Author: Beatrice

(Behind the Scenes) Empower Me Series for Women – Gala Premiere @ Tangs, Orchard

Published by Beatrice

Even though I don’t work on the SK-II business, I was privileged to be able to attend the SK-II Corporate Social Responsibility Event (CSR) at Tangs Seviin yesterday as a #PGemp. I need to apologize for the lousy paparazzi-like photos because I self-invited myself and rushed down last minute so I was shooting with my phone camera. As part of SK-II’s annual CSR programme, EMPOWER ME has collaborated with Social Entrepreneur, former Miss Universe and host of WomenTalkTV.Asia – Eunice Olsen and UN Women Singapore. I am so excited to finally meet this beauty in person. Plus, she is so friendly and humble, with a great heart for the community and women in need! Inspired by the vision of women-to-women empowerment, SK-II and Eunice Olsen have co-created the first-ever EMPOWER ME Series named, Champions of Empowerment, featuring 3 ordinary women – Cassandra Chiu, Rachel Chung and Emily Teng – who have achieved extraordinary achievements. All these 3 women had short videos about their journey that was played at SK-II’s first-ever film festival gala premiere held …

Confessing My Struggle – Weight Loss

Published by Beatrice

Today, I started on a serious fitness journey that I have been thinking about for the last 2 years – starting my very first session with a personal trainer. Decided to get myself an early birthday present by investing in my health 🙂 My weight has been something I struggled with all my life. I was born a big baby, became overweight by primary school, was in TAF club, always one of those struggling to finish 2.4km in school, hated the NAFA test, got called “thunder thighs” by other girls in secondary school, crash dieted, tried many different weight loss methods but nothing has worked sustainably. I get THE stares from petite clothes salesgirls when I cannot fit Singapore XL sizes. I would eat lesser than my friends but they would lose weight while I would gain weight. It took me many years with God’s help through lots of prayers to overcome the hurt that some of my family and peers have intentionally/unintentionally said about my weight, or me being fat, or calling me names, …

White Villages of Andalusia, Ronda @ Spain

Published by Beatrice

A day trip I am so glad we did out of Seville, Spain back in 2008, led by English speaking Paul Mcgrath. I know it is not something we think about but after a week of NOT understanding the menu, the road signs, the guides to most of the historic monuments, I was very glad to have an English guide explain the history and beauty of the White Villages of Andalusia and Ronda. The experience made the day trip so memorable. Enjoy the photos!

Oxwell & Co @ Ann Siang

Published by Beatrice

Despite reading quite a lot of horrid reviews on Oxwell’s service, I couldn’t help but try this 3 month old Oxwell & Co restaurant because the chef used to work with Gordon Ramsay! And I had one of the most mind blowing experience with Gordon Ramsay in the UK, I was willing to risk the bad service. Oxwell’s executive chef, Mark Sargeant, spent 13 years with Gordon Ramsay Holdings, including 7 years as head chef at Michelin-starred Claridge’s. Sargeant is known for his simple, honest food that is easy on the palate. I must say, firstly, the restaurant must have taken the service feedback quite seriously; I had a pleasant experience with the staff. When I called, they were initially full but gave me the option of going slightly earlier at 630pm so they can still seat me, so long as I could return the table by 8pm. When we arrived, the service crew did seem a little disorganized in that they weren’t sure about my reservation and took a while to check, but they were warm …

Flam,Voss @ Norway

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Editing some old photos from Flam, Voss in 2011 trip. These were mostly taken off the train, but Norway is such a beautiful country, it is sometimes really anyhow shoot also very nice. Missing the nature…..

Mai Noodles @ Pekkio Food Center

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Had a simple meal at Pekkio Food Centre at Owen Road. I originally wanted to try the Wah Kee Prawn Noodle that my friend recommended but this is my second trip there and it was closed again!. So I opted for Mai Minced Pork Bee Hoon ($3), which honestly surprised me with its good taste! Be prepared to wait though, as the food is prepared by 2 elderly folks.  

