The Face Shop - Baby Face Hydrogel Mask

Baby Face Hydrogel Mask - Collagen, Hyaluronic, Platinum, 25g ($7.90)

This is my first try on rubbery-feel - Hydrogel mask. It is certainly not our usual cotton sheet masks that cost less than half the price here. 

I was skeptical, for it feels funny - the heavier mask piece was slippery and rubbery, dripped with rich and dense liquid essence! I worried if it ever gets absorbed after 20 mins? Or i'll be left with a wet sticky face! Ha. The trial was more than satisfactory. Read on.

Was glad to find the mask in 2 parts - one for the upper part of the face, and one for the lower. So i fitted the face with ease. After a 20 mins application, the strong sticky essence was fully absorbed into my skin! How do i know that? Because i have the habit of splashing wash my face after every mask application and those that doesn't work will left lots to be wash off! This one doesn't.

With some left-over essence in the packaging, i then applied them randomly over my arms, and you know what? This doesn't get absorbed! Maybe this is where the rubbery mask comes in.

Now. What is Hyaluronic Acid? (The ingredient used in the mask)

Hyaluronic acid is a naturally-occurring polysaccharide found in the human body, acting as a cushioning and lubrication agent for our joints, nerves, hair, skin and eyes.

It's particularly important to skin appearance because about 50 percent of the body's supply is in its skin tissues. And our ability to produce the acid declines with age! So that's one reason why skincare companies are promoting synthetically-derived hyaluronic acid products which they claim to help replenish our lost stores of it.

Well, as with all masks application, the skin soon forgets about the conditioning after a good 48 hrs. Time for a re-application - No fuss here. I like this gel mask that sticks to the face firmly and holds its liquid so well, i could sit up and watch TV or scroll the iPad.

Golden Pillow 933 - Luscious Curry in a Fluffy Loaf!

Scallops & Vermicelli with Special Sauce ($20+), Vegetarian Spring roll ($8+) x2, Fried Pumpkin with Salted Egg Yolk ($12+) 

For three consecutive days, i'm having curry. So if i still say the curry today from Golden Pillow 933 is nice, they should be quite good right? They are.

In fact, 933 is a well-known Singapore brand since the 1990s when Mr Tong started out with his 933 chain, made famous by its roast duck and herbal salted chicken. Then in 1997, he conceptualized the serving of curries baked completely inside a fluffy loaf which again, become a hit with diners. Take heart, we are enjoying an 18 years successful food idea today.

For the start, everybody opened the box and didn't know what to do with a beautifully baked bun. It's funny how we were so accustomed to neat dining. Then someone say, "Cut open the bread lah!"

This we did, and we had much fun and laughter, struggling with 8 deliciously whiffing boxes.

Golden Pillow Curry Chicken Bun ($14.80+) 

The Golden Pillows - Buns made from some finest pastry-quality wheat and butter is good enough to be eaten on its own!

The chicken curry pales in comparison to the recent one we had from Glory Catering. But the mutton curry is a must have where every drop was wiped clean! And fresh, meaty Batang fishes were used for their fish curry.

And yes, we heard right. Golden Pillow 933 is looking for a buyer to take over their recipe and business as the owner is getting on age. So you had better hurry down for a taste of this golden pillow before it's too late.

Golden Pillow Curry Mutton Bun ($17.80+)

Golden Pillow Curry Fish Bun ($14.80+)

Stamford Catering with Live BBQ Station

Stamford Catering does surprise me tonight. I was pleased to see our local caterers evolved, to include more devised choice of food and presentations. Having live cooking stations certainly add vibes to any events.

And it was affordable. The Ala Carte barbeque buffet: 11+1 courses was at $13.91 per pax (include GST). The chef cooked raw for us some seasoned chicken chop, devilled squid kebab, belacan sting ray, sambal prawn and sweet potatoes! Nevertheless, nothing beats getting fresh seafood from the market, and doing the BBQ ourselves.

Some guests were early, and there were cooked food of curry chicken with French loaf, Nonya mee siam goreng and garlic butter rice with seafood stick & chopped parsley. It was helpful too, that there was some finger food of Vietnamese spring roll complete with spicy peanut dip.

We chilled off with some nice honeydew sago dessert and Chrysanthemum tea. Then somebody brought on the booze! Cheers, to a good night sleep.

Squid Kebab

Seasoned Chicken Chop

Sambal Prawn in silver foil

Belacan Sting Ray in silver foil

Glory Catering - Get the Curries!

Glory Catering has just become my most recommended caterer!

At $13 per pax (inclusive of GST), i thought the spread of 8 courses were value for the money - food preparation was clean and fresh tasting. This is certainly one of my best curry chickens for the longest time! Were fresh chickens even used? Cos it tastes so good! And please order their Rendang too. We were getting all excited over Glory - for being a Chinese caterer who champion curries!

A separate order for their specialty dish - the Nonya Laksa is available at $4 per pax (min. order of 20 pax). Don't miss it!

Fish Otah, Beancurd Seafood Ball, Rendang Mutton, Sweet & Sour Fish

Curry Chicken, Tofu Mushroom

Fried Egg Noodle. DIY - Nonya Laksa Curry, with Bee Hoon and Bean sprouts.

Condiments for Nonya Laksa

The Nonya Laksa!

Yan Chuan Roaster, 炎全烧腊 - Takeaway Retail Outlet

This isn't a pretty sight. I am actually squeamish about cooked animals in their entire form, with the heads. We are so used to seeing them in neatly sliced portion; hoodwinking our consciences over animal slaughter.

