Being a girl

Sometimes I feel a bit detached from my own being, as a woman. How vulnerable or invulnerable should I be? A little voice says, “As much or as little as you want to.” But when and how. I am lost.

My dear friend Christina send me a link to Eve Ensler’s talk on TED, just when I needed some enlightened.

I strongly encourage you listen to Eve Ensler’s talk. She is awesome. I am embracing the girl in me. Go on and be emotional.

best beauty products review

If you could read Chinese, Kimiss is a beauty product review website that you should definitely check out!

I was simply looking for translation of a Chinese product, and chanced upon this website. This website is so well organized: by brands, by category (skin, body, lip, eye etc). There is ranking of the best products and the reviews are all clearly classified with star ratings.

awesome online shopping sites in China

I am loving my new discovery on online shopping sites in China. Nope, it is not taobao that I am talking about.

Taobao is awesome, but I just can’t figure out how to use Zhi Fu Bao (a Chinese version of Paypal) or paying via online banking. And, I can’t get the applets functioning well on my macbook. Maybe it is just me. Oh well. But good news is, I have found 3 other awesome online shopping sites that don’t require payment via external channels – I can pay for my order when I receive the courier. Sweet.

Another cookie point: If you are in China, call the customer service hotline, place your order immediately. Done. No need to register or fill up forms. I hate forms.

If you love canvas shoes, boat shoes (I adore!) or leggings, Vancl is awesome (and it is really really affordable). What’s better? Vancl just started their English site, and they deliver for FREE to some countries in Europe and US. Sweet.

If you love designer pieces, mainly by local Chinese designers, check out Chictalk. I love those jackets. I am definitely adding a few into my shopping cart!

If you love branded clothing but can’t bear to spend your salary, and at the same time don’t mind off-season range, you will love iHush. Pieces are limited though. I haven’t found something I really like yet…

Oh! Credit goes to CNNGO for writing up on these 3 websites. If you want to be in tune with what’s new, what’s in, what’s good (yeah!) in Asia, CNNGO is a great website!

TCM can alleviate PMS

Recently I revisited a Chinese doctor at Eu Yan Sang, with the hope in curing my chronic PMS problems.

My definition of PMS is “permanent menstruation sufferings”. Imagine feeling extremely bloated and fatigue before the period. Imagine experiencing excruciating cramps, cold sweat, nausea, dizzy spells – did I miss anything else? Oh yes, a 45-day cycle – delayed period means longer pre-menstruation woes.

I have always taken my health for granted – but one thing I am wary about is not to consume pain killers for cramps because that will cause cysts to grow – that will make matter a lot worse.

Hence, I had to talk myself into TCM (again) to cure this problem. The last time I visited the doctor was two and a half years ago. I hated the medicine – the taste was horribly bitter. BUT, it worked. My next period came on the 28th day, there was barely any pain except a wee bit of pain on the first day.

Of course, the story is I got lazy and didn’t go back to consult the doctor. I stopped after that very course of medication that worked, so my cycle went back to a 45-day cycle.

The use of TCM requires a lot of patience, and tolerance of the medication. I have just completed one course yesterday, and I definitely want to be follow-up on this to achieve a regular 28-day cycle with a painless 4-day period!

Indulgence is also wellness

I can’t wait to scream out loud about a new discovery. Wellness is not all about health, appearance, beauty, and skin care. I found a new meaning to it – self pampering and indulgence celebrates wellness!

When was the last time you really splurge on self indulgence, when was the last time you felt you done something great to celebrate the love for yourself, and when was the last time you cannot stop smiling from within?

My recent business trip to Beijing, China, made me realize this – loving yourself can be such a beautiful thing. I have extended one night in Beijing after my business meetings. I have already checked out some hotels and have decided to book myself into a snazzy looking hotel, The Emperor. The tablethotels.com house the most amazing list of great hotels. In any case, The Emperor is under the Designhotels – you can start imaging how awesome the hotel is. Of course, great photos to share as you read on.

The hotel was way beyond my expectation. I cannot stop saying “awesome” as I hurried all around the room to check every single detail. A great quote by Bill Bryson, best seller writer of books on travel, can sum up my feelings.

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familar it is taken for granted.”

I have ever pampered myself with new clothes, new bags, new shoes, new makeup, but it has never felt the same as my experience staying in The Emperor. I was so tickled by small minor sweet thoughts this hotel provided – I was literally smiling into my sleep. (Frankly, I didn’t even want to sleep, I wanted to experience the feeling being in the room.) There is something amazing about the hotel and the room that simply made me fell in love with it. The wonderful pampering experience definitely lifted me from all my stress, and I was in the realm of total enjoyment and self appreciation.

I have stayed in a couple of 5-star hotels, yes, the service and amenities are perfect as well, but somehow, it lacks the personal touch, it lacks the warm feeling, somehow something is lacking.

I want to encourage you to take a step back, think about how you are treating yourself, and think about the last time you felt so extremely excited and over-joyed about yourself. Nothing beats that little bit of pampering. Look at the photos of the hotel and the room, and hope you can get the sense of how I felt.

I am not saying that such experience can only be felt when you travel or when you are in a physical space, but understanding how self-indulgence could bring about great wellness in life – go search for that! This is more than an appearance upgrade, this is about maintainence of your mental health!

I want you to be happy in life too. Cheers.

Banana dieting plan

This is one of those times when I feel upset looking into the mirror. I bought this new tee-shirt on impulse – loved the graphics on it and did not care less how I looked in it. When I try it on again back home, my tummy is visibly huge under that unflattering body-hugging tee. As much as I love that tee, I am hating it now.

