August 2016

Sudio - VASA BLÅ Wireless Earphones!

Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Though I am a bit of a tech noob, it's not that I didn't know that bluetooth earphones were an actual thing, but more like I didn't know they came so... pretty! Christopher from Sudio Sweden (@sudiosweden) sent me a pair of their premium earphones - the VASA BLÅ, which comes in 4 different colours: black, white, blue and pink; and true to Swedish design principles, they are super simple but super sleek.

The earphones come in 4 colours (black, white, pink and blue) and all come with Rose Gold accents, a shade I am crazy about. Especially now with the new iPhone 7 not having a headphone jack, these are all the more a great option if you're going wireless.

What do you get?
Inside the box I got the earphones themselves (of course), along with 4 pairs of interchangeable ear buds in different sizes which is great of because I have small ears (true story). There is a super useful genuine leather (yum) carry case - also with a rose gold button accent; the carrying clip (I don't really use this, but pretty); the charging cable; and the Owner's Manual + Quality Assurance Card. Needless to say, I may have had too much fun unboxing everything, haha.

Setting Up
Pairing my earphones with my iPhone seemed kind of daunting at first but it was amazingly easy - less than half a minute and I was done - no drivers or installations necessary. Here is a video on how to do it if you are still confused!

Sound Quality
Ok, I am not an earphone connoisseur and I am currently using this other cheap ass pair that I got from a goodie bag for free so I found these good and generally pleasing. Good high notes, great bass, but the mids do tend to get a little lost. Sound cancelling is good once you get the buds in the right size, and I'm not a fussy person when it comes to my earphones so I don't know what else a person could ask for!

Usability
The battery is meant to last 8 hours if you use the earphones actively, or 10 days on standby. I suppose it is only slightly inconvenient because I sometimes forget how many hours I have used it for and there is no monitor indicating the percentage of battery there is left :(

Shipping & Returns
Sudio Sweden has Free Shipping worldwide if you purchase from them online! Mine came within a matter of days via DHL (it varies where you are), and they have a 14-day no questions asked return policy if you are not happy with your product.

Final thoughts
If you're someone like me who isn't too snobby about music quality and feel that it is worth it to pay just a little more to have a piece of technology that reflects and ties in with your lifestyle, then this product is for you! While I don't run (because I am a lazy ass), I can imagine that these will be perfect to go jogging, or to pick calls on the move as it has a built in microphone as there is so much freedom of mobility with these.

Each set of VASA BLÅ earphones retails at USD165.00, but if you quote "LOVESUMMER" when checking out, you get ~30% off (15% from the code, and 20% for tax rebate for online purchases), bringing the total to... USD112.20 just for this summer + a free Sudio summer tote!

Anyway yep I just typed this whole post out while lying in bed, using my earphones with my laptop on my tummy and generally not helping this whole double chin thing because of the position I'm in, so write y'all later while I enjoy the rest of "Summer" here in Singapore!

The Skewer Bar

Posted on Saturday, August 20, 2016

Decided to be hipster and pop by The Skewer Bar with Justin, Dings and Jo, which is a super affordable yakitori-esque joint locally right in a coffeeshop in Geylang. It's quite cool how they somehow managed to separate themselves and look super modern by creating a trendy alfresco seating area along the road!

There's something that really increases the anticipation of eating your food just by watching all the rows and rows of little skewers getting flipped!

Hello dining partners in crime :D

The restaurant gave us complimentary Edamame while waiting for our food to be cooked, which was a nice touch. Their craft beer, Coedo, was super affordable too - $9.80 for one, or $26.00 for any 3 flavours, which were poured out into these adorable tumbler-esque mugs.

Ordering was simple - there's only one page of items, starting off as cheap as $1.20 per stick! As we came early (630PM, just when they opened), we didn't have to queue at all, contrary to online reviews.

First to come out was a grilled Whole Eggplant (S$4.50), which is one of my favourites partly because I'm crazy about eggplants, but also it was topped with off with a savoury home-made garlic chilli sauce - it looks kind of like a sambal stingray, doesn't it?

And then everything rolled out so it was hard not getting excited over all the food! I love variety and trying a little bit of everything - so this was perfect.

We ordered TWO whole plates of the Whole Chicken Thigh ($5.00) by accident because we didn't realise how big it was. While it was nice for a couple of pieces, the black pepper sauce did get a bit jialat after a while because there was too much, oops! But seriously value for money at just $5.00 for so much!

Was looking forward to this the most before coming to the restaurant - Grilled Canadian Oysters (3 for $11.00)! Ok, at around $3.70 a piece on hindsight they aren't the most value or freshest oysters one can get in Singapore, but the grilled smokey flavour, ponzu sauce and charming presentation made it worth trying this once!

Hand-made Chicken and Pork Balls ($2.40 a stick) and teriyaki flavoured Pork and Chicken ($1.30 a stick) are the usual must haves for yakitori-esque affairs to keep you nice and full! I feel the pork could have been a little fattier as it was tough to chew - at $1.30 a stick, it's cheap but I think institutions like even Tori-Q with comparable prices have more tender meat. But I know, I know, it's all about the alfresco dining experience and getting your items served in cute rattan baskets!

