Treasures of Vacheron Constantin : A Legacy of Watchmaking since 1755

Free admission to the exhibitions at some of the museums in Singapore, so the boy and I took the opportunity to pay a visit to the National Museum of Singapore. We had wanted to go for the Terracotta Warriors Exhibition at the Asian Civilisations Museum but the boy mistakenly ended up at the National Museum, which was a blessing in disguise, as I had the most fantastic breakfast at 4 in the afternoon!

I never had a passion for watches. In fact, I haven't been wearing one for the last 10 years or so, ever since I got myself a handphone. That was because I never knew what works of art they could be, until I went to the Treasures of Vacheron Constantin – A Legacy of Watchmaking since 1755 exhibition, which explores the heritage of the oldest watch manufacturer spanning more than 250 years. On display are 180 timepieces, some breathtakingly beautiful, and the pictures below don't do them justice, partly due to the lighting and the iphone4 camera.


Chronometer Hunting-Case Pocket-Watch
1869, 18K yellow gold, enamel dial, caliber 20" R chronometer, 19 jewels


"Arms Up" Pocket-Watch
1930, yellow gold, white gold, enamel, Caliber RA 17" 15/12 "arms up" display, 18 jewels, silver satin-finish dial, Chinese magician in gold and enamel


"Arms Up" Pocket-Watch
1960, 18K yellow gold, white gold, pink gold, Caliber RA 17" 15/12 "arms up" display, 18 jewels, shuttlecock players


Gentleman's Wristwatch
1964, 18K pink gold, caliber 9" - 1001, 18 jewels
By request from a customer, this braille model allowed the user to read the time off the raised hour-markers with his fingertips.


Pocket Watch
1924, 18K yellow gold, jade, 8/8 cut diamonds, enamel dial, 18 jewels
This is my favourite! I like the marbling, delicate translucency and coolness of jade.


8 Days Desk Clock
Gilt silver, agate, lacquer, 8/8-cut diamonds, caliber RA 19" - 8 days, 17 jewels


8 Days Desk Clock
1926, brass, white gold, lacquer, agate, lapis lazuli, turquoises. nephrite, opals, rose-cut diamonds, caliber RA 19" - 8 days, 17 jewels


Admission is free so do take this great opportunity to admire these timepieces up close!

Venue: National Museum of Singapore, Exhibition Gallery 1, Basement
Date: Fri 24 June - Fri 14 Aug 2011
Time: 10am - 6pm

Triple.M Crunchy Roasted Seaweed Giant Sheet

Satisfied my love for seaweed today with a packet of Triple.M Crunchy Roasted Seaweed. They have it in various flavours, one being Grilled Squid. I was afriad that the flavoured ones would be too salty, as they normally are, and full of MSG, so I got the Original Giant Sheet which comes in 10 individually wrapped packets in a main resealable ziplock pack.



These are crunchier (as in more brittle) then your usual seaweed sheets, are sweetly flavoured and not too salty. I couldn't taste the pepper though. Retails for around $3 per pack with each piece measuring approximately 18cm x 20cm! It's 'Yum Yum' alright ;)

Steam Cream ~HANA~ Limited Edition

I finally got myself a 75g tin of the much talked-about Steam Cream that comes in oh-so-pretty aluminum tins.

Design ~HANA~ Limited Edition


The cream is similar, regardless of the design of the tin. A base of soothing oatmeal infusion and orange flower water, with almond and jojoba oils and cocoa butter to nourish and hydrate, lavender oil to heal and calm, rose absolute to moisturise and tone, and neroli to rejuvenate the skin. It does contain triethanolamine and parabens, but it makes me happy to know that every single ingredient that goes into making this cream is cruelty-free.


I was surprised at the size of the orange box that it come in, and upon opening it, was happy to discover the tin of cream similarly sized :). I thought it was going to be one of those super thin screw top tins, but the 3cm depth put a smile on my face.


The freshly handmade cream has a rather short shelf life of about a year, but the beautiful tin will definitely be serving some other purpose for far longer :)


Steam Cream will be locally available at BHG Bugis this Friday.

The FaceShop Herb Day Cleansing Wipes

Upon reaching home each night, I use cleansing wipes to remove non-waterproof makeup, or even just dust and dirt accumulated on my skin during the day. It has become a convenient alternative to washing my face properly, which I only do in the shower before I go to bed.

I passed by The Face Shop and decided to get myself a huge packet of their Herb Day Cleansing Wipes 70's (currently 20% off storewide) as I liked the green leafy design on the packet and I do go through packets of cleansing wipes quite fast anyway.


