My new favourite dish at Ministry of Food (MOF) My Izakaya

It's been a long time since I last featured food on my blog so thought I'd share some foodie exploits with everyone! About a month ago I headed to Ministry of Food (MOF) My Izakaya at Choa Chu Kang (CCK) Lot 1 Shopping Centre for lunch. I usually order something sashimi-related, but this time I decided to order a meal that consisted of white clams in broth and hot-stone salmon rice.

I was bowled over by the aroma of the clam broth, and it was definitely love at first sip.  The numerous small but succulent clams stewing in the fresh, piping hot and flavorful broth really refreshed the palate. The texture of broth was just right - neither too thick nor too light - capturing the essence of the clams excellently. The dish was garnished with a bit of spring onion, which complemented the light texture and intense flavour of the clam broth.

I next tried the hot-stone salmon rice. This part of the meal was equally as impressive. The sizzling bits of raw salmon in the hot-stone bowl were gradually cooked along with the rice, which was probably marinated with dark/soya sauce and garnished with spring onion. I loved the slightly crumbly texture of salmon alongside the slightly sticky texture of the rice, and felt that the saltiness of the rice was kept under control by the un-marinated salmon.

Between spoonfuls of salmon and rice, I had spoonfuls of the piping hot clam broth. It was such a perfect combination of appetiser and main course combined into one meal. As a bonus, this meal is rather healthy: clams are rich in iron, which is good for the blood and salmon is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which boost cognitive function, lower the risk of cancer and maintain eye, cardiovascular, skin and hair health.

Not only was the meal delicious, healthy and worth the S$13.80 I paid (without GST), it was also one of the better dishes I've tried at MOF and worthy of mention. After that wonderful meal, I had my usual matcha (green tea) fix with the matcha drink (no pictures though - I attacked it too fast). I love MOF matcha drinks and desserts, and this drink was a perfect cap to the meal.

Have you tried either the white clam broth/salmon rice meal or matcha drinks/desserts at MOF? Do share your opinions!

Korres It's a Wild Wild World with Wild Rose Party (27 July 2012)

A few weeks ago I attended Korres It's a Wild Wild World with Wild Rose Party to celebrate the launch of three new additions to the extremely popular Korres Wild Rose range.

I was really excited because I'd heard such good things about Korres but haven't had to chance to try their products. Read on to find out what happened, what's so great about these new products, and a piece of fantastic news for Korres fans!

Rachel K Radiance Illuminator Collagen + Lotus Stem Cell Hydrogel Mask Review and Pictures

[EDITED 25/4/2013]

Based on what I've read recently, topical and edible collagen do not really work on the skin. This mask is good for its moisturising properties, but collagen doesn't help the skin via collagen products, as the collagen molecules are far too big to penetrate the skin. Read this article for more information on the collagen beauty myth.

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I always try to look my best, especially for special events in my life where I'd be meeting people and taking many photos. That's why in preparation for my 21st birthday celebration, I decided to try out the Rachel K Radiance Illuminator Collagen + Lotus Stem Cell Hydrogel Mask, which I kindly received from Rachel K Cosmetics. Since Rachel K and Rachel T only differ by a letter, so I figured I'd trust my almost-namesake and hope for radiant skin on my birthday after using this face mask!

Glitter Gal DuoChrome Hell-Bent Blue Swatches and Review

Recently, Glitter Gal released a collection of six duochromes that have a metallic chrome-like finish. They sound similar to the Glitter Gal Shade Shifters collection, which can be worn over black or alone, but the DuoChromes are meant to be worn over black to bring out the duochrome better.

Today I'll be reviewing one of the duochromes from Glitter Gal's new range of six duochromes that was sent to me for review by Mei Mei's Signatures. This one is named Hell-Bent Blue - let's find out if it's really hell-bent on staying blue - or not!

Cherchez Beauté celebrates Singapore's National Day 2012 with nail art!

For all my international readers, 9 August (today!) is Singapore's National Day. In honour of my country's 47th birthday, I decided to do National Day nail art with our local icons. I painted my nails freehand and only used nail polish (not acrylic paint) in this manicure. It was quite time consuming as nail polish dries fast, but I tried my best to work quickly and accurately. Read on for more pictures and some background on these icons!

OOTD and random self-shots

Here's last Saturday's outfit of the day with some amusing self-shots done in the "modelling" style. I'm attempting to be ironic in this post so DON'T JUDGE.

Exhibit A - an example in point.

I didn't edit the photos at all, not even to adjust brightness/sharpness like I usually do. I guess this shows how good my Fujifilm FinePix X10 is under low light conditions. Love the way the pictures turned out. The entire series of pictures after the jump!

Mentholatum Lip Pure Honey Lemon Lip Gel and Fragrance Free Lip Balm Review and Pictures

About a month ago I posted a review of Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm which contained a list of "Myths About Lip Balm and Lip Balm Addiction", based on research that I did regarding the topic and my own experiences as a former lip balm addict. (Sounds bizarre, but there is actually such an addiction!)

By chance or irony, I was recently contacted to review Mentholatum Lip Pure Honey Lemon Lip Gel and Lip Pure Fragrance Free Lip Balm.

It was a tough decision, because I had already denounced the frequent use of lip balm in my previous post, and I don't want to be a hypocrite or a sucker for free products. However, I decided to review these products because one of them is fragrance-free (Burt's Bees Honey isn't fragrance-free, but the scent is of beeswax) and one is a lip gel with food-grade ingredients despite not being fragrance-free.

Stella Double Flex Brighten Up Eyelashes (AS8941) Review and Pictures

In my previous post I reviewed Solone Gel Like Smoody Pencil (05 Brown). Today I'm going to review Stella Double Flex Brighten Up Eyelashes (AS8941), the other half of Loothavn's generously sponsored goodie package.

This pair of nylon eyelashes are dramatic and double-layered, designed with a cross sectional pointed eyelash over the top layer to brighten up and enhance the eyes.

The first thing I noticed about these false eyelashes is how dense and long the lash fibres are! The individual eyelashes are of different lengths, creating that "doe-eyed" effect. Wondering how it would look like on my eyes? Read on!

Solone Gel Like Smoody Pencil (05 Brown) Review and Pictures

If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, you'd probably know that I recently received some goodies from Loothavn and Glow to review.

What an adorable hand-made envelope! I loved it the minute I set eyes upon it. This is what I found inside:

To find out more about these products and read about my experiences with them, continue after the jump!

Featured: 10 Most Common Makeup Mistakes

Hello everyone, today I have a guest post from the lovely people at Videojug, a video content website dedicated to delivering high-quality "how-to" content from a range of topics for users' needs and enjoyment.

So, what are the 10 Most Common Makeup Mistakes according to Videojug? Read on to find out!