I was recently sent 4 bottles of Hellenic Gaia's honey to sample, and I'm here to review them! I was rather excited when I heard that I'll be receiving some because honey is one of the most underrated food items out there, and like a bear from the cartoon I cannot get enough! I learnt that 'hellenic' means anything pertaining to Greece, and Gaia means Earth, so this honey brand is all about what the Greek Earth has to offer.






Hellenic Gaia's Greek honey is good for you because they are:

Raw & Unfiltered: Collected from Mt. Pageon and other areas in Greece, Hellenic Gaia's honey is raw and unfiltered, meaning that it is not heated, pasteurized, or processed.

Contains natural nutrients: In contrast to pasteurized honey, raw honey is an alkaline-forming food containing natural vitamins, enzymes, powerful antioxidants and other important natural nutrients – the very ones that would be destroyed during the heating and pasteurization process in other types of honey.


What I am having now is a mild cough from a itchy throat and I have been drinking the thyme flowers honey with lemon. While I really can't taste much of the thyme flowers, it's done wonders to help soothe my throat! I also like to add a small tablespoon of it to my drinking water bottle just for a hint of sweetness in the otherwise very plain water.

I am also thinking of baking a honey cake using my Philips AirFryer with this simple recipe:



The possibilities are endless! I like the genuine taste of the honey and how it is not processed, and how it is from Greece (where they could do with some support). I'll highly recommend everyone to check out Hellenic Gaia's honey in all good supermarkets.

As many of you know, I went to South America from Nov to mid-Feb and ended my trip in Brazil, where I got a massive tan from the beaches of Rio. I came back home many many shades darker and that's what everyone commented when they saw me. Even though I enjoyed that tan, I wanted to be slightly fairer because I look younger when fairer. Plus I turned 30, so its high time I use some anti-ageing! So when my friend introduced me to a Japanese skincare brand called Orbis that's now in Singapore, I decided to try out their whitening anti-ageing range called the Orbis =U. What's awesome about this skincare brand is that it is 100% oil free!

8 Feb 2016 at Ipanema Beach, Rio Brazil

You might think that Orbis might be similar to FANCL, which has exited Singapore. I have tried FANCL before, but the products are too fragile for me. They expire really fast! What I wanted is to try out this Orbis skincare range exclusively for the next couple of months before I do a review so I can examine the results over a fair amount of time. Well, I started using the product from 26th April onwards -- and it's been exactly two months now! Here's the =U White range.


This is how it looks after it's lightly spread out. There's a slight white-blue sheen which disappears as you rub it in.

Hi guys! I went on another food trail recently because HungryGoWhere is holding their voter's choice awards for the best food in Singapore. You can vote here! by this Sunday.

I went on a food trail to check out some of the nominees a couple of weeks ago and did a video about the trip. Really enjoyed the butter crab from Mellben Signature, the international buffet from Escape Restaurant (which I blogged about before!) and the cocktails and food from Tiger's Milk (now I know where to go for Peruvian food in Singapore).

Check out my food trail vlog and subscribe to my channel for more!

Like Hong Kong or Thailand, Taiwan is the kind of country that you can always fall back to when you want culture, nature and food. I had the good fortune to visit my favourite food city, Taipei, for the third time a month ago. This time round I also visited Hualien for their amazing Teroko Gorge (magnificent rock and stone formations cut by water) and 7-star Beach (pebbles, not sand), and did a day trip to Taichung City (cafes every 10 steps!) both via trains. I had an awesome time in both.

We are however, here to talk about Taipei City. I've done a post about some of the food that I had the previous time, and this time round I went back for more! In this post I'll do a quick and dirty travel itinerary for those who will be planning to visit Taipei for a few days.

First, some logistics.

1. Data

Get your tourist sim card from the Taipei Taoyuan Airport via one of the counters. Otherwise, you will have to find a telco shop such as Chunghwa Telecom to get a 3 or 5 day SIM card with data. It is relatively inexpensive at NT300 (or SS12.60) for 3 days of unlimited data!

2. Getting around

From Taoyuan International Airport you can either take a city shuttle bus, or be like us and order a UberX taxi, because you don't really want to be squeezing on the bus after a long flight with all your luggages. Taking the metro when you are in the city will be the most convenient, as most places are situated around the stations! Having the cashless metro/bus card will be helpful if you want to venture around via buses. For further locations for more than one person you can also take UberX, which I find to be very helpful when I was in Taichung. View the hi-res English Metro Map here.

3. Where to stay

I stayed at a hotel (Diary of Taipei Hotel) near the massive Taipei Main Station this time, as well as a hostel (Mr Lobster's Secret Den Hostel) just further south. Had my Rosemary Pasta, which was within walking distance from the hostel! There's also this fried donut coated with milk powder nearby, which was delish. I find that it is a great location to be at -- the hostel was within walking distance to the Taipei West Bus Station, which you can take an airport shuttle to Taoyuan International Airport within 1 hour for just NT125 (S$5.30). More info here.