Novena Peranakan Cuisine @ Novena

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I discovered an old gem recently at Novena recently. Apparently, I was told by Jeffrey, one of the owners, that they have been open 9 years! Funny how I have always passed it eating the Hong Kong Family restaurant on its left or Prawn Mee to its right but deselected Novena Peranakan Cuisine. They run a set lunch/dinner at $12.90, with 3 mains (1 each from 3 different lists), 1 drink and 1 dessert. Been there twice now! And these are the dishes: 1) Assam Pedas Fish Meat – so good I repeated on second visit! Assam Pedas, literally meaning “sour spicy,” is a classic Malaysian/Indonesian dish. It is supposed to be sour and fiery hot, and this dish didn’t fail to live up to its name. Rich and sour punch with every mouthful of fish and curry. This dish at Novena Peranakan Cuisine tastes extraordinarily satisfying and has become one of my favorite top fish curries in Singapore (alongside Ocean Curry Fish Head @ Toa Payoh Lorong 4 and Hong Kong Street Chun Tat …

Dreams Come True Series Part 1 – Great Entrepreneurs Talk about their Startup Daze

Published by Beatrice

As mentioned in my purpose, one of the vision of this blog is to help encourage all of us, who are struggling in our own ways in life, by sharing stories of other ordinary folks who have overcome certain fears and barriers to achieve their life goals. So today, I bring the story of Mr KC Tan, Co-founder of Fontcraft Printing, who came from very humble beginnings. Fontcraft Printing (S) Pte Ltd is an established printing company with state of the art printing equipment, providing many international customers quality-assured printing solutions and services. Fontcraft was established in 1997 and has since grown from a 1,000 square feet office to a 10,000 square feet office, and their constant strive for excellence and competitiveness has exposed them to clients across the globe in Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, USA and of course, Singapore! Ok, enough corporate description talk. Here goes the interview: KC, can you tell us why you decided to focus on printing? Since this is very unique industry choice.  Initially, I went into printing because that …

Common Man Coffee Roasters @ Martin Road

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Common Man Coffee Roasters (CMCR) is a unique concept brewed from a partnership between Harry Grover, Five Senses Coffee (Australia), and the Spa Esprit Group. The cafe roots from the notion that great coffee should not be a privilege, but instead available for all to enjoy, hence, “common man”. But truth be told, the prices of the food is not the most  “common”/affordable. Located at 22 Martin Road, Common Man Coffee Roasters houses a coffee roaster, a specialty coffee bar, a 60-seater cafe and a retail space that offers coffee accessories. Even though it has quite a lot of seats, they do not take reservations and the cafe was packed when we arrived on Sunday lunch time. However, they reassured me that there is usually no longer than 5-10min waiting time during busy hours for groups of 4 or less. I actually find this cafe a smart business partnership  for all the partners. This is the first tieup that moves Spa Esprit in the wholesale business, an expansion from retail which they already do very well. …

Quan Xiang Yuan 泉馨园 (Jing Ji) Seafood Restaurant @ Jalan Besar

Published by Beatrice

I used to frequent Quan Xiang Yuan previously with my aunt since I was a kid. Apparently, this is one of the oldest Hokkien restaurant in Singapore, founded since the 1930s. First up, we tried Quan Xiang Yuan’s traditional Prawn Roll ($8), handmade using pork, prawn and spice mix. It was well battered (fish-and-chips style) and juicy on the inside. Most prawn rolls tend to be a bit dry inside due to the frying but this one was still supple. We also had the Fish Maw Sea Cucumber Stew ($20), a must order every time we visit a Hokkien Restaraunt. This particular stew had a lot of the ingredients – Fish Maw, Sea Cucumber and Mushrooms so this is good value for money in terms of the amount of ingredients. However, the taste was just average for me. We couldn’t decide between the Fried Hokkien Noodles ($6) and Fried Hokkien Beehoon ($6) so we ordered both in small portions to share. The noodles were definitely traditional, but I think all 4 of us unanimously preferred the Beehoon! The …