The March Shipment

March has come and gone. And now, even April too. I mean hey, next week and woot! Labour Day long weekend!

"名前無いの花" and "Random: Test Subject Number 001"

'Tis been awhile since I made anything. Work had been hectic (as always) and the only thing which I want to do after work is sleep (not a good habit in my opinion).

And it didn't help when Hubs went on 2 weeks of re-service (he's back by the way, thank God). There are still some stuffs at work which I am not very good at (am trying my best, but doesn't help when I am not that much of a technical person by nature) and sometimes, that becomes quite a frustration that the only thing I want to do is sleep it off (again, I mentioned, not a good habit).

So when the man went off on a full day mobilisation exercise on Saturday two weeks back, I told myself that this can't go on and sat down to work.

2 pieces (by the way "名前無いの花" basically translates into "A Flower With No Name"), not much. But I am pleased because, new materials from my recent March shipment haha!

まるで宝箱見たいなハハ。

To an artist, perhaps paints, paintbrushes, fountain pens and paper are his greatest treasures. And to a surgeon, perhaps his well-trained hands, nimble and steady fingers, trusty scalpel and meticulously sterilised surgical tools. To a crafter, any new materials is like a miracle waiting to happen, a myriad of possibilities of creations yet unformed.

At least to me, everytime I receive a parcel of new materials, I'll be squeeing like some young highschool girl. No I'm serious, that's what happened when I receive the above - what I have so affectionately dubbed as "the crafter's treasure box".

Long ago, before I met my very good friend doubled over as an equally reliable and capable agent, I spent most of my days holed up in the material shops at Textile Centre, Arab Street, People's Park Centre (Mui Huay and Brighton) and those at North Bridge Road - namely KME and Lai Nguang. Granted there were numerous rare finds and hidden gems found in these shops, but most of the time, I don't dare to buy much because they are actually quite costly even for small purchases. Every material run always ends up in me blowing $50 and above.

Hubs was always commenting that some of my works looked kinda "cheap" because of the materials used. Although I firmly believe that it's not the cost of the materials which dictates a crafter's work quality, but the level of skills the crafter personally possess, but to a certain extent, I can't help but feel that in my attempt to scrimp on material costs, some of my works does look and feel a little under-whelming as a result.

I am not abashed to say that my excessive stinginess on material expenditure stemmed from the fact that my previous job, though enjoyable, had quite a low wage (owing to the fact that I only worked 2 days per week) and Hubs's previous job was, though tough, paid according to the wages of a temp. I'd rather spend the majority of my wages on food (doesn't help that I'm a foodie) and daily necessities and expenses than on materials which, though would look perfect on some of the works I've had in mind for a while, comes with a hefty price tag half the time.

Not to mention, some of the materials I require weren't readily available in Singapore, especially those Gothic and Victorian headdresses I had so often referenced and drew inspiration from.

Until I got on to my current job, though not a walk in the park (as it is for all other jobs out there I'm sure), is relatively better paid. And after some well guided tips from my agent, I started to get the hang of Taobao and gained access to the materials which I had been wanting to get my hands on for so long. The hats (the one which you see I used in my creation above) were quite a commodity on our local soils, where Sin Hin Chuan Kee (the HQ near Textile Centre and another branch within Textile Centre itself) sells them for $2 apiece. Not only colours were limited, half the time I can never find the colours I want - namely black, white, red, blue and maroon. Not to mention, once they get sold out, they will never bring them in again.

I saved alot more money through Taobao too (of course, you got to know your way through the shipping costs), especially through batch orders done together with Jade Sis and my agent.

I do get questions on how do I find time to craft while I am holding on to a day job. Yes, I admit I slowed down alot on crafting since starting on my current job just four months back, but I started to understand why it wasn't exactly possible to survive on my jewelry production alone. At least in my opinion, there must be at least a part-time job for sustenance while maintaining craft work. It's like, money has to be pumped in in order for a self-made production to work no, like a start-up fund or something.

Or to put it in a more conventional sense, at least something for one to fall back on as a safety net. Well, perhaps that it the more cautious and paranoid part of me speaking haha.

This batch is more of a hairband headdress materials batch (whose quantity of materials can easily cost more than $100 - $200 if bought locally, but no, whatever you see here are pretty much lower than that). I happened to chance upon those shiny aluminium hairbands and was totally sold at first sight. These hairbands are rare! Even more so are their black aluminium versions. The most common ones I can find locally are black acrylic ones.

Of course, the same shop which I found the aluminium hairbands in offer wrapped type of hairbands too. These are extremely expensive here, like $8 for 10 pieces of standard 4mm thickness in assorted colours? And as mentioned, "assorted colours" - which meant that you will end up buying colours which you don't want.

