Battle of the east vs west: Beng Hiang, Lolla

This week, I'm going to review two noteworthy restaurants that has fallen within my radar in the past week. 

Lolla

First up, Lolla. What is Lolla? It is a small tapas restaurant nestled on the busy street of Ann Siang Hill, where a ton of bars and restaurants are situated. If you go to their website, their slogan is 

"Inspired yet simple small plates combining the finest ingredients and seasonal produce with the influences of the mediterranean"

http://www.lolla.com.sg/

On HungryGoWhere, it got a 100% rating based on 7 reviews, whereas on Yelp, it got 3 out of 5 stars based on 6 reviews. Why the disparity, you might ask? 

The answer lies in the taste profile of the reviewers. 

Due to the popularity and physical size of the place, it is impossible to get a seating without making a reservation, but somehow, L. and I managed to grab the last two seats in the house. 

Looking at the menu, which is a trendy paper printout which serves as your table mat as well, I was very intrigued right away. The menu had a very good selection of seafood, meats and carbs, and I love a restaurant which boasts an emphasis on the quality of the produce...

 I started off with the uni with black pudding. The black pudding had a very very complex taste profile, but goes really well with the uni. The uni, although not the best grade, wasn't bad with the pudding, but the quality becomes obvious when you eat it on its own. But then again, for this generous chunk of uni for 19 bucks, I'm not going to complain. I give this dish points for being able to come up with something so wonderfully complex and delicious, but I have to say that this gets heavy really fast. Three spoonfuls of this dish, and I was a little overwhelmed by how rich it is.

Next, I got the fresh baguette with home made tomato paste and garlic. The bread was nicely toasted but the tomato dip was a little watery. It does taste home-made, due to the simplicity of it, but it does lack a little in flavor and texture.

 I also got the frisee salad with anchovies and crispy garlic, which was on the seasonal menu. I love anchovies, and these didn't disappoint. Although, the salad was a little too oily for my liking. A good salad should showcase the vegetables in it, not the dressing.

We had the duck fat potatoes everyone seemed to be ordering. It was good, just pillows that melt in your mouth, but then again, very oily.

We also had the pork collar which was not photographed because we were too far gone on the delicious carafes of white wine, but it was nicely cooked and the sauce was tasty. I also had the duck rillette, which was as good as rillettes go, but unfortunately, I had it too late in the meal, and the fattiness of the rillette wasn't too appetizing to me.

Final verdict: As far as mediterranean fare goes, I can understand why this would appeal to the masses at Hungrygowhere, as it is a trendy spot that boasts very bold flavors and rich meats and seafood. But if you are truly looking for european food with finesse, this is not your place. The dishes in general are tasty, but are a tad too oily. Maybe that is why Yelp gave it 3 stars, because for the price range, you are looking for dishes which are more well-developed.

Beng Hiang (Amoy St) 

 As much as Lolla is trendy and pretentious, Beng Hiang is as unpretentious. Yet, on a sunday night, it is packed full of hungry Singaporean families. Why? Because it brings you back to old, simpler times.

Beng Hiang is one of my grandfather's favorite restaurants, so you can imagine how long it has been around. The owner is this quaint old man, who obviously have built this restaurants from a small establishment to the grand restaurant it is today.

The decor of this place is very old school. It could be garish to some, but to me, it reminds me of old banquet halls where weddings were held. Of course, people come here for the food......

We started with a cold platter which wasn't much to talk about, so I'm just going to highlight some of the tasty dishes we got. I love the fish maw soup. It is just a hearty soup that is chock full of crab meat and fish maw, and with a dash of vinegar, it is so tasty!

Braised cabbage with mushrooms, carrots and pork: Apparently this dish has to be pre-ordered a day in advance because they braise the cabbage for hours. And it is my favorite dish of the night. It takes a lot of skill to make something as ordinary as white cabbage so tasty, with strong hints of nutmeg and cloves. The sweetness of the cabbage contrasted nicely with the broth, and I could not stop eating it. 

 The crispy oyster omelette is also one of the favorites. It is an interesting rendition of the normal moist and wet oyster omelette. And oil satisfies!