Hating the tee is not the best solution. I need to get rid of that tummy.

Last month when I was in Shanghai for a business trip, I get my hands on my favourite local beauty magazine, 都市丽人. There is an article about diet plan – Breakfast Banana Diet Plan – get slimmer in 3 weeks! Sounds great, isn’t it?

Here’s what can be done:

1. For breakfast: Have bananas with lukewarm water. That will help you clear your bowels. Have as many bananas as you like. 🙂 This will seemingly make you feel full and eat lesser during lunch.

2. For dinner: You can still take what you usually have for dinner (of course, you have to avoid those deep-fried stuff). Have your dinner before 8pm, because food stuff like meat needs 4 hours to be fully digested. If you feel hungry before you hit the bed, grab some fruits – typically only need 15-20 mins to digest.

3. For your body restoration: Sleep before 12 midnight. (Really tough especially on girls’ night out days). Anyway, the reason behind this is for your body to restore when you are asleep. Base on some research, your body restores during the first 5-6 hours of your sleep. However, apparently, after sunrise, the process will cease. Ok, this sounds really scientific. Let’s just do our best to hit the bed before midnight.

4. For your drinks: Drinks with artifical flavourings would deteriorate your taste bud and will result in you eating more. (This is horrifying!) So, before lunch, you should only drink plain water. After lunch till before dinner, you may have drinks with less sugar or no sugar content.

Do not seem too difficult. Hopefully I will be disciplined enough to carry out this plan for 3 weeks!

Happy food for good well-being and sleep

I do have my own list of good mood food – think all junk food. In particular, I will go for chocolates, french fries, potato chips and ice cream (and the junk food list goes on). However, does eating all these junk food really make my mood better?

I must admit that eating greasy fried food gives me an instantaneous happiness and that is because my cravings were met. But afterwards, I will feel bloated due to indigestion, and that feeling will make me feel a lot worse.

What food could make us feel good then?

On 11 November 2008, TODAY (Singapore’s local newspaper) covered a special story on Happy Food for a Lousy Mood.

Here’s the formula to get “Good Mood”:

Protein + Complex Carbs = Good Mood

Protein raise tryptophan levels in our bodies which help the body to produce serotonin, the “mood-lifting” brain chemical that makes a person feel good.

You can get protein from lean meat, seafood, eggs and tofu. Other sources of tryptophan include almonds, sesame seeds and peanuts.

In addition, you should take some complex carbs too. You can find it in food like whole grains, potatoes, pumpkin and yam. These food help the body to uptake and metabolise tryptophan into serotonin more effeciently.

Serotonin also help you sleep better, thus enhancing your overall well-being.

Now, you know what to eat to be in a good mood!

Danger of wearing high heels

This is not a new topic, but many females choose to ignore it.

Two weeks ago, I had to attend a career talk. Being dressed in formal wear, I naturally wore high heels to complete the “look”. I did not feel pain on the day when I was walking on the high heels. However, when I woke up on the next day morning, I had muscle cramp on my butt and thighs. The cramp was extended to my lower back and I felt extremely painful to sit-up straight, thus I had to take bed-rest for the entire day. Frankly, I did not attribute the pain to me wearing high heels the day before – because I did not realize that wearing high heels can be so harmful to my body. It was through my friend’s deliberating questioning that I realized my pain was due to me wearing high heels.

Coincidentally, two months ago, my team worked on a persuasion topic on preventive measures using fear appeals. We worked on the “danger of wearing high heels”. The picture below depicts how our entire body is affected when we wear high heels. (Source: Brenna Maloney, The Washington Post)

The highlight from the research states that our posture is affected because high heels push the centre of mass in the body forward, taking the hips and spine out of alignment. Currently, my spine is already out of alignment, thus wearing high heels would only aggravates the problem. Thus, I should avoid wearing high heels at all cost.

I cannot deny it is hard to avoid wearing heels for certain occassion. I guess we just have to be prudent and make the best choice.

danger of wearing high heels

calcium mad-rush before i hit 30 – updates

My professor happened to read my entry about my low bone density condition.

She asked, “Is what you wrote real?”.

I said, “Yes, of course Prof, everything I say on my blog is real!” (Laugh)

She became concerned and told me to make ginger a part of my diet. Ginger, yes, ginger. I do not like it either. Based on my Prof, she said that if you try juicing a piece of ginger, leave the juice to set for a while, you will see a layer of white deposit at the bottom of the glass – those are apparently, “calcium”.

Ginger juice – a little too much for me to handle. I shall be discipline and pop my calcium pills everyday.

calcium mad-rush before i hit 30

My fall in China made me realized how bad my bone density condition is. I have extremely brittle bones, quoted by the doctor, my x-ray report is much like an 80 year-old lady’s report. I was not too pleased about it, in fact, I was pretty upset over my condition.

I have only five years to build my calcium level. It seems to be a mad-rush to me, because I begin popping calcium pills, drinking soya bean milk and eating a lot of tofu. I may be over reacting, but I am really worried about my condition. I am already 25, and technically, my calcium absorption rate is deteriorating, or rather has deteriorated.

The doctor warned me not to fall or hit anything hard, because my calcium built-up is so little that it could bearly protect my soft bones.

My joints hurt very much in whichever position that I sit or stand. I have to do a few stretches that are recommended by my therapist, however, the lazy me, tend to forget doing that.

Just a word of love to all of you, if you are not lactose-intolerant (like me), drink as much milk as you can, especially in your 20s. Also, no alcohol, coffee and tea, as they contain properties that slow down or deplete your calcium intake.

One pill a day, one cup of soya bean milk a day, one serving of tofu a day = my daily calcium in-take