WellnessYogi: RESET - 1 day wellness retreat

If you need a break from the madness known as work, join us for a day of Yoga and wellness workshops to help you RESET your life and get your balance back at WellnessYogi:RESET.

Do note that the topics within the schedule are still subject to changes.

It will be a day full of activities and ALL attendees will be getting a goodie bag worth S$60! What's inside? Stay tuned! All I can say is that one item will be a really sweet and cold treat! :)

There will also be a bazaar that's open to the public, featuring stalls that will be selling a variety of health and wellness products or services!

Grab your buddy and register here. Corporate and sponsorship packages are also available. Please contact us at ing@wellnessyogi.com or passhen.sg@gmail.com for more details.

Dear Western Journalists, You're Wrong About Singapore

 

Just read this article and it's nicely written! I often do not like to do this whole Asian/East vs West mentality but I too am sick and tired of foreigners being surprised when we speak English, that Singapore is such a modern city (hello...I think a lot of other Asian cities/countries are modern too) and describe our efficiency as 'cold' or 'antiseptic'. Singaporeans are humans too. We have emotions and if we were 'cold', there wouldn't be so many of us complaining about anything everything under the sun. And we have a lot of sun, considering we're in the tropics (yes, I'm being sarcastic). Sorry that we're not as 'exotic' as other Asian countries. We're charming in our own way, ok?

What I find most infuriating (ooh...I used a big word) about all these Western journalists (mind you...I'm not saying ALL Western journalists) is this: a country's founding father has just passed away and the nation is grieving, but they use that as a platform to insult the country that he helped build. That is plain RUDE and it's lousy journalism to write about THEIR own complaints about Singapore before grudgingly writing an obituary about Mr Lee. If you were so concerned about Singaporeans' lack of freedom of speech, lack of freedom in general, inability to chew gum and being so highly efficient...why not ask us Singaporeans about how WE feel about all these rules and regulations? We're not mindless idiots as you can tell from how many of our citizens have graduated from top universities and from how well we're doing internationally when it comes to academics. True that in terms of athletics, we're still a bit behind but then...we're only 5 million people so the stats aren't really in our favour.

Is there such a thing as a PERFECT country? Is there such a thing as a PERFECT government? No. Lots of people like to preach about freedom/democracy/love/acceptance/plurality of opinion/open-mindedness, all of which are good things to have. However, it is startlingly clear that a lot of these journalists who are preaching about all these qualities lack one valuable skill - listening.

I'm born and bred in Singapore and have stayed in a few other cities for 1-2 months (Fukuoka, London and Melbourne) and you know what? I still prefer living and working in Singapore because I'm not discriminated against as a woman who wants to climb up the corporate ladder; I don't have to care about sorting my rubbish unless I want to be environmentally friendly and I don't have to care which day to dispose of said sorted trash in case my neighbours frown and complain about me; I need not worry about being mugged/stabbed/gunned down on the street if I'm walking home alone at 11pm from the train/bus station (a jogger was stabbed 10 min from where my bro and I stayed in London).

How many Singaporeans or foreigners who have lived in Singapore will it take before these pompous journalists will start listening to what WE have to say about all these things that THEY are complaining about OUR country? They ought to take their own advice and be open-minded.

There. I've exercised my supposedly-lacking freedom of speech.

And I'm not alone. Here are a few more articles in the same line:

• Calvin Cheng (full article) on All Singapore Stuff
• Calvin Cheng (edited article) on The Independent
• Yvonne Ng's comments accompanying a photo of our Parliament House where Mr Lee's body lies in state 
• Lee Yue Heng's blog
• Crystal Lim's blog (she is a Singaporean living in Australia)
• Jenny Tay's blog
• Alywin Chew's blog (he is working and living in Shanghai) 
• Deborah Anne's blog

Good Food At Cafe Prices In A Kopitiam Near Alexandra Village

It seems like one of the new 'hip' places to go to for dinner is near my place and next to Alexandra Village. Located at Blk 119 Bukit Merah Lane 1, this coffee shop that used to be plagued with bad fengshui and rotating shop owners, has finally found a winning combination of stalls that serve typical cafe and restaurant food!

The place has gotten sooo popular and crowded that it operates now more like a restaurant than a kopitiam. There's no such thing as free seating. You have to wait in line near the sign that's located at the middle pavement. Someone will somehow attend to you.

How did this place become so popular? It started off with Stew Küche, serving up German and Austrian cuisine such as Pork Knuckle, Sausages and beer. I went there with my parents when they first opened in 2010 or so...the years are fuzzy. I honestly wasn't impressed with their pork knuckle but it was cheap. My dad was happier with their Oxtail Stew, which was what brought us back to the kopitiam for dinner. Unfortunately, waiting for any dish from Stew Küche meant waiting for 45 minutes. So...it was onto other foods! 
 
