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Beauty & Wellness
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1=SGD 0.0587
I would never ever forget the traumatic experience I've have had with this salon in year 2005. Even though 5 years had passed, the grapevine reported of mediocre standards in hair-dos at this salon.
Back in 2005, I walked into this hair salon with an ignorant mentality that the boss, Calvin Chan, would do a great job to my hair since he had won a few L'oreal colour awards. However, little did I know that the award shouldn't be used as an accurate gauge in concluding whose good & whose not.
As I was born with very thick, coarse, dense hair (with unruly natural curls), I had requested for a spiral perm because I had been able to pull off such hairstyles with great panache for the past 15 years. However, I was in for a nightmare because this artist was ill-qualified to be accredited as a hair stylist even though he is the owner of Hair De Vogue.
I did notice that the boss & his staff were all balding on the crown. They had sparse hair on their head but I had the wrong idea that it was in their genes to have little hair. It didn't occur to me that their hair condition had anything to do with abusing of hair chemicals.
The boss of Hair De Vogue, Calvin Chan exerted alot of strength in tugging & pulling my dense hair while putting on the rollers. The pain was excruciating & so unbearable that my eyes started to water. I could feel the sides of my face, including the sides of my eyes, being dragged upwards in a very taut manner. It was really painful & the mirror shows that I was getting a sort of "face-lift".
If readers for this review wondered if I've ever tried stopping him, Yes I did. I told him that I was feeling the pain & discomfort; that I had been having my hair permed for the past 15 years but never had any hairstylist exerted such strength in putting rollers on my head.
Guess what? He said that if he doesn't do this, the curls wouldn't appear. Then what was the perming lotion there for??? He even mentioned to me that his fingers were feeling numb with pain because I had too much hair to be curled with rollers.
And when he applied the perming lotions onto my head, my scalp stung with stinging pain. That sort of pain arising from abrasions. He billed me $350 for such a traumatic ordeal in his hair salon.
When I reached home at about 4pm, I noticed that my curls were straightening out and alerted the salon over the phone immediately. The staff was apprehensive; she told me that it was impossible since her boss used so much strength in curling my hair with those plastic rollers. Again I wondered what the perming lotion was there for?? She took down my contact number & said that she would get the boss to contact me once he comes back from Malaysia.
The following day, my scalp was inflamed and I found alot of hair on my pillow when I woke up. I was terribly alarmed because this had never happened to me before. And a terrible headache on the crown of my head pursued from then on for the next 8 months.
Thereafter, a spate of nightmare followed me for the next 3 years after this horrible ordeal at Hair De Vogue. My scalp became super-sensitive, plagued with chronic itch and a stinging pain. When I looked into the mirror, I was frightened by the sight of hair follicles that looked like "goose pimples" sticking out all over my scalp. It was also covered with endless layers of flakes. Severe hair loss was inevitable. And 1 week later (i.e. after that hair disaster in Hair De Vogue), I started experiencing skin problems which started off around my hair line, which ultimately, spread to other parts of my body.
By then, I wasn't just experiencing scalp problems, I was having unexplainable rashes all over my body. I sought medical help from dermatologists but the condition kept relapsing. By 2006, I was balding on the crown (where the "physical injury" that Calvin Chan from Hair De Vogue had inflicted the most at). It was traumatic for me because I used to have such thick, dense hair even though I wasn't naturally blond-haired. Many friends & relatives would ask out of concern what was happening to me?! And the unwanted limelight of turning into a baldie in the office when I used to be well-known for having "too much" hair (to the extent that my scalp could not be seen).
Needless to say, I didn't hear from the salon. In fact, they avoided my calls & the boss is always "No in". The staff even rebutted in telling me what was the big deal on hair loss since I've got so much hair!
The super-sensitivity didn't leave me till today. Even though the dermatologists had explained that patients should be getting back to their original state upon recovery, but it is unfortunate that I didn't see that happening to me or other victims who went through chemical disasters with hair.
Today, I no longer have a balding crown but on the other hand, my hair texture has changed after the skin condition sort of stabilised. My hair has become finer & I do not have as much hair as before the hair disaster. My scalp is still sensitive, very reactive and prone to problems. And my hair still sheds easily when there is a relapse of scalp infections.
Please note that this is a true-life account of my experience with Hair De Vogue in mid 2005, without any forms of exaggeration. Those who had gone through similar experiences could attest to the after-effects of severe damage through chemical abuse.
Till today, I had never forgotten how such an ordeal had changed my appearance & health status. I could no longer have spiral curls in view of the change in my hair density & texture arising from the botched job at Hair De Vogue.
