EYE CARE? I CARE!! - Tips to get healthy, sparkling eyes (For those wearing Contact Lenses n Makeup)

"Our EYES are the WINDOWS to our SOUL"

Our eyes do speak and sometimes do provide others with glimpses into our inner thoughts and feelings. Sometimes our emotions are easily reflected from our gaze - be it anxiety, fear, happiness or weariness. 

To the most of us,  having a pair of eyes that sparkle with confidence are the most alluring. As much as an alluring pair of eyes are desirable, obtaining and maintaining your beautiful "jewels" definitely requires some effort. 

Since our schooling days, we were told by our teachers to stare at green patches of grass to promote good eyesight and to give our eyes a break after staring at our textbooks / computers / televisions for too long etc.. I shall not elaborate too much on the boring theory stuff..

I DID NOT bother to follow them because I was so addicted to television dramas that I was BESPECTACLED at the age of 12. 

During those days.. I thought:

"Wearing a pair of spectacles is COOL and the best Proof of being a Grown-Up"

I bet most of us were excited when we first had our first pair of glasses prescribed to us the moment we were diagnosed with Myopia. 

But after some time, I felt:

"Wearing Glasses is a CHORE and the FUGLIEST thing on earth"

People's thinking do change but MYOPIA is a scary disease. Once you've contracted it, it'll HAUNT you FOR LIFE (unless you do lasik, which Da Rabbit so feared after watching Final Destination). 

The Cons of wearing glasses:

• Your glasses can be blurred by fingerprints, dust and raindrops! 
• You get ultra irritated by the condensation effect whenever you leave an air-conditioned place
• Your ears and nose might hurt if your frames are too heavy / pressing too hard against your skin
• They make you look ultra nerdy
• They reflect light whenever you take photos with the camera flash on
• Your eyes look more beady when wearing glasses
• It blocks your "eye power" especially when you are trying to charm a cute guy 
• You'll lose your self-esteem when people start calling you nicknames like "Bespectacled Toad"

So as a vain Rabbit, I started wearing contact lens to regain my self-confidence. However, contact lenses are never fool-proof and have their disadvantages too:

• Your eyes feel dry more easily and you might need eyedrops to soothe your eyes
• Maintenance is higher than glasses as you must buy contact lens solution (in the past, you have to buy protein remover tablet and 'soap' to clean your contacts before soaking them in saline.. but thank goodness there is multi-purpose solution now to resolve this troublesome issue)
• Your eyes feel very irritated especially when particles like dust gets into your eyes or when there is a crack in your contact lens due to mishandling 
• Wearing contacts is an acquired skill - I used to take half an hour to poke those lens into my eyes and another half an hour to remove them
• Wearing contacts increase the chances of contracting eye infections 
• For those who loves wearing eye makeup, it will be a nightmare if particles from your eyeshadow or contents of your eyeshadow / eyeliner gets into your eyes

After almost acquiring about a decade of experience in wearing contacts, I would like to recommend a few tips on contact lens wearing.

Choosing the right Contacts

I strongly recommend you guys to get a pair of disposable contacts for hygiene reasons and extra comfort. Disposable lenses are normally thinner than the permanent ones and hence are more comfortable (you will not feel the contacts in your eyes whenever you blink that often). 

However, not many people are suitable to wear disposable contacts as the sizes are pretty standard and your eyeball might not have the right size and curvature to suit a particular brand. Da Rabbit has found that the Acuvue Oyasis lens are the most comfy as she has astigmatism too *thanks to Mediacorp TV*

Cleanse your lens throughly after wearing

Yes. There will be protein build-up on your lens after a long day's wear. If you are not wearing daily disposables, then you definitely must take reasonable actions to ensure that the build-up on your lens surface is eliminated after you wear them to prevent irritation and infection during your next use. 

If you are lazy to rub your lens with the multi-purpose solution, you might want to try this Holy Grail product for lazy contact lens wearers -- AO SEPT Plus. After using so many different brands of multi-purpose solutions, I must admit that AO SEPT Plus is the BEST I have ever used. My contacts felt as good as new every time I wear them over and over again!

