Old Friends.

On bus rides, many things happen. Old aunties chatter about the young generation they fail to understand, sleep deprived youth take naps or indulge in a game that keeps them entertained. Some choose to take their mind elsewhere and dig their noses into a novel. Or some just enjoy the ride looking out of the window. 

While I do enjoy the scenery, my thoughts can’t help but wander, to think back about the past, and my old friends. 

I used to have a wider social circle I would say. But I never see anything last beyond what I had hoped for it to last. Plus the fact that I left church a while back really caused the circle to shrink. 

I remember the friend I used to have in poly that I’d always go home with. We talked about life on the bus back and I remember always trying to convince him to study harder than he already is but somehow he managed to convince himself that uesshis grades didn’t really matter. Then it extended out to going out for random movies and hanging out with his dog. But I don’t know how it all became nothing but a bunch of memories. 

When I was younger, secondary school saw me having good friends that I was used to seeing 5 days a week from almost 7am - 7pm. We would get out to lots of mischief, hang out at Void Decks and playgrounds and eat lots of junk food. When it was time to study, we studied hard too of course. Summer saw lots of movie watching at my place, board games, and truck loads of chips and ice cream. I remember the girl I called my constant. I always felt that there was a wall between us but our friendship transcended when she really came through for me during a critical moment of my life. I’ve had another close friend too, but things were pretty complicated then. And I don’t see them anymore. 

Then, there are the friends that came through. Over the years, I am glad for those that choose to stick around or even reappear into my life once more. I’m also glad for the low maintenance friends that don’t need constant TLC to remain friends. They’re the kind of friends who will really be there for you and a catch up once in a while is nice enough. Been spending the time since I was back catching up with those few and it has been really really good. 

I guess what they say about growing up is true, you’ll lose some friends along the way but it’s those that really stay through it all are true. 

It's week 4 already?

Being back from exchange was a dream. Though I had wished to post more online, I'm glad that I had it all down in a journal old school style - with a collection of ticket stubs.

The weeks pass by way quicker than I hope that it would.

One thing I would say that I truly missed would be the amount of freedom that I had? Somehow I was more motivated to study as well while overseas as compared to being back an NTU. Also missing the weather and it's the start of yet another LDR season, of another 5-6 months apart from the boy yet again. Can't believe a month of school has already flown by.. and I'm still struggling as usual. 

Let's pray that all goes well this sem... and that I'll share more on exchange again soon. And also publish the various drafts in my backlog........ plus the large amount of photos on my DSLR....

Leaving the page with one of my favourite photos of the season of Warwick; Autumn. 

Hiruscar Anti Acne Range!

Acne has always been something that I struggled with since the age of puberty, thus I'm always on the look out for solutions/products that will work for me. 

Through the Sample Store, I found out about the Hiruscar Anti Acne Range. This dermatological skincare was specially formulated for acne prone skin - sounds like something my skin needs!

This range contains salicylic acid for anti-acne benefits and my fav - Aloe Vera! To soothe redness and moisturise. Hiruscar has also added Mucopolysaccharide Polysulfate (MPS)! A short google search showed a study of which it has been clinically proven effective for scar and keloid care. It was proven to provide improvement of skin hydration for at least 10 hours after a single application!

The range includes:
1. Hiruscar Anti-Acne Pore Purifying Cleanser
2. Hiruscar Anti-Acne Pore Purifying Serum
3. Hiruscar Anti-Acne Spot Gel

This product range boasts to see acne improvement in 2 days, with it helping to reduce pimples & lighten spots without drying the skin.

But before we get on to the products and how I feel about them.. it's time to review the current condition of my skin.

My cheeks are really problematic with lots of scars and spots and redness sobs. And somehow my left side is way worst than my right.

Always sad about it but Hiruscar is here to help me out, right?

So first up!

CLEANSING

The Hiruscar Anti Acne Pore Purifying Cleanser! A clear solution that you pump out of the bottle, it felt light on my skin and it did not foam up - probably because it's a gel gentle formulation. The cleanser helps to deeply cleanse the skin without stripping it of all moisture, helping to remove excessive dirt & sebum while balancing the skin's moisture. It also contains Moringa Seed Extract which helps to remove impurities & protects skin from pollutants + various amino acids, vitamin complex and even caffeine to help reduce excess sebum on skin.

So after wetting my face with water 

And then massaging it all around especially my cheeks...

TADA

Honestly felt like my skin was clean yet it wasn't drying at all!

The texture of it was pretty liquidy and I was satisfied with the job it did!

TONING & MOISTURIZING
The Hiruscar Anti Acne Purifying Serum!

A light weight moisturizer that helps to reduce excessive sebum and tighten pores, it has a light and non-greasy texture - which is great cause I love moisturisers but I really hate how oily they make me feel or make my face feel. Apart from the superpower MPS, it also contains Chamomile Extract to help sooth and condition irritated skin along with Artichoke Extract which helps prevent dryness and enhances the skin's moisture. And if you love mushrooms like me... did you know that Larycil is an extract from mushroom that has astringent, pore tightening and moisturizing effects? And it's all jam packed into this serum!

It was real milky and watery but after applying it on my face it felt good and cooling hehe. 

TREATEMENT

The last product, and also the last step of the Hiruscar recommended skincare regime is the Hiruscar Anti Acne Spot Gel.

