HAPPY PLANTS 開心苗

On Saturday, we were shopping at Sembawang Shopping Centre when the Husband spotted this.

Sorry for the blurry pic!

The Husband was attracted by the crowd and dragged a tired me over.

These adorable Big Bird's head lookalike plants were drawing crowds by the throngs! That explains my 'overcast' photo. 

At first, I thought they were ordinary indoor plants, packaged to be small, portable & really easy to take care, but guess what?? They are actually DRAGON FRUIT PLANTS!! Yes, that dragon fruit that we eat!

The seller, Ken, was explaining to us how they shrunk the plant biological makeup by 50 times, so that the plants would stay small & not overgrow into the real dragon fruit tree which looks like this.

They restrict the amount of nutrients fed to the plant by using coconut husks in the pots. There is no fertilizers and no soil so that they won't attract insects. Since there is no insects, no one would have to kill intentionally or unintentionally. So these made the plants really vegetarians!

I really think this is such an innovative idea! The pot is cute and handy to move around. Almost everyone like seeing some greens around, be it at home or at office! It would be great if there are different sizes for people to choose though. I have this huge dining table at home and this small pot looks kinda miserable on it. A medium pot would be great!

Low maintenance aside, another amazing thing about this Happy Plant is it ABSORBS radiation! They did this experiment with 2 plants where they put Plant A besides a computer at the work place and Plant B at a room near the window with sunlight exposure.

After 6 months, Plant A looks like:

Wow, really look like dragon fruit plant! But Plant B still looks pretty much the same. Ken claimed that showed the plant strive on radiation instead of sunlight and how this Happy Plant is not just pretty to look at but really useful to have around too.

This is my first time seeing this plant and knowing its capabilities. Though I'm well aware that plants can help improve indoor air quality, I have no idea that some can absorb radiation from our electrical devices and grow. Now, why don't the electronic shops start putting more of such plants around for the sake of its staff too?

I chose the Happy Plant 'Live' for the Husband to put in his office! It costs S$22 for this pot. A plastic round tub is also provided for watering the plant every 15 days. You are to fill the plastic tub with water to the half-level mark and put the whole pot in the tub. There's a hole at the pot base and the coconut husk would absorb the water in 5 minutes. Really cool!

We asked if the plants were genetically modified to stay so small but Ken said he's a Christian and he didn't believe in such work. So do we! So these Happy Plants are really au naturel and organic!

They are expected to live 1-1.5 years. And after which, you can bring the pot back to Green Inn Organic Plant and buy a new dragon fruit plant for half price. Oh man, I would be really sad to see it die!

By the time we left Sembawang Shopping Centre at 10plus at night, there were still onlookers at the stall. 開心苗好有攝召力哦！

Randomly, while Googling for how dragon fruit plants look like, I stumbled upon this pic of cutting the dragon fruit such that it resembles a lotus. How quaint!!

Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu

THE GOWN WAREHOUSE

I'm real excited for my sister-in-law who set up this new venture with her partner.

Looking for affordable wedding gowns or DND gowns? You won't walk away disappointed!

Will be paying The Gown Warehouse a visit over the weekend and I will be back with more pics to share with you ladies!

Here's one of my favourites from their Facebook Page!

Have a wonderful week ahead, girls! And in case you didn't know, TFL's latest launch is up at www.tianfenlan.com! =D


Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu

LOTUS CHARMS

While learning Buddhism, I develop this love for lotuses.

Not the actual flower though. I like tulips and sunflowers more.

It's the significance of it that captures my heart.

“蓮花表示由煩惱而至清淨，因為它生長於污泥，綻開於水面，有出污泥而不染的深一層涵義。”

Yesterday while doing a pet project of mine, I was surfing and stumbled onto this Esty site selling, of all things, lotus charms! On necklaces, bracelets and so forth!

And they are so pretty!

My favourite style is the delicate lotus outline charms.

24 karat gold over bronze lotus pendant on gold chain from jersey608jewelry.etsy.com

 Mother daughter lotus flower pendant necklaces in sterling silver from jersey608jewelry.etsy.com

 What a mad adorable set!

 Lotus charm earrings on sterling silver from jersey608jewelry.etsy.com

No bigger than 1 dime! 

 Lotus charm bracelets in nickle-free materials from Etsy

 

I like how delicate-looking this bracelet is and it's double chained! Reminds me of Perlini's Silver bracelets that I tend to covet as a teen and they always break on me.  

Or wear it as a tiny charm bracelet! Real sweet from Etsy!

Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu

My 1st smartphone!

Hello gals! 

Lost my hp last Fri on a cab for the umpteen time and decided that was it. The final straw! It's time to get a smartphone proper and change that unlucky number which I have been using for 14 years! Think that about marks the history of mobilephones in Singapore. Once upon a time, I used to own a Motorola pager!

That mobile number has seen me lost 5 handphones, including the one last Friday and that was a spare phone of someone's else! Urrrgh! Would you believe me if I said I once lost my Blackberry which was a spare phone kept in my drawers? I had no idea where it went!

