Auntie Ivy at Aljunied

Auntie Ivy from Aljunied is the famous home salon from female forums: flowerpod, cozycot for cheap & good hair services.

Recently, I went to her for a hair dye, treatment & cut and must say, I am really pleased with her! My hair is quite long and I only paid $30 for everything.

Even my hubby says I look good and was surprised how cheap it was.

Her "salon" is at her residential place. At first, I was quite skeptical cos it looks quite messy but now, I can see why she is so highly raved. I love my hair though I wish she had cut it shorter but not her fault cos I wasn't sure of her skills so I told her I only wanted a trim.

I will definitely go back to her again! *satisfied customer*

She is also famous for her hair rebonding skills but I have not tried yet.

Her contact: 90091693
Address: BLK 44 #06-167 SIMS DRIVE 380044  Lift C

Directions on how to go to Auntie Ivy's place.

1) Take to Aljunied MRT
2) Look out for a bus stop next to the right of the MRT. Cross the road using the overhead bridge.
3) Continue walking along the sheltered path
4) You would see a very small bus interchange/bus top with only bus 64.
5) After the interchange/bus stop, walk to the right and you will see blk 44
6) Go up via Lift C and her house is just right there!

How to maintain a slim figure after 30s

I was often mistaken to be in my 20s ( perhaps people around me are too kind to say the truth ha ha) and I am still wearing my size S/XS/0 clothing. My wardrobe hasn't changed much despite my age.

My diet consists of healthy and unhealthy food. Here are some tips on how I maintain my weight to be always around 45kg. I am about 1.62m.

1) Healthy food : I eat fruits & veggies everyday. I often buy lots of lemons ( they can be kept in the fridge for at least 1 month if you keep them air tight) & other types of fruits plus veggies: tomatoes, cucumber, organic salad.  I also eat meat everyday, mostly chicken.

2) Unhealthy/Junk food: I love my junk food! Chocolates, icecream, fries, chips are my favourites and I eat junk food everyday but I only eat them in the mornings so I can have the rest of the day to digest them . I wouldn't have cravings since I do eat them in the mornings and risk over indulge later.

3) I eat heavy breakfast & lunch and light dinners.

Breakfast!

Breakfast!

For breakfast, I eat dinner items: meat, veggies or leftovers from yesterdays' dinners plus whatever junk food I fancy eating ( usually chocolates or chips)

For lunch, it' somewhat lighter. I will just eat whatever it's in my fridge: fruits or oatmeal or some bread.

For dinner, I try not to eat any carbs but some meat & veggies again.

Basically, I try not to eat carbs whenever I can. I also drink green tea ( from real tea leaves, not the soda kind which contains lots of sugar) & plain water. I will also try not to drink anything else besides that. Sometimes, I will also indulge in my fav hot chocolate: Caotina. We bought Caotina ( cocoa powder) from Switzerland & I mix it with my Anlene milk powder. Of course, plus the occasionally wine when going out. Red wine is 1 of the better options compared to beer & cocktails ( high in sugar).

And most importantly: poo everyday! Yup, I know many women have constipation issues. Drink more water, eat fruits & veggies everyday, that will definitely help.

Maintaining a slim figure is not about not eating but eating the right food! :)

A rough guide to buying authentic Chanel bags

At first, I was quite skeptical of spending so much $$$$$ online. Prefer to see, touch, feel & even smell the leather bags.

However, I really love vintage Chanel bags and alot of them are found online. Plus, I trust only the Japanese resellers. Read my previous post to know why. http://sgtaitai.blogspot.sg/2012/11/vintage-chanel-bags.html

I will get it authenticated at the purseforum before buying. After researching online, there are the few tips I learned to spot a fake Chanel vintage bag.

How to spot a fake Chanel vintage bag
1) The sewing of the quilting is perfect diamond shape, front & back with at least 10 stitches per inch, all evenly done even when the bag is closed.

2) The right side of the C overlaps the left side of the C - Chanel Logo

3) The logo plate at the back of the Chanel logo with flat head screws. On the left side says Chanel & the right side, Paris, both direction to the right. Note: There seems to have logo plates with Chanel at the top & Paris at the bottom. However, cos I have read a few websites saying the real ones are left & right so I will choose only bags like that instead of the top & bottom though they may not be fake.

4) The Chanel logo at the back of cover - the spacing between the 2 C are the same spacing as the width of the letters of the C and should be slightly raised.

