Monday, 27 July 2015

O Banh Mi | Damansara Utama

UPDATE: This O Banh Mi branch is no longer in operations. However, they have another branch in 1 Utama.

What's better than a yummy, filling yet healthy meal? This blog post features O Banh Mi - an eatery serving Vietnamese sandwiches and meals. It's my second time visiting this place.. and let me tell you, it won't stop there. 

Mixed Chicken Pho - RM11.00

I did not enjoy this very much but I did not hate it either. It was okay-okay for me. There were nuts, bean sprouts, basil leaves, fried onions, cilantro (which I specifically told them not to include so it's not in the picture - I cannot stand cilantro) and shredded chicken breast meat served on what seemed like hor fun to me.


Now, to their signatures. The O Banh Mi. In Vietnamese, Banh Mi means bread made from wheat and is used to refer to both baguette and sandwiches. 

Roasted Pork Obanhmi - RM11.50

Looks like any ordinary baguette, don't it?



But look at the amount of pork in it. Value for money. Now, the banhmi is made fresh everyday at certain times. It is so crunchy, so tasty, eating it on its own is good enough! I friggin' love love LOVE the banhmi. And the pork is slightly sweet and so tender. Other than that, you'll find eggs and pickled vegetables which goes with everything oh so well. Love. Just love.

Beef Stew with Banh Mi
(Sorry, I forgot the price of this one - will do an update on this part when I do go back again)
Note: This picture's quality is different because it was taken with a different camera at a different time :)

This one's pretty good too. The bread makes everything good. Although, I would prefer if the stew was thicker and had more beef. All in all, still good.

Hope ya'll enjoyed this post!


Much love. xx


O BANH MI



Contact: +03 7732 8540

Opening Hours:
Monday to Sunday 9:30AM - 9:30PM

Serves Vietnamese, Non-Halal

Friday, 24 July 2015

Casa Cacao | Bangsar Baru

Casa Cacao calls themselves the "house of chocolate". They are pretty new - officially opened only sometime this month. I discovered this cafe from one of TheMingThing's videos. Click to watch.

So, one fine evening.. I felt like having desserts. Before dinner. :D Guess where I decided to go?

Pralines
6 pieces for RM11
Now, this was what got me uber excited. Am not the chocolate expert but I love pralines. Here are 6 of the many pralines that they offer. I don't particularly remember the flavours of these 6 but I will try to briefly give you the flavours from left to right.

Raspberry dark chocolate, caramel, almond, (completely forgot what this is), mango and something, truffle. I might be wrong about some or all of the flavours. Please forgive me, I really cannot remember. 

Loved all of them!

Belgium Waffle
You get to choose the type of chocolate topping and ice cream flavour
In here: White chocolate and cookies and cream ice cream

The ice cream, nothing to hype about. It just tasted like vanilla ice cream. That waffle though, it's different from the many Belgium waffles I've had. It's slightly dryer, but not too dry.. and the colour...



See what I mean? It's kinda orange. Texture is somewhat like bread. I don't know about you guys but I like it. Very much. I can't tell you guys why it is the way it is because I tried asking the staff there what the batter was made of but none of them knew - or they did not want to tell me?


Now on to something very interesting. One of their signature dishes.


Looks likes every other fondue don't it. Wait for it..


Would you look at that? What is that, right?? It's salted egg yolk in the center! Yes believe it. Salted egg. I'm not a big fan of salted egg, at all. But this.. This is glorious. It's the perfect match, really. Ultimately love this. The salted egg yolk balances out the sweetness of the chocolate so it's not too overwhelming. SO GOOD. SO SO GOOD. I have nothing to say about the ice cream. Lol. Like the cookies and cream one, nothing to hype about. I honestly feel that the fondue is so good on its own that there is no need for the ice cream.

Speaking of which... Heading out to Casa Cacao again later after dinner. :D

That ends my first food post here.



Much love.


Casa Cacao



Contact: +03 2201 1282

Opening Hours:
Monday - Thursday 1:00PM - 12:00AM
Friday and Saturday 11:30AM - 1:00AM
Sunday 1:00PM - 12:00AM

Serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and coffee.

Thursday, 23 July 2015

How I fought ACNE, kinda | BODY SHOP | T3 | ETUDE HOUSE

Update: I forgot to mention that these products did help me reduce quite a lot of my acne situation. However, do seek professional help of your acne is very severe. Also, do bare in mind that what works for me may or may not work for you. Everyone's skin is different. 

Hi there! It's been an awful long time since my last post. Long story short, external HDD decided to go haywire, lost all my life's worth of photos, all photos taken for blogging intentions disappeared, lost the mood to do anything in life. End. Yes, I am extremely heartbroken but I am over it. no not really. I don't have particularly many readers anyway so I don't think anyone actually cared lol but hey here's today's post!



So thanks to some Innisfree products I no longer have flaky skin. Yes, I still have dry skin, but not flaky. Sometime around CNY, I had skin crisis. Read about it here. My skin did improve somewhat since then. However, the pimples and bumps did not go away. In fact, they decided to reproduce and have a party on my face and body - back and chest area.

I have no idea what made me breakout. So, I decided to stop using all my most frequently used makeup and skin care. So here are some new products I've been using since.

But wait, now that I think about it again.. I don't use my skincare products nor makeup on my back and chest area. Could it be my lifestyle and eating habits that were causing the breakouts? Hmm... Welp, moving on...