I had 6 mobile phones under that number and this is the only phone that survived out of the pack.

The Husband calls it the Bandage Phone. All who have seen me using this remember me and my phone. Because it's not often you see a phone twined with a rubber band. #Iamthejokeoftheday

I dropped the phone so many times on the floor that the battery got bloated and the battery cover is unable to shut close. The battery starts to drain out real fast and finally, the phone died a heroic death and all went blank after the final fall. Nokia phones are really hardy. I used it for 4 years!

I still keep the phone for memories' sake. It's my first white phone and the first phone that didn't got misplaced/lost. Totally deserve a space in my drawer just for that!

I had really wanted to wait till Oct for Iphone5. =(

Wasn't able to launch without a phone too, because I won't be able to access my UOB a/c and there's quite a number of customers who do bank transfer via UOB. 

I was at Starhub PS close to 9am on Sunday. I reckon that would save us a lot of time in queuing and squashing about with others.

To get a Iphone 4S 16GB would cost me S$248, while a Samsung Galaxy Note would cost me S$228. The only time I have forked out money for a phone was about 8 years ago, when I fell in love with a Samsung red flip phone. That red matches my SQ red nail polish! It was gorgeous! Ever since I lost it, I told myself I'm only going for S$0 phone from then on. No point throwing away my money!

The thing is, good smartphones are never S$0 and those were the days when phones are merely for calling and messaging.

I tweeted about my dilemma about choosing between Iphone 4S and Samsung Galaxy Note. A very sweet customer emailed me giving me suggestions and a live email exchange ensued.  We were both awake at 4am on a Sunday. Hahahaha! Thank you, Sandy, for your recommendations! If not for you, I won't know Note comes in Pink too!

I was all set on getting a Note when I saw that Samsung Galaxy SII was going for S$68 with contract. That's so much cheaper! There and then, I wondered if I really needed a Note. Yes, it would be useful if I need to reply urgent emails! Peering and tapping on small screens are very exhausting. The Husband and the Starhub staff walked with me to check out the dummies and I was like asking everyone for opinions. I'm very bad at making big decisions like this. =(

Not sure how I got convinced but I got a Note in the end and am still feeling the heartache of spending more than S$200, instead of S$68 even though it wasn't my money. Sandy was right. I wasn't used to the bigger size. But it's really very slim and light for its size. Brother says it is good for me because a bigger phone will be harder to lose. Another plus point is it's easier to fish out from my disorganized bag too! 

The Husband is more excited about the phone than me. I can't feel the excitement yet though. It's just a phone, isn't it? He was bugging me to set up all my social a/cs on the phone but I worry that if I lose it, some stranger is going to have access to my personal Twitter/Facebook a/cs and TFL Gmail (horror of all horrors!)! So no, I will only log in when I need to use it. 

One function that I really like is the S-note function! This phone comes with a stylus and it's so useful for scribbling notes on the go! I can scribble pages of them if I want! I am using it to write my daily affirmations because it's more environmentally friendly and I'm often in too much of a rush to sit down at my table for the writings!

The 8mp camera is a plus point too! I finally have a more 象樣 camera! My Sony camera was only a 6mp and I can't hold it still enough to take good photos. This also means customers can look forward to me posting more TFL photos on Instagram/Facebook!

Display wise, I prefers Iphone/Ipad. The screen is more comfortable to look at but Samsung has designed its phones very well. Note is very intuitive! For e.g. if I'm on the phone with someone and I need to press a key, all I have to do bring down the phone from my ear and the screen will light up! And Samsung really have the nicest-sounding melodies for its ringtones! p.s. I have used Panasonic, LG, Samsung, Nokia & Motorola mobile phones.

I have sent invoices with the Husband's Iphone and Ipad previously and its copy-and-paste function is able to do it with the right formatting as seen in TFL invoices. So I thought this would be a norm. But the first time I tried sending an invoice with my Note, I was really disappointed that the Note can't copy the formatting i.e. no paragraphing, no bolding, no underlining etc. All the pasted text would be in one chunk of paragraph and look very disorganized. Why, Samsung, why??? If I knew that would happen, I would have gone for Iphone 4S. =((


The Husband said there might be a miraculous app that will solve this problem for me. I doubt so but still gonna look into it one day!

The Husband has been bugging me with ways to protect my phone. But I like my phone plain and simple. No fanciful casing/covers, just protective films. And he's like, oh what if your phone break when it gets drop, what if it get scratched, what if this and what if that... The irony is that his Iphone doesn't have a casing either. Double standard. Pffft!

And yay to a new auspicious mobile number! I hope that erases all my bad luck with phones and bring me more good news of prosperity for Tian Fen Lan!! Huat ah!! (I think only a Chinese will say this, haha!)

Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu

Presents for a blogshop owner

I spent a lot of time in front of my laptop. Like, really, a lot of time.

My family must have noticed too because recently, I got a lot of unexpected gifts from them. No, not diamonds or Chanels, haha! But affordable little gifts that make working for TFL much easier!