"Deep Cleansing for COMFORT that LASTS" ~ AO SEPT Plus' Slogan

 

This amazing magic potion cleans and disinfects contact lenses including silicone hydrogels. And, the best part is that the entire process is EFFORTLESS! You do not need to rub your contact lenses before soaking them into this solution. All you need to do is to remove your lenses and place it in their special casing filled with the solution provided and let the powerful solution do its job by itself. 

This is how my AOSEPT PLUS looks like

It comes with the special casing. 

#1 Remove the lid from the casing and pour the AO SEPT PLUS solution into the bottle till it reaches the mark (there is a guideline on the bottle to indicate the volume of solution to pour)

The lid is attached to a "cage" for you to place your contact lenses in. There is a huge letter "L" indicated on one side of the "cage" to identify the Left side of the lens. 

#2 Place your contact lens into the "cage" 

#3 Screw the lids tight onto the bottle filled with solution

And... Look forward for the MAGIC SHOW to start..

Watch how fizzy it goes! So amusing ♥♥~ This is like the 'Washing Machine' for our contacts.. LOL

Tips for those who frequently wear makeup on your eyes..

Please do ensure that you remove your makeup throughly from your eyes and face before going to bed. We all know that it is bad to sleep with your cosmetics on as your skin cannot breathe and hence you will be prone to breakouts. However, it is not so feasible to remove your eye makeup throughly especially for those who wear heavy makeup on the eye area i.e. waterproof mascara, eyeliner and eyeshadow. There might be traces of makeup left on your eyes - this can be observed when you wake up the next morning.. Your eye shit dirt will look black..

This problem can be resolved if you give your eyes a good eye bath :) An eye bath not only removes the debris build-up in your eyes, but can soothe your tired eyes by giving it a good 'massage' too!

Just swirl the eye bath mixture over your eyes and you will feel hyper refreshed afterwards! ^^

Enjoy and do take good care of your eyes ladies ♥♥~ 

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15 Min Recipe: Stuffed Tomatoes Soup (Ultra Healthy Recipe for a more Beautiful YOU)

Today's muse is extracted from http://www.wengie.com

I think it is pretty interesting as this sounds very do-able especially for noobs like Da Rabbit. Moreover,  as mentioned in my previous blog post, I believe that you will be convinced of the invincible wonderful health benefits of tomatoes in no time. Muahahahaha!

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To recap and add on to our previous pointers raised.. 

Here are 5 great health benefits of eating tomatoes:

1. Tomatoes are like nature's sunscreen

Tomatoes contain Beta-carotene, (which are also found in carrots and sweet potatoes). It makes your skin look amazing as it helps protect your skin against sun damage. Tomatoes’ also contain lycopene which makes skin less sensitive to UV light damage, a leading cause of fine lines and wrinkles. It also has anti-cancerous benefits and the lycopene are richer in processed and cooked tomatoes than raw ones.

2. Tomatoes help you stay youthful

Tomatoes contains around 40% of your daily vitamin C intake in just one medium size tomato! That's incredible. The Vitamin C & Vitamin A found in tomatoes are antioxidants which help you fight free radicals which means a red juicy tomato is natures anti-aging miracle, and promotes healthy cells.

3. Tomatos help you diet

Tomatoes contain chromium which helps keep your blood sugar levels regular. This will really help you stay on track with your diets as it can curb cravings and spikes in blood sugar which can lead to weight gain. Also eating tomatoes is very filling compared to it's calorie contents. One whole tomato can really beef up your salad or meal without adding too many extra calories.

4. Tomatoes can help treat your hair

The vitamin A in tomatoes can give you healthy shiny hair! 

5. Tomatoes just help your body in general

Tomatoes contain a bunch of other vitamins that will help your bones, prevent various types of cancers as well as have anti-inflamitory benefits for those with chronic pain.  

RECIPE: STUFFED TOMATOES SOUP

There are so many ways to eat tomatoes, you can juice them, add them to your salads, grill them for breakfast as well as add them in soups and of course with your pasta! 

The following dish is inspired by the Vietnamese Style Stuffed Tomato Recipe.

