebook.com/SandwichSaigon

Food updates! More Sushi Tei and more Food For Thought

I remember mentioning that Sushi Tei was one of my favourite places to go. It so near school so i always head to the Raffles City outlet after classes. I have blogged about my experience at Sushi Tei at the Big Splash outlet. You can view that blog post here: http://doriateo.blogspot.sg/2014/11/sunday-at-sushi-tei.html 

We tried new dishes this time. I thought they were all equally fantastic and Sushi Tei really never fails!

Hokkaido Corn Cream Croquette ($8.60)

When this first came i was so impressed! It looks so presentable and even came with a sauce which we could dip the croquettes in. Although i'm not a fan of croquettes and not a fan of corn, i really enjoyed this dish. It was deep fried to perfection on the outside.

The inside revealed a very piping hot sweet cream with corn bits. I almost burned my tongue because it was so piping hot inside. The only drawback about this dish is its calories. Sigh. Deep fried and cream is such a diet killer.

Kani Mentai Mayo Roll ($8.60)

This is one of the sushis we usually order as well. I really like the mayo sauce on it. It's too good because they torch it over a flame and there is this smoky flavour to it. Inside the sushi is deep fried crab meat. So perfect. And such a good substitute for shiok maki because of its mayo sauce.

Yaki Udon ($10.80)

I'm a fan of Yaki Udon or Yaki Soba and i just thought that i had to try this. I've tried a lot of different kinds of Yaki Udon but i thought this didn't meet my expectations. Definitely not getting this again, it was such a disappointment. It was too sour for my liking; they had probably used too much of the tonkatsu sauce. I've tried better.

Sushi Tei
Raffles City Shopping Centre
252 North Bridge Road #03-13/14
Tel: 63347887

During the exam period, i've also been heading to Food For Thought. I've blogged about the outlet at Queen Street and you can read my blog post here: http://doriateo.blogspot.sg/2014/11/food-for-thought-queen-street.html

This time i headed to the outlet at National Museum instead of the one at Queen Street. It's closer to my school and SMU students get a 20% discount off from Mondays to Fridays. To relieve stress, i've been heading to Food For Thought in hopes that i could feel better after a good meal. Hahaha. I think food really affects my mood and good food makes me happy, of course!

Full Works ($22)

 I ordered their Full Works this time and i'm always so pleased with it. The hash browns are my favourite. It's unhealthy but so worth the calories. I suppose it's the same with bacon. The scrambled eggs are perfect. It's so fluffy and Food For Thought certainly got their consistency right. The bread is toasted but not crunchy. The edges are but the white bread is so soft. Probably my favourite part of this meal. It's good that this meal came with salad too. But to be honest, this dish is definitely still unhealthy, which explains why sometimes i have a love-hate relationship with Full Works– It's such a good breakfast, but such an unhealthy one. I hope i'm not stopping you from ordering this though, it certainly is worth the calories!

Also, the ambience of this place deserves 5 stars. It's quiet. In the morning, there are a lot of people having a cup of coffee and reading their books. It's cool as well as this place is air conditioned (unlike the one at Queen Street!). You can also hold events here as well. It's a very secluded and quiet place and they'll probably draw the foldable doors so that your event can be a more private one.

Food For Thought
National Museum Singapore
93 Stamford Road #01-04/05
Tel: 63389887

I'm a fan of Supply & Demand!

I spent my monday night with Gabriel checking out Supply & Demand. I've always wanted to dine here but never got the chance to visit this place during the school term. Since we were in the area, we finally decided to look up this place and give this place a shot!

It didn't disappoint and the food was fantastic– both for its taste and for its price.

I love the interior of the place. It had a very rustic feel to it and it was really homely. The orange lights were pretty dim as well and it was quite quiet. It's a really nice and relaxed setting to have a date.

They have this really long counter where they do some preparations of our meals.

Even their menu had such a rustic feel to it. It's so old school!

Pollo E Piselli

I had ordered this pasta dish and i was extremely impressed by this! I think this is very value for money considering that such good pasta dishes usually cost above $20? This only costs me $18! You can choose either spaghetti or penne pasta for this. I love how the penne pasta was al dente. The cream sauce that came with it was so so good. The menu describes it to be a cheese infused cream sauce and i found that the cheese was not overpowering at all. It was just right. I could also taste some blue cheese in it as well.

There were green peas in the pasta as well. Although i found this slightly odd, i thought it was an interesting twist. Don't worry, the peas aren't the frozen peas you normally get off the supermarket. The pasta came with sundried tomatoes and parsley as well which i thought was a good fit to the dish. I really enjoyed this so much and would definitely recommend you to get it if you really enjoy creamy sauces.

Roasted Chicken

This costs us $17. Compared to other places serving similar dishes this was definitely worth the price. You can find this under the "Carte Blanche" section of the menu. You can order any meat you want– fish, chicken, beef, pork, lamb, wagyu. The chef will prepare the meat according to however he wants to for the day. So if you order this, just a word of caution, you might not get the exact same dish shown in the picture above.