Those beautiful and delectable midnight blue, ebony and blood red satin and chiffon roses of 4cm size are a perfect fit for my hat and hairband headdresses. I used to be able to get similar roses (in a pack of 12 for $6, where the brooch backing could be easily pried off because it's adhered to the rose with a glue gun) until someone came up with the smart idea of sprinkling them with glitter in outrageous mis-matched colours and selling them separately as tacky-looking brooches for $2 apiece.

What pleases me most here are the clear rhinestones and plated old gold wreathed pearl and acrylic centrepieces. The affordability of these material parts expands the creative possibility and scope of my creations. Some of those oval pieces could be found on local soils in similar versions, but often come with a hefty price tag which makes me hesitate to even use them.

The skeleton lady cameos are the direct opposite of the commonly found Victorian lady bust cameos. An interesting twist, which is why I got them for my more macabre-themed creations hehe.

And I am pleasantly surprised by the extra (but equally as pretty-looking) piece mixed amongst the silver heart-filigreed pieces. Perhaps meant for a special bespoke piece? Haha!

As you can guess, the two headdresses you see featured here are made with my current batch of materials too! That exquisite-looking lace on the hairband headdress is from Hong Kong, bought by Jade Sis on her HK trip a few years back. And that bird-nest charm? It's from my very first Taobao batch and I believe some of you have seen some of the charms from that batch used on my ICDS headdress collection last year - Surgeon's Sirens: The Healer, The Dancer, The Scientist and The Seamstress.

Looking forward to my next batch of materials as always haha!

Gold Kili Matcha Latte

Boring title, but at least I got my main topic across.

But before that, I've been sun and wind drying mandarin oranges all week and I've friends asking, albeit with curiousity, why do I make dried mandarin orange peels.

And of all times of the year, now.

Let's see, the sweltering sun and the consistent sea and land breezes now make the perfect weather condition for making dried mandarin orange peels. Like I've mentioned, sun and wind drying, where the fragrance of the mandarin orange gets locked in effectively and yes, my my, they smell really lovely now with their own zesty scent immersed fully with the essence of the sun.

Orange or Mandarin Orange peels are a common sight at trad medicinal halls because they're believed to contain really useful and effective medicinal qualities ("橙皮" anyone?). Not only do they add a tangy dash of flavour to trad Chinese desserts like the red bean soup, they make a tasty snack on their own as well.

Before I left my house yesterday early afternoon, I had put out two more Mandarin Orange skin to dry (it's somewhat my own family's trait of peeling them into the shape of, ahem, "Patrick the Starfish" ha) and as you can see here, just merely one day had passed and they're dried almost to perfection. I feel a sense of accomplishment here, thanks to the weather conditions which we don't love as much, but is an absolute god-send to sun-dried natural ingredients.

We speak of fruits and that, makes me think of Miyazaki (宮崎県), famous for their signature tropical mangoes. At least that's what I heard from the representative of Miyazaki prefecture yesterday during our お喋り会 (to make a loose translation, "conversation/cultural exchange session"). I'm never exactly a hardcore fan of this juicy orangey fruit because it makes me feel really "heaty" even after having some of it, although admittedly, its goopy sweet goodness is very addictive.

I really appreciate this opportunity my school extended to me and my fellows, where so far we've had sessions with representatives from Sakai (Osaka City), Kagoshima Prefecture and Tokyo. If not for our school's first time partnership with CLAIR (The Japan Council of Local Authorities for International Relations, Singapore), we wouldn't have been able to have such an enjoyable session with Usa-san - representative of Miyazaki Prefecture and Nori-san - representative of Niigata Prefecture (新潟県). I believe those two are somewhat good friends as Nori-san kept like jabbing Usa-san, in a way where he kept emphasizing that her name's U.S.A (stands for "United States of America" too, if you get my drift).

I really like the both of them, as they were not only very friendly and open, they showed genuine interest and inquisitiveness when the 9 of us were trying our best to relate our experiences in Japan and our hobbies and ourselves as a whole in as much as our Japanese language knowledge and training could allow. They were very patient to guide us and tried their best to satisfy our curiousity about the prefectures they represent. while at the same time trying to make sense of our English (because most of us ended up lapsing back into using English to converse as we weren't exactly very sure yet of expressions in the Japanese language).

I like the part where Nori-san was explaining to us the phenomenon of snow monkeys immersing themselves into the onsens in Niigata prefecture. The way he expressed the snow monkeys seeking the comfort of heat in the onsens due to the icy cold conditions was really animated and funny.

Nori-san and Usa-san are going back to their prefectures soon, as CLAIR is somewhat like, as Nori-san had tried his utmost best to explain to us, an extension of the Japan Tourism Board of sorts in Singapore, where representatives from all prefectures were sent by their respective governors to Singapore to promote their prefectures and their term in Singapore is quite a substantial long period before they have to go back to switch with another representative. It's kinda like shift work, if you ask me.