Ingredients

Fresh ingredients

1 medium to large tomato
1 small ball of minced turkey or pork (a bit more than 1 tablespoon)
1 small bunch of enoki mushrooms (or your fave mushroom)
1 small bunch of spring onion
1 bunch of mung bean or bean thread noodles

Seasoning

1 tablespoon soya sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 cup of low sodium chicken stock
Salt & Pepper to Season

Note from Da Rabbit: Seasoning is based solely on preference. There isn't a hard and fast rule as to how much seasoning you should add. Perhaps you should just start from a minimal amount of seasoning and slowly build-up if you find it inadequate :)

Cooking Instructions

1. Start off by soaking the noodles in warm water to soften them. 
2. Cut your tomatoes in half and scoop out the middle leaving a nice shell to stuff your mince meat in.
3. Save the bits you scooped out as you’ll add them to flavour your soup later.
4. Dice the mushrooms and chives into small pieces. 
5. Chop your noodles into smaller pieces once they have started to soften.
6. Put all ingredients into a bowl and add some soya sauce and fish sauce to season as well as some salt and pepper to taste. Mix well to create the perfect minced meat and veggie filling 
7. Now take the tomatoes that was emptied out earlier and replace the middle with the minced meat and veggie filling. Be sure to push the filling in firmly with a spoon and heap it up to slightly over the flat surface. 
8. Grease / Oil the surface of your pan or hot pot bowl before placing the tomatoes facing downwards so that the fillings can be cooked in the oil. Leave them for a few minutes.
9. Once you can see your tomatoes and filling turning brown, add some water or chicken stock. Chicken stock is tastier but do pick one with a low sodium level as a healthy alternative.
10. Add the tomato bits you scraped out into the soup and cook for another 5 minutes until your tomato is soft. When it’s almost about time, add the rest of the mung bean noodles in to create a hearty filling noodle hot pot. The noodles will suck in the yummy stock and it’ll be really yummy! Not to mention these noodles are only about 50 calories per bunch!

Enjoy cooking with Da Rabbit ♥♥~


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Authentic Asian Buffet @ Quality Cafe

Restaurant Name: Quality Cafe @ Quality Hotel Marlow

Pricing: $$/5

Food: ♥♥♥/5

Ambience: ♥♥♥/5

Service: ♥♥♥♥/5

Website: http://qualityhotelmarlow.com.sg/dining/quality-cafe

Location: 201 Balestier Road, Singapore 329926
Tel: +65 6355 9988
Operating Hours: Open Daily; Lunch: 11:30 - 14:30, Dinner: 18:00 - 20:00, Supper: 22:30 - 00:30

Da Rabbit has been invited by Quality Hotel Marlow to try their infamous Taiwan Porridge Buffet during the weekends!! And.. Da Rabbit is really grateful that the hotel staff has kindly accommodated her request to extend the invite to Sweetie Muffin as he plays an important role in her life as a chauffeur and guide (Da Rabbit has a terrible sense of direction). Da Rabbit and Sweetie Muffin wish to express their heartfelt thanks to Faith for arranging this food-tasting session :)

Since this food-tasting is not a hosted event, Da Rabbit and Sweetie Muffin gets to experience dining in the Quality Cafe fully without hotel staff watching them eat (affecting their digestion of course) and making them feel queasy. In fact, the entire dining experience was just like any other buffet they have went to ;)

Le' First Impression

Driving into the Car Park

The Banner on Quality Cafe's Daily Buffet

I have first come to know about Quality Hotel Marlow through my ex-colleagues as they mentioned that their department's secretary particularly enjoys to patronize the hotel for drinks and delicious fried chicken. So upon arrival at the hotel's car park lift lobby, we saw the poster on Chilling Out @ the Piano Lounge and have to agree that the alcoholic drinks are really affordable :)

Chill Out @ The Piano Lounge

(Happy Hour All Night Long)

Le' Reception Area

I love the decor!

Yes, the Christmas tree is up too..

Authentic Asian Buffet @ Quality Cafe

The prices for the hotel buffet are really reasonable. 

Moreover, they are having a lunch promotion during Mondays - Thursdays whereby 1 person gets to dine FREE with every 3 paying adults.