Remember how I mentioned that the place now operates like a restaurant? It's a bit more like a group of restaurants housed under one roof.

You have "The Seafood Place - Seasalt" which specialises in Seafood:

Ordered their Cheesy Fish (S$10, if I remembered correctly), which essentially is Fish & Chips with nacho cheese drizzled on top. The fish is thick, the batter fried to perfection without it being oily. What I didn't like about it was the fake bacon on the salad. The whole place isn't Halal...so why use the fake stuff when real bacon tastes so much better and isn't really that expensive?

Dad ordered the whole Grilled Mackerel (S$16, if I remembered correctly), served with potato salad, grilled pineapple, salad and honey mustard. Now...this main course is really worth the money for several reasons. Firstly, the potato salad was topped with bonito flakes, which is kind of cheeky but nice flavour nod to the mackerel. Then, the grilled pineapple rings helped to minimise the really fishy taste of the mackerel. Thirdly, the salad was really good. It tasted almost like a salsa and was a nice dimension away from the sweet of the pineapples. Lastly, the honey mustard is made with Dijon mustard. You can see the mustard seeds inside the sauce. They used real seasalt to grill the fish too.

Took a photo of these only after eating...too busy eating...lol. Anyway, Seasalt has various 'pots' of clams/prawns/mussels. We opted for the pot of prawns in garlic cream (S$16) and it comes with a small basket of bread. Other methods of cooking include the usual wine (au vin) and tom yum (again, if I remember correctly).

The prawns were fresh and the shell easily came off the flesh. The garlic cream was really really good. Although there was cream, it didn't feel heavy nor rich to the point where you didn't feel like eating much. Despite my low carb diet after 8pm, I munched on a piece of bread that soaked up all the creamy goodness. Definite MUST TRY.

Next up is Immanuel French Food.

I don't think there is anywhere else in Singapore where you can get such a thick, chockful of onions, delicious French Onion Soup for only S$4.90. It actually comes with 2 slices of toast with cheese. I ate up one. Teehee.

Dad has tried their Duck Confit and he claims that it's better than the ones served at Saveur and La Petite Cuisine! I guess I do need to make another trip down to try out the main courses.

Another popular stall is "Two Wings" and their speciality is fried chicken wings. We ordered their Spring Chicken (S$15.90) and it comes with salad and onion rings.

I must say that the chicken is larger than a Spring Chicken. It was very well cooked - crispy thin skin and juicy, succulent meat. Better than KFC/ Texas/ Popeye's. 'Nuff said.

There also is a drink stall named "Brown Sugar" which ironically serves up healthier fare such as fruit juices and teas. There also is a dessert stall named "Brick" which opened recently and their desserts are really quite easy on the pockets. Their cookies start from S$1, cakes from S$2.50 and the most expensive would be their lava cakes at S$7-8. Didn't try any because we were just too stuffed.

All in all, it's a good place to have good food and not care about what you wear and how loud you talk. Smokers will also delight in their designated corner and puff away while sipping on Hoegaarden and other imported beers.

My advice is to avoid going there on weekend evenings. Unless you really have to.

Address:
119 Bukit Merah Lane 1 (next to Alexandra Village food centre)

SAVE THE DATE - WellnessYogi Reset

Ever since I joined the same gym as my friend, I've been faithfully going to Yoga classes twice every week, pilates once a week and using some of the machines to increase my cardio. It has been 4 months since I started my gym regime and I'm glad to announce that I've successfully converted 1kg of fat to 1 kg of muscle! According to the gym's Fat Analyzer, anyways.

I'm still not quite there yet but I recognise that my gym efforts are helping me keep myself mentally sane. Some what. I am very stressed out at work and my to-do list gets longer faster than I can cross things off. I bet that all you working ladies feel the same way.

As such, said friend and I have organised an event aptly named "Wellness Yogi: Reset" and it will be held on Sat, 11 July 2015 at the Waterfront Promenade. This is because we ourselves are trying to Reset our crazy busy lifestyles and go back to a place where we're at peace, calm and ready to be the happy women that we deserve to be.

SAVE THE DATE! Pencil it into your calendars now! Further details will be out later while we settle all the licenses required for this event.

We're planning to have a series of workshops that include yoga, pilates, life coaches teaching you how to manage stress in your lives, nutritionists to talk about healthy meals vs. diets and there will also be a bazaar that's open to the public! We hope to fill the Wellness bazaar with stalls selling cold pressed juices, healthy meal options, quick massages and/or beauty fixes.

If you are interested to rent a bazaar stall or sponsor goodie bag items, please feel free to contact me at passhen.sg@gmail.com to discuss! If you know anyone who would be interested, do share this with them too!

'Like' Passhen on Facebook here. OR 'like' WellnessYogi's Facebook page here.

