A&F Singapore Flagship Store

Last December I was giddy with the A&F guys in their sweatpants. The A&F flagship store in Singapore opened last Dec 15 and it was only couple of days ago that I was able to visit the store. Photography isn't allowed inside so excuse me for the not-so-good shots and you can deduce that these are all stolen shots. 

Down the corner of Orchard Road at Knightsbridge stands two beautiful men by the door of the store which would give you a hint that you're in A&F store. As you enter you'd feel as if you're about to enter a horror house because of the very subdued lighting which gives you a sense of element of surprise.

I find this a bit creepy. This mural makes me feel like they're going to come alive anytime soon.

The image behind us is as if he's posing with us! Nyah! By the way, look at the two guys on white shirts with suspenders. What can you say?

I was hoping I would buy something from this store. But, the lighting is just too dark, even the fitting room, which made it hard for me to figure out if the color suits me or not. I can't even see clearly the fabric. Plus the perfume is overwhelming! After going around the store for quarter an hour I went out because my sinuses are kicking me.

Lola Ruby

I am hooked at TLC of Discovery Channel. TLC stands for The Learning Channel which is originally focused to educational shows but has expanded to travel, food and the extreme. I love their shows about travel and food. Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, Cake Boss, Man vs Food, Nigella's Kitchen and the Extreme. Extreme features the extreme on lifestyle, travel and food. 

I was watching Extreme: Las Vegas yesterday and they featured the extreme rides in Stratosphere hotel. 

source

One of the rides that they said was the extreme of all the extreme was the Big Shot. Strapped on their seats the ride will shot you up and down to a stomach-wrenching 160-feet ride in the air with a 72kph! Some men are having doubts if they are going to make it good. But, not Lola Ruby. She is one tough 72-year old granny that was rightfully given the name of 'The Big Shot's Big Shot!'. She has been in the record books for blasting off the big shot 8,000 times! Man, some guts! The scariest thing I have ridden was the Space Shuttle and twice of it is already too much for me!

Watch the video at 4:50.

Do you think if Lola Ruby was able to make it, you, too, can make it? As for me, I'd just be glad to take some pictures from the Startosphere platform.

The Carousel

I am so glad that hubby's work is able to make him work from home. He was able to squeeze in the Valentine Lunch Date during the weekday. Celebrating V-day used to make me cringe. It still does but a little so I am glad we had it on lunch. But I still have this girly thing in me. Flowers would really make my day. I may not show it but deep inside it does. Sadly, he hadn't had any for me the other day and had given me roses the other day. It didn't made so much impact in me but I still appreciate it. I wish he'd be more romantic, though.

Anyway, this entry is about our lunch at the Carousel. I have mentioned here that it was one of the options we had for our Christmas dinner. So last Feb 14 we were able to try it out. Carousel is a buffet restaurant at Royal Plaza on Scotts Road. It offers a wide array of cuisines from Meditteranean, Indian, Chinese, Japanese - which what they boast for, three stations of mouth watering deserts and a delectable cold seafood section.



I so wanted to eat more of the clams but twice I bit something hard like stones. Grr! I hate it when I hit something like that.

Hubby all too excited to eat. Did you notice Carousel's signature silverware holder? Unique isn't it?

The dessert stations.


My freshly cooked pesto pasta! I love seeing my food being cooked before my eyes.

And what's more, they also offer unlimited coffee and tea. Yey!

I took the lowest intensity but I still am not bale to finish the strong kick of the coffee after two sips.


So what can I say about my trip here at Carousel. Uhmm... I like the modern touch of the furniture. The Japanese section was good. I like the sweetness of their California maki. The cold seafood is good. But, the tables are not wide apart enough for you to have some privacy. You could actually hear what the next table is talking about. There are not much choices and special dishes served at each stations. The roast beef is a little tough and the sauce is bland. Refills of some of the food will not be made until you call the attention of the staff.


If you'd ask me if I'd go back? My answer is, not in the very near future. There are better dining places that is worth the money. Come to think of it I can't exactly tell you what is the best dish that made me ooh in Carousel because there seemed to be none.

Nevertheless, I am still happy that my beau took me to a date. Eating while chatting will never be a bore if it's with him.

I hope you all had a great V-day!


Carousel
25 Scotts Road, Singapore 228220
Tel: (65) 6737 7966
Fax: (65) 6737 6646
Email: royal@royalplaza.co.sg

Hacobina and Some Other Things

I miss my childhood treats. Puto seko, bukayo, cherry balls, wonder boy, choc nut, that sweet soft pink and square thing covered with flour, and the squared layered biscuit which I have known only now as hacobina. Hacobina is my lola's favorite which became also one of my favorites. I would munch it layer by layer until I finally devoured it satisfaction!

This is the hacobina that I grew up with.