It's a pity that I didn't get to hear more from the representatives about themselves and the prefectures they are promoting (what we got to know from them was actually quite surface, in my opinion), mainly because I guess there's 9 of us this time and this 2 hour session is like not exactly enough, in a sense whereby everyone of us are very eager to share and express our thoughts and experiences, which kinda resulted in the representatives not having enough time to share and impart more.

Nori-san, Usa-san, please take care and have a safe journey home as we all really enjoyed your company! Usa-san, congratulations on your son and we hope to see him soon! ざひまたシンガポールへ来てください！

Jade Sis had to get some home essentials at Suntec Giant after that, where while I was just wandering around waiting for her, I happened to chance upon this suspicious-looking pack of Matcha Latte by Gold Kili.

"Suspicious" because it's instant. And all instant stuffs have the very high tendency of tasting horrible.

I have had the Matcha Latte at MOS Burgers once out of curiousity and to me, it tasted weird. Which eventually I concluded that it didn't suit my tastebuds.

Now, Gold Kili's Jasmine Green Tea was nothing to be sneezed at. My good friend Sam gave me a pack and up till now I'm still inhaling on it. So yes, it's good stuff, as I've mentioned above. And due to this good impression, I was a little hesitant on whether I should give this instant Matcha Latte a shot. I mean, this is not a tea bag after all but a kinda three-in-one mix like Milo.

And it's $6.50 for 15 long sachets, which somehow turned out to be $5.95. Giant is sure a supermarket of discount surprises ha.

To be honest, I got a little worried when I stared at the seemingly harmless green powder at the bottom of my Nescafe red ceramic cup this morning because I didn't smell any fragrance at all. I mean, there should be at least a bit of fragrance for tea ya as it's their signature trait?

I was prepared for the worst when lo and behold, the fragrance which assailed my nostrils was like a resounding, "Hello, I'm here!" greeting when I poured in hot water to the powder. 3 parts hot water and 1 part warm water later, I was ready to taste this light olivine green brew, whose colour looked pretty soothing and pleasant.

The first sip, the distinct taste of matcha danced along my tastebuds and soon after, permeated my entire being. The milk, which I had feared would be an over-powering factor, didn't turn out as scary as I've thought. It's creamy, no doubt about that, but turns out to be quite balanced and not cloying. There was no unpleasant after-taste or whatsoever afterwards, as the brew is as light as the matcha implied.

The only downside though, is it does make you feel abit dry after you finish it to the last drop. Might need to get a cup of preferably, warm water to wash it down afterwards.

I would say that this Gold Kili Matcha Latte suits individuals with the taste range of light to medium. And as Matcha could be quite an acquired taste to some, it can be quite adventurous to try this out I should say.

Speaking of adventurous, earlier in the week, I spotted a pack of instant Bundung in our office pantry stash. Had been contemplating to try it, if not for the fact that I'm not exactly a fan of that rose syrup and condensed milk concoction.

Teas and Cakes

Or at least these are the top two essentials on my personal list of "Favourites".

I had not heard of "Swee Heng" until I saw one of my friends from my FB list post up photos of their delectable looking rainbow cake (rainbow cake fan here so). That, and she first chanced upon the rainbow cake being featured on this article which basically lists out the cheap food in Singapore which you can get with just S$2.

Honestly, rainbow cake for just S$2? Are you kidding me? The one above which I got from Dean & DeLuca (Orchard Central and also through a friend's recommendation too) is about S$6 - S$7? Nicely layered and each layer have their own unique taste (the ocean blue layer was bleh though). The cake could do with less cream though, because I ended up scraping off all of the top layer (the table next to me, comprising of three very chic-looking girls, all followed suit to their order of rainbow cake, scraping off the scarily thick top layer of cream like I did with the butter knife we were all provided with).

And I think NOM cafe (also via ANOTHER friend's recommendation, yes, I know, I have quite a number of food connoisseurs on my list ha) also offers rainbow cake in chocolate and sea salt caramel coatings as well? I noticed that it's a common sight that most of their customers who post up on Instagram the rainbow cake variants with these two coatings, could hardly finish them in the end.

Personally, when I was there, I noticed they had another variant which was just plain rainbow cake with a chocolate sponge cake layer, asides from the other two formidable looking ones (the size of the plain variant was like, Goliath verses the Giants sorta comparison). I didn't order the plain one when I was there because I wanted to try out their main dishes on my first visit. Will give it a shot when I'm there the next time, but that what I should so affectionately term as, the "original flavoured" rainbow cake also cost around S$5 or so per slice?

According to Swee Heng's official site, they don't have any branches in Central yet, but I managed to sift out two areas (most of their branches are like situated in the West) which are relatively easier for me in terms of transportation - Boon Keng and Potong Pasir.

Amongst the two, I picked Boon Keng because I figured I might not get too lost for this location (considering the advised directions indicate that it's pretty near to Boon Keng MRT station). Yes, in case you're wondering, I'm speaking from the point of view of a person who is consistently geographically challenged (in other words, don't trust me with a map, if you get my drift).