 The "kong ba pau" is also one of the must-orders. Everyone at my table liked it a lot, but unfortunately, I cannot bring myself to choose the fatty meat, so the lean meat was a little tough. The meat juice was delish though.

I need to mention that I really dislike hokkien noodles. I do not care for it much, because it is oily and I don't like the yellow noodles they use. BUT this hokkien noodles was soooo good! Not too oily, with a really good flavor. Loved it.

And look, they have a website too!

http://www.benghiang.com/

Final verdict: Great for bringing your elders to. You will not regret it. 

xoxo,

Keira

Past week (and a half) around the blogosphere

Hi all! I know I haven't written in ages (week and a half to exact), I have been busy with spending time with Mum and trying to figure out how to renovate the fiance's room/ suite. It's been busy busy busy, so I apologize, and promise that I have an entry coming up soon about gorgeous red lips (think Marilyn Monroe).  For today, I have decided to do this once a week or bi weekly thing where I tell you the most interesting or  must-know reviews or entrys around the blogosphere, concentrating mostly on fashion and beauty, but will occasionally post about gossip :P.

For this week (and a half, since I am a little late), the 5 things worth reading around the blogosphere

1. Lisa Eldridge

One of my favorite youtube makeup guru who is also an experienced British makeup artiste and has worked with many famous celebrities (think Keira Knightly). For the past week or so, she has been posting an extremely informative series on her blog and on her youtube known as the FOUNDATION COURSE. In this course, she teaches you numerous things like the different types of foundations there are in the market, what type of foundation is suitable for you, how to put on foundation as well as her favorite foundations as a pro. I highly recommend it to everyone regardless of how experienced you are with makeup, after all, a flawless canvas is the number one  priority for doing good makeup.

2. Xiaxue
Every Singaporean out there knows who Xiaxue is, and I will keep my opinions about her to myself, but let's just say that I am not a fan. However, her blogpost this week is worth a read, especially for people doing renovations (or just plain gossipy). I won't say I agree with the design, but she did bring up a lot of interesting and useful points worth taking a look at.

From Xiaxue.blogspot.sg

3. The Many Bags of Victoria Beckham

From Purseblog

I mean, I KNOW, I KNOW this is not from the past week, or the week before. This is in fact a pretty old post from 2 weeks ago, but man.... this is an entry you HAVE to read if you love bags like I do. Victoria has the biggest Birkin or Kelly collection I know, and I DO love her Victoria Beckham handbag line. Yum Yum Yum.

4. Wendy's Lookbook

I love romantic, sheer looking silk shirt, and anything cobalt in color! In this entry, Wendy does an amazingly put together look with a butterflies printed silk blouse and a cobalt pleated dress. Elegant and yet girly.

5. Thought Catalog: You don't have to be Friends with Everyone.

I do read thought catalog relatively regularly, and this week, this article struck a cord with me. I am very picky about my friends, and I think it is ok to not want to be friends with everyone. I like to be around people who makes me feel I can be myself, I can be the loud, sometimes brag-gy, direct and yet caring person. If you judge me, then mehhh, you are not worth my time.


I hope everyone finds this post useful! Saves you time from going through every single blog posts out there on the internet.

Thanks for reading!!

xoxo,

Outfit of the week!

This week, we are shifting the limelight to our friends to showcase their dressing style! We thought it would be a good idea given that people come in all sizes and shapes but you can complement any shape with good dressing!

Introducing W., our petite friend!

W. has a very petite frame, and slim, but not skinny like some of the too-skinny Singaporeans we see on the trains everyday. She just came from a day of leisure, and I love her outfit! It's bohemian chic with a touch of femininity love the clip in her hair that sets off the romantic floral print of the dress. Que bien!

Dress: Express

Shoes: Coach

Bag: Kate spade

 A. is tall and slender with a curvy hip, so she can carry off the oversized shirt look better than most. She is dressed for a short getaway, but who says you have to compromise style for comfort? She is clothed in a very comfortable outfit, with a denim top, cute floral shorts and adorable comfy ballet flats. I like the breezy style of it, with a large oversized bag to boot.

