Noms!

Top: Zalora | Pants: Gift from Manman/Misguided | Shoes: Charles & Keith (Similar here) | Sunglasses: Nichii (Similar here)

Necklace: Gift from Cyn (Similar here) | Ring: Gift from Cyn (Similar here): Bracelets: Diva (Similar here)

I’ve been trying to eat a little healthier lately – this is tremendously difficult for me because there is not a single fried or super processed piece of food that I don’t like. Also, whenever I’m grumpy (which is probably 80% of the time), I crave sugary carb loaded processed food. I also barely have any discipline – If you put delicious food in front of me, I will eat it.

Nonetheless, as I’ve matured, I’ve come to see the value in a healthy balanced diet, or really, a healthy balanced everything. This isn’t just for the obvious vain reasons, but also for my general well-being.

Because I have the appetite of a bear that’s just woken from hibernation, I pretty much always need to snack and I’ve found a delightful healthy snack to curb my midday munchies. 

QUINOA CUPS!

I first found the recipe from here (I was trying to find a breakfast substitute for my normal Nutella but let’s be serious here, I am NEVER giving up Nutella), and I tried it out using spinach and it was good but tasted a little too healthy, so now I use ham and mushrooms and that’s much yummier, but seriously there are so many options, I might try broccoli one day although it may give the quiche a kind of moldy appearance. 

You can mix up the proportions but I guess you'll need a proportionate amount of eggs to glue it all together

 The Alex style recipe:

• Three quarter cup of uncooked quinoa – this will become about 2 cups when cooked
• Half cup of diced up ham
• One cup of chopped mushrooms
• Three-quarters cup of chopped onion (it really depends on how much onion I have and feel like chopping)
• One cup of shredded Cheddar cheese
• Two tablespoons of shredded Parmesan cheese
• Three to four eggs (the original says two whole eggs and two egg whites which probably would be healthier but I don’t know what I would then do with two leftover egg yolks and also I don’t know how to do that fancy egg separating thing using the shells)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Get cookin':

1.       Cook the quinoa and let it cool

2.       Chop the ham, mushrooms and onion, shred the cheese, beat the eggs

3.       Put everything into a bowl and mix it in evenly

I chop everything quite finely so it sticks together better

I use mixed quinoa (black and white) but all white probably would look nicer and less like it has ants

4.       Pre-heat the oven to 175 - 180 degrees Celsius 

Sweet Breville* oven of gloriousness

5.       Put the mix into an oiled muffin/cupcake baking tray

Carefully scoop the mix into the tray - Don't drop a single grain, quinoa is EXPENSIVE

6.       Bake in oven for 15 – 20 minutes

7.       Enjoy the deliciousness (actually, might be best to remove it from the tray and cool it a bit or risk burning your mouth. True story.  

Swivel and scoop 'em out

Get in ma belly!

Not only are they healthy, they’re easy to make (chop chop chop mix mix bake NOMS), easy to store (in mouth like a hamster, or in a fridge/freezer for another day) and obvs easy to eat (pop in mouth, chew, hot or cold, it tastes good!)

There are a few cons to making this of course, mainly the price of quinoa (but with my cupcake try of about 2 inch diameter per cup, I make about 24 cups so it seems reasonable I think) and the fact that the things need to be chopped up, which can be a little time-consuming. I’m considering getting a processor because I’m committed to making these babies.

Anyway, I urge you to try it out, and go crazy with the variety of fillings you could possibly use then let me know how it turns out.

Thanks for reading! 

* No seriously, this toaster oven mousie bought for momster is DA BOMB. It cooks so evenly, is so easy to use, have a ton of cool settings (like reheat, warm, bake, toast, grill, roast, zumba... ok maybe not that last one) is large enough to roast a chicken. It's a really great addition to the kitchen for those who are oven-challenged. My regular stove connected oven sucks. 

No pain, no gain

Top: Seed (Similar here) | Skirt: Bysi (Similar here) | Shoes: Zalora (Similar here)

Bag: Gracious Aires (Similar here) | Ring: Twentyeight Lane | Earrings: Chinatown (Similar here) 

In a bid to be a little bit healthier, and also in line with my diet, I’ve initiated a weekly workout session with my friends by my poolside.

It started off as simply as realizing what a wobbly blob I’ve become – I’m not the sort who needs to be super skinny but I do like a bit of muscle, which I realize I definitely was/am lacking. So we asked our fittest friend Anil if he’d coach us and while he thought we were joking at first (I think the idea of us squealing ladies and exercise probably didn’t gel), he agreed and thus began our fitness club.