I don't often go around exploring Boon Keng (although the other cafe which I want to try out - Bloomsbury Bakers is just around the area), however, as I remembered quite clearly that this Boon Keng branch is "along Bendemeer Road", I decided to just take a leap of faith and allowed my feet to lead me to the Bendemeer Road exit (Exit B).

Lo and behold, the first thing I caught sight of was the bakery. Hubs was like, "You didn't get lost did you?" when I called him afterwards.

Nope, I didn't. It was by pure luck that I got the direction right the first time (now I know how to get there, YAY!!!).

It's along a stretch of neighbourhood stalls, mini foodcourts (there's a stall selling handmade Nonya sweetmeats made on-the-spot) and I think there's a UOB branch there too?

Another thing I noted was that the shops here have all put on their Chinese New Year best. Whoever wanna get angbaos ("red packets" which are traditionally given by elders to the young ones for good luck in the new year) and decorations with the new sheep designs, you can pop over to pick them up when you're free. S$2 for 3 packets of angbaos and 80 cents for 1 packet anyone???

The first thing in the bakery which caught my attention was their cake display. Amongst the Tiramisu and what nots, they only had two small blocks of rainbow cake left. Like, really? It was only 1pm plus and there's only TWO left???

Apparently, the article wasn't kidding when they stated that the rainbow cake could be purchased at around S$2. Well, it was S$3, at least that's the price displayed when I saw it.

I had to be quick to grab one of the remaining two, in case anyone else comes along to snap both up. That and I snuck an equally quick shot of the bakery afterwards (was a bit "paiseh" aka "embarassed" when the three lady assistants were like looking suspiciously at my direction), so that whoever else here wanna grab some good cakes and breads, you know where to find the place.

The rainbow cake didn't come in anything remotely fancy, even Swee Heng's plastic bag looked rather humble and traditionally designed.

Open the unassuming plastic cover and one can't help but take a closer look at the even layers in the colours of a pastel rainbow, with thin layers of plain white cream sandwiched between each colour (the purple layer right at the bottom is the thinnest). Even the topmost chocolate layer imprinted with the subtle waves was comfortably thin as well.

Taste-wise? Let's just say I felt like running into the sunset with tears streaming out from my eyes...

I'm kidding.

However, that description might just be very close to how I felt about the taste.

It.is.AWESOME.

Traditional cake lovers, you will die for the taste of this seemingly big portion (the square ain't very small in the first place) of a rainbow cake. The sponge layers are soft and fluffy, buttery with the right amount, though each layer tastes the same. The thin layer of bittersweet chocolate balances out the whole cake, along with the white cream layers which are just mildly sweetened.

It tastes just like the trad cakes I like to buy from my old neighbourhood whenever I pop by there to "visit" my doctor (my family doc's clinic's just right next to it). I thought I would never find such taste anywhere again, until well, Swee Heng just nails it.

I think I might just pick one up for my friend (the one who recommended me NOM cafe) when I visit her at the airport (her workplace heh) the next time.

So while I was happily nomming on Swee Heng's deliciously awesome rainbow cake, I just had to make myself a cup of the new tea I had acquired just recently.

Remember I mentioned in one of my previous posts to guess the next tea I would be featuring?

Ta-da! Unveiling the "Azteca d-Oro" from Gryphon! I got to know of it through the small tiny brochure introducing their selected range of Rooibos which came with my first box of Gryphon tea - "Pearl of the Orient".

Speaking of which, I was never a lover of Gryphon's range of teas until a friend introduced me to her personal favourite - the delightfully sweet "Pearl of the Orient" (Jasmine Pearl Green Tea with Moroccan Rose Oil). Subsequently, I bought another Gryphon blend - the rather strange but pleasant tasting "Nymph of the Nile" (Organic White Peony Tea with Persian Rose and Egyptian Basil). My friend, on the other hand, didn't like this blend and calls it more to be an "acquired taste".

While both the "Pearl of the Orient" and "Nymph of the Nile" could be found at Cold Storage and selected Fairprice Finest branches, this "Azteca d-Oro" could only be found at Kovan's Fairprice Finest (just when I was tempted to get my friend to order it straight from Gryphon's official site).

"Azteca d-Oro" -  a mixture of Rooibos with Madagascan Cacao and Caramel, where this honey-gold elixir of a tea tastes just like the light but delicious Halpea brand of tea one of my friends gave to me (apparently, his colleague brought it back from his India trip and had it put in the office without anyone touching it for a long time after that), but with a strong and earthy spiced chocolate and caramel hint to it.

And if you're wondering about the cup, yes, I got it from my neighbourhood's Japan Home for S$5.90. There were two patterns for this tall off-white ceramic cup - sketched dark navy blue strips emblazoned with a ship's helm in the same colour and sketched salmon pink strips with the romanticism of Paris.