It's hard to go wrong with Bacon Wrapped Enoki ($1.50 a stick) - Justin and I like to make a whole batch ourselves at home so it's not the most novel treat to us. The enoki mushrooms here were slightly burnt, but it was still tasty and had that awesome grilled taste to it, especially when you eat it fresh off the fire!

The Half Squid ($5.00) sounded exciting in theory, but it wasn't grilled hot enough to have that wok-hei taste, also it is rare but the squid was not fresh. I seriously love squid so yes, I still ate it all, but everyone was quite turned off (so score for me..?)

The only mushrooms I've not been crazy about - the Shitake Mushrooms ($1.20 a stick) are like those brown non-descript Chinese mushrooms that you get in your bak chor mee, which is kind of disappointing and not as hot as I was hoping. This would have been so much more enjoyable if they were portobellos or button mushrooms, but then I guess if it were it wouldn't be $1.20 a stick :'D

Chicken gizzards, heart and liver (all at $1.20 per stick) - not for the faint hearted! I loved the hearts because they had just the right crunch and density. The liver slices on the other hand were a bit too large and sadly by the time I ate them they were cold which didn't help the overwhelming innards taste. However, all were aggressively seasoned with this nice paprika-ish powder they always use, which I fully appreciate, yum.

Definitely a winning tray for me! I loved the Chicken Mid Joint ($1.30 a stick) which was spiced with the paprika powder again, sososo good as they were crispy, deliciously burnt and fresh off the grill! We ordered 4 sticks at the start for each of us, and then we reordered another 4 sticks again, just cause it's that good. Must try!

Also notable - the Cocktail Sausages ($1.50 a stick) were the Taiwanese lup cheong types so much more tasty than the name made them sound! The Shishamo ($1.20 a stick) were alright, I don't really have much of an opinon on small fish (they're Smelt) but I love it for the variety it adds just for a little fun.

So after all this food it was quite terrifying to receive the bill, but it turned out to be just $95.40 in total, or around $24.00 each, including beer! I think that alone made up for the fact that the quality of ingredients was to be quite honest, very average, neither were we bursting at the end of the meal despite having so much food, since everything is quite small!

Also, do check your bill carefully at the end of the meal as they charged us wrongly for at least 4 different items with regard to the number of sticks, which is easy to overlook when paying since there are so many things to take note of!

Overall, I'm not sure if I'll be making the trip down all the way to Geylang specifically just for this again, but I suppose if I am in the vicinity I wouldn't mind popping by once again as it really was very affordable for all the variety we got and the pretty fun eating experience for big groups!

Vietnam Visual Diary: Sights, Streams & Sand Dunes

Posted on Wednesday, August 10, 2016

I'm heading off to BKK for yet another girly trip, so I figured it's about time I (finally) do up my last post for Vietnam, a trip of which I am super fond of. All the important sights around Mui Ne can be seen in just 4 hours - our hotel had tours for USD35.00, but we found one in town for just USD15.00, and apparently you can bargain even more!

The White Sand Dunes
The reason why everyone comes to Mui Ne! It felt like I was back in Morocco, but so much more affordable, haha. I strongly recommend coming in the morning to catch the sunrise, even though though it meant waking up at 4am for a 5am pick up, and another bone-chilling 45minute ride in an open air jeep to the dunes (bring a jacket!) They do have afternoon tours, but we were advised against it because the sand gets very hot. There's something about cold sand in between your toes that made the trek up the dunes worth it.

Wearing The Fifth Label Modern Love Dress

The Red Sand Dunes
Much closer to the main tourist area of Mui Ne, I found the Red Sand Dunes are not as grand as the White Sand Dunes, and slightly dirtier to be honest - but the colour of the sand was stunning in contrast with the bright blue sky (I swear my photos didn't need any editing - it really just was that colour)!

Wearing Al Et Clar Denim Dress, Hat of Cain Fedora

Fishing Village
It was quite amazing to see the sheer amount of boats! The smell of the sea was quite overwhelming as well as the rubbish lining the streets, and sadly we didn't learn much about the background of this fishing village since our tour guide literally just dropped us there to take pictures (pick your tours wisely, folks!) Seafood in Mui Ne is super affordable, so it's still kinda cool to see where it comes from.

The Fairy Stream
The entrance to the Fairy Stream was looked like a nondescript longkang (drain) in the middle of a town and we were wondering why is this a tourist attraction? But after a short trek with the cool water running through our toes, it opened up to a country side with the most inspiring rock formations made of layer upon layer of bright, blinding orange. Super unexpected and super glad we didn't skip this (we almost did because of time)!

So there you have it! The end of our Vietnam journey! After baking in the sun all day, we even managed to make it back to our hotel by 10am for breakfast and lounged by the beach for the rest of the day. Mui Ne made me realise how much exotic sights Asia has to offer without having to travel too far away or break the bank, and I'm looking forward to exploring more of Vietnam in the super near future!