[sponsored review] MyGenLife Beauty Collagen Nectar Drink

Here's the other Collagen product, similarly sponsored by the very nice Sample Store lol. They actually have 5 different kinds of drinks - Collagen, Slimming, Detox, Whitening, and Bustful. I had hoped to get the Slimming or Bustful one but oh wells. =X

It comes in a box of 6 glass bottles. This beauty collagen nectar drink uses an intensive formula to improve the water binder that helps to keep your skin supple, radiant and firm. Main ingredients include fish-derived collagen (with the highest concentration of 12,000mg), green tea, mangoesteen, and optiberry (a unique blend of blueberry, strawberry, cranberry, elderberry and raspberry). 

My take on it: So convenient. I pop a bottle in the fridge and it becomes nice and refreshing to take before I go to bed. With so many berries, it's no wonder it tastes so sweet, though a teeny weeny too sweet for me. The texture is also slightly thicker than I would have preferred, but overall still very nice to drink. And as with all supplements, long-term intake is needed before seeing results.

MyGenLife drinks are available at Guardians or Hannah Holdings at $49.90 per box.

Christmas 2013

Christmas is important to me. As are all public holidays. Because, IT'S A PUBLIC HOLIDAY! Lol.

But it was a quiet affair this year. On the eve, we had a mini 'celebration' at the office. They ordered KFC and Canadian pizza. ALL MEAT FML. Then the gift 'lucky draw'. With a measly $10 budget, unlucky me picked a dumbass cup that's probably worth $2. Don't give me the 'it's the thought that counts' crap. =)

Best part of the celebration - half day! I was expecting to wait for SSD but turns out he had half day too! Unfortunately, we had booked the movie for 6.30pm. -_- 

Lunch was at Sushi Express. Satisfied craving for torched salmon belly. Definitely easier to get plates of them during lunch. Had 5-6 plates of sashimi too. They seem to be of a better quality than the buffet I had last Saturday. (We had buffet at Rendezvous Hotel to celebrate both my aunts' birthday. It was rather expensive, very few selections, majority meat dishes, and sashimi quality was bad bad bad. On par with Irodori.) 

Then slacked the afternoon away at Starbucks. Tried the white chocolate mocha and it was sweet like hell. Shall stick to my recent discovery, camomile tea instead. ^^

We watched Police Story 2013. I was mad sleepy and was expecting to struggle to stay awake. But it was surprisingly interesting to watch. I hated the ah tiong accents everywhere though. Oh ya, if you've read the storyline, don't be fooled by it. It looks complicated, but it's actually very simple and easy to follow. =)

Then went home to sleep. And slept the next day away too. So that sums up my Christmas this year. I'm hoping the countdown next week will be more interesting but knowing myself, I suppose we'll go for dinner and then slack at home. =X

[sponsored review] ITOH Collagen Powder

Did you know that our body's collagen level decreases rapidly after the age of 25? Well unfortunately I'm past that age and it's been awhile since my collagen powder supply ran out. So I was absolutely delighted when Sample Store sponsored me a box of it. 

Each box contains 14 sachets and each sachet has 3000mg of collagen powder. It's color-less, tasteless, non-sugar, and non-fat, and can easily be dissolved into any drink or soup.

Some Q&A...

Where is the collagen extracted from?

Our low molecular collagen powder is extracted from healthy pigskin and cartilage, which are tested by Japan SPF standard. Besides, fat and gelatin are removed through high purification technology. Hence ITOH collagen is safe and tasteless. 

How to apply in daily life?

ITOH collagen can be added directly to hot soup, food or drinks such as coffee, juice, milk or water.

Is there any suggested dosage / intake per day?

Take 1 - 3 sachets per day. This collagen is approved by FAO and WHO, making it very safe to consume.

When is the best time to consume collagen?

Take it on an empty stomach any time. The best time to consume is before sleeping or with an empty stomach. 

How long will one see results from consuming ITOH collagen?

As ITOH collagen is formulated  through high purification, it can be easily assimilated by our body system. Hence, result is usually visible after 1-2 weeks. But it may vary with individual. 

Who needs collagen? 

ITOH collagen is natural and free of chemical compositions. It's suitable for anyone except vegetarians.

My take on it:  The individual sachets make it very easy and convenient. Most of the time I mix it together with my tea at night but if I forget, I can always take one along to work and mix it with my morning coffee. I wouldn't really recommend adding it to water though. I tried that once and although it's stated tasteless, it wasn't. =X I also like that it's non-fat, very important since I've very unfortunately put on a couple of kgs since my ROM. T_T No visible results yet since I've only been taking it for a few times (rotating with another collagen product; review coming up soon too).

ITOH Collagen Powder is available at Guardians for $49.90 per box.

Staycation at Riverview Hotel

SSD and I celebrated our 4th year anniversary last weekend. We had a staycation at Riverview Hotel plus Japanese buffet dinner. Personally I find that hotel pretty inconvenient but no choice since SSD can have free upgrades there. Boo.

Here’s the Executive Club Room. Quite alright, except the TV was horrible. We were stuck with channel 8 most of the time. But lucky we brought lots of Running Man on the ipad! Lol.

Dinner was at Irodori. Seated smack in the middle (something I don’t like) so no photos. It used to be my favorite Japanese buffet place. Read, USED TO. I was really disappointed this time. Food either took ages to arrive, or was served wrongly. Sure it was packed full, but that’s no excuse eh?