Each stretchable sheet measures approximately 16cm x 18cm and has enough moisture to thoroughly cleanse the face. Although the wipes contain alcohol, they are actually rather moisturising. The liquid does feel a little sticky going on, but the feeling goes away as it evaporates from the skin. The artificial fragrance has a herbal/ green note to it which I'm not liking very much. One thing that annoys me, is the way the sheets are packed just like box tissues, which means that you would have to stuff the next sheet back into the packet each time you pull one out to use. Not very hygienic, in my opinion.


The wipes contain soapwort extract to cleanse the skin, horse chestnut extract to aid circulation, lady's mantle and sage and rosemary to purify and tone the skin. They do contain alcohol and parabens though.


The wipes are also available in a smaller packet of 30's but the larger packet is slightly cheaper per wipe.

Tarts @ Fruit Paradise

A month or two ago, the boy and I went on a fruit tart craze, specifically the tarts from Fruit Paradise. Although I never liked tarts, I found the tarts at Fruit Paradise more of a cake then a tart, and I love cakes! The price for a slice is comparable to places like Bakerzin, although the tarts are not as filling despite their deceptively huge size. They owe their size to the layers of cream, and somehow this makes the tarts feel lighter and more 'empty' than it looks. It is also for this very reason that I find their tarts rather unhealthy. It kinda feels like eating fruits with cream.

Here are the tarts we've tried so far:

Mixed Berries Chocolate with a chocolate base - $7.80
Made with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and rich chocolate cream.


Strawberry Tiramisu with a custard base - $6.80
Made from fresh strawberries and rich cheese cream. The taste of cheese is really subtle.

Mixed Fruit with a custard base - $7.80
Made with 9 different kinds of fruit.

Mango Strawberry with a custard base - $7.80
Made from thai honey mangoes and fresh strawberries.



Strawberry Montblanc with a custard base - $7.80
This is one of my favourites with chestnut cream from Switzerland and fresh strawberries, two of my great loves :)

Mango Banana with a cheese base - $6.80
Made from Thai honey mangoes and ripe bananas.

Nutty Caramel with custard base - $6.80
Salty caramel cream on sponge cake with caramelised mixed nuts and fresh fruits. Both the boy and I think that this tart tops the list :)

Fruit Paradise can be found at Vivocity, Plaza Singapura, Raffles City, Tampines 1, and Orchard Central where I had my first experience, not of their tarts, but their food.

Naruko Rose & Snow Fungus Classic Hydrating Night Eye Gelly

Naruko's Rose & Snow Fungus Classic Hydrating Night Eye Gelly comes in a 30ml purple glass jar with a spatula. I do not use the spatula as I find clean fingers more hygenic than an unwashed spatula.


The gelly is a translucent white gel which has a rose scent similar to bandung. It is not overpowering, and is hardly noticeable a few minutes after application. The gel isn't sticky, it absorbs perfectly, which is a plus in this hot humid weather.



Besides rose and snow fungus extract, the naruko night eye gelly also contains phytoferulin, a complex of 11 plant extracts, ceramide to replenish lost skin lipids, palmitoyl tripeptide-3 to increase collagen production, vitamin A to refine skin texture and vitamin E to moisturise, lecithin as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, and willow bark extract as a gentle exfoliant.


All of Naruko's products come in boxes that can be recycled into useful objects. I lost the sheet of paper with the instructions on it, and was curious as to what this box was meant to be turned into. Cutting along the solid lines with a penknife and folding along the dotted lines, I discovered I had a mini holder of sorts :)

Naruko Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Soothing White Hydra Essence

Naruko's Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Soothing White Hydra Essence comes in a 150ml purple plastic bottle with a white screw top cap. I find the colorless liquid to be more similar to that of a toner than an essence, and hence, dispense it onto a cotton pad before sweeping it over my face and neck. The scent is that of lavender.


The bottle comes with a plug which, although troublesome to remove at each use, somehow helps to maintain the freshness of the product.



It contains 3% tranexamic acid which acts to prevent and/or remove pigmentation of the skin such as freckles and sunspots. It also acts as an anti-inflammatory, and is thus helpful for sensitive and acne prone skin. Besides the phytoferulin complex of 11 plant extracts found in Naruko's products, it also contains apple extract, snow fungus extract, sodium hyaluronate, glycerin and vitamin E.


All of Naruko's products come in an unique award-winning box, which was designed in such a way that it can recycled into a pencil case, a pen holder or similar, with just a little craft work.

Here's the instruction sheet that comes with every bottle of the Apple Seed & Tranexamic Acid Soothing White Hydra Essence.


As I did have no use for a pencil case, I chose to convert my original green box into a more colorful one to hold my bottle of the essence instead.


With a more convenient flip top using the velcro dots provided.