5) Serial number of the hologram sticker at the bottom of the bag matches the authencity card. However, this is easy to replicate though I also insist on this cos I think this may help if I want to re-sell my bags later. Some extremely old vintage bags may not even have the hologram stickers.

6) Serial number is only maximum 8 numbers. The lines & wordings on authencity card is perfectly aligned

7) Rule of the thumb: Online Sellers should provide high quality photos indicating all of the above & if the pricing is only a few hundreds, well, common sense should warn you right ?

8) Fake vintage Chanel bags are not as common in the market yet though it always best to check.

9) Always pay by paypal or credit card. If something goes wrong, you can always get back your $$ by alerting paypal or your bank!

Vintage Chanel Bags

Lately I have been obessed with vintage Chanel bags. They are vintage, they look good and the price is quite attractive too.

There are a few more reputable online sellers for vintage Chanel.

I trust mainly the Japanese ebay sellers, malleries http://www.malleries.com/ and used to be portero  http://www.portero.com/brand/chanel.html#qk=37d864eeb7da5098767197c6c9a58908
till I read recently in the purseforum that they maybe selling fakes too. Actually the same sellers on ebay are also selling in both Malleries & portero. It maybe be cheaper to buy from Malleries cos I think ebay charges high fees for sellers, which is of cos passed on to us. A quick way to check is to google for the serial number and you will find a few websites with the same bag & seller will pop up, if different bags, then obviously, they are fake!

The reason why I trust mainly the Japanese ebay sellers especially those that have shops in Japan is because they have to be licensed to sell second hand branded goods and it's against their law to sell fake goods.

But best to read through their ratings and reviews on e-bay. I have complied a list of reputable Japanese ebay sellers and will update again soon.

And of cos, get it authenticated at the purseforum! The ladies there are lovely! So kind of them to spend the time to authenticate complete strangers' bags!

Will do a reveal of my vintage Chanel bags soon!

Branded bags - Buying online

Well, since this is such a frivolous blog, it only seem apt to dedicate a few posts to branded bags *hmph*

My experience has been mostly selling branded bags I bought in my 20s at deluxemall and buying 1 Bottega Veneta pouch from Reebonz which I used as a wallet. The BV pouch has been abused for 3 years and still looked as new as the 1st day I bought it. The durability of real leather has never failed to amaze me.

Deluxemall is like a market, a place for online sellers to display their bags and buyers to buy second hand items. I have been however tempted by a few sellers who claimed to go to Paris for a buying spree and get branded bags cheaper than what is selling at local stores. It does not mean everything there is authentic! Do buy at your own risk.

Reebonz sells mainly new branded bags and vintage Chanel & Hermes. I have read a few bad experiences from it to put me off buying big ticket items from them. Things like scratches, no authencity cards, are some of the horrible experiences I have read online.

The purseforum provides a lot of information about branded bags! I read it regularly whenever a new branded bag catches my fancy. There are lot of reviews by ladies around the world. Just have to google for e.g chanel business flap the purseforum

http://forum.purseblog.com/

Branded Bags

 

Yes, yes, very typical of a tai tai to want branded bags! Yes & No! In my late 20s, I started thinking it's ridiculous to have such expensive bags and sold them all on deluxemall, one of the popular online websites for branded bags. After so many year even when I stopped selling the bags, I was upgraded to Premium Member/Dealer. Frankly I was quite surprised and that speak volumes about the website. Then again, it has repeatedly said they are not responsible for the authencity of the bags and I did spot some fakes on the website as well.

However, only recently, I have decided to invest in branded bags. Reason being, the cheap, fake leather bags I bought fall apart after a couple of years! Making branded bags are a good long term investment. I was finally convinced by my hubby that it's better to pay more for things that last than to get cheap stuff that fall apart.

Currently, I own 2 YSL clutches ( Black & Red), just simply love them! I don't carry many things when I go out so they are perfect for me. I also have a red YSL wallet and a black chanel WOC, which I still keep in a box cos it was so darn expensive, about $2k. Bought it at Chanel MBS.