So visit this salon at your own risk if you could bear with unqualified people doing your hair!
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I am writing this review with great pleasure for receiving great service from the people working from their headquarters (HQ) in bedok.
The salesgirl working fulltime during weekdays at their retail (causeway point) is a real shame to the organisation. Not only was she rude, uncouth & snobbish, her customer service was literally non-existent.
However, I had still decided to engage Metalworld to replace my old, rusty gate. The reason being that my prior experience with their staff from HQ had been really pleasurable & perfect. When I first raised a request for a tilted gate through Metalworld's designer, she had been professional enough to check with their foreman who dropped by my home for a non-obligatory consultation.
Metalworld's foreman is a very knowledgeable & experienced staff who explained to me the ergonomics of a wrought iron gate. He had also assessed the feasibilty of installing a tilted gate at my flat.
When I visited the Bedok workshop, their designer had been so kind as to make a trip across the overhead bridge & bring me an umbrella when I was caught in a heavy downpour.
I had chosen their popular "Overwhelmed" design which was not featured in their Bedok workshop. Hence, I made a trip down to their causeway point retail outlet but only to be sorely disappointed with the salesgirl's poor attitude & bad service.
She asked me if I was aware that she was having her lunch. It was 4pm. She snapped at me throughout the conversation, was very unwilling to serve and very eager to get rid of customers. Another customer visited but was turned away when she snapped at his family members. And she was very irritated & impatient when I tried clarifying with her the loop for installing my padlock. She ticked me off in a sarcastic manner & told me that she had been there for 6 years. And that she knew best.
Readers for this review would be wondering why I had given a 5-stars rating for excellence. I wish to explain my stance in that it would be such a shame & pity for 1 under-performing employee at the retail shop to ruin the reputation & business of a reputable organisation.
Anyways, I got my gate through the staff at HQ instead. There were no unwanted "surprises" because the designer would email clients a computer-drawn gate with stipulated requirements before cutting out the gate.
The fabrication was beautiful, upmarket designer style. And the installation was seamlessly done. The gate handle, lockset... everything was simply perfect right up to the end of installation. The finishing was so neat & professionally done. For the premium that Metalworld charges, it was worth every single cent paid out by me & my hubby.
So for those of you out there who wants to have a new wrought iron gate, please consider engaging Metalworld.
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My companion kept raving about Awfully Chocolate that it made it impossible for me not to try. We went about looking for an outlet but realised the one at Katong had closed and all that was left was an office above Everything with Fries (which is also great btw).
So we dropped by at the itsy bitsy outlet tucked away in a corner of Vivo City. The first thing that occurred to me was.. HUH two tables only? They only had two high tables and about 3 chairs per table. They had a nice glass counter display which lined two walls, making an L-shape so it was pretty cramped. But well it is a specialty shop and most places like this don't even have seats at all. And we were there for the ice cream so there is hardly a need for seats.
They had ice cream (1 flavour - HEI which means black), chocolate bars and chocolate cake and cupcakes for sale. The ice cream went for $3.80 for a single scoop, $6.20 for a double scoop and $11.80 for a pint. The chocolate cupcake was $4.90 and the stacked chocolate cake was $6.50 per 100g. Truffles were $13 for 100g.
They had iced water in a jug set aside for customers and provided plastic cups, so that even if you had to do a takeaway you could grab a cup of water, which is great.
So we got our double scoop ice cream from the cheery girls behind the counters and sat on the mall's seats just outside the store.
The ice cream was fantastic. It rich and creamy and I love the dark chocolate taste. Definitely not for sweet chocolate lovers. The spoons we had were really cute and perfect for spooning the ice cream into our mouths.
Since then, I've had it three times and am still lemming for it. :)
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Here I am sitted by the bright full length glass window, enjoying the warm soothing afternoon sun while still having the indoor air conditioning maintaining my cool and layers of expensive make-up on my flawless face. This outlet is one of my favourite outlets...
It is quite a chore to try to find a nice hideout in this building... With the bustling crowd of lunching white collars and eager agents with their laptops presenting their products... Few know about this place. Its good because its not crowded, serve decently priced food and drinks as well as few servers to give you the eye. Complimentary on the house, you still get the pretty view of the river, occasionally, some wide-eyed tourist boarding the HIPPO RIVER TAXI and when evening comes, some crazy teens on the Singapore Bungy screaming their heads off.....
I would say.. what is really nice is not the food here.... though they are pretty and yummy, what is excellent here is the unoppressed feeling that it brings... Stretegically placed tables and couches allow one to be able to hideaway in a corner while tall mirrors allow us to amplify our view to see who's coming up behind us. It is extremely eco-friendly too. The bright sun rays brightens up the place and no halogen lights needs to be turned on... Do you know that one halogen bulbs takes up at least 50W of power and emits a harmful UVA, UVB and UVC rays...