But, this is the hacovina I can't get enough of! Jacobina by La Noceda Food Products, Inc.

I bought this on our way home from Laiya, Batangas at Sto. Tomas. When my sister and I tasted it, we can't just seem to stop. We were able to finish one pack in minutes! It was crispy, delicious and zero trans fat. It was soo good that I asked my sister to go to Mendez, Cavite to look for it. 

We left about 1030am in our house and on our way to Tagaytay we got hungry so we stopped and had lunch at Pamana. Who doesn't know Pamana, which is owned by Happy Ongpauco? I guess everybody knows it because you can't miss it when you drive along Tagaytay Road.

I love the homey feeling of this place. 

Very nice for the nostalgic photo op.

It was just a simple meal. Grilled seafood platter and Pancit Bihon. The grilled seafood was ok. I like the marinade of balanced sweetness and spice. The only thing that let me down was it was served a bit cold.

After lunch we drive along Tagaytay road and turned right at Mendez crossing. We asked several people where Jacobina is. You wouldn't be able to find it the first time because it is behind the Plaza/Police Station. 

We hoarded several packs of Jacobina biscuits, some boxes of cassava cake and egg pie. Oh my the egg pie! It was soo good, too. Pure egg without that flour feeling as extenders. The crust is not soo thick either. The caramel on top adds the right sweetness once you sink your teeth into it. Egg pie just like the old days when quality and good taste was the most important thing. My sisters said the cassava cake was equally good and heavenly! Not so sweet and you won't worry the roots would get in between your teeth because it was finely made. And, oh, by the way, Jacobina biscuits are also available in the US at selected Filipino Stores.

When we thought we're going straight home, we dropped by Ilog Maria Honeybee Farm. For years I have been wanting to go to this place. Finally!

I bought myself some stuff to bring back here in SG. Few things to try out such as candle, honey cider vinegar, honey propolis throat spray, propolis bath salt with eucalyptus and clay soap for acne. I chose the clay type soap vs the glycerin based because it is said glycerin can be comedogenic. My friend  already gave me virgin honey, honey propolis shampoo, peppermint soap, face oil and peppermint oil so what I bought are great addition to my Ilog Maria stock. I love Ilog Maria products. I wish I can hoard all of them. I'll have to share my reviews on each products in a separate post because honestly right now, I feel sleepy.

I enjoyed that quick trip to Tagaytay with my father and siblings.

Jacobina - La Noceda Products. Inc.

78 Gen. Luna St., Mendez Cavite

Ilog Maria Honeybee Farms

Aguinaldo Hi-way, Silang, Cavite

Making Your Money Work

On my flight back here in SG I overheard my fellow Pinoys talking about looking for other means to earn aside from the fixed income or salary that they get from their jobs. I politely asked them if I could say something about it because not telling what I know is like a disservice on helping others even a little on financial literacy. I mentioned to them about mutual funds which could be another option to savings.

I guess many of us have savings or even time deposits in a bank. We are all aware of how little the interests are. It would be luck if we'd get 2% per annum. I myself have an account which gives me about 500 pesos interest but deducts a hundred due to tax. Funny isn't it? Almost insane. That's why hubby and I diversified our money and invested it in mutual funds.

What is mutual funds? In how I understand it, it is a pool of money from people which the fund manager or financial expert invests it to bonds, stocks, money markets, treasury bonds, and others. Basically, you entrust your money to the company and hoping that it would earn interest as the market performs.

I have invested in AXA Honeypot in 2008. AXA Honeypot is a Lump Sum mutual fund where in you invest a certain amount of money up front and looks into a 3 to 5 years investment. I am so glad that even without doing anything, despite the financial crisis the past years, my money has earned me about 50% to date! You can never have that in any bank. Back then I was a little apprehensive of letting go of that money thinking that AXA might also close down like other investing or insurance company. But, since it has partnership with Metrobank I took the big risk.

When we have seen how I could make my money work for us, hubby and I looked for other mutual fund companies. We now have Philam Strategic Growth Fund, PhilEquity Fund and the latest, FAMI - First Metro Asset Management, Inc.

It is not really hard to understand mutual funds and there are a lot of sites where you can learn the benefit of investing in mutual funds. If you have your regular job and stock trading is not for you then this is the best option you can get. You can have professional management of your hard earned money. So, you can go about your day without having to check on the stocks/bonds/market performance or the financial news.

Now, you shouldn't get so excited and rush to invest all your hard earned money. One of the major thing before investing is knowing yourself. Ask yourself how much are you willing to pay yourself? Is lump sum investment for you or Peso Cost Averaging? How long are you willing to invest? 3 years? 5 years? or until you retire? You have to be specific. It is also important that you have an emergency fund before you put your money in the pot. This would help you feel more secured knowing you still have other pockets to dig into.

