I also dunno why I started looking for all these but I knew I need to start taking care of my hair because of the excessive hair products I’ve been dumping on my hair everyday.. I wouldn’t want to bald early and regret in time to come.. And if you have noticed.. I care about my hair the most.. And that’s like the reason why I kept deferring reservist.. Cos I have to cut my hair lol.. Quite a lame reason I must admit..

I guess this is another expense that is mainly spent on me, myself.. I still haven really got used to pampering myself but I knew I should do it.. I shouldn’t always care only about others and neglect myself.. So that is why u see me spending quite a lot every month on things that I like to do and what I want these days.. This is also one of my resolution for yr 2011.. Spending some money on myself or my family every month to do the things we like or want.. January was the Nike+ watch, Feb was Mum’s bdae celebration, Mar’s mala steamboat and Apr’s shampoos.. Okie so I shall not digress too much and come back to the topic..

So I bought 2 bottles of shampoos for me and my family’s use..

Redken’s Hair Cleansing Cream (left) and Redken’s Densify Texturising Shampoo (right)..

Redken’s Hair Cleansing Cream – I bought this for my family to use because we all always use hair products like hair spray’s and waxes everyday and these will all be deposited on our scalp after some time.. Even if you don’t use the hair products, using the same shampoo everyday will also leave mineral deposits on the scalp which is not really very good..

So I bought this shampoo to remove mineral deposits and product build up on the scalp and it can be treated as an alternative form of hair treatment ba.. Since I still don’t think I’ll ever go do any scalp/hair treatment for the time being.. Still can’t get past myself.. heh..

Redken’s Densify Texturising Shampoo – This product is mainly for my own use.. I’ve very fine hair and thus I find it hard to style my hair everytime unless I use a very strong wax and lotsa hair spray to fix the shape.. If not my hair would be very very flat and it looks very ugly..

I actually don’t really think this will work but well.. As much as I would not like to believe, this shampoo really work wonders! First wash and I can feel the difference! The volume created feels like what I get normally after blow drying with a hair dryer diffuser.. Not those flat flat hair I usually have after I washed my hair.. But I don’t think I will use this product everyday because it’s quite expensive for only 300ml.. Shall see how..

Overall I’m pretty happy with these 2 products I bought and I think it’s money well spent..

My colleagues and I decided to eat some good but not really pricey food so we settled for Bakerzin after looking at the menu.. What tempted us was the Meal Box which looked really sumptuous and not very ex too.. In the end almost everyone ordered a Meal Box except Yvonne, who ordered a sausage..

Jianxin ordered the Carbonara Meal Box ($18.90) but he found it too creamy and didn’t finish the pasta.. But the rest of the food is good..

Yvonne ordered the Pan-grilled Bratwurst ($9.90) and it looks good too..

I ordered the Dory Fillet Meal Box ($18.90) and it tastes quite nice.. The soup, the bread were good too.. Not forgetting to mention their specialty cake..

The presentation is really nice and it really improves our appetite just by looking at it..

However, I feel that the portion is really a bit big and I didn’t manage to finish it in the end.. But I still think that it tastes quite nice and it’s worth a mention..

Oh and each meal box comes with a drink too.. (I forgot whether its bcos of set lunches or it’s just part of the meal box) and I ordered an Italian Soda..

Overall I feel that the food here is quite worth the money and the quality is good.. I would foresee myself coming here again someday for a meal.. And well.. Their cakes really taste good.. (Even for a non-cake lover like me.. heh..)

iPhone cases clearance sale!

I looked around and I bought this case! The Cygnett Frost Matte Slim case (red)! I was thinking about which colours should I get (Cyan, Purple, Red) and in the end I decided to get red since it’s a much safer colour.. heh.. Actually it wasn’t an impulse buy cos I was looking at this particular case the day before on ebay and youtube reviews and this IT show sale is super cheap! So I might as well get it and think later.. haha..

So let’s take a look at the case now..

The case is packed in a simple no frills box..

Although the case is cheap (U.P $29.90, now $9.90), it still comes with a screen protector that is quite decent.. The key shaped camera hole shows that this is a old batch of stock..

The front view.. The case is a nice fit on the phone but it doesn’t have a “lay on the table” design.. which means that when you put ur phone face down on the table, the screen actually touches the table.. So protection wise, this case may not be that good..

