New Zealand: Hobbiton Movie Set - Part 1

I went to New Zealand on a guided tour in 2013. New Zealand is a beautiful country with sheep and cow on the mountains and clear blue sky. However, I have to admit that it is not a suitable holiday destination for a city girl like me. Beautiful scenery can get a little boring over time if there is all to see for the whole trip.

Enough said on that. Today I am going to show you some of the photos that I have taken on the Hobbiton Movie Set.

Hobbiton Movie Set is the farm in New Zealand where The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and The Hobbits movies were shot. While the set for the shooting of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy were taken down after the shooting had ended, the set was rebuilt for the shooting of The Hobbits movies. After the filming, the set was left there as a permanent attraction for visitors.

Having said that, you are likely to be expecting to see some photos of the set of the movie but please be disappointed. For this post, I will not be putting up the photos on that. I will do that in another post. If you can't wait for those photos, you can actually Google them. They are definitely going to be nicer than those i have anyway.

I am just going to share with you some photos of the sheep found on the farm. You do not see these sheep in the movie as they are considered to be too modern animal for the movies. So these sheep were re-located to another part of the farm when the shooting of the movies was on.


 

A group of sheep with the sheepdog at the back. This was a performance for the visitors to see how the sheepdog can guide the sheep to different location. A very common sheep show that you can always find at all sheep farm. I seen a similar show in Taiwan too.

The sheep looks very nice on the farm but they do seem to be quite hungry. Maybe it's early in the morning and they have yet to have their breakfast. If you go forward to feed them, most of the sheep will tail after you as long as you still have food in your hands. Note that all the sheep are kept behind the barriers so technically you cannot hug them. Touching them is allowed.

They have another sheep show showing you how the wool is sheared off a sheep. As the weather is quite warm, it is more comfortable for the sheep with the wool sheared off. But they do appear a bit shy after all the wool was gone. Cutez...

Birthday Present from Sephora

As a member of Sephora, you get to receive a birthday present from them every year. No hidden cost, no purchase required. You can find out more about their loyalty program from their website at http://loyalty.sephora-sea.com/sea_avantage.

Well, since this post is not about promoting Sephora, enough is said about their loyalty program. This post, I am going to share with you the birthday surprise I received this year. By saying this, you can tell my birthday is actually in the first 4 months of the year. :p

Last year, I got a body lotion from them as a birthday present. Not really excited about it since I really have a lot of body lotion at home. Getting another bottle is just adding more stuff to the limited space I have at home. 

I didn't receive the email mailer from them during my birthday month. I wasn't really bother by that fact. I just assumed they have cancel that benefit off to help save cost. Saving cost to maximize profit is something that all businesses in Singapore love doing after all. So I was quite surprise to receive the email one month after my birthday. Belated birthday present.

Kind of glad that I went to collect the present when I happen to pass by Sephora. I just need to show them the email via my handphone so it's quite hassle free. So why am I glad? Coz it's not a body lotion. Hehe... I am an easy to please girl.

It's a small makeup kit, shaped by a handbag. This is really good to bring it out when you are travelling. It really help the trouble of packing all kind of makeup into your limited luggage space.

 
 

 I have got a new camera. Hehe... Trying my best to take some nice nice looking photos to share with you all. Not very good yet but will try my very best.

  

The kit has got 4 eyeshadows, 2 lip gloss and 1 blush.

I have yet to try it out so no comment on the quality. But it does look very nice. I will be going on a short trip to Malaysia soon. Will bring this along to try it out.

Have a good weekend ahead!  

Happy Easter Day!

Happy Easter Day to all!

 

Just in case you have no idea what is Easter Day all about, please read on...

 

On Easter Sunday, Christians celebrate the resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Christians believe, according to Scripture, that Jesus came back to life, or was raised from the dead, three days after his death on the cross. As part of the Easter season, the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion is commemorated on Good Friday, always the Friday just before Easter.

Hokkaido - Petite Merveille, Hakodate Cheesecake

I have not been spending Chinese New Year in Singapore for years. It's kind of like a traditional for me to take a trip with my parents every year. Well, this seem to be the only time my dad is available to take a so call 'long period' of absence from work.

I love to travel. Going on a holiday with my parents allows me to spend some considerable time with them. Usually, we are all so tied down with work and friends that we do not usually leave a lot of time for our parents. It's kind of sad as without them, there won't be a 'me'.

This year, we went to Hokkaido. Hokkaido is my favorite place to visit in Japan. Nice scenery, nice food, nice people. What more can you ask for.

Today, my post is going to talk about the nice cheesecake that I have eaten in Hakodate.

 

It may look small in size, but it tastes wonderful.

 

Japanese cheesecake is never the same as English cheesecake. I love all kind of cheesecake but I have to admit that I can't eat a lot when I am having an English cheesecake. They are too cheesy... A little is nice, but a lot is just a bit to much. On the other hand, Japanese cheesecake is something that you can hardly stop at just a slice. They are usually light and soft and kinda melt in your mouth.

I have my Japanese cheesecake from Petite Merveille. They come in the original flavor, pumpkin flavor, and the caramel flavor.

 

Great thing about Japan is that they will allow you to sample the food before you make a decision on whether you want to part your money away. I tried all 3 flavors. Well... pumpkin is not my favourite food and caramel is just a bit too sweet for cheesecake. Original is still my number one choice.