It’s only been 3 weeks so I can’t say that I really have changed in terms of musculature, but I feel healthy and also happier so I guess it’s going in the right direction. Plus I ached like a b*tch after the first session so I must be waking those fatties up (and probably shocking them) and turning them into MUSCLES.  

For most of our workout sessions, Anil refers to Fitness Blender which is a great site for free workout videos that you can select based on level of intensity, time, what areas you want to work on, etc. Beyond our fitness group where we hopefully motivate one another, I also refer to the site on other days so I can follow the videos and do the workouts in the comfort of my own home (fan at full blast, sweating disgustingly all over the floor) at my own pace (normally slow) and at my desired level (level couch potato with aspirations of being an outdoor fitness yam… I can’t think of what would be the most opposite thing of a couch). Most of the workouts don’t require expensive machines or workout gear like weights and blah blah fitness stuff so it’s really perfect for noobs like me who just want to sweat it out and feel good that I didn’t die.

Anyway, here’s to hoping that I’ll be able to share more on my fitness journey as I become as strong as an ox.

Thanks for reading!

Back to the grind

Top: Romwe | Skirt: Chicwish (Similar here) | Shoes: New Look (Similar here)

So I recently visited my dentist to get a mouth guard made. I have a terrible habit of grinding my teeth when I sleep, and while I don't think it's really all that bad (except for the boo who has to put up with it), I do sometimes wake up with pretty bad headaches from all that grinding. 

The past week was really bad so I visited Dr. Chin and aside from sticking an awful putty in my mouth to take a mold of my mouth, he educated me on grinding. New stuff I learned: 

1. There are 2 kinds of teeth grinding. The first is a muscular kind (similar to what I do, where the muscles are tight and tense and moving). The second is teeth and bone grinding which sounds terrible because the intense impact of grinding the teeth on one another causes them to grind down and he's had to extract teeth and put implants for people for this kind of grinding. 
2. Grinding appears to be more common in people who hold slightly more senior positions at work (excluding me... I'm a minion). 
3. There are ways to train your jaw to reduce the amount of grinding in the day. He informed me that the best position for your mouth to be in is with your mouth closed, lips shut, teeth NOT touching, tongue resting on the roof of your mouth. He said that ideally, the teeth should touch no more than 6 minutes a day. Who is counting??? 
4. You can also go for Botox injections along your jaw to I guess make the muscle chill the eff out. I got very excited about this since it feels so Real Housewives of Singapore and why not kill 2 birds with one stone right, go in for teeth grinding, come out looking younger? #vainpot
5. There are two kinds of mouth guards, the soft kind and the hard kind. Some people have reacted poorly to the soft kind of mouth guard because somehow their brains are encouraged to grind even harder on the soft surface. But of course the soft kind is more comfortable and easier to sleep in.

Anyway, after all this information, I decided to get a hard one because I've used a soft one before and I ground a hole in it, which makes me feel like it's less lasting. 

My brand new mouth guard in it's own fancy neon box that I have trouble opening because I'm dumb

After a week, I went back in for the mouth guard fitting and it feels totally weird having this hard denture-like thing in my mouth, and I kept feeling like I have saliva pooling in my mouth, but I had ZERO problems sleeping with it once I lay down, which is really a testament to my sleeping powers. And I didn't drool at all so I guess it's not too bad. 

It looks like a gooey transparent tongue that I'm resing my teeth against

Anyway, all in all, I guess it's good for me and hopefully the headaches will stop. I'm still thinking about that Botox though. My friend Dan, or professionally referred to as Dr. Teo from Dental on the Bay can administer it. He's the dentist to a lot of my friends and I've heard good reviews about his work and bedside manners, plus you have to be trained in jabbing someone with Botox so not just any dentist will do. Maybe while he's injecting the jaw he can go get those crows feet and forehead lines! 

Oh well, we shall see. But in the meantime, if you're looking for a nice guy to poke around inside your mouth with metal instruments, or make your jaw look simply faaaabulous daaahling, do get in touch with Dan on the bay. 

Thanks for reading!

