Tuesday 26 February 2013

Mie Kangkung Belacan

This is my first recipe post. Therefore, I am gonna post the specialty food from my hometown, Medan (Indonesia), which is Mie Kangkung Belacan.
This noodle is always in my 'must eat' list whenever I go back to Medan.



The recipe is adapted from whattocooktoday

Ingredients (serves: 2)
200 gram of yellow noodle
Two handful of beansprouts
100 gram of kangkung
3 big prawns (deveined and shelled)
6 fish balls (sliced half)
2 tomatoes (quartered)
2 teaspoon of belacan
4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
2 eggs
3 tablespoon of red chili paste
2 tablespoon of sweet soy sauce
3 tablespoon of canola oil
1/4 cup of water

Method:
1. Soak the yellow noodle in cold water for a while to get rid of the smell and oil coated on the noodle.

2. Heat canola oil in wok. Saute chopped garlic until fragrant. 

3. Add in prawns and fish ball. Saute until half-cooked, then push to the side of the wok and crack the eggs. Break the yolk a bit and leave it. Let the egg settle for a bit and then mix everything up in the wok


4. Add in red chili paste and belacan. Stir fry
5. Add in water and tomatoes, let it simmer for about 1 minute
6. Add in beansprouts, kangkung, yellow noodles, and sweet soy sauce. Mix well. Cover the wok with lid and let it simmer for 1 minute
7. Remove from heat and serve hot

Tips:
Below is my favorite noodle. I always get my noodles, kway teow and hor fun from this brand. There are no particular reasons on why I love this brand. I first bought it because of the cute monkey logo. Okay, I know I am sucker for cute packaging :p I find them quite nice and the noodles don't have the fishy odor, so i continue buying them. You can find them from either Cold Storage or NTUC Fair Price. I can't remember the exact price but it is around SGD 1 dollar plus.

For the chili paste, you may do it yourself by grinding red chili with a little bit of water in food processor. However, I bought my ready chili paste from Sing Long brand. Unfortunately, I don't have the picture of the chili paste but it is packed in a plastic packet.

Thursday 21 February 2013

ReFa Carat Platinum Electronic Roller

Sponsored post

I believe it is almost all girls' dream to have firmed and lifted face skin.
However, it is not easy to achieve this non surgically.
I have tried several types of roller and face lifting cream before I took the prewedding photo-shoot. Unfortunately, none of these impressed me much.
Therefore, I was kinda thrilled to be invited to ReFa CARAT Platinum Electronic Roller workshop at Ikeda Spa, which is located conveniently at Bukit TImah. I have been wanting to visit this first Japanese spa in Singapore for a long time.

I really love the Japanese style Tatami Zen area. I felt so relaxed sitting here.

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The wide selection of high quality skin care products from Japan.

The Japanese rock garden

and the manicure & pedicure treatment area



Now I am gonna introduce the number 1 best seller beauty roller in Japan, ReFa CARAT Platinum Electronic Roller. Taaadaaaa....

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and other products by the company
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So what is ReFa CARAT?

It is a double lymphatic drainage roller that provides the appearance of beautiful and firmed skin. It is developed on the concept of aesthetic kneading, strongly squeezed and work the skin, through wonderfully deep and smooth motion.
ReFa CARAT absorbs light through a solar panel and generates a weak electrical “microcurrent” that is very similar to the body’s own current.
Human skin normally has weak electrical current flowing through it to begin with. This current is thought to be one of the elements that keeps skin appearance firm, resilient and beautiful.
Daily treatment with the roller on the surface of your skin affects skin texture, making its appearance supple, shiny and firm.

Illustration of microcurrents
Microcurrents

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Ms.Jasmine Tham, the gorgeous product trainer for ReFa, was doing product demonstration on the right side of my face for a slim face line.
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 On my flabby arm :p for firming
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and my neck for a beautiful neckline.
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These are the after treatment results.
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My right eyebag is less obvious after the treatment and my jawline is slightly firmer.  


I had the opportunity to try ReFa CARAT at home for 2 weeks.
I used the roller every night after applying moisturizer and roll 30 times on each of the following areas: cheekbones, jawlines and under eyes.



I would say that I am pretty satisfied and amazed with this product.

What I really like about ReFa CARAT are:
- The curvy design of the roller makes is so comfortable to hold and easy to roll any parts of the face and body without any awkward or uncomfortable position.
- Platinum coating on the roller. Platinum is hypoallergenic metal and safe for all skin types. Therefore, in spite of my sensitive skin, I did not encounter any rashes, redness or itchiness.
- It helps to combat the puffiness of my eyes. My eyes look fresher right after the application.
- The easy maintenance. I only need to clean the roller with a damp cloth after the application and pat it dry with the clean cloth provided and keep it in the pouch that comes together with the roller set.

Below are the results after two weeks of treatment. It can be seen that my jawlines are more defined after the treatment and visible reduce of under eye bag puffiness.
Disclaimer: There is no photoshop work done in the pictures



Two weeks trial might be too short to show the dramatic improvement but it has convinced me that this is the product that I am soooo gonna put in the wish list for my beauty product purchase :D
Main reason is because it helps to reduce my under eyebag, which has been my main concern for a long long time.

The price of ReFA CARAT is SGD 540 and you may purchase it from the outlets below:
- Clariancy retail outlets
- Hide & Seek (72 Bussorah Street)
- Superberry (Orchard Central #03-29)
- WhatHeWants (Orchard Central #03-30)
- Phillip Wain (United Square #04-10/19)
- Ikeda Spa (787 Bukit Timah Road)

You may also check their facebook page for more information: http://www.facebook.com/ReFaSingapore