A foldable bed tray table from Ikea! The Husband bought it at S$9.90 in early May! What a good deal! It's not some filmsy plastic but of sturdy high-impact polystyrene plastic! I only saw it in hot pink though. I like the amount of space under the table top. It's wide & tall enough for me to sit cross-legged underneath or change to stretching my legs straight, without having to push away the tray table to do that. The table is very stable during usage. Its legs don't collapse under the weight of my 2kg laptop and my hands, even when I used it for 5-7 hours straight.

The Husband has taken it upon himself to stock up my snack pantry when I get hungry in the middle of the night, replying emails or doing up launches or watching Kang Xi Lai Le. I didn't like the Lays chips he bought because as much as I like chips, I don't like them too salty. Meiji biscuits packs are very yummy when paired with Laughing Cow cheese! And of course, with Coke! Heavenly!

So the other night, I randomly grab this packet of chips because there's none left. It was of a ailen brand that I had never heard before. Was telling myself if it did not taste nice, I would get the Husband to finish up because I don't like throwing away food. But SURPRISE SURPRISE!! This is the most delicious packet chips I had ever had!!! It's not as salty as most chips and tastes very real (not sure if you know what I mean)!

It's a bonus that the chips are free from cholesterol, gluten & trans fat! I didn't even know that till I was almost done! I thought the chips were made from potato till the next day when I was gushing to the Husband how different & yummi-licious the chips were, the Husband enlightened me that the chips were made from cassava, otherwise known as tapoica! 番薯片! It was written in bold on the packet but I was literally eating blindly! Lol! 

And guess what?! It's manufactured by Tai Sun! I was expecting a US manufacturer because of the taste. My mum-in-law tried looking for it in Malaysia when she was in Johor, because she saw that the chips were made in Malaysia but couldn't find it there. Yes, she likes the chips too! 

I'm never going back to the usual potato chips!

THIS is the most most most most most most most useful present I had ever received as a blogshop owner! My mother had never saw how I work for TFL. 2 Fridays ago, she came to meet me to pass me homemade red bean agar agar. That was her first time seeing me carrying so many bags of parcels & stuff. I was lugging a big China bag of shoes, bags & clothes, all packed, with several other smaller bags. Mum saw me and throughout the 2 hours we met, she kept asking me why I sloughed this way. I presumed she was referring to why I opted for such a laborious job instead of a corporate career. 

Then, last Sunday, when we went back for lunch, my Mum surprised me with this trolley bag she got her friend to buy from Bangkok! I had never seen this selling in Singapore. The bag, yes. There are tons of variations, but not with an ATTACHED trolley! The trolley is really sturdy and stable and because it's attached to the bag, the bag base is of strong metal + plastic and not waxed paper. It is still light enough to be hand-carried if necessary. This also means I don't have to worry about the bag falling off from the trolley and no more torn bags and no more holding on to 10-12kg worth of stuff!! The usual cabin bags don't work for me, because selling bags & shoes mean parcels can be of all sizes & shapes. So bags with slightly flexible shape works best!

Back in SQ days, I had always used cabin bags with attached trolleys. I didn't fancy using a separate trolley, because many times, the bag would fall off when the crew gets on/off the escalators, makes a turn or navigating through the plane's narrow aisles. In short, it's just irritating. I gathered I must have a 不解之緣 with trolley bags because I never thought 4.5 years after hanging up my kebaya, I would still rely on a trolley bag for work! Hahahah!

Such China bags (is there a proper term for them actually?), despite their size & ability to store, break rather easily when they are made from wax paper. Canvas is the best bet if you have heavy stuff to put in. But I can't find canvas China bags in Singapore. I asked my mum if there were plain ones because I'm so not a cartoon prints person. Hope to buy a bigger one with attached trolley too! I'm very adept at pulling trolleys! =D

Metta, 

欣雨 Xinyu

My toothpaste diary

Hello gals! 你們還好嗎?? 希望你們都很開心！！

So happy to be able to update again! =)

I've been having so much fun and inspiration over at TFL that my only rest times are during sleeping and eating times. Now I have about half an hour to squeeze in a blog entry before I need to run off to pack parcels for courier and get ready for puja later!

I got inspired to blog about toothpastes (yes, of all things) because as I grow up, I realised how difficult it has been for people around me to keep their teeth beautiful, healthy and strong. My teeth has been straight and neat since growing up and apart from the couple of fillings I had in my primary school days, nothing major had went wrong all these years. I count myself very lucky that I didn't have to spend thousands of dollars on my teeth. Still, at my age now, I'm not gonna take things for granted.

Source: Google images

Getting the maximum value from your toothpaste. No lah, this is not what my entry is about today. I just find this photo rather amusing. =P

The only problem I had, since teenager days, is my gums would bleed when I brush my teeth. And you know what that means...reddish toothpaste foam. >_<" I didn't realise it was a problem, till the first time I visited a dentist in my twenties. Wouldn't have gone to one if it wasn't subsidised by SQ. He could tell that I had bleeding gums problem and prescribed me an antiseptic mouth wash, which was green in colour. Since then, I never had bleeding gums and my gums are a very healthy pink colour now! It used to be redder!

