Dear Diary | February 2023 Edition

Hello, February! ❤ I am back with my monthly update and feel free to read here if you missed the January 2023 diary. Despite being a short month, February never lacks of happy and exciting moments which I really want to pen it down here.

CNY House Party ❤

3 February || February kickstarted with the CNY celebration with the team. Good to have such casual and fun-filled session with the team. And I am looking forward to our first overseas trip together in a couple of months time!

Bivalent Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty vaccine - checked!

6 February || Done and dusted with my Pfizer bivalent booster shot, because it was really time to get my 4th dose after recovering from Covid in July 2022 and my last booster was in January 2022. This round's vaccination did not give me any side effects at all (which I am glad), except for minor arm sore which went away after a couple of days. After this, I can't wait to kickstart my travel plans for the year!

Johor Bahru Century-old Chingay Festival 2023 (柔佛古庙众神出游) 

11 February || It was the "big day" of JB-ians where the deities of the five main dialect clans – Hokkien, Cantonese, Hainan, Hakka and Teochew – were brought out of the Johor Ancient Temple for the main procession during the 19th to 22nd day of CNY. Happy to be able to make it there and witnessed such massive possession from 9pm till midnight. It was indeed an eye-opening experience! 

Cafe hopping continues... @ The Replacement Lodge & Kitchen

Also took this opportunity to revisit my favourite cafe in town, and had their good ol' Chicken Confit again after so many years. The surprise find of the day was probably the famous JB fried oyster at Meldrum Walk - which is usually only available upon reservation but we managed to have two piping hot plates of this juicy fried oyster on the spot!

Happy Valentine's Day! ❤

14 February ❤❤❤ || Totally did not expect that this year's Valentine's Day would turn out to be such a sweet surprise. Thanks for always putting in 120% effort to make sure I am well taken care of, pampered and loved. While the everyday effort and dedication seems to be a constant, I always count the blessings in my life. Never take them for granted :)

I always remind myself that love is a choice we make every day. To choose to communicate, to trust, and to show affection over and over again is a long-term commitment to uphold, be it shine or rain. And always remember to love them for who they truly are, not what they do for you :)

Weekend cafe hopping in town.

18-19 February ❤ || The Valentine's weekend continued with lots of pampering on the tummy lol. My favourites were the tonkatsu dinner at Tonkichi, Shaw House, and the Burnt Rum & Raisin Cheesecake at PS Cafe, Palais Renaissance. While the food was memorable, it was the companion that completed the wonderful experience 

:) Love is being with you anywhere.

Sweet peach marble manicure by Enchanted Siblings.

26 February || Came home for the weekend to get my braces and nails fixed. Travelling has been tiring but nothing beats the feeling of being home and being showered with love by the family. Thank you for treating me like a princess at home! ❤

❤ ❤ ❤

All in all, February has been a really sweet and fulfilling month. And I am enjoying the kind of private life I have lately - because the lesser influence and judgments from others there are, the sweeter it is.

Looking forward to my travel episode in March and more!

Dear Diary | January 2023 Edition

Hello 2023 | Let’s make it worthwhile ❤

Surpassing the 30-year-old mark just two months ago, 2023 will be a year where I am determined to recalibrate myself and make little yet impactful changes to my everyday life, so that 2023 will be more meaningful.

In the past, I used to think that life has not been interesting enough for a monthly recap. But now I kinda shift my mindset and I think it would be good to take a pause, refocus and evaluate my happiness bar every month (hopefully). This also reminds me to live a life, to count my blessing and be grateful for the little things that make the sojourn of life interesting.

1 January 2023 | Fireworks by the Bay

January kickstarted with the spectacular 80-minute fireworks display and state-of-the-art lightshow during the New Year Eve countdown at the Esplanade, overlooking the picturesque Marina Bay Sands. The last NYE countdown I had was right in front of Taipei 101 in the year 2019 (going into 2020) before the pandemic kicked in and put a halt to such mega celebrations for two consecutive years.

I am glad that after much consideration, I chose to fly back to Singapore for this NYE countdown and experience such wonderful moments with my best friend. Nevertheless, experiencing NYE countdowns in Sydney, Paris or London are still in my travel wishlist to-date – looking forward to realizing these dreams soon!

Mental health check | Getting close to nature

Ever since moving to Singapore, I love going hiking during weekends albeit on my own, because it gives me an exceptionally rewarding feeling. Spending a couple of hours here not only calms my mind and soul, but also enables me to slow down and be in the present moment (that includes disconnecting myself from social media). My favourite hiking route thus far is the MacRitchie TreeTop Walk and Reservoir Park, but I am excited to explore more hiking trails around Singapore soon.