	Mon-Thurs	Fri - Sun
Asian Buffet Lunch
Adult	SGD 18.00	SGD 21.00
Child	SGD 11.80	SGD 11.80
Taiwan Buffet Dinner
Adult	SGD 20.80	SGD 22.80
Child	SGD 11.80	SGD 11.80
Taiwan Porrdige Supper Buffet
Adult	SGD 12.80	SGD 14.80
Child	SGD 6.80	SGD 6.80

*Prices are subject to 10% service charge and prevailing GST

*Prices are subject to change during Eve of Public Holidays, Public Holidays, Festive Period and Special Occasions

Tips on Buffet Eating

We will be sharing with you about the tips of buffet eating to make your money worthwhile.

1. Avoid Carbs at all cost!

   Do not take too much starchy food like rice, noodles and anything too starchy as these guys stuff your stomach really fast and before you know it, your stomach will be too bloated for other foodies!

2. Start with a sip of warm beverage / hot soup

   This helps to warm-up your stomach to eat more somehow :)

3. Take a little of everything

The idea of going to a buffet is so that you get to sample a huge variety of food. Helping yourself to a small portion of each variety helps you to taste all the food without getting stucked with a huge portion of food that disgusts you. You can also have a second helping to the food which you prefer afterwards. And also, this helps to minimize food wastage *Think about the poor African kids!*

Avoid Fizzy Drinks

Yes, fizzy drinks do taste good, but they fill your stomach with gas and you will be too bloated to eat anything afterwards. And sorry to say, your stomach would be emptied fast after all that farting.. *LOL*

Le' Ambience

The cafe is rather cozy with cushioned seats and it is flooded with diners - mostly families consisting of the elderly and children.

Le' Buffet Spread

Taiwanese Porridge

The cafe prides itself in serving the Authentic Taiwanese Porridge Buffet. There were 2 types of porridge served that night -  Sweet Potato Porridge and Chicken Porridge. As time progresses, our younger generation has long forgotten the hard times which our forefathers have went through during the Japanese Occupation. Sweet Potato has been a staple food during the wartime especially when food rations were running low and the families have started growing their own sweet potatoes for survival. Porridge - which is made by cooking rice in plenty of water. As poor families and coolies could hardly afford rice, they would normally add more water to their rice to fill their tummies. We have heard stories of how the adults would make sweet potato porridge with their remaining ingredients they could find in their houses and feed the children while they watched them eat in hunger and yet have to put up a false front in front of their kids. These heart-wrenching scenes are very common in Mediacorp's TV Dramas like The Price of Peace (和平的代价), The Awakening (霧鎖南洋), Samsui Women (红头巾) etc.

Nowadays, the standards of living for Singaporeans have improved and not many of us have experienced the meaning of true hunger. Hence it is important for our future generations to know and understand the hardship which our forefathers have went through in order for them to cherish what they have now (I know, now this review is sounding like some National Education lesson as it has become slightly emotional)... We shall continue with the review proper..

Taiwan Porridge Condiments

As porridge in itself tastes really bland and plain, you might want to eat the porridge with the condiments for a more enhanced flavour. I have heard stories of how my grandmother fed my dad with sweet potato porridge together with pickled vegetables and soya sauce which was considered a luxury food in those times *Awww*

Quality Cafe offers many porridge condiments to choose from - I think my grandparents would be so delighted to see them if they are still alive *I'm MISSING them already*

Seafood

Prawns

Fish

Black Pepper Crab

I love the black pepper sauce!!! It enhances the taste of the crab totally! However Sweetie Muffin was somewhat not satisfied with the crab as he was commenting that it was just normal Sri Lankan Crab with not much meat.. Meh~

As it is a challenge to eat crabs using our utensils and hence we were compelled to eat the crabs with our bare hands.. And Sweetie Fin was complaining that there isn't any wet tissue / lemon water provided to clean our dirty hands afterwards. Usually, Seafood Restaurants would provide a bowl of lemon water to rinse our hands. 

Sweetie Fin dirtying his hands whilst eating the prawns and black pepper crab

Meat

There are plentiful of meat to choose from.

Mutton

Sweetie Fin was busily filling up the plate with food...

Chicken

Yes!! The fried chicken is really crispy on the outside. The meat is tender and juicy! Ultra love it!!