The dentist also reminded me to brush my gums gently as I brush my teeth, so that gums are kept clean too. Gosh, I never knew my gums need brushing too!

Since we are talking about brushing, the Husband's dentist recommended brushing the teeth in a circular motion as it removes impurities better than the up-and-down brushing. I tried that technique and my teeth looked cleaner and whiter!


Fyi, his dentist is from Sunshine Dental at Woodlands Civic Centre. The Husband is full of praise for the clinic, its staff and its equipment. On his first time there for a routine cleaning & polishing, they took a high resolution photo of his mouth insides and showed him the current condition of his teeth via the monitor. The Husband was aghast, to put it mildly. All he could mutter there and then was, "Wah, doctor, your clinic has very clear and sharp monitors." Lol.

Darlie Original Strong Toothpaste

This is the first and only toothpaste I had ever used before I got married. My mum, for some reason, only buys the original Darlie and nothing else. Not Darlie with extra mint or Darlie whitening or that Darlie gel toothpaste. Just the original Darlie. She said other brands taste strange. I wonder how she knew since for 20 over years, she only buys Darlie toothpaste for us. 

Source: Google images

We had used Darlie for so loooooong that I even witnessed the rebranding of Darkie to Darlie in 1989. Did you know Darkie was first manufactured in Shanghai in 1933, then Hong Kong and later on, Taiwan? I didn't realise it was a original China product all these years till now! That explains why I could never find it in the supermarkets of Western countries! 

After I moved in with my in-laws, they only had Colgate toothpaste. I couldn't get used to the taste and I really think its effects are not as great as Darlie. So I went out to buy a medium-sized Darlie for myself! I didn't dare to buy the jumbo tube because in the early days, I wasn't sure if my in-laws would mind me stuffing their toilet with so many of my personal toiletries when it was already very packed. Haha!

I have also discovered a new use for Darlie. It can heal burns!!! 

I scalded myself once with hot soup and at wits' end, I applied a thick layer of Darlie on my burn. There was no other medical aid in sight, except a gawking Husband. To my amazement, there was no pain and the burning sensation quickly subsided! So it was no old wives tale after all to apply toothpaste on small burns! Definitely works better than running under running water or putting antiseptic cream! Best of all, as the wound heal, the burnt skin peels off finely by itself and leaves almost zero scar! 

Recently I burnt my forearm again when ironing clothes for TFL shoot. I didn't even put my wound under running water (it's a temporary relief that doesn't heal the burn, imho) but instead, slap on a thick layer of Darlie. And viola, no throbbing burning feeling and by the next day, the Husband couldn't even tell I burnt myself again. 

But, but, but please remember not to apply Darlie with EXTRA mint! I did that once and I was literally yelping from the 'hot' sensation on my wound from the strong mint! Not sure if other toothpastes work just as well though. I had only used Darlie on my wounds so far. =)

Theramed 2-in-1 Whitening Toothpaste + Mouthwash

A friend with super serious teeth problems introduced me to Theramed, a made-in-Germany toothpaste about 2 years ago. It has several different toothpastes but I only like the whitening one. I had never found the need to use whitening toothpaste despite being a a Coke-aholic aka serial Coke drinker. But as I hit my late twenties, my teeth were definitely not as white as before. I used to brush my teeth only once a day and that was when I wake up. After hearing my friend's woes about his teeth, I started brushing my teeth after every meal whenever possible.

My verdict: Within 2-3 weeks of using this toothpaste and only this toothpaste, I could see my teeth lighten by about 1-2 shades. Even over all these months of usage, the effect remains. I had never used it as a mouthwash, but only to brush my teeth.

Yellow teeth are just not so pretty especially when I put on deep-coloured lipstick. There was a period of time when my mum kept telling me how yellow my teeth are and I should visit a dentist in front of her friends. Gaaaah!! So embarrassing!!! But now even she noticed my teeth are whiter than before!

Currently, I used this toothpaste when I wake up and sometimes after the last meal of the day, to keep my teeth white. It is available at Watsons, Guardians and Cold Storage. If you are a Watsons member, best to get it at Watsons. Sometimes there's 20% off the usual price of S$3!

The only con is this toothpaste is not great for freshening the breath. My guess is mint is not a prominent ingredient in this whitening toothpaste. Darlie is still the best for that!

Dentiste' Plus White Nighttime Herbapeutic Toothpaste

I strongly recommend this nighttime toothpaste to people with toothache problems! One of the main ingredient in this toothpaste is clove oil, which is a great remedy for toothache. But, dear, if you have a serious problem of toothaches due to more serious issues like my friend, please see a dentist. My friend has this innate and illogical fear of seeing a dentist that he rathers his teeth drop out one by one, despite our threats/coaxing/cajoling. Sigh. Don't ask me why. 