Light to Night Festival 2023 @ National Gallery Singapore

It is fun to experience different local happenings here, and one of the key highlights in January is the Light to Night Festival, a district-wide visual arts fest – an opportunity for spontaneous and ephemeral encounters with art.

And my favourite is the Ephemeral @ Padang, an immersive light and sound environment that aims to capture the concept of ephemerality in a visual form: the bubble. The idea behind these magical bubbles is to remind us that the world is a transient and fragile space, much like that of a bubble. Love the colorful vibes it exudes especially during the golden hour! 

兔(Tu)gether @ Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre (SCCC)’s Roof Garden

You know the festive season is nearing when you see plenty of rabbit art installations in town. Among the cute ones is the “兔gether” rabbit-themed art installation exhibition to welcome the Year of the Rabbit using several characters from Chinese New Year mythology. Although the space is pretty limited, it is worth spending a good half an hour or so here to relive the inner child in me.

Tamashii | Abalone Truffle Donabe 

January is also filled with several memorable dinner dates including this one at Tamashii. It is an intimate counter dining experience seeing the chef cutting and cooking the seasonal ingredients right in front of us. While the food is good, all in all it is still the dining companion that matters most ❤

Chinese New Year 2023 | Year of the Rabbit

Spending 10 days back in Malaysia home for the festive season is not a bad decision after all. It takes me a few days to complete the social media work (P/S: Thank you brand partners for sending festive stuff to my Malaysia home!), then the remaining days are all well-spent with the family. ❤ That's the most precious thing to do ever. 

My precious ones in life. ❤

This Chinese New Year reminds me to treasure the family time – the tiny moments with the people I love, the home-cooked meals that I savour every bite, the places that make me feel whole and alive. It feels amazing for being present, immersing myself in the warm and soul-filling conversations that are becoming rare these days. Deep down in my heart, I enjoy seeing the jovial little one growing older each day, but there are also unavoidable, heart-wrenching moments to watch how my parents age day by day. 

Again, CNY reminds me to always count my blessing. While I often think I need to focus on big things in life, actually the things I cherish most are the smallest of all.

On a side note, CNY also gives me some room for self-reflection. I secretly make the same wish every year and somehow still get disappointed in the following year - and the cycle repeats. It’s okay, I will continue to try harder next year :’) 

❤ ❤ ❤

Anyway, January has been an eventful month and it marks a pretty good start of the year.

Looking forward to a more fabulous year ahead!

The Ultimate Anti-Aging Guide: Top Tips to Younger Skin

Aging is natural, and it can be beautiful. Premature aging, however, is neither of those things. Stress, pollution, poor habits, diet, and more can all cause your skin and body to age aggressively. Over a lifetime, this will mean poorer quality skin, more wrinkles, and a body that you have to fight against every day.

Fighting against aging and maintaining younger skin isn’t about vanity. While looking younger may be your goal, you will still be working towards a healthier, more fulfilled life in the future. That’s why everyone should use these top tips today:

Establish an Effective Routine

Everything to do with health is best done through a routine. The body needs consistent conditions to be met every day to be its healthiest, which also applies to your skin’s health. A great place to start is to be consistent with your skincare routine. If your skincare regimen doesn’t give you the results you want, go to a dermatologist before you buy a new product. You need to know what your skin needs and why so that you can choose the most effective products.

Your skincare routine, however, goes beyond the products you use topically. You also need to establish healthy diet habits and exercise regularly to see the full range of benefits.

Preventative Measures to Invest In

The best way to avoid premature aging and, in the process, look incredible at every age is to invest today in preventative measures. Start first with your routine. Simple steps like adding tretinoin or retinol to your night routine and then using sunscreen religiously throughout the day can make a big impact. Of course, your options don’t stop there. You can get Botox in Miami for a great price. Botox in Miami isn’t just a reversal treatment. It can help stop those fine lines from forming in the first place.

These simple preventative measures go a long way, but don’t think it’s too late to start any of them. The best time to get started was in the past, but the second-best time to start is now.

Wellness for Great Skin

Stress causes fine lines. It makes you look haggard. It messes with your diet, sleep cycle, and ability to maintain healthy habits. This, and many more, is why you need to invest in wellness. Before you try yoga, meditation, or any other type of meditative process, however, you first need to identify your sources of stress. Establish proactive measures against this stress first and foremost to help stop those physical symptoms. From there, you can then work on treating yourself to wellness-boosting activities and hobbies that will help regulate your emotions and hormones, which in turn can help you enjoy clearer, more beautiful skin.