 

My first photo above contains only the orignal flavor and pumpkin flavor, even though you see three pieces of cheesecake there. I can hardly stop at just 1 piece. :p

It was near Valentine's Day when I was in Japan so you can see all stores selling all kind of chocolate. The bears are so cute so I can hardly resist taking a photo of them to share with you readers. Love you all...

 

Good news!!! Petite Merveille is available in Singapore if you wish to try the cheesecake. They have a store at the basement of Takeshimaya. If you happen to try it, do share with me your opinions on the cheesecake.

 

Have a great weekend ahead!!! ~~

I am Back!!! ~~

Hi All!

I am finally back. I doubt any of you would have miss me in action since I am not a very active blogger... Well, I admit. I am a lazy blogger.

I am back but I can't promise how long I will be back. I try to stay as long as possible. If you really miss me, drop me an email to let me know. :p

Have a great weekend!!!

Underarm IPL Hair Removal Sessions at Musee Platinum Tokyo

Photo from http://www.musee-pla.asia/.

Musee Platinum Tokyo is the Japan’s No.1 premier hair removal salon (as claimed on their website) and they currently have 5 outlets in Singapore now. You can find them at The Centrepoint, PARCO Millenia Walk, Plaza Singapura, Scotts Square, and Bugis+.

Photo from http://www.musee-pla.asia/.

I am currently doing the underarm IPL hair removal treatment at the Scotts Square outlet. I have a great experience there and will like to share them with you.

Musee is using the S.S.C. hair removal method. It stands for 'Smooth Skin Control Hair Removal'. Using their specially formulated gel which will be activated when exposed to beams of filtered light, the treatment is gentle to the skin with minimal or no discomfort.

The hair removal process is as per below:

Photo from http://www.musee-pla.asia/.

Still not sure what is the difference between S.S.C. hair removal method and the other traditional hair removal methods? Not to worry. Musee provided a chart to show the difference too.


Photo from http://www.musee-pla.asia/.

The package that I have gotten is the unlimited underarm IPL hair removal. It may be unlimited but it doesn't mean you can go and have the treatment as many times as you want. Afterall, if it is effective, there isn't a need for you to go so often. The first 6 treatments will be once every 2 months. I can't remember how many you need to go after this but you can go back for the treatment as long as the shop is still in operation.

So you must be wondering how many times do you need to do the treatment before you can see the effective. There is a chart to provide you with a guideline


Photo from http://www.musee-pla.asia/.

I am on my fifth treatment and I can really tell that the hair at my underarm seem to be hardly growing at all. Great news!!! The treatment is really fast. Whole process will take about 15 minutes and I never felt any pain at all.

If you decide you want to get this treatment like I did, the next thing you will need to decide is which outlet you want to have the treatment. This is because you need to stick to the same outlet for all your treatment. If you want to switch to a different outlet, well, I guess you can still do so but they will need to transfer your information over to the other outlets and I am not certain if they will charge you an admin fee for that so just stick to the same outlet. :p

The staff that I have encountered so far are very professional and nice. Most importantly, they never hardsell anything to me at all. I can hardly see this in any beauty salon in Singapore. It makes me feel like using more of their service. It goes to show you do not need to hardsell to get people to fork out their money. Providing an excellent experience to your client means everything to them.

Musee is having a promotion for their unlimited sessions of underarms hair removal package. Look at the chart below.

Photo from http://www.musee-pla.asia/.

 

I have a better news for you. Groupon is having a voucher for the same treatment package, minus the free cooking ot silicon steamer, at only $98! Check it out here. However this deal is only valid at The Centrepoint, PARCO Millenia Walk, and Scotts Square.

 

If you are signing up for the package, don't forget to code my member ID. 81034132. I will get a free gift but so do you. They are having the double priviledges campaign now. 

 

Note:

This post is done up based on my review. I am in no way assoicated with Musee Platinum Tokyo.

Hoshino Coffee

I was definitely not thinking of blogging about this resturant at all when I was there so I am afraid there is not much photos available.

It was kind of like a last minute decision to eat there. I was shopping around with my friend at PS and we were just looking for some place with nice dessert to sit down and rest our feet.

Spotted Hoshino Coffee with not much queue so we decide to join in for a table. Personally I do not think they have a great variety in their menu so please look at the menu first before joining the queue. You won't want to wait so long for a table and end up with no desire for any of the food.

As I said earlier, we were looking for dessert so we ordered the famous pancake soffle there.

You will need to wait around 20 minutes for the pancake soffle. I guess they are made upon ordering only. Each serving is quite big so if you are a small eater, please share.

The pancake soffle is nice. Soft and spongy and not too sweet even with the syrup poured in. However, as I said, the serving is a bit too big for one. I am not likely to give this a try again within these few months after finishing the whole serving by myself. Haha...

This is pancake soffle style with mango. You have the option of having it with either softee or handmade whipped cream. Mine is in softee. Not sure if it's just that day or that's the original taste, the mango tasted a bit weird. In the end, we left them untouched.

This is pancake soffle style with chocolate and banana. I find it much nicer then the one with mango. If I ever want to try the pancake soffle again, I will definitely order this instead of the mango.

 

Total damage for this two pancake soffle is $31.78 including GST and service charges. It's really quite pricey. I think I can find nicer dessert with this kind of pricing. However, if you have not tried it before, the taste is worth a try.