Braised Duck

Mixed Vegetables

Curry

The curry is rich and fragrant and we both loved it ♥

Chicken Curry

Vegetables Curry

A basket loaded with assorted breads to complement the curry gravy

The fried mantou (bun) is not as crispy as the ones that are normally served in Seafood Restaurants as they have been fried for some time before they have been placed into the basket. Da Rabbit would suggest for the curries be placed on the counters manned by the chef so that customers can place their orders for fried mantous / toasted french loaves over the counter to ensure that the breads and buns are served piping hot and crispy. Or perhaps the hotel can invest in a good toaster so that we can self-service and toast the bread ourselves :)

Soft, soggy fried mantou :(

Desserts

The most popular station amongst the kids and some adults is the desserts area. You get to create your own local desserts like - Ice Kachang (flavored shaved ice) and Chendol with the ingredients provided. If you are an ice-cream lover, you might want to create your own sundae too! 

*Warning: You will be fully responsible for the overall taste of the desserts, since the proportions are being controlled by your own goodself!

The place was crowded with happy and enthusiastic kids fighting to decorate their bowls with the colourful desserts...

Auntie making her own Chendol

Da Rabbit added too much syrup and ingredients into her Ice Kachang which made the entire dessert too sweet and Sweetie Muffin was compelled to top the dish with more shaved ice to dilute the sweetness *Oops*

Yes, and we would like to give an honest feedback on the Attap Seeds for Ice Kachang - there is no quality control over them as some are too soft whereas some are too hard. It was hard to find an Attap Seed with the desirable hardness from the bowl of Ice Kachang we consumed... 

It is just so weird to taste Attap Seeds of varying textures all in all :S

Le' Making of Ice Kachang

However, Da Rabbit is a pro when it comes to ice-cream ♥♥

Muahahaha!! We LOVE ice-cream!

5 Flavours available - Mango, Yam, Vanilla, Strawberry and Chocolate.

We realized that only ONE ice-cream scoop was provided and would suggest that the cafe should place at least 2 scoops because it is rather awkward for one to scoop the ice-cream whilst the others are staring at him and wait for their turn impatiently. The place should be big enough to have 2 people standing at the freezer and scoop at the same time. Moreover, the frozen ice-cream is a little hard to scoop as strength is required to do so.

Da Rabbit, feeling happy with her ice-cream

We came to a consensus that the Yam ice-cream tasted best somehow :)

Fresh Fruits and Nonya Kueh

There is a counter serving Nonya cakes. Nonya cakes are generally starchy and will not be advisable for you to eat too much during a buffet.

Bread Pudding

Yes it is literally made of bread (looks like the normal Gardenia Bread with fruit toppings).. Do be reminded to pour lots of custard sauce for the bread to absorb, otherwise the bread pudding will taste like plain and dry bread!

 

Da Rabbit did not add enough custard sauce to the Bread Pudding :(

Other Local Delights

Laksa

The laksa tasted great. The gravy is fragrant and the overall is delectable.

Laksa served in a vintage looking bowl

Popiah (fresh spring roll)

The portion of the gravy is well-controlled. Not too much to tear the Popiah skin but not too dry either. Sweetie Muffin said that the Popiah has standard *thumbs up*

Soup

The soup of the day consists of potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes and chicken. It tasted like home-cooked fare and a little too bland to our liking. Perhaps the chef can increase the proportion of the ingredients so as to bring out the sweetness of the vegetables.

Drinks

The only complimentary drinks served were hot and cold water and Hot Chrysanthemum Tea. 

You have to top-up an additional S$2.50 for guava / orange juice, S$1.50 for fizzy drinks like coke, pepsi and sprite and S$2.00 for coffee and tea. These drinks are normally complimentary for buffets and hence Sweetie Muffin suggested for the cafe to consider offering complimentary drinks for buffet as kids tend to like flavored beverages.

Le' Service

We were greeted and shown to our seats by the staff. There was a chef overseeing the buffet spread to ensure that the food was replenished on a timely basis. Also, the staff was very prompt to help clear our plates after eating.

Overall

We feel that Quality Cafe is worth a visit during weekends by families. As the Chinese saying goes: "饮水思源" (ponder about the source whilst drinking water - meaning we should trace our roots and heritage whilst enjoying the fruits sown by our forefathers). We can make use of this dining opportunity to educate our children and future generation about the food which our forefathers ate and the hardships they have endured. Also, for those who have elderly parents and grandparents, it would be a good way to pamper them with the Taiwanese Buffet treat and also relief them of their cooking chore :)

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