Month: April 2010

Nice Japanese crepes from Shimino, Ikano

One day while ber-dating with the bf at Ikano Power Centre, we stumbled upon this stall called Shimino. To be honest, I would not have given the stall a second glance but since I had seen a tweet earlier on how good it was, I decided to give it a go.

Shimino

Crossing my fingers, I ordered strawberry & cream. It was very good. The crepe was thin and soft, the strawberries were juicy & tart but best of all, the cream they used was real! I was impressed! The bf tasted it and wanted another bite but I decided to get him another one because I refused to share :P

Unfortunately I did not take pictures of it but here’s a replica of the strawberry and cream Japanese crepe I had…

Fakeplan strawberry & cream Japanese crepe.

Obviously, the real thing did not look as perfect but it does taste as good as the plastic one looks.

The next time we were in Ikano, we couldn’t resist having Shimino’s Japanese crepes again. This time I had the mango & honey.

Mangoes drizzled with honey in cream wrapped in chilled, thin, soft crepes. Hmmmm.

The bf chose chocolate cheesecake with banana. According to him it was awesomesauce. I took a bite and he was right!

It’s got a pretty decent selection of flavours so you won’t get bored that fast. However, like me you’d probably have a firm regular favourite – mine’s the strawberry & cream :)

Wide selection of flavours.

Price starts from RM7.90. I think it’s reasonably priced and is a good deviation from the regular desserts we get in KL/PJ.

I is happy!

Shimino Japanese Crepes
LG Floor, Ikano Power Centre (By the main escalators),
Mutiara Damansara.

Totally random tutorial on skincare transference :P

Yeah this tutorial was conceived on a whim because my camera’s battery was low when I tried to transfer pictures to my computer. So this would have to do for now while I wait for the camera to charge :D

I’ve been using Rosken since I was in mid teens, thanks to the recommendation of my Mom who’s been a loyal fan for years. It’s by far the best and most effective moisturiser that I’ve ever used, keeping my skin soft even though I spend a lot of time in air-conditioned rooms. Rosken was truly a lifesaver when I was working as a flight stewardess, as my skin was prone to chapping due to long hours in a pressurised cabin, on top of the cold & dry climates of some countries. I also have a skin condition called atopic eczema, so I’m predisposed to getting dry skin but Rosken prevents my knees, elbows and shins from turning scaly. By the way, I recommend NOT to use it when you have eczema flare-ups!

Man this is starting to sound like an advertorial although it’s not, hehe.

Anyway, this is not a free plug for Rosken but namely a post on how to make it more user friendly. You see, in spite of its awesomesauceness, Rosken is traditionally sold in jars. I hate skincare in jars because it’s unhygienic. Think sticking fingers into the jar over and over again. Yeah, I guess you can use spatulas but that’s just too much effort. And my biggest peeve about using skincare in jars is when the product get stuck under my nails…it’s so gross -_-. I used to pour Rosken right out of its jar onto my skin and despite years of practice I still manage to overpour sometimes, staining bedsheets and whatever object my leg was propped over.

Rosken in jars.

I’ve always thought that Rosken would be perfect if it had been sold in pump bottles but alas it never happened. They have this new bottle packaging which expels the product through a tiny hole – much better but also MUCH more expensive. So, in the end I’ve no choice but continue buying the traditional jars.

So, yes I’ve been entertaining the idea of transfering the product from the jar to a pump bottle but I could never figure out how to do it hygienically and without wastage. The product is thick and creamy so it doesn’t flow fluidly but rather in dollops, it.is.just.not.easy. I entertained the idea of using a funnel but it’ll probably clog the narrow passageway -_-

This picture is just a re-enacment. It doesn’t work!!!

And then it happened, the idea struck me. Well, at this point you probably have figured it out too but since I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer and neither are some people who read this blog (heh sorry!!) so please bear with me….

Aha!

See what I mean? Just use the existing pump from the bottle to pump the product from the jar into the bottle. It took me less than 10 minutes to tranfer 250ml into the bottle and without any spillage. All you need is time and a strong thumb :)

p/s: You should get a brand new empty pump bottle (easily available at major pharmacies) but because I can, I just re-used the pump bottle of a different moisturiser brand (which I procured as a door gift at an event :P). I could have cleaned the bottle too but I didn’t because the “I can” principle applies yet again in this situation.

Guilt-ridden for the furryball.

Charlie has been sleeping with us in the bedroom since Day 1 and recently me and the bf made a mutual decision to move his bed and pen to the living room. He’s just shedding too much and it’s very discouraging to find your bedroom covered in hair only one day after you have meticulously cleaned it.

Banished to the living room. See how emo he looks -_-

This morning would have marked the end of the 2nd night alone for Charlie. However, I opened the door to find him lying right outside our bedroom instead of in his pen. We still don’t know whether he opened the pen himself or whether we didn’t latch it properly the night before.

And then the smell hit me. He has pooped at the doorway and pissed right next to our sofa -_-

I was livid! But having him for more than a year already, I knew it’s too late to reprimand him because he wouldn’t understand what it’s for and will probably repeat his actions anyway. Dogs are not human beings…they have no concept of past or future, they live in the moment. So the only time to reprimand a dog is when you caught him or her in the act.

We made him go into his cage and took about 1/2 hour to clean up his mess. Got to admit, eversince I got Charlie, I’ve learnt to be more patient and responsible. When Charlie was a puppy he used to poop EVERYWHERE and it was pure HELL! I used to want to give him away almost every other day. Thankfully those soulful doe eyes had managed to stop me from doing that.

Well, it’s just not Charlie to poop/pee in the house and the only reason I can think of is that he was affected by the whole sleeping alone thing :(

The other day I was just chatting with the bf about my constant guilt towards Charlie and whether it was normal. You know, I work for long hours on the laptop everyday, so most often time I cannot provide Charlie with proper playtime. What he does is that he curls up in a corner or on my feet with his eyes closed while I tap away, only moving when I call his name or touch him. Of course I don’t totally ignore him…for every hour I’m on the laptop I’d cuddle or play with him for a couple of minutes etc but I still feel like it’s not enough. I don’t know if it’s Charlie’s face or what but whenever he gives me that bored or pained expression, a little bit of me inside dies.

Curled up like that, bored out of his wits.

The bf thinks I’m crazy for feeling guilty and there’s one thing he said that really made sense to me. Charlie has to grow up and we have to learn everyday not to live our lives around him, he should be the one living his life around us.

So sorry Charlie, you’re still sleeping alone tonight :(