It is equally important to check on the company you want to entrust your money to. Study the performance of the company and the fund managers. It would be the best choice if the company have continuous positive performance for the last five years. Before we got into other mutual fund companies, I searched the 'top mutual funds in the Philippines'. Google gladly provided me with several blogs and official sites that lists the top mutual funds in the Philippines and the percent yields for the past 3 to 5 years. This is how I got to know about FAMI with Mr. Gus Cosio as the fund manager.

In our family of ten, only my brother and I are into this kind of investing. I am glad that before my parents left for work in Riyadh I was able to convince them to save up in mutual funds. I really hope all of us, and our children, would be able to open up an account in mutual funds to make money work faster. To not let all the money waste sleeping in the banks or worse spend them all without saving up for the future.

helpful sites:

Ready To Be Rich

Millionaire Acts

Investment Philippines

Katinko

It is so nice to be back after a month's stay in the Philippines. I don't call it a vacation because I was out and about in Metro Manila, taking in all the pollution in the area and the hot sunny weather which all caused me to be a little under the weather. I had sore throat, few bouts of headache and dry cough. Up to this day I still have cough but so happy that my sore throat is gone.

Last night, hubby and I were in bed at about 10:30pm but I couldn't sleep because of my cough and sore throat. I was trying to ease it by drinking water but it helped only for a few minutes plus I need to visit the restroom more often. We both couldn't sleep until hubby suggested that I apply Katinko on my throat and chest since we couldn't find Vicks vaporub. I was skeptical because it is a pain and itch ointment but since it has a menthol ingredient I gave in and I am desperate to relive this itchy throat and this cough.

I applied little amount of Katinko on my throat and chest. The menthol is not overpowering and does not leave a hot sensation when applied. Guess what?! I was able to sleep undisturbed! I was able to get the rest that I need. I don't know if it was the one that did the trick but I was sure glad that it helped! It was true to its promise to stop pain and itchiness! Even your itchy throat! hahaha!  

Book Review: Life's Little Detours by Regina Brett

We were browsing through a flyer from a bookstore when we saw one book featured with this title: Life's Litte Detours: 50 Lessons to Find and Hold onto Happiness by Regina Brett. We checked the reviews and ratings on Amazon and it was 4-5 stars. So, we decided to buy it as gifts to our friends. That same day we bought it. There was only one copy left so we decided that have this for ourselves. I sure glad we did it because it was as if a gift to ourselves because this book woke me up again to find and hold on to the happiness I deserve and already have.

I have long told myself that I won't be buying any inspirational or self-help book because what they say is always the same. Words such as 'seize the day', 'life is what you make it', 'happiness is a decision' et cetera have been written millions of times, I guess since paper and pen were invented. This book was bought as a gift but we decided to read it just to check if its worth reading and giving. And it was! It is! I couldn't put the little book down.

Life's Little Detours by Regina Brett is a 245-page little book, no bigger than my hand, written originally as a column in the Plain Dealer and the Beacon Journal. After surviving cancer, Regina Brett, then 45, reflected on all the life that taught her and when she hit 50 she added five more lessons thus, came the book.

I love how the author narrated anecdotes and short stories to convey her reflections on each lessons. I find it easy to read because each chapter, lessons, has only about 2-3 pages. So you can actually go back to any chapter that you feel like reading again without taking too much time. The words she used are simple, easy and no need for a dictionary by your side. 

The lessons in the book are things which we already know but worth reminding us because sometimes we get too caught up with all the noise and clutters in our lives. I am moved with one of the chapter 'Make peace with your past so it doesn't screw up your present'. This totally make sense to me. I have issues with authority. There are times when I get stiff, frozen and couldn't say a word when someone who is older than me raises his/her voice which I see as an authority. I wanted so much to speak every time it happens but my thoughts just won't get out of my mouth. It took me years, after some retreats and two-month personality workshop to get into terms with it. I realized that that behavior of mine can be traced back to one incident when I was about 10 years old.

I was doing an errand for my mother. I was not able to understand it correctly and when she saw me doing things otherwise she shouted at me, stared violently as if I have done a treacherous thing, and called me 'tanga'. Recalling that moment, I think I don't feel like crying at that time but I can't speak up nor did I even say sorry or explain or whatever. I just couldn't talk and just do what she asked me to do the right way.

That was years and years ago. Mother have changed a lot and I know she loves me even back then. But, that incident made a dent in me that unknowingly affected how I deal with people with authority. After realizing that, it liberated me, made me deal with that kind of situation as a grown up and not as a 10-year old girl.

I could go on and on with all the realizations I had from this book but I don't want to bore you. I highly recommend that you get a hold of this for yourself or as a gift. It made me smile, laugh and teary eyed. Life's Little Detours could definitely be something you'd pick up whenever you're having the blues and things just don't seem right. And, oh, by the way, it also has about two chapters about finances. So it actually covers most of our life areas.