Needless to say, I picked the less gaudy dark navy blue one. That, and I like pirates. Arr-matey! HA!

I bought a new cup because the ceramic mugs at home are either dark navy blue or bright mandarin orange on their insides, which makes it difficult for me to illustrate properly the colours of the teas I'm reviewing.

This new tall ceramic cup is not only off-white on the inside (easier to see the tea colours), but also comes along with a dainty spoon and a wooden cup cover.

Aight, I guess I'll stop here for tonight. Event tomorrow! Need to rise and shine early!

Ciao peeps! Good night and next time! HA!

Scents and the "Seventh Son"

We never have had the habit of putting scents in our car, except for once, where we bought some lavender scented one for its curiously designed bottle (designers by training, so).

So it kinda came as a pleasant surprise for me when one of our close friends bought a Yankee Candle's Car Jar - Balsam and Cedar for us. Although, we joked at first on whether it was because she found our car needed something to smell nice, since it is a fact that we are rather, ahem, tardy on the interior maintenance of our car.

To be honest, I am never a fan of scents and perfumes. Although yes, I did put on Davidoff's Cool Water for a time (because that's the only one from duty-free shops which doesn't smell like, literally, a walking toilet), until my skin got a little bit too sensitive for it. Hubs ain't a fan of typical cologne either because, yes, "walking toilet". And that malodorous odour of cologne mixed with sweat? Ugh, just ugh.

But, close friends being close friends and being one of those who know me well, she knows I'm not into strong scents. Not to mention, she uses this Balsam and Cedar scent mix in her own car as well. The woody smell is calming and pleasing to the olfactory. Unlike the usual scents I come across in scented candles and oils, which have the tendency of stinging and burning at first whiff, this unpretentious emerald mixture gives one the feeling of walking through a tranquil forest at the break of dawn, where the dew hangs heavy in the morning air intertwined with the humble scent of fresh earth.

And according to her, she bought this Yankee Candle Car Jar from a pop-up booth at NEX's Isetan during Christmas, so you know, I thought after Christmas, we can't really find them elsewhere anymore. Just like those pop-up tea booths at Takashimaya B2 during Christmas the year before.

But, how wrong I was and much to my delight when I discovered the small and cosy Yankee Candle shop at Novena Square. Our Balsam and Cedar was shrinking significantly and I thought, maybe it's about time we get a new car jar.

Alas, they didn't have Balsam and Cedar in the car jar version anymore (what I saw was the cardboard and the other round version emblazoned with a bright siam red bird). The very nice shop assistant, sensing my dilemma, took out testers from the two other scents - Vanilla Cupcake and Sun and Sand and asked if I would like to try out either of these two instead.

Initially, I wasn't very keen on the other scents because my friend had told me they were "too sweet" for her. However, after taking a whiff of the Vanilla Cupcake scent, I was agreeable with it because it smells like a well-balanced mixture of my two faves - Butterscotch and Vanilla Ceylon. The jolly shop assistant was quite amused when I told her what it smelt like to me.

Sun and Sand was not really up my alley because it reminds me of those superbly sterilized and tropical scented hotel toilets (and even so, I don't want my car to smell like a toilet so no).

This Vanilla Cupcake car jar is priced at S$9,90 and according to their website, their car jars have a "fragrance life of up to 4 weeks". They have other scents in other equally unique and exquisite forms as well and I have to say it's quite an experience at their store because their variety is awesome and the scents are all so nice.

Perhaps I'll invest in a scented oil burner next because their Midsummer's Night scent has such a nice name but doesn't come in a car jar form, at least not in our local store here.

                            Credits to Collider.com

And, who has been to the movies recently? It's been a long time since we last watched a movie (I think the last one was "Interstellar"?) and well, since our Buddy wants to catch the latest "Seventh Son" movie, we were thinking, "Why not?"

However, you can see us coming out of the theatre afterwards in heated discussion and curses on the excessively weak plot and numerous glaring plot holes. B-grade movie, that's our verdict.

You see, Game of Thrones fans, the first person which comes on screen, I think most of us will recognize him as our favourite "Jon Snow". Cast ain't weak that's for sure (the ones who acted as the witch queen and the witch who protected the city sure are famous faces), but why in the world would they kill him off so early in the movie? I don't think his screen time was that short in "Pompeii" that's for sure.

And the dude who came afterwards, yes, "Seventh son of the seventh son", who is supposedly some special son who has super powers and super human strength.

Or so we thought because the only thing he did was to light up the staff and burn everything. Like, that. Like, ok...

If he the seventh son is like "The Special" because his mum is a witch, then what does that make the rest of his siblings? I mean, they are also imbued with half-witch half-human father genes too right?

And his mum. GOD, you are the witch who stole the Umbra stone from the witch queen ya? Means, you're supposedly quite strong and powerful yes? Why did you just frizzle and die off within a one-hit kill by the witch queen?