Posh

Top: Victoria Victoria Beckham (Similar here) | Pants: Uniqlo 

Shoes: Zara (Similar here) | Clutch: DKNY (Similar here) | Ring: Jessica Buurman (Similar here)

 Fashion is pain. This top might not look it but it's pretty tight because it's gathered around the waist and after a full meal, I was pretty much struggling to breathe. Oh Victoria B, you minx, you. Thank goodness your clothes are so expensive because if I wasn't struggling to save money, I would be struggling to keep away from your clothes while my ever expanding waistline would be struggling to stay within them. 

Actually, it's not just this top... I can't fit into so many of my clothes (AAAARGH!!). Anyway, I'm on Carousell now because I've found that I just can't fit into so many of the things I used to wear and honestly, I'm not that hopeful that I'm ever going to be able to again. Coupled with the fact that I'll be downsizing to a much smaller place in a couple of years, I figure I might as well sell some stuff, and make a teeensy bit of money (seriously I sell it for cheap, LIKE $5-$15. I see people selling used dresses for $30 and I'm like WHATTTT WHO SPENDS THAT KIND OF MONEY??)  Anyway, if you feel like buying my stuff, check out my Carousell page, I promise it's in good condition! 

Thanks for reading!

I knew I loved you before I met you

Top: ASOS (Similar here) | Skirt: J. Crew (Similar here) | Shoes: Romwe | Bag: Gift from Cyn (Similar here)

Necklace: Gift from Wens (Marc by Marc Jacobs) | Hand chain: Nasty Gal (Similar here) | Ring: Gift from Mellie (Twentyeight Lane)  

So fresh out of the shower; wet hair wrapped up, I sat at my desk typing and realised there are a few things in my life that I really didn't know I needed until I got them. I'm sure you have these things too, things that make your life so much easier but you really never would have thought of it until it was given to you or you chanced upon it. Kind of like a coffee sleeve, so basic and so brilliant. 

Introducing... The things you didn't know you needed until now: 

Head wrap thingy - This pink terry cloth geniusness sits atop my head and prevents my wet hair from drooping down my shoulders, thus wetting the t-shirt I'm wearing. Plus it keeps the hair away from the face so it's also great during makeup application time. My momster bought this from Japan when she was on vacation and at first I thought, 'what kind of rubbish is this?' But I use it everyday now. You might say, 'that's what a towel is for', to which I reply, 'You foolish human being.' I was like you once, a towel turban wearer but this is great for Singapore because it's basically a snood for the head so it lets the head breathe through the open hole at the top. Much cooler, and there isn't that extra fabric swinging around (for bigger towels). Plus it's better than the small towels they wrap around your head at salons and clip because duh, no need for the clip (economical!) and it doesn't run the risk of falling off. BRILLIANT. 

Body wrap thingy: Ok this is like a sarong towel. It's the more cooling, waaaay more unglamorous version of the bath robe. With its elasticised top, it kiaps on tight to the body so no risk of walking around your house semi-naked only to become fully naked. I throw this on whenever I'm applying a face mask, or while putting on my makeup before I get dressed. I first chanced upon this at my facial place and I was so hellbent on getting one I stole it (Just kidding... Or maybe not... But of course I'm kidding... Maybe...)

Aladdin bottle: A group of us were wandering inside Mustafa shopping centre and my friend and I got waaaay too excited when we saw this. I recall it being kind of pricey but come on, it keeps your water cool for longer while not allowing condensation to form and drip all over the place. That is just pure sorcery. I know Bodum cups are basically the same thing but this is a plastic bottle (safe for kids!) and doesn't cost an arm, leg, spleen and maybe one eyeball. It came with attachable plastic cups but after a few days of pretending to be a dainty lady, I gave up and reverted back to my crass bottle-swigging self. Aaaahh refreshing!    

This nail-clipper: You think a nail-clipper is just a nail-clipper right? No. You are wrong. Please get with the program. This nail-clipper is the bomb. It is super sharp and collects all the nail clippings inside its little nail-clipper body. I know, there are others out there that you can buy at the dollar store with the plastic bit. But no. Trust me. This nail-clipper is not messing around. It is the Michael Jordan of nail-clippers. The boo bought it for Christmas for me from Tokyu Hands. And before you start thinking, 'What??? Nail clippers for Christmas?? Is he the grinch??', well, yes, but that's not the point. Because I am the female grinch and I absolutely love a good functional gift. (Although I also like things like clothes, shoes, purses, and jewellery which are slightly less functional). 

Alright, I've gone on like a rabid dog for a while about all these things that you didn't know you needed. Go forth and acquire.

Thanks for reading!