So much so for a wonderful experience.. till the next review....
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I know it seems like I am always scheming and teasing to get you hungry, but trust me: everything that I do is for your own good. Today is Sunday. And as my favorite saying goes: Sunday is made for brunch.
Epicurious Cafe has always been well known for their weekend brunch. It’s almost impossible to get a table without waiting if you reach after twelve noon, and here’s the good news – Epicurious has recently opened a new branch at Railmall. And the best part? The breakfast menu at railmall is exactly the same as the one at Robertson Quay.
Sharon the co-owner of Epicurious Cafe recommended me to go for the Baked Eggs with Toast Soldiers ($6.50 for 1) and I agreed that it’s absolutely divine! Eggs and bacons are the best couple in this world. The latter always makes eggs become so much better!
When the trio of eggs, bacon, and cheese are baked together, there’s only a word to describe everything – magic!
Having tried the Eggs Benedict on my previous visit, I decided to go for the Ratatouille Omelette ($12). Tomatoes and eggplant added color and contrasting texture to the smooth and silky egg. If I may add, the side potatoes were really tasty, and I like the combination of the slightly sourish fillings with the omelette.
Breakfast is all about eggs and pancakes. And the pancakes ($7 for 3) here are definitely one of the most value-for-money.
For desserts, we had the Apple Crumble and a slice of carrot cake. The apple tart was lovely. Warm and soft and tart, it had a very appley flavor, with a scoop of cold ice cream – this was the perfect fairytale ending to our wholesome breakfast.
* * *
Epicurious Cafe is my favorite place for brunch. If you are one of those who have problems waking up early for breakfast and never seem to be able to get a table at Epicurious Robertson Quay; dude, it’s time to go to the Rail Mall branch.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
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They are located at the corner nearer to the Intercontinental Hotel. If you could not find it... Check out the bunch of school girls exclaiming "So Cute!!! So Cute!!!" at the glass panals... Thats the shop!!!
This outlet I notice... have one of the most live animals besides the flag ship outlet at vivo and holland village. You can find Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, hamsters of various breeds as well as rats if you like.. Not to forget fishes and turtles. The shop though small, can house many things... including colourful cages with rotating balconies and tanks for fishes...
One of the many outlets i patronise frequently, their service is great. Helpful and informative. They even taught me how to get my membership number online so that I can chalk up the points of what little things i buy. Theres this once i called up their hotline and boy... the operator was so gentle, understanding, helpful and informative.
Though i find maybe a little long winded, He offered me great solutions, contact numbers for the outlets and things to look out for and helpful information to beware of. I am very VERY impressed by the extent of service they offer....
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Time Flies... My lovely guinea pig is already coming 2 years old... and is still a bachelor. While looking around for a beautiful girlfriend to share his bachelor pad with, I could not but browse at every Pet Lovers Centre. Reason being, they are just everywhere.. Conveniently located at many shopping spots, you can never miss them. Most importantly, they have a good supply of small pets almost at every stall.
I compared the prices of pet supplies and find them priced quite reasonably. On top of that, for a mere $50 of purchase and above, you could get their free delivery.... Thats a super great service they offer... imagine lunging a 35litre of Cats Litter walking around. Its a physical and emotional disaster.
They do have some pretty good promos around sometimes for 20% discount on food and necessity. I am also impressed services they offer. They have a vet like staff in almost every outlet that sells live animals and they are knowledgable as well as helpful. I get most of my know how to take of my GP from them.
If you need a pet... This is a place you can go to... Healthy pets and fresh supply of goods... with free delivery.....
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Many food lovers always like to go Holland Village as it has always been one of the popular dining spots in Singapore that has so many different restaurants. I recently came to know that Mykii restaurant actually serves brunch on weekends. It wasn’t even on my list of Brunch Places in Singapore when I had compiled it back then.
Breakfast at Mykii Brasserie Cafe is available on weekends from 11.30am – 4pm, and there are three brunch menus to choose from: Hearty Deluxe ($38), Gourmet Chic ($28) and Classique ($28). We had a Hearty Deluxe brunch set which came with a starter of homemade bread & muffin/scone/cupcake, Mykii Brunch platter, a choice of main course, dessert, coffee/tea and fruit juice. I know, that’s quite an handful isn’t it? In addition to that, we shared another Gourmet Chic brunch set which was essentially about the same as the Hearty Deluxe brunch set – less the main course.