Don't, don't even get me started on the witch queen's supposedly epic henchmens. That necro dude just died within one hit? "Elite" assassins who fall like leaves? And that poor dire bear dude who has to be swapped back into human form just to get him to burn properly (this is no WoW where dire bear form gives you more armor...)?

And their head honcho - that supposedly fearful witch queen with seducing abilities (quite like Lorelei with her voice which leads men astray) imbue on her eyes and who can switch to a formidable winged dragon form as and when she pleases? She dies off so easily. WHY.

Underwhelming. And so full of epic fail.

The only character who had so remotely amused me was the spook's ugly servant - Tusk was he? He was the only sorta comic relief throughout the whole movie and his "You just don't die easily do you?" signature stunt was what made me a tad bit tickled at least.

The romance portion was just bleh. Typical witch-turn-turncoat with spook's apprentice love story. Enough with these cliches please.

Otherwise, landscape and background setting is kinda ya, ok. Slightly more impressive than everything else add up together, to say the least.

Would I recommend this movie?

God forbid. No.

Christmas is way over but...

You can say that in a way, I got my Christmas present early.

Earlier in the month of December (on the 9th of December to be exact), one of my friends came excitedly at me with a piece of good news which kinda stunned me at first. I mean, I didn't expect to win it but...

I won. Like, got in as a finalist for the SGMA Anime Award (Writing competition section) organized by Cherry Credits (kudos to the MA crew for holding this writing and art contest!).

Up till now, when Melissa, the content producer for the popular mobile game - Million Arthur (which Hubs and I are both still currently playing regularly and which we had cosplayed from recently for AFA haha!) contacted me just this morning regarding minor edits done to my short snippet of a story of "Emmanuel the Healer", it still feels kinda surreal in a way haha!

But, I'm sure looking forward to the upcoming finalist works showcase at Jurong Library on 8th Jan because I want to see how Emmanuel looks like when he's being given form to by the finalist artist from the art contest section. That, and I want to meet the artist who drew him too haha!

Another sorta "early" Christmas present was this tea from Coffee Beans and Tea Leaf (I got it from the Marina Square bistro branch). Eversince I bought my first two teas (Cherry Blossom and Vanilla Ceylon, if I recall correctly) from their E-Hub branch, I became a somewhat die-hard CBTL tea fan haha!

If I'm to recommend, Hubs's love their Earl Grey tea to bits because it's strong but yet delicately balanced at the same time. Just the way he likes it for his somewhat unique palate ha! Cherry Blossom is a cherry blossom flavoured sencha (like ok, duh), which people who don't like cough syrup (I'm not talking about the usual brown codine laced suppressant, but the glaring magenta pink Fedac) would definitely stay clear of it.

Estate Darjeeling, on the other hand, is surprisingly on the strong tasting side, which took some time for me to get used to it because my palate's already spoiled by Whittard's Darjeeling (which is close to tasting like water). First Flush Darjeeling (their organic series) is not so strong as compared, and is accompanied with a pleasantly sweet grassy tone which is not too over-powering either.

Vanilla Ceylon is just plain delicious because well, who doesn't love vanilla ya? Haha! That and it has a caramel undertone which balances it out just right. Swedish Berries is tangy, but not too sour that it bites your tongue. Anniversary Blend (laced with yummy acai berries) is my usual order at CBTL (unless they run out of it) and I have to say that I enjoy every cup of it because of its light-tasting nature with an equally as light overlay of addictive berry sweetness.

Although yes, as you can see, CBTL does very well at their tea mixes, but, there is one which I am not particularly fond of after giving it a shot. That Pomegranate Blueberry one is awful, or maybe I am just not a fan of fruit or vitamin teas. I can't taste a hint of pomegranate anywhere and the blueberry flavor was just so overpoweringly sour that it cemented my mouth shut for at least a good five minutes.

That aside, there is one particular tea which I had been wanting to get my grubby hands on but it was like gone just within less than a month after it was first released. Their "Gunpowder Green" tea is the one I'm talking about here and I really, really hope they bring back this limited edition collection soon!

So anyway, back to their Christmas tea series, I was actually hoping to ferret out a tin of Gunpowder Green (but yet again, a futile attempt) at the Marina Square bistro branch when I happen to catch sight of these two pretty dark sapphire blue and bright siam red tins - "Winter Dream" and "Peppermint Stick".

Once I saw the "Winter Dream" tea is cinnamon-flavored, it was like "SOLD!" and ta-da! I got it the next moment (since I just got my pay from my part-time work as a receptionist at the Japanese school which I am currently studying at now ha).

Excited to try it out, I had it brewed the very next day. The first thing which struck me was how similar the tea bag looked like to that of the Swedish Berries, because you can see them in their chunky and grainy goodness, unlike that of the other usual tea bags with pressed or rolled tea leaves.