Top: Some high street store in Istanbul

Shorts: Zara

Shoes: Tangs Studio

Bag: Louis Vuitton 

L. is on the tall side (~1.65m) and has an athletic build. She is very fair as well, so dark colors or red work to bring out her skin color. This is a typical work outfit for her if she has dinner plans. Deliberately, this  is a very flexible outfit since you can wear this straight to dinner as well. The dress is flattering but not tight to be uncomfortable at work. If it's a nice dinner, she can just pair with heels instead of flats for an edgier look.

(Sorry for the short-ish post, just got back from Malacca yesterday and am currently suffering from a bad bout of Monday blues. Shoe shopping in Malacca is like paradise, I bought 6 pairs in 2 days! Woohoo!)

xoxo,
Keira

Read this before you get a nose job.

Today, I decided to write about something that I feel strongly against:

Plastic surgery.

Personally, I really am anti-plastic surgery (mainly the invasive procedures which require surgery) because I have seen a few of my friends either suffer from post-surgery infections or embark on a string of endless procedures which leaves them looking less than natural.

You see drastic before and after photos on korean websites, I'm sure. Like this, I'm sure.

Today, I am going to talk about nose jobs, medically referred to as rhinoplasty.

You see korean people go "oh, it is painless and I recovered very fast, and I'm very happy with my nose right now".

You see bloggers try out nose jobs and give you a real-life depiction of their first-hand experience.

Now, I'm not saying that people are lying and it is actually super painful. I give these individuals the benefit of the doubt when they say that it is hardly any pain.

But, do you really know what goes on during the hours of surgery you are subjecting your nose to?

Nicole and I decided to brave through surgery videos to show you a step by step illustration of the procedure. Believe me when I say this was not an easy task. We were backing our chairs as far away from the screen, covering our nose (in protection) and sometimes eyes because it is so horrifying.

If you know us, you know that we are scientists, and we have done animal surgery before. I cannot stress enough how DIFFICULT it is when you are looking at a human face, just like yours.

I really wish that they make it a mandatory practice for people who opt for the surgery to first view the video of the procedure before they sign on the dotted line.

For those who have a weak stomach, you might want to sit this one out.

  First, they cut the bases of your nose.

They then cut up to your nose tip and separate your skin from the nose tip.

 They then cut through the muscle surrounding your nose tip to get to your nose cartilage.

Exposing the nose cartilage which they hold on with a pair of pliers.

  They try to cut some of the cartilage off with the scalpel.

 That only takes away a small portion of the cartilage. In order to remove the rest, a hammer (the grey big object in the left foreground) is used to break the nose bridge.

 Then begins the sewing back of your flesh.

In order to heighten your nose bridge, they put in an artificial implant.

Continue sewing back.

 In order to add a nice sharp nose tip you know and love in korean movie stars, they cut out a piece of cartilage from your ear.

 And put it on top of your nose tip.

Centering the cartilage to sew onto the rest of your nose.

And the rest is basic sewing back the rest of the nose.

For those who wants to see the video (I have to warn in advance that these doctors are NOT gentle. There are some violent pulling and hammering), here's the link on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAq2PLDTcHo

Ultimately, you are voluntarily cutting up your nose. No one has hurt you, you did not require reconstructive surgery, you volunteered to be sliced up like a fish on the operating table. Why?

And not to mention the risks of post-surgery infection. When you cut up your nose, you run the risk of allowing bacteria to enter your sinus passages. Which is why they offer antibiotics after surgery, you would say?

But what happens when the wounds did not heal completely and there is a microscopic hole that allows entry into under your skin? It happens more than you think, and every time you have a sinus infection, and sneeze and snort, you run the risk of allowing passage of bacteria into under your skin. Several terrible things can happen at this point. You can either have the bacteria under your skin multiply and take over, with your face blown up and swollen like a balloon, or you can run the risk of having the bacteria travelling to your eye and consequent blindness. Don't believe me? Read the link of a medical journal of a 24 year old who had her left eye blinded after a rhinoplasty.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23402932

And I quote from this scientific paper:

"Intravenous administration of antibiotics did not halt the rapid progression of this infection. On the sixth postoperative day, the patient underwent left-orbital evisceration to prevent the spread of infection to other organ systems."