The first product is the little white bottle of cream - Oxy. Oxy 10 is a pimple cream containing 10% benzyl peroxide. If your skin is very sensitive, you can purchase Oxy 5 with only 5% benzyl peroxide. I apply this on my new pimples. It's pretty good. Not super good, but pretty good. I don't really have much to say about this product because I always forget to use it :/


So sometime from sometime in May to June, Body Shop had sales of up to 70%. I decided to give their products a go. Purchased the Tea Tree products to reduce the acne party on my fez. Unfortunately, I don't remember how much each of these products costed during the sales so prices stated here will be the current prices.

Tea Tree Skin Clearing Toner - RM49.00

This toner seeps right into your skin upon application. Does what it says - leaves skin matte. Tea Tree smell is quite strong, I hate it, hold my breath every time I apply it. Thank heavens the smell does not linger. There a slight tingly minty feeling upon application as well.

Funny story. I never read the instructions on the back of this bottle. Used it like a regular toner until today when I was placing it on the surface to take some pictures then I realise this layer of white somewhat hard-ish liquid? Particle? at the bottom. So I was like "eh. Why like this? Has it expired or something??"

So, I read the instructions... and turns out, you're supposed to "shake well before use". So you guys... Shake well before use. 


Vitamin Aqua Boost Sorbet - RM75.00
The lady in Body Shop told me that this product moisturises the skin but then a beautician who gave me facial today told me that Vitamin E's products are quite drying as they act as a whitening product as well. -.- So this might be more suitable for people with very oily skin. I stopped using it because I have never been fond of whitening products at all. 

I'd like to mention though that the content is very pretty and really does look like sorbet. Oh yes, gives an "instant cooling sensation" just like the Tea Tree Toner. Plus, it smells good. 




Now, moving on to the more interesting products. MAKEUP!

Tea Tree Pore Minimiser - RM73.00
Product description:
Infused with Community Fair Trade organic Tea Tree oil
Smoothes, primes and mattifies

This does a pretty good job in blurring out my pores. Does not feel very drying even though it's supposed to mattify the skin. Comparable to Too Faced primer.

Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream - RM63.00 each
Product description:
Formulated with purifying Community Fair Trade organic Tea Tree oil from Kenya
Blemishes and imperfections are instantly covered
Lightweight formula gives shine-free complexion
Long lasting formulation
Infused with subtle rose scent

This product does a medium coverage for blemishes and imperfections. Does a great job for my uneven skin tone. Yes, it is lightweight, not sticky and applies smoothly. Is it shine-free, yes... For me. But I feel that if you are one with oily skin, it will not be shine-free for very long. Is it long lasting, no. Does it smell like rose? No. At least not to me. Also, it does not break me out.

BUT, it really does not stay at all. Comes off really easily I must say.

The biggest downside is that it only comes in two shades. Shade 01 is too light for me and shade 02 is the colour of my bronzers. So, I had to buy both of the shades to mix.


For my skin colour, it's 2 parts Shade 01 and 1 part Shade 01. Or in other words, Shade 02 is half or less than half of Shade 1. I hope you get me.

The spork is for assisting in sticking double eyelids. I use the ends to mix the two shades.


Yes. Liddis. Juz mix the two.

Before application
During Application
And after
Beli naise. Texture is creamy but still somewhat runny. I applied it with my fingers and sometimes with the Laneige or Innisfree BB Cushion sponge applicator - Which I forget to take pictures of but you can see the applicator here


NEXT PRODUCT IZ MY ULTIMATE FAV. The Etude House Surprise Essence Concealer. When I first got this some time last year, I was told by the lady in one of the Etude House branches that they only have one shade for this. So I went back to repurchase this product assuming that there's only one shade. Grabbed one on the spot and go. Got home opened it and was like shocked to see that this new one that I got is lighter than the one I have. Went on their webpage and turns out they have it in two shades. Seriously man. 

Can we just sidetrack for a bit here? It angers me when the sales person for a particular brand does not know jack shit about the product or brand that they're selling. So, you're just an employee.. You just work to sustain your living you care not for the brand that hired you. BUT DEAR HOMO SAPIEN, DO YOU CARE NOT YOUR OWN IMAGE? Sometimes I go into a store with the knowledge of the product ready to buy but inquire anyway. And I going to be very blunt here, as soon as they open their mouth to speak, I want to slap the bejesus out of them. I want to educate them. This coming from someone who does not work for the brand. Shame on you lah! You look like a fool.

ANYWAY.

Etude House Surprise Essence Concealer
7g - RM40


It covers blemishes and dark circles and redness around the nose pretty well! It's the perfect shade for me. I think suitable for those with light to medium skin tones. Not drying at all. Not so cheap but Etude House often have promotions so keep a look out for those!


Comparison for both shades

Surprisingly enough the surprise concealer in both shades are suitable for my skin tone. (See what I did there?) The darker shade gives of course a super duper natural finish because its almost exactly my skin tone at that time when I got it - this was the first one that I got. But I've gotten fairer, and it still does suit me but the lighter one gives a more brightening effect if you will. So yeah.. Two thumbs up for this. I am always on the lookout for good and affordable concealers because often times I don't use foundation or bb cream.


Pattern


Here's a picture of the full face with the Tea Tree BB cream and Etude House Surprise Essence concealer.

This is actually an accidental shot. Pretty good, huh? *shy* I like it... Kinda.


Ok. Last product. So lengthy, gosh.

T3 Acne Body Wash

This product saved my life skin. I wouldn't say the acne on my body have completely disappeared but it definitely did tame them. Before this my body's acne were so red and itchy and just very irritating. After just about 2 washes with this, the redness and swelling went away. Only leaving little spots. Which is pretty great I must say. However, my guy friend tell me that I smell like WD40 every time I shower with this. Pfft.

That's all I have for this post. Have a good one earthlings!

Much love.