So this same friend told me about this amazing herbal toothpaste. It cost S$10 for a 100g tube meant for sensitive teeth. I couldn't fathom paying so much for a toothpaste when I had been so used to using Darlie, which is at a fraction of this price! If you have non-sensitive teeth, you can get the normal range at $11.90 for 3 in a pack (2 full-sized 100g tubes, 1 60g tube) at Watsons. 

My verdict: It really does what it claims! The morning breath is much better and my teeth feels much cleaner, compared to using Darlie! I was surprised at how herbal this toothpaste taste & smelt on my first usage. And I really like that! 

To give you an idea of how herbal this toothpaste taste, here's some of the active ingredients:

Xylitol, Silicon Dioxide, Peppermint oil, Clove oil, Menthol, Vitamin C, Eucalyptus oil, Sage extract, Chamoile extract, Fennel extract, Glycyrrhiza extract, Cinnamon Bark extract.

My friend, who suffers from toothaches due to dying teeth and diseased gums, has his toothaches drastically reduced, after using this toothpaste!

Here's some technical information extracted from the web:

Dentiste' Premium Night Time Toothpaste, world's first and only natural night time toothpaste clinically proven to inhibit night time bacteria for fresh morning breath, features a proprietary blend of 14 kinds of premium natural extracts. The premium natural extracts are naturally anti-septic and anti-bacteria so that it provides an active protection against bacteria caused by low saliva flows and thus eliminating bad morning breath. For even better protection, we use Xylitol, a natural sweetener that cannot be digested by bacteria therefore starving and reducing their accumulation. And to make sure that no bad morning breath is left, CDX (Cyclodextrin Complex) is used to provide a passive protection against bad morning breath by effectively trapping bad breath. The Dentiste' bacteria-eliminating mechanism works so well that 97% of Dentiste' users feel the difference within just the first night of use.

Source: Google images

Dentiste' Plus White Repaire Rebuild Revitalize Remineralization Toothpaste

This, my dear readers, is another truly awesome product! It can really rebuild teeth! Well, not give you a brand new tooth if your old one is dying. But it helps form new enamel around your teeth!

Due to our lifestyles, diets and aging, we face teeth erosion and abrasion problems. This toothpaste contains a breakthrough ingredient "Calcium Sodium Phosphosilicate" derived from bone re-generation technology. Imagine bone re-generation technology in your toothpaste!! Now can someone invent a way to brush this into our bones?? A 2nd chance to grow taller maybe??

This ingredient neutralizes the acidity in our mouths (so that we can stop destroying our own teeth), converts to form enamel crystals, creates new layers of enamel and fills the open tubules (pores in inner layers of teeth) in your teeth. In short, this miraculous ingredient can repair cavities in infancy stage, reduce teeth sensitivity, gingivitis (gums inflammation) and bad breath! 

You know how we girls buy a moisturiser that says it can do 24352562 amazing things to your skin yet it fails? But here's a toothpaste that posts similar claims and performs to it!  一網打盡! At S$25+ for a 70g tube. Best to get at Watsons, especially when they have 20% discount. Guardians' sells it at S$29+!

It's really cool to see enamel crystals forming in the teeth! You would end up spending the next half an hour gaping into the mirror with your mouth open. But it's really amazing to see new enamel being formed!

When I was coaching my teen nieces in their Science, they were asking me why it was crucial to learn Science since they were not keen to be scientists. Now I can tell them it would help loads when you want to blog about a very useful product and you want to impress your readers by simplifying 4 paragraphs of complex scientific information into 2 short easy-to-read paragraphs. At the very least, you would be able to understand what you are blogging. Hahaha!

The toothbrush set I bring out! Got it at less than S$4 from Cheers at Changi Airport. I don't really like the toothbrush but I like the cover for the toothbrush head and the flat hard case. Used to buy the travel set from Dentiste' (nice toothbrush!), but the zip-lock case is too filmsy for my liking and gets dirtied easier.

Not sure if you notice but I really don't like squeezing toothpaste from the middle of the tube. Wait, you mean you do?? *wide-eyed*

Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu

That time of the month

My best friend in secondary school introduced me to this brand of sanitary napkins when I was 14. Had been using it since then. Ultra thin way before the other brands came out with their version & amazingly absorbent! I had tried Kotex (they came to our school!), Laurier and Whisper but none matches the comfort level. But this brand has undergone at least 2 name changes in the past decade.

When it was first launched, it was Prima (or something like that). Years later, it changed to Modess. Now, it's Stayfree. I guess the demand for this brand is not as strong as the dominant brands, hence the several rebranding attempts. It was frustrating when I couldn't find my favourite brand on the shelves. Would take several months for me to find it again and I always have to figure out which is the one. 

Guess how I always re-find my favourite brand of pads?

From the front, the Butterfly symbol! It was their mascot since Prima days! Sometimes it's big, sometimes it's small, sometimes it's fully coloured, sometimes it's just a silhouette drawing.

And step no. 2,

I look for the manufacturing company! It's by Johnson & Johnson!