Most of the time, I prefer to order from the ala carte menu, rather than having a brunch buffet. There’s no need for so much variety for breakfast, I’m a cereal-eggs-pancakes-desserts kind of guy. I like to keep brunch simple – nothing too heavy.
The scones are sturdy, yet crumby, hard on the outside yet so moist inside, it’s the type that I will love to have every morning. On the other hand, the Oreo cupcake was just okay, very sweet and a little too dry. The homemade bread, however was excellent. While waiting for the food to come, we couldn’t help but spread the room-temperature butter onto the bread and wolfed down two slices each.
The Eggs Benedict was more than just a pretty face. The magical combination of eggs and bacon always works. While the holladaise sauce wasn’t as buttery as I would like it to be, it’s just assuring to have Eggs Benedict for breakfast.
Mykii’s Brunch platter consisted of French chipolata sausage, grilled fresh tomatoes, streaky bacon with farmhouse eggs. For the eggs, we chose to have the ocean’s catch omelette with squids and prawn with a tangy thai-sweet chili mayonnaise. Hearty and satisfying, this is my classic interpretation of a big breakfast.
By the time the Iceland Smoked Salmon Sandwich arrived on our table, our stomach was already almost filled to the brim. I had no idea why it was named the Iceland smoked salmon sandwich, but I do know for a fact that the fries that accompanied the sandwich were delicious. It was nicely cut, and had a great potato taste. They were also light and not too salty; we finished every fry without feeling guilty.
If you have been around for some time, you will know that I have always been against the marriage of chocolate and banana. There are plenty of different options like orange chocolate and chocolate mint, but yes, I do not like chocolate banana.
The Chocolate Banana cake here did not change my opinion of the popular dessert, but at least it wasn’t that bad. For one, the bulk of the cake was chocolate ganache and only a thin layer was the banana component. I have nothing against banana, but chocolate banana doesn’t work for me.
I was elated when the dessert menu had a choice of Sweet Morning Platter, which was petite old English pancakes with pear compote, smoothie shooter, and vanilla bean gelato. When the dessert came, the size of the pancakes caught us by surprise. Again, I blamed myself for not reading the menu carefully, petite old English pancakes.. Yes it’s petite, small, tiny or whatever vocabularies you can think of.
Well, it wasn’t too bad. It’s pancakes, you know – pancakes always taste good. The slightly sourish smoothie shooter provided a good counterbalance to the sweet duo of pear compote and ice cream. Ooh, there’s vanilla beans! Perfect. Just the way I wanted to end a good and hearty brunch.
Compared with the other brunch places in Singapore, Mykii probably won’t be among my favorites, but that’s not because it’s not good. The food was pretty decent, not top-notch, but good enough. Their brunch menu really spoils me with so much food, and I’m very sure that my stomach will hold a protest very soon if this goes on.
Actually come to think of it, the beautiful part about breakfast food is the simplicity of it. Having a cup of coffee while reading Sunday Times, beginning breakfast with starter-eggs-mains-desserts, and most importantly, having it with your favorite person – what more can you ask for?
Go and have a good breakfast today! Weekends are meant for brunch.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
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Ever since my friend went to Max Brenner Chocolate Bar, she has been telling me: “you must go to Max Brenner, they have the best waffles in Singapore!” I have heard of Max Brenner before of course, it’s the chocolate bar at Esplanade that all chocolate lovers should go to.
It’s strange how even when I saw Max Brenner while holidaying in Australia, I never had the urge to go there. You know how they say sometimes it hits you when you least expect it? Well, that time was now. When the word ‘Max Brenner’ appeared in twitter so many times a week, I know it’s only sooner or later before I try their famous chocolate desserts.
When we saw the picture of the amazing Chocolate Souffle on the menu, I couldn’t help but mis-read it as ‘Best Chocolate Souffle‘. It’s funny how our eyes like to play tricks on us, and with that, we ordered the Banana Split Waffles, and the Chocolate Souffle.
Then everything went silent. We didn’t speak for at least a minute. If you have ever experienced this phenomenon, it can only mean two things: a) the food is so good that everyone forgot how to speak, and b) your dining companion is too busy, desperately trying to figure out how the chef came up with this out-of-this-world creation. We smiled at each other, and the silence continued until we finished the Chocolate Souffle.
Between the two of us, we wiped everything clean within a minute. It was so good! I have no vocabulary to describe it; excellent or fantastic are simply not good enough to explain how it tasted like. Maybe, maybe heavenly is the only word that fits the description. This is the Best Chocolate Souffle in Singapore.
Initially, I felt that it’s expensive to pay $16 for a dessert. But I changed my mind after having it – I’d definitely pay for the best chocolate souffle every single time.