For religious animal sacrifices in the Hungry Ghost Festival, there's no running away. Animal sacrifices have to be presented without cut, as a whole. The office sought out today's supply from Yan Chuan Roaster in Jurong West who is popular for its reasonable pricing and taste.

The best eat from the table today? I heard was the crackling roasted pork.

Roasted Chicken ($12), Roasted Duck ($16)

Roasted Pork ($20 per Kg)

Golden Piglet ($108)

Kaiserdom Hefe-Weissbier Naturtrüb

German Kaiserdom, 1L (Promotional price $14.90)

Weeks of overtime and burned weekends, the man is finally home this Sunday. Surely he deserves an ice-chilled beer, a whole litre of it. TV news and movie with chips, followed by an afternoon nap before work on Monday resumed.

The Kaiserdom (remember it's Naturtrüb) is bitterly yeasty, with a good hint of fruitiness. It's like being macho, yet ever gentlemanly. We like it. Need stock this up. The man's project has yet see light at the end of the tunnel.

Istimewa Nasi Padang!

Fried Chicken + Green Veg + Bean Sprouts ($5)

Istimewa at 28 Hoy Fatt Road has been out of reach for many of us. Because despite its fame, the stall remains sold out at 1:30pm and refuse to serve dinner. Today. Boss attending a meeting in the vicinity and ask if we wanted a takeaway!

There we have it! Their most popular item the Ayam Goreng (Fried Chicken) - lightly spiced fresh chicken that remains tender and juicy on the inside while the skin was crisp and thin like toasted seaweed! Not forgetting their nice and tender Beef Rendang! Colleagues were busy swapping our pieces around for taste sampling.

This is another lively lunch session in the office.

Beef Rendang + Cabbage + Lady Finger ($5)

Fried Chicken + Sotong Hitam + Tempeh Sambal + Sambal Goreng ($7.50)

496 Charcoal Grill - Roasted Meat & Wanton Noodle

Roast Meat & Char Siew ($20), Roast Duck ($20), Dumpling Soup ($3)

It was an impromptu lunch engagement, and all the guys decided on a feast of meat at Blk 492 Jurong West St 41 where there's a rather popular roast meat stall. I was craving for noodles.

This wasn't our first visit here. We like their crispy roast meat and sweet char siew, other items are rather mediocre. Still, it is your group of makan kakis that makes the lunch break a knock off with jokes and chatter.

Later, i quite regret my selection of noodle because roast does go along better with fragrant rice. Next time, i'll try to go along with this meat-loving group.

My Dumpling Noodle ($3)

Tonkichi (とん吉) Tonkatsu - Our best.

Hire & Rosu Katsu Set, deep fried Pork fillet and loin ($27.90++)

Chawanmushi ($6.90++, Add to set meal $4.50++)

Our best experience of Tonkatsu was at Tampopo where they serve juicy and flavorsome Black Pig, regrettably without freshly crushed sesame seeds.

Saboten and Tonkichi were the two others we tried - no black pig option, just your normal pork serving dipped into their traditional tonkatsu sauce with crushed sesame. We had thought Saboten was good enough, but until we do Tonkichi today.

The meat is simply juicier, than all our visits to Saboten. Even the lion portion which was deemed to be always drying, was wonderfully flavorsome. It even comes with a thin strip of fat that tastes oishii! We were pleasantly surprised to have found an alternative.

And we had the Deals promotion to thank for today - $15 for 1 set. It's a steal!

SG50 - Our Golden Jubilee!

We were filling up the seats... We kept our umbrellas... We raise our flag... Everybody roar! We are ready for the party of Singapore's 50th Jubilee Birthday! Yeah!! The nation is 50!

But sadness is close to our hearts, having lost our founding leader, Mr Lee Kuan Yew in recent March 23. In our cheers and laughters today, we remembered him. 

This NDP 2015 Parade and Ceremony (P&C) feature a total of 37 contingents on parade at the Padang, comprising four Guard of Honour contingents, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Colours Party, the Combined Band, five military and civil defence contingents, 10 uniformed group contingents, and 16 social and economic contingents (our largest volunteered participation from the private sectors, ever!).

Mobile Column Display: 179 Tanks, Marine craft, Combat Ambulances and other Defence Hardware.

The parade was our grandest.

Three aerial displays, including one of 20 F-16s flying in a "50" formation, with a "bomb burst" at the end, and an F-15 fighter jet doing a vertical climb over the Marina Bay area! Even the Singapore Airlines A380 came in for a wave. Our strong and expensive mobile column further accentuates the country's wealth and formidability. Then a rousing fireworks display that was on an unprecedented scale!

It awes us. Yes. But.

It is these united people who touches everyone viewing the mini parade. Overseas friends told us, "The scale of your celebration is nothing compared to bigger country. But it's amazing you people from all over the island, came dress in reds and whites just for the occasion, even those without tickets huddled out at public areas to celebrate!?" Yes. It speaks volume about the love and pride of Singaporeans for their tiny island, their barren motherland.

Night falls, we lighted up with twinkling chest pins, in reds and blues.

Contrary to previous years, we didn't have the national school choir singing patriotic songs this time. Yet we sang loudly. So loud, we could hear ourselves! It is electrifying. The spontaneous singing, standing ovation and cheers. The energy of all participants. We have never seen such lively Singaporeans on display!

Even TV home viewers have cited this as the Nation's most interesting parade so far. There was so much that everyone could relate to.

It is my guess that the people feel this is a special year for Singapore. As we celebrate the country's success of the past 50 years, we are looking forward to a renewed spirit to take us further. With the passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, we felt the responsibility on us, to love and cherish this country - the legacy of our beloved founding fathers.

Yes. The newly united people will take it up from here. Forever Singapore. I love you.