So antibiotics did not cure you? I thought antibiotics cures EVERYTHING. And you had to cut out your left eye to prevent the spread to other organs? Great.

And guess where this report stems from? Korea, the great land of plastic surgery.

If you are saying right now "Yea, but that's ONE person, it will not happen to me", think again. According to the medical journal Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, ONE in FIVE of patients receiving an alloplastic implants (if you want to heighten your nose bridge) in rhinoplasty suffer from infections. If you are not getting an implant, you still have a rough rate of 5% infection rate (which is excluding unreported cases, cases where people could be bribed to keep their mouths shut for the sake of the surgeon's reputation).

So please, think twice before you cut yourself up. 

Plastic surgery more often than not, turns into a compulsive habit. People rarely stop at one procedure because it is rare for them to stop before they obtained "perfection" in their own eyes. Think about all the botched up hollywood actresses with too much surgery. They started at one surgery, too. 

If our stomaches will allow it, we will continue next time with other popular procedures like jaw shaving, brow lifts, face lifts.

L’Oréal Les Ombres Color Riche Eyeshadow Palettes Review + Look

I am quite excited today because I am doing my first "look of the day" post. Last week after lunch with Y, I walked into Watsons, got seduced by their 3-for-2 loreal deals and picked up a couple of new makeup products. Oh, how I miss those days of walking into sephora and picking random things I liked, too bad sephora is expensive in Singapore, I will make do with Watsons. Anyhow, one of the things I picked up was the new L’Oréal Les Ombres Color Riche Eyeshadow Palettes.

There was  a total of 6 shades on display in the Watsons I went to, and they retail for SGD22.90. I picked up the color "Beige Trend" from the smokey eyes line. For swatches of all the palettes please see here 

 My take: The colors did not swatch very well on my naked skin without primer, but with primer on, the pigments did come out pretty intense. The 2 lighter shades were very similar on my NC 25 skin tone, so it is as if I got 3 eyeshadow colors for the price of 4. Also, instead of a creamy texture that I am so used to with my Urban Decay naked palettes, it is more of a flakey, powdery texture. Plus, I didn't like the fact that the every single shadow in the palette is packed full of glitter, such that there is no good contouring shade, or highlighting shade. Furthermore, over the course of the day, there was quite a bit of glittery fall out over my cheeks, making it somewhat  messy.  However, the packaging is gorgeous, and for the price, it's a good piece to buy if you are just starting out with makeup, and want to get something cheap that will work well as a neutral palette. I also do love the champagne shade in the palette, I can imagine it wearing as a base color for a variety of looks.

How I use it: 

1. Use the base color and apply it all over the eyelid, creating a dome shape as shown. Use the highlight shade and apply that on the brow bone under the eyebrow. Highlight the inner corners of your eyes for a brighter eye look (pic 2).

2. Asian eyes are usually flat, so to create some contour, I used the darkest shade and pat it gently on the other 1/3 of my eyes, slowly moving up into the eye socket (pic 3) about 2/3s of the way in as shown in the last picture. Also line your lash line with the contour color to define your eyes.

3. Blend all the colors together. Blending is the key to wearing any eye color!

The top picture shows how the look after blending. It creates an illusion of deeper set eyes, and therefore adds more definition to your eyes.

I then lined my eyes using a black eye pencil liner. I didn't use a liquid liner in this case because I was going for a softer look. Finally, I finished my eye makeup with some mascara.

Final look, which is good for work or college

Makeup items used

Verdict: I would not repurchase for sure, but I think this palette is ok as a starter piece for makeup beginners, otherwise I would not recommend.

That's all for today folks. Thanks for reading, let me know if there's anything you think I can do to improve my entries. I am still working on taking better pictures, making the makeup show up better on camera and writing better instructions for the makeup steps. Please bear with me while I work on perfecting my entries. :)

xoxo,

Nicole.