A day of vanities

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

As a member of Cozycot, I cant help but to notice that the regular announcements of events for the members to participate. These events range from health, to beauty to fitness.

I was curious to see how these events went, hence I clicked to RSVP one of the event - the grand opening of Anthony Hair Boutique. I thought that it would be interesting to see the various hair demonstrations.

Rinaz and Anthony Tang of Anthony Hair Boutique

I met the owner of the boutique and celebrity hairdresser, Anthony Tang and was impressed by his repertoire, his team has won the international hair dresser competition for 5 consecutive year.

But nothing beats seeing the master crafting his work in front of you. He did 5 hairstyles in 5 - 10 minutes each!


Grand Finale from rinaz on Vimeo.

I am duly floored.

Claudia informed me of a Majorlica makeover and I couldnt help but to say yes! I love makeovers :-)

The makeover was held at Takashimaya. Unfortunately, when I reached Orchard, it was raining heavily. When I arrived, I was rather unglamorously soaked that Nadnut and Claudia looked a little shocked at my disposition.

But no matter.

Pamela of Sisheido and Rinaz

I met Sisheido representative, Pamela, and under her meticulous care, did my makeover for me.

This is me before :

Rinaz before makeover

And this is after the makeover :

Claudia, Rinaz and Nadnut at Majolica Majorca makeover

I think we look really really good. Nadnut looks sexeh vavavoom! Claudia looks extremely lovely. And I’ve never seen my eyes has ever looked that large before. A little scary, no? :P

Sidenote : Congratulations to the Singapore team for winning the first Brand’s Blogger Mental Challenge :-)

Sidenote 2 : Any ladies interested in participating in a makeup course for about $15 - $25? Only thing is, we need a minimum group of 10 to start.

Why I am not participating in the Brands Blogger Challenge

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

Personally for me, I’ve always been interested in how the brain functions.

I find it fascinating at how some people have such great memory that they were able to recollect a list without hesitation. Thus that is why one of the person that I look up to is Tony Buzan - a person who is well known for his Mind Mapping Techniques and Memory Skills.

Tony Buzan Use Your Head

In fact when I have a child, I’m contemplating on using the Glenn Doman or even the Suchida method of growing up my baby. I think that it would be very beneficial.

Suchida uses mental powers

Regardless, I still do not feel confident of my memory skills. There are days when I just blank out completely.

So when Burson-Marsteller contacted me into participating in the Brand’s Singapore-Malaysia Blogger’s mental challenge, while other bloggers were excited about it, I just freaked out.

What if they asked really difficult IQ questions with difficult mathematical calculations that only a rocket scientist could answer? I’d be such a disgrace to all of the Singapore blogger community.

Brands Singapore Malaysia Blogger Challenge

Recently, I received a pack containing two weeks worth of Brands Chicken Essence which was very thoughtful, as it was one of the things that I consumed especially during my school examination period.

But my palpitations started again when I opened the ‘Brain Training Kit’

Brands Singapore Malaysia Blogger Challenge

Brands Singapore Malaysia Blogger Challenge

These are two of the 9 practice cards. I don’t even know where to start. Can I really do this? Just looking at the cards is stressful.

Rinaz Cry

Thank goodness the organizers told me later that due to overwhelming popularity, I was exempted from the challenge. I took a deep breath of gratitude. Phew!

Regardless, I would love to come down to support the event. If you are interested in it too, it will be held on the 3rd of December from 11am - 1pm at Geek Terminal :-)

Do you like mental challenges? What do you think?

I’ve never painted my room before

Monday, November 24th, 2008

For a very long time, my room was a shade of pink.

Rinaz Paint Job

But after numerous naggings constructive criticism by my mum to spruce it up in time for the wedding, I finally picked up the paintbrush and started painting my room.

Rinaz Paint Job

I’ve never painted before. After several advices from my friend on painting techniques, I dipped the brush in the paint and drew the brush up and down.

It was surprisingly therapeutic. It was like doing a giant pedicure.

Rinaz Paint Job

And after 2 days of musty clothes, splattered slacks and several cold drinks …

Rinaz Paint Job

My new wall! I know this is probably very mundane but I’m so proud of myself. I think it looks pretty good for someone who’s never painted before.

What do you think? :-)

Countdown to solemnization

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

This is it.

Less than 30 days to our solemnization.

At this point of time, I’m still scurrying on some things that needs to be tied up. My dad’s been busy sending the wedding cards, mum’s been busy with sewing clothes and I’ve been busy mostly with the processing of the documents needed for the marriage.

And honestly, I feel so unprepared and unready for the whole ceremony. I worry sometimes that in the end, we could not get married for something that I forgotten to do. Lately I’ve been having anxiety attacks over the entire events.

But I’m not having cold feet. I love him very much. He has been so kind and patient, gentle and loving to me. And though I don’t know what the future brings for me, I cannot wait for to spend the rest of my days with him.

Cart and Rinaz in Sorrento

Just a bit more dearest, we can do it :)

How to eat Edamame Beans

Thursday, November 13th, 2008

I was at Sakura International Buffet some weeks back.

Sakura International Buffet at Clementi Woods, Singapore

There was a wide variety of food there, ranging from Sushi, to Pizza to desserts. I had a blast of a time, trying out the different food there.

And that was when I saw it - edamame beans.

Edamame Beans
Picture courtesy of Aloalosabine

Looks very cute doesn’t it?