Blue Floral Nails For The Week - 15 Mar 2015

Blue floral #nails for the week! Sorry no St Paddy theme #nailart #nailswag

A photo posted by melfann (@melfann) on Mar 14, 2015 at 11:21pm PDT

Back to nail designs after a 1.5 week hiatus because I injured my finger thanks to my dog.

Why I'm Giving Up Complaining For Lent

So it's now Lent, that lovely time before Good Friday and Easter, where we examine our lives and consciously try not to sin and remember the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus gave. As such, we are also encouraged to sacrifice something during this period. Normally, it involves something that we really love, which is why it would be a sacrifice. However, this Lent, I am going to challenge myself by giving up complaining. Here's a few reasons why:

1. It's a waste of energy
If you're upset, it is cathartic to vent and complain a little. My friends and family have heard me complain about a certain few people and they even know the nicknames of the various characters involved. However, there came a point where I was simply tired of complaining to them about the related problems. Complaining once or twice was good enough to vent and just hear their perspectives of things. Complaining about the same thing over and over again is not going to make the problem disappear or resolve itself. Better to save the energy used to complain to do something about it instead.

2. It blinds you from the blessings in your life

Let's put things into a slight perspective: there will always be people who have better days/items/luck than you and the opposite is also true - there will always be people who have crappier days/items/luck than you. Rather than focus on the problem or the shit that happens, always remember that what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger. Be grateful.

3. It's a waste of time
This is kinda related to the 1st point about complaining being a waste of energy. So...not only are you wasting energy complaining, you're also wasting your precious time AND your friend/family member's time. Unless you're seeking advice on how to tackle the issue. I'd rather spend the time used to complain to catch up with my friend's life, especially in this day and age where I see more of my friends' lives on social media than face-to-face. Also, the time used to complain could've been spent on trying to see the issue from other angles/perspectives. Only then are you able to know how to resolve the problem(s).

4. It encourages negativity
Do you find your blood pressure suddenly rising when you're in the midst of complaining? Can't imagine that's very relaxing and helpful for your mental health. What if you're listening to someone complain? That's not a conversation. It's just a one-sided verbal barrage. That said, I must emphasise that the occasional rant is helpful because this helps relieve stress BUT if you catch yourself complaining about the same thing over and over again, you do need to know that you're not exactly the life of the party and in fact, you may be draining the energy from others. It means that you:
a) have not gotten over the issue
b) have not taken steps to resolve the issue
c) like the sound of your own voice
d) are victimising yourself and this does not encourage you to take charge

This is going to be a huge challenge because it goes against my base human nature. Nonetheless, it is Lent and if I'm going to make a sacrifice, I might as well make it a real challenge and hopefully, this will go beyond Lent!

Fire In The Belly (and more) At Yoogane

Photo credit: Yoogane Singapore

I've seen the long queues at Yoogane's Bugis Junction branch and I've always wondered what the fuss is all about. All I know is that Yoogane started in Busan, Korea, in 1981 and it specialises in Galbi - grilled meat that has been marinated in the typical ganjang sauce. Deciding to find out what the fuss is all about, my friend and I headed off to Yoogane for lunch to chase away our Monday blues.

Straight off the bat, this meal was a bit of a tough decision because you can only order ONE type of grill and they charge you on a per pax basis. In other words, if you have a large group of diners with different tastebuds, you'll have to sit separately.

We ordered their signature Chicken Galbi (S$16.90++ per person) and an extra serving of fried rice (S$3.90++). You can choose to add cheese (S$3.90++) or noodles (ranges from S$3.90++ to S$4.90++, depending on type) but we gave all of those a miss. Like most Korean restaurants, they provide a bottle of cold water and a box of tissue for you. Nonetheless, we both ordered hot tea (S$1.90++). No need to worry about veg in your diet because they have a free flow salad bar, which contains mainly shredded cabbage (they provide honey mustard as a dressing), kimchi, shredded bell peppers and pickled radish.

So...the grill itself is HUGE and it is cooked right in the middle of the table! The Chicken Galbi consists of a generous serving of meat, lots of chopped up leek, 2 slices of potato, 4 rice cakes and quite a bit of sliced cabbage. Yup...you can count the number of slices of potato and rice cakes. If you like the Korean rice cake, you will have to top up your order (price ranges from S$3.90++ to S$5.90++ depending on type or S$6.90++ for the combination plate).

There's nothing like the sound of sizzling meat and the smell of it as it gets cooked by one of the staff. Mind you...this does splatter, despite the high metal ring that they put around the pan while it cooks. As such, aprons are provided to you so that you get to keep your clothes pristine. Doesn't prevent you from smelling like grilled meat though. Also, if you try to stir fry it yourself, the staff will politely tell you not to do so in order to cook the meat quickly. I still don't see the logic in that, considering that I cook.