My next bag is likely a Chanel, I keep changing my mind ever so often as I don't intend to buy too many branded bags. Chanel are classics and their prices keep increasing so their value is kept. The Tag Heuer watch which I bought > 10 years ago has now increased in price. Regretted selling off my Omega watch cos previously I thought indulging in branded stuff is silly & I already have a Tag Heuer. Wrong! The Omega watch is worth alot more now >.<

Anyway, I have been looking at vintage Chanel Bags over at ebay, Rakuten & Malleries. I saw this red Chanel quilted bag and melted! Hubby agrees it's a classic and cost about $2k only, comparing how ridiculously priced Chanel is nowadays! The seller is a very established seller in Japan. However, there is still this nagging thought that it may be fake, what if the vintage item comes with a smell, the actual item is not what it seems. Vintage Chanel in Japan are cheap-ish cos apparently, Japanese don't like second hand items and are very strict on fakes so it's relatively safer.

Review of Best Places for Brunch in Singapore

There is this period of time whereby we wanted to try out popular places/restaurants for brunch every weekend. They are ranked by favourites.

1) Level 33 Brunch
Wooo.. the pan iron brunch just taste soooo good! Ok, we are abit biased cos Level 33 is really convenient for us to go to, just a short walk. Cost for 2 persons: $60++

2) Wild Honey
Ok, this is a little over-rated and I didn't really like the fact that they don't take reservations, don't like waiting but their brunch is really tasty! They have different brunch items from various countries and my favourite is their English Breakfast, close second is their European Breakfast. Cost for 2 : $80++

3) Spruce
My hubby loves the cheese room in Spruce. He got really excited and bought various cheese to try. Food was good but rather expensive. Cost for 2: $100+

4) P.S Cafe at Dempsey & Palais
I prefer the P.S Cafe at Dempsey to Palais. I personally feel that P.S Cafe at Dempsey serves better food. Their Eggs benedict is really good! Cost for 2: $80++

4) Epicurious
My favorite place for brunch: cheap & good :P
However, again, don't like to queue. Cost for 2: $50 can go a long way there! Love the pancakes there. Simple good food, not fancy.

 

5) Jones the Grocer.
Woo.. they have a bristro and supermarket too! Again, my hubby went crazy at their Cheese room and bought $100+ of cheese -.-

6) Casa Verde ( Botanic Gardens)
Love this place. Right at Botanic Gardens. Nice outdoors setting, can get quite hot thought. Love their generous portions of English Breakfast! Cost for 2: $50++

7) The Wine Connection
Not bad. Love the cheese platter and wine. Cost for 2: $60++

8) Graze at Rochester
Not too crowded. They serve similar pan iron English Breakfast similar to Level 33. Prefer Level 33 for its proximity. Cost for 2: $70++

9) Riders' Cafe
Tip: Don't sit too near to the side of the stables -  the smell of horse sh!T! Worth going just for the sake of it. Don't often get to see horses while eating brunch. Tasty but it's quite inaccessible. Cost for 2: $70++

10) Flute at the Fort
Nicely lovely place hidden near Fort Canning, next to ROM. They serve set menu for brunch and various choices to choose from. Cost for 2 for 3 courses: $70++

11) The Bank - Tradition Weekend Roast
Not bad. Again, we are biased cos it's near our place. They do serve a good beef weekend roast and it's quite value for $$. Cost for 2 : $50++

12) Jewel Coffee
Again, it's near our place or doubt we will go there. Cost for 2: $50++

13)Boomerang
Went there cos the queue for Epicurious was too long. Not too bad. It was OK, not particularly memorable. Cost for 2: $60++

14) House, Barracks Camps, Dempsey
I did a review of this place: http://sgtaitai.blogspot.sg/2012/11/brunch-at-house-barracks-camp-dempsey.html

15) Prive
Not sure why this is highly raved except for the view of yachts. For the price, I rather go to Level 33,  Spruce or Wild honey :P

16) Food for Thought
Find it OK. Nothing too spectatcular. Tried once and not going back

17) Swiss Bake
Love their salmon & egg croissant sandwiches! It's Swiss Bake so ya, my hubby is a frequent & loyal customer. Their rossti is not as nice as the one in Marche though. Cost for 2: $ 20++

18) Group Therapy at Duxton Hill
Disappointing! I am really not sure how they get good reviews. The place is run by kids and the food they serve seem to be something one can whipped up easily in their kitchen. Left the place, shocked. Their English Breakfast is poached egg served on top of a thick toast.

After a while, we decided just to get Swiss bake & Ding Tai Fung almost every weekend! Saves $$.