Stayfree also has sanitary napkins meant for lighter flow days. I find that so useful!

My mum is an ardent fan of Kotex, but I'm a Johnson & Johnson convert all the way! I wish they have more aggressive marketing like how Kotex & Laurier do! That will make buying their pads easier! I used to buy half a suitcase worth of their pads when I stayed over at Bangkok. Much cheaper there! Watsons in Singapore did not carry this brand for a very long time, and I have to get it at Cold Storage/Guardian. But now not only Watsons has this, so does Mustafa! Surprise surprise!

And Mustafa has a comprehensive Eu Yan Sang counter at its newer building at Level 1 too! That's where I snapped these pics on Sun! Now I know where to find 真材实料 herbal tea in the middle of the night!

I've been swearing by Eu Yan Sang Bak Fong Pills for about a decade. They help relieve my tiredness, slight cramps and discomfort during menstruation. Having 八珍汤 after menstruation is heaven for me! My mum used to make that for me, before I got married. There would be a chicken drumstick and a hard-boiled egg each  for my sister & I and chicken liver in the soup! The soup is kick-ass bitter! I'm pretty sure that helps keep my sister's and my wombs clean, healthy & strong! Hahaha! We didn't have cramps problems in our younger days or experience much tiredness then. But it's a different story now. =P

Best to get the Bak Fong Pills in bulk when Eu Yan Sang has 20% discount. Happens about twice a year, during the 三八妇女节 period and somewhere 2nd half of the year. That's when I stock up!

Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu

What's in my Wallet

I had always read posts where people blog about what they have in their bags.

Being a bag seller, I thought I should do something like that too! But after reading quite a few, I realise, honestly, it's more or less the same. So I thought of blogging about something else.

The first branded wallet I ever bought for myself!

When I was a kid, I used to fantasize about owning many branded wallets & bags. Thought it was as easy as ABC when I am a working adult. On hindsight, I was rather delusional, wasn't I? Haha!

My girlfriends were very sweet to give me a Jean Paul Gaultier black short wallet on my 17th birthday. Had no idea why they did that (we were only college kids!). Maybe they found it embarrassing to hang out with me who was still using a colourful velcro wallet from my secondary school days.

I am not a change-my-wallet-every-other-month kind of girl. (Ya lah, I was too lazy to buy a new wallet & transfer all the contents.) That JPG wallet lasted me till I was 26. The reason for changing was my money and cards were slipping out of the slots, after a decade of usage! 我很长情耶!

Got this Burberry Blue wallet from Fukuoka, during my first flight there! I am a fan of Burberry checks and Burberry Blue and what's better than to get it from the land of Hello Kitty! I swear merchandise there are much sweeter looking than those in Taiwan & Hong Kong!

I remember going for the flight all excited, not just because I love Japan & it was my first time to Fukuoka but that I was finally going to buy my dream wallet! Right after a short rest, I was thronging the malls together with another stewardess. We checked out the wallets at several Burberry Blue branches before deciding on this. It was so pretty and adorable! I think it cost me about S$500+. Had wanted to get a long wallet for more compartment space, but wasn't able to find a suitable one.

Mad excited was an understatement.

Fast forward 5 years later, my Burberry Blue wallet was starting to look real dirty (didn't know how to clean canvas proper!) and Master Dai Hu was telling me that using a black/dark wallet is best for keeping money. Keeping as in storing wealth, not the simple act of having a case for shoving your money in. In all honesty, I do think I manage to store more wealth during my JPG wallet days. =/

Bought the above wallet from Skyblue when TFL was still taking stock from them. It's not my favourite wallet out of the 3 I have owned. But this will do for the time being till I have the time and willingness to part with more money. =X

My first long wallet! It makes storing and sorting of cards and whatnots so much easier than a short wallet! Never ever going back to a short wallet! Silly but it just feels more elegant to be whipping out a long wallet from my bag and pulling out S$50 notes (as if I carry that many, hahaha!) that are nicely laid flat. My notes used to be all squashed in my short wallet, especially when I was in a hurry. Yes, I'm not the most ladylike girl around. Hahaha!

Some of the many, many, many cards in my wallet!

In my growing up days, money was always an issue at home. So over the years, I have learnt that one way of spending less money for the same thing a.k.a saving money is to own a membership card from the shop/restaurant I patronize. I remember having a separate plastic case during my teenager days to hold all the odd membership cards, those girly & pastel personal namecards from my friends and Aaron Kwok's photos! What a memory!

So there's the TCC and Coffee Club cards. I can't remember what's the qualifying criteria, but it's somewhere along the line of spending more than S$88 in a receipt. Being my birthday month this April, TCC was very generous to send me a 50% discount card for my first consumption at TCC and a subsequent 30% discount for my 2nd consumption. 太慷慨了!

And the all-necessary Popular card for the stationery for Tian Fen Lan. Now, who doesn't shop at Watsons?? S$5 to get lifetime membership is mad affordable! I've lost track of the number of times I've redeemed my Watsons points. Definitely very worth it!