And the food quality! Oh my, the salmon sashimi was terrible. Okay to be fair it was edible. BUT. NOT. NICE! Coming from a Japanese restaurant, the sashimi looked pretty ugly. Some of it weren’t even sashimi quality I think. Greedy me ordered too much and in the end we had to play 中及密碼 for it. Quite spoil appetite.

To be fair let’s see what was nice. The complimentary shrimps were okay. So were the zaru soba and salmon handroll. And the salads. And some mushrooms. Oh and the teapot soup. We got a few pots even though the taste isn’t as good as before. The rest were just meh. =(

So Irodori, we’ve had some great times together, but I guess it’s over. It’s not me, it’s you. You’re just not worth the effort (and money) anymore.

Then enjoyed 4pm late checkout the next day. ^^v

Taiwan day 11 - Xi Men Ding & Home Sweet Home

Last day in Taiwan! Damn sad. Our plan was just Xi Men Ding, so went searching for breakfast nearby first. Settled for this uninteresting noodle shop, but it was quite good! And cheap too. Sorry my 炸醬麵 looks very unappetizing. =\

 

Xi Men Ding is just one metro stop away, at Ximen Station. Had lots of people shopping there considering it’s a Friday morning. These people no need to work? =| Then shopped around lol. Quite boring IMO since the stuff there is considerably much more expensive than elsewhere.

Headed straight for Ah Zong's. I kept hinting SSD to have another bowl before we left, but he don't want. So sad. And finally had him try the famous 嚎大大雞排. We didn’t have that the other time cos the queue was too long. And yes I ate that. Quite a lot even. =| And my last 炸蛋蔥油餅. I know it’s just roti prata with egg but somehow it tastes so much nicer.

Went to get braised duck wings before heading back to the hotel. Side note: it was my second time getting these since my family seemed to like them. Quite expensive but they’re rather big. And they have the frozen ones which can last for about 8 hours thereafter. But if you get them, do make sure to check. My MIL got a box too and subsequently found out they had packed chicken gizzards by mistake. Oops.

Did some last minute packing at the hotel lobby (they have a rather big seating area at the back) and off we went to the airport! Took a cab this time since we had so much to carry. And checked in!

Last meal of Taiwan trip – airplane food! Personally I really don’t think it’s worth getting the food. Freaking expensive for such a small portion. Furthermore I saw people eating food they brought up (like Macs -_-).

Arrived back in Singapore after midnight and guess what we found!? My luggage was missing its ‘legs’, SSD’s zip was dented, and MIL’s had a huge crack. Well, silly us didn’t think of reporting it at once, since it was so late already. The next day when we called, we were told that once we left the airport, we cannot make the claim anymore. Like WTF lah. *Pui* So if you happen to kena (touchwood), make sure you report immediately!

Sigh. It took me almost a month to finish blogging about the trip. Can’t say I felt very enthusiastic about it. Not exactly a waste of time but I didn’t exactly enjoy it either. Like seriously, who on earth goes on a honeymoon with the mother-in-law? Oh wells, guess I just have to look forward to Hong Kong next year. =(

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Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11
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Taiwan day 10 - Windows On China & Shida Night Market

Today was a ‘free’ day which we initially planned for Wulai. But since we had special 1-for-1 vouchers for Windows on China from the Taiwan Tourism, we decided to head there instead. There is a direct bus there from Zhongxiao Dunhua station. Do note that upon coming up to street level, you have to cross opposite to the center bus stop. We didn’t know at first and waited at the one on the same side. 30-40 mins later, the bus came and we were told of our mistake by the driver. So we had to go opposite and wait another 30-40mins. Tsk.

Windows on China (小人國) is basically a theme park with some water slides. Its main attractions are the miniature buildings on display. Can't remember how much exactly the tickets cost, but I think the total was around NT1200 (SGD52). Quite expensive I would say, as we reached there shortly after 3pm and the park closes at 5. -_-

I’ll just post random photos of the place. The miniature stuff were so cute! And the boats and trains and vehicles could also move. Quite realistic I must say. After Taiwan and China section, you could also take the train to another part for the Europe and Asia section.

We finished exploring the park before 5pm, so it wasn’t very big. The restaurants inside close at like, 3pm? No wonder the tickets are so expensive. If not can’t survive. Boo.

Next, we moved on to Shida Night Market, via 5-10min walking distance from Taipower Building Station. I had heard of many positive reviews but it was a huge disappointment. There were very little food stalls; majority were shopping. And of the food we ate, only the mee sua and crepes were nice. Personally I wouldn’t waste time going there at all.

We left with hungry tummies and on the way back to the metro station, we dined at a random restaurant specializing in 鍋貼 and shrimp dumplings. Everything was nice, except the beef noodles.

We over-ordered 鍋貼/dumplings and had to dabao some back and when I ate them later, STILL VERY NICE! The filling was meat. Can you imagine how much meat I ate this trip?! And…I kinda miss the food there. =(

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Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11
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Back to Jai Thai...again?

Following my previous visit to Jai Thai, I dropped by a couple of days ago for the green curry again, this time with SSD. We got the set for two ($19), with additional green curry ($5), mango salad ($5) and iced coffee/tea ($2.50 each). Their individual sets are really worth it but the ala carte seems a little….expensive?

Anyway.

The mango salad was especially spicy this time and so was the tomyum soup, although I wouldn’t really recommend ordering it on its own. Green curry was still as yummy as ever. Probably the best or one of the best I’ve ever eaten. ^^ The fish was a little unexpected. Not a lot of meat but it was nice and crispy. =)

Darn I kinda miss the Thai buffet we had. Boo.