This is the side view of the case.. As you can see, this case is slightly thicker than the SGP Ultrathin case and thus, the side profile doesn’t look as slim but it’s definitely not too thick either.. The buttons and mute switch are exposed but it’s not very easy to access them cos there’s a depression between the case and the buttons.. (ie. the case is thicker than the buttons)

The back view is what attracted me cos I like this translucent look! However, because of my Powersupport back screen protector.. Sometimes you will see watermark formed at the back and it can’t be helped.. It’s a tradeoff between protection and sleekness and I chose the former (also because I already purchased and stuck the screen protector on already)

Overall, I really like this case and I may contemplate on buying a 2nd one (maybe cyan) if there’s a sale going on again soon.. haha.. I really spend a lot of money on useless things nowadays..

I guess this must be really good to make me go and buy back the same thing after using it in 2009.. Or maybe it’s cos I’m getting old liao.. All things need to settle down le.. haha.. Cannot keep trying out new stuff..

My new pink Samourai wax..

I bought it from a fellow HWZ forummer online and collected it from him on Saturday.. Damage is $27 for 80g wax.. A typical gatsby moving rubber cost ard $10 for 100ml so I don’t feel that this is very ex.. Moreover, one bottle of wax this size can last me at least 8-10mths or so.. So it’s well worth it..

I forgot how much did it cost when I ordered it last time but it’s definitely more worth den the Renati 100ml paste that I was using previously.. I was contemplating on buying Redken’s High Rise Hair Wax but it’s $32 for 50g wax and reviews state that it’s pretty hard to wash off, which I’m afraid.. I’m scared I become botak very soon because of the frequency of hair styling products I use..

So I hope it doesn’t disappoint me! (Cos I forgot how strong is the hold already.. I only remembered that the scent of the wax is pretty nice haha..)

Just a side note.. Renati’s paste is 100ml and it’s definitely a lot smaller than Samourai’s 80ml wax.. Why ah? (I remembered I asked the MO-er about it when I received the product previously haha..)

Yeah! I don’t know what’s inside but I guess it will be fun! Receiving a parcel of surprises! I hope there will be things that would be useful for me too.. Can’t wait for it to be delivered to my house! I’ll update about the contents when I get it so stay tuned!

Anyway, are there any similar services around in Singapore? I believe this is a good business model to work on ya.. hehe..

What do we want in life?

In this 9mths.. I tried to establish an identity.. I tried to map out my financial routemap.. I tried to define my career path.. I tried to have ‘more life’ by actively meeting up with friends and organizing outings.. None of them were really successful and reality hits you harder than you would have thought it would.. This 9mths.. I tried very hard to move forward but I realised that I was just walking on the spot all along.. Life cannot continue this way.. I admire pple who have the courage to step out of their comfort zone to achieve what they want.. And I hope I can do that someday or another..

Perhaps I should at least go back and finish all the tasks I’ve assigned for the past 9 mths.. And blogging is one of them I suppose.. And to get ready for what lies in the future..

So I guess I will just focus on what I’m interested to blog about ba.. Food, gadgets & technology.. If I do remember the bits and pieces while blogging.. I’ll try to add them into the different blog posts.. So stay tuned to my updates! I’m aiming to write a blog post everyday to catch up with my back log.. Hope I can meet this target..

This year.. I finally went to Bakerzin and bought one of their cakes to try out.. I went in last year too but I was just a poor chap at that time and I find the cakes too expensive already.. It’s not that it’s cheaper now.. It’s just that I find it more affordable now since I’m working already.. Initially.. I wanted to get the chocolate cake because of recommendation but I remembered that my mum doesn’t really like chocolate that much, judging from the Awfully Chocolate cake I bought last year.. So last minute I went in and ask the staff for recommendation and got a Strawberry Cheesecake instead.. And the cake really tastes awesome! My bro and I weren’t cake lovers at all but we quite like the cake.. This is the first birthday cake that we actually don’t mind eating more.. So this is how good the cake tasted! haha..

