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Local jewelry designer Carmen Chan launches her third collection, “J’aime. Moi” meaning “I Love. Me”, co-designed with fellow fashion blogger Valerie Soh.

The concept is that at the back of loving the world, you need to love yourself first. All rings are handcrafted so each is one of a kind. Ten percent of online sales revenue of this series will be donated to The Saint Jude’s Children Research Hospital on behalf of Valerie Soh, to help the children to build a better future with health and love.

J’aime Moi in Sterling Silver, HK$980

J’aime Moi in 18K Gold Plated Sterling Silver, HK$1180

J’aime Moi in Rose Gold Plated Sterling Silver, HK$1380

Valerie & Carmen, the two ladies behind the collection

Check out more details of the collection on CarmenChanJewelry.com!

Carmen Chan Jewelry is now also available at first stockist store in Daydream Nation at K11 Mall, Tsim Sha Tsui.

More →]]> British handbag designer Anya Hindmarch celebrated her 20th Anniversay in Hong Kong with a cocktail reception and launch of the Bespoke collection, with Hong Kong being the first location outside of London to carry the Bespoke Collection. Can’t believe it has already been 20 years since Anya opened her first shop in Hong Kong at a mere age of 24!

With a steady group of niche fans, Anya Hindmarch is known to most for her personalized photo print bags. But for Hong Kong-ers, her real shot to fame was the launch of the “I’m Not A Plastic Bag” in 2007, which was probably the first time we saw overnight queues for fashion items (remember those days before the “queue gangs”?)

The Bespoke Collection takes personalization to the next level with fine leathers, attractive colors, and most importantly a wide range of products available for customization.

Each personalized order comes with a card with printed with the customer’s name. Everything from ladies’ jewellery box to leather stationery for the gents can be customized.

Anya specially flew in her craftsman specializing in hot stamping for the launch

With beautiful actress/songstress Miriam Yeung

So happy to meet the designer herself!

More →]]> Salted Egg Crab

Part 3 of my Singapore Travel Diary of my most recent trip to SG is all about FOOD! I’ve had some very authentic local food that you’d never find in Hong Kong, definitely worth checking out if you’re heading there soon!

First up is an awesome crab restaurant. It’s my first time there and it’s definitely not an easy spot to locate if you’re a tourist. Signature dishes include Salted Egg Crab, which isn’t that common in all seafood restaurants, and the best-known Singaporean dish, Chilli Crab (although I felt that the Salted Egg Crab is better than Chilli Crab at this place).

Chilli Crab

Malacca Grass Jelly

Being a crab restaurant, it’s a given that they’ll end up with numerous crab shells each day. Why put them to waste if you could hang them all on the wall, and even better let your customers write awesome words or wishes on them? These fancy crab shells are hanging all over the store (this is only a small portion), and I found this to be the most amusing thing in the restaurant!

Big Eater Restaurant (大家食海鮮）
34 Jalan Pari Burong
Singapore 488700
Tel: (65) 6245 7268
http://bigeater.leiron.be

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Next place…I wish I had a pic of the store front but I was too busy queuing up to buy the ticket and then queuing up to get my dish…is Penang Char Koay Teow (fried rice noodles)! This was from the Malaysian Food Street that’s in Resort World, Sentosa where I went for lunch when I visited Universal Studios Singapore. The Malaysian Food Street is located right outside the theme park and has affordable & (surprisingly) authentic food! A great alternative to the pricey theme park food (unless you’re a fan of churros & turkey leg)!

Can you imagine that this stall only sells one item, and the line to pay is insanely long, not to mention the second line to pick up your dish?

Penang Lim Brothers’ Char Koay Teow
Malaysian Food Street
Resort World, Sentosa
(Main entrance of Universal Studios Singapore)
Closed on Wednesdays
http://www.rwsentosa.com

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One of the more traditional meals I had was Peranakan food. Peranakan refers to Malaysian-Chinese descendants, where Nyonya refers to the ladies and Baba refers to the men. I feel that the major difference between Pernakan food and the more common Singaporean food are the ingredients used. Same dish, different taste!

Ngoh Hiang – similar to spring rolls with meat wrapped in bean curd skin

Chicken Buah Keluak – cooked with the special “Keluak” fruit which results in the dark color. The fruit looks clam-shaped and is similar to a chestnut, plastic spoons are provided to dig out the fruit from its shell.

Sambal Lady Fingers – don’t really get to eat this type of veggie very often!

Durian Chendol – A twist on one of Singapore’s favourite desserts!

Peramakan
171 East Coast Road #01-02/03
Santa Grand Hotel East Coast
Singapore 428877
Tel: (65) 6346 4202 / (65) 6346 4203
http://www.peramakan.com

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Lastly, taking a turn from all the traditional stuff, we have Psy-endorsed healthy Korean food. It’s nice to have a light stone pot meal after all the heavy traditional food.

Bulgogi Beef Stone Pot – the right portion of meat & rice for the ladies

Seafood pancake – lettuce is a great alternative to starch for the pancake!