Having heard of the virtues of edamame beans, I was very keen to give them a try. Excitedly, I took a plateful. It looked similar to a french bean. Innocently, I put the entire bean in my mouth.

It was horrible! It wasn’t like french beans at all! The skin was fuzzy, making it feel like I had caterpillars in my mouth and no matter how much I chew, the skin still remained fibrous.

Urgh!

It was only on my second visit that I found out that you’re supposed to squeeze the beans out of the pod to eat them. The video below shows you how to eat edamame beans. And hopefully, you don’t experience what I had :P


How to eat Edamame beans from rinaz on Vimeo

Have you ever had a similar experience to mine?

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy :

Stickrinaz in Malaysia

Thursday, November 6th, 2008

Recently Stickrinaz headed to JB all by herself! Read her adventures below :)

Adventures of Stickrinaz

Adventures of Stickrinaz

Adventures of Stickrinaz

Adventures of Stickrinaz

Adventures of Stickrinaz

Adventures of Stickrinaz

Adventures of Stickrinaz

Adventures of Stickrinaz

Next time I’ll leave at dawn!

Sidenote : All the RL pics shown are snapped using the Samsung Innov8.

Other stickrinaz adventures :

Bintan Resort Lagoon - 2 days in paradise (part 2)

Monday, November 3rd, 2008

Contrary to what Moby said about Bintan Lagoon Resort rooms facing the sea being haunted, Geri and I slept soundly with no disturbances and woke up refreshed. At 6am, it was a beautiful morning, with the sun shining brightly.

Beautiful Morning in Bintan Lagoon Resort

Initially, we wanted to go cycling, but there were none available at that particular time, so we decided to go for a jog around the resort. It wasn’t an easy track for us as it went uphill and down. We went past the villas, the beach and back to the activity center. It was so tiring that I’m embarrassed that I feel so unfit.

Cakes and Desserts at Kopi O

After my ordeal, we washed up and got ready to go have breakfast at the resort cafe, Kopi-O where a beautiful buffet was ready. There were loads of lovely intercontinental food there. I enjoyed my breakfast so much that I had forgotten to take a picture of my plate.

Geri eating omelette

As we ate, I looked outside the window. It was a nice view - to see the greenery and water catchment outside of the window. But then I spotted a man sitting precariously at the edge of the pond. I remember that the the pond was rather steep and for some while, I felt alarmed.

Man on a steep pond at Bintan lagoon Resort

Regardless, he looked very confident and comfortable with his stance and we left him to his own devices.

After our breakfast, all of us couldn’t wait to head to the beach to play. It was such a lovely morning. Immediately, we jumped on our buggies and headed off to the sea!

If the sea was lovely at night time, it was breathtaking in the day! It was beautiful bright blue and the soothing sound of the waves greeted us. We couldn’t help ourselves but to run around on the beach.

Beautiful Bintan Lagoon Beach

I kicked off my slippers and went around barefooted. The sands were soft. It was like walking on brown coloured flour.

Beautiful Bintan Lagoon Beach

Gorgeousness!

Below is a short video clip on the trip to the beach :


Il Mare at Bintan Lagoon from rinaz on Vimeo

We were so enamored by the beach that we started jumping around.

First it was me

Beautiful Bintan Lagoon Beach

And then Geri joined in

Beautiful Bintan Lagoon Beach

And then Jenjen!

Beautiful Bintan Lagoon Beach

It was like High School Musical. Haha!

We had such a riot on the beach. But we did not stay too long as the weather seemed too hot after a while. Thus, after our beach revelry, we headed to the Leisure Center where we played with ATV’s!

Jenjen on Quad Bike
Here is Jenjen on a Quad Bike

This was another first for me as I’ve never ridden on a quad bike before. Having used to my scooter, the feeling of riding a quad bike was similar but slightly different compared to motorcycles as the roads that we are able to go through are bumpier! Impossible for regular motorcycles. We went through different terrains, some sandy areas, some jungly like.

I had so much fun running through the different terrains! Even if I did crash into some vegetation, it was still awesome zooming around on the quad bike. I love the the feeling!

Here is a short video of our encounter with the Quad Bikes :


ATV Ride from rinaz on Vimeo

Our exciting ATV rides has made us work up an appetite and not before too long, we were treated to a lovely lunch at the Miyako Japanese Restaurant.

The restaurant was nicely decorated with clean, natural and green furnishings. For me, it invoked a sense of serenity being in the place.

And soon our foods arrived! I love Japanese food! Yummy!

Miyako Japanese Restaurants at Bintan Resort Lagoon

I remember liking the grilled mackerel a lot. It was very flavorful and tasty. Not to mention the delicious Tuna Sashimi! A dab of shoyu and wasabi and I was slurping on pure happiness. I wished my tempura was less oily, but nevertheless, it was still nice to eat anyways.

Miyako Japanese Restaurant at Bintan Lagoon Resort

And before we knew it, it was time to pack up and get ready to head for home. And reluctantly we said goodbye to our beautiful deluxe room, goodbye to the buggies and goodbye to the beautiful island of Bintan.

Sea Ferry from Bintan Island
Snapped using my Innov8

Thank you so much Felicia, Sari and everyone for the warm hospitality. Geri and I really enjoyed our stay. The break was truly a step in paradise :)

Geri and Rinaz

Have you ever been to Bintan before? What do you think of it?

Link :

Sidenote : I went to Larkin on my own on the scooter! I’m so proud of myself!