This gel treatement helps to reduce acne problems like blackheads, whiteheads and even pimples! With Salicylic Acid to help prevent more acne from popping up, the gel is also formulated with Vitamin C & MPS! An unique ingredient present in this gel is Allium Cepa which is an Antiseptic extract which helps prevent scar proliferation - basically helping to prevent the formation of scars from itchy fingers or scratching at pimples and blackheads. (I am totally guilty of this :<)

So with the transparent gel which resembled much like my fav Aloe Vera Gel (and yes this has Aloe Vera in it too!),  I slathered it over my two cheeks, my nose and the bottom of my chin where I commonly have blackheads.

And there, my skin felt moisturised already. Also after a while I could feel that my skin texture was smoother.

And this was just after the first application so onwards to the next check in!

AFTER TWO DAYS 

Boy was I delighted. To be honest, I was a little skeptical but check out the results below!

My left side has definitely cleared up, with pimple scars fading slowly but noticeably! 

Also, my big fat pimple was gone! 

And my right side was not that red as before anymore.

And all of this happened in just TWO days! My skin cleared up that quickly, all thanks to the three-step provided by Hiruscar! It definitely did the job it said it would - acne improvement in just 2 days with lightening of acne spots, all while keeping the skin bouncy and moisturised! 

If you don't believe me, why don't you give it a try yourself?

You can sign up with Sample Store to get a FREE sample of Spot Gel - the power product of this range!

And if you're convinced, head down to any Watsons or Guardian stores to get the range for yourself!

The Hiruscar Anti Acne Pore Purifying Cleanser is at $14.90

The Hiruscar Anti Acne Pore Purifying Serum is at $39.90

The Hiruscar Anti Acne Spot Gel is at $19.90

In my opinion, these products are pretty affordable for the amazing job that it's done so good on Hiruscar. Can't wait to see more improvements on my skin. What about you?

So if you're looking to clean up the acne, why not try Hiruscar today! 

xxx

(This post was brought to you by Hiruscar & Sample Store)

People.

Honestly, I don't know why I'm so affected - but I just am. It seems to me that I'm always left out of things or just never in the loop or never invited. I know people come and people go but it really sucks when you thought that the people that you enjoyed spending time with decided otherwise. Or maybe it was just the way I carried myself. In a manner that's simply easy to take advantage of. And when I stopped, it all ended.

Saveur Art

A while ago, Saveur Art was having a giveaway FB contest for Dinner sets. I participated and... I won! I was so excited for my (good) meal and even googled the menu to prepare my tummy hehehe

Also because I wanted more time to think over what I wanted.

Coincidentally, it was officially our 8th month together so I wore a new dress that I got from Taobao.

Other than the fact that it's super thin... I really love the design and the length of it. Yay for Taobao.

Dinner started off with appetizers - Amuse Bouche: they had this spring roll crispy exterior and was stuffed with diced smoked salmon and a generous stuffing of tar tar sauce.

Then for the starters, we both got Egg Confit because the other option just didn't sound as appetizing, and boy did we not regret! The Egg Confit was simply amazing! The mix of flavours kept me wanting more!

I would definitely visit again - just for this dish!

Then came the mains, I decided to go with the Beef Rossini - topped with Foie Gras, a crouton and carrots:

I loved the flavour but it did get a little hard to eat when it got cold. The foie gras was a small but sufficient portion and the fat round thing, which was the potato was not too soft, not too hard for my liking.

Kok got the Pigeon along with Pithivier (a stuffed pie) and Char Baby Lettuce. His dish was really good too, especially the pastry of the pie. The meat was soft and easy to chew + I loved the burnt taste of the baby lettuce!

We both wiped our plates cleaned and they cleared it away quickly.

By the way, the waitresses at the restaurants are very automatic. When they see that you are done with your dish, they will clear it for you and inform the kitchen to prepare the next. Thus the waiting time wasn't long at all, but maybe it was also due to the fact that it was a Monday and the restaurant was not crowded at all.

The next course was dessert. But before dessert, they even served a pre-dessert!

It was sort of the "atas" version of mango sticky rice to be honest, but it was really good. The trick is to mix it all up so that the rice at the bottom won't be too plain by the time you finish the top. I really loved the crumbly bits of this pre-dessert and it made me excited for dessert.

Kok got Chocolate & Pistacho - a lava cake with pistacho ice cream and chocolate mousse. I had previously tried this before at Concetto by Saveur before it closed down, and yes it is rich and super yummy.

I got the Strawberry Mille-Feuille and I loved the pastry BUT the strawberries were way too sour!! It was so hard to get rid of the sourness of it despite of the vanilla ice cream and all that cream. Apart from that, the cream was superb but the strawberries really killed this dish for me.

None the less, it was a good dinner together.

xxx

#claritykHAI: Week 2

Another busy week went by, and the launch event we were preparing for was finally over!

It's starting to get a little out of control but I'm grateful for the nice colleagues around. I guess, I really must learn how to ask for help instead of keeping it all in... Still working on workload management and the art/habit of replying emails!

Really got to organise that inbox - it's in such a mess I can't seem to catch up.

We celebrated Buka Puassa together this week on Wednesday and it was really cool getting to know more about the Malay culture with regards to this season of fasting. Had some superb curry and wraps that were homemade mmmmmm.

Fell sick after that though and had a great day of rest, before ending off the week with a wedding dinner to look forward to. At Wayne's wedding dinner and we were seated with his friends from Bangkok. There was this super cute 10yo with us named, Cooper!

And now, it's the long weekends!