Gab was brave enough to order this even though we didn't know what we would end up getting. It turned out really great anyway! The salad was so well marinated in the dressing. It was a sweet dressing with a tangy tinge to it; nothing like what i've tasted before. This dish also came with potato salad (which is hidden in the photo above). The potato salad was average, pretty much like the one at Ashtons. The chicken was grilled and seasoned in a sweet sauce. Even though it was grilled, it was not dry at all! The chicken was also topped with olives, french beans and bell peppers. I thought this was a perfect mix.

I'll be ending this post with two photos of us just so you could have a look at the surroundings of where we were sitting and gain a perspective of the general ambience of this cafe. It's really laid back and chill. It really reminds me quite a lot of The Coastal Settlement at Changi. If you're looking for fanciful tables and chairs, you can't expect much from this place though; We sat on really plain looking metal chairs.

This place however is fantastic for get togethers or casual dining. If you're looking for good food around the area, this place is definitely recommended as well!

Supply & Demand (Near ThaiExpress)
#01-13 Esplanade, Colours by the Bay
8 Raffles Avenue
Tel: 63360588
https://www.facebook.com/supplydemandsin 

View my updated post at: http://doriateo.blogspot.sg/2015/01/christmas-day.html

Mucota treatment at Focus Hairdressing

VIEW MY UPDATED POST HERE: http://doriateo.blogspot.sg/2016/06/mucota-hair-treatment-by-headlines-by.html

I'm always on the look out for natural soft rebonding. Although my hair is naturally straight, it's very very frizzy and it always ends up in tangles. 

Just one year ago, i did my rebonding at Twister (under Monsoon Group) at Tampines One. I opted for their bodily straight treatment. It costs me a total damage of about $270 (including cut and wash)! I think it's very pricy for the length of hair i had during that time. The stylist told me that i had long hair? I mean… my hair looks more like a medium length… 

Bodily Straight at Twister

Even though i paid such a hefty price for it, the effects turned out really nice. My hair wasn't flat at all and there was still volume, considering that my hair was already quite flat. However, the effects were not lasting, after about 6 months later my hair started to become very frizzy and my ends were horribly dry.

The interior of Twister at Tampines 1

I sat here for about 4-5 hours. It was quite empty though because i was there during off-peak hours. The price for their bodily straight was really not value for money at all.

Fast forward 1 year, my hair was getting increasingly frizzy again. I had so many knots each time i washed my hair and every time i combed my hair, i was getting quite a bit of hair fall.

I wanted to try the Keratin treatments. IHowever, i've always been daunted by the fact that it contains formaldehyde (which is linked to causing cancer). I also considered Cosme rebonding at Shunji Matsuo, but i wasn't ready to fork out $280 for it! What's more it was only going to last for 6 months.

After much researching, i came across Mucota treatments. It's a Japanese brand and i thought this was great because it would definitely suit my Asian hair. Mucota treatment uses argan oil to treat your hair and make it straight. Mucota treatment at some salons costs $300 and above but i managed to find a salon which is definitely very value for money!

I  decided to head to Focus Hairdressing for my Mucota treatment. Focus Hairdressing uses Mucota products. It's at a very convenient location near Somerset MRT!

There are two types of Mucota treatment. Mucota Opera (which is more like rebonding) and Mucota Dyna. I opted for Mucota Opera. For Mucota Opera+treatment+cut, it only costs me $170, for my long hair. It took me a total of only 3 hours for the full process!

Credits to http://www.primegrp.asia/mucota/mucota-opera.html

From the website, it says that the Mucota Opera (which is what i did) offers:

• No strong chemical odour
• Improves hair texture
• Short period and limit damage

There are different types of Mucota Opera treatments (SNB Opera N, H, SH, or C) meant for different hair textures and the stylist will ask you a range of questions before deciding on what is suitable for you.

You can see that the final effect is very natural, soft and straight. I no longer need to worry about my frizzy hair or that my hair will become tangled each time i wash it.

You can also opt for a slightly pricey treatment. It is the Mucota Dyna treatment. The effect is just like soft rebonding and it'll last for 6 months. When i asked the stylist at Focus hairdressing, she told me they are charging $250, which is definitely less than what other places are offering. Mucota Dyna has a higher composition of Argan oil treatment product in it compared to Mucota Opera.

Credits to http://www.primegrp.asia/mucota/mucota-dyna.html

That really sums up my experience at Focus Hairdressing! They also informed me that i could colour hair for $130 (for long hair)! What's more, their products are ammonia free! I'm definitely coming back here again for any of their chemical treatments.

Focus Hairdressing
Cuppage Plaza
5 Koek Road
Singapore 228796
Tel: 68366608

https://www.facebook.com/FocusHairdressing