Even if it smells good, does it taste good? First bite - this tastes a lot better than the stuff that's served in Seoul Yummy (another chain of Korean casual dining restaurants). Second bite - mm...I think the chicken is a bit overcooked. Third bite - whoa...I can feel the heat of the chilli! But it was still manageable. Fourth bite - I need to pair this with the plain shredded cabbage so that it's less jerlat. After a few more mouthfuls, I felt that there was simply way too much leek. I'm not the biggest fan of leeks but I really don't mind them thoroughly cooked. That said, this dish simply had TOO much leek. Also, there was only 1 flavour throughout the whole dish, which was the ganjang.

In terms of portion, my friend and I felt that the amount served could've fed 3 pax and if so, we could've ordered another side dish just to have a little more variety. Also, it wasn't cheap considering that the total bill came to be about S$54.

The worst part was actually the day after. Both of us spent a good 10-15 min in the toilet the next morning bombing spicy (yes, you can feel it) and orangey stool. Sorry...don't mean to be gross but...you get the idea. Thus, I'm afraid to go back to Yoogane. Maybe I will...only when I'm feeling a bit indulgent and I'll definitely avoid the chilli.

Yoogane Singapore
200 Victoria Street
#02-47/48 Bugis Junction

Tel: +65 6337 7337
Website: https://www.facebook.com/yoogane.singapore 
Opening hours: 11:30 to 22:00

Continuing Bee Choo Journey after 2 Months

The last trip to Bee Choo for my friend and I was 3 weeks ago and let me just say that both of us could feel the effects of leaving such a long period between treatments. My friend felt that her dandruff was back and that her hair was very flat. As for myself, my scalp was oily and I found more white hairs despite me using the tonic every single day!

So...I couldn't help but think of the following questions:

1. Am I still losing so much hair and have an oily scalp due to stress?
2. Does the treatment make you reliant on frequent treatments going forward?
3. Is there a less time consuming treatment?

Sadly, those are questions that cannot be easily answered. However, I'm going to switch back to my expensive Aveda hair tonic after my current bottle of tonic is finished just so as to compare scalp conditions. Then I will know whether it's stress or the alcohol in the current hair tonic that is causing my oily scalp to be back.

Nonetheless, lesson learnt is that 2 weeks is the max we should leave in between treatments. Want to read about my previous sessions? Here they are:

Bee Choo Origin Hair Treatment - 1 month later & review on tonic
Review on Bee Choo Origin Hair Treatment - Week 3
After Bee Choo Hair Treatment - Week 2
Trying out Bee Choo Hair Treatment - Week 1

Understanding 'Invisible' Illnesses

I saw the photo below on my Facebook newsfeed today and I'm glad to see more and more of such movement(s) in the world.

Needless to say, I shared it and I wrote, "There are tons of 'invisible' illnesses out in the world. We should not judge others by what we have/ don't have, learn to accept that these illnesses are a struggle and that it takes a lot of self control for people to NOT whinge and whine about their illness(es) to others constantly."

As someone who has endometriosis and clinical depression, which is linked to my endometriosis (I shall now shorten it to 'endo'), I can really relate to how it is a struggle to smile to the world while your insides are just eating away at you. Don't get me started on the head trip that goes with every low when depression hits you nor the extreme pain I go through sometimes whenever Mother Nature visits.

The worst thing is that these illnesses are chronic. They will reoccur again and again, with almost no cure. Just prevention of symptoms or just making these symptoms milder so that they do not become stumbling blocks.

I get a bit offended whenever people talk about my weight and my weight gain. It is a side effect of endo (people with PCOS can relate) and it takes me 3x the effort to lose the weight. I'm already happy that I've maintained my weight without it ballooning further. I can't stand it when family, friends and some colleagues talk about my food intake as if I'm consuming 2,000 calories a day. I've checked. There are days and weeks when I meticulously note down all the food that I consume and guess what? I clock in at 1,500 calories on average! Sometimes 1,200 calories too! However, nobody sees this and whatever they assume, they believe. I still can't get over the fact that one of my directors skipped me when she was offering biscuits to everyone in the office.

Another thing about endo is the incredible amount of pain it brings and it's not constant. It comes and goes like a bad diarrhoea that visits you without the accompanying runs. You're so exhausted despite not doing much and you just can't concentrate on anything else except a good book/mindless games/how soft your pillow is. Whenever this happens, I can't help but take a sickie. But of course...a lot of colleagues think that I'm skiving or complain that I'm "always not around/always on medical leave". Some colleagues even go so far to say that I only work 3 days a week (I wish!). Best that I've heard so far: "she has so many days of medical leave meh?" Nope...I still have the same amount of leave as anyone else in the office and I do 3x the amount of work in the same amount of time. That's for efficiency y'all naysayers!

Honestly, people like me aren't asking for sympathy nor empathy. We just want all of you to be less judgemental and more understanding.