I had forgotten that I had this Eu Yan Sang card till I see this pic! Aaah, always never present the card! Think I got the Helen card after spending more than S$30 at one time. The IORA card? Sorry, I can't remember! Might be S$150 & above in a receipt.

My first credit card was a supplementary card from the then-Boyfriend-now-Husband. I eventually got to having a credit card under my name, and that was because I wanted to help this random marketer to earn some commission. The then-Boyfriend-now-Husband was telling me how these cold callers earn almost nothing if they didn't get people to sign up for the bank's cards.

However, I do not like to use credit cards, because the idea of paying bills at the end of the month & possibility of being in debt is very off-putting. Apart from using it to pay for the occasional air tickets or to secure hotel bookings, my credit card is pretty much sitting around doing nothing.

So those cards above are debit cards from UOB & DBS! I love my debit cards! The same convenience of credit cards but without the worry of debt & bills and they double up as ATM cards with NETS functions too! When used as a debit card, they chalk up points that allow me to redeem free stuff from the card catalogue too! I always feel that I should only spend what I have. If don't have, don't spend. As simple as that.

I used to love DBS because once upon a time, there was barely any queue at their ATMs. But the peace of withdrawing money in solitude was gone after DBS and POSB merged. That prompted me to open a UOB a/c. Their ATMs are just as accessible as DBS/POSB's. I can't stand queuing up for ATMs! Such a waste of time when other banks' ATMs are queue-free.

UOB cards are much loved by me because I get to enjoy a lot of dining privileges with their debit cards. I  have had 10-15% deducted from my dining bills at Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant,  Goodwood Park Hotel, Mandarin Oriental Meltz Cafe and many others! UOB hooks up with some of the best restaurants around and most importantly, the restaurants I dine at too, to give their cardholders very useful discounts.

The DBS-Takashimaya debit card is really cool too! I can accumulate Takashimaya Bonus Points to redeem for gift vouchers, become a Takashimaya VIP to enjoy an additional 10% discount at selected sale events, and get a free S$3 top-up to my CashCard with a purchase of S$120. Only thing is I don't shop much at Takashimaya, but together with CK Tang, they are my favourite deparment stores!

Alright, I'm starting to sound either like I'm marketing for the banks or very auntie in the way I love the discounts. =__=

My membership card from Fabric-Pro, the laundrette that has done so many miracles on my curtains, suits & other workwear! Paid S$20 for lifetime member discounts! 非常值得!

Salon Vim membership card that I paid S$50 for, which is fully redeemable for their hair services! 哪里不划算! And 15% discount!

Apart my IC and the usual stash of "护生符", there's also a Metro membership card which I obtained by painstakingly accumulating S$300 worth of receipts over 3 months (buying new curtains & bedsheets pre-CNY helped!) and this Ala-carte membership card from the Millennium hotel group! 

That brings the number to a whopping 11 membership cards in my wallet! Do you have as many cards as I do or perhaps even more?

My next black wallet must have a lot of card slots too!

One last thing, I'm so so so so happy with the response from you girls for TFL debut clothing line! Thank you thank you! =DD

Metta, 

欣雨 Xinyu

Jakarta in March

Waiting at the transit area for the plane, on March 24th! Terminal 1 is now so gorgeous!

I was rather grouchy at that time because this hastily planned trip resulted in me booking the wrong flight timing and topping up S$150 to change it. Plus, I was upset at not being able to fly over in the morning, because the Husband flew back from Pakistan only in the morning. Arrrrgh!!

Hot chocolate at Coffee Bean. Too sweet. Ice chocolate would be better. With an abundance of sunlight comes good pictures. Watching the planes can be therapeutic. If you are already in a good mood, that is. I personally am no fan of travelling. I don't fancy staying at hotels, no matter how many stars they have. I love my home. Period.

Didn't help that I couldn't find a pair of flats to bring along for the trip. Wasn't gonna wear heels for a place with tens of thousands of people. Couldn't believe I didn't have FLATS! So here's my oxfords with missing shoelaces. Honestly, oxfords are really very comfortable for walks! Just that they can be too manly looking for me.

And I was also grouchy that my favourite brown pants shrank shorter after washing. Certainly didn't start the trip off on a good tune.

This Zara travel bag for guys is gorgeous and well made! It definitely looks even better in real life! For S$120, it's such a great bargain! Plus, it's synthetic leather! No kill cow, yay!

The 3-star hotel that we stayed for 3 days 2 nights, in Bogor, Indonesia. A 2 hour ride from the airport. A 2 month-old hotel that has very friendly service staff, despite their lack of fluency in English.

Everywhere was very clean in the hotel, including the rooms. Coca-cola was cheeaaap! Being 3 stars, it was just a very basic room. At least it was very new. But food was bad over here. Breakfast buffet was only one table-ful of selection. Their restaurant is small and most of the time, I was starving over there. We had to order Pizza Hut delivery one night, through the hotel because of language difficulties. But Pizza Hut there did not do Hawaiian. o_O

Had to remind myself that I was there to participate in the puja by my Grandmaster and not on holiday.