Next, where to go for food!

1. Ximending

The most happening and legit area for themed cafes and street food plus shopping would be Ximending, which is also where the famous Ah Zhong Mee Sua is at. You MUST go there for a small bowl, as a symbolic start to your food journey in Taipei. After that, hop over to Wuchang Street Section 2 Lane 50 where Prince Cheese Potato, have a mountain pig Taiwan sausage and a cup of 50 Lan Milk Tea with Pearls. That is the 4 things you need to have there!



The most famous food street in Taipei, this where the original Din Tai Fung flagship is at, just near Kao Chi (another famous establishment) where you'll see tourists queueing. On the street you can find so many different stalls, but I was told to check out the Lu Rou Fan from 喫飯食堂 (just pork with lard on rice for NT50, S$2.75) as well as 8% Ice for its gelato (very smooth and creamy!).











If you also have time, check out the hip and youth centric "Dong Qu" East Shopping District Area (Metro Stop Zhongxiao Dunhua) for the shopping, with tonnes of boutique shops like our Haji Lane. That's also where you can digest your food before you do more eating at the night market!

Check out Taipei 101 if you are a first-timer to the city, and maybe go up to the tower for a panoramic view, though I think the best is if you just walk around and explore on foot! I especially like the Studio Ghibli shop that is near Taipei 101.






That's it for my Taipei travel itinerary this time round! Hope this helps :)

It's festival galore! Other than Negroni Week which is happening right now, the Singapore Coffee Festival 2016 will also be showing from this Friday 10th to Sunday 12th of June at the F1 Pit Building with over 100 exhibitors. While we have had coffee festivals in the past, this is the first time it is so organised with big brands like DBS presenting and The Straits Time hosting it, so you know it's going to be a great experience. Get your tickets from Sistic here.



Personally I am a great fan of specialty coffee and delicious brews (in fact, would be so good to have some right now!) and was glad to hear that other than 'hipster' cafes, roasters and other coffee and food companies will also be there. There are so many things happening, I couldn't possibly list all of them, so read this Straits Times article to find out all about it.
We did a #SGCoffeeFest Trail last weekend in order to have a mini preview of what's to come during the festival itself! It was loads of fun.

First stop: Oriole Coffee at 96 Somerset Rd, Singapore 238163
Together with a much-needed latte (which I always get whenever I want a coffee in town) sampled some of their delectable brunch offerings such as the crabcakes, eggs benedict, salmon rosti and the crowd favourite being the Oatmeal with Berries. What's cool about Oriole is that other than winning at competitions, they also produce their very own dairy-free milk and Taisho cold brews.










Thanks to Food News PR and SG Coffee Fest for the invite!

See you all at Beerfest Asia soon and thanks to Food News PR for the invite!

Photo credit: Ramen Champion Singapore

Daily from 11:30 am to 10:30 pm

I've been wanting to check out Korean-Mexican (KoMex, which erm, sounds like another brand) chain Vatos Urban Tacos at South Beach Quarter ever since my friend @Stooffi blogged about it. Everything there looked delicious and they have these upturned beer magaritas (called Vatos' Ritas), which is perfect for that camera shot. The restaurant is tucked away at the corner of the new South Beach compound, just opposite of Purvis Street, and we went there one rainy weekend afternoon for lunch. Originally from Seoul and started by two Korean-Americans, this is Vatos' first venture overseas. They couldn't have picked a better location I reckon, with loads of American/MNC companies working in the South Beach offices.

For S$29, you can order a Vatos' Rita, which is a beer margarita. Magarita flavours include strawberry, peach, apple, passion fruit, orange, mango and classic, to be paired with Albens' Apple/Strawberry Cider, Bacardi Breezer, Somersby Apple or Pear Cider, Tangerine Wheat Beer, Mexicali or Corona. While it is quite pricey, remember you're having two drinks in one. Haha. I was amazed at how the beer keeps at a certain level. Some serious physics at work here.




 We also had some specials to go along with our tacos. Next time I'll try their burrito bowls.

Lastly, we had some Kimchi Carnitas Fries (S$18). It sure is carnage, from the looks of it. The fries were rather comforting and I didn't mind the onions. The sour kimchi gave this dish character, though I wished the cheese wouldn't congeal that fast since we had other items to get to. Also wished it would be under the starters portion with a more affordable price tag. 3.5/5


Vatos Urban Tacos is one of the rare Korean Mexican restaurants in town, and if they can keep up the food quality and perhaps re-look their prices (though I doubt they can since rent must be exorbitant), it will be a great place to hang out. Otherwise it is still worth a try if you're looking for some delicious tacos.