And of course, you get to eat with Psy during the meal

Bibigo Hot Stone
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-74 Raffles City Shopping Center
Singapore 179103
Tel: (65) 6336 4745
http://www.bibigo.com

More →]]> 1. Angelina Jolie shocks the world by announcing her double mastectomy for preventing breast cancer. [Hollywood Life]
2. Cannes Film Festival kicks off with the red carpet premiere of The Bling Bling & The Great Gatsby. [Vogue]
3. Rihanna walking through her summer collection for River Island. [Youtube]
4. JW Anderson for Versus collection is unveiled. [Fashionologie]
5. Nicole Kidman announced as Jimmy Choo’s new face for AW13, campaign shot by Mikael Jansson. [Just Jared]

More →]]> More on my Singapore Trip as promised! Other than heading to Universal Studios Singapore, one of the other tourist spot that I visited was Gardens by the Bay. 

The area is made up of public outdoor garden and 2 large conservatories, a.k.a the “Domes”, with paid admission. The two domes are Cloud Forest, a mysterious tropical jungle with the world’s largest indoor waterfall, and the Flower Dome, with colorful blossoms from Mediterranean regions.

Don’t stand too close to the world’s largest indoor waterfall if you don’t wanna get wet!

I was lucky that Tulipmania was going on in the Flower Dome during my visit (it’s still currently going on from now until May 20th, 2013). With over 20,000 tulips flown in directly from Netherlands, the sea of bright and colorful tulips was an absolutely stunning and rare scene in Asia.

Supertree Grove is made up of uniquely designed trees standing at 16 storeys tall, located in the public outdoor gardens. Overlooking the Marina Bay Area and Sands hotel, it’s a nice place to chill on the weekend, or even have a picnic with your friends! (Picnic baskets are available for rent/sale at Cafe Crema near the entrance)

 The dining experience amongst the exotic vegetation is also a keynote at Gardens by the Bay. There are several fancy restaurants, including Pollen, opened by world-renowned chef Jason Atherton inside the Flower Dome. Casual restaurants an cafes can also be found all around Gardens by the Bay for a relaxing brunch or tea.

Whether you’re a local or a tourist, Gardens by the Bay is recommend for fans of photography or anyone who loves nature. The public area is good enough to chill for a relaxing Sunday afternoon.

Gardens by the Bay
18 Marina Gardens Drive
Singapore 018953
Tel: 6420 6848
http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg

More →]]> OPI You’re Such A Budapest, HK$80 from Pretty Lil Nails

Finally have some time to do my nails after a brief nail polish hiatus! Today I have on OPI’s You’re Such a Budapest from the Euro Central collection, and I decided to add a layer of Gosh Rainbow, a holographic flakie, for mattifying. (There’s actually another sponged-on layer of OPI Don’t Pretzel My Buttons in between if you can tell.)

The matte top coats softens the holographic shine and there’s not a huge difference in finishing since the base is a light pastel color.

OPI Matte Top Coat, HK$90 from Pretty Lil Nails
Essie Matte About You, HK$90 from Pretty Lil Nails

To matte or not to matte? A lot of people ask what’s the difference between Essie & OPI’s matte top coat. My opinion: they’re almost identical in finishing and the only difference would be the brush. OPI Matte Top Coat has the ProWide brush while Essie Matte About You would be more suitable for those with smaller or slender nails. Which one would you get?

More →]]> 1. It’s official — Philip Lim for Target launches in the U.S. on September 15th! [Pretty Lil Things]
2. John Galliano’s controversial class at Parsons gets cancelled. [Fashionlogie]
3. The best & worst looks from the 2013 Met Gala. [People Style Watch]
4. Missoni Founder Ottavio Missoni dies at 92. [Vogue]
5. Watch Coco Chanel’s new film, Once Upon A Time, featuring Kiera Knightly. [Youtube]

More →]]> The most exciting news all week is probably the announcement of 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target coming out this September!

3.1 Phillip Lim for Target is a limited-edition collection of apparel and accessories, including an assortment of bags, shoes and travel accessories, for women and men on the go. The collection will include over 100 items ranging from US$19.99 – US$299.99, with most items under $49.99. Sounds too good to be true?

The collection launches in Target stores and Target.com on September 15, 2013. Take a peek and watch the video of the designer himself talking about the collaboration!

More →]]> If you followed my Instagram, you should have been with me throughout my Singapore trip last week! In case you missed it, here’s a brief photo diary of what I have been doing over there for the past few days.

Shopping on Orchard Road is a must when in Singapore. Basically not much change has occurred from the last time I visited in October. My favorite shopping spots are Isetan Scotts for the local designer corner, ION Orchard for the international brands, and Knightsbridge for the Abercrombie & Topshop flagship stores.

One of the newer tourist spots in recent years is Gardens by the Bay, which consists of two domes housing exotic plants and flowers. There was a nice Dutch Tulip Exhibition while I was there, which was amazing! More photos of Gardens by the Bay will follow in another post

And finally…a trip to Universal Studios Singapore completes my visit to all four Universal Studios theme parks around the world! (the rest being California, Orlando & Osaka) Movie themes in the park include: Seasame Street, Madagascar, Shrek, Transformers, The Mummy, and Jurassic Park. Although the size of the park is small compared to the other locations, the rides were definitely not disappointing! A full day is sufficient to complete all the rides even on a Sunday.

More posts coming up for Gardens by The Bay and also my Singapore Travel Food Diary!