Give Yourself Time

You need to give your body time whenever you try anything new in terms of products, a diet change, and so on. It takes several weeks for the skin to turn over fully, so if you aren’t maintaining a new habit for at least that long, you won’t see the real results of your efforts. If, after that period, you don’t notice a change, then you can switch it up.

4 Tips on How to Increase Your Confidence in Your New Job Role

Starting a new job can be highly stressful and even more so if you lack self-confidence. You will likely be entering a new building filled with strange people, and you are likely to be nervous about the job itself, remembering peoples’ names, as well as having to deal with new procedures.

However, here are some ideas that could help you find your feet and even gain confidence in your new job role.

#1 Dress Comfortably

Dress code can be a real stressor for the first couple of days at a new place of work. You will not want to turn up overdressed, but then again, you do not want to be so casual that you raise eyebrows from your superiors. If you were lucky enough to have been given a tour of the premises, you will likely have been shown a window into what type of attire is acceptable. However, if you did not, you will be going in totally blind.

In this scenario, you should make sure that you are comfortable and professional about your choice of clothing. Choose something that is not too tight, as this can make you feel self- conscious and uncomfortable. Stick to dark, plain colors and classic styles until you have an understanding of your co-workers’ apparel.

#2 Improve Your Vocabulary

It is not rare to feel a lack of confidence if there is a language barrier, pronunciation, articulation, or vocabulary issue amongst others. Most of these issues are carried forward from childhood, but can, with the help of a speech therapist, such as Physio Inq, be rectified. Consultations can take place in your own home, so you will have no inconvenience of traveling to or from a clinic.

If you have a stutter, for instance, you will find that it is more pronounced when you are stressed or nervous. These are just the feelings that you will experience when at your new place of work and can make answering or asking questions too much to bear.

#3 Know the Layout

It is highly unlikely that you will be provided with a map of the premises when you first enter the building, and yet, most businesses are so large that they can be daunting to a new employee. Once you have been directed to your new workstation, make sure that you are aware of the whereabouts of the nearest convenience to you, as well as any canteen or break room.

Most businesses will make sure that you understand the fire drill procedure and they may provide you with a rough map showing exits or meeting points. If you are struggling, draw yourself a map or write directions to instill more confidence when moving around.

#4 Understand What Is Required of You

You must understand what is required of you in your new job role. Adding a feeling of being out of your depth, as well as being in a strange place surrounded by new people is a recipe for disaster.

Hopefully, the business that you have now started to work for is compassionate toward their new workers and will provide you with a buddy to help get you settled, show you the ropes, and hold your hand for the first few days, but unfortunately, many businesses do not, and expect their new workers to hit the ground running.

Common Jewellery Mistakes to Avoid Making

When you are choosing jewellery and trying to look after it properly, there is plenty that you can be getting right, as well as an awful lot that you can end up getting wrong at the same time. The following blog post is going to be focusing on the latter issue, as it will help to ensure that there are not going to be any common regrets that come your way in terms of damage to your precious items. So, let’s dive deeper into this right here and now.

Failing to Choose Properly

The first potential issue that you could find yourself up against is simply a failure to choose properly. Essentially, this is going to mean that you are going to seriously struggle when it comes to knowing the quality of your items and how they need to be stored and cared for properly. Of course, buying jewellery online is always going to be a possibility, but you need to make sure that you are going for a seller that has proper accreditation, such as Ordekian Jewellery. You also need to look closely at issues such as style, cut, materials, and so on.

Not Cleaning Your Jewellery

Another common problem that people will often find themselves confronted with is that they simply do not clean their jewellery in the way that they should. Ultimately, this can easily create a situation in which it becomes dirty, and then this can lead to some damage further down the line. Of course, you still need to make sure that you are investing in the right cleaning agents and that you know all the proper cleaning techniques, as there is going to be no way that you would want to risk the issue getting any worse than it needs to be.

Wearing the Jewellery in Water

While some jewellery may be okay to wear in water, this is certainly not going to be the case for all of it, and there is no doubt that you are going to want to know all about the distinction. Otherwise, every time you keep on wearing that jewellery in the shower, you could risk making the issue worse. At the same time, you could easily lose it as well if you take it in the swimming pool or the sea with you.

Choosing Jewellery That Doesn’t Match Your Style

Essentially, you will certainly want to be choosing the type of jewellery that is going to accentuate your style as a whole, which also means that you can easily get this wrong. For example, you should be looking to choose the type of earrings that naturally go with your hairstyle. At the same time, you need to be thinking about your neckline when it comes to picking out the right necklace.