First sip and what will register in your brain almost immediately is, "Cinnamon tea." Not very unlike the Twinings's Velvety Vanilla Flavor Chai Latte, though, the cinnamon packs a much heavier punch here and it's actually quite akin to taking a bite out of a festive cinnamon flavoured fruitcake.

I didn't brew it another time because one brew is honestly quite enough. That, and I only finished half a cup before I called it quits because it was honestly getting too heavy and cloying at the end.

I guess for a person like myself, whose tastebud range from light to medium, this tea is a little too heavy for my liking.

Though ok, the cinnamon is good, but still.

Well then, for now, back to TERA on my sorceress! Just ding-ed 50 and I'm like, "Phew FINALLY!!!" I had been crawling so long from Level 48 and running through countless runs of Golden Labyrinth and Akasha's Hideout (supposedly dungeons eligible to Level 48 and above, but my experience bar was still moving just as painfully slow...), before I finally ding-ed in one of the Golden Labyrinth runs.

Feels good to finally clean out the bank and don on the Level 50 gears and equips which were (fortunately) acquired when Hubs run me through both dungeons on his Level 59 Elin Reaper.

And a fresh change of scenery is sure refreshing after being stuck in the chilly and snowy mountainous terrains of Westonia for such a long period of time. I gave up on the main quest halfway in Necromancer's Tomb because one, I'm too over-leveled to queue for it and two, I can't stand seeing icy white snow and listening to the frigid winds roaring ever so fiercely by my ears for the umpteenth time.

So yes, booyah and hello to Ostagarth - where the capital of the Castanics, Castanica stands looming majestically over a dark, sinister and charred landscape! What quests awaits me here, which will eventually lead me to the chained main quests in Golden Labyrinth and Akasha's Hideout hmm?

I could only wonder haha!

Before I pop back into TERA, make a guess as to what is the next tea I will be reviewing? Definitely not from CBTL because that would be just too predictable haha!

Twinings: Straight from the UK

Say, have any of you ever experienced those cravings which comes right after you watch your fave gourmet related variety programs? Being a food lover like myself, I just had a lovely meal at my favourite United Square Tamoya branch on Saturday. Kama-tama udon craving just hit me square in the face after watching Dotchi no Ryouri Show - a Japanese food variety program which features two food heavyweights (usually their cultural dishes of course) pitting against each other, with 10 guests on the show being faced with the choice of choosing either. The dish with the majority of the votes wins, where winners eat and losers watch the winners eat, simple as that for the rules of this rather "strict and gruelling" food variety program.

So while happily slurping on my piping hot udon, Jade Sis passed me the loots I requested from her bro just a month or two back. Her bro's studying law in UK at the moment and these loots you see here, are the Twinings tea variants only available within the UK - Rose Garden, Nutty Chocolate Flavor Assam and Velvety Vanilla Flavor Chai Latte.

Before I go on, a big thank-you to Jade Sis's bro! Thank you so much for bringing back these teas which I had been wanting so badly after I saw them on Twinings's website.

The first time I came across the tea caddy versions of Twinings tea was at Mediya, where their tea selection was like, awesome. Like, really really awesome because the brands they carry are so much more varied and vast as compared to NTUC or Cold Storage (or their Finest equivalents for that matter). I mean, I saw Twinings's Liquorice flavored organic mix amongst the BOH's Seri Songket series (THEY HAVE THE LYCHEE AND ROSE FLAVOURED ONES HERE OH MY GOD) and other tea brands which I have not seen before so, just how cool is that eh???

And then, sitting right there under my nose was the tea caddy version of Twinings's Lavender Earl Grey, depicting that of a slender and elegant lady figure clad in a royal purple and lavender floral gown embossed on a sleek ebony black tin lined with trimmings in Twinings's signature colour of gold brass. It was beautiful, but I didn't purchase it there and then because I am never a lover of lavender flavored tea. I mean, I'm ok with lavender scented candles, bath salts, soap and shower foam, but as a tea, it just turns me right off man.

Convinced that there might be other flavors available for this tea caddy version, I went poking around Twinings's UK website and tada! I found the rose flavored version and decided I just had to have it because well, rose tea lover here hehe!

Just like how Twinings would have it with their tea caddy packaged teas, they will always have the traditional paper packaged version packed snugly inside the tin (20 tea bags for this version). It was the same type of package treatment with their anniversary tin version - Lady Grey packed in a special 100 tea bags paper package, which we bought from United Square's Cold Storage.

By the way, for Lapsang Souchong lovers, you guys and gals might wanna check out United Square's Cold Storage because they offer the pretty rare Twinings's Lapsang Souchong.

Anyway, back to the Rose Garden, the scent from Twinings's rose tea is extremely distinct and assails your nostrils even before the paper package packed within the tin is opened. Their individual tea bags, on the other hand, is an art to behold by itself as a canopy of fine dark chocolate coloured tea leaves dotted with pretty and delicate rosaline pink rosebud fragments.