Dinner was at Aston’s, chosen by my parents.. Initially we wanna go for some 煮炒 but they changed their mind in the end.. So we went to Aston’s @ Sembawang SC for the birthday dinner.. The food there was quite good but they sort of mixed the well-doneness of the beef.. I ordered a medium ribeye and my dad ordered a medium well new york strips.. When the food came, they gave me the medium well one and my dad a medium rare one.. We requested the waiters to redo their orders but they keep pushing the medium well ribeye back to me.. I understood why they don’t want to redo it but to push it back so rudely (Asking me to cut the steak’s center portion and insist on saying that since it’s still has some red it’s medium..) is just bad of them.. I didn’t want to argue much so I just took it.. But thumbs down to them.. Boo..

But overall.. I guess my mum is pretty happy that we still remember her birthday and never fail to help her celebrate it every year.. Although she keeps denying and keeps ‘complaining’ that we are mafan, saying that she doesn’t need a birthday celebration since she’s so old already.. haha.. But well.. U can judge it from her smile that she really loved it.. heh..

Okie pictures below..

Frayed Speck Fitted Case..

SGP Ultra Thin Matte Series (Champagne Gold)

Initially, I was looking at different cases and I was attracted to SGP Neo Hybrid EX Series because it looked very sleek and cool.. However, it was just really a bumper (No back protection) and it came with a hefty price tag of ard SGD$79.90 in retail outlets in Singapore.. I just can’t bring myself to buy such an expensive case which provides minimal protection, thus I went to look at its other product lines, and spotted the Ultra Thin Matte Series..

The Ultra Thin Matte Series looks okie from the packaging and initially I wanted to buy the Gunmetal colour.. However, they don’t have the stock for Gunmetal colour so I decided to go for Champagne Gold instead after asking pple for suggestions.. Anyway, the case looked very good when it’s in the box.. And both the Gunmetal and Champagne Gold doesn’t look much different due to the lighting in the shop.. heh.. (But the colour looks a lot uglier when I took it out of the box.. eeww..)

I never actually research much about the case this time round.. I guess with more spending power, you just feel that you don’t need to research for the best deal as you can afford a replacement if it’s not up to your liking.. (OMG! Spendthrift in the making!) Oh and btw.. The case costs SGD$39.90 in Nubox, Causeway Point..

Anyway, the SGP case is actually quite worthwhile considering what they have bundled together with their case.. Let’s take a look at the contents of the box..

It comes with the case (of cos!), a screen protector that is very thick and of good quality, a back circular screen protector for the exposed portion and 10 LED flash diffused reflection protector..

However.. If you look closely at the case, you will be utterly disappointed.. Like me.. Firstly, from what you can already see in the above picture.. The black protection sticker has bubbles on it.. It just makes the whole case looks lousy..

The top part of the case is very rough and uneven and it looks worse than pasar malam’s quality.. (Pardon my camera’s quality.. I have been trying hard to do macro focus but my digicam is just a lousy point and shoot camera..)

Looking at it top-down allows you to see the lousy worksmanship they have for the case.. (And if you realise.. in the packaging.. This is actually hidden away from us..)

The sides weren’t well done at all too.. Molding lines can be distinctly seen and felt and they were so rough.. As my father is in the plastic manufacturing business.. He can also see that this product is of very lousy quality unlike my Speck Fitted case previously where everything is done so perfectly.. (Again.. The sides are hidden from view in the box.. The only thing that was exposed was the back which is of good quality..)

Actually even the compatible/OEM/fake/pirated Speck Fitted cases u find in pasar malams and those ah beng HP shops have better quality than this.. I’m really quite disappointed with the quality SGP produces.. I went online to search for some reviews and they all have the same opinion.. Sigh.. Why didn’t I research before I buy.. Recently I always didn’t get good buys because I don’t research as much before.. I just walk into a shop, take a look, and buy whatever I want.. tsk.. I should change back to what I was last time..

Okie but anyway.. The case has its pros too.. Firstly, for SGD$39.90.. and bundled with so many items, it’s value for money.. Secondly, as advertised, it’s ultra thin.. and light.. and matte.. haha.. Thirdly, the case doesn’t interfere with the flash of the iPhone.. and lastly, the packaging is very professional and sleek.. (That was why I was conned into buying it..)

So okie let’s look at the phone with the case on..

Front view..

Back view..

So I have 2 iPhone 4 cases for now.. I think I would buy one more in the near future when I can no longer stand this case.. which may be very soon haha.. But I don’t want to spend too much money too.. Any recommendations?