We arrived on Saturday evening. The puja ceremony was on Sunday, 2pm at Sentul International Convention Centre.

Source: Google Images

Having prior experience in KL and Singapore, the Husband woke up at 7am to get the tickets for 30 of us. The rest of us arrived at 11am and sadly, tickets were only for tentage seats. White tents were set up outside the convention centre, and we sat there baking in the sweltering heat till about 2pm, when ushers came to give us entry to the halls. There were seats available! Woohoo!

Participants submitting their registration forms! The crowds lasted from 7am-1pm. Amazing!

Many Dharma Brothers & Sisters from Taiwan set up stalls at the convention area, selling made-in-Taiwan Buddhist artifacts, jewellery and chanting beads. I love collecting prayer beads! Had almost one in every colour! I didn't have enough rupiah with me and ended paying for most of the things in Singapore dollars. It was quite a sight with almost everyone paying in different currencies and the sellers would be busy converting the amounts with their calculators. And if they weren't able to give change, the sellers were generous to give an extra something. Sweet! Buddhist artifacts from Taiwan are so much more well-made than Singapore & Malaysia!

Source: Facebook

Wished we had seats in the main hall where Grandmaster was. =(

Oh well, watching him from a TV in another air-conditioned hall was still happiness! At least there's air-con! =))

At the risk of sounding silly, I was very moved when I saw Grandmaster on the TV. All the grouchiness and tiredness just melted away. Practically glued to the TV throughout the whole 3 hours of the prayer ceremony. Well, I don't get to see him every other day, you must understand. If you are a Christian who attends Sunday service every week and love hearing your favourite pastor speak, I'm sure you will know what I mean. For that matter, if you have a religion and are devoted to it in one way or another, you should know what I mean. 

When doing dedication of the prayer merits, Grandmaster mentioned thrice about 风调雨顺 for Indonesia. So yes, I was very very very glad that the recent Aceh ocean earthquake turned out to be safe for all!

In our chartered bus after the puja ceremony! Just nice for 30 of us!

After the puja ended at 7plus at night, some of us got separated from one another. Took us almost 2 hours to gather everyone back together. Because one group of us were SO lucky to be standing near the side exit where Grandmaster came out from, after the whole puja ceremony ended. The Husband was one of them and he literally turned into a gleeful fanboy when he saw Grandmaster. The whole group of them were personally blessed by Grandmaster one by one!!

All this while, I was standing at the main entrance for more than an hour, waiting for the Husband who said he would go find the rest back. Talk about 望穿秋水.  =____=

I didn't have a photo of the crowds at night, but there was only one pathetic doorway to the carpark, where many coaches were awaiting. And almost 30,000 people had to squeeze through that one doorway?? I wonder what went through the minds of the architects when constructing the convention centre. It took like 2-3 hours for the crowds to be fully dispersed that night. 

Source: Google images

Next day before the flight, we rented a car, wanting to go shopping at the malls. But the hotel staff gave a lousy recommendation and we ended up at some half-past six mall called Seasons City, after an hour ride. It was like our People Park Complex. Gosh!


Later on, we requested for the driver to drive us to Central Park Mall that we saw en route to Seasons City. After much language difficulty and many phone calls, we finally made it! Albeit with only an hour left before we had to leave. This mall is classy, huge and awesome! It can totally rival our Ngee Ann City! We saw Topshop, Mango, Zara, Marks & Spencer and many other familiar brands! The food selection was vast and the money changers provided competitive exchange rates. Best of all, it's only 45 minutes away from the airport! If I ever had to go Jakarta again, I would seriously consider staying at the Pullman Hotel beside the mall. Such convenience!

Took Jetstar there and Valuair back the next day after the puja. This was the last flight back to Singapore. I have no idea why I booked a flight so late. There were many Dharma brothers & sisters all on the same flight. =D

In my grouchiness pre-departure, I totally forgot to check out the beauty products at Changi Airport. Was reminded of it when I was Jakarta airport. So delighted to find my favourite cleanser from Biotherm, with a new name and packaging! It was discontinued for almost a year!

I had tried Laneige sleeping pack many many years ago. Result was so-so. Thought I would give it another try with the advancements they have made. Bought the duo set and got a pack of Laneige samples free (in the pic above)! Happiness! Best of all, the products suit me! Will blog about them soon!

Nothing beats being back in Singapore. =)

I'm really happy to have the chance to go Jakarta amidst my busy schedule, even though that means missing out one launch. Most of the time, Grandmaster is based in Taiwan. It would be more expensive for everyone to make it there. I'm thankful that my job now gives me the flexibility and freedom to make room for plans like these. No matter how passionate I am about TFL, there is always a part of me that needs to be refuelled by spirituality. We all need to be reminded now and then about what life is all about, don't we? And it's definitely not about money alone.

Have a fun Sunday, everyone! I'm so thrilled about introducing clothing to TFL this week! Hope you girls will love it too!

Metta,

欣雨 Xinyu