Which, will kinda mislead you into thinking that this rose tea is going to taste equally as strong as it smells. But, no, it tastes exquisitely light with just the right amount of rose accent. Not to mention, its light amber colour will delight you to no end as it did to me hehe.

And, as light-tasting as it is, the rose accent doesn't diminish at all that quickly even after 3 brews.

The Nutty Chocolate Flavored Assam was next on the list on the very next day (because I make it a point to drink tea only once per day). This 12 pyramid tea bags packed tea was a total hazelnut praline (as stated on the package) and milk chocolate buffet experience.

Strong scented, which becomes a very dark amber liquid like manuka honey once immersed in 80 degrees or less steeped hot water, it turned out to be the perfect companion and delightful accompaniment to my Chocolate Classico from Four Leaves Bakery (Bugis Junction branch, S$3.80).

I would advise taking a sip of the Nutty Chocolate Flavored Assam tea first before taking a bite of the velvety and moist Chocolate Classico, as the resulting combination is a wholesome chocolate-y experience with a soothing after-taste.

Mama mia mon ami! Simply perrrrfffeecctttooo!

On the other hand, the Velvety Vanilla Flavor Chai Latte is another pleasant surprise altogether. The vanilla taste is very mild and the tea, on the overall, tasted just like a traditional cinnamon gingerbread man. Which, suits me just fine because I love cinnamon haha!

As compared to the two other types of tea featured in this post, this particular tea type's teabag is exceptionally heavy and sinks upon contact with the steeped hot water. Not to mention that the colour of the tea is the darkest amongst the three.

Credits to Twinings UK

I know it's going to take me some time to drain my current modestly sized tea stash, even with the addition of these three new teas, but I can't help being drawn to another set of new tea on their website already. Caramel! Another of my favourite! I'll be sure to order this next from my friend's brother haha!

Impra Rose Tea

Alot of backlogs in my mind and finally, I have the time to settle down to type them all out.

Room packing isn't exactly my favourite, there's loads to be re-arranged, cleaned, re-categorized and discarded.

In other words, we had just recently re-arranged our room layout and up till now, half the room still looks like a total war zone.

That is, until we save up enough to purchase our new furniture which we had our eyes on since our scouting trip at Tampines IKEA.

So, taking a break from packing for now, since there's a visible and clear walk space for us in the room (unlike when we first started turning our whole room upside down a few weeks back).

Impra Rose Tea, anyone heard of it before? I first came across it at Suntec Giant a few months back and decided to try it out since its rose tea packaging looked kinda interesting.

That, and it's cheap. Like, S$3 for 20 teabags.

They do have other flavours too - Earl Grey, Apple and Blackcurrant. Seems like the apple-flavoured tea is the popular one since it was almost to the point of being sold out when I first chanced upon this brand.

Had to pick up another box today since my supply at home was running low, so just opening it up to show everyone how it looks like on the inside.

Literally, 20 teabags neatly stacked together. And that label on the teabag? I find it looks awesome. Must be the typography design.

And of course, as a matter of habit from avid tea drinkers like myself, I allowed the steaming hot water in my mug steep for like say, 5 to 10 minutes before adding in the tea bag. I'm always very particular about temperature because most of my tea (usually I order hot beverages outside as I cannot take cold items due to my sensitive lungs) gets burnt miserably whenever I order them at food establishments outside. I don't want to count how many times my hot milk tea got burnt at MOS Burgers.

I'm not saying that you must get it right with the temperature for the first time, but it does take some trial-and-error to know when the water is ready for the tea. I still burn my Hubs's fave - Twinings Lady Grey every now and then when I'm not careful.

Or when I am just plain tired.

Once you drop the teabag in, the beautiful dark chocolate colour comes out almost instantly. I usually drink my tea without milk and sugar at home, so for this rose tea, the taste of the black tea isn't so strong that it overpowers the rose essence.

Or vice versa for that matter. Which, is why I like this brand of rose tea so much after trying it out for the very first time because of its well-balanced nature.

And the taste still remains just as balanced even after the 3rd brew (my habit to drink at least 3 brews from the same teabag)

Rose tea is like my fave tea next to the Solomon Seal (I'll do up a review on that once I get my hands on a new box of supplies, since I'm only left with ONE teabag at home), which are teas considered suitable for women's health. Like the Solomon Seal, rose tea helps cleanse the bowels and urine tracts, where drinking it regularly will help greatly in soothing monthly period pains.

I was once a urine tract infection sufferer and yes, after drinking rose tea, it's only normal for one to visit the toilet quite often as it helps in purging the undesirable waste out from the body. Now, not only my urine tract infection is kept fairly under control, but my monthly period pains have also lessened quite significantly.

Check out this article on rose tea and rose oil from Health Digest! I always visit this page for health tips and natural remedies, and most of them really helps! Sound advices indeed!