All of these are among the different common jewellery mistakes that are certainly all going to be worth avoiding wherever and whenever this is possible. All these common traps can be avoided.

How to Boost the Visibility of Your Small Business

As every small business owner knows, it can be extremely difficult to get past the first few years of trading and start to generate meaningful profit levels. Almost all markets and sectors are now highly competitive, and the explosive growth of online e-commerce has led to many small businesses needing to compete with rival firms from other areas or even other countries to gain customers. It is no surprise that around 50% of all small businesses fail within the first five years of trading. It is of paramount importance that every small business has a deep understanding of its target market and offers them a product that is suitably differentiated from the competition to allow them to stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Many small businesses seek to boost the visibility of their company so that increasing numbers of potential customers are aware of what they offer. In this article, three ways to boost the visibility of your small business will be explored.

Attend Trade Shows

It is vitally important to search for and attend local or regional trade shows that are in the same sector of operations as your business. Ideally, you will want to reserve a space at the show where you can set up an area that gives other industry professionals and potential clients an idea of the products or services that you sell. If possible, create some corporate merchandise, such as mouse mats or pens, with your company logo and contact details on them. These can be given out to interested parties and may help to generate sales in the future. Trade shows are also a brilliant opportunity to network with other key players in the industry and to foster potential trade opportunities with business clients.

Company Uniforms

Another way to boost the visibility of your organization is to create custom work uniform for your staff that has the company logo or branding on them. Look for firms, such as Essential Workwear, that can create t-shirts and other items of work uniform for your design briefs. Having all staff kitted out in company uniform promotes a higher level of professionalism whilst also acting as an advertisement for the company and building your brand image. The logos and branding on these items of clothing must match your company logos exactly so that you present a consistent corporate image that is mirrored by both your customer touchpoints and all staff members.

Grow Your Web Presence

As a final example, it can be immensely beneficial to grow your web presence online. If you have a company website, one of the key aspirations should be to get the site ranking highly on organic web searches by potential customers. To do this, it is important to ensure that your website is SEO-friendly. All web pages need to load quickly and have a range of high- quality content such as professional-looking product images and videos. Consider writing regular blogs on topics of interest to your customer base and ensure that these are well- researched and authoritative. See here for more tips and strategies to boost the SEO of your company website.

[BEAUTY] Review: Melano CC Vitamin C Enzyme Face Wash

New year, new skincare! ❤ I am excited to hear that Melano CC, the No. 1 whitening essence brand in Japan has recently introduced the first tube-type enzyme face wash in the market!

Melano CC Vitamin C Brightening Enzyme Face Wash @ RM39.90

The Vitamin C Brightening Enzyme Face Wash is an effective solution to deep cleanse the pores while retaining the skin’s natural moisture and enhancing the skin radiance.

What does it contain?

❤ Enzyme

– To gently exfoliate and remove blackheads, dead skin cells and impurities to revitalise dull skin

❤ Kaolin Clay

– To absorb excess oil, dirt, and impurities from pores.

❤ Vitamin C 

– To retain skin’s moisture, brighten skin tone and lighten pimple marks.

❤ Free from Irritants such as Alcohol, Paraben, and Silicon 

– Gentle and suitable even for sensitive skin

The special enzyme ingredient containing active bacteria is something that interests me here. Melano CC uses a unique technology to reduce its water content thereby preventing live enzymes from deactivating while still in the tube. 

Unlike the powder-type enzyme face wash which takes time to foam after mixing with water,

the tube-type face wash foams up quicker and easier.

How to use:

1. Squeeze a sufficient amount onto your palm.

2. Lather with water.

3. Massage onto the face and rinse thoroughly with water.

I love how dense and smooth the foam is. It melts gently on the skin, and washes away the excess sebum and dirt very well without feeling dry on the skin. It helps unclog pores for smooth and clear skin too.

The result? I am happy with the fresh, clear and smooth-looking complexion it gives after wash. Plus, it comes with a refreshing Yuzu fragrance which soothes the soul too! So relaxing and convenient to use!

Beauty tips:

Pair it with Melano CC range of products including

lotion, essence, moisturizer and face mask, for the best result. 

Verdict:

If you like to have a relaxing face wash with rich and dense foam for clear, smooth and radiant complexion, this is definitely something for you. It is suitable for all skin types.   

Melano CC Vitamin C Brightening Enzyme Face Wash is available at Watsons outlets nationwide and at its official online stores (Lazada, Shopee, Watsons, Hermo).

Find out more about the product at:

Website: https://melanocc.com.my/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/MelanoCCMY
Instagram: @melanoccmy