Today is waffles day – because I say so.
Adrenaline flowed through my body as we poured the tube of chocolate over the Belgian waffles. Although it wasn’t as fluffy nor as hot as I’ve imagine (time spent on taking photographs), the waffles were very satisfying. Both of us had been craving for waffles for a whole week. When the staff brought the waffles to our table; it was like bringing a helpless lamb to the mercy of the wolf – we devoured it in a split second.
Scrambling to maximize the tiny scoop of vanilla ice cream, every mouthful was so gratifying. And subconsciously, we started to Ooh and whoa. Who needs bananas and berries when there’s waffles? Give me more waffles!
I’ve always insisted that every guy should have a waffle maker at home, it’s the best thing you can do for your girl the next morning. Otherwise, please be a good boyfriend and bring her to Max Brenner for this orgasmic experience – I promise she will love you even more.
* * *
We finished both the Chocolate Souffle and the Banana Split Waffles within ten minutes. Chocolate overdose? Definitely not, can we have another Chocolate Souffle please?
Now if you can excuse me, I need to go check out Laurent Bernand’s Chocolate Souffle.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
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Ice Cream Kingdom is one of the new Ice Cream places in Singapore. The owner of the 8 month old Ice Cream Parlor at Holland Grove, is Stella, who quit her HR job in exchange for the impressive title CICO: Chief Ice-Cream Officer.
With so many ice cream places in Singapore, it can be quite a thwarting experience trying to decide on a place to satisfy the ice cream craving. I like Ice Cream Kingdom (ICK) and I am going to tell you why.
Unlike the other ice cream parlours in Singapore, it’s an one-woman-show at Ice Cream Kingdom. From making the ice cream to serving them – everything is done by Stella. Having ice cream in ICK, it makes you feel right at home.
Ice Cream Kingdom has 15 ice cream flavors – some are essentials like vanilla, chocolate and cookie & cream, while there are other unique flavors like kaya, green tea brown rice, and honey wheat crunch.
We were like kids in an ice cream shop, there’s so many flavors and we wanted to try all of them! For ‘research purposes’, we had 8 different scoops: Nutella Nutella, Vanilla Bean, Sticky Chewy Chocolate, Earl of Grey, Honey Wheat Crunch, Green Tea Brown Rice, Toasty Kaya, and Rasping for Raspberry.
Vanilla > Chocolate
When it comes to ice cream, Vanilla ice cream always win hands down – especially so when there’s speckle of vanilla beans in it. But that’s not to say that the Sticky Chewy Chocolate isn’t good. Before this visit, a dear friend brought me the chocolate flavor from Ice Cream Kingdom (ICK) and I had a whole pint of it for dinner.
Besides Vanilla bean, another of my all time favorite is definitely Nutella! I’m not sure about you, but I like nutella very very much. Since I’m not a tea lover, the Earl of Grey didn’t really appealed to me, but most of the rest raved about it as one of the better earl grey ice cream.
The Green Tea Brown Rice sounded a little too healthy for my liking; there was green tea, and there was brown rice – there you go – Green Tea Brown Rice ice cream! I know it’s not my best description – try it for yourself if you are curious. Among the different options, Toasty Kaya caught our attention with the catchy name and familiar taste, while the playful Rasping for Raspberry was sweet but not overly sweet, sour and not too much so, with an intense raspberry tinge.
Have you ever fantasized about having ice cream for breakfast? With the Honey Wheat Crunch, I think your little fetish can actually come true. Tasting it for the first time, it’s like having tiny bits of wheat cereal – in an ice cream. Ho ho, lets have ice cream for breakfast!
I did not exercise, but I only had a taste of everything instead of having eight scoops.
Rainy days are the perfect weather for having ice cream. But the same goes for a hot day too. There’s nothing more gratifying than to have a cold melting ice cream under the scorching sun. I’d also go for warm fluffy waffles, topped with a single scoop of cold vanilla ice cream and drizzled with hot chocolate.
I like the idea of ice cream: be it on a cone or in a cup, the sight of the melting ice cream always proved to be irresistible, I mean, who doesn’t like ice cream? It’s like the best creation (other than nutella) in this world!
Special for ladyironchef readers:
Mention that you are a reader of ladyironchef to Stella, get an additional scoop of ice cream when you ordered the Waffle with Single Scoop OR 1-for-1 deal on scoops. Promotion is valid for one month till 24th April 2010.
For directions please click here, and you can give a call to ICK before going down. What are you waiting for? Drop by Ice Cream Kingdom and say hi to Stella for me!
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
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